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Reconstructing Australian
Aboriginal Governance by
Peter Radoll
Peter.Radoll@anu.edu.au | Jabal Indigenous Higher Education Centre, Australian National University
[1] “United Ngunnawal
Elders Council
2008.” Department
of Disability, Housing
and Community
Services, Multicultural,
Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Affairs,
updated 13 May 2008.
< http://www.dhcs.act.
gov.au/matsia/atsia/
ngunnawal_issues>
The way in which Western European societies organize themselves reflects other aspects of their world. The governance structure of a community is one example. The small rural community where I reside in Australia has a population of 1,200, but the shire itself has approximately 11,000 residents. Recently, we voted for our local government representatives, who then voted in a mayor of the shire. Federal elections are conducted in the same manner: We vote for federal representatives, and the governing political party votes for a leader, the prime minister, to govern Australia. This is all very neatly ordered and assumes a particular hierarchy of governance. But what if a society were not structured in such a manner? What if it did not have a leader but rather were led by a council of the wisest and sometimes oldest members of the society with perhaps a single, alternating spokesperson but not one leader? What if that society were a subculture within a structured hierarchical society? This is how Australian Aboriginal communities are structured.
Having a council of elders to govern a community is how Aboriginal communities are organized. Historically, Aboriginal communities are led by a council of elders, among whom the power is distributed. Usually, all family groups in that community are represented. While Australia has been colonized for more than 200 years, Aboriginal communities are for the most part still governed or represented through some form of Aboriginal council of elders. Even in urban areas, elders councils exist to represent the indigenous people of the land. One example of this is in Australia’s capital city, Canberra, where the Australian Capital Territory’s (ACT) government recognizes and supports the United Ngunnawal
Elders Council. The purpose of the council is to advise the ACT chief minister on matters associated with indigenous issues across the ACT [1].
In recent times Aboriginal culture and traditional knowledge have come to the forefront. Aboriginal elders want to continue passing on their traditions, knowledge, and culture to younger generations, but it is difficult to do so in a globalized, modern, multicultural society like Australia. Elders are concerned about the younger generations growing up without their culture, about a lack of interest in their language, dance, and traditions. To prevent its extinction, the elders want to preserve Aboriginal culture— family histories, traditional language, and customs— for their descendents.
With the onset of the technological age, it has been suggested that information technology can preserve Aboriginal culture and traditional knowledge in a format that can be distributed easily and for many years to come. Moreover, this technology enables the digital repatriation of traditional artifacts from major museums around the world, the recording of rock art sites, and the digital management of cultural heritage. This material is also attractive to anthropologists and linguists for research purposes. Interestingly, the nation’s scientists also want to preserve Aboriginal traditional knowledge, but for reasons like carbon pollution management, which is associated with global warming.
Information technology may offer a solution to the storage, distribution, and retrieval of Aboriginal traditional knowledge through databases and Web technologies. Databases in their architecture assume a western European governance hierarchy—in that there is a single database administrator who holds the systems
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AD Hydro Power Limited wins Prestigious 'Oscar' of Power Industry
AD Hydro Power Limited wins Prestigious 'Oscar' of Power Industry...
Himachal CM dedicates 192 mw AD Hydro power plant to the nation
13th September,2012
A Tribute to “Kabeer” by LNJ Bhilwara Group"
5th September,2012
A Tribute to “Kabeer” by LNJ Bhilwara Group
ADHPL commissions 192 MW hydro power project in HP
20th July,2010
ADHPL commissions 192 MW hydro power project in HP...
Bhilwara Energy to dilute ~10.8 per cent stake for Rs. 230 crores
Bhilwara energy to dilute 10.8 per cent stake of Rs. 230 crore...
Bhilwara Energy Limited bags two more hydro power projects in Arunachal Pradesh-09/01/2008
9th January,2008
Bhilwara Energy Limited bags two more hydro power projects in Arunachal Pradesh
Bhilwara Energy Limited (BEL) a flagship company of the Power business of LNJ Bhilwara Group, has been awarded two more hydro electric projects- Angoline of 375 MW and Malinye of 335 MW in the state of Arunachal. By this, the Group’s plan has moved to more than 2850 MW hydro power generation capacity to be accomplished by 2015.
Bhilwara Energy Limited is emerging as one of the biggest player in power in the country. It would seek to grow organically as well as through acquisitions.
Background on LNJ Bhilwara Power Initiatives
The LNJ Bhilwara Group is a premium conglomerate with dominant interests in texitiles, graphite electrodes, power generation, power engineering consultancy, and IT enabled services. Global in vision, ingrained with Indian values, the Group is driven by a performance ethics pegged on value creation for its multiple statkeholders. The Rs. 3000 crore conglomerates are anchored by more than 25,000 employees. The Group announced incorporation of Bhilwara Energy Limited (BEL) in 2006 to give effect to its plans in the power sector.
The Group entered the power sector in early 90s. Following the success of its first hydro-electric power project of 15 MW at Tawa Nagar (MP) in 1997, the Group has commissioned, India`s first IPP hydro-electric Malana Power Project of 86 MW in a record time of 30 months at Kullu (HP), in July, 2001.
In 2004, it partnered with S N Power, Norway as JV partners for MPCL. MPCL is currently implementing the 192 MW Allain Duhangan Hydro Electric Project in the State of Himachal Pradesh. IFC, Washington has also taken 10 per cent equity in the said project.
Bhilwara Energy is also commissioning another 290 MW power projects in Arunachal Pradesh and 75MW of HEP in Punjab. The envisioned power generation capacity of the company is 2850 MW by the year 2015. The BEL will seek to grow organically as well as through acquisitions. The Group is also providing consultancy services in the field of energy generation in India, with emphasis on Hydro electric power generation under Indo Canadian Consultancy Services Ltd. a joint ventrure with M/s. RLW International, Canada.
PE Investors may pick 8% in Bhilwara Energy For 600Cr-09/01/2008
The Economic Times Delhi 9 January 2008
PE Investors may pick 8% in Bhilwara Energy For 600Cr
Glitnir to partner with leading Energy Company of India to establish Geothermal Energy in India and Nepal-23/11/2007
Glitnir and LNJ Bhilwara Group in India sign Memorandum of Understanding
Glitnir to partner with leading Energy Company of India to establish Geothermal Energy in India and Nepal
New Delhi, 23 November 2007 – Glitnir, the Nordic investment bank, and LNJ Bhilwara Group with operations in India and Nepal signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today to collaborate in developing geothermal power plants in India and Nepal. This MoU has been signed during the visit of the Finance Minister of Iceland on invitation from Finance Minister of India. The finance minister of Iceland H.E. Árni Mathiesen is on an official visit with a business delegation focused on Energy development in India.
Glitnir will play the role of bringing expertise in the geothermal field and financial structuring of projects related to development of geothermal sources. LNJ Bhilwara Group will play the role of local developer and manager of the project. Glitnir and LNJ Bhilwara Group will work together in developing the business plan and the project.
The MoU was signed in the presence of Mr. P Chidambaram, Hon’ble Minister of Finance for India and H.E. Arni Mathiesen, the Minister of Finance for Iceland. This MoU was signed by Mr. Awadh B. Giri, CEO-Power, of LNJ Bhilwara Group and Mr. Bala Murughan Kamallakharan, Executive Director of Strategic Growth in Glitnir.
Speaking on this occasion Mr. P Chidambaram, Hon’ble Finance Minister of India said “I am happy that this important MoU has been signed between Glitnir and LNJ Bhilwara Group. This will encourage prospects for growth in India in the geothermal arena. India has planned $475 billion investments in the next five years, out of which $120 billion- $ 130 billion will be achieved through FDIs. Initiatives such as this will surely contribute in achieving our investments targets.”
“Glitnir had successfully implemented a project in China where we brought expertise and funded the project to heat a district in the Xian Yang province in China. We believe similar projects can be developed in India” said Magnus Bjarnason, Executive Vice President of International Banking in Glitnir.
“India is a very exciting market for Glitnir especially in the Energy field given the projected growth of Energy demand in India, India needs all sources of energy especially renewable and green sources of energy like geothermal. We are delighted to partner with LNJ Bhilwara Group who has demonstrated their capacity in efficiently developing power plants in India” says Árni Magnusson, Managing Director of Sustainable Energy in Glitnir.
“We are eager to get started and develop geothermal power plants in India. LNJ Bhilwara Group was the first to develop a 100MW private merchant hydro power plant ahead of schedule and budget in India and has set new levels of realization in Hydropower Business in India. LNJ Bhilwara is continuing its growth and diversifying in Green Energy, besides the established leadership in Hydro business. It has set up 4.2 MW Wind Power Plant in Jaisalmmer and is now pursuing development of Geothermal Energy in India and Nepal. LNJ Bhilwara Group is developing a large number of Hydro Power plants in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh besides in the neighboring countries of Nepal. We are looking forward to the collaboration with Glitnir and develop the first geothermal plant in India” said Awadh B Giri, CEO –Power of LNJ Bhilwara Group.
About Glitnir Bank
The Nordic based Corporate Investment bank and financial services group Glitnir offers services including retail, corporate and investment banking, stock trade/brokerage and capital management. Glitnir is a leading niche player in three global industry sectors:seafood/food, sustainable energy (geothermal energy) and offshore service vessels. Glitnir is one of the largest equity brokers in the in the OMX stock exchange in Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland, as well as on the Oslo Stock Exchange in Norway and the Stock Exchange in Moscow in Russia. Glitnir operates in Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the U.K., Luxembourg, Russia, Canada China, and U.S. (Glitnir Capital Corporation). Glitnir is listed on the Icelandic Stock Exchange (GLB).
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REMI OLIVIER & others vs. CITY OF FALL RIVER & others.
May 9, 1940 - June 26, 1940
Present: FIELD, C.J., LUMMUS, DOLAN, COX, & RONAN, JJ.
St. 1939, c. 95, requiring reinstatement of a laborer, formerly employed by the city of Fall River, solely that he might have the benefit of retirement on an annual pension under St. 1924, c. 278, as amended by St. 1930, c. 71, 1, notwithstanding the facts that, following an injury, he had elected under G.L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 152, 73, not to retire but to receive workmen's compensation and then had been separated from the service for incapacity, was not unconstitutional; and after such reinstatement and retirement he was entitled to the pension.
PETITION, filed in the Superior Court on January 19, 1940.
The case was heard by Hurley, J., upon an agreed statement of facts, and a final decree was entered dismissing the petition. The petitioners appealed.
A. E. Seagrave, (A. E. Beaulieu with him,) for the petitioners.
J. T. Farrell, for the respondent Mooney.
G. L. Sisson, for the respondent city of Fall River and another, submitted a brief.
LUMMUS, J. This is a petition by ten taxable inhabitants of the respondent city under G.L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 40,
Section 53, to prevent the payment to one Mooney of a pension after his retirement from the service of the city. Mooney had been employed as a laborer for thirty-six years when in June, 1932, at the age of sixty-four, he suffered injuries arising out of and in the course of his employment. Under the workmen's compensation act he was awarded compensation for two hundred sixty-eight weeks at the rate of $16.80 a week, which he has received. At the time of his injury he was entitled, under St. 1924, c. 278, as amended by St. 1930, c. 71, because of his age, length of service, and incapacity, to apply for retirement upon an annual pension amounting to half pay with a maximum of $500. He elected not to apply for retirement, and became separated from the service of the city because of his incapacity. Fernandez v. Mayor of New Bedford, 269 Mass. 445. Horrigan v. Mayor of Pittsfield, 298 Mass. 492. By St. 1939, c. 95, the Legislature ordered his reinstatement for the sole purpose of being retired on half pay. He was so reinstated and retired on January 4, 1940.
The principle upon which pensions to civil officers and employees are sustained against attack on constitutional grounds, that they tend to make the public service attractive, efficient and honorable, applies as well to pensions presently granted to selected and named individuals for past services, as to pensions granted to a present or future class by general legislation. Opinion of the Justices, 175 Mass. 599. Opinion of the Justices, 211 Mass. 608. Opinion of the Justices, 240 Mass. 616. Gray v. Salem, 271 Mass. 495, 498. Goodale v. County Commissioners, 277 Mass. 144. Horrigan v. Mayor of Pittsfield, 298 Mass. 492. The provision in G.L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 152, Section 73 (St. 1937, c. 336, Section 23), that an employee of a city must elect between workmen's compensation and a pension, could not deprive the Legislature of its power after the election had been made to recognize long and faithful service at an earlier time by a pension in contravention of the policy of that statute. Horrigan v. Mayor of Pittsfield, 298 Mass. 492. The petition was rightly dismissed.
Decree affirmed with costs.
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COMMONWEALTH vs. KHARI WILCOX.
437 Mass. 33
April 1, 2002 - May 20, 2002
Present: MARSHALL, C.J., GREANEY, IRELAND, SPINA, COWIN, SOSMAN, & CORDY, JJ.
Grand Jury. Practice, Criminal, Grand jury proceedings, Indictment.
This court declined to follow those States that have, either by statute, rule, or court decision, adopted the requirement that grand jurors voting to indict must have heard all the evidence presented [34-39], and concluded that Massachusetts will follow those other State courts that have adopted the Federal approach that grand jurors voting to return an indictment need not hear all of the evidence presented against a defendant [38-39].
CIVIL ACTION commenced in the Supreme Judicial Court for the county of Suffolk on December 12, 2001.
The case was reported by Greaney, J.
Paul B. Linn, Assistant District Attorney, for the Commonwealth.
Ziyad Hopkins, Committee for Public Counsel Services (Benjamin H. Keehn, Committee for Public Counsel Services, with him) for the defendant.
GREANEY, J. After hearing six days of evidence during a three-month period, a Suffolk County grand jury indicted the defendant on charges of armed robbery and home invasion. The defendant moved for discovery of the grand jury attendance records to ascertain whether at least twelve of the grand jurors who voted to indict him [Note 1] had heard "all of the evidence" presented against him. (Of particular concern to the defendant was whether fewer than the required minimum of twelve grand jurors voting to indict him had heard certain exculpatory evidence, including evidence suggesting that he had been erroneously identified.) A judge in the Superior Court allowed the defendant's motion, but stayed discovery to give the Commonwealth
an opportunity to seek interlocutory review of her order. The Commonwealth filed a petition under G. L. c. 211, § 3, in the county court seeking review of the judge's order. Recognizing that "the issue raised is of considerable importance and has state-wide impact on the proper administration of the criminal law," a single justice reserved and reported the case, without decision, to the full court. We conclude that grand jurors voting to return an indictment need not hear all of the evidence presented against a defendant. We remand the case to the county court for entry of an order vacating the discovery order.
1. "The grand jury as known to the common law always has been regarded as a bulwark of individual liberty and a fundamental protection against despotism and persecution." WBZ-TV4 v. District Attorney for the Suffolk Dist., 408 Mass. 595, 599-600 (1990), quoting Lebowitch, petitioner, 235 Mass. 357, 361 (1920). It is "an institution preserved" by our State Constitution, Lataille v. District Court of E. Hampden, 366 Mass. 525, 531 (1974), which asserts "[t]he great principle . . . that no man shall be put to answer a criminal charge [for a capital or otherwise infamous offense] until the criminating evidence has been laid before a grand jury," Commonwealth v. Holley, 3 Gray 458, 459 (1855). See Commonwealth v. Pezzano, 387 Mass. 69, 70 n.3 (1982); Mass. R. Crim. P. 3 (b) (1), 378 Mass. 847 (1979) ("A defendant charged with an offense punishable by imprisonment in state prison shall have the right to be proceeded against by indictment except when the offense charged is within the concurrent jurisdiction of the District and Superior Courts and the District Court retains jurisdiction"). For an indictment to stand, "the grand jury must hear sufficient evidence to establish the identity of the accused . . . and probable cause to arrest him" (citations omitted). Commonwealth v. McCarthy, 385 Mass. 160, 163 (1982).
The defendant's discovery motion is predicated on the argument that the requirement in Mass. R. Crim. P. 5 (e), 378 Mass. 850 (1979), of a "concurrence" of at least twelve grand jurors to return an indictment, mandates that "a core of at least twelve grand jurors heard all of the evidence and voted to indict." He asserts that the word "concurrence" "presumes that a grand
juror has been present to hear all of the evidence presented before joining in a decision to indict," and, that such an obligation is necessitated by the grand jurors' oath, see G. L. c. 277, § 5. The defendant urges us to follow "[t]he better-reasoned decisions from other jurisdictions" that "recognize that an informed grand jury that truly concurs to indict, based on hearing all of the evidence, ensures the integrity of the grand jury process." We decline to add such a requirement to rule 5.
Rule 5 (e) has its origins in the common law. By the common law, a grand jury "may consist of not less than thirteen, nor more than twenty-three persons," Crimm v. Commonwealth, 119 Mass. 326, 331 (1876), and a concurrence of at least twelve was required to return an indictment, see Commonwealth v. Smith, 9 Mass. 107, 109 (1812). Both the maximum number of grand jurors and the minimum number required to indict prescribed by the common law was kept intact by statute and rule. See G. L. c. 277, §§ 1, 2A-2G (twenty-three grand jurors shall be selected to serve); Mass. R. Crim. P. 5 (a), 378 Mass. 850 (1979) ("the court shall select not more than twenty-three grand jurors to serve"); Mass. R. Crim. P. 5 (e) ("An indictment may be found only upon the concurrence of twelve or more jurors"). The common law quorum requirement of thirteen remains in place, unaltered by statute or rule. Commonwealth v. Wood, 2 Cush. 149, 150-151 (1848).
Rule 5 is modeled in large part on its Federal counterpart, Fed. R. Crim. P. 6. Reporters' Notes to Mass. R. Crim. P. 5, Mass. Ann. Laws, Rules of Criminal Procedure, at 46 (Lexis 1997). The Federal rule requires that every grand jury session be attended by "not less than 16 nor more than 23 members," Fed. R. Crim. P. 6 (a) (1), and, for an indictment to be found, requires "the concurrence of 12 or more jurors," Fed. R. Crim. P. 6 (f). Federal courts have nearly uniformly rejected the argument raised by the defendant that the grand jurors voting to indict be required to hear all of the evidence presented. See United States v. Byron, 994 F.2d 747, 748 (10th Cir. 1993); United States v. Overmyer, 899 F.2d 457, 465 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 939 (1990); United States v. Godoy, 678 F.2d 84, 86 (9th Cir. 1982), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 959 (1983); United States ex rel. McCann v. Thompson, 144 F.2d 604, 607 (2d
Cir.), cert. denied, 323 U.S. 790 (1944); United States v. Raineri, 521 F. Supp. 30, 35 (W.D. Wis. 1980); United States v. Pastor, 419 F. Supp. 1318, 1328-1329 (S.D.N.Y. 1975); United States v. Anzelmo, 319 F. Supp. 1106, 1115 (E.D. La. 1970). But see United States v. Provenzano, 688 F.2d 194, 202-203 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1071 (1982) (expressing uneasiness with approach followed by other Federal courts and providing procedure whereby replacement and absentee grand jurors are given transcript of missed proceedings as well as an opportunity to recall witnesses for questioning). Often quoted and relied on in these Federal decisions is the reasoning stated by Judge Learned Hand, writing for the court in United States ex rel. McCann v. Thompson, supra at 607:
"Since all the evidence adduced before a grand jury -- certainly when the accused does not appear -- is aimed at proving guilt, the absence of some jurors during some part of the hearings will ordinarily merely weaken the prosecution's case. If what the absentees actually hear is enough to satisfy them, there would seem to be no reason why they should not vote. Against this we can think of nothing except the possibility that some of the evidence adduced by the prosecution might conceivably turn out to be favorable to the accused; and that, if the absentees had heard it, they might have refused to vote a true bill. No one can be entirely sure that this can never occur; but it appears to us so remote a chance that it should be left to those instances in which it can be made to appear that the evidence not heard was of that character, in spite of the extreme difficulty of ever proving what was the evidence before a grand jury. Indeed, the possibility that not all who vote will hear all the evidence, is a reasonable inference from the fact that sixteen is a quorum. Were the law as the relator argues, it would practically mean that all jurors present at the beginning of any case, must remain to the end, for it will always be impossible to tell in advance whether twelve will eventually vote a true bill, and if they do, who those twelve will be. The result of such a doctrine would therefore be that in a long case, or in a case where there are intervals in the taking of evidence, the privilege of absence would not exist. That would certainly be an innovation,
for the contrary practice has, so far as we are aware, been universal; and it would be an onerous and unnecessary innovation."
We reject the defendant's contention that the reasoning stated in the Thompson case is "unpersuasive." In most instances, grand jurors hear only inculpatory evidence. Commonwealth v. O'Dell, 392 Mass. 445, 447 (1984) (stating that prosecutors are not required "to bring exculpatory evidence to the attention of grand juries"). It is only when the prosecutor possesses exculpatory evidence that would greatly undermine either the credibility of an important witness or evidence likely to affect the grand jury's decision, or withholds exculpatory evidence causing the presentation to be "so seriously tainted," that the prosecutor must present such evidence to the grand jury. Id. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Vinnie, 428 Mass. 161, 174 & n.18, cert. denied, 525 U.S. 1007 (1998); Commonwealth v. Roman, 414 Mass. 642, 648-649 (1993). On the occasion when a grand juror "misses" inculpatory evidence, such a circumstance, as stated by Judge Hand, may work in the accused's favor if that grand juror has not otherwise heard sufficient evidence to establish the probable cause standard. See United States ex rel. McCann v. Thompson, supra at 607. On the other hand, the "missed" evidence may have been cumulative of other evidence presented.
In the Thompson case, the existence of the quorum requirement served as a reasonable basis for inferring that not all of the grand jurors voting on an indictment will necessarily have heard all of the evidence. Id. This same inference may be drawn from the common-law quorum requirement existing in the Commonwealth, as well as from the fact that grand jurors may be replaced pursuant to statute, see G. L. c. 277, § 4. Provisions governing grand jurors, which we decline to change, take into account the lengthy terms for which many grand juries sit, usually a number of months. The provisions also, as acknowledged by the defendant, "insure that the grand jury can continue functioning despite absent members." See 1 S.S. Beale, Grand Jury Law and Practice § 4:8, at 4-35 (2d ed. 2001) ("It is not unusual for individual grand jurors to miss a number of the sessions, yet to participate in the ultimate decision whether to
indict or not. In this respect, the grand jury process differs radically from the trial process, where it would be unthinkable for a juror to miss several days of evidence, yet be permitted to deliberate and vote on the defendant's guilt"). Adoption of the rule the defendant proposes may cause the prosecution to seek to indict an accused on the basis of whatever evidence it can present in one day. In such circumstances, the prosecution may not be able to present the direct testimony of several witnesses, relying instead on the hearsay statements of one witness. While proceedings conducted in this manner would not be impermissible, see Commonwealth v. O'Dell, supra at 450-451 ("an indictment may be based solely on hearsay"), they would run contrary to our "preference for the use of direct testimony before grand juries," Commonwealth v. St. Pierre, 377 Mass. 650, 656 (1979), which inures to the accused's benefit. The defendant's rule would also be disruptive of witnesses, police and their schedules, court sessions, and the daily encumbered lives of grand jurors and their families.
Although the defendant correctly identifies that other States, either by statute, rule, or decision, have adopted the requirement that the grand jurors voting to indict have heard all the evidence presented, see, e.g., Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 21-406(B) (West 2002); Me. R. Crim. P. 6(j) (West 2001); N.D. Cent. Code § 29-10.1-20 (1991); Or. Rev. Stat. § 132.360 (2001); Commonwealth v. Levinson, 480 Pa. 273, 285-286 (1978) (explaining "[w]hen a substantial percentage of the total membership of the jury is absent from a significant portion of the presentation of evidence, it can no longer be said with confidence that the deliberations were not affected"), [Note 2] some State courts have followed the Federal approach. See, e.g., People v. Martin-Trigona,
111 Ill. App. 3d 718, 724 (1982); State v. Blyth, 226 N.W.2d 250, 266 (Iowa 1975); Johnston v. State, 107 Nev. 944, 947 (1991). We join this latter group of courts. We add that it is precisely the unique and limited function of the grand jury that permits their proceedings, including those rules pertaining to grand jurors, to vary from the rules governing trials and petit jurors. See Commonwealth v. McLeod, 394 Mass. 727, 733, cert. denied sub nom. Aiello v. Massachusetts, 474 U.S. 919 (1985); United States v. Leverage Funding Sys., Inc., 637 F.2d 645, 648 (9th Cir. 1980), cert. denied, 452 U.S. 961 (1981). See also Brunson v. Commonwealth, 369 Mass. 106, 120 (1975) (explaining that grand jury "is an investigatory and accusatory body only. It cannot and does not determine guilt"). That these rules vary does not vitiate the defendant's constitutional right to be indicted by a grand jury, of which at least twelve grand jurors agree that probable cause exists to indict. As has been explained, the grand jury are expected to follow their oath faithfully, as they may not return an indictment unless they have heard "sufficient evidence to establish the identity of the accused . . . and probable cause to arrest him" (citations omitted). Commonwealth v. McCarthy, 385 Mass. 160, 163 (1982).
2. The case is remanded to the county court for entry of an order vacating the order of the Superior Court judge allowing the defendant's motion for discovery of the grand jury attendance records, and directing the entry of an order denying the motion.
[Note 1] "An indictment may be found only upon the concurrence of twelve or more jurors." Mass. R. Crim. P. 5 (e), 378 Mass. 850 (1979).
[Note 2] Some decisions to which the defendant cites permit the absence of voting grand jurors so long as they otherwise become informed of the evidence they missed, see State v. Del Fino, 100 N.J. 154, 164 (1985) (stating future rule that "there is no reason that grand jurors not be informed of all evidence before the panel," and that "court should charge the jurors that those who join in the indictment must have been present and have heard or otherwise have informed themselves [by reading transcripts of missed proceedings] of the evidence presented at each session"), or permit them to vote so long as they have not missed either a substantial portion of the prosecution's case, or essential and critical evidence, see State v. Reynolds, 166 N.J. Super. 570, 575 (1979) (dismissing indictment, concluding that grand jury cannot faithfully perform their function "where the required minimum number of grand jurors voting the indictment is composed of individuals absent during substantial portions of the presentation of the State's case"). See also People v. Saperstein, 2 N.Y.2d 210, 218, cert. denied, 353 U.S. 946 (1957), quoting People v. Brinkman, 309 N.Y. 974, 975 (1956) (affirming rule that "an indictment is good despite the absence of certain grand jurors on various days when testimony is heard, so long as 'at least twelve of the Grand Jurors, who voted to indict, heard all essential and critical evidence' "). Our conclusion assumes that the grand jurors voting to indict follow the instructions given by the judge who advised them of their obligations, and that they act conscientiously in compliance with their oath.
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MARVEL STUDIOS “AVENGERS: ENDGAME” RELEASES ON DIGITAL JULY 30 AND ON BLU-RAY™ AUG. 13
June 26, 2019 By Marijean Leave a Comment
RELEASES ON DIGITAL JULY 30 AND ON BLU-RAY™ AUG. 13
Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Endgame,” the climactic conclusion to an unprecedented, 11-year cinematic journey in which the Avengers take one final stand against Thanos, delivered the biggest opening weekend in history and is currently one of the highest-grossing films of all time. On July 30, Avengers fans around the world are invited to assemble once more for the in-home release of “Avengers: Endgame” on Digital in HD, 4K Ultra HD™ and Movies Anywhere, followed by a physical release on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray™, DVD and On-Demand beginning Aug. 13.
MARVEL STUDIOS’ CLIMACTIC CONCLUSION TO 22 FILMS AND ONE OF THE TOP FILMS OF ALL TIME
Extras celebrate Stan Lee, Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, Thor, the women of Marvel, the Russo brothers, deleted scenes and gags — and early Digital viewers receive an exclusive Steve and Peggy featurette
Fans who bring home “Avengers: Endgame” will gain hours of additional screen time with their favorite cast members and filmmakers who have shaped the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Bonus features include a tribute to the great Stan Lee; the tale of Robert Downey Jr.’s casting as Iron Man; the evolution of Captain America; Black Widow’s dramatic story arc; directors Anthony and Joe Russo’s experience at the helm of both “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame”; the making of an epic battle scene with the women of the MCU; the creation of Bro Thor; deleted scenes; a gag reel and more.
The must-own, final chapter of the 22-film MCU series, “Avengers: Endgame,” will be packaged several ways to ensure fans get the most out of their in-home entertainment experience. Viewers can bring home the film two weeks early on Digital 4K Ultra HD, HD and SD and gain access to an exclusive extra highlighting the love story of Steve Rogers (Captain America) and Peggy Carter. A physical copy of “Avengers: Endgame” is available as a 4K Cinematic Universe Edition (4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and Digital Code), a Multi-Screen Edition (Blu-ray and Digital Code) and a single DVD. Fans who wish to revisit all four films in the Avengers franchise may opt for a Digital bundle, which includes “Marvel’s The Avengers,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame.”
BONUS MATERIAL (may vary by retailer):
Steve and Peggy: One Last Dance – Explore Captain America and Peggy Carter’s bond, forged in moments from previous films that lead to a momentous choice in “Avengers: Endgame.”
Blu-ray & Digital:
Remembering Stan Lee – Filmmakers and cast honor the great Stan Lee in a fond look back at his MCU movie cameos.
Setting The Tone: Casting Robert Downey Jr. – Hear the tale of how Robert Downey Jr. was cast as Tony Stark in the original “Iron Man” — and launched the MCU.
A Man Out of Time: Creating Captain America – Trace the evolution of Captain America with those who helped shape the look, feel and character of this compelling hero.
Black Widow: Whatever It Takes – Follow Black Widow’s journey both within and outside the Avengers, including the challenges she faced and overcame along the way.
The Russo Brothers: Journey to Endgame – See how Anthony and Joe Russo met the challenge of helming two of the biggest films in cinematic history … back-to-back!
The Women of the MCU – MCU women share what it was like to join forces for the first time in an epic battle scene — and be part of such a historic ensemble.
Bro Thor – His appearance has changed but his heroism remains! Go behind the scenes to see how Bro Thor was created.
Six Deleted Scenes – “Goji Berries,” “Bombs on Board,” “Suckiest Army in the Galaxy,” “You Used to Frickin’ Live Here,” “Tony and Howard” and “Avengers Take a Knee.”
Gag Reel – Laugh along with the cast in this epic collection of flubs, goofs and gaffes from set.
Visionary Intro – Intro by directors Joe and Anthony Russo.
Audio Commentary – Audio commentary by directors Anthony and Joe Russo, and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.
Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Endgame” stars Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Captain America, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Don Cheadle as War Machine, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Danai Gurira as Okoye and Bradley Cooper as Rocket with Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan, Benedict Wong as Wong and Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie. Josh Brolin returns as the film’s infamous villain, Thanos.
Marvel Cinematic Universe characters restored to the universe in “Avengers: Endgame” include Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther, Tom Holland as Spider-Man, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Evangeline Lilly as The Wasp, Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch, Anthony Mackie as Falcon, Sebastian Stan as Winter Soldier, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Dave Bautista as Drax, Letitia Wright as Shuri, Angela Bassett as Ramonda, Michael Douglas as Hank Pym, Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet Van Dyne, Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, Winston Duke as M’Baku, Linda Cardellini as Laura Barton, and Vin Diesel as Groot with Chris Pratt as Star-Lord and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. Reprising their roles, Rene Russo returns as Frigga, John Slattery as Howard Stark, Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One, Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, Marisa Tomei as Aunt May, Taika Waititi as Korg, William Hurt as Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross and Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce.
Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Endgame” is directed by Emmy Award®–winning directors Anthony and Joe Russo from an original screenplay by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely. Kevin Feige produced the film, with Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Michael Grillo, Trinh Tran, Jon Favreau, James Gunn and Stan Lee serving as executive producers.
Directors Anthony and Joe Russo’s creative team also includes director of photography Trent Opaloch (“Avengers: Infinity War,” “Captain America: Civil War”); production designer Charles Wood (“Avengers: Infinity War,” “Matrix”); editors Jeffrey Ford, ACE (“Avengers: Infinity War,” “Captain America: Civil War”), and Matthew Schmidt (“Avengers: Infinity War,” “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”); three-time Oscar®–nominated costume designer Judianna Makovsky (“Avengers: Infinity War,” “Captain America: Civil War”); Oscar-nominated visual effects supervisor Dan DeLeeuw (“Avengers: Infinity War,” “Captain America: Civil War”); six-time Oscar nominee, special effects supervisor Dan Sudick (“Avengers: Infinity War,” “Black Panther”); and stunt coordinator Monique Ganderton (“Avengers: Infinity War,” “Atomic Blonde”).
ABOUT MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT:
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media over seventy years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing and publishing. For more information visit marvel.com. ©2019MARVEL
For over 90 years, The Walt Disney Studios has been the foundation on which The Walt Disney Company was built. Today, the Studio brings quality movies, music and stage plays to consumers throughout the world. Feature films are released under the following banners: Disney, including Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios; Disneynature; Marvel Studios; and Lucasfilm. The Disney Music Group encompasses the Walt Disney Records and Hollywood Records labels, as well as Disney Music Publishing. The Disney Theatrical Group produces and licenses live events, including Disney on Broadway, Disney On Ice and Disney Live!.
©2019 Marvel
Marvel Studios Unveils Phase 3 of Marvel Cinematic Universe!!!
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR is Now Playing in Theaters! #CaptainAmerica #Marvel
Blu-ray #MovieMagic GIVEAWAY #giveaways #win
The Angry Birds Movie available for digital download on July 29 and debuts on Blu-ray and DVD on August 16th
Guardians of the Galaxy on Blu-ray 12/9
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You are here: Home » 2019
US rock quartet Alter Bridge has released the first song and music video, Wouldn’t You Rather, from their upcoming sixth studio album, Walk The Sky.
On the heels of the successful launch of their new album A Rock Supreme, the Canadian hard rock trio Danko Jones has announced plans to join Volbeat together with...
Another edition of the biggest Austrian festival, Nova Rock, is right around the corner. Organizers now reveals timetable for the 4 days weekend full of excellent performances.
Blink-182 and Lil Wayne join forces for co-headlining summer tour!
Multi-platinum, award winning artists Blink-182 and Lil Wayne announced they’ll be hitting the road together for the first time ever on a co-headlining tour across North America this summer....
Sum 41 announce seventh full-lenght album Order In Decline!
Legendary rock icons Sum 41 announce release of their seventh full-length album. The new record Order In Decline, is due to out on July 19th, 2019 via Hopeless Records....
Five Finger Death Punch join forces with biggest names in country, for collaboration of the year!
Five Finger Death Punch has teamed up with the legendary Brian May and two of the biggest names in country and blues rock, Brantley Gilbert and Kenny Wayne Shepherd...
Hollywood Undead on tour in Europe in April!
The most mysterious and versatile outfit from the West Coast, Hollywood Undead, will be back in Europe in early April for some huge gigs, from arena shows in Russia...
Mötley Crüe release The Dirt soundtrack!
The world’s most notorious rock band Mötley Crüe release The Dirt Soundtrack to coincide with the band’s biopic, The Dirt (now streaming on Netflix), based on their New York...
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Memorable Manitobans: Margaret Elder Hart (1907-2008)
Nursing educator.
Born in Winnipeg on 11 June 1907, she was educated at the Winnipeg General Hospital and Columbia University. She devoted her professional life to public health nursing and nursing education at the University of Manitoba where she served as Director of the School of Nursing from 1948 to 1972. She was one of the first nurses in Canada to get a doctoral degree in nursing. She was President of the Canadian Association of University Schools of Nursing from 1966 to 1968. She received the Canadian Centennial Medal, the Manitoba Centennial Medal, and the Ethel Johns Award from CASN. She died at Ottawa, Ontario on 2 April 2008.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 10 April 2008.
Page revised: 28 March 2016
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Catasauqua: Borough presents Fest O’ Fall Oct. 6
Wednesday, October 3, 2018 by The Press in Columns
The Historic Catasauqua Preservation Association is sponsoring the 13th annual Fest O’ Fall celebration noon-5 p.m. Oct. 6, with a rain date of noon-5 p.m. Oct. 7.
Activities will be held at Biery House, 8 Race St., and George Taylor House, Lehigh and Poplar streets.
Family activities include a hay ride, kids’ crafts, face and rock painting, games, an obstacle course and more. You can make a scarecrow or purchase a kit to make one at home. You can also make a bird house to take home.
Visit the Biery House museum and art gallery. Ice cream will be available for sale, and the bake sale table offers homemade deserts. Have lunch at the Biery House outdoor kitchen, and listen to music by Prugal. Visit the George Taylor House, where there will be tours, re-enactors, crafts and a program on Lenape culture and contributions of Native Americans starting 1 p.m. and 3:45 p.m. The Wildlands Conservancy meet and greet with native animals is scheduled for 1:30-2:30 p.m. The raptor presentation starts 2:30 p.m.
For information, call 610-264-9716 or 610-266-0255 or search Fest O’ Fall on Facebook.
The Presbyterian Church of Catasauqua, will be holding its annual fall festival and basket social 4-7 p.m. Oct. 5 and 9 a.m.-noon Oct. 6.
There will be a bake sale, flea market and food. The food available for purchase Friday night will be hot dogs, barbecue, potato salad, tuna salad, pierogies, potato chips, pickles and hot and cold beverages. The Saturday morning breakfast will consist of eggs, pancakes, meat, home fries, doughnuts and hot and cold beverages.
For more information, contact Ann at 610-821-0568 or hoelib@aol.com. The event is sponsored by the church’s women’s group.
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 417 Howertown Road, will be holding its annual fall craft fair and bake sale 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Oct. 6 in the fellowship hall.
The kitchen will be open for refreshments.
There is plenty of free parking across the street from the church.
The YMCA is sponsoring the third annual Debbie Linton Memorial 5K Oct. 13. Registration will start 9 a.m., and the race begins 10 a.m.
As a tribute to Debbie, the scenic course will start and end at Alumni Field.
A celebration picnic will immediately follow at the YMCA. Sponsorship levels are available. Medals will be awarded to the top three in each age category.
The goal is to remember and capture the energy of Debbie and others who fought, or continue to fight, a brave battle against breast cancer.
Contact Melissa Brown at 610-264-5221 or melissabrown@gv-ymca.org for details or to register.
George Taylor House, Lehigh and Poplar streets, will host a Halloween haunted house 6-8 p.m. every Saturday in October.
There is a small admission fee. Contact 484-240-1034 with any questions.
My email address is lhahn775@verizon.net if there is any information you would like published in this column. Have a great week!
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Occupy World Writes
The Movement Continues – Globally
Welcome to an Occupied World!
About Occupy World Writes
What We’re Saying
Trump’s Drastic Cuts to UNRWA Spell More Poverty, Hopelessness, and Radicalization in Palestine
In an attempt to pressure the Palestinian people to accept his “deal of the century,” Trump decided to drastically cut the annual U.S. contribution to UNRWA from about $350 million to $65 million and pressured other countries, including Britain and Australia, to reduce their contributions as well.
By Hisham H. Ahmed, Ph.D. Published 8-17-2018 by MintPress News
Schoolgirls at the UNRWA Rimal Girls Preparatory School in Gaza. Adel Hana | AP
UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees, was established in December 1949 by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 302 to address the basic humanitarian needs of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who became refugees in the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948.
As its name reveals, UNRWA’s mission was centered on providing relief rations, basic healthcare, education and employment opportunities for the refugees who lost all of their livelihood. Underlying UNRWA’s establishment was the goal to integrate refugees into the neighboring Arab host countries, so as to diffuse tensions and promote regional peace and stability.
Motivated by political objectives, the United States and Britain have been the biggest contributors to UNRWA’s budget. This has remained the case until recently when U.S. President Donald Trump announced in February of this year his decision to drastically cut U.S. contributions to UNRWA. Over the years, these two big powers saw in this humanitarian agency an effective vehicle for containing frustration and despair among the refugees.
Indeed, in spite of some of its shortcomings, UNRWA has been able to provide badly needed services, particularly for destitute refugee families. UNRWA became an important apparatus of employment for many skilled refugees.
Until it began in the past few years to introduce reductions in its services, UNRWA’s schools once provided the best education to be had in their communities, employing the most talented Palestinian teachers and graduating very successful students who excelled in various fields of knowledge and expertise.
In an attempt to pressure the Palestinian people to accept his “deal of the century,” Trump decided to drastically cut the annual U.S. contribution to UNRWA from about $350 million to $65 million and, against all advice from his former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis, he pressured some other countries, including Britain and Australia, to reduce their contributions as well.
The first impact of Trump’s drastic cuts
UNRWA, which had already been struggling financially to meet its increasing demands, owing to the influx of more Palestinian refugees as a result of the Syrian crisis, found its operations severely hampered at a most critical time for so many Palestinian refugees. Supposedly compelled by the financial constraints, UNRWA recently decided to further shrink most of its modest services. Then, more worrisome for the refugees, it dismissed more than 1,000 Palestinian refugee employees from work in the Gaza, which has been lingering under siege for about 12 years.
Gaza, where unemployment has exceeded 80 percent, is considered one of the most troubled places on earth for human survival. Due to the tight siege, clean water is very scarce; Gazans get fewer than four hours of electricity per day; and the healthcare system has practically crumbled, as medical supplies are not coming in. On the whole, people are tormented by, on the one hand, the ongoing contest of powers between Hamas, which has unilaterally controlled the strip since 2007, and the Palestinian Authority, and, on the other, the Israeli occupation that dominates the airspace and sea as well as all entry points by land.
A Palestinian UNRWA employee sits during a protest at the agency’s headquarters in Gaza City, July 25, 2018. Khalil Hamra | AP
UNRWA’s decision, which seems to be the product of financial considerations, is nonetheless interpreted by many Palestinians as a politically-motivated move, owing to its timing and place of execution. Palestinians maintain that of all places where UNRWA operates, Gaza cannot be the first where such severe austerity measures should be introduced. The agony in the Gaza Strip is incalculable, especially as people have endured three wars with Israel in the past decade alone.
The new measures by UNRWA fell like a thunderbolt on refugee employees who have been dismissed, as no other opportunities for employment are available. Such measures led one of the dismissed employees, caught in despair and anguish, to try to set himself on fire in protest. Employees whose jobs were terminated have carried out an open-ended hunger strike with their families inside UNRWA headquarters.
Hopelessness and frustration: the breeding ground for extremism
Especially in a troubled area like the Middle East, the many crises that have developed over the years have contributed to the deepening of extremist tendencies among some groups and organizations.
By all accounts, the displacement of many refugees in the most recent conflicts during the past few years has widened the base of radicalization in the region. Radicalization becomes inevitable during times of total despair and profound frustration unless alternative creative, innovative solutions are introduced — i.e., unless some robust, systematic international programs of aid to alleviate the suffering of the refugees and to replace despair with hope are instituted.
In essence, radicalization of individuals can be viewed as a factor that leads to abnormalizing the behavior of those who fall victims to this tendency. More broadly, when radicalization spreads in a group or community, it can deform the social structure and lead to behavior that lacks balance — this may be called “the imbalancing” of communities. Creative and innovative policies are required to tackle the underlying root causes of radicalization.
Children at a UNRWA school where dozens of families sought refuge from Israeli airstrikes in northern Gaza. Photo | AP
UNRWA’s measures of cutting its services and dismissing close to 10 percent of its Palestinian workforce in Gaza are bound to hamper the educational process for hundreds of thousands of students, especially as other Palestinian employees in other locations feel quite vulnerable and may, as a result, resort to protesting such measures. In effect, the learning process of Palestinian students will be impacted and their educational rights violated.
The implications of violating the educational rights of refugees cannot be overlooked. Radicalization usually finds its way among disgruntled and frustrated young people, those who believe that their future offers them nothing more than despair and anguish. The Gaza Strip has been in a state of war and under total siege for many years — thus, to begin with, services are limited if provided at all. Dismissing of employees in the thousands by the organization in whose name and for whom it was created adds insult to injury, as it threatens the very livelihood of tens of thousands of people, when accounting for the members of the families of those who are dismissed and whom they support.
An impact that rolls on into a darkened future
Wars, especially when compounded by chronic despair and frustration, usually affect societies both in the present and the future: while present effects might be measurable, those that might occur in the future are often accompanied by surprise. With the continuation of such measures by UNRWA, entire generations may be expected to be kept without formal education. These may be easily subjected to some kind of informal, unstructured education — i.e., indoctrination and radicalized mobilization by a number of organizations that generally thrive in an environment of chaos and anarchy.
Some scholars have studied the interplay between radicalization and feelings of deprivation. For example, Fathali M. Moghaddam (2005) has stressed the need for education to nurture feelings of tolerance and equality among different groups. Ervin Staub (2007) has focused on preventive measures against radicalization, mainly through teaching, learning and education. More recently, however, Kartika Bhatia and Hafez Ghanem (2017) drew the link between the decline in education, rise of unemployment and empowerment of radicalization.
By writing this article, the author hopes to shed light on such an important underlying problem faced by Palestinian refugees. Coming to terms with this problem now, policy-makers and strategists can avert crucial problems in the future, mainly the deepening of frustration and the potential rise of radicalization in the region.
Schoolgirls pass a memorial to Mohammed Ayyoub, 14, who was killed by Israeli soldiers at a protest in Gaza, April 21, 2018. Adel Hana | AP
The recent waves of hundreds of thousands of refugees flooding a number of European countries could have been averted with sound, foresighted policies. In writing this article, the author is motivated by the sense of urgency to highlight the ramifications of the ferocious assault of displacement on the rights of the refugees, particularly those pertaining to education. At the same time, the author is also motivated by his own background as a Palestinian refugee who was born and grew up in a refugee camp, Dheisheh near Bethlehem: every time I read about the plight and the agony of new refugees, I cannot help reflecting on my own upbringing and observation of the effect of deprivation on the lives of so many people around me.
Palestinian refugees have been subjected to serious injustice everywhere they went. UNRWA’s recent measures of reducing the already modest services it provides to the refugees, and its termination of thousands of jobs solely for Palestinian employees, raise a number of compelling moral and legal questions. The international community is responsible for the catastrophe endured by Palestinians. Thus, even if the United States under Trump resorts to punitive financial measures to achieve political ends, the world community should not allow UNRWA to crumble. Cutting services and dismissing Palestinian employees from their jobs is not the answer, nor is it the solution to the worsening financial problem.
Constructive reforms, not drastic and destructive cuts, are needed
A comprehensive assessment of UNRWA’s structure needs to be carried out, as its bureaucracy has massively expanded. It is a well-documented fact that the average salary of a foreign employee in UNRWA is about 10 times that of a Palestinian employee. UNRWA was created to serve Palestinian refugees and to employ them, as its mandate stipulates.
Attempts by the U.S. Congress to redefine the refugee status for Palestinians — i.e., to exclude all descendants from the current UNRWA definition of Palestinian refugees — aim at liquidating the problem of those refugees in time by dissolving UNRWA. The specific goal is to limit the definition to fewer than 40,000 Palestinian refugees, rather than the current 5.3 million. The calculation is that even the new limited number will further shrink, as elderly refugees will die and the definition will not apply to their descendants.
This can only exacerbate the already fragile security environment in the Middle East. Such attempts stem from many concerted efforts by Israel and its lobbying groups in the U.S. to influence American decision-makers. For example, in its annual conference in the last week of July, CUFI, Christians United For Israel in the United States, an organization that has become synonymous with AIPAC, lobbied members of Congress for redefining the status of Palestinian refugees. This is quite short-sighted, as it completely evades the political, legal and humanitarian consequences of this action. From a cost-benefit analysis, securing the necessary funds for UNRWA to maintain its operations, and actually to enhance them, is less costly than having to deal with increasing instability, deepening frustration and the resultant growing radicalization.
The High Commissioner of UNRWA, Pierre Krahenbuhl, has reflected an excellent understanding of the potential ramifications of cutting services and terminating jobs for Palestinian refugees. In a number of interviews he gave to the media, especially after Trump announced that he will be reducing U.S. contributions to UNRWA’s budget, Krahenbuhl clearly spoke of the impending radicalization among young refugees. Therefore, it is inconceivable to allow the dissolution of UNRWA to happen under his supervision. This stands in total contradiction with the reputable record he has.
6- #UNRWA CG @PKraehenbuehl: “The reduced contribution also impacts regional security at a time when the #MiddleEast faces multiple risks and threats, notably that of further radicalization.” #FundUNRWA https://t.co/sC7d7cPgVB
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) January 17, 2018
With a comprehensive assessment, serious reform, and reliance on more skilled Palestinian expertise, UNRWA can be enabled to cross this threshold and continue to fulfill its humanitarian mission. Sadly, the Palestinian problem is not over, and no just settlement for the refugees has been achieved. Therefore, the outcry of Palestinian refugees should be heard at the highest level of decision-making in the UN, including that of the office of the Secretary-General himself, Antonio Guterres.
This is the time to heed the call for human justice and dignity for Palestine’s refugees. This is the time when perspicacity should override narrow political considerations. This is the time to prevent more seeds of radicalization from being planted.
Hisham H. Ahmed, Ph.D. was Chair of the Academic Senate and Chair of the Politics Department at Saint Mary’s College of California, he was a Fulbright scholar in Palestine, where he wrote his book: From Religious Salvation to political transformation: the rise of Hamas in Palestinian Society. Ahmed is the author of numerous studies dealing with the Middle East. Ahmed is frequently called upon by the local and international media for analyses of various political issues pertaining to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
This article is republished under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International License.
This entry was posted in Civil Rights, Corruption, Economics, Education, Energy, Government, Health Care, Human Rights, Income Inequality, International Agreements, Racism, Refugee Issues, Religion, Social Justice and tagged Atrocities, Civil Rights, Corruption, Donald Trump, Economics, Energy, Equality, foreign aid, Gaza, Health Care, Human rights, Income Inequality, International Agreements, Israel, Palestine, Racism, refugees, religion, social justice, United Nations, UNRWA, US foreign policy on August 20, 2018 by MNgranny.
About MNgranny
MNgranny has been an activist since the age of 17. After earning a BA in Mass Communications and enjoying a 30 year career, she is now disabled and dedicates her life to that activism. Her experiences include volunteering in community service organizations and taking leadership roles throughout her academic and professional life. She is also a survivor of rape and domestic violence, a published author and a master naturalist. She is also a professional member of the United States Press Association. She has focused for the last several years and specializes in Kurdish history, culture and politics.
View all posts by MNgranny →
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#BringBackOurGirls Africa Boko Haram Nigeria
Nigeria,where oil has become a curse
By Tom Burgis
Oil should have made the country rich. Instead, it has distorted its economy, corrupted its political class, paved the way for Boko Haram — and killed off a thriving textile industry
©Jan Kallwejt
The chief of the border post let out another long sigh. “On attend.” The wait had already lasted hours. Not for the first time I was at the mercy of a temperamental fax machine. I was trying to cross the Nigerian border with its northern neighbour, Niger, in 2010. Someone in the visa section of Niger’s embassy in Nigeria had neglected to send some document to headquarters to authorise my visa, and faxing it over was proving complicated. I sat on the stoop of the border post, looking out over the scorched terrain that leads up to the Sahara. The sun was melting the horizon to a shimmer. “On attend.”Whiling away the morning beside the taciturn border chief offered me an opportunity to observe one of the few effective institutions in this part of the world: the smuggling racket. Dozens of trucks were queueing to cross from Niger into Nigeria. Their contents seemed harmless enough: many contained textiles and clothing bound for the markets of Kano and Kaduna, northern Nigeria’s two main cities. Weapons and unwilling human traffic cross Nigeria’s northern border covertly. But the flow of counterfeit Chinese-made textiles has grown so voluminous that it would be impossible to keep it secret, even if secrecy were required to ensure its safe passage. All the same, most of the shipments go through under cover of darkness. Those who control the trade engage in highly organised “settling”, or bribing, of the border officials, smoothing the textiles’ transit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ogh2dYJdAI
The Nigerian stretch is the final leg of a 10,000km journey. It begins in Chinese factories, churning out imitations of the textiles that Nigerians previously produced for themselves, with their signature prime colours and waxiness to the touch. By the boatload they arrive in west Africa’s ports, chiefly Cotonou in Benin, a tiny country beside Nigeria whose major economic activity is the transshipment of contraband. At the ports the counterfeit consignments are loaded on to trucks and either driven straight over the land border between Benin and western Nigeria or up through Niger and round to the border post with its taciturn chief. The trade is estimated to be worth about $2bn a year, equivalent to about a fifth of all annual recorded imports of textiles, clothing, fabric and yarn into the whole of sub-Saharan Africa.
Smuggling is a long-established profession here. Before colonial cartographers imposed the frontier, today’s smuggling routes were the byways of legitimate commerce. The border marks a delineation of what used to be British and French territory in west Africa, but no natural division of language or ethnicity exists. People on both sides speak Hausa, a tongue in which the word for smuggling, sumoga, strikes a less pejorative note than its English equivalent. The textile-smuggling bosses are the oligarchs of the northern borderlands. For those in their pay, they can be generous benefactors.
Not being a roll of fake west African fabric, I was not a priority for processing. Eventually the border chief’s phone rang. Off we trundled, past trucks with “Chine” daubed on the side, a brazen reference to their cargo’s origin. Another name went unrecorded, that of the trucks’ proprietor. Few dare to speak it openly here. But further to the south, where the truckloads of counterfeit textiles have helped to wreak economic destruction, I had heard it whispered a year earlier.
. . .
I had been living in Nigeria for less than two weeks when I arrived in Kaduna in the middle of 2009. The city is the gateway between the Christian south and the northern half of the country, an expanse that stretches up to the border with Niger and largely follows Allah. Kaduna lies in the turbulent Middle Belt, prone to spasms of communal violence when patronage politics, dressed in the garb of religion or ethnicity, turns bloody.
On a stifling Sunday morning a friend took me around Kaduna’s central market, a teeming grid of wooden booths. Many of the stalls were selling clothes. Some bore the misspellings that are counterfeiters’ inadvertent trademark: “Clavin Klein” read one shirt label. Others carried the equivalent of the appellation d’origine contrôléebadges that French vineyards and cheese makers append to their produce. “Made in Nigeria” the labels declared. But they were fake too. Aike, a young trader from the east, told me he stocked up on bogus labels when he went north to Kano to replenish his supplies of lace. “Mostly everything is made in China,” explained another trader selling jeans.
70% of Nigerian government revenue is generated by the sale of crude oil and natural gas
At Raymond Okwuanyinu’s stall I found rolls and rolls of the coloured fabric that is used for fashioning a popular style of billowing trousers. Here there was no attempt at subterfuge. Raymond told me it was a matter of simple economics. Nigeria may be the largest source of African energy exports, but it generates only enough electricity to power one toaster for every 44 of its own people. Billions of dollars assigned to fix the rundown power stations and the dilapidated grid have been squandered or pilfered. A privatisation drive in recent years has raised some tentative hope of improvement, but for now Nigeria produces only half as much electricity as North Korea.
Even those lucky enough to be connected to a functioning cable face the maddening task of negotiating with what used to be called the National Electric Power Authority or Nepa (but known as Never Expect Power Anytime). It was rebranded as the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, or PHCN (Please Have Candles Nearby or, simply, Problem Has Changed Name). Most must make do with spluttering diesel generators. In a country where 62 per cent of people live on less than $1.25 a day, running a generator costs about twice as much as the average Briton pays for electricity.
The World Bank estimates that textiles smuggled into Nigeria through Benin are worth $2.2bn a year; local Nigerian production has shrivelled to £40m annually
The crippling cost of electricity makes Nigerian textiles expensive to produce. Raymond, the Kaduna trader, told me he could sell trousers made from Chinese fabric at two-thirds the price of those made from Nigerian fabric and still turn a profit. Hillary Umunna, a few stalls over, concurred. The government’s attempt to support the Nigerian textile sector by banning imports was futile, Hillary opined, his tailor’s tape-measure draped around his shoulders. “These things now,” he said, gesturing at his wares, “they say it is contraband. They can’t produce it, but they ban it. So we have to smuggle.”
The cheaper price of smuggled garments relative to locally produced ones was good news, superficially at least, for the traders’ hard-pressed customers but less so for the employees of Nigeria’s textile industry. “It is a pitiable situation,” said Hillary, apparently oblivious to his and his colleagues’ role in their compatriots’ downfall. “All the [textile factories] we have here have shut down. The workers are now on the streets.”
In the mid-1980s Nigeria had 175 textile mills. Over the quarter-century that followed, all but 25 shut down. Many of those that have struggled on do so only at a fraction of their capacity. Of the 350,000 people the industry employed in its heyday, making it comfortably Nigeria’s most important manufacturing sector, all but 25,000 have lost their jobs. Imports comprise 85 per cent of the market, despite the fact that importing textiles is illegal. The World Bank has estimated that textiles smuggled into Nigeria through Benin are worth $2.2bn a year, compared with local Nigerian production that has shrivelled to $40m annually. A team of experts working for the United Nations concluded in 2009, “The Nigerian textile industry is on the verge of a total collapse.” Given the power crisis, the near-impassable state of Nigeria’s roads and the deluge of counterfeit clothes, it is a wonder that the industry kept going as long as it did.
The knock-on effects of this collapse are hard to quantify but they ripple far into the Nigerian economy, especially in the north. About half of the million farmers who used to grow cotton to supply textile mills no longer do so, although some have switched to other crops. Formal jobs in Nigeria are scarce and precious. Each textile employee supports maybe half-a-dozen relatives. It is safe to say that the destruction of the Nigerian textile industry has blighted millions of lives.
85% of Nigeria’s textile market is now comprised of (illegal) imports
After I left Kaduna’s market my friend took me to meet some of those who had felt the industry’s collapse hardest. Sitting around on rickety desks in the half-light of a classroom beside the church where some of Kaduna’s Christians were loudly asking a higher power for succour, nine redundant textile workers poured forth their woes. Tens of thousands of textile jobs had disappeared in Kaduna alone, the mill hands told me. I had seen the factory where some of them used to work. The gates of the plant were firmly shuttered. Jagged glass topped the high walls, and a lone security guard kept watch, protecting the machinery within. No other living thing came or went, save for the yellow-headed lizards scuttling among the undergrowth.
Father Matthew Hassan Kukah looked pained as he recalled the day when the factory, Kaduna’s last, had closed its doors the previous year. The hymns from his Sunday service had subsided. Like Archbishop Desmond Tutu in South Africa, Kukah is a figure of moral authority in Nigeria — and shares with Tutu a subversive sense of humour in the face of adversity. Kukah’s voice needles the mighty as few others can. The demise of Kaduna’s textile industry had drained the life from the city, he told me, sitting in a sweltering office above his sacristy and dressed in a simple black vestment. “We’ve gone backward 20 years,” he said. “Back in the 1970s there were textiles, people were energetic. But that generation was not able to produce the young, upwardly mobile elite. That’s what their children should have been.”
Kaduna’s decline was only one symptom of Nigeria’s descent into privation, Kukah went on. The national political class had abandoned civic duty to line its own pockets instead. The social fabric had been rent. “As a result of the collapse of the state, everybody, from the president down, is trying to find his own power, his own security. People are falling back on vigilante groups.” Violence had become the tenor of life. “Everywhere in the world the ghettos are combustible. The north is an incubator of poverty.”
The former mill hands among Kukah’s congregation and Kaduna’s Muslims shared in that poverty: buying food, let alone paying the school fees that even the dilapidated state-run schools charge, was a daily trial. The mill hands told me they had tried to hold a demonstration outside the state governor’s house, but the police had blocked them. The federal government had repeatedly promised to bail out the industry, yet little assistance had been forthcoming. The more clear-eyed workers realised that, in any case, the game was up. Even if they could get the factories running again, Chinese contraband had so thoroughly captured the market that it would be impossible for the Nigerian operations to compete. And there was something that had accelerated the mill hands’ consignment to the trash can of globalisation. Shuffling their feet and looking warily around for anyone who might be eavesdropping, the men murmured a single word: “Mangal.”
Alhaji Dahiru Mangal is a businessman, a confidant of presidents, a devout Muslim and a philanthropist whose airline transports Nigerian pilgrims to the annual hajj in Mecca. He also ranks among west Africa’s pre-eminent smugglers.
Growing up in Katsina, the last outpost before Nigeria’s frontier with Niger, Mangal received little formal education. More cosmopolitan Nigerian businessmen speak of him with a mixture of snobbery, envy and fear. He got his start as a teenager in the 1980s, following his father into the import-export business, and he swiftly made the cross-border freight routes his own. “He is shrewd,” a northern leader who knows him told me. “He knows how to make money.”
Nigeria has everything: fertile land, great natural wealth, an abundance of intelligence and ingenuity . . . But oil has sickened its heart
In the shadier corners of the workshop of the world Mangal found the perfect business partners. “The Chinese attacked at the heart of the industry: the wax-print and African-print segment,” a consultant who has spent years investigating — and trying to reverse — the slow death of Nigerian textiles explained to me. During the 1990s Chinese factories began copying west African designs and opening their own distribution branches in the region. “This is 100 per cent illicit — but the locals do the smuggling,” the consultant went on. There are, he said, 16 factories in China dedicated to churning out textiles with a “Made in Nigeria” badge sewn into them. For a time the Chinese material was of a much lower quality than Nigerian originals, but that gap narrowed as Chinese standards rose. The Chinese began to take control of the market, in league with Nigerian vendors. Mangal acts as the facilitator, the conduit between manufacturer and distributor, managing a shadow economy that includes the border authorities and his political allies. Like many others who profit from the “resource curse”, he plies the hidden byways of the globalised economy.
From his base in Katsina, Mangal arranges the import of food, fuel and anything his wealthy Nigerian clients might desire. But the staple of his operation is the textiles that have helped kill off the local industry. The details of the alleged smuggling operation are drawn from interviews with northern Nigeria politicians, officials, businessmen and textiles consultants in Abuja, Katsina, Kano and Kaduna between 2009 and 2013. Mangal is said to charge a flat fee of N2m (about $13,000) per cargo, plus the cost of goods. In 2008 Mangal was estimated to be bringing about 100 40ft shipping containers across the frontier each month.
Around 2005 Olusegun Obasanjo, the former military ruler then embarking on his second term as elected president, decided to do something about smuggling and the damage it was causing to the textile industry. Obasanjo dispatched Nasir el-Rufai, a northern-born minister with a reputation as a reformer, to try to get Mangal to clean up his act. El-Rufai told me that Mangal asked him, “Why does Obasanjo call me a smuggler? I just do logistics. I don’t buy any of the goods that are smuggled. I’m just providing a service.” (I tried unsuccessfully to arrange an interview with Mangal. He did not respond to questions I sent to his representative.)
Mangal and the rest of northern Nigeria’s crime lords can trace their hegemony — and the abandoned textile workers their strife — to the discovery of oil in the Niger Delta. In 1959, three years after Royal Dutch Shell struck oil in commercial quantities in the Delta, the company sank another well by the village of Slochteren in the northern Netherlands, in partnership with Exxon of the United States. They discovered the biggest gasfield in Europe. A gas bonanza followed. It was not long, however, before the Dutch began to wonder whether the discovery had truly been a blessing. People outside the energy industry started losing their jobs. Other sectors of the economy slumped, following a pattern that The Economist would, in 1977, diagnose as “Dutch Disease”.
What happened in the Netherlands was not an isolated outbreak, even if a prosperous European country was better placed than many to withstand it. Dutch Disease is a pandemic whose symptoms, in many cases, include poverty and oppression. The disease enters a country through its currency. The dollars that pay for exported hydrocarbons, minerals, ores and gems push up the value of the local currency. Imports become cheaper relative to locally made products, undercutting homegrown enterprises. Arable land lies fallow as local farmers find that imported fare has displaced their produce. For countries that have started to industrialise, the process goes into reverse; those that aspire to industrialise are stymied. Processing natural commodities can multiply their value four hundredfold but, lacking industrial capacity, Africa’s resource states watch their oil and minerals sail away in raw form for that value to accrue elsewhere.
In Africa, Dutch Disease is chronic and debilitating. Instead of broad economies with an industrial base to provide mass employment, poverty breeds and the resource sector becomes an enclave of plenty for those who control it. Measured as a share of the overall output of the combined African economy, manufacturing has fallen from 15 per cent in 1990 to 11 per cent in 2008. Telecoms and financial services have boomed, but the path to industrialisation is blocked off.
Oil has so corrupted Nigeria that, for those trying to make an honest buck, the outlook is dispiriting. Richard Akerele, a veteran British- Nigerian businessman from an old Lagos family whose latest endeavour has been to establish a new line of passenger suites at African airports, is of an almost unassailably cheery disposition. Yet even he is losing hope. “We have everything here, everything,” Akerele told me. “But our people are poor and our society is poor.” We were sitting at a waterside bar on one of the islands of uptown Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital. The sun danced on the waters that separate the wealthy islands from the heaving mass of humanity on the mainland, with its profusion of crammed yellow buses, its cacophony of Afrobeat and generators, its defiantly sharp-suited slum dwellers.
For Akerele’s generation there is something deeply poignant about what Nigeria has become. He was right — Nigeria has everything: fertile land, great natural wealth, universities that in the years after independence were the envy of Africa, an abundance of intelligence and ingenuity reflected in the ease with which Nigerian expatriates make headway abroad, prizewinning novelists and savvy businessmen. But oil has sickened Nigeria’s heart.
Back in the 1970s there were textiles, people were energetic. But they were not able to produce a young, upwardly mobile elite — what their children should have been
In Nigeria the sale of crude oil and natural gas generates about 70 per cent of government revenue; in newborn South Sudan the figure is 98 per cent. Taxes, customs receipts and revenues from the sale of state assets — the things on which industrialised nations rely to fund the state and that require the acquiescence of the population — matter far less than keeping the resource money flowing. Nigeria’s GDP recalculation in 2014 showed that, once taxes from the oil industry were stripped out, the government relied on the people for just 4 per cent of its income.
The ability of the rulers of Africa’s resource states to govern without recourse to popular consent goes to the heart of the resource curse. The resource business ruptures the social contract between rulers and ruled — the idea, shaped by political philosophers such as Rousseau and Locke, that a government draws its legitimacy from the consensual sacrifice of certain freedoms by the people in exchange for those vested with authority upholding the common interest. Instead of calling their rulers to account, the citizens of resource states are reduced to angling for a share of the loot.
325,000 of the 350,000 people once employed in Nigeria’s textile industry have lost their jobs
As a political economy took hold in Nigeria that was based on embezzlement and manipulating public office for private gain, government contracts for the upkeep of public goods that support industrialisation — a functioning electricity system chief among them — were diverted to the cronies of the rulers of the day. The pattern was the same as in Angola or Congo: the more Nigeria’s non-oil economy withered, the greater the impulse to embezzle, perpetuating the cycle of looting. The deterioration of northern Nigeria’s textile industry created new demand for imported clothes and fabrics, strengthening Mangal’s stranglehold on the market and throttling the indigenous industry’s chances of resuscitation. For the likes of Boko Haram, the northern Islamist terrorists linked to al-Qaeda who have proved more than a match for the security forces, the corruption of the state and the lack of economic opportunity serve as recruiting sergeants. From its heartland in the remote northeast, its fighters bombed cities and burned villages across the north.
The sheer scale of Mangal’s smuggling operation gave him sway over Nigeria’s northern borderlands, and many of the north’s senior politicians were, I was told, in his pocket. “So many people are benefiting from the [customs] service the way it is and they want to keep it like this,” Yakubu Dogara, a northern member of Nigeria’s national assembly who had chaired an inquiry into the customs service, told me. I asked him about Mangal’s role, suggesting he was at the centre of the smuggling operation. “Some of the perpetrators are well known,” Dogara said. “Even the customs know them. But they are not empowered to go after them.” He paused. “The person you have just mentioned is untouchable, untouchable.”
By funding Umaru Yar’Adua’s successful campaigns for governor of his home state, Katsina, and then for the presidency, Mangal had ensured he had a protector at the top of the rentier class that uses Nigeria’s oil to maintain its hegemony. Goodluck Jonathan assumed the presidency when Yar’Adua fell fatally ill in 2010, becoming the first son of the Niger Delta to hold the highest office. He knew better than to start picking fights with a smuggler who had proved himself a generous benefactor to the People’s Democratic party in the past.
Even if the day comes when Mangal’s smuggling empire topples, it would be a monumental task to salvage what remains of northern Nigeria’s textile industry, let alone return it to its former glory. It is the structure of an economy in thrall to oil, more than any one crime lord, that condemned those mill hands to penury. Nigeria has paid quite a price for the dubious honour of being the continent’s biggest oil producer.
Extracted from ‘The Looting Machine: Warlords, Tycoons, Smugglers and the Systematic Theft of Africa’s Wealth’ by Tom Burgis, published by William Collins on February 26 (and in the US by Public Affairs on March 24)
-FT
WEST AFRICA LEADERS VOW TO WAGE “TOTAL WAR” ON BOKO HARAM
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Posted on 15th February 2015 by newsafrica. This entry was posted in #BringBackOurGirls, Africa, Boko Haram, Nigeria. Bookmark the permalink.
« Farai Simoyi-Zimbabwean Designer Behind Nicki Minaj’s Fashion Line
Brown Ideye, Africa’s new football sensation? »
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KT for Good: Beat the sugar rush
Khaleej Times 2019-02-10 23:32:51
More younger, working-class people are being diagnosed with diabetes, a silent killer, according to an expert.
Dr Maneesha Pandey, specialist endocrinologist at Aster Clinic, Bur Dubai, said most of the patients seen in the UAE are between 25 and 50 years old.
"This is a comparatively young age, and in the South Asian population, diabetes occurs 10 years earlier and 10 times more," she said.
Figures from the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) revealed that in 2017, 17.3 per cent of the UAE population between the ages of 20 and 79 has Type 2 diabetes.
There are over one million people living with diabetes in the UAE, placing the country 15th worldwide for age-adjusted comparative prevalence. It is important to note that diabetes is a regional affliction, as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar are also part of the top 20 countries in terms of prevalence worldwide.
Trends also indicate that the prevalence of diabetes in the UAE is rising at a faster rate than both the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region and the rest of the world. Rapid economic growth, sedentary lifestyles and unhealthy diets characteristic to the UAE are all risk factors, with the number of people with diabetes forecast to double to 2.2 million by 2040.
Efforts by the health authorities, however, showed encouraging results. The prevalence of diabetes dropped to 11.8 per cent of the total population in 2017, from an alarming 19.3 per cent in 2013. "We all know of someone who suffers from diabetes - it could be a family member, a friend or an acquaintance," said Dr Pandey.
She said people are getting diabetes due to a genetic predisposition, as well as a sedentary lifestyle, bad food habits and stress. "Adults above 21 should be screened for this silent killer, especially if they are overweight, have a family history and have hypertension," said Dr Pandey.
She added that the risk of diabetes increases with age, especially after the age of 45.
asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com
Reversing diabetes
New studies show that by adopting a healthy, diabetes could actually be reversed, Dr Maneesha Pandey, specialist endocrinologist at Aster Clinic, Bur Dubai. "The secret to looking after yourself or your loved one in case of diabetes is effectively managing diabetes," said Dr Pandey.
Including leafy vegetables in your diet - such as spinach, cabbage and broccoli - along with fibre-rich foods - such as berries, nuts and seeds - can help keep your blood sugar at healthy levels.
"These foods ensure that you do not feel hungry often, reduce the chances of your blood glucose shooting up after a meal, helps you manage your weight, and enhances your body's immune system," said Dr Pandey.
Eating seafood that are rich in Omega-3, proteins and vitamins helps tackle diabetic neuropathy and protects the heart from damage. "Moderation is key when it comes to using artificial sweeteners," she added.
Exercising helps diabetics win half the battle. "If you are unsure of which exercise to do to stay fit, it is advisable that you consult your healthcare professional and seek further advice."
Patients can understand how well they are managing diabetes when they regularly check their blood glucose levels. "One can diagnose hypoglycemia and immediately take corrective steps to manage it."Major visual problems such as blindness can be tackled early on in the diabetes battle if one regularly schedules an annual eye check-up. Complications relating to the eye, such as cataract, glaucoma or retinopathy, can be easily detected during these check-ups, enabling you to address and treat them on time.
"Speak to your doctor or podiatrist about ulcers, corns or calluses on your feet, do not attempt to self-medicate," she added.
Asma Ali Zain
Associated with KT for 15 years. Covers health issues, Pakistan community, human interest stories as well as general topics for daily news or features.
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RuPaul’s Drag Race Contestant Sahara Davenport Dead at 27
The world just got a little less fabulous
By Melissa Locker @woolyknickersOct. 03, 2012
Sahara Davenport attends "RuPaul's Drag Race" official season four launch party at RockIt Lounge at XL on February 3, 2012 in New York City.
Sahara Davenport of 'RuPaul's Drag Race' dead at 27 LA Times
Sahara Davenport, Star of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 2, Dead at Age 27 NewNowNext
Antoine Ashley, better known as the drag queen Sahara Davenport from the Logo network’s RuPaul’s Drag Race, has died at age 27. Ashley competed on the second season of the popular show.
Ashley came to New York City from Dallas after earning a bachelor of fine arts degree at Southern Methodist University, according to People magazine. Outside of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Ashley was a musical star on the rise with the single, “Go Off,” reaching number 50 on the Billboard dance charts. Sahara Davenport was also a frequent performer on the New York City drag queen circuit.
(MORE: RuPaul on Drag U, Ron Paul, and Lipsyncing for his Life)
“Logo is profoundly saddened by the passing of Antoine Ashley who fans around the world knew and loved as Sahara Davenport,” the Logo network posted on its Facebook page on Tuesday. “He was an amazing artist and entertainer who’ll be deeply missed by his Logo family. Our hearts and prayers go out to his family, especially his boyfriend Karl, in their time of need.”
Ashley’s boyfriend Karl Westerberg, a.k.a. Manila Luzon, was the runner-up on Season 3 of RuPaul’s Drag Race and is also in the cast of RuPaul’s All Star Drag Race, which premieres Oct. 22. After the news of Ashley’s death, Westerberg simply tweeted:
I love him so much.
Manila Luzon (@manilaluzon) October 01, 2012
Thousands of the show’s fans have tweeted their condolences and posted memories on the show’s Facebook page. Adding to the outpouring of emotions, the show’s doyenne RuPaul tweeted:
Shocked & heartbroken over @SaharaDavenport. Never occurred to me that we'd ever lose one of my girls. I see them as immortal
(@RuPaul) October 02, 2012
A cause of death has not been announced in the case.
MORE: You betta vote! Remember, this country was founded by a bunch of men wearing wigs!
MORE: “Can RuPaul Stage a Protest?” The Most Scathing Critiques of Work It
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Tonight on “Inside the NFL” : Broncos’ Historically Explosive
Inside the NFL, Intern Files, Kevin Joyce, Teams
Posted: October 2nd, 2013
The 2013 Denver Broncos have scored more points through the first four games of the season than any other team since the AFL-NFL merger, with 179, an average of nearly 45 points per game. They trail only the 1966 Dallas Cowboys in all of NFL history, who scored 183 points in their first four contests. Peyton Manning is playing the best football of his career, with 16 touchdowns through four games, the most through any stretch of that length in NFL history. With a favorable schedule ahead (although a tough 3-game stretch looms where Denver will have to play Kansas City, New England and then Kansas City again), many are now speculating whether the Broncos can run the table and go 16-0.
