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Home National News
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC’S ICONIC ‘AFGHAN GIRL’ ARRESTED IN PAKISTAN
Peshawar (HRNW): Pakistani police have arrested National Geographic’s green-eyed “Afghan Girl” — whose striking picture became the symbol of the plight of refugees– for having a phony ID card.Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency conducted a raid Wednesday at a residence in the city of Peshawar, where Sharbat Gula was taken into custody.
The FIA had gotten word about her bogus ID card two years ago, and launched an investigation into her and her husband under a Pakistan government crack down on undocumented foreigners, according to AFP.
But it took time for investigators to track down Gula because she went into hiding to elude capture. Her husband is still being sought, the AFP said.
If convicted, Gula faces seven to 14 years in prison and a fine of $3,000-$5,000, but it’s unlikely she’ll serve such a harsh sentence.
Three Pakistani officials were terminated from their jobs as a result of providing the card to Gula, who apparently was trying to avoid returning to her war torn country of Afghanistan, AFP said. They, too, are wanted by Pakistani authorities.
Gula, who is now in her 40s, had applied for a Pakistani identity card in Peshawar in April 2014, using a pseudonym Sharbat Bibi, AFP reported.
Steve McCurry’s snapped the legendary photo of Gula in 1984, when she was in a refugee camp in northwest Pakistan during the Soviet Union’s occupation of Afghanistan. The picture appeared on the June 1985 cover of the magazine.
Pakistan has been a safe haven for millions of people from Afghanistan since 1979, when the Soviets invaded the country. There are 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees in the country, and about 1 million more unregistered, according to AFP. Officials in Islamabad estimate about 60,675 bogus IDs still in circulation.
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RIP Amos Oz
The great Israeli author and leftwing political activist Amos Oz has died at the age of 79.
Rather than attempt a grand overview of his life and works (his 1966 book Elsewhere Perhaps, set in a border kibbutz, may be the great Zionist novel), I will quote from some of my posts about him at Harry’s Place.
During the 2014 Gaza war, Oz– who fought in the 1967 and 1973 wars– was interviewed by Deutsche Welle. He restated his commitment to “a two-state-solution and coexistence between Israel and the West Bank: Two capitals in Jerusalem, a mutually agreed territorial modification, removal of most of the Jewish settlements from the West Bank.” And he reaffirmed his belief that the occupation of the West Bank is corrupting to Israelis.
But this is how he started the interview:
Amoz Oz: I would like to begin the interview in a very unusual way: by presenting one or two questions to your readers and listeners. May I do that?
Deutsche Welle: Go ahead!
Question 1: What would you do if your neighbor across the street sits down on the balcony, puts his little boy on his lap and starts shooting machine gun fire into your nursery?
Question 2: What would you do if your neighbor across the street digs a tunnel from his nursery to your nursery in order to blow up your home or in order to kidnap your family?
With these two questions I pass the interview to you.
The only alternative to continuing the Israeli military operation is simply to follow Jesus Christ and turn the other cheek. I never agreed with Jesus Christ about the need to turn the other cheek to an enemy. Unlike European pacifists I never believed the ultimate evil in the world is war. In my view the ultimate evil in the world is aggression, and the only way to repel aggression is unfortunately by force. That is where the difference lies between a European pacifist and an Israeli peacenik like myself. And if I may add a little anecdote: A relative of mine who survived the Nazi Holocaust in Theresienstadt always reminded her children and her grandchildren that her life was saved in 1945 not by peace demonstrators with placards and flowers but by Soviet soldiers and submachine guns.
From a 2004 interview with The Jerusalem Post on the idea of combining Israel and Palestine into a binational state:
I think the idea that two parties that have been warring for a hundred years should all of a sudden be pushed into a honeymoon bed together is insane. It’s as if someone had made Poland and Germany into one country in 1945.
A year ago, I was interviewed in Sweden by someone who was very enthusiastic about the idea of a binational or post-national state. He couldn’t understand why the Israelis and the Palestinians just couldn’t become one happy nation. I said to him, “I think the way the Scandinavian peninsula is divided is very strange – after all, the Swedes and Norwegians have the same church, have strong cultural ties, and have not fought a single war in over 200 years. Why don’t you become one country?” His answer was unforgettable: “Clearly, you don’t know the Norwegians; if you knew them, you would never suggest this.”
Some people want to behave as if nationalism didn’t exist. I myself am not hugely enthusiastic about the idea of nation states. I wouldn’t complain if we had lived in a world where there were hundreds of civilizations and ten of thousands of local regimes and no nation-states. But I would be insane to suggest that the Jews be the first and only ones to pioneer the post-nationalist era, by giving up their nation-state.
From the same interview on Zionism:
I regard myself as a critical Zionist. Zionism is a troubled family, and some of its members have trouble recognizing me as part of it, just as I have real trouble with certain other kinds of Zionists. Yet from the outset we had Communist Zionism, chauvinist Zionism, racist Zionism, sentimentalist Zionism, pragmatic Zionism.
From the same interview on his memoir A Tale of Love and Darkness:
When I wrote this book, I imagined it would be read by very few readers – those from the same village or the same vintage as myself. Surprisingly, it was read by many people and evoked responses by people who felt a need to tell me their own life stories in return.
On the plane to Geneva, a well-known Israeli Arab told me that reading my book was the first time he understood why Jews came to this country.
I immediately wanted to have it translated into Arabic.
On Palestinian nationalism, from his 1983 collection of writings In The Land of Israel:
He who declares on behalf of the Palestinians that they are not a group with a separate national identity but an extension of the “greater Pan-Arabic nation” is no different from Arafat, who presumes to declare that the Jews are nothing more than a religious sect and therefore unworthy of national self-determination. Just as I vehemently reject the religious decree of Rabbi Yasir Arafat in the question “Who is a Jew,” I do not recognize the right of anyone other than the Palestinians themselves to decide for themselves “Who is an Arab” or “What is a Palestinian.”
On the double standard to which Israel is held:
“[A]part from Israel, there is not one country in the world that exists on condition. Israel is told, If you behave in such-and-such a way, you have the right to exist. If not, you don’t have the right to exist and the whole thing was one big mistake. Behave well– you will live; behave badly– you will be dismantled.”
Finally, as someone who relished times and places of ordinary life when I lived in Israel, I like his tribute to the coastal city of Ashdod (from In the Land of Israel):
A small Mediterranean city is Ashdod, a pleasant city, unpretentious, with a port and a lighthouse, and a power station and factories and many landscaped avenues. Not pretending to be Paris or Zurich or aspiring to be Jerusalem. A city planned by social democrats: without imperial boulevards, without monuments, without grandiose merchants’ homes. A city living entirely in the present tense, a clean city, almost serene…
A pretty city and a good one, this Ashdod. And she is all we have that is our own. Even in culture and in literature: Ashdod. All those who secretly long for the charms of Paris or Vienna, for the Jewish shtetl, or for heavenly Jerusalem: do not cut loose from those longings– for what are we without longings?– but let’s remember Ashdod is what there is. And she is not quite the grandiose fulfillment of the vision of the Prophets and of the dream of generations; not quite a world premiere, but simply a city on a human scale. If only we try to look at her with a calm eye, we will surely not be shamed or disappointed.
Ashdod is a city on a human scale on the Mediterranean coast. And from her we shall see what will flower when peace and a little repose finally come.
Patience, I say. There is no shortcut.
Rivlin rejects Israel-supporting neo-fascists
Two Israeli flags
Netanyahu indicted
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Tag Archives: IfNotNow
Statement: The Jewish Community Needs to Support the Movement for Black Lives.
On Monday, after years of hard work, sacrifice, and visionary leadership, the Movement for Black Lives released the #Vision4BlackLives — a historic, 6 point platform that details their demands of federal, state, and local governments. The platform lays bare the numerous systems that deny black people in this country and abroad freedom and dignity, and […]
STATEMENT: Meetings Won’t End The Occupation
Contact: Ethan Miller, info@ifnot.net
On April 20, 2016, 17 members of IfNotNow were arrested while leading a nonviolent #LiberationSeder in the lobby of the Anti-Defamation League’s New York offices. The event was part of a national week of action, calling on American Jewish institutions to end their support for the ongoing Israeli occupation, a daily nightmare for the Palestinians who live under it and a moral crisis for those who support and administer it.
In response, the ADL invited IfNotNow to a meeting to discuss “our shared goals.” We appreciate the ADL’s offer for a meeting and recognition that we are, in fact, part of the Jewish community. However, we are looking for meaningful action and real moral leadership from our communal institutions – not just opportunities for dialogue or empty rhetoric. We are committed to building a Jewish community that acts in accordance with the fundamental values of freedom and equality we were taught to admire. We can no longer stomach endless conversations and negotiations with establishment leaders about what we are allowed to say about Israel’s denial of Palestinian civil, economic, and political rights. We will continue taking action until the leaders of the American Jewish establishment admit what we know to be true: the occupation is a moral crisis for our community and we must take steps to address it.
Statement: IfNotNow Stands With Simone in Fighting for Freedom and Dignity for All
As we bring in Shabbat, many of us in the Jewish community will pause what we’re doing and rest to separate from the mundane of the week. This Shabbat, we invite the the American Jewish establishment to rest and refrain from the cycle of demonization that has played out against one of our own this week.
Yesterday the Bernie Sanders’ Campaign suspended its Jewish Outreach Coordinator, Simone Zimmerman. Simone is a powerful, respected leader in IfNotNow. The smear campaign waged against her is just the most blatant example of the American Jewish establishment trying to intimidate and silence young people acting on the very same Jewish values of Tzedek (Justice) and Tikkun Olam (reparing the world) that were taught to us by our community.
The suspension came in response to public statements from various out-touch-leaders of the American Jewish Establishment including Abe Foxman, former director of the Anti-Defamation League and Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations.
For years we’ve known that there was a crisis of leadership within the American Jewish establishment – and now we’ve been shown again that when young Jews call for freedom and dignity for Palestinians and Israelis, the establishment can only respond with intimidation and fear. The past few days have simply forced that crisis into the public eye.
Jews Protest At AIPAC Conference: #DumpTrump and #DumpAIPAC, Neither Represents Jewish Values
MEDIA ADVISORY FOR MONDAY, MARCH 21, 2016
Press Contact: Sharon Rose Goldtzvik, 202.500.6362 / sharon(at)uprisecommunications.com
Who: Jewish activists from IfNotNow, a movement of American Jews working for freedom and dignity for all Israelis and Palestinians and an end to Jewish community support for the occupation, together with progressive allies urging all Americans to #DumpTrump. More details at IfNotNowMovement.org
When: Monday, March 21, 2016 at 5:00pm, to coincide with Donald Trump’s speech at the AIPAC Policy Conference.
Where: 7th St. NW and F St. NW, outside the Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. (Protesters will assemble at 5th and F St, NW starting at 4:00 pm.)
Hundreds of Jewish activists will protest AIPAC and its tacit approval of Trump’s politics of hate with a civil, nonviolent action outside the speech. IfNotNow activists call on everyone attending the AIPAC conference to walk out when Trump stands up to speak. Protesters will be waiting outside with signs, songs, and Jewish ritual to welcome conference attendees to the side of freedom and dignity for all.
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Brian@BMKramerLaw.com | (561) 200-3442
Brian Kramer Law
Holocaust Reparations
New Polish regulation to compensate 20,000 Holocaust survivors
Jerusalem Post:
Gideon Taylor, the chairman of operations at the World Jewish Restitution Organization, told the paper that his organization had been negotiating with Poland for six months before arrangements were finalized last week.
The new rules dispense with an earlier requirement for recipients to own a Polish bank account. The change was approved a year ago by the Polish parliament and President Bronisław Komorowski. It took effect last October for residents of the European Union and last month for those in the rest of the world.
Greg Schneider, executive vice president of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, told The Jewish Week that his office is sending out 12,500 applications to those believed eligible worldwide. The forms have been translated into English. The government of Israel is expected to send applications to another 7,000 of its citizens.
The pension program, known as the Legislation on War Veterans and Victims of War and Post-War Oppression, offers the monthly payments to both Jews and non-Jews who were detained by the Nazis in ghettos and prisons, and to others considered veterans or victims of oppression.
Julius Berman, president of the Claims Conference, said in a statement, “The payments can make a real difference helping elderly survivors meet their daily needs and provides them a long-delayed measure of justice.”
Elsewhere in Europe, the Special Envoys for Holocaust Issues and anti-Semitism called on Serbia to return “confiscated property.”
The statement published on May 11 is the first such appeal. The Special Envoys are officials from the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Israel, Macedonia and the United States designated by their governments to deal with Holocaust issues.
Earlier this month, Jewish community representatives from Lithuania met with restitution officials and government officials for the first session of a joint restitution panel.
Previous StoryU.S. begins paying out reparations from France to Holocaust survivors and their heirs
Next StoryHolocaust survivors rush to beat deadline on Poland claims
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SacBee: Poll: Scott Walker, Jeb Bush top California GOP preferences
Posted February 19, 2015 at 8:26 am
By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
More than a year before the presidential primary reaches California, this much can be said about the voting public: Democrats like Hillary Rodham Clinton, Republicans like Scott Walker and Jeb Bush, and a lot of people still haven’t made up their minds.
Walker, the Wisconsin governor, and Bush, the former governor of Florida, lead a crowded field of GOP hopefuls with the support of 18 percent and 16 percent, respectively, of likely Republican voters in California, according to a new Field Poll.
Rand Paul, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio and several other candidates trail.
Mark DiCamillo, director of the poll, called the Republican race “wide open,” with months of campaigning ahead of next year’s primaries.
“The percentages are fairly small for each of the Republicans, and a lot can happen between now and then,” he said. “There’s no kind of consensus candidate.”
The Democratic side of the equation is much clearer, with 59 percent of likely Democratic voters in California supporting Clinton.
Seventeen percent of California Democrats support Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a more liberal Democrat who has said she is not running for president.
While Democrats gravitate to Clinton, 19 percent of Republican likely voters are undecided.
“I’ll be honest with you: I have no idea what’s going on in the presidential race,” said Chris Lieder, a Republican from Fresno.
But Lieder, a 29-year-old mechanical engineer, has more than a year to study up.
“When it comes time to make some decisions on who I’m voting for, I’ll definitely be current,” he said. “It’s just like I start watching football when it gets close to the Super Bowl.”
The poll reflects Clinton’s dominance in national measures, as well as lack of certainty at this early stage on the Republican side.
California Democrats have long supported Clinton, with the state going for her over Barack Obama in the presidential primary in 2008.
Clinton, the former secretary of state and first lady, is supported by 64 percent of Democrats who identify themselves as moderately liberal, middle-of-the-road or conservative, according to the poll. Strongly liberal Democrats are less supportive of Clinton, at 46 percent, but still give Clinton higher marks than any other candidate.
To read entire story, click here.
Filed under: Campaigns, Democrats, Elections, In the News, Politics, Polls, Republicans, State of California
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One Response to this post
Anonymous on February 19th, 2015 10:35 am
“….Jeb Bungles Facts, Pronunciation in His Big National Security Speech
Trying to sound presidential, Bush instead came off like a confused former governor.
Likely presidential candidate Jeb Bush delivered a nervous, uncertain speech on national security Wednesday, full of errors and confusion….”
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Reporter's Photo Tour of Hoboken Terminal
My visit to Hoboken for the story "Turning Back the Clock (Tower) on Century-Old Ferry Terminal" marked the first time I'd set foot in the building in about 10 years. A lot had changed, thankfully for the better.
Unfortunately, I could only squeeze in a handful of photos of this classic station in with the printed article. There's a lot to see. Below are a few scenes that didn't make it in.
I happened across the top black and white photo in our archives the other day. I don't know exactly when it's from, although I'd guess the mid-80s. (The current shot on the bottom was provided by the project's lead consultant, STV Inc., and taken by Eduard Huber). The difference is stark. What caught my attention most was the condition of the facade behind the LACKAWANNA lettering. Pieces of the bronze siding had gradually fallen into the water over the years, and it was no doubt much worse once the project began. The green pieces in the bottom photo represent the remaining original parts that could be saved.
Before the restoration project, the ferry area's floor was all at the same elevation as the area at the bottom of the steps. The floor was raised a few feet to make it more resistant to flooding. The rising water levels caused by Hurricane Sandy overcame the higher floor, but reportedly caused no major structural damage to the ferry terminal.
Here's a view of the terminal from the land side. The water in front is an old dock area that was carved out for boats. The bronze exterior on the rectangular section of the building to the right, which is now used by the Hoboken YMCA, will soon be refurbished with new pieces like the river-facing side.
A closeup of some of the bronze details on the building's exterior.
The terminal's elegant waiting room was renovated in 2004 and has been used as a set in several movies. Its stained glass work was done by Louis Comfort Tiffany (unfortunately, my camera doesn't do it justice).
The old machinery on the ceilings above the ferry slips was left intact to contribute to the building's historic industrial atmosphere.
Part of the strategy for keeping that industrial feel intact was the use of materials like steel, concrete, glass and hard woods, as were used for the arches along the ferry slips.
The original deteriorating wooden pilings were replaced by 100 ton steel pipe pilings. A challenge facing the foundation engineers was to drive in the new pilings from within the existing structure with only about 10 feet of headroom, according to the lead consultant, STV.
Two wide view and a closeup of a new steel mural along the wall of the boarding area. The green silhouettes show Hoboken terminal riders and workers from many eras. Soft fiber optic lights shine through the perforations in the metal.
Five of the terminal's original six ferry slips were restored. This one was left as is for historical purposes.
Posted by InTransition at 1:51 PM 1 comment: Links to this post
Labels: commuters, ferry, Hoboken, InTransition, mass transit, NJ Transit
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What Everyone Needs to Know about Tax
by James Hannam
Questions on Google’s UK tax bill
1 April, 2017 2 April, 2017 by James Hannam
The financial statements of Google’s UK operations for the year ended 30 June 2016 show UK turnover of £1.03 billion, profits before tax of £149 million, and a UK corporation tax bill of £36.4 million on those profits. In addition, the financial statements show that Google is owed a £31 million tax refund from HMRC. This has led to much speculation in the media, notably the BBC and The Times, about whether Google is paying enough tax. This article is intended to shed some light on that question. I am a tax consultant of 24 years experience and a specialist in international tax. However, I have no inside knowledge or contact with Google whatsoever. If I did, I would not have written this article. My comments below are based on my general experience of international tax and publicly available information.
How much tax should Google have paid in the UK?
In short, it should have paid 20% of its UK taxable profits in corporation tax. Note that corporation tax is charged on profits. When you hear a journalist or politician comparing tax and turnover, rather than tax and profits, you can guarantee they have no idea what they are talking about.
Although profit before tax in the financial statements is not the same as taxable profits, they are often reasonably similar. In this case, the figures in Google’s UK accounts show an effective tax rate of 24%, or 17% after various deductions. This is fair enough, but not really the point. The controversial question is whether Google actually recognises enough of its profits in the UK.
So, how much profit should Google recognise in the UK?
If we have a look at the financial statements of Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc, we find that total UK sales are reported as being £6 billion (here). And yet, Google’s UK operations only show turnover of £1 billion. Where has the other £5 billion got to and should it be taxed in the UK?
An analogy might help to explain what is going on here. It is a basic principle of international tax that you pay tax where you have the people and know-how making the profits. You are not taxed where you happen to sell your products. For example, Mercedes sold about 170,000 cars in the UK in 2016, but paid all the tax on the profits from building them in Germany. The exception is the dealer networks, which are UK based (and, in any case, independent franchises). The profits they make buying cars from Germany and selling them to UK customers are UK profits subject to UK tax.
Google’s UK sales operation is not independent of Google, but the same principle applies. It should only pay UK tax on the stuff it actually does in the UK rather than on the basis of its overall sales here. Google says that the turnover attributable to its UK operations, being sales and marketing, is £1billion out of their £6billion UK sales. That is not an unreasonable figure and would be subject to serious scrutiny by HMRC.
Google recognises some of its turnover in Ireland and will make a proportion of its profits there. This should be based on work done by people actually based in Ireland. However, most of its profits will be attributable to the US where the ‘magic’ of Google is created. It is the search engine algorithm itself, not the sales people, which represents the true value of Google. Profits attributable to that should be taxed in the US.
So why does HMRC owe Google £31 million?
My guess is that this could well be Diverted Profits Tax (DPT) aka the Google tax. DPT was introduced in 2015 to catch profits that were being artificially diverted from the UK. Google was alleged to be doing this by booking sales in Ireland and ensuring the related profits were taxed there and not in the UK. It claims that it has changed its procedures and no longer does this.
The way DPT this works is as follows: HMRC gets to guess the tax bill it things a company owes and then the company has to pay the amount HMRC guessed. It is then up to the company to prove to HMRC that the guess is wrong. If, after going through all the documentation, HMRC agrees its guess is wide of the mark, it has to pay back some or all of the DPT to the company. It is possible that the amount HMRC is paying back to Google is the £31million in the accounts.
The UK Government introduced DPT to force international groups to come clean about their structures. That is why HMRC demands payment in advance and makes companies demonstrate that they should get it back. If DPT is a success, no one will actually pay it. Ideally, if all multinationals recognise the correct profits in the UK, they would be subject to corporation tax and not DPT. It is an anti-avoidance measure only.
So is Google avoiding taxes?
I can’t see much evidence that Google is avoiding material amounts of UK tax. That’s not meant as a defence of Google, but rather of HMRC and the UK tax system. We tax consultants spend a lot of time slagging off HMRC but, secretly, we rather admire them. The Government is also serious about fighting avoidance. HMRC asked for DPT to be introduced to give it the tool it needed to force multinationals to pay the right amount of tax in the UK. And the Government gave them exactly what it wanted.
However, Alphabet Inc’s financial statements suggest a very different picture in the US where most of Google’s profits should be taxed. We find that its effective tax rate is only 20%, far lower than the US corporate tax rate of 35%. It looks like it is paying a lot less US tax than expected. It is likely that Google has schemes in place so that the revenue they make outside the US is not remitted to its head office and so is not subject to US tax. These unremitted profits are probably contained in its ‘cash pile’ – a mountainous $86 billion according to Alphabet Inc’s financial statements. Much of this cash is held offshore and is not subject to US tax. The Trump tax reform plan is aimed at getting this money back to the US and taxing it (although at nothing like the full rate).
In summary, my best guess is that Google is not avoiding a material amount of UK taxes because our tax system is now robust enough to stop it. In contrast, there is evidence that it is avoiding vast amounts of US tax.
Categories Tax
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Some brief notes on imposing VAT on private school fees
2 thoughts on “Questions on Google’s UK tax bill”
Andrew Carey
2 April, 2017 at 2:47 pm | Reply
“Where has the other £5 billion got to?”
I think there’s some equating going on here of Google UK turnover, with Google UK turnover arising from Google UK sales in the UK. It’s easily possible that half ( I haven’t looked it up, but it ain’t going to be zero ) of that £1.03 billion is from sales to other European countries by Google UK.
So it’s not the other £5 billion – it’s the other £5.5 billion or whatever the difference is between Google UK revenue from the UK and Alphabet revenue from the UK.
James Hannam
3 April, 2017 at 9:27 am | Reply
That’s possible, although the same principle should apply: that Google is taxed in the UK on what it does in the UK. If some of that billion booked in the UK equates to sales in other EU countries by staff in the UK, it is correctly shown as UK turnover rather than turnover in the country the sale took place in. Again, someone has to decide how much value is created in the UK and convince HMRC of that.
What Everyone Needs to Know about Tax now available
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General Election 2017: The big questions on tax 19 April, 2017
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James Hannam on Social care: in politics no good deed goes unpunished
Ruth O'Hare on Social care: in politics no good deed goes unpunished
Follow @drjameshannam
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TITLE 7. PLANNING AND LAND USE [65000 - 66499.58]
( Heading of Title 7 amended by Stats. 1974, Ch. 1536. )
DIVISION 2. SUBDIVISIONS [66410 - 66499.38]
( Division 2 added by Stats. 1974, Ch. 1536. )
CHAPTER 3. Procedure [66451 - 66472.1]
ARTICLE 2. Tentative Maps [66452 - 66452.26]
(a) A tentative map shall be filed with the clerk of the advisory agency or, if there is no advisory agency, with the clerk of the legislative body, or with any other officer or employee of the local agency as may be designated by local ordinance.
(b) A vesting tentative map shall be filed and processed in the same manner as a tentative map except as otherwise provided by this division or by a local ordinance adopted pursuant to this division.
(c) At the time a vesting tentative map is filed it shall have printed conspicuously on its face the words “Vesting Tentative Map.”
(Amended by Stats. 1984, Ch. 1113, Sec. 5. Operative January 1, 1986, by Sec. 10 of Ch. 1113.)
66452.1.
(a) If the advisory agency is not authorized by local ordinance to approve, conditionally approve or disapprove the tentative map, it shall make its written report on the tentative map to the legislative body within 50 days after the filing thereof with its clerk.
(b) If the advisory agency is authorized by local ordinance to approve, conditionally approve, or disapprove the tentative map, it shall take that action within 50 days after the filing thereof with its clerk and report its action to the subdivider.
(c) The local agency shall comply with the time periods referred to in Section 21151.5 of the Public Resources Code. The time periods specified in subdivisions (a) and (b) shall commence after certification of the environmental impact report, adoption of a negative declaration, or a determination by the local agency that the project is exempt from the requirements of Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code.
(Amended by Stats. 1989, Ch. 847, Sec. 6.)
(a) If there is an advisory agency which is not authorized by local ordinance to approve, conditionally approve or disapprove the tentative map, at the next regular meeting of the legislative body following the filing of the advisory agency’s report with it, the legislative body shall fix the meeting date at which the tentative map will be considered by it, which date shall be within 30 days thereafter and the legislative body shall approve, conditionally approve, or disapprove the tentative map within that 30-day period.
(b) If there is no advisory agency, the clerk of the legislative body shall submit the tentative map to the legislative body at its next regular meeting which shall approve, conditionally approve or disapprove that map within 50 days thereafter.
Any report or recommendation on a tentative map by the staff of the local agency to the advisory agency or legislative body shall be in writing and a copy thereof served on the subdivider and on each tenant of the subject property, in the case of a proposed conversion of residential real property to a condominium project, community apartment project, or stock cooperative project, at least three days prior to any hearing or action on such map by such advisory agency or legislative body. Pursuant to Section 66451.2, fees may be collected from the subdivider for expenses incurred under this section.
(a) If no action is taken upon a tentative map by an advisory agency that is authorized by local ordinance to approve, conditionally approve, or disapprove the tentative map or by the legislative body within the time limits specified in this chapter or any authorized extension thereof, the tentative map as filed, shall be deemed to be approved, insofar as it complies with other applicable requirements of this division and any local ordinances, and it shall be the duty of the clerk of the legislative body to certify or state his or her approval.
(b) Once a tentative map is deemed approved pursuant to subdivision (a), a subdivider shall be entitled, upon request of the local agency or the legislative body, to receive a written certification of approval.
(Amended by Stats. 2003, Ch. 434, Sec. 5. Effective January 1, 2004.)
(a) (1) The subdivider, or any tenant of the subject property, in the case of a proposed conversion of residential real property to a condominium project, community apartment project, or stock cooperative project, may appeal from any action of the advisory agency with respect to a tentative map to the appeal board established by local ordinance or, if none, to the legislative body.
(2) The appeal shall be filed with the clerk of the appeal board, or if there is none, with the clerk of the legislative body within 10 days after the action of the advisory agency from which the appeal is being taken.
(3) Upon the filing of an appeal, the appeal board or legislative body shall set the matter for hearing. The hearing shall be held within 30 days after the date of a request filed by the subdivider or the appellant. If there is no regular meeting of the legislative body within the next 30 days for which notice can be given pursuant to Section 66451.3, the appeal may be heard at the next regular meeting for which notice can be given, or within 60 days from the date of the receipt of the request, whichever period is shorter. Within 10 days following the conclusion of the hearing, the appeal board or legislative body shall render its decision on the appeal.
(b) (1) The subdivider, any tenant of the subject property, in the case of a conversion of residential real property to a condominium project, community apartment project, or stock cooperative project, or the advisory agency may appeal from the action of the appeal board to the legislative body. The appeal shall be filed in writing with the clerk of the legislative body within 10 days after the action of the appeal board from which the appeal is being taken.
(2) After the filing of an appeal, the legislative body shall set the matter for hearing. The hearing shall be held within 30 days after the date of the request filed by the subdivider or the appellant. If there is no regular meeting of the legislative body within the next 30 days for which notice can be given pursuant to Section 66451.3, the appeal may be heard at the next regular meeting for which notice can be given, or within 60 days from the date of the receipt of the request, whichever period is shorter. Within 10 days following the conclusion of the hearing, the legislative body shall render its decision on the appeal.
(c) (1) If there is an appeal board and it fails to act upon an appeal within the time limit specified in this chapter, the decision from which the appeal was taken shall be deemed affirmed and an appeal therefrom may thereupon be taken to the legislative body as provided in subdivision (b) of this section. If no further appeal is taken, the tentative map, insofar as it complies with applicable requirements of this division and any local ordinance, shall be deemed approved or conditionally approved as last approved or conditionally approved by the advisory agency, and it shall be the duty of the clerk of the legislative body to certify or state that approval, or if the advisory agency is one which is not authorized by local ordinance to approve, conditionally approve, or disapprove the tentative map, the advisory agency shall submit its report to the legislative body as if no appeal had been taken.
(2) If the legislative body fails to act upon an appeal within the time limit specified in this chapter, the tentative map, insofar as it complies with applicable requirements of this division and any local ordinance, shall be deemed to be approved or conditionally approved as last approved or conditionally approved, and it shall be the duty of the clerk of the legislative body to certify or state that approval.
(d) (1) Any interested person adversely affected by a decision of the advisory agency or appeal board may file an appeal with the legislative body concerning any decision of the advisory agency or appeal board. The appeal shall be filed with the clerk of the legislative body within 10 days after the action of the advisory agency or appeal board that is the subject of the appeal. Upon the filing of the appeal, the legislative body shall set the matter for hearing. The hearing shall be held within 30 days after the date of a request filed by the subdivider or the appellant. If there is no regular meeting of the legislative body within the next 30 days for which notice can be given pursuant to Section 66451.3, the appeal may be heard at the next regular meeting for which notice can be given, or within 60 days from the date of the receipt of the request, whichever period is shorter. The hearing may be a public hearing for which notice shall be given in the time and manner provided.
(2) Upon conclusion of the hearing, the legislative body shall, within 10 days, declare its findings based upon the testimony and documents produced before it or before the advisory board or the appeal board. The legislative body may sustain, modify, reject, or overrule any recommendations or rulings of the advisory board or the appeal board and may make any findings that are not inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter or any local ordinance adopted pursuant to this chapter.
(e) Each decision made pursuant to this section shall be supported by findings that are consistent with the provisions of this division and any local ordinance adopted pursuant to this division.
(f) Notice of each hearing provided for in this section shall be sent by United States mail to each tenant of the subject property, in the case of a conversion of residential real property to a condominium project, community apartment project, or stock cooperative project, at least three days prior to the hearing. The notice requirement of this subdivision shall be deemed satisfied if the notice complies with the legal requirements for service by mail. Pursuant to Section 66451.2, fees may be collected from the subdivider or from persons appealing or filing an appeal for expenses incurred under this section.
(a) (1) An approved or conditionally approved tentative map shall expire 24 months after its approval or conditional approval, or after any additional period of time as may be prescribed by local ordinance, not to exceed an additional 12 months. However, if the subdivider is required to expend two hundred thirty-six thousand seven hundred ninety dollars ($236,790) or more to construct, improve, or finance the construction or improvement of public improvements outside the property boundaries of the tentative map, excluding improvements of public rights-of-way which abut the boundary of the property to be subdivided and which are reasonably related to the development of that property, each filing of a final map authorized by Section 66456.1 shall extend the expiration of the approved or conditionally approved tentative map by 36 months from the date of its expiration, as provided in this section, or the date of the previously filed final map, whichever is later. The extensions shall not extend the tentative map more than 10 years from its approval or conditional approval. However, a tentative map on property subject to a development agreement authorized by Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 65864) of Chapter 4 of Division 1 may be extended for the period of time provided for in the agreement, but not beyond the duration of the agreement. The number of phased final maps that may be filed shall be determined by the advisory agency at the time of the approval or conditional approval of the tentative map.
(2) Commencing January 1, 2012, and each calendar year thereafter, the amount of two hundred thirty-six thousand seven hundred ninety dollars ($236,790) shall be annually increased by operation of law according to the adjustment for inflation set forth in the statewide cost index for class B construction, as determined by the State Allocation Board at its January meeting. The effective date of each annual adjustment shall be March 1. The adjusted amount shall apply to tentative and vesting tentative maps whose applications were received after the effective date of the adjustment.
(3) “Public improvements,” as used in this subdivision, include traffic controls, streets, roads, highways, freeways, bridges, overcrossings, street interchanges, flood control or storm drain facilities, sewer facilities, water facilities, and lighting facilities.
(b) (1) The period of time specified in subdivision (a), including any extension thereof granted pursuant to subdivision (e), shall not include any period of time during which a development moratorium, imposed after approval of the tentative map, is in existence. However, the length of the moratorium shall not exceed five years.
(2) The length of time specified in paragraph (1) shall be extended for up to three years, but in no event beyond January 1, 1992, during the pendency of any lawsuit in which the subdivider asserts, and the local agency which approved or conditionally approved the tentative map denies, the existence or application of a development moratorium to the tentative map.
(3) Once a development moratorium is terminated, the map shall be valid for the same period of time as was left to run on the map at the time that the moratorium was imposed. However, if the remaining time is less than 120 days, the map shall be valid for 120 days following the termination of the moratorium.
(c) The period of time specified in subdivision (a), including any extension thereof granted pursuant to subdivision (e), shall not include the period of time during which a lawsuit involving the approval or conditional approval of the tentative map is or was pending in a court of competent jurisdiction, if the stay of the time period is approved by the local agency pursuant to this section. After service of the initial petition or complaint in the lawsuit upon the local agency, the subdivider may apply to the local agency for a stay pursuant to the local agency’s adopted procedures. Within 40 days after receiving the application, the local agency shall either stay the time period for up to five years or deny the requested stay. The local agency may, by ordinance, establish procedures for reviewing the requests, including, but not limited to, notice and hearing requirements, appeal procedures, and other administrative requirements.
(d) The expiration of the approved or conditionally approved tentative map shall terminate all proceedings and no final map or parcel map of all or any portion of the real property included within the tentative map shall be filed with the legislative body without first processing a new tentative map. Once a timely filing is made, subsequent actions of the local agency, including, but not limited to, processing, approving, and recording, may lawfully occur after the date of expiration of the tentative map. Delivery to the county surveyor or city engineer shall be deemed a timely filing for purposes of this section.
(e) Upon application of the subdivider filed prior to the expiration of the approved or conditionally approved tentative map, the time at which the map expires pursuant to subdivision (a) may be extended by the legislative body or by an advisory agency authorized to approve or conditionally approve tentative maps for a period or periods not exceeding a total of six years. The period of extension specified in this subdivision shall be in addition to the period of time provided by subdivision (a). Prior to the expiration of an approved or conditionally approved tentative map, upon an application by the subdivider to extend that map, the map shall automatically be extended for 60 days or until the application for the extension is approved, conditionally approved, or denied, whichever occurs first. If the advisory agency denies a subdivider’s application for an extension, the subdivider may appeal to the legislative body within 15 days after the advisory agency has denied the extension.
(f) For purposes of this section, a development moratorium includes a water or sewer moratorium, or a water and sewer moratorium, as well as other actions of public agencies which regulate land use, development, or the provision of services to the land, including the public agency with the authority to approve or conditionally approve the tentative map, which thereafter prevents, prohibits, or delays the approval of a final or parcel map. A development moratorium shall also be deemed to exist for purposes of this section for any period of time during which a condition imposed by the city or county could not be satisfied because of either of the following:
(1) The condition was one that, by its nature, necessitated action by the city or county, and the city or county either did not take the necessary action or by its own action or inaction was prevented or delayed in taking the necessary action prior to expiration of the tentative map.
(2) The condition necessitates acquisition of real property or any interest in real property from a public agency, other than the city or county that approved or conditionally approved the tentative map, and that other public agency fails or refuses to convey the property interest necessary to satisfy the condition. However, nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to require any public agency to convey any interest in real property owned by it. A development moratorium specified in this paragraph shall be deemed to have been imposed either on the date of approval or conditional approval of the tentative map, if evidence was included in the public record that the public agency which owns or controls the real property or any interest therein may refuse to convey that property or interest, or on the date that the public agency which owns or controls the real property or any interest therein receives an offer by the subdivider to purchase that property or interest for fair market value, whichever is later. A development moratorium specified in this paragraph shall extend the tentative map up to the maximum period as set forth in subdivision (b), but not later than January 1, 1992, so long as the public agency which owns or controls the real property or any interest therein fails or refuses to convey the necessary property interest, regardless of the reason for the failure or refusal, except that the development moratorium shall be deemed to terminate 60 days after the public agency has officially made, and communicated to the subdivider, a written offer or commitment binding on the agency to convey the necessary property interest for a fair market value, paid in a reasonable time and manner.
(Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 382, Sec. 7.5. (SB 194) Effective January 1, 2012.)
A stock cooperative, as defined in Section 11003.2 of the Business and Professions Code, or a community apartment project, as defined in Section 11004 of the Business and Professions Code, shall not be converted to a condominium, as defined in Section 783 of the Civil Code, unless the required number of (1) owners and (2) trustees or beneficiaries of each recorded deed of trust and mortgagees of each recorded mortgage in the cooperative or project, as specified in the bylaws, or other organizational documents, have voted in favor of the conversion. If the bylaws or other organizational documents do not expressly specify the number of votes required to approve the conversion, a majority vote of the (1) owners and (2) trustees or beneficiaries of each recorded deed of trust and mortgagees of each recorded mortgage in the cooperative or project shall be required. Upon approval of the conversion as set forth above and in compliance with Sections 4290 and 4295 or Sections 6626 and 6628 of the Civil Code, all conveyances and other documents necessary to effectuate the conversion shall be executed by the required number of owners in the cooperative or project as specified in the bylaws or other organizational documents. If the bylaws or other organizational documents do not expressly specify the number of owners necessary to execute the conveyances or other documents, a majority of owners in the cooperative or project shall be required to execute the conveyances and other documents. Conveyances and other documents executed under the foregoing provisions shall be binding upon and affect the interests of all parties in the cooperative or project. The provisions of Section 66499.31 shall not apply to a violation of this section.
(Amended (as amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 181, Sec. 59) by Stats. 2013, Ch. 605, Sec. 33. (SB 752) Effective January 1, 2014.)
(a) The expiration date of any tentative subdivision map or parcel map for which a tentative map has been approved that has not expired on the date that the act that adds this section becomes effective shall be extended by 24 months.
(b) The extension provided by subdivision (a) shall be in addition to any extension of the expiration date provided for in Section 66452.6 or 66463.5.
(c) Any legislative, administrative, or other approval by any agency of the State of California that pertains to a development project included in a map that is extended pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be extended by 24 months if this approval has not expired on the date that the act that adds this section becomes effective.
(Added by Stats. 1993, Ch. 407, Sec. 1. Effective September 13, 1993.)
(a) Any permit issued by a local agency in conjunction with a tentative subdivision map for a planned unit development shall expire pursuant to Section 65863.9.
(b) Conditions or requirements for the issuance of a building permit or equivalent permit may be imposed pursuant to Section 65961.
(Added by Stats. 1994, Ch. 458, Sec. 6. Effective January 1, 1995.)
(a) The expiration date of any tentative or vesting tentative subdivision map or parcel map for which a tentative map or vesting tentative map has been approved, that has not expired on or before the date the act that adds this section becomes effective shall be extended by 12 months.
(b) The extension provided by subdivision (a) shall be in addition to any extension of the expiration date provided for in Section 66452.11, 66452.6, or 66463.5.
(c) Any legislative, administrative, or other approval by any state agency that pertains to a development project included in a map that is extended pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be extended by 12 months if this approval has not expired on the date that the act that adds this section becomes effective. This extension shall be in addition to any extension provided for in Section 66452.11.
(Added by Stats. 1996, Ch. 46, Sec. 1. Effective May 15, 1996.)
(a) Commencing at a date not less than 60 days prior to the filing of a tentative map pursuant to Section 66452, the subdivider or his or her agent shall give notice of the filing, in the form outlined in subdivision (b), to each person applying after that date for rental of a unit of the subject property immediately prior to the acceptance of any rent or deposit from the prospective tenant by the subdivider.
(b) The notice shall be as follows:
“To the prospective occupant(s) of
(address)
The owner(s) of this building, at (address), has filed or plans to file a tentative map with the (city, county, or city and county) to convert this building to a (condominium, community apartment, or stock cooperative project). No units may be sold in this building unless the conversion is approved by the (city, county, or city and county) and until after a public report is issued by the Bureau of Real Estate. If you become a tenant of this building, you shall be given notice of each hearing for which notice is required pursuant to Sections 66451.3 and 66452.5 of the Government Code, and you have the right to appear and the right to be heard at any such hearing.
(signature of owner or owner’s agent)
(dated)
I have received this notice on .
(date)
(prospective tenant’s signature)”
(c) Failure by a subdivider or his or her agent to give the notice required in subdivision (a) shall not be grounds to deny the conversion. However, if the subdivider or his or her agent fails to give notice pursuant to this section, he or she shall pay to each prospective tenant who becomes a tenant and who was entitled to the notice, and who does not purchase his or her unit pursuant to subparagraph (F) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 66427.1, an amount equal to the sum of the following:
(1) Actual moving expenses incurred when moving from the subject property, but not to exceed one thousand one hundred dollars ($1,100).
(2) The first month’s rent on the tenant’s new rental unit, if any, immediately after moving from the subject property, but not to exceed one thousand one hundred dollars ($1,100).
(d) The requirements of subdivision (c) constitute a minimum state standard. However, nothing in that subdivision shall be construed to prohibit any city, county, or city and county from requiring, by ordinance or charter provision, a subdivider to compensate any tenant, whose tenancy is terminated as the result of a condominium, community apartment project, or stock cooperative conversion, in amounts or by services which exceed those set forth in paragraphs (1) and (2) of that subdivision. If that requirement is imposed by any city, county, or city and county, a subdivider who meets the compensation requirements of the local ordinance or charter provision shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements of subdivision (c).
(Amended by Stats. 2013, Ch. 352, Sec. 314. (AB 1317) Effective September 26, 2013. Operative July 1, 2013, by Sec. 543 of Ch. 352.)
(a) Pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 66427.1, the subdivider shall give notice 60 days prior to the filing of a tentative map pursuant to Section 66452 in the form outlined in subdivision (b), to each tenant of the subject property.
“To the occupant(s) of
The owner(s) of this building, at (address), plans to file a tentative map with the (city, county, or city and county) to convert this building to a (condominium, community apartment, or stock cooperative project). You shall be given notice of each hearing for which notice is required pursuant to Sections 66451.3 and 66452.5 of the Government Code, and you have the right to appear and the right to be heard at any such hearing.
The written notices to tenants required by this section shall be deemed satisfied if the notices comply with the legal requirements for service by mail.
(Added by renumbering Section 66452.9 by Stats. 2008, Ch. 664, Sec. 9. Effective January 1, 2009.)
(a) Pursuant to the provisions of subparagraph (E) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 66427.1, the subdivider shall give written notice of the intent to convert 180 days prior to the termination of tenancy in the form outlined in subdivision (b), to each tenant of the subject property.
The owner(s) of this building, at (address), plans to convert this building to a (condominium, community apartment, or stock cooperative project). This is a notice of the owner’s intention to convert the building to a (condominium, community apartment, or stock cooperative project).
A tentative map to convert the building to a (condominium, community apartment, or stock cooperative project) was approved by the City on _________. If the City approves a final map, you may be required to vacate the premises, but that cannot happen for at least 180 days from the date this notice was served upon you.
Any future notice given to you to terminate your tenancy because of the conversion cannot be effective for at least 180 days from the date this notice was served upon you. This present notice is not a notice to terminate your tenancy; it is not a notice that you must now vacate the premises.
The written notices to tenants required by this section shall be deemed satisfied if such notices comply with the legal requirements for service by mail.
(Added by Stats. 2008, Ch. 664, Sec. 12. Effective January 1, 2009.)
(a) Pursuant to subparagraph (F) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 66427.1, the subdivider shall give written notice within five days after receipt of the subdivision public report to each tenant of his or her exclusive right for at least 90 days after issuance of the subdivision public report to contract for the purchase of his or her respective unit in the form outlined in subdivision (b).
The owner(s) of this building, at (address), have received the final subdivision report on the proposed conversion of this building to a (condominium, community apartment, or stock cooperative project). Commencing on the date of issuance of the subdivision public report, you have the exclusive right for 90 days to contract for the purchase of your rental unit upon the same or more favorable terms and conditions than the unit will initially be offered to the general public.
(a) The expiration date of any tentative or vesting tentative subdivision map or parcel map for which a tentative or vesting tentative map, as the case may be, has been approved that has not expired on the date that the act that added this section became effective and that will expire before January 1, 2011, shall be extended by 12 months.
(b) The extension provided by subdivision (a) shall be in addition to any extension of the expiration date provided for in Section 66452.6, 66452.11, 66452.13, or 66463.5.
(c) Any legislative, administrative, or other approval by any state agency that pertains to a development project included in a map that is extended pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be extended by 12 months if this approval has not expired on the date that the act that added this section became effective. This extension shall be in addition to any extension provided for in Section 66452.13.
(d) For purposes of this section, the determination of whether a tentative subdivision map or parcel map expires before January 1, 2011, shall count only those extensions of time pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 66452.6 or subdivision (c) of Section 66463.5 approved on or before the date that the act that added this section became effective and any additional time in connection with the filing of a final map pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 66452.6 for a map that was recorded on or before the date that the act that added this section became effective. The determination shall not include any development moratorium or litigation stay allowed or permitted by Section 66452.6 or 66463.5.
(Amended by Stats. 2008, Ch. 664, Sec. 14. Effective January 1, 2009.)
(a) The expiration date of any tentative or vesting tentative subdivision map or parcel map for which a tentative or vesting tentative map, as the case may be, has been approved that has not expired on July 15, 2009, and that will expire before January 1, 2012, shall be extended by 24 months.
(b) The extension provided by subdivision (a) shall be in addition to any extension of the expiration date provided for in Section 66452.6, 66452.11, 66452.13, 66452.21, or 66463.5.
(c) Any legislative, administrative, or other approval by any state agency that pertains to a development project included in a map that is extended pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be extended by 24 months if this approval has not expired on July 15, 2009. This extension shall be in addition to any extension provided for in Sections 66452.13 and 66452.21.
(d) (1) For purposes of this section, the determination of whether a tentative subdivision map or parcel map expires before January 1, 2012, shall count only those extensions of time pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 66452.6 or subdivision (c) of Section 66463.5 approved on or before July 15, 2009, and any additional time in connection with the filing of a final map pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 66452.6 for a map that was recorded on or before July 15, 2009.
(2) The determination made pursuant to this subdivision shall not include any development moratorium or litigation stay allowed or permitted by Section 66452.6 or 66463.5.
(e) The provisions of Section 65961 relating to conditions that may be imposed upon or after a building permit for a subdivision of single- or multiple-family residential units or a parcel map for a subdivision for which no tentative map was required, are modified as set forth in subdivisions (e) and (f) of Section 65961 for tentative maps extended pursuant to this section.
(Amended by Stats. 2009, Ch. 507, Sec. 4. (AB 1084) Effective January 1, 2010.)
(a) The expiration date of any tentative map, vesting tentative map, or parcel map for which a tentative map or vesting tentative map, as the case may be, has been approved that has not expired on or before the date that the act that added this section became effective, and that will expire before January 1, 2014, shall be extended by 24 months.
(b) The extension provided by subdivision (a) shall be in addition to any extension of the expiration date provided for in Section 66452.6, 66452.11, 66452.13, 66452.21, 66452.22, or 66463.5.
(c) Any legislative, administrative, or other approval by any state agency that pertains to a development project included in a map that is extended pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be extended by 24 months if this approval has not expired on or before the date that the act that added this section became effective. This extension shall be in addition to any extension provided for in Sections 66452.13, 66452.21, and 66452.22.
(d) (1) For purposes of this section, the determination of whether a tentative map or parcel map expires before January 1, 2014, shall count only those extensions of time pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 66452.6 or subdivision (c) of Section 66463.5 approved on or before the effective date of the act that added this section, and any additional time in connection with the filing of a final map pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 66452.6 for a map that was recorded on or before the effective date of the act that added this section.
(Added by Stats. 2011, Ch. 88, Sec. 2. (AB 208) Effective July 15, 2011.)
(a) The expiration date of any tentative map, vesting tentative map, or parcel map for which a tentative map or vesting tentative map, as the case may be, that was approved on or after January 1, 2000, and that has not expired on or before the effective date of the act that added this section, shall be extended by 24 months.
(b) Upon application of the subdivider filed at least 90 days prior to the expiration of the approved or conditionally approved tentative map or vesting tentative map, or parcel map for which the tentative map or vesting tentative map, as the case may be, that was approved on or before December 31, 1999, the time at which the map expires shall be extended by the legislative body or by an advisory agency authorized to approve or conditionally approve tentative maps, for a period of 24 months upon a determination that the map is consistent with the applicable zoning and general plan requirements in effect when the application is filed. If the map is determined not to be consistent with applicable zoning and general plan requirements in effect when the application is filed, the legislative body or advisory agency may deny or conditionally approve an extension for a period of 24 months. Prior to the expiration of an approved or conditionally approved tentative map, upon an application by the subdivider to extend that map, the map shall automatically be extended for 60 days or until the application for the extension is approved, conditionally approved, or denied, whichever occurs last. If the advisory agency denies a subdivider’s application for an extension, the subdivider may appeal to the legislative body within 15 days after the advisory agency has denied the extension.
(c) The extension provided by subdivisions (a) and (b) shall be in addition to any extension of the expiration date provided for in Section 66452.6, 66452.11, 66452.13, 66452.21, 66452.22, 66452.23, or 66463.5.
(d) Any legislative, administrative, or other approval by any state agency that pertains to a development project included in a map that is extended pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) shall be extended by 24 months if this approval has not expired on or before the effective date of the act that added this section. This extension shall be in addition to any extension provided for in Sections 66452.13, 66452.21, 66452.22, and 66452.23.
(a) If the map was approved within a county described in subdivision (c), the expiration date of a tentative map, vesting tentative map, or parcel map for which a tentative map or vesting tentative map, as the case may be, that was approved on or after January 1, 2002, and not later than July 11, 2013, and that has not expired on or before the effective date of the act that added this section, shall be extended by 24 months.
(b) If the map was approved or conditionally approved within a county described in subdivision (c), upon application of the subdivider filed at least 90 days prior to the expiration of the approved or conditionally approved tentative map or vesting tentative map, or parcel map for which the tentative map or vesting tentative map, as the case may be, that was approved on or before December 31, 2001, the time at which the map expires shall be extended by the legislative body or by an advisory agency authorized to approve or conditionally approve tentative maps, for a period of 24 months upon a determination that the map is consistent with the applicable zoning and general plan requirements in effect when the application is filed. If the map is determined not to be consistent with applicable zoning and general plan requirements in effect when the application is filed, the legislative body or advisory agency may deny or conditionally approve an extension for a period of 24 months. Prior to the expiration of an approved or conditionally approved tentative map, upon an application by the subdivider to extend that map, the map shall automatically be extended for 60 days or until the application for the extension is approved, conditionally approved, or denied, whichever occurs last. If the advisory agency denies a subdivider’s application for an extension, the subdivider may appeal to the legislative body within 15 days after the advisory agency has denied the extension.
(c) This section shall apply within a county when the following conditions within the county are met:
(1) The annual mean household income within the county is less than 80 percent of the statewide annual mean income, as determined by the most recent annual report of the federal American Community Survey 5-year Estimates, based upon the American Community Survey Design and Methodology publication (Version 2.0, January 2014) published by the United States Census Bureau.
(2) The annual nonseasonal unemployment rate is at least 2.75 percent higher than the statewide annual nonseasonal unemployment rate, as defined by the report on Labor Market Review published by the Employment Development Department in January of the year in which the community revitalization plan is prepared.
(3) The population for whom poverty status is determined is at least 4 percent higher than the statewide median poverty rate, as determined by the most recent annual report of the American Community Survey 5-year Estimates, based upon the American Community Survey Design and Methodology publication (Version 2.0, January 2014).
(d) The extension provided by subdivisions (a) and (b) shall be in addition to any extension of the expiration date provided for in Section 66452.6, 66452.11, 66452.13, 66452.21, 66452.22, 66452.23, 66452.24, or 66463.5.
(e) Any legislative, administrative, or other approval by any state agency that pertains to a development project included in a map that is extended pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) shall be extended by 24 months if this approval has not expired on or before the effective date of the act that added this section. This extension shall be in addition to any extension provided for in Sections 66452.13, 66452.21, 66452.22, 66452.23, and 66452.24.
(f) The provisions of Section 65961 relating to conditions that may be imposed upon or after a building permit for a subdivision of single- or multiple-family residential units or a parcel map for a subdivision for which no tentative map was required, are modified as set forth in subdivisions (e) and (f) of Section 65961 for tentative maps extended pursuant to this section.
(Added by Stats. 2015, Ch. 751, Sec. 2. (AB 1303) Effective October 10, 2015.)
The expiration date of any tentative map, vesting tentative map, or parcel map for which a tentative map or vesting tentative map, as the case may be, that was approved on or after January 1, 2006, and not later than July 11, 2013, that relates to the construction of single or multifamily housing, and for which the expiration date was extended pursuant to Section 66452.25, and that has not expired on or before the effective date of the act that added this section, may be extended by the legislative body for up to 24 months.
(Added by Stats. 2018, Ch. 830, Sec. 2. (AB 2973) Effective January 1, 2019.)
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Bishop (Dorothy) papers
MSS. 660. circa 1947, 1967-2009 and undated. circa 3 cubic feet.
Papers of Dorothy Bishop (b. 1943), Bethel Community, Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, resident and community activist, 1943-2009. Papers include flyers, legal documents, newspaper clippings, photographs, letters, programs and other materials documenting the Oktibbeha County NAACP and the Concerned Citizens of Oktibbeha County and their activities in pursuit of racial equality, human rights and recognition for the contributions of African-American civil rights pioneers, circa 1970-2009 and undated. Drawings, photographs and clippings document efforts to erect an appropriate civil rights monument in Starkville. Persons extensively documented in the Oktibbeha County materials are Dorothy Bishop, Morris Kinsey, and Dr. Douglas Conner. Both the Mississippi NAACP and the National NAACP are also documented in conference proceedings, procedural manuals, solicitation literature and clippings. Publications documenting the contributions of African-Americans and African-American history include materials on Medgar Evers, Dr. Aaron Henry, Barack Obama and others. Personal materials of Dorothy Bishop include family history materials, letters, personal writings and interviews, photographs, legal documents, awards and certificates, medal and other materials.
Butts (Charles L.) collection
Newspapers, manuscript of article, journal concerning the civil rights movement in Mississippi and the Mississippi Free Press, edited by Charles L. Butts from 1962-1963. Materials found in a garage in Phoenix Arizona, and donated to the Library. Small group of papers documenting Charles Butts, editor of the Mississippi Free Press, a newspaper advocating for civil and human rights. Includes typewritten pages written for the paper and for publicity, articles about Charles Butts, copies of the Missisippi Free Press (1962-1963), copies of The Reporter (1962, 1963) containing civil rights articles, and "Justice", a civil rights brochure.
Carter (Hodding II and Betty Werlein) papers
MSS. 127. 1872-2000 (Bulk Dates: 1918-2000). 88.25 cubic feet.
Correspondence, personal papers, literary manuscripts, and publications concerning the Carters and their careers. Hodding Carter (1907-1972) was born in Louisiana and attended Bowdoin College and the Columbia University School of Journalism. He began his career in journalism in the 1920's as a reporter in Jackson, Mississippi, and New Orleans, Louisiana. Carter and Betty Werlein of New Orleans were married in 1931, and soon after started their own newspaper, the Hammond (Louisiana) Courier. With Hodding as editor and Betty as business manager, the Courier consistently opposed the rule of Huey Long. Hodding Carter ran for the House of Representatives in 1935 after Long's death, but was defeated. In 1936, at the invitation of William Alexander Percy, the Carters moved to Greenville, Mississippi and set up the Delta Star. Two years later the Star was merged to form the Delta Democrat-Times. Carter was best known after World War II for his editorials, magazine articles, books, and speeches advocating racial justice in the south. Carter's 1946 series urging racial tolerance earned him the Pulitzer Prize. In 1954, the Mississippi House of Representatives voted him a "liar" for his articles on the Citizens' Councils. The Carter papers document the important events and social movements to which the Carters were witnesses or participants, such as the political careers of Huey Long and Theodore Bilbo, World War II, the Office of War Information, the rise of the Citizen's Councils in the 1950's, the integration of the University of Mississippi in 1962, and changes in race relations throughout the country. Hodding Carter (1907-1972) was the owner of the Hammond (La.) Courier and the Delta Star (Greenville, Miss.), which later became the Delta Democrat-Times. Among other important social and political events of the time, the Carter papers document the rise of the Citizen's Councils in the 1950s, the integration of the University of Mississippi in 1962, and changes in race relations throughout the country.
Carter (Hodding III) manuscript and papers
MSS. 347. 1959, 1966-1968. 2.33 cubic feet.
Typescript of The South Strikes Back and material concerning the Mississippi Action for Progress (MAP), including correspondence, reports, grant information, budgets, and convention materials.
Catledge (Turner) papers
MSS. 116. 1873-1985. circa 132 cubic feet and microfilm.
The collection consists of the personal and business papers of William Turner Catledge (1901-1983), graduate of Mississippi A&M College, journalist, and editor of The New York Times. The bulk of the files date from 1945 to 1968, the period during which Catledge served as assistant managing editor, executive managing editor, managing editor, and executive editor of the Times. Included are correspondence, memoranda, clippings, reports, photographs, tapes, phonograph records, memorabilia, and publications. The collection is divided into two series: 1 - papers transferred to MSU from the Catledge home in New Orleans; and, 2 - office files transferred to MSU from the Times office in New York.
Citizens' Council collection
Includes correspondence, annual reports, and publications of the Association of Citizens' Councils of Mississippi, the Citizens' Council of America, and various other organizations. Includes correspondence, annual reports, and publications of the Association of Citizens' Councils of Mississippi, the Citizens' Council of America, and various other organizations. Among the documents are pamphlets opposing integration and promoting white supremacy.
Citizens' Council Radio Forum collection
MSS. 597. 1957-1966. 418 reels audiotape (5 inch, 1 7/8 ips).
Radio programs produced by the Citizens' Council of Jackson, Mississippi, 1957-1966, covering issues like states rights and integration. Transcripts available for the bulk of the tapes. Speakers include George Wallace and Strom Thurmond.
Journalism: Television and Radio
Civil Rights miscellaneous collection
MSS. 500. 1937-1969 and undated. 0.16 cubic feet
Broadsides, leaflets, circulars, publications, comics and other materials documenting Anti-Communism, anti-Semitism, anti-left-wing activities, segregationism, and the American Eugenics Party in the United States. Concerns the reaction to the modern civil rights movement in the United States from 1937 to 1969, including Anti-Communist, Anti-Semitic, and anti-integration viewpoints. Includes brochures, broadsides, and other materials from the American Eugenics Party, the Black Panthers, and other unnamed groups.
Clay County (Mississippi) civil rights movement collection
Pamphlets, broadsides, clippings, posters and other material concerning voter registration and civil rights activities in Clay County. Organizations represented include the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, Mississippi Student Union, Freedom Information Service, Students for a Democratic Society and Council of Federated Organizations (COFO).
Conner (Douglas) papers
The Douglas Conner papers include the papers of Dr. Douglas L. Conner (1920-1998), prominent African-American physician and civil rights activist in Mississippi. The papers contain election materials, publications, organizational records, newspaper clippings, photographs, video tape and miscellany. Papers of prominent Starkville physician Douglas Conner include correspondence, press releases, tally forms, platforms and constitutions, audio interviews, clippings and other papers relating to the Mississippi Loyalist Democratic Party and the 1972 Democratic National Convention; civil rights materials concerning Starkville, Oktibbeha County and Mississippi State University; photographs and other materials documenting the education, career, and family of Douglas Conner, including materials concerning his adopted son Richard Holmes, the first black student at MSU.
Cox (Allen Eugene) papers
MSS. 45. 1880-1996 (Bulk Dates: 1935-1987). 47.75 cubic feet.
The Allen Eugene Cox papers contain the papers of Allen Eugene Cox (1905-1992), former resident director of Providence Cooperative Farm, Holmes County, Mississippi, and later executive director of the Delta Foundation. The papers include correspondence, ledgers, newspaper clippings, publications, photographs and films. Correspondence, published material, clippings, and other material collected by Allen Eugene Cox of the Delta Foundation, chiefly pertaining to the racial problems in the South and cooperative farms. Includes information on the White Citizens' Council, Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, National Council of Churches, COFO, NAACP, SNCC and related organizations, farm labor unions, cooperatives, and black and white Southern leaders.
Dean (Kenneth) collection
MSS. 380. circa 1964. 2 cubic feet.
Wall posters from Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) "safe house" in Mississippi, 1960s. Some restrictions apply because of preservation issues and size.
Delta Ministry collection
Acc. No. 78.
The Delta Ministry Papers (1936, 1964-1971) contain correspondence, newspaper clippings, reports, proposals, minutes, memoranda, press releases, photographs, election and campaign materials, bills, receipts, and financial statements, mostly concerning politics, civil rights issues, and school desegregation.
Emmerich (John Oliver, Sr.) papers
Correspondence, clippings, biographical sketches, manuscripts, research material, publications, photographs, and memorabilia, of John Oliver Emmerich, Sr., editor and publisher of the McComb, Mississippi, Enterprise Journal. Much of the collection concerns Emmerich's career and his strong interest in McComb. Included are many photographs of and much research material about the history of McComb and Pike County, which were collected for the centennial edition of the Enterprise Journal.
Fields (Norma) papers
MSS. 450. 1960-1993, 2009 and undated. circa 11 cubic feet.
Correspondence, articles and clippings, speeches, photographs, awards, audiotapes and other records documenting the journalistic career of Fields (1923-2010), reporter for the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. Fields in 1975 was made capitol news reporter. She is the first female Mississippi journalist to head a full-time capitol news bureau. Field's papers reflect local and state events during her early years as a reporter, including material such as her 1967 multi-part series on her interview with a disillusioned Klan member. For the period from 1975 until Field's retirement in 1988, the papers include much material on legislative sessions and issues, women's rights, local and state politics, and the elections and gubernatorial administrations of Cliff Finch, Bill Allain, William Winter and Ray Mabus. An oral history by Dr. Lawrence Strout was added in 2009.
High (Anne L.) collection
MSS. 720. 1944-1956. 0.02 cubic ft.
Civil Rights materials including copies of "The Eagle Eye" a newspaper printed in Jackson, MS, and a magazine.
Holloman (Garland H.) papers
MSS. 468. 1952-1979 and undated. 0.66 cubic feet.
Papers of Methodist minister Garland H. Holloman include correspondence, publications, articles, newsletters and other materials documenting controversy in the United Methodist Church concerning civil rights, the National Council of Churches, Communism and other issues. Includes newsletters of the Mississippi Association of Methodist Ministers and Laymen (MAMMAL), 1959-1965, manuscript of Ray Branch article, and material on the Mississippi State Advisory Committee to the U. S. Commission on Civil Rights (1968-1975).
Humphrey (John David, Sr.) collection
MSS. 463. 1960's. 1.5 cubic feet.
Collection of Methodist minister and North Mississippi Methodist Conference leader John David Humphrey, Sr. includes civil rights material involving the Methodist Church in the South and events in Mississippi, including the Ole Miss riot and Philadelphia murders. Collection bulks with church literature in pamphlet form on controversies such as Communism, segregation, the National Council of Churches and racism. Also includes newsletters and correspondence of Mississippi Association of Methodist Ministers and Laymen (MAMMAL), 1962-1964.
Ku Klux Klan collection
Brochures, letters, broadsides, articles, newspaper clippings and other materials documenting the activities of the Ku Klux Klan in the United States.
Love (Samuel David) collection
Materials on the Loyalist Democratic Party, voter registration, and the Citizens' Council during the 1950's and 1960's including printed material, correspondence, interview and press releases. Also included are an article and photographs concerning poverty in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, 1969. Materials were collected by MSU alumnus Samuel David Love. Unprocessed. Preliminary inventory available.
Mars (Florence) Papers
MSS. 547. 6 cubic feet.
Research materials and literary manuscripts concerning the Burnside family of Neshoba County, Mississippi.
McIlhenny (George N.) papers
MSS. 226. 1927-1970s. 6 cubic feet.
Collection of Mississippi State University alumnus George N. McIlhenny (1895-1968) of Lake (Scott County), Mississippi, includes personal and family correspondence, publications, photographs, memorabilia and other materials from his life and career as a consultant. Among the materials are Thomas L. Bailey gubernatorial campaign material, 1939; materials concerning the Know Mississippi Better Train, 1927, and the Citizens Protective Agency. Also includes letters from Martin Sennett Conner, James P. Coleman, Ross Barnett, James O. Eastland, John C. Stennis and others concerning McIlhenny's genetic studies on sickle cell anemia and his theories concerning the medical necessity for racial segregation. Also includes Citizens' Council materials from Alabama and Mississippi, material on the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission, the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway and studies for economic development in Harrison and Claiborne Counties and other topics.
Meyer (Henry) papers
MSS. 528. circa 1930s-2000. 4 cubic feet.
Papers of Henry Meyer (1912-2000), native of Selma, Alabama, 1932 journalism and English graduate of the University of Alabama and Starkville, Mississippi, resident from 1933. After managing Blumenfeld and Fried, a Starkville wholesale grocery business from 1933 to 1946, Meyer and his brother Morris in 1946 purchased the Starkville Publishing Company, a firm which handled job printings and office supplies and published the Starkville News, then a weekly newspaper. The Meyers published the local paper, which became a daily in 1960, from 1946-1966. The papers include a small amount of material concerning the Starkville Daily News, including photographs, awards and clippings. Other materials in the papers include correspondence, awards, speeches, clippings, diplomas, photographs, scrapbooks, audiotapes and other materials documenting Meyer's education, career, teaching and organizational activities, his family background, and the activities of his children. Meyer's other journalism activities include managing and advising the MSU Reflector, publishing the local high school newspaper and the MSU Alumnus, and teaching journalism at MSU. Of special interest is a scrapbook documenting the activities of his son Melvin Meyer at the University of Alabama, 1961-1964. Meyer was editor of the school newspaper and was censured for writing favorably of James Meredith and integration at the University of Mississippi.
Miller (Willie J.) papers
MSS. 501. 1955 (Bulk dates: 1974-1998). 24 cubic feet.
Papers of Willie J. Miller (1902-1996), a native of Yazoo City, Mississippi, and a resident of Jackson, Mississippi, who established the Mississippi Enterprise, a weekly newspaper targeting Mississippi African-Americans in 1938. The forerunner of the paper was the Mississippi Weekly begun by Julia Hibbler Miller, Miller's first wife. The paper was sent to St. Louis for printing during the early days of its publication history. In the 1950s, editions of the Mississippi Enterprise were also published in Meridian, Vicksburg, Greenville and St. Louis. Apparently materials generated from the early production years of the newspaper are no longer extant. The papers include manuscripts of articles, press releases, obituaries, advertising copy, photographs, financial records, newspapers and other materials, primarily from the years 1974-1988. Photographs are those collected for printing in the paper and these document African American events, institutions, issues and personalities. The textual materials in the newspaper files also document national, state and local African American history, including materials on events, issues and personalities. The papers also contain some general documentation of non-African- American historical events and personalities.
Minor (Wilson F. "Bill") papers
MSS. 80. 1936-2011. 27.75 cubic feet.
Correspondence, articles, speeches, press releases, campaign materials, clippings, photographs and other documents amassed in the course of Minor's career as a journalist in Mississippi. Minor was born in Hammond, Louisiana, in 1922 and received his degree in journalism from Tulane University. He began work for the New Orleans Times-Picayune in 1942. Beginning in 1947, Minor worked in Jackson as a reporter on Mississippi politics for the Times-Picayune, and continued writing his "Eyes on Mississippi" column until the paper's Jackson bureau was closed in 1976. A specialist in Mississippi politics, Minor in that year elected to stay in Jackson and take over the editorship of the weekly Capitol Reporter. In 1981, Minor became a syndicated political columnist and television commentator. The Minor papers are an important continuous source of information on news and political events, and the issues and personalities of the time period of Minor's career, with emphasis on racial issues and the political development of Mississippi. In addition, they tell the story of a most controversial and influential journalist.
MSS. 550. 1950s-2001. circa 3 cubic feet
Oral histories of extension agents, politicians and local citizens. Topics include African-American history, women's history, the Vietnam War, agriculture, and Mississippi State University, Starkville and West Point history.
Pace (Vernon) collection
MSS. 544. 1931-1984. circa 4 cubic feet.
Materials collected by journalist Vernon Pace include audio recordings, phonograph records, books, pamphlets and articles representing conservative points of view.
Partial Emmitt Till trial transcript
MSS. 802. 1955. 0.02 cubic ft.
Fully legible copy of the typescript transcript of the second half of the trial for the murder of Emmitt Till. This material was collected by Bryan Maxwell Newman, who obtained the copy shortly after the trial concluded in 1955. Mr. Newman was employed near Greenwood, Mississippi where the trial took place.
Piper (Craig) collection
Research materials for Piper's M.A. thesis, "The Civil Rights Movement in Starkville, Mississippi: A Local Struggle for Equality, 1968-1973". Materials include audiotapes of the Civil Rights Forum, oral interviews and note cards.
Rand (Clayton) papers
MSS. 91. 1918-1971. 33 cubic feet.
Papers of Clayton Thomas Rand (1891-1971), author, columnist, speaker, and publisher of the Dixie Guide, Gulfport, Mississippi. Rand graduated from Mississippi A&M College in 1911, operated newspapers in Neshoba County and other parts of north Mississippi, and in the 1920's moved to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where he resided until his death. Included are correspondence; manuscripts of speeches, books, pamphlets, and columns; financial records; clippings; printed material and photographs. The collection reflects Rand's varied activities and his political views.
Reiff (Lee H.) collection
Minutes, bylaws, memoranda, reports, grant proposals, and printed matter concerning the Board of Directors of the Child Development Group of Mississippi and its successor organization, the Inter-Area Council of the Community Education Extension of Mary Holmes College. The organizations administered Head Start Programs funded by the Office of Economic Opportunity.
Robson (George) collection
Printed material concerning mostly civil disobedience in the U.S. during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Among the items in the collection are a pamphlet entitled "The Plot Against Black America" and Combat: The Newsletter that keeps you informed about the revolutionary struggle in America today.
Segregation and Integration Miscellaneous Collection
Concerns the civil rights movement in Mississippi from 1920-1971. Includes handbills, correspondence, pamphlets, brochures, speeches, newsletters, and newspaper clippings.
Smith (Frank E.) collection
Collection of Frank Smith (1918-1997) includes the following: material pertaining to Mr. Smith's work with TVA; material accumulated as a result of his service on the Southern Regional Council; materials for the five volume series he edited, Conservation in the U.S.: A Documentary History.
Smith (Hazel Brannon) papers
Letters, clippings, pamphlets, certificates, artifact and other materials concerning Smith (1914-1994). The bulk of Smith's papers were destroyed in a fire at the Lexington Advertiser. Smith was born in Gadsden, Alabama, and graduated from the University of Alabama in 1935 with a B.A. in Journalism. In that year she came to Mississippi and purchased the Durant News. By 1943, that paper was successful enough to allow Smith to purchase the Lexington Advertiser, which she edited and published from 1943 to 1983. Smith purchased the Banner County Outlook (Flora) in 1956 and the Northside Reporter (Jackson) in 1956. Smith used her column "Through Hazel's Eyes" and her editorials to comment on social injustice and political corruption. In 1964, because of her stand against the Citizens' Councils, Smith received the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing for her "steadfast adherence to her editorial duty in the face of great pressure and opposition". Smith was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. Smith's other awards include the 1st prize award from the National Federation of Press Women 1946 and 1955; and the Herrick Award for Editorial Writing, 1956. Smith was also named Woman of Achievement by the National Federation of Press Women.
Toler (James Kenneth) papers
MSS. 89. 1928-1966. 2 cubic feet.
Papers of journalist Toler (1904-1966) include correspondence, speeches, press releases, clippings, and photographs, chiefly concerning political, legislative, and racial events in Mississippi, during his career as a correspondent for the Associated Press and the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Toler was born in Crowley, Louisiana, and attended Louisiana State University. He began his career on the Crowley Daily Signal. Toler's specialty was Mississippi politics. From 1928 on he covered the Mississippi legislature and the capitol, and his papers reflect that specialty in their documentation of the outstanding events of the period.
Tombigbee Council on Human Relations Collection
Folders include the Black Appalachian Commission, Black Arts Music Society, Black Candidates, Black Child Development Institute, Black Methodists for Church Renewal, Black Mississippians Council on Higher Education, Black Voice (hot line), Court Orders – Interracial Marriages, Equal Rights Amendment, Lowndes County Project – Black Voice, Medger Evers Fund Inc., NAACP, National Council of Negro Women, Office of Minority Business Enterprise, Race Relations Reporter, School Desegregation, and other racial topics and issues.
Wier (Robert and Sadye) papers
MSS. 313. 1885-1994. circa 20 cubic feet.
Personal papers, correspondence, business records, clippings, photographs, extensive scrapbooks, oral histories, literary manuscripts, reminiscences and other materials concerning Robert Wier (1886-1974) and his wife Sadye Hunter Wier (1905-1995). Robert Wier, who operated and owned the City Barber Shop in Starkville, was the first and only African-American to have a business on Main Street. Sadye Wier was a teacher and home economist. Contains materials documenting the Hunter family of Noxubee County, who operated the Noxubee Industrial School, and the Macon family. Also included are records of Mrs. Wier's work with the Oddfellows Highway Cemetery, the Starkville Public Library and other organizations.
WLBT archives
MSS. 366. 1967-1980. 155 cubic feet.
Correspondence, memoranda, board minutes, programming logs, newscast scripts, photographs, videotapes, and news film documenting the policies and operation of television station WLBT in Jackson, Mississippi, during the period (1971-1980) in which Communications Improvement, Inc., a non-profit organization, held the station's interim license.
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Home / Anarchy: a journal of anarchist ideas / Anarchy #009
The Captive Society
EVERY SOCIAL ORGANISATION OF ANY SIZE has a "formal" and an "informal" structure of social relationships. The more self-contained and authoritarian an institution, the more distinct are the two structures. In terms of Kurt Lewin's topological psychology a prison is defined as "a polar type of authoritarian system that is governed by a bureaucratic hierarchy and entrusted with power over the total life space of the individuals under its jurisdiction". Since it is an extreme type, we may expect to see in it the most extreme differentiation between the formal and informal structures.
The formal structure of prison is like that of a military organisation, with a remote headquarters in the form of the Prison Commissioners, a commanding officer – the Governor, non-commissioned officers – the Prison Officers, and men – the prisoners. Most prison governors have, in fact, been retired army officers, and most prison officers, ex-N.C.O.s, and the parallel with military life extends throughout the organisation of prisons: the use of numbers for identification, kit inspections, and an independent system of summary jurisdiction, while the officers themselves salute and parade for inspection. Major Grew, the former governor of Wormwood Scrubs, ran the place, as Mr. Peter Wildeblood observed. "as a kind of caricature of the military life." This, however, is the structure of the custodians. Among the inmates, who outnumber them, there are only two types who fit in the formal structure, firstly the "redband" or leader who is, so to speak an "acting unpaid lance-corporal" in the formal system, and secondly the fully institutionalised "model" prisoner who is completely adapted to the regime and withdrawn from social contact with his fellows.
The informal structure is an extreme form of the type of informal social organisation which you can find in schools or factories. "Whenever men are held captive" writes D. L. Howard, in The English Prisons, "a strong social network with distinct lines of dominance and subordination, its own code of behaviour and its own ties of loyalty, grows up among them, quite distinct and apart from any organisational structure which prison authorities may attempt to impose from above. The true life of a prison … exists almost independently of official rules and decisions; all but the vaguest indications of its character are hidden from the governor and his staff. Even the most skilful and sympathetic of prison officials is far out on the edge of this society and unable to make any permanent impact upon it." For this reason the most revealing accounts of the informal social structure of prisons are those by ex-prisoners, and until recently there have been few attempts by people independent of both captors and captives to describe it.
Gresham Sykes in The Society of Captives (1958) made a close study of the interactions of custodians and inmates at Trenton, a maximum security prison in New Jersey. In discussing the responses of the prisoners to the regime to which they are submitted he finds one which he categorises as "cohesive" and another which he calls "alienative". The first is action of a collectivist nature, in the interests of the whole inmate community, and the second is individualistic action in the interests of a single prisoner or a small group. John McLeish of Leeds University describes another American book, Theoretical Studies in Social Organisation of the Prison, edited by George H. Grosser (Social Science Research Council, New York 1960), in the Prison Service Journal for January, 1961. This study demonstrates, he says, "that the inmates and custodians, in practice, share a common interest in maintaining the prison as a unit which operates as a going concern." (This common interest is in the adaptation of both parties to the status quo of the informal system). Even in the most humane of prison institutions, he notes,
The inmate lives under conditions of deprivation. He loses the liberty of disposing of his own time, his living space is severely restricted, he is deprived of certain goods which are taken for granted in the society outside,
he is denied heterosexual relations. In addition, his social isolation is perceived by the prisoner as an attack on his self-image and his sense of personal worth, an attack which is more threatening to him than even physical brutality or maltreatment would be. He is denied the privilege of being trusted, there is an implicit attack on his masculinity, he is forced into association with unbalanced and potentially violent persons so that his safety is endangered, he has lost his power of self-determination.
In defence against these deprivations and the social rejection which gives rise to them, a code of conduct arises, binding on all inmates and determining their relations with each other and with their captors, which
restores the self respect and sense of independence of the society of captives at the same time providing them with a purposeful way of life which cushions them from the deprivations and frustrations of prison life. The code (Never rat on a con! Don't lose your head! Don't exploit inmates! Don't weaken! Don't be a sucker! and so on) gives a new frame of reference to the prisoner so that his condemnation by the free society becomes almost irrelevant. Loyalty to his fellows, generosity to those suffering more than he is, disparagement of official society, results in an uneasy compromise between the actual condition of the prisoner and his continuing attempts to maintain the favourable image he retains of himself.
Another article in the same journal, "It's the Prisoners who run this Prison", by Terence Morris, Pauline Morris and Barbara Biely of the London School of Economics, also discusses inmate leadership in the informal system. They make the same distinction as Sykes between the "cohesive" and "alienative" responses to imprisonment, and distinguish two ideal types of leader corresponding to them, the Robin Hood and the Robber Baron. Both are "troublemakers" to the prison authorities, but the "trouble" they make varies considerably. The Robin Hood
is considered by the mass of the prison population to be a major asset in the task of minimising the pains of imprisonment. This leader is a strong-willed man, wise in prison ways, committed to the inmate code of minimal co-operation with the staff but careful never to provoke or bring down trouble upon himself or his associates. He is benevolent, sympathetic, and has many of the marks of a genuine altruist …
Superiority of brain, and the ability to call upon brawn when necessary, gave Smith an unusual amount of power. It was based, however, upon loyalty rather than fear, his good and generous deeds making many men his permanent moral debtors.
The Robber Baron, on the other hand
is a very different sort of man, recognised by prisoners as an exploiter, a man whom they would rather do without. In many cases he is actually a tobacco baron or a bookmaker but no less frequently he is no more than an extortionate bully who demands protection payments or feudal services from those inmates unfortunate enough to come under his influence … The Robber Baron then is not a leader who can make moral claims upon his followers, but relies upon coercion and fear.
Social control in the captive society is usually maintained by external constraint rather than by internal consensus, but, the authors observe, "as in most human communities, the ultimate equilibrium of the system will depend upon a balance of the forces contending for power, and power in inmate society is based sometimes upon consensus, sometimes upon external constraint, and frequently upon a combination of the two. The physical, social, and psychological deprivations of imprisonment undoubtedly stimulate among most prisoners behaviour which is designed to minimise them; at the same time the prison contains men with strong drives towards controlling other men and in doing so satisfying many of their inner psychological needs."
The authors of this paper note that "It is a simple truth that in the face of complete and massive refusal to comply with his orders the prison official is powerless” and that the reason why this seldom happens even in the most repressive prisons is "partly that inmate society is too heterogeneous to be capable of such unified action, but most importantly because numerous inmates have a conscious investment in tranquility." Those who have not, the real contenders for power in the prison (whom the authors mistakenly call the truly anarchic elements) play a role which
is essentially alienative in that their behaviour is ego-centric and inconsistent. Sooner or later their demands are resisted by others of their own kind and conflict ensues. It is perhaps because they are so often seekers after power for its own sake that they constitute such a danger in the prison community.
Here the formal structure asserts itself in a tightening up of the prison's coercive power, but the effect of this is like unselective pest-killer, in that it eliminates not only the pest, but also those coercive forces which would themselves restrain it. The conclusion which they draw from this from the point of view of penal policy is that the administrator's first task is
to distinguish between different types of leader in the prison and to recognise that not a few of them are doing some of the work for him … The second task … is to buttress the cohesive elements of the inmate society and at the same time attempt a systematic erosion of the power of the alienative elements. The achievement of the latter objective tends to be made simpler by adequate classification and if necessary by segregation.
But they have already noted the equivocal nature of 'legitimated' inmate leadership at the point where the formal and informal social structures meet:
In most prisons throughout the world the authoritarian character of the prison regime is diluted by the delegation of some staff functions to inmates. It is not, strictly speaking, a delegation of formal authority, for whatever task such an inmate performs, and whatever privileges are attached to the job, his status remains that of a captive. For the prison official the 'leader', 'redband' or 'stroke' is a valued asset. He is assigned to a position of trust and responsibility in the task of running the prison. In the eyes of his fellow prisoners however, he is often a 'grass' or 'screw's man' and the subject of diffuse sanctions of disapproval.
For even though he may use his relative freedom to lessen the deprivations of others as well as his own, he is suspect "because he has violated one of the ideal premises of the Prisoners' Code, namely that no self-respecting 'con' should do the work of a screw … There is little doubt that he tends to identify with authority (and this alienates him from the bulk of inmate society). The redband's solution to this problem is frequently to act a double life, to leak information to the staff, but at the same time to leak information in the reverse direction." This key position in the communications network, is, as the authors of the Theoretical Studies also note, a major path to power in both the social systems, since information is one of the goods in short supply as far as both inmates and custodians are concerned.
Dr. and Mrs. Morris and Miss Biely in their paper conclude that with the ending of those 19th century rigours which have no place in the ethos of the treatment institution, the 'businessmen' of the inmate structure will no longer have a function to perform in the supply of illicit goods and services, but could play constructive roles on inmate councils, noting that
Unless there can be real sharing of power and authority, and the lowest ranks of the discipline staff can feel secure that such sharing neither diminishes their own authority nor renders them likely to be unsupported by their superiors at critical moments – unless these conditions are fulfilled, inmate councils and committees will be as meaningless as Parliamentary democracy under the Czars.
To the question of what useful purpose such a development would serve, they reply:
One answer would be that just as men cannot be trained for freedom in conditions of captivity, so men cannot be trained to accept social responsibility in conditions which, at their most extreme, reduce them to a state of near infantile dependency. The task here is to mobilise the social capacities of men who are seldom wholly anti-social in such a way that the words: 'It's the prisoners who run this prison' are an expression, not of resentment on the part of a prison official who feels that things have got out of hand, but of achievement, that men who have hitherto failed to adjust to life in a socially acceptable manner have moved significantly towards responsibility and maturity.
In their conclusion they are more optimistic than the authors of the Theoretical Studies, who, noting the remarkable similarity of the inmate systems found in one institution after another, conclude that the prison setting generates a typical pattern of reaction on the part of the inmates. Mr. McLeish notes that "The phenomena we have been dealing with arise in answer to needs which are common to all prisoners" and for this reason:
They conclude that the custodians in progressive types of prisons are confronted by an insoluble dilemma – that they are forced to set inmate goals which can rarely if ever be realised. This pessimistic conclusion, which is developed in detail, should make this study required reading for all prison officers who see their function primarily in terms of rehabilitation of the offender.
The present writer has tried in vain to get hold of a copy of the Theoretical Papers, but we can see why their authors have reached this conclusion. Most prisoners have to steer a course, as Terence Morris puts it, between the Prison Rules and the Prisoners' Rules. The prison code is the most binding, and from the point of view of both the individual and the group, the most necessary. The code, which is the same code that is operative among the children in a school or the workers in a factory is essentially the means of defence of those who have no power against those who have. Its violators – the sneak in school, the gaffer's man in the factory, the 'grass' in prison, are regarded as contemptible, and it is difficult to conceive in the abstract any moral code in which they would not be. When "self-government" is introduced, on paper, in a school, or "works councils" in a factory, they become, in the absence of any genuine devolution of power, simply a means of harmlessly airing grievances, complaints about the canteen cutlery or the shortage of toilet paper. As the Morris-Biely paper itself says:
The leaders' meeting, as observed in one training. prison, was essentially a 'grumbling session' and although this may have had some merit as a safety valve, there was little evidence to suggest that these were necessarily even the grumbles of the non-leaders. In fact there were unmistakable signs that the group constituted a socially isolated elite of the prison, remote from the real foci of power in the inmate social system.
The would-be penal reformer is in fact faced by a whole series of dilemmas. Firstly that prisons are schools of crime, an observation which has been made many times in the last two centuries and is as true today as it ever was. To quote the standard English criminological textbook:
A formidable criminal record is the passport to respect. Crime and its techniques are the main topics of conversation. Criminal contacts are made in the highly specialised group which the beginner in crime could never have found for himself. The young prisoner with no confirmed criminal tendencies will be isolated with these corrupting influences throughout his sentence, and will be fortunate to remain unscathed.
Secondly that efforts to avoid this kind of contamination by improved methods of classification and segregation, simply avoid the issue because as Hugh Klare remarks in his Anatomy of Prison, "by putting the best personalities amongst prisoners into special institutions, we may be winning victories which are too easy while leaving ourselves with an almost impossible task with all the rest".
Thirdly because the prison situation is "a conflict situation", and the inmate system in opposition to the custodians is a psychological necessity for the prisoner unless he is to become either a completely institutionalised vegetable or a lick-spittle of authority. The staff "reserve their favours for the prisoner who causes least trouble, even though he is apt usually to be either a confirmed old lag who knows the ropes or just a hypocrite" (Howard Jones: Crime and the Penal System). The members of inmate councils are likely to be atypical prisoners like middle-class financiers, murderers, motorists and homosexuals, far from the centre of the inmate system.
Finally because genuine self-government is inconceivable at the bottom of a formal structure like the prison system which is a rigid hierarchy of authority. For the governor and the 'superior staff' are imprisoned by the minutely-detailed Statutory Rules of the Prison Commissioners, while even to the 'subordinate grades' of their own staff they are "remote figures, to be saluted on sight, for whom frank, open discussion of prison problems is a rare occurrence", according to Mr. D. L. Howard, who notes in The English Prisons that "The recently introduced Staff Consultative Committee have by no means solved this problem. They are held but once a quarter, officers are merely represented on them, and so great a consciousness of rank is displayed that relaxed, open discussion of treatment problems is virtually impossible."
The most complete and lifelong prisoners of the formal structure of the prison are those members of the staff who are in closest contact with the prisoners themselves. Their own insecurity and resentment is voiced every year in the much-reported meetings of the Prison Officers' Association. Mr. Howard notes of their position:
It is almost as difficult for a junior prison officer to work against the climate of opinion on the staff he has joined, as it is for the inmate to stand out against the embraces of the subculture I have described earlier. Unlike the governor, he is not only the focus of resentment from below; he is also dependent upon approval from officers ranked above him in the same institution. Moreover, he usually lives in or near the prison, in official quarters, with other prison officers, their wives and their families as his most frequent social contacts when not on duty. If he appears to be less severe towards prisoners and to take a more sympathetic interest in them than the majority of his colleagues, social difficulties in private life may be added to the unpopularity he has experienced at work.
Those who conceive a transformation of the prison into a genuinely therapeutic or educational institution have thus the task of conceiving a quite different social structure – one which reconciles the conflicting formal and informal structures by liberating both from their authoritarian characteristics. But as Bernard Shaw said years ago:
The main difficulty in applying this concept of individual freedom to the criminal arises from the fact that the concept itself is as yet unformed. We do not apply it to children, at home or at school, nor to employees, nor to persons of any class or age who are in the power of other persons. Like Queen Victoria, we conceive Man as being either in authority or subject to authority, each person doing only what he is expressly permitted to do, or what the example of the rest of his class encourages him to consider as tacitly permitted.
For the social structure of the prison, whether we consider its formal or its informal system, is simply a reflection of the social structure of "normal" society.
‹ Are we in Favour of Penal Reform? up Therapeutic Communities ›
Reddebrek
John Ellerby
Anarchy: a journal of anarchist ideas
Anarchy #001
Are we in Favour of Penal Reform?
Therapeutic Communities
A Criminologist's Testament
Refresher Course in Jail
Far from Theraputic
Observations on Anarchy 7
Anarchy #011: the world of Paul Goodman
Anarchy #025: Technology Science and Anarchism
Anarchy #027: Talking About Youth
Anarchy #040: The unions and workers' control
Anarchy #098: A Libertarian Criminology?
Anarchy #118: the meaning of work today and tomorrow
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Office for the Dead, Dominican Rite
A brief comparison of the Traditional Office for the Dead in the Dominican Rite with the Roman Rite.
I recently undertook to say the Office for the Dead in the Dominican rite for a deceased acquaintance who was a Tertiary of the Order, so have been reflecting on the minor variations between these forms of the Office. The differences are minor but, to the careful liturgical observer, interesting.
The main difference is in the order of the responsories at Matins, with a characteristic version of the final responsory Libera me (other religious orders seem to have had variations on that one as well). Otherwise, there is a different Magnificat Antiphon at Vespers, and a few minor variations to the text, as outlined below.
The Roman Office for the Dead may be consulted on the website breviary.net which also contains a brief introduction to this Office.
There is also a general introduction in the Catholic Encyclopaedia: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11220a.htm
According to Fr William Bonniwell, in his History of the Dominican Liturgy,
"The final choral obligation of the friars was the office of the dead. The addition of it to the Divine Office is also attributed to Innocent III. This office is believed to have originated at Rome in the eighth century. The body of the deceased was brought to the church in the evening; after its arrival the office would begin. It was really a vigil, and as such had vespers, three nocturns and lauds. That is why Humbert refers to this office as the "vigil." Humbert speaks of two different kinds of office for the dead, the vigil of nine lessons and the vigil of three lessons. The former is what is known commonly today as the office of the dead; it was said every week, though there were exceptions to the rule. The latter office, which has disappeared from the Dominican rite, needs some explanation. It was said as follows: on Sunday and Wednesday, the psalms of the first nocturn, together with its antiphons, versicle, lessons and responds; on Monday and Thursday, the psalms, etc., of the second noctum; on Tuesday and Friday, those of the third nocturn. The prayers used in the office were the same as those used to-day for "familiares and benefactors of the Order." The entire community did not say the office; only the hebdomadarian of the week, with the deacon, subdeacon and friar who were assigned for that week to the Mass of the Dead. But the ordinary adds: "Any others who wish to do so, may be present." This office was recited nearly every day."
(Second edition, 1945, pp146-7)
The variations in the Dominican from the Roman rite are as follows:
There is no Pater or Ave (or Credo) said before the hours.
There is no versicle and response V. Audivi vocem etc. at Vespers and Lauds after the psalmondy.
However, this is converted into an antiphon in its own right which is used at the Magnificat at Vespers instead of the Roman Omne quod dat mihi. Here is the text from the Dominican Antiphonal of 1933:
The Pater noster is said silently after the Magnificat and Benedictus, i.e. the last two lines are not said as versicle and response, unlike in the Roman rite.
After Psalm 145 or 129 the following is used:
V. A porta ínferi.
R. Erue, Dómine, ánimas eórum.
(or
R. Et clamor meus ad te véniat.)
Then the Collect.
After the Collect is said only:
There is never an invitatory and psalm Venite exsultemus before Matins; whereas in the Roman rite this is used whenever Matins of 3 nocturns is recited.
The Pater noster in each nocturn, before the readings, has its final two verses said as versicle and response.
The responsories of the first nocturn are the same as in the Roman rite. The responsory after the third reading does not contain V. Requiem aeternam etc. at the end, unlike in the Roman rite.
The responsory after the first reading of the second nocturn is Heu mihi etc. which is used in the Roman rite after the second reading; the responsory after the second reading is Ne recorderis etc. which is used in the Roman rite after the third reading; the responsory after the third reading is as follows, which is a variant of that used in the Roman rite after the second lesson of the third nocturn:
R. Dómine, secúndum actum meum noli me judicáre: nihil dignum in conspéctu tuo egi; * ídeo déprecor majestátem tuam, ut tu, Deus, déleas iniquitátem meam.
