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The Stock Exchange and Coyotes Bar
Coyotes opended in 2008 as a Themed bar and Club. The theme in question is American. Originally opened on Foster street the operation was moved to Shop street in 2013. The three level venue holds the Manhattan Lounge, Coyote Bar and the Stock Exchange. Coyotes is focused on student nights and drink specials plus the Hen/Stag parties at the weekend.You have a bird’s-eye view of Shop street from their first floor
As you would expect there are alot of American flags, number plates and of course a bronco bull scattered around. As you might expect this has proved quite popular with students in Galway. The Club also has no cover charge except for special event
Coyotes also holds weekly Karaoke and at various times of the year has its own singing competition called Coyote Factor which has proved to be extremely popular in part due to a €10,000 first prize.
The venue has live music nightly. From Wednesday to Sunday there are live DJ’s- including iRadio’s Lisa Brady- playing the best floor-fillers and from Thursday to Sunday there are live bands playing on the second floor of the building. The venue holds 5 bars in total (including a cocktail bar and outdoor bar), photo-booth for capturing yourself drunk and no cover charge .
34 Shop Street (beside Easons)
Facebook: The Stock Exchange Galway
Twitter: @galwayexchange
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Things to Do With Kids in Battle Creek, MI
Campgrounds Near Michigan's Adventure
Things to Do in Santee, California
by Nellene Teubner Plouffe
Fun Places to Go in Waterford, MI
Camping Near Burlington, NC
Camping in Michigan Two Hours From Toledo, Ohio
RV Camping in Fremont, Nebraska
The suburban city of Santee, California, may be landlocked, but it's only about 20 miles east of the beach and northeast of downtown San Diego, which definitely expands your options of things to do in the area. The family-friendly town also sits adjacent to open-space rolling hills and within 10 miles of Cleveland National Forest. However, Santee has its own recreational and cultural attractions in the city limits, or within a couple of miles of town.
Hiking, horseback riding, biking and interpretive programs take place year-round at Sycamore Canyon Open Space Preserve and Goodan Ranch, with its 2,272 acres of sage and shrub-covered hills. Ten miles of multiuse trails meander through the preserve and offer scenic views and wildlife sightings. The space is co-owned by the cities of Santee and Poway. In town, bring your athletic gear and swimsuit to the 55-acre Town Center Community Park; it's one of eight city parks. The Community Park has lighted synthetic turf football and soccer fields, playgrounds with climbing apparatus, trails and an aquatics center with two pools, plus a play structure in the water and a water slide for the kids. Swim lessons and aerobics water classes are staples of the swimming complex. A concession stand, picnic shelters and restrooms round out the amenities.
Listen or dance to live music during the city's 10-week series of free summer concerts every Thursday evening at the Town Center Community Park East amphitheater. Bring a blanket or beach chair and a picnic; if you don't want to pack food, purchase it from the variety of food trucks on site every week. The city also sponsors an annual Wine & Bluegrass Festival in the fall as a fundraiser for local park and youth recreation programs. Enjoy an outing at Town Center Community Park to hear live bluegrass music, taste wine and beer and food samples and participate in a silent auction. Usually more than 20 local restaurants and caterers set up around the festival.
Outdoor-lovers will find ample room to boat, fish, hike and camp at the chain of seven lakes at Santee Lakes in the northwest part of town. Anglers like the fact that the lakes are stocked on a seasonal basis with channel catfish and rainbow trout; there are also bass and bluegill to be pulled from the water. Bring your boat, or rent one from the general store to navigate the lakes. Off the water there are three fitness loops and five playgrounds, including a sprayground, for the kids. At the end of the day you can park your RV or rent a cabin -- there are fees for both day-use parking and staying overnight.
If you have the time, it's worth the 20-mile trip to visit Balboa Park. You can easily spend the day -- or a couple of days -- exploring the park's performing arts and culture offerings, including 15 museums, seven performing arts theaters, four cultural centers, and an IMAX Globe Theater, as well as the zoo, restaurants, gardens and multiuse trails. A quick stop at the visitors center is an excellent way to get oriented to all that Balboa Park offers. Highlights include the zoo, home to more than 4,000 animals; the antique carousel built in 1910 that has almost all of its original animals; the hands-on exhibits at the San Diego Museum of Man and the San Diego Hall of Champions Sports Museum where you'll interact with exhibits covering a wide range of sports.
The City of Santee: About Santee
County of San Diego: Goodan Ranch Sycamore Canyon Preserve
The City of Santee: City Parks
The City of Santee: Santee Aquatics Center
The City of Santee: Event Calendar Santee Bluegrass Festival 2013
Santee Lakes Recreation Preserve: Homepage
Balboa Park Attractions Balboa Park Visitors Center: Balboa Park Visitors Center in the House of Hospitality
Nellene Teubner Plouffe is a writer who started her journalism career as a reporter and columnist for the "Orange County Register" newspaper in 1992. In 1995, Teubner Plouffe received a first-place award in column writing from the California Newspaper Publishers’ Association. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Biggest Lakes in Minneapolis
Camping Near Frankenmuth, Michigan
Things to Do at Mahoney State Park
Places to Go in Royal Oak, Michigan
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Robert DeNiro: "No Longer Down With Trump, It's F••k Trump"
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oscar-winning actor Robert de Niro issued an expletive-laden denunciation of U.S. President Donald Trump during the live television broadcast of the Tony Awards ceremony on Sunday.
De Niro appeared on stage at New York’s Radio City Music Hall to introduce rocker and Tony Awards performer Bruce Springsteen.
“I’m gonna say one thing. Fuck Trump,” De Niro said, without any preamble.
With the audience of theater actors, directors and producers shrieking and rising to their feet in applause, De Niro said: “It’s no longer down with Trump. It’s fuck Trump.”
He did not elaborate on his comment and switched immediately to a prepared introduction of Springsteen.
The expletive, known as the F-bomb, was bleeped by the CBS network for millions of television watchers at home, a CBS spokeswoman said. However, it was heard by those in the audience and journalists covering the awards show, which honors the best of Broadway theater.
De Niro is one of the most respected actors in the United States with two Oscar wins for “Raging Bull” and “The Godfather: Part II.”
The White House did not immediately return a request for comment. CBS also did not return a request for further comment.
De Niro, a noted liberal, has been increasingly critical of Trump, a Republican, at smaller showbusiness events, but none have the high profile and audience of the Tony Awards.
The Tony Awards show was seen by some six million Americans last year.
Reporting by Chris Michaud and Jill Serjeant; Editing by Paul Tait
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Garden of Hope - Background
Key Notes
Gaza Strip is about 45 x 6-12km wide with a total of 365km2.
Estimated population of over 2 million people or 5,840 per capita/km2.