“Inside the NFL” continues tonight with a more expert analysis from JB, Cris and Phil as they break down the past week’s games and the league’s hot-button issues, and highlights of every game of the past week, including the Broncos’ 52-20 demolishing of Chip Kelly’s new-look Eagles.
You can get all this and more, tonight at 9/8c on “Inside the NFL,” only on Showtime.
Tags: cris collinsworth Denver denver broncos inside the nfl james brown National Football League New England nfl peyton manning Phil Simms
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School of Economic Science - Study Forums
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�A friend is one before whom I may think aloud� R. W. Emerson
School of Economic Science - Study Forums Forum Index -> Economics Forum
Leonie Humphreys
Location: West Dorset, UK
Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2018 8:48 am Post subject: Brexit
Cooooeeeee! Is anyone still out there???!
Just wondering if anyone can help explain the current pandemonium in Parliament over the Brexit exit deal?
Best wishes Leonie
Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2018 8:32 am Post subject: Brexit article
Here is a very useful press article about the current situation:
A no-deal Brexit would be the deranged action of a rogue state
Rafael Behr
The Conservative party is in a post-Theresa May state of mind. The prime minister might cling to power for a while longer, tenacity being her most consistent quality, but the call to postpone a parliamentary vote on her Brexit deal feels like a condemned prisoner’s last-ditch plea for clemency. Moving the date doesn’t commute the sentence.
That means there could be a Conservative leadership contest within weeks, even days. May’s deal would then be history, and the race to succeed her will feature candidates who say that Britain can leave the EU with no deal at all. If that isn’t shocking, it proves that Brexit has deadened nerve endings that once reacted to high-voltage political insanity.
A no-deal Brexit guarantees severe pain for the country. It is not a normal item on the policy menu, yet the Tories conspire to make it banal. Boris Johnson writes that “we need to massively step up our preparations for leaving without an agreement”, claiming this will spur the EU to provide “a great deal”. That is a bluff within a bluff that was called long ago. Johnson cannot still believe that Brussels is intimidated by Britain threatening to impose an economic blockade on itself. Using readiness to do something deranged as a negotiating tactic is the behaviour of a rogue state. But Johnson has waded too deep into roguishness to go back, and others follow. Dominic Raab joins David Davis as a leadership contender who thinks he could get a better deal in Brussels, despite both having lived that dream once already as failed Brexit secretaries. Raab is on the record as believing that a collapse in negotiations would not be a disaster, because there might still be “no-deal deals” available.
Panting after Raab and Johnson in the dishonesty steeplechase is Jeremy Hunt. He once warned that a cliff-edge Brexit would be regretted for generations, but now positions himself as the candidate for a “managed no-deal” departure. That is like promising a managed car crash. It sort of makes sense to steer into a ditch if the alternative is steering into oncoming traffic – but why not just change lanes or stop the car?
There are working brakes. That was confirmed by the European court ruling that Britain’s article 50 notification can be unilaterally rescinded. So a pro-remain government could easily abort Brexit, but affirmation of the mechanism doesn’t bring such a government into being. It is often said that there is no majority in parliament for no deal and that MPs would not permit it, which is half true. The Commons could back a motion urging a prime minister not to take Britain over the cliff, but it would not have the force of law, nor would it stop EU membership expiring next March. A sufficiently unhinged occupant of No 10 could ignore the instruction and keep rolling towards the edge.
There is a notional coalition of sanity in the Commons to rally behind some non-calamitous way out of the crisis, but there is no simple constitutional way for that group to impose its will. They are divided between supporters of a super-soft Brexit, along Norwegian lines, and supporters of a second referendum. The would-be Norwegians fear that another referendum would be lost to a campaign of such wild, caustic nationalism. The full remainers respond that Norway-plus options are incoherent, retaining all the flaws of Brexit without appeasing leave voters’ rage. A cross-party alliance is also hindered by Labour’s insistence that a magic, painless Brexit becomes available if Jeremy Corbyn is prime minister. It doesn’t.
Besides, Corbyn in No 10 doesn’t fit any Tory MP’s definition of a non-calamitous outcome. That doesn’t mean Conservative moderates are ready to indulge May for much longer. They have written her and her deal off. Yet some also itched to vote for it as a gesture of defiance to hardline leavers. Remainers in the cabinet want a definitive Commons showdown on the deal sooner rather than later, so they can say they have done their utmost in government to deliver the referendum mandate – that their debts to June 2016 are paid. They are then free to call for alternatives that cross May’s strangulating red lines. Postponing the “meaningful vote” binds ministers into an ongoing pretence of loyalty that they will struggle to maintain.
And as May’s moribund deal blips on life support in the Commons, no deal is still the default setting. Most MPs, businesses, diplomats and democratic leaders worldwide (with the possible exception of Donald Trump) recognise that would be a catastrophe: abolishing, overnight, the legal basis on which the UK’s trade relations are built; ripping up the most sophisticated alliance with continental Europe in British history. It cannot be done without triggering a cascade of civil emergencies. But pro-Brexit ministers have preferred not to let sharp facts pierce their ideological bubble. Civil servants have written gloomy memos not expecting their advice to be taken but in anticipation of the inquiry that will one day be held; so there will be a record of the warnings that were ignored.
It is bizarre enough that a powerful faction in the ruling party of a once-serious country should embrace a doctrine of gratuitous national self-harm. It is more disturbing still that the same deluded cult might soon get a shot at capturing Downing Street. Moderate Tory MPs say they will thwart a no-dealer in a leadership contest, but that is an ambition, not a guarantee. They will struggle to convince Tory members that no-deal scenarios are beyond the pale, not least because May has routinely preached the opposite. It is the incumbent prime minister who told the country that “no deal is better than a bad deal”. She kept the slogan going long after she stopped believing it, if she ever did.
Now, with MPs of all stripes queuing up to call her deal a bad one, hard Brexit ultras invoke May’s own mantra as the guide to what should happen next. The prime minister enabled the delusion. She legitimised and sanitised one of the most poisonous ideas in British politics. She was complicit in writing “no deal” on the menu of sensible Brexit choices and now she has no authority left to erase it. She told the fanatics what they wanted to hear. She gave them their best line, loading the rhetorical gun they now use against her. On a human level this predicament might stir pity, but as a dereliction of a duty to the country, the irresponsibility is unforgivable. Anyone who still takes seriously the idea of no-deal Brexit, who pretends it is a reputable option, should be disqualified from holding the job of prime minister. It is a test Theresa May has already failed.
Mark Bebineaux
It's a pandemonium alright, but we live in a democracy. Or at least we're being told we are. So they should just honor the will of the people.
Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 12:34 pm Post subject: Bleak midwinter....
Yes, and although personally I voted to remain in the EU, but only because I believed that the only thing worse than being in is being out, I believe that undermining our democracy would be worse than a “no deal” Brexit, in spite of all the issues surrounding movement of goods etc. Even though of those that voted only a small percentage more wanted to get out than stay in, and some of those based their decision on misinformation or outdated ideals, if our democracy is undermined I’m afraid we may have extreme protests and perhaps chaos.
It is with this in mind that I feel that Theresa May is doing her best to protect us from ourselves in circumstances where our elected MPs are behaving like a school full of unruly kindergarten children, taking no responsibility for the potential extremely serious, perhaps dangerous, outcome of their current actions.
I do wonder, and I’m not informed enough in this matter to be sure, whether David Cameron‘s decision to hold a referendum based on such a simplistic vote (in or out) was a much more irresponsible act than people realise since it did not seem to be based on any forethought of the arrangements required for the UK to leave the EU, particularly since he was so arrogant he assumed he (ie ‘remainers’) would win.
Two and a half years later Theresa May seems to me to be acting rather like the Headmistress of those unruly children, trying to get some kind of deal through in what no one has actually admitted is a no-win “catch 22” situation.
So it is better to have any kind fo deal with Europe that protects us from the chaos and potential suffering of a “no deal” Brexit, or the even worse situation of undermining our democracy which could lead to serious civil unrest. As for the Irish border issue, allowing time to pass before this is finalised also seems to be perhaps the only sensible option.
I hope our ELECTED MPs take the Christmas holidays to consider their responsibilities to the British public as a whole.
Europe’s Christmas wishes that the British parliament should “feel the bleak midwinter” is hardly surprisingly under the circumstances, yet this beautiful carol (my personal favourite) does have a hopeful ending - if we have nothing else to give this Christmas, we can give our hearts! Perhaps if our MPs put their hearts into it they will behave more thoughtfully, caring for the whole rather than only their own specific agendas. It seems to me, although I am no conservative, that Theresa May is doing her best for all of us!
Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2019 9:07 am Post subject:
I’ve been trying to find some information regarding the latest news about Brexit and to formulate my understanding of the current situation. I came across this YouTube clip which explains the situation about as accurately and succinctly as it’s possible:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s-x6Ct2OwOA
Am I the only one, I wonder, who agrees with Donald Tusk that there is a “special place in hell for those who promoted Brexit without even a sketch of a plan of how to deliver it safely”?
People face criminal charges and imprisonment for acts far less negligent than those committed by those to whom his comments were addressed.
Here is a most interesting but sad description of the decline of Britain over the last few decades, noting in particular how many of those already in the grip of poverty voted to leave Europe with the expectation that conditions would improve only to find things are looking bleaker and bleaker:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/11/england-brexit-broken-neoliberalism
Attempting to second-guess the final outcome of this whole Brexit fiasco is rather like trying solve a Rubik's cube puzzle - apt as it happens since its original purpose was ‘solving the structural problem of moving the parts independently without the entire mechanism falling apart’. Aren’t we in a similar position related to the EU?!
Our fates are at the mercy of our MPs at the current time so it seems worth considering the potential scenarios.
Firstly, the next deadline for potentially ‘crashing out’ of the EU is in just a few days time on 12th of April. It seems extremely unlikely that Theresa May‘s deal will ever be approved by Parliament and certainly not by that date, so we are reliant on the EU to allow us more time to consider the options or we will indeed leave on that date with no deal - game over! And potentially a lot of very furious people, myself included.
Before trying to second-guess what the outcome might be if we get a further extension it is worth noting the agendas of the members of parliament. Because of the mainly two party system the outcome is bound to be skewed due to political considerations that have nothing to do with the EU. This means that the Conservatives have one main agenda which is to try to save themselves from potential obscurity for the next century if the public blame them for either crashing out of Europe causing considerable economic hardship or failing to deliver Brexit having orchestrated the referendum in the first place. Hence presumably Teresa May’s dogged determination to keep trying to get her deal agreed.
The Labour Party have sniped from the sidelines but done nothing substantial to try to save the UK from crashing out of Europe. Supposed to be the party that stands up for the poor and disenfranchised, many people are more disgusted with Labour than the conservatives. They are doing nothing useful and are just waiting for the conservatives to fail.
Both parties MPs have behaved with the most despicable neglect for the well-being of the people of their country as a whole.
The so-called indicative votes organised by Parliament recently have so far not led to any obvious outcome either. The system is also confusing since not all MPs are voting. Therefore the results do not fully represent even Parliament let alone the people.
However studying the statistics it seems possible to make some educated guesses concerning what the people want, what has been missing from the process all along and what would be the most reasonable way forward.
Only just over half the voting public chose to leave the EU at the referendum in 2016. There are concerns that the referendum was not orchestrated properly and the public were misinformed and manipulated by the Leave campaign, as evidenced by the investigation into the process by the Electoral Commission. According to a Supreme Court judgement the referendum was not legally binding, but only advisory. Even Margaret Thatcher when asked many years ago about referendums explained that you don’t have them for complicated issues only for simple yes or no questions.
The referendum was based on a simple question of whether to stay in the EU or to leave the EU. If there had been a third option to leave the EU but to maintain close economic ties with our European partners it would seem from the statistics we have from the various votes that the outcome might have been very different. It is entirely possible to have multiple choice referendums. If we do end up with another one it should include this third option.
The UK’s economic relationship with Europe began with the Common Market a long time ago and the closest vote was for a Customs Union defeated last night by only 3 votes. It was never proposed, even by the Leave campaign, that there would be no ongoing economic relationship with Europe after we left the EU.
Yet the situation now is bordering on one of contest with the EU and that is down to the appalling manner in which this whole referendum and Brexit deal has been orchestrated. As Donald Tusk put it “there is a special place in hell for those who promoted Brexit without even a sketch of a plan of how to deliver it safely”. ‘Safely’ being the operative word both for us in the UK and for those in Europe as well. We are not going to war with any European country as we have in the past but the way this has been handled puts in jeopardy a friendly relationship with Europe in the future, whilst also compromising the peace process achieved in Ireland.
So it seems reasonable to suppose that most people who would rather not be in the EU still want a relationship with Europe. I personally voted Remain but if there had been a third option I would have voted to leave the EU but to maintain strong economic ties with Europe. The reason I voted Remain rather than leave was because I knew this would happen, this mess! It is obvious to me that the only thing worse than being in the EU would be being out of the EU and under the even more tyrannical rules of the WTO. All those Leave enthusiasts who think that things would get better under WTO rules are going to get a nasty shock if we do crash out of the EU because Britain is not a big power and would not have a powerful position in the WTO. We could become a ‘dustbin’ for inferior quality foods and products with far less rigourous quality control for toxins and safety. Furthermore those politicians clamouring for the UK to have a relationship with WTO are extremely right wing and I would guess only looking to line their own pockets.
Our MPs have got things in such a shambles so the best outcome right now for the well-being of the people would be to ask the EU for a long extension, call a general election so the parties can put forward their solutions to the Brexit impasse and let the voters decide the way forward.
If we crash out and economic hardship follows I hope there will be a campaign for a VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE IN ALL THE MPs whenever the next general election is. That would mean ‘spoiling’ the ballot paper with the words NO CONFIDENCE IN ANY OF THE ABOVE. These papers have to be counted and announced at a general election and it would send a message to all our MPs that we have had enough of their incompetence.
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The Time Tunnel - O Gauge Property Developments
The Time Tunnel, was a story about a well known Dockland Street situated in Newport Monmouthshire. It told, in light and sound, the story of the street, referencing real people and the events of November 1940, when the area was badly bombed during WW2.
It was depicted as a model in 1/43rd scale and measured over 15 feet in length. It had an O Gauge saddle tank industrial loco shunting along the street , as it did in reality shunting in the many local works.
Dialogue was supplied by local actors and the sound track was kindly carried out by the BBC.
Conversations, street sounds and the actual air raid was supported by pre programmed and localised lighting. It was a very dramatic and moving experience, made even more poignant by the fact that local lives were lost and many awards were earned from rescuing those trapped in the rubble. It was to be found in the Pill Heritage Centre and was funded through the EU Social Risk Fund. It is pictured here during construction and was constructed by Jan Preece and his team of volunters, who were involved in the whole project.
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The Contribution Of Roseann Bennett To Mental Healthcare
Mental healthcare facilities across the United States have been observing May as the official mental health month. They have as such reached out to individuals across the world through events and media, encouraging them to have a screening. Roseann Bennett, a professional marriage, and family therapist has had the rare opportunity of offering case and crisis management to hundreds of individuals. From her observation, Ms. Bennett has noted that issues related to mental health can hinder the existence of a romantic relationship amongst spouses. Among the people that she has worked with are couples who find themselves on the verge of separation or divorce. Read more about Roseann Bennett of Center for Assessment and Treatment: Q&A
After conducting her research, Ms. Bennett found out that the primary cause of unhappy marriages is untreated depression. Roseann has been helping people with their struggles be they internal or external. She writes educational articles that are aimed at helping couples understand their partners better. It is important to note that in relationships, depression can go unnoticed. According to statistics, at least seven percent of the American population is affected by depression. Roseann says that depression on itself cannot culminate to separation or even divorce. What does is the failure to address depression. See This Page for related information.
When Roseann Bennett addresses the correlation between divorce and depression, she does so from the point of authority. She has been a marriage and family therapist for more than a decade now and can be described as accomplished. She has had the opportunity to work with people from all walks of life and has gladly helped them with their troubles. Roseann Bennett had an undying desire to reach out to people from marginalized communities.
It is for this reason that Bennett established the Center for Assessment and Treatment, close to a decade ago. The center provides medical evaluation, psychotherapy as well as a lifetime treatment.
More on https://www.crunchbase.com/person/roseann-bennett
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The Capital Way
For those of you who have a memory for the Baltimore Orioles of major league baseball, you might remember almost 30 years back to a time when the O's had pitching out the wazoo. In fact, Earl Weaver once referred to his starting rotation of pitchers as ''Cy Young'' (Mike Flanagan), "Cy Future'' (Scott McGregor), ''Cy Old'' (Jim Palmer), and ''Cy Present'' (Steve Stone).
Well, here we are at the end of December, and it's about time for the selection of the NHL player of the month. Among the leading contenders for the award are Capitals Alex Ovechkin (12-7-19, 2 GWG in December) and Nicklas Backstrom (6-15-21, 1 GWG).
Ovechkin (November) and Alexander Semin (October) already have won this year. They are POM "Old" (Semin being 24) and POM "Young" (Ovechkin, who is 23). If Backstrom wins, he's POM "Present."
Would that make Mike Green POM "Future?"
Just "The Capital Way," we guess.
Labels: Backstrom, Green, Ovechkin, Semin, Young Guns
Ten Stories from 2008 -- Number 1
Number 1. The Big Finish
Sunday, March 9, 2008… The unkindest cut of all.
The Capitals had worked so hard and for so long to put themselves in a position to contend for the last playoff spot. After starting the season 6-14-1, they changed coaches, changed philosophies, and went on a tear, going 26-15-7 to climb within seven points of the Carolina Hurricanes with 13 games to play.
But the Caps had just come off a dispiriting, self-inflicted 2-1 loss in Boston at the hands of the Bruins. And now, the Penguins – those Penguins – were coming to town on a Sunday afternoon to administer the coup de grace and end what flicker of hope remained for a playoff berth.
It looked plenty good for the Penguins, too, when Sidney Crosby scored his 21st goal of the year to give the visitors a 2-1 lead with less than two minutes remaining in the second period.
But there was Alexander Semin getting one back on a 5-on-3 power play with 14 seconds left in the period to tie the game and keep that flicker of hope going. Surely, this would propel the Caps to a win in the final period.
Surely, you jest.
It was a hard-fought third period in which neither team could manage a score in the first 19-and-a-half minutes. But in that last half minute, Nicklas Backstrom found the puck on his stick on a rebound. He fired and scored…
…into his own net.
Only the Capitals, and only against the Penguins, could such a scenario play out so inevitably and so believably. An empty netter seconds later by Jordan Staal provided a final 4-2 margin of victory, and the Penguins had – once, again, and for all – smashed the Caps’ dreams like a sledge-hammer on china.
But then, something happened. Three days later, the Caps came from behind on a pair of power play goals by Alex Ovechkin – the last with less than two minutes to play – to defeat the Calgary Flames, 3-2.
Then they beat Atlanta, 4-1, on a goal by Brooks Laich and Ovechkin working his way to 99 points for the year with a goal and an assist.
Then they took a measure of revenge on the Bruins when Cristobal Huet – the goalie the Caps obtained at the trading deadline for a pack of gum – stopped 39 shots to get the Caps to a shootout. Viktor Kozlov scored the game-winner there, and the Caps had a 2-1 win. The margin between the Caps and Carolina was now five points with nine games to play. The odds weren’t good, but the patient had a heartbeat again.
But just like at the end of the movie, “The Perfect Storm,” here came the big wave that threatened to sink the boat. It took the form of a six-game road trip that would start in a pair of Western Conference cities – Nashville and Chicago.
The first game was promising. Ovechkin hit the 100-point mark on his way to a 1-2-3 night, and Huet stopped 24 of 26 shots in a 4-2 win that enabled the Caps to close to within two points of the eight-seed in the Eastern Conference (Philadelphia) and three points of the top spot in the Southeast Division. After the heartbreaking losses to Boston and Pittsburgh, the Caps were now on a four-game winning streak heading to Chicago, where…
…they had their lunch eaten in front of them, and dinner for good measure. The Blackhawks used the occasion of honoring hall of fame goaltender Tony Esposito to pound the Caps early and often. The home team scored four goals in the first period, three before the game was ten minutes old. It happened so fast, coach Bruce Boudreau probably never had a chance to pull starting goalie Olaf Kolzig to jump start his own team. Kolzig finished the game and took the loss in the 5-0 final. It would be the last game Kolzig would play for the team that drafted him in 1989.
It wasn’t looking a whole lot better for Huet when he returned to the nets against Atlanta two days later. After Ovechkin opened the scoring with a goal – his 59th of the year – in the first period, the Thrashers lit Huet up for three goals in a 12-minute span in the second period. Hockey being a game of three periods, though, there was still the matter of the last 20 minutes. That became the Nick and Alex Show. Ovechkin potted one (his 60th to tie a franchise record and become the first to that mark in 12 years) to start the Caps’ scoring in the period, then Backstrom netted two – the last one coming on a sick from-behind-the-net feed from Ovechkin – to give the Caps the lead. Boyd Gordon added an empty-netter to complete the four-goal comeback and a 5-3 win.
Which brings us to a showdown of sorts. The Caps traveled to Carolina to take on the Hurricanes two points behind Boston for the eighth spot in the East and five points behind Carolina in the Southeast. Carolina scored the first and last goals of regulation, sandwiching goals by the Alexes – Ovechkin and Semin. Overtime came and went without a tally, and it was Gimmick Time. Goalies Cristobal Huet for the Caps and Cam Ward for the Hurricanes traded saves in each of the first two rounds, leaving it up to Eric Staal for the Hurricanes, Viktor Kozlov for the Caps. Staal rang his try off the post past Huet, but Kozlov beat Ward on a wrist shot to earn the extra point for the Caps.
The danger looming now for the Caps was the potential for a let-down a couple of days later in Tampa. A big game against the team they were trying to catch, a shootout win behind them, and now a team struggling to be respectable, let alone win games. It had the earmarks of an ambush. The Caps did have the benefit of scoring first – a shorthanded goal by Brooks Laich late in the first period. But they gave it right back less than a minute later on the same power play as former Cap Jeff Halpern scored with 80 seconds left in the period and just six seconds left to kill on a John Erskine minor penalty. The teams traded goals in the second – the Caps just couldn’t shake the Lightning loose. Then Tampa Bay took the lead in the third on a goal by Michel Ouellet (former Penguin…figures). But Alexander Semin saved at least one standings point by potting the tying goal less than five minutes from the end of regulation. With the clock approaching the mid-way point in overtime, Mike Green split two defenders on his way to the net, but was hooked to the ice. The puck squirted loose behind the net, where Brooks Laich out-worked Shane O’Brien for control. Laich circled out from behind the net to goalie Karri Ramo’s left. He found Tomas Flesichmann standing alone in the slot and slid the puck to him. While his feet slipped out from under him, Fleischmann sent the puck past Ramo and the goalie smashing his stick against the post in frustration as the Caps skated off with a 4-3 overtime win.
All that was left for the road portion of the season and the last of this six-game swing was a visit to Florida. The Caps had trouble with the Panthers to that point with a record of 2-3-1 for the season. What made this game even more dangerous was that Florida was a desperate team facing elimination from the playoff race. However, the Caps methodically dismantled the home team in, if not a dominating performance, than an effective one. Cristobal Huet made a goal by Viktor Kozlov less than three minutes into the second period all he would need, and Mike Green and Alex Ovechkin added tallies in a 3-0 shutout of the Panthers. It left the Caps two points behind Carolina for first in the Southeast and three behind Philadelphia for the last spot in the Eastern Conference. It was time to go home and end this.
The last home stand of the season started against Carolina. With Verizon Center packed to the rafters, the Caps came out to roars from the crowd and Ovechkin to chants of “M-V-P! M-V-P!!” The home team did not disappoint. It was the support troops that got the Capitals off and running – Matt Cooke (obtained from Vancouver earlier in the season) scoring first from Mike Green and Sergei Fedorov (picked up from Columbus at the trading deadline), and then Brooks Laich from Tomas Fleischmann and Viktor Kozlov to give the Caps a 2-0 lead after one period. Scott Walker scored early for the Hurricanes in the second period, but goaltender Cristobal Huet otherwise held the visitors at bay. His efforts were rewarded at the other end of the ice when Alexander Semin netted a power play goal to restore the two-goal lead after two periods. A late goal by Alex Ovechkin cemented the 4-1 win and left the Capitals on the brink of the playoffs in tying Carolina with 90 points…but Carolina still held the tie-breaking advantage with two games left to play.
The Caps entered their penultimate game of the season against Tampa Bay knowing Carolina had won the night before to take a two-point lead in the standings, defeating that same Tampa Bay team, 6-2. The Caps weren’t going to have any nonsense from a team playing in the back half of a back-to-back set of games…well, maybe not. Filip Kuba scored for the Lightning 39 seconds into the game to stymie the momentum of the Caps and their crowd. Less than half a minute later the Caps thought they got it back on a score by Brooks Laich, but the goal was disallowed when a referee ruled that Tomas Fleischmann, who had pushed defenseman Matt Smaby into goalie Karri Ramo, who had wandered out of his crease, was guilty of goaltender interference (a similar play would prove critical – and also go against the Caps – in the playoff series to come against the Flyers, when a goal scored under those circumstances was allowed). Nevertheless, the Caps did get it back on a score by Alex Ovechkin later in the first, then wore the Lightning down and struck for three goals in the final period in the 4-1 win and tie the Hurricanes once more for the top spot in the Southeast with 92 points.
On Friday, the Caps caught the break they finally needed – Carolina lost to Florida, 4-3, despite Panther goalie Tomas Vokoun having to leave the game with back spasms. Craig Anderson relieved him and stopped 26 of 28 shots to open the door for the Caps, who would face Florida – and presumably Anderson – the next night.
If you were there, you will probably remember it as the loudest crowd the Caps played for since moving to Chinatown from Landover. Noise had force – a percussive quality that pounded in your ears and in your chest. It started in warm-ups when the Caps took the ice and the chant “M-V-P! M-V-P!!” started anew for Alex Ovechkin. It exploded with just over seven minutes gone in the first period when Tomas Fleischmann picked up a loose puck in the right wing corner and worked it down the goal line, deking goalie Craig Anderson to the ice. Fleischmann slipped the puck around Anderson and past his right pad to bring the wall of red in the stands out of their seats.
Kamil Kreps would tie the game for the Panthers at the 6:47 mark of the second period – a goal reviewed by video judges to confirm that it crossed the goal line at the far post behind Cristobal Huet – and there the score would remain 1-1, until Mike Green picked up the puck at the Capitals’ blue line with the clock approaching five minutes to play in the period. He moved the puck up to Alexander Semin along the boards just outside the Florida penalty box. Semin then spun and sent a rink-wide backhand pass onto the stick of Sergei Fedorov approaching the Panther line. Federov took three strides and blistered a drive past Anderson to give the Caps the lead once more. Semin would get one of his own on a power play early in the third period to give the home team a two-goal advantage.
At that point, it was a matter of ensuring that the Panthers, not the most explosive offensive team in the league, would be prevented any opportunities to shave that lead. And clamp down is what the Caps did. From the time of the Semin goal at 2:21 of the third period, the Caps allowed the Panthers only five shots on goal, none of them from inside of 20 feet and the last one a desperation drive that traveled 170 feet of ice.
As Cristobal Huet steered that last drive into the corner as time ran out, the Caps poured off the bench, Ovechkin leaping into his goaltender’s arms. Coach Bruce Boudreau and his assistants Dean Evason and Jay Leach hugged one another at the Capitals’ bench, and the fans – an undulating, leaping, screaming sea of red – could finally believe… the Caps were headed to the playoffs as the Southeast Division Champion.
It would mark the first time that a team that had occupied 30th place in the league standings recovered to earn a playoff spot in that same year. It would be the product of the team finishing the season 37-17-7 after a 6-14-1 start. It was made possible by a thought expressed by coach Bruce Boudreau afterwards: "There was never a word of 'We couldn't' or 'We won't' or 'We can't.' It was always pushing through and believing in ourselves. I just hope I wake up tomorrow and look and 'We are in.' This whole season's been a dream."
A dream it was, made real by the persistence and savvy of Ted Leonsis, George McPhee, and the Capitals’ front office, who devised and stuck to a plan to rebuild… by the singular talents of Bruce Boudreau and his staff in coaxing the best out of a band of youngsters with skill to burn, but in need of experience and a steady hand… by Alex Ovechkin in his year for the ages, but also by guys like Alexander Semin and his otherworldly skills with the puck, Brooks Laich and his penchant for scoring timely goals, Mike Green and his end-to-end rushes, Nicklas Backstrom and his year-ahead-of-his-time playmaking skill, Cristobal Huet who was discarded by Montreal to slam the door on opponents in Washington, and by a host of others who contributed in ways big and small to The Big Finish -- the top story for the Capitals in 2008.
What a ride it was.
Posted by The Peerless at 12:05 PM 3 comments:
Labels: top stories
Another illustration: Why hockey is better
Yesterday, Wes Goldstein authored a piece at Sportsline.com titled, "Top 50 stories of '08, from money players to money problems."
We think the title is a bit unfortunate, for it misses a point. When you compare hockey to other professional sports, what don't you get?
You don't get a lot of people behaving badly, at least not outside the accepted confines of the sport. Look at those stories. If you look for stories about people in hockey behaving badly, you will find by my count eight stories. And we had to stretch the definition to get that many. Most of them are of the "legal" sort -- the Del Biaggio mess or the threat (empty as it was) by the league via lawsuit (over web site control?...please!) to kick the Rangers out of the league. There were the tragic -- the death of Alexei Cherepanov and allegations that he was taking performance enhancing drugs (one of the stories we had to stretch to fit this category; you might differ) -- and the self-indulgent (two for Sean Avery).
But what one finds more of in that list are the inspirational (the big finish of the Caps to win a playoff spot in their final game), the feel good (the Blackhawks welcoming back a couple of legends) and the charming (the Winter Classic). There is also what might be the single most heartwarming story in sports of the year -- that of the Chicago Blackhawks team members chartering buses to attend the funeral of general manager Dale Tallon's father and later bring some joy to a hockey-crazed town in Ontario with a McDonalds, foregoing some needed time off in the midst of a long road trip.
It never ceases to amaze that in these days of the "you're damn right there is an "I" in team" athlete (wide receivers in the NFL are a class unto themselves), hockey players and professionals display the most and the most consistent decency in behavior. They just impress us as being good folks (if ornery from time to time in the service of their jobs), and it's another reason why hockey is better.
...thanks to James Mirtle "From the Rink" for pointing the way.
Labels: things that make you go 'hmm...'
A TWO-point night: Caps 4 - Sabres 2
Nice symmetry.
The Caps rang in the year doubling up the Ottawa Senators, 6-3, and they closed the year by doubling up another Northeast Division opponent – the Buffalo Sabres – by a 4-2 score last night.
And what a difference a year makes…
Then (vs. Ottawa): Mike Green, Brooks Laich, Michael Nylander
Now (vs. Buffalo): Nicklas Backstrom, Viktor Kozlov, Paul Gaustad (BUF)
Scoring Leaders:
Then: Green (2-1-3), Laich (1-1-2), Nylander (1-1-2), Boyd Gordon (1-1-2)
Now: Backstrom (1-1-2), Kozlov (0-2-2), six players with one point
Goaltending:
Then: Olaf Kolzig (31 saves, 34 shots)
Now: Jose Theodore (31 saves, 33 shots)
Faceoffs:
Then: Nylander (11 of 16/68.8%)
Now: Nylander (8 of 12/66.7%)
The big difference is that the first game/first win of 2008 gave the Caps a 16-19-3 record. The last game/last win of 2008 gives the Caps a 24-11-3 record. The club closed the year with a 52-23-6 record (110 points).
As for this one, there was a little bit of everything for the Caps. That first goal scored by Brooks Laich…it’s a pity one couldn’t award four assists for it. Ovechkin to Green at the left point… back to Ovechkin… to Kozlov in the high slot… to Backstrom at the right wing faceoff dot… to Laich at the top of the crease… goal. The entire sequence took all of seven seconds to execute. The Sabres on the ice should have been charged the price of a ticket for the view they had of what occurred.
If that goal was big on style points, the next one was just as sweet. David Steckel took a pass from Eric Fehr at the center red line and steamed into the Sabres zone, unleashing a slap shot that goalie Ryan Miller couldn’t steer into a corner the way he might have liked. The rebound came out all fat and happy on to Chris Bourque’s stick, and as the youngster would put it later, "I wasn't going to miss that one." He didn’t. He fired it past a still on the ice Miller, and Bourque had his first NHL goal.
Goal three started with Alex Ovechkin carrying the puck into the Sabre end, then Nylanderizing the play by peeling off at the right wing boards. He sent the puck to Green, who ripped a drive on goal. The puck squirted off into the left wing circle and onto Viktor Kozlov’s stick. Kozlov calmly eased the puck to Nicklas Backstrom, who from the top of the crease deposited it past Miller (ticket prices went up for the Sabres standing around watching events unfold).
Boyd Gordon completed the scoring for the Caps with a full-court…uh, length of the ice shorthanded empty-netter, and the Caps had another win, their 11th in 13 games, to finish December 11-3-0.
- Jose Theodore has established some order to the goaltending situation with his fourth straight win. He has stopped 95 of his last 101 shots faced (.941).
- Brooks Laich now has six goals in his last nine games. The Caps are 8-1-0. Coincidence? We don’t think so.
- Only three Capitals played more than 20 minutes last night (one of them was Tyler Sloan). Only Chris Bourque played less than ten, and that was by one tick of the clock. That’s getting everyone into the game.
- It would be nice though, to get Nylander more involved. In 14:43 last night, he had no shot attempts, no takeaways, no blocked shots, and a giveaway. But for his 8-of-12 faceoff performance, it would have been a mighty empty score sheet on his line of it.
- Matt Bradley had four hits to lead the team last night. Guess he’s feeling pretty good after his making the acquaintance of the side boards with his head on Sunday.
- Nine Caps had multiple shots on goal. For a team that usually has Ovechkin flirting with double digits in shots these days (he had four last night), that’s pretty remarkable.
- Buffalo had, and there is no other way to put this, a really bad game. A lot of standing around, a lot of coughing up the puck (18 giveaways). Even when they scored with less than eight minutes gone in the third to make it a 3-1 game, one didn’t have the feeling they were in it.
- This was the first time in five games a Buffalo game did not end with a one-goal result. The Sabres are 1-2-2 in those five games and are poised to slide out of the top eight. We’ll ask it…are these the first indications of Lindy Ruff losing this team? He’s been there almost as long as hot wings.
- We keep saying this, and we’ll keep saying it…if Eric Fehr ever cashes in on the opportunities he’s getting and making (he had six attempted shots last night, none of which found the back of the net), it could set off a string of scores.
And so ends 2008. It didn’t have a playoff series win to commend it, but 52 wins ain’t bad. It’s worth noting that mighty Detroit didn’t have as many (they can console themselves by spending time polishing that Cup they won). And to finish the year by winning in a city that has given the Caps fits over recent years makes it especially satisfying. Great job, boys.
Labels: postgame, sabres
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The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Game 10: Maple Leafs at Capitals, February 5th
It’s a new week, and a new opportunity for the Washington Capitals to get some traction, win some games, and make a go of this season. They open their week by hosting a rematch against the Toronto Blue Jays, a team they fell to last Thursday night by a 3-2 score.
Since that loss the Caps have split a pair of decisions, while the Maple Leafs have a pair of losses on their record. For the Caps, there is nowhere to go but up. They sit in 15th and last place in the Eastern Conference, but only three points out of the top-eight.
The trouble the Caps have and will have going forward, standings-wise, is that there might be only the three points separating themselves from eighth place, but there are also seven teams to climb over to get there. Four of them have played fewer games and thus have more opportunities to add to their point totals.
The Leafs, on the other hand, have been bobbing back and forth across the playoff line. Going into last night’s action they sat in eighth place. However, after a 4-1 loss at home to the Carolina Hurricanes, they find themselves sitting in tenth place in the Eastern Conference by virtue of tie breakers (they are tied with Carolina in points for eighth place).
Here is how the teams match-up on the numbers…
1. Games involving the Maple Leafs are matters of feast or famine in a sense. Five of their games ended in one-goal decisions (a 3-2-0 record), while their other four games to date have ended in margins of three or more goals (a record of 1-3).
2. Scoring early does not seem to help in Toronto’s case. The Maple Leafs are 2-3-0 when scoring first, and they are 1-3-0 when trailing at the first intermission.
3. Only three teams have endured fewer shorthanded situations on the road than the 29 recorded so far by Toronto, and two of them have played in two fewer road games.
4. The third period continues to be a problem for the Leafs (well, except for that Caps game last week). With the two goals allowed to the Hurricanes last night, Toronto has now allowed 12 third period goals. Only Winnipeg and the New York Islanders have allowed more (14 each).
5. What a difference the Leafs have between their home and road power plays. At home they have enjoyed 28 man advantages in five games, but have converted on only 7.1 percent of them. Meanwhile, they have only 19 power plays in five road games, but they have converted on 21.0 percent of them.
1. In nine games Washington has taken a lead to the first intermission once… and they lost that game, 3-2, to Ottawa on January 29th.
2. The Caps have led after two periods three times… and they lost two of those games.
3. The Caps are 0-3-1 when trailing after one period, 0-3-1 when trailing after two periods. They can’t hold a lead, and they don’t make comebacks. That’s why they’re 2-6-1, kids.
4. One thing they are at home… sloppy. They have 68 giveaways against only 46 takeaways. While there is a subjective element to that statistic (each being essentially an “official scorer” ruling, much like hits), it has the ring of truth.
5. Oh, gone are the days of the Greatest Show on Ice. The Caps have had three games end in three or more goal margins… they lost them all. No team has a worse record in such games.
The Peerless’ Players to Ponder
Toronto: Matt Frattin
Matt Frattin was a fourth-round draft pick in the 2007 entry draft. He is part of a rather fruitful draft in terms of what the Leafs selected late. Defenseman Carl Gunnarsson was selected in the seventh round (194th overall) in that draft as well. Frattin has emerged as a go-to goal scorer for the Leafs. He has four goals in his last four games, two of them game-winners including his goal against the Caps on January 31st in a 3-2 Toronto win. His five goals so far is already within a hat-trick’s striking distance of his career high in goals (eight) set last season in 56 games. That was his only game against the Caps to date in his career.
Washington: Mike Green
Mike Green has 44 power play goals in his last 306 regular season games with the Capitals. None of them have come in the nine games he has played to date this season despite being second in the league in average power play time on ice per game (5:52). The Caps’ power play is a work in progress, and there is no role that requires as much decision-making as that which Green plays at the top of the 1-3-1. But if the Caps are to climb into the upper half of the power play rankings (they currently rank 17th), Green will have to be heard from.
1. Fewer hills, fewer valleys. The Caps have had stretches this year when they looked like a very good hockey team. Unfortunately, they have interspersed those occasions with times when they looked as if they couldn’t find their backsides with a map and a flashlight. They need to find a happy consistency.
2. Five is a lucky number. The Caps have yet to record more than one power play goal in a game this season. They have only two games in which they killed off all of their shorthanded situations. But what is killing them as much as anything is this number: 0.70. That is their ratio of goals scored at five-on-five to goals against. They have been outscored at 5-on-5 by a 20-14 margin. Toronto is almost as bad with a 0.83 ratio. This has to be exploited by the Caps.
3. Save like ya mean it. Whoever gets the call in goal tonight, he does not have a save percentage above .900. Michal Neuvirth is at .899, and Braden Holtby is at .862. That kind of netminding is only going to fuel rumors of Roberto Luongo coming to Washington. More urgently, it is a formula for ending the night at 2-7-1. Both of these guys have to do better.
In the end, the Caps are the strongest team in the Eastern Conference. They are holding the other 14 teams up in the standings. OK, that’s a bad joke. Well, so is the Caps’ record so far. We’ll stop telling bad jokes when they start winning.
Capitals 4 – Maple Leafs 2
Labels: 2012-2013 nhl season, 2012-2013 pregame, NHL, the peerless prognosticator, Toronto Maple Leafs, Washington Capitals
The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Ga...
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Jewish Tourism, or, I never cared very much for the Holocaust – Part V
Posted by Lennard Davis | Feb 2, 2018 | Features, First Person | 1
As we leave, the journalist in me wants to know how Victor felt about all this. How his students felt who did the March of Death the week before. I ask Loreta to ask him. His response is bland and avoids the “feeling” question. I ask this question a few times and each time he says nothing. I tell Loreta, insistently and in a very American Jew pushy way she later chides me about, what do the children feel? The Victor finally relents and says “They feel pity for the Jews and anger at the Germans; they feel pity for the Lithuanians who were killed by the Soviets, and anger at the Soviets.” Left out of the equation, part of the silence is any consideration of the people who actually did the killings—the grandparents and great grandparents of the school children. Everyone has their own narrative that implicates others and exonerates oneself. The official stance of the Lithuanian government is to make this moral equation between the Soviets and the Germans—both equal tormenters of Jews and Christians. I thank the high school teacher for his frankness. He smiles and says he honored that I have come to his small town to find my family. And he smiles, for the first time telling me that this summer he is going to Ukraine to find the grave of his grandfather who was taken as a prisoner of war to a Soviet prison where he died. We share this. We forget that his people killed my people, and we shake hands farewell.
Loreta now pulls out a beaten up old Kaunas telephone directory from 1940. It lists four Melondovichs: two who live in Ariogala and two in Kaunas. She points out that to have a phone in that era and place meant you had some money. Their professions included merchant, paint supplier, upholstery materials purveyor. These are professions I feel no excitement about. No writers or actors, no teachers or opera singers. But they are relatives and Jewish tourism demands we pursue all leads. We go down a side road in town where there are chickens in the front yards and a farm across the road. The number for the house we are looking for is no longer there, and a couple of postwar concrete cottages occupy the location. We stop the car and a woman immediately runs out of one of the houses. Loreta tells me that the locals don’t get much drive-by activity and they are immediately suspicious. Loreta gets out to assuage her fears and get information. Yes, the woman says, this was the property of Jews—they remember that. But of course, the woman says, there are none now.
We backup the car and head to the second address. We are counting the numbers and we arrive at a green-painted wooden house that looks occupied but closed up. I get out and walk around it. Some family member, distant cousins perhaps, lived here till 1941 when they were taken from the house and perished in the pit. The house is small and grim. Across the street another one like it sits in near ruin.
I walk inside the latter. There are three rooms filled with rubble, broken linoleum on the floor, scattered domestic items, a ladder akimbo. In the back yard a shattered and collapsed hut. But it reminds me that this happened not so long ago. They had utensils and flooring that were modern. My brother was two years old when this happened; my parents had been married for three years. My Dad was 43, my Mom 30. My uncles and aunts were all alive. This isn’t like visiting the remote past. I have to remember that I’m not set apart from these events by the protective buffer of a long century. Again, the act of imagination required by Jewish tourism. What was it like then? Who lived here in their ordinary and unremarkable lives, made remarkable by the actions of history and individuals?
Loreta and I move on to the most unimaginable space—the Ninth Fort. Kaunas was surrounded by nine forts built under the tsars. It was to this last fort, that Germans brought 50,000 Jews to be killed by bullet. As one approaches the area, the first and most dramatic thing one sees rising massively into the air is a dense and yet ethereal memorial built out of concrete and designed by the sculptor A. Ambraziunas in 1984. Loreta tells me it was designed in the “brutalist” style—a style I know well since my university is built by Walter Netch, one of the foremost proponents of brutalism. The style takes its name from concrete brut, a type of material used in the construction. But in most cases the style is in fact brutal, and the memorial is brutal as well, both in design and in concept. It launches itself 100 feet high in three separate crag-like sections that, upon a closer look, seem to be composed of human forms emerging from the earth and ultimately reaching up to the sky. It is imposing on this dark, rainy, day. I don’t need to see it up close; it’s so massive. Walking up to the killing pit, one tries to imagine how 50,000 bodies could be under such a field. Jews from the ghetto in Kaunas were shot here, but there were Jews brought from German and Austrian urban centers as well as a group from France. All were told they were being relocated. They came by train and then walked the 4 miles from the city center to the Ninth Fort. Their walk took them over the main bridge and through the ghetto. While the Jews in the ghetto initially refused to believe that a massive shooting was going on at the fort, after a while the word got out. So the Jews in the ghetto would yell to the urban Jews, dressed in their best clothing with luxurious valises, that they were going to be killed. Many didn’t listen, but others tried to resist and struggled with the guards for their guns. Loreta tells me that the German Jews were the only ones who had tried to resist, although resistance was futile. The collected Jews were locked into compounds for a few days and then they would be brought to the pits where they had to remove their clothing and were killed. The Nazis would rev the engines of their large trucks near the compound so the remaining Jews wouldn’t hear the shots.
I had had enough of death, of the dark tourism. I was cold, tired, and saturated with the horror. Loreta suggested we could go to the museum on the premises, but I said, “Let’s go.” I had the luxury of fleeing while my counterparts did not.
After lunch at a very large shopping mall, we toured the old city. Loreta switched on her guide voice listing dates, sizes, denominations, and the like. She pointed out a curved wide street where one of the Melondovichs had lived, but the street name was changed as was the numbering. This was again an abstract knowing. Arrow points to location. Only the ground and the earth remember. The old city is worth a visit by anyone. Filled with shops and well-kept low buildings, it could be on any world heritage tour. Loreta, however, has information that other tour guides do not. This used to be a kosher butcher. This used to be a yeshiva. This used to be. This used to be. I’m not really listening now. My esemplastic imagination, as Coleridge called the ability of the mind to reach out into the world and shape it, is no longer plastic. I’ve solidified into a tired tourist, which is its own source of shame and humiliation. How short is my attention span for horror? How quickly one habituates. I remember the scandalous comment made by Vice President Spiro Agnew when touring a ghetto in the United States: “When you’ve seen one slum, you’ve seen them all.”
But Loreta is not stoppable as a guide. There are a few more things to be seen. A high point from which to see the city as a panorama. The house of the Japanese ambassador Sugihara who before the German invasion granted thousands of visas to Jews so they could emigrate to Japan.
And then the Jewish cemetery of Kaunas. Loreta warns that some people don’t react well to it. As we drive up to it, she notes with mild surprise that it looks better than when she last came. She says that some students have come and cut down the overgrowth. What meets the eye is a chaos of stone. The graves here have the usual vertical tombstones, many toppled, but the graves themselves are burdened with massive semi-cylindrical stone covers that span the length of the grave, perhaps to prevent vandalism. The cemetery, despite the clipping of vines, is a mess of moss-covered memorials, all pushed and fallen in every direction. The graves, very close to each other, have collapsed in haphazard ways and look like the bodies of the murdered Jews piled up on each other. Cemeteries can only survive if the living look after the dead. With no Jews in Lithuania, the dead will have to take care of themselves. And that they cannot do very well. The helter-skelter here reveals, in its silent cacophony, more than all of Loreta’s data can account for. I don’t need to see more.
Our last stop is to visit a Jewish woman named Bella Shirin. She lives in an apartment loaned to her by a Lithuanian professor who thought I should meet her. So far, in Lithuania, I haven’t met a single Jew. I’ve talked to Bella on the phone, and she sounds like she’s in her 80’s. I’ve been told by the professor that she knows a lot about the wartime period, so I assume she lived in the ghetto during the occupation. Loreta warns me not to ask too many questions. Don’t ask how old she is, don’t ask how many children she has. (I’ve already asked those things of Loreta, who clearly is now telling me I shouldn’t have).
Bella lives in a courtyard off the main street. That yard was one in which many Jews lived before the war, and Vytenis Jakas, a local artist living there, has transformed the bland and rundown courtyard into an art exhibit. The walls are covered with paintings of the those who lived there, cats who lived there, and for some reason icons like Charlie Chaplin and Frieda Kahlo. We walk up a dark set of stairs and the door opens as the reek of stale cigarette smoke greets us. Bella is a very small, thin, old woman with sharp features, very wrinkled, short dyed reddish hair cut in pixie style, and a warm smile. She offers me wine, and immediately tells me her age and the number of children she has. She’s a Jew like me. I cast a told-you-so look at Loreta. We Jews like information. She’s only three years older than me, but she looks at least twenty years my senior. She’s been through a lot. Her parents were in the Kaunas ghetto and then they were shipped off to Dachau, where they managed to survive. When they were liberated, they returned to Kaunas, but fairly quickly moved to Israel. Bella now, after all these years, has returned. I ask her about the ghetto, but she prefers not to talk about “heavy” themes. She is an optimist and has returned with a respect for forgiveness, art, and culture. She believes that Lithuania’s best times are to come, and she’s been dubbed the “Ambassador” of Lithuania for her efforts to heal, forgive, forget, and look forward. As she says, “When I look around at the Lithuanians now, I can’t blame them. They weren’t alive then. And it’s better to forgive than dwell on the past.” She tells of a group of Jews from Kaunas living in Israel. “All they do is remember the horrors. I don’t want to do that.”
I drink my Lithuanian wine and Bella takes some egg-colored liquor for herself, which she nurses with a certain relish. Loreta has brought some kasha kugel she made at home. We all sit around eating and drinking. Bella asks me my astrological sign. She is a great believer, noting that the most important thing is to get your time of birth to the second. On the one hand, she seems like a survivor who has endured, on the other hand a bit of a flighty kook. In her life she had been an actress in Jewish theater and also worked for banks in investment. To confirm the stereotype, she says knowingly that she was very good at investing.
I leave her and Loreta. As I part from Loreta, who told me that she recently gave a tour of Kaunas to fellow tour guides who asked what she characterized as “a lot of stupid questions,” I ask her, half jokingly, if I asked too many stupid questions. She answered, without a smile, “Not too many.” I pay her in cash and we part. She’s been a font of information but a font without healing powers.
For some unknown reason, I go to see a performance of a 1920’s operetta Madame Pompadour in the 19th century jewel-box state theater. I don’t have time to change, and I walk in with my rain-soaked sneakers. Most of the Lithuanians are dressed up. This is a special occasion for them. The operetta tells the story of a famous 18th century woman of loose morals. The theater company is dolled up in silly costumes of the era and there is much singing and dancing and tomfoolery. Since the production is in Lithuanian without subtitles, I’m a bit lost. But you can’t really be lost with buxom blonde maids singing and dancing while leering captains and noblemen make exaggerated gestures of desire. The audience is completely taciturn. They don’t laugh. They don’t clap. The harder the actors work, the less the audience responds. The only time there was a collective guffaw was when a man came out dressed as a woman. This cool audience reaction, which I saw at the opera in Vilnius, led me to speculate on the inner lives of the residents. Or perhaps it was the inner lives not being reflected in the public life. But this was a country occupied so many times in history. So many lives lost in various invasions, defenses, assaults. Could it be that, as I kept hearing, it was better not to talk too much? Not to show too much? How much pain and repression can a people bear? The silence around the Jewish question, Loreta’s finger wagging about my inquisitive mind, the haunted dead floating above the light-hearted and silly operetta, all said something powerful.
In my hotel, a mustachioed man in the hallway of hotel hears me speaking in English to the receptionist. He smiles and says, “You from the UK?” I tell him I’m from the US. He says, “I’m from Wales, but came here to find my family in 1998. We’ve been visiting them every year since. How about you?” I tell him that my grandfather came from Kaunas. He breaks into a big smile “Did you find your family?” There is a long silence in my mind. Should I say anything? I say “I’m Jewish.” He smiles benignly, as if to say “that’s alright.” He clearly is unfamiliar with the history here. So I add, “They killed all the Jews.” Without missing a beat, as if he really couldn’t process that tidbit of history, he says “Well, have a nice visit.” It’s not only the Lithuanians who maintain the silence.
Jewish tourism: When you tell people about your experiences, about your situation, it ends the conversation. Holocaust, kill pits, bullets in the head, babies smashed against trees—it’s a buzz kill. Jewish tourism makes the Ancient Mariner’s story a happy cartoon travelogue. You become a person with a horrible story no one wants to hear, yet to say nothing seems like an act of complicity. To say something is an offense to polite conversation.
The next morning I decided on a last run along the Naris River. It was early morning and cold, but the dreary overcast skies were gone. A clear bright sun was rising over the flourmills and granaries on the far bank. Along the riverside, fisherman were casting their lines, as my grandfather had, and waiting patiently. No one seemed to catch any fish. They were engaged in an activity that gave them pleasure and only occasionally produced anything of substance. It was easy to run from the center of the town to the countryside, the town being that small. Now there were small houses and farm buildings. As I ran, I passed a graffiti-covered wall that had a dramatic large image of a polar bear on an iceberg breaking up because of global warming. In its hand, the bear held a Popsicle of the same blue ice that was melting and only a fragment remained. The holocaust by bullet seemed far away. But the political urge to survive remained in the graffiti. Now it was climate change. People here, some people, cared about the plight of humanity. I wanted to think that some people back then had cared too. There were those who risked their lives, the Righteous Among the Nations (Yad Vashem) as they are now called. I had heard about such people risking their lives hiding Jews, taking Jewish babies out of the ghetto in potato sacks. The will to live, to survive, to help, runs as deep, I hope, as the urge to kill.
Before I left for Lithuania, my daughter Francesca, who has been concerned with justice from a young age, asked me, in regard to Trump’s ban on immigrants, would I be willing to hide a person who might be deported? It made me think. Would I? I’d like to say yes; I’d like to say that the innate sense of justice I cherish would expand and fill my being. But I could see myself also worrying about the consequences, and even just the reality of having a stranger at home. I think I would be able, but I can’t judge others who didn’t help. My complicity has not been tested in the ways that the parents and the grandparents of these quiet fishermen were.
As I ran back to Kaunas from the countryside, two large and beautiful swans lifted slowly off the river and flew into the distance. They seemed to say to me that one can rise above the pain of the past and seek the freedom of the dawn-lit skies.
PreviousJewish Tourism, or, I never cared very much for the Holocaust – Part IV
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Lennard Davis
Lennard Davis is a Professor in the English Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the author of books on literature and on disability, as well as a novel and two memoirs,
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Chris Marks on April 25, 2018 at 10:30 am
Thanks for your commentary. I’m heading to Lithuania for two weeks in June to see Pilviskiai (my ancestral “hometown”) and some of the surviving synagogues in the countryside. Ruta sounds like a good guide in Vilnius- can you give me contact info? I’ve scoured the internet for locations and histories and feel confident in finding places with my iPad and rental car. Still, it would be nice to speak English with someone for at least one day . . . Thanks! Chris Marks Amana IA
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Issue One: Origins
Issue Two: Work
Issue Three: Connection
Issue Four: Reflection
Listening to Yourself: How I Learned to be a Better, More Courageous Writer
June 4, 2015 Emma Fissenden
By Emma Fissenden
Photo courtesy of Emma Fissenden.
What a word. It's a fickle, slippery, wily beast that hides in the darkest recesses of our hearts. I had to go hunting for it in the last year in an attempt to conquer my fears, or if not conquer, then to use the fear to push me forward. It's probably one of the biggest things that helped drag me kicking and screaming through my ridiculous, five-year attempt to achieve my Screenwriting MFA.
Sometime in the last year, I watched a video of voice actor Troy Baker, who spoke about how fear is the only thing getting in the way of you doing anything, about how if we simply gave ourselves over to that fear we'd never do anything. However, if we let go of it, or used it to push ourselves forward, then we could become more than we are. We could widen our horizons, achieve our goals. It's a video I kept going back to again and again and each time, I was filled with bravery. But it was a fleeting feeling. A few hours later, after I took a look at the work I'd done, I ended up doubting myself and my direction once again.
It took me a full four out of five years in this course to actually begin making meaningful decisions about my thesis because I didn't have the courage. Most of my experiences involved me either riding the high of finishing a draft and declaring myself done or sinking into a deep, dark paralysis. My fear wouldn't let me move forward. My fear kept me back, kept me from seeing the story I wanted to write. In the first few years, the few decisions I struggled to make were entirely generalized. I had to begin making decisions about my characters and my story and where those decisions would go. More importantly, I needed to understand the screenplay's story, listen to my main character Azra, and let her guide me through it. The first few conversations I had with my supervisor went a little like this:
Thesis Supervisor: “What's the story about?”
Me: “Oh, a girl going on a journey through a world changed but mostly recovered from nuclear fallout.”
Thesis Supervisor(trying to pry any kind of decision from my obstinate head): “And why is she taking this journey?”
Me: “Oh, uh—I guess she has to because [insert generalized narrative].”
After all of these early meetings, I'd run for the fucking hills (read: my apartment), hoping that I'd be able to hide from any kind of deep, serious thinking until the night before our next meeting. I was deeply afraid of failing, so afraid I'd often do nothing. Over the course of the next year or two, I'd write hundreds and hundreds of pages full of development work: endless outlines, character profiles, details of the world. It was never-ending. And then came the drafts. I'd naively sworn to myself that I'd never be that writer. I'd be brilliant and never need to write endless drafts. Two? Three? Sure. Eleven? If you'd told me I'd end up writing this many, I'd have called you several awful names and hidden in bed. After about the fourth or fifth draft, I'd send the draft to my Supervisor with a note like this:
Me: “I'm done! I love this draft and I really hope it's working now!
Thesis Supervisor: “Yeah, no.”
She didn't really say that, of course—she was kinder and more understanding—but that was the gist of her emails. We went through this process maybe another three or four times, with me beating myself up about my failing to meet my own insane goals, to magically have this project come together without doing the hard work. I ended up in a pit of depression and I didn't know who to turn to or what to do.
Letting go of my fear opened doors for me, allowed me to make decisions, allowed me to pull together a good working draft. More importantly, it gave me the courage to start building myself into the person I wanted to be. I'm not there yet (who is?) but it's my failure through this thesis process that taught me about myself, taught me about my boundaries and what I'm willing to give up.
In your first year you have to submit your ideas for your thesis project to attract a potential committee. It's a strange process, especially if, like me, you have no idea what the living hell you're doing. I played it safe and stuck to stereotypical tropes for my precis, so I'm sure you can probably imagine the reactions of a few people in the department. I listened to them and their negative reactions, and I took them personally. I let them into my core. The better thing to have done, if I were able to go back in time, would have been to take a deep breath and forge forward rather than let the encounter crush my spirit as much as it did.
Over the next few years, my supervisor held my hand and coaxed me through the process of developing the thesis project. Sometimes I misunderstood her copious notes and saw them as a rejection of everything I'd written, which in turn led to self-sabotage. At first I began to push her away, refusing to look at anything to do with the thesis for a good six months because I was deeply afraid of what she might say. She wasn't saying anything awful. She was honest. She pointed out things that needed looking at: characters who spoke in the same way, unmotivated action, places where things I set up didn't pay off. There was a lack of things coming full circle in the script—as if I couldn't even bear to look at what I'd written to edit it. It was an inorganic mess of good ideas executed with the finesse of an amateur.
When someone I was close to told me giving up on the degree was an “option,” I balked. I freaked out, raged for a few days, was unable to get my head around her words. And then something in me clicked. At first it was pure stubbornness. I wanted to show her that I could do this. I began making solid decisions about the kind of story I wanted to write. I made brave choices. I had actual conversations with my supervisor and we collaborated as I made progress on a new draft. And once I reached “Fade Out," I sat back and took a deep breath. I'd done it. It took courage to listen to myself, to listen to others with an open ear, to see what I could do with edit notes without accepting everything I was told to do without question. To collaborate with others instead of hide from them.
It's difficult to know who's best to listen to. How do you really know who has your best interests at heart and who isn't interested in your success? I had to figure out who I could trust for myself. For the most part, teachers and mentors in university arts courses are interested in helping you, but I've found that there are a few who don't want to listen to you as you. They're listening to you from their own subjective biases. Some are able to get past their initial judgments of your worth and actually support you. Some aren't. And that's okay. It's something I had to get used to, to be able to stick up for myself and my creative decisions and ideas but also not expect everyone to jive with them. You're not going to please everyone, or write anything most will like. If you're lucky, a select few will really love what you've written and if you've been brave enough to listen to your own voice, you might even be slightly proud of your work as well.
Have courage. Listen to yourself. You're going to be okay.
Emma Fissenden is a writer of all trades. She contributes work to The Mary Sue, holds a Screenwriting MFA and is the new EIC of Noble Gas Quarterly. When she's not tackling her next gigantic to do list, she's playing far too many video games. You can follow her on Twitter at @efissenden.
In Issue Two: Work Tags Screenwriting, MFA, writing, courage, Troy Baker, Emma Fissenden
Copyright © 2015 Postmortem Mag, All rights reserved.
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Become Your Intended Self using Affirmations
By Rachel M. Anderson
(St. Louis Park, Minn.) – Do you wake up every morning with positive thoughts in your head?
“I can do it! It’s going to be a great day. I have more than enough time to do all the things I need to do.”
If not, Susan Myhre Hayes, the author of “Peace in the Puzzle: Becoming Your Intended Self,” says it may be time to consider using them. “Affirmations are positive self-talk. They are expressions of what you want, how you want to view the world and who you want to be,” she said. “They are one of those tools the cooperative universe provides on your journey to help achieve your goals.”
And affirmations are not just for new agers for even Dr. Mehmet Oz, a surgeon and director of the mechanical heart program at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City, and star of the Dr. Oz Show on television, believes in the power of affirmations for his patients. In the 2010 article, “Positive Health Affirmations of the New Millennium, Part 1,” published in the JOS Journal of Medicine, Oz concurs with Hayes’ ideas that affirmations can replace the tendency some people have to fall into destructive responses.
After one of Oz’s transplant patients said, “I don’t know why I’m so bad. First my own heart rejects me and dies, and now my new heart rejects me and starts to die,” Oz knew he had to deal with helping the man believe that he is a worthy person. To do so, he helped his patient define affirmations and use them.
“An affirmation is a positive statement of truth,” said Hayes. “By affirming a truth, we are lifted out of false thinking. Each of us can program or reprogram our own brain and create positive beliefs. They can be magical.” The first affirmation Hayes used was perhaps the most impactful. “When I started saying - I have more than enough time to do all the things I want and need to do – I felt I had more time immediately and still do to this day.”
Other affirmations she uses are: “I am a capable, competent confident, capable person who can handle anything that comes my way,” and “People are good. The best is yet to come.”
Affirmations are just one of the tools Hayes used during her quest to find her “Peace in the Puzzle.” The other tools she writes about in her book include engaging a personal board of directors who helped her make decisions; reflecting back on the path she’d traveled, noting what she had learned and where she was being led; and providing advice to her younger self, which hundreds of people provided for inclusion in the book.
The book is a how-she-did-it and how-you-can do-it-too book. A workbook at the back allows readers to reflect on the content in each chapter and write down what it means to them.
Hayes says that before finding her “Peace in the Puzzle,” she didn’t have the clarity of purpose, peace or serenity she has now. “I think I was experiencing a lot of ‘should haves,’ and ‘yeah buts,’ never really focusing on what is important for me. But I am now,” says Hayes. “It is my hope that by reading my book, others can do the same. The world would be a better place if we all became our intended selves.”
“Peace in the Puzzle: Becoming Your Intended Self” is available for purchase online on Amazon.com or directly from the author’s website, www.peaceinthepuzzle.com.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is being offered to you cost free and copyright free. Photography is also available for free upon request. For review copies or to arrange an interview of your own with Susan Myhre Hayes, contact Rachel M. Anderson, Publicist at 952-240-2513 or via e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Soroptimist International of Chino Hills/Inland Empire is part of a global network of women working to improve the lives of women and girls through programs leading to social and economic empowerment. Women are economically empowered when they can have a voice in the financial decisions to shape their lives and the lives of their families. Women are socially empowered when they have a personal sense of autonomy, self-confidence, and the power to control their private and public lives. Our club is comprised of women from many different backgrounds and professions, but one thing we all have in common is our passion to foster hope and inspire others, especially women and girls, to live their dreams.
Approximately 75,000 Soroptimists in about 132 countries and territories support community-based and global projects benefiting women and girls. The organization is particularly concerned with providing women and girls access to education, as this is the most effective path to self-determination.
The name, Soroptimist, means "best for women," and that's what the organization strives to achieve. Soroptimists are women at their best, working to help other women to be their best.
The Live Your Dream Awards program (formally known as Women's Opportunity Awards program) is Soroptimist's major women's education project. Through the program, clubs assist women who provide the primary source of financial support for their families by giving them the resources they need to improve their education, skills, and employment prospects. Eligible applicants must be enrolled in, or have been accepted to, a vocational/skills training program or an undergraduate degree program and must demonstrate financial need.
Click here for application and reference form
The application period each year is from July 1-November 15.
Dream It/Be It
Soroptimist/LiveYourDream.org is pleased to announce the launch of our new global program for girls. Dream It, Be It: Career Support for Girls will help girls grow up to be strong, successful, happy adults. Dream It, Be It targets girls in secondary school who face obstacles to their future success. It provides girls with access to professional role models, career education and the resources to live their dreams. Soroptimist clubs will work in partnership with girls in small groups or a conference setting to provide them with the information and resources they want and need to be successful. The topics covered include career opportunities, setting and achieving goals, overcoming obstacles to success and how to move forward after setbacks or failures.
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Demographics - St. Francisville, La.
Category: About St. Francisville
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,712 people, 693 households, and 456 families residing in the town. The population density was 936.9 people per square mile (361.2/km²). There were 783 housing units at an average density of 428.5 per square mile (165.2/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 71.03% White, 27.22% African American, 0.29% Native American, 0.53% Asian, 0.06% from other races, and 0.88% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.93% of the population.
There were 693 households out of which 34.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.6% were married couples living together, 17.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.1% were non-families. 30.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.04.
In the town the population was spread out with 27.3% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 12.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 95.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.4 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $42,262, and the median income for a family was $54,333. Males had a median income of $41,563 versus $25,083 for females. The per capita income for the town was $21,639. About 5.8% of families and 8.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.2% of those under the age of 18 and 12.4% of those 65 and older.
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Serenata Series – 2019
Professor Robert Constable
professor of music, pianist, composer,
teacher, music education leader
Robert Constable is an Australian pianist, composer, teacher and music education leader who has developed a multi-faceted career in Australia, New Zealand and internationally. A renowned musician among his peers, it has been through his leadership of university music schools that a large part of his outstanding reputation has been built.
In an extensive career, Robert was the long-term Dean of Music at the University of Newcastle’s Conservatorium. After moving to New Zealand in 2006, he was head of the schools of music at the universities of Auckland and Canterbury in Christchurch. During this 30-year period Robert established an enviable reputation in managing people, and in applying rigorous academic practices. Management of a conservatorium is a difficult and challenging assignment and throughout his career Robert has always been highly regarded by staff, students and university executive management alike. Internationally, Robert is held in high esteem by his overseas peers.
Robert Constable is also a leading research innovator: the Stuart Piano project, which he established at the University of Newcastle, remains one of his most important and successful undertakings simultaneously putting the piano’s creator, Wayne Stuart, the Conservatorium and the city of Newcastle on the world stage.
As a musician Robert Constable is held in high regard. His compositions encompass a wide range of genres, styles and purposes. He is a fine pianist, improviser and recording artist as well as an experienced and inspiring teacher and mentor. Among his many artistic endeavours is his ability in improvising instant soundtracks to silent films of the 1920s, an activity that has taken him to film festivals all over the world.
Professor Constable recently retired from the University of Canterbury and now resides in Kangaroo Valley, Australia. He is still professionally active as a teacher and mentor both in Australia and internationally. He is currently the Artistic Director of the Kangaroo Valley Arts Festival and also runs an annual choral workshop for Arts in the Valley.
Under the banner of Serenata Series, Robert, together with Dr Jane McKellar, curates an international series of concerts at his Kangaroo Valley home, Serenata, as well as a series of classic silent films at the Kangaroo Valley Community Hall.
Dr Jane McKellar
Jane McKellar has enjoyed a multidisciplinary career in music, higher education teaching, scholarship and research, and public service and policy. She has been an independent consultant specialising in leadership, culture transformation, executive coaching, strategy, and project management for over twenty years.
Jane’s achievements are in diverse fields, including music, leadership development, organisational change, intellectual property, scholarly research, education, arts and cultural development, indigenous policy implementation, social justice, and the environment.
A piano scholarship enabled Jane to complete her undergraduate degree in both music and education in the USA. She completed the first PhD in Australia on Percy Grainger and his music; it remains the benchmark international reference on the subject. During this period, Jane performed locally as a solo, duo and chamber music pianist, and was active as an experimental music composer. She expanded her Australian Music expertise across genres, composition, performance and dissemination, in senior roles during the National Film & Sound Archive’s early years.
Jane held senior academic positions at the Tasmanian Conservatorium and Melbourne University’s Faculty of Music, and a lectureship at the NSW Conservatorium. Later, she co-developed the innovative quantum theory Emergent Leadership model, teaching it in RMIT University’s MBA for several years. Jane also held senior and executive public sector roles. At Arts Queensland, she wrote the Cultural Ministers’ Council’s Moral Rights paper, which led directly to the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000, providing protection to creators of original works. More recently, she led the major project establishing the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation as an independent statutory authority.
As a leadership, strategy and culture consultant, Jane has worked with clients throughout Australia helping them transform into sustainable and high performing organisations. Her public, higher education and not-for-profit clients include public sector management agencies, transport, justice, law, environment, universities, medical research, major arts organisations and sport.
Her coaching clients have included CEOs, Board members, executives, Ministerial Chiefs-of-Staff, senior academics, managers, technical experts, middle managers and emerging leaders, medical researchers, lawyers, professional musicians, doctors, and scientists. She presents her empowering two-day workshop: “It’s OK to Be Different: Your Natural Writing Voice!” as a public program.
Jane’s colleagues and clients value her creativity and ability to look for new and unique solutions. Key to her work is her deep concern for and commitment to others, and her ability to inspire and motivate people to empower them selves and realise their potential.
Now a resident of Kangaroo Valley, Jane curates the Serenata Series of international concerts with Professor Robert Constable.
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Mere Discipleship
Growing in Wisdom and Hope
Alister E. McGrath
Waco, TX:
Baker Academic
Hardcover.
Review coming soon!
Review by Steve Young forthcoming.
Christian discipleship is a lifelong process that should steadily change everything about us--the way we view the world, the way we think, and the way we interact with other people and with our culture.
In Mere Discipleship, Alister E. McGrath encourages us to move beyond a superficial grasp of our faith to discover its depth and riches, seeing discipleship as a process of growth in wisdom wherein we absorb a Christian vision of reality, allow it to percolate, and then let it inform how we think, love, and act. Drawing particularly on the astute insights of Dorothy L. Sayers, C. S. Lewis, John Stott, and J. I. Packer, McGrath illuminates how we can hold on to hope and live meaningfully in a world where things don't always seem to make sense.
If you long for a robust faith that makes a real difference in the way you experience your everyday life, let McGrath be your guide.
Alister E. McGrath is Professor of Theology, Ministry, and Education, and head of the Centre for Theology, Religion, and Culture at King's College, London, and president for the Oxford Center for Christian Apologetics. He is the author and editor of numerous books, including the award-winning The Passionate Intellect: Christian Faith and the Discipleship of the Mind. A former atheist, he is respectful yet critical of the new atheist movement and regularly engages in debate and dialogue with its leaders.
affect and emotion
discipleship, Dorothy L. Sayers, C. S. Lewis, John Stott, J. I. Packer
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GRANT REQUEST FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF AN INTERSTELLAR SCIENCE VESSEL
Third Law Hub » GRANT REQUEST FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF AN INTERSTELLAR SCIENCE VESSEL
rating: +136+–x
Currently, study of extra-solar objects is limited to those large enough and bright enough to be detected with telescopes. The information that can be gathered from telescopic readings is limited and vague, and therefore of minimal value. Additionally, there exist several objects which pose a direct threat to humanity, such as PSR B0531+21, which is known to be accelerating towards Earth. It is possible and likely that many more of these objects exist, but are currently undetectable due to limitations of our instrumentation. If other star systems could be studied up close, our knowledge of extra-solar objects would be greatly improved.
We propose the construction of a spaceship capable of carrying a crew of 300 to 500 humans on an indefinitely long voyage between star systems.
Propulsion would be achieved using the Darius-Semiz singularity drive proposed by Prometheus Labs scientist George Darius.[1] This drive uses the Hawking radiation1 from a subatomic Reissner-Nordström black hole2 to generate thrust. The drive consists of three primary structures: the Reissner-Nordström black hole, the superconducting blades used to contain the black hole and redirect the charged particles it emits, and the parabolic reflector used to focus the emitted gamma rays. (See Figure A.) The superconducting blades also have the ability to use the charged particles emitted by the black hole to generate electrical power for the rest of the starship.
A black hole with an initial mass of approximately 675,000 metric tonnes would be suitable for use in the Darius-Semiz drive. A black hole of this mass has a life expectancy of 5 years, a power output of ~130 petawatts, and a radius of 1 attometer.[1] A starship using this drive could easily use a 1g brachistochrone trajectory3 to travel the 4 lightyear distance from Earth to Proxima Centauri. Due to the effects of special relativity, this trip would take less than 3.5 years from the perspective of the starship, and slightly over 5.6 years from the perspective of Earth4. Faster travel times could, of course, be achieved through higher accelerations, but the effects of special relativity quickly impose diminishing returns.
Remassing the black hole would be required upon arrival in a destination star system. This could be accomplished by harvesting small celestial objects such as asteroids and comets and feeding them into the black hole. In this manner, the lifespan of the black hole, and therefore the potential duration of the starship's voyage, could be made practically infinite.
Due to the extended duration of any voyage made by this starship, it is recommended that the majority of the crew be kept in hibernation during transit, both to reduce strain on the life support system, and to keep morale from deteriorating due to boredom. A modified version of the Long Sleep Stasis System™, manufactured under contract for Marshall, Carter and Dark, LLP, could be used for this purpose.
Life support for the non-hibernating crew would be handled by a closed ecological life support system built using technologies developed as part of Project Castle Keep. Food and oxygen would be provided by specially engineered algae, using Spirulina platensis5 as a base, with the possibility of "gourmet" meals being provided by small fish or crustaceans fed on this algae. Recycling of water and solid waste would be performed by a supercritical water oxidation unit, which sterilizes and breaks down any organic material fed into it. Additional water would need to occasionally be added to this system to replenish the small losses inherent to it. This replacement water could come from ice mined from comets and asteroids in destination star systems.
A vast array of sensors and scientific equipment would be carried by the proposed starship to allow it to fulfill its intended purpose of performing close-up observations of extra-solar objects. The full list of carried equipment can be found in Appendix B, but some of the more notable ones include:
A Kafka counter, used for measuring reality flux.
An EVE imager, derived from the technology used in the COLLICULUS system manufactured for the GOC.
A Randall detector, used to detect high-energy particles indicative of inter-universal travel.
Collected data would be transmitted back to Earth using a tight-beam laser communications system. Due to the communications lag imposed by lightspeed delays, real-time two-way communications would be impossible, making a rectenna for receiving transmissions from Earth pointless.