V. Amplius lava me, Dómine, ab injustítia mea, et a delícto meo munda me: quia tibi soli peccavi. * ideo deprecor majestatem tuam, ut tu, Deus deleas iniquitatem meam.
The responsory after the second reading of the third nocturn is Memento mei etc. which is a variant of that used in the Roman rite after the first reading of the second nocturn:
R. Meménto mei, Deus: quia ventus est vita mea, * Nec aspíciat me visus hóminis.
V. Et non revertetur oculus meus, ut videat bona. * Nec aspíciat me visus hóminis.
After the final reading of the third nocturn, the following responsory is used, which is a variant on that used in the Roman and other rites. This responsory is an ancient composition, and seems to have many variants.
R. Líbera me, Dómine, de morte aetérna in die illa treménda: * Quando caeli movéndi sunt et terra: * Dum véneris judicáre saeculum per ignem.
V. Dies illa, dies irae, calamitátis et misériae, dies magna et amára valde. * Quando caeli movéndi sunt et terra.
V. Tremens factus sum ego, et tímeo, dum discússio vénerit, atque ventúra ira. * Dum véneris judicáre saeculum per ignem.
V. Creator omnium rerum, Deus, qui me de limo terrae formasti, et mirabiliter proprio sanguine redemisti, corpusque meum, licet modo putrescat, de sepulcro facies in die judicii resuscitari: exaudi, exaudi me, ut animam meam in sinu Abrahae Patriarchae tui jubeas collocari.
The versicle Creator omnium rerum isn't in the Roman. Here's a translation:
Creator of all things, O God, who formed me out of the dust of the earth, and wonderfully redeemed me with Thine own blood, and although I now decay, will make my body rise again from the sepulchre on the day of judgement: graciously hear me, so that you may command my soul to be placed into the bosom of the Patriarch Abraham.
(This chant is from the Dominican Antiphonale of 1862).
It is intended to follow up this article with similar ones on the Office of the Dead in the liturgies of other religious orders.
Octaves of Feasts
An octave is 8 days of commemoration of a major feast, including the day itself. The 8th day is called the octave day, and always falls on the same day of the week as the feast itself. So the octave day of Christmas is New Year's Day.
The first octave that was kept was the dedication of the Churches of Tyre and Jerusalem, under Constantine - these solemnities, in imitation of the dedication of the Jewish Temple, lasted eight days. In the fourth century, Easter and Pentecost were given octaves, and from this time onwards the celebration of octaves is becomes more frequent. In the sacramentaries of Gelasius and St. Gregory, on the octave day the office of the feast is repeated, but there was no provision for the intermediate days.
Amalarius tells us that it was customary in his time to celebrate the octaves of the feasts of SS. Peter and Paul and other saints. By the thirteenth century, perhaps under the influence of the Franciscans, octaves were extended to many other feasts.
In the Tridentine calendar of 1568, octaves were celebrated by the same office being repeated on each day of the octave. Some octaves overlapped, especially in the period after Christmas, so there were multiple commemorations of octaves.
In the calendar, as reformed by Pope St Pius X in 1911, there are:
Privileged Octaves
1. Octaves of the first rank: Easter and Pentecost - no other feast may be celebrated during this time;
2. Octaves of the second rank: Epiphany and Corpus Christi - the octave days are greater doubles, and the days within the octave are semidoubles, being displaced only by doubles of the first class;
3. Octaves of the third rank: Christmas, Ascension, Sacred Heart - displaced by any feast day above rank of simple;
Common octaves
Immaculate Conception, Assumption, Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, Solemnity of St. Joseph, SS Peter and Paul, All Saints, and the principal patron saint of a church, cathedral, order, town, diocese, province, or nation - displaced by any feast day above rank of simple.
Simple octaves
Saint Stephen, Saint John the Evangelist, Holy Innocents, Saint Lawrence, Nativity of Mary, and secondary patrons - kept as doubles of the second class, octave day was a simple, no days within the octave commemorated.
In later reforms, octaves have come under the knife, as have vigils, the alleged principle being for greater simplicity. In the reform of 1955, only the octaves of Christmas, Easter and Pentecost were kept, and during these octaves there are no commemorations.
In the Novus Ordo, the octave of Pentecost was suppressed. This appears to have been a mistake, and took Paul VI by surprise when, on Whit Monday, he appeared at his private chapel to celebrate mass, and was met with green vestments, rather than the accustomed red for the Holy Spirit. "But, it's Whit Monday." "You've abolished it, Your Holiness."
One octave which is not celebrated liturgically, but is often observed, is the "Octave of prayer for Christian unity," which runs from 18th January to 25th January - from St Peter's Chair at Rome to the Conversion of St Paul. This was started in 1908, approved by Pope St Pius X, and Pope Benedict XV encouraged its observance throughout the church.
The Catholic encyclopaedia on Octaves: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11204a.htm
'Work of Human Hands' on Youtube
"Work of Human Hands: A Theological Critique of the Mass of Paul VI" by Fr Anthony Cekada was published in 2010 by Philothea press - and has been praised highly in traditionalist periodicals, including 'Christian Order' and 'Usus Antiquior', although not necessarily supporting all of Fr Cekada's theological positions.
The book is a serious work of substantial scholarship, and is well worth reading by anyone seriously interested in what went wrong with the liturgical reforms of the 1960s and 1970s (which are, of course, still with us).
For those who want a briefer overview, there is now a Youtube channel, which is going to include a number of short videos, presented by Fr Cekada, about the content of his book. Each video will give an overview of a chapter from the book.
Fr Cekada argues that the difference between the two rites is not simply a matter of "beauty, preference and sentiment." Rather, "The doctrinal ideas behind the new rite are different to the doctrinal ideas behind the old rite." There is a different theology of the real presence and the purpose of the mass, which lies behind the difference in gestures, ritual, and language.
Two videos are already posted:
1. Old Mass of New: What's the Fuss?
2. The Liturgical Movement: The Change Agents
For more information about the book, including extracts, see the Philothea press:
http://www.philotheapress.com/store/work-of-human-hands -
It's also worth visiting the website that provides supplementary information and commentary about the book, including reviews by other traditionalists:
http://www.doctrinaliturgica.com/
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JIL SANDER HOLDS FIRST EVER SOLO EXHIBITION IN FRANKFURT
From November 4th, the Museum Angewandte Kunst in Frankfurt presents the very first solo exhibition of Jil Sander. The retrospective curated by the German designer herself and museum director Matthias Wagner K is much more than just a show of her work. It is an invitation into the universe of timeless elegance.
Jil Sander is both a legend and a secret. The designer and business woman, who founded her company in 1968, is one of these very few people in the fashion industry, that prefer the solitude in private life much more than fame and glamour. So it did not really surprise that even on the launch day of her globally first solo exhibition the 73 year-old allowed press, photographers and guests only a short glimpse of her person. All the more the retrospective, which takes place from November 4th 2017 until May 6th 2018 at the Museum Angewandte Kunst in Frankfurt, carries her thumbsprint in every detail. Jil Sander and the museum worked together very closely for the huge and unique project. This might be one reason, why the exhibition at the end became much more than just a retrospective of her work.
The title chosen by Jil Sander herself claims the message best: “Präsens” (Engl. presence) appears like a rare and very special invitation into the universe of a shy, genius mind. A universe, which not only includes fashion and fragrances, but also interior design and gardening. A universe, which is absolutely timeless, not only on the design aspect. “My aesthetic ideas develop out of what I have appreciated and learned in my life and what I sense of the zeitgeist,” the designer states, “I’m interested in the new, in what will come.” The exhibition passes on year dates, simultaneously the visitor is immediately absorbed by entering the 3,000 square metres of exhibition space at the Richard-Meier-Building. On the first floor, we start our wandering by sitting down and watching several screenings of Jil Sander fashion shows. Three displays involve our total awareness. The surrounding is dark, but appears endless because of a number of mirrors. Then we take a step back – or better to say backstage. The light-flooded exhibition area becomes an atelier, where we follow Jil Sander on creating her brand and some of her most famous styles. By browsing on her notes and the different textiles the fashion label is famous for, we learn the formation of her design from the first stitch to the finished look, while standing face to face with the tailor’s dummy. If we wanted, we could even touch it, no display case needed. Maybe the designer never allowed a more intimate look into her mind and on her workflow.
On the second floor the exhibition continues and also breaks in with some surprises, when we learn about the very playful side of Jil Sander. Besides a range of campaign photographs, including pictures of Amber Valetta and the well-known portraits of Jil Sander herself taken by Peter Lindbergh, her work in landscape and on the field of interior design comes to life. Further pieces of her 2014 collection inspired by the colourful patterns of Afghan embroidery evolve a completely new perspective on the designer’s work. Not only that they appear unusually dynamic and expressive. The effect is enhanced by the presentation itself, when the dresses seem to disappear into the interior design of the room.
And this finally closes the circle. Invisibility has always been an important characteristic of Jil Sander. One, that significantly helped create her aura and shaped the quality of her work. By the disappearance of her person, the design moves into the center of attraction. The intricacies of the materials become evident – something Jil Sander, who is meant to be the creator of the so-called “Zwiebellook” always lead a focus on. Hereby the alleged reluctancy can finally unfold its whole effect. “Opulence occurs in the quality of the material,“ Jil Sander once said. Her clean, pure and timeless looks, which are mostly based on a monochrome colour palette of black, off-white, cream tones and dark blue combine straightforwardness with soft elegance and a vibrant, feminine note, which not only fits the woman’s silhouette perfectly, it much more creates the epitome of a strong and confident but also timeless elegance femininity, which no longer needs extra decor and glitter glamour. Such a woman the 1943 born Jil Sander, who started her career by the age of 24 embodies herself. She’s a creator, a business woman, a sensitive artist and a storyteller – the exhibition is the ideal homage to one of a kind and one of the most important heads in the German design sphere.
Tags: ART, EXHIBITION
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Fashion Designer Karl Lagerfeld Has Died
Fashion Designer Karl Lagerfeld Has Died Feb 19, 2019 9:46:47 GMT -4
Post by Admin on Feb 19, 2019 9:46:47 GMT -4
Iconic fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld dies, was longtime creative director of Chanel
By DAVID BOROFF
Karl Lagerfeld died on Tuesday. He was believed to be 85.
Lagerfeld had been battling health issues and had missed Chanel’s spring 2019 haute couture show last month. He was believed to be 85, but his exact age has always been a mystery.
Known for his trademark white ponytail, high-starched collars and dark glasses, he dominated high fashion for the last 50 years.
"I design like I breathe,” Lagerfeld once said, according to the Hollywood Reporter. “You don’t ask to breathe — it just happens.”
Lagerfeld held down the top design jobs at LVMH-owned luxury label Fendi starting in 1977, and Chanel starting in 1983.
Lagerfeld was known for his verbal barbs, earning the nickname "Kaiser Karl" in the fashion media. He said in Marie-Claire magazine that former French President Francois Hollande was an "imbecile" who would be "disastrous" for the country, and he told The Sun that he did not like the face of Pippa Middleton, Kate Middleton's sister.
"She should only show her back," he said.
He was heavily criticized for telling France's Metro newspaper that Adele was "a little too fat."
Despite this behavior he was known to be kind to his staff at Chanel and for giving long interviews after fashion shows.
Lagerfeld was born in Hamburg, Germany. He said in interviews that early on he wanted to become a cartoonist, an illustrator or a musician.
"My mother tried to instruct me on the piano," he said in the book "The World According to Karl." "One day, she slammed the piano cover closed on my fingers and said, 'draw, it makes less noise.'"
His age has always been in question. He reportedly had a birth certificate dated 1933 and another dated 1938. Lagerfeld told French magazine "Paris Match" he was born in 1935, but in 2019 his assistant still didn't know the truth, telling The Associated Press that he liked "to scramble the tracks on his year of birth — that's part of the character."
He lived in his Parisian mansion with a Siamese cat called Choupette.
With News Wire Services
RIP 🕶
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The Gig I Thought Would Never End
Published January 9, 2012 | By Eric
Have you ever played a gig that seemed to go on forever? I’m not talking about your typical three to four hour bar band performance that occasionally might drag a little in the middle, or some uninspired club gig full of “T n’ A” (tables and ashtrays). No, I’m talking about a gig that goes on for hours and hours, eight hours to be exact, by the end of which you felt like you aged 10 years. A few years back I did a few gigs like this, and lived to tell about it.
With thousands of singers and musicians trying to break into the Nashville nightclub scene and only so many potential gigs, the scene here can be quite competitive. And if you’ve been in Nashville for a while, you know all too well that these clubs are not known for their “great pay”. These two facts combined might cause some players to take on gigs that, in another part of the country, would be laughed out the door.
Don’t get me wrong; there are some club gigs around town that can be lucrative, a few even providing a guarantee of $100 or more per player. But most club gigs in Nashville are tips only, or provide a minimal base pay (usually $20-$50 per player), plus tips. So if you want to make some decent money, you really have to hustle.
Relying on tips causes many club bands to play a three to four hour shift without taking a break, and if a player needs to go to the bathroom the singer might do a few acoustic numbers to provide the band with at least one “pee break”. Relying so greatly on the tip jar for income also causes some singers and bands to exclusively cater to the tourists, choosing worn out dance floor classics like “Margaritaville”, “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Mustang Sally” to keep them happily bopping along.
Several years back I was working pretty steadily downtown, playing a lot of shifts at Tootsies, the Second Fiddle, and a few others on the strip. Around the same time there was another club just a few streets off of Broadway at which I also began performing (to save face, this club will remain anonymous, although its identity will be obvious to anyone who has ever worked this gig). For the purposes of this blog, I will refer to the club owner as “Harry” and the club as “Harry Houdini’s”.
I got to know Harry by hanging out at his club and sitting in on occasion. He liked my playing, and when the guitarist in his weekend house band quit, he offered me the spot. I was hungry for good paying work, and he offered to pay me $125 a night – straight pay with no tips. By Nashville standards, this was great pay for an in-town club gig. There was just one catch – the band was required to play from 7 PM to 3 AM. What?
“Don’t worry, I’ll give you plenty of breaks” Harry assured me. “You can even play sitting on a stool when you get tired”.
Like I said, good paying gigs are hard to find in Nashville, and at this point in time I really needed the dough. Besides, I had already experienced playing some “doubles” on Broadway (for those of you not in the know, this is two shifts back to back, with about a 30 minute break in between shows for change over). The doubles were hard work, but I had built up the necessary stamina, and the extra pay was helping. So what the hell, it can’t be much worse than a double, why not give it a shot?
The day of my first gig at this fine establishment I arrived about 20 minutes early, loaded in my gear, and anxiously awaited downbeat. The group consisted of drums, bass, me on guitar, and a singer who also played acoustic. The song list was typical of downtown cover music – classic and new country, pop and rock, and for the first couple of hours, it seemed like just another typical bar gig in Nashville. I even got to take a short break around nine.
Then the dynamic of the night began to change. Harry, the club owner, was also a musician, and he came up and sang a set with the band. Some of the songs we played were the previously mentioned classics of “Margaritaville”, “Sweet Home”, and “Mustang Sally”, but we also added to the mix other worn-out wonders like “Brown Eyed Girl”, “Family Tradition”, and the often dreaded “You Never Even Called Me by My Name”.
It was a warm Friday night and the crowd, which seemed to be mainly tourists, seemed happy with what we were doing, we even got a dance floor going. The singer/owner finished his set and went back to work behind the bar, and the other singer came back to take over for a while. Another 45 minutes or so and we got our next pee break while the singer sang a couple tunes solo with his acoustic.
It was now after 11 o’clock, about the average length of a typical bar gig, and Harry again returned to the stage. To my surprise, this next set contained several of the same songs that we played in his first set, most of them being the aforementioned “classics”, a couple of which had also been covered by the other singer.
On our next pee break, sometime around 12:30 AM, I mentioned to the drummer something like “Boy he really likes those oldies. Does he always repeat those songs so much?”
“You ain’t seen nothin’ yet, we’re just getting started. Typically, he wants us to play Margaritaville, Sweet Home, Mustang Sally and Family Tradition about once an hour.” he said to my amazement. “His theory is that the tourists love these songs, and that with the high turnover, it doesn’t really matter how many times we play them.”
Ooookaaay.
Moments later I resumed my perch on the stage to continue my birds-eye view of this top 40 adventure, one that seemed to be entering some kind of classic-hit time warp. I remember looking up at the clock behind the bar a little while later and it reading something like 12:48. Except for the three or four 10 minute pee breaks, I had been playing this gig for about six hours, with two more hours to go, and it began to feel like I had been on the stage for days.
The crowd was now pretty thin, but we marched on. With Harry back on the mic, he asked the crowd “do we have any Lynyrds Skynyrd fans in the house?” With a couple of random cheers forthcoming, we launched into Sweet home Alabama again, now for the fifth time. The same thing happened with some of the other classics. I looked up at the clock a little while later and it was around 1:30. The more we kept repeating songs, the slower the clock seemed to move. At one point my mind flashed to the scene in the movie “Risky Business”, where the character played by Tom Cruise witnesses the clock going backwards right before the bell was supposed to ring.
By the end of the night, I was drenched in sweat and physically and mentally exhausted. My back was sore, my fingers shredded, and my mind numb. We had played Sweet Home Alabama, Mustang Sally, and Family Tradition seven times each throughout the night. Some of the other songs we played four to five times a piece. The funny thing was, the patrons never seemed to notice or care. Harry was right; there was a high turnover, and whatever crowd we had at any given moment seemed to enjoy the songs.
I collected my pay and went home, returning the next evening to do it all over again. As lucrative for an in-town gig as this was, I only lasted a few short weekends before moving onto something else. After a few years I was able to get over my “classic hits overdose”, but for the months following this episode, I suffered severe flashbacks every time somebody called out Sweet Home Alabama and Mustang Sally.
Posted in Gigging in Nashville | Tagged Broadway, Country Music, entertainer, gigging, guitar playing, inspiration, Life and Life's Problems, Music, music business, musician, Nashville, Nashville Musician's Survival Guide, nightclub, Tennessee | Leave a comment
“New to Nashville” Berklee Alumni Reception
Published November 14, 2011 | By Eric
Berklee is alive and well in Nashville! On Monday, November 7 we had our first “New to Nashville” Berklee alumni reception at the NSAI studio on Music Row, and the event was a huge success. Upon the suggestion of Berklee Alumni Affairs Officer, Karen Bell, I put this event together to welcome alum’s who recently relocated to Nashville.
The reception was a three stage event. The meet and greet gave recent transplants a chance to reconnect with their fellow classmates while forming new relationships with some of the alumni who have already been here a while. From what I could tell, out of the 40 or so in attendance, at least half were new arrivals.
After about an hour, everybody took their seats and I gave a brief talk about my Nashville experiences. The talk evolved into a pretty good group discussion, with lots of questions about networking in Nashville. Most of my experience in Nashville has been in the areas of touring, gigging around town, and recording, and most of this discussion centered on these issues.
One alum asked about what clubs and situations would lend themselves for sitting-in with bands. Sitting-in is a great way to build your reputation while making connections that might lead to gigs, and I mentioned a few that are worth checking out – The Fiddle and Steel has a player-friendly jam every Tuesday night; Douglas Corner has “The Loud Jazz Players Jam” every other Monday night; and there are also a few blues jams around the city including one at Carol Ann’s Café on Sunday nights, and The Fillin’ Station on Thursday nights. I also suggested becoming a regular at some of the clubs on Broadway, as this is also a good place to meet players who are gigging regularly.
Rich Redmond, one of the contributors to my book “The Nashville Musician’s Survival Guide”, has one piece of great advice he gives to players who are new to town, and I passed this advice on in response to a question about evolving a music career in Nashville – “Be patient, and take every gig that is offered”. Every gig will potentially lead to more gigs, and no matter how unimportant some gigs might seem, you never know where those roads might lead.
We paused briefly after my talk to give everyone a chance to stretch their legs and grab some more refreshments. Then everybody settled back down into their seats and I proudly introduced the night’s final speaker – country music artist, hit songwriter, BMI songwriter of the year, and my current boss, Rhett Akins. For those of you who aren’t in the know, Rhett is currently one of the hottest songwriters in Nashville, and he shared some great perspective, stories, and advice for all of the songwriters in the room (and judging by a show of hands a little earlier, at least half of those in attendance had come to Nashville to pursue careers in songwriting).
After Rhett’s brief talk about his evolution as a songwriter and artist he also engaged in a group discussion. He spoke candidly about different aspects of being a Nashville songwriter. The Nashville uniqueness of co-writing, the pros and cons of publishing deals, and his lifelong passion for music and songwriting were some major talking points.
Some of the perspective he shared that I found most interesting was the sheer number of songs that he writes, stating “I pretty much write at least one song everyday” and that to wind up with five hits songs, he’s probably written 500 songs. He also said that he and his co-writers try to finish a song during each writing appointment, but that he is also interested in experimenting with writing some songs over a longer period of time, noting that “it took Gregg Allman three years to write Melissa”. After his talk concluded he stuck around for a while, giving those who were interested a chance to speak with him one-on-one.
All in all, the event accomplished what we had set out to do. Some of the newest arrivals to Nashville got a chance to reconnect with former classmates that they didn’t even know had moved here, others made new friendships, and many, myself included, got new insights into the ever-changing world of the Nashville music biz’.
I would like to send out a special thanks to the following people for helping make this event a success: Rhett Akins, Karen Bell, Emily Dufresne, Dave Petrelli, Meg O’Brien, NSAI, Berklee, Heston Alley, and Kelly Normand.
Epilogue: I met with Alumni Programs Officer, Emily Dufresne the following afternoon for coffee, and we discussed an idea I had about organizing a monthly “Berklee Alumni Networking Jam”. More info on that will be coming soon!
From left to right: Meg O’Brien, Dave Petrelli, Rhett Akins, Eric Normand, Emily Dufresne
Posted in music business | Tagged alumni, Berklee, Berklee College of Music, Broadway, gigging, Music, music business, musician, Nashville, Nashville Musician's Survival Guide, networking, nightclub, Rhett Akins, Songwriting, touring | 1 Comment
Coming Gigs and Events
Published June 8, 2011 | By Eric
As some of you might know, there’s a lot going on in Nashville this week. It’s that time of year again where 250,000 country music fans converge on the city for “CMA Music Fest Week” (formally known as Fanfare). Tourists, country music fans, and curiosity seekers from all over the globe will fill the streets, shops, hotels, restaurants, nightclubs and concert halls, and while this can make getting around a little sticky for the locals, it is truly an exciting week for Music City, not to mention good for the local economy. This year, I am fortunate to play my own part in these festivities.
Thursday, June 9 from 11 AM – 2 PM I will be doing a book signing at the Charlie Daniels Museum on Second Avenue in downtown Nashville (between the Hard Rock Café and the Wildhorse Saloon.) This unique museum/gift shop began selling my book last week at which time I was fortunate to meet the museum’s owner, Bud Messer, who requested I come back and do and in-store signing during Fanfare. Bud is a great guy and I am honored to receive this invitation from such a prestigious institution, not to mention the fact that they are now selling my book. (The Ernest Tubb Record Shop on Broadway is also now selling my book.)
This Saturday, June 11 my band will be performing at The Fillin’ Station in Kingston Springs. The fun starts at 7 PM, and if the weather is good (which it looks like it will be), the outdoor patio will be open. This week the band will consist of me on vocals and guitar, Nick “Shaggy Bag” Forchione on drums, Tom Good on bass, and special guest Patrick Weikenand (formerly of the band “War”) on harp and beer slinging. This club is a one-of-a-kind experience, so if you’ve never been, you owe it to yourself to check it out. (no cover.)
Monday, June 13 I will be giving my first talk on the book when I host “The Nashville Musician’s Survival Guide Workshop” at Corky’s Ribs & BBQ, 100 Franklin Road, Brentwood, TN 37027. This luncheon will be sponsored by “Indie Connect” and held between 11:30 AM and 1:30 PM. Cost $10.00. This presentation will be somewhat informal and there will be a lot of questions and answers, networking and group interaction.
Other than that, it’s been hot as hell in middle Tennessee for the past month, and we’ve had over 10 straight days of 90° plus heat with no end in sight. Stay on the lookout for heat and poor air-quality advisories.
So that’s it for now, if you’re around, please stop in to one of my events or gigs and say hi.
Posted in Book Progress | Tagged Broadway, Charlie Daniels, CMA, CMA Music Fest, Ernest Tubbs, Fanfare, gigging, Indie Connect, Music, music business, musician, Nashville, Nashville Musician's Survival Guide, networking, nightclub, publishing, self improvment, social skills | Leave a comment
Posted in Networking | Tagged Broadway, business, frindships, Life and Life's Problems, Music, music business, musician, Nashville, Nashville Musician's Survival Guide, networking, nightclub, social networking, social skills, touring | Leave a comment
Pick a Night, Book a Gig, and Go Make Some Music With Your Buddies
Published January 18, 2011 | By Eric
The ever churning music scene of Nashville can be kind of quirky. Even though it has downsized a bit since its heyday of the booming 90s, it’s still a constant flurry of activity, with thousands of musicians of all levels and backgrounds continually searching and on the move. Searching for gigs, connections, opportunities, and quite often, searching for a pathway to a success that has yet to be defined. We’re all on the hunt for something more.
That’s how I felt when I first moved to Nashville, nearly 10 years ago. I didn’t really know exactly what I wanted to do here; I just knew I wanted to accomplish more than I had in my previous life as a nightclub performer and music teacher in New England. I can remember the sense of impatience and anxiety I felt during that first year, the endless thirst for musical activity – no gig was too big or small.
As a fresh arrival in 2002, I knew very little about how this place worked and relied on my friend and mentor “D” to fill in the blanks. “If you are looking for paying gigs, the country scene is where it’s at. It’s pretty much a freelance scene, but that’s where you’ll make the connections you’ll need to survive. Just get out there and start hitting the clubs and get to know people, sit-in whenever you can. But whatever you do, don’t join a band, bands starve.” All sound advice coming from a successful player who had already been here for 10 years.
“I’m really into blues and rock. Is there a scene here for that? I asked innocently. “There is, but you’re going to go broke if you only play that stuff here” was his reply “Plus you’ll get pigeonholed”. “Well if all this activity is basically hired guns, how do you just have a band for fun?” I asked, not wanting to accept this new fate. His solution was so simple – “After you get to know and become friends with some good players, just pick a night, book a gig, and go make some music with your buddies.”
While his advice made a lot of sense, it would take years for me to fully realize this new potential. I began digging in to the scene, networking, sitting in, and this approach worked. I played hundreds of gigs around the city during those first couple of years – Broadway gigs, Printers Alley gigs, gigs on the outskirts, showcases – you name it I played it. These gigs eventually lead to touring work and a couple of years later I began playing on songwriter demos too.
Now it’s 2011 and I’ve been here for nearly 10 years. I can’t believe how fast time flies, the last decade was a blur of endless activity. I didn’t move to Nashville to become a superstar or a songwriter, I came here to work as a player, and I’ve succeeded in that endeavor. I make my living (or the bulk of it) as a freelance musician, something I was not able to do prior to my Nashville days.
But something has still been missing and I just recently figured out what it was. I haven’t been playing music enough for the sheer joy of it. Nearly all of my music career dreams have come true. I’ve played in every state in the lower 48, Canada, parts of Europe; I’ve learned how to play guitar on recording sessions; I’m good friends with some of the finest musicians on the planet; I’m earning a living from my craft. But where’s the self-expression within all of this? Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of good music involved in what I do. But a lot of the music I do for pay is the result of somebody else’s expression, and at times, lacking a personal connection to me.
So last fall I finally decided it was time to follow ol’ Ds advice – “Pick a night, book a gig, and go make some music with your buddies.” I’m not sure if it’s just because I’m getting a little older and my priorities are changing, or because working as a freelance musician allows you to be a part of everything, without actually belonging to anything, but making some music for the soul on a regular basis with my friends is now a big priority for me.
While I’m making my living as a hired gun within the country side of this town, I have a new found love for my side project “Endless Boogie”, a band project that has no goal other than to simply provide me and my buddies with a night or two a month of self-expression through fun music. My good friends Fran Breen, drummer extraordinaire originally from Ireland (with the accent to prove it), and Mike Chapman, bad-ass bassist and member of Garth Brooks’ famed session band, the G-Men, were the first players I called for the gig. Even though they’ve both been here far longer than I, perhaps their love of just getting out there and playing is even more telling about working as a career freelance musician long-term.
A few months ago, when we did one of our first gigs at the Fillin’ Station in Kingston Springs, another player that new Mike walked in mid-set. He seemed surprised to see Mike on this “outside the microscope” gig and asked “What are YOU doing here?” Mike’s reply was honest and telling – “I’m playing.”
To me, this simple exchange says it all. What should have been obvious to the other fellow wasn’t. Not every gig has to be about money, prestige, or opportunity. While my buddies and I know the importance of a little music for the soul, it is easy to understand how a lifetime of working in the music industry can change that.
“Pick a night, book a gig, and go make some music with your buddies.”
Endless Boogie will be playing tonight, Tuesday, January 18 at the 12 South Tap Room, located next to Mafioso’s on 12th Avenue South, Nashville, TN. The show starts at 9 PM and we will be playing some of our favorites from Hendrix, Allmans, Santana, Muddy, and Miles, plus a few of our own. The tap room is one of the coolest “non-Nashville” bars in Nashville and has a great menu, friendly staff, a whole bunch of fancy beers on tap, and never a cover.
12 South Tap Room
2318 12th Ave South
Posted in Gigging in Nashville | Tagged blues, Broadway, Country Music, gigging, inspiration, jam, Music, music business, musician, Nashville Musician's Survival Guide, networking, nightclub, studio, Tennessee, touring | 1 Comment
Gigging with Ronnie Pittman, and no “Dubadibby Dabaduboo”
It was sometime in the fall of 2002 and my wife, Kelly and I were attending our weekly Tuesday night outing at the Fiddle and Steel. Already having sat-in earlier in the night, we were getting ready to leave as it was getting kind of late, when Ronnie Pittman, the singer and host of this unofficial jam night, approached us at the bar. “Hey man, I need a guitar player to play some Monday nights with me at the Second Fiddle. Are you interested?” he asked. “I’d love to, thanks for asking.” I replied, further adding “One thing I should tell you upfront is that I’m not totally up on all the old country stuff yet.” “That’s no problem; we don’t do that many old country tunes. And besides, the last thing I need is another guitar player that constantly plays ‘dubadibby dabaduboo dubadibby dabaduboo’.” he explained, mimicking a cliché sounding rapid-fire guitar lick. “Great, I’m there!” I exclaimed.
The following Monday I arrived early to the Second Fiddle on Broadway, double parked to load in my gear, and then drove around for about 20 minutes looking for a free parking space. After setting up my stuff and hanging for a bit with Ronnie and the band, our night of music began. Ronnie played a mix of contemporary country ranging from Travis Tritt to Little Texas, some 80s and 90s country/pop from groups like Exile, a few old school country tunes, R&B from the likes of Delbert McClinton and Van Morrison, and some classic rock from groups like the Eagles, the Allman Brothers, and Steve Miller. His wife also sang harmony and lead vocals and fronted the band on a few songs by artists like Martina McBride and the Dixie Chicks.
I knew a lot of the material and managed to feel my way through the songs I didn’t know. We played a couple of long sets with a break in the middle and, although people wandered in and out of the club all night, I don’t think the crowd ever got above 15 or 20. Nevertheless, the music was enjoyable and we all had a good time playing. At the end of the night I tore down my gear and waited for Ronnie to count the tips (I think the grand total was something like $28 apiece including the base pay of $20 each). The short pay was all right with me, as I was still trying to gain experience and make connections. Ronnie thanked me and asked me if I wanted to play the following Monday, which of course I did, and told him so.
So this became my first regular in town gig. And it was perfect. Ronnie was a real laid-back singer to work for, he always had a decent rhythm section, and his repertoire consisted of a lot of pop, rock, and R&B; styles I was already familiar with. He did play just enough contemporary and classic country for me to explore my new chops in that area as well.
Gigging with Ronnie also created some other opportunities. After a month or so of these gigs I did an out of town weekend with Ronnie and his band in Georgia. It was on that gig where I met a keyboard player Ronnie had hired named Gordon, and it was through Gordon that I landed the house gig at Libby’s in Kentucky.
Another connection I made was through one of our regular attendees, a truck driver named ‘Bud’ who worked for Charlie Daniels and took a liking to my guitar playing. He stopped in for our gig once in a while when he was in town, eventually hooking me up with a friend of his who had an indie band called “The Watercolor Project”. I wound up doing some recording sessions with this trippy rock band, a project and genre that allowed me to gain some studio experience in a far more relaxed setting than my virgin studio outing , a debacle that almost sent me packing a couple of months prior.
So I was getting my country/pop thing happening by gigging with Ronnie on Monday nights, and honing my chops on traditional country on the weekends in Kentucky. While it was a lot of activity it still didn’t add up to enough to pay the bills, so I was still working the eBay/pawn shop angle pretty hard. One of my eBay sales, that of an old Tube Screamer that I sold for $75, was bought by another Nashville guitarist who suggested meeting in town to buy the pedal rather than shipping it. I e-mailed him about meeting at my Monday night gig, and the following week he arrived to do the transaction. This led to one of the biggest eye openers I had in that first year.
I arrived downtown for my regular Monday night gig with Ronnie and set up my gear. After the first set I was still standing on the stage for a few minutes when a long-haired fellow approached me. “Are you Eric?” he asked. “Yes.” I answered “You must be Mark.” After exchanging a few brief words I presented him with one slightly beat up Ibanez Tube Screamer and he paid me $75 in cash. He then asked me how long I had been in town, to which I answered “I’ve been here for about six months.” He reacted with surprise, acknowledging my accomplishments with “Wow, that’s great. Six months and you’re already gigging.” He then added “I’m still working towards playing out, I’m not quite there yet, but I’m getting close. I’ve been in a couple of different bands so far, but nothing that’s made it out of the practice hall yet.” “How long have you been here?” I asked innocently. “Five years.” He answered and a deafening silence engulfed the moment.
The stark reality that there are musicians trying to find their way in Nashville that are here for years had yet to stare me in the face with such clarity. It was almost as if an atomic bomb had been dropped right outside of the club. “I’m sorry to hear that, best of luck to you with that.” I mean, what else can you really say? A minute or so later we said goodbye, and the long-haired struggling stranger sauntered out the door.
For me, that moment clarified a lot of things. It made me realize that there are far more musicians here than there are opportunities for them. It reaffirmed some of the advice I had received from my mentor, D, one piece being “Whatever you do, don’t join a band, band’s starve.” It made me further appreciate the fact that I was lucky enough to have a mentor here in the first place. It allowed me to view all of my gigs and performance opportunities with much more optimism. And it made me realize, in a town where so many struggle, just how fortunate I had been so far.
Posted in Gigging in Nashville | Tagged American South, Broadway, Country Music, gigging, guitar playing, Music, music business, musician, Nashville Musician's Survival Guide, networking, nightclub, Ronnie Pittman, Tennessee | Leave a comment
Train Wreck at Tootsies and a New Beginning
During the summer of 2002 I was aggressively exploring the live music scene of Nashville. Upon the recommendation of my friend, D, I was regularly making the rounds at clubs on Broadway, Printers Alley, and other spots around the city to better understand the scene, and to begin building the relationships I would need to succeed here. For the most part I was in kind of a watch and learn mode, often finding a table with my wife at the back of these clubs and just listening to the performers, sometimes even writing down the names of unfamiliar songs on napkins to learn later. Most of my musical background is rooted in rock, blues and jazz, so the repertoire played by most of these artists and bands, being mostly country, was largely foreign to me. Not to mention the art of country guitar playing, partly based on a technique called “chicken pickin”, was something I had yet to conquer.
I had already successfully sat in on a few occasions, carefully choosing situations that would allow me to showcase on songs and styles that were familiar to me, but for the most part I had avoided sitting in with bands that played mainly country. D had conveyed to me the importance of slowly building a great reputation – “Good news travels slow, but if you fart on stage they will immediately hear about it all over town.” So I was slowly and carefully building my reputation. But this cautious approach prevented me from sitting in on many occasions, fearful that I would get in over my head. D respected the fact that I was being cautious, but he also knew that I was beginning to become pigeonholed as a rock player as I never sat in on country tunes. So maybe that was part of the reason he invited me to a 6 to 10 shift he was playing on a Saturday night in the front room of Tootsies.
My wife, Kelly, and I arrived downtown around seven o’clock and found a parking spot. The summer air was hot and thick and people were out in abundance. We walked into Tootsies, which was packed to the gills, and found a spot to stand near the bar a few feet from the tiny stage. D spotted us and gave me a nod. He was playing with a stripped down Broadway unit of drums, bass, and guitar, fronted by an otherwise typical looking country singer sporting a cowboy hat, cowboy boots, denim shirt, and Wrangler jeans. The band was cranking out country standards in rapid succession, the tempos were fast, the music was loud, and the crowd was partying heavily. After an hour or so D looked over at me and said “Do you want to play a couple?” Feeling that I needed to rise to this occasion, I nodded yes and walked over to the stage.
As I hopped up on to the overcrowded stage he handed me his guitar and said “Just ask the bass player if you don’t know the changes, he’ll help you through.” I had just barely strapped on the guitar when the singer shouted out “OK boys, Rocky Top in G”, a country standard I had heard on several occasions but had yet to play. It just so happened that the singer was playing an acoustic and, as the first verse is just acoustic and vocals, this gave me time to figure out the chord progression. So when the whole band came in after the first chorus, I was right there with them, sort of. While I did manage to improvise, or fumble, my way through the first solo without any glaring problems, apparently I was a little heavy handed on the rhythm of the next verse, probably due to years of playing in rock bands combined with almost no experience playing country. D motioned from his spot at the bar to hush my volume a little and I attempted to do so. I managed to get all the way to the end of the main part of the song, hanging on by a thread, before it began to get ugly.
For those of you unfamiliar with this Broadway classic, the main body of the song is played with a half-time feel, the song modulates up a whole step, and then the song kicks into double time for a long-winded fiddle solo outro. So, being the only soloist in this situation, it was my job to mimic the fiddle solo, and I managed to do so quite poorly. While I had been practicing my chicken pickin’ technique daily for a couple of months by this point, this was probably my first practical application. I quickly learned that practicing this style with a metronome or CD at home, and improvising a would-be fiddle solo at warp speed with a band in a nightclub are two different things. No matter what I heard in my head, my fingers just wouldn’t do it. I hacked, chopped, and butchered my way through two long choruses that seemed to drag on for eternity.
The song ended and the crowd of tourists cheered, completely oblivious to my train wreck. But I am certain that the other players on stage did hear every single ugly note I played. D certainly did as he quickly came to my rescue, snatching the guitar from my hands before I could do any more damage. “That one got away from you a little bit.” he kindly said as I left the stage. Feeling less than excited about hanging around after this awkward moment, we left after a couple more songs.
The next day D called me and we spoke about my debacle. “I think you should stay away from Broadway for a little while, at least until you get a little more familiar with the songs and the style. The guys I was playing with last night are cool and know you’re still learning, so there’s no harm done there. But you definitely don’t want to want to do anything like that again.”
I had already been playing guitar for over 20 years and could play rock and blues as good as most. But country music wasn’t yet in my vocabulary, and chicken pickin’ was as foreign to me as French Morocco. It was like learning how to play guitar all over again. That one train wreck made it apparent to me that I was going to have to practice for three to four hours a day for quite a while to learn this new language. So that’s just what I did. I obtained recordings of as many country standards as I could and burned mix CDs. I began dissecting the songs, writing number charts for them, learning arrangements, rhythms, solos, even bass lines. As chicken pickin’ is essential to traditional country guitar playing, I followed one piece of great advice from D “Put on a CD of old-school country and improvise solos over entire songs using the chicken pickin’ technique.” I forced myself to do this and, although I sometimes felt like throwing my guitar through the window, slowly began to see improvement. I was determined to never have another moment like my debacle on Broadway ever happen again. And while I did eventually get the hang of chicken pickin’, to this day, I still cringe every time I hear Rocky Top!
Posted in Gigging in Nashville | Tagged Broadway, gigging, Music, musician, Nashville Musician's Survival Guide, networking, nightclub, self improvment, Tennessee, Tootsies | 6 Comments
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NEW ALBUM: Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real - Turn Off the News (Build a Garden)
Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real are releasing a new album, Turn Off the News (Build a Garden), with Neil Young and others. Release date: June 14.
From interview in "Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real Detail New LP Featuring Neil Young, Sheryl Crow" | Rolling Stone By Patrick Doyle:
“We wanted these songs to be fun and upbeat,” Nelson said. “But we also wanted to have something to say. Rock & roll began as a countercultural movement, so in the true spirit of rock & roll, we’re trying to encourage a lifestyle where people can be active in their local communities, rather than glued to a device. We listen to so many artists — the Byrds, Tom Petty, Al Green, Neil Young, Little Feat, J.J. Cale — and this album carries forth something they all represented, the idea of turning off the news and doing something constructive. It’s a statement about how you can live your life with your heart leading the way.”
The album's title track includes both a full-band version and an acoustic version that features Neil Young on pump organ.
Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real - Turn Off the News (Build a Garden)
Track List + Details
Lukas Nelson has been singing out the truth with songs like "Speak The Truth": New Song by Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real. And brother Micah Nelson has been trying to spread the word on the reality of "Everything Is Bullshit".
Willie is definitely being done right by his sons. We appreciate and support those who keep it REAL.
Neil Young + Lukas Nelson & Promise of The Real perform at BottleRock, Napa Valley Expo on May 25.
Also, Lukas Nelson & Promise of The Real will tour with Neil Young this summer in Europe.
Namaste (Photo of the Moment)
Telluride, Colorado - 10/1/16
Photo by thrasher
Labels: album, lukas nelson, neil young, promise of the real
At 5/02/2019 08:09:00 PM, rolandthompsongunner said...
Tuscaloosa 6/7 and this the following week? Shaping up to be a nice month! Lukas sure sounds like his old man during some of those vocals (which I mean as a compliment). Cool cover too.
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TableBase—TableBase provides access to tabular information on companies, industries, products, countries and markets. Data is drawn from privately published statistical annuals, trade associations, non-profit research groups, government agencies, international organizations, industry reports prepared by investment research groups, and more than 900 publications included in the Business & Industry ® (B&IT) database. Over 20,000 tables a year - with strategic data that is difficult to find elsewhere. Tables from the articles can be downloaded directly to Excel.
Business & Industry—Business & Industry ® is a broad-based business information database which includes coverage from over 900 trade and business publications covering business events in over 190 countries around the world. B&I includes over 75 percent full-text coverage - the remaining records include informative abstracts which highlight the key information and facts discussed in the text. The Business & Industry database provides articles back to 1994.
Business & Management Practices—The Business & Management Practices ® (BaMP) database contains information dealing with the processes, methods and strategies of managing a business. BaMP coverage focuses on those source publications that deal with management issues or business methodology from a practical approach. The database includes abstracts and full text of articles, and is enhanced with rich indexing that enables highly specific retrieval of relevant articles.
EIU Country Analysis News—The Economist Intelligence Unit, a division of London's Economist Group, is the most respected provider of country analysis for governments, multi-national corporations and financial institutions around the world. Through our network of over 500 international contributor economists, we establish independent macro-economic outlooks and detailed reports on the political and commercial environments for over 200 countries around the world.
The Economist—The Economist Intelligence Unit, a division of London's Economist Group, is the most respected provider of country analysis for governments, multi-national corporations and financial institutions around the world. Through our network of over 500 international contributor economists, we establish independent macro-economic outlooks and detailed reports on the political and commercial environments for over 200 countries around the world.
SourceMedia—SourceMedia, Inc. is a leading publisher and information provider for professionals in the financial services and related technologies markets. Key publications include American Banker and The Bond Buyer.
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The Hemi Q&A: James Taylor
The American folk music legend on how his classics can still transport him back to a specific time and place, and the joys of releasing a new album for the first time in more than a decade
Author Joe Keohane Illustration Ian Keltie
It’s a funny thing, having James Taylor call you. That voice, on your phone. And it’s apologizing for being, by my count, about 30 seconds late, because he was having trouble getting a signal in his hotel room. He is out on tour—“the chances are always good that I am,” he says—in the small French city of Lille. And he is preparing to do something he hasn’t done in a long time: release a record of original material, Before This World, on June 16.
It’s been about 13 years since Taylor, 67, released October Road, his last batch of new songs. Not that he’s been idle. He put out two collections of covers, two live albums and a Christmas record in the intervening years, not to mention his usual rigorous touring schedule and, of course, the raising of two young kids. But this is the first time the man responsible for the likes of the immortal “Fire and Rain,” “You’ve Got a Friend,” “Carolina in My Mind” and many other hits has gotten down to doing some new stuff.
To mark the occasion, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer talked to Hemispheres about, among other things, the corruptive power of digital media.
Hemispheres: It’s been 13 years since we’ve gotten a set of new James Taylor songs. When it came to writing, did you ever worry that you might have dried up?
James Taylor: I did wonder, going into this, whether the lyrics part of it was going to be there. But given enough empty time, the songs showed up. I’ve often said that it’s such an unconscious and mysterious process, my type of songwriting. You really are just waiting to hear it, and you have to be in a place where you can receive the song, more than generate it. There’s just something about songwriting. It’s like a musical puzzle or a math problem. When you solve it, it’s like you’re being surprised by your own subconscious in a way. That’s an unparalleled delight.
Hemispheres: You just need to carve out enough time to make it happen.
Taylor: Absolutely. That’s why I had to borrow a friend’s place for one week at a time to write these new songs. I needed to sequester myself. You know, I also think one of the troubling aspects of modern life is that attention has been shattered into smaller and smaller pieces. I grew up in the woods of North Carolina, and we had long stretches of uninterrupted—I suppose you’d call it “boring”—time. Time to make long thoughts. And be uninterrupted. But I see my kids today. They’ll be watching television and doing their homework at the same time, and someone will text them and they’ll be interrupted by a phone call. It’s smithereens now. And our music starts to be delivered that way too.
Hemispheres: Do you think that puts art in peril, losing the ability to think long thoughts?
Taylor: I think more important than art, it puts politics in peril. Noam Chomsky says that shortening the pieces of information is a type of very effective censorship. You just have enough time to restate what someone already knows. More and more, that’s what news is: just reconfirming someone’s existing point of view. How can you present an argument to an established consensus belief if all you’ve got is a minute and a half? Maybe there are ways of doing it, but to me, the information technological revolution has robbed us of those long thoughts. Myself, I crave empty time.
Hemispheres: I always wondered what it’s like for you to play the old songs. When you go back to them, do the meanings change as you get older? Do they still feel alive to you?
Taylor: Well, it’s not so much that they describe me, or they’re a factual history of my life. It’s more that they’re anchored in these specific times. Like, when I sing “Carolina,” it takes me back to a harbor town in Ibiza, in Spain. I missed the last boat, and I was with a girl I had met a couple days before, a girl named Karen, who I’ve never seen since, but she and I had to wait for about eight hours in this square for the first boat of the morning to take us to another island called Formentera. And I remember that. I revisit that place. I remember how it felt when she was asleep in a café chair, and I was sitting there at the table writing this song down. I remember everything about that. It’s like you’re opening a drawer and feeling into it and coming out with a snapshot or a box of photographs. Those songs still have that connection for me. But the real motivation for performing them over and over again is the flow of a live performance, the connection with the audience, the energy that they give you back.
Hemispheres: Your fans are really devoted. Do you ever get the sense that you’re filling some deeper emotional need for them?
Taylor: I don’t feel like it’s that clearly in one direction. It’s communal. Listening to music and playing music are very close to the same thing—and that’s extremely powerful. We felt it intensely after 9/11. I was on the road when it happened; we were on a break, then the tour resumed with a gig in Seattle a couple of weeks later. And those shows were remarkable. It’s like the thing that always happens with live shows was happening with, like, double the voltage. And it showed me what’s really happening in these concerts. But I don’t have any particular claim on the type of experience my audience has. I may be better known for the sort of remedial, self-healing kind of stuff, but a lot of my music is celebratory, just the joy of it.
Hemispheres: Your last album of original music came out in 2002. Has the songwriting process changed for you?
Taylor: I find that I tend to come back to the same themes, just from different angles and in different musical settings. Those just seem to be the things that compel me, you know—that are in my program. Now that you mention it, there are probably 100 songs that everybody writes over and over again.
Hemispheres: What are they?
Taylor: Well, let’s see. There’s the traveling song. When I was a kid, my mother took me to New York, and I saw a musical called “Greenwillow,” starring Anthony Perkins. It was about this young man whose father had been drawn away from home by this sort of wanderlust. It’s a simple theme, but it seems to have embedded itself in me. I write a lot of songs about the pull of home, the pull of family, of watching the sun rise and set in the same place through the seasons, and then the attraction of wanderlust, of getting out on the road, of seeing the world.
Hemispheres: You have one of those on the new record, where you sing,“It’s a lovely stretch of the highway, leading me on/And my favorite thing is to miss my home when I’m gone.” That puts you right in the country music tradition.
Taylor: That’s right. Then there are songs that are sort of hymns for agnostics, an attempt at some sort of spiritual food, at finding spiritual satisfaction.
Hemispheres: There’s this sense of gentle consolation in a lot of your stuff that’s not unlike some church music.
Taylor: That’s really true. And it’s like the blues. I’ve always felt a little uncomfortable, a bit like a cultural imperialist, adopting a form of music and moving into it, but on the other hand, that’s all we do. So, in a way, these are my blues. “Fire and Rain.” It’s a way of getting something out of you, exorcising something by expressing it. And that’s the blues tradition.
Hemispheres: You have some political songs, too.
Taylor: When I get angry enough to write them. Like “Slap Leather” or “Let It All Fall Down” or “Line ’Em Up.” And then there are some songs that—it’s another type of consolation song, where you sort of parent yourself. When I sang “Sweet Baby James,” the second half of it was about me. It was sung to myself. Then there are some songs that are just flat celebrations, something like “First of May.” There are songs that are about what music means to me, like “Snow Time.” That’s a song about being rescued by music. They surprise me as much as anyone, these songs, when they crop up.
Hemispheres: Are there any artists you’re into right now?
Taylor: I’ve been so submerged in the process of making this record for the last two years that I haven’t been listening to enough other music. But I am, in a sense, of a time, and I tend to stick to my sources, the songs that meant a huge amount to me and formed my musical identity.
Hemispheres: Like what?
Taylor: Oh, man. It’s hard to say. It starts with the record collection my parents had in the house when I was a kid, though: folk music, Pete Seeger, Lead Belly, Celtic music, bossa nova, and particularly Rodgers and Hammerstein, and Gershwin, and Cole Porter. All that Broadway musical stuff. That was the core of it.
Hemispheres: You mentioned in an interview a couple of years back that this record may be your last. Is that still the case?
Taylor: There are people you can identify who continue to do it, to be out there. Tony Bennett is in his late 80s, and Irving Berlin wrote songs in his 90s—and good songs, too. So it may be a longer trajectory than I think, but it’s quite possible that this is the last one. If it takes another 12 years, I’ll be 79. I’ll be pushing 80. Maybe one more. But I certainly would be skeptical about two more.
Hemispheres: Is that a difficult idea to resign yourself to?
Taylor: Well, not as difficult as the idea that you’re going to die! [Laughs.] But no, to me the really amazing thing is that I survived my 20s. So many people who were doing less damage to themselves than I was are gone now. But overall I’ve never really had a plan. I’ve never had a sense of myself 10 years from now. It’s just not the way I live. I’m thinking about the next tour. I’m thinking of my kids and where they’re gonna go to school next. And my daughter Sally, my son Ben and his trajectory, his life. Having kids alters your focus. Do you have kids?
Hemispheres: I don’t.
Taylor: I give three pieces of advice to people. Not that I would give you this advice, because I think you probably figured it out. But there are three things that will make you a slave. Taking on a large amount of debt that you gotta pay back. A major substance addiction, that’ll make you a slave. And starting a family and having children before you’re ready to settle down and become a parent. Those are the three. I’ve managed to avoid the debt part of it, but just because I was lucky enough to make as much as I needed, and my habits never outstripped my capacity to earn. And in that respect—in that and many, many other respects—what I am is grateful. Profoundly grateful for how this thing has panned out for me.
Joe Keohane, a writer and editor in New York City, can hardly remember what happened last week, much less what happened in some Spanish town 47 years ago.
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GCP Capital Group arranges eight mortgages totaling $91.365 million
November 20, 2018 - Financial Digest
Matthew Albano, GCP
Adam Brostovski, GCP
Matthew Classi, GCP
New York, NY GCP Capital Group LLC has arranged eight mortgage financings totaling $91.365 million. The deals include the following:
• $40 million for five multifamily apartment buildings containing a total of 296 units and 35,500 s/f of commercial space in the Inwood neighborhood of Manhattan. Paul Greenbaum, managing member of GCP, arranged the financing.
• $13.2 million in construction financing for the development of an eight-story condominium complex containing 22 units in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan. Matthew Albano, managing director of GCP, arranged the financing.
Paul Greenbaum, GCP
Stephen Katz, GCP
Alan Perlmutter, GCP
• $8.6 million in combined financing for two one-story retail shopping centers comprised of gross 29,450 s/f in Eastchester and the Bronx. Greenbaum arranged the financing.
• $7.5 million for a six-story multifamily apartment building containing 48 units in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Stephen Katz, managing director of GCP, arranged the financing.
• $7.365 million for a six-story multifamily apartment building containing 66 apartments and 5,400 s/f of commercial space on Nagle Ave., Manhattan. Adam Brostovski, principal of GCP, arranged the financing.
• $7 million for a four-story commercial building comprised of 28,500 s/f on Queens Blvd. in Sunnyside. Greenbaum arranged the financing.
• $5 million for a 54,150 s/f, two-story commercial building containing eight retail units on Rockaway Blvd., Queens. Matthew Classi, managing member of GCP, arranged the financing.
• $2.7 million for a five-story multifamily apartment building containing 10 units in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan. Alan Perlmutter, managing member, and Mike Hennessy, associate of GCP, arranged the financing.
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Martha’s research focuses on the molecular evolution, biochemistry and genetics of C4 photosynthesis in mono- and dicotyledonous plants.
Martha obtained her BA (summa cum laude) in Biological Sciences from Smith College, Northampton Massachusetts, USA, and her PhD in Cell, Molecular and Developmental Biology from McGill University in Montreal Canada.
Martha’s group examines the molecular evolution of photosynthetic pathways. The plants they use in their work are from two evolutionarily significant groups – Flaveria and Neurachninae. What makes these plants special and model systems for their work is that within these groups, some species use C3 photosynthesis, others use C4 photosynthesis, and others use intermediate types of leaf anatomy and photosynthetic biochemistry to fix atmospheric CO2. This means that they can compare very closely related species, which do different types of biochemistry, at the gene and protein levels, making it easy to find the changes (mutations) that occurred in the ancestral genes of C3 species that were responsible for the more advanced intermediate and C4 forms of the genes and proteins. What is also exciting is that all species in the Neurachninae are found only in Australia!
A current focus is on the molecular evolution of carbonic anhydrases in both Flaveria and Neurachninae, and the insights this gives to the evolution of the C4 pathways in both groups. More generally, the group is committed to understanding the anatomical and biochemical steps in the evolution of C4 photosynthesis in the Neurachninae as it is the only grass group with closely related species performing different types of photosynthesis.
The flux of carbon through the C3 and C4 pathways in Flaveria photosynthetic intermediates is another focus, and is being done in collaboration with Mark Stitt’s group at the Max Planck Institute of Plant Physiology.
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Sports Science: How Much Energy is in a Record-Breaking Fastball?
A recent article on rookie Jordan Hicks claims he is the new hardest thrower in Major League Baseball (MLB). This piqued my interest for several reasons. The admittedly out-of-touch baseball fan in me immediately wanted to know who he is playing for (St. Louis Cardinals). The physicist in me started asking questions like what exactly does it mean that he’s the “hardest thrower?” How much energy does a ball thrown by Jordan Hicks have? How does this compare to other sports?
Kinetic energy is calculated by the familiar equation:
A standard MLB baseball ranges in mass from 5.00 to 5.25 ounces (141.75 to 148.38 g). Let’s assume the median for all our calculations to simplify matters. In kilograms the median baseball mass is 0.1453 kg.
For the current season, Jordan Hicks holds a few of the top spots on the fastest pitches Statcast Leaderboard. His fastest pitch thus far was 102.0 mph. It occurred on May 1, 2018 against Tim Anderson. We can set v equal to this velocity. Changing units from mph to m/s, we have a velocity of 45.60 m/s.
From these numbers we can calculate the kinetic energy of the fastest pitch this season.
A pitch by Jordan Hicks is similar to the energy of a bullet fired from a .22LR rifle. It’s no wonder NY Mets catcher Kevin Plawecki was branded by his necklace when hit by a pitch from Noah Syndergaard.
Compare this to the fastest hits in other sports. Conveniently, Guinness World Records has a beautiful graphic showing the fastest hits in a variety of sports. These range from the moderately clunky speed of a rugby throw at 48 mph to the rather zippy badminton hit at 261.6 mph. More familiar perhaps are the fastest hockey shot at 110.3 mph up to the blazing golf drive at 217.1 mph.
Now, a hockey puck and a golf ball have significantly different masses hit on markedly different surfaces. To put this into context, the energies of this and a couple other hits are compiled on the table below.
*c is the speed of light
One unique number is the energy in a proton running around the LHC. It is far dwarfed by the energy of the various sports hits. Then again it’s flabbergasting that softball star Eddie Feigner’s reported fastest throw carries more energy than the average baseball pitch.
All that aside, let’s talk for a moment about my mother’s least favorite pitcher: Randy Johnson. Why least favorite? I’m not sure if it’s because they shared a birthday or because he threw a perfect game against her favorite team, the Braves, on March 18, 2004. I’ll let you decide.
Patrick Corbin pitches for the Diamondbacks in the bottom of the sixth.
Photo taken by the author while conducting "research" at Nationals Park on April 28, 2018.
I could list Johnson's accolades here, which include five Cy Young awards and second most strikeouts of all time. I could also talk about the time he killed a bird in a spring training game. I could even talk about that game back in March 2004 when he got his second career no-hitter, a whopping 14 years after his first. But I’m not going to talk about any of that.
My favorite thing about Randy Johnson is his fastest pitch ever. On July 9th, 2004 the Diamondbacks faced the Giants in San Francisco. The game itself would not go well for Arizona; the Diamondbacks would lose to the Giants 8-3. However, Randy Johnson would throw his fastest pitch this game. The pitch was clocked at 102.0 mph (45.60 m/s), same has Jordan Hicks's pitch.
This happened when Randy Johnson was 40. Jordan Hicks is 21.
So what about the fastest pitch in MLB history? Aroldis Chapman’s 105.1 mph (46.98 m/s) four-seam fastball is almost unbeatable. A batter has a fraction of a second to decide whether or not to take a swing. The energy of that pitch is equally unbelievable.
So the fastest pitch in MLB history comes in at 160.34 Joules. Jordan Hicks hasn’t quite gotten to Aroldis Chapman levels yet. He is giving Randy Johnson a run for his money.
Let’s not forget that people are trying to hit these pitches. Randy Johnson’s pitch took about 0.35 seconds to get to the catcher’s glove. Sometimes, maybe not on March 18th, 2004, but sometimes batters would get a hit while facing Randy Johnson. As Jon Bois would say, that’s pretty good.
—Amanda Babcock
baseball Force and Motion sports
Labels: baseball Force and Motion sports
Buzz May 21, 2018 at 12:50 PM
Fastest strike thrown:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2777040-cardinals-jordan-hicks-throws-fastest-strike-in-mlb-statcast-history-at-105-mph?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial
Absolutely cool presentation.
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Radio Interview with Darren Kerwin, Radio 7AD 900AM
Subject(s): Cradle Mountain announcement, Braddon by election, Airport security, Federal Budget and GST
DARREN KERWIN:
It’s 8:10am and the Prime Minister is on the line.
Good morning Darren it’s great to be with you.
You’re on your way to Cradle Mountain.
I am indeed yes that’s right. Going up there to see the Premier and announce our commitment of $30 million for the cable-way project that is part of the Cradle Mountain Plan.
Right, so it’s a big project $160 million in all I believe so $30 million will certainly help. Have you actually seen the master plan, like seen the draft?
Yes I have. I was studying it this morning and what we're providing is effectively 50 per cent of the money for the cable-way which is the centerpiece of it, the main transport infrastructure. And then of course as you know, there is a new visitors centre and a hotel and a lot of other things planned. But I think just, the big idea there is to work with the private sector so that it becomes a public-private partnership. The cable-way is the main piece of the infrastructure.
Yep. So not only will we get the tourism dollars hopefully from this project when it's completed but in the meantime jobs for construction workers?
Yes that's right. It will you know generate about another 150 jobs during the construction. And of course it's part of the huge commitment we're making to infrastructure in Tasmania including the Bridgewater Bridge replacement, the Midland Highway, all the work that is being done in Launceston on the City Deal and there is $400 million worth of targeted works in Tasmania under the Roads of Strategic Importance initiative. So there's a lot going on.
And of course I’ll be joined up there by Senator Steve Martin, of course, who’s been a great advocate for this development, this project and indeed the coastal walk. He was with Mathias Cormann announcing that just yesterday. But also with our candidate for Braddon, Brett Whitley who is making a return to the election electoral hustings.
We’ll I’ll get to the fight for Braddon in a sec, but you mention Steve Martin there. No doubt, I’m sure get ready for Steve to chew your ear off about - have you heard about the proposal to get a Qantas pilot training facility in Tasmania? He wants it in Devonport. Launceston have put their hand up, so he’ll be having a word to you about that because we really want it, it'll be great.
Okay well I'll look forward to having a chat to him about it. He is a very passionate Tasmanian as indeed is Brett. So that's good.
Yeah, we could use your support on that.
Right let's get to Braddon. And so by election – have we got a date yet or what?
No the date’s not been set, that’s a matter for the Speaker. I understand he's consulting with the Electoral Commission. And you know he’ll set a date in the normal way.
When will we find out that?
Well, again you’d have to - that's a matter for the speaker Darren. That is in his hands.
Alright, so Braddon the by election it’s what? I think Justine Keay won it by two per cent.
Last time around, so it's a pretty tight fight?
It is a tight fight and by elections normally go against the government, naturally. In fact, almost invariably. The last time the government won a seat from the opposition in a by election was in 1911. But Brett delivered for Braddon and he's got the ability to do so again. I believe we've got a great story to tell in terms of investment, in terms of stronger growth. You know unemployment is while still a bit higher than the national average here, is considered much lower than it was when we came into government in 2013.
Our message of more investment, more jobs, more infrastructure, all of that I believe is resonating with voters in Tasmania. And you know, we're putting very substantial dollars on the table to support that.
Right well, the by election of course caused by the dual citizenship debacle; it turned out to be, I’m sure it was a huge headache for you. But, this is just my opinion, that rule with people ineligible to be in Federal Parliament because one of the parents was born overseas, do you think it's time that we change that rule?
Well Darren, the only way now you can change it is to change the Constitution and I have to say to you I don't think Australians would support a change the constitution so that dual citizens could sit in the Parliament.
You know the High Court made it very clear in October last year that if you were a dual citizen at the time you nominated to Parliament - which Justine Keay was of course - you were not eligible. And she continued to sit in the parliament, continued to draw a salary, continued to draw on all of the entitlements of a Member of Parliament. Bill Shorten defended it. They just stonewalled and then finally the High Court said just last week in the Gallagher case precisely what they said last October. And so finally, it all became too much for them and they resigned. But they really should have done this at the latest, last October. If you read the High Court’s words in the Canavan case last year they were very explicit about it.
I agree with all of that and I think the right decision was made, clearly. But do you think now that it's time to amend the Constitution? Because if we perhaps have a kid at school now whose mother or father was born in say the UK for example or New Zealand and could possibly go on to be Prime Minister of Australia, but they're going to miss that opportunity.
Well they won’t Darren, I mean to be absolutely, you know fair about this, it is very easy to renounce your UK citizenship. It is literally a matter of filling in a form and making sure that you get it in time enough for the administrative process to be completed in the UK. There no obstacles to renouncing your UK citizenship.
You saw that Susan Lamb, the Labor Member for Longman, has also had to resign. Now she went through this sort of malarkey about not being able to do it, not being able to get a mother's parents wedding certificate and so forth. Yet I notice she’s managed to renounce her UK citizenship now, after all these months. In a matter of days.
So plainly, it’s a very straightforward business and the same with the New Zealanders, I meanour people were, Barnaby Joyce and Matt Canavan, have fully complied and they didn't know they were dual citizens. Justine Keay knew she was a dual citizen. She absolutely knew it and she failed to get her renunciation through prior to the nomination date.
So I guess the message from the High Court, stripped of all the legalese is: “Get your act together before you nominate.”
Yeah fair point.
I think a lot of Australians would say that’s fair enough.
Yep, fair point.
Okay I also wanted to briefly mention now, security upgrades at airports. Now this has been because of what’s been going on in Indonesia mainly over recent times. So what exactly is going to happen? Will we have more security checks, will it just be international airports? Or other airports?
Yeah, we have heightened security at all airports and some of that will be apparent, some of that will not. But we’ve heightened security at all airports including regional airports. So that’s the first point.
We’re also at the major international airports, like Melbourne and Sydney and so forth, there are going to be body scanners, like many of your listeners might have seen when they’re travelling overseas, particularly into the US. There will be body scanners. There will also be improved luggage scanning devices, that enable you effectively to get a 3D view of what is inside a bag and we were demonstrating some of that equipment at Melbourne Airport yesterday with Peter Dutton and Angus Taylor.
Finally, I just wanted to mention the taxation, I guess you’d call them reforms that were mentioned in the Budget. So for the majority of listeners, I guess it means an extra $500 on their tax refund, right?
Yep, well $530 for middle-income people, between $48,000 and $90,000 and it tapers down after that. Over all, it’s about 10 million Australians will get a tax refund after next financial year, in respect of next financial year. That is real money, that’s a real saving, it’s real support to meet cost of living increases.
Then, the longer term reform Darren, over the seven year period of the reforms, will see, if you like – a removal of a lot of the barriers to working longer or you know, getting a pay rise or a promotion. Where people have said: “Oh, if I work some overtime, it’ll all get chewed up with extra taxes”. What we’ll have is from $41,000, when you go into the 32.5 cent bracket – this will be from 2024 – all the way up to $200,000, the marginal tax rate will be 32.5 per cent. So if you earn some more – and that will cover 94 per cent of Australians – your marginal tax rate on that extra dollar, will be no more than 32.5 cents. I think that’s a very good thing, it encourages enterprise, it encourages people to get in and get ahead.
GST, Mr Cormann was on the coast as you know, yesterday, the Finance Minister. He was asked a question about the GST. So, I guess most people, it’s mainly just media really, want a guarantee from you today that we’ll get our fair share and we won’t get any less with the GST split up?
Well what Mathias said – and I can confirm this – is that Tasmania will not lose a cent from any changes. Clearly the GST, the formula, which frankly hardly anyone understands, has been a matter of great contention for a number of reasons. It’s important that any new arrangements pass the pub test, not just in Bunbury in Western Australia, but here in Burnie in Tasmania and Ballarat and Bendigo and Bathurst, right around the country. So it’s important to get this reform right.
Are you still there Prime Minister?
He might be getting out of range, he’s on his way to Cradle Mountain. Mr Turnbull, are you there?
I can hear you.
Okay, alright I just want to finally ask you, getting away from politics before we finish up, what’s your day like? What time did you get up this morning?
I was up a bit before…
We’re losing him there.
Sorry Prime Minister we’re losing the line there, you must be getting out of signal there.
Alright, thank you very much, have a good day there at Cradle Mountain.
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Scott MacIntyre
'American Idol' Performance Series to Launch at Los Angeles Restaurant
Blind American Idol Finalist, Transplant Recipient and Author
Maintaining a full touring schedule, even though his doctors have recommended a kidney transplant within six months, season-eight American Idol alum Scott MacIntyre will make his first public in-concert appearance in the U.S. at Vitello's in Studio City on Saturday, Nov. 1.
MacIntyre is inaugurating a new Saturday brunch performance series in the restaurant's upstairs showroom. "Up Close and Personal With … Scott MacIntyre" will be the first in a monthly series of performances by Idol alums. The finalists will also be interviewed on stage by THR's Fred Bronson.
"Since my time on Idol, I've literally spent hours being interviewed by Fred," says MacIntyre. "This will be the first time we'll be doing it with an audience," says the Nashville-based musician. "No one knows the Idols like Fred does, and we'll be talking about a bunch of topics, from my battle with kidney disease to my experience as the first blind finalist in the show's history. Anyone who wants to know what goes on behind the scenes at Idol should enjoy this public grilling."
Following the performance of songs from his new Lighthouse album and the interview, MacIntyre will do a meet-and-greet for fans.
"We have artists appearing at Vitello's seven nights a week," says Joey Bybee, director of entertainment for the restaurant. "What makes this brunch series so unique is that we'll interweave the performance with a compelling interview. And after the show, the audience will get a chance to personally interact with the headliner. After watching their favorites compete on television, fans will be able to meet the Idols in a very up close and personal way."
The day after his appearance at Vitello’s, MacIntyre will perform at the National Kidney Foundation Walk in Los Angeles, to be held at Griffith Park. The event is the nation's largest walk to fight kidney disease.
MacIntyre had his first kidney transplant seven years ago. The wife of his former piano instructor at Arizona State University was discovered to be a match and donated a kidney. "She literally gave me the gift of life in the most tangible way," MacIntyre told THR. The Idol alum has been officially accepted into Nashville-based Vanderbilt Hospital's transplant program and is on the national waiting list for a deceased kidney. The average wait time is three to five years for a kidney from a deceased donor, but his doctors are suggesting a transplant within the next six months in order to avoid dialysis. This would require a living donor.
Potential donors can call Vanderbilt Hospital at (615) 936-0695, ext. 3. The person selected to be the donor will not incur any costs, as MacIntyre's insurance and Vanderbilt Hospital will assume all financial responsibility.
For information on how to book Scott MacIntyre for your next event, visit PremiereSpeakers.com/Christian/Scott_MacIntyre.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Maintaining a full touring schedule, even though his doctors have recommended a kidney transplant within six months, season-eight American Idol alum Scott MacIntyre will make his first public in-concert appearance in the U.S. at Vitello's in Studio City on Saturday, Nov. 1.MacIntyre is inaugurating a new Saturday brunch performance series in the...
Scott MacIntyre Creates Awareness for Organ Donation With New Album
After the release of his new album earlier this week, American Idol finalist Scott MacIntyre announced he is facing end-stage kidney failure for the second time in his life. The singer-songwriter and seven-year kidney transplant recipient was recently accepted into the Vanderbilt Hospital transplant program and placed on the national waiting li...
American Idol Finalst Will Release New Album
Latest album by Scott MacIntyre set for September release.The classically trained pianist, singer and songwriter Scott MacIntyre, who was a finalist in the eighth season of American Idol and has recorded a number of pop and classical albums, is set to release a new project, 'Lighthouse', on 23rd September. The album was produced by Grammy nomin...
Former American Idol Contestant Interview [VIDEO]
Just before the American Idol Finale on May 21 2014, former American Idol contestant, Scott MacIntyre, chatted with reporter, Murtz Jaffer, about what he has been up to since the show. Biography Scott MacIntyre is an acclaimed key-note speaker, singer-songwriter, scholar, and author. Since his introduction into the public eye as the first b...
Years After Idol, Scott MacIntyre Continues to Inspire
Written by Mark Wilson Four years after competing on American Idol, Scott MacIntyre travels the country, playing the piano, singing, and, in this case, performing for students who share? some of the same challenges he does. "Did you struggle when you were blind?" asked one student. "There were certain things I couldn't do growing up. I couldn...
Scott MacIntyre's Christmas Album is a Success
Reviewed by Markos Papadatos Scott MacIntyre, an alum of the reality singing competition "American Idol," released his holiday album "Christmas in Paris," on November 19.It commences with the haunting "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" and it is followed by "We Three Kings."His album includes the uplifting holiday classic "Let It Show," and the title tr...
'American Idol' Alum Scott MacIntyre Releases Christmas Album
Written by Sherrill Fulghum November brings Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving, cold weather, and Christmas albums. Classically trained piano player, singer, and songwriter Scott MacIntyre has released his first full length 12 song Christmas album - "Christmas in Paris". The album features traditional tunes, the Kenny Loggins hit "Celebrate Me Home",...
'American Idol' Alum Scott MacIntyre Talks Health Woes, Power of Faith, Upcoming Album
CP Insider: 'American Idol' Alum Scott MacIntyre Opens Up About Kidney Failure, Power of Faith "American Idol" alum Scott MacIntyre recently praised God for helping him overcome physical challenges and blessing him with a successful music career. The singer and pianist, who rose to stardom in 2009 as an eighth place finalist on "Idol" season...
American Idol Finalist Offers Hope at The University of South Florida
Written by: Quincy Walters Scott MacIntyre was born blind, but his life has never lacked vision. On the eighth season of "American Idol,"; MacIntyre was a contestant and his story was welcomed into the family rooms of millions of Americans and on Thursday and Friday the eighth-place finalist will visit USF to share his music and words of hope....
American Idol's Scott MacIntyre Kickstarts Fan Funded Album
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Scott MacIntyre captured America's hearts back on season eight of American Idol with not only his powerful voice but his inspiring story. "I've overcome a lot with blindness and kidney failure before Idol. I wouldn't be where I am today without holding on to hope." Scott says. Hope is what he wants to spread with his next al...
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European Union, Germany, Unitary Patent, UPC
Draft bill presented in Germany for ratification of Unified Patent Court Agreement
Kluwer Patent blogger/ February 16, 2016
The Federal Ministry of Justice of Germany has presented a first draft bill on the ratification of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) Agreement. It is accompanied by a draft bill to implement the Unitary Patent (UP) system at the national level.
A spokesman of the German Ministry of Justice explained to Kluwer IP Law that other Ministeries, the states (‘Bundesländer’) and interested associations will be able to have their say about the draft bills, before a final version is presented to Parliament.
A term for sending the final draft bills to Parliament has not been set, but according to the spokesman this will likely be before the summer. Subsequently, the German Bundestag will have to decide on the drafts.
According to the explanation in the draft ratification bill, the Unitary Patent system will have a positive effect on the European economy. ‘Especially the German industry, which accounts for over 40 percent of granted patents in Europe, will profit from the improved protection of inventions.’
It also clarifies that ‘financial contributions of the member states will be required as long as the Unified Patent Court is unable to cover its operating costs with its own resources and to achieve a balanced budget. (…) According to current estimates financial contributions in the first year will amount to six million euro, the second year 4.8 million, the third year 4.5 million and the fourth year around five million euro.’
Germany will have to bear the costs of the Central Division of the UPC in Munich, about one million for the establishment and another 450.000 euro annually for its operation. The states of Bavaria, Baden Württemberg, North Rhine-Westphalia and Hamburg will bear the costs of the four local divisions: an estimated two million euro altogether at the start and another 900.000 euro every year.
The draft bill implementing the UP system in Germany specifies the cases in which protection of an invention by a national patent in addition to a European patent or a Unitary Patent can be claimed. It creates a new regulation for enforcement of UPC decisions in Germany.
The UPC Agreement enters into force on the first day of the fourth month after at least 13 member states have deposited their instrument of ratification, including Germany, France and the UK. France ratified on 14 March 2014, the UK is expected to follow in the first half of this year. Eight other member states have already ratified as well.
Some concerns have been expressed about the lack of action on the side of the Germans. However, delaying the deposit of the instrument of ratification by the UK or Germany, is also seen as a way to control the timing of the court’s opening. The UPC Preparatory Committee hopes a provisional phase of the UPC can start in the autumn of 2016, allowing for the practical set up of the court, with a view to the UPC opening its doors in the first half of next year.
For regular updates on the UPC, subscribe to the free Kluwer IP Law Newsletter.
German Bundesgerichtshof on joint nullity actions
Thomas Musmann (Rospatt Osten Pross)/ February 18, 2016
To patent or not to patent, is that the question?
Beatriz San Martin (Fieldfisher)/ February 16, 2016
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Bhopal Disaster Survivor Speaks At UNC + Screening of film Bhopali
Free Screening & University of North Carolina Chapel Hill where a Bhopal Disaster survivor will speak about his experiences and this struggle for justice.
Organized by the UNControllables, Carolina Asia Center and Croatan Earth First!
Monday, October 14 6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
@ Hanes Art Auditorium 121
Movie Trailer: http://www.bhopalithemovie.com/
Bhopali is a feature documentary about the
survivors of the world’s worst industrial disaster, the 1984 Union Carbide gas leak in Bhopal, India. Today the suffering continues, prompting victims to fight for justice against Union Carbide, the American corporation responsible for the disaster.
The International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal is a coalition of disaster survivors’ groups, environmental and social justice groups dedicated to holding the Indian Government and the Dow Chemical Company accountable for the ongoing chemical disaster in Bhopal, India. Our commitment to ensuring justice in Bhopal is a commitment to a toxic-free future for all.
UNC Hanes Art Auditorium Room 121
bhopal disaster
bhopali the movie
Read more about Bhopal Disaster Survivor Speaks At UNC + Screening of film Bhopali
Now Who Pays? The Impact of New North Carolina Legislation and Budget on Local Government Services
Submitted by James Barrett on September 19, 2013 - 1:28am
The League of Women Voters of Orange, Durham, and Chatham Counties will sponsor a voter education program entitled Now Who Pays? The Impact of New North Carolina Legislation and Budget on Local Government Services. The goal of this program is to promote greater understanding of the effects on local county governments of the State budget and tax legislation enacted during the 2013 session.
Kelly McCullen, Host of UNC-TV's Legislative Week in Review, will open the program with a summary of the new tax legislation and other outcomes from the 2013 legislative session that impact funding of local services.
The specific impacts on local budgets, revenue sources, and services will be discussed by Charlie Horne from Chatham County, Deborah Criag-Ray from Durham County, and Michael Talbert from Orange County, each representing a County Manager's office..
The program will be held Thursday, September 19, from 7pm to 8:30pm, at Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Road, Chapel Hill. The program is open to the general public. Admission and parking are free.
Thursday, September 19, 2013 - 7:00pm to 8:30pm
Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliot Rd, Chapel Hill
http://odc.nc.lwvnet.org/whats_new.html#id
Read more about Now Who Pays? The Impact of New North Carolina Legislation and Budget on Local Government Services
Chapel Hill Town Council Worksession on LUMO overhaul
Submitted by ldhintz on August 22, 2013 - 11:04pm
Sep. 11: Council Work Session: Lee Einsweiler, Principal at Code Studio and lead consultant for the LUMO Update, will present an overview of the project, highlighting key milestones and other considerations. Sept. 24,25,26 will be the stakeholder meetings for LUMO.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - 6:00pm to 9:00pm
Chapel Hill Library Room B 6PM
http://www.townofchapelhill.org/lumo
Read more about Chapel Hill Town Council Worksession on LUMO overhaul
Earth First Journal Collective Media Workshop
Submitted by michelle on August 9, 2013 - 7:10pm
On Saturday Aug 17th, come out from 2-5 p.m. at Internationalist Bookstore at 405 W. Franklin St. in Chapel Hill for the “Earth Nightly News” program and Independent Media Workshop with editors from the Earth First! Journal Collective out of Lake Worth, Florida and the Appalachian office in Western NC. Find out how you can get involved in EF! Media projects and more. Participants will discuss where they get their news, which forms are most used, and how under-reported events and organizing can get more attentions through alternative press.
The Earth First! Journal has been a circulating printed newspaper and magazine for over 32 years. As the voice of the international direct action movement, the EF! Journal Collective maintains a number of media projects to help communicate the actions and ecological news to the world. Join us for a presentation, live news program and discussion about reading, writing and producing independent media.
Presenters from the journal include:
Leah Rothschild, editor and project manager of the Earth First! Journal for the past 5 years. Leah was a committee member of the Forest Cafe in Edinburgh from 2002-2005, an organizing member of the anti-G8 campaign in Scotland in 2005, lived at the Bilston Glen Anti-Bypass Protest Site in a threatened ancient woodland, an organizing member of Reclaim the Commons in Chicago in 2006, and is a founding member of Parasol Project—a community arts organization in Tucson, Arizona. Leah toured and lived on a veggie-powered school bus during two national tours, has had writing published by a number of university and independent presses and has a Bachelor of Art (BFA) degree, with honors, from the Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland.
Panagioti Tsolkas
New father and current editor on the *EF! Journal*collective and EF! activist organizer since 1997. From 2000-2004 he was a trainer for the Ruckus Society. In 2004 he ran for the Mayor of Lake Worth, Florida. Since 2005, Tsolkas has been co-chair of the grassroots Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition, a group which files litigation regarding development issues in the Everglades. He has been on the planning committee for three Earth First! Organizers Conferences (2000, 2006 and 2008), and in 2009 spent 5 months traveling with the Earth First! Roadshow. In 2010 Panagioti co-founded Uncivil Landscapes, a work collective which creates part-time income opportunities through native landscaping for local activists in South Florida. Tsolkas was named ‘Troublemaker of the Year’ in 2009 by New Times magazine (Broward/Palm Beach edition). He has no formal education past 10th grade; he is diploma-free and proud.
Saturday, August 17, 2013 - 2:00pm to 5:00pm
Internationalist Bookstore 405 W. Franklin St.
earth first! journal collective
Read more about Earth First Journal Collective Media Workshop
Earth First! Journal Tour Debate on "The Issues Are Not The Issue"
Submitted by michelle on August 8, 2013 - 11:32pm
On Friday August 16th Internationalist Books in Chapel Hill will host a debate/discussion at 6 p.m. regarding the new zine “The Issues Are Not The Issue” with the author (a former environmental activist) and current organizers from Katuah Earth First! and Panagioti from the Earth First! Journal Collective.
Panagioti Tsolkas New father and current editor on the EF! Journal collective and EF! activist organizer since 1997. From 2000-2004 he was a trainer for the Ruckus Society. In 2004 he ran for the Mayor of Lake Worth, Florida. Since 2005, Tsolkas has been co-chair of the grassroots Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition, a group which files litigation regarding development issues in the Everglades and has been on the planning committee for 3 national Earth First! Organizers Conferences (2000, 2006 and 2008). In 2009, Panagioti spent 5 months traveling with the Earth First! Roadshow group. In 2010 Panagioti co-founded Uncivil Landscapes, a work collective which creates part-time income opportunities through native landscaping for local activists in South Florida. He is presently on the steering committee for the Night Heron Grassroots Activist Center in Lake Worth. Tsolkas was named ‘Troublemaker of the Year’ in 2009 and ‘Activist of the Year’ for 2010 by New Times magazine (Broward/Palm Beach edition). He has no formal education past 10th grade; he is diploma-free and proud.
Read more about Earth First! Journal Tour Debate on "The Issues Are Not The Issue"
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Inanna, Goddess of Love and Sacred Sexuality
April 9, 2014 Stephanie
Inanna by Lisa Hunt
The New Moon in Taurus will be arriving at 2:14 a.m. on April 29 (EDT) about the same time as the solar eclipse, 2:04 a.m. (EDT), signaling a powerful time of initiation into the mysteries of sacred sexuality and feminine empowerment. The perfect time to start our personal work with Inanna in my 2014 New Moon Goddess Mystery School. Taurus's ruling planet is Venus and the planet's journey across the sky and enigmatic appearance as both the morning star and evening star is the basis of the Goddess Inanna's story of traveling to the Underworld and back.
If you don't know, Inanna is an ancient, Sumerian goddess who predated Aphrodite/Venus as the Goddess of Love. So Inanna is the original source of the embodiment of love and beauty and the innate life-giving power of the feminine.
Also known as "Queen of Heaven and Earth," Inanna was a unifying force of opposites. She was a goddess of love and war, sexuality and sacredness, earth and sky, hill and valley, light and dark, life and death. She was seen as both woman/priestess/queen as well as divine goddess. The poems and hymns that were written about her, some of the very first written documents existent, inscribed on clay tablets in cuneiform, dating from 2500 BC, tell of a great love story between her and the shepherd, Dumuzi, who became king. We will explore this story and how they came together as lovers, performed the heiros gamos, or sacred marriage, which wedded man and goddess (or the human and divine) and assured fertility across the land for both people and the vegetation that sustained them.
inanna and dumuzi
Inanna personified the heirodule or holy servant, sometimes known as the sacred prostitute. This is a term that seems like an oxymoron to us now, but in ancient goddess-loving times the sacred and the sexual were not separate, they were one--whole and holy. As part of this upcoming e-course on Inanna, we will be exploring our own sacred sexuality and what it means to let go and love--ourselves or another.
Click here to listen to a 10-minute audio talk on: The Sacred Prostitute
When Inanna heeded the call to go down to the Underworld to meet her sister, Erishkigal, the Dark Goddess, she did so against everyone's advice. After all, no one had ever returned from the Underworld. But Inanna was determined, and so she went down, dressed in full queenly regalia and let go of each precious item as she descended the 7 levels until she stood naked before her sister, her own dark mirror.
Inanna, SoulCollage® card
Her journey is one of letting go, of releasing the things that define us in the outer world, but which have little to do with who we are on an inner level -- as spiritual beings on a human journey. And when she rises from the Underworld, Inanna, transformed, reclaims her power in a new way. We will learn how to make our own Underworld journey with conscious intention, how to let go of ego trappings, and and how to transform our wounds and reclaim our True Self.
This letting go could also be applied to the journey into ourselves and our own sacred sexuality and the experience of the ultimate letting go, the cosmic release -- orgasm. This course explores all aspects of the divine feminine as Inanna exemplifies the spiritual and the human sides of being a woman. So, join us for this enlightening and empowering journey to meet the Goddess Inanna, where we will learn to meet ourselves as sexual, instinctual, creative, transformative, powerful feminine beings.
“The Spirit of the Valley never dies; This is called the dark feminine. The doorway into the dark feminine Is called the root of heaven and earth. It is there within us all the while; Draw upon it as you will, it never runs dry.” ~ Tao Te Ching
Click here to enroll in this self-study course: 2014 New Moon Goddess Mystery School
Venus von Willendorf
How might it help us to work with goddess archetypes?
The myriad goddesses that were once revered by peace-loving people who worked together in agrarian societies provide mirrors of womanhood and femininity in a patriarchal world that tends to define women using decidedly masculine standards. This is done by either stereotyping, pigeonholing, or putting women in their place i.e., in a less equal status since the patriarchy places such a high value on hierarchy and competition.
By understanding and working with feminine archetypes of the goddesses that are found in every culture and corner of the world, we are able to explore the many and varied aspects that make women singular and distinct from men at the same time that we are able to celebrate our shared humanity. By exploring the qualities and attributes that the goddesses carried, we can learn much about ourselves and how to integrate these various aspects -- both human and divine -- as modern women. The goddess archetypes are useful models of feminine power and divinity that can help us with our own personal growth and individuation here on planet Earth in the 21st century.
Tags Inanna, goddess, love, sexuality
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Vol 28 No 1 (2019): Special Issue: The relation between Social Representation Theory and Positioning Theory /
Virtual strategic positioning to create social presence: reporting on the use of a telepresence robot
Melanie James
Deborah Wise University of Newcastle, Australia
Luk van Langenhove Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Keywords: positioning theory, social presence, strategic positioning, telepresence
This qualitative cross disciplinary research examined to what degree social presence was achieved through the use of a telepresence robot by one of the authors, in her capacity as a keynote speaker at an international research symposium. We explored if and how social presence was a factor in her ability to strategically position herself as a notable researcher whilst in ‘telepresence mode’, with the aim of understanding whether one could exercise the same degree of agency in telepresence mode as compared to appearing in person. We were also interested to know how those attending the symposium experienced having a tele present delegate in their midst. The research used an analytic framework based on Hassenzahl’s (2014) ideas of “experience design” and his des cription of the “user experience” and evaluated the tele present person’s ability to strategically position in a virtual environment by applying the analytical lens of Positioning Theory (Harré van Langenhove, 1999).
Findings indicated it is possible to establish a high degree of social presence whilst in telepresence mode. This relates to both the telepresence robot product and the phenomenon of telepresence as experienced by the user and symposium attendees. However, while the user was able to position herself successfully all indicators were that social competencies also played a significant role in her being able to interact in telepresence mode. Attending international conferences using telepresence robots is potentially attractive for economic and ti me saving reasons, but little is understood about how delegates experience telepresence and whether conference attendance objectives can be achieved. We demonstrate how social presence is achieved both through the capabilities of the telepresence robot, bu t also through a combination of the amount of symbolic capital possessed by the user and the user’s social competencies. This has implications for decision making in terms of who is likely to be able to successfully operate in tele present mode at such events.
MELANIE JAMES, PhD, was an academic at the University of Newcastle, Australia, from 2006-2018. In 2015, she was awarded the National Golden Target Award for Australian PR Educator of the Year by the Public Relations Institute of Australia. Prior to this role, Dr James held executive level communication management positions and provided consultancy in strategic communication. Her (2014) book, "Positioning Theory and Strategic Communication: A new approach to public relations research and practice” (Routledge, UK) placed her as a leading researcher among international academics applying Positioning Theory to their respective fields. She continues to undertake selected projects and consultancy roles (mbjcomms@gmail.com).
Deborah Wise, University of Newcastle, Australia
DEBORAH WISE, PhD, is an academic in communication at the University of Newcastle, Australia. Deborah’s research interests are in the area of public relations/strategic communication, and she has published in the areas of health, risk, and political communication. Her doctoral thesis applied positioning theory to analyse the strategic positioning of carbon mitigation policies by political leaders in Australia. Dr Wise has also held high-level strategic communication roles outside of academia, and she brings this experience to her research and teaching. Her current research applies positioning theory to examine inter-cultural communication within the context of higher education teaching and learning. (Deborah.Wise@newcastle.edu.au)
Luk van Langenhove, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
LUK VAN LANGENHOVE, PhD, is Academic Commissioner for International institutes and Networks at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Between December 2017 and January 2019, he served as Academic Director at the Institute for European Studies (IES) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). He previously held the position of Director at the United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS) in Bruges. He currently also teaches at the VUB and has been teaching at the College of Europe, the University of Maastricht and Université Libre de Bruxelles. Since 2018 he is a honorary professorial fellow at Warwick University (Luk.Van.Langenhove@vub.be).
Vol 28 No 1 (2019): Special Issue: The relation between Social Representation Theory and Positioning Theory
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Asst Prof Althaf Marsoof
Assistant Professor, College of Business (Nanyang Business School)
Email: althaf@ntu.edu.sg
Althaf Marsoof joined the Division of Business Law of the Nanyang Business School (NBS) as an Assistant Professor in May 2017. Prior to joining the NBS, he spent three years at the Dickson Poon School of Law at King’s College London, where he completed his Doctoral research investigating approaches to, and challenges in, holding internet intermediaries accountable for infringements of trademark rights. His research was fully funded by the Dickson Poon PhD Scholarship grant. Prior to moving into full-time academia, he worked for over six years as a State Counsel attached to the Attorney General’s Department in Sri Lanka. He holds a Bachelor of Science in the field of information technology from the Curtin University (Australia) and a Master of Laws (with first class honours) from the University of Cambridge (UK). He spent a year in Australia researching on the applicability of Australian laws relating to trademarks and consumer protection, as well as common law tort principles, to the context of trademark infringements committed in the online environment. This research was the basis for his MPhil thesis at the University of Queensland, which was supported by two grants–the International Postgraduate Research and Centennial scholarships.
Professional memberships and affiliations:
International Association for the Advancement of Teaching and Research in Intellectual Property (ATRIP): Member (since Aug 2018)
Higher Education Academy of the UK: Fellow (since Mar 2017)
Applied Research Centre for Intellectual Assets and the Law in Asia (ARCIALA), Singapore Management University: Visiting Researcher (Jul 2016 - Jul 2017)
Intellectual Property Division of LAWASIA: Member (2016-2017)
Bar Association of Sri Lanka: Member (since Dec 2007)
For a full list of his publications, please visit: https://althafmarsoof.academia.edu/
Intellectual Property Law and Information Technology Law ; Commercial Law ; Public Law
Marsoof A. (2019). Internet Intermediaries and Trade Mark Rights. Routledge.
Marsoof A. (2019). Geo-blocking and Virtual Private Networks: A comparative discourse in copyright law. WIPO-WTO Colloquium Papers , 2017, 115-128.
Roy A & A Marsoof. (2019). The brave new world of ICANN's "new gTLDs": an analysis of trade mark disputes during and post delegation. European Intellectual Property Review, 41(3), 138-146.
Roy A & A Marsoof. (2018). The brave new world of ICANN's "new gTLDs": an overview. European Intellectual Property Review, 40(10), 649-658.
Marsoof A.(2018). Local Working of Patents: The Perspective of Developing Countries. Multi-dimensional Approaches Towards New Technology: Insights on Innovation, Patents and Competition(315-37). Singapore: Springer (Open Access).
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Prof Er Meng Hwa
Professor, School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering
Email: emher@ntu.edu.sg
Office: S1 B1B 48
Professor Er Meng Hwa has had a long and distinguished history of academic and administrative service to Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore in various high level positions in his 33 years of academic career with the University.