About 1.2 million are registered refugees with about 0.54 million living in camps (most of those living in camps are under 18).
50% of the population are food-insecure or vulnerable to food security.
About 426,000 Palestinian refugees are considered living below the absolute poverty line: ($3.87/person/day)
Unemployment is 43% (over 60% among youth), the highest in the world)
Over 80% of Gaza’s population is aid dependent.
A child in Grade 1 (2016) has experienced three wars in their lifetime. About 50% of children are assessed as suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
In the Gaza Strip, Global Garden’s of Peace’s (GGoP) mission is to create living infrastructure that provides a vital breathing space that is open to all its inhabitants and provides missing humanitarian needs of children and their families in this region. The value and need for this Garden of Hope project in Gaza is great; it will support the hope that there can be a better future for children and their families, and an alternative dialogue to the cycles of conflict and trauma.
The Garden of Hope site is located about 1.7km from the coast of the Mediterranean Sea within a 400,000 square metre area that the Municipality of Khan Younis has planned, in their recognition of the lack of recreational green space (<1% available), as a regional park to service the growing population. Khan Younis is also the location of one of the largest refugee camps in the Gaza Strip numbering about 80,000 refugees (2016). The municipality has plans to construct housing for 110,000 people within the next five years, which will be located within one kilometre from the allocated GGoP site.
At the heart of the project is the simple (but important) goal of providing a safe and fun area for children and families to play and connect to living space. Our landscapes focus on promoting healing, personal development and building resilience of individuals and families. Many studies show that immersion within green space provides psychological, social, physical, emotional, spiritual and cultural benefits.
It is important to note that the project is multi-layered with wider goals of creating employment and local business opportunities, and enhancing skills within the community. The Garden of Hope also has a profound capacity to support the remit of other organisations who can make use of these intergrated spaces for complementary activities and programs. Local infrastructure will also benefit with better landscape maintenance, more reliable water supplies, reduced pollution, higher property values and investment in sustainable technologies.
Long term goals for the project include greater strategic planning for the area, which will accommodate future needs and the Garden of Hope has significant capacity as a catalyst for developing living infrastructure to address many issues facing urban habitation such as rising urban temperatures.
The Garden of Hope is most likely the first-of -a -kind project in the world to deliver real humanitarian benefits through this highly unique and empowering way. This project is highly cost-effective through its multiple functions and intergenerational capacity: providing both life-affirming support and hope for the future.
This landmark project has been developed by GGoP in partnership with the local community, the Municipality of Khan Younis and in close cooperation the United Nations Development Programme/Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People (UNDP/PAPP). The Garden of Hope project’s implementation and operation will be undertaken in close cooperation and collaboration with its donors, local government, NGO’s, and health and education centres.
Significant milestones have been accomplished:
The successful allocation and agreements for the project land
Development of the concept design and preliminary costings
Official launch of the concept design in Khan Younis
Closer cooperation with United Nations Development Programme/Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People (UNDP/PAPP)
The way forward:
Currently working on a donor coordination and engagement strategy, revisiting prospective partners and supporters, and seeking multi-lateral or multi-national involvement
WATCH THIS SPACE – as we expect some exciting announcements to be made over the coming months.
Garden of Hope - Design
A comprehensive design concept has been completed for the site after extensive consultation with the community both in Australia and overseas. The plan has been developed by leading landscape architect Andrew Laidlaw and his team David Wong and Wendy Clarke.
Landscape Design Intent
The design draws on the rich natural landscapes of Palestine and the strong garden history of the Middle East. From village life to the rocky olive slopes that surround the oasis to the cool protected oasis itself the garden draws on its sense of place, including a maze that has been inspired by the Arabic alphabet.
The garden has been designed as a destination and meeting place for families, as a safe place for children to experience beauty and a range of fun activities. The activities range from an array of play equipment, open lawns, mazes, water play, animal rides, rock climbing and performance space. It is envisaged that families would come for extended periods of time.
Connection To Nature Through Play
There is a strong focus in the garden on children connecting to nature through their own creative play. From the maze garden to the oasis and village garden, the landscape encourages children to create, build and imagine into their own stories. Play equipment will include rope courses, flying foxes to giant slides and swings all designed to test and delight children.
Delight The Senses
The garden has been designed to delight and excite the sense, from brightly coloured flowers at the entrance to the shaded wet oasis, where four water channels (representing the four rivers of life) spurt from the surrounding rock walls and converge on a central fountain. The canopy of palms overhead and climbers reaching over the stones create many shaded sitting places for families.
The structures that surround the lawn will include a visitor centre and toilets for the general public, an education facility for school groups, an outdoor class room with a library for reading and storytelling and a number of shaded cooking areas with BBQ’s.
Wherever possible, the garden is accessible for people of all ages and abilities, from walking paths that circumnavigate the perimeter to much of the play equipment. The equipment has been selected to appeal to a broad range of age groups, be accessible to children of all abilities (including those with disability), and to develop a range of motor skills as well as promoting personal resilience.
Food And Demonstration Gardens
Connected to the education centre there will be large vegetable/demonstration garden that focuses on providing education for school children and local people. Further, aquaponic food- growing systems, general food production, roof-top gardens, orchards and vegetable plots will all be part of this garden.
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Archive for the ‘triplets’ Category
Adding to the Problem. And Adding, and adding, and…
Posted in assimilation, birth control, California, Catholic, Catholicism, City Politics, Disneyland, federal healthcare, fertility, fertility issues, Health Care, Health Insurance, hydrocephalus, Illegal Immigration, Immigrants, Immigration, Jalisco, Kentucky, La Otra en Nayarit, Lexington, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Times, Medi-Cal, Mexico, News & Politics, quadruplets, state healthcare, State Politics, triplets on July 31, 2006| 3 Comments »
My god, but this is a telling article from last weeks LATimes. Almost as surprising: It was produced from that liberally slanted publication.
Anyway, let’s take a look at this piece by staff writer, Sam Quinones.
6 + 4 = 1 Tenuous Existence
An illegal immigrant couple with six children were already living in poverty. Then the quadruplets arrived. They’re still in a daze.
By Sam Quinones, Times Staff Writer
Of course, the sub-headline already reveals that the family is here illegally, but the beginning of the article approaches the Magdaleno family’s predicament without revealing that information for several paragraphs, which is actually quite effective.
With two teenage daughters at home and triplets still in diapers, Angela Magdaleno’s family overflowed from a one-bedroom apartment in South Los Angeles that they strained to afford.
Diapers had to be changed 15 times a day, feedings held every three hours. One triplet, 3-year-old Alfredo Jr., needed special attention because he was born with liquid on his brain and partially paralyzed.
Even simple events — like going to the store — required complex orchestration.
And that was before the quadruplets arrived.
