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Hey, Pride. Gimme a raincheck.
June 26, 2016 June 27, 2016 / Dawn Ennis / 3 Comments
Greetings from Connecticut, and Happy Pride!
One year ago, I marched in my first ever Pride parade. My friend and everyday inspiration, Diane Anderson-Minshall, her husband Jacob and other colleagues at our company, Here Media, were joined by more friends in and around a smoking hot, cherry red Mustang convertible.
We waved flags, waved our hands, and walked for miles on a blistering hot day along Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood. Although I’d come out two years before, had my face on TV, in newspapers and online, and even spoken on the radio, this was by far the most public attention I’ve ever received, before or since.
And perhaps most important of all: a new friend who had up to that day identified as gay came out to me as trans. I am so proud of her and happy for all she’s done to find her true path.
My own path led me to Southern California in the spring of 2015, where I began a new life. Sad to be separated from my children, but knowing my first priority was to provide financial support for them and their mom, I moved away thinking this was it. I had never wanted to leave home, but that wasn’t my choice.
I had spent two years living in exile from my loved ones, bouncing around every six months, from May 2013 until February 2015. I had moved from our home to Danbury to East Haven, from The Bronx to Marietta, Georgia, and back home again.
We lived again as a family of five, under the same roof, although my wife and I no longer shared a bedroom. And it was working out; we took vacations together, worshipped together, shopped and dined together. And yes, we planned a divorce together, something that normally would have been accomplished but her lawyer postponed again and again, through no fault of my own.
After two years of starts, stops and stalls, Wendy was intent on divorcing me for having transitioned. While I wasn’t excited or encouraged by that prospect, I recognized it was fair, it was what she wanted, and I did my best to not fight the inevitable, given the circumstances.
As that proceeded, this time it was me who made the decision to move out, given the fact I was unemployed and we needed someone to be earning money over the summer. The fact was, my wife’s job as a public school teacher only paid her a salary during the school year, with a lump payment to start the summer that wasn’t enough to last us through September. In March, I had been offered a job as news editor at The Advocate, where I had freelanced for several months, and I leaped at the chance to both provide for my family and restart my journalism career. I started by working remotely, in Connecticut, and then in May, joined the team in L.A.
The challenges were new, the people friendly, the location awesome. Having lived there before, for two summers in the early 1990s, I adapted easily to SoCal, although as an intense, no-nonsense native New Yorker, I had a long way to go to find my chill.
But that intensity came in handy on the biggest news day of my new career: first thing that morning on June 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court announced its ruling in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges, approving marriage equality in all 50 states by a narrow majority of 5 to 4. It was exciting, exhilarating, incredibly moving — and we were balls to the walls busy.
So when my iPhone rang, I was tempted to ignore it, but I knew that Wendy was facing her own challenge that day. Eight months after first complaining of unending stomach discomfort, pain and irritation, she finally got tired of me nagging her to see a specialist and was that morning getting a CT scan of her abdomen.
“I need to talk to you,” she said. “It’s urgent.” I stopped what I was doing, got up from my cubicle in the penthouse overlooking West Los Angeles, Santa Monica and the Pacific Ocean, and headed to the unoccupied conference room. Given our lack of private space, the conference room was a phone booth of sorts, with a helluva view. I stared at the cars backed up on the 405 as I dialed Wendy’s cell, my eyes moving to the horizon and to Catalina Island.
I was prepared by Wendy’s tone that this might be bad news, and braced myself as I redialed and she answered on the first ring. I asked, forgoing the usual greeting, what the test showed. She didn’t mince words.
Wendy was in tears, and I had to stifle my own exclamation by putting my hand over my mouth. The details were horrific: her cancer was rare, stage four, and her only hope was a risky surgery that might not save her life.
Here it was the most important day in modern LGBTQ history, and it was nothing compared to the news I had just learned. The love of my life was dying.
Not a week went by that I didn’t offer to move back home, and each time she refused; thanks to my bosses, I was permitted to spend weeks at a time, working remotely in Connecticut, from September through November.
Thirty weeks, seven rounds of chemotherapy and a complex operation later, my wife went into shock and died on January 20, 2016.
That day Wendy died, a Wednesday, I was at work in California when I got the call from the hospital that I needed to come right away to the intensive care unit. “Hello, I’m in Los Angeles?” But I already had a flight home booked for Sunday, and so I fled to LAX after arranging to get my children to her ICU bedside. There, they were joined by her mother and cousins, closest friends and our rabbi. They gathered around her, prayed, sang songs, and they kept in touch with me by phone as I raced to the airport, fought with the airlines to let me board — but their archaic rules prevented me from switching flights and boarding fewer than 45 minutes before take-off.
That was, as it turns out, a blessing. Had I made the flight, she’d have passed as I passed over the midwest. Instead I was on a shuttle bus back to West L.A. when our brave, stalwart and brilliant eldest son called me, fighting back tears. He said they all had said their goodbyes, and that he wanted to hold the phone to his mom’s ear, so I could say goodbye, too. “She loved you, Dad,” he said. “She really did.”
I know. And whether she could hear me or not, I told her I loved her, that I’d take care of our children, told her to not worry, and also said how sorry I was, for everything. We remained married until the end, given that the divorce never happened; only in death did we truly part.
Today, June 26, 2016, our community celebrates Pride, celebrates our victory at the Supreme Court, celebrates the defeat of the Defense of Marriage Act, and we mourn our dead in Orlando, and in a dozen or so states where at least 14 transgender people have been murdered because they are trans. And I mourn the woman who loved me more than anyone has, who pushed me to find my truth even at the expense of our marriage and her own happiness. I mourn her every day that ends in “y,” just like her name.
So, despite my youngest child’s insistence that I head down to New York City and celebrate Pride this weekend, I stayed here, with them, by their side, where I should be and want to be. There will be another Pride march, another year to join with my sisters and brothers and gender non-conforming folks, who only ask that we #FixSociety, and recognize the rights of all Americans to determine how best to pursue our lives, our liberty and happiness.
Instead of marching under a rainbow flag, I will drive my daughter to sleepaway camp, and prepare her little brother for his own. She packed herself this year, with some help, of course, and I couldn’t be more proud of her. I’ll drop her off Sunday, and a few days later I’ll drop off her younger brother at his first every sleepaway camp experience. Then their older brother and I will depart on an ambitious tour of colleges that will take us from Connecticut to Canada to Chicago and back again.
It is fitting that it is during Pride that our oldest son, who has accomplished so much in 17 years, embarks on this latest adventure. Yes, I still say “ours,” because he is.
He’s traveled the world as an ambassador from America with the People to People organization, attended President Obama’s second inauguration, drove coast to coast with me just a few weeks after getting his license, and regularly devotes time to his community through both temple and the Jewish Community Center, where he’s also a lifeguard.
Most recently, his high school selected him as one of a handful of teens to represent our town in the American Legion’s Boys State program for future policy wonks, where he became an outspoken advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex individuals. They had told me, he’d come home a changed man, but this was unanticipated.
His evolution became especially evident Friday evening at the dinner table, when he regaled us with his stories from his time at Boys State. He had spent a week on a local college campus forming a model state government: running for office, casting votes, electing and running a government, dealing with the judicial system and otherwise enjoying nerd nirvana.
“There were some silly bills, in addition to the big ones,” he told us. One of the big ones was an obnoxious, arrogant proposal reeking of white privilege — to cut the state budget by eliminating all public transportation. And one of the “silly bills” was an especially cruel and juvenile version of a “bathroom bill.”
“That bill would have officially renamed all transgender people ‘transformers,'” he said, and would require they use only the specific bathrooms assigned to them, according to how they presented. “Transgender men would use the ‘autobots’ bathrooms, and transgender women would be required to use facilities reserved for ‘decepticons.'”
Stunned at this naked transphobia, I paused for a moment. “How did that make you feel?” I asked, hesitantly, worried for him. He doesn’t exactly go around advertising that his dad is trans, as he is a very private person. When people refer to me as his mom, he often prefers I just let it go, unlike when I’m with his siblings who approve of me outing myself, and explaining that their mom has died.
So what did my eldest son do when confronted with a bill supported by a roomful of more than 100 teenage boys, denigrating people like his father? As an elected representative to the model state legislature from the fictional town of Tyler, named after our most ineffective president, my son stood up and gave an impassioned speech for why that “silly bill” should not advance.
He spoke of me, of our community, of our struggles for acceptance that not one other person there had reason to consider, because they did not know anyone transgender. He put a face to their mocking, gave them a flesh and blood person to consider impacted, and succeeded in turning around hearts and minds, at least for one day. The bill died a quick death.
Oh, and the buses in Tyler town didn’t stop running either; his proposal to reduce service rather than eliminate it altogether wound up shelved in a committee, but neither bill reached a vote.
And instead of promoting his own candidacy, he used his knowledge of Roberts Rules to execute a clever parliamentary trick, to help a fellow student leader advance to a position of power. Plus, he got to question Sen. Richard Blumenthal about the issue about which he is most passionate: reforming campaign financing. Adult leaders told him that had they an award for courage, he surely would have won it.
So, I’m sorry, Pride goers. Please party on, march along, dance and sing and say the names of those we lost without me this year. As much as I’d enjoy the chance to show my Pride for our community, I’m focused exclusively on three people who make me proud every day of the year: my children.
Gimme a raincheck. Let’s try again next year.
A trust has been established by Wendy’s brother, Robert Lachs, to assist with furthering the education of the Ennis children. Anyone wishing to donate to the fund may send a check, payable to “Ennis Family Scholarship Fund Trust” to Robert Lachs, 1729 E Prairie Ave., Wheaton, IL 60137, or click here to donate via GoFundMe.
Meet the “Dad/Mom”
Starting tonight I am a video blogger as well as the lady wordsmith here at lifeafterdawn.com. The term a decade ago was vlogger but I doubt that it is still in use today. Whatever you call it, I’m doing it.
So here is episode one, Meet the “Dad/Mom” in which I explain why I am such a thing and how I came to be me. Welcome new friends and old to this brave new world, with such transgender people in it. Please send me your questions, answers, ideas, random th0ughts, to my email dawnennis@gmail.com or you can comment here, too, or on YouTube.
Also: A trust has been established by Wendy’s brother, Robert Lachs, to assist with furthering the education of the Ennis children. Anyone wishing to donate to the fund may send a check, payable to “Ennis Family Scholarship Fund Trust” to Robert Lachs, 1729 E Prairie Ave., Wheaton, IL 60137, or click here to donate via GoFundMe.
It could have been me
June 13, 2016 June 13, 2016 / Dawn Ennis / Leave a comment
I’m hardly a barfly but yes: I’ve danced, drank, met friends and enjoyed music in some of Central Florida’s gay-friendly bars. And I’ve done the same in Tampa, St. Pete, and Jacksonville, too. And N.Y., L.A. and D.C. And even Hartford.
It’s not the “gay” aspect that attracted me, of course, but the fact that someone like me doesn’t feel out of place in a club or tavern that caters to the gay. lesbian, bi and trans clientele.
And that makes me a target of terrorism.
But I’m apparently not lesbian. A trusted lady friend who would certainly know once told me she can “smell the straight” on me. But as a transgender woman who loved only one woman for 20+ years, my emerging attraction to the opposite sex still isn’t ready for field testing in the kinds of bars and clubs I frequented in my youth, when I was the suitor instead of the prey.
The one thing I can say about what happened in Orlando early Sunday, is that is how I now feel: as the hunted.
Omar Mateen could have chosen any club anywhere for his record-setting murder spree. And he wasn’t alone in his homophobia nor hardly the first terrorist hellbent on extinguishing the lives of people who offended him simply by loving.
I can’t put it out of my mind: I could have been there with friends in Orlando’s gay and Latin community. Or it might have been those friends of mine who lost their lives or were wounded.
Or yours.
You know, you don’t have to be gay to visit a “gay bar.” And I’ll wager that among those poor 50 souls, there very well might be one straight ally, maybe more. Or one of the 53 wounded could be a friend who was in the “wrong place at the wrong time,” as is often said. Who could imagine such a thing? The thought that planes could be used as missiles sprung from the minds of terrorists 15 years ago, and now gay clubs, Pride parades and even public bathrooms are the modern terrorist’s inspiration for hateful carnage.
I heard one network reporter breathlessly broadcast that the result of the Orlando massacre was that police nationwide were beefing up patrols “in areas frequented by the gay community” in order to protect “people who live the LGBTQ lifestyle.” Whoa, why didn’t anyone tell me there’s a special place gays go? See, I thought that in 2016, gay people “frequent” supermarkets, offices, churches, movie theaters, shops and stores and gas stations and restaurants and – on occasion – the streets and sidewalks of cities and towns across America.
And why is it that in all the years I was the best imitation of a married heterosexual man, nobody ever described me as living a “straight lifestyle?” I’m still straight, yet somehow coming out as trans earned me a “lifestyle.” And, truth be told, I’m neither rich nor famous.
Omar Mateen may have landed a place in the history books with this bloody massacre, but I’m more interested in learning about the folks whose lives were lost and those forever changed by his legally licensed and NRA-sanctioned gunfire.
I also want to know more about the brave officers who ran into danger when all hell broke loose. And I wish I could offer some comfort to the families and friends who are in mourning. They join so many more like them in Newtown, Aurora, and San Bernardino. My heart breaks, knowing full well that death is cruel.
But let’s be honest: I’m a selfish bitch, and all I really care about is my kids and me. I know that as a marked woman, my choices can get me killed. As a widow, I am all my kids have. So, do I dare go where a predator who hates LGBTQ people might take out his hatred or a copycat might commit more terrorism?
And here we were just 24 hours ago, fretting about the danger trans people posed in the bathroom. Really?
How ironic that many of those frightened victims inside Pulse found shelter from the fusillade of gunshots by hiding in the nightclub’s ladies room.
Well, if you need me, I won’t be hiding in the loo, or under my bed. I will be out, and about, and I will shout: I will not stop living my authentic life. I will be me and I will be visible. How can I teach my kids to stand up for themselves if I won’t do the same?
To all of you who dance and drink, who enjoy the music and the camaraderie of gay-friendly clubs: let’s go clubbing, and keep going. We can’t let the terrorists win, no matter how high the cover charge is.
Life is too damn short.
#TransHands
May 24, 2016 May 24, 2016 / Dawn Ennis / 3 Comments
Thirty years ago tomorrow, millions of people did something that had never been done before, and never repeated since. They held one another’s hands across America, from sea to shining sea.
Well, almost. Despite the participation of between five and six million men, women and children, there were of course huge geographic gaps. But to this day, the pre-Internet era effort stands as an inspiring milestone of unity, of sisterhood and of brotherhood.
Imagine you could take part in something as moving, as exciting and yet a heck of a lot easier to send a message of acceptance, love and understanding.
Well, you can. Right now!
My friend and colleague Hannah Simpson and I invite you to take part in a new, electronic effort, aimed at generating support for transgender Americans.
We call it #TransHands.
Our idea is simple: take a photo of your hand grasping the hand of someone transgender, and share it with the hashtag #TransHands.
It’s really that easy. And if you don’t have a trans friend for your photo, you can still take part and show your support by snapping a picture of your open hand, as it would be extended in friendship, like this:
We think the idea would best be conveyed if one of the hands pictured was that of a child, as shown at the top of this post… since those intent on depriving us of our civil rights and denying our existence are hellbent on spreading the myth that we are predators of children.
We’re not. We are all God’s children, and never has there been even one incident of a trans person arrested taking advantage of laws protecting our civil rights to prey upon a child or a woman for that matter. It’s a myth, and this is just one way we are working to counter it.
The #TransHands movement is aimed at countering such ridiculous and baseless right wing propaganda, by showing transgender people holding hands with children, and transgender children holding hands with adults.
This is an open invitation to people of all ages, backgrounds, religions, cultures, cities and towns across America.
We chose hands so as to avoid any concerns or questions about the electronic sharing of images featuring minors, which is of course a legal concern. We are sensitive to the privacy worries parents might have, concerning their children’s faces being shared on the Internet.
So just to make it clear:
1. Snap a photo. You can show your hand holding a trans person’s hand, or your hand outstretched in friendship. You can show your faces, too, if you want!
2. Share it with the hashtag #transhands (or #TransHands –capitalization not necessary) on whatever social media app you like, and as many as you like, and don’t forget the hashtag!
3. Please share this post to get the word out?
Look for a story tomorrow about our project in The Advocate. We’ll include the best photos, so act quickly! Get snapping!
And just like those who took part in Hands Across America on May 25, 1986, you’ll be taking part in history.
Thank you in advance for your show of support, love and acceptance!
Hannah Simpson and Dawn Ennis
My Love Letter to Bill, or Everything You Need to Know About Bathrooms and Trans People
April 23, 2016 / Dawn Ennis / Leave a comment
This isn’t a mushy romance story or a sexy rendezvous story or even an unrequited love story. I should think the alternate title (and the picture above) would have made that clear.
The love I refer to in the title of this post is something I feel for my friend Bill which transcends all those kinds of love. We formed a bond that began as one between brothers (although unrelated) and is now one between friends. The love is not the physical sort, but the kind that allows me to connect with the fantastic mind of this great guy, whose brain is bursting with ideas and energy, richly refined, deep in useful knowledge as well as insightful and quite incredible in almost every way.
The one way Bill’s brain is not at all in sync with the world I inhabit is in the difference of opinion on the debate raging in some quarters about who should use which bathroom. Former ace pitcher and, until this week, ESPN Baseball Analyst Curt Schilling, lost his job after sharing a particularly awful meme which you can see here but I’m not going to taint my blog with it. Here’s the comment he posted to accompany a truly transphobic image:
Despite this difference of opinion between Bill and myself, our friendship remains fully intact, because the way in which our love is deepest is in how we respect each other even when we disagree most forcefully. That’s a rare feat in this “take no prisoners,” “compromise is for losers” world in which Republicans hate Democrats, liberals hate conservatives, and the South hates the North.
Well, let’s put that last one aside for now since we’re talking hundreds of years of animosity passed from generation to generation and not without just cause in some cases and totally reprehensibly in cases of racism. But the South is where this guy named Bill lives, and I am from the North. And yet we are friends.
Friends who love each other… in a mutual admiration and respect kind of way.
Hey! Goodness, get your mind out of the gutter! Pulleeeze?
Tonight, I awoke to use the private bathroom in my home, utilized by both males and females, and upon returning to bed I noticed that my lovely friend posted something on Facebook about public bathrooms. After reading his thoughts, I felt he was honest, kind and authentic to his feelings, and that is not at all surprising.
I’m not going to post his words, as that would be presumptuous. But in sum, he offered his opinion of this political hot potato of the week: he said he favored the idea that transgender people use the public single use bathrooms that we used to refer to as the handicap or disabled or family bathroom, and that he championed privacy over everything else. He did not hesitate to voice his respect for LGBT folks and wrote that he expected to be hammered for his view.
That is not what I did, nor would I ever. I wrote a reply which follows, and in re-reading it I realize I did leave out one important point: too few public facilities offer single-stall bathrooms as an alternative, and they are not always safe as a trans woman learned last month, when she was raped at, of all places, The Stonewall Inn. All that needs to be taken into consideration.
But here, without further preamble, is my love letter to my friend Bill, as it relates to bathrooms.
“Sigh. I know you too long and too well to be offended by anything you say, think or feel, let alone post on Facebook. But if you will allow me, here are the major points in why the law as written in North Carolina is, in my humble opinion, wrongheaded and discriminatory.
“First: you’ve already shared a men’s room with someone transgender. If this law is to be enforced, which a respected sheriff says it cannot be, then trans men will be kicked out of men’s rooms and forced to use the ladies rooms.
How does that make any sense, that a person who was assigned female at birth but identifies as male must continue to use a ladies restroom even though he is burly, bearded, and — since as you say, no one is inspecting any other person’s genitals — doing his business behind a locked stall door? Above and at right are some of the memes posted to Twitter by my friend Michael Hughes and (below) by another friend, James Sheffield.
“Second: I don’t think there’s been a lot of research done by folks who put much of the emphasis, as Ted Cruz has, on the idea that grown men should not be using the same rest room as little girls. Always men and girls. Never men and women, because that wouldn’t be scary enough. The implication is, trans women are men who are sexual deviants pretending or dressing up as women so that they can prey upon innocent children.
So, here’s what is missing: trans women aren’t men. Many (not that you would know) have the anatomy of a female, and thus cannot use a urinal. If they do have that kind of “plumbing,” as you cleverly described it, the hormones legally prescribed to help someone achieve a gender transition render that plumbing ineffective for anything other than urination. In trying to avoid crude terms, the drawbridge no longer raises, for anyone or anything.
“Third: the reason this kind of person, or me, just for example, even attempts a gender transition is because we don’t identify with the gender we were assigned at birth. Gender is not what is between our legs, it’s what is between our ears. That’s a scientific fact. I have been prescribed female hormones since 2011, after five years of taking male hormones because the last thing in the world I wanted to be was transgender. I thought I could cure this. I thought, I’ll take testosterone and be a man. But it didn’t do anything for me except turn me into a very angry, unhappy woman who walked around looking like a bald guy. In fact, my body did something even worse: after some initial success, the T I was taking luteinized and my body converted that male hormone into estrogen, which was not helpful to someone who was trying to prove she was a man.
“Lastly, and to your final point: you are not wrong. There ought to be privacy. Women and girls should use the ladies room, men and boys should use the men’s room, and those single stall family or disabled bathrooms should be available everywhere for people who don’t feel comfortable in public restrooms, whether they fear trans people or are shy or they are transgender and worry that, if I were to walk into a men’s room, even if I were to use a stall since I don’t have the plumbing for a urinal, I risk my life because that has happened over and over again: trans women attacked in public bathrooms. What has never happened in the U.S., not once, is that someone trans has attacked a woman or child in a ladies room. There was one case in 2014 in Canada. One.
“Bill, I love you, too. And if you can find it in your heart to accept what my late spouse and my children and mother in law and lots of other folks believe, even though I myself was in denial the longest: I am a woman. That’s why I use the ladies room.
“You see, #wejustneedtopee (and maybe touch up my makeup, since I am a woman).
“Thanks for allowing me the space to explain. I won’t feel bad if those who support your view attack me or call me names. I’m a big girl, and as you well know, I can handle anything after what I’ve been through the last three years. God bless and good night!”
Your comments are welcome. And tell me: what do you think would happen if I wore this into the men’s room?
March 27, 2016 March 27, 2016 / Dawn Ennis / 6 Comments
Today I am 52 years — and one day — old.
But I’ve achieved this milestone despite a choice I made in 2014. And because I lived to make another one.
I stepped into traffic on the New Jersey Turnpike. And I did it because I could not bear the burden of being unloved, unworthy and distrusted by the woman I still loved. I was devastated by a few words she said, words she refused to take back, that cut through me like a knife:
“I’d be better off if you were dead.”
I held the cellphone to my ear as I begged her to recant, as I stood in the fast lane with my back to oncoming traffic. It was not the busiest day ever, but there were still cars, tractor trailers and buses that swerved to avoid striking me. Some blared their horns, but I didn’t budge. I didn’t consider how my suicide might take someone else’s life; I didn’t consider how my wife and kids would feel about me killing myself. I didn’t care. I didn’t care about anyone else. And at one point, I hung up the phone, when I realized I didn’t care if Wendy loved me or not.
Because I didn’t love me, either.
I snapped one last picture, and no, it wasn’t a selfie. And it slowly dawned on me, that this was a mistake. I actually laughed at myself, standing in the middle of a highway and unable to end my life without someone else delivering the fatal blow.
“Can’t even succeed at killing myself,” I muttered. “I am a total failure.”
That was the exact opposite of how I felt just a day or two before. I had been well-received by longtime friends, at a reunion in sunny Florida. I had also met my mother as my authentic self, and made every effort to reconcile our differences. I hugged her goodbye, never to see or speak to her again. I left Florida feeling hopeful for the future, and at peace.
On the way home to Connecticut, I had stopped for lunch in my old Jacksonville neighborhood when I received word from my job: I was getting fired, and a young colleague who I had trained had been promoted — to management. Isn’t that a coincidence, I thought.
Just the month before, I had resumed my transition, and my employer had built a bullshit case of “performance issues” based on what this one person reported, in order to curry favor and advance their own career; the kind of transgressions overlooked in a favorite employee and used to blackball someone whose file included the worrisome notation, “business unit growing concerned about headlines” that my transition had generated in the tabloids. Almost all of that coverage was negative.
I was summoned to appear before a meeting of my boss, the head of human resources, and the VP in charge of HR and legal affairs. She was the woman who shepherded me through my transition and all the troubles that followed. My only hope of avoiding — more likely, postponing — my fate, was to take a medical leave of absence.
In a panic, I phoned my therapist and asked for a letter citing just such a need. I told her I was desperate. And to my surprise, my therapist said, “no.”
“I’m thinking you want me to give you this just to avoid being fired,” she said.
Well, duh. I mean, what was happening was clearly unfair. And I wasn’t just looking to avert the inevitable. I was rightfully frightened about my future.
It was the start of summer, when Wendy stopped getting paychecks from her job as a school teacher. My wife and kids were dependent on me until late September. How would I support my family? And I had just moved into my own apartment, my first in my true name, at considerable expense. How would I support myself?
“I’m at the end of my rope,” I told my therapist. “I can’t live if this happens.” She cast aside my pleas and my feelings of desperation, and told me I should go to an emergency room or call 911 if I “really” wanted help. Really? At that exact moment, I fired her, although it felt like she had already fired me.
And so I prepared to face the network firing squad.
It didn’t help boost my spirits that my wife blamed my situation on my transition, as if this path of self-destruction was the only possible outcome, and she let me know she still felt I was worth more to her dead than alive. I felt utterly and completely without value.
We had dinner as a family one last time. She then dropped me off at Union Station in Hartford for the train to New York.
It was raining, which covered up the tears streaming down my cheeks. I stepped up to the platform and dialed the number of a close friend and confidante who I had dubbed my Trans Jiminy Cricket for helping me throughout my tumultuous transition.
Getting no answer, I left a cryptic voicemail, saying goodbye, and stepped in front of the oncoming Amtrak train in an attempt to kill myself, once and forever.
I looked into the eyes of the motorman. The raindrops pelted my face. I closed my eyes and listened to the blaring train horn. It blotted out almost every sound, except one: that of my iPhone ringtone.
The shrill classic phone ring penetrated my contemplation of imminent death, the end to all suffering, and like a child tugging on the hem of my skirt, demanded I heed its call, to life.
It was Maia, my Trans Jiminy Cricket, calling her Trans Pinnochio.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m standing on the tracks, waiting for the train to kill me. It’s coming.”
She didn’t mince words. “Get out of there,” Maia said.
She didn’t raise her sweet, sultry voice or beg or plead. She just told me matter of factly what to do, and waited on the line until I told her I did.
“Good. Now get on the train and I’ll call you right back in a few minutes. Okay?”
“Okay,” I said. Her calm demeanor made me feel calm; her unemotional but strong way of speaking settled me down.
Maia, like many of us, once considered ending it all. She lost her marriage and left their only child with her ex-wife, so she should live authentically. Maia told me God once spoke to her, and to her that was affirmation enough that this was the life she was meant to lead.
I was still waiting to hear from God, but in a few minutes time, I received a message from author and mentor Jenny Boylan on the train to New Haven. She had heard what I had attempted from Maia.
“Don’t do something stupid,” wrote Jenny, in that professorial parental tone millions of people have seen her use on the world’s most famous (and perhaps most politically stubborn) woman, Caitlyn Jenner.
She urged me to call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline. And so I did. I told the young woman on the other end of the line my story and what was driving me to end my life, and how I was basing my own value on how my wife perceived me.
“Well, you really can’t blame her,” said the woman who was trying to convince me my life was worth living. “She’s been through a lot and she’s being honest with you about her feelings.”
“Yes,” I said, “but I’d like to talk to you about my feelings, okay? Not hers.”
“I understand — Click!”
“Hello?!”
Yes, the Suicide Hotline hung up on me. No, not on purpose; a few minutes later my phone rang and I let it go to voicemail. When I checked it later I heard the young woman apologize for inadvertently hanging up on me.
“Please do call back, if you’re, um, still there.”
I was still there even though I decided to not call back. But I did dial 911, when I got to Times Square, because I found myself unable to leave the subway platform.
Train after train came and left. I watched as men and women of all ages and races and faces and places boarded and disembarked the number 1 local uptown and to The Bronx.
But all I could think was that train would take me to my apartment to spend the night awaiting my doom, and take me back here to Manhattan where my career would be pulverized into dust, my name disgraced and my professional life ended. If I left this platform that step would set in motion the events that would end my role as provider for my family.
I was, to put it mildly, distraught. My call brought the police, and the paramedics, who took me from the subway station… to Bellevue.
The official police terminology for my case is EDP: “emotionally disturbed person.” All those years hearing “EDP” on the police scanners in the newsroom, and in my dad’s home office, and now, I was the EDP.
It was the right call, even if Bellevue was the worst possible place to go. I wasn’t crazy, or insane. I was distraught and needed to get my head straight. But Bellevue? Imagine a holding place chock full of depressed, suicidal and unhinged men and women, stripped of their belongings and with no ability to reach the outside world, or even see it. No windows, no media, no phones, no nothing except beds, chairs and some very disturbed people.
#TransIsBeautiful
The only thing they let me keep was a certain copy of Time magazine, with Laverne Cox on the cover. This was my own personal Transgender Tipping Point.
I wasn’t medicated or treated, just allowed to sleep (with the lights on) and to contemplate what had led me here and what might await me when… if… I were released.
After brief interviews with a psychologist and a psychiatrist and some calls to my doctors, wife and therapist, I was determined to be no danger to myself or others, and let go.
And I had been let go from my job, too, without a hearing. It had been a day: I missed the big meeting, I didn’t produce a letter requesting medical leave, and so I was terminated.
I responded to the official email with a proposal that we not bash each other in the media, and they agreed. And after they bashed me in the media — the Daily News quoted “an insider” — we entered into negotiations which, let’s just say, ended to my satisfaction.
All this taught me survival skills, and lessons you can put to use: first among them is that nothing is more important than my children. Had I gone through with suicide, my kids would be orphans now. As one of the 41 percent of trans people and gender non-conforming adults who consider or attempt suicide, I am aware many people are not as lucky as I am to have lived, or to have access to their children.
Second: it’s important is to not let others’ perceptions define who you are. I needed to learn to respect Wendy’s perspective and to determine my own. After a time, she did recant, and agreed the words — although they were just words — were not true. I regained her trust; Wendy came to see me as the woman I am, and even said she loved me, as the father of her children and her co-parent. Time healed the bitter wounds that had broken her heart.
Third was to reach out for help. Thanks to Chloe Schwenke, the late Rick Regan, Maia and Jenny, Susan and even Wendy, I survived these attempts, and got help to get past my acute depression. It took time. It got worse. But ultimately it did get better. And mental health counseling was part of that solution. It’s not something we should stigmatize, it’s something we as a society ought to look at as part of being healthy. I am grateful to those who helped me be the healthy person I am today.
And last was to not take myself so seriously. I found other jobs. We survived the summer from hell. I laughed at my own inability to end my life, and thanked God for such incompetence.
And despite the turmoil and media trashing, thanks to the hard work of attorney Jillian Weiss, I left on good terms with my former employer, and I’d recommend working for them if you’re given the opportunity. Better days hopefully lay ahead.
I wrote this not just in reflection of my birthday, or the fact that Easter is upon us with its message of renewal and resurrection from death, but with the recent suicide of a friend’s transgender son in mind. It is hard to contemplate how anyone can take their life, unless you’ve been there, until life is so unbearable that even death, and the thought of causing pain unto others, doesn’t matter to you. I pray you never experience it. And if you do, that you find someone to help you see that holding on just one more day is worthwhile.
A friend once told me, you don’t need to win the fight. Just remember when you’re knocked down to get back up, one more time… and to do that every time you are knocked down. Because you will be, and the only way to finish the fight is to keep getting up.
I pray for those who couldn’t, and for those left wondering… why.
If you are a trans or gender-nonconforming person considering suicide, Trans Lifeline can be reached at 877-565-8860. LGBT youth (ages 24 and younger) can reach the Trevor Project Lifeline at 1-866-488-7386.The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 can also be reached 24 hours a day by people of all ages and identities.
“…Hear Me Roar.”
A conversation I recently had with a woman who is a prominent author and, to me, a mentor as well as friend, turned from politics to our families to what is widely referred to as “the transgender community.”
I revealed to her something I told her would cause the earth to stop spinning on its axis, something I’ve never said publicly or written about. It’s not a confession, and it’s not something I am ashamed to say. I am expecting, however, I will be excoriated for this. So why say it? Because it’s necessary, now more than ever.
Ultra conservative bigots and zealots have forced my hand. So, too, have the internet trolls who envy my meager accomplishments to the point where criticism crosses the line into jealous rage and unjustifiable attacks. Gays and lesbians who see our fight for transgender civil rights as expendable, as unworthy of their investment, as someone else’s fight, have led me to redefine something that took me years to say to myself, and then to the world.
Courtesy @DeanaMitchell
And most of all, an Olympian who turned her transition into a television spectacle, then found her harshest critics to be people like her — once they learned she was nothing like them — inadvertently inspired me to shout this from the virtual mountaintop, following our headline-generating face to face meeting high above Xanadu, I mean, Malibu.
She told me what she was doing was what made her happy and what helped the transgender community. And she made it clear, she meant to say that it in that order.
So, here it is what I have to say:
I no longer consider myself transgender.
I am a woman.
I’m not a woman in the same way a woman who lived her whole life seen as female, who experienced all the physical ramifications of being raised and growing up and living and loving and everything else female. Instead, I’m a woman in the way that I am. And that’s good enough for me.
I live and have lived every day as the woman I am. I care for my children, I mourn my spouse, I do my job, I clean my house, I buy and wear my clothes and shop for things and pay my bills and walk and talk and eat and even use the bathroom as the woman I am.
I work out, shower and change in the ladies locker room. My legal documents and medical records all carry an F for female. Those records include a decade of mammograms and visits to a gynecologist. I’ve lactated and I’ve nursed. I’ve been intimate with a man.
I did not do any of those things as someone transgender; I’m a woman. Can’t you hear me roar?
My voice is actually one of my least favorite qualities, but what matters, truly, is not what’s physical but what’s mental. Our brain is where our gender is, not between our legs.
Of course, you have every right to call me trans, even to say, “she’s no woman!” I would prefer you respect my choice of feminine pronouns if you’re going to deliberately misidentify me, please. But even that is beyond my control. And as my friend Cristan Williams of Transadvocate.com reminded me, despite my preference, I can’t escape being part of the trans political class whether I like it or not.
The only control I have is over how I present to the world who I am. And I’ve come to the realization that calling myself “transgender” isn’t accurate in the same way I don’t refer to myself as “former college student” or “former child model.” Both are true, but seldom relevant to my everyday existence.
I do recognize that to many, maybe even you, I’m still transgender, and the word “formerly” just doesn’t fit. Well, I do recognize that thanks to Google and the tabloids, the word “transgender” will forever be linked to my name, as well as the name I was given at birth. Yes, I transitioned from presenting in the male gender to my authentic gender, female. That doesn’t mean I must carry some kind of Trans ID card. If I had such a thing, I’d turn it in.
My recent work for The Advocate, where I was the first transgender editor on staff, reinforced in my mind on a daily basis that I was trans. It wasn’t ordered, but I felt it was akin to a job requirement to represent the transgender voice in our work. Thankfully, I was hardly alone in providing that perspective. Yet it was impossible to separate myself as I have, ever since beginning life as a work-from-home mom whose kids call her “Dad.”
Now, I’m living a totally different reality. I am Mrs. Ennis, the woman of the house, a widow raising three children all alone. I earn next to nothing, but thanks to generous friends and neighbors, state assistance as well as a few odd jobs and part-time work from The Advocate, we aren’t starving. And I’ve made finding a new full-time job my new full-time job.
But every time I fill out a new job application, trust me when I say there’s no space to enter “transgender,” and I would not if there were. Because that’s not how I feel about me. And perhaps if more of us were to say to those who oppose our civil rights, “You can’t oppress me, I’m a woman!” Or conversely, “I’m a man!” it would then change the dialogue from “religious freedom” to discriminate to a matter of self-determination.
This is an argument rooted in our American history: our right to liberty, equality, and to self-determination.
And all women, as guaranteed by the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Just as women like Susan B. Anthony and so many others fought for suffrage, I demand my equal rights. Not special rights, nor tolerance, is what I’m after. I expect nothing short of acceptance, and equality, in hiring, housing, and all matters of business and public accommodations. I don’t want separate bathrooms any more than Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King or Malcolm X favored rest rooms, drinking fountains and lunch counters for “colored people.” Don’t mistake my analogy as equating the civil rights battles for people of color with the oppressed members of the LGBT community; they are separate and while analogous, very different struggles that need to be respected on their own merits.
What I wish would happen, though, is that more Americans would see that discriminating against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender men and women and gender non-conforming individuals is just as wrong as that terrible time in which skin color determined destiny. Sad to say, we haven’t even truly escaped that time. Sadder still, women earn only a percentage of what a man makes in 2016 America. And statistics on domestic violence show one in three women are victims of some sort of physical violence: an American woman is assaulted or beaten every nine seconds.
With those kinds of stats, why would anyone want to be a woman? Well, I didn’t decide to become one; I decided to stop pretending I wasn’t one. And you’ll have to take my word that finally living as the woman I am is a superior existence to a lifetime pretending to be a man.
Today I stand proudly as a woman, even if I am one who was assigned male at birth, and I don’t ask that you recognize me as one.
Because I am, and that is enough.
New Year, Old Luck
January 3, 2016 March 24, 2016 / Dawn Ennis / 2 Comments
PLUNK!
The sound was unmistakable. Despite it being a relatively quiet noise, this New Year’s Day event some 14 hours after we watched the ball drop on TV jarred me awake from my afternoon nap faster than any alarm could.
I grabbed my earbuds that now draped over the edge of the bed and pulled, quickly, hoping I was not too late.
And then there it was, the earbuds plug still attached to my dripping wet iPhone.
Turns out I had taken the device out of its OtterBox just before I fell asleep, and of course I left a nice, cool cup of water in perfect position for my personal disaster. If I had for some reason decided to toss the phone and aim for the cup, I probably would never have hit the mark in 1,000 tries.
The next steps are no doubt familiar to those who’ve learned the hard way that modern mobile devices enjoy a bath about as much as the Wicked Witches of the West: the bowl of rice, the waiting, the joy of seeing it light up once again only to learn the damage to the screen prevented me from unlocking the phone and saving what had not yet been backed-up.
This experience made me wonder if maybe New Year’s is something like an automatic data backup: we collect all our memories of the year just ended, and we save them in the hard drives of our minds… then move on.
And my friends, it is time for me to move on, too.
I am on the cusp of a huge upheaval in my personal life.
NO, I AM NOT DETRANSITIONING.
Sheesh. Really?
For the first time since moving to Los Angeles in 2015, I’m stepping forward into the spotlight in a new way:
This week, I’m covering the premiere of a major project in the realm of LGBT entertainment, and next week (fingers crossed) I’ll be putting questions to the most famous transgender woman in the world.
And in less than three weeks, I’ll be in Chicago for a huge conference that will mark my debut as a panelist and a speaker on the subject of LGBT journalism.
On top of all that, for the first time since 1981, I’ve been presented with an opportunity to revisit my past experience as an actor, something I swore I’d never do again. Lastly, somehow, I’ve attracted the attention of two filmmakers who think people might want to spend their valuable time watching me on their screens. And I’ve said yes to both, with the stipulation that their projects will benefit all transgender folks, and maybe me, too.
For the first time since 1998, I have a new cell phone number, with a 310 area code. My longtime 914 number, like the phone, is dead and gone.
For the first time since 1996, I am single.
For the first time in my life, there is a man with whom I am spending time, and yeah, before you ask: yes, he knows. The rest is private, and let’s just say we’re only starting to get to know each other.
While that brings me joy, what is topmost of mind is my family back home. My children still hold the center of my heart. Their mother is struggling, and she’s made it clear it’s no longer my place to ease her burden, as much as I have tried. You know me, though: I’m not done trying, not by a long shot.
But in my mind I’ve shifted my efforts from being Wendy’s main support, to supporting our children, as it should be. They come first.
The film, the guy, the woman on the Malibu mountaintop, even my work… they all come after my obligation to my three lovelies, just as my own needs must take a backseat to the kids who make my life worth living.
Luckily, thus far, they’ve survived multiple dunkings of water and emerged no worse for wear.
Buckle-up, friends. No doubt the road ahead will be bumpy.
And, uh, you’ve seen how I drive.
Over, and Out
December 28, 2015 March 24, 2016 / Dawn Ennis / 1 Comment
Tell me, dear
What do you fear?
It’s all so new.
I’m not the same
As I was before:
Same old score.
Endures, love does
Finds new ways.
Forgets what was,
Starts new days.
You’ve already won
This place in my heart.
Yesterday’s done
Can’t we just start
Over?
Thank you, but please don’t wish me a Happy Mother’s Day.
May 9, 2015 / Dawn Ennis / 2 Comments
While there are among my friends many who identify as moms who were assigned male at birth, I’m just not one of them.
Today, I shared some of these thoughts with a friend who’s in the same position. As I have told anyone who wishes me “Happy Mother’s Day”, or refers to me as “your mom” to my children: it’s not that we wouldn’t love being moms.
For whatever reason, God didn’t make it so I could conceive, carry and deliver a child… which is something I have wished for all my life, even before I acknowledged my true gender identity. When I was almost four and my sister joined the family, I decided I wanted five children, and it crushed me to find out I couldn’t bear a single one.
Almost as much as the fact she wasn’t able to play ball. “What good is she?” I asked my parents. A few decades later she delivered two beautiful girls into the world, now young women I love almost as much as my own children. I miss them so, and pray we reconnect long before they themselves become moms.
And I pray to God to reconnect me with my own mom, who has passed along the message: “I gave birth to a son, not a daughter.”
I think of motherhood as a miracle, as proof of a woman’s strength. For every woman who becomes a mom, whether she does so biologically or through the selfless act of adoption, that woman is connected with their baby in a way only a mother can. That’s the main reason I surrender any claim to being my kids’ mom. They have a wonderful mom already, and in our case, just the one.
I have witnessed firsthand how this amazing woman delivered three of our four children into the world. I weep for the one who did not thrive and was lost, but rejoice for those whose very existence is a gift from God, and I am blessed to have had a key role.
Lots of dads have become moms, and I’m not referring to transgender people here; whether it be the result of death or divorce, some of the best dads I know have taken on the mantle of motherhood as best as they could, out of love for their children. And you know what? They are among the best moms I know, too! And to my trans friends who identify as moms, I understand and embrace you as you see yourselves. I love you for taking on the mantle of being your children’s moms, and I know they are doubly lucky to have you!
As for me, I think of it this way: God, in helping me find the confidence to be who I truly am, gave me the most wonderful gift: fatherhood is not bestowed universally to all men. I am indeed blessed, in more ways than I can count, as I bear no greater title than that of “Dad.”
I will never be rid of it, not even after I die. I have often repeated the words of my youngest son to his questioning friends who tried to convince him that he now has two moms.
“Nope. She’s my dad.”
So, to all those who identify as moms, Happy Mother’s Day, and I look forward to accepting your good wishes come Father’s Day in June!
Mind = Blown
March 15, 2015 March 16, 2015 / Dawn Ennis / 1 Comment
Today is my last day in Philadelphia for #LGBTMedia15, the convening of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender journalists and media folks from 23 states, and one from Nigeria!
Today the gang enjoyed a private tour of the Free Library of Pennsylvania after one last brunch. My flight home is in four hours and I’m packing up, not just my clothes… but my memories and what I have learned that I did not know. Here are ten:
The struggle of bisexuals for acceptance. That 70% of bi folks are women. That they are too often lumped-in with gays and lesbians because people don’t “get” them or judge them or don’t want to know what it is that makes them happy.
The fear of HIV hasn’t truly gone away and how modern medicine has made advances that in the 1980s would be the equivalent to the discovery of penicillin but because of fear and association with “the gay disease” the mainstream media and famous names keep their distance from hailing this breakthrough. It is keeping people alive who would have died, like my uncle did. Like my cousin did.
That LGB journalists are as interested and motivated to fight for transgender civil rights as my trans brothers and sisters are. They understand — or want to understand better — our struggle, that we need their support and that we need it now.
I was able to meet, hug and get to know many of the wonderful people whose names I’ve seen online, and for them to get to know me a little, too.
That a transgender woman with an incredible platform to educate our society has given aid and comfort to those who would want trans kids excluded from sports activities and deny every trans man and trans woman the right to use the bathroom of their true gender. It’s abominable what she has done and an apology is not sufficient; she simply needs to stop talking about things she doesn’t understand.
How awesome my friend Brynn Tannehill truly is. I’ve admired her for years and got to see her in action in person at this event. She’s the whole package, folks: smart, sassy, cute, well-spoken and passionate about civil liberties, the trans community, her family and her comrades who serve and have served our nation. And she’s a scholar of all things Hogwarts, Game of Thrones and the dwellers of Middle Earth.
The generosity of people like Bil Browning, Jen Christiansen and Adam Pawlus, and their amazing ability to listen, to help, to encourage and facilitate our work.
Diversity is not the right word to describe our assemblage: a salmagundi of smart, sensitive downright sexy people. We have had divergent experiences but share a single goal. I think instead of diversity I will start to use the word multiversity.
I learned a lot about Philly’s history of LGBT advocacy and met some of the most treasured members of our community: our elders, who we need to not only salute but save from poverty and homelessness.
And I also heard some very sad stories from those I was blessed to meet here, about work, love, life and their struggles to survive in a world that rejects them.Edit
I leave Philadelphia energized to make a difference.
I am empowered. I am strengthened. I am motivated.
I’m also hungry, and just got an invite to lunch, so bye for now!
Oh — before I go: please do me one favor, dear readers: be nice to someone today, even if they don’t deserve it.
Ha, Me Boys
March 11, 2015 March 14, 2015 / Dawn Ennis / Leave a comment
They are eight years apart and the best of friends.
They are roommates and clones in some ways, and nothing like each other in other ways.
One is strong, tall and burly — nothing like me — while his brother is short, skinny, and so strong in ways I only wished I was.
The big kid is a red head, with his mother’s eyes and wooly hair. He is 16, a math and science whiz who can both sing and play an instrument, and he is now learning to drive. And God help him, he’s learning from me (I will someday devote a blog to how I came by the nickname “Crash Ennis”).
The little one is getting bigger every day, his blond curls turned a light brown and straightened, an impish grin adorning an almost-always dirty face blessed with my father’s hazel eyes. He is 8, described by his third grade teacher at today’s parent-teacher conference as “the class clown,” and every bit as hyper and as intensely sensitive as I am told I was.
Make no mistake, the Brothers Ennis are very much my sons.
And I, a woman, am their father.
Let’s allow that to sink in for a moment, while I reassure you: they saw it coming for years, they dealt with it each in their own way, and they, with their sister, have seen a therapist. They were fine with it before, they’re fine with it now… and, they are doing well in school and at home, apparently unaffected by my transition. They love having me back home, as I do.
Okay, so you’re wondering, how can a woman raise two boys to be men? Aren’t they at a disadvantage? Wouldn’t it be better for them to have a “real” father who is a man, who can teach them manly things? Who will be their male role model?
Step back — hold on: how many women in the world have had to raise sons all on their own, without a man? How many women in the history of civilization have carried the burden of bringing up a boy without the benefit of being one?
In truth, I see my transition as a bonus for them, in that my boys will benefit from my experience as a boy, as a man, as a woman, and as someone who can help them understand the difference in ways their mother might not.
I hope to show them the way to being a mensch, a path to manhood that helps them grow as decent, dependable, loving and loved individuals who respect women and understand that difference in a way their peers might never experience.
They would surely need a “real father” to raise them — and folks, that is who I am.
Transition didn’t erase my memories of seeing them enter this world nor my responsibility in helping them navigate it. I didn’t forget what it was like to grow up, to date, to live 40 years as a male. My transition, as their mother often says, is not merely mine, but theirs, too.
The extrovert who in his pre-teen years was bullied because his dad looked different is now much more introverted. Yet we still talk sports, we revel in our shared love for competitive reality television and he doesn’t hesitate to let me know he loves me, or to show it, even when he’s mortified that I exist. Is there a teenager on earth who isn’t embarrassed by his or her parents?
The singer/dancer/standup comic who cried when I came out and mercilessly mocked me for looking “weird” when I first appeared as my true gender now tells me I look pretty and holds the door for me, saying “After you, ma’am” and was the first one of the kids to declare to me on a car ride one day long ago: “Dad, you know what? I think you’re transgender.”
He also told his buddies, who insisted he now had two moms: “No, she’s my dad!”
I’m not saying this stuff doesn’t add a whole lot of extra topping on an already full plate: mom is Jewish, dad is Catholic, mom works in their school and knows all their teachers while dad works from home and always seems to be around, both grandfathers are dead and both grandmothers are out of sight in faraway Florida. Their house is tiny compared to most of their friends, they know we struggle to support them, and they are partners in our mission to live on a budget.
But underscoring all of the drama surrounding my transition was the fact all of my children never stopped loving me, and they accept me for who I am without judgment. There can be no greater gift for someone like me, and it is because their mother wants me in their lives that this is possible. I have no words to describe how grateful I am that this is the case, for it is not as common as it should be.
How will I raise two boys to be men? The same way I set out to: hopefully a little better than my dad raised me, to turn out hopefully a little better than I did. I think almost every father hopes for the same: to carry forward the good lessons and spare our children the things we wished were not part of our experience growing up.
Lest there be no doubt, I don’t wish my boys to be anything they don’t want to be, nor anything they are not. Everything seems to point toward them being healthy (thank you, God), smart, creative, heterosexual, cisgender males. That’s fine, and I’d say the same if they come to me someday and say, “Dad, I’m gay.” Or whatever. My only wish would be that someday they’d say, “Dad, I’m happy.”
My youngest often rallied to my side in the once-frequent arguments between (now) same-sex spouses, interjecting without any cue from me, “Dad can’t help being who she is. It’s not fair to treat her different, just because she’s transgender.”
And I would often reply, to him: “Life isn’t fair, buddy. But thank you.” And to she who was my wife: “Even he sees it. Please, stop.” Too often we broke that cardinal rule: never, ever fight in front of your kids.
I once asked my oldest boy, how could I have faced him, years from now, if he found out I had deferred or denied my truth to shield him from possible ramifications; how would he react if he learned I had not been true to him about who I was, as I counseled him to be true to himself? What kind of father would I be if I did not show him by example what it means to follow your dream and make it happen, even when that dream looks to others like a nightmare?
He got it. He confided in me that day how much he had concealed from me, how he hated what my transition had done to our family — meaning my marriage. He held me, hugging me, crying intensely, as he told me he loved me no matter what, and supported me as I am. And I told him I felt the same as he did about the consequences, but to not blame either his mother nor me for what was. “There is no fault in being who you are,” I told him; each of us, meaning his mother and I, finally accepted that, after a long time. And our family is better off because of that.
It remains my eternal hope that someday I can say, quoting the wise words of my friend and mentor, Jennifer Finney Boylan, “…having a father who became a woman has, in turn, helped my sons become better men.”
The title of this blog is from a lyric by our family’s favorite band. To learn more, watch and listen to this song by “Great Big Sea:” “Lukey“
Wow. Six!
Today marks six years since I decided to blog, to try to explain to friends — and to myself — what this journey is all about.
2009 seems like forever ago.
It was before the first iPad. Obama was still new at the job. Conan O’Brien was about to become host of The Tonight Show. People watched American Idol and Simon was still one of the judges. I lived and worked in Florida as a guy named Don.
But I was struggling both physically and mentally, and a year earlier I had made my first appointment to see a gender therapist. I didn’t believe her when she told me I had “gender identity disorder,” what is now called “gender dysphoria.”
I asked and received artificial male sex hormones to try to rebalance what I suspected was the problem, but all that did was make the problem worse. My body converted all that extra testosterone into estrogen.
I was a hormonal mess.
Here I am, six years later, and I rejoice in having survived the trials and tribulations of my long transition. What started as part-time exploration with the help of a therapist eventually led me to my own truth.
This weekend, I’ll be joining dozens of other LGBT journalists and media folks for LGBT Media Journalists Convening 2015, a conference about the work we do, sponsored by the National Lesbian Gay Journalists Association and made possible through the generosity of the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. fund.
It’ll be my first convention of this kind, and I am nervous about what to wear, how to style my hair, and just meeting folks. It will be great to finally put a face to all the names of folks I’ve considered colleagues and friends for so many years, and I so desperately want to make a good impression given the fact my infamy somewhat precedes me.
I can’t do anything about that, really. I am going to learn, to listen, to share ideas and to make connections. And hopefully, to have fun.
I obsess a little more about looks than others because, I’m not where I want to be weight-wise — And I know, so few women are. And because my hair is my own — I paid for it — but it’s just not the same as all the lucky folks who didn’t go bald in their 20s.
I’ve learned how to crimp, how to use a flat iron, how to tie it back and I’m picking up other tricks, too… but I don’t have that resource every natal woman I know had: a mother or friends who taught them this stuff when they were young. I do have some experience at makeup and style thanks to my rather unusual occupation as a child model and actor. But it’s not as much as I need when it comes to hair.
Mostly, I learn by trial and error; the “heat wave” we’ve enjoyed the past few days with temperatures above 40 teased me into rolling down windows while driving. Not the smartest move by someone whose long flowing locks temporarily blinded me.
But I learned a lesson.
I’ve stocked up on tiebacks and bobby pins and somewhere I have a headband. And double-sided tape is my lifesaver.
Had I thought about this a decade ago, I could have been eligible for a hair transplant, but that’s not who I was. I couldn’t care less about going bald, having long ago accepted it was my lot in life and put up with the jokes and what-have-you. I wasn’t even tempted to get a toupee or plugs or a “hair system” — which one friend told me came off at a most inopportune time, during lovemaking. Nor would I consider that “spray-on” hair that I myself witnessed run down the face of a follicly-challenged reporter live on TV during a steady downpour. It looked like he was taking a bath in brown goo.
So my wig and I will wing our way to Philadelphia on Friday the 13th (good thing I’m not superstitious), and I will be Tweeting, Instagramming and updating facebook — hashtag #LGBTMedia15 — as well as updating this blog, for it is my ticket to the big event. I hope you’ll find my updates interesting and feel free to interact with me as questions or comments arise.
So Long, And Thanks For All The Nietzsche
February 6, 2015 February 6, 2015 / Dawn Ennis / 4 Comments
Just a short post to say “thank you” to everyone who took time to read my commentary at The Advocate and/or my expanded post here, about all the hype surrounding Bruce Jenner. Of course, the very clever friend whom I call my Jiminy Cricket saw right through me, as I seized this opportunity to not only comment on that media maelstrom but the one that befell me, as well.
Putting those words out there, telling my whole story, is something I have wanted to do for the longest time. Something I was told I couldn’t do and then didn’t dare do, before now. And I’ll admit I can now at least say I did get to tell my story. Book, schmook; I am following the wise advice of a certain Barnard professor I know, who told me to live my life and write about it later.
Anyway, I am grateful for the love and support I’ve received thus far, and yes, even the feedback that wasn’t all positive, because I appreciate honesty. Most of all I cherish the new friendships I’ve made as a result of sharing with y’all.
Now begins my last 24 hours here in Georgia. Soon enough it’ll be time for me to pack up and head out. I’ll be trying to beat the latest snowpocalypse that’s bearing down on the Northeast. Last time I checked, yup: February. It snows in February in the Northeast. So… in other words, that kind of wintry weather is “normal?” Okay! Just an observation.
And on my way, I’ll need to pick up a new pair of sunglasses that won’t leave a unibrow mark on the bridge of my nose, like this not-cheap pair I purchased at Sea World Orlando at Christmas time. While everyone’s making a big hullaballoo about protecting killer whales and dolphins from exploitation by evil amusement parks, where’s the outrage over nasty sunglasses leaving black marks that make me look like Bert from Sesame Street? Sigh.
Barring any unforeseen developments, like a job offer — hell, I’d detour just to have a job interview — I’m headed home, to my children, and will deal with the other consequences that will most certainly arise. Ahem.
But be assured, dear ones, I will be back, to share more thoughts and stories and emotions and some pictures now and again. Until then, as my dear friend Rick always said: “Be Good.”
Why We Need to Listen to Bruce Jenner
Note to my readers: This is an expanded version of what first appeared on Thursday, February 5th, 2015, as an Op Ed for The Advocate Magazine:
These days you can’t turn on the TV or go online in any LGBT social media space without seeing three words together:
Bruce. Jenner. Woman!
It’s not only in outlets that traffic in “celebrity” gossip like TMZ and InTouch Weekly — which had the balls to Photoshop a cover image of Jenner to look more feminine; even legendary, respected sources of industry news can’t help but jump on the bandwagon that transgender stand-up comedian Tammy Twotone dubbed “Bruce Jennifer.”
People magazine’s latest headline loudly proclaims to its 3.5 million weekly readers what all those “anonymous sources” are all to happy too report, despite the fact that Jenner himself has never addressed long-standing rumors about his gender identity.
Even Variety, the storied bible of Hollywood insiders, boasts its reporters have learned “E! is developing a docuseries following Bruce Jenner’s ‘journey,’” and that “the head of publicity at E! [is] planning a meeting with GLAAD about how to handle such a sensitive subject.”
E!, of course, already pays Jenner to star as the often reclusive patriarch on the family reality series, Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
Lest the gossip remain solely the purview of entertainment media, mainstream outlets are jumping on the speculation brigade, too. A representative with ABC News reportedly confirmed to BuzzFeed that Diane Sawyer is finalizing an agreement to host Jenner for a sit-down interview to be aired during the crucial May sweeps rating period.
Then the Associated Press circumvented Bruce Jenner altogether on Wednesday and called up his 88-year-old mother for an hourlong conversation. The reporter asked how Jenner had come out to her. “It was brief,” she said, “and I said I was proud of him and that I’ll always love him. I never thought I could be more proud of Bruce when he reached his goal in 1976, but I’m more proud of him now. It takes a lot of courage to do what he’s doing.”
Well, that’s it, then, right? Done deal? All that’s left is for Bruce Jenner himself (or herself) to make it official.
But this is my point. And it’s not mine alone — it’s shared by my colleagues at The Advocate and other leading LGBT publications: We don’t know how Jenner identifies until Jenner tells us.
We at The Advocate have made the choice to wait for confirmation, denial, or whatever it will be from Jenner and the representatives who are actually authorized to speak on behalf of the former Olympic athlete. The Advocate has not been able to get E!, Jenner, or the star’s agent to confirm anything — or even comment on the record.
Is Jenner transitioning? We really don’t know. When we do, we’ll let you know.
But, damn it, People magazine, even if you’re right about Jenner’s plans, here’s a tip: No one “transitions into a woman!”
The ignorance and misinformation about this subject galls me, given the fact that GLAAD has a very easy-to-understand lexicon available online, and experts on gender identity can be found in nearly every metropolis on earth — many of them transgender. Reporters cannot plead “we didn’t know” in their own defense anymore. I mean, come on: Have you heard of Google?
Apparently, it’s time for a crash-course for those unfamiliar: transition is not a “journey.” It’s a very long, Tilt-a-Whirl, summit plummet looping roller-coaster free-fall drop, Tower of Terror ride that, at best, ends with a person feeling better about themselves, employed, in their residence, and accepted by most friends and family. Too often, trans men and women get only one of those — or none.
When it is said a person who transitions “passes” in public as the gender they are presenting, that is seen by some as an achievement, and by others as reinforcing damaging gender stereotypes.
To me, the significance of passing is a personal preference, but let’s be frank: Even the most progressive, LGBTQ-allied cisgender (nontrans) people cannot help but comment to those of us who transition “how much prettier,” or “how handsome,” or, my favorite, “how much happier” we are, once we are living true to ourselves.
It’s a compliment, to be sure, and usually well-intentioned. And in my case, I agree: I am prettier; I am happier. But being trans is not just wearing clothes that match our mind-set. It’s about living and being accepted as the gender we know we are.
I did not “transition into a woman.” And I think a new, better explanation for this thing we do is needed, given all the attention Jenner, Janet Mock, Laverne Cox, Chaz Bono, and little ol’ me have received.
My favorite view is from scientist and global businesswoman Carol Holly, who posted last month on Facebook:
I don’t believe that it’s possible for people to change gender. You can’t deny or change what you are.
Gender transition as we know it is really gender *presentation* transition. You stay what you always were, your body is allowed to conform to your soul, giving one the liberty to relax and be ones-self.
Not even all the surgery, hormones and therapy in the world can turn a man into a woman. And even attempting it can be deadly.
For this reason I say, “I was always a woman.”
Being cast as a girl in commercials and catalog ads didn’t make me one, and the birth control pills I took as a teenager didn’t make me trans. The hormones I take now don’t “make” me a woman. I am one. I’m a transgender woman.
Before I could say that, I would get physically ill, and I twice contemplated suicide. Then I realized what I needed to do to live was to stop pretending I was a man.
And so I did, with the support of the love of my life and my children.
But unlike most other transgender folks, I was made aware of what thousands of people thought about my transition, my looks, my “lifestyle,” and how I “abandoned” my family.
No, I’m not a reality star, but the unanticipated and unsolicited news coverage of my transition in 2013 transported me from anonymity to the front page of a New York City tabloid. Shock jocks, YouTubers, and cable TV personalities made me the butt of their jokes; reporters hid in bushes outside my home, ambushed my children on their way home from school, and asked my neighbors what they thought of “the tranny next door.”
Having to keep the children indoors on a summer day to hide from paparazzi parked outside one’s home is not something most transgender people ever endure. And about the only thing worse than having your picture on the newsstands and all over Google is seeing a segment on HuffPost Live featuring your “friends” titled “The Don Ennis Controversy.”
Of course, to celebrities like Jenner and the Kardashians, that kind of attention is not only commonplace, it may even be desirable. Pictures boost publicity, which increases ratings, and ratings translate into riches.
My 15 minutes of fame, however, translated into the loss of my good name and my reputation, and the end of my 30-year career in broadcast journalism.
I can only plead to the media to consider that there is a real person at the center of this frenzy. As someone who used to assign journalists stories for a living, and whose gender transition ironically became your assignment, I beg you to choose your words more carefully.
Focusing on clothing and makeup — as if trans women are drag queens or clowns — dehumanizes us all and trivializes what it means to be a woman. Speculating about surgeries is no more fair to us than strangers asking you about your hysterectomy, colonoscopy, or prostate exam. When someone decided it was my turn, your cameras and blogs and puns magnified my every mistake, for all to see and mock.
Nobody, not even me, knew how deeply someone suffering a seizure and amnesia can be affected by that. In July 2013, three months into living full-time in my true gender, I suddenly had no memory of being trans, and so in my delusion I renounced it in an email to colleagues and detransitioned, and that triggered an even bigger tsunami of negative publicity.
The fact is, detransition happens, even if it’s brushed under the rug. And because it goes against the positive narrative, it is considered taboo. Detransition aids our enemies and perpetuates the myth that we who say we were born this way are just pretenders, that we can be “cured,” or live as we once did through crackpot ideas like reparative therapy. I myself was used as “proof” by anti-LGBT zealots like Matt Barber and Michael Brown that being transgender is something you choose, that can be un-chosen, or that having amnesia is a cure for gender dysphoria. No, it’s not.
I know of more than a few transgender people who have consciously opted to detransition, even after gender confirmation surgery.
Because of family pressure, or unemployment, or just unhappiness, they abandoned their adopted presentation, quietly, out of the spotlight, and were able to do so because friends and family supported their detransition as “normal;” to them, being trans was “abnormal.”
At least one post-op transwoman now lives as a transman. Go figure.
But here’s the thing: he’s still trans. Detransitioners are still transgender, but for many that means back to living in the closet. And in my experience, that is a far worse fate. It is to live a lie. They deserve our sympathy and support.
Given the headlines, I can better understand now why so many transgender people turned on me and treated me as a pariah when I detransitioned, because I, too, cringe at all the speculation about Jenner’s alleged transition, and how it may in turn hurt all of us who are trans. As Dana Beyer, the Executive Director of Gender Rights Maryland, wrote in 2013 about me, “public behavior can be easily misused to pathologize the rest of us.” She was right.
I say now as I have told anyone who will listen: I was under a delusion that took time to heal. I didn’t invent an illness to escape a successful transition; I was diagnosed, treated, and recovered — and was horrified to discover all I had worked for had been undone during my delusion. I was further in the closet than I had ever been. I’ll admit, I am a very creative writer, but even I could not have dreamed-up that much melodrama. It was a living nightmare.
Luckily for me, once the delusion ended and my memories fully returned, I resumed my transition in secret in hopes of avoiding a third round of headlines. Eventually I lived part-time, and then fully reclaimed my authentic identity. Over and over, I’ve turned down the chance to tell my story to the TV tabloids, so they can show me fixing my makeup or choosing which dress to wear, just to prove I am who I say I am. My gender is defined by my brain, not my bra size.
At the very least, media attention to details like boob jobs, nail polish, hairstyles, and tracheal shaves undercut our genuine attempts to present ourselves as authentic. Even trans men are not immune from harsh judgment. The public’s fascination with transgender identities — a curiosity about people like Jenner — drives gossip, sells papers, and draws page views.
Gender dysphoria is real. Hormone replacement therapy helps. Living authentically is the only true solution to gender dysphoria. I know.
Even considering my own negative experiences, it’s not my place to speculate what Jenner may or may not be going through. I do, however, recognize the fear that comes with being talked about, trying to avoid stumbling in front of the whole world, as you undergo the biggest change in your life since puberty.
I’m confident that sooner or later the whole world will hear from Jenner about this. To those looking in from the outside, you cannot imagine what it’s like being in the position where transition is the only way to live.
To Jenner and all those who live authentically, here is something even the media frenzy cannot take away:
The feeling you have when you are all alone, and you look in the mirror and see your true self looking back at you, and you feel for the first time that sense of self-esteem, self-worth, and love for your true self that until that moment had only been a dream.
My hope for Bruce Jenner is to experience that, without a camera recording it.
DAWN ENNIS is a blogger at LifeAfterDawn.com and media correspondent for The Advocate. She was the first transgender journalist in a position of editorial authority at any of the major TV networks in the U.S. to transition on the job.
Plan B from Inner Space
February 4, 2015 February 4, 2015 / Dawn Ennis / Leave a comment
I’m scared.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not “terrified, freaking out, what the hell?!?” kind of scared.
Not “uh oh, the fuel gauge is on E, I wasn’t paying attention and there are no gas stations for miles, only the sounds of banjos playing” kind of scared.
Not “where did I leave my baby/dog/keys/purse/eyeglasses” kind of scared (but don’t you just HATE when that happens?).
Not “the test is today and I didn’t study” kind of scared.
Not “I can’t for the life of me remember what I was supposed to do and I’m in trouble for forgetting” kind of scared.
Not “Freddy Krueger is in the house and I’m hiding in a room with only one way out and no closet nor windows” kind of scared.
Not even “I’m watching the original Poseidon Adventure movie and I’m 8 years old and I’ve only seen Disney movies with princesses and talking animals” kind of scared.
(That’s a real thing by the way. I’m talking nightmares. for weeks).
So, back to my point: I’m scared but not for the seven reasons named above or anything relatively ordinary.
I am scared because for the second time in one year, I find myself without a plan. No Plan A, nor a Plan B.
So don’t even ask me about Plan C. Ain’t happening.
As Commander Adama used to say on the rebooted Battlestar Galactica (man, I miss that show), when he wanted a very brief explanation of everything in short order and just the highlights: “SITREP!” That’s short for Situation Report.
The fact he doesn’t even bother saying all the syllables and just barks “SITREP” always impressed me. I thought, “That is so cool. Like a BOSS! Just says two syllables and everybody stops to give the old man the low down. Cool.”
So here’s my “SITREP:”
I need a full-time job and a place to live (in that order, preferably).
My unemployment money is running out, probably right around February 14th. Valentine’s Day.
I have already moved five times in 20 months: first to Danbury, then back to West Hartford to convalesce after a seizure, and then back to Danbury, then to East Haven…
Then, last summer I moved to The Bronx(it’s at the top of the map; you know, “The Bronx is up and the Battery’s down!” No? Fuggedaboudit)…
And now I am in Marietta, Georgia.
My roommate here in Georgia, who took me in after I realized I could no longer afford a New York City apartment without a New York City salary, is moving out. Our lease is up February 14th. Once again, Valentine’s Day. And that’s fitting, because she’s in love, which is wonderful. She and her boyfriend are moving in together, and I’m very happy for them.
So, her moving out of this spacious two bedroom furnished apartment means I am, too. I don’t earn enough to afford the rent by myself, I didn’t find anyone to be a roommate and, frankly, it’s a little too dark here for my tastes. But it was home.
And now I’m not sure where to go. My dream is to go to my real home. Where my kids live, with their mom.
She’s the reason I don’t live there now, and she’s the reason I had to leave our home on May 1, 2013. I didn’t want to. But I certainly wasn’t about to kick the mother of my children to the curb, and she couldn’t live with me as I am.
And I am living as I am. There is no going back, no more than you’d ask a butterfly to wear a cocoon because you liked her the way she used to be.
I’m blessed to have had offers of help, a room, a couch, some money, and prayers which mean more to me than anything.
But I need to find a job. As much as I know I have to find a place to live, I must find some kind of job before the benefits run out and a bad situation gets worse.
A few hours ago, I got a text about my youngest son, age 8. He opened the fridge door and asked his mother, “where’s all the food? You need to go get some. I’m hungry!”
His mother didn’t share this to make me cry, but how could I not? My little boy is hungry and sees clearly that we don’t have what we used to. We’ve made it this far on the generosity of friends, through trips to the food bank and the occasional paychecks I collect for doing my two part-time jobs, and from her jobs as a teacher in a public school and at our Sunday school.
This cannot continue. I cannot draw money from our severely limited funds to rent another apartment, and yet I know returning to our humble home will make life difficult for at least one of us in this strained, almost 19 year marriage. That, too, must end (once we can afford a divorce), because the butterfly must go on flapping its wings.
Last night, I dreamed I was that free, to fly where I wished. I was nothing special, and yet that made me feel so wonderful: I was welcome in the clouds among the flying things that didn’t care whether I could always fly, or had just learned how to.
I dreamed of soaring over the heads of my children, seeing them looking up at me, laughing, filled with joy, my own face grinning at their smiling faces, and knowing the love they felt for me could rise up into the sky to touch my faraway heart.
I dreamed that this was not a dream, but a wish fulfilled. One that allowed me to descend into a careful, deliberate and smooth flightpath, sticking the landing in a wonderful hangar where I could do what I do best.
With my wings, I painted on a blank, electronic canvas all sorts of fanciful ideas and songs and spiritual, soul-enriching concepts, which in turn filled a cauldron of edible emotions and fermented barrels of liquid ecstasy, as a calliope of words filled the air.
And when I awoke, it was not with a bright smile, but to face a dark truth: I do not have a safe place to land. I cannot fly where I wish, and I am not accepted in the way I wish I could be.
Most importantly, and to the point of why I am so very, very scared: I do not know what to do next. I can’t stay. I can’t go home. I don’t know where else to go if not home. I can’t get my bearings, and damnit, I need to find my bearings.
“A good producer always has a Plan B,” I often said. “And a really good producer has a Plan C, too.” I can easily hear my old voice saying those words, over and over in my 30 year career in the broadcast television news business. I was a good producer. But right now, fuggedaboudit: I don’t even have a Plan A.
What shall I do?
On Sunday, I received a priest’s blessing (I’m a recovering Irish Catholic). The week before I did penance, after making my confession. I’m all ears, God. Anytime now, Let me have it! I’m here… okay, ready! Are you there, God?
[CRICKETS]
Sigh. Must be talking to Margaret again.
Well, for right now, my plan is to go to bed.
To sleep, perchance to dream (oooh! I so wish I could take credit for that!) and to wake up tomorrow giving thanks for another day.
Like Bonnie Hunt, I guess I just have to take this One Day At A Time.
And maybe, in a few days, maybe I’ll find out whether dreams really can come true.
Me, the Pope, Two Guys Named Benedict and the late Alan Turing
December 1, 2014 December 1, 2014 / Dawn Ennis / 1 Comment
Sometimes I hate the fact that I have a Google setting to alert me whenever someone has written about me. It is both a blessing and a curse.
I received yet another alert today, the first in months. I’m writing this to help me deal with the effects of that alert. While lessened, these kinds of things still cause me great distress, even at this late date. Fortunately, I’m a lot stronger now than I once was.
I will not provide you a link and ask you to not bother googling it yourself, because I don’t want this blogpost to become a conduit to give my critics page views. Suffice to say: a priest overseas wrote something about one of the bravest men of the last century, Alan Turing, whose life is the subject of a new film starring actor Benedict Cumberbatch (I loved him in “Star Trek Into Darkness”), This priest drew comparisons to Turing’s cruel prosecution for being gay, and the ordeal of my seizure, amnesia and subsequent involuntary detransition, to express his opposition to a gender identity bill in his native land. That country is pictured below, if you care to guess.