Choosing to study for a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical) degree with the National University of Singapore, he graduated with first class honours in 1981 and worked for Hewlett Packard Singapore Pte Ltd as a Production Engineer before continuing on to study for a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering under a University of Newcastle postgraduate research scholarship.
Following the completion of his PhD studies in 1985, he joined Nanyang Technological Institute, which later became Nanyang Technological University, as a lecturer and has progressed through several key management and leadership positions throughout his career. Prior to his current role as Senior Advisor in the President’s Office, his positions included Assistant to the President, founding Director of the Centre for Signal Processing, founding Director of NTU’s Satellite Engineering Programme, Vice-Dean and Dean of School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Dean of College of Engineering, Deputy President, Acting Provost, Acting Dean of Graduate Studies, Associate Provost, Senior Associate Provost, and Vice President (International Affairs).
His illustrious career has been characterised by outstanding contributions to education, research, management and public service, all of which have combined to see him receive a number of significant honours for his work. These honours include being the first Singaporean and first academic in Asia to be conferred the prestigious title of Honorary Fellow by the London-based Institution of Electrical Engineers in 2005. Significantly, in 2016, he was named one of the world’s 126 most influential engineers –and the only Singaporean in this group – by Britain’s Institution of Engineering and Technology. In 2017, he was conferred the degree of Doctor of Engineering, honoris causa, the most significant and prestigious award by the University of Newcastle in recognition of his illustrious list of achievements and contributions to his field. For his outstanding contributions to education, engineering research and public service over a sustained period of 30 years, he was awarded the IES-IEEE Joint Medal of Excellence 2015. He was also conferred the prestigious Alumni Medal for Professional Excellence 2016 by the University of Newcastle in recognition of an outstanding record of professional excellence in leadership, knowledge and professional practice. He was awarded a Public Administration Medal (Gold) by the President of the Republic of Singapore in 2006 for his significant contribution to the growth and international standing of NTU.
His outstanding contribution to engineering, education and public service is underpinned by an impressive research track record in the fields of array signal processing, satellite communications, computer vision and optimisation techniques. Throughout his career to date, he has secured and completed a total of 24 research projects with a cumulative grant value of approximately S$21 million and has published over 250 papers in international journals and conference proceedings and 6 book chapters. He also holds 5 patents.
As a leader in his field, Prof Er has edited technical journals and chaired several international conferences including the 15th World Conference on Cooperative Education in 2007. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Singapore, a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, USA, a registered Professional Engineers in Singapore and an ASEAN chartered Professional Engineer. He was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organisations in 2006, elected as a Fellow of the ASEAN Academy of Engineering & Technology in 2009, and a Fellow of the Academy of Engineering, Singapore in 2014. He is also a recipient of the 2001 Institution of Engineers, Singapore, Prestigious Engineering Award.
Currently, he is a member of the Board of Governors (BoG) for S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, a member of the Board of Directors (BoD) for ST Electronics (Satellite Systems) and National Institute of Education (NIE) International. His previous Board's activities include NIE Council member, Singapore Polytechnic's BoG, School Sports School's BoD and several Singaporean companies. He had served on numerous committees at the national level and chaired the National Technology Award Selection Committee in 1999 to 2000. He also served as a member of the Professional Engineers Broad of Singapore and chaired its Professional Examinations Committee.
Internationally, he has been invited by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman to serve as a member of the International Advisory Board for the University of Oman Project. He chairs the Asian Science and Technology Pioneering Institutes of Research and Education (ASPIRE) League, a consortium comprising Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Nanyang Technological University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, and Tsinghua University. He has been invited to be a member of Judging Panel for the Global Teaching Excellence Award 2018 by the Higher Education Academy. He served as the Secretary General of the Global Alliance of Technological Universities (GlobalTech) from 2011 to 2015. The Alliance comprising 10 top technological universities from USA, Europe and Asia aims to boost academic exchange and leverage technology to meet global challenges. He was invited to serve as Tokyo Tech Advisor for Education by Tokyo Institute of Technology. He has been serving as a member of the Executive Committee of the Global Engineering Education Exchange (Global E3), a consortium-based exchanged programme for undergraduate engineering students to study abroad and carry out internships worldwide under the Institute of International Education (IIE), New York.
He has been a regular speaker at several international conferences and summits including THE Young Universities Summit 2017, Brisbane, Australia; Inaugural THE Research Excellence Summit 2017, Taichung, Taiwan; the 12th QS-APPLE Conference 2016, Putrajaya, Malaysia; and the W100 Annual Conference 2015, Sydney, Australia..
1. Array Signal Processing
- Robust Broadband and Narrowband Beamforming Techniques
- Basic Array Theory & Pattern Synthesis Techniques
- Partially Adaptive Array Design
- Microphone Array Design
- Audio Beam Loudspeakers
2. Image Processing and Computer Vision
- Image Processing of VLSI Chips
- Images Resolution Enhancement Techniques
- Medical Imaging
3. Satellite Communications
- LEO Satellite Communications Technology
4. Optimization Techniques
- Constrained and Unconstrained Optimization Techniques
5. DSP Applications & Implementations
- Surround Sound System
- RSA Cryptosystem
- Microphone Array
Secured and completed a total of 24 research projects with an accumulative grant of $20,873,595.
W.S.Gan, J Yang, K S Tan, M H Er. (2006). A Digital Beamsteerer for Difference Frequency in Parametric Array. IEEE Transactions on Audio Speech and Language Processing, 14, 1018-1025.
Y M Li and M H Er. (2006). Theoretical Analysis of Gain and Phase Errors Calibration with Optimal Implementation for Linear Equi-spaced Array. IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, 54(2), 712 - 723.
Z. L. Yu and M. H. Er. (2005). An improved array steering vector estimation method and its application in speech enhancement. Applied Signal Processing, 2005(18), 2930-2937.
Er Meng Hwa, Cantoni A. (1990). A Unified Approach to the Design of Robust Narrowband Antenna Array Processors. IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, 38(1), 17-23.
Er Meng Hwa, Cantoni A. (1983). Derivative Constraints for Broadband Element Space Antenna Array Processors. IEEE Transactions on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing, ASSP-31(6), 1378-1393.
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Author: Jessica E. Piper (Rosenthal)
In a week and a half, I (along with my family and many other descendants) will be returning to Hohenems for the 2017 reunion. For all descendants, the chance to return to connect with both family history and living relatives is exciting.
I will return to Hohenems with two months familiarity—having spent last summer at the museum as an intern—while many descendants will be visiting for the first time. For me, the beauty in Hohenems lies both in its rich history and its present-day community. While I liked looking through the museum’s archives and tracing the genealogy of many descendants, I also enjoyed learning about contemporary Austrian politics. I liked talking with peers my own age, comparing my American college education with their university experiences, wondering in the back of my head who I would be if I had somehow grown up differently.
At the same time, I know that my experience with Hohenems will be different this time around. Although I wrote many blog posts last summer about finding personal significance in the town’s past, some things are better when shared with people we care about.
I want to tour the Jewish Museum with my grandmother, and I can point across the street and show her where I used to work. I plan to visit the old cemetery with my family, and actually enter it this time now that the construction is complete. I want to walk down to the Swiss border, where I can remember how many Jews braved the difficult crossing, and show my parents the path I took by bike last summer. I’ll go hiking with my brother, up to the Ruine Alt-Ems, where I drank a beer and watched the sun set on my final night in Hohenems. I hope to introduce my mom to my former boss, my host mom, and all the other people about whom I told stories.
I also look forward to meeting other descendants—long-lost cousins and people with whom I share no blood relation, but still have the Hohenems connection. If you’ve stuck around the blog this long, I hope I can meet you too.
Schön, Sie wiederzusehen, Hohenems.
Author Jessica E. Piper (Rosenthal)Posted on 18. July 2017
One of the few German words I knew when I arrived in Hohenems was “danke,” which means thank you. It’s an important word, and one I used frequently. But, as I reflect on my time and prepare to leave Hohenems tomorrow, I also feel like it’s a word that I haven’t used enough.
Any list of the things and people that I ought to give thanks to will be incomplete, and I’m skeptical of my own ability to capture my gratitude in words. Still, I’m aiming for some semblance of closure and I would rather say “thank you” than “goodbye,” so here is a partial list:
Thank you to the entire Jewish Museum staff for welcoming me into their workplace. Thank you for the morning cups of tea, for making do with my language skills, and most importantly for giving me the opportunity to work and learn in a wonderful environment. Thank you especially to Hanno and Anika, for overseeing my work and finding tasks that fit my interests and abilities.
Thank you to each of my lovely host families for not only giving me a place to live, but treating me—a complete stranger—as one of their own. And thank you to their friends and extended families for welcoming me to their birthday parties and baptisms, their backyards and homes. It means a lot to be included.
Thank you to each of my host siblings for sharing their friends with me and giving me “people my own age” to hang out with. Thank you to my (exactly one year younger) host sister for also graciously sharing her birthday. Thank you to her brother who took me hiking that day (even if we sort of went the wrong way) and their mother who convinced me to go swimming (it was worth it) and made sure I had a gluten-free birthday cake.
Thank you to my younger host brother for the games of backyard football, the spray-on tattoos, and for teaching me how to count past ten. And thank you to his father, whose constant sense of humor never failed to make me laugh internally.
Thank you to my first host sister, who was my first point of contact in Hohenems beforehand, who told me not to be too scared about coming here and helped me meet people once I did arrive. Thank you to her friends for frequently switching into English on my behalf, and her father, who helped me find places to hike despite my terrible sense of direction.
Thank you to my first host mother, who valiantly attempted to teach me German and stayed up until an ungodly hour in case I needed a ride home the first time I went out on a Saturday night. Thank you to her son, who graciously tolerated my temporary occupation of his space and picked me up at the train station at another egregious hour after I’d gotten confused and missed my earlier train to Hohenems. And thank you to the several of his friends who gave me rides home on other very late nights.
Thank you to everyone who served as a translator for me, planned or impromptu, in the museum, a backyard, a nightclub or an ice cream shop—I would have been even more confused without you. Thank you to everyone who did talk with me in English (or Spanish) at various venues—I know that I’m the foreigner who didn’t learn your language, and I’m grateful you included me anyways. And thank you to everyone who invited me places, who met me and decided to offer food and wine and conversation, rather than saying “who is this girl and why can’t she talk?”
Thank you to the people with whom I didn’t share a language, but who nonetheless smiled, welcomed me, and treated me with respect. And thank you to all the young children who accepted my wild hand gestures and silly facial expressions as valid forms of communication.
Thank you to the various fellow foreigners I met, some of whom jarred me with their American accents, others who wowed me with their language abilities, and all of whom reminded me how complex and interconnected our world is. And thank you to the fellow Hohenems descendants and friends of the museum who visited or contacted me, from near or far—it was a pleasure to meet each one of you and I hope we stay in touch.
Thank you to each of the people who let me sleep on their spare mattresses and showed me around some pretty awesome European cities. And thank you to the Hohenems pharmacist, the Turkish vendor in Vienna, and the countless other strangers who will probably not be reading this blog, but who greatly helped me in one way or another.
Thank you to the American Friends of the Jewish Museum Hohenems for sponsoring my internship.
Danke, dass Sie sich Zeit genommen haben. Danke für Ihre Hilfe. Danke für Ihr Verständnis. Bis später.
Author Jessica E. Piper (Rosenthal)Posted on 4. August 2016 4. August 2016 3 Comments on Dankeschön
(Still) Under Construction
When I arrived in Hohenems in early June, the museum’s street was under construction. Now, the area directly in front of the museum has been paved and the construction has moved a bit further down to the area in front of the Salomon Sulzer Saal.
The street in front of the museum, newly repaved with stones.
Construction in front of the Salomon Sulzer Saal. Don’t worry, it should be finished in time for the reunion next summer.
Like many things I’ve experienced during my two months in Hohenems, construction is a process. At times it can be noisy and difficult, but the end result is usually something better.
With my own time in Hohenems coming to an end, there are a lot of things that I’ve worked on constructing. Some of them are complete; some will probably be left unfinished; some will hopefully be finished by others in the future.
-My German skills are still dismal, and as I’ve realized that most people speak English, I’m even quicker to revert to my native language than I was when I arrived here. Perhaps I’ll speak better next summer…
-I did get used to my German keyboard, however, which means my hands get a bit confused when I switch back to my English laptop and the “z” is no longer in the middle.
-Plans for the 2017 Hohenems reunion are continuing. Though I’m leaving Hohenems, I’ll continue to stay in touch with the planning process as a member of the Descendants Committee.
-This blog will also continue in some form, although updates might not be as frequent. Keep checking back (or subscribe to email notifications) to hear from me, the museum, Hohenems Desecendants, future museum interns, and other cool people.
-I’ve met some wonderful people during my stay here, and I’ve heard from many more who I hope to meet some day. I plan to return to Hohenems for the reunion next summer. If you’re attending the reunion (or coincidentally will be in Hohenems during that time), please say hi! If you can’t wait until next summer, send me an email and we’ll find a way.
Author Jessica E. Piper (Rosenthal)Posted on 3. August 2016 3. August 2016
Gefällt es Ihnen hier?
“Do you like it here?”¹ It’s a question I’ve been asked a lot over the last few weeks.
The short answer is yes, I like it here. I like the museum. The work I do is interesting. The staff is wonderful. I like Hohenems. It isn’t the busiest, but I’ve had no trouble finding things to do—in town, across Vorarlberg, and when I’ve been lucky enough to travel around Austria and Germany. I like the people here. I’ve felt incredibly welcome basically everywhere I’ve gone, and I’m grateful to everyone who has tolerated my lack of German language abilities.
Something else that I’ve been asked a lot is why I don’t speak German. After all, I’m here because of my Austrian heritage, which inspires more questions: “Does your mom speak German?” “Your grandmother?” “Did she ever teach you any?”² I always tell people that I wish I spoke German—there are many aspects of my stay here that would have been much easier, and knowing multiple languages is cool.
That said, my Austrian heritage isn’t exactly an inspiration for me to learn German. My relatives didn’t leave Austria because they wanted to, and I have family members who were killed during the Holocaust, when the Austrian government was largely complicit with the goals of Nazi Germany.
Growing up in America—the proverbial nation of immigrants—I know many people who are very proud of their family origins. My father’s father, for example, used to attend Scottish festivals every year. I have friends who still speak the language of their parents or grandparents, or who recognize the holidays of another culture or nation. For me, it’s hard to be proud of Austria when I’m also aware of how my family’s time here ended; I don’t think I’ll ever be able to celebrate my national heritage in the way that some people do.³
This image, as well as the one at the top of this post, are quotes written on the outside of the Jewish Museum in Munich. Both are relevant to me as I’ve grappled with my stay in Austria.
That said, the Austria of my heritage isn’t the Austria of today. I wrote last week that I don’t actually spend a lot of time thinking about my family’s persecution; I likewise don’t dwell on Austria as my ancestral homeland. It’s a past that I am aware of, and that I remember. But it’s not a key part of my identity.
At the same time, my adventures in Hohenems this summer have also created an Austria that is firmly part of my present. I’ve enjoyed the last eight weeks. I don’t want to forget the people I’ve met here, the places I’ve visited, or the lessons I’ve learned. And (setting aside my lack of German abilities), nationality and religion have been completely irrelevant to my experiences. Yes, I like Austria. Not because my family is from here, but because today it’s a lovely place.
It’s a long answer to a simple question. But as I prepare to leave Hohenems later this week, I’m certain about how I feel. Es gefällt mir sehr gut—I like it very much.
¹ “Gefällt es Ihnen hier?” is German for “Do you like it here?” Thus, the title of this post.
² Please don’t read this like I’m complaining—I like it when people ask me questions! My presence here certainly invites plenty and I enjoy talking about myself, so keep asking.
³ I’m far from the only person grappling with this issue. Since 1949, Germany has offered citizenship to German Jews and their descendants. Here is a recent article on some American Jews considering German naturalization.
Author Jessica E. Piper (Rosenthal)Posted on 2. August 2016 2. August 2016 2 Comments on Gefällt es Ihnen hier?
Memory and Beer in Munich
I spent the last few days in Munich, the sprawling city in the southern German region of Bavaria where adventurous surfers navigate a single wave in the Eisbach river and people drink beer by the liter.
Munich is also home to a Jewish Museum, which opened in its current form in 2007. I’m slightly biased, but I think Jewish museums are really cool. Visiting the one in Munich also gave me the opportunity to think about the complicated process of telling Jewish history.
The Jewish museums in both Munich and Hohenems teach about Jewish history in a manner that addresses the Holocaust without making it the sole focus. Hohenems largely examines the contributions of Jews in Vorarlberg prior to 1938, while the museum in Munich provides a lengthy look at the city’s Jewish history after 1945: the rebuilding of a community, the contributions of displaced persons, and the generational divides between those who remember the Holocaust and the people (like me) for whom it really is just a chapter in the history books.
These differences are summarized beautifully in a comic strip by American Jewish cartoonist Jordan B. Gorfinkel, which is displayed in the museum’s permanent exhibition. (It’s also online here, so assuming you aren’t currently in Munich and running to visit the Jewish Museum right now, take a moment to read it before you continue with this blog post).
In classic Munich fashion, the two floors that make up the museum’s special exhibition are currently devoted to documenting Jewish contributions to beer.¹ Exhibitions like this one matter not only because beer is culturally important in the region, or because old beer advertisements are funny. They serve as a reminder of the breadth of Jewish history and the range of Jewish identities. Sure, some Jews are debating the role and future of Israel, but others are trying to figure out whether beer is kosher. (And plenty of people are doing both).
To reduce Jewish history to only the Holocaust means missing out on some (supposedly) good beer. But telling Jewish history through only the lens of the Holocaust isn’t just neglectful, it’s dangerous.
In America, talk of the Holocaust is often accompanied by the phrase “Never Forget.” On the surface, this isn’t a problem—the Holocaust is something that we should absolutely always remember. At the same time, treating the Holocaust as the focal point for all studies of Jewish history runs a risk of also treating it like an isolated incident.
There is also a problem with treating the Holocaust like a piece of completed history. As someone who grew up vaguely Jewish in America, I don’t have to think about my family’s persecution on a daily basis. But as the Jewish Museum Munich highlighted, the trauma of those years remains a reality that some people have to confront every day.
The lesson, therefore, that I took away from Munich is that my perspective on this history is also incomplete. Although my ancestors were persecuted in Austria, I feel safe and welcome here.
“Never Forget” is too easy, too simple. Anyone can acknowledge that the past happened. Understanding the consequences and what they mean going forward requires much more introspection.
I definitely have some thinking to do.
¹ I have been blogging about beer a lot more than I thought I would this summer.
Author Jessica E. Piper (Rosenthal)Posted on 29. July 2016 1 Comment on Memory and Beer in Munich
Searching for People
Fellow Hohenems descendant (my “cousin”) Juergen and I. We met for the first time this summer.
The Jewish Museum Hohenems has been always been committed to maintaining a relationship with the descendants of Hohenems Jews. This constant engagement is one of the reasons that it was possible for me to visit and work here this summer.
Of course, engaging with descendants requires knowing who they are and where they live now. The museum keeps a database of the relatives and descendants of Hohenems Jews dating back to the 17th century.¹ However, the museum’s research is incomplete—over the last several centuries, people have moved and married, crossed borders and had children. It’s impossible to track all these changes, and the database (despite including over 27,000 people) is riddled with dead ends and stories lost to the depths of time.
One of my tasks this summer has been investigating these dead ends and seeing what lies behind them. I sort through birth, death, marriage, and immigration records, trying to discover where descendants might have moved and where their families might be today. I read a lot of old digitized newspaper clippings and even more obituaries.
At times, the work can be difficult. Some people have really common names; some people changed their names when they migrated or married; some cultures follow different naming customs; some countries have strict privacy laws; a lot of records are in languages I don’t know.²
Many of the dead ends in the database are not attributed to poor record-keeping but to persecution. I’ve stumbled across a fair number of my distant cousins who died in Theresienstadt or Auschwitz.
At the same time, there is also a lot of beauty in the scattered history of Hohenems descendants. I’ve encountered crazy news of carjackings,³ miraculous tales of escape, love stories, adoption stories, and narratives of migration and persecution that still feel relevant today.
There’s a greater purpose to this research. When the museum “discovers” new descendants, we try to contact them. If they’re interested, they can visit the museum and learn more, attend a reunion, or get in touch with other distant family members. Some descendants now live in faraway places like Australia or Chile, the United States or Israel, while others are still in Austria—a man I met during my time here was born in Bregenz and now lives in Hohenems but didn’t know he was a descendant of Hohenems Jews until quite recently. Obviously, not everyone is interested in learning about Hohenems or their family history, but the museum wants to be a resource for people if they decide they want to discover more.
For anyone interested in searching through these records themselves, a public version of the museum’s database is available online (in both English and German) at http://www.hohenemsgenealogie.at/. Information about living people is omitted from the public version for privacy reasons.
¹ With the database, I can trace my own family history to Urban Veit Rosenthal, born in Hohenems in 1765.
² I prefer to read records in English or Spanish, so most of my research has been of descendants living in the UK, the US, or Latin America.
³ Don’t worry, everyone made it out OK.
Author Jessica E. Piper (Rosenthal)Posted on 25. July 2016 31. July 2016 2 Comments on Searching for People
Sommeruni
This week is a busy (but exciting) one. The museum is hosting the European Summer University for Jewish Studies,¹ an event that brings together students and lecturers from across Europe and the world for a week of lessons and seminars. The theme this summer is “Jüdische Heimstädte. Jerusalem und andere Jerusalems”—a discussion of Jerusalem, based not only in the city’s role as a Jewish homeland, but on other notions of the city across spatial and temporal differences. The summer university is a cooperative effort between the Jewish Museum Hohenems and universities in Bamberg, Basel, Munich, Salzburg, Vienna and Zürich.
Participants engage in a workshop on Yiddish by Evita Wiecki of the University of Munich.
A morning workshop.
Dr. Gerhard Langer, of the University of Vienna, speaks in the Salomon Sulzer Saal.
Students immersed in a lecture.
Participants gathered for a welcoming barbecue at the Alter Rhein on Monday.
A visit to Hohenems at this time of year wouldn’t be complete without a dip in the Alter Rhein.
Most of the lectures are in German (I attended the only English one this morning). Yet the university attracts geographically diverse participants—while most have some affiliation with one of the sponsoring universities, some also originate from places as varied as the United States and Israel, Australia and Switzerland, and speak Yiddish, Hebrew, or other languages in addition to English and German. The university also attracts some of the top minds in the relatively small world that is German-speaking Jewish studies academia.²
Many participants are returners, some even for a third or fourth time. The university therefore gives them an opportunity to reunite with old friends and colleagues, while also encountering new perspectives.
After uncertain weather for most of the summer, it’s also been a beautiful week in Hohenems. For those interested in Jewish history and Jewish studies, there is no better place to be.
¹ In German, it’s the Europäische Sommeruniversität für Jüdische Studien, which is often shortened to Sommeruni.
² For anyone familiar with the academic circles of Jewish studies, a listing of lectures is available here.
Author Jessica E. Piper (Rosenthal)Posted on 20. July 2016 22. July 2016
Alte Zeiten Museum
A seven-minute walk from the Jewish Museum, there is another old house that has been converted into a museum and tells stories about regional history. The Alte Zeiten Museum¹ explores Hohenems’ very early past—the building itself dates back to 1602.
While the house may be old, the museum is very new. The concept originated in 2012, when the building was actually set for demolition. A group of concerned citizens—searching for a way to preserve it—eventually settled on the idea of converting it into a museum. With the help of government and private funding, they restored the building and created inside it an exhibition on the early history of Hohenems.
The restoration of the old house sought to maintain its original character as much as possible. While the museum does have modern electric lighting, the ceilings remain very low.² The floor is composed of slightly uneven boards and a preserved flowery wallpaper is still visible in some places.
This wallpaper, from the old house, still is visible on the museum’s walls.
The museum’s exhibits tell of early life in Hohenems. Living, of course, wasn’t the same for everyone—the museum highlights the relationships between the count, the aristocracy, and the commoners who made up the majority of the population but mostly lived in poverty and had few legal rights.³ Another room details the ignominious history of witch hunts in the region: during the 17th century, some Hohenems residents were accused of—and ultimately executed for—practicing witchcraft. The museum also examines historical events like the Black Death and the Thirty Years War, as well as aspects of everyday life like craftsmanship and weaving.
Across the street from the museum sits another old house. Although it appears run-down today, it was one a brilliant mansion. Built in 1637, it may have once belonged to the mayor of Hohenems, although this claim isn’t verified.
This house, built in 1637, may have once belonged to the mayor of Hohenems.
Sägerstraße—the street which today hosts both the museum and the old mansion—was once the main part of Hohenems, but is now nestled in the hills slightly above the center of town.
The building that houses the Alte Zeiten museum, and the constructions that once surrounded it, actually pre-date the foundation of a Jewish community in Hohenems. (The count issued his Letter of Protection for Jewish families in 1617). Although the Jewish quarter and the Sägerstraße are not geographically far apart, there is enough distance to imagine the two communities operating as separate, at least for a time.
Of course, Hohenems has grown substantially since the 17th century. Today, the town not only stretches from the Sägerstraße to the Jewish quarter, but extends outward in all directions. Perhaps because of such growth, it’s important to remember (and learn about) the the old times.
¹ “Alte Zeiten” is German for old times.
² Tall people will struggle a little bit.
³ Legal and economic inequality based on predestined social determinations existed both alongside and in the absence of inequality based on religion.
Something to Celebrate
The museum hosted a summer celebration this past Saturday. For me, this meant I had a chance to meet many friends of the museum—including a few readers of this blog.
I’ll confess, I was a bit nervous about the party. Large social events have never been my strong point and I still don’t speak German, so the prospect of interacting with a bunch of German-speaking people I had never met wasn’t very exciting to me. As it turned out, I was pleasantly surprised by the evening. Although I couldn’t understand the speeches and at times I had to resort to hand gestures when asking people what drink they wanted, I also had wonderful conversations with many people who have been involved with the museum for much longer than I have.
Over the years, the museum has built an incredibly strong community. I am grateful to be a part of it, at least for the summer.
The celebration on Saturday also featured excellent Syrian food, a subtle reminder of the connections between the past and the present, the history we preserve in exhibits and the events that shape our societies today. As the museum constantly reminds us, people migrate and communities change. But if we can welcome one another with open arms, maybe we’ll be all right.
Last week was a tough one back in the United States. Between major racially charged shootings in three separate American cities and massive wildfires in my home county, I was glad be part of such a community and momentarily have something to celebrate.
Author Jessica E. Piper (Rosenthal)Posted on 11. July 2016 11. July 2016 4 Comments on Something to Celebrate
Old-Timers in Hohenems
For the most part, Hohenems is a fairly quiet town. It’s located in a rural area. There is no university nearby. The most common summertime activities—hiking, cycling, swimming—are dispersed in the nearby mountains or the Rhine valley. Even the main road through town doesn’t see much traffic—anyone who is just passing through will find that it’s quicker to circumvent the city center entirely.
But for a few hours today, the center of Hohenems was bustling with traffic, although the purpose was admittedly a bit different. The cars weren’t typical—instead, it was an old-timers rally, featuring an array of classic and vintage vehicles.
(If the video isn’t playing for you, try this link).
The event in Hohenems was part of a tour known as the Silvretta Classic. They’re touring in western Austria (Vorarlberg and Tyrol) as well as Switzerland and even Lichtenstein this weekend.
The old-timers rally is one of the many slightly-quirky-but-fun events taking place in Hohenems this summer. Although the town is small, there is plenty to enjoy here. There is a lovely open-air market on the Schloßplatz, in the center of town, on Saturday mornings. Live music is common. The week after next, the museum will host the European Summer University for Jewish Studies, bringing students from Austria, Switzerland, and Germany to Hohenems.
It may not typically be loud, but things are certainly happening.
Author Jessica E. Piper (Rosenthal)Posted on 8. July 2016 1 Comment on Old-Timers in Hohenems
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Heather Land – 'I Ain't Doin' It' Tour
Comedian Heather Land, a single mom who grew up in Tennessee, has a knack for finding the funny in the frustrating. Leaving no stone or situation unturned, she hilariously unravels everyday events, causing audiences to laugh not only at each other, but also (more often than not) at themselves. Her take on topics from ex-husbands to failed diets — delivered in a charming, self-deprecating style — has endeared her to millions of people of all ages. Land burst through the clutter of the online world by posting cutting and witty videos of her hilarious musings filtered through a high-pitched SnapChat voice-changer. Over the course of only a few months, Land’s videos have been shared by celebrities such as Miranda Lambert as well as millions of other fans. Now she's sharing her comedy at live events, regularly selling out venues across the country. What may surprise audiences is that Land also plays the keyboard and sings songs she wrote herself. Many of her pieces are about love and loss. "The truth is, we all deal with loss and we all deal with hurt and heartache," she says. "Sometimes you've got to laugh or you're gonna cry. I've found this way for myself of being able to turn some hurtful situations into humor."
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Note to Conservatives: You Can't Run Away From Your Responsibility for Trump and the Racist Right
As Donald Trump bumblefucks his way around the bottom of the historical shitpile, as he degrades the country every day by doing dumb shit like pimping overpriced caps while visiting Texas and not hugging even a wet child, as the racist right (fuck "alt-right") asserts itself online through jabbering conspiracies and laughable threats, as the racist right marches for its idiot causes, a genre of editorial has emerged among Republicans. Call it the "Not Me and My Friends" rhetorical gambit.
In it, some random Republican attempts to distance him or herself (although, to be honest, it's mostly "him" because we're talking about Republicans) by listing the parade of horribles committed by Trump and/or the racist right. Often, it takes the form of a denial of Trump's Republicanism or an accusation that vulgar Trumpism will destroy the beautiful Republican Party. Or it might say how the racist right doesn't represent real conservatism, which would never be seen canoodling with such ruffians, or some such shit. The writers try to present themselves as the rational Republicans, the ones who have far more complex ideologies than these loathsome trolls.
For instance, here's former Senator John Danforth, a putative model of moderation, in the Washington Post last week, decrying Trump and making the GOP seem like the greatest bunch of open-minded, loving statesmen and women you could ever hope to lead us: "The Republican Party has a long history of standing for a united country," Danforth writes, citing, as Republicans will, Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower.
Of more recent vintage, Danforth says, "George H.W. Bush signed the most important civil rights legislation in more than a quarter-century, a bill authored by Republican senators." That would be the same George H.W. Bush who vetoed the original Civil Rights Act of 1991 despite Danforth's pleading because Bush thought it was too expansive, so a watered-down, less effective version was passed. Then Danforth says of the president whose illegal war resulted in the deaths of millions of Muslims, "George W. Bush stood before Congress and the nation and defended Muslims after 9/11."
Danforth continues, "Our record hasn’t been perfect. When we have pushed the agenda of the Christian right, we have seemed to exclude people who don’t share our religious beliefs. We have seemed unfriendly to gay Americans. But our long history has been to uphold the dignity of all of God’s people and to build a country welcoming to all." This would be the same anti-abortion senator who thought the federal government might be wasting money on drugs for AIDS patients and who was one of Clarence Thomas's biggest advocates. For sure, Danforth was more compassionate on some issues (like starvation in Africa), but let's not give him or his mythical version of the GOP a fuckin' parade.
In the New York Times on Tuesday, reliable bellwether of sniveling "not-me"-ism, David Brooks, wrote that even in the last few years "it was still possible to be a Republican without feeling like you were violating basic decency on matters of race. Most of the Republican establishment, from the Bushes to McCain and Romney, fought bigotry, and racism was not a common feature in the conservative moment."
And one can only ask, "What fucking Republican Party are you talking about?" Because, see, while the Bushes, McCain, and Romney were speaking their racism softly, they let Jesse Helms, Tom DeLay, Newt Gingrich, and a fuckload of racist, bigoted assholes scream madly and run rampant. It doesn't matter that Brooks "never heard blatantly racist comments at dinner parties" because their actions were blatantly goddamned racist, from campaigning on racial issues to the war on drugs to welfare reform (and yes, Democrats did go along with some of this, but often just to try to mitigate the barbarity) to the years of attacks on Barack Obama.
This goes across the board, from your Michael Gersons to your Jennifer Rubins, all of those Republicans who are newly endeared to Democrats under the enemy-of-my-enemy dictum. They all share complicity in the rise of Trump and the racist right because, see, for every wonky policy Republican who can bullshit about, say, being against affirmative action or immigration reform because of budgetary or constitutional complaints, there are a dozen opportunistic Hannitys or Ingrahams or Breitbarts who are going to dumb it down to appeal to stupid people.
You have to ask yourself about your beliefs: How will stupid people understand it? Even more importantly, who will tell stupid people how to understand it? This has been Democrats' worst failing: the inability to get stupid people to comprehend how liberal policies help them. So right-wingers swoop in and grab the stupid people by appealing to their stupidity. You can't explain to stupid people that expanded Medicaid and health insurance end up lowering costs for everyone. It won't work because they're stupid. Stupid people just need to be told, "Here is health care. You got your cancer treated? Government did that." And if you don't hammer that with them, conservative fuckbags will swoop in and say, "You don't want the black president to fondle your pure, white titties, do you?" Stupid people get to vote. You lose the stupid people, you have a hell of a deficit to make up.
But the problem isn't stupid people. It's the conservative policies that are so easily identifiable as racist, sexist, xenophobic, etc. supported by what are pathetically called "mainstream" Republicans. Jeb fuckin' Bush, about as establishment a Republican as there ever was, ran for president on repealing the Affordable Care Act, reversing DACA, withholding funds from sanctuary cities, opposing renewal of the Voting Rights Act, keeping Gitmo open, allowing in primarily Christian refugees from Syria, and more, including denying climate change.
It's fucking rich to see people like, say, GOP consultant Rick Wilson, who is hilariously relentless in his attacks on Trump and the racist right, get to pretend like he wasn't responsible for fostering racism in the campaigns he worked on. Motherfucker worked for Rudy Giuliani, wrote ads for Saxby Chambliss associating Vietnam war vet Max Cleland with Osama bin Laden, and was responsible for the ads that tied Obama to Reverend Jeremiah Wright. In other words, someone who is decrying the racism and hatred of one strain of conservatism is one of the fucking reasons that racism and hatred is ongoing. He wanted the stupid people to be racist. Own that shit, man. That's how the fuck you get to Trump.
Brooks says, "[T]he Republican Party has changed since 2005. It has become the vehicle for white identity politics." That is delusional magical thinking. Ask John McCain if the 2000 Republican primary was devoid of white identity politics. Ask Michael Dukakis if the 1988 election didn't involve the GOP appealing to white identity politics. Ask Reagan. Ask Nixon. And then ask Hillary Clinton. Your sad "Never Trump" whining never stood a chance against the decades of priming the racist pump you did.
You don't get off the hook just because you don't have a Confederate flag bumper sticker or a Nazi tattoo or a Pepe the Frog pin or a MAGA hat. A grown man who only fucks 13 year-old girls doesn't get to say he's not a pedophile. No, man. You go in the same cell with the guy who fucked toddlers.
The Desperate Neediness of Donald Trump, Even in the Midst of a Hurricane
(Yeah, yeah, I'll be getting to Arpaio and Russia and whatever other clusterfucks of doom happen, but first, let's deal with the big damn Harvey in the room.)
We know that President Donald Trump is a man whose ego must be constantly stroked, like the head of a grumpy baby who won't go to sleep. Any chance any of his administration has to praise him, praise him they must or they will face the jowly gaze of disapproval and probably some kind of stupid-ass threat at a public gathering. They gotta blow this fuckin' guy so often that they get assigned government-issue knee pads.
So it was that during Hurricane (now Tropical Storm) Harvey, which is wrecking the fuck out of the lives of millions of Americans, Trump not only stayed for the weekend at Camp David, but he teleconferenced into situation room meetings. That gave us photos of an old man in an ill-fitting suit and stupid, over-sized "USA" hat, alone at a table, talking over speaker to those who were genuinely engaged beyond watching footage on TV and tweeting, "Wow, that's a whole bunch of rain!" or whatever the fuck Trump said.
Today. Trump's most voracious chowder-guzzler, Vice President Mike Pence, made the rounds of talk radio to show just how enthusiastically he gargles on Trump's nutsack. Seriously, the amount that Pence praised Trump for his actions during the hurricane makes it sound like the president was personally out in his yacht, rescuing people. Instead, what really is occurring is that Barack Obama's FEMA was, so far, doing a pretty good job for Texas.
But here's Pence, on a Houston news station, just licking his lips in anticipation of Trump dick. "The President made his decision on Friday night, before landfall, to issue an emergency declaration with regard to Texas" and later, Louisiana, Pence said. "President Trump and our entire administration have been working closely with Governor Abbott...The President assembled the Cabinet twice... I can tell you that from Friday night forward, the President has been continuously engaged in this."
Then, on another station, Pence fellated on about "the swift response by President Trump" and "President Trump’s direction" in the crisis. "I couldn’t be more proud of President Trump’s leadership," Pence asserted, obviously.
We get it. You wanna make sure the spin is that Trump's not fucking it up like Bush during Katrina. But a real leader would tell his people to knock that praise shit off, that it's not necessary, and that, frankly, the effort to save southeast Texas and, likely, parts of Louisiana is just beginning, and there's still plenty of time to fuck it up. The nauseating amount of appreciation that his staff and cabinet heap on Trump is tough to take in non-catastrophic times. Now, it just comes across as needy and selfish on the part of Trump, putting himself at the center of the story when, at best, he's a tangential element, someone who would serve everyone best by staying the fuck out of everyone's way while grown-ups are working here.
Put him in a corner. Give him the remote. Put a big boy hat on him. And ignore him.
Guest Post: A Millennial Takes on Trump, His Voters, and Whatever the Hell That Arizona Thing Was
by R. Sharp
Yeah, I could rant about how the media and its loyal zombie followers (I’m looking at you, Fox) are dividing us up. I could go on and on about those deplorable Nazi-wannabes we saw in Charlottesville. But I feel I would just be adding fuel to the gigantic flaming shit storm that is America in 2017. No, I’m focusing on the ugly head of the Republican monster that’s been butt fucking us for the past 26 months (since it announced it was running). The creature is most recently responsible for giving those same hateful ideologies national attention.
On Tuesday night, the creature slithered on stage at the Phoenix Convention Center. It puffed its saggy orange chest out and smiled, knowing that the hordes of brainless morons were packed inside to see it perform. It lifted one of its tiny claws off the podium, opened its mouth, and began to spew bile all over the crowd. The loyal followers soaked up the bile and cheered the creature on. “I want more!” cried an old man with a red hat. “Soak me in your juices!” yelled the obese woman next to him. The creature gave them what they wanted. For 77 minutes, it threw up uncontrollably while the crowd licked the puke off the floor.
This horrific display of ignorance is what we’ve come to accept from the creature that calls itself president and rhymes with "dump." This is just another distraction that this administration is creating. They’re putting up roadblock after roadblock trying to deter us from distinguishing reality from fiction. Even the kind and reasonable among us can get sidetracked. Whether it’s breaking news, an angry tirade, or a tweet, Americans are cruelly inundated with the media’s coverage of this administration. We find ourselves being enraged at one thing, and then the next day comes and something else happens. We haven’t even gotten over what happened in the first place, because we're pissed about something new. These distractions are building up, creating a seemingly impenetrable layer of bullshit.
One core issue here is the creature’s ties to Russia. Robert Mueller’s special counsel is reportedly making progress, like when they raided former campaign manager and walking cadaver Paul Manafort’s home. Unfortunately, all the distractions created by the orange creature drown out any minimal good news. The attacks on the media the creature keeps shouting are focused on the wrong thing. The mainstream media concentrates on the bullshit show at the White House to the exclusion of so much else going on because they know it will bring up ratings. You wanna say how the media is bad? That's how it's bad right now.
Which gets us back to Mueller. Even though it’s fake news, The New Yorker’s Andy Borowitz made me laugh with his piece titled, “Millions Willing to Work for Mueller for Free If That Would Speed Things Up.” But it gives me an idea for an offer:
Mr. Mueller, I’ve been looking for a fall internship and I have a psychotic obsession with ending this grotesque creature’s administration. My legal skills are nonexistent, but I can write one hell of an email. I’ll even clean up your office. Please, let me send you my resume. I’ll do anything to help hurry things up and end this clusterfuck of a presidency.
On Vacation, Boss (But Some Thoughts on Trump's Afghanistan Speech)
Yeah, I know, this is shitty timing, what with Trump giving one bullshit but relatively sane speech and about to give another bullshit and totally batshit speech. But I'm out for the week and I'm at the beach and fuck if I'm gonna totally poison this trip with that orange shitpile's nonsense. (Although I may chime in here - and I'm always mouthing off on Twitter.)
There will be a guest post or two, though.
Two quick thoughts about Trump's Afghanistan non-speech.
1. You know, it actually takes effort to constantly be a dick to the Obama and Bush administrations. Every time Trump discusses something he's gonna do, it's because that fuckin' Obama fucked it all up with his black blackness or something. However, check out Obama's speech on the surge from 2009. He says that strategy needs to be changed, but he doesn't call Bush's clusterfuck of errors a "failure." Obama simply said that he's gotta do some shit, and then he laid it all out. Trump just says, "Everyone's fucked Afghanistan but I'm gonna fix it and we're gonna win because winning winning winning and fuck you I have a plan don't tell me I don't have a plan I don't have to tell you what it is because me me me."
2. Even Trump's supposedly "good" speeches are shitty speeches. Let's not pretend otherwise. And let's not pretend that his fuckin' idiot hordes of voters will give a single shit that he has completely reversed himself. As long as he hates blacks, Muslims, and Mexicans, they're fine with whatever.
Back Monday with more beach-tanned rudeness.
Fuck You, Guy Who Regrets Voting for Trump
In the New York Times, one of Donald Trump's most loyal taint-lickers, Julius Krein, has scribbled a mea culpa titled "I Voted for Trump. And I Sorely Regret It." It's a story of a love gone wrong, about how a man was so enamored of another man that he couldn't see who that man really was or, indeed, who he himself was. Oh, Krein, who started a blog to "intellectual Trumpism" titled, stupidly, the Journal of American Greatness, totally believed Trump: "Mr. Trump’s policy positions were poorly defined, but these days, most candidates’ positions are. And yes, he had little support from the Republican Party leadership. But many of us thought even this might be a positive if it forced him to focus on 'making deals' rather than on Washington’s usual ideological posturing. He was never going to fulfill all of his over-the-top promises, but we believed that his administration might achieve some meaningful successes."
And as for the racism? That was just something to be elided over for Krein: "Many of his supporters, myself included, managed to convince ourselves that his more outrageous comments...were merely Bidenesque gaffes committed during the heat of a campaign." For the record, Joe Biden never called for all Muslims to be banned from coming into the United States and probably wouldn't consider that specific, scripted, racist campaign promise a "gaffe."
But now Krein's eyes are wide, wide open. "It is now clear that we were deluding ourselves" about Trump's racism, Krein writes. And "Far from making the transformative 'deals' he promised voters, his only talent appears to be creating grotesque media frenzies — just as all his critics said."
To which one can only say to Krein:
Fuck you, you pretentious prick. Take a stack of papers with your regret written all over it, roll it up into a thick tube, and go fuck yourself with it.
Congratulations, you bespectacled shitpile. You finally have gotten to the point that the majority of voters in the United States were at on Election Day. Everyone of us was screaming, "Trump's a fraud, he's a liar, he's never done anything in his horrible life other than con people out of their money. Jesus fuckballs, why the fuck are you believing him?" But you, with your fancy-ass Harvard degree and your desire to polish the turd of Trump's chaos until it had the kind of erudite shine that could justify you and your miserable, greedy friends voting for him like it was some kind of big joke, now you realize, "Mr. Trump’s behavior grows only more reprehensible." Motherfucker, did you not read or hear anything about this man's reprehensible life? About all the people he shit all over? About the misery he's caused? About his abject failure as a businessman?
Despite your pedigree, despite your pandering protestations, you were exactly the same as every fucking backwards ass country fuck who just wanted to stick it to the niggers and spics and that bitch, Hillary. If we're fucked, you're one of the main reasons we are fucked because you and your asshole faux-intellectual friends wanted to pretend you gave a shit about more than what every other racist, sexist xenophobe who knuckle-dragged themselves to the polls last November cared about.
You actually wrote these words back in September of last year: "What makes [Trump] popular on immigration is not how extreme his policies are, but the emphasis he puts on the interests of Americans rather than everyone else." He offers, you said, "a portrait of business as a fully human struggle filled with almost romantic jousting competitions." You concluded, "His unapologetic mockery of more conventional forms of political theater makes him in some ways the most serious candidate in the race." Goddamn, I hope you're reading your worthless words and choking on the vomit their utter wrongness brings up.
No, you don't get to absolve yourself. You spend the end of your bullshit column talking about how important your ideological goals are. You describe yourself as one of "those who found some admirable things in the hazy outlines of Mr. Trump’s campaign," as if you can divorce this enormous, nation-damaging error you made from your corrupt core beliefs. Fuck that. You voted for the guy who thinks bullets dipped in pig's blood scare Muslims and that Confederate monuments are awesome. You don't get to have opinions on politics anymore.
And you barely acknowledge that so many other people were right about Trump and that you were desperately wrong. You don't even say, "I'm sorry;" you don't even offer to do things to make it right; and, you cunt flea, you should be volunteering to go down on every single one of us in order to beg for forgiveness. And then we'll see how good you are, how enthusiastic, how skilled, how much we cum, before we decide whether or not you're worthy of anything more than having piss and shit tossed on you every day for the rest of your facile, ignorant life.
You're nine months late. This is your baby, whether you want it or not.
Seven (or So) Calm Takeaways from Trump's Mad Tantrum in Trump Tower
1. If you are fighting to prevent a statue of Robert E. Lee from being taken down, you are, in fact, a white supremacist. Trump said today of Charlottesville that there were "very fine people...in that group that were there to protest the taking down, of to them, a very, very important statue and the renaming of a park from Robert E. Lee to another name." No, you are not a very fine person. You support the Confederacy and slavery, which is what Robert E. Lee fought for. By definition, you are not "very fine." This is not difficult.
2. Trump said, "It looked like they had some rough, bad people, neo-Nazis, white nationalists, whatever you want to call ‘em. But you had a lot of people in that group that were there to innocently protest and very legally protest." If you march with neo-Nazis and chant racist things with white nationalists, it doesn't matter how legal your protest is. You are still a Nazi. You are still a white nationalist. And, legal march or not, you should be scorned. Not scorning them is supporting them.
3. Trump said, "Many of those people were there to protest the taking down of the statue of Robert E. Lee. So this week, it’s Robert E. Lee, I noticed that Stonewall Jackson’s coming down. I wonder, is it George Washington next week? And is it Thomas Jefferson the week after. You know, you really do have to ask yourself, where does it stop?" George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were slaveowners. They also helped create the United States which led to the freeing of the slaves. It's complicated, and, yes, we should have a discussion of their place in our understanding of history. Robert E. Lee was a slaveowner who, as I said above, fought so that a country of seceded states could keep slaves. The same goes for Stonewall Jackson. Lee and Jackson are not equal to Washington and Jefferson just like Donald Trump is not worth a hair on Abraham Lincoln's balls.
3a. Could we clone Lincoln from a hair on his balls? Just thinking out loud here.
4. In the same way, both sides of the Charlottesville conflict were not equal, despite Trump's insistence that they were. Yes, there was violence from the counterprotesters, but nothing like the violence from the "innocently" protesting racists, including, you know, murder. And, not to get redundant here, but one side was Nazis. The other side was against Nazis. To say "there is blame on both sides" is to say that Nazis are the same as not-Nazis. If you cannot say that not-Nazis are objectively better than Nazis, you have nothing useful to add to any conversation.
5. Trump said that Friday night's tiki-torch protest was done "very quietly." Many pictures from the event show white men and a few white women yelling or chanting. It is patently false to say it was quiet. And if they weren't chanting, they were making the Nazi salute, which is louder than just about any noise.
6. If I were John McCain, I'd be looking out for polonium in my tea. When a McCain comment was brought up, Trump gritted his teeth and said, "Senator McCain? Senator McCain. You mean the one that voted against Obamacare? Who is Senator McCain? You mean Senator McCain who voted against us getting good health care?" He sounded stabby. Also, if I were John McCain, I'd think nothing of using my last year or so on earth to destroy the dangerous man who mocked my imprisonment and torture.
6a. If anyone know who these supposed rational Republicans are, now would be a good time for them to reveal themselves. Hopefully, the denouncement are rolling in, or we're in deep, deep trouble.
7. Anyone who can watch that press conference and not think that we are being led by a deranged, out-of-control racist is someone who will never be convinced about Trump's unfitness for office. Which means we should be seeing a New York Times article about those people in the next day or so.
7a. Obviously, everything Trump said yesterday was a lie, but we already realised that.
7b. We knew we were in scary territory with Trump. We are now living the beginning of a dystopian TV series. It's up to us to make sure it's canceled before it gets renewed for another season.
A Few Comments on Hating the Hateful
"They really, really hate them some 'niggers,'" my pal told me over the phone from Virginia. He lives in a small town, and he's just about had it with the Trump-loving, racist motherfuckers there who pretend to love Jesus when all they love is their hate. We were talking just before one of these doughy, deranged cumbuckets on the Confederate/Nazi right (fuck "alt") plowed his black Dodge Challenger into a crowd of anti-Confederate/Nazi protesters, killing one and injuring many others, in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday.
My pal, bringing out his natural Southern accent for the occasion, told me about neighbors who "love them some Trump," about a woman who said how she doesn't know how she'll afford her medical bills if the ACA goes away but stands by her president, about how nothing really matters except abortion and homophobia. "These people'd live under a bridge," he said, "as long as them babies get born and two men ain't sucking each other's cocks."
And racism, he reminded me. Don't forget the racism, the lifeblood of the Trump-loving Confederacy-humpers.
President Donald Trump, who looks like a stack of traffic cones topped with baboon's ballsack, has been justifiably excoriated for his seeming refusal for two days to condemn the white nationalists responsible for the violence and murder in Charlottesville. His initial statement wasn't just milquetoast both-sides-ism. No, it was an implicit wink to the racist thugs who took it as such. His pissy statement today, where he finally called out "the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups," was presented with all the enthusiasm of a man in a bathroom stall asking for toilet paper.
But his delay empowered these assholes, this savage collection of bearded rednecks in torn rebel flag t-shirts, batshit militia dickheads toting assault weapons, golf-shirted and pampered little boys, and pathetic suit-wearing Nazi wannabes who Hitler would have laughed at as he had them executed for being too fucking dumb to know how to wrap a gas-covered cloth around a stick to make a torch. Most of them would have shit themselves and run for their mothers if they had been actual Nazis or actual Confederate soldiers, facing the American war machine that tore the hell out of both those armies of losers.
The most pathetic thing here is how shocked they pretend to be that their views are attacked, as if no one ever told them that slavery and genocide (not "white genocide," which is so dumb it barely deserves mention) are bad things to support. And maybe that's on all of us.
It's certainly on the media. Every time there was an article or CNN investigation on whether or not Barack Obama was born in the United States, the media made it seem like it was a legitimate story. Led by the nose by right-wing bullshit websites and commentators, the mainstream media gave the spittle-strewn glow of credence to it all, whether it's ACORN or the New Black Panther Party or the thuggish images of black victims of violence, like Trayvon Martin. And that's just recent shit.
Almost all the so-called liberal press places extremism on an equal plain with rational thought, so we'd get semi-sensible conservatives like Ana Navarro and hell hounds of insanity like Jeffrey Lord, both given equal airtime (until Lord finally went full Nazi last week). Van Jones should walk the fuck off the air if CNN makes him debate some reprehensible Breitbart shit-for-brains.
There are some things we need to agree on as a nation to move forward. The problem isn't that people think they're Nazis or neo-Confederates, per se; we're never eliminating stupidity. It's that we think there is something noble about tolerating Nazis; about trying to understand their ideology in an almost sympathetic way, about writing goddamned profiles about the new, sexy white nationalist movement, as if a fucking racist isn't just, in the end, a fucking racist, no matter how many times he wears an ill-fitting sports jacket.
And it is long, long past time to stop tolerating in any sense the idea that the Confederacy is a heritage worth honoring. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Fuck your ancestors who fought to maintain slavery. I don't give a dry rat turd how nobly they fought. They believed that human beings were property and could be beaten, raped, and killed. Fuck 'em. If you think there should be statues to them, then you're the asshole. If I found out my great-grandfather was a child molester, I sure as hell wouldn't want to honor him because he built a nice house. And I'd be appalled if anyone wanted to celebrate his architectural heritage.
Trump himself appealed to the lies of American history in both his sad little statements. In the first, on Saturday, Trump said, "We must love each other, respect each other, and cherish our history." Cherish our history? Motherfucker, our history is a goddamned horror show with occasional outbreaks of humanity, like the defeat of the Confederacy and the Nazis, like the welcoming of immigrants and the civil rights movement.
And then, today, he said, "We are a nation founded on the truth that all of us are created equal." No, motherfucker, again, we were founded on the "truth" that white men are created equal for that's all they considered "men." It's like Trump is the president of the Confederacy, not the United States.
If we can't agree on our goddamned American history, if we can't agree that some ideas don't deserve a hearing beyond the half-human online scrawlings of some cretinous asshole with a frog avatar and a collection of concentration camp photos he jacks off to, then we're fucked. I want people to feel shame for believing these things. I want them driven out of the public square. I want them fired if they express it publicly, especially if they're cops or in positions of authority. You're free to say and believe what you want. And we're free to say your ideas are barbaric enough to tell you to change or get the fuck out of our society. This is about who we are as a nation.
You're allowed to hate Hate. You're allowed to be prejudiced against Prejudice. You're allowed to destroy the monuments to people who tried to destroy the country. You're allowed to say that support of genocide and enslavement isn't a position that deserves being heard in the modern United States. You're allowed to tell these tiki-torch-carrying vermin that they can kiss your American ass with their traitorous lips. We kicked them in the balls before and we'll do it again. Your Robert E. Lee statues are fucking done.
Go the fuck back underground. And take your shitty president with you.
(Note: For a good rundown on how Republican politics led us to this moment, check out Charlie Pierce, who wrote half of what I was gonna write today.)
(For the record, the only great-grandfather I know about was a leading rabbi in Poland and did not, as far as I know, molest anyone or build any houses.)
Advice to the Young Folk Freaking Out About Possible Nuclear War
Hey, kids, it's your ol' pal Rude Pundit here, puffin' away on his corncob hashpipe and sittin' on his hay bale outside his survivalist bunker in a secret place where he'd have to kill you if you knew where it was. Some of you young 'uns weren't around during the great Cold War of a good chunk of the last century, so you don't know what it's like to wake up every day with a gut-churning feeling that the entire world is gonna be wiped out by huge fireballs and radiation sickness.
No, sir and ma'am, the 1980s wasn't all New Wave, Eddie Murphy, and shoulder pads. Why, back when the Soviet Union was the "evil empire," we all thought we were gonna die any second, but we learned to live with it. So I'm gonna give you some of my wisdom from those bad ol' days to help you weather this new round of shit-yourself apocalypse fear.
Gather 'round. Don't worry. I won't get all handsy.
1. Calm the fuck down. Yeah, yeah, I know that that our dumb-as-a-stump, pussy-grabbin' president keeps huffin' and puffin' about the United States being ready to blow North Korea's shit up, and I know that North Korea is led by an inbred half-wit who claps like a slow little boy when he sees things go "boom," but that doesn't mean either of them is idjit enough to nuke the other. You're still gonna die because of climate change or heart disease, but that'll take a little longer.
2. Most of what you're hearing is public relations bullshit. Trump has a bunch of brain-damaged yahoos who thrill to his fake John Wayne act. Kim Jong Un needs his poor, starving people to think that everyone else wants to kill them and only Kim can protect them. (So, really, they're not so different.) But behind the scenes, there are constant negotiations and dialogues with people actually skilled at this sort of thing trying to figure shit out. This was true during the Soviet/U.S. standoff, and it's true now.
3. Even if fighting breaks out, it'll be conventional, not nuclear. We've got a shit-ton of hardware and soldiers in the Pacific, with bases on Guam, Japan, and elsewhere. North Korea doesn't want to be turned into glowing parking lot (although many people there would probably welcome the sweet kiss of death). So we might get bomb-y, but not nuke-y.
4. Even if North Korea launches a nuke, it'll wipe out just one place, likely Guam, but maybe Los Angeles. During the Cold War, we were facing thousands of nuclear weapons, not just a smattering. So we'll mostly be fine. Mostly. Unless you're in Guam. Or Los Angeles.
5. No, no, calm the fuck down. If North Korea does launch a nuclear attack, the U.S. would surely attack in a way that completely takes out North Korea's leadership, and the one thing Kim loves more than missiles going "boom" is staying in power so he can hang out with Dennis Rodman. Dennis Rodman won't go to a radioactive North Korea (probably). So Kim wants to keep control of his people. You can't do that if the people have been turned to ash.
6. There will continue to be bluster. There will continue to be idiots talking about the "good" of a preemptive attack on a nation that has done very little to piss us off. We had that back in the day, too. Donald Trump will continue to tweet and say stupid, threatening shit that most of the world has learned to ignore.
7. That's because of all the generals Trump's surrounded himself with, who speak with more authority than Trump. In they absolute worst case scenario, they would certainly be a check on his worst impulses. Maybe. Perhaps. So, if all else fails, hey, we can always hope for a military coup. That'll surely settle everything down. Oh. Wait.
Well, kids, that's about it for ol' Rude Pundit trying to give you hope. I'm gonna go into my bunker now and wait this out. We've got enough weed and whiskey to last us a few months. That's my suggestion: get high, get laid, listen to music, ignore shit for a while, turn off the Twitter and the TV, and go outside while you still can. But don't freak out. It's pretty useless.
We're Just Letting Louisiana Drown (Updated)
A year ago, Louisiana was hit with one of the worst flooding events in U.S. history, even worse than Hurricane Katrina. In some places, more than two feet of rain fell over the course of three days. I was there when the rains hit and saw some of the impassable roads and drowned homes, and I wasn't even in Baton Rouge, where the worst of it hit the most poverty-stricken areas. It caused $10.3 billion in damage, and it displaced tens of thousands of people. Yet, as a new report from Climate Central says, because we were in the midst of the Olympics and the stupid, awful presidential election, the disaster received precious little coverage relative to the magnitude of the devastation.
That is most especially clear in the money that has been spent on recovery. For the August flood and for a March 2016 flood in north Louisiana that resulted in $2.3 billion in damage, the federal government has only provided $1.7 billion in aid. It works out to 12-13 cents for every dollar in damage. Obviously, Washington can't make up for all losses, but after Sandy and Katrina, that number was 65-70 cents per dollar. So, in many, many ways, this has been a forgotten disaster.
The August 2016 floods in Louisiana are a direct result of conditions that exist due to climate change, as two groups of scientists said. One study that included scientists from NOAA said that "greenhouse gas pollution made the extraordinary volume of rain that fell Aug. 12 to Aug. 14 twice as likely, compared with a century earlier." Many of the areas that were flooded are outside of places that are marked as "flood zones" by the state and federal governments. That's how extraordinary these storms were.
This past weekend, New Orleans was hit with a storm that dumped up to 9 inches of rain over the course of a few hours. It's another flood you barely heard about over the burps of Trump's Twitter account. All of a sudden, the water pumps, still being upgraded post-Katrina, that were supposed to handle a half-inch of rain an hour were overwhelmed, and a few stopped running due to power outages. The floods remained through Saturday night and into Sunday morning. It was what the National Weather Service called a "50-100 year event." When the upgrades on the pumps and drainage system are complete in 2020, the system is supposed to be able to handle a once-in-a-decade event.
Louisiana is going to drown. Coastal erosion is so bad due to rising seas that Governor John Bel Edwards has asked President Trump to declare it a national emergency to get more funding for the Army Corps of Engineers to try to slow it down. We know how that will go.
The state is going under, as in literally underwater, like Florida, like coastal areas all around the U.S. And we have likely reached the point, due to neglect, ignorance, and greed, where there isn't a damn thing left we can do about it. One of the great ironies here is that even if you could get pumps and drainage to a point where they got rid of the floods in New Orleans quickly, that would dry out the soil and, as one official put it, "it basically collapses," which makes flooding more likely. The earth is done.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is not only doing nothing to stem the effects of climate change, it's not even enforcing the laws that target polluters.
Back after Katrina in 2005, residents of the destroyed Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans heard rumors that Donald Trump was going to buy up the land there for cheap to build a casino or hotel. They were ready to protest and block it. But that never happened. And now, it's probably too bad because maybe then the president would give a damn.
Update: Not only were the pumps broken, but now a turbine that provides power to many of the pumps has burned out. And officials in charge of the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans lied to the public. Those people have been fired or forced to resign. Until we get this right, it's only a matter of time before the next major flood and the next.
While We're All Freaking Out About North Korea, Trump Also Shit All Over Opioid Addicts (Updated)
So yesterday, President Donald Trump, a human-shaped Home Depot bag stuffed with fertilizer and asbestos, declared that North Korea would face "fire, fury, and...power the likes of which the world has never seen before." And that's fucked up right there. It's sort of like a chimp pissing off a snake. The chimp is gonna win the fight, but it might get the shit bitten out of it.
One thing that's been lost here is that Trump made his typically insane and hyperbolic threat at the end of a statement about the topic he was sitting down to discuss in a side room of the clubhouse of his New Jersey golf resort. That was a meeting with Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price and his political operatives (yes, Jared was there) to get an update on the crisis of opioid addiction and overdose deaths that is fucking up a lot of communities across the nation.
The briefing was either a response to a Fox "news" story (no, really) or to the report that was put out by the Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, led by New Jersey Governor and man most likely to punch someone while holding nachos Chris Christie. Trump had called for the commission to come up with a battle plan to fight the widespread, you know, crisis, as it says in the name there. He even received praise from families of overdose victims for seeming to actually give a shit about it.
Christie's commission's interim report to Trump very specifically and, let's be fair here, strongly talked about the extent of the problem and recommended forceful action: "The first and most urgent recommendation of this Commission is direct and completely within your control. Declare a national emergency under either the Public Health Service Act or the Stafford Act. With approximately 142 Americans dying every day, America is enduring a death toll equal to September 11th every three weeks."
Then the report states quite clearly the effect of such an action: "Your declaration would empower your cabinet to take bold steps and would force Congress to focus on funding and empowering the Executive Branch even further to deal with this loss of life. It would also awaken every American to this simple fact: if this scourge has not found you or your family yet, without bold action by everyone, it soon will."
And it puts this squarely on Trump's shoulders, even appealing to his fragile ego: "You, Mr. President, are the only person who can bring this type of intensity to the emergency and we believe you have the will to do so and to do so immediately." Christie was confident that Trump would accept the recommendations of the commission because
How did Trump respond? Did he rise to the moment and declare a national health emergency, allowing addicts to get treatment more easily under Medicaid? Did he declare he would no longer pursue cuts in funding for addiction treatment? Of course, he didn't. As usual, he did the most dickish thing he could. He blamed the addicts: "The best way to prevent drug addiction and overdose is to prevent people from abusing drugs in the first place. If they don’t start, they won't have a problem. If they do start, it's awfully tough to get off. So we can keep them from going on, and maybe by talking to youth and telling them, 'No good; really bad for you' in every way. But if they don’t start, it will never be a problem."
You got that? Just say, "No," kids. If you get fentanyl to help with your pain from surgery to fix a work-related injury, you need to tell yourself, "No good; really bad for you" as if you didn't know that in the first fucking place. And notice that Trump didn't say a fucking thing about the addicts themselves. Oh, he talked about increasing sentences for drug offenders and once again about his goddamn border enforcement. But he didn't say, and Price later confirmed, that he would declare an emergency. Because health emergencies aren't sexy and don't get good ratings.
By the way, the commission's report didn't mention the border wall at all. So apparently, the members didn't see that as a solution to the problem.
Meanwhile, abuse and deaths are affecting every corner of the country. A record number of overdoses are occurring, with rising numbers nearly everywhere, from Virginia to Oregon. In Indiana, schools have started carrying anti-overdose drugs. And New Hampshire, which Trump called a "drug-infested den," is joining a lawsuit with other states and localities against the maker of OxyContin. The Trump administration has, more or less, punted the whole problem to the states and is pretending that it's doing something when, really, it's failing on this as it's failed on so many other things.
Yeah, Trump's bullshit bluster against North Korea is frightening. But in the same remarks, he shit all over Christie, the commission, and the millions of Americans affected by the opioid crisis. And that's gonna hurt more people than any bullshit dick-measuring between two bloated megalomaniacs.
Update: So Trump did finally declare a national emergency. We shall see if he actually does anything besides say those words.
Your Stupid Fight About Who's a Better Democrat Is Stupid
If my house is ever on fire, I won't give a shit who comes to put it out. I won't ask them who they voted for, I won't ask them where they're from, I won't ask a goddamned thing except that they put the fire out. In fact, while my house is burning, I don't even care if lack of fire safety on the part of the fire department is what caused the fire. I just want the fire out. I wanna make sure everyone in the other apartments get out okay. I want the animals to be safe. I don't want the fire to jump to other buildings on this block. And I wanna try to save some of my shit. I won't stop each firefighter and say, "Whoa, whoa, did you fill up the fire truck with BP gas today? No, you don't get to break down the door and rescue that baby."
And when the fucking fire is out, hopefully there's enough there to rebuild. That's when I'm gonna wanna know: what the hell went wrong? Did the building inspectors fuck up? Can we come up with better ways to fight fires? And do we need to recruit a better group of fire fighters? That's when we should make it better.
The feeling I get when I see the Twitter wars and meme battles on Facebook and Instagram and comment threads of the damned in too many other places is that Democrats across the board just need to shut the fuck up already and fight the fire. For the world is burning before our eyes. One by one, the very things that made the nation a relatively stable liberal democracy (I said, "relatively") are being burned like fields of diseased corn. Donald Trump and Republican majorities in the Congress and in state legislatures around the country are successfully reconfiguring the way the nation functions, right down to the right to vote. If someone is going to put themselves out there to successfully challenge the arsonists, then I'm gonna support them, whether they're a corporate teat-sucker who wants to get back to the pre-Trump status quo or a socialist maniac ready to reconfigure the social contract to make it tilt to the poor and disempowered.
It's not that I'm not taking a side there. It's that I don't think we have the luxury of being able to take sides in that fight right now. People are hurting and are going to be hurt more and more, and a family that is being torn apart by Trump's immigration policies doesn't much care if Kamala Harris is too cozy with Wall Street. Bernie Bros vs. HillBots is a bourgeois luxury that is meaningless to someone who gets cancer because of Trump's environmental deregulation.
As far as the 2016 election goes, I've been pretty clear: We don't know how Bernie Sanders, who I supported in the primaries, would have done against Trump because he never had the full force of the Republican machine focused on him. And Hillary Clinton should have done many things differently, like gone after Trump's business record and created more ads about issues. But, in the general election, the media was complicit in making Clinton seem like she was dirty. Mostly, though, too many of us underestimated how easily racism and hatred and ignorance could be exploited across the country. The "lesson" of the 2016 election is to own the goddamn narrative. The tricky part is how to do that.
And even though whenever I say that I think the fight among Democrats is bullshit, it's automatically assumed that I'm just shitting on the socialist/Bernie side of the Democratic Party. But I'm not. I'm actually way more aligned with the socialists in my beliefs than I am with the more mainstream Democrats. I want the most progressive elements of the party to take over and win elections. Yet I'm not on their side in this internecine conflict. I'm just on the side of whatever the fuck gets us out of this Trump clusterfuck of disastrous policies, destruction of the mechanisms of government, and degradation of the presidency. I don't care if it's the Russia investigation, the emoluments clause, the 25th Amendment, the "Deep State," or the 2018 midterms.
When Barack Obama was running, I was all-in on supporting him, fully aware that he was a moderate-liberal who had ties to Wall Street. But the nation couldn't take another Republican presidency, so I gladly let the Obama campaign go balls deep in my face and I swallowed happily. However, after the election, I thought that the time to push the party further left had arrived, and, if you take the time to read (I've been doing this shit for nearly 14 years), I was mightily critical of Obama and his hawkishness and approach to the health care debate and of the Democrats in Congress who needed to be challenged from the left. And I've been critical of corporate funding of candidates for years before Citizens United.
Right now, I'm mostly giving a shit about 2018. I'm not thinking about 2020; that's what primary fights are for and let's save that until after 2018. I'm giving a shit about governors' races and state races. I'm giving a shit about the House of Representatives. I want people to run who are going to stop the hemorrhaging. And, yeah, there are a few fucking non-negotiable things they need to support, like the right to choose on abortion, support for the ACA (with single payer down the road), climate change, and sane, compassionate immigration reform. I wanna get kickass candidates like Randy Bryce in Wisconsin and Amy McGrath in Kentucky.
And if you wanna wallow around, whining that the DNC was mean to your candidate or that leftist dudes are douches, well, it's your time to waste. Meanwhile, Republicans are closing in on being able to call a constitutional convention and let ALEC rewrite the thing.
In 2010, a whole fuckload of people who voted in 2008 didn't show up. If you don't show up in 2018, then whatever you believe is as worthless as the monetary value of your angry tweets.
Let's save the country first. We're in a political crisis that is about a year or so from becoming a civil rights crisis and, possibly, a violent crisis, if Trump is indicted. And if he's not, then we're gonna be in an economic crisis or just fucked by the climate relatively soon. Saving the country might mean you gotta suck it up, sunshine, and vote for a "corporatist" or a Democratic Socialist. Whatever your purity is, save it. I'm not playing this dumbass game right now. I've got fires to extinguish.
Once we do get the reins of at least some of the government back, we can have our pissing match.
(Note 1: If your response of "We'll never save the country if we don't totally agree with my side," hey, good luck. And you might wanna respond "Aren't you just telling everyone to agree with you?" Well, I don't think anyone disagrees with "Put out the raging fire in any way you can.")
(Note 2: Your variations on the burning house metaphor are adorable. Pat yourself on the back if you're thinking, "Well, the fire was started by Bernie voters" or "The DNC is the arsonist, man." And keep it the fuck to yourself.)
How Racist Can the White House Get? (Answer: Very)
The last couple of days have been banner ones for racists of just about every stripe, from backwoods yahoo country fucks to ostensibly educated white nationalist shit crumbs, from pandering politicians to true believers. Let's just run it down:
1. The Department of Justice is exploring whether the federal government should be "suing universities over affirmative action admissions policies deemed to discriminate against white applicants." It's as if they believe that diversity on college campuses is a bad thing, probably because it makes people more sympathetic to people of other races. And how can you have a race war if that happens?
2. President Donald Trump announced his support for the RAISE Act, which is an anodyne acronym masking a shitty policy. It looks to cut in half the number of legal immigrants coming into the country, and it emphasizes skilled workers who can speak English. Oh, and only spouses and children can come over with immigrants.
When nutzoid hate-filled jizz goblin Stephen Miller, a senior policy advisor and winner of "Man Who Most Looks Like a Star Trek Alien" was asked about the racist implications of the proposal, he went into an outrage froth that coated the gathered reporters in a glistening film of saliva. It reached a spittle-flecked climax when Miller attacked CNN's Jim Acosta for daring to suggest that one purpose of the bill might be to bring in more white people, saying that "it reveals your cosmopolitan bias to a shocking degree." Fuck's sake, "cosmopolitan" means you give a shit about the world. The opposite of "cosmopolitan" is, more or less, "xenophobic." Or it's just an anti-Semitic dog whistle (which is extra weird since Miller is Jewish). Either way, between that and a bizarro attack on the meaning of the Statue of Liberty, it was a fucking train wreck of an appearance.
3. The Washington Post printed transcripts of Trump's late January phone calls with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. While they are masterpieces of fuckery, dickishness, and doltishness, it's also worth pointing out how fucking openly racist Trump is willing to go when talking about refugees.
When Turnbull presses Trump on honoring a deal on at least vetting refugees to possibly take them into the United States, Trump goes twitchy with paranoia. He knocks Cubans: "You remember the Mariel boat lift, where Castro let everyone out of prison and Jimmy Carter accepted them with open arms. These were brutal people." Yeah, see only 2% of the 125,000 Cubans who came here in 1980 were deemed criminals who needed to be deported. The rest fucking made Miami what it is today. (Oddly, Miller brought up the Mariel boat lift in his remarks yesterday. These Trumpers are consistent in their assholery.)
Then, after Turnbull insists that the U.S. live up to its obligations, something Trump is well-known not to give a flying rat fuck about, the president says of the refugees who have been living in horrific conditions on islands off Australia, "I hate taking these people. I guarantee you they are bad. That is why they are in prison right now. They are not going to be wonderful people who go on to work for the local milk people...maybe you should let them out of prison." Who knows where all these milk jobs are, but Trump equates "refugee camp" with "prison," which would probably shock a lot of the little children who are there.
This shit is so blatant it'd make a robed KKK member say, "Whoa, a little obvious there, fella."
Look, we know Trump is racist. We knew it for years, from the Central Park Five to birtherism to the Muslim travel ban. It has been one of his most consistent traits. And we know that Trump has surrounded himself with racists, with people who are directly connected to white nationalist groups. And we know that Trump's supporters are racist (yeah, you are, fuck off).
And now we're seeing the policy implications of that. Trump used to ask various non-white groups, "What the hell do you have to lose?" in electing him. It's pretty clear that the answer is "a future."
Another Day, Another Trump Interview Full of Sadness, Desperation, Evil, and Hyperbole
It's from last week, but Politico has published the full transcript of President Donald Trump's interview with the Wall Street Journal (motto: "We really want Trump to give us a reacharound"). You might know it as "That time the president talked smack about his attorney general." But, as usual, it's filled with a Willy-Loman-esque mixture of the pathetic, the mad, and the hyperbolic.
For instance, told that the response to his Boy Scouts Jamboree "speech" (if by "speech," you mean, "An uninspiring ramble through tales of liquor and sex and political horseshit") was "mixed," Trump short-circuited: "I’d be the first to admit mixed. I’m a guy that will tell you mixed. There was no mix there. That was a standing ovation from the time I walked out to the time I left, and for five minutes after I had already gone. There was no mix." At that point, if you're from the Journal, you might be tempted to tell him to shut the fuck up and stop repeating the word "mix."
But with Trump, if you're gonna describe something, you tell everyone it's the best, the top, or, in this case, "I got a call from the head of the Boy Scouts saying it was the greatest speech that was ever made to them, and they were very thankful." Motherfucker, in 1969, Neil Armstrong sent a message from fuckin' space. In 1973, fuckin' Bob Hope and Danny Thomas spoke at the Jamboree. In 1989, Steven fuckin' Spielberg talked to the scouts. And you can bet he didn't bring up his rich friends who lost money or his election win. Oh, and Trump never got the call from the Boy Scouts. So either he's lying or some staff member called him up and pretended to be from the BSA to soothe Trump's fragile ego bone.
Speaking of, it is as true as mathematical rule that, if he's talking for more than 2 minutes, Trump will brag about his election victory. Asked about whether or not it will be tough to work with Democrats in Congress on things like infrastructure, Trump said (and this is quoted extensively because it's goddamned madness), "Well, they tried – they tried it with me. She spent hundreds of millions of dollars on negative ads. She didn’t do a positive ad, virtually. And she lost easily, you know, 306 to 223 I think, right – 223, something like that. That’s a lot. And she – they tried it. I mean, honestly, they – the ads were coming at me. Hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of negative ads. And when people went into the voter booth, they didn’t know what she stood for." "She" is Hillary Clinton. And, no, Trump never answered the question because he's too fucking dumb to understand it.
Look at his child-like wonder at the population of other countries: "You know, a lot of people say – they say, well, but the United States is large. And then you call places like Malaysia, Indonesia, and you say, you know, how many people do you have? And it’s pretty amazing how many people they have." I mean, seriously, it's like having Lennie from Of Mice and Men as president. Soon, he'll be crushing bunny heads and saying how "We'll live off the fat of the land!"
But then there's the truly fucked-up stuff, like Trump's solution to unemployment in a region: "I’m going to start explaining to people when you have an area that just isn’t working – like upper New York state, where people are getting very badly hurt – and then you’ll have another area 500 miles away where you can’t – you can’t get people." He is not, as you can see, proposing that these unemployed, broke Americans get any help with moving 500 miles away.
So, to help, he is telling people to just not pay their mortgages anymore. No, really: "You know, a lot of them don’t leave because of their house. Because they say, gee, my house, I thought it was worth 70,000 (dollars) and now it’s worth nothing. It’s OK. Go, cut your losses, right?" He's telling people that they can just walk away from their houses, likely underwater at this point, and they'll be okay. Except, of course, their credit will be destroyed, they won't have a place to live, and the job is probably gonna pay shit wages because 500 miles away is non-union territory. Fuck, does he expect Russian mobsters and oligarchs to bail out everyone like they saved his worthless ass?
(And, by the way, why isn't this remark getting more attention? Banks would be fucked again if thousands more people defaulted on their mortgages. It's dangerously reckless talk.)
In the course of the rest of the interview, Trump shits on Jeff Sessions, who, to be fair, probably normally pays people to do that, says the demonstrably wrong "I make good deals. I don’t make bad deals. I make good deals," claims he has nothing to do with Russia, and really, really wants Hillary Clinton investigated: "[W]e should really look at real crimes, because real crimes are what Hillary did with 33,000 emails, where she deleted them and bleached them after getting a subpoena. Real crimes are what’s happening and what happened with the uranium deal."
It probably doesn't even need to be mentioned that Trump quotes Fox "news" as his source of information multiple times throughout the interview.
The only thing saving us right now is that he's just a dumb lump of shit, incapable of seeing past his own shitty self, surrounded by other lumps of shit who, fortunately, are mostly concerned with trying to get themselves gilded in gold.
P.S. And the fucker cheats at golf and called the White House "a real dump."
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Russian Rulers History Russia's rich and beautiful history through its rulers from Rurik to Putin
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Time of Troubles #12 Seminal Moment
By Mark Schauss on August 20, 2013 in Lists, Old Russia, Revolution, Russian Royal Family
The Appeal of Minin during the Time of Troubles
The Time of Troubles, it could be argued, could be listed as the greatest threat to Russia’s existence but as for important events, I have it ranked only number twelve for a number of reasons. Granted, it was a troublesome time to be a Russian with the great famine killing one-third the populace of the country. It also saw the Bolotnikov Rebellion, which showed the great rift between the haves and the have-nots. And of course, its end gave us the first in a long line of Romanov Tsars.
When looking back at the Time of Troubles, you see a number of events within its time frame of that influenced the future of Russia. One of the most important ones is the edict by Tsar Vasily Shuisky to lengthen the time that serfs could be hunted down and returned to their masters from 5 years to 15. That would expand during later rulers but it set the precedent and locked the serfs down in no uncertain terms.
The Time of Troubles also marks the end of the Rurik Dynasty with the death of Tsar Feodor, son of Ivan the Terrible. The Rurik Dynasty had lasted from 862 – 1598, a period of over 700 years. Had Ivan not killed his more able bodied son Ivan Ivanovich, it may have lasted much longer and may not have had to suffer through the Time of Troubles.
It also marked one of the high points in Russian unity and pride, especially after the expulsion of the Poles from Moscow in 1612 under the leadership of Kuzma Minin, a Nizhny Novgorod merchant, and Prince Pozharsky. The groundswell of support was crucial in the survival of the country and had it not happened, we likely would not know the country of Russia as we know it.
While it is a critical time in Russian history, it ranks far below some of the others that I will be addressing in the coming weeks.
Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich
By Mark Schauss on June 13, 2013 in Communist Party, Russian Royal Family, Tsar
Presumptive Tsar Michael Romanov
Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich was the youngest son of Tsar Alexander III of Russia. He was asked to be Tsar after Nicholas II abdicated in 1917 but he never accepted. He was imprisoned by the Bolsheviks and murdered in 1918 at the age of 39.
Born on December 4, 1878 at Anichkov Palace on Nevsky Prospekt in Saint Petersburg, Michael was the youngest of three boys with only one younger sister. Like his siblings, he had little real Russian blood in him as maternal grandparents were King Christian IX of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Kassel. His grandmother on his father’s side was Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine).
After his grandfather, Tsar Alexander II was assassinated in 1881, the family was moved to the Gatchina Palace which was 29 miles south of Saint Petersburg. It was considered a safer place for the family at the time. Grand Duke Michael while leading a privileged life, did not live opulently at Gatchina. His father was a strict and solemn man who believed in discipline and a plainer life.
His younger sister Olga nicknamed him Floppy because of his propensity to flop into chairs; while his elder brother and parents called him Misha. While his father was a arch conservative, he was a loving man and his death when Grand Duke Michael was only 15 was hard on the boy.
He joined the military and was attached to the Horse Guards Artillery. Grand Duke Michael was third in line for the throne when Alexander III died but moved up one spot when his older brother George died in a motorcycle accident. At that moment, he was next in line until Nicholas and his wife Alexandra gave birth to the Tsarevich Alexei.
Michael’s romantic life was somewhat scandalous as he married a lower class woman, Natalia Sergeyevna Wulfert. Because of this, Nicholas II stripped Michael of his standing in the family and banished him from Russia until the outbreak of World War I.
Grand Duke Michael was a highly respected and popular military leader, unlike his older brother. He served his country well despite their woefully poor army. After the revolution caused his brother to abdicate, Michael was arrested on August 21, 1917 but released soon there after. On March 7, 1918 he was rearrested and executed on June 13th. He was the first of the Romanov’s to be murdered and certainly not the last.
Peter I – #2 Best Russian Ruler
By Mark Schauss on May 16, 2013 in Peter the Great, Russian Empire, Russian Royal Family, Tsar
Tsar Peter The Great
Peter I, better known to the world as Peter the Great, thrust Russia onto the world stage by westernizing it despite bitter opposition from both the boyars and the population at large. His immense personality and 6′ 8″ stature was an imposing figure over the vast Russian Empire, an empire he helped create. Peter I guided Russia towards Europe and away from its Oriental past. He also set the stage for Catherine the Great, Alexander I and II who were to take their country to its pinnacle.
Peter does not go without some major criticisms, issues that keep him from being my selection as the best ruler of all time. The large number of deaths that he caused with the building of St. Petersburg comes to mind. His parenting of his son, Alexei, who was to be his heir, was dismal. His son died in prison, having been convicted of trying to overthrow his father. Because of this, he threw the issue of succession into a gray area. This problem was “solved” by Paul I in a way that helped cause the demise of the Romanov dynasty under Nicholas II.
Even with these not so small issues, Peter, according to historian James Cracraft, led a cultural revolution that replaced the traditionalist and medieval social and political system with a modern, scientific, Europe-oriented, and rationalist system.
His victories over Charles XII in the Great Northern War put Russia into the forefront as a global power. That and the numerous reforms to the government and to society, with the Table of Ranks being one of his major accomplishments. When Peter died on February 8, 1725, he had ruled Russia either alone, or with his half brother and sister Ivan and Sofia for forty two years. His mark on Russia continues to this day and has influenced all of the rulers of Russia after him.
Nicholas II – #2 Worst Russian Ruler
By Mark Schauss on May 15, 2013 in Revolution, Russian Empire, Russian Royal Family, Tsar
Emperor Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II, the son of the reactionary Tsar Alexander III, comes in as the second worst Russian ruler of all time. In my opinion, his lack of leadership, poor timing, and his clinging to a form of government that no longer fit the time, makes him one of the worst. The man was a very pious ruler but it could not make up for the pile up of bad decisions he made. The decisions led to the murder of his family and the end of over three hundred years of Romanov rule.
Now known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church, he was born on May 16, 1868 at Tsarskoye Selo, St. Petersburg. When he took over from his father in 1894, he represented a Russian leadership that was anything but Russian. When he was born, he was probably 97% German and only 3% Russian. To top it off, he married Alix of Hesse, another German princess which did not sit well with many in Russia.
Now, not everything that went wrong during his reign should be blamed on Nicholas as his father was the one who decided against training him for the position. This was done despite urgent pleas from Finance Minister Serge Witte. Alexander III believed that he was young and strong and that his son was too immature to handle the rigorous training. This was to prove a fatal mistake.
His list of mistakes is long starting with the decision to not go to the people after the tragedy at Khodynka Field during his coronation ceremony. From there, things only got worse. He allowed his country to go to two wars, the Russo-Japanese and World War I, despite his country being terribly ill prepared. His vacillation on the idea of forming a constitutional monarchy because of his steadfast belief in his God given right to be Emperor.
Looking back at the man, one cannot feel sorry for him as he is one of those truly tragic historical figures. Still, his ineptness led to a great deal of suffering for the Russian people with the coming of the Bolsheviks. I truly believe that he wanted to help his people, he just didn’t know how.
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Paul I – #3 Worst Russian Ruler
By Mark Schauss on April 21, 2013 in Catherine the Great, Lists, Russian Empire, Russian Royal Family, Tsar
Paul I of Russia, whose mother was Catherine the Great, clocks in as the third worst ruler in Russian history. Born on September 20, 1754, Paul Petrovich was supposedly the son of Tsarevich Peter and his wife Catherine. It is more than likely the actual father was Sergei Saltykov. When he was born, he was taken away from his mother and was raised by Empress Elizabeth until he was eight years old. When Elizabeth passed away in 1762 he was surrounded by tutors such as Nikita Panin but his mother had little to do with him.
His early childhood would shape his mind set as he became entranced with military parades and processions. This would become an abnormal obsession when he and his second wife, Maria Fiodorovna, lived at the estate at Gatchina. There, Paul had his own personal army, which he ruled over, sometimes quite cruelly.
After his mother died, he decided to reverse many of Catherine’s decrees, known as ukases. During his five year reign, Paul issued over two thousand ukases. It was his first domestic ukase in April of 1797 that lands him on this list as one of the worst Russian rulers. His idea of male primogeniture for the succession to the throne doomed the Romanov family. Instead of being able to select the best member of the family, male or female, the first born male had to become Tsar. The culmination of this rule was the ascension of Nicholas II, a man ill-suited for the position by his own admission.
While this ukase was a terrible blunder, if that was all Paul had done wrong, I would have dropped him down the list. Instead, he alienated the nobility with higher taxes, reintroducing corporal punishment for the nobility, and randomly sending people into exile to show off his unlimited power. He then angered the military by changing to a more Prussian model.
By 1801, his vacillation between supporting Britain or France was thought of as dangerous for Russia by many members of the court. A plot was hatched to remove Paul from the throne and replace him with his son Alexander, someone who Catherine had preferred. In March of 1801, A number of men stormed into his room and brutally murdered the Tsar. It is unlikely that his son was in on the assassination plan but was probably made aware that his father was to be taken off the throne.
Catherine II – #4 Best Russian Ruler
By Mark Schauss on April 17, 2013 in Catherine the Great, Peter the Great, Russian Empire, Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Royal Family, Tsar
Catherine posing for the painter Rokotov.
Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great makes it to #4 on my list as best Russian ruler. Born in 1729 in Stettin, Prussia as Sophia Augusta Fredricka, she was betrothed to the orphaned grandson of Peter the Great whom she married in 1745. This loveless marriage was to produce one son, likely not her husband’s, a boy who would become Paul I. The one most associated with fathering Paul was Sergei Saltykov.
Her early years in the court of Empress Elizabeth were difficult. The empress was a controlling women who had little tolerance for independent thinkers such as Catherine. She wrote a autobiography of the times in the court of Elizabeth which showed how isolated she felt.
When Elizabeth died, Catherine’s husband, now known as Peter III, assumed the throne. He proved to be extremely unpopular in the court as he ended the war with Prussia and immediately declared was on Denmark. To make things worse, he alienated the house guard units and the influential Russian Orthodox Church. There was one issue that made Catherine nervous and that was the very real threat of her being divorced and sent to a convent as he had taken and flaunted his mistress Yekaterina Dashkova.
On July 9, 1762, Peter III was deposed and strangled to death. Some believe Catherine was in on the murder but that is highly unlikely. The new empress was crowned on October 3rd of the same year and quickly consolidated her power. She quickly began to focus the early years of her reign on the promotion of administrative efficiency and expansion of educational opportunities. Catherine was also a patron of the arts as seen by her founding of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.
Her international flair culminated in the victorious Russo-Turkish which was somewhat tarnished by a domestic rebellion. Emelian Pugachev led thousands of disgruntled Cossacks and serfs in 1773-75. The city of Kazan was burned by the rebels but their army was eventually brutally quashed by the Russian army.
She did much to raise the world’s image of Russia and greatly improved the administration of local laws and taxes within the country. While she has numerous flaws, overall Catherine made Russia a better place than she left it. Unfortunately, her son Paul I, would unravel much of her work and put the Romanov dynasty on a death spiral that would culminate with the abdication of Nicholas II in 1917.
Boris Godunov – #5 Worst Russian Ruler
By Mark Schauss on March 5, 2013 in Old Russia, Russian Royal Family
Tsar Boris Godunov
Boris Godunov, was the ruler of Russia directly before the Time of Troubles. While this in and of itself is bad enough it is his 1597 decree which tied the peasants to the land, thereby officially legitimizing serfdom that places him on this list of worst Russian rulers. His rule though had a number of positives but his edict tying the peasantry to the land trumps any good he did.
Born in 1551, Boris Godunov’s family was of Tatar origin being descendants of the Mongol Horde. We first learn about him in 1570 when he is mentioned as an archer of the guard during a campaign in Serpeisk. He became an oprichnik, a member of the secret police. Boris eventually married Maria Grigorievna Skuratova-Belskaya daughter of the head of the Oprichnina which benefited his career.
Eventually Boris Godunov made his way into the court of Ivan the Terrible because of the marriage between Boris’s daughter Irina Godunova and the Tsar’s second son and future Tsar Feodor. It was an unusual match as Feodor was only 14 and Irina was 24 which was considered old for a marriage. It is likely that it was because of his feeble mindedness that a women of her age was chosen. At the time of the wedding in 1580 Boris Godunov was elevated to the position of boyar.
Before his death Ivan the Terrible, decided that a council led by Boris Godunov, Feodor Nikitich Romanov, Vasili Shuiski would guide his weak minded son. This effectively put a great deal of power into Boris’s hands as his daughter was the new Tsar’s wife. When Tsar Feodor died in 1598 there was one person who was left related to Ivan IV and that was his child Dmitri. The church did not recognize the relation as it was Ivan’s child from his 7th wife but Godunov took no chances. He had the child and mother sent into exile but a few years later the child died. The manner of his death, self-inflicted stabbing while having a seizure was questionable at best.
A Zemsky Sobor was held to choose a new Tsar and Boris Godunov was selected. His reign, which lasted from 1598 to 1605 started out as a prosperous time but that changed with the famine times between 1601-1603. The Tsar was blamed for the bad times as many believed it was punishment for the murder of Dmitri. When Godunov died in 1605 few mourned his passing. The country quickly disintegrated into chaos and plunged into war against competing factions for control of Russia.
Nicholas I – #6 Worst Russian Ruler
By Mark Schauss on January 22, 2013 in Russian Empire, Russian Royal Family, Tsar
Tsar Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas Pavlovich Romanov (Episodes 56 and 57) was born on July 6, 1796 to Empress Maria Feodorovna and Tsar Paul I in Gatchina. His reign, which lasted for thirty years from 1825 to 1855 was marked numerous crises and a nation changing revolt. While the revolt, by the Decembrists, was ultimately a failure, it lit the torch of dissent that would eventual lead to the overthrow of Nicholas II in 1917.
The younger brother of Alexander I, the Tsar Liberator, Nicholas became the most autocratic and oppressive of the Tsar’s. His ascension to the throne and his death in 1855 were framed by two events, the Decembrist Revolt and the Crimean War. Both were disasters with the former showing the dissatisfaction with the monarchy and the latter causing unbelievable misery to the Russian troops.
As the third son of Paul I, he was not considered Tsar material. His older brothers, Alexander and Constantine were the two who were groomed to lead. Nicholas was given a strict Prussian style military education per the instructions of his father. This led Nicholas to view everything during his rule as a military exercise.
In 1819, his father, Alexander I made a surprise visit on Nicholas at his Anichkov Palace home. He was there to announce that he, rather than Constantine would be the next Tsar as his older brother renounced his succession. The problem was, this decision was to be kept private which would cause problems when Alexander passed away in 1825.
When his father died in November of 1825, Nicholas initially pledged allegiance to Constantine but after his brother again denounced his claim, Nicholas announced that he would take the throne. This did not please many in the military and with the gentry as they knew that the new Tsar would be a overly conservative one. This led to a number of officers to rebel. The Decembrist Uprising was quickly and brutally crushed with five conspirators executed. The rest were exiled to Siberia.
From here, Nicholas’s rule was marked by his mistrust of the gentry and his belief that only through autocracy and the Romanov’s in particular, could Russia be ruled effectively. He turned Russia into a police state, setting up a spy network that would continue on until 1917 and then get transformed into the secret police of the Soviet Union.
The condition of the millions of serfs were discussed and a recommendation of freedom for them was made, but Nicholas could not agree to this. He believed that while serfdom was evil, freeing them would be even worse. This fact alone would have put him on this list but what he did next cemented his legacy as one of the worst rulers.