On July 6, Magdaleno gave birth to two boys and two girls, drawing national media attention as a bewildered mother of 10 (with nine living at home). Now, she and her husband, Alfredo Anzaldo, 44, must figure out how to provide for everyone on Anzaldo’s maximum pay of $400 a week as a carpet installer.
Angela is obviously not happy at all to have brought four more children into her already bloated family.
As cameras flashed two weeks ago, capturing the 40-year-old mother with her newest progeny, she appeared dazed, even morose. They’d have to leave their $600-a-month apartment for something bigger. They’d have to buy a minivan with room for four more car seats.
“I was afraid,” she said. “I still feel like I can’t believe it.”
U.S. immigrants’ stories often are about reinvention and newfound prosperity, about leaving behind poverty and limitations.
But that is not Magdaleno’s story.
Both Magdaleno and Anzaldo are illegal immigrants, settled for years in an immigrant enclave. Magdaleno has the same number of children as her parents, who were peasant farmers in Mexico. Like her parents, she is living in poverty and struggling to provide for her family.
Angela, along with her husband Anzaldo, have ensured that their peasant lifestyle and culture in Mexico be brought with them here to Los Angeles. Come here illegally, do nothing to improve your way of life in the process, struggle to support your family, and produce more children that will place even greater stress on lives.
“It’s not sweet,” said her 36-year-old sister, Alejandra. “It’s very sad. The life for girls back there in Mexico is the same as the one Angela has now. They marry and have children, and that’s their lives.”
That was Alejandra, Angela’s sister. You will want to read further to discover her fate.
Neither Magdaleno nor her husband speaks English, though she has been in the United States 22 years and he 28. Even her teenage daughters speak mostly Spanish; their English vocabulary is limited.
Jesus Christ! Twenty-two and 28 years and they still haven’t learned English? None?! What’s even more frightening is the fact that their teenage children barely speak English as well. This is very sad. To me, it speaks volumes on Mexican familial culture–how improving oneself is simply sneaking across the border and continuing a genealogy that one was trying to escape in the first place.
Here in the land of the free though, one can leach off the taxpayers of the state and the country.
Yet all of Magdaleno’s 10 children are U.S. citizens. The triplets receive subsidized school lunches. All the youngsters have had their healthcare bills covered by Medi-Cal, the state and federal healthcare program for the poor.
Alfredo Jr. had been hospitalized all his life until recently. He’s had three state-funded brain operations and will require several more, the family said. The couple receive $700 in monthly Social Security payments to help with his medical needs.
“I thank this country that they gave me Medi-Cal,” Magdaleno said. “There’s nothing like that in Mexico.”
Yes, there’s nothing like that in Mexico. Thank god they’ve come here to have litters of children. I love it when my tax dollars, and yours, are vacuumed up in the illegal alien black hole.
And before anyone becomes overly heated because I have no heart for Alfredo’s condition, please forge ahead further into the article to discover how the triplets were conceived.
Magdaleno’s existence contrasts sharply with that of her younger siblings, who followed her to Los Angeles but then left. They have settled in Lexington, Ky., had no more than two children each and built better lives than they had known before. Four bought houses. Their children speak English fluently.
Magdaleno’s sisters struggle in vain to understand her. “She still thinks like people in Mexico — that’s what I think,” said her 38-year-old sister, Justina. “You have to think first of your living children instead of thinking of having more.”
As stated, this is Angela’s sister. It may be difficult to believe for those of us living in Southern California, and particularly Los Angeles, but this is a Latina making this statement. She used to be illegal, but she applied for legal status, becoming an American citizen years ago. Fuck anyone who claims anti-illegal immigration supporters are racist. Angela’s sister was illegal, and she makes statements that illegal immigration activists claim are racist.
Magdaleno struggles to explain. She said she was wearing a birth-control patch to keep from getting pregnant, then took it off when it made her nauseated.
“I didn’t want any more children,” said Magdaleno, who used fertility drugs to conceive the triplets but said she did not use them in the case of the quadruplets.
I do not believe that statement at all.
“Four is too many. I’m still trying to believe this happened to me.”
SURPRISE! Not.
Angela Magdaleno’s story began as many Mexican immigrant stories do: in a village where work was scarce and wages were low.
She grew up in Los Positos, in the central Mexican state of Jalisco, the eldest of 10. For girls, life consisted of hard work, little schooling, no birth control and thus, said Alejandra, raising “all the children God gives you.”
Angela and Justina left school at fifth grade to work in fields and tortilla shops to help support their family.
In 1984, hoping to make more money to send home, the girls were the first Magdalenos to cross illegally into the United States. Angela was 19. The sisters found work in sewing factories, and apartments in the growing Latino immigrant communities of South Los Angeles.
Over the years, their eight siblings followed them.
Angela married, had two daughters, then divorced.
Wait! You can’t do that. You’re Catholic! Bad! Bad!
In 1990, she met Anzaldo, an immigrant from the state of Nayarit, Mexico, who had three daughters from relationships with two women — one in the U.S. and one in Mexico. Anzaldo was working in auto shops.
To me, it just sounds like Anzaldo is a horny mother-fucker, and again, not a very good Catholic.
The couple married in 1992 and had a daughter together.
Magdaleno then had a tubal ligation. She thought she was done having children. But a few years later, things changed.
Anzaldo had only daughters, and the couple were getting older. He saw his chance at having a son slipping away.
“I wanted a son,” he said, “because I didn’t have one.”
Instead of bringing forth yet another welfare child into this world, I would like to give you a punch to your mansack, sir. How about that?
Magdaleno too had always wanted a boy. Anzaldo paid for an operation to reverse Magdaleno’s tubal ligation. The couple thought they might return to Mexico after the child was born.
Anzaldo paid for the operation? I seriously doubt that.
But for several years, she didn’t get pregnant, Magdaleno said.
So she asked a woman who returned periodically to Mexico to bring her back fertility drugs. The woman supplied her with various pills and injections over several years, Magdaleno said.
“I took a lot,” she said. “I don’t remember what they’re called.”
Finally, in 2002, Magdaleno got pregnant — with triplets.
And then there were six.
Talk of returning to Mexico ceased when their son, Alfredo, was born with hydrocephalus.
Their life became cramped and chaotic, with seven people crammed into their one-bedroom apartment.
Gee. I wonder how that happened.
Joanna, Magdaleno’s oldest daughter, now 20, dropped out of high school and moved out with a boyfriend about the time Magdaleno became pregnant with the triplets. She now works in a factory making dolls for Disneyland, her mother said.
It warms my heart to know that Angela and Anzaldo want the best for their children.
