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Social enterprises are defined in many ways, but typically are nonprofit organizations that operate businesses in order to generate revenues and fulfill their missions. The concept has become increasingly common in the past three decades as a result of a combination of government funding cuts to social programs. Other factors promoting the growth of social enterprise include growing nonprofit recognition of the importance of earned income to enabling their organizations to use independently generated revenue to support programs that make sense for their communities, build community wealth, and directly improve the job skills of people facing barriers to entry in the workplace.
Although social enterprise did not become a defined concept until the 1970s, nonprofits have been involved in such enterprises for over a century. For example, founded in 1902, Goodwill Industries began by employing poor, city residents to repair and sell donated goods, and then used the revenues generated to fund its community and job training programs. Other prominent nonprofits with long histories of social enterprise include the Girl Scouts and YMCA.
Social enterprises play a critical role in building community wealth for several key reasons:
These businesses build locally controlled wealth, which helps stabilize community economies.
Social enterprises can provide valuable training opportunities and supportive jobs for those who have been excluded from the traditional labor market.
The revenue organizations generate through such enterprises helps reduce their dependence on government and philanthropic funding, and thus, often encourages nonprofits to adopt more innovative, community-driven approaches.
Through the development of such businesses, nonprofit organizations can strengthen their management and business capacities, which, in turn, can boost their overall program effectiveness.
Community-wealth.org houses an extensive collection of resources focused on social enterprise and this strategy’s role in community wealth building. Below is a glimpse of the rich array of materials you will find as you explore our site:
Our Support Organizations section features major organizations that are actively advancing the social enterprise field. One such group is the Social Enterprise Alliance , a membership organization committed to promoting the success of social enterprise through research, information sharing, advocacy, and network building.
(from a recent survey of the field)
Percent of survey respondents considering launching a social enterprise
Percent of survey respondents with 2 or more social enterprises
Percent of the largest survey respondents (i.e., budgets > $5 million) with social enterprises
Percent of the smallest survey respondents (i.e., budgets < $250,000 million) with social enterprises
Percent of social enterprises with revenues greater than $1 million
Our Best Practices section showcases exemplary social enterprises such as FareStart in Seattle, WA, which provides meals to those in need while helping disadvantaged people gain work skills in its restaurant, café, and catering businesses. In 2012 alone, FareStart prepared 562,000 meals for shelters and low-income day care centers, provided training opportunities for 242 individuals, and generated 50 percent of its operating revenues through its business enterprises.
Our Research Resources section highlights web-based resources on social enterprise. For example, the Duke Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship's website provides links to a range of articles, papers, case studies, organizations, and other resources focused on social entrepreneurship and related topics.
Our Articles and Publications section includes links to a diverse selection of articles, reports, papers, and books focused on social enterprise. One such report is Community Wealth Ventures, The Social Enterprise Alliance, and The Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship’s Social Enterprise: A Portrait of the Field (2010), which highlights key findings from a comprehensive survey designed to identify trends and best practices among North American social enterprises.
Our Toolbox features resources designed to help on-the-ground practitioners working to develop social enterprises or advance the field more generally. For example, Community Action Partnership’s Social Enterprise Toolkit includes a step-by-step guide to help nonprofit practitioners create and finance successful social enterprises.
And, lastly, our Policy Guide provides an overview of federal initiatives and programs that can help practitioners leverage resources and increase their impact. For example, the Social Innovation Fund (SIF) is a program that provides resources to grantmaking intermediaries, who then use those funds to support nonprofits implementing innovative program models such as social enterprise.
More on Social Enterprise...
Featured in Social Enterprise:
Featured from the directory: Pioneer Human Services
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Duke of Poland
Denar with Bolesław's effigy
King of Poland
Gniezno Cathedral, Poland
Kingdom of Poland
2 or 3 April 1081/1082
Kingdom of Hungary
Ossiach Abbey (disputed)
Wyszesława of Kiev
Maria Dobroniega of Kiev
Bolesław II the Generous, also known as the Bold and the Cruel (Polish: Bolesław II Szczodry Polish (help·info); Śmiały; Okrutny; c. 1042 – 2 or 3 April 1081 or 1082),[1] was Duke of Poland from 1058 to 1076 and third King of Poland from 1076 to 1079. He was the eldest son of Duke Casimir I the Restorer and Maria Dobroniega of Kiev.
Bolesław II is considered to have been one of the most capable of the Piast rulers. In 1075 he re-established the Archdiocese of Gniezno (consecrated in 1064) and founded the Diocese of Płock. He established Benedictine monasteries in Mogilno, Lubin and Wrocław. Bolesław II was also the first Polish monarch to produce his own coinage in quantity great enough to replace the foreign coins prevalent in the country during the reigns of the first Piast kings. He established royal mints in Kraków and Wrocław and reformed the coinage, which brought considerable revenue into the royal coffers. All these efforts had an enormous influence on the economic and cultural development of the country.
According to the chronicler Gallus Anonymus, during his reign he was called largus ("the Generous" in English, "Szczodry" in Polish) as he founded many churches and monasteries throughout Poland. The nickname "the Bold" (Śmiały) was only given to Bolesław II for the first time in the later Chronicle of the Polish kings, although it was considered by historiography of the 19th and 20th centuries as a contemporary nickname.
1 Duke of Poland
2 King of Poland
3 Deposition and death
4 Ossiach legend
5 Marriage and issue
Duke of Poland[edit]
Following the death of his father Casimir in 1058, Bolesław II, as the eldest son, inherited Greater and Lesser Poland as well as the Mazovian, Pomerelian, and Silesian lands. His younger brothers Władysław Herman and Mieszko became Governors of the remaining provinces. However Mieszko died relatively early, in 1065, at which point his lands came under the authority of Bolesław II.
His father had left him a stabilised country; Bolesław II continued his foreign policy on surrounding his realm with allied kingdoms in order to prevail against the extensive Holy Roman Empire in the west; he aimed to have Poland eventually bordering only allied countries. This is said[by whom?] to be the main reason behind his numerous foreign interventions: in 1060–1063 he intervened in Hungary to aid his uncle King Béla I in the inheritance conflict with his nephew Solomon, who was backed by his brother-in-law King Henry IV of Germany. As a result, Béla, in 1061, with the support of Polish troops, gained power.
In Hungary, Bolesław II pursued the policy of cooperation with the anti-Imperial faction, which allowed him to gain political independence from the Empire but put him in conflict with Imperial ally, the Duchy of Bohemia. Moreover, he escalated the conflict with the Přemyslid duke Vratislaus II by refusing to pay the annual homage for Silesia and spurring the Bohemian nobility to revolt. In 1063, Bolesław II besieged the then Moravian town of Hradec nad Moravicí but, defeated, he had to retreat. In the end, the relations with Vratislaus II were settled to a certain extent when the latter married Princess Świętosława, Bolesław II's sister.
Meanwhile, in 1063, King Béla I of Hungary died. Bolesław II could not defend the cause of his son Géza I against the German troops of Henry IV, who finally installed Solomon on the Hungarian throne. In 1069 Grand Prince Iziaslav I of Kiev and his wife Gertruda, Bolesław's aunt, were overthrown. A Polish military campaign re-established them in power in Kiev.
In 1071 Bolesław II attacked Bohemia again. As he refused any attempt of arbitration by King Henry IV, the question was settled by an armistice between the two belligerents; however Bolesław II, ignoring the treaty, renewed his attack in 1072 and refused to pay the tributes for Silesia to the Holy Roman Empire. Henry IV prepared for a campaign against Poland, but was hit by the outbreak of the Saxon Rebellion in 1073.
Due to his involvement in Hungarian, Bohemian and Kievan affairs, Bolesław II neglected Poland's interests on the Baltic coast. Therefore, in either 1060 or 1066, Gdańsk Pomerania (Pomerelia) severed its ties to the Polish Kingdom.[2]
King of Poland[edit]
When Hildebrand of Sovana, an enemy of the German king, became Pope Gregory VII in 1073, Bolesław II saw in him a natural ally; he started to apply the Pope's reforms in the Archbishopric of Gniezno and commenced negotiations to obtain the royal crown. He spurred the ongoing revolt in Saxony, which had forced Henry IV to retreat from that region (he crushed the revolt at the Battle of Langensalza soon thereafter); the Polish king seized the occasion to launch an invasion against Henry IV's vassal, Vratislaus II of Bohemia, alongside an ally from Grand Prince Vladimir II Monomakh of Kiev.
Thanks to his support of the papal cause during the investiture controversy in the Holy Roman Empire, Bolesław II gained the royal crown of Poland: on Christmas Day of 1076 Archbishop Bogumił crowned him in the Gniezno Cathedral in the presence of a papal legate. King Henry's IV act of contrition at the Walk to Canossa in 1077 included also the imperial recognition of Bolesław II's royal title. Bolesław's new authority, along with his pride, however, caused the Polish magnates to rebel, as they feared the monarchy had started to grow too powerful.
Deposition and death[edit]
In 1077 Bolesław II's troops helped two pretenders to assume the throne: Ladislaus I of Hungary, another son of Béla I, and again Iziaslav in Kiev. In 1078, while returning from the latter campaign, the Polish troops conquered Red Ruthenia. In 1079, however, the conflict with the Polish nobles culminated into open revolt and Bolesław was deposed and banished from the country. The circumstances that led to the King's banishment hinge on the person of Bishop Stanislaus of Kraków, who had excommunicated the king for his infidelity.
From historical records[3] it appears that Bishop Stanislaus was involved with the barons' opposition movement, plotting to remove the King and to place his brother Władysław Herman on the throne. Bolesław II unilaterally declared Stanislaus guilty of treason – Gallus Anonymus uses the word "traditor" meaning traitor. The historical record was first proposed by Master Wincenty Kadłubek, writing nearly 100 years after Gallus Anonymus and a century and a half after the actual affair.[4] Bolesław II on 11 April 1079 assaulted and then personally wielded the sword that murdered Bishop Stanislaus of Kraków during the celebration of a Mass.[5] Though the bishop had privately and then publicly warned the king to repent of adultery and other vices, Bolesław chose a course of action more characteristic of his nickname, "the Bold".
Putative tomb of Bolesław at Ossiach
He found refuge at the court of King Ladislaus, who also owed his crown to the deposed king.[2] However, according to Gallus Anonymus, Bolesław II's atrocious conduct towards his Hungarian hosts caused his premature death in 1081 or 1082 at the hands of an assassin, probably by poisoning. He was about 40 years old.
Ossiach legend[edit]
A popular legend holds that Bolesław proceeded to Rome to beg forgiveness from Pope Gregory, who imposed on him to wander incognito as a mute repentant. On a summer evening in 1082, he reached the Benedictine Abbey at Ossiach in Carinthia, where he was received and did all kind of hard work until he finally was reconciled in the Sacrament of Penance and died.
At the walls of Ossiach, there exists a tomb bearing the depiction of a horse and the inscription Rex Boleslaus Polonie occisor sancti Stanislai Epi Cracoviensis ("Bolesław, King of Poland, murderer of Saint Stanislaus, Bishop of Kraków"). Instigated by Countess Karolina Lanckorońska, in 1960 the tomb was opened and indeed revealed male bones and the remains of a Polish knight's armor dating from the 11th century.
The legend, however, dates from centuries after the king's death (it was first mentioned by the chronicler Maciej Miechowita in 1499). His burial place actually remains unknown. Another popular hypothesis about the fate of his remains claims that in 1086 they were transferred to the Benedictine abbey of Tyniec near Kraków.
Marriage and issue[edit]
Before 1069 Bolesław II married Wyszesława (d. aft. 1089), who, according to the Chronicle of Jan Długosz (and supported by some sources),[6] was a daughter of Grand Prince Sviatoslav II of Kiev by his first wife Kilikia, possibly member of the House of Dithmarschen. They had one son, Mieszko (1069 – 1089).
Modern historians, led by Oswald Balzer (in 1895), refuted the Kievan origin and name of Bolesław II's wife and exposed the theory that his wife was the queen named Agnes whose obituary is recorded in Zwiefalten. She may have belonged to the Přemyslid dynasty.[7]
^ André Vauchez; Richard Barrie Dobson; Michael Lapidge, eds. (2000). "Boleslas II the Bold". Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-57958-282-1. Retrieved 2010-03-25.
^ a b Poczet Krolow i Książat Polskich, Park, Bielsko-Biała, 2005
^ Gallus Anonymus Cronicae et gesta ducum sive principum Polonorum
^ Chronica seu originale regum et principum Poloniae by Wincenty Kadlubek (between 1190 and 1208 CE)
^ "The Bishop Hacked to Death by His own King" http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2011/04/07/the-bishop-hacked-to-death-by-his-own-king/
^ RUSSIA, Rurikids
^ T. Jurek, Agnes regina. W poszukiwaniu żony Bolesława Szczodrego, LXXII, 2006, s. 95–104.
Born: ca. 1043 Died: 2 or 3 April 1081
Casimir I the Restorer Duke of Poland
King from 1076
NKC: js2012689433
WorldCat Identities: viaf-3315151778213818130003
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bolesław_II_the_Generous&oldid=995151167"
1080s deaths
11th-century Polish people
Dukes of Wrocław
11th-century monarchs in Europe
Articles needing additional references from December 2015
All articles needing additional references
Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from October 2013
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City of Palo Alto Landfill Changes in Hours of Operation
Currently, the landfill public hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, and 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Monday. The landfill is closed on four holidays; Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years's Day, and Easter. The City of Palo Alto Landfill is proposing to open one hour earlier at 8:00 a.m. Monday through Sunday and to be open from 1:00 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday afternoon. Therefore, the proposed landfill schedule would be 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., seven days a week. The City is also proposing to be closed for three additional holidays, Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day. In addition to the Landfill's public hours change and additional holidays, the City is seeking to extend ancillary landfill operations to 6:00 p.m., seven days a week (i.e., refuse spreading, compacting and placing soil cover/alternative daily cover (ADC-tarp) at the active face, one hour beyond the 5:00 p.m. public hours closure for accepting refuse).
NOD City of Palo Alto 4/10/2002 Issuance of a Solid Waste Facility Permit SWIS #43-AM-0001, for the Palo Alto Landfill Facility, Santa Clara County
NOD City of Palo Alto 4/3/2002 Concurrence in the issuance of a Solid Waste Facility Permit for the City of Palo Alto Landfill, Santa Clara County
NOD City of Palo Alto 3/6/2002 City of Palo Alto-Changes in Hours of Operation
NEG City of Palo Alto 1/9/2002 City of Palo Alto Landfill Changes in Hours of Operation
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Jónsi & Alex Somers
/Past Events
Riceboy Sleeps Orchestral Tour 2019
► Monday, October 21, 2019 – 8 pm to 11 pm
DOORS OPEN: 7 pm – All ages welcome
▲ Buy Here NOW
Tickets: $59.50 – $99.50
This autumn Jónsi & Alex Somers will for the first time perform their celebrated 2009 milestone ambient album, Riceboy Sleeps, in its entirety with an orchestra in theaters across North America. An ecstatic musical union of the Sigur Rós lead singer and film composer partner Alex Somers (whose recent score work includes Captain Fantastic, the forthcoming Honey Boy, and the award-winning score for Hale County This Morning, This Evening), Riceboy Sleeps has been described as “operating at heady level of beauty” by the BBC, and “up there with the best of Sigur Rós” by the London Evening Standard.
“We’re so happy to announce the North American tour for our album ‘Riceboy Sleeps’. Our album is turning 10 this year and we wanted to share in something special together…
After all these years and having never fully realized our album in a live environment we are so excited to come play a few special shows… We’ll be playing together with the Wordless Music Orchestra and Choir. And we’ll be playing in some really beautiful rooms and we can’t wait to share in this experience together… Thank you so much for all the love and support… And thank you for listening…” – Jónsi & Alex
Released ten years ago this summer, and initially considered a low-key side project, the album has gone on to be a sleeper hit with compositions such as “Boy 1904” and “Happiness” gaining multi-million streams on some of the world’s most popular playlists. However, other than one show at New York City’s St Paul the Apostle church in 2010, the work has never been performed live…and even then not in its entirety. So, it is with great pleasure that Jónsi & Alex announce that they will be joined by the Wordless Music Orchestra and Choir for 10 shows in North America to mark its 10th anniversary, starting in Seattle on Oct 11.
The Wordless Music Orchestra and Choir will be conducted by Robert Ames from the London Contemporary Orchestra, with arrangements by David Handler of Ensemble LPR.
Join us for this unique experience with Jónsi & Alex Somers in Chicago on Oct 21, 2019.
Riceboy Album Reviews
» BBC Music: “Riceboy Sleeps operates at a heady level of beauty”
» The Economist: “…an idyllic labour of love that’s rich in glistening detail”
» Evening Standard: “…it’s up there with the best of Sigur Rós”
» The Guardian: “…a delicate, sad, little record, but one that ripples with beauty”
» The Observer: “…beautifully fragile music, not disposable but built to last”
Read more about the Riceboy album HERE
See all live concert locations of the Jonsi & Alex North American Tour at this link. CLICK HERE
Jónsi & Alex Somers Links: Website – Facebook – Instagram – Twitter – Feature.fm
EVENT PRODUCER / PROMOTER:
AEG Presents – Website
Contact Info: (323) 930-7100
For all press inquiries contact Trevor De Brauw / Biz 3 Publicity: [email protected]
← Sławomir 2019
Teo Gonzalez →
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[Note to Reader: This is an edited version of the opinion followed by notes and questions to aid educational use.]
AUTHORS GUILD, INC. v. GOOGLE, INC.
United States District Court, Southern District of New York
954 F. Supp. 2d 282
Chin, Circuit Judge:
Since 2004, when it announced agreements with several major research libraries to digitally copy books in their collections, defendant Google Inc. (“Google”) has scanned more than twenty million books. It has delivered digital copies to participating libraries, created an electronic database of books, and made text available for online searching through the use of “snippets.” Many of the books scanned by Google, however, were under copyright, and Google did not obtain permission from the copyright holders for these usages of their copyrighted works. As a consequence, in 2005, plaintiffs brought this class action charging Google with copyright infringement.
. . . For the reasons set forth below, Google’s motion for summary judgment is granted . . .
A. The Facts
[In 2004, Google announced the “Library Project,” which involved the digital scanning of books in the collections of the New York Public Library, the Library of Congress, and a number of university libraries. Google did not seek or obtain permission from the copyright holders.]
3. Google Books
In scanning books for its Library Project, including in-copyright books, Google uses optical character recognition technology to generate machine-readable text, compiling a digital copy of each book. Google analyzes each scan and creates an overall index of all scanned books. The index links each word or phrase appearing in each book with all of the locations in all of the books in which that word or phrase is found. The index allows a search for a particular word or phrase to return a result that includes the most relevant books in which the word or phrase is found. Because the full texts of books are digitized, a user can search the full text of all the books in the Google Books corpus.
Users of Google’s search engine may conduct searches, using queries of their own design. In response to inquiries, Google returns a list of books in which the search term appears. A user can click on a particular result to be directed to an “About the Book” page, which will provide the user with information about the book in question. The page includes links to sellers of the books and/or libraries that list the book as part of their collections. No advertisements have ever appeared on any About the Book page that is part of the Library Project.
For books in “snippet view” . . . , Google divides each page into eighths-each of which is a “snippet,” a verbatim excerpt. Each search generates three snippets, but by performing multiple searches using different search terms, a single user may view far more than three snippets, as different searches can return different snippets. For example, by making a series of consecutive, slightly different searches of the book . . . , a single user can view many different snippets from the book.
Google takes security measures to prevent users from viewing a complete copy of a snippet-view book. For example, a user cannot cause the system to return different sets of snippets for the same search query; the position of each snippet is fixed within the page and does not “slide” around the search term; only the first responsive snippet available on any given page will be returned in response to a query; one of the snippets on each page is “black-listed,” meaning it will not be shown; and at least one out of ten entire pages in each book is black-listed. An “attacker” who tries to obtain an entire book by using a physical copy of the book to string together words appearing in successive passages would be able to obtain at best a patchwork of snippets that would be missing at least one snippet from every page and 10% of all pages. In addition, works with text organized in short “chunks,” such as dictionaries, cookbooks, and books of haiku, are excluded from snippet view.
4. The Benefits of the Library Project and Google Books
The benefits of the Library Project are many. First, Google Books provides a new and efficient way for readers and researchers to find books. It makes tens of millions of books searchable by words and phrases. It provides a searchable index linking each word in any book to all books in which that word appears. Google Books has become an essential research tool, as it helps librarians identify and find research sources, it makes the process of interlibrary lending more efficient, and it facilitates finding and checking citations. Indeed, Google Books has become such an important tool for researchers and librarians that it has been integrated into the educational system-it is taught as part of the information literacy curriculum to students at all levels.
Second, in addition to being an important reference tool, Google Books greatly promotes a type of research referred to as “data mining” or “text mining.”
Google Books permits humanities scholars to analyze massive amounts of data-the literary record created by a collection of tens of millions of books. Researchers can examine word frequencies, syntactic patterns, and thematic markers to consider how literary style has changed over time. Using Google Books, for example, researchers can track the frequency of references to the United States as a single entity (“the United States is”) versus references to the United States in the plural (“the United States are”) and how that usage has changed over time. The ability to determine how often different words or phrases appear in books at different times “can provide insights about fields as diverse as lexicography, the evolution of grammar, collective memory, the adoption of technology, the pursuit of fame, censorship, and historical epidemiology.” Jean-Baptiste Michel et al., Quantitative Analysis of Culture Using Millions of Digitized Books, 331 Science 176, 176 (2011).
Third, Google Books expands access to books. In particular, traditionally underserved populations will benefit as they gain knowledge of and access to far
more books. Google Books provides print-disabled individuals with the potential to search for books and read them in a format that is compatible with text enlargement software, text-to-speech screen access software, and Braille devices. Digitization facilitates the conversion of books to audio and tactile formats, increasing access for individuals with disabilities. Google Books facilitates the identification and access of materials for remote and underfunded libraries that need to make efficient decisions as to which resources to procure for their own collections or through interlibrary loans.
Fourth, Google Books helps to preserve books and give them new life. Older books, many of which are out-of-print books that are falling apart buried in library stacks, are being scanned and saved. . . . These books will now be available, at least for search, and potential readers will be alerted to their existence.
Finally, by helping readers and researchers identify books, Google Books benefits authors and publishers. When a user clicks on a search result and is directed to an “About the Book” page, the page will offer links to sellers of the book and/or libraries listing the book as part of their collections. The About the Book page for Ball Four, for example, provides links to Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com, Books-A-Million, and IndieBound. A user could simply click on any of these links to be directed to a website where she could purchase the book. Hence, Google Books will generate new audiences and create new sources of income. . . .
B. Procedural History
Plaintiffs commenced this action on September 20, 2005, alleging, inter alia, that Google committed copyright infringement by scanning copyrighted books and making them available for search without permission of the copyright holders. From the outset, Google’s principal defense was fair use under § 107 of the Copyright Act.
After extensive negotiations, the parties entered into a proposed settlement resolving plaintiffs’ claims on a class-wide basis. On March 22, 2011, I issued an opinion rejecting the proposed settlement on the grounds that it was not fair, adequate, and reasonable. Authors Guild v. Google, Inc., 770 F. Supp. 2d 666 (S.D.N.Y. 2011). . . .
Plaintiffs filed their class certification motion and Google filed its motion to dismiss the Authors Guild’s claims. On May 31, 2012, I issued an opinion denying Google’s motion to dismiss and granting the individual plaintiffs’ motion for class certification. Authors Guild v. Google, Inc., 282 F.R.D. 384 (S.D.N.Y. 2012). . . .
On July 1, 2013, without deciding the merits of the appeal, the Second Circuit vacated my class certification decision, concluding that “resolution of Google’s fair use defense in the first instance will necessarily inform and perhaps moot our analysis of many class certification issues.”Authors Guild v. Google, Inc., 721 F.3d 132, 134 (2d Cir. 2013). The Second Circuit remanded the case “for consideration of the fair use issues.” Id. at 135. . . .
For purposes of these motions, I assume that plaintiffs have established a prima facie case of copyright infringement against Google under 17 U.S.C. § 106. Google has digitally reproduced millions of copyrighted books, including the individual plaintiffs’ books, maintaining copies for itself on its servers and backup tapes. See 17 U.S.C. § 106(1) (prohibiting unauthorized reproduction). Google has made digital copies available for its Library Project partners to download. See 17 U.S.C. § 106(3) (prohibiting unauthorized distribution). Google has displayed snippets from
the books to the public. See 17 U.S.C. § 106(5) (prohibiting unauthorized display). Google has done all of this, with respect to in-copyright books in the Library Project, without license or permission from the copyright owners. The sole issue now before the Court is whether Google’s use of the copyrighted works is “fair use” under the copyright laws. For the reasons set forth below, I conclude that it is. . . .
1. Purpose and Character of Use
Google’s use of the copyrighted works is highly transformative. Google Books digitizes books and transforms expressive text into a comprehensive word index
that helps readers, scholars, researchers, and others find books. Google Books has become an important tool for libraries and librarians and cite-checkers as it helps to identify and find books. The use of book text to facilitate search through the display of snippets is transformative. See Perfect 10, Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc., 508 F.3d 1146, 1168 (9th Cir. 2007) (holding that use of works-“thumbnail images,” including copyrighted photographs-to facilitate search was “transformative”); Kelly v. Arriba Soft Corp., 336 F.3d 811 (9th Cir. 2003) (same); see also Bill Graham Archives, 448 F.3d at 609-11 (holding that display of images of posters in 480-page cultural history of the Grateful Dead was transformative, explaining that “[w]hile the small size [of the images of the posters] is sufficient to permit readers to recognize the historical
significance of the posters, it is inadequate to offer more than a glimpse of their expressive value”). The display of snippets of text for search is similar to the display of thumbnail images of photographs for search or small images of concert posters for reference to past events, as the snippets help users locate books and determine whether they may be of interest. Google Books thus uses words for a different purpose-it uses snippets of text to act as pointers directing users to a broad selection of books.
Similarly, Google Books is also transformative in the sense that it has transformed book text into data for purposes of substantive research, including data mining and text mining in new areas, thereby opening up new fields of research. Words in books are being used in a way they have not been used before. Google Books has created something new in the use of book text-the frequency of words and trends in their usage provide substantive information.
Google Books does not supersede or supplant books because it is not a tool to be used to read books. Instead, it “adds value to the original” and allows for “the creation of new information, new aesthetics, new insights and understandings.” Leval, Toward a Fair Use Standard, 103 Harv. L. Rev. at 1111. Hence, the use is transformative.
It is true, of course, as plaintiffs argue, that Google is a for-profit entity and Google Books is largely a commercial enterprise. The fact that a use is commercial “tends to weigh against a finding of fair use.” Harper & Row, 471 U.S. at 562; accord Campbell, 510 U.S. at 585.
On the other hand, fair use has been found even where a defendant benefitted commercially from the unlicensed use of copyrighted works. See, e.g., Blanch, 467 F.3d at 253; Bill Graham Archives, 448 F.3d at 612. . . . Here, Google does not sell the scans it has made of books for Google Books; it does not sell the snippets that it displays; and it does not run ads on the About the Book pages that contain snippets. It does not engage in the direct commercialization of copyrighted works. Google does, of course, benefit commercially in the sense that users are drawn to the Google websites by the ability to search Google Books. While this is a consideration to be acknowledged in weighing all the factors, even assuming Google’s principal
motivation is profit, the fact is that Google Books serves several important educational purposes.
Accordingly, I conclude that the first factor strongly favors a finding of fair use.
2. Nature of Copyrighted Works
The second factor is “the nature of the copyrighted work.” 17 U.S.C. § 107(2). Here, the works are books-all types of published books, fiction and non-fiction, in-print and out-of-print. While works of fiction are entitled to greater copyright protection, Stewart v. Abend, 495 U.S. 207, 237 (1990), here the vast majority of the books in Google Books are non-fiction. Further, the books at issue are published and available to the public. These considerations favor a finding of fair use. See Arica Inst., Inc. v. Palmer, 970 F.2d 1067, 1078 (2d Cir. 1992) (“Whether or not a work is published is critical to its nature under factor two because the scope of fair use is narrower with respect to unpublished works.”). . . .
3. Amount and Substantiality of Portion Used
The third factor is “the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole.” 17 U.S.C. § 107(3). Google scans the full text of books-the entire books-and it copies verbatim expression. On the other hand, courts have held that copying the entirety of a work may still be fair use. See, e.g., Sony Corp. of Am. v. Universal City Studios, Inc., 464 U.S. 417, 449-50 (1984); Bill Graham Archives, 448 F.3d at 613 (“copying the entirety of a work is sometimes necessary to make a fair use of the image”). Here, as one of the keys to Google Books is its offering of full-text search of books, full-work reproduction is critical to the functioning of Google Books. Significantly, Google limits the amount of text it displays in response to a search.
On balance, I conclude that the third factor weighs slightly against a finding of fair use.
4. Effect of Use Upon Potential Market or Value
The fourth factor is “the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.” 17 U.S.C. § 107(4). Here, plaintiffs argue that Google Books will negatively impact the market for books and that Google’s scans will serve as a “market replacement” for books. It also argues that users could put in multiple searches, varying slightly the search terms, to access an entire book.
Neither suggestion makes sense. Google does not sell its scans, and the scans do not replace the books. While partner libraries have the ability to download a scan of a book from their collections, they owned the books already-they provided the original book to Google to scan. Nor is it likely that someone would take the time and energy to input countless searches to try and get enough snippets to comprise an entire book. Not only is that not possible as certain pages and snippets are blacklisted, the individual would have to have a copy of the book in his possession already to be able to piece the different snippets together in coherent fashion.
To the contrary, a reasonable factfinder could only find that Google Books enhances the sales of books to the benefit of copyright holders. An important factor in the success of an individual title is whether it is discovered-whether potential readers learn of its existence. Google Books provides a way for authors’ works to become noticed, much like traditional in-store book displays. Indeed, both librarians and their patrons use Google Books to identify books to purchase. Many authors have noted that online browsing in general and Google Books in particular helps readers find their work, thus increasing their audiences. Further, Google provides convenient links to booksellers to make it easy for a reader to order a book. In this day and age of on-line shopping, there can be no doubt but that Google Books improves books sales.
Hence, I conclude that the fourth factor weighs strongly in favor of a finding of fair use.
5. Overall Assessment
Finally, the various non-exclusive statutory factors are to be weighed together, along with any other relevant considerations, in light of the purposes of the copyright laws.
In my view, Google Books provides significant public benefits. It advances the progress of the arts and sciences, while maintaining respectful consideration for the rights of authors and other creative individuals, and without adversely impacting the rights of copyright holders. It has become an invaluable research tool that permits students, teachers, librarians, and others to more efficiently identify and locate books. It has given scholars the ability, for the first time, to conduct full-text searches of tens of millions of books. It preserves books, in particular out-of-print and old books that have been forgotten in the bowels of libraries, and it gives them new life. It facilitates access to books for print-disabled and remote or underserved populations. It generates new audiences and creates new sources of income for authors and publishers. Indeed, all society benefits.
For the reasons set forth above, plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment is denied and Google’s motion for summary judgment is granted. Judgment will be entered in favor of Google dismissing the Complaint. . . .
NOTES AND QUESTIONS
(1) Google may have benefitted from the long delay caused by settlement negotiations and the appeal of the class-action certification ruling. In 2004, when
the Google Books project was first announced, it was extremely controversial. In the ensuing decade, however, Google Books has demonstrated its usefulness, and there has been no indication that authors or publishers have been harmed by it. To the contrary, a large number of publishers are now participating in Google’s Partner Program, allowing more generous displays (from selected pages to full text) than the “snippets” described in the opinion.
(2) Transformative use or transformative purpose? When Google scans and indexes entire books verbatim, how is this “transformative” of those books? The Google Books case continues a trend in the case law away from the type of “transformative use” described in Campbell (“altering the first with new expression, meaning, or message”) to an emphasis on whether the purpose of the use is different from the purpose of the original work. Is this consistent with Campbell? Is it consistent with the Constitutional purpose of copyright, to promote the progress of knowledge?
(3) Commercial use. In the Google Books opinion, the court finds that although Google “benefit[s] commercially,” it “does not engage in the direct commercialization of copyrighted works” (emphasis added). What makes a commercial benefit “direct” or “indirect”? Campbell and Bill Graham Archives likewise downplay the “commercial” nature of the use. Is a “commercial” use always outweighed by a “transformative” use or purpose?
(4) Market effect. The court also finds that Google Books “improves book sales” by helping a book “become noticed.” Suppose a movie studio includes a sound recording of a musical work in a movie. Wouldn’t that “improve sales” of the song by helping it “become noticed”? Does that suggest that the movie studio’s use is a fair use? If not, what is the difference between the hypothetical and the Google Books case?
(5) The Google Books project also spawned satellite litigation involving HathiTrust, a non-profit “digital library” to which the various libraries involved in the project donated their digital copies, which were used for three purposes: 1) enabling full-text searches that return only page numbers, without revealing any text; 2) providing access to print-disabled persons; and 3) preserving existing materials;. The first two uses were held to be “transformative” uses by non-profit educational institutions; although entire works were copied, it did not significantly affect the market for those works, because the market for blind readers is very small, and a market for full-text search does not exist. Authors Guild, Inc. v. HathiTrust,
2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 10803 (2d Cir. 2014). The court remanded the “preservation” issue to determine whether the plaintiffs had standing. A fourth purpose, a proposed “Orphan Works Project” in which HathiTrust would make the full text of orphan works available to patrons, was held not yet ripe for review.
(6) “Non-expressive” uses. Is the Google Books case sui generis, or is there a more general principle to be gleaned from it? One scholar has proposed that courts should distinguish between “expressive” uses of copyrighted works – uses that communicate the author’s original expression to the public – and “non-expressive” uses – acts of copying in which the digital data representing the work (or large numbers of works) is “processed” to useful and valuable ends, but the author’s original expression is not communicated to the public. His thesis is that “non-expressive uses of copyrighted works . . . should not generally be regarded as infringing.” Sag, Copyright and Copy-Reliant Technology, 103 Nw. U. L. Rev. 1607, 1625 (2009). While courts have not yet adopted this terminology, several courts have held such “non-expressive” uses to be fair uses. See, e.g.,Field v. Google, Inc., 412 F. Supp. 2d 1106 (D. Nev. 2006) (search-engine “caching” and indexing of authorized websites); A.V. v. iParadigms, LLC, 562 F.3d 630 (4th Cir. 2009) (plagiarism detection software).
(7) Before signing off the World Wide Web, consider Los Angeles Times v. Free Republic, 54 U.S.P.Q.2d (BNA) 1453 (C.D. Cal. 2000), in which the defendants operated a “bulletin board” website, where they posted news stories from mainstream media (including the plaintiffs L.A. Times and Washington Post) and invited commentary from visitors to the site. The defendants lost on summary judgment, primarily because they could not persuade the court that their use of copyrighted news articles was “transformative” – and because the court credited the plaintiffs’ claims that the Free Republic had the potential to reduce traffic to their own web sites.
Fair use was raised in a number of cases filed by serial copyright plaintiff Righthaven LLC, which searched the internet for news articles, obtained
assignments of copyright from the newspapers in which those articles originally appeared, and sued bloggers and websites that posted the articles. Critics claimed that Righthaven’s business model amounted to near-extortion, because the cost of litigating a fair use claim vastly exceeds the nuisance value of a settlement (especially given the threat of statutory damages). See, e.g., Righthaven LLC v. Choudhry, 99 U.S.P.Q.2d (BNA) 1225 (D. Nev. 2011) (denying defendant’s motion for summary judgment despite finding that fourth factor weighed in defendant’s favor). After losing several cases on fair use grounds, however, Righthaven went out of business. See Righthaven, LLC v. Hoehn, 792 F. Supp. 2d 1138 (D. Nev. 2011) (summary judgment for defendant), vacated on other grounds, 716 F.3d 1166 (9th Cir. 2013); Righthaven, LLC v. Jama, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43952 (D. Nev. Apr. 22, 2011) (same); Righthaven LLC v. Realty One Group, Inc., 96 U.S.P.Q.2d (BNA) 1516 (D. Nev. 2010) (granting motion to dismiss). Does copyright law need some kind of “small claims” procedure to deal with mass infringement lawsuits? See Lemley & Reese, A Quick and Inexpensive System for Resolving Peer-to-Peer Copyright Disputes, 23 Cardozo Arts & Ent. L.J. 1 (2005).
Today, of course, posting entire articles is no longer necessary. Instead, one links to the news article on the publisher’s website. Google News, for example, typically copies the headline and the first sentence of a news article and generates a link to that article. Assuming the amount of copying is not de minimis, should it be considered a fair use? See Associated Press v. Meltwater U.S. Holdings, Inc., 931 F. Supp. 2d 537 (S.D.N.Y. 2013) (unlike search engines, defendant’s unlicensed news monitoring service substitutes for licensed news sites, rather than facilitating public access to those sites). Note also the possibility of a state-law misappropriation claim, which may survive preemption by federal copyright law. See Associated Press v. All-Headline News Corp., 608 F. Supp. 2d 454 (S.D.N.Y. 2009) (denying motion to dismiss). Misappropriation is discussed in more detail in § 11.02.
(8) For good or ill, the Google Books case represents an attempt to adapt copyright law to the rich and unruly electronic information environment. Back in § 9.04, we reviewed one of the other legal initiatives designed to accomplish a similar end: the insertion of “anti-circumvention” provisions into Title 17, courtesy of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Of course, the DMCA’s title was, in part, a misnomer. As we already noted, the new prohibitions and penalties in Chapter 12 of Title 17 are not expansions of copyright as such, but something else: “paracopyright.” And that sets up some interesting conflicts between these new provisions, on the one hand, and traditional copyright doctrines like fair use, on the other.
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WWE a constant presence for McMahon
Campaign autograph: ‘Thanks for being a WWE fan!’
Like a noisy, eccentric relative, World Wrestling Entertainment keeps popping up during these last days of the carefully calibrated U.S. Senate campaign of Linda McMahon, bringing her fans and critics.
And McMahon, after nurturing WWE into an international brand that took her from bankruptcy to a Greenwich estate and the most expensive campaign in Connecticut history, welcomes its presence.
Ignoring Democratic claims of illegal coordination between her campaign and the company run by her husband, McMahon praised WWE’s new image-building advertising campaign on TV and the web, “Stand Up for WWE.”
“I’m glad to see what WWE has done,” McMahon said at a weekend campaign stop. “I had no idea they were doing it. I haven’t even seen the web site. I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from folks who have seen it. I think it’s going well.”
One WWE commercial now seen on Connecticut cable systems features McMahon and other WWE personalities doing work for the children’s charity, the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Her campaign site also features video recorded last week of her talking about the WWE’s work with the foundation and dying children.
“You look at that child and tears roll down your cheek,” she said.
The polls say that WWE is a detriment to McMahon, who defeated former Congressman Rob Simmons and Peter Schiff, the investment guru and cable commentator, for the Republican nomination. It has given Democrats ample ammunition to use against her.
Today, Democrat Richard Blumenthal’s campaign says the father of the late WWE wrestler, Chris Benoit, will hold a press conference in Hartford to talk about McMahon’s record as chief executive of WWE. He presumably will talk about his son’s repeated concussions in the ring and steroid use. Benoit committed suicide after killing his wife and son in 2007. An autopsy found evidence of dementia linked to concussions.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is running a TV commercial reminding voters that McMahon once instructed a WWE subordinate to tip off a doctor to a federal steroid investigation. It is the second ad aired in a week about WWE.
And Blumenthal repeatedly turned on her during their last debate about some of WWE’s programming and McMahon’s refusal to concede that steroid use is dangerous.
But McMahon has been unwilling or, perhaps, incapable of distancing herself from WWE. Her advisers say McMahon is intensely proud of the Stamford-based company, and her reflexive reaction to criticism of WWE is to defend it.
Her identity is intertwined with that of WWE, as is clear every time she campaigns. Other candidates are not routinely asked for autographs on 8-by-11 glossy portraits, like the ones produced for Hollywood stars.
Blumenthal, who enjoys a different kind of celebrity after 20 years as the state’s attorney general, gets his share of requests to pose for pictures. But he is not subjected to the bone-crushing hugs encountered by McMahon.
On Saturday, McMahon marched in the Spirit of Waterbury parade with John Ratzenberger, the Bridgeport-born actor best known as the know-it-all postman, Cliff Clavin, on the old television sitcom, “Cheers.”
He was ignored.
As they marched through a Latino neighborhood on the way downtown to the Waterbury Green, women yelled from tenement windows, “Linda! Linda!”
Nearer the downtown, a plus-size woman suddenly shrieked, bolted from the sidewalk to hug and kiss her hero on the cheek. McMahon’s neck snapped back from the impact, but she laughed.
She still was laughing when a press aide, Jodi Latina, wiped the woman’s lipstick off McMahon’s cheek.
“Just like some of the folks you saw on this parade route this morning, they run up. They’re fans. ‘I love WWE. I love you,’ ” McMahon said.
On the Waterbury Green, a WWE-sized man in a black leather jacket, puffed on a cigarette as he watched McMahon pose for photographs and sign autographs. He finally walked over and pronounced himself a fan.
Actor John Ratzenberger campaigns with Linda McMahon: Who’s the star?
“You’re a big guy,” McMahon said, patting the man on the chest.
He told her he enjoyed watching her husband. “I came to meet him, too,” he said.
“I’m sorry,” McMahon replied. “He’s with the grandkids.”
McMahon never has distanced herself from WWE, even when it presented embarrassing questions about steroid abuse and programming that made light of domestic abuse and sport of the mentally disabled.
During her final televised debate, she had the opportunity to condemn older WWE programming, when asked about shows that degraded women. One of them featured fans tormenting a WWE character with chants of “Slut! Slut! Slut!” The target was her daughter, Stephanie, a one-time performer who is married to a wrestler, Triple-H.
Instead, she mildly noted that WWE’s programming has shifted in the past two years from TV-14 to a tamer TV-PG rating. The closest she came to expressing regret was when she said, “I think there were times when we pushed the envelope.”
Triple H has campaigned for her in Fairfield. A video of the appearance is on her campaign web site.
At the same debate, McMahon said she saw nothing to apologize for in her years at WWE.
“You can always change the channel or decide not to go to that particular movie,” McMahon said. “I think it’s insulting to the millions of people who watch WWE every week and are entertained by it to somehow suggest it is less than quality entertainment.”
Her husband, Vince McMahon, after keeping a low-profile for much of the campaign, made the same point in an online video posted last week on the WWE site. The criticism of the WWE should be taken as criticism of its fans, he said.
“We ask you to join us in responding to these malicious attacks against the company and you, our viewers,” Vince McMahon says in an online video.
And WWE quickly issued a press release last week, when Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz said that local election officials could consider WWE paraphernalia to be the equivalent of a political button, prohibited from the polls.
“Denying our fans the right to vote, denying them their First Amendment rights, regardless if they are Democrat, Republican or Independent, is un-American, unconstitutional and blatantly discriminatory,” said McMahon, the chairman and CEO of WWE.
Av Harris, a spokesman for Bysiewicz, said no one is going be denied the right to vote.
“We didn’t say nobody can wear any WWE clothing to polling places. What we said is they should evaluate it on a case by case basis,” he said. “If the moderators deem that the presence of the WWE material was in any way interfering, they could ask someone to cover up the T-shirt shirt or take off the hat.”
Moderators were given similar advice in 2008, when they sought guidance about how to handle voters who showed up with a popular Obama T-shirt, Harris said.
Next Saturday, President Obama is to lead a get-out-the-vote rally for Democrats at the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, a sometimes WWE venue.
At the same time, the WWE will be staging a fan-appreciation show at the XL Center in Hartford, the arena where Obama addressed 17,000 people during the presidential campaign in 2008.
Vince McMahon is expected to be there. He has encouraged fans to bring signs, responding to the criticism of the company and its personalities made during the Senate campaign. So far, his wife has no plans to attend.
“I don’t think I’m going to that,” she said. “I didn’t even know about that until tickets went on sale. So, no, I don’t plan to go there.”
Mark Pazniokas
Connecticut’s $90M lobbying industry has a new player: former Speaker Joe Aresimowicz
Former House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz is becoming a lobbyist, but a revolving-door law limits him for a year.
Projected state revenues skyrocketed by $1.7 billion Friday, positioning officials to balance the next state budget without tax hikes.
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State prison population reaches lowest point since 2001
With Connecticut’s prison population now at a 10-year low, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s criminal justice policy advisor said Connecticut could make significant further reductions with new strategies for handling persons accused but not yet convicted of crimes.
Former state Rep. Michael P. Lawlor, who gave up his post as long-time co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee to head the administration’s Criminal Justice Policy and Planning Division, said Thursday that the prison system’s unsentenced population “is the thing that really jumps off the page right now.”
Lawlor’s division within the Office of Policy and Management reported this week that the overall incarcerated population fell to 17,746 on Jan. 1, 426 inmates below the level recorded Dec. 1 and 307 below Jan. 1 2010. More importantly, that’s the lowest year-start population recorded since 2001, when 17,137 inmates were held.
But while 17 percent of Connecticut’s inmates were unsentenced in 2001, that ratio had grown to 21 percent by the latest monthly population report released this week.
Connecticut is one of just six states that hold unsentenced prisoners in correctional facilities, rather than in a separate county jails or comparable regional institutions.
The 3,694 unsentenced inmates reported this month is roughly 1,000 above the level reported 10 years ago.
And while Lawlor said he believed the overall population has the potential to shrink in 2011 at the same pace it did in 2010 — if nothing new is done — “there are some changes that could accelerate that, if done right.”
One strategy for the new administration and General Assembly to consider, Lawlor said, is to recognize what he calls “the hyper-inflation in bail bond amounts.”
As numbers of bail bondsmen in Connecticut have grown considerably over the last decade, there have been increasing concerns that many are charging clients discounted fees and accepting payment by credit–in violation of state rules.
Lawlor said he believes that police, bail commissioners and judges have tried to compensate for this trend by setting higher bond amounts. In some instances, this increased the numbers of accused who fail to make bail and must await their court appearance in prison.
A 2003 study by the legislature’s Program Review and Investigations Committee concluded that the bail industry is “dangerously unregulated” and that fee under-cutting, posting of fraudulent bonds and other illegal practices are “pervasive and persistent.”
But while several reforms were proposed to fix and enforce bond fees and other practices, the legislature has failed to reach consensus and enact anything in recent years.
“I believe that’s a major factor behind the unsentenced population, but it’s still an area where we can make a real change,” Lawlor said.
The OPM undersecretary said Connecticut also can drive down its unsentenced population to by continuing to prioritize resources for successful programs like the Judicial Branch’s jail re-interview process.
This program re-examines the backgrounds of those who are incarcerated awaiting trial and in some cases reduce their bonds. In other cases, Lawlor said, these reviews identify nonviolent individuals in need of substance abuse treatment or mental health services–problems that can be addressed more cost-effectively in community-based settings than in prison.
Department of Correction spokesman Brian Garnett said Thursday that the 10-year-low in the overall prison population could be attributed both to the community-based, rehabilitation programs launched in 2004 as well as parole and probate reforms ordered after the 2007 home invasion murders in Cheshire.
“That’s the foundation that’s reversed years of population increases,” he said. “It’s paying huge dividends.”
Garnett also praised the re-interview process as an effective tool for managing the unsentenced population.
Connecticut’s prison population, which stood as low as 6,000 in the mid-1980s, rose steadily over the past two decades, due in part to tougher sentencing policies adopted in 1993 and 1994. But Lawlor said it also could be attributed to policy changes and new societal attitudes that lead to increased reporting of certain crimes.
The effects of those changes, in turn, can be multiplied by factors within the criminal justice system itself. For example, Lawlor said, if more people overall are being sentenced, it stands to reason that more people will be receiving probation. The single most common crime for which inmates are incarcerated, he said, is violation of probation.
The prison population peaked shortly after the Cheshire home invasion due in large part to a suspension of one of the primary procedures for issuing paroles. The population reached 19,894 in February 2008.
The state employee unions representing Connecticut’s prison guards and their front-line supervisors say the system was built to handle a capacity of about 16,000, and that overcrowding problems still exist at some facilities. Matt O’Connor, spokesman for the union representing about 600 correction officer supervisors, said Friday that guard staffing levels still haven’t recovered fully from losses incurred during layoffs ordered in 2003 and retirement incentive programs offered in 2003 and 2009.
Lawlor, whose division will issue its prison population forecast for 2011 next month, did not comment on whether any facility closures or consolidations were likely to be included in Malloy’s budget proposal for the next two fiscal years, which is due to the legislature on Feb. 16.
Connecticut last opened a new prison in 1995 with the Northern Correctional Institute in Somers, a 365-bed facility. About five units totaling 500 beds were added to the McDougall-Walker prison in Suffield in 2004.
Former Gov. M. Jodi Rell ordered the closure of a small facility, the 200-bed Webster Correctional Institution in Cheshire, in December 2009. The move saved an estimated $3.4 million per year.
Keith M. Phaneuf
‘No one took us seriously:’ Black cops warned about racist Capitol Police officers for years
by Joshua Kaplan and Joaquin Sapien | ProPublica
While many officers were filmed fighting off Capitol rioters, at least 12 others are under investigation for possibly assisting them.
by Allan Sloan and Cezary Podkul | ProPublica
The national debt has risen by almost $7.8 trillion during President Trump’s time in office.
For some transgender people, pandemic paves path to transition
by Carol Leonetti Dannhauser | C-HIT.ORG
The COVID-19 pandemic has given many transgender individuals the incentive to begin gender-affirming hormone therapy.
The struggle for racial justice and equality is far from over
by Marilyn Moore
On the eve of the annual celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, I and many others are reflecting on what recently transpired at the U. S. Capitol and how it relates to the injustices that Dr. King and so many others fought to change so many years ago. It is obvious that our nation's fight for racial justice and equality is far from over. In fact, it continues to this day.
The mentoring circle: Supportive relationships across generations
by Josiah H. Brown
January is Mentoring Month, January 17 International Mentoring Day — with the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday a day of service.
Opinion The struggle for racial justice and equality is far from over
Opinion The mentoring circle: Supportive relationships across generations
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DCF complies with court settlement on children’s mental health
by Jacqueline Rabe Thomas
Four years after settling a class-action lawsuit over its care for children with mental health needs, the state Department of Children and Families has revised its procedures to keep hundreds of children from being shunted into institutions, jail or hospital emergency rooms, officials and advocates say.
“It was too hard to access services before,” said Bert Plant, director of community programs for DCF. “We are avoiding arrests and ER visits now.”
State Child Advocate Jeanne Milstein: ‘One of the worst things you can do is have a child lose that family connection or take them away from their community. That has changed.’
In a 2002 class-action lawsuit, plaintiffs’ lawyers said DCF failed to provide mental health services to children living at home or in foster care. The lawsuit and a report issued the next year documented cases of children being arrested, physically restrained and drugged because they did not receive appropriate care in a timely fashion.
“DCF has a long history of having difficulty serving children with mental health needs,” said Anne Louise Blanchard of Connecticut Legal Services, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs in the class-action suit. “Instead of bringing the same suit year after year for individual clients, we decided to do systemic change and hopefully fix this for good.”
The 2007 settlement of the lawsuit required DCF, among other things, to make it easier for clients to access mental health services and to intervene earlier and more often when mental health issues arise.
Before the settlement, DCF got about 5,000 calls a year requesting help for a child with mental health needs–a number that Plant says didn’t make sense.
“We knew more children were ending up in the emergency room in crisis,” he said.
Under terms of the settlement, DCF made it easier to find help by allowing children and their caregivers to reach Emergency Mobile Psychiatric Services through the 2-1-1 social services hot line number. Over the last four years, the number of calls for mental health assistance has increased from 5,000 a year to almost 12,000.
DCF workers also respond more frequently to calls for assistance. Workers used to visit only about 60 percent of the homes from which calls were received; they now respond to about 90 percent of all calls.
“It’s hard to assess services that are needed when you’re not there in person,” Plant said. “If the family feels it’s a crisis and calls then we try to respond in person to prevent more serious issues down the road.”
“They have much faster and better responses now when someone reaches out for help,” Blanchard said. “We just hope now that this is over and that they continue this approach.”
One holdup could be money, as this overhaul cost the state $8.3 million over two years. Now that the settlement has been fulfilled DCF is under no obligation to continue spending this money. Plant said the Department is committed to continuing these programs not only because they ensure better care for these children but it’s also cheaper to keep children in the community than placing them in expensive institutions.
The lawyers and Child Advocate Jeanne Milstein said the problems for children with mental health needs in DCF custody ran much deeper than just identifying what care was needed, which this new strategy fixed.
“There was an extraordinary reliance on longterm and frequently ineffective institutionalization,” said Milstein. “Well certainly that thinking has changed. This [settlement] was a very necessary catalyst for change.”
“The continuum of services just weren’t there before,” said Catherine Williams, a co-counsel in the class-action suit. DCF “didn’t have the opportunity for them to remain in the community which ultimately gives them a much better shot at life then just parking them in an institution.”
DCF agreed in the settlement to have a total of 45 therapeutic group homes to ensure there were some other options for this population besides sending them to a psychiatric hospital. These group homes were aimed at providing specialized treatment for these children in neighborhood settings.
“There were only the extreme placements before,” said Blanchard of the choice between institutional placements or remaining in a foster home with little to no services available.
Because of this settlement, DCF reports the total number of children now receiving services in the community has, “increased substantially.”
In the final report on the mental health services provided by DCF, the consultant hired to oversee the settlement said of the 356 children that have gone through this new program, 88 percent were able to remain in community-based placements.
“There is a substantial population of youth who can benefit from community based service plans,” wrote Robert B. McKeagney, the consultant. “This [settlement] has established a durable process that, while not entirely embedded in DCF policy and culture, should be continued and strengthened.”
McKeagney wrote this settlement created a “streamlined process that certainly encouraged an increased volume of referrals” for children to receive the a la carte programs for specific needs to avoid their child ever needing to leave the home in the first place.
Milstein agrees, saying children with mental health needs are now in a better situation because they are able to receive services at home or nearby in a community setting.
“One of the worst things you can do is have them lose that family connection or take them away from their community. That has changed,” she said.
Jacqueline Rabe Thomas
Projected state revenues skyrocketed by $1.7 million Friday, positioning officials to balance the next state budget without tax hikes.
Evidence not clear that Trump incited Capitol destruction
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Home > Georgia Southern Publications > Georgia Southern Videos > 490
Georgia Southern University Eagle Battalion 2015
Georgia Southern Army ROTC Videos
-- Georgia Southern University serves as the host school with four partnership institutions: Armstrong Atlantic State University, Savannah State University, Savannah College of Art and Design, and East Georgia State College
-- 59% Caucasian, 36% African American, and 5% Hispanic and Other
-- 73% Male and 27% Female
-- 56% Scholarship, 33% Simultaneous Membership Program (SMP), and 11% Non-scholarship/Non-SMP
-- Average GPA of Cadets is 3.42
-- Average time to graduate is 4.2 years
-- Largest non-military college Army ROTC program in the Southeastern United States
-- Largest Army ROTC Nursing program in the nation
-- Eagle Battalion maintains approximately 25 contracted Nurse Cadets
-- The Eagle Battalion has met or exceeded it’s required Army mission for Commissions for the last ten years. Each fiscal year, Cadet Command issues missions to every ROTC program, telling them how many Commissioned Officers they are to produce. Our program is one of only a handful of throughout the country to achieve their mission for the past decade.
-- Our program also serves as the Green to Gold counterpart battalion for Ft. Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield.
-- Many of our Cadets are involved in additional activities such as varsity athletics, intramurals, Color Guard, and various other organizations throughout campus and the community.
-- Back-to-back MacArthur Award Recipient (2009, 2010). The prestigious MacArthur Award is presented to the top ROTC program from each of the eight brigades.
-- 6th Brigade Ranger Challenge Winner (2013), 2nd Place (2014)
Georgia Southern University, "Georgia Southern University Eagle Battalion 2015" (2015). University Videos. 490.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/videos/490
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News, Celebrity Lifestyle, Facts And References
Facts File
Court fix July 1 for judgment Of Fani-Kayode’s alleged money laundering
June 18, 2015 by Kelly Davies Leave a Comment
A Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday fixed July 1 for judgment in the money laundering trial of a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode.
Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia adjourned the case to July 1 following the absence of the lead prosecuting counsel, Mr Festus Keyamo.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that when a lawyer announced appearance for Keyamo, the judge said she would prefer Keyamo, who had been prosecuting the case.
Ofili-Ajumogobia had on May 5 fixed June 18 for judgment following adoption of final written addresses and summary arguments by lawyers to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as well as that of the accused.
Fani-Kayode, whose trial began in 2008 before Justice Ramat Mohammed, was arraigned by the EFCC to have laundered about N100 million while he was the Minister of Culture and Tourism and subsequently, Aviation Minister.
The allegedly laundered sum was, however, reduced to N2.1million on Nov. 17, 2014 after Ofili-Ajumogobia dismissed 38 out of the 40-count levelled against Fani-Kayode for want of proof.
The EFCC prosecutor, Keyamo, while urging the court to uphold the remaining two counts and to accordingly convict Fani-Kayode, said the former minister had failed to exonerate himself of the allegations.
Keyamo pointed out that the object of the charge was that Fani-Kayode transacted in cash sums above N500,000, which was the threshold stipulated by the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.
Keyamo had argued that Fani-Kayode had admitted making such transactions in his confessional statement of Dec. 22, 2008 made to the EFCC.
He said: “In this statement, he admitted that he transacted in cash above N500,000. My Lord, this statement went in without objection by the accused person and the statement was voluntary.
“With the combination of this confessional statement and the statement of the IPO that investigated the allegation, we rely on all of this to submit that we have discharged our burden that monies were received by the accused person in cash and were not done through any financial institution.”
Keyamo had argued that the prosecution had discharged its duty once it established that Fani-Kayode transacted in large sums above the Money Laundering threshold, adding that it was left for Fani-Kayode to explain the source of the money.
“Once you cannot explain the source of the large sum of money found on you, you are guilty of money laundering. If the prosecution must show where the money is coming from, then the whole essence of the money laundering law is defeated.
“It is not in all cases that the burden of proof lies on the prosecution; the burden at this point shifts to the accused person,” Keyamo argued.
He further argued that the court should not simply believe that the large sums in cash that Fani-Kayode allegedly transacted, were proceeds of his father’s estate, saying the accused should have called the tenant who paid the money as rent to testify in court and back it up with his statement of account.
But Fani-Kayode’s lawyer, Mr Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), in his summary argument, maintained that Fani-Kayode made no confession to the EFCC, adding that the anti-graft agency failed to show that Fani-Kayode actually accepted a cash sum of N1million as alleged.
Adedipe said the EFCC also failed to show to the court the person who handed the cash sum to the accused person.
He said for the case of the prosecution to succeed, it had to be proven beyond reasonable doubts.
“My Lord, it is our submission that the accused does not have to prove his innocence; it is the prosecution that must prove its case beyond all reasonable doubts.
“In this particular case, the prosecution has failed to give the evidence of acceptance of N1million; in the entire trial none of the witnesses brought by the prosecution gave evidence of giving the accused cash,” Adedipe said.
The lawyer said the defence had raised plenty doubts in the mind of the court regarding the veracity of the testimony of the EFCC witness, Supo Agbaje, who was earlier declared wanted by the EFCC and subsequently listed as a prosecution witness.
He added:“My Lord, reasonable doubt exists as to what happened and that doubt should be resolved in favour of the accused.
“Do we believe Agbaje, a man fighting for his liberty, who was remanded?
“Reasonable doubt exists in the testimony given by Supo Agbaje, who was declared wanted by the EFCC and later used as a witness.”
Adedipe, while urging the court to discharge and acquit Fani-Kayode, said the EFCC had no case against him, but was only striving to “show to the world that we have caught a big fish; but My Lord, there is no big fish here.”
Filed Under: News Tagged With: Femi Fani Kayode
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Seven key actions business can take to mitigate the effects of COVID-19
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Home › DRG Perspectives › For Aetna, purchase of Coventry...
For Aetna, purchase of Coventry offers more than government treasure
Contributor : Jane DuBose
Publish date: 20 Aug, 2012
While Wall Street has focused on the obvious pick-ups in Medicare and Medicaid business that Aetna's purchase of Coventry Health Care will generate, there may also be gems in the commercial treasure chest that Coventry opens to its bigger rival.
The $5.7 billion deal combines the nation's third-largest carrier (Aetna) with the nation's 10th-largest and boosts Aetna's share of revenues based on government business from 23 percent to 30 percent?fitting since the market is clearly headed that way with healthcare reform. The purchase of Coventry, which should be complete in 2013, will add some 3.4 million medical members to Aetna's 18 million-member base.
After the recent merger announcements between Cigna and HealthSpring and WellPoint and Amerigroup Corp., part of the appeal for Aetna may have been that Coventry was still available. But there were also ways the two companies may fit together that will help Aetna compete more strongly come 2014 when the major provisions of healthcare reform are in place.
For one thing, Coventry is more entrenched in the small-group and individual markets than is Aetna, which has typically been more of a national and large-group carrier. The small-group and individual sectors will help feed the new state exchanges.
In addition, though Aetna is a national carrier, it has some geographic holes. Some of them are currently filled by Coventry in markets such as St. Louis, Kansas City and Pittsburgh. On a state basis, there is overlap between the two companies in four of the top 10 markets for each. In one of those, Pennsylvania, Aetna has played stronger in the eastern part of the state, while Coventry's HealthAmerica plan has played well in the Pittsburgh market.
Aetna typically is the No. 3 or No. 4 health plan in most states, playing behind UnitedHealthcare and WellPoint and sometimes running neck and neck with Cigna. In the huge Florida market, Aetna is currently No. 4 in size, but would move into the No. 3 position ahead of Humana after the purchase is complete, according to HealthLeaders-InterStudy data. It would become No. 2 in Pennsylvania, just behind Highmark, and in Missouri, it would become the largest carrier?ahead of United, WellPoint, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City and Cigna.
The additional 4 million medical members and 1.5 million Medicare Part D members from Coventry give Aetna even greater leverage in negotiating contracts with providers and more markets in which to assemble accountable-care communities based on market-share clout.
As the country hurtles toward government-forced or privately engineered reform, it looks now as though Aetna will have a place at the table, even if it's at the place with the third-biggest slice of pie.
Follow the ins and outs of healthcare reform through this Twitter account
http://twitter.com/#!/JaneGDuBoseHLI
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Course of Human Events
Declaration Database
The Sussex Declaration
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July Highlight: The First Anniversary
Holidays and anniversaries can often sneak up on people. That seems to be the case in Philadelphia on the first anniversary of the Declaration of Independence: July 4, 1777.
In the defense of the Continental Congress, they were a bit busy. In that first year of independence, they had made what would be the first of several evacuations, meeting in Baltimore for several months while the British occupied Philadelphia. During their time in Baltimore, the Congress had commissioned the first printing of the Declaration of Independence to include the names of (nearly) all the signers.
... Read more about July Highlight: The First Anniversary
Click here for static and printable versions!
Read more about The Signers
Delegate Discussions: Benjamin Rush's Characters
In February 1790, Dr. Benjamin Rush wrote a letter to John Adams, disparaging the histories of the American Revolution that had been written thus far: "Had I leisure, I would endeavor to rescue those characters from Oblivion, and give them the first place in the temple of liberty. What trash may we not suppose has been handed down to us from Antiquity, when we detect such errors, and prejudices in the history of events of which we have been eye witnesses, & in which we have been actors?" John Adams felt much the same, lamenting in his response written in April, "The History of our Revolution will be one continued Lye from one End to the other. The Essence of the whole will be that Dr. Franklins electrical Rod, Smote the Earth and out Spring General Washington. That Franklin electrified him with his Rod--and thence forward these two conducted all the Policy Negotiations Legislation and War. These underscored Lines contain the whole Fable Plot and Catastrophy."
In the context of this conversation, Rush informed Adams that he had written "characters of the members of Congress who subscribed the declaration of independence." These characters are a part of Rush's autobiography, Travels Through Life or Sundry Incidents in the Life of Dr. Benjamin Rush, which was completed around 1800. The autobiography was intended for Rush's children and was later published, but in 1790, Rush offered Adams a glimpse.... Read more about Delegate Discussions: Benjamin Rush's Characters
Unsullied by Falsehood: The Signing
Last month, we debunked John Trumbull's Declaration of Independence. Often assumed to depict the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Trumbull actually chose to immortalize the moment when the Committee of Five presented their draft of the Declaration to John Hancock and the Continental Congress.
So, when was the Declaration of Independence signed?
Spoiler: NOT ON JULY 4TH.*
*Most likely
Here is everything we know about the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the signatures, and why those signatures matter.
... Read more about Unsullied by Falsehood: The Signing
Unsullied by Falsehood: No John Trumbull
In previews last year, the award-winning musical Hamilton included a short song at the top of Act 2 (between Thomas Jefferson's "What'd I Miss?" and "Cabinet Battle #1") that was cut before the musical moved to Broadway. The number was called "No John Trumbull", and antagonist/narrator Aaron Burr sang the following lines:
You ever see a painting by John Trumbull?
Founding Fathers in a line, looking all humble
Patiently waiting to sign a declaration, to start a nation
No sign of disagreement, not one grumble
The reality is messier and richer, kids
The reality is not a pretty picture, kids
Every cabinet meeting is a full-on rumble
What you 'bout to see is no John Trumbull
- Hamilton: An American Musical, Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda
The founding of the United States of America was certainly not the "pretty picture" John Trumbull's Declaration of Independence leads the viewer to believe. More specifically, the events surrounding the Declaration of Independence had very little resemblance to this now famous painting.... Read more about Unsullied by Falsehood: No John Trumbull
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The Declaration Resources Project is part of the Democratic Knowledge Project
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Emirates NBD is a leading banking Group in the region. The Group has a leading retail banking franchise in the UAE, with 210 branches and over 901 ATMs and CDMs in the UAE and overseas. It is a major player in the UAE corporate and retail banking arena and has strong Islamic banking, Global Markets & Treasury, Investment Banking, Private Banking, Asset Management and Brokerage operations. The Group has operations in the UAE, Egypt, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Singapore, the United Kingdom and Jersey (Channel Islands), and representative offices in India, Iran and China.
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Docs to watch: #BlackLivesMatter
Over the last week, nightly violent protests have erupted on the streets of American cities in the wake of George Floyd's death.
We need to try to understand, even when - or especially when - it feels uncomfortable.
Documentaries can be tools to understand, to learn, to empathise. By no means an exhaustive list, the below documentaries address civil rights, history and racism in the US and the UK in the recent and not-so-recent history. These films are our starting point.
On Friday 12 June, we will also be showing Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project, another very relevant doc on this subject.
THE HARD STOP George Amponsah / 2015 / 85 mins
The racially charged police killing of Mark Duggan in August 2011 ignited the worst civil unrest in recent British history.
For 28 months, director George Amponsah filmed around Broadwater Farm in Tottenham, where Duggan grew up, capturing his family’s distress and focusing on two of his best friends, Marcus Knox and Kurtis Henville.
We follow the men as they attempt to get on with their lives, look for a job, talk about the discrimination they experience on a daily basis and the impact Duggan’s death has had on the community.
What emerges is a profoundly humane, thought-provoking and topical testament, which gives a voice to people who are too rarely heard.
Watch The Hard Stop on Amazon Prime and the BFI Player.
13TH Ava DuVernay / 2016 / 100 mins
Directed and produced by Ava DuVernay, 13th explores how mass incarceration in America evolved to its current epic proportions and what the ramifications are for communities of colour across the country.
The title of Ava DuVernay’s extraordinary and galvanising documentary refers to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which reads “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States...” The progression from that second qualifying clause to the horrors of mass criminalisation and the sprawling American prison industry is laid out by DuVernay with bracing lucidity.
Watch 13th on Netflix.
THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE Ken Burns & David McMahon & Sarah Burns / 2012 / 119mins
Studying the same case as Ava DuVernay's recent drama series When They See Us, The Central Park Five revisits a crime from 1989: the brutal assault and rape of a white woman in Central Park, for which five black and Hispanic teenagers from Harlem were arrested. After hours of intense interrogations, the youths confessed and were sentenced to long prison terms.
Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, along with collaborators David McMahon and Sarah Burns, uses revelatory archive footage and contributions from many involved in the trial, to raise serious questions concerning the criminal investigation and a flawed American justice system.
Watch The Central Park Five on iTunes.
ST LOUIS SUPERMAN Smitri Mundhra & Sami Khan / 2019 / 28 mins
This Oscar-nominated short follows celebrated battle rapper Bruce Franks Jr, who has won a seat on the Missouri State Legislature.
Franks had been very active in the Ferguson protests over the 2014 murder of the unarmed African-American teenager Michael Brown, and is now trying to get a law passed that would recognise that gun violence is a public health epidemic, and channel resources towards treating it.
The film follows Franks over the summer of 2018, as he successfully gets his bill passed - and names it after his older brother, who was murdered as a child. Franks' activism and immersion in the world of gun violence devastation clearly takes its toll, and a coda at the end of the film notes that he has stepped down from politics.
Watch St Louis Superman on Al Jazeera.
3½ MINUTES, 10 BULLETS Marc Silver / 2015 / 98 mins
After they refused to turn down their rap music, Mike Dunn fired into a car of unarmed black teenagers in Jacksonville, Florida. Three bullets hit 17-year-old Jordan Davis, who died at the scene.
Director Marc Silver skillfully weaves a compelling narrative through beautifully shot courtroom scenes, interviews with the Jordan's parents and friends, and shocking telephone conversations between incarcerated Dunn and his distraught fiancee.
Watch 3½ Minutes, 10 Bullets on Amazon Prime, Google Play, iTunes, Sky Store and Chili.
You can watch DocHouse's post-screening Q&A with director Marc Silver and Jordan Davis's father, Ron here.
UNARMED BLACK MALE James Jones / 2016 / 88 mins
In Unarmed Black Male, made for the BBC’s This World strand, James Jones takes a 360° approach to telling the story of the trial of Stephen Rankin, a policeman accused of murdering a black teenager.
For Jones, his focus on the Portsmouth, Virginia shooting stemmed from his interest in the growth of police shootings in America documented by citizens. “I wanted to make a film about how technology is changing awareness of American police shootings,” he said in an interview. “In the past the police statement has been taken as gospel truth. So there was the idea that people being able to film it on mobile phones was transforming our perception of this issue.”
Watch Unarmed Black Male via James Jones' website.
STRONG ISLAND Yance Ford / 2016 / 107 mins
Twenty-five years after director Yance Ford’s brother was murdered on Long Island, NY, the family scars run deep.
In this stylish, searing, and accomplished film, Ford revisits the painful topic which he has so long avoided.
Unflinching testimonials bear witness to decades of grief, exacerbated by the fact the police showed no interest in investigating the murder of a young black male.
Watch Strong Island on Netflix.
BLACK SHEEP Ed Perkins / 2018 / 27 mins
In the wake of Damilola Taylor’s death, Cornelius Walker’s mother tried to move her family away from the dangers of London to an estate in Essex, run by a violent, racist gang.
In this multi award-winning and Oscar-nominated short, Ed Perkins tells Cornelius’s story through a potent combination of his firsthand reflections and re-enactments using ‘non-actors’ in the real locations where events unfolded over 15 years ago.
Watch Black Sheep on the Guardian website.
I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO Raoul Peck / 2016 / 93mins
In 1979, James Baldwin wrote a letter to his literary agent describing his next project, Remember This House. The book was to be a revolutionary, personal account of the lives and successive assassinations of three of his close friends—Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. However, at the time of his death in 1987, he left behind only thirty completed pages of his manuscript.
In I Am Not Your Negro, filmmaker Raoul Peck reimagines Baldwin’s unfinished manuscript with this radical and incendiary examination of race in America, connecting the narratives of past and present. Using Baldwin’s words, voiced by Samuel L. Jackson, Peck crafts a lyrical and forceful interrogation of what it means to be black today.
Watch I Am Not Your Negro on BFI Player, Amazon Prime, iTunes, Sky Store or YouTube.
You can watch DocHouse's Q&A with director Raoul Peck here.
FRANTZ FANON: BLACK SKIN, WHITE MASK Isaac Julien / 1995 / 71 mins
Psychiatrist, intellectual and writer Frantz Fanon (1925 - 1961) was the pre-eminent theorist on colonialism. His two major works Black Skin, White Masks and The Wretched of the Earth explored the psychological effects of racism on both the coloniser and the colonised.
Artist Isaac Julien weaves together different narrative techniques including interviews, readings and reconstruction to explore Fanon's life and works.
Watch Frantz Fanon: Black Skin, White Mask on iTunes or Kanopy.
Video of the_stuart_hall_project_2013_-_john_akomfrah_trailer_bfi
THE STUART HALL PROJECT John Akomfrah / 2013 / 99 mins
Born in Jamaica, Stuart Hall emigrated to the UK in 1951 to take up a place at Oxford University. He soon became an influential figure in the new left, and is credited as one of the founders of contemporary cultural studies.
Using material from decades of TV work, along with film and photos from Hall's personal archive, director John Akomfrah explores Hall's life and work - set to the sounds of his favourite musician, Miles Davis.
The result is a profound tract on identity, memory and the second half of the 20th Century through the eyes of one of its most important cultural theorists.
Watch The Stuart Hall Project on the BFI Player and Amazon Prime.
THE BLACK PANTHERS: VANGUARD OF THE REVOLUTION Stanley Nelson / 2015 / 113 mins
Master documentarian Stanley Nelson explores the Black Panther Party, its significance to the broader American culture, its cultural and political awakening for black people, and the painful lessons wrought when a movement derails.
Going straight to the source, Nelson weaves a treasure trove of rare archival footage with the voices of the people who were there: police, FBI informants, journalists, white supporters and detractors, and Black Panthers who remained loyal to the party and those who left it.
Watch The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution on Kanopy.
LA 92 Dan Lindsay & TJ Martin / 2017 / 114
Twenty-five years after the verdict in the Rodney King trial sparked several days of protests, violence and looting in Los Angeles, LA 92 immerses viewers in that tumultuous period through stunning and rarely seen archival footage.
Directed by Oscar winners Dan Lindsay and TJ Martin (Undefeated), the film looks at the events of 1992 from a multitude of vantage points, bringing a fresh perspective to a pivotal moment that reverberates to this day.
Watch LA 92 on YouTube, Google Play, Amazon Prime or Netflix.
GENERATION REVOLUTION Usayd Younis & Cassie Quarless / 2016 /
Generation Revolution brings to screen the powerful story of a new generation of British black and brown activists who are changing the social and political landscape in London and beyond.
The film chronicles the evolution of the young activists, offering a glimpse into the rewarding but difficult path that must be trodden in the struggle for personal, social and political liberation.
Watch Generation Revolution on iTunes, Amazon Prime, Google Play, YouTube or the BFI Player.
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16.953 History History: 2005 a. 141.
16.956 16.956 Diesel truck idling reduction grants.
16.956(1)(1) Definitions. In this section:
16.956(1)(a) (a) “Common motor carrier" has the meaning given in s. 194.01 (1).
16.956(1)(b) (b) “Contract motor carrier" has the meaning given in s. 194.01 (2).
16.956(1)(c) (c) “Idling reduction unit" means a device that is installed on a diesel truck to reduce the long-duration idling of the truck by providing heat, air conditioning, or electricity to the truck while the truck is stationary and the main drive engine of the truck is not operating.
16.956(1)(d) (d) “Post-1998 diesel truck engine" means a heavy-duty highway diesel engine that complies with the air pollutant emission standards promulgated by the federal environmental protection agency under 42 USC 7521 for engine model year 1998 or a later engine model year.
16.956(1)(e) (e) “Private motor carrier" has the meaning given in s. 194.01 (11).
16.956(1)(f) (f) “Truck tractor" has the meaning given in s. 340.01 (73).
16.956(2) (2) Authority. Beginning on July 1, 2006, and ending on June 30, 2020, the department may award a grant to an eligible applicant for the purchase and field testing of one or more idling reduction units as provided in subs. (3) and (4).
16.956(3) (3) Eligible applicants. An applicant is eligible for a grant under this section only if all of the following apply:
16.956(3)(a) (a) The applicant is a common motor carrier, contract motor carrier, or private motor carrier that transports freight.
16.956(3)(b) (b) The applicant is headquartered in this state.
16.956(3)(c) (c) The applicant pays 50 percent of the eligible costs for each idling reduction unit covered by a grant under this section without the use of grants, loans, or other financial assistance from this state or from a local governmental unit in this state.
16.956(3)(d) (d) The applicant agrees to collect information relating to the operation and performance of each idling reduction unit covered by a grant under this section, as required by the department, and to report that information to the department.
16.956(4) (4) Grants.
16.956(4)(a) (a) Except as provided in par. (b), the costs that an applicant has incurred or will incur to purchase and install an idling reduction unit on a truck tractor that is owned and operated by the applicant and that has a post-1998 diesel truck engine are eligible costs under this section if the use of the idling reduction unit will result, in the aggregate, in a decrease in the emissions of one or more air contaminants, as defined in s. 285.01 (1), from the truck tractor on which the idling reduction unit is installed or in a decrease in the use of energy by the truck tractor on which the idling reduction unit is installed.
16.956(4)(b) (b) The following costs are not eligible costs:
16.956(4)(b)1. 1. The cost of shipping an idling reduction unit from the manufacturer to the facility where the idling reduction unit will be installed on the truck tractor.
16.956(4)(b)2. 2. The cost of operating an idling reduction unit.
16.956(4)(b)3. 3. The cost of maintaining an idling reduction unit.
16.956(4)(cm) (cm) Subject to par. (d), the department may make grants under this section from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2020, of 50 percent of the eligible costs for an idling reduction unit installed on a truck tractor, unless the department has previously awarded a grant under this section for an idling reduction unit installed on the truck tractor.
16.956(4)(d) (d) In any fiscal year, the department may not pay to any one applicant more than 20 percent of the amount appropriated under s. 20.505 (1) (sa) for the fiscal year.
16.956(4)(e) (e) The department may pay a grant over more than one fiscal year, subject to the availability of funds and to par. (d).
16.956(5) (5) Information. The department shall collect information from recipients of grants under this section relating to the operation and performance of idling reduction units. The department shall summarize the information collected and make it available to common motor carriers, contract motor carriers, and private motor carriers in an accessible and cost-effective manner, such as on department's Internet site.
16.956(5m) (5m) Rules. The department shall promulgate rules for the administration of the program under this section.
16.956(6) (6) Sunset. Subsections (2) to (4) do not apply after December 31, 2021.
16.956 History History: 2005 a. 25; 2007 a. 20; 2009 a. 28; 2011 a. 32 ss. 3335 to 3338; Stats. 2011 s. 101.45; 2013 a. 20 s. 1710; Stats. 2013 s. 16.956; 2013 a. 173; 2015 a. 55.
16.956 Cross-reference Cross-reference: See also ch. Adm 94, Wis. adm. code.
16.957 16.957 Low-income assistance.
16.957(1)(bm) (bm) “Commission" means the public service commission.
16.957(1)(c) (c) “Commitment to community program" means a program by or on behalf of a municipal utility or retail electric cooperative for low-income assistance.
16.957(1)(f) (f) “Electric provider" means an electric utility or retail electric cooperative.
16.957(1)(g) (g) “Electric utility" means a public utility that owns or operates a retail electric distribution system.
16.957(1)(gr) (gr) “Federal assistance" means, for a fiscal year, all moneys received from the federal government under 42 USC 6861 to 6873 and 42 USC 8621 to 8629 in the fiscal year.
16.957(1)(i) (i) “Fiscal year" has the meaning given in s. 655.001 (6).
16.957(1)(k) (k) “Local unit of government" means the governing body of any county, city, town, village or county utility district or the elected tribal governing body of a federally recognized American Indian tribe or band.
16.957(1)(L) (L) “Low-income assistance" means assistance to low-income households for weatherization and other energy conservation services, payment of energy bills or early identification or prevention of energy crises.
16.957(1)(m) (m) “Low-income household" means any individual or group of individuals in this state who are living together as one economic unit and for whom residential electricity is customarily purchased in common or who make undesignated payments for electricity in the form of rent, and whose household income is not more than 60 percent of the statewide median household income.
16.957(1)(n) (n) “Low-income need" means the amount obtained by subtracting from the total low-income energy bills in a fiscal year the product of 2.2 percent of the estimated average annual income of low-income households in this state in that fiscal year multiplied by the estimated number of low-income households in this state in that fiscal year.
16.957(1)(o) (o) “Low-income need percentage" means the percentage that results from dividing the sum of the following by the amount of low-income need in fiscal year 1998-99:
16.957(1)(o)1. 1. The federal assistance in fiscal year 1997-98.
16.957(1)(o)1m. 1m. The amount of the portion of the public benefits fee for fiscal year 1999-2000 that is specified in s. 16.957 (4) (c) 1., 1999 stats.
16.957(1)(o)2. 2. The total amount expended by utilities under s. 196.374, 2003 stats., related to low-income assistance.
16.957(1)(o)3. 3. Fifty percent of the amount of public benefits fees that municipal utilities and retail electric cooperatives were required to charge under s. 16.957 (5) (a), 1999 stats., in fiscal year 1999-2000.
16.957(1)(p) (p) “Low-income need target" means the product of the low-income need percentage multiplied by low-income need in a fiscal year.
16.957(1)(q) (q) “Municipal utility" means an electric utility that is owned wholly by a municipality and that owns a retail distribution system.
16.957(1)(qm) (qm) “Public utility" has the meaning given in s. 196.01 (5).
16.957(1)(s) (s) “Retail capacity" means the total amount of electricity that an electric provider is capable of delivering to its retail customers or members and that is supplied by electric generating facilities owned or operated by the electric provider or any other person. “Retail capacity" does not include any electricity that is not used to satisfy the electric provider's retail load obligations.
16.957(1)(t) (t) “Retail electric cooperative" means a cooperative association that is organized under ch. 185 for the purpose of providing electricity at retail to its members only and that owns or operates a retail electric distribution system.
16.957(1)(u) (u) “Total low-income energy bills" means the total estimated amount that all low-income households are billed for residential electricity, natural gas and heating fuel in a fiscal year.
16.957(1)(v) (v) “Wholesale electric cooperative" means a cooperative association that is organized under ch. 185 for the purpose of providing electricity at wholesale to its members only.
16.957(1)(w) (w) “Wholesale supplier" means a wholesale electric cooperative or a municipal electric company, as defined in s. 66.0825 (3) (d), that supplies electricity at wholesale to a municipal utility or retail electric cooperative.
16.957(1)(x) (x) “Wholesale supply percentage" means the percentage of the electricity sold by a wholesale supplier that is purchased by a municipal utility or retail electric cooperative.
16.957(2) (2) Department duties. The department shall do all of the following:
16.957(2)(a) (a) Low-income programs. After holding a hearing, establish programs to be administered by the department for awarding grants from the appropriation under s. 20.505 (3) (r) to provide low-income assistance. In each fiscal year, the amount awarded under this paragraph shall be sufficient to ensure that an amount equal to 50 percent of the sum of the following is allocated for weatherization and other energy conservation services:
16.957(2)(a)2. 2. All moneys spent in a fiscal year for low-income programs established under s. 196.374, 2003 stats.
16.957(2)(a)3. 3. The moneys collected in low-income assistance fees under sub. (4) (a).
16.957(2)(c) (c) Rules. Promulgate rules establishing all of the following:
16.957(2)(c)1. 1. Eligibility requirements for low-income assistance under programs established under par. (a). The rules shall prohibit a person who receives low-income assistance from a municipal utility or retail electric cooperative under a program specified in sub. (5) (b) 1. from receiving low-income assistance under programs established under par. (a).
16.957(2)(c)2. 2. Requirements and procedures for applications for grants awarded under programs established under par. (a).
16.957(2)(c)5. 5. A method for estimating total low-income energy bills, average annual income of low-income households and the number of low-income households in a fiscal year for the purpose of determining the amount of low-income need in the fiscal year.
16.957(2)(d) (d) Other duties.
16.957(2)(d)1.1. For each fiscal year, determine the low-income need target for that fiscal year.
16.957(2)(d)3. 3. Deposit all moneys received under sub. (4) (a) or (5) (b) 2. in the utility public benefits fund.
16.957(2)(d)4. 4. Provide for an annual independent audit and submit an annual report to the legislature under s. 13.172 (2) that describes each of the following:
16.957(2)(d)4.a. a. The expenses of the department, other state agencies, and grant recipients in administering or participating in the programs under par. (a).
16.957(2)(d)4.b. b. The effectiveness of the programs under par. (a) in providing assistance to low-income individuals.
16.957(2)(d)4.d. d. Any other issue identified by the department, governor, speaker of the assembly or majority leader of the senate.
16.957(3) (3) Contracts. The department shall, on the basis of competitive bids, contract with community action agencies described in s. 49.265 (2) (a) 1., nonstock, nonprofit corporations organized under ch. 181, or local units of government to provide services under the programs established under sub. (2) (a).
16.957(4) (4) Electric utilities.
16.957(4)(a) (a) Requirement to charge low-income assistance fees. Each electric utility, except for a municipal utility, shall charge each customer a low-income assistance fee in an amount established in rules promulgated by the department under par. (b). An electric utility, except for a municipal utility, shall collect and pay the fees to the department in accordance with the rules promulgated under par. (b). The low-income assistance fees collected by an electric utility shall be considered trust funds of the department and not income of the electric utility.
16.957(4)(am) (am) Electric bills. An electric utility shall show the low-income assistance fee as a separate line in a customer's bill, identified as the “state low-income assistance fee," and shall provide the customer with an annual statement that identifies the annual charges for low-income assistance fees and describes the programs for which fees are used.
16.957(4)(b) (b) Rules. The department shall promulgate rules that establish the amount of a low-income assistance fee under par. (a). Fees established in rules under this paragraph may vary by class of customer, but shall be uniform within each class, and shall satisfy each of the following:
16.957(4)(b)1. 1. The fees may not be based on the kilowatt-hour consumption of electricity by customers.
16.957(4)(b)2. 2. Seventy percent of the total amount of fees charged by an electric provider may be charged to residential customers and 30 percent of the total may be charged to nonresidential customers.
16.957(4)(b)3. 3. The fees shall allow an electric provider to recover the reasonable and prudent expenses incurred by the electric provider in complying with this section.
16.957(4)(c) (c) Amount of low-income assistance fees. A fee established in rules promulgated under par. (b) shall satisfy each of the following:
16.957(4)(c)1. 1. `Low-income funding from fee.' In each fiscal year, the low-income assistance fee shall be an amount that, when added to the sum of the following shall equal the low-income need target for that fiscal year determined by the department under sub. (2) (d) 1.:
16.957(4)(c)1.a. a. The estimated low-income assistance fees charged by municipal utilities and retail electric cooperatives under sub. (5) (a) for that fiscal year.
16.957(4)(c)1.b. b. The federal assistance for that fiscal year.
16.957(4)(c)1.c. c. The total amount spent on programs by utilities under s. 196.374 (3), 2003 stats., for that fiscal year for low-income assistance.
16.957(4)(c)3. 3. `Limitation on low-income assistance fees.' In any month, the low-income assistance fee may not exceed 3 percent of the total of every other charge for which the customer is billed for that month or $750, whichever is less.
16.957(5) (5) Municipal utilities and retail electric cooperatives.
16.957(5)(a)(a) Requirement to charge low-income assistance fees. Each retail electric cooperative and municipal utility shall charge a monthly low-income assistance fee to each customer or member in an amount that is sufficient for the retail electric cooperative or municipal utility to collect an annual average of $8 per meter. A retail electric cooperative or municipal utility may determine the amount that a particular class of customers or members is required to pay under this paragraph and may charge different fees to different classes of customers or members.
16.957(5)(am) (am) Low-income assistance fee restriction. Notwithstanding par. (a), in any month, the low-income assistance fee may not exceed 1.5 percent of the total of every other charge for which the member or customer is billed for that month or $375, whichever is less.
16.957(5)(b) (b) Commitment to community programs.
/statutes/statutes/16 true statutes /statutes/statutes/16/vi/957 Chs. 13-20, General Organization of the State, Except the Judiciary statutes/16.957 statutes/16.957 section true
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Animations inspire real-time simulation of soft robots
Image credit: Kittipong Jirasukhanont | Dreamstime
Researchers have adapted graphics technology used to create motion picture animations and video games to simulate the movements of soft, limbed robots.
The engineers, from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, said they have achieved “faster than real-time simulation” of soft robots, with the project being a “major step” toward such robots that are autonomous and can plan out actions on their own.
“Soft robots are made of flexible material which makes them intrinsically resilient against damage and potentially much safer in interaction with humans,” said Khalid Jawed, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at UCLA Samueli School of Engineering. “Prior to this study, predicting the motion of these robots has been challenging because they change shape during operation.”
Movies often use an algorithm named discrete elastic rods (DER) to animate free-flowing objects which can predict hundreds of movements in less than a second. The researchers set out to create a physics engine using DER that could simulate the movements of bio-inspired robots and robots in challenging environments, such as the surface of Mars or underwater.
Another algorithm-based technology, finite elemental method (FEM), can simulate the movements of solid and rigid robots, but it is not well-suited to tackle the intricacies of soft, natural movements, the collaborators said. It also requires significant time and computational power.
Sequence of a simulation showing a soft robot with seven flexible limbs planning its forward motion.
Image credit: Khalid Jawed/UCLA
Roboticists have largely been using a painstaking trial-and-error process for investigating the dynamics of soft material systems and the design and control of soft robots. The researchers on this project, however, are trying to steer away from this issue.
“Robots made out of hard and inflexible materials are relatively easy to model using existing computer simulation tools,” said Carmel Majidi, an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon’s College of Engineering. “Until now, there haven’t been good software tools to simulate robots that are soft and squishy.”
According to Majidi, their work is one of the first to demonstrate how soft robots can be successfully simulated using the same computer graphics software that has been used to model hair and fabrics in blockbuster films and animated movies.
The researchers started working together in Majidi’s Soft Machines Lab more than three years ago. Continuing their collaboration on this latest work, Jawed ran the simulations in his research lab at UCLA while Majidi performed the physical experiments that validated the simulation results.
“Experimental advances in soft-robotics have been outpacing theory for several years,” said Dr Samuel Stanton, a programme manager with the Army Research Office, which funded part of the project. “This effort is a significant step in our ability to predict and design for dynamics and control in highly deformable robots operating in confined spaces with complex contacts and constantly changing environments.”
The researchers are currently working to apply this technology to other kinds of soft robots, including ones inspired by the movements of bacteria and starfish. Such swimming robots could be fully untethered and used in oceanography to monitor seawater conditions or inspect the status of fragile marine life, the duo said.
The researchers added that the new simulation tool can significantly reduce the time it takes to bring a soft robot from drawing board to application. While robots are still very far from matching the efficiency and capabilities of natural systems, computer simulations can help to reduce this gap, they said.
design and production
Photonic processor reaches unprecedented computing density
Novel technique helps develop ultra-thin sensor for smart contact lenses
Morphing nozzle allows 3D printing of custom fibre-filled composites
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PRISCILLA NICHOLAS SHAKESPEARE BOOK REVIEW
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Non Fiction Nicholas Shakespeare. Books by Nicholas Shakespeare. BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR. Released: Jan. 7, 2014. Reviewed: Nov. 18, 2013 . PRISCILLA: THE HIDDEN LIFE OF AN ENGLISHWOMAN IN WARTIME FRANCE by Nicholas Shakespeare. BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR. Released: Jan. 7, 2014. PRISCILLA: THE HIDDEN LIFE OF AN ENGLISHWOMAN IN WARTIME FRANCE by Nicholas Shakespeare "A somewhat disjointed story that …, Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France is a book by Nicholas Shakespeare first published in 2013. The book tells the story of the author's enigmatic aunt, variously known as Vicomtesse Priscilla Doynel de la Sausserie, Priscilla Mais, and Simone Vernier, who had spent time in France during the Second World War. Shakespeare had believed that Priscilla was a hero of the.
In вЂPriscilla’ Nicholas Shakespeare Looks at Family
Review вЂPriscilla’ by Nicholas Shakespeare. Books by Nicholas Shakespeare Nicholas Shakespeare Average rating 3.79 · 18,983 ratings · 1,303 reviews · shelved 54,680 times Showing 29 distinct works., Write your own review of Priscilla by Nicholas Shakespeare, read other people's reviews and browse book information about from Priscilla..
07/01/2014 · Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France by Nicholas Shakespeare is a transcendent work of narrative nonfiction in the vein of The Hare with Amber Eyes.. When Nicholas Shakespeare stumbled across a trunk full of his late aunt’s personal belongings, he was unaware of where this discovery would take him and what he would learn about her hidden past. Tragically Shakespeare suggests perhaps Priscilla never figured that out herself. In reading the reviews it seems the principal criticism some readers have with the book is that Priscilla isn’t the heroic figure Shakespeare assumed. Anyone considering reading the book needs to understand this is not an uplifting tale. Priscilla is in no way
» Have you read this book? We'd like to know what you think about it - write a review about Priscilla book by Nicholas Shakespeare and you'll earn 50c in Boomerang Bucks loyalty dollars (you must be a Boomerang Books Account Holder - it's free to sign up and there are great benefits!) 27/12/2013 · The mythical status of Nicholas Shakespeare’s aunt Priscilla, the subject of this biographical memoir, took shape in his family on her return to London after the liberation of Paris.
03/07/2014 · Priscilla by Nicholas Shakespeare, 9780099555667, available at Book Depository with free delivery worldwide. We use cookies to give you the best possible experience. By … Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France by Nicholas Shakespeare is a transcendent work of narrative nonfiction in the vein of The Hare with Amber Eyes.. When Nicholas Shakespeare stumbled across a trunk full of his late aunt’s personal belongings, he was unaware of where this discovery would take him and what he would learn about her hidden past.
Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France is a book by Nicholas Shakespeare first published in 2013. The book tells the story of the author's enigmatic aunt, variously known as Vicomtesse Priscilla Doynel de la Sausserie, Priscilla Mais, and Simone Vernier, who had spent time in France during the Second World War. Shakespeare had believed that Priscilla was a hero of the 9-9 Mon-Thu 9-6 Fri 10-6 Sat 1-6 Sun. Please check our holiday calendar for specific date information. more →
Review: As a kid, novelist Nicholas Shakespeare was fascinated by his glamorous but mysterious aunt, Priscilla. Family rumors hinted that Priscilla, who struggled with a drinking problem and a temperamental husband late in life, had been captured and tortured by Germans during World War II while serving as a member of the resistance in occupied France. 03/07/2014 · Priscilla by Nicholas Shakespeare, 9780099555667, available at Book Depository with free delivery worldwide. We use cookies to give you the best possible experience. By …
As a boy Nicholas Shakespeare knew very little about his Aunt Priscilla, his mother's half-sister. There were occasional family visits to the farm in Sussex where she lived with her second husband Nicholas Shakespeare. Nicholas Shakespeare was born in 1957. His novels have been translated into twenty languages. They include The Vision of Elena Silves, winner of the Somerset Maugham Award, and The Dancer Upstairs, which was chosen by the American Library Association in 1997 as the year's best novel, and in 2001 was made into a film of the same name by John Malkovich.
07/11/2013 · Priscilla: The hidden life of an Englishwoman in wartime France –is the first non-fiction read of 2014. I was especially bad at reading non-fiction last year and have been quite picky about which non-fiction books I select to read. This turned out to be an excellent book to … As a boy Nicholas Shakespeare knew very little about his Aunt Priscilla, his mother's half-sister. There were occasional family visits to the farm in Sussex where she lived with her second husband
Priscilla by Nicholas Shakespeare Penguin Books Australia
Summary and reviews of Priscilla by Nicholas Shakespeare. Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France by Nicholas Shakespeare is a transcendent work of narrative nonfiction in the vein of The Hare with Amber Eyes.. When Nicholas Shakespeare stumbled across a trunk full of his late aunt’s personal belongings, he was unaware of where this discovery would take him and what he would learn about her hidden past., 17/01/2014 · Buy Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France 1st Edition by Nicholas Shakespeare (ISBN: 9781846554834) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders..
Amazon.com Priscilla The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman. Nicholas Shakespeare, November 11, 2014 November 11, 2014, Blog, 0 To dine in Hall by candlelight remains a great tradition at Magdalene College, Cambridge. At my matriculation dinner,..., Nicholas Shakespeare, November 11, 2014 November 11, 2014, Blog, 0 To dine in Hall by candlelight remains a great tradition at Magdalene College, Cambridge. At my matriculation dinner,....
Priscilla (Audiobook) by Nicholas Shakespeare Audible.com
Priscilla ebook by Nicholas Shakespeare Rakuten Kobo. “Nicholas Shakespeare has employed all his superb gifts as a writer to tell the picaresque tale of his aunt in wartime occupied France. Priscilla is a femme fatale worthy of fiction, and the author traces her tangled, troubled, romantic and often tragically unromantic experiences through one of the most dreadful periods of 20th-century history” https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerikanische_Jugendliteratur 07/01/2014 · Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France by Nicholas Shakespeare is a transcendent work of narrative nonfiction in the vein of The Hare with Amber Eyes.. When Nicholas Shakespeare stumbled across a trunk full of his late aunt’s personal belongings, he was unaware of where this discovery would take him and what he would learn about her hidden past..
07/01/2014 · Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France by Nicholas Shakespeare is a transcendent work of narrative nonfiction in the vein of The Hare with Amber Eyes.. When Nicholas Shakespeare stumbled across a trunk full of his late aunt’s personal belongings, he was unaware of where this discovery would take him and what he would learn about her hidden past. Written by Nicholas Shakespeare, Audiobook narrated by Nicholas Shakespeare. Sign-in to download and listen to this audiobook today! First time visiting Audible? Get this book …
Novelist Shakespeare (In Tasmania, 2004, etc.) searches for the realities of his aunt’s life before, during and after World War II.The first portion of the book explains Priscilla’s childhood: Her mother ran off with one of a series of lovers; her father’s lover demanded Priscilla be sent off to Paris to live with her mother in 1926; her mother abused her. Books. Blonde, beautiful — and desperate to survive in Nazi France Nicholas Shakespeare recounts his aunt's eventful story in Priscilla: The Hidden Life of the Englishwoman in Occupied France
Review: As a kid, novelist Nicholas Shakespeare was fascinated by his glamorous but mysterious aunt, Priscilla. Family rumors hinted that Priscilla, who struggled with a drinking problem and a temperamental husband late in life, had been captured and tortured by Germans during World War II while serving as a member of the resistance in occupied France. 9-9 Mon-Thu 9-6 Fri 10-6 Sat 1-6 Sun. Please check our holiday calendar for specific date information. more →
03/07/2014 · Priscilla by Nicholas Shakespeare, 9780099555667, available at Book Depository with free delivery worldwide. We use cookies to give you the best possible experience. By … Nicholas Shakespeare has made several extended biographies for television: on Evelyn Waugh, Mario Vargas Llosa, Bruce Chatwin, Martha Gellhorn, and Dirk Bogarde. The Dancer Upstairs was made into a feature film of the same name in 2002, for which Shakespeare wrote the screenplay and which John Malkovich directed.
07/01/2014 · Read "Priscilla The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France" by Nicholas Shakespeare available from Rakuten Kobo. Sign up today and get $5 off your first purchase. Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France by Nicholas Shakespeare is a … “Nicholas Shakespeare has employed all his superb gifts as a writer to tell the picaresque tale of his aunt in wartime occupied France. Priscilla is a femme fatale worthy of fiction, and the author traces her tangled, troubled, romantic and often tragically unromantic experiences through one of the most dreadful periods of 20th-century history”
Priscilla : Traduit de l'anglais (Grande-Bretagne) par Ja... and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France is a book by Nicholas Shakespeare first published in 2013. The book tells the story of the author's enigmatic aunt, variously known as Vicomtesse Priscilla Doynel de la Sausserie, Priscilla Mais, and Simone Vernier, who had spent time in France during the Second World War. Shakespeare had believed that Priscilla was a hero of the
03/07/2014 · Priscilla by Nicholas Shakespeare, 9780099555667, available at Book Depository with free delivery worldwide. We use cookies to give you the best possible experience. By … 19/01/2014 · Actually, Priscilla Thompson was long dead when her nephew Nicholas Shakespeare was moved to find an answer to that question. He knew she had lived in France during the German occupation, and
a book review Priscilla The Hidden Life of an
Priscilla (Audiobook) by Nicholas Shakespeare Audible.com. 07/11/2013 · Priscilla: The hidden life of an Englishwoman in wartime France –is the first non-fiction read of 2014. I was especially bad at reading non-fiction last year and have been quite picky about which non-fiction books I select to read. This turned out to be an excellent book to …, Nicholas Shakespeare has made several extended biographies for television: on Evelyn Waugh, Mario Vargas Llosa, Bruce Chatwin, Martha Gellhorn, and Dirk Bogarde. The Dancer Upstairs was made into a feature film of the same name in 2002, for which Shakespeare wrote the screenplay and which John Malkovich directed..
Non Fiction Nicholas Shakespeare
Review Nicholas Shakespeare Priscilla. Lifestyle › Books Six Minutes in May by Nicholas Shakespeare - review Why the rise of Britain’s great wartime hero was more a matter of luck than design, 9-9 Mon-Thu 9-6 Fri 10-6 Sat 1-6 Sun. Please check our holiday calendar for specific date information. more →.
Lifestyle › Books Six Minutes in May by Nicholas Shakespeare - review Why the rise of Britain’s great wartime hero was more a matter of luck than design Books by Nicholas Shakespeare. BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR. Released: Jan. 7, 2014. Reviewed: Nov. 18, 2013 . PRISCILLA: THE HIDDEN LIFE OF AN ENGLISHWOMAN IN WARTIME FRANCE by Nicholas Shakespeare. BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR. Released: Jan. 7, 2014. PRISCILLA: THE HIDDEN LIFE OF AN ENGLISHWOMAN IN WARTIME FRANCE by Nicholas Shakespeare "A somewhat disjointed story that …
17/01/2014 · Buy Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France 1st Edition by Nicholas Shakespeare (ISBN: 9781846554834) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. » Have you read this book? We'd like to know what you think about it - write a review about Priscilla book by Nicholas Shakespeare and you'll earn 50c in Boomerang Bucks loyalty dollars (you must be a Boomerang Books Account Holder - it's free to sign up and there are great benefits!)
03/07/2014 · Priscilla by Nicholas Shakespeare, 9780099555667, available at Book Depository with free delivery worldwide. We use cookies to give you the best possible experience. By … Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France is a book by Nicholas Shakespeare first published in 2013. The book tells the story of the author's enigmatic aunt, variously known as Vicomtesse Priscilla Doynel de la Sausserie, Priscilla Mais, and Simone Vernier, who had spent time in France during the Second World War. Shakespeare had believed that Priscilla was a hero of the
As a boy Nicholas Shakespeare knew very little about his Aunt Priscilla, his mother's half-sister. There were occasional family visits to the farm in Sussex where she lived with her second husband Review: As a kid, novelist Nicholas Shakespeare was fascinated by his glamorous but mysterious aunt, Priscilla. Family rumors hinted that Priscilla, who struggled with a drinking problem and a temperamental husband late in life, had been captured and tortured by Germans during World War II while serving as a member of the resistance in occupied France.
DOWNLOAD or READ Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France (2014) in PDF, EPUB formats. review 1: It isn't very often that I don't finish a book but this was one. I … » Have you read this book? We'd like to know what you think about it - write a review about Priscilla book by Nicholas Shakespeare and you'll earn 50c in Boomerang Bucks loyalty dollars (you must be a Boomerang Books Account Holder - it's free to sign up and there are great benefits!)
19/01/2014 · Actually, Priscilla Thompson was long dead when her nephew Nicholas Shakespeare was moved to find an answer to that question. He knew she had lived in France during the German occupation, and 17/01/2014 · Buy Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France 1st Edition by Nicholas Shakespeare (ISBN: 9781846554834) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
The children are not abused in the usual ways, so that it is harder for them to pin point exactly what is wrong with their upbringing, but they are neglected to an extent and in ways which leaves them with lifelong handicaps and often enough with leanings towards promiscuity, alcoholism and suicide. It’s all here in Nicholas Shakespeare’s 19/01/2014 · Actually, Priscilla Thompson was long dead when her nephew Nicholas Shakespeare was moved to find an answer to that question. He knew she had lived in France during the German occupation, and
11/06/2015 · Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France (P.S. (Paperback)) - Kindle edition by Nicholas Shakespeare. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France (P.S. (Paperback)). The children are not abused in the usual ways, so that it is harder for them to pin point exactly what is wrong with their upbringing, but they are neglected to an extent and in ways which leaves them with lifelong handicaps and often enough with leanings towards promiscuity, alcoholism and suicide. It’s all here in Nicholas Shakespeare’s
Books by Nicholas Shakespeare. BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR. Released: Jan. 7, 2014. Reviewed: Nov. 18, 2013 . PRISCILLA: THE HIDDEN LIFE OF AN ENGLISHWOMAN IN WARTIME FRANCE by Nicholas Shakespeare. BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR. Released: Jan. 7, 2014. PRISCILLA: THE HIDDEN LIFE OF AN ENGLISHWOMAN IN WARTIME FRANCE by Nicholas Shakespeare "A somewhat disjointed story that … Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France by Nicholas Shakespeare is a transcendent work of narrative nonfiction in the vein of The Hare with Amber Eyes.. When Nicholas Shakespeare stumbled across a trunk full of his late aunt’s personal belongings, he was unaware of where this discovery would take him and what he would learn about her hidden past.
Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France is a book by Nicholas Shakespeare first published in 2013. The book tells the story of the author's enigmatic aunt, variously known as Vicomtesse Priscilla Doynel de la Sausserie, Priscilla Mais, and Simone Vernier, who had spent time in France during the Second World War. Shakespeare had believed that Priscilla was a hero of the 07/01/2014 · Read "Priscilla The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France" by Nicholas Shakespeare available from Rakuten Kobo. Sign up today and get $5 off your first purchase. Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France by Nicholas Shakespeare is a …
Nicholas Shakespeare has made several extended biographies for television: on Evelyn Waugh, Mario Vargas Llosa, Bruce Chatwin, Martha Gellhorn, and Dirk Bogarde. The Dancer Upstairs was made into a feature film of the same name in 2002, for which Shakespeare wrote the screenplay and which John Malkovich directed. 29/10/2017 · The familiar story of how Churchill unexpectedly became prime minister in 1940 has never been told so amusingly, nor in such detail" (Simon Heffer Daily Telegraph, Best History Books of 2017) "Nicholas Shakespeare’s Six Minutes in May: How Churchill Unexpectedly Became Prime Minister…is as gripping as a novel.
Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France by Nicholas Shakespeare is a transcendent work of narrative nonfiction in the vein of The Hare with Amber Eyes.. When Nicholas Shakespeare stumbled across a trunk full of his late aunt’s personal belongings, he was unaware of where this discovery would take him and what he would learn about her hidden past. Books online: Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France, 2014, Fishpond.com.au Priscilla, Nicholas Shakespeare - Shop Online for Books in Australia 0
Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France: Amazon.in: Nicholas Shakespeare: Books. Skip to main content. Try Prime EN Hello. Sign in Account & Lists Sign in Account & Lists Orders Try Prime Cart. Books Go Search Hello Select your address Best Sellers Gift Review: As a kid, novelist Nicholas Shakespeare was fascinated by his glamorous but mysterious aunt, Priscilla. Family rumors hinted that Priscilla, who struggled with a drinking problem and a temperamental husband late in life, had been captured and tortured by Germans during World War II while serving as a member of the resistance in occupied France.
Priscilla by Nicholas Shakespeare Waterstones. Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France by Nicholas Shakespeare is a transcendent work of narrative nonfiction in the vein of The Hare with Amber Eyes.. When Nicholas Shakespeare stumbled across a trunk full of his late aunt’s personal belongings, he was unaware of where this discovery would take him and what he would learn about her hidden past., Books by Nicholas Shakespeare Nicholas Shakespeare Average rating 3.79 · 18,983 ratings · 1,303 reviews · shelved 54,680 times Showing 29 distinct works..
Six Minutes in May by Nicholas Shakespeare review
Inheritance by Nicholas Shakespeare Book review Books. 11/06/2015 · Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France (P.S. (Paperback)) - Kindle edition by Nicholas Shakespeare. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France (P.S. (Paperback))., Books. Blonde, beautiful — and desperate to survive in Nazi France Nicholas Shakespeare recounts his aunt's eventful story in Priscilla: The Hidden Life of the Englishwoman in Occupied France.
Priscilla Nicholas Shakespeare Shop Online for Books in. Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France by Nicholas Shakespeare is a transcendent work of narrative nonfiction in the vein of The Hare with Amber Eyes. by Nicholas Shakespeare is a transcendent work of narrative nonfiction in the vein of The Hare with Amber Eyes., Books. Blonde, beautiful — and desperate to survive in Nazi France Nicholas Shakespeare recounts his aunt's eventful story in Priscilla: The Hidden Life of the Englishwoman in Occupied France.
Priscilla Nicholas Shakespeare 9780099555667
DOWNLOAD READ Priscilla The Hidden Life of an. » Have you read this book? We'd like to know what you think about it - write a review about Priscilla book by Nicholas Shakespeare and you'll earn 50c in Boomerang Bucks loyalty dollars (you must be a Boomerang Books Account Holder - it's free to sign up and there are great benefits!) https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Clarissa_Eden,_Countess_of_Avon “Nicholas Shakespeare has employed all his superb gifts as a writer to tell the picaresque tale of his aunt in wartime occupied France. Priscilla is a femme fatale worthy of fiction, and the author traces her tangled, troubled, romantic and often tragically unromantic experiences through one of the most dreadful periods of 20th-century history”.
Review Priscilla by Nicholas Shakespeare Hoover Public
PRISCILLA by Nicholas Shakespeare Kirkus Reviews
07/11/2013 · Priscilla: The hidden life of an Englishwoman in wartime France –is the first non-fiction read of 2014. I was especially bad at reading non-fiction last year and have been quite picky about which non-fiction books I select to read. This turned out to be an excellent book to … 27/12/2013 · The mythical status of Nicholas Shakespeare’s aunt Priscilla, the subject of this biographical memoir, took shape in his family on her return to London after the liberation of Paris.
07/01/2014 · Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France by Nicholas Shakespeare is a transcendent work of narrative nonfiction in the vein of The Hare with Amber Eyes.. When Nicholas Shakespeare stumbled across a trunk full of his late aunt’s personal belongings, he was unaware of where this discovery would take him and what he would learn about her hidden past. Books online: Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France, 2014, Fishpond.com.au Priscilla, Nicholas Shakespeare - Shop Online for Books in Australia 0
Nicholas Shakespeare has employed all his superb gifts as a writer to tell the picaresque tale of his aunt in wartime occupied France. Priscilla is a femme fatale worthy of fiction, and the author traces her tangled, troubled, romantic and often tragically unromantic experiences through one of the most dreadful periods of 20th century history Priscilla : Traduit de l'anglais (Grande-Bretagne) par Ja... and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle.
03/07/2014 · Priscilla by Nicholas Shakespeare, 9780099555667, available at Book Depository with free delivery worldwide. We use cookies to give you the best possible experience. By … 9-9 Mon-Thu 9-6 Fri 10-6 Sat 1-6 Sun. Please check our holiday calendar for specific date information. more →
Books by Nicholas Shakespeare Nicholas Shakespeare Average rating 3.79 · 18,983 ratings · 1,303 reviews · shelved 54,680 times Showing 29 distinct works. Write your own review of Priscilla by Nicholas Shakespeare, read other people's reviews and browse book information about from Priscilla.
Books online: Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France, 2014, Fishpond.com.au Priscilla, Nicholas Shakespeare - Shop Online for Books in Australia 0 07/11/2013 · Priscilla: The hidden life of an Englishwoman in wartime France –is the first non-fiction read of 2014. I was especially bad at reading non-fiction last year and have been quite picky about which non-fiction books I select to read. This turned out to be an excellent book to …
Nicholas Shakespeare has made several extended biographies for television: on Evelyn Waugh, Mario Vargas Llosa, Bruce Chatwin, Martha Gellhorn, and Dirk Bogarde. The Dancer Upstairs was made into a feature film of the same name in 2002, for which Shakespeare wrote the screenplay and which John Malkovich directed. Lifestyle › Books Six Minutes in May by Nicholas Shakespeare - review Why the rise of Britain’s great wartime hero was more a matter of luck than design
07/11/2013 · Priscilla: The hidden life of an Englishwoman in wartime France –is the first non-fiction read of 2014. I was especially bad at reading non-fiction last year and have been quite picky about which non-fiction books I select to read. This turned out to be an excellent book to … Books. Blonde, beautiful — and desperate to survive in Nazi France Nicholas Shakespeare recounts his aunt's eventful story in Priscilla: The Hidden Life of the Englishwoman in Occupied France
Books. Blonde, beautiful — and desperate to survive in Nazi France Nicholas Shakespeare recounts his aunt's eventful story in Priscilla: The Hidden Life of the Englishwoman in Occupied France Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France: Amazon.in: Nicholas Shakespeare: Books. Skip to main content. Try Prime EN Hello. Sign in Account & Lists Sign in Account & Lists Orders Try Prime Cart. Books Go Search Hello Select your address Best Sellers Gift
Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France by Nicholas Shakespeare is a transcendent work of narrative nonfiction in the vein of The Hare with Amber Eyes.. When Nicholas Shakespeare stumbled across a trunk full of his late aunt’s personal belongings, he was unaware of where this discovery would take him and what he would learn about her hidden past. Priscilla : Traduit de l'anglais (Grande-Bretagne) par Ja... and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle.
Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France is a book by Nicholas Shakespeare first published in 2013. The book tells the story of the author's enigmatic aunt, variously known as Vicomtesse Priscilla Doynel de la Sausserie, Priscilla Mais, and Simone Vernier, who had spent time in France during the Second World War. Shakespeare had believed that Priscilla was a hero of the Review: As a kid, novelist Nicholas Shakespeare was fascinated by his glamorous but mysterious aunt, Priscilla. Family rumors hinted that Priscilla, who struggled with a drinking problem and a temperamental husband late in life, had been captured and tortured by Germans during World War II while serving as a member of the resistance in occupied France.
17/01/2014 · Buy Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France 1st Edition by Nicholas Shakespeare (ISBN: 9781846554834) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. 9-9 Mon-Thu 9-6 Fri 10-6 Sat 1-6 Sun. Please check our holiday calendar for specific date information. more →
Nicholas Shakespeare has employed all his superb gifts as a writer to tell the picaresque tale of his aunt in wartime occupied France. Priscilla is a femme fatale worthy of fiction, and the author traces her tangled, troubled, romantic and often tragically unromantic experiences through one of the most dreadful periods of 20th century history Nicholas Shakespeare, November 11, 2014 November 11, 2014, Blog, 0 To dine in Hall by candlelight remains a great tradition at Magdalene College, Cambridge. At my matriculation dinner,...
Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France is a book by Nicholas Shakespeare first published in 2013. The book tells the story of the author's enigmatic aunt, variously known as Vicomtesse Priscilla Doynel de la Sausserie, Priscilla Mais, and Simone Vernier, who had spent time in France during the Second World War. Shakespeare had believed that Priscilla was a hero of the Books online: Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France, 2014, Fishpond.com.au Priscilla, Nicholas Shakespeare - Shop Online for Books in Australia 0
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Home — Essay Samples — Education — Higher Education — Adult Education Program — Research on the Identity Development of Student Veterans, Transitioned to Higher Education
Research on the Identity Development of Student Veterans, Transitioned to Higher Education
Category Education, Health, Government
Subcategory Higher Education, Mental Health, Military
Topic Adult Education Program, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Veterans
Post-traumatic stress injury (PTSI) resulting from traumatic military experiences is linked to anxiety, anger, and guilt in returning veterans, and may make academics especially difficult. A report in Psychological Trauma: Theory Research, Practice and Policy, examined data from a large, national sample of students seeking mental health services while enrolled in college. The data came from a network of more than 500 college and university counseling centers housed at Penn State. The findings showed that for all groups, military-related PTSI was associated with higher levels of family distress, lower support from friends, and from acquaintances; in turn, this causes greater academic dysfunction.
PTSI in the college setting, is comprised of 60% men and at least 50% womem. From this population approximately 8% of men and 20% of women will develop PTSI; for example, such PTSI stressors would include; violent human assault, natural catastrophes, accidents, deliberate man-made disasters. Ultimately, this leads to the veteran suffering from recurrent thoughts of the event, flashbacks/nightmares, emotional numbness (“it don’t matter”); reduced interest or involvement in work or outside activities, intense guilt or worry/anxiety, angry outburst and irritability, feeling “on edge”, hyperarousal/hyper-alertness, and avoidance of thoughts/situations that remind the person of that trauma. These unique stressors can lead to the veteran’s failure to adapt, by having potential consequences; such as, becoming self-destructive and participating in dangerous behaviors. This has a dramatic impact on colleges and universities throughout the United States; in fact, we are seeing increasing numbers of veteran’s taking advantage of Government issued educational benefits. However, we must take a deeper look into understanding why veteran’s that suffer from PTSI transition into higher education. The answer to this question may be within a research report that details a phenomenological study documenting identity development in student veterans making the transition from military service to higher education. An analysis that illustrates how student veterans construct and achieve more complex sense of self. Incorporating experiences from being a service member, veteran, and civilian into a coherent identity. With this in mind, and based on available literature, we need to understand the motivating factor between the issue of resilience in relation to trauma and posttraumatic injury. Understing that, resilient coping to extreme stress and trauma is a multifaceted phenomenon characterized as a complex repertoire of behavioral tendencies. Research has shown that peer connections and support are vital for early student success and that college and universities should make veterans services more readily available, especially at institutions with a high veteran presence.
A key research study that was used to help describe and understand the identity development of student veterans as they transitioned from active duty service members to student at higher educational systems; this study was phenomenological in nature and focused on three individual, veteran, full time students completing their first undergraduate degree at a proprietary university in the southwest United States during the fall semester of 2011. Three students were interviewed with several common themes emerging over the course of this study; the first interview was with Patrice who left the military because she wanted to earn a college degree. Although she did not associate exclusively with student veterans on campus, she expressed difficulty understanding the lives of non-veterans students. She stated civilians complained all the time, about trial things, and found them to have a nonchalant attitude about homework, studying, and school in general.
The second interview Scott was a Naval Veteran who joined the service in 1988 and served as a radio man on the USS Alaska, a ballistic missile submarine based, out of Bangor Washington and the third was Bakari, who joined the Florida National Guard in 1999, and wanted to join the military because he wanted to try something different.This method was chosen because of its in-depth interview nature and the focus on participants lived experiences and worldviews. Service members have detailed life experiences that are often not understood by non-veterans. Because of the time limitations involved in the project, interviewing a large number of participants was not feasible, since the study focused on student identity development. It was essential to obtain detailed descriptions of the participants first hand. The requirement for the study for prior military service was critical and that had some significant distance between the initial transition periods from their end of active service to their role as college students. (Cite this location). This method was better able to describe the adjustment process as well as these difficulties encountered from their first days on campus to the approach of their final exams, graduation, and ultimately, their identity beyond both “student” and “veteran”.
A key element within Scott’s interview was when asked about why he joined the service. He replied, “Because it seemed to be the right thing to do.” Shortly after re-enlisting he suffered from a knee injury that made him no longer eligible to work onboard a submarine. So, rather than heading to the surface fleet he accepted a medical discharge. Shortly after his discharge, Scott enrolled in a local community college because, due to his knee injury, work was becoming difficult to come by. Even though, he never complete a degree he did begin work in the health and fitness industry where he found his experience, and previous therapy for his knee in college, he started looking into a more formalized career in medical injury, but one that would take as much time to complete feeling as though non-veteran students were more concerned with partying while he actively wanted to participate in the educational experience. Nevertheless, Scott was concerned about the amount of military men and women that were coming back from Iraq and did not feel as though colleges and universities where prepared for this larger influx of veterans returning from war. He saw this increase as adding to the unemployment rate and the need for veteran’s services, but hoped man of them would choose to attend college and this would have a positive effect on their return to civilian society. The scientific study of resilience is a relatively new area of investigation. This research has expanded its focus to include survivors of stress trauma across the lifespan. This entire field is starting to feel a paradigm shift as it has begun to focus on ways to assess and foster strengths and personal growth in the face of trauma and life adversity.
Resilience has been defined as “the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or even significant sources of threat”; a stable trajectory of healthy functioning after a highly adverse event; the capacity of a dynamic system to adapt successfully to disturbances that threaten the viability, the function, or the development of that system; the process to harness resources to sustain well-being; enhanced psychobiological capacity to modulate the stress response; and reintegration of self that includes a conscious effort to move forward in an insightful integrated positive manner as a result of an adverse experience. All of these definitions involve the process of adapting to and bouncing back from adversity.
Discussion on Resilience
Resilience is not a simple or static construct an individual may be resilient in one domain, but not in the other. The construct of resilience is also relevant among families; however, it is important to recognize that the main determinants of resilience are in one individual. There really is not one agreed upon measurement of resilience; however, the most commonly used is the Conner-Davidson Resilience Scale, a 25 item self-report measure that assesses hardiness, personal competence, tolerance of negative affect, acceptance of change, personal control, and spirituality. Additionally, a broad range of psychosocial factors have been associated with resilience. Some of the factors that have received the greatest support from the research include positive emotion and optimism, active problem focused coping, moral courage and altruism, attention to physical health and fitness, capacity to regulate emotions, cognitive flexibility, religiosity/spirituality, high level of positive social support and commitment to a valued and meaningful cause, purpose or mission.
A great deal of anecdotal evidence suggests that believing in and honoring a personal moral/ethical code can facilitate resilience when these codes are challenged. The capacity to regulate emotions has an enormous impact on stress reactivity. While negative emotions can be adaptive in some circumstances, it left unchecked they can dramatically increase physiological reactivity and impair executive function, such as rational decision making. High levels of social support have been associated with better outcomes after a variety of traumas (e.g. combat, child abuse) and when better overall psychological and physical health among transitioning Veterans into a college environment. It is possible that this type of social support can foster even more reliance from that individual by demerging physiological response to stress, stimulating the resilience oxytocin that is known to reduce fear, increase self-confidence, and fostering active rather passive approaches to solving problems. Most individuals are resilient and able to successfully deal with a wide range of life stressors and traumas. In fact, Masten (2001) coined the term “ordinary magic” to point out that resilience is not rare. Humans are empowered with natural protective systems that help them adapt to change and adversity. However, in order for those protective systems to develop and operate affectively, individuals need basic social and material resources, and ideally, healthy family and community environments. My interest in studying this particular subject stems from my own personal experience as a student veteran who transitioned later in my life.
Student Veterans are often a group in conflict with itself. This is not meant to stereotype military veterans, or reduce what is a very complex group of individuals into a generic mass for ease of categorization. Rather, it is a general statement that those who ended their military service are leaving more than just a job; they are leave ng a way of looking at themselves in the work, and all that entails, good and bad. Student veterans will often undergo simultaneous work, individual, and relationship transitions because of the combination of identity roles, functions, environments they are involved in, and the resilience to get it done. However, future research on student veteran’s experience in higher education is critical due to the acute shortage of information on this emergent student demographic.
Currently military deployments are winding down, and force projection levels are predicting to drop the lowest in the past fifty years. These will invariable lead to a dramatic increase in student veteran presence on campuses around the country, campuses that remain woefully unprepared for the fathoming influx. As more military veterans enter higher education, and those who suffer from PTSI, these opportunities for research should be the key importance to higher education researchers and student affair professionals into the future. Veterans represent a potential resource for colleges and universities. The have leadership experiences and confronted difficult challenges, challenges that have matured and, perhaps, hardened them. Many joined the military to earn educational benefits so that they could realize the opportunities available to them in higher education. With approximately 20 percent of service personal returning from Iraq report mental health problems; some studies put that figure of returning veterans who have received mental health or psychosocial diagnosis at over 30 percent. The Department of Defense Task Force on Mental Health (2007) suggests that 27 percent of returning veterans report significant depression, 24 percent report alcohol abuse issues, and 43 percent reports problems with anger. It is time for campuses to be prepared for the needs of those veterans who would benefit from mental health support services; in addition, to their academic needs.
“Further research shows that faculty, staff, and administrators at institutions of higher learning have a fundamental responsibility to create a safe and effective learning environment for returning military combat veterans. Studies of student veterans have shown that combat veterans have both unique strengths and barriers that must be taken into account if they are to complete an advanced degree.” And “Serious social problems can emerge if the educational needs of this at-risk student population are unaddressed. Social change will come as a result of scaffolding student veterans through a successful journey toward their desired goals. This process will enrich the lives of this population by opening the door to better jobs, higher pay, and a higher quality of life for both the student and his or her family.”
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Julia Bowen Luetkemeyer (Baltimore, 4 de marzo de 1970) es una actriz estadounidense de cine y televisión. Es más conocida por su actuación en la serie de televisión Modern Family, como Claire Dunphy, y en la serie de televisión Lost, como Sarah.
Lugar de nacimiento: Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Julie Bowen (born March 3, 1970) is an American film and television actress. She has received four Primetime Emmy Awards nominations. She is best known for playing Claire Dunphy on the sitcom Modern Family, Carol Vessey on Ed, and Denise Bauer on Boston Legal. Bowen began her acting career in the soap opera Loving in 1992. In 1994, she played the lead role opposite Paul Rudd, in the television film Runaway Daughters. Throughout the 90s and early 2000s, she had roles in numerous films including Happy Gilmore (1996), An American Werewolf in Paris (1997), Joe Somebody (2001) and Kids in America (2005.) Bowen gained recognition on the television series Ed, where she played high school English teacher Carol Vessey, the love interest of of the series' protagonist, Ed Stevens. She has had guest roles in many television series including Party of Five, Jake in Progress, ER and Strange Luck. In the cult series Lost, she played Jack Shepard's ex-wife, Sarah Shepard. In 2008, she had a recurring role as Lisa, the love interest of the almost legal Silas Botwin on Weeds. Since 2009, Bowen has co-starred in the hit ABC sitcom Modern Family. For her portrayal of the competitive and lovable soccer mom, Claire Dunphy, she has received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, winning the award in 2011 and 2012. With her husband Scott Phillips, Bowen has three children- Oliver, John and Gustav. She will join Dane Cook in the upcoming sequel to Disney's Planes, as the voice of Lil Dipper, set to be released July 2014.
Cómo acabar con tu jefe
Modern Family Temporada 1
Modern Family Temporada 10
Mis dobles, mi mujer y yo
dirigió
actuó como invitado en
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Lagardere Travel Retail opens the very first stand alone M.A.C. store in Australian travel retail at Adelaide Airport
Tasmania, Australia, 2017-Jan-22 — /EPR Retail News/ — The very first stand alone M.A.C. store in Australian travel retail has been opened in Adelaide Airport by Lagardere Travel Retail.
The new 38 square metre store boasts a contemporary and stylish design and layout, which is located in a prime position to capture domestic passengers and ‘meeters & greeters’ in Adelaide Airport.
Committed to the art of makeup, the store offers a wide range of makeup and skincare products, fragrances and application tools, as well as in-store touch up makeup services by experienced makeup artists for passengers on the go. Featuring an interactive ‘play table’, it is designed to welcome customers to touch and play with the products, with the assistance of the M.A.C. artists.
Lagardère Travel Retail CEO for the Pacific region, Matthieu Mercier, says Adelaide Airport has welcomed and supported the arrival of M.A.C. “Adelaide Airport share our vision for innovative thinking, and recognised the growing demand for M.A.C.’s high class products and services within the travel retail market” he says. “M.A.C. is the perfect addition to add to our collection of brands with our long term partner, Adelaide Airport, and we are confident this unique and exciting offer will delight each and every passenger travelling through the Airport.”
Lagardère Travel Retail operate M.A.C. doors in Auckland Airport, Gold Coast Airport and Cairns Airport. M.A.C. is an anchor brand in AMUSE Beauty Studio stores, also operated by Lagardère Travel Retail.
ABOUT LAGARDERE TRAVEL RETAIL:
With 4 billion euros 100% managed sales in 2015 and a presence in 31 countries, 220 airports and 700 train stations in EMEA, North America and ASPAC, Lagardère Travel Retail is a pioneering and leading travel retail player with global reach. Operating stores in travel essentials, duty free and luxury and foodservice, Lagardère Travel Retail offers a complete range of products and services to satisfy each and every traveller all along his journey. As a multi- specialist retailer, beyond the expertise within its 3 business lines, Lagardère Travel Retail creates value-added opportunities in each location.
In Asia Pacific, Lagardère Travel Retail operates over 300 outlets in 16 airports, supported by professional local teams in Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China and India.
ABOUT M·A·C COSMETICS:
M·A·C (Make-up Art Cosmetics), a leading brand of professional cosmetics, was created in Toronto, Canada in 1984 and is part of The Estée Lauder Companies, Inc. The company’s popularity has grown through a tradition of word-of-mouth endorsement from makeup artists, models, photographers and journalists around the world. M·A·C is now sold in 110 countries/territories worldwide. Follow M·A·C and M·A·C Senior Artists on Twitter @MACcosmetics (twitter.com/maccosmetics), become a M·A·C fan on Facebook (facebook.com/maccosmetics), follow M·A·C on Instagram (instagram.com/maccosmetics), watch M·A·C videos on YouTube (youtube.com/maccosmetics). For a M·A·C location visit maccosmetics.com
Matthieu Mercier
mmercier@lagardere-traspac.com
www.lsaspac.com
Janette Doolan
j.doolan@lagardere-traspac.com
Source: Lagardere Travel Retail
This entry was posted in Beauty, Business, Cosmetics, Management, Retail, Retailer, Travel and tagged Adelaide Airport, Lagardère Travel Retail, M.A.C. store, Matthieu Mercier. Bookmark the permalink.
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An aviation student from Saudi Arabia opened fire in a classroom at the Naval Air Station Pensacola on Friday morning, killing three people in an attack the Saudi government quickly condemned and that U.S. officials were investigating for possible links to terrorism.
The assault, which ended when a sheriff’s deputy killed the attacker, was the second fatal shooting at a U.S. Navy base this week and prompted a massive law enforcement response and base lockdown.
Twelve people were hurt in the attack, including the two sheriff’s deputies who were the first to respond, Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said. One of the deputies was shot in the arm and the other in the knee, and both were expected to recover, he said.
The shooter was a member of the Saudi military who was in aviation training at the base, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference. DeSantis spokesman Helen Ferre later said the governor learned about the shooter’s identity from briefings with FBI and military officials.
A U.S. official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity identified the shooter as Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani. The official wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The official also said the FBI is examining social media posts and investigating whether he acted alone or was connected to any broader group.
During a news conference Friday night, the FBI declined to release the shooter’s identity and wouldn’t comment on his possible motivations.
“There are many reports circulating, but the FBI deals only in facts,” said Rachel L. Rojas, the FBI’s special agent in charge of the Jacksonville Field Office. “This is still very much an active and ongoing investigation.”
Earlier Friday, two U.S. officials identified the student as a second lieutenant in the Saudi Air Force, and said authorities were investigating whether the attack was terrorism-related. They spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose information that had not yet been made public.
President Donald Trump declined to say whether the shooting was terrorism-related. Trump tweeted his condolences to the families of the victims and noted that he had received a phone call from Saudi King Salman.
He said the king told him that “the Saudi people are greatly angered by the barbaric actions of the shooter, and that this person in no way shape or form represents the feelings of the Saudi people who love the American people.”
The Saudi government offered condolences to the victims and their families and said it would provide “full support” to U.S. authorities investigating the shooting.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirms that the perpetrator of this horrific attack does not represent the Saudi people whatsoever,” the government said in a statement. “The American people are held in the highest regard by the Saudi people.”
Vice Minister of Defense Khalid bin Salman noted on Twitter that he and many Saudi military personnel have trained on U.S. military bases and gone on to fight `’against terrorism and other threats” alongside American forces. “Today’s tragic event is strongly condemned by everyone in Saudi Arabia,” he said.
DeSantis said Saudi Arabia needed to be held to account for the attack.
“Obviously, the government … needs to make things better for these victims,” he said. “I think they’re going to owe a debt here, given that this was one of their individuals.”
A national security expert from the Heritage Foundation warned against making an immediate link to terrorism.
“If there is some connection to terrorism, well, then, that’s that,” Charles “Cully” Stimson said. “But let’s not assume that because he was a Saudi national in their air force and he murdered our people, that he is a terrorist.”
Stimson said it was also possible that the shooter was “a disgruntled evil individual who was mad because he wasn’t going to get his pilot wings, or he wasn’t getting the qualification ratings that he wanted, or he had a beef with somebody, or there was a girlfriend involved who slighted him.”
Florida U.S. Sen. Rick Scott issued a scathing statement calling the shooting an act of terrorism “whether this individual was motivated by radical Islam or was simply mentally unstable.”
Scott added that it was “clear that we need to take steps to ensure that any and all foreign nationals are scrutinized and vetted extensively before being embedded with our American men and women in uniform.”
U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in a statement Friday that he was “considering several steps to ensure the security of our military installations and the safety of our service members and their families.” He did not elaborate.
The U.S. has long had a robust training program for Saudis, providing assistance in the U.S. and in the kingdom. The shooting, however, shined a spotlight on the two countries’ sometimes rocky relationship.
The kingdom is still trying to recover from the killing last year of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Saudi intelligence officials and a forensic doctor killed and dismembered Khashoggi on Oct. 2, 2018, just as his fiancee waited outside the diplomatic mission.
One of the Navy’s most historic and storied bases, Naval Air Station Pensacola sprawls along the waterfront southwest of the city’s downtown and dominates the economy of the surrounding area.
Part of the base resembles a college campus, with buildings where 60,000 members of the Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard train each year in multiple fields of aviation. A couple hundred students from countries outside the U.S. are also enrolled in training, said Base commander Capt. Tim Kinsella.
The base is also home to the Blue Angels flight demonstration team, and includes the National Naval Aviation Museum, a popular regional tourist attraction.
Lucy Samford, 31, said her husband, a Navy reservist and civilian worker on the base, was about 500 yards (0.46 kilometers) from where the shooting happened. She said she got a call from him a little after 7 a.m. and “one of the first things out of his mouth was, ‘I love you. Tell the kids I love them. I just want you to know there’s an active shooter on base.'”
Her husband, whom she declined to identify, later told her he was OK.
All of the shooting took place in one classroom and the shooter used a handgun, authorities said. Weapons are not allowed on the base, which Kinsella said would remain closed until further notice.
The shooting is the second at a U.S. naval base this week. A sailor whose submarine was docked at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, opened fire on three civilian employees Wednesday, killing two before taking his own life.
Pelosi once said GOP paralyzed by ‘hatred’ ...
Coffee Update: Caffeine-Charge Your Portfolio Before 2019 ...
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Non-Payment (Late Rent)
Wyoming Eviction Notice Templates | WY Eviction Process
Wyoming eviction notices exist to support a landlord’s intent to evict a tenant who has breached the terms of their lease agreement and, in doing so, violated Wyoming forcible entry and detainer laws. Wyoming law is comprised of simple procedures, relative to other states, focusing on the three (3) day eviction notice. The 3-day eviction notice covers all violations precipitated by a tenant; nonpayment of rent, holding over the term of the lease, failure to perform renter’s duties (§ 1-21-1204), and acts prohibited under § 1-21-1205. A landlord must wait three (3) days past the rent due date before delivering an eviction notice for nonpayment of rent whereas any other breach of the agreement allows the landlord to serve the notice immediately after the violation occurs. The tenant, after being served the notice, has three days to cure the violation or voluntarily vacate the premises. If they fail to accomplish this, the landlord has the right to pursue legal action in circuit court.
Required Notice Periods
Notice to Cure or Quit – 3 Days (§ 1-21-1003)
Notice Types
Wyoming 3 Day Notice to Quit | NonPayment
The Wyoming three (3) day notice to quit can be served on a tenant who has violated their lease agreement in any way; nonpayment of rent, holding over the term of the lease, noncompliance of terms of lease agreement, or failure …
How to Evict a Tenant (Process)
Both landlord and tenant must uphold their end of the lease agreement, i.e., the landlord must maintain the safe and sanitary state of the property and the tenant must comply with the conditions thereof, performing their duties as set forth in § 1-21-1204. Failure on the tenant’s part could result in the landlord filing for eviction with the circuit court in the county where the property is located. The landlord must be mindful of the eviction process as any discrepancy could provide the tenant with a legitimate defense in court.
Step 1 – Serve Eviction Notice
A landlord must begin the eviction process by serving their tenant with an eviction notice. In Wyoming, the three (3) day eviction notice covers all types of evictions; nonpayment of rent and any violation of the lease agreement. This notice gives the tenant three days to cure the violation or vacate the premises voluntarily. After three (3) days have passed, and the tenant has not complied with the terms of the notice, the landlord can file a Complaint and Summons.
3-Day Notice – Used for all evictions in the State of Wyoming.
Notice can be delivered in person to the tenant or, if the tenant is not on the premises, posted somewhere conspicuous on the property.
Step 2 – Complaint and Summons
Once the notice period has ended, the landlord will file a Complaint with the circuit court in the county where the rented property is located. A Summons will be issued after the complaint is filled and will state the cause of the complaint as well as the time, date and location of the trial. Copies of these forms must be delivered to the tenant no less than three (3) but no more than twelve (12) days before the trial date. The tenant is not required to answer the summons in order to participate in the trial, however, filing an Answer to Complaint will allow the tenant to defend themselves by summoning witnesses and presenting evidence. On the date of the trial, both parties shall appear before the judge. Should the tenant fail to appear, the court shall attempt to proceed as though the tenant were present.
Step 3 – Trial
Either party can demand trial by jury, otherwise a judge alone shall preside over the action. Regardless of trial settings, the court will enter judgment either for or against the plaintiff (landlord) depending on the validity of the complaint. A judgment in favor of the landlord will be restored restitution of the premises, payment of past due rent (if applicable), and any other costs and attorney fees incurred before or during the eviction process. If the court finds the complaint is not true, the judgment shall be in favor of the tenant, and the landlord is responsible for all costs incurred during the trial period.
Step 4 – Restitution
The tenant is required to vacate the premises once a judgment has been ruled in favor of the landlord. The landlord may request that the court issue a Writ of Restitution, which will force the tenant to move themselves and their property from the premises or risk the Sheriff’s department getting involved. Resisting a writ of restitution could lead to trespassing charges against the tenant.
EvictionNotice.com Copyright © 2021.
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Difference between revisions of "1520: Degree-Off"
Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
Revision as of 08:20, 10 May 2015 (edit)
108.162.210.138 (talk)
(→Explanation)
Revision as of 08:35, 13 May 2015 (edit) (undo)
(grammar fix)
This harsh moral judgement shocks Cueball, who exclaims "I thought this was supposed to be fun and lighthearted!" While the set-up is of a frivolous friendly competition, Hair Bun Girl's presentation is surprisingly dark. Her retort in the final panel reveals that she was angered by the off-hand dismissal of 'soft' sciences as "stamp-collecting", and turned the game from a light-hearted fun into something more disturbing.
In the title text the biologist goes on to declare in {{w|All caps}} that she is surprised a physicist isn't "harder", after all their condescending towards the "squishy" sciences. The use of 'hard' and 'squishy' is a play on the colloquial division between the so-called 'hard' sciences (such as physics and chemistry) and 'soft' sciences (such as biology and geology). 'Hard' sciences usually refer to the perception that in fields like physics, precisely repeatable experiments and measurements are possible, as opposed to 'soft' sciences seen as placing less emphasis on precisely quantifiable predictability - however Hair Bun Girl is extending 'hard' to it's meaning of 'stoic', mocking Cueball for not being able to weather a personal moral attack. Again she is indicating that she's upset by directly referencing a mocking portrayal of other fields allegedly made by Cueball.
In the title text the biologist goes on to declare in {{w|All caps}} that she is surprised a physicist isn't "harder", after all their condescending towards the "squishy" sciences. The use of 'hard' and 'squishy' is a play on the colloquial division between the so-called 'hard' sciences (such as physics and chemistry) and 'soft' sciences (such as biology and geology). 'Hard' sciences usually refer to the perception that in fields like physics, precisely repeatable experiments and measurements are possible, as opposed to 'soft' sciences seen as placing less emphasis on precisely quantifiable predictability - however Hair Bun Girl is extending 'hard' to its meaning of 'stoic', mocking Cueball for not being able to weather a personal moral attack. Again she is indicating that she's upset by directly referencing a mocking portrayal of other fields allegedly made by Cueball.
In [[520: Cuttlefish]] Randall shows that he personally respects biologists - or at least fears them.
Comic #1520 (May 4, 2015)
Degree-Off
Title text: I'M SORRY, FROM YOUR YEARS OF CONDESCENDING TOWARD THE 'SQUISHY SCIENCES', I ASSUMED YOU'D BE A LITTLE HARDER.
Cueball (physics), Hair Bun Girl (biology), and Megan (chemistry) appear to be on a talk show called Degree-Off, hosted by Hairy, where representatives of different fields, try to explain why their field is the best and why to get a degree in their field. The title "Degree-Off" is a portmanteau of "degree", as in the recognized completion of studies at a school or university, and "face-off", a direct confrontation between two people or groups. Since there are three participants, this is not a true face-off, unless Megan, who does not speak, is not counted.
The host asks the physicist Cueball to go first. He light-heartedly begins to tell what appears to be long story, beginning with a Richard Feynman anecdote. During the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, Richard Feynman got bored because of the isolation and started learning lock picking on the secret documents safes. Using these new skills, he played lots of pranks on his colleagues, like leaving notes and spooking them into believing there was a spy among them (which, of course, there was). He finishes his case with a quote from Ernest Rutherford, implying that his speech was quite long and winding. The quote communicates the idea that physics is the only fundamental framework, so that the job of chemists, biologists and other scientist simply is to catalog and systematize observations ("collect stamps") on phenomena too complicated to presently be fully described in terms of physics. This idea was earlier lampooned by Randall in 435: Purity (and is also stated in the title text of 1158: Rubber Sheet).
The biologist, Hair Bun Girl, goes next, showing with a graph (see below) that the field of biology has helped reduce disease. She then goes on to claim that the heroes in biology (the part known as Medicine) has even "slain" one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Originally these were Conquest, War, Famine and Death, but in popular culture Conquest is usually re-interpreted as Pestilence - Hair Bun Girl implies that the field of biology has almost eliminated Pestilence. (The imagery of Pestilence being thwarted by modern medicine was also used in the book Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett (of whom Randall is a fan, see 1498: Terry Pratchett) and Neil Gaiman, where Pestilence has retired after the discovery of Penicillin, and been replaced by Pollution.)
This graph shows the death rate from infectious disease in USA, similar to that shown in the comic presented by Hair Bun Girl, as both have the range of 1900-2000. The spike is attributable to the 1918 flu pandemic. The graph has been published in this paper Trends in Infectious Disease Mortality in the United States During the 20th Century.
File:Crude Infectious Disease Mortality Rate in the United States from 1900 Through 1996.gif
Hair Bun Girl then goes on to directly accuse Cueball (i.e. physicists) of creating a new Horseman to replace the one slain by the biologists. She claims that they gathered in the desert to do so. Given Cueball's opening remark, she must be referring to the development of the atomic bomb, which was built and tested in the New Mexico desert. The new horseman is therefore the atomic bomb, or the various perils associated with it.
Hair Bun Girl's implied condemnation of the physics community has been echoed by some of the scientists involved in the project itself. After the test detonation of the first nuclear weapon on July 16, 1945, J. Robert Oppenheimer, the director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, found himself quoting the Bhagavad Gita: "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
In the title text the biologist goes on to declare in All caps that she is surprised a physicist isn't "harder", after all their condescending towards the "squishy" sciences. The use of 'hard' and 'squishy' is a play on the colloquial division between the so-called 'hard' sciences (such as physics and chemistry) and 'soft' sciences (such as biology and geology). 'Hard' sciences usually refer to the perception that in fields like physics, precisely repeatable experiments and measurements are possible, as opposed to 'soft' sciences seen as placing less emphasis on precisely quantifiable predictability - however Hair Bun Girl is extending 'hard' to its meaning of 'stoic', mocking Cueball for not being able to weather a personal moral attack. Again she is indicating that she's upset by directly referencing a mocking portrayal of other fields allegedly made by Cueball.
In 520: Cuttlefish Randall shows that he personally respects biologists - or at least fears them.
[Hairy is acting as the host of a TV talk show, Degree-Off. Cueball, Hair Bun Girl, and Megan are acting as representatives of Phys (Physics), Bio (Biology), and Chem (Chemistry) respectively. They each stand behind their own Lectern with the respective subject label.]
Hairy: Welcome to the Degree-Off, where we determine which field is the best! Physics, wanna go first?
Cueball: Sure! I'd like to tell the story of Richard Feynman's Manhattan project lockpicking pranks...
Cueball: ...and as he said, "all science is either physics or stamp collecting."
Cueball: Thank you.
Hairy: Great! Bio, you wanna go next?
Hair Bun Girl: Okay.
[A graph labeled "Per 100,000 is shown above Hair Bun Girl]
Hair Bun Girl: This is a graph of the death rate from infectious disease in this country.
[Hair Bun Girl raising her left hand]
Hair Bun Girl: The heroes of my field have slain one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse.
[Hair Bun Girl pointing at Cueball]
Hair Bun Girl: While the heroes of your field gathered in the desert to create a new one.
Cueball: ...Jeez, what the hell? I thought this was supposed to be fun and lighthearted!
Hair Bun Girl: You must have been thinking of stamp collecting.
add a comment! ⋅ add a topic (use sparingly)! ⋅ refresh comments!
Isn't this the debut of the dark hair-bun girl? Is this trivia section worthy? 173.245.50.88 22:49, 4 May 2015 (UTC)BK201
The hair bun girl has appeared a few times since it's inception in 378: Real Programmers. --Forrest (talk)01:05, 05 May 2015 (UTC)
But this one has bangs, and visibly darker hair. Isn't it possible it's a different character? Or am I splitting hairs? 173.245.50.88 20:23, 5 May 2015 (UTC)BK201
Yes your are splitting hair. Because in xkcd most characters are just generic and can be any person they need to be. The characteristic of the hair bun has been used only a few times, 8 with this one. Sometimes the figure even represents a real person. I agree that she is drawn a little different, but in the page for Hair Bun Girl it is mentioned that she also sometimes have glasses. It is though interesting that he has used her several times sine passing comic 1500. --Kynde (talk) 11:43, 7 May 2015 (UTC)
After having spotted the recurrence of Science Girl for whom I just made a category I realized that the hair bun Bio "girl" here is just her as a (young) adult woman. I have included her and revised the explanation accordingly. So I disagree with my own comment above now ;-) --Kynde (talk) 18:47, 22 July 2016 (UTC)
I assume "Your field gathered in the desert to create a new one." refers to the Manhattan Project? 173.245.50.74 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
Yes Jachra (talk) 06:52, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
So, no one has really brought up the topic of biological WMD. There are manmade plagues out there far more horrible than any natural disease and arguably more terrible than a nuclear bomb.
Chem wants absolutely no part of this conversation. Jachra (talk) 06:52, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are: Conquest, War, Famine, and Death. Is she claiming that her heros have conquered death? Capncanuck (talk) 06:58, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
Yeah I didn't get that either. The description as it stands now seems to be implying one of the four horsemen is pestilence, but that's not what my Google search turned up… --Zagorath (talk) 15:15, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
Pestilence 173.245.56.176 07:10, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
In Terry Pratchett's book the fourth horsemen is Pestilence. See also Pestilence. It was new to me that it was originally Conquest instead of Pestilence which can be read on wiki: Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Since Randall is a big fan of Terry Pratchett it is very likely that he refers to "his" version of the four Horsemen. (It is not Terry's invention, but he made it popular amongst people like Randall). As I disagree with the Death version of the title text, I'm not sure that Terry is directly refereed to in this comic, but I'm sure the Bilologist refers to them killing of pestilence (or plauge). --Kynde (talk) 17:23, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
There are no humanities on stage, so I think bio can get away with this one.--108.162.218.23 17:50, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
Maybe it referred to famine. Though that'd be a bit odd. Halfhat (talk) 19:05, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
Perhaps the reason why pestilence isn't a real Horseman is because its death by biology retroactively altered the prophecy ("Yes, you've had it for ages. But did you have it for ages 30 minutes ago?" - Rincewind, The Last Continent).```` 108.162.219.144 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
If we're assuming that the comic is using Pratchett's version of the Horsemen, and that Bio has killed Pestilence... then we know that Pestilence was replaced with Pollution. So it might be a reference to the atomic waste and fallout of the testing itself. 173.245.56.29 00:43, 27 August 2016 (UTC)
also a possible reference to: https://xkcd.com/435/ ? 141.101.75.101 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
The stamp collecting quote is from Ernest Rutherford, not Richard Feynman. 141.101.70.43 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
1052 also compares degrees --141.101.104.12 08:36, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
My assumption was that Cueball was giving a long and possibly rambling talk about physics starting with an anecdote about Feynman and ending with one about Rutherford. I didn't consider the quote to be wrongly attributed therefore. 141.101.99.71 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
Please be aware that the proper way to link to wikipedia is to use Template:w.--Forrest (talk)10:01, 04 May 2015 (UTC)
This may be Randall's indirect way of saying what he thinks of the anti-vaxxers. --RenniePet (talk) 10:49, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
Does the "killing Pestilence" thing also refer to Good Omens (co-authored by Pratchett), where Pestilence retired in 1936 "mumbling something about penicillin"? Homusubi
Isn't the comment about vaccines kinda reaching? I don't really see any evidence, even implied, that this comic is referencing the anti-vaccine movement in any way. --Zagorath (talk) 13:23, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
I agree that the anti-vaxer comments are out of place. I don't think they should be included as part of the explanation. Bmmarti3 (talk)
Isn't the biologist talking in the title text? And isn't biology considered a squishy science? I think the title is directed at the physicist, telling him to get harder skin because he's so easily hurt emotionally. Yourlifeisalie (talk) 14:13, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
Was I the only one to see the title text as a dirty joke? 173.245.50.65 16:33, 24 August 2016 (UTC)
I rather doubt that the CAPS in the title text are referring to Pratchett's figure DEATH. In my opinion, the talking-in-CAPS is just meant to infer (further) SHOUTING on the part of the biologist, since she is shouting in the last panel as well. There is no indication whatsoever that the title text should be spoken by anyone other than the biologist herself.141.101.104.180 14:20, 4 May 2015 (UTC)thd
Do chemistry and physics represent a helium atom with biology as the nucleus? It would also explain her hair. Mikemk (talk) 15:18, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
I don't see any reason for it to make any sense. It is quite a long shot to think so. However, what explains her hair? 173.245.50.88 17:50, 4 May 2015 (UTC)BK201
Might there also be a reference to https://xkcd.com/520/, praising biology just in case. Tzwenn (talk) 15:22, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
What is the giant bump in infectious diseases around 1925? It seems like it must have been a mayor effect, but I don't know how to google for it.141.101.104.99 17:43, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
The planet-wide superflu of 1919, which happened because millions decided to go to Europe, camp in filthy trenches for months and then decided to all go back home simultaneously for some reason. 199.27.133.44 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
Actually, it happened for other reasons, and it was mostly in 1918. Many people arrived at that camp bringing the superflu with them, actually, and the drop-off happened around when the bulk of them went home. Most of the fatalities may actually have been due to cytokine storms, AKA your immune system deciding that you ought to die horribly and now. What you actually got at the camp is the discovery that, if your feet are continuously wet for sufficiently long periods of time, they'll rot. That said, infectious diseases are on their way back, because antibiotic resistance is going up. There's already a confirmed case of TB resistant to all current antibiotics, and truly new ones becoming less and less frequent. (Most of the obvious routes we've exploited and adaptation is destroying, and many of the remaining obvious routes are insufficiently easy to distinguish from chemical warfare.) 108.162.237.182 22:46, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
moved the most important comment to the top. TheJonyMyster (talk) 00:25, 5 May 2015 (UTC)
Uhm lockpicking != safecracking. Feynman was exploiting a bad design in the safes (you didn't have to dial the exact number) combined with people being lousy at choosing their codes. Poizan42 (talk) 09:45, 5 May 2015 (UTC)
A numpad safe still contains a lock. It locks items inside. --Forrest (talk)11:27, 05 May 2015 (UTC)
I'm not sure what is the biologists arguing about. Physics creating new horseman of apocalypse is definitely bigger achievement than biologists almost removing one. On the other hand, both fields are capable of making humans extinct by mistake. (Also, seriously, the idea of degree-off is flawed: we need experts in both (or rather all) fields.) -- Hkmaly (talk) 12:09, 5 May 2015 (UTC)
I disagree. Penicillin is a much more important discovery - helping so many people. Killing people is a lot easier than curing them! --Kynde (talk) 11:40, 7 May 2015 (UTC)
I think that Civil Engineering should get half the credit. It wouldn't make for as good a cartoon though. Why was the graph of infectious disease rates lightly doctored to reduce the 1918 flu pandemic? My guess is to increase the visual impact. 108.162.238.188 18:11, 5 May 2015 (UTC)
Biology: Aren't many theoretical developments reliant on chemistry and/or physics? And even more practical developments use tools which rely on chemistry/physics? Example: brain mapping, drug synthesis, etc.? --108.162.215.178 02:28, 6 May 2015 (UTC)
No, this would be as circuitous as saying that physics is entirely reliant on biology, because it's conducted using human brains, hands, eyes, etc. Or hey - theology. How would physics have gotten it's start without funding from churches and kings? The whole line of discussion is more than a little ludicrous. 108.162.249.170 08:01, 8 May 2015 (UTC)
No, what I mean is that physics and chemistry are necessary in order to understand biology and perform research, while the reverse is not true. Cellular/molecular biology, in particular, is dependent on an understanding of chemistry and physics.
Just take for example electron transport chains, which depends on quantum mechanics. Or the behavior of neurotransmitters, hormones, etc., which are all connected with organic chemistry.
A good understanding of chemistry and physics is also essential in advancing science in general. A good understanding of biology could be useful for the creation of biologically inspired materials in engineering, but biology is not a fundamental building block in any of the harder sciences.
Regarding biology and theology: No science's knowledge is taken from, or builds off of, theological teachings. Physics is not dependent on biology, because it does not involve the study of our brains, merely the existence of them. Biology's knowledge is directly dependent on physics.
In terms of practical implications, I think biology affects our health more, and physics and chemistry affects our technology more. But it's undeniable that physics and chemistry are more fundamental and essential to all science, than biology.
--108.162.215.178 03:24, 10 May 2015 (UTC)
Any ideas as to why Hair Bun Girl's bun disappears in the fourth frame? As in anything more interesting than it being forgotten to be drawn in. JRVeale (talk) 11:12, 6 May 2015 (UTC)
I think she just has turned her head so the bun is behind it. Thus not forgotten, and not really interesting either! --Kynde (talk) 11:40, 7 May 2015 (UTC)
The discussion about the new horseman of the apocalypse being radiation poisoning, and the linking of it all to Pratchet, reads very very strangely, I think it is a major overreach. It's very common for Pestilence to be listed as one of the four horsemen, and even with Randall being a Terry Pratchett fan, it seems unlikely this had any influence on it. It's stock-standard in pop culture for them to be listed as War, Famine, Death, Pestilence, even if they don't appear that way in the Bible, just as it is stock-standard for the devil to be portrayed as a red horned guy with cloven feet (which also doesn't appear anywhere in the Bible). It seems like the development of the atomic bomb is what Hair Bun Girl is referring to as the new horseman. I don't see why an overly specific and convoluted connection to "radiation poisoning" is included. - 108.162.249.170 08:08, 8 May 2015 (UTC)
I don't think that's science girl. That's not science girl's usual hairstyle, and science girl is a child. Sensorfire (talk) 18:03, 26 October 2016 (UTC)
Is the girl representing chemistry Science Girl?
It doesn't seem to be Science Girl to me. I think Hairbun would be better used. Also related, I think Science Girl should be renamed Jill, as per [1662: Jack and Jill] Sensorfire (talk) 18:42, 1 November 2016 (UTC)
Well, the horseman is back...Rereading xkcd (talk) 06:49, 8 May 2020 (UTC)
Took me a while to figure out the numbers, (I'm here 'cause I'm dumb, right). [UMN says that by 2017], infectious diseases were "down to 34.10 deaths per 100,000 persons." All causes put together are around 1,000 per 100,000. Anyway, after doing the numbers 3 times, by June 19 2020, depending your source, Covid-19 deaths are up to 120 K in the US. Which translates roughly to 36.55 per 100,000? Meaning, deaths by infectious diseases MORE THAN DOUBLED. Which of course is terrible! But then, that's still about 3% of all death causes. Which encourages those who say that all this is a tempest in a teacup!
Oh, do I wish Randall would show up and make a nice little graph like he does so often by comparing what is important with what is not, so all of us have sure guidance about how we are to take this, if as a serious thing, or just as a blip.Yamaplos (talk) 23:34, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
For what it's worth, I have changed the transcript to refer to a "grown-up Science Girl" instead of Hairbun. She's referred to that way in the Explanation, although I see there are several comments in this discussion arguing for Hairbun. —Scs (talk) 11:33, 27 July 2020 (UTC)
It rubs me the wrong way to refer to Randall's interpretation of what the 4 horsemen are as 'incorrect.' This is fundamentally a mythological tradition, not verifiable or falsifiable fact. The 'war, famine, pestilence, and death' model may not be what is present in the oldest surviving written sources, but it is a part of the living tradition. Unless you're a biblical literalist, the mythological interpretation of one person at one time is no more valid than the interpretation of others at other times. And if you are a biblical literalist, I'm sorry, but you're just wrong. The bible is self-contradictory. I think I'm going to change it.172.69.34.32 01:02, 26 November 2020 (UTC)
Retrieved from "https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1520:_Degree-Off&oldid=93201"
Comics from 2015
Comics from May
Comics featuring Cueball
Comics featuring Megan
Comics featuring Hairy
Comics featuring Hair Bun Girl
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EyeCare 20/20 Dons Denim For a Good Cause
October 3 won’t be any ordinary casual Friday at EyeCare 20/20. The denim worn on this day will not only be worn for comfort, but it will also make a powerful statement for an important cause. As Lee National Denim Day moves into its thirteenth year, EyeCare 20/20 is gearing up for its third year in this grassroots program which has raised more than $70 million for breast cancer research.
Employees at EyeCare 20/20 are encouraged to wear denim in exchange for a $5 donation to the Woman’s Cancer Programs of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF). Funds raised support some of the most promising treatment and early detection research in the country, as well as the grassroots advocacy work of the National Breast Cancer Coalition.
“We’re always looking for interesting ways for our employees to get involved in fundraising activities,” said Cary M. Silverman, M.D., Medical Director of EyeCare 20/20. “Lee National Denim Day is easy and fun to do. Everyone gets to wear jeans to work in exchange for a $5 donation and the money helps fight breast cancer, a cause that is very important to many of our employees.”
“Every year we are inspired by the number of people at thousands of organizations across the nation who join us in wearing denim on Lee National Denim Day,” said Liz Cahill, Vice President of Marketing Communications for Lee Jeans. “The money we’re raising will be used to advance some of the most promising breast cancer research in the industry and we can’t thank them enough.”
For more information on Lee National Denim Day or to make a donation, visit www.denimday.com.
By Keri Muli|2019-09-20T01:32:00-05:00September 30th, 2008|EyeCare 20/20 In the News|0 Comments
About the Author: Keri Muli
Doctors Sing Praises For Femtosecond Laser Cataract Surgery
EyeCare 20/20 Debuts Their First Television Commercial
First Trunk Show Celebrating Valentine’s Day Underway at EyeCare 20/20 @ Novartis
Eye Hear 20/20: The Signs and Symptoms of Hearing Loss
EyeCare 20/20 to Provide Eye Care Services for Novartis
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Hear Janis Joplin’s emotional rare acoustic demo of ‘Me and Bobby McGee’
(Credit: GGM Corp)
Jack Whatley· September 19, 2020
Janis Joplin was known for being one of the most powerful singers the sixties had to offer. Able to pull soul from her lungs as nobody else could, Joplin’s weighty wail became her trademark. But that doesn’t mean she wasn’t able to bring a touching vulnerable delicacy to things when required. One perfect example of Joplin’s ability to move between the two states of emotion is this rarely heard demo of ‘Me and Bobby McGee’.
Originally written by Kris Kristofferson but performed by a number of artists, ‘Me and Bobby McGee’ became an anthem for the sixties. With a brand new decade ahead and a long road travelled between 1959 and 1969, the song about two drifting friends who are reflecting on their lives but must eventually part ways landed rather heavily on the free-loving generation. With Joplin singing it, the poignancy of the song is even more prominent.
Following her tragic death on October 4th, 1970 the recording sessions that would make up her album Pearl became treasured items. Many of the sessions, including the one below, took place just a few months before her death. With the death of the decade, the world had to also endure the death of the embodiment of the counter-culture spirit—Janis Joplin. Her cover of ‘Me and Bobby McGee was posthumously released and went to number one as song and artist seemed to be so intrinsically linked.
This session, recorded on 28th July 1970 captures Joplin in the middle of the Pearl sessions and clearly in the groove as she opts to strum out the cover. Not nearly as gifted with a guitar as she was singing, to be playing the guitar while recording her vocal for the song, it’s a stunning reminder of her talent. To be able to layer a vocal performance with such equal tenderness and tenacity while playing an instrument your less comfortable with is really something.
“Not that I play that great, I should still be able to hear it, you know what I mean?” says Joplin as she confers with the mixing desk, readying herself to perform an early version of her cover. “It’s too loud,” she says when they finally connect the guitar track to her headphones. As she then hears her voice on tape for the seemingly the first time in a while, she says “Do you think I will get my Texas accent back?” Having spent so long on the West Coast, the Lone Star state’s drawl had begun to wane. “Did I always sound like this? I hear myself on tape and I just think ‘Oh God!'”
It’s a touching reminder of the person behind the talent. But the real show is about to come as Joplin approaches the mic and begins to sing the song that would help define her as a musical powerhouse. Though she’s never afraid to put some forceful wind behind her lyrics, and she’s a proverbial tsunami when she does, but it’s the softer moments that feel more poignant here.
If you’ve never had the pleasure of making your way through the Pearl sessions we strongly suggest you do. Not only will you hear snippets of songs in new ways like below, or here classic no hold barred singing like below but you’ll also get glimpses of the artist and the person behind the icon.
Dave Grohl’s favourite songs by The Beatles
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THE FEARLESS REPORT PODCAST
I am Fearless!!
Tag: Bisexual women
New Report: 23 percent of young Black women now identify as bisexual
Attendees seen at LA Pride 2019 on June 08, 2019 in West Hollywood, California.
Since 1972, social scientists have studied the General Social Survey to chart the complexities of social change in the United States.
The survey, which is conducted every couple years, asks respondents their attitudes on topics ranging from race relations to drug use. In 2008, the survey started including a question on sexual identity.
As sociologists who study sexuality, we’ve noticed how more and more women are reporting that they’re bisexual. But in the most recent survey, one subset stood out: 23% of black women in the 18 to 34 age group identified as bisexual – a proportion that’s nearly three times higher than it was a decade ago.
What forces might be fueling this shift? And what can learn from it?
Bisexuality among women is on the rise
In the 10 years that the General Social Survey has included a question on sexual identity, rates of identification among gay men, lesbian women and bisexual men in the U.S. haven’t changed much.
Bisexual identifying women, on the other hand, account for virtually all of the growth among those who say they’re lesbian, gay or bisexual. Of all of the women who responded to the 2018 survey, more than 1 in 18 identified as bisexual. One decade ago, only 1 in 65 did.
Proportion of Americans identifying as lesbian, gay or bisexual by gender
Between 2008 and 2018, the percentage of women reporting that they are bisexual has dramatically risen.
The most dramatic shift among bisexual identifying women is happening among young people. In the 2018 sample, more than 1 in 8 women from the ages of 18 to 34 identified as bisexual. There were more than twice as many young female bisexuals as there were young lesbians, gay men and bisexual men combined.
Women who identify as bisexual by age group
Since 2008, an increasing proportion of U.S. women ages 18 to 34 identify as bisexual.
That’s a large shift – and it all happened in a relatively short period of time.
Add race to the figures and you’ll see that young black women, in particular, account for a disproportionate share of this shift.
A few years ago, we wrote about how approximately 18% of young black women identified as lesbian or bisexual in the 2016 General Social Survey sample. That rate was more than two times higher than for white women or other racial groups – and almost four times higher than for men of any racial group.
By 2018, more than 25% of young black women identified as lesbian or bisexual. And the majority of that change can be accounted for by bisexual-identifying black women.
Proportion of young women identifying as lesbian or bisexual by race
Young black women are leading the shift toward identifying as bisexual.
In other trends, black women also led the way
Data like these help us to establish a shift is occurring, but they don’t really explain why it’s happening.
Exploring the “why” requires different methods of analysis, and existing studies – like Mignon Moore’s research on gay identity and relationships among black women– can provide some clues.
But beyond this, other demographic research shows that black women have led the way in other trends related to gender.
Consider the gender gap in college attendance. As early as 1980, black women began to outpace black men in completion of a four-year college degree. It wasn’t until a decade later that white women started earning college degrees at a higher clip than white men.
And in the first half of the 20th century, more unmarried black women started having children. Eventually, more unmarried white women started having children, too.
Perhaps when it comes to sexuality, black women are also ahead of the curve. If that’s the case – and if this trend continues – we might expect women of other races to follow suit.
A shortage of men?
Cultural forces might also play a role.
Sociologists Emma Mishel, Paula England, Jessie Ford and Mónica L. Caudillo also analyzed the General Social Survey. Rather than study sexual identities, they studied sexual behavior. Yet they discovered a similar pattern: Young black women were more likely to engage in same-sex sexual behavior than women and men in other racial and age groups.
They argue that these shifts speak to a larger truth about American culture: It’s more acceptable for women to spurn gender norms because femininity isn’t valued as highly as masculinity. Since masculinity and heterosexuality are closely intertwined, men might believe they’ll suffer a higher social cost for identifying as bisexual.
Others have pointed to the shortage of men hypothesis to explore young black women’s decisions about relationships and marriage. This too might explain why young black women, in particular, seem more willing to explore bisexuality.
According to this argument, fewer “marriageable” men create a need for women to consider options beyond heterosexual relationships or marriage. A traditional marriage isn’t as necessary as it once was; since women have more educational and economic opportunities, they can afford to be pickier or, possibly, to explore same-sex relationships.
Another aspect of the hypothesis involves the disproportionately high rates of incarceration of black men in the U.S. It’s possible that because black women are, as a group, more likely to live in areas with smaller “pools of marriageable men,” they’re more open to bisexuality.
We’re less convinced by the shortage of men argument because it ignores the fact that incarceration rates of black men haven’t increased over the past decade. Yet over this period of time, the percentages of young black women identifying as bisexual have grown substantially.
The challenge of surveying sexuality
Finding reliable ways of measuring sexual identity on surveys is more difficult than you might think, and the trend could have been spurred by something as simple as the way the question is phrased in the General Social Survey:
gay, lesbian or homosexual
heterosexual or straight
Of the roughly 1,400 people who responded to this question on the 2018 GSS survey, only six responded “don’t know.” Another 27 didn’t respond at all.
But everyone else selected one of those three options.
Perhaps some respondents didn’t want to neatly tie themselves to the category of “gay” or “straight.” If this is the case, “bisexual” almost becomes a default fallback.
Either way, one thing seems clear: Young people – especially young black women – are more willing to explore their sexuality. And the ways they are sexually identifying themselves on surveys is only one indicator of this change.
By Tristan Bridges, Assistant Professor, Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara and Mignon R. Moore, Professor and Chair of Sociology, Barnard College
Author THE FEARLESS REPORT PODCASTPosted on June 29, 2019 July 1, 2019 Tags Bisexual, Bisexual Black women, Bisexual women, Bisexuality, Gay, LA Pride, LesbianLeave a comment on New Report: 23 percent of young Black women now identify as bisexual
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2016 Folklife Festival, Sounds of California, Music
World Premier Video:
Quetzal ft. Aloe Blacc
June 30, 2016 | Comments
We are thrilled to present the world premier of a new song by Quetzal featuring soul singer Aloe Blacc. “Let’s Get to Knowing” will appear on the band’s upcoming Smithsonian Folkways Recordings album, The Eternal Getdown.
Founded by Quetzal Flores in the early 1990s, the Los Angeles-based ensemble Quetzal draws from a large web of musical, cultural, and political influences and commitments. Songwriter and lead singer Martha González calls Quetzal an “East LA Chican@ rock group,” summing up its roots in the complex cultural currents of barrio life, its social activism, its strong feminist perspective, and its rock ’n’ roll beginnings.
On July 2, Quetzal will perform in the evening concert at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival along with Ethiopian American singer Meklit. The performance is free to the public and begins at 6:30 p.m.
Produced by Charlie Weber
Videography by Charlie Weber and Akira Boch
Edited by Ryan Shank
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Wasabi receptor toxin
Wasabi receptor toxin (WaTx) is the active component of the venom of the Australian black rock scorpion Urodacus manicatus. WaTx targets TRPA1, also known as the wasabi receptor or irritant receptor. WaTx is a cell-penetrating toxin that stabilizes the TRPA1 channel open state while reducing its Ca2+-permeability, thereby eliciting pain and pain hypersensitivity without the neurogenic inflammation that typically occurs in other animal toxins.
Australian black rock scorpion (Urodacus manicatus).
Wasabi Receptor Toxin (WaTx).[1]
Urodacus manicatus
Small protein
Short scorpion toxin
Potassium channel inhibitor KTx
kappa-KTx
6OFA_A
3 Chemistry
3.3 Homology
4 Target
5 Mode of action
6 Toxicity
8 Therapeutic use
This scorpion toxin was named WaTx because it targets TRPA1 in a similar fashion as plant-derived irritants, such as mustard oil and wasabi.[1] These irritants activate the TRPA1 channel in peripheral primary afferent sensory neurons, subsequently eliciting their pungent taste as well as sinus clearing and eye stinging.[2][3]
SourcesEdit
WaTx originates from the venom of the Australian Black Rock Scorpion (Urodacus manicatus).[1]
ChemistryEdit
FamilyEdit
WaTx belongs to the κ-KTx family, as it shows similarities in the disulfide bonding pattern.[1] The KTx family is classified into four subfamilies: α-, β-, γ-, and κ-KTx.[4] Unlike other KTx subfamilies, κ-KTx scorpion toxins form cysteine-stabilized α-helical hairpins (Cs α/α), whereas κ-KTx spider and crab toxins form cysteine-stabilized antiparallel β-sheets (Cs β/β).[5][6][7]
WaTx is a macromolecule with an estimated weight of 3.86 kDa,[8] which consists of 33 amino-acid residues.[1] Its amino-acid sequence is as follows:
Ala-Ser-Pro-Gln-Gln-Ala-Lys-Tyr-Cys-Tyr-Glu-Gln-Cys-Asn-Val-Asn-Lys-Val-Pro-Phe-Asp-Asp-Gln-Cys-Tyr-Gln-Met-Cys-Ser-Pro-Leu-Glu-Arg-Ser
The pattern of cysteine residues in the amino acid sequence, which is underlined above, indicates an independent Cys1-Cys4, Cys2-Cys3 disulfide bonding pattern. The two disulfide bridges connect two parallel α-helices with a β-turn.[5] The disulfide bonding pattern stabilizes the rigid and compact helical hairpin structure at two points, contributing to the stable tertiary structure of the protein.[5]
The hairpin contains four basic residues that enable passive diffusion across the membrane. Two features of the protein structure have been associated with cell-penetrating properties that are uncommon for peptide toxins. Firstly, a patch (or predominance) of basic residues is located at the open end of the hairpin, where the amino- and carboxy-terminal meet. Secondly, the amino-terminal in WaTx exhibits a dense dipole moment.[1] Other proteins with the ability to penetrate the plasma membrane include HIV Tat and Drosophila penetratin.[9][10][11] However, these proteins have no sequence resemblance to WaTx.[1]
HomologyEdit
The amino-acid sequence of WaTx bears little resemblance to other peptides in terms of homology.[1] Although the toxin was discovered to be cell-penetrating, there is no sequence similarity to classical cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs).[12]
TargetEdit
WaTx targets TRPA1,[1] one of about 30 transient receptor potential channels. WaTx is both potent and selective for TRPA1. Other known TRP-channels are not activated by the toxin. WaTx has an effect on human TRPA1 (hTRPA1), while it does not have an effect on to rat and snake TRPA1 (rsTRPA1).[1]
Mode of actionEdit
WaTx penetrates the plasma membrane instead of following standard routes, subsequently accessing the inferior part of the cell. The basic residues and dipole moment on the helical hairpin structure enable the passive diffusion of WaTx.[1]
Once the toxin arrives in the cell, it activates TRPA1 via an intracellular domain in the lower part of voltage-sensing segments S1-S4 called ‘the allosteric nexus’.[1] The allosteric nexus is located at the region where the TRP-like domain, pre-S1 helix and cysteine-rich S4-S5 linker meet.[13] This inner cavity is a common binding site to reactive electrophilic ligands—and now WaTx. This locus is a key regulatory site for stimulus integration and propagates conformational changes to the channel’s gate. When activated, the open-state TRPA1 allows the flow of positively charged sodium and calcium ions into the cell.[1]
Electrophilic ligands make covalent modifications to specific cysteine residues in the cytoplasmic amino-terminus that increase the probability of channel opening.[14][15][16] Although both Na+ and Ca2+ can enter TRPA1, the channel normally has a preference towards Ca2+ and the intracellular calcium concentration increases more rapidly than the sodium concentration. WaTx interacts differently with the channel compared to reactive electrophiles. WaTx non-covalently binds to the allosteric nexus and initiates interactions with an integrated complex between the N-terminal cysteine-rich linker (S4-S5) and C-terminal TRP-like domains.[1] This prevents the open channel from closing, as opposed to increasing the probability of opening, and results in a prolonged duration of the channel's open state. With WaTx bound in open state, TRPA1 lacks a preference for Ca2+ over Na+, which accounts for the lower calcium permeability. Consequently, both electrophilic ligands and WaTx trigger a pain response, but the calcium levels that result from WaTx are too low to initiate subsequent neuropeptide release and neurogenic inflammation.[1][17][18] This suggests that WaTx may act only to open the ion permeation gate of TRPA1, without dilating the selectivity filter (dilation of the selectivity filter having been proposed to underlie enhanced calcium permeability of TRPA1 after activation by classical electrophilic irritants).[17]
ToxicityEdit
WaTx elicits acute thermal and mechanical hypersensitivity. This response has been proven phenotypically proven by injecting WaTx in the hind paw of mice, which leads to dose-dependent nocifensive behavior. However, WaTx does not cause the local edema that is typical for noxious electrophiles. This lack of swelling indicates that WaTx fails to promote the release of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP)—a hallmark of neurogenic inflammation.[1]
TreatmentEdit
There is no immediate danger after being stung by an Australian Black Rock Scorpion. The wound should be washed and cleaned, after which medical advice should be sought.[19]
Therapeutic useEdit
So far, there are no pharmacologicals based on (the mode of action of) WaTx. However, understanding the mechanisms of WaTx’s interaction with TRPA1 may aid in the development of therapeutics targeting TRPA1, which is considered a promising target for treating pain, itch and neurogenic inflammation syndromes that involve nociception.[1][20][21][22]
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Lin King, John V.; Emrick, Joshua J.; Kelly, Mark J.S.; Herzig, Volker; King, Glenn F.; Medzihradszky, Katalin F.; Julius, David (September 2019). "A Cell-Penetrating Scorpion Toxin Enables Mode-Specific Modulation of TRPA1 and Pain". Cell. 178 (6): 1362–1374.e16. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2019.07.014. PMC 6731142. PMID 31447178.
^ Jordt, Sven-Eric; Bautista, Diana M.; Chuang, Huai-hu; McKemy, David D.; Zygmunt, Peter M.; Högestätt, Edward D.; Meng, Ian D.; Julius, David (January 2004). "Mustard oils and cannabinoids excite sensory nerve fibres through the TRP channel ANKTM1". Nature. 427 (6971): 260–265. Bibcode:2004Natur.427..260J. doi:10.1038/nature02282. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 14712238.
^ Bandell, Michael; Story, Gina M; Hwang, Sun Wook; Viswanath, Veena; Eid, Samer R; Petrus, Matt J; Earley, Taryn J; Patapoutian, Ardem (March 2004). "Noxious Cold Ion Channel TRPA1 Is Activated by Pungent Compounds and Bradykinin". Neuron. 41 (6): 849–857. doi:10.1016/S0896-6273(04)00150-3. PMID 15046718.
^ Camargos, Thalita Soares; Restano-Cassulini, Rita; Possani, Lourival Domingos; Peigneur, Steve; Tytgat, Jan; Schwartz, Carlos Alberto; Alves, Erica Maria C; de Freitas, Sonia Maria; Schwartz, Elisabeth Ferroni (July 2007). "The new kappa-KTx 2.5 from the scorpion Opisthacanthus cayaporum". Peptides. 32 (7): 1509–1517. doi:10.1016/j.peptides.2011.05.017. PMID 21624408.
^ a b c Quintero-Hernández, V.; Jiménez-Vargas, J.M.; Gurrola, G.B.; Valdivia, H.H.; Possani, L.D. (December 2013). "Scorpion venom components that affect ion-channels function". Toxicon. 76: 328–342. doi:10.1016/j.toxicon.2013.07.012. PMC 4089097. PMID 23891887.
^ Silva, Pedro I.; Daffre, Sirlei; Bulet, Philippe (27 October 2000). "Isolation and Characterization of Gomesin, an 18-Residue Cysteine-rich Defense Peptide from the Spider Acanthoscurria gomesiana Hemocytes with Sequence Similarities to Horseshoe Crab Antimicrobial Peptides of the Tachyplesin Family". Journal of Biological Chemistry. 275 (43): 33464–33470. doi:10.1074/jbc.M001491200. ISSN 0021-9258. PMID 10942757.
^ Srinivasan, Kellathur N.; Sivaraja, Vaithiyalingam; Huys, Isabelle; Sasaki, Toru; Cheng, Betty; Kumar, Thallampuranam Krishnaswamy S.; Sato, Kazuki; Tytgat, Jan; Yu, Chin; San, B. Chia Cheng; Ranganathan, Shoba (16 August 2002). "κ-Hefutoxin1, a Novel Toxin from the Scorpion Heterometrus fulvipes with Unique Structure and Function: IMPORTANCE OF THE FUNCTIONAL DIAD IN POTASSIUM CHANNEL SELECTIVITY". Journal of Biological Chemistry. 277 (33): 30040–30047. doi:10.1074/jbc.M111258200. ISSN 0021-9258. PMID 12034709.
^ "Protein Molecular Weight". www.bioinformatics.org. Retrieved 2019-10-05.
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Cavalry General. Pavel Adamovich Pleve
"Undoubtedly, Plehve is considered the best of all army commanders."
M.K. Lemke, Military Censor Headquarters Supreme Commander in 1915-1916
Pavel Adamovich was born 30 May 1850, in the Petersburg province in a noble family. Unfortunately, very little is known about his childhood and youth. Studied Pleve at the Warsaw Classical Gymnasium, and at 1868 was assigned to the privileged Nicholas Cavalry School. He graduated from it two years later, and not just graduated, but according to the first category with entry to the honorary marble board of the institution. The young man who promoted great hopes was fired into cornets and sent to the Life Guards Ulansky regiment. In 1874, Mr. Pavel Adamovich was promoted to lieutenant, and at the same time he decided to enter the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff. Three years later he graduated from it and again on the first category. Given the difficulty of these results, it was already then possible to conclude about the exceptional talents of the young officer.
Plehve received a baptism of fire in the Russian-Turkish war 1877-1878. He fought as chief officer at the headquarters of the army corps. The young man took part in the battle at the height of Sahar-Tepe, in the battle of the Bulgarian village of Ayaslar, as well as in the general offensive of the Northern detachment and the pursuit of the enemy to Shumla. For distinctions during the war years, Pavel Adamovich was awarded St. Anna of the third degree. When the war ended, Plehve remained to serve in Bulgaria as a staff officer for missions. In November, 1879 was honored with the Order of St. Stanislav of the second degree for "excellent courage and bravery rendered in multi-temporal affairs." In the same year, twenty-nine Pavel Adamovich became a lieutenant colonel. From 1880 to 1889, this talented officer served in various staff and command positions. Among other things, he worked in the examination commission of the Officer Cavalry School, heading the officers studying at the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff, and temporarily commanded the Cuirassier Regiment. In 1882, he was promoted to colonel.
In 1889, Plehve presented his first military-scientific work to the public - his "Essays from stories cavalry ". The work intended for the cadets of the Nikolaev Cavalry School, considered the development of cavalry from ancient times and was a very good study on this topic. It should be noted that the active by nature Pavel Adamovich was always attracted by the operational mobility of cavalry - the only mobile branch of the military at that time. He, for example, owns the following lines: “The cavalry should not be worried by the rapid improvements in weapons - it must resist the power of fire by the development of maneuverability and speed of action, and in particular by raising the spirits until the readiness of the minute to decide on desperate enterprises ... ”.
At the end of 1890, Pavel Adamovich already commanded the 12th Mariupol Dragoon Regiment, and from the beginning of 1893 he held the position of quartermaster-general of the headquarters of the Vilno military district. This appointment allowed him to familiarize himself with the future theater of military operations in detail - he regularly visited Riga, Suwalki, Grodno, Osovetsk and Kovno fortresses with inspection trips. Years of impeccable service did not go unnoticed - in January 1901 Plehve became lieutenant-general and chief of staff of the Don Cossacks. He stayed at this place until March 1905, and then, due to unrest in the Kingdom of Poland, he was appointed to the post of commandant of the Warsaw Fortress. It should be noted that the general didn’t like this turn of events, and he did his best to get back into service. At last he was transferred to the post of commander of the thirteenth army corps in July of the same year. Unfortunately, Plehve never had a chance to make war with the Japanese during the 1904-1905 war, although he was considered to be its participant. By that time, in addition to the above awards, he had the Order of St. Anne, St. Stanislav and St. Vladimir of various degrees, the French Order of the Legion of Honor, the Romanian Order of the Crown, and many medals. He was characterized in the top leadership always positively, or, as they said, "immaculately."
Career Pavel Adamovich continued to go uphill - in 1906 he became the assistant commander of the forces already familiar to him Vilna military district, and a year later he was promoted to generals from cavalry. Since spring, 1909 Plehve occupied the most responsible post of commander of the Moscow Military District. In 1912, Yevgeny Miller was appointed chief district officer - the same as Plehve, military man to the bone. Since then, these two generals have been a constant and productive duet, excellently working together with each other. Pavel Adamovich at the post of district commander was engaged in charitable and social activities, was a member of the Imperial aeronautics society and an assistant trustee of the hospital of military doctors. In addition, according to the memoirs, Plehve was an exemplary family man — he had three children (two daughters, Olga and Catherine, and a son, Nikolai).
The outbreak of the First World War was a new type of war, which immediately put extremely strict demands on the command staff of the Russian army. By the beginning of the hostilities behind Pavel Adamovich (a man of quite a solid age), there was a five-year experience in leading troops of the district entrusted to him - the time during which Plehve managed to prepare his units and units for the upcoming battles. During the mobilization announced in July, a fifth army was formed under the command of Pavel Adamovich on the basis of the Moscow Military District. She was to join the South-Western Front, located in the area of Brest-Litovsk - Kholm - Kovel. The means and forces entrusted to the general included 1914 battalions, 176 hundreds and squadrons, nearly four dozen engineering companies, about 158 machine guns and 380 guns, as well as six aircraft. In total, the Fifth Army initially numbered 670 thousand people. With regard to the supply of food and ammunition, the forces of Plehwe were in a worse position compared to other parts of the South-Western Front. The main "opponent" of the forces of the commander in this direction was the fourth army of Austro-Hungarians, led by infantry general Moritz Auffenberg, to whom in the first half of August came parts of Archduke Joseph-Ferdinand. The enemy group, which opposed Plehve, numbered over two hundred thousand soldiers, that is, it was significantly superior to the fifth army in manpower, and besides it had a significant advantage in artillery.
In connection with the defeat of the neighboring fourth army under Krasnik, Pavel Adamovich received an order from the commander of the forces of the South-Western Front "... to render help to the left flank of the fourth army to deploy his forces to the west (the former course was to the south)". This maneuver put the Fifth Army in an extremely unfavorable position - Plehve had to split his corps into two parts, which approached the battlefield separately from each other, stretching for a hundred hundred kilometers. In mid-August, the right wing of the Fifth Russian Army met the advancing Austrians. The battle that was fought subsequently received the name Tomashevskaya. The outset of the battle took place (not the fault of the commander) in very adverse conditions. The front of the fifth army was about 120 kilometers (while, for example, for the eighth army - 70 kilometers). The enemy command put its first and fourth armies in a favorable initial position, analyzing in detail the theater of operations and using local topographical and geographical features. Moreover, the enemy in advance created the appropriate grouping and led his corps intently, and the fifth army of Plehve moved on a stretched front and was forced to maneuver in direct contact with the Austrians. As a result, the Russian units entered the battle separately and were attacked from the flanks. Despite this, Pavel Adamovich reported to Commander-in-Chief Nikolai Ivanov: "We will fight to the last extreme."
In the practical hopeless situation of the battle, in conditions of superiority of the enemy in quantitative and positional terms, leading the battle in a semi-circle, Plehve's troops managed to inflict significant damage to the enemy and, dexterously maneuvering, jump out from under the blow. In the course of the encirclement of the fifth army that had begun, the commander, who did not remove his hand from the “pulse” of the battle, found a remarkable use for his cavalry. Having formed a consolidated cavalry corps (by the way, one of the first in the Russian army), he struck them in the rear of the Austrians. The Don Cossack division, Plehwe, was used by the general to ensure the withdrawal of his forces after the Tomaszewski battle. In addition, the Fifth Army's equestrian reconnaissance promptly detected changes in the concentration of Austrian troops, and Pavel Adamovich made all the most important decisions, building on this data. One military historian described Plehwe's cavalry as follows: “In difficult moments of fighting, cavalry divisions quickly concentrated in the breakthrough between the corps or on the flanks of the corps and the battles provided the flanks of the troops, fully contributing to the latter.” Loss of the army of Plehve in the Tomashevsk battle amounted to less than thirty thousand people, and the "victorious" Austrian troops - forty thousand. The operation on the environment, conceived by the enemy command, turned into a trivial repulsion, and the results did not justify the losses incurred. The famous military historian, Lieutenant-General Nikolai Golovin called the march-maneuver of the Fifth Army after the Tomaszewski battle one of the most skillful in the history of the World War: "This withdrawal was not a retreat at all - it was detachment from the enemy, returning the freedom of maneuver of the army, which retained full combat capability" .
In the second stage of the Battle of Galicia, the Fifth Army divided into two parts performed different tasks - Lieutenant-General Yanuariy Tsikhovich, who participated in the Battle of Galicia, wrote that “the fifth army helped the fourth and ninth and half of the third and eighth armies with one half of its forces, applying a deep movement maneuver with their parts in eccentric directions. ” A few days later, the fifth army, uniting its groups, continued the offensive and, after fierce bloody battles with the rearguards of the enemy 8, September reached the San River and occupied Yaroslav, marking the end of its participation in the battle. The outcome of the Galician operation, which ended by mid-September, was the defeat of the first Austro-Hungarian army and the forces of the Archduke Ferdinand, as well as the retreat of the second, third and fourth Austro-Hungarian armies. The total losses of the Russians were 190 thousands of dead and wounded, 40 thousands were captured, about a hundred guns were lost. The Austrians lost 300 thousands of soldiers and officers, about 100 thousands were taken prisoner, four hundred guns were lost by them. In this victory, Pavel Adamovich's considerable merit was - his maneuver by two groups to the rear of the Austrians, who became a classic of Russian military-historical science, severed the cohesion of the enemy formation and destroyed the plans of the enemy. For successful actions of the troops entrusted to him in the middle of September, 1914 Plehve was awarded the highest military award of Russia - the Order of Saint George of the fourth degree.
It should be noted that Pavel Adamovich assigned a huge role during this battle (as well as all subsequent ones) to having connections with his commanders. To his chagrin, the connection was often interrupted, and important reports were late. As a result, Plehve decided to send proxies to the most responsible sites. Their task was, without preventing the commanders from controlling units, to inform Pavel Adamovich about all the details of his interest.
It is important to note that Plehve was one of the few commanders who thought about the success of a common front-line operation, and not about personal laurels. Neighbors, by the way, did not always pay him the same coin. For example, commander Evert refused to help the fifth army of August 13. Similarly, Ruzsky, the commander of the army, behaved himself for a long time, ignoring the orders of the front command to assist the left flank of the Fifth Army. In the latter case, only the resistance of the Plehve buildings prevented the rout.
After the Battle of Galicia, the Austro-Hungarian troops began a hasty retreat along the whole front. The threat of Russian seizure of Upper Silesia, Krakow and Western Galicia caused the German forces to castling to support an ally. In this regard, the struggle for ferries and bridgeheads has become paramount for both sides. One of them - the Kozenitsky bridgehead - remained forever in the history of the war as an example of the courage of the Russian soldiers of the fourth and fifth armies. Despite the desperate attempts of the enemy to overturn the Russian troops in the Vistula, Plehve kept a bridgehead behind him, and also threw two army corps to the left bank, which bound the enemy forces and prepared a base for the offensive.
The next stage in Pleve's brilliant career was the Lodz operation — one of the most difficult in that war against military art. Not being frightened by the threat of encircling his forces, Pavel Adamovich promptly responded with the threat of encircling the enemy’s left flank. The German Gen. Max Hoffman described the situation as follows: “There was a sudden disconnection between the troops that had penetrated the rear of the enemy and the left wing of parts of the artillery general Scholz. In the resulting gap, Russian forces have moved ... ”. This maneuver broke the whole course of the battle. Military historians have noted: “The Fifth Army, like an iron wedge, crashed between the enemy’s flanks, preventing them from closing ... The resilience of the Russians and the energy that commanded the army, Plehve, took the catastrophe, but the Germans turned out to be bypassed.” Pavel Adamovich’s courage was highly appreciated not only by Russian commanders, the major general of the British army, who was under the Russian command, wrote: surrender! In the course of a couple of seconds, Plehve silently studied the young officer from under his thick eyebrows, and then said: “My dear, did you arrive at a tragedy to play or with a report? If you have a report, report it to the chief of staff. And there is no need to play tragedies here, otherwise I will send you under arrest. ”
By November 9, the shock group of Schaeffer-Boyadel, which had previously taken the second army of Russians into the semi-rings, was surrounded by the forces of Plehve. In the German documents there is the following entry: "... In the circumstances, do not hope to release the cut off forces of General Schaeffer." However, the "help" to the remnants of the four enemy divisions suddenly came from the command of the North-Western Front - the front commander Nikolai Ruzsky, who did not understand the situation, ordered the first, second and fifth armies to begin withdrawal. Despite the protests of Pavel Adamovich, this order was carried out. Subsequently, the Stavka recognized the fallacy of such an order, but the time was gone, the blocking troops were not strengthened, and on November 11 in a night battle, the Scheffer-Boyadel group, breaking through the positions of the Russians, united with the main forces. The belated pursuit of the retreating German armies was also not organized, despite the Plehwe telegrams to the front commander, in which he pointed out that "the enemy forces were exhausted with transitions, hunger strikes and frost strikes ..."
And nevertheless, the Lodz operation ended with the victory of the Russians - all the Germans' attempts to repeat Samsonovsky Tannenberg failed, and Pavel Adamovich again confirmed the reputation of the commander fighting with skill rather than number - his forces at the beginning of the operation were in the front line the smallest that did not prevent them from playing a key role in the battle. Erich Ludendorff, Chief of Staff of the German Eastern Front, wrote: “The important operational goal of destroying Russians in the bend of the Vistula River was not fulfilled ... Instead of encircling the enemy troops near Lodz, we had to save our own corps.” In a tactical sense, Plehve himself again proved to be a supporter of active actions, including on the flanks. Here is one of his appeals to the troops: "To beat the enemy, to pursue him in the most merciless and persistent way, not to release him, but to destroy or take, in general, to show extreme energy." Parts of the general successfully retorted all German attacks, forcing the enemy to go on the defensive and retreat. It was after the Battle of Lodz that Pavel Adamovich earned in the army the fame of a crisis specialist, a master of flank strike and maneuver, the “wand” of the Russian Front, which was recalled in the most difficult operational situation.
Plehve acted most effectively in the battles of 1915 of the year, particularly in the Winter Prasnyshsky. This defensive-offensive operation of the first and twelfth (under the command of Plehve) armies of the North-Western Front unfolded in the area of the Polish town of the same name. At the beginning of the operation, the enemy had superiority in the infantry, the Russian armies, in addition to incomplete personnel, possessed small artillery, experienced “shell hunger”, and, nevertheless, won a convincing victory. The significance of this success was extremely important - the consequences of the ill-fated August Battle in East Prussia were largely eliminated. All the successes of the Germans, earned in the August operation of the tenth army, were lost in the course of their defeat of the twelfth army of Paul Adamovich. The French subsequently called the Polish city of Prasnysh “Russian Marna” for a reason. Plehve himself once again confirmed the reputation of a decisive commander. In the tactical aspect, the general sought to organize flank attacks and capture enemy communications. The success of the Russians in this operation together with other factors upset the German plans for the spring campaign of the 1915 of the year. The command of the Germans in the person of Ludendorff, emphasizing the "significant losses" and "energetic counterattacks of the Russians", summed up: "Our troops got a good lesson." The victory of Pavel Adamovich gave the Russian army a significant tactical gain, allowing, in general, in the unfortunate 1915 year for Russia in the north-western direction, to maintain a strong and stable position.
In April, the 1915 Germans launched a powerful offensive in the Baltic States. By 25, the enemy took possession of South Kurland, thereby creating a threat to the Russian Navy in the Baltic. Also in danger turned Riga direction. In order to stabilize the situation in the Baltics, the management of the Twelfth Army (soon renamed the Fifth Army), led by Plehve, was transferred. His forces suspended the advance of the Germans, which in the current conditions was already a considerable matter. It should be noted that a significant imprint on the military force of the forces of Pavel Adamovich was imposed by the fact that many units were not armed, and the reinforcements had not yet completed training. Every fourth battalion of the regiment did not have rifles - thus, the nominal numerical superiority of the forces of Plehve in the infantry turned into the actual superiority of the Germans. The terrible Russian cavalry under the conditions of the north-west proved to be ineffective, on the side of the enemy also had almost double superiority in the number of guns and the absence of problems in the supply of ammunition. To all of the above, add a significant length of the front - about 250 kilometers.
Due to the lack of funds and forces, Plehve abandoned the offensive action plan and limited himself to active defense. In the course of the Mitavo-Shavel operation that began shortly after the Germans, all the actions of the commander were distinguished by timely orderliness and calmness with a correct understanding of the situation. With regard to this operation, military historians noted: “Pavel Adamovich very sensibly assessed the situation and divined all German maneuvers in terms of double coverage. A timely order to withdraw allowed the troops to be removed from the blow ... ” The forces of Plehve, retreating from one line to another, carried out short, but very energetic counterattacks in certain sectors, designed not so much to counteract the enemy as to break his will. By the end of July, the Germans occupied Mitawa, occupying almost all of Courland. The forces of Plehve, hiding behind cavalry, retreated to Jacobstadt, Dvinsk and Riga, as well as to the Western Dvina. The territorial successes of the enemy did not hide his main loss - all attempts to circumvent and destroy the army that he hated Plehve did not succeed.
In late August, the German troops again launched an offensive. This time the main blow was struck at the junction between the tenth army of the Western front and the fifth army of Plehve of the northern front. It was only with vigorous actions that the breakthrough was managed to be localized, in which Pavel Adamovich’s efforts to close the left flank of his army with the right flank of the tenth played a huge role. However, the offensive continued, and in the situation of the enemy entering the communications of the Fifth Army, the commander took her left wing to the Northern Dvina. It was Dvinsk that later became the key center of Russian defense on the northern flank of the front.
The artillery of the enemy continuously worked through the city and its outskirts; it was bombarded from airplanes. All institutions and enterprises were evacuated, Dvinsk left the majority of residents. The fate of the settlement was also predetermined by the authorities - evidence of this is the construction of a bypass railway line. Those who were close to Plehve, remembered his phrase: "While I am in the city, not one step back." Gradually, a deep-echeloned defense was organized near Dvinsk - one of the most powerful on the whole front. The city remained in the hands of Pavel Adamovich, and all the attacks of the enemy were repelled with great losses for him. And in October, the Russians launched a counter-offensive. In general, the Dvina front in the configuration created by Plehve lasted for two and a half years (before the start of 1918).
People who knew Pavel Adamovich closely characterized him as a real soldier and an outstanding commander. Although human qualities are not important for a military leader, it is worth noting that Plehve was unusually modest - he was embarrassed by public speeches, did not like being photographed, and avoided external effect and brilliance. Among his subordinates he had the reputation of being a pedant, a man too immersed in details and details. A curious fact - with the exception of the closest employees - precisely because of his love for accuracy and accuracy, Pavel Adamovich was not popular among the officers. By the way, he himself was not looking for popularity. The Minister of War and the General of Infantry, Alexei Polivanov, wrote: "... Who perfectly knows the situation is Pavel Adamovich, but now it’s hard to serve with him."
The peculiarity of the work of Pavel Adamovich was that he preferred to hold in his hands all the strings of tactical control of troops, limiting the operational freedom of his commanders and personally delving into all the problems of tactical leadership. This, on the one hand, stemmed from distrust of a number of superiors (often, it is worth noting, very reasonable), and on the other, from the desire not to let the control of the situation take place for a moment. It is also important to note here the speed with which Pavel Adamovich evaluated the situation and made decisions. For example, on the first day of the Battle of Shavli, in order to make out all reports, to come to the correct conclusion about the direction of the main attack of the enemy and take appropriate measures, it took no more than three hours.
Not only the victories of Russian weapons, but also a number of innovations in the field of military art were associated with the name of Plehve. In particular, he used the cavalry incredibly effectively, finding it, in contrast to most military leaders (and not only the Russian army), to use it in new conditions. For example, in the course of the Mitavo-Shavel operation, he organized a successful raid to the rear of the enemy, the results of which the German command reported: "The telephone network was destroyed in depth and over a large distance along the front, and the supply of food to the second and sixth cavalry divisions turned out to be interrupted for a day. " Along with energetic actions and wide maneuvers, the commander tried (as far as possible) to keep his troops and not put them on the brink of destruction. All this was combined with his incredible stubbornness in the right cases, for example during the Tomashevsky battle or in the defense of Dvinsk.
Having served in the ranks for a long time, knowing perfectly well the soldiers' mass, Plehve did his best to raise morale among the troops. To this end, he spoke to his soldiers, used military music. There is evidence of a parade held in Dvinsk, which was received by the general himself. Being a supporter of modern war, he welcomed Plehve and technical innovations. At the end of the Prasnysh operation, an antiaircraft battery, headed by Captain Tarnovsky, was transferred to the headquarters of the Twelfth Army. Pavel Adamovich, together with the chief of staff, visited the battery, familiarizing himself with both the new anti-aircraft tool and the methods of shooting. He highly appreciated the success of the first Russian anti-aircraft gunners, awarding them all orders. In the course of the organization of the air defense of the city of Dvinsk, Plehve again drew on a well-proven battery. Also, the general was the ancestor of the assault units of the national army. His order for the Fifth Army in October 1915 stated: “I order in each company to form special bomber detachments ... People in them choose energetic and courageous, each armed with ten grenades, hung from a belt conveniently, and an arbitrary pattern with axes. In addition, each provide a shovel and hand scissors to overcome the wire. " The general established the procedure for training new divisions, having seconded sappers as instructors. Already at the end of the year, this experience spread to the entire Russian army, and similar assault platoons appeared in all infantry regiments, which were called "bombing" or "Grenadier". There is information about the use of the commander of the armor. For example, in the course of the Lodz operation, five regiments of the enemy's infantry were scattered by five armored vehicles that broke into the coverage of the left flank of the enemy corps.
In early December, 1915, sixty-five-year-old Pavel Adamovich, was appointed commander-in-chief of all the armies of the Northern Front. In the new position, Plehve began to prepare troops for the upcoming 1916 campaign of the year, and also began to restore order in the frontline rear. This event, by the way, given the proximity of the front to the capital, was a matter of great relevance. Already 8 numbers Pavel Adamovich sent a note to the chief of staff, indicating that the “dual role of enterprises founded in Russia by the Germans under the guise of joint-stock companies”. In the same message, the general drew the attention of his superiors to the fight against economic sabotage and espionage, which was a completely new phenomenon for the Russian counterintelligence. Among other cases of Plehve, it is worth noting that he, seeing the situation that had arisen in the staffing of front-line officers, decided to send “recovering officers to the headquarters for the replacement of healthy ones, whose place is in the ranks”. In the same period of time, largely thanks to Pavel Adamovich, guerrilla groups began to organize on the Northern Front, including both regular units and volunteers from among the local residents who had the main task of sabotage and search operations in the near rear of the enemy.
At the responsible post of commander of the armies of the Northern Front, Plehve, unfortunately, worked for a short time - health problems increased. At the very end of January, 1916 arrived on the Northern Front with an inspection visit by the Supreme Commander himself, Tsar Nikolay. The emperor was met by two legendary front-line generals — the commander of the front, Plehwe, and the commander of the fifth army, Gurko. After accepting the report, accompanied by the generals, the Supreme Commander conducted a review of the front cavalry forces. The head of the emperor’s guard, Major General Alexander Spiridovich, recalled: “The night before the Emperor's arrival, Pavel Adamovich had a hemorrhage, and in the morning, like a pale canvas, he could hardly stand upright ... He was twisted, small, extremely painful, he had an iron will, unusual energy and hardness. Everywhere, where in the years of the Great War the general was not, he covered himself with deserved glory. ” Shortly after the review, Nicholas II wrote to the Empress: “My God, what poor Plehwe looks like! As a corpse is green, more than ever crooked and blind, it barely moves its legs ... He thinks quite normally and sensibly, his thoughts are clear and his head is fresh - and when he sits, everything is nothing, but when he gets up, he shows up sad spectacle.
For health reasons, in early February, Pavel Adamovich was released from command. He was appointed a member of the State Council, and Plehve left the army. The general arrived in Moscow and settled in an old apartment at the headquarters of the Moscow Military District. He died at the University Hospital of Nervous Diseases 28 March 1916 from hemorrhage in the brain. On the eve of his death, Pavel Plehve accepted Orthodoxy.
According to the materials of the book A.V. Oleynikov "Successful generals of a forgotten war" and the site http://gwar.elar.ru.
Olga Zelenko-Zhdanova
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parusnik 6 November 2015 07: 44
A. Knox, Major General of the British Army: "Plehve belonged ... to the Moltke school and possessed a logical mind and an iron will." The Brit is mistaken, Plehve belonged to our, Suvorov school ...
dv_generalov 6 November 2015 14: 54
Glory to the Russian commanders!
yuriy55 7 November 2015 03: 59
The author is an undoubted plus for the noble idea of "pulling out" historical facts about Russian commanders for public viewing. To our deep regret, we know about those times, as about the lost war with Japan in 1904-1905 and participation in the WWII 1914-1918 due to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914. And the names of the military commanders are associated with the number of killed Red Army soldiers.
Undoubtedly, the great Russian commanders are students of the Suvorov school, who have mastered the science of winning for five.
Olezhek 7 November 2015 17: 10
Yes, unfortunately, we know very little about the First World War.
The comment was deleted.
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Andrew McCulloch (footballer)
Infobox Football biography
playername = Andy McCulloch
fullname = Andrew McCulloch
nickname =
height = height|ft=6|in=2
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1950|1|3|df=y
cityofbirth = Northampton
countryofbirth = England
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
currentclub =
position = Striker
youthyears = 19??–19??
19??–1970
youthclubs = Fleet Town
Walton & Hersham
years = 1970–1972
clubs = Q.P.R.
→ Oakland Stompers (loan)
caps(goals) = 041 0(10)
058 0(24)
041 00(9)
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
manageryears = 19??-2008
managerclubs = Esher United
Andrew “Andy” McCulloch is a former English professional footballer who played for Q.P.R., Cardiff City, Oxford United, Brentford, Sheffield Wednesday, Crystal Palace and Aldershot. He played a total of 475 games in all competitions for his seven league clubs, scoring 153 goals in a career which lasted from 1970 until 1985. McCulloch was a Centre Forward in the “Target Man” mould, being 6ft 2in (1.88 m) tall, he was good in the air, using his strong physique to hold off defenders and lay the ball off to team mates. He made one appearance for the Scotland national under 23 team. [http://allfootballers.com/ http://allfootballers.com/.] Gives statistics for career and details on Adam McCulloch.]
McCulloch was born in Northampton on January 3 1950, he was the son of Adam McCulloch who played over 200 league games for Northampton Town, Shrewsbury Town and Aldershot. [http://allfootballers.com/ http://allfootballers.com/.] Gives statistics for career and details on Adam McCulloch.] Andy was brought up in Hampshire, the family moving there when his father signed for Aldershot in 1953. On leaving school he attended university and obtained a Civil engineering degree before playing full time football.
Andy McCulloch first made a name for himself as a teenager playing for Fleet Town in the Hampshire League and was subsequently invited for a trial at Tottenham Hotspur. However nothing came of the Tottenham connection and he signed for non-league Walton & Hersham being part of the team which won the Athenian League title in the 1968-69 season. [http://www.rsssf.com/tablese/engathenianchamp.html www.rsssf.com.] States Walton & Hersham as champions of Athenian League in 1968-69.] McCulloch was spotted by Queens Park Rangers manager Les Allen and he signed for Rangers in October 1970.
The 20 year old McCulloch made his Ranger’s debut immediately, replacing Frank Saul in the team, playing in a 5-2 home win over Birmingham City on 17 October 1970 and scoring the fifth goal. [http://qprreport.blogspot.com/2007/01/birthday-ex-qpr-andy-mcculloch.html qprreport.blogspot.com.] Gives details of QPR debut.] He did not actually get paid for that debut match as he was still registered as an amateur, his professional registration coming through a few days later. [http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/bob.dunning/thirty6.htm Football at Yahoo! Clubs sixtiesandseventiessoccer.] Says he was still an amateur when he made his QPR debut.] McCulloch was never a regular member of the Rangers team over the next two years, making 30 starts in League matches. His days at Rangers were numbered when they bolstered their forward line by signing Stan Bowles and Don Givens for the start of the 1972-73 season and he was sold to Cardiff City for a fee of £45,000 in October 1972.
Cardiff City and Oxford United
In his two years at Cardiff the team had a fairly mediocre time finishing near the bottom of Division Two in both seasons. McCulloch however had good form, top scoring in both seasons, notching 30 goals in 68 matches in all competitions. It was at this time that he was called up for his only cap for the Scottish under 23 team, his Scottish parentage making him eligible even though he was born in England. Cardiff won the Welsh Cup in both seasons that McCulloch played there, [http://www.fchd.btinternet.co.uk/cups/welshcupsummary.htm www.fchd.btinternet.co.uk.] States that Cardiff won Welsh Cup in 1972-73 & 1973-74.] qualifying them for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and in September 1973 McCulloch played against Sporting Clube de Portugal in the two-legged first round tie of the cup which Cardiff lost 2-1 on aggregate to give him his only experience of European football in his career. In July 1974 he moved to another Second Division side, Oxford United in a £70,000 deal, he had a fairly disappointing time at Oxford with the team relegated in his second season (1975-76) and McCulloch making only 12 League appearances.
With his career stalling McCulloch was forced to drop down to Division Four in his next move when he joined Brentford in March 1976 for £25,000. His move to The Bees rejuvenated his career although it was not until his second full season (1977-78) that things really started to happen when Brentford achieved promotion with McCulloch scoring 22 goals in 45 League appearances and forming a fine striking partnership with Steve Phillips who contributed an excellent 32 goals. In the Summer of 1978 McCulloch was loaned out to Oakland Stompers of the North American Soccer League where he made 18 appearances, scoring three goals with one assist. [http://www.nasljerseys.com/Rosters/Stompers_Rosters.htm www.nasljerseys.com.] Gives details of Oakland Stompers career.] Back at Brentford for the 1978-79 campaign, the team consolidated their position in Division Three with McCulloch contributing 13 goals.
heffield Wednesday
McCulloch’s time as a Brentford player came to an end in May 1979 when he was persuaded to join Third Division Sheffield Wednesday. Wednesday manager Jack Charlton was looking for a target man to partner Terry Curran in The Owls forward line and saw McCulloch as the ideal man. Charlton was working as a pundit for ITV on the 1979 FA Cup Final and met McCulloch on the Wembley gantry and agreed a deal which went through officially the following month."Jack Charlton: The Autobiography", Jack Charlton & Peter Byrne ISBN 1852252561 Says that McCulloch agreed to sign for Wednesday on Wembley gantry.] Jack Charlton, who had a tendency to get mixed up over his player’s names often referred to McCulloch as “Ian”, confusing him with Notts County’s Scottish winger Iain McCulloch. The McCulloch-Curran partnership contributed 34 goals in the following 1979-80 season as Wednesday were promoted. [http://www.adrianbullock.com/swfc/stats/play0388.htm Stuart Jackson‘s SWFC Archive.] Gives statistics for Sheffield Wednesday career.]
1980-81 saw McCulloch as Wednesday’s top scorer in their return to Division Two. In his final two years at Hillsborough he acted as a foil for Gary Bannister in the Wednesday attack, with Bannister scoring most of the goals and taking much of the glory, however Andy contributed seven goals in both campaigns. McCulloch played in the 1983 FA Cup semi final at Highbury when Wednesday were defeated by Brighton. In August 1983 McCulloch was sold to Crystal Palace for a fee of £20,000 as new manager Howard Wilkinson brought in Imre Varadi to partner Bannister."The Wednesday Boys", Jason Dickinson & John Brodie, ISBN 0 9547264 9 9 Page 196 Gives biographical information.] "The Men Who Made Sheffield Wednesday Football Club", Tony Matthews, ISBN 978 0 7524 4156 6 Gives details of Sheffield Wednesday career and biographical information.]