When he took over in 1825, Nicholas continued trying to expand the Russian Empire, especially southward towards the Ottoman Empire. In 1853, the Tsar provoked a war with the Ottoman’s over the control of the Holy Land. What Nicholas did not comprehend was French and British concerns over Russian aggression. They joined with the Ottoman’s, much to the surprise of the Tsar. The coming Crimean War, was a total disaster for the Russians. Thousands of brave soldiers died for naught. Nicholas would not see the end of the war as he died on February 18th, 1855. The Russian Empire was at its largest but, because of the outcome of the war, it would be greatly reduced.
His legacy is one of an autocratic, unbending and uncaring militarist who was more concerned with his status that the well being of his people. This is what puts him on this list.
Elizabeth I – #7 Best Russian Ruler
By Mark Schauss on January 20, 2013 in Military Actions, Peter the Great, Russian Empire, Russian Royal Family, Tsar
Portrait of Elizabeth I of Russia
Elizabeth I (Episodes 40 & 41), daughter of Peter the Great and his wife Catherine I, was one of the most liked of the Russian Tsar’s because of her refusal to execute anyone during her reign. She also led Russia through two of Europe’s most important conflicts, the War of Austrian Succession (1740–8) and the Seven Years’ War (1756–63). Elizabeth spent huge sums of money on The Winter Palace and the Smolny Cathedral which are some of the most beautiful buildings in the world.
She was born on December 29, 1709 to Peter the Great and his wife Catherine but their marriage was not announced until 1712. This caused Elizabeth’s enemies to later use this issue to claim that she was illegitimate. Her father’s intention was to have her marry young Louis XV of France but they declined as they felt that her mother’s low birth status was below them. Her eventual betrothal was to one Prince Karl Augustus of Holstein-Gottorp, son of Christian Augustus, Prince of Eutin. Unfortunately for Elizabeth, Prince Karl died a few days after the betrothal.
When Peter II came to power in 1727, Elizabeth was banished from the court. Peter, the grandson of Peter the Great was controlled by the old boyar family the Dolgorukii’s who despise Peter the Great’s reforms. When Tsarina Anna took control, she was still not allowed to take part in the court. Her anger stewed in her but there was little she could do. If she married below her status, she would lose everything. But, much to her chagrin, no noble family would approach her as she had no standing at the Russian court. Because of this, she was said to have had numerous affairs with commoners over the years.
When she finally deposed Ivan VI in 1742 and had him locked up, with the help of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, she asked them, “”Who do you want to serve? Me, the natural sovereign, or those who have stolen my inheritance?” Elizabeth decided right away to clean up the corruption and get rid of the German advisers that many in the Russian hierarchy despised.
She then began to rule her country by starting with the signing the Treaty of Åbo, which arch enemy Sweden which ceded much of Finland to the Russian empire. Elizabeth was smart to surround herself with brilliant advisers, none more so than Aleksey Petrovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin. His deftness in foreign negotiations were important factors in helping Russia expand its borders.
Her handling of the major European conflict, the Seven Years War helped elevate Russia in the eyes of Europe. The main reason for Elizabeth’s intervention in the war was her deep dislike for the Prussian ruler, Frederick the Great. She would have succeeded in crushing him except that she died before she was able to complete the job.
During her reign she had to come up with an heir to her throne as she was childless. Her selection was Peter of Holstein-Gottorp her nephew. Next up was the choice of a bride which was settled on when Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst was selected and given the Russian name of Catherine in honor of Elizabeth’s mother. The child the two supposedly had would be known as Paul and will come up in the future as one of the worst rulers of Russia.
When Elizabeth died in December of 1761 (Old Calender), Russia had expanded greatly and had taken center stage in European politics. Her refusal to execute anyone led her to be loved by the people. While extravagant in her personal life, she did expand support for the arts and was one of the most prolific of the rulers in the building of churches.
Alexander III – #8 On The Worst List
By Mark Schauss on January 3, 2013 in Russian Empire, Russian Royal Family, Tsar
Tsar Alexander III of Russia
Alexander III, Tsar of Russia from March 13, 1881 until November 1, 1894 is number eight on my list as worst Russian rulers. His list of mistakes and conservative backlash after the assassination of his father Alexander II, makes his place on this list a solid one.
On March 13th, 1881, assassins killed Alexander III’s father just before he was to make an announcement that he would propose a change to a constitutional monarchy for Russia. This would have been a monumental move that likely would have staved off the Bolshevik Revolution and the subsequent Russian Civil War. Alexander III came to power that same day amidst the horror of his father’s murder and he immediately stopped all talk of reform.
His education was not of one who was about to become a ruler but one of a Grand Duke. His older brother Nicholas was being groomed to succeed his father. Unfortunately for Russia, Nicholas died in 1865 of meningitis during a visit to Nice, France. The education of the new Tsarevich was now given up to one Konstantin Pobedonostsev who was an arch conservative and fanatical supporter of the Russian Orthodox Church. He made it known that he disagreed with many of his father’s reforms so when the radical group Narodnaya Volya killed Alexander II, the die was cast.
His policy was guided by the idea of Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality. It was developed initially by Sergei Uvarov, a minister under both Alexander I and Nicholas I. The idea was a response to the post-Napoleonic world where monarchies throughout Europe were propped back up and liberal reform was halted. As Uvarov wrote, “It is our common obligation to ensure that the education of the people be conducted, according to Supreme intention of our August Monarch, in the joint spirit of Orthodoxy, Autocracy and Nationality. I am convinced that every professor and teacher, being permeated by one and the same feeling of devotion to the throne and fatherland, will use all his resources to become a worthy tool for the government and to earn its complete confidence.”
His policies caused the people to be more frustrated and angry with the Tsar and his ministers. Alexander also tried to increase suppression of any one suspected of liberal sentiment which even angered many of the elite members of society. But his lack of preparation of his son Nicholas was to be the undoing of the Romanov’s.
Alexander III was a powerfully built man, standing at around 6 feet. He was considered quite healthy and that his reign would last a lot longer than it did. When he died of nephritis in 1894, Nicholas was totally unprepared to assume the throne. This unpreparedness was to cause a series of errors of judgement that caused the collapse of the dynasty after 300 years of existence.
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The World Population: 7,323,187,457
Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology, from the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (US) to the landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western alliance and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living standards in North America, Europe, and Japan; (g) increased concerns about environmental degradation including deforestation, energy and water shortages, declining biological diversity, and air pollution; (h) the onset of the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate emergence of the US as the only world superpower. The planet's population continues to explode: from 1 billion in 1820 to 2 billion in 1930, 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1987, 6 billion in 1999, and 7 billion in 2012. For the 21st century, the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g., advances in medicine and agriculture) and fears (e.g., development of even more lethal weapons of war).
The world is now thought to be about 4.55 billion years old, just about one-third of the 13.8-billion-year age estimated for the universe
Area: total: 510.072 million sq km
land: 148.94 million sq km
water: 361.132 million sq km
note: 70.9% of the world's surface is water, 29.1% is land
Size comparison: land area about 16 times the size of the US top fifteen World Factbook entities ranked by size: Pacific Ocean 155.557 million sq km; Atlantic Ocean 76.762 million sq km; Indian Ocean 68.556 million sq km; Southern Ocean 20.327 million sq km; Russia 17,098,242 sq km; Arctic Ocean 14.056 million sq km; Antarctica 14 million sq km; Canada 9,984,670 sq km; United States 9,826,675 sq km; China 9,596,960 sq km; Brazil 8,515,770 sq km; Australia 7,741,220 sq km; European Union 4,324,782 sq km; India 3,287,263 sq km; Argentina 2,780,400 sq km top ten largest water bodies: Pacific Ocean 155.557 million sq km; Atlantic Ocean 76.762 million sq km; Indian Ocean 68.556 million sq km; Southern Ocean 20.327 million sq km; Arctic Ocean 14.056 million sq km; Coral Sea 4,184,100 sq km; South China Sea 3,595,900 sq km; Caribbean Sea 2.834 million sq km; Bering Sea 2.52 million sq km; Mediterranean Sea 2.469 million sq km top ten largest landmasses: Asia 44,568,500 sq km; Africa 30.065 million sq km; North America 24.473 million sq km; South America 17.819 million sq km; Antarctica 14 million sq km; Europe 9.948 million sq km; Australia 7,741,220 sq km; Greenland 2,166,086 sq km; New Guinea 785,753 sq km; Borneo 751,929 sq km top ten largest islands: Greenland 2,166,086 sq km; New Guinea (Indonesia, Papua New Guinea) 785,753 sq km; Borneo (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia) 751,929 sq km; Madagascar 587,713 sq km; Baffin Island (Canada) 507,451 sq km; Sumatra (Indonesia) 472,784 sq km; Honshu (Japan) 227,963 sq km; Victoria Island (Canada) 217,291 sq km; Great Britain (United Kingdom) 209,331 sq km; Ellesmere Island (Canada) 196,236 sq km ten smallest independent countries: Holy See (Vatican City) 0.44 sq km; Monaco 2 sq km; Nauru 21 sq km; Tuvalu 26 sq km; San Marino 61 sq km; Liechtenstein 160 sq km; Marshall Islands 181 sq km; Saint Kitts and Nevis 261 sq km; Maldives 298 sq km; Malta 316 sq km
Land Boundaries: the land boundaries in the world total 251,060 km (not counting shared boundaries twice); two nations, China and Russia, each border 14 other countries note: 46 nations and other areas are landlocked, these include: Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, South Sudan, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe; two of these, Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan, are doubly landlocked
Coastline: 356,000 km note: 95 nations and other entities are islands that border no other countries, they include: American Samoa, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Ashmore and Cartier Islands, The Bahamas, Bahrain, Baker Island, Barbados, Bermuda, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cabo Verde, Cayman Islands, Christmas Island, Clipperton Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Comoros, Cook Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Cuba, Curacao, Cyprus, Dominica, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), Faroe Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Greenland, Grenada, Guam, Guernsey, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Howland Island, Iceland, Isle of Man, Jamaica, Jan Mayen, Japan, Jarvis Island, Jersey, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Kiribati, Madagascar, Maldives, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mayotte, Federated States of Micronesia, Midway Islands, Montserrat, Nauru, Navassa Island, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Palmyra Atoll, Paracel Islands, Philippines, Pitcairn Islands, Puerto Rico, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Singapore, Sint Maarten, Solomon Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Spratly Islands, Sri Lanka, Svalbard, Taiwan, Tokelau, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Virgin Islands, Wake Island, Wallis and Futuna
Maritime claims: a variety of situations exist, but in general, most countries make the following claims measured from the mean low-tide baseline as described in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea: territorial sea - 12 nm, contiguous zone - 24 nm, and exclusive economic zone - 200 nm; additional zones provide for exploitation of continental shelf resources and an exclusive fishing zone; boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 nm
Climate: a wide equatorial band of hot and humid tropical climates, bordered north and south by subtropical temperate zones that separate two large areas of cold and dry polar climates
Terrain: the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at -10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean
Natural resources: the rapid depletion of nonrenewable mineral resources, the depletion of forest areas and wetlands, the extinction of animal and plant species, and the deterioration in air and water quality (especially in some countries of Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China) pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only beginning to address
Irrigated land: 3,242,917 sq km (2012 est.)
Natural hazards: large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones); natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions) volcanism: volcanism is a fundamental driver and consequence of plate tectonics, the physical process reshaping the Earth's lithosphere; the world is home to more than 1,500 potentially active volcanoes, with over 500 of these having erupted in historical times; an estimated 500 million people live near these volcanoes; associated dangers include lava flows, lahars (mudflows), pyroclastic flows, ash clouds, ash fall, ballistic projectiles, gas emissions, landslides, earthquakes, and tsunamis; in the 1990s, the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, created a list of 16 Decade Volcanoes worthy of special study because of their great potential for destruction: Avachinsky-Koryaksky (Russia), Colima (Mexico), Etna (Italy), Galeras (Colombia), Mauna Loa (United States), Merapi (Indonesia), Nyiragongo (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Rainier (United States), Sakurajima (Japan), Santa Maria (Guatemala), Santorini (Greece), Taal (Philippines), Teide (Spain), Ulawun (Papua New Guinea), Unzen (Japan), Vesuvius (Italy)
Current Environment Issues: large areas subject to overpopulation, industrial disasters, pollution (air, water, acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion; global warming becoming a greater concern
Languages: Mandarin Chinese 12.2%, Spanish 5.8%, English 4.6%, Arabic 3.6%, Hindi 3.6%, Portuguese 2.8%, Bengali 2.6%, Russian 2.3%, Japanese 1.7%, Punjabi, Western 1.2%, Javanese 1.2% (2016 est.) note 1: percents are for "first language" speakers only; the six UN languages - Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), English, French, Russian, and Spanish (Castilian) - are the mother tongue or second language of about half of the world's population, and are the official languages in more than half the states in the world; some 300 languages have more than a million first-language speakers note 2: all told, there are an estimated 7,100 languages spoken in the world; approximately 80% of these languages are spoken by less than 100,000 people; about 130 languages are spoken by less than 10 people; communities that are isolated from each other in mountainous regions often develop multiple languages; Papua New Guinea, for example, boasts about 840 separate languages note 3: approximately 2,300 languages are spoken in Asia, 2,140, in Africa, 1,310 in the Pacific, 1,060 in the Americas, and 290 in Europe (2016)
Religions: Christian 31.4%, Muslim 23.2%, Hindu 15%, Buddhist 7.1%, folk religions 5.9%, Jewish 0.2%, other 0.8%, unaffiliated 16.4% (2010 est.)
Population: 7,323,187,457 (July 2016 est.) top ten most populous countries (in millions): China 1373.54; India 1266.88; United States 324.00; Indonesia 258.32; Brazil 205.82; Pakistan 202.00; Nigeria 186.05; Bangladesh 156.19; Russia 142.36; Japan 126.70 ten least populous countries: Holy See (Vatican City) 1,000; Nauru 9,591; Tuvalu 10,959; Palau 21,347; Monaco 30,581; San Marino 33,285; Liechtenstein 37,937; Saint Kitts and Nevis 52,329; Marshall Islands 73,376; Dominica 73,757 ten most densely populated countries (population per sq km): Monaco 15,291; Singapore 8,416; Holy See (Vatican City) 2,273; Bahrain 1,814; Maldives 1,319; Malta 1,314; Bangladesh 1,200; Barbados 678; Mauritius 664; Lebanon 610 ten least densely populated countries (population per sq km): Mongolia 1.95; Namibia 2.96; Australia 2.99; Iceland 3.35; Mauritania 3.57; Libya 3.72; Guyana 3.74; Suriname 3.76; Canada 3.89; Botswana 3.90
Age structure: 0-14 years: 25.44% (male 963,981,944/female 898,974,458)
15-24 years: 16.16% (male 611,311,930/female 572,229,547)
25-54 years: 41.12% (male 1,522,999,578/female 1,488,011,505)
55-64 years: 8.6% (male 307,262,939/female 322,668,546)
65 years and over: 8.68% (male 283,540,918/female 352,206,092) (2016 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.06% note: this rate results in about 148 net additions to the worldwide population every minute or 2.5 every second (2016 est.)
Birth rate: 18.5 births/1,000 population note: this rate results in about 258 worldwide births per minute or 4.3 births every second (2016 est.)
Death rate: 7.8 deaths/1,000 population note: this rate results in about 108 worldwide deaths per minute or 1.8 deaths every second (2016 est.)
Urbanization: urban population: 54% of total population (2015)
rate of urbanization: 2.05% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.) ten largest urban agglomerations: Tokyo (Japan) - 38,001,000; New Delhi (India) - 25,703,000; Shanghai (China) - 23,741,000; Sao Paulo (Brazil) - 21,066,000; Mumbai (India) - 21,043,000; Mexico City (Mexico) - 20,999,000; Beijing (China) - 20,384,000; Osaka (Japan) - 20,238,000; Cairo (Egypt) - 18,772,000; New York-Newark (US) - 18,593,000 (2015)
65 years and over: 0.805 male(s)/female
total population: 1.015 male(s)/female (2016 est.)
Maternal mortality rate: 216 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.)
Infant mortality rate: total: 34.1 deaths/1,000 live births male: 36.1 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 32.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2016 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 69 years male: 67 years
total: 32.3% of population (2015 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.8% (2015 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 36,710,700 (2015 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 1,107,600 (2015 est.)
female: 82.2% (2015 est.) note: more than three-quarters of the world's 781 million illiterate adults are found in South and West Asia and sub-Saharan Africa; of all the illiterate adults in the world, almost two-thirds are women (2012)
Administrative divisions: 195 countries, 72 dependent areas and other entities
Legal system: the legal systems of nearly all countries are generally modeled upon elements of five main types: civil law (including French law, the Napoleonic Code, Roman law, Roman-Dutch law, and Spanish law); common law (including English and US law); customary law; mixed or pluralistic law; and religious law (including Islamic law); an additional type of legal system - international law - governs the conduct of independent nations in their relationships with one another
The international financial crisis of 2008-09 led to the first downturn in global output since 1946 and presented the world with a major new challenge: determining what mix of fiscal and monetary policies to follow to restore growth and jobs, while keeping inflation and debt under control. Financial stabilization and stimulus programs that started in 2009-11, combined with lower tax revenues in 2009-10, required most countries to run large budget deficits. Treasuries issued new public debt - totaling $9.1 trillion since 2008 - to pay for the additional expenditures. To keep interest rates low, most central banks monetized that debt, injecting large sums of money into their economies - between December 2008 and December 2013 the global money supply increased by more than 35%. Governments are now faced with the difficult task of spurring current growth and employment without saddling their economies with so much debt that they sacrifice long-term growth and financial stability. When economic activity picks up, central banks will confront the difficult task of containing inflation without raising interest rates so high they snuff out further growth. Fiscal and monetary data for 2013 are currently available for 180 countries, which together account for 98.5% of world GDP. Of the 180 countries, 82 pursued unequivocally expansionary policies, boosting government spending while also expanding their money supply relatively rapidly - faster than the world average of 3.1%; 28 followed restrictive fiscal and monetary policies, reducing government spending and holding money growth to less than the 3.1% average; and the remaining 70 followed a mix of counterbalancing fiscal and monetary policies, either reducing government spending while accelerating money growth, or boosting spending while curtailing money growth. (For more information, see attached spreadsheet, Fiscal and Monetary Data, 2008-2012. ) In 2013, for many countries the drive for fiscal austerity that began in 2011 abated. While 5 out of 6 countries slowed spending in 2012, only 1 in 2 countries slowed spending in 2013. About 1 in 3 countries actually lowered the level of their expenditures. The global growth rate for government expenditures increased from 1.6% in 2012 to 5.1% in 2013, after falling from a 10.1% growth rate in 2011. On the other hand, nearly 2 out of 3 central banks tightened monetary policy in 2013, decelerating the rate of growth of their money supply, compared with only 1 out of 3 in 2012. Roughly 1 of 4 central banks actually withdrew money from circulation, an increase from 1 out of 7 in 2012. Growth of the global money supply, as measured by the narrowly defined M1, slowed from 8.7% in 2009 and 10.4% in 2010 to 5.2% in 2011, 4.6% in 2012, and 3.1% in 2013. Several notable shifts occurred in 2013. By cutting government expenditures and expanding money supplies, the US and Canada moved against the trend in the rest of the world. France reversed course completely. Rather than reducing expenditures and money as it had in 2012, it expanded both. Germany reversed its fiscal policy, sharply expanding federal spending, while continuing to grow the money supply. South Korea shifted monetary policy into high gear, while maintaining a strongly expansionary fiscal policy. Japan, however, continued to pursue austere fiscal and monetary policies. Austere economic policies have significantly affected economic performance. The global budget deficit narrowed to roughly $2.7 trillion in 2012 and $2.1 trillion in 2013, or 3.8% and 2.5% of World GDP, respectively. But growth of the world economy slipped from 5.1% in 2010 and 3.7% in 2011, to just 3.1% in 2012, and 2.9% in 2013. Countries with expansionary fiscal and monetary policies achieved significantly higher rates of growth, higher growth of tax revenues, and greater success reducing the public debt burden than those countries that chose contractionary policies. In 2013, the 82 countries that followed a pro-growth approach achieved a median GDP growth rate of 4.7%, compared to 1.7% for the 28 countries with restrictive fiscal and monetary policies, a difference of 3 percentage points. Among the 82, China grew 7.7%, Philippines 6.8%, Malaysia 4.7%, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia 3.6%, Argentina 3.5%, South Korea 2.8%, and Russia 1.3%, while among the 28, Brazil grew 2.3%, Japan 2.0%, South Africa 2.0%, Netherlands -0.8%, Croatia -1.0%, Iran -1.5%, Portugal -1.8%, Greece -3.8%, and Cyprus -8.7%. Faster GDP growth and lower unemployment rates translated into increased tax revenues and a less cumbersome debt burden. Revenues for the 82 expansionary countries grew at a median rate of 10.7%, whereas tax revenues fell at a median rate of 6.8% for the 28 countries that chose austere economic policies. Budget balances improved for about three-quarters of the 28, but, for most, debt grew faster than GDP, and the median level of their public debt as a share of GDP increased 9.1 percentage points, to 59.2%. On the other hand, budget balances deteriorated for most of the 82 pro-growth countries, but GDP growth outpaced increases in debt, and the median level of public debt as a share of GDP increased just 1.9%, to 39.8%. The world recession has suppressed inflation rates - world inflation declined 1.0 percentage point in 2012 to about 4.1% and 0.2 percentage point to 3.9% in 2013. In 2013 the median inflation rate for the 82 pro-growth countries was 1.3 percentage points higher than that for the countries that followed more austere fiscal and monetary policies. Overall, the latter countries also improved their current account balances by shedding imports; as a result, current account balances deteriorated for most of the countries that pursued pro-growth policies. Slow growth of world income continued to hold import demand in check and crude oil prices fell. Consequently, the dollar value of world trade grew just 1.3% in 2013. Beyond the current global slowdown, the world faces several long standing economic challenges. The addition of 80 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution, waste-disposal, epidemics, water-shortages, famine, over-fishing of oceans, deforestation, desertification, and depletion of non-renewable resources. The nation-state, as a bedrock economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over international flows of people, goods, services, funds, and technology. The introduction of the euro as the common currency of much of Western Europe in January 1999, while paving the way for an integrated economic powerhouse, has created economic risks because the participating nations have varying income levels and growth rates, and hence, require a different mix of monetary and fiscal policies. Governments, especially in Western Europe, face the difficult political problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek employment. Because of their own internal problems and priorities, the industrialized countries are unable to devote sufficient resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at least from an economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized. The terrorist attacks on the US on 11 September 2001 accentuated a growing risk to global prosperity - the diversion of resources away from capital investments to counter-terrorism programs. Despite these vexing problems, the world economy also shows great promise. Technology has made possible further advances in a wide range of fields, from agriculture, to medicine, alternative energy, metallurgy, and transportation. Improved global communications have greatly reduced the costs of international trade, helping the world gain from the international division of labor, raise living standards, and reduce income disparities among nations. Much of the resilience of the world economy in the aftermath of the financial crisis resulted from government and central bank leaders around the globe working in concert to stem the financial onslaught, knowing well the lessons of past economic failures.
GDP (purchasing power parity): GDP (purchasing power parity): $119.4 trillion (2016 est.) $116 trillion (2015 est.) $112.5 trillion (2014 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate): GDP (official exchange rate): SGWP (gross world product): $75.73 trillion (2015 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 3% (2016 est.) 3% (2014 est.) 3.3% (2014 est.)
Gross national saving: 26.8% of GDP (2016 est.) 27.4% of GDP (2015 est.) 27.8% of GDP (2014 est.)
investment in inventories: 0.8%
Industries: dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in computers, robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical equipment; most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a small portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly adju
Labor force: 3.435 billion (2016 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 34.4%
services: 43.4% (2011)
Unemployment rate: 8.6% (2016 est.) 7.6% (2015 est.) note: 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment (2007 est.)
Public debt: 60.3% of GDP (2016 est.) 58.7% of GDP (2015 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): Inflation rate (consumer prices): world average: 3.6% (2015 est.) 0.9% (2016 est.) developed countries: 5.4% (2015 est.) 0.3% (2014 est.) developing countries: 5.7% (2015 est.) 4.7% (2014 est.) note: the above estimates are weighted averages; inflation in developed countries is 0% to 4% typically, in developing countries, 4% to 10% typically; national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases; inflation rates have declined for most countries for
Exports: $15.64 trillion (2016 est.) $16.3 trillion (2015 est.)
Exports - commodities: the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services top ten - share of world trade: electrical machinery, including computers 14.8%; mineral fuels, including oil, coal, gas, and refined products 14.4%; nuclear reactors, boilers, and parts 14.2%; cars, trucks, and buses 8.9%; scientific and precision instruments 3.5%; plastics 3.4%; iron and steel 2.7%; organic chemicals 2.6%; pharmaceutical products 2.6%; diamonds, pearls, and precious stones 1.9% (2007 est.)
Imports: $15.34 trillion (2016 est.) $15.97 trillion (2015 est.)
Imports - commodities: the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services top ten - share of world trade: see listing for exports
Debt - external: $75.74 trillion (31 December 2016 est.) $74.28 trillion (31 December 2015 est.) note: this figure is the sum total of all countries' external debt, both public and private
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home: $28 trillion (31 December 2016 est.) $26.18 trillion (31 December 2015 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad: $29.57 trillion (31 December 2016 est.) $27.77 trillion (31 December 2015 est.)
Market value of publicly traded shares: $66.79 trillion (31 December 2015 est.) $67.47 trillion (31 December 2014 est.) $67.16 trillion (31 December 2013 est.)
Electricity - production: 22.75 trillion kWh (2014 est.)
Electricity - consumption: 21.38 trillion kWh (2014 est.)
Electricity - exports: 695.6 billion kWh (2013 est.)
Electricity - imports: 723.2 billion kWh (2014 est.)
Electricity - installed generating capacity: 6.142 billion kW (2014 est.)
Electricity - from nuclear fuels: 6.8% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)
Electricity - from other renewable sources: 9.2% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)
Crude oil - production: 80.25 million bbl/day (2015 est.)
Crude oil - exports: 44.53 million bbl/day (2013 est.)
Crude oil - imports: 46.7 million bbl/day (2013 est.)
Crude oil - proved reserves: 1.662 trillion bbl (1 January 2016 es)
Refined petroleum products - production: 89.29 million bbl/day (2013 est.)
Refined petroleum products - consumption: 93.5 million bbl/day (2014 est.)
Refined petroleum products - exports: 26.97 million bbl/day (2013 est.)
Refined petroleum products - imports: 26.06 million bbl/day (2013 est.)
Natural gas - production: 3.498 trillion cu m (2014 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: 3.51 trillion cu m (2014 est.)
Natural gas - exports: 1.123 trillion cu m (2013 est.)
Natural gas - imports: 1.469 trillion cu m (2013 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves: 197.2 trillion cu m (1 January 2016 es)
Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy: 32.82 billion Mt (2013 est.)
Cellular Phones in use: total 7 billion (July 2015 est.)
Internet users: 3.172 billion top ten countries by Internet usage (in millions): China 687.9; India 325.4; United States 239.6; Brazil 120.7; Japan 118.5; Russia 104.6; Nigeria 86.1; Germany 70.8; Mexico 69.9; United Kingdom 59 (July 2015 est.)
Airports: total airports - 41,821 (2013) top ten by passengers: Atlanta (ATL) - 94,431,224; Beijing (PEK) - 83,712,355; London (LHR) - 72,368,061; Tokyo (HND) - 68,906,509; Chicago (ORD) - 66,777,161; Los Angeles (LAX) - 66,667,619; Dubai (DXB) - 66,431,533; Paris (CDG) - 62,052,917; Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) - 60,470,507; Jakarta (CGK) - 60,137,347 (2013) top ten by cargo (metric tons): Hong Kong (HKG) - 4,166,303; Memphis, TN (MEM) - 4,137,801; Shanghai (PVG) - 2,928,527; Incheon (ICN) - 2,464,384; Dubai (DXB) - 2,435,567; Anchorage, AK (ANC) - 2,421,145; Louisville, KY (SDF) - 2,216,079; Frankfurt (FRA) - 2,094,453; Paris (CDG) - 2,069,200; Tokyo (NRT) - 2,019,844 (2013)
Heliports: 6,524 (2013)
Railways: total 1,148,186 km
Roadways: total 64,285,009 km
Waterways: 2,293,412 km top ten longest rivers: Nile (Africa) 6,693 km; Amazon (South America) 6,436 km; Mississippi-Missouri (North America) 6,238 km; Yenisey-Angara (Asia) 5,981 km; Ob-Irtysh (Asia) 5,569 km; Yangtze (Asia) 5,525 km; Yellow (Asia) 4,671 km; Amur (Asia) 4,352 km; Lena (Asia) 4,345 km; Congo (Africa) 4,344 km note: rivers are not necessarily navigable along the entire length; if measured by volume, the Amazon is the largest river in the world top ten largest natural lakes (by surface area): Caspian Sea (Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan) 372,960 sq km; Lake Superior (Canada, United States) 82,414 sq km; Lake Victoria (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda) 69,490 sq km; Lake Huron (Canada, United States) 59,596 sq km; Lake Michigan (United States) 57,441 sq km; Lake Tanganyika (Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Zambia) 32,890 sq km; Great Bear Lake (Canada) 31,800 sq km; Lake Baikal (Russia) 31,494 sq km; Lake Nyasa (Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania) 30,044 sq km; Great Slave Lake (Canada) 28,400 sq km note: the areas of the lakes are subject to seasonal variation; only the Caspian Sea is saline, the rest are fresh water (2013)
Ports and terminals: top ten container ports as measured by Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) throughput: Shanghai (China) - 33,617,000; Singapore (Singapore) - 32,578,000; Shenzhen (China) - 23,278,000; Hong Kong (China) - 22,352,000; Busan (South Korea) - 17,611,882; Ningbo (China) - 17,326,800; Qingdao (China) - 15,520,000; Guangzhou (China) - 15,309,200; Dubai (UAE) - 13,600,000; - Tianjin (China) - 12,996,510 (2013)
Military expenditures: 2.42% of GDP (2012) 2.51% of GDP (2011) 2.42% of GDP (2010)
Disputes - International: stretching over 250,000 km, the world's 325 international land boundaries separate 195 independent states and 71 dependencies, areas of special sovereignty, and other miscellaneous entities; ethnicity, culture, race, religion, and language have divided states into separate political entities as much as history, physical terrain, political fiat, or conquest, resulting in sometimes arbitrary and imposed boundaries; most maritime states have claimed limits that include territorial seas and exclusive economic zones; overlapping limits due to adjacent or opposite coasts create the potential for 430 bilateral maritime boundaries of which 209 have agreements that include contiguous and non-contiguous segments; boundary, borderland/resource, and territorial disputes vary in intensity from managed or dormant to violent or militarized; undemarcated, indefinite, porous, and unmanaged boundaries tend to encourage illegal cross-border activities, uncontrolled migration, and confrontation; territorial disputes may evolve from historical and/or cultural claims, or they may be brought on by resource competition; ethnic and cultural clashes continue to be responsible for much of the territorial fragmentation and internal displacement of the estimated 20.8 million people and cross-border displacements of approximately 12.1 million refugees and asylum seekers around the world as of mid-2013; over half a million refugees were repatriated during 2012; other sources of contention include access to water and mineral (especially hydrocarbon) resources, fisheries, and arable land; armed conflict prevails not so much between the uniformed armed forces of independent states as between stateless armed entities that detract from the sustenance and welfare of local populations, leaving the community of nations to cope with resultant refugees, hunger, disease, impoverishment, and environmental degradation
Refugees and internally displaced persons: the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that as of the end of 2015 there were 65.3 million people forcibly displaced worldwide, the highest level ever recorded; this includes 21.3 million refugees, 3.2 million asylum seekers, and 40.8 million conflict IDPs; the UNHCR estimates there are currently at least 10 million stateless persons (2016)
Illicit drugs: cocaine: worldwide coca leaf cultivation in 2013 likely amounted to 165,000 hectares, assuming a stable crop in Bolivia; Colombia produced slightly less than half of the worldwide crop, followed by Peru and Bolivia; potential pure cocaine production increased 7% to 640 metric tons in 2013; Colombia conducts an aggressive coca eradication campaign, Peru has increased its eradication efforts, but remains hesitant to eradicate coca in key growing areas opiates: worldwide illicit opium poppy cultivation increased in 2013, with potential opium production reaching 6,800 metric tons; Afghanistan is world's primary opium producer, accounting for 82% of the global supply; Southeast Asia was responsible for 12% of global opium; Pakistan produced 3% of global opium; Latin America produced 4% of global opium, and most was refined into heroin destined for the US market (2015)
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No evidence that Danish bog bodies were gay
June 7, 2018 - 09:19
And it’s unlikely that they were mutilated and tortured before their death.
Keywords: Archaeology
By: Charlotte Price Persson
Scientists have re-examined the bog bodies of Denmark, like Tollund Man shown here. (Photo: Museum Silkeborg)
Danish bogs have preserved some unique archaeological finds: Grauballe Man and Tollund Man, to name a few.
One theory was that these Iron Age corpses were mutilated and tortured until they died. But what could explain this particularly violent death? Did something about them set them apart from the rest of society at that time? A punishment perhaps for carrying a disease, or even being gay?
While archaeologists can’t ask the bog bodies about their sexual orientation, they can at least say that none of them were physically distinct to other Iron Age remains, says Professor Niels Lynnerup from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He is one of the anthropologists behind a new analysis of Danish bog bodies.
“Based on our studies we can now say that there is nothing about these people that would distinguish them from other Iron Age skeletons. They did not have conspicuous pathologies, they were not two metres tall nor particularly small, or anything else that could physically separate them from the crowd,” says Lynnerup.
Read More: New method reveals the secrets of bog bodies
Bog breaks down hard skin
It was previously suggested that the bog bodies could have been homosexual, because they seemingly had such delicate hands.
“People thought that they mustn’t have occupied themselves with hard, manual labour, and were therefore fine men. There was even a suggestion that they were gay,” says Lynnerup.
Of course you cannot identify someone’s sexuality from their physical exterior, but Lynnerup and his colleagues can at least put this line of reasoning to rest.
Today, scientists know that the outermost layer of skin that contains the protein keratin is dissolved in acidic environments, says Lynnerup. So, the hands lack the hardened, calloused look that they probably had.
The new analyses, including x-rays, CT-scans, and 3D reconstructions, were conducted as part of a collaboration between the Danish museums, where the bog bodies are on display. The new techniques are an improvement on previous analyses.
Read More: Denmark’s first Viking king printed in 3D
New information on the bog bodies emerges
A reconstruction of Grauballe Man based on CT scans and 3D models. (Photo: Rógvi N. Johansen, Moesgaard)
The first Danish bog body was discovered in the 1800s.
Of the recent Danish discoveries, Tollund Man (400 to 300 BCE) and Grauballe Man (300 to 200 BCE) are the oldest. Both of them were discovered around 70 years ago and were first studied in 1950 and 1952.
Since then, they have yielded lots of information on how the fen affected their skeletons, says Lynnerup. Just as the bog can dissolve the outermost layers of skin, it can also decalcify the bones making them soft and flexible, almost like wet cardboard.
“The bones of a ‘fresh’ bog body are indeed very soft. If you didn’t know how they should be preserved, and we didn’t when some of the oldest bodies were discovered, then they would shrink and stiffen,” he says.
“When scientists studied the bodies later on, they didn’t think so much about the desiccation, - of which there really wasn't much documentation either. Instead they thought about which rare disease could have caused the bones to distort and shorten, and if these people suffered from such a rare disease, then that might explain why they were sacrificed. Today, we know that it’s really about what has happened in the bog,” he says.
Read More: Another female Bronze Age icon is now known to have travelled across Europe
Tried to ‘repair’ the bodies
When some of the first bodies were excavated it was custom to try and ‘repair’ them. For example, by stuffing their faces with various modern materials to prevent them from caving in.
This was the case for Auning Woman, who was discovered in 1886. In the absence of modern conservation methods they stuffed her warped skull and sewed her head back together.
The idea was to make it easier to see how she once looked when alive, but the results were often not good. In this case it made the Auning Woman’s head look like a football.
Today, archaeologists can recreate their faces by scanning them and making a 3D reconstruction.
This is what Lynnerup and colleagues have done with Grauballe Man, as shown above.
Bog Body Studies
In 2001, Grauballe Man was analysed by CT-scans, MR-scans, DNA analyses, keyhole examination, and was modelled in 3D.
Similar analyses have now been conducted on other bog bodies, including Tollund Man, Borremose Woman, and Haraldskaer Woman.
Read More: Archaeologists think they have found Copenhagen’s oldest church
Theory about Grauballe Man’s legs is wrong
The new investigations have also revealed other remarkable discoveries about the bog bodies that we still know so little about. For example, there is no evidence that they were tortured before they died as is commonly thought.
Multiple sources suggest that Grauballe Man took a blow to the head and had his legs broken by his executioner or executioners.
“When he was first found, the x-ray analyses were not as good as they are today. You could see there was a break, but you couldn’t analyse it more closely and you couldn’t see if it happened when he was alive. Then the theory was launched that he was perhaps hit on the head and his bones were broken so he couldn’t run away, and this has hung around,” says Lynnerup.
Another theory suggested that they were killed with more force than was necessary as part of a ritualistic killing.
Read More: Archaeologists excavate 400 Iron Age houses in Denmark
Post mortem injuries occured in the bog
Scientists already knew how Grauballe Man died: A single sharp cut to the throat from ear to ear while he knelt with his head pulled back. But the new analyses reveal that the damage to his head and legs probably occurred post mortem.
New scans also revealed that the damage to his head and legs probably occurred due to the massive weight of the bog pressing down on the soft bones.
The same also applies to another famous bog body, Borremose Woman, who was discovered by peat diggers in North Jutland in 1948. Original analyses suggested that she must have received a violent blow, which crushed her face.
“In the case of Grauballe Man and Borremose Woman, we can see that they have been damaged after they died. It may not be the case for other bog bodies, but for these two, we’re not talking about an extremely violent death,” says Lynnerup.
Read More: Archaeologist: Excavate more before climate change destroys our cultural heritage
“They weren't meant to suffer”
New information on Grauballe Man
The new analyses have revealed numerous new details:
His hair was cut regularly, and he shaved approximately three weeks before he was killed.
His last meal consisted of a number of grains, including barley, steeped wheat, oats, and more than 60 different herbs and grasses.
There was no sign of fresh herbs or berries, suggesting he probably died during winter.
He had early stage rheumatoid arthritis and dental inflammation, but was otherwise a health man, aged 34.
These new conclusions fit with similar work by the Irish archaeologist Eamonn Kelly from the National Museum of Ireland as part of the Bog Bodies Research Project. He has studied all of Ireland’s bog bodies using CT and MRI scans, palaeodiet analyses, microscopy, and studies of the bodies’ cells and tissue to identify any diseases.
The Irish bog bodies are relatively new discoveries—all were excavated since 2003 and Kelly has found no evidence that they were tortured.
“There's been discussions as to whether the bog bodies were tortured before their death, but we found no proof of that in our investigations,” says Kelly.
Interestingly, the Irish bodies actually have more injuries, but it was the first injury that killed them or made them unconscious.
“They weren't meant to suffer. There was no wish to be cruel to these people. The subsequent injuries seem to be made with ritual purposes,” he says.
Read More: Burnt down Iron Age house discovered in Denmark
A local or an outsider?
So if they weren’t tortured to death, what did happen to them? Who were these people and why were they killed and buried in a fen?
These answers could be just around the corner. Lynnerup and colleagues are currently awaiting the results of strontium isotope analyses, which should indicate whether the bodies were local or had travelled great distances to the site.
A local signature could indicate that they had committed a crime and were sacrificed as a result. But being chosen as the fen’s victim may also have been an honour, for the victim and their family, says Lynnerup.
Alternatively, if the strontium analyses indicate that the bog bodies had travelled to reach the fen this could suggest that they were high status individuals or even royalty.
One day, Lynnerup hopes to use DNA analyses to answer such questions: Were any of them related? Were they a part of a wave of immigration? Were they already ill when they died?
“Ten years ago, DNA techniques required relatively large, intact pieces of DNA. But this is reducing all the time, and completely new techniques are emerging. If one day we could use DNA, it would probably give us lots of answers,” says Lynnerup.
Read more in the Danish version of this article at Videnskab.dk
Country Denmark
Catherine Jex
Archaeologists excavate 400 Iron Age houses in Denmark Archaeologists think they have found Copenhagen’s oldest church 1,000-year-old Viking toilet uncovered in Denmark Burnt cheese casts light on 3,000 year-old family drama New method reveals the secrets of bog bodies
Niels Lynnerup
Eamonn Kelly
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Top 3 Harold Baines Baseball Cards
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Value of Harold Baines Rookie Cards
The price of a Harold Baines rookie card is determined by a few factors. The condition of the card or cards is vital to its value. The better the condition the more the Harold Baines rookie card is worth. Scarcity also a determining factor when figuring out how much a Harold Baines rookie card is worth. Like condition, scarcity can make a big difference when it comes to pricing.
Best and Most Valuable Harold Baines Rookie Card- 1981 Topps Harold Baines. This is also his most expensive rookie card.
Harold Baines Bio- Although priced low, a Harold Baines rookie card in mint condition can be challenging to locate. The 1981 Topps Rookie Card #347 in near mint condition and the 1981 Fleer Harold Baines #346 Rookie Card are both sold for less than $5.
As a senior in high school, Baines batted .532 and was named High School All-American, shortly after as a first round draft pick for the Chicago White Sox in 1977. However, he was first spotted at age 12 playing Little League. Baines was added to the full-time roster in 1980 and by 1982, began making impressive numbers to include 165 hits, 105 RBIs, and 25 homeruns. Baines played with several different AL teams but was with the Chicago White Sox three times.
During his career, he tied for seventh place with 13 AL grand slams and seventh in the history of MLB for his 10 walk-off homeruns. He was also a six-time All-Star player but widely known for playing the longest game in history against the Milwaukee Brewers, a game that spanned 25 innings, lasting eight hours and six minutes. The bat he hit the homerun with to end the game is now on display in the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1989, the Chicago White Sox retired his number three jersey even though he was still playing professional baseball, making this a unique occurrence.
He went back to the White Sox a third time after being released from the Baltimore Orioles but by the 2001 season, his contract was not renewed at which time he retired from MLB. Many online sites such as eBay sell the Harold Baines rookie card although dealers are another good source.
Teams Harold Baines has Played For- Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians,
Top 3 Harold Baines Rookie Cards- These are some of the best Harold Baines Rookie cards and some of his most expensive.
1981 Topps Harold Baines
1981 Fleer Harold Baines
1982 Donruss Harold Baines
Tagged as: best Harold Baines Rookie card, Harold Baines Baseball card worth, Harold Baines Rookie card, Harold Baines Rookie card value
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You are here: Home / Addiction / Ecstacy-MDMA
MDMA acts both as a stimulant and psychedelic, producing an energizing effect, distortions in time and perception and enhanced enjoyment of tactile experiences. Adolescents and young adults use it to reduce inhibitions and to promote: euphoria, feelings of closeness, empathy and sexuality. Although MDMA is known among users as Ecstasy, researchers have determined that many Ecstasy tablets contain not only MDMA but also a number of other drugs or drug combinations that can be harmful, such as: methamphetamine, ketamine, cocaine, the over-the-counter cough suppressant dextromethorphan (DXM), the diet drug ephedrine and caffeine.
In addition, other drugs similar to MDMA, such as MDA or PMA, are often sold as Ecstasy, which can lead to overdose and death when the user takes additional doses to obtain the desired effect. Street names include: Adam, Beans, Clarity, Disco Biscuit, E, Ecstasy, Eve, Go, Hug Drug, Lover’s Speed, MDMA, Peace, STP, X and XTC. MDMA is mainly distributed in tablet form.
MDMA tablets are sold with logos, creating brand names for users to seek out. The colorful pills are often hidden among colorful candies. MDMA is also distributed in capsules, powder and liquid forms. MDMA use mainly involves swallowing tablets (50-150 mg), which are sometimes crushed and snorted, occasionally smoked but rarely injected. MDMA is also available as a powder. MDMA abusers usually take MDMA by “stacking” (taking three or more tablets at once) or by “piggy-backing” (taking a series of tablets over a short period of time).
One trend among young adults is “candy flipping,” which is the co-abuse of MDMA and LSD. MDMA is considered to be a “party drug.” As with many other drugs of abuse, MDMA is rarely used alone. It is common for users to mix MDMA with other substances, such as alcohol and marijuana. MDMA mainly affects brain cells that use the chemical serotonin to communicate with each other. Serotonin helps to regulate mood, aggression, sexual activity, sleep and sensitivity to pain. Clinical studies suggest that MDMA may increase the risk of long-term, perhaps permanent, problems with memory and learning. MDMA causes changes in perception, including euphoria and increased sensitivity to touch, energy, sensual and sexual arousal, need to be touched and need for stimulation.
Some unwanted psychological effects include confusion, anxiety, depression, paranoia, sleep problems and drug craving. All these effects usually occur within 30 to 45 minutes of swallowing the drug and usually last 4 to 6 hours, but they may occur or last weeks after ingestion. Users of MDMA experience many of the same effects and face many of the same risks as users of other stimulants such as cocaine and amphetamines. These include increased motor activity, alertness, heart rate and blood pressure. Some unwanted physical effects include: muscle tension, tremors, involuntary teeth clenching, muscle cramps, nausea, faintness, chills, sweating and blurred vision.
High doses of MDMA can interfere with the ability to regulate body temperature, resulting in a sharp increase in body temperature (hyperthermia), leading to liver, kidney and cardiovascular failure. Severe dehydration can result from the combination of the drug’s effects and the crowded and hot conditions in which the drug is often taken. Studies suggest chronic use of MDMA can produce damage to the serotonin system. It is ironic that a drug that is taken to increase pleasure may cause damage that reduces a person’s ability to feel pleasure. No one other drug is quite like MDMA, but MDMA produces both amphetamine-like stimulation and mild mescaline-like affects.
Since MDMA can interfere with its own metabolism (that is, its break down within the body), potentially harmful levels can be reached by repeated drug use within short intervals. MDMA is a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act, meaning it has a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States and a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision. MDMA is a synthetic chemical made in labs. Seized MDMA in the U.S. is primarily manufactured in, and smuggled across our borders from, clandestine laboratories in Canada and, to a lesser extent, the Netherlands. A small number of MDMA clandestine laboratories have also been identified operating in the U.S.
(SOURCE: DEA www.getsmartaboutdrugs.com)
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Removal Advice, Tips and Other Useful Info
Interesting facts about some of Britain’s most amazing castles
19th September 2017 By Angelina Smith
The United Kingdom is home to some of the most magnificent strongholds in the world. Glorious structures that have survived the centuries and grown into symbols of Britain’s rich historical and cultural heritage. Some of these castles have become internationally renowned landmarks that attract travellers from all over the globe. Nevertheless, what do people really know about them? The truth is, very little, which is why we decided to present to you some of the United Kingdom’s most fascinating strongholds and several interesting facts about them.
Situated at the top of Royal Mile, Edinburgh Castle is one of Britain’s most beautiful strongholds. The fortress dates back to the 12th century and is still being used by the local authorities. The castle is known to be “the most besieged stronghold in the United Kingdom”, as during its 1100-year-old history it has been assaulted 26 times. The fortress is also home to Mons Meg – a gigantic cannon, which could fire a cannonball with the diameter of a modern-day missile for a couple of miles. The castle was the site of the infamous “Black Dinner” in 1440, when the teenage earl of Douglas and his younger brother were taken from the banquet and murdered. Today, the stronghold houses the Scottish Crown Jewels and hosts the annual Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
The fortress that was sold
Built by William the Conqueror in 1068, Warwick Castle is a medieval stronghold that lies in the eponymous county town of Warwick in the central parts of England. The fortress is reputed to be one of the best preserved in Britain, while its grounds are splendid gardens that could leave even the biggest sceptics, speechless. The castle’s dungeon is the structure’s grimmest area as it is a damp and cold place where prisoners were brought to the forgotten hence its name oubliette (French word for forgotten). The last lord of the stronghold was Charles Greville, 7th Earl of Warwick, who preferred to be an actor and has a short-live acting career, which earned him the nickname “The Duke of Hollywood”. Charles’ son sold the fortress to Madame Tussauds during the late 1970s, a decision that created an immense rift between father and son.
The Tower of London is arguably Britain’s most famous stronghold. Just like Warwick Castle, William the Conqueror constructed it in 1078. It is one of the numerous UNESCO World Heritage Sites that are spread throughout Britain. The fortress has played in integral role in the United Kingdom’s history, as it has been the site of several important events such as the disappearance of the princes during the reign of Richard III or the death of Anne Boleyn. Throughout the years, the castle has served many purposed such as:
Today the stronghold houses the British Crown Jewels and is one of the United Kingdom’s most visited tourist attractions. The fortress lies in the Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is one of London’s most desirable areas. The borough is home to several other prominent landmarks and is the location of some of the capital’s finest residential districts. The local neighbourhoods welcome new residents by the numbers as local properties are more or less affordable in comparison with other neighbourhoods in central London. Newcomers relocate to the borough by using professional and fully certified moving services. They prefer delegating the job to seasoned, skilled and hard-working contractors, as they will not have to do any of the heavy lifting, time-consuming packing and driving through narrow streets during rush hour. In fact, people that use movers with affordable man with a van removals rates, have the peace of mind that all their belongings are being prepared, loaded, unloaded and transported by experienced specialists that have the needed human resources and technical capacity to handle even the most laborious, time sensitive and complex relocations. The area is also renowned among business owners, who also favour using comprehensive man and van services for the execution of their office relocations. Movers that operate in the area are generally busy, which is why people book them in advance. However, some removal companies have the ability to accept last minute jobs and more importantly have the assets to carry out late night operations, which is highly appreciated by businesspersons, as their commercial removals can get done without the interruption of their ongoing affairs.
A proud Scottish stronghold
Perched on a volcanic crag, Stirling Castle is one of the largest and most important Scottish strongholds. It was at this fortress that infant Mary, Queen of Scots was kept safe from King Henry VIII. The castle is also the site where King Edward I tested the mammoth trebuchet known as War Wolf and where King James IV allowed his alchemist to try flying by jumping from the structure’s walls. The stronghold dates back to the 12th century while most of its current edifices were constructed between the late 15th century and the 17th century. Stirling Castle has been under siege eight times, including during the Wars of Scottish Independence. Nowadays, the fortress is listed as a Scheduled Ancient Monument and is one of Scotland’s most impressive manmade structures.
Cardiff Castle
Situated in Wales, Cardiff Castle is one of Britain’s most intriguing fortresses. The stronghold sits at the end of St. Mary’s Street in close proximity to Millennium Stadium, the home ground of the Welsh football and rugby national teams. The oldest sections of the castle’s outer walls date back to Roman times. Most of the structure was built during the 11th century and historian believe that it was commissioned either by William the Conqueror or Robert Fitzhamon. The fortress was the subject of a major renovation project during the Victorian era, which is why it has a more modern appearance than other British strongholds. Cardiff Castle played an important role during World War II as its walls provided shelter to over 2.000 people during the German air raids of the local dockyards. The stronghold is presently open to the public and is used as a museum.
Lancaster Castle
Lancaster Castle is a medieval fortress that lies in the north eastern parts of England. It is not clear when exactly the stronghold was built but most experts believe it to date back to the 11th century. The structure was converted into a prison during the late 12th century and today is used as a Crown Court. It was at Lancaster Castle that the Pendle Witch trials took place in 1612. The fortress is still owned by the British Royal Family.
Name Location Construction Present usage
Arundel Castle Arundel, England 1067 Seat of the Dukes of Norfolk
Leeds Castle Kent, England 1119 Tourist attraction
Carrickfergus Castle Carrickfergus, N. Ireland 1177 Tourist attraction
Caernarfon Castle Caernarfon, Wales 1283 Tourist attraction
Dover Castle Dover, England 12th century Tourist attraction
Some more advice
If you consider buying a van
Types of crates
Money saving move tips
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The secret life of superyacht valuations
By Ian Molyneaux January 11, 2019 17:44
Banks and financers are almost invariably needed to help the super-rich buy superyachts. No matter how deep your pockets are, you are unlikely to purchase a yacht without assistance. Being a billionaire does not necessarily equate to having, say, $30 million dollars sitting in your current account.
With the eye-watering figures involved in buying superyachts it is no wonder banks are keen to ensure the risk of lending is minimised. The key is knowing the true valuation of the vessel.
The lender could go to the brokerage selling a vessel, but how impartial would the price truly be when the broker is incentivised?
The answer is to turn to a valuation expert – an independent marine surveyor.
“Banks want to make sure the loan-to-value ratio is realistic compared with their customer’s expectation,” says Sir Ian Collett, director of Ward & McKenzie Superyacht Consulting.
“The client will have agreed a price with the seller, possibly through his own broker, and the bank will want to know if the price is a realistic one and then they’ll set their loan-to-value ratio. Many of the banks won’t lend more than about 50 or 60 percent or possibly a bit more of the agreed value or price. Much will depend on the yacht builder and the quality of their customer.
“So, our role is to assess the value of the vessel and compare it with what the owner thinks it might be worth, particularly if the owner is seeking to refinance.”
The valuation can lead to differences between the buyer and the bank, as a result the bank can be accused of undervaluing the yacht. This has the potential to cause a sale or refinance to fall through as the purchaser will not have the liquid funds in place to buy. It can also lead to mistrust between the buyer and broker, with the buyer thinking the broker has negotiated a bad deal.
It is not only a bank that may ask for a valuation to be undertaken. Insurance companies, lawyers, finance brokers and owners assessing their assets are some of the other key players that may request one from the surveyors.
“On the insurance side they’ll come to us and say we’ve been asked to insure this boat,” says Sir Ian. “Their perspective is more about the condition of the boat that they’ve been asked to insure. So, it’s more of a condition survey. But at the end they’ll ask our view on its value.
“Also, we may be asked to return to a boat at renewal to ensure that it has been properly maintained during the intervening years and to check that the value had not dramatically depreciated beyond normal expectations. Likewise, with our bank clients.”
Valuations can take place on new builds and pre-owned yachts. With new builds the banks and financers will have required this.
“We have performed valuations on new builds,” says Peter Chettleborough, director at Winterbothams. “It would be the lender requesting it. They’re ticking the boxes essentially. They want to make sure there is an asset there, that it is being built to an acceptable standard and that the progress is in accordance with the build schedule”
Marine surveyors conduct valuations in two ways: “Firstly, there is a desktop valuation,” says Chettleborough.
“That is literally done from a desk, with your visiting the vessel in question. You get told the name of the boat, and in the best scenario the client provides as much information about the boat as possible, such as Class records, specifications, etc. However, on some occasions you won’t receive any additional information, and therefore you have to conduct your own research but, in any event, this type of valuation comes with its own caveats and risks.
“Secondly you would physically visit the vessel and conduct a valuation type survey. With a vessel of up to 50 metres you would spend about a day on a boat, with aim being that you are trying to get an overview of the actual vessels condition, what maintenance has been performed, and what amount of money has been spent on the yachts upkeep.”
The problem with a superyacht valuation is that there is no exact science. It is based on experience and a knowledge of the market.
“There’s no right or wrong with a valuation — obviously the market dictates what yachts are being sold,” says Chris Nicolle, director and principal surveyor at Ward & McKenzie. “The selling price can be considerably different from the asking price.
“As part of the technical side we do an inspection and look at upkeep. If you don’t maintain the mechanicals a vessel deteriorates very quickly.
“The value is very much dependent on its condition. If it’s falling to pieces, not been maintained or if the bilges are full of corrosion, then it can massively impact on the value.
“Any potential new owner is going to look at that, conclude that the vessel has not been well maintained and find one that is.”
Chris Nicolle also offers advice for owners with more off-beat fittings and furnishings aboard their superyacht:
“If you have something very specific as an interior, that can dictate your market, especially at the top end where you only have a limited amount of boats at that size – 80/90 metre yachts.
“You very quickly turn off the number of potential buyers who can afford that sort of vessel. If they don’t like the interior then they’re not going to buy the boat, and it’s going to sit there on the market. That will impact on a valuation.”
TAGS: Chris NicollePeter ChettlleboroughSir Ian CollettWard & McKenziewinterbothams
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Rhys Baker
Sónar Festival celebrates 25 years by sending music into Space
Sónar Festival celebrates 25 years by sending music into space.
They are also looking for budding producers to send in extraterrestrial compositions.
To celebrate their 25th birthday, Sonar has launched a collaborative initiative with the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia. Sonar Calling GJ273b is a project that aims to communicate with extraterrestrial life by broadcasting music out beyond the borders of our solar system.
33 ten-second pieces of music as a radio message, has been sent out on the 16, 17, and 18th of October to the Luyten Star. With the exoplanet being 12.4 light-years away from Earth, it is expected that a response could take up to 25 years to be received.
Artists included on the projects are Fatima Al Qadiri, Nina Kraviz, The Black Madonna, Laurel Halo, Holly Herndon, Richie Hawtin, Modeselektor, Kode 9, Soichi Terada and more, Each of them producing their own unique response. Laurel Halo has created a ‘poetic lament’ that is also a plea for help, while Nina Kraviz ruminates on the Russian word ‘Mir’ which translates to ‘peace’ and ‘world’, and The Black Madonna has produced an ironic message on how to make a hit record.
The second batch of transmisions are due to be sent out in April 2018, this time including messages from the likes of Lorenzo Senni, Zora Jones and Squarepusher amongst others.
Sonar Festival are opening the project to the public, with an open call asking to submit musical compositions, with an extraretinal audience in mind. Three will be selected as part of the 2018 transmissions, and winners will also be invited to the festival in Barcelona next June.
Sónar are also opening the project out to the public. Their open call has asked for the public to submit musical compositions for an extraterrestrial audience in mind. Three will be selected as part of their transmissions for April 2018. Winners will also be invited to Sónar in Barcelona next year in June.
Check out the project and how to submit here: www.sonarcalling.com
Wolf Alice review: A band of quiet confidence at the Dome
The Death of Stalin Review
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Another Anti-Smoking Group Accusing FORCES of Being a Big Tobacco Front Group
A major international tobacco control organization is accusing FORCES International of being a Big Tobacco front group. On its website, the group Essential Action (Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control) lists FORCES as being a "proven (and probable) front group."
In lieu of documentation that FORCES receives tobacco industry funding, all that Essential Action states about FORCES is the following: "One of their action alerts calls on people to write letters to Honolulu city council (U.S. - HI) members urging them NOT to support a restaurant smoking ban because "Hawaii is very dependent on the Japanese tourists, and most of them smoke. Will they want to come to a city where they cannot be comfortable and smoke?" See http://www.forces.org/alert/files/honolulu.htm. For a related website, with links to affiliated groups in Canada, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, and the U.S., see http://www.worldsmokersday.org/."
That's pretty weak. If the best you can do to support your accusation that a group receives major tobacco industry funding is to demonstrate that the group opposes smoking bans, you're on pretty shaky ground.
But this further demonstrates my point that the tobacco control movement has been brainwashed with the idea that any opposition to the anti-tobacco agenda is prima facie evidence of being a Big Tobacco front, is it not?
The apparent reasoning here is quite simple: FORCES opposed the Honolulu restaurant smoking ban; therefore, it is a tobacco industry front group. Essential Action provides no other evidence to support its assertion.
In fact, this may be considered to be a part of the brainwashing that is occurring. Here, Essential Action is "indoctrinating" tobacco control advocates throughout the world with the false information that FORCES is a Big Tobacco front group. If I am a tobacco control advocate reading this site, I would then be inclined to go out and make my own public claims that FORCES is a tobacco front group. And that information would spread further and further until it pretty much becomes accepted as the truth. This is exactly how brainwashing can occur when there is no opportunity provided to challenge the information or to provide an alternative perspective.
And what did happen when I made an attempt to challenge this false information? I was accused of being a tobacco lackey for defending FORCES against this accusation and I was promptly kicked off the list-serve on which I made this challenge. Truly, no challenging of the indoctrination is allowable. This is what allows it to spread unchecked; this is what allows these false claims to become more and more widely disseminated.
If you are going to indoctrinate tobacco control advocates with information like this, you have to do two things:
Provide documentation to back up your assertions.
Allow people to challenge your claim and then be prepared to defend it against these challenges.
The tobacco control movement has done neither of these things in indoctrinating advocates with the idea that any group or individual who opposes anti-tobacco policies is a tobacco front.
Believe me, I have come to know many of the folks over at FORCES pretty well, and being lackeys for anyone else is the last thing in the world they are. The opinions they express are about as genuine as they can be. They truly believe what they are saying, and they are speaking for themselves; they are not the mouthpiece for anyone else.
Even a cursory look at the FORCES website would tell you that they are not mouthpieces for Big Tobacco. The tobacco companies have stated that secondhand smoke is harmful. FORCES has never made such a claim. The tobacco companies entered into the Master Settlement Agreement, something which FORCES has blasted. I'm sure that FORCES would like nothing more than for the big tobacco companies to crumble so that smaller companies, with more reasonable prices, could take over.
Most importantly, of course, neither Essential Action nor ANR nor any of the other groups or advocates who have accused FORCES of being a tobacco industry front group have produced any evidence that FORCES has received or receives major funding from the tobacco companies and that Big Tobacco in any way directs their actions and agenda.
More than a year ago - on February 28, 2006 to be exact - I issued a challenge to all anti-smoking groups and advocates to produce evidence that FORCES had received major funding from tobacco companies. There was no response, and to date, I have still not received or seen any evidence to support the front group assertion.
It's interesting how these anti-smoking groups can be so loud and forceful in making the accusation, but when challenged to back it up, they become absolutely silent.
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New Jersey Town Bans Smoking in Cars with Kids; Fe...
New Study on Obesity Costs Shows Folly of Smoker-F...
Another Anti-Smoking Group Calls Smoking Around Ch...
ASH Suggests that Smokers are Weak and Stupid; App...
New Anti-Smoking Advertisement Suggests that Secon...
Another Anti-Smoking Group Accusing FORCES of Bein...
Prominent Anti-Smoking Advocate Accuses Rest of th...
IN MY VIEW: Brainwashing in the Anti-Smoking Movem...
Harvard Report and Tobacco-Free Kids' Propaganda C...
On Car Smoking Bans and Class Discrimination
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According to Article, Claim that Brief Secondhand ...
IN MY VIEW: Citizens' Commission to Protect the Tr...
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Institute of Medicine Report's Conclusions on Smoking Ban Effects are Defied By Its Own Assertions; Study Conclusions, Press Release Severely Biased
A new report from the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Acute Coronary Events, entitled "Secondhand Smoke and Cardiovascular Effects: Making Sense of the Evidence," concludes that smoking bans result in a nearly immediate and significant decrease in heart attacks, not only among smokers but among nonsmokers as well. The committee also concluded that brief exposure to secondhand smoke causes heart attacks and refused to qualify its conclusion by noting that such an effect is substantial only in those with severe existing heart disease.
According to the press release: "Smoking bans are effective at reducing the risk of heart attacks and heart disease associated with exposure to secondhand smoke, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. ... 'It's clear that smoking bans work,' said Lynn Goldman, professor of environmental health sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, and chair of the committee of experts that wrote the report. 'Bans reduce the risks of heart attack in nonsmokers as well as smokers.'"
Unfortunately, this report might just as well have been called: "Secondhand Smoke and Cardiovascular Effects: Making Nonsense of the Evidence."
The reason for this assertion is two-fold:
First, the conclusions of the report are completely defied by the committee's own assertions that are presented in the actual report.
Second, the report draws conclusions that are essentially meaningless from an epidemiologic and clinical perspective. What the report does is take important questions and distort them so much that the answers no longer have any meaning.
Let me address each of these problems in turn.
To see what I mean about the conclusions of the report not being consistent with the report itself, consider first what the report concludes about the ability, based on the existing evidence, to estimate the magnitude of the effect of smoking bans on heart attack rates.
The report asserts as follows: "The committee was unable to determine the magnitude of effect on the basis of the 11 studies, because of variability among and uncertainties within them. Characteristics of smoking bans vary greatly among the locations studied and must be taken into account in reviewing results of epidemiologic studies. Those characteristics include the venues covered by the bans (such as offices, other workplaces, restaurants, and bars) and compliance with and enforcement of the bans. Other differences or potential differences among the studies include the length of followup after implementation, population characteristics (such as underlying rates of acute coronary events and prevalence of other risk factors for acute coronary events, including diabetes and obesity) and size, secondhand-smoke exposure levels before and after implementation, preexisting smoking bans or restrictions, smoking rates, and method of statistical analysis. The time between implementation of a ban and decreases in secondhand smoke and acute cardiovascular events cannot be determined from the studies, because of the variability among the studies and indeed the difficulty of determining the precise time of onset of a ban."
The report also asserts: "However, because of the weaknesses discussed above and the variability among the studies, the committee has little confidence in the magnitude of the effects and, therefore, thought it inappropriate to attempt to estimate an effect size from such disparate designs and measures."
In other words, what the committee is saying is they have no confidence in making any estimate of the size of an effect of smoking bans on heart attack rates. Another way to say that is this: the committee has no idea of what the effect of smoking bans on heart attacks is.
If you can't even estimate the magnitude of an effect - if you have no confidence in even providing an estimate - then you are hardly in a position to conclude that there is a significant effect of smoking bans on heart attacks, an effect which exceeds random variation combined with the known secular decline in heart attack rates.
Think about this: we know for a fact that heart attack rates are declining substantially, even in the absence of smoking bans. These declines are in part attributable to improvements in the treatment of coronary disease and also to improved medications, such as the statin drugs which are effective in controlling cholesterol levels. When we see a decline in heart attacks after a smoking ban, we need to determine whether the magnitude of that decline is greater than one would expect in the absence of the smoking ban. In other words, does the observed decline exceed the rate of decline one would expect from the secular changes alone?
In order to make such a determination, one needs to quantify the magnitude of the decline in heart attacks. If we can't even estimate, with any confidence, what the magnitude of the decline in heart attacks is, then we are in no position to conclude that we know that the decline is greater than what would have been observed in the absence of the smoking ban. We can't conclude that the observed decline in heart attacks associated with smoking bans has been due to the smoking ban, rather than to the rather drastic declines in heart attacks that have been occurring anyway due to improvements in medical treatment.
Epidemiology is all about estimating the magnitude of effects. Simply judging whether an association works in one direction or the other is not particularly meaningful, especially in this situation where we know a priori that smoking bans do not increase heart attacks.
Now this is where my 2nd observation comes in. By answering the question: do smoking bans reduce or increase heart attacks, the report is actually making nonsense out of the evidence. Of course smoking bans don't increase heart attacks. The question is: what is the magnitude of the effect.
The committee recognizes that the existing studies are so seriously flawed that one has no confidence in being able to judge the effect size. But instead of concluding that the evidence is insufficient, they go ahead and conclude that smoking bans significantly reduce heart attacks anyway.
A second example is the press release's conclusion about whether the observed reductions in heart attacks occur in smokers or nonsmokers. The report asserts: "Only two of the studies distinguished between reductions in heart attacks suffered by smokers versus nonsmokers." Later, it emphasizes this point: "In most of the studies, the portion of the effect attributable to decreased smoking by smokers as opposed to decreased exposure of nonsmokers to secondhand smoke cannot be determined."
Clearly, this is not sufficient evidence to draw a conclusion about whether the observed reductions in heart attacks are due to reduced active smoking or reduced tobacco smoke exposure among nonsmokers.
Nevertheless, the press release states: "Bans reduce the risks of heart attack in nonsmokers as well as smokers."
So much for requiring evidence before drawing a conclusion.
Perhaps the problems I am discussing are most evident in the report's conclusion regarding the effects of brief secondhand smoke exposure on heart attack risk. Based on the evidence, no one would deny that a brief exposure might trigger a heart attack in a person with severe existing coronary artery disease.
But the report goes beyond that in its conclusion. It states that brief secondhand smoke exposure may trigger heart attacks, but without qualifying that statement to make it clear that it refers specifically to people who have coronary disease. Instead, it makes it sound like a healthy person could walk into a smoky bar, sit down for 20 minutes, and keel over from a heart attack.
Why is this qualification not added to the study conclusion?
I believe it's because the report aims to be more sensationalistic and scare people into thinking that they could drop dead from a heart attack from a brief tobacco smoke exposure, even if they are healthy.
But failing to qualify the statement turns the conclusion from being accurate to being inaccurate, from being truthful to being misleading.
What it really means is that a political goal, not a purely scientific one, is driving the report's conclusion regarding the acute cardiovascular effects of tobacco smoke exposure. I find this unfortunate because it really taints the scientific integrity of the tobacco control movement.
I should probably add that if you read the report carefully, it actually makes the assertion that brief secondhand smoke exposure can appreciably increase the risk of heart attack among healthy people. The report states: "The data provide evidence that it is biologically plausible for secondhand smoke to be a potential causative trigger of acute coronary events. The risk of acute coronary events is likely to be increased if a person has preexisting heart disease."
I read this as asserting that brief secondhand smoke exposure triggers heart attacks among people with and without existing heart disease, but that the risk is higher for those with existing heart disease. I do not believe there is any evidence to suggest that such an assertion is true. The report provided no evidence that a healthy person may suffer a heart attack from a mere 20 to 30 minutes of secondhand smoke exposure.
There is one other major problem with the report that deserves mention, especially since I think it indicates a bias of the report.
The report claims to have reviewed unpublished data and to have attempted to identify unpublished studies that might have found no effect of smoking bans on heart attacks. The report states that "no such studies were identified." I find this difficult to believe, especially since I was a reviewer of the report and I made the committee aware of several unpublished analyses which documented no significant effect of smoking bans on heart attacks. Such studies were conducted in England, Scotland, and Wales. Furthermore, a large but unpublished study of all communities in the United States reported no effect of smoking bans on heart attacks, but this study was ignored by the report.
Note that the latter study, the largest of its kind, concluded that: "In contrast with smaller regional studies, we find that workplace bans are not associated with statistically significant short-term declines in mortality or hospital admissions for myocardial infarction or other diseases."
It is unfortunate that this study was ignored. I don't see how the review can be considered to be comprehensive if it threw out or ignored all the studies that failed to find an effect, but included, without question, all studies that found an effect, even if these studies failed to include a comparison group which is crucial to being able to infer whether the observed decline in heart attacks was attributable to the smoking ban.
Finally, I want to make it very clear that I am not impugning the integrity of the committee or any of its members. I don't think they've done anything wrong. I just think that the report is biased and that subconsciously, there was some sort of pressure operating which led to the report drawing conclusions that were not appropriate given the report's own assertions and review of the evidence. I also think this bias led to the report distorting the questions which it asked and failing to directly answer the questions (rather than distorting them so that the "answer" came out more "favorably").
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New Book Tells "Some of the Story" About Department of Justice's Lawsuit Against Big Tobacco
A new book written by Sharon Eubanks, JD, and Stanton Glantz, PhD, entitled “Bad Acts: The Racketeering Case Against the Tobacco Industry,” (American Public Health Association, 2012) tells the story of the Department of Justice's successful lawsuit against Big Tobacco, which resulted in a racketeering verdict against the tobacco industry. Eubanks is the attorney, formerly with the Department of Justice, who led the prosecution team. Glantz is a professor of medicine and an American Legacy Foundation Distinguished Professor in Tobacco Control at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine.
According to a press release issued by the American Public Health Association, Eubanks stressed that: "The book ... addresses what was lost along the way — things like trust and adherence to the rule of law. I did not want the story of this case to get lost, or worse, to be retold with revisionist historical perspectives. The book is important because it shines a light on what can happen when those responsible for following the rule of law fail to apply the rule of law."
Speaking of respect for the rule of law, it turns out that Eubanks consistently failed to heed the clear instruction from the D.C. appellate court that monetary remedies (such as tobacco industry payments for a national smoking cessation program) would not be allowable because under the civil remedies provisions of RICO, only forward-looking remedies are allowable. Her persistence in ignoring the clear mandates of the appellate court led to her attacking Assistant Attorney General Robert McCallum, who she claimed intentionally tried to weaken the case by lowering the amount of the requested smoking cessation remedy (from $130 billion to $10 billion).
After she left the DOJ, Eubanks told The Age (Australia), in an exclusive interview, that McCallum "took 'aggressive actions' to destroy a multibillion-dollar fraud case against tobacco companies" and "undermined the case once it became apparent that prosecutors could win." Eubanks was reported to have stated that McCallum "took aggressive actions to destroy our efforts when it became clear that we had firm legal bases for seeking much more meaningful remedies from the court."
Some of Eubanks' reasoning to support her position was revealed in a Pete Yost (AP) article. According to that article, Eubanks' position is based on a contention that McCallum interfered in the case by insisting on a reduction in the government's proposed remedy from $130 billion to $10 billion. She apparently claimed that "McCallum mischaracterized a court order in his statements to Capitol Hill, making it appear that U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler criticized the government's embrace of smoking cessation as a remedy in the lawsuit."
The article explains that: "In his comments to the Senate, McCallum noted an order from the judge that the appeals court ruling 'struck a body blow to the government's case.' Eubanks said the 'body blow' language had nothing to do with a smoking cessation remedy and 'to make that suggestion is misleading.'"
Eubanks also complained that political appointees at DOJ wrote her closing arguments for her, in which she made the request for the reduced smoking cessation remedy.
McCallum was cleared of any wrongdoing by the DOJ Ethics Office, which ruled that McCallum's "actions in seeking and directing changes in the remedies sought were not influenced by any political considerations, but rather were based on good faith efforts to obtain remedies from the district court that would be sustainable on appeal. Accordingly, we concluded that you did not engage in professional misconduct or exercise poor judgment."
What the rest of the story reveals is that Eubanks was plagued by a misconception of what the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled in disallowing the government's request for disgorgement of past tobacco industry profits as a remedy in this RICO-based litigation.
Somehow, Eubanks viewed the Appeals Court decision as only disallowing the disgorgement remedy, but not presenting any barriers to the $130 billion smoking cessation remedy.
However, what the appellate court ruled was not that somehow, the disgorgement remedy was inappropriate for some reason specific to disgorgement. Instead, it ruled that the disgorgement remedy was inconsistent with the RICO statute because that statute requires any remedy to be designed to prevent and restrain future RICO violations, not to punish or remedy past violations.
The language of the Appeals Court was quite clear: "Section 1964(a) provides jurisdiction to issue a variety of orders 'to prevent and restrain' RICO violations. This language indicates that the jurisdiction is limited to forward-looking remedies that are aimed at future violations. ... Disgorgement ... is a quintessentially backward-looking remedy focused on remedying the effects of past conduct to restore the status quo."
Without a doubt, the government's proposed $130 billion smoking cessation remedy was designed to punish the industry for, and remedy the effects of, past wrongdoing. The government had requested that the industry pay to provide smoking cessation programs to smokers who had already become victims of the industry's alleged RICO violations.
As I argued back in April 2005 (when the appellate court decision was first announced), such a program is not consistent with the appellate court's interpretation of the RICO statute because it represents a backwards-looking remedy that is measured by past wrongdoing and awarded without respect to whether future wrongdoing will take place.
Like disgorgement, the smoking cessation remedy "is measured by the amount of prior unlawful gains and is awarded without respect to whether the defendant will act unlawfully in the future. Thus it is both aimed at and measured by past conduct." These words, directly from the appellate court decision, indicate with little doubt that the $130 billion smoking cessation remedy was not allowable and would certainly not have passed legal muster with the appeals court.
I have no doubt that Judge Kessler was fully aware that the "body blow" that the appeals court dealt to the DOJ case was not merely a result of the striking down of disgorgement, but the fact that it also cast doubt on the legality of the other major monetary remedies being sought by the government. That she allowed the government to go ahead with these monetary requests anyway does not indicate that she was giving final approval to such remedies, only that she thought it most prudent to at least allow the government the opportunity to present its requests. But she cautioned DOJ, in the most clear terms, that she was surprised that the government did not seem to be paying much attention to the appellate court decision.
What the rest of the story reveals is that McCallum essentially was forced to intervene in the case and "take over" because the trial team was not able to, or for some other reason not inclined, to respond appropriately in the wake of the appellate court decision by modifying its remedies requests to be consistent with the Court's interpretation the civil remedies provisions of the RICO statute.
If anyone undermined the case, it was the trial team, by refusing to craft an effective set of remedies that could pass appellate court scrutiny and have any decent chance of being upheld upon appeal, even if Judge Kessler was not convinced that such remedies were inappropriate.
I wrote, back in April 2005, that "the Department of Justice should focus the remedies portion of its case on the following two remedies that I think are both consistent with section 1964(a) (and likely to withstand appeal) and likely to have substantial public health benefits in terms of reducing tobacco use and improving health:
requiring substantial changes in cigarette advertising and marketing, including measures to prevent the marketing of cigarettes to youths and to prevent certain deceptive aspects of the marketing, such as the potential health value of "light" and "low-tar" cigarettes; and
requiring substantial changes in cigarette labeling and packaging, including larger, stronger, and more graphic warning labels.
In fact, I argued that the potential value of the DOJ case rested upon how successful it is in bringing about substantial, meaningful changes in tobacco product advertising, marketing, labeling, and packaging, which could directly prevent the tobacco companies from engaging in most of the alleged RICO violations in the future.
In other words, it was clear to me that the monetary remedies were never going to see the light of day and that pursuing these multi-billion dollar remedies might look good in the public's (and anti-smoking groups') eyes, but from a legal perspective, it was wasted and misplaced effort. In the months between the appellate court decision and the end of the trial, the real effort should have been placed on crafting remedies that would be effective in preventing and restraining future RICO violations, not in trying to squeeze the maximum possible money out of the industry to fund all the pet tobacco control programs of anti-smoking groups.
To proceed with closing arguments in which the government asked for a remedy which was clearly viewed by the governing court as being inconsistent with the law would have been an embarrassment. McCallum needed to intervene in order to save some face and at least present a remedy with some small chance of seeing the light of day (I don't think that even the $10 billion remedy, which has some forward-looking components, was reasonable, but it was a heck of a lot better than the $130 billion remedy, which was entirely backwards-looking).
And at least, by altering the closing arguments, it is clear that DOJ had read the appellate court decision. Up until that point, it wasn't even clear that DOJ was aware of the decision.
This information leads me to question why it was that the trial team was so seemingly blind to the appellate court's ruling. It would seem to me that trial lawyers would want to scour through the appellate court's decision with a fine-tooth comb, bathing in its clear direction that it provided to strengthen their case. It's like being handed the key to the promised land with directions how to get there.
What the DOJ trial team did was basically ignore the directions and proceed on the path they had already been taking, even though they were clearly headed in the wrong direction.
I can't explain this. I suppose one possibility is that the trial team had developed close relationships with a number of the prominent anti-smoking groups and didn't want to disappoint these groups by throwing out the monetary remedies, which would possibly have heaped scorn upon them. Might the trial team have been concerned that they would have been attacked and accused of wrongdoing just like McCallum was?
Another possibility is that the trial team spent so much time devoted to the case that they became so passionate about the issue that it clouded their clear legal judgment. Perhaps they believed so strongly in the cause that they simply failed to see that the same reasoning which the Appeals Court used to disallow disgorgement would apply just as well to the monetary remedies.
In addition to Eubanks' failure to respond appropriately to the appellate court decision, I am criticizing what I see as an inability to consider an alternative viewpoint - the perspective that the legal strength of the case is dependent not upon the amount of money you ask for, but the strength of the legal arguments you make.
With the $130 billion remedy, the government didn't have a legal foot to stand on. With the $10 billion remedy, at least the government was standing on one foot.
What McCallum did was not undermine the case at all. What he did was strengthen the case by staving off a huge legal embarrassment for the Department and giving the government at least a sporting chance of walking away with some monetary remedy, albeit not as large as the anti-smoking groups would have liked.
None of this is to detract from the efforts of Eubanks and the DOJ team to bring Big Tobacco to justice. The case is a landmark one and I applaud the team for its efforts and dedication. Nor am I impugning the motives of the DOJ. In fact, I think they acted out of over-zealousness about the ethical issues in the case. However, there is this other side to the story that is not revealed in the book and which I think deserves to be told.
Knowing the rest of the story is important to tobacco control practitioners because it reminds us that public health interventions need to be consistent with the provisions of the law. Ignoring the law and trying to extract non-lawful payments from wrongdoers does not do a service to the public's health. Asking for $130 billion and receiving $0 billion does not contribute to improving the public's health. Spending more time crafting forward-looking remedies, such as more stringent regulation of cigarette advertising and marketing practices, may have resulted in public health gains.
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A.S. vice president of university affairs candidate Winston Liew
A.S. vice president of university affairs candidate Winston Liew.
David Santillan
by Aretha Matsushima, Staff Writer
Position: Vice President of University Affairs
Name: Winston Liew
Major: Computer Engineering
Slate: None
Why did you decide to run for this position?
“I am currently the College of Engineering Representative, so I was able to work with the current vice president of university affairs directly, but also at the same time while I was attending A.S. meetings I noticed that College of Engineering is very underrepresented in terms of the higher politics, only because engineers typically are not interested in politics. Working with Ronnie Cravens directly helped me to see that having people work together, the best results came from people of different walks of life and different majors to make one goal happen. I feel like there is a divide on campus in terms of who is the best college and just because you are in a certain major or college you’re not talking to other people within certain colleges and I want to (encourgae people to branch out).”
What makes you qualified for this position? What is your history with A.S.?
“I think I’m qualified for this position because I am currently a second-year RA, president of my fraternity (Sigma Phi Delta) and my association with A.S. is my time as the College of Engineering Representative this past year.”
What would you like to change at SDSU?
“There is some sort of divide between the colleges, there are various amazing clubs under every single college and they would benefit a lot from working together. There are a lot of things to do and grow if you promote cross-college collaboration and that’s kind of where my slogan came from because I want to motivate SDSU to collaborate with each other more and innovate what is current.”
Can you name something you like and something you dislike about A.S.?
“I love the opportunities that Associated Students provide. Associated Students promotes so many different committees, different ways to get involved across the colleges and clubs under the colleges. Something I dislike about A.S. is how it seems very exclusive. We are considered student leaders on campus and we’re somehow in the public eye on some kind of pedestal. A lot of people don’t really know what A.S is or what A.S does, but when they see me walking around in that polo, I am all of a sudden important or “better than them.” This is completely untrue. I am also a student, I’m trying to do things for the students, so I just want to make sure everyone knows that A.S. is for the students and we’re not here to be just a political organization.”
What would be your top three priorities in this role?
“One of the things I want to work on is making sure that SDSU collaborates with each other, collaborating with people of other colleges, different walks of life and making sure people know how to work together. Another thing I want to focus on is innovation, wanting to improve what is already here. SDSU is a fantastic campus and being able to innovate that in different places will cause a ripple effect which I believe (will) better the SDSU campus as a whole. To make sure that those two things happen, motivate SDSU. There is some kind of disconnect between the people who are super passionate about leadership like in A.S. and the other people who just go to school and then go home. I really want to know why that is and motivate them to reach out and get out of their comfort zone and be able to put themselves out there.”
Interviews have been edited for clarity and brevity.
Tags: AS, Associated Students, Elections, San Diego State, SDSU, Winston liew
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Home Our Diocese New pastoral center will soon be added to Our Lady of Lourdes,...
New pastoral center will soon be added to Our Lady of Lourdes, Seaford
Michael Short, For The Dialog
3 July 2019, 11:25
SEAFORD — It’s been a long time coming.
Our Lady of Lourdes Church is about to get a new pastoral center, which will dramatically change the face of the Seaford landmark.
The old rectory has been torn down and construction will begin soon on a new place to house offices, a reception area, meeting areas, a small chapel and a possible classroom.
“We’re cramped (now), but it will be worth it,” said the parish’s new pastor, Father Steven Giuliano. “Doing this just seemed to make sense because it will allow us to continue to grow … We will have enough room to grow our ministries.”
The new building will be connected to the church near the site of the old rectory. It will have both elevator and stairs access, making the campus far more accessible for parish members.
It’s a thriving parish in a town once known as a company town, namely the home of Dupont. For decades, Dupont dominated much of the area with its manufacturing of nylon, kevlar and other products.
Parish Council president Matthew Zollmer, Father Steven Giuliano and project manager Larry Woolbert are shown with the Our Lady of Guadalupe statue.
Dialog photo/Michael Short
Those days have faded, but the parish can boast that it has about 1,000 families, including a bustling Hispanic community, and it continues to grow. “It’s a sign of hope. We’re changing the face of our campus and everything within it,” said Father Giuliano.
“This is probably one of the most active parishes I’ve known,” said project manager and parishioner Larry Woolbert. “They got excited when they saw the old building (rectory) go down.”
Ground will be broken on July 28 and the parish hopes to have the new center completed next March. Mass schedule for the church will not be impacted by construction.
A capital campaign called “Taking our Past into the Future — Continuing the Journey” is under way for the construction. It will continue, but it has already raised more than $500,000 of the $600,000 needed, according to the pastor.
Father Giuliano is new to the parish, having arrived last month, and officials wanted to note that this project has been in the works for some time and that other priests have also played a prominent role in bringing it to fruition. “(Redemptorist Father) Clement Vadakkedath came to Our Lady of Lourdes (in 2015),” according to a March 2019 article in the Seaford Morning Star by Annette Silva. “He surveyed the rectory and offices soon after his arrival, sifted through piles of old records and discovered that the old rectory and office complex sadly needed replacement. He decided the project was going to begin while he was in Seaford. ‘No more putting it off,’ he said.”
“For too many years, the rectory, built in 1948, has been deteriorating,” Silva wrote in 2017. “The electrical wiring is condemned, the moldy, stale air unhealthy and sadly insufficient space. Because of this, our priests have been living off campus. This fact alone has not been good for either the priests or our community.”
Officials also mentioned the role played by Father Paul Kuzhimannil in the project’s history. His religious order, the Redemptorist Priests, citing dwindling numbers and increasing responsibilities, left the parish last month after 50 years.
The architect is George, Miles and Buhr LLC and the general contractor is Gillis Gilkerson.
[Related:Redemptorists cite fewer priests as they prepare to leave Our Lady of Lourdes in Seaford]
Father Steven Giuliano
Our Lady of Lourdes Seaford
Redemptorist
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Alice Charlotte Mary Lockwood1
F, #10521, d. 19 March 1922
Alice Charlotte Mary Lockwood was the daughter of Reverend F. V. Lockwood.1 She married Algernon Heber-Percy, son of Algernon Charles Heber-Percy and Emily Heber, on 25 January 1867.1 She died on 19 March 1922.1
Her married name became Heber-Percy.
Children of Alice Charlotte Mary Lockwood and Algernon Heber-Percy
Algernon Hugh Heber-Percy+1 b. 13 Jul 1869, d. 25 Dec 1941
Josceline Reginald Heber-Percy+1 b. 2 Sep 1880, d. 17 Dec 1964
Algernon Hugh Heber-Percy1
M, #10522, b. 13 July 1869, d. 25 December 1941
Algernon Hugh Heber-Percy was born on 13 July 1869.1 He was the son of Algernon Heber-Percy and Alice Charlotte Mary Lockwood.1 He married Gladys May Hulton-Harrop, daughter of William Edward Montagu Hulton-Harrop, on 15 July 1903.1 He died on 25 December 1941 at age 72.1
He was Aide-de-Camp to the Governor of Queensland.1 He was Private Secretary to the Lieutenant-Governor of British New Guinea.1 He gained the rank of Lieutenant in the Shropshire Yeomanry Cavalry.1 He was Hereditary Seneschal of Montgomery Castle.1 He held the office of Justice of the Peace (J.P.) for Shropshire.1 He lived at Hodnet Hall, Shropshire, EnglandG.1
Children of Algernon Hugh Heber-Percy and Gladys May Hulton-Harrop
Brigadier Algernon George William Heber-Percy+1 b. 27 Apr 1904, d. 27 Feb 1961
Lt.-Col. Cyril Hugh Reginald Heber-Percy+1 b. 18 Dec 1905, d. 1 Aug 1989
Alan Charles Heber-Percy1 b. 4 May 1907, d. 7 Mar 1934
Robert Vernon Heber-Percy+1 b. 5 Nov 1911, d. 1987
Josceline Reginald Heber-Percy1
M, #10523, b. 2 September 1880, d. 17 December 1964
Josceline Reginald Heber-Percy was born on 2 September 1880.1 He was the son of Algernon Heber-Percy and Alice Charlotte Mary Lockwood.2 He married Katherine Louisa Victoria Percy, daughter of Lord Algernon Malcolm Arthur Percy and Lady Victoria Frederica Caroline Edgcumbe, on 15 September 1904.1 He died on 17 December 1964 at age 84.1
He gained the rank of Lieutenant in the Northumberland Fusiliers.1 He fought in the First World War.1 He gained the rank of Captain between 1914 and 1919 in the 4th Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.1 He held the office of Deputy Lieutenant (D.L.) of Warwickshire.1
Children of Josceline Reginald Heber-Percy and Katherine Louisa Victoria Percy
Mary Katherine Victoria Heber-Percy+1 b. 20 Aug 1906
Commander David Josceline Algernon Heber-Percy+1 b. 10 Jan 1909, d. 2 Oct 1971
Dorothy Elizabeth Heber-Percy+1 b. 23 Jun 1913, d. 25 Apr 2005
Most Rev. Charles Manners-Sutton1
M, #10524, b. 17 February 1755, d. 21 July 1828
Last Edited=2 Oct 2016
Most Rev. Charles Manners-Sutton was born on 17 February 1755.2 He was the son of Lord George Manners-Sutton and Diana Chaplin.2 He married Mary Thoroton, daughter of Thomas Thoroton, on 3 April 1778.2 He died on 21 July 1828 at age 73.2
He was educated at Charterhouse School, Godalming, Surrey, England.3 He graduated from Emmanuel College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, in 1777 with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)3 He graduated from Emmanuel College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, in 1780 with a Master of Arts (M.A.)3 He was Rector in 1785 at Whitwell, Derbyshire, England.3 He was Rector at Averham, Norfolk, England.3 He held the office of Dean of Peterborough in 1791.3 He graduated from Emmanuel College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, in 1792 with a Doctor of Divinity (D.D.)2,3 He held the office of Bishop of Norwich in 1792.2 He held the office of Dean of Windsor in 1794.3 He held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury between 1805 and 1828.4
He had seven other daughters.2
Children of Most Rev. Charles Manners-Sutton and Mary Thoroton
Mary Manners-Sutton+1 d. 4 Sep 1831
Charlotte Manners-Sutton+3 d. 14 Feb 1825
Charles Manners-Sutton, 1st Viscount Canterbury+2 b. 29 Jan 1780, d. 21 Jul 1845
Lt.-Col. Francis Manners-Sutton3 b. 5 Jul 1783, d. 5 Mar 1825
[S6] G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume I, page 123. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Peerage.
[S21] L. G. Pine, The New Extinct Peerage 1884-1971: Containing Extinct, Abeyant, Dormant and Suspended Peerages With Genealogies and Arms (London, U.K.: Heraldry Today, 1972), page 51. Hereinafter cited as The New Extinct Peerage.
[S6] Cokayne, and others, The Complete Peerage, volume III, page 1.
Reverend Henry Percy1
M, #10525, b. 5 June 1813, d. 6 September 1870
Consanguinity Index=0.02%
Reverend Henry Percy was born on 5 June 1813 at Exeter, Devon, EnglandG.2 He was the son of Rt. Rev. Hon. Hugh Percy and Mary Manners-Sutton.2 He married Emma Barbara Galbraith, daughter of Benjamin Baker Galbraith and Elizabeth Scott, on 1 February 1841 at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland, EnglandG.2 He died on 6 September 1870 at age 57.2
He was Rector at Greystoke, Cumberland, England.1 He held the office of Canon of Carlisle.1
Children of Reverend Henry Percy and Emma Barbara Galbraith
Harry Percy2 b. 19 Jan 1843, d. 11 Sep 1856
Hugh William Percy2 b. 29 Mar 1844, d. 30 May 1899
Elizabeth Mary Percy+2 b. 1845, d. 11 Jan 1928
Algernon Payan Percy2 b. 31 Jan 1847, d. 25 Nov 1900
Charlotte Florentina Frances Percy2 b. 1849, d. 12 Jan 1908
Alfred Percy+2 b. 5 May 1850, d. 20 Aug 1907
Allayne Josceline Percy2 b. 1853, d. 5 Jul 1886
Edward Galbraith Percy2 b. 1854, d. 17 Jun 1913
Captain Josceline Hugh Percy+2 b. Jul 1856, d. 23 Oct 1910
Emma Annie Isabel Percy+2 b. 1858, d. 1945
[S2276] Pat O'Brien, "re: Galbraith Family," e-mail message to Darryl Roger Lundy, 7 May 2007. Hereinafter cited as "re: Galbraith Family."