In order to create any replacement parts required for repairs, the starship would be equipped with a highly capable production workshop. Using asteroid processing technologies developed for Project Locust, this workshop would process raw materials gathered from asteroid belts and use them to fabricate any necessary parts.
In the course of its exploration, it is possible that the starship will encounter planets or moons of sufficient scientific interest that it would be desirable to land members of the crew on its surface. To accomplish this, the starship could carry a number of Valkyrie nuclear thermal landing vehicles created by Project Valhalla. The Valkyries are capable of performing single-stage landings and returns to orbit on Earth-sized planets with an atmosphere and Ceres-sized moons and asteroids without an atmosphere. This is possible through the use of a trimodal nuclear thermal rocket, capable of using atmospheric gases, liquid water, and atomic hydrogen as reaction mass.
Many of the subsystems of the starship would make extensive use of paratechnology. Of particular note are the superconducting blades, which would need to be constructed from an extremely high temperature superconductor. Other areas where paratech would be extensively utilized include much of the more exotic instrumentation, and the process for creating the Reissner-Nordström black hole for the Darius-Semiz drive.
The estimated mass of the starship upon completion is approximately 900,000 metric tonnes. The majority of this would come from the Darius-Semiz drive, which would mass approximately 725,000 metric tonnes. Construction would, by necessity, take place in space.
The purpose of this starship would be to study other planets and star systems at close range in order to increase our wealth of scientific knowledge. While this is not immediately or directly profitable, the long-term benefits are incalculable.
To increase profitability, unused berths on the starship could be sold to ultra-wealthy individuals as a form of space tourism. These sales could be arranged through MC&D, as they have both the client base and discretion required to handle these sales. It is our recommendation that no more than 10 berths be sold in this manner, at a cost of 100 million USD per berth.
Additional revenue could be generated through sale of data sharing agreements to organizations such as the Foundation and the GOC. We do not recommend advertising the availability of these data sharing agreements until after the completion and launch of the starship, in order to reduce the chances of industrial espionage or interference.
Finally, many of the technologies involved in the construction of the starship have potential commercial applications here on Earth. Several of these applications have been listed below.
The Darius-Semiz singularity drive is based off of a proposal by Ibrahim Semiz to use black holes for power generation.[2] The technology used in constructing the Darius-Semiz drive could be reused for this purpose.
The design of the closed ecological life support system for the starship could find applications in isolated research outposts, such as McMurdo Station. At larger scales, it could potentially be used to create large amounts of cheap, nutritious food, which would be invaluable to poverty stricken regions suffering from food shortages.
Successful implementation of the technologies developed by Project Locust could be built upon to develop space-based infrastructure at a relatively low-cost, paving the way for future ventures into space.
For a full list of predicted commercial applications, see Appendix C.
USE OF FUNDING
The overall estimated cost of construction is 2 billion USD.
Construction costs and times would be greatly reduced through the use of the von Neumann assemblers developed by Project Locust to mine and process asteroids. It would take an estimated 15 months and 450 million USD for the structure and hull to be built using these assemblers.
Creation of the various components of the Darius-Semiz drive would take 18 months and cost 1 billion USD, broken down as follows:
750 million USD to create the Reissner-Nordström black hole6.
200 million USD to construct the superconducting blades.
50 million USD to construct the parabolic reflector.
An additional 6 months and 450 million USD would need to be spent to outfit the starship with the various instrumentation and equipment necessary for its mission.
A final 100 million USD would need to be spent to train the crew and transport them to the starship.
This proposal, if accepted, would be amongst the largest and most expensive endeavors undertaken by Prometheus Labs, dwarfed only by the likes of Project Atlantis and Project Tartarus. However, most of the technologies involved are either proven, or are based on well-understood scientific principles. The primary concern, as with Project Atlantis, is industrial espionage, which should be mitigated by locating the construction in the asteroid belt.
While plans exist for the Darius-Semiz drive which this proposal depends on, it has never before been built by Prometheus Labs, or any other human organization. As such, many potential difficulties in its construction are unknown or hard to predict. However, the process used to generate the Reissner-Nordström black hole has been tested before, removing much of the uncertainty in the central component of the drive.
The Long Sleep Stasis System™ proposed for use in extended duration hibernation currently has a failure rate of ~4%, which is unacceptable for use in this proposal. Modifying it so that the failure rate is acceptably low will require significant development, although the research necessary to do so has already been performed.
There is a high probability that if the starship encounters extraterrestrial life while in another star system, the crew will be the individuals responsible for first contact7. It is advised that all crew selected for the starship be trained in proper first contact procedures in order to reduce the chances of an interstellar incident.
1. Darius, G. (1995). Using black holes for spacecraft propulsion. Prometheus Laboratories Internal Journal of Physics, 59(8), 55-71.
2. Semiz, I. (1995). Black hole as the ultimate energy source. American Journal of Physics, 63(2), 151-156.
1. Black body radiation emitted from a black hole with a temperature inversely proportional to its mass.
2. A black hole with mass and charge, but no spin.
3. A brachistochrone trajectory is one where a spaceship continuously accelerates until it is halfway to its destination, then rotates 180° and continuously decelerates until it arrives at its destination.
4. A list of the calculations used here can be found in Appendix A.
5. An algae high in protein which contains all eight essential amino acids.
6. A significant amount of money can be saved by utilizing the pre-existing Schwarzschild black hole left over from Project Abyss, currently located inside the asteroid (532) Herculina.
7. Encounters while in interstellar space are thought to be less likely to result in contact, due to the relativistic speeds of both the starship and any vessels encountered.
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免費電子書：C# 程式設計
作者：陳鍾誠
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13. 1932: a successful season
1932 was a triumphal year: Nuvolari in the Alfa Romeo 8C2300 won the Monaco GP at Monte Carlo
By this time Nuvolari’s star (the «Flying Mantuan», as he was called) blazed in the racing world. Out of 16 races, Tazio won 7: the Gran Prix of Monaco, the Targa Florio, the Italian Grand Prix, the French Grand prix, the Circuito di Avellino, the Coppa Ciano and the Coppa Acerbo.
There were also 5 first in class and 9 fastest laps. The only race he did not managed to finish was the Mille Miglia:
coming out Florence, his car run out of the road. Nuvolari’s triumphal year was made complete by two other titles of great prestige: the Italian driver’s championship and the International
Championship, won on the basis of the three victories in the Grand Prix races of Italy, France, Germany.
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5 October 1957 - The Marvelous José Andrade
On 5 October 1957, José Leandro Andrade died of tuberculosis at a nursing home in Montevideo at the age of 55. The left half earned multiple honors with the Uruguayan national team, including two Olympic gold medals and one World Cup trophy.
Born in Salto, Uruguay in 1902, Andrade played for a number of Uruguayan and Argentinian clubs in his career, but spent the majority of his time with Uruguayan clubs Nacional and Peñarol. He first appeared for the national side in 1923 and was a key member of the team that defeated Switzerland 3-0 in the gold medal match for the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. At that tournament, he became the first black man to play competitive football at the international level on the continent and earned the nickname "The Black Marvel."
He repeated that gold medal success with Uruguay in the 1928 Summer Olympics, defeating Argentina in the final, but suffered an eye injury during a semi-final match against Italy that eventually left him blind in one eye.
In 1930, Uruguay hosted the first World Cup and, fittingly, claimed the first trophy, again defeating Argentina in the Final. Andrade was named to the tournament's All Star Team. The Final was his last appearance for the national side.
In 1994, France Football magazine named him #10 in their list of the top 100 players in the World Cup.
Labels: 1924 Summer Olympics, 1928 Summer Olympics, 1930 World Cup, José Andrade, Uruguay
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Scott Wilkinson on Home Theater
Scott says that while Dolby Vision is nothing new, it's the most important thing coming out of CES because it's now almost a standard feature in home theater products. It does has to compete with HDR 10, Technicolor's Version, and the BBC's HLG, but most will support HDR 10 and Dolby. We're going to see not only HDR capable TVs, but Blu-ray players as well. Leo says that format wars are frustrating and that nobody really has learned from format wars of the past. Scott says that TVs will likely have multiple decoders and support both.
Read more about Scott Wilkinson on Home Theater
Yesterday, Scott saw Rogue One and without giving away any spoilers, he said you want to wait until the very end. Don't leave. Scott saw it in Dolby Cinema because that's how it was color graded, and he thinks it's the best way to see it. High Dynamic Range for best picture quality. The problem is that AMC in Burbank showed it in 3D Dolby Cinema, and Scott hates that. It was still well worth seeing, though. If you can see it in 2D Dolby Cinema, do that.
Will the HDR 10 standard be around for awhile?
Kevin from Wichita, KS
Kevin bought an OLED HDR TV and he's worried that with two different HDR formats, it will soon be obsolete. Scott doesn't think so. In fact, HDR 10 is an open standard and most TV makers will support it. Dolby Vision, however, is a required license. All content streaming in HDR is supported by HDR 10 as is HDR Blu-ray. Even rival Dolby Vision supports HDR 10 so if a TV doesn't recognize Dolby, it will play HDR 10. So it'll most likely survive long into the future.
Read more about Will the HDR 10 standard be around for awhile?
Scott says that some movies are very effective on the silver screen and there are some that just work better in the movie theater, especially when equipped with Dolby Vision with Atmos Immersive Sound. Though you can get Atmos at home now. You can go to a nearby draft house theater which will serve you dinner and drinks while you're watching the movie. That's a great night out. Scott says that exhibitors are trying to find any way to get people to come out to the theater and improved projection and audio systems, along with those dinner theaters are definitely a good way to get people out.
Scott says that the consumer industry has decided not to go all in on OLED, rather they will continue to focus on LCD TVs. LCDs are getting better, even approaching OLED. Sony's Z series is one such series. Scott says that the backlight in the Z series has independent LED backlights that get dimmed separately for precision control. Scott says that they are the brightest on the market and the HDR footage he's seen is remarkable, with incredible detail at extreme ends of the dynamic range. But they aren't cheap. They're around $8,000 to 10,000 for up to 65".
Scott saw Independence Day Resurgence last night. It was a little disappointing and felt like there were too many writers in the room. It was fun to see the band back together 20 years later, though, and there was lots of nostalgia. The younger actors don't bring it as well, though. It did look fantastic in Dolby Cinema, at least. This gives you the movie in high dynamic range through Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. It really is the way to see it. It'll cost more, but it's really worth it. Scott has a list here.
Scott is back from NAB and he went early to attend the "Future of Cinema" conference. He saw a film by Ang Lee that was shot in native 3D on a pair of Sony F65 Cinema Cameras at 120fps. 5 times more than standard 24p. Scott says that for showcasing the film in conventional theaters at 120 fps, they will have to project it in 2K. Some say it looks like video, not a movie. But Scott says that's because we're so used to the way it's looked for the last 100 years. Now that we have better technology, we should keep moving forward. And theaters can always down shift the frame rate.
Scott has big news that Vizio has changed the name of the game in big screen TVs. On Tuesday, Vizio announced the P-Series, which has much of the R-Series features for 1/3 of the price. It comes with HDR with Dolby Vision, and it will get a firmware update in 90 days that will give users HDR10 as well. This is huge because it should drastically drop the price of HDR 4K TVs fairly quickly.
Scott hasn't seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens yet, but he has heard nothing but good things. It seems that most people are writing reviews just saying that they like it, and not giving any plot details. Leo says that it's on track to be the highest grossing opening film of all time. As for 3D, there's really nothing in the movie that takes advantage of it. It was largely invisible. Scott says that's why he's going to see it at the El Capitan in Dolby Vision with Dolby Cinema High Dynamic Range.
Scott says that there's a movement underway to be able to watch movies in virtual reality. But that comes with it's own set of problems, chief of which is the sound, which would require a head tracking system to change the ton of the audio as you move around. And that would also mean a processor intensive issue.
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Bad Bush Only Eavesdropped, Obama Assassinates?
This is beyond the pale of the pale. Anyone who continues to defend this administration needs to be institutionalized, for the hypocrisy shown by this activity is beyond staggering.
And of course the lame-stream media doesn’t give a damn.
More from Glenn Greenwald:
Friday, Jun 25, 2010 08:26 ET
How many Americans are targeted for assassination?
By Glenn Greenwald
When The Washington Post’s Dana Priest first revealed (in passing) back in January that the Obama administration had compiled a hit list of American citizens targeted for assassination, she wrote that “as of several months ago, the CIA list included three U.S. citizens.” In April, both the Post and the NYT confirmed that the administration had specifically authorized the assassination of Anwar al-Awlaki. Today, The Washington Times’ Eli Lake has an interview with Obama’s top Terrorism adviser John Brennan in which Brennan strongly suggests that the number of U.S. citizens targeted for assassination could actually be “dozens”:
Dozens of Americans have joined terrorist groups and are posing a threat to the United States and its interests abroad, the president’s most senior adviser on counterterrorism and homeland security said Thursday. . . . “There are, in my mind, dozens of U.S. persons who are in different parts of the world, and they are very concerning to us,” said John O. Brennan, deputy White House national security adviser for homeland security and counterterrorism. . . .
“If a person is a U.S. citizen, and he is on the battlefield in Afghanistan or Iraq trying to attack our troops, he will face the full brunt of the U.S. military response,” Mr. Brennan said. “If an American person or citizen is in a Yemen or in a Pakistan or in Somalia or another place, and they are trying to carry out attacks against U.S. interests, they also will face the full brunt of a U.S. response. And it can take many forms.”
Nobody — or at least not me — disputes the right of the U.S. or any other country to kill someone on an actual battlefield during war without due process. That’s just obvious, but that’s not remotely what Brennan is talking about, and it’s not remotely what this assassination program is about. Indeed, Brennan explicitly identified two indistinguishable groups of American citizens who “will face the full brunt of a U.S. response”: (1) those “on the battlefield in Afghanistan or Iraq”; and (2) those “in a Yemen or in a Pakistan or in Somalia or another place.” In other words, the entire world is a “battlefield” — countries where there is a war and countries where there isn’t — and the President’s “battlefield” powers, which are unlimited, extend everywhere. That theory — the whole world is a battlefield, even the U.S. — was the core premise that spawned 8 years of Bush/Cheney radicalism, and it has been adopted in full by the Obama administration (indeed, it was that “whole-world-is-a-battlefield” theory which Elena Kagan explicitly endorsed during her confirmation hearing for Solicitor General).
Anyone who doubts that the Obama administration has adopted the core Terrorism policies of Bush/Cheney should listen to the concession — or boast — which Brennan himself made in his interview with Lake:
Mr. Brennan toward the end of the interview acknowledged that, despite some differences, there is considerable continuity between the counterterrorism policies of President Bush and President Obama.
“There has been a lot of continuity of effort here from the previous administration to this one,” he said. “There are some important distinctions, but sometimes there is too much made of those distinctions. We are building upon some of the good foundational work that has been done.”
I would really like never to hear again the complaint that comparing Bush and Obama’s Terrorism and civil liberties policies is unfair, invalid or hyperbolic given that Obama’s top Terrorism adviser himself touts that comparison. And that’s anything but a surprise, given that Brennan was a Bush-era CIA official who defended many of the most controversial Bush/Cheney Terrorism policies.
I’ve written at length about the reasons why targeting American citizens for assassination who are far away from a “battlefield” is so odious and tyrannical, and I won’t repeat those arguments here. Suffice to say — and I’m asking this literally — if you’re someone who believes, or are at least willing to acquiesce to the claim, that the U.S. President has the power to target your fellow citizens for assassination without a whiff of due process, what unchecked presidential powers wouldn’t you support or acquiesce to? I’d really like to hear an answer to that. That’s the question Al Gore asked about George Bush in a 2006 speech condemning Bush’s claimed powers merely to eavesdrop on and imprison American citizens without charges, let alone assassinate them: “If the answer is yes, then under the theory by which these acts are committed, are there any acts that can on their face be prohibited? . . . If the president has th[is] inherent authority. . . . then what can’t he do?” Can anyone defending this Obama policy answer that question?
One other thing that is truly amazing: the U.S. tried to import this same due-process-free policy to Afghanistan. There, the U.S. last year compiled a “hit list” of 50 Afghan citizens whose assassination it authorized on the alleged ground (never charged or convicted) that they were drug “kingpins” or funding the Talbian. You know what happened? This:
A U.S. military hit list of about 50 suspected drug kingpins is drawing fierce opposition from Afghan officials, who say it could undermine their fragile justice system and trigger a backlash against foreign troops. . . .
Gen. Mohammad Daud Daud, Afghanistan’s deputy interior minister for counternarcotics efforts . . . said he worried that foreign troops would now act on their own to kill suspected drug lords, based on secret evidence, instead of handing them over for trial . . . “They should respect our law, our constitution and our legal codes,” Daud . “We have a commitment to arrest these people on our own” . . . .
The U.S. military and NATO officials have authorized their forces to kill or capture individuals on the list, which was drafted within the past year as part of NATO’s new strategy to combat drug operations that finance the Taliban.. . . . “There is a constitutional problem here. A person is innocent unless proven guilty,” [Ali Ahmad Jalali, a former Afghan interior minister] said. “If you go off to kill or capture them, how do you prove that they are really guilty in terms of legal process?”
In other words, Afghans — the people we’re occupying in order to teach about Freedom and Democracy — are far more protective of due process and the rule of law for their own citizens than Americans are who meekly submit to Obama’s identical policy of assassination for their fellow citizens. It might make more sense for Afghanistan to invade and occupy the U.S. in order to spread the rule of law and constitutional values here.
What makes all this most remarkable is the level of screeching protests Democrats engaged in when Bush merely wanted to eavesdrop on and detain Americans without any judicial oversight or due process. Remember all that? Click here and here for a quick refresher. Yet here is Barack Obama doing far worse to them than that without any due process or judicial oversight — he’s targeting them for assassination — and there is barely a peep of protest from the same Party that spent years depicting “mere” warrantless eavesdropping and due-process-free detention to be the acts of a savage, lawless tyrant. And, of course, Obama himself back then joined in those orgies of condemnation, as reflected by this December, 2008, answer he gave to Charlie Savage, then of The Boston Globe, regarding his views of executive power:
5. Does the Constitution permit a president to detain US citizens without charges as unlawful enemy combatants?
[Obama]: No. I reject the Bush Administration’s claim that the President has plenary authority under the Constitution to detain U.S. citizens without charges as unlawful enemy combatants.
So back then, Obama said the President lacks the power merely to detain U.S. citizens without charges; indeed, when asked if “the Constitution permit[s]” that, he responded: “no.” Yet now, as President, he claims the power to assassinate them without charges. Could even his hardest-core loyalists try to reconcile that with a straight face? As Spencer Ackerman documented in April, not even John Yoo claimed that the President possessed the power Obama is claiming here. Given Brennan’s strong suggestion that there are not merely three but “dozens” of Americans who are being targeted or at least could be (“they also will face the full brunt of a U.S. response”) — and given the huge number of times the Government has falsely accused individuals of Terrorism and its demonstrated willingness to imprison knowingly innocent detainees — is it time yet to have a debate about whether we think the President should be able to exercise a power like this?
It begs the question of exactly how one defines a “terrorist group”, doesn’t it?
Filed Under: Eroding Freedoms Tagged With: Glenn Greenwald, Obama assassinations, Obama hit list, obama hypocrisy, targeting American citizens
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Social workers win contempt appeal
Written by BBC News Edinburgh, Fife & East Scotland
Two social workers who were found in contempt of court after stopping a mother’s contact with her children have had the finding against them quashed.
The pair, who both work for Edinburgh council but were not named in court, were found guilty of contempt in 2013.
A sheriff ruled they were in contempt for failing to obey a court order for a mother to have weekly contact with her sons, who had been taken into care.
But a judgement from the Court of Session has overturned that decision.
Three senior judges found there had been serious concerns for the wellbeing of the children and that the social workers, who were in a “difficult situation”, had the best interests of the youngsters at heart.
In his ruling, judge Lord Malcolm said that a decision made by the social worker to suspend contact “out of a genuinely held concern” of risk to the children, could not be categorised as contempt of court.
The social workers, named in court papers as AB and CD, are “senior and experienced” employees who were found in contempt over their failure to obey a court order from May 2013.
Earlier that year, a children’s hearing reduced contact between the mother and her boys, who were in care, from weekly to monthly.
But she appealed to the sheriff, who granted weekly contact with each child.
In July 2013, AB suspended contact, a decision approved by CD, her immediate superior.
AB referred to the boys being “distressed, distraught and at times traumatised” and wrote that it was her view” that the weekly contact could not be continued in good conscience, knowing the dire effect it has been having on both children”.
Following a complaint letter from the mother’s solicitor, the sheriff ultimately found that both social workers had failed to obey the court and found them guilty of a contempt of the authority of the court.
No penalty was imposed but they were found liable for the expenses of the proceedings.
The three Court of Session judges unanimously ruled in favour of the social workers on Friday.
Quashing the contempt ruling, Lord Malcolm said: “The court should be sensitive to the difficult situation in which these, and no doubt the other social workers involved, were placed.
“In the context of their long involvement in the case, and the burden of a duty to safeguard the welfare of the children, they adopted a precautionary approach.”
Mikaeel Kular probe clears social workers
Written by PARIS GOURTSOYANNIS of Edinburgh News
Social workers and health staff visited the home of Mikaeel Kular seven times in the months before he was killed by his mother Rosdeep Adekoya – but found no evidence of the violence she would go on to inflict on her three-year-old son.
There was no way Mikaeel’s death could have been prevented, according to a review of how the boy’s case was handled. It cleared social workers in Edinburgh and Fife of any blame for the tragedy.
“The central finding of the report states that the circumstances that led to Mikaeel’s death could not have been predicted.”
Steve Grimmond
Mikaeel’s disappearance in January last year sparked a massive two-day search before his mother was arrested and eventually jailed for his killing.
Repeated visits by both councils found nothing to cause staff concern “about the physical care of Mikaeel” by his mother. Her vicious, repeated assaults over several days last January were described as “unprecedented and out of character”.
However, despite finding that the toddler’s death “could not have been predicted”, the report made 13 recommendations, including a call for an overhaul of national guidelines for information sharing between local authorities.
Legislation will be reviewed following the revelation that Mikaeel’s nursery in Edinburgh was not told that he had spent a year in care until three months after he was returned to his mother – and just two months before his death.
His father Zahid Saeed rejected the findings, saying: “I feel that the social work department have failed in their duties to protect my children.”
Mikaeel was taken into foster care in Fife between July 2012 and August 2013 after Adekoya left her children on their own for an extended period. He was returned to his mother after social workers judged that she was making “good progress”, and in December 2013 the last of seven visits by social workers and NHS staff took place, after which a supervision order was ended.
Children’s charities said the lack of national protocols for transferring information between councils about youngsters who are no longer on the protection register was “a gap” that required attention.
Speaking on behalf of the joint review, which included Fife and Edinburgh councils as well as NHS Fife and Lothian and Police Scotland, chairman Steve Grimmond said: “The central finding of the report states that the circumstances that led to Mikaeel’s death could not have been predicted.
“Ms Adekoya’s ability to physically care for him was never in question. She felt a need for space and time that resulted in him being left unattended and is the reason he was placed in foster care.
“It’s important to stress that professionals who had regular contact with the family never had any concerns about the physical care of Mikaeel throughout this case. The decision to return Mikaeel to his mother’s care was taken by a range of professionals who agreed that he was well looked after and that he had been in foster care long enough.”
For three dreadful days in January 2014, the UK’s media descended on north Edinburgh after Mikaeel was reported missing, having seemingly vanished from his home in the middle of the night.
Adekoya, who has three other children, originally told police her son had disappeared after being put to bed on the night of January 15.
News that a three year-old was missing in near-freezing temperatures brought the community out on to the streets in a desperate search for the boy.
Hundreds joined search parties, with cordons combing the shore front at Cramond and Drylaw, checking bushes and undergrowth without result.
The searchers’ hearts were broken when police announced the news no-one wanted to hear – a body had been found, not in Edinburgh but across the Forth in Fife. It was eventually confirmed that the body, stuffed into a suitcase and hidden in woodland behind Adekoya’s sister’s house in Kirkcaldy, was Mikaeel.
After the report was published yesterday, council chief executive Sue Bruce paid tribute to the community spirit that saw so many join the search for Mikaeel.
She said: “Last January, we had to face the outcome that everyone dreaded, namely that Mikaeel Kular had not been found safe and well. It was a tragic situation and, although over a year has now passed, our thoughts are with his family and friends still struggling to come to terms with the circumstances surrounding his death.
“We shouldn’t forget the incredible show of community spirit in North Edinburgh following Mikaeel’s disappearance, with hundreds of volunteers giving up their time to join the search. It was extremely moving and inspiring to see the community pull together like that and I know that spirit remains strong today.”
Adekoya was arrested and originally charged with her son’s murder, but was jailed for 11 years after pleading guilty to culpable homicide in July.
Only after Adekoya’s guilty plea did the truth emerge – Mikaeel was beaten to death, savagely attacked by his furious mother after he was repeatedly sick following a family meal out.
Despite becoming increasingly ill due to internal injuries, Mikaeel’s mother did not seek medical attention for her son, who was already dead by the time Adekoya claimed he had gone missing.
The full report will not be published in order to protect the identities of Mikaeel’s siblings, but a summary version has been made public.
Mr Grimmond added: “The death of any child is a tragedy. The loss of Mikaeel in such terrible circumstances has been particularly devastating for his family, those who worked with them, and two local communities in Edinburgh and Fife.
“Social workers and health professionals involved in the case have been greatly affected by this tragedy. They care very deeply about what they do and the people they support.”
Responding to the call for information sharing procedures to be overhauled, a Scottish Government spokeswoman said that the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act – passed just last year – would be reviewed.
The spokeswoman said: “The sudden, unnatural death of any child is a tragedy and the untimely death of Mikaeel Kular continues to reverberate across Scotland and in particular, the communities in Fife and Edinburgh where he lived.
“The Scottish Government therefore welcomes the urgency with which this significant case review was undertaken and its speedy conclusion and focused actions, which we are sure will now be considered and acted upon by all the appropriate agencies timeously.
“We accept the recommendation directed at the Scottish Government and we will consider the implications of the report very carefully.
“We are currently consulting on guidance and secondary legislation accompanying the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act which will help meet the recommendation.”
The charity Children 1st backed the call for greater clarity when sharing information between local authorities.
Director of children and family services Mary Glasgow said: “There is a gap in the current system that the review does well to bring to our attention.”
Trisha Hall, director of the Scottish Association of Social Workers, said that without any evidence of neglect or abuse, it was impossible for social workers to know what Adekoya was capable of. “Social workers are being asked to assess risk. Social workers can’t predict risk. That’s simply impossible”, she said.
Countdown to tragedy
July 2012: Mikaeel Kular taken into care in Fife.
August 2013: Mikaeel returned to mother Rosdeep Adekoya, who has moved to Edinburgh.
November 2013: Mikaeel’s school informed of his care history.
December 2013: Supervision order for Mikaeel is terminated. Over previous four months, staff from Fife and Edinburgh make seven visits, but find no evidence of abuse or neglect.
January 12, 2014: Adekoya beats Mikaeel repeatedly. He dies of his injuries two days later.
January 16, 2014: Mikaeel is reported missing. His mother claims she last saw him the previous night, and that he left their Drylaw flat on his own. A massive search is launched, with hundreds of volunteers joining the effort.
January 18, 2014: A body is found in the early hours, later confirmed to be Mikaeel. Adekoya is arrested, and is later charged with his murder.
July 2014: Adekoya pleads guilty to culpable homicide, and is jailed for 11 years. Fife and Edinburgh councils announce a joint significant case review into Mikaeel’s death.
New tactics mean 137% increase in identified child sexual abuse imagery
Written by the IWF
The Internet Watch Foundation has identified and assisted the removal of 137% more webpages depicting child sexual abuse last year, than the year before.
· The global speed at which child sexual abuse imagery is being removed also increased last year,
meaning victims’ images which had been identified globally, had a shorter life-span online.
· There were large percentage increases in child sexual abuse imagery identified in image hosting
services and cyberlockers*.
· IWF launches a drive to encourage more online companies to step up and do the right thing regarding
child sexual abuse images online.
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) today (14 April) launches its trends and analysis on the global picture of child sexual abuse image distribution online. The IWF Annual Report 2014 reveals that its new ability to actively seek out the content, which was given in April 2014, has been effective in identifying of more criminal material than ever before. The IWF is the only Hotline in the world with the ability to do this.
The IWF is a charity, and self-regulatory body set up in 1996 by the online industry. It is the UK’s Hotline for reporting child sexual abuse imagery online and is funded by 117 companies and organisations (https://www.iwf.org.uk/members/current-members). Due to the increased funding these companies gave the IWF, it recruited more Internet Content Analysts last year, taking the total from four, to 12.
The IWF takes reports of suspected criminal content from the public, which includes members of the public, police officers and IT professionals.
Coupled with its new ability to actively search for the images and videos using intelligence-based tactics, it was able to assist with the removal 31,266 URLs of child sexual abuse last year, compared to 13,182 in 2013. A URL can contain one, or many thousand images and videos.
Global speed of removal
Less than 0.3% (95 URLs) of the imagery identified last year was hosted in the UK (in 1996, 18% was UK-hosted) and 95% was removed within a day, often within two hours. Last year, most was hosted in North America (56%) and Europe including Russia (41%). The speed at which countries are removing the content has increased.
• 91% of URLs are removed within Europe (86% in 2013);
• 72% of URLs are removed within North America (68% in 2013);
• 50% of URLs are removed from other locations around the world (44% in 2013)
When the IWF identifies a child sexual abuse URL hosted in another country, it notifies that country’s hotline, or law enforcement agency. It then repeatedly chases up with that country until the URL is removed.
Abused services
Many legitimate online services are abused by those wishing to distribute child sexual abuse imagery.
• Image hosting services (where users can upload images and make them available via a unique
URL) were most abused last year (from 5,594 URLs in 2013 to 19,710 URLs in 2014).
• File host, or cyberlockers (which are online file hosting services, cloud storage services or online
file storage providers) saw a 299% increase in abuse last year, compared to 2013 (from 1,400 URLs
in 2013 to 5,582 URLs in 2014).
IWF CEO Susie Hargreaves, said: “Our ability to actively seek out child sexual abuse imagery created a significant step-change in the effectiveness of the IWF.
“We have a mission to protect victims of sexual abuse from having their images repeatedly viewed. The more content we can identify and work with others to get removed, the bigger the benefit to those victims.
“We are also here to help the internet industry from being abused and the online industry in the UK and increasingly, globally, is really stepping up to help us remove this imagery but we know there are many more companies who are either yet to recognise they have an issue, or are being too slow to respond.
“It is not good enough for those companies to allow the burden of responsibility to fall on a socially responsible few. This year we will ensure they are armed with the knowledge, information and support they need to protect themselves and benefit all internet users and victims of sexual abuse.”
UK business websites targeted to host child sexual abuse images and videos
Written by IWF:
UK online businesses should beef-up their security to prevent hackers using their websites to direct online users to child sexual abuse images and videos.
Research released by the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) identifies how legitimate online businesses are being hacked to lead online users to commercial child sexual abuse imagery.
The research also demonstrates that, for the first time, Bitcoin is being accepted for the purchase of child sexual abuse images and videos.
The trend was identified in January (2014). Spam emails were used to distribute links (web addresses) to internet uses. These links led to a hacked website (a legitimate business) and would further re-direct the user to commercial child sexual abuse images on a second hacked website.
This commercial child sexual abuse material is unique in that it purports to accept payment only in bitcoins.
Sarah Smith, IWF Technical Researcher who authored the research paper, said: “These websites are legitimate businesses, sometimes UK business. We believe they are being targeted due to inadequate security on their websites.
“The website administrators of these businesses often won’t be aware they’ve been hacked. I would advise them to look closely at their website security to prevent their websites being targeted to host re-director links or criminal content.
“We identify the payment methods used by commercial child sexual abuse distributers in order to work with third parties who can disrupt the distribution of these criminal images.
“This is the first time we’ve seen bitcoins being accepted for child sexual abuse images and videos.”
Blinkered inspection approach could obscure quality of work to tackle child abuse
Written by LGA:
The true quality of activity to tackle child abuse and neglect across the country could be being obscured because of Ofsted’s blinkered approach to inspecting children’s services, local government leaders are warning today.
The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents councils in England and Wales, is calling for an overhaul of the way children’s services are inspected, so the roles of everyone involved in protecting vulnerable children are monitored and included in a judgment.
Current Ofsted arrangements for the inspection of children’s services are too narrow, taking a limited view of council performance and failing to assess the contribution of crucial agencies such as health and the police, the LGA said.
The warning comes as senior local government leaders convene at a summit on child sexual exploitation, jointly organised by the LGA, Solace and the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS). Politicians and senior council officers will discuss how to better protect children in the future.
Today (TUES) Ofsted will give evidence to the Communities and Local Government Committee on the Jay Review into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham.
The regulator’s proposals to revamp inspection of children’s services would continue to see Ofsted and other inspectorates work in narrow silos, conducting separate inspections at the same time rather than adopting a fully multi-agency approach that assesses the contribution of all agencies together. Council leaders say this fails to recognise the crucial importance of all agencies working together around the needs of children and young people.
Councils take their responsibility to protect children seriously and are working hard to tackle child sexual exploitation but cannot do this alone. Councils work with health services, the police and other organisations, such as youth clubs and outreach services, to protect children, and inspection of children’s services must mirror this approach.
Delegates at today’s summit will focus on sharing information and best practice to ensure the fight against child exploitation becomes everyone’s business. The LGA will also launch new a resources pack at the summit to help council leaders assess the robustness of local approaches.
Cllr David Simmonds, Chairman of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said:
“Keeping children safe is the most important thing that councils do, but we know we cannot do it alone. Protecting children does not fall only to councils, but to the police, health services, schools and local groups. Inspections must reflect this. It is not fair to the children we are working to protect that Ofsted inspections only focus on council children’s services, failing to properly assess the essential work done by other organisations.
“Today’s local government summit on child sexual exploitation brings together council leaders with police, the NHS and children’s charities. We all recognise that it is only by working together to improve the way we protect children in the future that this evil crime can be eradicated and victims given the confidence to come forward.
“We need scrutiny processes to adopt the same approach, so every organisation involved in child protection is examined during an inspection. Councils are committed to this joint work; we need inspection processes to adapt so nothing falls through the cracks.”
The LGA has previously raised concerns that Ofsted is too media-focused and can no longer be relied upon to deliver trustworthy judgments.
Predators could be stopped from grooming with new banning order, councils say
Written by the LGA
Predatory men suspected of grooming children for sex could be stopped immediately if a new type of banning order was introduced by the new government, local government leaders say.
Children who are being groomed for sexual exploitation are at risk of being harmed because too often officials are powerless to intervene in suspicious behaviour, council leaders warn.
The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents more than 370 councils across England and Wales, is now calling for the introduction of ‘disruption orders’, which is supported by children’s charity Barnardo’s. These would be backed by the courts and give social workers and police a way of intervening in child sexual exploitation (CSE) when they suspect something is going on but cannot provide evidence to bring a criminal prosecution without a child having been already harmed.
Child protection experts have voiced concerns over recent instances where they were hindered from acting in the best interests of vulnerable children. There have been cases where parents have raised concerns about their children being groomed, but authorities were powerless to intervene because no criminal offence was being committed.
In Birmingham, the city council has used civil injunctions against men in cases where child sexual exploitation was believed to be taking place but there was not sufficient evidence for a criminal prosecution.
The LGA is calling on the next government to introduce a bill for the orders in its first Queen’s Speech.
“Few parents would be comfortable if their children were spending their time in the company of older men and coming home with expensive gifts and smelling of alcohol. But the reality is that there have been concerned mums and dads who have had to stand by, powerless, as their children have been groomed by vile sexual predators.
“At present sanctions to prevent the grooming of vulnerable children are too limited and we need to make it easier to intervene earlier before harm is done. By making it possible for councils to apply swiftly to the courts for an order to disrupt grooming we can help prevent the lives of children being ruined by sexual exploitation.
“We need a commitment from the next government that they will act swiftly to legislate for these orders, so no more communities will suffer the scars of child sexual exploitation. The introduction of Sexual Risk Orders is an important step in giving the police more powers but we need to extend this to the wider community if we are to tackle CSE effectively.
“We are not trying to pass a sentence before someone has been charged, nor do we intend to stop people from carrying out their normal daily activities. But we need to know children are safe from the menace of CSE and disrupting the activities of those we suspect of grooming young people can only help this.”
CSE disruption orders would be designed to target people suspected of grooming children, to put safe space between them and their victims. They differ from the current Sexual Risk Orders in that they can be granted by a court on the application of local authorities and other concerned parties such as the NHS and schools, where they can show that their concerns are sufficient that magistrates would be willing to grant them. The orders would be similar to Domestic Violence Protection Orders or Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (Asbos) but tailored to the risks associated with CSE.
The orders would see anyone suspected of grooming children for sexual exploitation banned from certain types of activity, such as hanging around outside schools, for a fixed period of time, in specific instances.
Victims would not be required to testify when an application for an order was heard.
A breach of a CSE disruption order would be a criminal offence.
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
FGM is defined by the World Health Organisation as “all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons”. There is no cultural or religious justification for FGM and it has been illegal in this country since 1985. If it is performed on a British citizen in the UK or overseas it is a crime.
What are the consequences of FGM?
It can leave women and girls traumatised as well as in severe pain, cause difficulties in child birth, and in some rare cases it can lead to death. Current prevalence studies estimate that as many as 60,000 women and girls in the UK could be at risk of FGM, and over 125,000 may already be living with the consequences (Equality Now and City University July 2014). Councils have a statutory duty to safeguard children and protect and promote the welfare of all women and girls, and are committed to working with partners to support the long term abandonment of the practice.
£7m funding for victims of sexual violence
The Home Secretary Theresa May and Justice Secretary Chris Grayling have announced an extra £7 million funding to help victims of sexual violence. The funding will run to the end of the 2015/16 financial year.
There has been a 40 per cent increase in child sexual offences recorded by police in the last two years. A £2 million fund will be available for organisations reporting an increase in referrals prompted by the Child Sexual Abuse Inquiry. All services which support victims of child sexual abuse will be eligible to apply for a share of the fund, with bids assessed against a range of criteria and allocated to ensure urgent needs are met.
In addition to this money, £2.85 million will be available for organisations across England and Wales which support victims of sexual abuse. This will be administered in parallel with the child sexual abuse fund.
Meanwhile, a further £2.15 million will be given to 84 existing Female Rape Support Centres on top of current Ministry of Justice funding.
LGA and ADASS on Care Bill
Written by LGA
Joint statement from Katie Hall (Chair, LGA Community Wellbeing Board) and David Pearson (President, Association of Directors of Adult Social Services).
“The Local Government Association (LGA) and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) welcome the announcement by Norman Lamb MP (Minister of State for Care and Support) of a new grant for local authorities to support the implementation of the Care Bill.
We have argued hard for more resources to support these reforms. This grant – £23 million for 2014/15 – provides additional resource to local authorities to help them plan in detail to implement the profound reforms required by the Care Bill. Along with the £2.7 million for the Care Bill and Better Care Fund announced in February and distributed regionally through ADASS, this grant recognises the significance of the reforms, the scale of the challenges in timescale for local authorities, and the importance of getting implementation right first time.
The Care Bill reforms need to be seen as an integral part of a wider transformation of the health and social care system, which includes integration and the Better Care Fund (BCF). The Care Bill provides the legislative underpinning for the BCF and elements of integration including the duty of prevention and cooperation with local partners. Therefore, the practical matter of Care Bill implementation cannot be divorced from the wider programme of reforms, which itself builds on a radically reshaped health system that is still bedding down.
We remain concerned about the scale of the implementation challenge given the current timescales and context. We also remain concerned that inadequate funding for the reforms, and for the system itself, will jeopardise the Bill’s good intentions. The reforms being implemented through the Care Bill need to be fully costed and funded as new burdens. However, we are pleased to be working with the Department of Health on implementation and welcome the additional support this grant provides.”
Chairman of LGA on councils and communities to help lead revolution in tackling dementia
Thousands of people living with dementia are being helped to lead more independent lives, thanks to an initiative being supported by the Chairman of the Local Government Association (LGA).
Over 800,000 people in the UK are affected by dementia and one in three people live with the condition in old age. This is set to rise to around one million by 2021. It currently costs the UK around £23 billion each year to care for people with dementia, some of whom could end up unnecessarily in nursing homes or hospitals, and with an ageing population, this is set to rise by a further £4 billion in 2018.
Yet, despite figures showing that dementia is one of the main causes of disability later in life, official statistics recently showed that only 45 per cent of people have been properly diagnosed, making it vital that community leaders take action to tackle the issue and support people showing the signs of dementia as early as possible.
Today, Sir Merrick Cockell, Chairman of the LGA, is writing to around 400 council leaders across England and Wales to ask them to join his own personal commitment to become a Dementia Friend. Dementia Friends pledge support to those living with dementia by raising awareness or offering practical help.
Sir Merrick is leading the effort through his role at the LGA to encourage as many council leaders, staff and communities across the country to support the Government’s drive to recruit one million Dementia Friends across the country. In 2012, around 12,000 people had registered with the Alzheimer’s Society to become Dementia Friends.
Many councils are already working in partnership with their local communities to develop innovative ways to enable people with dementia to learn new skills and hobbies, take part in everyday activities and retain their independence for as long as they are able. Examples include art clubs, music and dance sessions for people with dementia, through to dementia-friendly streets, where as a result of simple adaptations and awareness raising among staff working in shops, people with dementia are able to do their own shopping.
Simple changes to existing services, and training for those who come into day-to-day contact with people with dementia such as staff working in libraries or in leisure centres, could help people with dementia feel more confident in using council services.
This is why Sir Merrick is now calling on council colleagues from England and Wales alongside their communities to join him by:
Making their own personal commitment to this issue;
Designating a person within the council to become a dementia friends champion, to then cascade learning to other staff in the council; and
Identifying a space at council premises to hold training sessions for staff and the community to become dementia friends.
Sir Merrick Cockell said:
“With so many people in our families and in our communities affected by dementia, this is a cause that is extremely close to many of our hearts and has touched many of us personally.
“When we think of our own parents, grandparents, partners and even children, none of us know who this will affect and what support we may need in the future that could make the difference to someone we love.
“I would like as many people as possible to join me in becoming a Dementia Friend. The more people we can get involved, the greater chance we have of enabling those living with dementia to lead fulfilling lives close to families, friends and neighbours for as long as possible.
“Traditionally, the focus for dementia care has been NHS treatments and services delivered by local councils. We need to shift this to a focus on how we can enable people who have been diagnosed with dementia to live as full a life as possible and encourage communities to work together to help people to stay healthier for longer.
“I have seen first-hand the difference the work of councils, community groups and volunteers has made to the lives of people living with dementia. This campaign really drives home the importance of how, when working together we really can make the biggest difference.
“Councils have a core role to play in transforming the quality of life for people with dementia. Not only in providing leadership and support for local community groups to develop innovative services, but in supporting their staff in becoming dementia aware and to sign up to their local dementia alliances to become involved in their dementia friendly communities.”
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Calum Chace, MBA
Calum Chace, MBA is author of Pandora’s Brain and Surviving AI: The promise and peril of artificial intelligence, and Founder of 3Cs Limited.
Calum retired in 2012 to focus on writing after a 30-year career in business, in which he was a marketer, a strategy consultant, and a CEO. He maintains his interest in business by serving as chairman and coach for growing companies.
He is coauthor of The Internet Start-Up Bible, a business bestseller published by Random House in 2000. He is a regular speaker on artificial intelligence and related technologies, and runs a blog on the subject at www.pandoras-brain.com.
Calum lives in London and Sussex (England) with his partner, a director of a design school, and their daughter. He studied philosophy at Oxford University, where he discovered that the science fiction he had been reading since early boyhood is actually philosophy in fancy dress.
Calum earned his MBA at Cranfield University in 1990.
Watch Calum Chace on Pandora’s Brain: AI is Coming and It Could Be the Best or the Worst Thing and Anticipating 2025: Calum Chace. Read his LinkedIn profile. Follow his Twitter feed.
Business Board
Robotics/AI Board
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"it is an honor and a liberty to be part of such an amazing community," ranadive, the chairman and ceo of issue software maker tibco software inc, tweeted on tuesday.ranadive and his group also intend an eye to a recent downtown arena.fund-manager hansen has extended vowed to give rise to a together bankroll b reverse to seattle and rename it the supersonics after the team the burgh lost to oklahoma city.as wrangling as a remainder the party mounted, hansen increased his pray instead of a controlling interest in the kings to $406 million, which valued the tandem join up at an unprecedented $625 million. he already has a apportion with the city to bod a budding arena.but model month, a committee of nba owners voted that the team should brace in sacramento.
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Tag Archives: chemical warfare
Iran, United States
Obama-Rowhani call a historic first step in securing better US-Iranian relations
Today, for the first time since 1979, the leaders of the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran held a bilateral discussion when US president Barack Obama called Iranian president Hassan Rowhani to discuss a potential solution to the international stalemate over Iran’s nuclear energy program.
It wasn’t the handshake that everyone thought might have been possible earlier this week in New York at the United Nations General Assembly, but it’s still a remarkable step — and could result in real movement between Iran and the ‘P5 + 1’ countries over the future of the Iranian nuclear program and crippling UN sanctions.
It’s important to remember that there’s a long history of misfires on US-Iranian relations, with former Iranian presidents like Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammed Khatami making overtures to the United States that went unrewarded — everything from Iranian assistance to Bosnian fighters in the 1990s to Iranian assistance to bring the Northern Alliance to support the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
Even Rowhani, as Iran’s first nuclear negotiator in 2003, was burned when he offered a moratorium on further Iranian enrichment. That concession led to nothing but the empowerment of anti-American hardliners, who came to power with the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president in 2005.
It follows a relationship that, even before the 1979 revolution that brought Shiite ayatollahs to power in Iran, was troubled — Iranians, even today, haven’t forgotten the role that the United States played in toppling former Iranian prime minister Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953 and boosting the repressive regime of the Iranian shah through the 1979 revolution.
As I wrote shortly after Rowhani’s staggering election as president in June 2013:
The Obama administration’s challenge is to forge a strategic path with Iran’s new president that undermines the hardliners in both Iran and in the United States. Whether Iran likes it or not, it has to demonstrate to the world that it’s not pursuing clandestine nuclear weaponry. But whether the West likes it or not, it must ultimately acknowledge that Iran — a sovereign nation of 75 million people — has a right to its own nuclear energy program on terms that respect the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic, and Obama will have to back up his weekend olive branch with substantive alms that show the United States is serious.
The discussion follows a potentially even more historic meeting between US secretary of state John Kerry and Iran’s even more moderate, English-speaking foreign minister Javad Zarif (pictured below) over a potential breakthrough in the standoff over Iran’s nuclear energy program.
One telephone call between presidents and one meeting between foreign ministers doesn’t exactly mean that Iran and the United States will have solved all of their issues. Rowhani’s reluctance to meet with Obama in New York earlier this week demonstrates that, while Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (who remains the most powerful leader in Iran) may have blessed Rowhani’s diplomatic initiatives, strong opposition remains within the Islamic Republic, including within the conservative ‘principlist’ camp and from within the Revolutionary Guards. The Obama administration will also face opposition — from its Middle Eastern ally Israel (which boycotted Rowhani’s largely conciliatory speech to the UN on Monday) and from neoconservative hawks from within the Republican Party in the United States.
But there’s a deal here: the United States doesn’t want to go to war with Iran, Iran doesn’t necessarily want nuclear weapons (and it especially wants Israel to give up its not-so-secret nuclear weapons) and Iran desperately wants an end to the sanctions that have harmed its economy.
This week’s diplomatic advances also follow the surprisingly moderate response from Iran over the Syrian chemical weapons crisis, even as the United States was considering a unilateral strike Bashar al-Assad’s regime at the time:
Although Iran has become a pariah state in recent years over its nuclear energy program (and the corresponding US and European fear that Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapons program as well), many Iranians were the victims of the last major chemical weapons attack in the Middle East when Iraqi president Saddam Hussein deployed mustard gas and sarin against Iran during the Iraq-Iran war of the 1980s — with the knowledge and acquiescence of the United States, which wholeheartedly supported Iraq in the 1980s.
Rowhani made clear through his presidential Twitter feed this week that he condemned the use of chemical weapons, in Syria or elsewhere.
Rowhani, a former Rafsanjani aide who united both the moderate camp and Khatami’s more liberal camp (including the ‘Green movement’ supporters from the contested 2009 election), was elected in large part for the perception that he could negotiate an end to international sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy. He handily defeated five other challengers to win a first-round victory in the June election, including two principlists — Iran’s former hardline nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and populist (and popular) Tehran mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf:
Continue reading Obama-Rowhani call a historic first step in securing better US-Iranian relations →
ahmadinejadchemical warfaregeneral assemblyiranislamic republicisraeljalilikerrykhameneikhatamineoconservativenuclear energynuclear programobamaqalibafrafsanjanirepublicanrowhanisupreme leadersyriaununited nationsUnited Stateszarif
Syria, United States
How Obama’s speech on Syria succeeded and how it failed
September 10, 2013 Kevin Lees 2 Comments
US president Barack Obama’s speech tonight was about as good a speech as you can imagine for someone with conflicting goals — convincing a skeptical audience on both the right and left that US military action may be necessary to punish Bashar al-Assad for last month’s chemical attack while announcing he would postpone a planned vote in the US Congress while Russian, American and other international diplomats work toward a political solution that would result in Syria giving up its chemical weapons.
The headline tomorrow morning will be ‘Obama delivers mixed messages,’ but given the dueling tasks on the US efforts over Syria, that was always going to be the case.
In the meanwhile, here’s where I believe Obama succeeded and where Obama failed tonight.
He succeeded in explaining why chemical weapons are so bad:
This was not always the case. In World War I, American GIs were among the many thousands killed by deadly gas in the trenches of Europe. In World War II, the Nazis used gas to inflict the horror of the Holocaust. Because these weapons can kill on a mass scale, with no distinction between soldier and infant, the civilized world has spent a century working to ban them. And in 1997, the United States Senate overwhelmingly approved an international agreement prohibiting the use of chemical weapons, now joined by 189 government that represent 98 percent of humanity.
Mentioning that ‘98% of humanity’ has adopted the Chemical Weapons Convention drew a bright line, and Obama made a strong case as to why chemical, biological and nuclear weapons are especially vile. There’s always been a strong case for the United States and the international community to respond forcefully to the August 21 attack, and Obama eloquently outlined the nearly century-long fight to ban weapons of mass destruction. For the record, that 98% of humanity doesn’t include Israel or Egypt, the top two recipients of US foreign aid. It was a good line, but the United States could win a lot of goodwill by pressing its Middle Eastern allies to ratify and/or sign the convention along with Syria. Continue reading How Obama’s speech on Syria succeeded and how it failed →
assadchemical warfareiranputinrowhanirussiasecurity councilsyriaunited nationsUnited States
Russia, Syria, United States
Putin’s Syria deal shows how US threat of force (instead of use of force) can achieve success
While US president Barack Obama works to convince a skeptical American public and a hesitant US Congress to support military strikes against Syria over a chemical weapons attack last month, Russian president Vladimir Putin showed exactly why he remains such an important world player.
That’s because Putin has apparently convinced Syria to sign the Chemical Weapons Convention, and Syrian president Bashar al-Assad may agree to open his chemical weapons stocks to international supervisors. It’s not a sure thing — Putin wants a commitment from the United States to pull back from the brink of a military strike against Assad within the next week, and US policymakers want a resolution in the United Nations Security Council to demonstrate Moscow’s good faith in resolving the standoff over Syria.
Syrian foreign minister Walid Muallem announced Tuesday that the Syrian regime was willing to open its storage sites and provide access to its chemical weapons:
“We fully support Russia’s initiative concerning chemical weapons in Syria, and we are ready to cooperate. As a part of the plan, we intend to join the Chemical Weapons Convention,” Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said in an interview with Lebanon-based Al-Maydeen TV.
“We are ready to fulfill our obligations in compliance with this treaty, including through the provision of information about our chemical weapons. We will open our storage sites, and cease production. We are ready to open these facilities to Russia, other countries and the United Nations.”
He added: “We intend to give up chemical weapons altogether.”
It’s a staggering turn of events, and it is likely to slow potential US military action over Syria just a day after US secretary of state John Kerry gave Assad one week to hand over ‘every single bit’ of Syria’s chemical weapons in order to avoid a US-led strike against him in retribution for up to 1,400 deaths in Ghouta and eastern Damascus from what the United States and its allies believe to be a sarin-based chemical attack perpetrated by the Assad regime.
Even if there’s some zero-sum world where Putin ‘wins’ and Obama ‘loses,’ the end result is still a net win for the United States. That’s because, if the Putin deal holds, it’s a result of the Obama administration’s strength — a casebook example where a US president uses the threat of force, not the actual use of force, to bring Russia and Syria to negotiate the terms of a political solution.
The threat of force is perhaps the most effective tool that the United States holds in international affairs because it can accomplish almost all of the goals (or more) of actual use of force while eliminating all of the negative, messy consequences of military force — the cost, the destruction, the risk of civilian deaths, the risk of engendering wider mayhem in the Middle East, the risk of alienating Iran at a time of possible rapprochement under Iran’s new moderate president Hassan Rowhani. Although there’s also a risk that sometimes the United States will have to use actual force in order to make its threat of future force realistic, US governments in the past haven’t exactly shied away from quickly deploying force.
But if the deal holds, and Syria complies with the terms of the international community, presumably through a Security Council resolution (where Russia and the United States, as well as China, France and the United Kingdom hold a veto), it will be a huge win for the effort to reduce the proliferation of chemical weapons in the Middle East — and it will be a more satisfactory result for the Obama administration’s stated goal of strengthening the international norm against chemical weapons. If Assad relinquishes the chemical stocks, it will not only prevent Assad from using them in the future, but also any regime that follows Assad. A glance as the disparate groups that comprise the anti-Assad opposition is enough to tell you that no US administration would be incredibly keen having al-Qaeda sympathizers like the Syrian Islamic Front or the Jabhat al-Nusra, both of which are comprised of radical Sunni Islamists and Salafists, having access to sarin gas, either.
Obama is still scheduled to address the American public tonight on Syria, though the congressional vote is likely to be postponed. The turn comes after Putin and Obama met face-to-face in St. Petersburg, Russia, last week to discuss the Syria crisis. Although the general view late last week was that Obama failed to convince many of his G20 colleagues to support a military strike against Assad, Obama and Putin actually discussed the possibility of an international weapons handover, establishing the conditions for this week’s potential diplomatic solution.
The deal’s terms also come after Charlie Rose conducted an English-language interview with Assad yesterday, during which Assad warned the United States against an attack (and threatened potential consequences to US interests in the Middle East), demanded that the United States provide evidence of Assad’s culpability and refused to accept responsibility for the attack, all while making some fairly nuanced arguments himself against US intervention:
Though US policymakers are right to be initially skeptical of the Putin deal (and it will require a lot of access for UN inspectors to determine that Assad really has relinquished all of his weapons), you can expect hawks like US senator John McCain and other armchair generals to jeer the deal and characterize it as the result of the Obama administration’s weakness. The top story trending at US news website Politico is a vapid piece entitled ‘The United States of weakness’ that purports to designate the US institutions that have ‘lost influence and lost face,’ as if the international crisis in Syria is some mid-semester grade card:
Barack Obama’s unsteady handling of the Syria crisis has been an avert-your-gaze moment in the history of the modern presidency — highlighting his unsettled views and unattractive options in a way that has caused his enemies to cackle and supporters to cringe.
But the spotlight on Obama’s so-far flaccid performance has obscured a larger reality; the Syria episode has revealed the weakness of multiple institutions and would-be leaders in American life.
If Obama and Putin pull of a deal over Syria, though, Obama will have accomplished his long-standing goal of holding the perpetrators of chemical warfare accountable, stabilized Syria no matter the outcome of its two-year-long civil war, demonstrated the will of the US government to use force to stop chemical warfare — all without firing a single missile.
It’s pretty doubtful that the Obama administration had this exact outcome in mind all along — maybe it’s just as likely that he could have set off a chain of events that catalyzes even more Middle Eastern violence. We’ll never know if the Obama administration’s plan from the outset was to rattle the sabers until Putin and Assad agreed to a political settlement, but if so, it’s an incredible job well done — and it answers one of the more baffling questions of the US rush to jump immediately to a military strike against Assad.
I’m still not convinced that the United States even has solid intelligence that Assad is culpable for the attack, especially after reading the US government’s flimsy 1,434-word ‘government assessment’ 10 days ago. While it seems very likely that his regime is responsible, there’s nothing to indicate that Assad ordered the attack or that it wasn’t a rogue element within the pro-Assad ranks. (After all, it bears repeating that Assad had no incentive to use chemical weapons — he was gaining ground in the civil war before August 21 and UN chemical weapons experts were actually in Damascus during the tragedy, hardly the best time to carry off a sarin attack).
While they’re at it, Obama and Putin should join ranks to convince the remaining six countries that aren’t yet signatories to sign up to the Chemical Weapons Convention (or have not yet ratified the convention) — the list includes top US ally Israel, an emergent Burma/Myanmar, Chinese client state North Korea, Angola, Egypt and the newly independent South Sudan.
assadchemical warfarechemical weaponsCongressFranceghoutairankerryobamaputinrowhanisecurity councilshiasunnisyriathreat of forceunited nationswalid muallem
France, Syria
French debate on Syria intervention highlights Sarkozy legacy on world affairs
September 5, 2013 Kevin Lees Leave a comment
What a difference a decade makes.
Ten years after French president Jacques Chirac and France’s UN ambassador Dominique de Villepin made an impassioned stand in the United Nations against the US-led invasion of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq over the issue of weapons of mass destruction, France finds itself as the chief European ally in US president Barack Obama’s push to punish the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad for the alleged use of chemical weapons in Damascus late last month.
In a parliamentary debate in Paris yesterday, French prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault (pictured above) made a strong case for intervention for the purpose of demonstrating the international community’s credibility in deterring the use of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons in the future. Center-right legislators in the Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP, Union for a Popular Movement), including the UMP’s parliamentary leader Christian Jacob, argued just as forcefully that French participation in a US-led strike against the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad — without the authorization of the United Nations Security Council — over the use of chemical weapons would isolate France’s role in the international community.
Although Chirac and the UMP also opposed unilateral intervention in Iraq in 2002 and 2003, it’s ironic that the UMP has suddenly found itself as the voice of opposition to Hollande because no one is more responsible for the transformation of France’s newfound assertiveness in world affairs than former president Nicolas Sarkozy, who succeeded Chirac in 2007, who struck a consistently muscular posture on foreign affairs. Sarkozy, always keen to rejuvenate Franco-American relations, took a starring role alongside Cameron in the UN-backed NATO campaign to enforce a no-fly zone against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 and support anti-Gaddafi rebels in Tripoli and Benghazi.
Had he won reelection in May 2012, Sarkozy would likely be just as enthusiastic as Hollande to support Syrian intervention — probably more so given the opportunity to supplant the United Kingdom as Obama’s chief partner. Some former Sarkozy officials, notably former foreign minister Alain Juppé, support France’s forward role in Syria.
But Sarkozy, who may run again for president in 2017, has been uncharacteristically quiet on France’s role in any military action against Syria.
Silence or not, it’s the UMP’s Sarkozy who put France on the path to a more aggressive foreign policy, in part by returning France to NATO’s military command after a 40-year absence. Since the start of Syria’s civil war two years ago, both Sarkozy and Hollande have called for Assad’s removal, and Sarkozy helped lifted the EU arms embargo on Syria to allow weapons to the anti-Assad opposition.
Hollande, who marked a rupture from Sarkozy in presidential style, social policy and economic policy, has largely followed Sarkozy’s path on foreign affairs. Hollande ordered French troops into northern Mali earlier this year (like Libya, an action also approved by the Security Council) to reclaim territory that had been occupied by radical Islamists. Though it was a limited intervention, taken with a light touch by a country long accused of pursuing a neo-colonial Françafrique policy since the 1960s, Hollande’s action looks for now to have been very successful in stabilizing Mali — Mali’s newly elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta was sworn in yesterday. Continue reading French debate on Syria intervention highlights Sarkozy legacy on world affairs →
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Ten questions the United States Congress should be asking about Syria
September 4, 2013 Kevin Lees 2 Comments
The US Senate, the upper chamber of the US Congress, held hearings Tuesday that included testimony from US secretary of state John Kerry and US defense secretary Chuck Hagel in support of the use of force to punish Syrian president Bashar al-Assad for the use of chemical weapons in Syria two weeks ago.
But even though US president Barack Obama announced over the weekend that he will not launch any military strike against Syria without congressional support — a potentially historic concession from the executive branch of the US government to the legislative branch — there are still more questions than answers from the Obama administration as it now enlists Congress in its mission against Assad.
The US Congress can — and should — push Obama, Kerry, Hagel and others for answers to two general sets of issues, especially with a second round of classified hearings set to take place Wednesday.
The first issue involves discovering the hard facts of what actually happened on in Ghouta and on the eastern outskirts of Damascus on August 21. The second issue is what the United States can (and should) do that will most effectively deter the use of chemical weapons in the future. Even though the dominant narrative is now the congressional vote on US military action in Syria in particular, confirming answers to the first set of issues is a threshold requirement for exploring the second set of issues.
Even as House speaker John Boehner, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi and other top leaders in both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party move to close ranks around the Obama administration, and as hawks like US senator John McCain of Arizona push for an even stronger response that embraces the goal of regime change in Syria, it’s even more important to push for answers.
Here are 10 questions that rank-and-file congressional members, the media and the US public should be asking between now and next week’s vote:
Continue reading Ten questions the United States Congress should be asking about Syria →
assadchemical warfareCongressdamascushageliranislamic republickerrykhameneimilitaryobamarowhanisupreme leadersyriaUnited States
Photo of the week: Obama administration preps for Syrian military action
I’m traveling today, so posting will be light.
In the meanwhile, here’s an amazing photo from the weekend — US president Barack Obama and his national security team discussing the response to the Syrian chemical attack, including US attorney general Eric Holder, US vice president Joe Biden, US secretary of state John Kerry, national security adviser Susan Rice and US defense secretary Chuck Hagel (rocking a great tan jacket and fuchsia shirt combo).
You can also read all of Suffragio‘s coverage so far of the US response to the Syria conflict that you may have missed, including:
the relatively muted Iranian response (and why the United States and Iran have a common interest in responding to the Syrian chemical attack);
a look at why Obama is seeking congressional approval for Syria today, but not for Libya two years ago;
an examination of what last week’s vote in the House of Commons against UK prime minister David Cameron’s push for military intervention means for the UK-US relationship and British politics;
how the Obama administration’s initial response marked a failure of US foreign policy in four key ways;
more on the ongoing question of whether Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was actually responsible for launching the chemical attack, despite the insistence of Kerry and other US officials; and
how the Obama administration’s earlier support of pro-Assad Sunni rebels is emboldening the pro-Assad Shiite group Hezbollah and other actors in the fragile, neighboring state of Lebanon.
Photo credit to Pete Souza / White House.
assadCameronchemical warfarehagelkerryobamaricesyriaukUnited States
Iran, Syria, United States
The big news on Syria this weekend? Iran’s surprisingly mellow reactions to US military plans
As the administration of US president Barack Obama begins to close ranks to secure the support of both houses of the US Congress, today’s big news on the escalating international crisis over Syria’s civil war didn’t come from the United States — it came from Iran.
That’s because former president Hashemi Rafsanjani all but admitted that the government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad (pictured above left, with Rafsanjani, right) was responsible for unleashing a chemical attack on his own people.
Even as US secretary of state John Kerry took to Sunday’s television news shows to announce that the United States had determined from hair and blood samples the presence of sarin gas in the chemical attack 10 days ago on the eastern outskirts of Damascus, a conclusion that United Nations weapons inspectors seem likely to confirm early this week, Rafsanjani’s admission (even if inadvertent) goes a long way in confirming that the Assad regime is indeed culpable.
As originally reported by the Iranian Labour News Agency, Rafsanjani all but indicated that blame lies with Assad and the current Syrian government in remarks that otherwise sympathized with the plight of Syrians after over two years of increasingly sectarian fighting and civil war:
‘The people have been the target of a chemical attack by their own government and now they must also wait for an attack by foreigners.’
‘Right now America, the Western world along with some of the Arab countries are nearly issuing a clarion call for war in Syria – may God have mercy on the people of Syria,’ he said. ‘The people of Syria have seen much damage in these two years, the prisons are overflowing and they’ve converted stadiums into prisons, more than 100,000 people killed and millions displaced,” he added.
A later version of the story slightly revised Rafsanjani’s quote, but it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that Rafsanjani was conceding Assad’s culpability.
Iran remains one of Syria’s top allies, both regionally and globally, largely because the Assad family are Alawite (a small mystical sect of Shi’a Islam) and have since the 1970s prevented the rise of a Sunni Arab state on Iran’s Western border, instead providing a reliable ally to Iran’s predominantly Shiite Islamic Republic. Even as Obama pushes for support within Congress, he is also likely to look for additional support from other Middle Eastern nations — Turkey’s patience with Assad ran out long ago, and the predominantly Sunni Arab kingdom of Saudi Arabia also backs a US military strike.
Rafsanjani, who served as Iran’s president from 1989 to 1997, is a relatively moderate voice in Iranian politics. Although Iran’s powerful Guardian Council disqualified him from running again in the recent July presidential election, Rafsanjani is very close to Iran’s newly inaugurated president Hassan Rowhani, who is also an Iranian moderate and has urged reconciliation with the United States and other Western countries.
While there’s no doubt that Iran, like Russia, will continue to support Syria, Rowhani’s remarks about potential US military action in Syria have been relatively tame. That’s great news for the Obama administration, given that Rowhani’s election two months ago provided the United States its best opportunity since 2002 (when former president George W. Bush included Iran in his ‘axis of evil’) to improve a tortured relationship with the Islamic Republic.
Rowhani made clear through his presidential Twitter feed this week that he condemned the use of chemical weapons, in Syria or elsewhere:
Iran gives notice to international community to use all its might to prevent use of chemical weapons anywhere in the world, esp. in #Syria
Javad Zarif, Iran’s new foreign minister, went even further in an English-language Facebook post (!) yesterday condemning the use of chemical weapons as well, while also pleading for the United States and its allies to work through the channels of international diplomacy and the United Nations: Continue reading The big news on Syria this weekend? Iran’s surprisingly mellow reactions to US military plans →
ahmadinejadalawiteassadchemical warfareCongressiranislamic republicjavad zarifkerrykhameneiobamarafsanjanirowhanisaudi arabiashiasunnisyriaturkeyunited nations
Libya, Syria, United States
How to distinguish Obama’s congressional vote on Syria from Libya example
August 31, 2013 Kevin Lees 3 Comments
With a surprise twist on a holiday weekend in the United States, president Barack Obama announced that he would seek a vote in the U.S. Congress prior to launching a missile strike on Syria in retribution for last Wednesday’s chemical attack on the outskirts of Damascus.
Coming in the wake British prime minister David Cameron’s humiliating defeat over a resolution in the House of Commons authorizing the possibility of British force late last week, Obama argued that, while he has already made a decision to punish Syrian president Bashar al-Assad for the chemical attacks in his capacity as commander-in-chief of the U.S. armed forces, he has also decided to seek authorization for use of force from Congress:
Having made my decision as Commander-in-Chief based on what I am convinced is our national security interests, I’m also mindful that I’m the President of the world’s oldest constitutional democracy. I’ve long believed that our power is rooted not just in our military might, but in our example as a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
Obama’s surprise announcement postpones any US action until at least the week of September 9 — well after chemical weapons inspectors from the United Nations will report back next week about the nature of the attack and well after next week’s G20 meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, where president Vladimir Putin, an Assad ally, has repeatedly blocked action against Assad (a Russian ally) by the UN Security Council and earlier today, called the possibility of US and Western punitive strikes ‘utter nonsense.’
While Obama’s decision will hearten critics on both the American left and right who have called for a greater legislative role on the Syria question, it’s unlikely to satisfy hawkish critics like U.S. senator John McCain of Arizona who has pushed Obama toward supporting regime change in Syria, and it’s also unlikely to satisfy dovish critics who believe there’s no U.S. national interest in launching military strikes on the Assad regime. It will also leave multilateralist critics dissatisfied, given that Obama stated clearly that he was willing to act without the backing of what he called a ‘paralyzed’ Security Council.
But it’s also an unexpected position for an administration that pushed the boundaries of the 1973 War Powers Resolution just two years ago when it ordered military action in Libya. At first glance, Obama’s 2011 decision to support the UN-authorized, NATO-enforced effort to establish a no-fly zone and to arm rebels fighting against Libya’s late strongman Muammar Gaddafi without congressional authorization arguably violated his constitutional obligation to Congress, while a limited military strike on Syria lasting just a few days to a few weeks would not require congressional approval under any view of the War Powers Resolution.
So what gives? How can the Obama administration reconcile its position on Libya with its newfound enthusiasm for Congress on the Syrian question? The answer could transform the nature of U.S. foreign policy and the ability of the U.S. president to act decisively in the future. Continue reading How to distinguish Obama’s congressional vote on Syria from Libya example →
assadblairboehnerCameronchemical warfareCongressdemocratic partygaddafiharry reidiraqlibyamcconnellobamapelosirepublicanrepublican partyseparation of powerssyriaUnited KingdomUnited Stateswar powers resolution
Syria, United Kingdom
Cameron loses House of Commons vote on Syria military intervention
The joint US and European will to respond to last Wednesday’s chemical attack on the eastern outskirts of Damascus has received a blow after the British House of Commons voted narrowly 283 to 272 against a resolution that would have provisionally authorized British military intervention in Syria — a staggeringly rare defeat for a British government on a matter of foreign policy.
The vote comes as a blow not only to UK prime minister David Cameron, who suffered defections from nearly three dozen skeptical Conservatives as well as additional Liberal Democratic members of his own governing coalition, but also interventionists in the United States who are urging US president Barack Obama to launch an aggressive attack on the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. It is very unlikely that the United States would proceed with unilateral military action without British support, which is unlikely to come anytime soon in light of Cameron pledge to respect the parliamentary decision:
I can give that assurance. Let me say, the House has not voted for either motion tonight. I strongly believe in the need for a tough response to the use of chemical weapons, but I also believe in respecting the will of this House of Commons. It is very clear tonight that, while the House has not passed a motion, it is clear to me that the British parliament, reflecting the views of the British people, does not want to see British military action. I get that and the government will act accordingly.
It’s a vote that has the potential to turn the US-UK relationship upside down, to turn Middle Eastern realpolitik upside down, to turn British politics upside down and even to turn US politics upside down. For a sitting prime minister to lose a vote like this is a huge reversal in the relationship between an ever-more powerful British executive and an ever-more feeble parliament on issues like security policy and foreign affairs.
Most immediately, it means that a U.S.-led missile strike, which seemed imminent yesterday, will now be postponed until early next week, at the earliest, when chemical weapons inspectors from the United Nations have had an opportunity to provide their initial assessment of what happened in Ghouta and eastern Damascus. The vote also comes after several news organizations reported that U.S. and allied intelligence agencies are assured that while the chemical attack came from pro-Assad forces, they are uncertain who ordered the attack amid indications that Assad and his top military brass were caught unaware. Meanwhile, French president François Hollande has backed off earlier, more urgent calls for military action.
Cameron’s massive defeat does not necessarily preclude a vote next week after the United Nations reports back as to which party — and which chemical agent — is to blame for the horrific Damascus attack. If the UN report, together with US and European intelligence, all points to Assad’s culpability, Cameron and Obama will have a much stronger case for an aggressive response, either inside or outside the United Nations Security Council.
Meanwhile, the vote is perhaps the largest political victory in Ed Miliband’s three-year tenure as leader of the Labour Party. Miliband firmly opposed the resolution even after Cameron offered to submit to a second vote before authorizing military action, making today’s resolution essentially a vote for the principle of the British government’s potential military intervention. The vote capped a tumultuous 24 hours in Westminster, with Cameron’s allies accusing Miliband of giving ‘succour’ to the Assad regime, which probably didn’t make it likelier that Labour would close ranks with the Tories over a potential Syria intervention. It was a principled stand for Miliband and, though he’s closer to British public opinion on Syria than Cameron, it was also a courageous stand for a young opposition leader to oppose a sitting government on such a crucial matter of foreign policy.
Miliband’s line boils down to one sentence from his statement earlier today: ‘Evidence should precede decision not decision precede evidence’: Continue reading Cameron loses House of Commons vote on Syria military intervention →
assadCameronchemical warfarecoalitionconservativedamascusEd Milibandhouse of commonslabourliberal democratrepublicansyriatory
Did Syria’s Assad regime have a Dr. Strangelove moment?
January 2014 marks the 50th anniversary of the release of Stanley Kubrick’s dark nuclear war comedy Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.
It’s the charming tale of U.S. general Jack Ripper (Get it!?), who’s gone completely off his rocker and launches the world into a nuclear crisis as the United States and the Soviet Union bumble to stop the fallout from the chain of events that the wayward general sets in place.
In the U.S. war room, the meek U.S. president (played brilliantly by Peter Sellers) asks another general, ‘Buck’ Turgidson, why a renegade general somehow found a way to order the use of nuclear weapons outside the chain of command, given that the U.S. president is the only one authorized to launch a nuclear attack.
Turgidson replies, ‘And although I, uh, hate to judge before all the facts are in, it’s beginning to look like, uh, General Ripper exceeded his authority.’
It’s starting to look like last week’s horrific chemical warfare attack was a case of someone in the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad exceeding his authority as well.
Did Syria have a ‘Dr. Strangelove’ moment?
And if so, how should the international community ‘punish’ the Assad regime if it turns out that a rogue pro-Assad commander launched the attack and not Assad or his top guard? Is there some sort of negligence per se standard for crimes against humanity? Even as British prime minister David Cameron is backing down from the urgency of an immediate Syria strike (at least until the United Nations finishes its initial assessment of the chemical attack in the days ahead) and French president François Hollande is emphasizing a political solution to Syria, the case for an overhasty, unilateral military response from the United States is falling apart in favor of a multilateral, evidence-based approach that would otherwise avoid further internationalizing the two-year, sectarian Syrian conflict.
Late Tuesday, Noah Shachtman, a nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution broke the story in Foreign Policy that the United States and its allies are so certain that the Assad regime is responsible for last Wednesday’s attack on the basis of intercepted phone calls that largely show confusion and panic on the part of the Syrian regime:
Last Wednesday, in the hours after a horrific chemical attack east of Damascus, an official at the Syrian Ministry of Defense exchanged panicked phone calls with a leader of a chemical weapons unit, demanding answers for a nerve agent strike that killed more than 1,000 people. Those conversations were overheard by U.S. intelligence services, The Cable has learned. And that is the major reason why American officials now say they’re certain that the attacks were the work of the Bashar al-Assad regime — and why the U.S. military is likely to attack that regime in a matter of days.