Latter career and retirement
At the end of his contract at Sheffield Wednesday McCulloch returned to the south of England to play for Crystal Palace for a season. In April 1984 he returned to Hillsborough to play for Crystal Palace in a League match and received a standing ovation from the supporters, McCulloch has said this is one of his fondest memories of his playing days. [http://sheffieldwednesday.rivals.net/features/pgarticle.aspx?artid=13593_3470288&id=72 Owlsonline.] Interview mentions standing ovation on return and other information.] He played the 1984-85 season with Aldershot but picked up a bad knee injury and this forced him to end his playing career at the age of 35. On retiring Andy worked for a company that cleaned household upholstery and hotel rooms, in 1989 he opened his own cleaning business, Cardinal Cleaning in Molesey, Surrey doing the same line of work. The firm is still flourishing today having contracts to clean many big London hotels as well as individual customers. Andy is still involved in football being the manager of part time Esher United of the Kingston District League. [http://www.prochem.co.uk/pdf%20graphics/Cleaning%20Specialist%20Issue%2017%20Summer%202006.pdf www.prochem.co.uk.] Interview details retirement activities.]
Policarpio Calizaya
Fourth Council of Constantinople
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Brentwood School student, aged 15, pitches app detecting wildfires to top AI professionals
PUBLISHED: 12:12 21 June 2019 | UPDATED: 12:13 21 June 2019
Brentwood School pupil Tanay Sonawane has pitched his life-saving app SPOTAFIRE to top industry professionals. Picture: Brentwood School/Google Maps
Brentwood School/Google Maps
A 15-year-old entrepreneurial enthusiast pitched his life-saving app SPOTAFIRE to top industry professionals last week.
Brentwood School Fourth Year student Tanay Sonawane was joined by two other team members for the pitch at CogX, The Festival of AI and Emerging Technology, in front of a crowd of 200 including high-ranking directors from HSBC, IBM and CogX's own co-founder.
SPOTAFIRE is an AI powered application that allows early detection of wildfires enabling users to inform others about wildfires in their area, without the need for Wifi.
The idea has already proved a winner at the NASA Space Apps challenge - an international hack-a-thon for coders, scientists, designers, storytellers, makers, builders, technologists, and others in cities around the world.
He explained: "Last year, I entered the NASA Space Apps challenge hack-a-thon.
"In doing so, I was placed in a team to solve the problems on Earth using NASA data.
"My team chose to try and develop an app to aid in logging, discovering and containing wildfires.
"The app itself is basically a button that when pressed can help alert authorities immediately to the wildfire and civilians close by who could be in danger.
"The use of deep AI would help the general public and the authorities to tackle wildfires and gain insights into patterns and factors that could be leading to wildfires.
"There would also be a section in the app where information would be placed so that in the event of you not having any signal, you can help yourself and others to keep safe."
TeensInAI entered Tanay and his fellow team members into CogX - Europe's largest AI festival - and it was the perfect opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the greatest AI experts in the world.
Tanay said: "This was a huge event and something we were very excited for.
"We were competing with other teams for prizes including tours of the DeepMind office and a place on the Pitch@Palace tour.
"It was an absolute joy to pitch in front of a crowd of nearly 200 people and after our pitch we were asked questions on our idea. "Things such as how we could possibly implement the structure of our solution to different problems."
On average 100,000 wildfires happen in the US alone every year.
In 2017, the cost of fighting those wildfires topped $2 billion and 4.5 million homes are at high or extreme risk.
Greenhouse gas emissions from wildfires also contribute to global warming.
Although the team did not emerge as CogX winners, Tanay thoroughly enjoyed the experience and plans to continue working on the app, and hopefully build an actual product.
He added: "We felt it had been an amazing experience to be there and to meet some of the greatest minds in AI.
"The lessons that I learnt about business management and entrepreneurial work will seriously aid me in my future endeavours.
"I will also consider other ideas in the future."
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They didn't have oneness among st each other
Thread starter tufguy
tufguy
I heard a story about four brothers who didn't have love among st them. They didn't like each other at all. So if we have to use this word in a sentence then what is the way to do this? Here is my sentence "They didn't have oneness among st each other" (I know oneness cannot be used here it is wrong. But it is just to give you an idea what I mean.). Do we need to say "They didn't feel belonged to each other"?
Franco-filly
English - Southern England
An idiomatic way would be to say "There was no love lost between them"
"Didn't have oneness / didn't feel as though they belonged to each other" do not sound right.
You might say "They were not (at all) close to each other"
Why are you repeatedly writing the word "amongst" as if it were two words: among st?
GreenWhiteBlue said:
My laptop underlines it if I write it as one word. It suggests me that way of writing "amongst".
You laptop underlines it because it is largely archaic, and the more modern word to use is "among." However, if you do use "amongst", you need to spell it correctly as a single word, with no space.
"They didn't have oneness among st each other"
"There was no unity amongst them." The sentence is grammatical but rather old-fashioned in its style.
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1001 Floodlit Dreams
Isherwood Football Services
It’s not a science – the way we pick our football teams
April 11, 2020 Neil Fredrik Jensen
YOU’VE heard the old joke that you can change your wife but you never switch your football team. It’s a wisecrack that belongs to the past, but there is some truth in it. Football commands a sense of loyalty that creates a lifelong bond between supporter and club. Even when the passion fades or youthful (and myopic) devotion gives way to a more measured relationship, that link is rarely, if ever, broken.
The traditional route to allegiance has followed a number of paths. Geography is a primary influence, resulting in you attaching yourself to the local club, be it a humble, non-league team, or your most accessible Football League outfit. In some cases, being close to a major metropolis may have swung your vote, especially if you were attracted by shiny things. For example, supporters from the many football towns around Manchester may be drawn to United or City rather than Rochdale, Oldham or Preston. Similarly, living on the edge or just outside London undoubtedly takes people into the catchment area of major clubs from the capital as opposed to suburban, smaller teams.
Only recently I visited Salford City and it was pretty clear that some fans were really exiled Manchester United supporters perhaps drawn to League Two football by the very agreeable pricing structure at the Peninsula Stadium.
In well-defined cities and towns, it is often easier to find yourself following the club on the corner. A club can represent that town and become part of its social structure and identity. Hence, some local authorities have realised that a football club can act as a form of ambassador for the town. Stevenage was one such club that benefitted from strong support from the council.
It’s not quite like the days when 10-20% of the population turned out every fortnight to see the local “United”, “Town” or “Athletic”, but in many places, the football club is still the only place where there is a large gathering of people at any one time.
Geography aside, a potential fan might adopt the family colours. In other words, if it’s in the family, the next generation automatically takes up the challenge. It helps if the father or grandfather (or indeed mother and grandmother) takes little Johnny along to, for example, Elland Road or Ewood Park as a rite of passage. Invariably, you support the same club that your Dad followed, although in some cases, that’s just not possible. My Dad, for instance, had no interest in football, although admitted that he watched KB Copenhagen a few times as a kid in 1930s Denmark.
People have written – too many books – about the subject, starting with Nick Hornby and then a legion of wannabees who want to tell everyone about their “unique relationship” with their club. How did I become a Chelsea fan? It was via that other main influence, “accident”. It was the day of the 1967 FA Cup final, Chelsea v Tottenham. I was bound for a cub scout jamboree in, of all places, West Tilbury. We boarded a double-decker bus and the lower deck was to sing for Chelsea, the upper Tottenham. Given I hadn’t really heard of either, I was happy to sing for Chelsea, especially as I found out they played in blue.
Cubs from all over Thurrock and beyond were reading maps, putting their First Aid skills to good use and awaiting the big event of the day – the screening of the FA Cup final. There were no big TVs in those days and the set in the huge marquee was no more than 20 inches. I was so detached from the action that when Chelsea scored late on, I thought it was the first of the game, not the consolation. I assumed Bobby Tambling had won the cup for the Blues! It was only at the rumoured final whistle that I realized Tottenham had won 2-1. I was strangely disappointed but that’s where it started.
Today, I consider myself something of a “portfolio fan” and that includes Chelsea, Ajax, Ferencvaros, Rapid Vienna and Fulham, not to mention my local non-league club. I find it hard to allow myself to let my emotional well-being become tied to the performances of a team. I like to be entertained, I enjoy the spectacle, the skill and the passion of the fans at both ends. It’s a strange place to be given that today’s game is so intense, but I will leave fanaticism to the next generation.
@GameofthePeople
This article appeared in Football Weekends magazine, reproduced with permission.
Categories: CultureTags: football fans, Lead, supporters, top slot
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Bon Jovi Greatest Hits
Viral Hits Volume 1
I'll Be There For You (Live)
Never Say Die (Live)
Good Guys Don't Always Wear White (Live)
Hits For The Road - Part Two (Live)
Hits For The Road - Part One (Live)
His Greatest Hits - Part Two (Live)
His Greatest Hits - Part One (Live)
FM Broadcast Bon Jovi & AC/DC
Do What You Can
Bon Jovi & Jennifer Nettles
Do What You Can (Single Edit)
Party Tyme Karaoke - Rock Male Hits 4 (Vocal...
Party Tyme Karaoke
Party Tyme Karaoke - Pop Male Hits 2 (Vocal...
and 421 other albums
About Bon Jovi
Eternally topping the A-list of Jersey-bred pop-metal lady-killers, Bon Jovi dominated American life in the mid-'80s. Their third album, 1986's Slippery When Wet (original, tragically banned cover art = awesome), made them megastars, but they had already won over more than 50,000 pop Hessians with 1984's "Runaway," a melodramatic story-song made unforgettable by a killer chorus and Jon Bon Jovi's absolutely perfect hair in the video. A string of hits between 1986 and 1988 -- "You Give Love a Bad Name," "Livin' on a Prayer" and "Wanted Dead or Alive," followed up by "Bad Medicine" and "Lay Your Hands on Me," from New Jersey -- defined the power ballad and resulted in a virtual Bon Jovi sleeper hold on the mainstream psyche. While the grunge explosion rendered them instantly obsolete, Bon Jovi continued to put out records amid side projects for both Jon and guitarist Richie Sambora. In 2000 they returned with Crush, an updated look (no hairspray) and a single that stands today as one of the best on their roster, the soaring "It's My Life." A creative resurgence has since resulted in steady releases, the most recent of which, Lost Highway, appeared in 2007. Mike McGuirk
Bad English, Cinderella, Def Leppard, Dokken, Europe, Great White
Eternally topping the A-list of Jersey-bred pop-metal lady-killers, Bon Jovi dominated American life in the mid-'80s. Their third album, 1986's Slippery When Wet (original, tragically banned cover art = awesome), made them megastars, but they had already won over more than 50,000 pop Hessians with 1984's "Runaway," a melodramatic story-song made unforgettable by a killer chorus and Jon Bon Jovi's absolutely perfect hair in the video. A string of hits between 1986 and 1988 -- "You Give Love a Bad Name," "Livin' on a Prayer" and "Wanted Dead or Alive," followed up by "Bad Medicine" and "Lay Your Hands on Me," from New Jersey -- defined the power ballad and resulted in a virtual Bon Jovi sleeper hold on the mainstream psyche. While the grunge explosion rendered them instantly obsolete, Bon Jovi continued to put out records amid side projects for both Jon and guitarist Richie Sambora. In 2000 they returned with Crush, an updated look (no hairspray) and a single that stands today as one of the best on their roster, the soaring "It's My Life." A creative resurgence has since resulted in steady releases, the most recent of which, Lost Highway, appeared in 2007.
Mike McGuirk
Pop Metal
Chill Out At Home Rock Music
American Reckoning
Hits 80's & 90's
Dance Classics Gold Christmas Edition 02
Jose Feliciano, Jive Bunny, Mistoletoe, Dance aid, Bon Jovi, Jennifer Rush
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Home News & Analysis Asia India’s Ambitions To Establish Foothold In Myanmar Risk Being Jeopardised By Kaladan
India’s Ambitions To Establish Foothold In Myanmar Risk Being Jeopardised By Kaladan
Alexander Macleod
India’s ambitions to establish a foothold in Myanmar and strengthen ties with Southeast Asia risk being jeopardised by the ongoing Kaladan project. This ambitious venture exposes India’s overseas infrastructure failings, and thus its inability to push rival China aside.
Long deterred by Myanmar’s status as a military dictatorship, India has only relatively recently built substantial strategic and economic ties with neighbour Myanmar. With China becoming increasingly assertive in that region, Myanmar now forms an important part of India’s ‘master plan’ for ASEAN connectivity. India’s government is ready to exploit the opportunities afforded by Myanmar’s more democratic, liberal regime. Nevertheless, the long-mooted Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project, intended to integrate India’s traditionally underdeveloped northeast with Myanmar’s southwest, is yet to materialise.
Since the 1990s, Indian trade with ASEAN has grown steadily, and ASEAN is now India’s fourth-largest trading partner. India has progressively built up an economic, political and security alliance with that regional bloc. But China is vastly more experienced with its overseas infrastructure dealings, and for this reason many Southeast Asian leaders have placed their eggs in China’s basket. If India fails to deliver with Kaladan – and similar overseas projects – then this Sino-oriented status quo will remain untouched.
India’s concerns
India is naturally concerned about China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). As previously argued, BRI is important for the enhanced political and economic clout that China is demonstrating across the Asia-Pacific. Malaysia and others are developing unsustainable debt with China, which translates into growing regional influence for the Asian behemoth.
According to The Diplomat, Chinese investment in Myanmar dwarfs India’s. During fiscal year 2015-16, China invested US$3.3bn, whereas India invested just US$224m. It is a similar story for the other Southeast Asian countries, for China’s GDP is almost 5 times that of India. Although doubtless that China’s intentions are not entirely altruistic, such gargantuan foreign investment reflects an offer that each ASEAN member cannot refuse.
India’s move closer to Myanmar reflects its ‘neighbourhood first’ policy, which prioritises building diplomatic ties with its geographical neighbours. Aside from providing a gateway to Southeast Asia, through Myanmar, western ally India seeks to become a more assertive regional player, countering China’s influence.
For Myanmar, as for its neighbours, diversifying its economic interests vis-à-vis greater Indian involvement will help reduce China’s overwhelming influence over its economy. Concern has grown over China’s extensive involvement in upgrading Myanmar’s ports, roads and bridges, and its appropriation of Myanmar’s gas and oil reserves.
The Kaladan project
Signed in 2008, the Kaladan Multimodal Transport Project is the first major Indian-funded project in Myanmar. It is named after the River Kaladan, which originates in Myanmar’s Chin state, flows through Mizoram state in India, and joins the Bay of Bengal. A total distance of 907km, the project will connect Mizoram state with ports in Kolkata and Rakhine state capital Sittwe. Allowing trade to bypass the Siliguri Corridor (see below) is of high economic and strategic importance. The project ought to transform Mizoram and northeast India into a trade corridor for Southeast Asia, allowing it to connect with ASEAN and establish links to Singapore and key cities across Thailand, Cambodia and Malaysia.
Maritime trade between Kolkata and the new port in Sittwe will bypass the Siliguri Corridor (circled in red), a sensitive political region bordering Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan.
The US $500m project is being implemented in four phases: (1) construction of a deep sea port at Sittwe; (2) dredging and modernising of a 158km section of the Kaladan waterway between Sittwe and Paletwa in Myanmar, and construction of a jetty at Paletwa; (3) construction of a 109km stretch of road from Paletwa to Mizoram on the India-Myanmar border; and (4) extension of the Indian National Highway #54 to the Myanmar border.
The project will connect India’s Mizoram state (highlighted in red) with the town of Paletwa and the city of Sittwe (image retrieved from Google Maps)
Phases 1 and 2 were initially handled by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), but later subcontracted to Essar Group, an Indian infrastructure conglomerate. Phases 1, 2 and 4 are near completion. Phase 3, essential to the functioning of the entire project, is only due to start in October because of difficulties experienced finding a suitable contractor. Although India recently donated six vessels to the new Sittwe port, the full transit route will not be open for years. Despite the initial June 2015 deadline, in October 2015 it was extended to 2019 and the estimated budget increased sixfold.
Implementation problems
Putting aside immovable financial constraints, Kaladan has been hindered by inadequate time and resource management; inadequate fund allocation; a lack of accountability; and other planning failures like poor quality control. Unfortunately, such poor project management fits India’s track record for overseas infrastructure ventures.
The initial feasibility study, completed by the state-run Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES), contained several flaws. Errors include: an underestimation of the road lengths in Myanmar; ignorance of Myanmar’s Ministry of Power’s plans to construct hydroelectric dams on two tributaries of the Kaladan river (which would subsequently affect the Kaladan project); and a lack of knowledge of shipwrecks on the Kaladan riverbed (which delayed dredging). A host of land compensation claims in Mizoram have also created hindrances.
The prospect of a fully functioning port, with navigable waterways for cargo ships, and ports linked to new highway connections, remains a long way off. Given the difficulty of modernising the terrain and the absence of viable road networks in this region, concerns will have always existed around the value of such a huge investment. Yet one journalist described India’s approach as ‘lackadaisical’, when set against China’s BRI, warning the project risks were becoming a white elephant.
Ongoing tensions in Rakhine may also create potential obstacles further down the line – although theoretically, developing this peripheral borderland should help negate the attraction of insurgent activity. According to India’s ambassador to Myanmar, ‘India intends to develop the project to give job opportunities to Rakhine people and bring development to the state’. But here a coordinated bilateral effort is essential, and theavailable evidence suggests otherwise. Such an environment is far from conducive to promoting a healthy industrial culture.
Overall, Kaladan has suffered from a lack of coordination between the different implementing bodies: public sector departments, private contractors and external agencies. Admittedly, it is easy to underestimate the time and difficulty of forging strong bilateral cooperation. Similar problems face the equally ambitious – and significant –Trilateral Highway project, which draws together India, Myanmar and Thailand.
For India to gain regional influence – and be taken seriously as an alternative partner to China – it must take action to rectify these infrastructure-related woes. When completed, the project should help India to begin to counterbalance China’s ever-expanding regional trade network. The current disparity is vast: in 2015, ASEAN-India trade stood atUS$58bn, whereas ASEAN-China trade was US$345bn. A white elephant would not only mean economic loss for India. Through Kaladan, India has staked its reputation as a new regional partner; failure to deliver could further entrench Beijing’s influence over the region.
Alexander Macleod is a doctoral researcher at Newcastle University with a focus on Southeast Asian politics and geography. Article as appears on Global Risk Insights: http://globalriskinsights.com/2017/09/kaladan-reflects-frustrated-indian-vision/
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Frontera and its owners.
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FeaturedIslamTerrorismUS News
Jihad in America 2015: ‘The Danger to the Homeland Has Never Been Greater’
Pamela Geller December 30, 2015
“The danger to the homeland has never been greater”: so said Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, in September as he released a new report on the global jihad.In each of the past few years, I have done an end-of-the-year summary piece on jihad activity and Islamization during the year in review, so that people might better understand the overarching progress of the jihad in the U.S., and connect the dots. You won’t find this material summarized elsewhere: the Obama administration and the media have gone to obscene lengths to adhere to Islamic law by deceiving and disarming the American people about the motive behind war we’re engaged in, and they never discuss its overall progress.
Here is what is really happening. A study showed that ISIS supporters in the U.S. are focusing their energies on plotting jihad attacks here. In April, three jihad terror plots were disrupted in three weeks, showing the scope of the jihad threat. The FBI revealed that it foiled Islamic State-inspired attacks on July 4. The director of the FBI, James Comey,has said that the Islamic State is now actively recruiting in all 50 states. A new ISIS manual shows the United States in the jihad group’s crosshairs, and the image is apt: the FBI revealed in November that it is pursuing no fewer than 900 active investigations related to Muslims in the U.S. getting involved with ISIS.
These devout Muslims won’t be easy to find: ISIS has issued an e-book titled “How to Survive in the West,” teaching Muslims in the U.S. and elsewhere in the free world to appear to be secular and moderate – until the time comes to strike.
Meanwhile, law enforcement officials don’t know the whereabouts of 9,500 immigrants whose visas have been revoked for terrorist activity.
For well over a decade, my colleagues and I have been smeared, defamed and libeled because we told the truth. Since I wrote my book Stop the Islamization of America and established the Stop Islamization of America initiative of my organization, the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), we have seen this nation effectively crippled. Our elites are surrendering our freedoms without so much as pang of their collective conscience.
Terrorism arrests in the US and Europe are now at record highs. Even the lily-livered Lilliputians over at the Washington Post reported “an unprecedented number that officials attribute to a heightened threat from the Islamic State and the influence of social media on potential recruits.” G-d forbid they attribute it to Islam. Still crazy after all these years.
A little 9-year-old boy in New York City was nearly beheaded by a jihadist in an “ISIS audition,” and it barely made news. Black Lives Matter didn’t even blink, even though the boy was black. Likewise buried was the story of a Muslim in California, Jihad Mufaddi Khalaf Haddadin, who was arrested in December for making a bomb threat against police in El Monte, California. And in New York City, it took a full year for two NYPD policemen who were executed by a jihadi in December 2014 finally to be honored.
Jihadis in the U.S. appeared heedless of interference from authorities. A Muslim teen busted in Pennsylvania was seeking to buy a Yazidi slave girl. In Syracuse, a Muslim airport worker threatened to “get my gun and kill everybody.” Harlem Suarez, a Muslim who plotted a jihad attack on a Florida beach involving weapons of mass destruction, had been cleared for a Key West Airport job that gave him direct access to secure areas.
The Muslim bloodlust became more brazen. In September, the FBI foiled an Islamic plot to kill the Pope during his visit to the U.S. In Ohio, a Muslim hospital worker who called for American soldiers to be beheaded in their homes was arrested. In California, a Muslim with a sword chased down his non-Muslim neighbor while screaming, “I would die and kill for Allah.” A Muslim in Mississippi threatened to murder non-Muslim hospital staff after making a series of bomb threats. A Muslim shooter was behind the killing of a Philadelphia cop in March.
In February in California, two Muslims got 25 years each for planning to kill Americans. In January, a Muslim teen in Portland, Oregon was accused of threatening to blow up a store “in the name of Allah.” Also in January, a Muslim cab driver from Virginia was added to the FBI’s ‘Most Wanted Terrorists’ list. And in Washington, D.C. in November, a knife-wielding Muslim slashed a woman at Union Station, and then charged at a police officer.
New York City, as always, was a particular target. A New York City subway motorman called for an Islamic State (ISIS) attack in an unhinged rant. In November, an NYPD undercover officer foiled a jihad bomb plot in New York City. In February, three Muslims were arrested in New York City for conspiring to support ISIS. They targeted Obama, the FBI, and the police.
In June, other Muslims from Florida were charged with devising yet another jihad mass murder bomb plot in New York City. They had also been also charged with attempting to murder U.S. marshals while screaming “Allahu akbar.” Also in June, a Muslim student in New York was found to have plotted to bomb a New York City landmark. That same month, five Muslims were arrested in connection with a Brooklyn ISIS plot. Taking Sharia into his own hands, a Muslim brutally beat a gay couple in a New York City restaurant.
Likewise targeting gays was a “strict Muslim” from Seattle who was charged with murder and terrorism. Ali Muhammad Brown was charged with murdering two gay men in Seattle and then killing a random teen in New Jersey. Before that, Brown had been prosecuted after the FBI investigated a Muslim group that was suspected of supporting foreign jihadists. This devout Muslim is also a registered sex offender for crimes against a 6-year-old girl, the same age as Aisha when Muhammad “married” her.
The Islamic State throughout 2015 continued to win the allegiance of Muslims in the U.S. A senior female Islamic State recruiter turned out to be a student from Seattle. A Muslim in Minneapolis was charged threatening to kill FBI officials if they didn’t free six Muslimswho were being held in connection with an Islamic State case. Also in Minnesota, a Muslim refugee from Somalia was arrested for aiding ISIS. In September, yet another Muslim in Minnesota became the third to plead guilty to joining Islamic State; five more are facing trial.
A Muslim who was arrested in New York City said: “I’m ready to die for the Caliphate.” In New Jersey, an ISIS-supporting Muslim teen was charged in a plot targeting the 9/11 Memorial. In Philadelphia, a Muslim teen with 57 Twitter accounts was arrested for aiding and abetting ISIS. A Muslim in Arizona was charged with supporting ISIS.
A Muslim in Ohio was charged with providing material support to the Islamic State. In May, two Muslims were arrested in California on their way to join ISIS. One had said: “It would be a blessing to fight for the cause of Allah.” In March, a Muslim on the Harvard campus was discovered to be raising money for the Islamic State’s “charity.”
In September, ISIS posted photos, names, and addresses of US soldiers, and threatened: “Theres gonna be attack this month on soldiers in America.” Instead, ISIS-supporting Muslims murdered American civilians in San Bernardino in December. Islamic State-supporting Muslims were arrested in March in Illinois. They had been planning another Fort Hood-style jihad massacre at Fort Riley.
A Muslim teen in Virginia was jailed for more than 11 years after being convicted of working on social media for the Islamic State. In Upstate New York, a Muslim pizza shop owner was charged with recruiting for the Islamic State. A Muslim in New Jersey was arrested for organizing a “small army” of ISIS fighters in his home state and in New York as well. Another Muslim in New York who was arrested for joining Islamic State said that its murders were justified because “the victims were not Muslims.”
A young Muslim married couple in Mississippi was charged for trying to wage jihad alongside the Islamic State. The New York Times was “shocked” and “perplexed” that this young couple went jihad.
Other jihadis remained active as well. In December, a Muslim who had become a U.S. citizen was charged with helping a Syrian rebel group that is linked to al-Qaeda. A Muslim engineer at a U.S. defense contractor got eight years in prison for giving details on U.S. jets to Iran. In Washington, D.C., a Muslim was charged with fundraising and recruiting for the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. And reminding us that all this is not new, a Muslim cleric from the U.K. who plotted years ago to build a jihad-terror training camp in Oregonwas sentenced.
Converts to Islam were active in the jihad. In Kansas, a convert to Islam pled guilty to a WMD suicide plot against the Wichita Airport, aimed at inflicting “maximum carnage.” Another convert to Islam from Kansas was accused of plotting to detonate a jihad bomb at the Fort Riley military base for the Islamic State.
And yet another Muslim convert, the son of a police captain in Boston, was charged with plotting Islamic State jihad attacks on a college campus. He had planned to put “explosives filled with black powder, nails, ball bearings and glass, in places where large numbers of people congregate, like college cafeterias.”
The Muslim who plotted to plant weapons of mass destruction on a Florida beach, Harlem Suarez, was also a convert to Islam. He threatened to “cook American[s]…in cages” and boasted: “We will destroy America,” “We will raise our black flag on top of your White House.” In Ohio, yet another convert to Islam was indicted on charges of supporting the Islamic State.
All these arrests don’t dampen the enthusiasm of these converts for committing murder in the cause of their new religion. A young American convert to Islam who is in prison for his role in a bomb plot against Barack Obama and Washington, D.C. landmarks said:
“We are waiting for the perfect moment.” He also said: “I’m very dedicated to establish the Sharia in America, to wage war against non-Muslims,” and: “We are indeed here in America…we’re in each and every state.”
They do indeed seem to be everywhere, and more are coming: In a harbinger of things to come, a Muslim “refugee” in Michigan was found to have lied about his ties to the Islamic State. In Brooklyn, also in January, a Muslim was charged with orchestrating a truck bomb that killed 5 U.S. soldiers.
The most catastrophic failure of our refugee resettlement and intelligence apparatuses came on December 2 in San Bernardino, when devout Muslims cold-bloodedly murdered fourteen innocent Christians and Jews at a Christmas party. This was a catastrophic intel failure because all roads from the jihad attack on our American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) free speech event in May in Garland, Texas led to San Bernardino. The jihadis in both cases had the same MO, followed the same pattern, and even had the same contacts. Both events – our Muhammad Cartoon Contest and the San Bernardino Christmas party — offended Muslims. Both events violated the sharia: one was an art exhibit with depictions of Muhammad in art and literature over the past 1400 years, and the other celebrated a Christian holiday. Both deeply offensive to Muslims.
The jihadis in both attacks trained at shooting ranges. The jihadis in both attacks were also “radicalized” long before they plotted and executed that jihad.
Both attacks were Islamic State (ISIS) attacks in America. Both jihadis, Ibrahim Simpson at Garland and Syed Rizwan Farook in San Bernardino, were linked to American ISIS recruiter Mohammed Abdullahi Hassan, also known as Mujahid Miski. Why Obama’s FBI and counter-terror agencies didn’t make his capture a priority is deeply disturbing.
Even more disturbing is that the Garland Muslims and the San Bernardino Muslims were both known to law enforcement and both were of concern, but law enforcement officials did nothing, either. The Garland jihadi Ibrahim Simpson and the San Bernardino jihad Syed Rizwan Farook both attended mosque daily, and were very religious, and then their mosques in both cases covered for them, downplaying their presence there.
The San Bernardino jihadi considered an attack in 2011. He visited 11 school cafeterias, scouting out a target for his massacre. He should have been on the radar of law enforcement officials in 2015. But instead of pursuing all this, the Obama administrationnixed a probe into the Southern California jihadists. Adding to the intel failure was the failure of our refugee intake process: San Bernardino jihad murderer Tashfeen Malik wasvetted by five different government agencies – and none of them discovered her extensive jihadi ties and loyalties. This is more of the poison fruit of the denial of jihad by Obama administration officials.
That denial was also operating at full strength after jihadis attacked out event in Garland in May. Instead of discussing the jihad on free speech, politicians, pundits and commentators who should have known better, including Donald Trump, Bill O’Reilly and Laura Ingraham, attacked me for violating Sharia blasphemy laws instead of attacking the jihadis for trying to kill me for free speech. What got lost in the post-Garland jihad shooting arguing and sharia-compliant rhetoric, is the simple fact that ISIS is here. Islamic terrorism is here, and it will only get worse. An informant in the Garland jihad attack saidin August that there were between 50 and 80 more Muslim terrorists out there, ready to strike. Shutting up the few who speak candidly and openly about jihad terror will only make us all more unsafe.
Islamic jihadists kept trying to shut me up. A 2017 trial was set for two Muslims whoplotted to behead me in the wake of the Garland event. They were indicted on charges that included material support for the Islamic State. After this plot was foiled, Muslims were still baying for my blood: an ISIS jihadist tweeted out my home address as he issued numerous calls for my death.
Yet the denial was still in force on July 16, a Muslim named Muhammad Abdulazeez murdered four Marines and a sailor at a Navy-Marine reserve center in Chattanooga. While the media and law enforcement searched for a motive, it came out that Abdulazeezwas a follower of the late American Imam Anwar Awlaki, who was involved in numerous jihad plots in the U.S. His family practiced polygamy and was steeped in Jew-hatred. His father sexually assaulted his wife and beat his son, and said he wanted to take another wife because it was “allowed under Islamic law.” Topping it all off was the fact that the jihad mass murderer had worked at an Ohio nuclear power plant.
While all that was happening, the jihad was advancing on U.S. campuses. In November,ISIS warned American colleges and universities: “We are coming.” But jihadis were already there: in November, a Muslim named Faisal Mohammad went on a stabbing spreeat the University of California Merced, while smiling the whole time. Law enforcement sources said that Mohammad was on a terror watch list, and that the college had been warned of the threat he posed. They did nothing, of course.
Meanwhile, non-violent Sharia incursions continued. Minnesota Muslims declared in May: “We want Sharia.” A Muslima stewardess refused to serve alcohol, and predictably, Hamas-CAIR claims the airline violated her Constitutional rights.
On campus, a leading college Muslim group, the Muslim Student Association, rejected a moment of recognition resolution for 9/11, saying it was “Islamophobic.” The Muslim Student Association also came out against the already weak and watered-down“Countering Violent Extremism” measures.
Wichita State University ripped up chapel pews and removed crosses to accommodate Muslims. Outrage over this was dismissed as “Islamophobia.” A professor complained to Catholic University that there were too many crosses on campus for Muslim students to pray. One Muslim student declared: “my Islamic faith prevents me from paying interest on my student loans.” Swarthmore students heckled and abused a victim of Egyptian torture. And when I spoke at Brooklyn College in April, Muslim students made the one-finger signof allegiance to the Islamic State and shouted out their support for it.
The Islamization of public schools also continued. Minnesota high school students sang “Allahu akbar” at their Christmas concert. In Virginia, students practiced calligraphy by writing “There is no god but Allah” in Arabic. A Florida public school forced kids to learn and recite an Islamic prayer, and to make Islamic prayer rugs. In North Carolina, Pitts Public School parents were apoplectic over Muslim propaganda and open proselytizing for Islam in class. A shocked mom with children in another school called a TV news stationafter reading the pro-Islam answers on her son’s worksheet.
When a New Jersey school district declined to add Eid to the list of school holidays (only because they hadn’t been given sufficient notice), furious Muslim parents shouted, “We’re going to be the majority soon!” In Minnesota, the opening of a charter school was derailed after questions were raised about its possible ties to a Muslim Brotherhood group. In Pennsylvania, scores of teachers bowed to Allah, celebrated Islam, and visited a local mosque to learn more about Islam. In San Diego, a high school piloted halal school lunches. An upstate New York school recited the Pledge of Allegiance in Arabic: “One Nation Under Allah.”
An Ohio public school hosted “A Covered Girl Challenge,” asking students to wear hijab for a day. NP3 High School in California observed “Hijab Day.” In Denver, schoolgirls wereforced to wear headscarves and were told that their ankles “must be covered” during a school trip to a local mosque. In New York City, Mayor “Red Bill” de Blasio announcedthat he was going to close City schools for Muslim holidays. In the wake of Muslim demands for their holidays to be days off from school, a Maryland School District decided to scrap Jewish and Christian holidays. Meanwhile, Muslim students who harassed Jewish students in an Arizona high school. Muslim cleric and charter school leader Fethullah Gülen was captured on video saying: “Explode yourselves like a bomb against the U.S.”
In Maine, a head coach was forced to resign after criticizing Islam on Facebook. In Massachusetts, a school retaliated against students for parental opposition to its pro-Islam, anti-Israel propaganda. A California school district banned middle schoolers from drawing Muhammad. In Seattle, Muslims demanded that a teacher be fired for showing Muhammad cartoons. Parents of students at a Tennessee middle school were outraged that their children were assigned to write the Shahada: “Allah is the only God, Muhammad is his prophet.” Suspiciously, Tennessee school districts refused to comply with Open Records Requests that would have revealed the contents of their lessons about Islam.
We have seen the increasing Islamization of public-school curricula. History lessons in Islam are dawah – proselytizing for Islam. The Saudis have bought large public school publishers. Islamic supremacists have hijacked the Department of Education, the Gates Foundation, Pearson and other textbook publishing companies and the testing companies. They have also hijacked our public-school curricula, and textbooks (i.e., Common Core).
Enough is enough. It’s time we fought back against this scourge and reclaimed our schools – and our society. We should see less jihad in 2016, but instead, it is certain to be more. We need a president who understands the threat and is not afraid to fight the enemy. AFDI has proposed an 18-point platform to defeat the enemy. Send it to your Presidential candidate, Congressmen and Senators. It’s must be adopted in order to win the war on freedom.
Pamela Geller’s commitment to freedom from jihad and Shariah shines forth in her books
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Pamela Geller is the founder, editor and publisher of PamelaGeller.com and President of the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) and Stop Islamization of America (SIOA). She is the author of The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration's War on America, (foreword by Ambassador John Bolton), (Simon & Schuster). Stop the Islamization of America: A Practical Guide to the Resistance. She is also a regular columnist for World Net Daily, the American Thinker, and other publications. Follow her on Facebook & Twitter
Twitter Website
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Expenditure Timing/Benefit for Different Award Types
Expenses Moved via Cost Transfer
Pre-Award Expenditures
End of Award Expenditures
Watch the Timing of Expenditures and Benefit to Award eLearning (approx. 30 minutes).
In adherence to the four cost principles, all expenditures must be reasonable, allocable, allowable, and consistently treated. Additionally, there are several factors to consider regarding the timing of expenditures.
Total Period is the start and end dates of the Sponsored Award. This period is also referred to as a “Competing Segment” since the Award is obtained through a competitive process.
Budget Period is the start and end dates for a designated period of time within a Total Period. This can also be referred to as a “Non-Competing Segment” since there is no competitive process to receive this funding. Not all Awards have Budget Periods. If an Award has Budget Periods, they are designated by the Sponsor in the Award documentation.
For example: a Sponsor issues an Award with a Total Period from January 1, 2010 - December 31, 2013. The Sponsor provides funding for the first year, so the first Budget Period is January 1, 2010 - December 31, 2010.
Current Budget Period is the term used in MyFD for Budget Period.
Carry Forward is the balance of unused funds at the end of a Budget Period transferred (“carried forward”) to the next Budget Period. Funds cannot be carried forward to a Competing Segment.
Automatic Carry Forward is when the balance of unused funds can be carried forward to the next Budget Period without Sponsor approval.
Project vs. Award: A project (or program) is the overall research topic (e.g., curing breast cancer). An Award is a specific amount of funding utilized in a designated amount of time within that research topic. Most projects are funded by multiple Awards and other funding sources. For more information on Project vs. Award, watch this five-minute eLearning.
Benefit is the how the expense (item or service) is necessary to the achievement of the Award objectives.
Date the expense was incurred: the date the expense (item or service) was purchased or ordered.
Date the expense was posted: the date the expenditure transaction posted in the UW financial system.
Date received: the date the item or service was received by the department.
Sponsors require that expenditures are incurred, received, and provide a necessary benefit between the start and end dates of the applicable Total or Budget Period. An expense can be posted after the end date of the Total or Budget Period, but must be posted before the Final Action Date (FAD) to ensure that the expense is included in the final invoice/financial report.
Application of this compliance concept depends on the Award type.
I. Award does NOT have designated Budget Periods.
Expenditures must be incurred, received, and provide a necessary benefit between the start and end dates of the Total Period.
Scenario: An Award has a Total Period from January 1, 2012 - December 31, 2013.
Allowable:
Lab supplies were purchased (incurred) and received in November 2013 and used (provided benefit) before the end date of December 31, 2013. The transaction was posted in January 2014.
Unallowable:
Lab supplies were ordered (incurred) and received in December 2013 but they were not used (did not provide benefit) during the Total Period.
An airline ticket was purchased in November 2013 for travel to a conference in February 2014. The benefit (conference) was not received during the Total Period.
A laptop was purchased in December 2013 and received in January 2014, after the end date of the Total Period. It could not provide benefit to the Award under which it was purchased.
II. Award has designated Budget Periods and automatic carry forward.
If the Sponsor allows for automatic carry forward, the UW does not need to report or track expenditures within a Budget Period. Thus, expenditures must only be incurred, received, and provide a necessary benefit between the start and end dates of the Total (not Budget) Period.
Scenario: An Award has a Total Period from January 1, 2010 - December 31, 2013. The current Budget Period is January 1, 2010 - December 31, 2010.
Lab supplies were incurred and received in late December 2010 and used (provided benefit) during the current Budget Period and the subsequent Budget Period (January 1, 2011 - December 31, 2011).
Registration costs were incurred in December 2010 for a conference in March 2011. The benefit (attending the conference) was within the Total Period.
Lab supplies were purchased in December 2013 and not received until January 2014, after the end date of the Total Period.
Scenario: An Award has a Total Period from January 1, 2010 - December 31, 2013. The current Budget Period is January 1, 2013 - December 31, 2013, which is the last Budget Period of the Award.
Lab supplies were purchased, received, and used in December 2013; the transaction was posted in January 2014.
Lab supplies were purchased in December 2013 but not received until January 2014, after the end date of the Total Period. The supplies could not be used (provide benefit) during the Total Period.
III. Award has designated Budget Periods and the Sponsor does NOT allow automatic carry forward between Budget Periods.
Expenditures must be incurred, received, and provide a majority of benefit during the Budget Period.
An airline ticket was purchased in March 2010 for a conference in June 2010. The benefit (attending the conference) was within the current Budget Period.
An airline ticket was purchased in November 2010 for a conference in March 2011. The benefit was after the current Budget Period ends.
A piece of equipment was incurred in December 2010 and received in January 2011. The benefit was after the current Budget Period ends.
If an expenditure is moved to an Award via cost transfer, the date the expense was originally incurred must fall within the start/end dates of the benefiting Total or Budget Period (where the expense was moved), as applicable.
Scenario: The current Budget Period on an Award is January 1, 2010 - December 31, 2010.
An expense was incurred and received in January 2010 and posted to a department budget. The expense was transferred in February 2010 to the Award.
An expense was incurred in September 2009 and posted to a department budget. The expense was transferred in February 2010 to the Award. The expense was incurred prior to the start date of the Award (and more than 90 days, see below).
Some Sponsors allow expenses to be incurred prior to the start date of the Total or Budget Period. These are called pre-Award expenditures. Prior to incurring pre-Award expenditures:
Review the Award to determine if the Sponsor allows pre-Award expenditures.
If the Award is silent on the issue, review the Sponsor regulations to determine if they allow pre-Award expenditures. Some federal Sponsors allow expenditures up to 90 days prior to the Award start date.
If pre-Award expenditures are allowed, determine if there are any requirements (e.g., prior written Sponsor approval).
Learn more about advance budgets and take steps to request one.
Scenario: The start date of an Award is January 1, 2010. The Sponsor allows pre-Award expenditures up to 90 days before the Award start date (October 1, 2009) without written approval.
Lab supplies were incurred in late December 2009 and charged to a department budget. The expense was moved to the Award in February 2010.
Lab supplies were incurred in December 2009 and charged to an advance budget. The Award was delayed and did not start until June 1, 2010. The expense was incurred more than 90 days prior to the start date of the Award.
It can be difficult to demonstrate how expenditures near the end of a Total or Budget Period benefited the Award in a limited amount of time. All purchases incurred within the last 90 days of a Total or Budget Period should be reviewed to:
Ensure the item/service was received during the Total or Budget Period; and
Determine how the item/service provided benefit during the Total or Budget Period, given that it was purchased close to the applicable end date. Providing benefit means having a reasonable amount of use during the Total or Budget Period.
End of Award Equipment Expenditures
In addition to the above, it is recommended that equipment expenditures near the end of the Total or Budget Period should be reviewed to determine:
If the equipment was included in the original budget proposal. If so, include documentation (copy of the budget and/or budget notes) showing that the equipment was identified as part of the proposal. Include this information with the purchase documentation. If the equipment was identified but not purchased until the end of the Award, document how the equipment benefited the Award given the limited amount of time left on the Award.
If the equipment was not included in the original budget proposal, determine and document how it benefited the Award, given the limited time remaining.
If Sponsor approval, as required, was obtained for the purchase of the equipment, include the approval in the purchase documentation.
If the equipment will not be used exclusively on this Award, document how the cost was allocated to other funding sources.
If applicable, document why the purchase was necessary when the proposal indicated that the project had access to necessary equipment and/or facilities.
If the equipment was purchased to replace existing equipment, provide disposition (location, status, and/or current use) of the equipment being replaced.
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Department of Music welcomes new faculty members
We are excited to announce that we will be adding three outstanding new faculty members, two to our Instrumental Music Education program, and a new Orchestra Director in the fall.
George Nicholson, a Ph.D. candidate at Teachers College at Columbia University, will be joining us from his current positions at Queens College and The College of New Jersey, Olivia Tucker will be joining us from the University of North Texas where she is a Ph.D. candidate and Dr. Matthew Forte will be joining us from his current position at the University of Toledo. George Nicholson is currently an Adjunct Professor at Queens College and The College of New Jersey, teaching graduate conducting low string pedagogy, and supervising student teachers. In 2018-2019 he was Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Education (Strings) at Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY. In 2014, George moved to New York City to pursue his doctoral degree in music education at Teachers College at Columbia University where he is a Florence K. Geffen fellow under Dr. Randall E. Allsup. In addition to coursework, he supervises student teachers, mentors practicing music teachers, conducts the InterSchool Orchestras of New York, and plays bass with the Queer Urban Orchestra. His research interests focus on socially-just teacher practices amidst the political landscape of today’s schools. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Miami, FL, and his master’s degree from the University of Georgia. Nicholson had the privilege of teaching orchestra in Cobb County, GA at the middle school and high school level to wonderful, passionate, and thoughtful students. During his time there, the program produced award-winning performances, became actively involved in the local community, and engaged in creative musical experiences. Outside of the school, George was a clinician and judge for Georgia Music Educators Association events as well as other organizations around the state. He was born in Ridgewood, NJ, and grew up studying music in the Ridgewood public school system as well as at the Manhattan School of Music Preparatory program. Olivia Tucker is finishing up a Ph.D. in music education at the University of North Texas. She serves as an instructor of Introduction to Music Education and is an assistant director of the Denton New Horizons Senior Band. Prior to her doctoral work, Tucker taught band in Dallas-Fort Worth area schools while earning a Master of Music Education degree from UNT. Tucker holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Education degree from Howard Payne University. Tucker’s research interests include music teacher education, identity, and agency. Her work may be found in the Journal of Music Teacher Education and Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, and she has a forthcoming article in Music Educators Journal. Tucker has annually presented her work for ensemble teachers at the Texas Music Educators Association Clinic and Convention in San Antonio, and she has presented research at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting and at the Symposium on Music Teacher Education. Tucker’s dissertation on band teacher agency was recently accepted for presentation at the 2020 National Association for Music Education National Conference, where she will also lead a panel presentation on music teacher identity research paradigms. Dr. Matthew Forte, was Director of Orchestral Studies at the University of Toledo, where, in a three-year tenure, he more than doubled the size of the University of Toledo Symphony Orchestra, increasing that ensemble’s artistic standards and its visibility throughout the mid-western United States. Concurrent to this post, Matthew served on the conducting staff of the Toledo Symphony –where his primary duties involved conducting the Toledo Symphony Youth Orchestras– and as one of the conductors of the Greater Toledo International Youth Orchestra –an organization with which he began an initiative to bring chamber orchestra music to diverse and under-served communities in downtown Toledo. Matthew has collaborated with performing arts and educational institutions throughout the U.S.: he has served as cover conductor of the St. Louis Symphony, served on the faculty of Grand Valley State University, and, as a composer, has had works premiered by Glass City Singers, Musique 21 and the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, among others. He is likewise in regular demand as a clinician and teacher of young musicians throughout the country. In the summer months, Matthew works with young musicians at Sitka Fine Arts Camp, in Sitka, Alaska, one of the most prestigious preparatory music camps in the United States. He likewise maintains an active association with the Aspen Music Festival and School, where he collaborates frequently with the AMFS Department of Education and has served as guest faculty since 2016. He received his Bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, from the Hartt School of the University of Hartford, where, upon graduation, he received the Belle K Ribicoff Prize for academic excellence; his master’s and doctoral degrees were earned at Michigan State University, where he was a Rasmussen Fellow and served as music director of the Michigan State University Concert Orchestra, work for which he received the 2017 MSU Distinguished Teaching Citation.
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Home/cuba/Trump and the cynical way of politics
Trump and the cynical way of politics
cuba November 4, 2018 cuba
This Tuesday is renewed by the House and the Senate in the EE. UU.
On Tuesday, November 6, mid-term elections are held in the United States. The first elections after Trump's 2016 victory. Thus, the results of these mid-term elections want to see whether the elections have opened the election cycle indicated by the forms of populism, aggravated nationalism, xenophobia and paleoconor conservatism, or if the victory of the Real Estate Entrepreneur was an isolated moment.
The half-yearly elections (mid-term elections) are the four-yearly elections to renovate the chambers (seats are voted one-third of the Senate and the whole House of Representatives -435-) and at the same time elect a large part of the local authorities (next Tuesday, . Thus, Americans from local polls renew their democracies with proper controls and balances, as the Senate, the House of Representatives, and state governments share the presidency.
That is why next Tuesday there are more things to test. The first and most obvious is the control of cameras. Presently, Republicans have a majority in the Senate and House, enabling them, for example, to endorse the nomination of conservative judges such as Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court and measures such as tax cuts. Read it: Trump ensures that border protection is a key issue in the elections
The vote now suggests that Democrats will improve their situation, but without checking both chambers. There would therefore be no scenario of shared governance (which occurs when the managing director and the legislator are in the hands of different parties), but this may make the vote much more complicated. In this regard, the President's first half-term election is usually interpreted as a vote of confidence or a rejection of his policies. If the Republicans suffer on Tuesday, the result will be interpreted as a punishment for President Trump, his policy and the way he is governed. On the other hand, if the Republicans stay in front of the legislature, citizens will present the path of their party's future, in the direction Trump suggests.
On Tuesday, the current president will get a clear picture of the popular support that he really has and will start calling for a possible re-election strategy. This factor determines the president to play a very active role in the campaign and participate in as many events as possible. His message focused on the economy – which shows solid growth but did not create the miracle Trump promised to reverse the effects of globalization on the middle and lower middle classes of industrial cities. immigration – talking about the migrant caravan and the danger of the border.
For the Republicans a bad result – or ambiguous outcome – leaves doubts about the party's future. When a generation of Republican leaders – the majority of opposition to the president's legislators – has been withdrawn, whatever happens on Tuesday, conservatives may be taken back to Bush or Reagan or to launch an ideological revival of republicanism at the beginning of the twentieth century. Can you moderate repatriation in the party's leadership or sweep it with more radical bases and deputies and adjust Trump's president?
For Democrats, these elections are crucial. They are the moment to show if they can come back and above all how to do this. Since the defeat of Hillary Clinton, the party missed leadership and initiative. He could not paste the blow, and only in Washington, D.C. the Trump administration's common mistakes and bugs. To restore the lost space, Democrats must determine which messages and candidates are likely to lead the White House. Some districts turned to the left, in the line of Sanders and Warren, while a large part of the party tried to move to the center and win voters in the gaps where Republican radicalism was wrongly received. Again, the struggle between the more moderate sectors and the more radical is felt. Democrats seem to be convinced that the future will involve the minority, young people and women's ethnic groups in the short or long term for voters.
As I said, the votes are pointing to the Democratic side, but their credibility is also jeopardized. After the 2016 projections, most of the polls for Hillary Clinton's victory polls did not seem to be a reliable reference. With this background, voters themselves make their prestige self-esteem and continue to be a useful tool for understanding and analyzing American electoral trends and behaviors.
In addition to the local aspects that have been resolved in each election, there are a number of elements of activity that may affect the results of the next Tuesday. Brett Kavanaugh's affirmation process as Associated Judge of the United States Supreme Court. The battle in the Senate Judiciary Committee encouraged conservative voters to take part in these mid-term elections. Previous surveys have shown that if Democrats succeeded in winning more seats for cameras due to the low participation of conservative voters. The virulence of the Kavanaugh reinforcement process, which once seemed to mobilize the vote for Democrats, reactivated Republican voters and had obviously had no effect on the possible transfer of votes to Democrats.
The wandering caravan we talked about, allowing Trump to recover border security and international crime, allows Democrats to insist on the failure of presidential initiatives, the crisis caused by the separation of the family a few years ago.
The murder of eleven members of the Jewish community in the Pittsburgh Synagogue. Negative Trump President's election expectations for two reasons. A firearm incident reappears in public space. Since the massacre of Parkland (Florida), this issue has been on the presidential table, which, despite promising progress and changes, has done nothing. On the other hand, Trump's presidency is associated with frequent ethnic incidents in which, as the leader of the whole nation, has kept the tensions and differences away. This incident is associated with a terrorist who sent bomb packets to or from the Democratic Party's personalities, indicating that current political discourse is fueling extremism and violence.
The killing of Jamal Khashoggi by the agents of the Government of Saudi Arabia. The weakness of the reaction of President Trump within the framework of a moral and ineffective foreign policy refutes the moral discourse against nationalism and the world. We recommend that: Laughter and terror, the electoral weapon in the United States
It is often said that all policies are local (all policies are local), in the sense that we all vote in the most concrete and close concern, but these mid-term elections are the opposite: all policies are national.
What confirms this election cycle beyond the results of Trump's election has opened the bitter, tense and dirty period of American politics. Confrontation and oppression of politics. Despise courtesy and diversity. It is a section of civilization policy if I allow English words. And this way of practicing politics has resulted in this civilization election.
* Historian and internationalist.
The Colombian government demands ELN's release
In Latin America, traffic is bigger, but airports are still behind
At least 10 people have been killed by floods in the Italian Sicilian region
Decisions of Farewell November and Camagüey (+ video)
Vietnamese Prime Minister to China to attend the international fair
Venezuelan politicians say farewell to the famous Petkoff editor
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The hiring and incorporation processes in Finland are often complex, time-consuming, and involve numerous legal and compliance challenges. Global Upside simplifies these processes and lifts the compliance burden from your business. Our teams have the experience and expertise required to help you establish a legal entity in Finland. We also offer PEO/EOR solutions to companies interested in hiring employees quickly, without setting up a legal entity in the country.
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Finland has a highly industrialized, principally free-market economy with per capita GDP almost as high as other EU countries. The economy grew rapidly in the 1980s as the nation capitalized on its strong business relations with both eastern and western Europe.
Finland ranks as the 45th largest economy in the world in terms of nominal GDP.
Finland ranks as the 17th largest economy in Europe.
Finland is the world’s largest exporter of Kaolin coated paper.
Finland ranks as the world’s 13th best country for business.
Legal Entity Setup
Options for setting up a legal entity in Finland include:
Osakeyhtiö (Oy)
Osakeyhtiö (Oy) is a limited company that needs at least 1 investor and 2 directors, and there is no personal liability of the investors. Overall management is taken care of by the board of directors and the managing director has routine responsibilities.
Julkinen osakeyhtiö (Oyj)
A limited partnership (komanditní společnost/ k.s.) is a form of an entity set up that requires one or more investors that are liable for the debts of the organization to the full extent of their investments (unlimited partners), and one or more partners that are liable for the debts of the organization up to the amount of their unpaid capital investments (limited partners).
Sivuliike
Sivuliike is a Finnish branch office that can be completely owned by the parent company and the latter is liable for all the activities.
Edustusto
Edustusto is a Finnish representative office that is not permitted to perform any commercial activities. It can only execute activities related to market research and promote the services and products of the parent company within the country.
It takes approximately four to five weeks to establish a legal entity set up in Finland.
The main laws that regulate employment bonds in Finland are:
Employment Contracts Act 2001
Annual Holidays Act 2005
Working Hours Act of 2019
Co-operation Act of 2007
The Protection of Privacy in Working Life Act 2004
Below are the terms that need to be included in Finland’s employment contract:
Date of commencement
Probationary period
Safety and health at the workplace
Holiday entitlements
Termination policies
The payroll frequency, in Finland, is monthly and wages are paid at the month-end.
Being a member of the European Union (EU), Finland is subject to the accounting, assessing, and financial reporting prerequisites established in EU Regulations and Directives as rendered into national laws and guidelines. The Accounting Act No. 1620/2015 drafts the accounting standards, EU-approved IFRS or Finnish Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (Finnish GAAP), which organizations should apply based on their size and form.
The corporate tax rate in Finland is 20%.
The VAT rate in Finland is 24% and there are reduced rates of 14% and 10%.
On 1 January 2019, the Data Protection Act (1050/2018) came into effect which is complemented by the GDPR. According to the law, employers must notify the employees about personal information processing, and the latter needs to give their consent wherever necessary.
Anti-Bribery & Anti-Corruption Law
The Criminal Code of Finland (CCF) 39/1889, as revised, furnishes the legal structure governing bribery.
1. Bribery of Public Officials:
For Individuals:
i) Imprisonment for up to 4 years
ii) A monetary fine
iii) Confiscation of the benefits received via bribery
iv) Removal or dismissal from holding a position in the organization
i) A corporate fine of €850- €850,000
ii) Confiscation of the benefits received via bribery
iii) Prohibition of carrying out any commercial activities.
A sole proprietor or legal associate of a company convicted of bribery may face a ban on engaging in business for 3 to 7 years.
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The military drama "The Last Frontier" with Dmitry Solomykin and Karina Mindrovskaya in roles was released
05 november 2020 · News
The premiere of the military drama ‘The Last Frontier’ (Podolsk Cadets), in which our actors Dmitry Solomykin and Karina Mindrovskaya are playing, took place on November 4, the Day of National Unity in Russia. The film was produced by Voenfilm studio. The film directed by Vadim Shmelev, previously called "Ilyinsky Line", has the status of the National Film Project.
The film tells the story of the Podolsk cadets' heroic stand outside Moscow in October 1941. Cadets from the Podolsk infantry and artillery schools were sent to the Ilyinsky line of defense, fighting alongside units from the Soviet 43rd Army to hold back the German advance until reinforcements arrived. Hopelessly outnumbered, young men in their teens laid down their lives in a battle lasting almost two weeks to obstruct the far superior German forces advancing towards Moscow. This film is not only about war. It is also about love, true camaraderie, and the path from boyhood to manhood. Around 3,500 cadets and their commanding officers were sent to hold up the last line of defense outside Moscow. Most of them remained there for eternity.
This film is not only about war, but also love, real friendship and how boys become real men. About three and a half thousand cadets of two Podolsk schools and their commanders were sent to the last line before Moscow ... Most of them remained at the line forever.
"The work was difficult. When boys go off to war, it is impossible to accept. When I studied archival materials, I just roared, it was roaring, and not just manly tear, it was so scary. I realized that I had to shoot in such a way so that I wasn’t ashamed in front of these boys, "- said Shmelev.
The film distribution rights have now been sold to the US, UK, Japan, South Korea and Scandinavia.
2009–2021 ·
GM Production
Russia +7 499 490-21-67
Croatia +385 91 523 74 79
info@gm-production.ru
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2018 Building a Grad Nation: Progress and Challenge in Raising High School Graduation Rates
Authored by Civic Enterprises and the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University, and released annually in partnership with the Alliance for Excellent Education and America’s Promise Alliance, the Building a Grad Nation report examines both progress and challenges toward reaching the GradNation campaign goal of a national on-time graduation rate of 90 percent. AT&T, lead sponsor, has supported the report series since its inception through AT&T Aspire, the company’s $400 million commitment since 2008 to graduate more students from high school ready for college and career. Lumina Foundation, which has been a leader in the field on postsecondary education, is a supporting sponsor.
Full ReportExecutive Summary
For much of the 20th century, high school graduation was seen as the finish line between childhood and adulthood and a distinct marker of success in education. Completing the K-12 experience and earning a high school diploma meant that a young person was ready to go out into the workforce and earn a livable wage or, in the case of the select few, enroll in college.
The growth of the knowledge economy in the 21st century redefined a high school diploma as a necessary passport to the next level of training and education. Students who graduate from high school are no longer guaranteed the high wage industrial and manufacturing jobs that had been available to many in the past. Nonetheless, as both K-12 and higher education wrestle with how best to prepare students for an ever-changing future, what is certain is that most young people now need more than a high school diploma to secure a more promising tomorrow.
Young people who do not graduate high school are less likely to be employed, earn less income, have worse health and lower life expectancy, are less likely to be civically engaged, and are more likely to be involved with the criminal justice system and require social services. Without some training beyond high school, securing a stable, well-paying job is very unlikely.
At each step along the continuum, we can identify students who are falling behind. From the start, Black and Hispanic children and those growing up in poverty, are more likely than their peers to be off track and those gaps remain well into adulthood. Black and Hispanic students are more likely to live in poverty than their white peers (36 percent of Black children and 30 percent of Hispanic children compared to 12 percent of white children), and for young people of color that also live in poverty, the likelihood of missing key indicators of educational progress is even greater.
This year, the Building a Grad Nation report continues to call out the disparities in high school graduation rates for specific student subgroups and for the low-performing schools many of them attend, which are disproportionately affected by poverty, structural inequities, and inequitable access to resources, supports, and opportunities.
Part I: High School Graduation Trends Across the Nation
The nation continues to see steady growth in high school graduation rates, but it remains off pace to reaching the 90 percent goal—a goal that would require graduating about 219,000 more young people on time than graduated in 2016 and nearly doubling the annual rate of gain in recent years through 2020.
The story behind graduation rate gains can largely be seen at the state level:
In 2011, five states reported graduation rates below 70 percent. In 2016, no state had a graduation rate below 71 percent.
In 2011, no state had achieved a 90 percent graduation rate, and only nine had a graduation rate above 85 percent. In 2016, two states reached the 90 percent goal, and 25 reported a graduation rate above 85 percent.
Seventeen states—many with large populations of Black, Hispanic, and low-income students—have largely driven progress nationally since 2011 and helped narrow national racial and income graduation rate gaps.
Several Midwestern and plains states that had graduation rates above the national average in 2011 have experienced below average rates of growth, as have nine other states that began with rates above 85 percent. These slowdowns should serve as a wake-up call to all states, even those within sight of 90 percent, that raising graduation rates will take a sustained, consistent effort.
Within the report, district-level patterns (of school districts with at least 1,300 students) are also examined to provide greater understanding of how widespread graduation rate improvement is within each state and which school districts are having the most impact on state rates.
Part II: Reaching a 90 Percent Graduation Rate for All Students
Where We Stand: Black and Hispanic Students
Black and Hispanic students continue to make graduation rate gains greater than the national average, but their overall graduation rates still fall below 80 percent. More states are increasing graduation rates for these students than ever before, but the gaps between them and white students still remain significant (11.9 percentage points between Black and white students and 9 percentage points between Hispanic and white students).
In five states—Wisconsin, Nevada, Minnesota, New York, and Ohio—the graduation rate gap between Black and white students is greater than 20 percentage points, and in two of those states—New York and Minnesota—the gap between Hispanic and white students is at least that large as well (20.8 and 21.9 percentage points, respectively). Together, Black and Hispanic students make up more than half of the nation’s four-year non-graduates, and both subgroups are greatly overrepresented in many states’ four-year non-graduates.
Where We Stand: Low-Income Students
Just under half of the country’s 2016 cohort (47.6 percent), but more than two-thirds of the nation’s non-graduates, were low income. This comes even as graduation rates for low-income students increased faster than the overall rate, yet still lingered at just 77.6 percent. The graduation gap between low-income and non-low-income students ranges from a high of 24 percentage points to a low of 2.8 percentage points.
While gaps between low-income and non-low-income students have decreased in the majority of states over the past 6 years, 16 states have actually seen the graduation rate gap between low-income students and their more affluent peers increase. Encouragingly, in almost 4 of every 5 states, the graduation rate for low-income students increased.
Where We Stand: Students with Disabilities
Students with disabilities continue to graduate at rates well below their peers. In 2016, just 65.5 percent of students receiving special education services graduated in four years—21.1 percentage points behind general population students, and 26 states have graduation rate gaps between students with disabilities and general population students greater than the national average.
Where We Stand: English Learners
English Learners (ELs) make up a small but growing group of students, and their graduation rates continue to languish near the bottom of all student subgroups. A handful of states—New Mexico, California, Colorado, and Hawaii—had significant concentrations of ELs among their four-year non-graduates.
Where We Stand: Low-Performing High Schools
In 2016, there were 2,425 high schools meeting the ESSA definition for a low-graduation-rate high school (enrolling 100 or more students, graduation rate of 67 percent or less), up from 2,249 in 2015. These schools represent 13 percent of all high schools and enroll approximately 7 percent of high school students.
Low-graduation-rate high schools can primarily be found in urban and suburban areas, and within their student populations, Black, Hispanic, and low-income students are largely overrepresented. In four states—New Mexico, Alaska, Florida, and Arizona—one quarter or more of the state’s high schools graduate less than 67 percent of students.
Part III: Examining the Connection Between High School and Postsecondary
Postsecondary attainment is on the rise, yet the nation is off pace to reach its 60 percent postsecondary goal by 2025, and significant equity gaps remain:
Since 2008, the share of Americans ages 25 to 64 that hold a credential beyond high school has increased 9 percentage points to a record high of 46.9 percent;
The gap between white and Black Americans age 25-64 with at least an associate degree was 16.4 percentage points; and
The gap between white and Hispanic 25- to 64-year-olds was 24.5 percentage points (The Lumina Foundation, A Stronger Nation Report 2018).
Looking at recent high school completers who immediately enrolled in college, however, presents a considerably different story on subgroup gaps. The gaps between white and Black 16-to-24-year-olds who immediately enrolled in college stands at 6.9 percentage points and is just 2.4 percentage points between white and Hispanic students (Census Bureau, 2016).
Black and Hispanic students’ experiences with postsecondary education may in part stem from a lack of opportunity at the high school level:
Black and Hispanic students have less access to high-level math (e.g. Calculus and Algebra II) and science (Chemistry and Physics) courses than their peers (U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection); and
Black and Hispanic students are underrepresented in rigorous course programs, including in AP courses (College Board, 2018) and gifted and talented education (GATE) programs (U.S. Department of Education, 2016).
High schools and postsecondary institutions, as well as leaders at the community, state, and federal levels, must work together to broaden what it means to be a Grad Nation
Continue to improve graduation rate data reporting and collection. The Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate (ACGR) is now in its sixth year, and though it is still considered to be the “gold standard” of graduation rate metrics with individual student identifiers, there are still ways it can be improved to guarantee the best data is available.
Discrepancies in what is considered a “regular” diploma, how transfer students are taken into account, and how certain subgroups are identified within the cohort should be addressed. Having access to graduation rate data that can be disaggregated into more specific subgroups and gender would also provide greater insight into the students who do not graduate and what interventions might help.
Promote policies and practices that reduce harmful disparities. Black, Hispanic, and low-income students are less likely to be on track to graduate on time and enroll in postsecondary education. Greater investments need to be made in these students and their schools starting in early education, and harmful, reactive disciplinary practices—particularly out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, and law enforcement referrals—should be replaced with proactive practices and policies that keep students in school, accept personal responsibility for their actions, and work to address their underlying issues.
States should also address funding inequities and ensure funds intended for targeted support and improvement are directed toward evidence-based programs and practices. The federal government should also continue to track racial, income, and ability disparities through the Office for Civil Rights and monitor state progress toward student subgroup graduation rate goals.
Align diplomas with college and career ready standards. State leaders should establish diploma requirements aligned with state college and university admissions criteria, and schools and districts should ensure more students, especially those that are at the greatest disadvantage, earn a college and career ready diploma. Making a well-aligned college and career ready diploma the default diploma option can help ensure more students are on track to graduate prepared for postsecondary or career pathways.
Support schools and districts with comprehensive support and improvement plans. Districts with identified low-performing high schools must develop support and improvement plans. These plans must include evidence-based strategies and be approved and monitored by the state. States, with the help of researchers, should curate lists of evidence-based strategies and programs to assist districts in the development of these plans and connect schools and districts to organizations and networks that can provide necessary and individualized technical assistance.
Avoid and eliminate practices that lower the bar for students. Over the past decade, there has been a marked increase in the use of credit recovery courses and alternative programs to move off-track students toward their diploma. While some of these courses and programs may be useful for a small subset of students who have mitigating circumstances, many of them fail to provide a rigorous education and prepare students for life beyond high school.
States, especially those with large numbers of alternative and virtual schools, need to examine the quality of these schools and determine whether they are helping young people or simply offering meaningless credentials. And where these programs are having success, researchers and education leaders should do more to learn what works in engaging and graduating students who often face some of the greatest challenges.
Create state specific high school graduation plans. States should develop “Path to 90 Percent On-Time High School Graduation for All Plans” that analyze which districts, schools, and students within their state will need additional supports and/or guidance on implementing customized evidence-based approaches to enable all students to graduate, on-time, prepared for postsecondary success.
Strengthen the transition from high school to postsecondary and careers. K-12 education leaders can ease the transition from high school to postsecondary and careers by creating alignment between high school and college entry requirements, helping students understand their postsecondary options and the application process, and providing greater access to early college, career academies, and CTE coursework pathways.
Postsecondary institutions should do more to support students, particularly first generation and low-income students by working with high schools to offer remediation courses prior to high school graduation; consider eliminating or reducing the weight of test score-based admission requirements; develop more structured and strategic advising and engagement opportunities for students during the summer gap and school year, particularly in the critical freshman year; and ensure students have access to tutoring and other academic support.
Employers can help strengthen the transition between education and the workplace by increasing engagement with schools by providing internships and job shadowing to ground learning in real experiences and creating a more innovative last semester of high school where students can have the opportunity to have more practical, hands-on experiences.
Federal policymakers can also contribute to creating stronger pathways between high school and postsecondary and careers by allowing high school students to use federal Pell Grants to pay for college courses taken in dual enrollment and early college programs.
Press Release & Media
Click here to access the press release in English.
Click here to access the press release in Spanish.
Tonya Williams
Daria Hall
Please join the conversation by using the hashtag #GradNation and download the promotional toolkit.
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31 Community-Based Educational Highlights: Reasoning to Education. Fashion History to Sewing.
Posted on March 31, 2017 By Hilltown Families
Wordplay requires intelligence and creativity. To tell or even merely to understand a pun requires communication between the right and left hemispheres of the brain (Scientific American). The 2017 Lenox Peeps Show invites people of all ages to create a diorama combines humor (in the form of puns), literacy, and visual creativity on Wednesday, April 5, 10am-3pm. This year participants will be creating dioramas using peeps to depict their favorite story or book, with extra credit given to those who use puns in their concept or title. All entries must be delivered to Ventfort Hall before 3:00pm on Wednesday, April 5th. Visit the Ventfort Hall website for full details. 413-637-3206. 104 Walker Street. Lenox, MA. (FREE)
Reasoning to Astronomy. Scavengers to Education. Fashion History to Sewing. These are just a few of the community-based learning highlights we’re featuring this week!
Peruse our list below and make plans to get out into your community and learn while you play!
Featured community highlight this week: Vernal pools, by definition a temporary habitat, provide the perfect breeding ground for spotted salamanders, wood frogs, tiny mussels, fairy shrimp, and many other creatures. Families can learn more about vernal pools and their inhabitants through humorous skits at Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary’s “Big Night” on Saturday, April 1, 5:30pm-9pm. Guided tours will leave the nature center every 15-minutes to travel a 45-minute forest trail where you will meet costumed characters. There will also be games and presentations. This event is best suited for youth ages 4 through 16 and their caregivers. Call 413-584-3009 to register. 127 Combs Road. Easthampton, MA. (<$)
Philosophy ♦ Aerospace ♦ Animal Studies ♦ Whales ♦ Women’s Studies ♦ Civic Engagement ♦ Art Studies ♦ Fiber Arts ♦ Dance Studies ♦ Ecology ♦ Vernal Pools ♦ Language Arts ♦ Music Studies ♦ Immigration Studies ♦ History ♦ Literature in Translation ♦ Ornithology ♦ Creative-Free Play ♦ Botany ♦ Seed Saving
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Become a sponsor of Learn Local. Play Local. and see your banner here:
HISTORY/HATS
Sunday, April 2, 2pm
Today, hats are typically worn either for the practical purpose of keeping your head warm in winter, or perhaps to denote loyalty to a particular sports team. At earlier points in United States history, however, both men and women donned varying styles of hats regularly as a fashion statement. High crown versus low crown, broad versus narrow brim, feathers and trim, these choices had meanings which Margaret Bruzelius will explain in her illustrated talk: “The Final Flourish: the Rhetoric of the Hat,” at Historic Northampton. Margaret Bruzelius is the dean of the senior class and associate dean of Smith College. 413-584-6011. 46 Bridge Street. Northampton, MA. (FREE)
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Saturday, April 1, 7pm
Hear local music while supporting the Greater Springfield NAACP and Arise for Social Justice, at the “Justice for All” concert! The show will feature Lea Gilmore, Peter Blood and Annie Patterson, and the Amherst Area Gospel Choir. Lea Gilmore is a singer and activist, performing in a wide range of musical genres including blues, jazz, and gospel. Peter Blood and Annie Patterson are two local musicians who promote hope and change through their performances. Annie and Peter have compiled two songbooks, Rise Up Singing, and Rise Again. Through these songbooks they aimed to bring the joy of learning and playing music with others, making it easier for musicians to learn over six hundred songs. This performance at the First Congregational Church of Amherst is sure to inspire your musical side while also getting community members together to think about and support social justice initiatives. 413-253-3456. 165 Main Street. Amherst, MA. ($; under 18 <$)
How many stringed instruments can you name? There are guitars, lutes, ukuleles, mandolins, violins, the list goes on. These instruments vary in all sorts of ways including their pitch, their size, and their tuning. Instruments in the violin family are held along one arm, or placed upright between the legs, as opposed to guitars, ukuleles, and mandolins. Even pianos are string instruments; hitting the keys causes a hammer to strike a string. The next South Berkshire Concert at Bard College at Simon’s Rock will feature Stephanie Griffin on viola and Cheryl Seltzer on piano. The program includes works by Schubert, Wolpe, Babbitt, Mamlok, Griffin, and a new viola sonata by Roberto Sierra. Kellogg Music Center. 413-644-4400. 84 Alford Road. Great Barrington, MA. (FREE)
The Amandla Chorus of Greenfield has been performing for almost thirty years with the aim of strengthening the community. The name Amandla comes from the Zulu word for “power.” People of all ages are invited to hear them sing powerful songs of inspiration, respect, and justice at their concert. The group will be performing music from around the world as well as original tunes. This concert will benefit the Center for New Americans. The concert will take place at the Shea Theater Arts Center. A second concert will take place at the same venue at 7pm, with themes more suited for adults. 71 Avenue A. Turners Falls, MA. (<$)
NATURE STUDIES
Wednesday, April 5, 12:30pm-1pm
“Smith’s Special Trees: A Musical Tribute” is a unique event which will combine information about dendrology (the scientific study of trees), classical music, and architectural history. Smith College’s campus was designed by the landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, who incorporated four state champion trees and other distinguished species. Smith College’s Tree Committee will provide information about the trees, and a duo of musical performers will honor the trees through music. They will play pieces by George Frideric Handel, Jean Sibelius, Edvard Grieg, Kaeza Fearn, as well as a new composition written for the Dawn Redwood by Gregory W. Brown. Sweeney Concert Hall. Sage Hall. Northampton, MA. (FREE)
REASONING/ARGUMENT
“Before we dive into the big questions of philosophy, you need to know how to argue properly. We’ll start with an overview of philosophical reasoning and breakdown of how deductive arguments work (and sometimes don’t work).” – Crash Course Philosophy #2
LOCAL HISTORY/QUABBIN
Sunday, April 2, 3pm-4pm
Have you ever heard of Prescott Massachusetts? Prescott is one of four towns in Massachusetts, along with Dana, Enfield, and Greenwich, that were disincorporated and flooded through the building of the Quabbin Reservoir. Residents were given a hard deadline to pack up their things and move out so the reservoir could be created. Learn more about this fascinating chapter in Massachusetts History at Jon Melick’s presentation, “Quabbin Time Travel Trip To Prescott.” He will show and tell attendees what the town of Prescott was like before it was lost to history. This program will be held at the Belchertown Senior Center. 60 State Street. Belchertown, MA. (FREE)
THEATER/WOMEN’S HISTORY
Monday, April 3, 7pm
Joan of Arc is a fascinating figure who changed the course of history through her involvement in the Hundred Years’ War. She believed she was receiving visions of the Archangel Michael, Saint Margaret, and Saint Catherine of Alexandria instructing her to assist in the recovery of France from the English. She was later put on trial and famously burned at the stake, becoming a martyr for her cause. George Bernard Shaw’s 1920s play Saint Joan follows Joan of Arc’s life as a young country girl, a Protestant, a nationalist, and an unlikely military leader. You can see a film screening of this play broadcast live from the Donmar Warehouse (located in London), at Amherst Cinema. This one-time, international film program should appeal to those interested in French history or contemporary theater. 413-253-2547. 28 Amity Street. Amherst, MA. (<$)
PLANETARIUM SHOW
Friday, April 7, 8pm
An interest in studying astronomy can develop from an interest in mathematical calculation, or a simple appreciation for the beauty of the sky. Planetarium shows at the Hopkins Observatory feature demonstrations of a range of phenomena including retrograde motions of the planets, phases of the moon, the varying temperatures/colors of stars, locations of neighboring galaxies, the mythological figures and zodiacal signs ascribed to constellations, and much more. They will be offering free shows on Friday evenings through running through May 12. View the video above and arrive curious! Call 413-597-2188 for more information. Williams College. 829 Main Street. Williamstown, MA. (FREE)
Saturday, April 1, 10am-4pm
Is your child fascinated by planes or helicopters? How about spaceships? Aviation is an interest which can intersect with engineering and history, and possibly evolve into a potential career! Space Expo at the New England Air Museum will offer the chance to meet a real astronaut, view planetarium shows, fly a Space Shuttle simulator, touch a space rock, participate in experiments and science demonstrations, build rockets, and much more! Meet NASA Astronaut Rick Mastracchio and learn about the realities of an aerospace career. 860-623-330. 36 Perimeter Road. Windsor Locks, CT. (FREE)
Saturday, April 1, 11am
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the military which enforces maritime law. They also save lives- and not just human lives. Come to the Granby Library to see a heartwarming 15-minute film which documents how the coast guard saved the life of Inky, the beautiful Pygmy Sperm Whale. It took over one hundred people to rescue, rehabilitate and return the young whale. This short, straightforward film will be entertaining and educational for both adults and young children. There will also be coloring pages and activities for kids. 413-467-3320. 297 East State Street. Granby, MA. (FREE)
Saturday, April 1, 9:30am-4pm
What can you do to become politically engaged on the local or national level? Running for local office, helping someone else run, calling your legislators, canvassing, using social media, and simply engaging in political conversations are all tangible ways you can help causes you care about. The Four Freedoms Coalition, in partnership with Berkshire Community College, is offering a full day of workshops on civic participation basics. 1350 West Street. Pittsfield, MA. (FREE)
ADVOCACY/HUMANITIES
Saturday, April 1, 10am-12pm
Do you want to support art and humanities work in our community? The National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, two organizations which provide funding to a wide range of innovative projects, are currently under political threat. You can do your part to save the NEH and NEA by attending the Democratic Platform Hearing for our region. Your participation could help shape the state platform on these issues. The hearing will take place at the Norris School. If you (and/or friends) can come please RSVP Janet Cain at southamptonmadems@gmail.com. 34 Pomeroy Meadow Road. Southampton, MA. (FREE)
SCULPTURE/DECORATIVE ARTS
In sculpture, artists often utilize a metal framework called an armature, around which they build their piece. Armatures are also used in stop-motion animation films. The Clark Art Institute’s First Sundays Free program will focus on sculpture and decorative arts. Family art-making activities in the open studio space will include making armature and sculpture. Admission to the galleries is free all day (1am-5pm). Gallery talks take place at 1:30pm and 3pm. 413-458-2303. 225 South Street. Williamstown, MA. (FREE)
Saturday, April 1, 10am-12:30pm
Want to learn how to sew or practice your sewing in a group, social setting? “Sew-In Saturday” at the library will be bringing together fiber artists of all levels. Beginners can learn from experts at the Storrs Library and leave with a library book bag. More experienced sewers can make a simple basket out of fabric scraps. If you have your own project you want to work on, bring it. Register online at the Storrs Library website or call 413-565-4181. 693 Longmeadow Street. Longmeadow, MA. (FREE)
Dance Studies
Saturday, April 1, 1pm & 4pm
Pioneer Valley Ballet presents the classic, Cinderella live on stage at the Academy of Music. Join Cinderella as she struggles with her evil family for independence, and travel through the enchanted forest as she is magically changed to appear at the masquerade ball where she meets her prince. Featuring guest artists from The North Atlantic Ballet and Ballet X. Academy of Music. Northampton, MA ($)
CIRCLE DANCE
Friday, April 7, 6pm-8pm
Circle Dance at the West Cummington Parish House draws upon the traditional dances of many different cultures. Sacred Circle Dance was founded by the members of Findhorn Community in Scotland. The dances have a range of pace and style, but no experience is necessary. Every dance will be explained and demonstrated, so this is a great opportunity to learn something new while getting exercise and meeting new people. Call 413-634-0132 for more information. 27 West Main Street. West Cummington, MA. (DONATION)
Millions of girls worldwide are not offered opportunities for education. The 2013 documentary Girl Rising uses storytelling to inspire action that gets girls into classrooms. Deerfield Senior Girl Scout Troop 11240 will be offering two screening of the film, on Friday, April 7, and Saturday, April 8. The April 7 viewing is intended for parents to have the opportunity to preview the film before bringing their children. The film is rated PG-13, with no violent or graphic scenes, however, the film may not be appropriate for all children. Frontier Regional Auditorium. 113 North Main Street. South Deerfield, MA. (<$)
Saturday, April 1, 2pm-3pm
Rivers are like the blood vessels of the Earth, and the health of these rivers impacts the entire ecosystem around them. Citizens have a greater impact on the health of local rivers than you may realize. “Be River Smart” month at the Berkshire Athenaeum will help educate community members to become more knowledgeable about river ecology, and better stewards of our rivers. The program kicks off on April 1 with a presentation by Alison Dixon of the Housatonic Valley Association. The presentation will give practical tips on how you can be “River Smart.” Chris Laney will give an introduction to building your own composting bin. (To better understand the connection between rivers and the human circulatory system, check out our post The Ripple: Stewards of Our Rivers!) 413-499-9480. 1 Wendell Avenue. Pittsfield, MA. (FREE)
VERNAL POOLS
Saturday, April 1, 5:30pm-9pm
Vernal pools, by definition a temporary habitat, provide the perfect breeding ground for spotted salamanders, wood frogs, tiny mussels, fairy shrimp, and many other creatures. Families can learn more about vernal pools and their inhabitants through humorous skits at Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary’s “Big Night.” Guided tours will leave the nature center every 15-minutes to travel a 45-minute forest trail where you will meet costumed characters. There will also be games and presentations. This event is best suited for youth ages 4 through 16 and their caregivers. Call 413-584-3009 to register. 127 Combs Road. Easthampton, MA. (<$)
Read more about vernal pools in our March/April issue of Learning Ahead: Cultural Itinerary for Western Massachusetts.
SERVICE-BASED LEARNING
Tuesday, April 4, 5:30pm-7pm
Adventures in or along local rivers offer the opportunity to learn about ecology. The Housatonic River is one of Western Massachusetts’ many amazing bodies of water. You can become familiar with the Housatonic river by attending a Stream Team Training, and learn how to complete river assessments. Volunteers will walk or paddle a 1 – 2-mile segment of the river and record observations. This training session at the Mason Library will give you all the necessary knowledge and skills to volunteer. Call the Housatonic Valley Association at 413-298-7024 to register. 231 Main Street. Great Barrington, MA. (VOLUNTEER)
STORYTELLING/POETRY
No Fools Slam at the Berkshire Museum offers an educational and enlightening evening for community members who enjoy spoken word performances. The slam will feature poetry and spoken-word storytelling from performers between the ages of fourteen and twenty-four. These heartfelt and unfiltered stories may involve content challenging for young children. The performances could foster productive conversations between parents and mature teens, or the event could be a unique activity for a parents’ night out. 413-443-7171. 39 South Street. Route 7. Pittsfield, MA. (FREE)
The term “poetry” comes from the Greek term, “poiesis,” which translates to “making.” How do you make poetry? Typically by applying your choice of poetic techniques such as rhythm, rhyme, line breaks, repetition, puns, alliteration, or others, to your writing. Whether you make poetry yourself, or simply enjoy reading it, you can enrich your study of poetry by meeting other community members who enjoy this literary art form. The Forbes Library Poetry Discussion Group will be analyzing the work of Ocean Vuong, award-winning poet and essayist and author of the best-selling, Night Sky with Exit Wounds. This ongoing group will continue to meet weekly through through Monday, May 15. 413-587-1011. 20 West Street. Northampton, MA. (FREE)
Immigration Studies
In the United States, unless you are a Native American, you are a descendant of immigrants. Immigration is a political issue which affects all communities in various seen and unseen ways. “Immigration: A Gathering” at Double Edge Theater will bring community members together to discuss immigration questions relating to our area, for example through conversations about how rural Hilltowns can respond to the changing political climate. The event will be led by acclaimed author Ilan Stavans, with special local guest contributors. 413-628-0277. 948 Conway Road. Ashfield, MA. (FREE)
Thursday, April 6, 12:15pm -2:15pm
Immigration stories are integral to the history and present culture of our communities. If you have an immigration story to share, The Berkshire Immigrant Stories Project will be offering assistance with the process of digitizing a chosen object and narrating a personal story. These narratives and artifacts will be shared on the “Your Story, Our Story” website. This workshop at the Berkshire Athenaeum will include writing and translation service, as well as the availability of laptops, scanners, and digital cameras. Food and drink will be provided. The workshop is open to all. For more information on participating in the project or volunteering: call 413-236-4607. 1 Wendell Avenue. Pittsfield, MA. (FREE/VOLUNTEER)
FAMILY THEATER
Saturday, April 1, 6:30pm
Performing in plays can help kids learn to articulate and project their voices, think about how emotions are expressed and have a great time entertaining the audience. You can support a group of junior actors by attending Westhampton Elementary School’s performance of Really Rosie. This play is an adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s children’s book, with music by Carole King. Rosie is a young girl with a big imagination who wants to cure the boredom of the kids on Avenue P. Tickets are available by calling the Westhampton Elementary School at 413 527-0561. 37 Kings Highway. Westhampton, MA. (<$; children 2 and under FREE)
FILM/DISCUSSION
Tuesday, April 4, 7pm
The Triplex and Beacon Cinemas, in partnership with the Four Freedoms Coalition, will join over 180 independent movie theaters across the country in 165 cities and in 43 states, to offer a free screening and post-film moderated discussion of the feature film “1984.” The film, based on George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel of the same name, stars John Hurt and Richard Burton. This screening date was chosen because it’s the day George Orwell’s protagonist, Winston Smith, begins rebelling against his oppressive government by keeping a forbidden diary. The screenings at The Triplex and Beacon will be followed by a moderated discussion, coordinated by the Four Freedoms Coalition. Free tickets are available on a first come, first served basis at the theaters during box office hours on the day of the event. The Triplex is located at 70 Railroad Street in Great Barrington, MA. The Beacon Cinema is located in Pittsfield, MA at 57 North Street. For more information on the screenings nationwide visit www.unitedstateofcinema.com. (FREE)
Springtime is filled with sightings of all kinds of exciting natural wonders. The season’s outdoor appeal makes it a perfect time of year not only for enjoying our natural surroundings, but for learning about conservation and species preservation, too! Springtime is the season for bird sightings as Western Massachusetts becomes filled with a variety of migrating bird species in the early spring months. Read more in our March/April issue of Learning Ahead: Cultural Itinerary for Western Massachusetts.
Wednesday, April 5, 8am-10am
Spring is in the air…and so are migratory birds! Beginner and expert bird watchers alike are invited to Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary to look for species of wood warblers, orioles, thrushes, and more, who make their temporary homes here in the warm months. Participants will walk through wetlands, meadows, and woodlands. During this weekly event, participants will see how the ecology changes and different birds arrive over time. Please bring binoculars. This program is for adults and will be instructed by Pleasant Valley’s caretaker. 413-637-0320. 472 West Mountain Road. Lenox, MA. (FREE)
Wednesday, April 5, 7pm-8:30pm
Courtship displays, in which animals attempt to attract mates through a set of behaviors, can take the form of dances, songs, or displays or strength. These displays are more commonly executed by males, or done mutually, though there are a small number of species whose females execute courtship displays. The courtship display of the American woodcock is executed by males, and it is both a dance and a song, designed to both attract a mate and mark territory. Wet meadows and fields in early Spring set the stage for the woodcock dance. Lifelong birder Dale Abrams will be helping community members look and listen for the American woodcock at Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary. This event is suitable for children six and up. 413-637-0320. Holmes Road. Pittsfield, MA. (<$)
Friday, April 7, 8am-10am
Spring is in the air…and so are migratory birds! Beginner and expert bird watchers alike are invited to Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary to look for species of wood warblers, orioles, thrushes, and more, who make their temporary homes here in the warm months. Participants will walk through wetlands, meadows, and woodlands. During this weekly event, participants will see how the ecology changes and different birds arrive over time. Please bring binoculars. This program is for adults and will be instructed by Noreen Mole – Sanctuary Volunteer and Hoffmann Bird Club leader. 413-637-0320. Holmes Road. Pittsfield, MA. (FREE)
Creative Free Play
Wednesday, April 5, 10am-3pm
Wordplay requires intelligence and creativity. To tell or even merely to understand a pun requires communication between the right and left hemispheres of the brain (Scientific American). The 2017 Lenox Peeps Show invites people of all ages to create a diorama combines humor (in the form of puns), literacy, and visual creativity. This year participants will be creating dioramas using peeps to depict their favorite story or book, with extra credit given to those who use puns in their concept or title. All entries must be delivered to Ventfort Hall before 3:00pm on Wednesday, April 5th. Visit the Ventfort Hall website for full details. 413-637-3206. 104 Walker Street. Lenox, MA. (FREE)
AGRICULTURE/SEED SAVING
Wednesday, April 5, 7pm-9pm
Do you know where your food comes from? Agriculture is a business which affects all of us, whether we realize it or not, and it is a business currently undergoing drastic changes in conjunction with political and cultural shifts. The 2016 film, Seed: The Untold Story, tells the story of the seed keepers who are protecting a 12,000-year-old food legacy. Over the course of the last century, nearly 100 varieties of seeds have disappeared as a result of large agricultural companies who control the majority of the global seed market. You can view the film at Grow Food Northampton’s office in the Arts & Industry Building to find out more about this agricultural issue, and learn what can be done. Locally-grown popcorn will be served! 221 Pine Street. Suite 349. Florence, MA. (DONATION)
[Photo credit: (cc) Dizzy Girl]
Learn Local. Play Local. is supported in part by a grant from the Belchertown, Buckland, Chicopee, Colrain, Cummington, Gill, Hadley, New Salem, Plainfield, Shelburne, Westhampton, and Worthington Cultural Councils, local agencies which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
Support Hilltown Families, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, with your tax-deductible donation.
← Suggested Events for April 1st-7th, 2017
Recap Map: Western MA Weekend Summary & Family Guide for April 1st & 2nd, 2017 →
Category: Community Based Education, Highlights, Nature Based Education, Suggested Activity, Western MA Events, western massachusetts, Western Massachusetts Events Tags: collaborative consumption, Collective Impact, Community Based Education, Consent Based Learning, environmental education, experiential education, Flip the Classroom, Hilltowns, Massachusetts, New England, pedagogy of place, Pioneer Valley, place-based education, place-based learning
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SOURCE: National Security Archive
Colombia's former president linked to Medellín drug cartel
tags: drugs, Colombia, drug cartel, Medellín
A Colombian senator told the U.S. Embassy in 1993 that the founders of the Medellín drug cartel “financed” the election campaign of then-senator Álvaro Uribe Vélez, according to documents posted today by the National Security Archive. Uribe served as president of Colombia from 2002-2010 and remains an important player in Colombian politics.
The newly-released cables describe nearly a decade of U.S. Embassy interactions with Uribe and show that U.S. diplomats had persistent concerns about Uribe’s ties to drug trafficking even as Embassy officials developed a working relationship the rapidly rising political leader.
In a February 1993 meeting with the U.S. Embassy Political Officer, Senator Luis Guillermo Vélez Trujillo, a longtime political ally of Uribe, said that the Ochoa Vásquez crime family “had financed [Uribe’s] political campaign,” adding that “Uribe is a cousin of the Ochoas [sic] Vasquez narcotrafficking family,” founders of the infamous narcotics trafficking group.
Vélez Trujillo told the Embassy that Uribe’s familial and financial ties to the Ochoas explained why Uribe and two others had secretly met with the wife of fugitive Medellín Cartel kingpin Pablo Escobar in December 1992 in an unsuccessful effort to negotiate his surrender to Colombian authorities. He said that “Escobar, through the Ochoas, is now demanding Uribe return the favors by trying to open a communication channel to [Colombian President César] Gaviria,” according to a U.S. Embassy cable describing the meeting with Vélez Trujillo.
At the time, Vélez Trujillo and Uribe were both Liberal Party senators from the department of Antioquia. Vélez was later a founding member of the pro-Uribe political party, Partido de la U.
Another Embassy contact cited in the cable, former Liberal Party senator Alejandro González, “reiterated [Luis Guillermo] Velez’s charges that Uribe fears for his life because he was unable to deliver for his Medellin cartel mentors,” according to the cable.
As president, Uribe forged strong ties with the U.S., secured billions in security assistance, extradited record numbers of drug trafficking suspects, and, through an aggressive military campaign, reduced by more than half the number of armed guerrilla insurgents in the country. In 2014, Uribe was again elected to the Colombian Senate, this time representing the Democratic Center Party.
But despite his continuing popularity in Colombia, lingering suspicions about his ties to drug traffickers, human rights abuses, and his encouragement of right-wing “paramilitary” forces have continued to tarnish his legacy.
There was a massive increase in extrajudicial killings by the Colombian Army during Uribe’s presidency (the “false positives” scandal). Members of his government, through the DAS intelligence agency, illegally surveilled and intimidated a long list of political opponents, including journalists, judges and human rights activists. Uribe’s cousin, Mario Uribe Escobar, is serving a sentence for his involvement with paramilitary groups, while his brother, Santiago Uribe Vélez, is now on trial for leading a death squad knowns as the 12 Apostles.
Recently it was revealed that the Colombian Supreme Court is investigating Álvaro Uribe himself for murder and witness intimidation connected to an investigation of crimes committed by members of the Metro Bloc, an illegal paramilitary militia group allegedly formed by Uribe and members of his family.
Read entire article at National Security Archive
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Their Only Option
Every day, hundreds of sick and injured patients walk into free and charitable clinics around the Tampa Bay area in need of a doctor.Many are suffering from chronic conditions, such as diabetes or high blood pressure. Some patients were referred to the clinics by staff at hospitals where they landed after years of neglecting to care for treatable conditions.The clinics allow the patients to pay what they can, or nothing at all. They are staffed by doctors and nurses who volunteer their time. They survive off donations and small grants.Many of the patients have jobs but they are living paycheck to paycheck. None have health insurance, either because they do not qualify for Medicaid or can’t afford private coverage. For these patients, the clinics are often their only option for primary care.
New Mental Health Program In Schools Aims To Destigmatize, Educate
WLRN 91.3 FM | By Alejandra Martinez
Chris Remington
Published July 23, 2019 at 6:25 PM EDT
The Florida Board of Education announced a new requirement that students must receive at least five hours of mental health education beginning in sixth grade.
The Florida Board of Education recently approved a new mandate requiring public schools to teach at least five hours of mental health instruction to students in sixth to 12th grade.
The program requires students to take a course to help them identify signs and symptoms of depression and where to get help and resources. It aims to destigmatize mental health issues and and teach them how to help others who might be struggling.
State Department of Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran said the new rule would be "a life-saver," and that "it is just the beginning." The rule was introduced in June by Gov. Ron DeSantis' wife Casey, who has made mental health one of her top priorities. The policy is scheduled to go into effect for the upcoming 2019-2020 school year and school districts have the ability to develop curriculum based on their needs.
Ana Ceballos, reporter with the News Service of Florida, and Valerie Berrin, Operations Director of the non-profit organization Health Information Project (HIP), based in Miami-Dade County, joined Sundial. HIP provides student-to-student counseling services in public and private schools across Miami-Dade County. They train junior and seniors in high schools to discuss mental health issues with their 9th grade counterparts and refer those who need help to services. Ceballos and Berrin spoke with Sundial host Luis Hernandez about what the new program will entail and what resources and mental health counseling services HIP offers to students.
WLRN: What was the impetus behind the creation of this new program?
CEBALLOS: We started seeing the rule development in late June. That was the first time that we saw the Department of Education show interest in requiring a minimum amount of time that students should be learning about mental health. It was during the State Board of Education meeting that we realized how much of a strong hand the First Lady (Casey DeSantis) had on this specific proposal. Richard Corcoran, who is the Education Commissioner, was pointing at her as ... basically the brainchild of this.
How much of a role did the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas play a part in this?
That was definitely mentioned. When the rule was being discussed they said that this would be a lifesaver for students who have been going through the emotional stress of tragedies like Parkland. The Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting is pretty tied to it.
Valerie, can you give me an example of how peer counselors approach the issue of mental health in the classroom?
BERRIN: I would say across the county, depression and stress are known big topics in mental health that need to be discussed. We train our peer health educators in everything from public speaking, classroom management, curriculum knowledge and how to have these conversations and then how to connect these students to resources. I'm proud to say that every ninth grader in the Miami-Dade County Public School system as well as independent private schools, 34,000 ninth graders, have received our program this year at 58 different high schools.
This program begins in sixth grade. Why is that the best time to start?
I think what we're seeing in middle school and high school age students is that there's a lot going on. With social media, with stress and with a variety of things including family issues, school issues and friend issues. It's just important to have these conversations at all of these ages and start it when you can.
There's a minimum of five hours of instruction. Is that enough?
You can't talk about nutrition without mental health. You can't talk about drugs without mental health. I feel like mental health is kind of the umbrella to a lot of things that are going on among kids, teenagers, adolescents. I would always say it's better to have more. It's better to have something than not have anything at all.
Copyright 2020 WLRN 91.3 FM. To see more, visit WLRN 91.3 FM.
Health News Floridamental healthearly educationDepartment of Education
Alejandra Martinez
Alejandra Martinez is the associate producer for WLRN&rsquo's Sundial. Her love for radio started at her mother’s beauty shop where she noticed that stories are all around her - important stories to tell.
See stories by Alejandra Martinez
Chris Remington knew he wanted to work in public radio beginning in middle school, as WHYY played in his car rides to and from school in New Jersey. He’s freelanced for All Things Considered and was a desk associate for CBS Radio News in New York City. Most recently, he was producing for Capital Public Radio’s Insight booking guests, conducting research and leading special projects at Sacramento’s NPR affiliate.
See stories by Chris Remington
Florida Education Boards Signs Off On Mental Health Instruction For Students
Casey DeSantis Visits First Coast High To Showcase Initiative To Improve Mental Health
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Abortion Foes Scour Clinics' Trash For Discarded Records
ProPublica | By Charles Ornstein
Medical records are supposed to be disposed of securely. Anti-abortion activists say some clinics fail to do that.
The scene in front of clinics where abortions are performed is often tense, with clinic workers escorting patients past activists waving signs and taking photographs.
But increasingly, another drama is unfolding out back. There, abortion opponents dig through the trash in search of patient information.
Using garbage as their ammunition, anti-abortion activists — who have sometimes been accused of violating abortion seekers' privacy — are turning the tables. They claim it's the clinics that are violating patients' privacy by discarding medical records in unsecured ways.
"Everybody acts like the abortion clinics are this bastion of protection for women's privacy, and they're like the chief offenders of just dumping this stuff willy-nilly," said Cheryl Sullenger, senior policy adviser at Operation Rescue, an anti-abortion group based in Wichita, Kan. "It's so hypocritical."
Abortion rights groups counter that while a small number of clinics have improperly disposed of records, the vast majority take strict precautions to protect patient privacy. It's far more common, they say, for abortion opponents to trespass on private property or try to break into locked dumpsters.
"Oftentimes, the dumpsters are not on public property," said Vicki Saporta, chief executive officer of the , the professional association for abortion providers. "These people trespass, their trespasses get reported, and law enforcement doesn't end up prosecuting that level of criminal activity."
Trash is at the center of several disputes involving patient privacy and abortion.
In Kansas City, Operation Rescue says a now-closed clinic improperly discarded records for at least 86 patients. In 2012, the group said it had received files from an informant, some of which included names and phone numbers. The group posted examples on its website.
Jeff Pederson, the former manager of the clinic, said the dumpster was located on private property and was locked. He later learned, however, that his waste company used a common key for all of its locked containers, which may have allowed an outsider to open it.
Pederson said he filed a complaint with local police about trespassing, which was caught on a low-resolution camera on the property, but it went nowhere. The state's investigation into Operation Rescue's complaint against the clinic and its physician remains open, Pederson said.
/ Travis Heying for The Washington Post/Getty Images
Cheryl Sullenger of Operation Rescue in Wichita, Kan., says clinics have failed to protect women's privacy rights.
At least some cases involving clinic dumpster dives have resulted in complaints to the Office for Civil Rights within the Department of Health and Human Services. The office is charged with enforcing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, which prohibits patients' medical information from being shared without their consent.
The office cited three Michigan clinics in 2010 after abortion opponents said they found records including intake forms, drivers' licenses and recovery room reports, as well as fetal remains, in dumpster bins. One clinic blamed a janitorial service, but all subsequently took steps to comply with the law. Separately, Michigan prosecutors charged that one clinic with illegally disposing of patient records. Its corporate owner pleaded guilty to one count, which was dismissed six months later.
Since HIPAA only covers clinics if they transmit health information electronically, the Office for Civil Rights has been unable to pursue some complaints related to abortion records, spokeswoman Rachel Seeger said in an email. A Louisiana abortion clinic that was the subject of a 2014 privacy complaint fell outside the office's jurisdiction for that reason, she said.
Sullenger said groups like hers began rummaging through clinics' trash in part because they were having difficulty getting regulators interested in investigating abortion providers.
Activists see plenty of potential evidence in the material that clinics throw away, which has sometimes fallen into the hands of random passersby.
In 2012, for example, a Kansas woman found more than 1,000 abortion records dumped in a recycling bin outside an elementary school. The clinic had shut down. "I was under the impression that these would not be seen by anyone," its former owner told the Kansas City Star. "I thought that these would be recycled away just like any other papers."
Abortion opponents are as entitled as anyone else to help themselves to clinics' discards, Sullenger said.
"If it's lying out on the curb, it's a free-for-all, you know what I'm saying? That's the way we look at it," she said.
Operation Rescue filed complaints with Texas regulators based on material found by volunteers in the dumpsters of several Texas clinics in 2010 and 2011.
The group collected medical waste, as well as sonograms and documents containing patient names, the names of escorts, dates of abortion, whether the patient had been to the clinic before and the patient's referral source, among other things.
Operation Rescue posted a couple of examples on its website, redacting patient names. "All of your information will be kept very confidential," the clinic documents say. An investigation by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality found that at least two clinics had improperly disposed of aborted fetuses.
Sometimes authorities are reluctant to act even when they are provided with evidence, anti-abortion activists say.
This year, Lynn Mills, a leader of Pro-Life Detroit, went to a shuttered medical clinic near Flint, Mich., run by the same doctor who had operated the clinic cited in 2010 by the Office for Civil Rights. At the Flint facility, she said, she discovered rows of boxes containing patient records from clinics the doctor had owned, as well as piles of syringes on the floor.
She called the authorities, but dispatch recordings show local law enforcement was unsure what to do about her discovery.
Mills was left frustrated. "You would think they'd say, 'Thank you, Lynn,' " she said. "Basically, nothing happened."
Michigan health regulators said they "immediately" dispatched an inspector in the area to verify the building was secured and did so again after receiving a second call. They also contacted the Flint police department to see if they had sent a person out too, which they had.
"In short, the building was being used as a warehouse and secured," wrote Michael Loepp, a spokesman for Michigan's Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, in an email.
The records were removed within days, Mills said, and the doctor is no longer licensed to practice in Michigan. The doctor did not return telephone calls seeking comment.
Occasionally, activists' complaints about privacy violations have alerted authorities to broader problems involving abortion providers.
Last year, Operation Rescue filed a complaint against an Oklahoma City abortion doctor, saying an "anonymous source" had provided the group with medical records that had been thrown away in unsecured garbage bins.
The group said the records had been discarded before the seven-year period required by law had expired, and that "sensitive documents were placed in the common trash where any person or animal poking through garbage could easily find and uncover such personal and confidential paperwork."
The Oklahoma attorney general's office investigated and found wrongdoing that went well beyond record keeping. The doctor was charged with felonies for providing abortion drugs to undercover agents who were not pregnant. He also agreed to stop practicing medicine.
The doctor's attorney, Mack Martin, said his client was never charged with any privacy violations but has pleaded not guilty to the other charges against him. "Their allegation was that by not having shred the evidence [records], he violated HIPAA," Martin said. "I guess maybe from the strictest technicality that may be true, but normal citizens don't dumpster dive."
Sullenger said she recognizes that sifting through garbage appears unsavory, but she said it won't stop anytime soon.
"Is it a little bit on the sketchy side? Yeah, maybe. Who wants to dig through trash? But if we can find evidence of wrongdoing, we'll dig through trash all day long."
Charles Ornstein is a senior reporter at ProPublica, a nonprofit news organization based in New York.
Has your medical privacy been compromised? Help ProPublica investigate by filling out a short questionnaire. You can also read other stories in our Policing Patient Privacy series.
Copyright 2020 ProPublica. To see more, visit .
HNF StoriesPlanned Parenthood
Charles Ornstein
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Battle Over Abortion Clinics Heats Up
Planned Parenthood Fallout Grows In FL
Planned Parenthood Seeks Injunction After Abortion Allegations
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Good News, Sad News
By Grist staff on Aug 10, 2007
Six species discovered in Congo, four endangered gorillas shot
A research expedition to a remote forest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo found six new animal species — a bat, a rat, two shrews, and two frogs — and may have found new plant species as well. The trip, which ran from January to March and was led by the Wildlife Conservation Society, represented the first scientific access to the isolated, violence-prone area since 1960. “If we can find six new species in such a short period, it makes you wonder what else is out there,” said Andrew Plumptre of WCS. Dreamy! But hold on to your feel-good hat: the country is also struggling with the aftermath of the bewildering late-July slaughter of four endangered mountain gorillas. Officials from the U.N. Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization will venture to Virunga National Park next week to investigate and to encourage more protection. “If we can’t stop these attacks,” said Russell A. Mittermeier, head of Conservation International, “our closest living relatives will disappear from the planet.”