Gladys May Hulton-Harrop1
F, #10526, d. 18 April 1956
Gladys May Hulton-Harrop was the daughter of William Edward Montagu Hulton-Harrop.1 She married Algernon Hugh Heber-Percy, son of Algernon Heber-Percy and Alice Charlotte Mary Lockwood, on 15 July 1903.1 She died on 18 April 1956.1
Her married name became Heber-Percy. She was appointed Member, Order of the British Empire (M.B.E.) in 1920.1
Children of Gladys May Hulton-Harrop and Algernon Hugh Heber-Percy
Algernon Heber-Percy1
M, #10527, b. 23 February 1845, d. 11 May 1911
Algernon Heber-Percy was born on 23 February 1845.1 He was the son of Algernon Charles Heber-Percy and Emily Heber.1 He married Alice Charlotte Mary Lockwood, daughter of Reverend F. V. Lockwood, on 25 January 1867.1 He died on 11 May 1911 at age 66.1
He gained the rank of Lieutenant in the Royal Navy.1 He held the office of Justice of the Peace (J.P.) for Shropshire.1 He held the office of Deputy Lieutenant (D.L.) of Shropshire.1 He held the office of High Sheriff of Shropshire in 1908.1 He gained the rank of Major in the Shropshire Yeomanry Cavalry.1 He lived at Hodnet Hall, Shropshire, EnglandG.1 He lived at Airmyn Hall, Yorkshire, EnglandG.1
Children of Algernon Heber-Percy and Alice Charlotte Mary Lockwood
Emily Heber1
F, #10528, d. 8 November 1902
Last Edited=5 Apr 2017
Emily Heber was the daughter of Rt. Rev. Reginald Heber and Amelia Shipley.1,2 She married Algernon Charles Heber-Percy, son of Rt. Rev. Hon. Hugh Percy and Mary Manners-Sutton, on 29 July 1839.1 She died on 8 November 1902.1
From 29 July 1839, her married name became Percy. From 1847, her married name became Heber-Percy.3
Children of Emily Heber and Algernon Charles Heber-Percy
Blanche Emily Heber-Percy1 d. 29 Jan 1870
Ethel Cecilia Heber-Percy+1 d. 21 Nov 1923
Agnes Catherine Heber-Percy1 d. 9 Aug 1916
Maude Ellen Heber-Percy+1 d. 2 Jun 1953
Gertude Amelia Heber-Percy+1 d. 18 Apr 1948
Evelyn Mary Heber-Percy+1 d. 17 Nov 1941
Isabel Harriet Heber-Percy+1 d. 10 Jan 1955
Algernon Heber-Percy+1 b. 23 Feb 1845, d. 11 May 1911
Lt.-Col. Reginald Josceline Heber-Percy1 b. 2 May 1849, d. 1 Mar 1922
Hugh Lewis Heber-Percy1 b. 7 Jan 1853, d. 1 Apr 1925
Reverend Henry Vernon Heber-Percy+1 b. 16 Apr 1858, d. 1 Apr 1934
Alan William Heber-Percy+1 b. 27 Mar 1865, d. 19 Oct 1946
[S474] FamilySearch, online http://www.familysearch.com. Hereinafter cited as FamilySearch.
Elizabeth Percy1
F, #10529, d. 26 October 1437
Elizabeth Percy was the daughter of Sir Henry Percy, Lord Percy and Elizabeth de Mortimer.1 She married, firstly, Sir John de Clifford, 7th Lord Clifford, son of Thomas de Clifford, 6th Lord Clifford and Elizabeth de Ros, between 1403 and 1412.1 She married, secondly, Ralph Neville, 2nd Earl of Westmorland, son of John de Neville, Lord Neville and Lady Elizabeth de Holand, on 20 July 1426 at Roche Abbey, Yorkshire, EnglandG.2,3 She died on 26 October 1437.1
From 20 July 1426, her married name became Neville.2 After her marriage, Elizabeth Percy was styled as Countess of Westmorland on 20 July 1426.
Child of Elizabeth Percy and Ralph Neville, 2nd Earl of Westmorland
Sir John Neville d. b 16 Mar 1450/51
Children of Elizabeth Percy and Sir John de Clifford, 7th Lord Clifford
Thomas de Clifford, 8th Lord Clifford+3 b. 25 Mar 1414, d. 22 May 1455
Mary Clifford+ b. 1416, d. 1478
[S6] G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume XII/2, page 550. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Peerage.
[S6] Cokayne, and others, The Complete Peerage, volume XII/2, page 549.
[S6] Cokayne, and others, The Complete Peerage, volume III, page 293.
Sir John de Clifford, 7th Lord Clifford1
M, #10530, b. circa 1388, d. 13 March 1421/22
Sir John de Clifford, 7th Lord Clifford was born circa 1388.2 He was the son of Thomas de Clifford, 6th Lord Clifford and Elizabeth de Ros.2 He married Elizabeth Percy, daughter of Sir Henry Percy, Lord Percy and Elizabeth de Mortimer, between 1403 and 1412.1 He died on 13 March 1421/22 at Meaux, FranceG, killed in action.1
He succeeded as the 7th Lord Clifford [E., 1299] on 18 August 1391.2 He fought in the Siege of Meaux.2 He was appointed Knight, Order of the Garter (K.G.) on 3 May 1421.2
Children of Sir John de Clifford, 7th Lord Clifford and Elizabeth Percy
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ANTIQUITIES TRADE
ACTION GROUP SLAM DCMS DECISION TO GRANT SEKHEMKA OWNER AN EXPORT LICENCE
The Save Sekhemka Action Group Poster
[Courtesy: SSAG]
The Department for Culture Media and Sport confirmed this afternoon that, as no buyer for the statue of the Egyptian Old Kingdom Scribe Sekhemka had come forward, the temporary export ban which had been in force for a year would be lifted and the owner of the statue would be granted an export licence to take the statue out of the Country. Yesterday thePipeLine revealed that the buyer of the internationally important work of art and Egyptian culture is now widely believed to be a private collector from the USA.
While the move was not unexpected, the DCMS was told in terms that no ethical museum body would attempt to match the £15.76 million hammer price for the statue because Northampton Borough Council’s sale of the statue was in clear breach of UK and International codes of museum ethics and must not be seen to be condoned or rewarded, the announcement was still met with fury by the Save Sekhemka Action Group [SSAG] in Northampton.
The group, which has campaigned to prevent the sale and export of the statue since it was first proposed by the then Leader of Northampton Council, David Mackintosh MP, published it’s reaction to the news of the lifting of the export ban on its Facebook page this evening stating;
“The Save Sekhemka Action Group [SSAG] is saddened that our four year long fight has not borne better fruit. We did rather expect that the ban would be lifted, but it still hurts.”
Alluding to last minute attempts to broker a loan deal with the new owner which would have seen the statue placed on display in London and Cairo the statement continued;
“We had hoped that after my meeting with His Excellency, Mr Nasser Kamel, the Egyptian Ambassador, on Tuesday that we jointly could delay the lifting of the ban but that was not to be.
We suspect that the anonymous buyer is a private individual rather than a reputable museum abroad since we feel that in the latter case the ban would either have been lifted sooner or some sensible solution with a British museum would have been found.
As it is, now the statue will disappear into a private collection never to be seen again.”
The attempts to keep the statue in the public domain were supported by the Government of Egypt and the Egyptian Embassy in London, but they seem to have found no traction with the DCMS, the Arts Council or UK Museum bodies.
Referring to the sense of anger the sale engendered in Cairo and the group’s frustration that a small group of Conservative Councillors and senior officers could, in their view, do so much damage to the reputation of the Town of Northampton, the SSAG statement added;
“We are, like the Egyptians, incensed that the Sekhemka statue was sold and that Northampton Borough Council, its Chief Executive, the then Leader Mr David Mackintosh and the Cabinet let greed rule their actions instead of appreciating a unique artefact of world importance that would have been a powerful tourist attraction and asset for the town.”
In spite of what will be seen as the worst setback yet in the fight to keep the statue of Sekhemka in the public domain and uphold the ethical management of museum collections, the Save Sekhemka Action Group also hinted that, even if the statue does leave the UK, they have not yet given up all hope of uncovering the full story of the original export of the statue from Egypt and its sale at Christie’s in July 2014. Concluding its comment the Action Group states;
“However, we have not given up altogether; there are routes we can pursue and the first will be ascertaining that Sekhemka was legally exported from Egypt in 1850 which will have a bearing on the sale in 2014.”
Mortimer understands that this comment refers to efforts by the group’s researchers and legal advisers as well as lawyers acting on behalf of the Egyptian Government, who have been looking at the legal processes surrounding the export of Egyptian antiquities in the 19th century when Sekhemka was first exported to the UK by the then Marquis of Northampton. The group also hope that it may yet be possible to mount an independent investigation of the secret negotiations and unpublished agreement made with the current Marquis of Northampton, who was gifted over £6 million from the sale by the Council, in spite of the fact that the Council stated repeatedly in public that it owned the statue and the Council paid all the costs liable to the seller.
However, for now the new owner, whoever he or she is, can take possession of one of the world’s most important Egyptian antiquities and do with it what they will. Even though to many in the international archaeological and museum worlds the name Sekhemka is now irrevocably tainted by association with what is widely regarded as one of the most ignorant, secretive, and unethical acts ever perpetrated by those entrusted with the management of a UK Museum.
DCLG RISKS SENDING PLANNING ARCHAEOLOGY INTO THE BROWN[field] STUFF
SEKHEMKA AND THE PANAMA PAPERS: OWNING ART CAN BE TAXING [UNLESS YOU OFFSHORE]
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Amanda Munz: Making the World a Better Place One Designer Handbag at a Time
by Demi Vitkute
Amanda Munz at her gala in October, 2018.
First, she filled a backpack with school supplies, now she has filled an entire library with books.
After graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), Amanda Munz could have worked a 9-to-5 job and had a stable salary, but instead she became a founder of a charity, and spends over 12 hours every day working to send school supplies to kids.
While interning for some top designers, Munz noticed a wasteful trend—brands constantly throwing their unused samples into the garbage. Her senior year at FIT, she had an “aha” moment and decided to start a nonprofit that would change the face of the fashion industry for the better. The Fashion Foundation funds education by taking the excess samples from designers and retailers and then selling them in their physical and online shop. They use the money from the sold merchandise and various fund-raisers to provide supplies for New York City schools.
Munz worked out of her aunt’s basement for two years, where every day she would open up a folding table and a folding chair. She only had one clothing rack, that she filled up with donations from friends and family. She remembers her first big donation with glee. A designer emailed her that their office was moving showrooms and that they had a bunch of handbags they would like to donate.
“This company loaded up my car with designer handbags. And I remember leaving there and thinking, ‘holy sh-t, I did it, I got my first designer donation.’ It actually worked.”
It was a trickle-down effect from then on and more designer donations started coming. But the first major breakthrough came with a little bit of luck. Munz met the designer Rebecca Minkoff at a So-Ho fundraiser in 2016. Minkoff asked for her business card, and a week later her assistant emailed her, saying that they are donating 20 boxes.
“So literally, I remember opening the email and crying,” Munz said. “That was the moment that really changed my life. And I tell her that every time I see her. Rebecca Minkoff wholeheartedly supports me. She talks about us, she shouts us out on social media. Her and her company genuinely care about what we are doing.”
Minkoff’s donation physically pushed Munz out from her aunt’s basement—there were just too many boxes—and she moved to an office in Long Island.
Most people were supportive of Munz’s vision, but there was one professor, who told her—“You’ll never make it. You will never get people to donate samples to you.” She laughs at that now, and says that his discouragement actually pushed her forward.
One of her biggest projects so far has been filling up a library of an elementary school in Brooklyn with books. Now, she is building a playground for an elementary school in Harlem. The Fashion Foundation recently raised over 43 thousand dollars during their gala, and they’ll use the money for the playground and all other expenses throughout the year.
Amanda Munz at the library that she filled with books
On December 12, Munz hosted a holiday party, where all of the guests filled about 150 backpacks with school supplies and gifts for the kids. The Foundation then went to the schools and hand-delivered the backpacks.
Amanda Munz delivered the backpacks to the kids
Back in December of 2016, when Rebecca Minkoff brought her entire staff with the Fashion Foundation to a school in Brooklyn to hand out holiday gifts, Munz met a little boy, named Malik, who touched her heart forever. “He walked in and lit up the entire room. He was tiny and had an oxygen tank on, but there was something about him that made everyone around him smile,” she said.
Amanda Munz with Malik in 2016
She’s never done anything like this before, but she wanted to do something extra for him. So she reached out to the school to get his mom’s number. She asked her what Malik likes the most, and it was Mickey Mouse and art. It was right before Christmas, so Munz sent him, his twin sister and a little brother a bag of toys and coloring books. Later, she took the entire family to see a circus.
She’s kept in touch with the family ever since, but a few weeks ago Munz got a text from Malik’s mom that he wasn’t doing well and that they have launched a “GoFundMe” campaign to help pay for his medical expenses. Munz has a big network and shared the campaign with her friends. Malik was in a hospice for the last four months. She went to visit him and brought him toys. They played with his favorite—Mickey Mouse drone. Malik was really tired, but still smiled and fled the drone all over the room. A few days later, Munz received a text from his mom—Malik had passed away.
“No one ever taught me how to cope with a student passing away. I cried for weeks and I still cry,” she shared. “He was such a happy, inspiring old soul… to be that at 7 years old… He was just a very very special little boy.”
Munz will remember the little angel for the rest of her life. Even though it is important to go meet the kids in person, Malik was the only student Munz made a relationship with outside of the school. Many children that she works with have had a hard life and it’s impossible to go above and beyond for each one of them, she explained.
However, small things can make a big difference, too. Munz thinks that the holiday season is all about giving to others.
“When I go in and deliver a backpack to a kid—that might be the only thing they’re getting that holiday season. Not everybody can afford to give hundreds of dollars, but most people can afford to skip their morning coffee and pay it forward,” she said.
This article is the first in Demi Vitkute’s monthly series Changemakers in the Fashion Industry in collaboration with Promo Magazine. The article appears in print and online.
*Special thanks to NYC 525 W52nd St for allowing us to use their beautiful space! Follow them on instagram @525w52nd
Tags: Changemakers
Demi Vitkute
Demi is a Lithuania-born, America-educated, New York-based journalist and editor, Columbia Journalism grad, and co-founder of The Urban Watch Magazine. "I love New York because living in this city feels like holding the entire world in my palm," she said. Like Alice Munro, she believes that the constant happiness is curiosity.
Demi Vitkute December 29, 2018
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Funeral service for slain Oak Bay sisters set for today
in Canada News
Home Canada News
Chloe, 6, and Aubrey, 4, were found dead in their father’s rental apartment on Dec. 25
The funeral service for two Oak Bay sisters found dead in their father’s apartment on Christmas Day will be held on Friday.
The death of Chloe Berry, 6, and Aubrey Berry, 4, prompted an outpouring of grief from the community.
Hundreds attended a candlelight vigil in their memory and Friday’s service, which begins at 11 a.m. PT at Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria, B.C., is open to the public.
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Reverend Ansley Tucker, the rector at Christ Church Cathedral, says the funeral service will be a way for people to share their deep grief.
“The ripple effect is enormous because this has captured the heart and imagination of a whole city and beyond,” Tucker said.
An obituary for the girls described them as “happy, generous, warm, caring of their friends and imaginative.”
Chloe was described as a keen artist with a love for horses, and her sister Aubrey, a wild spirit who loved the monkey bars.
A scholarship fund has also been set up in honour of the pair.
Donations through the Victoria Foundation will go to support students at Christ Church Cathedral School where Chloe Berry was a student.
Father charged
Police found the bodies of the young sisters on Dec. 25.
Andrew Berry, the girls’ father, was found at the scene with injuries, taken to hospital and eventually charged with two counts of second-degree murder.
Berry had been involved in an acrimonious custody dispute with the sisters’ mother, Sarah Cotton, whom he had been separated from since 2013. The two girls had been spending time with their father on Christmas Day as allowed by their custody agreement.
Berry remains in police custody.
Tags: British ColombiaFuneralOak Bay
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Young Girl & Grandfather Save Man, Dog from Piscataqua River
Terry Adams and his grand-daughter Hillary Adams-Wainwright, local heroes (photo by Michelle Kingston)
By Michelle Kingston
YORK -
As if running your own lobster boat at thirteen years old isn’t impressive enough, Hillary Adams-Wainwright, of York, is now considered a local Seacoast hero after saving two lives on Monday, July 11, from the Piscataqua River.
“Everyone kind of made it seem like it was (a big deal), but I don’t really think it was at all. It was just kind of like, it happened,” she said.
She had just finished dropping off a load of lobsters at Chrissy D. Lobster Company in Kittery with her grandfather, Terry Adams, 66, when she spotted Portsmouth Naval Shipyard workers whistling and motioning them to turn around.
As the pair began to rotate the boat, scanning the river for what they thought would be divers, Adams-Wainwright spotted a small, scared and struggling four-legged friend searching for help.
“We went and grabbed the dog, and we were heading back, and they were still telling us to go back,” she said.
A woman on Peirce Island was also frantically screaming for Adams-Wainwright and her grandfather to continue looking around.
“She was hysterical,” said Adams.
Penny, the small pup, who Adams-Wainwright believed was an English Terrier, was recovering on the boat when Adams spotted a hand pop up out of the river. Penny’s owner was also gasping for air, requiring assistance and hoping to be rescued.
“We found him, and we had him catch his breath on the side of the boat when we got up to him and then we pulled him in,” said Adams-Wainwright.
Penny and her owner, Chris Stephens, 27, of Haverhill, Massachusetts, were playing fetch on Peirce Island when a long toss took Penny out into the current. Stephens swam out to save Penny when he was caught up in the current as well.
They were both brought to safety very quickly. Adams feared that if he didn’t move away from the shore fast his boat was going to ground out.
“I just wanted to get out of there before we ruined the boat,” he said. “We got him out of the boat. We got the dog out of the boat. Then we got out of there. I was afraid I was getting hung up, and I would be in trouble. We just got out of there as soon as we could,” said Adams.
Steve Achilles, Portsmouth Deputy Fire Chief, said Stephens refused medical treatment from Portsmouth paramedics at the scene and chose not to be transported to Portsmouth Regional Hospital.
Both Stephens and his dog appeared to be okay at the scene. However, both Adams-Wainwright and Adams do not think they would have been if it weren’t for them being there.
“There were other boats,” said Adams-Wainwright. “But no one noticed.”
“They just kept right on going,” said Adams.
Adams believed the dog and her owner had been distressed in the water for at least fifteen minutes before he and his granddaughter saved them. They had drifted off land about 100-150 yards, according to Adams.
The owner and the dog are both safe, but have not contacted the Maine heroes who saved their lives last week.
“Haven’t heard from him,” said Adams, a bit surprised.
Adams-Wainwright and Adams have been fishing together for more than five years now and have never had to rescue anyone from the river before.
However, Adams did save a kayaker in the York River a few years ago.
“He was just exhausted. He was going out with the tide,” said Adams.
They both caution all swimmers, local and from away, to be cautious of the tides in our area.
Adams-Wainwright has spent her summer days since she was eight years old with her grandfather, pulling in traps, bonding, and making hard-earned cash as she gains experience for her dream job as a marine biologist.
“She’ll have up to 150 traps next year,” said Adams.
After all these years, she says she has never caught anyone quite like she did last week. Just lobsters.
Posted by The Weekly Sentinel at 7/20/2012
Kennebunk High School Welcomes Chinese Students from Sister School
Chinese students from the Tangshan Foreign Language School were in Kennebunk this past week. Here, students listen as Glenn Black, from the science department at KHS, teaches a morning class. (Photo by Tim Gillis)
By Timothy Gillis
KENNEBUNK –
Thirteen Chinese students and their chaperone are in town this week for a summer camp at Kennebunk High School. They are from Kennebunk High’s sister school in Tangshan, China.
They arrived a little later than scheduled when a connecting flight to Maine was cancelled at the last minute. So their first night in the United States was spent stuck in a Washington, D.C. airport, but the tired travelers finally arrived in Maine and were greeted by their host families from Kennebunk.
Principal Susan Cressey went to China last March and visited the Tangshan Foreign Language School, located north of Beijing. It was then that she set up the exchange.
“Students are fluent in English,” Cressey said. “I got to attend classes there. I was very interested in the discussions.” Classes are held in English in many schools in the area, Cressey said, and most classes have forty-five to fifty students in them.
“The classes stay put, and the teachers move from class to class,” she said, adding that – despite the large class size – behavior was not a problem.
“Only the motivated and brightest get to go to high school in China,” she said.
While they are here, the Chinese students will take part in science and math classes, tour the University of New England, and meet with a guidance counselor about the American college application process.
Each morning, the students will have about four hours of classes before they head out into the community to take in local arts and culture.
On Tuesday morning, July 16, Kennebunk High School science teacher Glenn Black got the students started on a lesson, with some help from KHS students Jace Valls (senior), Colby Harrison (senior), Kimberly Keithley (senior), and Caroline Smith (sophomore). Keithley is originally from China.
Also lending a hand is Sandy Cheng, a native of Beijing, who has been staying with a Kennebunk family for four months now, and plans to stay a couple more. When she heard about the visiting students, it just seemed natural to offer to help out.
She created a lesson for the Chinese students’ first morning session, but the flight delay has caused that lesson to be shelved for now.
“We will definitely find a way to fit it in this week,” Cressey said.
Black teaches a course called International Baccalaureate biology, which emphasizes looking at subject matter from a global perspective, so his involvement was also a natural fit.
Emma Liu, the director of Tangshan’s international department, is chaperoning the kids this week. She watched attentively as her students took in Black’s lecture, looking interested and engaged, albeit a bit sleepy.
The group plans to kayaking as part of an L.L. Bean outdoor classroom, visit Portland harbor, and have a farewell reception on July 20 at the Nonantum. They return to China early the next morning.
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard First Responders Honored, Commended for Work Battling USS Miami Fire
New Hampshire’s U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D) and Kelly Ayotte (R) at ceremony honoring first responders at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (courtesy photo)
KITTERY -
New Hampshire’s U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) were in Portsmouth Monday, July 16, to honor the emergency first responders responsible for containing the fire aboard the USS Miami this past May. Shaheen and Ayotte presented a Senate Resolution recognizing the responders, which they introduced along with U.S. Senators Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Scott Brown (R-MA), Susan Collins (R-ME), John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT). The June 7 resolution commends the service of all those who responded to the fire, minimized damage to the submarine and ensured there was no loss of life.
Shaheen and Ayotte presented the Senate resolution they and other New England senators sponsored to commend the first responders at a ceremony at Prescott Park in Portsmouth.
Last week, the Navy convened a special panel to investigate the May 23 fire that damaged the USS Miami while it was in dry dock for an overhaul at the shipyard in Kittery, Maine. The investigation was ordered by U.S. Fleet Forces Command in Norfolk, Virginia. Early estimates put the fire damage at $400 million. It damaged the torpedo room, crew quarters, and command and control areas.
“Your swift response and commitment to containing the fire helped minimize damage to the submarine and more importantly, ensured that no one lost a life that day,” Senator Shaheen said. “The men and women who work at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard have an incredible track record of working together and getting the job done. To everyone who worked together to respond to May’s fire: thank you for your professionalism, your quick response, and your continued commitment to serving and protecting our country. The courage and cooperation we saw in May stands as inspiration for all of us.”
Maine U.S. Senator Susan Collins said “When the alarm rings, as it did on May 23rd at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, we see just how brave our first responders are. They never hesitate to put themselves in harm’s way. They risk their lives to save others.” Collins, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee added in a prepared statement “I am hopeful the USS Miami can be repaired in Kittery because the shipyard workers are the best at what they do. The sooner this submarine returns to the fleet, the sooner it will be available to complete missions essential to our national security throughout the world.”
Young Girl & Grandfather Save Man, Dog from Piscat...
Kennebunk High School Welcomes Chinese Students fr...
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard First Responders Honored...
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John Landis on
Distributor MGM
Reeling from his divorce from Jane Fonda, French director Roger Vadim made his first American movie for MGM. Unlikely as it seems today, the scuttlebutt at the time was that Rock Hudson’s love scenes with the numerous high school nymphets went All The Way! The buzz helped turn this gently smutty black-comic mystery into a substantial hit, although now it plays like a time-warp precursor to Skins.
Watch Trailer Without Commentary
Buy from Warner Archive
More Trailers with John Landis
About John Landis
John Landis is the director of Animal House, The Blues Brothers, An American Werewolf In London, Trading Places, Coming To America, Kentucky Fried Movie, Spies Like Us, Three Amigos!, Into The Night and Michael Jackson’s Thriller, and the recent Burke and Hare for Ealing Studios, among many other films and television shows. His documentary Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project premiered on HBO and won an Emmy for Best Music, Comedy or Variety Special. He is also the subject of noted film critic Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan’s recent book “John Landis” and his own book “Monsters in the Movies’ was published to critical and popular acclaim in 2012.
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Welsh Icons News > Cymrupedia > Artists > Joseph Edwards
Joseph Edwards (March 5, 1814 – January 9, 1882), was a Welsh sculptor.
Edwards was born in Merthyr Tydfil, the son of a stonemason, and went to school in Merthyr. At the age of seventeen, he saw the collection of Celtic stone crosses at Margam Abbey and decided to become a sculptor. Apprenticed to a memorial mason in Swansea, he was quickly promoted, and in 1835 he went to London to work for William Behnes. In 1837 he became a student at the Royal Academy, where he won several prizes for his work. His early works include a memorial to Sir Bernard Bosanquet. Another memorial monument, entitled “Religion”, was shown at an international exhibition in 1862.
His work can be seen in churches throughout England and Wales. He made busts of many contemporary figures. In 1881, sponsored by George Frederic Watts, he was awarded a pension under the Turner bequest, but he died shortly after receiving it.
WRU honours founding clubs Will Roberts Cerith Wyn Evans Abbeys, Cathedrals and Churches Dragons get French wake up call Rugby in Wales – the beginning Alexander Cordell Thomas Nathaniel Davies
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Legacy Reserves to File Chapter 11; Wells Fargo to Lead $100MM DIP Financing
Related: Bankruptcy, Wells Fargo
Legacy Reserves Inc., and collectively with its subsidiaries, announced its board of directors has approved, and the company has executed, a restructuring support agreement with its lenders under its reserve based revolving credit facility (RBL Lenders) and its lenders under its second lien term loan (Second Lien Lenders). The proposed financial restructuring would significantly reduce the company's debt, provide access to additional capital, and establish a more sustainable capital.
To facilitate the financial restructuring and implement the pre-arranged plan of reorganization contemplated by the Restructuring Agreement, the company expects to file voluntary petitions for reorganization in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas pursuant to Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.
The Plan, which the RBL Lenders and Second Lien Lenders have agreed to support, will provide for, among other things: (1) significant de-leveraging of the company's capital structure by over $900 million, including an infusion of at least $200 million in equity capital through a rights offering and a committed equity backstop; and (2) payment in full of the company's other secured creditors, tax and other priority claimants, trade creditors and employees.
Consummation of the plan, including the infusion of new equity, will be subject to confirmation by the Court in addition to other conditions to be set forth in the Plan and related transaction documents. The Plan is expected to be filed within 30 days following the commencement of the Chapter 11 cases. The company is also in active discussions with the advisors for a group of the Company's noteholders regarding terms for their support of the Restructuring Agreement.
The company will continue to operate its business in the normal course without material disruption to its vendors, partners or employees, and expects to have sufficient liquidity to meet its financial obligations during the restructuring. The Restructuring Agreement contemplates that the Company will obtain debtor-in possession (DIP) financing provided by certain of its existing RBL Lenders, including Wells Fargo Bank, National Association. The DIP financing, subject to Court approval, will refinance portions of the Company's existing reserve-based credit facility and provide an additional $100 million in new money to support the Company's day-to-day operations and finance the restructuring process. The Restructuring Agreement further provides that, upon confirmation of the Plan and emergence from Chapter 11, the Company will obtain access to a senior secured asset-based lending credit facility in a maximum amount of $500 million provided by certain of the existing RBL Lenders.
Dan Westcott, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, said, "We explored a wide variety of alternatives to address our balance sheet and looming bank maturity during a sustained downturn in oil and gas prices. After concluding this broad process, we believe that the financial restructuring negotiated with our creditors provides the best path forward for the Company. Through the proposed terms of the plan of reorganization, we believe our right-sized balance sheet will enable us to successfully compete in the current environment.
"I want to express my gratitude to the employees for their continued dedication and hard work, and to our service providers, business partners and other stakeholders for their ongoing support during this time. We are grateful to GSO Capital Partners LP, who, as Plan Sponsor, has committed to ensure that at least $200 million of new equity is invested into the Company. Following the negotiated restructuring, we look forward to having substantially less debt and significantly enhanced prospects for our company, our employees and our future stakeholders.”
Purchase Order Financing to the Debtor in Possession
PO Financing to a debtor in possession can be lucrative, beneficial...
by Scott N. Schreiber and Gary Edidin
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Home > Catholic Encyclopedia > H > Hussites
The followers of Jan Hus did not of themselves assume the name of Hussites. Like Hus, they believed their creed to be truly Catholic; in papal and conciliar documents they appear as Wycliffites, although Hus and even Jerome of Prague are also named as their leaders. They wisely objected to the appellation of Hussites, which implied separation from the Universal Church; willing to venerate Hus as a holy martyr of the old religion, they refused to see in him the founder of a new one. Only about 1420, with the beginning of the Hussite Wars does the new name occur, first in the neighbouring lands; then it gradually imposes itself as connoting both the original followers of Hus and the subsequent smaller sects into which they divided. The distinctive tenet of the Hussites is the necessity, alike for priest and layman of Communion under both kinds, sub utraque specie whence the term Utraquists. Hus himself never preached Utraquism. During his presence at the Council of Constance, his successor in influence at the university of Prague Jacobellus von Mies, taking His stand on the Bible as the supreme rule of faith and practice in the Church, persuaded the people that partaking of the chalice was of absolute necessity for salvation, this being expressly taught by Christ: "Amen amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you." (John 6:54)
Three parishes at once adopted the innovation. Former unauthorized sermons by Jacobellus, and trespasses on episcopal rights by the parish clergy) had prepared the ground in these particular places. The introduction of the lay chalice was regarded by many well-intentioned men as the outward sign of a nascent schism. These withdrew from the movement, but the people at large eagerly joined it as if the chalice were a panacea for all the evils of the time. Their eagerness is partly accounted for by a kind of crusade in favour of frequent and even daily Communion, and by a huge mass of eucharistic literature in Bohemia during the fourteenth century. As far back as 1380 a priest in Prague (Altstadt) is said to have preached to his parishioners the necessity of Communion under both kinds. Jacobellus was excommunicated. and Andreas von Brod confuted his teaching in a treatise but he continued preaching and answered Andreas's tract by one of his own. Hus, then in Constance, was consulted. In a letter to the Knight von Chlum, he said: "it would be wise not to introduce such an innovation without the approbation of the Church." Soon, however, seeing how the council upheld the existing practice, he inveighed against it and maintained that Christ and the Apostle Paul should be obeyed by giving the chalice to the laity; he also entreated the Bohemian nobles to protect the lay chalice against the council. These last words of Hus, written in sight of his funeral pyre, aroused Bohemia. In Prague the priests faithful to the Church were driven out of their parishes and replaced by Utraquists; in the country the nobles likewise filled all the parishes in their gift with men of the new discipline.
The change caused many excesses. Bishop Johann of Leitomischl had all his possessions devastated by the neighbouring nobles because of his strenuous opposition to Hus at Constance. King Wenceslaus (Wenzel) did not interfere. He had a grudge against the Emperor Sigismund for the role he played at the council, and he regarded the execution of Hus as an infringement of his royal rights. Meanwhile the fathers assembled in council at Constance sent earnest letters to the civil and ecclesiastical authorities in Bohemia, insisting on complete extirpation of the dangerous heresy (July, 1415); and gave ample powers to the Bishop of Leitomischl as legate for the same purpose. The Bohemian and Moravian nobles took up the gauntlets. Four hundred and fifty-two of them appended their seals to a joint answer to the council, setting forth their conviction that the sentence on Hus was unjust and insulting to their country, that there were no heretics in Bohemia, that any assertion to the contrary was itself a heresy of the worst kind. This document bears date 2 September 1415. Three days later they formed an offensive and defensive league by which they bound themselves for six years to grant on their estates to all priests applying for it freedom to preach the word of God, and protection against episcopal prosecutions for heresy, and against excommunication except from the local bishops. The clergy, however, should obey a lawfully elected pope in all things not contrary to God and God's law. The authority of the council was thereby set at naught the Wycliffite principle that the laity should restrict and restrain the power of the clergy was fully applied.
The Catholics did not remain idle; episcopal ordinances of 5 September enjoined the publication in all churches of the prohibition of the lay chalice, a decree of 18 September inhibited vagrant, i.e. Utraquist, preachers; a league of Catholic lords was formed on 1 October; it consisted mostly of the southern and northern gentry accessible to German influence. King Wenceslaus was on their side in word, if not in deed. Before this favourable turn of events became known to it, the council in its ordinary proceedings against Wycliffism, took a step of the gravest consequences the laying of the interdict on Prague for sheltering Johann of Jesenic, already excommunicated in 1412. Armed crowds of citizens invaded every church and monastery where Divine service had been suspended in obedience to the interdict, drove out all priests and monks unwilling to submit to the popular will, robbed them of their possessions and put Utraquist clergy in their places. The whole country followed the example of the capital, the king and the magistrates looked on without concern. The council's legate, Bishop Johann of Leitomischl, was powerless to stem the evil tide. Probably on his denunciation, the four hundred and fifty-two signatories of the Utraquist covenant together with Archbishop Conrad of Prague and Wenceslaus, Bishop of Olmutz were summoned to appear before the council as suspected of heresy. Archbishop Conrad had been remiss in carrying out the conciliary measures; in the beginning of 1416 he had, in concert with the king, suspended the interdict on the far-off chance of thus conciliating the dissidents. The council was even then (1416) determined to use the secular arm against the King of Bohemia and his unruly land, but Sigismund, with whom lay the execution, refused his aid, hoping, as he said, to come to an understanding with King Wenceslaus.
The University of Prague was heavily Utraquist; the council, therefore, towards the end of 1416, suspended all its privileges and forbade, under excommunication, all further academical proceedings. The lecturers, however, continued to lecture as before; but since the chancellor, Archbishop Conrad, refused his co-operation, no new degrees could be conferred. Notwithstanding the turbulent spirit of many masters the influence of the university as a whole was moderating. For example, on 25 January, 1417, when some fanatical country parsons had destroyed the images and profaned the relics of their churches, the university, in virtue of the teaching authority it claimed, sent to all the faithful an exhortation to abstain from innovations and to hold fast to old customs. The noblemen of the Hussite league ordered the clergy dependent on them to conform to their teaching. This act in the right direction was followed on 10 March, 1416, by another which gave Utraquism the sanction of the only teaching authority then recognized in the country. The rector, Johann von Reinstein (surnamed Cardinalis), declared, with the consent of all the Magistri, that Communion under both kinds is an ordination of Christ Himself and a practice of the ancient Church, against which no human ordinances of later date could prevail. The declaration had been given in answer to questions by members of the Hussite league, and it was acted upon, wherever they ruled, with such thoroughness that the Utraquist clergy was insufficient to fill the places of the ejected Catholic priests. The head of the league, Vincenz von Wartenberg, found a way out of the difficulty. He waylaid the Auxiliary Bishop of Prague, confined him in a stronghold, and forced him to ordain as many Utraquist candidates for the priesthood as were needed.
The archbishop henceforth withheld ordination and benefices from all who did not abjure Wycliffism and Utraquism. The Council of Constance meanwhile gave continued attention to Bohemian affairs. Martin V who, in 1411, as Cardinal Colonna, had terminated the trial of Jan Hus with the sentence of excommunication, now, as pope, confirmed all the council's enactments regarding him and his followers; he wrote to all whom it might concern to return to the Church or to lend their aid in suppressing the new heresies. Before the close of the council he addressed to King Wenceslaus a rule containing twenty-four articles, designed to bring back the religious status of the country to what it was before the Hussite upheaval. The task was heavy, and perhaps uncongenial to King Wenceslaus. Could he force all Wycliffites and Hussites to abjure or to die, reinstate all ejected priests in their benefices, maintain Catholic ascendency? He made no attempt. In June, 1418 he forbade the exercise of foreign jurisdiction over his subjects, a measure which put a stop to the work of the cardinal legate, Giovanni Domenici. The same year saw the arrival of foreign sectarians, Beghards called Pickarts attracted by Bohemia's fame for religious liberty, and of the Oxford Wycliffite Peter Payne, admitted to the faculty of arts at the university. The university, apprehensive of doctrinal excesses, assembled (September, 1418) the whole party, the Communitas fratrum, in order to come to an agreement on doubtful points. The assembly granted Communion to newborn infants but forbade all deviation from tradition except where it was evidently opposed to Scripture, as in the case of Utraquism.
In 1419 Utraquism received an accession of strength from the repressive measures against it. King Wenceslaus at last giving way to the pope, and the emperor threatening a "crusade" against Bohemia banished Johann of Jesenic from Prague and commanded that all ejected Catholic beneficiaries should be reinstated in their offices and revenues. The people, accustomed by this time to Utraquist ministrations, resented the change they fought for their churches and schools, blood was shed, but the king's ordinance was executed wherever his authority was strong enough to enforce it. The success was however, far from complete. The Utraquist clergy, followed by their numerous adherents, now assembled on the hills, to which they gave Scriptural names, such as Tabor, Horeb, and Mount Olivet. In July, 1419 "Mount Tabor" was the scene of an epoch-making assembly. Nicolaus of Husinec, banished by Wenceslaus as a dangerous agitator, had brought together 42,000 Utraquists; they listened to Utraquist preachers, received the chalice, and spent the day in organizing resistance to any interference with their religion; they sent a message to the king that they, one and all, were ready to die for the chalice. In Prague itself matters had gone even further. Ziska of Troznow, like Nicolaus of Husinec, a former favourite of the king, had taken the lead of the malcontents and familiarized them with the thought of armed resistance.
Ziska belonged to the inferior nobility of southern Bohemia, he had distinguished himself both as an undaunted fighter and as an excellent leader of men. Johann, formerly a Premonstratensian monk of Selau now a zealot for Utraquism, on 30 July, 1419, carried the Blessed Sacrament in procession through the streets of Prague (Neustadt); the processionists, excited by a fiery sermon of their leader, first penetrated into St. Stephen's church which had been closed to them; then they assembled in front of the town hall, where Johann, still holding up the Blessed Sacrament, demanded from the magistrates the release of several Utraquists imprisoned for previous disturbances. The magistrates refused and prepared for resistance. Ziska ordered the storming of the town hall; all persons found therein were thrown out of the windows on to the spears and swords of the processionists, and hacked to pieces, whilst Johann called on God in His Sacrament to inflame their murderous fury. The mob there and then elected four captains, called all men to arms and fortified the Neustadt. King Wenceslaus swore death to all the rebels, but a stroke of apoplexy, caused by excitement, carried him off, 16 August, 1419. The next months were marked by deeds of violence against the faithful clergy, by wanton destruction of church furniture, and by the burning of monastic houses. Many citizens, especially Germans and the higher clergy, had to flee.
Wenceslaus's successor on the Bohemian throne was his brother Sigismund, German Emperor and King of Hungary. He had been the very soul of the Council of Constance; but the Bohemians, holding him responsible for the death of their beloved Hus, disliked and distrusted him. Nor was Sigismund eager to assume the ruling of this troubled kingdom. He tarried in Hungary, leaving Bohemia to be governed by the queen-widow and Vincenz von Wartenberg, the chief of the Utraquist league. The popular masses led by the lesser nobility and fanatical priests, now began to multiply their meetings on "holy" mountains Tabors and to move towards Prague in armed bands. The queen regent, with the assent of the higher nobility, forbade them to meet or even to come near to Prague. In various encounters Ziska and Nicolaus of Husinec successfully resisted the royal troops (4-9 November, 1419), an armistice was, however concluded and Ziska withdrew to Pilsen. Sigismund now gave up his plans of a campaign against the Turks and resolved to restore his new kingdom to Roman unity. On his side were the Catholic nobles, the higher clergy, the Germans settled in the land, and all who had suffered persecution and losses at the hands of the sectarians; against him stood Ziska and Nicolaus of Husinec at the head of the peasantry. Sigismund took up the government in December, then went to Silesia to collect more troops. The Catholics regained courage. They were hard on the Utraquists wherever they were the stronger: in Kuttenberg, for instance, hundreds of captured Utraquists were thrown by the miners into the shafts of disused silver mines. The leaders of the people meanwhile, built the impregnable stronghold of Tabor whither the country people betook themselves with all their movable possessions, in order to await in the "community of the brethren" the things that were to come.
Here Utraquism entered upon a new development. The priests of Austi, starting from the principle that the Bible contained the whole teaching of Christ, abolished every traditional rite and liturgy. There were to be no more churches, altars, vestments, sacred vessels, chants, or ceremonies. The Lord's Prayer was the only liturgical prayer; the communion table was a common table with common bread and common appointments, the celebrant wore his everyday clothes and was untonsured. Children were baptized with the first water at hand and without any further ceremony they received Communion in both kinds immediately after Baptism. Extreme unction and auricular confession were abolished; mortal sins were to be confessed in public. Purgatory and the worship of saints were suppressed, likewise all feasts and fasts. Such a creed accounts for the fury of destruction which possessed the Hussites. Ziska spent his time in drilling his peasants and artisans into an army capable to withstand the dreaded knights in armour of the king's army. Clever tactics, apt choice of the battlefield, and confidence in their chief and in their cause, made up for their defective armament. Straightened scythes, flails, forks and iron-shod cudgels were their weapons. Their religious fanaticism was heightened by a young Moravian priest, Martin Houska, surnamed Loquis, who taught them to read in the Bible that the last days had come, that salvation was only to be found in the mountains their Tabors that after the great battle the millennium would reign on earth.
Sigismund's army had been strengthened by contingents from Hungary and other adjoining lands; everyone was ready for the fray. On 1 March, 1420, Pope Martin V issued a Bull inviting all Christians to unite in a crusade for the extermination of Wycliffites, Hussites, and other heretics. This Bull was read to the imperial diet assembled at Breslau on 17 March. Its effect was terror on the Catholic side, holy enthusiasm and closest union for deadly warfare on the side of the Taborites. Many Catholics fled; the Utraquist nobles renounced their allegiance and declared war on Sigismund "who had brought the slander of heresy on the land"; a secret embassy offered the Bohemian crown to King Wladislaw II of Poland. The energetic Ziska at once began operations in southern Bohemia. Royal towns, fortresses, and monasteries fell into his hands. These latter were plundered and destroyed. Königgrätz submitted, as did also some nobles disgusted with the excesses of the Taborites. While the king was waiting for the "crusaders" from Germany, he had seventeen Utraquists drowned in the Elbe at Leitmeritz and two burnt at Echlau. The rebels retaliated by setting fire to several monasteries near Prague and by burning the monks. The "crusading" army arrived in July; with the king's troops they were 100,000 strong. Before engaging in battle, the papal legate, Ferdinand of Lucca, examined the "Four Prague Articles", i.e. four points on the granting of which the rebels would submit.
These articles emanated from the university. In substance they are:
"The Word of God is to be freely examined by Christian priests throughout the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Margravate of Moravia.
The venerable Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ is to be given in two kinds to adults as well as to children, as Jesus Christ has instituted.
The priests and monks, of whom many meddle with the affairs of the State, are to be deprived of the worldly goods which they possess in great quantities and which make them neglect their sacred office; and their goods shall be restored to us, in order that, in accordance with the doctrine of the Gospel, and the practice of the Apostles, the clergy shall be subject to us, and, living in poverty, serve as a pattern of humility to others.
All the public sins which are called mortal, and all other trespasses contrary to the law of God, are to be punished according to the laws of the country, by those in charge of them, in order to wipe from the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Margravate of Moravia the bad reputation of tolerating disorders."
The legate concluded his examination by a demand of almost unconditional submission. The "Calixtines", now so called from the chalice which decorated their flags, weapons, and clothes, took up the unequal fight, on 14 July, 1420, they inflicted a signal defeat on the crusaders. Sigismund had recourse to new negotiation on the four articles. But seeing his best supporters wavering, he had himself crowned in the cathedral of Prague (28 July), and two days later he dissolved the crusading army. In order to pay his mercenaries he turned the treasures of several churches into money, and pledged their lands to the nobles, who never parted with them again.
The Utraquist magistrates imposed their whole will on the town and the university; riots and deeds of violence occurred everywhere the wealthy monasteries were the first and greatest sufferers. Many of the best citizens proclaimed their horror at the destruction of the fairest buildings and their disgust with the Taborite forms of worship. In Prague, however, they were kept down by Johann of Selau, who had assumed a kind of dictatorship, in the country the Taborite leaders themselves thought it better to give another direction to the destructive mania of their followers. Ziska in the southern borderlands and the Prague army added victory to victory; the strong town of Wysehrad surrendered, 1 November, 1420, after a crushing defeat of Sigismund's troops. The rebels, now sure of their power, offered the Bohemian throne to King Wladislaw II of Poland. In March, 1421 King Wenceslaus returned to Hungary, leaving his country almost defenseless. By June of the same year the Hussites had established their dominion over the whole kingdom, with the exception of a few northern and western border districts. The inhabitants were asked to accept the Four Prague articles or to emigrate within a stated time, captains and sheriffs were appointed to rule the towns with royal powers. Thus Utraquism and home rule supplanted Catholicism and German rule. The nobility accepted the new order; Archbishop Conrad of Prague adapted the four articles (21 April, 1421), ordained Utraquist clergy, and invited the older clergy likewise to conform. The metropolitan chapter, however, who had fled to Zittau and Olmütz, remained faithful, and appointed the "iron" Johann of Leitomischl, later of Olmütz, administrator of the archdiocese. The Hussites never had a sterner enemy.
Among the Taborites, a new sect arose about this time. The priest Martin Loquis taught these rabid levellers of monasteries and murderers of priests that Christ was not really present in the Eucharist; consequently, that worshipping the sacrament was idolatry. Sacrilegious profanations became the order of the day. Proceedings were taken by the Utraquist authorities, advised by the university, against the innovators. Loquis and another were taken prisoners, dragged through the country, cruelly tortured and finally burnt in a barrel. His four hundred followers were expelled from Tabor. For some time they roamed through the country "as avenging angels", robbing, burning, and killing. Ziska, in disgust, had twenty-four (some say fifty) of the worst put to death by fire. The remainder, reinforced by some fanatical Chiliasts, formed a sect of Adamites subject to no law and possessing their women in common. Ziska surrounded them on their island in the River Nezárka and exterminated them to the last man (October, 1421). The summer of 1421 was employed by the Hussites in consolidating their new power. Successful expeditions penetrated to the northwestern border, burned more monasteries, killed more monks, priests, and inoffensive citizens; but here also they suffered their first serious defeat at the hands of Catholic knights and the troops of Meissen (5 August, 1421). As early as April a second army of crusaders, twice as strong as the first, had been forming at Nuremberg, while Sigismund was expected to bring up his Hungarian army. The crusaders laid siege to Saaz.
On 2 October, the news spread that Ziska was coming to the rescue of the besieged. This perhaps false information sufficed to disperse the crusaders and their five leaders in all directions in disorderly flight. Not a blow was struck. Sigismund entered Moravia, which he reduced to submission, and met Ziska in battle at Kuttenberg. The stronger battalions were on the emperor's side, but Ziska fought his way through them and shortly afterwards, at Deutsch-Brod, almost annihilated them (8 January, 1422). This victory kept the Hussites' foreign foes in wholesome fear for many years; new crusades were indeed preached year after year, but not carried out. The field was left free for internal dissensions to undo what had so far been done. Prague began by shaking off the tyrannical dictatorship of Johann of Selau. With twelve of his partisans he was beheaded, 9 March, 1422. The mob avenged his death by ravaging the university, colleges, and libraries. Next, civil war broke out between, on the one hand the Taborites under Ziska a few southern towns and Saaz with Laun in the northwest, and on the other, Prague with the whole nobility and the other towns. Its cause was the proposal to unite all parties under the administration of Sigismund Korybut, a nephew of the Grand Duke Witold of Lithuania, who had accepted the Bohemian crown refused by the King of Poland, and appointed Korybut as governor. The first victory again was Ziska's (end of April, 1423). Some futile negotiations followed. From January to September 1424 the Taborites waged a most successful war, which led their victorious army up to the gates of the capital. Korybut and Prague now sent to Ziska the eloquent priest Rokyzana, who succeeded in bringing about a complete understanding between the parties. They then joined in an expedition against Moravia. Close to the Moravian frontier, at Pribislau, Ziska fell ill and died (14 October, 1424).
His death was followed by new groupings of the parties. The closer partisans of Ziska, who represented the moderates, now took the name of "Orphans." Their priests still said Mass in liturgical vestments and followed the old rite. The more extreme Taborites chose new chiefs, of whom the most prominent was Andrew Procopius, a married priest surnamed "the Great" or "the Shaven", to distinguish him from Little Procopius (Prokupek) who in time became the spiritual leader of the Orphans. Orphans and Taborites fought together against any common foe; when there was no common foe they fought or quarrelled with one another. Their united forces, under Procopius the Shaven, won the battle of Aussig on the Elbe (16 June, 1426), in which 15,000 Germans and many Saxon and Thuringian nobles lost their lives, but they were beaten in their turn by Albert of Austria, at Zwettel, 12 March, 1427. While these horrible wars were laying waste the country, the Magistri of Prague, pro tem. the supreme judges in matters of Faith, divided into two parties. Rokyzana, Jacobellus, and Peter Payne favoured a nearer approach to the Taborite innovations; others had gained the conviction that peace and union were only to be found in returning to the Roman allegiance. The chalice for the laity was the only point they wished to retain. Korybut, the governor, favoured the latter view. He engaged in secret negotiations with Pope Martin V, but the secret having leaked out Rokyzana, at the head of the populace of Prague seized him and confined him to a fortress (17 April 1427). The Hussites under Procopius the Shaven now raided Lusatia and Silesia. In July, 1427, a third army of crusaders, some 150,000 strong, entered Bohemia from the west. Procopius met and defeated them at Mies (4 August). Another army coming from Silesia had a similar fate.
Being complete masters of the situation at home, the Hussites set out for further raids abroad. Their own country was lying waste after so many years of war; the people had become a huge horde of brigands bent on bloodshed and plunder. In the years 1428-1431 the combined Orphans, Taborites, and the townsmen of Prague invaded Hungary, laid waste Silesia as far as Breslau, plundered Lusatia, Meissen, Saxony, and advanced to Nuremberg, leaving in their track the remains of flourishing towns and villages, and devastated lands. Negotiations for an armistice came to naught. When the raiders returned in 1430 they had with them 3,000 wagons of booty, each drawn by from six to fourteen horses; a hundred towns and more than a thousand villages had been destroyed. In 1431 a fourth crusade, sent by the unbending Martin V, entered Bohemia. The crusaders numbered 90,000 foot and 40,000 horse; they were accompanied by the papal legate and commanded by the Electoral Prince Frederick of Brandenburg. They met a strong army of Hussites at Taus. The wild war-songs of the enemy filled the soldiers of the Cross with uncontrollable fear; once more they fled in disorder, losing many men and 300 wagons of stores (14 August, 1431). After so many reverses the Catholics realized that peace was only to be attained by concessions to the Hussites. Advances were made by Emperor Sigismund and by the Council of Basle, which was then sitting. A meeting of the contending parties' delegates took place at Eger, where preliminaries for further discussion at Basle were agreed upon. Meanwhile the excommunicated Archbishop Conrad of Prague and the "iron" Bishop Johann of Olmutz died, and the Utraquist Rokyzana had an eye on the See of Prague: it was therefore his interest to make further peace negotiations with Rome. The Taborites, on the contrary, continued the war, heedless of the Eger arrangements. They raided Silesia and Brandenburg, advancing as far as Berlin, and fought Albert of Austria in Moravia and in his own Austrian dominions.
At length, 4 January, 1433, a deputation of fifteen members, provided with safe-conducts and accompanied by a numerous train, arrived at Basle. Discussion on the Four Articles of Prague lasted till April without any result. The deputies left Basle on 14 April, but with them went a deputation from the council to continue negotiations with the diet assembled at Prague. Here some progress was made, notwithstanding the opposition of Procopius and the extreme Taborites who were loath to lay down their arms and return to peaceful pursuits. The conferences dragged on till 26 November, 1433. The council, chiefly bent on safeguarding the dogma, consented to the following disciplinary articles, known as the Compactata of Basle:
In Bohemia and Moravia, communion under both kinds is to be given to all adults who desire it,
All mortal sins, especially public ones, shall be publicly punished by the lawful authorities;
The Word of God may be freely preached by approved preachers but without infringing papal authority;
Secular power shall not be exercised by the clergy bound by vows to the contrary; other clergy, and the Church itself may acquire and hold temporal goods, but merely as administrators and such.
In substance, the Compactata reproduced the Four Articles of Prague. They were accepted by the delegates, but further discussion on minor points led to a new rupture, and in the beginning of 1434 the delegates left Basle. A new party now arose: the friends of the Compactata. It soon gathered strength enough to order the Taborites who were besieging Pilsen and infesting the country to dissolve their armed bands. Instead of dispersing, they brought all their forces together at Lipau near Prague and offered battle. Here they suffered a crushing defeat from which they never recovered. Their two best leaders, Procopius the Shaven and Prokupek, were killed (30 May, 1434).
The tedious negotiations, in which religious, political, and personal interests had to be satisfied, went on with various vicissitudes until 5 July, 1436, when the Bohemian representatives at the Diet of Iglau, solemnly accepted the Compactata and promised obedience to the council. The representatives of the council, on their side, removed the ban from the Bohemians and acknowledged them as true sons of the Church. The diet accepted Sigismund as King of Bohemia: on 23 August he entered Prague, and took possession of his kingdom. Henceforth the Utraquists or Calixtines and the Subunists (sub una specie) had separate churches and lived together in comparative peace. Priests were ordained for the Utraquist rite. New difficulties were created by Rokyzana's failing to obtain the bishopric for which he had so long agitated and which he had been promised by Sigismund. His partisans went back to former aberrations, e.g. they re-established the feast of the "Holy Martyr Hus" on 6 July.
In 1448 Cardinal Carvajal came to Prague to settle the ever open question of Rokyzana's claims. Having demanded restitution of confiscated church property as the first step, he was threatened with murder and fled. In December of the same year Rokyzana returned to Prague as president of the Utraquist consistory. The governor, George Podiebrad, supported him in his disobedience to Rome and nullified all Roman attempts at a final settlement; he opposed St. John Capistran, who was then converting thousands of Utraquists in Moravia. As things were going from bad to worse, Pope Pius II, who had had long experience of the sectarians at Basle and as legate to Prague, refused to acknowledge the Utraquist rite, and declared the Compactata null and void, 31 March, 1462. Podiebrad retaliated by persecuting the Catholics in 1466 he was excommunicated by Paul II; there followed other religious and civil wars. In 1485 King Wladislaw granted equal liberty and rights to both parties. Judging by its results this was a step in the right direction. By degrees the Utraquists conformed to the Roman rites so as to be hardly distinguishable from them, except through the chalice for the laity. In the sixteenth century they resisted Lutheran inroads even better than the Subunists. Their further history is told in the article BOHEMIAN BRETHREN.
APA citation. Wilhelm, J. (1910). Hussites. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07585a.htm
MLA citation. Wilhelm, Joseph. "Hussites." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07585a.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Tomas Hancil.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. June 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
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Home > Fathers of the Church > Excerpts (Theodotus)
Excerpts of Theodotus
Selections from the Prophetic Scriptures
I. Those around Sedrach, Misak, and Abednago in the furnace of fire say as they praise God, Bless, you heavens, the Lord; praise and exalt Him for ever; then, Bless, you angels, the Lord; then, Bless the Lord, all you waters that are above heaven. So the Scriptures assign the heavens and the waters to the class of pure powers as is shown in Genesis. Suitably, then, inasmuch as power is used with a variety of meaning, Daniel adds, Let every power bless the Lord; then, further, Bless the Lord, sun and moon; and, Bless the Lord, you stars of heaven. Bless the Lord, all you that worship Him; praise and confess the God of gods, for His mercy is forever. It is written in Daniel, on the occasion of the three children praising in the furnace.
II. Blessed are You, who looks on the abysses as You sit on the cherubim, says Daniel, in agreement with Enoch, who said, And I saw all sorts of matter. For the abyss, which is in its essence boundless, is bounded by the power of God. These material essences then, from which the separate genera and their species are produced, are called abysses; since you would not call the water alone the abyss, although matter is allegorically called water, the abyss.
III. In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth, Genesis 1:1 both terrestrial and celestial things. And that this is true, the Lord said to Osee, Go, take to yourself a wife of fornication, and children of fornication: because the land committing fornication, shall commit fornication, departing from the Lord. Hosea 1:2 For it is not the element of earth that he speaks of, but those that dwell in the element, those who have an earthly disposition.
IV. And that the Son is the beginning or head, Hosea teaches clearly: And it shall be, that in the place in which it was said to them, You are not my people, they shall be called the children of the living God: and the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered to the same place, and they shall place over them one head, and they shall come up out of the land; for great is the day of Jezreel. Hosea 1:10-11 For whom one believes, him He chooses. But one believes the Son, who is the head; wherefore also he said in addition: But I will have mercy on the sons of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God. Hosea 1:7 Now the Saviour who saves is the Son of God. He is then the head.
V. The Spirit by Osee says, I am your Instructor; Hosea 5:2 Blow the trumpet upon the hills of the Lord; sound upon the high places. Hosea 5:8 And is not baptism itself, which is the sign of regeneration, an escape from matter, by the teaching of the Saviour, a great impetuous stream, ever rushing on and bearing us along? The Lord accordingly, leading us out of disorder, illumines us by bringing us into the light, which is shadowless and is material no longer.
VI. This river and sea of matter two prophets cut asunder and divided by the power of the Lord, the matter being bounded, through both divisions of the water. Famous leaders both, by whom the signs were believed, they complied with the will of God, so that the righteous man may proceed from matter, having journeyed through it first. On the one of these commanders also was imposed the name of our Saviour.
VII. Now, regeneration is by water and spirit, as was all creation: For the Spirit of God moved on the abyss. Genesis 1:2 And for this reason the Saviour was baptized, though not Himself needing to be so, in order that He might consecrate the whole water for those who were being regenerated. Thus it is not the body only, but the soul, that we cleanse. It is accordingly a sign of the sanctifying of our invisible part, and of the straining off from the new and spiritual creation of the unclean spirits that have got mixed up with the soul.
VIII. The water above the heaven. Since baptism is performed by water and the Spirit as a protection against the twofold fire — that which lays hold of what is visible, and that which lays hold of what is invisible; and of necessity, there being an immaterial element of water and a material, is it a protection against the twofold fire. And the earthly water cleanses the body; but the heavenly water, by reason of its being immaterial and invisible, is an emblem of the Holy Spirit, who is the purifier of what is invisible, as the water of the Spirit, as the other of the body.
IX. God, out of goodness, has mingled fear with goodness. For what is beneficial for each one, that He also supplies, as a physician to a sick man, as a father to his insubordinate child: For he that spares his rod hates his son. Proverbs 13:24 And the Lord and His apostles walked in the midst of fear and labours. When, then, the affliction is sent in the person of a righteous man, it is either from the Lord rebuking him for a sin committed before, or guarding him on account of the future, or not preventing by the exercise of His power an assault from without, — for some good end to him and to those near, for the sake of example.
X. Now those that dwell in a corrupt body, like those who sail in an old ship, do not lie on their back, but are ever praying, stretching their hands to God.
XI. The ancients were exceedingly distressed, unless they had always some suffering in the body. For they were afraid, that if they received not in this world the punishment of the sins which, in numbers through ignorance, accompany those that are in the flesh, they would in the other world suffer the penalty all at once. So that they preferred curative treatment here. What is to be dreaded is, then, not external disease, but sins, for which disease comes, and disease of the soul, not of the body: For all flesh is grass, Isaiah 40:6 and corporeal and external good things are temporary; but the things which are unseen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18
XII. As to knowledge, some elements of it we already possess; others, by what we do possess, we firmly hope to attain. For neither have we attained all, nor do we lack all. But we have received, as it were, an earnest of the eternal blessings, and of the ancestral riches. The provisions for the Lord's way are the Lord's beatitudes. For He said: Seek, and anxiously seek, the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you: for the Father knows what things you have need of. Thus He limits not only our occupations, but our cares. For He says: You cannot, by taking thought, add anything to your stature. For God knows well what it is good for us to have and what to want. He wishes, therefore, that we, emptying ourselves of worldly cares, should be filled with that which is directed towards God. For we groan, desiring to be clothed upon with that which is incorruptible, before putting off corruption. For when faith is shed abroad, unbelief is nonplussed. Similarly also with knowledge and righteousness. We must therefore not only empty the soul, but fill it with God. For no longer is there evil in it, since that has been made to cease; nor yet is there good, since it has not yet received good. But what is neither good nor evil is nothing. For to the swept and empty house return, Matthew 12:44 if none of the blessings of salvation has been put in, the unclean spirit that dwelt there before, taking with him seven other unclean spirits. Wherefore, after emptying the soul of what is evil, we must fill with the good God that which is His chosen dwelling-place. For when the empty rooms are filled, then follows the seal, that the sanctuary may be guarded for God.
XIII. By two and three witnesses every word is established. Deuteronomy 17:6 By Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, by whose witness and help the prescribed commandments ought to be kept.
XIV. Fasting, according to the signification of the word, is abstinence from food. Now food makes us neither more righteous nor less. But mystically it shows that, as life is maintained in individuals by sustenance, and want of sustenance is the token of death; so also ought we to fast from worldly things, that we may die to the world, and after that, by partaking of divine sustenance, live to God. Especially does fasting empty the soul of matter, and make it, along with the body, pure and light for the divine words. Worldly food is, then, the former life and sins; but the divine food is faith, hope, love, patience, knowledge, peace, temperance. For blessed are they that hunger and thirst after God's righteousness; for they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6 The soul, but not the body, it is which is susceptible of this craving.
XV. The Saviour showed to the believing apostles prayer to be stronger than faith in the case of a demoniac, whom they could not cleanse, when He said, Such things are accomplished by prayer. He who has believed has obtained forgiveness of sins from the Lord; but he who has attained knowledge, inasmuch as he no longer sins, obtains from himself the forgiveness of the rest.
XVI. For as cures, and prophecies, and signs are performed by the agency of men, God working in them, so also is Gnostic teaching. For God shows His power through men. And the prophecy rightly says, I will send to them a man who will save them. Isaiah 19:20 Accordingly He sends forth at one time prophets, at another apostles, to be saviours of men. Thus God does good by the agency of men. For it is not that God can do some things, and cannot do others: He is never powerless in anything. No more are some things done with, and some things against His will; and some things by Him, and some things by another. But He even brought us into being by means of men, and trained us by means of men.
XVII. God made us, having previously no existence. For if we had a previous existence, we must have known where we were, and how and why we came hither. But if we had no pre-existence, then God is the sole author of our creation. As, then, He made us who had no existence; so also, now that we are made, He saves us by His own grace, if we show ourselves worthy and susceptible; if not, He will let us pass to our proper end. For He is Lord both of the living and the dead.
XVIII. But see the power of God, not only in the case of men, in bringing to existence out of non-existence, and making them when brought into being grow up according to the progress of the time of life, but also in saving those who believe, in a way suitable to each individual. And now He changes both hours, and times, and fruits, and elements. For this is the one God, who has measured both the beginning and the end of events suitably to each one.
XIX. Advancing from faith and fear to knowledge, man knows how to say Lord, Lord; but not as His slave, he has learned to say, Our Father. Having set free the spirit of bondage, which produces fear, and advanced by love to adoption, he now reverences from love Him whom he feared before. For he no longer abstains from what he ought to abstain from out of fear, but out of love clings to the commandments. The Spirit itself, it is said, bears witness when we cry, Abba, Father.
XX. Now the Lord with His precious blood redeems us, freeing us from our old bitter masters, that is, our sins, on account of which the spiritual powers of wickedness ruled over us. Accordingly He leads us into the liberty of the Father — sons that are co-heirs and friends. For, says the Lord, they that do the will of my Father are my brethren and fellow-heirs. Matthew 12:50 Call no man, therefore, father to yourselves on earth. Matthew 23:9 For it is masters that are on earth. But in heaven is the Father, of whom is the whole family, both in heaven and on earth. Ephesians 3:15 For love rules willing hearts, but fear the unwilling. One kind of fear is base; but the other, leading us as a pedagogue to good, brings us to Christ, and is saving.
XXI. Now if one has a conception of God, it by no means corresponds with His worthiness. For what can the worthiness of God be? But let him, as far as is possible, conceive of a great and incomprehensible and most beautiful light; inaccessible, comprehending all good power, all comely virtue; caring for all, compassionate, passionless, good; knowing all things, foreknowing all things, pure, sweet, shining, stainless.
XXII. Since the movement of the soul is self-originated, the grace of God demands from it what the soul possesses, willingness as its contribution to salvation. For the soul wishes to be its own good; which the Lord, however, gives it. For it is not devoid of sensation so as to be carried along like a body. Having is the result of taking, and taking of willing and desiring; and keeping hold of what one has received, of the exercise of care and of ability. Wherefore God has endowed the soul with free choice, that He may show it its duty, and that it choosing, may receive and retain.
XXIII. As through the body the Lord spoke and healed, so also formerly by the prophets, and now by the apostles and teachers. For the Church is the minister of the Lord's power. Thence He then assumed humanity, that by it He might minister to the Father's will. And at all times, the God who loves humanity invests Himself with man for the salvation of men — in former times with the prophets, and now with the Church. For it is fitting that like should minister to like, in order to a like salvation.
XXIV. For we are of the earth....Cæsar is the prince, for the time being, whose earthly image is the old man, to which he has returned. To him, then, we are to render the earthly things, which we bore in the image of the earthly, and the things of God to God. For each one of the passions is on us as a letter, and stamp, and sign. Now the Lord marks us with another stamp, and with other names and letters, faith instead of unbelief, and so forth. Thus we are translated from what is material to what is spiritual, having borne the image of the heavenly. 1 Corinthians 15:49
XXV. John says: I indeed baptize you with water, but there comes after me He that baptizes with the Spirit and fire. Matthew 3:11 But He baptized no one with fire. But some, as Heraclius says, marked with fire the ears of those who were sealed; understanding so the apostolic saying, For His fan is in His hand, to purge His floor: and He will gather the wheat into the garner; but the chaff He will burn with fire unquenchable. Matthew 3:12 There is joined, then, the expression by fire to that by the Spirit; since He separates the wheat from the chaff, that is, from the material husk, by the Spirit; and the chaff is separated, being fanned by the wind: so also the Spirit possesses a power of separating material forces. Since, then, some things are produced from what is unproduced and indestructible — that is, the germs of life — the wheat also is stored, and the material part, as long as it is conjoined with the superior part, remains; when separated from it, it is destroyed; for it had its existence in another thing. This separating element, then, is the Spirit, and the destroying element is the fire: and material fire is to be understood. But since that which is saved is like wheat, and that which grows in the soul like chaff, and the one is incorporeal, and that which is separated is material; to the incorporeal He opposes spirit, which is rarefied and pure — almost more so than mind; and to the material He opposes fire, not as being evil or bad, but as strong and capable of cleansing away evil. For fire is conceived as a good force and powerful, destructive of what is baser, and conservative of what is better. Wherefore this fire is by the prophets called wise.
XXVI. Thus also, then, when God is called a consuming fire, it is because a name and sign, not of wickedness, but of power, is to be selected. For as fire is the most potent of the elements, and masters all things; so also God is all-powerful and almighty, who is able to hold, to create, to make, to nourish, to make grow, to save, having power of body and soul. As, then, fire is superior to the elements, so is the Almighty Ruler to gods, and powers, and principalities. The power of fire is twofold: one power conduces to the production and maturing of fruits and of animals, of which the sun is the image; and the other to consumption and destruction, as terrestrial fire. When, then, God is called a consuming fire, He is called a mighty and resistless power, to which nothing is impossible, but which is able to destroy.
Respecting such a power, also, the Saviour says, I came to send fire upon the earth, Luke 12:49 indicating a power to purify what is holy, but destructive, as they say, of what is material; and, as we should say, disciplinary. Now fear pertains to fire, and diffusion to light.
XXVII. Now the more ancient men did not write, as they neither wished to encroach on the time devoted to attention bestowed on what they handed down, in the way of teaching, by the additional attention bestowed on writing, nor spent the time for considering what was to be said on writing. And, perhaps convinced that the function of composition and the department of teaching did not belong to the same cast of mind, they gave way to those who had a natural turn for it. For in the case of a speaker, the stream of speech flows unchecked and impetuous, and you may catch it up hastily. But that which is always tested by readers, meeting with strict examination, is thought worthy of the utmost pains, and is, so to speak, the written confirmation of oral instruction, and of the voice so wafted along to posterity by written composition. For that which was committed in trust to the elders, speaking in writing, uses the writer's help to hand itself down to those who are to read it. As, then, the magnet, repelling other matter, attracts iron alone by reason of affinity; so also books, though many read them, attract those alone who are capable of comprehending them. For the word of truth is to some foolishness, 1 Corinthians 1:18 and to others a stumbling-block; 1 Corinthians 1:18 but to a few wisdom. 1 Corinthians 1:18 So also is the power of God found to be. But far from the Gnostic be envy. For it is for this reason also that he asks whether it be worse to give to the unworthy, or not commit to the worthy; and runs the risk, from his abundant love of communicating, not only to every one who is qualified, but sometimes also to one unworthy, who asks importunately; not on account of his entreaty (for he loves not glory), but on account of the persistency of the petitioner who bends his mind towards faith with copious entreaty.
XXVIII. There are those calling themselves Gnostics who are envious of those in their own house more than strangers. And, as the sea is open to all, but one swims, another sails, and a third catches fish; and as the land is common, but one walks, another ploughs, another hunts — somebody else searches the mines, and another builds a house: so also, when the Scripture is read, one is helped to faith, another to morality, and a third is freed from superstition by the knowledge of things. The athlete, who knows the Olympic stadium, strips for training, contends, and becomes victor, tripping up his antagonists who contend against his scientific method, and fighting out the contest. For scientific knowledge is necessary both for the training of the soul and for gravity of conduct; making the faithful more active and keen observers of things. For as there is no believing without elementary instruction, so neither is there comprehension without science.
XXIX. For what is useful and necessary to salvation, such as the knowledge of the Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, and also of our own soul, are wholly requisite; and it is at once beneficial and necessary to attain to the scientific account of them. And to those who have assumed the lead in doing good, much experience is advantageous; so that none of the things which appear to be known necessarily and eruditely by others may escape their notice. The exposition, too, of heterodox teaching affords another exercise of the inquiring soul, and keeps the disciple from being seduced from the truth, by his having already had practice beforehand in sounding all round on warlike instruments of music.
XXX. The life of the Gnostic rule, (as they say that Crete was barren of deadly animals,) is pure from every evil deed, and thought, and word; not only hating no one, but beyond envy and hatred, and all evil-speaking and slander.
XXXI. In length of days, it is not on account of his having lived long that the man is to be regarded happy, to whose lot it has also fallen, through his having lived, to be worthy of living forever. He has pained no one, except in instructing by the word the wounded in heart, as it were by a salutary honey, which is at once sweet and pungent. So that, above all, the Gnostic preserves the decorous along with that which is in accordance with reason. For passion being cut away and stript off from the whole soul, he henceforth consorts and lives with what is noblest, which has now become pure, and emancipated to adoption.
XXXII. Pythagoras thought that he who gave things their names, ought to be regarded not only the most intelligent, but the oldest of the wise men. We must, then, search the Scriptures accurately, since they are admitted to be expressed in parables, and from the names hunt out the thoughts which the Holy Spirit, propounding respecting things, teaches by imprinting His mind, so to speak, on the expressions; that the names used with various meanings, being made the subject of accurate investigation, may be explained, and that that which is hidden under many integuments may, being handled and learned, come to light and gleam forth. For so also lead turns white as you rub it; white lead being produced from black. So also scientific knowledge (gnosis), shedding its light and brightness on things, shows itself to be in truth the divine wisdom, the pure light, which illumines the men whose eyeball is clear, unto the sure vision and comprehension of truth.
XXXIII. Lighting, then, our torch at the source of that light, by the passionate desire which has it for its object, and striving as much as possible to be assimilated to it, we become men full of light, Israelites indeed. For He called those friends and brethren who by desire and pursuit aimed after likeness to the Divinity.
XXXIV. Pure places and meadows have received voices and visions of holy phantasms. But every man who has been perfectly purified, shall be thought worthy of divine teaching and of power.
XXXV. Now I know that the mysteries of science (gnosis) are a laughing-stock to many, especially when not patched up with sophistical figurative language. And the few are at first startled at them; as when light is suddenly brought into a convivial party in the dark. Subsequently, on getting used and accustomed, and trained to reasoning, as if gladdened and exulting for delight, they praise the Lord....For as pleasure has for its essence release from pain; so also has knowledge the removal of ignorance. For as those that are most asleep think they are most awake, being under the power of dream-visions very vivid and fixed; so those that are most ignorant think that they know most. But blessed are they who rouse themselves from this sleep and derangement, and raise their eyes to the light and the truth.
XXXVI. It is, therefore, equally requisite for him who wishes to have a pupil who is docile, and has blended faith with aspiration, to exercise himself and constantly to study by himself, investigating the truth of his speculations; and when he thinks himself right, to descend to questions regarding things contiguous. For the young birds make attempts to fly in the nest, exercising their wings.
XXXVII. For Gnostic virtue everywhere makes man good, and meek, and harmless, and painless, and blessed, and ready to associate in the best way with all that is divine, in the best way with men, at once a contemplative and active divine image, and turns him into a lover of what is good by love. For what is good, as there it is contemplated and comprehended by wisdom, is here by self-control and righteousness carried into effect through faith: practising in the flesh an angelic ministry; hallowing the soul in the body, as in a place clear and stainless.
XXXVIII. Against Tatian, who says that the words, Let there be light, Genesis 1:3 are supplicatory. If, then, He is supplicating the supreme God, how does He say, I am God, and beside me there is none else? Isaiah 44:6 We have said that there are punishments for blasphemies, for nonsense, for outrageous expressions; which are punished and chastised by reason.
XXXIX. And he said, too, that on account of their hair and finery, women are punished by the Power that is set over these matters; which also gave to Samson strength in his hair; which punishes the women who allure to fornication through the adornment of their hair.
XL. As by the effluence of good, people are made good; in like manner are they made bad. Good is the judgment of God, and the discrimination of the believing from the unbelieving, and the judgment beforehand, so as not to fall into greater judgment — this judgment being correction.
XLI. Scripture says that infants which are exposed are delivered to a guardian angel, and that by him they are trained and reared. And they shall be, it says, as the faithful in this world of a hundred years of age. Wherefore also Peter, in the Revelation, says: And a flash of fire, leaping from those infants, and striking the eyes of the women. For the just shines: forth as a spark in a reed, and will judge the nations. Wisdom 3:7
XLII. With the holy You will be holy. According to your praise is your name glorified; God being glorified through our knowledge, and through the inheritance. Thus also it is said, The Lord lives, and The Lord has risen. Luke 24:34
XLIII. A people whom I knew not has served me; — by covenant I knew them not, alien sons, who desired what pertained to another.
XLIV. Magnifying the salvations of His king. All the faithful are called kings, brought to royalty through inheritance.
XLV. Long-suffering is sweetness above honey; not because it is long-suffering, but in consequence of the fruit of long-suffering. Since, then, the man of self-control is devoid of passion, inasmuch as he restrains the passions, not without toil; but when habit is formed, he is no longer a man of self-control, the man having come under the influence of one habit and of the Holy Spirit.
XLVI. The passions that are in the soul are called spirits, — not spirits of power, since in that case the man under the influence of passion would be a legion of demons; but they are so called in consequence of the impulse they communicate. For the soul itself, through modifications, taking on this and that other sort of qualities of wickedness, is said to receive spirits.
XLVII. The Word does not bid us renounce property; but to manage property without inordinate affection; and on anything happening, not to be vexed or grieved; and not to desire to acquire. Divine Providence bids keep away from possession accompanied with passion, and from all inordinate affection, and from this turns back those still remaining in the flesh.
XLVIII. For instance, Peter says in the Apocalypse, that abortive infants shall share the better fate; that these are committed to a guardian angel, so that, on receiving knowledge, they may obtain the better abode, having had the same experiences which they would have had had they been in the body. But the others shall obtain salvation merely, as being injured and pitied, and remain without punishment, receiving this reward.
XLIX. The milk of women, flowing from the breasts and thickening, says Peter in the Apocalypse, will produce minute beasts, that prey on flesh, and running back into them will consume them: teaching that punishments arise for sins. He says that they are produced from sins; as it was for their sins that the people were sold. And for their want of faith in Christ, as the apostle says, they were bitten by serpents.
L. An ancient said that the embryo is a living thing; for that the soul entering into the womb after it has been by cleansing prepared for conception, and introduced by one of the angels who preside over generation, and who knows the time for conception, moves the woman to intercourse; and that, on the seed being deposited, the spirit, which is in the seed, is, so to speak, appropriated, and is thus assumed into conjunction in the process of formation. He cited as a proof to all, how, when the angels give glad tidings to the barren, they introduce souls before conception. And in the Gospel the babe leapt Luke 1:43 as a living thing. And the barren are barren for this reason, that the soul, which unites for the deposit of the seed, is not introduced so as to secure conception and generation.
LI. The heavens declare the glory of God. The heavens are taken in various meanings, both those defined by space and revolution, and those by covenant — the immediate operation of the first-created angels. For the covenants caused a more special appearance of angels — that in the case of Adam, that in the case of Noah, that in the case of Abraham, that in the case of Moses. For, moved by the Lord, the first-created angels exercised their influence on the angels attached to the prophets, considering the covenants the glory of God. Furthermore, the things done on earth by angels were done by the first-created angels to the glory of God.
LII. It is the Lord that is principally denominated the Heavens, and then the First-created; and after these also the holy men before the Law, as the patriarchs, and Moses, and the prophets; then also the apostles. And the firmament shows His handiwork. He applies the term firmament to God, the passionless and immoveable, as also elsewhere the same David says, I will love You, O Lord, my strength and my refuge. Accordingly, the firmament itself shows forth the work of His hands — that is, shows and manifests the work of His angels. For He shows forth and manifests those whom He has made.
LIII. Day unto day utters speech. As the heavens have various meanings, so also has day. Now speech is the Lord; and He is also frequently called day. And night unto night shows forth knowledge. The devil knew that the Lord was to come. But he did not believe that He was God; wherefore also he tempted Him, in order to know if He were powerful. It is said, he left Him, and departed from Him for a season; that is, he postponed the discovery till the resurrection. For he knew that He who was to rise was the Lord. Likewise also the demons; since also they suspected that Solomon was the Lord, and they knew that he was not so, on his sinning. Night to night. All the demons knew that He who rose after the passion was the Lord. And already Enoch had said, that the angels who transgressed taught men astronomy and divination, and the rest of the arts.
LIV. There are no speeches or words whose voices are not heard, neither of days nor nights. Their sound is gone forth unto all the earth. He has transferred the discourse to the saints alone, whom he calls both heavens and days.
LV. The stars, spiritual bodies, that have communications with the angels set over them, and are governed by them, are not the cause of the production of things, but are signs of what is taking place, and will take place, and have taken place in the case of atmospheric changes, of fruitfulness and barrenness, of pestilence and fevers, and in the case of men. The stars do not in the least degree exert influences, but indicate what is, and will be, and has been.
LVI. And in the sun has He set His tabernacle. There is a transposition here. For it is of the second coming that the discourse is. So, then, we must read what is transposed in its due sequence: And he, as a bridegroom issuing from his chamber, will rejoice as a giant to run his way. From heaven's end is his going forth; and there is no one who shall hide himself from his heat; and then, He has set His tabernacle in the sun.
Some say that He deposited the Lord's body in the sun, as Hermogenes. And His tabernacle, some say, is His body, others the Church of the faithful.
Our Pantænus used to say, that prophecy utters its expressions indefinitely for the most part, and uses the present for the future, and again the present for the past. Which is also seen here. For He has set is put both for the past and the future. For the future, because, on the completion of this period, which is to run according to its present constitution, the Lord will come to restore the righteous, the faithful, in whom He rests, as in a tent, to one and the same unity; for all are one body, of the same race, and have chosen the same faith and righteousness. But some as head, some as eyes, some as ears, some as hands, some as breasts, some as feet, shall be set, resplendent, in the sun. Shine forth as the sun, Matthew 13:43 or in the sun; since an angel high in command is in the sun. For he is appointed for rule over days; as the moon is for ruling over night. Genesis 1:18 Now angels are called days. Along with the angels in the sun, it is said, they shall have assigned to them one abode, to be for some time and in some respects the sun, as it were the head of the body which is one. And, besides, they also are the rulers of the days, as that angel in the sun, for the greater purpose for which he before them migrated to the same place. And again destined to ascend progressively, they reach the first abode, in accordance with the past He has set: so that the first-created angels shall no longer, according to providence, exercise a definite ministry, but may be in repose, and devoted to the contemplation of God alone; while those next to them shall be promoted to the post which they have left; and so those beneath them similarly.
LVII. There are then, according to the apostle, those on the summit, the first-created. And they are thrones, although Powers, being the first-created, inasmuch as God rests in them, as also in those who believe. For each one, according to his own stage of advancement possesses the knowledge of God in a way special to himself; and in this knowledge God reposes, those who possess knowledge being made immortal by knowledge. And is not He set His tabernacle in the sun to be understood thus? God set in the sun, that is, in the God who is beside Him, as in the Gospel, Eli, Eli, instead of my God, my God. And what is above all rule, and authority, and power, and every name that is named, are those from among men that are made perfect as angels and archangels, so as to rise to the nature of the angels first-created. For those who are changed from men to angels are instructed for a thousand years by the angels after they are brought to perfection. Then those who have taught are translated to archangelic authority; and those who have learned instruct those again who from men are changed to angels. Thus afterwards, in the prescribed periods, they are brought to the proper angelic state of the body.
LVIII. The law of God is perfect, converting souls. The Saviour Himself is called Law and Word, as Peter in the Preaching, and the prophet: Out of Zion shall go forth the Law, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Isaiah 2:3
LIX. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making children wise. The covenant of the Lord is true, making wise children; those free from evil, both the apostles, and then also us. Besides, the testimony of the Lord, according to which He rose again after His passion, having been verified by fact, led the Church to confirmation in faith.
LX. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. He says that those who have been turned from fear to faith and righteousness endure forever.
The judgments of the Lord are true, — sure, and incapable of being overturned; and giving rewards according to what is right, bringing the righteous to the unity of the faith. For this is shown in the words, justified for the same. Such desires are above gold and precious stone.
LXI. For also Your servant keeps them. Not that David alone is called servant; but the whole people saved is called the servant of God, in virtue of obedience to the command.
LXII. Cleanse me from my secret faults; — thoughts contrary to right reason — defects. For He calls this foreign to the righteous man.
LXIII. If they have not dominion over me, then shall I be innocent. If those who persecute me as they did the Lord, do not have dominion over me, I shall not be innocent. For no one becomes a martyr unless he is persecuted; nor appears righteous, unless, being wronged, he takes no revenge; nor forbearing...
Source. Translated by William Wilson. From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 8. Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1886.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0802.htm>.
Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is feedback732 at newadvent.org. (To help fight spam, this address might change occasionally.) Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.
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Blue Coupe Rocks for Family ReEntry
Fairfield CT – (April 14, 2017) – Blue Coupe, with some help of the talented young musicians from School of Rock (Fairfield) as the Opening Act, rocked the FTC Warehouse on Thursday night in support of Family ReEntry, a nonprofit leader that assists families affected by the criminal justice system.
Blue Coupe, the supergroup formed by former members of Blue Oyster Cult and Alice Cooper band, performed tracks from their upcoming new album as well as classic hits Don’t Fear the Reaper, Burning for You, School’s Out, and No More Mr. Nice Guy, among others. The benefit concert was a major boost to help fund Family ReEntry’s expanded advocacy efforts and programs that restore dignity and renew families that have been impacted by incarceration and the justice system.
Jeff Grant, Executive Director of Family ReEntry, said, “What an amazing night! We are truly grateful to Blue Coupe and School of Rock for putting on such a tremendous show. With their help of so many supporters and music fans, we are now able to advocate for a more responsive justice system and offer programs that can help the thousands of individuals and their families, who will be released from correctional facilities (in CT) this year alone.”
This year, Family ReEntry continues to support, not just the individuals who are reentering society after incarceration, but the families and friends of those individuals as they transition. Family ReEntry provides vital services to help individuals and families in the areas of prevention, intervention, diversion, in-prison and reentry.
“The situation can seem overwhelming to those most affected, but there is help,” Grant explained. “Men and woman and their families who come through Family ReEntry are succeeding in making positive contributions and improving their lives. While national averages show a large percentage of this population returning to prison, we are seeing that Family ReEntry’s work is significantly lowering that percentage.”
Currently, there are over 2.3 million people incarcerated in the United States and over 70 million with criminal records. “It is vital that we reach these individuals at critical junctures in their lives and provide them with enough support so that they can have every opportunity to achieve, learn and grow as citizens who are not forced to return to the kind of activity that caused them to be incarcerated in the first place,” said Grant, a man who knows very well of the difficulties that formerly incarcerated individuals can face. He served almost 14 months in Federal prison for a white-collar crime he committed in 2001 when he was a lawyer. Grant said. “As the first person in the country formerly incarcerated for a white-collar crime to be appointed as Executive Director of a major criminal justice nonprofit, I try to be a role model that there is hope after prison.”
According to Fred Hodges, Family ReEntry’s Director of Community Affairs, “I owe Family ReEntry my fresh start after prison; I am deeply grateful for the faith and confidence they have in me. I pay it forward every day by helping others going through criminal justice difficulties.”
More about Family ReEntry: Family ReEntry is a 501c3 nonprofit, which was founded in 1984 as a reentry support group for men at the Isaiah House in Bridgeport. It has since grown to include policy advocacy, and intervention, prevention, in-prison, reentry, fatherhood and youth & family programs. Over the past 33 years, effective advocacy efforts and community-based programs developed by Family ReEntry have significantly reduced the likelihood that clients will re-offend, be re-arrested, or be re-incarcerated. Its programs provide a spectrum of services designed to disrupt the intergenerational cycle of incarceration. Family ReEntry addresses the specific needs of each client and their families through individualized case management and support services. It works to create a positive social network for each client, helping make their transition from prison back into the community a successful, self-sufficient one, while strengthening their families and the community. Family ReEntry operates its programs in strategic locations that encompass eight municipal regions and judicial geographic areas, two parole districts and five prisons. Approximately, sixty-percent of those served by Family ReEntry are from greater Bridgeport – Connecticut’s largest city. The organization has offices in Bridgeport, Norwalk and New Haven, CT. Programs are also held in Stamford, Waterbury, Derby, New London and Norwich, CT. More information is available at www.familyreentry.org and on its social media including, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube.
More about Blue Coupe: Blue Coupe’s multi-talented entertainers include Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Dennis Dunaway bassist of the legendary Alice Cooper group, alongside multi-instrumentalist, Joe Bouchard who founded Blue Oyster Cult with his brother Albert Bouchard master of the drums. These revolutionary originals were the heartbeat of several of the best-known songs in the history of rock. And note for note, their full-throttle expertise hits you over the head and grabs you by the heart in Blue Coupe. The band has found continuing glory with their highly-acclaimed album, Tornado on The Tracks, which has multiple Grammy considerations in 2011 and 2012, including “Angel’s Well” featuring Robby Krieger legendary guitarist for The Doors. And Blue Coupe continues to tour North America and Europe with such illustrious shows as the Halloween Parade in New York City where they were seen by more than a million people. Blue Coupe’s second album, Million Miles More, features Alice Cooper, Tish and Snooky from Manic Panic, Ross the Boss from Manowar and the Dictators, Buck Dharma from Blue Oyster Cult and Goldy McJohn from Steppenwolf as special guest stars. The album was mixed by Jack Douglas (Aerosmith, John Lennon, Cheap Trick, Alice Cooper, BOC) and Warren Huart (Aerosmith, The Fray, James Blunt). The new single “Hallow’s Grave” with vocals by Alice Cooper has been submitted for Grammy consideration. Listen to the latest songs from Blue Coupe here.
More Press Releases for Family Reentry
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Warwick Lane
The building itself is Grade II listed and has been in the Warwick family from the late 1800’s. Originally trading as an engineers and confectionery shop around the 1900’s the Warwick family lived in what was the accommodation above. The engineering business turned to hardware around 1929 and the business took over much of the building.
The building was either home or birthplace to much of the Warwick family during the mid-century; famously the birthplace of Dorothy Mary Warwick. Mary married John Francis Donaldson, Baron Donaldson of Lymington to become Lady Donaldson of Lymington, GBE, DStJ and who was the first female Lord Mayor of London in 1983.
In 2012 work began to convert the building in to a shopping centre so as to allow small businesses to flourish and enhance the village shopping experience. The building was named after Richard Warwick and his wife Joyce Lane, hence ‘Warwick Lane’ (continually confusing people looking for a road!). The building is a reminder of those family members lost, but not forgotten. It has after all been in the family for well over a century.
Warwick Lane as it stands today offers many boutique shops, antiques and a coffee house so there is plenty of variety. In fact the shops are excellent for unique, not on the high street gifts for everyone and the BBC Antiques Road Trip have paid four visits to Warwick Market alone!
Wickham Village, Hampshire
Wickham is steeped in history, but it is especially famous for its village square, which is arguably the largest village square in Britain. Wickham has been trading goods in and around the square for centuries.
RG Warwick Hardware with well over a century of retailing in the Square relocated to allow a shopping centre to be built, similar, but larger in comparison to the highly successful Bay Tree Walk.
The hardware store moved over to Buddens Yard on Station Road, some 400m down the road and ‘Warwick Lane’ was established in 2012. Warwick Lane made room for 12 more boutique shops in Wickham.
RG Warwick hardware continues to trade well, especially for those who are in to DIY or horticulture, but there is much more that they stock!
The village itself continues to bustle and sometimes bursts at the seams with locals and visitors looking to buy unique gifts and trinkets or look through antiques markets and shops.
There is also, just off the square the peace and tranquillity of the water meadows. It’s a short walk, with a bridge over the river that leads to the old railway line if you want to continue your stroll. You might even pop back to the square for dinner or to have a drink in one of the many bars and restaurant in and around the square.
Copyright 2019 - Warwick Lane - Designed by stevemanning500
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Hydrological sciences (Moderators: subash, Sonali, Ila Chawla, Pankaj Dey)
History of land use in India during 1880–2010
Pankaj Dey
+112/-0
Institute : Indian Institute of Science
Programming language : MATLAB, R
In India, human population has increased six-fold from 200 million to 1200 million that coupled with economic growth has resulted in significant land use and land cover (LULC) changes during 1880–2010. However, large discrepancies in the existing LULC datasets have hindered our efforts to better understand interactions among human activities, climate systems, and ecosystem in India. In this study, we incorporated high-resolution remote sensing datasets from Resourcesat-1 and historical archives at district (N = 590) and state (N = 30) levels to generate LULC datasets at 5 arc minute resolution during 1880–2010 in India. Results have shown that a significant loss of forests (from 89 million ha to 63 million ha) has occurred during the study period. Interestingly, the deforestation rate was relatively greater under the British rule (1880–1950s) and early decades after independence, and then decreased after the 1980s due to government policies to protect the forests. In contrast to forests, cropland area has increased from 92 million ha to 140.1 million ha during 1880–2010. Greater cropland expansion has occurred during the 1950–1980s that coincided with the period of farm mechanization, electrification, and introduction of high yielding crop varieties as a result of government policies to achieve self-sufficiency in food production. The rate of urbanization was slower during 1880–1940 but significantly increased after the 1950s probably due to rapid increase in population and economic growth in India. Our study provides the most reliable estimations of historical LULC at regional scale in India. This is the first attempt to incorporate newly developed high-resolution remote sensing datasets and inventory archives to reconstruct the time series of LULC records for such a long period in India. The spatial and temporal information on LULC derived from this study could be used by ecosystem, hydrological, and climate modeling as well as by policy makers for assessing the impacts of LULC on regional climate, water resources, and biogeochemical cycles in terrestrial ecosystems.
Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921818114001283
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Jonathan Shun Presidential Invitation as Aso Rock Hosts Past Leaders
Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday boycotted a special thanksgiving service hosted by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Aso Villa Chapel.
The vice president told Daily Trust correspondent after the service Jonathan was among those specially invited, "but unfortunately, he had to cancel at the last moment."
Past leaders who are Christians that attended the service included former Head of State General Yakubu Gowon (rtd), former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Head of the Interim National Government Chief Ernest Shonekan, former Vice President Alex Ekwueme, former Chief of General Staff Rear Admiral Ebitu Ukiwe, General Oladipo Diya (rtd).
Osinbajo, who said the service was organised to thank God for all He had done for the nation this year, stated: "Today is a special thanksgiving for the end of the year. And as you've seen, all the former presidents and vice presidents are here for the special thanksgiving service. They've been specially invited to come.
"We also expected (former) President Jonathan, but unfortunately, he had to cancel at the last moment. So, we are all extremely excited that we have been able to bring everyone together to thank God for our nation and to give Him thanks for the great future ahead of us."
Also speaking, Gowon called on Christians in the country to love their fellow citizens regardless of their faith as expected by Christ.