Far be it from me to ever consider myself worthy of comparison to the hero who ended WWII, with his Enigma code-breaking machine and his brilliant mind. This priest did rightly condemn the mistreatment of Turing and others like him… then, a few words later, to make all trans folks look like lunatics and to make his point, he invoked both Pope Emeritus Benedict, Pope Francis… and the New York Post. In fact, he quoted liberally from that seedy tabloid’s fabricated account of my experiences.
Last time I checked, being trans in America now and being gay in post-war Europe are not at all similar. And even if you’re not an American you ought to know better than to quote The New York Post.
It seems “The Don Ennis Controversy” as the Huffington Post once labeled it, is an albatross that will stalk me long after I am dead. And the truth is, it really isn’t anyone’s business. I am not a public figure, and never was.
All that matters now is that I am me, and I am just one of many trans folk whose transitions were not smooth (even though mine admittedly started out better than I could have ever dreamed).
The really awful part of my transition was that it occurred under a spotlight, which I did not seek nor do not want to ever repeat. I didn’t ask to be famous, infamous or notorious. I hesitated even writing about it for fear some bozo will say “look! She’s seeking attention again!”
No, I’m complaining that my rights to my privacy are being violated, again.
Why can’t they just leave me alone? Seriously, I think I may need to vanish to make that happen.
Siri, Google: “abracadabra.”
Remember Them, Not Me
November 20, 2014 November 20, 2014 / Dawn Ennis / 1 Comment
Today you may notice a lot of stories online and in the media about transgender people, like me.
That’s because today is TDoR: The Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day dedicated to honoring the lives of those we lost because of violence, ignorance, hatred and because living was just too hard.
Their names, and their faces, are HERE.
Look at them. Scroll through. There are so many from all around the world.
Among the general population, the average rate of attempted suicide or serious consideration of suicide is estimated to be about 2-to-3%.
But for transgender people, researchers say it’s 41%. No, not 4.1%. Forty-one.
This year I became one of the 41%, and I can thank my friends and my kids that my name will not be among those read tonight. My eight year journey is finally on the right track, and heading in the right direction… although, to be fair, this train of mine could afford to shed some of the extra baggage that’s accumulated over time. Still, these are better days for me.
Not so much for others. In the last few months, transwomen of color have been killed at an alarming rate; one group estimates a transgender woman is murdered every 32 hours somewhere on our planet.
My children and I will stand up tonight at the Metropolitan Community Church of Hartford, and light candles in remembrance, and join others around the world in a call for an end to the hate. Find a gathering near you HERE.
October 3, 2014 October 3, 2014 / Dawn Ennis / 2 Comments
Who can lift my fallen spirit with just a story
What turns my sad heart glad is her smile.
When I need her, she is but a keystroke away with kindness
Where my soul lives, she’s willing to walk the mile.
Why would I turn to anyone else when I’m in trouble
Because no one knows me as she does.
Because she is my friend, and I am hers
And I wish that would be how it always was.
In days gone by we had different names;
Perhaps time is what made us who we are.
I can’t say for certain what it is that connects us,
But my friend is my friend no matter how far.
We say good night, and we part with a joke
Something of a smile to carry us on our way
The worries will fade, along with my sadness
Tomorrow, she reminds me, is another day.
To live.
To pray.
To laugh.
To forgive.
To forget.
To start.
To take.
And to give.
I’ll begin by giving thanks to God, for my friend, Janine D’Alessandro Ferren. ❤
September 29, 2014 September 29, 2014 / Dawn Ennis / 4 Comments
Today, I remembered, with the help of a hefty pitcher of mango margarita and long conversations with a longtime friend, that it’s not just the last few years that I had to survive as someone who people knew of, or knew about, or recognized, rather than to be known as an individual. Starting in grade school and continuing on through high school, it really wasn’t until I was in college and finally experiencing natural puberty that I truly was able to make a first impression without someone already having formed an opinion of me.
All because I was a child model and commercial actor.
I thought it was cool, fun, and it helped support my family. But that changed the moment a certain bully cornered me and asked, rhetorically, “What makes YOU so special? Why are YOU on TV? Why’d they pick YOU?” I remember standing there, my back to the brick wall in the stairwell leading to McCloskey Auditorium, connecting St. Anne’s School and the church, sweating, frightened, not knowing what to say.
This was 40 years ago. I was in fifth grade, just ten years old. “I dunno, they just did,” I stammered.
“‘I dunno'” the boy parroted me, raising his pitch mockingly, getting laughs from the gathering crowd, as he grabbed my tie with his right hand and moved his clenched left fist closer to my face. “How about I break your nose? Not gonna be on TV then, are ya, Ennis?”
My first thought: my mother is gonna kill me.
Not that I’d be in pain, or bloody, or that I would have to live the rest of my life with a broken nose; no, the fear that filled my mind at that exact moment was how angry my mom would get over the fact I somehow managed to have my nose broken by this overgrown escaped convict masquerading as a classmate. And he was right, a broken nose would surely cost me my career.
How many ten year olds do you know who’ve experienced panic at the thought their career might be over? I had spent six of my ten years, pretty much as far back as I can remember, working as a model and commercial actor. And it was all about to end in a big, painful, and no doubt very costly punch.
I decided it was time for action. And that’s when I came up with my plan. But I needed to time it just right.
So, I stood there, defiantly, not answering his taunt, except to take my index finger, and slowly tap the bully’s right fist that held my clip-on tie with his GI Joe Kung Fu Grip… and I drew an invisible line from his fingers to my nose, tapping my nose twice. As if to say, “Here it is. Give it your best shot, tough guy.”
But I didn’t say that. I was too busy watching his eyes change in exactly the way I imagined a bull would look if shown a red cape.
Exactly the same, I am sure. And those eyes were close enough for me to see my own petrified reflection against the wall. And our ears rang with the chant that almost always accompanied a bully — is there a union for bully chanters, or perhaps a roadie-like experience? There should be.
“HIT HIM! HIT HIM! HIT HIM!” chanted the chanters.
He pulled my tie tighter, I watched him clench his left fist, and as it sprung from its coiled position toward my nose, I dropped like a ton of bricks and didn’t look back.
I imagine I must have heard the impact of his fingers against the bricks, the scream of anger, agony and rage as he looked at the clip-on tie still gripped tightly by his other hand, and had I turned around I’m sure I would have seen the almost certain disappointment on the faces of the chanters.
But I was focused only on the stairs that I was running down, toward the door that leads outside. A few more steps, and I’d be —
“STOP HIM!”
The chanters had turned the page from two-word repetition to two-word command, directed at anyone else in my path.
I went for the door, my hands extended to hit the bar that would spring it open. And it did not. It would not, no matter how hard I pushed, not with two boys on the other side holding that door shut.
A tall glass door, glass covering every inch except in the frame and hardware that made it operate. I stared at the four hands pressed up against that glass, and to this day I cannot recall the faces… just those hands.
I turned in panic, as a bloody fisted bully with my tie wrapped around his bleeding fist came barreling down those same stairs I had just scooted… and he was headed right for me.
There wasn’t any option left. I needed to escape. It wasn’t just my nose that was at risk this time. I pounded on the bar to open the door, on the glass, on the frame, with my fists, with my body, and finally with my feet.
I kicked, hard… and that’s when I heard the sound that should have meant freedom.
The glass in the door shattered: some of it cracked, some fell in, some fell out, but the bottom line was: Ennis broke the door.
“ENNIS BROKE THE DOOR!!!” screamed the chanters.
What came next was a surprise. The bully turned, and ran, and everyone followed his example. Their allies on the outside, the chanters, the bystanders, anyone and everyone cleared out so fast, you might have thought I had farted.
I stood there, tieless amid the glass shards and tiny pieces, and within seconds of the foyer becoming void of children, in flew the nuns. They didn’t hear the chanting, the punching of the wall, the screams to stop me or the taunts that had started this entire ugly episode. No, what they heard was glass breaking, and what they saw was what others surely told them: Ennis broke the door.
And no, my mother was not mad, despite the call to come get me, and meet with the principal. She was not mad, having avoided my nose being broken; but she still berated me for coming so close to “risking everything.” Actually, it was my father who was pissed that I hadn’t thrown the first punch, or taken the punch and fought back, or tried to, or did anything other than run, and break school property that we now had to pay to replace.
I share this memory because it’s a reminder of a time when I felt so despised, ridiculed, bullied and mistreated… just for being me.
It’s sad to think there are still people in the world who feel that same way about me, even now, just for being me.
But instead of sadness, I feel so wonderful… to have found love, kindness, acceptance and good ol’ simple friendship and respect, here online and out in the world. Then, and now, I’m going to be me, like it or not.
And I’m learning, slowly, what I now must do is learn how to break glass ceilings, instead of doors.
RT @outsports: Get a sip of this week’s @TheGAMEDAYTEA with @DGilTM and his guest, pro out gay rugby player @DevinIbanez https://t.co/buQ… 6 hours ago
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Learn (https://learn.inn.org/managing-brand-around-mission-wisconsin-watchs-experience/)
INN Learn: Home > Managing Brand Around Mission: Wisconsin Watch’s Experience
Managing Brand Around Mission: Wisconsin Watch’s Experience
As it was entering its second decade, the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism refreshed its branding in 2019 to reflect a renewed commitment to its mission.
The effort began when the nonprofit was chosen to participate in the Facebook Local News Membership Accelerator Program. Cofounders Andy Hall and Dee J. Hall decided to deal with an identity issue: People were confused about their name, since they were known variously as Wisconsin Watch, WCIJ and The Center.
Nearly a year later, Andy Hall, executive director of Wisconsin Watch, and Emily Neinfeldt, membership project manager, reflected on the rebranding in an interview with Sarah Vassello, INN engagement specialist, for INN’s Amplify News Project.
Hall said that while the name of the organization is still Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, “We will be emphasizing the name Wisconsin Watch to identify our news reports and overall investigative reporting that’s produced by our journalists.” The center has a broader mission including training current and future generations of journalists and helping the public understand the role of investigative reporting to inform the citizenry and strengthen democracy.
But for consumers of that investigative reporting, Hall said, “Wisconsin Watch is much easier to say, much easier to remember — and it also says what we do. We’re keeping a watch on our state to hold power to account and we’re investigating problems as well as solutions.”
Here’s how the rebranding happened:
Starting Point: Understanding its brand required thinking about how the organization was communicating to the public about its role in the community and its sense of purpose. “We started off with really some deep thinking about our organization’s mission statement and values, things that our staff and board had already put together over the past couple of years,” Hall said. “That became the basis for thinking about the visual approach in the logo that would support the center’s efforts to reach the public.
Logo Redesign: A firm hired with the Facebook grant money, Traction Factory, helped examine the organization’s values and role and proposed multiple pages of potential logos, some far different from the magnifying glass logo used since 2009. But after talking with staff and longtime supporters, the center decided on an updated logo that retains an image of a magnifying glass keeping watch over Wisconsin while adopting bolder colors to demonstrate dedication to bold investigative journalism.
“Part of our research process involved spending time on the INN membership page where everyone’s logos are displayed and we thought a lot about what we find appealing in a logo,” Hall said. “Some of our early versions included more complex visual elements and we finally decided in this case, simplicity is the most powerful.”
Market Research: The Center created a 10-minute online survey, which was emailed to newsletter subscribers and promoted on the website and social media, to find out how its audience perceived the organization. The survey was modified from one borrowed from The Texas Tribune, and the center is willing to pay that favor forward by sharing its version with other INN members.
Beyond the Logo: The rebranding extended beyond just rolling out a new logo, Neinfeldt said. “We’re making a lot of changes to our newsletter and having other conversations about our website. I think this process has given us a chance to really think critically about how we’re doing everything that we’re doing and improving it to be the best it can be.”
Why It Mattered: Although news nonprofits don’t have the kind of resources that major corporations put into branding, Hall said the effort was worthwhile. “Our journalism falls short of its potential if it doesn’t reach the public,” he said. “The journalism cannot continue if the public fails to support the news organization by first reading, watching, listening to the news but then engaging with that news coverage and at some level, financially supporting it. The branding is an essential element of financial sustainability.”
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LA County adopts nation’s most ambitious regional sustainability plan
LA County adopts nation’s most ambitious regional sustainability plan https://lacounty.gov/wp-content/uploads/Capture.png 868 451 COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES https://lacounty.gov/wp-content/uploads/Capture.png August 6, 2019 August 9, 2019
This video provides an overview of how the OurCounty Sustainability Plan was developed.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors today unanimously adopted the OurCounty Sustainability Plan, the boldest, most comprehensive regional approach to sustainability ever issued by a county in the United States.
The plan, drafted over the course of two years with the help of nearly 1,000 community and expert stakeholders from every part of the County, sets forth an ambitious agenda that promises to transform the region in the years and decades ahead.
Recognizing the urgency of existing regional challenges and the climate crisis, the plan aims to uphold the Paris Climate Agreement by creating a fossil-fuel free Los Angeles County within the next three decades. It includes nearly 160 health-focused strategies centering on communities that have been disproportionately affected by environmental pollution for decades.
“At its heart, this plan is both a call to action and a commitment to future generations,” said Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, who, with Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, sponsored the motion to create the County’s Chief Sustainability Office, which led to development of the plan.
“This is our unequivocal statement that climate change is real, and that our County will not stand around waiting for the federal government to wake up and create the policies and programs needed to address it. By taking this leadership role, we are positioning the County to move our region into a greener future and advance the effort to reverse global warming,” Kuehl said.
“Our most marginalized communities have suffered the brunt of impacts from pollution and greenhouse gas emissions for far too long. Today is a new beginning for a sustainable L.A. County,” Solis said. “This plan takes a bold and broad approach to making the County not only more sustainable, but it will also expand economic mobility and improve health outcomes for workers, families and all County residents. We will work with our cities and other partners to implement these goals so that we may realize a more equitable L.A. County for current and future generations.”
Take a 90-second animated tour of the plan’s highlights:
“The OurCounty Sustainability Plan charts a path forward to not only confront climate change and pollution, but to do so in ways that also address other challenges, like traffic, the housing affordability crisis, and longstanding inequality,” said Board of Supervisors Chair Janice Hahn. “We don’t have to choose between clean air and good jobs, or between investing in a greener economy and an economy that works for everyone, or even between preserving local ecosystems and building abundant housing that our residents can afford. These false choices force us to think small when the real solutions are so much bigger.”
“This Sustainability Plan takes a strategic approach to improving the health and quality of life in communities across Los Angeles County,” Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas said. “The demand for more affordable housing, well-paying jobs, healthier living, and clean and green transportation are all intertwined. Collectively, we must pursue bold and holistic strategies if we are serious about prioritizing the sustainability of our region.”
Unlike other sustainability plans, the OurCounty plan is unique in its regional focus as it moves to confront a wide range of environmental, social and economic challenges.
Overall, OurCounty proposes to make Los Angeles County a more equitable, prosperous and resilient region in the years ahead. The plan’s goals and milestones include:
Powering unincorporated areas and County facilities with 100% renewable energy by 2025
Increasing urban tree canopy coverage by 15% by 2035
Diverting more than 95% of waste from landfills
Developing land-use tools to limit new development in high climate-hazard areas
Phasing out single-use plastic by 2025 to ensure a cleaner ocean and less landfill waste
Cutting back on imported water by sourcing 80 percent of water locally by 2045
Ensuring that all residents have safe and clean drinking water, and that rivers, lakes and the ocean meet federal water quality standards
Leading efforts to make sure that at least 65% of new housing is built within 1/2 mile of high frequency transit by 2035
Supporting construction of more than half a million affordable housing units by 2045 to improve public health and community sustainability
The County will not be making these changes alone, but in concert with the region’s cities and residents.
“Our future depends not just on the County’s actions, but also on the 88 cities of Los Angeles County stepping up to the plate to collectively help achieve the strategic plan’s vision for sustainability,” said Chief Executive Officer Sachi A. Hamai. “We look forward to building and growing these partnerships as we work toward common goals on behalf of all the communities we serve.”
Gary Gero, the County’s Chief Sustainability Officer, credited the many groups and individuals who brought unique perspectives to the plan.
“Before a word of the plan was written, we undertook an in-depth public engagement process that recruited groups who do not typically focus on environmental issues to fully participate as architects of the plan,” Gero said. “The results were remarkable, and we are so grateful to all who participated. As a result of their efforts, Los Angeles County will be guided by an equity-centered document with nearly all the content born out of community ideas about what a sustainable region should be.”
The County’s Chief Sustainability Office is charged with overseeing implementation of the plan and will report annually on progress. Keep up with the progress or download a copy of the plan here.
Follow us and engage: @CSO_LACo and @CountyofLA and use #OurPlanYourPlanet and #OurCountyLA hashtags
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Bugaboo Spire, Northeast Ridge
Tags amusement outdoors
As we have done for several years, Larry Sverdrup and I set out to do a new climb this July. Larry is quite an avid outdoorsman and his pet project for many years has been to climb as many as possible of the climbs in the book 50 Classic Climbs (which is affectionately, and nowadays rather accurately, known as 50 Crowded Climbs). Larry and I did our first 50CC climb together about 20 years ago (East Face of Mount Whitney, (5.4)); over the past two decades, he’s ticked off about 30 more, including routes on El Cap and Half Dome. My own pet project is tagging along whenever he does one that I have a chance of making it up without dying, which is a fairly tight filter. I’m at about 3 or 4 right now, and between his continued climbing and my continued aging, the number of remaining possibilities has become downright minuscule. The plan for this year was to follow up last year’s successful climb of Mount Sir Donald (5.2) with the Northeast Ridge of Bugaboo Spire (5.7) in the Selkirks of British Columbia.
A side note on climbing ratings. Technical roped climbing is graded on an open-ended scale that starts with 5.1 and currently tops out at 5.15 (the “5.” just means that it’s roped climbing). Nowadays, anything up to about 5.7 is considered “easy”, 5.8–5.10 is “moderate”, and 5.11 and up is “hard.” But these designations are somewhat relative; 5.7 or 5.8 is about the limit of what I can do, which means that in modern climbing terms, years of skill and practice have brought me to the upper ends of “easy.”
We met up at the Spokane, Washington airport in the evening after work, hopped in the rental car, and set out on the roughly 7-hour drive up to the small town of Parson, BC, which was, according to 50CC, the turnoff for the dirt road to the trailhead for our climb. About 1:00 am we pulled into a motel in Cranbrook, halfway to our destination, caught some sleep, then set out the next morning to go the rest of the way, arriving in Parson about noon.
According to the guidebook, a turnoff in Parson would lead south 20 miles on a dirt logging road, where we would meet up with Bugaboo Creek, then continue on more dirt road another 14 miles to the end of the road, where we would find a parking lot and trailhead. Parson is little more than a wide spot in Canada Highway 95 with a single turnoff heading off to the southwest, so that was pretty obvious. The turnoff quickly turned into well-compacted dirt, which we followed into the wilderness. Just as the odometer turned over to 20 miles, the road reached and began paralleling a creek, which was obviously Bugaboo Creek, and we headed up the valley alongside it. As we crept up on 14 miles, the valley opened out, providing a sweeping vista of a trio of snow-covered peaks, including a dark, forbiddingly steep-sided pyramid in the center, which we deduced must be Bugaboo Spire itself!
14 miles came and went. As we got up to about 16 miles, the logging road, which had been heading up the valley, took a wide, sweeping turn across the creek and valley floor and began angling up the left wall of the valley, but now heading AWAY from the peak. This elicited a bit of discussion with Larry as we drove: I was worried by the fact that we were obviously heading away from the peak, Larry was fairly sure that we were just circling around the hill that we were climbing up and would eventually turn back toward the peak we had seen. As we drove farther and farther up, the road became narrower, muddier, and more rutted, until it was no wider than the car. Even if we’d wanted to turn around, there was no room to do so, and we were now far beyond the supposed 14-mile mark with no parking lot or trailhead in sight.
Presently, we reached a wide, muddy spot that had been bulldozed out of the side of the mountain. As I drove into it, the wheels sank to the hubcaps; I could feel them slipping and catching in the muck and I made the executive decision as the driver to pull a U-turn without stopping until we were back on the narrow (but drier) single-track facing downhill. Larry was somewhat upset with me, arguing that we were “practically at the top.” Which was probably true, but at the top of what? I argued that this road couldn’t possibly be correct; if this was the road and this climb was really so popular, we’d have seen signs of more cars (like, stuck ones) along the way. We compromised by agreeing to go back down to the sweeping curve at the 14-mile mark and trying one of the unmarked turnoffs we’d seen that seemed to be heading in the right direction, back up the valley toward the dark pyramidal peak.
Once we got back to the turnoff we’d agreed on, we headed up it; this, like the last logging road, climbed steeply, but it was at least climbing in the right direction. After about 100 yards, the road was crossed by a berm and a ditch that had been dug at right angles across the road for drainage, which the rental Toyota Camry duly bottomed out on. Another 50 yards brought another berm/ditch combination and another bottoming-out; and again in another 50 yards. After about 7 or 8 of these, a pattern started to emerge, a pattern writ as large as the liability loss/damage coverage I had declined back in Spokane. We stopped.
Another small argument ensued. We agreed that the car couldn’t take much more of having its bottom gouged by the berms, and it was going to take only one well-placed rock to douse the Canadian wilderness in oil and/or gas and leave us high and dry. Not to mention that since it was becoming more and more clear that we were not on the well-traveled road to Bugaboo (we had in fact seen no sign of human life for a couple hours) we would be facing a 50- or 60-km hike back out to the main road. Furthermore, as we tried to figure out what to do, a few other small tidbits of information started knocking against my forebrain. First and foremost, according to pictures I’d seen, Bugaboo Spire was a fin of pale granite, but the peak we had seen was (a) dark, not pale, and (b) a distinct Matterhorn-like pyramid, rather than a fin. In fact, it sort of reminded me of Mount Sir Donald from the previous year. But I knew that Mount Sir Donald was at least 50 miles north of Bugaboo, so that couldn’t be. Unless….
We eventually decided that since arriving at Bugaboo Creek (which we’d only inferred was Bugaboo Creek, never having actually seen a sign) nothing had agreed with the description in 50CC, and there was nothing to do but to retrace our steps back out to the main road and seek further information from the locals. Which we did, taking somewhat over an hour to go back out the dirt logging roads (we were now 40 miles in).
Once out at the main road, we stopped in the local Forest Service office (which was one of maybe 3 buildings that constituted the town of Parson) and asked the ranger the route into the Bugaboo trailhead. “Well, you want to drive about a half hour south of here to Brisco,” she said, “then take the southward turnoff there….” So much for the accuracy of 50CC’s approach description. “So this turnoff in Parson isn’t the way?” I asked. “Well, not to Bugaboo,” she said. “But if you follow it really far back, you eventually get a really good view of Mount Sir Donald!”
We fairly flew back down the road to Brisco (which we had passed on the way up), stopped at the Brisco general store to pick up a map of the local logging roads, then headed out on the road now clearly marked to Bugaboo Provincial Park. 45 kilometers later, we pulled into a clearing, obviously the trailhead, filled with cars and SUVs, all wrapped in sticks and chicken wire.
This we had been warned of. It seems the local breed of porcupines have developed a taste for fan belts, radiator hoses, and tire rubber, and anyone leaving a car overnight risks all three. Our doughty little rental Camry had survived berms, mudpits, and about 120 miles of potholes already; we weren’t about to sacrifice it to the rodents of British Columbia, so we gathered some loose wire and stones and swathed her up. We dubbed the trailhead ‘Fort Bugaboo.”
Fort Bugaboo.
Needless to say, our adventures in the Parson wilderness had put us a wee bit behind schedule. In fact, it was 5:00 pm by the time we shouldered our packs and headed up the trail. Fortunately, the days are long in late July in BC, and although we had 7 km and 700 m of elevation gain ahead of us, we still stood a good chance of getting to our destination before sundown.
The trail started out flat, then rose steeply, which is putting it a bit mildly; as one guidebook says, “this is the steepest grade I’ve ever seen in a regularly-maintained trail.” But it is well-maintained. In places, there are steps cut into the rock with cables installed for handrails; at one spot, two aluminum ladders lashed together provide the means for ascending a small cliff. Along the way, we passed two porcupines making their way back toward Fort Bugaboo, no doubt looking forward to a tasty snack later that evening.
Heading for the snack bar at Fort Bugaboo.
Dusk found us in sight of the Kain Hut, a backcountry hut used as a base for hiking and climbing in the Bugaboo range. The hut is perched high on the flank of the valley, at the base of the bowl formed by the peaks of the Bugaboo range: Snowpatch Spire, Bugaboo Spire, Crescent Spire, and more.
Left: Bugaboo Glacier and the Hound’s Tooth. Right: The Kain hut at dusk.
Apologies for the darkness of the photos; it was about 8:00 by the time we got to the hut. Our destination was not there; it was the Applebea’s campground, a km or so up the trail and a few hundred feet higher in elevation. Applebea’s is a backcountry camping area located on a broad, flat saddle on the edge of the bowl formed by the Bugaboo group, overlooking the Bugaboo glacier. We pulled in just as the sun was setting, dropped our packs, and headed off to pump water. By the time we were done, it was 10:00 pm and full dark. So we’d made it to camp just in time; on the other hand, we hadn’t really gotten a good lock at the camp and its surroundings in the light.
(Note deft use of foreshadowing at end of previous paragraph!)
As we lay in our bags, we discussed the plan for the climb on the morrow. Bugaboo Spire is, according to Larry’s guidebooks, famous for bad weather in the afternoon, and we were strongly recommended to be off the climb by 2:00 pm, when the afternoon thunderstorms roll in. But was that Pacific Time or Central Time? And do the thunderstorms observe Daylight Savings Time? Although the forecast was for clear weather in the general area, the Bugaboos create their own weather locally, and we eventually decided that to have every hope of avoiding the possibility of storms, we would set our alarms for 3:00 a.m. to begin the hike across the bowl to the base of the climb.
When the alarm went off at 3:00, it felt like it had only been a few hours since we dropped off to sleep. This was probably because it had only been a few hours since we dropped off to sleep. We lay there for a few minutes in the dark; when it became clear that mental energy was not going to transport us to the base of the climb, we crawled out, pulled our packs on, switched on our headlamps, and started making our way across the moraines and snowfields to the northeast col, which loomed above us. As we walked, we talked about the day. If we were done by 2:00, said Larry, we might want to try the Beckey-Choiunard route on South Howser Tower, another nearby climb on Larry’s tick list. South Howser Tower is rated 5.8 — one grade higher than Bugaboo Spire — and, according to the guidebook, is typically done over two days with a bivouac halfway up. I was a wee bit skeptical that we’d knock it off in the afternoon, thinking that Bugaboo would likely be challenge enough.
By about 4:30 a.m. it was light enough to see without headlamps, and we presently climbed the snowfield to the base of the ridge, arriving just behind two other climbers who had come up from the Kain Hut. Although the guidebook had described the ascent to the ridge as a “scramble,” it appeared to be a fairly loose, vertical scramble, and we roped up for two pitches of 4th-class climbing up to the ridge. We then followed the ridge, bypassing a small snowfield and ascending a low-angle crack up through a band of dark rock to a ridge on the shoulder of the peak, where the climb proper began.
Left: The view from the col looking up the route. The crack running through the dark rock from the top of the snowfield is still part of the low-angle approach; the climb proper begins at the dark/light boundary above. Right: Robert ropes up.
By this time it was about 6:30 a.m., and we had already climbed 4 roped pitches (albeit easy ones) before we even officially started the climb. The two climbers we’d met on the way up had gotten to the first rope-up before us, so we waited on the ledge as they started up the first pitch of the climb. As we waited, we saw 3 more climbers making their way up the ridge below us. It was looking like it would be a fairly social climb.
While perusing a topo of the climb, I’d noticed that most of the hardest climbing was on the odd-numbered pitches, and I generously allowed Larry the honor of taking the first lead (5.7). It certainly looked challenging; the first move off the deck required surmounting a small overhang (see below). Larry deftly bypassed the overhang on the left, then traversed back to the right and headed up the main crack system, following a set of cracks and flakes with good handholds, sharp edges, solid placements, and generally great climbing.
The start of the climb. The visible climber is near the top of the first pitch. Pitch 2 follows the broken system of flakes up to the left.
Larry got to the top of the pitch, tied off, then belayed me up as I strenuously followed his lead. There were plentiful holds, but a lot of liebacking (a move in which you push with your feet and pull with your hands to follow a vertical crack), and I was huffing and puffing by the time I pulled onto the ledge.
The next lead was mine. Rated 5.6, it followed a set of vertical flakes jutting out from the wall. There were numerous holds, but required a lot of pinching of flakes sticking out, as opposed to sticking one’s hands into cracks. I got to the top of the pitch, put in protection, and belayed Larry up. When he got there, he said, “well, I saw a rappel station, so if we have to rap off, we can do it from here.” It still being only about 8:00 a.m., I thought that retreat wasn’t quite looming on the horizon, but it was good to know that we could if we needed to.
Actually, pretty much after every pitch, we had a little discussion about the weather, or lack thereof, or possibility thereforward, and the eventual need to rap off. Larry and I have a bit of a history of disparity in the rate at which we get concerned about bad weather; I tend to convince myself that the billowing blackness heading toward us is a mere wisp that will dissipate before it arrives, while Larry gets nervous if two water molecules in the sky get within hailing distance of one another in the same time zone. On our first trip to Mount Sir Donald, Larry kept up a constant chatter: “ooh, I don’t like the looks of this…that cloud looks iffy…I’m worried about how that one is growing…” to the point that I wanted to throttle him, at least until the lightning started hitting the ridge above us, at which point I grudgingly admitted he might have a point and we beat a hasty retreat. But on this climb, the sky was blue, the day was warm, and the clouds were light and fluffy,
Larry took the next pitch, a 5.7 diagonal traverse that bulged out above my belay station. At the top of the pitch, he belayed me up. (“We can rap from here if it starts to turn bad.”) The next pitch was mine; it was described as a “classic 5.6 crack,” which involved more classic 5.6 liebacking (huff, puff). Larry sped up to join me, then we paused to take stock.
The view looking down the “classic 5.6 crack” toward the approach ridge.
Larry was concerned about how long we were taking: it was about 10:30 a.m., and the magical 2:00 hour was less than 4 hours away. According to the topo, we’d done 4 pitches and had 4 more to do. But also according to the topo, the next 3 pitches were chimneys rated only 5.2, and could supposedly be “simul-climbed” (i.e., moving quickly with minimal protection). The last pitch appeared to have one 5.7 move at its end – another roof – and so we figured we could make up some time and be off the top by the witching hour, and decided to move on.
Larry took the first chimney pitch, which, for a 5.2 pitch, sure contained a lot of 5.4 and 5.5 moves. He then belayed me up. (“If we have to retreat, we can rappel from here.”) I then took over the lead for the second of the supposedly easy chimney pitches.
At this point, the chimney deepened to about 2 m deep. When faced with a deep chimney, the climber has two choices; you can go deeply into the chimney where you are assured of finding handholds and footholds and things to press against, but very little room to maneuver; or you can stick to the outside edges of the chimney where you have all the room you need but you’re gambling that there will be enough holds on the face to hang onto. Which there may not be. Now, whenever I do a long climb, it seems like there’s always a chimney like this, and inevitably, it seems, I get suckered into going deep, getting wedged in, and thrashing about like a man in a straightjacket. On this climb, we were wearing full daypacks with crampons and ice axes strapped to the outside of our pack (for the eventual glacier descent), creating that much more opportunity to catch and snag on things in tight spaces. Not wanting to break my streak of poor chimney-judgement, I went deep, and almost immediately found that I was wedged in, unable to even turn around. Eventually, I wriggled out of my pack, climbed up and out of the chimney, then hauled my pack up after me, put it back on, and continued. Tired from thrashing and a bit disgusted with my poor choice, I finished up the pitch, and belayed Larry up. As he clambered up to the ledge, he said “I thought you might want this” and handed me one of my crampons, which I’d managed to thrash off in the chimney without even noticing.
At this point, it was a bit after 1:00 and Larry was in a state of high agitation. “We are NOT going to be off by 2:00!” he said. “We can still rappel off from here.” I pointed out that (a) the clouds around us had remained light and fluffy all morning and showed no sign of thickening, (b) we were supposedly only two pitches below the summit and the downclimb should go quickly, (c) I’ll be darned if I’m going to retreat in beautiful weather from the last pitch of a climb that I don’t want to have to hike/climb up to again! After a bit more discussion, he relented and we resolved to continue on, come what may.
Larry took up the lead and headed up the chimney again. This one was noticeably easier; as we approached the top of the fin, the angle began to lay back and there were more and more hand- and foot-holds out on the face, allowing one to stay out of the seductive chimney (“come on back! I promise I won’t do anything again! Don’t you believe me?”). I followed him up, took up the lead, and set out with some trepidation for the final pitch, which looked easy enough, but I knew that according to the topo, a 5.7 roof awaited at the top.
And so I climbed…and climbed…and eventually Larry called up “15 feet!”, which meant that I was out of rope, just as I popped onto a small ledge below a vertical headwall. So something wasn’t right about the route on the topo, because I had assuredly not encountered anything remotely 5.7-ish. But the important thing was: if there was a 5.7 roof, now Larry, not me, would get to lead it on his next pitch. As I belayed him up, I was joined on the ledge by the threesome. They’d originally started out below us, but while we were climbing up the 5.6 and 5.7 regular route, they were amusing themselves by doing 5.8 and 5.9 variations and passing us. We all arrived at the top of pitch 8 together, which turned out to be propitious because they pointed out how one traverses right around the headwall, scrambles up another 50′, pops over a small roof (the greatly-blown-out-of-proportion 5.7 roof), and scrambles up the summit ridge. So we did, Larry leading the 50′ technical part, then I ran out the rope along the ridge up to the north summit, Larry following shortly behind.
Larry on the summit ridge.
Once you’re up, you have to get down, and getting down from the northeast ridge on Bugaboo Spire entails traversing the entire ridge and descending the southwest ridge — also called the Kain Route (first ascended by Konrad Kain in 1916. This is a technical climb in its own right, but when you’re descending, you can rappel any steep bits. The ridge of Bugaboo Spire has two summits separated by a notch, and is basically a knife edge, broken up by spires and blocks that must be scrambled over and around. At one point, the experienced threesome pointed out an improbable traverse to get around one of the spires, in which you step across a 2000-foot dropoff onto what appears to be a blank face; but when you get there, there’s an almost-hidden undercling that’s like a little handrail, allowing you to cross the chasm easily. It’s not at all obvious from the start that it’s there, and I wondered who first had the idea of trying that traverse.
After a bit more traversing, we set up a rappel down to the notch between the summits. At the notch, the threesome told us they were going to climb back up to tick the south summit, and we could either follow them or traverse farther around to the descent. By this time, it was well after 2:00, and it was clear that no afternoon weather was rolling in, and Larry and I had fully switched roles; he was rarin’ to go for the south summit, I was totally exhausted and ready to continue down. But I could feel (or imagine) the contemptuous gaze of the threesome if I wimped out, so I relented and Larry led a pitch up to the top again along a series of parallel cracks. I followed. It was not nearly as hard as I thought it would be, until I got about 2/3 of the way up, when the two cracks thinned and moved far, far apart, creating a blank stretch for about 8 vertical feet. I could see that I could probably make it up with a strenuous lieback at 5.8 or so, but by this late in the day I didn’t think I had that in me. And then just when all hope was lost, I saw that I could grab onto the most remarkable rock formation, which was brightly colored, about 11 mm in diameter, and could easily have been mistaken for the rope if one weren’t sure it was rock, and with two quick pulls on this remarkable formation, I was over the crux and on my way up to the summit.
Larry on the south summit.
From the south summit, we started down the Kain Route. First came three successive rappels past the famous Gendarme, a spire on the southwest ridge that provides the most challenging climbing for those on the way up. By this time, the threesome was far ahead of us, but another pair of climbers had caught up to us and we shared a rope for the three rappels.
Left: Larry descending toward the Gendarme (partly visible under his left leg). Right: Three rappels later, looking back up at the Gendarme.
After the rappels, we bade farewell to the two climbers who went soloing on down the ridge; Larry and I started simul-climbing, which is basically like soloing but with a rope between you so that if you happen to hit a tricky bit, you can still put in a piece of protection. It’s safer, but slower, and the sun descended in the sky as we made our way down and around the spires and blocks of the ridge. At one point, we encountered a dropoff; fortunately, others had, too, and there were rappel stations already set up. After two short rappels, we continued down the ridge, reaching the col right at 8:00 pm.
Beyond the col, we still had to descend the Bugaboo glacier, cross the bowl, and find our camp, which we could see across the bowl in the distance. But now the sun was setting fast, so we crossed the ridge to a point where the snow came almost up to the ridge, strapped on our crampons, and prepared to descend.
A funny thing about a landscape of snow and rock is that when looking from afar, one has absolutely no reference for sizes and angles. What had looked like a gentle snow slope from high up on the ridge turned into what looked like a cliff once we were standing at the top of it. I was petrified. Halfway down the slope, I could see the bergschrund — a great crevasse that split the slope all the way across. If you ever lost your footing, you’d be going about 100 miles an hour when you rocketed into the crevasse – or so it seemed. Larry, who has a lot of experience on snow and ice, explained how we’d do it. You plunge your ice axe into the snow up to the head; take two big steps down the hill, planting your feet; pull out the ice axe, plunge it in a few feet further down; and repeat. As a mitigating factor, we were following a fairly well-trodden path down the slope. Nevertheless, it was steep enough that even though you were standing over your feet, your butt was still resting against the snow slope. (My butt was therefore getting soaked and cold, but that was the least of my concerns; avoiding becoming Robert the Human Bobsled took center stage in my thoughts.)
Plunge, step, step, pull; plunge, step, step, pull; down we went. It was dark before we’d descended more than a few hundred feet, and we switched on our headlamps. Plunge, step, step, pull; plunge, step, step, pull. (“Step, step, kick-turn!”) Slowly we worked our way down. Once or twice my footholds broke away and I was left hanging onto the head of my ice axe until I could kick new steps into the slope. Once we’d passed the bergschrund, I breathed a bit easier, and the slope started to ease off. Presently, we found ourselves at the bottom.
By this time, of course, it was completely dark. We still had to cross the bowl, which from on high had looked fairly featureless, but now that we were down in it, it had morphed into a crazy mass of moraines and snowfields running every which way. However, there was a fairly clear set of tracks heading away from the col and across the bowl; presumably, toward the Applebea’s campground, so we set out along them. Because of the mixture of moraines, snowfields, and small lakes, we frequently lost the tracks on the snow when we had to cross a moraine, but picked them up again — or ones like them — after the next snowfield.
But then came a fairly long moraine, and there were no obvious tracks on the other side. Some discussion ensued. Larry thought we were too high; I couldn’t offer anything better, and so we backtracked and descended, and picked up another set of tracks. This set ran for a while, then ended at a rising slope. I remembered that our camp was up on a bench; perhaps this slope ran up to the bench? Larry acquiesced, and we started picking our way up the slope through the boulders. As we climbed, it was looking more and more like our camp; there was the saddle where we got water, this would have been the way we’d started out in the morning; and thus it was exceedingly disappointing when we got to the top to find that there was absolutely nothing remotely familiar on top.
Another conference. Larry was all for climbing over the hill to the south, sure that our campsite was there. I was not so sure, which I hinted by stating “we’re lost.” By this time it was after midnight, and I pointed out that in four more hours it would be light. How about if we just hunker down and try to get a bit of sleep? We didn’t have our bags, but we both were wearing warm clothes, and the night was fairly warm (well, warm for a glacier at 9000′ in Canada, anyhow). Larry predicted that once we stopped moving, we’d be freezing cold in about an hour, but sure, that sounded as good as anything.
And of course he was totally wrong: it only took 45 minutes before we were freezing. My pants had not fully dried from the descent of the glacier, and by 1:00 am my teeth were chattering and I was wide awake. But to what a show! The northern lights had rolled in and the entire sky was on fire. Billows of light flickered across the heavens. We lay there watching the show, and then when we could no longer stand it (and my shivering threatened to destabilize the slope), we arose, pulled on our packs, and headed for the hill that Larry had identified as our next likely prospect. Naturally, it, too, revealed nothing in a campsite-y way, so we started traversing along the slope, picking our way through boulders and talus. But it became clear that we were nowhere near the campsite and might easily completely miss it stumbling around in the semi-dark. So we found another slightly sheltered spot on the slope and curled up for another half-hearted nap while the sky blazed above.
My pants had finished drying on the last hike, so I slept a bit longer this time before the cold woke me up. It was about 3:00 a.m., and Larry, too, was stirring. We sat for a while, wiggling toes and muscles, and scanning the bowl. We were fairly convinced that we had gone too high, but that gave us a good shot of seeing our camp somewhere down below us, if there was anything to see. Although it was still about an hour away from light, we figured that there was a good chance of seeing something that might give us a clue, and sure enough, the God of Weak Bladders looked down and smiled upon us; a headlamp flicked on in the far distance as some anonymous but blessed soul got up to go to the bathroom. Instantly, we were calibrated. Applebea’s camp was a few hundred feet lower, and about half a mile away, and we started picking our way down and across the slope. Before long, the silhouettes of tents and hanging packs loomed in the gathering dawn. We found our own, pulled out our bivvy sacks and bags, and collapsed, 26 hours after setting out for the climb. The last thing I remember saying was, “I don’t think we’re going to squeeze in South Howser Tower,” and was asleep before I heard Larry’s answer.
Left: the glacier descent from the southwest col. Our path angles down from the ridge to the right (the Kain Route), then disappears right behind the black pillar in the foreground. Right: Bugaboo Spire in the morning. The Northeast Ridge climbing route is the right skyline; the Kain Route descent is the left skyline. The Gendarme is barely visible on the skyline just below the south (left) summit.
We awoke about 8:00 a.m. later that morning, not having slept that much, but the sun was hot and the other campers were stirring. Slowly we packed up, pulled on our backpacks, and started making our way back down the valley. Whether from the climb itself, the glacier descent, or the night of wandering up and down, my quadriceps were totally trashed, and while I could easily walk uphill, I could barely keep my balance walking downhill. Unfortunately, we had about 3000 feet of elevation to lose, and I spent the next several hours taking baby steps down the mountain. But eventually, we got back to the car. The chicken wire and stones had successfully kept the porcupines at bay, and we loaded up and headed out for a well-deserved meal and rest.
amusement (12)
crease patterns (3)
diagramming (2)
monumental (2)
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Iranian Arms in Iraq
U.S. defense officials say that in Iraq, some one hundred and seventy coalition troops have been killed and over six hundred wounded by lethal explosive devices that were made in Iran. The officials say the devices were provided to Iraqi terrorists with the knowledge of the Iranian government. They also say that attacks using the devices have nearly doubled in the past six months.
At a briefing for reporters in Baghdad, U.S. defense officials displayed one of the devices, known as explosively formed penetrators, or E-F-Ps. Along with mortar shells and rocket-propelled grenades that were also displayed, the E-F-P had distinct markings that linked it to Iranian munitions factories.
U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack says "the Iranians are up to their eyeballs" in involvement in networks that are posing a deadly threat to coalition forces:
"I don't think your hearing much skepticism at all from any quarter except [Iranian president Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad that the Iranians are involved in these networks. The Iraqis say that they are involved in these networks, the Brits say that they are involved in these networks . . . .There's not a lot of debate about that."
What U.S. defense officials are saying, said State Department spokesman McCormick, "'Here is some of the evidence that has led us to these conclusions.'"
Anncr: That was an editorial reflecting the views of the United States Government. If you have a comment, please write to Editorials, V-O-A, Washington, D-C, 20237, U-S-A. You may also comment -- and view all our current editorials -- at the V-O-A Editorials home page: www-dot-voanews-dot-com-slash-editorials.
ກ່ຽວຂ້ອງກັນ
Bush On North Korean Nuclear Deal
U.S. Creates Africa Command
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Is the FCC already counting your money?
The ink is barely dry on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) “Net Neutrality” takeover of the Internet and the first of many predictions about government control appear to be coming true.
As FCC commissioner Ajit Pai warned before FCC chairman Tom Wheeler’s Internet power grab became “law”, bureaucrats within the FCC have been loosed on the Internet.
Their mission… their goal… their reason for being is to dream up new ways to break the rich Internet piñata and shake loose billions of dollars in new taxes and fees to fund “free” Internet access for favored Democrat constituencies, redistribute wealth and provide the FCC with the resources it needs to do both.
During a recent appearance on Newsmax TV and punctuated in an interview on radio’s “The Steve Malzberg Show”, FCC commissioner Ajit Pai revealed that:
“The president said…on WhiteHouse.gov, this is my plan and I’m asking the FCC to implement it. On the day the FCC took the vote on Feb. 26, the Democratic National Committee put out a tweet saying, Hooray! The FCC has approved President Obama’s plan.”
“Now, you cannot square those two statements from those two entities with the notion that the FCC was acting independently” Pai said. “The position I’ve taken is that this was a break from our traditional position as an independent agency.”
“Even if the president’s opinion was one among many, nonetheless, it’s hard to argue that his opinion was equal. Certainly, some opinions in this process were more equal than others.”
Stretching incredulity, Chairman Wheeler (appointed by President Barack Obama) testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform this past Tuesday that:
“I would like to be clear: There were no secret instructions from the White House. I did not, as CEO of an independent agency, feel obligated to follow the president’s recommendation.”
Expressing understanding but not approval, Commissioner Pai said:
“I have some sympathy for the chairman’s position having proposed something in May, having tried out an alternative in the summer, just to get blindsided in November by the president and ultimately having to buckle. It doesn’t speak well for the agency when we have these political considerations that are placed on us.”
With respect to new taxes and fees on Internet service, Pai said:
“They’re going to be a number of different effects over the coming months and years … Most immediately what is going to happen is that the FCC has now explicitly opened the door to an increase in the tax that is going to be placed on broadband.”
“I would imagine in the next month or two we’re going to see for the first time taxes placed on broadband bills. Your bill is going to go up. In the longer term, some of the more incidental effects are going to be a reduction to the amount of competition. Some of the smaller Internet service providers are going to find it more difficult to stay in.”
The rising cost of Internet use under FCC control will not stop with government imposed taxes and fees. These costs to consumers will be dwarfed by the states who are chomping at the bit to collect sales taxes Internet purchases.
Brick and mortar stores have long complained that consumers visit retail stores to “touch and feel” products only to go home and buy them on the Internet – sidestepping state and local sales taxes that could make purchases cost prohibitive.
Republican lawmakers are busy crafting legislation to nullify Chairman Wheeler’s “Net Neutrality” Internet power grab but the legislation will likely face a veto if it makes its’ way to President Obama’s desk.
In the meantime, Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) will have to settle for legal action and hoped for court injunctions to stop FCC control of the Internet from taking effect – resources that will not be available to innovate, invent and invest in new Internet technologies.
Government Agency Buries $8.8 Billion Loss at End of Fiscal Year Report
Tariffs: The Taxes That Made America Great
Cut Taxes for the Little Guy, Mr. President
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Photos: courtesy of the Hogea brothers
The Pepper smart kitchen scale, the brainchild of brothers Andrei (M.Des.+ M.B.A. ’18) and Mihai Hogea (M.D.M. ’18), started with a simple sketch of a scale, a carrot, and the Amazon logo, which Andrei had drawn for a course at Illinois Institute of Technology’s Institute of Design (ID) after he was assigned to come up with an idea for a Kickstarter campaign. A water sport accident that resulted in nerve damage to Andrei’s right leg also served as personal inspiration.
“I remember trying to use nutrition logging apps to stay healthy since I wasn't able to work out anymore, but I kept falling off,” Andrei explains. “That stuck with me when I was working on this class project.”
His solution, Pepper, uses a database to provide detailed nutrition information for approximately 10,000 ingredients by weight. It also uses Amazon Alexa voice activation to retrieve dietary information for each ingredient, streamlining the cooking process for people with special dietary needs. Users can reference recipes on the device, and the dietary information for their meals is automatically logged onto their phones.
“Normally, you have to guess the amount [of food], pull out your phone, type in a text search field, then choose from hundreds of options. That entire process is about nine clicks from what I've mapped out, which takes anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes per meal,” says Andrei.
Both Andrei and Mihai came to the ID to pursue master’s degrees after feeling stuck in their previous careers. Andrei worked in medical sales and wanted more creativity; Mihai was a trained industrial designer but was seeing “the ceiling” of the profession. Andrei began his dual-degree program in 2015, while Mihai began his design program two years later.
“Before I came to ID, Andrei would make a little prototype; I would build and print a housing and ship it to him, and he would put it all together,” recalls Mihai.
They both took the course [Introduction to] Observing Users, which informed a research-driven and human-centered approach to the development of their hardware and software. The pair created a stockpile of physically rough but functional prototypes in a space they affectionately nicknamed Nerd Corner. Some of the prototypes were used by people during the brothers’ research phase, which consisted of visiting users’ homes to understand their cooking and nutrition behaviors to determine how Pepper could meet or surpass their needs.
The Hogeas’ research reinforced that a hands-free approach to their device was crucial. It also informed their decision to add an LED ring around the scale that visualizes when a user has met the dietary goal for an ingredient, which makes seemingly opaque measurements much easier to understand.
“When people come home with a meal plan, they might be told to use a cup of this or 200 grams of that, or even 300 calories of something,” says Mihai. “With our technology a dietitian could upload a recipe to our device; there's almost no measurement or thought that goes into it at all.”
By the time the brothers graduated in spring 2018 Pepper was a fleshed-out idea with functioning prototypes behind it. Though the brothers initially had difficulty finding funding, a trip to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas the following year was helpful in gaining them project exposure and getting the Hogeas into two tech accelerator programs.
Andrei and Mihai have since created 10 alpha prototypes, which are as close to a final, marketable scale as possible. They will undergo user testing at Illinois Tech’s Institute for Food Safety and Health, among other places, which the brothers are optimistic will bring Pepper closer to launch.
“It still amazes me how far Andrei and I have pushed this over the last two years without hiring or overextending our resources,” says Mihai. “These prototypes represent a huge development milestone for us, as we can finally get them into the hands of the right people. To me, Pepper has never been a means to an end. It’s an ongoing experiment, a mechanism for learning, and an opportunity to build something cool with my brother.”
From Prototype to Product
The journey from a sketch to a fully realized product is not a simple one. Designers such as Andrei and Mihai Hogea must take a long, iterative approach to create useful and relevant products. In the process of creating Pepper, the brothers designed several prototypes to test with users during their time at the Institute of Design. Many of these were functioning and roughly made to test the performance of different functions, though there were non-functional foam prototypes representing different physical manifestations of what the end-product could look like.
Built to understand scale sensors, its function was simply to record and display weight values.
Able to take scale sensor data and weight values, this device sent the information to the internet. A phone was placed in a plastic housing that served as the display or hub for the scale. The weight of an object placed on the black box would be sent over the internet and appear on the hub.
This device integrated Amazon Alexa and was the first attempt at a voice-first nutrition database.
This was the “looks-like, works-like” device that went to the Consumer Electronics Show. It was hand-soldered and featured a redesign of the voice-interaction model.
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Mail from Moldova
Reflections as a Global Educator
Heritage International School
Global Learning & Leadership Events
Social Media – Photos and live updates from Moldova
Latest news from Twitter
2020, notes from the lighthouse
We made it and we are still here thanks to our whole school community; Hope, speranţă, надежда
May 31, 2020 June 29, 2020 Rob Ford
The owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the falling of the dusk.
“Congratulations, dear Robert!!! It is a really very very important activity the job your school is doing for our young generation, Thank you very much for such investment in our generation of new citizens, citizens of the future of the Moldova state. This is a very important model of education of our society. Thank you for encouraging parents of your people to accept your model of education, for recruiting the team you built, and for your great experience and decision to do your important job, here in Moldova. I am so proud that I discovered your school activity. Good luck, dear Robert. With high appreciation, Veronica Lupu, Chairwoman of the AWCS, Moldova”
Anyone involved in education and working with children or young people, knows that no two days are the same. The incredible highs and lows that come from ensuring we guide, nurture, challenge and educate our precious next generation is always something we never get used to, nor should be in many respects. I was asked to complete an assignment once as a school student, and it always struck me then how important it was to allow wisdom to emerge once a full picture had come into view and in education, as in life, often reflection comes long after the event and the Hegel quote I began this piece with, epitomises this sentiment. As a student and a teacher, to use the American writer’s Faulkner’s words, the past, often, isn’t even the past. We have asked students to make sure they are writing down or recording somehow, their thoughts, feelings and reflections, as they live through undoubtedly, one of the most tumultuous periods of their young lives. I have been really impressed with the very thoughtful pieces from the Student Council on Instagram and I shared them with many colleagues here and around the World to see what our students are feeling. Their resilience and sense of perspective is humbling. We are so proud of them and the ways in which they have coped. It is also important in order to make sense of our lives and to see them in context, especially in such times. The owl of Minerva flying in the dark made me think of the times we have our “3am thoughts” and this weekend, as families went outside for the first time in weeks here in Moldova, as well as in countries such as Spain and Italy, where restrictions were also eased slightly, all of us began to look ahead to a new chapter of this crisis as it continues to twist and turn. As a school leadership team, as with any leadership, our job is to try to see around the corners, and, as the World looked to Vietnam, Hong Kong and Denmark partially going back to school, we have planned for all eventualities getting to the end of May and these last four weeks of our extraordinary academic year in the young life of our school. As the old joke goes, how do you make God laugh, tell him you have a plan.
Well, at the risk of Divine humour, we do have a plan and it is to continue our daily education, care and educate our young people for these remaining weeks and to continue to plan for the next academic year. In our weekly staff meetings Mrs Lynda highlighted the importance of hope and looking forward with optimism as we interact and teach our students every day. The hope also comes from celebrating life and events when we can and this week, as an Etwinning school with innumerable Etwinning projects benefiting our students. On the 9th of May we joined with our European neighbours to acknowledge the remarkable vision of people like Robert Schumann, Jean Monnet and Paul Henri Spaak, who created an idea of hope and unity from the horrors and destruction of World War II in order to ensure the continent of Europe worked and collaborated together in peace and trust to build a more prosperous and hopeful World for all Europeans. On the 15th May we will celebrate the day of the Family. We know our families come in all shapes, guises and disguises, but they are central to us in our love and support as individuals. We honour and recognise as a school the strength and relationships we have with our families as we work together as one school community. Looking forward to the Summer, as with my colleagues at home, teaching daily from their living rooms and kitchens, doubling their workloads and juggling their own families, I am also definitely looking forward to finding a way home for the Summer break to see my family after these months.
It has been my privilege to have received all kinds of messages of support in recognition of the work the school community has done over the last couple of months, in the most challenging of circumstances, to ensure that meaningful, daily, challenging and interactive learning continues, that school life continues and that our students continue to develop and progress as they would if we were physically on the campus. The School is and remains OPEN. The words from one of our recent Founders’ Lecture speakers, the incredible Human Rights lawyer, Veronica Lupu, really humbled me, because knowing her remarkable, harrowing and inspirational work, her words mean a great deal. They speak to our values and mission as a school as intended by the Founders for Heritage and Moldova over three years ago. The wisdom of that decision and plan is now becoming more clear and as Veronica remarked, what we are all doing here for the younger generation in their education, social responsibility, values, intellectual development and in the role models we provide, is our society’s hope for the 2020s and beyond. We don’t need a wise old owl to remind us of this purpose. Our remarkable team of teachers and support staff live it daily for our children.
Rob Ford, Director.
The World is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.
WB Yeats
After the rain, Chisinau is looking very green. It also feels and looks like the month of May should look and feel. Life has begun to return to the streets of the city and apart from the masks on the faces of people, it feels we are a stage further along in this crisis. There is, understandably, a caution, as everyone is ensuring the gains we have made as a society in the lockdown, are not lost. It was very hard to read the emotional messages from students, colleagues and parents who had gone outside to get some late Spring fresh air for the very first time following the easing of restrictions and we wait to see today, (15th May) what the next stage of the return to normality looks like as the Emergency is lifted by the government. We know for Moldovan schools, the return is not until September, as we see out the final two weeks of this academic year, but even then we anticipate and plan for possible safe physical distancing in school and a safe school environment when we return to study. We are holding our first ever virtual Open House on the 16th May, and the normality of planning for education and the next academic year continues. The desire to return to work, school, normal life and routines for all of us is palpable around the globe. It is understandable, at the same time: none of us want to experience again what we have had since March in Europe. Einstein said “Example isn’t another way to teach, it is the only way to teach” and for all of us it has meant that individually, we have had to make sure we have done our small part as a member of society. This has often been difficult for some and when people talk about not returning to “normal” completely, often they infer that some of the poor behaviours, inward looking, selfishness, lack of caring, lack of social responsibility, pettiness etc are the things we should move away from. As the Irish writer Yeats said, we will see the better things in the World if we just allow our senses to become sharper.
My assembly this week to Gymnasium centred on the topic of social responsibility Two of the inspirational stories to come from this crisis around the World are the responses to key workers with people cheering them loudly (see the Banksy image in this IHH) and the story of Captain Tom in the UK. Captain Tom, aged 100 demonstrates the importance of all members of our society, no matter what their age, as well as epitomising the fortitude, duty and resilience we all celebrated last weekend when we commemorated the 75th anniversary of VE Day and the remarkable global generation who defeated a despicable evil in WWII. Captain Tom’s, raising tens of millions of pounds for the UK’s health service, is a remarkable example to us all and shows the good that exists in this World to inspire our young people to find the solutions to the problems such as climate change, still waiting for us when we get back to normal. Two wonderful assemblies from our Primary School have also inspired us all about the creativity and fortitude of our own students. Mrs. Valentina and 3A showed us the importance of our continent on Europe Day: the strength and support we have from our European neighbours in peaceful cooperation. Mrs. Natalia and 1B showed us this week the strengths, shapes and importance of our families as we celebrate Family Day. My weekly teaching and learning briefing jumped back 2500 years to Ancient Greece: nothing about digital learning this week, but Socratic Questioning in learning. One of my other hopes is that we have less “false equivalence” or “false binary” choices when we approach debates, where “Karen from Facebook” seems to be the “go to” expert for too many people. It is a disturbing feature of 21st century life when our students are drawn away from true knowledge and learning, relying on anecdote as they seek veritas. I can only point to the small example of the brilliant WHO and UN advice and help given us as a school, to make sure we have had an effective, informed school strategy in this crisis.
Next week, our school will represent Moldova & join with another proud, ancient nation on the other side of Europe; Wales, as we celebrate #Heddwych2020/#Peace2020. Our students are preparing their messages and voices of hope, peace and goodwill across the World to all global citizens and young people everywhere as we take part in Urdd’s peace message from Wales linking countries in a positive affirmation for the 2020s. This is an act of hope Urdd has been holding for nearly 100 years. The World is full of magical things and our education mission now, and even more so after this crisis, is to ensure we continue to sharpen the senses of our young people for a better World to pass on to them. That continues to be our Heritage Hope.
Rob Ford, Director
22nd May
The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain.
We hope you are keeping well and trying to remain positive and motivated during these unusual times. With all the children of the world out of school, including here in Moldova, your distance learning programs are vital for not only their academic health but also more importantly their emotional health. We thank you, dear Educators, for your huge undertaking during the most difficult of times. You are part of the front line heroes that the world genuflects daily. Our Ambassador, HE Paul McGarry, was very impressed with you when he met you all in February and would like to catch up and see how you and the students are getting on and to see what you are all doing during the lock-down.
Suzanne; Dr. Suzanne O’Connell, Honorary Consulate of Ireland to Moldova
One of the 3am thoughts that goes around my mind, is a point made by a commentator at the start of this crisis about the very concept of a globalised society being fragile as a result of this unprecedented pandemic and what we have all endured and experienced across the World for 2020 so far. Borders being closed, schools closed, factories, shops, restaurants, transport stopped, the emergence of new daily words and phrases we didn’t use a few months ago such as “lock-down”, “physical distancing” and “pandemic”. The fascinating, at times scary debate surrounding the optimum point at which to reopen our societies, connect again with neighbours and the World, are still questions without real answers as scientists grapple for a vaccine our new, strange form of normal with so many questions left unanswered for the future. The few first months of this new decade have challenged us, frightened us and forced us all into a paradigm mind shift about the World and the certainties we once held to see us through the new decade of the 2020s. There are many purposes to education and for me, one of the central purposes of education is the certainty and hope it gives us in uncertain times, especially for our young people. Our core role as teachers is to help them make sense of their world through the values passed onto us by our teachers, families and communities. I read a quote by the 19th century American philosopher, William James, this week that said “The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another”. As I reflected upon this penultimate week of this extraordinary academic year in the late May sunshine, two things struck me: one, our globalised society is certainly not fragmented; and two, the paradigm mind shift and certainties are more closely linked than I first thought.
On Saturday, in a groundbreaking first for Heritage, for Moldova and definitely for me, we held our first ever virtual Open House, complete with 360° tour, video and live talk with a Q&A for new families. My would be BBC accent was polished as well as it can be from the Marches of Shropshire and Wales. It was truly extraordinary, with over 2500 watching at the end, so I am reassured the audience wasn’t just my family and friends. It was another great example of how we have continued to find answers and solutions in the face of Covid19 and echoed the success of the incredible distance learning plan we have been operating on since mid-March without missing a day of real learning, interaction and meaningful education for every child in our community. It has been a model of education and a solution that inspired our country as we supported the development of the national education community. My heartfelt thanks to Tatiana Arnautu and her team, and the wonderful QUBO, for making virtual Open House possible and for providing such a platform for so many new families wanting to join us in September to be a part of the Heritage story and our innovative international school. Real hope for the future!
Hope also came this week from Europe & the Celtic World on the other side of Europe from the beautiful lands of Ireland and Wales. On Monday, our young people shared the messages of peace and goodwill around the World, with the young people of Wales, as they shared their hope that they will make the World a better place for their generation and the generations to come. On Wednesday, it was a real joy to work with the Irish Embassy again and the message from Dr O’Connell here to the education community of Moldova, recognising the remarkable work of teachers throughout this crisis, delivering daily lessons, from their own homes, using their own electricity, resources and often with their own families around them, is fully appreciated and expressed in her words. It is something we can all be proud of and this inspirational story of our school and Moldova was shared with colleagues around the World this week when our head of international education, Tatiana Popa, represented Moldova on the panel and as a speaker, at a major online British Council global education conference. Mrs Popa spoke about our educational model to hundreds of teachers and school leaders from around the World. This is how we succeed in adversity and Tatiana spoke for our entire school community and our country, giving a message of hope and fortitude exploring the ways we find our solutions to this crisis.
With the celebration of our International week next week, our Founders’ Day on the 27th March and our final international day to mark the end of the academic year with celebration, we show our pride in who we are and where we are in an interconnected globalised society that still needs answers to big issues like climate change, inequality and social justice. We know our World will be changed after Covid19 but it can be in a positive, hopeful, reflective and meaningful way as we all find understanding from this time and choose the lessons we take forward into our ongoing globalised new decade and century.
I read a quote this week that resonated completely with me, not just in this last part of the academic year, but for my entire first year at Heritage. It is now exactly one year since I arrived to take up the post as director. It was on Twitter from a school leader, Mark Enser, in the UK and he said;
Schools are not physical buildings, they are communities. Those communities still exist whether people are in a building or working from home
I spoke these words online on Friday to the entire school community as we joined together as one in our hundreds: families, staff and Founders, to mark the extraordinary academic year and the unprecedented challenges we have faced to ensure meaningful, daily, engaging and interactive learning has taken place since Day 1 of this crisis and the start of school closures. The mindset of our school being open has been central to our approach as we have devised our strategy and each school day not only with lessons, but the core of the whole school also operating. This model of educational success has already been showcased by me and my colleagues as key speakers and used in online conferences in Moldova & around the World to show what we can do as a community when we are faced with such a paradigm mindshift. To those very few who have said “it’s not really learning”, it is an egregious insult to all our teachers working from their homes alongside their families, turning their kitchens and living rooms into classrooms, using their utilities and resources to deliver quality learning in lessons daily. It is an insult to all our students who have shown the most remarkable resilience, independence and character to make this model work and to continue their learning and routines of school. It is also an insult to all our families who have supported us so much in partnership daily, as we have found this inspirational solution for these past weeks as literally one of the few schools in Europe offering such a full model of education. It also flies in the face of the Heritage model being sought after by the Minister and Ministry in late March, giving the entire country and our national education community its solution, not to mention the many schools across Europe and globally who have followed our model of success. Actions speak louder than words and on Friday we demonstrated the depth and quality of our education at Heritage.
It was a strange feeling to close the academic year online on Friday in a very first for our school, holding a full programme to highlight the outstanding students and learning reflecting over the year. We remembered with sorrow, as a school community, our student and friend Thomas, whom we lost in December. HE, Ambassador Hogan of the USA, spoke to Mrs Larisa’s 3/4E class on Thursday online as we held our International Week to celebrate all our nationalities, cultures and diversity as an international school. He told us all how fortunate we were to be at Heritage, that we should be very proud of our school and he praised the model of education we have here. I am using the word “proud” a lot at the moment and on an emotional last Friday, when the voices of the choir sang the opening lines of The Beatles “Here comes the Sun” everything good, powerful and positive about our school community was there to see & hear. It was there looking back over an incredibly rich year of being honoured by the British Council in October in London for our outstanding international education and also being awarded the prestigious European ETwinning School award; it was there reflecting at the depth and range of speakers and topics from the inaugural Founders’ Lectures; it was there reflecting on our commitment to social responsibility and sustainability; it was there in the way sports & the innovative creativity in our arts and music; it was there in the way we support the daily wellbeing of our students and staff with developed counselling and our new Oak Centre; it was there in the mature and wise student leadership and leaders we have; and it was there in the compelling, engaging and challenging learning & unique opportunities students receive every day through the outstanding dedicated teachers we have and strengthened by our professional and diligent support staff. All of this we celebrated and honoured on Friday as we reflected over the year and honoured our Founders for having the vision to establish the first truly international school in Moldova to prepare our young people for the challenge of the future in Moldova and the international community, as confident global citizens.
The school came of age in its third year as we rang the school bell on Friday to signal the end of the academic year and the start of the summer. Heritage stands as an educational institution for so much good in Moldova and the international education World. We are at the heart of so many national and international networks as an outward facing school. Our school culture is about the challenge of learning, preparing future leaders with decent values to make the World a better place and to have balance in their lives. As a director, reflecting on his own first year, you realise what a privilege it is to be working with such outstanding educators, teams, young people and families. I am speaking as a guest speaker at a number of conferences this summer, including Eton College at the end of June, and I will be sharing the remarkable journey of our school and the promise of the next stage to come as we prepare for our 4th academic year. For now, we all need our rest. We need to respect physical distancing, especially with the easing of the lockdown and we need to appreciate, as the crisis has taught us, the real things that matter, starting with our families, friends, neighbours and colleagues. We know even more now, how global, interconnected and interdependent we all are as a society. Moldova is a remarkable and special land and I am proud to live here and work with the community. It is my honour and privilege to serve. I am looking forward to starting my second year as director in mid August,when school staff return to plan the physical return of students to school on September 1st. I leave you with the Celtic-Irish prayer and wish all our community a wonderful summer. Thank you for your incredible support of me and the school.
May the road rise to meet you. May the wind always be at your back. May the sunshine warm upon your face and rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand.
Rob Ford Director.
Tagged academic year, coronavirus, covid19, education, end of year, etwinning, Heritage, Heritage International School, innovation, inspiration, international, international education, International School, new normal
Published by Rob Ford
Robert Charles Ford BA (Hons) MEd Director of Heritage International School Group. British Council Schools' Ambassador & Advisor Principal of Wyedean School from 2015 – 2019. I am a committed , experienced and successful global school leader and educator. I believe in the transformative power of learning for our young people. During my time as Principal, Wyedean School was a high performing IB candidate World School delivering World Class education through C21st learning opportunities. I had the privilege to lead a team of incredible colleagues working tirelessly to ensure the very best inclusive education and compelling learning was the daily experience of our students. I am committed as an educator to the principles of international education, the IB as well as the power of digital learning, sustainability & creativity in developing the learner holistically. I am heavily involved in International Education as a long serving British Council ambassador, IB educator & school leader, contributing a number of articles about leadership, curriculum and global learning. I have been a speaker/contributor at a number of major conferences over the years including with the Microsoft-British Council’s ASEAN “Deep Learning” policy seminar series in SE Asia focussing on the impact of global learning in the curriculum and classroom as well as a number of projects with the British Council. I have advised and acted as a global education consultant to schools and school boards in the state and the independent sectors. As a father of three young global citizens I feel passionately that for my daughters growing up and all the young people in my care as a Global Educator, we should be preparing them all to access, participate and lead in their global society and to be happy in their personal lives. View all posts by Rob Ford
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Books > Hindi > हिंदू धर्म > वेद > Agni: The Vedic Ritual of the Fire Altar (Set of 2 Big Volumes with Two CDs)
Agni: The Vedic Ritual of the Fire Altar (Set of 2 Big Volumes with Two CDs)
by Frits Staal
From the Jacket
The first volume of Agni: The Vedic Ritual of the Fire Altar contains a discussion of the place of the Agnicayana in the Vedic srauta tradition, its textual loci, traditional and modern interpretations of its origins and significance and an overview of the Nambudiri Vedic tradition. The bulk of the volume, written in close collaboration with C.V. Somayajipad and M. Itti Ravi Nambudiri, is devoted to a detailed description of the 1975 twelve-day performance, richly illustrated with tipped-in photographs, mostly in colour and almost all by Adelaide de Menil. There are numerous text illustrations, tables and maps. The mantras are published in Devanagari and translation.
The second volume, edited with the assistance of Pamela MacFarland, contains contributions by an international galaxy of scholars on archeology, the pre-Vedic Indian background, geometry, ritual vessels, music, Mudras, Mimamsa, a survey of Srauta traditions in recent times, the influence of Vedic ritual in the Homa traditions of Indonesia, Tibet, China, Japan and related topics. There are translations of the relevant Srauta Sutras of Baudhyayana (together with Caland's text) and the Jaiminiya (with Bhavatrata's commentary) as well as the Kausitaki Brahmana; and a survey of the project with an inventory of the films and tape recordings made in 1975.
Frits Staal, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and South Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, studied at the Universities of Amsterdam and Madras (Ph.D.), as well as Banaras Hindu University. He taught at Amsterdam, London, MIT and elsewhere before joining the Berkeley faculty in 1968. He is the author of 14 books on Nambudiri Veda Recitation, Indian Philosophy, Logic and Linguistics, Sanskrit Grammar, Ritual, Mantras and the Human Sciences; more than 125 articles and two films, one (with Robert Gardner) on the 1975 Agnicayana performance entitled "Altar of Fire" which is now available in video-format from Mystic Fire, New York.
Due to the energetic perseverance of Professor Staal... he succeeded in fully recording one of the most complicated Vedic rituals, that of he Fire Altar. The present work gives a complete record of this ritual according to the interpretations of the ancient manuals current among the Nambudiri Brahmin community. Apart from the unique documentary value of this venture, Agni points to new ways of looking at and studying the Veda and its ritual, as well as its transmission over the centuries.
J.C. Heesterman
Institute Kern
Almost immediately after the completion of this historic Atiratra-Agnicayana, an eagle flew over the ritual enclosure and an hour later, the first monsoon rains came pouring down. In ancient India these were auspicious signs that guaranteed that the sacrifice was successful. Today there is no need for such signs. For future generations will look with admiration on what has been achieved here. With this epoch-making initiative, Frits Staal and his collaborators have earned the gratitude of the history of civilization.
Klaus Mylius
All of us, Indologists, historians of religion or of culture, ethonologists, and linguists, are indebted to Frits Staal for his decades of inspired studies among his Nambudiri friends. With Agni, a work of surpassing beauty and intelligence, he has joined a scholarly lineage established by Albrecht Weber four generations ago, a sakha dedicated to advancing our understanding of the Vedic ritual heritage and its civilizational matrix.
David M. Knipe
Journal of Asian Studies, 1986
IN 1955 I VISITED for the first time a traditional Nambudiri Brahmin home in a small village in southwest India. We sat on the verandah, which was spotlessly clean. Hospitality is a virtue common all over Asia, but my hosts' generosity was overwhelming. Delicious vegetarian dishes were served by the eldest son-mounds of rice surrounded by preparations made from a variety of vegetables, spices, pickles, and fruits, among which I recognized cocoanut, ginger, mango, and banana. I ate all these from a banana leaf on the floor by myself, watched with undisguised curiosity by the male members of the family. Earlier, I had bathed in a corner of the garden where numerous buckets of water were made available. These were followed by a towel and a mundu, the garment of unbleached cotton that the Malabar District Gazetteer describes as "a white cloth tied round the waist, tucked in on the right side, and hanging loose to the ground." I sometimes saw women's eyes through a window; more rarely, an elephant in the compound. At that time, though a student of the Vedanta, or "End of the Vedas," I knew little about the Vedas. I considered them ancient and distant, and it would hardly have occurred to me to connect them with my charming hosts. As it turned out, they spent most of their time bathing or engaged in Vedic ritual when I was not sharing their company.