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By Grist staff on Jan 29, 2002
By wedding commerce to conservation, a pending land deal in West Virginia’s Canaan Valley could signal a radical shift in land preservation strategy. Allegheny Energy, Inc., plans to sell 12,000 acres to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which will incorporate the land into the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge. The twist? Allegheny had the land appraised by GreenVest, an ecological resources management company, which assigned a dollar value to the land’s natural assets, such as its capacity to mitigate global climate change and its potential to be restored as wetlands. Although the company will sell the land to USFW for its normal market value — estimated at about $16 million — it will report the land’s value to the IRS as more than twice that. If the IRS okays the reporting, Allegheny will be able to claim a whopping charitable contribution and save itself millions in taxes. Many greens hail the new calculus as a boon to the environment, but others fear the tactic will drive land prices above what conservation organizations can afford to pay.
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Real food: Not just for fancy people
By Tom Laskawy on Jul 25, 2013
In a recent cover story in the Atlantic, David Freedman scolds writers Michael Pollan and Mark Bittman for their misguided, faddish, foodie ways. Grist food writer Nathanael Johnson has already pointed out some of the weaknesses in Freedman’s argument that better junk food is the key to solving the obesity epidemic, but I wanted to spend some time focusing on this notion, forwarded by Freedman and others, that real food is just the latest yuppie health fad.
There’s no question that the food movement (which isn’t simply made up of “foodies”) encompasses many fads. But Freedman and other critics tend to conflate Pollan and Bittman the recipe writers with Pollan and Bittman the policy crusaders. Just because they offer cooking suggestions does not mean that the core idea they write about is just a passing bubble.
Here’s Slate columnnist Daniel Engber, in a reaction to the Atlantic piece, summing up this view of the food movement as yuppified:
The rich decide what’s healthy and what isn’t, then pass their habits down the line. Since the rules on healthy eating drift from one fixation to the next, the habits of the leisure class are in a state of constant flux: Old ideas of what to eat — low-fat ice cream, diet soda, whatever — are shunted from the bobos to the masses, and new ones take their place. The intelligentsia tend to eat according to the latest fashions, so we say (as Freedman does) that they’re “increasingly health-conscious,” as if that quality would ever ebb from one generation to the next. With each new wellness fad — from buttermilk to baby vegetables, corn flakes to kale — we feel as if we’ve ascended to a higher circle of enlightenment. We’re increasingly health-conscious these days … just like always.
And that’s true if you look at eating patterns as described in the style sections of even Very Serious News Outlets, i.e. through the lens of media hype. “Along with midriff-baring tops and all things Gatsby, another trend has swept the spring social circuit: kale salads,” declared a story this spring in The New York Times.
Food fads are not good things, generally speaking. They tend to hinge on weak or poorly conducted research and focus on newly discovered “superfoods” (Hello, kale, meet quinoa!). These often-fleeting obsessions can cause hardships in communities where the superfood may be part of a traditional diet (quinoa is a recent case in point). And even the Western taste for non-faddish foods like asparagus is large enough to create environmental problems in the countries where they are grown when they’re out of season here at home.
But evaluating the food movement based on what yuppies are demanding of their gourmet grocers misses the big picture — that there are many and sundry benefits to be had from a move away from industrially manufactured food products and back to whole foods.
Pollan and Bittman — the policy crusaders, not the recipe writers — have helped to move skepticism of processed foods to the mainstream, and deserve some credit for the significant drop in soda consumption that beverage companies are currently reporting. Avoidance of soda can’t be dismissed in the same way as an infatuation with kale: Moving people away from empty calories is a key part of preventing obesity.
Or is solving the obesity epidemic just a fad, too? If so, it becomes hard to distinguish between helpful public health initiatives like New York City’s anti-soda campaign and superfood-hyping marketing nonsense from food companies.
In some ways, this all flows from the food movement’s own efforts to offer up eating advice in small, easily digested bites. Witness the now-famous Pollan mantra “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” It’s a perfectly good rule to live by. But it doesn’t address the depth of his critique of American society and the way we eat. It’s like saying all there is to Marxism is the slogan, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.” But wait. There’s more!
Pollan’s critique is really about the post-war corporate takeover of the food system, both production and processing, and the attendant shifts in power and government regulation. The best expression of Pollan’s political argument is probably his New York Times magazine opus “Farmer in Chief.”
That said, the food movement as a political force, such as it is, has mostly thrown its lot in with the fight against obesity. This makes sense: Food system reform often coincides with anti-obesity efforts. Pollan discussed the power of this alliance when he speculated a few years ago that health insurance companies might become the most powerful advocates for the food movement since they have an interest in keeping their subscribers healthy.*
But while the rise of obesity is the most obvious outgrowth of the corporate remaking of the food system, it is not the only one, and tying the food movement so closely to the fight against fat is proving problematic. Among other things, it allows writers like Freedman and Engber, not to mention politicians, to dismiss the whole kit and kaboodle as a fanciful notion that will be here today, gone tomorrow, with little if any lasting effect.
Getting beyond the food fad debate is, in part, the goal of groups such as Food Democracy Now, which focuses on changing government food policies that concern such things as GMO labeling, toxic chemicals in food, corporate consolidation, and monopoly power. Indeed, “voting with your fork,” another favorite Pollan phrase, feels like the best option given that consumer outrage gets far swifter results than government regulation. (See also: moms vs. bovine growth hormone.)
And for his part, Freedman agrees that we should vote with our forks, or at least our hands: He argues that we should all stick with fast food restaurants, but pressure them to come up with healthier offerings. But the food movement is about so much more than just creating a better Big Mac or what we put in our shopping cart. It’s about transforming the entire food system — how we farm, what we farm, how it is processed, and the role the government must play in all of it.
The distillation of a burgeoning political movement to a fad is a testament not really to the failures of a movement, which is still in its early phases, but to the magnitude of the challenges we face. The change reformers are pushing for is radical enough that it’s easier to indulge in drawing caricatures of superfood-eating yuppies than to face the broader reality: that the food system we’ve created over the last 30 years is failing us.
*I expressed deep skepticism at the time and, so far at least, there hasn’t been much to that theory. In fact, the American Medical Association’s recent declaration that obesity is a disease probably undercuts any potential this alliance might have had, since medicalization of a health condition tends to lead insurance companies to compensate doctors more for treatment, not less.
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Tag: Karl Popper
George Soros: Blame Merkel
2 Comments on George Soros: Blame Merkel
George Soros knows money. A student of the great philosopher Karl Popper, he has become one of the most vocal critics of modern economics and capitalism. But he doesn’t just talk about the failings of the financial markets. He uses his insight to make a quite seriously incredible amount of cash from them. Out of this, he gives billions to worthy causes. A guy with an opinion worth hearing then.
So when, speaking at the Economics Festival in Trento, he lays responsibility for the Eurozone crisis squarely at Chancellor Merkel‘s feet, you sit up and take notice.
The first step was taken by Germany when, after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, Angela Merkel declared that the virtual guarantee extended to other financial institutions should come from each country acting separately, not by Europe acting jointly. […] It took some time for the financial markets to discover that government bonds which had been considered riskless are subject to speculative attack and may actually default; but when they did, risk premiums rose dramatically. This rendered commercial banks whose balance sheets were loaded with those bonds potentially insolvent. And that constituted the two main components of the problem confronting us today: a sovereign debt crisis and a banking crisis which are closely interlinked.
In other words, people lent cheaply to Eurozone banks and governments because they believed that there was zero risk of a Eurozone country being allowed to default. But after Lehman, Merkel – unilaterally – declared that Eurozone countries would have to support their own banks. Markets eventually realised this implied that Eurozone countries might have to default, and so lending costs to them shot up – just when we needed to borrow in order to support our banks! It was a single, immensely short-sighted decision of Merkel’s administration that precipitated our current situation.
And their continuing failure to respond adequately is turning a crisis into a disaster for the EU:
Just as in the 1980’s [Third World debt crisis] all the blame and burden is falling on the “periphery” and the responsibility of the “center” has never been properly acknowledged. Yet in the euro crisis the responsibility of the center is even greater than it was in 1982. The “center” is responsible for designing a flawed system, enacting flawed treaties, pursuing flawed policies and always doing too little too late. In the 1980’s Latin America suffered a lost decade; a similar fate now awaits Europe.
He does more than just lay blame of course. The power to save the situation, he argues, is also in the hands of the creditor nations. But it won’t be easy:
The German public cannot understand why a policy of structural reforms and fiscal austerity that worked for Germany a decade ago will not work Europe today. Germany then could enjoy an export led recovery but the eurozone today is caught in a deflationary debt trap. The German public does not see any deflation at home; on the contrary, wages are rising and there are vacancies for skilled jobs which are eagerly snapped up by immigrants from other European countries. Reluctance to invest abroad and the influx of flight capital are fueling a real estate boom. Exports may be slowing but employment is still rising. In these circumstances it would require an extraordinary effort by the German government to convince the German public to embrace the extraordinary measures that would be necessary to reverse the current trend. And they have only a three months’ window in which to do it.
We need to do whatever we can to convince Germany to show leadership and preserve the European Union as the fantastic object that it used to be. The future of Europe depends on it.
Three months, to get the EU back on the track of being a positive, voluntary association of nations. If we can’t do that, then the choice we’re faced with is basically between effective German control of an impoverished continent, or the sudden and messy disintegration of the Euro. So… We’d better find a solution to this thing. Stat.
I urge everyone to read the speech in its entirety, though if you’re in a rush The Journal.ie has a good summary.
In A Brilliant New Speech, George Soros Reveals The Exact Moment That Angela Merkel Started The Euro Crisis (businessinsider.com)
As Soros Starts A Three Month Countdown To D(oom)-Day, Europe Plans A New Master Plan (zerohedge.com)
George Soros and the Bundesbank’s Patriotic Putsch (blogs.telegraph.co.uk)
Tags Angela Merkel, European sovereign debt crisis, European Union, Eurozone, George Soros, Germany, Karl Popper, Merkel
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Valley National Bancorp
Valley National Bancorp (VLY) is a conservative bank with a strong position in northern New Jersey and a presence in Manhattan. The bank, founded in 1927, has about $12 billion in assets.
Valley has consistently earned extraordinary returns on assets and equity. Over the last twenty years, Valley has averaged a 1.74% return on assets and a 21.12% return on equity.
Valley’s worst two-year performance occurred in 1990 and 1991. During that period, Valley’s return on equity dropped as low as 14.54% and its ROA dropped as low as 1.29%. Even in Valley’s worst year (1991), the company still managed to roughly match the average long-term performance of most of its peers. In other words, Valley’s worst year was a close to typical year for many other banks.
It was at this low-point in 1991 that the board of directors decided not to increase the cash dividend. That was the only year in the last 37 that Valley did not increase its dividend.
The company has 79 consecutive years of profitable operations. That’s over 300 quarters (Valley has yet to post a quarterly loss). More importantly, Valley has a record of earning great returns on both assets and equity over long periods of time. So, what’s the company’s secret?
Northern New Jersey is about the best place in the world to situate a bank. This isn’t hyperbole; if there’s a better location, I’ve yet to hear of it. As you know, American banks are unusually profitable. The market is large and highly fragmented. So, naturally the best place to situate a bank would be in the United States. But, why north Jersey in particular?
In a September 20th, 2001 interview with The Wall Street Transcript, Valley’s chairman, Gerald Lipkin, explained why northern New Jersey is such an attractive market:
“Northern New Jersey is the single most densely populated area on earth. There are more people per square mile in northern New Jersey than there are in India, China, Japan or anyplace else. We have the highest median family income in the United States in that area. So, we serve a very densely populated and affluent area, which is not dominated by any single industry.”
Valley maintains a narrow focus both in terms of geography and services. The company’s offices are kept within one hour of the bank’s headquarters in Wayne, NJ. In the same interview, Mr. Lipkin explained why this geographic concentration is important: “We like to make it very convenient for our client base to meet with senior management as well as the other members of our staff.”
Valley focuses on relationship banking. The company has residency requirements for its directors. The majority of directors are to live within 100 miles of the corporate headquarters. Furthermore, each board member is required to use Valley for both business and personal accounts. Theoretically, these two requirements ensure board members are familiar with the bank’s services and are best able to understand the needs of local businesses.
Valley has a history of highly disciplined lending. Charge-offs are immaterial. Current reserves are adequate to cover many years of future charge-offs with little difficulty. The company’s asset quality ratios and loan to value ratios both indicate Valley has a more conservative approach to lending than many of its peers.
Undoubtedly, the local economy is helpful in this regard. Valley does not need to make questionable loans, because there is an abundance of opportunity in the local area. It is possible for the bank to remain fairly selective without forfeiting growth entirely. For instance, despite having $12 billion in assets, Valley only has about a 6% market share in northern New Jersey.
Banking, like insurance, is a business where a particularly good or particularly poor management can greatly affect long-term results. The current Chairman, President, and CEO, Gerald Lipkin, has served for just over thirty years now. His record is unblemished.
Of course, the real responsibility for avoiding mistakes lies with others in the organization. There are few businesses where individual employees can do as much harm as they can within a bank. Valley’s past record and the level of experience of its top managers suggests investors should encounter very few unpleasant surprises resulting from human error.
Mr. Lipkin made his management philosophy quite clear with his concluding remarks in the aforementioned 2001 interview with The Wall Street Transcript:
“We never bet the ranch – we never put the bank in harms way on any single issue that could really harm it. Lending money is a risk taking business. So, obviously we at times have problems, situations with individual loans, but we try to avoid concentrations that could create major problems.”
Valley National Bancorp is a solid, well-run bank operating in a geographic area with excellent economics. The company’s physical footprint and its existing relationships give it a narrow moat in a highly profitable (and increasingly competitive) region.
Unfortunately, the company is trading at more than three times book. Three times book is a lot to pay for any bank. Valley’s future growth will likely be somewhat restrained by the company’s conservative approach. Therefore, dividends are going to make up a significant portion of an investor’s total returns.
Valley is a good bank. It has a real moat, albeit a narrow one. Competition is increasing within Valley’s territory. However, the company has been able to compete successfully with new entrants (who tend to take on far less profitable business).
The stock isn’t cheap today, but there is one wrinkle worth keeping in mind. Valley is more dependent upon interest rate spreads than most banks. If the yield curve was to become significantly steeper, Valley would reap outsized rewards.
The current dividend yield on a share of Valley National Bancorp is a little less than 3.5%. Considering the company’s limited growth prospects, this is an unattractive yield. If, during a period of general uncertainty within the banking industry, shares of VLY were to trade closer to two times book, investors would have an opportunity to make a long-term commitment in a quality bank.
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By Pat O'Neill, Contributor
December / January 2003
The Fenians sold these bonds in the name of the then non-existent “Irish Republic,” to help finance the Canadian invasion. The vignette depicts Cathleen Ní Houlihann gesturing with one hand to an Irish-American Civil War veteran to pick up the sword again to go and fight for Ireland which she points to across the sea. With 6% compounded annual interest from its date of issuance in 1866, this bond would be worth about $30,000 if the current Irish Republic would agree to redeem it. The above $10 bond is courtesy: Patrick Doherty Collection.
℘℘℘
Dusty, dirty and tired, Michael O’Doherty rode on horse-back into Westport, Missouri, in August of 1861, just behind a stampede of news and rumors about Stonewall Jackson’s surprising first defeat of Union troops at Bull Run. Freshly discharged from Indian containment duties in New Mexico, the veteran cavalryman, a native of Killarney, Co. Kerry, found himself the center of attention in the teeming outfitting post near the heads of the great Oregon and Santa Fe trails.
Military conscription efforts were at a fever pitch, and men of military stature and experience were being hotly recruited for local volunteer units, both Union and Confederate. O’Doherty, in his memoirs, scoffed at the competition for his professional services:
“They were raising troops for the south. Our names were registered in the hotel book and they knew we were the very thing they wanted, well drilled cavalry men, intelligent and sober. Myself being registered with my full rank of quartermaster sergeant, they were not slow to offer me the rank of captain and the other boys commissions. I respectfully declined by telling them that there was no particular mark of distinction in the rank of captain in volunteers and if there was I could not accept it as I had sworn allegiance to the stars and stripes and no consideration could make me betray my obligation as an Irishman and a federal soldier.”
The Irish, as a rule, were quick to volunteer for military service in the Civil War. Some joined to prove their patriotism; some joined for the chance to get a lick in against Great Britain, which supported so much Southern industry. Recruitment posters for Irish regiments declared, “cotton lords and traitor allies of England must be put down.”
During the course of the war, as many as 150,000 Union soldiers were Irish-born. More than 35 Union regiments were officially designated “Irish.” Conversely, an estimated 40,000 Irish-born fought for the South. In addition, thousands of first-generation Irish fought on both sides of the conflict.
Michael O’Doherty.
Michael O’Doherty, however, was content to raise a family and ply his trade as a bootmaker, and spurned overtures from Irish Company B of the United States Volunteer Reserve Corps.
“I retired,” he wrote, “for I was disgusted with the kind of soldiering then going on — green citizens that never mounted a war horse or never drew blade from a scabbard…capts., majors, cols. and genls, because they were rich or could wield political influence.”
It was only when the war ended in 1865 that Michael O’Doherty regained his taste for battle. Fueled by the agitating rhetoric of a growing American Fenian movement, thousands of Indian and Civil War veterans put their uniforms back on and began training again. Their goal was to attack and capture thinly guarded, English-controlled Canada, and hold it hostage in return for self-rule in Ireland.
O’Doherty explains, “The reader may ask what was the object of attacking England in Canada, and not on Irish soil. The reasons were obvious. First we could not infringe on the international law without being interfered with by the United States. Although we did. We thought by making a terrible dash on Canada, conquer it from England, for the time being be recognized by the United States as beligerants, fit out a navy to make war on English commerce and throw men and munitions of war to Ireland and inaugurate a successful revolution for an Irish republic on Irish soil and then leave Canada to the Canadians, that was [our] object, and the principal one.”
Irish military men, mostly former Union Army officers, captured the imagination — and wallets — of Irish Americans, with grand visions of 200,000 battle-hardened Civil War vets marching on Canada. Chapters of the new Fenian Brotherhood sprouted in virtually every American city with a significant Irish population. Condemned by the Catholic Church for its tendency toward anarchy and bloodshed, the movement boasted 50,000 members nationwide.
In 1865, O’Doherty wrote, “[Our] circle worked hard. We subscribed the very little money we wanted for our families to the general funds. We bought Fenian bonds that wasn’t worth the paper they were printed on. Those bonds were got up in this way so many years after the establishment of a Republican government on the soil of Ireland the Irish Republic promises to pay the bearer in gold at so much percent premium [on] the amount of [the] note. These bonds were furnished to agents, supposed to be good patriotic Irishmen, for sale and they were bought up by poor hardworking men and women all over the country. Bought one myself for the last few dollars I had to spare and so did others in Kansas City.”
O’Doherty was chosen as Kansas City’s delegate to the Fenian Convention in Troy, New York, in September 1866, where he gave a rousing speech, pledging the support of his fellow Irish from the Midwest.
“We rallied in Kansas City and raised some money but before we had time to say ‘Jack Roerson’ the fuss was all over,” O’Doherty recorded. Without sanction of the Brotherhood, O’Neill led a small, ill-equipped band of America’s most radical, hard-core Irish fighting men back into Canada, where they engaged a waiting force of English-Canadian troops. The fight was over in a matter of hours.
“There was a skirmish but let me draw a curtain over the scene — it was not worthy of record,” wrote the disgusted Doherty. He and others like him put their guns back in the closet and resigned themselves to earning a meager living and raising families. “Business was very dull, and the country was after going through the trying ordeal of a terrible sickly season,” he wrote in one of the last notations in his memoirs. “I was well broke down in pocket. After sacrificing family affairs, time and neglect of my little business, all for Ireland and, to be candid, for a little historical fame among my countrymen…I was now as poor as Job’s turkey.”
O’Doherty lived out his life in a little frame house that he built on a hill overlooking the wide and slow-moving Missouri River. “By good look [luck] I had invested some money in a little real estate before the Fenian excitement,” he concluded, “else it would all be gone.” ♦
of the San Patricios
Irish America looks back at the legacy of St. Patrick’s Battalion, an honor-bound group of Irishmen that championed...
The Irish Nightingale
of the Civil War
“The Irish-American Florence Nightingale” of the Civil War – Sister Mary Anthony. ℘℘℘ The name of...
Native Americans and the Irish
The Irish Consulate in New York City hosted a discussion of Irish-Native American relations in June. Titled, “Native...
and Irish Home Rule
Born a slave, Frederick Douglass died as a champion of human rights, and Ireland played an important role in his...
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News Local Conservation work on Famagusta's Ravelin/Land Gate completed
Conservation work on Famagusta’s Ravelin/Land Gate completed
More than 400 people attended an event marking the completion of conservation works to the Ravelin/Land Gate in the Turkish occupied town of Famagusta.
The event, held on Tuesday, was organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with the bi-communal Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage and the European Commission.
In a press release, the UNDP said conservation works to the Ravelin/Land Gate of Famagusta started in February 2017 and were completed in June 2018. The total cost of the conservation works was of approximately €670,000 fully funded by the European Union.
“The European Union has accompanied and supported the Technical Committee from the very beginning. Since early 2012, €14.7 million has been provided by the European Union through the Aid Programme for the Turkish Cypriot community to implement the priorities of the Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage. This partnership underscores the importance of unity and respect as core values of the European Union. The European Commission is delighted to have been able to fund this excellent work, a clear example of how Cypriots can work together for peace,” Kjartan Björnsson, Head of Unit – Structural Reform Support Service, European Commission, said, addressing the event.
Greek Cypriot Representative of the Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage Takis Hadjidemetriou said “we have received Ravelin/Land Gate marked with a history of wars and conflicts and we are now giving it back, a place open to peace, understanding and collaboration.”
Turkish Cypriot representative of the Committee Ali Tuncay said “the Famagusta walls have touched and shaped the lives of many people,” adding that “cultural heritage and different cultures should no longer be factors that cause conflicts but factors that contribute to cooperation, peace and prosperity of the Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots.”
Elisabeth Spehar, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General and Head of Mission of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), said in an address that “preservation and restoration projects of this sort, beyond the value of the physical outcome of the projects, can be strong foundations for exploring shared history, understanding the narratives of the other and contributing to reconciliation in societies that have experienced conflict.”
She added that “we as UNFICYP will continue our attempts to garner support for our civil society partners working on inter-communal heritage and legacy preservation issues across Cyprus.”
Senior Programme Manager and Head of Office of the UNDP in Cyprus Tiziana Zennaro said “Ravelin/Land Gate, after one year of conservation works, will be reintegrated in the city.”
She added that “these walls are one of the best examples of military architecture which have arrived to our days,” and that “this is why the Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage is focusing on this city and why the European Union has invested so far more than €4 million in the protection of its cultural heritage.”
“At this point, with six projects already completed and four undergoing, sustainability of these interventions is becoming a high priority. UNDP stands ready to continue supporting the Technical Committee’s efforts in Famagusta,” Zennaro pointed out.
By Bouli Hadjioannou
Previous articleConstruction ‘without permits’ near Peyia Sea caves
Next articleSchulte Group affirms long standing commitment to Cyprus shipping sector
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WINTER OLYMPICS Thursday, Feb 20, 2014
Jana Pittman wants to bob up in Rio
Jana Pittman and Astrid Radjenovic
Thursday February 20, 2014 Comments
Former 400m world champion Jana Pittman says she could continue to split her athletic career between Summer and Winter Olympics following her 14th place finish in the women’s bobsleigh overnight.
Brakewoman Pittman and pilot Astrid Radjenovic saved their best for last in the fourth and final heat, notching a 58.37 second run to climb one spot to 14th overall in an event won by the Canadian team of Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse.
The Australians’ time was the eighth-fastest of the fourth and final heats, leaving them more than satisfied with their efforts.
Afterwards, Pittman still said she was tossing up whether she would return to the track to prepare for the 400m at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, before again preparing for another bobsleigh tilt at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
One thing that does seem certain, though, is that Pittman will have to find a different pilot in four years’ time. After the Aussies’ final heat, Radjenovic indicated that retirement loomed as she focused on the next stage of her life … starting a family.
Australia’s Brooklee Han has qualified for the free program of the women’s individual figure skating after overcoming an early error in her short program.
Han, 18, wasn’t able to successfully complete her first jump — a triple toeloop plus double toeloop — but she compensated later in her routine with the addition of a double back.
It was enough for Han to secure sixth place, advancing her to the free program to be held tomorrow night.
“I had a little wobble at the beginning of the program,” Han told the Australian Olympic team’s website. “I don’t know what I was thinking.
“In the crossover into the triple toe I had to pick up speed and unfortunately I wasn’t able to get the triple toe perfectly out there. But then I was able to fight through and do a triple loop and tack a combination on there. So I was happy that I could think as I was going.”
In a major shock, Russia has been knocked out of the men’s ice hockey at the quarter-final stage, losing 3-1 to Finland overnight.
The home team looked to be in control of the match after taking a 1-0 lead at the 07:51 of the first period, thanks to a goal from Ilya Kovalchuk. However, Finland equalised through Juhamatti Aaltonen in the dying stages of the first period, before securing the victory with two goals (Teemu Selanne, Mikael Granlund) in the second period.
Norway has won the first Olympic mixed relay in biathlon, with Ole Einar Bjoerndalen becoming the most decorated Winter Olympian ever with 13 medals.
Bjoerndalen broke the record he shared with cross country skiing great Bjoern Daehlie, also matching his fellow Norwegian’s record of eight gold medals.
Bjoerndalen earlier won gold in Sochi in the men’s sprint biathlon.
He can win another medal in the final men’s biathlon event of the Sochi Games, the 4×7.5km relay on Saturday.
Tora Berger faulted twice, but Tiril Eckhoff, Bjoerndalen and Emil Hegle Svendsen all shot cleanly for Norway. They finished in one hour, nine minutes, 17 seconds.
Czech Republic was 32.6 second behind to win silver, and Italy came in 58.2 seconds behind for bronze.
In the men’s team sprint classic final, Finland took gold ahead of Russia and Sweden. The Australian team of Phillip Bellingham and Callum Watson was 12th in its semi final.
The Czech Republic’s Martina Sabilkova claimed her second gold medal of the Sochi Olympics and the third of her career when she successfully defended her title in the women’s 5000m speed skating.
Sablikova’s time of 6 minutes 51.54 seconds was almost 10 seconds outside the world record she set in 2011, but it was still enough for her to comfortably win gold ahead of the Dutch duo of Ireen Wust (6:54.28) and Carien Kleibeuker (6:55.66).
Sablikova had earlier at Sochi won gold in the women’s 3000m.
Ted Ligety won the USA’s seventh gold medal at Sochi, edging out Frenchmen Steve Missilier and Alexis Pinturault to win the men’s giant slalom.
Ligety, the gold medallist in the super-combined event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, could only manage fifth in the super-combined and ninth in the giant slalom at Vancouver in 2010. And while his second run (1:24.21) in the giant slalom overnight was more than three seconds slower than his first run (1:21.08), it was still enough for him to claim a 0.48 second overall victory.
Australian Dominic Demschar finished 39th overall, more than eight seconds behind Ligety, while fellow Aussie Ross Peraudo failed to finish his second run.
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Tuesday, December 29
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ARMED FORCES SPECIAL POWERS ACT (AFSPA)
1. Armed Forces are deployed in counter insurgency / terrorist operations when all other forces available to the State have failed to bring the situation under control. Armed forces operating in such an environment require certain special powers and protection in the form of an enabling law.
2. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) was enacted by the Parliament and confers certain special powers on members of the Armed Forces (military forces, air forces operating on ground as land forces and any other armed forces of the Union (CRPF, BSF, ITBP etc)for carrying out proactive operations against the insurgents in a highly hostile environment. AFSPA comes into effect only in Disturbed Areas. Power to declare an area as Disturbed Area is vested with the Central and the State Governments.
3. The essence of the important sections of AFSPA is as under:-
(a) Section 3. It lays down the authority which has power to declare areas to be disturbed. These authorities are the Central and the State Governments.
(b) Section 4. It gives the Army powers to search premises and make arrests without warrants, to use force even to the extent of causing death, destroy arms / ammunition dumps, fortifications/ shelters / hideouts and to stop, search and seize any vehicle.
(c) Section 6. It stipulates that arrested persons and seized property is to be made over to the police with least possible delay.
(d) Section 7. It offers protection of persons acting in good faith in their official capacity. Prosecution is permitted only after sanction of the Central Government.
4. An examination of the various powers available to the Police Authorities under the provisions of the CrPC vis-a-vis those available to Armed Forces under AFSPA would reveal that the Police Authorities still enjoy more comprehensive and wider powers relating to arrest, search, seizure, summoning of witnesses, preventive detention etc than the powers enjoyed by the Armed Forces.
5. AFSPA vs CrPC. Section 45 of the CrPC disallows arrest of public servants however Section 45 of the CrPC is not applicable in the State of J&K where the Ranbir Penal Code is applicable and ipso facto the persons of Armed Forces can be arrested for any perceived excesses, if AFSPA is not in vogue.
6. The Act in general and Sections 3, 4 & 6 thereof in particular, came up for scrutiny before a Constitution Bench of the Apex Court in a case titled ‘Naga People’s Movement of Human Rights Vs UOI’. The five-judge Constitution Bench dealt with the challenge to the legality of deployment of the Armed Forces in aid to civil power. The Court unambiguously ruled that AFSPA cannot be regarded as a colourable legislation or a fraud on the Constitution. The Apex Court considered and opined that the conferring of powers vide Section 4 of AFSPA could not be held arbitrary or violative of Article 14, 19 or 21 of the Constitution.
7. Adequate checks and safeguards are built in the AFSPA to prevent its misuse. The Do’s and Dont’s issued to the units, having found approval of Apex Court, have acquired legal status and are binding on the troops.
8. HR Record of the Indian Army. The provisions of AFSPA have NOT been misused and is evident from the HR Record of the Indian Army during the last two decades. Details of allegations of HR violations of Indian Army are as under :-
(a) HR Cases/complaints received - 1618
(b) Cases Investigated - 1533
(c) No of allegations under investigation - 85
(d) Cases found true - 55 (3.6%)
(e) Cases found false - 1478 (96.4%)
(f) No of persons punished - 129
(g) No of cases awarded compensation - 35
9. The above punishments were awarded by the Army without any prosecution sanction from the MoD. Thus AFSPA is NOT a draconian law as purported to be.
Retention of AFSPA
10. The relative peace prevailing in any area cannot be the only criteria for the removal of AFSPA. The following aspects also need to be factored in and a comprehensive assessment made before the dilution / removal of AFSPA :-
(a) Current Situation. While there may be a comparative decline in terrorist violence, number of terrorists killed and reduction in number of successful infiltration by terrorists, as long as there is no change in the ideology and the factors that aid and support proxy war the removal of an enabling legislation like AFSPA may be counter productive.
(b) The Emergence of Sanctuaries. Lifting of AFSPA from certain areas may result in terrorists seeking shelter in such areas and rebuilding their bases. Eviction of terrorists from such built up areas sanitised after sacrifices by the army and police forces is likely to result in civilian causalities, damage to civilian property and a renewed cycle of violence.
(c) Military Installations and Lines of Communication. Army garrisons / strategic assets are spread over in population centres. Even in insurgency prone areas, any action taken by the Army personnel in these areas without an enabling legislation which does not confer immunity from arrest will further complicate the issue.
(d) Intelligence Bases. De-notification of AFSPA will render the painstakingly established sound intelligence bases untenable.
(e) Legal Aspects. Any reaction to terrorist action in Non-AFSPA areas would draw the Army into protracted legal battles on every incident.
(f) Restoration of AFSPA. Even if situation worsens in areas where AFSPA has been revoked, it is unlikely that the political decision can be reversed easily to re-invoke the Act.
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Moana’s voice, Auliʻi Cravalho takes the next step
Posted By: info-akumalcom
Auliʻi Cravalho’s life changed forever at age 14 when she was cast as the voice of Disney’s “Moana.” The Hawaiian native loved singing and acting, but they were just hobbies to her. So were horseback riding, swimming and microbiology, for that matter. A career in Hollywood seemed implausible at best.
“But life decided to surprise me,” said Cravalho, who went from obscurity to performing at the Oscars in just a few months.
Now at 19, Cravalho is checking off another milestone: Her first live-action film, “All Together Now,” is being released on Netflix Friday. And once again, she’s in the lead.
Based on Matthew Quick’s novel “Sorta Like a Rock Star,” the film from director Brett Haley finds Cravalho playing a very different kind of character from the adventurous Polynesian princess. Amber is a high school student with a to-die-for voice, an unflappable optimism and a dream of going to Carnegie Mellon. She also happens to be living in a school bus with her alcoholic mother.
“This felt like the next step,” she said. “I’m a little older and I love the challenge of showing these tougher emotions and telling these deeper stories.”
She’d actually auditioned for Hayley before. She didn’t get that part, but he promised he’d remember her.
“I was like, sure, OK, I’m never going to hear from this guy again,” she laughed. And then Amber Appleton came along.
“I really related to Amber. I genuinely I understood her optimism,” she said. “I am an optimist almost to a fault myself. I also have to kind of get real and be like, ‘Oh, wait, I can reach out and ask for help.’”
Cravalho had already had some on-camera experience, including in the short-lived television show “Rise,” which was canceled after one season. (“My first heartbreak.”) But she was nervous about a feature film and acting opposite people like Carol Burnett.
“My biggest challenge is figuring out what to do with my face on screen,” she said.
Thankfully, she had an unusually empathetic and supportive director in Haley, who helped her feel comfortable and gave her space to play around with her character and lines. And he’s excited for audiences to see her in a more dramatic role.
“Yes, she’s optimistic. Yes, she’s bright and shiny. But she also has a depth of emotion. She really is layered. She’s not just this Disney princess,” Haley said. “I think you can see that in her performance. She goes to so many different places in the role.”
Cravalho has for the past few years been living outside of Hawaii, first in New York and now in Los Angeles. She finished up high school on her laptop from the set of “Rise,” and she empathizes with all the students having to do that now.
For now, she’ll continue pursing acting and already has another series in the works in Amazon’s thriller “The Power,” but she’d also like to go to college and keep her options open. She’s only 19, after all.
“I’m not really sure where my career will take me. I’ve been lucky to play strong women characters so I hope I’ll continue on that path,” she said. “But I’m also young and figuring out what fuels me as a person and figuring out that my career (can be) different from who I am.”
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More on Minority Religions
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Judaism and the Modern Attitude to Homosexuality
Dr. Norman Lamm is the former President of Yeshiva University. He originally published the following article in 1974.
Popular wisdom has it that our society is wildly hedonistic, with the breakdown of family life, rampant immorality, and the world, led by the United States, in the throes of a sexual revolution. The impetus of this latest revolution is such that new ground is constantly being broken, while bold deviations barely noticed one year are glaringly more evident the year following and become the norm for the "younger generation" the year after that.
Some sex researchers accept this portrait of a steady deterioration in sex inhibitions and of increasing permissiveness. Opposed to them are the "debunkers" who hold that this view is mere fantasy and that, while there may have been a significant leap in verbal sophistication, there has probably been only a short hop in actual behavior. They point to statistics which confirm that now, as in Kinsey's day, there has been no reported increase in sexual frequencies along with alleged de-inhibition to rhetoric and dress. The "sexual revolution" is, for them, largely a myth. Yet others maintain that there is in Western society a permanent revolution against moral standards, but that the form and style of the revolt keeps changing.
The determination of which view is correct will have to be left to the sociologists and statisticians -or, better, to historians of the future who will have the benefit of hindsight. But certain facts are quite clear. First, the complaint that moral restraints are crumbling has a two or three thousand year history in Jewish tradition and in continuous history of Western civilization. Second, there has been a decided increase at least in the area of sexual attitudes, speech, and expectations, if not in practice. Third, such social and psychological phenomena must sooner or later beget changes in mores and conduct. And finally, it is indisputable that most current attitudes are profoundly at variance with traditional Jewish views on sex and sex morality.
Of all the current sexual fashions, the one most notable for its militancy, and which most conspicuously requires illumination from the sources of Jewish tradition, is that of sexual deviancy. This refers primarily to homosexuality, male or female, along with a host of other phenomena such as transvestism and transexualism. They all form part of the newly approved theory of idiosyncratic character of sexuality. Homosexuals have demanded acceptance in society, and this demand has taken various forms -from a plea that they should not be liable to criminal prosecution, to a demand that they should not be subjected to social sanctions, and then to a strident assertion that they represent an "alternative life-style" no less legitimate that "straight heterosexuality. The various forms of homosexual apologetics appear largely in contemporary literature and theater, as well as in the daily press. In the United States, "gay" activists have become increasingly and progressively more vocal and militant.
Legal Position
Homosexuals have, indeed, been suppressed by the law. For instance, the Emperor Valentinian, in 390 C.E., decreed that pederasty be punished by burning at the stake. The sixth-century Code of Justinian ordained that homosexuals be tortured, mutilated, paraded in public, and executed. A thousand years later, Gibbon said of the penalty the Code decreed that "pederasty became the crime of those to whom no crime could be imputed". In more modern times, however, the Napoleonic Code declared consensual homosexuality legal in France. A century ago, anti-homosexual laws were repealed in Belgium and Holland. In this century, Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland followed suit and, more recently, Czechoslovakia and England. The most severe laws in the West are found in the United States, where they come under the jurisdiction of the various states and are known by a variety of names, usually as "sodomy laws". Punishment may range from light fines to five or more years in prison (in some cases even life imprisonment), indeterminate detention to a mental hospital, and even to compulsory sterilization. Moreover, homosexuals are, in various states, barred from licensed professions, from many professional societies, from teaching, and from the civil service -to mention only a few of the sanctions encountered by the known homosexual.
More recently, a new tendency has been developing in the United States and elsewhere with regard to homosexuals. Thus, in 1969, the National Institute of Mental Health issued a majority report advocating that adult consensual homosexuality be declared legal. The American Civil Liberties Union concurred. Earlier, Illinois had done so in 1962, and in 1971 the state of Connecticut revised its laws accordingly. Yet despite the increasing legal and social tolerance of deviance, basic feelings toward homosexuals have not really changed. The most obvious example is France, where although legal restraints were abandoned over 150 years ago, the homosexual of today continues to live in shame and secrecy.
Statistically, the proportion the proportion of homosexuals in society does not seem to have changed much since Professor Kinsey's day (his book, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, was published in 1948, and his volume on the human female in 1953). Kinsey's studies revealed that hard-core male homosexuals constituted about 4-6% of the population: 10% experienced "problem" behavior during a part of their lives. One man out of three indulges in some form of homosexual behavior from puberty until his early twenties. The dimensions of the problem become quite overwhelming when it is realized that, according to these figures, of 200 million people in the United States some ten million will become or are predominant or exclusive homosexuals, and over 25 million will have at least a few years of significant homosexual experience.
The New Permissiveness
The most dramatic change in our attitudes to homosexuality has taken place in the new mass adolescent subculture - the first such in history - where it is part of the whole new outlook on sexual restraints in general. It is here that the fashionable Sexual Left has had its greatest success on a wide scale, appealing especially to the rejection of Western traditions of sex roles and sex typing. A number of different streams feed into this ideological reservoir from which the new sympathy for homosexuality flows. Freud and his disciples began the modern protest against traditional restraints, and blamed the guilt that follows transgression for the neuroses that plague man. Many psychoanalysts began to overemphasize the importance of sexuality in human life, and this ultimately gave birth to a kind of sexual messianism. Thus, in our own day Wilhelm Reich identifies sexual energy as "vital energy per se" and, in conformity with his Marxist ideology, seeks to harmonize Marx and Freud. For Reich and his followers, the sexual revolution is a machina ultima for the whole Leninist liberation in all spheres of life and society. Rebellion against restrictive moral codes has become, for them, not merely a way to hedonism but a form of sexual mysticism: orgasm is seem not only as the pleasurable climatic release of internal sexual pressure, but as a means to individual creativity and insight as well as to the reconstruction and liberation of society. Finally, the emphasis on freedom and sexual autonomy derives from the Sartrean version of Kant's view of human autonomy.
It is in this atmosphere that pro-deviationist sentiments have proliferated, reaching into many strata of society. Significantly, religious groups have joined the sociologists and ideologists of deviance to affirm what has been called "man's birthright of unbounded ambisexuality." A number of Protestant churches in America, and an occasional Catholic clergyman, have plead for more sympathetic attitudes toward homosexuals. Following the new Christian permissiveness espoused in Sex and Morality (1966), the report of a working party of the British Council of Churches, a group of American Episcopalian clergymen in November 1967 concluded that homosexual acts ought not to be considered wrong, per se. A homosexual relationship is, they implied, no different from a heterosexual marriage: but must be judged by one criterion -"whether it is intended to foster a permanent relation of love." Jewish apologists for deviationism have been prominent in the Gay Liberation movement and have not hesitated to advocate their position in American journals and in the press. Christian groups began to emerge which catered to a homosexual clientele, and Jews were not too far behind. This latest Jewish exemplification of the principle of wie es sich christelt, so juedelt es sich will be discussed at the end of this essay.
Homosexual militants are satisfied neither with a "mental health" approach nor with demanding civil rights. They are clear in insisting on society's recognition of sexual deviance as an "alternative lifestyle," morally legitimate and socially acceptable.
Such are the basic facts and theories of the current advocacy of sexual deviance. What is the classical Jewish attitude to sodomy, and what suggestions may be made to develop a Jewish approach to the complex problem of the homosexual in contemporary society?
Biblical View
The Bible prohibits homosexual intercourse and labels it an abomination: "Thou shalt not lie with a man as one lies with a woman: it is an abomination" (Lev. 18:22). Capital punishment is ordained for both transgressors in Lev. 20:13. In the first passage, sodomy is linked with buggery, and in the second with incest and buggery. (There is considerable terminological confusion with regard to these words. We shall here use "sodomy" as a synonym for homosexuality and "buggery" for sexual relations with animals.)
The city of Sodom had the questionable honor of lending its name to homosexuality because of the notorious attempt at homosexual rape, when the entire population -"both young and old, all the people from every quarter"- surrounded the home of Lot, the nephew of Abraham, and demanded that he surrender his guests to them "that we may know them" (Gen. 19:5). The decimation of the tribe of Benjamin resulted from the notorious incident, recorded in Judges 19, of a group of Benjamites in Gibeah who sought to commit homosexual rape.
Scholars have identified the kadesh proscribed by the Torah (Deut. 23:18) as a ritual male homosexual prostitute. This form of healthen cult penetrated Judea from the Canaanite surroundings in the period of the early monarchy. So Rehoboam, probably under the influence of his Ammonite mother, tolerated this cultic sodomy during his reign (I Kings 14:24). His grandson Asa tried to cleanse the Temple in Jerusalem of the practice (I Kings 15:12), as did his great-grandson Jehoshaphat. But it was not until the days of Josiah and the vigorous reforms he introduced that the kadesh was finally removed from the Temple and the land (II Kings 23:7). The Talmund too (Sanhedrin, 24b) holds that the kadesh was a homosexual functionary. (However, it is possible that the term also alludes to a heterosexual male prostitute. Thus, in II Kings 23:7, women are described as weaving garments for the idols in the batei ha-kedeshim (houses of the kadesh): the presence of women may imply that the kadesh was not necessarily homosexual. The Talmudic opinion identifying the kadesh as a homosexual prostitute may be only an asmakhta. Moreover, there are other opinions in Talmudic literature as to the meaning of the verse: see Onkelos, Lev. 23:18, and Nachmanides and Torah Temimah, ad loc.)
Talmudic Approach
Rabbinic exegesis of the Bible finds several other homosexual references in the scriptural narratives. The generation of Noah was condemned to eradication by the Flood because they had sunk so low morally that, according to Midrashic teaching, they wrote out formal marriage contracts for sodomy and buggery - a possible cryptic reference to such practices in the Rome of Nero and Hadrian (Lev. R. 18:13).
Of Ham, the son of Noah, we are told that "he saw the nakedness of his father" and told his two brothers (Gen. 9:22). Why should this act have warranted the harsh imprecation hurled at Ham by his father? The Rabbis offer two answers: one, that the text implied that Ham castrated Noah: second, that the Biblical expression is an idiom for homosexual intercourse (see Rashi, ad loc.). On the scriptural story of Potiphar's purchase of Joseph as a slave (Gen. 39:1), the Talmud comments that he acquired him for homosexual purposes, but that a miracle occurred and God sent the angel Gabriel to castrate Potiphar (Sotah 13b).
Post-Biblical literature records remarkably few incidents of homosexuality. Herod's son Alexander, according to Josephus (Wars, I, 24:7), had homosexual contact with a young eunuch. Very few reports of homosexuality have come to us from the Talmudic era (TJ Sanhedrin 6:6, 23c: Jos. Ant., 15:25-30).
The incidence of sodomy among Jews is interestingly reflected in the Halakhah on mishkav zakhur (the Talmudic term for homosexuality: the Bible uses various terms- thus the same term in Num. 31:17 and 35 refers to heterosexual intercourse by a woman, whereas the expression for male homosexual intercourse in Lev. 18:22 and 20:13 is mishkevei ishah). The Mishnah teaches that R. Judah forbade two bachelors from sleeping under the same blanket, for fear that this would lead to homosexual temptation (Kiddushin 4:14). However, the Sages permitted it (ibid.) because homosexuality was so rare among Jews that such preventive legislation was considered unnecessary (Kiddushin 82a). This latter view is codified as Halakhah by Malmonides (Yad, Issurei Bi'ah 22:2). Some 400 years later R. Joseph Caro, who did not codify the law against sodomy proper, nevertheless cautioned against being alone with another male because of the lewdness prevalent "in our times" (Even ha-Ezer 24). About a hundred years later, R. Joel Sirkes reverted to the original ruling, and suspended the prohibition because such obscene acts were unheard of amongst Polish Jewry (Bayit Hadash to Tur, Even ha-Ezer 24). Indeed, a distinguished contemporary of R. Joseph Caro, R. Solomon Luria, went even further and declared homosexuality so very rare that, if one refrains from sharing a blanket with another male as a special act of piety, one is guilty of self-righteous pride or religious snobbism (for the above and additional authorities, see Ozar ha-Posekim, IX, 236-238).
As is to be expected, the responsa literature is also very scant in discussions of homosexuality. One of the few such responsa is by the late R. Abraham Isaac Ha-Kohen Kook, when he was still the rabbi of Jaffa. In 1912 he was asked about a ritual slaughterer who had come under suspicion of homosexuality. After weighing all aspects of the case, R. Kook dismissed the charges against the accused, considering them unsupported hearsay. Furthermore, he maintained the man might have repented and therefore could not be subject to sanctions at the present time.
The very scarcity of halakhic deliberations on homosexuality, and the quite explicit insistence of various halakhic authorities, provide sufficient evidence of the relative absence of this practice among Jews from ancient times down to the present. Indeed, Prof. Kinsey found that, while religion was usually an influence of secondary importance on the number of homosexual as well as heterosexual acts by males. Orthodox Jews proved an exception, homosexuality being phenomenally rare among them.
Jewish laws treated the female homosexual more leniently than the male. It considered lesbianism as issur, an ordinary religious violation, rather than arayot, a specifically sexual infraction, regarded much more severely than issur. R. Huna held that lesbianism is the equivalent of harlotry and disqualified the woman from marrying a priest. The Halakhah is, however, more lenient, and decides that while the act is prohibited, the lesbian is not punished and is permitted to marry a priest (Sifra 9:8: Shab. 65a: Yev. 76a). However, the transgression does warrant disciplinary flagellation (Maimonides, Yad, Issurei Bi'ah 21:8). The less punitive attitude of the Halakhah to the female homosexual than to the male does not reflect any intrinsic judgment on one as opposed to the other, but is rather the result of a halakhic technicality: there is no explicit Biblical proscription of lesbianism, and the act does not entail genital intercourse (Maimonides, loc. cit.).
The Halakhah holds that the ban on homosexuality applies universally, to non-Jew as well as to Jew (Sanh 58a: Maimonides, Melakhim 9:5, 6). It is one of the six instances of arayot (sexual transgressions) forbidden to the Noachide (Maimonides, ibid).
Most halakhic authorities - such as Rashba and Ritba - agree with Maimonides. A minority opinion holds that pederasty and buggery are "ordinary" prohibitions rather than arayot - specifically sexual infractions which demand that one submit to martyrdom rather than violate the law - but the Jerusalem Talmud supports the majority opinion. (See D. M. Krozer, Devar Ha-Melekh, I, 22, 23 (1962), who also suggests that Maimonides may support a distinction whereby the "male" or active homosexual partner is held in violation of arayot whereas the passive or "female" partner transgresses issur, an ordinary prohibition.)
Reasons of Prohibition
Why does the Torah forbids homosexuality? Bearing in mind that reasons proffered for the various commandments are not to be accepted as determinative, but as human efforts to explain immutable divine law, the rabbis of the Talmud and later Talmudists did offer a number of illuminating rationales for the law.
As stated, the Torah condemns homosexuality as to'evah, an abomination. The Talmud records the interpretation of Bar Kapparah who, in a play on words, defined to'evah as to'eh attah bah. "You are going astray because of it" (Nedarim 51a). The exact meaning of this passage is unclear, and various explanations have been put forward.
The Pesikta (Zutarta) explains the statement of Bar Kapparah as referring to the impossibility of such a sexual resulting in procreation. One of the major functions (if not the major purpose) of sexuality is reproduction, and this reason for man's sexual endowment is frustrated by mishkav zakhur (so too Sefer ha-Hinnukh, no. 209).
Another interpretation is that of the Tosafot and R. Asher ben Jehiel (in their commentaries to Ned. 51a) which applies the "going astray" or wandering to the homosexual's abandoning his wife. In other words, the abomination consists of the danger that a married man with homosexual tendencies may disrupt his family life in order to indulge his perversions. Saadiah Gaon holds the rational basis of most of the Bible's moral legislation to be the preservation of the family structure (Emunot ve-De'ot 3:1: cf. Yoma 9a). (This argument assumes contemporary cogency in the light of the avowed aim of some gay militants to destroy the family, which they consider an "oppressive institution.")
A third explanation is given by a modern scholar, Rabbi Baruch Ha-Levi Epstein (Torah Temimah to Lev. 18:22), who emphasizes the unnaturalness of the homosexual liaison: "You are going astray from the foundations of the creation." Mishkav zakhur defies the very structure of the anatomy of the sexes, which quite obviously was designed for heterosexual relationships.
It may be, however, that the very variety of interpretations of to'evah points to a far more fundamental meaning, namely, that an act characterized as an "abomination" is prima facie disgusting and cannot be further defined or explained. Certain acts are considered to'evah by the Torah, and there the matter rests. It is, as it were, a visceral reaction, an intuitive disqualification of the act, and we run the risk of distorting the Biblical judgment if we rationalize it. To'evah constitutes a category of objectionableness sui generis: it is a primary phenomenon. (This lends additional force to Rabbi David Z. Hoffmann's contention that to'evah is used by the Torah to indicate the repulsiveness of a proscribed act, no matter how much it may be in vogue among advanced and sophisticated cultures: see his Sefer Va-yikra, II, p. 54.).
Jewish Attitudes
It is on the basis of the above that an effort must be made to formulate a Jewish response to the problems of homosexuality in the conditions under which most Jews live today, namely, those of free and democratic societies and, with the exception of Israel, non-Jewish lands and traditions.
Four general approaches may be adopted:1) Repressive: No leniency toward the homosexual, lest the moral fiber of the rest of society be weakened. 2) Practical: Dispense with imprisonment and all forms of social harassment, for eminently practical and prudent reasons. 3) Permissive: The same as the above, but for the ideological reasons, viz., the acceptance of homosexuality as a legitimate alternative "lifestyle." 4) Psychological: Homosexuality, in at least some forms, should be recognized as a disease and this recognition must determine our attitude toward the homosexual.
Let us consider each of these critically.
Repressive Attitude
Exponents of the most stringent approach hold that pederasts are the vanguard of moral malaise, especially in our society. For on thing, they are dangerous to children. According to a recent work, one third of the homosexuals in the study were seduced in their adolescence by adults. It is best for society that they be imprisoned, and if our present penal institutions are faulty, let them be improved. Homosexuals should certainly not be permitted to function as teachers, group leaders, rabbis, or in any other capacity where they might be models for, and come into close contact with, young people. Homosexuality must not be excused as a sickness. A sane society assumes that its members have free choice, and are therefore responsible for their conduct. Sex offenders, including homosexuals, according to another recent study, operate "at a primate level with the philosophy that necessity is the mother of improvisation." As Jews who believe that the Torah legislated certain moral laws for all mankind, it is incumbent upon us to encourage all societies, including non-Jewish ones, to implement the Noachide laws. And since, according to the halakhah, homosexuality is prohibited to Noachides as well as to Jews, we must seek to strengthen the moral quality of society by encouraging more restrictive laws against homosexuals. Moreover, if we are loyal to the teachings of Judaism, we cannot distinguish between "victimless" crimes and crimes of violence. Hence, if our concern for the murder, racial oppression, or robbery, we must do no less with regard to sodomy.
This argument is, however, weak on a number of grounds. Practically, it fails to take into cognizance the number of homosexuals of all categories, which, as we have pointed out, is vast. We cannot possibly imprison all offenders, and it is a manifest miscarriage of justice to vent our spleen only on the few unfortunates who are caught by the police. It is inconsistent because there has been no comparable outcry for harsh sentencing of other transgressors of sexual morality, such as those who indulge in adultery or incest. To take consistency to its logical conclusion, this hard line on homosexuality should not stop with imprisonment but demand the death sentence, as is Biblically prescribed. And why not the same death sentence for blasphemy, eating a limb torn from a live animal, idolatry, robbery -all of which are Noachide commandments? And why not capital punishment for Sabbath transgressors in the State of Israel? Why should the pederast be singled out for opprobrium and be made an object lesson while all others escape?
Those who might seriously consider such logically consistent, but socially destructive, strategies had best think back to the fate of that Dominican reformer, the monk Girolamo Savonarola, who in 15th-century Florence undertook a fanatical campaign against vice and all suspected of venal sin, with emphasis on pederasty. The society of that time and place, much like ours, could stand vast improvement. But too much medicine in too strong doses was the monk's prescription, whereupon the population rioted and the zealot was hanged.
Finally, there is indeed some halakhic warrant for distinguishing between violent and victimless (or consensual and non-consensual) crimes. Thus, the Talmud permits a passer-by to kill a man in pursuit of another man or of a woman when the pursuer is attempting homosexual or heterosexual rape, as the case may be, whereas this is not permitted in the case of a transgressor pursuing an animal to commit buggery or on his way to worship an idol or to violate the Sabbath, (Sanh. 8:7, and v. Rashi to Sanh. 73a, s.v. al ha-behemah).
Practical Attitude
The practical approach is completely pragmatic and attempts to steer clear of any ideology in its judgments and recommendations. It is, according to its advocates, eminently reasonable. Criminal laws requiring punishment for homosexuals are simply unenforceable in society at the present day. We have previously cited the statistics on the extremely high incidence of pederasty in our society. Kinsey once said of the many sexual acts outlawed by the various states, that, were they all enforced, some 95% of men in the United States would be in jail. Furthermore, the special prejudice of law enforcement authorities against homosexuals - rarely does one hear of police entrapment or of jail sentences for non-violent heterosexuals - breeds a grave injustice: namely, it is an invitation to blackmail. The law concerning sodomy has been called "the blackmailer's charter." It is universally agreed that prison does little to help the homosexual rid himself of his peculiarity. Certainly, the failure of rehabilitation ought to be of concern to civilized men. But even if it is not, and the crime be considered so serious that incarceration is deemed advisable even in the absence of any real chances of rehabilitation, the casual pederast almost always leaves prison as a confirmed criminal. He has been denied the company of women and forced into society of those whose sexual expression is almost always channeled to pederasty. The casual pederast has become a habitual one: his homosexuality has now been ingrained in him. Is society any safer for having taken an errant man and, in the course of a few years, for having taught him to transform his deviancy into a hard and fast perversion, then turning him loose on the community? Finally, from a Jewish point of view, since it is obviously impossible for us to impose the death penalty for sodomy, we may as well act on purely practical grounds and do away with all legislation and punishment in this area of personal conduct.
This reasoning is tempting precisely because it focuses directly on the problem and is free of any ideological commitments. But the problem with it is that it is too smooth, too easy. By the same reasoning one might, in a reductio ad absurdum do away with all laws on income tax evasion, or forgive, and dispense with all punishment of Nazi murders. Furthermore, the last element leaves us with a novel view of the Halakhah: if it cannot be implemented in its entirely, it ought to be abandoned completely. Surely the Noachide laws, perhaps above all others, place us under clear moral imperatives, over and above purely penological instructions? The very practicality of this position leaves it open to the charge of evading the very real moral issues, and for Jews the halakhic principles, entailed in any discussion of homosexuality.
Permissive Attitude
The ideological advocacy of a completely permissive attitude toward consensual homosexuality and the acceptance of its moral legitimacy is, of course, the "in" fashion in sophisticated liberal circles. Legally, it holds that deviancy is none of the law's business; the homosexual's civil rights are as sacred as those of any other "minority group." From the psychological angle, sexuality must be emancipated from the fetters of guilt induced by religion and code-morality, and its idiosyncratic nature must be confirmed.
Gay Liberationists aver that the usual "straight" attitude toward homosexuality is based on three fallacies or myths: that homosexuality is an illness; that it is unnatural; and that it is immoral. They argue that it cannot be considered an illness, because so many people have been shown to practice it. It is not unnatural, because its alleged unnaturalness derives from the impossibility of sodomy leading to reproduction, whereas our overpopulated society no longer needs to breed workers, soldiers, farmers, or hunters. And it is not immoral, first, because morality is relative, and secondly, because moral behavior is that characterized by "selfless, loving concern."
Now, we are here concerned with the sexual problem as such, and not with homosexuality as a symbol of the whole contemporary ideological polemic against restraint and tradition. Homosexuality is too important - and too agonizing - a human problem to allow it to be exploited for political aims or entertainment or shock value.
The bland assumption that pederasty cannot be considered an illness because of the large number of people who have or express homosexual tendencies cannot stand up under criticism. No less an authority than Freud taught that a whole civilization can be neurotic. Erich Fromm appeals for the establishment of The Sane Society - because ours is not. If the majority of a nation are struck down by typhoid fever, does this condition, by so curious a calculus of semantics, become healthy? Whether or not homosexuality can be considered an illness is a serious question, and it does depend on one's definition of health and illness. But mere statistics are certainly not the coup de grâce to the psychological argument, which will be discussed shortly.
The validation of gay life as "natural" on the basis of changing social and economic conditions is an act of verbal obfuscation. Even if we were to concur with the widely held feeling that the world's population is dangerously large, and that Zero Population Growth is now a desideratum, the anatomical fact remains unchanged: the generative organs are structured for generation. If the words "natural" and "unnatural" have any meaning at all, they must be rooted in the unchanging reality of man's sexual apparatus rather than in his ephemeral social configurations.
Militant feminists along with the gay activists react vigorously against the implication that natural structure implies the naturalness or unnaturalness of certain acts, but this very view has recently been confirmed by one of the most informed writers on the subject. "It is already pretty safe to infer from laboratory research and ethological parallels that male and female are wired in ways that relate to our traditional sex roles... Freud dramatically said that anatomy is destiny. Scientists who shudder at the dramatic, no matter how accurate, could rephrase this: anatomy is functional, body functions have profound psychological meanings to people, and anatomy and function are often socially elaborated" (Arno Karlen, Sexuality and Homosexuality, p. 501).
The moral issues lead us into the quagmire of perennial philosophical disquisitions of a fundamental nature. In a way, this facilitates the problem for one seeking a Jewish view. Judaism does not accept the kind of thoroughgoing relativism used to justify the gay life as merely an alternate lifestyle. And while the question of human autonomy is certainly worthy of consideration in the area of sexuality, one must beware of the consequences of taking the argument to its logical extreme. Judaism clearly cherishes holiness as a greater value than either freedom or health. Furthermore, if every individual's autonomy leads us to lend moral legitimacy to any form of sexual expression he may desire, we must be ready to pull the blanket of this moral validity over almost the whole catalogue of perversion described by Krafft-Ebing, and then, by the legerdemain of granting civil rights to the morally non-objectionable, permit the advocates of buggery, fetishism, or whatever to proselytize in public. In that case, why not in the school system? And if consent is obtained before the death of one partner, why not necrophilia or cannibalism? Surely, if we declare pederasty to be merely idiosyncratic and not an "abomination," what right have we to condemn sexually motivated cannibalism - merely because most people would react with revulsion and disgust?
"Loving, selfless concern" and "meaningful personal relationships" - the great slogans of the New Morality and the exponents of situation ethics - have become the litany of sodomy in our times. Simple logic should permit us to use the same criteria for excusing adultery or any other act heretofore held to be immoral: and indeed, that is just what has been done, and it has received the sanction not only of liberals and humanists, but of certain religionists as well. "Love," "fulfillment," "exploitative," "meaningful" - the list itself sounds like a lexicon of emotionally charged terms drawn at random from the disparate sources of both Christian and psychologically-orientated agnostic circles. Logically, we must ask the next question: what moral depravities can not be excused by the sole criterion of "warm, meaningful human relations" or "fulfillment," the newest semantic heirs to "love"?
Love, fulfillment, and happiness can also be attained in incestuous contacts - and certainly in polygamous relationships. Is there nothing at all left that is "sinful," "unnatural," or "immoral" if it is practiced "between two consenting adults?" For religious groups to aver that a homosexual relationship should be judged by the same criteria as a heterosexual one - i.e., "whether it is intended to foster a permanent relationship of love" - is to abandon the last claim of representing the "Judeo-Christian tradition."
I have elsewhere essayed a criticism of the situationalists, their use of the term "love," and their objections to traditional morality as exemplified by the Halakhah as "mere legalism" (see my Faith and Doubt, chapter IX, p. 249 ff). Situationalists, such as Joseph Fletcher, have especially attacked "pilpolistic Rabbis" for remaining entangled in the coils of statutory and legalistic hairsplitting. Among the other things this typically Christian polemic reveals is an ignorance of the nature of Halakhah and its place in Judaism, which never held that law was totality of life, pleaded again and again for supererogatory conduct, recognized that individuals may be disadvantaged by the law, and which strove to rectify what could be rectified without abandoning the large majority to legal and moral chaos simply because of the discomfiture of the few.
Clearly, while Judaism needs no defense or apology in regard to its esteem for neighborly love and compassion for the individual sufferer, it cannot possibly abide a wholesale dismissal of its most basic moral principles on the grounds that those subject to its judgments find them repressive. All laws are repressive to some extent - they repress illegal activities - and all morality is concerned with changing man and improving him and his society. Homosexuality imposes on one an intolerable burden of differentness, of absurdity, and of loneliness, but the Biblical commandment outlawing pederasty cannot be put aside solely on the basis of sympathy for the victim of these feelings. Morality, too, is an element which each of us, given his sensuality, his own idiosyncracies, and his immoral proclivities, must take into serious consideration before acting out his impulses.
Psychological Attitudes
Several years ago I recommended that Jews regard homosexual deviance as a pathology, thus reconciling the insights of Jewish tradition with the exigencies of contemporary life and scientific information, such as it is, on the nature of homosexuality (Jewish Life, Jan-Feb. 1968). The remarks that follow are an expansion and modification of that position, together with some new data and notions.
The proposal that homosexuality be viewed as an illness will immediately be denied by three groups of people. Gay militants object to this view as an instance of heterosexual condescension. Evelyn Hooker and her group of psychologists maintain that homosexuals are no more pathological in their personality structures than heterosexuals. And psychiatrists Thomas Szasz in the U.S. and Ronald Laing in England reject all traditional ideas of mental sickness and health as tools of social repressiveness or, at best, narrow conventionalism. While granting that there are indeed unfortunate instances where the category of mental disease is exploited for social or political reasons, we part company with all three groups and assume that there are significant number of pederasts and lesbians who, by the criteria accepted by most psychologists and psychiatrists, can indeed be termed pathological. Thus, for instance, Dr. Albert Ellis, an ardent advocate of the right to deviancy, denies there is such a thing as a well-adjusted homosexual. In an interview, he has stated that whereas he used to believe that most homosexuals were neurotic, he is now convinced that about 50% are borderline psychotics, that the usual fixed male homosexual is a severe phobic, and that lesbians are even more disturbed than male homosexuals (see Karlem, op. cit., p. 223ff.).
No single cause of homosexuality has been established. In all probability, it is based on a conglomeration of a number of factors. There is overwhelming evidence that the condition is developmental, not constitutional. Despite all efforts to discover something genetic in homosexuality, no proof has been adduced, and researchers incline more and more to reject the Freudian concept of fundamental human biological bisexuality and its corollary of homosexual latency. It is now widely believed that homosexuality is the result of a whole family constellation. The passive, dependent, phobic male homosexual is usually the product of an aggressive, covertly seductive mother who is overly rigid and puritanical with her son - thus forcing him into a bond where he is sexually aroused, yet forbidden to express himself in any heterosexual way - and of a father who is absent, remote, emotionally detached, or hostile (I. Bieber et al. Homosexuality, 1962).
Can the homosexual be cured? There is a tradition of therapeutic pessimism that goes back to Freud but a number of psychoanalysis, including Freud's daughter Anna, have reported successes in treating homosexuals as any other phobics (in this case, fear of the female genitals). It is generally accepted that about a third of all homosexuals can be completely cured: behavioral therapists report an even larger number of cures.
Of course, one cannot say categorically that all homosexuals are sick - any more than one can casually define all thieves as kleptomaniacs. In order to develop a reasonable Jewish approach to the problem and to seek in the concept of illness some mitigating factor, it is necessary first to establish the main types of homosexuals. Dr. Judd Marmor speaks of four categories. "Genuine homosexuality" is based on strong preferential erotic feelings for members of the same sex. "Transitory homosexual behavior" occurs among adolescents who would prefer heterosexual experiences but are denied such opportunities because of the social, cultural, or psychological reasons. "Situational homosexual exchanges" are characteristic of prisoners, soldiers and others who are heterosexual but are denied access to women for long periods of time. "Transitory and opportunistic homosexuality" is that of delinquent young men who permit themselves to be used by pederasts in order to make money or win other favors, although their primary erotic interests are exclusively heterosexual. To these may be added, for purposes of our analysis, two other types. The first category, that of genuine homosexuals, me be said to comprehend two sub-categories: those who experience their condition as one of duress or uncontrollable passion which they would rid themselves of if they could, and those who transform their idiosyncrasy into an ideology, i.e., the gay militants who assert the legitimacy and validity of homosexuality as an alternative way to heterosexuality. The sixth category is based on what Dr. Rollo May has called "the New Puritanism", the peculiarly modern notion that one must experience all sexual pleasures, whether or not one feels inclined to them, as if the failure to taste every cup passed at the sumptuous banquet of carnal life means that one has not truly lived. Thus, we have transitory homosexual behavior not of adolescents, but of adults who feel that: they must "try everything" at least once or more than once in their lives.
A Possible Halakhic Solution
This rubric will now permit us to apply the notion of disease (and, from the halakhic point of view, of its opposite, moral culpability) to the various types of sodomy. Clearly, genuine homosexuality experienced under duress (Hebrew: ones) most obviously lends itself to being termed pathological especially where dysfunction appears in other aspects of personality. Opportunistic homosexuality, ideological homosexuality, and transitory adult homosexuality are at the other end of the spectrum, and appear most reprehensible. As for the intermediate categories, while they cannot be called illness, they do have a greater claim on our sympathy than the three types mentioned above.
In formulating the notion of homosexuality as a disease, we are not asserting the formal halakhic definition of mental illness as mental incompetence, as described in TB Hag. 3b, 4a, and elsewhere. Furthermore, the categorization of a prohibited sex act as ones (duress) because of uncontrolled passions is valid, in a technical halakhic sense, only for a married woman who was ravished and who, in the course of the act, became a willing participant. The Halakhah decides with Rava, against the father of Samuel, that her consent is considered duress because of the passions aroused in her (Ket, 51b). However, this holds true only if the act was initially entered into under physical compulsion (Kesef Mishneh to Yad, Sanh. 20:3). Moreover, the claim of compulsion by one's erotic passions is not valid for a male, for any erection is considered a token of his willingness (Yev, 53b; Maimonides, Yad, Sanh, 20:3). In the case of a male who was forced to cohabit with a woman forbidden to him, some authorities consider him guilty and punishable, while others hold him guilty but not subject to punishment by the courts (Tos., Yev, 53b; Hinnukh, 556; Kesef Mishneh, loc. cit.: Maggid Mishneh to Issurei Bi´ah, 1:9). Where a male is sexually aroused in a permissible manner, as to begin coitus with his wife and is then forced to conclude the act with another woman, most authorities exonerate him (Rabad and Maggid Mishned, to Issurei Bi´ah, in loc). If, now, the warped family background of the genuine homosexual is considered ones, the homosexual act may possibly lay claim to some mitigation by the Halakhah. (However, see Minhat Hinnukh, 556, end; and M. Feinstein, Iggerot Moshe (1973) on YD, no. 59, who holds, in a different context, that any pleasure derived from a forbidden act performed under duress increases the level of prohibition. This was anticipated by R. Joseph Engel, Atvan de-Oraita, 24). These latter sources indicate the difficulty of exonerating sexual transgressors because of psycho-pathological reasons under the technical rules of the Halakhah.
However, in the absence of a Sanhedrin and since it is impossible to implement the whole halakhic penal system, including capital punishment, such strict applications are unnecessary. What we are attempting is to develop guidelines, based on the Halakhah, which will allow contemporary Jews to orient themselves to the current problems of homosexuality in a manner articulating with the most fundamental insights of the Halakhah in a general sense, and consistent with the broadest world-view that the halakhic commitment instills in its followers. Thus, the aggadic statement that "no man sins unless he is overcome by a spirit of madness" (Sot. 3a) is not an operative halakhic rule, but does offer guidance on public policy and individual pastoral compassion. So in the present case, the formal halakhic strictures do not in any case apply nowadays, and it is our contention that the aggadic principle must lead us to seek out the mitigating halakhic elements so as to guide us in our orientation to homosexuals who, by the standards of modern psychology, may be regarded as acting under compulsion.
To apply the Halakhah strictly in this case is obviously impossible; to ignore it entirely is undesirable, and tantamount to regarding Halakhah as a purely abstract, legalistic system which can safely be dismissed where its norms and prescriptions do not allow full formal implementation. Admittedly, the method is not rigorous, and leaves room to varying interpretations as well as exegetical abuse, but it is the best we can do.
Hence there are types of homosexuality that do not warrant any special considerateness, because the notion of ones or duress (i.e., disease) in no way applies. Where the category of mental illness does apply, the act itself remains to’evah (an abomination), but the fact of illness lays upon us the obligation of pastoral compassion, psychological understanding, and social sympathy. In these sense, homosexuality is no different from any other social or anti-halakhic act, where it is legitimate to distinguish between the objective itself including its social and moral consequences, and the mentality and inner development of the person who perpetrates the act. For instance, if a man murders in a cold and calculating fashion for reasons of profit, the act is criminal and the transgressor is criminal. If, however, a psychotic murders, the transgressor is diseased rather than criminal, but the objective act itself remains a criminal one. The courts may therefore treat the perpetrator of the crime as they would a patient, with all the concomitant compassion and concern for therapy, without condoning the act as being morally neutral. To use halakhic terminology, the objective crime remains a ma’aseh averah, whereas a person who transgresses is considered innocent on the grounds of ones. In such case, the transgressor is spared the full legal consequences of his culpable act, although the degree to which he may be held responsible varies from case to case.
An example of a criminal act that is treated with compassion by the Halakhah, which in practice considers the act pathological rather than criminal, is suicide. Technically, the suicide or attempted suicide is in violation of the law. The Halakhah denies to the suicide the honor of a eulogy, the rending of the garments by relatives or witnesses to the death, and (according to Maimonides) insist that the relatives are not to observe the usual mourning period for the suicide. Yet, in the course of time, the tendency has been to remove the stigma from the suicide on the basis of mental disease. Thus, halakhic scholars do not apply the technical category of intentional (la-da’at) suicide to one who did not clearly demonstrate before performing the act, that he knew what he was doing and was of sound mind, to the extent that there was no hiatus between the act of self-destruction and actual death. If these conditions are not present, we assume that it was an insane act or that between the act and death he experienced pangs of contrition and is therefore repentant, hence excused before the law. There is even one opinion which exonerates the suicide unless he received adequate warning (hatra’ah) before performing the act, and responded in a manner indicating that he was fully aware of what he was doing and that he was lucid (J.M Tykocinski, Gesher ha-Hayyim, I, ch. 25, and Encyclopaedia Judaica, 15:490).
Admittedly, there are differences between the two cases: pederasty is clearly a severe violation of Biblical law, whereas the stricture against suicide is derived exegetically from a verse in the Genesis. Nevertheless, the principle operative in the one is applicable to the other: where one can attribute an act to mental illness, it is done out of simple humanitarian considerations.
The suicide analogy should not, of course, lead one to conclude that there are grounds for a blanket exculpation of homosexuality as mental illness. Not all forms of homosexuality can be so termed, as indicated above, and the act itself remains an "abomination". With few exceptions, most people do not ordinarily propose that suicide be considered an acceptable and legitimate alternative to the rigors of daily life. No sane and moral person sits passively and watches a fellow man attempt suicide because he "understands" him and because it has been decided that suicide is a "morally neutral" act. By the same token, in orienting ourselves to certain types of homosexuals as patients rather than criminals, we do not condone the act but attempt to help the homosexual. Under no circumstances can Judaism suffer homosexuality to become respectable. Were society to give its open or even tacit approval to homosexuality, it would invite more aggressiveness on the part of adult pederasts toward young people. Indeed, in the currently permissive atmosphere, the Jewish view would summon us to the semantic courage of referring to homosexuality not as "deviance" with the implication of moral neutrality and non-judgmental idiosyncrasy, but as "perversion" - a less clinical and more old-fashioned word, perhaps, but one that is more in keeping with the Biblical to’evah.
Yet, having passed this moral judgment, we cannot in the name of Judaism necessarily demand that we strive for the harshest possible punishment. Even where it was halakhically feasible to execute capital punishment, we have a tradition of leniency. Thus, R. Akiva and R. Tarfon declared that had they lived during the time of the Sanhedrin, they never would have executed a man. Although the Halakhah does not decide in their favor (Mak., end of ch. I), it was rare indeed that the death penalty was actually imposed. Usually, the Biblically mandated penalty was regarded as an index of the severity of the transgression, and the actual execution was avoided by strict insistence upon all technical requirements - such al hatra’ah (forewarning the potential criminal) and rigorous cross-examination of witnesses, etc. In the same spirit, we are not bound to press for the most punitive policy toward contemporary lawbreakers. We are required to lead them to rehabilitation (teshuva). The Halakhah sees no contradiction between condemning a man to death and exercising compassion, even love, toward him (Sanh. 52a). Even a man on the way to his execution was encouraged to repent (Sanh. 6:2). In the absence of a death penalty, the tradition of teshuva and pastoral compassion to the sinner continues.
I do not find any warrant in the Jewish tradition for insisting on prison sentences for homosexuals. The singling-out of homosexuals as victims of society's righteous indignation is patently unfair. In Western history, anti-homosexual crusades have too often been marked by cruelty, destruction, and bigotry. Imprisonment in modern times has proven to be extremely haphazard. The number of homosexuals unfortunate enough to be apprehended is infinitesimal as compared to the number of known homosexuals; estimates vary from one to 300.000 to one to 6.000.000!. For homosexuals to be singled out for special punishment while all the rest of society indulges itself in every other form of sexual malfeasance (using the definitions of Halakhah, not the New Morality) is a species of double-standard morality that the spirit of Halakhah cannot abide. Thus, the Mishnah declares that the "scroll of the suspected adulteress" (megillat sotah) - whereby a wife suspected of adultery was forced to undergo the test of "bitter waters" - was cancelled when the Sages became aware of the ever-larger number of adulterers in general (Sot. 9:9). The Talmud bases this decision on an aversion to the double standard: if the husband is himself an adulterer, the "bitter waters" will have no effect on his wife, even though she too be guilty of the offense (Sot. 47b). By the same token, a society in which heterosexual immorality is not conspicuously absent has no moral right to sit in stern judgment and mete out harsh penalties to homosexuals.
Furthermore, sending a homosexual to prison is counterproductive if punishment is to contain any element of rehabilitation or teshuva. It has rightly been compared to sending an alcoholic to a distillery. The Talmud records that the Sanhedrin was unwilling to apply the full force of the law where punishment had lost its quality of deterrence; thus, 40 (or four) years before the destruction of the Temple, the Sanhedrin voluntarily left the precincts of the Temple so as not to be able, technically, to impose the death sentence, because it had noticed the increasing rate of homicide (Sanh. 41a, and elsewhere).
There is nothing in the Jewish law's letter or spirit that should incline us toward advocacy of imprisonment for homosexuals. The Halakhah did not, by and large, encourage the denial of freedom as a recommended form of punishment. Flogging is, from a certain perspective, far less cruel and far more enlightened. Since capital punishment is out of the question, and since incarceration is not an advisable substitute, we are left with one absolute minimum: strong disapproval of the proscribed act. But we are not bound to any specific penological instrument that has no basis in Jewish law or tradition.
How shall this disapproval be expressed? It has been suggested that, since homosexuality will never attain acceptance anyway, society can afford to be humane. As long as violence and the seduction of children are not involved, it would best to abandon all laws on homosexuality and leave it to the inevitable social sanctions to control, informally, what can be controlled.
However, this approach is not consonant with Jewish tradition. The repeal of anti-homosexual laws implies the removal of the stigma from homosexuality, and this diminution of social censure weakens society in its training of the young toward acceptable patterns of conduct. The absence of adequate social reproach may well encourage the expression of homosexual tendencies by those in whom they might otherwise be suppressed. Law itself has an educative function, and the repeal of laws, no matter how justifiable such repeal may be from one point of view, does have the effect of signaling the acceptability of greater permissiveness.
Some New Proposals
Perhaps all that has been said above can best be expressed in the proposals that follow.
First, society and government must recognize the distinctions between the various categories enumerated earlier in this essay. We must offer medical and psychological assistance to those whose homosexuality is an expression of pathology, who recognize it as such, and are willing to seek help. We must be no less generous to the homosexual than to the drug addict, to whom the government extends various forms of therapy upon request.
Second, jail sentences must be abolished for all homosexuals, save those who are guilty of violence, seduction of the young, or public solicitation.
Third, the laws must remain on the books, but by mutual consent of judiciary and police, be unenforced. This approximates to what lawyers call "the chilling effect", and is the nearest one can come to the category so well known in the Halakhah, whereby strong disapproval is expressed by affirming a halakhic prohibition, yet no punishment is mandated. It is a category that bridges the gap between morality and law. In a society where homosexuality is so rampant, and where incarceration is so counterproductive, the hortatory approach may well be a way of formalizing society's revulsion while avoiding the pitfalls in our accepted penology.
For the Jewish community as such, the same principles, derived from the tradition, may serve as guidelines. Judaism allows for no compromise in its abhorrence of sodomy, but encourages both compassion and efforts at rehabilitation. Certainly, there must be no acceptance of separate Jewish homosexual societies, such as - or specially - synagogues set aside as homosexual congregations. The first such "gay synagogue", apparently, was the "Beth Chayim Chadashim" in Los Angeles. Spawned by that city's Metropolitan Community Church in March 1972, the founding group constituted itself as a Reform congregation with the help of the Pacific Southwest Council of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations some time in early 1973. Thereafter, similar groups surfaced in New York City and elsewhere. The original group meets on Friday evenings in the Leo Baeck Temple and is searching for a rabbi - who must himself be "gay". The membership sees itself as justified by "the Philosophy of Reform Judaism". The Temple president declared that God is "more concerned in our finding a sense of peace in which to make a better world, than He is in whom someone sleeps with" (cited in "Judaism and Homosexuality" C.C.A.R. Journal, summer 1973, p. 38; five articles in this issue of the Reform group's rabbinic journal are devoted to the same theme, and most of them approve of the Gay Synagogue).
But such reasoning is specious, to say the least. Regular congregations and other Jewish groups should not hesitate to accord hospitality and membership, on an individual basis, to those "visible" homosexuals who qualify for the category of the ill. Homosexuals are no less in violation of Jewish norms than Sabbath desecrators or those who disregard the laws of kashrut. But to assent to the organization of separate "gay" groups under Jewish auspices makes no more sense, Jewishly, than to suffer the formation of synagogues that care exclusively to idol worshipers, adulterers, gossipers, tax evaders, or Sabbath violators. Indeed, it makes less sense, because it provides, under religious auspices, a ready-made clientele from which the homosexual can more easily choose his partners.
In remaining true to the sources of Jewish tradition. Jews are commanded to avoid the madness that seizes society at various times and in many forms, while yet retaining a moral composure and psychological equilibrium sufficient to exercise that combination of discipline and charity that is the hallmark of Judaism.
Source: Norman Lamm, “Judaism and the Modern Attitude to Homosexuality” in Encyclopedia Judaica Yearbook 1974 (194-205). Jerusalem: Keter.
Link: Is Judaism homophobic?
Why Neither Homosexuality nor Heterosexuality Exist in Judaism
Rabbi Joel Beasley teaches Bible, Talmud, and Philosophy, and develops creative learning programs in a variety of educational institutions near his home in Alon Shvut, Israel. This article first appeared in the Jewish Spectator, Winter 1998.
"God does not play tricks on His creations". - Talmud, Avoda Zara 3a
"I'm not a bad girl; I'm just drawn that way." - Jessica Rabbit, Who Shot Roger Rabbit? (1988).
Canadian columnist Barbara Amiel recently identified a product of Western culture she called the "azza," a person who prefaces comments with the words, "as a." "Azza left-handed pro-life Scottish-nationalist Elvis-imitator," for example, "I might find your remarks offensive." The azza preface grants critical immunity. Honest intellectual discussion is hard to come by with this ultra-sensitive, utilitarian character.
Amiel's words resonate in an era in which Jewish tradition is derided as bigoted and homophobic. Is there any relevance in this environment for the Torah view that the homosexual act is an "abomination" (Leviticus 18:22)? How can Judaism with its unambiguous position speak to this generation? As far as the Jewish religion goes, there are no homosexuals in the world, nor have there ever been. There are no heterosexuals either. Both terms are pejorative. They imply that the essence of existence lies somehow within the crass and the carnal. Human beings are reduced to their most primal function, as if the point of life was to contemplate the smorgasbord of sexual possibilities in the world.
From the Jewish perspective, identifying existentially as a homosexual or a heterosexual is as irrelevant as identifying as a ptyalizer (a person whose saliva flows excessively).The words may describe predilections or behavior, but they hardly capture the essence of the person. The Torah labels people not by their primal urges, but by their obligations to God. The Cohen, Levi, and Yisrael each play a different role within the apparatus of Divine worship. The adult keeps mitzvot, while the youth is exempt. The indentured servant, the non-Jewish citizen, and the free person all enjoy different monetary obligations. In dividing these responsibilities, God apparently did not care about human preferences, sexual or otherwise. He did not ask the Jewish people whether or not they would like to follow His Torah. According to the Midrash, He held the mountain over the entire nation and said, "take it." No azza interest group declined because of special needs. It was an offer no one could refuse.
In the pre-azza world, Jews tended to appreciate their Creator more, not only for bringing them out of bondage, but for enabling them to breathe. The Torah gave them the opportunity to express their gratitude. Before JFK, God told His people not to ask what He can do for them, but what they can do for Him. If any one label applies accurately to the Jew, it is Eved Hashem, servant of God. This may represent the main point of conflict between the ideology of the azza world and the Torah. The azza is concerned with rights. The Torah rarely discusses rights. It is more focused on responsibilities. Within its structured framework, people can maximize their own distinct talents and interests. Their ultimate task is to become partners with God in the world's creation -- literally by creating their unique selves in His image.
As part of this act of self-creation, people must see their personal qualities as constantly evolving. Branding themselves with labels stymies their potential for growth and destroys their partnership with God. Labels rarely describe people as they are. They more frequently become self-fulfilling prophecies. A child who is labeled "slow" from an early age feels defeated. Trying to rise above the low expectations seems futile.
Teshuvah, the assumption that any human quality can be changed if necessary to serve the Creator, allows individuals to maximize their potential beyond their wildest expectations. A child once assumed to have been slow can develop into a top scholar with the appropriate determination. Every destructive impulse can be directed towards appropriate holy activity.
The current consensus amongst Behavioral Psychologists supports the Torah's optimism with regards to change. With the right positive and negative reinforcement, people can adjust to any number of previously unimaginable realities. Behavioral conditioning usually works more efficiently at earlier ages, but all people can adjust to new situations if they are motivated.
According to sexual behaviorists like Masters and Johnson, babies are born neither heterosexual nor homosexual in any categorical sense (Human Sexuality, 1995, fifth edition). They are sexually malleable, and can remain in flux throughout their lifetimes. Whether sexuality is determined by biology or by the environment -- or both -- is a question that defies clear empirical proof. Regardless of the nature-nurture conundrum, sexual attraction is almost always influenced to some degree by external stimuli. Human preferences are complex and quirky. If chocolate ice cream tastes sensational today, it may taste less so tomorrow. People are inclined naturally towards aesthetic variation. That does not mean they should be free to act on their impulses. The Torah understands that unrestrained pursuit of personal pleasure takes a terrible toll on society, and creates havoc for the stability of the family.
What if people feel genuinely attracted to their own gender? This does not make them homosexual, even if they experience homosexual feelings. These feelings may or may not go away in time, but the Torah still expects that people adapt themselves as best they can to male-female marriage. There have always been people in the world who at least at one point in their lives are attracted to their own gender, to little children, to family members, to ever-changing sexual whims. God does not permit people to act out their fantasy lives if these conflict with His vision of holiness.
The Torah does not accept the concept of monogamous homosexual relationships because self-fulfillment is not part of its agenda. If human sexuality is influenced by environment, someone with homosexual ideation can potentially lead a fulfilled marital life. But even if their innermost desires remained unfulfilled, it does not matter. It may never become clear why some people do not feel predisposed to marrying someone of the opposite sex. The obligation remains.
Marriage is meant to teach people how to rise above their own selfish needs in order to give to a partner who is both psychologically and physiologically different. Same-gender marriages might have been too easy. As one essayist put it, male couples would have been able to sit around and watch ballgames all day; female couples would have been able to sit down and really talk about one another's feelings. But marriage is meant to challenge each of the partners. John Grey's bestsellers on the subject (Menare from Mars, Women are from Venus, et al.) have touched a raw nerve precisely because members of both sexes are aware of the difficulty in bridging the chasm between them.
Jews have always appreciated the gap between the sexes. The Torah sanctified it. The Jews were the first people in world history to make divorce difficult by forcing the man to pay a hefty sum before separating permanently from his wife. When the inevitable conflicts arose, neither spouse could run away so quickly. They had to stay together and work things out the hard way, often becoming finer individuals in the process. Divorce was a possibility, but only as a last resort after all other options had been explored. The constructive tension in marriage helped them grow.
Male-female marriage is a much more stable societal norm than monogamous same-sex relationships. Dennis Prager argues that men in particular need women as a civilizing force in order to tame their potentially unruly libidos ("Judaism, Homosexuality, and Civilization," Ultimate Issues ,April-June 1990). Societies that tolerated homosexual behavior in history were characterized almost without exception by the oppression and subjugation of women, by the elevation of male sexual gratification as a mainstream pastime, and by a lack of any persevering family life. Men by their nature are not as willing to commit to long-term relationships. Prager argues that "while it is possible for male homosexuals to live lives of fidelity comparable to those of heterosexual males, it is usually not the case." According to one study, the typical lesbian has fewer than ten lovers in the course of her active sexual life, the typical male homosexual has over five hundred (Bell and Weinberg, Homosexualities, Alfred Kinsey Institute for Sex Research, 1978).
God's idea of holiness is not always discernible to the human mind. These explanations may not fully account for the Torah's overall prohibition. They do refute the popular claim that the Torah would have sanctioned monogamous homosexual relationships if it had known about them. The prohibition was meant to be unambiguous and eternal. This is one reason the Torah is so spare with its words, "And do not lie with the male in the way you lie with a woman -- it is an abomination" (Leviticus 18:22). Try as they may, modern voices fail to twist these words beyond their unavoidably clear meaning.
God is not cruel. He does not ask people to do anything beyond their capacity. He does at times ask them to harness their desires. To some degree, all mitzvot go against the natural human grain. Without the social or ethical restraints that usually bind them, most people would steal, live promiscuously, lie, cheat, and occasionally murder, sometimes out of sheer convenience. The greatest struggle in life, according to the Torah, is to discipline base instincts in pursuit of moral excellence. People are bursting with inchoate spirituality. The truly righteous learn how to control their physical drives while striving to realize their loftiest convictions.
Many people diminish their potential by embracing labels. The self-proclaimed homosexual who engages in homosexual acts is not necessarily considered evil from a Torah perspective. The act is evil. The prohibition may be absolute, but Jews still have a priority of showing one another compassion, especially when doing the right thing becomes a struggle. There is no contradiction when those who condemn homosexual behavior reach out lovingly to self-identified "homosexuals." It means that they are able to see the Divine image in all people.
In a world that hypocritically accepts homosexuality in public and abhors it in private, the compassionate Jewish approach is unique. But for Judaism to be on the cutting edge is nothing new. The Midrash explains why our founder was called Avraham ha'ivri. While the rest of the world stood on one side(iver) of the river, Avraham bravely stood on the other. Jews are defined from the beginning of their history by their ability to stand firm in their beliefs despite the prevailing trends in the world. The Jewish views of monotheism, a limited monarchy, and freedom have rarely been endorsed by the historical powers of the world. Most of these powers themselves have died out, while the Jews and their Torah are as vibrant as ever. When homosexuality was exalted in Greek, Mayan, Chinese, Scandinavian cultures -- in fact almost every society in world history (see David E. Greenberg, The Construction of Homosexuality, 1988) -- the Jews stood resolutely by their ideal of male-female marriage.
People diminish themselves by insisting on azza-like labels. Strangely enough, in the modern world, identity often becomes enmeshed with career: "I am a secretary," "a lawyer," "a clerk," "an artist." These self-definitions are sadly accurate for those who accomplish little beyond their all-consuming careers. Others identify with their astrological signs, their lives assuming a kooky arbitrary dimension that seems beyond the individual's control. And some identify with their carnal preferences, as homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual, or otherwise sexually challenged. Sex indeed often dominates their lives. If their days and nights are not filled with pursuits of physical pleasure, their minute-to-minute fantasy life tends to be all-engrossing.
The Torah offers a finer alternative. Within God's scheme, career, cosmos, and sexuality are all part of life's intricate fabric. Judaism is not ascetic. The individual is supposed to appreciate the richness of God's physical creation. The key is to accept the Torah's parameters. Through discipline and a pursuit of holiness, the Torah teaches how to appreciate the spiritual gifts in the universe and thereby live the fullest kind of existence.
The Jewish Community
DO HOMOSEXUALS FIT INTO THE JEWISH COMMUNITY?
Written By: Bronya Shaffer (posted Jan. 2011)
According to Jewish law, how should a person react to homosexual feelings? Do homosexuals fit into the Jewish community?
You ask about feelings and law. But feelings do not fall within the domain of law. A person feels what a person feels. Then he has the power to decide whether he will act upon those feelings or… not. This is the human experience: desire, longing, wanting…and the law. Part of our development from childhood to adulthood is creating for ourselves a moral compass. Something that's internal. That which tells us right from wrong. And that moral compass is comprised of myriad components, but must be firmly grounded, always, in a system of absolutes. Absolute law. Absolute values. Torah. From the time we're very, very young we learn: this may be how you feel, but this is not how you may act. Consider a three year old who longs to use his grandmother's couch as a trampoline, consider what his mother will tell him. We feel what we feel. And we act according to the law: the law of the Torah, or the law of the land, or the laws of social niceties. And as we grow, clear about absolute laws, we develop our own moral compass.
We feel what we feel. And we act according to the lawSo what to do when our desires are for unequivocally forbidden acts? While firmly closing the door on the act, often we find that when we consistently redirect those emotions, again and again, the emotions are slowly tempered and change. Sometimes it takes just a little work, sometimes many years. Some feelings never go away. That is the challenge of being human.
Jewish law unconditionally prohibits the homosexual act. Just as the heterosexual act is prohibited outside of marriage, regardless of personal desires, attractions or inclinations, so the homosexual act is forbidden.
Or perhaps your question is in regard to how we should react to the homosexual feelings of others? Or how we should react to someone who eats on Yom Kippur? Or someone who longs for the relationship with a man other than her husband? On this, the classic work known as the Tanya provides strong advice: Consider what it means to have such burning passions for forbidden fruit. Consider the day to day fierce and relentless battle demanded to conquer such passions. Consider that a person with such feelings who fails even once in such a battle is sinning. And then ask yourself, "Do I ever fight such a battle on my own ground? What makes me any better than him?"
The Tanya continues to illustrate the many areas in which all of us could improve by waging at least a small battle on our own ground.
On your question concerning community: A Jew belongs within a Jewish community. There are no application forms and no qualification requirements. He's Jewish—that's where he belongs. Period. We all have our challenges, our shortcomings, our feelings...and our failures in battle as well...and with all that, we are a community of Jews.
Wishing you all the best,
Bronya Shaffer for Chabad.org
DOES HOMOSEXUALITY INCORPORATE THE SEXUAL HOLINESS VALUES OF JUDAISM?
Much of today's world denies the concept of sexual holiness, and sees sex as but another natural function - like eating, drinking or defecating. The sex act itself is therefore compared, or even equated, to drinking a glass of water. Judaism, on the other hand, clearly believes sex between a husband and a wife is a "kiddushin", a sanctification, a holy act commanded by G-d.
Conjugal Sex's Unique Holiness in Judaism:
The sacredness of lawful sex which lies at the heart of traditional Judaism is often forgotten. As R.Patai tells us in "Sex and Family in the Bible and the Middle East," while the ancient Canaanites saw "the entire sexual aspect of life as surrounded by an aura of sanctity," and believed that "performing the sexual act in honor of a deity was a religious practice" (the saturnalia), their view permitted sexual pairings of all kinds - heterosexual, homosexual, incestuous, pederastic and group sex - in order to sexually stimulate the gods, who were watching, so they would then make the herds, fields and women fertile.
When the Hebrews accepted the existence of One Lawful G-d, the pagan notion of sex as holy was retained but was severely limited by recognizing a sacred sexuality solely in the marital bed. Adultery, premarital sex for women, homosexuality, incest and bestiality were therefore banned. "The revolution begun by the Torah when it declared war on the sexual practices of the world wrought the most far-reaching changes in history," according to Dennis Prager in "Judaism, Homosexuality and Civilization." It was Judaism that demanded that all sexual activity be channeled into marriage, and thus, as Prager observed, "it changed the world."
David Gelernter recently maintained in Commentary Magazine (2003) that "husband and wife create a whole man out of two halves. Their sexual union is inherently blessed whether a child is engendered or not. The cult of the couple has given marriage in Judaism a supreme (and unique) importance." With the notion of "the married couple at the center of the universe," Jews "celebrate sexuality."
This view of sex as serious, sacred, and limited to one's spouse contradicts America's increasing trivialization of sex. And, in turn, the trivialization produced in young people's minds by previous experiences with many partners weakens the emotional exclusivity with which they view the marital sexual bond. This has become a major psychological reason for America's high divorce rate.
The intense sexual pleasure which marriage brings both partners helps create and maintain love and affection between them. (The importance of a wife's sexual satisfaction has long been stressed by Jewish sages.) The marital trust evoked by sexual fidelity helps create homes in which children learn the love and trust upon which civilization itself rests.
On the contrary, feminist, gay and other political movements have systematically minimized or denied the biological differences between men and women. As leading advocates of sexual freedom and promiscuity, these movements represent the major political enemies of fidelity and sexual holiness. In doing so, they hide one of Judaism's greatest contributions to civilization, that is, the transformation of raw biological sexuality and the inborn attraction of male and female, by channeling it into the faithful, sacred love of the Song of Solomon.
A Word on Homosexual Ideology
Andrew Sullivan, one of the homosexual movement's leading ideologists, refers to the "natural urges in a particular person that may run counter to the nature of the species as a whole." Judaism calls such defiance for its own sake "the evil inclination." Sullivan, however, goes on to illustrate how "homosexuals have delighted in showing in their ironic games with the dominant culture" that they can be "ultimately immune to its [society's] control." This finding suggests the centrality of defiance as part of the psychology within many gays. In contrast, obedience to the Law is, of course, the essence of Judaism.
The Opposite Natures of Homosexual and Traditional Marriage
The real conflict between homosexual and traditional marriage is the reliance on different standards that are found in two competing cultures: one of fidelity and the other of "freedom" (or promiscuity) . Fidelity - sexual exclusivity - is at the heart of both Jewish and Christian traditional marriage between men and women. But gay couples are apparently more interested in sexual variety. Of 156 such couples who had lived together for at least 5 years ( many were together for 20 years or more) and were interviewed by a pair of gay researchers named McWhirter and Mattison, only seven had a totally exclusive relationship--however, none of these seven had been in their relationship for more than five years . Indeed, these researchers concluded that "the single most important factor that keeps [these gay] couples together past the ten year mark is the lack of possessiveness they feel. Many couples learn very early in their relationship that ownership of each other sexually can become the greatest internal threat to their staying together."
Another pair of gay investigators (M.Kirk and H. Madsen in "After the Ball") describe "the cheating ratio of 'married' gay males, given enough time, [as] approaching 100%." This being how gay couples actually behave, the notion of faithful homosexual marriage, although doubtlessly occasionally occurring, appears rather questionable.
The gay and feminist political movements hold strong power positions, especially in the mass media, and are now attempting to use the U.S. Supreme Court's recent Lawrence decision to get further acceptance of homosexuality as equal, if not superior, to heterosexuality. For example, New York Times national political correspondent Richard Berke told the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association that at times, "literally three-quarters of the people deciding what's on the front page are not-so-closeted homosexuals." And the American psychiatric, psychological and social work associations are trying to declare unethical any psychotherapeutic attempts to help people wanting to change from homosexuality.
While any two or more people can make whatever private contracts they wish, the acceptance of legally and/or religiously-approved homosexual marriage would gravely undermine the uniquely sacred nature of traditional marriage. For those of us who practice Judaism as a religion and understand the sacredness of a sanctified relationship between a man and woman which is called marriage, a so-called homosexual "marriage" would be comparable to a Jew trying to kosher a pig.
- Dr. Nathaniel S. Lehrman
(Posted to JONAH Online Library - April 2004)
DEAR PARENTS, RABBIS, THERAPISTS,TEACHERS AND THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
JONAH was chosen as our group's name both as an acronym for Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality and to represent the biblical Book of JONAH. The Book of JONAH is the Torah portion read on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and thus the classic parable of repentence and returning to G-D. For all Jews, Yom Kippur represents the culmination of 40 days of reflection, evaluation, and the willingness to change what has not worked well in our lives.
The myths surrounding the attempt to normalize homosexuality have left many of us confused and bewildered. We want to be good people, we don't want to discriminate against our sisters and brothers who experience same-sex attractions, and yet - if we embrace someone's homosexuality as G-D given and natural, are we doing the right thing? Recent scientific evidence bolsters the traditional scientific evidence that leads us to believe that same-sex attractions represent a drive to meet unmet love needs. Based on the numerous articles and papers you will read on the JONAH web site, JONAH's position on how the Jewish community should respond to this issues is as follows:
We love our fellow Jews too much to watch them embrace the false identity of homosexuality. The Torah teaches us that homosexuality is a behavior, not an identity. This idea is further clarified in a letter of support from Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky who powerfully stated, " Anything that the Torah forbids, the human being is able to control."
Empirical evidence is clear that homosexuality is changeable and so we need to devote ourselves to teaching the public about the prevention, causes, and treatment of homosexuality.
For those of us who are parents and family members of those experiencing same-sex attractions, we need to admit that we probably unwittingly contributed to our children's homosexual attractions. Therefore, we need to provide an example of how we as people need to grow and change ourselves so that we can express our love for our children more fully, improve our relationship with them, and teach by example that we all have the capacity to change even deeply-rooted conflicts.
As Jews, we also need to insure that families and communities do not ostracize their children who live a homosexual lifestyle. It is heartless to reject a child for something that is not his/her fault. In the words of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, we must "take a loving and caring attitude by extending a helping hand."
We need to reach out to those experiencing same-sex attractions and let them know that we will support them in every way possible if they decide to transition out of homosexuality and recover their heterosexual potential. However, we will love and cherish them as the individuals they are even if they choose to stay in a homosexual lifestyle.
We must reach out with love and compassion and an understanding that many times the worst treatment of homosexuals comes from their own internalized sense of shame and guilt. Alternatively, gay activists seek a cult-like environment to keep a person with a confused sense of gender identiuty within the bounds of the so-called gay lifestlye. Homosexuals are us and we are them, they were not born a different class of persons, they were not born different. No one chooses to be a homosexual anymore than you would choose to be an obese person, an alcoholic, or anyone afflicted with a life-damaging condition, which if we are honest, includes almost all of us in one way or another.
We need to work together to figure out the best way to explain that we can love our fellow Jews and yet encourage them to change. We must be honest and let the public know that in every way measurable, the cons outweigh the pros of a homosexual lifestyle, whether or not the government or a religious body gives its approval to homosexuality. It is simply cruel to tell young people experiencing same-sex attractions that a homosexual lifestyle will give them the same chance at living a full life as a heterosexual lifestyle - we know it won't and we must stand up to the "politically correct" rhetoric of our times and speak the truth.
In closing, we all gain when the issues surrounding homosexuality are out of the closet, when the stigma of being a homosexual is lessened, when recovered homosexuals are not ashamed to speak out and give hope to others, when parents can admit their mistakes, when our fellow Jews know that we love them enough to stand up and fight for their right to live a normal life, and when the world understands the underlying causes of same-sex attractions.
We all need to join together, speak out, publicize our cause, and help our fellow Jews who are suffering from unwanted same-sex attractions.
Shalom with love,
Elaine Silodor Berk,
Co-Director of JONAH
HOMOSEXUALITY AND JUDAISM
Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society, Volume XI - 1986
Homosexuality, once a word whispered only with revulsion or derision, is now out in the open for all to see and hear. In fact, homosexuality and its attendant issues have become big news.
Whether it is the rapidly spreading, and ever-more frightening AIDS epidemic, or the increase in sympathetic "gay" characters in the theater and in literature, or the widening legal battles over the status of homosexuals, one cannot go very far in contemporary society with out confronting this once extremely closet-bound topic.
Traditional Judaism, too, has been forced to confront the issue as "gay" individuals and "synagogues" have appeared on the Jewish landscape, often appealing for support from the liberal segments of the Jewish community.
Certainly, an authentic Jewish response must begin with the biblical prohibition against homosexuality. The Bible unequivocally states that a homosexual act between two consenting adult males is a capital crime(1). Therefore, homosexuality is an activity that no traditional Jew can engage in, endorse, accept, or approve of (recent televised statements to the contrary notwithstanding)(2).
Despite this initial biblical negative, there is much to discuss regarding our attitude to the homosexual, the issue of the homosexual's place in the community, the question of approach and the treatment of the homosexual, and the problem of the homosexual's rights and acceptance in society. In addition, we must consider why the Bible and Jewish thought reject homosexuality keeping in mind as we do that female homosexuality, though forbidden, is not nearly as serious a crime as is its male counterpart(3).
Drawing the Right Picture
Our analysis of Judaism's approach to homosexuality begins with the question, "What is Judaism's view of the Jewish homosexual?" It is this author's contention that the only appropriate answer to this question is "there is no such individual(4)."
To explain this rather radical statement, one must go back to the structure that halacha places upon Jewish society. In this structure there are certain legal personalities who constitute the dramatis personae of the Jewish community. A Cohen is such a personality, as is a Levi. A woman is such a personality, as is a slave or a king. Other "characters" populate the Jewish landscape. The mamzer and the Cohen Gadol, the Katan and the gadol, the cheresh and the shoteh each has his place in the scheme of things(5). Lacking from this list is the homosexual. So much is he missing from the cast of characters of Jewish society that one is hard put to find a halachic term used specifically for him(6).
If one were, in fact, to apply a halachic category to this individual, it would be the general category of mumar l'teiavon (one whose desires put him in opposition to Torah law), specifically mumar l'mishkav zachor (one who because of his repeated involvement in homosexual activity is in opposition to Torah law). Such a category exists in halachic literature(7), is clearly defined, and places the homosexual on a equal footing with other mumarim who violate other laws.
It seems clear from this that halacha never viewed the homosexual as a member of a unique category or as different from the non-homosexual. He has no greater or lesser rights or obligations. He deserves no special treatment or concessions nor any special vilification. In fact, the term "homosexual" is an essentially inappropriate description for him. We should, rather, refer to this individual as a person engaged in homosexual activity. "Homosexual" is therefore not a noun that identifies and categorizes the individual but an adjective that describes his activity.
This approach has great intuitive appeal. It is hard to imagine Jewish thought accepting the premise the sexual desires and activities provide grounds by which to define an individual's place in the community. In addition, there are vast and important ramifications that emerge from this picture of the individual as a person involved in homosexual activity and not as a homosexual.
The first effect of this changed conceptualization is to alter and improve the individual's perception of himself. If one is labeled and defined by the term "homosexual", he is consequently different than the heterosexual. As such, he will struggle for minority status and for his rights as a member of that minority. He is, and should be, portrayed as a unique character type in movies, theater, and on television, and he should command an appropriate number of participants in any institution that constitutes itself along racial, ethnic, and religious lines. He agitates for gay pride and gay power, and if he is Jewish, he creates gay synagogues and other gay institutions.