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Apartments with Great Comfort
Robust home sales draw 2 new furniture stores to South Portland
Two out-of-state furniture chains are opening stores in Greater Portland. Here is a living room display from the Jordan’s Furniture store in Reading, Massachusetts, one of the two chains coming to Maine. The other, Bernie & Phyl’s, opens in the former Toys R Us space Monday.
Well-heeled home buyers are drawing attention from out-of-state furniture chains, two of which announced plans to open stores in Greater Portland.
Bernie & Phyl’s and Jordan’s Furniture announced last month that they would each open up stores in South Portland. The two locations are almost within sight of each other. Bernie & Phyl’s, which opens Monday, is going in the former Toys ‘R Us store on Maine Mall Road and Jordan’s is heading into the mall spot that had been occupied by the Bon-Ton department store.
“We know a tremendous amount of the people (in Maine) know the company,” said Eliot Tatelman, president and chief executive officer of Jordan’s. Jordan’s did an elaborate study of the region’s demographics before deciding to enter the Maine market, he said.
It’s a growing market. Figures from the state indicate that Maine furniture store sales were hit hard during the recession, falling below $200 million in 2009. But sales have recovered, climbing to $286 million last year, an increase of 6 percent over 2017 sales of $269 million.
Some of those sales are driven by southern Maine’s strong real estate market, said Craig Young, a partner specializing in retail real estate with The Boulos Co., a commercial brokerage in Portland.
When people buy a new house, they often have to buy new, or more, furniture, Young said, and home sales are strong “not just in Greater Portland – everywhere along the seacoast is going great.”
Home prices are also rising, which means that many of the sales are to buyers with the means to couple a home purchase with new furniture, said Dava Davin of Portside Real Estate Group.
Two women walk through an area of the Jordan’s Furniture store in Reading, Mass., called Beantown, which has replicas, all made with jelly beans, of iconic Boston landmarks such as the Old State House, seen at right.
Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer
The median sales price of a single family home statewide in Maine this year is $230,000, up from $215,000 last year, Davin said. In Cumberland County, it’s even higher, at $337,500 so far this year, she said, and it’s $296,500 in York County.
Plus, the ultra-high-price market is booming, she said, with sales of homes priced at more than $1 million growing from $340.6 million in 2017 to $426.5 million last year.
“It’s not necessarily that there’s more people buying homes, it’s more people with money,” she said, and they often buy furnishings to go in the new house or make major renovations, which also leads to more or new furniture.
Davin said changes in the types of housing people are buying also affects furniture sales. For instance, she said, homes built in the 1990s feature open floor plans that can accommodate large pieces, like a big dining room table or a sectional sofa.
But moving to a house from a different era means changing that style, Davin said, and many empty-nesters are downsizing, prompting changes in furniture. Someone moving from a large, four-bedroom house in the suburbs to a two-bedroom condominium in the city is going to have different furniture needs, she said.
Moving into a market that dynamic makes sense for the furniture retailers, said Jerry Epperson, an industry analyst and partner with Mann, Armistead & Epperson, an investment banking firm in Richmond, Virginia.
Owen Sperling, 12, crosses a section of a ropes course at the Jordan’s Furniture store in Reading, Mass.
“I know Jordan’s has had it on its to-do list for some time,” he said of the expansion to Maine.
In an interview with Furniture Today, Bernie & Phyl’s CEO Larry Rubin said he expected the Maine market would be very good for the chain, which has eight other New England locations. He said the store in Newington, New Hampshire, draws a lot of customers from Maine, indicating it was time to push north.
FURNISHING TRENDS
Furniture sales nationally mirrored what Maine experienced last year, with an increase of 6.6 percent in 2018 over 2017, Epperson said. But, he said, there’s been a slowdown this year, primarily because buyers are worried that tariffs on China may lead to increased prices.
Epperson said only about a third of the furniture sold in the U.S. is made in China, so that concern may be overblown, but sales in April were down slightly from March, factory output is slowing and shipments are off more than 3 percent.
“There’s just a lot of uncertainty over these tariffs,” he said.
Tatelman said Jordan’s is in Maine for the long haul; it plans to open next year. Jordan’s stores are known for their entertainment options, with some stores providing IMAX theaters and others featuring ropes courses, restaurants, ice cream parlors and multi-colored dancing fountains.
The Jordan’s Furniture store in Reading, Mass. includes a 500-seat, eight-story IMAX 3-D theater, seen between shows in this panorama photo.
The reasoning, Tatelman said, is that even people not shopping for furniture will come for the entertainment and perhaps see something in the store they’d like to have. Tatelman declined to say what entertainment will be offered at the South Portland store and said details would be announced closer to the location’s opening, set for March 2020.
“We’re drawing people for fun,” he said. “If you go in, not even shopping for furniture, you might see something you like and buy.”
Tatelman said the company’s target market is Greater Portland out to about an hour’s drive away.
“Furniture being a large-ticket item, people will travel,” he said.
Jordan’s is also known for its Boston Red Sox-connected promotions. The current one will make spring purchases free if a Red Sox pitcher tosses a no-hitter after July 31.
Bernie & Phyl’s relies on more traditional promotions, such as no- or low-interest financing. The company is moving more quickly than Jordan’s to open up in Maine, with the Maine Mall Road location due to open Monday.
Jordan’s has four stores in Massachusetts, one in New Hampshire, one in Rhode Island and one in Connecticut. Bernie & Phyl’s has eight stores – six in Massachusetts and two in New Hampshire.
Source Article
How to Decorate Your Apartment Effectively Even on a Low Budget
Portland Pot Shop Offers Eclipse Glasses Deal
Boys’ lacrosse: Top-ranked Cape Elizabeth pulls away late from South Portland
Comfort Apartments
Jul 07, 2019 Bill Nemitz: Portland celebrates Fourth with music, fireworks and open arms
Jun 17, 2019 Robust home sales draw 2 new furniture stores to South Portland
Jun 09, 2019 Boys’ lacrosse: Top-ranked Cape Elizabeth pulls away late from South Portland
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It’s official: the royal baby has a name. Since the young prince’s arrival earlier this week, there has been a great deal of eager anticipation for the name announcement. Speculation has run rampant, and everyone has a guess or two. There’s even money on the line for some people. With several days passed since Kate Middleton gave birth to her third child, the time is finally here. Without further ado, here’s the name of the royal baby: Louis Arthur Charles.
The bundle of joy will also be known as His Royal Highness Prince Louis of Cambridge. Louis will live his life as the fifth in line to the British throne, after his grandfather, Prince Charles, his father, Prince William, and his two older siblings, Prince George (4) and Princess Charlotte (2). CNN got the name drop. It’s safe to say Prince Louis wasn’t an expected choice for the royal heir. Several people thought the newborn child would be named Prince Albert and Prince Arthur; both were neck-and-neck as the most popular pick. Well, the latter is partially true. The number one choice initially was Princess Mary, but when the baby was born a boy, such expectations were thrown out the royal window. So, if you picked Louis, congratulations! Today is your lucky day.
Louis is not a name typically associated with British royal pedigree. In fact, it’s more commonly associated with French royalty. But there is a reason why this name was chosen, particularly as it relates to their royal family. Louis was the name of Earl Mountbatten of Burma, who was the uncle of the Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth’s husband. Louis Mountbatten was met with tragedy, however, when he was killed by a bomb in 1979 that was placed by the Irish Republican Army. He became the last Viceroy of India, which is the head of the British colonial administration. He was 79.
Prince Louis was safely delivered in London in St. Mary’s Hospital on Monday morning at 1101 hours. The baby news was revealed by the Kensington Palace, which also said the baby was 8 lbs., 7 oz. and that Prince William was there by Kate Middleton’s side during the delivery. Prince George and Princess Charlotte were either in school or inside the Kensington Palace. The rest of the royal family was said to be “delighted” by the baby’s arrival.
While the baby’s name and sex came as a surprise to many, it was speculated by a few people that the royal baby would, indeed, be a little boy. Kate Middleton had a pattern of wearing blue outfits to different press-friendly events, seemingly hinting at the baby’s gender. Those predictions turned out to be accurate, in some way or another, with this week’s news. We wish Prince William and Kate Middleton many blessings with the arrival of their newest child, Prince Louis!
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Is the Commonwealth ready for an AIDS-free generation?
Home > Advocacy > Is the Commonwealth ready…
J.V.R. Prasada Rao blogs in New Statesman (London) about the importance of law reform in successfully addressing HIV/AIDS and how the Commonwealth can lead by example and take decisive actions to address the legal and structural barriers currently impeding the global HIV response:
Last week the European Parliament agreed on a new law to provide specific assistance and protection to people who suffer crime because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or, in a first for EU law, gender expression.
Can we expect the Commonwealth to adopt such a progressive approach on HIV and human rights issues? The annual meeting of the Commonwealth Foreign Ministers, coming up soon in New York, normally attracts attention for its economic and political agenda. But among the HIV/AIDS community, populations vulnerable to the infection and human rights activists, concern is centered on the fate of certain recommendations relating to the Commonwealth’s legal reform process….
To read the complete article, please click here.
Prasada Rao is in the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy on AIDS in the Asia Pacific region. He is former Director General of India’s National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) and former Regional Director of UNAIDS in Asia and the Pacific. He served as a member of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law and is a trustee of both the International HIV/AIDS Alliance and India HIV/AIDS Alliance.
Tags: all programmes, HIV Prevention, Key population, PLHIV
Dream Work through Team Work : Inclusive Alliance
Coming Together Is A Beginning; Keeping Together Is Progress; Working Together Is Success....
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← All Jazz Radio Blog – FRIDAY 12th September 2014
All Jazz Radio Blog – MONDAY 15th September 2014 →
by Eric Alan | 13th September 2014 · 8:00 am
All Jazz Radio Blog – SATURDAY 13th September 2014
The Mother City of Cape Town shows off her magnificent self today some with a few clouds, not to chillish start of the day whit a promise of a fabulous spring day ahead, time for a champagne breakfast, no make that a Charmat Method one instead and my choice would be Beyerskloof Pinotage Brut Rose made in the Italian Charmat Method which is sadly no longer available, so I’ll have to do with the refreshing Beyerskloof Chenin Blanc/Pinotage however the news is that there may be a possibility of that the magnificent Sparkling Pinotage Brut Rose may again become available in the years ahead. Can’t wait, but I’ll have to be patient on that score. Me thinks I’ll have to have Beyers Truter on with me as a guest on the Jazz Rendezvous in the near future when we revive our Wingerd Griep en Ander Stories (Vineyard “Flu” and Other Story’s), good idea, neh.
Breakfast of cold cuts, cheeses, fresh breads and salads sound like an idea, what say you, eh !
Here the program schedule for today and tomorrow;
10:00 to 14:00 The No Name Brand Show With Eric Alan, Cape Town, SA
14:00 to 16:00 Cooking Jazz With Yaacov Harari, Tel Aviv, Israel
16:00 to 18:00 The Kibby Factor With James Kibby, Cape Town, SA
10:00 to 18:00 The Eclectic Mix Compiled by Eric Alan, Cape Town, SA
STANDARD BANK YOUNG ARTIST WINNERS AT 2014 STANDARD BANK JOY OF JAZZ
It’s going to be a wonderful festival this, come the end of September, looks like a very memorable one too and not to be missed at all. A number of previous Standard Bank Young Artist (SBYA) winners will be performing at this year’s Standard Bank Joy of Jazz which takes place at the Sandton Convention Centre
Shane Cooper
from September 25 to 27.
They are Sibongile Khumalo, Gloria Bosman, Tutu Puoane, Kesivan Naidoo, Melanie Scholtz, Shane Cooper and this year’s Young Artist for Jazz winner Kyle Shepherd.
Standard Bank’s long association with jazz goes back to 1998 when it first sponsored the Grahamstown Festival jazz programme. Recently
the Standard Bank Group was awarded the Long Term Partnership Award for its sponsorship of the Standard Bank Jazz Festival in Grahamstown at the 17th Annual Business Day, Business and Arts South Africa (BASA) Awards. Joy of Jazz made its first appearance at the State Theatre in Pretoria in 1997. The first Standard Bank Joy of Jazz took place in Newtown in 2000 and has since grown to become Africa’s premiere jazz festival.
This year also heralds 30 years of Standard Bank’s sponsorship of the SBYA awards. Khumalo, Bosman and Puoane won for music in 1993, 2000 and 2004 respectively while the first award for jazz was made in 2006 to Concord Nkabinde.
Capetonian pianist, saxophonist, composer and band leader Kyle Shepherd is the 2014 SBYA award winner for Jazz. Ten years ago he performed in Grahamstown as a member of the Standard Bank National Schools Big Band; now he stands on that same stage on the cusp of a career that promises to be significant for South African jazz.
Past SBYA winners such as Sibongile Khumalo and Gloria Bosman show how South African music and jazz can hold its own in any global arena. Each has an impressive local and international pedigree.
The list of SBYA award winners include:
1993: Sibongile Khumalo (music) – performing at Standard Bank Joy of Jazz 2014
2000: Gloria Bosman (music) – performing at Standard Bank Joy of Jazz 2014
2004: Tutu Puoane (music) – performing at Standard Bank Joy of Jazz 2014
2006: Concorde Nkabinde (jazz) – involved in the workshops and jazz concerts that formed part of the Road to Joy of Jazz, a build-up to the main festival
2007: Shannon Mowday (jazz)
Mark Fransman
2008: Mark Fransman (jazz) – musical director of the 2014 Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Band who are performing at this year’s Standard Bank Joy of Jazz
2009: Kesivan Naidoo (jazz) – performing at Standard Bank Joy of Jazz 2014
2010: Melanie Scholtz (jazz) – performing at Standard Bank Joy of Jazz 2014
2011: Bokani Dyer (jazz)
2012: Afrika Mkize (jazz)
2013: Shane Cooper (jazz) – performing at Standard Bank Joy of Jazz 2014
2014: Kyle Shepherd (jazz) – performing at Standard Bank Joy of Jazz 2014
Shannon Mowday
The 2014 Standard Bank Joy of Jazz is produced by T-Musicman and brought to audiences by Standard Bank in association with the Department of Arts & Culture; the City of Joburg, Gauteng Province and South African Tourism.
Go to: www.joyofjazz.co.za
or www.standardbankarts.co.za.
www.facebook.com/standardbankjoyofjazz
http://www.sbseventsmarketingsolutions.com
or http://standardbank.mobi/jazz
twitter.com/joyofjazz www.facebook.com/standardbankjoyofjazz
youtube.com/standardbankgroup
Tickets for Standard Bank Joy of Jazz are available through Computicket and Shoprite Checkers. The day pass costs R750 for 16 acts on four stages while the weekend pass is R1250 for 32 acts on the four Standard Bank Joy of Jazz stages at the Sandton Convention Centre.
Tickets are available at a 15 percent discount for all Standard Bank customers subject to availability and on presentation and usage of a valid Standard Bank debit, cheque and/or credit card at a Computicket outlet. The offer is limited to two tickets per person who meet the criteria. The offer is not available for online bookings.
Demetric Mercadel elected President of Jazz & Heritage Foundation
Demetric Mercadel
New Board Officers Elected
Demetric M. Mercadel
NEW ORLEANS – The Board of Directors of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation elected new officers at its meeting held Sept. 11, 2014. By a unanimous vote, the following members were elected to these positions:
Demetric Mercadel, President
Donna Santiago, 1st Vice President
Kathleen Turner, 2nd Vice President
Jeffrey Goldring, Secretary
David Francis, Treasurer
The officers will serve a one-year term.
Demetric M. Mercadel has several passions, but her top three include family, community service and political activism. Demetric’s life is truly a collection of diverse experiences that have not only contributed to her development, but to enhancing the lives of countless people she has touched along the way.
Demetric has more than 30 years of experience in the accounting, finance and planning fields with responsibilities ranging from basic operations, administrative accounting, preparing variance analysis reports and special projects.
Since October 1981, Demetric has been a part of the Entergy family, working in various jobs such as a senior information systems specialist to a financial planning assistant. She currently is a senior associate analyst in regulatory & governmental affairs for Entergy New Orleans, Inc. In this post, she develops working relationships with the City of New Orleans and with the New Orleans delegation of the state legislators and supports strategic regulatory, energy efficiency and energy policy initiatives, including EnergySmart, She also serves as a liaison between Entergy’s regulatory and governmental affairs and customer service teams and assists in all governmental affairs and regulatory projects as needed.
Demetric is a proud New Orleanian – born and raised in the 7th Ward – who works with numerous community organizations such as president of the board of directors of the French Market Corporation, secretary of the Upper Pontalba Building Association, president of the Corpus Christi-Epiphany Catholic Church Parish Council and serving to coordinate the development of the Corpus Christi-Epiphany Neighborhood Community Center in the 7th Ward; past 1st vice-president, board of directors of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Inc.; past president of the development board of the Sisters of the Holy Family, president of the American Association of Blacks in Energy Louisiana Chapter; treasurer of the Louisiana Cultural Economy Foundation; board member of St. Augustine High School; and, board member of Young Audiences of Louisiana.
She also served as the volunteer committee chair of the 2004 Super BowlXXXVI Host Committee in New Orleans, and founding member of the Parents of the Alumni Association of St. Augustine High School.
In 2013, Mercadel was honored with being a Hall of Fame Inductee by the Louisiana Center for Women & Government. She also received “A Metros Salute” that same year from Metro Service Group for her many accomplishments to the community.
The editors of Women of Color magazine honored Demetric as a 2005 Women of Color Technology All Stars and Rising Stars. The awards ceremony was the highpoint of the National Women of Color Business and Technology Awards Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, an event that celebrates the accomplishments of women of color in business and technology.
Other accomplishments include the 2011 recipient of the Order of St. Louis IX Medallion, an honour bestowed on individuals devoted to the work of the Catholic Church throughout the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond presented the award. Demetric was named 2010 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation Gala honoree for the hard work and commitment to the Foundation; the 2013 recipient of the Xavier University Preparatory Remember When Founders Award in recognition for continued support of the Xavier Prep’s Alumni Association Annual Scholarship Fundraiser; and, 2012 honors for continued service to the Sisters of the Holy Family Development Board, recognizing her commitment to the cause of Canonization of the Venerable Henriette Dellile. She has received the 2004 Role Model Award from the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) for her contributions made to the New Orleans community and the National Junior Achievement Bronze Leadership Award for exemplary leadership and support of the group’s education programs. Demetric was selected as a 1994 Dryades YMCA Black Achiever in Business and Industry, for serving as a role model for students with the intent to interact and provide career guidance and counseling to the youth of the community.
Demetric is also the proud mother of one son, Todd C. James.
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation is the nonprofit organization that owns the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell. The Foundation uses the proceeds from Jazz Fest, and other funds, for year-round programs in education, economic development and cultural enrichment. For more about the Foundation, please visit their web site.
www.jazzandheritage.org
GROOV Marketing & Consulting is proud to announce that they will be servicing select Jazz radios stations with the new Flying Lotus release “You’re Dead!” FlyLo, also known as Steven Ellison, is the Great-Nephew of the late Alice Coltrane, and the cousin of saxophonist Ravi Coltrane. Needless to say, Flying Lotus has a deep appreciation and love for Jazz and that is evident in this new release.
“You’re Dead” is by no means a straight ahead Jazz release, but features musicians such as Kamasi Washington, Ronald Bruner Jr., Thundercat and the legend himself, Herbie Hancock.
Music Industry Top Guide Of The Week:
Today’s featured Full Access guide:
Most Musicians Don’t Make Money From The Music Industry, And I’ll Tell You Why…
In the above guide Ches Christian explains why he thinks many musicians don’t make money, and how to change that.
Now with the Oscar Pistorius murder trial over and the sentencing is still to be done our fair nation is very divided over the results given so far. Like the OJ trial the same things are happening, I say enough already, a court of law has given it’s verdict whether one agrees or disagrees, this sad debacle has taken more than enough of everybody’s time, life goes on and the pain, hurt and loss will fade, though memories will linger for the families concerned, remember the good times and be prepared to forgive. I have never supported the idea of the comic circumstances of how the trial has been conducted in the open media public forum. I was shocked and disgusted by the events that led to the public airing of dirty laundry now the question remains is the same thing going to happen with the Dewani murder trial. I hope not as the media has become totally besotted with shock and awe tactics. An example is the recent sad beheadings of two fine journalists and other terrible thing done by sick and depraved people in the name of some sick and twisted ideals. Enough already. TGIO almost.
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The general blog of Vision New England dedicated to equipping and encouraging New England Christ followers to do justice, love mercy, walk humbly and make disciples.
The Parent
On September 29, 2016 in Do Justice, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly by Jenn Livingston
I’m about to discuss a subject that I usually tend to avoid, because I generally believe the topic can’t really be articulated very well within the confines of human language. Nevertheless, this theme keeps popping up in my life, and I’ve been feeling very pulled to write about it lately, so I’ve decided to stop resisting.
Today I want to talk about one of the only things that I really get (even if it’s hard to explain) about life and how we should live it: unconditional love.
Jesus teaches that we should strive to love one another unconditionally. Because we are human, though, this is often close to impossible for us to do with most people, many of whom we probably don’t even like. Even so, we should still try to achieve this feat in one form or another, even if it's less a matter of "love,” so to speak, and more a degree of acceptance – relating to others humbly, and showing people mercy and justice regardless of their situation, and what they may or may not have done to/for you.
While Jesus is the quintessential example of unconditional love in The Bible, in all honesty, I've learned the most about this quality from the modeling of my own father, Bruce, who I've seen exhibit more profound and moving displays of love than any other person I've ever met. I could provide seemingly endless examples, but unfortunately, as with most personal anecdotes, without a certain amount of lengthy context (much of which is too sensitive and intimate for this sort of article) their real force and meaning would be lost. Therefore, I'm mainly going to omit these illustrations, and rather just focus on what, specifically, I've learned about the nature of unconditional love from my dad, and explain why I believe that reaching for this ONE quality is the most important thing we can do in trying to live lives of mercy, justice and humility.
Unconditional love is not about an outcome. It's not about someone loving you back, or gaining anything from your relationship with them. When you love someone regardless of if they love you - despite whatever horrible things they may have done to you - and whether or not they are even in your life at any given moment, this is the most magical, beautiful, and powerful gift that we can give to someone. This sort of love is how God loves, and if we can find this for even a small number of people, it's a truly incredible thing.
It can be really hard to manage this sort of love as a human, with all the instincts, emotions and volatility with which we experience life. Jealousy, anger, fear, and desire, all have an annoying ability to obscure the real meaning of love. These feelings leave us dissatisfied, wanting more, or wanting better. Often we try to make people into something they aren't, and change them, or we try to force them into a role that they don't want or aren't ready to adopt. When we have these expectations associated with what we think is love we can get so hurt, and go so far astray because none of this is actually what love is really about.
My dad will sometimes say to me, "I love you anyway," rather than, merely, “I love you.” What he means is that he loves me even though I'm not perfect - even though I sometimes disappoint him, and even though he sometimes doesn't agree with things I say and do. While I would never do it, I could say the most hateful things to him, and he would love me anyway. I could storm away from him in anger, and never speak to him again, and though it would hurt him and make him sad, to say the least, it wouldn't destroy him because he'd love me anyway. That's part of the wonder of unconditional love. It sustains you even when people fail to live up to what you may want from them. Of course we are going to want things, but when we can love without the necessity of these hopes being reality, we gain a special kind of peace that's hard to find, because we have that love in us, no matter what, and that love is from God.
In addition, loving unconditionally is the purest way to understand and learn justice, mercy and humility, and to recognize how to put these qualities into practice, because love is, simply, all of these things. Like God, love is the parent of these three qualities.
When we can set aside our own self-interest for the sake of helping and supporting someone; when we make time for them, and work to understand them, even when it’s inconvenient, or show them patience and encouragement, even if it’s a challenge, we learn true justice. Through unconditional love, we learn that sometimes justice requires sacrifice and suffering, and that we don’t need to resent these parts of life, but can embrace them as being used for something greater.
When we see people for all that they are - mess and everything - and we can treat them with love, respect, and kindness, this is true mercy. These people may have hurt us, and they undoubtedly have the potential to hurt us more (because love requires vulnerability) but we can overcome the fear of this pain, and the scars it may have already caused, with forgiveness and acceptance.
And when we can finally internalize that our own plans, hopes, and desires aren't the most important thing in our relationships we can experience true humility, where we finally acknowledge that there is something much bigger than ourselves at work in the world. When we surrender to loving others in the way that God loves us, this is sufficient. It is through unconditional love that we learn how to cast off the selfishness that can be so hard to overcome, and in doing so we further perpetuate our ability to do justice and show mercy, both with those we truly love, and to others in general.
Essentially, this is my less eloquent way of paraphrasing the classic 1 Corinthians 13 passage. Of course, it’s a great collection of verses, both beautifully written and also incredibly meaningful, but I think people often reference it more because it’s poetic than because they really appreciate what it says. In reality, the message is incredibly challenging, and mercy, justice and humility often don’t come easily. However, this is perhaps the most important reason why we need to use the few sources of deep and meaningful love in our lives to refine and practice these qualities, so that they may permeate the rest of our life. It is within this context that we graduate from an intellectual (and ultimately insufficient) understanding of love – one which can be discussed in words – to a complete understanding of love, which cannot.
Tagged With: Love Mercy , Do Justice, Unconditional Love, Walk Humbly
Monty Williams and Mercy
On March 20, 2016 in Love Mercy by Jenn Livingston
As Christians, one of our primary responsibilities is to “love mercy.” As an individual who admittedly struggles with forgiveness and holding grudges (as many people do), this statement alone presents a daunting task. Still, the task may seem even more daunting when we see Jesus model it to such an extreme in various Bible stories. In fact, I think I’ve occasionally convinced myself that since Jesus is the extreme example of a characteristic (such as mercy) I am not really expected to live quite up to his standard; he is, after all, Jesus, and I am not. This reasoning, of course, is a major cop out from forcing myself to do something difficult, and I try to challenge myself when this thinking emerges. True, I can’t ever live up to Jesus’ standard, but I have the obligation to do the absolute most I’m capable of doing, and to try to meet the standard as closely as possible.
Even for people who may naturally have more merciful inclinations than I do, however, there are undoubtedly challenging situations and events that make mercy and forgiveness difficult. In the news recently, I read that Ingrid Williams (the wife of Oklahoma City Thunder assistant coach, Monty Williams) was tragically killed in a car accident, when her car collided head-on with a vehicle that crossed into their lane. The driver of the other vehicle was speeding at 92 mph. The limit was 40 mph. Three of the Williams’ five children were also in the car, and they sustained serious injuries, as well.
I think that most of us can agree that if we found ourselves in the situation Monty Williams faced, we would feel some level of animosity towards the driver of the other car. Astonishingly, though, in the powerful eulogy he delivered for his wife only days later, Monty exhibited no such bitterness. In fact, he modeled true mercy, asking those supporting him and his family to also pray for the family of the other driver.
As I watched Monty Williams deliver his speech with genuine sincerity, I was really moved by how his trust in God was able to help him let go of any possible anger, resentment, and blame that he may have had, instead replacing it with kindness, forgiveness, and love. Of course, what happened was terrible, and he was in pain, but I saw an amazing peace in him, as well, and I was blown away by his message.
I think that a lot of times when we hold grudges, and resist letting go of the offenses people have inflicted upon us, we lack trust that God has a greater purpose, and that a mishap or tragedy in our lives indicates that God is wrong, gone, or not big enough to solve the hurts of this earth. The truth, however hard it may be to see through our despair, is that God’s plan is bigger than all of us. Despite the horrific event that happened to Monty Williams and his family, he has managed to touch peoples’ lives with his words.
There’s no doubt in my mind that he is imperfect. He is simply a man, not Jesus. Yet he is a man that understood the standard Jesus set in regards to mercy, and he delivered in his responsibility to demonstrate it. I would find it totally understandable if he had chosen, instead, to accept that he wasn’t Jesus, and rationalize that he had no obligation to forgive the woman driving the car that killed his wife, and risked the lives of three of his children, let alone pray for her family. But Monty Williams refused to cop out, and his example of mercy is one that I think we can all learn from. When I think of God using people to spread his light and love, I think that Monty Williams, amidst the darkness of death and loss, did just this.
Tagged With: Love Mercy, Monty Williams
Do Justice (3)
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Bob Atherton (1)
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Acountability Connecticut Love Mercy micah 6:8 stigma in disciple making Voting Bridgeport Conviction Disciple Making discipleship do justice Election evangelism James 4:17 Jenn Livingston Jenn Livingston Blog Keith Tolley Ken Jennings Love Mercy Luis Burgos make disciples misguided dichotomy Monty Williams Mother's Day Ten Days of Prayer Unconditional Love Vision New England Walk Humbly
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ALEC/CSG Sham Chemical Disclosure Model Tucked Into Illinois Fracking Bill
Illinois is the next state on the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)‘s target list for putting the oil industry’s interests ahead of the public interest.
98 percent funded by multinational corporations, ALEC is described by its critics as a “corporate bill mill” and a lobbyist-legislator dating service. It brings together corporate lobbyists and right wing politicians to vote up or down on “model bills” written by lobbyists in service to their corporate clientele behind closed doors at its annual meetings.
These “models” snake their way into statehouses nationwide as proposed legislation and quite often become the law of the land.
Illinois, nicknamed the “Land of Lincoln,” has transformed into the “Land of ALEC” when it comes to a hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) regulation bill – HB 2615, the Hydraulic Fracturing Regulation Act – currently under consideration by its House of Representatives. “Fracking” is the toxic horizontal drilling process via which unconventional gas and oil is obtained from shale rock basins across the country and the world.
HB 2615 – proposed on Feb. 21 with 26 co-sponsors – has an ALEC model bill roped within this lengthy piece of legislation: the loophole-ridden Disclosure of Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Composition Act.
As covered here on DeSmogBlog, this model bill has been proposed and passed in numerous statehouses to date. If the bill passes, Illinois’ portion of the DeSmogBlog,will be opened up for unfettered fracking, costumed by its industry proponents as the “most comprehensive fracking legislation in the nation.”
“If At First You Don’t Succeed, Dust Yourself Off and Try Again”
This isn’t ALEC’s first fracking-related crack at getting a model bill passed in Illinois. In 2012, the Disclosure of Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Composition Act – introduced as SB 3280 – passed unanimously by the Illinois Senate but never passed the House.
SB 3280 isn’t merely an ALEC model, but is a Council of State Government’s (CSG) model, too, as covered here on DeSmog.
The “disclosure” standards’ origins lay in the Obama Department of Energy’s (DOE) industry-stacked fracking subcommittee, formed in May 2011 “to study the practice of hydraulic fracturing (fracking), and determine if there are ways, or even a necessity, to make it safer for the environment and public health.”
As exposed by The New York Times in April 2012, these “disclosure” standards were originally written by ExxonMobil, first passed in Texas in June 2011, and now serve as both an ALEC and CSG model bill for the states. I say “disclosure” – as opposed to disclosure – because the bill includes loopholes for “trade secrets,” a la the “Halliburton Loophole” written into the industry-friendly federal Energy Policy Act of 2005.
Section 77 of HB 2615, titled “Chemical disclosure; trade secret protection,” also includes the same trade secrets exemption from the ALEC/CSG ExxonMobil-written model bill.
Ever persistent, ALEC has taken the late pop diva Aaliyah’s words to heart with regards to chemical fluids “disclosure,” at first not succeeding and dusting itself off and trying again.
The FracFocus Façade
The oil and gas industry has chosen FracFocus as the entity to oversee the chemical disclosure process. An August investigation by Bloomberg News revealed that FracFocus offers the façade of disclosure while the industry tramples roughshod over communities nationwide.
“Energy companies failed to list more than two out of every five fracked wells in eight U.S. states from April 11, 2011, when FracFocus began operating, through the end of last year,” wrote Bloomberg. “The gaps reveal shortcomings in the voluntary approach to transparency on the site, which has received funding from oil and gas trade groups and $1.5 million from the U.S. Department of Energy.”
In reality, FracFocus is a public relations front for the oil and gas industry, as we reported here in Dec. 2012, explaining,
FracFocus‘ domain is registered by Brothers & Company, a public relations firm whose clients include America’s Natural Gas Alliance, Chesapeake Energy, and American Clean Skies Foundation – a front group for Chesapeake Energy.
Another Nov. 2012 Bloomberg investigation revealed that oil and gas corporations “claimed trade secrets or otherwise failed to identify the chemicals they used about 22 percent of the time,” according to its analysis of FracFocus data for 18 states.
Cosponsors Tied to ALEC, CSG
Five of the 26 Illinois House cosponsors are ALEC members: Reps. David Reis (R-119), Mike Fortner (R-95), Jil Tracy (R-93), Dennis Reboletti (R-97), and Patricia Bellock (R-94).
Further, three more cosponsors have ties to CSG. Rep. Ann Williams (D-11) and Rep. Pam Roth (R-75) both attended CSG Midwest‘s 2012 Bowhay Institute for Legislative Leadership Development (BILLD). Two of the sponsors of BILLD in 2012 included BP America and Enbridge Energy. Another, Rep. Naomi Jakobsson (D-97), is a 2005 CSG Midwest BILLD alumni.
The bipartisan “group of 26” took a total of $53,060 before the Nov. 2012 election, data collected from the National Institute on Money in State Politics shows.
How Will IL Regulate Fracking with 12 Inspectors?
Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn’s 2012 budget included Department of Natural Resources (DNR) cuts to the tune of 13.5-percent for fiscal year 2013. The DNR is the regulatory body tasked to referee the fracking process under HB 2615, an agency which in the past decade has lost over half of its budget.
“Our agency has essentially been cut in half over the last decade. There are a lot of ramifications…You’re going to see a noticeable difference in the maintenance. It won’t be the fault of the people that work for us,” DNR Director Marc Miller said at a Feb. 2012 public forum in a foreshadowing manner. “It will be because we don’t have the resources.”
There are 12 inspectors in IL to oversee fracking regulation enforcement, among myriad other regulatory duties, down from 28 in 2005, as revealed in a recent Freedom of Information Act conducted by ProPublica.
“What we are looking for is a sustainable solution,” Miller said at the public forum. “We want to get to the point of having revenue we can count on to plan and to be able to do the programs we’re supposed to do for the public.”
Yet Miller believes more DNR cuts from Quinn are in the works in forthcoming budgets.
Earthworks pointed out in a Sept. 2011 report titled, “Breaking All the Rules: the Crisis in Oil & Gas Regulatory Enforcement” that numerous states – akin to Illinois – are vastly understaffed, underfunded and unable to do their jobs to protect the public. Predictably, this has led to under-enforcement, lending the oil and gas industry a free pass to contaminate without accountability.
And even with enforcement, Earthworks pointed out that because the penalties for breaking the law are so minimal, the industry simply passes this off as a tiny “cost of doing business.”
Bill Endorsed by Sierra Club/NRDC
Despite this reality, two major green NGOs – the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) – have come out in cautious support of the bill.
“NRDC is working to transition as quickly as possible to a clean energy future based on energy efficiency and renewable energy, but as long as we have to have dirty fossil fuels, our communities need the strongest rules in place,” NRDC’s Henry Henderson wrote in blog post, offering the important caveat that “Those rules are only as good as their enforcement, which needs to be robust and strict. And that is another issue that we will be following if this bill moves forward.”
No concerns are raised about Section 25 of the bill dealing with setbacks and prohibitions.
This section lends the industry the ability to conduct fracking operations within 1,500 feet of groundwater sources and 500 feet of schools, houses, hospitals, nursing homes, and places of worship. It also enables the industry to frack within 300 feet of rivers, lakes, ponds and reservoirs.
These regulations do not take into account the fact that the horizontal drilling portion of the fracking process extends between 5,000 and 10,000 feet. The sobering reality: none of these things would be protected under this bill’s current language.
Sierra Club, which came under fire last year for taking $26 million from gas giant Chesapeake Energy to fight against coal, sang a similar tune.
“We may not be able to decide whether fracking comes to Illinois, but we absolutely must decide to make sure we are as protected as we can be,” Sierra Club’s Jack Darin concluded on the Huffington Post despite the fact that fracking has yet to begin in the state.
Other Groups Call for a Moratorium, Support Alternative Bill
Other groups are fighting for a different recently-introduced moratorium bill, SB 1418, which has one sponsor so far, Sen. Mattie Hunte (D-94).
That effort is being led by the Illinois Coalition For A Moratorium on Fracking, whose members include Southern Illinoisans Against Fracturing Our Environment (SAFE), MoveOn.org Illinois, Progressive Demcrats of America (PDA) Chicago and Illinois, Stop the Frack Attack on IL, Rising Tide, and Rainforest Action Network (RAN) Chicago.
“The moratorium will allow two years for a science-based investigative task force to look at current and ongoing studies on fracking,” the Coaliton’s press release in support of SB 1418 reads. “As new research continues to uncover more harmful effects of high-volume fracturing, both in the surrounding area and to the climate, ICMF, SAFE, and many other environmental organizations are committed to supporting studies on the procedure.”
SAFE, one of the Coalition members, will play host to a one-day summit called “The Fracking Truth” on Mar. 1 to rally people in support of the moratorium bill.
Please also read the attachment to this article Sponsors and Oil and Gas Money Before 2012 Election.pdf
This article is written by Steve Horn, and can be seen at Desmogblog at http://www.desmogblog.com/2013/02/28/alec-fracking-chemical-disclosure-model-bill-illinois-regulation
By Bob Sloan ALEC No comments Tags: "Breaking All the Rules: the Crisis in Oil & Gas Regulatory Enforcement", "Halliburton Loophole", 12 inspectors in IL to oversee fracking regulation enforcement, ALEC, ALEC Model Bill "Disclosure of Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Composition Act.", America's Natural Gas Alliance, American Clean Skies Foundation, American Clean Skies Foundation - a front group for Chesapeake Energy, American Legislative Exchange Council, Bloomberg News, Bowhay Institute for Legislative Leadership Development (BILLD), BP America, Chesapeake Energy, Council of State Governments, CSG, CSG Midwest, CSG model bill, Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, Department of Energy, Department of Natural Resources (DNR), DeSmogBlog, Earthworks, Enbridge Energy, Energy Policy Act of 2005, ExxonMobil, FracFocus, fracking, hydraulic fracturing, IL HB 2615, IL State Rep Mike Fortner, IL State Rep Rep. Naomi Jakobsson --CSG Alumnus, IL State Rep. Ann Williams--CSG, Il State Rep. David Reis, IL State Rep. Dennis Reboletti, IL State Rep. Jil Tracy, IL State Rep. Pam Roth--CSG, Illinois Coalition For A Moratorium on Fracking, Model Legislation, MoveOn.org Illinois, Progressive Demcrats of America (PDA) Chicago and Illinois, ProPublica, Rainforest Action Network (RAN) Chicago, Rising Tide, Southern Illinoisans Against Fracturing Our Environment (SAFE), Sponsors and Oil and Gas Money Before 2012 Election.pdf, Steve Horn, Stop the Frack Attack on IL, The Huffington Post, the Hydraulic Fracturing Regulation Act, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Sierra Club, trade secrets exemption, “corporate bill mill”
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What animals do you see? (basic level, in a word for animal)
Animal Captcha
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May 31-June 7: Weekly ALEC/Koch Review of Articles and Material
Lots of material and topics involving Koch brothers and their ALEC funded organization this week; education, environment, telecommunications, worker rights (paid sick leave).
Grab a cold one, sit back and spend a few minutes catching up on relevant news related to the “Cabal”…
Click on headline to read the full articles or review linked documents.
My view: ALEC coverage a disservice to Utah
The future is bright for many Utahns. So bright, in fact, that it could be blinding us to the many inequities that still exist here. The Deseret News published an editorial (“How to lead a recovery” May 26) and a My View by state senate president Wayne Niederhauser (“Utah’s economic advantage continues” May 28) about the American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) annual report, both of which are unfortunate examples of this blindness. Both the editorial and My View could be mistaken as press releases straight from ALEC’s public relations department.
New Study Shows ‘Red’ States Have Highest Economic Potential
States with higher taxes and tighter restrictions on business development tend to usually end up at the bottom of the list. “Blue” states New York and Vermont are the last two states on the list this year, Fox News reported. That said, there are some who say Utah is not necessarily an ideal model for economic growth. “It’s hard to say that states should try to pattern themselves after Utah,” said Tracy Gordon of the Brookings Institution. “So for example, I know the authors are not fans of the income tax, but in good years the income tax performs very well in states like New York and California that rely on it heavily. So should California and New York try to look more like Utah? Probably not,” Gordon said.
Tillis-Brawley spat rooted in cable fight
An unusually public dispute between two Republican state legislators that erupted last week has its roots in, of all things, a national debate over city-owned broadband systems.
In the push for the 2011 legislation, telecommunications companies and trade associations steered $1.6 million to state lawmakers from 2006 to 2011, including Tillis, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics. During 2010-11, the $37,000 Tillis received from eight political action committees and trade associations, including Time Warner’s political action committee, was more than eight times what he received from the PACs from 2006 to 2008.
The American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, a nonprofit that promotes free markets and limited government and receives funding from corporations such as Time Warner, has supported the effort to rein in city-owned systems that can offer cable TV, Internet and phone services. The group offers “model legislation” that can be used by lawmakers drafting their own bills. Tillis is a member of the ALEC board. ALEC members have become concerned in recent years because cities are building broadband systems in areas already served by the private sector, said John Stephenson, director of ALEC’s communications and technology task force. This can lead to high costs for taxpayers if the municipalities incur debt to build the system, he said.
WHERE THE REAL DAMAGE GETS DONE
It long has been the opinion of the blog that the elite political press is missing the real political action in this country because, for the most part, it concentrates either on what’s going on in Washington, or in the horse race aspects of whatever election is next. But the real action — and all the real damage — is being done out in the states, especially in those states in which the 2010 elections brought in majority Republican legislatures and majority Republican governors. This is part of what we play for laughs every Thursday when we survey what’s goin’ down in The Laboratories Of Democracy. But what’s goin’ down is highly organized, tightly disciplined, and very sharply directed. By now, the American Legislative Exchange Council, and what it’s about, is an open secret. Everybody covering politics knows about it. Everybody covering politics knows where the money for its activities comes from. Everybody in politics knows what its political aims are. And yet, when we have retrograde laws and policies pop up in state after state — most notably in recent days, in the newly insane state of North Carolina — it is always treated as a kind of localized outbreak.
Taking On Sallie Mae and the Cost of Education
Nearly 200 students, parents, community members and union leaders rallied at Sallie Mae’s annual shareholder meeting in Newark, Delaware, last Thursday. On the agenda: first, demand that the nation’s largest private student loan lender meet directly with students to discuss their crushing debt burden; and second, introduce a shareholder resolution calling for disclosure of the corporation’s lobbying practices and membership in groups such as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The resolution asked that the board disclose in an annual report the corporation’s policies, procedures and payments for direct and indirect lobbying; as well as its membership and payments to any tax-exempt organization “that writes and endorses model legislation.” (See: ALEC.) Although there has yet to be a tally of the vote, organizers hope that they received the support of approximately 30 percent of the shareholders. UPDATE: The resolution has received over 35 percent of shareholder votes. (Importantly, this figure understates support for the resolution, as there were a large number of abstentions counted as no votes.) Student organizers say that they are very pleased with this result.
Is the government spying on environmental groups?
Corporations are teaming up with government agencies to put law-abiding anti-fracking activists under surveillance
By 2007, 70 percent of the US intelligence budget – or about $38 billion annually – was spent on private contractors. Much of this largesse has been directed toward overseas operations. But it is likely that some of that money has been paid to private contractors – hired either by corporations or law enforcement agencies – that are also in the business of spying on American citizens. As early as 2004, in a report titled “The Surveillance Industrial Complex,” the American Civil Liberties Union warned that the “US security establishment is making a systematic effort to extend its surveillance capacity by pressing the private sector into service to report on the activities of Americans.” At the same time, corporations are boosting their own security operations. Today, overall annual spending on corporate security and intelligence is roughly $100 billion, double what it was a decade ago, according to Brian Ruttenbur, a defense analyst with CRT Capital… …Earlier this year, a bill was introduced into the Pennsylvania legislature that would make it a felony to videotape farming operations in Pennsylvania – so-called “ag-gag” legislation that has already passed in Utah and Iowa, and has been introduced in several other legislatures. Many of the ag-gag bills draw on language crafted by the American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) “Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act.” (In recent years ALEC has received considerable support from the natural gas industry). Section D of the ALEC bill defines an animal or ecological terrorist organization in broad terms “as any association, organization, entity, coalition, or combination of two or more persons” who seek to “obstruct, impede or deter any person from participating” not only in agricultural activity but also mining, foresting, harvesting, and gathering or processing of natural resources.
A Brief Summary of Corporate Depravity Shows How They Earn Our Contempt
The United States has been described by some as creeping toward corporatocracy, a nation where the government colludes with multi-national corporations and the wealthy elite to rule the populace. The connotation is always that corporations are sinister and operate with almost diabolical motivations. What did they do to deserve this reputation? Why do so many people in capitalist nations mistrust entitieswhose sworn allegiance is to profit above all else? Their stories come out gradually over time, and like the proverbial frog in boiling water, people acclimate to their bad behavior. What happens when you consolidate just a few of their misdeeds into one place? Websites like RedState.com and Foreign Affairs boast that “Corporations Are Good.” The first reaction to this statement is, “Not unless they are forced to be.” Whether they are knowingly using underpaid laborers overseas, refusing to chip in any funds to see these workers’ factory work sites made safer following a catastrophe in Bangladesh, lyingabout oil spills, or they are installing a new government when they don’t like the way the current government is taxing them and making demands about treatment of laborers, corporations have earned their nasty reputations. They have used the resources of each country they occupy, whether it is raw materials, infrastructure, education systems, research, legal systems, or defense, yet they feel no obligation to contribute to any of the nations where they reside. It would seem the only answer is to resist corporatocracy, particularly by not allowing them to write laws through their legislative arm, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). If corporations are people, my friend, they have psychopathic tendencies. People with behavior disorders need supervision, and empowering government and our courts to regulate corporations is the only way they are going to improve their conduct. But there has been a growing tide of opposition, as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has helped push bills that preempt cities’ ability to pass paid sick leave legislation. Such efforts have cropped up in Florida, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Mississippi.
Connecticut Lawmakers Consider Bill That Could Undermine Paid Sick Leave
Connecticut made history two years ago when it became the first state in the country to guarantee its workers paid sick days. The bill requires service workers to earn an hour of sick leave for every forty hours worked. But now the state’s lawmakers are considering a bill that could undermine the initial legislation. S.B. 1007, which has passed the state Senate and is being considered in the House, would open loopholes for employers while whittling away at the benefits the original law created, according to analysis by the National Partnership for Women & Families and Family Values at Work.
Not-So-Charitable Contributions
This week’s big CBO report on tax expenditures has spurred some interesting secondary analysis. One that should spur some tertiary discussion came from Wonkblog’s Dylan Matthews, who focused on one of those tax policies that primary benefits the wealthiest taxpayers: the charitable contributions deduction. The social theory behind this deduction, it is usually assumed, is that it operates as a form of redistribution, since the contributions channel dollars to the needy clients of charities—without all that messy government bureaucracy, doncha know. But drawing on a couple of studies, Matthews challenges that assumption dramatically: even using a pretty loose definition of “helping the poor,” he finds that only 30.6% of charitable giving actually goes in that direction. Beyond these often-worthy but not exactly redistributive purposes, there are, of course, a bunch of foundations and “public-society-benefit” institutions that have the much-prized tax status of 501(c)(3) organizations, entitling donors to a tax deduction. And here can be found fine organizations like the Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute, the National Right To Life Educational Trust Fund, and the American Legislative Exchange Council, none of whom are exactly know for a devotion to helping the poor. (It should be noted that some (c)(3)s, including the Heritage Foundation and the liberal Center for American Progress, also have affiliated “action funds” that are outside the charitable designation but have the freedom to more directly engage in political activities. These are among the famous 501(c)(4) organizations that have been in the news lately: contributions aren’t deductible to donors, but the organizations themselves are tax-exempt, which also represents a tax subsidy).
Noam Chomsky on Democracy and Education in the 21st Century and Beyond
Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, political critic and activist. He is an institute professor and professor emeritus in the department of linguistics and philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. History educator Daniel Falcone spoke with Chomsky in his Cambridge office on May 14. Falcone: Do we as a nation have a reason to fear an assault on public education and the complete privatization of education? CHOMSKY: So now, take for example ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council. It’s corporate funded, the Koch brothers and those guys. It’s an organization which designs legislation for states, for state legislators. And they’ve got plenty of clout, so they can get a lot of it through. Now they have a new program, which sounds very pretty on the surface. It’s designed to increase “critical thinking.” And the way you increase critical thinking is by having “balanced education.” “Balanced education” means that if you teach kids something about the climate, you also have to teach them climate change denial. It’s like teaching evolution science, but also creation science, so that you have “critical thinking.” All of this is a way of turning the population into a bunch of imbeciles. That’s really serious. I mean, it’s life and death at this point, not just making society worse.
Bill Berry: Scott Walker’s agenda threatens public education By now it’s obvious that attempts by Gov. Scott Walker and some of his pals to privatize K-12 education isn’t sitting well with many in Walker’s own party. Walker’s plan to expand school vouchers has moderate Republicans and many from rural areas concerned. Earlier this month, 14 rural Republicans called for an increase to public school funding, in effect opposing Walker’s budget proposal that would keep revenues flat for another two years. Walker has no such respect for public schools. As Julie Underwood, dean of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has courageously pointed out, Wisconsin is among states threatened by the extremist American Legislative Exchange Council’s formula for privatizing education and eroding local control. Walker is ALEC’s Wisconsin operative.
Scaife-Funded Network Works Hard to Kill Immigration Reform
With immigration reform advancing through Congress, an anti-immigrant network funded by a small group of right-wing foundations is trying to kill reform by pressuring moderate Republicans and appealing to the party’s xenophobic wing. The groups could stymie efforts by some Republicans to appeal to the country’s growing Latino population by moving to the center on immigration. The anti-immigration Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and others are using shoddy research methods to claim that immigration is at fault for a whole host of problems in America, from crime toincome inequality. ProEnglish, a lobbying organization that advocates for “official English,” has released avideo attacking Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) for his work on the immigration bill. The Center for Immigration Studies has testified in Congress against reform, claiming “virtually all illegal aliens are guilty of multiple felonies.” All of these organizations are connected to John Tanton, a nativist who has formed anetwork of radical anti-immigration groups, all of which receive a significant portion of their funding from foundations tied to the Scaife family. Regardless of their fringe viewpoints, in the past, Dr. Tanton’s groups have played a successful role incrusading against immigration. Four years ago, NumbersUSA was key in organizing protest calls to Congress and supplying talking points to legislators to help defeat President George W. Bush’s legalization plan. FAIRhelped draft the contentious Arizona law, SB 1070, that grants law enforcement the right to question and detain anyone they suspect of lacking proper documentation for lawful presence in the United States. (The law was also adopted as a model bill by the American Legislative Exchange Council). In addition, in 2010 CIS aimed to defeat the Dream Act, which offers a pathway to citizenship and higher education for minors who were brought to the United States illegally as young children.
Brad Ashwell: Would Koch Brothers be good for journalism?
As you read this newspaper you are probably not thinking much about who owns it. But the question of who may be purchasing it along with several other major newspapers has the attention of many. The Tribune Company, which is the second largest media company in the U.S., is considering the sale of eight newspapers, including the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Orlando Sentinel, to Charles and David Koch, two of the most politically active billionaires in the country. There is nothing particularly new or inherently wrong about a wealthy family buying or owning a media company. But, the Koch brothers are not a typical wealthy family. The Koch’s have worked for years to benefit their bottom line at the expense of everyday Americans. They have donated millions to organizations and politicians that deny climate change, attack campaign-spending limits, dismantle worker’s rights, promote discriminatory voter ID laws, restrict access to health care, and increase income inequality. They have aggressively pushed a radical and extremist partisan political agenda by bankrolling think tanks, advocacy organizations, shadowy groups like ALEC (The American Legislative Exchange Council), astroturf groups and educational institutions. What seems particularly troubling is that many of their efforts have involved shaping public opinion on issues in a way that lacks transparency in order to benefit their own economic interests. To be clear, the issue here is not whether we agree with the Koch brothers positions on various issues. The question is whether we can trust these partisan ideologues to be good public stewards when it comes to providing us with objective news?
Asbestos Bill Invades the Privacy of Victims and Veterans | Commentary
“My husband was the late Congressman Bruce F. Vento, who served for more than 24 years in the House of Representatives representing our home state of Minnesota. Bruce died from pleural mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung caused by exposure to asbestos, on Oct. 10, 2000, just eight months after being diagnosed and despite receiving excellent medical care at the Mayo Clinic. He would be very disappointed that his colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee voted to send HR 982, the Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency Act, to the floor.” Since at least the early 1900s, the lethal risks of asbestos exposure have been known — and intentionally hidden from — American workers and their families by companies of all sorts whose bottom lines were more important than the well-being and very lives of their workers. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Legislative Exchange Council and Georgia Pacific — a company owned by the Koch Brothers, who are pushing this bill — claim it is needed to prevent fraud by asbestos victims when filing claims to company trusts. The asbestos company trusts were structured to enable the companies responsible for poisoning their workers to use bankruptcy reorganization to continue operating. But notably the Government Accountability Office analyzed many company trusts and found no evidence of fraud. A recent newspaper investigation of claims found 0.35 percent of “anomalies” that included clerical errors by the claims administrators of the company trust. Yet somehow asbestos victims have ripped off the system.
60 NC Conservation Groups Identify Most Egregious Anti-Environmental Bills Moving Through General Assembly
June 3, 2013. From the Blue Ridge to the Outer Banks and everywhere in between, North Carolina’s clean air, clean water and unparalleled quality of life have made it a special place and the envy of so many other states in the Southeast and beyond. But over-reaching politicians and short-sighted politics in Raleigh are now putting the state’s renowned quality of life – and its future – at risk. Gov. Pat McCrory wants to open the state’s beaches up to the threat of offshore drilling. His appointee to the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources has rewritten the department’s mission statement to suggest that environmental science is subject to “a diversity of opinion” and that protection of the state’s environment be subject to cost-benefit analysis. And fossil fuel companies and groups beholden to them – from Halliburton to the American Legislative Exchange Council – are continuing to pressure lawmakers however they can to push their agendas.
ARTICLES IN SUPPORT OF ALEC:
Here’s a Smart Alec We Ought to Heed
Another pro-ALEC editorial opinion without a named author or editor…
California’s situation is so bad that ALEC devotes an entire chapter to it, outlining problems like its growing number of municipal bankruptcies, including San Bernardino, where the main driver is personnel expenses and pension costs. The latter are expected to rise from 13 to 15 percent of the city budget by 2016. “California’s government has imposed upon its citizenry the most onerous business environment in the United States,” the report says. As its authors see it, California is on a road to disaster. The needed first step to avoid it is a thorough overhaul of the state’s tax system. Given the current makeup of the state’s political leadership that change is unlikely to happen, because though term limits rotate the people who populate our government it does nothing to change the philosophies they hold.
National Center for Public Policy Research Completes Activity at 32nd Shareholder Meeting of 2013 Group Holds Corporate CEOs Who Support the Left Accountable – and Supports Those Who Defend the Free Market
Dallas, TX / Washington, D.C. – The National Center for Public Policy Research completed activity at its 32nd corporate shareholder meeting of 2013 this week, as President David Ridenour completed a presentation at the ExxonMobil shareholder meeting in Dallas a few days after appearing at the Home Depot meeting in Atlanta. At ExxonMobil in Dallas, Ridenour spoke against shareholder proposal #7, sponsored by the United Steelworkers, calling on ExxonMobil to annually release what Ridenour called “an extraordinary level of detail in company lobbying disclosures” and to disclose its “membership in and payments to any tax-exempt organization that writes and endorses model legislation.” At ExxonMobil, Ridenour called the United Steelworkers’ proposal “a barely-veiled attempt to make it difficult for the company to work with… the American Legislative Exchange Council, better known as ALEC, a 40-year-old non-partisan, non-profit organization that facilitates collaboration on issues important to all of us among thousands of state legislators in all 50 states.” Ridenour said special interests dependent on government have been pressuring corporations to boycott ALEC “because ALEC shares good ideas in… important policy areas from a perspective that seeks to keep government small and accountable to the people, and our personal and corporate taxes low.” He urged shareholders to vote against the anti-ALEC proposal, which ultimately failed, 25%-75%. An audio recording of Ridenour’s comments is available here.
Three Reasons Why State Polarization Is a Big Deal
Those of us who report on state-level politics usually brag about how much better it is than following Congress. On our beat, after all, bills actually get passed and become law—unlike in D.C., where the Senate can’t even vote for lack of cloture and the House just keeps reapproving the repeal of Obamacare in some endless Politico version of Groundhog Day. In state legislatures, deals get made, budgets get passed (even balanced, if that’s your thing), and not every single issue is defined by a Democratic-Republican split. A new study shows that polarization—the ideological gulf between the average Republican and average Democrat—is growing in state legislatures. Political scientists Boris Shor (University of Chicago) and Nolan McCarty (Princeton University) combined survey results from the Project Vote Smart office-holder questionnaire with roll-call votes, comparing the average Republican and Democratic lawmakers in each state. (The data are available for anyone to play with.) Their findings tell us that state legislatures aren’t quite as polarized as Congress, but they’re moving in the same direction. What’s even more interesting, though, is what polarization actually means—and who benefits from it… …One reason for the shift: increasingly, national groups call the shots for Republican state lawmakers. Grover Norquist’s no-new-taxes pledge, signed by 1,037 current state lawmakers, helped create a method for nationalizing state issues. Groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) have successfully pushed “model legislation” to Republican lawmakers around the country, accounting for the proliferation of voter ID laws and stand-your-ground laws, among others. Increasingly, big-money conservatives such as the Koch brothers support challenges to “moderate” Republican lawmakers on the state level to enforce ideological purity. The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) spent around $30 million to elect GOP lawmakers in 2010 and another $25 million in 2012.
By Bob Sloan ALEC, ALEC Corporate Members, Campaign Finance, Conservative Dogma, conservative think tanks, Consumer exploitation, corporate behavior, dark money, Education, Environment, Ethics in Government, exploitation and manipulation, Homeland Security, Human Rights, Immigration, Koch brothers, Labor, Legislators with ALEC Ties, lobbying, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Privatized Education System, PRWatch, Public Educaion, The Cabal, U.S. Chamber of Commerce 5 Comments Tags: ALEC, ALEC alumni, American Legislative Exchange Council, Center for Media and Democracy, Charles and David Koch, Disenfranchisement, Education, environment, Greenpeace, Koch, Koch Brothers, Koch Industries, Model Legislation, north carolina, privatization, stand your ground, transparency, U.S. Department of Justice
05/03 Daily Report on Activities, Legislation and Initiatives of the ALEC/Koch Cabal
Below are today’s articles and materials related to ALEC and the Koch funded conservative cabal. Included ALEC published material – if available.
Click on a link to view the complete article.
Thousands Across the U.S. Rightly Protest Sallie Mae For Skyrocketing Student Debt
To coincide with the action students are taking, Jobs with Justice has put out a fact sheet on some of the reasons why the target is Sallie Mae. Points range from Sallie Mae having over 1,500 complaints against them filed to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (and they’re still open to comments up until May 28), to the fact that they were one of the few large corporations to join the American Legislative Exchange Council in 2012. That’s after public pressure drove corporations such as McDonald’s away from the organization for supporting legislature such as the “Stand Your Ground” law.
Rankings Of Idaho’s Business Climate? Take Them With A Grain Of Salt
Why does Idaho come in ninth in one index evaluating state business taxes and climates, but 31st in another?
Five of the six reports critiqued here have something else in common: They are produced by organizations with distinctly conservative ideologies and agendas (theTax Foundation, the Beacon Hill Institute, the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, and the American Legislative Exchange Council). The reports, as a result, are really aimed at state policy makers, in the hope of promoting the underlying agendas of the organizations. – Peter Fisher, ‘Grading Places: What Do The Business Climate Rankings Really Tell Us?’
The report details four business climate indices — including the American Legislative Exchange Council’s “Rich States, Poor States” report, which ranks Idaho in the top ten, and the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council’s U.S. “Business Policy Index,” which names Idaho number 31 — and is available here.
Every Gun Is A Snowflake
The bill signed into law in 2012 is entitled, “Firearms Destruction Prevention Act”. No kidding, that’s the title. Moreover, the bill to save confiscated guns from destruction was written and lobbied by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)….you may have heard of them. A few months before passage….
….. the corporations and legislators on the ALEC Public Safety and Elections Task Force had adopted a version of the “Firearms Destruction Prevention Act” (also known as the “Disposition of Firearms in State and Local Custody Act”) as a “model,” at the behest of the NRA. Both the ALEC/NRA model and the Arizona law have the same functional impact.
When the bill was introduced in the Arizona state Senate, twenty out of its twenty-six sponsors were known ALEC members.
House sends tax cut bill to Gov. Mary Fallin
The bill thus goes to Gov. Mary Fallin, giving her an opportunity to sign it and a sweeping workers compensation reform measure while the American Legislative Exchange Council, a driving force behind much of the nation’s conservative lawmaking, holds its annual convention in Oklahoma City.
Fallin is scheduled to speak to the convention on Friday.
Picture of Governor Fallin speaking to ALEC members today and pictures from inside the ALEC Task Force meeting…
NC Senators force ALEC bill through committee without even counting votes
Bitter from a lack of support for his attacks on clean energy incentives, North Carolina Representative Mike Hager is promising some new, dirty tricks to revive the effort. His colleagues in the NC Senate appear to be helping, today advancing the Senate version of Rep. Hager’s bill through committee without counting the votes.
Representative Mike Hager is a former engineer at coal-burning utility Duke Energy — the largest utility in the country and one of the biggest carbon polluters in the world – and a member of the contentious American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which created the model bill that became Hager’s attack on renewable energy on the dime of companies like Duke, Exxon, Koch Industries and Peabody Energy.
Big agribusiness is funding the Eco Terrorism Act
So who is behind these bills? Many of the documents contain wording very similar to the original draft written by the lawyers of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a corporate lobby group posing as a non-profit, ‘non-partisan’ think tank. Until recently, ALEC managed to keep its methods and its membership secret; however, a leak followed by a Freedom of Information Act filing revealed that the organization drafts bills on behalf of transnational corporations, and persuades its legislative members (i.e. conservative Senators and Representatives) to introduce those bills. ALEC has secretly lobbied on behalf of the tobacco industry, the gun industry, and against minimum wage laws, all behind closed doors. The organization is effectively a dating agency which matches legislators looking for donations to their campaign funds with big businesses who want an influence on the law.
Bad Economic Development Ideas from Conservatives
This is an ambitious study that analyzes six different indexes published by five different groups. Four are simple combinations of a wide variety of policy variables, each with its own idiosyncratic weighting systems, all of which are published by conservative organizations such as the Tax Foundation or the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
Georgia graded on K-12 performance
The American Legislative Exchange Council recently released its ranking by state of K-12 performance, progress and reform.
Georgia’s education policies grade was B-. The state academic standards were B+ for English and language arts and A- for mathematics.
COMMITTEE TO ELECT RON GEORGE SPECIAL CAMPAIGN ANNOUNCEMENT SCHEDULED
Delegate Ron George has served in the Maryland House of Delegates since 2007. Delegate George serves on the Ways and Means Committee, Election Law Sub-Committee, Education Sub-Committee, Transportation Sub-Committee, Veterans’ Caucus, Sportsmen’s Caucus, The Commission on Campaign Finance Reform, and the Waterways Workgroup. He is the Founder and Chair of the Doctor’s Caucus. He serves on the American Legislative Exchange Council’s Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force.
Pennsylvania lawmakers, officials disclose gifts, travel
HARRISBURG (AP) — Pennsylvania state lawmakers and other public officials are disclosing gifts, travel and other financial details in annual reports due with the State Ethics Commission.
Elected members of the Legislature reported more than $43,000 in gifts, transportation, lodging and hospitality last year, a number that should rise after the remaining one-fourth of the 253-member body submits their Statements of Financial Interest. The reports are due on Wednesday.
Members accepted travel-related costs for trips to Ireland, Arizona, Illinois, New York, North Carolina and Washington, D.C., among other places. They took free ski passes, entertainment and a membership in the Erie Yacht Club.
Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Butler, said the $2,224 he reported from attending two American Legislative Exchange Council meetings was not for a vacation.
By Bob Sloan ALEC, ALEC Corporate Members, Campaign Finance, Conservative Dogma, conservative think tanks, Consumer exploitation, corporate behavior, Education, Elections, Environment, Ethics in Government, exploitation and manipulation, Legislators with ALEC Ties, lobbying, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, tax policy, The Cabal No comments Tags: ALEC, American Legislative Exchange Council, Center for Media and Democracy, Disenfranchisement, Education, environment, Greenpeace, Koch Brothers, Model Legislation, north carolina, privatization, South Dakota, transparency
Paid Sick Days Defeat in Philadelphia Followed Familiar Script
By Brendan Fischer at PRWatch
This article precisely describes how the ALEC cabal’s corporate members fund the initiatives they have brought to ALEC and sent out to all states through the ALEC legislative members. After the bills or initiatives are proposed these corporations then pursue getting the legislation passed. In this case in Philadelphia, they pursued defeating a bill passed by the city council allowing paid sick days – which then was vetoed by Democratic Mayor, Michael Nutter…not once but twice.
Anything to oppose worker’s rights or wages is pursued by ALEC and their corporate (employer) membership.
“Major opponents of Philadelphia’s paid sick days effort included the National Restaurant Association, the Chamber of Commerce, and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), which presents itself as “the voice of small business” but lobbies primarily for big corporate interests. Each group is tied to ALEC and has consistently opposed similar legislation in other cities and states.
“Nationally, an estimated 40 million workers, or forty percent of the workforce, cannot take sick days without losing wages or possibly their jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Seventy-nine percent of food industry workers — who are especially likely to spread illness if they go to work sick — don’t get paid sick days, according to a Food Chain Workers Alliance study.”
Read the full PRWatch article <- HERE ->
By Bob Sloan ALEC, ALEC Corporate Members, civil rights, Conservative Dogma, conservative think tanks, corporate behavior, Ethics in Government, exploitation and manipulation, Jobs, Labor, Pennsylvania, Protests, The Cabal, Unions No comments Tags: ALEC, American Legislative Exchange Council, Center for Media and Democracy, Mayor Michael Nutter, Model Legislation, Occupy, paid sick leave, Philadelphia, transparency
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President Simmons to step down at end of year
By Shefali Luthra
Rachel Kaplan / Herald
Simmons hugs a first-year before this year’s welcome address.
Alex Bell / Herald
President Ruth Simmons addressed prefrosh on the Main Green in April.
President Ruth Simmons, the first black president in Ivy League history, will step down at the end of the academic year, she announced Thursday morning.
Simmons, who was also the second female president in the Ivy League, took the helm as the University’s 18th president in 2001. She told The Herald she originally intended to step down after 10 years — about the average for Ivy League presidents — but stayed on an extra year at the behest of the Corporation, the University’s highest governing body.
Simmons said she came to the decision at the end of the summer. She told a few members of the Corporation — including Chancellor Thomas Tisch ’76 — of her intention to leave at a meeting Aug. 16. Though Simmons and Tisch considered announcing her resignation at the upcoming meeting of the Corporation Oct. 20-22, they decided the Brown community should learn the news sooner.
“This was the soonest we thought we could do it, of course not wanting to disrupt the opening of the semester,” Simmons said.
Though the Corporation usually takes at least a year to select a new president, both Simmons and Tisch expressed confidence that there would be sufficient time to find the right successor by spring. A group within the Corporation is responsible for presidential succession plans.
Tisch told The Herald in March that he expected Simmons to stay on as president “for the foreseeable future.”
Simmons said now is the right time to step down because of the “wonderfully expanded faculty,” “brilliant and capable” new administrators and the University’s current financial health.
“The time to make the transition is when you’re strong,” she said. “I believe, myself, that this is a time to do that, because we’re past that crisis — that financial crisis. We are on an upward trajectory.”
The rest of the Corporation was informed of Simmons’ decision Thursday, according to Marisa Quinn, vice president for public affairs and University relations. Tisch said Corporation members expressed the “greatest gratitude and deepest respect” for Simmons upon hearing the news.
Simmons said the Plan for Academic Enrichment — her overarching vision for the University’s institutional growth and development and the cornerstone of her presidency — will continue beyond this year. Though she wants to add a “follow-on” to keep the plan fresh, she said the new president will also influence the plan’s future. “No president would want to come to a place and be handed a plan they have no input into,” Simmons said.
Provost Mark Schlissel P’15 will start developing the follow-on, which the new president will then review and add to. The plan has “enhanced the capacity of Brown as a University to educate students and produce academic scholarship,” he said, and the University will harness this capacity “to increase the significance of Brown’s scholarship and our ability to help work on problems of the world” in future years.
Under the plan, Simmons launched the Campaign for Academic Enrichment, a fundraising initiative that raised more than $1.6 billion by its close in December 2010. The University also hired more than 100 new faculty members, expanded its graduate programs and established a School of Engineering.
Simmons appointed a Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice in 2003 to research the University’s historical involvement with the slave trade and recommend steps for acknowledging the intersections between slavery and the University’s early years. The committee released its report in 2006, garnering national media attention. Other universities have since initiated similar investigations of their own.
Stephen Robert ’62 P’91, who chaired the committee that selected Simmons as president, expressed sadness after the announcement. Simmons is “the best university president in America,” he said.
“She first of all raised Brown’s standards, forcing us to be much better than we were,” he said. “And she gave us permission to be self-critical instead of just being self-satisfied.”
Simmons said she will return to the University as a professor of comparative literature and Africana studies after spending a year away from Brown to “take up projects that have been on hold far too long.” Though she has not decided how she will spend the year, she said she would like to go to France.
— With additional reporting by Tony Bakshi and Elizabeth Carr
Mark Liang: On writing
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Mobile Carriers Hard Pressed to Recoup Investment in 5G Services
HOME News ICT
Korean Gov't Rejects SK Telecom's 5G Rate Plan
By Kim Eun-jin
The government has rejected a 5G service rate plan submitted by SK Telecom.
A red flag has been raised for 5G services of Korean mobile carriers as the government refused to approve a 5G service rate plan submitted by SK Telecom.
The three carriers invested trillions of won in their 5G services, which were launched for the first time in the world. But it has become difficult for them to develop a service fee plan to recoup their massive investment. Therefore, they will hardly be able to avoid deficits.
The Ministry of Science and ICT rejected SK Telecom’s 5G service pricing plan on March 5, saying that it only had fees for heavy data and high-paying users, limiting the rights of light data users to select services.
The decision caught mobile carriers off guard as they believed that they had no choice but to focus on heavy data users as 5G services are initially available only in some limited areas of Seoul and other major cities.
"It is natural to launch a monthly plan to offer heavy data use for heavy users first. Then the gradual popularization of 5G services will lead to various types of monthly plans,” said an official in the mobile service industry.
In particular, the government's rejection of SK Telecom’s plan is considered very unusual. SK Telecom, the leader of the mobile service market, is required to receive government approval of its monthly plans, while KT and LG U+ have only to report their monthly plans to the government. The government has been moving to abolish the approval system. But it applied the approval system to the 5G rate plan submitted by a mobile carrier.
SK Telecom plans to apply for the approval of its monthly plans for 5G services by revising their terms of use again after reviewing details of the announcement from the Ministry of Science and ICT.
#5G service rate plan #SK Telecom
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CHARLTON HESTON: The Original "INDIANA JONES"
Steven Spielberg and George Lucas ripped off the leading character and a basic plot idea of a forgotten, except to "Film Buffs", motion picture "THE SECRET OF THE INCAS" released June 1, 1954 in 3-D. The two producers with writer Lawrence Kasdan created the character of "Indiana Jones" and modified some of the earlier films scenes to form the basis of the screenplay that became 1981's "RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK". This is that story.
Above on the left is Charlton Heston as "Harry Steele"in 1954 and on the right Harrison Ford as "Indiana Jones" in 1981.
"The Secret of the Incas" was directed by Jerry Hopper. Hopper's first motion picture was Gene Barry's 1952 "Atomic Ciity" and among his other work were 1953's "Pony Express" starring Charlton Heston, Rhonda Fleming and Forrest Tucker, 1955's "The Private War of Major Benson" starring Charlton Heston and Julie Adams, 1956's "The Sharkfighters" starring Victor Mature and then in 1957 Hopper moved to the new medium of television for the rest of his 30 year career.
The screenplay was written by two men. Sydney Boehm wrote the 1951 Science Fiction Classic "When Worlds Collide", 1955's "Six Bridges to Cross" about the Brinks Robbery starring Tony Curtis, Jane Russell's 1956 "The Revolt of Mamie Stover" and the Stuart Whitman, Carol Lyndley and Roddy McDowall "Shock Treatment": in 1964 among other screenplays.
Boehm's co-screenplay writer was Ranald MacDougall. His work included the 1945 Errol Flynn film "Objective Burma", the same years "Mildred Pierce" starring Joan Crawford, Charlton Heston and Eleanor Parker's "The Naked Jungle" in 1954 and 1956's "The Mountain" starring Spencer Tracy, Robert Wagner and Claire Trevor.
"The Secret of the Incas" had an excellent cast for 1954.
As I said Charlton Heston was adventurer "Harry Steele". Besides the three motion pictures I've already mentioned. Heston had been seen in Cecil B. DeMille's 1952 "The Greatest Show on Earth", the same years "Ruby Gentry" with Jennifer Jones and Karl Malden and 1953's "The President's Lady" as "President Andrew Jackson" co-starring Susan Hayward.
Robert Young was "Stanley Moorhead". Young was four months away from the first of 197 episodes of television's "Father Knows Best" with co-star Jane Wyatt.
Thomas Mitchell portrayed "Ed Morgan". The Oscar, Emmy and Tony Award winning actor had just started his 39 episode television series "Mayor of the Town". Two years earlier he appeared in "High Noon" starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly.
Nicole Maurey was "Elena Antonescu". The French actress appeared primarily in French motion pictures except for a few films such as Bing Crosby's 1953 "Little Boy Lost" still made in France, 1959's "The Scapegoat" starring Alec Gunness and Bette Davis and the Science Fiction classic from 1963 "The Day of the Triffids".
Michael Pate was "Pachacutec" wearing a lot of facial make-up. Australian character actor Pate was seen in the 1951 thriller "The Strange Door" starring Charles Laughton and Boris Karloff, 1952's "The Black Castle" starring Karloff and Richard Greene and in 1953 he was the Apache Chief "Vittorio" in John Wayne's 3-D Western classic "Hondo". In 1954 on Live American Television Michael Pate was "Felix Leiter" in Ian Fleming's "Casino Royale" and was a Spanish Noblemen turned Western Vampire Gunfighter, all in black, in 1959's "Curse of the Undead".
My article on Michael Pate and character actor Woody Strode may be read at:
http://www.bewaretheblog.com/search?q=michael+pate
Ymac Sumac was "Kori-Tika". Sumac was a Peruvian coloratura soprano and an internationally renown singer of "Exotic Music".
A small character comparison:
Charlton Heston's "Harry Steele" was no "Professor of Archaeology", but an unscrupulous tour guide out for a quick buck from American tourists and especially the ladies. He wants to get out of Cusco, Peru, and back to the United States, but needs both money and a plane. However, he has a detailed knowledge of archaeology as it pertains to Peru from living, for an unstated reason, 14 years in the country. "Harry Steele" is the antithesis of "Indiana Jones" created 27 years later.
Nicole Maurey's "Elena Antonescu" is a women with a dark past wanting to get to the United States. She has escaped Communist Romania with only the clothes on her back. "Elena" has made her way to Paris, France, and worked in what she describes as a Night Club with two floors. One with bedrooms in use and the other for dancing. "Elena" tells "Harry" she was a dancer, but implies something else to "Stanley Moorhead". Remember this was 1954 at the height of the "House Committee on Un-American Activities" and "Black Listing". So even hard women had to be toned down to fit the morality being imposed on the United States motion picture industry at the time.
Compare her to Karen Allen's "Marian Ravenwood". Who was the daughter of "Indiana Jones'" mentor "Abner Ravenwood" and owned a bar in a rough section of Nepal. Along with being an ex-lover of "Jones" she was a women you didn't want to mess with.
Maurey and Heston above and Ford and Allen below.
Before I go into the actual screenplay I want to give my reader a brief backstory about the Inca God "Apu-punachau" and the representations of his spirit created by pre-Columbian Inca Craftsman. These religious representations used in 1954's "The Secret of the Incas" would be substituted with the Hebrew "Ark of the Covenant" in 1981's "Raiders of the Lost Ark". Just as "Harry Steele" is substituted for "Dr. Walton 'Indiana' Jones, Jr." and "Ed Morgan" for "Dr. Rene Belloq".
Since the 12th Century "Apu-punachau" was believed, by the Incas, to be their original ancestor and was also known as "Inti" the Sun God. Below are two of the many ways "Apu-punachau" was represented as a "Golden Sunburst" with a face upon it.
In 1571 a large solid gold and jeweled Sunburst disk of "Inti" was actually stolen by Spanish Conquistadors and supposedly sent to the Pope via Spain. However, according to the story it became lost and may never have arrived in Rome at all.
Screenplay writers Sydney Boehm and Ranald MacDougall used that original legend revolving around the stolen Sunburst as a basis for their treasure hunt adventure. The two writers changed one detail by not having the Spanish Conquistadors remove the Sunburst from Machu Piccbu". It now remains hidden somewhere within what becomes the archaeological site in the motion picture.
The following is a photo of Machu Piccbu in 2009.
WARNING: If you plan to watch "The Secret of the Incas". Which is available on DVD and as of this writing on Youtube, Do not read the following detailed plot description.
The movie opens as a truck, whose bed is full of people, is heading for the city of Cusco, but first must cross a railroad intersection. On the railroad track also heading towards Cusco is a self propelled single, bus like, train car. The two will meet at the railway crossing as both come to a forced stop, because of a burro on the exact intersection of the railroad track and road that "Harry Steele" must move for either to proceed.
In the truck's cab is "Elena Antonescu" and this is the first time the audience gets a glance of her.
The comparison of the two motion pictures above is just a small scene film buffs point too. On the left is Harrison Ford in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and on the left is Charlton Heston in "The Secret of the Incas".
At the entrance of the Cusco airport "Harry" bids good-bye to his group of American tourists and collects payment from each of the departing tourists.
Look closely at the women on the far right of the above photo "Oh 1970's television trivia buffs".
It's Marion Ross 30 years before she became "Richie Cunningham's" mother on televisions "Happy Days".
"Harry Steele" next goes to the airport office that doubles as its landing and take off control room. He speaks to the man running it and asks, if their are any passengers on the plane that is just arriving? "Harry" then meets, at the same spot he left his first group, these new tourists and announces that he is their "Guide Provided by the Hotel". Which of course not one of them knew about.
The little bit of comic relief in the picture comes at the beginning of the movie and is provided by comedian actress Glenda Farrell as "Mrs. Winston:". Who makes 1950's style sexual innuendos to Heston in front of her inattentive husband.
Farrell had third billing in 1931's "Little Caesar" starring an unknown Edgar G. Robinson. She had second billing in the Paul Muni 1932 "I Was a Fugitive from a Chain Gang", third billing in Fay Wray and Lionel Atwill's 1933 "The Mystery of the Wax Museum". Which was remade in 1953 as the 3-D "House of Wax", but was best known for a series of films showcasing her comedic timing as newspaper reporter "Torchy Blaine", between 1937 and 1939.
The audience now meets the 1950's villain of the story "Ed Morgan". "Morgan" owns a nightclub and has been in Cusco for years going back to before "Harry Steele" arrived. He might have been a small time gangster during World War 2, or a deserter, but this is never established. In this quiet Peruvian tourist city he seems to be the only crime boss, if that is even the proper moniker. He is a very old man now with grandeur dreams of Inca treasure, but is still somewhat deadly.
"Ed" tells "Harry" he was told, by a contact in Lima, of a girl coming into town the needs help and wants him to take care of her. "Morgan" then asks "Steele", if he has the missing piece of an exhibit in the museum that leads to the Inca Sunburst? "Harry" denies this and says he has no idea what "Ed" is talking about. The dialogue implies that "Harry Steele" once worked for "Ed Morgan", or they were partners in some schemes in the past. After "Harry" leaves and returns to his hotel room somebody shoots at him.
"Harry" breaks into the shooter's room, knocks him to the floor demanding who ordered the shooting, and finds out that it was "Ed Morgan". Before he leaves "Harry" breaks the shooter's rifle in half and takes the shooter's payment from "Ed". Next, "Steele" goes to "Morgan" and confronts him and is told "Ed" only wanted to scare "Harry" into remembering who was the boss. Once more "Ed Morgan" demands to know, if "Harry"has the stone and wants 50 percent of the Million Dollars the Sunburst is worth. One million 1954 dollars in 2019, as I write this article, is equal currently to nine million, four hundred and forty-four thousand, four hundred and ninety-six dollars.
Arriving in Cusco "Elena" takes her luggage, leaves the truck, but sees some police officers and immediately goes in another direction and starts to take back streets.
"Harry" is showing Cusco to his tourists and takes them into the museum. Four things will now happen.
First, "Elena" seeing other police officers and noticing the tourists entering the museum decides to follow the group. Second, "Harry" asks the assistant museum curator to take over the tour and he goes to a model of Machu Piccbu and pulls out the stone "Ed Morgan" was asking him about.
The third thing is that "Harry" spots "Elena" with her suitcase watching the door for the police, but even after their eyes meet. He doesn't say anything and walks away. The fourth is the assistant museum curator opening a safe and showing the tourists the small Sunburst and "Harry" relating the legend of the large Sunburst of solid gold covered in jewels.
Back in the hotel "Harry Steele" is sitting at the bar as "Elena" enters and asks about him. After being told he's in the bar area. She walks up to a man "Elena" thinks must be "Harry", but gets that straightened out, sarcastically, by the real "Harry Steele"..
"Elena" informs "Harry" that she needs his help to get to the United States. Just that idea is laughable to him and becomes even more so. When "Harry" discovers "Elena" has only $50 American to her name and no identify paperwork of any kind to cross the borders.
Things change when "Harry" discovers "Elena" might have been involved with a member of the Romanian consulate in Lima. A man who is attempting to get her to return to the Communist controlled county, but more important to "Harry" is that he has a airplane. The adventurer lets the refugee think he can at least get her to Mexico and arranges a hotel room. Next, "Harry" contacts the Romanian and says he wants a finders fee for locating "Elena", but really he wants the Romanian to fly down to Cusco. So he can steal his airplane and go after the Sunburst. "Elena" is just a means to an end, or so he thinks at the time.
At the airport "Harry" meets the Romanian "Anton Marcu", played by Leon Askin, and before he will tells "Marcu" were to find "Elena". "Harry" demands the reward the two discussed over the phone. In the Hotel's bar "Harry", "Elena" and "Anton" sit at a table drinking. "Marcu" is talking to "Elena" about returning with him to Lima and the dialogue gives the audience the impression there was more between them than is being said. "Harry" meanwhile keeps putting loaded drinks in front of "Marcu" to get him as drunk as possible.
After "Harry' has two of the hotel employees take the staggering "Marcu" to his room. He tells "Elena" that he expects her to get the airplane keys from "Marcu's" pants. She seems shocked, but he knows better and tells her the plane is the only way out of Cusco for "Elena". "Elena" asks what room "Anton's" in and is told the one next to hers.
A short time later "Elena" returns with the keys and "Harry" asks her for them. She refuses to turn them over and tells him the keys are her insurance to Mexico. The two head for the airport and there they must get around three armed guards.
In the above lobby card. "Harry" has told "Elena" he will create a distraction as she runs for the plane and opens the doors up. He throws something through a window and then runs, himself, from the guards towards the airplane. With "Harry Steele" at the controls and the guards following in a jeep shooting at them. The Communist Refugee and the Fortune Hunting Adventurer are now on their way to find the large jewel encrusted solid gold Sunburst of legend, if it actually exists.
"Elena" is surprised that with eight hours flying time of aviation gasoline "Harry" lands the plane. He explains the authorities will be looking for them and know their flying range. Adding that logic would dictate they're heading for Mexico and reminds "Elena" he had mentioned other business he needs to do. Again adding that she now needs to change clothes for a long walk, before they can return and fly to Mexico.
Now starts a trek through the jungle and up a mountainside to Machu Piccbu. They can't make it the same day and stop. It is here that the audience finally has a bit of a romantic interlude between "Harry" and "Elena". That cuts to the following morning, leaving, in typical 1950's style, what might have occurred between them to the minds of the audience.
When "Elena" and "Harry" finally reach the mountain peak and look down at Machu Piccbu.
"Harry" is shocked to see white tents and an obvious archaeological dig in progress. He immediately wants to get his and "Elena"s stories straight. "Harry" was hired by "Elena" to fly a plane, but they ran out of aviation gas and can they borrow some? Surprisingly, no one at the dig questions why they didn't have enough gas in the plane to go from one town to the next?
Once at the dig they immediately meet "Pachacutec" followed by "Stanley Mooorhead", introduce themselves and tell their story. The four are standing outside of the entrance to the tomb that legend says the large Sunburst is contained. The tomb is to be opened in two days and it is expected that hundreds of Peruvian locals will arrive the next day,
"Harry" inquirers of "Moorhead" isn't this the tomb the legendary Sunburst is suppose to be in? "Stanley" tells "Harry" he doesn't believe its real and is only a legend. While "Pachacutec", being Inca, thinks otherwise.
The two also meet "Moorhead's" assistant "Phillip Lang", played by William Henry, and "Colonel Emilio Cardoza" played by Edward Colmans. "Cardoza" represents the Peruvian Government at the dig and ads an interesting problem for "Harry Steele"..
"Elena" had cut herself on a jungle plant during the trek and "Moorhead" has her taken to the medical tent for first aide.Where "Elena" at first mistakes "Dr. Moorhead" as a medical doctor and is told he had a doctorate in archaeology. Treating the cut "Moorhead" is assisted by "Kori-Tika" who is the only one suspicious of the two's timely arrival.
After having her injury attended too. "Elena" is given an opportunity to take a bath and change her clothing. While "Harry" checks out the site and her.
During the night "Harry Steele" inspects the artifacts so far recovered and takes special notice of a copper disk shaped like a sun with a handle on it. The treasure hunter pockets it. He next meets "Elena" who obviously is falling in love with him and asks "Harry", if there might not be something he valued more than the Sunburst and treasure? "Harry" doesn't give her a straight answer and walks away.
While "Stanley Moorhead" not only thinks he's in love with "Elena", but asks her to marry him. He is her ticket to Boston and the United States, but "Elena" knows from "Stanley's" comments that he is really a lonely man and she is very exotic to him. So both "Stanley" and the audience learn a little of her history. From the time of setting up her escape from Romania to her arrival in Peru. "Elena" has done things only a women could do to get what she wanted and there are other things won't even mention. It doesn't bother "Moorhead" who wants her for his wife, but "Elena" wants "Harry". Even if he doesn't realize it yet.
The following morning the Peruvians start to arrive and mixed within the group is "Ed Morgan".
"Morgan" tells "Harry" he still wants in on the Sunburst, or he will reveal what the other is really after. "Harry" comes up with a story to explain "Morgan's" sudden appearance. Earlier he had removed a part of the only short wave radio in camp. "Harry" claims to have attempted to get a radio message out about needing aviation gasoline, but wasn't sure if it got through. Apparently "Ed" did receive it, but could not reply and brought it to the airplane's location. Where he spotted the other Incas heading for Machu Piccbu and surmised that "Harry" and "Elena"might have gone there.
The Incas, "Harry", "Elena" and "Ed" walk over to the entrance to the tomb. They are not permitted entrance at this time and wait as the other enter and find the mummy. Everyone else can now enter the unsealed tomb and "Harry" and "Ed" anxiously enter the burial chamber. .
Inside they discover a very large Sunburst on the main wall of the tomb, but its only carved out of stone. The legend of the gold and jeweled Sunburst apparently was nothing more than the legend "Dr. Stanley Moorhead" told "Harry Steele" it was.
That night the Peruvians celebrate the discovery of the King's mummy, if not the legendary Sunburst and "Kori-Tika" sings.
After everyone has gone to sleep and "Harry" hearing "Ed" snoring away, in the room they share, gets up and heads for the tomb. The audience, of course, knows "Morgan" has been faking sleep. "Harry" enters the tomb and starts searching the walls. He finds an indentation on one of the walls and the copper disk fits exactly in place causing a light to be thrown on another wall.
Below on the left is the map room scene from "Raiders of the Lost Ark" indicating the location of the "Ark of the Covenant". On the left the somewhat similarly lighted scene from "The Secret of the Incas" indicating the location of the Sunburst.
Going to the indicated wall "Harry Steele" locates a false front and the Sunburst.
After pulling the Sunburst out of the wall. "Harry" turns and is confronted by "Ed" holding a gun on him. "Morgan" grabs the Sunburst knocking "Harry" to the ground as others enter the tomb after hearing the commotion. "Morgan" has no qualms shooting them as he runs out of the tomb. "Ed Morgan" is now being pursued by "Harry Steele" and some other Inca men. While everyone else, including "Elena", believe "Harry" took the Sunburst.
"Morgan" is trapped on the edge of a cliff by "Steele", but he holds a revolver on "Harry". While "Ed" waxes nostalgically about being at the end of his life and wanting one big score. "Harry" takes the opportunity and makes a grab for the Sunburst causing "Ed Morgan" to fall over to his death.
To everyone's surprise "Harry Steele" brings back the Sunburst and hands it to "Pachacutec". Who goes out and on top of a hill holds it up for all the Incas assembled to see.
The film ends with "Harry" and "Elena" leaving Machu Piccbu together.
Did Steven Spielberg and George Lucas actually use 1954's "The Secret of the Incas", or was this pure coincidence ? Not according to costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis, the wife of producer and director John Landis, in a September 14, 2005 interview on the website "The Raider Net". She is quoted as saying:
We did watch this film together as a crew several times, and I always thought it strange that the filmmakers did not credit it later as the inspiration for the series.
In her mind "The Secret of the Incas" was
almost a shot for shot Raiders of the Lost Ark
Having the motion picture I know her last statement isn't completely accurate, but I have shown it to different people. Who have come to the conclusion that there is a lot of 1981's "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in 1954's "The Secret of the Incas".
On last point:
Paramount Pictures wanted to re-release "The Secret of the Incas" a month, or two before the premier of "Raiders of the Lost Ark", but it is said that both Steven Spielberg and George Lucas convinced them to keep the movie shelved. To my knowledge it has never been re-released to motion picture theaters.
ANDY DEVINE: "Hey, Wild Bill, Wait for Me!"
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You are here: Home > BW briefs > More than half fear worsening UK skills shortages Wednesday 17 July 2019
More than half fear worsening UK skills shortages
by Peter Collis, MD elemense on 06-Jun-2012
Half of key UK industries surveyed believe their sector is suffering a skills shortage � and even more expect the shortfall to get worse, according to research commissioned by elemense. According to the findings, the gap is seen as worst in the technical and engineering industries, with 57.7% overall identifying a problem in these compared to the next highest (26.6%) in professions such as finance or HR.
The research sought the opinions of 1100 respondents � from company leaders down � in the industries of finance and banking, construction, property, manufacturing, computing, engineering, public services, telecoms, utilities, environmental services and education.
The results reveal that 54.5% of respondents felt the lack of skills in science, technology, engineering and maths would only get worse over the next five years. The survey not only confirmed the anecdotal evidence which has been causing growing unease, but also highlighted regional variations and differences in attitudes depending on workers� age, seniority and gender.
"The results come amid fears that the UK is slipping in its capacity to compete against global rivals," said Peter Collis, elemense MD. "This is particularly so in the technology and knowledge-based economy, as businesses and organisations find it increasingly difficult to find candidates with appropriate technical and engineering skills and experience."
He added, "This is being exacerbated by the shocking 68.8% who think the current generation of students do not have �robust attitudes and the right aptitudes to prepare for work in the knowledge-based and technology industries�."
Speaking on behalf of STEMNET � the national network that aims to increase young people�s choices through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics � regional networks manager for the South East Dr Ajay Sharman said, "It is no surprise that the survey has revealed a critical STEM skills shortage. STEMNET believes that by inspiring young people to study STEM subjects, more young people will develop the required skills to support the UK economy. To achieve this, we work with 25,000 STEM Ambassadors who volunteer as inspirational role models for young people, doing activities that explore the real-world applications of STEM subjects in school."
The most alarmed were respondents working in computing and electronics; 84.4% of whom believed there was a skills shortage. In engineering, 79.4% thought the same. There was also an implied criticism of education � with 45.4% pointing to education as having the greatest responsibility for training the next generation of engineers and technicians.
Regional findings
The overall pattern of about half reporting a skills gap was repeated around the country, but was highest in the West Midlands where the figure rose to 54.8%, compared to only 37.8% in East Anglia. The latter had a majority of 73.3% who felt that students had the right attitudes and aptitudes � in stark contrast with Wales where 80.4%.
Technical and engineering, as the worst-hit sector for skills nationally, appeared to be struggling most in the South East, where 68.3% believed there was a shortfall, followed by 66.7% in Northern Ireland.