But the intercept raises questions about culpability for the chemical massacre, even as it answers others: Was the attack on Aug. 21 the work of a Syrian officer overstepping his bounds? Or was the strike explicitly directed by senior members of the Assad regime? “It’s unclear where control lies,” one U.S. intelligence official told The Cable. “Is there just some sort of general blessing to use these things? Or are there explicit orders for each attack?”
Nor are U.S. analysts sure of the Syrian military’s rationale for launching the strike — if it had a rationale at all. Perhaps it was a lone general putting a long-standing battle plan in motion; perhaps it was a miscalculation by the Assad government. Whatever the reason, the attack has triggered worldwide outrage, and put the Obama administration on the brink of launching a strike of its own in Syria. “We don’t know exactly why it happened,” the intelligence official added. “We just know it was pretty fucking stupid.”
Of course, that calls into question the strident and unequivocal stance of many U.S. and European officials over the weekend and earlier this week, including British foreign minister William Hague and U.S. secretary of state John Kerry.
Today brings further news that top U.S. intelligence officials who have seen the U.S. report on the Assad regime’s culpability believe that it is not a ‘slam dunk’ case, a reference to the allegedly solid intelligence that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency held in 2002 that implicated Iraqi president Saddam Hussein — erroneously — with having a nuclear weapons program:
A report by the Office of the Director for National Intelligence outlining that evidence against Syria includes a few key caveats – including acknowledging that the U.S. intelligence community no longer has the certainty it did six months ago of where the regime’s chemical weapons are stored, nor does it have proof Assad ordered chemical weapons use, according to two intelligence officials and two more U.S. officials.
But one senior U.S. official who read the report said Thursday that despite those caveats, the report assesses with “high confidence” that the Syrian government was responsible…. The official conceded that there is no proof listed in the report tying Assad personally to ordering the attack, but the official also said there was no mention in the report of the possibility that a rogue element could have been responsible.
That’s certainly very consistent with Shachtman’s report, and it makes intuitive sense. With Assad generally winning the war and reclaiming ground against the disparate opposition, it makes no sense for Assad to draw the ire of the world by launching chemical warfare on civilians. The timing, moreover, has always been suspicious given that United Nations chemical weapons inspectors were sitting in a Damascus hotel when the chemical attack occurred. We know that the Assad regime has certain access to chemical weapons, and while there’s a possibility that some weapons have fallen into the hands of anti-Assad rebels, this explanation is certainly less harrowing than the alternative possibility that radical opposition elements launched a toxic chemical attack in the hopes of framing Assad and drawing the international community against him.
Although we’re still awaiting the intelligence report that the United States promised to release this week, the public British report released earlier today has been thoroughly panned:
In an echo of the buildup to the Iraq war in 2003, Downing Street took the rare step of releasing the assessment of the JIC to support its case that the Assad regime was responsible. But the assessment was mainly based on “open source” evidence such as video footage of the victims and a judgment that the opposition does not have the capability to launch such an attack…
The JIC acknowledged that some of its assessment was based on “open source” evidence such as testimony from victims, doctors and video footage. But in a separate letter to Cameron the JIC chairman, Jon Day, said he had seen “highly sensitive” unpublished intelligence that supported their view that the regime had launched the attacks to clear the opposition from strategic parts of Damascus.
But, of course, the British government isn’t providing the unpublished intelligence, so their rationale essentially boils down to, ‘trust us.’ Moreover, as Guardian commentators Ian Black and Ian Sample write, the intelligence reports boasts no scientific evidence and rests on little more than informed speculation:
In one passage the JIC appears to weaken its own conclusions by noting that there was “no obvious political or military trigger for regime use of CW on an apparently larger scale now” – given the presence of the UN inspectors. It wrote that permission to authorise CW had “probably been delegated” by Assad to “senior regime commanders, such as [*]”. It added: “But any deliberate change in the scale and nature of use would require his authorisation.” That language suggests the possibility, as reported in the US, of unauthorised or accidental use of CW munitions.
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On Syria, Obama administration prepared to shoot now, ask questions later
Even before the United States has provided any public evidence that Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is responsible for what appears to be a craven chemical warfare attack in Ghouta last Wednesday, the United States is preparing to launch missile strikes against Syria and Assad in retaliation as soon as Thursday, with the support of French president François Hollande and British prime minister David Cameron.
That marks a failure of U.S. president Barack Obama’s foreign policy in at least four senses.
The first is that we still don’t know what happened last Wednesday. We do know that a chemical attack of some variety ultimately killed many civilians, up to 1300, on the eastern outskirts of Damascus. But we don’t know which chemical agent caused it (was it sarin? was it concentrated tear gas? was it mustard or chlorine gas?) and, more importantly, we certainly don’t know who launched the attack. While the U.S., French and British governments assure us that Assad was responsible, the public evidence is far from certain. While the U.S. state department claims that a full intelligence assessment is coming later this week, it assures us for now that it’s ‘crystal clear’ that Assad is responsible. But how credible will that assessment be if it’s delivered hours or minutes before a U.S. military strike? If it’s delivered after the military strike? Will it contain forensics evidence gathered yesterday by United Nations experts? No one knows.
While Assad’s certainly a prime suspect, there’s more than enough reason to believe, in the absence of further intelligence or forensic evidence to the contrary, that anti-Assad rebels could well have perpetrated the attack to frame Assad and draw the international community (or at least the United States and Europe) into the kind of response that now seems likely to happen in the next 48 hours. At a minimum, the United States should wait for U.N. chemical weapons inspectors, who spent at least a short time on the scene of the attack yesterday, to draw what conclusions they can on the basis of hard evidence. What happens if we learn in one year or five years that radical Sunni elements within the opposition were responsible for the attack? That will only encourage false-flag attacks in the future designed to provoke the United States into inadvertently taking sides in a civil war.
The second is that it’s an uncharacteristically unilateral, hasty and severe response. Assume that we had proof that Assad is responsible for the chemical attacks. The next step would be to determine the appropriate response from the international community, and it is telling that the United States and its British and French allies believe that a military response should be the first step, not the last step. There’s a panoply of various responses that the United States is ready to bypass, all of which could bear the stamp of legitimacy of the United Nations Security Council. Those include a U.N. peacekeeping and/or further inspections forces, a NATO-led and UN-approved no-fly zone, a tighter regime of diplomatic and economic sanctions against the Assad regime, and a prosecution against Assad and his military leaders for crimes against humanity in the International Criminal Court. Moreover, given the current stalemate, Syria is now essentially split into three disparate parts: pro-Assad territory along the coast and the Lebanese border, anti-Assad territory in the north and Kurdish strongholds in the northeast:
With Assad regaining ground over the past months, it doesn’t look like the end of the civil war will come from a military triumph but from a political settlement. That makes an immediate military response (and not a political response) from the United States even more inappropriate. By all means, use the threat of military action as a negotiating point with Russia and Syria’s other allies on the Security Council. But by launching a hasty attack just eight days after the incident makes it seem to the rest of the world that the U.S. action is less concerned about punishment for chemical warfare, but rather salvaging the credibility of the Obama administration over an ill-advised ‘red line’ stand that Obama articulated last autumn in the heat of a presidential campaign. Continue reading On Syria, Obama administration prepared to shoot now, ask questions later →
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Kerry’s forceful remarks on Syria fail to explain why Assad’s to blame
U.S. secretary of state John Kerry this afternoon emerged with some strong remarks about the unfolding international situation with respect to Syria, where chemical weapons were unleashed last Wednesday upon civilians in Ghouta in the eastern outskirts of Damascus and that killed up to 1,300 people.
Max Fisher at The Washington Post writes that Kerry’s remarks amounted to a ‘war speech,’ that the Obama administration has all but decided to respond to the chemical attack with air strikes. I don’t disagree with that assessment, but the oddest thing about Kerry’s seven minutes on Syria was how much of it he spent arguing that the attacks were real — consider the following exchange:
Last night, after speaking with foreign ministers from around the world about the gravity of this situation, I went back and I watched the videos — the videos that anybody can watch in the social media, and I watched them one more gut-wrenching time. It is really hard to express in words the the human suffering that they lay out before us. As a father, I can’t get the image out of my head of a man who held up his dead child, wailing while chaos swirled around him, the images of entire families dead in their beds without a drop of blood or even a visible wound, bodies contorting in spasms, human suffering that we can never ignore or forget. Anyone who could claim that an attack of this staggering scale could be contrived or fabricated needs to check their conscience and their own moral compass. What is before us today is real, and it is compelling.
It’s no secret that I’m a fan of John Kerry (pictured above) — he’s had a strong start at State and that follows a generally impeccable senatorial record of thoughtful engagement on foreign affairs. But with all due respect, I certainly hope the chief diplomat of the United States of America is spending more time reviewing the intelligence that the U.S., British and French governments allegedly have that implicates the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in the chemical attack than watching shock footage on YouTube.
No one is arguing that the attack was contrived or fabricated — it’s a horrific slaughter that deserves a united and firm response from the international community conveying that the use of chemical weapons to kill civilians, including women and children, is unacceptable. What remains at issue is determining who was responsible for the attack, and that’s why it was odd to watch Kerry spend more time knocking down a straw-man argument than explaining why the U.S. government is so sure that Assad was responsible for the attack. Earlier today, Saleh Muslim, head of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), who has clashed with both pro-Assad and anti-Assad forces, said that he doesn’t believe Assad is responsible for the attacks. It’s a real question, and the U.S. media and the rest of the world should demand an answer.
What’s staggering is that, with all signs pointing to U.S. and British military poised to launch some kind of strike against Assad, the Obama administration still hasn’t made the case for why it believes that Assad — and not anti-Assad extremists looking to draw the international community into Syria’s two-year civil war — is to blame. As many commentators have written, the timing of last week’s attack is incredibly suspicious, given that U.N. weapons inspectors were in Damascus during the attacks and that Assad has generally been gaining ground against the opposition, and there’s plenty of reason why the more radical elements among the anti-Assad opposition want to provoke the world’s ire against Assad.
It’s generally undisputed that Assad has stockpiled chemical weapons in the past, while we don’t know if any rebel group of the opposition now have access to them. But that’s hardly a smoking gun.
The fact that Assad denied U.N. experts to inspect the scene for five days (and then allowed only 90 minutes of access today) is highly suspicious. But in a court of law in the United States, that would amount to circumstantial evidence. Remember that Saddam Hussein hedged over whether he had weapons of mass destruction in 2002 and 2003 mostly because he wanted to deter neighboring Iran. Moreover, I can think of a half-dozen reasons why the Assad regime might hesitate to allow United Nations inspectors into the affected area. (If Assad wasn’t actually responsible for the chemical attack, do you think he has enough control to guarantee the safety of U.N. inspectors from anti-Assad rebels?)
The international community deserves more from the United States, given its track record of failed intelligence over the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (notably nuclear weapons) in Iraq in 2003. That ‘slam dunk’ intelligence justified an eight-year military effort that catalyzed massive amounts of violence in Iraq. New revelations this morning from Foreign Policy detailing the U.S. government’s complicity and acquiescence in the use of chemical weapons by then-ally Saddam Hussein in Iraq’s war against Iran in the 1980s only underscore the troublesome record that the United States has accrued on this issue. Continue reading Kerry’s forceful remarks on Syria fail to explain why Assad’s to blame →
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U.S. says ‘very little doubt’ Assad responsible for Syrian chemical warfare, preps possible intervention
The international response to last Wednesday’s chemical warfare attack on the outskirts of Damascus is fast congealing, with U.S., British and French intelligence all pointing to the regime of Bashar al-Assad as the culprit.
An official in the administration of U.S. president Barack Obama said Sunday morning that there’s ‘very little doubt’ that Assad perpetrated the attack. French president François Hollande said earlier today that there was ‘a body of evidence indicating that the August 21 attack was chemical in nature, and that everything led to the belief that the Syrian regime was responsible for this unspeakable act.’
Obama and U.K. prime minister David Cameron have discussed the possibility of some form of military intervention, according to The Guardian and other news sources. Meanwhile, the Syrian regime, under pressure from its Russian and Iranian allies, has agreed to allow U.N. weapons experts to inspect the site of the attacks. In a sour irony, U.N. inspectors were already in Damascus earlier this week when the attack occurred for the purpose of determining the extent of potential chemical warfare earlier this spring.
The outset burden on Western governments is to connect the dots to make clear why they believe Assad is responsible — a decade ago, U.S. and British intelligence claimed they had a ‘slam dunk’ case that Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction, launching a unilateral attack on what turned out to be incorrect intelligence. If anything, there’s ample evidence in the revelations about PRISM and the Internet snooping by the U.S. National Security Agency that we shouldn’t necessarily take the governments of even liberal democracy at their word.
Remember that the timing of the chemical attacks is incredibly suspicious — Assad’s forces are generally winning via-à-vis the opposition forces in Syria, so it’s not incredibly clear why Assad would order a chemical attack now, especially under the noses of U.N. chemical weapons inspectors. But given the Obama administration’s position that use of chemical weapons is a ‘red line’ that, if crossed, will merit an international response, there’s every reason for opposition forces to use a small-scale attack to try to draw U.S. and European power against Assad, and other radical Sunni elements sympathetic to both the anti-Assad forces and terrorist groups like al-Qaeda are more than happy to bait the West into intervening in the Syrian civil war. But while it’s generally accepted that Assad has access to chemical weapons, it’s far less clear that any of the disparate rebel groups have them or have access to them.
Even if Assad is guilty of what amounts to a war crime, there’s still reason to tread lightly. If Assad is responsible, he should face a wide berth of sanction under international law — those might include further tightening economic and diplomatic sanctions against Assad, his inner circle and the Syrian military, action sanctioned by the United Nations Security Council to destroy Assad’s chemical weapons or destroy his ability to deploy them in the future (including a no-fly zone), a fully empowered U.N. peacekeeping force, and an indictment from the International Criminal Court against Assad and the top military or other Syrian officials directly responsible for the chemical attack.
But even though U.S. defense secretary Chuck Hagel is preparing for ‘all contingencies,’ and U.S. warships in the eastern Mediterranean are already positioning for a potential attack, the international community can still respond in an affirmative way short of immediate U.S.-led military action. Moreover, if Assad were removed tomorrow, Syria would still face a power vacuum, the potential for even more intense fighting between Shi’a/Alawite and Sunni Muslims within Syria and jockeying among various opposition groups, which range from secular Assad opponents to very conservative Islamic fundamentalists. Those are just the known potential downsides for Syria — the unknown consequences and the potential adverse reaction in Iraq, Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East are more reason to tread lightly.
The next week is likely to bring even louder calls for the United States and/or the United Nations to act. To do something.
But the challenge for the Obama administration is that foreign policymaking in real time is very difficult, while political soundbytes are as easy as they are worthless. There’s obviously a role for U.S. and international leadership to register a stand for human rights and against crimes of humanity. But don’t trust anyone — in the United Kingdom, in the United States, in the Middle East — who has a ‘clear’ answer in mind for how the international community should now respond.
Don’t let hawks like U.S. senator John McCain convince you otherwise — the response to the latest turn in Syria’s conflict is more complicated than the polar choice of ‘doing nothing’ and launching a U.S.-led attack on Syria, guns-a-blazin’. Given the U.S. history of intervention in the Middle East, and the horrific sectarian violence that followed the U.S.-led removal of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, it would be less controversial for the United Nations — not the United States — to take the lead in the organizing the international response. Also don’t let liberal interventionists try to convince you that the United States should act immediately in order to avoid a Rwanda-style genocide in the Middle East. Though the international community largely stood aside while 800,000 Tustis were hacked to death by Hutus in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, they welcomed the belated French intervention that served to provide relief and refuge to the genocidaires themselves.
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Obama wisely treads softly in wake of Syrian chemical attack
August 23, 2013 Kevin Lees 1 Comment
In the aftermath of what now seems like a devastating and lethal chemical-weapons attack against thousands of civilians on the outskirts of Damascus early Wednesday, U.S. president Barack Obama is treading lightly on the evolving turn in the Syrian civil war — at least until we know more about the circumstances of the attack.
In an interview today with CNN, Obama measured his words very carefully about what action he believes the United States or the international community can or should take in the wake of what amounts to a violation of international law:
Asked about claims by anti-regime activists in Syria that Bashar al-Assad’s government used chemical weapons in an attack that was said to have killed more than 1,300 people, Obama responded that officials are “right now gathering information” and that “what we’ve seen indicates that this is clearly a big event of grave concern.”
“It is very troublesome,” the president stressed. Obama said U.S. officials are pushing “to prompt better action” from the United Nations, and are calling on the Syrian government to allow an investigation of the site of the alleged attack outside Damascus.
“We don’t expect cooperation (from the Syrian government), given their past history,” Obama conceded. He quickly followed up with a warning, however, that “core national interests” of the U.S. are now involved in Syria’s civil war, “both in terms of us making sure that weapons of mass destruction are not proliferating, as well as needing to protect our allies, our bases in the region.”
His words are certain to disappoint both neoconservatives on the U.S. right and liberal interventionists on the U.S. left (many of which populate key roles within his administration) who see the attack as a clear violation of international law and an invitation for an aggressive response from the international community. Already, U.S. senator John McCain is renewing calls for U.S. military intervention in Syria.
But there’s good reason for caution, and although it’s politically easier to make bold statements at a time of international crisis, Obama’s statement on Friday wisely reflects the ambiguity that we still know very little about the Syrian civil war, the anti-Assad opposition, the chemical attack itself and the potential unintended consequences of a more muscular U.S. or European response.
No one is comfortable to sit idly by when a thousand civilians have been gassed to death. But in a world where human rights activists and conservative hawks alike are quick to pass judgment on the Obama administration’s reaction, it’s worth taking a moment to applaud Obama’s restraint.
We still don’t yet know who is responsible for the chemical attack nor do we actually know exactly what the attack agent was (reports indicate it was perhaps sarin, mustard gas or chlorine gas, though we won’t know until soil samples and other evidence is examined). Although British foreign minister William Hague has gone further than the Obama administration in blaming Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad for the attack, the public evidence does not point to the clear conclusion that Hague has drawn. It’s widely accepted that Assad has access to chemical weapons, but after nearly two years of open civil war, it is not impossible for some of those weapons to have fallen into opposition hands — or worse.
The timing, most of all, is incredibly odd, as BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner and others have noted. If anything, Assad has been winning the civil war and reclaiming ground from the opposition. The opposition’s repeated attempts to form a unified front against Assad have been mixed at best. Meanwhile, a United Nations weapons inspection team was in Damascus this week to determine the extent of chemical warfare during the war. It seems incredibly unlikely that Assad, who’s gained the upper hand, would launch a chemical weapons attack the very week when UN inspectors are merely kilometers away. Allegations of previous chemical attacks stem from March and April — this is the first chemical attack in four months.
That opens the uncomfortable door to the notion that radical elements within the opposition, which ranges from secular Assad opponents to radical Sunni jihadists and al-Qaeda sympathizers, could have unleashed the attack. Knowing that it is losing, the chemical attack might have been a false-flag gambit designed to inflame international opinion against Assad, especially given the position that Obama has taken that chemical weapon use is a ‘red line’ that will merit international action. But it could be radical Islamic elements unassociated with the opposition, and it could be rogue elements of the Syrian army.
So far, Assad has refused to allow U.N. inspectors to examine the scene, which is an unacceptable response. Even Assad’s allies like Russia are calling on him to allow U.N. access, and the longer Assad hesitates, the guiltier his regime looks.
But even if Assad was responsible for the attack — the worst chemical warfare since Iraqi president Saddam Hussein unleashed chemical weapons in the 1980s against his own people and on the battlefield against Iran — there’s still reason to tread lightly. Continue reading Obama wisely treads softly in wake of Syrian chemical attack →
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Tag Archives: podemos
Basque Country, Galicia, Spain
Pressure builds on Sánchez as third Spanish election looms
September 15, 2016 Kevin Lees 1 Comment
Felipe González, right, a respected former four-term prime minister, has called on Pedro Sánchez, the current PSOE leader, to allow a conservative minority government. (EFE)
Felipe González was just 41 years old when he became, in the view of many Spaniards, the most consequential prime minister to date in post-Franco Spain.
Across a span of 14 years in power, González, the leader of the center-left Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE, Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party), won four consecutive elections, normalized the rule of law and the traditions of democratic participation in Spain, brought the country into what was then the European Economic Community, the forerunner of today’s European Union, and shepherded Spain into NATO as a firm member of the transatlantic military and security alliance.
Today, while Spaniards take for granted many of those accomplishments as pillars of the Spanish state, González is also now remembered for the levels of corruption that sank his final government and a botched attempt to combat armed Basque nationalists.
But he’s still the first among Spain’s elder statesmen, in many ways as influential as the former king, Juan Carlos I, who abdicated in 2014 in favor of his son Felipe VI. In truth, the two are more responsible than anyone for Spain’s vibrant democracy today.
Third election a Christmas miracle?
As his country enters its 10th month without a government, voters may worry that Spanish democracy has become a bit too vibrant in recent years, as a strong two-party political system has crumbled into a four-party state with myriad regionalist parties from all corners of Spain, its two-party system dissolved under the penumbra of depression-level GDP contraction and unemployment.
That’s why, after two elections, the first in December 2015 and the second in June 2016, no party can quite cobble together the necessary majority to form a government. If Spain’s party leaders cannot unlock a breakthrough by the end of October, the country will head to the polls for the third time in 13 months, possibly even on Christmas Day 2016.
González, who has doled out criticism for all of Spain’s political leaders, is one of the few PSOE figures publicly urging his party and its young leader, Pedro Sánchez, to concede its fight to deny another government under conservative prime minister Mariano Rajoy. In his view, Spain would suffer greater damage from a third general election in 13 months — as polls show that yet another snap election would result in essentially the same deadlock as the last two. In a country where turnout of 75% or more isn’t uncommon, turnout dropped from 69.7% in December to just 65.7% in June, and it could fall even lower, to 63% or worse, with another snap vote. Generally speaking, Spanish observers believe that will boost the PP, at the expense of the PSOE and Podemos, the leftist, anti-austerity movement that formed in 2014 out of the indignados movement of Spain’s masses of unemployed workers.
RELATED: PSOE’s incentives point to PP-Ciudadanos minority government in Spain
Another election in Spain would come as both Germany and France face national elections in 2017 with rising eurosceptic sentiment. It would come weeks after a make-or-break referendum on constitutional reform that’s seen as a plebiscite on Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi, and as the United Kingdom, under its new prime minister Theresa May, maneuvers to leave the European Union after its blockbuster June 2016 ‘Brexit’ vote. It could fall just days after the United States might elect businessman and reality television star Donald Trump as its next president.
So the last thing Spain’s leaders (and European and American leaders) want is another inconclusive vote and prolonged uncertainty that could threaten the slight economic growth that Spain’s generated in 2015 and 2016 and that has left the country without a government to implement a budget for the next year or provide leadership in ongoing post-Brexit debates over the European Union’s future.
Rajoy fails to win investiture vote
Prime minister Mariano Rajoy has continued to lead a caretaker government since last December. (Facebook)
The latest despair comes after another failed attempt by Rajoy to retain power. Although his conservative Partido Popular (PP, the People’s Party) won the greatest number of seats in the most recent June election (indeed, a 14-seat increase from the December election), he has twice failed to win two confidence votes since the end of August, with a majority of the Chamber of Deputies (Congreso de los Diputados), the lower house of the Spanish parliament, blocking Rajoy’s investiture. Continue reading Pressure builds on Sánchez as third Spanish election looms →
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PSOE’s incentives point to PP-Ciudadanos minority government in Spain
June 29, 2016 Kevin Lees Leave a comment
Pedro Sánchez has led the PSOE to a better-than-expected result, but it leaves Spain no closer to a clear governing majority. (Facebook)
Voting under the penumbra of an ongoing political crisis in the United Kingdom following last Thursday’s referendum, in which a bare majority of British voters chose to leave the European Union, Spanish voters in Sunday’s general election — the second in seven months — fell back on established parties instead of more radical newcomers.
Despite polls (and even exit polls) that predicted the rise of Unidos Podemos, a joint ticket of Spain’s far-left communists and Podemos, the newer anti-austerity movement, the ticket won the same number of seats in the lower house of Spain’s parliament, the 350-member Congreso de los Diputados (Congress of Deputies), than it had after the December general election.
Forecasts that Unidos Podemos would overtake the center-left Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE, Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party) proved wrong. The PSOE, under the leadership of Pedro Sánchez, remains the largest leftist force in Spanish politics.
Unfortunately for Sánchez, the PSOE fell further behind the governing center-right Partido Popular (PP, the People’s Party) of prime minister Mariano Rajoy, which won 137 seats — a 14-seat increase since the December 2015 elections. Those gains came mostly as a result of record-low turnout and a subtle migration back to Rajoy’s party from the upstart, liberal Ciudadanos, which lost eight seats in last Sunday’s voting.
So what next? In an election where voters largely returned the same verdict, Spain’s political class is now looking at another round of coalition talks as a country with a traditional two-party system now copes with four major parties.
At the heart of these talks, however, is the PSOE, which is now positioned as the leading swing vote between Spain’s conservatives and Spain’s hard left. No matter what comes next for Spain, the PSOE will almost certainly determine the outcome.
So as Spain’s political leaders get down to the business of coalition talks in the days and weeks to come, the most important factor to keep in mind are the PSOE’s political incentives (and, to a lesser degree, Sánchez’s incentive to remain PSOE leader in the hopes of winning a future election). Continue reading PSOE’s incentives point to PP-Ciudadanos minority government in Spain →
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Spain heads toward fresh elections on June 26
May 3, 2016 Kevin Lees Leave a comment
Pedro Sánchez, the leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party, could fall if his party drops to third place in June. (Facebook)
Shortly after the December general election, I wrote that Spain faced three possible choices — a German-style grand coalition, a Portuguese-style ‘coalition of the left’ or a Greek-style stalemate and fresh elections.
Spain chose the Greek option.
Five months after a national election ripped apart Spain’s decades-long two-party system, the failure of the country’s four major parties to reach a coalition agreement means that Spain’s voters will once again go to the polls on June 26 for a fresh vote, after a deadline ran out on midnight Tuesday to find a viable government.
Notably, the rerun of Spain’s national elections will fall just three days after the United Kingdom votes on whether to leave the European Union, a critical vote for the entire continent.
The problem is that, with talks stalled for any conceivable governing majority, the Spanish electorate seems set to repeat results similar to last December’s election. For now, markets are not unduly spooked by the political impasse in Madrid, but continued uncertainty through the second half of 2016 could prove different if no clear government emerges from the new elections and, presumably, a new round of coalition talks brokered by Spain’s young new king, Felipe VI.
RELATED: Three choices for new fractured political landscape
So who are the four major parties and how do they stand heading into the June vote? Continue reading Spain heads toward fresh elections on June 26 →
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Catalonia, Spain
Who is Carles Puigdemont? Catalonia’s new regional president.
January 12, 2016 Kevin Lees Leave a comment
Carles Puigdemont, a longtime proponent of Catalan independence (unlike his predecessor) will now serve as the region’s president. (Elena Ramón / Expansion)
Ultimately, in the game of chicken between Catalonia’s regional president Artur Mas and the handful of radical left legislators standing in the way of forming a new executive government, it was Mas who blinked, leading the way for another Catalan moderate, Carles Puigdemont, to take the premiership in an 11th hour drama Sunday night.
On Sunday, he finally gave in, offering to step aside for the sake of winning a majority for a pan-ideological coalition committed to pushing the region’s independence from Spain within the next 18 months. In so doing, Mas acceded to the Candidatura d’Unitat Popular (CUP, Popular Unity Candidacy), the far-left group that won around 8% of the vote in the most recent September 27 elections that otherwise delivered a strong plurality to the pro-independence front, Junts pel Sí (Together for Yes).
With six seats short of a majority, Junts pel Sí, dominated by two parties, the center-right Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC, Democratic Convergence of Catalonia) and the center-left Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC, Republican Left of Catalonia) had agreed prior to the election, along with several other minor parties, that it would be Mas to lead any resulting government.
Though the CUP also embraces independence (it also rejects membership in NATO and the European Union), it didn’t formally join the Junts pel Sí coalition. Antonio Baños, the CUP’s leader, steadfastly refused to support Mas’s investiture to form a new Generalitat, the regional executive government, because his party opposes the budget cuts that Mas introduced at the regional level during Spain’s economic crisis and due to longstanding allegations of corruption surrounding CDC governments dating back decades.
By stepping down, Mas made it clear that he wasn’t willing to drag Catalans to their fourth election in five years just to cling to power.
Mas’s replacement, Puigdemont, is another CDC veteran. Though he comes from the same moderate background as Mas, he has long been among the most outspoken advocates of Catalan independence, unlike Mas. For now, at least, that represents sufficient change for Baños and the CUP to support the independence-driven government.
RELATED: Catalonia’s post-election future murky as Mas prioritizes power over secession
Increasingly, Mas used the pro-independence fervor to maintain his own grip on power, to the point that it forced a split in the CDC’s longtime two-party governing coalition, Convergència i Unió (CiU, Convergence and Union) in a bid to hold onto the premiership.
While CiU governed the region consecutively for nearly a quarter-century from the 1980s to the early 2000s, it took a markedly nationalist stand. But, for the most part, it always leaned more toward regional autonomy and not in favor of independence.
Not so with Puigdemont, however, who is much more of a true believer in the independence cause than Mas ever was. Puigdemont is a former journalist and an arts and cultural critic, but his major political breakthrough came in 2011, when he won the mayoral election in Girona, long a stronghold of Spain’s federal socialist party. Continue reading Who is Carles Puigdemont? Catalonia’s new regional president. →
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Catalonia’s post-election future murky as Mas prioritizes power over secession
January 4, 2016 Kevin Lees Leave a comment
Amid increasing tensions since 2012 between prime minister Mariano Rajoy and regional president Artur Mas, the Catalan independence movement hovers like a dark cloud over the national debate. (Facebook)
In the aftermath of a difficult national election that could well lead to fresh elections across all of Spain, Catalonia, the northeastern region with a swelling independence movement, was always set to be the largest puzzle piece that patches together any potential coalition to lead the national government.
Now the region will take center stage even more fully in Spain’s unfolding political drama, with a high-stakes game of chicken reaching its peak this week between regional president Artur Mas and the left-wing Candidatura d’Unitat Popular (CUP, Popular Unity Candidacy). The pro-independence CUP has refused to lend its support to the larger pro-independence coalition, Junts pel Sí (Together for Yes), the broad, pan-ideological group that won last September’s elections.
The CUP’s leaders have for months maintained that they will not — and politically cannot — support Mas, a center-right regional leader who has skillfully attached himself to a sovereigntist movement that’s now dominated by figures on the Catalan left. He’s the ideological heir to a political elite that, under his predecessor, Jordi Pujol (regional president from 1980 to 2003), became synonymous with corruption. Moreover, as regional president since 2010, Mas has introduced tax increases and budget cuts designed to keep the region’s fiscal condition from deteriorating, even as the wider Spanish economy collapsed, taking the Catalan regional economy with it.
RELATED: Madrid ignores Catalan vote at grave risk
RELATED: Catalan election results: pro-independence parties win narrow majority
RELATED: Three choices for new, fractured Spanish political landscape
On Sunday, the CUP — a radical left group that would oppose an independent Catalonia’s membership in either NATO or the European Union — reiterated that it cannot support Mas for regional president and that it will block investiture of Catalonia’s executive government, the Generalitat, forcing new spring elections, so long as Mas is determined to lead it. Indeed, Mas has refused to step aside. If no one budges between now and January 10, Catalonia will hold fresh elections (along, perhaps, with Spain after the fractured result of the December 20 national elections). For Catalans, it would be the fourth regional election in five years.
But if there’s one thing that Junts pel Sí doesn’t lack, it’s a deep bench of political leaders, each of whom could easily step in as a regional president far more amenable to the radical CUP and its supporters, thereby forming a truly broad pro-independence front. If Mas doesn’t back away in favor of another of his coalition’s leaders, fresh elections could actually leave Catalonia’s parliament even more divided, potentially setting back the independence movement that he claims to represent. And that should tell you exactly where Mas’s heart lies — in maintaining power at all costs, not seriously advancing an independent Catalonia.
By forcing spring elections, Mas risks, first, prolonging the process of building both a national Spanish government and a regional Catalan government, and, secondly, discrediting the independence movement itself. Continue reading Catalonia’s post-election future murky as Mas prioritizes power over secession →
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Three choices for new, fractured Spanish political landscape
December 22, 2015 Kevin Lees Leave a comment
Pablo Iglesias, a founder and leading spokesperson for the Podemos movement, has cause to be delighted with Sunday’s result. (Twitter)
As predicted, Spain’s messy general election resulted in no clear winner, and none of its two largest parties could claim a majority in the lower house of Spain’s parliament.
What’s more, though two upstart parties upended the political status quo that’s existed for nearly 40 years in Spain, neither did so well that they can form a government — or even serve as a kingmaker for one of the two established parties.
While the conservative Partido Popular (PP, the People’s Party) emerged with the largest share of the vote, prime minister Mariano Rajoy has plenty of reason to despair. Much of the party’s support comes from older voters in the Spanish countryside, and the PP benefited from an electoral system that delivers slightly more seats to parties with support outside Spain’s urban centers. Nevertheless, he has lost his absolute majority, dropped 64 seats and, worst of all for Rajoy, there’s no clear or easy path to a governing majority. Though Spain’s economy has stabilized under the past four years of PP rule, unemployment remains staggeringly high (21.2%). The party’s leader since 2004, Rajoy might ultimately be pushed aside during coalition talks for a younger or more charismatic leader, like deputy prime minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría.
RELATED: Spain readies for historic four-way election on December 20
RELATED: Can Felipe VI do for federalism
what Juan Carlos did for democracy?
Meanwhile, the center-left Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE, Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party) suffered its worst defeat since the transition to democracy in the late 1970s. Its new leader, Pedro Sánchez, a moderate economist, simply could not convince voters to look beyond long-simmering corruption scandals (which, by the way, also plague Rajoy’s party) and the record of the prior PSOE government, which took the first steps toward the path of austerity measures in the aftermath of the 2009-10 eurozone debt crisis.
Indeed, the PSOE just barely outpolled Podemos, an anti-austerity alternative that burst onto the Spanish political scene in 2014, embracing the anti-establishment protests of the ‘indignados’ movement. Despite leading polls earlier this year, Podemos crashed as fears grew that it would cause the kind of economic pandemonium that plagued Greece after the election of the far-left SYRIZA this year. Its leading spokesperson, Pablo Iglesias, began to moderate his movement’s rhetoric, and rallied to a strong third-place finish.
The center-right liberal Ciudadanos (‘C’s,’ Citizens), a federalist, economically liberal party founded in Catalonia in 2007, made the leap from regional politics to national politics, but its leader Albert Rivera must be disappointed that it failed to steal more voters from Rajoy.
With another handful of seats going to various pro-independence Catalan parties, as well as Basque and Galician regional parties, the net result is that no one has enough seats in the 350-member Congreso de los Diputados (Congress of Deputies), the lower house of Spain’s legislature, the Cortes Generales (General Courts).
Notably, Rajoy maintained the PP’s majority, however reduced, in the far less powerful upper house, the Senado (Senate), which can be overruled on most matters (i.e., not ‘organic laws’ that deal with constitutional matters, civil rights and federalism) by majority vote of the Chamber of Deputies. Voters elected 208 senators on Sunday as well (an additional 58 senators are appointed by regional assemblies).
Two sets of statistics are worth considering.
First, the traditional major parties (the PP and PSOE) won just 50.7% of the vote in aggregate, compared to 83.8% in the 2008 election and 73.4% in the 2011 election. Obviously, that means Spain is entering a new era where coalition politics are more important. That’s not entirely unprecedented — when José María Aznar won 156 seats after the 1996 elections, he had to work with Catalan, Basque and Canarian nationalists to form a stable government. But the success of Podemos and Ciudadanos has transformed Spain’s politics from a two-party matter to a multiparty affair.
Secondly, among the four major parties to emerge from the 2015 election, it’s staggering just how evenly divided the Spanish left and right are. Together, the PP and Ciudadanos won 42.65% of the vote and the PSOE and Podemos won 42.67%. Spain’s electorate, in the broadest sense, delivered neither a mandate to a sharp left turn or a sharp right turn.
What Spain now faces is a difficult choice of among three different paths, all of which carry their own risks and challenges. Spain’s new young king, Felipe VI, will also take a more hands-on role in the coalition formation process than his father, Juan Carlos I, ever did. The good news for Spain is that the three options each mirror paths taken by three of its fellow European Union member-states in the last three years:
Germany 2013: a ‘grand coalition’ between the two established parties;
Portugal 2015: a fragile coalition government that brings together all of the parties and movements of the left; and
Greece 2012: deadlocked coalition talks lead to fresh elections.
To the extent that Spain is entering a new coalition-based era of its parliamentary politics, a reshaped Spanish political landscape might transcend 20th century fractures and the transition to democracy that’s dominated Spanish political life for a half-century.
Continue reading Three choices for new, fractured Spanish political landscape →
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Spain readies for historic, four-way election on December 20
Spain’s new young king, Felipe VI, may ultimately shape his country’s future from the Palacio Real if the unprecedented four-way race leaves no party with a majority after December 20.
Five days before the Christmas holiday, Spanish voters will go to the polls to choose a new government in an election that’s being hailed as the country’s most important since 1982.
Indeed, voter turnout may well exceed the 80% levels not seen since 1982, when Spain had only just emerged from its Francoist dictatorship and was four years away from joining the European Economic Community, the predecessor to today’s European Union. Moreover, it will also be the first general election to take place under Felipe VI, whose father Juan Carlos I abdicated in June 2014 after guiding the country’s transition to democracy in the mid-1970s.
But what makes the December 20 election so unique is that economic crisis has shattered Spain’s stable two-party electoral tradition, leaving a four-way free-for-all that could force unwieldy coalitions or a minority government at a time when the country has only just started its economic recovery. Distrust in both major parties, moreover, has opened the way for a popular far-left movement at the national level and greater discord at the regional level, most notably in Catalonia, where support for the independence movement is growing. No matter who wins power in the eurozone’s fourth-largest economy, the next Spanish government will face difficult decisions about GDP growth, lingering unemployment, and federalism and possible constitutional change.
For decades, Spanish elections were essentially, at the national level, a fight between the conservative Partido Popular (PP, the People’s Party) and the center-left Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE, Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party). In the most recent 2011 election, the PP won 186 seats in the 350-member Congreso de los Diputados (Congress of Deputies), the Spanish parliament’s lower house, while the PSOE won 110 seats.
Both parties can point to massive successes over the past three decades. Under longtime PSOE prime minister Felipe González, Spain consolidated its liberal democracy and benefited greatly from closer economic and financial ties to Europe, while Barcelona’s emergence as the host of the 1992 Summer Olympics catapulted it into a world-class city. Under conservative prime minister José María Aznar, Spain joined the core of western European countries as a founding member of the eurozone in 2002 and developed widening security ties with the United States. When the PSOE returned to power in 2004 under José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the government enacted same-sex marriage in 2005 and later negotiated a peaceful ceasefire with the paramilitary Basque nationalist group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA).
The pain in Spain
Widespread anti-austerity protests, spearheaded by the ‘indignados’ movements mobilized even before the previous elections in 2011. (El País / Carlos Rosillo)
But the global financial crisis of 2008-09 and subsequent eurozone crisis of 2010 knocked Spain off its pedestal.
Not unlike Florida, Nevada and parts of California in the United States, property values in Spain fell as rapidly as they once climbed, and an economy driven by construction and easy credit sputtered to near-depression levels of contraction. Despite running a more parsimonious fiscal policy in the 2000s than even Germany, Zapatero’s government soon found its expenses far exceeding revenues, and his government engaged in a series of tax increases and spending cuts.
The Spanish electorate ousted Zapatero in December 2011, ushering the People’s Party back to power under Mariano Rajoy, whose main goal was to prevent Spain from needing to seek an emergency bailout. Despite some scares over the Spanish banking system in 2012, Rajoy succeeded in keeping Spain bailout-free, but at the cost of ever greater spending cuts and tax hikes. The Rajoy government’s tough fiscal medicine, to some degree, has worked. Yields on Spanish 10-year debt have steadily fallen from a high of over 7.2% in July 2012 to less than 1.8% today. For a country without economic expansion since 2008, the Spanish economy returned to fragile growth in 2014, and it maintained growth throughout 2015 — notching 1% growth in the second quarter of this year and 0.8% in the third.
But voters are not enthusiastic about the prospects of reelecting Rajoy, a leader who never quite managed to win over Spanish hearts. Spain’s unemployment rate today is still 21.2%, a drop from the record-high 26.9% level recorded in early 2013. But that’s still a far higher jobless rate than anywhere else in the European Union (with the exception of Greece).
In the 2008 election, before the bottom fell out of the Spanish economy, the two major parties together won 83.8% of the vote. By 2011, that percentage fell to 73.4%. If polls are correct, that percentage could fall below 50% on Sunday, as both the PP and the PSOE struggle against the surging popularity of the anti-austerity Podemos (‘We can’) on the left and the liberal, federalist Ciudadanos (C’s, Citizens) on the right.
If the election were held today, the PP would win around 110 seats, the PSOE around 90, and Podemos and Ciudadanos would each win around 60, leaving none of them with a clear majority. The uncertainty of the four-way race has both energized the electorate (in a manner reminiscent to those first early elections in the post-dictatorship era) and enhanced the chances of post-election uncertainty that both Greece and Portugal have endured this year. Continue reading Spain readies for historic, four-way election on December 20 →
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Catalonia, Catalunya, Spain
Catalan election results: pro-independence parties win narrow majority
Regional president Artur Mas declares victory in Sunday’s Catalan elections.(Reuters/Sergio Pérez)
There’s no doubt that the pro-independence Junts pel Sí (Together for Yes) coalition won a resounding victory in Sunday’s regional elections in Catalonia. With nearly 40% of the vote, it is by far the largest force in Catalonia’s regional government and with the support of the ardently pro-independence, hard-left Candidatura d’Unitat Popular (CUP, Popular Unity Candidacy), it is likely to form a government that will carry forward the cause of Catalan independence over the next 18 months.
For the first time in Catalan history, an explicitly pro-independence coalition, running expressly on the campaign pledge to enact an 18-month process toward declaring independence, will control the Generalitat, the Catalan government.
But that’s essentially where the good news ends for Catalonia’s independence movement, which now faces the real prospect of hubris and overreach in the days and weeks ahead.
A democratic deficit
The first difficulty is that, though pro-independence parties now control the Catalan parliament, those parties did not, as a technical matter, win a majority of votes in the election. Pro-independence parties together won around 47.9% of the vote, just shy of an outright majority, depriving the pro-independence camp of an important moral victory in its quest. It’s difficult to claim that your movement commands democratic support when a majority of voters, in an election with nearly 77.5% turnout, supported anti-independence parties.
It’s hard to compare the 2015 result against the 2012 result because that’s something of an apples-to-oranges comparison. But in the broadest sense, the parties supporting independence (or at least sympathetic to the cause of Catalan nationalism) won 74 seats in the Catalan parliament. That’s actually two more seats than the pro-independence parties won in the 2015 vote.
Continue reading Catalan election results: pro-independence parties win narrow majority →
artur mascataloniacatalunyaCDCCiUciudadanosCSQEPCUPdemocratic convergenceERCindependence referendumjunquerasjunts pel sipodemosPPCPSCrajoyrepublican left of catalunyaromevaUdCunio
What’s at stake in this weekend’s Catalan regional elections
If September 2014 was the month when Scottish independence made global headlines, it might be September 2015 when Catalan independence has its breakthrough — at least if regional president Artur Mas has his way.
Barely 10 months after Catalonia’s regional government held a non-binding referendum on independence, and just three months before the Spanish general election, Catalan voters will elect a new regional parliament in a campaign that Mas has been waging for months as a de facto referendum on the region’s future status within — or outside of — Spain.
Mas, the presidential candidate of the cross-ideological Junts pel Sí (Together for Yes) coalition, argues that a victory for the pro-independence forces will give him the leverage he needs to demand negotiations with Spain’s central government. Spain’s conservative prime minister Mariano Rajoy, however, has steadfastly refused to discuss autonomy with Mas, let alone an independence referendum. Rajoy contends that any independence process is illegal, and Spain’s constitutional court ruled that last year’s November referendum was illegal. Though Mas backed down and canceled the vote, he nevertheless provoked Madrid by holding a non-binding plebiscite to flex the muscles of the Catalan independence movement. In turn, Rajoy’s refusal to discuss the matter or even permit an in-out referendum has alienated Catalan voters who might not otherwise be enthusiastic about independence.
At face value, Catalans are merely going to the polls on September 27 to elect the 135 members of the regional parliament. But after the Greek eurozone showdown earlier the summer threatened the eurozone’s stability and split Europe’s north and south, and even as the ongoing refugee crisis is threatening the integrity of the borders-free Schengen zone, splitting Europe’s west and east, the cause of Catalan independence could become the European Union’s next fashionable crisis.
Mas promises that if the Catalan electorate gives Junts pel Sí a majority in the Catalan parliament, however narrow, it will be sufficient to launch an 18-month process that will result in the region’s independence and promulgate a new Catalan constitution.
So what exactly is happening in Catalonia? And what should we expect the day after regional elections? Continue reading What’s at stake in this weekend’s Catalan regional elections →
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Czech Republic, Slovakia, United States
Is Donald Trump the American version of Le Pen?
August 11, 2015 Kevin Lees Leave a comment
Over the weekend, Le Figaro pondered whether Donald Trump, the tart-tongued real estate mogul, might be the U.S. version of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the French far-right founder of the Front national (National Front) who’s also become notorious for controversial statements and for trampling ‘political correctness.’
Le Pen, after all, edged out the leftist prime minister Lionel Jospin in the 2002 presidential election, establishing the Fifth Republic’s most lopsided runoff between the noxious Le Pen and the incumbent, center-right Jacques Chirac. Le Pen’s daughter, Marine Le Pen, who is working to broader the FN’s appeal, is polling high in the 2017 presidential contest and may win one of the two final runoff spots.
There are significant differences between the Le Pen family and Trump. Le Pen pere frequently expressed his doubts about the Holocaust with a heavy dose of anti-Semitic populism — so far, Trump hasn’t started questioning the Holocaust or attacking Jewish Americans. But both Le Pen and his daughter developed a significant constituency of French voters by expressing outrage against the influx of immigrants into the country, a concern much closer to Trump’s heart (he announced his candidacy by attacking Mexicans, promising to build a wall along the southern US border and billing it to the Mexican government).
More recently, Marine Le Pen has broadened her attacks to include European institutions, including the eurozone, as an attack on the sovereignty of France. In her exclamations of “Oui, la France!” there’s more than an echo of Trump’s “Let’s make American great again” shtick.
But the support that Trump has amassed in the summer of 2015 isn’t so unlike the wave of populism that’s enveloped Europe (on both the right and the left). Though the US economic recovery has chiefly outpaced that of Europe’s, it’s not been an easy expansion. Sustained unemployment, tepid GDP growth and stagnant wages have left working-class and middle-class American voters less secure — just like working-class and middle-class European voters.
It’s no surprise that since 2010, several new voices of the populist right and the populist left have demonstrated their electoral muscle:
In Italy, comic and blogger Beppe Grillo obtained nearly a quarter of the vote in the 2013 elections, and polls show that he still commands upwards of 25% of the vote. Frank Bruni wrote in May in The New York Times that Trump shares much in common with Silvio Berlusconi, the media tycoon who dominated Italian politics from the mid-1990s to the late 2000s and, like Trump, reveled in controversial pronouncements. But Berlusconi was primed for politics by Bettino Craxi, the Socialist prime minister in the 1980s who was ultimately forced into exile in Tunisia; it’s not like George W. Bush or Newt Gingrich developed Trump as a protégé.
In the United Kingdom, anti-establishment candidates running for the Scottish National Party (SNP) wiped out longstanding Labour and Liberal Democratic strongholds in Scotland and, in the current Labour Party leadership contest, the far-left Jeremy Corbyn, a firm anti-austerian who wants to renationalize British railways, leads many surveys against more moderate opponents.
In Greece, the far-left Alexis Tsipras and SYRIZA (Συνασπισμός Ριζοσπαστικής Αριστεράς, the Coalition of the Radical Left) took power in January’s elections, and the equally far-left Podemos hopes to pull off a similar victory in Spain’s general election in December.
It’s not surprising that economic pain, angst about sovereignty, identity and migration and other doubts about ruling political elites are fueling the same kind of anti-establishment reaction in the United States, too, and it’s the same instinct that powered the ‘tea party’ movement of the early 2010s.
It’s too soon to tell what Trump’s lasting legacy will be on the 2016 presidential race. His poll numbers might soon collapse (or not). He could wipe out before the first votes are cast in the Iowa caucuses or the New Hampshire primary. He might win a few early contests before Republican elites step in (and they will) to deny him the presidential nomination. He’s still holding the door open to an independent third-party run in the general election.
But the real template for Trump isn’t necessarily Le Pen or Tsipras or Corbyn or Grillo or even Berlusconi, though they all draw support from the same anti-establishment, populist reservoir.
Instead, it’s a duo of neophyte businessmen who have taken on powerful (and experienced) political leaders over the past two years to upend the status quo. Though Andrej Kiska and Andrej Babiš aren’t necessarily household names, even in Europe, they represent more closely the kind of appeal that Trump — at his best, perhaps — could replicate to upend the Republican establishment.
If I were Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s campaign manager, I would be furiously studying each case to extrapolate lessons for Trump.
Kiska (pictured above) is a 52-year old businessman who spent much of his life as a entrepreneur in Slovakia, making his fortune in the installment payments and the credit business. Despite his failures to break into the US market, Kiska shifted to charitable works in 2006, founding Dobrý anjel (Good Angel), a charitable organization that provides funds for the seriously ill.
Running as an independent in the Slovakian presidential election in March 2014, Kiska defeated Slovakia’s sitting center-left prime minister Robert Fico. The Slovak presidency is effectively ceremonial, but Fico’s victory would have consolidated power between the ruling party and the presidency. Fico’s defeat dealt an otherwise popular figure a significant blow — and Kiska’s victory preserved a sense of constitutional balance between the executive and the parliamentary.
Going into the election, Fico was a well-liked prime minister and Slovakia’s economic record outpaced its closest neighbors; Kiska was a political newcomer. Fico’s party, Smer–sociálna demokracia, (Smer-SD, Direction-Social Democracy), still widely leads polls for next year’s general election, for example.
Unlike Trump, Kiska didn’t campaign on the macho, alpha-male persona of a successful businessman. But Kiska succeeded by planting doubts about Fico’s campaign and the fact that Kiska was personally untainted by political corruption and ties to Soviet-era politics. By all counts, he’s thrived in the presidential role since taking office last year. The lesson to Trump is that he can dial down the antics and still present a capable challenge to the GOP establishment. Though Trump may embellish the influence that his past donations might have procured, there’s no doubt he is right when he showcases the corrosive influence of money on politics in the post-Citizens United world.
Babiš (pictured above) is also a Slovak-born businessman, but the 60-year old made his fortune in the Czech Republic. Like Kiska, he left business to form a political party, Akce nespokojených občanů (ANO, Action of Dissatisfied Citizens) in 2011.
In the 2013 Czech elections, ANO won nearly 20% of the vote, finishing a strong second to the Česká strana sociálně demokratická (ČSSD, Czech Social Democratic Party) in a highly fragmented result. Babiš, who developed Agrofert, an agricultural and food processing company, into one of the most successful companies in the country, later purchased a series of media companies before he turned to politics as one of the wealthiest men in the Czech Republic. Not surprisingly, Babiš argued that he would govern the Czech Republic like a business.
More caustic than Kiska, and more sympathetic to neoliberal policies, Babiš attacked both Czech social democrats and conservatives as corrupt and dishonest, arguing for an end to immunity for political figures. In 2012 and 2013, despite his inexperience, he expertly filled a void for an electorate that had lost trust in the central European country’s ruling elite. In that regard, Trump’s rhetoric much more strongly resembles that of the pugilistic Babiš.
In the past four years alone, a center-right prime minister resigned after his chief of staff (with whom he had become romantically involved) was caught spying on the former prime minister’s wife. It’s also a country where a former Social Democratic prime minister won the presidency in early 2013 and immediately tried to outmuscle the Czech parliament in a constitutional power struggle. That gave Babiš the opportunity to present himself as the truth-telling man of action, despite fears that ‘Babišconi’ would become just another oligarchic leader and despite troubling accusations that he cooperated with the Czech internal police during the Soviet era as well as with the Soviet KGB.
Nevertheless, after the 2013 election, Babiš set aside his differences with elites and brought ANO into the current government — he now serves as the country’s finance minister. Though the next Czech elections do not have to be held until 2017, ANO leads polls and there’s a good chance that Babiš could become the next prime minister.
The lesson here from Trump is that the righteous ‘pox-on-both-your houses’ anger of the outsider can be effective so long as it’s targeted on the tangible excesses and failures of the ruling class. But it’s not enough, as Trump has done, just to call yourself ‘smart’ and politicians ‘stupid.’ What made Babiš successful was presenting the devastating case for why Czech politics had become so broken.
babisberlusconicorbynczech republicdemocratficogrillojean-marie le penkiskaLe Penlewandowskimarine le penpodemospopulismrepublicanslovakiaSNPsyrizatrumptsipras
Andalusia, Spain
Socialists thrive in Andalusian regional elections
March 26, 2015 Kevin Lees Leave a comment
After last Saturday’s election, it’s no exaggeration to say that Andalusia’s regional president Susana Díaz might be the most popular politician in Spain.
Díaz, who heads the Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE, Spanish Socialist Worker’s Party) in Andalusia, the largest region — or ‘autonomous community’ — in Spain, won her first term as regional president since taking power in 2013 upon the abrupt resignation of her predecessor, José Antonio Griñán. Both Griñán and Manuel Chaves, who governed the region between 1990 and 2009, are under investigation for their connection to a wide-ranging ‘ERE’ corruption scandal involving the diversion of funds designated to assist laid-off workers in Andalusia, where the unemployment rate remains stubbornly high at 34%, the worst in Spain, where joblessness also remains stubbornly high, despite its economy’s tepid 1.4% growth last year — the first year of GDP expansion since 2008.
Those two concerns, jobs and corruption, dominated the campaign in Andalusia, the sprawling southern region of Spain.
RELATED: In Andalusia, Díaz takes office with staggeringly high unemployment, economic woes (September 2013)
Though Andalusia has been a Socialist stronghold since the return of democracy in the late 1970s, disillusionment with widespread corruption and with Spain’s deteriorating economy gave the center-right Partido Popular (PP, People’s Party) of prime minister Mariano Rajoy its first Andalusian electoral victory in March 2012. Despite the Socialists’ losses, the party remained in power by forming a coalition with a smaller left-wing coalition of parties, Izquierda Unida (IU, United Left).
The Socialist-IU coalition continued under Díaz, who at age 40 is pregnant with her first child and who still marks a sharp contrast, generational and otherwise, with the region’s previous Socialist leaders. Díaz, a sharp-tongued populist who declined to contest the party’s national leadership, has also declined (so far) to challenge the PSOE’s leader Pedro Sánchez to become the prime ministerial nominee in November’s general elections.
Her victory in Andalusia’s March 22 snap election, called in January after Díaz wearied of the IU’s demands as junior coalition partner, will give hope to Sánchez and the national PSOE leadership that it can thrive throughout the 2015 electoral gauntlet.
An additional 13 regions will hold elections on May 31, including Madrid, the Valencian Community and Castile and León, the third, fourth and sixth most populous regions in Spain, respectively. Rajoy’s PP and its allies are defending governments in 11 of the 13 regions, including each of Madrid, Valencia and Castile and León. The party’s 17-seat loss in Andalucia, therefore, is an alarming sign for the ruling party. Continue reading Socialists thrive in Andalusian regional elections →
andalusiachavescitizensciudadanoscorruptionEREfelipe gonzalezgrinanIUpedro sanchezpeople's partypodemosPPPSOErajoyspainspanish socialist workers' partysusana diaztsiprasunited left
European Union, Greece
What a Eurogroup-brokered deal with Greece might look like
At times this week, it has felt nearly like the European Union was brokering a bailout of Ukrainian debt, while working to negotiate a ceasefire with Greece.
But as Greece’s new left-wing government and the Eurogroup, the collection of eurozone finance ministers, work over the weekend for a new Greek debt deal to float Greece’s treasury for the next two years (or thereabouts), there are glimmers of hope on both sides that a deal might possibly emerge. Negotiations continue as the February 28 deadline approaches, when Greece’s current bailout program is scheduled to end.
So what might that deal ultimately be? Above all, any deal that attempts to put Greece on a long-term path to prosperity needs to start from the notion that its debt burden of nearly 175% of GDP growth is simply unsustainable. You might not hear that in public from figures like German chancellor Angela Merkel, German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker or Eurogroup president and Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, but it’s likely another story in private.
No matter how many cuts successive governments make to future budgets, the cost of servicing that debt will cripple its ability to provide the same level of public services to Greek citizens — especially at a time when unemployment remains so high. (Not everyone has the view, however, that the Greek debt burden is so incredibly unsustainable).
RELATED: A Russian bailout may have always been Plan B for Tsipras
RELATED: Seven lessons from the Greek election results
Here’s an outline of what to expect — perhaps as soon as early Monday morning: Continue reading What a Eurogroup-brokered deal with Greece might look like →
ANELbailoutdijsselbloemeurogroupEuropean Uniongermanygreecegrexitindependent greeksjunckerkammenoskotziaslavrovmerkelpodemosrussiasiluanovsyrizatroikatsiprasvaroufakis
EU should give Tsipras a chance to govern
With his sweeping victory today in Greece, Alexis Tspiras has led the far left to its only victory since his country’s return to democratic rule in 1974.
In so doing, Tsipras (pictured above) and the socialist SYRIZA (the Coalition of the Radical Left, Συνασπισμός Ριζοσπαστικής Αριστεράς) have upended the political order in a country that, for more than four decades, shifted between the rule of political elites on both the center-right and the center-left, often hailing from two or three dozen well-connected families. Tsipras’s victory today is as much the defeat of that Greek political elite on both the left and right, which cumulatively share responsibility for irresponsible budget policies and widespread corruption in government.
More recently, they have also shared responsibility for the Greek bailout that ceded significant control over Greek fiscal policy to the ‘troika’ of the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Commission. Center-left prime minister George Papandreou (himself the son of a prime minister) accepted the first bailout in his term, between 2009 and 2011. Since 2012, a grand coalition headed by center-right prime minister Antonis Samaras and center-left deputy prime minister Evangelos Venizelos, have also accepted the increasingly onerous demands of the troika in exchange for the funding that has floated Greece’s treasury since the eurozone crisis of 2010.
RELATED: What to expect from Greece’s January 25 snap elections
Tsipras, at age 40, emerged in the lead-up to the 2012 parliamentary elections, by consolidating support on the Greek left in his denunciations of the grinding course of austerity that accompanied Greece’s humiliating bailout. Then, Greece was only in its third consecutive year of recession and, remarkably, the unemployment rate was actually lower then (24.8%) than it is today (25.8%), with the country nominally back on the path to GDP growth.
But for all the smoke of the election campaign, and for all Tsipras’s fiery rhetoric, the reality is that Tsipras and SYRIZA have spent the past three years moderating their positions and preparing for the day when Tspiras would lead the next Greek government, which may prove more ‘pragmatic left’ than ‘radical left.’
In 2012, Tspiras was ambivalent (at best) about Greece’s eurozone membership. Today, however, Tspiras is adamant, along with a wide majority of the Greek electorate, that Greece must retain the single currency. Whereas SYRIZA once mused about defaulting on greek debt and ripping up the ‘memorandum’ of stipulations that governs the country’s two bailouts, which totals €240 billion, the party now pledges to renegotiate Greece’s debt burden with EU leaders in an orderly manner. Though Tspiras and other SYRIZA leaders are committed to reversing the grinding austerity of the past six years, they will seek to do so in the context of a balanced budget (as opposed to the 4% to 5% surplus that outgoing prime minister Antonis Samaras hoped to achieve).
Tsipras, in short, will govern more like a social democrat than a democratic socialist. As prime minister, with the full weight on government on his shoulders, Tspiras will be hard-pressed to deliver appreciable relief from six years of austerity, recession and unemployment. To devote more funding for public services and boost growth will require a very different skill set than the campaign oratory of the past three years. Continue reading EU should give Tsipras a chance to govern →
ANELbailoutcommunistdraghiECBgreecegrexitHollandeindependent greekskaramanliskkemerkelnew democracypapandreoupodemosrenzisamarassyrizato potamitroikatsiprasvenizelosweidmann
Madrid ignores Catalan vote at grave risk
November 11, 2014 Kevin Lees Leave a comment
Though Sunday’s unofficial referendum on Catalan sovereignty may have been legally murky, it is nonetheless clear that Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy’s strategy of ignoring the groundswell of support for regional self-determination and autonomy has been a failure.
So what actually happened on Sunday — and where do the Catalan nationalist movement and the Spanish government go from here?
What happened in Sunday’s ‘consultation’ vote
Photo credit to AFP.
Catalans voted in a non-binding, unofficial ‘consultation’ that its Generalitat (or regional government) once hoped would be a legal referendum not unlike the recent September vote on independence in Scotland. But Rajoy has refused to countenance even the idea of negotiating the terms of such a referendum, and he has consistently ruled out any vote as unconstitutional.
Nevertheless, Catalunya’s regional president Artur Mas (pictured above) has championed a referendum since at least 2012, and his party and other more radical groups in the Catalan regional parliament overwhelmingly voted to hold the referendum, setting the central and Catalan regional governments on what has been a divisive battle over the past year.
RELATED: Mas cancels official Catalan independence vote
Mas backed down on the ‘official’ nature of the referendum, which in any event was always designed to be non-binding, when Spain’s constitutional court ruled that the vote was illegal last month. Much to the chagrin of other, more leftist nationalists, however, Mas instead moved forward with an unofficial referendum, taking care not to use official Spanish government resources to conduct the vote.
The Spanish constitutional court ruled last week, in a second decision, that even this unofficial, non-binding ‘consultation’ should be delayed until it could have time to rule on its further legality. Mas went ahead with the vote, anyway, however, prompting a sharp rebuke from Rajoy’s government on Sunday:
Justice Minister Rafael Catalá described the November 9 vote as an “act of political propaganda with no democratic validity; a sterile and useless act.”
The minister went on to announce that the public prosecutor would evaluate the facts of Sunday’s vote and decide whether or not to begin legal action in the courts.
Though the law is squarely on the side of the Spanish government, the Catalans seem to have valid political and moral reasons for demanding at least a voice over their own future. In any event, at least 2.3 million Catalans turned out for the vote, representing around 35% of the total Catalan electorate, nearly all of them were pro-independence voters.
The vote asked two questions: first, ‘do you want Catalunya to be a state?’ and second, ‘if so, do you want Catalunya to be an independent state?’
The so-called ‘yes-yes’ vote won with around 80.8% of the vote. The so-called ‘yes-no’ vote (i.e., those supporters of a Catalan state, but not necessarily an independent state) won another 10.1%. ‘No’ won just 4.5% of the vote.
While that’s skewed in favor of the independence movement, it’s also not insignificant — and it indicates that a large portion of the Catalan people want a legal and valid vote on their status. The longer that Madrid assumes an ostrich position over what’s become a very real sense of grievance among everyday Catalans, the worse the standoff over independence will end. By refusing to discuss the possibility, Rajoy and the central government risk pushing moderate unionists into the arms of the Catalan nationalists.
Nevertheless, Sunday’s turnout fell far short of the 3.7 million voters who participated in the most recent November 2012 regional elections, indicating that a substantial number of voters (who presumably aren’t as enthusiastic about independence) didn’t bother to turn out. The two-pronged ballot question demonstrates the kind of too-cute-by-half ambiguity that British prime minister David Cameron refused to entertain when negotiating the Scottish referendum — what, after all, does it mean for Catalunya to be a state if not independent?
A frustrated electorate trapped between Rajoy and Mas
The most obvious solution to the standoff is a calm, rational conversation between the Mas and Rajoy governments that would result in greater autonomy for Catalunya’s Generalitat with respect to its own finances and spending. Incredibly, however, the two leaders went months earlier this year without even talking.
Rajoy, whose center-right Partido Popular (PP, People’s Party) won the November 2011 Spanish general elections, has consistently refused to discuss greater autonomy for Catalunya. In part, this is because Rajoy’s party has fairly little support within Catalunya — the Partit Popular de Catalunya (PPC, People’s Party of Catalonia) is just the fourth-largest bloc in the regional parliament. So Rajoy feels little immediate political pain from snubbing the region.
When he took office, Rajoy faced the likelihood that Spain would be essentially forced into a European bailout. As it turned out, Rajoy was forced into implementing budget cuts and tax increases to stave off a bailout — in addition to similar austerity measures introduced by his predecessor, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the center-left prime minister whose Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE, Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party) came to power in 2004 at the dawn of the Spanish construction and finance boom.
Accordingly, Rajoy has a decent argument for avoiding a full-fledged independence referendum: with a 23.7% unemployment rate as of September, Spain is still in the midst of the worst financial and economic crisis in decades. An independence referendum in Catalunya might credibly be followed by a referendum in the Basque Country/Euskadi, another economic powerhouse with an even more painful history of separatism. Copycat movements could thrive in Galicia and elsewhere. So Rajoy has a reasonably sympathetic argument that a Catalan referendum in the midst of the current crisis could eventually pose an existential threat to the Spanish nation.
But that’s not an excuse for ignoring the problem. What’s worse is that the Spanish economic crisis is itself also fueling greater discontent among Catalans, who believe they send far more in revenue to the Spanish central government than they receive back in services and infrastructure. Though the data isn’t entirely clear, the Catalans are essentially correct. It rankles that all high-speed trains in Spain run through Madrid, for example, and that almost all of the country’s international flights arrive at the Madrid airport. Catalunya, with just 7.5 million of Spain’s 47 million citizens, is responsible for 19% of the economy.
RELATED: In refusing Catalan vote,
Rajoy risks isolating himself and Spain’s future
The Scottish referendum was also about economics (nationalists believe they can thrive as a smaller, oil-rich country within the European Union) and about politics (like the PP in Catalunya, the Conservatives have relatively little support in Scotland). But the Catalan movement is also colored by additional layers of complexity that Rajoy shows virtually no sign of appreciating — notably decades of suppression of its language and culture by the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. When Rajoy’s education minister, a few years ago, suggested a stronger national program in the Castilian language, it particularly rankled Catalans, many of whom remember the days when the Catalan language was legally banned.
But Mas, the leader of the Convergència i Unió (CiU, Convergence and Union), a two-party, center-right nationalist coalition that’s traditionally been the most powerful force in Catalan politics since the return of democracy, is hardly an honest broker. CiU has always been more comfortable with greater autonomy than full independence, and Mas only recently converted to the cause in 2012 following widespread protests. Since taking power in 2010, Mas has made many of the same painful, unpopular budget decisions at the regional level that Rajoy has made at the national level. What’s more, Jordi Pujol, the former CiU leader and Catalan president between 1980 and 2003, has been subject of increasing scrutiny over his personal wealth and corruption accusations.
Accordingly, neither Mas nor Rajoy come out of the current showdown from a incredible position of strength. That might not necessarily matter if they could at least find a middle ground to discuss the most sensible solution to the political crisis — constitutional reform, greater regional autonomy and the possible creation of a federalist system in Spain.
As elections loom, what comes next?
So far, however, the chances of any productive talks between Madrid and Barcelona seem small.
Mas has given Rajoy a two-week deadline to begin negotiations for a formal referendum. Rajoy, however, is almost certainly unlikely to take Mas up on that offer.
What happens thereafter is murky, though.
Mas’s party, the larger, more moderate and more aggressive Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC, Democratic Covergence) within the CiU, would like to hold early regional elections, rolling the dice that they would become a de facto referendum on Catalan independence — or at least the right of the Catalan government to call a vote. The smaller, Christian democratic Unió Democràtica de Catalunya (UDC, Democratic Union) has always been less enthusiastic about Mas’s push for independence and would prefer to wait on snap elections.
Part of the political calculus for Mas, Rajoy and the CiU are polls that show that the most popular party in Catalunya is now the leftist Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC, Republican Left of Catalonia), an even more radical pro-independence party led by historian Oriol Junqueras.
On paper, at least, the PP and the CiU have much more in common than the PP and Esquerra, so both Rajoy and Mas have an incentive to reach some kind of face-saving deal in the next few days.
But at the rate Rajoy is going, he may not have the opportunity to negotiate anything in the long run.
The rise of the anti-establishment Podemos (‘We can!’), the movement founded earlier this year by professor Pablo Iglesias (pictured above), has scrambled all pretenses of Spain’s two-party system. Winning five of the country’s seats to the European Parliament in May, Podemos wants to reevaluate Spain’s public debt, lower the retirement age to 60 to free up more jobs for younger workers and reverse the austerity of the past two PSOE and PP governments, using government spending to create jobs for a country that still has the highest unemployment within the European Union, despite signs of new growth. A Podemos win would be a significant setback to the orthodox policies that German chancellor Angela Merkel has attempted to establish throughout the eurozone, including the 2011 ‘fiscal compact’ that firmly limits national budget deficits to less than 3% of GDP.
Podemos, in a shock Metroscopia poll a couple weeks ago, gained the lead among potential voters in advance of the next Spanish general election, which must be held before December 2015 — it would win 27.7% to just 26.2% for the PSOE, under the leadership of Pedro Sánchez, who won his party’s July leadership contest, and 20.7 for Rajoy’s PP. Sánchez, for his part, opposes Catalan independence, but has indicated much greater willingness to hold discussions with regional leaders over constitutional reform.
The local Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya (PSC-PSOE, Socialists’ Party of Catalonia) controlled the regional government between 2003 and 2010, and many of its members are sympathetic to the idea that Catalans should have the right to self-determination.
Though Podemos is widely viewed as a leftist alternative, it has attracted widespread support from many Spaniards who have lost faith in both major parties, especially among young voters who face the worst job prospects, and the indignados, the unemployed protestors who have given voice to the harsh effects of what are now a half-decade of austerity policies.
Ironically, Podemos has attracted little support within Catalunya, where voters have a nationalist (and leftist) alternative in Esquerra.
But as Spain nears the one-year mark until its elections, with the November 9 referendum now in the rear-view mirror, the brinksmanship between Rajoy and Mas won’t matter if they can’t find a path toward reconciliation. At this time next year, their respective governments could be headed by much more radical figures.
artur masCameroncastiliancatalunyaCDCCiUconvergenceERCesquerrafrancogeneralitatindependence referendumindignadosjordi pujoljunquerasMASpablo iglesiaspedro sanchezpeople's partypodemosPPPSOEpujolrajoyrepublican left of catalunyascotlandspainspanish socialist workers' partyunioZapatero
Catalunya, Spain
Mas cancels official Catalan independence vote
October 16, 2014 Kevin Lees Leave a comment
Photo credit to Diario de Navarra.
If you thought that the Scottish independence referendum was a divisive matter, just wait another three weeks.
Even though Catalunya’s regional president Artur Mas officially cancelled a scheduled referendum on Catalan independence originally scheduled for November 9, diffusing a constitutional crisis with the national Spanish government, Mas announced that Catalans will instead have the option to participate in a non-binding ‘consultation.’
From referendum to ‘consultation’
In substance, the informal ‘consultation’ isn’t incredibly different than the formal vote that Mas (pictured above) and the Catalan regional parliament initially scheduled, given that Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy denounced the vote and questioned the ability of Mas or a majority of the Catalan parliament to call a referendum legally. Spain’s constitutional court ruled the referendum unconstitutional at the end of September, and Mas originally declared that the vote would go forward.
RELATED: Can Felipe VI do for federalism what
Juan Carlos did for democracy?
Mas’s admission this week that the vote will be informal and non-binding reduces many of the tensions with Madrid, though the original vote wasn’t entirely binding, either. But his announcement may dampen his credibility with pro-independence Catalans (critics took to Twitter to declare it was ‘game over’ for Mas) and force the third regional election in four years.
Nevertheless, the referendum will still ask Catalan voters the same two questions as before:
Do you want Catalonia to be a state?
If so, do you want Catalonia to be an independent state?
No matter what happened on November 9, no one believed that the issue of Catalan sovereignty would be definitively settled anytime soon. Continue reading Mas cancels official Catalan independence vote →
artur masC'scataloniacatalunyaCiUconvergence and unionERCfederalismICVindependence referendumjunqueraspedro sanchezpeople's partypodemosPPPSCPSOErajoyreferendumrepublican left of catalunyaspainspanish socialist workers' party
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B.J MEDICAL COLLEGE AHMEDABAD
Dhruvil Pandya
B.J Medical College is one of the best medical schools in the city and has a prestigious reputation among group B students of Gujarat. It was founded by the Ahmedabad Medical School in 1871, but by the graceful donation of Mr. Behramji Jeejeebhoy in 1879, they changed the name to B.J Medical College.
With nearly 250 intakes per year, B.J Medical College is one of the best and most reputed colleges in the country, Ahmedabad take pride. BJMC is affiliated with the Gujarat University in 1951 for the undergraduate programme and in 1956 for the post-graduate programme.
B.J Medical College provides post graduation in fifteen fields of medicine (M.D), five fields of surgery (M.S), super speciality courses of D.M in three fields, M.Ch in four fields, post-graduation diploma in ten fields, and more.
BJMC is the centre for the National Board of Medical Examinations and the school has made major contributions in studies with the Indian Council of Medical Research. BJMC has also been recognized by World Health Organization for its innovation in integrated teaching along with various training programs on child health services and universal immunization.
The college will be refurbished soon as it is one of the elite med schools of the country.
BJMC, Ahmedabad will be among six such colleges in the India that will be raised on the lines of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. State Health and Family Welfare authorities say that the college will be well-groomed and upgraded over the next four years. The timeline of the project is around four years which will require an investment of over USD$200 million. A fool-proof plan is being made by the government to refurbish the college’s 100-year-old infrastructure, which will include a new super-specialty hospital.
All BJMC students and my fellow Amdavadis must be proud of the fact that we will be happy to have such fantastic doctors. BJMC is the place to be.
Latest posts by Dhruvil Pandya (see all)
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R.I.P Bal Thackeray , R.I.P Maharashtra!
REST IN HELL KASAB !!!
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Balochistan’s Combined Competitive Exams: Can We Trust That BPSC Chairman Will At Last Ensure Fairness?
By: Shah Meer Baloch
A few months ago, the Supreme Court of Pakistan declared the Combined Competitive Exam of 2013, conducted by the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC), to be null and void. The court ordered the government to appoint a new chairman and members as they had resigned when the apex court took this suo motu action. The court order read, “In view of large scale illegalities and discrepancies committed in the written tests and interviews of CCE-2013 the same are set aside and cancelled.” In other words, the written exam and interviews were found to be unfair, lacking in transparency, and not free of corruption.