On the other hand, If "homosexual" is a term that is limited to the description of an activity, then the individual practicing this activity remains an undifferentiated member of society, and if Jewish he is part of Jewish society. He need not feel excluded from the community. In the same way that the adulterer, the practitioner of pre-marital sex, the mechallel Shabbat(8) or the speaker of lashon harah all enter the synagogue and feel at home while individually dealing with whatever guilt they carry as a result of their sinful activities, so, too, the individual involved in homosexual activity can and should enter the synagogue and feel himself to be part of the community. He is still a human being and a Jew. He is most assuredly not part of a separate homosexual society or sub-society. (See below for a discussion of the Gentile homosexual.) Obviously, the adulterer, mechallel Shabbat, et al are duty-bound to change their ways - to do teshuva - and the mumar l'mishkav zachor has the same obligation(9).
The second implication of this approach concerns the community's dealings with the individual involved in homosexual activity. If the practitioner of homosexuality is considered a full fledged Jew (albeit a mummar), the community should welcome him as such. This is particularly true in our post-holocaust era, wherein our heightened awareness of the value of each Jewish soul has motivated many communities to make kiruv rechokim (attempts to bring non-observant Jews into the fold of Torah-observance) a hallmark of their activities. This Kiruv work should not and cannot be limited only to violators of halacha in ritual matters. Deviance from halachic norms in sexual matters is as much an area for concern, outreach, and proper education as anything else. Particularly in an area that is as difficult to control as sexual desire(10), the support of the community for one who might want to bring his lifestyle in line with halacha may be crucial to success.
At this point something should be said about the term "toeivah(11)" as used by the Torah in connection with homosexuality. Some may feel that its appearance in this context precludes treating the practitioner of homosexuality in the same way that one would treat an individual who is guilty of a different sin. The problem with this suggestion is that to be consistent we would require similarly negative treatment of the persons who eats non-Kosher food(12) the idolator(13), the unethical business man(14) and the individual who remarries a woman who, since her divorce from him, has entered and left (by death or divorce) another marriage to another man(15). All of these individuals are guilty of committing a toeivah, according to the respective verses that prohibit the particular activity. If we are going to ostracize the individual who commits homosexual acts, then we must ostracize these individuals as well. Since we do not take this approach in the other cases, we should not do so in dealing with the individual involved in homosexual activity.
How then to understand the toeivah designation? In an article in the Encyclopedia Judaica Yearbook, Dr Norman Lamm(16) defines toeivah in aesthetic terms. These actions are repulsive in and of themselves; no rationale or explanation is necessary. Rather, the divine aspect within the human being is automatically and instinctively repelled by these activities. The fact that any number of individuals are possessed of a deadened spiritual sensitivity that allows them to accept or even participate in the acts in question, does not mean that the spiritually sensitive individual allows his revulsion to be diminished nor does he apologize for that revulsion.
Further, it is important to note that the wording of the act in question indicates that this revulsion is directed only at the act and not at its perpetrator. The perpetrator is not to be ostracized. One who commits a toeivah is halachically and societally no different than one who commits a transgression of a non-toeivah law of equal severity.
Although it may be true that a leopard cannot change its sports, Judaism holds that a human being can change or control his activities(17). While we certainly recognize that many individuals have personality factors that would tend to promote certain sinful activities, our expectation is that these individuals will control these tendencies. We no more would accept the act of murder as legitimate because the perpetrator is prone to violence, then we should accept the act of homosexuality as inevitable because of the existence of biological, genetic, or environmental factors that may contribute to an individual's preference for homosexual acts. A rational individual can control himself, and no amount of apologetics, explanations, or rationalizations can change this fundamental fact. Simply put, the individual engaged in homosexual activity is wrong in what he is doing and is held responsible for having done it.
It is on this issue that the approach presented here parts company most completely with Dr.Lamm's view. Whereas Dr. Lamm(18) sees the homosexual as an anuss (an individual forced into heredity and/or environment into activity that the Bible forbids) this author sees him as mumar. Whereas Dr. Lamm effectively removes culpability from him (anuss rachma patrie(19)), this author insists that creating a sense of culpability is an integral part of the approach that Judaism should take in confronting the individual involved in homosexual activity. This sense of culpability may be just the push necessary for the individual to begin the teshuva process.
The view presented here seems more in keeping with biblical(20), talmudic(21) and other halachic sources(22). The consistent position taken by these sources is that the homosexual is ultimately subject to punishment for his actions. The halachic system fully expects that an individual properly warned, witnessed, and brought to trial for this act be killed. There is no indication anywhere in the literature that such individuals have a prima facie defense as anussim.
Dr. Lamm(23) supports his approach by arguing that present public policy and social reality preclude punishment of all offenders. We must, therefore, maintain our condemnation of the act while refraining from dealing punitively with the offender. In his view, this can best be done by treating the offender as an anuss.
However, there is nothing in his argument that prevents our labeling the individual as a mumar. We do not punish Sabbath violators, or those who eat treif. Environment/heredity is not enough to label the individual involved in homosexual activity an anuss. Rather label him a mumar, indicating that he is responsible for his actions.
Further, a stance such as Dr. Lamm's seems to carry with it the possibility of pushing the individual presently questioning his own sexual orientation over the wrong edge.
After all, if biology/upbringing is the cause, and the participant is only the victim of irresistible forces, he has a handy excuse and less of a reason not to succumb to his desires.
Labeling one a mumar does not necessarily mean that the community should respond with public condemnation and rejection or the individual. In an era which lacks a Sanhedrin and adequate Jewish communal structures we have long tolerated, worked with, and even welcomed and accepted violators of many halachot within our community. It is necessary, therefore, to couple our tolerance of the individual with disapproval of the activity. This must then be combined with an expectation and hope that the individual will change his behavior. Calling him a mumar, if handled correctly, strengthens the chances for change.
The subject of change brings us to our next point. Jewish thought would argue that homosexually oriented individuals can change their sexual orientation and can ultimately develop an interest in and derive pleasure from heterosexual activity. This conclusion is an obvious consequence of our discussion thus far. If a homosexual act is punishable, and if we expect he individual who has homosexual desires to avoid giving in to them, what then is the life situation of such and individual? There seem to be two possibilities. One: such and individual cannot change his feelings. If this is the case he is a prisoner trapped in a body which, while commanded to marry an procreate, has an emotional structures that finds such a concept at best unfulfilling and at worst a living purgatory. Two: change - and a normal, happy, fulfilled life marriage and heterosexual union are possible.
We are told by the Talmud(24) that G-d does not play tricks on His creations. Particularly as the area of sexuality is an area of such deeply personal implications to any individual, it is difficult imagine G-d creating a situation wherein those who feel themselves to possess a homosexual orientation cannot change and are consequently locked in a living prison with no exit and no key. Therefore, some method or methods must exist to successfully change the sexual orientation of motivated individuals. It's heartening to note that a recent study (25),indicates a 70% success rate among such individuals. It is unfortunate that the mass media and most mental health professionals publicly portray the goal "acceptance of one's orientation" as the optimum, while downplaying or denying the possibility of change. Our task must be to publicize the possibility of change, and the relevant statistics that now become statistics of hope. We also should encourage the mental health community to develop new and even more effective methods to alter the sexual orientation of those striving to live Torah-true lifestyle.
Perhaps one further support for the idea that homosexual orientation is at least preventable, if not totally changeable, is the anomalous fact that one community in which the percentage of homosexual preference is significantly lower than in the general population is the Orthodox Jewish community(26).
It is almost as if halacha rejects the notion of an individual called a homosexual, rejects the necessity of the homosexual act for any individual, rejects the idea of an irrevocable homosexual orientation, and then creates a society in which these ideals can, apparently quite successfully, be lived.
Judaism rejects the suggestions that homosexuality is either a form of mental illness or an "acceptable alternate lifestyle." Judaism's positions would be a third and as yet unconsidered option. Homosexuality is an activity entered into volitionally by individuals, who may be psychologically healthy, which is maladaptive and inappropriate. Depending on one's theory, it may indicate arrested development, poor family structure, early trauma, frustration of the purpose of creation, disruption of the basic family structure, unnatural behavior, etc.
But whatever the case it constitutes activity that will diminish an individual's capacity to fulfill, in his own life, G-d's expressed plan for creation. As such, this individual cannot achieve his full potential as a human being(27). Therefore, our task is to treat and redirect this individual to more appropriate and fulfilling activity.
Gentile Homosexuals
One question not addressed directly in the previous section is, "Why does Judaism not recognize the existence of a homosexual sub-group within the Jewish community?"
Of course, one might answer that as the act of homosexuality is forbidden, Judaism would no more grant official status to those who practice it than it would grant such status to murderers, thieves, or adulterers. This answer may, in fact, be sufficient and perhaps we should simply turn to the next section and the discussion of the rationale for Judaism's negative approach to the entire issue of homosexuality.
However, there may be another more profound and far-reaching answer to this question. The Sifra states(28)
"I did not say this except for those laws inscribed for them [the Gentiles] their fathers' father. What did they [the Gentiles, as opposed to the Jews] do? Men would marry men, and women would marry women".
This seems to indicate a difference between homosexuality when it makes its appearance in the Jewish community. For the Gentile, homosexuality is a reality that is part of his heritage. For a Jew, homosexuality is a foreign incursion.
Additional support for this division along national lines can be adduced from the prohibition against female homosexuality. This prohibition, though not explicitly stated in the Bible, is derived from the same verse, Leviticus 18:2, that elicits the comment of the Sifra quoted above. The verse reads: "After the doings of the land Egypt wherein you lived you shall not do, and after the doings of the land of Canaan where I am bringing you, you shall not do, nor shall you walk in the statutes." This source provides a further indication that homosexuality is viewed as a foreign element in Jewish society. It may well be that this factor contributes to halacha's unwillingness to recognize a homosexual subgroup within Jewish society.
Statistics show significantly reduced levels of homosexual men in Orthodox Jewish circles as compared to all other segments of society. Further indication of this anomaly is provided by the dearth of questions relating to homosexuality and individuals involved in homosexual activity in halachic and responsa literature(29).
One obvious question remains. Does halacha recognize a homosexual individual who cannot change, and therefore a homosexual sub-community in the Gentile world?
The answer to this question seems unclear. On the one hand the Sifra quoted above indicates a belief that at least some Gentile homosexuals develop their sexual orientation because of a traditional cultural heritage. This would tend to support the idea the halacha acknowledges the possibility of a homosexual subgroup in Gentile society.
On the other hand, none of the stories from the Bible, such as the sin of Ham, the men of Sodom, or the Potiphar's true purpose in purchasing Joseph as his slave, portray any of the individuals as totally homosexual. All are either married (in the normal fashion) or are said to father children in the course of their lives. This would seem to indicate that pure homosexuality was considered an aberration even if found in Gentile circles.
Further, halacha prescribes the death penalty for homosexual acts committed between Gentile men(30). Our tendency would therefore be to deny that halacha recognizes a homosexual community among Gentiles. If we, in fact, did recognize such a community would we not be advocating genocide towards it? Such a position is obviously troubling.
Condemnation of Homosexuality - Why?
In discussions of the Jewish view of homosexuality, the question "Why does Judaism condemn a pleasurable, victimless act that tales place between two consenting adults?" often takes center stage. Although explanations are not lacking in the literature a truly consistent approach should also shed some light on why female homosexuality, though forbidden, is far less heinous a crime than male homosexuality(31).
In fact, a number of suggested answers suffer from a failure to adequately explain this last point.
One such approach centers around the primacy of family and children in our system of values. The practice of male homosexuality obviously frustrates the implementation of these values(32). But so does the practice of female homosexuality. Yet the two are not treated with equal severity.
A second approach argues that homosexuality is somehow unnatural. Our bodies are constructed to act in certain ways, and the practice of male homosexuality prevents these ways(33). Once again, female homosexuality seems to be every bit as unnatural as the male variety, yet we do not react to it in the same way.
Often, those who advocate these two approaches resort to the "hashchatat zera" (destruction of seed) argument(34). Since male homosexuality involves hashchatat zera and female homosexuality does not, the prohibition as violated by the man is more stringent.
There are two problems with the treatment of the male participant. Hashchatat xera in other contexts does not entail the death penalty(35).
However, males involved in homosexual activity (as opposed to females) are subject to capital punishment. Hashchatat zera, therefore, does not appear to be a significant enough factor to explain this severe reaction of the part of Torah law.
Second, the biblical prohibition concerns the homosexual act and not hashchatat zera. In Jewish law, homosexual activity, if consummated, is a capital crime even if there is not hotzaat zera, yet male physical contact, even if it results in hotzaata zera, is not punishable in this way unless actual sexual consummation occurs(36). For these reasons, the approaches cited seem unable to serve as complete explanations for the Torah view of this issue.
However, one variation of the "unnatural"theme seems to fare better in dealing with our question. This position takes its definition of natural, not from physiology and nature as studied in the laboratory, but from nature as defined in the Torah. The Torah says:
"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and cleave to his wife and they shall be as one flesh(37)".
The Torah has, in the verse, defined "natural" as man and women united in heterosexual union. Any person engaged in homosexual activity acts against G-d's natural order of things, and is therefore culpable. However, women involved in homosexuality are less in violation of the "natural" then men as it says: "He shall cleave…..and they shall be as one flesh", can be accomplished by males in homosexual union but not by females. This explanation seems to deal neatly with the various facets of the problem(38).
One other approach to the question of why Judaism has such antipathy to homosexuality deserves mention(39). This approach expands on the argument "And he shall cleave and they shall be as one flesh...", reintroduces the centality of the family in Judaism to the discussion of homosexuality, and treats the halachic differences between male and female homosexuality in a rather interesting way. This explanation argues that homosexuality, when it did occur at all in the Jewish community, usually occurred in a bisexual context and not as an exclusively homosexual orientation on the part of the individual. Individuals raised in the Jewish community usually possessed a strong sense of family as part of their tradition and heritage. This, coupled with the desire to find personal continuity into the next generation and with communal pressure to marry, would naturally lead almost everyone to establish a marriage relationship. Unfortunately, some individuals might seek additional companionship elsewhere. This outside companionship could possibly be homosexual in nature. Such an outside relationship might then be devastating to the special intimacy between husband and wife and to the family, the fundamental building block and most important religious institution in Jewish society
Many rabbinic discussions allude to homosexuality in a strongly negative tone(40). The Talmud(41) discusses the meaning of the term "toeivah" as used the context of homosexuality. Says Bar Kapparah, "toeivah" means "to'eh ata ba", "your have strayed from her." This phrase is explained by Tosafot as meaning:
"That they leave their wives to follow homosexuality."
This statement seems to embody the essence of the proposed explanation.
Whether because of different emotional needs on the part of women, their status in society, or because of the physiological impossibility of "He shall cleave ...and they shall be as one flesh", on the part of women, male homosexuality is considered a far more serious danger in this context and is, therefore, treated with greater severity.
Our discussion to this point leads to the following conclusions:
Homosexuality is an activity, not a state of being. Put another way, "homosexual" is an adjective, not a noun.
Homosexual activity is wrong.
Homosexuality may be a foreign incursion into Judaism.
The perpetrator of homosexual activity is held responsible for the activity.
We expect individuals involved in such activity to make every attempt to stop the activity and to alter their sexual orientation.
No greater halachic stigma attaches to the practitioner of homosexuality than the Sabbath violator or the violator of many other divine commandments.
In light of these conclusions the traditional Jewish community should agree on the following goals:
The primary goal should be to create an environment that is most conducive to motivating the practitioner of homosexuality to want to change his orientation.
In the absence of this motivation or during a period when initial attempts to change are unsuccessful, our task is to keep this individual within the Torah community. We must create a situation which offers a positive alternative to the "gay synagogue" and to the even worse choice of complete abandonment and assimilation.
It would seem that these goals can best be realized by implementing the following agenda:
All unnecessary negative stigma must be removed from the individual involved in homosexual activity. Such an individual must be encouraged to see himself as someone with a problem that he is responsible to overcome, and not as a person who has been defined by his sexual orientation.
At the same time that the individual is told of his responsibility to change, he must also be told, with great compassion, that we recognize the difficulty of his task and that we are willing to help in any way possible.
This is similar, in general terms, to the way in which we treat others such as the alcoholic.
Specific programs of outreach to those participating in homosexual activities should be implemented so that those best able to respond to the questions of these individuals will have a chance to work with them. Contemporary Jewish organizations do Kiruv (outreach) work with individuals who violate many commandments. We must do the same with those whose failures are sexual areas. This is particularly true because of the all-pervasive nature of sexual desire and because of the constant encounter with sexual imagery that pervades our society.
Mental health professionals must be encouraged to develop new and better therapeutic techniques to alter sexual orientation. Methods that are even partly successful must be highlighted and publicized to offer hope to those who would want to change.
The issue of homosexuality is an extremely sensitive, difficult, and emotional one. It is a topic that creates a sense of discomfort and even revulsion not only in those who may have been personally involved in such activity, but also in many who have never had any personal contact with it at all. Stereotyping and personal doubts about one's sexuality tend to maintain and reinforce these reactions and the AIDS scare has given them new impetus. Our response as Torah-true Jews must be to reject these prejudical and counter-productive reactions. On the other hand, we cannot equivocate in our opposition to homosexual activity. This is particularly true in light of the media's continuing portrayal of homosexuals as positive role models and the increasing acceptance of the homosexual as a minority group with "legitimate" civil rights.
The program described above entails walking a difficult tightrope between condemnation of an act and acceptance of the perpetrator as a Jew worth saving. We cannot close our eyes and pretend that a problem of this magnitude will go away. It is our task to present a legitimate Jewish response, balancing our opposition to homosexual activity with our concern for the human beings involved.
1. Levitacus 18:22 and 20:13
2. On WNBC TV's "Donahue" show during a discussion of the controversial Harvey Milk High School for homosexual students, June 12, 1985
3. See below for sources.
4. Spero, M.H., in (a) "Homosexuality: Clinical and Ethical Challenges", Judaism and Psychology Halalchic Perspectives, Yeshiva University, New York,1980 and (b) "Further Examinations of the Halalchic Status of Homosexuality". Proceedings of the Association of Orthodox Jewish Scientists, vol. 7, 1983, disagrees with this position and claims that a homosexual personality, as defined by desires, orientation and lifestyle does exist, and that this state is intrinsically prohibited. In addition to the philosophical problems discussed in the article that arise from this position, there is an even more serious problem, with his approach. The sources that Spero uses to support his position, Torah Temimah to Genesis 2;24, San Hedrin 58a, "T.J. 'Kiddushin" 1;1, all deal with Gentiles. Although anything forbidden to Gentiles is forbidden to Jews, the prohibition against existing in a homosexual state cannot apply to Jews if the state does not exist for Jews. At best Spero has supported the idea of a homosexual subgroup in Gentile society. See below for discussion.
5. The Mishnayot in the third chapter of at Tractate Horiyot and the Mishnayot in the eighth chapter of Yevamot. The categories of individuals mentioned here are Cohen-priest, Levi, mamzer-product of an adulterous or incestuous marriage, Cohen Gadol-high priest, katan-child, gadol-adult, cheresh-deaf-mute, shoteh-mental incompetent. This list is by no means complete.
6. Roveia (c.f. Sanhedren 9b) refers to only one aspect of the homosexual act and is also used for other sexual acts, e.g. bestiality (Levitacus 18:23 and Mishna Sanhedrin, 1;4), and intercourse between animals (Levitacus 19;19 and T.j. Avodah Zorah 40a) A. Even-Shoshan, HaMilon Hehadash, s.v. Ravah, sees this first meaning as the primary and original meaning of the term. Interestingly R. Ishmael (Sanhedren 54b) requires a different verse ( Deut. 23;18) to warn the "female" participants in the homosexual act than the verse (Levitacus 18;22) which warns the "male" participant. As a result if an individual plays both roles at one time he is punishable for two sins. R. Akiva disagrees and allows an alternate reading of the verse in Levitacus to serve as warning for the "female" participant, and consequently holds that an individual who plays both roles at once is punishable only once. It seems that R. Ishmael, certainly, and R.Akiva, probably, saw the two types of activity as being different. This strikes another blow against "Roveia" being a term for a homosexual and another blow against one who would want to suggest that the rabbis did recognize a homosexual personality. If there are two types of actions involved and two different verses or readings needed to cover them, there can not be a homosexual in Jewish law. If there were such an individual one verse should be sufficient. Other possible terms such as Shochev Im Zecharim or Shochev Mishkivei Isha are awkward and do not appear in colloquial usage. The modern transliteration of homosexual into Hebrew only proves the point that no term exists.
7. See Avodah Zorah 26b, Hulin 5a, Horiyot 11a, Rambam Yad, Hilchot Teshuva 3:9 and Kesef Mishnah ad. Loc, Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 2, and Choshen Mishpat, 266:2. Some might argue that homosexuals who are exclusively homosexual are actually Mumarim L'hachis (following Rashi A.Z., ad. loc., sv. L'Teiavon). Although some militant homosexuals may come close to this definition, the emotional conflicts and extenuating circumstances involved make it difficult to describe most, if any, homosexuals as having actively chosen to reject permissible sexual relations for forbidden ones in the same way that Rasi describes the Mumar L'hachis' behavior regarding non-kosher meat. Even if one could define some or all homosexually oriented individuals as Mumarim L'hachis the comment of the Chazon Ish quoted in the next footnote would allow us to treat such an individual in the same way that we would treat a Mumar L'Teiavon i.e. like any other Jew (see kesef Mishneh loc. cit.).
8. It is well known that if one violates the Sabbath in public there is a serious stigma attached (see Hulin 3a-6b and Eruvin 69a.). However, the equating of the Sabbath desecrator and the Idolator is rarely applied in anymore then a pedagogic sense in contemporary halachic literature ( aee R. Moshe Feinstein, Iggerot Moshe, Orach Chaim, 1, No. 23 and especially 1, No. 33). In addition to R. Feinstein's lenient stance on Mechallelel Shabbat, The Chazon Ish Yoreh Deah 2;16, says that the stringent treatment of transgressors described in the Talmud does not apply today, as such treatment will cause greater abandonment of Judaism. Since our task is to improve the situation and not to make it worse, the only approach to take with sinners is "to bring them back with ropes of love." This statement form the Chazon Ish could serve as the central message of this article.
9. Rambam, Sefer Hamitzvot Positive Commandment, No. 73.
10. "There is no guardian against unchastity" (Ketubot 13b and Hulin 11b), or the even more dramatic, "even the most pious of the piuos is not appointed guardian over unchastity" (T) Ketubot 1;8). See also Rambam, Issurei Biah, 2:19, that inappropriate sexual behavior will occur from time to time, in all communities because of man's extreme desire for sexual matters.
11. Levitacus 18:22 and 20:13
12. Deut.14:3.
13. Deut.7:25-26 and 27:15
14. Deut. 25:16. Parenthetically, it would be interesting to see the stigma presently attached to homosexuality placed on anyone guilty of unethical business practices-at least for a brief time.
15. Deut 24;4.
16. Judaism and the Modern Attitude to Homosexuality, "Encycopaedia Judaica Year book 1974, Keter, Jerusalem, 1974, p. 198.
17. The concept of Teshuva makes no sense without this premise.
18. Ibid pg. 202. See also Matt, H.J., "Sin, Crime, Sickness or Alternative Lifestyle? A Jewish Approach to Homosexuality", Judaism, vol. 27 No. 1 Winter 1978, and Bleich, J.D., Judaism and Healing, Halalchic Perspectives, Ktav , New York, 1981. Bleich comes closest to the view presented in this article on the homosexual as anuss (forced). However, "mummar" (sinner) as opposed to "anuss" is the term to be used in the discussion of homosexuality. Introducing "oness" (compulsion) in a discussion of homosexuality is as appropriate as introducing it to a discussion of murder. There are murderers who are anussim (psychopathological murderers), but a discussion of these individuals is not a discussion of murder or the Jewish attitude to that crime. Yet we continue to speak of anussim (psychopathological homosexuals), who may make up only a small portion of those involved in that activity, in regard to Judaism's general view on the subject.
19. Bava Kama 28b, Avodah Zarah 54a. Nedarim 27a. Spero, op. cit, (b) also reject the anuss position on these and other grounds.
20. Levitacus 20:13
21. e.g. Sanhedrin 9b and 54a
22. Rambam, Yad, Hilchot Issurei Biah 1;14
23. Ibid pp.203-204
24. "ain hakodosh boruch hu bo bitranina aim bitraninav" Avodah Zorah 3a
25. Schwartz, M.F. And Masters, W.H., "The Masters and Johnson Treatment Program for Dissatisfied Homosexual Men". American Journal of Psychiatry 141:2, February,1984, pp. 173-181. This study shows a remarkable success rate. After 1 year the success rate was 79.1% and after 5 years it was 71%.
26. "...except that the (frequency of the) homosexual among Orthodox Jewish groups appears to be phenomenally low", Kinsey, A.C., Pomeroy, W.B., Mari, C.E., Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, W.B., Saunders, Phila., 1948, p. 4. See also Rosenhelm, E. "Sexual Attitudes and Regulations in Jusaism". Money, J. and Musaph, H., ed., Handbook of Sexology, Excerpta Medica Amsterdam, 1977, p.1321-22
27. See Spero, op.cit., (a), p. 157.
28. To Levitacus 18;2.
29. Encyclopaedia Judaica s.v. Homosexuality; Lamm, op.cit.,197;Epstein J.M. Sex Laws and Customs in Judaism, Ktav, New York, 1948, pp. 64-65, 135. See Sefer HaChinuch No. 209 who describes a homosexual prostitute and then says that such an individual is known to us from the Arabs (Eretz Ha'Yishmaelim). The Chinuch is quoting from Ramban To Deut. 28;18 with one change. Rambam doesn't mention the Arabs, but he does say the institution was known from the Egyptians. Both these scholars were obviously unfamiliar with homosexual prostitution-and therefore with institutionalized or extensive homosexuality within the Jewish community. Further comp are Rambam, Yad, Hilchot Issurei Biah 22;2 with 22;5 and (the Gentiles)
30. Sanhedrin 58a Rambam Yad , Hilchot Melachim 9;5.
31. Yevamot 76a, Shabbat 65a. Female homosexuality is punished by "Halot Mardut" which is a rabbinic and not a biblical punishment, Yad, Issurei Biah21;8, On the other hand male homosexuality is a capital crime as has been indicated. For a more complete discussion of female homosexuality see Spero, op. cit., (b).
32. Sefer HaChinuch No. 209.
33. Torah Temimah to Levitacus 18;22, No.70.
34. Sefer HaChinuch, loc. cit.
35. Niddah 13a, Rambam, Yad, Hilchot Issurei Biah 21;18, Shulchan Aruch, E.H. 23;1-2. There is no question of the seriousness of this sin, but is not a capital crime to be tried in a human court of law as is homosexuality. See also Feldman, D.M., Birth Control and Jewish law, New York University, 1968, chs. 6 and 8, and the debate between him and M. Tendler in Tradition, Vol. 9, No.'s 1-2 and 4. Even if we accept the view that Er and Onan (Genesis 38) died for the sin of haschatat zera, their punishment came at G-d's hands and not in a court of law.
36. Sanhedrin 55a, Rambam, Yad, Hilchot Issurei Biah 1:10, and 1:14, Suclchan Aruch, Even Ha'Ezer, 20;2.
37. Genesis. 2:24.
38. This approach is suggested by the Beraita, Sanhedrin 58a, which derives prohibitions for various immoral sexual activities for Gentiles from this verse
39. This approach was suggested to me by Mr. Mat Hoffman, national director of "The Flame"; Jewish College Student's Organization. It is also suggested, in brief terms, by Dr. Lamm, op.cit., pp.197-198.
40. Genesis Rab., 26;59 (commenting on Genesis 6;2)
41. Nedarim 51a
ORTHODOX RESPONSE TO SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb
Executive Vice President of the Orthodox Union (Posted June 2008)
It is high time for a statement asserting and explaining the traditional Jewish position on homosexuality. Various Jewish groups have left the impression with the public at large that Judaism is supportive of homosexual behavior to the extent of endorsing same sex marriage. Thus it is imperative for the Orthodox world to make our position clear once more.
The position of traditional Judaism on homosexual behavior is clear and unambiguous, terse and absolute. Homosexual behavior between males or between females is absolutely forbidden by Jewish law, beginning with the biblical imperative, alluded to numerous times in the Talmud and codified in the Shulchan Aruch.
The position of Judaism on marriage is equally clear. Judaism recognizes marriage as a fundamental human institution, and affirms marriage only between a man and woman.
Judaism recognizes the central role of the two-parent, mother-father led family as the vital institution in shaping the entire human race. Within the Jewish people, the two-parent marriage is a model not only for human relations but for relations with the Divine. The Almighty Himself is seen as being a third partner to the father-mother configuration, and the central role of the family, unless circumstances make it impossible, is to conceive and raise children, thereby perpetuating the human race and for Jews, ensuring the continuity of the Jewish people.
I contest the description of Jewish values that has been foisted upon the public by numerous spokesmen of various factions of Judaism, most recently, and extremely, in the David Ellenson essay on these pages ( Same Sex Marriage, In The Jewish Tradition, March 12). To argue that same-sex marriage is consistent with the traditions of Judaism is intellectually dishonest at best and blasphemous at worst.
Nevertheless, while the sources irrevocably forbid homosexual relationships and overt homosexual behavior, there are other issues that are more nuanced and must be clarified. One has to do with the attitude toward homosexual individuals prescribed by Jewish tradition. Here it is critical to adopt the distinction, already implicit in numerous rabbinical texts, between the sin and the sinner; that is, between the person and his or her behavior. Given the nature of our times, it is impossible to formally condemn people who violate Jewish norms. Orthodox Jews and Orthodox synagogues display various degrees of tolerance and acceptance to individuals who are violators of the halachic aspects of the Sabbath, or individuals who flagrantly violate the kashrut laws. The tolerance rightly shown to these individuals by no means condones their behavior, but accepts them as people who may be misled or uninformed. While tolerance for individuals who manifest homosexual tendencies is certainly a Jewish value, and consistent with some of the core values to which Rabbi Ellenson refers, there is a great difference between tolerance for an individual and recognition of a movement which wishes to turn something clearly wrong by Jewish standards into something not only tolerated but normative.
Observant Jews must have an attitude of empathy and understanding for individuals who say, I have these urges, I can t help them. But we cannot accept those who would say, I have these urges, they are God-given and therefore it is a mitzvah to follow them.
Another complex issue that needs to be addressed is the degree to which this clear Jewish position should be translated into public policy in a pluralistic democratic society. Here, people of good will can debate the merits of whether any religion can urge its values upon the greater society. Here we can disagree, although I personally believe that all religions have the responsibility of educating the public to core values that we believe have universal, as well as particular, religious import. In this connection we ought to consider a Talmudic passage (Chullin 92a) that says that the nations of the world, however sinful, corrupt or perverse, still have the merit of at least three behaviors, one of which is they do not write a ketubah for males.
We can also debate the wisdom of a constitutional amendment defining marriage. It can be argued that any tampering with the U.S. Constitution, a document that arguably has done more for the Jewish people than any other secular document in historical memory, is a risky proposition. However, whatever your position on the constitutional amendment, the inclusion of same-sex relationships in the definition of marriage is something that any Jew of conscience should oppose.
I, and other Orthodox leaders did not foster this debate; it has been brought upon us. We are taught that certain aspects of human behavior, even very normal and natural functions, are best treated with modesty and privacy. However, the extreme statements and declarations that have been made, and lately in the very name of Judaism, simply cannot be allowed to pass without protest. We cannot be silent upon occasions where Judaism is fraudulently depicted as condoning something that its Torah clearly and irreversibly condemns.
J.I.F.G.A. - Jewish Institute for Global Awareness
JIFGA Overview: Introduction
The Seven Noahide Laws: A Blueprint for a Better World
JIFGA’s Mission
The Jewish Institute for Global Awareness (JIFGA) teaches that by understanding, internalizing and following a set of Divinely-ordained moral imperatives and universal ethics known as the Seven Noahide Laws, the world can produce more just societies, which are better able to receive and retain G-d’s** Presence. We seek to inspire our fellow human beings, because we are all descendants of Noah who, together with his family, is described in the Hebrew Bible as the survivor of The Flood and who thus became the ancestor of all of humanity. However, not only do we seek to inspire everyone who follows the Abrahamic religions (Jews, Christians, and Muslims) to follow these Noahide laws but also those of every race, color, or creed.
Our foundation is rooted in Biblical principles and expresses a Biblical world-view. Some may refer to this code as representative of a “Judeo-Christian” worldview because it includes the moral values initially set forth in the Hebrew Bible (the Torah) and shared by the Christian traditions that historically shaped much of the western world. Given to us by G-d at the dawn of history, (as recounted in the book of Genesis and documented in the Talmud, Sanhedrin 56a-b -- the Oral Law), these seven principles, if followed, permit us to establish a harmonious world in which diverse peoples can live together peacefully.
JIFGA seeks to globally provide humanity with greater awareness of the existence of these universal values, principles that are dependent upon Biblical teachings. These are root ethical values that Jews, Christians and Muslims, who represent more than 50% of the world’s population, can act upon within their own religious traditions. The great Eastern religions, Hinduism and Buddhism, also have, at their root, a primordial link to these core values. In fact, going back to Noah, these values are part of a legacy for all humanity.
Jews Have a Special Obligation to Spread Knowledge of the Noahide Laws
Orthodox Jewish tradition states that these moral imperatives were given by G-d as a binding Code of Conduct for the children of Noah, i.e., for all of humanity; further, that Jews (as the original recipients of the tradition from Sinai) are obligated to teach people about the Code's existence and to encourage them to observe these laws.
Maimonides (1138-1204), a great rabbinic sage, said, ‘Moses, our teacher, instructed the Jewish people, having been authorized from the mouth of G-d, to bring all of the inhabitants of the world to observe the commandments given to the children of Noach [Noah]. It is the Jew’s duty to see to it that all peoples lead the righteous and decent life which comes from compliance with G-d’s Laws.”
Rabbi Daniel Levy currently from the United Kingdom explains: “The Jew has a crucial role to play. He cannot be a by-stander remaining aloof from the world’s conduct.”
And Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, the revered deceased leader of the world-wide Chabad movement, in urging Jews to inform non-Jews about the Noahide Code of Conduct, said, “Every Jew has the obligation to ensure that all the peoples of the world observe the Seven Noahide Laws. The religious tolerance of today, and the trend towards greater freedom, gives us the unique opportunity to enhance widespread observance of these laws.”
Even though G-d charged the Children of Israel to serve as His "Light unto the nations" (Isaiah 49:6) at Mount Sinai, historical circumstances did not permit us to publicize Noahide laws, also reiterated at Sinai, until the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, revived this lost tradition in the early 1980s in an effort to prepare the world for a new era. Recent rabbinical support from a group of Modern Orthodox rabbis reaffirm “the fundamental ethical obligations that all people have before G-d [as] … taught [by Judaism] through the universal Noahide covenant.”
The Jewish Institute for Global Awareness, working with people of all three of the Abrahamic faiths, as well as any individual who has a potential affinity with these basic values, was thus formed to take upon itself this obligation by spreading awareness of the content of these commandments and to encourage adherence to them.
Non-Jewish Involvement
Any non-Jew who adheres to these seven Biblical Laws, and does so because they were commanded to Moses as part of the general revelation at Sinai, is considered a “righteous gentile” in G-d’s eyes and is thus assured of a place in the world to come (Olam Haba) -- the ultimate reward for the righteous. There is no imperative for such a person to become a Jew and Jews are mandated not to prostelyze religious conversion to Judaism but simply to make known to all of humanity the laws which humanity in general is commanded to follow.
- Christianity: Most Christian believers today see these 7 Noahide Laws as compatible with the main ethical tenets of their faith and advocate adhering to its Code of Conduct. The original intention of Jesus (the Nazarene) and Paul (Saul of Tarsus), according to the historical research of Rabbi Jacob Emden (1697-1776), was to convert non-Jews to the observance of the Seven Noahide Laws. Indeed, early Christian references to the essence of the Noahide Laws as a Code of Conduct is mentioned in the first century CE, Acts 15:1-31 when Paul agreed to admit gentiles into the Christian Church only after they accepted the substance of these principles. The New Testament, followed by Christians, incorporated the universal values of the Noahide Laws which in turn are part of the Old Testament that G-d gave at Mt. Sinai for all of humanity.
- Islam: Because Noah is recognized as a prophet in the Koran, there is Muslim support for and compliance with the spread of the Seven Noahide Laws. This fact is evidenced by its specific acceptance by many Muslim leaders. For example, the Mayors of several Israeli Arab communities such as the Mayor of the Galilean City of Shefa-Amar (Shfaram) and the Abu Gosh Mayor (Salim Jaber), both of whom signed a declaration in 2004 committing to establish a more humane world by adopting the values of the seven Noahide Laws. Mohammed VI, the King of Morocco, has expressed the view in 2012 that these values truly unite civilizations. The spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel, Sheikh Mowafak Tarif (in 2004) likewise recognized these seven principles as fundamental values of society. And, Sheikh Abdul Hadi Palazzi, a leader of the Italian Muslim Assembly, unequivocally declared in 2006, “Islamic law holds within it the seven laws of Noah and can be taught correctly to the Muslims of the world.” It is hoped that acceptance of these common moral values can end the centuries old animosity between Muslims and Jews.
Belief in G-d and His Moral Values Essential
In order to transcend our innate selfishness and the subjectivity of our intellects, a key aspect of this universal moral code is an acknowledgement that society must be predicated on a belief in G-d. If we are to follow His commandments, we must recognize the existence of a Higher Power, one to whom we are responsible for our actions. Morality should not be altered to suit one’s personal whims or for his/her social convenience. Human beings cannot become the sole arbiters of right and wrong. If we do so, then "right" and “wrong” become relative rather than absolute. When this occurs, the “politically correct” view enforces one group’s standards, regardless of the consequences it may have to others who may disagree. On the other hand, G-d’s commandments as to what is “right” and what is “wrong” provide us with universal moral absolutes which have withstood the test of time over millennia.
Today’s world has lost touch with these moral absolutes and thus we find ourselves living in a time of great moral and social drift – without an objective or universal moral anchor. We need to rediscover these timeless laws and incorporate them into our daily lives, thereby enabling us, based upon G-d’s commandments, to structure an ethical code of conduct for human existence. By doing so, we can not only unify different cultures, societies, and traditions but also reverse the course of moral decay that is evident in western civilization.
Connection to the Ten Commandments
There is a clear connection between the seven Laws of Noah which were commanded to Noah sixteen generations earlier than the Ten Commandments which were given at Mt. Sinai to Moses as part of the Torah (Hebrew Bible) as an eternal inheritance (Deut. 33:4). At a minimum, five out of the Ten Commandments are specifically referenced in the Seven Noahide laws while the other five are implicitly included in the more generalized Seven Noahide laws, either through inference or by interpretation.
Rabbi Dr. Shimon Dovid Cowen, founder and director of the Institute for Judaism and Civilization in Melbourne, Australia explains that both the Seven Laws of Noah and the Ten Commandments are at the core of a revelation communicated to Moses in its totality in the Five Books of Moses. “This [revelation] contained altogether 620 commandments, comprised of 613 commandments addressed to the Jewish people and seven commandments, the Noahide laws, addressed to humanity.” While the universal part of the revelation—the Noahide laws—was communicated to humanity prior to Sinai, its reiteration in the Sinai revelation fortifies the importance of Noahide law and the social order it commands.
Drawing upon the ancient Jewish tradition of gematria which assigns a number to each letter of the Hebrew alphabet in order to help us understand hidden meanings of words and phrases as well as capturing the spiritual association or connection between words and spiritual concepts, Rabbi Dr. Cowen points out the symbolism of “the fact that the Hebrew text of the Ten Commandments contained 620 letters,” precisely the same number of total commandments (613 plus 7) revealed at Mt. Sinai to the world, thereby evidencing G-d’s intent to connect the seven laws of Noah with the Ten Commandments.
Government Leaders Encourage Adherence to the Seven Noahide Laws
The universality of these principles and global import was recognized in 1982 by President Ronald Reagan when he spoke of “the eternal validity of the Seven Noahide Laws [as] a moral code for all of us regardless of religious faith” (Proclamation on the National Day of Reflection, April 4, 1982).
Seven years later, in 1989, President George H.W. Bush not only proclaimed that these “Biblical values are the foundation for civilized society” but he also recognized that “A society that fails to recognize or adhere to them cannot endure.”
He understood how these “principles of moral and ethical conduct that have formed the basis for all civilizations comes to us, in part, from the centuries old Seven Noahide Laws.” And, in doing so, he noted their origins: “The Noahide Laws are actually seven commandments given to man by G-d, as recorded in the Old Testament. …” (Proclamation 5956-Education Day, USA 1989 and 1990, 102 Stat. 3016, April 14, 1989)
Both the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States Congress in 1991, on a bipartisan basis, further recognized how this “historical tradition of ethical values and principles…upon which our great Nation was founded … have been the bedrock of society from the dawn of civilization, when they were known as the Seven Noahide Laws.” The American Congress understood how “the most recent weakening of these principles … has resulted in crises that beleaguer and threaten the fabric of civilized society.” Thus, they warned us that “without these ethical values and principles the edifice of civilization stands in serious peril of returning to chaos.” (Public Law 102-14, 102d Congress, 1st session, H.J. Res. 104)
Other world leaders have joined the call for further observance and knowledge of these laws. For example, Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Union wrote (in July, 2014) that he seeks greater “dissemination of the universal values known as the Noahide laws” and Major General Michael Jeffery, Governor General of Australia, lamenting family breakdowns and drug and alcohol abuse in modern society in a 2008 letter wrote that he believed that observing the fundamental values of the Noahide Laws can be an antidote to such ills of society.
We only need to look at the havoc in which we find ourselves today in order to recognize the validity of these truthful assertions.
Specifics of the Seven Laws of Noah
So what are these seven Laws of Noah? Depending upon the source utilized to ascertain these laws, the exact order--but not the substance--may vary somewhat.
ONE: Prohibition of Idolatry: by being ever mindful and aware of G-d’s Presence. We are to focus on the monotheistic concept of the unity of G-d and negate what is the opposite of a belief in G-d, i.e. idolatry of any sort. By having knowledge of G-d, we are able to imitate His G-dly qualities.
TWO: Reverence for G-d: includes a prohibition of blasphemy against G-d’s holy Name (the ultimate irreverence for G-d) and by positive concepts of serving G-d by revering Him in our speech and respecting His sacred texts. Likewise, since every human being is created in the image of G-d, he or she must be treated with respect and honor. In particular, this respect for G-d’s image within us is associated with honoring one’s parents, honoring one’s own words, being careful not to lie, and exercising the G-d given free will of humans, thus enabling us to choose ethical responses to life’s situations.
THREE: Prohibition of Homicide: not to kill [physical harm is included in the prohibition of theft – theft and material harm] a human being. As required by respect for the sanctity of human life, suicide, assisting suicide, elective abortion, and euthanasia are forbidden. By engaging in these acts, we metaphorically lessen G-d, for humans were created in the image of G-d. Phrased positively, this law requires us to respect human life.
FOUR: Prohibition of Theft/Robbery: includes not only stealing, lying, or cheating but extends to all kinds of harm to person or property. Overall affirmative respect for another’s personhood, rights and property are included.
FIVE: Prohibiting Sexual Deviations/Misconduct: We are commanded to forever protect and uphold the family unit by not committing any acts of sexual immorality (adultery, incest, bestiality, homosexuality, sexual abuse) as well as not engaging in promiscuous behaviors nor engaging in castration, pornography, and masturbation. It also includes the positive aspects of strengthening natural marriages and procreating. The sanctity of natural marriage reflects the oneness of G-d and his creations.
SIX: A Dietary Law Prohibition: not to eat flesh taken from an animal while still alive – is part of a broader prohibition on gratuitous cruelty to animals; we are also enjoined not to be heedlessly wasteful or unnecessarily destructive to G-d’s physical creation.
SEVEN: Create a Fair and Righteous Judicial System: to enforce the other six laws and all other laws consistent with them.
**It is traditional among many Jews, rather than spelling out the full word for the Supreme Being, to substitute the letters “G-d,” thereby treating G-d’s name with reverence and providing respect to Him as the Supreme Being. By doing so, we can erase or dispose of the writing without disrespecting Him or symbolically destroying His name.
Affection Between Men
Torah Study Program: Hazon - Our Universal Vision
I would like to discuss the issue of affection between men. But before I discuss the issue in a broad sense, I will attempt to respond to the question that was raised whether, according to halacha (Torah law), two men can engage in erotic hugging, kissing, and touching, as long as they do not have intercourse.
There is a general Torah prohibition against engaging in any erotic touching with someone whom one is forbidden to sleep with, and this prohibition also includes erotic touching of a homosexual nature. The source for this prohibition is found in Leviticus 18:6 which states: "Any man shall not approach his close relative to uncover nakedness; I am Hashem." The Oral Torah interprets the phrase "shall not approach" to refer to any erotic touching which can lead one to have any form of intercourse which is forbidden by the Torah. This prohibition is discussed by Maimonides in his Sefer HaMitzvos (Prohibition 353), and it is also discussed in the Sefer HaChinuch (Mitzva 188). The Sefer HaChinuch states that this prohibition applies to both men and women.
There is a major halachic difference, however, between the Torah's prohibitions against forbidden forms of intercourse, and the Torah's prohibition against erotic touching: Unlike the prohibitions against intercourse, the prohibition against erotic touching does not bring "kares" (the soul being cut off) or the dealth penalty. Even if one violated one of the Torah's prohibitions against intercourse, there is the life-giving option of "teshuva" - repentance and renewal which cause us to return to the path of our Creator.
There is no question that Torah-committed individuals who are unable to get married, whether they have a heterosexual orientation or a homosexual orientation, were given a difficult life-challenge. In some respects, the person with the homosexual orientation has the greater challenge, for reasons already mentioned in previous correspondence. The reason why the Creator gives certain individuals unusual life-challenges is a topic for another discussion. It may be helpful, however, for all people to remember, regardless of their sexual orientation, that there can be warm, physical expressions of affection and love which are not erotic. There are many men, including "gay" men, who sometimes engage in non-erotic hugging and touching with other men. In fact, traditional Jewish culture is much more open to displays of physical affection between men than Anglo-Saxon culture. For example, in Israel, especially among the Sephardim, one sees men hugging or kissing each other at joyous occasions or when greeting each other after a period of separation. And in Israeli yeshivos, when a young man gets engaged, it is customary for his fellow students to not only wish him "mazel tov," but to also give him a hug or a kiss on the cheek. And let us not forget that in Torah-observant communities, men dance with men and women dance with women. These "mitzva" dances create a warm sense of unity among the participants, and they are emotionally and spiritually uplifting.
Last, but not least, men can experience with their male friends the deep pleasure of "emotional" affection and intimacy. To experience this form of intimacy, however, they need to be in touch with their feelings and to be capable of expressing these feelings in words. Many men find this to be a difficult process, especially those who grew up in an Anglo-Saxon culture. In fact, some married men have difficulty developing this type of intimacy with their wives.
I have known some single men and women who had a deep need for emotional intimacy, but they didn't know how to achieve this, so they ran after sexual experiences which they hoped would meet this need. They ended up feeling unsatisfied, for they did not receive the emotional love they were looking for.
The Mishna in Pirkei Avos (5:19) teaches that all love which depends on a physical or external cause will pass away when the cause is no longer there, but a love which is not dependent on a physical or external cause will last forever. And the Mishna cites the friendship between David and Jonathan as an example of a love which lasts forever. It is recorded in the Book of Samuel 1 that "Jonathan's soul became attached to David's soul" (18:1). As the Malbim and other commentators explain, the good and the holy within Jonathan's soul was drawn to the good and the holy within David's soul, and vice versa. These spiritual qualities last forever; thus, a love based on these spiritual qualities also lasts forever.
Our sages often refer to Hashem as "Rachmana" - an Aramaic word which means "the Loving One." May Rachmana bless all of us with a love that lasts forever.
Shalom Rav,
Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen
The author is the director of the E-mail Torah study program "Hazon - Our Universal Vision":
www.shemayisrael.co.il/publicat/hazon/
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Roamin’ Rich has been a strong advocate and publicist for any and all things about the community of Route 66 and other old US highways. His mission is to appeal to as many people he can all over the world. He wants to expose the world to the iconic landmarks, people, buildings, historic infrastructure, and the diverse culture that reside along the all old US highways all across this great country.
Rich’s works have been recognized or utilized by major entities such as Phillips 66, the Smithsonian Channel, Sports Illustrated, many notable authors, and periodicals revolving around the Route 66 community.
Rich has published articles highlighting people and places of Route 66 in multiple Route 66 magazines. He is currently working to produce his first book consisting of rare images of lesser known sections of Route 66.
Some of Rich’s photography has been featured by Steve Clem in an exhibit at the Sand Springs Cultural and Historical Museum.
Other sources have utilized Rich’s photography or videos for promotion or advertising.
Roamin’ Rich has sponsored the creation of several Route 66 websites offering to serve tourists, explorers, and the community with a heightened, gratifying experience.
Many of Roamin’ Rich’s works have been highlighted throughout local newspapers, TV news reports, written articles, books, and YouTube videos.
2010: In an attempt to help guide fellow explorers and to welcome curious tourists, Roamin’ Rich started painting Route 66 shields on the road itself in all eight states Route 66 crosses. Rich made the same stencils available to local public works, road commissions, and road chambers of commerce so they might be able to attract more tourism to their community. People from all over the world adore the Route 66 shield painted on the pavement. They lie next to it, pose on it, and park their cars and motorcyles next to it in an attempt to immortalize the memory perfectly in a photograph or video. The painted shields also help to guide tourists that may become lost or turned around. Local entities using Roamin’ Rich Shields are as follows: Oldham County, Texas. Cuba, Missouri. Tucumcari, New Mexico. Roamin’ Rich also provided the shields and the stencils in use at the MidPoint of Route 66 in Adrian, Texas.
Also in 2010, Rich created the Route 66 Adventure Truck. The 1994 Chevy Blazer was a purchase inspired by a video Rich watched called, Bones of the old road, featuring Jerry Mclanahan and Jim Ross. The adventure truck has been an indispensable asset making Roamin’ Rich’s missions achievable. The truck was a modest purchase. It was pulled from a grassy field in Sullivan, Missouri – Not too far from Route 66. Rich has invested many hours making the truck into a worthy off-road exploration vehicle over the year.
A conception of Roadie Hood happened at the same time as the Adventure Truck. Bob Waldmire was the chief inspiration for the concept. Roamin’ Rich regretted not meeting the hippie road icon. Because of this, Rich set out to meet as many people and capture a small piece of them on the hood. The original hood from the 1994 Blazer was painted black and features a large Route 66 shield in the middle. Rich set out to acquire autographs and signatures from notable icons, roadies, and people that represent the small Route 66 communities across all eight states. Since 2010 people have been signing the hood, immortalizing their contribution to Route 66. The Roadie Hood is now in storage to prevent damage. Since the creation of the hood, there have been multiple icons that have passed away. Gary Turner, Annabelle Russell, Bill Shea, and Ernie Edwards are all contributors to the Roadie Hood that have passed on. Getting an autograph on the hood is a serious honor these days. Please be respectful with inquiries. To date, Rich has not signed the hood.
Rich’s original calling was to find unknown abandoned sections of Route 66. To date, Rich has brought to light or helped rediscover multiple historic sections of Route 66. Other discoveries have been in the form of culverts, low water crossings, bridge fragments, state right of way markers, subterranean layers, or paths baring an unpaved surface. These discoveries are located in all eight states Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.
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Section E
Section F
2. Prática\Represálias contra bens protegidos
Netherlands (current)
Practice Relating to Rule 147. Reprisals against Protected Objects
Section A. Civilian objects in general
The Military Manual (1993) of the Netherlands, in the chapter dealing with reprisals and referring to, inter alia, Article 52 of the 1977 Additional Protocol I, states: “No reprisals may be undertaken against civilian property.”
Netherlands, Toepassing Humanitair Oorlogsrecht, Voorschift No. 27-412/1, Koninklijke Landmacht, Ministerie van Defensie, 1993, p. IV-6; see also p. V-5.
The Military Manual (2005) of the Netherlands states:
In the history of warfare, reprisals carried out have often exceeded the set limits. This has led to the current prohibition, in the humanitarian law of war and specifically in AP I [1977 Additional Protocol I], of reprisals against several groups of people and objects.
The following are now forbidden as reprisals:
- attacks on civilian objects.
Netherlands, Humanitair Oorlogsrecht: Handleiding, Voorschift No. 27-412, Koninklijke Landmacht, Militair Juridische Dienst, 2005, § 0424.
In its chapter on behaviour in battle, the manual states: “Civilian objects must not be the subject of reprisals.”
In its chapter on the protection of the civilian population, the manual states that “reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited”.
At the CDDH, the Netherlands introduced an amendment to draft Additional Protocol I which read “attacks against civilian objects by way of reprisals are prohibited” on behalf of its sponsors (Austria, Egypt, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, USSR).
Austria, Egypt, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Philippines and USSR, New proposal concerning Article 47 draft Additional Protocol I submitted to the CDDH, Official Records, Vol. III, CDDH/III/57, 19 March 1974, p. 210.
The Netherlands stated:
In fact, reprisals could rarely be confined to civilian objects alone and the infliction of suffering on the civilian population would be virtually inevitable … The sponsors of the amendment were in favour of extending [the prohibition of reprisals against civilians] to a complete ban on all reprisals against the civilian population and civilian objects alike.
Netherlands, Statement at the CDDH, Official Records, Vol. XIV, CDDH/III/SR.14, 6 February 1975, pp. 113–114, § 26.
At the CDDH, the Netherlands, during discussions on the protection of civilian objects, stated that “reprisals on civilian populations were prohibited by international law”.
Netherlands, Statement at the CDDH, Official Records, Vol. XIV, CDDH/III/SR.16, 10 February 1975, p. 128, § 8.
Section B. Medical objects
The Military Manual (1993) of the Netherlands, in the chapter dealing with the protection of the wounded and sick and referring to Article 20 of the 1977 Additional Protocol I, states: “Measures of reprisal are prohibited against … medical units and medical means of transportation, in short against all protected persons and objects.”
Netherlands, Toepassing Humanitair Oorlogsrecht, Voorschift No. 27-412/1, Koninklijke Landmacht, Ministerie van Defensie, 1993, p. VI-9.
The Military Manual (2005) of the Netherlands states that “reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited”.
The manual further states that “[r]eprisal measures against … medical units and medical means of transport … are prohibited”.
Section C. Cultural property
The Military Manual (1993) of the Netherlands, in a chapter dealing with reprisals and referring, inter alia, to Article 53 of the 1977 Additional Protocol I, states: “No reprisals may be undertaken against cultural objects (historical monuments, works of art, places of worship, etc.).”
The Military Handbook (1995) of the Netherlands states: “Reprisals against cultural property are prohibited.”
Netherlands, Handboek Militair, Ministerie van Defensie, 1995, p. 7-43.
- attacks on cultural property (historic monuments, works of art, places of worship, etc.).
In its chapter on behaviour in battle, the manual states: “No reprisals may be made against cultural property and buildings for religious worship.”
Section D. Objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population
The Military Manual (1993) of the Netherlands, in a chapter dealing with reprisals and referring, inter alia, to Article 54 of the 1977 Additional Protocol I, states: “No reprisals may be undertaken against objects indispensable for the survival of the civilian population (inter alia, foodstuffs, crops, livestock and drinking water installations).”
- attacks on objects essential to the survival of the civilian population (including foodstuffs, crops, livestock and drinking water installations).
In its chapter on behaviour in battle, the manual states: “Reprisals may not be undertaken against objects essential to the survival of the civilian population.”
Section E. Natural environment
The Military Manual (1993) of the Netherlands, in the chapter dealing with reprisals and referring, inter alia, to Article 55 of the 1977 Additional Protocol I, states: “Attacks against the natural environment by way of reprisal are prohibited.”
- attacks against the natural environment.
Section F. Works and installations containing dangerous forces
The Military Manual (1993) of the Netherlands, in the chapter dealing with reprisals and referring, inter alia, to Article 56 of the 1977 Additional Protocol I, states: “Reprisals against dams, dikes and nuclear power plants are forbidden.”
Netherlands, Toepassing Humanitair Oorlogsrecht, Voorschift No. 27-412/1, Koninklijke Landmacht, Ministerie van Defensie, 1993, p. IV-6; see also p. V-10.
- attacks on dams, dikes and nuclear power stations.
In its chapter on behaviour in battle, the manual states: “It is prohibited to undertake reprisals against dams, dikes and power stations.”
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Go On! Update, ICC Summer School 2015 (deadline 30 May)
May 4, 2015 / Karen Hoffmann / Leave a comment
We’ve posted previously about this year’s ICC Summer School from 15-19 June 2015 at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUI Galway. Here is an update, with the full list of faculty:
The ICC Summer School at the Irish Centre for Human Rights is the premier summer school on the International Criminal Court, the world’s permanent institution for the trial of international crimes. This year’s ICC Summer School will take place from 15-19 June 2015 at NUI Galway, Ireland. The Summer School comprises a series of intensive and interactive lectures over five days given by leading academics and legal professionals working at the International Criminal Court. Participants are provided with a detailed working knowledge of the establishment of the Court, its structures, operations, and applicable law. Specific topics covered include international crimes (genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity & aggression), jurisdiction, modes of liability, the role of victims and prosecutorial discretion. This year’s Summer School will include a special session on Palestine and the International Criminal Court, which will involve the participation of the Palestinian Ambassador to Ireland, Ambassador Ahmad Abdelrazek. The Summer School is suited to postgraduate students, legal professionals, journalists and staff of civil society or intergovernmental organisations.
The 2015 ICC Summer School faculty includes:
Professor William Schabas – Middlesex University & Irish Centre for Human Rights
Professor Kevin Jon Heller – School of Oriental and African Studies, London
Dr. Fabricio Guariglia – Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court
Dr. Mohamed M. El Zeidy – Pre-Trial Chamber II at the International Criminal Court
Dr. Rod Rastan – Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court
Professor Ray Murphy – Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUI Galway
Professor Don Ferencz, Visiting Professor, School of Law, Middlesex University; Research Associate, Oxford University Faculty of Law Centre for Criminology
Dr. Kwadwo Appiagyei Atua – University of Ghana and University of Lincoln
Dr. Michael Kearney – School of Law, Sussex University
Dr. Noelle Higgins – Senior Lecturer, Law Department Maynooth University
Ms. Salma Karmi-Ayyoub – Barrister, London
Dr. Nadia Bernaz – School of Law, Middlesex University
Mr. John McManus – Canadian Department of Justice
Professor Megan A. Fairlie – Florida International University
Dr. Mohamed Badar – Northumbria University, United Kingdom
Dr. Shane Darcy – Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUI Galway
The closing date for registrations is 30 May 2015. The registration fee (€450) includes all course materials, all lunches and refreshments, a social activity and a closing dinner. The registration fee also includes a complimentary copy of: William A. Schabas, Introduction to the International Criminal Court (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011, 4th ed.).
To register and for more information, please visit: http://www.conference.ie/Conferences/index.asp?Conference=405.
Should you have any queries, please email: iccsummerschool@gmail.com.
Go On! New LLM in International Justice at Maynooth University
April 5, 2015 / Karen Hoffmann / Leave a comment
Starting in September 2015, Maynooth University will offer an LLM in International Justice to law graduates and graduates of cognate disciplines (e.g. international relations, social studies, sociology, politics, and other inter-disciplinary degrees which have a focus on the international community order).
Further information can be found on the program’s website and in this brochure: LLM Justice Flyer
Please contact Dr Noelle Higgins, the Programme Director, with any queries, at noelle.higgins [at] nuim.ie.
Write On! Call for Papers: ‘Taming Power in Times of Globalization: What Role for Human Rights?’ (deadline 15 March)
February 2, 2015 / Karen Hoffmann / Leave a comment
The Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland, Galway, has issued a Call for Papers for their conference-workshop “Taming Power in Times of Globalization: What Role for Human Rights?” The conference will take place Nov. 30-Dec. 1, 2015. From their announcement:
The ways power is exercised today at the global level seems to be qualitatively different, demanding new responses from international law and other relevant disciplines. In particular, it seems that today the exercise of power at the global level is less controllable, less subject to restraints and checks than some decades ago. Global governance, international or global constitutionalism, legal pluralism are terms indicating some of the ways developed in the scholarship to comprehend, analyse and respond to challenges posed by the contemporary forms of exercise of power at the global level.
Human rights are featured prominently in the Western thought as hallmarks of protection of individuals against the arbitrary exercise of power.
Human rights form today a core of any Western constitutional order. However, the role of international human rights as mechanisms for controlling exercise of power at the global level is articulated only rudimentarily. The conference aims at providing a forum for discussion about the place of human rights in current discourses on globalization. Instead of assuming that human rights are a proof of the possibility to control power at the global level, the conference aims at examining this premise from a variety of perspectives.
The following are some of the questions the organizers would like to see addressed:
What human rights are part of international constitutional order?
How legal pluralism/ global governance/ various theories of constitutionalism conceive the role of human rights as a mechanism for limiting exercise of power at the global level?
What are the consequences of different answers?
How precisely, human rights as guarantees against arbitrary exercise of power, function within different visions?
Are there any alternatives available to the human rights language?
Can other mechanisms of control over arbitrary exercise of power at the international / global level be imagined?
Contributions can address these and other related issues from a variety of perspectives, both theoretical and empirical. Critical and interdisciplinary approaches are particularly encouraged. Contributions examining relevant issues from a historical perspective, or integrating experience of non western legal traditions are also welcome.
Contributions will be selected following a peer-review process. The selection will be based on the following criteria: relevance to the conference theme, originality, and overall coherence of selected papers with a view of producing engaging discussion. The organizers have publication plans for the presented papers. The precise format of publication will be discussed during the conference. Therefore, all selected contributions must be original and not published elsewhere. All presenters will be required to submit full papers in advance.
Accommodation for presenters will be provided. There are limited funds available to cover travel expenses. Please indicate while applying whether you would like to be considered for reimbursement of travel expenses and indicate if possible the approximate amount.
Work On! Two posts at the National University of Ireland Maynooth Department of Law
May 22, 2014 / Karen Hoffmann / Leave a comment
National University of Ireland, Maynooth/Ollscoil na hEireann, Ma Nuad, Department of Law
Professor/Senior Lecturer in Law (Two Posts)
The Department of Law at NUI Maynooth invites applications for two Professor/Senior Lecturer positions in law.
ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT OF LAW: The Department of Law is the youngest in Ireland and offers a number of popular undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes educating over 400 students. The Department places a very strong emphasis on research and faculty regularly publish in leading international academic journals. The Department of Law has particular research strengths in the areas of human rights and social justice, global business perspectives, and legal theory. The Department is now seeking to recruit to a number of key senior academic posts to build on its reputation, increase its capacity to grow both undergraduate and postgraduate student numbers, and to enable the further development of its programmes to provide a legal education that is of outstanding quality and global in its outlook.
JOB DESCRIPTION: NUI Maynooth is committed to a strategy in which the primary University goals of excellent research and scholarship and outstanding education are interlinked and equally valued. Professors/Senior Lecturers will be expected to provide significant intellectual leadership, through a demonstrated commitment to both education and research, and also to contribute to the effective leadership and management of the Department.
The person appointed will have an excellent record of teaching and research. He/she will have an established track record of high-quality publications that will contribute to, and enhance, the Department’s areas of research strength. He/she will be expected to make a strong contribution to the teaching, research and profile of the Department of Law and to play a leadership role in the development of teaching and learning, and research, strategies.
JOB QUALIFICATIONS: The appointee will have an established and substantial record of research and teaching to the highest international standards and will have demonstrated the capacity for academic leadership at institutional, national or international level.
FURTHER INFORMATION: It is envisaged interview will take place week commencing Monday, 16 June 2014.
Further information (including application procedure) should be obtained from the National University of Ireland, Maynooth current vacancies website: http://humanresources.nuim.ie/vacancies.shtml
Pre-Oscars reread of Philomena’s real story
March 1, 2014 March 1, 2014 / Diane Marie Amann / Leave a comment
Serendipity found my students and I rereading the unvarnished story of Philomena Lee this week, just before the Hollywood film Philomena competes in Sunday’s Academy Awards.
The film is lovely, warmed by on-screen chemistry between Judi Dench, who plays Lee, and Steve Coogan, who plays journalist Martin Sixsmith. Bits of humor between them smooth the sharp edges of Lee’s search for the child she’d given up for adoption many years earlier.
The real story is a bit more raw: “The Catholic church sold my child” reads the headline of a 2009 news article by Sixsmith, published when his book on Lee was released in England. The article recounts how a 1950s Irish family sent Lee, then 18, pregnant, and unmarried, to a Mother and Baby Home at a Tipperary nunnery. There she gave birth. There too she was compelled to put in three years’ labor, and, eventually, to give up the son she’d helped care for till he was a toddler. Sixsmith writes:
‘Early on in the search I realised that the Irish Catholic hierarchy had been engaged in what amounted to an illicit baby trade. From the end of the second world war until the 1970s, it considered the thousands of souls born in its care to be the church’s own property. With or without the agreement of their mothers, it sold them to the highest bidder. Every year, hundreds were shipped off to American couples who paid “donations” (in reality, fees) to the nuns. Few if any checks were made on the suitability of the adopting families – the only condition laid down by Archbishop McQuaid was that they should be practising Catholics.’
Silence enveloped the decades-long practice. Even International Child Law, the circa-2010 British text that we’re using in my Children & International Law seminar, makes no note of it: though these out-of-Ireland adoptions occurred just an island away, the book’s chapter speaks of 1950s intercountry adoption solely in the context of U.S. adoptions of children born in wartime Korea.
This may change, as Lee has helped found The Philomena Project, committed to push, in Ireland and in the United Kingdom, for legislation that would ease access to adoption information. (credit for undated photos, of the Mother and Baby Home where Lee was placed, courtesy of the Adoption Rights Alliance, which is working with the Project)
The Project calls for justice along the lines of the efforts begun in relation to another tragic Irish institution of the era, the Magdalene Laundries, the subject not only of a 2002 film, but also of a 2011 report by the U.N. Committee Against Torture. To date those efforts have resulted in an official state apology regarding the Magdalenes practices – though not yet the actual award of promised reparations, as a recent post in the Human Rights in Ireland blog detailed.
(Cross-posted from Diane Marie Amann)
Apartheid and the Dunnes Stores workers strike, 1984-1987
December 6, 2013 December 6, 2013 / Yvonne McDermott / Leave a comment
In 1984, Mary Manning, an employee of Dunnes Stores, one of Ireland’s largest supermarkets, refused to check out an Outspan grapefruit. She was upholding a Union directive that none of its members would handle South African fruit or vegetables in protest to the apartheid regime. Manning was suspended immediately, bringing about a strike that was to last almost three years. The picketers lived on £21 a week for the duration of the strike, with some even losing their homes as a result. The strike ultimately ended in a ban imposed by the Irish government on the import of all products from apartheid South Africa. It is a fascinating chapter in the history of apartheid. In the words of one of the strikers: “Twelve workers got government to change the law. Even one person can make a change.”. There is a full interview with Cathryn O’Reilly, one of the Dunnes Stores workers, here. Some of Mary Manning’s thoughts on Mandela’s passing can be found here.
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Posts tagged “1950s”
Alien Horror Week – Movie 5: Deadly Spawn (1983)
It was a toss up as to whether or not we were going to watch Alien or Deadly Spawn. My buddy made the argument for Deadly Spawn as it is a much less known movie, and I went along.
So, a small town is invaded by a life form from space that looks a lot like a giant multiple headed lamprey with a penchant for making slug like babies (lots of them), and eating the locals. A group of four geeky science nerd teens and a young boy do their best to save the town (and most likely the world) from this infestation. It’s kind of weird that three of our movies had similar themes and creatures (Slither, Night of the Creeps and Deadly Spawn), not in that they are alien infestation movies (it’s kind of the theme), but the fact that the three creatures in the mentioned movies all propagate by releasing slug like grubs, liked to enter through the mouth id possible, and the main “mother” creature found someplace out of the way to grow and develop. Well, if they copied each other, this is the progenitor of all of ‘em. A silly movie, Deadly Spawn stays entertaining, and cheezy which is perfect for me. Lots of campiness to go around, and some really questionable actions by it’s characters may make you moan at times…but don’;t let that stop you from enjoying the movie. A true representative of it’s time, the early 1980’s, it still stands out as a fun, throwback to the creature features of the 50’s and 60’s…
Watch this film, my friends!
April 7, 2014 | Categories: 1950's, 1950s, 1960's, 1980's, 1983, 60's, 70's, 80's, abduction, Alberta, Alien, alive, animals, Awesome, b movies, bargain, blogging, brains, Calgary, cheezy, civilization, Classic, comedy, confusion, cops, Corman, cover up, crappy, crazy, creepy, crime, death, different, drive in, effects, entertaining, entertainment, epic, evil, family, fantasy, film, Freak Show, fun, funny, government conspiracy, great, Grindhouse, gritty, horror, humanity, independant, injustice, killers, Mob, murder, paranoid, phobia, police, Pollution, punk, remake, revenge, reviews, sacrifice, scary, Sci-fi, science, Science Fiction, self preservation, silly, slasher, Society, Spacecraft, special effects, students, Summer, supernatural, television, theatre, Toys, trailers, trippy, Undead, Zombie | Tags: 1950s, 1960s, 1980s, 1983, 60's, 70's, 80s, abduction, Alberta, alien, alive, animals, awesome, B Movies, bargain, blogging, brains, Calgary, cheezy, civilization, classic, comedy, confusion, cops, Corman, cover up, crappy, crazy, creatures, creepy, crime, death, different, drive in, effects, entertaining, entertainment, epic, evil, family, fantasy, film, freak show, fun, funny, government conspiracy, great, grindhouse, gritty, horror, humanity, independant, injustice, killers, mob, murder, paranoid, phobia, police, pollution, punk, remake, revenge, reviews, sacrifice, scary, sci-fi, science, science fiction, self preservation, silly, slasher, Slugs, Society, Spacecraft, special effects, students, summer, supernatural, television, theatre, Toys, trailers, trippy, undead, worms, zombie | Leave a comment
Alien Horror Week – Movie 4: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)–Classic Remake Of A Classic Movie
1978’s remake to the 1956 classic movie, Invasion of the Body Snatchers is in itself a true classic of Sci-Fi horror. Starring Donald Sutherland, Brook Adams, Leonard Nimoy and a very young Jeff Goldblum (among others), this great casted movie tells the story of an Alien Invasion of a most insidious sort. You see, and alien life form has appeared as an attractive flower… Only problem is the flower eventually creates a duplicate of yourself, while you whither and die. New York is now full of Zombie like individuals, who seem to be able to communicate without the need of verbalizing. Friends and family members, not yet infected are reporting that their affected loved ones seem to have been replaced, and that only the outside resembles them. The infestation spreads exponentially, and the unconverted are hunted by the converted. Some have learned that you can fool the duplicates if you keep to yourself, and show no emotions. Of course, how long can someone go on like that?
Invasion of the Body Snatchers does a good job of creating a very creepy mood, with a combination of filmography, great casting and a fantastic use of ambient sounds and anxiety creating music. I think another reason this movie seems scarier than most (to me at least), is that the people affected seem like real people and not just characters on a page. Also, the fact that it all takes place in a normal cityscape and not removed in space or in the far future makes it seem just that more real. If you like Sci-Fi and Horror then you’ve got to watch this one. Easily one of my favourites of this genre,, I have watched it many times and will watch it many more tomes before this mortal coil is done. Also, if you like this one, definitely check out the original, too as it also ids a fantastic story/movie.
April 4, 2014 | Categories: 1950's, 1970's, 70's, abduction, Alien, alive, animals, Awesome, b movies, blogging, Calgary, Canadian, cheezy, civilization, Classic, confusion, cops, cover up, crazy, creepy, death, different, effects, entertaining, entertainment, epic, evil, family, film, fun, good, great, Grindhouse, gritty, horror, humanity, injustice, killers, Mob, monster, movies, murder, New York, Nimoy, original, outbreak, paranoid, phobia, police, Pollution, powerful, remake, revenge, reviews, sacrifice, scary, Sci-fi, Science Fiction, self preservation, social expriment, Society, Spacecraft, special effects, Spock, Star Trek, supernatural, television, theatre, trailers, trippy, watch, Western | Tags: 1950s, 1970s, 70's, abduction, alien, alive, animals, awesome, B Movies, blogging, Body Snatchers, Calgary, Canadian, cheezy, civilization, classic, confusion, cops, cover up, crazy, creepy, death, different, effects, entertaining, entertainment, epic, evil, family, film, fun, Goldblum, good, great, grindhouse, gritty, horror, humanity, injustice, killers, mob, monster, movies, murder, New York, Nimoy, original, outbreak, paranoid, phobia, police, pollution, powerful, remake, revenge, reviews, sacrifice, scary, sci-fi, science fiction, self preservation, social expriment, Society, Spacecraft, special effects, Spock, Star Trek, supernatural, Sutherland, television, theatre, trailers, trippy, watch, western | Leave a comment
Alien Horror Week – Movie 2: Night of Creeps (1986)–Simply Awesome
Having just watched Slither (again),last night and remembering the outcry from a lot of fans of the classic 1986 Night of the Creeps due to the many similarities between the two movies, I just had to watch Night of the Creeps (again), tonight.
Night of the Creeps is a neat Horror/Sci-Fi/Comedy about an infestation of alien slug like creatures when they are released on the unsuspecting Earth during the 1950s, landing in a town/city in the states. Initially infecting an escaped lunatic, and a young man on a date with his girl, resulting in a couple of deaths. Cut to the 1980’s where a couple of friends, Chris Romero and J.C.are new to college and trying to fit in. Chris has a crush on a hot girl, Cynthia Cronenberg. Cynthia, though has a meathead boyfriend who is in charge of the frat house that the two want to join (so Chris can hopefully impress Cynthia). In order to join, the two are given the task of stealing a cadaver and leave it on the steps of a rival frat house. While the two manage to enter a lab where they think they will find a corpse, they actually manage to stumble upon a body in cryogenic suspension,. They decide one body is as good as another, and try to take this one. When the corpse opens it’s eyes and grabs a hold of one of the two, they take off “screaming like banshees” (you’ll know why I put that in quotes when you watch the film). Well, turns out this is the corpse of the guy that was infected by the alien life form way back in 1959. So, now we have a reanimated corpse, under the control of an alien life form… The corpse, a sort of alien zombie kills a scientist in the lab and heads out…on the town, eventually ending up on the steps of a girl’s frat (the same one Cynthia calls home). Cynthia sees the zombie and sees his head explode, releasing a bunch of those alien worms… and they spread out. Soon a crap load of the town is infected, including the dead, which rise (hence the Zombie word), animated by there worms. J.C. himself falls prey to the creatures also, but not before he learns the secrets to the destruction of the worms…
Of course everything ramps up to a big good versus bad scene, but I have told you more than enough of the story. You should watch this movie, as it is damned fun. Definitely an homage to the sci-fi creature flicks of the 50’s and 60’s, if you enjoy sci-fi, horror and comedy then you have to see this one, folks. Check out the trailer below:
April 2, 2014 | Categories: 1950's, 80's, abduction, Alberta, Alien, alive, animals, Awesome, b movies, blogging, brains, Calgary, cheerleader, cheezy, civilization, Classic, comedy, confusion, cops, Corman, cover up, crazy, creepy, crime, death, different, drive in, effects, entertaining, entertainment, epic, evil, family, fantasy, film, Freak Show, fun, good, government conspiracy, great, Grindhouse, gritty, hate, horror, humanity, injustice, killers, Mob, monster, movies, murder, music, original, outbreak, parody, phobia, police, powerful, remake, revenge, reviews, sacrifice, Sci-fi, science, Science Fiction, self preservation, sexy, silly, slasher, Society, special effects, students, supernatural, theatre, Tobe Hooper, trailers, trippy, Western, Yuzna, Zombie, zombies | Tags: 1950s, 80s, abduction, Alberta, alien, alive, animals, awesome, B Movies, blogging, brains, Calgary, cheerleader, cheezy, civilization, classic, comedy, confusion, cops, Corman, cover up, crazy, creeps, creepy, crime, cryogenics, death, different, drive in, effects, entertaining, entertainment, epic, evil, family, fantasy, film, freak show, fun, good, government conspiracy, great, grindhouse, gritty, hate, horror, humanity, injustice, killers, mob, monster, movies, murder, music, original, outbreak, parody, phobia, police, powerful, remake, revenge, reviews, sacrifice, sci-fi, science, science fiction, self preservation, sexy, silly, slasher, Society, special effects, students, supernatural, theatre, Tobe Hooper, trailers, trippy, western, Yuzna, zombie, zombies | Leave a comment
Alien Horror Week!
So, this week is dedicated to Alien Based Horror movies. I expect a few possible turkeys, but I believe it’s going to be fun anyway. I am a fan of Science Fiction (Sci-Fi) and horror, and the two mix reasonable well at the hands of competent film makers… and some horribly awesome films when created by bad film makers. I hope we get to see both sides of the coin this week.
We haven’t filled the roster of films yet, so if you have a suggestion or two, feel free to send them on over by using this link:
Send In Your Suggestion For Alien Horror Week
April 1, 2014 | Categories: 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, abduction, Alberta, Alien, alive, Awesome, b movies, blogging, Calgary, Canadian, CGI, cheezy, civilization, Classic, comedy, confusion, Corman, Crab Monsters, crappy, crazy, crime, cyborgs, death, drive in, effects, entertaining, entertainment, epic, evil, exploitation, fantasy, film, fun, government conspiracy, gritty, Hal 9000, horror, independant, injustice, Italian, Manborg, movies, murder, original, parody, powerful, prison, revenge, reviews, robots, Roddenberry, scary, Sci-fi, science, Science Fiction, self preservation, sexy, Shatner, shitty, silly, Society, Soviet, Soylent Green, special effects, Star Trek, Terminator, theatre, trailers, trippy, Undead, watch | Tags: 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 60's, 70's, 80s, 90's, abduction, Alberta, alien, alive, awesome, B Movies, blogging, Calgary, Canadian, CGI, cheezy, civilization, classic, comedy, confusion, Corman, Crab Monsters, crappy, crazy, crime, cyborgs, death, drive in, effects, entertaining, entertainment, epic, evil, exploitation, fantasy, film, fun, government conspiracy, gritty, Hal 9000, horror, independant, injustice, Italian, Manborg, movies, murder, original, parody, powerful, prison, revenge, reviews, robots, Roddenberry, scary, sci-fi, science, science fiction, self preservation, sexy, Shatner, shitty, silly, Society, Soviet, Soylent Green, special effects, Star Trek, terminator, theatre, trailers, trippy, undead, watch | Leave a comment
Do You Feel Lucky Punk? Because This Week Is Clint Eastwood Week
This is going to be a damned good week. That’s right: this week is Clint Eastwood week.
There are very few actors with a career as long as Eastwood’s, and for the ones that do, very few can say they made as many good movies as Eastwood has. From the toughest damned cowboy you’ve met to an Orang-utan owning prize fighter to the toughest damned cop you’ve ever seen, Clint has rocked it.
I know the blog is called I Like Bad Movies, but if you’ve read it long enough, you know that the truth is, I just plain like movies. So, don’t go thinking these are bad movies, because they are not – you’ll know when I watch a bad movie, and I don’t think that’s happening this week.
Yep, this is going to be a damned good week.
March 18, 2014 | Categories: 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, 60's, 70's, 80's, alive, animals, Awesome, b movies, Bacon, blogging, Cabin in the Woods, civilization, Classic, Comanche, comedy, crazy, creepy, crime, death, Eastwood, entertaining, entertainment, epic, family, film, fun, good, government conspiracy, great, Grindhouse, gritty, hate, humanity, independant, injustice, Italian, Italy, killers, Mexico, Mob, movies, murder, music, original, police, powerful, prison, punk, revenge, reviews, sacrifice, scary, self preservation, Sergio Leone, sexy, Society, Spaghetti, starvation, television, theatre, trailers, Undead, Van Cleef, variety, vengence, war, weather, Western | Tags: 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 60's, 70's, 80s, alive, animals, awesome, B Movies, Bacon, blogging, Cabin in the Woods, civilization, classic, Comanche, comedy, crazy, creepy, crime, death, Eastwood, entertaining, entertainment, epic, family, film, fun, good, government conspiracy, great, grindhouse, gritty, hate, humanity, independant, injustice, Italian, Italy, killers, Mexico, mob, movies, murder, music, original, police, powerful, prison, punk, revenge, reviews, sacrifice, scary, self preservation, Sergio Leone, sexy, Society, Spaghetti, starvation, television, theatre, trailers, undead, Van Cleef, variety, vengence, war, weather, western | Leave a comment
Godzilla Week Movie 1 – Gojira (1954) – Godzilla Makes It’s Debut And Japan Is Screwed
1954’s Gojira (the Japanese name for Godzilla, and not some cheap knock off of the Godzilla licence) if the first appearance of Godzilla in film, and it’s a good one.
A Japanese film, through and through, Gojira tells the tale of an ancient beast, a creature of legends, that has been released from it’s lair beneath the ocean when it’s home is destroyed by atomic tests being conducted in the Pacific ocean (this is the early to mid-1950s, after all). At first a few boats go missing with no clues. When a few survivors are found, they speak seemingly gibberish about the ocean exploding. Seems only an old and grumpy man, knows what’s happening when he starts talking about the old legends of a giant lizard beast that would emerge and wreak havoc, and how they used to appease the beast by setting the occasional girl adrift on a raft for the creature’s snacking pleasure. Finally enough sightings and reports of the creature start coming through that a scientific research team is put together to study the beast. Once they discover that Godzilla is real, it’s then up to the military to destroy Godilla, who is now working it’s way towards Tokyo. As usual, (though not “as usual” for the audiences of 1954), traditional tactics do nothing but piss the monster off, and just causes more destruction. It’s not until a physically and emotionally scarred scientist is convinced to use his discovery, a device that destroys oxygen and liquefies living flesh, that Japan has even a slim hope of surviving the monster’s attack.
Gojira is as good as an introduction to a movie beast as any I’ve seen. The creature design has proven solid, as this 1954 Godzilla still looks like the same Godzilla that you would find in the 60’s,70’s and beyond (except for that crappy American Godzilla movie). Also, the creatures iconic roar is there, right from the start. It’s also interesting to watch this film with the knowledge that this was made in a Japan that is very different from today’s Japan. This is a Japan that was still healing from a World War that almost decimated them. The war is mentioned, and the testing of nuclear weapons are highlighted as a bad thing. If you like Godzilla, then you have to watch this film. If you are unsure if you like Godzilla, then you have to watch this and a number of other Godzilla movies if you really want to decide if you are a fan or not. I know I am.
March 4, 2014 | Categories: 1950's, 1950s, 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, 1990's, 2000's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 8mm, Alien, alive, animals, b movies, Bacon, blogging, cheezy, civilization, Classic, confusion, cover up, crazy, crime, death, dinosaur, dragon, effects, entertaining, entertainment, epic, fantasy, film, fun, Godzilla, great, Grindhouse, gritty, horror, humanity, Japan, japanese, killers, monster, movies, ninjas, original, police, powerful, revenge, reviews, sacrifice, scary, Sci-fi, science, Science Fiction, self preservation, series, silly, Society, special effects, stupid, television, theatre, Toys, trailers, vengence, war | Tags: 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990's, 2000's, 60's, 70's, 80s, 8mm, alien, alive, animals, B Movies, Bacon, blogging, cheezy, civilization, classic, confusion, cover up, crazy, crime, death, dinosaur, dragon, effects, entertaining, entertainment, epic, fantasy, film, fun, Godzilla, great, grindhouse, gritty, horror, humanity, Japan, japanese, killers, monster, movies, ninjas, original, police, powerful, revenge, reviews, sacrifice, scary, sci-fi, science, science fiction, self preservation, series, silly, Society, special effects, stupid, television, theatre, Toys, trailers, vengence, war | Leave a comment
Godzilla Week!!!!
You read that right: This week of movie watching is dedicated to everybody’s favourite, reptilian destroyer of Japanese cities, Godzilla (a.k.a. Gojira).
Why Godzilla? Well, it started after watching Dragonslayer – I was talking to my buddy and thought that perhaps a week dedicated to movies about Dragons might be a cool idea… Until I started searching out movies about Dragons – there aren’t many, and for the most part, the ones that do exist I am not interested in. Except one thing: I consider Godzilla to be a Dragon, and there are a lot of Godzilla movies to choose from, and I just happen to like Godzilla. I think this is what is known as a Win/Win situation folks. Over the next week I will write up the Godzilla movies I watch and share them with you, as usual. But take note: I will not be watching the travesty of a Godzilla movie that starred Mathew Broderick – to me that is not a true Godzilla movie.
So… Welcome to Godzilla Week my Internet friends!
March 4, 2014 | Categories: 1950s, 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, 1990's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 8mm, Airport, Alien, Awesome, b movies, bargain, blogging, brains, cheezy, civilization, Classic, cops, crazy, death, dinosaur, dragon, drive in, effects, entertaining, entertainment, epic, fantasy, film, fun, funny, great, gritty, horror, humanity, Japan, japanese, Mob, monster, movies, original, revenge, reviews, sacrifice, Sci-fi, science, Science Fiction, self preservation, series, silly, Society, special effects, Sushi, Toys, trailers, watch, Western | Tags: 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990's, 60's, 70's, 80s, 8mm, Airport, alien, awesome, B Movies, bargain, blogging, brains, cheezy, civilization, classic, cops, crazy, death, dinosaur, dragon, drive in, effects, entertaining, entertainment, epic, fantasy, film, fun, funny, Godzilla, great, gritty, horror, humanity, Japan, japanese, mob, monster, movies, original, revenge, reviews, sacrifice, sci-fi, science, science fiction, self preservation, series, silly, Society, special effects, Sushi, Toys, trailers, watch, western | Leave a comment
Devil’s Pass (2013)–Wow: A Good Found Footage Horror Movie–These Are Rare
2013’s movie, Devil’s Pass, tells the story of a group of Americans, led by amateur film maker Holly King (played by Holly Goss), who head to Russia to investigate the Dyatlov Pass incident and the now infamous doomed hiking party of nine that were found inexplicably dead, mutilated, nearly nude and one member dosed in radiation. Over the years many people have put forward theories as to what happened to the original group, but know one really knows the truth. This group wants to be the ones to find the real reason for the slaughter. The group makes it to the area of the original events faster than expected. Once there they notice strange foot prints that seem to appear out of nowhere and disappear the same way, leading some of the group to accuse Holly of faking the prints for her film, something she categorically denies. Things get weirder: Holly and another member of the group uncover a large metal door that locks from the outside in the side of the mountain. Later, in the middle of the night the group is wakened by deafening noises and forced from their tents due to an avalanche, in which they lose one of their group and another gets a nasty compound fracture of the leg. Shortly after this, one member fires off a flare, hoping help may come. Soon two men approach, and while at first they believe it’s help, one of the group notes that the would be rescuers have no packs or supplies and therefore are most likely a threat. This turns out to be true when the two start firing at the group. Holly and one member have to leave behind the injured member whom they witness getting shot by the two men. Holly and friend open the mysterious door into the mountain and enter, the door immediately being locked (from the outside) behind them. Once inside, things start to get even weirder. Finding evidence of an old, secret US experiment in teleportation via photos amongst other documents, they start getting the idea that perhaps strange forces are at work. Soon the movie switched from horror to Science Fiction/Horror.
Devil’s Pass is a found footage style movie – a style that has been ridiculously over used ever since The Blair Witch Project proved you didn’t need expensive cameras and production values to make a good, scary movie. Unlike most of those found footage movies, this one is actually pretty good. I chose it seemingly at random on Netflix, I recommend this movie if your looking for something creepy and new to watch.
February 13, 2014 | Categories: 1950's, 1950s, 59, cannibal, civilization, confusion, cover up, crazy, death, different, entertaining, entertainment, epic, evil, exploitation, hate, horror, humanity, monster, movies, murder, philadelphia, philadelphia experiment, Russia, Soviet | Tags: 1950s, 59, cannibal, civilization, confusion, cover up, crazy, death, different, Dyatlov, entertaining, entertainment, epic, evil, exploitation, hate, horror, humanity, monster, movies, murder, philadelphia, philadelphia experiment, Russia, Soviet | Leave a comment
Deranged (1974)–Interesting if Flawed Docu-Drama About The Man That Inspired So Many Horror Movies
Last night I watch the masterful biopic, Hitchcock, about the Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock and absolutely loved it. The movie takes place during the filming of Psycho. What I learned was that Psycho was loosely based upon the crimes of Ed Gein, a serial killer, body snatcher and possible necrophilliac from Plainfield, Wisconsin. This left me wondering about who this Ed Gein was and were there any movie based specifically about him and not just inspired by his crime. A quick Google search and I foung the movie, Deranged from 1974.
Deranged starts with a warning that everything in the film is based on real events and that the names have been changed to protect the innocent…. blah, blah,blah! Telling the story of a man that was raised by an overbearing religious fanatic mother that taught him that all women, aside from herself, were diseased whores out to corrupt him. Not allowed to socialize with others outside of school, Ed was bound to come out twisted. Ed, obsessed with his mother, devoted himself to her caretaking. When she suffered a stroke, he became even more so. Upon her death he boarded up the rooms that she used and left himself a small area in the house for his own use.
In the movie, Ed soon finds himself missing his mother terribly, and convinced himself that she was actually sleeping and not dead. His mother’s voice calls to him telling him to retrieve her and bring her back to their home. Exhuming the body, Ed does just that. Mother, having been buried for the better part of a year was not in prime shape, so Ed decides to make repairs to his mother. Using bits of fish skin and the like he fixes her up as best he can. Eventually, he studies taxidermy to improve his skills. Not content with animals, Ed exhumes bodies from the grave yard, taking parts of or whole bodies from fresh graves. Ed’s a ghoul.
Soon Ed ups the ante when he becomes smitten with a local bar owner and kidnaps her. Hoping she’ll be his wife, he introduces her to his mother and dinner guests: posed bodis of the peopl he stole from the graveyard. Playing along, she convinced him to release her bound hand, and attempts to escape… Sorry! Ed ain’t letting you go. Instead of a wedding, she’s dead now.
Ed keeps up his shit with no one suspecting him at all, until a girl keeping shop dissapears with signs of foul play. The last person in the shop was Ed and the local Sherriff goes off to Ed’s farm house to talk to him. That’s where they find the body of the girl and evidence of all of Ed’s grisly crimes. The movie then ends with a write up of Ed being found insane…
Okay, this is not a great movie, but I did find it interesting as I knew little of Ed Gein. There have been a lot of movies about Ed and based on him. Not many of the biopics are very good, but this is one of the first. Should you watch it? If your interested in the crimes of Ed, then yes. If not, then don’t bother.
April 30, 2013 | Categories: 1950s, 1974, abduction, b movies, bad, Canadian, cannibal, confusion, cover up, crappy, crazy, crime, death, different, drive in, dungeon, entertaining, entertainment, evil, Evil Dead, film, hate, horror, humanity, injustice, kidnapping, killers, movies, murder, original, reviews, scary, self preservation, shitty, silly, slasher, stupid, theatre, torture, trailers, watch | Tags: 1950s, 1974, abduction, B Movies, bad, Canadian, cannibal, confusion, cover up, crappy, crazy, crime, death, different, drive in, dungeon, Ed Gein, entertaining, entertainment, evil, Evil Dead, film, hate, horror, humanity, injustice, kidnapping, killers, movies, murder, original, reviews, scary, self preservation, shitty, silly, slasher, stupid, theatre, torture, trailers, watch | Leave a comment
House of Wax (1953)–A Must Watch Classic
The first time I watched The House of Wax was around 1984 when a local theatre was showing classic 3D films each Friday for a few months. I was 14 at the time and thought I was in for a hokey experience – what I ended up with was a new appreciation for the classics, for 3D cinema (when done well), and especially for Vincent Price.
Released in 1953, it was a remake of Mystery of the Wax Museum without the humour of the original (thanks Wikipedia). The film was one of the first colour 3D movies from a big American studio, and apparently one of the first with stereo sound… pretty innovative for 1953. The movie tells the tale of Professor Henry Jarrod (played by Vincent Price), an master in the art of wax sculptures and his quest for vengeance against his financial partner, who burns down the Wax museum to recoup his investment through insurance. In an attempt to stop the blaze, Matthew Burke (played by Roy Roberts) knocks out Jarrod in a fight and leaves him to burn in the fire.
Thinking Jarrod perished in the fire, we learn that Burke collected the insurance payout through a conversation with Burke and his girlfriend/Fiancé at dinner. Burke also tells her a tale of how sad he was at the loss of his friend and partner… a lie of course.
Well, it turns out that Jarrod was not killed in the fire, but was burned, leaving his hands useless. He has decided to create a school to teach his art and to recreate a new wax museum, but this time dedicated to the macabre, depicting true life horror scenes in wax. Working through the hands of his students, he even goes as far as to model the faces of the wax figures on victims of crime in the news papers.
Well, all is not as it seems, and a shadowy figure is seen leaving the wax museum/school and descending on Burke, murdering him while making it look like a suicide through hanging. We catch a glimpse of the killer who is horrible disfigures – it is the true face of Jarrod, dis-figured in the original wax museum fire. Shortly after the suicide is reported in the news, Burke’s body disappears, and a new exhibit opens in the museum depicting Burke’s apparent suicide with a picture perfect model of Burke as the centerpiece. Next to go is Burke’s fiancé who is murdered in her sleep by the grotesque Jarrod. Almost caught, he is seen by a flat mate of the now dead lady. When she describes the horrible face of the killer, she is not initially believed. Soon Burke’s Fiancé’s body disappears and a new exhibit depicting Joan of Arc at the stake takes it’s place with a model that looks exactly like the freshly dead woman.
What’s happening? Burke, enraged and crazed after the loss of his life’s work and his disfigurement in the fire, has decided to get revenge on his former partner and all those that may stand in his way. He has taken to creating wax sculptures by covering the bodies of his victims in wax and making them the centrepiece of his works. The burn make up on Price, in my opinion looks great and the performances by all are top notch. I really don’t think that it should be considered scary by today’s standards, but is a classic in any case. The movie has recently been re-released on Blu-Ray and in 3D and I must say it looks fabulous. This is a movie that I heartily suggest you watch, even if you’ve seen it before.
April 26, 2013 | Categories: 1950s, 3D, abduction, b movies, confusion, cover up, crime, death, dungeon, entertaining, entertainment, evil, film, fun, good, hate, horror, House of Wax, humanity, injustice, kidnapping, killers, movies, murder, reviews, sacrifice, scary, self preservation, theatre, trailers, Vincent Price, watch | Tags: 1950s, 3D, abduction, B Movies, confusion, cover up, crime, death, dungeon, entertaining, entertainment, evil, film, fun, good, hate, horror, House of Wax, humanity, injustice, kidnapping, killers, movies, murder, reviews, sacrifice, scary, self preservation, theatre, trailers, Vincent Price, watch | Leave a comment
Watch a Cheezy Movie For Free, Write a Simple Review and Get a DVD in the Mail
Watch this movie, write a review and send it to me. I might post it, and if I do I’ll give you full credit and maybe send you a cheezy movie on DVD or something silly like that. To be fair, if I get 100 entries I’m NOT sending out 100 DVDs. I will choose one review and send that reviewer the movie. How will I choose? I don’t know yet – most likely I’ll just pick the one that I like. Not scientific, I know but I will try to be fair and open minded.
Hell… I’m okay even if it’s not this movie that you review, just as long as the review is original, and the movie is cheezy.
Also, I hope the winner of the DVD will allow me to publish the fact that they one, but I’ll respect a request for anonymity if asked to.
Click Here To Submit Your Reviews
Here’s the movie (let me know if the link dies):
March 26, 2013 | Categories: 1950s, b movies, bad, contest, Crab Monsters, crappy, crazy, death, drive in, dumb, entertaining, entertainment, film, fun, funny, horror, killers, movies, murder, original, reviews, scary, silly, stupid, watch | Tags: 1950s, B Movies, bad, contest, Crab Monsters, crappy, crazy, death, drive in, dumb, entertaining, entertainment, film, fun, funny, horror, killers, movies, murder, original, reviews, scary, silly, stupid, watch | Leave a comment
Parents (1989) – Ghoulishly Good Flick
Parents is a 1989 film, set in 1950’s suburbia is the story of a boy, Michael who discovers that his meat loving parents are cannibals.
This is a fun, funny stylish flick that I am surprised that I had never even heard of until earlier this week. Starring Randy Quaid as Nick Laemle and Mary Beth Hurt as Lily Laemle, Michaels parents, they play convincing mid-20th century parents… with a taste for Human flesh.
Michael, already an odd little boy,being raised by odd parents, suspects that something just isn’t right with his folks. Poking around, he finds hints but no answers to their weirdness – that is, at first. Eventually he discovers their secret, and that of course, put him in jeopardy.
This film is stylish with great visuals and a great cast. The story, while macabre, is engaging and fun. I have absolutely no issues recommending this silly film.
September 19, 2012 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: 1950s, 1989, bar-b-que, Cannibals, chemicals, comedy, film, fitting in, food, fun, funny, ghoulish, horror, meat, movies, Parents, Randy Quaid, school, silly, Stylish, weird | Leave a comment
Rocket Ship X-M (1950) – Cheezy Pulp Fluff… And I Liked It!
The story of the first manned space flight, set for a voyage to the moon, when something goes wrong and the ship and crew end up on Mars. Silly enough, I know but this has movie has charm.
Starring Lloyd Bridges, Osa Massen, John Emery, Noah Beery, Jr., and Hugh O’Brien as the crew of the rocket-ship X-M, this is the story of the brave crew of the first human space flight. They are to go to the moon – pretty lofty goal for the first flight but hey – it’s a silly movie! A problem with the life support system causes the crew to pass out for a couple of days and they over shoot the moon and end up on Mars. On Mars they find evidence of a once mighty civilization – and have to deal with barbarous, but strangely human like natives. Our heroes protect them selves by shooting to miss, frightening the Martians enough to allow them to make it back to the ship safely. While on Mars, the entire the scenes are given a sepia colour,that adds to the quaintness. Then there’s perilous the return journey to Earth Sure, not the most realistic story line, but it is silly fun.
This film very much reminds me of the classic Sci-Fi radio plays of the 30s, 40s and 50s. Only 70 minutes long, this is a quick, easy watch and somewhat of a breath of fresh air after some of the films I’ve watched over the last few months. Plus Lloyd Bridges rocks. According to Wikipedia, this movie was rushed to production to ride the public enthusiasm for another Sci-Fi flick that was in production, Destination Moon (it self an interesting film with the screen play written by Science Fiction great, Robert Heinlein). Also, according to Wikipedia, some of the special effects were re-shot in the 1980s and edited in in a VHS release – I have not seen this copy, though. The film was also known as Expedition Moon and Rocket Ship XM-1.
Watch the whole movie on the Internet Archive here:
http://archive.org/details/RocketshipXM
June 7, 2012 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: 1950s, classic, foolish, fun, Lloyd Bridges, radio, Rocket Ship X-M, sci-fi, science fiction, silly | Leave a comment
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The Gold Standard #17
Grey Scherl | December 9, 2008 | Columns | No Comments
Did you all have a good Thanksgiving? Directed to my American readers, of course, to the rest of you….did you have a good week? I know I did, stuffed my face, hung out with family, had one of my best friends come in town for the weekend. It was quite nice, and very needed. Almost enough to make up for it’s the last holiday before the holiday season truly gets into the swing of things, so it’s going to be a bumpy ride for the next few weeks. Yay! But it’s Thanksgiving time, and since last week I was wrapping up a two parter, this week is going to be dedicated to things that have come about in the past year that I’m thankful for. For the most part this is going to be a hundred percent comic based, but hey, don’t be surprised if I throw out some dankness in TV form as well.
Now first off, I have to give thanks for Geoff Johns on Green Lantern. This year alone has been a homerun, and I don’t say that strictly as someone who came on board finally, I say that as someone who views the Sinestro Corps War as one of the best events to take place in comics this past year. A story that redefined space epics and wars in comic form, and one that I would say would reach untouchable status is not for the upcoming Blackest Night which I just know for a fact is going to be ten times more awesome for our buck.
On that same note, not to tangent too much, but my friend Ike and I were discussing artists on big events and he said “Why not give Ivan Reis his own event?” to which I replied “If DC gives him an event, then they can go fuck themselves.” He wanted to know how I could say that about an artist like Reis, who I admittedly like quite a bit. And to that I had a very simple answer.
“Because then he’d have to leave Green Lantern.”
Next on my list is Manhunter, which despite news of its looming cancellation being something of a bummer this holiday season, I can at least remain thankful that DC gave this book another shot. Sure it was only really for a single story arc, but I’d rather have that small dose of this great book then nothing at all.
X-Force has been such an amazing surprise this past year, filling the role of the book that is leaps and bounds better than it has any reason to be. What was sold to us as a dark and moody book about killer X-Men has developed into a wealth of explored continuity with many fun character moments and returns to old plots. And while Clayton Crain is hardly a favorite artist of mine, Mike Choi has proven himself to be the best alternating artist possible as his issues have been nothing short of phenomenal in their looks.
I’m thankful for the expanding presence of a writer whom, two years ago, I’d never heard of, and now I read books solely for his name. I’m talking, of course, about Peter Tomasi. The former editor has brought a lot to the table, writing multiple books with the knowledge and subtle touch that could only be provided by someone who has provided their own watchful eye over characters in the past. His Green Lantern Corps is a must buy book every month, and his Nightwing had finally gone about redeeming the character after all of the horrible runs since Infinite Crisis struck. Memories sparked of his Black Adam mini-series from last year, which was the sign that Tomasi would strike it huge. Now we have to wait until 2009 for his next big project, The Mighty, which is already on my hold list.
Despite last year ending the run of one of my recent favorites in the Irredeemable Ant-Man, this year provided me with a sense of relief when Dan Slott adopted Eric O’Grady into his Initiative. With this addition Eric has been rescued from the limbo of obscurity that most thought he would be doomed to sit in, and to make it even better? Slott gets him as a character, so Eric still feels like Eric. This is a huge deal for a fan like me, because not only do I get to see one of my favorite new characters keep going, but I get to see it happen without a jarring personality change.
Boo-ya!
Despite the abomination of One More Day, JMS managed to go down with a stellar year in the books due to a single project he’s produced. Thor. Since launching a year ago in the aftermath of the Civil War, we’ve been treated with this new tail of Gods and men. This new take on Asgard, placed over Oklahoma instead of over a rainbow bridge. We’ve watched the Gods awaken, discovered Thor’s secret brother, and learned truths of Odin that had remained hidden until now. Oh, and we got to witness Thor talking to the ghost of Captain America on the anniversary of his death in one of the most moving comics moments I’ve seen in years. Definitely a contender for book of the year.
Secret Six is an ongoing book by Gail Simone and Nicola Scott, my prayers from last year are answered. The announcement and quick publication, mixed with the steady schedule and high quality of work has reminded me much of Gail Simone’s run on Birds of Prey, from which Scott gained notice in my eyes. This is the perfect team for this title, and all of the favorites are back, and I swear that Nicola Scott is going to be huge, her art is GORGEOUS!
One of my prize purchases for the year was Absolute Starman volume 1. Anyone who’s gotten me to talk about it knows just how much I adore this title, and given how horrid the trade service is for the book, Absolutes are the way to go. A must read for any and every fan of the medium, here’s hoping for volume 2 this year!
If you see this cover, buy it.
New Frontier hit DVD back in January, and I have to admit that I went in relatively close minded. See, I love the New Frontier. One of my favorite stories of all time. So I knew how dense the book was, and I saw the runtime for the movie and knew that most of the book wouldn’t show up. Unfortunately some of my favorite parts were among them, like John Henry and the Challengers. Oh, yeah, how about the opening of the book with the Losers? So many amazing moments were lost to make the runtime work, and other things were rewritten (like Hal getting to go into space), but at the end of the day I would still rate it as a must see movie, though not nearly to the point that the book is an absolute you must buy me.
Make mine Blu-Ray
Speaking of, was this the year of the comic book movie or what? Sure, we had films like Wanted that were fun but took craps all over the source material, but at the same time we had the big three. Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, and The Dark Knight. Two huge box office blockbusters, and one amazing movie. Edward Norton brought the character of Bruce Banner to life flawlessly in Hulk, in a movie that made me go “Ang who?”, and reminded me just why I loved the Hulk so much. All it takes is creative storytelling and a respect for the fact that when people go to see the Hulk, they expect the perfect combination of tragic Bruce moments and smashing Hulk ones. Then we had Iron Man where Robert Downey Jr. acted his ass off to put on a hell of a show, in what was for about two months my favorite comic movie of all time. For as complex a character as Tony Stark is, fundamentally he’s quite simple, and Downey managed to nail all the little quirks. On top of that, we had top notch supporting characters, a bang up story that left us wanting more of the Iron Avenger. Not to mention that Sam Jackson appearance at the end that was just “mm-mmm good”.