Role levels and age
Company seniority also made a difference, with 60% of the highest-ranking respondents reporting a skills shortage, compared to 28.6% of the most junior. Of those top managers, 64.3% predicted it would get worse.
Older workers were much more pessimistic than their younger colleagues: among those aged over 54, 67.5% believed the skills shortage would worsen, compared to a slight minority of 49.6% of younger employees aged 18-24 in agreement.
Younger staff also put more emphasis on employers providing skills than the education sector with 42.1% holding that view, compared to only 30% of the over-54 age group, of whom 46.3% felt it was education�s responsibility.
Men were most concerned about the problems in technical and engineering, with 62.8% highlighting a skills gap � more than 10 percentage points higher than women at 51.9%.
Peter said, "We have been hearing reports from increasing numbers of our clients and industry leaders around the country about the UK�s skills shortage and this survey is evidence that these fears are not alarmist. One of the most concerning things is that a majority are predicting the situation will only get worse and is particularly bad in sectors such as engineering, where expertise is crucial to compete in high value, knowledge-based markets.
"Our country needs growth more than ever and without the skills to compete in key industries we are in danger of being left behind � with all the consequences that will bring for communities, jobs and investment. We hope others will follow us in calling on the government to give this challenge the utmost priority and take action now to ensure that the UK has the workforce for the future.
For more inforation on STEMNET, please visit: www.stemnet.org.uk and for more information about elemense: www.elemense.com
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Justin Bieber Kanye West Taylor Swift Miley Cyrus Selena Gomez Beyoncé Kim Kardashian Jay Z
Bieber And Usher Face $10M Lawsuit
Jaguar PS / Shutterstock.com
Justin Bieber and Usher may end up paying $10 million due to copyright infringement. In 2013, singer Devin Copeland and songwriter Mareio Overton sued the famous two because Bieber and Usher’s versions of the song ‘Somebody To Love’ sounds very similar to their song with the same title.
In 2014, U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen dismissed the lawsuit, saying that there was no copyright infringement and that the songs were completely different. The lawsuit from 2013 has now been revived by the 4th Circuit Court, after it was concluded that the songs are almost identical in rhythm and melody, as well as chorus.
Consequently, the lawsuit will return to lower court. No matter what the jury decides, this is a big problem for the famous singers, given that Bieber’s version of the song was at one point No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and that the pop star has been credited as a co-writer.
RELATED: Bieber Found Guilty Of Assault, Driving Violations
My bro pic.twitter.com/gNupyiGyTa
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) May 6, 2015
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The amazingly unlikely true story of how a grumpy old man and lifelong bachelor won the love of a beautiful young woman and started a family – and all by writing a curmudgeonly blog about his lonely journey to the grave.
Now who would have predicted that?
Another day, another threesome
Today the weather has reverted to seasonal type. On the other hand, I was invited to participate in a wild threesome with two lovely ladies.
The younger of them was 83.
We had lunch in a pub on the outskirts of Newcastle, which might have been worth visiting if one happened to be on the outskirts of Newcastle anyway, and more than usually hungry. Say, because one had been chained to a radiator by terrorists for a month or so, and fed only on the occasional scrap of stale bread.
The 80-mile round trip it involved for me was justified only by the very high quality of the company. The ladies went wild and drank a half of lager - each, not between them - and we had quite a few laughs, mainly at my expense. I’d dressed up for the occasion in a comedy three-piece tweed suit, with my great-grandfather’s watch and chain. This had the dual benefits of enabling me to say that I couldn’t possibly help to stack the load of logs which was delivered to my house this morning, and of making the octogenarians feel thoroughly “with it.”
Afterwards the lady who had been brought over from Germany as war booty in 1945 invited us back to her swish Newcastle apartment for coffee, which turned out not to be just coffee, if you know what I mean. There were cherry brandy liqueur chocolates as well.
Thirty years ago I was so dense that, when a girl invited me in for coffee after a Saturday night out at the theatre, I said, “No thanks, it always keeps me awake if I drink it late at night”, pecked her on the cheek and went home. I’d only chivalrously walked her back to her flat because I lived just around the corner. Her flatmate, who had introduced us, gave me a real earful when we met at work on Monday.
“How could you be so bloody rude to Juliet when she asked if you wanted to sleep with her? Don’t you fancy her?”
“Yes, of course I do. She’s very attractive.”
“Well I wouldn’t rate your chances after that fiasco on Saturday.” [This proved to be an uncannily accurate assessment of my prospects.]
“But she didn’t actually use the words ‘sleep with’, you know. She asked me if I wanted a coffee. Which I didn’t.”
“For God’s sake, man, no girl’s ever going to come right out with it and offer to sleep with you.” [Wrong, but then British mores have changed rather a lot since the late 1970s.] “She’d sent me away for the night so that the two of you could get it together. Surely you realize that coffee is a CODE.”
Well, I hadn’t. But I did from then on. And every time I was invited in for coffee after a night out, I said yes. I would leer suggestively when she asked me how I took it, remarking that perhaps it would be more appropriate if I put that question to her. This often led to my swift ejection from the building. As did my habit of stripping naked and lounging suggestively across the sofa while she was away in the kitchen, pratting about with a cafetière. In fact, now I come to think about it, no woman since bloody Juliet in 1979 has ever invited me in for coffee and meant anything deeper and more meaningful than “do you fancy a cup of hot, caffeine-rich, black liquid made by roasting and grinding the seeds of a tree from the madder family?”
Knowing that, I suppose my behaviour after that second liqueur chocolate this afternoon really was unforgivable.
Still, at least it gave two very sweet old ladies a hearty chuckle. And sadly that may well be the best I can offer to the female population of Northumberland at the time of writing.
That and an introduction to a very cute dog.
The best a girl can get?
Posted by Keith Hann at 19:16:00 No comments:
A land in need of heroes
It’s been one of those rare and special days when I truly appreciate the wisdom of returning to live in Northumberland full-time. The sun shone and the air was as sharp as a fishwife’s tongue. Under these atmospheric conditions, visibility seems almost limitless, offering breathtaking vistas of rolling hills almost untouched by any signs of modern industrial society. Indeed, one has to focus really hard to pick out the one line of electricity pylons advancing along the line of the A697, a single TV transmitter mast, and the golf ball shaped dome of the Brizlee Wood radar station guarding our airspace against Mr Putin.
All this is destined to change quite soon, in order to Save the Planet. Which most people would undoubtedly consider a Good Cause. I have my doubts myself, since what we are actually talking about is not the salvation of the planet, but of humanity. Would it really matter so much if we went the way of the dinosaurs? Given a few million years of evolution, the next dominant species (and my money is on the cockroach) might actually make a rather better fist of it.
But even if we accept that Saving the Planet is the right approach, are wind farms really the answer? They are monstrously inefficient and generate huge amounts of carbon dioxide in their construction. Nevertheless, in a rush that has echoes of the Klondike, assorted developers are pursuing plans to erect more than 300 giant turbines across the Northumberland uplands, in order to cash in on the generous subsidies arising from the UK’s “renewables obligation”. It is the most outrageous subsidy scam since the one that gave us countless acres of conifer forests to safeguard supplies of pit props for our now closed mines.
There is currently a public enquiry taking place in Alnwick, following the soon-to-be-abolished district council’s brave rejection of npower’s application to construct England’s biggest wind farm at Middlemoor, six miles north of the town. This proposes to plonk 18 giant (400ft) turbines across an unspoilt stretch of moorland midway between the coast and the Cheviot Hills, alongside what is, at present, one of the loveliest drives in the county: the single track road from North Charlton to Chillingham, passing the wonderful viewpoint of Ros Castle. The view may soon not be worth the effort of walking up to the summit.
Still, at least the press reports of the proceedings have afforded some much-needed amusement. My personal favourite was a Mr Urquhart, who appeared as witness last Friday. He assured the enquiry that the wind farm would be hardly noticeable, since looking at a 125 metre structure from a distance of two kilometres was the same as looking at a telegraph pole from a distance of 100 metres. For some reason, a vision of Father Ted holding up a model of a cow to Father Dougal and alternately pointing at it and gesturing out of the window while reciting the mantra “Small … far away … small … far away” sprang ineluctably to mind.
Mr Urquhart also suggested that Middlemoor could become the focus of a carbon-neutral 3,000 home eco-community, for which he had even taken the trouble to dream up a name: “Nortopia”.
I think he was supposed to be appearing on behalf of npower. Surely the oddest decision since someone decided that it would be a cracking idea to call Paul Whitehouse as a defence witness for Chris Langham.
The paper cited Mr Urquhart’s qualification to pontificate on Saving the Planet as being a medical librarian at Newcastle University. It didn’t specify whether he had a straggly beard and wore sandals, but I think we can all make an educated guess.
As the distinguished environmental scientist James Lovelock has written, the proponents of wind farms in the wider community are motivated by exactly the same spirit of faith-based vandalism that led the Puritans to smash the icons and stained glass windows of our great cathedrals. While behind them lurk the spiritual (and in some cases actual) descendants of the fat cats who profited so hugely from the stripping of the altars.
Oh for a Milton to protect the hills of Northumberland, as the poet drew his sword to defend the stained glass of King’s College, Cambridge. Sadly, these days we must rely on public enquiries. We all know what answer the Government wants from them. And who doubts that, by one means or another, it will ultimately have its way?
The elusive Mr Abrahams
David Who? From the Prime Minister down, leading Labour Party figures are lining up to claim that they have never met or even heard of the reclusive Newcastle landlord and property developer who has apparently been their third largest donor - until they had to pay it all back. I gather that there was a particularly impressive display of total ignorance by a prominent Newcastle Labour MP on last night’s ITV regional news.
It all seems mighty odd, given that the man at the centre of the controversy bears, at least some of the time, one of the best-known names in local politics. His father, sometime Lord Mayor of Newcastle Bennie Abrahams, truly was a local legend. I know, because I was brought up with him. Not literally; I’m not that old. In fact I’m exactly the same age as his son, according to the account that says he was born in 1954. Or not, if you believe the alternative theory that he was born in 1944. There seem to be at least two versions of reality in almost every line of this extraordinary story.
Anyway, to me and Bennie. He was my grandmother’s councillor and her hero. No other word will do. She lived for 65 years in a first floor rented flat in the West End of Newcastle, in a cobbled street which would now be classified as a slum. In fact, someone in authority must have reached that conclusion not long after Grandma died in 1973, at the age of 92, because it had been bulldozed out of existence when I went to pay a nostalgic visit a few years later.
Not that there was much to be nostalgic about. The flat had no heating apart from a coal-fired range in the kitchen. The lavatory was down a steep flight of steps in the backyard. There was no bathroom. Most incredibly of all, until the day she died the only lighting was from gas. I remember being despatched to the main Northern Gas showroom in Pilgrim Street, when I was in the sixth form at school, to buy her some new gas mantles. They eventually found some in a long forgotten store room, and handed them over with looks of frank astonishment.
When every other house in the street was converted to electricity in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, Grandma told her landlord not to bother as she would be dead soon, and it wasn’t worth the upheaval. Such is the family tradition of positive thinking, which I am proud to represent today.
In fairness, she might well have believed it. My other three grandparents had all died by 1943, aged 60, 63 and 65.
Every Sunday lunchtime for 36 years, plus high days such as New Year, Easter and Christmas, my father drove across Newcastle to bring his mother to our house for lunch. My mother detested her, and the feeling was mutual. Mum used to spend a lot of time in the kitchen on her own, making a great deal of noise with the pots and pans, and muttering things like “Only the good die young.” And she undoubtedly had a point. If Grandma was anything to go by, the key to reaching the age of 92 is total self-obsession and an utter determination to live in and for the present. She had actually had an interesting childhood, emigrating to America with her parents and crossing the Mid-West in a genuine wagon train. (Yes, they had railways by the 1890s, but maybe the wagons were cheaper; or maybe the trains were operated by Virgin.) Displaying the brilliant judgement which I have also inherited, my great-grandfather decided that the USA was a busted flush, and brought his family back to England, where Grandma had caught glimpses of, among others, Queen Victoria and King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. But could you get her to talk about any of this? Not a chance. Ask her about the price of Tide, though (or was it Oxydol?), and there was no stopping her.
Our fraught weekly lunches were frequently dominated by talk of Bennie Abrahams: Bennie had promised this, Bennie was doing that. Bennie was a saint. No other word would do. My father, who had clambered far enough up the social ladder to become a staunch Tory, could be observed physically fuming.
Then came the evening in or around 1970 when Grandma was run over on a pedestrian crossing on her way home from a whist drive. Always a well-padded individual (there really is something in this heredity stuff, isn’t there?) she bounced off the tarmac quite nicely, but was nevertheless carted off to the General Hospital with a broken arm. The first reaction of the shocked medical staff was to put her on a strict diet in an ill-fated attempt to tackle her obesity. For some time afterwards, they talked about the strident yells that had rung down the ward when she was denied ice cream for her pudding: “I’m 90 years old, for God’s sake! What difference can it make?”
I have yet to hear a satisfactory answer to that question.
This was in the days before the compensation culture became universal, but the car driver who had run her down was clearly at fault, and my father was keen to do his best for her. He pleaded with her to let him hire a decent solicitor. No need, she insisted. Bennie Abrahams knew all about it, Bennie Abrahams was on the case, Bennie Abrahams was the best advocate in Newcastle and the only one she needed, as he had faithfully promised to represent her in person.
Came the day of the court case. Bennie Abrahams did not turn up.
Perhaps elusiveness is another one of those traits with a strong hereditary component.
You could not make it up
In an emergency statement to the House of Commons this morning, the Prime Minister apologized unreservedly for last night’s SAS raid on a sixth form production of The Tempest at a high school in Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Northumberland, which left one teacher in Wansbeck Hospital receiving treatment for a suspected heart attack. Over a hundred parents and children were discharged after treatment for the after-effects of inhaling CS gas.
Ironically, it has emerged that the incident occurred because a 23-year-old Northumberland man, employed by GCHQ in Cheltenham to monitor mobile telephone calls in the North East, mistakenly transcribed “Caliban” as “Taliban”.
Mr Brown said “No-one can be blamed for this simple human error, which could have happened to anyone. In the ongoing War on Terror, our first priority must be to protect the public. We must act promptly on all intelligence in order to ensure their safety. I can assure the House that lessons will be learned from this unfortunate incident, which mercifully resulted in no loss of life.”
Sir Ian Blair held a press conference at New Scotland Yard to point out that it had nothing to do with him.
In a further emergency statement to the House of Commons this afternoon, the Prime Minister repeated his apologies to the Italian people for last week’s Trident missile attack which obliterated most of their major centres of population. He informed the House that a 23-year-old Able Seaman from North Shields had confused the missile launching equipment on HMS Vengeance for a cappuccino machine. “It appears that the unfortunate young man was attempting to order a double espresso, which is how he came to press the button marked ‘Italy’. No-one can be blamed for this simple human error, which could have happened to anyone. I can assure the House that lessons will be learned from this unfortunate incident, which tragically resulted in such a massive loss of life.”
Sources at HM Naval Base in Faslane confirmed that the 23-year-old Able Seaman had expressed regret for his actions. “If aa’d knawn what t’bugger was, I’d have pressed ‘Iran’ when I was scrolling down through the ‘I’s”, he reportedly told senior officers. Asked how he felt about having killed an estimated 20 million people, and destroyed some of the greatest centres of Western civilization, he apparently replied, “Whey, it’s a reet shame, like. But to look on the bright side, it should give wor lads a bit of a leg-up in Euro 2008.” He was later led away in tears, after counsellors broke the bad news about the Croatia match, which had taken place while his vessel was out of radio contact on patrol.
Meanwhile the 23-year-old junior official of HM Revenue & Customs in Washington, who put the unencrypted records of 25 million people into the internal post, continues to be shielded from the media at a secret location. Officials are reportedly planning to offer him an early free transfer to the Home Office’s Identity & Passport Identity Service, so that lessons can be learned when establishing the new National Identity Register.
The North leads again
The North East continues to dominate the national news agenda. This morning’s seven o’clock bulletin on Radio 4 was led by The Abominable Showman (known affectionately in the City as “The Bearded Git”) attempting to ride to the rescue of Northern Rock. Although, of course, he won’t be doing anything as pedestrian as riding. (Spot the oxymoron). Dropping in by parachute from low space orbit, or walking across the Tyne (or at any rate the ornamental lake in Leazes Park) seems much more likely. The only ludicrous stunt we can probably rule out for sure is abseiling, judging by the agonized look in his eyes in that clip of a recent exploit which the BBC delights in replaying.
I find almost everything Branson does cringeworthy, to borrow a handy coinage from a driver for another train company. I heard him using it to beard [sic] a Virgin guard (or whatever they’re called these days) about Sir Richard’s extraordinary paean of praise for his “hero” driver who stayed at his post to steer the train to safety after the Grayrigg crash in Westmorland in February. “Does he think these ****ing things have a ****ing steering wheel up at the front, then?” It may say something for Sir Richard as an employer that, while his subordinate, sorry colleague, did not exactly leap to his defence, he did not join in the abuse, either. Though of course this might have been related to the fact that he was wearing a name badge, and there was a fat Bloke with a notebook taking an unseemly interest in his private conversation.
Still, in the case of the abseiling, it’s jolly nice to see the cringe internalized. Along with his testicles, to judge from his facial expression.
My only experience of “one of the world's most recognised and respected brands”, to quote their website, is Virgin Trains. It’s also the only privatized train operator to have made me think that dear old British Rail had quite a lot going for it. I did a little jig of glee when they weren’t awarded the East Coast franchise. My reluctance to be criminalized by submitting to fingerprinting and intrusive questioning means that I shall be unable to renew my passport when it expires, so I already face being trapped in the UK for the rest of my life. If I had to face a Virgin Train to get me anywhere, I’d probably never leave Northumberland again.
After the Beardie latest, the second item on the seven o’clock news was about the Newcastle property developer who gave £400,000 to the Labour party through a couple of associates, in order to protect his privacy. Well, that’s certainly worked a treat.
I’m beginning to wonder whether people in the North East are terminally incapable of achieving either basic competence or compliance with elementary rules. So far in 2007 we’ve managed to tip one of the country’s top mortgage banks into effective insolvency, and put the financial security and peace of mind of half the population at risk by casually losing their personal details. What fresh heights can there be to scale in the remaining 36 days of the year?
Things can only get better
I’ve put on 4lbs overnight, the dog has peed on the bathroom carpet and I’ve got a throat so sore that it feels like I have swallowed battery acid (using my imagination a bit there, as I’ve never actually ingested battery or indeed any other sort of acid, including LSD). In fact, the highlight of my entire day proves to be watching the second episode of the BBC’s Cranford – the sort of “nice” costume drama that my late mother would have greeted with unalloyed approval. It seems strange to be watching a programme of this sort that hasn’t been adapted by Andrew Davies; I keep forgetting and remain on needlessly high alert in case one of the prettier young actresses suddenly and surprisingly tears all her clothes off.
Legendary friendliness
I go to my local farm shop. My usual joke about the disappointingly small range of farms on offer meets with the usual response. Still, the meat is absolutely first class, and reassuringly expensive. It’s quite important, I find, to get out before they start telling you what the animal was called, leading on to a discussion of its favourite field, colour, friends, hobbies etc. I’ve never considered becoming a vegetarian, but I couldn’t eat an animal with which I’d formed a personal relationship. It would be like putting a pet in a sandwich, or sleeping with a friend. Always a mistake, even if it seems like fun at the time.
On my way back, I call at the local garage for some milk and am struck once more by the huge range of hardcore pornography they have on sale above the copies of The Field and opposite the Lyles’ Golden Syrup (I suppose there could be a synergy there). I wonder who buys it? Would they let me sit there with a clipboard and conduct a consumer survey? Thought not.
Today’s Daily Telegraph hilariously suggests that Alnwick is the capital of female entrepreneurship in the UK. The list is headed by the photogenic Duchess of Northumberland, who started off with nothing (apart from being married to one of the country’s richest landowners) and has battled through against all the odds to create an award-winning tourist attraction. Then there are a couple of farmers’ wives who have diversified, forming an equestrian centre and knocking up some seriously good puddings. The best laugh, though, comes from the closing line about this “beautiful, friendly and empty part of the country”. Beautiful and empty, yes. But friendly? For monosyllabic (and that’s on a good day) gruffness, I’d put money on a Northumbrian to outdo all-comers.
For example, a few months ago the best food pub within a feasible driving distance of my house changed hands. The first time I went to check out the new regime, it was randomly closed, as is the way of pubs in these parts. The second time, I wished it had been. I stood at the deserted bar for an inordinate amount of time, idly examining a disappointing menu to distract me from the fact that I was gasping for a drink. Eventually a young man appeared and announced, portentously, “the soup of the day is leek and potato”. I thanked him, whereupon he glared at me and repeated his speech rather more loudly. I said that I’d heard him the first time, which is why I’d said “thank you”, as opposed to “What?”, “Sorry?” or (had I been lower class) “Pardon?” and was there any chance that he could spare the time to pull me a pint of beer? By now he was giving me the sort of look that must have curdled any milk on the premises, and stopped all clocks within a radius of at least 50 yards. I knew it was going to be a mistake to order food, but in the fearless spirit of investigation I did so anyway. He clearly toyed with the idea of throwing the menu at my head before contenting himself with hurling it onto a distant pile with quite unnecessary force and stomping off to the kitchen with my order.
I don’t know whether my steak pie got the traditional Michael Winner treatment, but they had certainly spent some time rummaging through the bin to find some vegetables a week or so beyond their use-by date, and then carefully not bothering to cook them.
In the village shop the next morning, the sub-postmaster asked how it had been. “The food was crap,” I replied, “and the staff were quite unbelievably rude and surly.”
“Just like everywhere else round here, then,” he replied. “They should do well.”
The social highlight of my week
The social highlight of my week: one of my exes comes round with her husband, bringing with them a seriously good Chinese takeaway. We then watch one of the implausibly cheap videos I have tracked down while browsing through my endless list of recommendations on Amazon. Tonight’s is Borat, a fine example of exactly the sort of cruel comedy I theoretically dislike intensely, but which is so well done that it performs the rare feat of making me laugh out loud repeatedly.
My ex’s husband (not my ex-husband: an important distinction) can’t understand how Sacha Baron Cohen can get away with the film’s outrageous anti-Semitism. We explain that it is for the same reason that black people can call each other by the N-word, but we can’t.
“What N-word?” he asks, clearly genuinely puzzled.
“We can’t say it,” I explain, “because we’re not black. Walls have ears.”
Despite the risks from spy satellites and implants in our mobile phones, his wife bravely spells it out for him. He harrumphs donnishly and announces that “In all my years in Oxford, I never once came across a black man called Nigel.”
Where do words come from?
I’m depressed and the weather is bloody awful. Could be cause and effect, though even I am not so self-obsessed as to imagine that my mood can drag down the climate of an entire planet.
I try to distract myself from obsessive-compulsive searches for things I don’t need by musing about words, with special reference to the way that new ones suddenly enter the language. This year everything we like a lot is “iconic”. What was it before? What were the bereaved before they became “devastated”? Sorrowful, grieving, heartbroken?
My favourite “new” word is “tsunami”, which shot from total obscurity to top of the charts on Boxing Day 2004. I happened to be up early that morning, and distinctly remember the early BBC radio news reports referring to “a giant tidal wave” until someone presumably pointed out that there was a word precisely describing this phenomenon. Distressing reports later emerged of people who knew exactly what the sudden and dramatic low tide betokened, running up the beaches screaming “Tsunami!” and being ignored.
“What’s he saying, darling?”
“It sounds like ‘Toon Army’.”
“He’s never a Newcastle supporter. Where’s his shirt?”
“No, hang on, I think I’ve got it. It’s ‘tsunami’.”
“What’s that when it’s at home?”
“Isn’t it that rather divine kitchen showroom in Wigmore Street?”
“Oh yes! Must be some new type of viral marketing.”
“Of course, that will be it. What the f---…”
I take it all back
Actually, I take back everything I wrote yesterday. Clearly we as a nation cannot be trusted to run our own affairs when some goon can copy the entire child benefit database, comprising half the population, onto two unencrypted computer discs and casually lose them in the post. I must admit that my first reaction was amazement that you could get 25 million names, addresses, National Insurance numbers and bank details onto two computer discs. Isn’t modern technology amazing?
Then I thought, not for the first time: what a stroke of luck I haven’t got any children.
After that, I began puzzling as to what the Inland Revenue (a tax collecting department, I always thought) was doing doling out benefits. I always assumed that this was the responsibility of the Department for Work and Pensions, which is apparently the current incarnation of what was once the Department for Health and Social Security, and before that the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance. I knew it well, because I grew up in the shadow of its rambling, single-storey quarters in Longbenton. Local legend had it that the building had been constructed with a view to its easy conversion into a military hospital when World War III started (which was provisionally scheduled for August 1964).
It was only after I had got through all that I began to think: what an unbelievable, world class, laughing-stock-making cock-up. And, yet again, there was a local angle, because the nameless (for the moment) mug with his name in the blame frame is apparently a “junior official” in Washington CD, as we traditionalists call it. CD being County Durham. You’ve got to admit that it sounds a lot snappier than the bogus Heath-Walker “county” of “Tyne and Wear”.
Then I thought: what sort of total arses would create a system which afforded the potential for screwing up on such a truly Biblical scale, and then try to pin the blame on some hapless junior when it duly happened? Say what you like about the late and unlamented board of Northern Rock, at least the directors have never tried to pretend that their £24 billion shortfall was down to some junior clerk pressing the wrong keys on his computer. But then, I guess, that’s the public sector for you. When things go really wrong, your superiors rally round, shop you to the media and you end up mysteriously bleeding to death on some path in the countryside.
As luck would have it, while all this was going on I was furnishing a load of information to HMRC, for them to lose in the next fiasco but two. A couple of weeks ago, I received out of the blue a completely incomprehensible form about the winding up of the pension scheme of my one and only former employee. It came as news to me, but apparently I am the administrator of this piffling arrangement. My first inclination was to chuck the thing in the bin, but a covering letter warned of all sorts of dire penalties if I did not send it back without delay. So I did. It was returned to me with remarkable promptness, given that it was sent to an address that bore only the haziest relationship to the one I had written on it, with a note curtly informing me that it was now “mandatory” to supply this information online. So in order to advise the authorities that I am no longer the administrator of a pension scheme, because it has been wound up, I have to go through the rigmarole of playing Twenty Questions so that I can register as a pension scheme administrator online. And then wait for them to send me a Scheme Administrator ID by post, which seems to run rather counter to the whole spirit of the brave new mandatory online world.
At least there is one ray of sunshine in all this. If the British public proves idiotic enough to allow this shower to set up and run an ID card database, then I will know for certain that the country is finished and can make other arrangements without delay.
The English, the English, the English are best
I’ve always been a staunch opponent of regionalism, which is a con perpetrated by the European Union on the age-old imperial principle of “divide and rule”.
Luckily I now have a cast-iron supporting argument in the shape of the large pile of smouldering wreckage once known as Northern Rock. “Of course we can do anything for ourselves in this region that those fancy southern poofs can do in London.” Er, no. Despite having occasional access to the local media, I’ve refrained from commenting on this truly monumental cock-up because of the fierce regional loyalties it excites, and because I feel that I don’t really know much about banking. But then, clearly, neither did the company’s board.
The recipe seems to have been: take a cross section of the great and good of the North East (names that would sound equally appropriate as directors of any middle-ranking local railway company in the heyday of George Hudson); add a chief executive born and educated in the region, who joined the business as a graduate trainee; sprinkle a little bit of star dust and … oh dear.
Sadly, the Regent Centre in Gosforth was never destined to rank alongside Threadneedle Street or Wall Street in the list of global financial centres. Though the £40 billion black hole that its denizens have apparently created for HM Treasury may well earn them a sort of immortality in toilet books about Great Financial Disasters.
The real danger for me is that this regional failure becomes yet another weapon for those who seek to chip away at our national self-confidence. Already we have heard mutterings that the Bank of England mishandled the whole thing, precipitating the very run on the bank that they were seeking to avert. If only Northern Rock had been able to access the European Central Bank, they say, things might have been very different.
While it is true that the tripartite system of bank regulation invented by Chancellor G. Brown failed its first real test quite spectacularly, that must not be an excuse for throwing in the towel and going cap-in-hand to Brussels. We live in the most mature capitalist democracy on the planet. Within the lifetime of today’s old age pensioners, we were capable of governing a quarter of it. How can we suddenly have become so droolingly incapable that virtually every detail of our lives must be micro-managed from across the Channel?
I retain every confidence in England’s ability to compete with the very best in the world (except in football and cricket, obviously). But in the North East, we must continue to search for the global championship skills that will replace our former supremacy in exporting coal and building warships, guns and railways. What we can say with certainty is that mortgage banking ain’t it. Perhaps we should have stuck to the things we knew we were really good at, like baking stottie cakes, rather than trying to beat the Gnomes of Zurich at their own game.
Posted by Bloke in the North at 22:22:00 No comments:
An earthly paradise?
I live alone on a windswept hilltop in Northumberland, five miles from the nearest shop and pub. The views are good, the air is fresh and, er, that’s about it.
View from my back door on a snowy February morning (though we tell the tourists this is August to put them off).
View from my house on a misty May morning.
Reactions to my lifestyle choice tend to be sharply polarized between those who imagine that it is an earthly paradise (which tends to be the view of those with unhappy marriages, troublesome children and /or noisy neighbours) and those who think it sounds like a living hell. Today, when darkness has never really lifted, I am inclining towards the latter camp. Frankly, I’d much rather be in The Ivy in London. So would my Border terrier but, on the other hand, I’m pretty sure that they wouldn’t let him in.
A bloke with a trailer came round last week and delivered £70-worth of logs. I’m getting through them at the rate of two baskets full a day. Or, to put it another way, I reckon they’re already about half gone. If I didn’t get a nostalgic kick out of wood smoke, and the self-satisfaction of helping to Save the Planet by using a “renewable” for heating, I’d plug in an electric fire instead. Or burn coal, if only I could lay my hands on some of decent quality. Until the 1980s, they used to mine the finest house coal in Britain about a dozen miles away, at Shilbottle. Now it’s shipped in from Russia, Colombia or somewhere even more exotic. It certainly looks like coal, and has superficial similarities with the real thing in being black and dirty. But it differs markedly from the domestic product in generating little heat and massive amounts of clogging, white ash. Are there no limits to the superiority of England? It turns out that we must even have had better quality forests 300 million years ago.
I wonder if there is a black (no, don’t laugh) market in British coal? Are there furtive, fag-smoking pushers on street corners who, in return for a wad of used notes, could help you lay your hands on a bag of cobbles or nutty slack? Are there connoisseurs who laid down a few hundredweight of the output from now vanished mines? Like the malts from closed distilleries, they would probably have turned out to be a rather good investment.
If there is anyone out there with a good line in house coal, feel free to bombard me with e-mails about it. They would stand a much greater chance of arousing my interest than the ones I normally receive, about penis enlargements and Viagra.
Oh God, I really must be getting old.
North dog sets new world record
Yesterday my Border terrier achieved a new personal best by remaining in or on my bed for an uninterrupted 16 hours, until 2.30 p.m. He only got up then because I clumped upstairs and enquired, rather sardonically, whether he could be bothered to go for a walk. After an appropriate pause for reflection, yawning, stretching and shaking, he decided that he probably could.
My dog in his natural habitat.
Today, when the weather was totally unsuitable, he really wanted to go for a walk and followed me around staring in that pointed way which is the Border terrier’s favoured form of communication. Eventually I gave in and put on my coat and flat hat, making me look uncannily like a fatter version of Foggy from Last of the Summer Wine. Halfway down the sloping track to the next farm, my feet shot out from under me on the mud, and I landed on my side with a terrific thud. Lumps of grit penetrated a bloody wound on my wrist, almost certainly guaranteeing tetanus. The dog ran off, thinking that this interruption afforded a great opportunity to get on with his dream occupation of chasing sheep. Amazingly enough, he returned when I called for him. But I could swear he was grinning.
My other dog is much less trouble these days. He’s just sitting in the box from which he came back from the crematorium, snugly tucked up in his basket by the study fire, with his collar and his favourite toy. He smells a lot better than he did when he was alive, and is much less demanding of walks and food. On the other hand, it has to be said that he is nothing like as much as fun.
Not sleeping only dead.
My dog, before he was dead. Handsome devil, wasn't he?
A number of correspondents have suggested that there is something rather morbid about this arrangement, and that I should get him out of his box and scatter him in his favourite place. Unfortunately, I point out, that was my sofa in the sitting room. I can’t think that sharing it with a box full of assorted ash is going to do a lot for my comfort when watching TV.
In an ideal world, of course, I’d have carted the sofa outside and used it as his funeral pyre. It would have been like a Viking chieftain being pushed out to sea on his blazing longship. But unfortunately the funeral arrangements were taken out of my hands by a saner ex-partner, and conventional thinking prevailed.
If I follow the same approach when my current dog dies, I’ll have to burn my bed. Bearing in mind what a nightmare it was to get it upstairs and assemble it, I don’t think that’s going to be a runner. Unless, of course, I leave it in situ, and burn down the entire house. Now there’s a thought. I’m sure it’s what he would have wanted.
Not Dying of Ignorance
My timing was perfect, really. I might only have been nine when sexual intercourse began in 1963, on the reckoning of the poet Larkin, but I was in my prime throughout that blessed interlude between the general acceptance of the contraceptive pill and the realization that we were all doomed by AIDS. I vividly remember getting the 1987 Government leaflet (“Don’t Die of Ignorance”) in the mailbox of my remote cottage. In fact, I had to walk a mile across the fields so that the Department of Health could scare the crap out of me. Which they certainly did. I was celibate for the best part of a decade afterwards. Though admittedly this had less to with my fear of sexually transmitted infection than with the fact that I had suddenly become desperately unattractive to women. I was no fatter or ruder than before, but I’d taken a career break and was therefore clearly the sort of unreliable nutter who should be avoided when making those wedding-house-car-holidays-children plans about which young women seem to like day-dreaming during the duller parts of first dates.
The sexual urge seems to diminish sharply when one gets past 50, which is a considerable bonus. Much more by accident than design, I have managed to sleep with two women in the last year, each of whom was young enough to be my daughter. But luckily wasn’t. My real sadness is that I did not manage to entice them into bed simultaneously. Not because I’ve always fantasized about a threesome, but because it would have saved some time that I could then have spent having a nice cup of tea and reading The Daily Telegraph.
One of them, on undressing, proved to have a fine collection of body piercings, including something she called a “clit ring”. I’ve spent a lot of time since speculating on the state of mind one would have to be in to wander into a backstreet tattoo and piercing parlour in one the more deprived parts of the “Tyne-Wear city region”, and ask some total stranger if they’d mind hammering a piece of metal through one’s genitalia. I’m prepared to concede that it had the distinct practical advantage of enabling one to find the bloody thing. She told me that it also enabled her to “multi-task” (as women so love to do) since, when she went running in her tight lycra shorts, the friction enabled her to enjoy a refreshing orgasm while taking her daily ration of healthy exercise.
Yet again it’s one law for the female of the species, and another for us men. Just think of all those headmasters and vicars who have been arrested for having a quick fumble in their tracksuit trousers while jogging slowly past the kiddies’ playground.
My other young lady had no body piercings, but shortly after sleeping with me, she announced that she had made an error in believing herself to be bisexual, and was in fact a lesbian. I’d always suspected that I might be having this effect on women, but it was still a bit depressing to have it confirmed.
I shared my concerns with a long-standing female friend. She asked me why I was looking so down-hearted and, trying to sound “giving” and “new mannish”, I said, “I’m 53 and I’ve just realized that I may never taste pussy again.” She squeezed my hand and gave me the address of a Chinese takeaway in Newcastle which apparently has a bit of a reputation for that sort of thing. I understand that it also does a locally celebrated Alsatian chow mein.
Posted by Bloke in the North at 22:33:00 1 comment:
The land of lost content
A shock headline in my morning paper reveals that a record 0.5 million foreigners settled in the UK last year (not including EU nationals who indicated they would be staying in the country for less than 12 months), while 200,000 Britons left the country. The article concludes that “little research has been done into the reasons for the current exodus of Britons”. Well, at the risk of doing some former polytechnic out of a massive grant to spend a couple of years establishing the bleeding obvious, I can offer an instant explanation. They’re going in search of a vanished England.
As Housman put it:
This is the land of lost content
I see it shining plain
The happy highways were I went
And cannot come again.
Unfortunately, our intrepid travellers all seem to overlook the last line.
Friends who have emigrated to New Zealand and rural France invariably say “it’s just like England used to be”, often citing the 1950s as the golden age they are struggling to recapture (even though most of them were, at most, babes in arms at the time, gurgling happily as they breathed in the toxic fall-out from the Windscale fire).
Of course they aren’t returning to anything of the sort; and, like mass tourists the world over, they are helping to destroy the very culture and communities they profess to admire. But I know what they mean. They are attracted, for example, by the chance to buy food that is grown locally and sold on market stalls and in small shops rather than identikit superstores; and by a slower pace of life where civility and a sense of community still prevail.
The unspeakable but unavoidable truth is also that these other countries appeal because they are less cosmopolitan and “multi-cultural” than contemporary Britain. For similar reasons, 20 years ago I took the less radical step of relocating from London to a part of Northumberland where my family had lived for generations. Here something resembling the ancient life of England still goes on, despite the best efforts of successive Governments to destroy it. I shall be a suspect townie incomer until the day I die, even though, 150 years ago, my great-great-grandfather and two of my great-grandfathers all lived less than a mile from my current home.
Unless, that is, I throw in the towel and emigrate myself. The tightening hand of authoritarianism has made me wonder whether Britain offers any future for a Bloke like me. Unfortunately much of the coming repression is EU-driven, so most of the countries to which I could travel freely would soon prove equally uncongenial.
An exhaustive discussion over lunch the other day concluded that the only viable alternatives for me were the Isle of Man or suicide. My friend advised that topping myself was, as the young say, “a no brainer”. However, I have since received encouraging reports of the quality of the real ale on the island, as well as the tramway and steam railway systems. Could it be the way forward? Or, more to the point, the way back?
Working insecurity
The SAS and SBS are both elite bodies of trained killers. So how come SCS is a shed full of cut-priced sofas? When it was just a local business in the North East, I used to murmur “I served in the SCS” to suggestible young women at London parties, confident that they would never twig what it meant. Now that that grinning bloke out of Eastenders is endlessly on the box nationwide, advertising their unrepeatable bargains, that particular line in harmless mendacity is closed to me.
I had dinner on the train from London years ago with a bloke on his way back from a meeting of a high level working party on foam. As in the stuff they use to pack sofas, rather than the stuff they use to put out fires. At that stage, the two sorts of foam had completely different properties, with the sofa kind being inclined to burst into flames whenever a slumbering member of the working class casually allowed a cigarette to drop from his or her fingers. Served them right, I thought, until my dinner companion pointed out that it was a bit hard on their innocent kiddiz, asleep in their cots upstairs, who tended to perish from the resulting toxic fumes.
Anyway, this bloke claimed to have founded SCS, so I asked him what it stood for. “Sunderland Suite Centre”, he replied. Yes, I’m still trying to work it out, too.
The nearest I’ve ever come to contact with the SAS was in March this year. I’d spent an agreeable evening at the theatre in Newcastle with an attractive young lady, then we’d driven back to her remote home in the Northumberland countryside. She’d cooked me supper and we’d drunk a couple of bottles of wine. As bedtime approached, she announced that she had something she felt she had to tell me. This proved to be the hitherto unsuspected existence of what she described as a “f***-buddy”, who had moved on from the special forces to international security, and who had promised her that any man who ever hurt her would “disappear”.
My throat went very dry.
“Does he have much of a track record of making people disappear?” I enquired, as casually as I could manage.
“You don’t find that in any way troubling?”
“Quite the reverse. Knowing that he’s around makes me feel very secure.”
Funny, I thought. It’s having precisely the opposite effect on me.
“Tell me,” I said, reflecting that I was about three times over the drink drive limit and that in any event my car contained about half a pint of petrol. “If we go to bed together now, what are the chances of this fellow kicking your front door down in the middle of the night?”
“Absolutely none whatsoever. You can set your mind at rest on that.”
All my tension left me in an instant, like the hydrogen exiting the R101 as it ploughed into that French mountainside.
“Thank Christ for that,” I said. “He’s on an assignment overseas, is he?”
“No,” she replied. “He’s got a key. Why would he kick the door down when he’s got a key? He’s not some sort of idiot.”
It was a very long and sleepless night. I never got to meet the SAS man, but I still look over my shoulder far more often than I ever used to.
How will it all end?
I’m in London for a drinks party. The Evening Standard billboard screams “Christmas turkeys to hit £100” and I just know it’s going to be one of their classic exaggerations. When I lived in London, my favourite was always the pre-printed poster that read “Film Star Dies”. Deaths being practically the only items of news that are not written about endlessly before they actually happen, I was rarely able to resist buying a copy of the paper. Even though I knew full well that I would end up flicking through it fruitlessly, until I came across a small piece towards the bottom of page 24, revealing that an actor I had never heard of, who played a bit part in a much-loved Ealing comedy in the early 1950s, had just handed in his dinner pail.
I’ve gained enough wisdom in 53 years not to buy the paper this time, but I do look at it when I get back to my club. As predicted, certain types of very rare organic turkey may indeed cost more than £100 this Christmas, particularly if they’re personally delivered from an exclusive specialist retailer by a topless supermodel. This allegedly has something to do with the outbreak of the “deadly H5N1 variety of bird flu” in Suffolk. Though, funnily enough, a quick Internet search reveals that other papers were running the “£100 turkey” story well before this happened, and attributing it to the soaring cost of animal feed.
The frozen turkeys that the common people buy from Iceland or Farm Foods won’t be affected by any of this, as they’re already dead and in the deep freeze. It always amuses me that the better-off are willing to pay such a premium for “fresh”. Do they seriously believe that millions of turkeys can be despatched and dressed for the shops within a couple of days just before Christmas? Of course not. They’re blast frozen and defrosted. Bakers do the same thing to meet demand for hot cross buns at Easter. I’m not suggesting that there’s anything wrong with it. But having worked in my time for both frozen and fresh food companies, and for bakers, I merely present it as a curious fact.
Why is it billed as “the deadly H5N1 virus” anyway? It’s certainly deadly for the unfortunate turkeys, since men in ludicrous white jump suits turn up and gas them. (Memo: if you ever see a man in a white jump suit walking up your front path, say goodbye to your domestic pets and feel free to fill your trousers.) However, the only people actually to have died of it appear to have physically slept with their birds (and I don’t wish to speculate on whether they were doing so in order to huddle together for warmth, or in pursuit of some obscure form of sexual gratification).
The British Government allegedly has a detailed master plan for the next flu epidemic, with warehouses full of stockpiled coffins. This should pretty much guarantee that it never happens. The world will end soon enough, no doubt, but I don’t think the agency will be bird flu, Islamic terrorism or even global warming. It will be that thing no-one has thought about but which will seem incredibly bleeding obvious as we are all fighting for our last breaths. I just hope we’ll feel able to laugh about the oversight as consciousness fades away.
My local newspaper from the North East this morning included the splendid headline “Experts reassure the public”. Could this be the ultimate oxymoron?
Meanwhile, my national paper announces the forthcoming marriage of a man with the splendid double-barrelled name of Page-Turner. Please God, let him be a popular novelist.
Far better off up North
What is it with Suffolk? The last twelve months alone has seen the mass slaughter of prostitutes in Ipswich, two separate outbreaks of bird flu, the arrival of midge-borne bluetongue disease, and an almost deadly tidal surge. One of my cousins is married to a Suffolk vicar. I can’t help thinking that his prayers are proving singularly ineffective. Indeed, they seem to have been positively counter-productive, calling down the twenty-first century equivalent of a Biblical curse.
In fact, the only redeeming feature I can detect is that it gives us all the chance to cloak a well-known obscenity in geographical decency:
“How are you feeling, old man?”
“Completely and utterly Suffolked.”
Four million and one
Apparently there are now four million bloggers in Britain. Or nearly seven million if you believe what they print in The Guardian, though I find it hard to believe that any of my readers would be guilty of such an egregious error.
My first reaction to this news was what one might have expected from Roger Mellie out of Viz: “Aw, bollocks.” And there was I thinking that I’d write a blog rather than another unpublishable novel, because the fiction market is so thoroughly overcrowded.
Then I reflected that 3,999,995 (Guardian readers please insert higher number) of those blogs are probably by women, whingeing on about how awful it is being a woman. Mainly, of course, because of the awfulness of men. Whereas this will be a Bloke Blog. Only not what you might consider a typical Bloke Blog, because I’m not very interested in most of the conventional blokeish things like games. As distinct from sport, which means killing things, preferably with a shotgun rather than your bare hands. These important distinctions were drummed into me by more senior blokes, who had had the benefit of top public school educations, when I went to work in the City in the 1970s. In similar vein, I know that only potatoes ever wear jackets, and that the thing you put on after your suit trousers (unless you have a very strange sense of priorities) is actually a coat. While the thing you always thought of as a coat is, in fact, an overcoat. It all makes a sort of sense once you have got the hang of it, like the ranks of the British peerage and their various courtesy titles.
In short, I loathe all ball games with the exception of sex and croquet, and these days it’s mainly croquet I get to have a whack at. I like opera, theatre, classical music, comedy, films, history, hill-walking, Border terriers and Coronation Street. In fact, just about the only conventionally blokeish things I indulge in are drinking beer, eating pork scratchings and being incredibly ill from time to time (the third may indeed be related to the first two, and particularly the second).
Despite all the powerful contrary indications noted above, I am not gay. I’ve been engaged three times, but somehow avoided actually getting married. OId school friends, reunited after three decades or more, invariably shake their heads in wonderment and utter the same three words: “You lucky bastard!”
Perhaps. I don’t feel lucky. What I feel is the tightening grip of the Hand of Death upon my shoulder. This blog will explore my ducking and weaving to avoid my Date With Destiny until such time as it happens.
Keith Hann
Keith Hann is a serial quitter: professionally as a historian (the last days of the British Empire), then an investment analyst (the last days of the British food industry) and finally as a financial public relations consultant (the last days of pretty much any company that was deluded enough to hire him). In each case he packed it in just when there might have been some chance of making a few quid out of it. Then there is his personal life score: engagements 4, marriages 1. For the last few years Keith has been indulging himself as a hobby journalist. It seems unlikely that he will ever make a living out of this. And if he ever shows signs of making it Big, his resignation will be going straight into the post. In November 2007 Keith started blogging (a) to take the mickey out of the genre, (b) because a misguided friend told him that it was the ideal way to secure his Big Break as a writer, and (c) to chronicle the final days of a dying breed of solitary English curmudgeon. Nothing remarkable about any of that, except that it somehow convinced a beautiful, funny young woman that she had finally met the man of her dreams. As we always say Up North, there’s nowt so queer as folk.
Keith Hann - Why Oh Why?
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Review: 10 (1979)
Booze News: Update on Bob and Doug MacKenzie and A...
Review: Public Hero #1 (1935)
Review: Blazing Saddles (1974)
>> Thursday, June 5, 2008
USA/C-93m./Dir: Mel Brooks/Wr: Mel Brooks, Norman Steinberg, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, Alan Unger/Cast: Cleavon Little (Bart), Gene Wilder (Jim, the Waco Kid), Slim Pickins (Taggart), Harvey Korman (Hedley Lamarr), Madeline Kahn (Lili Von Shtupp), Mel Brooks (Governor William J. Le Petomane)
Blazing Saddles has been called the greatest Western comedy ever made. It is certainly that, but it is much, much more. It’s stiletto-sharp satire of racial prejudice. It’s a boundary-busting celebration of vulgarity. It’s nearly a Warner Brothers’ cartoon. It’s almost a musical. And, like most Westerns, it also happens to be a booze movie.
First and foremost, it’s a parody--a film about jokes rather than plot. However, the story, what there is of one, is as follows. It’s 1874 in an unnamed Western state, and the Attorney General, Hedley Lamarr (Harvey Korman), hatches a scheme to make a quick profit by buying up land when he discovers that the railroad must divert through the backwater town of Rock Ridge. He sends a band of cutthroats to run off the residents; but rather than pulling up stakes, the citizens wire the governor (Mel Brooks) to send them a new sheriff. Undaunted, Lamarr convinces the governor to appoint Bart (Cleavon Little), a black railroad worker, to the post, certain that the citizenry will never accept the new sheriff due to the color of his skin. Can Bart defeat frontier racism and the nefarious schemes of Hedley Lamarr? With the help of alky gunfighter, the Waco Kid (Gene Wilder) and a lot of ingenuity, Bart manages to save the day.
Blazing Saddles is an exceptionally funny film--so funny that it garners a guffaw before the first word is spoken (thanks to the exaggerated whip crack that precedes the lyrics of the opening theme). The writers take aim at every Western cliché, including the whiskey-sodden gunfighter (in the form of Gene Wilder’s shaky-handed Waco Kid), and few comedies have a better hit to miss ratio. Many of the pop culture jokes, such as references to Olsen and Johnson, Laurel and Hardy, Randolph Scott, and Douglas Fairbanks will likely to go over the heads of younger viewers, as will the comically exaggerated imitations of Gabby Hayes and Marlene Dietrich. However, silliness is eternal, and Mel Brooks’ inspired lunacy will stand the test of time.
The movie will also endure because it is one of the smartest films ever produced on the subject of racism. Like Dr. Strangelove (1964), Blazing Saddles ridicules its dark subject with subversive humor and is a more effective statement for the use of the jokes. It isn’t an easy to create an entertainment that is sophisticated and juvenile simultaneously, but Brooks and his sparkling cast make it look easy. The cast is, of course, top notch; and Korman, Kahn, Little, and Pickins give career-topping performances. Like good whiskey, this comic gem has just improved over time.
Drinks Consumed--Whiskey, beer, and wine
Intoxicating Effects--Hangover, the shakes, passing out, bad breath
Potent Quotables--BART (regarding the Waco Kid’s boozing): A man drink like that and he don’t eat, he is going to die.
JIM: When?
Video Availability--Blazing Saddles is available on DVD (Warner Brothers) as a standalone disc or as part of The Mel Brooks Collection (Fox). An ultra-sharp Blazing Saddles [Blu-ray] is also available.
Similarly Sauced Cinema--For more alky gun slinging, check out Lee Marvin as Kid Shelleen in Cat Ballou (1965).
Chris B. June 11, 2008 at 11:31 AM
Gene Wilder, Harvey Korman, and Slim Pickens directed by Mel Brooks. Might be my favorite movie of all time. Every time I watch it, I still laugh, and I can recite it line for line.
garv June 12, 2008 at 9:27 PM
I had to check this one out again in tribute to Harvey Korman. The film gets better every time I watch it, and Korman's performance is priceless. Cleavon Little also really shines in SADDLES. It's a shame that he didn't have more opportunities as a leading actor. Instead, he had to take work in crap like ONCE BITTEN.
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Canadian Association for the Advancement of Music & the Arts
C.A.A.M.A.
Export Development
International Spotlights
International Reports
Funding Opportunities and Deadlines
2014 Focus on Austria
The Austrian music industry generates around EUR 2 billion, accounting for 1.25% of GDP. In terms of value creation and employment, the music industry is therefore more important than the textile industry, paper industry, chemical industry or plastics industry. In terms of GDP share, Austria has similar value levels to Great Britain and the Netherlands in international comparisons. Austria has more than 2 million music lovers who consume music in a digital format, although not all legally. Yet online music sales continue to grow, increasing by 10% over 2012 to 26.5 million EUR for the eighth time in a row, reinforcing the idea that online music services have the potential to bring the total music market to growth. Digital album downloads are the largest single segment of the online music market while streaming is the single segment with the largest growth. However, the CD – at 96 million EUR – is still the best selling music product in Austria. In absolute figures, total Austrian music sales rank 19th in the world and take 11th place in Europe. Pop is the leading genre in the market. Austria has the best facilities for performing arts venues in the whole of Europe. The centre is Vienna, with 54% of all Austrian performance venues.
Through market visits and a subsequent incoming mission of key industry players and buyers to Canada in May 2014 – at Canadian Music Week – CAAMA will bring this market into focus for Canadians and explore the opportunities and entry strategies for successful export.
DETAILS & ACTIVITIES
Each year, CAAMA coordinates an International Buyers Program, identifying music professionals from around the world to meet and do reciprocal business with Canadian delegates. As part of 2014’s Program, CAAMA will present an International FOCUS ON Austria at Canadian Music Week (May 6-10) which will include the following activities:
Welcoming Internationals Cocktails
Spotlight Showcases – Showcases featuring some of the hottest new Austrian artists
PANEL: How to do Business in Austria
Pre-arranged INTERNATIONAL meetings at the International Marketplace (IMP) – One-on-One pre-arranged meetings between the Austrian delegation and Canadian delegates (By appointment only)
Meet the Austrians – VIP Reception
Session: Overview of the Canadian Music Market – This primer will introduce foreign guests to the Canadian market *MANDATORY SESSION*
Networking/Closing Cocktail Reception at the International Marketplace
Thomas Heher | Waves Vienna
Thomas Heher, born in 1974, since 1996 in the cultural sector active, is co-founder of pop culture magazines The Gap and TBA and the literature magazine Volltext. He used to run the viennese record label P.A.M. Records with more than 50 releases and collected lots of experience when promoting concerts, readings and film screenings. In 2011 he founded Waves Vienna – Music Festival & Conference where he works currently as the festival director.WAVES VIENNA is the first club and showcase festival in Vienna. The first two editions 2011 and 2012 not only managed to appeal to the national audience but also to attract visitors from the UK, Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, France and many more. The extremely remarkable attendance of 517 international delegates and journalists from 27 countries at the WAVES MUSIC CONFERENCE 2012 proves the huge interest in the conference’s subject “East Meets West” and hence positions Vienna on the European map for music conferences. In the course of 4 days, WAVES VIENNA 2012 presented more than 130 acts from 24 countries on 14 stages in Vienna. Between Thursday and Sunday, more than 10,800 people visited the festival. 2013 WAVES involves 16 stages in Vienna and will be extended to also include Bratislava. Six additional locations in Bratislava will present a completely independent programme alongside that of Waves Vienna on Saturday, 5th of October.
Hannes Tschurtz | Ink Music
A music enthusiast ever since, Hannes became an entrepreneur by founding ink music (Booking Agency, Label, Publishing House, Public Relations) in 2001. The agency focuses on artist development, but also books tours and promotes shows for many national and international artists (and, well… you can’t hide a certain love for Scandinavian and Canadian Artists if you take a closer look at the agency’s roster).
He is Co-Founder of Austria‘s first Sync & Licensing Agency “Swimming Pool” (2010) and its original and successful Music Film Festival Poolinale. In 2011, he co-founded Smart Ticketing Start-Up NTRY.
Hannes currently is Head of the Austrian Music Exports Advisory Board and was on the Board of Austria’s Independent Label Association for many years. He teaches Music Business and Cultural Management at several universities in Austria. Having been in journalism for a while, Hannes still writes Music Business related articles and comments for newspapers, magazines and blogs. Has been a speaker at many international events like Eurosonic, Spot Festival (Denmark), Tallinn Music Week (Estonia), Sonic Visions (Luxemburg) or c/o pop (Germany).
Bernhard Kern | Siluh Records
Bernhard Kern is co-founder and builder of Siluh Records, an independent record label, publicity company, and concert promoter based in Vienna. In 2005, he founded the label together with actor and twee pop aficionado Robert Stadlober. After finishing his master’s degree in Sociology and quitting his job at the weekly magazine Falter, Bernhard started to pursue Siluh Records on a professional basis. Beside releasing and pushing artists, Siluh also offers PR, booking and publishing in Europe.
Katharina Seidler | Radio FM4
Katharina Seidler has been writing about music for about ten years. She works as an author and presenter at the Austrian national radio station Radio FM4, regularly contributes to all sorts of music magazines in the german speaking area and writes a weekly column in the Viennese city newspaper Falter, keeping a close eye on the local music scene. Her musical focus lies on pop and electronic music as well as on experimental tendencies of different stylistic origin.
CAAMA at CMW 2019
CAAMA Getting Down to Business at CMW 2019 -
May 9 – 11, 2019 – Toronto
CAAMA Welcomed international delegations from South Africa, Japan and Poland to meet with Canadians, along with many other international countries in attendance.
The International Marketplace (IMP) at Canadian Music Week organized business-to-business meeting sessions with incoming mission delegates for the first official Spotlight on South Africa, as well as inconing mission delegates from Japan to meet with CAAMA members and Canadian industry delegates onsite at CMW 2019. CMW also welcomed representatives from Poland in advance of the 2020 Spotlight on Poland.
CAAMA organized pre-arranged business-to-business meetings with members of the South African delegation. Eighteen South African delegates met with CAAMA members and CMW registrants for a total of 270 meetings during the Meet South Africa session.
Additional CMW meetings featured South Africans (Meet the Music Supervisors, Meet the Festivals, Meet A&R) for close to 300 meetings with Canadians.
View our list of funding opportunities and deadlines.
2020 Market Access Guide on Poland
CAAMA Welcomes the First Official Mission from South Africa Spotlight on South Africa at CMW 2019
2019 Market Access Guide on South Africa
2018 Inclusivity and Accountability – Bringing Measurable Change for the Music Industry
2017 Music of Indigenous Artists
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Pianist Barron Ryan Headlines 2018 Astra Arts Festival Music Offerings
Performance: Friday, July 6th, at 6:30 p.m., at First Presbyterian Church, 201 S. 5th Street, Independence, Kan.
Barron Ryan's love for music has always been divided. The son of two musicians, he grew up in a house filled with the sounds of artists ranging from Chopin to Michael Jackson. So when it comes to his own performing, he’s not content drawing on just one influence. He combines them all into a musical adventure that’s vintage yet fresh, historical yet hip, classic yet cool.
He excelled in performing throughout his middle and high school years in Tulsa, OK, then continued to impress his peers and instructors as a piano performance major at The University of Oklahoma.
After winning a piano competition that led to a concert tour in Israel, Barron
Thanks to that Israel concert tour, Barron found his artistic voice. He discovered the joy of jazz- and ragtime-inspired concert music (found on his debut album, Classical with Attitude), and is learning from great jazz pianists by replaying their solos (found on his latest album, The Masters’ Apprentice). What’s next? You’ll have to wait to find out, but rest assured that in all Barron Ryan’s music, Classic Meets Cool.
See--and hear--more at: http://www.barronryan.com/videos/
“Not only is Barron a great artist, but he’s also a wonderful entertainer!”
— Ginny in Bayonne, NJ
Brickman, Gatlins to perform at Summer Festival
October 29, 2013 / Astra Festival
INDEPENDENCE, KANSAS – World-famous entertainers Jim Brickman and the Gatlin Brothers will be headliners at the ASTRA Arts Festival July 3 – 13, a first-time endeavor here that brings together dozens of activities in the visual arts, music, theatre, literature and the performing arts.
Brickman, deemed the most commercially successful pop pianist of the last two decades, will perform July 3 at Memorial Hall. His fame stems from two Grammy Award nominations, the sale of 7 million albums, and an approach to music that blends piano talent with songwriting.
Raised on Texas gospel music and evolving into chart-topping country music, Gatlin Brothers Larry, Steve and Rudy will perform at Memorial Hall July 12. The Gatlins have a storied, 50-year career reaching into packed concert halls and even Broadway and The White House. Their unique style of harmonies and songwriting led to Grammy awards and collaborations with stars such as Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley and Barbra Streisand.
ASTRA welcomes a third major music event: Ernie Hasse and Signature Sound. Forget your normal gospel quartet. Ernie Hasse and Signature Sound have broken the mold. Their groundbreaking originality in communication the Good News has blazed a trail in gospel music history. They perform at Independence Memorial Hall on Thursday July 10.
The festival will include additional kinds of arts popping up around the town. In terms of theater, Sunday July 6 is a performance of the show “Say Goodnight, Gracie.” Alan Safier protrays the great humorist in a much-celebrated and fun production, which was nominated for a Tony Award during its original Broadway run. Curtain is at 2 p.m. at the William Inge Theatre at Independence Community College.
On Monday, July 7, ride the rails at a performance of “Hard Travelin’ with Woody Guthrie,” a songful creation of the famous folksinger entertaining at a mineworkers union hall in Oklahoma. The production is 7:30 p.m. at the Inge Theatre.
This is followed on Tuesday, July 8, a production of Leonard Nimoy’s “Vincent.” The famous actor is also a playwright. Nimoy wrote this moving play about the famous French artist. It performs at 7:30 p.m., also at the Inge Theatre.
There will be a writing contest, a book fair, a “literary crawl,” a juried art show and many visual arts events. These include an exhibit focusing on the residents of Independence by renowned photographer Les Slesnick. Renowned muralist David Loewenstein, with local artist assistants chosen by application, will transform the north-facing wall of 225 North Penn Avenue into a work of art. There will be additional art exhibits, literary activities and public workshops, most with free admission.
Development of the festival was sparked by a $150,000 grant, titled “Our Town,” of the National Endowment for the Arts, plus $50,000 awarded by the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission. Additional support is being pledged by organizations and individuals who believe in its NEA-stated objective “to improve economic development through artistic endeavors.” The festival is designed to promote economic development, aid community revitalization, engage local and regional residents and attract cultural tourism.
Both grants were the result of efforts by Peter Ellenstein of the William Inge Center for the Arts at Independence Community College. Other partners in the massive planning effort are the Independence Chamber of Commerce/Convention and Visitors Bureau, City of Independence, Independence Historical Museum and Art Center, Public Library, Main Street, Neewollah Inc., USD 446, Montgomery County Action Council, Children’s Theatre of Independence, and the Little House on the Prairie Museum.
A 15-member ASTRA festival board is headed by Don Farthing, and there are committees aided by professional consultants to implement the various aspects of the event.
For more information, there is a Web site at astrafest.org and a Facebook page, “Astra Arts Festival.” Updates and details, including a schedule and ticket availability, will be posted.
Download Release
October 29, 2013 / Astra Festival/ Comment
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Nagoor Babu
Mano (Aka) Nagoor Babu
Sattenapalli, Andhra Pradesh
Karpoora Deepam (telugu) (1984)
Kalaimaamani Award
State Award for the song "Thuliyela" from Chinna Thambi
Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Male Playback - 1991
Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer - Telugu - Ruku Ruku Rukmini - Pelli (1997)
Dr.Ghantasala award
Mano’s father Rasool, was a musician in the All India Radio, Vijayawada division and his mother Shaheeda, was a popular Stage actress. Inspired heavily by his mother, Mano joined the stage theater and played many historical characters which also involved singing live songs in his own voice. He soon started taking formal training of carnatic classical music under the vocalist Nedunuri Krishnamurthy. Subsequently, he started his film acting career in the late 1970s and acted in about 40 movies as child artist. He featured as a supporting character in films such as Rangoon Rowdy. In 1982, Mano approached the famous composer Chakravarthy seeking a chance for his brother who was upcoming as a Tabla player. However, Chakravarthy insisted that he wanted an assistant like him to sing track songs. Mano, joined his troop and assisted for almost 2 years. In his tenure with Chakravarthy, Mano sang over 2000 tracks for almost all the leading singers. Mano recorded his debut original song in 1984, for the Telugu film Karpoora Deepam. He sang in a 1985 released Kannada film for musician Hamsalekha. Later he made his debut in Tamil films under Maestro Ilaiyaraaja in 1987 for the film Poovizhi Vasalile. In 1987, Mano got a big break by singing popular songs for the film Enga Ooru Pattukkaran. In 1994, he was approached by A. R. Rahman to sing a duet song "Mukkabla" with Swarnalatha for the movie Kadhalan. The song went on to become a huge blockbuster. He dubbed his voice for almost all Rajinikanth starrers in Telugu. He also dubbed his voice for Kamal Hassan in some movies in Telugu. He sang 500 dubbed songs. He has worked as a music composer for the 2008 released Telugu film Sombheri. He also produced two movies dubbed from Telugu to Tamil Madurai Thimiru and Kumaran Rajini Rasigan under the studio name, "Lord Venkateshwara Productions" and "Mano Media Entertainments" respectively. Mano is married to Jameela. They have three children, Shakir and Rafi and a daughter.
Nakul
Haricharan
Malaysia Vasudevan
Manikka Vinayagam
M.L.R. Karthikeyan
Abhay Jodhpurkar
Sadhana Sargam
Silambarasan
K.S. Chitra
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The Affordable Care Act (ACA) does not require small businesses with fewer than 50 full-time employees to offer health insurance. Still, many would like to do so, in part to stay competitive in a tightening job market.
It is often difficult for small businesses to find affordable health coverage. For companies with 3 to 199 employees, the average annual premium for family coverage was $17,615 in 2017.1
In response to an executive order issued by the president, the U.S. Department of Labor is easing restrictions on association health plans (AHPs), which could make it easier for small employers and sole proprietors with shared interests to join forces and buy insurance as a group.
Under the new rule, AHPs will be permitted to serve employers in a city, county, state, or multistate metropolitan area regardless of industry, or in a particular industry nationwide. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that up to 4 million people could switch their coverage to AHP plans by 2023.2
An AHP may have more bargaining power and can spread risk among a larger pool of employees, which can help lower premiums. In addition, AHPs don’t have to meet ACA rules requiring coverage for all 10 essential health benefits (such as maternity, prescription drug coverage, hospitalization, and mental health care).
AHP plans must cover pre-existing conditions, however. They will also be subject to the same consumer and health-care anti-discrimination protections that apply to large businesses.
ACA-Compliant Plans
Small businesses with 1 to 50 employees can still purchase comprehensive small-group health insurance that meets ACA standards through the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP). Employers must have an office or worksite in a state to use that state’s SHOP and must offer coverage to all full-time employees. Businesses with fewer than 25 employees may receive a tax credit of up to 50% of premium costs for SHOP plans only.
Self-employed individuals and others without access to group health plans can buy individual coverage from state-based exchanges. Consumers can compare plans online, and families with incomes up to 400% of the federal poverty level may be eligible for tax credits that reduce premiums. (Subsidies are not available for AHP plans.) Information about ACA-compliant health plans for individuals and small businesses can be found at healthcare.gov.
1) 2017 Employer Health Benefits Survey, Kaiser Family Foundation
2) Congressional Budget Office, 2018
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Chiro Kids
Boulder La Leche League
Open Door Autism Project
Certified Pediatric & Prenatal Chiropractor
Helping families achieve optimal health!
1365 Forest Park Circle, Suite 102
Nutrition & Healthy Eating >
Gluten Intolerance - What Do I Need to Know?
Created in Newsletter Library, Nutrition & Healthy Eating
Approximately 40% of Americans have the genetic potential to become gluten intolerant. More than 1% of Americans have celiac disease. In fact, this percentage may be a low estimate because most physicians are unfamiliar with the signs and symptoms of celiac disease, which can be a "great masquerader". Gluten intolerance and celiac disease are closely related. After repeated exposure to gluten, a person who is gluten intolerant may develop celiac disease. Gluten is a complex of proteins found in wheat, rye, and barley. The human digestive tract cannot break down gluten into its component amino acids, so gluten proteins persist in the gastrointestinal tract until they are excreted.
In susceptible individuals, the gluten proteins may be identified as "foreign" and their immune systems may launch a reaction against these non-self proteins. In such persons, including infants, children, teenagers, and adults, continued exposure to gluten may cause development of signs and symptoms of celiac disease.1-2
Wheat, rye, and barley comprise significant components of the Western diet. Almost all breads are made from one or more of these three grains. Cookies, cakes, bagels, muffins, pizza, and pasta are all gluten-containing foods. Additionally, gluten is found in vitamin pills, shampoo, toothpaste, household cleansers, and even prescription drugs. Wheat-based binders are often used in the manufacturing process of these articles. So gluten is literally everywhere.
A susceptible person's initial immune reaction to gluten persists with continued exposure. Eventually the immune reaction may damage the lining of the person's small intestine, leading to the classic symptoms of celiac disease - abdominal pain, constipation and/or diarrhea, and abdominal bloating. Intestinal damage causes these very unpleasant and debilitating symptoms and may also lead to additional serious diseases. Malnutrition is one of the major consequences of celiac disease.
Importantly, gluten intolerance may be related to a variety of serious disorders. Neuropsychiatric conditions such as autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and schizophrenia may be associated with underlying gluten intolerance and celiac disease. Arthritic conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus), and psoriatic arthritis may be related to gluten intolerance. Endocrine conditions including diabetes, hyper- and hypothryroidism, and Addison's disease are often related to gluten intolerance and celiac disease. Infertility and frequent miscarriages may also be related to an underlying condition of gluten intolerance.
The takeaway is this. Gluten intolerance and celiac disease may be an underlying cause of serious medical conditions that have not been treated successfully. The key is considering gluten intolerance as an underlying cause and taking appropriate action. Patient knowledge and increased physician knowledge and awareness are crucial to correctly identifying a hidden problem.3
Your family chiropractor is an expert in nutrition and is trained to identify underlying causes of health problems. In addition, chiropractic treatment may help restore more normal and more effective immune system functioning. In cases requiring a holistic, multidisciplinary approach, chiropractic treatment is a crucial component.
1Selimolu MA, Karabiber H: Celiac disease. Prevention and treatment. J Clin Gastroenterol 44(1):4-8, 2010
2Setty M, et al: Celiac disease: risk assessment, diagnosis, and monitoring. Mol Diagn Ther 12(5):289-298, 2008
3Schuppan D, et al: Celiac disease: from pathogenesis to novel therapies. Gastroenterology 137(6):1912-1933, 2009
Compass Chiropractic
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This is an old story: Mauna Kea and moʻolelo
August 27, 2015 by Christine Hong
Part 4 of 4 in our series on 'Resistance at Mauna Kea'
To read Part 1, click here. To read Part 2, click here. To read Part 3, click here.
Bryan Kamaoli Kuwada, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Bryan Kamaoli Kuwada believes in the power and potential of ea, of life, of breath, rising, of sovereignty, because he sees it all around him, embodied in the ʻāina, the kai, his family, his friends, and his beautiful community. He is a Ph.D. candidate in English at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, focusing on translation theory. He is currently editor of the journal Hūlili: Multidisciplinary Research on Hawaiian Well-Being, and works as a Hawaiian-language editor and translator.
If some of the anti-Mauna folks[1] writing editorials are to be believed, my Polynesian ancestors were amazing astronomers (who settled a land area equal to one third the state of New York, if it was crumpled up and scattered across 10 million square miles of the Pacific Ocean, by the way), but were too ignorant for their deep spiritual beliefs that were interwoven with and undergirding that “astronomical” knowledge to still be taken seriously in this day and age. In this ongoing fight over the telescopes atop both Mauna Kea and Haleakalā, proponents of the telescopes often try to offer us insights about our history and culture to explain why we should give up and just let them build the damn things.
So many of the anti-Mauna folks want to educate us about our history and our culture, but they have little to no clue what they are talking about. Kiaʻi mauna are often described as uneducated (google “uneducated” and “tmt” to see what I mean), but the anti-Mauna people have no problem spouting off about Hawaiian culture and history or even dismissing it without bothering to do any sort of research.
A good example of the kinds of stories they try to tell can be seen in how the TMT publicity machine has been trying to co-opt the stories of our own monarchs to use against us. A quote that the anti-Mauna folks keep bringing up is by Liliʻuokalani, our beloved queen, who according to them, said, “The ancient Hawaiians were astronomers.” Period. As if she were making a statement about astronomy. The quote actually comes from her translation of the Kumulipo, our cosmogonic genealogy that traces our relationship through a coral polyp and into the blackness of fertility and creation from which everything came. And it is actually just an introductory clause to a longer sentence, with the preceding sentence having bearing as well:
I have endeavored to give the definition of each name as far as it came within my knowledge of words, but in some cases this could not be done because the true signification has been lost. The ancient Hawaiians were astronomers, and the terms used appertained to the heavens, the stars, terrestrial science, and the gods.
What she was referring to is the fact that there were so many terms throughout the 2,000 line chant specific to certain lineages of knowledge that she didn’t know how to translate them all.
Liliʻuokalani is trying to present this information to an audience who is not Hawaiian and who has not shown itself to normally be open to Hawaiian belief except as quaint folklore. How do you explain a kilo hōkū or a kilo ʻōuli or a hoʻokele to people who are still at that time writing about how “kahunaism” and the continuation of Hawaiian beliefs are some of the main reasons for the decline of the Hawaiian people? Many in this audience didn't even think our people were human a few generations prior! For this audience, she has to equate Hawaiian practice with Western science to claim a legitimacy that proponents of Western science never gave it, except when it benefited them (see the characterization of Polynesian voyagers as astronomers above).
Her brother Kalākaua, who held the throne before her, is also a great favorite of the anti-Mauna people because he was avowedly pro-Western science. And I agree that he was. He seemed to delight in all of the wonders of technology. He visited the Lick Observatory (which was 25ft in diameter and two stories high, if you were wondering), where they set up the telescope for him to look through even though the building wasn’t completed yet. He wanted an observatory for Hawaiʻi (and bought a permanent telescope that was put not on a mountaintop, but at Punahou School in Mānoa Valley). He proposed a trans-Pacific cable. He even built a model of the Nautilus from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. What the TMT people don’t mention, or likely understand, is Kalākaua’s staunch commitment to Hawaiian traditional practices. He was a keen supporter of hula, which was still being touted in his time as one of the reasons for the decline of the Hawaiian population by people like Sereno Bishop. He had traditional mele performed at his coronation, which resulted in a court case over obscenity in the printed program. He granted licenses for traditional healers to practice lāʻau lapaʻau, for which he was also critiqued by the horrified Western medical establishment.
One of the more controversial moves he made was to dare to combine and reconcile Western scientific knowledge and Hawaiian cultural and practical knowledge in the society known as the Hale Nauā. The Constitution of the Hale Nauā, made up of men and women, a rarity at the time, stated that “the object of this society is the revival of Ancient Science of Hawaii in combination with the promotion and advancement of Modern Sciences, Art, Literature, and Philanthropy.” What that meant in practice was that they recorded and tried to revive traditional Hawaiian arts and practices that were disappearing, studied genealogy, and kept up with breakthroughs in Western science and tried to reconcile them with Hawaiian values and beliefs. They put on lectures and exhibits about traditional culture and corresponded with other scientific associations around the world. Most rational people would probably view these acts as that of an educational and beneficent society, yet Kalākaua’s detractors interpreted all of this to mean that the society was “an agency for the revival of heathenism, partly to pander to vice, and indirectly to serve as a political machine. Enough leaked out to intensify the general disgust that was felt at the debasing influence of the palace.”
Hawaiians attempting to revive and practice their own traditions, blending them with what they wanted from Western science and literature was so threatening to the established order, that some even felt the Hale Nauā was one of the reasons for the overthrow in 1893. The criticisms of the Hale Nauā also changed distinctly in character over time. Before the 1930s, critics only made fun of the society’s aims, but after, they derided the Hale Nauā for its scientific shortcomings in regards to the geologic age of the planet. What strikes me as funny is that, yes, the Hale Nauā miscalculated the age of the Earth in 1886, but Western science hadn’t figured it out either until 1926, and their previously accepted guesses were off by several orders on their own!
Having said all this, I hope it might be a little clearer how egregious an act of appropriation it is for the anti-Mauna people to have bandied back and forth the following quote from Kalākaua for years. You can even see it below on their “informational” website specifically focused on Mauna Kea and the TMT.[2]
What the quote is referring to is Kalākaua’s excitement about the 1874 expedition that had arrived in Hawaiʻi for the transit of Venus. It is meant to show that Kalākaua’s support of the expedition and the telescope that they brought with them would translate today into support for the TMT on Mauna Kea.
If we do even a little research, we can find this picture of the telescope that George Tupman, a Captain in the Royal Marine Artillery and the expedition's leader, used to observe the transit, and...well...it's little.
It was set up with all of their other equipment in what was essentially a backyard adjoining a house rented from Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani in ʻĀpua, an area just seaward of Kawaiahaʻo Church, where the shoreline used to be (Chauvin 195). There were also two small supplemental observation stations, one in Waimea, Kauaʻi, and one in Kailua, Kona. The TMT, on the other hand, is proposed to be 184ft tall and is going to cover 1.44 acres just with the buildings, and a 5-acre footprint when completed.
But Hawaiians trying to make their way through a rapidly changing world while still remaining Hawaiian is not what the anti-Mauna people want to tell. They want the story where the words of Kalākaua will enlighten the ignorant Hawaiians of today about the importance of “progress.” This same story has echoed throughout our time: How Tupman referred to Kalākaua and the other members of the royal family as "savages" and "intolerable nuisances" for wanting to have the telescope opened up to the public to look through, with Kalākaua even offering to send down the Royal Hawaiian Band to play (Chauvin 212). How present day astronomers channel Tupman when they refer to the kiaʻi mauna as a lying “horde of native Hawaiians,” a remark straight out of the nineteenth century. How in 1874, 12 marines and a sergeant were stationed around the observatory compound to maintain silence and keep the curious public out, hundreds of whom had come out in their finest clothes to witness Venusʻs transit (Chauvin 214), how in 2015 kiaʻi mauna bearing lei and mele and reverence are met with handcuffs and body armor and militarized police.
We are experts at the same old story that developers, government agencies, and scientists never tire of telling, the same old story that depends on us getting out of the way of their progress, whether it be sugar, pineapple, the Puʻuloa drydock, Kahoʻolawe, Waikīkī development, Hoʻopili, every ancestral bone dug up to build a Wal-Mart, every place built on sacred land, every single telescope on the mountain. This story has had too many sequels. Too many echoes. It’s time for for more listening from them and less talking. Our story is the one where the land is our elder sibling. Our story is the one where progress isn’t progress if it is built on the backs of others. Our story is that you have much to learn from us. Our story is that we have a great fight ahead of all of us, and that each name of our ancestor we remember, each word of our language we speak, each aspect of our culture, we practice will give us strength to keep going. So if you want to tell us about our history and our culture and you don’t know our story, you better start paying attention.
[1] I am using “anti-Mauna folks” here to refer to the people pushing for the TMT project to move forward. I freely admit that this is purposefully and unfairly essentializing their arguments, but I think it’s equivalent to us constantly being characterized as “anti-science” and “anti-progress.”
[2] The site was subsequently changed and the quotes are no longer featured prominently, which I’d like to think was due to people pressuring them about their appropriation of these quotes, which may have been bolstered by a Facebook post I wrote on April 13, 2015, and a subsequent post by Kristin Momoa on Civil Beat a month later that seems to have been based on my initial post.
August 27, 2015 /Christine Hong
MAUNA KEA
A Year After the Ferguson Uprising, Reflections on Mauna Kea
To read Part 1, click here. To read Part 2, click here.
Laurel Mei-Singh, CUNY Graduate Center
As we mark the one-year anniversary of the Ferguson uprising catalyzed by the shooting of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown in Missouri, people are gathering from the summit of Mauna Kea to the streets of Waikiki to oppose the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) on the top of Hawai‘i’s highest mountain. We are demanding the protection of land, resources, and sacred sites across the islands. In this struggle, we are declaring: Kū Kia‘i Mauna! (Stand Protectors of the Mountain!)
What do the Black Lives Matter and the Kū Kia‘i Mauna movements have in common?
From Hawai‘i to Ferguson to New York City, we are arriving at a tipping point. In this post-9/11 era of endless war, environmental destruction, financial crisis, and gentrification, everyday people are facing a new degree of insecurity and precarity. In response, people are rising to reclaim our land, our streets, and our lives. We are also witnessing a new round of policing and enclosure to contain these movements for justice.
On August 7, 2015, the Wai‘anae Coast community (a poor and working class predominantly Hawaiian and Pacific islander part of the island of O‘ahu) hosted a community event on Mauna Kea. An audience member, Pake Salmon, asked why $1.4 billion is going toward astronomy research when we are barely surviving on the planet on which we live. UH Law School professor Williamson Chang later pointed out that we are living in a time and place in which we are mired in debt, most of us can barely afford a place to live, and it takes three hours to drive 23 miles on the H-1 during rush-hour. Not to mention that military bases continue to occupy nearly a quarter of O‘ahu’s land. Hawai‘i is becoming increasingly unlivable, and, in response, Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) are rising up to reclaim their lands and lives, a driving sentiment behind the Mauna Kea struggle.
People brought this movement to Waikiki streets on Sunday, August 9, when thousands dressed in red participated in the Aloha ‘Aina march. In addition to the protection of Mauna Kea, demands included the protection and promotion of sustainable agriculture, specifically crops that do not rely on toxic pesticides and genetic engineering. After the march, community leaders spoke out against the hypercapitalism advanced by the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the illegal overthrow of Hawai‘i’s queen in 1893, calling for Hawaiian independence. Some wore T-shirts memorializing Kollin Elderts, an unarmed 23-year-old Hawaiian man, shot and killed by Christopher Deedy, an off-duty federal agent, in a Waikiki McDonalds during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Honolulu in 2011. After he shot Elderts, Deedy claimed he was "protecting" the other people in the restaurant and was acquitted of his crime, despite the fact that witnesses say he was drunk. So far, five people in Hawai‘i have died at the hands of the police this year, including a man tasered to death on March 16, 2015, which the Honolulu medical examiner ruled a homicide.
Across the world, police are increasingly using militarized law-and-order tactics to maintain racial and economic hierarchies in the name of “public safety.” According to an arrestee at the August 7 Wai‘anae event, the number of arrests conducted by the State of Hawai‘i’s Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) enforcement officers at Mauna Kea has reached 70. Hawai‘i Govenor David Ige signed new “rules” on July 10, blocking their access to the road at night and forbidding tent and other camping structures. The enforcers of these arrests and rules are the Division of Conservation and Resource Enforcement (DOCARE) officers of the DLNR who have “full police powers [to enforce] all State laws and rules involving State lands, State Parks…as well as…county parks.” In Hawai‘i, DOCARE officers police conservation areas, and they are increasingly harassing subsistence practitioners in places like Ka‘ena, a fishing ground on the westernmost tip of O‘ahu.
Many people in Hawai‘i—from fishers to hunters to activists—have remarked recently that DOCARE’s policing has amplified in recent years (even though one officer cried as he made arrests on the mountain summit). Lori Halemano, one of the arrestees from Mauna Kea, confirmed this amping of policing when I spoke to her after the Wai‘anae event. When I asked her why, she replied: “people are rising up.” They’re learning about Hawai‘i’s history and the ongoing illegal occupation and joining the struggle for Hawaiian independence. As DLNR and DOCARE claim to “protect public lands” through the arrest and removal of protestors who are challenging the very meaning of this concept, we must acknowledge that a major function of policing is the containment of the real threat that a movement of people pose to an existing social order.
Shelley Muneoka of the KAHEA: Hawaiian-Environment Alliance stressed to the Wai‘anae audience that the Mauna Kea struggle is about who has the power and authority to decide how land is used. Similarly, the Black Lives Matter movements in places like Ferguson, New York City, Charleston, Baltimore, Texas, and Oakland are fundamentally about who has power and authority over our streets, lives, and living space. As a diasporic woman of color from Hawai‘i who lived part-time on the islands over the last couple of years while making my primary home in Brooklyn, I see that both movements can learn from each other. For the movements against racist policing in United States urban centers, we must align ourselves with movements for indigenous self-determination, and the understanding that our relationships with land are fundamental to all of our survival. For the movements in Hawai‘i, we must acknowledge that we are fighting the same military and police machinery that working class people of color in the U.S. are up against, and we are not alone in our fights for justice and self-determination.
Laurel Mei-Singh is a doctoral candidate in Geography at the CUNY Graduate Center earning a certificate in American Studies. She was born and raised in Honolulu near the base of Leahi (Diamond Head) and currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.
The spaces between “us” (inclusive) and “them” – aloha ‛āina is a kākou thing
To read Part 1, click here.
Karin Louise Hermes, University of Hawai‛i at Mānoa
Until early April when the first arrests happened on Mauna Kea, I was entirely uninvolved in the issue, despite having witnessed my friends and classmates protesting the desecration on the University of Hawai‛i at Mānoa campus back in the fall of 2013. Since my support began by writing and blogging for one of the Mauna Kea protectors’ media outlets, I have made so many new connections in this movement to protect Mauna Kea and in the over-all Hawaiian sovereignty and independence movement.
There is always the question of positioning and voice (and when not to have one) in this discussion. In the Facebook groups and in articles written, many state their ethnic background and connection to Hawai‛i before giving their opinion. Some Kanaka Maoli commenters then say there is no need to always mention this as a defense for speaking on Hawaiian matters, it’s “a kākou thing”. However, I find it is actually necessary as a sign of respect, as well as a statement of solidarity and mutual understanding.
Over and over again by the TMT and the media, the Mauna Kea protectors are described as a small group of dissenting and “backwards” Native Hawaiians, indigenous people protesting for their privileges and rights to animistic beliefs and practices. A small group of people putting “religion” before “science”, and “progress”, while the reasonable majority supports the TMT. Anyone who actually cares to be informed and doesn’t simply accept the racism and American imperialism perpetuated, knows how large the group of protectors on the ground and in virtual space are. This is not at all about being “anti-science”, but about standing for what is pono. The authors of many of the articles written or even those standing in the line of arrest are academics from the University of Hawai‛i and other universities, Kānaka Maoli or not, scholars of social studies or law, astronomers, engineers and other scientists. The protectors and community organizers online are based out of the US continent bringing in their kuleana, their responsibility for taking care of the ‛āina, long-distance.
This is where I state my positionality of not being Kanaka Maoli or even living in Hawai‛i at the moment. My motivation for joining in the kākou, the ‛ōlelo Hawaiian inclusive “us” pronoun against the pro-TMT “them”, is not only from answering the call of support from my friends in Hawai‛i, but even more, from feeling the need to step away and speak up against the group with a settler colonialist mentality counter to the protectors and aloha ‛āina.
Based on my ethnic appearance (Filipino/Chinese/Spanish and German) and a perhaps more culturally-aware outlook from Pacific Islands Studies, I’m more often than not Othered or invited into the kākou anyway. Although I hold an even more unusual position in the movement, as I can’t be called a settler colonialist “ally”, as much as I am merely a malihini, a visitor, since I am without any immigrant status to the Hawaiian Islands with my EU passport. Because I’m aware that I’m an outsider, not native, not “local”, I recognize I shouldn’t confront any Kānaka Maoli who are against the protectors. I would be a hypocrite and just as paternalistic as the pro-TMT crowd that claims they know what is better for the people indigenous to the land, than they can know for themselves. Fortunately, because I’m also not white, I don’t get called haole or fear falling into a white savior complex either.
Holding this middle ground or more nebulous position between Kānaka Maoli and settler colonialism, I chose my involvement. I choose to protect Mauna Kea with aloha ‛āina as the essence of respecting the culture and people indigenous to the Hawaiian archipelago. Expressing aloha ‛āina, standing for Mauna Kea, protecting sacred spaces and showing awareness and understanding of the injustice, that is what is pono for Hawai‛i. It’s what is right. I have since learned that aloha ‛āina is not only the “love of the land”, but can also be translated to “patriotism”, a word of pride for US Americans. Aloha ‛āina is what separates the kākou from “them”, either you respect it or you don’t. It might be the biggest cultural misunderstanding for settler colonialists in Hawai‛i towards Kānaka Maoli who regard and care for the land as family. Either you support what is pono, or you respectfully know your place and know that to perpetuate the colonial narrative of violence and oppression is against the life of the land.
The racist e-mails that came out of UC Santa Cruz and Berkeley by prominent astronomers showed disconnect to the issue at hand. Racist and paternalistic remarks confirm the disregard for the people of the land and voice the sense of entitlement to what is not theirs to own or change. The internet comments under mainstream media articles or letters to the editor, the new state legislations after the June 24 stand-off that now restrict Kanaka Maoli cultural practices and access to the summit road on Mauna Kea, the prolonged duration of the impasse and Governor David Ige’s mention of deploying the National Guard, these are all strengthening the resolve of the protectors. The thing is, for outsiders not in the know, anything that doesn’t actively involve them is seen as not happening, and the confused commentariat says “but why are they only protesting NOW?”
April 2, 2015, and the arrests of 31 protectors were covered by the mainstream media and social media when prominent supporters raised awareness to what was going on. June 24, 2015, and the arrests of 12 protectors were witnessed by over 700 people and private and independent cameras to counter the local media that has their own biased depictions. My own awareness was raised in October 2013, when I first saw my personal connections involved. The aloha ‛āina protectors of this generation know there were always protests against the TMT project and previous observatories constructed on Mauna Kea over the decades, only now the voices are becoming louder.
As a malihini I feel it is more of my kuleana to call out fellow malihini. Kānaka Maoli have no kuleana or obligation to educate or “enlighten” visitors who don’t care to understand. My purpose for writing this and other articles is not to speak for Kanaka Maoli or to give myself the title “ally”, my purpose is to clarify to settler colonialists, haole, malihini, that this is not an “us” against “them” along ethnic lines, but a division by aloha ‛āina. My intention is to show to “them” that there is a greater movement happening that they are not seeing. The protectors are not only sustained by the pōhaku in the road and by the strength of the koa that the warriors emulate, but also by the people who give their signatures on petitions and the hashtags of #WeAreMaunaKea in virtual space, and by the generations of kūpuna standing with them in the spaces (maybe as star particles that the astronomers hold so dearly) between the lines with the love of family, the aloha for the ‛āina.
Karin Louise Hermes is currently based in Berlin, Germany, 12 time zones away from Mauna Kea, to get in touch with her native German roots while writing on aloha ‛āina. She holds a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology and Sociology from the University of Heidelberg and an M.A. in Pacific Islands Studies from the University of Hawai‛i at Mānoa.
We are Mauna Kea: Resistance in Diaspora
Part 1 of 4 in our series on 'Resistance and Mauna Kea'
Natalee Kēhaulani Bauer, UC Berkeley
On March 31, 2015, I posted a link to Facebook asking my friends to sign and support the protection of Mauna Kea from the development of another (fourteenth!) telescope on the sacred mountain. Within minutes I received a response from an old friend, suggesting that I had been misled by the Internet: “Oh my gosh Natalee my mom is working to get this telescope built, don’t believe all you read, you should talk to her” [sic]. This friend – I’ll call her Diana – is a queer white woman, one whose politics occasionally align with my own, but more often they lean toward the homonormativity of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), respectability politics, and neoliberalism at its finest. I knew already that her mother had been living in Hilo for the past five years or so working on an (until now) unnamed astronomy project for the UH. A month before my post, Diana posted links to articles praising her mother for her work on the telescope; words that read like the archived diaries of 19th century white missionaries sent to bring morality and salvation to the “ignorant natives” in Hawai’i. Her mother, like so many settlers before her, was here to save us, to teach us “what’s best.”
I remained quiet when I read Diana’s initial posts praising her mother. I remained quiet (for a few hours anyway) after Diana commented on my post, informing me that her mother, a white settler working for the University, knew more/better than I, a Kanaka Maoli scholar and activist. I politely answered Diana’s post, letting her know that I was, in fact, quite well informed, and then asking, “I wonder why you'd suggest I'm being misled, rather than it is you (or your mom) being misled or unaware of ongoing indigenous struggles to protect Mauna Kea?” And then I went to bed, raging, hurt, offended, and overwhelmed by that familiar feeling of erasure. This is how whiteness works.
The next morning’s replies from Diana showered me with more “lessons” on (1) her mother as a “Christian and community liaison” (therefore a “good guy” and someone whose understanding was more complex than my own), (2) the fact that “many many Hawaiian residents, 100's more than those protesting have decided this is good for Hawaii” [sic], and (3) how disappointed she was in my “refusal to participate in conversation” regarding the TMT (translation: my refusal to agree with her interpretations of the project). My response to her? “What you have described here is the greatest example of settler colonialism I have ever seen.” And then she was silent, and my motivation to keep Mauna Kea in the spotlight here in California, across my social and academic networks, was renewed. This is how resistance begins.
I am writing this post today as a Kanaka ‘Ōiwi in diaspora, far from home, and never having set foot on Mauna Kea, nor Hawai‘i Island, for that matter. From where I sit, from this distance, I interpret the mainstream discourse around Mauna Kea, the TMT, and the protectors as yet another example of the cause and effect of centuries-old erasure of the Hawaiian people and our culture. As many others have noted, opponents of the TMT are caricaturized as stuck in the past, anti-science, and band wagon activists, and we are discursively reduced to misguided hordes of angry natives getting in the way of progress for no good reason. The growing movement to protect Mauna Kea is a refusal of this discourse, a refusal to be silenced, and a demand to be heard in a digital age wherein our names and our voices can no longer be hidden away and ignored. It is also important to note that the refusal and resistance we see today is not new, nor is it a hasty, last minute response (as many critics have claimed). Our resistance is more broadly visible outside of Hawai‘i, thanks to social media; however as Goodyear-Ka’opua, Hussey, & Wright demonstrate in their edited anthology, A Nation Rising: Hawaiian Movements for Life, Land, and Sovereignty, Hawaiian resistance to settler colonialism (and to all thirteen other telescopes on Mauna Kea) has been a relentless force for centuries.