During my second visit I was armed with a tape recorder, an upright Philips machine of ample weight and dimensions, which Professor van Buitenen had used in Poona, and which belonged to the Netherlands Organization for Pure Research (Z.W.O.). My heart sank whenever a little boy carried it on his head across a river. I recorded Kathakali and other Malayalam songs, a concerto by a famous singer, and increasing amounts of Vedic re- citation and chant. One result of these early researches was my book Nambudiri Veda Recitation, published in 1961.
Visits to Kerala of irregular duration followed in more rapid succession. In 1962 I was accompanied by J. E. B. Gray of the School of Oriental and African Studies. We made complete recordings, lasting some thirty hours, of the Rgveda recitations, Samaveda chants, and Yajurveda formulas that accompany the Agnistoma, a ritual celebration that lasts five days. We did not witness any such ritual. The Brahmins recited and chanted for our tape recorder, and the occasion was to them like a general rehearsal. We tried to gain access to a real performance, but none was at hand, and we would not have been allowed in any case. One Nambudiri offered to organize a faithful imitation of the ceremony, to be performed for our sakes, but we declined.
In the sixties, some leading Nambudiris became concerned about the weakening and possible disappearance of their Vedic traditions. At the same time I began to urge that their largest ceremony, the twelve-day Atiratra- Agnicayana, which had occurred in 1956 and had never been witnessed by outsiders, should be performed once more so that it could be filmed and recorded. After years of intermittent discussion, in which Professor EUR. Sreekrishna Sarma and Dr. Asko Parpola participated, the Nambudiris agreed. They asked only that in exchange for being given the privilege of attending, filming, and recording the performance, scholars help defray the cost of the ritual. The Agnicayana was performed from April 12 to 24, 1975. The circumstances that led to this performance are related in greater detail in the second volume of this book ("The Agnicayana Project": Part III, pages 456-475).
Over the decades, while I was beginning to penetrate the riches of their Vedic heritage, I made many Nambudiri friends and came to know them better. I found them sincere, straightforward, and disinclined to take them- selves too seriously. After initial reluctance, they are eager to explain the intricacies of their recitations, chants, and ceremonies; they never claim knowledge they don't really possess; they will not preach or become pompous, and express no interest in coming to America. Though no longer adverse to modernization, they remain attached to their simple habits. Stripped of former privileges, they have preserved their ability to practice the art of living. This book is offered to them with the wish that material progress will not destroy that rare ability.
Agni is not only fire and the name of a God, but also the name of the Agnicayana ceremony itself, and the name of the bird-shaped altar constructed during that ceremony. This book deals with Agni in all these forms. It is not a book primarily made from books, but derives, in the first place, from my Nambudiri friends. It would be difficult to list all those who have helped to make it possible over the years. The expertise described in the following pages is extensive and varied, and is embodied in a sizable section of the community. For example, in the course of the long Agnicayana ceremony, the ritual implements of another rite (the pastoral Pravargya) have to be put on the altar in the shape of a man. One person knew precisely how this should be done. When the chief priest was about to perform the rite, PLATE 85 he appeared and demonstrated it.
Without being able to thank all, let me pay tribute to four Nambudiris upon whom I have always relied and who, at the time of writing, are in their seventies. Two of them have directly collaborated with me in the present volume, especially in its Part II: Cherumukku (Cerumukku) Vaidikan Vallabhan Somayajipad and Muttatukkattu Itti Ravi Nambudiri.
Cherumukku Vaidikan, or C.V. as he is respectfully called, occupies a central position in the ritual realm of the Kg- and Yajurveda. He is the leading force of one of the two Vaidika families who continue to perform the large rituals. He carries his knowledge lightly, but his authority is unquestioned.
He has a formidable mind, combined with an efficiency that is rare. He arranged for the Agnistoma recordings of 1962, and when the preparations for the 1975 performance (originally planned for 1974) were about to collapse, the situation could only be saved-and was saved-through his power and decisive action.
Itti Ravi, as he is affectionately called, is the undisputed master of the Jaiminiya Samaveda, the school of Samaveda that survives primarily among the Nambudiris. He has devoted his life to the maintenance of the tradition of these chants: he reconstructed from his memory, with the help of his pupils, those that were on the verge of being forgotten, had them recorded whenever there was an opportunity, and committed them to writing. Thanks to his constant activity the materials are now at hand, and the only unpublished school of the Vedas is ready for publication. It was my good fortune to meet Itti Ravi during my first visit to Kerala. Ever since, I have learned and recorded from him. The extent of his knowledge is as phenomenal as the length of his breath.
One of my oldest friends is Matampu Narayanan Nambudiri, B.A., and B.L. After early training in his native Yajurveda, he took to the study of law and became an advocate. Like C.V. and Itti Ravi, he was politically active and took part in the Nambudiri Yogaksema Mahasabha, an organization concerned with the modernization of the Nambudiri caste system. Since he was opposed to animal sacrifice and refused to attend rites that involved such sacrifice, the 1975 performance was the first of its kind that he witnessed. His Gandhian attitude did not diminish his enthusiasm for Vedic culture, and this zeal, combined with a modern outlook, made him a valuable ally in bridging the gaps between my plans and reality, and between sometimes opposing factions.
The doyen of Nambudiri scholars is Erkkara Raman Nambudiri. In 1966, he recited the Kausitaki Brahmana for its editor, E. R. Sreekrishna Sarma. In 1976 his book Amnayamathanam, "The Kindling of Tradition," was published in Malayalam. Another book on ekaha, ahina, and sattra is about to appear. As long as Erkkara failed to support, for respectable reasons our desire to film a Vedic ritual, there was nothing that could be done out it. However, it is characteristic of him that when he changed his mind and came to feel that there is merit in having on film and tape what otherwise that be irretrievably lost, he also assumed full and active responsibility. In spite of his indifferent health, he consented to be present inside the sacrificial enclosure throughout the ceremonies, so that all could benefit from his knowledge and wide experience. The 1975 performance was organized by Cherumukku Vaidikan and Itti Ravi Nambudiri. Their responsibilities and roles will become apparent in e course of this work. Our collaboration at the writing stage is easily described. The description of the performance in Part II of the present volume was written in drafts that were separately submitted to C.V. and Itti Ravi for their scrutiny. They then sent me their corrections and additions. Many of these exchanges took place through correspondence, but fortunately I have been able to sit at their feet again in the course of this work, and after the manuscript had begun to take shape. These sessions were not eon- fined to the correction of what I had written. They induced me to reorganize the material so as to express its structure more clearly, and to incorporate new facts and insights. For example, much of the information on measurements and the ritual enclosure in the "Preliminaries" (Part II) derives from days spent with Itti Ravi in 1977. Late in 1978, the Smithsonian Institution enabled me to go to India once more and to consult with my collaborators for the last time before the manuscript would be completed. Some of the additional results of this trip are presented in three chapters of Part III (in the second volume). As a result of our close and extended collaboration I can now assert with confidence, that Part II of the book exhibits a major part of C.V.'s and ltd Ravi's combined knowledge of the ritual. The occurrence of their names on the title page is therefore not merely decorative. At the same time, I alone am responsible for mistakes that remain.
My indebtedness to others, hardly less numerous, is for support that has also been indispensable. When the Nambudiris had decided to permit the performance to be studied and documented, an international committee was set up, consisting of Professors R. N. Dandekar and C. G. Kashikar (Poona), Klaus Mylius (Leipzig), Asko Parpola (Helsinki), V. Raghavan (Madras), F. R. Sreekrishna Sarma (Tirupati), J. A. B. van Buitenen (Chicago), and myself as chairman. Dr. Parpola initiated the correspondence, which soon grew into formidable proportions. We invoked the assistance of Vedic scholars all over the world, and the response was invariably positive. Among the enthusiastic supporters was Dr. Pierre Rolland, whose tragic and untimely death occurred in 1974.
The first preparations began to take shape. Dr. Kashikar provided a 30- page description of the Agnicayana, based upon srauta sutras, sulba sutras, and prayogas. Dr. Parpola provided a list of the saman chants from Jaiminiya sources, which was later supplemented and extended by Itti Ravi. Cherumukku Vaidikan gave an oral description, in Malayalam, of the sequence of rites to Professor Sreekrishna Sarma, who translated this into English in a pamphlet of 21 pages. Professor J. C. Heesterman from Leiden visited Berkeley during January-March, 1975, lectured on the Agnicayana section (Chapter 10) of Baudhayana Srauta Sutra, and helped me to prepare a booklet of instructions for the cameramen. Mr. J. E. B. Gray, London, prepared from our recordings a full transcript of the recitations of the Soma-pressing day. I wrote a general pamphlet-on the study of Vedic ritual, to be used in approaching foundations.
I felt strongly that the filming and recording should not be done by Sanskrit scholars, but be in professional hands. Thus started the research for technical assistance and, at the same time, financial support. I have always hated begging for money, which has become a very time-consuming part of all large scholarly projects. Financial support was particularly hard to obtain in the seventies for projects that were not fashionable, or were considered to lack practical utility or "relevance."
Operating from Berkeley-with the advice and assistance of Dr. Mark Juergensmeyer, and with the help of the administrative staff of the Center and the Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies-I approached numerous foundations and individuals, generally without tangible result. Fortunately, we were assisted not only by the members of the executive committee, but also by other scholars from all over the world. I should like in particular to mention the active participation of Professors A. Scharpe (Belgium), C. von Furer-Haimendorf and J. E. B. Gray (England), N. Nakada and N. Tsuji (Japan), J. Gonda and J. C. Heesterman (Netherlands), T. Asch and E. C. Dimock (U.S.A)., and W. Rau (West Germany).
I am especially indebted to the Smithsonian Institution, The Rock Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, not only because their contributions were the largest, but also because they sustained their interest in the project and continued to support us on later occasions.
In the meantime, the Government of India had been approached through the Indian Consulate-General in San Francisco, the Indian Embassy in Washington, Dr. Dandekar and Dr. Raghavan. Following the enthusiastic support of Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan, the Government of India expressed great interest in the project and agreed to provide the necessary permissions and facilitate the importation of equipment.
The rupee grant from the Smithsonian Institution, authorized by the Government of India, was administered through the American Institute of Indian Studies. Mr. P. R. Mehendiratta of the Institute put all the facilities of his office at our disposal and helped with the administration of the project, its financial implementation, and the processing of numerous documents. His participation in the project started in 1974, and he continued to provide background support from New Delhi throughout the actual performance. A detailed financial report on the rupee grant was prepared at his Delhi office. Some information on our budgets will be provided in the account of "The Agnicayana Project" in the second volume.
Late in 1974, I secured the participation of Professor Robert Gardner of the Department of Visual and Environmental Studies, Harvard University. Henceforward the direction of films and still photography, and indeed the supervision of the entire visual and sound effort, was in his hands. Gardner and I visited Kerala in December 1974, made the final arrangements, concluded agreements with the performers, and initiated a period of active consultation and cooperation that continued without interruption for the next four months.
When the performance started on April 12, 1975, I began to realize that there were many basic things I did not know. I came to understand only then what is meant when we say that ritual is "activity" (karman). Ritual is not a thing that can be easily understood if one only has access to texts. More importantly, whatever texts may say, language does not explain such activity. It is we who ask for explanations in terms of linguistic expressions. For the ritualists, action comes first, and action, which includes recitation and chant, is all that counts. Now, however, a curious convergence became apparent, for the same holds for cameramen, photographers, and sound engineers. Textual scholars will find it hard to understand how much I learned about Vedic ritual by seeing how Robert Gardner, who until then had known nothing about it, set about to film it. Despite the time we had spent preparing for the event, the rites generally took me by surprise. We could not enter the ritual enclosure, and it was not always possible to see clearly. Earphones enabled me to hear what was going on inside while it was being recorded on tape. All in all, I was often lost. In confusion, I would look for Gardner, who was always where the action was, filming it with his assistants there, while Adelaide deMenil was doing the still photography. I am grateful to them, therefore, not only for providing massive documentation, but also for making me see.
While most of the films were shot by Gardner and Kevin Burke, they were assisted for sound by Kunju Vasudevan Nambudiripad and Professor M. Narayanan Nambudiripad, who, unlike all non-Nambudiris, could enter the enclosure. The film crew consisted, in addition, of Mankada Ravi Varma and Sarwesh Kumar, Most of the still photographs were taken by Adelaide deMenil, and a fair number by Dr. Parpola and Dr. Ikari. Professor Edmund Carpenter assisted with the technical organization, made sketches and measurements of sacrificial implements, and collected information of various kinds. Professors N. A. Jairazbhoy, F. Carpenter, and myself were in charge of the sound recordings, sometimes helped by other visitors, e.g., Dr. Romila Thapar. More detailed information about our equipment and mode of operation will be provided in the second volume.
We returned with almost 80 hours of recorded tape, 20 hours of color film, more than 4,000 still photographs (color and black/white), a set of sacrificial implements (now in my Berkeley office), and abundant notes, sketches, and drawings. The first need was for an inventory of these materials. Back in Berkeley I began with the 20 hours of film. I had access to a balky Moviola editing console for less than a month, and prepared 78 pages of tentative annotations with the assistance of Harold Arnold, my wife Saraswathy, and (for the Pravargya) Wayne Surdam. The first draft of the annotations was completed by August, 1975, and an abridged outline is published below (Part V, in the second volume). These annotations were used in preparing the 45-minute film "Altar of Fire," produced by Robert Gardner and myself and released early in 1977. In the meantime I also learned to find my way in the mass of tapes and photographs, though until now there has not been sufficient time to prepare a proper catalogue.
The way was now paved for writing up the results. During 1976-1977, this work was made possible through the assistance of a research grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. I started with an analysis of the background, which resulted in Part I of the present volume ("The Agnicayana Ritual"). In this part, limited use is made of the data collected in India. Though my primary inclination is to work in the field, this first part could not have been written had I not been in residence at Berkeley. Our Berkeley Campus not only provides incessant intellectual stimulation, but its athletic facilities preserved my ability to transport books, films, and tapes, and prevented me from getting stiff when spending long hours at my desk. Also Berkeley still houses some of those almost legendary scholars who combine insight with the unfailing control over large masses of facts. A telephone conversation with Edward Schafer, for example, provides precise answers to numerous questions in a matter of minutes. Our library would yield such information only m-udng1y and after weeks or months of frustration.
I am therefore especially grateful to some of my Berkeley colleagues: Professors Murray B. Emeneau and George L. Hart of South Asian Studies for things Dravidian; J. K. Anderson, Thomas Rosenmeyer, and Michael Naler of Classics for Greek; Leonard Lesko and Martin Schwartz of Near Eastern Studies for Egyptian and Indo-Iranian, respectively; Edward H. Schafer of Oriental Languages and Raymond N. Tang of the East Asiatic Library for Chinese. Robert F. Heizer of Anthropology has taught me most of what I now know about fire by generously providing a pile of off prints. Lewis and Lois Lancaster have helped me with Buddhism and pottery, respectively, and Margaret Lock has assisted me with Shamanism. Ned K. Johnson and his associates at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology-Mercedes S. Foster and Steve Bailey-have informed me about birds. Joseph H. Peck, Jr., of the Museum of Paleontology, has helped me with fossil ammonites. Richard Reeder of the Department of Geology and Geophysics identified the "chicken-fish" pebbles.
From outside the Berkeley campus I also received a great deal of assistance, especially in connection with publications. For this I should like to thank Robert Gardner and his assistant Hope Norwood at Harvard, J. E. B. Gray in London, Jeff Masson in Toronto, Don B. Griffin in Tuscaloosa, and Barbara Miller and Dorothy Norman in New York. My indebtedness to the articles that appear in Part III of the second volume will be apparent at the appropriate place. Special interest attaches to the translation of the 10th chapter of Baudhayana Srauta Sutra by Yasuke Ikari and Harold Arnold in Part IV of the second volume.
In preparing the text of Part II, which constitutes the bulk of the first volume, I derived much help from all the articles and documents that had been prepared, and from the numerous Vedic texts and related publications, with which Vedic scholars are already familiar. However, the following description is principally based upon the materials we brought back from India. With the help of my own field notes I went repeatedly through our recordings, films (now available as videotape cassettes), and photographs. Whenever there was a discrepancy between the ancient texts and our own field data, I recorded the latter, checking explicitly with Cherumukku Vaidikan[or Itti Ravi if' there seemed to be any reason for doubt. The reader should not jump to the conclusion, therefore, that unfamiliar forms are "mistakes," even if elementary rules of the language seem to be disregarded, as for example in agnaye idam na mama, "this is for Agni, not for me" (see below page 47).
While the Atiratra-Agnicayana unfolded itself in my mind in all its splendor and perplexity, the manuscript began to grow. Dr.Ruth-Inge Heinze helped me to edit the manuscript and typed large portions of it in exemplary fashion. Ruth Suzuki typed the latter portions with fantastic speed and accuracy. My wife Saraswathy helped me in matters of style. Yvonne Kins, Helen Tu, Keith Jefferds, and Pamela MacFarland assisted in numerous ways, including style, references, and books. Adrienne Morgan prepared the illustrations in the text and the maps-a difficult task that she executed with expertise and imagination, as a glance at Figures 27-36, for example, will show.
A difficult dilemma was whether to include in the description of the ritual the text and translation of the numerous recitations and chants. A simple alternative would be to merely refer to them by means of the numerous abbreviations customary among Vedists. It might be argued that, since the participants do not often understand them, it would be best to delete the texts. Be that as it may, they certainly know them. To omit them and confine oneself to references would not only give the book the appearance of a telephone directory, it would also do an injustice to the perfomance, and be useless to nonspecialists. I accordingly decided to provide something, and the next question was whether to provide texts, translations, or both. To omit the original form, which is ritually significant, would almost be sacrilege. Moreover, most readers, when presented with Sanskrit forms, would want to know their meaning. In the case of many of the chants, and recitations such as the sadasin, "the sixteenth," there is no meaning, and so there was no problem. In the remaining cases, the great majority, I reluctantly decided to provide the text together with a translation into English. In preparing the texts I was helped by Pamela MacFarland, Professors R. N. Dandekar and T. N. Dharmadhikari, Poona, and Professors F.R. Sreekrishna Sarma and S. Sankaranarayanan, Tirupati.
In translating the texts I received a great deal of assistance. My first thanks go to Professor Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty, who helped me with translations from the Rgveda. Neither of us is a specialist in Indo-European, one requirement for the traditional Vedic philologist. Both of us feel, however (as she says in the Introduction to her Anthology from the Rgveda: Penguin Classic, 1981) that "there is so much in the Rgveda to interest and excite non-Vedists, it seems a shame to let it go on being the treasure of a tiny, exclusive group, hidden as it is behind the thorny wall of an ancient and cryptic language." The difficulties, however, are formidable: "As a result, there are places where the reader may be puzzled. Good. The hymns are meant to puzzle, to surprise, to trouble the mind; they are often just as puzzling in Sanskrit as they are in English."
One of the main features of the Atiratra-Agnicayana-its huge dimensions-made itself felt in connection with the translations. Wendy could not cover more than a relatively small portions because of her other commitments and the daunting distance between Berkeley and Chicago. I decided, there fore to follow exiting translations in many cases, even though they are often unsatisfactory. I changed them whenever I felt I knew how they should be changed, and in all cases sought to improve their readability. This applies especially to Keith's translation of the Taittiriya Samhita, which is in biblical English. The Rgveda translation by Geldner is in German and that by Renou, almost complete, in French. Several other texts have been translated by others, and some have remained untranslated. All required a lot of work.
In polishing the English translations I was helped by several students: Dennis Lahey, Wayne Surdam, and especially Pamela MacFarland. When the work was nearing completion, I learned that Professor Stanley Insler of Yale was translating the Rgveda and had completed nearly half of it. He graciously offered to look through my translations, not only of the Rgveda, but of all the recited texts. Again, the mass of the material constituted a stumbling block. Stanley scrutinized more than half the translations, and offered me corrections and suggestions for improvement. He spent a great deal of time, but it became clear that he could not complete the work without sacrificing every other task in which he was engaged. It is also frustrating for a skilled translator to correct the efforts of an unskilled colleague instead of offering fresh translations of his own. Fortunately, there were several verses and hymns of the Rgveda that Professor Insler had already translated. Adding numerous others, he has given me permission to include and publish here for the first time the following Rgvedic verses that underlie the 29 stuti chants of the Atiratra:
Stanley Insler has also contributed the translation of the text of the first sastra recitation by the hota priest (RV 8.48.3-4; 3.29.8; 2.9.1-2) and the varunapraghasa verses (RV 10.176.2-4; 3.29.4; 6.15.16; 3.29.8; 2.9.1-2) recited by the hota during the Carrying Forth of Agni (Episode 20). Stanley's translation are recognized at a glace: he use "thy," "thou," and "thee," where I would have "you". These discrepancies happen to illustrate the gap between Rgveda and Yajurveda, which is of the same order as that between Shakespeare and contemporary American literature.
I am grateful to all who have helped me with the considerable amount of translation Agni has required. Excluding the translations by Stanley Insler, I bear the final responsibility for the form in which the translations now appear. In conclusion, I would like to adopt, and extend to the Yajurveda what van Buitenen said in his description of the Pravargya (1968, 54):
"My colleagues will understand that my renderings ... do not pretend in any way to be definitive. There is hardly a line in the 1gveda which does not present its own problems... It was my intention at least to show what kind of hymns was recited at the ritual and I have hoped for at least a fair approximation of their contents."
Apart from Vedic Sanskrit, there are a few translations from Malayalam, the native language of the Nambudiris. With respect to these I have been helped most by Professor E.R. Sreekrishna Sarma. He has also established the text and translated the long "Praisartha" addressed to the patron of the ritual on the occasion of his consecration. Dr. N. S. Mooss, Vayaskara, Kottayam, helped me with the names and identification of plants and trees. The year following the completion of the text, 1979, was disastrous for Sanskritists and Oriental scholars generally. Four scholars of worldwide fame, including two members of our international committee and two contributors to the second volume of this book, passed away within the span of six months. Professor V. Raghavan, doyen of Indian Sanskritists, died on April 6, 1979. Professor C. Hooykaas, the leading authority on the religion of Bali, died on August 13, 1979. Professor J.A.B. van Buitenen, still engaged in his translation of the Mahabharata, died on September 21, 1979. Professor N. Tsuji, dean of Japanese Sanskritists and Vedic ritualists as well, died on September 24, 1979. We who remain pull closer together in a vain attempt to fill the gaps.
While I was preparing the manuscript for the press, I was searching for a publisher. I had no success, even though I had started the search as early as 1975. One reason for this lack of results was that I felt that the book I had in mind should be illustrated with plates, using the beautiful photographs made by Adelaide deMenil in black and white as well as in color. This feeling reflected my growing conviction that ritual should not merely be read about, but should also be seen, and-if possible-heard. I was unwilling to compromise by proposing to sacrifice either comprehensiveness or quality, feeling that the excellent materials brought back from India deserved a definitive scholarly account, with adequate presentation of information, texts, pictures and-if possible-sound.
There was another reason for my lack of success in finding a publisher. Until the National Endowment for the Humanities decided to support publication costs, it was relatively easy to obtain money for projects in the humanities, and almost impossible to find support for publishing them. The assumption was, apparently, that university publishers would take care of the manuscripts. However, this had long ceased to be the case. No one can keep up with the avalanche of manuscripts that the ideology of publish or perish has unleashed.
Since producing the book I had in mind would be expensive, I had to find the money. I wrote more letters than I care to recall. In approaching publishers and foundations, I received help from Berkeley's Chancellor Bowker and from the Berkeley Foundation of the University of California. I also corresponded with UNESCO and with the Government of India. There are great similarities between these three bureaucracies, and we reached a point where I was uncertain whether their wheels were still moving, or had ground to a halt. In 1978, when despair was near, the Rock Foundation donated $90,000 to enable me to transform the almost completed manuscript into a spectacular book. There were no formalities, no application procedures, no reports, and in no time the arrangements were completed. There was only one restriction on the use of the grant, which I accepted enthusiastically: the funds should be used entirely for the material production of the book, and no part of it spent on overhead or other administrative costs. Unfortunately, these funds were spent differently and only partially recovered. This explains the four-year delay, as well as the high price and reduced quality of publication, cost having risen. Publication was finally achieved through the efforts of Edward M. Stadum, a lawyer and friend.
I owe a great debt to Pamela MacFarland, Assistant Editor for Volume II, and Dr. Muneo Tokunaga, who checked the Sanskrit texts before they were printed by the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona, under the expert supervision of Professor R. N. Dandekar. I am especially grateful to Mrs. B. S. Staal who assisted with the preparation of the indexes. Insiders will note that these volumes are to some extent inspired by Gordon Wasson's book on Soma. This is as it should be, for Agni and Soma are the closest of ritual companions. Moreover, I value not only Wasson's book and his friendship, but admire the boldness of his hypothesis, and agree with him that Vedic culture is too important to be left to the Vedists.
The cost of production of this book is due not only to its quality, but also to the illustrations. Here I depend entirely on others, though the selection is my own. My greatest gratitude goes to Adelaide deMenil, who made the photographs of the 1975 performance, and permitted me to select and use what I wanted. Two plates were provided by Dr. Asko Parpola from his photographs taken on the same occasion. I am grateful to him, and also to Professor Cyril Birch and Kuo Li-ying for the opportunity to publish photographs they made in the People's Republic of China and in Japan, respectively, and to Professor George Dales, who drew Plates 22-32 and helped me with the description of ritual implcments. Grateful acknowledgement for the use of illustrations is furthermore made to Ajit Mookerjee, London and New Delhi; Professor G. R. Sharma, Allahabad; the Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Republic of China, where I was helped in particular by Miss Wang Ch'ing-hung, Mr. Liu Tang-ping, and Mr. Mark Landes; the E.M. Scratton Collection, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; the Archaeological Survey of India; and the American Oriental Society. I thank Louis T. Judson for helping me produce the tape cassettes that accompany these volumes, another delicate and time-consuming task.
The University of California, and in particular the two departments of Philosophy and of South and Southeast Asian Studies, have repeatedly allowed me to be absent, and at most other times made do with my physical presence when my mind was in the Agnicayana. The same holds for my students and my family, so much so that my son Nanoo, before he could properly talk, already referred to the ritual as "ugly China." I am truly grateful to my colleagues, students, and family for granting me such privileges, without which it would not have been possible to complete this book.
Finally I should give vent to a question that I have sometimes asked myself. Why should I, a philosopher and Sanskritist, have spent years of my life with an obsolete ceremony? Am I weary of the present? Or am I merely tired of words and meanings, and have turned to sounds and activities? If I look at the issue negatively, this may be so, though my turning is still a turning of words. However, from a positive point of view, I have long stood in awe of this unique survival, so archaic yet so sophisticated, so close to the early history of man, and so lovingly preserved through millennia that elsewhere saw the birth and death of entire civilizations. While pyramids, temples, cathedrals, and skyscrapers were built and fell into decay, languages and religions came and went, and innumerable wars were fought, the Vedas and their ritual continued to be transmitted by word of mouth, from teacher to pupil, and from father to son. What a triumph of the human spirit over the imitations of matter and the physical body! A continuity verging on immortality-though not of any individual person. And so I found myself evolved not merely in the past, but in the present and the future as well. A curious combination of circumstances and accidents put me in touch with venerable tradition, and then in almost complete possession and control physical manifestations on tape, plate, and film. The time had come for reading Nambudiri ritualists to be willing, indeed eager, to reveal and Date to me these cultural treasures, which had always been hidden from outsiders. Here was a unique opportunity, indeed a responsibility, to continue the oral tradition by means of a book. Here was something for which I was so well placed and equipped that I could almost believe that only I could do it. I was fortunate and responded to the challenge as a matter of course.
MORE THAN THREE thousand years ago, nomads crossed the mountain ranges that separate Central Asia from Iran and the indian subcontinent. Leaving behind the dry steppes of their ancestral home, they entered the fertile plains of the upper Indus and came in contact with scattered remnants of an earlier civilization. These nomads imported the rudiments of their social and religious system along with their Indo-European language, which developed into Vedic, and later into Sanskrit. They worshipped fire, called agni, and adopted the cult of soma-a sacred plant, probably a hallucinogen-which grew in the high mountains.
The interaction between these Central-Asian adventurers and earlier inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent gave birth to Vedic civilization, called after the four Vedas: Rgveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda, and Atharvaveda. These Vedas, oral compositions by bards and priests, have been transmitted by word of mouth to the present day. Their guardians, the Brahmins of India, are each attached to one of the Vedas by birth. The Vedas depict Vedic religion, in the words of Louis Renou (1953, 29) as "first and foremost a liturgy, and only secondarily a mythological or speculative system."
The larger Vedic rituals were primarily dedicated to Agni and Soma. Ai was not only a god in his own right, but the divine messenger and intermediary. The offerings, primarily of clarified butter (ghee), were poured into sacrificial fires installed on altars and Ai transmitted them to the gods. Special libations were made of juice extracted from the stalks of the Soma plants of the offerings were consumed by the celebrants. The ceremonies were accompanied by recitations from the Rgveda and chants from the Samaveda. According to the Rgveda itself (7.26.1), pressed juices unacaDc3az) b sacred hymns have no effect. The celebrations required the execution of multifarious activities, distributed among priests from different Vedas, who officiated on behalf of, and for the benefit of, a ritual patron, the yajwnana.
One of the most elaborate of these ceremonies was called Agnicayana, the "piling of Agni," or, simply, Agni. This ritual originated around 1,000 b.c. During its performance, a large altar in the shape of a bird, dedicated to Agni and itself also called Agni, was piled from more than a thousand bricks. The Agnicayana plays an important part in the Vedic literature after the Rgveda, and especially in the Yajurveda. Unlike the 1gveda, which remains curiously alien to India (see Renou 1960), the Yajurveda occupies the center of Vedic culture. It constitutes the foundation of the ritual and of the edifice of the Vedic schools. More distant from the Indo-European background than the Rgveda, the Yajurveda exhibits a more Indian flavor, is closer to the beginnings of Hinduism and Buddhism, and preserves features of earlier Indian cultures. In all these respects, the Agnicayana ritual occupies a similar position. Though it incorporates the Indo-European fire cult and the Indo-Iranian cult of Soma, these begin to be overgrown by numerous features not found outside India. These features are not Indo-European or Indo-Iranian, but are recognizably Indian. The Agnicayana shows us India beginning to assert herself.
Though Vedic ritual was confined to an elite, its performances must have been relatively common for about five centuries. This period-which lasted for a shorter time than Manichaeism or Islam, but longer than Protestantism -may be called the age of Karman ("ritual activity"). Around 550 B.C. Vedic culture began to decline. Further east and south, new religions and cultures rose to prominence. Though Hinduism and Buddhism are replete with Vedic elements, they belong to another age, the age of jnana ("knowledge"). Hinduism continued to look upon the Vedas as its source, formally transmitted by the brahmins, regarded as eternal revelation, "of nonhuman origin" (apaurseya) and no longer understood. Buddhism rejected the Vedic heritage, the authority of Brahmins, and the supremacy of ritual. In due course it evolved its own hierarchies and ceremonies. Fragments of the original Vedic ritual survive to the present day in the domestic rites of the brahmins, such as marriage ceremonies. Despite attempts to revive them, we hear less and less of the larger Vedic ritual celebrations. In the eleventh century A.D, the logician Udayana could declare that the great Vedic ceremonies were no longer performed (Renou 1960, 21, note 4).
India, however, is a land of miracles, in a distant cornet of southwest India, Kerala, far away from the original home of Vedic civilization, a few families among the isolated and orthodox community of Nambudiri brahmins have maintained their Vedic tradition and continue to perform two Vedic rituals: the Agnihotra, which lasts five days, and the Agnicayana or Agni, which lasts twelve days and continues through some of the nights, from which the name Atiratra ("overnight") derives. We know little of the history of these performances; their continuation was unknown to the outside world. The Nambudiri performances are not artificial or scholarly reconstructions (as have taken place in some other parts of India), nor are they the results of recent revivals. The tradition is authentic and alive. Though this will be apparent from the present work, it can be directly observed in the attitude of the performers. When the Nambudiri ritualists are told that, according to the classical texts, certain rites used to be performed differently in the past, they say, "Interesting." Not for a moment would they consider changing their own ritual practice in the light of such information. They perform the rituals as they have learned them from their preceptors. It is their tradition.
During the last hundred years, the Agnicayana has been performed seventeen times; during the last fifty years, five times. After a gap of almost twenty years, it was celebrated again in 1975. For the first time in history, it was attended by outsiders. On this occasion, the performance was not only witnessed but filmed, photographed, recorded, and extensively documented. The only restriction was that non-Nambudiris could not enter the ritual enclosure, in which most of the ceremonies took place. This 1975 performance of the Agnicayana, which was possibly the last, is the subject matter of the present publication.
The elaborate ritual performances of the Vedic period and the supreme importance attached to them in Vedic civilization demand an explanation or at least an interpretation. In the earliest Vedic literature itself, rituals, along with meters and chants, are depicted as instruments used by gods and demons to fight and conquer each other, and sometimes to create. Even when the aims are not explicit, gods and demons are frequently described as engaged in ritual. It is obvious, however, that priests who perform rites on behalf of a yajamana cannot always be thought of as conquering or creating. Moreover, the later commentaries, especially the Brahmanas attached to the various Vedic schools, provide rituals with a great variety of interpretations, sometimes inconsistent with each other. Many of these are obvious rationalizations. Some invoke events, myths, or legends that have nothing to do with the rites at hand. On the other hand, the most important episodes of Vedic mythology, those that reflect cosmogonic events, are not reflected or used in any rites (Renou 1953, 16; of. below page 117). Renou concluded:
We must be content with very general theories if we are to avoid arbitrary explanations such as those put forward in the old Brahmanas, where we find fabricated accounts of the origin of various details in the liturgical ceremonial. In these stories there is much that deserves attention, but the indanaor bandhu, the hidden connection that they try to establish, cannot be accepted; it is too visibly the product of the priestly mind. It is recognized in the texts that comprehension must cease at a certain point: they declare "paro'ksakama hi devab," "the gods love what is out of sight" (1953, 16; with a modification in the translation).
The recitations that accompany the rites often express specific desires: for health, strength, sons, victory, heaven, and immortality. The list of wishes and desires is not so different from that of modern man. It is not exclusively spiritual, as some contemporary visionaries have claimed, nor is it wholly materialistic, as some critics have asserted. As can be seen at a glance from the recitations recorded in this book, the same desires are repeated over and over again. Does this mean that they were never fulfilled? In spite of a certain poetic variation, such repetitiveness would almost seem offensive, not least to the gods. However, it is universally believed, and by the best of minds, that repetition increases effectiveness. Today, similar repetitions are thrust upon us by politicians and the media-not to mention commercials. Bertrand Russell was criticized for his antiwar speeches by a general: "Do you not think there is some lack of a sense of humour in going on reiterating the same thing?" Russell observed that, if it would not serve any purpose to repeat himself, "I failed to see why he was so anxious to prevent-me from doing so."
By the time the Vedic rituals had reached their greatest elaboration, these reiterated wishes receded into the background. Their place was taken by a codification of the two kinds of rites we have already met: the grhya or domestic rites-which are "rites de passage," life-cycle rites or sacraments, accompanying such events as birth, initiation, marriage, and death-and the srauta rites, which the French call "rites solennels." There are several general and formal differences between these two kinds of ritual. For example, the srauta rites require three fire altars and the services of several priests, whereas the domestic rites require only one fire (the domestic fire) and one priest (the domestic priest). While the function of the domestic rites appears to be fairly straightforward, the significance of the srauta rites is not obvious. The srauta ritual, with its myriad ramifications, exhibits the unhampered development of ritual construction and creativity. It is therefore more important for the understanding of ritual than the domestic rites. There are, moreover, srauta rituals that last a thousand years, which shows that some of the rites were purely theoretical. Such theoretical constructs (which the grammarian Patanjali compared to the infinite uses of language) should not be brushed aside, as was done by Hillebrandt, who referred in this connection to "myth and fantasy" of the ritualists (1897, 158). On the contrary, they are as important for the theory of ritual as are concrete ceremonies. Many rites have, in fact, an intermediate status. The Agnicayana, which was performed in 1975, is a srauta ritual that seems to have been always "real," though some of its extensions, which the texts describe, smack of theory.
The Srauta Sutras of the late Vedic period offer several definitions of ritual. One that is often quoted characterizes it as comprising three things: dravya, "the substance (used in oblations)"; devata, "the deity (to which oblations are offered)"; and tyaga, "renunciation (of the fruits of the ritual acts)." The tyaga is a formula pronounced by the yajamana or patron at the culmination of each act of oblation. When the officiating priest, on behalf of the yajamana, makes the oblation into the fire for one of the gods, for example Agni, the Yajamana says:
This is for Agni, not for me (agnaye idam na mama).
At this point a contradiction begins to appear, which becomes increasingly explicit in the ritualistic philosophy of the Mimamsa. The reason for performing a specific ritual is stated to be the desire for a particular fruit or effect. The stock example of the Mimamsa is:
He who desires heaven shall sacrifice with the Agnistoma ritual (agnistomena svargakamo yajeta). But this fruit is renounced whenever the yajamana utters his tyaga formula of renunciation. The effect, therefore, is not obtained.
The resulting picture is further complicated by another apparent contradiction. The rites are subdivided into two classes, "obligatory" (nitya) and "optional" (kamya). Unlike the Agnicayana, which is kamya, the Agnistoma is a nitya rite: every brahman has the duty to perform it. So here is a ritual that appears to be optional, since it is confined to those who desire heaven (nobody's duty), but that is also not optional because it is a prescribed duty, and that does not bear any fruit because its fruits are ultimately abandoned. The texts reflect such contradictions. The Mimamsa Sutra, basic manual of the ritual philosophy of the Mimamsa, lays down that the rites lead to happiness, but the subcommentary "Straight Spotless" (1juvima1a) observes that this does not apply to obligatory acts.
The Mimamsa philosophers faced another difficulty. When a ritual performance is completed, no fruit is seen. The yajamana, on whose behalf the rites have been performed, does not rise up and go to heaven. Rather the opposite: he returns home and is, as the texts put it, the same as he was before. In particular, he must continue to perform the morning and evening fire rites (Agnihotra) for the rest of his life. The Mimamsa concluded, quite logically, that the fruit of ritual activity is-temporarily-unseen. It will become apparent only later, e.g., after death. An elaborate theory was devised to show that this is in accordance with the mechanism of karman, according to which every cause has an effect. A special logical theorem, called arthapatti, was invented in support of this theory. The followers of the Mimamsa were criticized by others (e.g., the philosophers of the Advaita Vedanta) for postulating such unseen effects. For whatever our contemporary fads may suggest, in India the unseen is resorted to only under duress. What the Mimamsa in fact ended up teaching is that the rituals have to be performed for their own sake.
The notion of tyaga, "renunciation," has attained an important position in Hinduism through the teachings of the Heaved Gita. Here Sri Krsna advocates, as the highest goal of life, a mode of activity in which acts are performed as usual, but the fruit (phala) of action (karman) is always renounced (karma-phala-tyaga).
Unlike the Brahmana literature and the Mimamsa, the srauta Sutras are not concerned with interpretation. They confine themselves to description and address insiders. They were in no sense teaching manuals. Their description is not enumerative, but highly structured, and uses abstract principles of organization. The Srauta Sutras exhibit the science of ritual as an intellectual discipline. In doing so they influenced and determined the development of scholarly and scientific methodologies in India. The ritual rules (sutra) are formulated carefully and consistently, the use of metarules (paribhasa) enables the authors to explicate structure and avoid redundancy, and the logical organization of the system of rules is brought out explicitly. All these features developed gradually and paved the way for the work of the Sanskrit grammarians. Directly or indirectly, they contributed to many of the more technical features of Indian logic and philosophy, which are often expressed in sutra form. It is not the complexity of the ritual itself, but the Srauta Sutras' explicit, systematic, and exhaustive characterization of that complexity that is the first manifestation of the Indian scientific and scholarly genius.
It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of ritual for the civilizations and religions of India, for it is their basic feature. Accordingly, for a Hindu or Jaina, and to some extent for a Buddhist, what he does is more important than what he thinks, believes, or says. Earlier, I referred to the orthodoxy of the Nambudiri brahmins. It would have been more appropriate to use the term orthopraxy (from Greek, "right," "opinion," and "action"). Ritual activity is physical activity and is therefore primarily related to the body, unlike thinking or believing, which are mainly connected with the mind. Ritual affiliation is therefore determined by birth, and not by choice or preference. Unlike religious sects, ritual traditions coexist more or less peacefully, they are mutually exclusive, and there is neither desire nor mechanism for conversion. This feature, too, has become a mark of Indian religions.
The study of the Vedic ritual ceremonies was taken up by European Sanskrit scholars in the nineteenth century. In 1805, Colebrooke mentioned several srauta ceremonies, quoting from the Satapatha Brahmana. He did not mention the Agnicayana by name, but referred to it when mentioning that four books of the text "teach the consecration of sacrificial fire: and the tenth, entitled Agnirahasya" (see below page 63) "shows the benefits of these ceremonies" (Colebrooke 1873, 54). The first survey that resulted from these European studies appeared at the end of the century in Hillebrandt's Ritual Literatur Vedische Opfer unit Zauber of 1897.
Around the turn of the century, Willem Caland (1859-1932) opened up the study of Vedic ritual in its full depth and complexity. By publishing and translating some of the Srauta Sutras (upon which the excerpts from Baudhayana in our second volume are based) he showed that there was a science of ritual and explicated for the first time in a Western language the Indian systems of ritual rules. Apart from ritual, he wrote extensively on the arcane subtleties of the Samaveda and explained its liturgical raison detre. He left a few questions unanswered. In due course, I obtained their answers from Itti Ravi. The paradigm of the Soma rituals was described by Caland and Henry in the two volumes of their Agnistoma of 1906. As we have seen, this is the five-day ritual that the Nambudiris have preserved.
Since the publication of the monumental "Caland and Henry," Western, Indian, and Japanese scholars have explored the ritual texts, and especially the Srauta Sutras, in breadth and depth. Hillebrandt dealt with the Darsapurnamasa (Full- and New-Moon ceremonies), Schwab with the Pasubandha (Animal Sacrifice), Dumont with the Asvamedha (Horse Sacrifice) and the Agnihotra (Daily Fire Worship), and Tsuji with the Srauta Sutras of the Rgveda and Yajurveda. Renou published a monograph on the ritual schools. The Vaidika Samsodhana Mandala of Poona contributed a series of studies, culminating in a collective work, directed by Dandekar and Kashikar, entitled Srautakoa, an encyclopaedia in several volumes on the srauta ritual. Renou provided a small dictionary of technical terms used in the ritual, as well as several specialized studies. More recently, the Srauta Sutras of the Samaveda were studied by Parpola; the A.va1ayana Srauta Sutra of the Rgveda by Mylius; the Baudhayana, Bharadvaja, and Varaha Srauta Sutras of the Krsna Yajurveda by Kashikar; and particular rites by a host of others, for example, the Rajasuya or Royal Consecration by Heesterman, the Pravargya by Van Buitenen, the Sarvamedha and the Samsava by Mylius, and the Mahavrata by Rolland. More general and interpretative studies have been written by Levi, Rau, Gonda, Heesterman, Thite, Biardeau, Malamoud, and many others.
Some of the Sulba Sutras, dealing with the measurement and construction of Vedic altars by means of a cord or rope (sulba)-formerly explored by Thibaut, the historian of mathematics Cantor, Van Gelder, and Raghu Vira-have been studied recently by Satya Prakash, Swarup Sharma, and Seidenberg, and have been published by the Research' Institute of Ancient Scientific Texts of New Delhi. Numerous links of the srauta ritual with history, archeology, art, architecture, music, religion, anthropology, economics, linguistics, literature, mathematics, science, mythology, magic, and philosophy are only beginning to be explored. Gonda's study on the origins of the Indian drama in the Vedic ritual and Kashikar's study on Vedic pottery are examples of what can be done. A new area of research involving botany and pharmacology is opened up by the works of Wasson and Flattery on the hallucinogenic origins of the Soma.
Insofar as information on the ritual is concerned, all such studies are confined to texts. Yet, as Renou observed, "one cannot grasp even the outward meaning from reading the text by itself unless one is gifted with the rare virtuosity of a Caland" (1953, 34). Direct information on living ritual in contemporary India is mostly confined to temple ritual, the domestic ritual of the higher castes, other caste rites, village rites, and tribal rituals. Traces of the Rajasuya are preserved in Southeast Asia and in Nepal, and in India in temple worship and puja, which retain elements of the consecration rite (diksa).
Until recently it was quite unknown that the srauta rituals, which are much more spectacular than any of these other rites, continue to be performed in India, albeit rarely and in a few inaccessible places. The fact that these almost three-thousand-year-old rituals are still alive would have astonished Hillebrandt or Caland. Once these survivals were discovered, it became obvious that many of the basic issues concerning the interpretation of the ritual, as well as numerous problems of a more technical nature, could only be brought closer to a solution if the living traditions were studied. At the same time it became clear that this study is a matter of urgency, since many of the few surviving authentic traditions are on the verge of extinction. What ensued was a new era of Vedic research, which involves close collaboration with the traditional Indian ritualists, and which might be more properly called Vedic fieldwork (an expression first used by Kashikar in his Presidential Address to the Vedic section of the 24th All-India Oriental Conference, Varanasi 1968). An unexpected feature of this work is that the informed interest of scholars from all over the world gives fresh hope and inspiration to the rare Vaidikas who try to keep the srauta traditions alive. A chapter in our second volume (Part III, pages 193-25 1) will show how extensive these Vedic survivals are.
Scholars who came in contact with the living tradition directed their attention first to the recitations of the Veda, which are not only prominent features of the ritual, but which are more easily accessible because they can be heard outside the ritual context. Nonbrahmins are not allowed to hear Vedic recitation or to attend Vedic rituals. This continues to make Vedic fieldwork a delicate affair. Not surprisingly, the first barrier was overcome first. Recordings were made and studied by Bake, Gray, Howard, Parpola, Raghavan, Sreekrishna Sarma, Van Buitenen, and myself. The Government of India, through its Sanskrit Commission, urged that complete recordings of the Vedas be made. All-India Radio also took an active interest. Subsequently, films of srauta ceremonies were made by Van Buitenen (of the Vajapeya) and by me (of fragments of an Atyagnistoma). When the ritual began to be studied also in its social context, it became apparent that much work was left undone by anthropologists. Except for recent work by Mencher, basic information on the Nambudiris, one of the main communities that maintains its Vedic culture, remains available mainly in the older manuals of ethnographers (e.g., Anantha Krishna Iyer), historians (e.g., Padmanabha Menon), and British District Collectors (e.g., Logan and Innes).
If nothing else, the present publication will show that a great deal of Vedic fieldwork remains to be done and should be done before it is too late. At this point in history, each time one of the older Vedic ritualists dies, a portion of the 3, ooo-year-old tradition is irretrievably lost.
THE 1975 PERFORMANCE of the Atiratra-Agnicayana called attention to a ritual created in India almost three thousand years ago. The first volumes of Agni sought to document and help preserve this ancient tradition. The ceremonies were described and depicted in explicit detail because of their intrinsic cultural value, because they provide the source material for many developments in Indian religion, and also because they can be used to con5rm, revise, or reject general theories of ritual and religion.
This second volume of Agni probes more deeply into the authenticity of the Nambudiri Vedic tradition and seeks at the same time to explain how such a survival could occur. It shows that much is in fact known about the background, context, and history of the tradition, though some of this information is circumstantial and much of it is difficult of access. As a result of these investigations, the history of the religions of India now appears in new light: though Vedic beliefs and doctrines have disappeared or been transformed, Vedic practice has in fact continued. This is significant especial in India, where practice-Karman has always been more important than theory. The truth has escaped Indologists who confine themselves to texts rd doctrines, and anthropologists who merely scratch the surface. It has been further obscured by the popularization of artificial distinctions like that between so-called Great and Little Traditions.
The second volume begins with Part III, "Perspectives," a series of contributions by scholars who elucidate the ritual, its background, and its many dimensions. Part IV, "Texts and Translations," provides sections from ritual manuals of the three Vedic schools represented in the 1975 performance. Part V is concerned with the audiovisual documentation of the Agni ceremony.
Part III opens with historical studies by Thapar, Parpola, Heesterman, and Seidenberg. The perspectives adopted in these speculations are diverse; together they remind us of important gaps in our knowledge of early Indian nation', and they show us that our widely held assumptions about an Aryan invasion are not only simplistic but also questionable. Staal then analyzes e syntax of the ritual. There follow philological articles primarily concerned with Sanskrit texts: Tsuji examines a Yajurvedic tradition that differs from that followed in 1975; Sreekrishna Sarma studies the Rgvedic sources underlying the 1975 performance; and Ikari explores a historical link between the Agnicayana and the Pravargya ceremony. Balasubrahmanya Sastri Eate5 how the Agnicayana has been treated in a later philosophic development.
Although the continued existence of grhya rites among the twice-born castes is well known, the survey by Kashikar and Parpola shows how Vedic srauta traditions, too, are alive in many regions of the Indian subcontinent. The subsequent eight papers focus on the Nambudiri tradition and elucidate features of Nambudiri Vedic culture. The picture that emerges modifies the common view that Vedic civilization disappeared and was in due course replaced by Hinduism. What we witness is in fact the continued existence of Vedic traditions, though often in remote areas. At the same time, many Indian traditions entered a new phase, which it is customary to call Tantric. This development can be traced in Kerala and among the Nambudiris, but its chief impact has been elsewhere. It is not within the scope of this book to treat the Tantric fire rites that have proliferated all over India during the last two thousand years. However, contributions by Hooykaas, Skorupski, and Strickmann show the extent to which such ceremonies spread over large parts of Asia. After depicting a culmination of these Tantric rites in the fiery meditations of Japan, Part Ill ends with an account of mundane events and practical affairs that pervaded and accompanied the Agnicayana project.
The texts and translations of Part IV appropriately begin with sections from the Baudhayana Srautasutra, which is the most detailed and precise of the sutras, and probably the earliest. The material presented by Ikari and Arnold is the counterpart of the description in Part II, and makes possible a step-for-step comparison of the ritual as it was before 6oo B.C. with the 1975 performance. The contributions that follow supplement the Yajurvedic data with the Atiratra recitations from the Rgveda and the Agnicayana chants from the Samaveda.
The content of the two volumes reflects a variety of disciplines. The emphasis in Part II may be characterized as anthropological or ethnographical; it represents Vedic fieldwork. Such fieldwork can be undertaken only by Sanskritists, but all too few have availed themselves of the opportunity. By contrast, the information provided in Pans III and IV is largely historical and philological. Though these contrasting approaches may seem incompatible, they are coherent from the Nambudiri. or indeed from the Indian, point of view. It is not surprising, therefore, that the descriptions offered in Parts II and 1V are often extremely similar in spite of their different orientation. Both descriptions differ in points of derail, but they exhibit the same structure and spirit. If the Nambudiris conceive of the ritual in the manner of the authors of the ancient manuals, it is not because they imitate the manuals; it is because they embody the same tradition.
Part V of the second volume gives brief surveys of the twenty hours of film footage and the eighty hours of recordings with which we returned from India. The forty-five-minute film Altar of Fire, edited from these materials, presents primarily the Nambudiri point of view: it consists of a succession of episodes suggested by Cherumukku Vaidikan. The contents of the cassette tapes that accompany this book are described in the third section of Part V.
Collecting contributions from an international group of scholars has been challenging, time-consuming, and rewarding. Though the original style of the contributions has been largely retained, a certain amount of standardization has been done, and overlaps have been minimized. Since English is not the native tongue of most of the authors, nor of the editor, considerations of style have required much attention. In all these tasks I have been fortunate in having the assistance of my judicious coeditor, Pamela MacFarland. As in the case of the first volume, most of the papers have been typed by Ruth Suzuki with her customary, yet miraculous, speed. The burden of completing a variety of smaller tasks was much eased by support from the Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies and the Committee on Research of the University of California at Berkeley.
The plates for this volume come from a greater variety of sources than was the case in the first volume. Acknowledgments are due to the Department of History and Archaeology, Karnatak University (for Plate 1); Professor G. R. Sharma (Plates 2-4); the Archaeological Survey of India (Plates 5-6); E. J. H. Mackay, Chanhu-Daro Excavations 1935-36 (Plate 7A); F. J. H. Mackay, Further Excavations at Mohenjo-Daro (Plate 7B); The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (Plate 8); Krishnan Nair Studies, Shoranur (Plates 12-13); Shoren-in, Kyoto (Plate 14); Kuo Li-ying (Plates 15-17); and Adelaide de Menu (Plates 9-11, 18-23). The illustrations in the text and the numerous maps have again been drawn by Adrienne Morgan with meticulous care. Dr. W. M. Callewaert of the Department of Oriental Studies, Leuven, Belgium, has assisted with the map of Andhra Pradesh. Figures 28-31 are reproduced from The Creation of Mandalas: Rong tha blo bzang dam clos rgya mtsho, Volume 3.
The materials presented in this second volume range far in time and space. Though all are reverberations of Agni and add dimensions to the Nambudiri Agni, do they place the Nambudiri tradition itself in a new perspective, and do they teach us anything else that is new?
It would be tempting to claim that this extremely ancient tradition admirably fills the gap between the great literary traditions of mankind and many surviving traditions in preliterate societies that are now beginning to be studied. Attractive as this speculation is, 1 shall descend to a less lofty level of conjecture that is still replete with general questions. For example, how different is the Vedic religion of the Nambudiris from the original Vedic religion? How do Vedic and Hindu elements blend, mingle, or coexist in the Nambudiri tradition? And what light does this throw on the concepts of tradition and religion?
When answering the first question, one might begin with the stark contrast that becomes immediately apparent from a comparison of the section on Vedic nomads with that on the Nambudiri tradition in the first volume. While the Vedic nomads were aliens migrating into a new country where they came in contact with the remnants of an unfamiliar civilization, the Nambudiris are settled villagers and established country gentlemen occupying the highest ranks in their caste society. The Vedic religion, however, has remained the same in at least one respect. Agni is the same fire reinforced by mantras and oblations whose name continues to be familiar from chants and recitations. Agni is not a deity like Siva, Visnu, or Bhagavati, whose images are installed in temples. The Vedic religion of Agni and Soma is as nonanthropomorphic in the Nambudiri tradition as it was during the Vedic period. One reason for Agni's continuing identity is this nonanthropomorphism, which makes it possible for him or it to be carried in an earthen pot. It is in the nature of things that men and anthropomorphic deities are more readily susceptible to change than such nonanthropomorphic substances as Agni.
How then are Vedic and Hindu elements related in the Nambudiri tradition? What students of religion in the West yearn for, of course, is Integration. When we ask the performers "Are you Vedic Indians or Hindus?" the answer is "We are Vaidika Nambudiris." From this we might conclude that things that seem to be incompatible to us are harmoniously one in the mysterious orient. But let us not get entangled too soon in our own confusions. To understand the Nambudiri answer adequately we have to move to a more sophisticated level of conceptual analysis. To begin with, we have to question those rubrics of religion we have come to use with such facile abandon. The labeling of elements as "Vedic" or "Hindu" may reflect a historical perspective, but it throws scant light on the synchronic relations between these elements, and has nothing to do with religion. The same holds for the Harappan and Indo-European features of the Agnicayana itself, where such labeling is even more obviously historical. All such labels are imposed by scholars, laymen, and other outsiders. Their value lies in historical and comparative analysis; but we use them at our peril when we forget that they are inherently artificial.
The concept of religion is a Western concept, and though its origin is Roman, it has been colored by its age-long associations with the monotheisms of the West. Western religion is pervaded by the notion of exclusive truth, and it claims a monopoly on truth. It is professed by "People of the Book," in the apt phrase the Koran uses to refer to Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Scholars and laymen persist in searching for such religions in Asia. In order to identify them, they seize upon labels from indigenous categories, rent from their original contexts. Thus there arises a host of religions: Vedic, Brahmanical, Hindu, Buddhist, Bonpo, Tantric, Taoist, Confucian, Shinto, etc. In India and in Asia generally, such groupings are not only uninteresting but uninformative and tinged with the unreal. What counts instead are ancestors and teachers--hence lineages, traditions, affiliations, cults, eligibility, initiation, and injunction-concepts with ritual rather than truth- functional overtones. These notions do not pertain to questions of truth, but to practical questions: What should the followers of a tradition do? This is precisely what makes such notions pertain to the domain of Karman. Hence orthopraxy, not orthodoxy, is the operative concept in India. The Veda, for example, is not a sacred book: its power lies in mantra; ad mantra is vidhi, that is, and injunction to Karman: "Speaking, it is of karman that they speak; and praising, it is Karman that they praise" (Brhad-Aranyaka-Upanisad 3.2.13).
The structures of these Asian traditions are related and unrelated to Western patterns of religion, culture, thought, and society in a myriad ways. The term religion, however, has been applied in a clear and helpful manner only to Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. It is of limited applicability to Buddhism and to the bhakti cults of Saivism and Visnuism. Elsewhere it leads to a meaningless proliferation of problems. In the only intelligible sense of the term, there are no indigenous religions in India.
Preface vii
Plates xxv
Illustrations in the Text xxix
Tables/Maps xxxi
Transliteration xxxiii
Sanskrit xxxiii
Malayalam xxxiv
A Note on Pronuniation xxxv
Abbreviations xxxvii
General Introduction 1
The Agnicayana Ritual
Chapter 1 Introduction 27
Chapter 2 The Agnicayana in Classical Vedic Ritual Sources 29
The Srauta Rituals 40
Chapter 3 A Bird's-Eye View of the Agnicayana 55
Chapter 4 Traditional Interpretations of the Agnicayana 59
Chapter 5 Origin and Significance of the Agnicayana 73
Agni 73
Vedic Nomads 90
Soma 105
The Cosmic Man 113
The Altar 125
Naturally Perforated Stones 139
Chapter 6 The Nambudiri Tradition 167
The 1975 Performance
Preliminaries 193
1. Eligibility, Time and Place 193
2. Measurements and Bricks 195
3. Soma, Antelope Skin and Woods 203
4. Wooden Implements 206
5. Clay Implements 216
6. The Golden Man 240
7. Other Prerequisites 240
8. The Ritual Enclosure 244
9. Dramatis Personae 266
Introductory Note 274
Abbreviations 276
A Note on the Jaiminiya Samaveda 276
First Day: April 12 and 13, 1975
Episode 1. Ritual Preparation of the Ukha Pots and Introductory Rites (Ukhasambharanam, Punyahavacanam, Upavyaharanam, Samkalpa) 279
Episode 2. Animal Sacrifice for Vayu and Preparation of the Five Heads (Vayavyam Pasu) 303
Episode 3. Election of the Priests and Making Five (Rtvigvarana, Agnimanthana) 313
Episode 4. Consecration of the Yajamana (Diksa) 317
Second Day: April 13. 1975
Episode 5. Adoration of the Ukha Fire with the Vatsapra Hymn and Rites for Gain (vatsapra-upasthana, Sani) 334
Episode 6. Ritual Preparation of the Pravargya Implements (Pravargyasambharanam) 336
Fourth Day: April 16, 1975
Episode 7. Construction of the New Domestic Altar (Garhapatyaciti) 336
Episode 8. Introductory Offering; Purchase of Soma; Guest Offering for Soma (Prayaniyesti; Somakraya; Atithyesti) 347
Episode 9. Pravargya, Upasad, and Subrahmanya Chant 368
Third Day: April 16, 1975
Episode 10. Measurement of the Great Altar Space and of the Field of Agni (Mahavedikarana, Citisthanakarana) 369
Episode 11. Setting Up the Field of Agni (Agniksetropadhana) 381
Episode 12. The Foundation of the Altar 395
Episode 13. The First Layer 417
Fifth Day: April 17, 1975
Episode 14. The Second Layer 445
Sixth Day: April 18, 1975
Episode 15. The Third Layer 459
Seventh Day: April 19, 1975
Episode 16. The Fourth Layer 464
Eight Day: April 20, 1975
Episode 17. The Fifth Layer 473
Episode 18. Rudra, Flow of Milk, and Other Ceremonies on the Fifth Layer (Satarudriya, Ksiradhara) 509
Ninth Day: April 21, 1975
Episode 19. Further Ceremonies on the Altar 543
Episode 20. carrying Forth of Agni and Oblations (Agnipranayana, Adhvarahuti, etc.) 551
Episode 21. Flow of Wealth (Vasor Dhora) 563
Episode 22. Pressing of Strength, Holding of the Realm, and other Oblations (Vajaprasaviya, Rastrabhrt, etc.) 570
Episode 23. Setting Up of the Soma Hall and the Hall of Recitation: Construction of the Dhisnya Hearths (Havirdhanamandapakaranam; Sadahkaranam, Dhisnyanirmanam) 579
Third and Ninth Day: April 21, 1975
Episode 24. Carrying Forth of Soma and Agni; Animal Sacrifice for Soma and Agni; Offerings for the Divine Instigators; Proclamation of the Yajamana (Agnisomapranayanam; Agnisomiyapasu; Devasuvams Havimsi) 590
Tenth Day: April 22, 1975
Episode 25. Continuation of the Soma Ritual; Outdoor Chant for the Purified Soma (Bahispavamanastotra) 598
Episode 26. The Eleven Animal Sacrifices and the Rest of the Morning Pressing (Savaniyapasu; Pratahsavana) 608
Episode 27. Midday Pressing and Anointing the Yajamana (Madhyandinasavana; Abhiseka) 632
Eleventh Day: April 23, 1975
Episode 28. The Third Pressing (Trtiyasavana) 646
Episode 29. The Three Ukthya Soma Sequences and the Sixteenth (Sodasi) 655
Eleventh Day: April 23 and 24, 1975
Episode 30. Three Overnight Rounds (Ratriparyaya) 663
Episode 31. The Chant and Recitation for the Asvins (Asvinastuti; Asvinasastra) 680
Twelfth Day: April 25, 1975
Dpisode 32. The Tail of the Ritual (Yajnapuccha) 686
Appendix. Malayalam Text of the Praisartham 698
Bibliography and Abbreviations 703
Preface v
Plates xiv
Illustrations in the Text xv
Maps xvi
Abbreviations xvii
Part III: Perspectives
The Archeological Background to the Agnicayana Ritual, by Romila Thapar 3
The Pre-Vedic Indian Background of the Srauta Ritual, by Asko Parpola 41
Other Folk's Fire, by J.C. Heesterman 76
The Geometry of the Vedic Rituals, by A. Seidenberg 95
Ritual Structure, by Frits Staal 127
The Agnicayana Section of the Maitrayani-Samhita with Special Reference to the Manava Srauta Sutra, by N. Tsuji 135
The Atiratra According to the Kausitaki Brahmana, by E.R. Sreekrishna Sarma 161
Ritual Preparation of the Mahavira and Ukha Posts, by Yasuke Ikari 168
Agnicayana in the Mimamsa, by K. Balasubrahmanya Sastri, edited by James A. Santuci 178
Srauta Traditions in Recent Times, by C.G. Kashikar and Asko Parpola 199
Recent Nambudiri Performances of Agnistoma and Agnicayana, by C.V. Somayajipad, M. Itti Ravi Nambudiri, and Erkkara Raman Nambudir 252
A History of the Nambudiri Community of Kerala, by M.G.S. Narayanan and Kesavan Veluthat 256
The Nambudiri Ritual Tradition with Special Referene to the Kollengode Archives, by M.R. Raghava Varier 279
Sanskrit and Malayalam References from Kerala, by K. Kunjunni Raja 300
The Music of Nambudiri Unexpressed Chant (aniruktagana), by Wayne Howard 311
The Five-Tipped Bird, the Square Bird, and the Many-Faced Domestic Altar, by C.V. Somayajipad, M. Itti Ravi Nambudiri, and Frits Staal 343
Vedic Mudras, by Frits Staal 359
Notes on Comparison of Vedic Mudras with Mudras used in Kutiyattam and Kathakali, by Clifford R. Jones 380
Agni Offerings in Java and Bali, by C. Hooykaas 382
Tibetan Homa Rites, by Tedeusz Skorupski 403
Homa in East Asia by Micchel Strickmann 418
The Agnicayana Project, by Frits Staal 456
Part IV: Texts and Translations
Baudhayana Srauta Sutra on the Agnicayana text by W. Caland, translation by Yasuke Ikari and Harold Arnold 478
Kausitaki Brahmana on the Atiratra, translation by E.R. Sreekrishna Sarma 676
The Passages of the Jaiminiya Srauta Sutra dealing with the Agnicayana, together with Bhavatrata's Commentary, by Asko Parpola 700
Part V: Films, Tapes, and Cassettes by Frits Staal
I. The Films 739
II. The Tapes 744
III. The Cassettes 748
Contributors 761
Glossary and Index of Terms 769
Index of Names 800
Index of Texts 812
NAB997
1604 (Illustrated Throughout In B/W & Color)
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Hymns From Rig-Veda (Sanskrit Text, English Translation and Notes on the Selected Suktas from the Rig-Veda)
by Pradeep
Ganapati Brahmanaspati and Kumara (Mantras from Rig Veda, Yajur Veda and Upanishdas) (Sanskrit Text with Transliteration and English Translation)
by R.L. Kashyap
Modern English Translation of The Rig Veda Samhitaa (Set of 4 Volumes)
by Prasanna Chandra Gautam
Rig Veda (Set of 4 Volumes)
by Dr. Tulsi Ram
Arsh Sahitya Prachar Trust
A Study of Deities of Rig Veda (With the help of Science)
by S. S. Gupta
The Complete Rig Veda - 12 Volumes
Hardcover/Paperback (Edition: 2009)
Rgveda for the Layman: A Critical Survey of One Hundred Hymns of the Rig Veda
by Shyman Ghosh
Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
RGVEDA SAMHITA: Rig Veda in 4 Volumes
by Translated By: HH. Wilson & Bhasya of Sayanacarya, Edited By: Ravi Prakash Arya & K.L. Joshi
Item Code: IDE751
Modern English Translation of The Rig Veda Samhitaa (Volume II)
Health and Healing Mantras (From Rig Veda and Atharvaveda)
Modern English Translation of The Rig Veda Samhitaa (Volume IV)
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Detroit financial review commission to meet for inaugural meeting tomorrow
by Ryan Felton
Gov. Rick Snyder
Republican Gov. Rick Snyder this week named appointees to the state-mandated Financial Review Commission that will oversee significant financial decisions made by the City of Detroit. The board was established as part of the city's bankruptcy-restructuring plan, which was approved last week by a federal judge.
And while the imminent exit of Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr has been seen as a positive sign for the city, the commission will maintain serious authority over a number of fiscal matters: among other things, the oversight commission will have the power to review and approve the city’s four-year financial plan, approve or reject all contracts for goods and services worth at least $750,000, and review requests by the city to issue debt.
“I appreciate the expertise each member brings to this commission, which will play a critical role in partnering to move the city of Detroit forward,” said Snyder, in a statement. “The state, the city, its residents and Southeast Michigan are represented on this commission, which will work collaboratively with local leaders to continue building a brighter future for our largest city.”
As Metro Times previously reported, under the law, the commission will exist for at least 13 years; the city's Financial Advisory Board, created under a 2012 consent agreement with the state, will be dissolved.
Snyder, who selects a majority five members of the board, appointed: Stacy Fox, former deputy emergency manager of Detroit; Lorron James, vice president of Detroit-based automotive logistics firm James Group International; Bill Martin, former University of Michigan athletic director; Tony Saunders, former emergency manager of Benton Harbor; and Darrell Burks, former senior partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Mandated members under state law that are also on the commission include: state Treasurer Kevin Clinton, who will serve as chairman of the commission; Mayor Mike Duggan, or a designee; City Council President Brenda Jones, or a designee; and state Budget Director John Roberts.
Interestingly, Snyder also named former New York Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch senior financial adviser to the commission, and "special liaison to the state of Michigan," a press release says. It's unclear if Ravitch will be compensated for the position.
The commission will have to file bi-annual reports to the governor, which will be posted on the Michigan Treasury website. The commission could go dormant after three years if stringent financial requirements have been met by the city.
The commissions first meeting will be held tomorrow at 9 a.m., at Wayne State University's McGregor Memorial Conference Center, 495 Ferry Mall. It is open to the public.
News Hits detroit financial review commission bankruptcy
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Table and Bar
Indian fusion, vegan/vegetarian eatery opens Friday in Ypsilanti
by Tom Perkins
533 W. Cross St. is the center business.
Veg-O-Rama owner Prafulla Kharkar says that above all else, the Indian-American dishes that he prepares can best described as "love food."
It's fresh, it's made with high quality ingredients, and it's made with passion, he tells us. But it's also all vegetarian and vegan, so it's made from nature, and in that way it's moral and healthy, unlike the fast food at McDonald's or Burger King.
"We want to spread the message of love, and food is the one thing that unites cultures, religions, and people from different walks of life. So we will spread love through food," Kharkar tells MT.
The main vessels for that love in the fast casual restaurant are Kharkar's inventive veggie burger patties that aren't quite traditional Indian dishes, but made with Indian ingredients and flavors. For example, the Golden Crunchy Bird's Nest Burger is a patty of coleslaw, chick pea flour base, and cajun spices; The Love Seed Beet Them All is prepared with shredded beets, roasted sunflower seeds, flax seed, buckwheat, chick pea flour, and spices; and the Golden Crunchy Potato Burger is made with potatoes and Indian spices.
Some sides are similar to what you'll find at a coney island, including coney fries, jalapeno poppers, and a greek salad, while others are Indian options like samosas, pakora fritters, and chaat, which Kharkar describes as Indian street nachos. Vegan cheese is available for most dishes.
All burger patties are 3.9 inches and priced at $2.99 during Veg-O-Rama's opening week, though the entire menu is regularly $5.49 (for two burgers) and under.
Kharkar – who's opening the small shop on Friday at 533 W. Cross St. with his wife – is an entrepreneur who previously launched several information technology companies, but he began cooking seven years ago and decided that he found more satisfaction in the kitchen.
But he has big plans in Veg-O-Rama. He says he wants to see it grow into a national vegetarian chain that rivals McDonald's and spreads the love far and wide.
"There's really not many options out there for vegetarians, vegans, and nothing when you're driving on the highway. Our mission is to make a fast casual food chain, just like McDonald's, and we will grow from here," he says.
Ypsilanti seems like a good spot because it's where Domino's got its start, Kharkar tells us, and the community is growing and welcoming.
"The city is vey inviting, very welcoming, and working hard to make it a reality. For a new business it's important that you have so much support from the city," he says.
Find Veg-O-Rama's Facebook page here.
Table and Bar Veg-O-Rama vegan vegetarian Ypsilanti
Veg-o–rama/facebook.
Vegetarian Indian fusion restaurant Veg-O-Rama opens next week in Canton
by Tom Perkins | Apr 1, 2019
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326 F. 2d 13 - Fletcher Co v. Rock of Ages Corporation
326 F2d 13 Fletcher Co v. Rock of Ages Corporation
326 F.2d 13
H. E. FLETCHER CO., Plaintiff-Appellee,
ROCK OF AGES CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 207.
Docket 28467.
United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit.
Argued December 4, 1963.
Decided December 23, 1963.
Warren F. Farr, Boston, Mass., F. Elliott Barber, Jr., Brattleboro, Vt. (Frederick M. Reed, Barre, Vt., Truman S. Casner, Ropes & Gray, Boston, Mass., of counsel), for appellant.
Harold M. Willcox, Boston, Mass., Robert W. Larrow, Burlington, Vt. (Robert E. Sullivan; Herrick, Smith, Donald, Farley & Ketchum, Boston, Mass., of counsel), for appellee.
Before MOORE, FRIENDLY and KAUFMAN, Circuit Judges.
Rock of Ages Corporation owns the sole quarry for Bethel White granite. It fabricates this and other stone for monuments and also for the building trade. H. E. Fletcher Co., a competing fabricator, relying on § 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2, obtained from the District Court for Vermont an order enjoining Rock of Ages from refusing to sell it rough quarried Bethel White granite, on "reasonable and normal commercial terms," in sufficient quantity to supply the amount specified by the General Services Administration (GSA) for a proposed west wing of the Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution. We reverse the injunction as improvidently issued.