In Pakistan, Sindh and Balochistan provinces have a dark history of malpractice when it comes to the competitive exams. Punjab and Khyber Pakthunkwa provinces have performed much better in that regard. Last year, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) finally arrested the former chairman of the Balochistan Public Service Commission (BPSC), Ashraf Magsi, over allegations of irregularities and illegal appointments (Magsi had been removed from office in 2014). And though he remains in the custody of the NAB, the illegal appointments made during his chairmanship are still serving the province.
After years of mismanagement, the BPSC has now announced that interviews for 63 Assistant Commissioner and Section Officer positions – first advertised in 2015 – have begun on 10 July. There are two reasons that these interviews are so important for Balochistan and its growing cadre of educated youth. First, never in the history of the province has more than ten thousand candidates appeared for the competitive exam. This shows an upward trend in the number of young people in Balochistan who are struggling to join the ranks of government functionaries, and that they are eager to compete. Second, the appointment of Justice (R) Mehta Kailash Nath Kohli as BPSC’s new chairman has instilled hope in the minds of the educated youth.
Some candidates I have spoken with who have qualified in the written portion of the exam have applauded Kohli’s efforts to ensure that merit is the basis for advancement. But others are suspicious and fear that the talented may still be bypassed because the majority of the members of the BPSC are the remnants of Magsi’s corrupt administration. While the results of the latest written test clearly shows that merit was not compromised, keeping the process corruption-free and untainted by political influence will be the litmus test for Kohli. If he fails at this, the youth of this fragile province will once again experience disappointment. If he succeeds, it will be a substantial motivation for a new generation.
On condition of anonymity, one of the candidates preparing for the interview spoke to me candidly. He told me that he had burned the midnight oil to reach this stage. “Though my father is poor and I don’t have wealth, don’t I still deserve to serve in the bureaucracy?” He thinks that parts of the exam should be eliminated or significantly changed, pointing out that panelists ask very childish questions. Examples he gave: “What was the name of the dog that accompanied Ashaab-e-khaif? Do you know the name of Alexander the Great’s horse, and where it is buried? Can you name the elephant that accompanied the army of Abraha in 570 AD?” He went on to say that the prime task of an Assistant Commissioner is to deal with the administrative issues of a district, and a Section Officer is destined to serve in the Secretariat. “Do these questions help to measure the potential of any candidates? Would the panelists learn about a candidate’s intellect through these queries? Not at all.”
According to this candidate, questions should be open-ended to allow the candidates to express themselves, and panelists should not be drawing a line or expecting a particular answer because there is no one answers to an open-ended question. If a candidate with dissenting opinions comes up with logical thoughts, he or she should be marked well and supported; it is not necessary that every candidate see eye to eye with the panelists.
The points made by this candidate are well worth noting. The BPSC chairman should also take measures to ensure that merit is used as the sole basis for job appointment – perhaps creating a single panel headed by the chairman himself. The remnants of Magsi’s time as head of the BPSC or those members with a tainted history should not be allowed on the interview panel until their own qualifications can be assessed. Equal distribution of scoring marks among the panel members should be meticulously maintained so that a single panelist cannot influence the results. And test and interview results of all candidates – including the successful ones – should be made available.
In short, the BPSC should promote merit because merit begets competition, and competition creates a healthy environment for those educated but struggling. Above all, concealed corruption is the downfall of any nation.
Shah Meer Baloch is a correspondent with Deutsche Welle in Islamabad. He was formerly a Visiting Fellow with the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg, and a Fellow of the Swedish Institute. His research focus is on Asia-Pacific politics, Balochistan issues, extremism and human rights. He is from Pasni, District Gwadar, Pakistan.
Published in The Balochistan Point on August 9, 2017
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and The Balochistan Point does not necessarily agree with them.
Previous: Govt determined for developing Balochistan: President Mamnoon
Next: Editorial: Masses Denied Decent Public Transport
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Patent trolls no longer find easy payout after Kapersky win
By Nick Bell October 3, 2017
Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the interpretation of venue laws concerning patent cases in the federal court system. A venue, in this case, refers to the location where a patent lawsuit should be heard.
The statute that resulted from the TC Heartland v. Kraft Food Group Brands case was that a lawsuit can only be filed where the defendant “resides,” meaning the state where the company was incorporated.
Kraft wanted to sue Heartland for patent infringement in Delaware, a state where Heartland was not incorporated or the source of its primary business. Delaware has gotten a reputation for being the most active district for patent cases.
According to a study done by PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2016, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas was second on that list, and it was overwhelmingly number one when it came to highest number of case decisions involving non-practicing entities, or “patent trolls.”
In theory, NPE’s are in the business of monetizing intellectual property rights, but in reality, a lot of these entities attempt to profit off the reluctance to go through litigation. Instead of paying the cost to fight a lawsuit in court, larger companies will settle out of court with the plaintiff.
Recently, Kaspersky Lab, an antivirus and internet security protection company, dealt with a patent infringement case from an NPE in the Texas Eastern District Court. Not only did Kaspersky win the lawsuit, but it was awarded some $5,000 in compensation.
The ruling marks a watershed moment in the fight against patent trolls for two reasons. because the lawsuit took place in the Eastern District of Texas, which has almost twice the success rate for NPE’s in the country, and because the defendant was actually awarded compensation. This marks a significant change for a district court that has historically been a revolving door for patent litigation.
Patents are an important measure for protecting innovations and their creators. In 2015, Wetro Lan bought the rights to a patent that expired in 2012 and tried to sue Kaspersky for damages. Legally, Wetro Lan could claim damages against Kaspersky’s products from 2010 to 2012, before the patent expired, even though it was a basic firewall filed in 2000.
Patent trolls make a mockery of the system. Until recently, five district courts heard just under 50 percent of the entirety of patent litigation lawsuits in the U.S. Not only did the Eastern District Court hear a major portion of these cases, but it had an uncanny success rate for NPEs.
The case between Heartland v. Kraft set the stage for curbing favoritism among federal courts regarding these cases’ venues, but the Wetro Lan v. Kaspersky case sent a message. Normally, when a big company was sued, the company had to do a cost-benefit analysis of whether or not to continue the case at hand.
The balancing act would lead to many out-of-court settlements, but now the tables have turned. An NPE must now either strengthen its infringement claims or do a cost-benefit analysis of its own.
Opinion columnist Nicholas Bell is an MBA graduate student and can be reached at [email protected]
Tags: patent, supreme court, trolls
Homecoming ‘great so far’ for new Houston transfer July 12th | by Jhair Romero
Cullen fountain drained for repairs July 9th | by McKenzie Misiaszek
There’s a new bookstore on campus, but other options are available July 9th | by Maryam Baldwani
New Bauer dean wants school to be ‘less isolated’ July 9th | by Katrina Martinez
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Rahm Emanuel: If Hillary runs in 2016, I’m there
By CNN Chief Washington Correspondent Jake Tapper and Sherisse Pham
When it comes to questions of whether he would back Hillary Clinton in a 2016 presidential run, Chicago Mayor and former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was blunt.
“I’m behind Hillary if she runs. And I think she will, but that’s up to her. If she runs, I’m in,” said Emanuel.
As for presidential ambitions for himself, Emanuel says of the prospect, “Absolutely not,” adding, “I have no interest.”
Emanuel was a senior adviser to former President Bill Clinton through most of the 1990s. After stints in the private sector followed by several years as an Illinois Congressman, he returned to the West Wing in 2008, as President Barack Obama’s chief of staff. He left in 2010 to run for Mayor of Chicago.
Being mayor of his hometown “is the greatest job I’ve ever had in my whole life,” said Emanuel.
“I’ve been very fortunate to work for two great presidents. Being mayor is the most fulfilling if you want a life in public life, and the ability to move things,” said Emanuel. “There’s nothing more fulfilling than this.”
Emanuel on criticisms Obama is disengaged
Republicans say Obama is disengaged.
The President is accused of being unaware of alleged National Security Agency spying on world leaders and of being blindsided by the botched rollout of the Obamacare website.
He’s a “bystander President,” the Republican National Committee says.
Emanuel says that’s just wrong.
"That is the furthest from the truth about the President," Emanuel said.
When he was at the White House, Emanuel saw Obama several times day.
"When I'd see him in the morning, he had read all the material presented to him by everybody, and he knew going into the meeting what the assumption of the other side of the argument was ... he had exactly what questions he wanted," said Emanuel.
"So the idea that he’d be disengaged – unless something has happened – I've never seen in the two years of intensity when I was there. I just don’t buy it," said Emanuel.
Asked if there was a chance that aides are shielding Obama from bad news, Emanuel said no, adding that one of Obama's "great strengths" is his solicitation of contrary views, even during dark times.
The claim that Obama is disengaged "is totally contradictory to everything about him," said Emanuel.
Watch Rahm Emanuel: Obama is not disengaged here, or click on the video below
Emanuel was involved in crafting the health care law, and said Obama asked him multiple times for his opinion, and for alternative ways to approach the issue.
"So this doesn't fit, it’s not right, because I know how he is, and I know how he operates," said Emanuel.
Emanuel has earned the nickname “Rahmbo” for his aggressive demeanor; when he was chief of staff, there was accountability – people messed up, they lost their jobs.
“I have all the confidence and all the assurance that heads are rolling, and they’re spinning right now to fix the problem,” said Emanuel.
“That's what the president wants everybody’s energy on: fix the problem. We'll deal with culpability later, because the most important thing you've got to do is get the problem fixed,” said Emanuel.
The GOP needs a Bill Clinton moment
Emanuel does not miss the dysfunction of Washington politics.
“(Do) you get a subscription to the newspaper?” said Emanuel. “What would I miss about that town?"
The 16-day government shutdown earlier this month underscored a tense standoff between tea party Republicans, and the rest of the GOP.
“There's an internal battle in the Republican Party for the heart and soul and the direction of the Republicans,” said Emanuel.
“They need a Bill Clinton moment. Our own party, 10, 20 years ago, faced this and Bill Clinton set a new direction for the Democratic Party,” said Emanuel.
Given the current dysfunction, Emanuel remains pessimistic about the upcoming budget deal.
“All the elites who run around talking about a grand bargain are fools,” said Emanuel. “The political system is not set up for a grand bargain. It's just not.”
On reinventing Chicago
The violence plaguing Chicago is well-known, making national headlines in September when a 3-year-old was shot during a gang-related outburst near a city park.
But the Mayor says the city is also enjoying “vibrancy in economic growth,” and that crime is on the decline.
Emanuel is working with the National Rifle Association for greater gun regulations, pushing for a three-year minimum for gun crimes.
“I need a law on the books that is an actual deterrent, because the one year minimum is not,” said Emanuel.
Washington dysfunction has had a direct effect on efforts aimed at preventing crime. Over the past three years, Chicago lost $11 million in federal money for after school programs, and $7 million for early childhood programs for low-income families because of automatic spending cuts, or sequestration.
Emanuel calls it a “slow motion shut down” on children, and says there is a lack of federal initiatives invested in children.
The Mayor said Chicago figured out a way to keep after-school programs up and running.
“We've increased after school by 25%, more than making up for the federal government walking away, because of the way we funded it and making tough decisions in the budget,” said Emanuel.
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"The British View the War of 1812 Quite Differently...." Topic
Back to the War of 1812 Message Board
1,212 hits since 17 Jan 2018
Tango01 17 Jan 2018 9:55 p.m. PST
…. Than Americans Do
"As we look forward to celebrating the bicentennial of the "Star-Spangled Banner" by Francis Scott Key, I have to admit, with deep shame and embarrassment, that until I left England and went to college in the U.S., I assumed the words referred to the War of Independence. In my defense, I suspect I'm not the only one to make this mistake.
For people like me, who have got their flags and wars mixed up, I think it should be pointed out that there may have been only one War of 1812, but there are four distinct versions of it—the American, the British, the Canadian and the Native American. Moreover, among Americans, the chief actors in the drama, there are multiple variations of the versions, leading to widespread disagreement about the causes, the meaning and even the outcome of the war.
In the immediate aftermath of the war, American commentators painted the battles of 1812-15 as part of a glorious "second war for independence." As the 19th century progressed, this view changed into a more general story about the "birth of American freedom" and the founding of the Union. But even this note could not be sustained, and by the end of the century, the historian Henry Adams was depicting the war as an aimless exercise in blunder, arrogance and human folly. During the 20th century, historians recast the war in national terms: as a precondition for the entrenchment of Southern slavery, the jumping-off point for the goal of Manifest Destiny and the opening salvos in the race for industrial-capitalist supremacy. The tragic consequences of 1812 for the native nations also began to receive proper attention. Whatever triumphs could be parsed from the war, it was now accepted that none reached the Indian Confederation under Tecumseh. In this postmodern narrative about American selfhood, the "enemy" in the war—Britain—almost disappeared entirely…."
Prince Rupert of the Rhine 18 Jan 2018 2:19 a.m. PST
I don't think it would be a big stretch to say your average Brit, in the street, will know very little to nothing about the war of 1812.
Vigilant 18 Jan 2018 2:55 a.m. PST
Probably the same can be said of most US citizens too. From my own reading it means most to Canadians, and then mainly to those in the areas where it was fought.
Sobieski 18 Jan 2018 3:43 a.m. PST
How about asking the Russians?
DrSkull 18 Jan 2018 6:21 a.m. PST
Did he figure that out all by himself? Well done, Sherlock.
Oh, and water is wet, fire is hot.
RudyNelson 18 Jan 2018 7:35 a.m. PST
Sad to say that the average American does not care to know about history. If it does not affect their life's now then who cares.
It is so bad that one of my wife's co workers at here accounting department ask her who won the American Civil War. She had never heard of the war of 1812.
I run into the issue all the time with students working to get a GED.
Tango01 18 Jan 2018 10:46 a.m. PST
"….It is so bad that one of my wife's co workers at here accounting department ask her who won the American Civil War…."
rmaker 18 Jan 2018 11:31 a.m. PST
IIRC, Rudy lives in Florida. 'Nuff said.
foxweasel 18 Jan 2018 3:15 p.m. PST
I don't think the average Brit knows anything about pre WW1 history. No I'm being mean, they know Romans, Vikings and Normans were involved somewhere, there were also castles and stuff.
Major Bloodnok 24 Jan 2018 4:03 a.m. PST
I can remember, back before the dinosaurs roamed the earth,
my first year going to school in the US. I was in the fourth grade and teacher was telling us about the battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac (yeah, yeah, I know the CSS Virginia, occurred during the War of 1812… This would have been 1967. As an aside, as Foxweasel mentions, being taught about castles in Essex back in '66
RudyNelson 25 Jan 2018 4:33 p.m. PST
Alabama? I thought the Alabama was a noted commerce raider of song and story. Sorry about the above garbled post, writing at 5am doesn't awlays produce the most coherent syntax. Though I must admit I am most at ease when speaking or writing gibberish.
Bowman 22 May 2018 1:01 p.m. PST
From my own reading it means most to Canadians, and then mainly to those in the areas where it was fought.
I'm a Canadian and live amongst many of the battles. Sad to say we Canadians are not immune to historical ignorance either. I was once driving through the small town of Chippewa. I thought I'd check out the battlefield, which I knew was largely om private property. I roll down the window to ask some locals the directions to the battlefield.
"The battlefield…..where can I find it?"
"What battlefield?"
"The Battle of Chippewa!", I say getting frustrated.
"Never heard of it"
arthur1815 22 May 2018 2:31 p.m. PST
I had a more encouraging experience in summer 1995, when I stopped in Chippewa. A traffic warden approached and not only directed me to the battlefield, but slso told me where I could park for free.
On the other hand, a bellhop sweltering outside the Brock Hotel in Niagara, dressed in a red coat and bicorn, was delighted when I showed I knew who he was meant to be, saying I was the only person who had recognised General Isaac Brock that day.
Bowman 23 May 2018 4:41 a.m. PST
Good story Arthur, thanks! That is nice to hear.
BattleSausage 24 May 2018 10:58 a.m. PST
@Bowman make sure you go to the Lundy's Lane Starbucks. Get your coffee on the battlefield! lol.
I live in Upper Canada and very little is discussed about the war. Issac Brock, Laura Secord and Tecumesh not really discussed in schools.
Bowman 29 May 2018 10:52 a.m. PST
…..make sure you go to the Lundy's Lane Starbucks
I hear you. But isn't the battlefield closer to the corner of Lundy's Lane and Drummond? Or was it at the very top of Clifton Hill?
I live in Upper Canada …….
Lol!, and I live in Ontario (must be the new part)
……and very little is discussed about the war.
Issac Brock, Laura Secord and Tecumesh not really discussed in schools.
It was with me, but only sparingly.
23rdFusilier 24 Jul 2018 10:20 a.m. PST
"@Bowman make sure you go to the Lundy's Lane Starbucks. Get your coffee on the battlefield! lol."
I took your advice! That is where we parked last weekend when we went to the battlefield! I had her off maps and book in hand while Janine parked and got us a ice coffee.
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Former Tottenham player charged with sexual assault
Paul Gascoigne has been charged with sexual assault by touching (Image: PA)
By Mirror: Wednesday, November 21st 2018
Paul Gascoigne has been charged with sexual assault by touching after an incident on a train.
British Transport Police said the England legend, 51, had been charged with one count of sexual assault by touching following the incident on a train from York to Durham.
Gazza, who played for clubs including Newcastle, Tottenham, Lazio, Rangers and Everton, was arrested at Durham station on August 20.
A spokeswoman for the force said: “A man is due to appear in court next month charged in connection with the sexual assault of a woman on board a train from York to Durham.
“Paul Gascoigne, of Leicester, was charged via postal requisition with one count of sexual assault by touching, contrary to Section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
“The charge relates to an incident on board a train on August 20 this year.”
He will appear at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates Court on December 11.
Gazza, who became the darling of the nation thanks to his performances for England at the Italia 90 World Cup, hung up his boots in 2004 after a brief stint at non-league side Boston United.
He had a short spell as manager of Kettering Town the following year.
Since then, he has fought well-documented battles with alcoholism and mental health issues.
In August he cut short an appearance on Sky One show Soccer AM after feeling unwell due to taking too many sleeping tablets the night before.
Last month, a nomination to join the Scottish Football Hall of Fame was withdrawn amid concerns over his health.
Responding to the snub on Twitter, he said: “I played some of the best football in my career at Rangers and loved the support of the fans.
“I don’t need to be in the Scottish Hall of Fame to be recognised as one of the best.
“I feel the love and support of the people and know I was the best. Love you all, Gazza xxx.”
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U R B A N I S M
Hoodmapping
Chicago by Design
Urban Design Studio
Design for Social Diversity
Good Hoods
Storefront Chicago
Urban Design Resources
"Good Hoods" are neighborhoods that are socially diverse and well-serviced and walkable at the same time. Further, they have managed to maintain their diversity for a long time (40+ years). In other words, they are not gentrifiying, they are not declining, and they are not suburban sprawl.
This research seeks to uncover: what factors sustain long-term diversity in neighborhoods that are also well-serviced and walkable? What policy and legal mechanisms underlie them?
We are of course losing economically diverse neighborhoods (Fry & Taylor 2012), and this decline is accelerated in neighborhoods that are also walkable (Riggs 2014). This loss is exacerbated by the stability of homogeneity: rich neighborhoods stay rich, poor neighborhoods stay poor, and middle income neighborhoods change up or down, with race determining to a large degree the direction of change (Hwang & Sampson 2014). Lower-income households who live mostly around others with low incomes increased from 23% to 28% between 1980 and 2010; higher-income households who live mostly around others with high incomes doubled from 9% in 1980 to 18% in 2010. In addition, the data shows that most economically diverse neighborhoods do not remain so, either because they become more uniformly rich or they become more uniformly poor. Only 18% of neighborhoods that were economically integrated in 1970 remained integrated in 2000 (Tach et al. 2014). These changes are exasperated by income inequality overall; between 1980 and 2010, there was a significant increase in the percentage of lower-income households living in majority lower-income tracts, and upper-income households living in majority upper-income tracts (Fry & Taylor 2012). The segregation of the affluent is especially problematic because it translates to a reduction in support for public investment in cities and neighborhoods that are less well off (Reardon & Bischoff 2011). Income inequality perpetuates wealth inequality, as higher-income Americans drive higher housing prices in affluent neighborhoods (Albouy & Zabek, 2016).
Commensurate with this decline are the well-documented benefits of living in healthy, equitable neighborhoods. A recent summary (Talen & Koschinsky 2015) of hundreds of peer-reviewed articles published in the last decade provides evidence that components of the walkable, diverse neighborhood have positive resident-level effects, in terms of health, social interaction, and safety. For the walkability component, surveys of the literature have found consistent links between walkable neighborhoods and physical activity (Durand et al. 2011; for recent reviews, see Carlson et al. 2016; Kerr et al. 2014; Grasser et al. 2013). The majority of studies find important relationships between walkable neighborhood form and walking, physical activity, and ultimately, obesity and other health measures (Saelens & Handy 2008; Jack & McCormack 2014). Walkable places tend to have high access (to goods and services), which has been shown to lower obesity (Brown et al. 2008), improve mental health (Kloos & Shah 2009) and increase brain function (Erickson et al. 2010). Brian Saelens and James Sallis have authored multiple studies showing these neighborhood-based differences in physical activity (Saelens et al. 2003; Sallis et al. 2002).
Walkability is also associated with higher rates of social interaction and place attachment (Kim & Kaplan 2004), as well as sense of community (Wood et al. 2010; Gen & Pendola 2008). Surveys have utilized Robert Putnam’s scale measuring social capital to show the link between walkable neighborhoods and higher levels of social capital (Putnam 2007; Rogers et al. 2010), social engagement (Leyden 2003), and sociability (Brown & Cropper 2001; Wood et al. 2008). Walkable places often also include public spaces that support casual or spontaneous interaction that promotes social ties (Skjaeveland and Garling 1997) and can have positive effects on social interaction, especially in mixed-income areas (Roberts 2007). Mixed uses (related to walkability) facilitate the exchange of information, services and goods (Carlino et al. 2006; Glaeser 2011; Hall & Hesse 2012). Mixing public and quasi-public facilities and neighborhood-level commercial enterprises is considered essential for sustaining socially mixed communities (Myerson 2001; Nyden et al. 1998). Increased serviceability underlies the finding that long-term residents of gentrifying neighborhoods are able to see positive gains, despite rising rents and the threat of displacement (Freeman 2005). Frequent destinations help to create “safe and social” neighborhoods (Wood et al. 2008; Levasseur 2015).
The importance of income diversity is based on concepts and theories about place vitality, economic health, social equity, and sustainability. Scholars have investigated how income diversity plays a role in stimulating economic networks of interconnected relations and “exchange possibilities” (Jacobs, 1961; Florida, 2005; Glaeser, 2011), where a “richly differentiated neighborhood” is considered more resilient against economic downturn (Montgomery, 1998; Sohn et al. 2012). While mixed-income neighborhoods involving public housing have revealed weak social ties and a sense of vulnerability (Clampet-Lundquist 2010, Chaskin 2013), these dynamics are likely to be less of a factor in places with long term (stable) diversity. Income diverse neighborhoods have been shown in some cases to increase feelings of safety among low-income residents who were previously living in concentrated poverty (Briggs 2010). Place diversity is important because it may help build social capital of the “bridging” kind by widening networks of social interaction (Putnam 2000). Social mixing in one place is also considered more equitable, because it ensures better access to resources for all social groups, enabling what is known as the “geography of opportunity” (Briggs 2005;Talen 2008; Cole & Goodchild, 2001). Lack of income diversity translates to neighborhoods that experience concentrated poverty, leading to disinvestment in the built environment. Moreover, as Sampson et al (2015) argue, as these extremes remain concentrated, the advancement of mixed-income neighborhoods may be more of a challenge than anticipated. Poor physical conditions and lack of facilities play a role in perpetuating an “American Apartheid” since it is unlikely that higher-income social groups will be attracted to places with bad physical qualities and few facilities. Finally, there is a sustainability argument. Beatley and Manning (1997) define a sustainable place as one where separation by income and race is “nonexistent,” and where residents have equal access to “basic and essential services and facilities” (see also Steiner 2002).
While the above examples document a substantial literature on the benefits of walkability and income diversity, our understanding of the factors that underlie walkable, diverse neighborhoods is mostly theoretical (Grant & Perrott 2011; Tomer et al. 2011). Our research project is therefore an investigation of the factors – especially those related to policy and law – that enable walkable, diverse neighborhoods. These factors fall into three categories: (1) built environment and zoning; (2) housing and economic development policy; and (3) governance and institutions.
Jane Jacobs' Diversity Factors
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On Screenwriting and Media with Dr. Rosanne Welch
Writing, Film, Television and More!
Books/Articles
Breakfast at Tiffany’s from A History of the Art of Adaptation [Video] (0:53)
You Can Please Some of the People Some of the Time… None of the People All of the Time: A History of the Art of Adaptation in Movies like Dune, The Godfather, Harry Potter and More!
Dr. Rosanne Welch speaks on A History of the Art of Adaptation in Movies like Dune, The Godfather, Harry Potter and More! at the California State University, Fullerton Library
Part of the program series for Dune by Frank Herbert: A 50th Anniversary Celebration.
Watch this entire presentation
Breakfast at Tiffany’s, which is a gorgeous movie and a gorgeous novel and a nice little slim novel. People should read it over the weekend, really, it’s brilliant. Of course, written by Truman Capote who was, at that time, an out-of-the-closet, homosexual and that was just a shocking thing. Nobody quite understood what that meant and nobody was sure they liked it, but Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Most people remember this as a brilliant performance by Audrey Hepburn, which it was. It became the film with her. Notice she’s the thing we focus on in this thing. Really, it not just her story though. This is the story of this young woman — unexplainably in the city making money because she’s friendly with a lot of rich men, but we’re not really going to discuss what that friendship entails. Right? So, we don’t say what she does for a living. She just always has rich men hanging around her. So we’ll just kind of slide that under the rug.
About this talk
Dr. Rosanne Welch (RTVF) speaks on the craft of history of film adaptations from the controversy of the silent film Birth of a Nation (protested by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1915) to Breakfast at Tiffany’s (to which author Truman Capote famously said, “The only thing left from the book is the title”) to The Godfather . Naturally, the behemoth in adaptation – Harry Potter (which depended on the relationship created by adapter Steve Kloves and author J.K. Rowling) will be discussed, as will the subject of this month’s celebration: Dune.
Date: Wednesday, October 14, 2015 Time: 1:00pm – 2:00pm
About Dr. Rosanne Welch
Dr. Rosanne Welch is a professor in the Low Residency MFA in Screenwriting Program from Stephens College, California State University, Fullerton, Mount San Antonio Community College and Cal Poly Pomona. In 2007, she graduated with her Ph.D. in 20th Century U.S./Film History from Claremont Graduate University. She graduated with her M.A. in 20th Century United States History from California State University, Northridge in 2004.
Welch is also a television writer/producer with credits for Beverly Hills 90210 , CBS’s Emmy winning Picket Fences and Touched By An Angel . She also writes and hosts her own podcasts on 3rdPass.media, her first one titled “Mindful(I) Media with Dr. Rosanne Welch.”
Her upcoming book, “Why The Monkees Matter: Teenagers, Television and American Pop Culture” will be published in Fall 2016
Three Ring Circus: How Real Couples Balance Marriage, Work and Kids and The Encyclopedia of Women in Aviation and Space are two books she has written. Los Angeles Times and the Journal of Screenwriting hold some of her published articles.
Dr. Rosanne Welch Web Site and Blog
Follow Dr. Welch on Twitter
Dr. Rosanne Welch on YouTube
You Can Please Some of the People Some of the Time… None of the People All of the Time: A History of the Art of Adaptation in Movies like Dune, The Godfather, Harry Potter and More! [Video]
Introduction from A History of the Art of Adaptation in Movies like Dune, The Godfather, Harry Potter and More! [Video] (1:05)
Adaptation, Decency and the Hays Code from A History of the Art of Adaptation [Video] (0:56)
Hays Code Prohibitions in Film from A History of the Art of Adaptation [Video] (0:51)
Can Visuals Overwhelm The Words? from A History of the Art of Adaptation [Video] (0:59)
Author Dr. Rosanne WelchPosted on July 7, 2016 Categories Education, Film, History, Podcast, Show, Speaking, Video, Writing
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Ian Tregillis lives near Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he works as a physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He is a member of the George R.R. Martin Wild Cards writing collective and the author of The Milkweed Tryptich Bitter Seeds, The Coldest War and Necessary Evil.
His new novel is Something More Than Night.
Late last month I asked Tregillis about what he was reading. His reply:
I frequently have several books going at any one time, because I always have a book to read on the bus (my commute to and from work is about 2 hours/day), a book to read for fun at home, and often I'll also be reading something related to my current writing project.
My commute reading right now is Snuff by Terry Pratchett. I have been a devoted fan of the Discworld novels since I stumbled upon #2, The Light Fantastic, in a bookstore in the late 1980s. It was the funniest thing I had ever read at the time; I remember reading excerpts from it to anybody who would listen. It was amazing stuff that seemed to have come out of nowhere. From then on I grabbed each new Discworld book as soon as I could, and I've been doing that for 25 years; Snuff is #39 in the series. Nowadays, I'm a little wiser than I was back then, and so I always leave one unread Discworld book on the shelf -- so that no matter what's going on in my life, I always have at least one book to look forward to.
The Discworld books are in that rare category of works that can be relied upon to make me laugh aloud in public. (Certain Douglas Adams books and Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man are also in this category.) But I think sometimes the series doesn't get enough credit (in spite of the critical acclaim it has received in more recent years) because it's always seen in the light of its earliest entries -- as farcical parodies of second-world fantasy tropes. But as the series has evolved over the years, I've watched the books grow longer, deeper, and wiser. They're still incredibly funny, but now I read them just as much for the way they're plotted, for what they say about the human condition, and for some truly lovely turns of phrase. They have heart in equal abundance to their wit. The Discworld books are great not because they're hilarious, but because they're hilarious while still somehow being about something meaningful.
My at-home reading is A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin. I've been waiting for what seems like forever for this to come out in paperback -- it was intended as my commute reading, and since I don't use an e-reader, I didn't want to lug the equivalent of a small hardcover dictionary on the bus with me every day! Though it turns out the paperback is still so big that it's a bit impractical for my commute. I've just started it, and I'm eager to dive in and get caught up on the latest installment in the Song of Ice and Fire. I think this is an amazing series, and utterly worthy of all the praise and acclaim it has received.
My writing-related reading at the moment is A Financial History of the Netherlands, edited by Marjolein 't Hart, Joost Jonker, and Jan Luiten van Zanden. Worldbuilding is a strange and imperfect practice; for me, it usually means running around like a headless chicken while (1) panicking, and (2) trying to patch the countless holes in my knowledge that I continually trip over while trying to write a novel.
Visit Ian Tregillis's website.
Carola Dunn
Melissa Walker
M. A. Lawson
Anna Humphrey
Jonathan Miles
Helen Douglas
Roland Merullo
Jennifer Michael Hecht
Gerry Bartlett
Camille Minichino
William C. Dietz
Jennifer duBois
Mark Haskell Smith
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About & CV
Gallery & Exhibitions
Archive: Live Work
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© 2019 LOW PROFILE.
Here’s to another 10
Here’s to another 10 includes contributions by a range of artists and creative producers who were involved in supporting the development of LOW PROFILE’s practice during 2012, including; Action Hero, Hunt & Darton, Lindsay Hughes, Barry Sykes, Rebecca Weeks and Joanne ‘Bob’ Whalley & Lee Miller.
On the February 14th 2013, LOW PROFILE turned 10. Hannah&Rachel never really meant to start collaborating (it all sort of happened by accident), but they are still working together – as artists and as friends. Perhaps for this reason, their turning 10 felt like a particular achievement and a moment to celebrate and ‘take stock’ of their practice to date.
To help them think about their future together, LOW PROFILE decided to consult a number of ‘future experts’ (including a rune reader, tarot reader, fortune teller, transformational life coach and an astrologist) in an attempt to be better prepared for what challenges they might face and to try to plot a possible pathway for the next 10 years of working together.
At the same time as doing this they started to have honest and serious conversations about how they will be able to continue to work together whilst navigating the events of their own lives that will unfold over the next 10 years.
This book includes new works for the page made by LOW PROFILE in response to this research and future investigation probing.
The book also includes work by a range of artists and creative producers who have been involved in supporting the development of LOW PROFILE’s practice during the period of time leading up to their 10 year anniversary. Their idiosyncratic contributions have been led by a series of personalised invitations asking them to consider notions of longevity, sustaining creativity, speculation, the investment of audiences, the value of lessons learnt, the impact of time on the shaping of a practice and ways to keep going.
DOWNLOAD THE PDF VERSION OF THE BOOK HERE >>> Here’s to another 10 pdf download
Photo Credit: Gemma Paintin 2012
Here’s to another 10 was commissioned by ICIA and produced with the support of CAZ (Cornwall Autonomous Zone) with thanks to Residence (Bristol), Hunt & Darton and CAVE art fair (Liverpool).
In Projects
DRY RUN publications survival
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Panama Canal Historical Timeline
President Ulysses S. Grant orders survey expeditions to Central America.
The route of the current Panama Canal is nearly identical to that proposed by this Panama survey.
An Interoceanic Canal Commission appointed by President Grant chooses the Nicaragua route instead of the Panama route.
The Navy Expeditions take place between 1870 and 1875
French firms attempt to build a canal connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, but fail to do so as a result of financial woes and disease, which claimed the lives of more than 20,000 workers.
President William McKinley orders the U.S. Isthmian Canal Commission to study all routes feasible to constructing a water route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
The Nicaragua route is chosen above the Panama route once again.
Panama declares independence from Colombia as a result from military pressure by President Theodore Roosevelt.
Panama signs the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, which grants the United States the power to construct a canal in Panama.
Americans begin construction on the Panama Canal
On Jan. 7, the first complete Panama Canal passage by an ocean vessel takes place. The Alexandre La Valley, a French crane boat, travels from the Atlantic to the Pacific side.
On Aug. 15, the official opening of the Panama Canal occurs.
Total tonnage of ships transiting the canal is around 5 million and tolls total approximately $4 million.
Avalanche at Gaillard Cut closes the canal for seven months.
American armada of 33 ships returning from the war zone transits the canal to the Pacific, including seven destroyers and nine battleships ships, fulfilling the vision of Theodore Roosevelt.
More than 5,000 ships a year transit the canal, almost equal to the number of ships transiting the Suez Canal.
Kuna Indians revolt in Panama in an effort to resist Panamanian assimilation.
Howard Air Force Base is constructed by the U.S.
Richard Halliburton swims the length of the canal marking the lowest toll charged to transit the canal at 36 cents.
President Franklin Roosevelt travels through the Panama Canal.
U.S. begins construction on a third set of locks over concern of Japanese bombing during World War II. They are never completed, but will be later used in the Panamanian canal expansion project.
President Roosevelt enunciates the “Good Neighbor Policy” and calls the Pan American Peace Conference. Discussions on Panama sovereignty ensue.
Panama ceases to be U.S. protectorate when the U.S. Senate passes the Hull-Alfaro treaty.
More than 7,000 ships transit the canal annually.
Plebiscite in Panama to renegotiate the Hay-Bunau-Varilla treaty with the U.S.
10,000 Panamanians protest opposition to military bases on Panamanian soil. By 1948, under President Harry Truman, the United States evacuates all occupied bases and sites outside the Canal Zone. Panama later rescinds and allows bases to have a 15-year lease in 1955.
President Eisenhower arrives in Panama for the First Summit of the Americas.
President Kennedy proposes the Alliance for Progress in Latin America which would enable Panama to share in resources to raise living standards and advance social and economic development, something that had been unavailable to Panama in the 1950s.
When President Lyndon Johnson is President, anti-U.S. rioting breaks out in the Panama Canal Zone, resulting in the deaths of 21 Panamanians and three U.S. soldiers. Violent clashes between Panamanians and American soldiers begin when U.S. students attempt to raise the American flag at the Canal Zone high school. An order banning the flying of any flags in front of Canal Zone schools had been issued on Dec. 30, 1963, because of Panamanian sensitivity to U.S. control of the Zone. These events lead to attempts to renegotiate the Canal Zone’s status.
Panama breaks ties with the U.S. and demands a revision of the canal treaty.
Night lighting is added to the Panama Canal and nighttime transits inaugurated.
Transits of ships through the canal exceed 15,000 a year. Tonnage is more than 100 million and tolls exceed $140 million.
The United States renews negotiations on a just and equitable agreement between the two countries under President Nixon and continues negotiations under President Ford.
Dirt slide dumps 1 million cubic yards into Gaillard Cut.
U.S. and Panama negotiations for a Panama Canal Zone treaty completed in the Carter administration.
President Carter and General Torrijos sign the Panama Canal treaties (the Torrijos-Carter Treaties) in Washington, D.C. The two treaties abrogate the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty of 1903 and call for the U.S. to eventually turn over control of the waterway to Panama.
The U.S. Senate votes 68-32 to turn the Panama Canal over to Panamanian control on Dec. 31, 1999.
President Carter and Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos exchange instruments of ratification for the Panama Canal treaties.
The 1977 Panama Canal Treaties become law. The U.S. returns the Canal Zone, but not the canal, to Panama after 75 years.
The leader of Panama, General Omar Torrijos, dies in a plane crash.
President Ronald Reagan approves the new Panama Canal Commission official seal by Executive Order.
An agreement is signed at the United Nations by the United States, Panama, and Japan for a commission to study alternatives and/or modifications to the Panama Canal.
President George H. Bush orders U.S. forces into Panama in part “to protect the integrity of the Panama Canal Treaty.” Approximately 26,000 U.S. soldiers occupy Panama and capture former intelligence chief and U.S. Central Intelligence Agency informant, Panamanian President Manual Noreiga, for racketeering and drug trafficking.
Panama Canal Commission becomes a government corporation with the signing into public law by President Bill Clinton.
The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) is created.
On Dec. 31, the American flag is finally lowered over the Canal Zone, bringing to an end to the American era of the Panama Canal.
New toll rates are implemented by the ACP, but the former toll structure is retained.
Cruise tourism through the Panama Canal becomes institutionalized in Panama with Holland America, Celebrity and Carnival cruise lines.
Panama plans a $5.9 billion project to enlarge the Panama Canal to meet demands of the larger post Panamax ships. Panamax ships can carry 65,000 tons and can fit through the present day canal, while the post-Panamax ships can carry up to 330,000 tons. The expansion is made necessary because of the increase in container shipping.
On Oct. 22, Panama citizens vote to approve a national referendum for $5.25 billion to expand the Panama Canal. Supported by Panamanian President Torrijos, Jr. the referendum is passed by 76.8 percent of the vote.
North access channels to new Pacific locks are awarded to contractors.
Deepening and widening of the Pacific entrance begins.
Colon, Panama, becomes the home port for the Royal Caribbean cruise line.
The Disney Magic, a cruise ship, pays $313,200 to transit canal. Nearly 1 million ships have crossed the canal since it opened in 1914.
A new lighting system is completed, increasing the brightness in the Panama Canal by 300 percent.
Currently 9,000 workers, mostly Panamanian, work at the canal. They guide about 12,000-15,000 ships a year to cross the isthmus.
On July 8, a contract to expand the locks is awarded to a consortium which includes Panama, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and the United States, which will take a lead in the design of the locks.
Timeline courtesy of Thomas O’Brien, Director of Research, Center for International Trade and Transportation
CSULB Website Index
CA-CL
CM-CZ
California State University, Long Beach
1250 Bellflower Boulevard, Long Beach, California 90840
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Speculative Entertainment No.1 Sydney Edition
Presented as part of Sydney Contemporary – 7 – 10 September 2017
Is there something truly universal nowadays, when human conception about value has been influenced by many factors and layered dimensions? What is more valuable when all of this factors and dimensions are detached? The answer then refers to “time”. Hahan observes that human’s process, actions, opportunities, predictions, and hopes cannot be separated from time.
Join 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art and Hahan at Sydney Contemporary 2017 for your chance to become part of an experimental art market in Speculative Entertainment No. 1 Sydney Edition.
“Speculative Entertainment No.1” is an ongoing project that developed from Hahan’s experiments about time and privilege, as well as an interest to experiment with the art market and use it as medium. This work is intended to hack the art market, and particularly to hack the artwork collecting system which usually limited. This work was initially exhibited during ARTJOG 9 (2016), an annual artist-based art fair in Yogyakarta, and has also been presented in conjunction with 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian art at Art Central Hong Kong (2017).
This work consists of a 7.5 m x 2.6 m painting which is divided into 1,619 square lots. Each lot is sized 10 cm square and the price for each lot is twice the entrance fee of the art fair. During the exhibition period at scheduled time, the audience can become “collectors” with the same opportunities, hopes, privileges, and speculations by choosing any lot they want at the venue. The audience members who purchase the lot(s) are encouraged to speculate by re-selling it according to their own speculative price and Hahan, as the artist, will charge 10% commission from the selling.
Uji Handoko Eko Saputro aka Hahan (1983, Kebumen, Indonesia) lives and works in Jogjakarta, Indonesia. Hahan’s art making is concerned with the tussle between ‘high art’ and ‘low art’, blurring realism with decoration. Hahan incorporates film, music and street culture into a distinct visual language, creating a sense of movement and spontaneity in what can be described as a topsy-turvy reality steeped in satirical humor. In recent years, he attempts to display an art with the concept that emphasises the interaction with the visitors and relate it with the development of art in global as well as its society. He also one of the founders of Ace House Collective, a young artists’ collective and initiative space based in Yogyakarta which trying to capture the culture of Indonesian contemporary society through multidiscipline work process, collaboration, and research.His works have been collected by several art museum including Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) Brisbane, Australia and National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) Melbourne, Australia.
Speculative Entertainment No.1 Sydney Edition has been co-commissioned by 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art and Project 11. 4A would like to thank Project 11 for their generous support of this project.
Uji Handoko Eko Saputro aka Hahan, Speculative Entertainment No.1 Sydney Edition (performance documentation), Sydney
Contemporary Art Fair 2017, Carriageworks, Sydney.
Sydney Contemporary Art Fair
7 – 10 September 2017
Carriageworks, Sydney
Find out more and purchase tickets for Sydney Contemporary here.
Shop Speculative Entertainment No.1 Merchandise
Media links:
The Mix ABC
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Rodney Taro
By investigating language on a meta-level, Taro tries to grasp language. Transformed into art, language becomes an ornament. At that moment, lots of ambiguities and indistinctnesses, which are inherent to the phenomenon, come to the surface.
His focus on the inability of communication which is used to visualise reality, the attempt of dialogue, the dissonance between form and content and the dysfunctions of language. In short, the lack of clear references are key elements in the work. By studying sign processes, signification and communication, his works references post-colonial theory as well as the avant-garde or the post-modern and the left-wing democratic movement as a form of resistance against the logic of the capitalist market system.
His works demonstrate how life extends beyond its own subjective limits and often tells a story about the effects of global cultural interaction over the latter half of the twentieth century. It challenges the binaries we continually reconstruct between Self and Other, between our own ‘cannibal’ and ‘civilized’ selves. By demonstrating the omnipresent lingering of a ‘corporate world’, he makes work that generates diverse meanings. Associations and meanings collide. Space becomes time and language becomes image.
His works question the conditions of appearance of an image in the context of contemporary visual culture in which images, representations and ideas normally function. Rodney Taro currently lives and works in Washington .
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Home / Attractions -
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is located in southwestern Uganda in East Africa. The park is part of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, and is situated along the Democratic Republic of Congo border next to the Virunga National Park and on the edge of the western Great Rift Valley and a 9-10hrs drive through Queen Elizabeth National Park will take you to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, It also comprises of 331 square kilometres of jungle forests and contains both montane and lowland forest and is accessible only on foot.
Kibale National Park is a national park in western Uganda protecting moist evergreen rain forest. The park was created in 1993 to protect a large area of forest previously managed as a logged Forest Reserve (gazetted in 1932). The park adjoins with Queen Elizabeth National Park and is an important eco-tourism and safari destination, popular for its population of habituated chimpanzees and 12 other species of primates.
Lake Mburo National Park in western uganda where you can find giraffes, buffalos, hippos, crocodiles, zebras, elands and many other antelopes.
Lake Mburo National Park is located in Mbarara District in western Uganda. The park is situated about 30 kilometres (19 mi), by road, east of Mbarara, the largest city in the sub-region. This location is approximately 240 kilometres (150 mi), by road, west of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city.
Murchison falls National Park is Uganda's biggest wildlife park where you find lions, elephants, crocodiles, hippos, buffalos, giraffes, jackson's heartbeats, waterbucks, warthogs, oribis and chimpanzees in Budongo forest.
Murchison Falls National Park the largest National Park in Uganda is located in the North western part of Uganda at 3840sq km; A 5-6hrs drive will take you through the main Gate at Kichumbanyobo gate, and will be welcomed by the shying away baboons through kaniyo Pabidi forest which is also common with chimp trekking.
Queen Elizabeth National Park is located in southwestern Uganda. It occupies an area of 764 square miles (1,978 square km) in a region of rolling plains east of Lake Edward and foothills south of the Rwenzori Mountains.
The park is named after Queen Elizabeth II and was established in 1952.the park is known for its wildlife; among the species are hippopotamuses, elephants, leopards, lions and chimpanzees. It is now home to 95 species of mammals and over 500 species of birds. The area around Ishasha in the southern sector of the park is known for tree climbing lions.
Kidepo Valley National park is Located in the North Eastern part of Uganda on the Boarder of Uganda and Sudan. The park measures a distance of 1,442 sq-km and boasts of a great number of animal species more than any other park in Uganda. The park's Game viewing is far the best with lots of game like the bush duikers, leopards, cheatahs, strped hyenas, lesser kudus, buffaloes, jackals, lots of antelopes, bush babies and lots more Game, not to missed are the ostriches.
Mountain Elgon National Park
Mountain Elgon which is the forth highest mountain in East Africa, (locally known as Masaba) is found in the Eastern part of Uganda around 238km on the Kampala-Jinja Highway through Mbale town to Kapchorwa. The mountain borders Uganda in the east and to the west in Kenya. It is an extinct volcano reaching 4321m high the park has magnificent waterfalls, caves, gorges, and hotsprings. It is also excellent for hiking there are no major technical climbing skills required and all major peaks are accessible to hikersthe full treking circuiot takes 4-5 days but 3 days hikes are also available.
Rwenzori Mountain National Park
Rwenzori Mountain is located in south western Uganda in Kasese comprising of Mount Stanley with 5,109m high as the highest peak, Mount Speke 4,890m high, Mount Baker 4,843m high, Mount Emin 4,798m high, Mount Gessi 4,715m high, and Mount Luigi di Savoia 4,627m high. Mount Stanley is the largest with many summits and Margherita peak being the highest point.
Semuliki National Park is made up of the far-flung western side of the Rwenzori as the easternmost extension of the immense Ituri forest of the Congo basin prevails in the extreme west of Uganda to form the park. The forest forms a continuum along the Democratic Republic of Congo-Uganda border that is in the western arm of the East African rift valley. With its rich flora, fauna and bio-diversity, it is one of the few most ancient forests that survived the last ice age about 12-18,000 years ago.
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Have you ever tried Shawarma?
The Astronaut sculpted in the New Cathedral, Salamanca
Date: January / 04 / 2011 + Comments: 0
Several sites say that this astronaut is a mystery, but it is not. The New Cathedral of Salamanca (Spain) was constructed between the 16th in and 18th centuries in two styles: late Gothic and Baroque. Building began in 1513 and the cathedral was consecrated in 1733. It was commissioned by Ferdinand V of Castile of Spain. It was declared a national monument by royal decree in 1887.
Its main entrance consists of 3 arcs, each leading to the 3 naves (sections) of the church. All three are richly carved. Among the ornate carvings on the facade is the incongruous likeness of an astronaut floating in space; it was added by an artist during restoration work in 1992 as a symbol of the 20th century.
The Astronaut wasn’t the only weird detail, they also added a Dragon eating an ice-cream:
World Astronaut Building Dragon Monument Spain
» The Inverted Cross is the symbol of Saint Peter
» Astronaut Mike Massimino in Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
» Review: Dragon Dictation App for the iPhone and iPod Touch
» Apollo 15 astronaut dropped a hammer and feather on the Moon to prove Galileo’s theory
» Robbie Williams: Morning Sun (video)
» Videos of giant spiders
» Octopus Paul predicts that Spain will win Germany in the World Cup
« The best of Nitro Circus
TRON: Angry Birds »
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Commerce City Named Official Competition City
US Lacrosse chief operating officer Bill Schoonmaker and Commerce City Mayor Sean Ford announcing the partnership.
from press release
BALTIMORE — Commerce City, Colo., will be the “Official Competition City” for the 2014 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Championship. The FIL World Championship is being run by US Lacrosse, the sport’s national governing body, and will be held from July 10-19 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City. A record 38 nations will participate, and the event is expected to attract as many as 150,000 spectators.
“Commerce City is excited to welcome the world to the region and being known as the Championship's Official Competition City is consistent with our values," said Mayor Sean Ford. "We believe in creating an environment that allows our 1,500 businesses to compete in the global economy on a regular basis and introducing visitors to the community."
“US Lacrosse is fortunate to have Commerce City as a partner for the world championships,” said US Lacrosse COO Bill Schoonmaker. “The support of the city will help ensure this event delivers a world-class experience for tens of thousands of athletes and spectators during more than 125 international games over 10 days.”
In addition to the FIL World Championship, more than 140 teams are already registered for the boys’ youth and men’s master’s World Festivals, which will be held in conjunction with the world championship at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
This is the first time the quadrennial FIL Men’s World Championship has been held in the United States since 1998 when it was played in Baltimore. The last FIL Men’s World Championship was held in 2010 in Manchester, England and the United States defeated Canada 12-10 to win the gold medal.
For more information about the 2014 FIL World Championship, including ticket package details, please visit www.worldlacrosse2014.com.
About Commerce City
As the state’s fourth-fastest growing community, Commerce City is redefining itself for the next generation, building on historic values of community, industry, agriculture and family. Centrally located along Colorado’s bustling Front Range, Commerce City is a Quality Community for a Lifetime, with 25 miles of trails, a championship golf course, 700 acres of open space and parks, one of the country’s largest soccer complexes and the nation’s largest urban wildlife refuge. Learn more at www.c3gov.com
About US Lacrosse
US Lacrosse, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, is the national governing body of men’s and women’s lacrosse and the home of the nation’s fastest-growing team sport. US Lacrosse, which coordinates all activities of the U.S. National Teams Program, has more than 425,000 members in 67 regional chapters across the country. Through responsive and effective leadership, US Lacrosse provides programs and services to inspire participation while protecting the integrity of the sport. Bookmark, like and follow US Lacrosse at uslacrosse.org, fb.com/uslacrosse and @uslacrosse, respectively.
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The Other People Place - "The Laptop Cafe" - 2001
0 0 · By tanzil · On Thursday, 6 December 2018 · Edit this post
• A Space Odyssey
1. Eye Contact (5:30) 2. It's Your Love (7:31) 3. Moonlight Rendezvous (7:07) 4. You Said You Want Me (4:23) 5. Let Me Be Me (7:46 ) 6. Running From Love (5:50) 7. Lifestyles Of The Casual (5:29) 8. Sunrays (8:15)
Deep House Detroit Techno Downtempo electro The Other People Place
RealmOfMetal.org - Latest Metal Album Releases: The Other People Place - "The Laptop Cafe" - 2001
https://imagescdn.junodownload.com/full/CS1320641-02A-BIG.jpg
http://ww2.realmofmetal.org/2018/12/the-other-people-place-laptop-cafe-2001.html
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GIA was the national airline of Ghana, based in Accra, Ghana. Ghana International Airline was formed in 2004. It used to operate scheduled passenger and air cargo services. Its main base was Kotoka International Airport.
The airlines suspended all its flight services and operations in May, 2010.
The Fleet used to consist of these aircrafts:
Boeing 757-200 - 1
Ghana International Airlines Profile
The airline started partnership between the Government of Ghana and a group of private international investors. It started its operations in October 2005 with daily flights between Accra and London. The Airlines used to fly daily flights from Ghana to London Gatwick. Ghana International Airlines was led by the founding member of the SkyWest, Ralph Atkin. It was designated as the national airline in 2005. The airline launched Boeing 757 in 2006. It had 160 employees.
Ghana International Airlines is a memorable experience because of its quality services:
In-flight entertainments with TV, video games, music, etc.
Good quality, well balanced meal, drink and snacks on board.
Stretcher, oxygen for sick and invalid passengers.
Special facilities for elderly passenger.
Online reservations of tickets.
Ghana International Airlines Destinations
Düsseldorf - Düsseldorf Airport
Johannesburg - OR Tambo International Airport
London - London Gatwick Airport
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghana_International_Airlines
http://www.fly-ghana.com/
(Disfunct.)
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Black diamond: an ode to the truffle
Meet Serge Desazars, the owner of France’s first organic truffle farm who left a career in fashion to grow the finest truffles
People 4 Dec 2018
Truffle farmer and author Serge Desazars
After working in fashion for 15 years, Paris-born businessman Serge Desazars turned to a different kind of luxury industry, transforming his passion for truffle farming into his livelihood. In 1996, he founded Baron de la Truffe, France’s first organic truffle farm, using centuries-old production methods to produce the finest truffles. Desazars’ first book, Ode To The Truffle, charts the untold history of the black diamond
What was the inspiration behind Ode To The Truffle?
I was surprised that there weren’t really any books dedicated to truffles. With this book it was important to first explain the history of truffles and also the different types of truffles – there are 27 different varieties. Then in the end there are some recipes. I’ve been quite fortunate to supply some great Michelin-starred chefs such as Yannick Alléno and Thomas Boullault, and they were all very keen to donate recipes for the book.
When were you first introduced to truffles?
It was thanks to some friends about 25 years ago. In 1996 I decided to plant my first trees, and in 2000 I managed to harvest my first truffles. It was just a hobby at the time because I’d been to business school and had spent 15 years in luxury fashion, so far away from this environment, but I found that on weekends my passion was to go into the field and take care of the trees and my dogs and harvest a few truffles. Then came the day when the production started getting bigger than my consumption. I started doing some research on the market and discovered that the worldwide demand is estimated to be 10 times more than what we produce, so it was a big gap. For me is was important to produce good quality truffles in big quantities and supply directly to the consumer. It’s important that they have access to real truffles. We are expanding Baron de la Truffe every year and planting more hectares and developing visits to the farm. With 60 hectares it’s a big investment so it has to be business-orientated but at the same time it’s a passion.
What was your first truffle experience?
My first experience with truffles was a whole one – about 50g – and it was cooked in pastry and bacon. At first I thought it was too strong but it’s a bit like a drug, you have a bit and then you need more and more. That’s how I came to this name, Baron de la Truffe, because truffles are like a drug. In the past you had drug barons and now you have truffle barons!
What is the planting process?
It all starts with the ground. You have to have PH levels of more than seven, then you plant some trees. It’s an exchange between the truffle and the tree; the truffle brings minerals to the tree and vice versa, so you need both of them. There are 14 different kinds of trees that can produce truffles, oak being the most common. Truffles have been around since the 4th century and surprisingly it wasn’t in France but Egypt – the desert truffle. Soon after, the Greeks and Romans also started enjoying truffles thanks to the pigs who were eating them – that’s how they discovered them. In France it was Pierre Mauléon who pioneered truffle growing. He started planting his first trees in 1790 and nine years later he harvested his first truffle, and that’s only five miles away from Baron de la Truffe in Touraine, so it’s really the birthplace of truffle growing.
Are they difficult to grow?
Yes, because it’s a very long-term process. Between the moment you plant the tree and the time you start harvesting the first truffles it takes at least five years. Full production is 10 years, so you need to be passionate to do it.
Can they grow anywhere?
You find truffles all over the world, we are discovering new ones almost every year. Nowadays they’re coming from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Chile – it’s spreading all around the world. It’s a mushroom that needs water and also heat, but it also needs a bit of cold weather although not too much otherwise you can’t dig them out. France, Spain and Italy have ideal conditions. I’m not too worried about competition yet.
Did you have to train to become a truffle farmer?
Not really, because there’s nowhere to study it. The key is to be curious and experiment, look at other agricultural products and how they grow and see if you can take some ideas direct from those producers. What is surprising is that one tree can give you up to four kilos of truffles but the tree next to it won’t give you anything. It’s difficult to predict it but that’s the fun of it. It’s exciting when the dog has found something but you never know the size of the truffle. It could be the size of a pea or it could be up to two kilos, so it’s always a bit of a surprise. My record is finding 44 truffles together.
What is your favourite way to eat them?
The simplest recipes are the best. For people who have never really tasted truffles before I make truffle butter. You take salted butter, put about 10 percent of its volume of truffles in it, leave it in the fridge for two days and then just serve it with bread. I also do the same thing with eggs, you put whole eggs with truffles in a jar and the egg will take the flavour of the truffle. One of my favourite recipes is with scallops, they go really well together. And what surprises everyone is that they go with dessert very well. You need cream or a bit of fat. It goes really well with chocolate, like a white chocolate mousse. Tiramisu with truffle is also delicious.
Ode To The Truffle is available now (£32, Editions Sutton); barondelatruffe.com
Brummell Recommends: The Savoy
The best of summer's produce shines through with the new afternoon tea menu at one of London's most famous hotels
Food and Drink 17 Jul 2019
The Standard comes to King’s Cross
The hip American hotel chain launches its first outpost outside of the USA with a new bar and restaurant concept from award-winning chef Adam Rawson
Brummell recommends: Maremma
The new neighbourhood Tuscan restaurant is a bringing a little piece of the blue seas and green hills of Italy to Brixton
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Category Archives: Mobile and Cloud
ZTE, JD Form Strategic Partnership For Marketing
October 30, 2017 Mobile and Cloud
ZTE and JD Group announced the signing of a strategic cooperation agreement in New York under which the two parties will work together in mobile terminal development; online and offline channel sales; and brand marketing.
Cheng Lixin, chief executive officer of ZTE’s terminal business unit, said that mobile technology ecosystem and consumer habits have changed tremendously. By cooperating with JD, ZTE will provide more innovative mobile devices to Chinese consumers.
At the same time, ZTE launched its dual-screen foldable smartphone Axon M for the global market. Once this new product is available in China, JD will be its exclusive online debut channel. JD will participate in the software customization of Axon M and implement customized development in accordance to the dual-screen feature of this product. In addition, JD will use its big data analyzing capability to help ZTE target customers accurately and provide various solutions in marketing, channel, and product sectors.
ZTE and JD already reached a strategic cooperating relationship in December 2015. The two parties realized cooperation in marketing and post-sales service.
ChinaWirelessNews.com
Huawei Plans USA Splash In Early 2018
With technology security rumblings in the United States surrounding China’s Huawei, the Chinese firm is forging ahead in establishing a beachhead in North America.
As part of this initiative, Huawei’s Richard Yu, CEO of the company’s Consumer Business Group, has been named as the keynote speaker at the Consumer Technology Association’s CES in early January 2018 in Las Vegas.
Huawei launched its Consumer Business Group in 2003. Since then, it has emerged as one of the top three smartphone brands, and has pushed the industry forward through meaningful and innovative consumer technology. Huawei serves over 170 countries and more than one third of the world’s population.
Yu originally took the CES 2017 keynote stage to discuss the future of mobility, especially in the areas of AI, virtual reality and connected technologies. He returns in 2018 to share Huawei’s exploration on future connectivity and strategy in AI, IoT and new smart devices.
In 2012, the U.S. government asserted that Huawei and Chinese rival ZTE were allegedly creating backdoors in their equipment. These backdoors could then be used for spying. Huawei stepped back for a time but has since started to slowly creep back into the U.S. consumer market with the sales of smartphones.
China's Mobile Phone Shipments Decrease 7.4%
Mobile phone shipments in China decreased by 7.4% year-on-year when comparing September 2016 to September 2017.
The China Academy of Information and Communications Technology published a report on the Chinese mobile phone market for September 2017, and stated mobile phone shipments in the Chinese domestic market were 44.186 million units in September 2017, representing a decrease of 7.4% compared with the same period of last year; and the number of newly launched mobile phone models was 123, a year-on-year increase of 0.8%.
From January to September 2017, China’s total mobile phone shipments were 367 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 8.2%; and the number of newly launched mobile phone models was 823, a year-on-year decrease of 28%.
Meanwhile, China’s 4G phone shipments were 41.596 million units in September 2017, a year-on-year decrease of 3.3%; and the number of newly launched 4G phone models was 90, a year-on-year decrease of 9.1%. From January to September 2017, China’s total 4G phone shipments were 346 million, a year-on-year decrease of 6.3%; and the number of newly launched 4G phone modes was 651, a year-on-year decrease of 33.2%.
In addition, the smartphone shipment in September 2017 was 41.556 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 3.8%. Of that total, 33.901 million were Android smartphones. During the first nine months of 2017, China’s total smartphone shipments decreased by 7% year-on-year to 345 million units, and 288 million were Android smartphones.
Xiaomi To Build East China Headquarters In Nanjing
Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is building its East China headquarters in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province.
Lei Jun, chairman and chief executive officer of Xiaomi, said that Xiaomi currently has two stores in Nanjing and they plan to increase the number to four by the end of 2017. By the end of 2018, they expect to have 11 stores in this city.
Lei said Xiaomi is undergoing a new round of high-speed growth and they need to further expand development opportunities to promote the sustainable development of the company. Xiaomi’s East China headquarters will focus on the breakthrough of new technologies and new models as well as the development of smart hardware and Internet of Things services. By integrating upstream and downstream enterprises, it will enable Xiaomi to maximize use of its supply chain.
Xiaomi already established a research and development center in Nanjing six years ago. According to Lei, Xiaomi smartphone and MIUI development teams have nearly 100 employees in Nanjing and they are recruiting new staff. In addition, Xiaomi has supply chain and marketing branches and many partners in Nanjing.
HTC To Sell Mobile Phone Assets To Google For USD1.1 Billion
September 30, 2017 Mobile and Cloud
Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC has signed an agreement with Alphabet subsidiary Google to sell some of its mobile phone businesses to the latter for USD1.1 billion.
With this transaction, HTC’s nearly 2,000 employees who worked with the company on its Pixel smartphone will join Google. Meanwhile, HTC will provide non-exclusive licenses to some of its intellectual properties to Google.
Cher Wang, chairman of HTC, said that HTC has been the best promoter for Google’s Android market expansion. With this new acquisition agreement, the two parties will further enhance their long-term stable partnership, which will not only inject strong innovative research and development into Google’s hardware business, but also will ensure HTC’s continuous innovation in smartphone and VR sectors.
It is said that the acquisition does not involve factory transfer. In addition, HTC’s chief financial officer Peter Shen revealed at a press conference that except for those employees who will transfer to Google, HTC currently does not have any layoff plan.
Motorola Solutions Appoints New China President
Lenovo’s Motorola announced that the company has appointed Fu Lili, former acting president of Motorola Solutions China division, as new president of Motorola Solutions.
Fu joined Motorola in 2016. Before that, she worked for Avaya as vice president of China division.
Fu has over 25 years of senior management experience in high-tech and communications industries, which gives her a deep insight of the development history and future trend of the communications industry and a business sense about this market.
In her new role, Fu will be responsible for dealing government-related departments, major clients and channel partners in China, a strategic market for Motorola. She will lead various corporate affairs, including market and sales, government affairs, industrial partnership establishment, and governance and compliance in China. At the same time, she will be in charge of the planning of the future development strategy of Motorola Solutions in China.
China Telecom Reaches Over 161 Million 4G Users
China Telecom added 2.66 million new mobile users in August, reaching a total of 235.49 million users.
China Telecom added 4.71 million new 4G users, accumulating a total of 161.76 million 4G users by the end of the reporting period, according to the company’s recently published its operating statistics for August 2017.
China Telecom’s fixed-line phone users decreased by 370,000 to 123.6 million in August 2017; while its fixed-line broadband service gained 800,000 new users to 129.77 million.
By the end of June 2017, China Telecom’s FTTH users reached about 117.23 million, representing a net increase of about 11.24 million users during the first half of 2017.
According to China Telecom’s latest financial statistics, the company realized operating revenue of CNY184.118 billion in the first half of 2017, a year-on-year increase of 4.1%. Of the total operating revenue, service revenue was CNY165.847 billion, a year-on-year increase of 6.8%. The company’s net profit attributable to shareholders was CNY12.537 billion, a year-on-year increase of 7.4%.
China's JD To Set Up Two JVs With Central Group In Thailand
JD Group, JD Finance, Thailand’s leading retailer Central Group, and Provident Capital together announced that they would set up two joint ventures in Thailand to provide e-commerce service and fintech services with total investments of USD500 million.
According to the agreement, Central Group will provide half of the funds; while JD Group, JD Finance, and JD’s Indonesian e-commerce business strategic cooperating partner Provident Capital will provide the other half.
JD will provide extensive professional skill support to the e-commerce joint venture, covering technology, e-commerce, and logistics. JD Finance will offer related fintech experience and technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and other industry-leading technologies.
At the same time, Central Group will use its retail resource advantages, including a physical store network, brand relationships and vendor resources, and its popular membership program “The 1 Card”, to contribute for the development of the two joint ventures. In addition, Central Group will open several flagship stores on the platform of the e-commerce joint venture to introduce its department store, major retail chain stores, and its owned or operated brands.
Liu Qiangdong, chairman and chief executive officer of JD Group, said that Thailand has a large population and developed infrastructure, including a strong national logistics network, which represents huge potential for the development of e-commerce and fintech. By cooperating with a strong retail group like Central Group, JD will gain a huge competitive advantage in its expansion in Southeast Asia.
Tos Chirathivat, chief executive officer of Central Group, said that JD Group achieved huge successes in the Chinese e-commerce market and it is the best choice for an e-commerce partner. With the growing of mobile Internet users and improving of customer spending power, Thailand’s e-commerce will soon have an explosive development. By cooperating with JD, Central Group will seize this opportunity to become a leading e-commerce provider in Thailand.
Foxconn Wants To Build New Factory In Nanjing
Foxconn signed an agreement with the municipal government of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, planning to invest over CNY37.5 billion to build a new smartphone plant in the city.
Under this basic agreement, Foxconn’s new plant will not only produce smartphones, but also will include a LCD TV factory and R&D center, facility for semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and logistics center. The municipal government of Nanjing will probably provide capital and land support in infrastructure construction, but totals have not yet been made public.
Foxconn confirmed this investment plan, but did not reveal any details. The company already has a smartphone factory in Nanjing, but it is small. The construction of this new plant indicates the company’s intention to expand its production system and gain more orders from the growing Chinese smartphone brands.
Foxconn decided in February to build a new panel factory with a scale of JPY1 trillion in Guangzhou. In addition, the company also plans to build a LCD panel factory in Wisconsin, U.S., with an investment of USD10 billion.
Chinese Used Goods Platform Cooperates With Foxconn For iPhone Recycling
Used goods trading platform Zhuanzhuan announced a strategic deal with Foxconn, aiming to promote the standardization of the trading of used phones.
Under the deal, Zhuanzhuan and Taiwan-based Foxconn will work together in phone quality inspections, supervision and guidance by assigning staff for quality inspections to promote the standardization of used phones. Financial terms of the deal were not released.
Meanwhile, for iPhones recycled in Apple’s offline retail stores, Foxconn will also begin quality checks and select those suitable for online sales to sell them via Zhuanzhuan’s platform. Foxconn is an original equipment manufacturer for Apple.
Huang Wei, chief executive officer of Zhuanzhuan, told local media that China’s used goods market has a great potential; however, the industry lacks standards and is “in chaos”. Zhuanzhuan would like to bring revolution to the industry by standardization.
In August 2017, Zhuanzhuan’s trade volume reached CNY2.48 billion, of which 31% was contributed by the second-hand mobile phone business. During the second quarter of 2017, the trading of mobile phones on Zhuanzhuan reached 2.1 million units.
Foxconn said that they decided to cooperate with Zhuanzhuan to improve the standardization within the used mobile phone industry. With the strategic cooperation, the two parties will establish a used mobile phone quality inspection system which is in line with Apple’s official standards and then sell used iPhones on Zhuanzhuan.
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Home > Our Activities > Monthly Newsletters are temporarily suspended >
Newsletter No.7
By Vic Lander
East Brighton Bygones Local History Society
"Newsletter"
Issue No 7 January 2009
The great news to start the New Year is that our life President, Fred Netley, has been made a Member of the British Empire, (M.B.E.) in the New Year's honours list. There is no one more deserving of this award than Fred. His tireless efforts on behalf of the community over many years have been an inspiration to all.
Of course behind every great man there is his family supporting him, so as well as our sincere congratulations to Fred, we also acknowledge Betty's undying support over many years.
Fred has provided the following message to us.
I welcome the opportunity to write a few words for the Bygones Newsletter, which is a very good addition to our society. The first thing I would like to do is to express my sincere thanks to all our members for their cards and phone calls of congratulations on the event of my being awarded M.B.E. for services to the community. The success of Bygones illustrates that working in the community can be a very worthwhile thing to do. Of course the success of our group is really not down to me but to the committee and, of course, our membership and I am so pleased to be known as the President of such a happy group of friends.
Although I haven't always been able to attend all of the meetings, I have, never- the less, been kept in touch by other members and am pleased indeed at how well things are going. I am sure it will continue in that way. There has always been a keen interest in local history and our group fulfils a need to satisfy the very real desire for many people to learn more about their roots. The history of both family as well as where we were brought up, is very interesting to most folk and Bygones accommodates these interests in a very friendly as well as happy atmosphere.
As the Brand New Year of 2009 gets under way it occurs to me, in the past, many people have done great work in our communities. They have organized and run many
groups, clubs, associations; all to the benefit to the community at large, simply because they thought it was the right thing to do. Having grown up in Whitehawk and Manor Farm, I know from experience just what those people did for our communities and I am sure the same thing applies to many other parts of Brighton and Hove as well. I believe perhaps the most valuable thing they did for youngsters growing up in not too well off areas, was to provide role-models and, in some cases, even mentors in how life could be made better even without much money.
I would like to see all those characters of the past remembered in a real way by our present day communities. I am sure that all of us have fond memories of men and women we knew and perhaps looked up to, or just characters who added to life's rich tapestry in the localities in which we were brought up and lived. Bygones has an important role in not allowing the events and characters of the past to be forgotten and I am pleased to say it is certainly doing that very well. ALL THE BEST TO EVERYONE FOR 2009 .
Fred Netley
News of members
Sylvia has been rather poorly throughout the Christmas period and we wish her a speedy recovery.
Our Chairman spent his Christmas in Spain, where he over indulged in everything on offer. He has now returned to the fold.
We had no new members join us in December.
Those that attended the December meeting will remember that Dudley Button, who is soon to retire as Property Manager at Whitehawk Primary School, addressed us. The reason for his visit was to ask whether we would be prepared to take over the visits to the school air-raid shelters. We of course agreed and several persons volunteered to become guides. On the 21 January the Chairman, Marion Devoy, Bob Nutley and Vic Lander are going to a meeting at the school to have further discussions on our involvement.
There was no speaker at our December meeting but members are encouraged to present short reminiscences from their childhoods.
The stories proved to be very enjoyable and interesting. The range of subjects was diverse, covering a wide range of anecdotes.
External contacts
No external contacts made during this period.
The next 'Char and Chat' get-together will be on 28 January commencing at 2.00 p.m.
Requests for information
Contacts through our g-mail have been somewhat sparse this month with no major requests for information.
In this section this month we have another story from Pam Piercey
Bomb Number 13
It is a nice feeling when a piece of long sought after information finally drops into its rightful place, like a piece of a giant jig-saw, particularly because it concerned the road in which, in 1960, I eventually came to live.
For very many years I had wondered about a wartime storey told to me by my father. One of his Air Raid Wardens, who lived in Cliff Road, Roedean, had returned from shopping in Brighton to find a huge hole in the roof of her house made by a bomb that had found its eventual resting place elsewhere. All I remembered was that her name was 'Campbell'.
Thanks to Hazel Bradley's 1947 Kelly's Directory of Brighton and Hove, I found out that a Mrs. Campbell had lived at 8 cliff Road, one of the three pairs of semi-detached houses on the North side. Later I found out that the Air Raid had been on Tuesday 25 May 1943, which was one of the worst raids on Brighton. At 12.20 p.m. the peace of a sunny morning had been shattered by 25 German Focke-Wulf 190 A-5s, armed with 500 kg. bombs flying very low over the sea before fanning out over the town and spreading death and destruction. The raid lasted little more than five minutes but, in that short time, it caused the death of 24 men, women and children, injured 130 and left 600 people homeless. The damage was severe and widespread and, once again, the east Brighton area was badly affected.
Bomb number 13 (to give it its official title) first went through the roof of number 8 Cliff Road, then ricocheted on to a house 96 ft. to the south-west before finally landing at the base of the north-west of Marine Gate Flats, causing major damage up to the eighth floor. The solid construction of this pre-war block stood up well to the full force of the explosion but, five two-storey houses in Rifle Butt Road, some 200 ft. away, suffered severe blast damage. In one of these houses lived our Vic Lander, who, once again, was a Nazi target and had to be re-housed.
Subject and date of next meeting.
The next monthly meeting will be held on 11 February when the subject will be "A Girl in the Home Guard". The speaker will be Pam Piercey.
Japanese Banking Problems
The U.S. bailout and the problems recently experienced by banks in the U.K. and Europe have now spread to Japan.
In the last seven days:-
Origami Bank
has folded, Sumo Bank has gone belly up and Bonsai Bank announced plans to cut some of its branches.
On Monday it was announced that Karaoke Bank is up for sale, and it's thought likely to go for a song, while shares in Kamikaze Bank were suspended after they nose-dived.
Samurai Bank
is soldiering on following sharp cutbacks, and Ninja Bank is reported to have taken a hit, but they remain in the black.
Finally, five hundred staff at Karate Bank have now been given the chop, and there's breaking news that there's something fishy going on at Sushi Bank. Staff there are worried that they may get a raw deal.
Month Meeting Char & Chat
January 14th 28th
February 11th 25th
March 11th 25th
April 8th 22nd
May 13th 27th
June 10th 24th
July 8th 22nd
August 12th 26th
September 9th 23rd
October 14th 28th
November 11th 25th
December 9th 23rd
Monthly Newsletters are temporarily suspended
Newsletter No.10
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Results: 2018 General Health Survey
A total of 1,171 surveys were completed, with all surveys providing complete information on health-related questions.
Owners were asked to identify themselves as Pet/Companion Owners or Breeders/Exhibitors. Across all breeds, 52% (612) of dogs were owned by Pet/Companion Owners and 48% (559) by Breeders/Exhibitors.
Breeders/Exhibitors were almost 2x more likely to indicate that their dog had none of the standard health conditions listed in the survey (29% vs 16% of Pet/Companion owners)
Toy Manchester Terriers
304 surveys were completed for Toy Manchester Terriers.