Now here is where the article becomes very interesting. We’re going to discover what happened to Angela’s sisters after they moved from Los Angeles to Kentucky. I don’t see how they honestly could survive. I mean, these were illegal-immigrants who had no grasp of the English language. They were strangers in a strange land. They would be outcast. Their lives would become a shambles as Kentuckians, filled to the brim with their proud southern heritage and known for their racist ways, would surely drive the Mexican immigrants from their great state. Surely.
As Angela was having children, her siblings were undergoing a transformation of a different kind. They were slowly leaving Los Angeles.
Her sister Alejandra was the first to leave. In Los Angeles, she and her husband were barely able to make ends meet. As in Mexico, “there was little work and it’s poorly paid,” she said.
Eight years ago, she and her family moved to Kentucky, where a friend said there was more work and were fewer Mexican immigrants bidding down the wages for unskilled jobs.
While illegal immigration activists are shouting that illegals do not drive down wages, here is one who matter-of-factly speaks the truth. Yes, illegal aliens drive down wages. But be wary, dear readers. It gets even worse for Alejandra.
In Kentucky, Alejandra picked tobacco. The work was hard and she didn’t know the language. But soon, life improved. Over the years, she invited her siblings to join her. One sister married a man who managed a Golden Corral, a chain of all-you-can-eat buffets. Soon several Magdaleno siblings were working in Golden Corrals. Their husbands found work installing windows and as farm-labor contractors. They went to night school to learn English because few people in Lexington speak Spanish.
Today, the Magdalenos in Lexington earn more than they did in Los Angeles, in a city where the cost of living is lower. Kentucky is now their promised land, and they talk about California the way they used to talk about Mexico.
Well, it didn’t get worse. The Kentucky Magdelenos have done quite well for themselves. Why? Because they made a choice to assimilate. They had to conform to the standards of the community in which they were residing in order to survive. And guess what? Their lives have improved significantly because of their assimilation. That doesn’t mean that they’ve abandoned their culture. It simply means they wanted to better themselves in their new home. The Kentucky Magdelenos are living proof that assimilation is not difficult if illegal immigrants from Mexico abandon their peasant culture.
“What we weren’t able to do in many years in California,” Alejandra said, “we’ve done quickly here.
“We’re in a state where there’s nothing but Americans. The police control the streets. It’s clean, no gangs. California now resembles Mexico — everyone thinks like in Mexico. California’s broken.”
Again, a former illegal from Mexico spoke those words, and she speaks the honest truth. If anyone believes we are not being invaded, simply make a trip to downtown Los Angeles. There you will see how Mexico has been brought to this country piece by piece. That’s just the way it is. But it doesn’t have to be, as Alejandra and her Kentucky sisters have proven.
Justina was the last to leave Los Angeles, about the time Angela was pregnant with the triplets.
She and her husband wanted better schools for their sons, 15 and 9.
In Lexington, she said, “at the school there are just people who speak English. It’s helped my children a lot.”
Congratulations Justina. You are awesome.
Justina, who came to the U.S. with Magdaleno, applied for legal residency under the 1986 amnesty law and is now a U.S. citizen. Magdaleno never applied.
The sisters say they have urged Angela to come out to Kentucky — at least to visit. She said she hasn’t because her son has been hospitalized so much.
This next portion of the article is another telling piece of skewed ethnological retention and culture shock, and once more, reveals how dishonest (or at least how out of touch) illegal immigration activists truly are.
Last year, however, she sent her daughter, Kelly, 17, to Kentucky for several months. Though American born and raised, Kelly hadn’t been outside South Los Angeles.
In Lexington, school was hard because few people spoke Spanish, and the city “barely had one Spanish radio station,” Kelly said.
God forbid! You mean there are places in the United States where the predominant language isn’t Spanish? That’s incomprehensible.
Her cousins, she said in English, “use more educational words than here. My cousin is 7 years old, and he has a better reading level than me. He don’t see picture books or drawings or anything like that. He just likes books with pure letters.”
Illegal aliens, and illegal immigration activists, take note of the above. Amazing, huh?
Girls from Mexican-immigrant families in Kentucky, she saw, were in their mid-20s and still didn’t have children.
“I said, ‘Damn, that’s weird,’ ” Kelly said. “The girls right here in Los Angeles are like in Mexico. There are girls that are 14, they got kids.”
That makes me very sad.
The family in Kentucky “is more in the United States than” her mother, Kelly concluded. “They want a better education for the kids. With less kids there’s better possibility of you having something.”
It would make me very happy to see Kelly take this experience and try to improve herself based upon what she learned from her family in Kentucky–to see her assimilate and cultivate a life apart from Mexico and what she knows of her Los Angeles existence. The American dream is not an illusion. It is attainable.
Magdaleno, meanwhile, was raising six other children and using a variety of birth control methods — the latest being the contraceptive patch.
She said she was stunned when doctors told her that she was carrying quadruplets.
“She didn’t do this on purpose,” said Dr. Kathryn Shaw, who delivered the couple’s triplets and their quadruplets. “She was not at all elated, and not excited about the fact that they were quadruplets.”
Regardless, it seems fairly evident that Angela, whether she was fully aware of it or not, was still partaking in some sort of fertility program. Perhaps she and Anzaldo only wanted one additional member of their family (by the way when do you realized you must stop?! When you follow triplets with quadruplets? Is that finally enough fucking kids?)
All are healthy, Shaw said, but weighed between 3 and 4 pounds at birth. They remained at White Memorial Medical Center in East Los Angeles long enough to gain weight, then came home this week.
Now Denise, Destiny, Andrew and Andrey are with the rest of the family.
For Angela Magdaleno, their arrival — 22 years after she left Mexico and entered the United States hoping for a different life — has brought her full circle. Her older daughters, like girls in Mexico, have been drafted into helping raise the new children.
“I don’t have anything,” she said. “Just children.”
And is that the Latino ideal of wealth as I’ve been told before? Apparently not, as Angela here seems like she’s about ready to put a gun to her head.
Anyway, if anything, this article holds true to the idea that immigrant assimilation is the best means to achieve success in a foreign society. There is no better testament to the contrary than the epic story of Angela, Anzaldo, and their brood who continue to suck from the state health-care, education, etc. teat, while simultaneously emptying legal residents’ pockets in the process.
I applaud the Magdeleno Kentuckians. They did it right (apart from initially crossing the border illegally) and have become successful, contributing members of American society.
For Angela and Anzaldo, all I can offer is my pity. You’ve already got my money.
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David C. Couper
My book, Arrested Development: A Veteran Police Chief Sounds Off About Protest, Racism, Corruption, and the Seven Necessary Steps to Improve Our Nation’s Police (2nd ed. 2017describes my journey which brought me from patrol officer to chief of police in seven short years. In Minneapolis, I was a cop by night and university student by day during those tumultuous years in the late 1960s. My formal education changed not only how I viewed the world, but also opened me to a new and radical idea of police being partners in improving American society. The first edition of my book, released in 2012, takes the reader through the history of American police and their missed opportunities. It is an important work that needs to be read by those who wish to see our society live up to its professed values as well as for those who wish to serve those values as police officers. The second edition adds a post-Ferguson chapter and other materials specifically concerning the problem surrounding police uses of deadly force.