The history of the controversy is as follows: The Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution, constructed in 1905, has a first story faced with "Milford Pink" granite, surmounted by a shaft of "Bethel White" granite supplied by a predecessor of Rock of Ages, and an attic story of Mt. Airy granite. Proposals by the GSA for bids for an east wing, to be submitted December 6, 1960, specified granites matching those in the original structure. More particularly, the specifications demanded that "Granite indicated on the drawings as type `B' shall be `Bethel White' as quarried by the Barre Building Granite, Inc., Barre, Vermont," a subsidiary of Rock of Ages;1 the specifications went on to say that "The naming of granites is for the purpose of indicating the type that is required, but is not intended to exclude any granite having the characteristics which in the opinion of the Service, are so nearly like those named that they will give practically the same effect." Fletcher submitted proposals for furnishing the fabricated granites to various prime contractors. It intended to satisfy the specifications by supplying "New Hampshire Pink" instead of "Milford Pink," as it had once successfully done, and "Chelmsford White" in place of "Bethel White" and "Mt. Airy." The successful bidder for the prime contract accepted Fletcher's proposal, but the GSA rejected the equivalents offered, as well as another set submitted later. Fletcher then amended its contract to provide that it would furnish "Milford Pink," "Mt. Airy," and "Bethel White" or an "approved equal" in lieu thereof; it did this without any arrangement with Rock of Ages, from which it had never before procured Bethel White. When, in May, 1961, Fletcher requested Rock of Ages to furnish a quotation on some 11,000 cubic feet of Bethel White in rough mill blocks, Rock of Ages refused. It did this pursuant to an "evolving policy," which matured a year later, of selling Bethel White only in fabricated form. This policy stemmed both from alleged bad experience in the fabrication of Bethel White by others and from a desire by Rock of Ages to make the fabricating profit in a facility of its own, which, it asserts, was not working to capacity. Admittedly one of the reasons for the refusal to quote Fletcher in May, 1961, was that Rock of Ages had itself submitted to a stone contractor a bid to supply Bethel White for the Smithsonian east wing in fabricated form.
When Rock of Ages, living up to its name, remained adamant, Fletcher located in Plymouth, Vermont, a ledge of white granite which the GSA accepted as the equivalent of Bethel White. Fletcher filled its commitment for the east wing from this source, but only at what the record indicates to have been inordinate cost.
In April, 1962, the GSA requested bids for a west wing of the Museum. On this occasion the specifications, as amended, permitted the use for "Type B" of Bethel White or Plymouth White. Fletcher again called on Rock of Ages for a quotation of Bethel White in rough condition. This time Rock of Ages answered that while it would not sell rough blocks, it would sell fabricated stone to Fletcher at the same price as it would itself bid to any other contractor. Without asking for such a quotation, Fletcher submitted a bid for all the granites, on terms not disclosed by the record; the GSA rejected all general contractors' bids. In March, 1963, Fletcher, expecting that new invitations to bid for the west wing would shortly be issued, again asked Rock of Ages to quote "Bethel White," with the same result as in 1962.
Fletcher then began this action under the antitrust laws in the District Court for Vermont; it sought, inter alia, treble damages for the excess costs incurred by it in filling its contract for the east wing with Plymouth White and an injunction against defendant's refusing to sell it rough quarried Bethel White at reasonable prices. Renewed invitations to bid for the west wing having been issued on May 24, 1963, Fletcher brought on for hearing its motion for a temporary injunction. By orders dated June 25 and 26, Judge Gibson granted the motion, conditioned on plaintiff's filing a $25,000 bond "for the payment of such costs and damages as may be incurred or suffered by the defendant if it is found that the defendant has been wrongfully enjoined." In an accompanying opinion he concluded "that the plaintiff may well succeed on the merits," and that "If the Court should deny the injunction, the plaintiff will have to bid under the pressure of considerable uncertainty" whereas "A granting of the preliminary injunction will enable the plaintiff to bid freely and accurately on the contract" and "The defendant will be protected from damage by a bond should it prevail on the merits." Defendant appealed to this Court, as permitted by 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a) (1). In October, 1963, a panel declined to suspend the injunction; we were advised at the argument in December that, in compliance with it, defendant has supplied plaintiff with the requisite amount of rough quarried Bethel White. We think the district court was in error on both of the grounds to which we have referred, and consequently find it unnecessary to consider other objections raised.
Recognizing that in order to obtain a temporary injunction in a private antitrust suit a plaintiff must show "that the danger of irreparable loss or damage is immediate," 15 U.S.C. § 26, the court overestimated both the plaintiff's plight in the absence of such an injunction and the alleviation that this could bring. The court's view might have been sustainable if Rock of Ages had refused, as it did in 1960, to quote Bethel White at all; for then Fletcher could have bid only on the basis of Plymouth White, the added cost of this might have been so prohibitive that it would not have dared to enter a truly competitive bid, and the damages for loss of the contract would be difficult or even impossible to ascertain.2 See Judge L. Hand concurring in Foundry Services, Inc. v. Beneflux Corp., 206 F.2d 214, 216 (2 Cir. 1953). Rock of Ages' offer to supply fabricated Bethel White at the same price that it would bid to other contractors considerably altered this; Fletcher's risk then was simply the spread between what it would have considered a proper bid for furnishing Bethel White of its own fabrication and the price that Rock of Ages might have quoted. There is no way for us to tell exactly what this spread was;3 after hearing the parties, the judge evidently thought the $25,000 which he fixed for the injunction bond was a fair figure. Whatever the spread, there is no showing why plaintiff could not have bid what it would have thought reasonable for Bethel White bought in rough form and fabricated by itself. If its bid was accepted, it could have purchased the fabricated granite from defendant, and, assuming that it correctly conceived its rights under the Sherman Act, could have recovered three times the spread as damages. To be sure, this subjected the plaintiff to the hazards of litigation, although in a knowable and not frightening amount. But, apart from any other considerations, the temporary injunction did not remove that risk, since the bond, specifically required by the statute, 15 U.S.C. § 26, left Fletcher liable for damages if in the end it was determined that Rock of Ages was within its rights in refusing to offer rough mill blocks. If it be said that the injunction put a ceiling on the hazard at the $25,000 specified in the bond, see Russell v. Farley, 105 U.S. 433, 437-447, 26 L.Ed. 1060 (1881); Lawrence v. St. Louis-S. F. Ry., 278 U.S. 228, 233, 49 S.Ct. 106, 73 L.Ed. 282 (1929), there are several answers: The first is that the proof does not show that the amount of the hazard would have been greater than this in any event. A second is that if in fact the bond required of Fletcher would not enable Rock of Ages to recover its full damages, the judge would thereby have failed, to precisely the same extent, in his stated objective to protect the defendant "from damage by a bond should it prevail on the merits." A third is that plaintiff's risk was cushioned by a three-to-one hedge in its favor under its treble damage remedy, 15 U.S.C. § 15.
These considerations as to the lack of adequate showing of irreparable damage gain added force from our serious doubt whether Fletcher met its burden of convincing "with reasonable certainty" that it "must succeed at final hearing." Hall Signal Co. v. General Ry. Signal Co., 153 F. 907, 908 (2 Cir. 1907). It had to rely, not on § 1 of the Sherman Act, but on the harder test of § 2. Although that section condemns actual or attempted monopolization of "any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations," it is settled that this means a market constituting "some appreciable part." United States v. Yellow Cab Co., 332 U.S. 218, 225, 67 S.Ct. 1560, 91 L.Ed. 2010 (1947); United States v. Griffith, 334 U.S. 100, 106-107, 68 S.Ct. 941, 92 L.Ed. 1236 (1948). Defendant's affidavits alleged and plaintiff's did not deny that several other types of granite were competitive with Bethel White, and that the GSA's specifications for Government buildings using white granite normally permit the use of any of several types. Compare United States v. E. I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co., 351 U.S. 377, 76 S.Ct. 994, 100 L.Ed. 1264 (1956). The specifications here were narrower only because the original building had used Bethel White. If we accept arguendo plaintiff's premise that the quarrying and the fabrication of granite are different businesses, we would still have difficulty in concluding that a decision by the owner of the source of a particular white granite to do its own fabricating violates § 2 of the Sherman Act, a crime as well as an actionable wrong — at least, when, as here, the decision has not been shown to have had adverse competitive impact save as to a single building, and even as to it the Government could avail itself, although at some aesthetic sacrifice, of the close substitutes normally specified as alternatives. We know of no reason or precedent for considering so small a market an "appreciable part." See Report of the Attorney General's National Committee to Study the Antitrust Laws, 44-48 (1955). Despite the conventional antitrust trappings with which the case has been draped, what we have here, so far as the papers show, is essentially a private squabble between two sets of energetic Yankee businessmen. Of the two cases relied upon by the district judge, United States v. Aluminum Co. of America, 148 F.2d 416 (2 Cir. 1945), and United States v. Klearflax Linen Looms, Inc., 63 F.Supp. 32 (D.Minn. 1945), the former does not require detailed distinction and the latter, assuming it to have been soundly decided, see Times-Picayune Publishing Co. v. United States, 345 U.S. 594, 625 fn. 49, 73 S. Ct. 872, 97 L.Ed. 1277 (1953), involved all business with the Government and not merely a single building.
Although we hold the temporary injunction was improvidently issued, we must now take account of the fact that under its compulsion defendant has already sold the rough Bethel White to plaintiff, and we assume that substantial expenses in transportation and perhaps in fabrication have already been incurred. The district court need not allow defendant to retake such granite if that would produce economic waste; it may limit defendant to recovery of damages on the injunction bond. Even as to this it may postpone the assessment of damages until it determines, on full hearing, whether plaintiff is able to adduce evidence that will entitle it to final relief. Lawrence v. St. Louis-S. F. Ry., supra; Madison Shipping Corp. v. National Maritime Union, 204 F.Supp. 22, 23 (E.D.Pa.1962). If defendant's victory on this appeal is thus rather Pyrrhic, that is an inevitable, although regrettable, consequence of the delays inherent in the appellate process.
The order is reversed for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
The subsidiary transferred all its business and property to the parent on December 31, 1960
Also Fletcher's rights to the Plymouth quarry had been attacked by a suit by a third party in a Vermont court; at the time of the injunction a verdict had been directed in Fletcher's favor but this was still subject to appeal
The record does show that Rock of Ages bid $259,488 to general contractors in 1962. Fletcher's treasurer testified he had thought $200,000 to $220,000 a reasonable figure in 1960
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532 F. 2d 834 - United States v. Rodriguez
532 F2d 834 United States v. Rodriguez
UNITED STATES of America, Appellee,
Manuel RODRIGUEZ, a/k/a Manolo Rodriguez, Appellant.
No. 500, Docket 75-1287.
Decided March 11, 1976.
Anthony F. Correri, Mineola, N. Y., for appellant.
Paul F. Corcoran, Asst. U. S. Atty., E. D. N. Y., Albany, N. Y. (David G. Trager, U. S. Atty., E. D. N. Y., Brooklyn, N. Y., of counsel), for appellee.
Before LUMBARD, FRIENDLY and MULLIGAN, Circuit Judges.
On July 18, 1975, after trial to a jury in the District Court for the Eastern District of New York, appellant Manuel Rodriguez was judged guilty, fined, and sentenced on four counts of a twelve count indictment for harboring illegal aliens in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(3). Although a number of points have been raised, the only one requiring discussion is the serious claim that pivotal prosecution testimony should have been suppressed as the fruit of an illegal search.
Neil Jacobs, a criminal investigator for the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), testified, both at a suppression hearing and at trial, in regard to the entry, on February 12, 1975, into two houses owned by Rodriguez in Levittown on Long Island, one at 18 Bunting Lane, the entry relevant here, and the other at 113 Brittle Lane. The INS' interest in these houses had its source in an interview with one Ortilia Vilatoro, an alien who had been arrested on July 23, 1974 for being illegally in this country; she told the INS she was living at 113 Brittle Lane, had lived at 18 Bunting Lane, and had seen two or three other illegal aliens living in these houses. The interest thus created was revived in January, 1975, when Ernesto Lopez, who had been convicted for conspiring to harbor aliens, see United States v. Lopez, 521 F.2d 437 (2 Cir. 1975), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 96 S.Ct. 421, 46 L.Ed.2d 368, 44 U.S.L.W. 3330 (1975), told Agent Jacobs that illegal aliens were living in two houses in Levittown owned by "Manolo Martinez." Jacobs obtained authority from his superior to have agents go to the houses "to sit on the house and observe . . . if someone walked out of the house just to ask them where they were from." His purpose, as found by the district court, was to arrest aliens residing in the houses who were unlawfully in the United States, not to procure evidence to support a criminal charge against the owner. Three agents accompanied him to 18 Bunting Lane.
As events developed, extended surveillance was not required. Immediately upon arriving at 18 Bunting Lane around 7:00 a. m., Jacobs noticed a male of "Hispanic" appearance seated in an "old" car which was parked in front of the suspect house. Jacobs approached the man, subsequently identified as Jorge Galaes, and, having informed Galaes of his official status, inquired of Galaes in Spanish as to his alienage and authority to be in the country. Galaes responded that he had entered the United States from El Salvador as a tourist in 1969 and that "he came in with a passport." When Jacobs asked to see the passport, Galaes indicated that it was inside the house. Jacobs apparently then considered Galaes to be under arrest; he would not have permitted Galaes to enter the house alone. However,
I did not tell the alien he was under arrest. It was sort of implied. I did not actually come out and say "You are under arrest." I said, "You will have to come down to the office." I didn't handcuff him and drag him out. I just said, "I would like to have your passport."
Later Jacobs phrased the last remark as "Let's get your passport." And, at another point in the suppression hearing, he answered as follows:
And you then directed him to get the passport?
And you directed him into the house?
Galaes did not tell Jacobs to wait outside, nor did he object to Jacobs' accompanying him. The three other investigators followed Jacobs into the house, although at least the last one did not enter for a few minutes.
Upon coming into the house, Jacobs was immediately in the kitchen; he there encountered Alba Rivas, who, upon being asked the same questions as had been put to Galaes, gave her name, said she was from Honduras, had entered as a tourist in 1972, and had a passport. Ms. Rivas and Mr. Galaes were placed under arrest. Agent Jacobs then asked Ms. Rivas for her passport and accompanied her to her bedroom while she was getting it; another agent went along, while a third remained in the living room to guard Galaes. In the bedroom they encountered another male. Upon being questioned by Jacobs, "He told me his name was Jose Caballero. He said he was from El Salvador. I asked him how he entered the United States. I believe he told me he paid somebody off to take him over the border." Mr. Caballero was then arrested. Having obtained Ms. Rivas' passport, the group left the room.
Another bedroom was directly opposite; Jacobs knocked on the door; a man opened it. Upon questioning, this man said he was from El Salvador, "and I believe he said he was smuggled in." Hearing breathing, Jacobs then looked under the bed and saw a female; she said she was from El Salvador and had paid someone to smuggle her in.
Before Jacobs and his partner had returned to the living room with these newly-found aliens, the fourth agent had entered the house, had found out that Galaes and Rivas had been arrested, and had proceeded upstairs. He there discovered three more aliens; Jacobs' testimony as to the circumstances of these arrests was sketchy. A ninth illegal alien was discovered by Jacobs when he, too, went upstairs and looked into a storage area with a flashlight. Finally, a tenth such alien was caught as he drove up in a stationwagon.
Each of the arrested aliens was then interviewed at INS headquarters in Manhattan and each was found to be illegally in the United States. The cumulative import of their statements was to provide evidence of appellant's knowledge of the unlawful status of those whom he was sheltering, which evidence was a prerequisite for conviction under 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(3), United States v. Lopez, supra. On February 13, 1975, an indictment was returned against Rodriguez by a grand jury in the Eastern District. Shortly thereafter, appellant, as owner of 18 Bunting Lane, moved to suppress any evidence resulting from the allegedly unconstitutional search of the house. The motion encompassed, among other matters, the prospective testimony of the aliens discovered as a result of the allegedly unlawful activity, see United States v. Tane, 329 F.2d 848 (2 Cir. 1964); United States v. Karathanos, 531 F.2d 26 (2 Cir. 1976).
The motion to suppress was denied by Judge Platt on March 25, 1975, following a three-day hearing at which Agent Jacobs was the only witness who testified regarding the episode at 18 Bunting Lane. The district court reasoned, in part, that since INS officers had probable cause to arrest Jorge Galaes after questioning him outside the house, they had derivative authority to order him to retrieve his passport and to accompany him when he returned to the house to obtain it. The court allowed the Government to put on the stand eight of the aliens residing at 18 Bunting Lane, and to introduce other evidence showing the number and illegal status of persons there found. While we agree with so much of the court's reasoning as we have recited, we think it insufficient to justify admission of all this evidence.
Apart from the recent decision of a divided panel in United States v. Karathanos, supra, we should have thought that in light of the distinction with respect to information given by an actual witness to or participant in a crime, made in United States v. Miley, 513 F.2d 1191, 1204 (2 Cir. 1975), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 96 S.Ct. ----, 46 L.Ed.2d ---- (1976), and United States v. Burke, 517 F.2d 377, 380-81 (2 Cir. 1975), and the many cases from other circuits there cited, the combination of the information given by Vilatoro and its updating by Lopez would have brought the Government within striking range of probable cause to obtain a search warrant although not quite there. Be that as it may, this information was surely enough, along with the agent's expertise, to justify Jacobs' questioning Galaes under 8 U.S.C. § 1357(a)(1), see United States v. Brignoni-Ponce, 422 U.S. 873, 881, 95 S.Ct. 2574, 2580, 45 L.Ed.2d 607, 616 (1975). Galaes then answered that he had entered the United States as a "tourist" six years previously. While it would have been better if Agent Jacobs had followed up with a question whether Galaes had done anything to regularize his status, Jacobs could reasonably assume that Galaes would have mentioned this if he had done so. Probable cause to arrest exists when an officer has knowledge of facts and circumstances "sufficient to warrant a prudent man in believing" that an offense is being, or has been, committed, Beck v. Ohio,379 U.S. 89, 91, 85 S.Ct. 223, 225, 13 L.Ed.2d 142, 145 (1964), and does not require the arresting officer to know of facts sufficient to prove guilt at trial, Draper v. United States, 358 U.S. 307, 311-12, 79 S.Ct. 329, 331-333, 3 L.Ed.2d 327, 330-331 (1959). Accordingly, an officer need not be able to negate all possible lawful explanations of a situation before making an arrest, Adams v. Williams, 407 U.S. 143, 148-49, 92 S.Ct. 1921, 1924-1925, 32 L.Ed.2d 612, 618-619 (1972). There was thus probable cause for Galaes' arrest under 8 U.S.C. § 1357(a)(2).
This conclusion, however, does not of itself establish that Agent Jacobs was justified in accompanying Galaes into the house. There was no evidence that Galaes invited Jacobs to enter and the Government stipulated at trial that "there was no consent to search." There was equally no evidence that Galaes proffered any objection. More importantly, as we view the evidence we do not think that Jacobs was conducting a search when he entered the dwelling.
Jacobs testified that securing an alien's passport is a "basic" procedure since "it's difficult to move a person out of the country without a passport." While that may somewhat overstate the case, it seems clear that his interest in Galaes' passport was not to procure evidence of guilt but to facilitate deportation; Galaes knew that the jig was up so far as staying in this country was concerned. Doubtless thinking that the best he could do was to escape prosecution, Galaes was willing to produce the passport, and Agent Jacobs could not allow him to enter the house alone to get it because of the risk that he might escape. We know of no principle of Fourth Amendment law that would forbid Jacobs who had made (or was in a position to make) a lawful arrest from maintaining custody of Galaes during a peaceful entry into the house where Galaes lived while the latter found his passport. Jacobs was thus properly in the house.1
Jacobs then encountered Alba Rivas. He clearly had sufficient grounds for questioning her. His brief interrogation for the purpose of determining her identity and alienage seems to fit comfortably within the limits authorized by Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 22-23, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 1880-1881, 20 L.Ed.2d 889, 906-907 (1968); Adams v. Williams, supra, 407 U.S. at 145-46, 92 S.Ct. at 1922-1923, 32 L.Ed.2d at 616-617; and United States v. Brignoni-Ponce, supra, 422 U.S. at 880-82, 95 S.Ct. at 2579, 2581, 45 L.Ed.2d at 615-617. While these cases, and almost all of those that have relied on them, involved confrontations which may be said to have taken place in public surroundings, any additional requirement in the instant case (if one exists) arising from the fact that, from Ms. Rivas' standpoint, Jacobs was an uninvited intruder into her residence would be satisfied by the further "cause" furnished by the interrogation of Galaes and an analogy to the cases upholding "plain view" seizures of evidence. Here, as there, the courts should not require law enforcement officials to ignore what is plainly, and legitimately, before them. Given the evidence which Jacobs already had, and the obvious propriety of the questions he asked, we do not think that his questioning of Ms. Rivas was anything but reasonable under the circumstances. Her subsequent arrest and the maintenance of custody while she went to procure her passport were lawful, for the same reasons indicated with respect to Galaes; the same principles also justify the interrogation and arrest of Caballero.
It can be argued against our holding of the lawfulness of Jacobs' activity up to this point that the subsequent conduct of him and the other agents, and the fact that Jacobs was followed into the house by them, demonstrate that his purpose from the outset was to search the house for illegal aliens from bottom to top. Cf. United States v. Lisznyai, 470 F.2d 707 (2 Cir. 1972), cert. denied, 410 U.S. 987, 93 S.Ct. 1516, 36 L.Ed.2d 184 (1973); United States v. Artieri, 491 F.2d 440, 442-43 (2 Cir.), cert. denied sub nom. Gonzales v. United States, 417 U.S. 949, 94 S.Ct. 3076, 41 L.Ed.2d 670 (1974). The defendant asks us, as he asked the trial court, to draw that conclusion, but we are not required to view the evidence in that light. It is not clear how many agents accompanied Jacobs on his entry; he surely would have been entitled to have someone accompany him to protect his safety. It is just as reasonable to conclude that it was the lawful discovery that 18 Bunting Lane housed more than one alien illegally in the United States which triggered the decision to make a complete search of the house, and Jacobs' testimony, although not as distinct as might be desired, tends to that conclusion.
With the arrest of Caballero, however, the chain of justification ends. Jacobs testified that the purposes for searching the rest of the house were to ensure the agents' safety and to see if there were any other illegal aliens living there. Apart from the question whether the agents exceeded their statutory authority, see 8 U.S.C. § 1357(a)(3), this sounds much like the argument made in dissent by Mr. Justice White (joined by Mr. Justice Black) in Chimel v. California, 395 U.S. 752, 773-75, 89 S.Ct. 2034, 2045-2047, 23 L.Ed.2d 685, 700-701 (1969), and rejected by the majority. We read that decision as requiring that, after Caballero's arrest, Jacobs and the other agents were required to do as best they could to maintain custody of the aliens lawfully arrested and surveillance of the house while a search warrant was being obtained.
Although the conviction must be reversed because of the admission of evidence with respect to the search of the house subsequent to Caballero's arrest, the testimony relating to the first three aliens would suffice to sustain a guilty verdict if a jury at a new trial should return one. We shall therefore not dismiss the indictment, as appellant asks, but remand for a new trial in which the Government will be limited to evidence lawfully obtained.
LUMBARD, Circuit Judge (dissenting):
I agree that the conviction of Manuel Rodriguez for harboring illegal aliens must be reversed. However, there is no basis whatsoever for distinguishing between the initial entry into 18 Bunting Lane and the subsequent search of the premises. Both to me were equally and plainly unconstitutional. Accordingly, I would remand to the district court with directions to dismiss appellant's indictment which rested upon, and now must fall with, the unlawful entry. In its zeal to preserve a portion of the government's case for retrial, the majority has, in my view, significantly eroded the Fourth Amendment's guarantee against unreasonable searches.
Nothing which transpired during the sidewalk conversation between Jacobs and Galaes furnished justification for the agents' decision to enter 18 Bunting Lane and then to proceed as if some judicial officer had issued a search warrant. The majority's reference to Galaes' supposed "willingness" to produce his passport is misleading and irrelevant. As an appellate court we are not at liberty simply to ignore the stipulation of the Assistant United States Attorney during the suppression hearing that "there was no consent to search."
Moreover, even assuming, arguendo, that the agents had probable cause to arrest Galaes while still on the street, the custody they say they then exercised over him gave them no derivative right to direct that he lead them into the house. To grant to the INS such extensive powers would totally subvert the Supreme Court's decision in Chimel v. California, 395 U.S. 752, 89 S.Ct. 2034, 23 L.Ed.2d 685 (1969), which limited the right to search incident to an arrest to those areas within the control or reach of the person apprehended. See also, Vale v. Louisiana, 399 U.S. 30, 90 S.Ct. 1969, 26 L.Ed.2d 409 (1970) (an arrest on the street in front of the defendant's home does not create its own exigent circumstances justifying the search of his house).
While it may seem that because one thing leads to another it was therefore natural and reasonable for the agents to go into the house with Galaes, once there to talk to others whom they encountered and then to conclude that those persons were also illegal aliens, the net result here is one which the Constitution as construed by the Supreme Court has long and categorically condemned. Until now no case has held that an agent seeking evidence can, without a search warrant, open the door of a home, walk in, and then seize whatever else confronts his eyes and serves his needs. Nor is there any case which lends authority to the proposition that our jealously guarded prohibitions against casual entry of private dwellings are relaxed because an alien thought to be here illegally is arrested outside a house in which he has left his "passport." I thus see no significance in the majority's claim that Jacobs and his fellow agents entered 18 Bunting Lane with the single intention of procuring Galaes' passport. The assertion is, in any event, belied by the admission of the INS itself that "the purpose of the (warrantless entry) was to seek out bodies."1
The court's opinion seems to me to reduce to the novel contention that "(t)he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches . . ." may be sacrificed with impunity so long as the intrusion is motivated by a desire to obtain evidence for deportation rather than for prosecution. I strongly disagree.
Despite the contrary, unsupported assumption of the majority, the Fourth Amendment is not limited in its protection to those accused of criminal behavior. See Camara v. Municipal Court, 387 U.S. 523, 530, 87 S.Ct. 1727, 1731, 18 L.Ed.2d 930, 936 (1967). Our responsibility as its guarantor cannot therefore be fulfilled with the simple, albeit accurate observation that deportation is not a penal sanction, Cf. Lennon v. INS, 527 F.2d 187, at 193 (2d Cir. 1975). The one critical question, which the court artfully avoids answering is by what authority did the INS agents require Jorge Galaes to retrieve his passport and then accompany him when he returned to the house to obtain it? That their directive was issued in the context of an administrative investigation may be relevant in determining the quantum of probable cause necessary to support a search warrant,2 see Camara, supra; See v. Seattle, 387 U.S. 541, 87 S.Ct. 1737, 18 L.Ed.2d 943 (1967); it cannot, however, absent exceptional circumstances not revealed here, excuse their total failure even to attempt to secure the prior approval of a disinterested magistrate before entering the dwelling.
Certainly immigration authorities face a difficult task in attempting to stem the tide of illegal aliens crossing our nation's borders in ever increasing numbers. Nevertheless, the applicability of the Warrant Clause to their efforts can no longer be doubted following the Supreme Court's decision in Almeida-Sanchez v. United States, 413 U.S. 266, 93 S.Ct. 2535, 37 L.Ed.2d 596 (1972). In declining to uphold the warrantless search of an automobile at a point more than 100 miles from Mexico, Mr. Justice Stewart, writing for the majority, stressed the need to circumscribe the unfettered discretion of the officer in the field, 413 U.S. at 270, 93 S.Ct. at 2538, 37 L.Ed.2d at 601. If anything, that need is more manifest in this case given the greater protection which the constitution affords to a home than to a car, see Chambers v. Maroney, 399 U.S. 42, 48, 90 S.Ct. 1975, 1979, 26 L.Ed.2d 419, 426 (1970).
The government, to its credit, belatedly recognized what the majority today so nonchalantly overlooks. In an effort to justify their earlier neglect to procure a search warrant, the INS has argued on appeal that the possibility that several illegal aliens would escape as soon as they were alerted to the federal presence constituted exigent circumstances necessitating immediate action. This contention is, however, flawed, insofar as it is premised upon the agents first being in the house. There is nothing in the record which would even remotely suggest that any of the inhabitants of 18 Bunting Lane were aware of the conversation on the street between Jacobs and Galaes. It is at that point, prior to entering the house, that one of the agents could have and should have been dispatched to obtain a search warrant. See Vale v. Louisiana, 399 U.S. 30, 90 S.Ct. 1969, 26 L.Ed.2d 409 (1970). Their failure to do so is fatal.
For the above reasons, a remand now would be an exercise in futility. Eliminating all the evidence which flowed from the unlawful entry by the INS, Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 83 S.Ct. 407, 9 L.Ed.2d 441 (1963), at best what would remain is the testimony of Galaes who, we are informed, is no longer in the country. Moreover, the garbled recollection of Jacobs as to when Galaes was "impliedly arrested," where he was "formally arrested," and what precisely is the difference between these two metaphysical states, convinces me that the proper course is simply to recognize that the entire prosecution was irremediably tainted and order that the indictment be dismissed.
Although the dissent points to a footnote on p. 15 of the Government's brief saying that "the purpose (of the entry) was to seek out bodies, lawfully subject to arrest, which the agents had probable cause to believe inside," the main theme of the brief is sounded on p. 13:
Agent Jacobs, then having reason to believe Galaes an illegal alien, was justified in requesting Galaes' passport both to substantiate his claims and to allow prompt deportation, if applicable. Since he could not reasonably permit the suspected illegal aliens to enter the house alone; his entry with Galaes to obtain his passport was both reasonable and good police work. (Citation omitted.) His subsequent encounter of Rivas and Caballero was fortuitous, ** and his inquiries concerning their alienage and deportability was at that time, based upon "reasonable suspicion", if not "probable cause", to believe that they too were illegal aliens. Jacobs entry into the premises with Galaes was therefore for a legitimate purpose, and that which transpired thereafter followed logically.
Jacobs testified that had he not encountered Rivas on entering the house, he did not know whether he would have searched further
Government's brief at page 15, note
The Court in Almeida-Sanchez was divided, and left undecided, whether a diminished standard of probable cause was appropriate in the context of enforcement efforts to halt the ever increasing tide of illegal aliens into this country, 413 U.S. at 270, n. 3, 93 S.Ct. at 2538, 37 L.Ed.2d at 601. We similarly have no need to pass on that question since the INS never took the preliminary step of appearing before a magistrate and presenting their evidence. I thus note only in passing the recent comment of Chief Judge Kaufman that the severity of deportation "surpasses all but the most Draconian of criminal penalties. Lennon v. INS, at 1193
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Pringle School (1867)
Home » Single Portfolio
The Pringle School was built in 1867 of limestone quarried at Garden Prairie and transported by wagon to the site. The land was donated by the Patterson Pringles, and is located at 21596 River Road in Marengo IL.
Much of the early history of Pringle School comes from a handwritten account by an anonymous writer, who was born in 1867 and was a student in Pringle School.
The account describes the interior of the building as being a very spare environment. Long benches having varying heights to accommodate different sizes were ranged across the room. There were no backs on the benches which encouraged good posture and straight, strong spines. The highest bench for older children was at the back of the room – a boon for them as they could lean against the wall. There was no provision for writing surface, no paper to be used, until much later when brown wrapping paper served a second purpose, after being smoothed and cut for the children to use.
Enrollment in the years from 1870 – 1940s fluctuated from 10 – 25 students. Books were scarce, even dictionaries were not always available. In the early history of the schools there was a fall and winter session attended by boys after harvest and before spring planting season. A summer session was held which was mostly attended by girls. The students carried on attendance well into their teens as there were no high schools. Many of Marengo’s early community leaders were products of this educational system, passing from the local district, directly to higher education.
The 1870’s' account tells her teacher was Mary Wilson. This is the first in long line of Wilson females to serve as teachers in this school. Mary was the daughter of John and Margaret (Pringle) Wilson. Others of the Wilson family to serve as teachers were Edith, Marjorie, Margaret, Ruth, Jean and Kathryn. They derived from two generations of Wilson’s. It is not surprising that the Wilson name became added to the school’s name.
One room schools were administered by the county superintendent. Teachers were required to fill out a detailed annual report, which contained attendance records, a detailed class schedule, student achievement levels, and explanation for retentions. The teacher also maintained an accounting for petty cash in amounts under $10. for such purchases as bats and balls. The county superintendent reviewed the reports, visited the schools, evaluated both the physical conditions of the building and grounds and also the teacher’s performance. The schools held fund raisers for such things as rhythm band instruments, a radio, and other classroom aids.
One of the most popular methods of raising money was basket socials. Ladies young and old put together sumptuous meals in attractive baskets which were auctioned off to the highest bidder, sometimes eliciting escalating prices between rivals for the basket of the most attractive maiden in the district. Students sold seeds to raise money. Another unusual fundraiser was one carried out in Pringle School by Kathryn Wilson, who taught over 25 years in this school. The students were grouped into team of four students each and gathered walnuts in the autumn. They worked after school hours gathering, cleaning, and packing the walnuts in pecks and sold them in time for the Christmas baking season.
Consolidation of one-room schools began in the 1920s in this county, but many remained in operation until 1947, including Pringle School. It became part of the Hawthorn School District 17 on Carmack Road.
The building was purchased by Melba Brewington, a Chicago connoisseur of antiques, art, and glassware. She used the building as a residence until her death in 1967, when it was purchased by the DiBona family of Marengo. The historical society has owned Pringle School since 2002 and volunteers have undertaken its restoration and interpretation since then.
Reading through the record books which were collected by the county superintendent one can learn much about the world outside the four walls of the school, and how the outside events affected the school. For instance, in the year 1919, the school closed for five weeks in October and November due to the Spanish influenza epidemic. School was suspended for half-days during the ’40s so that rationing books could be issued to community members.
Some of the earlier teachers were men, some of them teaching the fall and winter sessions and switching to their own farm work in the spring and summer. Women teachers filled the position during the summer sessions. Later the profession was filled most often by unmarried women. If they married they were no longer eligible to accept employment. The last teacher in this school was in the late 40’s and she was a married woman, Mrs. Roy Stockwell.
A Bear, A Star and the Great Depression: A Christmas Story
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Fourteen officers off duty and on Quarantine
Alisha Valentine August 10, 2020 6 min read
The latest statement from the Ministry of Health has indicated that Ambergris Caye has been the hardest hit in Belize with the highest number of Covid-19 cases. Tonight we can tell you that there are currently fourteen police officers attached to Ambergris Caye who are now off duty and in quarantine. Commanding Officer for the island, Superintendent Christopher Noble spoke to the media on the situation involving his officers and how this is affecting the security services on the island.
Chris Noble, Superintendent of Police: “We have five infected, three are on the island two are off the island. They were symptomatic they are now asymptomatic and I have six more – nine more that presented flu symptoms; three presented flu symptoms today we had six that presented over the weekend and we have isolated all officers. You work on an 80% on 20% off so it will affect us down the road if we have, say we have another fifteen or twenty officers down however I don’t see that happening because we’ve put in place since Thursday and Friday when we were working at it we put in place more rigidity to access to the station and impressing on all officers to the wearing of masks etc. We’ve gotten temperature testers so we do that at the door at entry. It’s basically self isolation there is no rapid cure as I understand it for COVID-19 so what the officers have been doing is staying home. What we’ve implemented for those officers is some sort of support, assigning officers to make checks on them at least three times a day, where necessary or in the case of an officer that’s isolated we’ve been providing the meals and the basic necessities to go along with that. You know if they have a need I have people assigned to take care of their needs. Most officers if not all off them that are off right now live in singular apartments to say they live by themselves so there’s nothing where it would continue and we have another community spread per se. We’re trying to work with them to keep them calm and let this virus go through their system and then we can have them cleared at the next testing time.”
Superintendent Noble explained that he has been in frequent communication with the officers under quarantine. He explained that the situation is a sensitive matter and ideally, he would want his officers to receive mental health assistance as it does pose a stressful situation for them.
Chris Noble, Superintendent of Police: “Speaking to one of the officers yesterday he’s saying you know from the day I spoke to you when I wasn’t speaking well I am up and ready to go the only thing I’m to be kept inside and it plays with your psyche which is why we put together a check to some extent on those officers where somebody is assigned to make sure that they have a meal at every meal time and they all have access directly to me so it should not be an issue to get to me or to speak to me and I’ll be the first to agree with you that I’m not trained in counseling but I offer what I can because this is something that is new to us, it’s new to the country, it’s new to the world. We can’t hurriedly say what the cure is or hurriedly tell somebody what he will go through. So for me right now they have contact with me and every so often I would contact one of them and ask about what they’re going through. It’s not something a lot of them tend to want to discuss because it’s personal to them and I give that to them however if there’s something they want to ask about I make myself available for them. I mean let me say that first and foremost this island has been the way it has been because of those very same officers including Manuel Calis because of the way they work. They do have times when people fall out of line we have to bring them back and push them in the right direction. I would love for somebody to come forward that is on the island and not speak to me personally- in fact I would speak to the person likewise because these officers are my responsibility so when it comes to mental health mine may be strained at times I don’t know of anybody but again my cry would be if your a professional in that capacity and want to assist us please my number remains the same. We have the EAP the Employee Assistance Program but remember we were locked off so I can’t bring in or import somebody to speak to my officers.”
In a release from the Ministry of Health, there are currently three clusters on Ambergris Caye. The first cluster is connected to Patient 57 and activities at the Allure Nightclub held between July 16 and 19. Forty two percent of the cases on the island have been linked to the Allure Nightclub. The identified second cluster is connected to the Living Word Church and a service held in mid-July and the third cluster is from a construction site. Several frontline workers have also fallen victims of the Covid-19 virus. Love News asked Dr Manzanero whether any link has been made between the infected frontline workers and their jobs.
Dr.Marvin Manzanero, Director of Health Services: “Based on the number of police officers that you have in San Pedro we decided to test others to kind of do a random sampling of not only the symptomatic but the asymptomatic ones. So I know that five were reactive and five samples were sent to Central Medical lab for processing but I don’t know that they’re positive. I do know that four are positive and those four officers are all from Corozal. The last officer we identified works in San Pedro but lives in Corozal that’s in terms of police officers. In terms of healthcare workers I know it’s three doctors, two nurses and one pharmacist. Two doctors and one nurse are from private sector so I can’t comment on their level of exposure within the health setting but I do know that two of them are in San Pedro and the other doctor that is positive had been in San Pedro the weekend where we think could have been an explosion of cases in the island. The other officers are one doctor and one nurse from Northern Regional Hospital and one pharmacist from San Pedro but the pharmacist from San Pedro was on vacation so the timeline from when he became symptomatic and was swabbed would not point to the fact that he got infected in the line of duty. Of course with COVID everything can be possible but it doesn’t seem that that is the case for right now. Similarly with the two people from Northern Regional they were not the immediate caretakers of the positive patient we have had so they would not immediately seem to be linked to a positive case within the healthcare setting so we can’t say that they got infected while at work. Not withstanding I think that underscores the relevance of people taking precautions wherever you go because as I was explaining to some of the team members earlier and with Karl Heusner management earlier in the day we can take all the precautions within a hospital setting but the moment you go out in public and you let your guard down then you’re going to have an issue because then you’re gonna have people becoming infected in public and not in the work place and that still can bring an entire system down. I made a call to Commissioner on Saturday morning to flag that issue of police officers and tell them precaution measures they need to take not only in the line of duty but in wherever they’re going as private citizens.”
As Ambergris Caye remains under lockdown, there are new identified cases in Orange Walk and Belize City. Definitive findings from these new cases are yet to confirmed but according to health officials, the Central Medical Laboratory is currently extracting and processing up to three hundred samples from across the country. For now, Ambergris Caye and the northern villages of Guinea Grass, Santa Martha and Shipyard remain under strict lockdown. Again, with the results of today’s samples yet to be released, Belize has registered one hundred and fifty four Covid-19 cases of which one hundred and twenty remain active.
Previous Police Constable test positive for COVID-19
Next Another day, Another Case
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The Laws of Gratitude
Rav Yisrael Shachor, Former Rosh Kollel, Chicago Kollel, Torah MiTzion
Gratitude is a broad and profound psychological concept. Its foundations in the laws of the Torah can be found in the mitzvah of honoring one´s parents and the Bikurim – bringing of the first fruits to the cohanim in the Beit HaMikdash. It appears in many midrashim, and it is almost impossible to find someone that has not written on the obligation to distance oneself from ingratitude and to display proper appreciation.
Our Sages said, “Whoever is ungrateful to his friend, will in the end, show a lack of appreciation to G-d, as well!” Furthermore, they said, “Adam HaRishon was an ingrate when he said, “The woman that You provided for me, she gave me from the tree and I ate.” Even the Jewish people in the midbar were unappreciative when they said, “Our souls are disgusted by this awful bread (the man).”
It seems that most of the treatises on this topic discuss the immense importance of Hakarat Tova – Grattitude, yet leave the personal decision ultimately to individual discretion. We do not find a systematic treatment of the laws of Hakarat Tova. However, from the words of our Sages one may obtain several practical rules of conduct.
The beginning of gratitude is the internal recognition of the fact that one has received good from another. This, in and of itself, is insufficient. One must verbally acknowledge the gift one has received!
Let us examine Parshat Bikurim, “and you shall say to him…” Rashi comments, “That you are not unappreciative…” , “and you shall answer…” “one must raise one´s voice (Rashi). ” From here we derive the first halachic principle: The notion of gratitude is not just a “duty of the heart”. Thank you must be said to the person who bestowed the kindness without stuttering or hesitation, but in a loud and clear voice.
The second principle is: Just saying thank you is not enough. One has the obligation to repay in kind the goodness received. If one does not he is considered as “The wicked borrows and will not pay.” The proof of this is from the incredible words of the Vilna Gaon in Sefer Yehoshua, Chapter 2. The Gaon explains the request of Rachav from the two spies to do for her Chesed v´Emmet -” kindness and truth” – to save her and her family. What is referred to here as kindness and what is truth?
The Gra explains with an analogy. Someone who is fed lentils by his friend is obligated to feed him stuffed pheasant in return. According to what his friend has done for him, he must do in return. This is a relationship based on Emmet truth. Therefore, Rachav´s request that she be saved is an expression of truth. This, however, will not suffice. If one´s friend has done a favor for him in which he was not obliged, and, he will only “feed him lentils”, he has responded according to the dictates of truth, but, not Chessed – kindness. This is just not enough! The obligation is to extend oneself and provide stuffed pheasant! As such, one is exchanging a kindness for a kindness. Therefore, Rachav beseeched the spies to “go the extra step” and save her family as well.
In Midrash Shemot Rabba 4:2 it is related that Moshe Rabeinu said to G-d that he is not permitted to sent as the agent of saving Klal Yisrael from Egypt because he is indebted to Yitro, his father-in-law. Why? Because Yitro opened the door of his home to Moshe! The midrash continues, “Whoever opens the door (of their home) to his friend, that individual owes him his life.” Therefore it says, “… and Moshe went and returned to Yitro, his father-in-law.” If Yitro would not permit Moshe to go, the obligation of gratitude would ordain that he should remain! What would become of the redemption of Klal Yisrael!? The Almighty has many messengers…
In the name of all of the members of Kollel Torah MiTzion I want to publicly express our gratitude and appreciation for all those who have assisted and support the Kollel. May we have the opportunity to personally return each and every one of your kindnesses!
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Mediation is key to endBoundary Waters feud
After several months of anticipatory cackling and rubbing of hands, several Minnesota delegates are dejectedly walking away from the 104th Congress without a battle over the motorization of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Proposed legislation opening parts of the Boundary Waters to motorized use was dropped from the parks bill after the White House threatened a veto. Make no mistake, though, the issue is far from settled and sure to rear its ugly head again in the coming months.
Boundary Waters use has been a festering issue since 1902, when the state set aside 500,000 acres of public land in northern Minnesota. Now, because of Sen. Paul Wellstone’s, D-Minn., unconventional request for mediation, there may actually be an opportunity to resolve the perennial Boundary Waters issues. But to reach any balanced and lasting resolution, it is necessary that “all” affected parties participate in mediation.
Bruce Kerfoot and Todd Indehar, leaders of Conservationists with Common Sense, an outspoken 3,000-member group of northern Minnesotans supporting motorization, have refused to take part in the mediation, claiming that the groups invited to the mediation table are too heavy on the status quo and too light on pro-motor. But a list of the mediators tells a markedly different story. Those invited to the table represent not only a broad cross-section of sentiments on the issue but an effort on the part of federal mediators to be sure all voices are heard. Kerfoot and Indehar are more interested in belligerently getting their way than they are in reaching a compromise.
This is further evidenced by their recent ultimatum: They would participate in the talks only if Congress opens certain portages and lakes to motorized traffic. Of course, their demands go entirely against the spirit of the mediation process and increase the struggle to resolve the debate.
It would be easy to continue the mediation without the participation of Indehar and Kerfoot; however, their presence not only allows their voice to be heard but also validates the process. Conservationists with Common Sense needs to stop playing political games and take a seat at the mediation table on an equal footing with the other participants.
Minnesota’s legislators also play a crucial role in the success of the mediation. Sen. Rod Grams, R-Minn., Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., and Rep. Bruce Vento, D-Minn., have spent the last session butting heads over Boundary Waters issues and largely ignoring any headway made by mediators. In pushing their own hard-line agendas, the congressmen have upset and alienated many of the factions, making compromise more difficult. These congressmen would best serve their constituency by allowing the mediators to reach a compromise and wait to introduce Boundary Waters legislation based on those results.
Polls indicate that a majority of Minnesotans support the federal mediation process. Mediators won’t be able to reach a compromise until they start receiving the participation and support that they’ve lacked until now. Mediation could be the way to an end to the Boundary Waters debate, but only if it is given a chance to work.
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Gophers open season with speed, beat Lehigh
Elliott Eliason had 17 rebounds in the first game of the Richard Pitino era.
Holly Peterson
Gophers junior center Elliott Eliason blocks a shot against Lehigh at Williams Arena on Friday. Eliason recorded the first double-double of his career in the game.
Jace Frederick
Friday started as a day of disappointment for the Gophers.
Minnesota lost five-star 2014 recruit Reid Travis when he committed to Stanford, and the team announced Mo Walker’s six-game suspension.
But when the Gophers took the floor for head coach Richard Pitino’s official debut, all of that seemed to fade away.
Minnesota used a tenacious defensive attack and an inspired effort on the glass from Elliott Eliason en route to an 81-62 season-opening win over Lehigh.
With Walker out, Eliason decided to rebound for two. He finished with 11 points and 17 boards. It was the first double-double of his career.
“You just come in there and do what you can, and things sometimes go your way,” Eliason said Friday. “I was able to get a lot of rebounds and get some points on the board.”
Minnesota’s defense stymied the Mountain Hawks — particularly in the first half.
The Gophers held Lehigh to 18 points on 23 percent shooting through the first 20 minutes. Minnesota accrued 11 steals during the night.
“I thought our defense in the first half was phenomenal,” Pitino said. “We did a good job of taking them out of what they wanted to do.”
Eliason had plenty of help in the scoring department. Sophomore transfer Joey King had 20 points to lead the team, while junior guard Andre Hollins followed closely with 18 points on 5-for-13 shooting.
Pitino said Hollins did a great job getting to the rim and drawing fouls. He attempted and made seven free throws on the night.
Hollins and the entire offense benefited from junior guard DeAndre Mathieu’s playmaking ability. Mathieu drove and kicked to teammates throughout the night and finished with nine assists to go along with two points.
“[My teammates] make it easy when they’re scoring,” he said. “It’s a fun game when you’re passing. I didn’t really have to score much because everybody else really gets theirs.”
The Gophers won the rebounding battle 38-35, but rebounding continues to be a point of emphasis.
“We’re small right now, so we’ve got to continue to combat that,” Pitino said.
The win was Pitino’s first official victory as Gophers head coach after taking the job in April.
“I told the guys this is a long, long journey,” Pitino said. “One game down and many, many more to go.”
Walker suspended
The Gophers wouldn’t give any specific reason for Walker’s suspension, saying only that he “violated University policy.”
There seemed to be plenty of support for him on the team.
“We love the kid, and we want him back,” Eliason said. “I know he’s making himself better.”
Walker’s six-game suspension should expire in time for him to return to the lineup for the Gophers’ second game of the Maui Invitational in late November — one game after Minnesota’s battle with Syracuse on Nov. 25.
“We support Mo. We love Mo,” Pitino said. “We can’t wait to get him back in Maui. He’s going to be a big help to our basketball team.”
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Coaching contracts: Brewster compared to other coaches
Brian Deutsch
I was reading about Joe Paterno’s contract extension last night when I came across some interesting facts in regards to NCAA coaching contracts.
It’s interesting to me that Paterno, who will be on Penn State’s sideline for the 60th year in 2009 and serving as the Nittany Lions head coach since 1966, is only making $500,000 a year (that’s only what the folks at Happy Valley are paying him). Remember Tim Brewster, who is only in his third year as a head coach, is making just over $400,000.
Now $100,000 difference is a lot, but both are very close in comparison to Nick Saban, the highest paid NCAA football coach at $4 million a year. Now here’s my breakdown of coaching clout and arguments for their salaries:
1. Saban
The Alabama head coach is the only one in the group with NFL head coaching experience (even though it came with Miami and his last season with the Dolphins was his only year with a losing record). He also is the only coach among the three to win a national title in this century (2003 with LSU). Saban also coaches in the SEC, where athletics and football specifically are held in higher regard that in the Big 10 – Paterno and Brewster’s conference. Saban knows something about the Big 10 though – he served as head coach for Michigan State for five years before fleeing to the SEC.
Argument for salary: Alabama needed to turn its program around (which it obviously is doing since Saban took over) and the Crimson Tide needed to throw big money at Saban to draw him away from the NFL. He’s also by far the most successful among the three coaches in his short career.
2. Paterno
The almost 82-year old can literally walk into the home of any recruit in the nation and command respect. His latest recruits most common question isn’t “How long before I’ll play?” it’s “How long will you be around to coach?” Paterno’s 383 career wins (all with PSU) are the most among active Division I coaches, and he’s just 17 wins away from becoming just the third coach in all of college football to win 400 games. He’s also got two NCAA championships to Saban’s one and Brewster’s zero, but he’s also been coaching longer that Saban and Brewster combined.
Argument for salary: By his own admission, JoePa doesn’t like dealing with contracts. Plus he’s pretty far up there in age –what does he need money like Saban’s for? He’s been head coach at Penn State since 1966, but head coaches didn’t make the kind of money Paterno is making now 20 years ago let alone 40 years ago. He’s won two Big 10 titles since the new millennium including one this year, but in terms of national competition he hasn’t done much lately. His two national championships came in the 80’s.
3. Brewster
Plain and simple, Brewster needs to be making less than Saban and Paterno. This is only his second year as a head coach (although he does bring in clout from working in the NFL). He has proven himself by turning around the Gophers from last year, but I’ll give him a few more seasons before I give him an endorsement for a raise.
Argument for salary: Again inexperience. His surrounding is also limiting his income. Not knocking Penn State or Alabama, but Minnesota is much more of an academically focused school (although some people would likely argue that fact). And frankly, Brewster’s biggest asset is his ability to recruit. But send Brewster, JoePa and Saban to a recruit’s home at the same time and see where he signs.
Update – I don’t think we’re allowed to do this, but I don’t really care. Since I finally had someone comment on my blog, I’m going to start a dialogue here. When I said “Minnesota is more of an academically focused school”, I meant that the institution is less willing to pour money into athletics than Penn State or Alabama. Maybe not less willing, but more of an outcry or contrasting voice against doing so (look at differentials in fan bases and attendance). And yes, as far as “annonymous” (yeah, I would have tipped my cap to you had you left a name) comment goes…yes, I definitely wish it was so.
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Organization seeks to end human trafficking
A Thai government official met Thursday with local nonprofit organizations to learn how the U.S. is combating the problem.
One night, Elsa Batica answered a frantic phone call from a woman who whispered, “I need to get out of here.”
Sexually and physically abused by her husband and other men, the caller, a new immigrant from the Philippines, didn’t know who to ask for help. She was randomly flipping through the phone book trying to see if she could recognize a Filipino name.
She found Batica, who is the founding member the Filipino American Women’s Network Minnesota chapter, an organization that provides support for trafficked women and helps them escape from abusive partners.
As a part of the International Visitor Leadership Program, the Minnesota International Center invited Thai government official Ranee Wongprajuablap, who met Thursday with Batica’s FAWN and other local nonprofit organizations, to learn from the ways the United States is combating the problem of human trafficking.
The United Nations defines human trafficking as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force.”
Trafficked women are promised a better life in the United States, but in reality they’re being sexually exploited, Batica said. She added that they usually don’t report incidents of abuse.
According to the Minnesota Office of Justice Programs, it’s estimated that between 14,000 and 17,000 people are trafficked in the United States each year. Human trafficking victims are men, women, children and teenagers from all over the world.
Speaking about trafficked Asian women in the United States, FAWN member Corazon Brizuela said that many don’t realize they’re being exploited.
Local organizations like FAWN said they’re doing what they can to help human trafficking victims in Minnesota, but Batica said she wants to focus on the problem internationally.
“We’re trying to save them down the stream, but what’s going on upstream?” Batica said.
Before she came to Minnesota, Wongprajuablap visited Washington and New York on an invitation from the U.S. Department of State.
Wongprajuablap said she wants to see how the laws regarding human trafficking are implemented in the United States versus Thailand.
In addition to meeting with FAWN during her Thursday visit, Wongprajuablap also met with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and the Civil Society in Minnesota.
She said she would like to see the cooperation between nongovernmental organizations and the federal government applied to Thailand.
According to humantrafficking.org, through which organizations come together to combat human trafficking, Thailand is a destination country for those trafficked from Cambodia, Laos, China, Russia and Uzbekistan for sexual and labor exploitation.
Wongprajuablap said she hopes Thailand and neighboring countries will work together to solve the human trafficking problem.
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Concerns about vetting loom over search for new UMN president
Critics have questioned the transparency and rigor of the screening process.
Jack Rodgers
Abdul Omari speaks during the University’s Board of Regents meeting on Friday, Sep. 14 at the McNamara Alumni Center.
Austen Macalus
The search for the next University of Minnesota president has raised questions regarding the candidate vetting process amid larger concerns about a lack of transparency.
Some faculty and transparency advocates say they’re concerned about plans to vet candidates in light of the University’s shaky history hiring high-ranking officials. The University says there will be rigorous vetting of candidates, but officials admit it can be difficult to catch every red flag.
The University’s screening process for top positions involves a balance between transparency and protecting the confidentiality of candidates. But critics argue limited transparency can worsen an already complicated screening process.
During the University’s presidential search, more in-depth vetting, such as reaching out to former employers and co-workers, will likely occur later in the selection process.
“It is standard hiring practice for positions of this type to verify credentials, contact references, review credit history and conduct civil, criminal and DMV background checks at the appropriate time in the hiring process — either when candidates provide consent or when candidates are announced publicly as finalists,” the Office of the Board of Regents said in a emailed statement to the Minnesota Daily.
The regents’ office did not provide any additional information about when or how that process is expected to take place. Regent Abdul Omari, chair of the presidential search advisory committee, was not available for comment.
Some of the responsibilities for vetting applicants — including reaching out to contacts about individual candidates — fall on Omari and AGB Search, the firm selected by the regents to help recruit candidates, according to the board office’s statement. However, it is unclear how those responsibilities will be split. Members of the search committee won’t take part in this type of vetting until later in the process, the regents’ office said.
Rod McDavis, the managing principal of AGB Search, laid out the firm’s plans for vetting at a University Senate meeting last month.
“We’re going to utilize a lot of technology,” McDavis said at the meeting. He said the firm will conduct a LexisNexis search, scan social media and Google search candidates.
“But most importantly, we talk to people,” he said at the meeting. “Not only do we talk to people who are on the reference list, but we talk to people who are off the reference list.”
McDavis and other members of AGB Search did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Leann Shore, a professor of occupational therapy and a University senator, who questioned McDavis about vetting at the meeting, said the firm’s answer did not satisfy her.
She said the #MeToo Movement underscores the importance of vetting candidates applying for the University’s top position.
“In our current society, vetting is extremely important,” she said. “I think there’s a history of universities making bad choices and not using the vetting system process.”
In the past several years, high-profile resignations at the University, including the 2015 resignation of Athletic Director Norwood Teague, have raised concerns about the screening process for high-level officials.
“Our approach to vetting job candidates at all levels of the organization probably has become more comprehensive,” said University spokesperson Chuck Tombarge. “It’s safe to say previous experiences have helped the University refine that research to make sure we’re doing it comprehensively and fully.”
However, he said it can be difficult to find every potential issue.
“In some cases, accusations against someone at previous institutions may not necessarily be public information,” Tombarge said. “While the searches we do hopefully turn up any red flags early before we hire anyone, it’s not 100 percent.”
Higher education officials say privacy helps ensure the best candidates will apply to positions without jeopardizing their current jobs. Under the Minnesota Data Practices Act, the names of applicants are not public until candidates are named as finalists.
But the University often oversteps its bounds in protecting candidates’ privacy, said Marshall Tanick, a constitutional and employment law attorney, who has criticized the hiring process of top University officials.
Tanick said limited transparency, especially protecting the names of finalists during the search, can negatively impact vetting. Opening the process — publicly naming multiple finalists sooner — allows people to come forward and raise possible concerns about candidates, he said.
“Transparency increases the likelihood of good vetting,” he said.
For Shore, it’s important to ensure people have the chance to come forward if there are red flags.
“People need to have the opportunity to tell their truth,” she said. “If we don’t even know who’s applying, we may not even have that opportunity.”
Shore said those involved in the search process are not doing enough to promote transparency — and she’s worried that approach will hurt vetting.
“We don’t know how they’re vetting,” she said. “We don’t know what the process is.”
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University students still report violence
Survey data show domestic violence continues to affect University students.
Meghan Holden
A purple flag to honor those who have died this month as a result of domestic violence hung in the window of the Aurora Center for Advocacy and Education last week.
As part of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the University is leading efforts on campus to try to decrease relationship violence among students — violence that’s stayed at a steady level in recent years.
Domestic or relationship violence involves causing or threatening physical harm or abuse to a partner in an intimate relationship, according to University policy.
This year, 34 Minnesotans have died as a result of domestic violence.
Last week, Danita Brown Young, the University’s vice provost for student affairs and dean of students, wrote an email urging students to reach out for help if they or someone they know is experiencing relationship violence.
“It does not have to end in despair; it does not have to end in a negative way,” Brown Young said in an interview. “There is hope that things can get better; a change can occur [and] we are here to help.”
In 2013, nearly 21 percent of female college students on the University’s Twin Cities campus said they’d experienced domestic violence within their lifetime and more than 10 percent said they were victims in the last year, according to the Boynton Health Service’s College Student Health Survey.
Nationally, one in four women have been abused by their partner, according to a 2010 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In 2010, nearly 26 percent of female students on the Twin Cities campus said they’d experienced domestic violence in their lifetime, and 14 percent said they’d experienced it in the last year, according to the BHS survey.
Earlier this month, University student Anarae Schunk was found dead after last being seen with her ex-boyfriend, who had physically abused her in the past, according to her friends.
Charges haven’t been filed in Schunk’s death, but the Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women included her on its list of Minnesota deaths in which the suspected, alleged or convicted perpetrator is or was an intimate partner or spouse.
Although discussions of relationship violence usually focus on female victims, University leaders want to make sure men aren’t forgotten, Brown Young said.
“It’s not really just about gender,” she said.
The Boynton survey found that about 12 percent of male students experienced domestic violence within their lifetime, and about 6 percent were victims in the last year.
The 2010 BHS survey found that about 13 percent of male students had experienced domestic violence in their lifetime, and 8 percent had experienced it in the last year.
Nationwide, one in seven men are physically abused by their partner, according to the 2010 CDC report.
Katie Eichele, Aurora Center for Advocacy and Education director, said that recently there’s been an increase in men who have come to the center after being harassed, stalked or abused in opposite-sex or same-sex relationships.
Men in opposite-sex relationships may be less likely to report cases of domestic violence, however, because they fear they won’t be believed, she said.
“It’s important to realize that both domestic violence and sexual assault hurt all genders,” Eichele said.
University policy defines sexual assault as attempting, executing or threatening sexual contact with another person without that person’s consent.
In 2010, about 23 percent of female students and about 5 percent of male students said they’d experienced sexual assault in their lifetime, according to the Boynton survey of the Twin Cities campus.
Students who believe they or someone they know might be in an abusive relationship are encouraged by the University to seek help at the Aurora Center.
On average, it takes a person about six to seven attempts to leave their abusive partner, Eichele said, so it’s important for people who are trying to help to be patient.
“We are here for you. It’s even okay if you’re not ready to take the next step, whatever that may be,” Brown Young said in the email. “We will still be here for you and will help when you’re ready.”
Dave Golden, director of public health for Boynton Health Service, said it’s discouraging that recent rates of domestic violence among both female and male students were similar to the 2010 survey results.
Domestic violence significantly impacts students, he said, and victims are more likely to have lower grade point averages and higher rates of mental illness.
“This is something that it seems like should be completely preventable,” Golden said. “Nobody should have to live that way. They’re numbers that we really want to see come down.”
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How Cooking the Books Works
by Lee Ann Obringer
Off-balance Sheet Accounting and Manipulation Methods
Photo courtesy MorgueFile
With off-balance sheet accounting, a company didn't have to include certain assets and liabilities in its balance sheet -- it was "off-sheet" and therefore not part of their financial statements. We'll talk more later about how the Sarbanes-Oxley Act changed this practice. While there are legitimate reasons for off-balance-sheet accounting, it is often used to make a company look like it has far less debt than it actually does. Some types of off-balance-sheet accounting move debt to a newly created company specifically for that purpose, which was the case with Enron. These are called special purpose entities (SPEs) and are also known as variable interest entities (VIEs).
Off-balance-sheet entities can be created for several reasons, such as when a company needs to finance a business venture but doesn't want to take on the risk, or when there is too much debt to get a loan. By starting a new SPE, they can secure a loan through the new entity. There are situations where it makes sense to start an SPE. If your company wants to branch out into another area outside of its core business, an SPE will keep that risk from affecting the main balance sheet and profitability of the company. Prior to 2003, a company could own up to 97 percent of an SPE without having to report the liabilities of the SPE on its balance sheet.
Synthetic Leases
Synthetic leases often use SPEs to hold title to a company's property and lease that property back to the company. Because of off-balance-sheet accounting, synthetic leases allowed companies to reap the tax benefits of ownership without having to list it as a liability on their balance sheets.
Synthetic leases could also be signed with some entity other than an SPE. Banks, for example, would often purchase property for businesses and lease it back to them via a synthetic lease. The company leasing the property avoids the liability on the balance sheet but still gets to deduct interest and depreciation from its tax bill.
The End of the Hiding Game
New requirements from the Financial Accounting Standards Board now require SPEs to be listed on a company's balance sheet. Section 401(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that annual and quarterly financial reports disclose all material off-balance sheet transactions, arrangements, and obligations. The rules also require most companies to provide an overview of known contractual obligations in an "easy-to-read tabular format"[ref].
This new ruling has essentially ended the days of the SPE and the synthetic lease -- even though they are still legitimate practices.
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BY CESSNA
The UC-78B is a military version of the commercial Cessna T-50 light transport. Cessna first produced the wood and tubular steel fabric-covered T-50 in 1939 for the civilian market. In 1940, the Army Air Corps (AAF) ordered them under the designation AT-8 as multi-engine advanced trainers.
Thirty-three AT-8s were built for the AAF and production continued under the designation AT-17, reflecting a change on equipment and engine types. In 1942, the AAF adopted the Bobcat as a light personnel transport, and those delivered after 1 January 1943 were designated UC-78s. By the end of WWII, Cessna had produced more than 4,600 Bobcats for the AAF, 67 of which were transferred to the U.S. Navy as JRC-1s. In addition, 822 Bobcats had been produced for the Royal Canadian Air Force as the Crane I.
Dubbed the “Bamboo Bomber” by the pilots who flew them, it was one of the aircraft featured in the popular television series “Sky King” of the 1940s and 1950s.
During WWII, Robins Air Force Base performed depot repairs and logistics support for all the UC-78s located in the southeast. The Museum’s UC-78B was delivered to the AAF in March 1943 and served at various training bases in Arizona and California before being made excess in January 1945. The Museum acquired this aircraft in 1989 in poor condition. It underwent an extensive 10 year restoration.
Span: 41 ft. 11 in.
Height: 9 ft. 11 in.
Weight: 5,700 lbs. lbs. max.
Engine: Two Jacobs R-755-9s of 245 hp. ea.
Crew: Two
Cost: $31,000
Serial Number: 42-71714
Cruising speed: 150 mph.
Service ceiling: 15,000 ft.
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By Hannah McGrath
Bristol-based prosthetics startup Open Bionics has secured £4.6 million funding to boost production of its 3D-printed arms for young people in the UK and overseas markets.
The company has developed a Hero Arm prostheses specifically for children and young people, which uses 3D printing to create a low-cost and lightweight arms controlled via sensors that detect and respond to movement in the upper arm muscles. The device, which is designed to adapt with the user as they grow, can be used by children as young as nine years-old.
Announcing the funding, the company said it was planning to scale up its manufacturing capabilities and tap into overseas markets including the United States.
Samantha Payne, co-founder and chief operating officer of Open Bionics, said: “We’re thrilled to finally be able to deliver bionic hands to amputees and people with limb differences in the USA.”
The funding round was led by William’s F1 team backer Foresight Williams, Downing LLP and Ananda Impact Ventures, which each contributed £1.5 million, with additional funding from Rathbone Nominees.
Development of the Hero Arm was supported by a contract with NHS England that used SBRI Healthcare – part of the Innovate UK Small Business Research Initiative.
Open Bionics was awarded £697,464 to support clinical trials of its bionic limbs for child amputees. This helped to get the product medically-certified. It is now available through the NHS and other national healthcare systems, including in France and Germany, as well as private sales.
Gov confirms work on second contact tracing app
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Viral ASSAULT: Woman coughs coronavirus at first responders after beating up boyfriend
Friday, April 03, 2020 by: Franz Walker
Tags: arraignment, arrest, assault, attack, bail, battery, black belt, bond, China, conviction, coronavirus, covid-19, domestic violence, felony battery, Florida, florida law, Flu, government, infections, jail sentence, lake county, martial arts, Mental illness, outbreak, pandemic, Police, superbugs, violence, virus
(Natural News) A Florida woman faces felony charges after coughing on the face of a paramedic, claiming she had the coronavirus. The woman was in the process of being arrested for assaulting her boyfriend when she sprayed “copious amounts of saliva” on a paramedic, according to police.
Police were responding to a domestic violence call on Wednesday, March 18, in the Orlando suburb of Lady Lake when they encountered the victim. According to the man, who was sporting a broken nose, he had been attacked by his girlfriend, LaDonald Shakkie Holmes. (Related: Spring-breakers pack Florida, Texas beaches as pandemic threatens societal collapse.)
The man had been lying in bed with Holmes, 38, at a home on Berchfield Road in Lady Lake according to an arrest report from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, when the latter turned to him asking if he wanted to have sex with her. However, the report then states that the victim refused to have sex with her because, according to him, she was planning to leave him to get back together with her ex-husband.
At this point, the report states that Homes became “very agitated,” assaulting the victim, first “round house” kicking him in the nose and then punching it. The attack resulted in the victim’s nose breaking after which, the report that he “started bleeding all over himself and the residence,” before leaving the residence and calling 911.
“It should be noted the arrestee is a blackbelt in martial arts,” the officers added.
Officers thought Holmes was suffering a medical episode
When a police officer attempted to arrest Holmes, she was lying in bed and refusing to answer questions. When the officer tried to take her to his police cruiser, she would proceed to go limp and fall to the ground. Concerned that she may have been suffering from a medical episode, the officer proceeded to contact Lake Emergency Medical Services for an ambulance.
When the paramedics arrived, they sought to evaluate Holmes, however, she became physically combative. The paramedics eventually forced to sedate Holmes to be able to place her on a stretcher. It was while she was being placed onto the stretcher where Holmes shouted “I have the coronavirus” and then proceeded to cough on the paramedic who administered the sedative. According to the report, “copious amounts of saliva” landed on the paramedic.
Following the incident, Holmes was subsequently transported to the Leesburg Regional Medical Center for further evaluation, including whether or not she actually has the disease. The court filing for her arrest, however, did not indicate whether or not she tested positive for the coronavirus. In addition, the affidavits did not reveal what treatment, if any, was afforded to the paramedic she coughed on. Neither did the reports say anything about her boyfriend’s broken nose.
Charged with felony battery and released on bond
After being released from the hospital, Holmes was booked at Lake County Jail. She was charged with one count of felony battery for attacking her boyfriend and another count of battery on a law enforcement officer for coughing on the paramedic.
According to Florida law, felony battery is defined as intentionally touching or striking another person against their will in a manner that causes great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement. The offense is counted as Third-Degree Felony punishable by up to five years in prison, five years of probation and a $5,000 fine. Meanwhile, battery on a law enforcement officer is also counted as a Third-Degree Felony and carries the same penalties.
Lake County Sheriff’s office records show that Holmes, who has had prior convictions for battery, has since been released on a $7,000 bond. She is scheduled to be arraigned on April 13.
TheSmokingGun.com 1
FLSenate.gov
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More news on arraignment
https://www.naturalnews.com/2020-04-03-woman-coughs-coronavirus-after-beating-up-boyfriend.html
<a href="https://www.naturalnews.com/2020-04-03-woman-coughs-coronavirus-after-beating-up-boyfriend.html">Viral ASSAULT: Woman coughs coronavirus at first responders after beating up boyfriend</a>
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New 4×4 car entries – Jeep Cherokee
The 4×4 market has always been a tricky nut to crack, and in the modern world of increasing environmental awareness and high taxation on gas-guzzling machines, it’s becoming ever harder. The appeal for Jeep’s newer models, though, is increasing just as quickly, and the latest Cherokee is no different.
Although over here we tend to see 4x4s and Jeeps as relatively recent introductions in motoring terms, the first Cherokee was produced in 1974, and the evolution of style and design from that very first model can be seen in Jeep’s latest offering, 40 years later, in a way which no other car can boast. The DNA is there for all to see. Even with the recent changes in ownership at Jeep, the new Cherokee has kept to its roots whilst still managing to introduce some of its new Italian DNA into the mix.
The fact that Jeep are now under the ownership of Fiat becomes immediately apparent when looking at the exterior styling of the new Cherokee. The angled headlamps and stern, meaningful front-end are reminiscent of Fiat’s old Brava/Bravo range, and that’s not a bad thing looks-wise. It was a car which defined its era, and the new Cherokee seems likely to do the same. The interior, too, is improved, something which has become notable since Fiat’s takeover, with the option of a touchscreen dashboard and a colour-display instrument cluster for those who like such things. Leather seats are an option, too, on some of the more advanced models, bringing a touch of luxury to the Cherokee range.
Engine-wise, there’s a nice selection of choices. Over here, it’s likely that the 138bhp 2.0-litre diesel will be the most popular model (and it’s Fiat’s Multijet II turbodiesel, at that), balancing power with fuel economy. There is a 168bhp model available, though, with a nine-speed auto box as standard, as opposed to the six-speed manual in the 138bhp version. For those who want something even punchier, the V6 petrol Trailhawk model will tick all the boxes, including a slightly modified bodykit and a number of additional features inside the cabin.
It’s not just die-hard Jeep fans who are likely to be enticed by the new Cherokee, though. With the 138bhp model managing 53.3mpg and emitting just 137g/km of CO2, it’s likely to appeal to environmentalists who need the extra space inside. With a five-star Euro NCAP rating and a 92 per-cent score for adult occupation protection in the same test, it’s also one of the safest cars on the road. The drive, as you might imagine, has a number of different options regarding front-wheel or four-wheel drive modes as well as different terrain settings and drive locks, making the driving experience fully customisable depending on your own particular requirements.
The bottom line in terms of price is £25,500 for a front-wheel-drive 138bhp manual Longitude model, with the automatic Limited model with a four-wheel-drive box and a 168bhp engine setting you back £35,000. As with any new car, there are a number of customisation options and choices in between those two prices. The V6 Trailhawk, however, is likely to set you back around £38,000 but will only be available in very limited numbers, making it unlikely to be an option for most of us. The two main diesel models, though, appear on the surface to have appeals for both the die-hard Jeep fans and the modern-day driver, combining ruggedness and economy in one big, mean-looking package.
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Scum of the Earth by Arthur Koestler (1941)
by Judith Coffin
Arthur Koestler lived a remarkable life – as dramatic a death-defying tour of twentieth century Europe as you can find. He was born in Budapest (in 1905) and went to school in Vienna. As a young man, he took up any number of political causes, beginning with socialism and Zionism. He went to Palestine as a reporter, but found it too remote, so he repaired to Paris and in 1930 went from there to Berlin — just as the Nazis were making their electoral breakthrough. He became a communist and went as a journalist to visit the Soviet Union. (Langston Hughes visited at the same time; the two men met in Turkestan.) By 1933, the Nazis had taken over Germany, and a Jewish Communist could not return there, so Koestler resumed his writing and political activity in Paris. He was next dispatched to report (and spy) in the Spanish Civil War, working for the Loyalists. (The Loyalists tried to defend the Spanish Republic against General Francisco Franco’s Nationalists and their allies in Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The war, which in ended in 1939 with Franco’s victory, is sometimes called a “dress rehearsal for World War II.”) Koestler was captured by Nationalists in 1937, locked in solitary confinement, and told he would be executed. In Darkness at Noon (his most famous book, a novel about the Soviet terror of the 1930s), the chilling scenes of men being dragged from their cells in the middle of the night to be shot by Stalin’s police are based on Koestler’s own experience of imprisonment in Seville. An international campaign of journalists, the League of Nations, the Red Cross, and others got Koestler released to the British. For the next three years he tacked between France and Britain, writing first Spanish Testament, then Darkness at Noon before being arrested by the French in the fall of 1939. After escaping that ordeal, he worked for the British Ministry of Information, reported on the war and recounted more of his own experiences in Scum of the Earth and Dialogue with Death.