46% of the surveys were completed by Pet/Companion owners and 54% were completed by Breeders/Exhibitors.
42% of dogs reported on are male and 58% female.
62% of TMTs reported on in the survey were born in the United States and 38% were born in Canada.
The median age of living Toy Manchester Terriers reported on in the survey is 7 years and among all TMTs reported on in the survey is 8 years (for calculation purposes, dogs aged less than 1 year were assigned a value of 0.5 years).
Standard Manchester Terriers
186 surveys were completed for Standard Manchester Terriers.
51% of dogs reported on are male and 49% are female.
78% of SMTs reported on in the survey were born in the United States and 22% were born in Canada.
The median age of living Standard Manchester Terriers reported on in the survey is 6 years and among all SMTs reported on in the survey is 8 years (for calculation purposes, dogs aged less than 1 year were assigned a value of 0.5 years). .
Manchester Terriers (UK/FCI)
452 surveys were completed for Manchester Terrier (UK/FCI).
The majority of respondents came from the United Kingdom (54%) followed by Norway (23%), Germany (5%), Finland (4%) and Australia (3%).
The median age of living Manchester Terriers (UK/FCI) reported on in the survey is 5 years and among all MTs reported on in the survey is also 5 years (for calculation purposes, dogs aged less than 1 year were assigned a value of .5 years).
English Toy Terriers
229 surveys were completed for English Toy Terriers.
48% of dogs reported on are male and 52% are female
The majority of respondents came from the United Kingdom (43%) followed by Norway (21%), Australia (15%), Finland (9%), Spain (3%) and Sweden (3%).
The median age of living English Toy Terriers reported on in the survey is 5 years and among all ETTs reported on in the survey is also 5 years (for calculation purposes, dogs aged less than 1 year were assigned a value of .5 years).
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Israel, the Church, and Election
Written by Michael Wyschogrod
Category: Israel and the Church
Wyschogrod, Michael. “Israel, the Church, and Election.” In Brothers in Hope, 79–87. New York: Herder and Herder, 1970.
Michael Wyschogrod (1928-2015)
[p. 79] IN THE [Second Vatican] Council's "Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions," the Catholic Church addresses and instructs her faithful. In this document, the non-Christian religions are spoken about, not spoken to. In a strict sense, therefore, it is not a document that requires a response from those thus spoken of. But those about whom we speak can also speak about us; indeed, it is to be expected that they will do so. In this age of instantaneous communication, we must be aware that he about whom we are talking hears us and that we are therefore talking to him as well as about him. Yet, the distinction between being talked about and being talked to is not thereby obliterated. To overhear a conversation about oneself remains not an altogether painless experience. Parallel talks about each other may, however, be the prelude to the truly reconciling act of one addressing the other. It is in this spirit that I wish my comments understood.
THE people of Israel pursues its course in history in the faith that it is the people of God. Because God loved Abraham, He chose him and his seed as the people of His Covenant. Because this people is a human family with all the frailties and failings of man, the people of Israel has never ceased to prove unworthy of its election, rebelling against the mission laid upon it by God, more often than is seemly to say. God, in His infinite mercy, nevertheless continues to love this people above all others. To it, He has given His name so that He is known to all the families of the earth as the God of Israel.
Although God is both the creator and ruler of the universe, He [p. 80] reveals Himself to man, not as the conclusion of the cosmological or teleological proofs, but as the God of Abraham who took the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt and whose people this nation remains to the end of time. He thus remains inaccessible to all those who wish to reach Him and, at the same time, to circumvent this people. Because He said: "I will bless those who bless you, and curse him that curses you; in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed" (Gen 12:3), He has tied His saving and redemptive concern for the welfare of all men to His love for the people of Israel. Only those who love the people of Israel can love the God of Israel. Israel is thus God's first-born, most precious in His eyes.
From this, two great dangers follow, both of which have come to pass. The first is Israel's vain pride in its own election and the second is the nations' jealousy at that same election. This twofold drama is prefigured in the tale of Joseph and his brothers, but so is the reconciliation that awaits us at the end of time.
Many times, Israel has found it hard to believe that its election is not the fruit of its virtue, that the endless love God bestows on this people is not richly deserved. Uncannily expert in the failings of the nations, often remembering only its faithfulness and rarely its unfaithfulness, turned inward by the hostility of the peoples among whom it lives, Israel tends to forget that its election is for service, that it is a sign of the infinite and unwarranted gift of God rather than any inherent superiority of the people.
Hated on all sides by those who contest its election, Israel looks at times with contempt at a humanity that is not only unwilling to grant its claims but insists on expressing hatred for the God of Israel through the crucifixion of Israel's body. Thus the two reinforce each other: The more Israel is hated, the less it lives up to its divine calling; the less it lives up to its divine calling, the more ludicrous and offensive its claims of divine election become. All this is not to say that had Israel proved more worthy of its election it would not have incurred the hatred of those whom God did not elect. Israel must, nevertheless, come to terms with its failure, with the misuse to which it has put its election. While the role assigned by God to Israel, that of the favorite son, was indeed a difficult one, it could have been fulfilled because election—God's favor—is not a temptation at which man must fail.
[p. 81] THE unfaithfulness of Israel is, however, only part of the truth, though it is the part Israel likes to forget and the nations like to remember. The other part of the truth is Israel's faithfulness:
I remember the affection of your youth.
Your bridal love:
How you followed me through the wilderness,
Through a land unsown. (Jer 2:2)
If it is true that Israel is not worthy of its election, it is also true that God's election is not in vain. Not only has He transformed Israel's resistance into an occasion for the glorification of His name, but He has also chosen a people that, side by side with its resistance, acts as the willing servant of God, traversing a wilderness populated by those not willing to acquiesce in the exercise of sovereignty that is God's election of Israel. The prophet tells us:
Israel is the Lord's hallowed portion,
His first fruit of the harvest;
All that devour him shall be held guilty.
Evil shall come upon them,
Says the Lord. (Jer 2:3)
Israel's record is thus not all negative. Starting with Abraham's love for his God which was so great that he was willing to sacrifice his only son, and not ending with those Jews who, holding their children by their hands, walked into Hitler's gas chambers, grateful for the opportunity to sanctify God's name, Israel has shown that obedience is also a human possibility, that the image of God in man makes man not only the descendant of Cain but also of Abel.
Just as Israel's record is mixed, so is that of the nations. Instead of accepting Israel's election with humility, they rail against it, mocking the God of the Jews, gleefully pointing out the shortcomings of the people He chose, and crucifying it whenever an opportunity [p. 82] presents itself. Israel's presence is a constant reminder to them that they were not chosen but that this people was, and that this people remains in their midst as a thorn in the flesh. Minute by minute, the existence of Israel mocks the pagan gods, the divine beings who rise out of the consciousness of all peoples but which are gentile gods because they are deifications of man and the forces of nature rather than the true, living God of Abraham.
The pagan mind knows very well that the God of Israel demands compassion for the lowly and the suffering, and that this attitude is incompatible with the honor of the warrior and the pleasure of victory, the stuff of which gentile history is made. The eros of the gentiles is threatened by the existence of Israel because this people, living in exile and lacking all the outward manifestations of the state, the normal instrument of national existence, survives the mightiest nation states, many of which have long disappeared from history, while Israel, against all human calculation, endures. Israel is thus a living witness that the God who chose it is the Lord of history and that His purpose will be achieved. Refusing to cherish gratefully the blessing that is promised to all nations through the election of Israel, a blessing which according to the divine word is the purpose of Israel's election, the nations rise with the full anger of their uncircumcision against the God of the Covenant and the people of the Covenant.
GRADUALLY something emerges which is to have the profoundest effect: the Church. The Church transcends national boundaries, substituting a community of faith for one based on language and soil. In the Church, the vocabulary of Israel is used—covenant, election, suffering servant, and redemption—and the book that Israel hears as the word of God is for the first time heard by a people that is not of the seed of Abraham. Can anything but joy fill the heart of Israel as it observes the mysterious way in which the God of Israel begins to be heard by the nations? Is it not the faith of Israel that, in the fullness of time, the God of the patriarchs will become the God of all peoples and, if this is not just an idle dream, must Israel not be ready to perceive signs of this even in the travail of history?
[p. 83] Maimonides pointed out that Christianity and Islam "served to clear the way for King Messiah to prepare the whole world to worship God with one accord," since through them "the messianic hope, the Torah, and the commandments have become familiar topics—topics of conversation (among the inhabitants) of the far isles and many peoples, uncircumcized of heart and flesh." [1] There is, then, at least, a segment of the nations that collaborates with Israel in its mission.
But the Church claims to be the new people of God, Abraham's sons according to faith. Where the old Israel was an elected community, according to the flesh, the new Israel is a community of faith open to all men, whatever their ancestry. From the point of view of the Church, it appears, the election of Israel is thus superseded in God's plan by a new election. Does this mean that the old Israel, the sons of Abraham according to the flesh, ought to disappear from the stage of history? This is not clear. It would seem that the answer is "Yes" because the Church, with the exception perhaps of the very first decades, did not insist that Jews who embraced Christianity retain their identity as Abraham's offspring. Instead, Jews who entered the Church intermarried and their descendants quickly lost knowledge of their origins.
HAD the Church believed that it was God's will that the seed of Abraham not disappear from the world, she would have insisted on Jews retaining their separateness, even in the Church. The fact that Paul asserts that in Christ "there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor freeman, neither male nor female" (Gal 3:28) does not rule out such a special role for the children of ancient Israel in the Church, just as the abolition in Christ of the difference between man and woman does not prevent Paul from insisting that women remain silent in the assembly. Even in Christ, men are men and women are women; only in an ultimate, perhaps eschatological, sense are they one. The Church could have asserted the same of the difference between Jew and Gentile. Since the Church did not assign to the Jew [p. 84] who became a Christian such special status, it can be inferred that—quotations from Paul (Rom 11:28-29) to the effect that God does not repent of the gifts He makes notwithstanding—the Church seriously holds that its election superseded that of the old Israel. The existence of the Jewish people as the seed of Abraham seems, therefore, to her no longer a demand of God.
Israel must, of course, reject this view. All attempts to transform its election into a universal election of all men in faith can be interpreted by Israel only as the beginning of that movement toward the universal which, fully developed, culminates in the universal truth of a philosophy antithetical to the concreteness of the God of Abraham. The philosophical component in Christianity, its deep involvement with Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy and the myriad problems brought about by this involvement, is thus not merely an accident of intellectual history, but rooted in the Christian kerygma itself.
The substitution of a universal election of faith for the national election of the seed of Abraham lays the groundwork for a universalization that must, in due course, look to philosophy with its even more universal structures. In a sense, the Christian doctrine of election is a demythologization of the Jewish doctrine of election, which Christianity interprets as the concrete symbol of a possibility open to all men. For this reason, the Christian mind was driven to an ever greater concern with philosophy, a tendency that, while not totally absent in the history of Judaism, never reaches the proportions it does in Christianity.
THE Church's claim of being the new people of God—a claim the Vatican II Declaration under discussion specifically reiterates—is, from the Jewish point of view, another example of the nations' protest against the election of the stock of Abraham. Just as Joseph's brothers rebelled against the favor shown by their father toward this one child of his, so the nations refuse to accept the election of Israel. And just as Joseph was not guiltless in the matter in that he did not accept his election as he should have, in humility, in fear and trembling, so Israel has not often made it easy for the nations to accept [p. 85] its election. Just as Joseph suffered for his deeds, so has Israel; just as Joseph retained the election, proving worthy of it, so has Israel. The question that remains is this: What is Israel to make of the Church's claim that it is the new people of God?
We have already dealt with the negative moment of the answer to this question: Israel cannot fail to see in this claim an act of rebellion against the word of God, however much guilt Israel shares in this rebellion. But that is not all Israel must see. To be envious of the election of Israel, the Church must seek the God of Israel, the Church must love that God. This, from the Jewish viewpoint, is the overwhelming significance of the Church's claim to be the new people of God. The nations, as represented by the Church, seek the God of Abraham. This is a fact that has never impressed itself into the Jewish consciousness. Persecuted throughout its history, surrounded by paganism on all sides, a paganism that had nothing but contempt for the God of Abraham, Israel has never grasped that there is a segment of the gentile world into which the word of the God of Abraham has penetrated.
Because the Christian is a human being and, like the Jew, not sinless, he often falls short of that ultimate humility which accepts the will of God in love even where God's will is the election of someone other than himself. Short of that ultimate perfection, a perfection that almost surpasses the human, the Christian is addressed by the God of Jesus who is the God of Abraham. This God is a God of covenant: He relates Himself to a people through a covenant that makes that people His people and Him their God. Access to this God is only through a covenant by means of which a people becomes the people of God; once this is perceived, the Church arises as the people of a new covenant. Christianity, therefore, expresses the longing of those not included in the Covenant with Israel for election by the God of Israel.
HENCE Israel must ask itself how it envisages the relation of the nations to its God. Traditionally, this has been answered in terms of the Noachide laws. They, in turn, were sometimes interpreted in [p. 86] terms of natural law: All that is required of the nations is that they obey the moral law as dictated by human reason. If this is all that is required of the nations (though, from another point of view, this is more than man is capable of when not aided by God), it would follow that God's relationship is only with Israel and that the nations cannot have their own covenant with Him. This, however, is a biblical theology altogether unacceptable: It ignores the promise to Abraham that through his election the nations, too, will be blessed; it further ignores the covenant with Noah which is not natural law but a covenant in its own right. Maimonides insists that non-Jews fulfill their obligations under the Noachide laws only when they receive them as commanded by God. To be commanded by God is to be addressed by Him, and it is therefore incumbent upon Israel to welcome the covenant of the nations with the God of Israel.
From the human point of view, it is not difficult to understand why a people as uniquely related to God as Israel is, cherishing its election in spite of, or because of, the suffering this election has entailed, is reluctant to entertain the possibility that God may be willing to address other nations and be their Father as well. Because the relation between Israel and God has been so concrete, the mechanisms of human jealousy come into play. God's faithfulness to Israel is thus often thought to imply unconcern with other peoples. But God's willingness to address others and to love them in no way diminishes His love for Israel. Israel must therefore work, hope, and expect the day when many peoples shall go and say:
Come! Let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob,
That He may teach us His ways
And that we may walk in His paths. (Is 2:3)
FOR their part, the nations who seek the God of Israel must meditate on the mystery of their non-election. Surely non-election does not equal rejection. Ishmael and Esau, the sons of non-election, are suffused [p. 87] in the divine word with a compassion in some respects more powerful than the love of the sons of election. Is it not possible that those who love God so much that, even in their non-election, they submit with love and serenity to the destiny chosen for them by God, are very dear to Him indeed? Not to be the favorite son of a human father is a painful experience but the non-election of God is never a finality, only one way of being touched by the finger of God. If, in the election of Israel, there is also chastisement of a sinful Israel, in the non-election of the nations there is also the father's love for all of his children. In the end of days, there will be a reconciliation of all the families of the earth without division. To foreshadow that day, the Jew must speak humbly of his election, the Gentile with love of his non-election, both waiting together for the final redemption of creation.
Michael Wyschogrod (September 28, 1928 – December 17, 2015) was a Jewish German-American philosopher of religion, Jewish theologian, and activist for Jewish-Christian interfaith dialog. During his academic career he taught in philosophy and religion departments of several universities in the United States, Europe and Israel.
[1] The Code of Maimonides: The Book of Judges, tr. Abraham M. Hershman (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1949), p. xxiii.
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"Palestinian Theologian" Trashes "Palestinian Theology"
Écrit par Malcolm Lowe
Catégorie : L'Église en Israël
This article was originally published by the Gatestone Institute.
For over two decades, parts of the Christian world have been bemused by the writings of self-styled "Palestinian Christian theologians." Since their brightest lights are Protestant pastors, they are minor figures among the overwhelmingly Orthodox and Catholic faithful of the Holy Land. But they are strangely popular in Liberal Protestant circles abroad and especially beloved of church bureaucrats.
Now one of them, Lutheran Pastor Mitri Raheb of Bethlehem, has trashed all the efforts of "Palestinian theology" to date as an irrelevant rehash of nineteenth century European theology. And what is his new starting point? Basically, nineteenth century race theory.
For decades, Raheb and his Anglican counterpart Naim Ateek have been touring Protestant churches in Europe and North America and conducting seminars in "Palestinian theology." That is: purported theological underpinning for Palestinian political aims. Students in Protestant universities have been obliged to swallow down their books and regurgitate them in examinations. Those who questioned this new orthodoxy might face serious obstacles to their academic future.
Ateek in Jerusalem and Raheb in Bethlehem opened educational institutions to which theology students were sent from abroad. Recently, Raheb received authorization from the Palestinian Authority to grant BA and MA degrees. So for Raheb to denounce all that purported theologizing was to drop a big bomb.
Raheb was talking on "Contextual Palestinian Theology as It Deals with Realities on the Ground" at the March 2010 "Christ at the Checkpoint" conference in Bethlehem. He began by promising a "new way of thinking" because "we all, even as Palestinians theologians, we were dancing on the rhythm of European theology of the 19th Century, trying to react here, to react there, to change here and there, but the assumptions, the systems of thinking, was [sic] still 19th Century Europe."
Thus far, in trashing all the previous work of himself and Ateek, together with the lesser luminaries of this genre, Raheb was correct. Both Raheb and Ateek hold doctorates from foreign universities, written under that kind of old-time European influence. But the continuation of Raheb's talk is so academically frivolous that one wonders how he received a doctorate in the first place.
The "first assumption" of his new way of thinking, he announced, is that "the Bible could not have been written anywhere else but in Palestine." Now, such books as Esther and Revelation explicitly state that they were composed outside the Land of Israel (in Persia and on a Greek island respectively). Is Raheb so ignorant of his Bible?
His second assumption is outrageous, echoing nineteenth century attempts to obscure the Jewish origins of Jesus, which peaked in the "Aryan Christianity" of Nazi Germany. It is that "the Palestinian people and part of the Jewish people are the continuation of the peoples of the land" whereas "Israel represents Rome of the Bible, not the people of the land."
Why? Because "I'm sure if we were to do a DNA test between David, who was a Bethlehemite, and Jesus, born in Bethlehem, and Mitri, born just across the street from where Jesus was born, I'm sure the DNA will show that there is a trace. While, if you put King David, Jesus and Netanyahu, you will get nothing, because Netanyahu comes from an East European tribe who converted to Judaism in the Middle Ages."
Even if Raheb's claims about the ancestry of himself and Binyamin Netanyahu were true, he would be putting them at the service of a shameless racism. But, of course, he also has not the slightest evidence to support those claims. He knows nothing of Netanyahu's ancestry. And he himself, for all he knows, may be descended from Greek pilgrims or from Europeans who arrived with the Crusaders, as I have pointed out elsewhere. As for DNA, had he taken the trouble, Raheb could have found that genetic studies on Jews have shown that European Jews are genetically much more closely related to Jews in the Middle East, and even to some non-Jews there, than to non-Jewish Europeans.
Recall that the leitmotif of "Christ at the Checkpoint" was the claim that today Israeli checkpoints would prevent Joseph, Mary and Jesus from ever getting to Bethlehem. In fact, of course, if today a Jewish couple expecting their first child tried to set up house in Bethlehem, they would be denounced by the UN, the US State Department and all the world's foreign ministries as illegal settlers. And Mary would be lucky to live long enough to give birth.
So here comes Raheb to the rescue. As Yasser Arafat liked to say, Jesus and Mary were not Jews but Palestinians; so no problem. "And being born just across the street from where Jesus was born," adds Raheb, "I always loved to say that most probably one of my grand, grand, grand, grandmas used to babysit for Jesus." Once again, Raheb displays ignorance of or contempt for his Bible. According to Matthew's Gospel, the Holy Family fled Bethlehem for Egypt shortly after the birth of Jesus. If anyone babysat for Jesus, it was either Alexandrian Jews or Copts.
We need not pursue further Raheb's "new thinking" except to note its fundamental aim: to show that wherever the Bible talks about a Chosen People, it means today's Palestinians and specifically the Palestinian Arab Christians. Yes, he really means to make that preposterous claim. Consider a few quotations, and note that his initial inclusion of "part of the Jewish people" has vanished: now it is just Palestinians.
"Actually, the Palestinian Christians are the only ones in the world that, when they speak about their forefathers, they mean their actual forefathers, and also the forefathers in the faith." "So, that is the reality of the peoples of the land. Again, they aren't Israel. This experience I'm talking about, it's only the Palestinians who understand this, because Israel represents Rome." "It was our forefathers to whom the revelation was given..."
If one reads attentively all the "Palestinian theology" produced by Raheb and Ateek and their like, one finds that this claim about Palestinian chosenness, with the concomitant disqualification of Israel, is the whole point of the exercise. All the rest is baseless rigmarole, churned out in the attempt to get to that conclusion. The significance of Raheb's speech is his acknowledgement that all their previous rigmarole cannot survive serious examination. His puerile attempt to start a new rigmarole merely confirms this.
Not that this will diminish the adulation of Raheb and Ateek among their admirers. For they are admired not for their intellectual integrity, but for their services in the delegitimization of contemporary Israel and of the contemporary Jewish people. Despite his averred repudiation of nineteenth century theology, Raheb is repackaging the claim of old-time theologians that the Church is the "New Israel" that has replaced the Jewish people, that the Bible now belongs to Christians alone. In Raheb's view – it belongs just to Palestinian Christians.
Thus Raheb habitually receives rapt attention in Germany. He was awarded the "International Aachen Peace Prize" in 2008. Frequently, he has been fêted at Kirchentage, the mass jamborees of German Christians. He was most recently featured at the joint Protestant-Catholic Kirchentag hosted by the Lutheran Church of Bavaria in May 2010, two months after his Bethlehem speech. No matter what he said.
Raheb was also the star witness at the session of the 2004 General Assembly at which the Presbyterian Church of the USA voted to divest from various firms that do business with Israel. Two years later, after much controversy, the next General Assembly of the PCUSA voted to replace that resolution and apologize for allowing itself to be misled in 2004.
Still, we have to be grateful for the spectacle of Raheb's performance in Bethlehem. On the one hand, he threw all previous "Palestinian theology" into the rubbish bin. On the other, any decent university would grade his "new thinking" with a fail, if submitted by a non-Palestinian student. "Palestinian theology" may still have its admirers, but they are staring at a naked mini-monarch.
"Kairos Palestine": From Mendacity to Megalomania
The Myth of Palestinian Christianity
Catholiques pour la Palestine et Catholiques pour Israël
Elephants in the Room?
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Blogs Are Stupid
Doesn't anyone believe in Dear Diary anymore? What happened to the joy of putting actual pen to paper? And why does every ordinary Jane and John think they can write well enough to burden the world with their scribblings? It’s a mystery that badly needs solving. My first entry contains my thoughts about blogging and will set your expectations. The rest will probably be stream of consciousness garbage, much like you’ll find on any other blog. Perhaps we will both come away enlightened.
More On Faith
So, it seems that Diminutive One has acquired quite a female following.
There is a group of girls, ages 5 to 10, that are siblings of Pubescent One's teammates. There are two little boys his age as well, but they don't attend regularly.
As a result of having to while away many long hours of spectatorship at the ballpark together, he has become quite friendly with these girls.
They flirt with him outrageously but he is completely oblivious to that fact. He is nice to them and very happy to have someone to keep him company. But he doesn't flirt back because he just doesn't get it.
One little girl, who is the Coach's daughter, is his particular friend. They really dig each other in a "My Girl" kind of way. Recently, she had her first communion, and it was a very big deal. As such, it was the topic of much discussion between the two.
One evening, Diminutive One told me that "Abby" kept asking him what religion he was. We've had many similar discussions before, but I don't think I've ever given him a way to explain what it is that we believe, or don't believe as the case may be.
So I said, "The next time someone asks you that, you can say that you are an Agnostic."
"What's that??" he asked.
"Well, that means that we don't really believe in or belong to any one religion the way some people do. We don't do things that religious people do, like praying or going to church."
To which he replied, "Well that can't be good."
Good one, B.A. Let's try again.
"No, it is good honey. Because we like to explore and learn about many different beliefs, and we don't think there is a right or wrong way to worship God. We don't hate or exclude people because they believe differently from us."
That was the end of the discussion, but not the end of his ruminations. Later that evening, he raised the issue again.
"Mom, maybe we should be Catholic like Abby."
"Oh really? Why is that?"
He shrugged noncommitally. "It just seems kind of cool. She got a new bike for her first communion. What's communion?"
I explained, as best I was able, but the concept was a little abstruse for him to wrap his mind around.
I didn't tell him that once, my Father and his parents and his 11 aunts and uncles and all their children, had been staunch Catholics. Or that when my Grandmother decided to leave the Catholic church, she and my Father and his two brothers were all but abandonded by people who were supposed to love them.
I didn't tell him that because my father had a Baptist minister perform my grandmother's funeral service, her own brothers and sisters refused to attend, and the few family members that did keep in touch with him, stopped. I didn't tell him that when my Father's most beloved Aunt passed away, nobody felt compelled to tell him until she had been dead an entire year.
I didn't tell him that Catholicism had made many people in our family bitter and unhappy.
Instead, I told him that whatever he wanted to do, or believe, or learn about, was okay with us.
"Maybe you should ask Abby some more about it. Maybe her Mom and Dad would take you to their church to see how you like it."
He looked thoughtful for a moment and then he said, "Well...maybe I'll just ask for a bike for my birthday. That communion thing seems a little weird."
"Dude..religion isn't about getting presents. It's about believing in something greater than ourselves. You know that, right?"
"Yeah. I know. I just haven't decided if I believe that stuff yet."
"That's okay. I haven't either. But you have lots of time. It's not something you want to make a snap decision about. When something feels right, you'll know."
"How would you know?" he said dubiously.
"Well, I don't know from personal experience. But I've talked to a lot of people about it. And I have to believe that eventually, I'll find something that makes me feel the way I want to feel."
"Oh. Will you let me know when that happens?"
"You'll be the first to know, I promise. Well, besides God, that is."
He rolled his eyes at me, in a manner disconcertingly similar to that recently perfected by his 13 year old brother.
"IF there is a God."
"Yes, IF."
"Mom? Don't all religions believe in some kind of God?"
"Weeeeellllll, I'm no expert, but yes, I think most religions believe in a divine being."
"So..don't you think there might be something to that?"
"There might be, babe. There just might be."
I've written about this before...this feeling that I have that I am failing my kids because I have not provided them with the security that comes from faith. I feel that I am failing them when they ask for answers and I give them only more questions. I feel that I am failing them because I don't know, and kids expect parents to know...everything.
The only faith I can give him is that when he asks questions, I will answer honestly.
I hope that's enough. For now.
posted by Blog Antagonist @ 5:03 PM
At 6:25 PM, jess said…
I think your honesty and openness with them is the best gift you can give them.
At 6:36 PM, Hairline Fracture said…
I agree with Jess. I like the way you kept the door open for exploration and discussions in the future.
At 9:09 PM, KT said…
Your last 3 paragraphs "I've written about this before...this feeling that I have that I am failing my kids because I have not provided them with the security that comes from faith. I feel that I am failing them when they ask for answers and I give them only more questions. I feel that I am failing them because I don't know, and kids expect parents to know...everything.
I hope that's enough. For now."
EXACTLY HOW I FEEL AND I HOPE MY REACTION IS THE RIGHT ONE B/C AT THIS POINT IT'S ALL I KNOW HOW TO DO.
At 10:27 PM, Traceytreasure said…
I almost left this anonymously. I think the best thing you can do for your kids is have them believe in themselves. We can't prove that there is a God and we cannot prove that there's not a God. I have the same questions as your son. I have struggled with it for so long....If there is a God he hasn't heard or answered most of my prayers. Hugs, BA!
At 7:27 AM, Avalon said…
I think you're doing great by them BA. Only one bone of contention from another Agnostic. You said "I didn't tell him that Catholicism had made many people in our family bitter and unhappy."
I used to believe that too. However, I think it has little to do with the religion and much, much more to do with the person. The people in my family professing to be the "best Catholics" are, in fact, the ones trying to hide their ugliness behind a veil of religious piousness.
At 11:07 AM, the only daughter said…
Giving your sons so much more than "just because" views of the world especially with regard to religion is supremely responsible and courageous.
YaY for you.
At 1:52 PM, Amy Y said…
I think you're doing Ok by then, Mama. I was given the "security" of faith as a Catholic, growing up. Once I became of the age where I could question and wonder and *gasp* think for myself rather than being told what to believe... the whole thing seemed a lil silly and akin to a glorified Santa Clause myth. That left me feeling hurt, confused, guilty and very insecure as I struggled with the lose of my faith and trying to choose the next path. It was a very hard thing to go through at just 19 and I think the converse... finding your own way on your own time when you are ready, is a much more pleasant way to go about religion.
It feels more sincere, I'd think you could appreciate it more and it would mean more to you. At least that's what I'm holding on to as my kids grow up and one day, find their own path.
At 2:10 PM, Andrea said…
You know, my mother is Catholic. Raised my sister and me Catholic. Made us get confirmed Catholic. One thing she said to me that makes no sense, when I argued with her over my confirmation was, "When you are out of my house, then you can decide for yourself. Until then, you'll do as I say. And I say you're confirming Catholic." Erm, wait. Confirming Catholic meant that I was picking to be Catholic for the rest of my life, so she was choosing for me under the guise of "my roof, my rules" but it was so backward. I think that was the beginning of the end of my Catholicism. That and when I asked her if she'd ever questioned her faith, she said no. That didn't seem healthy to me.
I have yet to figure out what I am. I got married Methodist because that's what my husband is. But we were treated poorly at our wedding and subsequently when we baptised Gabe. I don't have issue with the belief in God, because it's what I grew up believing and I'm comfortable in that belief even if I question it sometiems, which I think is healthy so that I can explore and learn. So now we're church shopping. I don't think it was the religion, so much as the fallability of people in that church. We're still looking at Methodist churches and think we might have found one.
What's the point of my ramblings? Only to say that I think, because I got the late start in questioning faith and determining my path (that I've really only fallen into by circumstance), you are doing a service to your children not trying to pigeonhole them into your personal set of beliefs. I think you're building a foundation for them where they can find their own way, and I think they'll find your willingness to share your truths with them while letting them make their own choices refreshing and strengthening of their own tolerances of others, even those who may be less tolerant of them.
You're raising free thinkers, and I bet they'll thank you for it.
At 3:02 PM, sltbee69 said…
You haven't failed your kids. You are teaching them to think for themselves, to question ideals, etc. Maybe not now but one day DO will realize it and thank you for it.
At 6:47 PM, gurukarm said…
May I suggest, if/when the boys do start asking more questions about religion, that you let them know there are other places to look as well as the various Christian denominations. Just a thought. :-)
At 8:14 PM, Jozet at Halushki said…
Well, as someone raised Very Catholic (12 years of Catholic school by nuns with rules) and as someone who left the Church and has now returned again after dabbling in eastern religions and pagan religion, I find that even when I think I've found a resting place, faith is still and always a journey. A conversation. Sometimes an argument.
I think of my own faith as one long argument with God, lol.
I'm an imperfect Catholic married to an imperfect atheist. I'm raising our children Catholic, and I encourage the questions. I tell them that I have my own questions, but that for now, I'm framing them within religion to see what God gives me to bump up against and then go from there.
The one thing I tell my kids is that if anyone tells you that they have all the answers about God, that you should just nod your head and kindly say "Oh yes?" And then continue on with their own questions, their own lifelong conversation.
And no one got a bike for her First Communion here. All she got was cake and a lasagna party. ;-)
And yes, people do get nutty about religion. It's a shame. As if we need one more thing to separate ourselves from each other.
That should say "nuns with rulers"...and they used them.
At 9:11 PM, womaninawindow said…
ARE you KIDDING? Failing them? NO, no, no...asking questions is should be the first step for everyone, whether a believer or not. Asking quesions is the basis of ALL. Oh, I think you are a success! I just happen to share the same faith - faith in the power of thought and conversation and family. The rest will come as it may...
At 10:03 PM, Anonymous said…
From what I just read, you and I could be related! Seriously....I always felt it was essential that I give my 3 children a foundation of some sort of belief system.... 2 are out of the house now... one is entering highschool, and I'm still not 50. I don't want to throw "organized" religion down their throats... but they have been exposed. All this time, though, I've repeatedly told them that when they would get to a certain age, they could choose for themselves. It was all about them...not me. Self-discovery is a beautiful thing.
At 8:55 AM, katrin said…
I was brought up with no religion and our family is tight-knit and loving. We operate with high morals and generosity because we are motivated to do so in order to make our world a decent place to live, not because we believe that if we don't, we'll do to hell.
Now, that's the party line. What I really feel is just like you -- this weird sense of guilt that by not offering a religion to my kids I am closing them to the possibility of having a deep spiritual element in their lives.
But it's all I can do. Just because 90% of my neighbors go to church, doesn't mean I can or should sit there next to them. We do the best we can, expose our kids to all sorts of good things, and then, CROSS OUR FINGERS!
co-author Mothers Need Time-Outs, Too
www.momstimeouts.com
At 9:05 AM, Loved by God said…
You think you have all the time in the world to
"decide" to believe in God? When you had your kids,
did you think it best to wait until they got older and
you got to know them better before you "decided" to
love them? As a parent, wouldn't that hurt you if
they felt that way about you? God loves you now and
he wants a relationship with you now, not later! Read
Revelations - it's God's promise of what's to come.
You're lost and He's waiting for you to come back to
him. He's doing everything he can to get the message
to you. All you have to do is listen! Forget
"religion," but choose God. He's everything you need.
He will fill the void you feel. He loves you as you
are, right now! Accept his grace!
At 11:02 AM, Blog Antagonist said…
Loved By God:
I have to say, that's an interesting perspective.
But you see, I don't need convincing that my children exist. From that first little flutter inside my womb, I knew they were real. I didn't have to base my belief on someone else's hearsay, or a book that may or may not be a giant work of fiction.
When they were born, I could feel them, hear them, smell them.
Their love for me is evident every single day. It is not difficult to love them, nor does it require a leap of faith.
Loving them does not require me to look down on or judge other people. Loving them has made me a better person. I believe this world is a better place because my children are in it.
As a deeply convicted person, I think it's difficult for you to really understand the doubt that some people experience. You have unshakeable faith, but many people don't. And just because someone would like to have faith, doesn't mean they can snap their fingers and erase all the confusion and doubt that they feel about God, religion and the whole convoluted ball of wax.
To love God, I have to first be convinced that he is real and that he is working to make this world a better place.
I'm just not sure that's ever going to happen.
But again, thank you for your perspective. I enjoy hearing from people who are deeply convicted about their faith. I admire and envy them.
BTW, I have read Revelations. I have, in fact, read the Bible cover to cover. I was raised in a Christian home, you see. I attended church every Sunday until I left home to strike out on my own.
It's a good read to be sure. But it doesn't inspire in me, what apparently, it inspires in you.
At 11:36 AM, Loved by God said…
You don't see evidence of God all around you? Have you ever been outdoors and just experienced utter peace and contentment? You've held a baby in your arms... The love you have for your children is from God. Remember when your husband nearly got killed by that car? God was there, protecting him. There is plenty of evidence, you just have to choose to see it for what it is.
You won't ever see God "working to make this world a better place." That's not his job, it's yours. God works through us, that's how it works.
God gave us free will so we are free to make our own choices, good or bad. That is why he cannot "interfere" when things go wrong.
It is when we choose to accept Him that we gain the faith you're looking for. It won't hurt you to pray and ask him for what you seek. Seek and ye shall find. God answers prayer, just maybe not in the way you want.
When your kids ask you for something you don't always give them what they want right? Not if it's not good for them. But you do what's best for them. You never let them go without. It's the same with God. He will always provide for you, it just may not always be what you want or how you wanted it. But you have to trust that he knows better than you do. He's sovereign and we're merely human.
I've been where you are. I fought and fought God. I've had bad church experiences. It's exhausting. I'm happier now. Being God's child is not easy. It's not sudden happiness. But it makes it better knowing that we do not have to go through life alone.
Listen to Christian Radio. See if God doesn't speak to you through the music. Just try it. That's all I ask. :-)
At 11:36 AM, Rock the Cradle said…
Sounds like you're doing a great job. The more questions, the better.
This is where I am right now in regards to the God question:
God is that element inside each of us that inspires us to create...to love, to become something more and greater that who we are at the moment. It is an idea of what, and how, we might be.
God is not outside of ourselves...God IS ourselves.
As for heaven and hell...likewise.
We create these places every day of our lives. Every moment.
At 6:33 PM, Jackie said…
BA, I love your blog. I love how you express yourself so honestly and profoundly. And I also appreciate the conflict you feel.
I am a fundamentalist Christian. My faith does not come from me, but from God's word to me. You say you've read the Bible, but how long has it been and have you understood what you've read? Do you see how God continually paints a picture throughout the Old Testament that points straight to Christ's gift of redemption? I don't know how anyone could deny the thousands of prophesies, the hundreds of parables, the symbolisms, the follies and then the repentance of God's people. It's all there for us. We have the freedom to repent or not.
Because you are a very smart person, and fully capable, I suggest you do a Biblical word study on the word "glory" -- This word captures the essence of God. His presence right here in the midst of His people. See how He moves throughout the Old Testament times and then how His glory manifests itself in the New Testament. If nothing else, you'll appreciate the sheer poetry of Scripture.
At 9:01 PM, Blog Antagonist said…
Thank you for your well thought out and I know, kindly intended comments. I truly appreciate your taking the time to speak so earnestly of something that you believe in so deeply.
It's true that it's been quite some time since I read the Bible in it's entirety, but I have studied bits and pieces as an adult. Taken ss a strictly historical account of Christianity, I find it incredibly fascinating. I just don't know that I can buy it as a...spiritual guide. Does that make sense?
Also, though I am conflicted about not providing my kids with a spiritual foundation, and sometimes mourn the lack of that in myself, I am not compelled right now, to seek out the kind of meaning or "glory" that you describe within it's pages.
How's that for a complete contradiction?
It's just...I have to feel open to even the *possibility* that there is a diving being who guides us and loves us and...does all that Christians believe God does....before I can start exploring that. And I just don't yet. Sometimes, I feel like I might be almost there, and sometimes, I feel like I am lightyears away.
I know, I'm a mess.
Again, thank you for your comment. I know that it comes from a place of great joy and conviction.
At 5:38 AM, Ruth Dynamite said…
I'm right there with you BA.
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Contact: Chanda Temple, Director of Public Relations
Phone: (205) 444-9279 (cell)
E-mail: ctemple@bham.lib.al.us
National Museum and Library Services Board to Meet in Birmingham on November 15
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA – (November 7, 2013)
What: The 28th meeting of the National Museum and Library Services Board (NMLSB), 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 12:45 to 1:45 p.m.
When: Friday, November 15, 2013
Where: The Richard Arrington Auditorium of the Birmingham Public Library, 2100 Park Place
Why meet in Birmingham?: In honor of the 50th commemoration of the civil rights movement, organizers thought that Birmingham would be the perfect venue for the fall meeting. Also, one of the board members is Dr. Lawrence Pijeaux, President and CEO of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. During the meeting, members will review agency programs and services as well as library and museum trends, such as the emerging “makerspaces’’ movement.
What is NMLSB?: The 23-member board is an advisory body for the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Through grants, research, and policy development, IMLS supports all types of museums, from art to zoos, and all types of libraries, public, academic, research, and tribal. The state of Alabama received more than $2 million from IMLS in 2013 to support library services, and Alabama museums received more than $180,000 in competitive grants.
Dr. Pijeaux will welcome board members along with Rebecca Mitchell, Director of the Alabama Library Service; and Renee Blalock, Director of the Birmingham Public Library.
For more information, contact Giuliana Bullard at 202-653-4799.
National Museum and Library Services Board to Meet on November 15 in BirminghamOctober 30, 2013
IMLS Press Contact
Giuliana Bullard gbullard@imls.gov
Washington, DC—The 28th meeting of the National Museum and Library Services Board (NMLSB) will take place from 9:00 a.m. – noon on Friday, November 15, 2012, in the Richard Arrington Auditorium of the Birmingham Public Library in Birmingham, Alabama. The meeting is open to the public. The Board provides policy advice for the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Through grants, research, and policy development, IMLS supports all types of museums, from art to zoo, and all types of libraries, public, academic, research, and tribal. The state of Alabama received more than $2 million from the IMLS in 2013 to support library services, and Alabama museums received more than $180,000 in competitive grants.
Dr. Lawrence Pijeaux, President and CEO of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and member of the National Museum and Library Services Board, will welcome board members along with Rebecca Mitchell, Director of the Alabama Library Service, and Renee Blalock, Director of the Birmingham Public Library.
In light of Birmingham’s recognition of the 50th anniversary of pivotal civil rights events this year, the board will review the agency’s support for African American museums in the United States. The IMLS Museum Grants for African American History and Culture program was authorized by Congress in 2005 and the agency began making grants in 2006. Since then, IMLS has helped build the capacity of African American museums and Historically Black Colleges and Universities with 91 grants totaling $9,539,740. Grantees have provided matching funds of $11,870,065. The board will review past accomplishments and discuss future directions for this important grant program.
The board will also explore how the nation’s libraries and museums support learning in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). Speakers will discuss the roles of libraries and museums in the emerging “makerspaces” movement. Makerspaces offer the public the opportunity to pursue technical and engineering-oriented activities such as electronics, robotics, and 3D printing as well as traditional metalworking, woodworking, and arts and crafts, in a creative, collaborative environment.
The meeting location is:
Linn-Henley Research Building
Attendees should park in the lot at Park Place and go to the third floor for the crosswalk to the Linn-Henley Research Building. The Richard Arrington Auditorium is on the fourth floor.
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Ramos: I’ve already won the title more behind
Barca can play the Clasico without Messi, Real but not without Ronaldo. With 5:1 Barcelona shoots the arch rivals into the no man’s land (9th […]
“He wins the game for us!” Special praise for Sanches
Thiago Alcantara was the celebrated man. After a good hour he saved FC Bayern in Mainz with his goal. The teammates hurried to the Spaniard […]
Watzke: Bavaria is “a little more difficult at the moment”
Borussia Dortmund is currently the Bundesliga leader, the Bavarians are two points behind. After the Dortmund team beat Hertha BSC 2:2, BVB boss Hans-Joachim Watzke […]
4 newly approved drugs that help in the treatment of serious diseases
We still have a long way to go in eradicating diseases that have been plaguing us for the past century. Cancer is one name that […]
3 key technologies in healthcare that will simplify a doctor’s life
Technology is a big deal today. It has crawled its way into many professions hitherto unimagined, such as law – a profession where humans have […]
Why the involvement of youths is crucial to solving Healthcare
Youth are the fundamental pillars of any economy. No matter the advances and disruptions caused by technology, human skill, perseverance and determination are irreplaceable. And […]
Was Obamacare good or bad? We present an unbiased analysis.
Now that we are living in Trump’s America and seeing with our own eyes institutional reforms taking place around us, we feel like it is […]
Why the government remains crucial when it comes to healthcare
Healthcare is a layered issue. It affects billions of people around the world, and is a national issue where accountability is key. The role of […]
Barca can play the Clasico without Messi, Real but not without Ronaldo. With 5:1 Barcelona shoots the arch rivals into the no man’s land (9th place) of the La Liga – and Julen Lopetegui finally out?
Real still has a meager 14 points on their account. Barcelona (21) lead La Liga ahead of Atlético Madrid (19) and Espanyol Barcelona (18).
After five league matches in a row without a win, the media now think that Lopetegui’s kick-out from Madrid is just a matter of time. According to “Marca“, Antonio Conte is already the successor. The decision is to be made on Monday.
“We stand behind the coach until the bitter end. But the decisions will be made at the top,” said Real captain Sergio Ramos, referring to the club’s executive floor. You don’t throw in the towel yet. “I’ve already won league titles where we’re already ten points behind,” Ramos said. The point now is to “get your head up“. The criticised Lopetegui wants to fight: “I still have the strength to go on. The season is still long and I feel strong.”
Midfielder Casemiro also defends his coach energetically with clear words. When asked by a TV journalist whether the 52-year-old would have to take his hat, the Brazilian international said on the pitch: “It’s not the coach’s fault. We’re playing very badly, we haven’t had any luck for weeks“.
That’s how the game went
Leader Barcelona makes it clear from the first second who is the boss at Camp Nou.
11th minute: Picture-book attack by Barca. Coutinho completed on presentation of Jordi Alba without problems – 1-0 Barcelona. The Brazilian dedicates the goal to his pregnant wife.
National goalkeeper ter Stegen must intervene for the first time after 13 minutes. However, a long-range shot from Bale does not really challenge the former Gladbach goalkeeper.
Far shots are Real’s only means against the leader of the standings, who is raising his usual Tiki-Taka.
30th minute: Video proof 911 for Barca. Suarez ice cold. The Uru-Knipser also has baby cheers. He already has the baby.
Real desolate! Kroos weak.
Barca is too frivolous with his chances, misses it to raise the result before the break to 3:0 or 4:0.
Will Classico be the last game for Real coach Lopetegui? The former Spanish national coach (dismissed a few days before the World Cup for his commitment to Real) is shaky. Allegedly, the royals have already made contact with José Mourinho (55).
50th minute: Joker Vasquez sends Isco on his journey, whose input puts left-back Marcelo in the goal via detours. Only 1:2 – is it going to be exciting again?
It will be breathtaking!
Modric (56th minute) hits the post, Pique (57th) saves in highest emergency from the single-headed Ramos. On the other side, Suarez (61.) also only hits the post with a side puller.
Finally we have a Clasico! Chances in the minute cycle. Until Suarez strikes twice.
75th minute: Header torpedo from Suarez! The Uru weights the ball from 13 meters against the direction of Courtois in the corner. Rumms! 83rd minute: the ball
83. minute: The triple Suarez. Ramos fails at the acceptance of the ball, Sergi Roberto splashes in between, serves Suarez, who overcomes Courtois with a magnifier. Bitterly bitter for Real!
87th minute: Joker Vidal makes humiliation perfect for Real. The ex-Munich hits head-on at 5:1.
Barca slaughters Real!
The 5:1 is definitely one or two goals too high. To top it all off, Real also injures goal scorer Marcelo (Wade). Bucky Bingo welcomes their players with their welcome bonus promotions!
Will a good 30 minutes be enough for Lopetegui to save his job?
During the week, Real will go to amateur club Melilla in the cup, then Valladolid in the league (6th place) and Pilsen in the Champions League. Actually three solvable tasks for Lopetegui to get the curve or an ideal debut for a new coach…
Thiago Alcantara was the celebrated man. After a good hour he saved FC Bayern in Mainz with his goal. The teammates hurried to the Spaniard after he had netted a 2-1 winning goal, embraced and celebrated him – only Joshua Kimmich did not. The backfielder first fell around the neck of another Bayern pro, without whom the winning goal would not have been scored: Renato Sanches.
“The second goal, that’s his ball win. The will he had to win this ball at all costs, that’s how he wins the game for us,” Kimmich is quoted after the Sport1 game: “Not alone, that’s also clear, because Lewy still played it in and Thiago made it. But those are situations that are extremely important. It’s not always the scorer who decides the game.”
Joshua Kimmich Honours
Bundesliga: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18
DFB-Pokal: 2015–16
DFL-Supercup: 2016, 2017, 2018
UEFA European Under-19 Championship: 2014
FIFA Confederations Cup: 2017
UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 2016
UEFA Champions League Breakthrough XI: 2016
Germany national team Player of the Year: 2017
UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2017–18
FIFA FIFPro World XI 3rd team: 2018
Thomas Müller wants to serve the starting Robert Lewandowski with a long ball from the right wing shortly behind the centre line. But the imprecise, half-height ball is intercepted by Moussa Niakhate. The Mainz defender wants to initiate the counterattack immediately, Sanches smells the roast, anticipates correctly, runs cleverly into the password path, captures the ball back and brings it to Lewandowski.
The striker pulls right into the penalty area, crosses at the right moment and the Thiago, who has moved up with him, straightens from about six meters to 2:1. The Bavarians had the lead and the control back in the game and brought the victory dull but in the end safely over time.
Sanches, who came into the game just a few minutes before his decisive action for the twisted Leon Goretzka, was one of them. The 21-year-old Portuguese provided midfield stability in the final stages.
Even though he recently took his seats on the bench more often after his gala appearances at the beginning of the season, Sanches confirms his positive development under Kovac and finally seems to have arrived at FC Bayern. Pots of Luck Casino are a new and innovative option when it comes to online casino options.
This is not hidden from his fellow players either. Kimmich continues: “I take my hat off to you when you come here alone at the age of 18. He also had a certain backpack on. In his first time he didn’t do so easily, but then he comes back and says quite clearly that he wants to assert himself and play here. That’s remarkable how he does it mentally. He had to put up with a lot, too.“
Borussia Dortmund is currently the Bundesliga leader, the Bavarians are two points behind. After the Dortmund team beat Hertha BSC 2:2, BVB boss Hans-Joachim Watzke (59) was a guest at the “Aktuellen Sportstudio” on Saturday evening. In the “ZDF” show, the 56-year-old talked about the championship chances of the Dortmund team: “I don’t have the impression that they (the Bavarians, editor’s note) are weakening. They have now won away three times in a row. When Bayern Munich plays a top season, you don’t stand a chance,” Watzke explains, adding: “But you already have the feeling that it’s a little more difficult at the moment.”
Watzke praises the level of the league. “Maybe a lot of teams are stronger this year, too. I think that we are stronger than last year and I also have the impression that teams like Werder Bremen and Hertha BSC Berlin have developed,” says Watzke.
Dortmund is at the top after nine match days. The team of coach Lucien Favre could cheer six victories in the league so far and has not lost a game yet. Also in the Champions League it looks very good with three successes so far. The team seems to have found each other. Watzke does not fear a slump, as he did last season under Peter Bosz. At that time, the Dortmund team crashed to eighth place in the Bundesliga after a good start.
Lucien Favre Honours
1985: Swiss champion with Servette
1994: Promotion to Nationalliga B (Echallens)
1999: Promotion to Nationalliga A (Yverdon Sport)
2001: Swiss Cup winner (Servette)
2005: Swiss Cup winner (Zürich)
2006 and 2007: Swiss Super League winner (Zürich)
2006 and 2007: Manager of the year (Switzerland)
2011: Sport1 television channel manager of the year (Germany)
2012: VDV players’ union manager of the 2011/2012 season (Germany)
2013: Kicker sports magazine player poll manager of the first half of the 2013/2014 season (Germany)
2015: Kicker sports magazine player poll manager of the 2014/2015 season (Germany)
“Last year cannot be compared to this one. That was another phase. The team is more stable, also because we are more stable in the centre. With Axel Witsel and Thomas Delaney, we have players who have been clarified and can set the pace.”
Paco Alcacer is another newcomer who has made a significant contribution to the upswing. The 25-year-old centre forward is on loan from FC Barcelona until the end of the season. Alcacer has already scored eight goals in five competitive games. Watzke says in the “Sportstudio” that BVB have not yet drawn the purchase option, “but there’s not much to be said against us drawing it either. We have it in our hands ourselves. It won’t take until June.”
Meanwhile, Watzke did not want to comment further on the much-discussed press conference of the bosses of FC Bayern Munich: “I only saw a few excerpts. I won’t evaluate that either,” Watzke continues: “I was on the plane, and when I landed, I had 150 SMS on my mobile phone. I thought something serious had happened.”
Hoeneß and Rummenigge had complained at the press conference about the proportionality and tone of the reporting on the Bavarian crisis and thus set a discussion in motion. “I have the impression that this PK has somehow developed a dynamic that was not initially intended,” said Watzke. CampeonBet is very generous in giving out great offers.
“We all have to live with the fact that we have to put up with criticism, especially if it is justified. But the gaps between criticisms have become shorter today. There has also been a disinhibition. It is becoming more and more aggressive, especially in the social networks. There it goes today already more to the thing.”
October 30, 2018 July 27, 2018
We still have a long way to go in eradicating diseases that have been plaguing us for the past century. Cancer is one name that springs to mind. We have spent decades fighting this monster, and to limited avail. It continues to devour lives at an alarming pace.
Cancer is not the only one though. We also have Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and many more, that have stumped us for a while. While we have learnt to slow down the progression of these diseases and take reasonable precautionary measures, we have not succeeded in eradicating them.
That is why new drug innovations are so vital in today’s world. As the leading innovator in the world, the United States has a lot of responsibility to bear on this front. In this post, we look at 2018’s newly approved drugs by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA).
Crysvita is a new drug developed by the company Ultragenyx for the treatment of a rare genetic disease called X-linked hypophosphatemia. It is a bone disease caused by a growth inhibiting hormone that affects children as young as 1 year old. The drug aims to counteract the effect of this hormone and stimulate growth.
Trogarzo
Trogarzo is a drug against a type of HIV-1 infection that is normally resistant to drugs, developed by the pharmaceutical company TaiMed Biologics Inc. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a dreaded disease. It has stalled the development of many economies in Asia, Africa and Latin America. It is perhaps the biggest worry to human beings. Trogarzo is intended for the treatment of HIV-1 infection.
Nivestym
Nivestym is pharmaceutical giant Pfizer’s latest innovation. The drug is mainly intended to be used in chemotherapy for myeloid leukemia, although it can also be used for fighting against neutropenia. The drug has to be administrated carefully, and it is worth remembering that any drug in the fight against cancer is manufactured to be extremely effective and strong, and will have side-effects. Make sure you are fully aware of these.
Braftovi
Braftovi is a capsule-form drug that is used in the treatment of metastatic melanoma. Manufactured by Array Biopharma Inc., this has been one of the breakthrough innovations of 2018. Melanoma, especially in its late stages, is a dreary proposition. As mentioned before with Nivestym, ensure you fully know the side effects of this one.
We can’t stress enough the need for full research before consuming any of these drugs. We know that these are only consumed in the worst of times and you have a prescription, but self-research is equally important.
September 28, 2018 July 27, 2018
Technology is a big deal today. It has crawled its way into many professions hitherto unimagined, such as law – a profession where humans have always been essential and irreplaceable. At its current pace, it is impossible to predict what it cannot do.
Technology is increasing disrupting healthcare and medicine as well. With things such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, clinics and hospitals are increasing adopting technologies to increase the quality of patient care. And as this is happening, it is important for doctors to be aware of the effectiveness of these technologies.
Doctors are the key cog in the healthcare space. In a profession where time is often found lacking, doctors have had to make hard choices in the past about prioritizing patients. This can lead to undesirable consequences for a select few patients, but you cannot blame anyone for that. However, the very presence of technology in medicine today is to ensure efficiency. Let us look at the key trends as of today that doctors should be aware of.
Healthcare providers store large volumes of data on a daily basis. Often, the extraction of such data can lead to delays and inefficiencies. If you visit your local doctor to treat a vicious stomach bug and he needs 10 minutes to extract your patient record, which is not unusual, it can be dangerous. With the advent of big data and faster data processing, expect to see higher efficiencies in your local clinic.
Overcapacity. An issue that plagues many clinics and hospitals. Onboarding and waiting times when you book an appointment can sometimes be excruciatingly long. This is simply an issue of demand and supply. The emergence of VR has helped in some ways. Today, it is being used in rehabilitations, pain relief through distraction and even surgical procedures. It doesn’t replace the doctor, but substitutes the doctor for certain mundane tasks, thus freeing up time for the doctor to focus on more important tasks.
Diagnosis is an important function for a doctor. While most clinics and hospitals have established structures wherein the diagnosis is conducted as much as possible before a lead doctor gets involved in a case, it is still time consuming. With IoT so much present in healthcare today, we have apps that measure health, performance, diet intake and so on. Using such data would be useful in saving up a lot of time.
France as a leading medical innovator and the risks in clinical trials
August 27, 2018 July 27, 2018
Looking outside the United States, there are a few other nations leading innovations and breaking grounds in medical innovation. One of them is France. As one of the world’s leading economies and a nation with a relatively high life expectance of 82 years, France has pretty much done things right for a while now.
It is general knowledge that Europe is the second large pharmaceutical market after the United States. Within Europe, the leading innovators in medicine are Switzerland, United Kingdom and France. Among the three, France is the very personification of liberalism. After all, they are the ones who gave us socialism and liberalism.
Healthcare in France is either free or heavily subsidized for a vast majority of the population. You may think, how can that be even sustainable. Well, have you ever had a glance at tax rates in Europe? Income tax rates in many European nations go up as much as 60%. However, only the ultra-rich normally fall under such tax slabs.
Now that Emmanuel Macron, a self-confessed far-left candidate is in charge of the nation, one can assume healthcare to be further liberalized. However, in addition to liberalization, France’s higher life expectance is also partly due to a high level of innovations and research in the field of medicine.
One thing to keep in mind is that research in medicine often involves lot of risks and setbacks. Medicinal testing involves clinical trials, the morality of which is always being questioned. It is not unexpected to have collateral damage during the rollout of a new drug, for example.
This happened in France recently. In January 2016, a clinical trial of a drug in France led to catastrophic consequences. One person was killed and five others hospitalized. The compound, known as BIA 10-2474, was intended to be used in the fight against neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s. Neurological diseases have always been a complex fight to wage.
Parkinson’s has stumped humanity for ages. A disease that affected 6 million people in 2015, it is something that is dreaded by people as they approach a certain age. The BIA 10-2474 was heralded as a breakthrough in the fight against neurological disorders, before the unfortunate incident happened.
The reason stated by the company that manufactured the compound was that the effects weren’t known before conducting the trials. More studies could have been done prior to clinical trials. While it is completely irresponsible from the part of the manufacturer, we have to understand that people can do only so much to limit collateral damage. At the end of the day, anything new has risks involved.
Youth are the fundamental pillars of any economy. No matter the advances and disruptions caused by technology, human skill, perseverance and determination are irreplaceable. And the next generation of the workforce need to take responsibility.
Youths have been essential to many great movements in the United States. When Martin Luther King Jr. marched on the streets of Selma, Alabama, to protest the vicious racism that was resurging in the Deep South, he marched with an army of youths. Youths full of bravery and fearlessness. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Even today students and youth activists are campaigning actively for change. In Trump’s America, there have been many controversial issues. The famous ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement is something that is purely led by youths. In fact, the involvement of youths in politics is refreshing.
Youths were at it again during the Vietnam War protests in the 1960’s and the Tiananmen square democratic rally in the 1980’s. Look all around the globe, and youths are no longer the silent spectators they once were. And we need them today, much more than ever.
We know that the issues facing our country are much more than ever. We have regressed when it comes racial equality, gender rights, income gap, international relations and many more issues. Traditionally considered a champion of human rights and a firm believer in individual potential, the United States has faced recent backlash over the deterioration of many of these so-called American values.
Now we face another major issue – Healthcare. With the repeal of Obamacare, close to 20 million people risk losing their insurance. Regardless of the usefulness of Obamacare and the difference in opinion around it, people losing insurance is no joke. Unless there is a sound alternative from the Republicans, which seems increasingly unlikely, we could be witnessing a catastrophe in the unfolding.
It is now that the role of youths is more important than ever. Healthcare is a basic human right. No man or woman must have to pay over the moon to access basic prescription drugs. No one must have to be asked to spend $5,000 for a pregnancy checkup or diagnosis of a pre-condition. Imagine if the 80% of diabetes population who have prediabetes can be diagnosed and treated in time!
Let us march peacefully and assume our democratic right to protest peacefully for a cause. If we let things continue the way they have been, it could be too late to do anything.
A call to action to the US Government to fix the drug price issue
Recently there has been an uproar over drug prices in the United States. Many of you must have heard of Martin Shkreli, the infamous American businessman and CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals who was responsible for a 56-time price hike on the drug Retrophin. In an instant, he became the most hated person in the country.
That, however, wasn’t an exception. Post the financial crisis, our country has had a recurring problem with increasing drug prices. Biotech has been one sector that has rebounded sharp and fast since the GFC. Today, drug prices in the US are the highest in the world. But why is it so? Well, you may be surprised to hear that it is simply just market forces.
Unlike other countries, the US government plays no role in prescription drug prices. This means that after FDA approvals, drugs are rolled to the market without any government oversight. This means that they are simply subject to market forces. And when it comes to pharmaceuticals, demand is always higher than supply, meaning that prices go up.
There are other nations as well where prices in general are high and unaffordable, such as Switzerland and the United Kingdom. However, due to strict intervention by Governments, prices are controlled and made affordable. The United States, being the ultimate example of pure Capitalism, remains different, undesirably so.
Politicians have come out and called out pharmaceutical companies for their unfair pricing. Even recent politicians such as Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have slammed the industry. Imagine, cancer drugs in this country cost $10,000 monthly! That is blasphemous! It requires a bottoms-up effort from government and strict laws to control this spiraling hike.
There is an argument from pharmaceutical companies that the high prices are required to conduct further research and innovation. They say that cost of development is quite high. Qualitatively, it is true considering the United States is the world’s largest spender, by an immense distance, on drug innovation and research.
Quantitatively however, the numbers don’t add up. Profit margins in this industry are excessively high, and cost of development isn’t anywhere close. Even so, pushing the prices higher and making it affordable only to the wealthy doesn’t do these companies any good. What is point of pushing a new drug to the market if now one can afford it!
We are a supporter of capitalism, but we feel like the government needs to do more in this domain. The United States deliberately stays away from most industries to let the market dictate prices. While this is a sound ideology, pharmaceuticals is not your typical industry. It affects lives.
Now that we are living in Trump’s America and seeing with our own eyes institutional reforms taking place around us, we feel like it is a good time to assess the legacy of Obamacare. While we didn’t have it for that long, there have been many heated debates about the effectiveness of Obamacare. It does look appealing from the outside, but how effective is it really?
Liberals and liberal supporters often talk about the fact the Obamacare is required if the poor need to get affordable healthcare. In world dominated by pharmaceutical giants and with rising drug and insurance prices, the common man needs an outlet. And Obamacare was meant to be that. However, with economists and the intelligentsia questioning the sustainability of the plan, we wanted to take a look at it ourselves.
At its essence, Obamacare wanted to ensure that the 40 million odd people who didn’t have any insurance coverage were able to sustain themselves. While it is beyond this post to get in too much detail on the plan, it aimed to provide subsidies (tax credits) or extend Medicaid coverage to more people. Prior to that, Medicaid was limited only to senior citizens and people below the poverty line.
The main controversy was that the government was forcing people to spend on insurance. It was seen by some as an infringement on individual freedom to decide. What they failed to recognize is that spending on heavily discounted policies would eventually lower gross medical spending and bring down costs for everyone. Pretty much basic economics.
A key tenet of the plan was that companies were forced to pay health insurance for employees. Considering America’s low unemployment rates, the idea was to use this as a way to benefit everyone. Companies that didn’t have employee health insurance plans were subject to heavy taxes. This forced their hand, in a way.
On the other hand, the criticism that was aimed at Obamacare focused on two aspects – higher cost for businesses and intrusion on personal affairs. Businesses would incur higher costs due to the added insurance expenses, which in turn could stop them from adding jobs, and the Government intruding on people’s decision making was undemocratic.
In our opinion, we agree that Obamacare isn’t perfect. In fact, no policy can be perfect. All of them will have some intended and some unintended consequences. However, it is fair to say that the pros tend to outweigh the cons, not just in terms of quantity but in terms of overall social and economic impact to Government and the people. So, from our view, Obamacare is a win.
A brief look into the dangerous effects of Diabetes in the US
Everyone in the United States is aware of one existential threat that exists today – Diabetes. The disease has ‘eaten’ (pun intended) the lives of many and continues to do so at an alarming pace. While it is hereditary in some cases, it is definitely brought about by man made causes in the others.
Worryingly enough, as per the latest CDC report, more than a 100 million Americans suffer from Diabetes today. That is almost a third of the population! Although, about 80% of that is prediabetes, which can become type II diabetes if not treated within the next few years.
Diabetes affects people of all colors and ages. It doesn’t discriminate its victims., although African Americans and Hispanics have a proportionately higher risk of being affected. Diabetes, in turn, is classified into type I and type II diabetes. Type I is caused by genetic and environmental factors, whereas type II is purely a result of diet and weight control.
We have always had a problem in the United States with the prevalence and easy accessibility of food loaded with sugar, salt and saturated fats. Food items such as hamburgers, pizza, soft drinks and other processed meat often triggers obesity. Unfortunately, this is the type of food that is available on the cheap.
Perhaps, that is the reason why obesity is most prevalent in the Southern states, where there is a higher percentage of people living in poverty. It will take a concerted effort from both governments, corporations and people themselves to solve this issue. There is a cheaper alternative to such food that involves vegetables, fruits and non-fried meat.
We also ask America’s sweethearts such as McDonalds, Burger King and Coca-Cola to join this fight against obesity and put aside shallow considerations about profits aside. After all, they will not have clients left if obesity continues to devour lives at this rate.
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A House with a Pedigree
THE HIGHLANDS | SEATTLE
Once in an era, a truly iconic residence becomes available that can be said to have set the standard in its time and to have continued to do so throughout its existence. Houses of this stature are multi-faceted works of art, beginning with the inspiration that coalesces between client and architect, made whole through the craftsmanship and artistry that it takes to create them, and culminating in the unequalled atmosphere and presence that can only evolve through generations of passionate and dedicated stewardship. Such a home exists in The Highlands, one of the world’s most beautiful and rarified enclaves, situated on a bluff above Puget Sound.
Designed by Elizabeth Ayer and constructed between 1927 and 1928 for railway heir Langdon C. Henry, the estate at 166 Boundary Lane is considered one of the grande dames of The Highlands. It comprises 8 bedrooms and 8 baths, artfully arranged throughout over 11,000 square feet of opulent living space, and it occupies over 4 acres of exquisitely integrated formal gardens set amidst unspoiled old-growth forest.
4+ Acres of Formal Gardens
Main Estate
8 Bedrooms / 8 Bathrooms / 11,000+ Square Feet
"The residence is recognized for its perfectly proportioned beauty and elegance in a private community already internationally known for its exceptional historic architecture."
In 1907 the famed Olmsted Brothers cut the ribbon on one of their most ambitious design projects to date, a community of homes meant to be as integrated with their natural woodland surroundings as the residents were with each other. The Highlands has 102 beautiful private residences with lot sizes ranging from 0.9 acres to 9.8 acres. Homes date from 1907 to 2007, and many have been substantially remodeled and updated.
The Highlands shares a border with Seattle and Shoreline and lies within close proximity of the charming waterside town of Edmonds. It is an independent community with its own roads, sewage and water systems and community maintenance with Seattle underground utilities providing gas and electricity. The neighborhood is a 15-20 minute commute to downtown Seattle, via interstate, state highway and numerous surface thoroughfares.
A private drive winds through groomed lawns and forest to arrive at a formal pond with a fountain in front of the magnificent main house. A stunning example of the refined Colonial revivalism for which Ayer is known, 166 Boundary Lane presents a perfectly symmetrical façade that hugs its ground and announces its majesty without pretense. Rows of shuttered double hung windows define two stories on either side of the center entry, while matched, hipped wings complete the house’s outer extremities and allow it to gently wrap around its circular drive.
The residence is recognized for its perfectly proportioned beauty and elegance in a private community already internationally known for its exceptional historic architecture, and is further enhanced by the stage-setting drama of its landscaping.
Elizabeth Ayer
Elizabeth Ayer is responsible for many of the region’s most notable structures in the revival tradition. She was not only among the University of Washington’s first architecture graduates, but she became the first licensed female architect registered in the state of Washington in 1930.
The opulently decorated and inviting living spaces of 166 Boundary Lane exist as an ode to the enduring style of Ayer’s architectural details, and as a meticulously maintained and continually evolved masterpiece by the renowned design firm of Parish Hadley.
The main floor of 166 Boundary Lane consists of a formal central entry and stair hall with a long gallery, living room, library and private guest suite to the left, and dining room, breakfast room, kitchen, pantry and servant’s quarters and preparation areas to the right.
The second level contains five completely unique bedroom suites each with its own sleeping, dressing and bathing areas. These rooms are sumptuous and serene enclaves in which to enjoy privacy and rest, and they are easily accessed either via the grand stair, or by one of two more discreet, stone spirals located at either end of each hall.
The main house is completed by a gracious, full-length patio off the back of the house that is the ideal location for languid afternoons and outdoor events, capturing spectacular views over Puget Sound, and leading to formal lawns by a pair of wide staircases.
Seller reserves the right to change product offering without notice.
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This Open Letter to My Fellow Christians
Dear Fellow Christians,
In light of the tragic events at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut last Friday, a few of us really, really want to tell the rest of us why God would allow such an evil act. We just can't keep it to ourselves, and so we get on our soapboxes, find microphones and cameras, and let everyone know just who is to blame for the deaths of 20 children. As fellow believer and someone who often wrestles with the question of how God who can allow such evil to exist, I humbly offer my own suggestion.
Please stop talking.
That's all you have to do, really. Stop talking. Don't say another word about why the gays, abortionists, feminists, liberals, secularists, or any other group is responsible. Stop blaming it on a lack of school prayer, the teaching of evolution, the Ten Commandments not being on the walls, and Christianity not being the national religion. Just stop.
Do you understand that when we do this, we're celebrating the murder of schoolchildren? We're so happy that these children died because it gives us the perfect opportunity to wag your finger at people and tell them "I told you so." That's right, I said it. Some of us seem to be enjoying this senseless tragedy because it gives us the perfect opportunity to dust off our usual talking-points.
It's as if our first instinct when we heard the news was to high-five everyone. If you find that imagery offensive, good, because that's how we're coming across, as people who can barely contain their glee about this shooting. The children weren't even buried and we were falling all over ourselves to be the first to blame everyone we don't like.
Is this really what Christianity is all about, strutting around after a tragedy, pointing our fingers at people we don't like and blaming them? Is this really how we're to be carrying out the Great Commission, spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world? When did the message of "God loves you" turn into "It's your fault children died?"
This isn't the Gospel of Jesus, it's Pride and Self-Righteousness. It's what happens when we give in to our most base natures. When we pile on this after a tragedy, we become the very evil we think we're condemning, the very thing God detests. Remember, Jesus had a lot to say about self-righteousness and those who'd condemn rather than love.
It's so easy to condemn, (fun, too) but that's why Jesus warned us against judging others. It's why He told us to look first at our own faults before criticizing others. It's why we are told to turn the other cheek, to forgive, and to treat others as we'd prefer to be treated.
None of us are perfect, myself definitely included, which is why we need to remember two things: God loved us enough to die for us, and God loves everyone else just as much. When we forget that, when we lose this perspective, we can go to a very dark place. In the end, we'll do more harm to ourselves than to anyone else.
I'm not writing this as someone who has the moral high ground on judgement and self-righteousness. Rather, I'm coming from a position of been-there, done-that. I know how addictive it can be to dwell in that self-righteous anger. It's a literal rush, and the more you indulge it, the more you need. Soon you start finding other things to be angry about and anger and condemnation become your way of life. This takes a toll on your health, your relationships, and your credibility as a Christian. And if we let these angry feelings fester and build up inside of us, on rare occasions we can lose all perspective and become the kinds of people who would commit mass murder to make a point.
This is why we need to let go of all our anger. It will destroy us. This is what Jesus came to free us from. This is what we are called to free others from. If God is speaking to us through this tragedy, it isn't to condemn. It's to urge us to love each other, especially the kinds of people who would do such a thing. The way we can prevent these kinds of things from happening is to love our neighbor, especially our mentally ill neighbors who need help. God also wants us to
So please, fight those instincts to use these senseless deaths to advance a petty, political agenda. Fight the urge to engage in "I told you so." When we do that, we aren't doing the Lord's work, we aren't spreading the Good News, but what we are doing is hurting ourselves and those around us.
If we truly want to stop these events from happening, the solution isn't hatred and condemnation. We fight hatred with love, understanding, and grace. This is how we push back the darkness, with the light.
This is the season we celebrate Christ's birth, and now is not the time to forget what that means. God so loved the world that He sent His Son to us so that everyone, even people we hate, can have eternal life. When we remember that, when we remember why God put us here in this world, then we are doing the Lord's Work.
Labels: Christians, Christmas, Connecticut, God, Good News, Gospel, Grace, Open Letter, Sandy Hook, shooting
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This Relationship Corner: Now You're Cooking!
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Judiciary Giving Lotto-scammers Double Bonanza: Legislature Must Act Now..
One of the most longstanding issues hobbling Jamaican Authorities ability to decisively deal with crime is the attitude of the Judiciary toward this vexing issue.
Jamaica’s Judiciary though not wholly corrupt, is certainly not incorruptible as certain quarters of the Island’s population would have you believe.
We know differently.
For the most part, the Islands judges have long mischaracterized the concept of “Independent Judiciary” to mean free to do as they please with bail and sentencing.
The idea of an independent judiciary and Press are two of the few safeguards citizens have against tyrannical Governments which would otherwise trample on their rights and liberties.
As such, the press and the judiciary have sacred responsibilities to be as judicious as possible in the way they carry out their functions.
Jamaica’s Judges Abuse Their Oaths To Aid Murderers And Other Violent Offenders, Fact…..
Both have failed in carrying out those sacred functions.
For its part, the once respected media on the Island has denigrated into cheerleaders for political parties and special interest groups despite the growth in mediums.
The police have long maintained that judges are far too lenient on criminals who are brought before the courts. In fact, the archaic nature of the Island’s laws makes a mockery of the criminal justice system.
Juxtapose that with the mockery the judges make of the system and there is little wonder at the reason crime is so out of control.
The Island’s crime epidemic cannot be wholly laid at the feet of judges, or that of the press, but both groups play a part, as have others in the massive escalation of crime on the Island.
The judiciary has turned the system into a mockery of a revolving door. It releases dangerous killers back onto the streets regardless of how many people they kill, the gruesome nature of their crimes or how many times they have been arrested on homicide charges and are still awaiting trial.
This brain-dead practice has over the years resulted in a number of problems, not the least of which is perceived police extrajudicial killings, police corruption, a breakdown in the rule of law, lack of respect for the nation’s laws and law enforcement officers, and a general reliance on community so-called Dons as more effective entities to mete out justice.
Amidst all of this, the Judiciary continue to adopt a pompous attitude as it maintains that bail was never intended to be punishment. In the meantime, the court continues the insane practice of releasing the Island’s most dangerous killers back onto the streets as soon as the police arrest them.
According to police statistics over one hundred and forty of the murders committed on the Island this year were committed by people on bail.
Bear in mind that that figure represents ‘s only those homicides which the police have effectively solved and were able to cross-reference them by deterrmining that at the time they killed someone they should have been locked up in jail.
The number of homicides committed by people granted bail is much higher and is a large part of the reason the Island’s homicide rate is so high.
http://www.chatt-a-box.com/jamaican-judges-grants-bail-to-murderers-they-then-kill-cop/
It should come as no surprise then that since the well-learned judiciary plays God Almighty by repeatedly granting bail to mass murderers they would have no problem releasing Lotto-Scammers with a tiny slap on the wrist and a smile.