I figure that The Dark Knight deserves a little bit more work though, as this wasn’t just a comic book popcorn flick. No, not at all. Christopher Nolan created a true film with this, an actual piece of cinema. Christian Bale is the definitive Batman after this movie, having finally firmly gotten a grasp on the subtle nuances that are the personality of the Bat, the grim and gritty voice, the blank icy stare, the composure that is the Bat. Aaron Eckhart completely owned the role of Harvey Dent and managed to take a debuting character, one that may be unfamiliar to the casual movie goer, and create a compelling and tragic hero. Sure, he becomes Two Face in the end, but the Dark Knight is very much the story of Harvey Dent and his quest to save Gotham City. And then there’s also the late Heath Ledger, whom a talk about the Dark Knight would be a travesty without. There are talks about Heath getting an Oscar nomination for his role as the Joker, and I can see it. He was dark, scary, and a true figment of horror. He was over the top without ever leaving the ground. He was scary and disturbing and completely utterly perfect. There’s a reason this almost became the top grossing movie of all time.
Robert Kirkman finally treated the fans of Invincible with the moment we’d been waiting for when he finally had Mark and Eve start going out. A romance brewing since the second issue of the book, it took fifty issues for him to finally pull the trigger on it, and so far it’s working out spectacularly. Whoever said true love can’t exist in comics needs only read Invincible, and to follow the story of Mark Grayson and Samantha Eve Wilkins. Thanks Rob, it’s a hell of a book.
Matt Fraction. The man is everywhere, not unlike Christos Gage. The difference? I haven’t found a Fraction book that hasn’t been worth reading. He’s an amazing writer that’s being spread thin without giving up the quality. He’s easily the future of Marvel, and I could easily see him growing up the ranks to become the new Brian Bendis or Ed Brubaker.
Mad props go out to the phenomenal book called Booster Gold, and the fact that it’s still running strong. Johns and Katz may have left the book, but a quick arc to fill the gaps before Jurgens takes over completely hasn’t cost the book any steam. I still look forward to this book every month, and I hope to be saying the same thing next year.
Last January we had the debut of the new Captain America, as Bucky first put on his costume and became the new Captain America. A few months ago ‘The Men Who Stole America’ wrapped up, and thus concluding the long running arc that had begun in the first issue of the title. Bucky is deservedly a star in this book, and despite missing Steve, well, I don’t miss him. I’m incredibly happy with how this book is going, and I can never wait to see what Brubaker has in store for us next.
And last but not least, Dexter. The best show on television. Two weeks are left in this season, and it’s infuriating to say the very least. This is the kind of show we need more than 14 episodes of a year. Hell, this is the kind of show that we need MORE SHOWS JUST LIKE!
I want something else to get me through this semi-charmed kind of life, baby, baby, I want something else, I’m not listening when you say goodbye
I’m going to try and hold off on my Batman thoughts until the big Nexus RIP event that Glazer and I are working on, but I will say this much. I liked it, a lot. I have high hopes for where the franchise is heading, and I have complete faith in what DC is doing. And if anything, I felt the death was the perfect swerve. After the pacing of this arc we were expecting a crazed psycho Bruce to be the one biting it, not the one true Batman.
The Kingdom brought about our big plot twist where we find out that Gog is, in fact, evil. As everyone had already sort of figured, but hey, heroes take longer to learn. Especially Hawkman, stupid barbarian.
Teen Titans was readable for the first time in months, and I was amazed. Then again, maybe I just really liked Wonder Girl’s new costume design.
Nova was the usual amazing storyline with a big out of nowhere twist, and I’m digging it. Though I do really miss Rich having Worldmind in his head, that was just endless fun.
X-Force: Still a guilty pleasure. Especially with Vanisher going off on Elixer for not wanting to hurt anyone after he gave Vanisher an X shaped brain tumor.
Original Sin ended and…..I don’t care. What a waste of two issues of X-Men Legacy. Maybe Mike Carey was just phoning it in so as to not completely upstage Daniel Way as he readed his Rogue arc. Yeah, that was probably it.
New Krypton is still fun for me, and I really did like what the Kryptonians did. Not the killing, but it was an incredibly smart idea to round up the usual suspects from Superman’s rogues gallery and get rid of them less they run into another event like Doomsday. One needs to ask though, why didn’t they hunt down Luthor and Metallo?
See, this is a bad guy. Not Prankster.
Also, in other news, I won Black Friday. I got Wii Fit, Shaun White Snowboarding, the first two seasons of Venture Brothers, the Spore expansion, DBZ3 (Wii), all three Annihilation hardcovers (for a combined post-shipping total of $30), Batman: The Black Glove, and much much more. And the best part? I didn’t wait in a single line, hence me winning.
What I read this week:
JSA: The Kingdom
Wolverine Origins
Best of the week:
What I watched this week:
Tags: Batman, Captain America, DCU, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Hulk, Image, Iron Man, X-Men
Grey Scherl
A lifelong reader and self proclaimed continuity guru, Grey is the Editor in Chief of Comics Nexus. Known for his love of Booster Gold, Spider-Girl (the real one), Stephanie Brown, and The Boys. Don't miss The Gold Standard.
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DJ Jean
DJ JEAN, a name who left his indelible traces in the contemporary national and international club scene. Well known for his turntable “skills”, his notoriously rebellious dissolute lifestyle and especially as a dedicated DJ! He was also one of the first and very few DJ’s who gained his well-earned status of a real Dutch celebrity! Jean is distinctive and overloaded with multiple awards, such as the SENA Award, an award for most played Club DJ on Dutch radio in the past ten years, he has been voted as BEST CLUB DJ for several times! There are also numerous nominations at big Award shows like the TMF AWARDS and SILVER STAR DANCE in the UK. and by the way, let’s not forget he is THE MOST BOOKED DJ, ‘EVER’, in the NETHERLANDS.
His name counts many International classics / anthems such as THE LAUNCH and EVERY SINGLE DAY, but also more recent (2015), highly successful co-productions as “THINK ABOUT IT” (FT. INAYA DAY),” PULP” and “POPACABANA”, which ALL reached BEATPORT chart positions between nr. 20 and 50, and came out on highly successful international labels like VAMOS, CASSA ROSSA and WHOREHOUSE! DJ’s like HARDWELL, NICKY ROMERO and many others from this calibre produced official remixes for his tracks, and DJ’s like ARMIN VAN BUUREN, VATO GONZALES, LADY BEE and loads of others see him as one of their biggest inspirations for their successful careers………. Jean is also the only Dutch DJ who produced more than 30 compilation CD’s (IT 4 to 9, MADHOUSE 1 to 12), for a total sale both national as international of 1.000.000 CD’s! Due to this international success, Jean has been spinning records at almost every place in the world! In his own country he played SENSATION WHITE in the AMSTERDAM ARENA 5 times/years in a row, and internationally he performed in more than 20 countries at numerous festivals and at the most prominent and well-known clubs! On the party Island IBIZA, he played in all mayor clubs such as Amnesia, Pacha and Privilige. His homebase remains in the Netherlands, where he’s also a very welcome guest at parties varying from 50 to 50,000 people. This high degree of flexibility in terms of locations, price and music style, makes that his popularity is still incredible huge in his homeland, both with his own as with the latest generation of clubbers! The youngest and last generations of DJ’s even call DJ JEAN the founder of the international highly successful Dutch house and DJ scene, and GODFATHER OF THE DUTCH DJ’S!
In 2013 JEAN hooked up with MC MARON HILL (Without a doubt Holland’s finest on the mic….), to gain even more power and impact for his performances! This resulted in a powerful tagteam so strong that it created a vibe and sentiment in the Netherlands, but also across the border, unheard off and often described as ‘STUNNING’ and UNBEATABLE!! As a result of this JEAN and MARON had more than 300 very successful gigs in 2014 and 2015, performing at worldwide infamous festivals such as TOMORROWLAND, DUTCH VALLEY and many more… They also did a very successful POLAND tour in the summer of 2015 performing in at least ten of the biggest and best-known clubs in this great party country! These days Jean’s music style varies from the immense popular EDM sound to the more deep, soulful, groovy and uplifting clubhouse! The dominant music style in JEAN’S performance completely depends on the crowd he is spinning for and party he is spinning AT, at that particular moment, therefore making him the most “adaptive” DJ among the so called “big names”!
For 2016 a significant number of top-quality tracks are already on the list and waiting to be released, and this will certainly lead to even more international exposure and success!
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Home/Anime News/Violet Evergarden launches a line of wallpapers
Violet Evergarden launches a line of wallpapers
We are only ten days away from the premiere of the Kyoto Animation film, Violet Evergarden the Movie, scheduled for September 18 and after a long and tiring journey to the long-awaited anime sequel. This film was delayed twice, the first time due to the arson in the studio, which ended the life of art director Mikiko Watanabe; and secondly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused the massive closure of cinemas in Japan.
To celebrate the premiere of this feature film, a series of wallpapers based on the project’s scenarios was published on the project’s official site, as well as a special comment by author Kana Akatsuki.
In her comment she expressed: “The time has finally come for a great journey to begin. The blue-eyed girl is in front of us with her bag and an umbrella. Is our guest ready? The artwork is not complete until the guest arrives, but it is not the end, but the beginning. Someone may feel a knot in the chest from this story. That’s right, it could be you, you could pass the story on to another as the bards did in ancient times, leaving the love, passion and even the breath of the creators to be etched in the world. If it’s okay with you, make it eternal. I wish you the best on this trip. ”
Akatsuki began publishing the light novels with illustrations by Takase through the KA Esuma Bunko imprint in December 2015 in three volumes. Originally, the tape was scheduled to be released in January of this year. The anime adaptation premiered on January 10, 2018, having a total of thirteen episodes and a special video. Netflix simulcast the series with the episodes dubbed and subtitled in multiple countries. A film with a side story titled Violet Evergarden Gaiden: Eien to Jidou Shuki Ningyou opened in Japan in September 2019.
Violet Evergarden Synopsis
There are words Violet heard on the battlefield that she cannot forget. These words were given to her by someone she appreciates more than anyone else. She still does not know its meaning. A certain point in time, on the continent of Telesis. The great war that divided the continent into North and South has ended after four years, and the people are welcoming a new generation.
Violet Evergarden, a young woman formerly known as “the gun,” has left the battlefield to start a new life in the CH Postal Service. There, she is deeply moved by the work of “Auto Memories Dolls”, who transmit people’s thoughts and turn them into words.
Violet begins her journey as an Auto Memories Doll, coming face to face with people’s emotions and different forms of love. All the time looking for the meaning of those words.
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Cholesterol & Heart Health
JONNY RECOMMENDS
Wine Benefits For Non-Drinkers
by Jonny Bowden | Blog, Everything Else, Nutrition | 0 comments
Let’s talk about wine.
Now, if you know my work, if you’ve read anything I’ve written over the last decade, or you’re at all familiar with my story, you know that I haven’t had a drink since, oh, somewhere around 1982.
But it’s National Wine Day, so, here we are. And the fact that I personally don’t drink doesn’t mean I’m not fully aware of wine’s benefits.
So how can a non-drinker like me still get the well-established health benefits that come from moderate drinking?
Actually, it’s not hard.
See, the benefits of wine are two-fold. First, alcohol in general is a “disinhibitor”. And, frankly, a little relaxation of our inhibitions once in a while is a good thing. It helps grease the wheels of social interaction, loosens everyone up, helps conversation to flow, lowers stress hormones, and—sometimes—even helps to develop intimacy (if you’re lucky, that is). But with alcohol, the dose makes the posion. Too much disinhibition can result in disaster, as anyone who’s ever seen a crazy frat party well knows.
While the disinhibiting/relaxing/social-interaction-facilitating effect of alcohol applies to all alcohol, wine has a second, unique benefit which comes from the skin of the dark grapes from which it’s made. Those grape skins contain a host of valuable plant compounds known as polyphenols, most of which have demonstrated significant health benefits.
In the case of red wine, one of the most potent of the polyphenols is a compound known as resveratrol.
Resveratrol is known as an anti-aging nutrient, largely because of its effect on a group of genes known as the SIRT genes. The SIRT (or sirtuin) genes are involved in aging, and activating them appears to extend life. There’s a ton of research on how to activate these genes, and in virtually every species tested—from yeast, to fruit flies, to monkeys—activating these genes extends life. But before the discovery of resveratrol, the only way to turn these genes on was with calorie restriction.
The discovery that resveratrol mimics the effect of calorie restriction was a red-letter day for folks who wanted the anti-aging effects of calorie restriction, but didn’t fancy to the idea of eating two asparagus sticks for dinner.
If activating the SIRT genes was all that resveratrol did, that would be enough to recommend it as a supplement. But subsequent research has shown that resveratrol has a resume that goes far beyond merely turning on your longevity genes.
Resveratrol is a powerful antioxidant. It’s anti-inflammatory. It supports the heart by protecting the endothelium, the inner layer of your arteries. It helps block the production of a highly inflammatory compound called Nf-kB (nf kappa b). It helps prevent the oxidation of cholesterol (and let’s remember that the only type of cholesterol we need to fear is oxidized cholesterol).
But wait! There’s more.
Resveratrol may limit the spread of cancer cells. It may help protect nerve cells in the brain and limit the buildup of plaque that is associated with Alzheimer’s. And if all that weren’t enough, it significantly reduces insulin resistance, which is associated with both diabetes and obesity.
Pretty impressive, don’t you think?
So how do you get the benefits of reservatrol without drinking wine? With reservatrol supplements.
But shop for the supplements wisely.
The dirty little secret about resveratrol supplements is that most only contain a small amount of the active form of resveratrol, which is known as trans resveratrol.
Look on the nutrition facts label of any resveratrol supplement and you’ll probably see small print saying something like “standardized for 10% trans”. That means that only 10% of the resveratrol in the capsule is of the trans variety. So a 500 mg cap standardized for 10% would yield 100 mg of trans, the only kind of resveratrol you care about.
Reserveage is one of the only companies I know of that manufacture resveratrol supplements that are 100% trans resveratrol. It comes in both 250 mg and 500 mg capsules, and either one should do nicely as an addition to your supplement regimen. I’ve been including resveratrol by Reserveage in my daily supplement regimen for about a decade.
So if you’re a non-drinker like me, and you don’t want to pass up all the benefits of red wine, consider taking a resveratrol supplement. You won’t get the buzz you get from wine (sorry), but you will get an awful lot of the health benefits.
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Info@jonnybowden.com
DISCLAIMER: The contents of this website are for informational purposes only and are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Copyright © 2018 Jonny Bowden. All rights reserved.
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Here Are 8 of Your Favorite Rappers Getting Into Politics Prior to 2020 Presidential Election
Scott Glaysher
Kevin Winter / Dia Dipasupil / Michael Loccisano, Getty Images (3)
Hip-hop and politics have been closely intertwined since the genre’s inception. In fact, many would agree that a cornerstone pillar the culture is built on is challenging governmental norms and providing a political voice to those who might not be represented otherwise. From Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s 1982 track “The Message” to Public Enemy’s highly politicized youth anthem “Fight the Power,” hip-hop has been a proudly defiant movement dead-set on garnering mainstream attention to the trials and tribulations facing America’s poor and disenfranchised inner-city youth.
More recently, hip-hop heavyweights like Jay-Z and Diddy became instrumental figures during Barack Obama’s two successful presidential campaigns. But when the change of administration came when President Donald Trump was elected in 2016, hip-hop had to once again rally for the change they wanted to see. Although not every rapper is completely unified when it comes to politics, there is certainly an array of voices standing up for what's right and wrong when it comes to different political parties. Just like music, there are many sides of the political spectrum in hip-hop.
Now, with the 2020 presidential election arriving on Nov. 3, eight months away, rappers are declaring their varied political stances. Artists like Chance The Rapper, Cardi B and Killer Mike are just a few people who have been voicing their opinion on their desired candidates. These artists have both officially and unofficially endorsed presidential hopefuls like Bernie Sanders and Andrew Yang, who recently dropped out of the race. Then there's also Kanye West, who has thrown his own name in the mix for presidential candidacy in the years to come. Of course it's too late for 2020, but 2024 could definitely be on his political horizon.
Check out Cardi B, Chance The Rapper, Killer Mike and more voicing their opinion on politics below.
Chance The Rapper Endorses Andrew Yang
Chance The Rapper has always been politically motivated—ever since his Chicago childhood. His father, Ken Bennett, continues to be involved with the Democratic Party. He even worked for Barack Obama as a presidential appointee during Obama's presidential campaign. This has not only translated into Chance’s mantras and music but also into his wholesome personality.
In August of 2019, after former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang was seen on Twitter jazzercising before a campaign meeting, Chance couldn’t help but salute his “headbob.” The rapper retweeted the original tweet featuring the video and added, “I can’t be pandered to. But the confidence of that headbob :11 seconds in mighta made me #YangGang”.
Although this might not be a sure-fire endorsement, it’s safe to say Chance is keeping that same familial Democratic energy.
Cardi B Endorses Bernie Sanders
Cardi B’s music isn’t necessarily politically fixated or affiliated in any way but paying close attention to the Bronx native’s Instagram and Twitter, her political views are crystal clear. Since 2016, she has been openly adverse to President Donald Trump and has continuously endorsed Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders.
Over the last year, Cardi has been undoubtedly active in Bernie Sanders’ political campaign for president. Not only has she dished out a tirade of tweets and rants on her IG stories around the current political climate, but she's also hopped on a FaceTime call with Bernie Sanders hours before his Democratic debate and even engaged in a 12-minute conversation with Bernie for his presidential campaign. The two talked about the drug industry, race relations, taxes and much more. It's clear Cardi has a passion for politics and even hinted at stepping into the profession herself one day.
Killer Mike Endorses Bernie Sanders
Killer Mike is easily one of the strongest political voices hip-hop has in today’s landscape. From his music to his Netflix documentary series, Trigger Warning, the rapper doesn’t hold back his views on the political structures within America and beyond. For years, he’s been preaching equality, self-ownership and generational wealth—all of which targeted at bettering the poor and disenfranchised communities.
During Bernie Sanders’ 2015 presidential campaign, Killer Mike advocated for the Democratic hopeful and has been in his corner ever since. Mike has given speeches at rallies, both he and Bernie have created online interview content together and Mike has been known to travel along with Bernie on the campaign trail.
What makes Mike and Bernie so politically aligned is their drive for social equality, end to police brutality and fight against systemic racism.
Childish Gambino Endorses Andrew Yang
Childish Gambino is a man of many hats—rapper, actor, comedian, writer and director just, to name a few. Now, he can add "creative consultant” to that list. In December of 2019, the rapper joined the former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang’s political campaign as an official creative consultant.
Their most recent work was a Los Angeles pop-up shop, where Yang supporters could purchase Yang2020 merchandise designed by Childish Gambino and his team.
While Yang's campaign is finished, the "This Is America" artist might not have much left on his political plate, but there was no doubt he was working behind the scenes in an attempt to get Yang elected before the candidate eventually threw in the towel.
Kanye West Declares His Own Presidential Bid
Kanye has had a highly politicized past five years for everything from his support of President Trump to Yeezy sneaker mania. Ever since Donald Trump got elected president in 2016, Kanye has been very outspoken about his support for the 45th president of the United States—to many people’s disappointment.
Regardless of who’s in office now, Kanye has declared quite a few times during interviews over the last year that he plans to run for president himself in 2024. He’s tweeted the idea many times and even formally announced it back in August of 2015.
With the Trump support seemingly behind him and a concentration on faith in full focus, Kanye is still planning on running for president in 2024. During 2019’s Fast Company Innovation Festival, he discussed new innovations to the Yeezy sneaker line and couldn’t help but also share his plans on his presidential bid in four years.
Scarface Runs for Houston City Council
Scarface will and should go down as one of hip-hop's most candid, gifted lyricists. From his work with The Geto Boys to his deep catalog of solo work, the Houston native is also one of your favorite rapper's favorite southern rapper. Besides his rhymes, he also dons a political hat as he expands his brand.
Last summer, Scarface decided to run for the Houston City Council seat in an attempt to dismantle all the negative effects Trump's presidency has had on not only the city, but the country at large. The rapper's platform was very much tailored locally and focused on bringing impoverished Houston neighborhoods together and preaching his Positive Purpose Movement.
Unfortunately, ’Face lost to another candidate in December, but it's clear the current political landscape has motivated the lauded MC to put in work for the community that raised him.
T.I. Endorses Bernie Sanders
T.I. has become one of the more outspoken voices in hip-hop and stands strong in his convictions. Whether it's about parenting, rap music or politics itself, the self-proclaimed King of the South has a take for everything.
Last year, he sat down with The View to discuss his role as a judge on the Netflix hip-hop reality competition show Rhythm+Flow as well as his political stance for 2020. When asked who he would be voting for or who he felt could beat Trump in the upcoming election, Tip sided with Bernie Sanders.
"If the election was tomorrow, the only person I think that really, really has a chance to beat him is Bernie," the Atlanta rapper said. "He has a strong base, he has strong positions, strong views." T.I. also went on to say that Bernie is "the antithesis of Donald Trump."
Rich Brian Brings Andrew Yang Out at His Show
Rich Brian isn't usually the artist who speaks on his political ties in his lyrics or on social media, however, he recently granted the former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang permission to hit the stage at alongside him.
Last October, Rich performed at New York City's Terminal 5 and brought out Yang to the surprise of the audience. The steady applause in the room proved Yang had somewhat of a hip-hop approval rating. “It feels like there’s a fucking Yang Gang here tonight,” Andrew Yang said, to which the crowd went wild.
See 17 Rappers Who Haven't Put an Album Out in a While That We'd Like to Hear From
Source: Here Are 8 of Your Favorite Rappers Getting Into Politics Prior to 2020 Presidential Election
Filed Under: Bernie Sanders, Cardi B, chance the rapper, Childish Gambino, Feature, kanye west, Killer Mike, Rich Brian, scarface, T.I., The List
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Douglas: Iowa football controversy spotlights positives of racial conversations
Tags: Chris Doyle, Iowa Football, James Daniels, Kirk Ferentz, racial justice
Growing up in the state of Iowa and a follower of the Iowa football program, never in my wildest imaginations would we be sitting here today having the conversation that has run rampant across the state on this Saturday.
The Iowa football program has alleged issues with racial disparities.
Maybe that’s me being a naive, 21-year old kid. Maybe it’s because I believed that all faculty of the University of Iowa champion themselves on equality (Which almost all absolutely do so). Maybe it’s because as a child and a teenager, the Iowa football program was seen as the gold standard in terms of growing young boys into grown men.
Whatever caused my belief in the program being above what has happened, it was disproved and shattered on Friday night. Allegations came forth that many African-American athletes were the target of racially insensitive comments at the hands of strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle, who was one of Kirk Ferentz’s first hires in the winter of 1998-1999.
Many former African-American athletes, such as James Daniels, Mike Daniels, Jaleel Johnson, Amani Hooker and various others expressed concern about their experiences with Coach Doyle within the program.
One of the concerns included being “difficult for black players to walk around the facility and be themselves”. Quite a few concerns arose about comments allegedly made by Doyle that centered around “putting black players back on the street”.
Most of the allegations came out Friday night. Before the end of the night, Kirk Ferentz released a statement on the issues brought up on social media. By early Saturday evening, Chris Doyle was placed on paid administrative leave, announced by Ferentz in a video released on the football team’s Twitter account.
This is a defining moment for the Iowa Hawkeye Football program: pic.twitter.com/ckEH39QVki
— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) June 6, 2020
In the past 24 hours, support has poured in near and far from those that played in the Iowa program over the past 20 years. Outside a faction of people that any story of this subject is going to attract, the way this story has unfolded has spotlighted what is good about conversations involving racism.
There has been great dialogue between players, media and fans about each player’s alleged incidents. Players have provided great detail about their respective incidents, rather than remaining vague and bringing on a “mob mentality”.
The clarity makes it easier for the public to make a clear, conscious decision on this whole controversy. Quite frankly, clear, conscious decisions is something that is becoming forgotten in American life.
In the point-of-view of this 21-year old, it seems everything is driven by where your allegiances lie. Whether the allegiance is in politics, faith, fandom, etc., people don’t think for themselves as much as they should.
What has unfolded in our country the last week and a half has caused me to rethink whether I truly believe in something or I believe in it because that’s what my allegiance tells me to believe.
What’s come out of Iowa City over the past 24 hours is disappointing to see as a normal human being, no matter what you believe in.
I was raised in a lily-white small town a half-hour north of Des Moines. I rarely came into frequent contact with African-Americans before I arrived at the University of Iowa. I was raised to treat everyone as you wanted to be treated, regardless of what they looked like.
I will never be the target of serious racial prejudice and inequality as a white male. But, I’ve learned throughout this experience that listening is more powerful than any spoken word could ever be when it comes to the issue of racism.
The greatest lesson I learned about listening came from (of all places) an interview with heavy metal artist Marilyn Manson in reference to his alleged indirect role with the Columbine High School shooters.
When asked in an interview what he would say to the perpetrators of the massacre. Manson replied, “I wouldn’t say a word, I’d listen to what they had to say, and that’s what no one did”.
The best thing anyone can do today, tomorrow and however long it takes to address these issues in our country, is to listen. What has happened within the Iowa football program is no exception to this.
Listen to what these athletes have to say, maybe it could help you grow too.
Quinn Douglas
Press Conference Recap: “Change” more prevalent than ever in Iowa football
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Lake Central News • December 8, 2017 • https://lakecentralnews.com/33704/top-stories/choir-gets-into-the-christmas-spirit/
Choir gets into the Christmas spirit
The Junior Treble Choir perform “Jingle Bell Rock,” “We Are Lights” and “We Need a Little Christmas.” The Junior Treble Choir performed after the Da Capo’s second performance.
Gabriella Shumylo
On Thursday, Dec. 7, all of the Lake Central choirs came together to sing a variety of Christmas songs in the auditorium.
The Handbells opened the program with “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” engaging the crowd immediately. Right after the Senior Treble Choir took people’s breath away with “A Welsh Noel”, “Nanita Lullaby” and “Believe.” Following the Senior Treble Choir, the other choirs such as the Counterpoints, Varsity Choir and the Trebleaires kept the attention of all with their renditions of Christmas songs. Da Capo performed “Elvis Christmas” and “Twelve Days of Christmas.”
“Da Capo is very fun and the performances are always energetic. Everybody [in Da Capo] wants to be there, which makes it easier to have a good time. The audience always has a great reaction when we perform. [“12 Days of Christmas”] was one of my favorite pieces to learn and perform. We kept the ad libs fresh every time, which made it a blast to perform. I think it was a lot of people’s favorite to watch and perform,” Joshua Dejarlais (12) said.
The piece the Da Capo performed “Twelve Days of Christmas” was a favorite for many. Throughout the show, the choir kept the audience enthusiastic with every song.
“The performances went very well. My favorite song that I wasn’t in was the Da Capo piece “Twelve Days of Christmas.” My favorite piece that I was in was in was “Angels Medley.” The audience was enthusiastic and responsive. Overall, it was a success,” Samantha Bredar (12) said.
The show finished off with a performance from the Concert Choir with the songs “For Unto Us a Child Is Born,” “Christmas Is … “ and “Angels Melody.”
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New Year, New Turmoil as US Targets Thailand
January 27, 2018 (Joseph Thomas - NEO) - Washington's Asia-Pacific strategy has gone from maintaining primacy over the region for decades to increasingly desperate attempts to salvage its now waning influence.
This is in part due to China's rise as an economic, military and political regional power as well as the increasing self-reliance of smaller but still pivotal Asian nations. This includes the Southeast Asian Kingdom of Thailand.
In Washington' Shadow
The height of contemporary US influence over Thailand was in 2001 when Thaksin Shinawatra became prime minister. His administration eagerly catered to US interests at Thailand's own expense, including sending Thai troops to participate in the 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq, hosting the US Central Intelligence Agency's extraordinary rendition programme on Thai soil, attempts to sign a US-Thai free trade agreement without approval of Thailand's parliament and the privatisation of Thailand's natural resources.
He also indulged in a wide spectrum of human rights abuses including a 2003 90 day "war on drugs" that left nearly 3,000 innocent people extrajudicially executed in the streets, a 2004 crackdown on protesters in Thailand's restive deep south that left over 80 dead in a single day, the assassination or disappearance of his political opponents and a concerted campaign of fear and intimidation waged against the Thai media.
Image: Thaksin Shinawatra, since fleeing the country after a criminal conviction, has led protests and election campaigns remotely by telephone and video ever since.
By 2006, Shinawatra had overreached in his ambitions. Between increasingly bold attempts to consolidate his power and the abuse of that power, the Thai military was finally prompted to oust him from office in a swift and bloodless coup.
In the aftermath, he would be convicted for corruption and sentenced to 2 years imprisonment. Rather than face jail, he fled Thailand and has attempted to run his political party remotely as a fugitive since.
Shinawatra, a multi-billionaire enjoying widespread support from foreign sponsors including in Washington, was able to return to power through a variety of proxies openly serving as his nominees at the head of his political party, Pheu Thai. These proxies included his own brother-in-law Somchai Wongsawat and by 2011, his own sister, Yingluck Shinawatra.
In a brief period between 2009-2010 when Shinawatra's political opponents took power, he deployed protesters and armed militants in the streets of Thailand's capital of Bangkok where they promptly fought gun battles against police and soldiers, carried out grenade attacks on counter-protesters and engaged in citywide looting and arson leaving nearly 100 dead.
Image: Arson consumes Thailand's capital of Bangkok in 2010 after militants deployed by Shinawatra fled Thai troops after weeks of gun battles.
During the 2011 election, Yingluck Shinawatra's campaign signs literally read, "Thaksin Thinks, Pheu Thai Does," an open admission that a convicted criminal and fugitive was running for office and that his sister was merely a placeholder.
Yingluck Shinawatra was ousted from power in 2014 in another coup following months of mass protests against Shinawatra's government and Shinawatra's systematic use of terrorism to target and attempt to quell the protesters.
Since the 2014 coup, Shinawatra has once again turned to violent coercion. His supporters have targeted tourist destinations and even a hospital with bombings.
Washington, for its part, has attempted to place considerable pressure on Thailand to quickly hold elections it hopes returns the Shinawatras and their proxies to power.
This pressure takes the form of both the US and European media engaging in a constant and concerted campaign to undermine the credibility of the current interim government. The US also uses a large collection of organisations it funds posing as a human rights advocates, pro-democracy activists and academics to add credibility to this disinformation campaign.
Fronts posing as Thai nongovernmental organisations including media platform Prachatai and rights advocates Thai Lawyers for Human Rights are openly funded by the United States government via its National Endowment for Democracy (NED) as well as convicted financial criminal George Soros' Open Society Foundation.
Thailand Making a Break
Thailand's refusal to accept Shinawatra despite the risks of confronting him and the interests he represents fits into a larger regional trend where Asian states are increasingly reasserting themselves over enduring US primacy.
In addition to confronting Shinawatra, Thailand has begun to actively diversify its ties and dependencies away from the US and Europe and toward its immediate and growing neighbours in Asia. This includes not only its neighbours in Southeast Asia, but also China.
Thailand has begun replacing what has for decades been a military arsenal dominated by American equipment with tanks, armoured vehicles and even naval vessels from China. Thailand has also inked deals and begun construction on a number of infrastructure projects with Beijing, including high-speed rail that will link major Thai cities together and link Thailand itself with both its immediate neighbours and China's southern Yunnan province.
Image: While the US offers Asia "free trade," China offers the region tangible infrastructure including metro and high-speed rail infrastructure and rolling stock.
Thailand's geopolitical pivot is more than mere posturing to counter pressure placed on it after removing Washington's political proxies from power. It is a new, permanent reality that other nations across Asia are also contributing to. Thailand is not alone in its quest to replace Washington's enduring and coercive influence over the region with tangibly constructive ties with Beijing and others.
China Offers an Alternative
China has helped relieve a number of pressure points the US has maintained against the rest of Asia for decades. This includes Washington's ability to leverage economic pressure against Southeast Asia to coerce it along America's desired path. After the more recent 2014 coup, the US attempted to once again leverage economic pressure against Bangkok to return the Shinawatras back to power.
This included attempts to target Thailand's seafood industry and tourism. Despite these attempts, Thailand has endured. In terms of tourism, attempts by the American and European media to scare off potential visitors failed spectacularly, thanks to China's regional rise.
Perhaps at one point in Thailand's history, its tourism industry which accounts for about 17% of the nation's GDP, depended on Western visitors who, if convinced to avoid Thailand, could inflict damage to both the industry and to the economy. However, today, Chinese tourists make up the vast majority of visitors entering Thailand. In 2016 approximately 8.7 million Chinese tourists entered the Kingdom, followed by 3.5 million Malaysians and 1 million Russians.
American travellers numbered less than 1 million, and the combined number of tourists from major North American and European nations still amounted to less than those arriving from China alone. It is safe to say that Chinese tourists were not moved by horror stories planted by the US and European media regarding Thailand, if they viewed them at all in the first place.
It is curious to note, however, that terrorist attacks targeting a downtown Bangkok shrine popular with Chinese tourists and bombings targeting other tourist destinations around Thailand followed the US and European media's failed campaign to sabotage Thailand's tourism industry.
This example illustrates how once useful "soft power" weapons at Washington's disposal have been defused by Thailand's and Asia's ability as a whole to diversify their economic and political ties, and move out from under the shadow of Washington's primacy. It is also an example of how Washington is apparently willing to use much more drastic options, including terrorism, to gain with blood what it has failed to gain through "soft power."
China's development of infrastructure both within its territory and connecting its economy with nations well beyond it is another example of an alternative to Washington. US free trade agreements are transparent grabs at a nation's economy and natural resources. The text of most US free trade agreements read like updated versions of concessions forced upon nations by "gunboat diplomacy" during the height of the British Empire.
By developing China's neighbours through massive infrastructure projects, Beijing is not only empowering itself, but empowering those nations hosting this new infrastructure. Not only will nations like Thailand be able to develop more constructive ties with Beijing as an alternative to Washington, it will be able to develop its own economic capacity negating previous dependencies on and vulnerabilities to concepts like "free trade."
2018: A Year of Thai Turmoil
The US and Europe are visibly ratcheting up pressure on Thailand in 2018. Elections following the 2014 coup have been repeatedly pushed back, primarily because the cause of the coup, Thaksin Shinwatra and the immense power, influence and impunity he enjoys, has yet to be removed from Thailand's political landscape making real free and fair elections an impossibility. For Washington, no election that even remotely puts Shinawatra and his Pheu Thai Party at a disadvantage will be recognised as "free and fair."
The US and Europe have signalled that delaying beyond 2018 will not be tolerated and is already creating "space" for Shinawatra's supporters to begin preparing for 2009-2010-style protests.
With the US and European media still denying violence carried out by Shinawatra and his supporters in 2009-2010 and again in 2014, the Thai opposition will have a clean slate from which to stoke murder and mayhem at the cost of Thailand's political and economic stability.
Time is on Thailand's side however. With each year, Thaksin Shinawatra and his political networks grow weaker while their sponsors in Washington, London and Brussels wane in terms of both real geopolitical power and their ability to influence public opinion at home and abroad. But while some in the US and European media appear to be making peace with the fact that Shinawatra is unlikely to ever make a comeback, where they have decided to retrench is particularly concerning.
Thailand's deep south hosts an ongoing militancy led by nebulous separatists. Violence erupted in 2001 with Shinawatra taking office after two decades of enduring peace. The conflict has since cost thousands of lives but has remained at the fringe of both domestic and international media attention.
However, as it becomes clear that Shinawatra and his political supporters have exhausted themselves, US government-funded organisations attempting to undermine Thailand's peace and stability have increasingly turned their attention toward the conflict in the deep south. Some such organisations are participating in "workshops" in the deep south aimed at "empowering" locals to legally contest the Thai government and impede ongoing security operations. The US used so-called nongovernmental organisations in and around Russia for similar purposes during Moscow's protracted security operations in Chechnya.
The US has leverage terrorism everywhere from Afghanistan in the 1980's to Libya and Syria beginning in 2011 to the Philippines just last year as a pretext for political and military involvement in the sovereign affairs of foreign nations. The US openly seeks a military presence on mainland Southeast Asia to augment its military presence in Korea, Japan and the Philippines in the east and its ongoing military occupation in Afghanistan in the west as part of a larger strategy of encircling China.
Inflaming Thailand's deep south while attempting to return a US proxy to power could produce in the future circumstances that finally see US troops permanently stationed on Thai soil and along China's peripheries. Similar efforts are ongoing in neighbouring Myanmar where the US is fanning the flames on both sides of the current Rohingya crisis. There exists a real prospect of US troops stationing themselves in Myanmar, even in small numbers, to serve an "advisory role" for "anti-terror" operations against militants US ally Saudi Arabia is arming and funding.
A true breakthrough for US policy in Asia would be linking isolated conflicts in Myanmar, Thailand and the Philippines together, creating synergies similar to those serving US interests across the Middle East and North Africa.
Thus, 2018 will not only see a concerted attempt to undermine the current Thai government and force it to hold elections the US will do all in its power to ensure Shinawatra wins, but also will see US-funded organisations in Thailand increasingly attempt to leverage violence in Thailand's deep south to endanger not only Thailand's peace and stability, but peace and stability across Southeast Asia.
Joseph Thomas is chief editor of Thailand-based geopolitical journal, The New Atlas and contributor to the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.
Labels: ASEAN, Asia, Thailand
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Divine Heritage Choir
In the Summer of 2000, a group of friends who wanted to share their faith and testimony of the Savior through music, came together to form the Divine Heritage Choir. The Choir is currently based in Salt Lake City, Utah, with past members who span across the United States. The current members who are at different stages of their lives – some are students, some are graduates, some have regular jobs, some are married, some are prospective missionaries, and others are returned missionaries – reside across the Wasatch Front from as far north as Bountiful, Utah, to as far south as Provo, Utah.
In the About section of their Facebook page, the Choir states, “We represent a variety of cultures. Though our heritages may differ one from the other, we come together in celebration of our common Divine Heritage – that of being sons and daughters of a kind and loving Heavenly Father.” Their testimony is simple, “Our Brother Jesus Christ lives and He loves us enough to provide a way back to our Heavenly Father, as long as we are obedient and endure to the end.”
The Divine Heritage Choir has had the privilege of traveling to and bearing testimony for audiences in Missouri, New Mexico, Washington State, California, Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii, North Carolina, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, and throughout Utah. Most of the songs that they perform have been written or arranged by members or close friends. They have said, “We love to sing about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to bring a remembrance to all of His Atoning Sacrifice and of His Eternal Gospel.”
“For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads” (Doctrine and Covenants 25:12).
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Jennifer Thomas’ Pirate Version of “I Saw Three Ships”
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Tribal Governance
Contemporary federal court decisions, statutes, and presidential statements often provide strong support for tribal self-government. According to U.S. judicial doctrine, for example, tribal legal regimes survive as manifestations of indigenous sovereign powers, rather than as creations of federal law. In keeping with this notion, the Bill of Rights of the Constitution does not applyto actions of tribal governments because the first ten amendments to the Constitution bind only the federal government and its agencies, not independentsovereigns such as Indian nations. Furthermore, a criminal defendant can be convicted for the same crime in federal and tribal court without being placedin double jeopardy, because the protection against double jeopardy in the U.S. Constitution does not apply to situations where a person is convicted for the same crime by two separate sovereigns.
If Native American tribes are not federal agencies, however, neither are theymere voluntary associations, like private clubs, whose powers are limited toadmitting and excluding members. Instead, they are governing bodies with thepower to direct and coerce individuals engaged in activities within their territory, more like cities and states. The U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed, for example, that tribes may impose taxes on activities by Native Americans andnon-Native Americans alike in Indian Country.
The Supreme Court has also tried to place some limits on tribes' sovereign powers, particularly where non-Native Americans or Native Americans who are members of other tribes are involved. Finding that the incorporation of tribes into the United States necessarily reduced the scope of tribal powers, the Supreme Court has held that tribal sovereignty does not include the power to engage in foreign relations, to wage war, to alienate (transfer an ownership interest in) tribal land, or to impose criminal punishments on non-members of the tribe. The Court has also restricted the power of tribes to regulate the activities of non-members on land that is owned by non-members but is located within the reservation, at least if those activities have no substantial bearing on the health or well-being of tribal members. These determinations by theSupreme Court are judge-made law, drawing on the history and practices of federal Native American law, but not directly tied to language of the U.S. Constitution or specific federal statutes. Consequently, the Court ordinarily acknowledges in its decisions limiting tribal powers that Congress can restore those powers by enacting legislation that offers a contrary interpretation ofthe history and practice.
Monitoring Government Interference
In order to make tribal sovereignty more meaningful, the U.S. Supreme Court has had to reject efforts by states and local governments to regulate activities in Indian Country. Like any other government, a tribe must be free to makechoices about matters such as environmental quality, family life, and economic organization without outside interference. The Supreme Court has been emphatic that states lack authority over Native Americans on reservations, but ithas been less clear about state authority over non-Native Americans. Particularly in situations where non-Native Americans engage in activity on non-Native American owned land, the federal government has not shown a preference fortribal authority; where the tribe has not attempted to regulate the activityat issue, where tribal interests will not be seriously compromised, and where the activity jeopardized off-reservation interests, the Supreme Court has shown some inclination to permit state power over non-Native Americans on reservations. For example, the Court has upheld state sales taxes on non-Native American purchasers of cigarettes that are sold by tribal smokeshops on reservations, even though tribal members who purchase the same cigarettes cannot betaxed by the state. The Court has also affirmed state power to zone parts ofreservations that are owned by non-Native Americans and that have been opened to the public. The Court has not, however, allowed states to regulate certain gambling on Native American lands, at least where the revenue from gambling funds important tribal functions, and where the state does not totally prohibit that type of gambling off the reservation.
By making the issue of tribal versus state authority on reservations turn, inpart, on questions of who owns the land and who is being regulated, the Supreme Court has made it difficult to govern Indian Country. Many tribes complain that unless they have complete control over the territory of their reservations, they cannot effectively regulate air and water pollution, raise revenuethrough taxes, guide economic development, or provide for child welfare. Furthermore, uncertainty concerning which government has jurisdiction has led tocostly litigation. Increasingly, states and tribes have found it in their mutual interest to negotiate and agree about the allocation of power to regulate reservation activities. Furthermore, because Congress has the power to override Supreme Court decisions determining state and tribal authority over Native Americans or non-Native Americans in Indian Country, states and tribes sometimes appeal to Congress to make an allocation. Congress took such action in1988, when it enacted the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. This statute established a complex scheme of tribal and state jurisdiction over different types of gambling on reservations.
Support for Tribal Sovereignty
In recent decades, Congress, like the Supreme Court, has often recognized andsupported tribal sovereignty. Since the 1960s self-determination for NativeAmerican tribes has been the official federal policy, as is reflected in numerous pieces of congressional legislation. In 1975, for example, Congress enacted the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act. This statuteauthorizes federal agencies providing services to Native Americans to contract with tribes so that the tribes can deliver the services themselves. The purpose of this statute was to liberate Native American tribes from some of thebureaucratic control exercised by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Another congressional affirmation of tribal sovereignty is the Indian Child Welfare Act of1978. This statute requires that cases involving foster care and adoptive placement of Native American children be heard in tribal rather than state courts when the children are living or have their permanent home on the reservation. Even in some cases where the Native American children live off-reservation, the Indian Child Welfare Act requires that the cases be transferred from state to tribal court. This act affirms both the value of tribal courts and the importance to Native American tribes of controlling the fate of their children when those children must be separated from their parents. Support for tribal sovereignty is also apparent in various federal environmental laws, suchas the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act, that accord tribes the same status as states in implementing their regulatory schemes. Finally, Congress reinforced tribal sovereignty in 1991 when it adopted a statute affirming tribalcriminal jurisdiction over non-member Native Americans, overriding an earlier ruling to the contrary by the United States Supreme Court.
Statements of the president of the United States, especially since the 1970s,have declared support for tribal sovereignty as well. The most memorable phrase from these presidential statements recognizes a "government-to-government" relationship between the United States and the Native American tribes. Thislanguage cautions the other branches of government that Native American tribes should be treated with the respect due other governmental entities.
Treaty-making before 1871
From 1776 to 1871, the United States made more than 400 treaties with NativeAmerican tribes, and nearly all of them were ratified by the Senate in the same manner as treaties with foreign nations. American expansion encountered varying levels of resistance, from guerrilla warfare in the swamps of Florida to great cavalry battles on the plains in the 1860s. In some instances, the government simply used treaties to create the appearance of legality for what was actually a confiscation of land at gunpoint. In other parts of the country, treaties were part of a long process of diplomacy, accommodation, and confrontation that lasted for decades. Some treaties were very strong, others weak, and each must be understood in the context of the time and circumstances inwhich it was made.
Until the 1820s, the United States was preoccupied with securing its borderswith Native American tribes. This was not motivated by Christian morality asmuch as by the need to legitimize the new American state in the eyes of European powers; to establish superior American claims to the Great Lakes, the Mississippi valley, and Florida, which were also claimed by Britain, France, andSpain; and to create peaceful conditions for the development of its existingsettlements still east of the Appalachian Mountains.
During the Revolutionary War itself, the new American government negotiated treaties of alliance with the Wabanaki confederacy and with the tribes of theOhio River valley. Once peace had been restored by the Treaty of Paris in 1783, American diplomats entered into alliances with the Haudenosaunee and withthe southern confederacy of Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, and Chicksaw, hoping tosecure a safe, pro-American frontier. In the treaties of this period, tribessimply accepted U.S. "protection" and U.S. authority to regulate Native American trade. In other words, they agreed to be included in a new American sphere of influence. Apart from trade issues, however, they gave up none of theirright to self-government, as the U.S. Supreme Court concluded in its famous1832 decision, Worcester v. Georgia.
The Haudenosaunee and Ohio valley nations also continued to renew their treaties with Britain, however. As far as they were concerned, everything west ofthe Appalachians was still Indian Country; the U.S.-Canadian border did not extend into that region. American settlements west of the Appalachians led toa great uprising under Tecumseh, which coincided with the War of 1812. Once again, tribes fought on both sides, and their future was a major issue at thepeace negotiations. The Treaty of Ghent (1814) made it clear that the U.S.-Canadian border did indeed divide Indian Country, and that only the U.S. couldmake treaties with the tribes south of that line.
The Treaty of Ghent secured the northern border of the States, while the U.S.purchase of Florida and Louisiana eliminated competition for tribal alliances with France and Spain as far west as the Mississippi. American diplomacy shifted from securing peace to acquiring lands for settlement, chiefly from tribes already under U.S. protection, between the Appalachian crest and the Mississippi. At first, tribes attempted to keep some of their main villages and farmland, selling only small parcels on the fringes of their territories. Beginning in the 1830s, however, the U.S. aimed for their complete "removal." Toacquire lands for the relocation of eastern nations such as the Cherokee andDelaware, the U.S. made treaties with tribes west of the Mississippi, such asthe Osage and Comanche. Treaties with the eastern tribes worked out the details of their move, which included the sale of their homelands to help pay forexpenses, and for the development of new schools, farms, and roads in the west. Needless to say, many eastern tribes resisted, and those who left their homes did so only to avoid war.
American leaders still believed that the plains were economically worthless,and did not hesitate to promise the removed tribes that they would enjoy security and self-government in their new western homes forever. The U.S. even pledged that this western "Indian Territory" would remain exclusively Native American and would never be included within any state. At the same time, theseremoval treaties involved the U.S. more directly in internal tribal affairs than ever before. After arranging for the sale of the tribes' homelands, federal officials spent the proceeds on education, health, and social programs, asspecified by each treaty. The federal government became a banker for removedtribes under these treaties. In legal terms, it became a trustee, managing tribal funds and property.
By the 1840s, American settlements had begun on the Pacific coast and on theedges of the Great Plains. Mexico had won its independence from Spain, and was viewed as the main obstacle to American expansion. In the Mexican War, theU.S. seized all Mexican territory north of the Rio Grande, and quickly made treaties with the largest nomadic Native American tribes of the Southwest-- the Navajo, Apache, and Ute - to secure the new international border. In the ten years following the Mexican War, the U.S. made treaties for the first timewith the tribes of the West Coast, from California to Washington, although the Senate never ratified California treaties and some Oregon treaties. The Puget Sound (Washington State) treaties were particularly important for U.S. policy, because they helped settle the western border between the U.S. and British North America (Canada), a border so hotly disputed that it almost led to athird British-American war in 1854. Small and chiefly dependent on fishing,West Coast tribes generally agreed to cede most of their lands in exchange for the protection of their fishing rights.
Native American treaties made after the Mexican War contained some crucial new provisions, reflecting the growing military power and expansionism of Euro-Americans. Instead of merely accepting U.S. "protection," the Southwest and West Coast tribes agreed to "submit" to federal laws or regulations concerningNative Americans. Never before had the U.S. tried to extend its legislativepower to Native Americans inside Native American territory. In a growing number of treaties in the 1850s, moreover, tribes agreed that the president couldtake land for roads and railroads, and divide the remaining Native Americanland into individual family farms ("allotments"). Any land left over was to be sold to pay for farming equipment, schools, and hospitals, which would be managed by the Office of Indian Affairs. Some tribal leaders believed that individualizing land ownership would give Native Americans stronger legal rightsto keep their lands. Others simply felt they had no choice but to accept these new conditions. Allotment was carried out chiefly in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and other valuable farming areas on the fringes of the Great Plains, wheresettlers created the greatest pressure. Most tribes of the desert and West Coast were not allotted, although their treaties authorized allotment. These tribes had little good farmland, and settlers in their regions were more interested in mining, logging and fishing.
By 1860, then, the U.S. employed treaties to establish total social programsunder federal administration, which were aimed at "civilizing" Native Americans and assimilating them into the general population. Tribal territories became "reservations," and tribal laws were subject to federal laws. But these treaty provisions did not apply everywhere. An exception to this trend was theIndian Territory (Oklahoma), where removal treaties expressly guaranteed theright of tribes to complete self-government. These tribes observed the changes surrounding them - particularly the growing tide of settlers in Texas, Colorado and New Mexico - with alarm. When the first shots of the Civil War werefired at Fort Sumter, most tribes in the Indian Territory shifted their allegiances to the South. Treaties with the Confederated States of America, concluded in 1861, guaranteed the permanent independence of the Native American nations, were the South to win the war. As in the Revolutionary War and the Warof 1812, then, Native American tribes fought on both sides to fulfill their treaty obligations.
As a result of the Union's victory in 1865, Oklahoma tribes, like the South itself, were forced to sign surrenders and to undergo the federally supervised"reconstruction" of their economies and political systems. Former slaves became tribal members under many of these treaties, and had the right to take shares of tribal lands and funds. On the whole, the U.S. renewed its old treatycommitments to tribal self-government in the Indian Territory, but subjectedthe tribal councils to special federal "governors" or Native American agents, or to a federal veto over their laws. This made tribes such as the Cherokeeand Chickasaw more like present-day Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands: partly self-governing, but still within the U.S. political system.
The Sioux of Minnesota and Dakota, together with allied tribes as far south as Colorado, also launched an offensive against encroaching settlements from 1864 to 1865. Although the Minnesota Sioux fared badly, and their leaders werehanged by President Lincoln, the plains war continued until 1868. Anxious toacquire additional lands on the plains for the resettlement of Civil War veterans and the post-war flood of European immigrants, the U.S. made more treaties and purchased more Native American land in the period between 1865 and 1868 than it previously had during any comparable period. At the same time, U.S. negotiators were forced to give the main plains tribes stronger assurancesof the finality and permanence of their new reservation borders. In particular, the U.S. agreed that no more Native American land could be sold or openedfor settlement, except with the approval of three-fourths of the adult men ofthe tribe. Tribal leaders hoped this would prevent the U.S. from trying to make future "treaties" with a handful of friendly individuals who did not represent the whole tribe.
Congressional Control after 1871
At the end of the treaty era, Native American tribes still controlled one-tenth of the contiguous 48 states, or about one-fourth of the land between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains. Immigration from Europe accelerated, however, reaching its peak in the 1880s. The Indian Territory, and the large plains reservations, posed barriers to further settlement, but were protected bystrong treaties, under which the U.S. had promised to provide the tribes withsubstantial financial aid for their development. Further allotment was impossible under the final round of plains treaties, and tribes were unwilling topart with any more of their reservations. Concerned by the increasing costs and difficulties of negotiating for more Native American land, Congress ordered the president to stop making Native American treaties in 1871.
This did not stop the president from making "agreements" with the tribes fortheir land, usually at the request of Congress. Agreements made after 1871 were essentially the same as treaties, except they did not imply that Native American tribes were independent nations. Often, they were made with tribal leaders chosen by the U.S., in violation of the tribes' own political processes,or in violation of the tribes' earlier treaties. The 1874 agreement for thepurchase of the gold-rich Black Hills of South Dakota was typical. The 1874 agreement was negotiated with a few individual Sioux, although the 1868 Siouxtreaty required the approval of three-fourths of the men of the tribe. Congress then passed a law ruling that the agreement overrode the treaty. The Siouxwent to war over this - the war in which Custer fell - but the U.S. had themilitary power to wear down Sioux resistance and hold onto the Black Hills.
At the same time, the U.S. began to build railways through tribal lands in violation of treaties, and to establish federally controlled Native American courts and police on the reservations in order to enforce federal laws. Many ofthese laws were designed to destroy Native American culture rather than to protect Native Americans from settlers; one such example is a provision prohibiting any kind of traditional religious ceremonies, or "medicine men." In 1887, Congress passed the Dawes Severalty Act (General Allotment Act), which authorized allotments and the sale of "surplus" lands on those reservations where the tribes had not already agreed to this by treaty. A separate law, the Curtis Act, provided for the allotment of the Indian Territory as well. The Oklahoma tribes vigorously opposed this as a violation of their treaties, and they brought their objections to the U.S. Supreme Court. In two crucial decisions, Cherokee Nation v. Hitchcock (1902) and Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock (1903), the Supreme Court held that Congress has the power to modify or terminate Native American treaties without the Native Americans' consent.
This opened the way for Congress to treat all Native Americans the same, regardless of the treaties they have signed. Throughout the nineteenth century, Congress appropriated funds for Native American schools, hospitals, and otherprograms treaty-by-treaty. Treaties determined how much federal aid each tribe received, and how it was used. In 1921, the Snyder Act abolished this practice. All services and programs were combined into a single annual appropriation, broken down by objects (such as "health care") rather than by treaties. As a result, Native American tribes with weak treaties got more than they hadbargained for, and tribes with strong treaties got less. More importantly, tribes could no longer use their treaties to demand any services at all. The Snyder Act and subsequent federal laws left Native American social programs tothe discretion of Congress. After purchasing most of the country by treaty, the U.S. was no longer willing to pay the agreed price.
In the final days of World War II, in fact, Congress decided that it was timeto "wind up" the Native American business. Many believed that Native Americans stayed on reservations only because they expected to be repaid someday forall of their broken treaties. This led Congress to establish the Indian Claims Commission in 1946. Although the commission was supposed to complete its work in ten years, it was still not finished when Congress decided to reassignits cases to the U.S. Court of Claims in 1978. The commission was not giventhe power to enforce Native American treaties, only to decide how much compensation each tribe should receive for broken promises. The Commission adopteda general rule of taking the value of the land or money promised to tribes acentury ago, and adding interest. For example, if the U.S. had promised to set aside a reservation in 1868, and the land could have been sold for $1,000 in 1868, the tribe was awarded $1,000 plus interest from 1868. Land values were artificially low in the nineteenth century, however, since Native Americantribes were being forced to give up so much of it, creating a temporary market surplus. Thus tracts worth billions today, like the Black Hills, were valued at 1 percent of their current price; with interest, this figure increased to about 10 percent. If tribal land had been taken without a treaty, moreover,the commission did not add the interest.
In House Concurrent Resolution 108 (1953), Congress declared its goal of terminating federal responsibilities for Native Americans as quickly as possible,and of making Native Americans ordinary citizens of the states. This "termination" program was very selective, targeted at tribes who were relatively prosperous and well-educated, such as the Menominee of Wisconsin and Klamath ofOregon. Congress assumed that "termination" not only ended tribes' eligibility for special Native American social programs, but also abolished (or "abrogated") their treaties. A 1968 Supreme Court decision involving the Menominee disagreed. Native American treaties continue in effect unless expressly abrogated by Congress, the Court explained. Since Congress had not specifically mentioned the Menominee treaty in its legislation "terminating" the tribe, Menominee treaty rights, such as hunting and fishing rights, could still be exercised by the members of the tribe. This decision paved the way for federal court decisions in the 1970s, reaffirming Native American treaty rights that bothCongress and the States had believed to be extinct.
The decade from 1968 to 1978 was critical for the development of Native American treaty law. President Nixon declared an end to the termination policy ofHouse Concurrent Resolution 108, and made a clear commitment to restoring andstrengthening tribal self-government. Federal courts in Oregon and Washington handed Northwest tribes stunning victories in treaty fishing-rights disputes. Despite years of violence and efforts to overturn these decisions legislatively, both the Supreme Court and Congress eventually upheld them. On the other hand, Congress imposed a land-claims settlement on Alaska in 1971, which was intended to end tribal self-government in that state. In 1978, furthermore, the Bureau of Indian Affairs adopted rules for deciding which tribes are "recognized as eligible to receive federal services," and treaties were not mentioned as having any role in these decisions. The decade ended, as it began,with a surprise decision by the Supreme Court. In Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe (1978), the Court held that tribal rights may be lost by "implication," even rights that were never given up by treaty or taken away by Congress.
As the 1970s ended, then, there were signs of greater respect for Native American treaty rights, although Congress, the president, and the courts reservedtheir power to disregard treaties. The fishing-rights cases had demonstratedthat at least some provisions in treaties could still have considerable economic significance. At the same time, the major Native American policy issuesof the 1970s and 1980s - education, health, better resource management, and stronger tribal governments - were being addressed through a growing number offederal aid programs, rather than through the enforcement of treaties.
Indian Reorganization Act as a Springboard
Despite the often undermining influence of federal law, derivations of the earliest encountered Native American legal systems continue to function today in land set aside under federal protection for the residence of tribal NativeAmericans and in other areas collectively described in federal law as "IndianCountry." Native American legal regimes have been transformed after years ofcontact with non-Native American law and culture, so that the formal institutions more closely resemble U.S. courts, legislative bodies, and regulatory apparatus; the formal rules of everyday conduct, too, codified in ordinances,more closely parallel U.S. norms. On some reservations, for example, there are tribal environmental protection agencies that regulate pollution, and tribal taxing authorities that levy and collect taxes.
Much of this transformation of tribal governments has occurred as a result ofthe Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, a federal statute that offered tribessome freedom from federal bureaucratic control if they would organize themselves under constitutions modeled after the U.S. Constitution. The Indian Reorganization Act provided that tribal members could take a vote on whether to accept its terms, and about three-fourths of the tribes that held referenda agreed to develop tribal constitutions under the act. The federal rules settingforth who could vote and how many votes were needed to accept the act did not always produce results that reflected the general wishes of tribal communities. Nonetheless, constitutions stimulated by the Indian Reorganization Act continue to prevail on many reservations. Some Native American nations, like the Navajo, preferred to develop their governing systems independent of the act; nothing in the act prevented them from doing so.
The protections of individual rights found in amendments to the U.S. Constitution do not apply to modern tribal governments, because those constitutionalprovisions control only activities of the federal government and of the states. However, a federal statute enacted in 1968, known as the Indian Civil Rights Act, limits the punishments that tribal courts may impose, and requires that tribal legal institutions comply with some, but not all, of the provisionsof the Bill of Rights in the U.S. Constitution. For example, the federal constitutional prohibition against the establishment of religion and the federalrequirement that criminal defendants be provided with free counsel do not apply to Native American tribes through the Indian Civil Rights Act. The reasonfor these and other exceptions was Congress' desire to preserve distinctivefeatures of tribal cultures and to protect tribes against financially burdensome requirements that they could not reasonably fulfill. Furthermore, even when the Indian Civil Rights Act does incorporate provisions of the Bill of Rights, those requirements are interpreted, wherever possible, to accommodate the special features of tribal cultures. Thus, for example, the requirement ofequal protection of the laws in the Indian Civil Rights Act uses the same language as a comparable Constitution. Equality, however, does not necessarily mean the same thing for the tribes as it does for the federal or state governments; one such example is when the issue is whether an Native American tribemay exclude non-Native Americans from juries or from voting in tribal elections.
Out of respect for tribal sovereignty, Congress generally provided that whenan individual wants to challenge tribal actions as contrary to the terms of the Indian Civil Rights Act, she or he must do so in tribal court. There is norecourse to a federal court to enforce the Indian Civil Rights Act unless the individual is in a position to bring a petition for a writ of habeas corpus (a claim that she or he is being held in custody in violation of law). Normally this writ is only available to criminal defendants who have been convicted in tribal courts and who claim that their convictions were obtainedwithout adherence to the Indian Civil Rights Act (for example, if evidence was improperly seized or if the criminal statute used as the basis for conviction violated the right to free speech).
Some tribes have protection for individual rights built into their own constitutions and fundamental laws. The Navajo, for example, have their own requirement that individuals be afforded due process of law if the government is acting to deprive them of life, liberty, or property. Thus, an individual who isunhappy with the actions of the tribal government can appeal to tribal law as well as to the Indian Civil Rights Act for redress. The Indian Civil RightsAct has been controversial among Native American people because it can be used to erode distinctive tribal cultures and legal systems, especially when those systems reflect values favoring informality, communal belonging and responsibility, and decision-making by consensus (universal agreement) rather thanmajority rule. As tribal governments have become more like the non-Native American U.S. government, however, it is possible that a corresponding need forthe protection of individual rights has arisen.
Federal measures such as the Indian Reorganization Act and the Indian Civil Rights Act have put great pressure on tribal governments to conform to U.S. institutions. Nonetheless, tribal legal systems still have some distinctive features. First, informal traditional institutions and norms persist amidst themore formal legal systems. In some tribes, for example, religious leaders oversee dispute resolution despite the existence of tribal courts, and clan-based local groups control policy-making despite the existence of a centralized tribal council. Second, the values and procedures that are reflected in even formal tribal law sometimes differ from those embodied in U.S. law. Navajo inheritance law, for example, recognizes oral wills and prefers individuals whohave cared for the deceased in his or her final years; American law does not.Also, many tribal legal systems reject the separation of powers and judicialreview that are so fundamental to U.S. law. Some distinctive qualities of Native American justice, such as the emphasis on restitution to victims in criminal cases and special sensitivity to the interests of grandparents in childcustody disputes, are finding a receptive audience among non-Native Americanstoday.
Thus, despite European and American claims to conquest and dominion over Native American lands and peoples, Native American law and government have not been extinguished. Tribal legal institutions perform important functions of defining tribal membership and office-holding requirements, regulating the use of tribal resources, establishing rules for everyday conduct, and resolving disputes. However, because of their different traditions and values, lack of resources, and the need to reconcile American and Native American forms, tribalgovernments need not and do not always behave like their non-Native Americancounterparts.
Jurisdiction of U.S. Government
The U.S. Congress asserts the right to define and limit, indeed to abolish, tribal law and government. It rests this power on Article I of the Constitution, which authorizes Congress to regulate commerce "with the Native American tribes," to enter into treaties, to make war, and to exercise power over federal lands. Congress and the Supreme Court sometimes justify federal power by invoking the existence of a federal guardianship toward the Native Americans,which resulted from the weakening of tribal governments by historic U.S. policy. Many Native American groups and modern legal scholars do not accept the federal government's understanding of the scope of congressional power over Native American affairs. Adopting a narrow interpretation of the Indian Commerce Clause, they would limit that federal power to the regulation of trade andcommerce between Native Americans and non-Native Americans, excluding all internal tribal matters. Whatever the source and scope of Congress' power, however, all agree that it excludes overlapping state authority in Indian Country.The Supreme Court has acknowledged state authority over Native American affairs only in isolated instances involving non-Native Americans and where the exercise of state power would not thwart tribal self-government.
Exercising its powers, Congress has enacted criminal laws that apply to Native American/non-Native American crimes and specified "major" crimes in IndianCountry, has made certain state laws applicable in Indian Country in some states, has restricted the sale or lease of tribally-owned lands, has regulatedtrading and the sale of liquor in Indian Country, has required that tribal governments afford individuals some of the civil rights enumerated in the Billof Rights, and has even terminated the legal status of some tribes. Most of Congress' laws affecting Native Americans can be found in Title 25 of the United States Code, which compiles all Congressional enactments relating to Native Americans. These statutes indicate the range of Native American groups to which they apply by the way they define the term "tribe." Some definitions--such as in the portion of the Non-Intercourse Act prohibiting transfers of Native American land without federal permission--are quite broad. Others are narrower, limiting the application of federal law to tribes that have been officially recognized by the Department of the Interior as generally entitled to federal benefits.
Because of its power of judicial review, the U.S. Supreme Court can set limits on Congressional power respecting tribal law and government. It has largelydeclined to do so. In the nineteenth century, the Court described congressional power as all-encompassing, or "plenary," and dismissed challenges to particular federal actions as entailing "political questions" unsuitable for judicial resolution. On these bases, the Court rejected Native American suits protesting the forcible break-up of communal tribal lands in violation of specific treaty promises.
Modern Supreme Court doctrine acknowledges more room for judicial intervention. First, any federal action that might impair Native American rights must beinterpreted in the manner most favorable to the Native Americans. This ruleof statutory interpretation prevents Congress from diminishing Native American self-government or treaty rights unless it is quite explicit about its intent to do so. Thus, for example, certain federal criminal laws that prohibit the killing of wildlife are not applied to Native Americans with treaty rightsto hunt those particular animals or to use them for ritual purposes, becausethe laws do not contain language that denies the Native Americans' rights. Second, federal law that operates to deny Native Americans their property mustbe accompanied by the payment of "just compensation" in accordance with theFifth Amendment to the Constitution, at least if that property has been recognized by the federal government through treaty or by statute. Third, congressional action regarding Native Americans and tribes can be challenged under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment if it does not rationally furtherthe federal government's fiduciary relationship (a relationship founded in trust) toward the Native Americans. Although the Supreme Court has never actually used this language to reject an act of Congress, it has invoked the sameprinciple to invalidate actions by federal administrative agencies that adversely affect Native American interests. If, for example, the federal agenciesthat must approve leases of Native American lands and minerals do not carefully oversee compliance with the lease provisions by the lessees, or the federal agencies responsible for investing Native American trust funds do not invest the funds prudently, Native American tribes may sue the federal governmentfor breach of trust.
Malinowski, Sharon, and Anna Sheets, eds. The Gale Encyclopedia ofNative American Tribes. Detroit: Gale Research, Inc., 1998.
Thornton, Russell. American Indian Holocaust and Survival: A Population History Since 1492. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1990.
Native American Rights - Tribal Sovereignty, Treaty Rights, Reserved Rights Doctrine, Federal Power Over Native American Rights, Hunting And Fishing Rights
Law Library - American Law and Legal InformationFree Legal Encyclopedia: National Environmental Policy Act of (1969) to Notice
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Reliable reportage and insightful commentary on the Middle East by seasoned journalists from the region and beyond
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Environmetalism
While man is frequently at war with the environment, not so for Israeli sculptor Dani Karavan whose work is harmoniously in sync with its surroundings
By David E. Kaplan
Back on welcome “grandparent” duty following our release on parole from lockdown, meant a return to one of my favourite parks – the Edith Wolfson Park on the eastern edge of the city of Tel Aviv. If its Tuesday, “we, the grandparents”, are usually there with our grandson. Perched high, the park offers a magnificent view of the city from its most iconic vantage – a massive sculpture by famed Israeli artist Dani Karavan. Called “The White Square”, the monumental work overlooks “The White City” as Tel Aviv is famously known because of its white Bauhaus architecture and is a complex geometric work that is an ode to the city itself.
An Ode To Tel Aviv. Dani Karavan’s ‘The White Square’ at Edith Wolfson Park in Tel Aviv.
If Tel Aviv is a city not so much to see but to experience then so to is Karavan’s sculpture where it is less viewed than it is walked, climbed, roller-skated and rollerbladed upon. I invariably join the “kids” in sliding down the sculpture’s colossal “sundial” on carboard as well as scampering up the large “pyramid”. The sculpture exudes physicality – it is a metaphor for Tel Aviv of open-ended action befitting its reputation as “the city that never sleeps.” If you are generally “into art”, then visiting The White Square you literally, “get into” this art as you climb in, over, upon and through it!
White Square Overlooking White City. The hill in the park with Karavan’s The White City is topographically the highest vantage view of Tel Aviv.
My first encounter with this monumental sculpture was of complete surprise. I came upon it with my first visit to the park in 2018 when my grandson, Yali, was only a few months old. I stared at the structure and thought, “Déjà vu – I have never been here before! Why is this massive sculpture so familiar?” And then I remembered that nearly a decade earlier, I co-wrote an interview with this sculpture’s creator – Dani Karavan, where he described this renowned work and I wrote about it including providing captions for photographs of what I now weekly ‘experience’.
Structuring Dreams. Symbolizing fertility and peace, the olive tree in Karavan’s White Square at the Edith Wolfson Park in Tel Aviv.
Dominating the sculpture is a 65-foot cement tower that can be see from afar as well as providing from the top, a majestic vista of the city. The tower symbolizes both the steel siren that once stood there and its function – security – watching over the city. The “migdal” or watchtower, is an enduring image that so characterized early settlement life in Israel as a state-in-the-making, providing security to its people working in the fields.
Beside the tower, is a large geometric piece composed of east-west facing shapes representing the surrounding urban neighborhood, much of it built in the Bauhaus style of architecture that has recognised Tel Aviv as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Next to this is the pyramid-like structure symbolizing the tents lived in by those who built the city well over a century earlier, and then there is a dome-like structure with an olive tree at its center, depicting the orchards that surround Tel Aviv.
Lastly, there is the sun dial, possibly the most popular attraction as I can every Tuesday attest to, noting that it is used as much for skateboarding as it is for any other intended purpose.
‘Time’ for Fun. Karavan’s Sun Dial (above) enjoyed most by skateboarders (below)
So who is this internationally acclaimed sculptor and Israel Prize recipient who lives in the same house in Tel Aviv, that “I grew up in” and whose work can be seen across Israel, Europe, and Asia?
Karavan credits being most influenced by his father when “I turned from painting to sculpture.” His father, Avraham Karavan, was the chief landscape designer for Tel Aviv from the 1940s through the 1960s. “My father grew up in Manchester and I think he was very inspired by the English gardens. He always wanted to recreate nature – gardens as nature. I understand now that I am following in his footsteps: When I approach a site, I often develop the project in a similar way to his way of creating gardens.”
It is hard to escape his distinct style, which blends sculpture, architecture, and the landscape into unique and monumental pieces. Putting the question to Karavan that his work appears “as if you are sculpting the landscape”, he replied:
“That’s correct. This is what characterizes my work, which is rooted to a physical environment and not to an atelier [an artist’s workshop]. I was once privileged to meet the distinguished sculptor Henry Moore and observe him work in his environment – how he molded a model the size of a suitcase handle and enlarged it ninety-nine times its size. For me it is the opposite, because the large environment where I work emerges as part of my composition.”
One example the artist cites is the large sculptured wall of the Plenum Hall at the Knesset (Israel’s parliament). Called Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem, the wall depicts an abstract Jerusalem landscape, the surrounding hills, and the Judean desert. It is one of the most recognised works of art in Israel as it appears almost daily on TV screens as a backdrop as the people’s elected representatives take to the podium to address the Knesset.
Art To Inspire. Considered Israel’s most recognised sculpture, Dani Karavan’s Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem in the Knesset Plenum Hall. (Photo: Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images)
Another example Karavan cites “was my first big piece as a sculptor,” the Negev Brigade Memorial. Although a monument to commemorate those who fought in the Palmach Negev Brigade in 1948, the artist is quick to add:
“I am not an artist who creates memorials. I create homages.”
The late Uzi Narkiss, a commander of the Negev Brigade’s Seventh Battalion, had suggested to Karavan to build a lookout so that visitors could climb up and physically experience the landscape. Observing the surrounding hills leading down to the valley, the views of the rolling landscape, the folds of the ground, the rocks and the bushes, all emerged as the material of the final work.
Movement Ahead. A precursor to the land art movement, Karavan’s Negev Brigade Memorial that pays homage to members of the brigade who fell fighting during Israel’s War of Independence.
Explains Karavan:
“I had to integrate the landscape of the desert, its particularities, in order to tell the story of this brigade. My father helped me to plant acacia trees, indigenous to the Negev desert. As water was scarce, he knew which trees should be used. He always kept in mind the water. The line of water I created as part of the monument is not only a symbol of life, but also a tribute to the Palmach Brigade who had the mission of insuring the water supply to the kibbutzim in the desert.”
It was a groundbreaking project. “Up until then,” continued Karavan, “site-specific environmental sculpture did not exist. To some degree, it is similar to architecture, where the architect designs specifically for a particular environment.”
Further explaining, he adds:
“I am not a sculptor that seeks a place, but rather the place seeks me. Michelangelo said that the statue already exists within the stone; I say that the sculpture already exists within the environment. I just unearth it. This is essentially my contribution to the evolution of sculpture. I wanted that sculpture be something people can climb and children play on – that it will be full of life and not pieces where people visit once a year to lay flowers.”
Looking at the children playing all over The White Square, he has succeeded.
“My works could not exist without people. I want them to experience the work and feel like it is embracing them. At the same time, I never try to impose the way people should interact with my work. The work itself inspires people and leads them to explore the different forms and spaces. The fact that children engage with my works is not because I designed it for that purpose, but because my works give them a sense of freedom to use them in any way they would like to, without aggression, without violence—in a peaceful way.”
While Karavan can mold material to articulate his dreams and visions, he laments “an inability to influence better relations with our Arab neighbors. My father arrived in Israel in the 1920s. He came as an idealist and I inherited that idealism. What better vision to work for than the pursuit of regional peace and happiness? If you ask what I still want to do, yes, I need to finish my autobiography, but also to collaborate with a Palestinian artist on a project toward peace.”
Man And His Work. Dani Karavan
From time immemorial, the olive tree is a symbol of peace and I thought of this quote of the artist again when I saw last Tuesday perched in the middle of The White Square the olive tree – the sole vertical living organism amongst the concrete. It was the right milieu to reflect on the artist’s 2019 response to the question “What is his hope for humanity?” from famed landscape designer Lily S. Kwong:
Karavan replied: “I hope people will be more tolerant of others and to each other. I hope for more education all around the world. I hope that in most countries, art will have a key role in people’s daily lives.”
I felt assuredly of the artist’s hope of art playing “a key role in people’s daily lives,” when watching my grandchild with all the other children ‘explore, engage and encounter’ at the Edith Wolfson Park in Tel Aviv.
Some of Karavan’s most important works:
Negev Brigade Memorial, Beersheva, Israel
Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem – Knesset wall relief, Jerusalem, Israel
Kikar Levana, Tel Aviv, Israel
Culture Square, Tel Aviv, Israel
The “Path of Peace” sculpture by artist Dani Caravan. An environmental sculpture which is one of the attractions of Nitzana
UNESCO Square of Tolerance – Homage to Yitzhak Rabin, Paris, France
The Axe Majeur, Cergy-Pontoise, France
layoftheland376996452 Art, Culture, Tourism 1 Comment June 2, 2020 June 2, 2020 7 Minutes
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learning love songs
Ever see a project or a performance and think to yourself, “Damn, why didn’t I think of that?!” Last last year, punk news outlets bubbled up with postings about a fellow who wrote a screenplay off of one of my favorite albums: On the Impossible Past by The Menzingers. What a concept! OTIP is a deeply literally, emotional ride of a rock record, and writer Adam Reiss took its core meaning and messages to develop a plot and characters for “On the Impossible Future.”
I read through his screenplay and immediately reached out to Adam, wanting to learn more about how he let his imagination run away with him to create a love story between Greg, a down-on-himself Philly boy and Casey, the spirited waitress who gives him something to live for and love, inspired by these songs that have come to mean so much to me over the years. I was also curious about the feedback he received to this project, knowing that fans can be pretty touchy about their sacred songs.
Talking with Adam (who turns out to be quite the intrepid world traveler) over the past few weeks was a treat — what follows is a lightly edited transcript of a Q&A. Check out his screenplay, or at least play “After the Party” real loud while reading this. Thanks to Adam for opening up to me and for The Menzingers for bringing us all together.
First off, how did you discover The Menzingers/On the Impossible Past? What spoke to you in their music?
I first heard the Menzingers when “A Lesson in the Abuse of Information Technology” came on my Against Me! Pandora station and I was into it because it kind of reminded me of old AM! But I didn’t get super into them until OTIP came out. I remember checking out the punknews.org stream (which, by the way, was terrible quality) as a casual fan, more curious than anything, and when I got to “Casey” I had a “woah, this is something special” moment.
I was 22 at the time, in my last year of college. It was an emotionally turbulent time for me and all of the themes of the album fit with what I was going through — feeling like good things only fall apart, getting high all the time, self-loathing, falling in and out of love, drinking a lot, going to shows, constantly wanting to escape to somewhere far away. “Casey” is probably my favorite track because it has all of those things and wraps them up in a way that is painfully romantic. And man, what a catchy chorus. Favorite non-OTIP track and criminally underrated Menz song: “My Friend Chris.”
When you first started working on this, what came easily? What was a challenge?
The easiest thing was probably creating Chris’s character. He’s such an outrageous person, always saying something vulgar — and he’s kind of a dick to be honest. But I’d like to think he’s a lovable dick and he serves to off-set a lot of Greg’s mopiness. I partially modeled him after a friend of mine, so a lot of writing his dialogue was just thinking “What would so-and-so say here?” Any scene with Chris was a blast to write.
The challenge was figuring out the plot. I really wanted to tell the story that I felt was in OTIP and spent a lot of time studying lyrics as if I was trying to crack a code, to decipher the plot secretly kept inside the songs, but obviously it doesn’t work that way.
My first draft was about 40 pages shorter than it is now and there just wasn’t much story there, I think because I was too focused on directly translating the album into a movie rather than developing a story. Subsequent drafts were each a bit better, but it took a long time for me to feel satisfied with the plot.
How often did you listen to the album for inspiration/what role did it play during the process of writing?
Man, I listened to the album non-stop. I’m honestly surprised I still haven’t worn it out yet. It’s one of those albums where I found myself putting on a specific track to listen for something in the lyrics/to get inspiration and then I’d find myself listening to the whole album all the way through.
Like I said before, I initially tried too hard to translate the album directly into a film. I really, really wanted a scene with Chris and Greg in a CVS parking lot, for example, but couldn’t figure out how to work it in. I also had Casey quoting Leonard Cohen in bed in one draft a la Sun Hotel. Eventually, I moved past trying to make “On the Impossible Past: The Movie,” and started using the album as more of a mood board, as a guide of overall themes and emotions, and that really helped me develop the plot a bit more.
Your description of this project sounds like it was a labor of love. How did you motivate yourself to keep writing?
I started the project in my last quarter of college and had to complete the first fifteen pages for my screenwriting class, so for the first bit (which sometimes is the hardest part, getting a creative project off the ground) I was lucky to have an entire class pushing me.
After graduation I moved back in with my parents and struggled to find a job. The pairing of these two things left me feeling pretty worthless. I used this project as something I could do every day, some semblance of routine that would also be rewarding and help me feel like I wasn’t just wasting my days as an unemployed piece of shit. And of course, searching for a job, I was hoping that the screenplay would be my ticket to my dream career — getting paid to write. Thinking “this will help me achieve my dreams” is a good motivator, turns out.
Which themes from the album did you want to focus on the most? What lines/verses really drove your plot?
Definitely the theme of having a relationship based on drugs, alcohol, and punk rock and then having things fall apart. In fact, seeing that written out, that’s basically a summary of the entire screenplay. Also, the theme of escape in various forms.
Going through the lyrics, I really latched onto every line about Casey (anything to do with a waitress, diner, most of the title track’s lyrics) and going to Mexico — and these were probably what made me feel like there was a story threaded throughout the lyrics, what made me want to dig deeper and feel like it was possible to write a screenplay based on the album in the first place.
How did you feel when this was done enough to share for public consumption? What’s the response been like?
I went through a lot of stages of loving and loathing this project over the past few years. I wanted to move past it and start working on new things, but I also just couldn’t let the thing go. So finally, it reached a point where I felt I absolutely couldn’t work on it anymore without getting outside feedback. I was too close to it and needed a fresh perspective. It felt like it was 90% finished and the last 10% couldn’t be accomplished without feedback (and feedback from strangers, people who don’t care about my feelings).
In that sense, posting this online and getting a response has been incredibly helpful (and cathartic). I’ve gotten a full range of responses, ranging from one guy who went through each song on OTIP and wrote about how he felt the screenplay connects to it, to a girl who told me the entire thing is extremely sexist. I’m nearly ready to work on my next (and potentially final) batch of edits using all of the comments and criticism I’ve gotten so far, which I’m pretty stoked about.
I’m amazed at how attached some people are to the project and I think that speaks volumes for just how meaningful OTIP is for so many people, which in and of itself is a heartwarming experience — to connect with people around a shared appreciation of art and to also feel like my work is having the sort of impact that inspired me to start this in the first place. Even people who have something negative to say, we can still find common ground with how much we love this album and usually something constructive can come from that. No one has just been like “this sucks, quit” and left it at that. Which is encouraging.
Anything else about what you learned as writer/listener?
I learned I really, really like vibrato in punk songs. I learned I love writing dialogue but hate writing action and descriptions. I learned to let go of my babies and cut scenes or jokes that don’t add to the screenplay even though I think they’re amazing. I learned Menzingers fans are super helpful and willing to go out of their way to connect with total strangers. I learned a lot of completing a project is just sitting down routinely and doing work. Even if it’s a little bit each day, that’s still progress. And recently I learned how to make small adjustments to make sure that women readers/audience members don’t feel demonized. All valuable lessons, I’d say.
Happy New Year! I’m honestly optimistic about this one. I think it’s been awhile since I felt that way at the outset, but I’m going with it, looking ahead with curiosity to all the unknown the universe has in store. Throughout all the twists and turns that inevitably will arise, though, finding new music is still my constant joy. There’s something comforting about that, knowing that no matter what this year brings, at the end I’ll be left with a bunch of new music that moved me. 2016 will be tough to top on this front, as I was exposed to many different artists through reviewing opportunities and new communities, plus some of my longtime favorites like Jimmy Eat World and The Hotelier dropped incredible releases. But looking ahead at the calendar, I see plenty of highlights — here’s 10 albums I’m looking forward to (hopefully) listening to this year. I’ll revisit this in about 360 days to see where this wind up compared to my final favorites.
The Menzingers: If “Lookers” and “Bad Catholics” are any indication, After the Party will be an incredibly fun, punchy record — and perhaps the most poignant yet.
Japandroids: “Near To The Wild Heart of Life” is quickly making its mark as a life anthem, as all Japandroids songs rightly deserve. I imagine this album will rock.
Muna: Discovering this super-fun, super-edgy pop vocalist group was a great boon to my workout routine, and their latest single “I Know A Place” is a real earworm.
Taylor Swift: Can she top 1989? I don’t know. Probably. I won’t pretend I’m not excited to see what direction she heads in , or to have more songs to practice guitar.
Haim: Days Are Gone has held up incredibly well as an impressive debut, and I’m ready to be wowed with a follow-up imbued by their roaring success.
Ryan Adams: My love for the folk-rock troubadour only grows, even as he fashions himself into something of a retro-bluesy, Pettyesque figure. Especially then, even.
The Wonder Years: They’ve just announced they’re writing new stuff, so a 2017 release is possible/likely/high on my list of life-markers.
The xx: Something tells me the ambient, angsty chill pop of The xx will be perfect for LA’s rainy season, and perfectly sexy/cool.
The Killers: Sure, they’ll never again make Hot Fuss. But who says they have to? Give me that desert-inspired do-or-die attitude and trademark soaring choruses any day.
Ed Sheeran: I loved X. I still love X. Sheeran has an undenying sweetness, and a sensitivity that transfers beyond his gorgeous ballads. More please!
So I’m sitting here alone on New Year’s Day trying to finish writing about my favorite albums of 2014, and I’m trying to care about these little moments I can remember with these songs and why they matter and why I liked them, and I keep stopping myself, thinking what is the point? What does a list like this even mean? Especially when published on a blog no one reads?
At the moment, I guess it is something to do with my hands. But I also know the importance of reflection, of finding meaning in our memories. I am so attached to my music. I am so inspired by it and connected to it, it sorts the feelings into boxes and puts them where they need to be. I am never alone when I have songs in my ears, in my head, or my heart, and this is a lifesaver, in no uncertain terms. If that sounds insipid or overdramatic to you, then you have never wrestled with emotions so intense you can’t breathe, so overwhelming you cannot think, only to be brought back down to earth by something other than yourself – for me, that something is most often music. I may be struggling today but I won’t be struggling forever, at least, not anymore than I always was or ever would be, and sitting here typing, replaying my favorite songs of the year, might be the best way to stay grounded tonight. So here goes, here’s what I loved in 2014, with the best reflection my tired, tragic memory can provide:
This Wild Life – Clouded
So emo, so angsty, and still so pretty. This was an evening record, mostly, or a Saturday afternoon jam. These songs are little stories you can wrap your head around, and harmonies you can sing along with, easy chords to strum. These songs lash out with some serious spiteful lines, but they’re so gentle in their own way. Just a lovely little record worthy of attention, especially in sadness.
“And I just need a day, to shed this dead weight, and to get my head straight
I just want to let go, I just want to be left alone.”
Coldplay – Ghost Stories
Chris Martin at his most maudlin gave me so much solace this year. I don’t care of the critics panned it. I thought “Ghost Stories” was beautiful, and sad, and strange and even trendy, at times. It didn’t try too hard, its muted drums and elegant little trills are so soft and rich. This record is the middle of the night and early in the morning, it is the hours no one else needs to see.
“Call it magic, cut me into two
And with all your magic, I disappear from view
And I can’t get over, can’t get over you
Still, I call it magic, such a precious truth”
Have Mercy – A Place of Our Own
Please keep pulling my heart strings, Brian Swindle. I sang-screamed so much to this record and it felt so good every time. I love how this band manages a scene-appropriate aggression with poignant, intelligent metaphors and lyrics. They’re so dramatic. I love the way they toy with dynamics, not afraid to get too loud or too soft in anticipation of what’s to come. “The Earth Pushed Back” has its own relevance in 2014 but this new release gave me something to hold onto. Expecting to play this more in 2015, starting tomorrow, probably.
“I’m the pawn and you’re the rook,
And you played me like a crook,
I never wanted it to end this way.”
Ryan Adams – Ryan Adams
Some people are just born gifted. Ryan Adams is one of those people. No matter how long he stays away he comes back with something brilliant and beautiful, like it just pours right out of his soul to play excellent guitar and write heartfelt, resonating songs. “Gimme Something Good” was an anthem of sorts, as was “Feels like Fire,” but its the slower, very songwriter-y moments that make up the meat of Adams’ self-titled, and he shines in this kind of arrangement. He is troubled and sad, he is older and wiser, but I will never tire of the lessons Ryan Adams has to offer, from the structure of a pre-chorus to the capacity to live with regret.
“Just so you know, you will always be the hardest thing I will let go
Driving past your church and all the houses in a row, feeling in my chest is fire.”
It’s so good. It’s so, so good. Of course it is. She’s something of a generational icon at this point, I’d say, and I’m not going to join the ranks of the eye-rolling haters who are probably just jealous there’s someone talented and beautiful out there. I’ve never heard a Taylor Swift record I didn’t like and “1989” is full of so many excellent, smart, full-feeling moments that prove what a great songwriter she is. This album is vulnerable and mature, but also quite hopeful, and for that I’ve found it a pretty reliable listen in most moods. It is also draped all over my last quarter of 2014. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to listen to this album and not remember the feel of a hand in mine, singing to someone who seemed not mind listening, the way the hillsides along the Ohio River shone in the afternoon sun.
“So it’s gonna be forever
Or it’s gonna go down in flames
You can tell me when it’s over
If the high was worth the pain.”
The Hotelier- Home, Like No Place There Is
What a fantastic find this band was….I am hooked on their tenor and tones, I am floored by their words, and I am wishing that I had more to say about this record that I’ve listened to so many times. I hope we hear more this band, because I think they’re onto something with the big-time choruses, and the drawn-out melodies, and the scathing honesty of pain and promise and self-destruction that lurks all over this record. I’m glad young, scrappy bands like The Hotelier are still out there making excellent indie rock music. I’m glad they give off something dark and just a little tormented, unashamed to be equal parts fragile and aggressive, which is really something of a combination, when you get down to it.
“I called in sick from your funeral
The sight your family made me feel responsible.”
The Menzingers – Rented World
If I were in a band, I’d want it to be like The Menzingers. I fell hard for this band in 2013, in Pennsylvania, their home state, and I’ve only grown more attached to them. “Rented World” felt heavy and dark compared to their past productions, and maybe it was a little more serious than the pop-punk, mosh-prone crowds of their youthful fan base could handle, but I took it to heart, I embraced it fully. Really hope this band continues to tour, continues to write, continues to wow me with their mastery of the pop punk song, although their sound transcends, mostly through vocals and the hint of jams, into something a little more broad sometimes. “Rented World” is a jaded record, it is over everything, and I fucking love everything about it, because that is the kind of company that is hard to find in a world where faking it is so damn profitable, so damn easy, so damn common.
“I’ve tried running, I’ve tried hiding, I’ve tried everything but dying
Damn the days we took for granted, never again will I let alone close to me.
Yeah, me and the rodent in the wall have more in common after all.”
The War on Drugs – Lost in the Dream
Sprawling, echoing and gorgeous, how could anyone listen to this and not fall in love? What I love most about this record is how contemplative it is, but with a layer of lonely discovery somewhere close to the foundation. It never loses its cool but dips into darkness, exploring all sorts of strange sonic places yet unheard by modern audience. There’s influences aplenty, but the sound is something of its own creation – it is so damn difficult to make something this effortless. This is easily one of the most acclaimed records of the year, but I will love it always for other reasons, too, for the wistful state its mere mention, let alone a listen, inflicts on my mind.
“Love’s the key to the things that we see
And don’t mind chasing
Leave the light on in the yard for me”
Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties – We Don’t Have Each Other
For when you heart is at your knees. For when your head is in dark places. For when inspiration can’t be found. In a critical sense, Dan Campbell’s side project is an incredible display of passion, intensity, talent and literary guise; from a personal standpoint, this album is a friend in depression, a companion for constant sadness. The scenes of New York and cars and bars are so vivid to me, and there’s something cinematic about the narrator’s desolation that I find quite a familiar story. I won’t ever forget meeting Campbell at the Four Chords Music Fest this year, and telling him how great I thought this album was. “Thank you,” he said, nodding slightly, and an hour later he’d go on to tear it the fuck up fronting The Wonder Years. I might not work in the business, I might not surround myself with musicians and bands the way I once did, but I do know a true talent when I see it. This guy’s got it.
“If I lay here long enough, maybe the bugs will eat me whole.
If I stay here long enough, maybe the night would take me home.”
Copeland – Ixora
It’s difficult for me to explain how much I’ve loved this album in the latter of this year. I can’t think of any other record that came out in 2014 that was so closely intertwined with my mornings, my nights, my thoughts and feelings. It is sad, it is sweet, it is symphonic, it is oddly experimental and it is strength is subtle. There’s no question this is my favorite album of the year, because no other has been as much a comfort. This album is hearts too heavy to sleep and knees to weak to stand, it is compassion and kindness found in the most unlikely places, it is desire mixed with perspective, which is such a strange, beautiful combination. I love how serene even the most heightened of moments are. I am so happy this band came back, especially now, at this time, when the sound of something familiar and fresh is so necessary, and also because time has only made their accomplishments more pronounced and produced. The tapestry of strings, guitars and drumskins is balanced so perfectly. You hear so much of the room on this record. I smile to think of all the studio hours spent pouring over this, because to me, that is dedication to perfection and striving to make your work shine the brightest it can, and I am inspired by that. I am in love with the love poured into this record, and its story of sensual struggle. Can’t wait to get it on vinyl. I hope to get lost in “Ixora” over and over again, hope to feel comforted by it and feel satisfied by it. Something tells me, reflecting on the moments I’ve spent with it so far, that might be the soundest start to this next year I can hope for.
“You’re still a breeze upon my skin, close my eyes, breathe you in.
I’m still the shadows in your night, taking over, until I fade into your light.
But you won’t erase me.
Heaven or hell will have to wait.
You won’t erase me.
So you just color me from grey.”
I saw this band three times in 2014. The only other bands I’ve seen that many times are Brand New and Jimmy Eat World, which are my favorite bands ever, which is funny to me, but they tour like animals and their songs are fun as heck. Definitely a standout act of the year.
I am so hooked on The Wolfpack but haven’t gotten my hands on a copy of the album. Just glad they’re back, as I will never tire of this band’s spacey, delay-fueled aesthetic.
“Lights Out” has some really excellent moments. That hook in “Girls Chase Boys” is some kind of earworm. She continues to a preeminent songwriter.
I’ll never forget the look of Jason Alan Butler dropping rose petals from his hands around the mic, and when he climbed up the speakers to the balcony at Altar Bar, latching onto the base only to shimmey across with a mic cord around his neck, then crowdsurf back to the stage. More shows like this in 2015, please.
I saw Brand New at Stage AE in Pittsburgh this year. They continue to amaze.They continue to toy with their fanbase in these miserable little ways, teasing recordings and studio time and old-new tracks. Brand New is going to put out an album next year Actually, they probably won’t. But they could. They should. They will. I think.
Here’s to all there will be to listen to in 2015, and all the hope, comfort and companionship those albums, too, will provide.
The end of the year is a strange listening experience. I spend a lot of time going back through the year trying to figure out my top 10, while largely avoiding radio and its recycled Christmas music. In recent days during this endeavor, I picked up “Rented World” again, a record that captivated me in the spring upon release. It was everywhere. I had it queued up on Spotify for the mornings, blasting in the car to and from work, sitting in the record player. Seeing The Menzingers on their tour for this album was easily one of this year’s best shows. Then somewhere along the way, as sometimes happens with the albums you inhale the deepest, I kind of burnt myself out on it. Summer turned into finding new artists, trying out the trends of the year, or revisiting past favorites. I don’t know if I played this album once. So I was relieved this weekend when, on a long drive home, I put in “Rented World,” and it sounded as good as it did the first time. Better, maybe – the sharpest parts stood out, the memorable lines rang loud and true. The heavy rhythm section thundered deeper than I recalled, and the strained, serrated vocals encapsulated the hope and anger and frustration at the self and the situation and the system as clearly as any pop-punk offshoot band could or should hope to aspire to. I’ve yet to figure out where my album rankings stand for 2014 but I don’t think I can skip this one from a band I’ve only grown more attached to over time. Not when it’s got so much power behind it, not when it was everything I’d anticipated it to be, and more.
“I used to lie to myself all the time
I was always over-reacting, screaming “I’m gonna die.”
But now I’m five thousand miles from her head on my shoulder
From a night I spent sober screaming “I’m gonna die.”
But all I ever wanted was to make things right
All I ever wanted was to make things right
Transient love, I was a ghost on your birthday
I was a runaway somewhere in a fabled mistake
Transient love, you should’ve seen the view from the pension
It made me think of things we’d never mention
The things we’re too afraid to say
Like what if I spend the next few years
Just somewhere in some atmosphere
While you’re at home with bills to pay
I hope it doesn’t end this way
Over and over in my head, I’ve tried
But all I ever wanted was to make things right.“
~Transient Love
The Menzginers, Rented World
My most anticipated album of the year has easily been The Menzingers, and hearing the latest track advance is only making me flip out for it more. This might be the most perfect song I’ve heard all year.
I remember how hooked I was on this band as soon as I heard “Gates” and then the rest of “On the Impossible Past,” how I overplayed that album all summer long feeling sorry for myself, and how much I loved they were from PA (turns out, they once many years ago played alongside my friend’s then-band). If the first two tracks are any indication, their next album will hold onto that same intense conviction but with an extra dash of heartfelt wigged-out wisdom, cleaned up layers and a nice bass-oriented mix.
Lyrically, “I Don’t Want To Be An Asshole Anymore” is as focused as the title makes it sound, and full of rip-your-heart-out metaphors. The song bleeds realization at its most romantic, and realisitc. I’m more than a little addicted to it already. The way this song is put together is incredibly smart. It moves with you. Layered harmonies and cymbal rolls add subtle depth, and gang vocals with a great line of a hook in the chorus offer a pop friendly format. But it’s not soft by any measure, since the whole thing is drenched in heavy bass, crash-fueled fills and not a small amount of cursing. I love how he screams the chorus and the title line, like an anthematic declaration of a new chapter. It’s aggressive and reckless and it’s everything I want to hear out of this badass band from Scranton who I hope will be soundtracking my spring and summer once more, only maybe with a little less feeling sorry and a little more feeling alive.
“You’re the only lover that I ever missed
Ever been hopeless in love with
Look at this tangle of thorns
I don’t wanna be an asshole anymore.”
~I Don’t Wanna Be an Asshole Anymore
The Menzingers, Rented World
I’m a little late on this one.
I wanted to sit down and write about my favorite albums of 2012, the music that came out, crossed my path and meant something to me for any combination of reasons.
I wanted to talk about how there were songs that reminded me how wonderful it is to be young and alive even though it’s messy and mean, like Japandroids and The Menzingers. And how there were songs that blasted the cracks in my heart with deadly aim, and others that caulked in the gaps, like those from The Gaslight Anthem and Lovedrug.
I wanted to do this yesterday. But time got the best of me, and here we are, 2013 with no “Favorite Albums of 2012” on the blog. Let’s proceed.
Normally people order and rank these things; I have done this in the past and found it to be useful, clean and a fun reference for discussion purposes should the topic ever arise. My rationale for placing an album on this list could come from many places: Did I hear it, and love it instantly? Was I drawn to replay it in full one more time, or are there tracks that I simply couldn’t get enough of? And why? Was it the meaning, the message, the technique, or the timing?
I’ve also decided to highlight other albums that caught my ears for being very successful records in one way or another, because 2012 was a damn fine year for new music from artists both familiar and burgeoning. Here’s a whole bunch of proof:
10) mewithoutyou – Ten Stories
Kicking off the list, an old favorite band out with a new, thematic collection that’s eerie and haunting and potentially their most polished, meticulously produced effort yet. Details pop out at every new listen, a harmony or a guitar part or an elusive, mysterious phrase. So enchanting, how could you not want to get lost in the night inside an otherwordly tale?
“All circles presuppose they’ll end where they begin/But only in their leaving can they ever come back around”
Posts from the Year: 7/15/12
9) Passion Pit – Gossamer
Ya heard. Electropop made it on my favorites list. But I’ve never liked electropop this much before, I’ve never seen the weirdness and depth this way. Played it all the time, even got my mom hooked on it. I found this album uplifting and entirely thoughtful, bright and shiny but ever calm, ever cool and just enough collected. I hear the live shows are slammin’. Also: Gossamer is, and has been, one of my favorite all-time words.Shimmers just like it should, a perfect title.
“When then I’ll say what they say/And I’ll do what they do/But it doesn’t mean a goddamned thing”
8) Lord Huron – Lonesome Dreams
Oh how perfect and beautiful this album is, how folksy. Though it seems acoustic and auxiliary-heavy Americana bands are a stone’s throw from every dive bar in mid-sized cities to the hottest clubs frequented by trendy, hipster-inclined urbanites, Lord Huron is, to my ears, the real deal. Kick back, relax and let their lonesome dreams interrupt and intersect with yours for awhile. And take a walk in the fucking woods while you’re at it.
“I’ve been dreaming again of a lonesome road/Where I’m lost and I’ve got no friends/Just the rocks and the trees and my lonesome dreams and a road that’ll never end”
Posts from the Year: 12/12/12
7) Bad Books – II
Perhaps I am inclined to rank anything involving the likes of Andy Hull and Kevin Devine, given my listening roots grew up in their respective heydays. And yet I have never appreciated them as much musically as I do today. Maybe it’s in the maturity, the sardonic tone, or the willingness to try on styles and sounds exemplifying a mastery of creative convention. Bad Books colors in the lines, but this is by no means a dig on lack of originality. Rather, we’ve got layers and layers of complimenting and contrasting rock ‘n’ roll theory. More, please.
“Folded arms and I felt your heart hum/Speedy eyes and I want what I want/Truth cut with a generalized fear/Cash baggies and an ash tray beers/I know you know/I wanna love you but I can’t let go/Honey, it never stops/No it never stops”
6) Alabama Shakes – Boys and Girls
How did you not just instantly love this band? Rootsy and bluesy and fusion-y and all kinds of familiar, Alabama Shakes debuted with a powerful hello to an indie pop audience that was ready to lap up something designed to comfort the soul. We’ve got real instruments, real vocal talent like we haven’t heard in some time, real skilled players, and a whole lot of heart. Between the dynamics, the passion and the style, Alabama Shakes has serious rock chops, and I’d bet strong that we’ve only seen the start.
“I feel so homesick/Where’s my home/Where I belong/Where I was born/I was told to go/Where the wind would blow/And it blows away”
(Bonus Link: Listen to this full KEXP performance!) Seriously. Do it. Your face might melt, though.
5) fun. – Some Nights
Yes, I know I’ve said The Format is better (and first!) but what a record this was. Everyone seemed to love it, everyone related to it. At the tail end of 2012, I found myself replaying this album over and over. Great for drives, for thinking alone. Nate Ruess is a genius at capturing the mischief in melancholy, the hope in the view from the ground, and I am grateful he continues to make wonderful music to share with the world.
“My head is on fire/But my legs are fine/After all they are mine”
4) Lovedrug – Wild Blood
Redemption comes in many forms. Lovedrug’s first full-length after a run of successful EP releases left me feeling full and happy, and intrigued by the new direction of a band. Focus, melody, depth and layers were always strong currents, but these qualities are the crux of Wild Blood’s impressive, hungry and ever-onward spirit. Glad this record was made, because it marks something of an end of an era for me — a triumphant effort from a band I’ve followed for years in a year that, for me, showed similar feats.
“We were owls when they came in the night/they were lookin’ for a creature to fight/I can see it that you’re ready to go/Like a bat in the cave of my soul”
Posts from the Year: 2/10/12, 3/6/12, 3/13/12, 4/15/12, 6/15/12
3) The Menzingers – On the Impossible Past
Sometimes, people kind of laugh a little when I tell them I’m a pop punk/hardcore/whatever the fuck you call emo these days fan. A bit of an eyeroll. But The Menzingers are amphetamine laced proof that the genre isn’t dead and Epitaph is a fighting beast of a label(so shut your fucking trap). Heart-wrenching and boldly embracing pathetic helplessness and hopeless, this album is a collection of odes to self-fulfilled failures past and present. As I am a codified expert on such instances in my own life, it was entirely too easy to relate. Coated in familiar chords and fast-finger solos and just the right amount of scream, I listened to this at my worst only to end up feeling pretty damn close to my best.
“I will fuck this up/I fucking know it”
Posts from the Year: 8/22/12, 8/27/12
2) The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten
What to say that I haven’t said? Do I have a bigger music idol of 2012 than Brian Fallon? Not really, maybe, probably not. “Handwritten” proves that TGA will continue to churn out confessional narratives with amphitheater-sized proportions. They’ve proven to be true to their own style, a dash of the past included, so the end product is good, old-fashioned, new rock and roll. And this album could’ve been a make or break moment after so many past successes. No doubt it was a daunting task to say, “Oh shit, gotta write more great songs.” And yet, I am more of a fan than ever.
“And we waited for sirens that never come/And we only write by the moon, every word handwritten/And to ease the loss of youth and how many years I’ve missed you/Pages plead forgiveness, every word handwritten”
Posts from the Year: 4/30/12, 7/16/12, 7/19/12, 7/31/12, 9/13/12, 10/9/12, 12/5/12
1) Japandroids – Celebration Rock
Japandroids just got it just right. They got the hunger right, the anger and fury, the passion, and the inescapable needs and conflicts of living fast. They’ve captured a certain brazen slyness that once thrived all over punk and rock scenes that’s shrunken to give way to pretension, a forced literariness that can be so guarded. Not necessarily a bad thing, but not really a good one either, if you’re looking for something to rock out to.
If you told me that 2012 would be the year that it turned out to be for me personally, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. Or, maybe I would’ve of, but immediately passed out from fright, thereby changing said future through butterfly effect means. So, the present is fleeting, the past is permanent and the future, a wide scary unknown. In this lost haze, Japandroids brought a reminder that all you have is you and now, and fast is fun when your eyes are open.
Musically, omigod, so cool. Not only was I completely blown away by the sheer sonic power of such a tiny band (two skinny white dudes!), but you don’t hear guitars played in this way, so full of repetitive fierceness, in ways that are simultaneously melodic. This has a lot to do with the chord choices, and phrasing of vocal, but we’ve got some real metal technique doing some indie rock things.
So thanks, Japandroids, for making me remember so much of what I love about loud and fierce rock music, and for laying it all out so honestly, that there’s no way I will ever be able to hear these songs, and not connect to the moments, people and places of 2012. What more do you want out of an album of the year?