Throughout my 30+ year police career I’ve had a burning desire to see police improve – I always thought police could be more than they were — like defenders our Constitution and Bill of Rights and “social workers in blue.” It all came together when I was appointed chief of police in Madison (WI). It was there that I spent over twenty years transforming the department into a national and international model. I ended the “war at home;” a bitter and brutal battle between protesters and Madison police during the Vietnam war years. But what makes this book different from other police books is that they are often about sensational crimes and incidents or about embarrassing or exposing police — not about improving them and certainly not over a twenty year period. I can “walk my talk” when I describe how I improved a city police department. Yes, police can be improved and they can, and should, protect our rights while continuously improving the systems in which they work. So, let’s start talking about it…
Sharon Kittle on January 16, 2012 at 4:03 pm
WOW, talk about bring back memories of my time working with David Couper. He indeed was a visionary, and obviously still is. He made more changes in the Madison PD than anyone else I know, and all for the good of the department, even though there were many people who didn’t agree with him at the time. He made the department what it is today, and I am proud to say I worked for that department.
Pete Eyre on May 19, 2012 at 12:57 pm
Howdy, I’m active with CopBlock.org – a site that solicits submissions from those in its decentralized network. Recently one was received by your wife. I attempted to respond to the email address associated but my message bounced-back. I thought I’d share with you the email in case there is any synergy. Thanks for your time.
Sabine, thanks for reaching-out and sharing with CopBlock.org a bit about your husband’s latest book.
Would you be willing to send me a copy of the book to read then at some point in the future David I could discuss the ideas covered? That could be facilitated via text online – one of us do a write-up (perhaps me as a book review) then he respond (and we could even go another iteration). Or we could discuss on video via a service similar to Skype?
I ask because while he and I both recognize flaws in the current structure of law enforcement, we advocate different solutions. I think it would make for an interesting conversation.
And just a little about me in case he has interest: I used to live in Eagan and went to school for law enforcement. I never worked in that capacity though I interned at St. Paul PD. After school I worked in DC’s libertarian think tank world and then became active with other projects like Motorhome Diaries, Liberty On Tour, and now Free Keene and Cop Block.
improvingpolice on May 20, 2012 at 4:00 pm
Pete, I sent you and email. Let’s talk.
Alex M. Salazar on April 21, 2015 at 2:18 pm
Chief Couper Alex Salazar here with honestpolice.org. Could you please call me. 714 420-5686
improvingpolice on April 22, 2015 at 7:52 am
Will do, Alex.
Carl Landsness on May 29, 2012 at 9:43 am
I was quite moved by your talk at yesterday’s Vets For Peace ceremony… and what I’ve been reading about you and your work… plus what I’ve heard about you. I’m extremely grateful for what you’ve done for Madison… and beyond. It strongly supports the peace and reconciliation work I’m doing in Madison… healing many unresolved wounds from the turbulent era you inherited in 72.
I and others who were here doing the turbulent years (and later left for many years) have found ourselves drawn back in recent years… to better understand what happened then, what is needed now, and what our roles are… weaving a lifetime of learning, exploring, grieving, and healing into a new and more life-serving paradigm.
I am hosting a series of ceremonies and rituals in the days leading up to the recall election… including an ascension pilgrimage to the top of ‘The Temple of the People’ (capitol)… calling on a higher power for higher perspective, purpose, and possibilities. If this calls to you, I welcome your presence and essence.
In any case, I would love to talk.
Carl Landsness
improvingpolice on May 29, 2012 at 11:00 am
Thanks, Carl, for your comments.
For those who might be interested, here are the comments I made yesterday at the Veteran’s for Peace Memorial Day Remembrance in James Madison Park yesterday:
Thank you for inviting me to be with you this important day.
I spent a decade in the Marines on both active and reserve duty. In my generation, those who followed World War II, we felt that being a soldier, sailor, Marine or airman was being a peacekeeper.
I continued that quest for peacekeeping in my three decades as a police officer. I believed the reason I carried a gun was to keep the peace.
After my retirement from the police, my youngest daughter joined the army. She recently returned from a year in Afghanistan. She is a career soldier. She thinks of herself as a peacekeeper.
One of my granddaughters is now in Rwanda. She is a member of our Peace Corps. She also is a peacekeeper.
Peacekeeping in our nation is an essential task and one that should never be forgotten or diminished in any way.
Now I serve as a member of the Christian clergy. Peacekeeping is still my vision and goal. And that is why I am a member of Veterans For Peace.
After all, the vision and goal of all the enduring religions of the world is peace (in spite of how many of our religious leaders try and demonize one another and how we distort Truth for our own purposes).
But we know that peace is obtained and maintained through love of one’s fellow human beings and destroying them is not loving them.
The absence of peace is something of which we are all aware of. It is conflict and we, as a nation, have been in conflict for far too long.
When speaking about conflict, Ghandi said it best: He objected to violence because “when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.”
The good is only temporary.
The evil it does is permanent.
So how do we obtain and maintain peace and avoid the evil of violence?
First of all, it is impossible to create peace outside of us unless we first create peace inside of us.
For most of us, this is a lifetime journey. But a journey, nevertheless, that is necessary for each one of us to embark upon.
Because peace begins inside of us and then can influence spheres of our life outside of us – at home, in our other relationships, in our neighborhood, workplaces, and communities.
We will never be a nation at peace until we, as a people, are willing to create peaceful hearts, homes and villages…
My new book about improving police (“Arrested Development: A Veteran Police Chief…”) is about helping our nation’s police become better peacekeepers and protectors of our civil rights.
In writing the book, I identified four major obstacles that prevent police from improving and achieving these two goals—1-anti-intellectualism, 2-violence, 3-corruption, and 4-discourtesy.
I soon came to see that I was not just talking about police, but about how all of us should act…
• Anti-intellectualism…distaining learning, research and the opinions of others…
• Violence…in both words and actions… using violence to teach others in our society (including our children) that violence is wrong.
• Corruption… a broad range of faults from being dishonest with our self as well as in our dealings with others.
• Discourtesy… the incivilities in our daily lives, dis-respecting others, thinking other people are less than we are or deserve less than what we have. It is the opposite of our Golden Rule…
And the seven necessary steps I identified for police to overcome the four obstacles in my book are also many of the steps we all need to take so that one day we may no longer know war and use it to further our attempts to dominance others at home or abroad.