In writing about the resistance at Mauna Kea, I can only speak from this distance, which at times feels immeasurable. I cannot speak for Ku Kia‘i Mauna, the protectors on the mountain, though I would like to speak to them and reflect back across the Pacific what their efforts mean to those of us far from home and family, assaulted by American entitlement toward Hawai‘i as their perfect paradise, rendered invisible and ungrounded again and again. I am speaking now to the aloha āina warriors, to those who were arrested yesterday and removed from the mauna due to the governor’s invention of new rules, to those who have worked to bail out and legally defend the aloha āina warriors, to those who are still on the mauna, to those who have advised and enforced kapu aloha during this ongoing struggle. I want to tell them that their perseverance gives me sustenance, and their love for the land and the people overwhelms me with emotions almost impossible to contain. I want to tell them that they are not merely protecting one mountain, but they are breathing life into our people, at home and in diaspora, filling us with a renewed sense of self that is so clear and deeply rooted that it leaves no room for the false narratives, nor the attempts at erasure and engulfment by settler colonialism and Americanization. Witnessing the movement grow and spread across the globe makes me indelibly “real” again. I am no longer silent, invisible, or necessarily rendered white. I am Kanaka Ōiwi, and I am Mauna Kea. Kū Kia‘i nā Mauna. Kū‘e!
Natalee Kēhaulani Bauer is a Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) doctoral candidate in Social and Cultural Studies in Education, at the Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley. She is also a part of the Designated Emphasis programs in Gender, Women, and Sexuality, and in Critical Theory. Outside of academia, Natalee was a public school teacher and administrator for ten years, she is a brown belt in Kajukenbo Kung Fu, and most importantly she is mommy and favorite playmate to the world’s funniest 2-year-old boy.
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Home Anchoring Sri Lanka in the world
Anchoring Sri Lanka in the world
Sri Lanka, the pearl of the Indian Ocean, situated midway between East and West has a strategic significance which far outweighs its small size. Since ancient times it has been a trade hub and was a leading maritime and trading nation. The possibility of it developing into a modern trade and commerce hub is immense.
In the present geo-political contest for supremacy, Great powers that aspire to retain or win hegemony or dominance in the world have chosen the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) as the principal theatre of their competition. The United States military, for example renamed their Asia – Pacific Command (USAPC) as the Indo-Pacific Command (USIPC) last May.
Sri Lanka sandwiched between India, an aspirant world power and China, the emerging world Supremo is placed in an unenviable position. It could also become a pawn in the US - China rivalry.
Both India and China are wooing Sri Lanka, trying to attract it to the sphere of their dominance. Sri Lanka has to engage in balancing acts to avoid being dragged to this or that side.
International stage
Elaborating the foreign policy and anchoring Sri Lanka in a favourable berth is, hence, not easy. Foreign policy is nothing but an extension of the domestic policy, it is said. But what is our domestic policy? There is none. It is an eclectic mixture of varied policies. In economics it clings basically on to the neo-liberal view. However, it is coloured with anti-colonial rhetoric and obscurantic and pre-capitalist notions. Lack of a clear national policy has resulted in confusion in our foreign policy.
Politics being a concentrated form of economics is naturally dependent on economics. Hence, Sri Lanka in general follows the general Westward orientation in its international stage. The distancing away from non-alignment is a result of this orientation. For example, forgotten is the proposal of Sri Lanka to make the Indian Ocean a Zone of Peace. Instead moves are afoot to steer close to the nascent US-Israel-India-Japan-Australia alliance directed at containing China in the Indian Ocean Region. Recent open attempts by the United States and Japan to aggressively mediate in local political developments is a clear result of our attempts at flirting with this alliance.
Sri Lanka is strategically situated between India and China in the context of their rivalry for domination in the IOR. Economic imperatives have drawn it closer to China over the past few years though India retains a formidable presence in the island, especially in the North East and in the up country. Attempts are made by certain parties to set our two giant neighbours against one another in the hope of benefitting as a third party. This, however, is an illusion. It might replicate in our land the scenario of divided Cyprus sandwiched between Turkey and Greece.
Attempts to belittle the significance of trade and commercial relations with other countries is a danger for foreign policy is heavily dependent on them. Though 70 years have passed since independence our principal trade and commercial relations are still predominantly with the West. We depend very heavily on the United States and European Union markets for many of our exports including garments. The pseudo-nationalist home policies would therefore clash with our economic interests. Therefore, how far such a policy could be beneficial to the country is a moot point. It could be a penny- wise pound- foolish policy.
The best course possible is to call for and form a tripartite Economic Cooperation Council encompassing Sri Lanka, China and India. It would not only help us to maintain our independence in the unenvious position of a small power sandwiched between two neighbours but also strengthen peace in the IOR.
It should be remembered that the independence of our foreign policy would rest on the unity and cohesion of our internal society. Racist or religious tensions or the aggravation of economic disparities could very well create conditions for external interference or dominance in our domestic affairs. The utilization of religious and ethnic divisions to subjugate Middle East nations in a new edition of modern colonialism is an ominous sign.
Foreign investments
Caution must also be exercised in deciding upon terms and conditions in obtaining foreign investments and seeking foreign loans for the danger of neo-liberal takeover of our assets is an inherent danger. Also we must avoid agreements that make Sri Lanka a dumping ground for industrial and hazarduous waste of developed countries or a destination for their obsolete technology. Selecting mutually beneficial partnerships is a challenge in which we cannot dither. Learning from the experience of other developing countries and promoting South-South cooperation, especially with the BRICS nations should be a cornerstone of our foreign policy.
Today the world has changed much. Transfer of finance capital and technology across borders has been supplemented by cross-border transfers of labour. Obliteration of national boundaries and participation of labour in a global scale is the hallmark of modern day production. In this context Sri Lanka has to update and improve its immigration and emigration procedures and laws. Already the need for immigrant labour is felt as much as the necessity of close economic and political cooperation with our own Diaspora. This is especially in view of the greater influence of soft diplomacy over traditional hard diplomacy in today’s world.
Sri Lanka, though a small island nation in the IOR it has had a strong and respected foreign policy. Sri Lankan diplomats have made significant contributions to the development of modern international relations and International Humanitarian Law. For example, Sri Lanka contributed much as the Chairman of the Law of the Sea Conference, the UN Convention against terrorism, Justice Weeramanthri honourably held the presidency of the International Court of Justice etc. Sri Lanka has pioneered the formation of the Non-Aligned Movement and the SAARC. It could successfully negotiate cessation of hostilities during the Indo-Chinese War.
However, such contributions have become rare now. Instead we have ambassadors practicing megaphone diplomacy and UN Staff berating friendly nations with pseudo-nationalist humbug.
In conclusion, it is necessary to emphasize that our foreign policy would not be independent as long as our Foreign Office relies basically on the global media as its prime source of information. The latter is heavily biased in favour of international finance capital and always looks at developing nations with a skewed eye. Our reliable contacts would be our diplomats on the ground. Also access should be made to the public to seek alternative sources of information, especially those emanating from developing nations.
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Culture Spotlight ›
ACL Day 3
By Shane Miller, Hannah Smothers Posted on October 15, 2012 at 3:19 am
Sunday lived up to its name through clear skies and tons of sunshine, disproving forecasts of rain to the delight of the umbrella-carrying crowd. The closing day ended the festival on a good note with the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ incredible performance.
Two Door Cinema Club, playing their second ACL since 2010, walked onto the Bud Light stage and were met with the high-pitched cheers and excited fist-pumps of the predominantly teenaged crowd. The alternative rock band played hits from their two full-length albums, Tourist History and Beacon, while audience members danced along and crowd surfed. The performance was full of energy given by both the band and the audience.
At 6:15 Iggy Pop and The Stooges provided an outlet for punk rock fans. The 65-year-old rocker looked weathered but still displayed a commendable amount of endurance, and at one point jumped down to the crowd whilst surrounded by security guards. His classic wailing vocals mixed with the saxophone over the fast-paced drums, creating an insatiable sense of urgency that drove some to crowd surf and push mosh. During the classic “I Want To Be Your Dog,” Iggy got on all fours and scowled at the audience with the mic cord in his mouth before closing the set with “No Fun.”
Crystal Castles’ set was a cross between a musical performance and a light show. Multi-colored strobe lights pulsed over the stage and the crowd for the duration of their performance. Band member Alice Glass spent about half of the set standing on, not in, the audience. Glass relied on the strength of her vibrating fans to hold her up as she danced and sang her way through each song.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers took the Bud Light stage an hour after Iggy ended and proved why they were selected to be the headlining act. Bassist Flea, with pink hair, leapt like a gazelle while slapping his instrument to the timing of Chad Smith’s drum kit. Guitarist Josh Klinghoffer frequently played while sitting down and added falsetto back up vocals to supplement chaotic front man Anthony Kiedis. The Los Angeles funk rock band played at least one song from almost all ten of their albums. From Blood Sugar Sex Magik came “Suck My Kiss,” featuring one of the funkiest bass lines ever, and “Under The Bridge,” which provided a cathartic release for the audience who sang along almost word for word. To transition into other songs, Flea consistently performed bass solos to demonstrate his music virtuosity. After 16 songs, the band left the stage after playing “By The Way,” from the album of the same name. Panic ran amuck in the dark crowd as lights dimmed, provoking desperate, yet unsynchronized chants for an encore. Ultimately the dramatic tension was cut with a drum solo from Chad Smith that led into “Sir Psycho Sexy,” and the closing song “Give It Away.” Kiedis remarked that “[The Red Hot Chili Peppers] come here specifically to mess with Texas.” The encore will easily go down in history as one of the greatest comebacks of all time.
The music lineup of Austin City Limits 2012 was well worth the struggles against humidity and rain. ACL continues to be a landmark event for the city and will return doubled in length for 2013. Hopefully Austin will have recuperated from this weekend by then.
By Shane Miller Posted on October 14, 2012 at 2:04 pm
Precarious clouds loomed over Zilker Park until about 5 pm, when the rain had music fans either running for shelter or pulling out umbrellas.
At 3 pm Big K.R.I.T. appeared on the Honda stage after a hyped up intro from his DJ. He displayed unrelenting stamina during his hour of enthusiastic and fast paced rapping. The DJ showcased his turntable virtuosity through solo instrumental breaks comprised of massive amounts of vinyl scratching and air horns.
Josh Tillman of Father John Misty took the Austin Ventures stage carrying a bottle of Tito’s vodka and wearing red, plastic, heart-shaped sunglasses. He opened his energetic set by commenting on the cloud-covered skies. “This weather is like a hung-over person’s paradise, Jesus! What sweet relief,” Tillman said. Father John Misty’s performance was flamboyant bordering on ridiculous.
In the midst of one of the many bursts of rain, The Shins began their performance on the AMD stage. The band played an array of songs from their extensive library, and the crowd was happy to dance along to the familiar tunes. However, the performance was bland, and devoid of the character and commentary that audiences typically crave from a live show.
The TVs next to the Honda Stage were turned off to concentrate the spotlight on Bassnectar. The electronica artist sampled popular songs like Ellie Goulding’s “Lights” while adding his own pulsating drum sound clips. Almost every song followed the same formula of buildups to breaks. Though predictable, Bassnectar’s original tracks and remixed songs prompted everyone within earshot to drop everything and just dance.
The final choice of the night was classic or alternative rock. For the latter crowd, Jack White began on the AMD Stage at 8 pm on the dot with an all-girl backing band (but no Meg White). Playing songs from The White Stripes like “I Can Tell That We Are Going To Be Friends,” and that one Raconteurs song, White concisely summarized his prolific career within an hour and thirty minutes. Known for a guitar-driven sound, his delicate finger picking and cacophonous slide techniques were joined by a pedal steel, organ, and violin to create a holistic soundscape.
Meanwhile, anticipation was high in the tightly packed crowd before Neil Young and Crazy Horse walked out on to the Bud Light stage. Dressed in t-shirts and blue jeans, the band of graying, balding rock-stars were as spry and lively as ever. There were frequent, extensive instrumental breaks, but the fans didn’t seem to mind. The band held the audience’s captivation for the duration of their two-hour set, and the muddy army of fans left the show still in awe.
Saturday is in the history books, leaving only the bittersweet last day. The rain will continue tomorrow and is likely to boil during the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ headlining set.
By Shane Miller, Hannah Smothers Posted on October 13, 2012 at 10:11 am
The impact of Thursday’s rain was felt through high humidity levels and sporadic spots of mud on the inaugural day of Austin City Limits 2012.
The War On Drugs took the Budweiser stage around 2 pm. The band’s lone guitarist played whimsical blues riffs similar to The Allman Brothers. His vocals were a mix between Robert Plant from Led Zeppelin and Bob Dylan.
Umphrey’s McGee was one of the best acts of Friday. Their jam band style downplays the importance of vocals and their expert instrumentation stole the show. Just when a song seemed like it was dying down, they would come back with a shredding solo. The band’s chemistry and raw musical talent went unmatched by any other act of the night.
Jovanotti’s enthusiasm radiated on stage through his seizing style of dance. The music was largely rhythmic based and showcased the versatility of the two percussionists. Their interesting take on bebop was infused with a funky slapped bass and the guitarist’s expert use of the wah pedal.
Weezer’s set list consisted of songs from The Blue Album like “My Name Is Jonas” and “Buddy Holly” and easily recognizable hits like “Beverly Hills”. Rivers Cuomo, looking just like Buddy Holly, was all smiles while dancing with the ASL translator.
Florence Welch of Florence + The Machine took the stage in a slow, dramatic saunter and was wearing one of her signature ball gowns. The Florence + The Machine performance was a first day favorite according to many audience members. The dynamic set was rounded off by a large jumping spree to the band’s hit, “Dog Days Are Over”.
By 8:00 pm the entire crowd had essentially segregated between the AMD and Bud Light stages on far sides of the park. Pandemonium broke out when DJ Avicii took the AMD stage. His sampled vocals and industrial style electronica played through a colossal sound system pushed the crowd to the limit. There was no law in his crowd and one was likely to get fist pumped in the face.
On the other side of Zilker Park, The Black Keys delivered the powerful, old school rock show performance they’ve come to be known for. Dan Auerbach’s bluesy guitar tones wafted over the tightly packed crowd as the band played old hits like “I Got Mine”, which served as the band’s bold and boisterous closing song.
The first day of what could be the last single-weekend ACL festival provided a perfect sampling of what Zilker Park will provide for the duration of the weekend.
Check out Daily Texan Multimedia's ACL Day 1 photo slideshow.
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Rovio Entertainment / Sony, Worldwide distribution, 2016
In the 3D animated comedy, The Angry Birds Movie, we'll finally find out why the birds are so angry. The movie takes us to an island populated entirely by happy, flightless birds – or almost entirely. In this paradise, Red (Jason Sudeikis), a bird with a temper problem, speedy Chuck (Josh Gad), and the volatile Bomb (Danny McBride) have always been outsiders. But when the island is visited by mysterious green piggies, it’s up to these unlikely outcasts to figure out what the pigs are up to.
My contribution to the movie was arranging and playing the guitar on the Mighty Eagle song, composed by the lovely Salla Hakkola and sung by the legendary Peter Dinklage, Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad and Danny McBride (and later the Hatchlings). A great thrill and somewhat surreal honour to accompany the one and only Tyrion Lannister with the added bonus of Olaf the Frozen snowman..
Mighty Eagle song in the movie..
Peter Dinklage doing a solo version of the Mighty Eagle Song on the Angry Birds soundtrack.
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Updated Entertainment Job and Internships Listings
August 24, 2018 Administrator ETI - Jobs 0
ETI is committed and dedicated to providing entertainment job and internships listings to anyone who is looking to start a career in entertainment. It is impossible to list all jobs that are available so even if the job description doesn’t match what you are looking for, research the company to see if they are hiring for a position that is perfect for you.
Ability to collaborate cross-functionally with product and engineering.
Senior Scientist, Content Science
https://pandora.com/careers
Collaborate with a mix of tried and true and cutting-edge technologies in a distributed ecosystem.
Senior Software Engineer, Data Infrastructure – Python
https://www.buzzfeed.com/about/jobs
Contribute your Javascript knowledge to add functionality to our applications that get millions of page views a day.
Senior Software Engineer, Front End
Interact with clients to create technology specifications from business requirements for one of the modules within the project.
Razorfish
https://www.sapient.com/en-us/careers
Architect, develop and deploy emails, websites, social, and mobile applications.
Providing guidance to engineering team in identifying product and technical requirements, contributing to functional strategy development.
Senior Engineering Manager
https://jobs.comcast.com/
Advocate for CX Syndication prototypes for Partners and then scale CX solutions based on feasibility and viability.
Employ positive thinking and are able to work constructively in a diverse team setting.
Software Engineer III
Bristol CT
https://jobs.espncareers.com/
Change how we think, act, and utilize our data by performing exploratory and quantitative analytics, data mining, and discovery.
Responsible for all aspects of a large market operation.
Market Engineering Manager
http://iheartmediacareers.com/Pages/default.aspx
Lead the development of both platform- and business-driven, user-facing features.
Senior iOS Engineering Manager, Listverse
https://pandora.com/careers/all
Install, maintain, and repair all broadcast equipment (both studio and transmitter hardware) related to the 8 FM and 3 AM stations in Central Alabama.
Work with the team to help design, setup, and run practical experiments related to large scale long-duration sensing and machine reasoning.
Software Engineer, Depth and Camera
Redmond WA
https://www.facebook.com/careers
Collaborate with the Research team to build recommendation models using Machine Learning.
Santa Clara Valley CA
https://www.apple.com/jobs/us/corporate.html
Write code, and want to work with world-class engineering teams that ship to millions of users, Apple Music is the place for you.
Senior iOS Engineer
Refinery29 appointed Chris Sumner as Senior Vice President, Business Development and Strategy. He previously led business development and operations Greenlight.
FOX News Channel upped Porter Berry to Vice President and Editor-in-Chief of FOX News Digital. He joined the net in 2004 as Associate Producer and most recently served as Executive Producer of Hannity.
Vice hired Naveen Prasad as President of Vice Canada. He last served as Executive Vice President and General Manager of Elevation Pictures.
Ovation announced promotions: Will Marks has been upped to Senior Vice President, Business Development and Digital; Erica Henry to Vice President, Acquisitions, Scheduling and Programming Planning; Edward Forman to Senior Director Ad Sales; Frank Vittori to Vice President, Post Production; and Jessica Yas Barker to Senior Director. In addition, Maritza Berta, formerly of Sony’s Crackle, was hired as Marketing Manager.
ETI is committed and dedicated to providing entertainment job and internships listings to anyone who…
ETI is committed and dedicated to providing entertainment job and internships listings to anyone who is looking to start…
Shortage of true music talent explains why VMAs ratings hit an all-time low
ETI salutes Robin Leach from the show “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous”
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Discuss about the foreign policies
Course:- English
Assignment Help >> English
Foreign policy is always a complex issue with lasting ramifications, but the effects are also more profound for the United States as one of the world's major superpowers. Foreign policy consists of many different agencies and units collaborating together for one purpose. Aside from the President and Congress, the Department of State, Defense, Homeland Security, Central Intelligence Agency, and National and Homeland Security Councils all play a vital role in developing foreign policy (APUS, 2016). With nearly two hundred countries in existence, the role of the intelligence and information gathering agencies should not be surprising as in order to develop policy, factual information about each country and their agenda must be clearly known. In addition, in keeping with many other factors of the United States constitution, there is a clear separation of duties and powers which keeps any one entity from harnessing too much autonomy.
In response to the Arab Spring, all foreign policy stakeholders and tools should be available, such as diplomacy, collective security, economic incentives, intelligence gathering, military deterrence and intervention (APUS, 2016). In order to utilize or implement any of the other tools of foreign policy, intelligence gathering must be a top priority in order to develop which approach would be most successful. While the United States wants to promote democracy across the world, ensuring there are leaders which will also support the U.S. agenda is also important. Many different countries were involved in the Arab Spring, and each must be analyzed and treated differently according to the regional and societal situations (Rushefsky, 2014). The specific foreign policy tools to be implemented ultimately depend on the conditions on the ground such as: What percentage of the population is involved in the uprising? Are elections truly free or are alternate candidates being limited? Is there violence or oppression occurring on either side? To what extent? If the answers are less extreme, diplomacy and collective security would be the primary foreign policy tools needed. Should escalation occur, some form of military intervention could be necessary.
If an election is clearly rigged and limits viable candidates, certain sanctions should be considered. However, military intervention would require significantly more egregious acts. Military intervention without the use of troops on the ground can be slightly more tolerable, but in the existence of extreme humanitarian crisis sometimes a more direct approach is necessary. According to former Presidents Bush and Clinton, the atrocities which occurred in Rwanda warranted stronger military intervention (Rushefsky, 2014). Similarly, the humanitarian crisis in Syria has also invoked a coalition of forces to support the rebels fighting Assad's regime. Ultimately, the clearest sign needed to utilize military intervention is the presence of a mass slaughter of civilian lives on the part of a governmental authority.
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City of Love and History: Venice
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Armenia's MoD reports soldier's death
Mesrop Grigoryan, a contract soldier, was fatally wounded in one of the military units of the Armenian Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has reported.
According to the MoD, the incident occurred on February 11 in a guarded area of the military unit.
Mesrop Grigoryan, 34, died from a gunshot wound. "The circumstances of the death of a contract serviceman are being clarified," Artsrun Ovannisyan, the MoD's press secretary wrote on his Facebook page (as translated by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent).
The "Caucasian Knot" has earlier reported that this January the Armenia's General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) reported that in 2018, 38 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Armenia and the Defence Army of Nagorno-Karabakh perished at their serving; other 25 incidents were not related to the military service.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 11, 2019 at 09:38 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Investigators treat death of Armenian soldier as suicide, Armenia: contract soldier dies from gunshot wound, A soldier dies in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Author: Tigran Petrosyan; Source: CK correspondent
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All news; Conflicts; Incidents; Armenia; South Caucasus
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« Too early to give up immigration reform fight, NY Times says | Main | Regional, youth Farmleighs to follow Global Irish Economic Forum »
President visits Irish in England
By Noreen Bowden | March 2, 2010
President Mary McAleese visited with the Irish community in Britain over the past two days. Her visit included a tour of the 20120 Olympic site in East London, which afforded her an opportunity to talk to the Irish construction workers employed there.
Out of the 9,000 workers on the site, 10% are Irish, according to an RTE report. The president said:
‘This very exciting project is proving very beneficial to Ireland on many levels, first of all, as you know, the construction industry in Ireland has come to a bit of a stand still and there are a lot of people looking for opportunities outside Ireland. Many of them have found those opportunities here, builders, surveyors, project managers, architects and anybody involved in the construction business hoping to get work here.
‘Evidence of the Irish contribution here is all around, the names on many of the hoardings are very very familiar, all associated with the Irish construction sector, I am very proud that 10% of the work force here is Irish. They are involved in everything from lifting the blocks to major architectural projects. That’s very good news. That’s at the construction phase, and then there is the fit out phase.
‘That’s a very important element for us in terms of supplying goods and services. I was talking to one contractor this morning who bringing in cladding from north of Dublin. A good example of work being generated and opportunities being generated back in Ireland thanks to the Oympic site.’
During her visit, Ms McAleese also visited the Irish Centre in Reading. In London, she met the Irish Council for Prisoners Overseas and the Irish Chaplaincy in Britain, as well as the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith.
RTE.ie: McAleese visits London 2012 site
Remarks by President McAleese at a Reception at the Embassy of Ireland, London, 1st March 2010
Remarks by President McAleese to Hammersmith Irish Cultural Centre, 1st March 2010
Remarks by President McAleese to Reading and District Irish Association, Reading, England, 28th February 2010
Topics: Britain, Latest News, UK | No Comments »
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Home » Entities » Robin Cook
Profile: Robin Cook
Positions that Robin Cook has held:
British foreign secretary
“No 10 believed in the intelligence [summarized in the September 24 dossier] because they desperately wanted it to be true. Their sin was not one of bad faith but of evangelical certainty. They selected for inclusion only the scraps of intelligence that fitted the government’s case and gave them an edge that was justifiable. The net result was a gross distortion.” [Cook, 8/2/2004; Independent, 10/6/2003]
Events Leading Up to the 2003 Invasion of Iraq - October 2003 - Robin Cook publishes portions o ...
“Tony was far too clever to allege that there was a real link between Saddam and Al-Qaeda. But he deliberately crafted a suggestive phrasing which in the minds of many viewers must have created an impression, and was designed to create the impression, that British troops were going to Iraq to fight a threat from Al-Qaeda.” [Cook, 8/2/2004; Sunday Times (London), 10/5/2003]
“The latest report by Hans Blix registers a lot of progress in co-operation from Iraq, fails to identify any evidence of weapons of mass destruction and expresses confidence that, with time, more progress can be made. Far from being welcome news to Tony, this will be his nightmare come true. The truth is that he does not want the UN inspections to work. He needs them in order to prove that Saddam will not co-operate and that he is therefore justified in going to war as Sancho Panza to George Bush’s Don Quixote.” [Cook, 8/2/2004; Independent, 10/6/2003]
“The most revealing exchange came when we talked about Saddam’s arsenal. I told him [Tony Blair], ‘It’s clear from the private briefing I have had that Saddam has no weapons of mass destruction in a sense of weapons that could strike at strategic cities. But he probably does have several thousand battlefield chemical munitions. Do you never worry that he might use them against British troops?’” [Cook, 8/2/2004; Sunday Times (London), 10/5/2003]
Late May 2003
“Chemical and biological weapons have a limited shelf life. All the materials that Saddam had in 1991 (at the end of the gulf war) would have degraded to the point of being useless long before 2003, whether or not he had destroyed them.” [Newsweek, 5/30/2003]
Events Leading Up to the 2003 Invasion of Iraq - 1998 - Experts report that Iraq has failed to ...
“When they looked at intelligence, they weren’t looking at intelligence to try to get a balanced judgment, a guide to policy, out of it, they were looking to intelligence to support a conclusion they had already come to—which is that they were going to go to war.” [New York Times, 6/9/2003]
Events Leading Up to the 2003 Invasion of Iraq - September 11, 2001-March 17, 2003 - In the mon ...
“I was surpised that there was so little new material in it [the September 2002 British Dossier on Iraq]. There is no new evidence that I could find of a dramatic increase in threat requiring urgent invasion.” [Cook, 8/2/2004; Sunday Times (London), 10/5/2003]
Robin Cook was a participant or observer in the following events:
1988: ’Al-Qaeda’ Possibly the Name of a Computer Database
Robin Cook, British Foreign Secretary from 1997 to 2003, will later say that “al-Qaeda” was originally the name of a database. In a 2005 article, Cook will write that bin Laden was “a product of a monumental miscalculation by western security agencies. Throughout the ‘80s he was armed by the CIA and funded by the Saudis to wage jihad against the Russian occupation of Afghanistan. Al-Qaeda, literally ‘the database,’ was originally the computer file of the thousands of mujaheddin who were recruited and trained with help from the CIA to defeat the Russians.” Cook will give no explanation as to how he might know this. [Guardian, 7/8/2005] Al-Qaeda the organization will be founded in 1988 (see August 11-20, 1988).
Entity Tags: Robin Cook, Al-Qaeda, Central Intelligence Agency
February 28, 2002: British Cabinet Reminds Members that Middle East Considers Israel, Not Iraq, Biggest Threat to Peace
During a British cabinet meeting, Home Secretary David Blunkett initiates a discussion about Iraq. During the discussion, British Foreign Minister Robin Cook mentions that most of the Arab world considers Ariel Sharon, rather than Saddam Hussein, to be the largest threat to peace in the Middle East. Describing the subsequent reaction to his comments, Cook later writes in his diary: “Somewhat to my surprise this line provides a round of ‘hear, hearing’ from colleagues, which is the nearest I heard to mutiny in the cabinet.” [Sunday Times (London), 10/5/2003; Guardian, 10/6/2003; Independent, 10/6/2003; Cook, 8/2/2004] During the meeting, Patricia Hewitt, the Trade and Industry Secretary, says “We are in danger of being seen as close to President Bush, but without any influence over President Bush.” [Independent, 10/6/2003; Cook, 8/2/2004]
Entity Tags: Patricia Hewitt, Robin Cook, David Blunkett
Timeline Tags: Events Leading to Iraq Invasion
February 20, 2003: British Intelligence Briefing Indicates Saddam Probably Does Not Have WMDs
British Foreign Minister Robin Cook is personally given an intelligence briefing by John Scarlett, head of the British joint intelligence committee. Cook later says in his diary that Scarlett’s summary was “shorn of the political slant with which No. 10 encumbers any intelligence assessment.” After the meeting with Scarlett, Cook concludes that “Saddam probably does not have weapons of mass destruction in the sense of weapons that could be used against large-scale civilian targets.” [Sunday Times (London), 10/5/2003; Guardian, 10/6/2003; Cook, 8/2/2004]
Entity Tags: Robin Cook, John Scarlett
March 2003: Robin Cook: Blair Delayed War in Iraq by Several Months
According to Robin Cook, Tony Blair says, “Left to himself, Bush would have gone to war in January. No, not January, but back in September.” [Independent, 10/6/2003; Cook, 8/2/2004]
Entity Tags: Robin Cook
March 5, 2003: British Prime Minister Blair Seems to Agree with Robin Cook that Iraq Unlikely to Use WMD against US
Leader of House of Commons Robin Cook meets with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and has the “most revealing” discussion about Saddam Hussein’s alleged weapons arsenal. During the exchange Blair essentially acknowledges that Saddam does not have weapons of mass destruction that could be used against his enemies like the US or Britain. [Sunday Times (London), 10/5/2003] Cook says to Blair: “It’s clear from the private briefing I have had that Saddam has no weapons of mass destruction in a sense of weapons that could strike at strategic cities. But he probably does have several thousand battlefield chemical munitions. Do you never worry that he might use them against British troops?” Blair responds, “Yes, but all the effort he has had to put into concealment makes it difficult for him to assemble them quickly for use.” [Sunday Times (London), 10/5/2003; Cook, 8/2/2004]
Entity Tags: John Scarlett, Robin Cook, Tony Blair
March 17-18, 2003: House of Commons Leader Resigns Post in Protest of Iraq Invasion
Robin Cook. [Source: BBC]House of Commons leader and former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook resigns from British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s cabinet, in protest over the imminent invasion of Iraq. Cook announces his decision as the cabinet holds an emergency meeting at Downing Street. Cook says after his resignation is announced: “It is with regret I have today resigned from the cabinet. I can’t accept collective responsibility for the decision to commit Britain now to military action in Iraq without international agreement or domestic support.” Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett says she respects Cook’s decision to resign, and that everyone in the cabinet, including Blair himself, has anxieties about the upcoming invasion. However, Beckett says, “[N]one of the rest of us feel that they are enough to make us judge that the government is doing the wrong thing.” [BBC, 3/17/2003]
Resignation Speech - Cook retains his seat in the House of Commons. In his resignation speech to the House, Cook says in part, “I cannot support a war without international agreement or domestic support.” France, Russia, and Germany, who are battling to give UN inspectors more time to operate inside Iraq, cannot be blamed for stirring up what Cook calls “the degree of international hostility” towards the invasion. “The reality is that Britain is being asked to embark on a war without agreement in any of the international bodies of which we are a leading partner—not NATO, not the European Union and, now, not the [UN] Security Council. To end up in such diplomatic weakness is a serious reverse.” Unlike the US, Britain cannot “afford to go it alone” in the international community. “Our interests are best protected not by unilateral action but by multilateral agreement and a world order governed by rules,” he says. “Yet tonight the international partnerships most important to us are weakened: the European Union is divided; the Security Council is in stalemate. Those are heavy casualties of a war in which a shot has yet to be fired.”
Containment Worked - For himself, Cook says: “For four years as foreign secretary I was partly responsible for the western strategy of containment [of Saddam Hussein and Iraq]. Over the past decade that strategy destroyed more weapons than in the Gulf war, dismantled Iraq’s nuclear weapons program and halted Saddam’s medium and long-range missiles programs. Iraq’s military strength is now less than half its size than at the time of the last Gulf war. Ironically, it is only because Iraq’s military forces are so weak that we can even contemplate its invasion.”
If Iraq Is a Danger, Why Would an Invasion Be So Easy? - It would be a mistake to assume that an invasion will be an easy and relatively bloodless affair: “Some advocates of conflict claim that Saddam’s forces are so weak, so demoralized and so badly equipped that the war will be over in a few days. We cannot base our military strategy on the assumption that Saddam is weak and at the same time justify pre-emptive action on the claim that he is a threat.”
No Weapons of Mass Destruction - “Iraq probably has no weapons of mass destruction in the commonly understood sense of the term,” Cook says, “namely a credible device capable of being delivered against a strategic city target. It probably still has biological toxins and battlefield chemical munitions, but it has had them since the 1980s when US companies sold Saddam anthrax agents and the then British government approved chemical and munitions factories. Why is it now so urgent that we should take military action to disarm a military capacity that has been there for 20 years, and which we helped to create? Why is it necessary to resort to war this week, while Saddam’s ambition to complete his weapons program is blocked by the presence of UN inspectors?”
Comparing Iraq to Israel - Some have said Iraq has had 12 years to comply with UN resolutions demanding disarmament, Cook notes, but goes on to say that Israel has had over 30 years to comply with UN resolutions demanding its withdrawal from Palestinian territories, and has not yet done so. “We do not express the same impatience with the persistent refusal of Israel to comply,” he says. “Britain’s positive role in the Middle East does not redress the strong sense of injustice throughout the Muslim world at what it sees as one rule for the allies of the US and another rule for the rest. Nor is our credibility helped by the appearance that our partners in Washington are less interested in disarmament than they are in regime change in Iraq. That explains why any evidence that inspections may be showing progress is greeted in Washington not with satisfaction but with consternation: it reduces the case for war.”
Different Outcome under President Gore - Cook says, “What has come to trouble me most over past weeks is the suspicion that if the hanging chads in Florida had gone the other way and [2000 US presidential candidate] Al Gore had been elected, we would not now be about to commit British troops.”
Conclusion - “The longer that I have served in this place, the greater the respect I have for the good sense and collective wisdom of the British people,” Cook says. “On Iraq, I believe that the prevailing mood of the British people is sound. They do not doubt that Saddam is a brutal dictator, but they are not persuaded that he is a clear and present danger to Britain. They want inspections to be given a chance, and they suspect that they are being pushed too quickly into conflict by a US administration with an agenda of its own. Above all, they are uneasy at Britain going out on a limb on a military adventure without a broader international coalition and against the hostility of many of our traditional allies.” Cook is troubled that the House of Commons has never voted on whether or not to commit troops to Iraq, and he calls on Parliament to “stop the commitment of troops in a war that has neither international agreement nor domestic support.” [BBC, 3/18/2003]
Entity Tags: Robin Cook, Tony Blair, United Nations Security Council, Margaret Beckett, United Nations
May 30, 2003: Wolfowitz: WMD Used to Justify War because ‘Everyone Could Agree on’ It as a Rationale
In the upcoming issue of Vanity Fair, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz admits that the Bush administration chose the issue of Iraqi WMD as its primary justification for war, not because it was necessarily a legitimate concern, but because it was, in the words of reporter David Usbourne, “politically convenient.” Wolfowitz also acknowledges that another justification played a strong part in the decision to invade: the prospect of the US being able to withdraw all of its forces from Saudi Arabia (see August 7, 1990) once Saddam Hussein’s regime was overthrown. “Just lifting that burden from the Saudis is itself going to the door” towards making progress elsewhere in achieving Middle East peace, says Wolfowitz. The presence of US forces in Saudi Arabia has been one of the main grievances of al-Qaeda and other Islamist groups. The most controversial statement by Wolfowitz is his acknowledgement that, “For bureaucratic reasons we settled on one issue, weapons of mass destruction, because it was the one reason everyone could agree on.” Usbourne writes, “The comments suggest that, even for the US administration, the logic that was presented for going to war may have been an empty shell.” He notes that finding a rationale for attacking Iraq that was “acceptable to everyone” may refer to Secretary of State Colin Powell, the most prominent Cabinet member to vocally, if privately, oppose the invasion. Powell relied on the WMD issue in his February presentation to the UN Security Council (see February 5, 2003), which many consider to be a key element in the administration’s effort to convince the American citizenry that the invasion was necessary and justified. [Independent, 5/30/2003]
Democrats: WMD Scare 'Hyped' by Administration - Many Congressional Democrats echo the sentiments of Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE), who says of the administration’s push for war: “I do think that we hyped nuclear, we hyped al-Qaeda, we hyped the ability to disperse and use these weapons. I think that tends to be done by all presidents when they are trying to accomplish a goal that they want to get broad national support for.… I think a lot of the hype here is a serious, serious, serious mistake and it hurts our credibility.” [Washington Times, 5/30/2003]
British Official: Clear That Rationale for War Was False - Former British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, who quit as leader of the House of Commons to protest the war, says he never believed Iraq had the WMD claimed by US and British government officials. “The war was sold on the basis of what was described as a pre-emptive strike, ‘Hit Saddam before he hits us,’” he says. “It is now quite clear that Saddam did not have anything with which to hit us in the first place.” Former Danish Foreign Minister Niels Helveg Petersen says he is shocked by Wolfowitz’s claim. “It leaves the world with one question: What should we believe?” he says. [Associated Press, 5/30/2003]
Wolfowitz Claims Misquoting - After the initial reports of the interview and the resulting storm of controversy and recriminations, Wolfowitz and his defenders will claim that Vanity Fair reporter Sam Tanenhaus misquoted his words and took his statements out of context (see June 1-9, 2003).
Press Official: Selection of WMD as Primary Focus a 'Marketing Choice' - In 2008, current deputy press secretary Scott McClellan will write, “So the decision to downplay the democratic vision as a motive for war was basically a marketing choice.” Reflecting on this choice, he will add: “Every president wants to achieve greatness but few do. As I have heard [President] Bush say, only a wartime president is likely to achieve greatness, in part because the epochal upheavals of war provide the opportunity for transformative change of the kind Bush hoped to achieve. In Iraq, Bush saw his opportunity to create a legacy of greatness. Intoxicated by the influence and power of America, Bush believed that a successful transformation of Iraq could be the linchpin for realizing his dream of a free Middle East. But there was a problem here, which has become obvious to me only in retrospect—a disconnect between the president’s most heartfelt objective in going to war and the publicly stated rationale for that war. Bush and his advisers knew that the American people would almost certainly not support a war launched primarily for the ambitious purpose of transforming the Middle East.” [McClellan, 2008, pp. 131-133]
Entity Tags: Vanity Fair, Paul Wolfowitz, Robin Cook, Bush administration (43), Colin Powell, David Usbourne, Joseph Biden, Niels Helveg Petersen, Sam Tanenhaus, Scott McClellan
October 2003: Former British Foreign Minister Robin Cook Reveals Deception by Prime Minister Blair over Iraqi WMDs
Robin Cook (see March 17-18, 2003) publishes portions of a diary he had kept when he was Tony Blair’s foreign minister. The published memoirs reveal—among other things—that Blair had intentionally misled the British population. [Sunday Times (London), 10/5/2003; Guardian, 10/6/2003; Cook, 8/2/2004] The diary reveals how before the war intelligence provided to Cook by British intelligence chief John Scarlett indicated that Saddam Hussein probably did not have weapons of mass destruction that could be used to attack the US or Britain. [Sunday Times (London), 10/5/2003; Guardian, 10/6/2003; Cook, 8/2/2004] Cook’s entries also show that before the war, Blair did not believe that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction that could be used to attack the US or Britain. [Sunday Times (London), 10/5/2003; Guardian, 10/6/2003; Cook, 8/2/2004] Additionally, the diary shows that Tony Blair ignored the “large number of ministers who spoke up against the war.” He says that the officials in the foreign ministry were consistently opposed to the invasion of Iraq. [Sunday Times (London), 10/5/2003; Cook, 8/2/2004]
Entity Tags: Robin Cook, Tony Blair, John Scarlett
Late May 2005: Bush Administration Criticized for Its Nuclear Stance at Review Conference
The 2005 NPT Review Conference, held once every five years to review and extend the implementation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (see July 1, 1968), is an unusually contentious affair, and the US is at the center of the imbroglio. After the 2000 NPT Review Conference (see Late May, 2000), the US, under George W. Bush, refused to join in calls to implement the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT—see September 10, 1996). The US’s recalcitrance is, if anything, magnified five years later. Many representatives of the NPT signatories focus their ire upon the US, even though two signatories, Iran and North Korea, are, in author J. Peter Scoblic’s words, “violating either the spirit or the letter of the treaty” in developing their own nuclear weapons. Other nations send their foreign ministers to the conference, and in turn the US could have been expected to send Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. (In 1995 and 2000, the US had sent, respectively, Vice President Al Gore and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to represent the US.) Instead, the US sends State Department functionary Stephen Rademaker. Not only is Rademaker’s lesser rank a studied insult to the conference, Rademaker himself is an ardent conservative and a protege of arms control opponent John Bolton. Rademaker enters the conference prepared to use the forum to browbeat Iran and North Korea; instead, he finds himself defending the US’s intransigence regarding the CTBT. The New Agenda Coalition, made up of Brazil, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, South Africa, Sweden, and New Zealand—all allies of the US—focuses on “the troubling development that some nuclear-weapon states are researching or even planning to develop new or significantly modify existing warheads,” a Bush administration priority (see May 1, 2001 and December 13, 2001). “These actions have the potential to create the conditions for a new nuclear arms race.” Even Japan, usually a solid US ally, says that all nuclear-armed states should take “further steps toward nuclear disarmament.” Canada, the closest of US allies both in policy and geography, is more blunt, with its representative saying, “If governments simply ignore or discard commitments whenever they prove inconvenient, we will never build an edifice of international cooperation and confidence in the security realm.” And outside the conference, former British Foreign Minister Robin Cook lambasts the US in an op-ed entitled “America’s Broken Unclear Promises Endanger Us All,” blasting the Bush administration for its belief that “obligations under the nonproliferation treaty are mandatory for other nations and voluntary for the US.” For his part, Rademaker says just before the conference, “We are not approaching this review conference from the cynical perspective of, we are going to toss a few crumbs to the rest of the world, and, by doing that, try to buy goodwill or bribe countries into agreeing to the agenda that we think they should focus on rather than some other agenda.” In 2008, Scoblic will interpret Rademaker’s statement: “In other words, the administration was not going to engage in diplomacy even if it would encourage other states to see things our way—which only meant that it was quite certain they never would.” [United Nations, 5/2005; Scoblic, 2008, pp. 277-280]
Entity Tags: J. Peter Scoblic, Bush administration (43), George W. Bush, Robin Cook, Stephen Rademaker, US Department of State, Madeleine Albright
Timeline Tags: US International Relations
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Friday Harbor man charged with domestic violence and strangulation
Tue Feb 12th, 2019 1:30am
James Rockford Desermeaux, 25, of Friday Harbor has been charged with one count of assault in the second degree – strangulation, interfering with a report of domestic violence and malicious mischief in the third degree – domestic violence.
According to documents filed on Jan. 25 in San Juan County Superior Court, Desermeaux and the victim were at the victim’s house when Desermeaux reportedly “went into a rage.”
He allegedly began pounding the wall, threw a plastic trash can at the victim and then pushed her backward while she was seated in a chair. The victim fell back with enough force that her head hit the floor and her glasses flew off.
Desermeaux then allegedly got on top of the victim, wrapped his hands around her neck and strangled her. The victim stated that she could not breathe and could feel her airway being cut off. According to court documents, the victim thought she was going to die. She continued to push Desermaux away, and he ultimately let go and went into the bathroom.
The victim said she tried to call 911 but her phone was shattered and inoperable after the reported struggle. The victim then left the residence and drove to a friend’s house, and the two of them went to the sheriff’s office to make a report.
According to the determination for probable cause, the deputy observed the victim’s injuries as an open wound on her back, red bruising on her biceps, scratches on her leg with dried blood and red marks on her neck. The cellphone, valued at approximately $595, had a shattered screen and was not working, the probable cause statement explained.
Desermeaux’s arraignment was on Feb. 4. An omnibus hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on March 4, a readiness hearing is on April 8, a pre-trial conference is set for April 22 and a jury trial is set to begin on April 23.
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Samurai William: The Adventurer Who Unlocked Japan – Book Review
Ever since I read the James Clavell novel Shogun and subsequently watched the TV mini-series, I’ve had a strong interest in the real man these works were based on. And while fiction takes a lot of license with the true-life story, there are plenty of interesting similarities between William Adams and the man known as Anjin-san in Clavell’s book.
Who was William Adams?
While the Spanish and Portuguese had already made a foothold on Japan, the English and Dutch were yet to visit this far away, strange land. And as with most terra incognita in the age of discovery, Japan – at least to the English – was a wild and unknown place where reportedly the streets were paved with silver and their buildings covered in solid gold. Sadly, as with most Timbuktu tales, the reality of Japan was quite different.
After a long an dangerous voyage that saw the destruction of four of the five Dutch ships, Adams (who served as a pilot or navigator for the Dutch) finally disembarked his vessel in the Spring of 1600. And while the streets were not paved in silver, Adams was taken back by the structured and highly cultured society of the Japanese.
You can imagine a person coming from a society that blamed bathing for causing disease and seeing the clean and extremely organized Japanese for the first time.
Adams himself had no opportunity to record his first impressions, but most newcomers to Japan were left feeling that they were distinctly under-dressed in comparison to the Japanese.
With just 9 crew members left alive Adams was met on shore by the locals and a Jesuit priest who claimed that Adams and his crew were pirates and thus they should be crucified.
While things didn’t go well after that, with Adam’s ship and goods being seized and the crew thrown into prison, it was through the piqued interest of one man that Adams would eventually become one of the greatest and most respected Englishmen of Japan.
Adams & Tokugawa Ieyasu
While Tokugawa Ieyasu may have been a fearsome warrior and the powerful Shogun of all Japan, he also possessed a keen interest in the world and was passionate about learning. When Ieyasu heard about these new and extremely smelly visitors to Japan he was keenly interested in meeting them. So he invited Adams to attend to him.
To be granted an audience with Ieyasu was the greatest honor for Adams. Only the richest and most powerful officials were received, and all the lesser mortals had to speak with his advisors.
Ieyasu must have been impressed with Adams as he met with him several times, often questioning him late into the night. The Shogun must have been spellbound by his English guest and delighted with his answers. To show his appreciation Ieyasu would permit a personal audience anytime that Adams was in Osaka, which was something that even the most powerful diamyo would not be guaranteed.
Thus Adams was well on his way to becoming the first white samurai.
Adam’s Future
The book continues with the introduction of more English traders to Japan of where Adams was an indispensable aid to forging good relations with the Japanese. By this time Adams was fluent with the language and had been made hatamoto (bannerman) to the Shogun. This was a very prestigious position and no doubt helped the English establish creditability with the Shogun.
While life was enjoyable for the English in Japan, dark clouds were on the horizon for all foreigners in Japan. Is wasn’t long before the Spanish priests caused much offense with their posturing and defiance of Japanese protocols. Although showing remarkable tolerance to the Jesuits and Franciscans, the Shogun was becoming increasingly incensed at their haughty arrogance and lack of loyalty.
Thus began the Catholic persecution which eventually lead to war, mass executions and the beginning of the sakoku – the closed country period in Japan. It would be some 200 years before an Englishman would set foot in Japan again.
Samurai William is a great read. Whether your’re interested in this famous English samurai or not, the book contains plenty of detail of what Japan was like during those early days of discovery.
The book can be purchased from Amazon sellers for around $6.00.
Book Review: Japan’s World Heritage Sites
Book Review: A Geek in Japan
Japan Craft: Hat Making Book Review
Book Review: NHK Marutoku Magazine
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Back to Article Listing Public Acts Search Guide Disclaimer Printer-Friendly Version
Information maintained by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Updating the database of the Illinois Compiled Statutes (ILCS) is an ongoing process. Recent laws may not yet be included in the ILCS database, but they are found on this site as Public Acts soon after they become law. For information concerning the relationship between statutes and Public Acts, refer to the Guide.
Because the statute database is maintained primarily for legislative drafting purposes, statutory changes are sometimes included in the statute database before they take effect. If the source note at the end of a Section of the statutes includes a Public Act that has not yet taken effect, the version of the law that is currently in effect may have already been removed from the database and you should refer to that Public Act to see the changes made to the current law.
(720 ILCS 5/) Criminal Code of 2012.
720 ILCS 5/Art. 6
(720 ILCS 5/Art. 6 heading) ARTICLE 6. RESPONSIBILITY
720 ILCS 5/6-1
(720 ILCS 5/6-1) (from Ch. 38, par. 6-1)
Sec. 6-1. Infancy.
No person shall be convicted of any offense unless he had attained his 13th birthday at the time the offense was committed.
(Source: Laws 1961, p. 1983.)
Sec. 6-2. Insanity.
(a) A person is not criminally responsible for conduct if at the time of such conduct, as a result of mental disease or mental defect, he lacks substantial capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct.
(b) The terms "mental disease or mental defect" do not include an abnormality manifested only by repeated criminal or otherwise antisocial conduct.
(c) A person who, at the time of the commission of a criminal offense, was not insane but was suffering from a mental illness, is not relieved of criminal responsibility for his conduct and may be found guilty but mentally ill.
(d) For purposes of this Section, "mental illness" or "mentally ill" means a substantial disorder of thought, mood, or behavior which afflicted a person at the time of the commission of the offense and which impaired that person's judgment, but not to the extent that he is unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of his behavior.
(e) When the defense of insanity has been presented during the trial, the burden of proof is on the defendant to prove by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant is not guilty by reason of insanity. However, the burden of proof remains on the State to prove beyond a reasonable doubt each of the elements of each of the offenses charged, and, in a jury trial where the insanity defense has been presented, the jury must be instructed that it may not consider whether the defendant has met his burden of proving that he is not guilty by reason of insanity until and unless it has first determined that the State has proven the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the offense with which he is charged.
(Source: P.A. 89-404, eff. 8-20-95; 90-593, eff. 6-19-98.)
Sec. 6-3. Intoxicated or drugged condition. A person who is in an intoxicated or drugged condition is criminally responsible for conduct unless such condition is involuntarily produced and deprives him of substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law.
(Source: P.A. 92-466, eff. 1-1-02.)
Sec. 6-4. Affirmative Defense. A defense based upon any of the provisions of Article 6 is an affirmative defense except that mental illness is not an affirmative defense, but an alternative plea or finding that may be accepted, under appropriate evidence, when the affirmative defense of insanity is raised or the plea of guilty but mentally ill is made.
(Source: P.A. 82-553.)
(720 ILCS 5/Art. 7 heading) ARTICLE 7. JUSTIFIABLE USE OF FORCE; EXONERATION
Sec. 7-1. Use of force in defense of person.
(a) A person is justified in the use of force against another when and to the extent that he reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend himself or another against such other's imminent use of unlawful force. However, he is justified in the use of force which is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm only if he reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or another, or the commission of a forcible felony.
(b) In no case shall any act involving the use of force justified under this Section give rise to any claim or liability brought by or on behalf of any person acting within the definition of "aggressor" set forth in Section 7-4 of this Article, or the estate, spouse, or other family member of such a person, against the person or estate of the person using such justified force, unless the use of force involves willful or wanton misconduct.
(Source: P.A. 93-832, eff. 7-28-04.)
Sec. 7-2. Use of force in defense of dwelling.
(a) A person is justified in the use of force against another when and to the extent that he reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to prevent or terminate such other's unlawful entry into or attack upon a dwelling. However, he is justified in the use of force which is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm only if:
(1) The entry is made or attempted in a violent,
riotous, or tumultuous manner, and he reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent an assault upon, or offer of personal violence to, him or another then in the dwelling, or
(2) He reasonably believes that such force is
necessary to prevent the commission of a felony in the dwelling.
Sec. 7-3. Use of force in defense of other property.
(a) A person is justified in the use of force against another when and to the extent that he reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to prevent or terminate such other's trespass on or other tortious or criminal interference with either real property (other than a dwelling) or personal property, lawfully in his possession or in the possession of another who is a member of his immediate family or household or of a person whose property he has a legal duty to protect. However, he is justified in the use of force which is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm only if he reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.
Sec. 7-4. Use of force by aggressor. The justification described in the preceding Sections of this Article is not available to a person who:
(a) is attempting to commit, committing, or escaping
after the commission of, a forcible felony; or
(b) initially provokes the use of force against
himself, with the intent to use such force as an excuse to inflict bodily harm upon the assailant; or
(c) otherwise initially provokes the use of force
against himself, unless:
(1) such force is so great that he reasonably
believes that he is in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm, and that he has exhausted every reasonable means to escape such danger other than the use of force which is likely to cause death or great bodily harm to the assailant; or
(2) in good faith, he withdraws from physical
contact with the assailant and indicates clearly to the assailant that he desires to withdraw and terminate the use of force, but the assailant continues or resumes the use of force.
Sec. 7-5. Peace officer's use of force in making arrest. (a) A peace officer, or any person whom he has summoned or directed to assist him, need not retreat or desist from efforts to make a lawful arrest because of resistance or threatened resistance to the arrest. He is justified in the use of any force which he reasonably believes to be necessary to effect the arrest and of any force which he reasonably believes to be necessary to defend himself or another from bodily harm while making the arrest. However, he is justified in using force likely to cause death or great bodily harm only when he reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or such other person, or when he reasonably believes both that:
(1) Such force is necessary to prevent the arrest from being defeated by resistance or escape; and
(2) The person to be arrested has committed or attempted a forcible felony which involves the infliction or threatened infliction of great bodily harm or is attempting to escape by use of a deadly weapon, or otherwise indicates that he will endanger human life or inflict great bodily harm unless arrested without delay.
(b) A peace officer making an arrest pursuant to an invalid warrant is justified in the use of any force which he would be justified in using if the warrant were valid, unless he knows that the warrant is invalid.
(Source: P.A. 84-1426.)
720 ILCS 5/7-5.5
(720 ILCS 5/7-5.5)
Sec. 7-5.5. Prohibited use of force by a peace officer.
(a) A peace officer shall not use a chokehold in the performance of his or her duties, unless deadly force is justified under Article 7 of this Code.
(b) A peace officer shall not use a chokehold, or any lesser contact with the throat or neck area of another, in order to prevent the destruction of evidence by ingestion.
(c) As used in this Section, "chokehold" means applying any direct pressure to the throat, windpipe, or airway of another with the intent to reduce or prevent the intake of air. "Chokehold" does not include any holding involving contact with the neck that is not intended to reduce the intake of air.
(Source: P.A. 99-352, eff. 1-1-16; 99-642, eff. 7-28-16.)
Sec. 7-6. Private person's use of force in making arrest.
(a) A private person who makes, or assists another private person in making a lawful arrest is justified in the use of any force which he would be justified in using if he were summoned or directed by a peace officer to make such arrest, except that he is justified in the use of force likely to cause death or great bodily harm only when he reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or another.
(b) A private person who is summoned or directed by a peace officer to assist in making an arrest which is unlawful, is justified in the use of any force which he would be justified in using if the arrest were lawful, unless he knows that the arrest is unlawful.
Sec. 7-7. Private person's use of force in resisting arrest. A person is not authorized to use force to resist an arrest which he knows is being made either by a peace officer or by a private person summoned and directed by a peace officer to make the arrest, even if he believes that the arrest is unlawful and the arrest in fact is unlawful.
Sec. 7-8. Force likely to cause death or great bodily harm.
(a) Force which is likely to cause death or great bodily harm, within the meaning of Sections 7-5 and 7-6 includes:
(1) The firing of a firearm in the direction of the
person to be arrested, even though no intent exists to kill or inflict great bodily harm; and
(2) The firing of a firearm at a vehicle in which the
person to be arrested is riding.
(b) A peace officer's discharge of a firearm using ammunition designed to disable or control an individual without creating the likelihood of death or great bodily harm shall not be considered force likely to cause death or great bodily harm within the meaning of Sections 7-5 and 7-6.
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JET objects to Govt's handling of Port Royal cruise port project 10:30 am
Report blasts Spalding market shops
Ministry document says structures poorly built
BY BALFORD HENRY Observer senior reporter balfordh@jamaicaobserver.com
VENDORS outside the Spalding Market in Clarendon may have had good reason to welcome the wooden shops built by contractor John Bryant to escape the elements and the police. But, according to the much-ignored Ministry of Local Government and Community Development investigations, they provide little more than shade, at $5,000 a month.
According to the Internal Report based on internal investigations into the operations of the market and other projects between January 2010 and April 2013, and the role of the Clarendon Parish Council, commissioned by Local Government Minister Noel Arscott:
"The shops do not have the capacity for strength and stability and, as such, cannot resist strong wind forces as a consequence to how (sic) they have been constructed".
The report, based on the investigations of the ministry's Technical Services and Major Projects Unit, also states that:
"The materials used were not adequately protected from climatic conditions, the workmanship was of poor quality and the construction appeared patchy and unintentional.
"It was evident that there was no proper supervision of the shop construction. The choice of materials appears to have been based on what was readily available to the builder. The roofing material, such as the ridge caps, edge caps and decra metal sheets, did not have a harmonious colour scheme.
"Shops that were comprised of grooved plywood had a higher initial construction cost, but the grooved plywood showed a lower rate of depreciation when compared with the form plywood construction.
"It, however, appears that there was an intended figure for the shops. The estimates show a consistent reduction in the cost of construction, which was mainly due to the cheapening of the construction process where the use of grooved plywood was gradually eliminated.
"The shop units were poorly and cheaply constructed. The poor quality in construction of the units could be due to a lack of specifications, detailed drawings and a lack of proper supervision.
"The lack of necessary details and supervision may be related to improper procedures in the preparation and implementation of the market shops' construction," the report said.
These findings obviously required some explanation from the contractor, John Bryant, who was interviewed by the team on April 15, 2013.
Bryant explained that he had been a registered contractor since the 1990s, and was a Grade IV contractor in the area of construction, registered with the National Contracts Commission.
He told the team that:
"Persons in Spalding had communicated to him that they were having difficulty with the police while vending on the streets, and there was the need for shops. He indicated to them that he would speak to the Hon Richard Azan, Member of Parliament for North West Clarendon.
"He thereafter raised the idea of the temporary shops with MP Azan, during the opening ceremony for the Spalding Market, and the MP had indicated to him that he would discuss the idea with the Council. It is of note that on the day of the opening of the market, model shops were available for viewing and hence this reported statement appears inaccurate.
"He went ahead and constructed 10 shops (3 duplex and 1 quad) without the knowledge or approval of the MP or Council. The 10 shops so constructed were valued at $1.8m;
"He is of the opinion that although the construction of the shops took place with the knowledge of the Council's Management, Council must have been aware as officers were always passing through;
"A woman by the name of Bridgette (from MP, Mr Azan's constituency office) was asked to oversee the selection of persons for rental of the temporary shops and for collecting the rental. Bridgette was then to remit the money to him. The arrangement was that Bridgette would telephone him and request that he collect the money.
"He admitted to making two mistakes, namely, constructing the shops without the approval of the Council and renting the said shops;
"Rental monies amounting to $213,000 collected was turned over to the Council and this represented all the monies collected;
"He stated that the shops were made of T4 ply and with proper care will last in excess of two years;
"He stated that he became acquainted with the MP only during the works carried out by him at the Spalding Market;
"He indicated that even though it is not what is preferred, if it is required, he is prepared to cut his losses since he accepts that the shops were built without the requisite approval of the Council."
Minister Azan was interviewed on Tuesday, May 14, 2013 and submitted the following responses to the team:
"Discussion was held between himself and Mayor Barnswell concerning vendors plying their goods (haberdashery items) on the streets and the need to build shops to accommodate said vendors. In the discussion the mayor had indicated the inability of the Council to finance the proposed venture;
"The contractor, Mr Bryant, raised the question of the shops with him and he indicated to Mr Bryant that he had discussions with Mayor Barnswell.
"On return to Spalding on the 4th September 2012, the contractor had presented to him a model shop which he suggested could be used. He telephoned Mayor Barnswell later that night and indicated that all was looking good.
"On the 5th of September, 2012 discussions were held with the Council and Contractor Bryant at the Spalding Market, in respect to the use of a joint venture approach (Council/Contractor Bryant) to be used to construct the temporary shops, also on the 5th of September, 2012 the haberdashery vendors plying their wares on the streets sought audience with Hon Mr Azan and indicated that they were given a deadline to be off the streets and indicated a willingness to occupy and pay a fee of $5,000 per month for the shops.
He stated that following questions from the vendors as to where they could do the registration, he gave permission for his Constituency Office to be used as a temporary facility for the registration of vendors interested in occupying the temporary shops.
"The Hon Mr Azan, MP stated that the potential vendors for the temporary shops to be constructed had selected the Secretary at his constituency office to oversee the registration process and to temporarily collect the rental fee;
"He stated that the Hon Prime Minister, who was at the opening ceremony of the Spalding Market on the 5th of September, 2012, had suggested that there should be a two weeks' grace period for vendors in respect of the payment of market fees:
"He stated that a meeting was held at the office of the CPC on the 20th of September, 2012 to discuss the matter of the Spalding market. The meeting was held, among other things, to discuss a proposal prepared by the CSM having to do with the staffing of the Spalding Market. The CSM was not present at that meeting. He left the meeting thinking that the Council would assume full control of the shops and it was not until he received a call from the Gleaner that he realised that people were still paying rent.
"He categorically stated that at no time did he instruct Mr Bryant to construct the shops. In discussions with Mr Bryant, he indicated that he would have discussions with the Mayor and then get back to him. The Mayor had indicated to him that it was not a bad idea but the Contractor went ahead and built the shops without approval", the report said.
Jamaica U-23 footballers begin quest for 2020 Japan Olympics today
Pandey, Pandya condemn hosts to series defeat
Esher, Sandy Bay United hunt sole leadership in Hanover FA Major League
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JOHN LYZENGA RELEASES ‘IN TROUBLED TIMES’ A WORSHIP ALBUM CONFRONTING ISSUES OF SOCIAL JUSTICE
Download Press Packet
BERKELEY, CA., Jan. 25, 2019 — Innovative songwriter and worship leader, John Lyzenga, is pleased to announce the release of IN TROUBLED TIMES, a collection of worship songs addressing issues of social justice including racism, privilege, gender, sexuality, and immigration combining the story of the Bible alongside current events.
In collaboration with Rev. Yolanda Norton (Womanist scholar and founder of the Beyoncé Mass) and Isaac Wardell (founder of The Porter’s Worship Project and Bifrost Arts), IN TROUBLED TIMES addresses issues often absent in the Christian Church.
The project began in the fall of 2016 when a worship director from a local church approached Lyzenga about writing a worship song on Mary’s Magnificat for her church’s upcoming Advent series. While Lyzenga is a songwriter and served as a worship director, he had never written worship music considering the overwhelming amount of worship music that already floods the internet. However, in that season, he found himself devastated by the events that filled his newsfeed—police brutality; the Flint water crisis; the North Dakota Access Pipeline; mass incarceration; white supremacy marches; violence against Muslims, Jews, refugees, and the LGBTQ+ community; hateful anti-immigrant rhetoric and plans to build a wall. And, like many others, Lyzenga found himself asking, Where is the Church in all this? Why weren’t American Christians standing up for God’s children and against these acts of injustice? What had become of Mary’s fervent song of God’s justice for the oppressed?
In this season of turmoil, Lyzenga found his voice stating, “These are the worship songs that are missing in the church—songs of God’s love and desire for justice for all creation; songs that name the realities of a broken world while also pointing to God’s Kingdom, a Kingdom of justice, equity, and peace.”
As a white male, Lyzenga recognized the precariousness of a white voice trying to dominate a conversation on justice, which is why many of these songs discuss privilege and often take on a posture of confession and dedication. Rev. Yolanda Norton, Womanist Scholar, Assistant Professor of Old Testament, and the H. Eugene Farlough Chair for Black Church Studies at San Francisco Theological Seminary, oversaw the research and writing process, and her influence is heard throughout the song lyrics. The album itself also features musicians and voices from marginalized communities.
Contributors on the album also include session drummer, James McAlister; Grammy-nominated gospel artist, Carolyn Anderson; New York and Berlin-based contemporary string quartet, Osso; and multi-platinum mixing engineer, Russ Long.
IN TROUBLED TIMES is a collection of songs and a resource for any worshiping community wishing to address such sensitive material, bridging the divide between the sanctuary and social issues.
QUOTES AND REVIEWS
Mary Lins, Worship Director
“In Troubled Times is a salve to the spirit for anyone engaging with alarming news headlines, meeting listeners at the precise and complex intersection of faith, indignation, anguish, and fragile hope. John’s thoughtfully written, beautifully executed, and lovingly produced album takes artistic risks that result in excellence, incorporating rich layers of sound that cleverly embody the earnest passion of the lyric.”
Scott Quinn, Director of Marin Interfaith Council
“In Troubled Times is a prophetic voice for our time. Weaving memorable melodies with passages from the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, the album is both a theological reflection and a lament. How are people of faith, particularly those from the Christian tradition, to respond to injustice, inequity, racism, homophobia, xenophobia, misogyny, and white privilege? This album prays that question from a place deep within the heart where scripture and music meet to form a reply.”
Ryan Pemberton, Author and College Minister
“Few artists have the courage to take an unflinching look at our complicity in these troubled times and still leave me excited and hopeful about God’s unfinished work in our world. John Lyzenga is one of those artists. With a rich sound that calls to mind Sufjan Stevens and The Brilliance, In Troubled Times is a beautiful, timely, important album.”
Innovative singer-songwriter and worship director, John Lyzenga creates art that addresses the gap between the Christian Church and social and political issues.
For eight years, Lyzenga has served as worship director in a diverse array of worshiping communities across the country working with innovative church leaders including Isaac Wardell (Founder of Bifrosts Arts and The Porter’s Gate Worship Project), and Rev. Yolanda Norton (Assistant Professor of Old Testament at San Francisco Theological Seminary and founder of Beyoncé Mass).
Raised in the church in Michigan, John experienced a divide between the social issues facing our world and the Church. In this chasm, Lyzenga writes congregational worship music that explicitly names these relevant issues in light of the biblical witness.
Lyzenga relocated to the Bay Area, California in 2016 where he received his Master of Divinity from San Francisco Theological Seminary.
IN TROUBLED TIMES is available now on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, and Bandcamp.
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About: George R. Dekle Sr.
George R. Dekle Sr. served as a legal skills professor at the University of Florida, where he directed the Prosecution Clinic. His most recent book, Prairie Defender: The Murder Trials of Abraham Lincoln, won a Superior Achievement Award for Scholarship from the Illinois State Historical Society and Gold Medals for Biography and Politics from the Florida Authors and Publishers Association.
Books by George R. Dekle Sr.:
Six Capsules
in Recent Releases & True Crime & True Crime History
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Devotions and Readings
Friendly People, Vibrant Worship
Kreutz Creek is a vibrant congregation growing in mission, in faith and in members.
No special skill or status is required to participate in the fellowship of the congregation.
Kreutz Creek Presbyterian Church is a member of the Donegal Presbytery
and the Presbyterian Church USA
Historic Kreutz Creek Church began life as a humble ministry in a log cabin in the first settlement west of the Susquehanna River in the early 1700’s. A warrant from John and William Penn was issued for 50 acres to Martin Schultz, Jacob Weltzhoffer, Henry Smith and George Ament, “In trust for the use of the German & Reformed Congregation.”
The original Union Church was limestone, built in the late 1700’s, then outgrown and torn down to make way for the present brick church built in 1860. In 1860 the York County Start and Wrightsville Advertiser reported that the materials to erect a new church were deposited at the site of the old church for building in the spring. It was also reported in May that the contractor was William Wiser. The price for construction was $3,400. In October 1860 the York Gazette described the building as “a neat and commodious brick edifice surrounded by a handsome cupola in which hangs a fine toned cast steel bell – the same that was on exhibit at our county fair. The interior of the church is nearly finished and has a gallery on the three sides.”
The historical survey of 1988 records the church’s octagonal belfry with wind vane and front façade Greek Revival. The double leaved door with entablature is another Greek revival element. Brick pilasters accent the foundation corners and a delicate dentil molding adorns the eaves on north and south elevations. The interior also has much of its early charm and ambience. Some of the primary retained accents include the original stenciling above the dropped ceiling, the plank floors and the pews.
The thoughtful congregation is to be commended for their caretaking of this one of a kind treasure, which has been kept in such pristine condition and integrity. Since this church played and continues to play a pivotal role in Hellam’s history, we must cherish and embrace it.
- From the April, 2010 issue of the Kreutz Creek Valley Preservation Society newsletter
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Call on Mahathir to incorporate an eight-point New Deal for Mother-Tongue Education in the 2004 budget including devoting all nine subjects in the 2-4-3 formula to teaching English in Chinese primary schools Std. One
(Petaling Jaya, Thursday): The joint survey of Dong Zong and Selangor/Kuala Lumpur Federation of Chinese School Committees yesterday reported that although there was an increase of 183,000 pupils in Chinese primary schools in the past 30 years, there had not only been no increase of Chinese primary schools but a reduction of 62 schools – which is most outrageous, contrary of all sound principles of healthy development of mother-tongue education in plural Malaysia.
With the approach of the next general election, the MCA leadership is again dangling the “carrot” of the Barisan Nasional promise to build a few new Chinese primary schools, although the 1999 Barisan Nasional general election pledge to open six new Chinese primary schools before the next general election has still to be fulfilled – and when hundreds of national primary schools had been constructed during the period.
DAP calls on the government to stop politicizing the issue of mother-tongue education in the country, using the promise of building a few Chinese primary schools to buy the Chinese voters.
Instead, DAP calls on the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad to rectify the injustices and unfair treatment suffered by Chinese and Tamil primary schools in the past few decades, and in the 2004 Budget to be presented to Parliament tomorrow incorporate an eight-point New Deal for Mother-Tongue Education including devoting all nine subjects in the 2-4-3 formula to teaching English in Chinese primary schools Std. One, viz:
Build 500 new Chinese primary schools, or 50 new schools a year, under the Eight Malaysia Plan;
RM1 billion special allocation for the 60 Chinese Independent Secondary Schools and the 1,200 Chinese primary schools under the Eighth Malaysia Plan in recognition of their past contribution to nation-building.
Allow building of new or re-establishment of previous Chinese Independent Secondary Schools.
Government recognition of Unified Examinations Certificate (UEC) of Chinese Independent Secondary Schools.
Make Pupil’s Own Language (POL) a compulsory subject for all pupils in national primary and secondary schools.
Fair allocation of development expenditures to different streams of primary schools based on student enrolment, i.e. the total development allocation of RM2.75 billion for primary schools under the five-year Eighth Malaysia Plan (2001-2005) should be distributed into RM2.1 billion or 75% for national primary schools, RM577 million or 21% for Chinese primary schools and RM99 million or 3.6% for Tamil primary schools.
Re-open the original Damansara Chinese primary school in Petaling Jaya as a "community school" for the pupils in the immediate locality.
Evoting all nine new subjects in the 2-4-3 formula Chinese primary schools Std. One to the teaching of English, instead of teaching maths and science.
If there is can be no abandonment of the 2-4-3 formula for Std. One for Chinese primary schools, all the nine new periods should be devoted to the teaching of English as pupils with all nine periods teaching English would end up having better proficiency in English, mathematics and science than under the present 2-4-3 formula at the end of the primary schooling system.
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Martha Schwartz Partners
Academic/Research
Winslow Farm Conservancy, Hammonton, NJ, USA
Image 1/9 <>
Location: Hammonton, NJ, USA
Client: Henry McNeil
Size: 600 acres
This is a large-scale agricultural project that was designed as a marriage between art and the practicalities of reclamation and ecology. The 600 acres McNeil property is an estate located within the New Jersey pine barrens; it contains a diverse range of landscape conditions including dense forests, gradually rolling topography and a 75 acres abandoned clay quarry that holds mineral-rich turquoise water and served as the community dump.
The objective for this project was to reclaim the spoiled and polluted acreage of the clay quarry so that it could once again serve as a habitat for local flora and fauna, to create open fields for organic agriculture, to serve as a retreat for artists who are interested in site-specific, landscape-scaled artworks, and lastly, as a training grounds for McNeil’s champion Labrador field dogs.
The working process was richly collaborative, on-site and hands-on, working between the client, contractors, ecologists and the MSP design team. Initially, the task was to remove pine trees so to create fields for organic farming. Spaces were carved into the site by calculated, selective clearing. Next, the site was graded to enhance the rolling landscape and create juxtapositions with sculpted forms. Soils were amended by mixing the harvested wood that had been chipped so to incorporate organic matter and to aerate the sterile clay. This mixture would eventually support plant life.
The aesthetics were derived to combine the landscapes of nature, agriculture and culture into a unique mix of these three typologies. Elements of the natural landscape were used in conjunction with formal garden language to create work that posed a dialogue between the undisturbed landscape and more formalized gardens. Paths and roads have been carefully composed and sited so to create vistas and to pique one’s curiosity and desire to explore. Agricultural sheds and storage buildings have been transformed into gallery spaces and meeting rooms with attendant gardens.
The composition results in an intriguing combination of unlikely uses and spaces: agricultural fields of organically grown crops are designed as a large-scaled garden. Clipped topiary elements run across these agricultural fields conflating the image of farms with a latter-day baroque garden. The reclaimed quarry is shaped in unlikely surreal forms while wildlife once again inhabits this landscape built for art installations and training hunting dogs. In the end, this site has provided a new life for a once degraded area. Given that there are thousands of such sites in New Jersey, this site has provided a template for cultural and ecological regeneration for others to follow.
Christian Michelbach2017-04-04T06:19:32+00:00
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Toys and Tech: Digital dolls and other bad ideas
Sometimes an old-fashioned product can continue to do perfectly well without a digital makeover. Nowhere is this more true than in the world of children's toys, particularly dolls. Every now and then a doll turns up that begs the question: "Who thought that was a good idea?" Even if it makes it past screenings and focus groups, the result is often a barrage of customer complaints and the doll ends up getting recalled or yanked from shelves and displays.
The most recent toy to attract negative attention was Bebe Gloton, or "gluttonous baby", a breast-feeding doll from the Spanish toymaker Berjuan. The doll cries when it's "hungry" and makes sucking noises as it "nurses." The kit also comes with a halter-top shirt for girls to wear while playing with their gluttonous babies, complete with daisy-patterned removable flaps just like a nursing bra!
But Bebe Gloton is just one in a long line of strange dolls that made it to the store shelves, at least temporarily. Pregnant Barbie – who was actually Barbie's oldest friend, Midge – was eventually pulled from Wal-Mart shelves after customers complained that it encouraged teen pregnancy. The doll came with a detachable magnetic stomach, inside of which was a tiny curled-up baby.
While it's important to be open and honest with children about the natural phases of life, like pregnancy and breastfeeding, it's also important to keep it simple and avoid confusion. Which is why Pee&Poo stuffed dolls might not make it in the U.S. anytime soon. While originally intended to be used as "potty training inspiration," the company's web site also touts them as "cuddly companions." Let's hope kids don't cuddle them at the wrong time!
Then there are the dolls that are just unimaginable. This intersex doll made in China and sold in Russia may have been intended to teach about a wide variety of chromosomal anomalies, but I'm willing to bet there were more than a few parents happy to pass up the opportunity!
But sometimes tech can make a difference. Brazilian designer Jorge Lopes recently started creating models of unborn babies using a 3-D printing technology based on ultrasound and MRI scans. Experts say the dolls are meant to help parents bond with their baby-to-be and better understand important physical characteristics.
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By Paula Jessop
THE FULL MONTY, Broadway's smash hit musical, is playing through the 12th of October at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland.
Directed by Jack O'Brien and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell. Book by Tony Award' winner Terrence McNally and music and lyrics are by pop composer David Yazbeck.
THE FULL MONTY is a musical comedy based on the biggest ever box office grossing British movie of the same name. The story begins when a local male strip show - whose dancers venture down to their skivvies - is a hit with the local women and six cash strapped unemployed steel workers figure they can cash in big time if they go the full Monty.
THE FULL MONTY is a show about friendship and parenting. It 's a show that explores the fragile side of the male psyche and G-strings. A show about an image crazed society and celebrating a person for who they are. It is a show for men and the women who love them and it is a raucous, rolling good time.
This show features an excellent cast, loveable characters, show stopping musical numbers and testosterone galore, who could ask for anything more. Except maybe some male strippers - who are just desperate enough to go the full Monty or are they? So the question is; how much is left to the imagination and how much is left to the thrill of live theatre. You'll have to be the judge cause I'm not telling.
THE FULL MONTY is in performance now through October 12th at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland. Ticket prices are $30, $45, $65, $70 and $95. Tickets are available at the Kodak theatre box office, 6801 Hollywood Blvd www.kodaktheatre.com or at Ticketmaster Phone Charge at 213/365-3500 or 714/740-7878, www.ticketmaster.com, and at all Ticketmaster Outlets including Tower Records, Robinsons-May, Wherehouse Music, Tu Musica and Ritmo Latino.
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Movie Review: THE HANDMAIDEN
The Handmaiden is the latest film from acclaimed Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook. The film stars Kim Min-hee, Kim Tae-ri, and Ha Jung-woo. This is a film you should really see without knowing anything about so all I will say with respect to the plot is that it is a period piece set in Japanese occupied Korea where there is a plot to get money in some way involving a handmaiden. This film is really excellent so the lack of information going in will serve you well.
This was my first experience with a Park Chan-wook film and what struck me immediately (and throughout the film) was the sheer beauty of the shot design and style presented throughout the film. This was a gorgeous film to look at and the way everything was shot was really clever and he moved the camera around really interestingly to capture a lot of intimate emotion as well as clever things that happen throughout the story. I also thought that the vision shown to make a film like this is immense and he’s very clever in the way he pieced all the elements of this story together to make a single whole.
The performances in this film are also stellar all around. Particular standouts were the two female leads (Kim Min-hee and Kim Tae-ri) as they had a lot of great material to chew on and brought out such brilliant subtlety in their performances that make this film really work. This film has a lot of sex and other intimate moments in it and the way those scenes are played by actors across the board was incredibly compelling and made this movie really worth watching. The only other positive I would talk about requires spoiling the film so I won’t go there besides saying that the writing is extremely clever and made for a wonderful cinematic experience.
As with all good films, negatives are hard to come by in The Handmaiden. For me it perhaps was a little overlong and had trouble coming to a conclusion. I also thought it did introduce a few ideas here and there that weren’t addressed later and left me hanging wondering what those were all about. I also immediately recognize this film isn’t for everyone. It floats around between a number of different situations which are made great by small moments and some bigger moments that may not be comfortable for all viewers. For me, these things work and it made me really love this film but I wouldn’t be surprised if you showed this to a general audience and got a slightly less warm reception.
Overall I think The Handmaiden is great. It’s one of the best of the year and a really cool story that has some entertaining twists and turns that engage you in the film on a deeper level. Park Chan-wook brilliantly directs this film and, on a personal note, the fact I haven’t seen any of his films prior to this now makes me feel slightly ashamed. Go see it!
Ryan’s Score: 9/10
Make sure to check us out and like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram for all of our reviews, news, trailers, and much, much more!!
Posted by Ryan McKenna
Labels: Drama, Foreign Film, Ha Jung-woo, Kim Min-hee, Kim Tae-ri, Korean Film, Moho Film, Movie Reviews, Park Chan-wook, The Handmaiden, Yong Film
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Superversive Blog: Wherefore Art Thou, Culture War?
L. Jagi Lamplighter / September 10, 2015
Welcome back, as Superversive Blog recovers from its summer hiatus. Today, we have an interesting treat, especially for those of you who appreciate psychology and personality tests!
The Culture War Posts!
The recent intrusion of the current culture war into the sphere of Science Fiction has drawn the attention of people beyond fandom. One such person is author Ruth Johnston. Known previously for her excellent scholarly works on Beowulf and the Middle Ages, she has more recently turned her efforts to a fascinating new book that takes a fresh look at the work of psychologist Carl Jung.
Ruth’s intriguing premise is that we have been misinterpreting how to apply Jung’s concepts for decades. In her book, Re-Modeling the Mind, she offers a remodeling of Jung’s ideas that produce self-help concepts that won’t exasperate smart and creative people.
Ruth has a theory about how personality types, as defined by her remodeling of Jung, explain the culture war, this years Hugos, and some other issues in fandom today. She has generously agreed to a three part series on the subject.
Part One will give a brief explanation of her theory as applicable.
Part Two will apply her theory to characters in John’s Night Land stories.
Part Three will tackle “If You Were A Dinosaur, My Love” as well as the larger Hugo/culture war picture.
Part One: What Forces Drive the SciFi Culture Wars?
Q: In the Afterword to your new book, you suggest that ideas about personality might help us understand "culture wars" by showing how the sides just see the world differently. What do you mean by "personality-based worldviews"?
A: The thesis of Re-Modeling the Mind is that our brains can't process all of the information that comes at us constantly, so each brain organizes itself around more limited options, depending on the neural strengths it already has. When we talk about "personality" we mean these limitations and abilities, which are usually clearly visible when we watch each other. We know ourselves this way, too. We know there are things we simply can't take in, or if we can take in the facts, we can't manage them to make decisions. There are things we pay close attention to, and other things we just can't be bothered with. Personality is this very real neural patterning that filters the world so that it's manageable.
But this means that our personalities also limit and even blind us to things other people can perceive and manage. We're all in the same physical world, in the sense that we agree on where the objects are, so that we can avoid running into them. But at a more complex level, we really don't all live in the same world. Our personalities can have such root-level different views of the world that we can barely have conversations. This is what I'd call a personality-based worldview.
I'm not a science-fiction reader, and I'd never heard of the Hugos until this year. But watching the ferocity of the battles made me feel convinced that at least some of this culture war is provoked by a clash of personality-based worldviews. In other words, probably the leaders and many supporters of each faction share some personality traits so that they all "live" in a similar world. In each faction's "world," its values are not only sensible but the only possible ones. Or if not the only possible ones, the only morally right or safe ones. This is why it's so hard to have a conversation. It's self-evident to each faction that its values are right, and the arguments offered by the other faction hold no water in their worldview. A lot of people on both sides feel that if So and So wins a prize, moral right or wrong will be rewarded.
Q: For the writers I know, the issue isn't winning a prize. Larry Correia and others involved with the "sad puppies" initiative specifically recused themselves from being considered for prizes. How do we get from personality differences, which we deal with every day, to an emotional war over culture?
A: I think the roots are in people's inborn, instinctive sense of danger and safety. It's astonishing to see how each faction in the Hugo controversy is not only indifferent to but grandly dismissive of the other faction's concern about danger. It's almost like interviewing both a wolf and a hare, and while the hare explains he doesn’t want to be torn into ligament shreds, the wolf says passionately that he's afraid of slow starvation and shouldn't we be concerned for him too? They both have a point, but they're both justifiably indifferent to the other's plight. I think that human minds have some of these animal-like survival fears, and that our personalities are organized around them.
The 20th century showed us something like Poe's Law: you can't come up with a philosophical disagreement so trivial that some government or militia won't kill over it. You can try, but it won't work; somewhere in the 20th century, someone died for a reason even stupider. Like wearing glasses or receiving a letter. So while most of us don't have real reasons to fear, those reasons do exist and we know it. You can hear the echoes in references to the KKK, Marx, hate-groups, and warriors, as well as in phrases like "burn it down." Both sides vow to deny each other's books the means to "live" by not buying anything written by the wrong person, and both sides feel like they're on the verge of defeat unless they can muster more supporters. The 20th century left us traumatized and unwilling to trust each other for kindness; we believe in striking hard and first. Even when it's just about buying books!
In my way of modeling personality, our deepest fears are centrally important. I believe that inborn, instinctive ideas are what Jung meant by his famous phrase "collective unconscious." People often think it means something like the Borg or some New Agey space-mind we're all part of, but I think Jung made it clear in a few places that he meant something like "the stuff that's inborn in all minds, like animal instinct." Horses know how to stand up and run, kangaroo joeys know how to crawl into the marsupial pouch, newly-hatched ducklings know how to paddle. If we look at what's important to a human baby's survival, it isn't anything like these, of course apart from the instinct to nurse. Human beings are the greatest protectors and, at the same time, antagonists and predators, of other humans. The survival instincts we need are about human society and emotions. Inborn personality draws some babies to study emotions and relationships, others to study behavior and rules, others appearances of the environment around them. So as adults, our personalities are still organized around the kind of inborn templates we have: what is the world supposed to look like? When this template is violated, we feel uncertain or even afraid.
Q: Science fiction has always been about exploring and asking questions, which is more about challenging fears than hiding from them. Why is all this happening in science fiction?
A: Well, the other pole of personality is the part of our minds that are open, exploring, questioning, and more: pragmatic, optimistic, flexible, and ready to take any opportunity. We're all a mix of mental functions that operate in this open, pragmatic way and others that operate by inborn templates and fears. Science fiction was invented by one particular mental function in the open, exploring, optimistic mode: Extroverted Intuition. Intuition is a common daily word, and my use of it isn't far different from the ordinary meaning. It means consulting our nonverbal, super-fast brains to find connections between things in the world. In its simplest form, Intuition comes out in superstitions, prejudices and hunches, but in about one-quarter of the population, it's a well-developed interest in abstract ideas. Personalities with very strong, highly-developed Intuition are interested in impractical questions of what-if.
I think there have always been two polarities in science fiction, though again I speak as an outsider, not a fan. In early sci-fi, a space ship goes to another planet, and what happens? Space travelers could discover amazing hidden civilizations or end up dying of a hideous disease; the story's outlook could be optimistic or pessimistic. The roots of this optimism or pessimism are in which way our Intuition views the world. Of course, you can't automatically match stories and authors saying "the story is this way, so the writer must be too," since writing is art. But at the same time, stories come from our hearts and usually refract part of our worldview. Intuition, as a facet of personality, can operate in an exploring, optimistic, pragmatic way (Extroverted Intuition) or in a way that's focused on uncovering hidden truths to save us from danger (Introverted Intuition). The two kinds of Intuition are interested in slightly different questions and outcomes.
Science fiction fans in the last 100 years have been split between personalities with Extroverted and Introverted Intuition. Nobody really noticed most of the time, because Intuitive personalities can enjoy reading the projected scenarios and questions of both kinds of Intuition. What sci-fi fans saw was the unity among them: they were all these people who felt alienated from concrete, practical culture, but they were unified in loving stories in which impossible things could happen and really outlandish questions could be explored. I think what's going on now is that the two Intuitive worldviews—Introverted and Extroverted—are drawing farther apart, for a lot of reasons both inside and outside of sci-fi culture. When people though they were all alike, and then they discover a huge difference, it feels like betrayal.
Q: Why does the debate focus so tightly on gender and race? That's not what science fiction used to be about. You suggested that Intuition is interested in abstract ideas and questions. Then why are people suddenly judging by message or frivolous things, such as the author's physical appearance?
A: This is what fascinates me about the controversy, because it dovetails neatly with the personality model I've developed. Balancing Intuition, there's Sensing, which is how we process the real world of objects, motion, and appearances. It, too, can come in a mode where it's outgoing, exploring, flexible, optimistic, and pragmatic, and again this is called Extroverted Sensing. Or it can come in a mode where it's the animal instinct telling us about danger, and then it's constantly comparing what it sees outside with the inner template of what the world should look like. That’s called Introverted Sensing. When the outside world matches the template, all is well, just like when a rabbit sees a blue sky with only birds who fly like songbirds, it keeps nibbling grass. That's what the sky is supposed to look like, in the rabbit's instinctual image. When the sky includes a hawk or something (like a RC airplane) that doesn't move like a songbird, the rabbit assumes that it's in danger, freezes, then runs.
Introverted Sensing looks at people's appearances as well as the appearances of other things. When it's really strong in a personality, it causes uneasiness when people don't look just right. There's an image for each kind of person: a cop, a teacher, a President, a grandmother, a father, an innocent child, and so on. If you want to see these appearances in pure form, look at photos of Duchess Kate and her babies. They never have a single color or detail out of place, so I assume that Kate has a strong sense of these image/role templates. Jung talked about archetypes, inborn ideas. The social role images are the most famous kind of archetypes, though I believe we also have archetypes of ideas (like same/different, many/one), beauty, and relationships (like love and hatred). Introverted Sensing likes it when people "look right," because things just feel safe.
Personalities organize these mental abilities and trends according to natural rules that use minimal brain energy. In by far most people, it works out where Sensing and Intuition are opposite, to balance each other. Let's set aside for the time being the question of whether Sensing or Intuition is particularly important in a personality, because there's a whole range of relative importance. Regardless of relative importance, they come in two polarized pairs: Extroverted, optimistic, flexible Intuition and Introverted, template-based Sensing; or Introverted, template-based Intuition and Extroverted, optimistic, flexible Sensing.
Since science fiction started out with flexible, exploring Intuition asking questions, I'll call that combination A, and the other B. A's sci-fi is more likely to really push boundaries of reality. It's flexible on all ideas about place, time, space, and being. However, it's not so flexible about social role images, because its Sensing is Introverted. It's looking at templates to see if things appear "right." The most obvious representative of A's work is in comic books and space opera, where anything can happen, but over and over, the people doing it are more or less knights/heroes, villains, kings, and mothers or princesses. When Introverted Sensing is weaker than Intuition, which is generally the case with sci-fi writers, it isn't as concerned about dressing right in today's society, but it loves fairy-tale roles.
The B combination has flexible, Extroverted, exploring Sensing but with danger-scanning, template-based Introverted Intuition. It's open to the world, including people, looking like anything at all. Extroverted Sensing can be unconcerned with social role archetypes, or sometimes it's downright hostile to them. It may intentionally bust up archetypes by dressing "wrong" or associating with people who aren't carrying out their archetypal roles in society, like grandmas who go 4-wheeling or transgendered teenagers. But its opposite number, Introverted Intuition, goes further. It sees images as potentially very dangerous, because they can be used as disguises. B's Introverted Intuition is less interested in exploring every conceivable question, like A's optimistic, flexible Intuition. It's more interested in chasing down what it feels to be the truest truth. Like a detective, it dislikes masks. If a social role appears to be noble and authoritative, Introverted Intuition suspects that someone may be using this role to hide corruption or ignorance. B's science fiction is less likely to be about kings, queens and knights, but sometimes it does feature them while showing that some other character, who doesn't look right for the role at all, is actually the noble, true one. Kings and other roles are false fronts to be torn away.
So let's rephrase the question: why is science fiction suddenly focused on how social role archetypes are being used? There are several layers of answers. In the first layer, we look at the writers and their works. Science fiction was founded mainly by A-type writers, the ones who created far-flung stories questioning reality, but with predictable, stable human roles. The B-type writers have always been involved, using the settings created by A's Extroverted Intuition, but for slightly different Introverted Intuition purposes. Their characters were less predictable and often had a twist, and their story arcs were often less optimistic. They focused more on internal motivation issues, less on solving external problems. As decades passed and people tried to do new things, Introverted Intuition used the science-fiction settings and conventions to pose questions about society and human nature. They asked less "what if?" and more, "if?"
Every art form goes through stages of starting out, becoming more popular, creating sub-genres, setting up organizations and judging, growing more sophisticated, and finally deliberately parodying itself while distancing from the simpler original forms. You can see it in painting, dance, music, and poetry. Science fiction seems to be in this later sophisticated stage, where there's a struggle for what is "good" in the art form.
Is A's art too unsophisticated? It poses external problems like running out of air, fighting monsters, and overcoming laws of nature, while using characters who are either good and noble or bad and treacherous. It uses basic archetypes without shame: male and female, family, innocent children, brave knight, noble princess, wise king, old wizard, and so on. Its monsters are usually ugly, unless they are beautiful with a sinister aura. There's a time-honored archetype for evil beauty, after all.
B's art eschews these straightforward forms. It uses the settings and conventions of travel in time and space, or civilizations on other planets, but it's really querying how far we can strip away archetypal images to find truer truth. All kinds of appearances are possibly masks, therefore bad. Both the writers and their art are on guard against ways in which a character's race or gender might shape their meaning. For this reason, B's science fiction may feature a villain as the hero, or it may blur distinctions of male and female. Science fiction's purpose, to Introverted Intuition, is to use its conventions to question archetypes of roles. A's art may use fine language, but it's not asking questions that Introverted Intuition considers important. It's taking role archetypes for granted instead of questioning them.
Q: So what you're calling B sees itself as actually better, that is, more sophisticated. Therefore more worthy to win awards.
A: Yes, I think so. As an outsider, I'd say there isn't a quality difference between them, but I don't think that's how people feel on the inside. Looking at the Hugo-related blog arguments, I see very clear claims about quality. The faction that made "No Award" happen believes strongly that the nominated outsider/overlooked works (promoted by the "Sad Puppies") are almost entirely without merit. The outsider, challenger faction, for its part, claims that the faction that has been controlling the awards cares more about a social-justice message than about classic science fiction elements. If you ask either side whether the other side's works have literary merit, you'll get a loud "No," though perhaps with some polite qualifications. I see them as art forms produced by opposite worldviews. The merit of each is invisible to the other.
This ends Part One. Next up (Two Weeks hence), Ruth applies her astute and impartial observations to particular SF works. First a Puppy work (though not from the ballot.) Then, in her third installment, a well-known work lauded by the Anti-Puppies.
Ruth’s book, Re-Modeling the Mind is available for purchase here.
Her excellent, excellent, posts on life in the Middle Ages are available at All Things Medieval.
September 10, 2015 in Superversive. Tags: Culture War, Hugo, Jung, Re-Modeling the Mind, Ruth Johnston, Superversive
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