Never mind that the Island’s law enforcement agencies have repeatedly said the Lotto-scammers are using their illicit gains to fund the illegal gun trade and by extension is responsible largely for the tremendous increase in homicides.
From my experience, the seriousness of the charges brought against Jamaica’s criminals has never seemed to be important to many of the judges I have seen on the bench.
One gets the impression that their singular focus has always been to find ways to release them back into the communities as soon as possible.
There is now strong evidence that there is a collaborative process in place between some on the bench and certain defense attorneys which includes money changing hands for prisoners to get bail and for lenient sentences.
Reporting on the disposition of cases in the Hanover circuit court should prove to even the most loyal supporters of the Judiciary that something is radically wrong here.
The paltry fine of $367,000 imposed on fifteen defendants who plead guilty to lottery scamming is a damning indictment of the judiciary.
Judges Have A Responsibility As Officers Of The Court To Follow And Apply The Law, Obviously Not In Jamaica..
The reports indicate that seven were fined $30,000; five were fined $20,000 while two were fined $25,000. The other man was fined $7,000 and ordered to pay restitution of US$580.
Senior law enforcement official notes that the Law Reform Fraudulent Transaction Special Provisions Act, commonly called the Lottery Scam Act, provides stiffer fines and up to 15 years in prison.
The official described the fines as scandalous and says they do not take into account the links between the lottery scam and the increase in violent crimes in western Jamaica.
The official also pointed out that in each case the fines were less than US$200, significantly less than the fines imposed on Jamaicans convicted in the United States on charges related to the lottery scam.
Indeed they are.
An independent judiciary was never intended to be a judiciary which aids the proliferation of crimes, it was intended as articulated earlier in this article.
Since the courts have refused to do its job, the Legislature must now act to protect the country.
A judiciary is not free to do as it pleases, it is unelected and must carry out its mandate independently from Government, nevertheless when the needs of the people change and the actions of the courts are not in conformity with the wishes of the people the people’s representatives must act.
That action must come in the form of mandatory minimum sentences for certain categories of crime.
It must remove from judges, the discretion and ability to grant bail to murder accused, unless with stringent conditions prescribed in law.
Those conditions should include electronic monitoring, house arrests, confinement to certain geographic locations among others.
These conditions should only be in law if the country is able to supply the security forces with the equipment necessary to enforce said conditions.
In this fight to take back our country from the desperadoes, it must be all hands on deck. The country cannot afford a few unelected bureaucrats to continue to derail our system of justice.
Judges must be given strict guidelines to follow in certain categories of crime. It would also be a good idea to allow Prosecutors to appeal a sentence if he feels that the sentence was incommensurate with the crimes an offender was charged with.
Finally, Judges must be appointed from the prosecutor’s side, the country can ill afford to have the judiciary populated with former defense lawyers.
Principles:
2.4 Judges should exhibit and promote high standards of judicial conduct
so as to reinforce public confidence which is the cornerstone of judicial
3.1 Judges should ensure that their conduct is above reproach in the view
of reasonable, fair-minded and informed persons, and that their behavior
is such as to reaffirm the confidence of the public in the integrity of the
judiciary. (Jamaica judicial conduct guidelines).
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Next Next post: Lower Murder Stats Of The Past A Result Of Hardcore Policing: Not Despite, Or Worse, A Result Of It…
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Studio City has a small-town feel while maintaining a trend-setting and progressive stance. It has an alluring attraction admired by both the entertainment industry and families of all types.
Studio City was named as a result of Mack Sennet’s filming activities during the silent film era of the 1920’s. It is still home to the CBS Studio Center with 18 sound stages and 223 dressing rooms. Not to mention, Studio City’s historic landmark, Sportsmen’s Lodge Hotel, which has the pleasure of hosting guests like, Katharine Hepburn and Clark Gable. Wholesome family shows like “The Brady Bunch” was filmed here in Studio City too.
It maybe San Fernando Valley’s most stylish neighborhood with Ventura Boulevard being the prime location for nightlife, vintage boutiques, organic eateries and yoga studios. Ventura Boulevard has your pick of popular chains such as Urban Outfitters and smaller trendy boutiques like Hoity-Toity.
There are restaurants galore no matter what you are in the mood for. Looking for a burger and beer? Both the Black Market and Laurel Tavern are clear winners and are considered one of the best alehouses around. How about a coffee and pastry? Aroma Café has you covered with its transformation from a private home to restaurant and café. Ok, ok, you want sushi? That is not a problem with Ventura Boulevard’s very own, Sushi Row. Sushi Row has the freshest sushi in America. The seafood is sent directly from Japan and lands first in LA.
Choosing to venture beyond Ventura Boulevard is highly recommended with Fryman Park just around the corner. There are rolling hills with greenery for miles. Beeman Park hosts the 2nd largest youth baseball team within public parks too. The Farmer’s Market is hosted every Sunday and has became an international tourist attraction and one of the most successful markets in SoCal. If you have children or thinking about expanding your family, Studio City has one of the best school districts around, Carpenter School District.
Studio City is conveniently located 12 miles northwest of the LA Civic Center, 35 minutes away from LAX, Venice Boardwalk and the Santa Monica Pier. If you are looking to see the Hollywood Walk of Fame, you will arrive in about 15 minutes by car.
http://www.studiocitychamber.com/aboutstudiocity.php
https://www.airbnb.com/locations/los-angeles/studio-city
http://www.timeout.com/los-angeles/restaurants/the-best-coffee-shops-in-studio-city-sherman-oaks
http://www.thrillist.com/eat/los-angeles/the-11-best-places-to-eat-on-ventura-thrillist-los-angeles
http://www.10best.com/destinations/california/los-angeles/studio-city/
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art, Beautiful, chimera, East End Studio Gallery, Fashion, houston — categorie
art, DESIGN, DOPE, FEMALE CREATIVES, handmade jewelry, JEWELRY, LOCAL, MECSTATIC, metalsmithing, michelle sanchez — tags
Last week, we met with Chimera’s own Michelle Sanchez to ask her about her growing jewelry business. The artist, who specializes in metalsmithing, designs collections that include traditional pieces such as bracelets, necklaces and earrings, and more modern ones as well, such as midi rings and septum hoops. Recently, she even produced an ornate head mask, which was on display on a live model at the Trifecta show held at East End Gallery in August.
The artist discussed her upcoming visit to her hometown of Columbus, Georgia, as well as her art form and biggest inspirations. Read more to get the full interview.
HOW DID YOU GET STARTED MAKING ART?
My family is creative women. So I’ve been surrounded by it since I was little. I can remember making doll clothes while my mom was making costumes for my sister’s play. In high school, I started making tote bags. At first for me and my friend, then everyone started asking. That was my first experience selling creative work.
When I moved to Houston, I was focusing on photography. I developed my own film, and met a lot of really amazing photographers through that. I think in 2011, I stayed at my sister’s house and I stayed up for hours on end and started making jewelry. It wasn’t intentional. I didn’t mean to make jewelry! If I had a choice I would make clothes. But jewelry was more tangible and easier to do. It started off as intricate beading and found objects from my past.
I took a metal smithing class and learned how to solder. I realized I wanted to do more metal sculpture and wearable art, as opposed to just making something pretty but meaningless.
WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR BIGGEST INSPIRATIONS?
Overall, I would say I’m more inspired by different aspects of cultures more so than just one or two people. I love the idea of Arabic and Islamic art, because. I grew up as a Jehovahs Witness so I was taught to not worship idols. With Islamic art, they can’t show the face of Mohammed. So their art is very much based on patterns and the lack of idolizing people – like a lack of pop culture, what we see here in America.
In Indian and Indonesian art, they always reference back to their belief system. And it’s very much based on the Tree of Life. A crown was made to connect you to the greater universe.
Because I’m from America and I grew up here, I also have a sense of modern design as well. My pieces are between both worlds, because I’m very touch with nature, but my reality is this busy city.
As far as other designers. There’s a designer called Jules Kim, and another one called Jessica Seaton. They have very natural, solid pieces that I think are beautiful and could last forever. That’s what I want to do with my designs – make it so that it could be from a different era, but also go with you into the future.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE THEMES THAT YOU HOPE TO COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR ART?
Nature, for sure. Even though what I do can be seen as materialistic, I prefer for it to be seen as something sacred and sentimental behind each piece. I don’t really do it for myself, I create with someone in mind. Also, the evolution of thought – I try not to make anything the same more than a couple of times. I’ve made hundreds of pieces, but they’re not the same over and over. I don’t really believe in mass production.
GIVEN YOUR UPCOMING VISIT TO YOUR HOMETOWN, WHY ARE YOU EXCITED TO SHARE YOUR WORK THERE?
Cuz it’s in my heart! The feeling of wanting to do more has stemmed from that town. I think it’s such a great place to grow up, but it leaves you wanting more. Having been gone for 7 years, I can see how they’ve grown – and in that, it’s a reflection of myself too. As I’ve grown, the city has grown, and that’s why I want to go back and reconnect. I wrote a song about that town – that’s where I learned that it was okay to be creative, and to be weird and different. My friends and I, I feel like we were just variations of stray cats. We were free and wild and spoke different languages, and we wanted to know more.
Follow the artist on Facebook and Instagram, as well as through her website. You’ll often find her work on display at local art events.
All photos from taken by the artist.
Home / BLOG_NAME / ARTIST Q & A | MICHELLE SANCHEZ
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art, chimera, houston, Photography, Visual arts — categorie
dense83, fashion editorial, Photography — tags
Chicago native Jesse Greene, who has amassed an audience under his pseudonym Dense83, is recognized for his artistic and fashion-based photography.
“I would call myself an editorial photographer,“ he says, referencing his practice of styling everything just so, from the model to the background, in accordance with the concept for the vision of the shoot.
When asked how he began as a photographer, Greene recounts the story.“When I was about twelve or thirteen, I started shooting on my mom’s camera. She had an old 35mm Mamiya. Over time, I got more serious with it.”
Though he put the hobby aside for a while, a stint working retail helped reignite his focus for the art form. “I reading a lot of look books and magazines, and I was seeing a lot of style, and you know, fashion weeks, and stuff like that.”
“And I really wanted to get back into photography, in the sense that I wanted to do people.”
“ So from then on, I had more direction… There were photographers that I particularly liked, like Terry Richardson, and Richard Kern, and Mario Testino,” he recounts.
“All those guys, who were doing the black and white, the really edgy, raw stuff. And I was like, you know what, that’s what I want to do. I want to take pictures that people are afraid to take. Things that make people uncomfortable, not just the standard.”
“I’m very specific about the locations I like to shoot in,” he details, “I like to keep it uniform.” This passion stems in part from his pursuit of urban exploration, a trend among digital photographers to find ruins or other components of the man-made environment that are off the beaten path.
“There’s an amateur-ish look that I like,” he says, “but I can’t do everything like that. So then there’s the other half, where I go to vintage boutiques and stuff and get clothes, and approach those shoots with more of a thought.”
“I try not to overthink it,” Greene admits smiling. “I try to be as minimal as possible.” When the images are realistic, they become relatable, as opposed to when they’re contrived, he explains, and that makes it easier for the audience to connect and feel something.
The models he selects are chosen primarily for their quirks – it’s an unusual face or body frame that will inspire him to want to capture their image. “When it comes to the selection process, I’m totally open to anything.” And indeed, his curiosity sets a tone for his work – people are drawn to it’s diverse nature.
“What about the artful nude aspect?” Chimera asks, “What is it about the human body you’re trying to capture?”
“It’s three things for me – one is, I think bodies are great! It’s a different person without clothes. People change when they’re nude, and it’s interesting. Two, the sexual nature behind it – people want to see naked people in any form. And I enjoy producing that type of imagery, because I really like to make it feel like something was happening.”
“And mostly,” Greene finishes, “I like to shoot nudes because it makes an energy that can’t be captured otherwise. Whether it’s more erotic or more high fashion, I think when you show more skin it makes it more of an impactful image.”
“For me, I feel people need to be slapped in the face when they look at anybody’s art. Whether it’s a sculpture or a painting or a photo.”
Keep up with the artist online and Facebook to see his upcoming projects, including an art based portrait project, slated for 2016, that features photos of individuals in conjunction with art they create.
Home / BLOG_NAME / JESSE GREENE | ARTIST INTERVIEWS
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How affirmative action helped George W.
By Michael Kinsley
The president might ask himself, "Wait a minute. How did I get into Yale?"
George W. Bush is all for diversity, he explained last week, but he doesn't care for the way they do it at the University of Michigan. The Administration has asked the Supreme Court to rule the Michigan system unconstitutional because of the scoring method it uses for rating applicants.
"At the undergraduate level," said Bush, "African-American students and some Hispanic students and Native American students receive 20 points out of a maximum of 150, not because of any academic achievement or life experience, but solely because they are African American, Hispanic or Native American."
If our President had the slightest sense of irony, he might have paused to ask himself, "Wait a minute. How did I get into Yale?" It wasn't because of any academic achievement: his high school record was ordinary. It wasn't because of his life experience--prosperous family, fancy prep school--which was all too familiar at Yale. It wasn't his SAT scores: 566 verbal and 640 math.
They may not have had an explicit point system at Yale in 1964, but Bush clearly got in because of affirmative action. Affirmative action for the son and grandson of alumni. Affirmative action for a member of a politically influential family. Affirmative action for a boy from a fancy prep school. These forms of affirmative action still go on.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Harvard accepts 40% of applicants who are children of alumni but only 11% of applicants generally. And this kind of affirmative action makes the student body less diverse, not more so. George W. Bush, in fact, may be the most spectacular affirmative-action success story of all time. Until 1994, when he was 48 years old and got elected Governor of Texas, his life was almost empty of accomplishments.
Yet bloodlines and connections had put him into Andover, Yale and Harvard Business School, and even finally provided him with a fortune after years of business disappointments. Intelligence, hard work and the other qualities associated with the concept of merit had almost nothing to do with Bush's life and success up to that point.
And yet seven years later he was President of the U.S. So what is the difference between the kind of affirmative action that got Bush where he is today and the kind he wants the Supreme Court to outlaw? One difference is that the second kind is about race, and race is an especially toxic subject. Of course, George W.'s affirmative action is about race too, at least indirectly.
The class of wealthy, influential children of alumni of top universities is disproportionately white. And it will remain that way for a long time--especially if racial affirmative action is outlawed. A second difference is that the Michigan system is crudely numerical, whereas the favoritism enjoyed by George W. Bush is baked into the way we live.
Between these two extreme examples are all the familiar varieties of preference: explicit racial favoritism without numbers, favoritism based on something as amorphous as social class or as specific as your high school, favoritism limited to recruitment and preparation, and so on. Opponents and supporters of affirmative action actually tend to agree that there is something bad, generally called quotas, and something good, generally called something like diversity.
Their argument is about where you draw the line. Bush calls the Michigan 20-point bonus a quota, and his critics insist that it is not. But both sides are wrong. If your sole measure of the success of any arrangement is whether it increases the representation of certain minorities, then it doesn't really matter what procedure you use to achieve that result: some people are getting something desirable because of their race, and an equal number of people are not getting it for the same reason.
Of course a series of somebodies didn't get into Andover, Yale and Harvard Business School because their blood wasn't as blue as Bush's, and other somebodies didn't get a chance to own the Texas Rangers or to use the capital Bush borrowed to buy his share of the team because these somebodies were nobodies. Life is unfair.
A legitimate criticism of affirmative action is that it politicizes life chances and focuses blame on race. If you get turned down by Yale to make room for a George W., you're not even aware of it. But if you get turned down by the University of Michigan, you're likely to blame affirmative action (if you're white), even though the numbers say you probably would have been turned down anyway.
So ask yourself: Would you rather have a gift of 20 points out of 150 to use at the college of your choice? Or would you rather have the more amorphous advantages President Bush has enjoyed at every stage of his life?
If the answer to that isn't obvious to you, even 20 extra points are probably not enough to get you into the University of Michigan.
Copyright © 2003 Time Inc.
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Oscars best-picture race, an unprecedented nail biter
Jake Coyle| Associated Press
A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on March 02, 2018, on page 16.
Kristopher Tapley
Greta Gerwig
Even if the right envelope is read at the end of Sunday night's Oscars, the night's final moment will be one of high drama.
Rarely, if ever, has the Academy Awards seen such an open field of contenders for its top award.
Behind them all is the same development: No one knows what an "Oscar movie" is anymore.
Even the historic upset of "Moonlight" over "La La Land" confirmed the predictive sway of the SAG ensemble nomination: "Moonlight" had it, "La La Land" didn't.
Actors are easily the largest branch of the academy and their choice this year appears to be Martin McDonagh's "Three Billboards," which won best ensemble from SAG and best film bestowed at the British film academy awards, the BAFTAs.
Jordan Peele's "Get Out" and Greta Gerwig's "Lady Bird" are both first-feature films that could make history for either African Americans or women. Yet neither earned a craft nomination, and they usually lost to either "Shape of Water" or "Three Billboards" in precursor awards.
It aims to be the first film in 85 years to win best picture without receiving a screenplay or acting nomination.
What most bedevils the increasingly round-the-clock awards-season prediction machine is the preferential ballot reinstituted eight years ago when the best picture category expanded from five to up to ten nominees.
The season has seen film after film vie for the most compelling, of-the-moment story line.
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DRUMline interviews Joe Travers of Zappa Plays Zappa, who discusses, among other things, his longtime friendship and collaboration with Dweezil and Ahmet, his preservation work on the vault, and Frank's love of sound in all its forms. Uploaded by Michael St. John.
And remember, you can buy some of the recently-excavated work from the archives at Barfko-Swill.
Two More Victories
Categories: Politics, Stream of Consciousness
If you want a good rundown of US v Windsor and Hollingsworth v Perry , you could do a lot worse than A home run but not a grand slam for gay-marriage advocates: In Plain English by Amy Howe of SCOTUSblog.
Meanwhile, Ken White of Popehat -- who has previously described gay marriage opponents as "dinosaurs snarling at the asteroid" -- gives us a fun Then 'n' Now contrasting June 26, 2013 Antonin Scalia's insistence that DOMA is not intended to discriminate against gay people with June 26, 2003 Antonin Scalia's citation of DOMA as an example of legislation that Americans feel "protect[s] themselves and their families from a lifestyle that they believe to be immoral and destructive," once again reminding us that the major difference between Antonin Scalia, a clown, and a professional wrestler is that nobody put any talent or creative energy into designing the silly outfit Scalia wears to work.
On the long road toward our gay brothers and sisters receiving the same legal and social status as my recently-married ass, this is just one more step -- but it's a big one.
My immense gratitude and thanks to Justices Kagan, Sotomayor, Ginsburg, Breyer, and Kennedy for choosing the right side of history, whose arc, I'm told, is long but bends toward justice.
And to all my LGBT friends and family, tonight I raise my beer in your honor. Even those of you who prefer martinis.
Tags: LGBT, SCOTUS
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US, French Airmen Build Trust in the Skies Over France
(Source: US Air Force; issued March 28, 2019)
U.S. and French air force aircrew walk toward a U.S. Air Force C-130J Super Hercules on Orleans-Bricy Air Base, France. French airmen flew their C-130Js and dropped U.S.-made bundles during the training. (USAF photo)
ORLEANS-BRICY Air Base, France --- Members from Ramstein Air Force Base traveled to Orleans-Bricy Air Base, France, to conduct C-130J Super Hercules flying training with the French air force for an off-station training March 18-19.
Pilots and loadmasters from the U.S. and French air forces flew on each other’s aircraft to familiarize themselves on the similarities and differences in their operating procedures.
“One of the big things is that France is one of our partner nations,” said Capt. Christopher Espinosa, 37th Airlift Squadron executive officer. “We don’t get to train with them a lot. Being able to come out here and build a relationship that we can foster and train further in the future is an amazing opportunity.”
The French air force 2/61 Transport Squadron recently started the transition from their aging C-130H Hercules models, and began training on their newly acquired C-130J models in early 2018.
“For me specifically, I am training to become a multi-element flight lead and need to fly with three aircraft,” Espinosa said. “For us to be able to fly out two U.S. aircraft, and for the French to support a third, is an awesome training opportunity. Furthermore, we’re able to interfly with them, they are able to fly on our aircraft and see how we operate. We can provide some training for them, for this trip specifically, we trained on cargo delivery system procedures as they begin to develop their capabilities with the same aircraft that we have.”
This training marked the first joint C-130J training for both nations, working together and developing relations along the way.
“A lot of planning went into the exercise to make sure all the paperwork was in order,” said 1st Lt. John Kornahrens, 37th AS C-130J copilot. “It led to the fact that the opportunities are there, and with some of our partner nations, we can really get necessary training done for both parties in a joint environment.”
This off-station training was important as the experience improved upon the capability of airmen in both militaries.
“It just shows that we are all on the same team,” Kornahrens said. “Just because we have a certain capability, does not mean the French do and vice versa. It always represents a learning opportunity for both countries to understand each other and how they fly, and their culture and how their military operates.”
The training ended with approximately eight cargo delivery system bundles dropped and approximately 20 hours of training flights accomplished in skies over France.
“The thing I want to communicate is how important these partnerships are for the U.S. military, and for our allies,” Espinosa said. “It’s a global effort to combat terrorism, and the threat that we have in near-peer adversary, so being able to come out here to train and develop those partnership and relationships is going to be vital to our future of global security, allied security and security of the homeland.”
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International Automotive Components Expanding & Adding Jobs
International Automotive Components (IAC), LLC. located in the St. Clair, Michigan, Haas Industrial Park will be adding 57 projected new full-time, quality jobs with benefits as its expands to fulfill new work contracts. The company currently employs 225 employees.
The estimated $2 million dollar expansion will include 40,000 square-feet to the north of the building and an investment of approximately $8 million in the purchase of new equipment. The City of St. Clair approved a 50 percent, 12-year tax abatement on real property taxes to support the project.
IAC manufacturers soft-trim components for the automotive industry market. IAC is headquartered in Luxembourg and employs 32,000 people in more than 100 communities in 22 countries. Additionally in Michigan, the firm has facilities in Alma, Mendon, Plymouth, Port Huron, Troy and Warren.
Also in About Us
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My short film, EXHALATION, screening at Tokyo International Film Festival
On the day that Tokyo was hit by a massive typhoon, the Tokyo International Film Festival (Oct 22-30) announced its full line-up.
My short, EXHALATION, will be screened at the festival as part of the SUGINO KIKI: MUSE OF THE ASIAN INDIE CINEMA program.
This program showcases five works that Kiki had starred and/or produced over the past few years. EXHALATION is paired up with Lim Kah Wai's MAGIC AND LOSS, which stars Kim Kkobbi and Yang Ik-June. Lim Tai-Hyung's TWO RABBITS IN OSAKA, an apocalyptic fantasy, will be having its world premiere. The critically-acclaimed HOSPITALITE by Koji Fukada, which won best Japanese film at Tokyo Film Festival last year, will be screened too, along with the 2006 omnibus film, ONE SHINING DAY, where Kiki made her acting debut.
Kiki is also presenting the late Yasmin Ahmad's last film, TALENTIME. Yasmin was a major influence for Kiki.
You can read more about this on Film Business Asia, which featured a quote of mine on Kiki.
"Numerous interesting projects were able to get made because of [Sugino's] hard work. It's very brave of her to collaborate with filmmakers of different countries; I can't think of a better way for her to grow rapidly as both a producer and an actress."
I'm glad that I can finally show EXHALATION to its home audience, almost two years after it was shot (and almost a year after it made its world premiere in Dubai Film Fest last December). Exhalation had since been screened at the Rotterdam International Film Festival, Jeonju International Film Festival, Shanghai International Film Festival, Hong Kong nDpanda Short Film Festival and the Curtas Vila de Conde International Film Festival 2011. The famous film critic and former Cahiers Du Cinema editor-in-chief Jean-Michel Frodon had also screened that film in a cafe at Paris few months ago. Awesome!
So yeah, if you were in Tokyo, I hope you'll come for my screening. I'll be around for an introduction, and also for a post-screening Q and A session.
Trailer here.
You can catch 5 minutes of the short film on Twitch. That's almost a quarter of the entire film!
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Documentary film on Hepatitis C
Going further in raising the awareness on the Hepatitis C and the consequences that it has both on patients and their families, we have made a documentary film showing the struggle of the people who were once diagnosed, are still fighting or are helping to eliminate this disease.
ELPA is dedicated to promote the eradication of HCV in Europe and to encourage national associations to play a key role in achieving this goal. Over the past ten years, ELPA has supported its rnembers in many ways to become leaders in the struggle for liver patients in their
country. ELPA members get general advocacy training, conferences and workshops. receiving knowledge that they can apply in their national activities. Going further in raising the awareness on the Hepatitis and the consequences that it has on patients and their families, we have made a documentary film showing the struggle of people who were once diagnosed, are still fighting or just helping to eliminate this disease.
Hepatitis C is a liver disease caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV). Globally, it is estimated that there are between 130 -150 people infected with the virus, more than half still undiagnosed, and that about 700,000 people die each year from a liver disease related to hepatitis C, such as cirrhosis or liver cancer. To date, existing treatments to remove the virus have been complex, with a low percentage of effectiveness and a highly harmful side effects. The arrival of the drugs known as new generation have been considered a great discovery by specialists, as they allow to cure virtually all patients easily, quickly and almost without any symptoms and, most importantly, it open up the real possibility of eradicate the disease in the next few decades.
Despite of the evidence of the effectiveness of such treatments, its implementation is a major economic investment for the health system. On this scenario, the need of the creation of a strategic plan in each country arise. This plan is usually made by a coalition between different multistakeholders, key-decisions makers and political representatives, with the indispensable participation of patient groups and associations.
Several meetings, studies, negotiations, including the incursion of lobbying by those affected have been necessary in many countries to start the integration processes and implementation of the new treatments. Many of these countries have understood that an immediate investment on the new drugs means not only to save lives, but a great cost savings in the medium term. In other countries, however, favorable resolution for the creation of a strategic plan that includes new treatments into the system seems to be still a distant goal.
If you want to learn more about the making of the documentary, follow this link to the website entirely dedicated to the Hep C - From Hell to Hope.
We would like to thank to all who have participated in making of this documentary as well as to Abbvie Inc who has generously supported this project.
Hep C - From Hell to Hope website
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She is an Indian actress-model and daughter of actor and politician Shatrughan Sinha and Punam Sinha, she made her acting debut with one of the highest gross-making film in Bollywood, Dabangg, co-starring Salman Khan, in the year 2010.
[contentblock id=1 img=adsense.png]
Date of Birth: 2 June, 1987
Height: 5′ 6″ (1.67 m)
The Dabangg girl of Bollywood, Sonakshi Sinha, has done Fashion Designing course From SNDT College in Mumbai. She started her career as model. She walked the ramp at the Lakme Fashion week in 2008 and 2009. Also a fashion designer, she designed costumes for movie Mera Dil Leke Deko in 2005.
She started her career with Dabangg which is a blockbuster of that year. She was paired opposite Salman Khan in the movie and won herself the Filmfare award for Best Debut, Female. She is the one of the beautiful and successful actress in Bollywood. Several directors are approaching her with offers after her super successful debut. She is the cover girl of Indian Edition of Maxim Magazine for month December, 2010.
Personal Life:
The actress was courting back-to-back controversies for a few month. She was said to be making enemies out of Katrina Kaif, Zarine Khan and other actresses. Constant comparisons to Kat, getting into catfights with Zarine, all of this worked against Sonakshi. So she decided to maintain a low profile in the media.
Sonakshi Sinha has a mixed sense of style wherein she can carry off ethic and traditional wear with ease and grace but fails to deliver the same with western appearances. If there is one thing about this natural beauty it’s her flawless skin. She’s always radiant and super fresh and clean. Her make up (when she chooses to put some on) highlights her features.
Box Office Collection:
Dabangg: Rs. 80.87 crore (1 week)
As An ActorDabangg (2010)…(Role – Rajo)…Winner, Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut Joker (2011)… Filming Race 2 (2011)…(Role – Minisha)… Announced Kick (2012) … Remake of Telugu film (Kick) Rowdy Rathore (2012) … Remake of Telugu film (Vikramarkudu),
Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai 2(2012) … Remake of Telugu film (Vikramarkudu)
Winner: Screen Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Female (2011)
Movie: Dabangg
Winner: Apsara Award for Best Debut (Female) (2011)
Winner: Zee Cine Award for Most Promising Debut – Female (2011)
Winner: Filmfare Award for Best Female Debutante (2011)
Winner: The Global Indian Film And Television Honors for Most Promising Fresh Face – Female (2011)
Winner: IIFA Award for Best Female Debutante (2011)
This author has not added a biography. Meanwhile Raaju has contributed 3009 posts. Click here to view them.
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Video: Blog post 'I am Adam Lanza's Mother' goes viral
By JohnThomas Didymus Dec 18, 2012 in Lifestyle
A blog post by Liza Long (not her real name), a mother of four children from Boise, Idaho, titled "I am Adam Lanza's Mother," in which she opens up, describing the challenges of raising her mentally disturbed son has gone viral online.
The blog post comes while the media speculate about the connection between Adam Lanza's shooting crime at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newton, Conn., and his alleged mental illness.
Long's article was originally published on the blog The Anarchist Soccer Mom, and later syndicated on Gawker, where it has received more than 2.5 million views.
It was written on the day Adam Lanza broke into Sandy Hook Elementary School, and killed 20 children. According to Long, she was prompted to write the blog post about her 13-year-old son's mental illness because her fears about him heightened after the Newtown elementary school tragedy. With media speculations about the mental condition of Adam Lanza, Long fears her son could one day also commit a similar crime.
Long writes that she is "terrified" of her son "Michael" (not his real name). She writes that a few weeks before, Michael pulled a knife when she asked him to return overdue library books:
"Michael pulled a knife and threatened to kill me and then himself after I asked him to return his overdue library books. His 7 and 9 year old siblings knew the safety plan - they ran to the car and locked the doors before I even asked them to. I managed to get the knife from Michael, then methodically collected all the sharp objects in the house into a single Tupperware container that now travels with me. Through it all, he continued to scream insults at me and threaten to kill or hurt me."
The conflict ended with three burly officers and a paramedic wrestling the boy onto a gurney followed by an "expensive ambulance ride" to a local ER. She writes: "The mental hospital didn't have any beds that day, and Michael calmed down nicely in the ER, so they sent us home with a prescription for Zyprexa and a follow-up visit with a local pediatric psychiatrist."
She laments:
"I live with a son who is mentally ill. I love my son. But he terrifies me. I am sharing this story because I am Adam Lanza’s mother. I am Dylan Klebold’s and Eric Harris’s mother. I am James Holmes’s mother. I am Jared Loughner’s mother. I am Seung-Hui Cho’s mother. And these boys -- and their mothers -- need help."
According to Long, her son is a "highly gifted math and science student," who will "gladly bend your ear on subjects ranging from Greek mythology to the differences between Einsteinian and Newtonian physics to Doctor Who."
While Long expresses fears about her son, she also decries the lack of care and support for children with mental disabilities. She writes: "In the wake of another horrific national tragedy, it’s easy to talk about guns. But it’s time to talk about mental illness."
According to The Hollywood Reporter, in an exclusive interview on NBC's Today show on Monday Morning, she said: "Every time I hear about a mass shooting, I think about my son. And I wonder if someday, I'll be that mom."
Long explains that in spite of consultations with probation officers, social workers, counselors, teacher, school administrators, psychologists and psychiatrists, a firm diagnosis of Michael's mental condition has not been established. She writes:
"Autism spectrum, ADHD, Oppositional Defiant or Intermittent Explosive Disorder have all been tossed around at various meetings... He's been on a slew of antipsychotic and mood-altering pharmaceuticals...
"At the start of seventh grade, Michael was accepted to an accelerated program for highly gifted math and science students. His IQ is off the charts. When he's in a good mood, he will gladly bend your ear on subjects ranging from Greek mythology to the differences between Einsteinian and Newtonian physics to Doctor Who. He's in a good mood most of the time. But when he's not, watch out. And it's impossible to predict what will set him off."
She continues:
"When I asked my son's social worker about my options, he said that the only thing I could do was to get Michael charged with a crime. 'If he's back in the system, they'll create a paper trail,' he said. 'That's the only way you're ever going to get anything done. No one will pay attention to you unless you've got charges."
She makes her argument against the system:
"...it seems like the United States is using prison as the solution of choice for mentally ill people. According to Human Rights Watch, the number of mentally ill inmates in U.S. prisons quadrupled from 2000 to 2006, and it continues to rise... With state-run treatment centers and hospitals shuttered, prison is now the last resort for the mentally ill—
"No one wants to send a 13-year old genius... to jail. But our society, with its stigma on mental illness and its broken healthcare system, does not provide us with other options. [But when] another tortured soul shoots up a fast food restaurant. A mall. A kindergarten classroom... we wring our hands and say, "Something must be done."
Long has received support from other parents who also contributed their experiences. The blog article has received thousands of comments. The Daily Mail reports that one mother wrote: "I am moved to tears because this is my story, too.
"My son has threatened to kill me and commit suicide. He has waved knives and threatened to jump off the roof... My greatest fear is that he will do something like a mass shooting or some other public violent act. I am screaming for help and it is as if there is no one to hear it."
Another commenter, Robert, wrote: "We have a son with mental illness. Now that he is an 'adult' in the eyes of the law, he's decided he does not want to pursue any sort of treatment. Our hands are tied. There needs to be a discussion about how to strike a balance between protecting the rights of adults with mental illness and protecting the general public. Until we do, incidents like Newtown will happen again."
However, some readers have attempted to blame Long for her child's illness.
On her personal blog, a writer Sarah Kendzior, in a viral post of her own, accuses Long of a history of "vindictive and cruel posts about her children in which she fantasizes about beating them, locking them up and giving them away. In most posts, her allegedly insane and violent son is portrayed as a normal boy who incites her wrath by being messy, buying too many Apple products and supporting Obama."
Kendzior continues her indictment of Long: " I feel uncomfortable speculating about someone’s private life based on a blog. But since these children are likely to be the object of enormous media attention, someone should be paying close attention to the words of their mother.
"These children could be in real danger if her goal was to capitalize on the Newtown tragedy by creating a media campaign designed to give her sympathy. If I am wrong about this, I truly apologize. But there is a 13-year-old boy who has already had his reputation destroyed and who may be facing serious harm."
Sarah Kendzior refers to a blog post in which Long writes: "I quit! Let the state take care of you and your compulsive inability to stop poking people.” Kendzior also notes that Long and her husband had been involved in a messy divorce which does not portray the circumstances of Michael's upbringing in a favorable light. Kendzior adds sarcastically: "This 'national conversation' on mental illness needs to include the mental illness of mothers and the online privacy of their children. According to the blog, Liza Long is going through a bitter divorce and has violent and paranoid fantasies about her family. The father of the children is also portrayed as abusive."
Kendzior reacted to criticism from Long's supporters with the comment that she thinks "a child does not deserve to have his mother embark on a media tour promoting him as a future mass murderer."
However, after a brief altercation between the two women, they released a joint statement, stressing the need "for a respectful national conversation on mental health." The statement said:
"Whatever disagreements we have had, we both believe that the stigma attached to mental illness needs to end. We need to provide affordable, quality mental health care for families. We need to provide support for families who have a relative who is struggling. We both agree that privacy for family members, especially children, is important. Neither of us anticipated the viral response to our posts. We love our children and hope you will respect their privacy."
The statement concluded: "We are not interested in being part of a ‘mommy war.’ We are interested in opening a serious conversation on what can be done for families in need. Let’s work together and make our country better.”
More about adam lanza, Mother, Lanza, Liza Long, Michael
adam lanza Mother Lanza Liza Long Michael
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The word science is derived from Latin “scientia” meaning knowledge. There are two distinctive definitions of science. The older of the two states that science is a body of knowledge itself, of the type that can be rationally explained and reliably applied.
The contemporary definition is that it is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. A practitioner of science is known as a scientist.
From the classical antiquity and medieval science providing foundations for scientific method to the present day, science has been linked to a broad specter of branches until it became an all encompassing term with the definition given above.
The ever growing evolution of science in general has produced various branches or fields of expertise. The two major categories are natural and social science. The category of formal science is reserved for mathematics because it has certain elements of both natural and social categories but does not fit in either.
The documentaries and video materials complied in this category are concerned with all scientific matters, from the philosophy of science to the fringe and junk science.
Is it possible that the days of this planet are all but spent? Is the evacuation of the entire planet the only salvation of mankind? The answers to these questions are given in the documentary about the technological advance and the future plans that will enable planet scale evacuation.
The ever lingering question of the possibility of the eternal life is expected to be answered in recent future. To learn how humanity is about to defeat death, we will investigate the plans to grow replacement parts of the body in the laboratory, microscopic robots that could wipe out deadly diseases, and the possibility that aging itself may be reversed by taking a page from one of history’s darkest legends. A number of scientists, doctors, geneticists and nanotech experts-many with impeccable academic credentials insist that such a thing is possible. Find out what scientific methods and breakthroughs are behind this incredible claim. Will the gift of eternal life be finally given to mankind?
Our Place in the Milky Way
Ever been curious what is our position in the universe? 'Our place in the milky way' is a perfect documentary to give you knowledge about earth and the whole universe. See the thin...
Order and Disorder
Ever been curious about physics? 'Order and Disorder' reveals the truth behind the most basic things in our lives. From a simple piece of chocolate to the substance of the universe...
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National Geographic: Down to the Earth’s Core
"Learn about what is going on under your feet as National Geographic plunges into Earth’s depths to reveal the history of our world and what is below us.This documentary includes...
Mars: The Red Planet
If humans were going to visit another planet in our solar system, the first possible planet would be Mars. Its deserts are similar to earth’s, with dunes and mountains full of ir...
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National Geographic presents the first must not stop journey from Earth to the edge of the universe with a single shot without interruption through the spectacular use of CGI (comp...
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There is something very strange happens in space – something that should not be possible. It’s as if large parts of the world are being ravaged by a huge and invisible celestia...
Inside the Milky Way
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Human v2.0
Human v2.0 is a new type of human, which scientists claim to be creating very soon. And it is foretold that this would be a consequence of computer intelligence equaling the immens...
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Horizon: Infinity
The idea of a phrase 'Infinite' is mind-blowing. Not only to simple students learning maths in school but also to the greatest physics and mathematics in the world. Thinking that u...
Horizon - Life on Mars
"You've probably heard about the existence of water on Mars. But what does this actually mean? Is there a slight chance of unknown life on mars that lived million or even a billion...
God on the Brain
Rudi Affolter and Gwen Tighe have both experienced strong religious visions. He is an atheist than a Christian. He thought he had died, she thought she had given birth to Jesus. Bo...
Finding Life Beyond Earth, Are We Alone?
What if in the distant realms of our galaxy there is a planet similar to ours where life can exist?Using the latest technology and telescopes, scientists are exploring the outer re...
Fermat’s Last Theorem
Simon Singh and John Lynch’s film tells the story gripping and emotional Andrew Wiles. A quiet English mathematician, was attracted to mathematics in Fermat’s puzzle, but in th...
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Proclaiming the new period of advanced TV, this unbelievable BBC narrative was one of the first significant projects to introduce the new time, in 1998. Aubrey Manning takes viewe...
Don’t Grow Old
For centuries, scientists have been trying to reach an elixir of youth. Now remarkable findings suggest that aging is somewhat flexible, which ultimately can be manipulated.Horizon...
Do we Really Need the Moon?
What if the moon we know never existed? What if it suddenly disappeared from our skies? What would happen to the earth?It controls the tides, the rythem of the seasons and the stab...
Darwin’s Dangerous Idea
Andrew Marr explores how Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection has taken on a life beyond the world of science.In the first episode of the three-part series, argues t...
This series, ‘Carrier’ has a total of 10 episodes, each 55 minutes long:All Hands – In the first episode, five-thousand sailors and Marines are seen bidding farewell to their...
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Lee Greenwood Tickets
Lee Greenwood has been captivating the audience for the past many decades through his mesmerizing voice, catchy tunes and unparalleled songwriting. He is an American country music artist who has been showered with praise and love by the American public since his arrival in the music scene. He has around 20 major label albums to his credit. He has produced thirty five singles that have found place on the Billboard Country Music Charts. His song “God Bless the USA” was named the best patriotic song ever. The song enjoys a prominent place in the cultural landscape of America. This song alone would have gained a special place for Lee Greenwood in the history of American music if he had not created any other song. But Lee is always busy creating one hit after another. He has a great passion for music and loves to create masterpieces of music.
View Lee Greenwood Tickets
Lee Greenwood Cities
Lee Greenwood Immokalee FL
Lee Greenwood Montgomery AL
Lee Greenwood Nashville TN
Lee Greenwood Vernon NY
Lee Greenwood Walhalla SC
Buy Crystal Gayle & Lee Greenwood, Vernon Downs Tickets for 08/09 08:00 PM Crystal Gayle & Lee Greenwood, Vernon Downs tickets for 08/09 08:00 PM at Vernon Downs, Vernon, NY
Buy Grand Ole Opry: Lee Greenwood, Grand Ole Opry House Tickets for 09/10 07:00 PM Grand Ole Opry: Lee Greenwood, Grand Ole Opry House tickets for 09/10 07:00 PM at Grand Ole Opry House, Nashville, TN
Tue Sep 10 2019
Buy Lee Greenwood, Walhalla Civic Auditorium Tickets for 09/20 07:30 PM Lee Greenwood, Walhalla Civic Auditorium tickets for 09/20 07:30 PM at Walhalla Civic Auditorium, Walhalla, SC
Buy Lee Greenwood, Montgomery Performing Arts Center Tickets for 09/22 06:30 PM Lee Greenwood, Montgomery Performing Arts Center tickets for 09/22 06:30 PM at Montgomery Performing Arts Center, Montgomery, AL
Sun Sep 22 2019
Buy Lee Greenwood, Seminole Casino Immokalee Tickets for 12/13 07:00 PM Lee Greenwood, Seminole Casino Immokalee tickets for 12/13 07:00 PM at Seminole Casino Immokalee, Immokalee, FL
Lee Greenwood was born in South Gate, California. He spent his childhood days at his grandparent’s poultry farm in Sacramento after his parents separated. Greenwood was passionate about music even as a child. He started playing piano and saxophone when he was only seven. When he was nine he became a part of the dance ensemble. He made his first television appearance when he was still young after joining Chester Smith Band. He also worked with the singer Del Reeves but only for a short time. After gaining some experience he formed his own band named Apollo which was later renamed as the Lee Greenwood Affair. The band mostly played at the casinos in LA and entertained the people with their astounding pop music.
Larry McFadden, the bassist and bandleader of ‘Mel Tillis’ discovered Lee in 1979. Later on, he was signed by Nashville division of the MCA and McFadden became his manager. Lee Greenwood was appointed as the head of "National Council on the Arts" by President George Bush in November, 2008 for six year term.
Lee Greenwood’s debut single "It turns me inside out" found its way to the top 20 on the country charts. His song "Ring on her finger time on her hand" placed him in the top 10 on the country music charts. His best song to date is "God bless the USA" which became a huge hit in the Operation Desert Storm days in 1991. It surfaces on the music scene every time America needs to raise its spirit of patriotism, be it 9/11 or other such times. His other popular songs are; "Mornin’ Ride", "Dixie Road", "Somebody’s Gonna Love you", "Hearts aren’t made to break (They are made to love)", Going, going, gone", "I don’t mind the thorns (If you are the rose)", "Don’t underestimate my love for you" and "I.O.U" besides many others. He has won many accolades throughout his career. Country Music Association awarded him as the "best male vocalist of the year" twice. His track "God Bless the USA" has won the "best song of the year" award in 1985 by CMA.
Lee Greenwood has never been on rest and believes in setting higher goals to achieve after every success. His tours are full of energy and his live performance charms the audience. He has a way to get the audience connected through his distinctive voice and catchy music. As a songwriter, he writes meaningful and quality songs. His lyrics are worth listening and they become classy by his unique voice and superb music combinations. Currently, he is working on a new country album which will be far more than a comeback album. According to him, he wishes to reach the standards of Keith Urban, Brookes and Dunn, Tooby Keith and Martina McBride. He enjoys being competitive and has a passion for creating masterpieces.
Lee Greenwood is touring America this summer and playing all his popular songs live. Secure your Lee Greenwood Tickets now to see your favorite singer perform right in front of you and to enjoy a memorable evening out.
Lee Greenwood Tour Dates 2019 & Concerts
Nothing beats the joy of watching your favorite music artist perform live! Lee Greenwood's concert dates are out and fans are looking forward to the upcoming shows. The next concert will be held in Vernon at the Vernon Downs on 9-Aug-19, while the last available date is for the event scheduled for Immokalee at the Seminole Casino Immokalee on 13-Dec-19. For complete information regarding dates and venues, please visit our website.
Crystal Gayle & Lee Greenwood Vernon Downs Vernon, NY Fri Aug 09 201908:00 PM
Grand Ole Opry: Lee Greenwood Grand Ole Opry House Nashville, TN Tue Sep 10 201907:00 PM
Lee Greenwood Walhalla Civic Auditorium Walhalla, SC Fri Sep 20 201907:30 PM
Lee Greenwood Montgomery Performing Arts Center Montgomery, AL Sun Sep 22 201906:30 PM
Lee Greenwood Seminole Casino Immokalee Immokalee, FL Fri Dec 13 201907:00 PM
Lee Greenwood Ticket Prices
The average price for Lee Greenwood Tickets start from $81. The minimum get in price is $43 for Lee Greenwood Tickets at the Montgomery Performing Arts Centre, Montgomery. For a detailed look at ticket prices and amazing discounts, visit our website.
Crystal Gayle & Lee Greenwood Vernon 9-Aug-19 $166 $164
Grand Ole Opry: Lee Greenwood Nashville 10-Sep-19 $223 $51
Lee Greenwood Walhalla 20-Sep-19 $90 $63
Lee Greenwood Montgomery 22-Sep-19 $103 $43
Lee Greenwood Immokalee 13-Dec-19 $81 $73
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HACKITT RECOMMENDATIONS TO BE TAKEN FORWARD
Dame Judith Hackitt's building regulation recommendations will be taken forward, reports Herpreet Kaur Grewal.
04 February 2019 | Herpreet Kaur Grewal
James Brokenshire, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), has confirmed that the government is implementing all recommendations in the Hackitt Review.
In his statement Brokenshire said: “The government will create a stronger regulatory framework that will provide national leadership to drive improvements in building safety… The government wants the new regulatory structure to draw on the expertise of key existing regulators: the HSE, fire and rescue authorities and local authority building control.”
He added that the government would establish a new Joint Regulators Group to help it develop and pilot new approaches and, in due course, to assist with the transition to a new regulatory framework, starting “as soon as practicable”.
This group would draw together the expertise of the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), Local Authority Building Control (LABC), the Fire and Rescue Services through the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC), the Local Government Association (LGA), and others as needed.
The LABC welcomed the announcement and is working with colleagues from the LGA, NFCC and the HSE to accelerate progress and to identify and run pilots.
Paul Everall, LABC chief executive, said: “The secretary of state has shown leadership by recognising the need for systemic reform of the building safety regime by implementing Dame Judith Hackitt recommendations in full.
“LABC has pledged to provide full support to the new Joint Regulators Group and we are ready with resources, people and expertise. LABC already has the largest group of experienced building control surveyors with demonstrable competency in fire safety in England and Wales – all validated by the Institution of Fire Engineers. And we have been heavily investing in standards and competencies – supported by our UKAS-accredited quality management systems. This has combined with a 16 per cent rise in recruitment across public service building control, which means we are ideally placed to provide the expert support this shadow regulator needs.”
Pace of change
The Association for Specialist Fire Protection (ASFP) welcomed the government’s response to the Hackitt Review, but it had some concerns about the pace of change, with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) stating its intention only to consult on many aspects of the implementation and not until the spring.
But it hailed the Hackitt Review’s focus on ensuring that fire safety is considered early in the design process and the introduction of mandatory sign-off procedures at the crucial ‘gateway points’ of planning permission, permission to build and permission to occupy.
The association also praises the focus on improving levels of competency throughout the construction process and is working with the Competency Working Groups established by the construction industry’s Competency Steering Group to deliver proposals for an overarching competency framework.
The body also supports MHCLG’s aim to improve product test standards and guarantee clarity in marketing. It said it is pleased to see government support for third-party certification schemes for products, which it believes are key to improving the quality of fire protection products, but notes that this should extend to installers as well because this is where many of the current problems lie.
The new government guidance for assessments in lieu of tests (sometimes known as desktop studies) prohibits the use of such assessments for external wall systems for all buildings in scope of the combustible materials ban.
It also restricts the use of such assessments in other areas and limits how they are undertaken and by whom, guaranteeing transparency and requiring companies that undertake these tests to do so to high standards.
The requirements are quite restrictive and there are some contradictions in the MHCLG guidance. Consequently, the association will be seeking clarification.
It has been working within the Passive Fire Protection Forum on a revised Guide to Undertaking Assessments in Lieu of Fire Tests, which aims to provide guidance on who is permitted to undertake such assessments, with qualifications, experience and training required being clearly defined. A revised version is expected early in 2019.
ASFP CEO Niall Rowan states: “The association welcomes the government’s aim to implement Dame Judith’s recommendations as we strongly agreed with her conclusions, many of which reflect what the fire community, including the ASFP, has been saying for some years. We also welcome the announcement of a full review of Approved Document B, which we believe is long overdue.
“We are pleased to see support for third-party certification schemes for fire protection products and look forward to working with government and other stakeholders to develop minimum standards for such schemes.
“We also welcome the tightening of the qualifications, experience and training required of those who will undertake assessments in lieu of tests, but will seek clarification as to the scope, particularly for non-building envelope related products.
“We understand the recommendations of the Hackitt Review were detailed and wide-ranging, since they called for a complete overhaul of the building regulatory system. We look forward to working with government and other stakeholders to achieve the extensive and lasting culture change necessary to ensure the safety of our existing and future built environment.”
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Julie Womble Trkula, President
Julie is an alumna of Epsilon Pi (George Mason University) and graduated with a B.M. in Flute Performance and a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Leadership Studies. She currently works at George Mason University as the General Manager of the Green Machine Ensembles. She also serves as the Financial Advisor for Epsilon Pi. In her free time, Julie enjoys kickboxing and spending time with her parents, husband (Matt) and dog (Tango).
Cheryl Hipp, Vice President
Cheryl is an alumna of the Beta Gamma Chapter at Bowling Green State University, currently serves as financial advisor to the Beta Beta chapter at the University of Maryland and as Gamma Phi Beta's International Parliamentarian.
Julie Wright, Treasurer
Julie was initiated at Alpha Nu Chapter, Wittenberg University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree. She also earned a Master of Business Administration degree at Pittsburg State University. She has served as the Delta Kappa Chapter Advisor, Gamma Phi Beta Area Financial Advisor and as Trustee of the Gamma Phi Beta Foundation. She is retired from the American Red Cross and currently works part-time as business manager for the Clarendon United Methodist Church and the Cherrydale United Methodist Church in Arlington, VA. She enjoys bridge, golf and monthly lunch meetings with the Classy Crescents.
Mallory Cave , Public Relations and Programming Vice President
Mallory is an alumna of the Epsilon Pi chapter at George Mason University. She graduated in 2009 with a degree in Music Education and currently teaches general music at Lake Anne Elementary in Reston. She lives in Springfield with her husband Ben, and their daughter, Evelyn.
Elizabeth Denning, Membership Vice President
Elizabeth is an alumna of Epsilon Pi and graduated with a degree in Graphic Design. She's currently pursuing her MBA at Lynn University in Boca Raton, FL. When she's not studying, you can find her advising membership for Epsilon Pi, new member education for Eta Nu or hanging out with her 2 basset hounds, Bentley and Madeline!
Contact Elizabeth
Megan Goforth, Recording Secretary
Megan is an Alumna of Epsilon Pi and graduated with a Bachelors in Sociology. She also received a Masters in Education and Behavioral Science from Western Kentucky. She currently works in the Athletic Department at Mason as a Learning Specialist and a UNIV 100 Faculty Member. In addition to her role in the Alumnae Chapter, she also serves as Scholarship and New Member Education Advisor for the Epsilon Pi Chapter at George Mason.
Simay Okyay, Philanthropy Chairwoman
Read her story soon!
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The Gdansk New Port Lighthouse
more One of the most beautiful lighthouses of the Baltic Sea, this 90-feet-tall structure built in 1893 is the twin of the Cleveland, Ohio, Main Lighthouse (today no longer standing). Situated at the entrance of the harbour of Gdansk, the Nowy Port Lighthouse combined three distinct functions: that of a coastal...
Gift of Pomerania
more "Dar Pomorza" (Gift of Pomerania), called the White Frigate, has been associated with Gdynia since 1929. She was built in 1909 in the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg as a training ship for the German merchant maritime school. The frigate was given to the State Maritime School in Gdynia and became the second (after...
The Zuraw
more The oldest sources mentioning the Zuraw as wooden port crane equipment date from 1367. Its present look refers to the image of the middle of the 15th century. The first wooden crane totally burnt down as a result of the 1442 fire. A new crane was built in the years 1442-1444. The crane had a defence function. It...
S.S. “Soldek”
more "Soldek" is the first ocean-going vessel put into operation in the history of the Polish shipyard industry. She was designed by a team of Polish engineers under the leadership of Henryk Gieldzik and built in Gdansk Shipyard, established on 19 October 1947.
The Granaries
more The majority of granaries in Gdansk were destroyed as a result of war actions in 1945. The walls of three of them were preserved on Olowianka and after reconstruction in 1985 they became the main exhibition area for the Polish Maritime Museum.
Ethnographical Museum at the Abbatial Granary
more The present-day Ethnographical Museum was originally an Ethnographical Department within the structure of the Pomeranian Museum. Moved in 1979 to the Abbots' Palace in Gdansk-Oliwa, it became an independent division of the National Museum in Gdansk, to be moved again to its current premises in the...
The Gdansk Gallery of Photography
more Originally established by the Gdansk Artists' Association as the G.N. Gallery in 1977, the Gallery was later renamed the Gdansk Gallery of Photography, and has been a Division of the National Museum in Gdansk since 1995.
more The Renaissance Green Gate stands on the site of the most ancient gate in Gdansk, the Koga Gate. This gate was built to serve as the formal residence of Polish monarchs, but was only used for that purpose once in its history. There are four arched passages through this gate and there is a symbol over each: The...
Abbot's Palace in Oliwa – Modern Art Department
more The Abbot's Palace in Oliwa is a roccoco palace in Oliwa, a quarter of Gdansk. The first portion of the palace, the "Old Palace" was constructed in the 15th century. Later, in the first half of the sixteen hundreds a "New Palace" was added, which served as the residency of the then abbot of the Cistercians, Jan...
Historical Art Department
more The Gdansk National Museum’s Historical Art Department is housed in a post-monastery building which was originally used by the Franciscan Order. In 1556, the last Prussian curator Johann Rolaw handed the church and monastery over to the city authorities on condition that the building would be used “exclusively...
Tower Clock Museum
more This Branch of Gdansk History Museum is located in the tower of Saint Catherine’s Church in Gdansk. This is the oldest parish church in Gdansk, whose origins date back to the 12th century. The Museum collects and preserves tower clock mechanisms that are significant for this field of science. At the end of the...
Westerplatte Museum
more According to the decision of the Council of the League of Nations dated 1924, from 1926 the Westerplatte peninsula was transferred to Poland for the purposes of an ammunition and weapons reloading depot. The 88 strong force of Polish soldiers was responsible for ensuring the security of the warehouses and the...
Wisloujscie Fortress Museum
more A unique monument of the fortification works, Wisloujscie Fortress, is located in direct proximity to the Westerplatte peninsula. This was an important area from a strategic point of view, as the movement of ships entering and leaving Gdansk harbour could be controlled from this place. The former Gdansk harbour was...
Polish Post Museum in Gdansk
more The Post Office and Telecommunication Museum was opened in Wroclaw in 1956. At the time it was the only such facility in Poland, which collected exhibits related to the history of the post office and memorabilia related to the defence of the Polish Post Office in the Free City of Gdansk.
Amber Museum
more Amber is particularly associated with the Baltic region, specifically because of the abundance of deposits of this material in the area. Because of historical relations (The Western Prussia Natural Museum in the Green Gate existing before WWII) and primarily because of today’s activities, Gdansk claims the title...
Uphagen house
more Uphagen house is the only one in Poland and one of only a few 18th century merchant town houses in Europe open to visitors. Johann Uphagen purchased this town house in 1775.
Artus Court
more Artus Court is a complex of buildings forming a branch of the Gdansk Historical Museum, located within the Main City boundaries and forming a part of the representative city route called the Royal Route. Dlugi Targ located near the historical harbour on the Motlawa river forms part of the route.
The Main Town Hall
more The main headquarters of the Gdansk History Museum is a Gothic-Renaissance building, located at the corner of Dluga Street and Dlugi Targ, dominating the panorama of the Royal Route – the most representative route of the listed part of the city.
The Polish Baltic Frederic Chopin Philharmonic
more The Polish Baltic Frederic Chopin Philharmonic is the largest music institution in the northern Poland, visited not only by local music-lovers but also by people from all over Poland and all over the world. This is a place for the ones who desire to enjoy the art of the highest quality. The Philharmonic organizes...
The Baltic State Opera
more The Baltic State Opera is an opera company in Gdansk, which performs in the Baltic State Opera House. Originally, in 1949, it was organized as an Opera-Studio rather than as a full scale opera company. Due to the destruction of all theatres in Gdansk by the end of World War II, it made do with temporary facilities...
Good Girl Killer
more Good Girl Killer was founded at the beginning of 2005 by four polish artists: Magda Jedra, Zbigniew Zibi Bienkowski, Anna Steller and Grzegorz Welizarowicz. Their first project, Good Girl Killer performance, premiered in March 2005 in Poland, Gdansk.
Dada von Bzdulow Theatre
more Dada von Bzdulow Theatre was founded by Leszek Bzdyl – a director and a choreographer, and by Katarzyna Chmielewska – a dancer and a choreographer. On stage since 1993; an independent group of professional dancers and actors, which produces performances in cooperation with Polish and foreign cultural...
The Forest Theatre – Lesny Theatre
more The Forest Theatre is a summer stage situated in a forest of Wrzeszcz. The easiest way to get there is to go through an entrance from Jaskowa Dolina Street. It is a place of numerous events, concerts and festivals that are organized here from May to September.
Maybe Theatre Company
more The first, and for a long time the only, registered theatrical company in Poland presenting plays exclusively in English. The company was officially formed in 1992, after the success of the 1991 production of "A Tempest in a Spaceship", a musical based on Shakespeare's "The Tempest"'. This was the second play put...
Gdansk Shakespearean Theatre
more Gdansk Shakespeare Festival is an international theatre festival devoted to the idea of the Elizabethan theatre, and especially to the works of William Shakespeare. The event was first organized in 1993, on the initiative of Theatrum Gedanense Foundation, which had been created by prof. Jerzy Limon and Wladyslaw...
Znak Theatre
more From 1992 to 2000 the Znak Theater provided a meaningful artistic experience for underprivilaged and ill children. Since 2000, the theater has expanded its operations to include theater workshops, actor training courses, and open air spectacles as well as the origional acting camps for interested youth.
Miniatura City Theatre
more This ‘toy theater’ holds true to its tradition – started in 1947 by Olga, Irena, and Ewa Totwen under the name Latek Theater, it has amused audiences for over 50 years. Currently it is under the direction of one of the most famous Polish directors, Ali Bunsch.
Wybrzeze Theatre
more Gdansk hosts regular festivals of street theatre each year, where language is no barrier. Most of the performances here, however, are in the mother tongue, so unless you've triumphed over Polish grammar you may be a tad bewildered by what's going. Nevertheless, given modern dramas tendency towards minimalism and...
more Helios Movie Centre is a multiplex cinema operator in Poland. The first cinema was opened at 1993.
Cinema Neptun
more This is one of six movie theaters belonging to the Neptun-Film group in and around the Gdansk area.
Cinema Helikon
more Helikon Cinema is a movie theater belonging to the Neptun-Film group, which has 6 theaters in and around the Gdansk area.
Cinema City Krewetka
more Cinema City International is the largest multiplex cinema theatre operator in Central and Eastern Europe. Company is based in Israel. This modern network operates many cinemas across Poland including of course Gdansk.
more Multikino is one of the biggest networks of cinemas in Poland. It belongs to Polish company ITI Group which also operates on media market.
Carillon Festival
more The Carillon Festival is a perfectly unique musical event in Poland, as Gdansk is the only Polish city to have these two precious instruments: carillon in Main City Town Hall and the concert bell set in St Catherine’s. The festival is another example of the city reviving its ancient traditions. Its programs are...
The Heineken Open`er Festival
more The Heineken Open'er Festival is the largest Polish open-air music and performing arts festival and definitely the most important music event in Gdynia - a city in the north of Poland at the Baltic Sea coast, next to Gdansk. It is a special place on the Polish map, where people from more than 30 countries are...
International Jazz Festival
more Three-day festival promoting all types of jazz. The greatest musician of this trend perform.
Stars Festival
more Holiday Stars Festival is a popular annual artistic event, which has been taking place in Gdansk since 2006. It attracts the polish celebrities of theatre, film, music, art and literature – in del’ arte festival formula. On this occasion the concerts, exhibitions, outdoor show and literary saloons are...
St. Dominic`s Fair
more Today, St. Dominic’s Fair is the largest trade and cultural outdoor event in Poland and one of the largest such events in Europe. The contemporary form of St Dominic’s Fair recalls the Medieval tradition of fun and trade. Every August, over 1000 merchants, artists, artisans and collectors put up their stalls in...
Shakespeare Festival
more Shakespeare Festival is an international periodic theatrical event, organised every year during the first week of August in Gdansk and the whole Tri-city. The festival’s history dates back to 1993 and the organisation of first Shakespeare Days in Gdansk, which were transformed into Shakespeare Festival in 1997,...
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Plate with Relief Decoration
Unknown 45 × 28 cm, 2.5475 kg (17 11/16 × 11 in., 5.6162 lb.) 83.AM.342
Currently on view at: Getty Villa, Gallery 212, Late Antiquity
Eastern Mediterranean (Place Created)
83.AM.342
45 × 28 cm, 2.5475 kg (17 11/16 × 11 in., 5.6162 lb.)
Inscription(s):
Inscription: Names of Hermes, Ptolemaios, and Skepsis in Greek. Secondary Inscription: Group of five Greek characters along the edge of the rim.
Hermes Trismegistos Teaching Ptolemey the World System (Display Title)
Fragmentary Plate with Ptolemy and Hermes Trismegistos (Display Title)
Two seated philosophers, labeled Ptolemy and Hermes, engage in a spirited discussion on this fragmentary plate. A woman stands behind each man, gesturing and partaking in the exchange. The woman on the left is identified as Skepsis. Above the two seated men, an unidentified enthroned man is partially preserved. The scene on this plate has been interpreted as an allegory of the debate between Myth and Science: Ptolemy, the founder of the Alexandrian school of scientific thought, debating Hermes Trismegistos, a deity supporting the side of myth.
On technical, iconographic, and stylistic grounds, some scholars had questioned the authenticity of this plate and suggested that it may date instead to the 1500s A.D. More recent, detailed study of the plate, however, has confirmed its antiquity.
Galerie Nefer (Zurich, Switzerland), sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1983.
Beyond Beauty: Antiquities as Evidence (December 16, 1997 to January 17, 1999)
The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center (Los Angeles), December 16, 1997 to January 17, 1999
Ancient Art from the Permanent Collection (March 16, 1999 to May 23, 2004)
The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center (Los Angeles), March 16, 1999 to May 23, 2004
Art of Alchemy (October 11, 2016 to February 12, 2017)
The Getty Research Institute (Los Angeles), October 11, 2016 to February 12, 2017
Alchemie. Die Große Kunst (April 6 to July 23, 2017)
Kulturforum am Potsdamer Platz (Berlin), April 6 to July 23, 2017
Pleket, H.W., R.S. Stroud, eds. Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 34 (Amsterdam: J. C. Gieben, 1984), p. 445, no. 1667.
"Acquisitions/1983." The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal 12 (1984), p. 258, no. 144.
The J. Paul Getty Museum Handbook of the Collections. 1st ed. (Malibu: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1986), p. 62.
Cutler, Anthony. "The Disputa Plate in the J. Paul Getty Museum and its Cinquecento Context." The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal 18 (1990), pp. 5-32, figs. 2-12, 14.
Scott, David A. "A Technical and Analytical Study of Two Silver Plates in the J. Paul Getty Museum." The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal 18 (1990), pp. 33-52, figs. 1-4, 7-8.
The J. Paul Getty Museum Handbook of the Collections. 3rd ed. (Malibu: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1991), p. 59.
Balty, Jean Ch. "Skepsis," In Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae VII (1994), p. 791, p. 791, no. 2.
Field, J.V. "European Astronomy in the First Millenium: The Archaeological Record," Astronomy before the Telescope. Christopher Walker, ed. London: British Museum Press, 1996, pp. 112-13, fig. 36.
Bodel, John, and Stephen Tracy. Greek and Latin Inscriptions in the USA: A Checklist (New York: American Academy in Rome, 1997), p. 12.
The J. Paul Getty Museum Handbook of the Collections. 4th ed. (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1997), p. 58.
Towne Markus, Elana. Masterpieces of the J. Paul Getty Museum: Antiquities. (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1997), pp. 126-27.
Gentile, Sebastiano and Carlos Gilly. Marsilio Ficino e il ritorno di Ermete Trismegisto. Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziano di Firenze (exh. cat.), October 2, 1999-January 8, 2000. Firenze: 1999, ill. p. 14.
The J. Paul Getty Museum Handbook of the Antiquities Collection (Los Angeles: 2002), p. 202.
Mango, Cyril, ed. The Oxford History of Byzantium (Oxford: 2002), p. 98.
Holzhausen, Jens. "Hermes und Ptolemaios. Zu einem Silberteller im Getty-Museum." In For the Children, Perfect Instruction: Studies in Honor of Hans-Martin Schenke on the Occasion of the Berliner Arbeitskreis für koptisch-gnostische Schriften's Thirtieth Year, edited by H.-G. Bethge et al. (Leiden: Brill), p. 291-303.
The J. Paul Getty Museum Handbook of the Collections. 7th ed. (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2007), p. 41, ill.
The J. Paul Getty Museum Handbook of the Antiquities Collection. Rev. ed. (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2010), pp. 212-213.
Scott, David A. Ancient Metals: Microstructure and Metallurgy. Vol. 1, Copper and Copper Alloys (Los Angeles: Conservation Science Press, 2011), p. 58, fig. 7.12.
Dekker, Elly. Illustrating the Phaenomena. Celestial Cartography in Antiquity and the Middle Ages (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), p.12, fig. 1.2.
Dekker, Elly. Illustrating the Phaenomena: Celestial Cartography in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Oxford University Press, 2013, p. 12, fig 1.2.
Audio: Plate with Relief Decoration, feat. Jeffrey Spier
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The Flight into Egypt
Georges Trubert (French, active Provence, France 1469 - 1508) Leaf: 11.4 × 8.6 cm (4 1/2 × 3 3/8 in.) Ms. 48 (93.ML.6), fol. 67
Georges Trubert (French, active Provence, France 1469 - 1508)
Provence, France (Place Created)
about 1480 - 1490
Tempera colors, gold leaf, gold and silver paint, and ink on parchment
Ms. 48 (93.ML.6), fol. 67
Leaf: 11.4 × 8.6 cm (4 1/2 × 3 3/8 in.)
Book of Hours (Group Title)
Georges Trubert supplemented the basic story of the Holy Family's flight from Herod's soldiers with representations of miraculous, apocryphal accounts popularized during the Middle Ages. A golden column in the background partially supports a pagan idol that toppled as the family passed, an indication that the Messiah's coming doomed pagan religions.
In the story of the miracle of the wheat field, shown to the left, the Holy Family passed a newly sown field of wheat while fleeing, and it miraculously grew to full height. Later, soldiers pursuing the family asked a farmer when the travelers had passed; though now harvesting the same wheat, he truthfully replied that he saw them when the wheat was planted. Discouraged, the soldiers turned back. The narrative unfolds from back to front, suggesting the family's progress on its journey. This movement continues in the foreground as the mule, depicted mid-step, carries the Virgin and Child, while Joseph, partially hidden by the miniature's frame, begins to disappear from sight.
Picturing the Medieval Family (May 4 to July 18, 1999)
The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center (Los Angeles), May 4 to July 18, 1999
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Common hashtags parents use on kids' photos can put them at risk on social media, nonprofit says
Woman warns of rare condition after little sister has seizure-like reaction to hair curling
Roop Raj
By Roop Raj
Updated May 16 2019 02:41PM EDT
"Welcome Home." These are words I've been waiting to hear for more than a decade.
It is great to be back in Detroit, my home. I spent the last seven years in New Orleans as morning anchor/reporter at one of the TV stations there. I was there for three years before Hurricane Katrina and spent the last four years covering that city's recovery. Before that I worked as a reporter, anchor and weatherman at the NBC station in Flint, MI for four years.
But it all started in Troy, MI where I began my TV career at the age of 14 when I created, produced and hosted a public-affairs talk show on the government access station. One year later, I was deemed one of the nation's youngest TV personalities when I appeared on The Phil Donahue Show.
While attending Michigan State University, I worked at the Lansing CBS and ABC affiliates.
A defining moment in my career was covering Hurricane Katrina while living in New Orleans. Anchoring for almost 17 hours straight as the monster storm came ashore was truly a reminder of why we do what we do. People who were stuck in their homes alone had no contact with the outside world, but us.
After a few days of covering the mayhem on the streets of New Orleans, we evacuated to Mississippi where we anchored from a make-shift set with a camera, a speaker phone and a dry-erase board that told the people where to go next. Where to get water, how to find relatives, and how much of the city was under water were crucial topics our evacuated audience needed to know about.
I've never been one to talk about awards I won as part of a news team. However, I am proud to say our coverage in the hours leading up to the storm won our team an Emmy Award for "Best Continuing Coverage." I also received an Associated Press first place award for "Breaking Weather Coverage." In the years after the storm, my coverage of a city in crisis won two first place awards from the Press Club of New Orleans and the Associated Press as I profiled the "Safest Places to Live" when it comes to storm protection and crime.
Now, I come home to Detroit where a different type of storm is brewing. It was hard to watch my neighbors and friends in metro Detroit deal with an economic crisis. I wanted to come back and help report on stories of struggle and recovery in our area. Whether you lose your home because of storm surge from a hurricane or foreclosure due to a lagging economy, your home is gone.
People are tuning in to local news not just for a check on the weather. News has never been more important in people's lives as they try to recover. I am proud to join Detroit's only news team that's producing solutions as "Problem Solvers." You can watch me as an anchor/reporter on FOX 2 News weekdays at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. delivering the day's big stories.
One of the biggest questions I get is where my name is from. Although I was born and brought up in the Midwest, my parents came from India back in 1973. So yes, the name is Indian. And I have heard all of the nicknames! "Roop Dogg," "Roop There it Is," etc.
I believe that my job as a reporter here doesn't end when we sign off. I want to get involved in the community whether it be mceeing your organization's event or volunteering with your group. So please, let me know how I can dive right in and help this community. There's truly no place like home.
Follow me on Facebook here and on Twitter @rooprajfox2
My email is roop.raj@foxtv.com
More About Us Stories
Feds bring new sex-crime charges against R. Kelly
R. Kelly and his entourage recruited girls and women to engage in illegal sexual activity with the singer and covered up the crimes by paying off and threatening victims and witnesses, federal prosecutors alleged Friday in indictments that could keep the Grammy winner behind bars for decades.
Because they come from the federal government, the accusations add a new dimension to the allegations against Kelly, who was already facing sexual abuse charges brought by Illinois prosecutors earlier this year.
One federal indictment in Chicago said Kelly arranged for a girl and her parents to travel overseas to prevent them from talking with police prior to his 2002 indictment on 21 counts of child pornography. The R&B artist allegedly later instructed them to lie to a grand jury about the case. Kelly was acquitted in 2008 of the charges, which accused him of recording a video of sex acts with the girl, who was 12 or 13 when they met in the mid-1990s.
Tempe Police officers claim they were asked to leave Starbucks
By Justin Lum, FOX 10
TEMPE, Ariz. (FOX 10) -- Some Tempe Police officers were forced to take their coffee to go at Starbucks in the East Valley city, where officers claim an employee asked them to leave the store on July 4th.
FOX 10's Justin Lum spoke with the President of the Tempe Officers Association, who said a customer told a Starbucks employee they felt unsafe because of the number of officers in the store.
According to TOA officials, a group of five Tempe officers had just bought their drinks and stood near the front of the Starbucks, and that's when a barista made the request for the customer, and so, they left. FOX 10 has learned that two of the officers, who are veterans, are offended and frustrated by what happened. On Friday, the association took to social media, and posted a "Dump Starbucks" photo.
92-year-old nurse still in the workforce; has no plans of retirement
By Danielle Miller
Updated Jun 02 2019 08:51AM EDT
PHOENIX (FOX 10) - People typically leave the workforce around their 70s or so, but one Valley woman has far surpassed that. She's in her 90s and still works as a nurse.
This woman is fun, feisty, and full of life. Talking with her today, you'd never be able to tell she's in her 90s. She graduated nursing school in 1948 - she says it's her job that keeps her going and retirement isn't in her vocabulary.
When you think of growing old, some may picture themselves by the beach or in an active retirement facility, but for Nina Clark, it's the complete opposite. At 92-years-old, she works about 30 hours a week as a pre-admission testing nurse at Banner Del E Webb Medical Center.
High lead levels found in multiple Highland Park homes, urged to flush lines and get water tested
3-year-old Westland girl severely hurt in neighborhood fireworks display
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Derulo reaches out to K-pop with 'Let's Shut Up & Dance'
Singer Jason Derulo performs during the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Draw Ceremony at Shenzhen Bay Arena on March 16, 2019 in Shenzhen, China. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
By ANDREW DALTON, AP Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jason Derulo is simultaneously looking ahead, looking back and looking across the ocean for his new project.
In "Let's Shut Up & Dance," the pop singer collaborates with Asian K-pop acts Lay Zhang and NCT 127 in a trans-Pacific partnership he thinks ought to be increasingly common in the musical future.
At the same time, the single is the first of four in the coming months culminating in an EP boxed set of vinyl '45s in June that is a tribute to his childhood hero Michael Jackson.
Derulo, who has launched a number of Top 10 pop hits like "Whatcha Say" and "Talk Dirty" since emerging on the music scene in 2009, is looking to take inspiration from both past and future.
"I was so excited about this collaboration," Derulo said of Zhang, a member of the Chinese and South Korean boy band EXO, and NCT 127, a 10-member, Seoul-based boy group. "We come from totally different worlds, but I really, really love their talent."
Derulo has collaborated with everyone from pop hitmakers like Jennifer Lopez, Nicki Minaj and David Guetta to Colombian superstar Maluma and country music king Luke Bryan. The 29-year-old would seem to be too old to be a fan of the bubblegum musical style that has had Asian youth captivated for years and made serious inroads among American teens, especially with the success of the boy band BTS, who released two No. 1 albums in the U.S. last year and won honors at the Billboard Music Awards and American Music Awards.