1. Envision – what is our vision of the future? Is it for obtaining and maintaining peace?
2. Select – do the friends we choose, the people around us share our vision?
3. Listen – do we deeply and intently listen to each other… even those whose opinions differ from ours?
4. Train and Lead – do we attempt to learn the art of peacekeeping? And once having learned it, do we have the courage to lead others in it?
5. Continuously improve – once having begun to learn peacekeeping, will we try to better our methods and our lives?
6. Evaluate – do we check up on how we are doing? are we “walking our talk?” – Improving?
7. Sustain – once having embarked on a more peaceful life, will we work to continue our peacekeeping efforts into the future?
Brothers and sisters, I am honored to share this Memorial Day with you.
Let us never forget those who serve our nation – whether we as a collective were right or wrong, they stepped forward, they served their nation, and they paid the greatest price. And they paid it for us.
We should always be thankful for their sacrifice.
Let us never forget.
Let this day, as our President proclaimed, be a Day of Prayer for Permanent Peace.
And let us never shirk our call and duty to be peacekeepers – at home, at work, and in our neighborhoods.
For when we do, we are blessed — and we bless others.
Bill Erfurth on June 26, 2012 at 12:19 pm
Hi David, I figured this powerful tribute film to Law Enforcement may interest you. Please check out the below links for additional information on the Heroes Behind the Badge trailer. The film will be complete mid September and is being produced in association with the National Law Enforcement Officer Memorial Fund. Please spread the word to help support our fellow Law Enforcement Heroes, and thanks for your time, Bill
Trailer: http://youtu.be/TMJCOEOGYgg
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/heroesbehindthebadge
improvingpolice on June 30, 2012 at 10:46 am
Bill, thanks for this link. I would also suggest that if you haven’t seen the work Franklin Covey and Michael Nila are doing to do so. There is a YouTube link at click here.
Bill Erfurth on July 3, 2012 at 12:50 pm
Great stuff, thanks for the link!
BestCriminalJustice (@CrimeJustice1) on November 20, 2012 at 6:39 pm
Your blog was included in our round-up of the Top Law Enforcement Blogs at http://bestcriminaljustice.com/top-law-enforcement-blogs Congratulations! We also have badges if you would like to show your readers that you have made the list. Just send me an email.
HonorYourOath (Jeff Gray) on December 30, 2012 at 7:36 pm
Thanks for your courage Chief Couper.
Editor on February 4, 2013 at 4:18 pm
I’m writing to let you know that your blog has been selected for inclusion in our list of the Top 25 Police and Detective Blogs of 2012. Blogs were selected by our editors based on the quality and frequency of posts over the course of 2012.
You can view the list of blogs at http://www.topcriminaljusticedegrees.org/top-police-and-detective-blogs-of-2012/.
J. Shane
TopCriminalJusticeDegrees.org
editor@topcriminaljusticedegrees.org
improvingpolice on February 4, 2013 at 4:23 pm
I am honored — thank you!
Dreaming in Blue | Bright Blue Line on November 15, 2013 at 1:20 pm
[…] David Couper […]
Butterfly Light! & ‘How I’m spreading light.’ | Blogger at the Edge of the Universe. on April 10, 2014 at 4:31 pm
[…] With all that out of the way, I will now nominate a bunch of amazing bloggers that should accept this cool award: Thea Beckman: http://whybecausescience.com/about/ Jenna Rambles: http://jennaramblesblog.com/about/ J Haines: http://jhaines6.wordpress.com/about-me/ David C Couper: https://improvingpolice.wordpress.com/about/ […]
annarosemeeds on July 5, 2014 at 3:23 pm
Thank you so much for such a thoughtful and inspiring blog. Also thank you for working to make a positive impact on the world.
Tim on December 12, 2014 at 10:19 am
So I was standing at the bottom of Ridgeview Road staring thoughtfully at my broken spoke and warped front wheel, and working to persuade myself that walking a couple miles up the back of Blue Mounds to the village (and my car) in my socks pushing the bike and carrying my cleated shoes – would only add to my appreciation for the landscape and enhance my training, when a pickup stopped and the lady inside asked if I could use a ride. So thank you again SABINE. Just so you know, I’m paying it forward!
Second, thank you David especially for your blog about dominance policing – and culture. I found it very meaningful and helpful in many, many ways. Just so you know, you can also find your essay here; http://www.luther.edu/ideas-creations-blog/?story_id=589288&comment_posted_id=591728
Bless you both.
improvingpolice on December 12, 2014 at 10:50 am
Thanks, Tim. Glad we could help out and thanks for the encouragement!
hardiharhar on December 27, 2014 at 1:15 pm
I am forwarding the following article from Front Page Mag to all who might appreciate it:
Frontpage’s 2014 Person of the Year: The American Police Officer
December 26, 2014 by Daniel Greenfield 161 Comments
15.1K305211
As we sit here in our homes with our families and loved ones around us, tens of thousands of children wonder if their parents will come home tonight.
Their fathers and mothers aren’t stationed in Iraq or Afghanistan. They’re on duty in places like Englewood in Chicago where there are 2 violent crimes for every 1,000 people in one month, Columbus Square in St. Louis or Bedford-Stuyvesant in New York City where two police officers were just murdered.
The men and women of law enforcement are on the front lines of the war at home. From the mugger on the block to the terrorist on the hijacked plane, they are the first ones there.
41 law enforcement officers were shot and killed in 2014. That’s in line with the number of Americans killed by hostile fire in Afghanistan. There’s a reason that Chicago has been nicknamed Chiraq. Some parts of the country are a war zone and after the latest shooting of two police officers in New York City, a statement circulating among cops states that the NYPD has become a “wartime police department.”
The war at home has been going on for a long time and by some accounts has claimed the lives of 20,000 law enforcement officers. Since 2001, more than 700 officers have been killed by gunfire. During the Gulf War, more officers were killed on the streets of American cities than in combat against Saddam.
Even as the murders of NYPD cops Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu fill the news, Officer Charlie Kondek has been shot while pursuing a suspect in Tarpon Springs, Florida.
Officer Kondek had been a former member of the NYPD. He leaves behind five children. His killer, Marco Antonio Parilla Jr, had been repeatedly arrested for the possession and sale of cocaine before being released just this August. Officer Kondek and his children paid the ultimate price for his release.
All three police officers were casualties in the war against human evil that never ends. It’s an even dirtier and more unglamorous war than Iraq or Afghanistan. And police officers are hated in a way that it’s still socially unacceptable to hate soldiers. Ramos and Liu were the latest casualties of that hatred.
The police officer is the handyman of the welfare state. His job is to put his life on the line to plug the social leaks that the sociologists, consultants and social planners who made this mess had not foreseen. It’s his job to be there for a domestic violence complaint in a Florida motel at two in the morning or a failure of multiculturalism between two warring gangs in Oakland. He goes to places that the politicians don’t like to think about and deals with issues that the welfare state created and walked away from.