“It’s a lifeless life with no fixed address to give/But you’re not mine to die for anymore/So I must live”
Posts from the Year: 6/2/12, 6/18/12
Best EPs: The 1975 – Sex EP, The 1975 – Facedown EP
Best Genre-Bending, The Cool Award: Frank Ocean – Channel Orange
Most Ambitious, Most Likely to Make Me Dance Contemporary Ballet, Most Poetic Album Title: Fiona Apple – The Idler Wheel is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do
Best “Comeback:” Soundgarden – King Animal
Best Collaborative: GOOD Music – Cruel Summer
Best Taylor Swift: Taylor Swift – Red
Best Album for a Love Scene in Outer Space: The xx – Coexist
Best Metal (TIE): Converge – All We Love We Leave Behind, Every Time I Die – Ex-Lives
Since Thursday until about 7 p.m. today, the only album I played in my car is The Menzingers’ “On the Impossible Past.”
I try not to write about the same band two posts in a row, but I have barely absorbed anything else.
“Remember the days when I had a conscience? Yeah, me neither./And I’m warning, I’m warning, I’m warning you./And I’m warning, I’m warning, I’m warning you/That I can’t seem to tell, I can’t seem to tell, I can’t seem to tell if it’s my head or the earth that’s spinning around.” ~ I Can’t Seem to Tell, The Menzingers, On the Impossible Past
I’ve concluded that “Gates” (see previous post) is their “please-play-me-on-the-radio” song, and I love it immensely. Beyond “Gates,” the album shows to be grittier, grungier. Nothing I would classify as screamo, it’s very melodic, but there’s definitely some vocal chord tearing going on here and there. Love it. The title track is fascinating, a dirge-like memory of a car crash, that serves as a 1:33-long intro into “Nice Things,” which is somewhat of a social commentary on how to not be a tool with a vocalist switch.
There’s hints of an overarching narrative, something about American muscle cars and dating waitresses, passing mentions of drinking and drug use. Paints a pretty good picture of where this is coming from. A lot of it is just really sad, really desperate, yet really alive.
“And I’m pretty sure this corner of the world is the loneliest corner in the whole world.” ~Sun Hotel, The Menzingers, On the Impossible Past
Many of the guitar parts remind me of songs a friend back home writes, a friend I look up to despite (or maybe because of) the fact he is a total fucking outlaw. I’ve also concluded this album feeds everything in me that loves punk bands, though. For example: really triumphant guitar solos in the face of falling faithless, really despondent tales of drinking while feeling said feelings, varying levels of begrudging maturity, screaming out a girl’s name to the fates that fucked it all up, doubletime.
Take this hook, for example. If that’s not what I want to hear on my way to work, I don’t know what is.
“We stumbled and stared at the carnival lights that lit up New York City,
From a rooftop in Brooklyn that was covered in bad graffiti.
And then I let a thousand splinters pierce right through my spoiled liver,
Or whatever that was left of it.
‘Cause I’ve cursed my lonely memory with picture-perfect imagery.
Maybe I’m not dying I’m just living in decaying cities.
But I’m still healthy, I’m still fine,
I’ve been spending all my time reading the obituaries.
But I will fuck this up,
I fucking know it.
I will fuck this up,
~The Obituaries
The Menzingers, On the Impossible Past
All hail The Menzingers. A great choice on a day like today, when “fuck it all” seems to feel like the mantra no matter what the world tells me. Not winning, not losing, not even really feeling, so pop punk it is.
I love this song, in particular, one of the more uplifting tracks with a really dancey guitar melody. I’ve been checking out “On the Impossible Past,” which the newest LP from the Scranton-bred pop-punk group, and it’s incredibly authentic, incredibly defeated. Really powerful chords, dark-hearted lyrics and equally fitting bridges…really into the style of the lead vocalist who has a unique drawl that reminds me a little of something 90s. They manage to sound a world-weary and thrashy without sacrificing a literary license, a balance I must applaud.
Something about this album makes me miss home, then I remember how badly I wanted to leave home before I wound up here. Fuck it all.
“I am the pain that beats through your temples
Every morning when you wake up.
I am the boy with alcohol poisoning
From all the parties Chris was throwing
That summer they took us in
Like every other American
For getting drunk around back of the Lion’s Club
Waiting for the shitty bands to finish up.
And some kids played hacky sack,
while the others just got high.
It’s not hard to fall for a waitress
When you both smoke, smoke the same cigarettes
You’ll get seated as diners or lovers
You’ll get the check as friends for the better
You’ll carve your names into the Paupack Cliffs
Just to read them when you get old enough to know
that happiness is just a moment
So I’m marching up to your gates today
To throw my lonely soul away
‘Cause I don’t need it
You can take it back
And they will make examples out of us
Like when they caught you in the CVS parking lot
But I fed the liars
Everything I got in my cabinet brain
of canned thoughts
Everything I’ve got
It was everything I’ve got
In my cabinet brain
Yeah I don’t need it
~Gates
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New Chatbot Explains Workers’ Rights to Leave and Pay During COVID-19
Legal Aid at Work and Generation Spark are happy to introduce a new tool: “Advokat,” an AI-powered computer chatbot program that can help workers determine how they can keep their jobs and income when they are unable to work during the pandemic.
The COVID-19 health crisis has caused many California workers to ask, “Can I take time off from work? Will I be paid? And will my job be protected when I go on leave?” Whether they are ill or have been exposed to COVID-19, are caring for vulnerable family, or caring for a child whose school has closed, workers need to know how to keep their jobs and income while caring for themselves and their loved ones.
In the United States, where we do not have national, universal, equitable, paid leave, there is no simple answer. A worker’s right to leave and pay may depend on the size of the employer, their tenure, hours, the reason they need leave, the city they work in, and more. And these qualifications continue to change as California, as well as individual cities and counties, continue to adopt new laws to respond to this unprecedented crisis, including recently enacted legislation expanding the right to job-protected family and medical leave and COVID-related paid sick days, AB 1867 and SB 1383.*
These protections are especially essential to workers with low wages. Low-wage workers are less likely to be able to work from home, more likely to be considered “essential workers” (and therefore lack the same protections that many other employees get), more likely to be vulnerable to job loss, and less likely to have savings to support their families if they lose their jobs.
Advokat explains workers’ rights related to job protected leave and pay in a way that’s personalized, accurate, and easy to understand. “When you’re dealing with a medical crisis, the last thing you have time for is in-depth research into California’s employment policies. Our goal is to make sure that families can get the information they need, without that burden.” explained Katie Wutchiett, Staff Attorney for Legal Aid at Work’s Work and Family Program. Advokat tailors its responses based on the user’s individual workplace, tenure, and medical needs. You can access Advokat through the green bubble in the bottom right hand corner of this page and Legal Aid at Work’s website, which looks like this:
Advokat is the co-creation of Generation Spark and Legal Aid at Work, with support from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Blue Shield of California Foundation. Generation Spark—led by Ash Chhibbar, a data scientist, who co-founded an AI company 15 years ago and developed a multi-national platform, and Nira Datta, a writer and content design professional with a passion for accessibility—has contributed technological know-how and expertise in creating user-friendly platforms. Legal Aid at Work has provided the legal knowledge and subject-matter expertise. Working together, they have built Advokat to raise awareness of COVID-19-related leave rights in California. “We’re applying AI technology to both explain the patchwork of laws more simply and only what’s most relevant to your personal situation. We hope this tool will help workers make more informed decisions,” Nira explained
Generation Spark and Legal Aid at Work are continuing to work on Advokat to address additional leave scenarios, update it as the law changes, and translate it into Spanish and Chinese.
For questions, you can contact Katie Wutchiett, Legal Aid at Work ([email protected]) or Nira Datta, Generation Spark ([email protected]).
A video showing the look and feel of Advokat on Legal Aid at Work’s website is included below:
https://legalaidatwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Advokat_01.mp4
*Photo of essential worker provided courtesy of Paul Sableman via a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
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'Witness to History': A Federal Judge on Growing Up White in the Segregated South
William Alsup was born in Jackson, Mississippi and came of age during an era when segregation was accepted by most whites. Today he's a federal judge in San Francisco. In this Legal Speak episode, Alsup, 73, describes the evolution of his views on race and why he decided to tell his story in new memoir. Legal Speak...
Ex-Big Law CMO Wants Law Firms to Shake Up Their Marketing
What separates a successful communications strategy from a forgettable one? Who should law firms have in mind when they craft their messaging? How can struggling partners win and keep clients? On this Legal Speak episode, Deborah Farone, the former chief marketing officer at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, shares lessons from...
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Big Law Associate Hiring is Static—And That's a Good Thing
In this week's podcast, we hear from Law.com legal education editor Karen Sloan about some surprises—and some market stability—gleaned from this year's Go-To Law Schools report, including changes to traditional on-campus interviewing.
A Year in the Life of a Law Firm Mega Merger
It’s been one year since partners at U.S.-based Bryan Cave and London-based Berwin Leighton Paisner voted to combine, creating a firm with more than 1400 lawyers and offices across the globe. On the first day of the combination, there were balloons, champagne toasts and swag with the new firm logo. But what’s...
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Home News Former WWE Wrestler Glenn Jacobs Releases Book About His Transition from the...
Former WWE Wrestler Glenn Jacobs Releases Book About His Transition from the Ring to Politics
On Tuesday, November 26, 2019, Glenn Jacobs released his new book Mayor Kane: My Life in Wrestling and Politics.
Jacobs is better known as the WWE superstar Kane.
In 2018, the former WWE wrestler became mayor of Knox County, Tennessee.
TV Insider asked Jacobs about his journey from WWE superstar and now into politics.
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“It came full circle,” Jacobs stated as he described his journey to Scott Fishman of TV Insider. “If you told me in 1995 that I’d be in an office overlooking the Knoxville Civic Coliseum, I’d look at you like you were nuts…I hope the book is an entertaining read for people because you have the crossover between my wrestling career and the political stuff. I was around and very much part of the ‘Attitude Era,’ so a lot of what people talk about I saw up close and part of it. That part is a great story I can tell.”
Jacobs does admit that he is not nostalgic or sentimental. He never really took many photos or kept a diary from his 30 years of travel around the world, but he does have a good memory.
“Part of my process was going, ‘I think this will be a good story.’ Also, I remember telling someone a story, and I don’t think it’s a really big deal. Then they think it’s really entertaining. So it’s about putting all that stuff together,” Jacobs said. “I’d call people and basically go, ‘Hey, who was here? Where were we exactly?’ I can remember the big picture stuff, but I sometimes didn’t know the details. Then there are certain things that stick out in your mind that you know everything about it. When people mention an event, I can say that was such and such show at such and such arena. I did have to go through what I wanted to say. In some cases I’d have to go back and talk to some people who were there to jog my memory. Then there was the case I was talking to a friend of mind asking why I didn’t put a certain thing in the book. I said, ‘Well if I did,it would be a thousand pages. It was about what goes with the flow of the story of what is really important and doing it in a way that is entertaining and concise as possible. There is a lot of stuff I didn’t put in it that I wish I could. Maybe that will be used for another time.”
By channeling his experiences in the political and WWE worlds, Jacob reached out to The Undertaker and Senator Rand Paul to write forewords to the book. He was overjoyed when both of them accepted.
“I can pretty much guarantee that this will be the only time in history The Undertaker and Rand Paul write a forward for the same book,” Jacobs expressed. “I asked Mark [Calaway] (Undertaker) to do it, and he said he would be honored as well. It blew my mind. Of course, asking Senator Paul was much of the same. Mark has meant so much to my career and to me personally. That was not even a question that I would ask him to do it.”
Glenn Jacobs is one of the most unique stories in the liberty conservative movement.
His election in 2018 showed that star power can be a part of the liberty conservative movement. Hopefully, Jacobs is the first of many celebrity figures who begin running under the liberty conservative fold.
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Suspended for Wearing a Taxation is Theft Hat, This Student’s Free...
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Home Reviews Infinity in One Hour, 48 Minutes
Presidential Prelude
Countdown and Aftermath
Infinity in One Hour, 48 Minutes
Margery Eastvale June 3, 2016 August 18, 2020 Leave a comment
Biographical films, or “bioflicks” as they are often called, constitute a challenging genre for filmmakers — for a variety of reasons.
One major challenge is the difficulty of avoiding the extremes of hagiography and exposé. The temptation of a bioflick maker — especially one who is very sympathetic to the subject of the story, or who knows his audience is — may be to understate or omit relevant but unfavorable qualities or actions of the real character, or exaggerate the character’s good qualities or actions. One thinks of many of the biographical films of sports stars, artists, and political leaders from the 1930s through the 1960s. Conversely, the filmmaker — especially one who is very hostile to his subject, or who know the audience is — may be tempted to exaggerate the unfavorable qualities or actions of the real character, or to understate or omit the character’s good qualities or actions. There are even cases in which the bioflick maker is sympathetic to the perceived flaws of the real character and is tempted to exaggerate or accentuate them, in an effort to convince the public that they aren’t really flaws.
For these very reasons, bioflicks are often used as propaganda. Political regimes have long recognized the power of biographical film to advance their political causes, either by adoring portrayals of certain figures (such as key leaders of the regime, or historical figures whom the regime views favorably) or hateful portrayals of others (such as key opponents of the regime or historical figures whom the regime views unfavorably). For example, the Nazi Regime used bioflicks such as Hitler Youth Quex (1933) to convince people that the Party had among its supporters many noble young people.
The young Ramanujan apparently spent that year mastering the theorems, and by the next year he independently developed (among other things) the Bernoulli numbers.
Another challenge is conveying what the subject of the film actually accomplished, together with its significance. This is relatively easy if the subject is (say) an artist: the filmmaker can inter alia show pictures of the artist’s work, while portraying the difficulty he or she faced in gaining acceptance (as is nicely done in Vincente Minelli’s acclaimed biography of Van Gogh, Lust for Life [1956]). Again, if the subject is a composer, it is easy to make his major compositions part of the movie’s score (a successful instance is Richard Whorf’s popular biography of songwriter Jerome Kern, Till the Clouds Roll By [1946]). It can be more difficult if the subject of the film is a scientist, or worse, a mathematician. One sees these challenges, and a creative response to them, in an excellent new bioflick, currently showing in art houses.
The Man Who Knew Infinity tells the story of the great Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. Ramanujan was born in Erode, in the state of Madras, in 1887. He was of a Brahmin family (on his maternal side), but his parents were of limited means. His father was a clerk in a dress shop; his mother was a housewife. He survived smallpox when he was two, and grew up in a modest house in Kanchipuram (near Madras). The house is now a national museum in his honor. His mother — to whom he was very close, all his life — had three other children, all of whom died as infants. Raised as a devout Hindu, he kept the faith and Brahmin customs (especially vegetarianism) as an adult.
While Ramanujan went through secondary school and attended some college, he was largely self-taught. He mastered advanced trigonometry by age 13, discovering some higher-level theorems by himself. At age 14 he was able to pass in half the permitted time the high school math exit exam, and at age 15 he learned how to solve cubic equations. Then, by himself, he figured out how to solve quartic equations. A crucial year for him was his 16th, when a friend gave him a copy of A Synopsis of Elementary Results in Pure and Applied Mathematics, a compilation of 5,000 theorems by G.S. Carr. He apparently spent that year mastering the theorems, and by the next year he independently developed (among other things) the Bernoulli numbers, a subject on which he published a paper some years later. He was graduated from Town Higher Secondary School that year (1904), winning the K. Ranganatha Rao prize for mathematics.
Ramanujan’s method was so quirky — “terse and novel,” as an editor put it — that many mathematicians found his papers hard to follow.
Unfortunately, although he was given a scholarship to attend college, he refused to focus on any studies besides mathematics, a refusal that resulted in his failure and dismissal. He subsequently left home and enrolled in another college, but again focused only on mathematics and was unable to get his bachelor’s degree. He left college in 1906 and worked as a poor independent scholar. In 1909 he married a very young girl, Srimathi Janaki — marrying very young was an Indian custom of the time — and after a bout of testicular disease, found work as a tutor helping students prepare for their mathematics exams.
In 1910, Ramanujan showed his work to V. Ramaswamy Aiyer, founder of the Indian Mathematical Society, who recognized his genius. Aiyer then sent him to R. Ramachandra Rao, secretary of the Indian Mathematical Society. Rao was initially skeptical but became convinced of Ramanujan’s originality and genius and provided both financial aid and institutional support so that Ramanujan could start publishing in the society’s journal. As the editor of the journal noted, Ramanujan’s method was so quirky — “terse and novel,” as the editor put it — that many mathematicians found his papers hard to follow.
In 1913, Rao and some other Indian mathematicians tried to help Ramanujan submit his work to British mathematicians. The first few who received the material were unimpressed, but G.H. Hardy was quite struck by the nine pages of results he received. He suspected that perhaps Ramanujan wasn’t the real author, but he felt that the results had to be true, because they were so intricate and plausible that nobody could have dreamt them up. Hardy showed them to his colleague and friend J. E. Littlewood, who was also amazed at Ramanujan’s genius. Hardy and others invited Ramanujan to come to Cambridge to work. The Indian was at first reluctant, because of his Brahmin belief that he shouldn’t leave his country, and apparently also because his mother opposed it. To the disappointment of Hardy, he obtained a research scholarship at the University of Madras.
Nevertheless, in 1914 — apparently after his mother had an epiphany — Ramanujan agreed to come to Cambridge. He started his studies under the tutelage of Hardy and Littlewood, who were able to look at his first three “notebooks.” (Ramanujan’s fourth major notebook — often called the “lost notebook” — was rediscovered in 1976.) While Hardy and Littlewood discovered some of the results and theorems were either wrong or had already been discovered, they immediately put Ramanujan in the same class as Leonhard Euler or Carl Jacobi. Hardy and Ramanujan had clashing styles, personalities, and cultural backgrounds — among other things, Hardy was an atheist and a stickler for detailed proofs, while Ramanujan was a Hindu and highly intuitionistic — but they collaborated successfully during the five years Ramanujan was at Cambridge.
One of the British professors exclaims about Ramanujan, “It’s as if every positive integer is his personal friend.”
In 1916, Ramanujan was awarded a Bachelor’s of Science “by research” (a degree subsequently renamed a Ph.D). In 1917 he was elected a Fellow of the London Mathematical Society, and in 1918 to the extremely prestigious Royal Society. At 31 years of age, he was one of the youngest Fellows of the Royal Society ever elected, and only the second Indian so honored. In that year also he was elected a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.
Ramanujan became ill in England, his sickness perhaps intensified by stress and (as the film suggests) by malnutrition. He was increasingly depressed and lonely, receiving few letters from his wife. The film identifies the cause as his mother’s jealous refusal to mail his wife’s letters to him. In 1918 he attempted suicide and spent time in a nursing home. He returned to Madras in 1919, and died the next year, barely 32 years of age. The cause was thought to be tuberculosis, though one doctor, examining his medical records, has opined that it was actually hepatic amoebiasis. His young widow lived to the age of 95.
The film centers on the period of his life shortly before the point, shortly before his death, at which the adult Ramanujan (Dev Patel) is gaining recognition through his work at Cambridge. As the film opens in 1913, we meet Ramanujan in the temple of the goddess Namagiri, writing an equation. (The film rightly portrays him as believing that mathematical truths are divinely crafted.) We see him desperately trying to provide for his pretty young wife Janaki (Devika Bhise) and his proud but rather domineering mother (Arundhati Nag). While the film focuses primarily on the relationship between Ramanujan and his work, it does skillfully present his loving but difficult marriage (he was in England, separated from his wife for nearly half his married life) as well as the strained relationship between his wife and mother.
The main part of the film, which ends with Ramanujan’s death in India, concerns his time in Britain, following with fair accuracy the real timeline of his life. We meet Hardy (Jeremy Irons) as he is given Ramanujan’s first letter and asked to comment on the handwritten pages. Irons plays Hardy as a crusty old bachelor, but also as a person who is obviously sincere in his desire to help Ramanujan. The film capably explores the relationship between the two, showing the transition from a mentorship to a friendship based on deep respect.
We watch as Hardy and Littlefield (Toby Jones) try to get the rest of the faculty — especially the racist Professor Howard (Anthony Calf) — to recognize Ramanujan’s worth. The film explores at length the antipathy that many of the British, even the faculty and students, felt toward Indians, culminating in a scene in which Ramanujan is beaten up by some soldiers — an episode that has a dramatic function, since racism against the immigrants from the colonies coming into England at the later part of WWI (to work in a labor market that had been decimated by the war) was exceedingly common — though this specific episode may have been invented. It also shows Ramanujan battling poor health in the face of a cold climate and lack of nutritious food. But Ramanujan’s spirit prevails, and we see him elected a Fellow of the College, a satisfying vindication of genuine genius over jealous bigotry. As one of the British professors exclaims about Ramanujan, “It’s as if every positive integer is [his] personal friend.”
The film takes the mathematics quite seriously. Two distinguished mathematicians — Manjul Bhargave and Ken Ono — are associate producers of the film. Bhargava is a winner of the Fields Medal — often called “the Nobel Prize of mathematics” — and Ono is a Guggenheim Fellow.
How can an autodidact from a colony of a major world power so powerfully demonstrate to the colonial overlords that his mathematical insights are true, or worthy of attempted proof?
Portraying Ramanujan’s work cinematically is of course especially challenging. Even if the audience were shown mathematical formulas he devised, few would comprehend them, much less see the genius it took to come up with them. And, unlike some scientists or other scholars that have a sudden dramatic “Eureka!” moment when they encounter the central theory or discovery for which they become famous, Ramanujan produced a continuing torrent of major work, even when ill — nearly 3,900 results during his short life (really, just 14 years of mature research).
The film, however, is rather effective at conveying Ramanujan’s work directly, as in the scene in which Hardy describes to his valet what “partitions” are — the number of ways a number can be the sum of others, as “4” is the sum of “4,” “2 + 2,” “2 + 1 + 1,” and “1 + 1 + 1 + 1” — as well as the scene in which Hardy and Ramanujan are waiting for a cab, and when one pulls up, Ramanujan immediately observes that its ID number (1729) is unique in that it is the smallest number that can be expressed as the sum of two cubes in two different ways. The film even more successfully conveys his genius obliquely by showing how the other great Cambridge mathematicians received it: Hardy and Littlewood immediately recognized the genius in his work, and we see how the other mathematicians (who are initially governed by their prejudices) are eventually compelled to recognize it. Still, this is not a movie for the completely innumerate.
The acting is outstanding across the board. Dev Patel — well-known to American audiences from his leading roles in Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011) — ably conveys Ramanujan’s earnestness, integrity, and perseverance. Toby Jones is also superb as Littlewood, and Jeremy Northam givers a good supporting performance as Bertrand Russell. The supporting actresses are also excellent — Devika Bhise as Ramanujan’s young wife and Arundati Nag as his mother. But especially noteworthy is Jeremy Irons’ performance as Ramanujan’s sponsor, mentor, and friend G.H. Hardy.
Director Matthew Brown does an outstanding job conveying Ramanujan’s story, with descending into melodramatic hagiography. Really, he doesn’t need to because the true story — a modest, decent, indigent, largely self-taught genius in a colonized, poor country rises to the very top ranks of mathematics, in the face of considerable hostility, becoming a hero in his native land, before dying tragically young — is the very stuff of legend.
This film explores a number of issues of philosophic interest. Regarding the philosophy of religion, the exchanges between the avowed atheist Hardy and the devoutly religious Ramanujan on whether the gods give Ramanujan immediate access to mathematical truth are illustrative of how atheists and theists see the world in significantly different ways.
Regarding epistemology, Hardy is portrayed working hard to convince Ramanujan of the need not merely to recognize that a mathematical theorem is true, but to construct a proof that it is. This is an issue among other things about epistemic style: does any science advance more from bold broad conjectures, or by exact argumentation? (The movie interestingly presents Russell as counseling Hardy to let Ramanujan “run”; i.e., to let him do math as his heart dictates, which is by intuition instead of meticulous proofs. But considering the detailed constructive logical proofs that Russell — along with his mathematician coauthor Alfred North Whitehead — created in their seminal logical treatise Principia Mathematica, one is surprised and puzzled at this.)
Regarding history, the film nicely shows the effect that World War I had on the British intelligentsia, with some, such as Russell — and here the film is undeniably historically accurate — being opposed to the war, and having meetings on campus to organize opposition, while the rest of the faculty is outraged at what was taken to be a lack of patriotism.
Regarding psychology, the film invites us to think about the nature of mathematical genius: how can an autodidact from a colony of a major world power so powerfully demonstrate to the colonial overlords that his mathematical insights are true, or worthy of attempted proof? Here we should observe that many of Ramanujan’s conjectures on prime numbers were proven incorrect — however insightful and reasonably accurate they may have been — by Littlewood and others. I would suggest that his tutelage by Hardy was of great use in getting him to provide more proofs, and that most of his 3,900 results have been proven, including work that is being used today to understand black holes.
Finally, regarding an issue of concern in America today, The Man who Knew Infinity helps the audience understand the value of immigrants. The vicious discrimination that this estimable and amiable genius from India faced at the hands of the British makes one wonder why immigrants to our own country today are being targeted for systematic abuse. This is as counterproductive as it is immoral.
In fine, this is a bioflick of rare insight, and not to be missed.[i]
[i]It should be noted that in 2014 an Indian company produced a major biographical film, Ramanujan. It ran two and a half hours, was shot in multiple languages (including some pidgin languages, such as Tamenglish), and had a mixed reception. I don’t believe it was generally released in America.
#atheism #colonialism #england #film #immigration #india #mathematics #theism
Margery Eastvale
Margery Eastvale runs a small business in the desert southwest.
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Leitourgeia kai Qurbana: Contra den Zeitgeist
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Posts Tagged 'american orthodox music'
Follow up on choir schools, with a suggested course of action
Published 22 December 2014 General , Media , music , The Orthodox Faith Leave a Comment
Tags: american orthodox music, american orthodoxy, byzantine chant, cappella romana, chant, choir school at westminster cathedral, daniel james mcgrath, ecclesiastical chant, gregory glenn, hazards of church music, liturgical adventures, liturgical music, liturgy, liturgy and life, lucas matthew tappan, madeleine choir school, music, Orthodox choir schools, random acts of chant, sacred music, st. paul's choir school harvard square, the choir documentary, this american church life
Well, the spike in traffic the last few days leads me to believe that maybe the idea of an Orthodox choir school has drawn the attention of more than my usual two readers. Cool. If that’s so, then let me go into some more detail, and let me suggest a course of action.
First of all, thanks for all of the positive reactions. It’s great to see that there’s a way to describe this vision so that people get it and get excited about it; I hope that this is a sign of things to come. Please continue to share these posts far and wide; it’s an idea that has to gain a certain critical mass before it can go anywhere besides this blog.
Also, there have been a number of excellent suggestions that have come from my “Orthodox choir school: how I’d do it” post. Suggestions about cities, about teaching methods, about other schools to look at, and so on. I appreciate all of that, and I’m all ears for that kind of input. When (I repeat, when) the time comes, that will all be extremely useful — keep it coming!
Something that has been brought up is that there have been people who have toiled in Orthodox children’s music education for years, and there are existing programs that struggle to stay afloat. Wouldn’t it be better to try to build everybody up rather than concentrating efforts in one location? Might putting all the eggs in one basket be a well-intentioned, but ultimately misplaced, idea?
I had a response to this, but before I go into that, I want to make everybody aware of some valuable resources that should be looked at if this subject is going to be taken seriously. There is the Choir Schools’ Association in the UK, and they have a document titled “Reaching Out”, which is a great overview of the current state of the tradition in England. One is a doctoral thesis by one Daniel James McGrath titled “The Choir School in the American Church: a study of the choir school and other current chorister training models in Episcopal and Anglican parishes”. There’s also a doctoral thesis by Lucas Matthew Tappan, “The Madeleine Choir School (Salt Lake City, Utah): A Contemporary American Choral Foundation”.
Something that, alas, I can’t link to but that you should be able to acquire if you want a copy, is the 50th anniversary season brochure for St. Paul”s Choir School. They have them out for the taking in the narthex at St. Paul’s; I got a copy when I went to their Christmas concert on Friday. If you contact the school and ask for one, I have to imagine they’ll send it to you.
Nota bene — with all of these resources, one has to make sure that one takes them mutatis mutandis to a certain extent. McGrath and St. Paul’s are dealing with a context of boys’ choirs, and I’m talking about a co-ed approach, for example. The Madeleine Choir School and St. Paul’s are Catholic, and McGrath is writing from an Anglican perspective. Nonetheless, all are extremely useful in terms of how they talk about organization, curriculum, challenges, and so on — Tappan in particular explicitly has the objective of serving as a “road map” (his words) for those who might want to follow the Madeleine’s lead. Handy, that.
One of the main things I want to put forth here is this passage from Tappan’s thesis on the Madeleine as the justification for a choir school:
…a choir school consists of an institution where children are given a well-rounded musical education as well as liturgical formation in the ars celebrandi, and where they put these skills at the service of the sacred liturgy on a regular basis within a specific community (often that of a cathedral or collegiate chapel). In return, these children are given an outstanding elementary and religious education.
Even though these qualities constitute the basic elements of a choir school, each institution is a unique place where the choir school tradition exists within a particular time and culture… Perhaps the church musician will find in the choir school a model for training young people in an art that has the power to transform lives and to bring many out of the isolation of modern living into a living community of musicians and believers, forming young musicians “for the lifelong praise and worship of God” (p. 2).
But then there’s the epiphany of Gregory Glenn, the founder of the Madeleine Choir School, when he spent three months at Westminster Cathedral Choir School in London:
What Glenn realized was that the institution itself was the formator (emphasis mine). The incessant rounds of daily rehearsals and liturgies in the cathedrals and the process of going through a massive amount of repertoire year after year was crucial to being able to sing, for example, a Poulenc Mass on short notice. The choristers sight-read so easily that rehearsal time was never spent learning notes. There might be a false note or two the first time through a work, but the boys usually corrected themselves the second time around. Choir masters were able to spend the majority of rehearsal time working toward a more musical performance of the repertoire. According to Glenn, the Madeleine Choir School is still working toward this goal, but it becomes more of a reality with time. (Tappan, p. 26)
Here was my answer to the concern about concentrating efforts in one location:
I spent 11 years in a location that was, theoretically, fairly central in the United States, but as far as Orthodox Christianity went, was about as isolated as you could be without being in Wyoming. Almost anything and everything the parish there took on could be (and often was) fairly described as “being a lot of effort for one location”, right down to building a church. It still needed to be done. Along the same lines, the Madeleine school is certainly “a lot of effort for one location” (in Salt Lake City, no less!), but it’s still worth doing.
The other thing I’ll say is that musical efforts in particular often get problematized in “American Orthodoxy” (whatever we mean by that) as “reinventing the wheel”, that reduplication of effort doesn’t accomplish anything… What needs to be recognized is that not all wheels will travel on the same roads[…], people and institutions need to play to their strengths, and dispersion of effort that hangs everything on the energies of either one person or a tiny handful of people is a disaster waiting to happen. The Madeleine Choir School is not the only Catholic school in the Salt Lake City metro area, for example, but its existence allows for the faculty and students to play to a particular set of strengths, and the result is an example that is inspiring. Supporting music education in existing Orthodox schools is a great thing to do, but it also seems to me that establishing a model school that focuses particularly on that aspect will allow for a level of excellence to develop and be made manifest publicly. I think we accomplish a lot more when we’re able to work together than when we’re isolated; my experience is that most of us Orthodox musicians are too isolated from each other as it is, and that that is a bad thing.
Beyond that — as I said earlier, I attended a Christmas concert sung by the choirs of the St. Paul’s Choir School Friday evening with Megan and Theodore; one of the big takeaways was that Theodore was absolutely enrapt when the boys processed in, wearing black cassocks and singing “One in Royal David’s City”. I’ll say that the evening was was mostly the work of the the preparatory choir (the main choir had their big concert yesterday with Britten’s “A Ceremony of Carols”), but everybody did something, and they’ve got a good thing going there.
So, where to, folks? How do we get there from here? I’ve told you how I’d do it — and, I have to say, it’s remarkably similar to what Tappan describes Gregory Glenn, the Madeleine Choir School’s founder, as having done (and I discovered Tappan after I wrote that post) — he put a great deal of time in visiting model institutions and putting together a feasibility study/planning document with a proposed budget. Realistically, I think this is going to be somebody’s full-time task for at least six months.
My modest proposal, then, is this — a great Christmas gift to me, to your kids, and to our Church, would be a gift in support of this initial effort. Somebody shared the post saying, “I wish I had a million or two to give to such an undertaking”; well, it doesn’t need a million or two, not yet, and while you might not be in a position to give a million or two, maybe you can do something (particularly since it’s near year-end — taxes are coming!). It doesn’t really matter how much you might be able to do; if everybody who saw my posts over the last week even gave something relatively small, it would go a long way towards making this possible. Anyway, I don’t want to do a hard sell on giving right now. Rather, this is just the trial balloon — the question is, can we fund the initial planning activities, yes or no? You tell me. If we can, then maybe we can do this for real.
The way to give is through The Saint John of Damascus Society; click here, click on the donate button, and you’ll be taken to PayPal. The Society is a tax-exempt (501(c)3) non-profit, so all gifts are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. If you want to do something but don’t want to do it via PayPal, drop me a line at richardbarrett AT johnofdamascus DOT org.
I’m really not interested in asking for money right now, so we’re clear. This isn’t about money to me. At the same time, without some money, the next steps are really out of reach.
This is an open forum on the topic, so please, any questions, suggestions, comments, requests for more information, anything — keep it coming! And if you want one of the The Choir DVDs, e-mail me with an address.
Okay, my friends. I’ve made my pitch. You’ve all told me you’re interested and supportive; pray for us, tell me what we’re doing next, and share this far and wide if this is important to you. Thanks for sticking with me so far.
An Orthodox choir school: how I’d do it
Published 19 December 2014 Media , music , The Orthodox Faith 14 Comments
Tags: american orthodox music, american orthodoxy, byzantine chant, cappella romana, chant, choir school at westminster cathedral, ecclesiastical chant, hazards of church music, liturgical adventures, liturgical music, liturgy, liturgy and life, madeleine choir school, music, Orthodox choir schools, random acts of chant, sacred music, st. paul's choir school harvard square, the choir documentary, this american church life
Since I’ve just run a couple of posts that have touched upon the topic of choir schools, and last week I had occasion to run the pitch — such as it presently is — past a couple of friends, maybe I can take a moment to go into detail about how I could see an Orthodox choir school coming together.
First, what have I already done? Well, in 2005, I went to New York for the first time. While I was there, I visited St. Thomas Episcopal Church on 5th Ave, and heard their choir of men and boys for the first time. I learned more about the St. Thomas Choir School (there’s a video here that I can’t embed), and became fascinated by the model and its heritage, and convinced that it would be fantastically worthwhile to adapt it for Orthodox use. In 2007, I published this piece as a blog post (it originally had been intended for The Word, although, alas, the submission was never acknowledged). In 2009, it was picked up by AGAIN Magazine as an article titled “Teach a child to sing: Thoughts about Orthodox choir schools”. Fr. Chris Metropulos noticed the article, and interviewed me on the OCN show Come Receive the Light. All of this really amounted to me throwing the broad strokes of a big idea out there to see if anybody would run with it; I can’t really say I wasn’t given a platform, because I was, but nobody ran with it.
Which isn’t to say that nobody responded at all. I got an e-mail from a Mover and Shaker who was really intrigued, but who said, frankly, we’re so far away from being able to speak meaningfully of what a school could accomplish that there’s just no conversation to be had with anybody right now.
And that was that, until 2013, when a documentary on the Madeleine Choir School in Salt Lake City titled The Choir was released on DVD. I immediately bought ten copies in bulk and sent them out to various musical leaders on the American Orthodox scene with a copy of my AGAIN article saying, in essence, This is exactly what I was talking about. This is what we should be doing. Watch this and then let’s talk.
The same Mover and Shaker who had responded positively to the article was the sole person to respond to the mailing, and this person continued to respond positively. In fact, this person said — that’s great; now, here are another ten people who need to see this. So, I sent out another ten copies of the DVD with the article to the suggested names; no response.
Well, now there’s been a piece on a Catholic choir school that has run on CBS Good Morning. It’s a moment, a fleeting one, but I may as well try to take advantage of it.
So, I’m going to give you my pitch. If it inspires you, makes you want to help, please talk to me. This is a vision, to be clear, that I want to see succeed because I want there to be just such a school I can send my kids to. Certainly I want to facilitate the vision, but I want to be a participant, not an overlord. I’ll do whatever I have to, but I don’t need to run the show. I’m shouting it from the rooftops as much as I can until there’s a critical mass of others to do it, and then if there’s a capacity I can serve in that I’m actually suited to, I will, but I’ll be happy just to be a parent of a student. This is my vision thus far, but it need not be mine alone, and it need not be my baby that I guard jealously.
An Orthodox choir school is a parochial school attached to a parish or a cathedral that has as its educational mission the training of primary school-aged children from all Orthodox jurisdictions for excellence in Orthodox Christian musical service. They will receive, as part of their standard curriculum, a high level of musical education, both in terms of general musical skills as well as skills specific to Orthodox musical service, and they will be exposed broadly to the rich heritage of Eastern Orthodox liturgical music — Byzantine chant, Slavic chant and polyphony, Greek-American choral music, modern composers who engage Orthodox spirituality in concert works, and so on. The students will contribute regularly to the liturgical life of the parish/cathedral by singing services throughout the week; they will function as outreach to the community at large by means of concerts and recordings; they will also represent the school, the parish/cathedral, and the musical traditions of Orthodox Christianity by touring. Historically, many such schools are made up of boy trebles, who must then leave when their voices change; the vision here is that an Orthodox choir school will be co-educational, and there will be choirs for students to sing in as they get older.
The value of such a school hopefully is obvious. The next generation of musical leaders in America’s Orthodox churches is not going to fall out of the sky, and the major concern expressed at every Orthodox musical event I have ever attended is, “How do we get our kids involved?” This is a way to do it.
What is necessary to move forward? Well, a lot. How I’d do it, if resources were no object, is this:
I would first form a planning committee made up of people familiar with the broad range of Orthodox musical repertories and who had experience with working with children in particular. This planning committee would make an initial presentation to the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops and get their blessing to proceed. The committee would also seek to talk to organizations like PaTRAM, Cappella Romana, the National Forum of Greek Orthodox Church Musicians, Axion Estin, the Antiochian Department of Sacred Music, and so on, as well as music faculty at the Orthodox seminaries, and others, to get their input. From there, the job of this committee would be to assess how choir schools operate in this country and how Orthodox schools operate in this country. For the choir schools, we’d visit the Madeleine, St. Paul’s, St. Thomas Choir School in New York, and then also for perspective we’d go to England and spend some time at Westminster Cathedral’s choir school, as well as the Brompton Oratory’s choir school and a couple of others. For Orthodox schools, we’d look at Agia Sophia Academy in Portland, the Theophany School in Boston, the school of St. George Cathedral in Wichita, and then there are, I think, some in California we’d look at as well. (I’m already going to be visiting St. Paul’s at Harvard Square in January for an initial observation.)
The kinds of questions we’d be asking everybody are these: what’s the curriculum? How do you find students? How do you find teachers? What are the benefits and pitfalls for kids — spiritual, physical, emotional, otherwise? What are the benefits and pitfalls for the church communities that are served? How does everything get paid for? How do you keep it financially accessible for students, assuming that’s an objective? How does everything keep runing smoothly? How does accreditation work?
The next question we’d have to answer would be location. My guess is, at this point, such a school would need to be someplace where there is a diverse and sizable Orthodox community already, and where there would be a parish or cathedral big enough to be able to accommodate such an undertaking, given that in all likelihood such a school would not have its own classroom facilities at first. Perhaps the choir school could represent an expansion of a school that already existed. I’m not sure. In any event, I’m guessing there are very few places in the United States where this could be done successfully the first time, and that would have to be very carefully considered.
Probably, the committee would zero in on three candidate locations, and then survey Orthodox communities in those locations to see where there might be the largest concentration of prospective students.
Then, there would need to be a careful consideration of staffing. Who are the teachers? Where are they going to come from? What will they need to be paid? I anticipate that here, the committee would put together a wish list of faculty, and then make informal inquiries about interest, willingness to move if necessary, what it would take for them to accept an offer, and so on.
We’d then take our findings from all of these inquiries and create a planning document. This document would include the faculty/staff wish list, a projected budget for 5-10 years of operations, a narrative of what the school would do in its first five years from an academic standpoint, a musical standpoint, a recruiting standpoint, a facilities standpoint, and a development/fundraising standpoint. There would a curriculum plan as well, and sample concert programming.
This planning document would then serve as the basis for a major gifts campaign, at which point we would open our doors when we could do so responsibly.
Most, if not all, of these tasks could be undertaken under the aegis of the Saint John of Damascus Society; it would be well within the Society’s mission, and it would certainly be easier to perform these initial tasks via the mechanism of a nonprofit that already exists. Certainly, when it came time to move beyond planning stages, in all likelihood it would be ideal to spin the school off as its own entity, perhaps with its own foundation.
So, there you go. That’s the sketch of what I think would need to happen to move forward. There’s much more I could say, but that’s the backbone.
The Madeleine Choir School sends out a season booklet every summer, and last year that inspired me to try to put something together that’s similar, as kind of a proof of concept. I didn’t quite finish it — I have a dissertation to write, after all — but here are some pages from what I did finish. The names I list are nobody I’ve actually asked to do anything; they’re simply there to indicate real people who could serve this kind of school were it to be up and running. The concert programs are also strictly intended to be representative ideas. Nonetheless, see what you think.
If I might make a plea from the heart — if you’ve read anything I’ve written or seen anything I’ve done that has to do with Orthodox music, you know that this is a labor of love for me. Nowhere in that brochure mockup do you see my name; I am not trying to promote myself by any stretch of the imagination. I believe strongly that there is a desperate need that this fills — a desperate need for our churches, certainly, but also a desperate need for our world — and I hope to see that need filled. No more, no less.
If this is of any interest to you at all, let me know. If you want a copy of anything, ask — I’ve got a lot of resources related to choir schools, including somebody’s dissertation about the use of the choir school model in America. I’ve still got copies of the DVD of The Choir I can give out if that helps. I’m entirely and absolutely serious about wanting to see this happen; if you’re at least halfway serious about wanting to help, I’m all ears.
Okay, back to work for me.
St. Paul’s Choir School, Harvard Square
Published 17 December 2014 Media , music , The Orthodox Faith 3 Comments
Tags: american orthodox music, chant, hazards of church music, liturgical adventures, liturgical music, madeleine choir school, Orthodox choir schools, orthodox outreach, random acts of chant, sacred music, st. paul's choir school harvard square, this american church life
As a brief follow-up to yesterday’s post — I made reference there to my advocacy for Orthodox use of the choir school model. As part of that, I give you the video from this morning’s appearance of St. Paul’s Choir School at Harvard Square on CBS This Morning.
http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/catholic-boys-choir-brings-its-music-to-the-masses/
It’s a pretty good summary of what I maintain are the opportunities and advantages of such an approach — a high level of musical education, liturgical participation, spiritual formation, and overall engagement with the tradition starting from a young age, a focus on excellence and discipline, an excellent means of outreach via performance and recording, and traveling to perform in amazing places. I’d advocate a co-educational school along the lines of the Choir School of the Madeleine (see my comments about that institution here), but regardless, this clip is another excellent “proof of concept”.
I’m working on setting up a meeting with John Robinson, St. Paul’s music director, sometime in January. I want to chat with him and also observe how the school works. What would you like to know about such a place? How might you envision such an undertaking moving forward in an Orthodox setting? Talk to me — I’m very serious about wanting to see something like this come together. I’d love to be able to send Theodore to a school just like this — how can that happen?
How you get better as an Orthodox musician
Published 16 December 2014 General , music , The Orthodox Faith 19 Comments
Tags: american orthodox music, american orthodoxy, byzantine chant, cappella romana, chant, ecclesiastical chant, hazards of church music, kurt sander, liturgical music, music, Orthodox choir schools, patram, patriarch tikhon choir, random acts of chant, sacred music, st john of damascus society, this american church life
Theodore, at two and a half, has started chanting. He loves to stand at the psalterion in the Holy Cross chapel, and sing along to the best of his ability. He had already started saying “Alleluia” as “Allya” a year ago, and then during this last Paschaltide, he started singing “‘stos ‘nesti” with the Paschal apolytikion in church. He’s since started trying to chant “Alleluia” and “Kyrie eleison. No less of an authority than Alexander Lingas even said when he heard him, “Well, he’s got yphos!”
Theodore has even started developing a notation system for “Alleluia”. He sits in my lap, I’ll write a phrase of something in Byzantine neumes, and then he’ll write something using his own signs.
He’ll even explain to you — sort of — how it works.
All of this is great, it really is. It’s so awesome to watch him work these things out on his own, to try new things, and to respond to what he sees and hears. His two-and-a-half year old brain is a little sponge, soaking it all up.
Here’s the thing: he’s two and a half. What he’s doing is wonderful and age-appropriate for a two-and-a-half year old. It’s really more than I would figure I could expect from a two-and-a-half year old. Still, there will come a time when it is no longer age-appropriate. There will come a time when he needs to start developing an understanding that goes beyond simply doing something and grows into an understanding of what it means to do it right. Then, eventually, an understanding of what it means to do it well. If he isn’t willing to do that by a certain point — which will be his prerogative entirely; I’m not going to force anything on him — then certainly the age-appropriate thing for him won’t be to continue to do what amounts to yelling in church. It will be better for him to do something else if he’s decides he doesn’t want to get better beyond “Alleluia”. That’s not a problem; that’s exactly what one would expect when it comes to seeing a toddler grow up and develop — that they will continue doing some things and do them in more sophisticated ways, and they will discard doing other things and take up new things. Wash, rinse, repeat.
In other words, it is normal that there be a pattern of development when one learns a new skill, and it is to be expected that one will follow that pattern if they continue to do something that requires that skill, or they will do something else that doesn’t require that skill. This is really easy when you’re dealing with kids; the trouble is when adults decide that they aren’t interested in getting better at something but they want to continue to do it anyway.
There’s a truism amongst musicians — the way you get better is to play with people who are better than you. This is something that, if you’re an Orthodox musician, is kind of a problem. Let’s be honest — a lot of us are in situations where we’re isolated, where we’re either one of the only competent musicians, or even the only competent musician, or if we’re not, then we’re one of the only ones who is really involved. And, for many of us, we spend so much time, not even trying to bring people up to our level, but just trying to explain to people that there is a level. Forget phrasing, musicianship, dynamics, whatever — we’re working on getting people to sing a majority of right notes. We put the majority of our efforts into trying to communicate the fundamentals of the fundamentals, and doing so in contexts where some people are receptive, some are hostile, and some are benign but unable to be productive for one reason or another. To put it another way, we spend a lot of our time working with adults who are, relatively speaking, at the level of my son Theodore, and who are faced with the choice of learning to do it better or needing to stop. Here I note that it seems inescapable that we speak about singing in church as a clerical calling, something set apart; consider the petition during the Divine Liturgy — “Again we pray for those who bear fruit and do good in this holy and all-venerable Temple; for those who serve and those who sing (ψαλλόντων); and for all the people here present, who await thy great and rich mercy”. Such a point of view has been espoused by no less than the Ecumenical Patriarch. So, if we’re going to talk like that, then we also need to speak frankly about what it means not to be called to sing. It is nonetheless a choice a lot of adults don’t want to make; beyond that, we work in such situations under circumstances where clergy may or may not be supportive, we may or may not be being paid, and we may or may not have adequate resources otherwise to do what we need to do.
To frame this in terms of personal experience — I am hardly one of the “greats”. I stopped pursuing music performance as a full-time profession because I knew I wasn’t, and knew I couldn’t be. Still, I am a well-trained musician. I can sing pretty much what you put in front of me, be it in staff notation or Byzantine notation, I can do it in English, Latin, French, Italian, German, and Greek, and if it’s Church Slavonic then I can do it well enough to blend with somebody who is proficient. Some of my ability comes from what I had to do for my music degree; some of it comes from experiences in Episcopal church choirs, where you’re singing new repertoire every week, some of it comes from experiences with other performing ensembles like opera choruses and early music chamber ensembles, some of it comes from doing a lot of recording sessions where you’re sightreading music you’re seeing for the first time and have to record within the next half hour so you can get through the other fifteen things you have on the docket that day. I am not amazing; there is nothing remarkable about being able to do any of that. It is simply what is expected if you are to be considered a reliable, garden-variety professional.
And what did I do with my church choir? Generally, I had to teach notes by rote and hope it stuck; I had to explain things repeatedly like the necessity of turning the page when you reach the end of it; I had to beg people to come to rehearsal and come to church on time; overall, I had to put 15-20 hours a week into that kind of undertaking, and it compensated me far less than I would have received were I merely a paid member of a choir at a Protestant church. Towards the end of my tenure, I had experiences like telling my choir that they needed to watch me for entrances during the anaphora, and one person responding by stomping out, proclaiming that “You’re totally focused on all the wrong things and have completely lost the spirit”; this person never spoke to me again, and instead lodged some kind of complaint against me with the priest (the priest declined to discuss any specifics of the matter with me, and I left the parish shortly thereafter).
I have had to go out of my way over the years to make my own opportunities to play with people who are better than me so that I myself can get better. Sometimes that meant paying people to come to me. Sometimes that meant people paying me to come to them. I took various pro singing gigs here and there. I found a way to go to Greece to learn Byzantine chant, since the alternatives were all a five hour drive away. I also went to gatherings of other people who were in my shoes. hoping to learn things that I could bring back to my parish. I went to PSALM in 2006. I went to the Antiochian Village Sacred Music Institute a couple of times. In all of this, I hoped to learn something that could inspire people to want to see things the way I did, and to want to get better, to make music for the worship of God that was always seeking to be as good as it could be rather than “good enough”. The response was always the same — “What does any of that have to do with us? I mean, fine that you had fun, and great that all of you musicians were able to sanctify each other’s preferences, but what happens there stays there; we’re not interested.” People, in the main, had no interest in being inspired; no interest in being reached; no interest in being worked with; no interest in learning. That was for “musicians” outside of church; it had nothing to do with what they wanted in church.
If this is how you’re spending most of your life and your energy, as a musician, your A-game is going to suffer. And, truly, for many of us, when we do get together, the once or twice a year that the opportunities come about, we’re so thrilled that there’s another honest-to-God person in the room who gets it, to whom we don’t have to explain anything, who is singing the right notes and speaking our language without translation, that we’re not thinking about our A-game; we’re just having fun making music with people who share some understanding of what that means. Never mind “playing with people better than you are”; it’s a miracle when we get to play with other people who get it, let alone who are better.
So then, when we do get to play with people better than we are, it’s a ball game we aren’t prepared for. We don’t perform at our best because we don’t even remember what that is. Our A-game is irrelevant to our regular existence as church musicians.
Really, what I think we face is that there is a particular kind of poverty that we’ve had in our parishes for a long time for various historical reasons. Rather than try to improve the matter, various voices have spiritualized, if not fetishized, this poverty, given a particular moral weight to it, and what perhaps was non-professionalism out of necessity has become anti-professionalism out of choice, replete with nonsensical pietistic platitudes like “Orthodox music isn’t performed, and it would be better if we didn’t think of it as having composers, let alone professionals; Orthodoxy doesn’t do art.” Add to that what I believe is an American distaste for anything that smacks of “being told what to do” and a preference for being self-taught over learning from a teacher (something I certainly encountered when I was playing guitar seriously, 20+ years ago), and you have the perfect storm of a musical anti-culture in American Orthodoxy.
This has not gone completely unnoticed or unremarked on. At the 2006 PSALM conference, Fr. Thomas Hopko said very bluntly, “The Orthodox Church seems to be the only place on earth where you don’t have to be competent to be asked to do something. How does this come about? What happened? Why will people join a community choir, not miss a rehearsal, pay attention to the choir director, and then then not do the same in their parish choir? If we’re not taking church and everything we do in it seriously, then we’re just re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic. You can’t raise the bar when you still have to convince people that there’s a bar to be raised in the first place.” Along similar lines, I had a conversation recently with a longtime Orthodox choir director, somebody with a doctorate in conducting and decades of experience, who remarked that in a conversation with Fr. Ivan Moody, it came up that in Finland one must have a Masters degree in choral conducting to be choir director. “What a concept,” this person said. “Yeah,” I replied, “here it would be more like a disqualification.”
The difficult reality is that the circumstances we face in the world of American Orthodox church music are such that, in the main, they weigh the overall level down; the efforts of the would-be musical leaders do not pull it up. And, as long as this is the case, we Orthodox musicians in America are going to be hard-pressed to make much of a case for the best that Orthodox music can be with our own efforts. We will rely on non-Orthodox musicians to bring out the best elements of our liturgical music, we will have to record and perform in non-Orthodox churches because we have not adequately provided for the acoustic environment in our own — in short, we will be the audience for the professional performances and recordings of our own music, not the singers, and it will be because, frankly, we’re not good enough for it to be otherwise.
And we haven’t even begun to talk about issues like professional levels of pay. I am going to guess that there are 10 people in the United States who are able to make anything like a living off of being Orthodox church musicians, and that’s rounding up from the cases I know about for sure. I’ll limit my comments here, but a place to start is the simple fact that a decent undergraduate musical education isn’t cheap, let alone any level of education beyond that, and it would be nice to think that people who are serving the Church with such an education could at least make their student loan payments with what they’re paid. I’ll leave that there for now; a lot of parishes obviously struggle to pay priests (if they pay their priest), let alone anything else, so compensation is complicated, but it’s still something that needs to be addressed. There is a connection between time, talent, and treasure that must be acknowledged as part and parcel of the solution to the overall problem I’m discussing.
Orthodox musicians, ultimately I’m talking to you here, and we have a lot of work to do. As I used to tell my choir, I’m not asking you to do anything I don’t also expect of myself. Our task is complex, and while concerts, recordings, and conferences are great, the need is long-term and must be addressed in ways that are systemic and cultural, too. We must inspire the non-musician to do better, inspire the congregation to care, inspire ourselves and our colleagues to stay sharp, and somehow to get a culture in place that will form future generations of church musicians as singers, as composers, as teachers, and as leaders. We have to do all of that prayerfully and in love, and we must be mindful that our ultimate goal is service to God, just as it is for the priest and for the member of the congregation.
Cappella Romana is proof that it can be done at a professional level. PaTRAM also exists for this purpose, as did PSALM, and it’s also why Kurt Sander organized his Pan-Orthodox Liturgical Music Symposium this last June. I helped to found The Saint John of Damascus Society because I most certainly believe this is worthwhile, and I have advocated a particular model that would help with a big chunk of what we have to do, both in terms of teaching the next generation to sing and to understand why we need to learn to sing. In general, we all need to find ways of playing with people better than we are, and using those opportunities to get better ourselves.
How do we do that? As a place to start, visit parishes, monasteries, seminaries, etc. where those people are. Get to know them. Sing with them if they’ll let you, and see what you learn by worshiping with them at the psalterion or in the choir loft. Buy them coffee and ask them questions. That’s really hard when your parish isn’t anywhere close to anybody else, no question, so then you have to make it a point to attend gatherings of Orthodox church musicians so you can have a chance to get to know people. Go to choir conventions, sacred music institutes, liturgical singing seminars, symposia. That’s often not easy or cheap, but if you can’t afford it, ask for help, either from your parish as a whole or from individuals who are sympathetic. Present it as something along the lines of a mission trip, only for music. Hopefully they can at least get the costs down to something manageable. Better yet, if you can, bring at least one choir member with you so that they, too, can see that there’s a bigger world out there. Then, don’t stop there; start going to the things that will challenge you, and don’t just go to the events where your friends will be. (You’ll make friends at everything you go to, I promise.) You’ll learn even more that way. And when you do see your friends, don’t just revel in making a decent sound with somebody else who can make a decent sound; yes, it’s fun and feels great to bathe in a sound that’s resonant and in tune, but go beyond that. Force yourself beyond relaxing and enjoying so that you are listening and watching, and subsequently learning from what you hear and see. That’s how you get better, or at least that’s where you can start.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, Theodore wants to write some more “Alleluia” while sitting on my lap. Gotta start somewhere.
CD Review: Archangel Voices, Panagia: Orthodox Hymns to the Mother of God
Published 22 December 2013 General , Media , music , The Orthodox Faith 1 Comment
Tags: american orthodox music, archangel voices, hazards of church music, kurt sander, liturgical music, nazo zakkak, richard toensing, sacred music, vladimir morosan
Archangel Voices is an Orthodox vocal ensemble that specializes in liturgical choral repertoire by present-day composer, particularly focusing on English-language settings (either composed for English texts or adaptations of existing settings for English). Their Artistic Director is Dr. Vladimir Morosan, a scholar of Russian Orthodox choral music in particular (he is the translator of Johann von Gardner’s venerable series Russian Church Singing, volume 1 and volume 2, he has his own monograph on Russian church choirs right before the Revolution, and he has published several critical and performing editions of Russian choral repertoire), and an advocate of Orthodox liturgical music more generally.
Archangel Voices is one of the outlets for Morosan’s advocacy, and Panagia: Orthodox Hymns to the Mother of God is their sixth release on disc. The intent of the recording is to represent the vast diversity of Orthodox hymnody about the Mother of God — hymns from the daily cycle of services as well as the Marian feasts, special services, and also para-liturgical compositions. There is not only a rich collection of hymns but also composers; there are many Slavic composers such as Chesnokov and Bortniansky presented here, as well as composers active in present-day North America, such as Benedict Sheehan, Morosan himself, and Psalm 103 project composers Richard Toensing and Kurt Sander.
This CD is a different kind of aesthetic than that of some of the other recordings of Orthodox music that are out there. Cappella Romana’s approach is to do a variety of repertoire, make informed stylistic choices for the performance, and be as consistent with those stylistic choices as it can — an “early music” approach, if you like. Kurt Sander’s As Far as the East is from the West sought to reproduce the aesthetic of a large parish choir in a Russian choir loft. Holy Cross’ recent release was simply the sound of their chapel services transferred to disc. Samir Cohlmia’s recording of Dormition chants captures the aural experience of the Byzantine cantor as soloist. And so on. Archangel Voices does something a little different; rather than model themselves on a particular existing Orthodox musical aesthetic or attempt to be stylistic chameleons, they are more along the lines of a Western-style chamber chorale, made up of well-trained musicians who are flexible enough to sing pretty much whatever is put in front of them and make it sound good with a consistent, well-blended, shimmery, warm sound. Perhaps one could argue that Archangel Voices represents one model of what a good American parish choir could be; good enough musicians to sing virtually anything as themselves instead of trying to sound like something else.
It’s an approach that certainly does sufficient justice to most of the repertoire on this disc; particularly nice from the Slavic selections are Chesnokov’s general canon to the Mother of God, Nikolsky’s Megalynarion for Pascha (I am thankful to Morosan and co. that they opted for something less overdone than Balakirev’s setting, which is generally treated out here in the Midwest as the national anthem of American Orthodoxy), and Lvovsky’s Exaposteilarion for the Dormition. In general, I will say that the North American composers who are writing for the English language tend to stand out a little better; perhaps it is not surprising that music written for and sung in the same language sounds better than adaptations. Among this group, Morosan’s Koinonikon for Marian feasts, Nazo Zakkak’s setting of “I have thee as a fountain” from the Paraklesis service, Sander’s Megalynarion for the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil, and Toensing’s setting of “Awed by the beauty” from the Third Mode kathismata are all particularly lovely.
The recording isn’t completely flawless; there are a handful of moments that are a touch rough-feeling, where the ensemble doesn’t quite shimmer as much as they normally do. The ornaments on the ubiquitous paraliturgical Georgian hymn “O Vineyard, fair and new” don’t work as sung; they’re a mismatch with the style the choir employs otherwise, and as a result they sound like mistakes and baubles rather than specific ornamentation choices. To the extent that there’s a pastoral model here for choirs, I would suggest that the lesson here is, ornaments need to be treated as organic parts of a chosen style, not merely additional notes to be sung; if that’s not a practical or pastoral possibility, then it is an acceptable choice to leave the ornaments out. Also, given the ensemble’s stated objective in the booklet “to embrace various traditions and styles of Orthodox church music as they are manifest in the practice of parishes in North America”, it seems like something of a missed opportunity to not include any of the Greek-American composers who have written Orthodox choral music in English, or to use any of the growing library of settings of Byzantine chant composed for English (polyphonic adaptations of what are already themselves adaptations of Byzantine melodies aren’t really the same thing). Sometimes “pan-Orthodox” appears to mean, in practice, “everybody but the Greeks”, and opportunities like this would seem to be appropriate settings for trying to combat that. Alas; I’m sure there are reasons for such choices.
These are minor issues; Panagia is a high-quality effort overall from a high-quality ensemble, and very much worth checking out.
“Always start out with a few good jokes” — a choir director’s initial and parting thoughts
Published 21 December 2012 General , music , The Orthodox Faith 1 Comment
Tags: all saints bloomington, all saints orthodox church, american orthodox music, bloomington, byzantine chant, chant, ecclesiastical chant, hazards of church music, liturgical music, liturgy, liturgy and life, random acts of chant, sacred music, things for the choir director to think about in a new church building
I had my last rehearsal with the All Saints choir last night, and I gave a little bit of a farewell speech. I found some prepared notes from my very first rehearsal with the All Saints choir seven and a half years ago, and they still seemed relevant, if clearly pre-dating some things that I’ve learned in the intervening time. I prefaced all of this by mentioning that my favorite quote from my teaching evaluations this fall was, “Needs dumbed down”, which I find wonderful on several levels. Anyway, I didn’t read all of this last night, just some select chunks, but here’s the whole thing:
2 July 2005, All Saints Choir Rehearsal #1
Always start out with a few good jokes:
Music vocabulary—
Bar line: A gathering of people, usually among which may be found a church musician or two (usually Episcopalians).
Tenors: Most choirs have either a) none, or b) too many. When wholly absent they leave an aching void. When too numerous, they fill the void without removing the ache. Tenors rarely sing words and often produce regional sensations rather than actual notes. During the mating season, they draw attention to themselves by sustaining high notes while the rest of the choir has gone on with the phrase.
Seen in a church bulletin: “At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be ‘What is hell?’ Come early and listen to our choir practice.
The Scriptures on singing in worship
Romans 15:9—And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name.
1 Cor 14:15—What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.
Ephesians 5:19—Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord
Colossians 3:16—Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Hebrews 2:12–Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.
James 5:13—Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
The Church Fathers on singing in worship
“Let us consider the entire multitude of angels, how standing by you they minister to his will. For the Scripture says: ‘Ten thousand stood by him and a thousand ministered to him and cried out, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Sabaoth, the whole creation is full of his glory.’ (Isaiah 6:3) Let us, therefore, gathered together in concord by conscience, cry out earnestly to Him as if with one voice, so that we might come to share in his great and glorious promises.” (St. Clement of Rome (c. 96 A.D.), First Epistle to the Corinthians, italics mine)
“…you make up a chorus, so that joined together in harmony, and having received the godly strain in unison, you might sing in one voice through Christ to the Father, so that He might hear you and recognize you through your good deeds as members of His Son…” (St. Ignatius of Antioch (c. 100 A.D.), Epistle to the Ephesians, italics mine)
“We want to strive so that we, the many, may be brought together into one love, according to the union of the essential unity. As we do good may be similarly pursue unity….The union of many, which the divine harmony has called forth out of a medley of sounds and division, becomes one symphony, following the one leader of the choir and teacher, the Word, resting in that same truth and crying out, ‘Abba, Father.’” (St. Clement of Alexandria (c. 200 A.D.), Protrepticus)
A modern Christian writer on singing in worship:
All quotes from Why Catholics can’t sing by Thomas Day.
“[T]he sung ritual [is] a symbol of a burning faith […] The [sung] liturgy in any language [is] the symbol of faith so intense and filled with joy that it [has] to burst forth in almost continuous song.”
The Great Unwritten Law of Church Music: “[M]usic for the church must not clash with the liturgical function; it must take its place in the objective liturgical setting and not seem like an intrusion. [It] must display a degree of quality and craftsmanship which will be agreeable to a prince and peasant, male and female, young and old. Everyone who […] hears the music must sense a group endeavor, a group prayer: maybe something performed by the assembly or by a choir acting in the name of the assembly […] that seems to sum up the highest religious aspirations of a whole people. [T]he icon painters [pray] and [fast] as they [struggle] to put the holy images into the exacting forms prescribed by tradition. You must try to do something similar.”
Music in the Church is best when it “(1) expresses the noblest aspirations of the communal, cultural, tribal consciousness and (2) seems to submit to the higher purposes of the rite itself.”
So, what does this mean for us?
As an Orthodox choir, our job is not to sing one or two “anthems” or “offertories” at specific points in the service as in a Protestant church. Our job is to help the congregation sing the entire service. With a 90% sung liturgy lasting close to an hour and a half, that’s no small feat. We sing liturgical music, which means we sing the music that comes out of the work of the people (the literal meaning of “liturgy”) [NOTE, 21 Dec 2012: this is the main spot where obviously my thinking has changed, and I would find a different way of putting this today]. That means, simply put, our worship is work. Given our leadership role in the work, our job is not to be individuals who just happen to stand in a different place in the nave from everybody else; our job is to lead the rest of the congregation into the ideal of “one voice” in worship. By definition, to do this takes time, effort, and commitment to taking that leadership role seriously.
It also takes the choir functioning as a community within the community. From one perspective, the expectation is quite high: we’ve gotten up early so our voices haven’t completely woken up yet, and if we’re receiving the Eucharist we haven’t been able to do the normal things that help get the throat and vocal cords going the way they need to—drink water, coffee, tea, eat something, and so on—but we still have nearly an hour and a half worth of singing to do, more if we’re singing in the Matins service. The only way we can do that well, not to mention healthfully, is to support each other, personally and vocally, so that no one person in any section is carrying everybody else for the entire Divine Liturgy. What it takes is simply time, effort, and commitment from all who are willing to give it. It’s that difficult and that easy.
To that end: In consultation with Fr. Athanasius, while I am directing the choir, we will take the following steps:
1) Incorporate the choir into Saturday evening Vespers for the four-part portions of the service, and rehearse either before or after Vespers. We will try rehearsing after Vespers for the time being; we might very possibly try it before Vespers if it is found that this works better all around. I have deliberately scheduled the rehearsal around an already existing service, and I will never take up more than an hour of your time at any given rehearsal. Ideally, there will be rehearsals where my agenda for the evening will take up less time than that, and we will only continue through to the end of the hour if there is something that the group wishes to work on. These rehearsals will consist of a combination of vocal warm-ups, sight-singing warm-ups, announcements, polishing music we already know and learning new music. The balance of these various components will vary from week to week, based on the service requirements for that week and coming weeks.
2) Warm up as a group either at 9:35am on Sunday morning or after the Matins Gospel, whichever comes first. Starting Sunday, 17 July 2005 (that’s two weeks from now), this will be the skeletal minimum with respect to my expectation of you if you intend to sing that morning. If you cannot make a Saturday evening rehearsal at this time, then I absolutely need you to warm up with the group Sunday morning. For those of you who sing in the Matins service, we will devise a regular rotation so that one week you may finish out Matins, the next week you will warm up with the choir, and so on.
3) Gradually phase out the use of soloists for verses and replace them with unison chanting. We will talk about this more as we go, but for Psalm verses and whatnot, I would like to see an alternating “left choir/right choir” approach, where perhaps the women sing one verse, the men sing the next verse, etc. We will experiment with this over time to see how it best works with this group. The vocal and acoustic circumstances are simply not ideal for solo voices, and where it is practical to use an ensemble, we will.
I will also do the following:
1) Put out a calendar outlining rehearsals and services coming up a month out (perhaps two months out, if I find that it’s necessary). If you know you won’t be at a rehearsal or a service, please sign out on the calendar. Additionally, if you plan to attend a service or a rehearsal, should something happen at the last minute preventing your attendance please call me or e-mail me as soon as you possibly can so that I know what to expect for that rehearsal or service. I offer you all the same courtesy—if something happens to me, I will let you all know as soon as I possibly can.
2) Make myself available for work outside of regularly scheduled rehearsals and services. For example—if you need help with something musically, want extra sight-singing practice, if the tenor section needs extra help and wants a section rehearsal, if you need to talk to me about something privately, or if you just want to chat, please give me a call or send me an e-mail and we will find time to do so.
3) Make rehearsals as fun as I possibly can. I want you all to want to come to rehearsal, not feel like you have to come, which in my experience will only ensure that you want to come even less. I want our rehearsals to be a friendly, positive working environment, because I think we’ll all get more done that way.
My final point for now is this: a no is as good as a yes, as far as I’m concerned. If, after hearing all of this, you are thinking to yourself, “He’s going to have to count me out,” that’s fine. I’m not mad at you, and neither is anybody else. What I ask, however, is that you not make a snap judgment now. I ask that you give it some time to see how it will work—perhaps you’ll surprise yourself.
I believe this is a group who is capable of a lot. If we can commit to putting in the time and the effort, and remember that this is not about us but about the glorification of God, I believe we will be able to accomplish a lot.
Okay, I’m done talking now. Let’s sing.
I also mentioned some passages from +BASIL’s essay, “The Ministry of Church Singers”. I think parts of this have to be contextualized as a bishop being pastoral and pious, but there are nonetheless some things he says unequivocally:
There are few ministries of the Church that require the devotion and the dedication that church singing does. You who lead the singing as well as you who follow the leader are precious gifts to your parishes. You are as important to the parish as is the holy table itself. As there can be no liturgy without the holy table, there can be no liturgy without you. This is not to compliment you or increase your pride, but rather to put a little fear and awe in you, so you know what your responsibilities are. Church singing is not a hobby. Being a choir director is not something one does for personal fulfillment. It is first and foremost a duty, a duty of those to whom God has given musical talents. It is sinful, in my opinion, for someone not to sing who has been given the gift to sing. Sinful! You join the angels, and do that which the angels do perpetually. That’s not an interest, avocation, or a hobby; it is a duty. Angels were created to serve and to praise, and you have been given voices for that same purpose.
[…] It’s a holiness. It’s not your ministry. It’s a ministry that belongs to the Church, and you respond to the call as well as recognize that the gift which you specifically fulfill in the church was, traditionally, and in some sense still is, an ordained ministry. The choir was not some club that existed in Church for those with some particular musical talent. To be a church singer was an ordained office within the Church. Canon 15, from the Council of Nicea, the Council of the 4th century, makes its point clear that only canonical singers should be appointed for that kind of ministry in the Church. That means “one set apart” for that particular ministry. Today we might call them Readers. While I’m not saying that every choir member must be a tonsured Reader, I do say that if we fulfill at least the spirit, if not the law of the Canon, that each choir member ought to see his/her participation in the choir as seriously as the ordained clergy take their ministry. I don’t know any priest who thinks that he can say on some Sunday, “I don’t want to serve because I want to sit with my wife,” or, “I don’t feel like serving today,” or, “I’m angry, one of the altar boys offended me, so I don’t want to serve this morning.”
[…] We jump in and we jump out. Some of us jump in on time and some of us jump in a little bit late. In my opinion, being in church for that first “Amen” is a sign, an indication of one’s humility. And where humility is, indeed, a virtue, its opposite is a sin. The sin is not disturbing other people. The other people in the church are not the object of our worship. It is rude, but not necessarily sinful, to disturb other people. But it is sinful to be presumptuous and prideful that one can jump in and sing with thousands of archangels and ten-thousands of angels at one’s own whim. “This Sunday I feel like singing, and next Sunday I won’t sing. I want to sit with my wife.” Leave that Hallmark—card kind of sentimentality for restaurants, concerts, and cinemas. You sing with angels, that’s secondary to sitting with any husband or wife or children. We stand before the throne of God, and when we realize that, every other consideration, all of our own personal likes and dislikes, become secondary. I’m giving my opinion now, and hopefully it humbles all of us. It’s a humiliation, that in its end, should be something that elevates us, that exalts us, something that gives us wing.
[…] You and your choir need be as aesthetically perfect as you are able. God not only expects, but He accepts only our best.
As I said to the choir last night, I’m a convert, not a cradle, and every convert brings with them some baggage from their previous experience. My background is one that places a high value on liturgical beauty and music, and that value is practical, not just theoretical. Church music is a profession. It is not unheard-of for church musicians in my former communion to have terminal degrees and to have half-time, if not full-time, salaries. While I have always known that such a set of circumstances would never even come close to being reality at All Saints, I have always tried to fulfill the musical function at All Saints as though those were the expectations of me — and I should stress the “of me” part, because certainly the point was never to turn the All Saints choir into an opera chorus. Rather, the point was that, if I was excited about what I did and took it seriously in the way +BASIL describes, hopefully everybody else would catch the spark, too, and get excited about it along with me. It was an experiment to see if one could build a fully-functioning music ministry at the only Orthodox parish in a town that was home to a Big Ten university and one of the best schools of music in the country. I’m happy that the experiment has borne fruit, even if it won’t specifically be attached to the parish anymore. All told, this (as well as the ongoing annotation and discussion of it here) represents a pretty good snapshot of my thinking of how the effort worked, and how I would approach such a project if I were to start afresh now.
Δόξα τῷ Θεῷ πάντων ἔνεκεν. As always, we’ll see what happens next. I thank All Saints, Fr. Peter, and those who sang with me for the chance to serve over the years, I hope that I was able to communicate some small element of what I love about our Church’s music despite all of my own faults and foibles, and I wish all of them, as well as whomever my successor will be, many blessings. Again, I crave your prayers for myself and my family as we make this transition.
Notes from the psalterion
Published 22 April 2012 General , music , The Orthodox Faith 43 Comments
Tags: american orthodox music, byzantine chant, chant, ecclesiastical chant, hazards of church music, liturgical music, liturgy, liturgy and life, random acts of chant, sacred music, things for the choir director to think about in a new church building
I have been the choir director and cantor at All Saints since the summer of 2005. I sang there for two years before that, and I had been a professional church singer in Anglican circles for several years before that (in fact, an Episcopal church was the very first place that ever paid me to sing). As an Orthodox church musician, I’ve tried on several fronts to contribute to the conversation about our liturgical music; if you’ve followed my blog for any amount of time, you’ll be familiar with some of the ways I’ve tried to contribute, so I won’t recap all of that here.
Lately, I’ve had a number of discussions with people about what the operating principles should be for music in our churches. What is the function of the cantor/choir director? How should they conceive of doing their jobs? How should the quality of their work be measured? In the spirit of my recent post about principles regarding church buildings, I wanted to try to list some of my conclusions. There will be some definite overlap with the principles about building; in a way, the person who sings in church interacts with the building in a manner that others do not, so perhaps this should not be surprising. Some of this I also talk about here,
Principle #0: The act that you are performing as a singer in church is the sung worship of God according to the practice and tradition of Orthodox Christianity. One may fairly insist that this is something different than a concert; one may also fairly insist that this is also something different than a campfire singalong, an exercise in nostalgia, the affirmation of somebody’s childhood, or the salving of one’s insecurities. At any rate, understood this way, singing in church is at once a privilege, a craft, and a discipline.
Principle #1: As the object of this sung worship is God, it is to be performed as prayerfully, skillfully, and within the parameters of the traditions governing the chosen style of music as the singer is capable of doing.
Principle #1a: This assumes that “performance” and “worship”, properly understood, do not constitute a dichotomy but parts of the same whole.
Principle #2: The easiest way to establish a tradition of good singing in a parish is to do it right from the start.
Principle #2a: At the very least, “doing it right from the start” means identifying and cultivating and talent (assuming you don’t have somebody from the get-go who knows what they’re doing), and providing the person who has that talent with the necessary resources to continue to improve.
Principle #2b: It will be far more practical in the long run to pick one musical idiom that you can do well than to try to do several and do them all at varying levels of mediocrity. 19th century Russian polyphony and Byzantine chant were never intended to coexist in the same service, and they require two entirely different musical skill sets.
Principle #2b.1: When picking this musical idiom, fight your weight. If you have a choir of five or six people and are meeting in borrowed office space, big Russian polyphony probably doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Principle #2c: “Doing it right from the start” requires the will to do so from more parties than just the cantor or choir director.
Principle #3: Musicians are your friends. They are the ones trained to think about how musical matters need to be addressed, much as how an iconographer is the one trained to know how something is supposed to work with an icon or an architect is the one trained to know how to design a building. If they hear something you can’t, that’s a good thing; that means that they’re doing their job.
Principle #3a: The best musicians will also be able to teach the non-musician how to do it properly. Let them.
Principle #3b: In the same way that you would expect to pay an iconographer or an architect, expect to pay your cantor/choir director. The worker is worthy of his wages. If this is simply not an option, then there needs to be some way that the value of the cantor’s job is expressed.
Principle #4: The amount of singing in our services, to say nothing of the number of “moving parts”, as it were, in any given service, means that rehearsal should be considered a non-negotiable point. If you wish to be among those singing in the choir, it is your responsibility to come to rehearsal. This is the “discipline” part of the equation.
Principle #4a: Along these lines, always be mindful of improvement; don’t be satisfied with maintenance. If we truly have God as the object of our worship, then there is no “good enough” as such.
Principle #4b: If you are fortunate enough to have a choir of people that can read music in multiple notation systems and four different languages more or less perfectly the first time, then you might be able to reconsider the need for rehearsal.
Principle #5: Another non-negotiable point needs to be provision of physical resources for the singers. At bare minimum, these should include proper acoustics, an intentional space for the choir, necessary liturgical furniture, and necessary liturgical books. Acoustics and space cannot be afterthoughts; a cantor who has to make up for a dead room will not be able to do so indefinitely — it really constitutes a physical danger to the voice, and I cannot stress that enough. In terms of space, people (and music stands) still take up space no matter how small your building is, and you must plan properly for that. There are traditional places for singers to stand, and generally those places work very well if planned for.
Principle #6: The various systems of modes and special melodies (and yes, even notation), as impossibly complex as they may initially seem, are actually there to help organize and simplify the cantor’s job. The better you learn them, the less stressful of a time you will have in the long run.
Principle #7: Good liturgy and good music aid each other. Good settings will do a good job of cooperating with the liturgical action that they accompany; clergy that are celebrating properly will also help good settings fit in naturally with the liturgical action. In other words, a good Cherubic Hymn will be long enough to cover what’s happening at the altar while it’s being sung, and a priest will find that a properly-set Cherubic Hymn means that he doesn’t have to rush through everything in preparation for the Great Entrance.
As I said, this has all come out of my experience as a church musician. As with the building principles, it’s a set of “core ideals” rather than a step-by-step guide — this doesn’t tell you when to schedule rehearsals or how to run them or what repertoire to choose and so on. These are all very, very important things, to be sure. This is, put simply, what I suggest as what the base assumptions should be.
So — thoughts? What am I leaving out? What do I have wrong?
The St. John of Damascus Society
Published 13 April 2012 music , The Orthodox Faith 1 Comment
Tags: alexander khalil, all saints bloomington, all saints orthodox church, american orthodox music, brian rogers, byzantine chant, chant, ecclesiastical chant, franklin hess, hal sabbagh, hazards of church music, john michael boyer, kurt sander, laura willms, liturgical music, matthew arndt, music, orthodox music symposium at indiana university, patrick michelson, random acts of chant, richard toensing, sacred music, st john of damascus society, vicki pappas
I have been making random references to something called “The St. John of Damascus Society” for a few months now, and I can finally say something a bit more concrete.
The really short version is that in the planning for the Orthodox Music Symposium at Indiana University, it became apparent that it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for there to be a group that had administrative and financial independence from the church for purposes of putting together such things. We were piggybacking onto the parish for our tax-exempt status, and that nearly cost us a couple of our major supporters; plus, it would just be cleaner if we were able to have our own checkbook. The initial idea was something like a “Friends of Music at All Saints” or “All Saints Music Boosters”, and I went to Hal Sabbagh, a longtime chanter at and founding member of All Saints, to see what he thought. He was supportive of the idea, and was willing to help out however he could.
We incorporated as a non-profit in the state of Indiana last July; the next step was tax-exempt status, which meant assembling a board. Our Advisory Board consists of all of the presenters for the Symposium — John Michael Boyer, Alexander Khalil, Kurt Sander, Richard Toensing — as well as Matthew Arndt, an old friend of mine, one of the cantors at St. Raphael of Brooklyn Church in Iowa City and music theory professor at University of Iowa (as well as a former student of Richard Toensing’s). Our Executive Board consists of: Hal Sabbagh, president; Vicki Pappas, national chair of the National Forum of Greek Orthodox Church Musicians, vice-president; Laura Willms and Brian Rogers, two more very supportive cantors at All Saints, are secretary and treasurer, respectively; rounding out the Executive Board are Franklin Hess, coordinator of the Modern Greek program at Indiana University, and Patrick Michelson, the newly-hired (as of the 2011-12 academic year) Russian Orthodoxy specialist in IU’s Religious Studies department.
All of these people gave generously of their time, effort, and advice. By November we had everything we needed to assemble our application for federal tax-exempt status, and that went in the mail on 14 November.
As Hal found out over the phone with the IRS two days ago, our application for federal tax-exempt status was granted on Monday of this week, and we will be receiving a letter within the next couple of weeks with our number. So, time to get serious.
The St. John of Damascus Society, with everybody who is involved, has developed its scope significantly beyond being All Saints’ music boosters. The basic idea is to promote the idea of excellence in traditional forms of Orthodox music as good outreach — that singing well and singing prayerfully not only do not constitute a dichotomy, but it can serve as a powerful witness to those around us. We have a number of ideas about things we want to do locally, regionally, and nationally, and while we’ve waited for tax-exempt status to be sewn up before we went public with anything, I can tell you you’ll be hearing more very soon, including ways you can be involved.
We hope to have a website up shortly; in the meantime, if you’re interested in the St. John of Damascus Society based on this little teaser, would you mind filling out this form? That’ll make it really easy for us to get announcements to you as we make them. You can also follow us on Twitter.
Thanks very much, and I will have more to say very soon!
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From what you've heard, what about the St. John of Damascus Society interests you the most? What kinds of things would most likely attract your involvement(required)
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese releases standard version of Paschal apolytikion
Published 6 April 2012 General , music , The Orthodox Faith 8 Comments
Tags: american orthodox music, american orthodoxy, byzantine chant, byzantine notation, chant, christ is risen, ecclesiastical chant, Greek, greek orthodox archdiocese of america, hazards of church music, χριστὸς ἀνέστη, let's make English an inflected language again, liturgical music, militant americanist orthodoxy, music, my kids will learn latin and greek when they're newborns, national forum of greek orthodox church musicians, Pascha, paschal apolytikion, random acts of chant, sacred music, st john of damascus society, this american church life, vicki pappas, we need more american saints
About a year ago, Vicki Pappas, national chair of the National Forum of Greek Orthodox Church Musicians, circulated an e-mail asking for people to send her the English translations of the apolytikion for Pascha (Χριστὸς ἀνέστη/”Christ is risen”) that were used in their parishes. This would be in aid of a standard English text for the entire Greek Orthodox Archdiocese. Despite not being at a GOA parish, I sent her the translation we use at All Saints.
Somewhere around late fall or early winter, following a St. John of Damascus Society board meeting, she asked if I would be willing to round up a few of my choir members to record the version that they were trying to settle on as the final draft. The recording would serve as a model, principally for priests. After Christmas, I put together a quartet, we learned it and recorded it, Vicki liked it, and said that the Synod still had to decide if it was the final version or not.
Earlier this week, the standard English version of the hymn for GOA was released. You can find it here. Alas, that’s not us singing on the model recording — it would appear that it went through at least one more round of revision, because that’s a different text than what we had, but oh well.
I am appreciative that a Synod would take the time to try to get everybody on the same page with respect to a particular hymn text, and I suppose this is as good as any to start with. I am also appreciative that GOA would go to the trouble of making sure that it is available in both staff notation as well as neumatic notation. There has been some discussion in some circles about how closely it follows proper compositional conventions; I would never dare to argue proper application of formulae with some of the people talking about this, but my guess is that the main point raised was probably known, and that preference was given to where people would be likely to breathe. It’s an issue that I suggest stems from the translation more than anything, and from what Vicki has told me, every nuance of the translation was discussed thoroughly, so what I think I know at least is that it’s a version of the text that says exactly what the Synod wants it to say. I’ll acknowledge that I don’t find this text to be note-perfect compared to how I might translate the Greek; to begin with, in modern English, “is risen”, while it used to be how you do a perfect tense in English, doesn’t really convey the same sense of the action as preterite ἀνέστη or even qam for the Arabic speakers — “Christ rose” would be the literal sense, but that doesn’t really “sing” the same way. “Christ has/hath risen” is an acceptable compromise, since the distinction between simple past and perfect is muddier in English than it is in Greek. And “trampled down upon” seems to me to be a little bit overthought as a way of rendering πατήσας. Still, I’d much rather sing this version than the one that’s normative for my parish, where the Greek melody is left as is, requiring “Christ is risen from the dead” to be repeated, usually with a rhetorical, campfire-style “Oh!” thrown in beforehand — “Christ is risen from the dead, oh! Christ is risen from the dead!” etc. Ack.
In any event, between being willing to argue about a standard text and acknowledging the neumatic notational tradition, there is much I wish the Antiochian Archdiocese would emulate here, and I congratulate GOA on taking the time and energy to at least make the effort, even if there wind up being tweaks down the road. I’m a little disheartened by the response I’ve observed in certain fora that basically criticizes GOA for making their standard version a brand new variant that nobody outside of GOA will ever use, that that’s hardly a unifying move across jurisdictions, not when there are translations that are common to both the OCA and AOANA. Well, maybe, but kudos for GOA for at least trying to get their own house in order first, even if maybe it winds up being a beta test.
Reminiscences from PSALM, Chicago, 2-5 August 2006
Published 6 April 2012 General , music , The Orthodox Faith 1 Comment
Tags: Alice Hughes, american orthodox music, american orthodoxy, anne schoepp, archimandrite ephrem (lash), byzantine chant, Carol Wetmore, chant, chris holwey, David Drillock, dn. kevin smith, ecclesiastical chant, fr. ivan moody, fr. john finley, Fr. John Rallis, Fr. Joseph, fr. joseph morris, Fr. Lawrence Margitich, fr. sergei glagolev, fr. thomas hopko, hazards of church music, james green, kurt sander, liturgical music, mark bailey, militant americanist orthodoxy, Nicolas Resanovic, psalm, Rachel Troy, random acts of chant, sacred music, st. romanos cappella, this american church life, tikey zes, travel, valerie yova, vicki pappas, vladimir morosan, we need more american saints
A comment prompted me to look up a series of e-mail I sent to the members of my choir from the thus far one-and-only PSALM national conference held back in August of 2006. This was back in the days before I had a blog. I sent these to my choir partially because I wanted them to engage some of the things I was hearing while I was there; truth be told, I’m not sure they all understood why they were getting long e-mails from me. Such is life.
Reading through them, it seemed perhaps worthwhile to share some of those notes here. My perception — and someone can correct me if I’m wrong — is that PSALM peaked with this event; I think there was talk back then about trying to set up regional PSALM identities and events and then do a regular national conference every other year, but none of that ever happened, for better or for worse. My experience with the PSALM Yahoo! group in its present form is that the ideals expressed five and a half years ago are by no means universally held these days, or even necessarily approved of. I can’t really say for sure I understand what’s going on there, but there we go.
Anyway, without further ado —
Day 1: Hello from Chicago! Day 1 has been packed with a lot of stuff that hopefully will be useful for all of us in the long run, and the days to come look similarly stuffed. The Indiana representation has been significant: the opening remarks were from Fr. Sergei Glagolev, an Indiana native; Vicki Pappas and Fr. Joseph Morris (from Ss. Constantine & Elena in Indy) were both part of a panel discussion; the Paraklesis service was sung by IU alum Jessica Suchy-Pilalis; and I finally had the occasion to meet Lori Branch, about whom I have heard so much over the years. She sends along her love and best wishes to all who might remember her.
We had a rehearsal for the Divine Liturgy Saturday morning, and about two-thirds of the conference participants are making up the choir–that is, probably somewhere around 100 people. It’s like the Sunday of Orthodoxy choir, only about four times the size. In the enormous nave that St. George in Cicero has, one is bathing in the sound when all of sing. It’s quite something. Mark Bailey, one of the instructors in liturgical music at St. Vladimir’s, is conducting the conference choir–and it might be worth mentioning that, when we looked at the “Lord, have mercy” sections, the first thing he did was tell us to drop the r in the word “Lord” so that it came out “Lohd”. Just so you know that it’s not that I’m crazy. (Well, not just that I’m crazy, anyway.)
The Paraklesis service was lovely–unison women’s chant from Dr. Suchy-Pilalis and one other. Really very beautiful.
I’ll have a full account of all the goings-on later, but there are a number of things panelists and clergy said which I’m chewing on already. Some of them are pretty challenging and clear-cut in terms of communicating a strong point of view and expectation:
“There is no such thing as a quick fix, only hard work… We have to have the ability to change, because when things don’t change, they’re dead.”–Fr. Sergei Glagolev. Fr. Sergei also challenged us to think about what we want to pass on to the next generation in terms of singing in church.
Fr. Joseph stressed the need for the choir to be dignified and sober, and to have a servant mentality–that we come on time, and we are prepared. “If you can’t make it on time, you can’t make it on time,” he said. “Better to sing with the faithful in that case. You’re not a bishop.” He also noted that, in his parish, there is the expectation that the singers treat Vespers, Matins, and Divine Liturgy as one piece–that is, if someone is singing in the choir for Divine Liturgy, he expects them to have been there for Vespers and Matins as well. “My expectation is that my singers are Orthodox in practice as well as name,” he said.
Valerie Yova, PSALM president, observed that, in general, there is a lack of effective musical leadership in the Church in this country, and noted the following symptoms/factors:
Choirs are shrinking and aging
People are living further and further away from where they go to church
School music programs are dying
Parishes are falling into financial trouble
There are an almost impossibly small number of places to be trained as an Orthodox church musician
The old chanting masters are dying and not being replaced
The musical element of worship is being devalued
The panel discussion (David Drillock, Fr. Joseph, Fr. John Rallis, Fr. Lawrence Margitich, Fr. John Finley, Alice Hughes, Carol Wetmore, Rachel Troy, and Vicki) observed that synergy between choir director, singers, and clergy requires time and regular effort, and e-mail cannot be all there is. To that end, not only are regular rehearsals vital, but clerical involvement in rehearsals on some regular basis is also important. Vicki Pappas made the point that volunteerism cannot be an obstacle to excellence, that church musicians have a sacred role, that of being responsible for leading the people’s worship, and that this should inspire us to better things. Fr. Joseph followed this up by saying, cf. St. John Climacus, “If it is possible for one, it is possible for all.” One priest (Fr. Lawrence Margitich, I think) put it this way: we shouldn’t confuse volunteerism with stewardship. As church singers, we are stewards of God’s talents, not mere volunteers, and we should act and think of ourselves accordingly. David Drillock, choirmaster emeritus at St. Vladimir’s expressed this by saying that being in the choir should be a “high calling”.
Other nuggets from the panel: if we as singers are truly connected to the text we’re singing, it will be communicated to the congregation naturally. Also that the church school should be excellent recruiting ground for the choir. Fr. Joseph also suggested that congregational singing should not drag the Liturgy down; it should appropriately done and led. Dovetailing onto that, Vicki suggested a clear intent with respect to which sections we should encourage the congregation to sing, and those which we intend the choir to sing. Having said that, the panel followed that up by saying that it is foolish to replace something people love unless one knows it’s being replaced with something they’ll love at least as much.
Fr. Thomas Hopko, Dean Emeritus of St. Vladimir’s, minced no words: “I disagree that dead things don’t change. Rather, dead things become more rotten, corrupted and stinky.” He also issued a rather direct challenge: “The Orthodox Church seems to be the only place on earth where you don’t have to be competent to be asked to do something. How does this come about? What happened? Why will people join a community choir, not miss a rehearsal, pay attention to the choir director, and then then not do the same in their parish choir? If we’re not taking church and everything we do in it seriously, then we’re just re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic. You can’t raise the bar when you still have to convince people that there’s a bar to be raised in the first place.”
In aid of this sentiment, he told the following story: a parish started talking about buying a new chandelier. It came to the parish council, and one person stood up and said, “I am absolutely against this. We don’t need a chandelier, we don’t want a chandelier, and we can’t pay for a chandelier.” The priest asked, well, what do you mean? “It’s too expensive,” the man said, “and we don’t even know where to buy one.” (Scattered laughter from the audience.) He went on: “Plus, there’s nobody in the parish who can play one, and it’s not even part of our tradition anyway.” (More laughter from the audience.) He finished by saying, “I just can’t understand why we’re talking about buying a chandelier when what we really need is more light!” (Peals of laughter from the audience.)
Like I said, all very challenging stuff, but there was a truly remarkable consistency to the message I heard today. It’s going to take me a while to process all of it, but there was one more thing that was stressed today, and I’ll close with that for now–
Fr. Thomas Hopko also said that, as church musicians, in terms of purpose and practice, we must start no other place than Christ crucified and glorified, that it is only by starting there we will end up in the right place. In the same vein, the panel also reminded us of Metropolitan +ANTHONY Bashir’s insistence that, once love is manifested, all things are possible.
All of these things are worth thinking about, and I encourage you all to do so as well.
More to come on Day 2.
Day 2: Again, too much to summarize in one e-mail, but a small handful of highlights:
First two presentations this morning were from Fr. Ephrem Lash, who looks and sounds like Gandalf as portrayed by Ian McKellen (and who has a wonderful website, http://www.anastasis.org.uk), who is also a scholar from England (I believe he is a colleague of Bp. KALLISTOS Ware, but I could be mistaken) who has quite a bit to say about translations of the Bible and liturgical texts into English, and Mark Bailey, instructor of liturgical music at St. Vladimir’s. The topic for both was the fittingness of English as a liturgical language, the necessary approach to translating texts, and then how best to set these texts to music so that a) the meaning is communicated and b) the musical tradition is carried on. Both had wonderful things to say about the necessary principles to make these things work. Before the first presentation, we sang “O Heavenly King”, and Fr. Ephrem noted that the setting took the word “impurity” and placed the stress on the last syllable, making it “impuriTEE”. “In the language I speak, English, it’s pronounced ‘imPURity’,” he observed. Mark Bailey had all kinds of fantastic practical examples of good text-setting and bad text-setting, and further suggested, “We’ve gotten our parishioners and singers too used to bad settings, and they’ve become attached to them as a result.” Fr. Thomas Hopko then commented, “Most of our churches are just copying what they’ve heard on recordings. Can we put out new recordings that do it the way you’re talking about?” Something to think about.
The second morning session consisted of presentations from the various heads of jurisdictional sacred music departments as to what they’re up to–Chris Holwey from the Antiochian Archdiocese, David Drillock from the OCA, and Vicki Pappas from the Greek Archdiocese. While interesting, I found it fascinatingly unnecessary to have such redundancy. All three of them are essentially doing the exact same job, providing the exact same resources in exactly the same manner. One fervently hopes that eventually there will be no need for multiple separate departments of sacred music.
The afternoon panel I attended was on the topic, “Educating Liturgical Musicians in the 21st Century.” Vladimir Morosan, a musicologist who specializes in the Russian repertoire, was the moderator. He framed the panel discussion by asking, “How do we explain that the oldest and richest singing tradition in Christendom does so little to formally prepare liturgical musicians? What do we do about it?”
Anne Schoepp, a choir director in the OCA in California, argued passionately that Orthodoxy is a singing culture, and we need to do everything we can at the parish level to start our kids singing and to get them used to singing and loving singing. Fr. John Finley of our own Archdiocese suggested that the model of the Classical School that is starting to pop up in Orthodox circles could be a way to disseminate this kind of curriculum; I suggested that there’s an even more obvious answer, the tradition of the choir school as it still survives in England and even some places here in the US like the St. Thomas Choir School in New York and the Cathedral Choir School at the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City. “Let’s talk,” Fr. John said.
However we do it, the panel continued, people need to be immersed in good liturgy in order to be able to do good liturgy–it must be soaked in, the liturgical aesthetic must be ingrained in us. To this end, one panelist said, the power of the priest cannot be underestimated in terms of cultivating potential–kids as well as adults need to come to events like this, for example.
After the afternoon panel was choir rehearsal; Mark Bailey is very exact, and it’s a real learning experience to watch him conduct. It continues to be something else having a 100-voice choir singing in a church where the acoustics are as favorable as they are here. Then Vespers, where a small ensemble sang the stichera and whatnot, not dissimilar from what usually happens at All Saints.
After dinner was a concert performed by a group called the St. Romanos Cappella (as opposed to Cappella Romana, a completely different ensemble), singing a program entirely of music by modern Orthodox composers–all but one of whom were in the audience. Tikey Zes (who composed our All Saints troparion), Ivan Moody, Kurt Sander (formerly of Indiana University Southeast), James Green (the one not in attendance), Mark Bailey (man, the guy is everywhere), and Fr. Sergei Glagolev. Each one of them brings something different to the table, but it was all wonderful. It would be nice to learn several of these (particularly the Glagolev, Sander, and Bailey material), because it would be a shame to have all of this beautiful music out there representing a living continuation of the tradition and then have it never actually be sung in our churches. It would also be especially nice to finish learning Fr. Sergei’s setting of Psalm 103/104 for Vespers; now having heard what it actually sounds like in a church and not just on a recording, I’m more convinced of this. (And Bp. MARK already approved it back in December, which is handy.) Besides Psalm 103/104, they also sang one of his settings of the Cherubic Hymn, the Anaphora, the Megalynarion, and the Alleluia before the Gospel (including the refrains), and it was made very evident what a treasure trove his liturgical music actually is. He received a standing ovation at the end of it–surely every composer there deserved one, but he was quite appropriately the man of the hour. It was very moving.
After a looooooooooooooooooong, far-reaching conversation with Dn. Kevin Smith, choirmaster at St. Vlad’s, we managed to miss the shuttle back to the hotel and had to get a ride back from a Bulgarian woman named Danielle. And now it’s time for me to fall over and go to sleep. More to come tomorrow.
Day 3: There was a lot of theoretical stuff talked about today. I found it fascinating, but there’s little I can just summarize into an anecdote. Mark Bailey again had interesting things to say on a variety of topics; one issue he described was that of a common faith not necessarily uniting the Orthodox into a common sense of heritage. In terms of what that means musically–well, for many of us who are converts, “all Orthodox music is music for all Orthodox”, but that’s a very unique attitude to some (by no means all) American converts. He noted that in Russia right now there’s an argument over what kind of liturgical music from their various indigenous traditions (common chant, znamenny, etc.) will adequately represent the Russian culture. In this country, we have the opposite problem–we as yet have no indigenous Orthodox musical tradition, and so are trying to determine what bits and pieces from other national practices will best express Orthodoxy as it exists in America. Do we do a little bit of everything and make it a “checklist”-style approach? Do we pick one thing–Byzantine chant, Russian 4-part chant, whatever–and try to make it our own?
Mark Bailey is really big on liturgical singing doing no more and no less than supporting the liturgical action. That is, that liturgical singing either prepares for, accompanies, or is a liturgical action or rite. To do something other than one of these three things is, therefore, not liturgical and therefore spurious as far as this context is concerned. To that end, he says, musical form should elaborate on, and therefore draw the member of the congregation in to, a sacred action. At the same time, David Drillock two days ago reminded us that a large part of what we do is “proclamatory”–the exact opposite of drawing somebody in. I’m coming to the conclusion after hearing all of this discussed for two days that, as is so often the case in Orthodoxy, it cannot be “either/or”–it must be “both/and”. Part of its musical beauty come from the way in which the liturgical event is supported, and part of its ability to support the liturgical event must come from its beauty.
See what I mean about a lot of theoretical stuff?
One really practical thing he said with which I really agree is the idea that we need to not turn antiphons into anthemic pieces–they are a liturgical dialogue, not a big choral moment. What does that mean for us at All Saints? I don’t know yet; as it is we have a soloist sing the verse followed by the choir singing the refrain. What about this–rather than soloist plus choir, maybe it’s something like having the men intone one verse, the choir sings the refrain, the women intone the next verse, choir sings the refrain, etc.? We will play with possibilities at future rehearsals.
The afternoon panel, “Where do we go from here?” was interesting. People talked about a number of things, from PSALM formally getting behind issues like jurisdictional unity and a standardized English translation, to spearheading an English musical setting of the entire Octoechos (using, of course, this as-yet nonexistent “American chant” as the medium), to devising a music curriculum for use in parish schools. I think there are all kinds of things we can accomplish, we just need to think big. One of the issues, of course, is that in the past it has been possible for these issues to be solved in a “top-down” manner; the patriarchate or synod or whatever ruling body standardizes the practice/text/chant/whatever and promulgates it. The reality in this country, however, is that we’re having to solve many of these problems from the grassroots level on up. There’s a lot of “rolling our own” that takes place (as I found out earlier this week when I thought I needed a hierarchical “Before Thy Cross” and couldn’t find one to save my life), simply by necessity, because if we don’t do it, nobody else will.
Vespers was lovely. The large conference choir sang everything, and it was something. Being able to worship together (and commune together, tomorrow morning) is what makes this more than just a conference.
The evening panel, on composing liturgical settings for the English language, was made up of Ivan Moody, Fr. John Finley, Fr. Ephrem Lash, Mark Bailey, Fr. Sergei Glagolev, Vladimir Morosan, Tikey Zes, and Nicolas Resanovic. All I can say is–to have all of these people in one room was simply stunning. Not just their brilliance and talent, but their clear love for God and the Church as well. Ivan Moody provided a deft touch of dry, droll Englishness as the moderator. He provided a wonderful quote from St. John Chrysostom: “The tongue is made holy by the words when spoken by a ready and eager mind.”
There was a question where somebody described the situation of somebody coming up to the kliros or into the choir and being told, “Here’s the music for this service. We don’t actually do it that way, but here’s the music.” Big understanding laugh from the audience.
There was a fascinating moment where someone stood up and said, “You know, I’m from the Deep South. The South is a ripe field for Orthodox evangelism–the people there are crying out for the truth. Culturally, however, if we don’t bring it to them in English, their English, they are not going to care what we have to say.” This prompted Mark Bailey to remind us that, in this country, we are a missionary church with a missionary imperative, and that must inform what we do musically.
And then that, as they say, was that.
Day 4: Day 4 was short and sweet. With a 7:30am Matins service, I had to wake up at 6 to check out of the hotel. They did Matins and Liturgy as separate services, as opposed to Matins running right into Liturgy. There was a pause of a few minutes as Mark Bailey got set up to conduct the conference choir, and as the octet (into which I was roped) got into our places.
I may quibble with some (but by no means all) of the settings that were selected (I’ll be honest–the Russian chant in English is very jarring to my ear), but I have to say, having that 150 piece choir singing most of it and getting to sing in the octet that did the rest, in that church, with that conductor, was absolutely something else. I wish you all could have been there to take part, and my hope is that when this happens again, perhaps more of us can go. Fr. John Finley celebrated and homilized; it being the Pre-Feast of the Transfiguration, that was his topic. He started out with the quote from the Gospel reading, “It is good to be here.” It was quite apt. He exhorted us to “embrace the struggle” that we have adopted over the last few days, which was well-taken.
And that was that, more or less. There were some parting remarks at breakfast, and I think a lot of people are coming away from this event feeling like it was something seminal, that there has been good seed sown. Time will tell how God’s hand is in all of this, but one way or the other, it seems that the conference has exceeded everybody’s expectations.
A funny anecdote and a really cool thing: I went up to Fr. Ephrem Lash (the priest who looked and sounded like Ian McKellen’s Gandalf) and asked for a blessing. He sized me up and said (you’ll have to imagine the Ian McKellen-like voice), “Young man, did you receive Holy Communion this morning?”
“Yes, Father.”
“You never ask for the priest’s blessing after receiving Communion. You never ask for a blessing or kiss an icon. You have the Lord inside of you, so what can they possibly add? The Russians and the Arabs have gotten very bad about this.” I took it in stride, because I’m aware that it is an issue where there is not uniformity of practice or opinion. It was funny nonetheless. I then told him that I found his talk very edifying and he said, “Ah, ‘edifying.’ I never mean to edify, my boy; I only wish to make people laugh.”
So there we have it. Thanks for reading my ramblings; I just wanted to make sure that you all knew for sure I was where I said I was going to be, and hadn’t just taken off for Hawaii or something for a few days. If anybody wants to know more about anything I’ve talked about (or anything I haven’t, for that matter), let me know, I’d love to talk about it, particularly now while the memories are all still fresh.
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5 Pounds Sterling / Scotland
18. July 2009 · by lemonissimo · in scotland. ·
The pound Scots (Scots: Pund Scots) was the national unit of currency in the Kingdom of Scotland before the country entered into political and currency union with the Kingdom of England in 1707 (see Acts of Union 1707). It was introduced by David I on the model of English and French money, divided into 20 shillings each of 12 pence. The Scottish currency was later debased relative to sterling and, by the time of James III, the pound sterling was valued at four pounds Scots.
In addition to the pound Scots, silver coins were issued denominated in merk, worth 13 shillings 4 pence (two thirds of a pound Scots). When James VI became King James I of England in 1603, the coinage was reformed to closely match that of England, with 12 pounds Scots equal to the pound sterling. In 1707, the pound Scots was replaced by the pound sterling at a rate of 12 to 1, although the pound Scots continued to be used in Scotland as a unit of account for most of the 18th century.
Today there is no distinct Pound Scots; but Scotland’s three largest national clearing banks (the Royal Bank of Scotland, the Bank of Scotland and the Clydesdale Bank) still print paper pound notes for domestic circulation. These notes may be accepted as payment throughout the United Kingdom, but are much more commonly seen in Scotland; they represent the same Pound Sterling value as do Bank of England notes in England and Wales. (Technically, no paper money, whether issued by the Bank of England or by one of the various Scottish or Northern Irish banks chartered to print notes, is mandated to be legal tender in Scotland; all paper money in the country is still in theory issued as ‘promissory notes’ — essentially an obligation made out to bearer.)