For "Let's Shut Up & Dance," which has been viewed more than 18 million times on YouTube, Derulo takes the artists' styles from rainbow-hued to black, sexes up their usual youthful innocence and puts them in nighttime street scenes. But makes full use of their antic, athletic and synchronized dance moves.
"This was the norm back in the day in terms of dance," he said. "I feel like artists have become lazy."
The video has echoes of Jackson's work, and "The Greatest Dancer" EP where the song appears is set to drop on June 25, the 10th anniversary of the King of Pop's death.
The timing has also meant it comes when Jackson's legacy is being questioned on the heels of "Leaving Neverland," the HBO documentary on two men who accuse Jackson of molesting them as children, allegations the Jackson family and estate have denied and denounced.
Derulo said he is keeping the late artist he remembers separate from anything that may have happened privately.
"This has nothing to do with anyone's personal life," said Derulo, who had not seen "Leaving Neverland" when he spoke to the AP.
The Jackson influence in "Let's Shut Up & Dance" is not overtly expressed. There is no imagery of him, no sparkling glove or moonwalk.
"That was important to me," Derulo said. "This is not Vegas. I wanted to make sure in the song and the choreography that you can feel Michael's presence, and you can feel the influence, but it wasn't a copycat."
Derulo is also keeping busy with his role in "Cats," the movie version of the musical that dominated Broadway in the 1970s and '80s. Taylor Swift, Ian McKellen and Jennifer Hudson play felines alongside Derulo in the film, to be released Dec. 20.
"I was a musical theater kid, so theater and acting is always something I wanted to dive into. It was never the role that I thought could jump my acting career," he said.
Derulo said the way "Cats" uses motion-capture and other technology will be like nothing viewers have seen before.
"It's like seeing 'Avatar' for the first time or seeing 'The Matrix' for the first time," he said.
More Entertainment Stories
R. Kelly ordered held without bond, prosecutors call him 'an extreme danger to the community'
R. Kelly was ordered held without bail on Tuesday after federal prosecutors described him as “an extreme danger to the community, especially to minor girls,” at a hearing in U.S. District Court in Chicago.
“This risk of obstruction is real. This risk is ongoing. This risk is heightened by the defendant’s fame and power,” one assistant U.S. attorney told Judge Harry Leinenweber, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Kelly “has a unique ability to influence and intimidate witnesses and victims, and that continues to this day.”
But Kelly’s attorney, Steve Greenberg, said his client can be trusted not to flee if released from custody.
Jennifer Lopez makes up concert interrupted by power outage
NEW YORK (AP) -- Jennifer Lopez kept her word to fans who were disappointed when a power outage in New York City forced her to postpone her concert over the weekend.
Lopez returned to the stage Monday at Madison Square Garden, saying she was going to celebrate "no matter what."
She called it an "amazing night."
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Updated 22 November 1999, using information compiled by R.S. FULKERSON in Ontario, Canada in 1974
A Lost CANADIAN
Fulkerson Branch
It is believed the founder of this Canadian branch, Isaac Fulkerson, was born the NJ/NY/PA region about 1776 and moved to Canada about 1800. The few early records concerning Isaac are centered on Ancaster Township in Ontario. A section of this township is known as Jerseyville, probably because it was settled by immigrants from New Jersey, apparently in the decades after the American Revolution. Their moves to Canada may have been induced by economics (low-priced land), and may have had little to do with the politics of that era.
The one current lead on Isaac is that he may have been the son of Jacob Fulkerson of New Jersey, who was born in 1739. Willard L. Fulkerson of upstate New York attempted to document the Fulkerson family history in that region during the mid-20th century, and left us the following notations about Jacob's children:
Jacob -- m. a Miss Bell - left her and married again
Joseph -- lived in Lasson [a community called Lassen was located along the banks of the Hudson River in the Town of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess Co., New York.]
Isaac -- went to Canada before the war
John -- Died in the line of service
Samuel --
Some dates below are approximate, due to discrepancies between census, cemetery and family records. If you can help this branch find its roots, please feel welcome to share your information via e-mail.
Isaac FULKERSON....1776-26 Nov 1846, m. Martha _______ (1781-21 Sep 1851, birthplace unknown). Isaac moved to Ancaster Twp, Ontario by 1804, probably seeking land at relatively low prices. He purchased a farm in June 1812, at lot 32, conscession 3, Ancaster Twp, which remained in the family until 1964. Isaac and Martha had four children:
Samuel FULKERSON....1804-1871, b. in Upper Canada (renamed Ontario in 1867), m. Hannah KITCHEN (11 Sept 1806-1903), was a farmer. The Ancaster Parish record states, "December 24th, 1833.-Married (by publication of banns) Samuel Fulkerson and Hannah Kitchen, both of the Township of Ancaster, County of Wentworth, Gore District, by me, John Miller, Minister. Witnesses-John Stenabaugh and Jacob Appleman.". Their two known children were:
Abigail FULKERSON....1837-1914, b. in Ontario, m. James CHRISTISON (1830-1913)
George CHRISTISON.....1866-1931. George and his mother are buried at the Presbyterian Cemetery in Ancaster.
George FULKERSON - 3 Jul 1839 (or 1840?)-1920, b. in Ontario (Note: born 1843 per cemetery records). George m. Nancy (Nancey) Jane SAGER (8 May 1846-1932). They lived in Ontario, and all of their 7 children were born there:
Elizabeth E. "Eliza" FULKERSON....1871-1946, m. Samuel LYONS (1867-1953), two children:
Mary LYONS
Edna LYONS
Mary Jane FULKERSON.....15 Dec 1872-1905
Francis Samuel FULKERSON....1874-, m. Eva VAN SICKLE
Charles Orton FULKERSON....9 May 1875-, m. Jennie DUFF (1881-1960), had four children
George Edwin FULKERSON....1878-1892
William R. FULKERSON....1877- (?)
John Austin FULKERSON ....14 Jan 1880-Dec 1918, lived in Winnipeg, Manitoba, m. Getrude Maria BARR in Manitoba. She died on 29 Jun 1943 in Winnipeg.
Murray FULKERSON....d. 1953
Eleanor FULKERSON....d. 1986
One other child....still living
John FULKERSON....1806-1885, founded the "Talbot Road" branch. At one time in his life he kept the toll-gate on Talbot Road, at Mabee Corner near Straffordville. He married twice, first to Margaret MILLER (2 Nov 1812-26 Dec 1866, possibly a sister of the George MILLER below). The Ancaster Parish record tells us, "October 27th, 1831.-Married (by publication of banns) John Fulkerson, of the Township of Ancaster, and Margaret Miller, of the Indian tract, Grand River, Gore District, by me, John Miller. Witnesses-David Miller and Samuel Fulkerson.". He married second to Cicely SIMMONS, whom he married on 9 Aug 1868. By Margaret he had thirteeen children:
Martha FULKERSON....1832-, m. Joseph COLBECK in Jan 1851, lived in the Colbeck-Monticello area near Grand Valley. Both are buried at Monticello. They had seven children:
John W. COLBECK
Letitia COLBECK
Sarah COLBECK
Alfred COLBECK
Charlotte COLBECK
Abbie COLBECK
Martha COLBECK
Jacob FULKERSON....1833-1834
Joseph FULKERSON....12 Sep 1836-6 Sep 1927, m. Mary Ann CAPSTICK (1841-1927, from Putnam), was a farmer and spent all his life in the Dorchester area. Mary Ann was superintendent of the Pine Knot Sabbath Sunday School....a London, Ontario newspaper reported in 1913 she had walked 5,385 miles to fullfil that duty. They had no children. Both are buried at the Dorchester Union Cemetery.
John B FULKERSON....13 May 1839-26 Jan 1916, b. in Ancaster, ON. He m. Harriet MUNCE (or DELL?) (12 Jun 1840-6 Jul 1928), a lady "remembered for her lively spirit and great sense of humor," on 1 Jan 1867. John was a general handyman, livery stable operator and drove a carriage service to the local railroad stations. He was buried in Aylmer Cemetery, Aylmer, ON. They had four daughters:
Olive Nettie FULKERSON....2 Aug 1869-1945, m. Freeman Curtis LIGHT on 6 Jun 1901 in Tillsonburg, Oxford Co., ON, had four children
Lillian FULKERSON....23 Apr 1874-1937, aka "Lilly." She m. Frank LIGHT (s/o Frank & Sarah LIGHT) on 1 Nov 1896 in Ingersoll, Oxford Co., ON. He was then a 26-yr-old tinsmith living at Vienna, Elgin Co., Aylmer. Their witnesses were H.O. FLOWERS and Annie FULKERSON, both of Aylmer. She was buried in 1937 in Aylmer Cemetery, Aylmer, ON. They had one daughter:
Lenore Fern LIGHT
Nancy FULKERSON....26 Apr 1877-1964, m. (1st) Jack FOTHERGILL and (2nd) Henry JONES, no children
Laura FULKERSON....29 Aug 1885-1971, one child
David FULKERSON....17 Aug 1840-9 May 1897, m. Susan DEAN (3 Nov 1850-22 May 1914). Together they lived on Talbot Road near Mabee Corners, where he was a sawyer and farmer, and had seven children. The 1901 Census of Canada found her a widow living with all of her children except Isaac and Edward, her residence listed as Middleton, Norfolk, ON. David and Susan were buried in Bethel Cemetery at Mabee Corners.
Isaac Freeman FULKERSON....ca. 1871-22 Sep 1881
George Edward FULKERSON....3 Jun 1872-6 Sep 1941, m. Mabel Inez BIRDSELL (14 Jan 1877-24 May 1941), had four children
Sarah Ann FULKERSON....28 Nov 1877-9 Jan 1909, m. Omar CARSON. Both are buried in Bethel Cemetery at Mabee Corners.
John Robert FULKERSON....14 Oct 1875-1923, was a sawyer and barber, then took up farming. Nine children, one of whom compiled most of the information on this page.
William FULKERSON....4 May 1878-1931, was a farmer, had one son.
Joseph FULKERSON....14 Sep 1880-1928, m. Bertha ____, had a daughter and 2 sons, lived in the area of Port Burwell, ON.
Frank B. FULKERSON....14 Apr 1886-, a bachelor, spent his life in the auctioneering business. Lived on his father's farm at Mabee Corners, with his adopted sister Pearl, in his later years.
Pearl FULKERSON....(adopted), b. 6 Oct 1892
Mary FULKERSON....18 Jun 1842-1913, m. Wiltsie HAYDEN in Jun 1863, lived in the St. Thomas area, had four children:
Ida HAYDEN.....-1933
William HAYDEN.....1867-1937
Benjamin HAYDEN
Robert HAYDEN
Isaac FULKERSON....1843-, nothing further known
Abraham FULKERSON....1845-23 Jul 1923, born near Straffordville, Ontario, founded the "Dauphin" branch. (NOTE: The source for Abraham's information gave 2 birthdates - 9 years apart - also stating he was born 16 Jun 1836 and died at age 87, which would have been correct in 1923.) He m. Margret McCURDY on 3 Jun 1869, and worked as a laborer in Tecumseh Twp., Simcoe Co., Ontario. Two of their sons, Daniel and Joseph, moved west to Manitoba about 1889 and saved enough to move their parents there about 1899. Abraham settled at Roblin, where he kept a store and post office, but a few years later moved to Dauphin and farmed on the southeast quarter, section 24, township 24, range 20-wpm. After Margret's death, Abraham lived with daughter Louisa. Their seven children were all born in Tecumseh Twp., near Tottenham, Ontario:
Daniel John FULKERSON....24 Jul 1870-27 Aug 1932, went to Manitoba at age 19 and spent most of his life in the lumber industry. He m. (1st) Edith JACKSON (1877-1964) in Dauphin and had one son by her before they separated. Edith took the son back to Ontario and changed her last name to FOLKERSON. Daniel moved to Bowsman, Manitoba, where he worked for the Burrows Lumber Co.
Colin FOLKERSON....seven children
Joseph FULKERSON....1872-1940, went to Manitoba and worked on the farm of Robert Cruise. There he met and married his wife, and had five children. They lived in the Dauphin area.
Eugene A. FULKERSON....23 Aug 1873-30 Aug 1914, worked with his brothers in the lumber industry near Bowsman, then opened a photography business at Roblin. Never married.
William FULKERSON....ca. 1878-1898, possibly died before the family moved to Manitoba
Olive FULKERSON....28 Dec 1881-13 Jun 1922, m. James TUCKER of Illinois, lived in on a farm at Dauphin most of her life, except for a number of years while her husband operated a hardware store at Lenne, Saskatchewan. They had two children.
Louisa Edna May "Laura" FULKERSON....21 Jun 1885-5 Apr 1949, m. George TUCKER of Illinois and homesteaded in the Dauphin area. They had eight children.
George Alexander FULKERSON....1 Mar 1892-Mar 1954, farmed and also worked in the Dauphin area, had two sons.
Sarah Martha FULKERSON....4 Oct 1847
Sarah Martha Fulkerson VINCENT
Click on her picture to see family portrait
Photos contributed by
descendant Alma Verner
-6 Oct 1876, b. in Ancaster, Ontario, m. Lewis J. VINCENT (b. 22 Jun 1842, son of Thomas Cummings VINCENT and Chloe DELL of Ontario) on 1 Sep 1867 in Elgin Co., Ontario. They lived in Elgin Co. in the 1870s, but moved to the USA and were listed on the 1880 Census at Deerfield, Mecosta County, in central Michigan. Lewis' occupation was listed as 'common laborer.' About 1890 they moved north to Lake City, Missaukee Co., Michigan. Click on Sarah's picture to see the family portrait photographed in Lake City. It shows her with Lewis, their son Bassnett Vincent, and three daughters &8218; Clara Jane (Jenny), Bernice and Margaret. Absent from the picture were three sons who had died young.
Lewis died 4 Jun 1894 in Lake City. Sarah then married Charles O. NELSON in Lake City on 2 Sep 1898. Charles died in August 1906. Sarah died in Jennings, Missaukee Co., Michigan on 24 Jul 1909 at the home of her daughter, Clara Jane (Jenny) SAMIS and is buried in Lake City, Michigan. (NOTES-1/5/2000 and 1/7/2004: This updated information on Sarah is from her family Bible, Ontario marriage records, her obituary in the Lake City newspaper, the 1880 US Census, and related information sent in by her descendants.)
Justin VINCENT.......17 Jul 1868-2 Sep 1881
Thomas VINCENT.......11 Nov 1869-10 Aug 1881, died of diptheria
John VINCENT.......3 Feb 1872-12 Jun 1885, died in a log jam in Mecosta Co., Michigan
Bassnett Dell VINCENT.......1 Feb 1875-27 Oct 1952, b. at Mapleton,Ontario, d. in Lake City, Michigan, m. Ann KOOL (d. 1907) and Theresa Mary ZETTEL (in 1909), had one son by his first wife and five children by his second. One of his descendants tells us, "Grandfather Bassnett was a Carpenter. He worked in the lumber mills, and was a farmer. He was ambidextrous. He could use both hands the same. He was a healer that used herbs to help heal. He would go into the woods and come out with herbs to help heal."
Bernice K. VINCENT.......27 Oct 1877-17 Apr 1954, b. in Ontario, d. in Lake City, Michigan
Margaret VINCENT.......12 Aug 1881-, b. in Mecosta Co., Michigan, d. in Hart, Michigan
Clara Jane (Jenny) VINCENT.......21 Jul 1884-, m. a SAMIS
George M. FULKERSON....24 Oct 1849-, was listed as "23, farmer, Canada, North Dorchester, s/o John & Margaret," when he married Elizabeth A. CLEVELAND, age 17, born at Lexicon, Mich., a resident of North Dorchester and d/o William & Jane CLEVELAND, on 21 May 1874 at North Dorchester, Middlesex Co., Ontario. The witness was Fannie ANDERSON of N. Dorchester.
Mathias FULKERSON....7 Sep 1851-1935, nicknamed "Tice," lived in Dorchester, then moved to St. Thomas about 1900 and spent many years working at the J.H. Still Company. He m. (1st) Ettie DELL (9 Dec 1860-29 Oct 1915) on 12 Jul 1878, and (2nd) to Clara Jane Wells DONOVAN in 1915. By Ettie he had six children, only half of whom survived him:
Lewis Dell FULKERSON....13 May 1879-18 Oct 1966, one daughter
Oswald FULKERSON....5 Oct 1881-23 Oct 1918, married but wife and family are unknown
Annie FULKERSON....19 Feb 1883-19 Feb 1883
Bruce "Dell" FULKERSON....6 May 1886-, moved to Detroit, MI, had 3 daughters and 5 sons
Eva FULKERSON....18 Jan 1888-23 Feb 1888
Anna Victoria FULKERSON....11 Sep 1892-28 Feb 1965, five children
Abigail FULKERSON....1852-1861
Lydia FULKERSON....12 Aug 1859-ca. 1932, m. a KILMER, moved to western Canada
Isaac FULKERSON....1811-, m. Saludi ______, had four children:
Amos FULKERSON....
Martha FULKERSON....
Westley FULKERSON....1845-1923, m. Annie Jane HENRY (1849-1909), had eleven children:
Saludi FULKERSON....1870-1919, m. R. DOUBROUGH
Mary FULKERSON....1873-1965, m. John WILTON (b. ca. 1870) about 1897; source: 1910 US Census - 13yrs married/ no children; Mary's age 34, John's age 40)
Sarah FULKERSON....1876-1940, m. George DEVALL
William H. FULKERSON....b. ca. 1868/70 in Ontario, Canada, d. 5 Jul 1942, m. Mary ATKINSON about 1905, probably in Ontario. Mary was the oldest child of Thomas ATKINSON & Sarah CAWARD. They apparently moved to the USA shortly afterward, settling at La Fargeville, Jefferson County, NY. They appear on the 1910 Census living at Clayton, in 1920 at Alexandria and in 1930 at Theresa. They had 5 children, all born in New York State.
From the 1910 Census (courtesy of MeLani MAYSEN, by way of Kale HOBBES):
Mary and Williams children (3 daughters and 1 son) were all listed as born in New York. Mary and William both claim to be 40 y.o.; married for five years and the married couple immigrated to the U.S. six years earlier (1904) with Williams sister Mary. They shared their residence with Mary E. (FULKERSON) WILTON and her husband of thirteen (13) years, John WILTON. John had immigrated to the U.S. ten years earlier. Their birthplaces were listed as Canada, as was Williams sister, Mary; and their parents. The birthplace for John WILTONs mother was Ireland, his father, Canada.
From the 1920 Census (courtesy of Jennifer L, by way of Kale HOBBES):
Since the last census, Mary aged nine years (49yo), while William aged twelve (52yo); William immigrated in 1901 and Mary in 1905 rather than 1904. Their children: 3 daughters and 2 sons.
All three daughters are married off (Ida FURGISON, 1925; Sarah BEDOR, 1927 and Mildred HEYL, 1929); the only remaining children are the two sons, Howard (20yo) and Roy (18yo)
Ida FULKERSON....21 Dec 1905-06 Mar 2001, b. in NY, m. (1st) on 04 Jul 1925 to a FURGISON (d. 30 Jul 1965). They had ten children (source: Ida's obit, Watertown Daily Times, NY)
Sarah Violet FULKERSON....22 Jun 1907 NY-29 Mar 1980, b. in NY, m. on 22 Jun 1927 to a BEDOR. They had nine children.
Mildred B. FULKERSON.......06 Dec 1908-24 Feb 1973, b. in NY, m. on 24 Aug 1929 to a HEYL. They had one child.
Howard W. FULKERSON....20 Feb 1910-Aug 1970, b. in NY, m. a SCHULTZ, had two children
Roy W. FULKERSON....04 Apr 1912-Nov 1976, b. in NY, m. a TIMMERMAN who descended from Revolutionary War lieutenant Henry Timmerman (NY), had six children
Daniel FULKERSON....1871-, no children
Lydia FULKERSON....1882-1933, m. Joseph BRITT, 12 children
Nancy FULKERSON....1884-1906
Herbert FULKERSON....1888-1953, one child
Leonard FULKERSON....1875, died young
Bertha FULKERSON....1877, died young
Charles FULKERSON....1880, died young
Elijah FULKERSON....1851-1913, m. Mary Susan HENRY (1838-1919), six children:
John FULKERSON....1876-1962, never married
Harry FULKERSON....1880-1965, m. Teresa POLLARD
Effie FULKERSON....1885-1965, five children
Bertha FULKERSON....1883-1935, m. Albert FAIR, two children
Stella FULKERSON....1886-1966, four children
George FULKERSON....1888-1975, four children
Sarah FULKERSON....1817-1876, m. George MILLER (1813-1897)
Just to say hello, or if you have any CLUES about these ancestors that may assist this Unattached Branch.
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Featured Non-Profits
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July Featured Skater: Barbara Bushwhacker
Cat-snuggler, day-hiker, 10-year derby vet, Allstars’ Captain, and now league President, Barbara Bushwhacker is like the Horse...err…Unicorn of a Different Color. As an original member of the Hard Knox Roller Girls, she has watched the league grow and evolve into what it is today. In Brooke’s interview last month, she chose Bush as July’s Featured Skater because she said: In the spirit of our ten years of derby, I would love to read Barbara Bushwhacker’s answers to some of these questions. I am sure she could elaborate more on some of these thoughts. So to appease Brooke’s request, I’ve repeated some of the same questions I asked her back in June to get Bush’s viewpoints now. Let’s see if Bush’s opinion on things is different or stays the same.
Like Brooke, you’ve also been around since the inception of Hard Knox. What made you decide to join? Did you already know how to roller-skate? How did you come up with your derby name and number?
Roller Derby started up in Knoxville just when I needed it. I was a year and a half out of college and looking for a community I no longer had. A friend sent me a message on MySpace about an interest meeting for the Hard Knox Roller Girls. I knew this was something I had to be a part of. I grew up skating but was never very good. I even had my 13th birthday party at a skating rink. I couldn't make it to the first meeting but I went to the first practice. I felt so out of my element. I thought everyone already knew each other and I was the new kid. I didn't really talk to anyone and no one really talked to me. I think we were all socially awkward. As I was leaving, a skater was walking to her car and struck up a conversation with me about roller derby and Hard Knox. Had it not been for her, I may not have gone back. Turned out only a couple of people knew each other and we were all the new kids. That skater was Brooke and I thank her frequently for talking to me on that day. Roller derby is what I was born to do. It's been a huge part of my life for 10 years.
Oh the name selection process! I originally chose a different name but it was taken by a skater on a different league in a different state. In the early days there was a database of names that had been claimed. If the name you wanted was on there, you had to try again. So I went back to the drawingboard and thought of all kinds of witty or funny names. I knew I wanted a name with multiple meanings. After much deliberation I settled on Barbara Bushwhacker. It's a play on Barbara Bush, an homage my favorite childhood wrestlers, the Bushwhackers, and Bushwhacking is also a form of guerilla warfare involving ambushes done with the intention of wearing down the enemy to the point of collapse through continuous loss of personnel and materials. Brutal! And my number was easy. 27 is my lucky number.
What are some of the various roles you’ve held within the league over these last 10 years? Which of these was your favorite position, and why? Which was the most challenging, and why?
I have been Head of Training, Lolitas Locas Captain, Assistant Coach, Head Coach, All-stars Captain, Skating Coach and now President. I try to run away from responsibility but it keeps finding me.
My favorite role has been Head Coach. When I found myself unable skate due to back injury in 2012, I wanted to be involved and contribute as much as possible to this wonderful league I love. When there was a vacancy in the Coach's seat, I went for it. I was Assistant Coach under Matta tat tat for a year and a half. We eventually switched roles for the last half of 2013 and I tried my hand at Head Coach. It has been the most rewarding role to date. I got to apply my years of knowledge and experience as a skater and my education in Psychology with my passion for the sport of roller derby. It was, mostly, a great experience. I loved it so much, I coached 2 more years after returning to skating.
President has been the most challenging. Hard Knox is both a non-profit organization and a business. I had no experience running either of those. It seems like everyday there are new lessons to learn and issues to sort out. I feel like I'm in charge of everything and nothing at the same time. There's a lot of pressure to make sure everything goes smoothly but also freedom to try new things or accomplish things I've always wanted for our league. It is very cool to see the inner workings of an organization like Hard Knox.
Our 2016 home season is officially underway in our new venue at The Cooper Athletic Center on the Maryville College campus in Maryville, TN. Many fans are wondering…why the move to Maryville College? And for those fans that have never seen or heard of it, what the heck is “sport court” anyway?
The move to Maryville College was an attempt at establishing new relationships in our community, reaching new fans, providing a better fan experience and becoming more self sufficient as a league. The Coliseum is a wonderful venue but it felt like our crowd was sparsely scattered in the stands. Also, the future of the Coliseum is uncertain, as the building structure is being assessed by the city. Our goal for this season was to find a venue that fits our crowd size better and gives us an option in case the Coliseum is no longer available. By moving our bouting location to Maryville, we thought we might pick up some new fans and sponsors. The fans are closer to the action at Maryville College as well. And it is opening up more advertising options for Hard Knox.
Sport court is a polypropylene court that is portable and quite durable. We couldn't play at Maryville College without it because no one wants to ruin their awesome gym floor. It allows us to always have something to skate on. With the sport court comes a lot of work and we are always looking for volunteers to help with the floor and various other tasks. So if any of you out there are interested in volunteering, let us know.
As mentioned in Brooke’s interview last month, this is the 10th anniversary of the Hard Knox Roller Girls. Since you have also been around the entire time, can you tell us how you’ve seen the sport of roller derby change over the last 10 years?
EVERYTHING has changed over the years. The biggest change I have seen is how the sport is played. In the beginning it was all about skating fast and hitting hard. We still love those aspects of derby, but the strategy has become much more complex. There are more plays and many different defenses and offenses used today than there were 10 years ago. This is a blessing and a curse. The sport is evolving almost at a rate to where some of the fans are having a hard time keeping up with the game play. Another big change is the athleticism. In the beginning it was more about clever names and cute boutfits. Now it's all about skills, endurance and strategy.
How does Hard Knox plan to celebrate their 10th anniversary?
We are organizing something big this year! July 30th we are having a carnival to celebrate Hard Knox's 10th year. We are going to have live music, vendors, food, games, performers and activities. Some of our vendors will be selling spray paint art, metal and leather jewelry, hula hoops, chain mail and handcrafted preserves. There will be tarot card readings and palm readings. You may see a juggling unicyclist or a fire spinner. We'll have doggie kissing booths and face painting. The daytime will be family friendly and at night we are turning it to a more mature level and ending with a burlesque show. Stay tuned to our website and Facebook page for more details as we get closer to the date. Welcome to double digits Hard Knox!
If you could quit your day job and run away with the circus, what type of performer would you like to be? Do you already possess any unusual talents that no one knows about?
I would probably do something with the animals, like lion tamer or elephant rider. I also think trapeze would be really fun! I can juggle a little bit and I can also wiggle my ears. Does that count?
I heard from a little birdie that Hard Knox recently started their very own junior derby team. Care to elaborate on the details?
Our Junior Derby team, Hard Knox Hooligans, is still in the start-up phase. It is a co-ed team for kids ages 7-17. We practice Thursday evenings and some Saturday mornings. There are 3 sessions per year, with our next one running from August through October. Stay tuned for the details of our next Hooligans recruitment on July 23rd. For more info you can email: Information@HardKnoxRollerGirls.com
Tell us an adorable story about one of your kitty cats.
Mario was found in a hotel dumpster in Chattanooga and brought to us by Drop Dead...Gorgeous, former HKRG. He was a tiny little kitten, only 4 weeks old. One of his first nights with us, we put him on the bed to sleep near us. I woke up in a near panic because I couldn't find him anywhere and I was sure my husband, Throb Zombie, or I had squished him. Nope, he was just cuddled up sleeping away in Throb's underwear. So the first time we left Mario at home, we were going to practice, we swaddled him in a pair of underwear and put him in a box. When we came home, he was exactly where we left him. The boy loves his furdaddy's underwear.
What does being a roller girl mean to you?
It means being part of something greater than myself. Belonging to an exceptional family that has spread worldwide. Knowing that anywhere I travel, I already have friends. It means putting in effort to make something successful because I care about it. Wanting to be the best Bushwhacker for my team. It means finding my alter ego and being aggressive. Taking on roles I'm not enthused about because my team needs me. Finding a place I truly feel like I am meant to be. Feeling rewarded for our effort when we look around and know we helped build this world of roller derby. It means taking pride in making it work when it doesn’t always seem like it's going to.
Do you and your zebra hubby, Throb Zombie, ever get into super technical, geeky and lengthy debates over the WFTDA rule set?
Um, yes. When we watch bout video together, we will often debate referee calls and skater legality. It's really nice to have ref insight. We sometimes discuss how certain rules should be changed and how referees interpret rules. And sometimes it starts arguments when we disagree on how a penalty is called or not called.
Photo credit: Jason R. Scott
Do you have any plans of joining Team Zebra yourself when you decide to finally retire from the battlefield?
I can't imagine that happening. I plan to play until my body falls apart. At that point, I see myself coaching. I really love figuring out strategies, planning drills and building progressive practices. Reffing is quite hard and refs get little respect and appreciation. Also, if I coach, I can yell at refs and that's more fun than being yelled at. I feel I have more to offer as a coach than as a ref. If I can't play or coach, I might consider reffing.
Looking back through all the years, what is your most memorable roller derby experience?
Competing in Regionals in 2010 in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was a huge accomplishment for our team to get there. We worked hard that season. It was also the first time many of us had seen high level game play in person. With teams like Texas Rollergirls and Tampa Roller Derby competing, we were completely out of our element. At times, we weren't even sure we were playing the same sport as the other teams. We learned a lot about roller derby that weekend. We went into the tournament in 9th place and beat Memphis Roller Derby, our long time rivals and friends, to remain in 9th place. We were also pleasantly surprised at how receptive the people of Lincoln were to our sport. There were tournament banners lining the streets of downtown. Everywhere we went, locals asked what team we played on and were genuinely interested in our stories. It was an overall incredible experience for our team.
How have you kept your passion for derby alive after all these years?
I just love it and feel like it's what I'm supposed to be doing. I can't imagine life without it and I believe in the future of my league and the sport. If I start losing my passion, I remember my ultimate goal, to help pave the way for people to get paid to play roller derby again. If I could make this my full time job, I absolutely would.
You do a lot of hiking. Would you mind sharing with us your favorite trail, or is it a super secret chill spot?
My favorite trail is Rainbow Falls in the Great Smoky Mountains. It's just challenging enough at 2.7 miles up a mountain. The trail is beautiful and follows a stream for a good portion. The trees provide an excellent shade canopy and there are a couple of waterfalls on the trail, which is one of my favorite trail features. We also have a secret chill spot on the same trail. There is a cool rock you can climb on top of and hang out. It has a pretty sweet view, especially in the fall. You can hear people on the trail below but are not visible to them. It requires a bit of scrambling to get to the top, but the view is absolutely worth it.
Who would you like to see as next month’s featured skater, and why?
I would love to hear from CarcinoJen, one of the newest additions to Hard Knox and a skater with an abundance of talent. I want to know what it's like to come from other leagues to Hard Knox and also how she's such a beast at the skate park.
Photo credit: John M. Blood
Thanks for sharing with us, Bushy. Great article! Until next time…
~Space Riot
Highway to HellBillie: My journey to becoming a Hard Knox Roller Girl
A Decade of Derby Homecoming Double-Header 06/25/16
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From an IMDB poster 0 and 1 Guest are viewing this topic. « previous next »
: [1] 2
: From an IMDB poster ( 9767 )
From an IMDB poster
« : August 31, 2008, 05:18:46 AM »
I see people on here (IMDB) suggesting that this film is anti-revolutionary, anti-change and that its message states that people just keep to themselves. This was apparently also the initial reaction from film critics. What's really being said is a critique of revolutions from the left, as not being authentically populist or pro-poor enough, and are too often an excuse for people to seize power without actually believing in helping the poor. The film, in effect, criticizes Maoism from the left, suggesting that violence of the sort he propsed inevitably begets more violence, and the revolution and change must come through peace and friendship, as well as personal change and character reform, like that undergone by Juan, rather than generals and guns. Its sympathies obviously lie with the revolutionaries, and the army are clearly an allegory for the Italian fascists and the Nazis, under whose rise Leone spent his formative years. Even the very first scene of the film shows how the rich really do despise the poor, including members of the clergy, and we're obiviously meant to hold these carriage riders in contempt. This is one of the most left-wing films I've ever seen, critiquing Maoism and other authoritarian revolutionaries for not being sincere enough about making the world better. I think an appropriate analogy would be Martin Luther King talking with Malcolm X, contemplating whether violence can ever bring about true change and peace. Utterly brilliant.
Groggy
This post gets Agnew's stamp of approval!
Re: From an IMDB poster
« #1 : August 31, 2008, 11:17:53 AM »
I don't think DYS is necessarily "anti-revolution" in the sense of being reactionary, as the poster you mention to seems to imply. Rather, I think it's primary point of view is cynicism/skepticism towards the idea that revolution is inherently a good, desirable or necessary thing. Perhaps Revolution is a good idea in theory, but when tainted by the corrosive hands of man, how likely is it to succeed? And at what cost?
Saturday nights with Groggy
« #2 : August 31, 2008, 04:47:25 PM »
The poster doesn't account for the film's title. Who is doing the ducking? What is he ducking? Why is he being emphatically advised to duck?
The short answer to the questions: Joe Plebe, duck social interaction and opt out of the system, which is a mug's game. The status quo only allows for suckers and tyrants, and no one should aspire to either. Classes by their very nature distort individuality. The answer is not in group identification, but abjuring lemming-like behavior and seeking to be one's own self, beholden only to one's own self. The revolutionary and the reactionary are at heart the same person, controllers who see others as pawns. Put not your trust in princes, but neither in prince killers. Duck, sucker. Keep your head down whilst history is passing overhead or you're not likely to keep it. Don't choose sides, don't play their game. Leave it all behind.
That's a fair reading, DJ, but I guess the problem is - what can (or perhaps do is the better word here) you do? What's the alternative? There has to be something. Leone's cynicism is well-articulated and well-taken, but its nihilism doesn't really offer a viable solution - unless he's endorsing Juan's life as a criminal as being his idea of Utopia.
You've put your finger on Leone's limitations as a political philosopher, Groggy. But his films aren't really intended as prescriptions for social action anyway. The best he can do is celebrate the individual over the group (thus, his loner heroes, his "out-laws" who operate beyond the pale of civilization). In a sense, his Dollars films and OUATITW are set in a mythic, pre-civilized land where society has yet to take hold. The problems people in such a setting encounter are very different from those we in the modern West must deal with. DYS, probably, is less a critique of politics then a critique of political films, namely ZWs. SL is up to no more than deflating the pretentions of such films, whilst extolling his cult of individuality. The problems of modern political life he leaves to others.
True, and Frayling, at least through his interviews with Leone's collaborators, indicates SL wasn't overly interested in or knowledgable about political issues. His movies do contain rather elementary political messages (DYS is the only one that has any real "depth"), but the focus I think is primarily on the entertainment or the art. This is probably Leone's strength as a film maker, in my view; while I enjoy "reading" and analyzing films, I tend to enjoy them on their own terms, politics aside. But then, like Juan, SL makes a profound statement on Revolution, that, even if flawed, hits the nail squarely on the head, and leaves you wondering... He does, interestingly, allow Villega some chance to justify what Juan criticizes: Where would a Revolution be without leaders or organizers? But, it all comes back to the basic question: Revolution? At what cost, and for what?
« : August 31, 2008, 09:10:10 PM Groggy »
Quote from: Groggy on August 31, 2008, 09:07:11 PM
He does, interestingly, allow Villega some chance to justify what Juan criticizes: Where would a Revolution be without leaders or organizers?
Interestingly, the movie provides an answer. Professional revolutionaries like Villega, arguably, cause more harm than good. Juan, an amateur agitator, if you will, is more effective, and acts without betrayal (even though there are sometimes fatal consequences for those around him). The irony is that Juan becomes a "grand, glorious hero of the revolution" inadvertently. On his way to rob a bank one day he liberates political prisoners who are then able to spread insurrection. But he cares nothing for the cause he is promoting. And if he were to become suddenly politically conscious, he no doubt would become like Villega or the other professionals, using people to achieve political ends. Juan can only be effective by maintaining his naivete; the spell would be broken if he tried to dictate events. Better to be true to yourself and allow events to take care fo themselves.
But, a Revolution without a leader is doomed to fail. A Revolution with a leader, is merely likely to fail.
« #8 : September 01, 2008, 05:51:22 AM »
It depends on how you define "revolution" and "failure." Did the Russians have a "successful" revolution?
Quote from: dave jenkins on September 01, 2008, 05:51:22 AM
I said "likely" to fail, not "always successful". The Polish indepedence movement against the USSR in the '80s, for instance, had a leader (Lech Walesa), and it succeeded in achieving its goals. Hell, I would argue that the Russian Revolution was a success too; I disagree strongly with the leftist school-of-thought that Stalin somehow perverted the Revolutionary dream, which would have resulted in a Utopia with gum-drops raining down and chocolate streams and free bread and candy for everyone. Pretty much everything I've read on the subject indicates that Lenin and Trotsky would likely not have been significantly different than Stalin turned out to be.
But Poland wasn't an example of a top-down shift in power; it was getting rid of oppressive overseers who were beholden to Moscow. At the end of the day, the factory workers were still factory workers, not suddenly a new cadre of rulers. Even Lech Walesa had to be elected to office, and then, when he proved not entirely competent, was turned out and more able men put in his place. The American Revolution was similar: George Washington was a wealthy land owner under the British, and after independence he was still a wealthy landowner. The top of the pyramid had been lopped off, but the base of the structure was still in place. Not so with the Russian Revolution: it was truly a "revolution" with top and bottom changing places. And what happened was that those on the bottom who were now suddenly on top began acting like those who had been on top before--and then some. All that bloodshed merely produced a new class of oppressors; the faces changed, the oppression went on.
Which is why SL can't be considered a man of the left. He knew that the Mexican Revolution wasn't much of a success: the years of suffering that went into making it produced more years of suffering. Mexico today is a basket case, a country that couldn't exist without leaning on its northern neighbor. All talk of revolution in DYS has to be viewed ironically. Even Juan, the representative peasant, wants nothing more than to be able to go to the US. He wants to escape from the whole worthless revolutionary project.
Your point about Russia is well-taken, but how does that negate what I said? I don't think the Bolsheviks had any intention of creating a free, democratic and equalitarian society - any readings of the time period should dissuade from this notion. Maybe the people who supported them wished for it, but Lenin, Stalin, and Trotsky made no bones about the fact that they wanted a dictatorship in place. The only difference, as you say, is that they would be on top rather than the Tsar.
We're not arguing, Groggy, I'm just attempting to broaden the discussion. The term "revolution" means different things in different contexts. The only thing the American Revolution and the Russian Revolution have in common is that they were both accomplished by violence. In the former case, the revolution having been accomplished, relative tranquility ensued; in the case of the latter, violent revolution gave way to a violent civil war followed by a more systematized violence visited upon the general populace (liquidation of the kulaks, orchestrated famines, purges, et. al.) So "revolution" can have radically different connotations.
Juan Miranda isn't much of a political philosopher, but he instinctively knows how to achieve his personal economic goals. He's a born capitalist, and he's (one of) Leone's heroes in DYS. Mallory is a man of the left, a man of revolution, but his efforts come to naught. He achieves a kind of redemption at the end of the film, but of a *personal* kind. He leaves no lasting mark on Mexico itself or the international revolutionary movement. And Juan, the man of self interest, although chastened at film's end, is Leone's last man standing on the field of battle, the very definition of a victor.
piribiriboing
« #13 : January 15, 2009, 11:28:02 AM »
All this (film) can be summarized in one word: disillusion.
« #14 : January 15, 2009, 01:30:30 PM »
I respectfully disagree. I think the words "betrayal" and "friendship" must be put in play as well.
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Obama’s accolade for Akshaya Patra
3:01 PM administrator
The US President elect found it a sterling example of ‘what is possible when people work together’
The Akshaya Patra mid-day meal programme run by ISKCON has drawn praise from US President elect Barack Obama. He appreciated the good work done by the Akshaya Patra Foundation in a letter that he wrote to them before he was elected as President of United States.
While Obama was on his campaign trail, he heard about Akshaya Patra mid-day meal programme of India and took time off to send a congratulatory note. In the note sent to the head of Akshaya Patra office in Boston, he writes, “Your use of efficient and innovative business practices to scale up in just a few years from feeding 1,500 school children daily to almost a million is a powerful demonstration of what’s possible when people work together.”
He points out that the Akshaya Patra could serve as a model for other countries as well. The letter reads, “I want to congratulate you and the people of the Akshaya Patra Foundation for the incredible progress you’ve made in feeding the children of India. Your use of efficient and innovative business practices to scale up in just a few years from feeding 7001 school children daily to almost a million is a powerful demonstration of what’s possible when people work together.
“Behavioural, emotional and academic problems are more prevalent among children with hunger. Hunger and malnutrition also make it much more difficult to fight AIDS and other public health challenges. By feeding children now, you are helping to avoid any negative consequences that would be much more difficult and expensive to address later on.
“In just a few years, Akshaya Patra has become the largest single feeding program in the world. Your example of using advanced technologies in central kitchens to reach children in 5,700 schools is an imaginative approach that has the potential to serve as a model for other countries. Thank you again for all of your efforts”. Said Madhu Pandit Dasa, Chairman, Akshaya Patra Foundation, “We hope one day we will be able to showcase one of our large kitchens to Barack Obama and demonstrate how our governments and civil societies are working in partnership for the development of our children to bring about a transformation in the country.”
The other ISKCON authorities too are thrilled to get a compliment from a personality like Obama. They say that he wants to replicate the programme in African countries.
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India, Sri Lanka ink civil nuclear pact, agree to expand defence ties
JPNN/New Delhi/Feb 16, 2015/Taking the ties to a new level, India and Sri Lanka today inked a civil nuclear pact besides deciding to expand defence and security cooperation.This was announced after the talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena during which both the leaders expressed commitment to find a solution to the emotive fishermen issue by adopting a constructive and humanitarian approach."The bilateral agreement on civil nuclear cooperation is yet another demonstration of our mutual trust.
This is the first such agreement Sri Lanka has signed. It opens new avenues for cooperation, including in areas like agriculture and healthcare," Modi said in a joint press interaction with Sirisena.Sirisena, who arrived here yesterday, has chosen India for his first foreign trip after assuming charge of the country. He had dethroned Mahinda Rajapaksa from his 10-year rule after a bitter Presidential poll.The nuclear pact would facilitate cooperation in the transfer and exchange of knowledge and expertise, sharing of resources, capacity building and training of personnel in peaceful uses of nuclear energy, including use of radioisotopes, nuclear safety, radiation safety and nuclear security.It would also facilitate cooperation in radioactive waste management and nuclear and radiological disaster mitigation and environmental protection.The two countries also signed three other pacts, including cooperation in the field of agriculture. Another MoU was signed to enable Sri Lanka to participate in the Nalanda University Project.The Prime Minister said he and the Sri Lankan leader also agreed to expand the defence and security cooperation."We welcomed the progress in our maritime security cooperation, including in the trilateral format with the Maldives," he said.Modi said he believed that destinies of both the countries are "inter-linked" and that "our security and prosperity are indivisible".
Modi said they had "excellent discussions" on bilateral relations and international issues and added that India was honoured that Sirisena had chosen the country for his first overseas destination after assuming charge.On the fishermen issue, Modi said he and the President attached the "highest importance" to it."It affects livelihoods on both sides. We agreed that there must be a constructive and humanitarian approach to the issue."We will encourage the fishermen's associations on both sides to meet again soon. They should find a solution that can be taken forward by both governments," he said.The Sri Lankan President expressed happiness over the outcome of the talks and said the friendship between the two countries was not only important to each other but was significant for the region as well."I really appreciate Prime Minister Modi's efforts (to improve ties). Relations between the two countries will be strengthened further," he said.Modi also thanked Sirisena for inviting him to visit Sri Lanka and said he was "eagerly looking forward to visiting the country in March"."We are at a moment of an unprecedented opportunity to take our bilateral relations to a new level. His visit today has set us firmly in that direction," the Prime Minister said while congratulating Sirisena for his historic victory in the recent elections in the island nation.
On the fishermen issue, Modi said fishermen's associations on both sides will be encouraged to meet again soon while noting that that they should find a solution that can be taken forward by both governments.Modi said India was Sri Lanka's closest neighbour and friend and the goodwill and support of the people of India will always be with it."We also share a broad range of interests - economic development for our countries; peace and prosperity in South Asia; maritime security in the region," he said.On the economic engagement, Modi said both the countries are committed to "unlock" the vast potential of the economic cooperation.
"We are pleased to be Sri Lanka's largest trading partner. I know that India enjoys a huge trade surplus. I expressed my support for a more balanced growth in trade in both directions," he said.The Prime Minister said he had conveyed to Sirisena India's readiness to promote greater flow of Indian investments and tourists into Sri Lanka."We also intend to further improve air and sea connectivity between India and Sri Lanka," he said.Modi said they discussed expansion of cooperation in energy sector, both conventional and renewable, and that Commerce Secretaries of both the countries will meet soon to review trade ties.
Talking about the Indian assisted projects for internally-displaced persons in Sri Lanka, Modi said they have made excellent progress."This includes the Housing Project, under which more than 27,000 houses have already been constructed. The President and I expressed satisfaction with the progress."I assured President Sirisena of India's commitment to its development partnership with Sri Lanka. This will continue to cover a broad range of areas, including infrastructure," he said.Referring to a pact on cultural cooperation, Modi said that like cricket, culture provides a strong bond between the two countries."Sri Lankan nationals visit the National Museum in New Delhi in large numbers to pay homage to the Kapilavastu relics. We have decided to reduce the fees for them," he said. Agency
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Category: Premieres
Saturday, December 28, 2013 / 10:28 am
The Nut Job Premiere
The world premiere of the animated heist caper The Nut Job, will take place at Regal Cinemas L.A. Live in Los Angeles on Saturday, January 11, 2014. Katherine Heigl will join co-stars Will Arnett and Gabriel Iglesias at the red carpet event which begins at 11am.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013 / 10:44 am
Katherine Heigl enjoyed a short vacation at the picturesque Las Ventanas al Paraiso resort in Los Cabos, Mexico, last week, posting pictures on her social media pages from the trip. "Enjoying a girls weekend in Mexico!!! Sun, sea and margaritas!" she told followers, sharing a poolside photo with her sister Meg at their coastal location.
Friday, February 17, 2012 / 3:32 pm
Awkward Scenes & Difficult Decisions
"It was really nerve-racking and I’ll tell you what… seeing it on a very, very, very big screen at the premiere, it was a very different experience. Man that was embarrassing. It’s a lot of me," said Katherine Heigl when asked by the Associated Press about her revealing scene in One For The Money where she is handcuffed naked to a shower-curtain rod.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 / 5:20 pm
New York Talk
In ‘The Big Apple’ a few weeks ago for the premiere of One For The Money, Katherine Heigl spoke with the New York Post about her passion for animals and what she she likes to do when visiting the city.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 / 7:23 am
Interview Talk – One For The Money Press Junket
"There’s something about her that’s really endearing. You just like her. You just really like her. She’s a decent person with a big heart. She’s fearless and courageous but perpetually puts herself in situations where she’s in over her head," Katherine Heigl told journalists at the press conference for One For Money recently.
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August 7, 2013 jofurniss
My home station on the MRT is Toa Payoh. Toe-PIE-oh... only you have to say the ‘toe’ part as fast as is humanly possible, making it more like t’PIE-o. Toa Payoh was the first ever stop on the MRT map - Singapore’s subterranean railway opened in 1987 with a 6km stretch of track from here to Yio Chu Kang.
yellow - YELLOW
MRT = Mass Rapid Transport… everything is rapid in Singapore - like the growth of the MRT. There’s also an emphasis on mass, in the sense of ‘for the masses’, which brings me back to Toa Payoh.
Around 85% of Singaporeans live in public housing in the form of tower blocks in model towns, the like of which failed spectacularly in England but (in a classic case of student surpassing master) succeeded in Singapore.
Toa Payoh Town was the first to be entirely purpose-built by the Housing Development Board. And its convenient little high street - actually a few streets lined with all manner of chain- and mom-and-pop shops where I've bought everything from shampoo to a diamond - is thriving. Tell that to Telford.
Blk 170 Lor 1
The HDB arrived in Toa Payoh - the name is Hokkien for ‘big swamp’ - in the 60s, when the area was said to be as rough as Chicago, and most of the residents still lived kampong-style in attap houses. Wooden huts, thatched roofs, stilts to stay out of that ‘big swamp’.
Out on my balcony - 50 years on and 31-storeys up - there are no echoes of the kampong. Traffic is snarling on the PIE, brakes like hundreds of red eyes. I see street lights, flood lights, head lights, neon lights, traffic lights, dreamy submerged swimming pool lights, even the orange light of a gas flare off Malaysia - but no kerosene lamps. If I close my eyes, the cicadas and lapping water could suggest a swamp… but a siren, a TV set, and the little German-sounding bell belonging to a convent school below break the spell.
In the vanguard of the HDB and the MRT, Toa Payoh was a pioneer in the mass, rapid transport of Singapore into the future. “One of Modernisation’s / first ports of calls”, as the poet Koh Buck Song has it.
taste of the kampong in blk 169
There are many other reasons to visit Toa Payoh and not just transit at the bus interchange: the remaining dragon playgrounds, the excellent public library with its special kids’ area, the oldest Buddhist temple in Singapore, and a suggestion that the Toa Payoh Long House popiah might just be the best in the country. I’d say “I’ll be back” but I’m already here.
*** I don't have permission to reproduce it, so I won't, but the National Heritage Board has a wonderful photo of the attap houses in Toa Payoh with the new HDB towers in the background taken in 1968.
In expat life Tags expat, humor, MRT, Singapore, Toa Payoh, travel
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2017-18 Women's Basketball
0 Loshaveon Jones F
2 Kennedy Potts G
3 Meredith Lovelady G
4 Emily Kmec F
5 Carleigh Short G
12 Auriana Broughton G
14 Lexi Manos G
15 Lauren Rau G
20 Taylor Clark G
21 Kaylee Cotton G
22 Loren Cagle G
23 Anna Hammaker G
24 Morgan Turner F
32 Laure Assena F
42 Riley Northway F
#22 Loren Cagle
POS. G
YEAR Sr.
HOMETOWN (PREVIOUS SCHOOL) Nashville, Tenn. (Lipscomb Academy)
2016-17 (Junior): One of 20 players named to the Nancy Lieberman Award watch list for the nation's best point guard...Finished first in the ASUN and 28th in the nation with 5.87 assists per game...Named to the ASUN All-Academic team...Totaled 176 assists on the season...Led the ASUN with a 1.7 assist-turnover ratio...Ranked second in the ASUN and 48th in the nation with 36.2 minutes per game...Logged 1,088 total minutes across 30 games...Averaged 8.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, and a team-high 1.43 steals per game...Led the team with 43 total steals and 143 total defensive rebounds...Led the team in assists 21 times, notched over five assists 17 times, and double-figure assists five times...Notched a season-best 14 assists against USC Upstate...Led the team in rebounding 10 times, including a season-high 14 against USC Upstate...Swiped three of more steals four times...Made three blocks in a game twice...Notched three double-doubles...
2015-16 (Sophomore): Finished first in the ASUN and eighth in the nation with 6.7 assists per game...Finished 24th in the nation with 188 total assists...Ranked second in the conference and 32nd in the nation with a 2.19 assist-turnover ratio...Placed seventh in the ASUN with 1.5 steals per game and ninth in three-point field goal percentage with a .351 mark...Averaged 8.2 points and 3.9 rebounds per game...Posted 10 double-digure scoring games, four double-figure assist games, two double-doubles, and 15 games of seven or more assists...Set the program single-game assist record with 14, which she recorded in back-to-back games...
2014-15 (Freshman): Played in 23 games...In 17.5 minutes per game, she averaged 4.0 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists...Shot 41 percent from the field and 35 percent from three-point range
High School: Played for head coach Ernie Smith at Lipscomb Academy... State champion in track and field in the 4x800m (freshman year)... Named All-Region junior year... Named All-District sophomore, junior and senior year... Named captain senior year... Named MVP all four years... Picked up 1000 points while playing at Lipscomb Academy... Holds school record in track in the 4x200m and 4x800m.
Personal: Daughter of Mark and Sherry... Has one brother, Ryan... Major is undecided... Favorite TV Show: Friends... Favorite Book: Oceans Apart... Favorite Professional Athlete: Candace Parker... Favorite Professional Team: San Antonio Spurs... Most Admired Person/Hero: Parents
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The Fed Hits the Brakes: No Rate Hikes Projected in 2019
At its meeting on March 20, 2019, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) maintained the benchmark federal funds rate at the target range of 2.25% to 2.50% that was set in December 2018. This in itself was not surprising. But other communications signaled a definite hiatus in the Fed’s policy of raising interest rates and tightening the money supply.1
The FOMC has raised the funds rate nine times since December 2015, with four increases in 2018 alone. As recently as September 2018, the committee projected three more increases in 2019. That dropped to two projected increases at the December meeting. But the March projections suggest that there may be no rate increases in 2019 at all.2
The FOMC also indicated that it would slow its program of reducing excess reserves of Treasuries and other government securities that were built up during and after the recession in a policy known as quantitative easing. The reduction program will stop after September 2019 unless conditions change, reflecting the Fed’s belief that there is no need for further tightening of the money supply.3
The strongest communication to come out of the March meeting may be the unusually direct comments from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. “We don’t see data coming in that suggest we should move in either direction,” he said. “They suggest that we should remain patient and let the situation clarify itself over time....It may be some time before the outlook for jobs and inflation calls clearly for a change in policy.”4
Dual Mandate
Powell’s reference to jobs and inflation reflects the Federal Reserve’s dual mandate to foster maximum employment and price stability. The FOMC sets monetary policy in accordance with the mandate, using two primary tools: the federal funds rate and the monetary supply.
The federal funds rate is the interest rate at which banks lend funds to each other overnight to maintain legally required reserves. The funds rate serves as a benchmark for many short-term rates set by banks, including the prime rate, which in turn influences consumer rates such as auto loans and credit-card rates. It can also influence longer-term rates.
Theoretically, lowering interest rates and increasing the money supply will stimulate the economy, which is why the Fed took these measures during the recession and extended them through the long, slow recovery. (The federal funds rate was near zero for eight years, from December 2007 to December 2015.)
On the other hand, raising rates and tightening the money supply are intended to slow the economy, primarily to control inflation. In theory, a strong economy with low unemployment should put workers in a position to demand higher wages, and higher wages allow businesses to raise prices on their products, which allows them to expand and pay higher wages.
A moderate level of wage and price inflation is considered integral to a healthy economy, and the Fed has set a goal of 2% annual inflation as optimal for economic growth. However, despite a strong labor market, wages and the broader economy have not grown as quickly as expected, and inflation has generally remained below the 2% target. Thus, raising rates has been more of a preventive measure and return to historical norms than a response to an overheated economy or runaway inflation.
The shift from further rate increases suggests that the Fed believes there is little to fear regarding high inflation. In fact, Powell said that the greater danger is low global inflation, calling it “one of the major challenges of our time.”5 While the Fed has raised rates steadily over the last three years — providing flexibility to drop rates if necessary — central banks in other countries have been slow to act due to sluggish economies and low inflation. Some have kept their benchmark rates below 0%, creating a risk of asset “bubbles” and placing them in a difficult position in the event of an economic downturn.6
Market Reactions
The stock market rose moderately after the FOMC announcement, but stocks still closed with a small loss for the day. The market generally applauds lower interest rates, but investors continue to be jittery about the potential for global economic weakness. In the longer term, stable interest rates at current levels may be good for stocks, which began to rally on January 4, 2019 — when Powell first preached “patience” — and gained more than 15% through March 20.7
The reaction in the bond market was stronger. The prospect of lower rates for an extended period — along with the Fed's decision to keep more Treasuries in its portfolio — made current yields more appealing. Investors rushed to buy Treasury securities and other bonds, driving prices up and yields down. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.52%, the lowest level in 15 months and just seven basis points (0.07%) above the yield on the three-month T-bill — nearing a “yield curve inversion” considered by some economists to predict a recession. Two days later, on March 22, the curve inverted for the first time since 2007, with demand for longer-term bonds driven by soft global growth.8
Although pessimists have feared a new recession for years, Powell emphasized that the U.S. economy is “in a good place,” and the official FOMC policy statement pointed to “sustained expansion of economic activity” in its expectations for future economic direction.9–10 A potential pause in rate hikes this year does reflect some concern about economic growth, but it also suggests that the Fed believes the current level is a neutral rate where further movement up or down could have a negative effect. This is not necessarily cause for concern. It may just mean that the Fed is doing its job.
The return and principal value of stocks and bonds fluctuate with market conditions. Shares, when sold, and bonds redeemed prior to maturity may be worth more or less than their original cost. U.S. Treasuries are guaranteed by the U.S. government as to the timely payment of principal and interest.
1–3, 10) Federal Reserve, 2018–2019
4–5, 9) Bloomberg, March 20, 2019
6) The Wall Street Journal, March 21, 2019
7) The New York Times, January 4, 2019; March 20, 2019
8) MarketWatch, March 20 and 22, 2019
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‘Why Byron?’ Citizens state case for Byron Post Office
May 19, 2011 ChronicleAdmin News One comment
Marcela Juarez Rivera handed a home-printed business card to a patron at Tuesday’s meeting regarding the future of the Byron Post Office.
“Budget cuts,” she said. “We’re doing everything we can.”
Rivera’s card states she is the Post Office Review Coordinator for the Colorado/Wyoming District. Before taking questions and comments from Byron residents, Rivera explained the grim financial situation facing the U.S. Postal Service.
“With the wave of electronic media we’ve encountered in the last decade, our our first class mail volume has decreased,” she said, noting that the USPS experienced an $8.5 billion deficit for the 2010 fiscal year and 2011 doesn’t look much better, with estimates of a $6.5 billion deficit this FY. “The postal service is having to respond and make some dramatic changes.”
She said the USPS has eliminated positions at every level, adjusted carrier rates, frozen executive spending accounts and cut expenses in all areas to try to correct the problem. Looking at post offices across the country for possible closure or reorganization is another cost-saving measure the USPS is taking.
Rivera said the USPS is going through the review process in Byron and in a few other Wyoming communities. Post offices under review were selected based on one or more of the following: declining volume, vacancy of a career postmaster, substandard building condition or declining revenue.
After the Byron office was selected for the review process, Rivera said Byron residents were sent a questionnaire to fill out and return to give feedback. She said there were a large number of written comments received and more people attended the Byron meeting Tuesday (nearly 200) than the other eight or so meetings held recently.
Rivera said the majority of cost savings that could come from shutting down the Byron Post Office would be in savings to the cost of the building and a decrease in salary expenses. Currently, Byron’s postmaster also works as a clerk in Cody. Contracting with a Byron business to provide postal services would allow the current postmaster to be used elsewhere within the organization.
After the meeting, USPS officials will compile the public comments and submit a report to USPS national headquarters in Washington, D.C. A proposal drafted in Washington will then be posted at the Byron Post Office and at town hall for 60 days, which will give residents a chance to make sure their comments were properly incorporated and the proposal is factually correct. After 60 days, the USPS will make a final determination, which will be posted for 30 days.
Residents have the option to appeal the decision within the 30 days and if a decision is approved after the 30-day waiting period, residents have a chance to appeal the decision to the Postal Regulatory Commission, which would extend the process by 120 days.
Gary Sims, Manager of Post Office Operations for Area 5 Wyoming, told the crowd that if the proposal goes to USPS headquarters without showing a substantial savings, the Byron office would not be closed.
The USPS could decide to re-organize the post office, possibly contracting with an existing business to provide most postal services. Delivery could be re-structured to either a contracted rural route, cluster boxes or be left at a location for pickup.
Tom Langston Sr. said many people in Byron like to “do it the old-fashioned way” and send letters and packages via USPS, but he thought limiting services in town could push more residents to use a competing carrier or e-mail for communications.
“I’m wondering how many people will be pushed away by the postal service,” he said.
He went on to say that the post office plays a vital role in the town of Byron, as a meeting spot and a place to exchange information.
“It’s not just a post office, it’s an important part of our community,” he said.
Karma Sanders questioned the cost savings of closing or reorganizing the post office, and pointed out that a contract employee would be paid less than a USPS employee and would receive no benefits or pension.
Other residents were concerned about “just anyone” being hired to sort their mail for slightly more than minimum wage.
A few residents spoke up about how residents are trying to stimulate the local economy, but losing the post office is a step in the wrong direction for new businesses.
At the close of the meeting, the USPS officials thanked those in attendance for their input and encouraged residents to stay informed throughout the review process and appeal the plan if they choose to.
By Brad Devereaux
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A support group for families, partners and friends of the victims of murder and manslaughter abroad.
HELPLINE 0845 123 23 84
support@murdered-abroad.org.uk
We welcome all media and professional enquiries.
For expert comment on breaking news or to arrange interviews, please contact us to discuss your requirements.
This moving video was made before we changed our name from SAMM Abroad to Murdered Abroad, but the sentiment and the powerful messages still apply. Thank you to Always A Chance for creating this video and for supporting our work.
Murdered Abroad was previously called SAMM Abroad which was founded in 2001.
Murdered Abroad exists specially for people in the UK whose loved ones are the victims of murder or manslaughter abroad.
We are a support group. We are also an action group, working for change within the UK to improve the support families receive after their loved one is murdered abroad.
Murdered Abroad is funded by donations and fundraising.
Murdered Abroad is an independent charity and is not funded by any Government office or agency.
Trustees of Murdered Abroad
- Eve Henderson -
Co-Founder, Director, Trustee
My husband of 32 years, Roderick Henderson, was killed in France in 1997 when my family went to Paris for the weekend to celebrate his birthday.
My son and son-in-law were also attacked in the street by the gang of youths. Roderick’s death and the aftermath of a failed police investigation – no-one was ever caught for the crime – was traumatic for all of us. It was truly shocking to be left on my own to deal with the problems of language, culture and a foreign judicial process and I was even more shocked that there was no clear policy or procedure in place here in the UK to assist my family. Nine months after Roderick’s death, the Coroner returned an Unlawful Killing verdict and for the statutory agencies here in the UK, that was the end of the matter. However, with the help of pro-bono lawyers, we took the case to the ECHR on the basis of a negligent investigation in France but in 2015 some 18 years after Roderick's death, this action also failed.
Along this difficult road, my family and I amassed a wealth of knowledge that can hopefully be used to help others in a similar situation.
- Brian Chandler -
Treasurer, Director, Trustee
Our grandson, Liam Hogan, was killed by his father pushing him off a fourth floor hotel balcony in Crete in 2006, along with his sister, Mia, who fortunately survived.
His father was cleared of murder by a Greek court who did not call any eye witnesses. Nevertheless, the UK Coroner recorded a verdict of "unlawful killing", after a proper inquest nearly five years later.
- Bren McLaughlin -
Director, Trustee
My brother, Howard Lister (aged 38) was murdered in his own home in Perth, Australia, in September 1999 and buried in a pine plantation.
All three perpetrators blamed each other for causing his death, so were tried on a joint enterprise ruling that they were all involved.
They were found guilty of wilful murder and sentenced to 17 years each. One of the perpetrators obtained an appeal and had his sentence cut to 11 years for murder. He was released after serving 13 years in prison. The second perpetrator was released on parole in November 2016. The third remains in prison in Perth.
- Kim Spooner -
My uncle and aunt, Neil "Billy" Spooner and Mary Smith, were unlawfully killed in March 1987 in the Zeebrugge Ferry Disaster in Belgium which took the lives of 193 passengers and crew. Seven people were charged with gross negligence manslaughter, and the operating company, P&O European Ferries (Dover) Ltd, was charged with corporate manslaughter, but the case collapsed. The case set a precedent that 'corporate manslaughter' is legally admissible in English courts.
My sister, Lianne "Lee" Burns, was brutally murdered in her home in April 2011 on the Caribbean island of St. Martin. The murderer was sentenced to 20 years in prison and will have to serve at least 15 years.
All Trustees are available for media appearances/comments.
Contact support@murdered-abroad.org.uk to make a request.
Country where death occurred *
Any other details you wish to share at this time
Thank you for requesting membership of Murdered Abroad.
If your loved one was the victim of murder or manslaughter abroad - please accept our sincere condolences on your loss.
We will be in touch shortly to verify your application.
Membership of Murdered Abroad is free and open to anyone in the UK who has been bereaved by murder or manslaughter abroad. Any information provided on this form will be treated in the strictest of confidence and will be processed securely in line with the Data Protection Act 1998.
Of all the consequences suffered as a result of crime, the anguish experienced in those cases where a relative is killed stands alone.
— Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke QC MP, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, July 2011
UK Government and Parliament
UK Police
Murdered Abroad (formerly SAMM Abroad) is a registered charity (registered charity number 1111724)
and is incorporated as a limited company (company number 5353121).
T: 0845 123 23 84 | E: support@murdered-abroad.org.uk
Copyright © 2016-2019 Murdered Abroad.
The contents of this website are for reference purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Independent legal advice should be sought in relation to any specific legal matter.
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Home / Cons / Nerdlocker – SXSW Day 3
Nerdlocker – SXSW Day 3
By Rainbolt on March 21, 2013@arainbolt
Day Three of SXSW Film was mostly amazing with a slight disappointment in the middle.
Tye Sheridan, McConaughey, and Jacob Lofland
It started with the new Matthew McConaughey film, Mud, written and directed by Jeff Nichols. Nichols’ previous film, Take Shelter (starring Machael Shannon and Jessica Chastain) was an unexpected pleasure at last year’s Fantastic Fest. A slow psychological family drama about a man who may, or not, be losing his mind. Mud is compelling in a similar way. It draws you in slowly, developing relationships between the characters. Only near the end do you discover what the film is really about.
On it’s face it’s a coming of age story about a young boy named Ellis (played by Tye Sheridan from The Tree of Life… and is remarkable in this film). He and his family live on the river in a houseboat in Arkansas, and it’s tough times. His family is falling apart and so he escapes with his friend to a little island, where they discover a vagrant named Mud (McConaughy), living in a boat that was stuck in a tree during the last flood.
At first I wasn’t sure what to make of the film. It spent a great deal of time showing us who the characters were and where they lived (both physically and psychologically). And not a whole lot was happening. But each character decision led them down a winding road to a place they could never come back from. And it was fascinating.
All coming of age stories are typically about the loss of innocence, in some sense or another. Ellis’ parents are no longer in love and are getting a divorce. He’s falling for an older girl and hasn’t quite lost the idea that love conquers all. When he finds out that Mud is hiding out on the island waiting for the woman he loves, while being hunted for committing a crime in her name, he decides to help him because this is the proof that he needs that love really can overcome anything. But it’s not to be. He is losing his home and his innocence one betrayal at a time.
And when the time came for Mud to step up and stop being a coward (and I admit this part of the movie was a bit predictable from the get go, but I am okay with it because it was executed well and McConaughey totally sold it!), that’s the moment the entire film came together for me. The question of why I was watching the film was answered. And from that moment on the pace of the film didn’t let up. Everything the film was leading up to started to hit the audience moment after moment after moment. And all those moments were oh so good.
I want to say Mud is maybe this generation’s Stand By Me, crossed with a bit of Winter’s Bone with a side of Killer Joe. And I don’t think that’s overstating it. It really is that good. I’ll be seeing it again, thank you very much.
Here’s the trailer:
I followed up with the M. Blash film, The Wait, staring Chloe Sevigny and Jena Malone. It’s Blash’s second feature, his first one starring both Sevigny and Malone as well. The Wait is about two sisters whose mother has just past away. Emma (Sevigny) gets a mysterious phone call from a woman who says her mother will come back to life. She’s so desperate to believe it that she prevents her sister Angela (Malone) from having the body removed from the house by the undertakers.
I thought it was an intriguing idea but it turned out to be more of a self-indulgent meditation on the inability of people to let go. For me the film became tedious. The characters were just going through the same motions over and over again to no end. This film probably would have worked as a twenty or thirty minute short but as a feature length film it fails in whatever it was attempting to do. In short, it was boring. Oh well.
I couldn’t find a trailer for this one…
I ended the night with The Punk Singer, a documentary about Bikini Kill and Le Tigre front-woman, feminist and all around bad-ass chick, Kathleen Hanna. Seriously, it’s one of the best documentaries I have ever seen. Filmmaker Sini Anderson has put together a concise and extremely interesting documentary that never stagnates in its story-telling.
I don’t want to get to much into what Kathleen Hanna does. If you are unfamiliar you should read her Wiki-page, go listen to a few Le Tigre albums, and then watch the film. As of now I don’t know the distribution details of the film. Anderson told me they didn’t have a deal as of yet (that was on Sunday the 10th), but hopefully it will get a theatrical release and then show up on Netflix.
Hanna during the Q&A after the screening
I will say this though, as interesting as Hanna’s career as an artist, activist and singer is, the most interesting part of the story is why she suddenly stopped performing in 2007, which had been kept from the public until now. While filming this documentary Hanna was diagnose with late stage Lyme disease, which had been causing her to get sick consistently for the previous five years, and was the reason she stopped performing and touring. She had gone misdiagnosed for over five years, which allowed the disease to wreak havoc on her body. During the Q&A, however, she said was feeling much better (after having been on the proper medication for the last two years) and there was a possibility of her beginning to perform again, most likely with her new project The Julie Ruin.
During the Q&A she was also asked why she thought she had gone misdiagnosed for so long. She admitted it was because of several factors. One, she minimized her symptoms when discussing it with the doctors, partly because she believed some symptoms to not be relevant, partly because she wasn’t aware some things were symptoms, and partly because she thought the doctors wouldn’t believe her (a belief that is warranted, imo). The other part was the fact that the medical community in which she sought treatment didn’t, in fact, believe her. One nurse even told her that there was no disease that could effect so many different body systems at once. In Hanna’s opinion, and in my opinion as well, there is a certain amount of sexism and elitism at work in this. The medical community not believing what a woman tells them about her experience of what is going on with her body, and the belief that they all know better than any layperson could.
No word of a Le Tigre reunion, but I for one am looking forward to seeing her on stage again. Here’s hoping to a full recovery.
Here’s their pitch on youtube for their kickstarter campaign:
Me and NEIL GAIMAN!!!
Oh, I almost forgot. The BEST THING EVER happened to me after The Punk Singer screening. Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman were there and chatting with Kathleen Hanna. I spotted Mr. Gaiman and nearly fell over, cuz, well, he’s my favorite author OF ALL TIME. So I waited until he wasn’t occupied and casually approached him, told him he was my fave author and a huge inspiration, then apologized for being so nervous and ridiculous around him. THEN HE HUGGED ME and this happened! We then had a really nice conversation about his new upcoming book, how I submitted my voice to the American Gods audio book contest (and didn’t win, obviously), and how writing is the best job in the world (his words, since he would know)… le sigh!
I grew up on Kung Fu theater movie weekends, a lot of Top Ramen Noodles, G.I. Joe's, Evil Knivels Stunt Cycle and Stretch Armstrong. My Movie reviews and Artist Interviews have been a regular around Nerdlocker.com. Follow me on Twitter @arainbolt. or email me aaron@nerdlocker.com
Related ItemsBikini KillFeaturedJeff NicholsJena MaloneJessica ChastainJulie RuinKathleen HannaLe TigreMatthew McConaugheymudsxswtake shelter
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Girl killed as man rams car into pizzeria in France
Posted at: 16 Aug, 2017, in Other
NEWS DESK: A girl has been killed after a man crashed his car into a pizzeria on the outskirts of Paris, reported The Guardian. Thirteen other diners were injured according to the deputy public prosecutor, five of them critically – including a three-year-old boy who was in intensive care.The driver, who French police said appeared to have been acting deliberately, rammed into the terrace of the restaurant in a shopping area at Sept-Sorts, a small suburb 34 miles (55km) to the east of Paris.Witnesses said the car went through the terrace into the restaurant, where the girl and her family were dining Monday evening, then tried to reverse out. Her younger brother is one of those in a critical condition.French media reported that the arrested man told police he wanted to kill himself and claimed to have several weapons in his vehicle.Officers said his statements were ‘confused’, but that he was completely unknown to police and security services.Pierre-Henry Brandet, a spokesperson for the French interior ministry, said the dead girl was 13 years old. There was little doubt the attack was deliberate and the driver was ‘psychologically unstable’, he said.Brandet said the driver, who was born in 1985, was ‘not known to the intelligence services and has no criminal record’.A witness told BFMTV: “A car drove into the terrace and crashed into the bar. The driver tried to reverse but someone stopped them. The gendarmes arrived quickly. There were around 20 people in the restaurant.”The deputy public prosecutor, Eric de Valroger, said the driver, who lived nearby, had deliberately sped into the restaurant at about 8:20pm local time on Monday. He said there were 13 injured, five of them critically, including a three-year-old boy.De Valroger said: “At this stage this is not a terrorist inquiry. I’m opening an inquiry into homicide with a weapon, attempted homicide with an weapon and driving under the influence of a drug.”“The individual at the centre of this incident has been arrested and we will know more about his motives in the coming hours.”He added: “We believe he was under the influence of drugs, not alcohol.”
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OTA rules force Carson Palmer to become a pretender
Published: June 3, 2016 at 09:09 a.m.
Updated: June 4, 2016 at 11:34 a.m.
Organized team activities is an odd time for NFL players. Every success or failure comes with the caveat of practices being conducted in shorts, sans pads.
Outside of the pads and time restraints during OTAs, teams aren't allowed to run certain types of defenses, including press man coverage on the outside. With those limitations, offenses could pick apart defenses if they wanted -- think of it as playing against soft prevent coverage all of the time.
The rules force players to get creative to improve their timing and precision. Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer plays make-believe.
"I'm kind of just pretending," Palmer said, via the team's official website. "I'll say that guy's 'pressed,' and I'm going to work the other side of the field. I could throw a million hitches. I could throw a hitch every time out here. Even though they're playing Cover 2, they're not allowed to get within a certain number of yards, and we're very strict about rules and making sure we're following all those rules."
Even after 13 seasons, Palmer uses those pretend situations to test his arm and the scheme.
"He went back into coverages to see if he could make some throws and that's what you want out of your quarterback," coach Bruce Arians said. "You have to find out, 'Can I make these throws in these windows?' Not just always take the guy who is wide-ass open. I really like that about that about him."
Young quarterbacks need OTAs to learn their limitations, but even for a vet like Palmer this is a safe time for a quarterback to take chances.
"A lot of it, I come back and go, 'Man, that's why I don't like that, or why I shouldn't do that,'" Palmer said. "It's good reinforcement."
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