Progressives don’t believe in evil. It’s the beat cop who has to believe in it and clean it up.
The planners and politicians who allocate funds for new housing projects don’t have to patrol them at night. They don’t have to walk down a narrow concrete block hallway lined with dirty doors any of which can open at any minute with a gun behind it. The drug sentencing reformers have never had to carry a deranged screaming figure through the rusting doors of an emergency room. They have never had to get their soft shoes dirty walking through puddles of blood in an alleyway.
When liberalism fails, it’s the cop who gets the call. And when he does get the call, it’s the liberals who will be the first to call for his head.
It’s not enough that the cop has to clean up for the welfare state. He also has to be its scapegoat.
The chants of “Black lives matter” aren’t aimed at the gangs and drug dealers who rack up an astronomical number of black deaths; it’s aimed at the cops who put their lives on the line saving black lives. It’s the very people whose messes they clean up who hate them the most.
The police officer has come to embody America, abroad and at home, the nation that risks its lives to free peoples only to be despised for it, the nation that extends every benefit and privilege to its own criminals only to be shot and stabbed, raped and robbed for its endless generosity.
The American police officer was never supposed to be venturing into neighborhoods where no one speaks English and the locals see him as a member of an occupying army or patrolling in communities where gang members number in the thousands and could take down the entire local police force.
He was never supposed to be a social worker, a mediator, a medic and the commander of an invading army negotiating truces and treaties with the local tribes. And yet he is expected to be all these things and more. Every time he goes out he knows that he may face a choice between his life and his career.
If cops seem touchy, isolated or out of control it’s because they have been left hanging by a system that uses them to dam up the breakdown of a society without ever acknowledging that this is their job. Many urban police officers operate in environments where crime is not an aberration, but the norm. Like the American soldier, the police officer is better trained and more effective than ever before, but like the soldier he is also haunted by the sense that his work and his sacrifices are futile and unappreciated.
The police officer isn’t spending years in Iraq or Afghanistan; he’s spending decades in Chiraq. When his time ends, there will be no victory parades. Just the knowledge that he tried to make a difference and that unlike many brother officers, at least he made it to retirement.
Officer Daryl Pierson was shot and killed leaving behind a wife and two young children. Pierson had been an experienced officer. His killer, Thomas Johnson III, had been paroled after serving three years for an attempted armed robbery.
Officer Justin Winebrenner tried to get Kenan Ivery to leave a bar. Ivery drew a gun and shot and killed him. Officer Winebrenner was a second generation police officer. He left behind a 4-year-old daughter.
Officer Perry Renn responded to shots being fired and encountered Major Davis Jr. who was carrying a semi-automatic rifle. Davis Jr. had an extensive criminal record. He fired killing Officer Renn who had survived twenty-two years on the force.
Patrolman Jeffery Westerfield responded to a fight between Carl Le’Ellis Blount Jr. and his girlfriend. He never even got a chance to draw his gun or leave his squad car before Blount shot him in the head.
Deputy Sheriff Allen Bares was off duty when he saw a gold Lexus crash into a ditch. He approached the vehicle and was shot and killed. The two men inside, Quintylan Richard and Baylon Taylor, stole his truck and took off.
The police officers in all these cases were white. Their killers were black. But the police officers in many of these cases were trying to protect black people and black communities.
The killings all took place in a matter of months in 2014. And their numbers will only continue to grow.
While the wars abroad expand or contract, this is the war that will go on. Its soldiers will serve their tours of duty for decades on the streets of our own cities without having anywhere else to go home to. And when their time is up, they will never receive the thanks that they deserve because most of us will never understand the difference that they made.
When the left took over, it was the police officer who kept everything from going under in our major cities. It was not the politician or the planner, the sociologist or the social worker who kept the crime and chaos from sweeping everything away. It was the man in blue who did what had to be done.
Under Obama, when the criminal is king and the progressive planners are changing the country in ways unprecedented since the seventies, it’s still the lonely figure in the squad car that does his duty and holds the line in a thousand dark and dirty neighborhoods where gunshots and screams sound in the night. The American police officer has become the soldier of civilization fighting to keep it alive.
And somewhere a family wonders if their father or mother will come home tonight.
About Daniel Greenfield:
Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is a New York writer focusing on radical Islam. He is completing a book on the international challenges America faces in the 21st century.
Andy Halmay
improvingpolice on December 27, 2014 at 3:12 pm
Your points are well-taken. There is enough pain today for almost everyone. And what about those guns bad guys seem to have and their availability?
Gunther on February 18, 2015 at 11:27 pm
No Mr. Halmay, It is the hard core conservatives aided and abetted by the police that is destroying American civilization. If the cops were the protectors of American civilization, then we would not have so much white collar, corporate crime committed by the 1% in this country and around the world. White collar corporate crime has been the norm in America for the last 35 years and the cops have failed to put a stop to it because they are lackeys of the rich people and corporations and don’t have the moral courage to stand up to those groups. You also didn’t see the cops arresting the CIA officials and Oliver North for flooding American cities with heroin and cocaine. The cops were also told to lay off white drug dealers and user in the affluent white neighborhoods or their budget would be eliminated..
“His job is to put his life on the line to plug the social leaks that the sociologists, consultants and social planners who made this mess had not foreseen.”
Rich people, corporations, and business people have created the political, social, and economic mess that is occurring in this country and they intend to keep it that way by using the police as their own military force as Mayor Bloomberg called the NYPD. Cop’s job is to maintain the social, political, and economic control for the 1%.
What about white cops being killed by white criminals and white right wing militia groups. Who killed those cops in Nevada and who threaten to shoot the federal BLM agents in Nevada? It wasn’t the blacks
sargespeaks on March 26, 2015 at 9:31 am
Mr. Halmay and Gunther, with due respect, you are both correct. The flaw is that we must stop drawing the “liberal” and “conservative” lines in the sand. I’m committed to speaking out for the cop on the beat, who as Mr. Halmay quite correctly states, are the ones bearing the brunt of everyone’s anger. The truth is that as citizens we lack the will to address the systemic problems that get dumped at the feet of the street cop everyday. I’m not talking about white collar investigations on the federal scope, Gunther. I’m talking about cops in the trenches of our communities right now. Mr. Halmay is right. They are risking their lives every day for us, just like the soldiers we all so rightly revere. We must all have the courage to examine our respective communities, own the problems and work for positive change.
Thanks for joining the conversation, sarge!
sargespeaks on March 26, 2015 at 10:02 am
My pleasure, Chief.