By the late 1940s he was an intellectual celebrity, best known as a disillusioned former Communist with anti-fascist credentials. Koestler also wrote about science, however, flirted with parapsychology, and pursued women, by all accounts treating them very badly. He and his younger, third wife committed suicide together in 1983, about five years after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. All of this is well chronicled by Michael Scammell in Koestler: The Literary and Political Odyssey of a Twentieth-Century Skeptic but Koestler tells the political part of his own story with more verve than any biographer.
Scum of the Earth (1941) is the best volume of Koestler’s memoirs – not as well known as Darkness at Noon, but almost as frightening, and not fiction. It begins in August of 1939, in the surreal and depressing quiet on the eve of World War II. Since it is August in Europe, Koestler is the south of France, eating bouillabaisse in St. Tropez. The war would not come to France itself until May of 1940, but even before that, the French Republic began to round up “undesirable” foreigners. One might expect an anti-fascist intellectual who had been condemned to death for fighting in Spain to find asylum in France, which was after all the land of the revolution of 1789, the longest standing republic in Europe, officially anti-Nazi and preparing to fight Hitler. Koestler certainly hoped he could count on the French state’s protection. So did thousands of other political refugees from Nazi Germany and its affiliates, like Hannah Arendt. But he was arrested, held outside of Paris (at the Roland Garros stadium) and then shipped to a remote interment camp, Le Vernet, in the Ariège, near the Spanish border. He managed to escape at the end of the year, and then chronicled the fall of France (“a country which has reached the bottom of humiliation”) and his and others’ desperate search for visas or permits to get off the continent.
Scum of the Earth takes us through Koestler’s fears of being arrested at any moment and his bewilderment in face of the implacable French police. It gives us an excellent feel for France during the war – the more remarkable because it takes place before the collaborationist Vichy government was set up. Koestler offers moving portraits of some of his fellow prisoners: a Jewish socialist refugee from Czechoslovakia; an Italian who had spent nine years in prison and been tortured by Mussolini; two fellow fighters from the Spanish Civil War; and a Polish Jew who had fled the pogroms and worked as a tailor in Paris for decades. “What nearly all of them had in common was being anti-fascist, and having been persecuted in their country of origin.” Koestler doesn’t pretty up their political views or personalities; they are disillusioned, sometimes prejudiced, with odd judgments. But each had resisted the Nazis and plainly would have continued to do so. The French Republic, “their natural ally,” nonetheless “abandoned and betrayed” them. Koestler shows us the psychological effects of internment and how the prisoners’ capacity to resist was destroyed: once courageous dissenters became so demoralized that they were simply “thankful that they were not shot.” Le Vernet was not Dachau, or Auschwitz; it was not at the heart of the Nazi terror. But Koestler and those who were interned there had witnessed ten years of defeats: electoral failure and political terror in Germany, mayhem in Austria, persecution in Poland, military downfall in Spain, and so on. “The essence of politics is hope,” writes Koestler, “and hope had gone.” Scum of the Earth covers only one year, but it makes this larger, sad story of Europe’s surrender to Hitler human and real. Fortunately, we know that 1940 was not the end of the story.
Arthur Koestler, 1948, by Pinn Hans (www.gpo.gov.il) (Public domain) via Wikimedia Commons
Clandestine photo of Le Vernet, photographer unknown
Posted September 21, 2011 More 1900s, Books, Europe, Memory, Periods, Politics, Regions, Topics, War
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In the know about the music you love and the sounds you’re yet to discover
Collaboration, Feature
James wears Hunter
Words Elizabeth Aubrey
Photography Jade Danielle Smith
Fashion Robbie Canale
Grooming Sara Bowden
Photography Assistant Samantha Weller
Fashion Assistant Rae Harrison - Doyle
Production Studio Notion
July 17, 2019 September 4, 2020
From getting his feet wet playing local pubs, to massive success across the pond, dip into the world of James Bay as he prepares to set sail with his third album and is the cover star of Notion 84's 2019 Festival Guide!
“I’ve been sat in a pond for ages!” James Bay bellows. “It was joyous,” he says, exaggerating his description to the point where it’s unclear if he’s being serious or satirical. “I don’t normally spend my mornings sat in a pond,” he clarifies.
In the list of surreal moments in James Bay’s life, sitting in a pond comes relatively low down. The most surreal moment came in his late teens, aged 18, when he’d just started studying music in Brighton. Gigging around pubs in the area whenever he could, a chance trip to an open-mic night in London changed his life forever. An audience member filmed him performing and uploaded it to Youtube – within a week, he was spotted by an A&R from Republic Records, flown to New York and immediately offered a recording deal. He signed on the spot.
“It was a surreal time and a world away from my childhood home in Hitchin,” Bay says, recalling a time when he’d been sat in front of the radio listening to artists like Ray Lamontagne, Damien Rice, Joni Mitchell and Adele, admiring how they all started out singing their songs on their own with one instrument. It showed him how simple it could be.
“It’s the roots and the foundations of my journey and I’ll always remember it with excitement,” he says of being offered the contract so young. “I’m still in touch with most of the people in Hitchin and can reminiscence about my journey with the,m. As a solo artist, I obviously don’t have much in the way of band members to share those moments with.” His debut, Chaos and the Calm, arrived soon after signing; three Grammy nominations and a Brit Critic’s Choice Award followed and in the space of a year he’d duetted with Justin Bieber and had two platinum hits. Most artists might have stuck to the same winning formula that launched their wave of success, but Bay’s next album, Electric Light, marked a significant shift in direction and style. “Hitchin’s Springsteen”, as he was termed by one critic, had turned instead to pop, R&B and rap influences. He even ditched his trademark long hair and hat, upsetting many fans in the process.
Shoes Hunter
“It was nerve-wracking releasing anything after my first album being as big as it was, “Bay says. “But trying to live up to it was also still exciting. I chose to follow my heart and do something different which felt right at the same time. I didn’t just want to reinterpret the same thing in the same way – that didn’t feel like the most honest move.” Bay wanted his record to reflect the new influences he was discovering at the time, even if that meant gambling on the change in direction.
“The more honest move for me was to say, here’s where I am right now in my life’ with the music I was listening to and things that were inspiring me,” Bay explains. “I just didn’t want to remain in that one dimension. I wanted to explore more. There’s also nothing to say I would have ever been able to actually deliver the same thing with as much success. The obvious thing then for me musically, was to look in a slightly different direction and enjoy exploring other sounds.”
Aware of the mixed reactions to his last record, he’s determined to explore new styles and break out of his comfort zone. By compares it to the feeling he gets when seeing a song for the first time by other artists and says he wants to create the same kind of excitement. “As an audience member, I like it when I’m taken by surprise. I wanted to create that kind of impact, that sort of surprise excitement of not being in that warm, familiar place we thought we might be. This is new, different and exciting. I feel like the reception of [Electric Light] was a bit of that and of course, some people were looking for more of the same thing again, more of the thing they loved from the first record. I had to choose at that point what I was going to create and I chose to mix it up.”
A year after the release of Electric Light Bay had just dropped a new EP, Oh My Messy Mind, that stylistically sits between the first two albums. Bay says that is part deliberate, part happy accident. “There’s a definite sense that it sounds like an in-between of albums one and two. It has consciously and subconsciously been my approach. Because I made two albums that sound quite different, it might have been inevitable.”
A new collaboration with Julia Michaels on “Peer Pressure” impresses (It’s already notched up to over 42 million streams on Spotify), elsewhere there’s soaring emotional balladry, darker themes and what feels like a more candid style of song-writing. In the past, Bay’s lack of overt self in his songwriting felt elusive: will his latest signal another shift, this time in terms of songwriting style?
Shirt A.P.C.
T-Shirt James' own
Trousers One Teaspoon
“As far as songwriting goes, it’s as heart on sleeve as it’s ever been, if not more in places.” Bay gives little away about his personal life, but it does feel like he’s trying to, albeit cautiously. “It may potentially give people a look into my personal life more, “ he says, before pausing, careful again not to give too much away. “I have moments where I feel like I want to be more private and I have moments where I feel like I have things I need to express that are pretty raw and real. I follow my gut instincts day-by-day and release by release. The one thing paramount and the one thing more important than anything else is that I want songwriting to be very real, earnest, intimate and honest.”
He’s not sure yet if his third album – which he’s currently working on – will follow the same direction of his recent EP but he does hint that we can expect more “heart on sleeve” sincerity. “My next album is likely to tackle similar themes as they are the same human themes I always tackle – themes of love, longing, struggle. I pick up on those kinds of themes all the time, in everyday life, so that will show through I the next music I release.”
He also says his new music might have more reflections on his career to date – something he’s not done much of thanks to his busy schedule. “I’m very fortunate in that I’ll turn up on stage and whoever is in front of me knows the words and wants to sing the words back to me… It’s still such an elating and euphoric experience,” he says. Bay’s love of performing live comes through as he animatedly speaks of his time last year supporting The Rolling Stones and his tour now, where he’s supporting Ed Sheeran.
With Sheeran releasing an album of collaborations this summer, will Bay be revealing a collaboration any time soon? “I’d love to tell you that I have, but I haven’t” he laughs. “I’m just gutted that I can’t tell people ‘yes!’ Maybe in the future, right time, right place.”
Bay describes touring as an “adventure” and quickly lists the many gigs he’s performing at this summer. It also causes him to reflect on his most memorable festival experiences of which he’s had many over the years. “My favourite festival experience came as I played on the pyramid stage at Glastonbury, back in 2015.” It was a far cry from his first-ever live experience performing in a local pub aged 14. “The feeling of connection when people stop their conversation because they’d rather listen to the music you’re making is a crazy, wonderful feeling.”
With an album in the works, how does he find the time and headspace to create around that? “Someone in my position just has to tackle all of it and use any time that isn’t spent touring creating and any time not creating touring,” Bay says matter-of-factly. Rather than bemoan a busy schedule, he relishes the challenge of doing both.
Jacket James' own
Top Reiss
“The appetite for music now from listeners is so big and so immediate that you’ve got to supply for that. There were once understandably quieter moments in between campaigns but now there’s less of that and there are more options to be working and touring all the time, doing all these fascinating and brilliant things. I’m not sure all the time how I manage it, but I’m enjoying trying to manage it and I’ll do it all.”
Bay’s gotten used to creating as and when the opportunity affords itself, but not at the expense of living too. “With writing, you don’t just sit down on a Tuesday morning and write a song. You have to live life and, although part of me living life involves touring and sitting in ponds doing photoshoots and all of that stuff, I’ve not got a lot of songs to write about those things. There’s real life you have to live and real emotional experiences that you have. Those experiences find their way into the songs around everything else.”
A greater pressure, Bay reveals, is writing to keep up with the listening habits in the current climate of shuffle culture and the immediacy it demands. “I remember when I was 7 or 8 sitting by the radio and waiting for hours to hear a certain song I adored. I didn’t know who it was by or what it was called but I knew it the moment it came on. The anticipation of it made the song ten times better.”
“How good a song is to people now is an interesting dynamic because they can play them ten times in the space of an hour. Hopefully, they’re still as good but nowadays, people put a song out and a few days later, everyone is like, ‘yeah I’ve listened to that song 250 times. What else you got?’ As an artist, you think, ‘well I’ve just put out a song a week ago, it’s taken me a while to work on that, so that’s it for now’. It’s a strange mindset for a musician.”
Right now, he’s trying out new songs on stage and gauging a feel for them with audiences, in between writing in the studio. He’s beaming with excitement. “Writing…it’s almost as much fun as sitting in a pond,” he deadpans.
Grab your own copy of Notion 84 featuring James Bay as our Festival Guide Cover here!
Hunter, James Bay, Notion 84
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Notion 84: Cole Hutzler
From the archives: Musician and artist, Cole Hutzler, appears in the Notion 84 issue.
Kojaque
Ireland’s freshest hip-hop hope, Kojaque, serves “soft hip hop” with a side order of poetry and performance art for the streets in Notion 84.
Known for her intimate and effortlessly emotional sounds, Etta Bond is the Brit singer making sensual, seductive and self-loving R&B. See Etta's romantic feature for Notion 84 below!
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TUSKEGEE INDIAN BAPTIST CHURCH
The name of this church "Tuskegee" derives from a name of the tribal town of the Creek Indians. When the Creek Indians settled here in 1836, Tuskegee Town consisted of an area from North Canadian River to the Pole Cat Creek in the western part of the present Creek Country. Tuskegee was one of the largest "towns" of the Creek Nation from the close of the Civil War to about 1907.
The families of this community attended other Indian churches of this area who had their own church. From this association with the other Christians, they first started having prayer meetings and services in private homes. One of the homes where services were held mainly was at the home of Dakosar Harjo. It was he who first asked that a church be held with sermon when he was ill at home. His home was located near the church cemetery west of the present grounds. Another place where they held meetings was at the home of Thomas McWilliams, near Vivian, Oklahoma.
As the congregation grew, they became interested in having their own church. They held a vote for selecting a location, which was between Vivian and the present site. This site won over the place at Vivian
This group and friends built the first church building, which was located a few yards west of the present camp of Robert Colbert. It was built with their own labor and resources. All the furniture and building was of logs and is told that the work was done by gifted craftsmen. This building was also used sometimes to hold tribal courts before the Tribal Laws was abolished.
This church was dedicated on March 23, 1867. The guest minister was the Reverend Chilli McIntosh of Big Arbor Indian Church of Fame, Oklahoma. The records from this date on to the time of the second church building was destroyed so there is no actual record of this program. The Church secretary then was Thomas McWilliams. The first pastor elec5ed was Reve4end Pohos Harjo (Phillips).
CHURCH PROPERTY
At the time this area was inhabited the state was not formed and was known as Indian Territory. In 1889 the territory was first opened to white settlers and from that time on the lands came to ownership so laws were made to grant the Indians their lands. This allotting of lands was started in 1891. By 1893 the Tribal Government was abolished. From a new law (Curtis Act, 1893) an acre of land was granted for churches, schools etc. The land for this church was located at the southeast corner of present church grounds. What is now church grounds was allotted to Jonas Barnett. As the first church was already built on this property, it was decided to purchase thirty-nine acres from Jonas. Before the purchase was completed, Jonas died so his sister and brother, Lillie Barnett Bear and Morris Barnett deeded the property to the church in 1908.
Besides the forty acres, the church has twenty acres located directly north across the road. This happened because William McCombs was interested in the spring, which was located on it for church use. He asked Mr. C. E. Foley about it and was told that for that reason he would donate the land to the church. This land was deeded to the church in 1916. To this day the water from the spring supplies the need for the church.
Another two acres of land was donated to this church for a cemetery. This was also a Barnett allotment but as it was originally a family cemetery of this community, it was deeded to the church for a permanent cemetery. It is located west of the church grounds and was deeded in 1930 by Lillie and Taylor Bear.
After the first church, there was a second one built, which was located a few yards to the northeast of the present one. It is not known what year it was built and dedicated or how many years it was in use. This building also served as school and there are still some members who attended. Before the Civil War and up to the First World War, there were many neighborhood day schools throughout the nations, corresponding to the common day schools of today.
The third church building was completed in 1911 and is the present one as it is now with the exception of minor additions and changes. A builder was hired for this building. The members who were on the committee for this work were Bunnie McIntosh, G. W. McCombs and ______. The expenses were paid by the church members and by donations from many friends. There are records of all this work.
The dedication service was held on August 9, 1911. The Pastor Reverend James McCombs Sr. made the special address. A song and dedication prayer was offered by William McCombs who sang, "Come Holy Spirit". At the closing of service, Deacon Thompson Colbert led the same song and offered a prayer. There is a complete record of the occasion in the church records, which was taken by the church secretary, Bunnie McIntosh.
The arbor was completed in 1917. The two members on this committee were James McCombs and Lewis McGilbrary. They planned the structure and were in charge of the construction. This was built through church collections and donations from those who wished to contribute.
The present stage was built in 1931 also from church collections. Most of this work was done by Rufus Cummings of Hilabee Church.
The stage inside the church was built in 1939. This need was suggested by Mrs. Bette Drew.
The additions of classrooms onto the present church house was started in 1959. The expense was met through church collections and donations. The members on the committee were
PASTORS OF TUSKEGEE INDIAN BAPTIST CHURCH
The first ordained minister who was elected as Pastor of the church was Pohos Harjo (Phillips). He served as Pastor from the time the first church was built and started as an organized Indian church until his death in _______. He lived near the Artussee community. He was buried in his family cemetery at Artussee and is located one and one-fourth miles south of the Artussee Indian Church.
The second Pastor was Reverend James Colbert. He attended the Indian Missions and was graduated from the Seminary at Louisville, Kentucky. His wife was Matilda and they lived near the present home of Joseph Colbert. He died in 19__, and is buried in a family cemetery, which is located one mile north and half-mile east of Vivian, Oklahoma.
The Reverend James McCombs Sr. was the third Pastor. He attended school at Asbury Mission, Eufaula, Oklahoma. Also attended a school at Denton, Texas for a brief time. He was ordained as Minister and pastor on the same date in 1907. He served from this time until his death in December 1928. His home was in the Vivian community where his family still resides. He was buried in the church cemetery.
After the death of Pastor McCombs, the Reverend Joe Colbert was elected in January 1929, a month after the vacancy. Reverend Colbert was the son of former Pastor, James Colbert. He attended schools at the Coweta Mission and Eufaula Mission. He lived at the present home of the family. He died in 194_, and is buried in the church cemetery.
(Kelley Funeral Home records indicate that Joe Colbert died 7 Sep 1953 :rgl)
The fifth and present Pastor is Reverend James McCombs. He was elected in 19__. He became a minister in _____. He attended schools in this community and briefly at Chilloco Indian School. He is a veteran of World War II. He lives west of Eufaula and is married to the former Phippie Charles who is a member of the Okfuskee Indian Church.
After the death of Reverend James Colbert, the church had some of the ministers and exhorters of the church serve as temporary chairman until a Pastor was elected. Those who served in this capacity were Sam Foster, Watson Washington, Johnson Phillips and William McCombs
MINISTERS OF TUSKEGEE CHURCH
These names are listed in order of their ordination as Ministers but do not have the exact date each was ordained.
Rev. Kitto William McCombs Bunnie McIntosh
James Colbert Watson Washington Tucker Marshall
Timothy Barnett George Jackson Robert Colbert
Lewis Tiger James McCombs Sr. James McCombs Jr.
Joe Colbert
On this date the last two names are present Ministers.
LEADING SISTERS OF TUSKEGEE CHURCH
The leading Sisters were elected in order listed through the years.
Milley McWilliams Sara McCombs Leah McIntosh Ellen McCombs
Metilda Colbert Milla McCombs Polly Marshall Leah Colbert
Sallie McCombs Mary Frances Alice Colbert Lilly Bear
Lizzie Colbert Nancy Posey Leah Wecochee Geneva Colbert
DEACONS OF TUSKEGEE CHURCH
The Deacons were ordained in order listed of which three are no dates on all of them.
Dakosar Harjo David McCombs Thompson Colbert George Barnett
Jim Barnett Charles Barnett William Gano Silas Marshall
William Colbert Isaac Washington Roman Barnett James McCombs
Thomas McWilliams Jonas Smith G. W. McCombs Joseph Colbert
Thomas Jones Jonas Henaha Robert Colbert Ben Marshall
On this date, James McCombs Jr. and Robert Colbert are Ministers. G. W. McCombs is a member of Wekiwa Indian Church of Sand Springs. Silas Marshall is a member by letter of High Spring Indian Church at Tonkawa. The last two listed and George Barnett are present deacons.
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‘Further education delivers significant benefits to learners, businesses and wider society’ – Dodds
Tuesday, February 4th, 2020
Further education colleges deliver significant benefits to learners, businesses and wider society, Economy Minister Diane Dodds has stated.
The Minister was speaking as she attended the topping-out ceremony for Southern Regional College’s new £15million campus in Banbridge, which is being funded by her Department.
Minister Dodds said, “I very much welcome the opportunity to view the excellent progress that is being made in the construction of Southern Regional College’s new Banbridge campus.
“The new facilities will deliver industry-leading education and training, including an innovation hub space to support entrepreneurial and business enterprise, and digital media facilities.
“I commend everyone involved in bringing the project to fruition and look forward to seeing this fantastic new campus open to students in September.”
The Minister continued, “The six local further education colleges are helping people right across Northern Ireland gain the skills and knowledge they need to compete for jobs and pursue fulfilling career paths. In turn, businesses have access to the skilled people that enable them to succeed and grow – helping boost the economy for everyone’s benefit.”
The Minister received a tour of the new 4,500 square-metre campus for Southern Regional College in Banbridge, which will house specialist accommodation designed to facilitate world class professional and technical education and training.
Mrs Dodds added, “This investment in SRC Banbridge is part of a wider funding package of £220million that will deliver a total of seven major capital projects right across the FE sector in Northern Ireland, helping ensure the colleges are equipped to continue delivering for learners, business and wider society, well into the future.”
Brian Doran, Chief Executive of Southern Regional College, said, “I am delighted to witness the significant progress that has been made on the Banbridge campus project since the commencement of the construction work this time last year.
“I pay tribute to the work of the contractor and our wider estates team for getting us to this point and for the continued support of the Department.
“SRC has more than 31,000 annual enrolments and this new campus, coupled with ongoing capital work in Armagh and planned work in Craigavon, will enable us to further improve the standard of education provision and deliver to our learners,” he added.
For more of today’s top stories in Newry and beyond, click here.
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Auction News | All | Watches & Jewelry
‘Great Escape’ hero’s Rolex watch to auction at Sotheby’s
A Rolex watch owned by a WWII POW who helped inspire The Great Escape will sell at Sotheby's on April 16 (Images: Sotheby's)
A Rolex watch owned by a British WWII hero who helped inspire The Great Escape is up for auction at Sotheby’s this month.
The watch belonged to Sergeant Anthony O’Brien, an SAS Sergeant who was captured behind enemy lines and held at the infamous Stalag Luft III POW camp.
He later helped dig tunnels and organize the famous Allied escape plot, which served as a basis for the classic 1963 Steve McQueen film.
His Rolex Oyster chronograph reference 3525 watch is now expected to sell for £30,000 – £60,000 ($39,000 – $78,500) when it hits the block at Christie’s in London on April 16.
The Rolex Oyster chronograph reference 3525 was offered free to Allied officers held in POW camps during WWII (Image: Sotheby’s)
Anthony O’Brien originally enlisted into the Kenyan Army in 1937, and later became a Sergeant for the newly formed British first SAS Brigade.
Having seen action during the North Africa Campaign, he was captured behind enemy lines and sentenced to death for being a member of the SAS.
However, his fellow prisoners convinced their captors that O’Brien was in fact a member of the RAF, and he narrowly escaped execution.
Instead he was transported through Italy to a series of POW camps reserved for Allied airmen, and ended up at the notorious Stalag Luft III camp near the German town of Sagan (now Żagań, Poland).
It was there that he became part of the secret committee which organized the famous 1944 escape attempt.
Sergeant Anthony O’Brien, the original owner of the watch (Image: Sotheby’s)
According to accounts, O’Brien was one of the officers in charge of tunnelling operations and camp security, and his exploits are mentioned in several books on the subject.
However, when the committee held a draw to decide who would escape through the tunnel, his name was not pulled out of the hat.
It may have seemed unlucky at the time, but the draw almost certainly saved his life. Of the 76 men who escaped, seventy-three were recaptured and 50 were then executed.
O’Brien survived in the camp until the end of the war, and following his release he returned to Nairobi, where he got married in 1946 and acquired his Rolex watch.
It’s thought that he chose the watch after seeing fellow officers wearing the same model during his time as a POW.
The Rolex chronograph reference 3525 is known to collectors as a ‘Prisoner Of War watch’, as during WWII Rolex offered them free to Allied officers held in POW camps.
Company founder Hans Wilsdorf took the orders, with the understanding that the officers would pay for their watches when they returned home after an assured Allied victory.
He personally oversaw the orders, which resulted in numerous watches being sent out to the same men, as German soldiers would often pocket the first couple of watches sent before the third made its way to the officer who ordered it.
O’Brien acquired his own Rolex 3525 chronograph from Dobbies Ltd of Nairobi, just before the model was discontinued, and the beautifully patinated dial bears the rare signature of the retailer.
He later became a coffee farmer in Uganda, and ended his days as a professional hunter in Kenya and Tanzania.
O’Brien’s Rolex watch subsequently passed down through generations of his family, and is now set to appear on the market for the first time.
Presented in fine condition, the Rolex 3525 Oyster Chronograph is a rare and sought-after watch in its own right; but its connection to a much-storied WWII hero should attract some competitive bidding amongst collectors on April 16.
Posted in: Auction News, Watches & Jewelry
Tagged: Rolex, Sotheby's, The Great Escape, WWII
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Marlon Brando’s Apocalypse Now Rolex watch to auction at Phillips
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Scholarship gives student the chance of a lifetime
Back row: Jane Forster (Project Officer, Careers and Employability Service), Greg Rider, Helen Jenkins, Lady Newby, Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Howard Newby and Dr Paul Redmond, who had mentored the students before the interview. Front row: Finalists Robert, Charlotte, Claire and Mohammad
A second-year student has won the chance of a lifetime thanks to a scholarship made by the Circumnavigators Club.
Following a bequest made to the Friends of the University by Jack Roberts, who was himself a Friend of the University and a member of the Circumnavigator’s Club in New York, the Vice-Chancellor’s wife, Lady Newby, visited the Circumnavigators Club in order to pay thanks on behalf of the Friends.
As a result of the visit the club offered one of its prestigious scholarships to a student of the University – the first time one has been offered in the UK.
Students were asked to write a travel-study plan of a three-month journey with a grant of £9,000. From more than 70 applications, a short list of four was drawn up.
Charlotte Tamplin, Robert Simpson, Claire Wormald and Mohammad Alam were invited to the Foundation Building to face an interview panel which included Greg Rider, President of the Circumnavigators Club Foundation, and the first recipient of the scholarship back in 1964, and the UK President Helen Jenkins.
The winner was undergraduate student Robert who is studying for a Combined Honours BA in International Development and English. The topic of his proposal was Decisions and Freedom: Literacy and Democracy in Developing Countries and during his research he will visit Mali, Ethiopia, India, Laos, Guatemala and Nicaragua.
Dr Paul Redmond, Head of the Careers and Employability Service, who mentored the four shortlisted students, said: “What an amazing opportunity for one of our students to have received this grant and be able to undertake such exciting and innovative research which will be beneficial to his own career development, the Circumnavigators Club, the University of Liverpool and beyond!”
On his return, Robert will write a report of his findings and make a presentation to the club before being ‘recognised’ at a special ceremony and designated a ‘Foundation Scholar’.
Development and Alumni Relations
Lady Sheila Newby
Professor Sir Howard Newby
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World’s leading materials chemistry conference comes to Liverpool
The world’s leading materials chemistry conference, chaired by University of Liverpool researchers, is taking place in Liverpool this week.
The 13th International Conference on Materials Chemistry (MC13) is the flagship event for materials chemistry research. It is being co- chaired by Professor Andrew Cooper and Professor Matthew Rosseinsky, both from the University’s Department of Chemistry.
More than 600 delegates are attending MC13 to hear from some of the most influential individuals within the field including Professor Jeff Long (Berkeley), Professor Mercouri Kanatzidis (Northwestern University), Professor Paul Attfield (Edinburgh), Professor Jenny Nelson (Imperial College), Professor Claudia Felser (Max Planck Institute for Physics of Solids), Professor Katharina Landfester (Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research), and Professor Takuzo Aida (University of Tokyo).
Organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), the ‘MC’ conference series has provided a showcase for materials chemistry for two decades, and is the principal event of the RSC’s Materials Chemistry Division.
MC13 has five themes running through the four days, including: materials design; magnetic, electronic & optical materials; energy & environment; nanomaterials; and soft matter and biomaterials.
Professor Cooper said: “It is an honour to host MC13 here in Liverpool and to welcome leaders from the world of materials chemistry to our city.
“Here at the University of Liverpool we are focusing on the design and discovery of functional materials through the Leverhulme Centre for Functional Materials Design and the Materials Innovation Factory. It is great to host such high-level scientists this week, and we are forging new collaborative links across the world. This conference shows how scientific research can tackle societal problems and also boost the local city economy.”
The 13th International Conference on Materials Chemistry takes place at the Liverpool Arena and Conference Centre from Monday, 10 July to Thursday, 13 July 2017.
For full details of the conference please visit http://www.rsc.org/events/detail/21273/13th-international-conference-on-materials-chemistry-mc13
International Conference on Materials Chemistry
Professor Andrew Cooper
Professor Matthew Rosseinsky
School of Physical Sciences
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Water management in a changing environment
MIT Water Summit presents insights, innovations, and solutions to protect our world’s most abundant natural resource.
Kelsey Damrad | Civil and Environmental Engineering
Kelsey Damrad
Email: kdamrad@mit.edu
MIT Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
The 2015 MIT Water Summit team organizers
Courtesy of MIT Water Club
The Innovate panel at the 2015 MIT Water Summit: (from left) Divya Panchanathan, Marcus Quigley, Noel Bakhtian, Anurag Bajpayee, and Mark Ellison
MIT Water Summit organizers Alexis Fischer (left) and Matthew Wilner (right) with Interpret panel speaker Camille Calimlim Touton of the U.S. Department of the Interior
Amid a changing climate, population growth, rapid development, and pervasive urbanization, an unprecedented threat to the world’s food and water supply is more apparent than ever before. In fact, it is predicted that 70 percent more food will be needed by 2050 and the demand for water will triple.
"To date, we’ve met the food and water challenge to a significant extent through technology, as exemplified in the 'green revolution,' but there are still significant problems to solve. We’re optimistic that MIT will have a major role in meeting the world’s challenges around food and water supply," John Lienhard, director of the Abdul Latif Jameel World Water and Food Security Lab (J-WAFS) at MIT, said in the opening remarks at the third annual MIT Water Summit held Nov. 13-14 on campus.
"Workshops such as this are critical to raise awareness and build momentum towards solving the grand water challenges of our world," said Elfatih Eltahir, associate department head and a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE). "The Water Summit was a wonderful opportunity for open and transparent discussions that helped in reaching better definitions of water problems and paved the way for new and innovative solutions."
An MIT Water Club team — comprised of MIT graduate students Reetik Kumar Sahu, Anjuli Jain Figueroa, Alexis Fischer, Matthew Willner, Brendan Smith, and Isadora Cruxen — organized this year’s Water Summit into three conversation panels: Interpret, Innovate, and Implement. The team brought together more than 200 members of the MIT and non-MIT communities to discuss the role of climate change in global water challenges.
Over the course of two days, several representatives from academia, government, and industry were invited to present.
Adaptation to climate change means embracing uncertainty
"The biggest risk to our water systems is our social norms," Col. John Henderson of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said. "We, as a society, may not be adapting fast enough." Of course, the path leading to full adaptation to climate change is far from clear, he added.
The Interpret panel included Henderson, Camille Touton of the U. S. Department of the Interior, Scott Doney of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI), Manoj Fenelon of the Aspen Institute, and MIT graduate student Jordon Hemingway as moderator.
One major hindrance that Fenelon said prevents climate adaptation is the way the problem is framed. "How do you explain the challenge in a way that causes people to realize it is bigger than their individual interests?" he asked.
To emphasize, Touton said that 50 percent of the world is in severe drought — a negative impact of climate change that many do not directly experience. Using open water data to visualize the impact of drought and climate change on water resources, she said, is one aspect of the problem that her department investigates and reports to the public.
"The world is teeming with answers, but are we asking the right questions?" Fenelon added. Perspectives unrelated to science — such as considering water as a right rather than a luxury — may result in interesting and efficient approaches to the challenge.
Leveraging branding, for instance, was one such approach explored by the panel. "I would be interested to see brands engage in civil work," Fenelon said. "Consumers would be buying not just a brand, but a movement."
In agreement, Doney added it’s not the destination that matters, but rather how quickly society manages to get there. When it comes to climate change and the global water supply, the rate of change heavily impacts the natural ecosystems.
However, the panelists agreed, the key to truly engaging open interest is to pitch the science behind climate change in a way that attracts stakeholders and, more importantly, the general public.
The future is about radical transparency
In their remarks on how technological innovations and research have led to more resilient water systems, the Innovate panelists — Noel Bakhtian, lead strategic coordinator on Energy-Water Nexus activities for the U.S. Department of Energy; Marcus Quigley, founder of OptiRTC; Anarug Bajpayee, co-founder and CEO of Gradiant Corporation; Mark Ellison, U.S. affiliate of IDE Technologies; and MIT graduate student and panel moderator Divya Panchanathan — offered a hopeful, yet guarded, perspective.
For Quigley, the world needs a future of “radical transparency” of data. With an open explanation of the reality of water, he postulated that this approach will transform the manner in which we act and develop regulations around water management.
"We need to be creative with data science and make water information more meaningful for the public to digest," he said.
Noting society’s hesitancy to trust new innovations in the water sector, Bajpayee suggested some of the challenge may also lie with people’s misconception of the value of water.
"People think water is free when it’s not," he said. "Something is paying for it. Explaining this openly and clearly may help people appreciate how important it is to conserve energy and water."
When it comes down to it, Quigley continued, our perception on what we think the world should look like is irrelevant. The gateway to water management is about delivering the outcomes people expect, and furthermore educating them on why they should expect those outcomes from a political perspective.
The panelists contended that the world would benefit from focusing more on a transparent understanding of the projected outcome and less on what society portrays as an ideal world.
One way to achieve this may be for water businesses to expand their reach beyond one idea and emphasize an entire market or specialized sector.
"The most successful companies are those who have evolved along the way," Bajpayee said. "Water entrepreneurs should build businesses around an entire platform, not just one innovation."
Climate change is no longer about belief, but fact
To close the Water Summit on the second day, keynote speaker Curt Spalding of the U.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA) for New England introduced the Implement panel with a discussion on the hard evidence and implications of climate change.
Spalding said 70 percent of the population accepts that climate change is happening, and, because of this, progression is being made to both mitigate and adapt to the reality. "Adaptation is a priority and is integrated into every decision made by the EPA," he said. However, it’s not always as high a priority as it should be for others, he added.
Spalding emphasized the need to communicate complex data to the implementers for real movement to be made in the fight against climate change. This notion was further explored in the panel, moderated by MIT graduate student Alice Alpert, and comprised of Edgar Westerhof of ARCADIS U.S. Inc., Stephen Estes-Smargiassi of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, Dennis Carlberg of Boston University, and Larry Susskind, the Ford Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning at MIT.
According to Susskind, the hindrance to true innovation in policy implementation is mainly the lack of collaboration between leaders and the public. "No decision is ever going to be completely correct, so we will have to collaboratively adapt as things evolve," he said.
Estes-Smargiassi agreed, and added that it is equally important to embrace any potential opportunity to build resiliency — even if the timing or innovation is not perfect.
"Each opportunity that we fail to grasp, puts us further behind," he said. "Let’s figure out which steps we should take now to continue to move ahead later." Particularly, participatory planning is a crucial part of resiliency planning; otherwise, he explained, there may not be buy-in.
Corporation mitigation efforts and sponsoring of events, such as the international Sustainable Innovation Forum 2015 in Paris, has a powerful effect in changing the public image of what’s being done today. While concrete conclusions may not necessarily be drawn from efforts such as these, confidence is built for the long-term. And this, the panelists agreed, is effective in the process of managing water in a time of a changing climate.
"The MIT community is deeply motivated to contribute," Lienhard said. "Our students and faculty are bringing their insight, innovation, and technical excellence to bear on the challenge of water management."
Sponsors for this year's Water Summit included Arcadis, Association of Student Activities, MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning, CEE, the Coop at MIT, Desalitech, Environmental Policy and Planning Group, Gradiant Corporation, J-WAFS, MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives, MIT Brazil, the WHOI, Pepsico, and WRI Brazil.u
MIT Water Summit
MIT Water Club
Video: "Research for a Thirsty World Video"
Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Abdul Latif Jameel World Water and Food Security Lab (J-WAFS)
Urban studies and planning
J-WAFS
MIT Water Summit brings experts together to discuss global water challenges
Water, water everywhere: But is there enough to drink?
MIT Water Summit 2013
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Businessman John Sherman Buys Kansas City Royals
Posted on August 30, 2019, by Bryan Zarpentine
Image via usatoday.com
Less than four years after winning their second World Series in franchise history, the Kansas City Royals are about to start a new chapter with a new owner. The club announced on Friday that current owner David Glass and his family have agreed to sell the Royals to Kansas City businessman John Sherman, among other investors. The price of the sale is reported to be $1 billion. Glass first bought the team in 2000 for $96 million and has enjoyed nearly 20 years of ownership.
“The decision to sell the Royals was difficult for our family,” Glass said in a statement. “Our goal, which I firmly believe we’ve achieved, was to have someone local, who truly loved the game of baseball and who would be a great steward for this franchise going forward. In John Sherman, we have found everything we were looking for in taking ownership of this franchise.”
The sale will not become official until the rest of the MLB owners approve it. That step is expected to happen at the Owners Meetings in November. Prior to that, Sherman will have to divest his ownership of the Cleveland Indians. The 64-year-old is a minority owner of the Indians and is willing to sell his roughly 30% stake in the Indians in order to take on full ownership of the Royals.
Sherman is a longtime resident of Kansas City and a prominent businessman in the area. He has made much of his fortune founding multiple energy companies. More importantly, he is a big baseball fan and was even a Royals season ticket holder at one point.
“John has made a huge impact in our business community and is so passionate about baseball that he purchased an ownership stake in the Cleveland Indians three years ago to begin his relationship with this great game,” said Glass. “We are truly blessed to have someone of John’s stature and business acumen available to us from the metropolitan area to take the reins of this organization going forward.”
As mentioned, Glass took controlling interest of the Royals in 2000. He was just the second owner in franchise history after the original owner Ewing Kauffman, for whom the team’s current stadium is named. Glass inherited a franchise that hadn’t made the playoffs since winning the 1985 World Series. He slowly rebuilt the Royals into a winning franchise, culminating in a World Series loss in 2014 and a world championship in 2015.
“I will miss this more than anyone realizes because I grew up loving this great game and was awarded a fantastic opportunity to own one of the 30 Major League clubs,” said Glass in his statement. We watched this club painfully come up 90-feet short in 2014 and then ultimately win that coveted World Series trophy in 2015. I will never forget the thrill of seeing over 800,000 people of this community come together on one sunny November day to salute the newly-crowned World Champions.
“It’s been a fantastic ride and I want to thank our great fans for supporting us through the years, but now it’s time for someone else to oversee this franchise into its next championship and in John Sherman, we’ve found the perfect individual.”
It’s now up to Sherman to create his own legacy as owner of the Royals. The team is once again in rebuilding mode, having finished last in the AL Central in 2018. Sherman has already said that he’s committed to fielding a championship-caliber team. However, that’s not always easy for the small-market Royals. Also, the club will soon face questions about the possibility of a new ballpark. He has much work ahead of him but appears ready for the challenge and grateful for the opportunity.
“I am enormously grateful to David and the Glass family for this extraordinary opportunity,” Sherman said in a statement. “Our goal will be threefold: To compete for a championship on behalf of our fans; to honor their passion, their experience and their unwavering commitment; and to carry their hopes and dreams forward in this great Kansas City region we all love — for decades to come.”
Cleveland Indians, David Glass, Ewing Kauffman, John Sherman, Kansas City Royals
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Andrew Limbong
Andrew Limbong is a reporter and producer for NPR's Arts Desk, where he reports, produces, and mixes arts and culture pieces of all kinds. Previously, he was a producer and director for Tell Me More. He originally started at NPR in 2011 as an intern for All Things Considered.
Book Publisher Simon & Schuster Sold To Rival
By Andrew Limbong • Nov 25, 2020
Publishing company Simon & Schuster has been sold to its competitor Penguin Random House. The news was announced Wednesday by Simon & Schuster's parent company, ViacomCBS.
The $2.175 billion sale is expected to close in 2021, pending regulatory approvals.
Diane di Prima, Beat Poet And Activist, Dead At 86
By Andrew Limbong • Oct 27, 2020
One night in the 1950s Diane di Prima was at a party at Allen Ginsberg's place in New York City. It was usual poet stuff — talking, reading, smoking, drinking — until 11:30 p.m. came around and di Prima said she was going home to relieve her babysitter. Jack Kerouac, also a guest, shouted, "Di Prima, unless you forget about your babysitter, you're never going to be a writer."
'Amazing' Escape Artist, Magician, And Skeptic James Randi Dead At 92
James Randi hated tricking people. Sure, as The Amazing Randi, he pulled off amazing escape acts and sleight of hand maneuvers faster than you could see — but it was all in service of proving that he wasn't magical in any sense of the word. He hated tricking people so much he made a career out of debunking so-called psychics, faith healers, and fortune tellers of all sorts.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez And Ilhan Omar Play On Twitch To Engage Young Voters
'Gimme Some Lovin' ' Bandleader Spencer Davis Dead at 81
Spencer Davis, the multi-instrumentalist and leader of the band that bore his name, has died at the age of 81. The Spencer Davis Group recorded such hits as "Gimme Some Lovin' " and "I'm a Man." Davis wasn't the lead singer on either song though, giving that job to a teenage Steve Winwood.
Davis died Monday while being treated for pneumonia, according to his tour manager and friend, Bob Birk, who worked with the musician for decades.
In a statement to NPR, Birk called him a "highly ethical, very talented, good-hearted, extremely intelligent, generous man."
Jason Flom, The Music Executive With An Ear For Injustice
Call it professionalism, but there are some things Cheryl Pilate just can't say. She's a criminal defense attorney in Kansas City, Mo., and toes a fine line between getting attention for her clients' stories and being bound by professional ethics.
"As a lawyer, frequently I feel — and I know many others feel — constrained in the language that we use, " she says. "We're mindful of our professional responsibilities and how we need to carry those out."
'Two And A Half Men' Star Conchata Ferrell Dies at 77
Conchata Ferrell, who played the gruff, straight-talking maid, Berta, on Two and a Half Men, has died. She died Monday in Sherman Oaks, CA following complications from a cardiac arrest. Her manager confirmed the news to NPR. She was 77 years old.
In what was originally planned to be a two-episode arc in the show's first season, Ferrell's Berta became an integral part of the show, seeing it through its entire 12-season run. She was nominated for two Emmys for Best Supporting Actress.
Broadway's Reopening Is Pushed Back Again
By Andrew Limbong • Oct 9, 2020
There will be no shows on Broadway until May 30 at least.
The news comes from the Broadway League, the trade association representing theater producers and owners. According to a press release, the specific dates for returning and new shows will be announced individually, depending on the production schedule for each show.
This is, of course, yet another economic blow from COVID-19.
Rock Legend Eddie Van Halen Dies After A Long Battle With Cancer
NOEL KING, HOST:
This is what guitar sounded like when played by Eddie Van Halen.
(SOUNDBITE OF VAN HALEN SONG, "JUMP")
Supreme Court Declines To Hear Led Zeppelin
The Supreme Court has declined to hear a case alleging that the band Led Zeppelin plagiarized the opening of one of its signature songs, "Stairway to Heaven." This upholds a previous March ruling that landed in favor of Zeppelin, and possibly ends a legal battle that has gone on since 2014.
From 'SNL' To Workout Videos, How RBG Became A Pop Culture Icon
By Andrew Limbong • Sep 22, 2020
When big, important people die, it's easy to overuse the term "iconic," but the title fits Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Outside the halls of the Supreme Court, she had another life in pop culture as a symbol of both dissent and feminism. And maybe nothing has cemented her place there more than Saturday Night Live.
Diana Rigg, 'Game of Thrones' and 'The Avengers' Actor, Has Died At 82
Actor Diana Rigg, best known for starring in the 1960s British TV espionage thriller The Avengers, died on Thursday at the age of 82 in London. According to a statement from her daughter Rachael Stirling, she was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year.
"My Beloved Ma died peacefully in her sleep early this morning, at home, surrounded by family," Stirling wrote. "She died of cancer diagnosed in March, and spent her last months joyfully reflecting on her extraordinary life, full of love, laughter and a deep pride in her profession."
'Feels Good Man' Traces Pepe The Frog From Hate Symbol To Democracy Icon
By Andrew Limbong • Sep 4, 2020
You've probably seen him by now — the thin, red lips. The big, expressive eyes. The deep green skin. Sometimes he looks innocent and sweet, like a friend crashing on your couch. Other times he looks like a smugly grinning jerk. The thing about Pepe the Frog is that he can be whatever you want him to be — a stoner icon, a symbol of hatred and bigotry, a beacon of democracy.
Melania Trump's Bright Green Dress On Final RNC Night Screams Meme
By Andrew Limbong • Aug 28, 2020
Months of practice fiddling with Zoom's virtual background feature primed the Internet for this moment.
When first lady Melania Trump appeared at the last night of the RNC Thursday, she wore a Valentino dress in a lime green shade — a green screen green, of sorts. And as she walked down the steps of the White House, everyone who spent the past four nights hate-watching the proceedings saw their time to shine.
2 Men Charged In Long-Unsolved Killing Of Run-DMC's Jam Master Jay
Federal prosecutors announced charges Monday against two men accused of killing Jason Mizell, better known as Jam Master Jay — the DJ for the seminal rap group Run-DMC. Mizell was shot inside a recording studio in New York City in 2002.
At a press conference, Seth DuCharme, the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald Washington had been charged with murder in Mizell's death. DuCharme didn't go into details about what led to the charges but said "today we begin to answer that question, who killed Jason Mizell and why."
Kanye West Tweets, Then Deletes, Claims Of His Family's Concern — And More
By Andrew Limbong • Jul 21, 2020
Rapper and fashion designer Kanye West posted, then deleted, a series of tweets Monday night claiming that his wife Kim Kardashian was trying to get him hospitalized.
"Kim tried to bring a doctor to lock me up with a doctor," he tweeted.
This was among a stretch of wide-ranging tweets where he claimed that the movie Get Out was based on him, said that actor Shia LaBeouf was supposed to do a shoot for his Gap clothing line but never showed up, and asked his mother-in-law Kris Jenner to call him.
Independent Venues Face Bleak Future Without Aid
Packing into a small, dimly lit room while you and a few hundred strangers dance and listen to your favorite artists is one of the many small joys we've been missing for months. For many of those spaces and their fans, that experience could be gone forever if a new piece of legislation called the Restart Act doesn't pass Congress before it goes on recess in August.
Ghost Ship Fire Victims To Receive $32.7 Million Settlement From City Of Oakland
The city of Oakland has settled a lawsuit with the victims of the 2016 "Ghost Ship" fire that killed 36 people. The total settlement is for $32.7 million — $23.5 million will go to families of people who died, and $9.2 million will go to Sam Maxwell, who survived the fire with lifelong injuries.
Fired Over Anti-Semitic Comments, Nick Cannon Wants 'Wild 'N Out' Ownership
Nick Cannon — the actor, TV show host and musician — has been fired from his long-running comedy improv show Wild 'N Out. It comes after he made anti-Semitic comments on his podcast and YouTube show, Cannon's Class.
Wild 'N Out's parent company, ViacomCBS, released a statement saying, "We are deeply troubled that Nick has failed to acknowledge or apologize for perpetuating anti-Semitism, and we are terminating our relationship with him."
Kelly Preston, Actress And Wife Of John Travolta, Dead At 57
Actress Kelly Preston has died after a two-year battle with breast cancer, according to an Instagram post from her husband, John Travolta. She was 57 years old.
"She fought a courageous fight with the love and support of so many," the actor wrote. "My family and I will forever be grateful to her doctors and nurses at MD Anderson Cancer Center, all the medical centers that have helped, as well as her many friends and loved ones who have been by her side."
'Dungeons & Dragons' Tries To Banish Racist Stereotypes
By Andrew Limbong • Jun 29, 2020
Dungeons and Dragons is reconsidering what it means to be evil.
The classic role playing game's publisher, Wizards of the Coast, recently announced some changes it was making to the game in response to the ongoing protests over racism and police violence. While this includes editing some past racist descriptions, as well as adding more diverse writers, the game's designers are also making a fundamental change to the way certain playable characters are portrayed.
Huey, The Rapper Behind 'Pop, Lock & Drop It,' Killed In St. Louis Shooting
Huey, the St. Louis rapper behind the hit song "Pop, Lock & Drop It," was shot and killed on Thursday night in Kinloch, Mo.
Joel Schumacher, Director Of 'St. Elmo's Fire' And 'Batman Forever,' Dead At 80
Director Joel Schumacher died Monday morning in New York City from cancer. Schumacher directed the 80s hit movies St. Elmo's Fire and The Lost Boys, as well as two movies in the Batman movie franchise — Batman Forever and Batman & Robin. He was 80 years old.
Schumacher started out working in the fashion industry. But, as he started gaining success there, he became addicted to drugs. He told WHYY's Fresh Air that by 1970, he needed a change.
Study: TV Police Shows Affect Real-World Policing
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
HBO Max Shelves 'Gone With The Wind' Temporarily For 'Racial Prejudices'
Updated Wednesday at 5:15 p.m. ET
Streaming service HBO Max has temporarily removed the 1939 classic film Gone with the Wind from its library.
"Gone with the Wind is a product of its time and depicts some of the ethnic and racial prejudices that have, unfortunately, been commonplace in American society," an HBO Max spokesperson said in a statement.
Cease-And-Desist Order Issued Against 1st Concert As Arkansas Reopens
By Andrew Limbong • May 13, 2020
Updated Thursday at 3:40 p.m. ET
The Arkansas Department of Health has issued a cease-and-desist letter for what could have been the first indoor concert with an audience of more than 200 of the coronavirus era. The show was set to take place in Fort Smith, Ark., on Friday — three days before the state is set to allow businesses to open in a limited capacity.
2020 Pulitzer Prize Winners Include 'This American Life' — See A Full List
By Andrew Limbong • May 4, 2020
There were a couple of firsts in this year's announcement of the winners of the Pulitzer Prize. First off, it was done remotely because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
A Music-Selling Platform Waives Some Fees To Support Artists During The Pandemic
Why Ticket Holders Are Struggling To Get Refunds For Concerts And Live Events
By Andrew Limbong • Apr 24, 2020
Updated at 4:21 p.m. ET.
The coronavirus pandemic has completely shut down the business of concerts and other live events. Some people, including Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti, are even predicting that live events won't resume until next year.
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Capitol siege raises security worries for Biden inauguration
Biden Inauguration Security
Workers install no-scale fencing around the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021. President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration was already going to be scaled back, but after a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol, ransacking the building and triggering chaos that stretched all the way to the Senate floor, questions began to arise about whether having a presidential ceremony on the steps of the same building could also pose serous security risk. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
WILL WEISSERT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol is intensifying scrutiny over security at the upcoming inauguration ceremony for President-elect Joe Biden, which already has been reshaped by the coronavirus pandemic and President Donald Trump's decision not to attend.
Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will take the oath of office from the Capitol's West Front, one of the locations where a mob overpowered police and stormed the building on Wednesday. They also scaled and occupied the scaffolding and bleachers in place for the ceremonies.
Plans for the Jan. 20 inauguration were already scaled back because of the coronavirus. But the brazen attack raises new questions about preparedness for the event that will welcome a new administration after a bitter election.
The congressional leaders responsible for coordinating the inauguration has insisted that events will move forward.
“The outrageous attack on the Capitol, however, will not stop us from affirming to Americans — and the world — that our democracy endures," said Sens. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. “The great American tradition of an inaugural ceremony has occurred in times of peace, in times of turmoil, in times of prosperity, and in times of adversity. We will be swearing in President-elect Biden.”
Security forces have already begun taking extra precautions in the wake of Wednesday's mayhem. Five people died, including a Capitol Police officer.
Roughly 6,200 members of the National Guard from six states — Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland — will help support the Capitol Police and other law enforcement in Washington for the next 30 days.
Crews erected tall black metal fences on the Capitol grounds that are designed to be impossible to climb. Similar structures have previously been used around the White House and in other cities that faced prolonged demonstrations.
Such barriers would have gone up anyway in coming days, however, because the inauguration is a National Special Security Event overseen by the Secret Service and scores of other federal agencies, including the Defense Department, which helps lead counterterrorism efforts associated with the event. That's the same level of security provided during political party conventions or when a dignitary lies in state at the Capitol — but not during a normal congressional session like when rioters breached the building.
“The safety and security of all those participating in the 59th Presidential Inauguration is of the utmost importance,” the Secret Service said in a statement. “For well over a year, the U.S. Secret Service, along with our NSSE partners, has been working tirelessly to anticipate and prepare for all possible contingencies at every level.”
Biden told reporters Friday that he has “great confidence in the Secret Service” and their ability to make sure the inauguration ”goes off safely.”
Authorities will have the same military and civilian footprint to handle a crowd of more than a million people for an event expected to draw a small fraction of that because of restrictions to combat the coronavirus, according to a person familiar with the security planning.
Those who have worked on previous inaugurations said that while this year's events will look different, the tradition of passing power from one administration to another will continue.
“Is it as impactful? You don’t have a photo of a million people lined up, so you don’t have that sort of powerful image. But I think you will still have the feel there,” said Bill Daley, a former commerce secretary and White House chief of staff who helped organize President Barack Obama’s first inauguration in 2009. “The aura of change will be there.”
Trump hasn't made that easy. He has falsely argued that the election was stolen, a claim that has been rejected by fellow Republicans in critical swing states and his recently departed attorney general. His many legal challenges were roundly dismissed as meritless, including by conservative judges he appointed.
A Trump rally in front of the White House helped rile up the mob that later stormed the Capitol.
Trump tweeted Friday that he won't attend his successor's inauguration, and Biden called it “one of the few things he and I have ever agreed on."
“It's a good thing, him not showing up,” Biden said.
Still, the outgoing president has skipped the incoming president's swearing-in only three times in U.S. history, and the last one to do so was Andrew Johnson 152 years ago. Trump only acknowledged the upcoming transfer of power after the Capitol was stormed.
The inaugural committee said Biden would receive an official escort, with representatives from every military branch, for a block before arriving at the White House from the Capitol.
The presidential motorcade usually rolls the mile-plus journey with the new president and first lady walking part of the way. It's unclear whether that will occur this time.
Whatever happens, it'll be a far cry from Obama’s 2009 inauguration, when organizers opened the full length of the National Mall — which extends all the way to the Lincoln Memorial — to accommodate the massive crowds. Security was a concern then, too, though.
The night before, Michael Chertoff, President George W. Bush’s secretary of homeland security, informed Obama’s team of credible intelligence indicating that four Somali men who were thought to be coming over the U.S.-Canada border might be planning a terrorist attack on the inauguration ceremony.
In his book “A Promised Land,” Obama writes that he had an adviser “draft evacuation instructions that I’d give the crowd if an attack took place while I was onstage.” He said he was “relieved” that nothing happened and he didn't have to use them.
Jim Bendat, an inaugural historian and author of the book “Democracy’s Big Day,” noted that the outgoing and the incoming presidents usually meet at the White House and chat before joining a procession to the Capitol for the swearing-in ceremonies. Trump may not invite Biden to the White House while forgoing the inauguration, which Bendat said would amount to “an assault on our democracy” akin to the mob violence at the Capitol.
“Those are very symbolic moments that really open our eyes," Bendat said of the two presidents meeting cordially. “The world watches those moments because it’s something that doesn’t occur in most countries.”
Still, Daley said Biden, who first ran for president in 1988, may be uniquely qualified for an inauguration that's mostly void of traditional pomp and circumstance.
“I think it's less needed for someone who's been around as long as he's been. And his whole thrust has been, ‘I can hit the ground running because I’ve been there. I know this stuff,'” Daley said. “I don't think he needs to stand there on the podium celebrating himself very long.”
Associated Press writer Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
U.S. prosecutors have imposed the first conspiracy charge against a person who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, The Washington Post reports.Thomas Edward Caldwell was arrested early Tuesday morning on four federal counts pertaining to the riot, including conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, per the Post. He allegedly organized a group of militia members who attacked the Capitol building, praising their actions in Facebook posts after the event.Caldwell's group of "eight to 10 individuals" wore "helmets and military-style gear and were seen moving purposefully toward the top of the Capitol steps and leading the move against police lines," the Post reports. He had been planning the siege at least a week earlier, sending a Facebook message on Jan. 1 that showed he was scouting hotels near the Capitol that "would allow us to go hunting at night if we wanted to," the charging affidavit says. He allegedly sent the message to Jessica Watkins, the founder of the "Ohio State Regular Militia" who was arrested last week after participating in the attack.Caldwell seemingly didn't try to hide his involvement at the Capitol, allegedly sharing video of the attack in the evening of Jan. 6. "We need to do this at the local level. Lets [sic] storm the capitol in Ohio. Tell me when!" Caldwell wrote on Facebook, the FBI says in its charging documents.Caldwell was allegedly a member of the Oath Keepers, an extremist group that, along with the Three Percenters and Proud Boys, is being investigated for its role in sparking the Capitol attack.More stories from theweek.com Trump's White House staff and alumni are reportedly using the same excuse to skip his big sendoff Chief Justice John Roberts reportedly wants no part of Trump's impeachment trial The most alarming thing about the Trump presidency
A person's 2020 presidential vote is proving the biggest indicator of whether or not they want a coronavirus vaccine.People who supported President-elect Joe Biden in November are overwhelmingly in favor of getting the COVID-19 vaccine, with 79 percent saying they want it and 4 percent saying they've already gotten it, an NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist poll out Tuesday shows. Meanwhile just 39 percent of voters who backed President Trump say they want the vaccine and a similar 4 percent have already gotten it.Marist asked adults whether they'd get a COVID-19 vaccine if it was made available to them. Support for getting the vaccine was clearly divided along party lines, with 75 percent of Democrats saying they wanted the vaccine but just 43 percent of Republicans saying the same. Democratic men were the most likely of any demographic — race, region, income, education, age, or generation — to want the vaccine, at 85 percent. Meanwhile the smallest percentage of adults who said they wanted the vaccine were Trump voters.Also among groups who had a low percentage of vaccine support were Gen Xers — just 49 percent of Americans age 40-55 want the vaccine, the poll found. Republican women and people who live in small towns were not very likely to want the vaccine, with just 41 and 51 percent saying they would like it, respectively. Trump has so far not publicly said if he has gotten the vaccine, but has underplayed the seriousness of the virus for the past year.Marist surveyed 1,173 American adults from Jan. 11–13 via landline and mobile phone, with a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.More stories from theweek.com Trump's White House staff and alumni are reportedly using the same excuse to skip his big sendoff Chief Justice John Roberts reportedly wants no part of Trump's impeachment trial The most alarming thing about the Trump presidency
Biden pick for DHS chief says he would not abolish ICE and CBP
Alejandro Mayorkas, President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to head the Department of Homeland Security, said during his Senate confirmation hearing that he would execute Biden’s plan to stop building the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Mayorkas also said that CBP and ICE play “critical roles” in the federal government and that he wouldn’t abolish them.
U.S. is "a long way" from return to Iran nuclear deal, Blinken says
Secretary of State designate Tony Blinken said in his confirmation hearing on Tuesday that the Biden administration is "a long way" from executing its plan to return to the Iran nuclear deal, and plans to consult with Israel and the Gulf states before doing so.Why it matters: America's partners in the Middle East have been publicly raising their concerns about a possible return to the 2015 agreement and calling on the Biden administration to consult with them first.Support safe, smart, sane journalism. Sign up for Axios Newsletters here.The state of play: President-elect Biden's plan is to return to the deal, by lifting sanctions, if Iran returns to compliance with the restrictions on its nuclear program. In the next stage, Biden wants to negotiate a broader and longer-lasting agreement. * Blinken said those negotiations would include Iran’s missile program and regional activity.What they're saying: Blinken said Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear deal left Iran closer to obtaining a nuclear weapon because Tehran began to breach its terms. “Iran’s breakout time, which was a year under the nuclear deal, is only 3-4 months today," Blinken said in the hearing. * Yes, but: While Blinken stressed that the U.S. would live up to its commitments if Iran did, he said the new administration wouldn't rush back into the deal before assessing whether Iran was prepared to return to full compliance.Worth noting: Blinken said he “didn’t shed tears” about the killing of Iranian Quds Force commander Qassim Soleimani by the U.S. one year ago, but added that he believes it made America less safe.Go deeper: * Netanyahu aides fret that "Obama people" will shape Biden's Iran policy * Netanyahu may appoint envoy to Biden administration on Iran * Israel to push Biden to take it easy on Saudi Arabia, UAE and EgyptBe smart: sign up FREE for the most influential newsletter in America.
Exclusive: Harry Dunn's family hires top lawyer in renewed bid to have his alleged killer sent back to UK
Harry Dunn's family have hired one of Britain's top extradition lawyers in their bid to persuade the incoming US president, Joe Biden, to send his alleged killer back to the UK. Nick Vamos, the former head of extradition and special crime at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), is to work pro bono for the Dunn family to help bring Anne Sacoolas to trial. The lawyer, now a partner at Peters and Peters law firm, could also play a key part in any attempt to try Ms Sacoolas even if Mr Biden decides to stick with the Trump administration's refusal to accede to extradition or to lift her diplomatic immunity. One option that may still be explored is the possibility of prosecuting Ms Sacoolas in absentia. The CPS has said it will continue to pursue the case despite the family's setbacks in their legal efforts to secure justice. Mr Dunn, 19, died when his motorbike was hit by a car being driven on the wrong side of the road by Ms Sacoolas, an American, outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire on August 27 last year. Ms Sacoolas, 43, was charged with causing the teenager's death by dangerous driving after the crash. But she was able to return to her home country after the US Government asserted diplomatic immunity on her behalf, sparking an international controversy. Mr Vamos told The Telegraph: "There is an opportunity with the new administration in the US to invite them to finally do the right thing and not rely on a disputed claim of diplomatic immunity to allow Ms Sacoolas to avoid British justice." He said there were options if she could not be returned to the UK but "the primary object is and always has been that she faces justice in the UK in person". "Whilst there is an apparent stalemate where the CPS are unable to commence proceedings while she refuses to return either voluntarily or pursuant to extradition, there are further legal options we would like to explore with them," Mr Vamos added. As the head of special crime at the CPS, Mr Vamos was responsible for cases including the prosecution in the Hillsborough disaster and the controversy over the Conservatives' election funding with the party's battle bus. He was also responsible for masterminding new extradition rules after Theresa May refused a US request for Gary McKinnon to stand trial for the "biggest hack of all time" into 97 US military and NASA computers.
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Garth Brooks Set to Perform at Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' Inauguration | THR News
Armed protesters rallied at state capitols as cities and states ramp up security ahead of Biden's inauguration
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WMUR - Manchester
Ryan Day talks New Hampshire before the big game
Coach Day and Ohio State play Alabama Monday
A woman who participated in the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol surrendered to authorities in Pennsylvania on Monday night, the Justice Department said. Riley Williams, 22, was charged with illegally entering the Capitol, violent entry, and disorderly conduct, but the FBI said it is also investigating a tip from the suspect's former "romantic partner" that Williams broke into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office during the siege, stole a laptop, and "intended to send the computer device to a friend in Russia, who then planned to sell the device to SVR, Russia's foreign intelligence service."The transfer of the laptop to Russian intelligence "fell through for unknown reasons," the former partner, identified only as Witness 1, told the FBI, "and Williams still has the computer device or destroyed it." Williams was captured on video urging fellow rioters to go upstairs in the Capitol, toward Pelosi's office, the FBI said. Pelosi's deputy chief of staff, Drew Hammill, confirmed after the siege that "a laptop from a conference room was stolen," but said "it was a laptop that was only used for presentations."Williams lived with her mother, who identified her as the woman in an ITV video of the Capitol raid, the FBI said. The mother also told authorities that her daughter had taken a sudden interest in President Trump's politics and "far-right message boards." Williams had traveled to the pre-riot protest with her father, but he said they were separated before the Capitol siege, the FBI said, and after they returned to Pennsylvania, Williams deleted her social media accounts, changed her phone number, and fled.More stories from theweek.com 5 more scathing cartoons about Trump's 2nd impeachment The most alarming thing about the Trump presidency Trump tried to act like a mob boss. Instead he's just a thug.
U.S. officials who have engaged in "nasty behaviour" over Chinese-claimed Taiwan will face sanctions, China's Foreign Ministry said on Monday, after Washington lifted curbs on exchanges between U.S. and Taiwanese officials. Sino-U.S. ties have worsened as China has already condemned this month's easing, announced by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the waning days of President Donald Trump's presidency. Further adding to China's anger, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Kelly Craft, spoke last week to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, after a planned trip to Taipei was called off.
Anthony Scaramucci was right: The White House appears to be having trouble rounding up a sizable crowd for President Trump's official send-off from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Wednesday."In what looks like a desperate attempt to build a crowd for the crowd-obsessed president, an email has been making the rounds to current and former White House officials inviting them, and as many as five plus-ones, to Trump's elaborate exit ceremony," Politico reported Tuesday morning. "The go-to excuse for skipping out has been the 6 a.m. call time at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. But truly, many just don't want to be photographed sending off their former boss."Trump's current staffers have a good reason to avoid their outgoing boss. "Former White House officials and campaign staffers who would typically land plum jobs in corporate America after serving their time are now out in the cold," Politico says. One former White House official who got out early put it this way: "No one wants to touch them, they're just toxic." Another former Trump aide, pointing to the fallout from the Jan. 6 insurrection, was more blunt, telling Politico: "They're f---ed."Trump will be the first president since Andrew Johnson, another member of the tiny impeached president club, to skip the inauguration of his successor. "Johnson snubbed Ulysses S. Grant in 1869," The Washington Post notes. More stories from theweek.com 5 more scathing cartoons about Trump's 2nd impeachment The most alarming thing about the Trump presidency Trump tried to act like a mob boss. Instead he's just a thug.
QAnon supporters suggested posing as National Guard to access capitol on inauguration day
FBI allegedly picked up ‘suspicious traffic’ while monitoring the threats to the 20 January inauguration of Joe Biden, according to reports
Constitutionally-speaking, Chief Justice John Roberts is meant to preside over President Trump's impeachment trial, but he apparently wants out, Politico reports.Multiple Republican and Democratic sources have reportedly told Politico that Roberts is seeking a way to avoid the job because of how things played out when he oversaw Trump's first impeachment trial last year. Roberts, Politico notes, has worked hard to keep the Supreme Court apolitical during his tenure, so he was reportedly displeased that he "became a top target of the left" during the proceedings. "He wants no further part of this," one source told Politico, although there's been no official word from Roberts' camp about what he'll ultimately do.Trump's trial is a bit of a constitutional oddity. On the one hand, it's a presidential impeachment, but on the other hand, the trial will take place after he leaves office, which is why there's a chance Roberts may have some wiggle room. Historically, either the vice president or the longest-serving member of the Senate have taken up the mantle for lower-level impeachments, per Politico. That means Vice President-elect Kamala Harris or Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) could be the choice. Read more at Politico.More stories from theweek.com 5 more scathing cartoons about Trump's 2nd impeachment The most alarming thing about the Trump presidency Trump tried to act like a mob boss. Instead he's just a thug.
Trump's picks for his 'National Garden of American Heroes' include Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Kobe Bryant, and a quiz-show host
'One village, one policy': China keeps it local to battle COVID wave
U.S. imposes sanctions on Russian vessel involved with Nord Stream 2 pipeline
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Stephen Colbert Shuts Down His Super PAC
We shall henceforth call it "Americans Who Were For a Better Tomorrow But Had Other Things On Their Plates."
By Katy Steinmetz Nov. 14, 2012
FilmMagic
Is Stephen Colbert the New Socrates?
Politicards: Still Illustrating Presidential Elections After 40 Years
Stephen Colbert’s Super PAC Satire Lands Him a Peabody
Mocking the byzantine campaign finance regulations that govern U.S. elections would have been easy. Instead of pushing for solutions, satirist Stephen Colbert — who won a Peabody award for his efforts — decided to become part of the problem.
The host of The Colbert Report retained a high-profile lawyer and created his own super PAC, just like those of Karl Rove and the Koch brothers. Colbert traveled to Washington in June 2011 to get his group — Americans For A Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow — approved by the Federal Election Commission. After a successful hearing, he spoke to throngs of supporters on E Street who immediately pulled out their credit cards to donate. “There will be [those] who say, Stephen Colbert, what will you do with all that unrestricted super-PAC money?” he told them. “To which I say, I don’t know. Give it to me and let’s find out.”
Colbert used some of that cash to release an ad about “cornography” in the run up to the Iowa caucuses. Colbert also hosted a rally that was ostensibly about being rocked by “a Herman Cain” but was also another chance to talk about super PACs. And he later sold do-it-yourself super-PAC starter kits ($99), complete with paperwork, tube socks and a treasure map. By Election Day, his independent expenditure-only committee had raised more than $1.2 million—though Colbert had to share a little credit with Jon Stewart, who steered the committee during Colbert’s brief run for “President of the United States of South Carolina.”
Although the FEC shows more than $776,000 still in the bank, Colbert announced that the super PAC is “shutting down effective immediately” in a letter on his “now defunct” website. Colbert cited the death of Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow’s chief strategist, “Ham Rove” — a supermarket ham in Karl Rove-style eyeglasses — as the impetus for closing up shop. (Loyal viewers will know that Colbert actually murdered Ham Rove in a skit on his show.)
Now, of course, there may be those who say “Stephen Colbert, what will you do with all that leftover money?” When it comes to traditional committees, there are rules about that. The money can, for example, be given to another committee or another candidate. The money cannot be used for expenses like paying off the mortgage on the candidate’s nice new house in Fairfax County. The law also specifically states that “country club memberships” are a no-go, which tells you a lot about the history of campaign finance.
Super PACs are young entities. By definition, those committees can only make “independent expenditures,” which rules out direct contributions to candidates. Beyond that, the FEC doesn’t have concrete guidelines specifying exactly what can and can’t be done with the remaining balance. On Monday, Colbert joked on his show about secretly cutting himself a check by using an IRS loophole. Still, our money is on Colbert giving the money to charity, as traditional committees can. Certainly that’s what an “Americeptional” man would do.
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Aireko Construction ‘disappointed’ over $1.5M fine
Michelle Kantrow-Vázquez August 18, 2017
An asbestos removal project at the Minillas North Tower in Santurce cost Aireko a significant fine. (Credit: © Mauricio Pascual)
San Juan-based Aireko Construction — which will have to pay a $1.5 million fine after failing to comply with the asbestos National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants — expressed “disappointment” in the U.S. District Court for Puerto Rico’s decision, saying it is “excessive.”
Josen Rossi, CEO of Aireko Construction, said Thursday “We are a Puerto Rican company that for [more than] two generations has never been accused of environmental harm, which even the Judge noted, along with the fact that we raised the bar of our environmental procedures and protocols.”
The fine relates to a job Aireko sub-contracted a third party to do, which was to remove asbestos containing materials from the Minillas North Tower in Santurce in May 2012. The asbestos containing material was removed without following any of the Asbestos Work Practice Standards required by federal regulation, according to a statement released by the U.S. Justice Department.
A significant portion of the asbestos containing material was taken from the 9th floor and was placed in the trash area behind the building. Approximately 550 square feet of asbestos-containing stucco ceiling material was removed from the 9th floor, as this media outlet reported.
“Aireko Construction is not, and has never been, guilty of contamination nor putting people’s health at risk. As soon as Aireko Construction management discovered the mismanagement of the asbestos-containing material five years ago, we protected the workers, the public and the employees that work in the North Tower,” Rossi said.
“We also collaborated with the [Environmental Protection Agency], the [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] and the client, investing more than $460,000 in clean up efforts and in conducting tests to ensure a safe environment in the building, for all,” he said.
Aireko “will evaluate the next steps to take — beyond our other commitments with the EPA and the court — in monitoring the health of employees and the public concerned for having been near the incident.
“At Aireko Construction we will continue to work with all of our private and government clients, as we have done for more than half a century, with the highest level of responsibility, professionalism and total compliance that defines us,” Rossi said.
Aireko
Minillas
Aireko fined $1.5M for Clean Air Act violations in PR
Aireko receives nods from engineers for 2 projects in PR
Contributor July 27, 2017
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Welcoming Syrian refugees and hidden treasures in a Scottish museum
2000 year old Syrian glass
Paisley Museum’s Syrian glass collection to be displayed for the first time
Today marks five years since the first refugees from Syria arrived in Renfrewshire through the UK Government’s Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme. To mark this occasion, Paisley Museum is releasing details of their Syrian glass collection dating back over 2,000 years which has never been displayed before.
In 2015, Renfrewshire was among the first Scottish councils to welcome Syrian refugees. Five years on, the Paisley Museum team is working closely with some of the Syrian’s who have settled in the town, providing a modern-day response to its previously unknown Syrian glass collection.
Jamal Horani and Khadeja Alhorani arrived in Paisley from Syria in 2018 and are part of the group who have been working with Paisley Museum on the Syrian glass objects.
Jamal said: “We were so happy and surprised to find these pieces made by our ancestors were here in Scotland. We used to collect these types of glass items at home back in Syria and it made me feel quite emotional and proud to find them here.”