(bibliography: wikipedia)
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3219. The Propaganda Game (2015)
3218. Fired Up! (2009)
3217. Falling Down (1993)
3216. Carry On Doctor (1967)
3215. Death On The Nile (1978)
3214. The Price Of Gold (2014)
3213. Out Of Sight (1998)
3212. Uncle Buck (1989)
3211. Swallow (2020)
3210. Basic Instinct (1992)
3209. Pieces Of A Woman (2020)
3208. Olympus Has Fallen (2013)
3207. The Thrill Of It All (1963)
3206. Unknown (2011)
3205. Promising Young Woman (2020)
3204. Pledge This! (2006)
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3202. Odd Man Out (1947)
3201. Patriot Games (1992)
Top 10 Most (Cautiously) Anticipated Movies Of 2021
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3200. The Ten Commandments (1956)
3199. First Cow (2020)
3198. Making And Unmaking (2020)
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You are at:Home»110-119 mins»1883. Train To Busan (부산행) (2016)
1883. Train To Busan (부산행) (2016)
By The Mad Movie Man on September 8, 2017 110-119 mins, 2016, 8 - 10, Action, Drama, Horror, Movies Of 2017, Review, Sci-Fi, Sep 17, South Korea, Thriller
8.4 A massively entertaining ride
Acting 8.3
Directing 8.3
Story 8.5
Starring: Gong Yoo, Ma Dong-seok, Kim Su-an
Director: Yeon Sang-ho
Running Time: 117 mins
Train To Busan is a South Korean film about a father and daughter who, while on a train ride from Seoul, find themselves and the other passengers under attack from an apocalyptic barrage of zombies, leaving them no choice to hold out until the safe haven of Busan in the south.
In what is easily the best zombie movie in recent years, Train To Busan proves an enormously entertaining watch at every minute, featuring twists and turns galore to the backdrop of an intensely action-packed battle for survival, yet still with an incredible amount of emotion and heart, thanks to some very well-developed characters and strong performances throughout.
There’s a lot to love about this movie, but I’m going to start off with why it makes the zombie genre, one that often falls flat, really work. For me, zombie movies are regularly frustrating watches, proving to be nothing more than two hours of running away from a mass of mildly threatening things, and never really allowing for anything different to spark genuine interest or excitement.
Fortunately, what Train To Busan does is keep the simplest and most effective characteristics of the zombie genre, but make sure that it never loses sight of what makes a good film. As a result, while there’s so much fantastic zombie action, and some properly intense violence that makes the undead far more threatening villains than normal, it’s the film’s story that really makes it work so well.
Above all, the depth of character development is the biggest success of the whole film. Starting off with a concise and interesting introduction to our main characters, looking at a father obsessed with his work and how that has alienated his own daughter, the film doesn’t languish about when it comes to being more thorough, but the background that it does give you is absolutely vital for the rest of the film.
Following on from the father and daughter, we’re introduced just as efficiently to a couple of other major characters on the train that will be integral to the fight for survival, and it’s the fact that get a genuine emotional insight into each of them that means you can really fear for them in this situation, and will them to survive against what seem like impossible odds.
Throughout, the film proves itself bold and daring by making sure no major characters are 100% safe, and that means you’re sitting on an emotional knife-edge at every moment. It’s not the action and pace that makes this film a thrilling watch, but the fact that you’re so enthralled in the story, and each and every turn proves yet another incredible twist.
The performances in this film are also just as strong. The excellent character development is matched by a selection of both likable and brilliantly dastardly performances across the board, and although that doesn’t always excuse the occasional stupid character decision to advance the plot, it reinforces your emotional connection to the leads, and with the likes of Gong Yoo and Ma Dong-seok in particular putting in fantastic turns, you won’t be able to look away from the movie’s fantastic heroes.
And finally, I can’t forget to say that this movie is a hell of a lot of fun. Its drama may be enthralling, and its emotion powerful, but it’s still a playful and hyperbolic zombie movie that will put as much of a smile on your face as put you on the edge of your seat. It’s not a downbeat, apocalyptic disaster movie like World War Z or so many Hollywood zombie flicks, but rather a vivacious and rapid-fire blockbuster full of life and humour to go along with its excellent story.
Overall, I was absolutely thrilled by Train To Busan. An incredibly entertaining movie that outdoes almost every zombie movie before it, it impresses with excellent performances and directing, and a story that prioritises enthralling characters and genuine drama over simple thrills and spills, but still leaves time for a load of great zombie action, and that’s why I’m giving it an 8.4.
The Mad Movie Man
The Mad Movie Man, AKA Anthony Cullen, writes articles and reviews about movies and the world of cinema. Since January 1st, 2013, he has watched and reviewed a movie every day. This is the blog dedicated to the project: www.madmovieman.com
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New York High School Student Arrested for Going to Class
Dave Coombs
Photo Credit - petdcat/ThinkStock
This might be a bit extreme for Utica, Rome or other portions of Central New York. But it seems like they do things a little bit differently out on the southern shore of Long Island.
High school student Maverick Stow, who is 17, was arrested at William Floyd High School in Mastic, New York on Thursday after being suspended Tuesday for attending in-person classes on his scheduled remote learning day. That's right, he was arrested and sent to jail overnight...for going to school. Maybe the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic is getting to folks.
Stow is protesting the coronavirus regulations and has come to the school on three days that he was supposed to be distance learning.
When the teen was released from custody at the 7th Precinct in Shirley, New York, on Thursday, he spoke with the press and expressed befuddlement over why he'd been arrested. Here's a clip from The Beth & Dave morning show on September 11, 2020 on Lite 98.7:
In a statement to Eyewitness News ABC News 7 in New York, the William Floyd School District's Public Relations Director, James Montalto said his school is just following New York State's social distancing mandates, and added:
In order to adhere to these guidelines, it is imperative that students attend school during their scheduled in-person days only. Students who refuse to adhere to their scheduled in-person days and/or flagrantly disregard directives to leave school grounds and cause a disruptive environment for other students, will face disciplinary actions.
Mastic is a hamlet with a population of about 15,000 and is located in Long Island's Suffolk County.
See New Words Added to Dictionary.com in 2020
Filed Under: Coronavirus in New York, COVID-19, lite 98.7, long island, school
Categories: Daily Distraction, Just For Fun, New York News
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Context here
Ziggo Dome – Amsterdam, NLD
1 87 1 Long Road 08/05/16 9 1 / 2, TD 88 / 90 87
2 66 1 Low Light 03/21/18 2 1 / 4, TD 67 / 74 89
3 446 1 Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town 03/24/18 1 1 / 12, TD 447 / 462 42
4 557 1 Corduroy 03/24/18 1 1 / 12, TD 558 / 575 21
5 496 1 Do The Evolution 03/24/18 1 1 / 15, TD 497 / 517 18
6 454 1 Given To Fly 03/21/18 2 1 / 13, TD 455 / 472 25
7 97 1 Mind Your Manners 03/24/18 1 1 / 12, TD 98 / 113 3
8 83 1 Red Mosquito 04/11/16 28 1 / 4, TD 84 / 88 87
9 229 1 Wishlist 03/21/18 2 1 / 6, TD 230 / 236 62
10 825 1 Even Flow 03/24/18 1 1 / 15, TD 826 / 847 19
11 136 1 Severed Hand 05/05/16 17 1 / 3, TD 137 / 139 57
12 227 1 Not For You 08/07/16 8 1 / 3, TD 228 / 233 68
13 512 1 Daughter 03/21/18 2 1 / 10, TD 513 / 526 34
▲ Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2) 08/05/16 9 1 / 3 64 / 66
14 0 1 Again Today LIVE DEBUT – 1 / 2, TD 1 / 3 0
15 109 1 Got Some 03/16/18 3 1 / 1, TD 110 / 111 47
16 91 1 Down 03/24/18 1 1 / 4, TD 92 / 97 80
17 513 1 Better Man 03/24/18 1 1 / 10, TD 514 / 528 34
18 25 1 Yellow Moon 08/07/16 8 1 / 1, TD 26 / 26 74
19 112 1 Footsteps 03/13/18 4 1 / 4, TD 113 / 118 87
20 537 1 Jeremy 03/24/18 1 1 / 9, TD 538 / 550 46
21 441 1 Why Go 03/24/18 1 1 / 8, TD 442 / 452 56
22 570 1 Porch 03/24/18 1 1 / 15, TD 571 / 592 44
23 561 1 Black 03/24/18 1 1 / 13, TD 562 / 577 45
24 759 1 Alive 03/24/18 1 1 / 15, TD 760 / 781 25
25 69 1 Fuckin' Up 05/08/16 16 1 / 2, TD 70 / 71 91
26 159 1 Indifference 03/13/18 4 1 / 3, TD 160 / 163 79
Ziggo Dome 2018-06-13
Song count: 26
Intros: 0
Teases: 0
Live debuts: 1
Tour debuts: 26
Show 1 of 15 this tour
Tour rarity: 49.2
Show tour rank: 6 / 15
All-time rarity: 50.9
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Apple History
Dan Bricklin, Inventor of the Electronic Spreadsheet
LEM Staff - 2006.11.07
Dan Bricklin (born 1951) codeveloped VisiCalc with Bob Frankston in the late 1970s while he was a student at the Harvard Business School. VisiCalc is widely credited for fueling the rapid growth of personal computers in business. He is currently president of Software Garden, Inc., a small consulting firm and developer of software applications that he founded in 1985.
Bricklin started programming in FORTRAN in the mid 1960s while still in high school. He attended college at MIT, receiving a BS in Electrical Engineering/Computer Science in 1973. There he worked at the Laboratory for Computer Science, where he met Bob Frankston. After MIT, Dan worked at Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). He was project leader of the WPS-8 word processing software. In 1976, he left DEC and worked at FasFax Corporation. In 1977, he returned to school, this time receiving an MBA from Harvard in 1979.
It was during his tenure as a graduate student that he conceived the idea and design for the electronic spreadsheet, teaming up with his friend Bob Frankston to do the programming. Together they founded Software Arts, Inc., in 1979, where Dan served as chairman from 1979 to 1985. The product they produced, VisiCalc, is credited with being one of the main catalysts that brought about the rapid growth of the personal computer industry.
LEM: What did you work on before VisiCalc?
Dan Bricklin: At MIT, among other things, I implemented two versions of an APL system for the Multics system, once as a junior member of a two person team and then once as head of a total rewrite with a few more people. (Multics was the major precursor to Unix.)
At DEC, I worked on a video editing system for computerized typesetting, and then was project leader of the implementation of their first word processing system around 1975. Next I worked on maintaining and upgrading a microprocessor-based cash register system used in the fast food business. Finally, I went to Harvard Business School where I came up with the idea for VisiCalc.
LEM: When you thought of VisiCalc, did you think it would be as successful as it was? Or was it just meant to be a small project?
DB: I hoped it would be very successful, but the idea that there would be a computer on every work desk was something we all knew should happen – but given the slow acceptance of computers for everyday use in the office over the years, we knew such penetration had many barriers, and we had to be “practical” in out thinking.
I mean, I’ve been told since I was a child in the 1950s and early 60s that within ten years we’d have TV sets we could hang on the wall. That didn’t become a reality to most people until just the last year or two – over 40 years later.
I knew using VisiCalc was an obvious thing for most of business as I was taught it, but then word processing was also obvious, and it was taking off very slowly. You hope for big success (if you don’t think your product is that important, why do it?) but try to be practical just in case.
JC: Who had the task of showing VisiCalc to Apple? I’ve read that Steve Jobs was shown a floppy disk that read “this is going to be a revolution” on the label?
DB: That story, if true or not, will have to come from Dan Fylstra, our publisher. Bob Frankston and I were not involved in the relationship with Apple until well after the Apple II version shipped. Apple was not involved in the design of the product at all in any direct way, other than we were first implementing on their hardware.
The main special thing about the Apple II was that it was easier to buy floppy drives for it at the time than their competition. From a software viewpoint for a product like VisiCalc, the TRS-80 and PET and upcoming Atari were just variations, and we could have coded for them first if Personal Software had wanted.
LEM: Did you and Bob Frankston ever plan to publish VisiCalc on your own under the Software Arts name? Why did you go with Personal Software, Inc. instead? Did you ever think Apple would be interested in publishing the VisiCalc?
DB: We knew the people at Personal Software and, as a software company, were aiming for more than one manufacturer. Personal Software helped fund our development and understood the product’s value. They also were heavily involved in all aspects of the marketing and sales, in which we at Software Arts played a quite secondary role.
The idea of independent software companies (independent of hardware manufacturers) was the way things worked back then in the mini and mainframe world. While we were two companies (Software Arts and Personal Software), together we had all you needed and more or less could be viewed as one company from outside at that point. The natural thing would be for us two to merge, and we very soon started looking into that, but for various reasons that never came to be, and we each developed capabilities in the area of the other. Our contract with Personal Software pretty much kept us out of publishing it under our own name until we ended it years later.
LEM: Why did Lotus 1-2-3 outsell VisiCalc?
DB: It was a better product for the IBM PC and was marketed better at the time. For various reasons, we (Software Arts and Personal Software) could not compete quick enough with it. We had a great product in VisiCalc Advanced Version, but it only ran on the Apple III and later the Apple IIe.
LEM: Did you have any involvement with VisiOn and VisiOn Calc?
DB: No.
LEM: What did you do after VisiCalc?
DB: I started a one-person (later two-person) company named Software Garden and developed Dan Bricklin’s Demo Program. It was used for prototyping character-based software (think “IBM PC”, green screen 3270s, etc.) as well as for training and sales. It was quite popular, winning awards, etc. Many software people know me only for Demo (and later Demo II and Demo-it). I also wrote a printing utility called PageGarden.
Later I helped found Slate Corporation, which developed software (including a pen-centric spreadsheet) for GO’s Penpoint, Microsoft Windows, and the Apple Newton. Those machines didn’t sell, so that company had few customers.
Later I founded Trellix Corporation, which developed Web authoring systems, both client-based and later server-based.
I’m back now at Software Garden doing consulting and writing various Open Source programs, including ListGarden (an RSS creator) and wikiCalc. They both run on multiple platforms, including Windows, Linux, and OS X. I also produced a training video I sell called “A Developer’s Introduction to Copyright and Open Source”.
LEM: Google have recently developed an online spreadsheet. What do you think about this? Is online software the way ahead?
DB: Online software is already very important. It is the main way we do search and a lot of commerce. It is a major way people do email, etc. Google has apparently been buying the basis of their products for text authoring and other such apps (Writely, their spreadsheet, Jotspot) and seeing where they could go with them.
I think most software companies are looking into how online software fits into most product areas. However, a powerful client platform is important. A browser that can run something like Google Spreadsheet or YouTube or even most any nice looking Web page with lots of CSS formatting is a quite sophisticated piece of code running on hardware much more powerful than most anything anybody had even in a datacenter years ago.
I’m sure we’ll continue to find some applications that work best being hosted on the client, but more and more applications need some or all of what they do to be online.
LEM: At the moment you are working on wikiCalc. Do you think this is going to be as big as VisiCalc was in the 70s and early 80s?
DB: VisiCalc was the “killer app” that got many people to buy personal computers. There is no way wikiCalc will be the one reason that will get people who don’t have a reason to have a personal computer to buy one today. wikiCalc is not so much a new class of software as VisiCalc was (after all, in many ways it is just some sort of combination of wiki and spreadsheet, as its name implies).
wikiCalc is important because it is Open Source, so people can run it on their own machines, experiment with it, and even contribute to its improvement. It is a test bed for experimenting with online spreadsheet ideas, including working both client-side without a persistent Internet connection as well as only server-side or a mixture of the two. VisiCalc had probably a little less than a million users. In today’s world, who knows how many people will use wikiCalc. A million isn’t that many. Even my Demo program, as a runtime for demos and training, was “bigger” than VisiCalc in terms of number of users, as was some of the Trellix products.
LEM: Do you think there will ever be another killer app like VisiCalc that has such a huge impact on the computer industry and the world as a whole?
DB: Every few years some new software product comes out that has a huge impact. Desktop publishing, email, Internet routing, browsing, Google-style search, user content like blogging/YouTube/podcasting, MP3 playing (and ripping) software. There’s no reason for that to stop.
LEM: Thanks for your time.
Dan Bricklin’s Web Site
Dan Bricklin, Wikipedia
VisiCalc and the Rise of the Apple II, Tom Hormby, Low End Mac
wikiCalc
Short link: http://goo.gl/T1sQA1
searchword: danbricklin
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Today’s Edition
China prefers Trump losing while Russia seeks to undermine Biden, US intelligence community says
China not only wants to see President Trump lose reelection but is also expanding its foreign influence campaign ahead of the 2020 election, according to a U.S. intelligence community assessment released less than 90 days before Election Day.
A statement by National Counterintelligence and Security Center Director Bill Evanina, released on Friday as a follow-up to his July update, also warned that Russia primarily seeks to harm the election chances of Trump’s Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, and that Iran aims to undermine Trump and divide the country ahead of November.
Evanina said that “many foreign actors have a preference for who wins the election, which they express through a range of overt and private statements,” and “covert influence efforts are rarer.” He said U.S. intelligence agencies “are primarily concerned about the ongoing and potential activity” by China, Russia, and Iran.
“We assess that China prefers that President Trump, whom Beijing sees as unpredictable, does not win reelection,” Evanina said. “China has been expanding its influence efforts ahead of November 2020 to shape the policy environment in the United States, pressure political figures it views as opposed to China’s interests, and deflect and counter criticism of China.”
The top counterintelligence official continued: “Although China will continue to weigh the risks and benefits of aggressive action, its public rhetoric over the past few months has grown increasingly critical of the current administration’s COVID-19 response, closure of China’s Houston Consulate, and actions on other issues. For example, it has harshly criticized the administration’s statements and actions on Hong Kong, TikTok, the legal status of the South China Sea, and China’s efforts to dominate the 5G market.”
Evanina said that the Chinese Communist Party “recognizes that all of these efforts” could affect the presidential election.
The Trump administration has ramped up penalties against China in recent months, including sanctions against Chinese Communist Party leaders in Hong Kong on Friday and against Chinese officials complicit in alleged human rights abuses against the Uighur Muslims and other religious and ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region of western China. Trump also signed executive orders this week that could effectively ban Chinese-owned TikTok and WeChat from operating in the U.S. within 45 days.
“We assess that Russia is using a range of measures to primarily denigrate former Vice President Biden and what it sees as an anti-Russia ‘establishment.’ This is consistent with Moscow’s public criticism of him when he was vice president for his role in the Obama administration’s policies on Ukraine and its support for the anti-Putin opposition inside Russia,” Evanina said. “For example, pro-Russia Ukrainian parliamentarian Andriy Derkach is spreading claims about corruption — including through publicizing leaked phone calls — to undermine former Vice President Biden’s candidacy and the Democratic Party. Some Kremlin-linked actors are also seeking to boost President Trump’s candidacy on social media and Russian television.”
In July, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, and other Democratic leaders wrote a letter with classified appendices to FBI Director Christoper Wray to say they were “gravely concerned, in particular, that Congress appears to be the target of a concerted foreign interference campaign, which seeks to launder and amplify disinformation.”
In response to the letter, which was announced via press release, former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell tweeted, “Gang of Eight (and others impacted) were already briefed. Weeks ago. This request is a CYA.”
The New York Times published a report that same day, July 20, which said, “behind the congressional Democrats’ warning are the efforts of a Ukrainian lawmaker, Andriy Derkach,” who went to a KGB-linked school, was formerly connected to a pro-Russian faction in Ukraine, and in May leaked portions of phone calls between Biden and former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Homeland Security Chairman Ron Johnson condemned efforts to connect them to a Russian disinformation operation, arguing that the Democrats’ letter ” grossly mischaracterizes” their Russia and Ukraine investigations. The Republicans also said they have never received any information from Derkach.
The U.S. recently condemned Russian intelligence-linked hackers for attempting to steal coronavirus vaccine research, and the Global Engagement Center released a 77-page report detailing Russian disinformation operations this week.
Finally, Evanina said Iran “seeks to undermine U.S. democratic institutions, President Trump, and to divide the country in advance of the 2020 elections.” He said Tehran’s efforts “probably will focus on online influence such as spreading disinformation on social media and recirculating anti-U.S. content.” He said that the Iranian regime’s motivation “is in part driven by a perception that President Trump’s reelection would result in a continuation of U.S. pressure on Iran in an effort to foment regime change.”
Iran recently executed a man its government claimed was a spy who helped the U.S. kill Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani, whose Quds Force was responsible for the deaths of more than 600 U.S. service members in Iraq. The Trump administration has engaged in a “maximum pressure” campaign against the Iranian regime after withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Marco Rubio and Democratic Vice Chairman Mark Warner released a joint statement noting that Evanina’s assessment “highlights some of the serious and ongoing threats to our election.” Pointing to briefings from Evanina as well as from the FBI and Homeland Security Department, they said “more of the information that was made available in these briefings can, and at the appropriate time should, be shared with the voting public.”
Rubio and Warner said they “encourage political leaders on all sides to refrain from weaponizing intelligence matters for political gain, as this only furthers the divisive aims of our adversaries.”
Rubio, a Florida Republican, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky recently called on Democratic leaders to stop “politicizing intelligence matters” after the Democrats claimed Evanina’s July statement “gives a false sense of equivalence to the actions of foreign adversaries.” The pair defended Evanina, saying the U.S. is far better prepared to combat election meddling now than in 2016, adding, “Our Democrat colleagues know it.”
Robert Mueller’s special counsel report, released in April 2019, said Russians interfered in the 2016 election in a “sweeping and systematic fashion” but “did not establish” any criminal collusion between any Russians and anyone in Trump’s orbit.
Second stimulus checks: Trump says Democrats holding up new direct payments
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — President Donald Trump says Democrats are the reason you haven’t received a second direct payment from the government. As of now, negotiations
‘Spygate’ figure Stefan Halper wanted to be Trump’s secretary of state, recording suggests
A newly released audio recording of Cambridge professor Stefan Halper revealed that the “Spygate” figure harbored ambitions of being President Trump’s secretary of state even
‘Asking for a disaster’: White House continues crusade against mail-in voting
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic leaders on Saturday discussed whether to reconvene the House, which is currently in recess, to address the Postal Service
Black Lives Matter Isn’t Going to Just ‘Shut Up and Vote’ for Kamala Harris
When Cat Brooks casts her vote for president in about 80 days, the Oakland, California-based organizer and former Democratic Socialists of America-endorsed candidate for mayor
© Foundation for Truth in Journalism, a not for profit corp estb. 2010 ~ Non Partisan Pursuit of Truth®
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Kenson Joseph Li
Looking at Hong Kong’s recent protests through two historical massacres
Photo credit: here
On 16 August 1819, calvary charged into a crowd who had gathered to demand better parliamentary representation in St. Peter’s Field, Manchester.[1]
On 22 January (9 January O.S.) 1905 in St. Petersburg, an unarmed crowd of demonstrators led by an Orthodox priest was fired upon by the soldiers of the Imperial Guards as they marched towards the Winter Palace to deliver a petition to the Tsar. [2] [3: Robert Service, The Russian Revolution, 31–32]
On 11 August 2019 (time of writing) in Hong Kong, tea gas canisters were fired into a metro station, and beanbag rounds allegedly blinded a female protester, as the city’s political unrest heightens in yet another weekend of protests.
This article serves only one purpose, that is to put Hong Kong’s current situation in a greater context through the lens of historical protests and their results. I offer no ‘way out’ for the present political impasse, for that is something those in power ought to consider, and the consequences are theirs to bear.
1. What happened at Peterloo and why?
[I rely on Wikipedia for this section as I have no access to scholarly materials on this incident, if you feel that this discredits my argument then simply ignore all comments on what happened at Peterloo]
What happened was that the Manchester Patriotic Union, a group agitating for parliamentary reform, organised a demonstration to be addressed by the radical orator Henry Hunt.
Shortly after the meeting began, local magistrates called on the Manchester and Salford Yeomanry to arrest Hunt and several others on the hustings with him. The Yeomanry charged into the crowd, knocking down a woman and killing a child, and finally apprehending Hunt. The 15th Hussars were then summoned by the Chairman of the Lancashire and Cheshire Magistrates, William Hulton, to disperse the crowd. They charged with sabres drawn, and in the ensuing confusion, 18 people were killed and 400–700 were injured. The massacre was given the name Peterloo in an ironic comparison to the Battle of Waterloo, which had taken place four years earlier.
The causes of the demonstration that took place at Peterloo were:
Famine and chronic unemployment due to the Napoleonic Wars in 1815
Poor economic conditions
Lack of suffrage in Northern England
How does that relate to Hong Kong today?
Since Hong Kong is not really affected by the first two causes, I shall look at the third cause: the lack of suffrage.
Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (equivalent to the British Parliament) has 70 seats, half of the legislators (equivalent to the Members of Parliament) are elected through local election (equivalent to a general election in the UK), and half of them are elected through professional representation in their ‘functional constituency’ (which means it is not geographical). This means that only a few members of a particular profession get to cast their votes, with most of the legislators elected through this way being the only candidate in their respective profession. There are also archaic functional constituencies such as ‘Fisheries’ and ‘Textiles’ constituencies, professions that are no longer representative of the working class of Hong Kong.
For a summary of the struggle to abolish ‘functional constituency’, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_constituency_(Hong_Kong)
2. What happened at St. Petersburg and why?
Many intellectuals in St. Petersburg believed that absolute monarchy was the cause of the numerous problems troubling the Tsarist Russia in 1915. Tsar Nicholas II’s determination to continue the Russo-Japanese War baffled his ministers, the massive defeat and the economic strain this War has inflicted on Russia caused great displeasure among the Russians.
What’s more, the influence of the still foreign Socialism, and the desire to restore the egalitarian tradition once seen in the peasant commune, gave rise to the ‘Populist’ militant (Narodniki, народники). They started to demand political liberty. The state police — Okhrana — rounded up activists in hundreds, the liberals were harassed, the neo-populists, the Socialist-Revolutionaries, suffered prison and exile. [4: Robert Service, The Russian Revolution, 31] The anti-monarchy Marxists were hunted hard by the police.
Led by Father Gapon, unarmed protesters were fired upon during a peaceful procession in favour of constitutional and social reforms. This is now know as the Russian ‘Bloody Sunday’, which is one of the cause of the Russian Revolution in 1905 and 1917.
The demands by the protesters include better working conditions, fairer wages, an end to the Russo-Japanese War and the introduction of universal suffrage.
Further Reading: Robert Service, The Russian Revolution, 19–51
Ilya Repin’s “17 October 1905”
The resemblance between the two incidents is uncanny. Protesters demanded social reforms and universal suffrage. Both started off as peaceful protests, both were met with blatant violence from the state police, both led to strikes and worsened the tension between the people and the government.
Hong Kong government’s inaction and indifference to the demands of the protesters indirectly allow the Hong Kong police to act in such absurd ways. (although many believe that the government ordered the police to repress all forms of protests by force) History has taught us that things tend to go wrong for the government when they dodge political demands by hiding behind the armed forces. One only needs to look at the Kornilov affairs [5] to realise that this tactic not only loses the government’s credibility, but also its control over the armed forces, as they grow more and more unscrupulous and reckless.
The legality of protests
Many of the ‘middle of the road’ Hong-Kongers who support this political movement in principle find themselves in a ‘utopian dilemma’ when the protests turn violent. “I support the protests as long as they stay peaceful.” one of such sitting-on-the-fence-compatriot may say. I would like to point once again to the great Russian Revolutions of 1905 and 1917 (perhaps the July Days resembles the recent unrest the most), or shall I point out the ironic obvious — that the Communist Party of China (CPC) was hardly a legal entity for the first 20 years of its existence, and the militant ways in which it seized and reinforced power in mainland China, make them the least likely and qualified critic regarding the legality of the protest in Hong Kong. No one would believe that a government that runs a modern concentration camp is really concerned about law and order with no ulterior motives. Legality has always been a wishy-washy chalk line that is used extremely flexibly by those in power when facing political demands. From the Pharisees in Jesus’ time to today’s CPC, legality has been used as a mere commodity. To say that the protesters’ fighting back is bad because it is causing a lot of disruption and damage to properties, one might as well say that any other form of protests is doubleplusungood unless it is done peacefully, and except for the housing situation and tonnes of issues not addressed by the government because it has no duty to the people, Hong Kong is one of the doubleplusgood cities in the world, and any repression we think we are undergoing is simply the CPC being malquoted. Those who demand protests to be peaceful simply misses the point, and Hong Kong will only become another Airstrip One in the end.
One final consolation
Hong Kong’s current situation is a humanitarian crisis. It begs the support from other democratic countries, yet it is receiving none. In this era when capitalism is the global norm, it is ironic that the capitalistic principle of maximising one’s benefit is the only thing that is restraining democratic countries from speaking out against the systematic violence inflicted by a so-called socialist country on a former British territory that is on its knees begging for political reforms that perhaps would make housing a tiny bit more affordable, or would see its people electing their own chief executive for the first time.
If the massacres indeed can be read as pointers to the whats and whys of Hong Kong’s crisis, then History promises hope. Peterloo massacre is thought to be one of the defining moments in the development of British democracy. It is true that immediately after Peterloo massacre the government imposed serious measures on reform, however it successfully awoke the workers to struggle for the enfranchisement of the working class.
“Henceforth, the people were to stand with ever greater fortitude behind that great movement, which, stage by stage throughout the nineteenth century, was to impose a new political order upon society” — R J White
Hong Kong’s current political movement is sustained by not only the immeasurable will of Hong Kongers to fight for true freedom, as we have seen on social media, it is also fuelled with immense creativity, charity, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, peace and love. How can one not remain hopeful seeing the great resilience and unity humanity is able to demonstrate in such dark and gloomy days?
On the Russian revolutions:
History of the Russian Revolution by Leon Trotsky, Ch. 1–3
The Penguin History of Modern Russia by Robert Service
On the Peterloo Massacre:
BBC Radio documentary on the massacre (for a limited time only):
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00076tg
More from Kenson Joseph Li
If You Want To Be Happy In Your 40's…
Barry Davret
A Bitter Old Man’s Dying Words Suggest Life is About Love and Purpose
Alvin Ang in The Ascent
Dear Twenty-Something, Don’t Chase Money — Make Yourself Happy First
Sergey Faldin in Curious
Weaponized Positivity Makes Us Miserable
Gina Gallois in Fearless She Wrote
Life Is What Happens When You’re Waiting For The Things That Never Come
Ryan Fan in Mind Cafe
New Year’s Eve-olutions
Maria Tsudon
Keeping My Options Open
Regrets? I’ve Had More than a Few
Em Unravelling in The Bad Influence
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markedministrymag September 10, 2019 Arts
5 Artists That Made CCM History
(Photos courtesy of Amazon)
By Sarah Komisky
Many know Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) as it is today on the radio but did you know CCM traces back it’s roots to the early ‘70s? And guess what? The musical journey is awesome! So let’s take a tour of music history with five amazing artists you may not know that changed the genre and culture forever.
‘70s: Love Song
Burned out of the drug scene of the ‘60s and on a quest to find the meaning of life, a group of hippie musician friends visited Blue Top Christian Commune on a search for truth. Invited out to Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, they met the beloved by hippie pastor, Chuck Smith and found the truth they were looking for in Jesus Christ. A few weeks after their conversion, Love Song was reborn playing for the first time at the church the same secular style of the time, but with a Christian message. With a simple passion to create and share with others about Jesus, the band became an integral part of the Jesus Movement. Receiving national media attention from record label and magazines like Rolling Stone, while playing the first Christian music festival at Knott’s Berry Farm. In turn, they toured and under the leadership of Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa helping launch the first Christian rock label called Maranatha! Music. Molding the contemporary Christian music genre, they created rock that matched the quality of their contemporaries. Standing the test of time, this band encapsulates a sound of a decade and the heart of the revival that changed our world forever.
Listen: Love Song (1972)
For Fans Of: America; Jimmy Hendrix; Canned Heat
‘80s: Stryper
In a time where ‘80s big metal hair bands topped charts, a band named Stryper came on the CCM scene in 1985 and did the unthinkable – create Christian metal. Releasing Soldiers Under Command which became the band’s first gold record, Stryper made it to the Billboard charts. Additionally, the band became the second Christian band to receive airplay on MTV at the top 10 slot with the songs “Free” and “Honestly.” The album To Hell With The Devil became multi-platinum and movies like Whip It starring Drew Barrymore and Pain & Gain with Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson paid homage to the band’s cultural significance. Overall, Styrper whose name is derived from Isaiah 53:5 are a high energy rock band who have remained grounded in their faith and commitment to their convictions as Christ followers.
Listen: To Hell With The Devil (1986)
For Fans Of: Van Halen; Bon Jovi; Def Leppard
‘90s/2000s: Crystal Lewis
While Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, and Celine Dion were making history as powerhouse female singers, a powerhouse of own right named Crystal Lewis stepped on the CCM scene. A favorite of pop stars Katy Perry and Tori Kelly, Crystal Lewis has recorded over 200 songs, released 20 albums, and is a multi-Dove Award winner and 3 time Grammy nominee. Singing alongside R&B and Gospel legends like Mary J. Blige, Kirk Franklin, CeCe Winans, Andrae Crouch, and even Pop Star Donna Summer, Lewis has remained a standout to the genre with her signature voice and magnetic presence. Over the years, the artist made the song “People Ger Ready” an anthem for those who attended the Harvest Crusade with Greg Laurie. With innovative style, Lewis keeps challenging herself with various collaborations and dabbling in different genres, her latest being the R&B dance song “Dancing Through Tunnels” and the most recent Jazz album, Rhapsody. Remaining true to herself Lewis is a surprising chameleon that remains current.
Listen: Remember – “Live @ the Woodlands” (1999) “Fearless” (2002)
For Fans Of: Mariah Carey; Jennifer Hudson; Tori Kelly
The popularity of music videos to MTV and Vh1’s credit were huge in the ‘90s and Christian artist Carman championed this through his music and videos that spanned across all genres. From Hip hop to country, Carman was catching on to the trends of the ‘90s with a keen intentionality to reach the generation for Christ. Between 1987 to 1989 he was named Charisma magazine’s readers choice of favorite male vocalist. With 15 gold albums and videos that sold 10 million records, Carman holds the attendances record for the largest single Christian concert in history. Packing out stadiums that hosted celebrities like U2, Madonna, Paul McCartney, and Garth Brooks, Carman created an event of free admission to reach others with the gospel. In turn, the concert was just as entertaining as any other A-list performer. Unlike any other CCM artist, Carman reached audiences in new ways unheard of before that time. Today, his creative music videos and music are still celebrated for translating the gospel to our modern vernacular.
Listen: R.I.O.T (1995)
For Fans Of: Janet Jackson; Michael Jackson; ‘90s Dance Pop
2000s: Plus One
At the millennium, pop music was at it’s zenith. CCM’s alternative to the trend was a band called Plus One, a band referring to the members of the group, plus God. When auditions were held by Atlantic Records to create a Christian boy band motivated by the success of N Sync, Backstreet Boys, and 98 Degrees, five young men in their late teens and early twenties auditioned and formed the group that made CCM history. Believing God called them to do great things for the gospel, these guys went for it! Complete with catchy songs and dance moves signature of the time, their debut “The Promise” that released in 2000 sold 500,000 album sales. The band also worked with Grammy Award Winning Producer David Foster for the project, landed a song on the Pokémon Movie Soundtrack, appeared on hit TV show, “Touched By An Angel,” performed with “it” artist Monica, had music videos on MTV, and released their own Christmas album. Obvious released in 2002 was a follow-up featuring their own material and edgier sound compared to N Sync’s Celebrity album. After two bandmates left the band to pursue other ministries and obligations, the remaining bandmates continued to pursue music releasing their final album entitled, Exdous in 2003 that had a more mature sound. Although the ban broke up in 2004 after a final tour, this band made a huge impact on culture that makes fans today still want that reunion.
For Fans Of: N Sync; Boys to Men; Backstreet Boys
Listen To: Obvious (2002)
There you go! Five artists that were total world changers. I hope you these artists inspire you towards change, become new favorites, and that you make your own CCM throwback discoveries. We’re just scratching the surface, so browse YouTube, Amazon, iTune, and Spotify today for more. Happy listening.
Posted in Arts. Bookmark the permalink.
Our Note to Guys: Throwback Stories
Cash Rich and Spiritually Poor
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Wm. Paul
Source: The Communist Review, June 1922, Vol. 3, No. 2.
Publisher: Communist Party of Great Britain
Transcription/Markup: Brian Reid
Proofreader: Chris Clayton
Public Domain: Marxists Internet Archive (2006). You may freely copy, distribute, display and perform this work; as well as make derivative and commercial works. Please credit “Marxists Internet Archive” as your source.
NOW that the much-advertised Genoa Conference has ended, we are able to understand why it failed to solve the fundamental problems which called it into existence. The inner essence of the Conference was hidden beneath a welter of spectaculour glamour and dramatic events. No one understands better than the Marxians and Communists that the surging undercurrents of history are seldom noticed by those superficial observers who only study prominent personalities prancing and prattling in the vivid lime-light of the social stage. Despite all its tinsel and trappings, Genoa will be a landmark in history. It will be famous not for what it accomplished, but rather for the nature of the tasks it was called upon to solve. Genoa was nothing more or less than a desperate attempt of world capitalism to try and stabilise itself. But it was even something more than that; it marked the beginning of a series of international struggles, in the diplomatic field, between revolutionary Socialism and reactionary Imperialism.
Modern society has created a technique which is international. This is the great contribution that Capitalism has made to history. It stands to-day as the greatest glory and at the same time the most disastrous achievement of the bourgeoisie. The international character of modern technique compels the highly developed nations to lean on one another. It is this economic fact that is cutting across the Versailles Treaty and which is showing the indemnity-mongers, from Lloyd George down to J. Ramsay MacDonald, that no matter how they may monkey with the thermometer, they cannot transform the economic atmosphere.
While the technique to-day is international, the propertied elements who control it are divided into nationalist groups, each of which is seeking to exclude the other in order to scoop in all the profits. This struggle conducted by the various “nationals” against each other is fought out in battlefields, and in conferences such as the recent one at Genoa. It is a conflict so bitter and relentless that it is destroying Capitalism. Genoa was but another attempt on the part of the various financial cliques to try and settle their differences in order, if possible, to set up an international united front against revolutionary Labour. It failed. And its failure was marked with something more dramatic than anything recorded in the Press. Genoa revealed the weakness and waning power of Capitalism. Genoa, no doubt, also showed that the Soviet Republics were weak. But the weakness of the Capitalist States was due to their old age, their mutual hatreds, and their inability to solve new problems; the weakness of the Soviet Republics was due to their infancy and to an unsuccessful attempt to strangle them. Before the youthful revolutionary Republics lies the future, pregnant with world-wide possibilities, which must bring forth new strength and new hope; their greatness and real power lies ahead of them. With the Capitalist States it is different. Their greatness and real power lies buried behind them; for them the future offers nothing but crises, wars, the revolutionary proletariat, and oblivion.
The Soviet and Genoa
BECAUSE the modern technique is international the Soviet Republics need technical contact with other nations. Until the world-wide masses rise and destroy their Imperialistic exploiters, the proletarian Republics will be compelled to adjust their revolutionary tactics to enable them to get access to those things which are vitally necessary for the economic rebuilding of Russia, but which are, at present, under the domination of Capitalist and Imperialistic groups. This problem of maintaining the Soviet Republics in the in the midst of Capitalist States was faced squarely at the beginning of the proletarian revolution by the Russian Communists. They made several overtures for an international conference, and they expressed their willingness, in 1918, to go to Prinkipo. The reply of the Entente was a frontal attack which manifested itself in blockades, wars, and subsidised insurrection. In this dastardly work the imperialists were ably assisted by the Second International, which tried to smash the Soviet power by equally foul but more indirect means. Despite the Churchills and the Snowdens, the Curzons and the MacDonalds, the Soviet Republics triumphed over superhuman obstacles at a price which was paid for in the blood of the most dauntless revolutionary fighters the world has ever known. Let the sentimental pacifists of the Labour Party and the I.L.P. ponder over the proletarian blood that they have spilled by their villainous sabotage of the Soviet Republics. Red Russia defeated all these attacks, not only by sacrificing her most valiant members, but by being forced to turn her attention to war when she desired to devote her energies to the great tasks of reconstruction. The Soviet Republics emerged from the crucible of Imperialist wars and Second International treachery in triumph. Her military successes were crowned when she met her Capitalist persecutors face to face and on equal terms at Genoa. But even here it was left to the Second International to add one further crime to its long list of villainies against Russia. At Genoa the Russian delegation would have been a doubly strengthened force if behind it there had been marshalled the organised masses of the world. In spite of Labour appeals from all parts of Europe, the leaders of the Second International, with characteristic slowness and treachery, succeeded in arranging their preliminary meeting to discuss the situation at Genoa on the same day that the great Conference closed!
As in all their struggles since 1917, the Soviet Republics had to depend on their own strength in their diplomatic war with the Imperialist Powers at Genoa. Let no one misunderstand Genoa. It was a conference struggle between the new revolutionary forces and the old Capitalist Powers. It was as important and fateful as the fights of the Red Armies against Denikin, Koltchak, and Wrangel. The music and the conductors were the same, only the players were different. Russia’s opening move was a daring plea for disarmament. Here was an ideal opportunity for the rhetorical pacifists of the Second International to have used their influence on behalf of their ideal of universal peace. No action, beyond passing the usual resolution, was taken. When the Second International is dead and damned the words “No action” will be found inscribed upon its white liver.
Lloyd George had hoped that Genoa would turn into a conference where the differences between all Capitalist groups would be merged into one mighty and united instrument against the Soviet Republics. He had visions of conciliating Germany, of breaking the chauvinistic spirit of France, and of getting a united Capitalist front against the Bolsheviks. He had dreams of returning from Genoa as the champion Bolshevik pulveriser, with a great European peace in his pocket, and a triumphant general election within his reach. He had hoped to hear Chicherin whining and to see the Soviet delegation gratefully accepting humiliating concessions and unstinted abuse; all this would have been pleasing to Winston Churchill and J. H. Thomas. It would also have been such splendid copy for his wife’s guest—Madame Snowden of the I.L.P. Instead of these things happening, Genoa showed that the internecine conflicts among the Capitalist States are deep and chronic. The British Premier had to strive like a trojan at Genoa to preserve an element of common decency among the conflicting Capitalist Powers in their public behaviour. His wonderful eloquence was eclipsed by the non-eloquent Chicherin, whose plain facts dazzled the Conference liked forked lightning; the Soviet delegates refused to take either cheap abuse or worthless concessions. Lloyd George’s wonderful conference ended without solving any of the great problems, and he had to come home to London cheered only by a few specially drilled automatons.
The Role of the Second International
DESPITE the absence of positive results at Genoa, it was something of a consolation to note how ably, and with what ease, the Soviet delegates defended the policy of the Bolshevik revolution against the imperialist statesmen of the Entente. The real strength of Lloyd George, in his opposition to the proposals put forward by the Russians, was based upon the weakness of the Labour movement in this country. It is no use disguising the melancholy fact that British Labour to-day is impotent and lethargic. A movement that is capable of tolerating the inglorious events of the past few weeks, particularly in the engineering and ship-building industries, was certainly not able to compel an astute observer like Lloyd George, to make generous concessions to the Soviet delegates at Genoa. It would seem that the “Black Friday” type of betraval has become the normal policy for the majority of British trade union leaders, and for the guiding lights of the Second International. Instead of working-class discontent being harnessed into a united front against the Shylock tactics of the Government in its dealings with the Russians at Genoa; or against the devastating policy of sectional unions defeating each other; or against the treatment of the unemployed, and many other vital questions—we find that the Second International is only capable of showing any energy when it deals with such Morning Post stunts as the conditions of the social revolutionary prisoners who are at present awaiting trial in Moscow for terroristic crimes against the Soviet Government, and for the murder of well-known Communists. This campaign in the press of the Second International, on behalf of the bomb-throwers of the social revolutionaries, was entered into in order to undermine the splendid impression that the Soviet delegates were making at Genoa upon the masses by their determined resistance to capitalist imperialism.
Very few people in this country are aware that the Russian social revolutionary party is a group that advocates and practices assassination as one of its fundamental policies. This party has adopted every method against the Soviet Government, from recruiting criminals for purposes of pillage, to the murder of prominent Soviet officials. It was the social revolutionary party that tried to assassinate Lenin by shooting at him with poisoned bullets; it has even descended to act as the paid servants of the Entente, and has organised reactionary plots against the Soviet Republics in order to handle imperialist money. This is the precious group that has stirred the Second International to a marvellous activity, and which has even transformed the meek J. Ramsay Macdonald into a bold traducer of the Russian Communists. For the sake of this bunch of anti-social desperadoes, the Second International has shown a willingness to sacrifice every chance of a united front of Labour.
The Second International, by its tactics is neither stupid nor inconsistent. It seeks to turn down the organising of a united Labour front, because this, in action, means an onslaught upon capitalism. By attacking the Soviet Government for daring to defend itself against the bomb-throwing social revolutionaries, the Second International is carrying out its traditional function of being the allies of the capitalist States. Having failed to completely sabotage the Soviets at Genoa, the Macdonalds and the Vanderveldes are hoping to use the imprisoned social revolutionaries in Russia as a pretext for weakening the Soviet delegation at the Hague. Before the Hague Conference begins the Soviet Government will have shown to the world the nature of the criminal gang of venal terrorists whom J. R. Macdonald and the other democratic constitutionalists are so enthusiastically defending.
An Apology and an Explanation
THE editor of the COMMUNIST REVIEW begs to apologise to the many comrades who were unable to obtain repeat orders for the May issue. Despite the fact that we kept the type standing, it was impossible to supply all the orders which came in late in the month. The phenomenal circulation of the COMMUNIST REVIEW has compelled the other monthly Labour journals to follow our price and to try and emulate our methods. We are only able to produce such a splendid REVIEW at sixpence because the editorial, translating, literary, and distributing work is a voluntary offering to the movement.
Some of our most enthusiastic distributing agents say that it would assist them in booking orders if they could get an idea what contributors would write for future numbers of the REVIEW. We cannot say who will write for us a few months hence. We can say, however, that every writer of note in the revolutionary movement is on our list. One of our great difficulties is that we don’t receive all the articles which are sent us from abroad; the “democratic” censor causes us no end of trouble. Quite recently, Karl Radek, who very much appreciates the COMMUNIST REVIEW, sent us a special article, which got “lost” in the post.
Next month that splendid veteran fighter, Clara Zetkin, will contribute an important article on the need for Labour to make a superhuman effort to combat the imperialistic wars which are at present brewing. Big Bill Haywood will write upon the class struggle in America. J. T. Walton Newbold, the most brilliant authority in this country on the imperialistic operations of high finance, has just completed a most important piece of research work regarding the inner struggles of the moneyed cliques to dominate Asia; he will write this up for us, and it will be an eye-opener. We are also hoping to be able to begin a series of articles by Buharin on “The Economics of the Transitional Period.” These are the most important articles on revolutionary tactics that have ever been written. The subject is the most interesting one in the world, and the writer, Buharin, is the most brilliant Marxian scholar in the movement. Abani Mukerji, of the India Communist Party, whose article on the “Moplah Rising” recently appeared in our pages, will deal with the Indian Labour movement. We hope to receive an interesting survey of the Korean revolutionary movement and its relation to the future of the Far East from Kinsic Kim, one of the ablest students of Communism in Korea. This Korean comrade graduated in an American college and returned to Asia, where he was an enthusiastic educationalist. From 1913 to 1919 he was engaged in political work in China and Mongolia; in 1919 he attended the Peace Conference at Paris, and was present at the Washington Conference in an important capacity, and he was also a delegate at the famous Congress of revolutionaries from the Far East recently held at Moscow. His article will be of the utmost importance to English readers, and it will open up new vistas regarding the part that the East will play in the world revolution. This contribution, which will deal with the inside of the Asiatic revolutionary movement, will be reinforced by J. T. Walton Newbold’s analysis of the financiers struggle to dominate the Far East. Finally, Comrade T. Bell will write on the “Implications of the Transition Period.” This article was prepared by Bell after a detailed study of the new Economic Policy at work in Russia.
Our readers will see from the above outline of the Contents for next month’s COMMUNIST REVIEW that our journal is by far the most important monthly organ in the revolutionary movement. Anyone who would like to become a distributing agent should send his name and address to the Circulation Manager, and if any agent desires to increase his monthly order he should do so at once. By enthusiasm and hard work we doubled our circulation within twelve months. Let us try and beat our previous best efforts. We have the goods; it is up to you to deliver them to the masses.
UP WITH THE COMMUNIST REVIEW!
William Paul Archive | Communist Review
CP Great Britain
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DVD REVIEW: AC/DC – No Bull: The Director’s Cut (1996)
AC/DC – No Bull: The Director’s Cut (originally 1996, DVD 2008 Sony)
The Plaza de Toro in Madrid is an incredible looking venue. “Nice place you got here!” understates Brian Johnson. To film a concert video here seems an easy decision. A crane and giant wrecking ball dominate the scene. The ball swings and bowls over the backdrop! Enter: Angus Young!
“Back in Black”* is a natural opener: Everybody knows it, and the groove is impossible to ignore. Johnson’s voice is ragged and weak compared to the old days, although I think Brian sounds better in general today. A pre-crystal meth Phil Rudd dons spectacles, and hammers out the beat that, truthfully, he invented and does best. Having Phil back for that period of the band was a coup. It’s back to the Bon Scott years then, with “Shot Down in Flames”. Now Brian sounds more in his element, somehow seeming more in control on a Bon song. As if it took them one song to warm up, everything feels in gear now. Then, “Thunderstruck” is an interesting take, because Phil didn’t play this song before. Chris Slade was in the band at that time, and Phil doesn’t even try to imitate his style. He plays “Thunderstruck” his own way, which is fine. There’s a live version, with Slade, on AC/DC Live. With Phil on the kit, “Thunderstruck” is no longer filled with nervous energy, but is more in the pocket. It’s an interesting evolution. Contrast this with any live video of the current lineup playing the song with Slade today.
“Girls Got Rhythm” is an easy classic, which warms the crowd up with a newbie: “Hard as a Rock”*, the single from Ballbreaker. All but instantly, it sounds like a familiar classic. This is high quality rock, with Johnson’s voice in full shred. Colourful lights illuminate the stage, but only Brian and Angus are really mobile. Cliff Williams and Malcolm Young rock steadily, sticking to their respective sides, and stepping up to the mic for the big chorus. The crowd goes nuts when Angus himself speaks. The stage is huge, but Brian Johnson runs across every inch, interacting with the massive crowd as a veteran frontman can. Then AC/DC knock ’em down (down down) easily on “Shoot to Thrill”. There is a rock and roll purity to this show: A bunch of guys in jeans (Angus excepted), playing hard rock and roll, but contrasted with that is the massive stage. AC/DC can do it because people love the personalities of the band. Angus doesn’t miss a note, no matter where he’s running off to next.
Phil smokes a cigarette during the blues number “Boogie Man”. Starting sluggishly, “Boogie Man” nails it as soon as Brian gets screaming. I’m sure AC/DC can play this kind of thing in their sleep! Angus has an extended solo during which he gets the crowd riled up and ready with his strip-tease moment. When he finally drops his drawers, his undies have the Spanish flag on them. Madrid eats every bit of it up. AC/DC clustered a bunch of new songs close to each other at this point, and “Hail Caesar”** is next. It’s time for a heavy prowler, and Caesar brings it on.
When the bell tolls, you know what’s happening. “Hell’s Bells”! Songs like this, “Dog Eat Dog”** and “The Jack” require no commentary. The sight of Johnson descending from a giant iron bell is pretty cool.
Last newbie of the night is “Ballbreaker”* itself, a blast of “shut the fuck up and listen t0 this” right in the face. This time, Brian is swinging from the wrecking ball, singing the whole time, kicking his feet in the air. AC/DC have crushed it…but there’s still lots more to go. “Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution”, “Dirty Deeds”, “You Shook Me All Night Long”**, “Rosie”*, “T.N.T.”…it’s all a good time, and you know them all. The only real critique is there is a gap in the setlist, with no songs from 1983-1988 appearing anywhere.
“Let There Be Rock” is, as usual, extended to epic length with Angus’ brilliant solo. First of all, it’s incredible that Angus still has this much energy after playing and stomping through a show this long. What’s really amazing is that everybody in the band is fully fueled for this full-speed song. Malcolm sips from a water bottle — that’s the key, folks. Hydration.
The cool part here is when Angus departs the stage (band playing on), to re-emerge atop the massive shoulders of a bodyguard and taken to a flying platform in the middle of the crowd! Many thrills later, Brian says goodnight, but you know he’s teasing. “Highway to Hell” commences with explosions, flames and Angus’ devil horns. And then, finally,the cannons” “For Those About to Rock” is the salute to Madrid , who witnessed an absolutely incredible AC/DC concert.
The DVD bonus features are cool, as you should expect. The “Angus Cam” versions of four songs is plenty fun, by focusing solely on Angus in the edit. It’s quite incredible to just watch the man play, because it seems as if he is entranced, on auto-pilot, but totally in command. If there wasn’t a guitar around his neck you might think he’s having a seizure! Then come the moments when he looks the crowd in the eye, and the playing only gets more intense! Like I said: this is plenty fun.
Then we have two bonus tracks not included in the Madrid set: “Cover You in Oil” (Sweden) and “Down Payment Blues” (Florida). “Cover You in Oil” is raw and sweaty. I don’t think the song is particularly strong, sounding a bit like a Blow Up Your Video outtake. Still, it’s always nice to get another new song on the DVD, since it’s doubtful a track like this will ever re-enter the setlists. The stupid music video footage that is editing into the tracks is annoying, however. Instead of watching Angus take a solo live, I’m watching him doing it in a music video. Bad editing decision. I like how Brian introduces “Down Payment Blues”: “This is from one of the albums…back in the 70’s…” Shit, he doesn’t know, he wasn’t there! But he gets the job done anyhow. And guess what? Brian Johnson is wearing the same damn blue shirt and hat at every show! His snarl adds to this version of the song.
What’s with the “Director’s Cut”? It seems the original 1996 VHS release (which I never saw) was rushed out for the Christmas season to the dissatisfaction of award winning director David Mallet. He did a new edit, and new stereo and 5.1 mixes for the DVD release.
*Indicates this version is available in audio form on the 2 CD edition of Stiff Upper Lip.
**Indicates this version is available in audio form on the deluxe Backtracks box set.
Posted in Reviews and tagged 5.1, AC/DC, angus young, Brian Johnson, classic rock, Cliff Williams, David Mallet, DVD, hard rock, Madrid, Malcolm Young, No Bull, Phil Rudd on October 4, 2015 by mikeladano. 8 Comments
← #440: What’s the Best Concert You’ve Ever Seen?
DVD REVIEW: Black Sabbath – Children of the Sea – Live in Brazil ’94 →
It’s funny, if you just showed a picture of Angus, I’d have no idea if it was from ’91 or 2011, he’s been remarkably consistent!
Vinyl Connection says:
Isn’t a wrecking ball just the right image for AC/DC?
keepsmealive says:
Yeah, leave it alone Miley, dammit!
Cool review Mikey….when I used to buy live DVDs for some reason I skipped this one! Have no idea why ….the track list is good…..BallBreaker is another one of those albums I like more today than when it was released in 96…..
Love the title track!
1537 says:
I’ve watched this but never had the urge to buy. My mum really liked this show too.
AC/DC live. Pretty much ’nuff said! Haha awesome. This show sounds like it was a lot of fun, by a band that truly understands the meaning of the word spectacle when entertaining their fans. It’s fun, it’s busy, there’s props, but nothing is over the top or garish. And the music is, of course, incredible and party good times rawk! Yup, mighty damn fine.
DanicaPiche says:
I haven’t seen this DVD but your review almost makes it seem like I have! One of the best things about AC/DC is their consistency. They are consistently all about the music and I like that.
80smetalman says:
Having seen AC/DC live I know how great they are. Never seen this live DVD before but it sounds really good.
keepsmealive on Martin Popoff chills with the…
KK on Martin Popoff chills with the…
@peddle_scott Anyone else I knew? 1 hour ago
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Trump’s Foreign Policy at a Crossroads
Recent U.S. foreign policy – driven by neocons and liberal hawks – has spread chaos and death around the globe. But can “crazy” Donald Trump bring sanity to how the U.S. approaches the world, asks Robert Parry.
If you wanted to bring sanity to a U.S. foreign policy that has spun crazily out of control, there would be some immediate steps that you – or, say, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson – could take, starting with a renewed commitment to tell the truth to the American people.
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A Jesuit Education
The MTMS Difference
Cura Personalis
Athletics, Extracurriculars & Service
Graduate Support Team
The MTMS Impact
A Community for Others
Preferred Community Partners
THE EVOLUTION OF MOTHER TERESA MIDDLE SCHOOL
A number of years ago, Regina-based business man Paul Hill and his wife Carol, had the opportunity to hear Mother Teresa speak during a trip to India. The Hill’s, and the group they were with, were so inspired by Mother Teresa’s words they tried to immediately express their gratitude. As they opened their wallets, Mother Teresa told them, “I don’t want your money. What I would like you to do is go back to your community, identify a need and then give of yourself and your resources to fill that need.”
Several years later, during a business trip in Southern California, Mr. Hill came across a network of schools, now referred to as the NativityMiguel Coalition of Schools, designed to provide impoverished families with an innovative and transformative educational experience for their children. This inspired him to explore the potential of having such a school in Canada.
In 2007, Paul and Carol, with the support and guidance of Mo Bundon and his wife, Michelle Carr, and The One Life Makes a Difference Foundation, embarked on the journey to explore the opportunity to opening Canada’s first NativityMiguel modelled school. In 2011, Mother Teresa Middle School opened the doors to its first Grade 6 class. Each year, MTMS accepts 20 new students entering Grade 6 to begin this life-changing, educational journey.
Two grade 8 students share their gratitude on behalf of the Class of 2019 with Mo Bundon & Michelle Carr (left) and Carol and Paul Hill (right).
Mother Teresa Middle School
1975 2nd Avenue North
Regina, SK Canada S4R 0Y1
P I 306.569-6867
E I info@mtmschoolregina.com
© Copyright 2021 Mother Teresa Middle School. All rights reserved.
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Ask me what social network I recommend to B2C companies, and it would be Facebook and/or Instagram followed by Pinterest and/or Twitter. For B2B companies, it would be LinkedIn followed by Twitter or Facebook. Clearly it’s easy to lose site of Twitter for marketing amongst newer and sexier rivals. But as a 2nd or 3rd social network for A/B testing, I will always recommend it as an option. I hope after checking out these Twitter user statistics, you will also see why and how you can use Twitter in your marketing efforts.
Furthermore, for those that have seen me speak, you know that Twitter, like Instagram, gives you the ability to engage with other users as if you were a person and not a business. This means that, unlike Facebook or LinkedIn, company accounts can do a lot more things using organic social media without necessarily paying to play, although Paid Social will help accelerate your marketing on any platform.
While it’s not as sexy as TikTok, Twitter continues to be in the news. After all, our currently-controversial President Trump is an avid user. He is famous for using the social media platform to present his ideas to the American people without going through the media or even his Press Secretary. In addition, the news often publishes exchanges between the President and other world leaders, in particular Kim Jong Un.
At the same time, there are a lot of people who think that Twitter is passé. After all, the platform doesn’t have a huge number of members, all things considered in relation to other social networks. However, as we will see from these Twitter user statistics, there’s a lot more to this story. In fact, Twitter is as influential as ever, especially as it leverages its value as one of the few places people can openly discuss politics – and anything, really.
Twitter user statistics basics: Demographics
Like many social media networks, Twitter has a wide variety of people using the platform. Granted, there are many fewer Twitter members than Facebook members, but its demographics are very interesting. Let’s take a look at a few.
There are 330 Million monthly users.
This is about the same saturation as LinkedIn. And like LinkedIn, Twitter is an older social network that’s had plenty of time to mature.
Also, keep in mind that:
187 million of these monthly users log on every day and can be monetized.
It has been pointed out by several sources that this method of counting subscribers is unique. Other social networks will tell you how many people log in every month, but don’t take into account whether or not they view advertisements on the platform. That’s Twitter’s definition of “monetizable,” and it helps us as marketers know how big our potential audience really is.
There are 68.07 million MAU’s from the United States.
Statista points out that the second and third-highest numbers of active users come from Japan and India, respectively. It’s worthy of note that the first two countries have a very high average income, and are among the most internet-connected in the world.
It’s also noteworthy that,
22% of American adults use Twitter.
While this is definitely not the huge number of adults who use Facebook or Instagram, that’s still a lot of potential customers for you to reach through the platform. Lastly, it’s worth mentioning that the influence of Twitter goes far beyond just its users. Unlike Facebook, Twitter sees a lot of people viewing its pages who don’t have an account, or who aren’t logged into their account when checking it. One reason for this is the hugely influential people who have a Twitter presence, as well as the concise nature of posts.
Twitter has been cleaning up its patch lately.
Like all social networks, Twitter has some potential for consumers to abuse the platform. Think about the downright abusive tweets exchanged between sworn social enemies, for example. Another issue Twitter has dealt with in recent years is fake accounts. Everyone who uses social media worries about “trolls,” who stir up trouble under assumed online identities. Or cyber bullying, which has been rampant online for a significant period of the social media age. Although Twitter is friendlier towards contentious debate than others, there’s still been quite a bit of improvement.
50% of tweets removed for abusive content were removed by Twitter’s computer programs.
The rest of tweet removals were done by humans reading flagged posts. That’s not to say that Twitter is non-controversial, however. For example, they didn’t remove the tweet from Kim Jong Un to Donald trump which called him a “dotard,” nor did they remove the retort from Trump calling Kim “rocket man.” No, these types of exchanges from world leaders are OK, even if your daugher’s school bully can’t call her an “idiot” and get away with it.
Donald Trump lost 300,000 “followers” who were deemed to be automated or fake accounts.
I, for one, would love to know how many Barack Obama or Katy Perry lost, given that their Twitter feeds are more popular than Trump’s feed. But the message seems pretty clear: Twitter is more interested in having genuine humans using its site than keeping their number of users high. For us as marketers, this is excellent. After all, we aren’t paying to “reach” people who don’t exist, nor are we “feeding the trolls” with affiliate marketing rewards or other perks.
Twitter user statistics show its users are influential and affluent.
This is a fact that seems to be largely independent of the national origin of each user. While it’s definitely true that in developing countries only the better-off have internet access consistently enough for social media usage, we must remember that wealthy countries also have the most Twitter users.
With this in mind, here are the raw numbers:
83% of world leaders use Twitter.
I’d be interested to know if “world leaders” includes local politicians, but we do know that national-level leaders from most countries are represented. Where else would you find Kim Jong Un? Most avenues of communication are restricted for North Koreans. Iran has some movers and shakers here, as does China and Russia. This is one reason why controversy is allowed on Twitter. This allowance means that world leaders have a place to express themselves somewhere that the entire world can easily access.
Almost 25% of verified accounts belong to journalists.
Verified accounts are those where Twitter has verified account ownership, and if we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll admit that journalists are some of the most influential people out there. After all, they tell us what’s going on in the world. As a result of this high concentration of journalists, Twitter is often used to break news from around the world. Even when it isn’t broken here, a lot of people will see the news pop up in their feed before seeing it on TV or their favorite news service.
Speaking of which,
73% of Twitter users follow at least one journalist.
This is just another way in which journalists are able to be influential on Twitter. And, it really shows what one of the consumer priorities is for their Twitter accounts: keeping up with current events. This is another reason why Twitter allows more controversy to be published than a lot of other platforms do.
At least 80% of Twitter users are “affluent millennials,” according to Twitter data.
One thing that seems to be common among all social networks is that the average user tends to be younger than the population at large. In other words, there aren’t that many senior citizens using any of these platforms, with the exception of Facebook. And even on Facebook, seniors are underrepresented. Yet what I find more interesting is that affluence seems to be such an important predictor of who’s on Twitter. Then again, if you consider who has the biggest followings for personal accounts, the young and famous are overrepresented.
I’d be interested in finding out what percentage of world leaders on Twitter are also “affluent millennials,” but the chances are we’ll never know. Either way, it is easy to conclude that Twitter members are real movers and shakers in society.
Want to improve customer service or your company reputation? Use Twitter.
Given that the most influential people are often on Twitter, it stands to reason that their opinion of your company is really important. Unlike most social media platforms, however, Twitter can be used both for sponsored posts/ads and for customer service applications. You’ll see a bit of customer service on Facebook, but not generally on the other social media sites.
So, it’s not surprising that,
66% of American companies with 100 or more employees use Twitter for marketing.
To be sure, that’s probably not quite as many as the ones that use Facebook, but there aren’t as many users on Twitter, either. Plus, with Twitter you really have to keep maintaining your account and continuing to send tweets.
47% of American Twitter users prefer culturally relevant brands.
If you’ve read corporate Twitter feeds lately, you’ll probably see that a lot of them use the platform to announce their latest corporate advocacy efforts. For example, some cosmetic companies pride themselves on environmental friendliness, vegan ingredients, or a refusal to engage in animal testing. Tweets on this sort of topic is common in the beauty industry, along with product launch announcements. In other industries, you might see a car manufacturer bragging about their latest environmental ratings. Major influencers like Elon Musk are well-known for bragging about their company’s corporate citizenship priorities.
85% of American small businesses find Twitter indispensable for customer service.
One of the advantages of Twitter over some other platforms for customer complaints like Yelp is that the business has an easy way to respond. All an unhappy customer has to do is direct their tweet at the business’ Twitter account. Likewise, Twitter consumer users are the type of person who like to broadcast their thoughts in real time. And as every savvy business owner knows, there’s no time like immediately after a customer complaint to deal with the issue. After all, you don’t want hard feelings to fester.
65% of customers expect companies to leverage social media for customer service.
It would be interesting to find out exactly why this is, but here’s a good guess: on social media, you can send a message directly to a company and know it’ll be read by someone who really cares. No sitting on hold for hours, or waiting for a chat-based CSR to become available. Instead, companies are expected to reply back soon without the customer having to dedicate all that time to getting a response.
Which leads me to the final Twitter user statistic in this category:
77% of Twitter users say they’re more positive about a brand after the brand responds to their tweet.
To me, this statistic reflects the reality that customers love individualized attention. After all, nothing says “we care” like spending the time to read and respond to customer feedback. Yet this isn’t all that these responses can do for you: other people get to see how much you care about customers. Pretty cheap public relations, don’t you think?
Twitter is effective as advertising, too.
Although these other Twitter user statistics are useful in understanding both the potential audience and the benefits of Twitter business account usage, it’s also important to know that Twitter is a great place to advertise, as well. Keep in mind that Twitter adverts can include regular tweets, in addition to video content and links to other websites, among other things.
Average Twitter Ads ROI is 40% Higher than Other Channels
When I gave my example of A/B testing over multiple social networks at the beginning of this post, this is the type of test I will do with clients: Spread ad spend over multiple social networks and compare apples and apples. This statistic, straight from Twitter, is a powerful one that hints at the potential ROI from using its ads platform.
Twitter’s Cost Per Engagement is down by 12%.
According to Twitter, this is largely the case because users are more willing to view advertising material than they once were. In other words, a Twitter advertising dollar goes farther than it did last year because the advertisement is more likely to reach its audience.
Consider video: the CPE on this type of advert is now 50% lower.
Like with most other social networks, Twitter users love to watch videos. After all, you can watch a video in just a few minutes and absorb a lot of information. And remember, just like with the old TV ads, a creative video can be quite memorable.
In a recent quarter, engagement with ads on Twitter increased by 23%.
That’s a pretty stunning figure, when you think about it, especially since Twitter users tend not to spend all day on the site. No wonder CPE is falling for Twitter customers!
Overall, the takeaway is that Twitter users tend to be affluent, influencers or world leaders, and young. They like to tweet to project their own thoughts, and discover those of others. At the same time, they love to interact with their favorite brands.
Which of these Twitter user statistics convinced you to take tweeting more seriously?
Looking for more guidance? Start here:
The Top Twitter Clients to Use for Marketing
How to Tweet an Image with a Link on Twitter
Twitter Following vs. Followers: What is the Ideal Ratio?
How to Best Write a Tweet
5 Awesome Twitter Features to Leverage for Marketing
Previous Post: « How to Use Emojis in Your Content Strategy to Improve Conversions
Next Post: How to Make a Company Introduction Video »
Scarlett Spangler
Thank you for sharing this, Neal! This is so incredibly interesting. 83% of world leaders utilize Twitter? Wow, talk about social media influence. I am a journalism grad student, and it has come up in our classes that Twitter is primarily used by journalists and media professionals. The stat that almost 25% of verified accounts belong to journalists definitely backs up the claims made in my classes. Twitter is a unique platform, that’s for sure.
It really is Scarlett – and if you want to be covered by the media, it is the perfect place!!!
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LIFE AND LETTERS OF
WALTER H. PAGE
BURTON J. HENDRICK
GARDEN CITY. NEW YORK
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
Among the many who have assisted in the preparation of this Biography especial acknowledgment is made to Irwin Laughlin, First Secretary and Counsellor of the London Embassy under Mr. Page. Mr. Page's papers show the high regard which he entertained for Mr. Laughlin's abilities and character, and the author similarly has found Mr. Laughlin's assistance indispensable. Mr. Laughlin has had the goodness to read the manuscript and make numerous suggestions, all for the purpose of reenforcing the accuracy of the narrative. The author gratefully remembers many long conversations with Viscount Grey of Fallodon, in which Anglo-American relations from 1913 to 1916 were exhaustively canvassed and many side-lights thrown upon Mr. Page's conduct of his difficult and delicate duties. The British Foreign Office most courteously gave the writer permission to examine a large number of documents in its archives bearing upon Mr. Page's ambassadorship and consented to the publication of several of the most important.
B. J. H.
...........................VOLUME I
I A RECONSTRUCTION BOYHOOD
II JOURNALISM
III "THE FORGOTTEN MAN"
IV THE WILSONIAN ERA BEGINS
V ENGLAND BEFORE THE WAR
VI "POLICY" AND "PRINCIPLE" IN MEXICO
VII PERSONALITIES OF THE MEXICAN PROBLEM
VIII HONOUR AND DISHONOUR IN PANAMA
IX AMERICA TRIES TO PREVENT THE EUROPEAN WAR
X THE GRAND SMASH
XI ENGLAND UNDER THE STRESS OF WAR
XII "WAGING NEUTRALITY".
XIII GERMANY'S FIRST PEACE DRIVES.
...........................VOLUME II
XIV THE "LUSITANIA" AND AFTER
XV THE AMBASSADOR AND THE LAWYERS
XVI DARK DAYS FOR THE ALLIES
XVII CHRISTMAS IN ENGLAND, 1915
XVIII A PERPLEXED AMBASSADOR
XIX WASHINGTON IN THE SUMMER OF 1916
XX "PEACE WITHOUT VICTORY"
XXI THE UNITED STATES AT WAR
XXII THE BALFOUR MISSION TO THE UNITED STATES
XXIII PAGE---THE MAN
XXIV A RESPITE AT ST. IVES
XXV GETTING THE AMERICAN TROOPS TO FRANCE
XXVI LAST DAYS IN ENGLAND
XXVII THE END
APP APPENDIX
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
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Home/Celebrity Net Worth/Authors/Bob Simon Net Worth
Bob Simon Net Worth
Bob Simon Net Worth 2021: Wiki Biography, Married, Family, Measurements, Height, Salary, Relationships
Bob Simon net worth is
Bob Simon Wiki Biography
Robert David Simon was born on the 29th May 1941, in the Manhattan, New York City USA, and was a television correspondent for CBS News, who during his career covered many major wars, political events and other crisis in more than 60 countries around the world. His career was active from 1969 until his passing in February 2015.
Have you ever wondered how rich Bob Simon was, at the time of his death? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that Bob Simon`s net worth was as high as $2 million, an amount he acquired through his career as a journalist and broadcaster.
Bob Simon Net Worth $2 Million
Bob received a degree in history form Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts in 1962. Two years later, Bob joined the American Foreign Service, and was a part of the program until 1967, becoming a Fullbright scholar in France and a Woodrow Wilson scholar. In 1969 he joined CBS, and was stationed at the London Bureau until 1971. He was then transferred to Ho Chi Min until 1977, covering the Vietnam War. Between 1977 and 1981, he was a part of the Tel Aviv bureau of CBS News. These early works, only encouraged him to continue to climb his way up the ladder, and also increased his net worth.
His next stop was the American capitol, Washington D.C, being the State Department correspondent, but that lasted only a year, after which he moved to New York, and was CBS`s correspondent for New York until 1987.
After that, Bob was sent to Middle East again, as the chief correspondent for the region. He was captured and held for 40 days in prison by the Iraqi people, but luckily all ended well for him and his news team.
In 1996, Bob was named as the correspondent for the documentary show “60 Minutes”. Until his death he was the lead correspondent for the show, and also contributed to a couple of episodes of “60 Minutes II”.
Thanks to his skills, and the show “60 Minutes” in particular, Bob won a record number of 27 Emmy awards; he also won three Peabody awards, and held the President Award, given by the Overseas Press Club. Furthermore, he received the Edward Weintal Prize awarded by Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, for his contribution to foreign policy and diplomacy, and also received the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for his story “Shame Of Srebrenica”, focused on genocide committed on Bosnian people during the civil war in Yugoslavia.
During his long and successful career, Bob reported from other countries such as the Falkland Islands, Portugal, Haiti, Somalia and Iraq, among many other countries, the number of which exceeds 60.
Bob died after involved in a car crash in Manhattan on the 11th February 2015; he suffered a broken neck and head trauma, and was brought to hospital, however, the doctors only pronounced the time of death.
Bob left behind his wife Françoise Simon, and their daughter Tanya.
Full Name Bob Simon
Date Of Birth May 29, 1941, The Bronx, New York City, New York, United States
Died February 11, 2015, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States
Place Of Birth The Bronx, New York City, New York, United States
Profession TV Journalist, Journalist, Television Producer
Education Brandeis University
Spouse Françoise Simon (m. ?–2015)
Children Tanya Simon
Nicknames Robert D. Simon
Awards Peabody Award, News & Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Interview, News & Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing, News & Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism in a News Magazine, News & Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism - Segments,...
Music Groups Corrosion of Conformity
Nominations News & Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Coverage of a Continuing News Story - Segments, News & Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story in a News Magazine
TV Shows 60 Minutes II, 60 Minutes
CSI: NY 2004 TV Series producer - 2 episodes
Containment 2015/I special thanks: Whitecross
60 Minutes Sports 2013-2015 TV Series documentary Himself - Correspondent (segment "Messi") / Himself - Correspondent (segment "The Deepest Dive") / Himself - Correspondent (segment "Barca") / ...
The Vietnam War 2015 TV Mini-Series documentary Himself
60 Minutes 1998-2015 TV Series documentary Himself - Host / Himself - Correspondent (segment "The Secret Language of Elephants") / Himself - Correspondent (segment "Swimming with Sharks") / ...
Rosewater 2014 Himself (uncredited)
CBS This Morning 2013 TV Series Himself - Correspondent
CBS News Sunday Morning 2012 TV Series documentary Himself - Correspondent (segment "World of Pain")
Charlie Rose 2001-2011 TV Series Himself - Guest Host / Himself Guest
P.O.V. 2010 TV Series documentary
Entertainment Tonight 2008 TV Series Himself
Bill Moyers' Journal 2007 TV Series documentary Himself
60 Minutes Wednesday 1999-2005 TV Series documentary Himself - Correspondent / Himself - Correspondent (segment "The Delinquents") / Himself - Correspondent (segment "Nerd of the Amazon") / ...
Larry King Live 2004 TV Series Himself
CBS Evening News with Dan Rather 2004 TV Series Himself - Reporter
Without Fear or Favor: The Best in Broadcast Journalism 2004 TV Special documentary Himself - Correspondent, CBS News
Breaking the News 2001 TV Movie documentary Himself
CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite 1973 TV Series Himself
60 Minutes 2003-2015 TV Series documentary Himself - Correspondent (segment "Harry A. Radliffe II") / Himself - Correspondent (segment "Bob Simon") / Himself - Correspondent (segment "The Orphanage") / ...
The 67th Primetime Emmy Awards 2015 TV Special Himself - In Memoriam
The Seventies 2015 TV Series documentary Himself - CBS News
60 Minutes Sports 2015 TV Series documentary Himself - Correspondent (segment "Bob Simon")
Media Buzz 2015 TV Series Himself - CBS News Correspondent
Entertainment Tonight 2015 TV Series Himself - CBS News
Won Awards
2014 Emmy News & Documentary Emmy Awards Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft: Writing 60 Minutes (1968)
2013 Emmy News & Documentary Emmy Awards Outstanding Feature Story in a News Magazine 60 Minutes (1968)
2013 Christopher Award Christopher Awards Television & Cable 60 Minutes (1968)
2008 Emmy News & Documentary Emmy Awards Outstanding Investigative Journalism in a News Magazine 60 Minutes (1968)
2006 Emmy News & Documentary Emmy Awards Outstanding Coverage of a Breaking News Story in a News Magazine 60 Minutes (1968)
2003 Lifetime Achievement Award News & Documentary Emmy Awards
2001 Emmy News & Documentary Emmy Awards Outstanding Historical Programming - Segments 60 Minutes (1968)
2000 Emmy News & Documentary Emmy Awards Outstanding Interview/Interviewers - Programs & Segments 60 Minutes (1968)
2000 Peabody Award Peabody Awards For the international reporting for CBS News.
2015 Emmy News & Documentary Emmy Awards Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story in a News Magazine 60 Minutes (1968)
2015 Emmy News & Documentary Emmy Awards Best Report in a News Magazine 60 Minutes (1968)
2015 Emmy News & Documentary Emmy Awards Outstanding Writing 60 Minutes (1968)
2010 Emmy News & Documentary Emmy Awards Outstanding Interview 60 Minutes (1968)
2003 Emmy News & Documentary Emmy Awards Outstanding Coverage of a Continuing News Story in a News Magazine 60 Minutes (1968)
as Himself - Host / Himself - Correspondent (segment
Breaking the News (2001)
60 Minutes Sports (2013-2015)
as Himself - Correspondent (segment "Messi") / Himsel
60 Minutes Wednesday (1999-2005)
as Himself - Correspondent / Himself - Correspondent
$2 million 1941 1941-05-29 2015 American Authors Bob Simon Bob Simon Net Worth Brandeis University Edward Weintal February 11 Forty days Françoise Simon Françoise Simon (m. ?–2015) Journalist Manhattan May 29 New York New York City Robert D. Simon Tanya Simon Television Producer The Bronx TV Journalist United States United States of America
Martha Maccallum Net Worth
Peabo Bryson Net Worth
Bill Wichrowski Net Worth
Diane Disney Miller Net Worth
Surya MacGregor Net Worth
Wayne Rooney Net Worth
Xiu Laigui Net Worth
Anna Anka Net Worth
Dennis Wilson Net Worth
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Nature.net:
An Internet guide to the jellyfish population explosion
By Robert Anderson
©iStockphoto.com
Last summer, while cruising Alaska’s fjords with the family, I kept an eye trained on the water in hopes of pointing out killer whales and dolphins to my children. We saw both, but, just as notably, passing by in the dark green, sunlit waters was an endless parade of large, white blobs. Jellyfish appeared to be the dominant life form in those waters. Indeed, in Alaska and elsewhere around the world jellyfish populations are increasing, often exploding in “blooms,” with dramatic effects on regional marine ecosystems and fisheries.
Some of the news stories call to mind science fiction accounts of alien invasions. At this National Pubic Radio site you can listen to “Jellyfish Take Over an Over-Fished Area,” a report by John Nielsen on one of the most severe, multi-year blooms, off the coast of Namibia. At this BBC site you can read about a jellyfish invasion in November 2007 that killed more than 100,000 fish at Northern Ireland’s only salmon farm, wiping it out. The stinging predators covered a ten-square-mile area to a depth of thirty-five feet. They were so dense in the water that fish farmers could not reach the pens holding the salmon to rescue them. National Geographic’s site Photo in the News: Blue Jellyfish Invade Australia Beaches provides a portrait of one of the more photogenic outbreaks, as well as links to other bloom-related articles. And Jellies in the News gives a list of links to current reports on blooms and other matters gelatinous; elsewhere on the site are beautiful photographs of the translucent animals.
The recent upswing in jellyfish numbers seems to far exceed natural fluctuations. Scientists generally blame the disruption of coastal ecosystems by people—be it nutrification of the water due to sewage and fertilizer runoff, overfishing of competitor fish species, depletion of sea turtles and other species that feed on jellyfish, or rising water temperatures from global warming. Like pigeons thriving in urban areas, some species of jellies may expand where the natural balance has been severely stressed. The National Resources Defense Council has an article on the problem entitled “The Blobs of Summer,” written by Lily Whiteman. Claudia Mills, an independent research scientist specializing in “gelatinous zooplankton” at the University of Washington follows jellyfish population trends closely. Her homepage has a great deal of information on jellies, including links to other sites and to scientific papers she has written on the subject. First, though, scroll down and click on “Marine Conservation,” where Mills provides further insight into the causes of jellyfish blooms. She notes that even jellyfish themselves are suffering from the disturbance of marine ecosystems; some species have declined due to habitat loss. She also underscores the difficulties scientists face in attempting to understand the effect of ecological disturbances: for most jellyfish species, little is known about the polyp stage of their life cycles.
Jellyfish are in the phylum Cnidaria, a diverse group of beautiful animals that includes corals and anemones. The University of California Museum of Paleontology has a good introduction to jellyfish and their close relatives. (Be sure to click on “Cubozoa” to learn more about the amazing box jellies, agile and often highly venomous predators, some of which have evolved eyes complete with lenses, corneas, and retinas.) True jellyfish are in a class of Cnidaria called Scyphozoa. That class is amply (and aptly) chronicled at The Scyphozoan, a site maintained by Mike Dawson, a post-doc at the University of California, Davis. I particularly enjoyed his material on the golden jellyfish that lives in marine lakes of Palau, in the south Pacific. To learn about the golden jellyfish’s curious daily migration and how it evolved, click on “Behaviors” on the site’s left-hand menu. Then go to How the jellyfish lost its spots to read the interesting tale of how the landlocked golden jelly evolved from oceangoing ancestors. For another article on the species, see “Darwin’s Jellyfishes,” an article in National Wildlife magazine by Pamela S. Turner.
Cnidarians have been around more than 500 million years, but new research indicates that they are not as primitive as most people imagine. The science writer Carl Zimmer reports on genetic studies that reveal considerable complexity in his article “Plain, Simple, Primitive? Not the Jellyfish,” which appeared in the New York Times on June 21, 2005.
No compendium of jellyfish links would be complete without a site exploring the animals’ incomparable ability to sting. Like their fellow cnidarians, jellyfish are equipped with nematocysts, specialized stinging cells that can fire a microscopic syringe to inject venom into a victim. One of the best sites to learn about these tiny, yet potent, weapons is that of the Tropical Australian Stinger Research Unit at James Cook University in Australia. Although the group’s research focuses on box jellies, true jellyfish possess similar stinging harpoons. The two species of greatest concern in Australia, due to the danger they pose for swimmers, are Chironex fleckeri (notorious as the world’s most venomous animal) and its diminutive but deadly relative Carukia barnesi, the Irukandji jellyfish. To view some amazing video clips of the nematocysts firing, go to the menu on the left of the group’s main page and select “General Biology.”
If you find the thought of massive blooms of stinging jellyfish disturbing, it might help to think about all the marine animals that prey on them. A Web site called TED (an acronym for Technology, Entertainment, Design) offers a lecture by marine biologist Tierney Thys, entitled “Swim with the Giant Sun Fish in the Open Ocean.” Thys has understandably fallen for this fish. It’s a top predator of jellyfish and one of the strangest animals you will ever see: it resembles an enormous, swimming fish head.
People, too, eat jellyfish. The Scyphozoan Web site has a page on how and where the animals are cooked and eaten. To meet the demand for dried jellyfish, considered a delicacy in China and other Asian counties, global harvests have risen to roughly 500,000 tons per year. It’s not a case of one exploding population controlling another, however: people only go for jellyfish that belong to the order Rhizostomeae, which tend to have larger, more rigid bodies than other jellyfish. When processed they have a desirable, slightly crunchy texture. Unfortunately, though we run the risk of depleting those species, the ones responsible for the oversize blooms never make it to our plates.
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Yellow Submarine to float back to theaters this summer
Photo: Keystone (Getty Images)
2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the theatrical release of The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine, so to celebrate, Apple Corps and Universal Music Group have announced that the’ll be rereleasing the weird animated classic in theaters this July. That comes from a press release, which also says this version of Yellow Submarine will be updated to 4K digital resolution, allowing you to see the Chief Blue Meanie, the Apple Bonkers, and those lovable lads from Liverpool much clearer than ever before. The music will also be remixed to 5.1 stereo surround sound, with the press release specifically noting that all of the restoration was “done by hand, frame by frame” with “no automated software.” That means this will be a proper old-school high-def restoration, not one of those modern restorations with no soul.
You can see a trailer for the restoration below, which oddly doesn’t include an actual release date.
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NEWS CLASSIFIEDS TOOLS
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The Times Of India World
Navalny: Russia's charismatic anti-Putin campaigner
A charismatic anti-corruption campaigner, Alexei Navalny has been Russia's leading opposition politician for around a decade, determined to challenge Vladimir Putin's grip on power despite frequent prison stays and harm to his health.
Quake death toll at 73 as Indonesia struggles with disasters
At least 73 people have been killed after an earthquake struck Indonesia's West Sulawesi province on Friday, the disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) said on Sunday, the latest in a string of disasters to hit the Southeast Asian country. More than 820 people were injured and over 27,800 left their homes after the 6.2 magnitude quake, BNPB spokesman said.
US states gird for pro-Trump armed protests
LA becomes first US county to top 1m Covid cases
Kamala to be sworn in by Justice Sotomayor at inauguration
GulfNews World
Photos: In wheelchair, paraplegic Lai Chi-wai climbs up skyscraper in Hong Kong
Bihar’s bicycle girl becomes brand ambassador for anti-drug abuse programme
India|: Patna: Bihar teenager Jyoti Kumari who cycled more than a thousand kilometres to carry her ailing father home during the nationwide Coronavirus-induced lockdown last year has been made the brand ambassador by the state government for an anti-drug abuse programme. The 15-year-old girl had cycled about 1,200 km with her father from Gurugram near Delhi to Darbhanga town in Bihar during nationwide lockdown when they faced near starvation after losing jobs and all modes of transport remained suspended. The state government has chosen the “real-life hero” to speed up its campaign against use of narcotic drugs and intoxicants by the young generation which has become a matter of serious concerns. Her job will be to visit schools and colleges and make the youths aware about the ill-effects of the drugs. Fighting adversity “We could not have found any better choice than this girl who displayed exemplary courage to fight adversity. The young generation should take a lesson from this girl who bravely fought all odds to extricate her family of troubles instead of surrendering before the problems,” Social Security director Daya Nidhan Pandey told the media on Sunday. Consumption of any forms drugs, the official added, not only destroys the person who gets addicted to them but also his family, and this girl could play a key role in creating awareness in the society. The official himself visited the girl’s home in Darbhanga district over the weekend to appoint her as the brand ambassador of the programme. He also handed her a cheque of Rs50,000, a tab and a track suit as a token of honour for her rare courage. The Grade nine schoolgirl will be spreading the central government’s National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction prepared by the federal Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. The objective of the programme is to reduce adverse consequences of drug abuse through multi-pronged strategy. Jyoti has become an international sensation after she carried her injured father on her second-hand rickety cycle at the peak of summer in May last year, unmindful of her own troubles of carrying the weight of a person just double her weight, severe food scarcity on way and also cash crunch. “It was a very tough journey treading the deserted roads on cycle. I felt apprehensive most of the time while walking on the lonely streets but ignored these concerns as my first priority was to somehow reach home,” was how she told this correspondent when contacted on phone recently. No money for food She added, “We would have died of hunger had we stayed there any longer as we had no money to buy food or pay rent.” She left Gurugram on the night of May 8 and reached her home village Darbhanga after continuously cycling over seven days. According to the girl, she would mostly travel during night as it was cool and had less traffic. She also revealed they would sleep near the petrol pumps or at the places having sufficient lighting arrangements. Recently she got the cycling trail offer from the Cycling Federation of India for her rare feat and also signed a film based on her life. The movie will be a fictional version of what led to her ardous journey from Gurugram to her hometown in Bihar. Her brilliant tale even reached the outgoing US president Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump termed her story as the “beautiful feat of endurance and love”.
The Hindu World
International: Excavators and cranes were deployed across the devastated seaside city of Mamuju, where buildings were reduced to a tangled mass of twisted metal and chunks of concrete, including a hospital and the regional governor’s office.
Security on high alert in Islamabad ahead of Pakistan Democratic Movement rally
Pakistan|: Islamabad: The Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) in Islamabad have put security on high alert ahead of the opposition parties’ alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) protest rally scheduled for Tuesday, January 19, outside the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) building. The PDM, an 11-party opposition alliance, had announced earlier this month that it would hold a protest outside the ECP secretariat against delay and slow pace of the foreign funding case against the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). In order to review the security situation and to ensure order in the federal capital during the planned protest by the PDM, Minister for Interior Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has called a meeting of high level officials of police and law-enforcement agencies. At the meeting the inspector generals of police of Islamabad, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Chief Commissioner Islamabad as well as senior officials from other law-enforcement agencies will brief about the security arrangements at the ECP and in the Red Zone of the federal capital. The ECP had approached the Islamabad administration through a letter to the chief commissioner, saying that the PDM should be allowed to protest only in a specific area adjacent to the Constitution Avenue, so that the working of the election supervisor was not affected. According to the Islamabad police, all necessary security measures will be taken to protect life and property of the people as the protest would be taking place in a sensitive area. In the meeting, security and monitoring of all the entrance and exit points to the federal capital will be reviewed and input from the allied departments like Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) will also be taken into consideration. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has also directed his party workers and supporters to join the PMD’s rally to register strong protest to the ECP against the 7-year delay in conclusion of “an apparently simple case.” Party meeting On Saturday the main opposition party in the PDM, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) finalized its strategy for the rally and at a party meeting held at the PML-N Model Town office, it was decided that Marryam Nawaz daughter of Nawaz Sharif will lead a rally from Lahore through Motorway and join the Rawalpindi-based main rally of PML-N at some points. All the party MNAs, MPAs and ticket holders will reach Rawalpindi with their supporters in the shape of rallies to join Marryum Nawaz in Rawalpindi. Meanwhile, the ECP has issued guidelines for its officers and employees in connection with the PDM protest in a notification. According to the guidelines, all employees would be required to produce their office and the Computerized National Identity Cards (CNIC) cards with them on January 19 for security clearance to the Election Commission Secretariat.
Biden ropes in 20 Indian-Americans in his administration, 17 at key White House positions
Americas|: Washington: US President-elect Joe Biden has nominated at least 20 Indian-Americans, including 13 women, to key positions in his incoming administration, a record for the small ethnic community that constitutes one per cent of America's population. As many as 17 of them, including Neera Tanden who has been nominated as the Director of Management and Budget, would be part of the Biden administration in the powerful White House complex. The January 20th inauguration, the 59th in all, where Biden, 78, would be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States is already historic in the making as for the first time ever a woman, Kamala Harris, would be sworn as the Vice-President of the country. Harris, 56, is also the first ever Indian-origin and African-American to be sworn in as the Vice President of the United States. It is also for the first time ever that so many Indian-Americans have been roped into a presidential administration ever before the inauguration. Biden, a Democrat, is still quite far away from filling all the positions in his administration. Topping the list is Tanden, who has been nominated as Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget and Dr Vivek Murthy, who has been nominated as the US Surgeon General. Vanita Gupta has been nominated as Associate Attorney General Department of Justice, and on Saturday, Biden nominated former foreign service official Uzra Zeya as the Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights. 'The dedication that the Indian-American community has shown to public service over the years has been recognised in a big way at the very start of this administration! I am particularly pleased that the overwhelming majority are women. Our community has truly arrived in serving the nation,' Indiaspora founder M R Rangaswami told PTI. Mala Adiga has been appointed as Policy Director to the future First Lady Dr Jill Biden and Garima Verma would be the Digital Director of the Office of the First Lady, while Sabrina Singh has been named as the White House Deputy Press Secretary. For the first time, the Indian-Americans nominated for Biden administration include two who trace their roots to Kashmir: Aisha Shah, who has been named as Partnership Manager at the White House Office of Digital Strategy and Sameera Fazili, who would occupy the key position of Deputy Director at the US National Economic Council (NEC) in the White House. White House National Economic Council also has another Indian-American, Bharat Ramamurti, as Deputy Director. Gautam Raghavan, who served at the White House in the previous Obama administration returns to the White House as Deputy Director in Office of Presidential Personnel. Among Biden's inner circle is his top confidant for years Vinay Reddy, who has been named as Director Speechwriting. Young Vedant Patel is all set to occupy a seat in the White House lower press, behind the briefing room, as Assistant Press Secretary to the President. He is only the third-ever Indian American to be part of the White House press shop. Three Indian-Americans have made their way to the crucial National Security Council of the White House, thus leaving a permanent imprint on the country's foreign policy and national security. They are Tarun Chhabra: Senior Director for Technology and National Security, Sumona Guha, Senior Director for South Asia, Shanthi Kalathil: Coordinator for Democracy and Human Rights. Sonia Aggarwal has been named Senior Advisor for Climate Policy and Innovation in the Office of the Domestic Climate Policy at the White House and Vidur Sharma has been appointed as Policy Advisor for Testing for the White House COVID-19 Response Team. Two Indian-American women have been appointed to the Office of the White House Counsel: Neha Gupta as Associate Counsel and Reema Shah as Deputy Associate Counsel. Also, for the first time in any administration, the White House would have three other South Asians in key positions -- Pakistani-American Ali Zaidi as Deputy National Climate Advisor White House; Sri Lankan American Rohini Kosoglu as Domestic Policy Advisor to the Vice President and Bangladeshi-American Zayn Siddique: Senior Advisor to the White House Deputy Chief of Staff. During the campaign, Biden had indicated that he would rope in a large number of Indian-Americans. 'As President, I'll also continue to rely on Indian-American diaspora that keeps our two nations together, as I have throughout my career,' Biden had said in his address to the Indian-American community during a virtual celebration of India's Independence Day on August 15, 2020. 'My constituents in Delaware, my staff in the Senate, the Obama-Biden administration, which had more Indian-Americans than any other administration in the history of this country and this campaign with Indian Americans at senior levels, which of course includes the top of the heap, our dear friend (Harris) who will be the first Indian-American vice president in the history of the United States of America,' Biden had said in his video address. Biden and Harris will be sworn in as President and Vice President of the United States during a largely-virtual swearing-in ceremony on January 20. But it won't be a typical inauguration, for several reasons. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic and fresh security concerns following a pro-Trump mob breaching the Capitol last week have combined to force some major changes to what is a historical American day.
Britain invites G7 leaders to Cornish resort for June summit
Europe|: London: Britain announced plans to hold the first in-person meeting of the G7 for nearly two years in June, inviting the leaders of major developed economies to a picturesque seaside village to discuss rebuilding from the pandemic and climate change. Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he wants to use Britain’s presidency of the G7 to forge a consensus that the global economy must recover from the COVID-19 crisis in a pro-free trade and sustainable way. “Coronavirus is doubtless the most destructive force we have seen for generations and the greatest test of the modern world order we have experienced,” he said in a statement. “It is only right that we approach the challenge of building back better by uniting with a spirit of openness to create a better future.” Britain has suffered badly during the health crisis, with the highest death toll in Europe of more than 88,000 people. Third wave But, while a third wave of the virus causes more than 1,000 deaths per day, the country is leading the way on vaccinations having been the first in the world to authorise their use, and hopes to have much of the population protected within months. Last year’s G7 meeting, due to be hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump, was cancelled due to the pandemic, meaning the leaders of Britain, Germany, France, the United States, Italy, Japan, the European Union and Canada have not met in person since the 2019 meeting in Biarritz, France. The Sunday Telegraph newspaper said the British government hoped the event would be the occasion for U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s first trip to Europe after he becomes president on Jan. 20. Tiny resort “I don’t think he will visit anywhere else before the G7, except possibly Canada,” the newspaper quoted an unnamed British government source as saying. Johnson has also invited Australia, India and South Korea to attend. The summit will take place in the tiny resort of Carbis Bay in Cornwall, southwest England - an area now most famous for its beaches and surfing but also home to fishing fleets and once an important mining area. “Two hundred years ago Cornwall’s tin and copper mines were at the heart of the UK’s industrial revolution and this summer Cornwall will again be the nucleus of great global change and advancement,” Johnson said.
International: In the first phase, the vaccine will be given to health workers and those aged 65 years and above, Mr. Umar said.
Photos: Preparations underway for Indian Republic Day parade amid dense fog in New Delhi
UK aviation sector calls for urgent support amid travel curbs
Europe|Aviation|: London: The UK’s aviation sector needs urgent government support if it is to survive another lengthy period of travel restrictions to curb surging coronavirus infections in the country, according to industry leaders. On Saturday, Karen Dee, the chief executive of the Airport Operators Association, urged the UK government to set out plans for how airports will survive financially during the crisis. “Airports are currently keeping their infrastructure open to support vital and critical services, such as post, freight, emergency services, military and coastguard flights, as well as to help keep the lights in the UK on through supporting flights to offshore oil, gas and wind operations,” Xinhua news agency quoted Dee as saying to the Guardian newspaper. “Airports are doing so while running on empty - there is only so long they can run on fumes before having to close temporarily to preserve their business for the future,” she said. “Government needs to help cover airports’ operational costs by, for example, urgently providing relief from regulatory, policing, air traffic and business rates costs in the current and the coming tax year.” Heathrow Airport lost its status as Europe’s busiest airport as it recorded a loss of 1.5 billion pounds ($2.04 billion) in the first nine months of 2020 due to Covid-19. Passenger numbers between July and September 2020 were down by more than 84 per cent compared with the same period in 2019, leading the west London hub to be overtaken by Paris Charles de Gaulle as the busiest in Europe. Tim Alderslade, the chief executive of Airlines UK, which represents all UK registered airlines, said that if by Easter the restrictions are not lifted, the industry will be “in a really difficult place”. Easter is a Christian holiday which falls on April 4 this year. Paid back “Easter is a date that we have got in mind as to when we can start to have an aviation sector again because if we don’t start to bring in revenue to the sector, we are going to be in a really difficult place indeed because we have now had pretty much 12 months without any revenue coming in, which is just not sustainable and airlines are effectively staying in business by taking on billions of pounds of debt, which will need to be paid back,” Alderslade said. On Friday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that Britain will close all travel corridors to the country from 4 a.m. on Monday in a bid to keep out new coronavirus variants. The new measure means that travellers entering the country must have proof of a negative Covid-19 test in previous 72 hours. Anyone arriving in Britain must quarantine for 10 days or they have the choice of doing an extra test on day five to shorten the isolation, Johnson said. England is currently under the third national lockdown since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country. Similar restriction measures are also in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The UK has so far reported a total of 3,325,642 coronavirus cases and 87,448 deaths.
CBC Canada World
News/World: Leading Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny plans to fly home to Russia on Sunday after recovering in Germany from his poisoning in August with a nerve agent.
Asia|: Kabul: Gunmen shot dead two Afghan women judges working for the Supreme Court during an early morning ambush in the country's capital Sunday, officials said, as a wave of assassinations continues to rattle the nation. Violence has surged across Afghanistan in recent months despite ongoing peace talks between the Taliban and government - especially in Kabul, where a new trend of targeted killings aimed at high-profile figures has sown fear in the restive city. The latest attack comes just two days after the Pentagon announced it had cut troop levels in Afghanistan to 2,500, the fewest in nearly two decades. The attack on the judges happened as they were driving to their office in a court vehicle, said Ahmad Fahim Qaweem, a spokesman for the Supreme Court. "Unfortunately, we have lost two women judges in today's attack. Their driver is wounded," Qaweem told AFP. There are more than 200 female judges working for the country's top court, the spokesman added. Kabul police confirmed the attack. Afghanistan's Supreme Court was a target in February 2017 when a suicide bomb ripped through a crowd of court employees, killing at least 20 and wounding 41. In recent months, several prominent Afghans - including politicians, journalists, activists, doctors and prosecutors - have been assassinated in often brazen daytime attacks in Kabul and other cities. Afghan officials have blamed the Taliban for the attacks, a charge the insurgent group has denied. Some of these killings have been claimed by the rival jihadist Islamic State group. Earlier this month the US military for the first time directly accused the Taliban of orchestrating the attacks. "The Taliban's campaign of unclaimed attacks and targeted killings of government officials, civil society leaders & journalists must... cease for peace to succeed," Colonel Sonny Leggett, spokesman for US forces in Afghanistan, said on Twitter. The targeted killings have surged despite the Taliban and Afghan government engaging in peace talks in the Qatari capital of Doha. The Taliban carried out more than 18,000 attacks in 2020, Afghanistan's spy chief Ahmad Zia Siraj told lawmakers earlier this month. On Friday, the Pentagon announced it had cut troop levels in Afghanistan to 2,500 as part of its deal with the Taliban to withdraw all troops from the country by May 2021. That deal was struck in return for security guarantees from the insurgents and a commitment to peace talks with the Afghan government.
Pfizer reassures Europe over deliveries of coronavirus vaccines as pandemic surges
Europe|: Paris: Pharma giant Pfizer tried to ease concerns in Europe about deliveries of its coronavirus vaccine as nations across the world doubled down on restrictions to fight the rampaging pandemic. The coronavirus pandemic is showing no signs of slowing down, with infections surging past 94 million and more than two million deaths, and Europe among the hardest-hit parts of the world. Worries have grown that delays in the delivery of Pfizer-BioNTech shots could hamper a European vaccine rollout which has already faced heavy criticism across the continent. Work is ongoing at the Pfizer plant in Belgium to increase capacity, and the firm and its German partner BioNTech said Saturday it would allow them to “significantly” scale up vaccine production in the second quarter. Deliveries would be back to the original schedule to the EU from January 25, they pledged. Mass vaccinations Several Nordic and Baltic countries have described the situation as “unacceptable”, while Belgium’s vaccination strategy task force condemned a lack of consultation by Pfizer over the deliveries as “incomprehensible”. France, which crossed 70,000 Covid-19 deaths on the weekend, is set to begin a campaign to inoculate people over 75 from Monday. Russia plans to begin mass vaccinations the same day. Despite the rollout of vaccines, countries still have few options but to rely on movement and distancing restrictions to control the spread of the virus. Curbs will be tightened in Italy and Switzerland from Monday, while Britain will require testing of all international arrivals.
India hails 'life saving' COVID-19 vaccine rollout
India|: New Delhi: India's COVID-19 vaccination drive had a successful start with more than 190,000 people receiving their first jabs and no one hospitalised for major side effects, the health ministry said, but reports emerged about concerns over the homegrown vaccine. Authorities have given emergency-use approval for two vaccines - Oxford-AstraZeneca and the homegrown "Covaxin", which has yet to complete its Phase 3 trials - and plans to immunise some 300 million people in the country of 1.3 billion by July. Frontline workers such as hospital staff, people over 50 and those deemed to be at high risk due to pre-existing medical conditions are on the shortlist to receive the vaccines. Also read COVID-19: Bharat Biotech to pay compensation if Covaxin causes side effects PM Narendra Modi launches India's vaccination drive against COVID-19 India’s new COVID-19 cases per million among lowest in the world: Government "We have got encouraging and satisfactory feedback results on the first day," Health Minister Harsh Vardhan told his state counterparts on Saturday. "This vaccine will indeed be a 'Sanjeevani' (life saver)" in the fight against the virus, he added. The health ministry said "no case of post-vaccination hospitalisation" had been reported, although local media said a security guard at the country's top-ranked public hospital, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi, had developed an allergic reaction shortly after getting his shot. A doctors' representative body at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi wrote a letter asking for the Oxford-AstraZeneca "Covishield" vaccine to be supplied instead of Covaxin to allay any fears. "The residents are a bit apprehensive about the lack of complete trial in case of Covaxin and might not participate in huge numbers thus defeating the purpose of vaccination," said the letter addressing the hospital's medical superintendent, seen by AFP. "We request you to vaccinate us with Covishield, which has completed all stages of trial before its rollout." Pathologist Arvind Ahuja told AFP at the hospital on Saturday that he shared some of the concerns. "I hope when the data comes out, it is good. Ideally, they should have waited for one month at least as then we would have known better about its efficacy," the 45-year-old said. Vaccine hesitancy has emerged as a major concern, with a recent survey of 18,000 people across India finding that 69 percent were in no rush to get a shot. Leading scientists and doctors have called on authorities to release efficacy data about Covaxin to boost confidence about the vaccine. Covaxin recipients on Saturday had to sign a consent form that stated its "clinical efficacy... is yet to be established". Officials had hoped to inoculate 300,000 people on Saturday but said glitches with an app used to coordinate and monitor the process meant not all potential recipients were alerted. India has the world's second-largest known caseload with more than 10.5 million coronavirus infections and over 152,000 deaths so far.
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