Khadeja, added: “We want people to know that we have a great civilisation and that our glass making is known very well across the world. It’s not just the conflict – there are many other good things about our country.”
The potential significance of the glassware was only recently realised by Research Assistant Joel Fagan whilst moving objects into The Secret Collection, in preparation for the museum’s £42m redevelopment.
Damascus is known as the birthplace of glass making, with glassblowing still prevalent in the region today. Started over 4,000 years ago, by 200AD Syrian glass was traded throughout Europe. The glass in the Museum collection was either bequeathed or purchased from local dealers in Baalbek and Damascus in the early 1900s.
Future sessions will involve creating interpretation for the display in both Arabic and English, which will incorporate some of the group’s personal stories.
The display is part of the £42m redevelopment of the museum, which when it reopens, is anticipated to attract upwards of 125,000 visits each year and provide a £79m economic boost to the area over the next 30 years.
Joel Fagan, said. “The work we have done with the group will play a key part in bringing Paisley town’s globally-significant collections and history to life and ensuring all of Paisley’s voices are included in our interpretation. The Museum’s Syrian glass collection is truly significant and we are looking forward to displaying it for the first time when we open.”
Councillor Lisa-Marie Hughes, chair of Renfrewshire Leisure said:
“These magnificent items provide a snapshot of the rich cultural heritage refugees had to leave behind when they fled from the conflict in Syria. Like everyone who lives and works in our town, the Syrian families have become an important part of our community, and we are delighted that they are taking an active role in the redevelopment of Paisley Museum.”
Paisley Museum Reimagined is supported by Renfrewshire Council, the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Scottish Government’s Regeneration Capital Grant Fund.
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Finance Committee on June 20th, 2019
Evidence of meeting #223 for Finance in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was countries.
A video is available from Parliament.
Report of the Parliamentary Budget Officer on Tax Gap
MPs speaking
Wayne Easter
Kim Rudd
Tom Kmiec
Pierre-Luc Dusseault
Pierre Poilievre
Francesco Sorbara
Peter Julian
Also speaking
Yves Giroux Parliamentary Budget Officer, Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer
Govindadeva Bernier Financial Advisor-Analyst, Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer
Mark Mahabir Director of Policy, Costing, Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer
Director of Policy, Costing, Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer
Mark Mahabir
If we look at the list in table 3-5, we can see that it basically shows the revenues going into Canada from countries. On this list, there are a few jurisdictions where there is no corporate income tax, so there are revenues being earned by Canadians in jurisdictions where there is no income tax.
Pierre-Luc Dusseault NDP Sherbrooke, QC
Table 3-5 shows that Luxembourg, of all the countries in the world, has the highest revenues from non-residents. These revenues amount to $47.6 billion.
Can you tell us what “revenues from non-residents” means? Are these payments made by affiliates of a Canadian company? What transactions are normally involved? Are they intellectual property payments, interest or dividends, for example?
Financial Advisor-Analyst, Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer
Govindadeva Bernier
In Table 3-5, we measured the revenues from transactions reported in Part III of the T106 slip. We've included the appended form in the report. Part III details transactions, either in property or services. The revenues may also include interest or royalty payments in particular, or payments for management services, research and development, and so on.
The first column, the revenue from non-residents column, concerns money that affiliates in Luxembourg have paid to companies in Canada. The expenditures are funds that Canadian companies have sent to companies in Luxembourg. The net revenue is the difference between the two.
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
We'll have to end it there.
Mr. Fragiskatos.
Peter Fragiskatos Liberal London North Centre, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair. If I have time left, I will be splitting it with my colleague Ms. Rudd.
Thank you to everyone, particularly Mr. Giroux, for being here and for the report, which I want to reference.
On page 4, it states the following about the tax gap: “Part of the tax gap can be attributed to unintentional actions, such as errors, ignorance of relevant tax rules or inability to comply.” I want to ask you about errors and also the inability to comply. When you say “errors”, what sorts of examples are we talking about? When it comes to “inability to comply”, what are some of the factors that lead to that outcome?
Parliamentary Budget Officer, Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer
Yves Giroux
When it comes to errors, if you've tried to understand the Income Tax Act, then you can probably quickly get what types of errors could be made. For example, if you're moving, you have moving expenses, and you may believe that some types of expenses are eligible. Conversely, you may not know that you can benefit from some types of deductions for moving expenses. I'm talking here about personal income taxes.
When it comes to corporations, it's very complex what companies can deduct and the types of deductions they're allowed. When it comes to tax planning, there could be errors made in good faith, such as forgetting to report some income—
I don't mean to interrupt you, but in the interest of time, what you're talking about here in terms of errors indicates to me that, really, you're talking about the complexity of the tax code—
Yes, it could be.
—and perhaps its need for simplification.
There would certainly be tremendous benefits to taxpayers from simplifying the tax code, the Income Tax Act, and—
What specific areas would you identify as needing simplification?
I haven't looked at specific areas, but taxpayers frequently mention deductions for medical expenses, for example, when talking about personal income tax, moving expenses deductions, and the sheer number of credits and deductions. Those are confusing to people. That's why a significant portion of individuals need the assistance of tax professionals to file their income tax.
What explains “inability to comply”? What are some of the factors? Why “inability”?
It would be the loss of receipts or supporting documents when, for example, people's homes are flooded or burned to the ground. It happens; it's not a regular occurrence, but it happens, unfortunately. That would be one example.
Right. Okay.
As far as the tax gap is concerned, where does Canada rank vis-à-vis other democracies?
It's difficult to answer that question, because relatively few countries do a comprehensive analysis of their tax gap. I don't imagine we rank worse than most countries, because of the relative strength of our institutions. It's all relative. It depends on how you measure the tax gap. Based on my experience, I would say we probably rank in the middle of the pack.
That's a good question to address to the Department of Finance and the Canada Revenue Agency.
Mr. Chair, I'll pass my remaining time to my colleague.
Kim Rudd Liberal Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
[Inaudible—Editor] minutes back.
June 20th, 2019 / 11:25 a.m.
Oh, I got my three minutes back. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to continue in the vein of pricing pollution. I read your report, and you state that putting a price on pollution is one of the most effective and efficient ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. What's curious to me is that the Leader of the Opposition yesterday said that in fact your report said the exact opposite—that it doesn't work.
I don't want to suggest that the Leader of the Opposition is misleading people, but I wonder if you could clarify what your report said.
The report alluded to the fact that putting a price on pollution, a price that is widespread and that's paid by most if not the totality of economic actors, has a cost, but it allows sectors to make the necessary trade-offs among themselves so that for those actors for whom it is the easiest to reduce emissions, they will do so. The report also says that there are other instruments available to economic actors—individuals, corporations, governments—to reduce emissions, regulations and subsidies being the two other broad categories of instruments, but these also have a cost, albeit the cost is often not as transparent as a carbon tax or a price on carbon.
That's what the report says. It also says that technological improvements can be a significant contributor to reducing greenhouse gases, but technological improvements are inherently hard to predict. If they were easy to predict, then some people would be very, very rich by investing in advance in these companies; some of them are indeed very rich and have that insight.
In a nutshell, that's essentially what the report says.
As I read your report, I think that putting a price on pollution is, as I said, the most efficient and cost-effective way. Transparency is another word you used in your report, as you just said.
The other thing your report does is to recognize that there is a transition that we go through with those technologies. It could be 20 years away. It could be 10 years away. We don't know, but the majority of Canadians are certainly better off, as you've said in your report, with the price on pollution than they were without it.
Is there any further response?
You still have half a minute.
Mr. Poilievre, you're on.
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON
Do you mind taking a question on your report with regard to the CPPIB?
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Health-and-Medical
Trump supporter and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell says Kohls and Bed Bath & Beyond to stop selling his brand
Coronavirus updates: US surpasses 400,000 COVID-19 deaths; fired Florida data scientist-turned-whistleblower arrested
NFL referee Sarah Thomas gets history-making Super Bowl assignment
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“We went into panic mode”: How a sales manager and a child-care professional sold their home during Covid-19
https://torontolife.com/real-estate/we-went-into-panic-mode-how-a-sales-manager-and-a-child-care-professional-sold-their-home-during-covid-19/
Who: Meaghan Granville, 36, child-care professional; Andrew Ryan, 41, sales manager; their children, Merida, 6, Micah, 4, Vienna, 3; and their 11-year-old cockapoo, Starsky
The sell: A renovated two-bedroom, two-bathroom semi in High Park
Andrew: I grew up in Ottawa and moved to Toronto in 2004, after studying at Dalhousie and Lund University in Sweden. I worked in marketing for about a decade, while living in a two-bedroom apartment in the Annex with a roommate. These days, I work as a sales manager at a health care company.
Meaghan: I grew up in Whitby. In 2005, I moved to Toronto to start working and rented an apartment in Davisville Village with two girls I met on Kijiji. Since then, I’ve done a number of sales jobs, but now I’m self-employed doing before-and after-school child care for friends. I met Andrew in 2007, during a karaoke night. He was actually there on a date with another girl. After she left, we stayed together until the bar closed, and before long we were a couple.
Andrew: In 2009, Meaghan moved into my apartment in the Annex. We enjoyed living with my roommate, but Meaghan wanted to start looking for a place of our own, because her goal was to purchase a home before she turned 25. So we started going to open houses. We wanted a detached with three bedrooms and an income suite to bring in some cash. Our agent showed us a two-bedroom, two-bathroom semi in High Park.
Meaghan: It didn’t check any of our boxes, but we fell in love with it. The walls were painted bright yellow. It had a reclaimed wood beam on the ceiling in the living room. It had a big backyard deck with a hot tub, which Andrew liked. We ended up buying it for $421,000. It was too small to build a separate basement apartment, so we had to share the place with a roommate. We rented one of the bedrooms and shared a bathroom with the tenant. Over the course of a decade, we lived with three individuals and two couples. It was great.
Andrew: We stayed in the house after the births of our first two kids, Merida and Micah, but when Meaghan became pregnant with Vienna, we realized it was time to go. In 2016, we rented the High Park place to a woman and her three kids for $3,000 a month, and bought a five-bedroom duplex near the Junction for $1.3 million. We knew it wasn’t our forever home, because I thought we needed more square footage and Meaghan wanted a big room where the kids could hang out with their friends when they get older. But it was big enough that we could live in it and earn rental income. We lived upstairs and leased the basement unit for $2,750.
Meaghan: Our plan was to earn rental income for a few years on the High Park semi and the basement suite in the Junction, then eventually sell the High Park place so we could afford a detached single-family home near High Park. We planned to keep the place in the Junction and rent out both units. We wanted something for roughly $2.1 million, located in the Runnymede school district so the kids wouldn’t have to switch schools. That really narrowed things down. In late 2019, we bid on a few places but didn’t have any luck.
Andrew: Then, at the end of February 2020, we saw this four-bedroom, three-bathroom detached on Kennedy Park Road, only a few minutes’ drive from our original High Park home. It was in our kids’ school district and had a nice office, which I liked because I work from home a couple of days a week.
Meaghan: It was over our budget by $149,000 and there wasn’t enough room to add a separate entrance for a basement apartment, but I had the idea of doing an international homestay for foreign students, which could provide some extra cash. On February 26, the sellers accepted our offer of $2,274,000 with a closing date of June 19. That gave us nearly four months to sell High Park. In early March, we told our tenant at High Park that we would be putting the house on the market. We offered the house to her first, but she wasn’t interested.
Andrew: In mid-March, when Covid-19 hit Toronto, we hadn’t closed on our new home and we were still weeks away from listing High Park. There was so much uncertainty. The stock market crashed, Meaghan had to cut down on clients in her child-care business and things slowed down at my work, too. All of that, combined with making the biggest financial transaction of our lifetime, created a lot of anxiety. We discussed all kinds of contingency plans. We were prepared to ask for a longer closing date on the new house if we needed more time to sell High Park. As a last resort, we were also willing to walk away from our $115,000 deposit on the Kennedy Park house. We debated waiting until May before listing the home, but early spring is the best time to sell. Thank goodness we had a four-month close on the new house.
Meaghan: We decided we would list the High Park home in April, but there was a lot to be done before that could happen. Our realtor helped our tenant find a new place, and we paid $2,500 for her moving costs, which was worth every penny.
Andrew: We didn’t want to put our tenant’s health at risk, sending contractors in and out to paint, stage and repair the place. Even with the house vacant, we still implemented extra precautions. We never double-booked any contractors and we did a deep clean after everything was finished. We painted the exterior and the interior, completed small electrical and HVAC upgrades, and fully staged the home.
Meaghan: We didn’t spare any expense. The market was unpredictable and out of our control, so we had to do everything in our power to help the house sell. I tend to be frugal. I even price-match my groceries. But this wasn’t one of those cases. We spent more than $30,000 prepping the home for sale.
Andrew: We agreed that a video tour of the house was a good idea. It wasn’t part of the standard real estate package, and we probably wouldn’t have done it were it not for the pandemic, but we had to adapt. Instead of just doing a cheap cellphone video, we hired a friend who does corporate video production to do the filming, and Meaghan wrote a script. The videographer’s typical rate is $1,600, but we got a friends-and-family discount.
Meaghan: It was originally going to be a back-and-forth conversation between Andrew and our realtor, but our videographer friend warned us that it might sound phony since they’re not professional actors, so we switched it up and Andrew did the narration himself. It turned out so much better than I expected. Andrew ended up being an amazing narrator. It’s hard to know how pivotal the video was, but it was definitely a crucial piece among other crucial pieces, including the pricing strategy.
Andrew: Pricing was a bit of a guessing game. We were nervous about underpricing, but the week before we listed our home, another semi-detached in our neighbourhood listed low, got multiple offers and sold for more than $200,000 over asking. That’s the strategy our agent ended up proposing. On April 16, we listed the house for $989,000. We needed to get at least $1,070,000 to avoid borrowing from family to cover other expenses.
Meghan: After the listing went live, our realtor started getting calls from other agents praising the video. There were lots of positive comments coming in on local Facebook groups where we posted it. Everyone seemed to love the personal touch of Andrew narrating the video himself. We had 22 showings, so the video and pricing strategy must have worked. Instead of booking showings 15 minutes apart as usual, they were spaced 30 minutes apart to avoid crossover. If buyers were going to be late, they had to reschedule. We couldn’t take any risks.
Andrew: At that point, there were about 500 new Covid-19 cases in Ontario every day, mostly in the GTA. Our realtor had all potential buyers sign a form saying they hadn’t been out of the country in 14 days and had no symptoms. Each morning, we would go in and turn on all the lights and open all the interior doors. That way the only thing anyone had to touch was the lockbox, front door and back door. There was no reason to touch anything else. When we turned off all the lights at night, we also wiped down the doorknobs. We received a bully offer on April 18. It was a good bid, but we thought we could do better.
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Meaghan: Still, it felt like a get-out-of-jail-free card, because it became clear we weren’t going to have to settle for less than $1,070,000. Our agent alerted other buyers to the bully bid and elicited five more offers. By the night of April 19, we accepted an offer of $1,195,000. I jumped up and down a whole bunch of times. I couldn’t believe we pulled it off—not only did we sell during Covid-19, but we got roughly what I thought we could before the pandemic hit. The sale officially closes next week on May 28 and we have our movers booked for June 23.
Andrew: Since we’re keeping our second home near the Junction as an income property, we’ll use that money to help pay the mortgage and other expenses, like the property taxes and maintenance work. When we move out of our place in the Junction, the current tenants are moving into our upstairs unit for $3,400 a month, and we just leased out the downstairs apartment to another couple for $2,750.
Meaghan: Our current tenants weren’t comfortable with strangers coming to view the space right now, so they did video tours over Zoom. We’ve always had wonderful tenants and roommates, and part of that is meeting face-to-face to get a sense of who they are. It’s weird not being able to do that anymore, but that’s Covid-19.
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Brian and Jennie (Otto) Williamson Scholarship
Brian (attd. '91-'93) and Jennie Otto '96 Williamson have established a scholarship for deserving vocal music students.
When Jennie began her studies at Northwest, she joined the Steppers dance team and Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority. By her sophomore year, she declared her major in vocal music and became involved with Celebration, Tower Choir, Sigma Alpha Iota, theatre and musicals. The education and activities Jennie participated in at Northwest provided a solid foundation for furthering her music studies in graduate school.
Brian came to Northwest in 1991 to compete in track and cross country, but he was sidelined by injuries he sustained during his sophomore year. He later finished his studies at the University of Iowa and graduated in 1995 with a bachelor's in sports and recreation administration.
Brian and Jennie have been touched by the life of former Northwest student Tatia Goodman Williamson. Together, Taita and Jennie participated in Northwest music classes, choirs and Sigma Alpha Iota. Brian and Tatia dated while they were students at Northwest and were eventually married. However, Tatia died in a car accident in 1998 at the age of 25. Brian and Jennie were reacquainted while pursuing their careers in Nashville, Tenn., and were married in 2000.
Brian and a business partner have started a Christian record label, Takestone Music, and Jennie is involved with Takestone's CD series, Songs for the Masses. Jennie has been one of the artists who presents this music in concert, and she was a featured artist for its national television marketing campaign.
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Emma Lee Morgan Scholarship
The Emma Lee Morgan Scholarship has been established in honor of Emma Lee as she celebrated her 100th birthday.
Emma Lee Vance Morgan is a 1939 graduate of Northwest Missouri State University.
Emma Lee, a valedictorian at Smithville (Missouri) High School, enrolled in the fall of 1935 at what was then Northwest Missouri State Teachers College, majoring in commerce and math. She had been inspired to follow in the footsteps of her mother, who earned a college degree in 1904.
She put herself through Northwest by working as a secretary for Dean J.C. Miller. In 1938, when Miller left to accept the presidency at another college, future Northwest President J.W. Jones assumed the dean’s role and Morgan stayed as his secretary until 1941. She worked from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each weekday, except when she left the office to attend classes.
Emma Lee fondly recalls attending dances, Homecoming events and other social activities on the Northwest campus. She claims she never missed a Bearcat football or basketball game as a student.
She also met June “J.P.” Morgan, her husband of 57 years, at Northwest. J.P. had taken a break from school to teach and earn enough money to finish his degree when he returned to Northwest around 1937.
Emma Lee and J.P. married in 1941 as the United States was close to entering World War II.
J.P. later earned a law degree at the University of Missouri-Columbia, and the Morgans eventually settled in Jefferson City, Missouri. The couple raised three children while J.P. went on to become an attorney and later a judge on the Missouri Supreme Court from 1969 until 1982, serving as chief justice from 1977 to 1979. He served on Northwest’s Board of Regents from 1961 to 1969, and he wrote and issued the Oath of Office to Dr. B.D. Owens during his 1977 presidential inauguration.
Tragically, J.P. died in Jefferson City in 1998 as the result of a car crash. Emma Lee moved to Houston to be closer to her son, Bill, and daughter-in-law, Sara.
Although Emma Lee is no longer living near Bearcat Country, she continues to follow the Bearcats online. Once a Bearcat, Always a Bearcat.
Scholarships associated with Emma Lee Morgan Scholarship
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jets Nov. 12, 2010
The Jets Visit Ye Olde Mangenious
The Eric Mangini you see today, as coach of the Cleveland Browns, bears very little resemblance to the one who was the HC of the NYJ. He’s a lighter guy, both in physical presence and in sensibility, and he seems freed being away from both Bill Belichick and the swirl of New York. He’s a different guy; he’s pretty much just a regular coach guy now. This is a relief. We really couldn’t have taken a full week of Mangini Faces the Jets! packages. We have our own crazy man now. He has no horse in this race.
That said, as the Jets head to Cleveland to face Mangini and his suddenly surging Browns on Sunday, we take this moment to remind you that Eric Mangini was once so popular here that he was on The Sopranos:
(We note that this wasn’t just any Sopranos scene. This was the penultimate episode, the one where everything in the family goes down, including Bobby Bacala being gunned down in the toy store. This was the last scene with Artie Bucco and his wife. This was the last time we saw Vesuvio’s. In one of the biggest moments in one of television’s most important television series, Eric Mangini just shows up, hi there, apropos of nothing. We still haven’t shaken it off.)
ANYWAY. The Jets come in Sunday still trying to figure out their running game; Shonn Greene is rested and is likely going to get more carries than LaDainian Tomlinson here pretty soon. The Jets’ running game was supposed to kick itself back into place last week, against the Lions’ weak run defense, but they fell behind early and had to pass to get back into the game. This is another chance to assert authority.
It’s also another chance to work on the Jets’ turnover problems. We still kind of love the Jets’ technique on this: Making everyone in the organization, from players to the front office, do push-ups every time someone commits a turnover. (We hope they’re not making Namath do that.)
One nice advantage the Jets have right now: The rest of the division is collapsing around them. The Dolphins have made a desperation quarterback change, and the Patriots just got blown out at home against an under .500 team. Of course that team was the Browns. The Jets can take control of the AFC East in the next three weeks, while still trying to play the perfect game, a feat that has eluded them all season. This is an ideal time to start.
eric mangini
U.S. Surpasses 400,000 COVID-19 Deaths More than 100,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus in the past five weeks.
The Best Shipping Supplies, According to Depop, Grailed, and Other Sellers Are there really any differences between cardboard boxes and Bubble Wrap? (Yes.)
recommended by experts 5:02 p.m.
president trump 5:00 p.m.
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the law June 25, 2018
The Supreme Court Continues to Chip Away at Protections for Minority Voters
By Cristian Farias@cristianafarias
Samuel Alito wrote the decision in Abbott v. Perez. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
In law if not also in spirit, gerrymandering claims hold a special place in the Supreme Court’s docket. The general rule is that the justices have full discretion to decide which cases they want to hear, but redistricting disputes are different: The court must hear them, unless some other legal defect exists that prevents the court from doing so. Back in October, Chief Justice John Roberts illustrated the point when he worried that this so-called “mandatory jurisdiction” could lead to a flood of appeals in, say, the partisan gerrymandering context. “We will have to decide in every case whether the Democrats win or the Republicans win. So it’s going to be a problem here across the board,” Roberts said then, emphasis mine.
It’s now late June, and with only a few cases remaining to be decided before the justices leave town for the summer, a 5-to-4 conservative majority on the Supreme Court has chosen to hand down a decision in a contentious racial gerrymandering case from Texas. Even though it didn’t have to. Even though a lower court had found that a number of congressional and state legislative maps had been drawn with discriminatory intent, had a racially discriminatory effect, or were unlawful under the Voting Rights Act. Even though last summer the same conservative majority aggressively intervened to prevent any remedial maps from even being considered.
One possible explanation for the Supreme Court’s keen interest in anything at the intersection of race and the manipulation of district boundaries — an area already governed by a less-than-intuitive body of law — is that it’s sensitive to the suggestion that Republican-drawn maps, and the lawmakers who drew them, discriminate on the basis of race. How dare anyone suggest that Texas, which until 2013 had to seek permission from the Department of Justice to move forward with any changes to its voting procedures, would attempt to short shrift minority voters. Or pass a voter ID law that one federal judge compared to a poll tax. Or raise hell in court to keep Dreamers from living in peace under Donald Trump’s reign of terror on immigration.
To Justice Samuel Alito and his conservative cohorts on the Supreme Court, the lower court that decided Abbott v. Perez in the first place made “a fundamental legal error” that needed to be corrected. It is not up to Texas to demonstrate that maps that had previously been declared unconstitutional were now free of any racial animus. No, sir: “The 2013 Legislature was not obligated to show that it had cured the unlawful intent that the court attributed to the 2011 Legislature,” Alito wrote. Past discrimination by one set of lawmakers, it turns out, is not evidence of new discrimination by a different lawmaking body. And so it’s up to the voters challenging maps that burden the rights of people of color to make the case that the new legislature intended to do just that.
Alito calls this “the presumption of legislative good faith,” under which the government is given the benefit of the doubt and not required to “purge the bad intent of its predecessor.” As if to say, our elected officials always act in our best interests and any prior bad acts shouldn’t be imputed to future conduct. “Past discrimination cannot, in the manner of original sin, condemn governmental action that is not itself unlawful,” Alito writes.
If you’re wondering why this analysis matters, try to think of another high-ranking government official with a rather big perch whose policy-making largely mirrors his apparent views on racial or religious minorities. Does anyone come to mind? Here’s a clue: He too has gotten sued left and right for injecting those views into his executive orders and other actions. That’s right: The very president of the United States is now in the same boat as the Texas legislature — trying to make the case that his travel ban was not “tainted” by Islamophobia. Rather, his argument goes, his ban was a lawful, dispassionate exercise involving multiple agencies and administration officials acting in the best interests of the nation. The Supreme Court should stay far away from “judicial psychoanalysis of a drafter’s heart of hearts,” the Trump administration has insisted.
So Alito could well be previewing the outcome in the contentious travel-ban controversy, where Trump has tried to contend that anything he said or did during the campaign was just a politician exercising his First Amendment rights, and that none of that can be attributed to his presidency. Those failed attempts to impose a wholesale ban on Muslims from entering the United States, which courts across the country stopped dead in their tracks? They’re in no way indicative of the newest travel ban (one that’s admittedly softer than previous versions). In Alito’s view, proof of a “change of heart” shouldn’t be the government’s burden to bear.
All of this is unacceptable to Justice Sonia Sotomayor and the Supreme Court’s more liberal members. One key difference between Sotomayor and Alito is that she was a trial judge and he was not, and so she has a sense of the painstaking process of finding facts and assessing the weight of evidence in complex trials. “The majority does not meaningfully engage with the full factual record below,” she writes, an assertion that seems to have gotten the best of Alito, who then feels the need to respond in a footnote: “The dissent seems to think that the repetition of these charges somehow makes them true. It does not. On the contrary, it betrays the substantive weakness of the dissent’s argument.”
These food fights are not uncommon as the Supreme Court nears the end of a term, but they’re especially pointed in the gerrymandering realm, where the cases tend to be factually and legally complex, the politics heated, and the decision-making along ideological lines. No justice likes to be told that they don’t care about voting rights, but in so many words, Sotomayor does exactly that. “Those voters must return to the polls in 2018 and 2020 with the knowledge that their ability to exercise meaningfully their right to vote has been burdened by the manipulation of district lines specifically designed to target their communities and minimize their political will,” Sotomayor writes.
She concludes:
The Court today does great damage to that right of equal opportunity. Not because it denies the existence of that right, but because it refuses its enforcement. The Court intervenes when no intervention is authorized and blinds itself to the overwhelming factual record below. It does all of this to allow Texas to use electoral maps that, in design and effect, burden the rights of minority voters to exercise that most precious right that is preservative of all rights.
(In a short concurrence written by Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Neil Gorsuch made a bit of news: He endorsed Thomas’s extreme, if lonely, view that the Voting Rights Act can’t be used to police racially discriminatory redistricting plans. Not even Jeff Sessions’s Justice Department, which isn’t exactly friendly to civil rights, endorses that view.)
One irony of Abbott v. Perez is that it arrives one week after the Supreme Court largely ducked the issue of partisan gerrymandering — the drawing of district lines to the benefit or detriment of voters of a particular party. There, Chief Justice Roberts called that type of gerrymandering “an unsettled kind of claim,” and let its contours be defined by lower courts for who knows how long. That’s not a problem with racial discrimination in redistricting. For the Roberts court, this is an area that’s fair and square for bold conservative results, no matter the real-life consequences for voters on the ground or the considered judgment of lower courts that have examined these claims and found egregious violations. Five years to the day since the Supreme Court struck down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, today’s ruling is more fuel for the charge that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
samuel alito
SCOTUS Continues to Strip Protections for Minority Voters
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Meet the Lawyers on the Front Lines of the Coronavirus Crisis
By Matthew Krumholz
Fatigued, overworked, under-resourced. These words describe not only the doctors and nurses on the front lines of the Covid-19 response; they also describe the lawyers in the public sector who are delivering new public safety measures and keeping essential services running in the midst of an unprecedented crisis.
Stephen Acquario
“It is work-till-you-drop government,” said Stephen Acquario, executive director of the New York State Association of Counties. “Fifteen to twenty-hour days, not uncommon for local leaders and municipal attorneys as well, day in and day out giving counsel during the crisis.”
This pandemic is putting unique pressures on public sector lawyers across New York, who are working with state and local governments to maintain a delicate balance between protecting public safety, providing necessary services and preventing the spread of the coronavirus.
“The expectation from the public is that government is this well-oiled machine that’s just going to keep chugging no matter what’s thrown at it,” said Alexandra Obremski, principal assistant county attorney for Rockland County. “We are working very hard behind the scenes to meet all the challenges, the legal questions. Because we don’t really publicly interface with people, I don’t think people really know what we’re doing.”
In New York State, there have been 14 executive orders addressing the coronavirus crisis for the month of March. As Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo continues to issue these orders in an effort to mitigate the impacts of the crisis, lawyers in the public sector are having to keep pace with the flurry of new laws.
“The governor is instituting new law every day, so the challenge that we had was delivering the new law to the localities every day and then interpreting that new law back to the state and seeking clarification the next day,” said Acquario. “So, the cycle continues every day for the past two weeks.”
On Sunday, Gov. Cuomo extended the New York State “Pause” Executive Order, which calls for 100% of the workforce deemed “non-essential” to remain at home. The extension will last until at least April 15.
“These decisions that are being made here are a matter of life and death – how to implement mandatory isolation, mandatory quarantine and enforcing it such that if people were disobeying that law, now what?” said Acquario.
While public sector lawyers are scrambling to deliver new laws that keep non-essential workers in quarantine, they are also navigating how to protect essential service providers, exempt from the mandatory isolation, from contracting the virus.
Sharon Berlin
“There’s just no playbook for what’s happened over the last couple weeks,” said Sharon Berlin of Lamb & Barnosky, who is also chair of NYSBA’s Local and State Government Law Section. “You want to have teams of people who are in at the same time so you’re not wiping out everybody at once. I spoke with one municipality that really had that problem, where they ended up with a very large portion of their workforce exposed.”
Some of the executive orders have reconstituted the use of public spaces. For instance, public schools across the state are still feeding hungry children through the free and reduced-price lunch provision, while at the same time now caring for young children of emergency response workers.
Jay Worona
Jay Worona is the deputy executive director and general counsel for the New York State School Boards Association and is responsible for representing the roughly 750 school districts in its membership.
“In the past there have been legal questions. But now the answers to these legal questions will presumably put us on a greater path to preserve human life, and that’s an overwhelming responsibility for all of us,” said Worona. “I don’t want to hit my head on the pillow until I know that every one of these questions has been dealt with.”
“This is the most serious advice I can give to a public official or a municipal attorney: there is a time to be on duty, there’s a time to be off duty, and there’s a time to be out of service,” says Acquario. “They have got to sleep, they have got to recharge, and they’ve got to remind themselves why their role is so important.”
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Statement by the President on the Passing of Senator Daniel Inouye
Tonight, our country has lost a true American hero with the passing of Senator Daniel Inouye. The second-longest serving Senator in the history of the chamber, Danny represented the people of Hawaii in Congress from the moment they joined the Union. In Washington, he worked to strengthen our military, forge bipartisan consensus, and hold those of us in government accountable to the people we were elected to serve. But it was his incredible bravery during World War II – including one heroic effort that cost him his arm but earned him the Medal of Honor – that made Danny not just a colleague and a mentor, but someone revered by all of us lucky enough to know him. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Inouye family.
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Oceana Science Advisor Dr. Boris Worm explains how we can restore the world’s oceans by 2050
By Emily Petsko
We can rebuild marine life and restore much of the world’s oceans in just 30 years if we take action to protect species and ecosystems at risk. A team of marine scientists from 10 countries reached this conclusion after reviewing past ocean recoveries following conservation interventions.
“This provides a window of opportunity to mitigate existing pressures over the next decade while supporting global initiatives to achieve substantial recovery of marine life by 2050,” scientists wrote in their paper, published this month in the journal Nature. “We are at a point at which we can choose between a legacy of a resilient and vibrant ocean or an irreversibly disrupted ocean, for the generations to follow.”
Oceana is already working on many of the next steps that scientists recommended – namely reducing overfishing and bycatch, as well as protecting vulnerable species and habitats. Global management reforms could help many depleted fish stocks return to a healthy enough biomass to support sustainable fishing in just 10 years.
As one of the authors of that paper, Oceana Science Advisor and marine ecologist Dr. Boris Worm said their paper “provides very clear recommendations on how [recovery] can be done in a science-based and effective way.” In a recent conversation with Oceana, he explained what they learned and why it’s encouraging news for our oceans.
What prompted this review of ocean recoveries?
This was prompted by our observation that many of the conservation and pollution control measures we were collectively aware of had borne results, and that this often happened within a reasonable time frame. We were curious as to whether there were any generalizable patterns in these recovery data.
Did any of the findings surprise you?
Yes, I was surprised how quickly and strongly some species and ecosystems recovered. For example, humpback whales in the southern hemisphere had been recovering by 10-13% per year since the late 1960s and increased from several hundred to an estimated 40,000 individuals today. That is pretty surprising for a large, long-lived creature. Another example is the recovery of fishery resource species on Georges Bank, after half of it was closed to fishing in 1994. The results for scallops and haddock, for example, are quite spectacular and demonstrate the resilience that is inherent in many ocean ecosystems even today.
Of all the marine life recoveries that you’ve encountered, did any of them strike you as especially inspiring?
I recently returned from Raja Ampat, Indonesia, where I witnessed the recovery of reefs after intense blast fishing and poaching that was rampant up to the year 2000. Since then, a community-based marine protected area (MPA) and fisheries tenure program has led to the truly remarkable recovery of the reefs – and the fish, shark, and turtle species that depend on them – and has brought about new revenue streams for local people. One example of this is dive tourism. I could not believe the growth of healthy coral in places where even 10 years ago I saw a lot of rubble.
Why are mangroves and salt marshes good examples of habitat restoration projects?
There have been hundreds of attempts to restore damaged salt marshes and mangrove forests, and in reviewing those we found that they often bore spectacular results, not just in restoring the ecosystems but also the essential ecosystem services that they provide to us. These include their capacity to buffer storms and floods, and protect our coastlines from some of the effects of climate change and sea level rise.
Your team wrote that climate change is the “critical backdrop against which all future rebuilding efforts will play out.” To what extent will our efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions determine the future health of our oceans?
Climate change is the fastest rising threat to ocean ecosystems, and as such it needs to be brought under control if rebuilding and conservation efforts are to bring about the expected results. This is especially clear in coral reefs which could largely disappear by the end of the century if climate change, ocean warming, and ocean acidification are not mitigated in accordance with the Paris targets.
What other pressures need to be alleviated for ocean abundance to be restored by 2050?
Overfishing needs to be brought under control, and destructive and unselective fishing practices need to be replaced by smarter ways of harvesting. Widespread pollution with excess nutrients from fertilizer use and human wastewater, as well as persistent synthetic chemicals, including plastics, must not enter the ocean anymore. And efforts to restore damaged ecosystems need to be scaled to a global level.
Your team wrote that taking steps to rebuild marine life is not only a "smart economic objective,” but also an “ethical obligation.” Why did you feel it was important to include this moral call to action?
The extinction of species and the destruction of vital ecosystems is a moral failing as much as an ecological and economic disaster. It would be wrong to disregard this ethical dimension, in my view, especially since it is strongly felt by so many people. And because of that groundswell of dissatisfaction with the status quo, in 1992 under the Convention of Biological Diversity, humankind collectively decided to stop and reverse these trends. Our paper indicates that now we are beginning to see some of the fruits of these efforts, at least in some places.
For people who don’t live or work near a coast, the connection between humans and the ocean isn’t always apparent. In what ways would a restored ocean benefit people?
Quite simply, the ocean is an essential part of our planetary life support system that provides for all life on earth, no matter whether it’s on land or in the sea.
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Ontario premier denounces reports of violence at Queen’s Park anti-mask rally
Published Wednesday, October 21, 2020 10:59AM EDT Last Updated Wednesday, October 21, 2020 2:12PM EDT
Ontario Premier Doug Ford answers questions during the daily briefing at COVID-19 at Queen’s Park in Toronto on Thursdsay July 2, 2020. THECANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
OTTAWA -- Ontario Premier Doug Ford says there were reports of violence at an anti-mask demonstration at Queen's Park on Wednesday.
"We live in a democracy. I've told people if you want to protest, come down to Queen's Park, they're welcome to protest. What I do ask is not to be violent and I hear there was a little bit of violence out there and that's unacceptable," the Premier told reporters at Queen's Park.
"If they want to go out there and do cartwheels, jump up and down, hold signs up, shout and scream, that's fine. Violence is where we cross the line and we won't tolerate that for a second. If you're violent with the security folks here, or Toronto police or OPP, it's not going to end well for you."
The event follows comments from Kingston-area MPP Randy Hillier, who said he would gather a group of supporters without masks at Queen’s Park Wednesday to test what he called the Ford government's "unlawful orders."
In a video statement, the independent MPP said "I will not be protesting, I will be gathering with friends."
In a speech during question period on Tuesday, Hillier said COVID-19 restrictions were denying residents "freedom of mobility, freedom of assembly and our freedom to be with loved ones."
Hillier said he would gather with 25 "friends" to challenge the law on Wednesday and dared the Premier to enforce provincial orders against such gatherings.
"We always recommend taking the advice of public health officials,” Premier Doug Ford’s office said in a statement.
Kingston public health officials recently sent a letter to Hillier to discuss concerns about the information he shares online and in interviews that consistently goes against public health advice, including not wearing a mask, all the way to conspiracy theories, like the one he shared on Tuesdaythat accused a COVID-19 modeller of "fabricating" an "apocalypse."
Another modeller who couldn’t wait for an apocalypse, so fabricated one #onpoli https://t.co/MWlRcV4OVI
— Randy Hillier (@randyhillier) October 21, 2020
On Monday, Hillier posted a video to YouTube of an interview he conducted with Ottawa-based Dr. Neda Amani, who brands herself as a holistic medical doctor and is a graduate of the University of Toronto's school of medicine.
Dr. Amani, who has no background in epidemiology or infectious disease, downplayed the virus along with Hillier in a number of comments made throughout the video.
Amani said the "impact of the virus is minimal here" and the provincial restrictions put in place were far worse than the virus itself.
"I think right now our response is the disease," she said, despite over 3,000 deaths in Ontario and more than one million worldwide in less than eight months.
Amani said the risk to children was negligible and less than the flu, so the current restrictions put in place by the Ford government are an overreaction.
"We know that in children it's a negligible risk of getting sick or dying, we know it's less than the flu even," she said, without citing any evidence, adding residents were more at risk of dying in a car accidents than from COVID-19.
When asked for comment about the doctor’s remarks, a spokesperson for the College of Physicians and Surgeons said it doesn't comment on the conduct of individual physicians not currently facing disciplinary action.
"However, it's important that all physicians recognize the influence they may have, particularly when it comes to public health. The CPSO believes that countering public health best practices during COVID-19 represents a risk to the public and is not acceptable behaviour."
The College said investigations are done on a complaint basis.
Amani did not respond to a request for comment.
Hillier continues to push back online but a spokesperson for Hillier Monday didn't say when or if the MPP would respond to a request for comment made last week and said "it's up to him," whether he wants to respond.
After initially claiming Kingston health officials refused to meet him to discuss their concerns about COVID-19 disinformation, Hillier wouldn't say whether a virtual meeting was offered, as outlined by Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington Public Health.
Kingston public health officials say they’re willing to meet with anyone, including Mr. Hillier, “to answer questions about COVID-19 and recommendations of prevention.” https://t.co/32g5R47dbU
— Andrew Pinsent (@a_pinsent) October 16, 2020
KFL&A said Monday it would have no other comment on the topic of Hillier and said Friday its board had sent a letter to his office "expressing concern about his comments."
Ontario MPP Randy Hillier, seen in a 2018 scrum at Queen's Park. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young)
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World's oldest water sample stored at national science museum in Ottawa
Published Saturday, November 28, 2020 1:07PM EST
The world's oldest sample of flowing water was collected from the Kidd Creek Mine, near Timmons, Ont. (Photo courtesy: Ingenium)
OTTAWA -- A bottle of water more than a billion years old is now stored in Ottawa.
Ingenium – Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation has acquired a water sample collected 2.4 kilometres below the earth's surface from the Kidd Creek Mine, near Timmins, Ont.
University of Toronto geologist Dr. Barbara Sherwood Lollar discovered the oldest flowing water in 2009.
In a statement, Ingenium says Dr. Sherwood Lollar and her lab analysed the water and discovered that the mean residence time of the water sample was more than ten times older than what was then considered to be the oldest known water.
"Some components of the water are older yet: this ancient water bears witness to the time before the great oxidation event, before the earth drew its first breath," said Ingenium.
In a video on Ingenium's website, curator of natural resources industrial technologies Rebecca Dolgoy said analysis determined the water is from the Precambrian time, a time before dinosaurs.
The glass bottle of ancient water and some of the tools used during the collection and analysis of the sample will be housed in the Ingenium Centre, where it will be accessible for research, interpretation and collection development.
“Ingenium is thrilled to welcome this one-of-a-kind discovery into our exceptional collection," said Christina Tessier, President and CEO of Ingenium.
"We take great pride in having the privilege to care for this outstanding piece of world heritage that represents an incredible Canadian contribution to science and innovation on a global scale."
This is the oldest artifact ever acquired by Ingenium..
Ingenium - Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation acquired a water sample collected 2.4 kilometres below the earth's surface. (Photo courtesy: Ingenium)
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For First Time, U.S. President More Popular Than Bin Laden In Turkey, Egypt, Indonesia
A major new survey by the Pew Research Center finds that there have been moderate signs of improvement in the attitudes of predominantly Muslim countries toward the United States since the election of President Barack Obama.
Still, for the most part, the study's authors conclude that, "The opinions among Muslims in the Middle East remain largely unfavorable."
Among the 25 countries, in which public opinions were surveyed, only one exhibited a less favorable opinion of the United States: Israel.
Conducted in Argentina, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, the Palestinian Territories, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, Spain, South Korea, Turkey and the United States, the survey has a whole host of interesting data points.
The headlines include:
The United States' approval ratings in Western Europe have risen to pre-Bush levels.
In Western countries -- England, France, Germany and Spain -- it is a nearly universally held belief that President Obama will "do the right thing in world affairs." Whereas only 16 percent, 13 percent, 14 percent and 8 percent of those respective countries' populations said the same thing about former President George W. Bush in 2008.
The favorability ratings of the United States, the study concludes, are "driven much more by personal confidence in Obama than by his specific policies."
The United States' image in Israel took a hit following President Obama's foreign policy address in Cairo, according to the survey. America's 76 percent favorability rating in the Jewish state fell to 63 percent following the president's speech, when he called for dual sacrifice and responsibility in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Moreover, while 60 percent of Israelis said they were confident in Obama's leadership before the Cairo speech, just 49 percent were confident after the address.
On the flipside, the number of Palestinians who said that Obama would consider their interests when making policy rose from 27 percent before the speech to 39 percent after.
Finally, in what is at once a remarkable and depressing statistic, for the first time in the Pew survey, an American president is more popular than Osama bin Laden in most Muslim nations. In Jordan, for example, 30 percent of the populace says they are confident in Obama, 28 percent say they are confident in bin Laden. Just 7 percent of Jordanians said they were confident in Bush in 2008.
That said, the world's-most-wanted terrorist does enjoy higher confidence ratings than Obama in Pakistan (18 percent to 13 percent) and the Palestinian territories (52 percent to 22 percent).
Tags: america fuck yeah, barack obama, osama bin laden
Adobe semaphore code cracked by Tennessee high school teacher
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It could be said that the 2016 presidential election is once again a question of economics versus demographics. On one hand, wage stagnation and a…
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John Papastergiou: First prize winner, International Pharmaceutical Federation’s 76th Annual Congress, Pharmacist Association Patient Care Achievement Award for Specialty Practice
John Papastergiou’s research that explores the use of pharmacogenomics at community pharmacies won first prize at the International Pharmaceutical Federation’s 76th Annual Congress.
John’s poster — Innovative Canadian pharmacogenomic screening initiative in community pharmacy study — presented findings from use of pharmacogenomics in two community pharmacies to improve treatment outcomes. Pharmacogenomics is the study of how people’s genes affect their response to drugs.
Patients at the community pharmacies had their cheeks swabbed, then the cells in the swab were sent to a lab to sequence their genes. A person’s genetic make-up or genotype can affect his or her ability to metabolize or break down drugs — i.e., whether a patient metabolizes a given drug poorly, intermediately, extensively or ultra quickly.
Armed with the pharmacogenomic test results, pharmacists then helped patients to better understand their response to medications and, if appropriate, made recommendations to their physicians to change the drug dose, switch to a different drug or increase monitoring.
John’s research demonstrates the readiness of community pharmacists to adopt innovative genetic screening into their practices as well as how pharmacogenomics at the frontlines of patient care can personalize medication management and improve treatment outcomes.
(Source: University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy News)
Tejal Patel: Canadian Pharmacist Association Patient Care Achievement Award for Specialty Practice
Working with a particularly vulnerable population has given Tejal Patel a keen appreciation for how precious life is. Passionate about her patients, her practice and teaching, Tejal has established herself as a pre-eminent pharmacist, clinician, educator and researcher in the specialty area of neurology.
Tejal joined the Memory Clinic at the Centre for Family Medicine Family Health Team (CFFM FHT) in 2009 as part of a multi-disciplinary primary care team focused on patients with cognitive impairment.
Her skillful provision of care — reviewing medications, assessing patient and caregiver capabilities, determining drug-related problems and performing cognitive testing — have helped countless patients with Alzheimer’s disease stay in their own homes longer.
“Our Memory Clinic is very unique in that it is a specialty care clinic borne out of a need to bring inter-professional care to primary care, where many individuals with cognitive impairment need access to various health professionals for various reasons,” she says.
The incredible success of the Memory Clinic has been noted, and Tejal has been actively involved in training pharmacists at 80 additional sites across the province, mostly in primary care clinics. Keenly interested in sharing her knowledge and expertise, Tejal continues to act as a resource for questions related to pharmacotherapy, process, documentation and communication. “It is imperative that we continue to train the next generation of pharmacists to provide meaningful care,” she says.
Tejal holds a BScPharm and PharmD from the University of Kentucky and completed a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Neurology/Pharmacokinetics at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In addition to her work with CFFM FHT, she is an assistant clinical professor with the School of Pharmacy at the University of Waterloo and in the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University.
What is the most important thing pharmacists can do for their patients?
“The most important thing we can do is to be advocates for our patients — advocates for the choice of the right drugs for the right duration of time for the right outcomes. Through our long-term relationships with our patients, especially in the community, we know them better than we give ourselves credit for, and it is important that we use that relationship to advocate for the care they want and need.”
(Source: Canadian Pharmacists Association)
Nesé Yuksel: 2016 Canadian Pharmacist of the Year
Nesé Yuksel is a dedicated educator, active researcher and valued clinician in the areas of women’s health and osteoporosis. Within each of her practice settings she continues to make significant contributions to the profession of pharmacy and the lives of her patients and students.
A recognized expert in her field, Nesé is intent on bridging her clinical interests and practice-based research to develop innovative techniques to enhance the way pharmacists practise.
“I feel fortunate that my clinical practice has stimulated research ideas and provided opportunities for collaboration with other women’s health researchers and clinicians,” she says. She has led and collaborated on a wide range of research projects, and is excited about her current study on decision-making in women who have had early surgical menopause.
Nesé is passionate about evolving the pharmacist’s role. One of the first 15 pharmacists in Alberta to receive Additional Prescribing Authority (APA) in 2007, Nesé has been a vocal advocate for expanded pharmacist practice and has contributed many hours to committees, publications, interviews and more in support of APA. She is now turning that passion into evidence and collaborating on research to support the uptake of pharmacist prescribing in Alberta.
Well known for her ability to translate complex scientific information for a lay audience, Nesé has delivered numerous presentations around the globe on a variety of women’s health issues and the role of the pharmacist. She is also an award-winning educator, passionate about creating an effective learning environment, and credits her students with keeping her engaged and excited about what she does.
Nesé holds a BSc (Pharm) Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy degree from the University of Alberta and a PharmD from the State University of New York. She is currently the Division Chair of Pharmacy Practice and a Professor at the University of Alberta and practises on an interdisciplinary team at the Lois Hole Hospital for Women’s menopause clinic.
What do you like most about what you do?
“Most of all, I love working with patients in the clinic. We have women who have suffered so much with symptoms that have really impacted their lives. It feels so rewarding to see these women empowered to make the best decisions for themselves. I really feel as a team we make a difference in their care.”
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28th September – 27th October
Oaklands Park, Chichester PO19 6AP
www.cft.org.uk
Has John straightened out? After years glued to his boyfriend, the couple have been through a sticky patch, and now John’s attached to someone else. Someone who is different in every single way. But can John give her what she wants, when he’s never been with a woman before?
Funny and eye-openingly fresh and frank, Cock is a provocative peep into relationships in these days of oscillating identities. It tussles with knotty twenty-first century questions: can we – and should we be allowed to – change if we want to?
Mike Bartlett is one of this generation’s leading writers for stage and screen. His work includes King Charles III (Almeida, West End and BBC) and the hit television series Doctor Foster. The Olivier Award-winning Cock premiered at the Royal Court and off-Broadway in 2009.
Luke Thallon, who plays John, was nominated for the Evening Standard’s Emerging Talent Award for his role in Mike Bartlett’s Albion at the Almeida Theatre. His other theatre work includes The Inheritance (Young Vic) and Misalliance (Orange Tree Theatre); he was the recipient of the National Theatre’s Michael Bryant Award 2017, and the Society of London Theatre’s Laurence Olivier Bursary Prize 2016.
Matthew Needham will recreate his leading role in the Almeida’s production of Summer and Smoke when it transfers to the West End later this year. His recent theatre work also includes The Twilight Zone and The Treatment (Almeida), and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing (Globe); he previously appeared at Chichester in Bingo and The Grapes of Wrath.
Isabella Laughland’s theatre work includes Cordelia in Chichester’s 2013 production of King Lear; Pride and Prejudice(Sheffield); The Last of the Haussmans (National Theatre); and Wanderlust at the Royal Court, for which she was nominated for the Evening Standard’s Outstanding Newcomer Award. She played Leanne in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Simon Chandler has previously appeared at Chichester in The Stepmother, For Services Rendered and Cavalcade. His extensive screen work includes The Theory of Everything, Mr Turner, The Iron Lady, The King’s Speech and The Crown.
This new production is directed by Kate Hewitt. Winner of the JMK Young Director Award and the inaugural RTST Director Award 2016, she was recently named as one of Variety’s ‘10 Brits to Watch in 2017’. Her credits include Peter Morgan’s Frost/Nixon at Sheffield and Caryl Churchill’s Far Away at the Young Vic.
Contains very strong language and scenes of a sexual nature.
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GO GO GADGET
Investors are convinced Apple’s iPhone 6 is going to be a smash hit
AP/Eric Risberg
More phones, I promise.
By John McDuling
August 19, 2014 This article is more than 2 years old.
Apple’s share price has pierced the $100 threshold today, and the hedge fund manager Carl Icahn, who built a position in the iconic device maker about a year ago, is already taking a victory lap.
Remember, Apple went through a 7-for-1 stock split in June (which doesn’t actually do much besides make it easier for small investors to buy its shares, and for the company to be included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average). On an unadjusted basis, the stock hit a new high, surpassing a previous record of above $700 (in unadjusted terms), which it touched in September 2012.
It’s also worth noting that Apple has been buying back its own stock (in part to placate people like Icahn, who complained that the company was hoarding its massive cash pile). That reduces its share count and artificially increases its share value.
But the latest stock price surge is probably more about the company’s fundamentals, not financial engineering. Investors are anticipating the iPhone 6, which was scheduled to be released next month. As Morgan Stanley pointed out in a research note this morning, Apple’s share price tends to outperform in years when it releases new versions of the iPhone. (The exceptions being the iPhone 5 and iPhone 3G, which the investment bank puts down to one-off factors.)
no-caption
RBC Capital Markets is tipping a blockbuster December quarter, in terms of both revenue and shipments, due to the iPhone 6.
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Shalom Rav
A Blog by Rabbi Brant Rosen
On Passover, Israel and Demographic Threats
(Image: Jared Rodriguez / Truthout)
Crossposted with Truthout
The weeklong Jewish festival of Passover is coming to a close, but like many Jews around the world I’m still digesting the myriad questions, answers and discussions that ensued as we retold the biblical story of the Exodus at our seder. While it’s a story our community returns to over and over again, I’m continually astonished at the ways it provides a frame for understanding struggles for liberation past and present.
This year, I’ve been contemplating one aspect of the story in particular: when a new pharaoh arises over Egypt “who did not know Joseph.” We immediately learn in no uncertain terms that this new ruler was considerably more xenophobic than his predecessor:
And (Pharaoh) said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are much too numerous for us. Let us deal shrewdly with them, so that they may not increase; otherwise in the event of war they may join our enemies in fighting against us.” (Exodus 1:8-9)
To use contemporary parlance, Pharaoh clearly views the Israelites as a “demographic threat” to the Egyptians.
The demographic threat meme, of course, has been played out countless times since the age of the pharaohs. It has certainly been a deeply woven thread in the fabric of American culture from our very origins. To cite but one example: Centuries before Donald Trump started railing against Mexican “criminals” and “rapists,” Benjamin Franklin wrote a 1751 essay in which he bemoaned the influx of “Palatine Boors” into the colonies who would “shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us instead of our Anglifying them, and will never adopt our language or customs, any more than they can acquire our complexion.”
So yes, as an American, I can’t read these words from the Exodus story without connecting it to an ignoble aspect of my own country’s legacy — one that is all too real even today.
And as an American Jew, I can’t help but connect it to another country that also purports to act in my name.
Indeed, ever since Israel’s establishment, Zionist leaders knew well that the future Jewish state would only be “viable” if it could create and maintain a demographic Jewish majority in historic Palestine. In the late 19th century, this must surely have seemed like a tall order, since Jews constituted but 2 to 5 percent of the population. By 1947, following decades of Zionist colonization and Jewish immigration, their number had swelled to 32 percent. Under the UN-sponsored partition plan, the percentage of Jews allotted to the new Jewish state would have been 55 percent.
During the 1948 war — known as the War of Independence by Zionists and the Nakba (“catastrophe”) by Palestinians — the issue of demographics was solved through the forced expulsion of Palestinians from their homes and Israel’s refusal to allow them to return. However, the demographic stakes were raised once again in 1967, when Israel conquered the West Bank and Gaza and began a military occupation that exists to this day.
In 2010, Jews officially become a minority population from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea; around the same time, it was determined that the Jewish majority in Israel proper was slowly diminishing. For some time now, Zionists have been warning that the Palestinians’ birth rate poses a “demographic threat” to the future of the Jewish state.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this rhetoric is that it doesn’t only come from Israel’s far right, but from liberal Zionists, who use the demographic argument to advocate for a two-state solution. Witness, for instance, the words of J Street executive director Jeremy Ben-Ami:
When it comes to Israeli-Palestinian peace, the two-state solution and the inexorable demographic threat to Israel’s future as a democratic state that remains the homeland for the Jewish people, our position is the same as that of the Israeli government, the Obama administration and the vast bulk of the American Jewish community.
Leaving aside the issues of whether or not the two-state solution actually is the policyof the Israeli government, let’s unpack this statement for a moment. The liberal Zionist argument for a “democratic Jewish state” is predicated on a view of Palestinians as a “demographic threat.” As an American, if I referred to any other ethnic group in this country with such a term, I would surely be viewed as a bigot or a racist. But as a Jew, I can refer to Palestinians with this epithet and still remain a member in good standing of the liberal peace camp.
Thus the inherent contradiction of liberal Zionism: democracy and demographic engineering simply do not go hand in hand. At the end of the day, there is nothing liberal about supporting an ethno-national project predicated upon the identity of one group over another. The late Meir Kahane, revered by Israel’s ultra right, loved to make liberal Zionists squirm by repeatedly articulating this point: “A western democracy and Zionism are not compatible. You can’t have both.”
Kahane’s solution, of course, was “forced transfer” of the Palestinian population. The current government of Israel is accomplishing this goal through more subtle means:home demolitions, land expropriation and the revocation of Palestinians’ residency and citizenship. In truth, Israel has been dealing with its demographic threat under cover of US support for years, all the while claiming the mantle of “the only democracy in the Middle East.”
This, along with its massive settlement expansion has brought Israel’s demographic problem home to roost. The real decision before them is not between a one-state or two-state solution, but between two one-state solutions: an apartheid Jewish state or one state of all its citizens, regardless of religion or ethnicity.
As I watch this tragic process unfold this Passover, I find myself returning to the universal lesson this festival imparts on the corrupt abuse of state power. Although the Exodus story is considered sacred in Jewish tradition, it would be a mistake to assume that the contemporary state of Israel must be seen as equivalent to the biblical Israelites.
On the contrary, any people who suffer under oppressive government policies are, in a sense, Israelites. And any state — even a Jewish state — that views a people in its midst as a demographic threat can become a Pharaoh.
This entry was posted in Civil Rights, Gaza, Israel, Judaism, Palestine, Peace, Pesach, Politics, Refugees, Religion, Zionism on April 28, 2016 by Rabbi Brant Rosen.
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Select Committee on Home Affairs First Report
ISSUES RELATING TO BOTH PART 1 AND PART 2 OF THE BILL
Death penalty as an absolute bar to extradition
A PROVISION FOR DEATH PENALTY COUNTRY TO BE DESIGNATED A CATEGORY 1 TERRITORY
88. Clause 15 (in Part 1 of the Bill) provides that a person's extradition to a category 1 territory will be barred if the person could be, will be or has been sentenced to death for the extradition offence in that territory. However, this bar to extradition is not absolute.
89. We consider that the inclusion of Clause 15 in the Bill raises questions about what countries the Secretary of State intends to designate as category 1 territories. As discussed in paragraph 33 above, although the Secretary of State's stated intention is that category 1 territories will include all EU member states and Gibraltar, Clause 1(1) of the Bill would permit any country whatsoever to be designated a category 1 territory, by Order in Council. If only EU member states were to be included as category 1 territories, there would be no need for Clause 15, because no EU member state provides for the death penalty as a form of punishment.
90. We asked the Home Office to comment on why Clause 15 has been included in the Bill, given that no EU member state provides for the death penalty as a form of punishment. In its response, the Home Office acknowledged that "it will be possible for Parliament to designate non-EU countries as category 1 countries and it is conceivable that such a country may retain the death penalty on its statute book". The Home Office stated that the Government has no current plans to "invite Parliament to designate" any country which still retains the death penalty as a category 1 territory but that it seems "a sensible precaution" to include Clause 15.
91. Part 1 provides significantly fewer protections for suspects than does Part 2. The UK is bound by protocol 6 to the ECHR, which abolishes the death penalty, although it permits derogation in time of war.[36] The Government has also recently signed protocol 13 to the ECHR, which abolishes the death penalty in all circumstances.[37] These protocols impose a positive obligation on the UK to protect people against a threat to their rights from people in other states.
92. We consider that there is no justification for extending Part 1 of the Bill to include countries that maintain the death penalty. We therefore recommend that Clause 1(1) be amended to specify that any country which provides for the death penalty as a form of punishment is prohibited from being designated a territory for the purposes of Part 1 of the Bill. If this is done, then Clause 15 can be deleted from the Bill as otiose.
B WRITTEN ASSURANCE THAT DEATH PENALTY WILL NOT BE IMPOSED OR CARRIED OUT
93. Clause 15(2) (in Part 1) and Clause 91(2) (in Part 2) are parallel provisions, although the Part 1 provisions apply to the district judge and the Part 2 provisions to the Secretary of State. Both provide an exception to the principle (set out in Clauses 15(1) and 71(1)) that a person's extradition will be barred if the person could be, will be or has been sentenced to death for the extradition offence in that territory. They provide that the bar does not apply if either the district judge or the Secretary of State receives a written assurance, which he or she considers adequate, that the death sentence will either not be imposed or, if imposed, will not be carried out. We note that the following comments on Clause 15(2) apply only in the event that our recommendation to delete Clause 15 is not accepted by the House.
94. The Home Office told us that the UK has, for a number of years, extradited suspects to countries which provide for the death penalty, on the basis of assurances that a death sentence will not be carried out. It states that there have been no problems in recent years in regard to death penalty assurances and that it sees no reason why the provisions in the Bill should give rise to any new difficulties.
95. The Home Office acknowledged that any assurance that a death sentence will not be imposed or carried out must come from a person who is competent to issue it and must bind the bodies responsible for imposing and carrying out a death sentence. Currently, all such assurances are received and considered by the Secretary of State. The Bill would require district judges to undertake this assessment in relation to extradition to category 1 territories. The Home Office considers that "the district judge will need to be satisfied that any assurance that is given is indeed binding". However, we share the concerns of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, JUSTICE, the Law Society, the Liberal Democrats party and Liberty all expressed concerns as to how a district judge can be expected to evaluate the quality of a written assurance which is likely to be given by the government of a foreign state. The Law Society comments that it is difficult to envisage what criteria a judge could apply to satisfy himself or herself of the adequacy of a written assurance, and what method he or she could have of verifying its reliability or authenticity. It also questions what the judge's position would be if, at a later stage, information was received that the returned prisoner had been convicted and sentenced to death—what action in these circumstances could the judge feasibly take?
96. We share these concerns. Given that such written assurances generally emanate from a state's executive branch, we consider it is appropriate that the Secretary of State, rather than a district judge, should be required to consider whether an assurance will be honoured. We therefore recommend that clause 15 be amended to require that, if the judge receives a written assurance that a death sentence will not be imposed or carried out, then the judge must send the assurance to the Secretary of State for him or her to determine whether the assurance can be considered adequate.
97. Where a written assurance emanates from a state's executive branch, JUSTICE considers that it is questionable whether the executive of a country has the power to give such an assurance, as it would effectively purport to bind the courts and would thus contravene the principle that the judiciary should be independent from executive action. JUSTICE adds that a number of EU member states, for example Italy, have introduced an absolute bar on extradition in cases where the death penalty could be imposed.
98. The Joint Committee on Human Rights has also commented on the adequacy of written assurances. The Joint Committee accepts that, due to the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in Soering v United Kingdom,[38] a written assurance is likely to be regarded as meeting a state's obligations under protocol 6 to the ECHR, at least for the foreseeable future. However, the Joint Committee draws attention to the particular difficulties that arise when a written assurance emanates from a state with a federal structure. The Joint Committee points out that the authority in the requesting state which gives the assurances may not be in effective control of the matter, either because of the federal structure or because of political or social instability. The Joint Committee cites the example of the United States:
"...while only federal authorities in the USA are in a position to give assurances on the international plane, non-federal criminal law (including, in a good many states, capital murder) is a state matter, and state courts and governors have not always been willing to give effect to the wishes of federal officers in connection with the imposition of the death penalty in individual cases".[39]
The Joint Committee expressed its hope that the Government would give an indication of its thinking on this matter, and that it would indicate particularly the factors relevant to assessing whether an assurance will be honoured, both generally or in relation to particular cases or countries.
99. We endorse the comments of the Joint Committee on Human Rights and urge the Government to give an indication of how it proposes that the adequacy of a written assurance that a death sentence will not be imposed or carried out should be assessed.
Issues relating to arrest
A DELEGATED POWER TO DESIGNATE "APPROPRIATE PERSON"
100. Clause 3(2)(b) provides that, where a Part 1 warrant has been issued, a person may be arrested by a constable or an "appropriate person". Clause 5(1) provides that a constable or an "appropriate person" may carry out a provisional arrest without a Part 1 warrant if he or she has reason to believe that an appropriate warrant has been or will be issued by the authority of a category 1 territory.[40]
101. In respect of both Clauses 3(2)(b) and 5(1), who constitutes an "appropriate person" is to be specified in an order made by the Secretary of State (Clauses 3(3) and 5(2)). Clause 204(6) provides that any orders made under these clauses are subject to the affirmative resolution procedure.
102. We are concerned that Clauses 3(3) and 5(2) currently delegate an extremely broad power for the Secretary of State to specify an "appropriate person". The Bill provides no guidance about, or criteria for, who might constitute an appropriate person. We are particularly concerned given that any person specified as an appropriate person would be able to arrest a suspect without being in possession of an existing warrant, on the basis of a reasonable belief that a warrant will be issued. On the face of the power delegated by the Bill, the Secretary of State could specify any person whatsoever as an appropriate person, including persons outside the UK; such a person would then be able to exercise an extremely coercive power, the power of arrest, within UK territory.
103. We asked the Home Office to comment on who the Government intends to specify as an "appropriate person". The Home Office responded that it intends that, in the first instance, officers of HM Customs and Excise should be empowered to arrest under a Part 1 warrant. The Home Office also commented on a concern raised during the consultation period on the draft Bill, that an officer of the category 1 territory where the warrant is issued could be specified as an appropriate person, by stating that there are no plans to specify such officers as appropriate persons.[41]
104. We are pleased to hear that the Home Office intends to specify only officers of HM Customs and Excise as appropriate persons, and that it is not intended to give powers of arrest to foreign law-enforcement officials. However, we do not consider that the Home Office's statements of intent are sufficient guarantee to ensure that the extremely broad power delegated by Clauses 3(3) and 5(2) is not exercised inappropriately. We consider that the Bill should explicitly limit the scope of the Secretary of State's delegated power by defining who may constitute an "appropriate person". Clearly, officers of HM Customs and Excise could be so specified; the House should consider whether there are any other categories of officer whom it may be appropriate to specify.
B ARRESTED PERSON MUST ASK BEFORE WARRANT IS REQUIRED TO BE SHOWN
105. Clauses 4(2) (in Part 1) and 71(2) (in Part 2) provide that, where neither the warrant nor a copy of it was in the possession of the arresting officer at the time of the arrest and if the arrested person asks to see a copy, then the warrant (or a copy) must be shown to the arrested person as soon as practicable after the request.
106. We are concerned that Clauses 4(2) and 71(2) allow a suspect to be arrested and subsequently extradited without the arresting officer at any stage being required to produce the arrest warrant (or a copy of it). The Law Society has expressed similar concerns. We therefore recommend that Clauses 4(2) and 71(2) be amended. We consider that, if it is not possible for the arresting officer to be in possession of the warrant at the time of the arrest, then the officer (or some other appropriate officer) should be required to show the warrant to the arrested person as soon as practicable after the arrest. We can see no justification for placing the onus on the arrested person to ask to see the warrant, rather than on the appropriate law enforcement officials.
C REQUIREMENT TO INFORM ARRESTED PERSON OF CONTENTS OF A EUROPEAN ARREST WARRANT
107. Article 11.1 of the framework decision provides that, when a requested person is arrested, the executing competent judicial authority must inform the person of the decision and of its contents.
108. We can see no provision in the Bill requiring the judge before whom the arrested person is initially brought to inform that person of the existence of a European Arrest Warrant, let alone its contents. This is of particular concern given that Clauses 4(2) and 71(2) allow a suspect to be arrested and subsequently extradited without the arresting officer at any stage being required to produce the warrant, as discussed above. As the Bill stands, there is no requirement for an arrested person to be afforded his or her right under article 11.1 at any stage before being extradited from the UK.
109. We recommend that the Bill be amended to require the judge before whom the arrested person is initially brought to inform the person of the European Arrest Warrant and of its contents.
D ARRESTED PERSON'S ABILITY TO CONSENT TO EXTRADITION
110. Clause 44 (in Part 1) and Clause 123 (in Part 2) provide that an arrested person may consent to be extradited to the category 1 or 2 territory in which the arrest warrant or extradition request was issued. In the case of category 1 territories, consent would result in the arrested person waiving any right he or she would have not to be dealt with in the category 1 territory for the offence in question.
111. Clause 8(1)(b) (in Part 1) and Clause 71(6)(a) (in Part 2) require that, at such time as an arrested person is remanded in custody or on bail, the judge must give the person certain information about his or her ability to consent. The required information is set out in Clauses 8(3) and 71(7) and is that the person may consent to be extradited and that consent must be given before the judge and is irrevocable, together with an explanation of the effect of consent and the procedure that will apply if the person gives consent.
112. Clauses 8(1)(b) and (3) are, we assume, included in the Bill to satisfy the requirement under article 11.1 of the framework decision that, when a requested person is arrested, the executing competent judicial authority must inform the person of the possibility of consenting to surrender to the issuing judicial authority. However, the Law Society suggests that it is inappropriate for a judge to give a defendant information that could be mistaken for legal advice about his or her case and that judges would be reluctant to put themselves in that position. We agree with the Law Society. We consider that a distinction should be drawn between a judge being required to inform a person of their ability to consent to extradition and being required to provide additional information that could be mistaken for legal advice about the person's case. The requirements of article 11.1 of the framework decision would appear to be satisfied if the judge is required to give only that information specified in paragraphs (a) and (c) of Clause 8(3) and paragraphs (a) and (c) of Clause 71(7), and we recommend accordingly.
113. We also agree with the Law Society's suggestion that consent should not be accepted unless the judge is satisfied that the arrested person has had an opportunity to consider and reflect on legal advice. We consider it vital that, if an arrested person consents to be extradited, such consent should be meaningful, particularly as consent is irrevocable once given. The consequences of consent are extremely serious, particularly in relation to category 1 territories, because the arrested person effectively waives his or her right under the specialty rule not to have proceedings taken against him or her other than proceedings for the offences for which he or she was extradited (see paragraph 69 above).
114. We therefore recommend that the judge or, in some Part 2 cases, the Secretary of State, should be required to satisfy him or herself that:
an arrested person has been offered access to free legal advice before giving consent to being extradited
access to such legal advice was made available to the person, and
the person has understood the implications of giving consent to extradition.
36 Article 1 of Protocol No 6 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms concerning the abolition of the death penalty, as amended by Protocol No 11 provides "The death penalty shall be abolished. No-one shall be condemned to such penalty or executed". Article 2 provides "A State may make provision in its law for the death penalty in respect of acts committed in time of war or of imminent threat of war; such penalty shall be applied only in the instances laid down in the law and in accordance with its provisions. The State shall communicate to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe the relevant provisions of that law". Back
37 Article 1 of Protocol No 13 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, concerning the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances provides "The death penalty shall be abolished. No one shall be condemned to such penalty or executed". There is no parallel provision to article 2 of protocol 6. The UK signed Protocol 13 on 3 May 2002; the protocol is not yet in force. Back
38 Eur Ct HR, Series A, No 113 (1989). Back
39 HC (2001-02) 1140, para 28. Back
40 In such a case, Clause 6 requires that the arrested person is brought before a judge within 48 hours and that an appropriate warrant is produced. Back
41 Submission of Leolin Price CBE QC, para 23; see note 1 above. Back
Prepared 5 December 2002
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Home > bal > ahsri > 1018
Australian Health Services Research Institute
Emerging role of the Australian private health insurance sector in providing chronic disease management programs: Current activities, challenges and constraints
Joanna Khoo, University of Wollongong, Capital Markets CRC LtdFollow
Helen M. Hasan, University of WollongongFollow
Kathy Eagar, University of WollongongFollow
J. Khoo, H. Hasan & K. Eagar, "Emerging role of the Australian private health insurance sector in providing chronic disease management programs: Current activities, challenges and constraints", Australian Health Review 43 (2019) 572-577.
Objective: This study explored the current activities of a sample of Australian private health insurance (PHI) funds to support the care of people living with chronic conditions, following changes to PHI legislation in 2007 permitting funds to cover a broader range of chronic disease management (CDM) services.
Methods: A qualitative research design was used to gather perspectives from PHI sector representatives via semistructured interviews with eight participants. The interview data were analysed systematically using the framework analysis method.
Results: Three main types of activities were most commonly identified: (1) healthcare navigation (2) structured disease management and health coaching programs and (3) care coordination services. These activities were primarily conducted via telephone by a combination of in-house and third-party health professionals. PHI funds seem to be taking a pragmatic approach to the type of CDM activities currently offered, guided by available data and identified member need. Activities are focused on people with diagnosed chronic conditions exiting hospital, rather than the broader population at-risk of developing a chronic condition.
Conclusions: Despite legislation permitting PHI funds to pay benefits for CDM services being in place for more than 10 years, insurers are still in an early stage of implementation and evaluation of CDM activities. Primarily due to the regulated scope of PHI coverage in Australia, participants reported several challenges in providing CDM services, including identifying target groups, evaluating service outcomes and collaborating with other healthcare providers. The effectiveness of the approach of PHI funds to CDM in terms of the groups targeted and outcomes of services provided still needs to be established because evidence suggests that population-level interventions that target a larger number of people with lower levels of risks are likely to have greater benefit than targeting a small number of high-risk cases.
What is known about the topic?: Since 2007, PHI funds in Australia have been able to pay benefits for a range of out-of-hospital services, focused on CDM. Although a small number of program evaluations has been published, there is little information on the scope of activities and the factors influencing the design and implementation of CDM programs.
What does this paper add?: This paper presents the findings of a qualitative study reporting on the CDM activities offered by a sample of PHI funds, their approach to delivery and the challenges and constraints in designing and implementing CDM activities, given the PHI sector's role as a supplementary health insurer in the Australian health system.
What are the implications for practitioners?: Current CDM activities offered by insurers focus on health navigation advice, structured, time-limited CDM programs and care coordination services for people following a hospital admission. There is currently little integration of these programs with the care provided by other health professionals for a person accessing these services. Although the role of insurers is currently small, the movement of insurers into service provision raises considerations for managing potential conflicts in having a dual role as an insurer and provider, including the effectiveness and value of services offered, and how these programs complement other types of health care being received.
Link to publisher version (DOI)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/AH18164
UOW Authors
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Top Sights in Moscow
All Sights by District
Within the Garden Ring: Around Ulitsa Ostozhenka
Zachatievsky Convent
The Zachatievsky Convent was founded in 1584 and dedicated to the Conception ('zachatie') of St Anne. However previous to this there was another convent located here which was founded by St Alexius (Aleksey), Metropolitan of Moscow, in 1360 but destroyed by fire in 1547. Shortly after the Zachatievsky Convent was founded it was subjected to the destruction of the Times of Troubles. Major construction work took place at the convent in the late 17th, mid-18th and early 19th century. However the convent was closed in 1927 and many of its buildings were destroyed or heavily damaged and the territory was used as a juvenile prison. The convent was reopened in 1995 and subsequently restored. On the small square immediately outside the convent is a statue of St Alexius, the founder of the convent.
Miracle Image of the Saviour Gate-Church
The oldest church within the convent is it Miracle Image of the Saviour Gate-Church which also serves as the main entrance to the convent through its northern gates. The church dates from 1696 using funds donated by the nobleman Andrey Rimsky-Korsakov. Under the Soviets the church was closed in 1925 but restored in the 1960s due to its architectural significant. In 1993 the church was re-consecrated.
Nativity of Virgin Mary Cathedral
The convent's main cathedral is the Nativity of Virgin Mary Cathedral which is actually a modern reconstruction built between 2005 and 2010. The original version of the Nativity Cathedral was built two-hundred years earlier between 1805 and 1807 in the Gothic Revival style and is frequently credited as the work of the famous architect Rodion Kazakov. This cathedral however was destroyed in the 1930s.
Holy Spirit Church
Standing next to the Nativity of the Virgin Mary Cathedral is the plainer Holy Spirit Church. This church was built in the mid-19th century and is the work of the architect Mikhail Bykovsky. In 1925 the church was closed and then subsequently heavily reconverted to suit the needs of the juvenile prison. The church was only reopened in 2001 after it underwent restoration work
►sights by districts ►sights in Khamovniki District
2-y Zachatievsky Pereulok
Kropotkinskaya, Park Kultury
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Ravens and Stanley comply with Reuters’ 5 yr extension
By Elton Drewry On Oct 30, 2020
© Reuters. NFL: Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens
Left winger Ronnie Stanley agreed to an extension of five years for the Baltimore Ravens on Friday.
The team announced the deal, which has a total value of $ 98.75 million with a signing bonus of $ 22.5 million.
“Ronnie is the mainstay of our offensive line,” said Eric DeCosta, Ravens general manager. “He’s a shutdown left-handed person who excels in the field and in our community. This is just the beginning for Ronnie, and we couldn’t be happier for him and his family.”
Stanley and the Ravens face the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
Stanley, 26, was an all-pro in 2019 and played number 6 in the 2016 NFL Draft with his fifth-year option attached to his rookie deal.
Unsurprisingly, he thinks the best is yet to come for himself and the ravens.
“I was just so happy to see all the work and dedication, my obsession with my technology is paying off,” said Stanley. “Everything my family has sacrificed over the years so that I can come here and live my dream.
“I feel like the Ravens do a really good job of picking out good talent and trying to keep that culture the way it always was. We’re family here and I think all the boys are on the same page as we’re trying to build here in Baltimore and that’s long-term success. “
Head coach John Harbaugh has repeatedly touted Stanley as a dedicated professional since making 12 starts as a rookie. In total, Stanley has started all 61 games he has played in.
“It matters to him, it matters to him, he wants to be the best,” said Harbaugh. “We’ve had a lot of conversations about it over the years, many parts of it. Different things come up, things that you have to do to be as good as he’s become. Most of all, he’s really a smart guy. He understands It’s worth hard work. He really is a technician of what he does. He talks about it all the time.
The Houston Texans have left Laremy Tunsil the highest-paid player on the position, based on annual value, with a three-year contract for $ 66 million signed earlier this year.
Anthony Castonzo of the Indianapolis Colts receives an average of $ 16.5 million per year for his two-year contract signed earlier this year.
Stanley’s average over the course of renewal is $ 19.75 million per season.
– Field level media
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Can Police Be Trusted With Drones?
Josh Harkinson
The Aeryon Scout unmanned drone.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aeryon_Scout_With_Camera.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a>
Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern wants to buy a surveillance drone, or, as he prefers to call it, a “small Unmanned Aerial System.” At a meeting before the county’s Board of Supervisors last week, he claimed that he’d only use the drone for felony cases, not to spy on people or monitor political activists. But a few minutes later he’d seemed to change his mind, adding: “I don’t want to lock myself into just felonies.”
Catcalls and hisses erupted from a crowd of some 100 anti-drone activists. One man later called the proposal “an assault on my community.”
Around the country, a small but growing number of localities are considering the use of domestic drones—aircraft that are smaller, lighter, and cheaper (though not much less controversial) than what the military uses in Afghanistan. Police departments could outfit drones with infrared sensors that see through walls, with facial recognition software, or with technology that intercepts calls and emails. Yet the the federal government doesn’t do much to regulate how drones can use such technologies to collect information on private citizens.
Privacy activists are trying to put pressure on state and federal regulators by holding protests in this liberal and tech-savvy Bay Area county, which could become the first local government in California to buy a drone. “We oppose the use of public resources to surveil and suppress our communities,” said Michael Siegel, an attorney with Alameda County Against Drones, a group whose dozens of members wore bright pink “Say No To Drones” stickers. “We want a drone-free zone.”
Last year, Congress passed a law mandating that the Federal Aviation Administration open up US airspace to drones, and the FAA made it easier for law enforcement and other “public agencies” to get a drone permit. Records obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) indicate that at least 81 public entities—including 17 sheriff’s and police departments—have petitioned the agency for the right to fly drones.
“When technology dramatically lowers the cost of collecting information, the potential for collecting information based on idle curiosity is opened up.”
Alameda County’s Sheriff Ahern argues that buying something like a $100,000, three-pound “Scout” surveillance drone should be a no-brainer for the department. It would cost far more to purchase and operate a helicopter, and the drone can sample plumes of toxic chemicals in the event of a release, or use its infrared scanner to detect wildfires, or find lost children. “I think this is the future of technology,” he said, “and we can work together to make sure that this works appropriately.”
But barring written rules, privacy groups aren’t convinced that Ahern or other sheriffs can be trusted with drones. Last year, Ahern publicly pitched the drone to county lawmakers as a search-and-rescue tool, but told a different story in a grant application submitted to the Department of Homeland Security, which said the drone would assist with “surveillance (investigative and tactical)…intelligence gathering…suspicious persons, large crowd control disturbances, etc.” (Alameda County includes Oakland, where police battled with Occupy protesters last year.)
At last week’s meeting, Ahern put forth a stricter set of guidelines for using a drone, but that wasn’t enough to placate privacy advocates. ACLU attorney Linda Lye worried that drones could be used, intentionally or not, to photograph naked backyard sunbathers, and otherwise invade people’s privacy. “When technology dramatically lowers the cost of collecting information, the potential for collecting information based on idle curiosity is opened up,” she said. “In addition, unmanned aerial systems are intended to operate surreptitiously, and that changes the intrusiveness of the data collection.”
At the end of the meeting, it was unclear whether Ahern intended to move forward with his drone plan. But Alameda County isn’t the only place where drones have encountered a backlash. Earlier this month, the Seattle Police Department grounded two drones it had purchased in response to privacy concerns, and Charlottesville, Virginia, became the first American city to ban drone flights within city limits. California and 19 other states are considering legislation that would set standards for drone use. And last week, federal lawmakers introduced legislation that would prohibit domestic drones from being armed, require agencies to register drones and adopt privacy policies, and limit the use of drones to criminal matters in which warrants would be required.
Privacy advocates see an urgent need to regulate drones before they become even more advanced. Trevor Timm, a policy analyst for EFF, fears that Ahern will eventually want to replace his drone with something like Lockheed Martin’s Stalker, which can be recharged in the air with a laser and stay aloft for more than 48 hours. “This is why it is crucial to have rules of the road in place now,” he says. “Because once the door is opened, it will become much harder to restrict drone use in the future.”
Behold the Stalker:
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Asawin Suebsaeng
Here’s Why Obama Won’t Say Whether He Can Kill You With a Drone: Because He Probably Can
Adam Serwer
In the Context of “1,000 Years” of Warfare, Drones Are “More Humane”
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Minden Press-Herald
Home Life-Free The Watkins continued
Life-Free
The Watkins continued
Editor’s Note: This is a continuation of the Echoes of Our Past in Yesterday’s Minden Press-Herald.
Watkins was pledged to support his colleague, Speaker of the House “Champ” Clark of Missouri for President. Many of the local political leaders from North Louisiana were supporting the more progressive Governor Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey. After Wilson won the nomination and the Presidency, Watkins still tended to side with Clark, who remained Speaker of the House and often challenged Wilson’s programs.
Family problems also caused political trouble for Watkins. His wife and his daughter, Dana, had both been diagnosed with severe breathing problems, related to asthma. Doctors advised that they needed to spend time in a dry climate, such as Arizona. Watkins and his family began spending their time between sessions in Arizona; his returns trips to Minden became less frequent. Although he was only doing what was best for his family, the perception on the street was that he was growing out of touch with his base of support.
These problems brought about his first serious opposition in the election of 1918. John Sandlin, also a native son of Minden, challenged John Watkins in the Democratic Primary. Sandlin drew one clear issue for the campaign, support of the war effort. Both men had been delegates to the 1912 convention in Baltimore, Watkins had supported Clark in 1912 and was still supporting Clark, Sandlin had backed Wilson at all times. Now that our country was at war, Sandlin implied that Watkins’ failure to support
President Wilson was tantamount to not supporting the war effort. Watkins in fact had supported Clark in several measures that had limited Wilson’s efforts to advance the cause of war in 1917, but had since followed the patriotic line and given full support to the President. Without Sandlin’s knowledge, Shreveport labor unions bought ads pointing out that both men had sons of military age. Sandlin’s son was serving in Europe, while Watkins’ son was working as an aide to his father on Capitol Hill. This too was an unfair charge, as the ads failed to report that Watkins’ son had been rejected by the military as unfit to serve. (Will Watkins would die shortly after the conclusion of World War I.) Several Minden groups took out ads in the Shreveport papers asking whether Watkins still cared about the folks back home since he now owned homes in Arizona and Washington, and seldom came to Louisiana.
Despite all the charges, Watkins won a narrow victory, but he lost every parish in the 4th District except Caddo and DeSoto. Only a large win in Caddo provided the narrow margin of victory. Sandlin had won by a landslide in Webster Parish. The handwriting was on the wall for John Watkins, but since most of the factors working against him were either misconceptions or situations he could not avoid, he had little hope of overcoming these obstacles. In 1920, Sandlin and Watkins met once again. This time the race was not even close. Watkins appeared to have lost the heart to run, while Sandlin, who was 18 years younger, was the energized candidate. Sandlin won an easy victory, and after 8 successful terms as a legislator in Washington, John Thomas Watkins was defeated.
The bitterness of the election made it impossible for John Watkins to consider a permanent return to Minden. Too many old friends had either made public statements against him, or, at the least, failed to back him when he needed their help. Shortly after his defeat, Lizzie Watkins life was claimed by the disease that had forced the purchase of the home in Arizona and ended the life of their daughter Dana in 1916. By 1923, his only son, Will had also died after years of poor health. John Watkins remained a resident of Washington, D.C. where he practiced law. He had two remaining daughters. Melle, who lived in the family home on College Street here in Minden (the home was on the present site of the Minden Church of Christ) and Mrs. William Taliaferro of Tampa, Florida.
On Saturday, April 25, 1925, John Thomas Watkins, an exile from his hometown, died of heart failure brought on by a severe case of influenza at his Washington home. In his death, the hometown he felt had rejected him, turned out to show their love and respect, too late for him to know. He received the homecoming that should have occurred in March 1921, four years and one death too late. The body arrived at Sibley at 2 p.m. Monday afternoon, April 27, accompanied by Mrs. Taliaferro, where it was met by a number of local dignitaries who accompanied it in a procession to Minden’s new First Baptist Church. The new building, which would not be officially occupied until May 21, was considered the only facility in the city large enough to hold the crowd expected for the funeral. (The Watkins funeral would be the second event held in the not-yet-completed church. On February 26, Miss Lavinia Shealy and Mr. Bert David had been married in the church, even though there were not even pews in place. Miss Shealy was the organist and music director of the church and she had insisted she WOULD be married in the new building.)
Funeral services were conducted by the Rev. M. E. Dodd of the First Baptist Church of Shreveport, assisted by the Rev. W. F. O’Kelley of the Minden Presbyterian Church and the Reverend Cox of the Gibsland Baptist Church. The Reverend D. C. Freeman, Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Minden was unable to participate because of illness. Pallbearers were: B. F. Griffith, J. B. Sandefur, H. C. Drew, R. H. Miller, George Hightower, C. M. Hutton, Clifford E. Hays, Jonah Phillips, and A. H. Gray. Following the services, Watkins was buried next to his wife and daughter in the Drury Murrell family plot in the Minden Cemetery.
In its editorial, the Webster Signal summed up John Thomas Watkins’ life with these words: “An accomplished scholar, a learned lawyer, a just jurist, an energetic, painstaking and conscientious lawmaker and statesman, may be included in his epitaph, but greater than these, more precious than political preference or public praise is his private record of an untarnished character, a devoted husband and father, and an unfaltering and unfailing friend . . . A Christian gentleman, honest and true to his ideals, his duty, and his family and his friends: the world has been bettered by his presence. What more can be said of man by his fellow-men?” Though forgotten by almost all today, the accomplishments of John Watkins are still an important part of the Echoes of Our Past.
Webster Parish Historian John Agan’s column appears Tuesdays in the Minden Press-Herald.
Greater Minden Chamber Events Calendar
© 2018 Specht Newspapers, Inc. All rights reserved.
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About SEDIN
Improving Access to Finance
Building Financial Competencies
Enabling Business Environment
Promoting Entrepreneurship Skills
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Developing Value Chains
Promoting Trade
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Numerous trade policy and regulatory factors can erode the capacity of MSMEs to commence business operations and grow sustainably, foster innovation and expand, generate income and create employment opportunities. Improving the business environment by lifting constraints and filling gaps in the regulatory and administrative support mechanisms at national, state and local levels is central to achieving improved economic growth and employment creation through value chain development, trade and exports. Therefore, SEDIN is supporting private and public sector partners in Nigeria to promote trade and investment by supporting governments at federal, state and local level in creating an appropriate environment in which private sector activities are effectively promoted and administrative cum infrastructural services required for business growth are enhanced.
Two important elements are needed in fostering private sector activities: first, establishing basic rules and legal systems to enable private businesses to engage in fair and free business activities; and second, establishing physical infrastructure such as transportation and power systems that can enable active production and trading of goods and services and exports.
SEDIN’s Approach
Generally, it is the responsibility of the private sector to demand for reforms and it is the responsibility of the public sector (government) to provide reforms. However, in many cases, there is a gap between demand and supply often caused by a number of factors ranging from the inability of the two parties to effectively dialogue and communicate, lack of awareness on the part of the private sector of the challenges of the public sector and vice versa, lack of capacity to provide the necessary reforms, misconceptions and mistrust between the public and private sector among other things. The role of SEDIN therefore in promoting trade policy and business enabling environment reforms is principally to address these challenges without taking up the role of the private sector in demanding for reforms or the role of the public sector in supplying reforms but by supporting both parties to play their roles effectively. SEDIN’s approach therefore is to support both the private and the public sectors to promote trade and business enabling environment reforms. These supports include the following:
Research and Public Private Dialogue (PPD)
Research help to identify gaps within the business and trade environment and provide evidence for relevant actions. In addition to identifying gaps and generating evidence through research, SEDIN supports facilitated dialogue between public and private sector actors to discuss on identified gaps, challenges, and possible reforms. PPDs also provide opportunity for constructive engagement and feedback on government policies and impacts.
SEDIN supports policy advocacy by private sector associations and also develop the capacity of the private sector actors for effective advocacy.
Technical support to public actors for relevant reforms and implementation
SEDIN provides direct technical support to public sector actors (relevant government agencies) for policy reforms and implementation. This includes capacity development, support to policy reviews and engagements, policy awareness and monitoring among others.
Private sector actors including business membership organisations (BMOs), business and trade associations, chambers of commerce at federal and state levels.
Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMES). They are the direct beneficiaries of SEDIN’s programme and also partners. They are adequately engaged in implementation process and their challenges and experiences are fed into the policy reform process to achieve desired impacts.
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The COVID-19 Data Is A “Travesty”
December 16, 2020 in News, Video by RBN Staff
source: zerohedge
WEDNESDAY, DEC 16, 2020 – 2:00
Via InsightHistory.com,
Although people have tragically died from Covid-19, the way the Covid-19 death data is recorded in many countries around the world has produced, and continues to produce, an inflated death toll. This inflated death toll has then been, and continues to be, used by fascist-style bureaucracies, in conjunction with scientific priesthoods, to terrify the general public into obedience.
CORRELATION DOES NOT EQUAL CAUSATION
One of the most basic laws of statistics is that correlation does not equal causation. Although this may sound complicated, it’s not. It simply means that just because there is a correlation between two variables, or to put this another way, a close relationship between two things in the world, this does not mean that one thing is causing the other thing to happen.
A third factor may be causing the correlation that is observed for instance. As an example, there is usually a correlation in many countries between cold weather and people buying more goods in shops, or online, but this increase in buying is not caused by cold weather. Instead, it is caused by the Christmas period, when people spend more money, and it just happens to be the case that the weather is usually cold in December in many parts of the world that celebrate Christmas. So, even though there is a correlation between cold weather and increased buying patterns, cold weather does not cause increased buying patterns, but the Christmas period causes people to buy more goods.
Furthermore, the correlation that is observed between two things in the world may just be a product of random chance. This has led people to point to some funny correlations, such as the fact that there was a correlation between margarine consumption and divorce rates in the Maine between 2000 and 2009. There was also a correlation between per capita cheese consumption and the number of people who died by becoming tangled in their bedsheets, or the number of people who drowned by falling into a pool and films Nicholas Cage appeared in.
Once again, correlation does not equal causation.
INFLATED DEATH DATA
If we turn our attention back to the Covid death data, just because someone has tested positive for Covid-19 and died sometime after (even if we put aside for a second that some tests are known to give false positives), that does not mean that Covid-19 caused that person to die. Yet, the main figure certain countries around the world are using to express Covid-19 deaths is simply recorded, or coded, as essentially any death involving a positive Covid-19 test within 28 days of death.
Because correlation does not equal causation, simply recording Covid-19 deaths as any deaths involving a positive Covid-19 test within a given period of time is an extremely poor way to measure how many people have died. For instance, in the UK, the main figure being used for Covid-19 deaths is coded, as stated on the official Coronavirus website, as the…
number of deaths of people who had had a positive test result for COVID-19 and died within 28 days of the first positive test.
This completely ignores the problem of causality, and thus, produces a much larger death toll than there actually is.
For instance, if someone has had an underlying heart condition for 10 years, and has a heart complication and dies, their death was most likely mainly caused by the heart condition that has plagued them for a decade. However, if that person had tested positive for Covid-19 for the first time within 28 days of them dying, that person could be included as a Covid-19 death in the UK, if all is required to be categorized as a Covid-19 death is simply a positive test result.
For those who understand that the way you code deaths dramatically changes the number of deaths you get, the UK authorities kindly illustrate this for us. There is a second number recorded by UK authorities which codes deaths as…
people whose death certificate mentioned COVID-19 as one of the causes.
By coding deaths this way, there are thousands more Covid-19 deaths compared to when deaths are coded as…
people who had had a positive test result for COVID-19 and died within 28 days of the first positive test.
Despite the UK authorities having two ways to code Covid-19 deaths however, none of them are particularly accurate in my opinion. This is because the positive test figure does not deal with the issue of causality, and the death certificate figure only mentions Covid as needing to be “one of the causes” of death, rather than “the primary cause,” in addition to the death certificate figure not explicitly demanding the need for a positive Covid-19 test result.
US DEATH DATA
If we turn our attention to the United States, we find similar issues with the Covid-19 data. One of the main figures the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is reporting as the total number of provisional Covid deaths in the United States – which stands at 241,906 deaths at the time I am recording this audio – is presented as…
all deaths involving Covid-19.
If we dig a little deeper, this number is based on “deaths with confirmed or presumed COVID-19, coded to ICD–10 code U07.1.” If we continue to dig, we can better understand how this number is calculated. The CDC’s website states that:
“The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) uses incoming data from death certificates to produce provisional COVID-19 death counts. These include deaths occurring within the 50 states and the District of Columbia… COVID-19 deaths are identified using a new ICD–10 code. When COVID-19 is reported as a cause of death – or when it is listed as a “probable” or “presumed” cause — the death is coded as U07.1. This can include cases with or without laboratory confirmation.”
There are many potential problems with coding Covid deaths this way. One problem is again this issue of Covid-19 being listed as “a cause of death,” as opposed to the primary cause of death. If we look at the technical notes, the CDC’s website provides more details:
“Coronavirus disease deaths are identified using the ICD–10 code U07.1. Deaths are coded to U07.1 when coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 are reported as a cause that contributed to death on the death certificate. These can include laboratory confirmed cases, as well as cases without laboratory confirmation. If the certifier suspects COVID-19 or determines it was likely (e.g., the circumstances were compelling within a reasonable degree of certainty), they can report COVID-19 as “probable” or “presumed” on the death certificate (5, 6). COVID-19 is listed as the underlying cause on the death certificate in 92% of deaths (see Table 1).”
Even though this 92% of cases where Covid was listed as the underlying cause of death is more compelling, 8% of 241,906 is still a relatively large number, over 19,300 deaths. Furthermore, if we dig deeper still to understand how robust this data is, we find out from an April report by the NCHS, titled: Guidance for Certifying Deaths Due to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19), which is still linked on the CDC’s website where it provides details on its data, that it is acceptable to “report COVID–19 on a death certificate without” the need for the patient to test positive for Covid-19:
“An accurate count of the number of deaths due to COVID–19 infection, which depends in part on proper death certification, is critical to ongoing public health surveillance and response. When a death is due to COVID–19, it is likely the UCOD and thus, it should be reported on the lowest line used in Part I of the death certificate. Ideally, testing for COVID–19 should be conducted, but it is acceptable to report COVID–19 on a death certificate without this confirmation if the circumstances are compelling within a reasonable degree of certainty” (p.2-p.3).
Even though I understand that this report was published in April, surely for a death to be recorded as being due to Covid-19, the patient actually has to test positive for Covid-19. In my opinion, there needs to be a more robust categorization of what constitutes a Covid-19 death, as the previous, and seemingly current ways of recording Covid-19 deaths are somewhat vague and imprecise, arguably producing an inflated death count.
From my perspective, the main figure countries should use to categorize Covid-19 deaths has to include (1) the need for the patient to test positive for Covid; and (2) the need for a medical professional to examine the patient and conclude that Covid-19 was the primary, or underlying, cause of death. This should be the main figure that officials and the media then quote, because the average person who hears what the latest death count is on a 2-minute news segment presumes that this figure actually expresses how many people have died of Covid-19 – not with Covid-19, not with suspected Covid-19, but actually of Covid-19.
Countries could have a secondary number of Covid-19 deaths where Covid is recorded as one of many factors in death, but the main death toll has to establish that the individual had Covid-19, and that Covid-19 was the primary, or underlying, cause of death.
From my interpretation, the way many countries have and continue to categorize Covid-19 deaths produces an inflated death count, giving a distorted impression of the scale of Covid-19. Many would argue that the authorities in various countries around the world are well aware of this issue, and are using statistics to generate fear.
COVID DATA IS A ‘TRAVESTY’
To be clear, I am not a statistician, scientist, or medical doctor, although I did take a few classes in statistics and research methods as part of my degree in Politics at university. But don’t just take my word for it that the Covid-19 data is a mess in various ways. Jamie Jenkins, the former Head of Health Analysis at the Office for National Statistics, has called the Covid-19 data, in the context of Britain, a ‘travesty’ in various ways.
Additionally, it is important to note that the manipulation of statistics has been a key feature of tyrannical regimes down through history. In the Soviet Union for instance, the Stalinist government constantly suppressed or delayed the release of statistics that contradicted their agendas, and only released data that supported their initiatives.
IMPRECISE TESTS
Today, history looks to be repeating itself once again. Governments around the world are selectively using statistics in a way that inflates the scale of the Covid pandemic. For instance, over the past month or two, there has been a clear shift in the emphasis that the government and the media are placing on the number of positive Covid-19 cases. Yet with this shift in emphasise, both parties have largely failed to contextualise why this was always going to be the case once mass testing began.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that even if the Covid-19 tests being used are 100% accurate, the more tests you conduct, the more positive cases you are going to find. If we take the UK for example, the number of virus tests being conducted has been increasing month-by-month since May of this year.
On the 1st of May for instance, just under one million virus tests had been conducted in the UK. On the 1st of December, over 40 million virus tests had been conducted. In November alone, approximately 9 million virus tests were conducted in UK. Therefore, it is no surprise that there were more positive cases in November than there were in May. The number of positive cases only becomes even 1% relevant if there has been a consistent number of tests being conducted over many months, as this gives officials a base to compare too.
Furthermore, what percentage of tests are producing false positives? How sensitive are these tests? What is the margin of error in these cases, as some tests are reportedly picking up fragments of dead viruses from infections months ago that are no longer a potential issue? There are questions over the validity of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test for instance, a popular test used.
Kary Mullis, the inventor of the PCR test has said that “quantitative, PCR is an oxymoron.” As John Lauritsen, who quoted Mullis in a 1996 article on the use of PCR tests for HIV patients, wrote:
PCR is intended to identify substances qualitatively, but by its very nature is unsuited for estimating numbers. Although there is a common misimpression that the viral load tests actually count the number of viruses in the blood, these tests cannot detect free, infectious viruses at all; they can only detect proteins that are believed, in some cases wrongly, to be unique to HIV. The tests can detect genetic sequences of viruses, but not viruses themselves.
In the context of using the PCR for determining a Covid-19 infection, a spokesperson for Public Health England recently told Reuters that…
detecting viral material by PCR does not indicate that the virus is fully intact and infectious i.e. able to cause infection in other people.
Thus, it is important to ask whether many of these positive Covid test results are merely from some tests picking up fragments of dead viruses that no longer pose a risk of infection? Furthermore, it is important to establish what type of people are testing positive for Covid-19? In most cases, it is completely irrelevant if a young, healthy person, who is not obese, and who does not have any underlying health conditions, tests positive for Covid-19. This is because statistically, as I understand it as someone who is not a medical doctor, it is extremely unlikely that a young, healthy person will have a bad reaction to Covid-19, and they may not even know they were ever infected.
PFIZER GIVEN LEGAL PROTECTION FOR COVID VACCINE
Additionally, I would like to bring to your attention a recent story I read in relation to the Covid-19 vaccine. A report in the Independent newspaper states that the UK government has given Pfizer legal indemnity for its vaccine rollout, which protects the pharmaceutical giant from being sued by people who experience any potential issues with the new vaccine. NHS staff who will be administering the vaccine, are also protected.
Furthermore, it was reported that the Department of Health and Social Care has confirmed that the government would add the new coronavirus vaccine to the list of vaccinations covered by the Vaccine Damages Payments Act. As the Independent notes, this gives “a one-off £120,000 payment to people who are permanently disabled” or injured as a “result of a listed vaccination.” Needless to say, this is a worrying sign – I will link the full article in the description.
If we turn our attention back to the question of statistics, there are clearly major issues with the way the Covid-19 death tolls and positive cases are being calculated and measured. However, the notion that governments around the world that are behaving in a fascist-style manner are using statistics to seemingly control the population is nothing unsurprising to those who understand history. As George Orwell wrote in his book 1984, where he used historical truths and his own insights to predict how a global dictatorial regime of the future would operate, explained:
“Even the written instructions which Winston received, and which he invariably got rid of as soon as he had dealt with them, never stated or implied that an act of forgery was to be committed: always the reference was to slips, errors, misprints, or misquotations which it was necessary to put right in the interests of accuracy.
But actually, he thought as he re-adjusted the Ministry of Plenty’s figures, it was not even forgery. It was merely the substitution of one piece of nonsense for another. Most of the material that you were dealing with had no connection with anything in the real world, not even the kind of connection that is contained in a direct lie. Statistics were just as much a fantasy in their original version as in their rectified version. A great deal of time you were expected to make them up out of your head” (Orwell, 2008: 43).
CURIOUS DROP IN FLU DEATHS
There are many more issues with the Covid-19 data, including the fact that flu deaths in parts of October reportedly decreased in Britain and the United States compared to weekly and monthly five-year averages, which in part may be because these deaths have been included as Covid-19 deaths.
In the interest of time however, the main point to emphasize here is simply that there are lies, damn lies, and then there’s statistics.
Comments Off on The COVID-19 Data Is A “Travesty”
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The rising tide of photographs: Not drowning but waving?
This article explores responses to photography's twenty-first century massification, as a key aspect of the 'condition' that curator Joan Fontcuberta (2015) has coined as 'post-photographic'. Through an assessment of a variety of current forms - popular press opinion, leading-edge arts practice and large-scale community projects - it offers a brief snapshot of the hopes and fears attached to photography en masse. By contextualising these responses within recent scholarly literature and also within historic instances of massification, this piece assesses and challenges the technologically determinist claims made for mass photography's novelty. Finally, it offers some methodological reflections and suggestions for ways to understand mass photographic practice, old and new. The article appears as part of the inaugural issue of a new bilingual interdisciplinary journal, Captures, on the subject of Post-Photography, edited by Canadian art historians Vincent Lavoie and Martha Langford.
Captures: figures, theories et pratiques de l'imaginaire
Published - 12 May 2016
This is an author-produced PDF of an article published as an open-access online peer reviewed journal article for Captures interdisciplinary journal. The article was published on 12 May 2016 and can be accessed in its final formatted and illustrated version here: http://revuecaptures.org/article-dune-publication/rising-tide-photographs
Rising Tide of Photographs PDF for Converis.pdfAccepted author manuscript, 1.11 MBLicence: Unspecified
The Rising Tide of Photographs PDFFinal published version, 198 KBLicence: Unspecified
http://revuecaptures.org/article-dune-publication/rising-tide-photographsLicence: Unspecified
Fingerprint Dive into the research topics of 'The rising tide of photographs: Not drowning but waving?'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
Photography Arts & Humanities
Drowning Arts & Humanities
Joan Fontcuberta Arts & Humanities
Canadian Art Arts & Humanities
Photographic Practice Arts & Humanities
Scholarly Literature Arts & Humanities
Art Practice Arts & Humanities
Inaugural Arts & Humanities
Pollen, A. (2016). The rising tide of photographs: Not drowning but waving? Captures: figures, theories et pratiques de l'imaginaire, 1(1). http://revuecaptures.org/article-dune-publication/rising-tide-photographs
Pollen, Annebella. / The rising tide of photographs: Not drowning but waving?. In: Captures: figures, theories et pratiques de l'imaginaire. 2016 ; Vol. 1, No. 1.
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Pollen, A 2016, 'The rising tide of photographs: Not drowning but waving?', Captures: figures, theories et pratiques de l'imaginaire, vol. 1, no. 1. <http://revuecaptures.org/article-dune-publication/rising-tide-photographs>
The rising tide of photographs: Not drowning but waving? / Pollen, Annebella.
In: Captures: figures, theories et pratiques de l'imaginaire, Vol. 1, No. 1, 12.05.2016.
T1 - The rising tide of photographs: Not drowning but waving?
N1 - This is an author-produced PDF of an article published as an open-access online peer reviewed journal article for Captures interdisciplinary journal. The article was published on 12 May 2016 and can be accessed in its final formatted and illustrated version here: http://revuecaptures.org/article-dune-publication/rising-tide-photographs
N2 - This article explores responses to photography's twenty-first century massification, as a key aspect of the 'condition' that curator Joan Fontcuberta (2015) has coined as 'post-photographic'. Through an assessment of a variety of current forms - popular press opinion, leading-edge arts practice and large-scale community projects - it offers a brief snapshot of the hopes and fears attached to photography en masse. By contextualising these responses within recent scholarly literature and also within historic instances of massification, this piece assesses and challenges the technologically determinist claims made for mass photography's novelty. Finally, it offers some methodological reflections and suggestions for ways to understand mass photographic practice, old and new. The article appears as part of the inaugural issue of a new bilingual interdisciplinary journal, Captures, on the subject of Post-Photography, edited by Canadian art historians Vincent Lavoie and Martha Langford.
AB - This article explores responses to photography's twenty-first century massification, as a key aspect of the 'condition' that curator Joan Fontcuberta (2015) has coined as 'post-photographic'. Through an assessment of a variety of current forms - popular press opinion, leading-edge arts practice and large-scale community projects - it offers a brief snapshot of the hopes and fears attached to photography en masse. By contextualising these responses within recent scholarly literature and also within historic instances of massification, this piece assesses and challenges the technologically determinist claims made for mass photography's novelty. Finally, it offers some methodological reflections and suggestions for ways to understand mass photographic practice, old and new. The article appears as part of the inaugural issue of a new bilingual interdisciplinary journal, Captures, on the subject of Post-Photography, edited by Canadian art historians Vincent Lavoie and Martha Langford.
JO - Captures: figures, theories et pratiques de l'imaginaire
JF - Captures: figures, theories et pratiques de l'imaginaire
Pollen A. The rising tide of photographs: Not drowning but waving? Captures: figures, theories et pratiques de l'imaginaire. 2016 May 12;1(1).
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Articles, Guidelines, Lexicon, Matrix, Rethinking Cities, Senza categoria, Trends
20 January 2017 pierluigisacco Leave a comment
The physical matter we are dealing with today is exactly the same that was available to our hominid Palaeolithic ancestors. What makes the difference between now and then is the way in which matter is arranged, and thus its information content. Starting from this simple but far from obvious remark, César Hidalgo’s Why Information Grows offers a fresh approach to the understanding of the functioning of economic systems which is at the same time pragmatic, conceptually elegant and innovative. The commodities that populate our everyday life are so useful because they contain a remarkable amount of information, which has been piling up across the generations, allowing us to shape matter so as to accommodate in detail our needs, our aesthetic concerns, our world views and much more. A commodity is, ultimately, an instance of ‘crystallized imagination’. The knowledge and know-how that are called for to shape matter in order to obtain the simplest of objects we are so familiar with are often so complex and entangled that they transcend the capacity of a single individual. How many humans would be able today to build from scratch a mere plastic chair, not to speak of a car or a smartphone? Even the engineers who design part of the machinery or the processes that are instrumental to create physically a commodity can do their job only because they have access to objects that incorporate, in turn, huge quantities of further information they would not be able to replicate from scratch (think, for example, of the computers and software necessary to carry out any computer-aided design/manufacturing – CAD/CAM). It is thanks to this ability that humans can turn their imagination into reality, and to transform their environment to respond (not always in the wisest of ways, in fact) to the adaptive challenges they have to tackle from time to time.
What humans have learnt to do, in particular, is to build social networks that empower a remarkably complex, sophisticated cooperation among many individuals (Turchin, 2016Turchin, P. (2016). Ultra society. How 10,000 years of war made humans the greatest cooperators on earth. Chaplin: Beresta.) in the production of information and in its material embodiment: our systems of production and distribution of goods and services, that is, our economies – which can be consequently regarded as social depositories of knowledge and know-how. The efficient functioning of an economic system, in this perspective, can be read in terms of computational capacity and effectiveness, that is, in terms of the capacity to gather all the required information to shape matter under the form of typologies and quantities of goods and services that reflect as accurately as possible the explicit and implicit requests of their potential buyers, and to allocate such informational resources accordingly into products. This is much more demanding than optimally responding to incentives: A lack of adequate computational capacity to produce certain goods cannot be compensated for by any incentive, however strong. The computational capacity of an economic system depends in turn on these individual and social knowledge and know-how assets that have accumulated in time in the agents and social networks of which the system is made. Economic inequalities across economies are thus the cumulative product of the differences in the capacity to generate information by means of knowledge and know-how, and to generate further knowledge and know-how through information. The differential incidence of such processes in different economies accounts for the huge diversity and territorial specificity of different local economies, and thus, ultimately, for their different forms of genius loci. Hidalgo’s approach has been mainly formulated at country level so far, but its potential interest for regional sciences is considerable. At the regional level, the structure of local economic interactions and their socio-cultural background are clearly linked to a specific territorial milieu, and identify a generally more focused specialization pattern as compared with the upper territorial scale. Moreover, regions can be characterized as socio-cognitive systems whose territorial element is homogeneous enough to be understood as a consistent spatial platform for social computation.
A proper understanding of these processes cannot be built upon the simple equilibrium-centred thinking that is still so popular in the economics mainstream, and calls for far-from-equilibrium models as a benchmark. The conceptual and practical consequences of equilibrium thinking are huge, and underrated in their essential misunderstanding of the scope of complex dynamic behaviour for system regulation. It is dynamic complexity that enables the economic system to perform the computations that are needed to store – and harness – huge amounts of information. Far from being an undesirable form of functional failure, out-of-equilibrium behaviour with its puzzling phase transitions is an instantiation of the system’s computational power, and therefore an intrinsic, evolutionary valuable source of dynamic adaptability. The structure of international trade may accordingly be rationalized as a self-organized system of ‘crystallized imagination’ flows, of which certain countries/regions are net exporters (i.e., the economies whose goods have a higher informational content), and others net importers – as is the case, for instance, for countries/regions that substantially exchange their raw materials for foreign manufactured goods. In these terms, the innovative capacity of an economy is basically linked to new ways to instil a certain quantity of information into goods so as to create value (that is, as an effective response to specific social requests, or as an effective elicitation of matching social requests by means of socially validated forms of creative expression). Likewise, competitiveness strategies are basically social strategies of knowledge and know-how creation that broaden significantly, and in relevant directions, the economy’s ‘source code’. The product space for a given economy, as described by the system of structural interdependencies among all its production flows, is then a sort of ‘fingerprint’, an idiosyncratic, emergent property that uniquely characterizes that specific economy, as the result of the complex interaction of a multitude of local and non-local factors. The evolution of the product space, in its natural networked representation, is therefore an accessible, cognitively parsimonious way to keep under conceptual and visual control the bewildering structural richness that can be found even in the simplest economic systems.
The essence of economic value creation is, in Hidalgo’s perspective, the capacity to leverage upon the long historical chains of embodied knowledge and know-how so as to deploy them to their full potential by means of the local, current pool of productive and imaginative skills, to devise and implement computations that are not feasible for others under the current conditions. This is tantamount to benefiting from some sort of ‘superpower’ deriving from the cumulative exploitation of the experience, skills, knowledge and know-how of countless generations of humans behind us, and gathering them into specific objects. It is this sort of ‘superpower’ that allows us to perform functions and to attain goals that would be entirely beyond our reach should we only rely upon our own capacities and skills. Once this augmentation of human capacities is fully socialized and becomes an integral part of the ordinary mode of functioning of our economies, failing to keep up to it implies a significant loss of opportunity. A mere availability of material resources that are not matched to this dynamic, intangible value creation capacity is not conducive to a sustainable developmental path. Proper developmental policies thus require a constant focus upon systematic, effectively targeted improvements of the local economy’s computational capacity, which, in view of its embodied character, amounts to making a case for what Phelps (2013Phelps, E. (2013). Mass flourishing. How grassroots innovation created jobs, challenge, and change. Princeton: Princeton University Press.[CrossRef]) calls mass flourishing: a dramatic, coordinated improvement of capability building at the social level. What makes such improvements well targeted is the smart reading of the contextual conditions (including the availability and characteristics of pre-existing knowledge and know-how assets) that make certain feasible computations more relevant than certain others – and consequently their imagination, testing and implementation. Clearly, the feasibility of useful computations is greatly enhanced by a diversified pool of cognitive resources that can effectively synergize by means of proper social interaction structures (and which does not simply boil down to the social division of labour): this is the economic rationale of variety, whose adaptive value is overlooked by parochial developmental views cherishing the preservation of local identity as a homogeneous socio-cognitive landscape. This perspective thus provides a new angle to look at smart specialization at the regional level in terms of a sophisticated, dynamic structural adaptation rather than as an ossification of traditional excellence (McCann & Ortega-Argilés, 2015McCann, P., & Ortega-Argilés, R. (2015). Smart specialization, regional growth and applications to European Union Cohesion Policy. Regional Studies, 49(8), 1291–1302. doi:10.1080/00343404.2013.799769[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®]).
The territorial nature of socially accumulated and deployed knowledge and know-how (and, more fundamentally, imagination) is once again a new way of looking at familiar concepts for regional scientists: It is, among other things, a powerful generalization of the Marshallian notion of ‘industrial atmosphere’ (Keeble & Wilkinson, 1999Keeble, D., & Wilkinson, F. (1999). Collective learning and knowledge development in the evolution of regional clusters of high technology SMEs in Europe. Regional Studies, 33(4), 295–303. doi:10.1080/00343409950081167[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [CSA]). Should we conclude, then, that Hidalgo’s formulation is just a way to pour old wine into new bottles by rephrasing in a mathematically savvy and visually compelling way some of the basic tenets of regional science? Not quite. In fact, this approach opens up new routes to modelling and empirical analysis that are likely to spark a new cycle of investigation on some of the classical topics in the discipline, and to be conducive not only to new insights on frequently asked questions, but also to the formulation of new ones. For instance, Hidalgo’s perspective invites us to wonder about the structure of networked interaction that best fits the specific coordination and synergetic needs of a specific type of production in a specific socio-cultural context – and the answer is most likely far from being homogeneous across product, socio-cultural and geographical spaces. This is a point that does justice of the mechanistic oversimplifications of the role of embodied knowledge, know-how and imagination that are an implicit consequence of rigid idealizations of the functioning of a knowledge economy such as the creative class (McGranahan & Wojan, 2007McGranahan, D., & Wojan, T. (2007). Recasting the creative class to examine growth processes in rural and urban counties. Regional Studies, 41(2), 197–216. doi:10.1080/00343400600928285[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®]), which unsurprisingly reflect a linear, computationally poor logic of local development. Likewise, the structural properties of networks provide scope for a fruitful partial reframing of the fundamental debate on the role of transaction costs in shaping the firm versus market trade-off in terms of connectivity costs that limit the growth and functionality of social interaction structures – and thus, ultimately, in terms of social computational constraints. Clearly, the advent of a digitally networked economy opens up whole new perspectives in this regard by dramatically abating the cost of many forms of social connectivity, and allowing for whole new ways of socially distributed computation, and in particular of co-creation (Ramaswamy & Gouillart, 2010Ramaswamy, V., & Gouillart, F. J. (2010). The power of co-creation. Build it with them to boost growth, productivity and profits. New York: Free Press.). This also implies that, in a digitally connected world, not to speak of the relational complexities of hybrid man–machine environments characteristic of the emerging Industry 4.0 paradigm (Lee, Bagheri, & Kao, 2015Lee, J., Bagheri, B., & Kao, H. A. (2015). A cyber-physical systems architecture for Industry 4.0-based manufacturing systems. Manufacturing Letters, 3, 18–23. doi:10.1016/j.mfglet.2014.12.001[CrossRef]), exploring and designing new connectivity platforms of social computation at the local as well as at upper geographical scales (and evaluating the welfare losses from computationally inefficient networking) is likely to become a key subfield of organization theory with crucial implications for regional development.
To conclude, there is reason to maintain that Hidalgo’s approach will become a major reference for future regional science research, paving the way to a tighter, promising interdisciplinary synthesis between economically and physically driven conceptualizations of production flows, value creation and of their territorial dimensions. We look forward to these developments with anticipation and curiosity.
Refrences, bookmarks and sources (main article): click here
Published on Journal Regional Studies – Janbuary 2017
Creative LexiconMappingResearchSocial InnovationSustainabilityTourismUrban Planning
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Tiny Tim Fan Club Releases Unseen Interview For Singer's 88th Birthday!
April 12, 2020 - Dallas, Texas - The official Tiny Tim Fan Club announced its revival today with a Vimeo On Demand release of a previously unseen, 90-minute interview with Eternal Troubadour Tiny Tim recorded on July 5, 1994.
The Truth About Tiny Tim: As Told By Tiny Tim is available to rent or own from Vimeo On Demand HERE.
On July 5, 1994, Tiny Tim and his producer, manager, fan club president and confidant Big Bucks Burnett met for a videotaped interview in Tiny Tim's hotel room at the La Quinta Inn in Dallas, Texas. The ensuing 90-minute interview is one of the most revealing and outrageous of Tiny Tim's career. It is the ONLY interview in existence of Tiny Tim detailing his COMPLETE beauty and hygienic routines, favorite consumer products and the place in the recesses of his mind where it all intersects with God. Uncut and unfiltered, this interview must be seen to be believed!
Tiny Tim's hygiene, beauty regimens and obsession with consumer products were scrutinized by a bemused press and public ever since he became an international superstar in 1968. By the 1990s, interest in Tiny Tim was renewed by a wave of nostalgia for '60s acts as well as his frequent appearances on the Howard Stern Show. With little interest in Tiny Tim as a performer, Stern focused on Tiny's eccentricities and Tiny made a number of SHOCKING admissions including, but not limited to the fact that he wore Depends adult diapers and was impotent.
As one of Tiny Tim's closest associates, Big Bucks Burnett knew that true depths of Tiny Tim's obsessions and compulsions could not be fully explored on the Howard Stern Show. In this candid, 90-minute interview, Tiny Tim enthusiastically fields Big Bucks' questions, covering all the hot-button topics about his hygiene, beauty, consumer products and God while dispelling several myths in his own words. 'The Truth About Tiny Tim: As Told By Tiny Tim' is a MUST-see for Tiny Tim fans, enthusiasts and the curious onlooker alike.
The Tiny Tim Fan Club will follow up with an official website launch, additional releases and membership information at tinytimfanclub.com.
Ship To Shore PhonoCo., too, will work with the Tiny Tim Fan Club on a number of music releases. In 2019, we released Tiny Tim's latest album Spirits Of The Past: Lost & Found, Volume 4 on CD, featuring 36 unreleased tracks recorded in 1969.
Ship to Shore Media
© 2021 Ship to Shore Media. Brooklyn, NY.
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Why Glenn Robinson III played and Alec Burks didn't for Sixers vs. Bulls
Noah Levick
February 9, 2020, 11:15 PM ·5 min read
The Sixers' two most recent additions, Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III, were both active and in uniform Sunday night for the team's game against the Chicago Bulls. Only one played.
Robinson had a bright start to his second stint as a Sixer, scoring 10 points on 5 of 6 shooting in 12 minutes during the Sixers' 118-111 win, while Burks did not play.
Head coach Brett Brown had an explanation for why Burks stayed on the bench.
"Just direction, really, from the front office, trying to get things right with [Alec]," he said. "Really nothing. Just trying to give him a little bit of daylight as he comes into the program. Glenn was different, and so I played him."
Burks and Robinson were able to flesh out the situation in a little more detail.
Me and AB found out on a plane going back to [San Francisco] from New York about the trade," Robinson said. "I was asleep and they woke me up and told me. So, then we found out we were going to have to travel six more hours. I know he was on a red-eye last night and I got in a little earlier than him. Just glad to be here, ready to basically start tomorrow so I can get in there, learn the plays and get some shots up. I haven't even been to the new practice facility yet, so I'm excited to do that, too - because we were at PCOM when I was [last] here. Big difference, I heard.
Robinson's brief first stop in Philadelphia was in 2015, when he played 10 games under Brown as a rookie. He played the final game of that season, an 18-win campaign for the Sixers, alongside Process luminaries like JaKarr Sampson, Henry Sims, Jerami Grant and Robert Covington.
The most obvious of the few similarities between that situation and this one is Robinson was called into duty with minimal time to adjust. He did well under those circumstances Sunday, making intelligent cuts off the ball and seeming as comfortable as a player yet to practice with his new team can be.
"The players have definitely gotten better [compared to 2015], yeah," he said. "It's always weird - a new day at a job, that first step, it's always different. I felt the energy in the building, it's great to be back. ... Everyone welcomed me with open arms and is glad that I'm back here in Philly. I really feel like I can help this team. Just glad to be wanted. I think that's the main thing as a player is coming into different situations, whether it's a trade or you get picked up in free agency, being wanted is a good feeling.
"For Brett to FaceTime almost immediately after finding out the news, I think that says a lot about his character, my character and what they want here."
Neither Robinson nor Burks have had a chance to speak with Brown about their roles or expectations, though they expect to have greater clarity soon. For Robinson, Sunday was mostly about stepping into a new environment - albeit in a slightly familiar arena, with a slightly familiar face as his coach - and fitting in. Ideally, Robinson's off-ball movement, three-point shooting (40 percent this season) and defensive versatility will allow him to have a smooth adjustment.
For Burks, it sounds like Sunday was just about coming to terms with his new job.
"It's been all over the place," he said. "That's why I didn't play tonight, because I was on a red-eye last night and I got in real early, so we came to an agreement that I didn't have to play tonight. Just with the traveling, I didn't want anything to happen. It's been good and bad, you know."
He was having the most productive season of his career in Golden State, averaging 16.1 points per game and scoring 20 or more on 13 occasions.
Brown sees Burks' skill at creating offense by himself as a vital one.
"I'm going to be dramatic, but I believe it - this is our sport," he said before the game. "You have to play off a live ball. … You need somebody that can break down a defense, that can get to the paint - hopefully out of an isolation, out of a live ball. And he can do that. And so I felt that when we didn't have [Josh Richardson]. You felt that.
"If we're all honest, with the identifiable skill sets of our guys, it's not like give it to so-and-so and they're going to break somebody down, get into the paint and find people - that's not it. We have very good players with high levels of skills, but that thing you're talking about is needed. You really need it, and you especially need it when you play late in the season."
We'll have to wait to see that ability in action, and to form a clearer picture of how the Sixers will use it. Getting some sleep, practicing and starting to settle into a city across the country from his previous gig will be the first steps.
Embiid ‘just being a good a--hole' with shush after 3
More Korkmaz magic helps Sixers beat Bulls
A ‘dialogue' …? Sixers have interesting answers on players-only meeting
Elton Brand addresses Brett Brown's job status
Sixers have variety of reactions to boos from home fans
Why Glenn Robinson III played and Alec Burks didn't for Sixers vs. Bulls originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Chiefs Wire
Latest injury update on Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes
Chiefs HC Andy Reid provided a brief update on Mahomes on Monday afternoon.
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Home Shop Artworks Painting Bhutanese Monks Leaving
Bhutanese Monks Leaving
Carlos Giordano Giroldi
Watercolor on cotton paper
SKUART26120 CategoriesOur Selected Artworks 2, Artworks, Painting
Carlos starts studying drawing in Buenos Aires with the multimedia artist Margarita Paksa. Transferred to the United States, he continued his studies at the Visual Art Center, N.J. and the Art Students League in New York exploring the use of pastel and charcoal for the representation of the human figure. Later he moved to Paris and attended the Atelier Art Medium participating at internships at the Louvre dedicated to classical figures, architectural ruins and the study of the great masters. In 2010 Carlos opens his first atelier in Italy, in Umbria, where he mainly works with pastel while using watercolor, ink and acrylic mainly as support materials. He begins to collaborate with some galleries including Franziska Berger Studio Gallery in Perugia, the gallery ART G.A.P. in Rome and in several other locations throughout Italy. From 2016 he lives and works in Milan where he increased the use of watercolors in most of his paintings. His works are found in private collections in Italy, France, Spain, United Kingdom, the United States, Argentina, Mexico and India.
Author: Carlos Giordano Giroldi
Title: Bhutanese monks leaving
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Home Shop Artworks Painting Sorriso
CategoriesOur Selected Artworks, Art, Artworks, Painting
Bruno Greco was born in Varese (Italy) and from his childhood distinguished himself at first for the natural endowments in freehand drawing and then in painting. He took a degree in Electrotechnical Engineering, but never forgot his passion, showed in the juvenile works(1969-1977).
He devoted many years to family and industrial work, then he started again with enthusiasm the artistic activity with several collective and solo exhibitions in many galleries and art fairs in Italy, Europe and in the world (Montecarlo, London, Paris, Hangzhou, New York, Athens, Bruges, Barcelona, San Josè, Locarno, Brussels, Berlin, Stuttgart, Hong Kong, Moscow, Saint Peterburg, Miami), introduced by important criticians.
He is a figurative and landscapes painter in oil on canvas technique (with sign “B. Greco”), where he represents the "poetry of the image", but he has also begun to realize works in acrylics ( with the pseudonym “brown777 B.G”.) inspired by the "emotion of being", with a personal interpretation of colors.
He has been present on several International Art Directories and appears on various international websites. He has received several awards and has been published in numerous international magazines.
He lives in Casciago (VA) with a private atelier in Varese – Italy.
"In the world which is around me, in the nature, in the intensity of a gaze or in the poetry of a landscape, I feel the synthesis of that beauty which makes my being vibrating and moves my feelings.
Fixing on canvas all that it's like to elevate a hymn of praise to the creation throughout a colours symphony which I would like echoing in a space without time .”
By B.Greco
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Toshihiro Kawamoto Panel at SMASH! 2014
The man behind the designs
Taking time away from the busy schedule that is to be expected of an anime heavyweight, Bones co-founder Toshihiro Kawamoto held a panel at SMASH! 2014 to answer a few of the questions that fans wish to know.
Harking back to his humble beginnings, Kawamoto began the panel by answering a fan question regarding how he began his career in the anime industry. He expressed that he has always possesses an interest in drawing, a simple fact that provided him with a respect of those who forge a career in the artistic field. More specifically, Kawamoto cited Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, the character designer of Mobile Suit Gundam, and Macross as early sources of inspiration. See anime fans, even the biggest names have to start somewhere, it’s as grounding as it is interesting honestly.
Leading on from Gundam, Kawamoto briefly explained just how he, along with some close friends, broke away from their respective companies in order to start what would become one of the most successful studios in the anime industry. Whilst working on Cowboy Bebop, a friend from Sunrise studio, who was himself working on a Gundam series at the time, noted that he was not entirely content with the work that was being produced. Agreeing with this setiment, they decided to go off on their own and make the anime that they wanted to make. Simple as that.
On the more specific topic of character design, the audience put forth a few questions regarding some of Kawamoto’s most well known designs. Proving true his opinion on drawing inspiration from others, he revealed that the basis for the design of Spike Spiegel, arguably one of anime’s most iconic characters, came from actor Yusaku Matsuda and his appearance in the film Tantei Monogateri. However, even with something to draw from, designs may simply take multiple iterations to complete, as was apparently the case with Wolf’s Rain. But regardless of the time it takes to finish a character, Kawamoto made clear to explain that one must always take into account the limits of the design they wish to implement. How will the character move? How will they act? Do the proportions laid out correctly allow for this? Never forget the basics. Continue to practice until you can reproduce the designs you envision in your mind and do not allow yourself to be confined in what you imagine. Stubborness and the refusal to change is the bane of design it would seem. A great lesson to learn.
Some familiar faces
It’s also important to know that, amidst any great string of successes, there will always be at least a hint of negativity. Nothing too drastic, Kawamoto merely explained that throughout the existence of Bones, there have been some series that they simply did not obtain. He singled out a manga known as Natsume Yujincho, a series that he specifically wished to adapt. But alas, some things are not meant to be. Kawamoto also joked that if anyone in the audience knew of some popular current series that Bones should acquire, they should let him know.
However, despite all of the passion that character designers put into the work, it is an undeniable fact that CG animation is becoming more and more prevalent in the world of anime. Thus, following a question from an aspiring designer in the audience, Kawamoto disclosed his views on both forms of animation. He made it known that Bones still very much enjoys the traditional 2D style and strives to utilise it whenever possible. That being said, Kawamoto acknowledged the use of CG animation when it comes to more complex objects, such as vehicles and machinery, as well as its benefit in regards to staying within budget.
So there you have it. The fans wanted answers and Toshihiro Kawamoto was all to happy to provide them, along with a hefty serving of advice. Remember to work hard, keep an open mind and strive for what you want. Who knows, perhaps one day you could found a company that becomes synonymous with anime. Let the story of Bones inspire you. Oh, Kawamoto also ended the panel with a quick sketch (though a professionals definition of a “quick sketch” is vastly different than that of most people) of Spike. It was awesome.
See You Space Cowboy…
TagsBones • SMASH! • SMASH! 2014 • Toshihiro Kawamoto
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Home Manufacturers Suzuki New MotoGP replica GSX-R1000 unveiled by Suzuki
New MotoGP replica GSX-R1000 unveiled by Suzuki
Suzuki has unveiled its new MotoGP livery for the 2018 season, and with it a new replica paint scheme for its award-winning GSX-R1000R and GSX-R1000.
Unveiled at a preseason MotoGP test at Sepang, Malaysia, the new livery is an evolution of the eye-catching blue with bold Suzuki wording, but for 2018 introduces the use of a stealthy black to the usual yellow details, and is available on both the GSX-R1000R and GSX-R1000.
Similarities between the production machines and the GSX-RR racers that will be piloted by Andrea Iannone and Alex Rins in 2018 are not limited to paint schemes, with the GSX-R1000 inheriting the same VVT technology as the MotoGP prototype, to ensure it produces strong low-down torque and midrange, without sacrificing top-end power, along with other elements including a finger-follower valve train and stacked intake funnels.
MotoGP technology and knowhow also extends to a full suite of electronics found on the GSX-R1000R, which comprises of a 10-stage, lean angle-sensitive traction control system and launch control, plus cornering ABS and a bi-directional quickshifter and auto-blipper.
Available in dealerships from March, the MotoGP replica GSX-R1000R comes with an RRP of £16,099, while the GSX-R1000 is priced at £13,599. For more information, click here.
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Tour the Team Classic Suzuki workshop
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2021 colours revealed for Suzuki’s 650 ranges
New V-Strom 1050XT Tour edition now available
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July 5, 2014 – Let’s Talk About What Happened With Hobby Lobby.
Dr. Jay Michaelson: The Wishy-Washy, Dangerous Hobby Lobby Ruling
“Corporate Personhood” and “Religious Liberty”: Winning Hobby Lobby With False Words
Data, Numbers and the Shortsightedness of Hobby Lobby Celebrators
How to Fight the Well-Funded, Far-Right Legal Groups? Get Columbia University on Your Side.
The “Big Deal” of Hobby Lobby
This weekend on State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, Welton sits down with four different guests to talk about their views on the Supreme Court’s ruling in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, which found that certain for-profit corporations could refuse to cover employees legally-mandated access to contraception on the basis of their owners religious beliefs. Clearly, this controversial ruling has deeply disturbed some of our guests – and many of our listeners – so State of Belief is dedicating this entire week to discussing America’s future in this decision’s wake.
State of Belief welcomes back Dr. Jay Michaelson, a Rabbi, attorney, writer and activist who was invaluable in sharing his insights during the oral arguments on the Hobby Lobby case earlier this year.This week, Jay will discuss – what else? – the disappointing and controversial ruling on this case. He’ll talk about how the Justices seem almost afraid to make a firm ruling and set a precedent – as if they didn’t understand their responsibility to craft rulings that can stand strong constitutionally going forward. Finally, as a leader in a minority faith tradition and as an attorney, Jay will share which of these two parts is most concerned about last Monday’s decision.
Next, Welton sits down with Sarah Posner, a journalist who writes about the intersection of politics and religion for Religion Dispatches and numerous other publications. She has been closely covering the Hobby Lobby case, identifying some of the misguided arguments driving the so-called “religious liberty” debate in the United States. Sarah shares some of the still-widespread confusion on some of the case’s key issues, particularly around the idea of “Corporate Personhood.” She also talks about the ways in which the media has accurately – or not so accurately – represented the key facts of this case.
Continuing the discussion, Welton talks next with Rev. Brian McLaren, an author, popular public theologian and speaker who published a column in the wake of Hobby Lobby headlined, “The Numbers Don’t Lie: Opposing the Affordable Care Act Will Lead to an Increase in the Number of Abortions.” Brian writes in defiance of the recent trend of discounting science in favor of religious beliefs, sharing how he sees the facts and numbers adding up. He’ll emphasize for our listeners how the shortsightedness of those who ignore this data in favor of celebrating the Hobby Lobby ruling.
As we try to digest the impact of this Hobby Lobby ruling on future religious freedom claims and on society as a whole, we have to recognize the success that well-funded and well-organized far-right legal groups have had in redefining religious liberty in our courts. However, there is hope. Welton is joined this week by Katherine Franke, the Director of the Columbia Law School Center for Gender and Sexuality Law Public Rights/Private Conscious Project, a group that hopes to develop a coherent case for true religious liberty and church-state separation in the area of reproductive rights in order to fight this right-wing legal contingency. Katherine discusses the impact she would like the project to have on the current rhetoric around women’s and religious rights and how listeners can help support her important work.
Finally, Welton shares his thoughts and observations on the Hobby Lobby case, and explains to listeners who might not be in the “Washington bubble” what the big deal is about the Supreme Court’s decision. Namely, he explains how five Supreme Court justices changed the course of law in our country by allowing the faith-based opinion of a family to take precedent over obedience to American law. He then touches on his fears that using Hobby Lobby as a jumping-off point, these “religious freedom” advocates will now seek legal exemptions that allow them not to recognize the civil rights of LGBT people. Scary stuff, indeed.
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Cyril and Methodius of Thessalonica
At the height of the tumultuous developments taking place in Central and Eastern Europe in the ninth century, two Greek missionaries from Thessalonica came to the fore. Their work of acculturation among the Slavs had far-reaching and lasting changes upon European life. This book looks back over the life and work of these two outstanding figures and analyzes their ecclesiastical and cultural mission. Their presence in the Crimea was closely bound up with several aspects of Byzantium's ecclesiastical policy and programs of acculturation, and also with the Russians' first encounter with Christianity.
In presenting the Slavs with an alphabet and the written word, the brothers transmitted to them the world, and it was thanks to their work that Great Moravia reached the height of its vigor and prosperity as a central European state. The Cyrillo-Methodian tradition lived on, spreading among the Slavic peoples and laying the foundation of their spiritual life.
About the Author: Anthony-Emil N. Tachiaos is Professor Emeritus of Slavic Ecclesiastical History and Literature, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He has written extensively on cyrillomethodian problems and the influence of Byzantine hesychasm on the Slavs, and has been the editor of the review Cyrillomethodianum.
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Indiah Hodgson-Johnston
Dr Indi Hodgson-Johnston joined the TPN Committee in 2019 as a representative for Tasmanian-based scientific and research communities. She is the Deputy Director of Australia’s Integrated Marine Observing System which operates nation-wide marine research infrastructure, including in the Southern Ocean. Indi is also an adjunct senior researcher at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania in the area of Antarctic and oceans law, policy and politics. She has a background working with the University of Tasmania, government and international organisations in Antarctic and Southern Ocean sectors. Indi holds a PhD in international law and is a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Tasmania.
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(312) 427-5128 info@taxpayersunited.org
Taxpayers United Of America
Tax Accountability
Taxpayer Protection Pledge
Donations / Membership
Home → Illinois
Rockford Pensioners Collect Millions Amid Unemployment Crisis
By Matthew Schultz on June 26, 2020 / Illinois, jim tobin, Latest
TUA in the News!
Story covered by CBS Channel 23 News Rockford.
Rockford- “Rockford area property taxes have been some of the highest in the country in recent years. Property taxes pay for the local government pensions and state law requires those pensions to be paid before any other commitments. No matter how many private sector workers lose their jobs, government retirees continue to collect their gold-plated pensions,” said Jim Tobin, economist and president of Taxpayers United of America (TUA).
“While the local pensions of the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) are paid by property taxes, the remaining five state pension funds are subsidized with the Illinois state income-tax.”
“In order to fund pensions of the 148,654 pensioners who will collect more than a million dollars in pension payments, Democrat Gov. Jay Robert ‘J. B.’Pritzkeris seeking to hoodwink voters into passing constitutional amendment that that ushers in massive state income-tax increases.”
“Pritzker’s incometheft amendment will be on the November 3, 2020 ballot. If passed, this taxpayer theftwill hit the middle-class the hardest. Between the mass exodus of Illinois residents to more tax-friendly states and the huge loss of jobs and income from Pritzker’s Soviet style lockdown, Illinois’ middle-class will virtually disappear.”
“As many of us have been struggling without a paycheck, or watching businesses disintegrate, here’s what a few of the political elite in Winnebago County collected without a concern of what is to come:
Alan S. Brown retired from Rockford SD205 at the age of 55. His current annual pension is $188,828, an increase of about $5,000 over last year. With his 3% compounded COLA, he will realize about $5,353,244 over a normal lifetime. His personal investment in that stunning payout is only about 3%.
Paul A. Logli retired from Winnebago County government with a current annual pension of $172,197. His raise this year was about $3,700 and he will collect about $4,966,168 in estimated lifetime pension payments. Paul is also eligible for a social security pension.
Karl Jacobs, Rock Valley College retiree, collects $184,970 a year from the State University Retirement System (SURS). His estimated lifetime payout is $2,968,762. He only had to invest $159,281 of his own money in that payout.”
“Illinois government employees only work 20.1 years on average in order to collect these unrealistic pensions. And for every dollar they deposit in their own pension fund, taxpayers are forced to fork over $4.74. Add to that a 3% COLA, compounded for all but IMRF, and it doesn’t take a genius to understand why Illinois’ government pensions are insolvent.”
“Rather than put an income theft amendment on the November 3rd ballot, Pritzker should have pushed for a pension reform amendment because these outrageous pensions are protected by the state constitution.
View Top Rockford IMRF Pensions
View Top Rockford SURS Pensions
View Top Rockford TRS Pensions
PRITZKER SOVIET-STYLE LOCKDOWN PUT ILLINOISANS AT GREAT MEDICAL RISK
By Matthew Schultz on June 22, 2020 / Illinois, Latest
Yesterday, Illinois Governor Jay Robert “J. B.” Pritzker announced from the economic rubble of his once prosperous state, that he would move forward with “phase 4” of his soviet style lockdown.
“Not only is Pritzker delaying the economic recovery of the state, but his actions have put Illinoisans at risk and may be causing many deaths of his constituents,” said James L. Tobin, economist and president of Taxpayers United of Illinois (TUA).
According to Scott W. Atlas M.D., a physician and senior fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, lockdown policies have created the greatest global economic disruption in history, with trillions of dollars of lost economic output. “The cure is bigger than the disease at this point,” said Atlas. “150,000 new patients with cancer are diagnosed every single month in the United States. Most of them are not getting diagnosed.”
Stanford epidemiologist John P.A. Ioannidis states, “We lack reliable evidence on how many people have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 or who continue to become infected. Better information is needed to guide decisions and actions of monumental significance and to monitor their impact.”
“Three months after the outbreak emerged, most countries, including the U.S., lack the ability to test a large number of people and no countries have reliable data on the prevalence of the virus in a representative random sample of the general population,” wrote Ioannidis.
“In the absence of data, prepare-for-the-worst reasoning leads to extreme measures of social distancing and lockdowns. Unfortunately, we do not know if these measures work. School closures, for example, may reduce transmission rates. But they may also backfire if children socialize anyhow, if school closure leads children to spend more time with susceptible elderly family members, if children at home disrupt their parents’ ability to work, and more. School closures may also diminish the chances of developing herd immunity in an age group that is spared serious disease.”
Ioannidis warns, “One of the bottom lines is that we don’t know how long social distancing measures and lockdowns can be maintained without major consequences to the economy, society, and mental health. Unpredictable evolutions may ensue, including financial crisis, unrest, civil strife, war, and a meltdown of the social fabric. At a minimum, we need unbiased prevalence and incidence data for the evolving infectious load to guide decision-making.”
John P.A. Ioannidis is professor of medicine and professor of epidemiology and population health, as well as professor by courtesy of biomedical data science at Stanford University School of Medicine, professor by courtesy of statistics at Stanford University School of Humanities and Sciences, and co-director of the Meta-Research Innovation Center at Stanford (METRICS) at Stanford University.
STOP LOCKDOWNS, ISOLATION AND ECONOMIC CARNAGE!
By Matthew Schultz on April 27, 2020 / Illinois, Latest
The current coronavirus lockdowns, forced isolation and resulting catastrophic damage to the U.S. and world economies are based on faulty data and assumptions, according to a growing number of noted researchers.
“We need some straight talk, straight thinking and political courage to prevent another Great Depression,” said James L. Tobin, economist and president of Taxpayers United of America (TUA).
Joseph C. Sternberg, writing in the April 24, 2020 edition of the Wall Street Journal, explained that the “experts” were probably correct when they initially stated that the goal “was not to vanquish the virus but merely to try to control its spread so as not to overwhelm health-care systems.” In other words, they realized that “we can’t stop the virus, we can only slow it.” Now this view is attacked. “This is the biggest fact about the pandemic that remains politically impossible to say,” said Sternberg.
Scott W. Atlas, MD, the David and Joan Traitel Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, writing in the April 22, 2020 edition of The Hill, points out that the overwhelming majority of people do not have any significant risk of dying from COVID-19. The recent Stanford University antibody study now estimates that the fatality rate of infected is likely 0.1 to 0.2 percent, a risk far lower than previous World Health Organization estimates that were 20 to 30 times higher and that motivated isolation policies.
Furthermore, Dr. Atlas reveals that vital population immunity is prevented by total isolation policies, prolonging the problem. The coronavirus is so mild that half of infected people are asymptomatic. The pandemic has been falsely portrayed as a problem requiring mass isolation. In fact, infected people without severe illness are the immediately-available vehicle for establishing widespread immunity.
Additionally, people are dying because other medical care is not getting done due to hypothetical projections.
“Critical health care for millions of Americans is being ignored and people are dying to accommodate ‘potential’ COVID-19 patients and for fear of spreading the disease,” says Dr. Atlas. “Most states and many hospitals abruptly stopped ‘nonessential’ procedures and surgery. That prevented diagnoses of life-threatening diseases, like cancer screening, biopsies of tumors now undiscovered and potentially deadly brain aneurysms.”
“It is a scandal, and really tragic, that this pandemic has become a political football that has put our entire economy at risk,” said Tobin. “Bureaucrat fear mongers such as Doctors Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx are doing our country a great disservice by perpetuating fear and dread. And some politicians want to keep our economy shut down until there is no more coronavirus. By that time, the U.S. will have gone back to the stone age.”
“Stop forced isolation and keep it voluntary only for vulnerable persons such as the elderly and pregnant women. Let our stores and restaurants open again. Now is the time to stop this drift toward fascism.”
Source: https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/494034-the-data-are-in-stop-the-panic-and-end-the-total-isolation
Taxpayers United Of America: (TUA). is a nonpartisan, 501(c)(4) taxpayer advocacy group. Founded June 27, 1976 in Chicago, Illinois by activist and economist Jim Tobin, TUA works on behalf of taxpayers to reduce local, state, and federal taxes. In the past forty years, TUA has saved taxpayers more than $200 billion n taxes and has become one of the largest taxpayer organizations in America. Check All posts. s.
Chicago, IL 60606 205 W. Randolph Street, Suite 1305
Website: https://taxpayersunitedofamerica.org
Email: info@taxpayersunited.org
Taxpayers United Of America © 2018 All Rights Reserved
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Coming Through the Rye
The movie Coming Through the Rye: trailer, clips, photos, soundtrack, news and much more!
Coming Through the Rye Movie Trailer
Check out the first official trailer of Coming Through the Rye, the upcoming drama movie written and directed by James Steven Sadwith and starring Alex Wolff, Stefania Owen, Chris Cooper, and Adrian Pasdar:
“Based on the Emmy Award-winning filmmaker’s own true story, 16-year-old Jamie Schwartz (Alex Wolff) wants desperately to be a worldly adolescent. Unhappy at his all-boys boarding school, his life raft is the belief that he will someday play Holden Caulfield — the complex and alienated main character from the iconic novel The Catcher in the Rye — on Broadway and in the movies. He adapts the novel as a play and runs away to the mountains of New Hampshire to search for the book’s reclusive author, JD Salinger (Chris Cooper). Along the way he is picked up by a local girl, DeeDee Gorlin (Stefania Owen). Their odyssey and the events that follow are a journey into the meanings of friendship, sex, love and loss.”
Life has become a work of fiction…
so he had to find the author.
What do you think of this young chap? Is he determined, starry eyed, or just young and crazy?
The release date of the movie Coming Through the Rye is set to October 14, 2016.
Tags: Coming Through the Rye
Directed by: James Steven Sadwith
Starring: Alex Wolff, Stefania Owen, Chris Cooper, Adrian Pasdar
More Information at: Coming Through the Rye Trailer
https://teaser-trailer.com/movie/coming-through-the-rye
Watch the official movie trailer of Coming Through the Rye below:
Tags: Adrian Pasdar, Alex Wolff, Chris Cooper, Coming Through the Rye, Drama, James Steven Sadwith, October 2016, Stefania Owen
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China Is Prepping a Home-Baked Wikipedia Rival
China is known for many things, including its policy of internet censorship that prevents people in its mainland from accessing websites that are considered objectionable by the government and the creation of parallel services. Some of the websites that have been blocked include Google and most of its associated services, Yahoo, social media giants such as Facebook (and its associated apps such as WhatsApp and Instagram) and Twitter, to mention a few. Notably, most of the blocked websites have their Chinese equivalents such Weibo, which mimics Twitter and WeChat that takes WhatsApp’s place.
The latest onslaught on parallel programs takes on Wikipedia, and the Chinese replica should be online by 2018. At the moment, the country has sourced 20,000 of scholars from universities and research institutions who have embarked on working on the project, which has already been approved by the Chinese State Council.
Principally, the Chinese Encyclopedia project aims to be full-featured with more than 300,000 entries, each with 1000 or more words. Upon completion, the Wikipedia-esque online resource will be twice as large as Encyclopedia Britannica.
Contrary to Wikipedia’s openness where users are welcome to edit entry information, the Chinese Encyclopedia will only be edited by appointed scholars. This raises credibility issues, which should not come as a surprise owing to the country’s measures in regulating what kind of information is accessible to people.
Fueled by the need to have its own online encyclopedia, the project aims to surpass Wikipedia’s robustness in terms of science and technology, cultural heritage as well as the promotion of socialism values.
SOURCESouth China Morning Post
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WhatsApp Delays Service Terms After Outrage
China Is Probably Cracking the Whip On Its Operators to Block Personal Access to VPNs July 11, 2017 At 12:35 pm
[…] such as Weibo, their form of Twitter, WeChat that takes on WhatsApp and is even prepping a Wikipedia rival. It is such actions that lack the basis of originality that have made the country popular in […]
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9 Best Story Driven RPGs for PS4, Xbox One, Switch & PC
Last Updated on: September 27, 2020 by Tarun Bhardwaj
RPG or Role-Playing Game is a genre that appeared decades ago, in the golden age of Dungeons & Dragons and other games to gather friends and embody characters, while a master narrated the challenges to face. When migrating to digital, RPG games gained a unique visual appeal, but without losing the essence focused on history, character building and upgrades of skills, equipment, etc.
7 scary horror games [PS4, Xbox One & PC]
The idea of this list is to gather some RPG games for PC, Xbox One, Switch and PS4 already released and that have strong appeal in the narrative. As it is a personal selection, it is clear (and more than natural) that you may not agree with everything or feel that something is missing. So I invite you to fill out this list with me in the comments.
Role-playing games with great stories
The list is in alphabetical order. The numbers do not indicate a greater or lesser degree of importance in relation to the other title. It’s just to organize.
1. A Plague Tale: Innocence (PC, PS4 and Xbox One)
The Plague Tale: Innocence clearly alludes to the Middle Ages in Europe, at the height of the Inquisition and devastated by the black plague. In this hostile universe, you will follow the courageous story of the young Amicia de Rune.
From a noble family, she sees her home being invaded by the English army, which kills everyone on the way. When she lost everything she knew, she only had to protect her little brother Hugo, who suffers from a mysterious illness, and try to get help.
2. Divinity: Original Sin 2 (PC, PS4, Xbox One and Switch)
Divinity: Original Sin 2 is a strategic RPG massively based on narrative and choice. In short: the lore is immense and there is much to read and explore. The best part is that all dialogues are also spoken. The wealth of history, options and consequences reminded me a lot of the time of the wonderful Neverwinter Nights (which I also recommend).
The story of this sequence follows the events of the first title. The Deities are dead. Dark beings approach. A huge yet unknown power is beginning to awaken within you. Does the world need a new Divinity? Who should ascend? Can you really trust your companions?
3. Dragon Age: Origins (PC)
Dragon Age: Origins is the first game in the Dragon Age series from BioWare and, honestly, the best of all so far. The great thing about the narrative is that the whole story is shaped according to its origin, that is, with the choice of race and social situation that you choose when assembling your character.
With several captivating NPCs, you are a Gray Warden and are part of an order of warriors with incredible skills who dedicate their lives to fighting the darkspawn, which infest the region of Thedas. Your hero will venture around the world to exterminate Blight, as well as making some unusual alliances along the way.
4. Final Fantasy VII – Remake (PS4)
The original Final Fantasy VII (1997) is considered one of the most memorable games of all time, even though it is not the favorite of all fans of the Square Enix franchise. You are the mercenary Cloud and with the help of friends, who do along the way, you need to prevent Shinra from ending up with all the essence of Gaia.
The Remake, which shows the events of the first part of the story, takes place in the capital city of Midgar. In this location is also the base of operations of Shinra, a gigantic and powerful energy company that uses Lifestream, an ethereal substance responsible for life on the game planet (Gaia), to power its reactors.
5. Kingdom Hearts II (PS4 and Xbox One)
Kingdom Hearts II improved several aspects of the first game, such as the control of the combat camera. The game also has one of the best selections from Disney worlds, including some unusual choices like Pirates of the Caribbean and Tron.
The story features unpublished characters that marked, like Roxas and Namine, in addition to forever changing the world of Kingdom Hearts, deepening the narrative.
6. Mass Effect – Shepard Trilogy (PC, PS4 and Xbox One)
It is difficult to disassociate any game from the Mass Effect Shepard trilogy and choose only one, since the narratives fit together well (even if the ending of Mass Effect 3 did not please everyone).
In the space-themed story in which humanity begins to explore other planets and relate (for better or worse) with alien races, you are Commander Shepard and on board the Normandy spacecraft you will need to prevent various threats end the balance of the universe and destroy the Citadel. The lore of the game is engaging and the charisma of the characters are the highlight of the game to guarantee immersion.
7. Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch (PC, PS4, Xbox One and Switch)
The first thing that strikes Ni No Kuni is the beautiful art direction. And not least: the game’s animation scenes were made by Studio Ghibli. The whole style of art is also inspired by the productions of this Japanese studio.
In the story, you control Oliver, a little boy who sets out on a journey (in a mystical land) to save his mother. Oliver finds several allies along the way, as well as powerful enemies, but he never fails to have his faithful advisor and protector at his side: the Drippy fairy (he is, but I do not remember if “fairy” has a male).
8. Tales of Vesperia (PC, PS4, Xbox One and Switch)
For some fans, Tales of Vesperia is considered one of the best games in the Bandai Namco series. It is no accident. The protagonist Yuri Lowell helps a lot in this conception of idea, for being a well-built character and that escapes some JRPG style standards.
This combined with good graphics and a story full of surprises with each new scene, which makes the game an excellent option. It has been exclusive to Xbox 360 in the West for many years, and only more recently has it remastered versions on Switch and PS4.
9. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PC, PS4, Xbox One and Switch)
Skyrim, which nowadays is said to even run in a toaster, is certainly a sales and success milestone for Bethesda. When it was launched in 2011, it came with the mission to overcome the built universe of TES IV: Oblivion (which I also recommend playing).
The story of TES V takes place 200 years after the events of Oblivion in the province of Skyrim, which is part of the kingdom of Tamriel. You are a Dovahkiin, or DragonBorn, a hero who appeared in prophecies and is endowed with incredible dragon powers. This hero is the only one capable of stopping Alduin (an ancestral dragon) and saving Tamriel.
10. The Witcher III – Wild Hunt (PC, PS4, Xbox One and Switch)
The game The Witcher III – Wild Hunt is inspired by the series of books by the Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. Developed by CD Projekt Red, you take control of Geralt of Rivia – one of the last Witchers (monster hunters) that still exist on the Continent.
In Wild Hunt, you engage in a series of political plots that address conquests from other territories, religious imposition and persecution, prejudice and (of course) hunting many monsters. All this while Geralt searches for Ciri, his “adopted daughter” and who is much more powerful than he appears to be.
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Summer Arrives (in the East)! Winter’s Back (in the Rockies)!
May 17, 2017 wxmanscottk
The current weather pattern across the country is one that is fairly typical of Spring. However, the results of that pattern are Winter in the Rockies and Summer in the East. In between, there is plenty of severe weather, which is fairly typical of Spring.
A ridge in the East, a trough in the West. Not that uncommon of a pattern. Image provided by College of DuPage.
An upper-level low pressure area will move out of the Pacific Northwest and into the nation’s midsection over the next few days. While one storm system moves into the Upper Midwest today, a second one will develop east of the Rockies and move into the Plains states on Thursday. With cold air moving in behind these systems, and warm, moist air flowing northward from the Gulf of Mexico ahead of them, strong to severe thunderstorms are likely again for the next few days across the Plains states.
Thursday could be a very active day for severe weather in the Central and Southern Plains. Image provided by the Storm Prediction Center.
Severe weather has plagued the Plains states and Great Lakes for the past few days, with over 500 reports of severe weather between Monday and Tuesday. Nearly 30 tornadoes were reported, along with hail as large as softballs, and hundreds of reports of wind damage from gusts as high as 85 mph.
85 mph wind gust here at the office in Valley NE #newx
— NWS Omaha (@NWSOmaha) May 16, 2017
Behind the low pressure area, a late-season snowstorm is expected across the Rocky Mountains. Heavy snow will continue across portions of Montana and Idaho today, spreading into Wyoming and Colorado for Thursday into Friday. Across the higher elevations, totals of 1-3 feet are expected, which will keep the ski season going for a while longer. Snow may also spread into the High Plains of eastern Colorado and western Nebraska, with some minor accumulations possible. In Denver, it looks a couple of slushy inches may fall, though at least 1 model is forecasting much heavier amounts. In a normal year, Denver averages 1.7″ of snow, and the city has seen measurable snow during the month of May in 11 out of the last 16 years, so snow in May is not uncommon, though a heavy snowstorm, if it materializes, would be. Denver has only received 10 or more inches of snow in the month of May 6 times in a 135 years of records, with a record total of 15.5″ set back in May of 1898.
A late-season snowstorm may drop up to 3 feet of snow in the higher elevations of the Rockies. Image provided by WeatherBell.
Meanwhile, in the East, an early taste of summer is ongoing, thanks to a ridge of high pressure aloft, and a surface high pressure area off the East Coast. Temperatures soared into the 80s and lower 90s on Wednesday, setting several records, but the hottest day for many locations will be Thursday. High temperatures will climb into the lower to middle 90s in many locations, likely breaking records across much of the region. When you combine the heat with dewpoints well into the 60s, it will definitely feel like a mid-summer afternoon across the region. A cold front will move through the area of Friday, possibly triggering a few showers and thunderstorms, but also sending temperatures back to where they should be in the middle of May.
A lot of record high temperatures may be broken across the Northeast on Thursday. Image provided by WeatherBell.
Extreme Temperatures, Heavy Rain/Snow, Severe Weather, Winter Weather
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Meet Dr. Badall
Phoenix Office
Cone Beam CT - 3D Imaging
Crowns & Fillings
Intra Oral Imaging
Laser Cavity Detection
Laser Gum Recontouring
No Prep Veneers
Modular Periodontal Therapy
Sports Guards
TMJ & Migraine
Renowned Cosmetic Dentist Dr. John Badolato’s Keys to Success
Time Bulletin
Dr. John Badolato’s journey to dental domination has not come easy.
Owner of Arizona’s top cosmetic Dental practice Studio B Smiles, Badolato built his franchise from nothing to profitable in 12 months.
“I initially planned to go to medical school to become a plastic surgeon,” he says.
After a candid conversation with a surgeon months before starting medical school, Badolato realized plastic surgery was not the right career for him and decided to pursue a career in cosmetic dentistry.
He finished his dental degree at the University of Missouri, earning honours and recognition of his mastery of advanced cosmetic dentistry.
After a brief stint working as an associate for a dental practice in Tempe, Arizona, Badolato took a leap of faith and delved into the world of self-employment. He worked alongside his father, Bill Badolato, a financial guru, and together they created Studio B Smiles in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Since they opened their doors in 2004, the business has grown 20-30 percent each year.
A huge reason for his consistent growth is his ability to market his company as a partner for three major sports leagues.
Studio B Smiles is the official dental provider for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association, Phoenix Mercury of the Women’s National Basketball Association and the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball.
“It started off as a small marketing partnership,” says Badolato.
Badolato used his charm and bright smile to network and build a strong relationship with high-level members of the Suns’ training staff, allowing his business to become the official dental provider of the Phoenix Suns.
While mingling with the Suns organization, Badolato earned the business of several Arizona Diamondbacks baseball players through word of mouth. As more MLB players started to walk through his doors, the St. Louis native became the official dentist of the Diamondbacks. The WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury followed suit shortly after.
Badolato’s ability to connect with members of professional sport derives from his love for sports at an early age.
“I thought it would be amazing if I could ever put myself in a position where I could take care of local athletes and their families,” says Badolato.
Plans for a third practice have begun, as Badolato and the Phoenix Suns plan to open an office in Arcadia together.
Badolato never turns down a prospective client, even if he doesn’t agree with their wishes.
“I’ve had some interesting patients in the past, but I’ve never had to turn someone completely away,” he says. “I have, however, had to ask a patient not to tell anyone that I did their teeth.”
The patient requested Badolato and his team install fangs in hopes of looking like a vampire.
“The patient was determined to have vampire fangs, so that’s what he got,” Badolato laughs. “He loves his smile though, and that is what really matters.”
Studio B Smiles offers patients a wide variety of quality services such as dental cleanings, fillings, crowns, Invisalign, whitening, veneers and more.
Read article: https://www.timebulletin.com/renowned-cosmetic-dentist-dr-john-badolatos-keys-to-success/
Scottsdale Location
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230 S. 3rd St., Suite B1 | Phoenix, AZ 85004
OFFICIAL COSMETIC & TEAM DENTIST OF THE PHOENIX SUNS & ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
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Common(i) 53 and were continually in the temple praising God.
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Armenian (Eastern)
Acts 2:46; Acts 2:47; Acts 5:41; Acts 5:42
Matthew 28:20; Mark 16:20; Revelation 22:21 CONCLUDING REMARKS ON LUKE'S GOSPEL. Luke, to whom this Gospel has been uniformly attributed from the earliest ages of the Christian church, is generally allowed to have been "the beloved physician" mentioned by Paul, (Col 4:14;) and as he was the companion of that apostle, in all his labours and sufferings, for many years, (Ac 16:12; 20:1-6; 27:1,2; 28:13-16. 2Ti 4:11. Phm 24,) and wrote "the Acts of the Apostles," which conclude with a brief account of Paul's imprisonment at Rome, we may be assured that he had the Apostle's sanction to what he did; and probably this Gospel was written some time before that event, about A.D. 63 or 64, as is generally supposed. He would appear, from Col 4:10, 11, and his intimate acquaintance with the Greek language, as well as from his Greek name [Loukas,] to have been of Gentile extraction; and according to Eusebius and others, he was a native of Antioch. But, from the Hebraisms occurring in his writings, and especially from his accurate knowledge of the Jewish rites, ceremonies, and custom, it is highly probable that he was a Jewish proselyte, and afterwards converted to Christianity. Though he may not have been, as some have affirmed, one of the seventy disciples, and an eye-witness of our Saviour's miracles, yet his intercourse with the apostles, and those who were eye-witnesses of the works and ear witnesses of the words of Christ, renders him an unexceptional witness, if considered merely as an historian; and the early and unanimous reception of his Gospel as divinely inspired is sufficient to satisfy every reasonable person.
sunday, resurrection of christ
Study Bible > Bible Versions > Common > Luke
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Americans with Disabilities Act Compliance
The ADA Transition Plan is an evaluation of the Town of Windsor for compliance with accessibility guidelines set forth by the State and Federal Governments. A report such as this is required by Federal and State law; the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Title 24, Code of Regulations, Part 2, Accessibility Requirements respectively.
This plan contains a detailed review of all Town owned buildings, parks, and Town maintained public right-of-ways and accessible routes that are accessed by the public, i.e., sidewalks. Intersections and Town facilities were inspected for physical barriers using both State and Federal requirements. It is important to understand when reviewing the survey that many areas have been identified requiring corrective action by what would seem an insignificant amount, often no more than a quarter of an inch or a tenth of a degree. While this may appear trivial to some, the difference of a quarter inch or a tenth of a degree can make a significant difference to a person with a disability.
The dimensional requirements established within the accessibility guidelines are typically expressed as a maximum, a minimum, a range, or as an absolute value. Regardless of how the requirement is expressed, its dimensional requirement is prescriptive and does not allow for site tolerances, except in limited rare exceptions, mainly for Historic buildings. While still requiring attention, other areas where the variation from compliance is minimal may be set as a lower priority in the Town’s plan.
If you would like to read more about the Disability Access Complaint Procedure or feel it is necessary to fill out a grievance form, please submit it to Clif Castle, Building Official and ADA Coordinator.
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5 Tips for Staying Safe Online From a Google Security Expert
The U.K. government has said all commercial pornography websites will have to effectively verify their users are over 18 from the end of 2018. The move has drawn criticism from privacy and free speech activists.
Martin Gee for TIME
By Lisa Eadicicco
February 10, 2016 9:36 AM EST
We’re living in the age of the data breach. From Target to Home Depot, a growing number of companies have been targeted by hackers hoping to score customers’ personal data and credit card numbers.
Unfortunately for consumers, there’s little we can do to be sure the companies we’re shopping at are doing enough to prevent these kinds of incidents. However, we can take precautions to secure ourselves in case our personal information is ever stolen.
What should we do to stay safe from identity theft and fraud? Mark Risher, Google’s spam and abuse chief, offers these tips:
Keep your software updated
Updating software, whether it be on your phone, laptop, or television, is extremely important. When hackers discover new ways to steal your data, gadget and software companies usually work quickly to release fixes for those vulnerabilities. But it’s up to us to actually install those updates — or set it so that updates occur automatically.
“We’ve done some research and it’s something security experts themselves are very good at, but the general public is not,” says Risher.
Don’t fall for “phishing” scams
Phishing is an age-old technique in which users are tricked into submitting their login credentials on a fake website, only to have that information sent to hackers instead. Risher says these cons are becoming more difficult to spot.
“In the past, these phishing sites were greedy and clumsy,” he says. Older scams might have redirected users to a website that looked sketchy, asking for multiple account passwords without imitating the style or look of any particular company’s website. Today, the scams are “more simple,” Risher says. “They just copy the exact page you’re used to seeing and put it in a social context that’s misleading.”
The best ways to avoid phishing scams is by closely examining a website before you enter any login data. Pay close attention to the URL, which will often display a Web address that’s slightly different than the website it’s imitating. The same is true of email phishing scams; tricksters will often use an email address that looks legitimate but may be a character off from a company’s actual email address.
Add recovery contact info to your accounts
If your account is compromised, companies will probably try to let you know. But that’s only possible if they have some means of getting in touch with you on file.
“Add a phone number [or] an alternate email address, so that in the event you can’t log in, we have other channels where you can verify that the account is yours,” Risher says.
Don’t use the same password for multiple sites
If there’s one cardinal sin when it comes to online security, it’s using the same password over and over again across different services. This, says Risher, can be worse than never changing an old password.
“It’s much more important that you have unique passwords across all of the different sites that matter,” he says. There’s a reason many people are guilty of this: Passwords are difficult to remember. Using a password manager like LastPass or 1Password, which generate new unique passwords on your behalf each time you log in to a website, could fix this problem.
Enable two-factor authentication
Two-factor authentication adds an extra layer of security to your accounts by requiring another code in addition to your memorized password. That code can be sent to your smartphone via a text or generated by an app.
With two-factor authentication, even if a hacker has your username and password, he or she won’t be able to access your account unless they also have your smartphone — not a likely scenario.
“If you’re trying to defend yourself against getting hacked, you have to make sure everything is sealed off,” says Risher. “In your house, you would make sure that your doors are locked, that your windows are closed, that your shades are down, that you don’t have any places that people can climb through. And the bad guys just have to find one of them.”
Google is one of many companies researching ways to replace or enhance the traditional password. In 2013, for example, the company said that it was looking into login methods that involve plugging in a USB dongle rather than typing in credentials.
“As people are using mobile devices, this presents whole new ways that we have to look at the problem,” says Risher. “It’s definitely an active area that we’re investing in; we’ve got some exciting stuff coming.”
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Inspired by 9/11
By Beth Finke, September 2014, Updated February 2015
Jim Kessler has worked at the Seeing Eye school in Morristown, New Jersey over a dozen years now, and when I was training with my Seeing Eye dog Whitney, I happened to ask if he’d had any other jobs before this one.
His answer was surprising. “I worked for Lehman Brothers until it imploded, and then I worked at the Federal Reserve,” he said. “And I can tell you the very last day I ever went to work in Manhattan: it was September 11, 2001.”
Jim had already been contemplating a career change at the time, and 911cemented the decision. He said a position at the Seeing Eye appealed to him because it combined his interest in teaching, working with dogs and helping people. His three-year apprenticeship program at the Seeing Eye started at the end of 2001, he became an instructor in 2004, and he was promoted to Senior Manager of Instruction and Training in 2011.
I learned all this during a drive with Jim to visit his daughters’classrooms. The last few days of training at the Seeing Eye are called “freelancing”—instructors expose us to some of the unique situations we’ll be facing once we’re home.
I’m a children’s book author, and I give a lot of presentations at schools. When I learned Jim and his wife Carrie have three daughters in school (in addition to a two-year-old son at home), I asked if I could spend my freelancing time visiting the students at Warren G. Harding Elementary School with Whitney.
Jim stayed at the school with us during the visit, and you didn’t have to be able to see to know he was beaming when we arrived. He was unabashedly delighted to be at school with his daughters, and they were proud to have their dad—and a Seeing Eye graduate with her working dog—at school with them that day, too.
A story in The North Jersey Record reports that salaries start in the $40,000 range for those in the Seeing Eye’s three-year apprentice training program, and that the salary for full instructors ranges from $50,000 to $85,000. Odds are that Jim Kessler took a significant paycut to work for the Seeing Eye, but he doesn’t talk about that. He talks instead about his respect for the instructors he works with, his pride in the remarkable work the dogs do, and how much he loves his family. And after what happened on September 11, 2001, he'll be the first to tell you that he considers himself a very lucky guy.
Beth Finke is the author of Safe & Sound, winner of the ASPCA’s Henry Bergh award for children’s literature. Her most recent book is Writing Out Loud: What a Blind Teacher Learned from Leading a Memoir Class for Seniors.
bethfinke.com
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Sly, P.g.. "Great Lakes". The Canadian Encyclopedia, 04 March 2015, Historica Canada. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/great-lakes. Accessed 19 January 2021.
Sly, P., Great Lakes (2015). In The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/great-lakes
Sly, P.g., "Great Lakes". In The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Article published February 07, 2006; Last Edited March 04, 2015. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/great-lakes
Sly, P.g.. The Canadian Encyclopedia, s.v. "Great Lakes", Last Edited March 04, 2015, https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/great-lakes
Article by P.g. Sly
Last Edited March 4, 2015
The Great Lakes occupy bedrock depressions that have been differentially eroded by glacial ice, and their form and location are largely controlled by structural geology.
The Great Lakes are the largest group in a chain of large lakes (including Winnipeg, Athabasca, Great Slave and Great Bear) that lies along the southern boundary of the Canadian SHIELD. From W to E the Great Lakes comprise Lakes SUPERIOR, Michigan (entirely in the US), HURON, ST CLAIR, ERIE and ONTARIO. They have a total area of approximately 246 050 km2 and drop from 183 m above sea level at Lake Superior to 74 m at Lake Ontario - the most dramatic drop occurring at NIAGARA FALLS. Lake St Clair, while not properly a "great lake," is considered part of this Laurentian chain. After withdrawal of the Palaeozoic seas, which had spread across most of the continent, there is little record of geological events in the Great Lakes area between the end of the Pennsylvanian and late Tertiary periods. Although broad river valleys likely crossed the area, remnants of Tertiary erosion surfaces in Illinois and Wisconsin cannot be traced across the Great Lakes, and reconstructions of preglacial drainage are uncertain. The Great Lakes lie near the intersection of the Hudson Bay, Mississippi R and St Lawrence R drainage basins; because of progressive headwater capture by the Mississippi, that watershed now lies only about 10 km from parts of the southern shores of lakes Erie and Michigan, and only about 20 km from the western end of Lake Superior. Postglacial isostatic uplift continues to raise the northern shorelines of the Great Lakes by about 0.4 m per century, relative to the southern shores of lakes Erie and Michigan.
The Great Lakes occupy bedrock depressions that have been differentially eroded by glacial ice, and their form and location are largely controlled by structural geology. The arcuate forms of lakes Huron and Michigan have developed around the periphery of the Michigan structural basin, and the more resistant Silurian limestones and dolomites (NIAGARA ESCARPMENT) separate GEORGIAN BAY and Green Bay from the main lakes. The form of Lake Superior is largely controlled by Precambrian geology; that of lakes Erie and Ontario by trends in the underlying Appalachian geosyncline.
During the last glacial period (which lasted more than a million years) there were 4 glacial stages and, with each, the lake basins were progressively enlarged. Towards the end of the last glaciation (Wisconsin), lakes formed in front of retreating ice margins, first in the Erie and Michigan basins, and drained S to the Mississippi more than 14 000 years ago. Subsequently, a lake formed in the southern part of the Huron basin and drainage between Erie, Huron and Michigan was linked. There was also an outlet to the Hudson R (S of the Ontario basin). The Ontario basin became ice free about 12 000 years ago; Lake Superior and Georgian Bay later. The presence of ice margins caused many early lakes to form at very high levels. At one time, a single huge lake covered much of the upper Great Lakes area (Superior, Michigan and Huron). As the ice melted away from the natural outlets, lake levels often dropped quickly and to extremely low levels, for example, about a 150 m drop in the Ontario basin, with the opening of the St Lawrence Valley (12 000-11 500 years ago). As a result of continued uplift during the past 10 000 years, upper lakes drainage was fully transferred (through lakes St Clair and Erie) to Lake Ontario only 4000-5000 years ago, when the Chicago outlet (Lake Michigan) closed.
The Great Lakes have, since the days of the early fur trade, provided an important transportation route to the interior of the continent, and with the opening of the ST LAWRENCE SEAWAY (1959) they became a truly international waterway.
Can the foundation of Canada be traced back to Indigenous trade routes? In this episode Falen and Leah take a trip across the Great Lakes, they talk corn and vampires, and discuss some big concerns currently facing Canada's water.
Note: The Secret Life of Canada is hosted and written by Falen Johnson and Leah Simone Bowen and is a CBC original podcast independent of The Canadian Encyclopedia.
Ice cover on North America’s Great LakesSatellite images of the extensive ice cover on North America’s Great Lakes in February 2014. From The Earth Observatory website.
Lac Guillaume-Delisle
Lake Simcoe
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Interview with Kate Cheeseman (Director of What Happened To Evie)
21/09/2018 · by loonyliterature · in Interviews. ·
Hello Kate, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Firstly I’d like to ask how would you describe the plot of the film?
This is something we have struggled to describe succinctly without giving the plot away! “What Happened to Evie is a complex thriller about a young woman piecing together and dealing with her memories of a sexual attack. Taking the audience through her own journey, this short deals with some of society’s own prejudices in a subtle and informative way.”
So that is our premise which I think says most things and telling more reveals the twists and turns too much!
Do you think work that exploring issues like sexual assault is more important to depict and discuss in film now than ever because of changing attitudes and the #MeToo movement?
I think we need to keep the debate going, so that it doesn’t disappear with nothing changing and film is one way to get people talking. There is a lot that needs to be properly thought about which as a society we should all be part of debating, starting from how we portray people on screen and how those people relate to each other, love each other and how they solve problems. Story telling is part of how we ask and talk about questions. You also can’t tell young people something is wrong but glorify it continually on the screen.
Then, people never like being lectured at so what I hope our film does is make people think about some of the issues. The guy who carried out the assault in the film was very clearly wrong, but those guys that helped her, though they acted as heroes their behaviour was not exactly good. This is something they realise at the end. I think for me some of the best feedback has been that that viewers really liked seeing this and were moved by that part of the film. It made them think and talk about the issues.
Given the complexity and horrific nature of the central theme of the film, was it important to you to be always be aware of the impact the film would have on viewers who may have experienced something similar to Evie?
Of course! I talked to a lot of people who had had similar experiences and they all really liked the script and many wanted to be involved, so they were helpful. I also didn’t want the film to be voyeuristic which is why we did things like keep the heroine’s clothes on in the bath scene. We shot it all very much from her point of view so that you felt like you were experiencing her pain rather than watching it from the outside. I hope this meant it made it more sympathetic to woman (and indeed men) who have been through this. Also, we cleared it with the Rape Crisis in Britain and had one of their ambassadors do a piece for our website so that anyone who needed help has a number to ring.
What was the casting process for the film like?
Casting was pretty much like any other casting; looking for the right person who was a great actor and could play the part. It made it easier that they didn’t have to get naked I think, which was in the original script. Also, we choreographed the scenes very carefully with a fight advisor, so all the actors we saw knew that they would be in safe hands, both the men and women. I think if people know something is going to be handled professionally, they are more willing to take part in something like this. There was one actor who was worried about playing a rapist and pulled out, but then we found Mike Jibson, who is a brilliant actor and felt that the film was important to make so kindly agreed to be in the film.
How does this film compare to other films you’ve worked on?
I hope each film I make is better than the last! I’ve always wanted to make more thrillers so that was good and I very much wanted to explore the way memories rattle round in your head and small things trigger them and bring them to the surface, but not necessarily in the right order. So, as well as the content, I loved the script and the style I would be able to use. Otherwise each film has its own challenges and things you love about it.
What would you say were your main influences when writing this film?
Carol Younghusband wrote the screenplay based on a real life experience a friend of hers had when she was young. This girl was never able to tell anyone what happened to her apart from her friend. Carol wanted to write something to help others talk; a bit like the #MeToo. That is why the script is so good as she wrote it from her heart with a lot of passion.
How would you say directing a film like this compares to working on a television series like Call the Midwife? Do you feel you have more autonomy as a director with projects like this as opposed to a television series?
You work on different projects for different reasons, but Call the Midwife also raises really important and quite hard issues, celebrates amazing women and is a brilliant and incredibly popular series. It does have a house style, but that is something you know beforehand. As some famous person once said, and I can’t remember who, sometimes limitations make you more creative. I love working with great actors and getting great performances. Whatever the programme or film, the two most important things for me are always the script and the acting. How many multi-million dollar movies have we seen with great shots but no heart? So, whatever I work on these elements are the most important things and I feel both have that or I wouldn’t have done either.
What other projects are you planning on working on in the future?
I’m working on a number of feature films; one about a family dealing with loss. It’s a magical realist type film and quite exciting in its concept, a bit like Truly Madly Deeply in a way. Then I also have a thriller about a girl who is stalked but, in the end, gets the guy. A bit different though from the one just directed by Soderberg – Unsane, though it does have some common themes! Then I have a few other ideas in early stages. We’re mainly looking for development finance to be able to pay the writer, but that is tough to find these days!
With thanks to Kate. You can watch a trailer for “What Happened to Evie” below and make sure you try to see this fantastic film:
Tags: #MeToo, Call The Midwife, Carol Younghusband, Directing, Directors, Film, Filmmaking, Kate Cheeseman, Mike Jibson, Unsane, What Happened to Evie
← Interview with Noor Gharzeddine (Director of Are You Glad I’m Here)
Interview with Henry Liu (Director of Release) →
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Jul 27, 2020 | International | 0 comments
After Stonewall: The LGBTQ+ Community in the 1970’s
Written by Roland Baldwin
A look at the experience of the LGBTQ+ community in the 1970’s, from the beginnings of the modern Pride Parade to the tragic killing of Harvey Milk.
In June 1970, one year on from the Stonewall Riots the landmark event was commemorated with a Gay Rights March. This wasn’t the huge celebration Pride would become in the years to come – it was still a protest. The LGBTQ+ community was still dealing with great oppression. Stonewall brought about change but it was by no means an overnight change for the better. Stonewall veterans Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera were founding members of S.T.A.R. (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries). As early as 1973 it was becoming evident the queer experience was being rewritten as primarily white and male. During the Gay Rights March of 1973 in New York Sylvia stormed the stage. “Y’all better quiet down” she said, as people tried to boo her off. She was having none of it.
‘I have been beaten. I have had my nose broken. I have been thrown in jail. I have lost my job. I have lost my apartment for gay liberation and you all treat me this way? What the fuck’s wrong with you all? Think about that!’
Sylvia’s speech was very telling of the contemporary erasure of trans women in the gay rights movement. It was not until recent years that I first heard of Stormé DeLarverie, a black lesbian who was also one of the key figures at the riots.
It was also in the early 70’s mainstream media began to turn the tides on representation. Sitcom creator Norman Lear was revolutionary in featuring an out gay man in an episode of All in the Family in 1971 and a recurring drag character. Its spinoff, The Ropers, featured a transgender character who for the time was less of a punchline as had been the trend in the preceding years, instead being portrayed in more human terms.
1973 saw the first reality tv show in America with An American Family, a precursor to the likes of The Osbornes and Keeping up with the Kardashians. Notable among the cast was the out and proud Lance Loud, who became a high profile public figure due to this.
In the UK the “camp queen” was a trope that was extremely popular throughout the 70’s. John Inman’s Mr Humphreys character in long running sitcom Are You Being Served? Was an example of this, a gay man who was simultaneously the subject of the joke but also being in on it. This sent out the message that it was alright to be gay on British TV as long as you were non-threatening and played the role of the sissy. These 70’s camp characters were accepted once they hid everything that was outside the stereotype. An outlier in this regard was Kenny Everett, who was blatant, unapologetic and overtly sexual on his shows.
Back in America, a subculture was emerging that was a refuge for the disenfranchised and outcasts in society. Disco emerged out of the soul of the 1960’s and the need for hedonistic escapism from the post-Vietnam and Nixon-powered America. The disco movement shone brightly from the dawn of the 70’s to the very end when the “Disco Sucks” protest brought it to a very abrupt ending in 1979.
Politics also turned the tide in the 70’s, especially when Harvey Milk rose to prominence. He had spent time in New York where he had befriended some gay radical activists, and considered this a call to arms. Harvey Milk had had a variety of jobs throughout his life including that of a lifeguard, theatre producer and schoolteacher before moving to San Francisco in 1972. Here, in both 1973 and 1975, he ran for public office but was inexperienced as a politician and lost the election. Despite this he continued being a prolific activist and worked hard to ensure the wellbeing of the people of Castro, his neighbourhood in San Francisco. Third time was a charm for Harvey Milk and he was successfully elected in 1977. He was affectionately known in the area as the ‘Mayor of Castro Street’. He made several high-profile political contacts including the then-mayor of San Francisco George Moscone, future mayor Willie Brown, and Dianne Feinstein who would go on to win a seat in the Senate.
Harvey Milk was tragically shot to death on 28 November 1978 by Dan White who had also been elected in the same year as Milk. They often clashed over their differing ideologies, with White arguing that the city was in moral decline. That same night he entered the mayor’s office via an open window and killed Mayor Moscone. White later turned himself in at the police precinct he had worked at while he was previously on the police force.
White was sentenced to manslaughter and served only six years in prison. His conviction of manslaughter was a blow to the LGBTQ+ community as it was felt it devalued Harvey Milk’s life, with many in the LGBTQ+ community arguing that he should have been convicted on a murder charge. The manslaughter conviction was viewed as discriminatory, suggesting that White was given a lesser sentence just because Milk was gay. In 1985 White was released and soon after took his own life.
Further challenges were faced by the LGBTQ+ community from the right in the shape of Anita Bryant, a Christian singer and jingle singer on an orange juice advert. Bryant campaigned for an organisation called Save Our Children whose purpose was to have gay teachers removed from schools as they were perceived by Bryant and her followers as spreading the “homosexual agenda”. This is not dissimilar to the campaign of hate recently experienced by Minister for Children, Disability, Equality and Integration Roderick O’Gorman, an openly gay Green Party TD.
Bryant became a popular figure. She would travel around singing wholesome songs intermingled with her orange juice jingle. On one occasion she was met with a pie in the face. Anita Bryant’s organisation Save Our Children’s slogan was “Homosexuals Cannot Reproduce, So They Must Recruit”.
Alan Rockway was one of the key opponents to Anita Bryant. He spoke out against her and was instrumental in blocking Anita Bryant and Save Our Children’s campaign. He helped define historic anti-discrimination employment legislation protecting LGBTQ+ people in the workplace. Years later the Rockway Institute would be founded in his name to carry on his legacy.
As the 1970’s came to a close, it was clear that the LGBTQ+ community had come a very long way. However, the party lifestyle and liberties they had been attained were to be challenged by a dark cloud on the horizon. The AIDS crisis was right around the corner and Conservative Republican Ronald Reagan was about to take residence in the White House. Ireland also entered the arena with our first gay rights marches in the early 80’s. Join me in our next part when I’ll be looking at how echoes of the 80’s are still impacting LGBTQ+ life today, and also further examining the LGBTQ+ community’s relationship with music.
EU’s latest agreement is step in the right direction, but devil is in the details
by Stephen Moynihan | Jul 22, 2020 | International
The European Union agreed to a landmark deal in this week’s summit, which includes mutualisation of debt. However, this does not tell the whole story.
The White House continues to live in an alternate reality
The COVID-19 situation in the US is getting worse, but the White House is more concerned with imaginary enemies of the people and Dr Anthony Fauci.
PreviousEU’s latest agreement is step in the right direction, but devil is in the details
NextCan Trump Delay the US Election?
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Abalone industry welcomes Govt money to fight virus
8 October 2007, at 1:00am
AUSTRALIA - Victoria's abalone industry wants to see the detail of the Federal Government's funding and emergency task force that was announced yesterday. The Government is promising $100-thousand( Aus) for research into the herpes-like virus that is killing thousands of abalone.
The virus is spreading along Victoria's south west coastline, as far west a Deception Bay near Portland and east to a reef in the Bay of Islands near Port Campbell.
The South Australian and Tasmanian abalone industries are worried the virus will enter their waters and have joined calls for Federal intervention. The industry has been critical of the Victorian Government's response to the virus.
Vincent Gannon of the Victorian Abalone Divers Association says the federal intervention is welcome. But he wants to see details of the task force.
"It would be good to see who is on the task force and what's being done about the taskforce. But certainly we're welcoming intervention," he said. "I think aquaculture in the marine environment and diseases in the marine environment have to have a national focus because it's so hard to control once the diseases are in the wild," he said.
Mr. Gannon says it is a good idea to examine biosecurity on a national level.
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GTMO hunger strike and DWP make-believe
24 August 2015 by acwessely
Photo credit: Guardian
Alex Wessely brings you the latest Round-up.
Guantanamo Bay was back in the headlines this week, after the Obama administration responded to a legal request to free a hunger-striking detainee “entirely in secret”. Tariq Ba Odah has refused to eat voluntarily since 2007, and now weighs a “shockingly frail” 74.5 pounds (33.8kg).
Tariq, who was 23 when first detained, has never been charged with a crime, and in 2010 a US task force concluded he could be released without posing a risk to the US. His lawyers filed a habeas corpus petition in June, and the long-awaited response by the US Justice Department was released on Friday: it simply read “sealed opposition”.
The Guardian reports that this is probably the first instance of a “secret” opposition to a writ of habeus corpus, and that Tariq’s lawyers are surprised and angry, calling Obama’s plans to close Guantanamo an “incoherent mess”.
Amnesty have called for his “immediate release” , citing his “deeply concerning” health (a doctor who examined him compared his state to that of a late-stage AIDS or cancer patient), as has the Center for Constitutional Rights. Human Rights Watch calls the US government’s decision “deeply disappointing”, aimed at shielding the government from embarrassment rather than protecting national security. Tariq remains defiant: “Protesting by hunger striking is the only way to communicate [to those with freedom] what it means to be unjustly detained, to be put in a cell for over a decade without charge”
Legal Aid Strike: after 52 days, the Criminal Law Solicitors’ Association and the London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association have released a joint statement announcing the suspension of the so-called legal aid strike. This, according to the statement, is a “gesture of goodwill” in relation to continuing negotiations, although the Law Society Gazette reports “mixed reactions” from lawyers across the country, as does Legal Cheek here.
Human Rights Watch points to a surge in unlawful Palestinian home demolitions, with 126 Palestinians having been left homeless following demolitions last week.
441 cases of human rights violations went unpunished in Darfur in 2014 – the UN.
The DWP have been left red-faced after admitting inventing quotes from fake ‘benefit claimants’ for a sanctions leaflet. This came to light after some astute Freedom of Information Requests made by Welfare Weekly. Matters got worse for Iain Duncan Smith’s department, when it emerged that one fake claimant, ‘Zac’, had previously appeared in other literature.
A and M v Royal Mal Group
A case involving compensation for a minor road traffic accident may have far-reaching consequences for solicitors’ success fees, and reveals an unintended consequence of the cuts to legal aid.
The claimants, two children involved in a collision with a Royal Mail vehicle, were awarded around two thousand pounds each, in an entirely predictable settlement. However, changes to legal aid funding meant their father (and litigation friend) was required to pay their solicitors £1,865 in respect of a success fee and an after-the-event (ATE) insurance premium.
District Judge Lumb reacted angrily to suggestions that not charging a success fee would make such work “uneconomical”, as well as castigating the children’s solicitors for taking out ATE insurance in such a low-risk case. The ruling, and the doubt it cases on personal injury lawyers’ model of recovering fees is discussed here, and here by Joshua Rozenburg – who concludes that all this would have been prevented in the previous legal aid model, and that the subsequent scrapping of legal aid in these areas has created a “classic false economy [which] has cost us all much more than it ever saved”.
If you would like your event to be mentioned on the Blog, please email the details to Jim Duffy, at jim.duffy@1cor.com.
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Leading mediator, trainer, speaker and consultant
Transforming conflict, building dialogue, and maintaining people’s relationships
When I started UK Mediation back in 1999 the last thing I wanted to do was to replicate what everyone else was doing! Having been a psychotherapist for quite a while, I thought, ‘Well, why not use what I already know to get under the skin of conflict, and to look at resolving it from the inside out?’ So now I’ve got arguably the biggest and most successful mediation company around, and the idea seems to have worked!
The thing is that we struggle to negotiate our way through conflict because we’re so angry, put out, hurt, or impatient that we find it hard not to let emotion get in the way of reason. Communication breaks down, and we get so wrapped up in an interpersonal struggle that we can scarcely remember how the argument got started in the first place. My approach is to understand these conflict processes in great detail, so that we can start to resolve all sorts of disputes much more effectively.
My curiosity about the psychology of conflict has led to a whole load of services and training courses that you won’t find anywhere else. My life’s work has been in understanding where conflict comes from, and how we can get better at resolving it. UK Mediation is my way of making these ideas, services, and courses available for you to use: transforming conflict, building dialogue, and maintaining better relationships.
“As a mediator, I provide a safe, confidential, and neutral environment in which everyone can start to build better dialogue.” Dr. Mike Talbot, Founder and CEO
UK Mediation
Mike’s unique approach to the resolution of conflict has led to him being in high demand as a practising mediator. His work includes workplace mediation, resolving interpersonal, family, financial, or business-related matters, and addressing conflict within teams and groups.
Working with the team at UK Mediation Ltd, Mike has developed an innovative suite of training programmes based around his unique psycho-therapeutic approach to conflict resolution. Bucking the trend for treating mediation as a quasi-legal process, Mike wants his trainees to gain a thorough understanding of the thoughts, emotions and behaviours that can get in the way of the successful resolution of conflict.
Mediation Case Supervision & Practice Consultancy
Mike is highly qualified and experienced as a clinical supervisor, and is uniquely placed to offer expert case supervision and practice consultancy for practising mediators. He runs a series of regular supervision groups for organisations and offers one-to-one case supervision to mediators at all stages of their professional development.
Every organisation experiences conflict from time to time, and sometimes needs additional support to help resolve it. Mike has worked with organisations from charities to FTSE 100 companies, from manufacturing to finance, both in the UK and worldwide, applying his unique psychotherapeutic approach to lasting conflict resolution.
Speaking, conferences and press
Mike is available to speak at your conference, seminar, training event or away-day. He also regularly contributes to journals, magazines, trade and popular press, and radio & TV, as an expert on mediation in general, and on psychological aspects of conflict in particular.
Enquiries should be directed to admin@ukmediation.net, or by calling Scott McIver on 0800 772 0778.
More about Mike’s public speaking
Just some of the events Mike has spoken at:
Founded in 1999 by Dr Mike Talbot, UK Mediation is the leading provider of mediation services and training in the UK. Discover more about our approach to conflict resolution, our accreditations, history, and what we have to offer.
Available as either a bespoke in-house course delivered on your premises, or at one of our renowned open access public courses, our mediation training is accredited, professional and used by some of the UK’s biggest organisations.
Mediation is about resolving a dispute without the need for courts or tribunals, judges or arbitrators. Our experienced mediators can work with you or your organisation to resolve even the most entrenched of conflicts.
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Posted inPolitics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US
Is This What Voluntary Corporate Social Responsibility Looks Like?
by Dimitri Lascaris December 2, 2014 September 23, 2020
Dimitri Lascaris on the case against Nevsun Resources, a Canadian mining company whose appalling labour record in Eritrea was brought to court by a consortium of Canadian Law firms
Story Transcript
SHARMINI PERIES, EXEC. PRODUCER, TRNN: Welcome to The Real News Network. I’m Sharmini Peries, coming to you from Baltimore.
Canada is a big player in the global mining industry. According to the Canadian government’s Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, in 2013 Canadian headquartered mining and exploration companies accounted for nearly 31 percent of global exploration expenditures and 50 percent of the world’s publicly listed exploration and mining. These 1,500 companies had an interest in some 8,000 properties in over 100 countries around the world.
One such mining company, called Nevsun resources, has a single operating gold mine situated in Eritrea. Let’s have a look at a company promotion video for the mine to attract investors.
VOICEOVER: The Bisha mine in Eritrea–a partnership between Vancouver-based Nevsun Resources and the Eritrean government’s mining company, known as ENAMCO, a joint venture that produces high-grade gold, silver, copper, and zinc.
CLIFF T. DAVIS, CEO, NEVSUN RESOURCES LTD.: Well, the Bisha mine is the only producing mine in Eritrea, and it plays a very important role in the Eritrean economy. And we’re proud to say it adds significant tangible benefits to the people of Eritrea.
VOICEOVER: After decades of struggle, Eritrea won its independence in 1993, and the Bisha mine, the first and only modern mine in the country, is playing a big part in helping create opportunity, prosperity, and self-reliance.
PERIES: Now a Consortium of Canadian law firms, including Siskinds, have commenced a representative action in the courts of British Columbia against Nevsun’s resources, and their client is the mine workers.
Now with us to discuss the issue is one of the lawyers pursuing the lawsuit, Dimitri Lascaris. Dimitri is joining us from Quebec City, and he is a partner with the Canadian law firm of Siskinds, where he heads the firm’s securities class actions practice.
Thanks so much for joining us, Dimitri.
DIMITRI LASCARIS, SECURITIES CLASS ACTIONS LAWYER, CANADA: Thank you for having me, Sharmini.
PERIES: So, Dimitri, begin by telling us about Nevsun Resources and the case you’re pursuing.
LASCARIS: So Nevsun, as I think you indicated, is a TSX-listed mining company. It’s based in Vancouver, but it has one single operating mine, a goldmine, in Eritrea, a country that’s not particularly well known to people in the West. It’s an extraordinarily poor country. It’s in Northeast Africa. It borders on Sudan and Ethiopia. It was in conflict with Ethiopia for an extended period of time.
And this company, Nevsun, in 2008 began to develop a mine at a place called Bisha. And it did so in partnership with a company that is owned by the state. The state is a one-party state. It’s never had elections. There’s no constitution. There’s no independently functioning judiciary. It’s run by a party which is ironically named the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice. And at the time when nevsun entered into this partnership, which effectively confers upon it indirectly a 60 percent interest in the mine with a 40 percent interest to the state-owned entity, it was widely known, primarily through the efforts, the investigative and reporting efforts of reputable human rights organizations like Amnesty International, that this regime, the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice, was a widely employing forced labor throughout the country.
And it did this through something called the National Service Program, which it established in the 90s. And in theory, the National Service Program entailed the conscription of all persons between the ages of 18 and 40 for a period of 18 months–six months of military training and 12 months of service.
However, in 2002, the government effectively extended indefinitely the service of those who had been conscripted into the National Service program and forced them to continue to work for the government for subsistence wages, meager subsistence wages, through, basically, brutality and terror. And as a result of that, the government was able to employ forced labor–as I said, subsistence wages–in companies that were controlled by military officers or by the party, directly or indirectly. And two of those companies–one is called Segen, the other is called /mɛrɛb/–became contractors to the mine site or to the Eritrean entity that was jointly owned by the state and by Nevsun and for a period of years supplied workers, those two companies, to the mine site for the construction phase of the mine.
Our clients were three–the people who are actually named as plaintiffs in this representative action were three people persons who were enrolled in the National Service program and who allege that they were forced to work in the mine for a period of years against their will under brutal conditions. And they are now bringing an action putatively on behalf of all Eritrean nationals who worked at the mine from 2008 to 2012.
PERIES: Right. And how did these mineworkers get a hold of you? How did the case begin?
LASCARIS: Well, a very enterprising young lawyer who has a passionate interest in human rights became aware through a relationship with the human rights activist, an Eritrean human rights activist in the United Kingdom, in the plight of these workers, and brought that to my attention, to the attention of our cocounsel. And we then had to travel abroad to meet with them because they are refugees living in very difficult conditions outside of Eritrea. After a period of days straight, in which we interviewed them, they retained us to pursue this litigation in Canada on their behalf and on behalf of those who are within the putative class.
PERIES: Right. So this is representing the three workers. And it’s really a class-action suit because it’s on behalf of all the workers that had worked at the mine. Now, this is also precedent-setting in Canada. Is that so?
LASCARIS: Well, this is an emerging trend. There are actually a couple of other cases, one against a company called HudBay Minerals, another against a company called Tahoe, the latter, which our cocounsel is working on, involves human rights abuses in Central America committed by or facilitated by, allegedly, a Canadian mining company.
And the reason why victims of human rights abuses by Canadian extractive corporations are beginning to turn to the courts is because the government has basically failed to impose a regime upon this sector that is preventing these sorts of abuses happening. The government in question is that of the Conservatives, the Harper government. In 2009, at which point the government, I believe, was in a minority, it introduced something called the corporate social responsibility strategy. This did not impose any meaningful obligations backed up by an effective enforcement mechanism on mining companies. It simply was an expression of the company, of the government’s expectation that these companies, these mining companies operating abroad, would do so consistently with international norms, including international human rights law.
Activists for people who have been victimized by Canadian mining companies, through the good graces of a member of parliament and opposition at the time of the Liberal Party, brought forward a bill called Bill C-300, the responsible mining bill in 2010. And that bill was actually a very modest reform. It didn’t really impose meaningful penalties for violations of international law by mining companies. What it did was it set up a complaint process, which enabled victims to go to an ombudsman and lay out their case. And if the ombudsman decided that there was no basis to the claim, the reasons for the decision would have to be publicized. They’d have to be publicly available. And if there was a basis to claim, the government could potentially use its financing of offshore activity of mining companies as a weapon to force them into compliance. And this bill was, predictably, opposed by Conservative Party.
What was not so predictable was that the leader of the Liberal Party at the time, Michael Ignatieff, who was an Harvard academic for long time and I think who fairly described himself or who characterized himself as being a champion of human rights, at a very critical moment in the debate about this bill, expressed reservations about it. And a number of members of his party ultimately did not vote in favor of the bill, and it failed by six votes. So that modest effort failed.
And then we fast-forward to November of this year. The government, probably because there has been some pressure mounting about the activities of Canadian mining companies abroad, brought forward what it called its enhanced corporate social responsibility strategy. However, the key aspect of this remains the same. It is voluntary. It is merely an expression of the government’s expectation that there will be compliance with international norms by these companies. And ultimately there is no effective remedy offered within this CSR [CRS (?)] strategy for victims of human rights abuses.
And so now you’re seeing victims come forward increasingly to courts, and I think it’s going to be a growing trend in this country, because, frankly, the mining sector in Canada, it’s king in this country. It has a very powerful voice within policy circles, and it has an appalling record abroad. And litigation at this stage is probably the most effective option that its victims have.
PERIES: Right. Dimitri, thank you so much for joining us today, and we hope that we can follow the story along with you.
LASCARIS: Thank you very much, Sharmini.
PERIES: And thank you for joining us on The Real News Network.
DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy.
Dimitri Lascaris
Dimitri Lascaris is a lawyer that focuses on human rights and environmental law. He is the former justice critic of the Green Party of Canada and is a board member of the Real News Network.
More by Dimitri Lascaris
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Posted inArticle, Politics and Movements: US, The Real Baltimore
Protester Arrested At State House: Gov. Hogan Would Not Drink Our Water
by Dharna Noor March 20, 2018 September 22, 2020
By Dharna Noor
UPDATE: A bill has just been introduced by Montgomery County’s Delegate Shane Robinson. The emergency legislation (HB1826) would require an independent review of all permit application for the construction of gas pipelines or drilling in karst geology. To complete the review processes for pending applications, Maryland Department of the Environment would be required to deny the application without prejudice.
Jean Cushman is one of five woman who were arrested on the steps of the Maryland State House last week. After standing in the cold and singing “We Shall Overcome” for two hours, they were handcuffed and driven to a nearby police station.
“It was pretty cold out and we saw some snow. The wind was blowing quite a lot – it was not comfortable,” she said.
The five expected to be arrested sooner. “We think the reason that it took so long to arrest us is because Governor Hogan didn’t like the optics of arresting women with gray hair who have children and/or grandchildren,” Cushman said.
The women were protesting the routing of a natural gas pipeline through western Maryland, beneath the Potomac River. Despite this action and others on the part of environmental advocates, two days later, Maryland officials issued a permit for the Columbia Pipeline to TransCanada, the company known for its Keystone XL Pipeline.
Cushman said this news came as no surprise. “I don’t think we’d expect a lot of concern about safety from [Maryland Department of Energy Secretary] Ben Grumbles.”
The Maryland Department of Energy has said it will subject the pipeline to “special environmental conditions” to protect land and drinking water. In a statement, the agency said:
“After a year of robust, public review, the state is insisting on extra precautions and safeguards. Our state permit is strong and balanced, adding almost two dozen environmental conditions, many of which go above and beyond what the Army Corps and FERC would typically include, while also recognizing that natural gas has a role in meeting state and regional energy needs,” said Maryland Environment Secretary Ben Grumbles. “The bottom line is that this pipeline will not get built if the applicant doesn’t comply with our many requirements, regardless of what the federal agencies ultimately decide.”
But advocates from Chesapeake Climate Action Network have said these measures are not enough to protect the Potomac River, which over 6 million people rely on for drinking water. “While we are still reviewing the permit, we question whether the conditions under the state’s Wetlands and Waterways permit are even enforceable,” they said. “We also question whether they are sufficient to protect the state’s waters, given the sensitive geology and the potential impacts to the treasured Potomac River.”
They added that “the state should have pursued a more powerful 401 certification under the Clean Water Act, which would have looked at the project holistically and would have put the burden on TransCanada to prove that the project won’t harm water quality.”
Food and Water Watch organizer Rianna Eckel said the Clean Water Act could have been used to reject the permit. “Under section 401 of the Clean Water Act, Maryland has the authority to reject a permit if after a 401 certification process, it is determined that the project will be detrimental to the State’s waterways,” she said in an email to The Real News.
“Their ‘special conditions’ are really just greenwashing a decision by the Governor to lock us in to fossil fuel infrastructure, further climate chaos and go back on his promise to protect Marylanders from the threats posed by fracking,” Eckel wrote.
TransCanada plans to use a trenchless, horizontal drilling method which they claim is safe. “It is an environmentally friendly method used across sensitive areas that significantly reduces impact to the land above the drilling site and surrounding communities,” they said in a video.
But Eckel said that trenchless drilling does not mean safe drilling.
“Recently while laying the Rover Pipeline in Ohio using HDD, 150,000 gallons of drilling fluids were released into the surrounding wetlands. This same pipeline spilled 2 million gallons of drilling fluid last April,” she said. “The site where the Potomac Pipeline will be built is karst geology, which is especially porous. Essentially, this spells disaster. A spill or leak using HDD would release drilling fluids or other industrial chemicals into the water source for 6 million people.”
“Who wants to drink toxic water?,” Cushman asked. “Hand a glass of that to Governor Hogan and ask him how it tastes. And I’m sure he wouldn’t take a drink of it. I’m sure Ben Grumbles wouldn’t either.”
Photo credit: Chesapeake Climate Action Network
Dharna Noor
Dharna Noor is a staff writer at Earther, Gizmodo's climate vertical.
More by Dharna Noor
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Posted inArticle
The U.S. Attorney Who Prosecutes JPMorgan Will Be Its First Witness
by TRNN November 4, 2013 September 23, 2020
By William K. Black.
The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California is Benjamin Wagner.
“Once the U.S. government built a case against J.P. Morgan and settlement talks began, the Justice Department made several threats that it would file its civil lawsuit, and each time J.P. Morgan responded by offering to talk more or increase the amount of money it might pay, the people familiar with the discussions said.
One critical moment came as the department set an internal deadline, Sept. 24, to file a suit against the bank.
The day before the deadline, the bank offered to pay $3 billion to settle a case tied to mortgage-backed securities—an offer the attorney general rejected. That same day, Ben Wagner, the U.S. attorney from Sacramento, Calif., flew to Washington with two large charts he meant to display at a news conference describing the bank’s alleged misconduct. A criminal and civil investigation into J.P. Morgan’s past sale of mortgages bonds had been handled by Mr. Wagner’s office.”
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303902404579149552971514832?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection
Note both aspects of the last paragraph. To ramp up the pressure on JPMorgan to settle, Wagner was prepared to file a civil suit against JPMorgan. Press leaks suggest that the suit focuses on Washington Mutual’s (WaMu) control frauds in sale of fraudulent originated mortgages to the secondary market through fraudulent “reps and warranties.” JPMorgan acquired WaMu. The same leaks claim that Wagner is pursuing that rarest of investigations under the Bush and Obama administration – a criminal investigation of the elite bankers who led the three most financially destructive epidemics of accounting “control fraud” in history – the twin loan origination fraud epidemics (appraisal and liar’s loans) and the epidemic of fraudulent sales to the secondary market.
Wagner’s, reported, unique pursuit of a criminal case against elite bankers led to “local boy makes good” praise in an October 25, 2013 article entitled “Sacramento’s chief federal prosecutor is the top investigator in JPMorgan Chase case.”
“When U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner was a line prosecutor in Sacramento, the Internal Revenue Service loved him.
The agency goes after financial crimes, but they are often complex, hard to prove and time-consuming. Thus, many prosecutors shy away from them as not cost effective, given that white-collar crooks routinely get comparatively light sentences.
But Wagner always welcomed IRS agents and their loads of Byzantine evidence with open arms.
“If we don’t do them, nobody will,” he said in an interview Friday. “We have the resources, sophisticated equipment, specially trained investigators, and national jurisdiction.
‘You can’t look just at the prison time. I personally believe these kinds of cases offer more opportunity for deterrence than other areas, such as street crime,’ he added. ‘Just on a personal level, big, white-collar crime is the most challenging, the most interesting, and the psychology of the defendants is fascinating. It’s very rewarding.’
This viewpoint was recognized after President Barack Obama appointed Wagner in 2009 as U.S. attorney in the Sacramento-based Eastern District of California and he began to have more and more contact with the top brass at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.
His high standing there led to Wagner and his office taking on JPMorgan Chase & Co., the nation’s largest bank, over questionable mortgage securities it bundled and sold in the run-up to the financial crisis.
Word of a tentative $13 billion settlement between JPMorgan and various stakeholders leaked out a week ago, and the national press has waxed amazed that a prosecutor from Sacramento is spearheading the Obama administration’s move on the leviathan financial institution. Wagner was even called an ‘upstart’ in one article.
But, when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder set up a working group ‘to bring more resources to bear on the role of the big banks in the mortgage crisis,’ Wagner was chosen as a member. The group is headed by Tony West, a Holder confidant and the third-ranking official in the department.
It became obvious last year, Wagner said, that “there weren’t enough attorneys in Washington and New York” qualified to investigate the labyrinthian business of the banks, and some U.S. attorneys who head larger offices were recruited for the task.
‘I kinda put my hand up to take the JPMorgan case,” Wagner said. “They (Justice Department officials) have a lot of confidence in this office, so it was natural we would be asked to step up.’
On Sept. 23, Wagner flew to Washington prepared to announce the next day a multibillion-dollar civil suit against the bank. He and his two assistants had amassed what they saw as nationwide evidence of fraudulent activity in the packaging of home loans as securities by JPMorgan in the pre-crisis era.”
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/10/25/5853339/sacramentos-chief-federal-prosecutor.html
I will note three puzzling aspects to this story as preliminaries. Why did JPMorgan (or WaMu) engage in “nationwide … fraudulent activity” in its sales to the secondary market? An honest bank does not have to make fraudulent reps and warranties to sell its loans. The officers controlling a bank engaged in accounting control fraud, however, fraudulently originate hundreds of thousands of bad, often fraudulent, mortgage loans because doing so optimizes the fraud “recipe” for a lender. Given that I am writing about JPMorgan, I will quote a JPMorgan official making the point. As Jamie Dimon explained in his March 30, 2012 letter to JPMorgan’s shareholders:
“Low-quality revenue is easy to produce, particularly in financial services. Poorly underwritten loans represent income today and losses tomorrow.”
Of course, the “income today” is fictional because the bank has, fraudulent, failed to establish loss reserves for the losses that are inevitable “tomorrow.” Again, the key is the point made by George Akerlof and Paul Romer in their 1993 article (“Looting: The Economic Underworld of Bankruptcy for Profit”) – the fraud recipe for a lender produces three “sure things.” The lender – even without sales to the secondary market – is sure to report record (albeit fictional) earnings in the near-term, the controlling officers are sure to be made promptly wealthy, and lender will suffer severe losses.
Note that selling the bad loans to the secondary market does not avoid this last “sure thing” because fraudulent originated bad loans can only be sold through fraudulent reps and warranties. (There is no fraud exorcist – fraudulent originated fraudulent loans remain fraudulent throughout any chain of sale.) Indeed, Fannie and Freddie’s suits (which DOJ hijacked to claim some of the credit) have made that very point in the context of JPMorgan and over 15 other massive banks. WaMu and Bear Stearns (which JPMorgan also acquired) and JPMorgan all originated enormous numbers of endemically fraudulent liar’s loans and WaMu was infamous for inflating appraisals. It was inevitable that if they sold such fraudulently originated mortgages to the secondary market, and they did in enormous amounts, that the sales would have to be made through fraudulent reps and warranties. If the leaks are accurate, then the FBI and Wagner’s investigation has confirmed this fact.
But note that the DOJ’s vaunted “task force” only investigates secondary market sales of residential mortgages. So Wagner, according to these reports, only looked at one of the three fraud epidemics and ignored the twin loan origination fraud epidemics. This is a bizarre means of (dis)organizing an investigation because the two types of fraud by lenders (origination and sale) are inextricably linked and the witnesses and documents needed to understand the fraud schemes overlap. Ignoring the loan origination fraud could lead jurors to ask the question I posed above – why would the lenders sell loans the DOJ is treating as honest through fraudulent reps and warranties?
Recall that the DOJ leadership and President Obama routinely downplay “fraud” as a cause of the financial crisis, yet the DOJ’s insipid investigations have confirmed “nationwide” fraud by the world’s largest banks. The DOJ, however, refuses to prosecute anyone to date and refuses to even bring civil fraud cases against the twin epidemics of loan origination fraud.
How can this be? Wagner exemplifies the answer to the FBI’s and the DOJ’s most profound failure. Because criminal referrals by the regulatory agencies virtually ceased against elite bankers in this crisis as the anti-regulatory agency heads destroyed the essential agency criminal referral process, the FBI and the DOJ were systematically shorn of vital industry expertise. The FBI’s white-collar section suffered grievously in response to the 9/11 attacks because the FBI’s leaders transferred hundreds of agents that the leaders viewed as being the best investigators with the best financial investigative skills. The FBI was so desperate for industry expertise that it formed a “partnership” with the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) in 2007. The MBA foisted a preposterous “definition” of “mortgage fraud” on the FBI and DOJ under which control fraud is defined out of existence and the senior bank leaders are always honest and faithful in their lending. Thus began the myth of the “Virgin crisis” – conceived without sin in the “C-suites.”
I have long urged reporters to ask the regulators how many criminal referrals they made during this crisis. David Heath, an investigative reporter at the Huffington Post was the first to do so, over three years ago. The answers he received (“no referrals”) were chilling, but they began to explain DOJ’s humiliating failure to prosecute any of the Wall Street elites whose frauds drove the crisis.
Heath did the Nation a great service by reporting the death (not dearth) of criminal referrals by regulators. Heath added to that service by asking the U.S. Attorney for one of epicenters of the accounting control fraud epidemics that drove the crisis to respond to my criticism of DOJ’s failure to prosecute. The U.S. Attorney responded that accounting control fraud was fictional because it required irrational actions.
“Benjamin Wagner, a U.S. Attorney who is actively prosecuting mortgage fraud cases in Sacramento, Calif., points out that banks lose money when a loan turns out to be fraudulent. ‘It doesn’t make any sense to me that they would be deliberately defrauding themselves,’ Wagner said.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/03/too-big-to-jail-executive_n_561961.html
I was appalled by Wagner’s comment, but delighted to have the claim made publicly, expressly rather than implicitly, and in such stark, unqualified terms. I wrote him privately to explain accounting control fraud and its decisive role in driving prior crises and the current crisis and to provide citations so he could review the relevant economics, criminology, and regulatory literature. I gently explained the obvious logical error embedded in his word usage. “They” refers to the CEO. “Themselves” refers to the bank. “They” are not “defrauding themselves.” The lender’s CEO makes far more money, and obtains a “sure thing” of being made promptly wealthy by causing the lender to make “fraudulent” loans that cause the bank to “lose money.” I, of course, received no reply.
Wagner thinks the motivation of elite white-collar criminals is mysterious: “the psychology of the defendants is fascinating.” The psychology of elite financial frauds can be “fascinating” in the sense of how twisted sociopaths are, but the more typical financial fraud’s motivations are boringly banal – they know that while it would be exceptionally difficult to obtain vast wealth in Tyler Cowen’s fantasy of a “hyper-meritocracy” it is simple to do so through the “sure thing” of accounting control fraud.
If I were JPMorgan’s criminal defense counsel the first witness I would call to testify would be Wagner. I would have him explain to a jury why loan origination fraud “doesn’t make any sense” for elite bankers and then explain how “reps and warranties” work and why “banks lose money when a loan [sale] turns out to be fraudulent.” That should blow up Wagner’s case in record time.
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Posted inArticle, Politics and Movements: International
Transition in the Middle East: Transition to what?
by James M. Dorsey November 20, 2017 September 22, 2020
By James M. Dorsey / Mid-East Soccer.
Transition is the name of the game in the Middle East and North Africa. The question is transition to what?
Dominating the answer is an Arab autocratic push for a Saudi-led regional order that would be based on an upgraded 21st century version of autocracy designed to fortify absolute rule. To achieve that autocrats have embraced economic reform accompanied by necessary social change that would allow them to efficiently deliver public goods and services. It is an approach that rejects recognition of basic freedoms and political rights and is likely to produce more open and inclusive political systems that ensure that all segments of society have a stake.
At the core of the volatile and often brutal and bloody battle that could take up to a quarter of a century to play out is the determination of Arab autocrats to guarantee their survival at whatever cost. Geopolitics play a major role in Arabic autocratic ambition. To compensate for their inherent weakness and lack of the building blocks needed for sustainable regional dominance, Arab autocrats except for Egypt, the one Arab state with the potential of being a dominant, long-term regional player, need to contain first and foremost Iran, and to a lesser degree Turkey.
It is a geopolitical struggle, dominated by the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran, that has enveloped the Middle East and North Africa for almost four decades and progressively undermined regional stability; fuelled the rise of extremism and jihadism; encouraged supremacist, intolerant and anti-pluralistic tendencies far beyond its borders in countries like Pakistan, Malaysia, and Indonesia; and turned it into the most volatile, repressive, and bloody part of the world.
Littered with the bodies of the dead and the dying, countries like Syria, Iraq and Yemen have been scarred for generations to come and are struggling to ensure territorial integrity against potential secessionist ethnic, regional and religious challenges. Possible US-backed Saudi efforts to destabilize Iran with attempts to stir ethnic unrest risk the Islamic republic and Pakistan becoming the next victims. Countries such as Lebanon teeter on the brink.
Restive populations meanwhile hang in the balance, hoping that their continued surrender of political rights in new social contracts unilaterally drafted by autocratic leaders will bring them greater economic opportunity. In some countries like Egypt expectations have been dashed, in others such as Saudi Arabia expectations are unrealistic and poorly, if at all, managed.
The successful and brutal Saudi and UAE-led counterrevolution has killed hopes and popular energy that exploded onto the streets of the Arab cities during the revolts of 2011 and produced tyrants and mayhem. For now, it has all but erased popular will to risk challenging autocratic rule that has failed to deliver or that has created expectations that may prove difficult to meet.
That is not to say that like in the period prior to the 2011 revolts, popular anger and frustration is not simmering. Like in the walk-up to the uprisings, popular sentiment remains ignored or unrecognized by officials, scholars and pundits, who, if it explodes are likely to be caught by surprise. No one knows whether it will explode and, if so, in what form and what might spark an explosion.
It was the self-immolation of a fruit vendor in Tunisia in late 2010 that set the Middle East and North Africa alight. While history may not repeat itself literally, events six years later in the Rif, a rebellious region of northern Morocco, sparked by the death of Mouchine Frikri, an unemployed street merchant, suggest the writing may be on the wall.
Mr. Fikri was crushed to death in a trash compactor while trying to retrieve fish confiscated by the authorities. A year of protests since Mr. Fikri’s death suggests that the effectiveness of King Mohammed VI’s constitutional reforms in an initially successful bid to co-opt the demonstrators as well his support for the Rif’s indigenous Berber culture and promises of state investment that would turn the region into a manufacturing hub have either run their course or fallen short.
Nasser Zefzafi, a 39-year-old unemployed man with an understanding of the power of social media, has despite the government’s use of security forces, succeeded with online videos and fiery speeches denouncing corruption and dictatorship, to not only keep the protests alive but also encourage their intermittent spread to other parts of the country. The Moroccan capital of Rabat witnessed in June its largest anti-government protest since the 2011 revolts.
“Regimes have closed off channels for political expression, and responded to popular protests with increasing brutality. The governments of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and, to some extent, Morocco, epitomize Arab regimes’ seeming inability to escape the autocracy trap – even as current circumstances suggest that another popular awakening is imminent,” said Moroccan-born former Israeli foreign minister Shlomo Ben-Ami.
Mr. Ben-Ami’s timeline may be optimistic, but the underlying message remains valid. Regime survival-driven, government-controlled economic reform that seeks to ensure that private enterprise remains dependent on the public sector, limited social reforms, exclusionary rather than inclusionary policies, and rejection of political change may buy time, but ultimately will not do the trick.
Autocratic regimes in the Middle East and North Africa are, for now, riding high buffeted by the ability to divert public attention with promises of economic change, the spectre of Iran as a foreign threat, US support for regional autocrats and containment of Iran, and the fuelling of ethnic and sectarian tension.
At best, that buys Arab autocrats time. The risk is festering and new wounds that are likely to come to haunt them. Four decades of global Saudi propagation of Sunni Muslim ultra-conservativism to counter what initially was Iranian revolutionary zeal but later transformed into Iranian strategy in a long-standing covert war has turned Arab Shiites and their militias into potent political and military forces. The spectre of the Houthis organizing themselves on the border of Saudi Arabia on the model of Lebanon’s Hezbollah is but the latest example.
Autocratic self-preservation and the Saudi-Iranian rivalry, coupled with disastrous US policies, including the 2003 invasion of Iraq, have wracked countries across the region and fostered a generation of Syrians and Yemenis that is likely to be consumed by anger and frustration with their human suffering and what is likely to be a slow rebuilding of their shattered countries, whose existence in their current form and borders is at best uncertain.
In short, transition, in the Middle East and North Africa has deteriorated into a battle for retention of political control. It constitutes a struggle for the future of a region that with near certainty will produce more conflict as well as black swans that could create even more havoc long before it yields sustainable solutions that ensure equitable economic development and transparent and accountable rule of law.
Dr. James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, co-director of the University of Würzburg’s Institute for Fan Culture, and co-host of the New Books in Middle Eastern Studies podcast. James is the author of The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer blog, a book with the same title as well as Comparative Political Transitions between Southeast Asia and the Middle East and North Africa, co-authored with Dr. Teresita Cruz-Del Rosario and Shifting Sands, Essays on Sports and Politics in the Middle East and North Africa
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