Gunther on March 26, 2015 at 7:54 pm
Will all due respect Sarge, I would love to remove conservative and liberal from this arguement but as long as some hard conservatives starts putting all the blame on liberals, socialist, progressives, etc., and refuses to accept of what their powerful conservatives have done to this country for the last 35 years aided and abetted by the police, plus not treating people from other political, economic, social, ethnic, racial, and religious groups as fellow American citizen with equal rights, I will not take such outrageous statements lying down. Where is the guy’s proof that liberalism and socialism have destroy America? The answer is he has none where I have given plenty of evidence regarding hard core conservatism is destroying this country.
Patrick on April 6, 2015 at 2:29 pm
I just finished reading “Arrested Development.” It brought back memories for me as a small town Chief trying to make change happen in the 90’s. Thank you for your COURAGE!
I’m now an Asst. Professor at UW-Platteville and I hope to get a chance to meet you Wednesday night. It’s tough to facilitate change once an officer is socialized into the police culture but I hope to make a difference while they are still in school.
Patrick Solar
improvingpolice on April 6, 2015 at 2:59 pm
Hope to see you. It’s worthwhile planting seeds. One day…
improvingpolice on April 8, 2015 at 10:40 am
Patrick, yes, there is important work that can be done early-on in a young officer’s career. Moral strength is certainly necessary and having an eye on the “big picture.” Hope to see you tonight at UW-Platteville.
Sebastian Vega on June 8, 2015 at 2:56 pm
My name is Sebastian Vega from Texas Standard (NPR’s daily statewide new show for Texas) at KUT and I wanted to know if you had time for a quick interview sometime tomorrow (6/9) before 9 a.m. central time. The interview would be focusing on police training and its relation to officers’ mentality of being prepared for the worst.
You can contact me at svega@usc.edu
improvingpolice on June 8, 2015 at 4:24 pm
OK, will contact you,
Kimmie on March 14, 2016 at 2:40 pm
Hello! My name is Kimmie and I work for a production company which services Discovery. I am seeking female homicide detectives (current or retired) for a potential new series. I would love to discuss this with you! If interested, email kimmiecastinglosangeles@gmail.com
Most Active Posts Last Week – Improving Police on November 20, 2016 at 12:01 pm
VMS on July 28, 2017 at 7:59 pm
I am a public defender in Minnesota and have been deeply saddened by the things I have seen and experienced and learned about law enforcement over the years. Yesterday when the POST board decided not to name the training fund after Philando Castile – based on outright lies by Bob Kroll – I just about lost it. Like one of Malcom Gladwell’s tipping points, I felt emotionally raw and finally understand exactly why people chant “pigs in a blanket.” It’s a dark place to be, especially for someone whose childhood dream was to be a cop. I’m very encouraged to find this blog.
improvingpolice on July 31, 2017 at 12:04 pm
The only way police will improve is if good men and women join them. Standing outside the police and asking for reform and improvement is howling against the wind. Join them and work to improve them! Still possible?
Mich'l the archangel on August 11, 2017 at 2:40 pm
As a Wisconsin former law enforcement officer I’m so thrilled to be reconnecting with Chief Couper. After some thirty years of lost contact and being a man of great faith (a recovering Catholic due to clergy abuse and now a student of Buddhism/Native American/the teachings of Jesus, a higher power reconnected us after all this time to combine out faith based moral ethical approach to being a true PEACE officer and protecting professional top cops from burnout and other risks associated with increased gun violence against officers due to gun whacko’s getting easier access to firearms.Cops are dying in record numbers (up 15%) because of male testosterone driven legislation that coddles criminals who want immediate access to guns in the name of “protecting their castle” or standing their ground. In my 50+ yrs hunting and using firearms, the NRA is directly responsible for this increase in police officer deaths since the NRA began there criminal coddling agenda rather than focusing on what the NRA was in my childhood and youth, a hunter safety organization. This I hold former NRA radical president Wayne “LeFontaine” for this dramatic increase in police officer deaths. If more guns deter crime, why isn’t Somalia the safest nation in the world? Why isn’t Canada and Sweden the most dangerous nations? Because of the NRA’s anti-faith-based fear campaign and diabolical lies. If a Christian, Muslim, Jew or agnostic truly has faith, then fear can’t control emotions.
My message in closing is Chose God. Not guns! One can’t worship both.
Gunther on August 13, 2017 at 4:37 pm
Tol Michael the archangel.
If more guns really deter crime, the KKK, corporate crime, crimes committed by wealthy people, and crimes committed by bad DAs and cops would have cease to exist a long time ago. Of course, when you look at the history of this country, Afro-Americans were denied to owning a gun due to various black codes laws pass at the state and local levels even though it violated their Second Amendment rights.
Coddling to criminals. Well, we have been coddling to white collar criminals for the last 37 years and because of it, white collar corporate crime has gone through the roof. You can also hold right wing think tanks like ALEC and corporations like Wal-Mart for trying to weaken/eliminate gun laws in all 50 states. They are the real criminals as well.
Carl Landsness on August 14, 2017 at 11:22 am
Such a challenging and gut-wrenching issue for many.
Teachers of higher consciousness suggest it reflects a shadow side of MOST of us…
calling us to more self-examination, self-improvement, self-policing and love of enemies (of a higher, harder and humbling kind).
improvingpolice on August 14, 2017 at 2:55 pm
Right on, Carl!
Top Posts Last Week – Improving Police on April 8, 2018 at 3:04 pm
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SF SPCA Launches Vet Assistant Apprenticeship Program
SF SPCA Veterinary Technicians at the Pacific Heights campus. (Photos courtesy of SF SPCA)
Tue. March 27, 2018, 1:35pm
by Cheryl Guerrero
@cheryl_guerrero
Citywide, Mission, Pacific Heights
Next month, the SF SPCA celebrates its 150th anniversary with a new veterinary assistant apprenticeship program that organizers are touting as the first of its kind.
“We have a very long tradition of creating solutions where there weren’t any and doing many firsts," said Alice Jordan, a senior vice president with the society. "This is another first.”
Conceived in 2015, the apprenticeship is one of the first formalized training programs for veterinary assistants and is a collaboration between the SF SPCA, Jewish Vocational Service (JVS) and Foothill College.
SF SPCA veterinary exam area.
Jordan said the program, which is designed for city residents, offers a career path to those who are unemployed, underemployed or seeking a change. “We are eager for San Francisco residents because we want people to stay and work in San Francisco,” she said.
Applicants must be over 18, have a high school diploma or GED and be eligible to work in the US. The program was designed to help SF SPCA combat a nationwide shortage of qualified veterinary workers.
“Since 2011, we have struggled to recruit enough vet assistants and registered veterinary technicians for our program," said Jordan.
Today, SF SPCA employs about 110 vet technicians, making it the city’s largest veterinary employer. Over the next five years, the organization expects to hire 175 vet assistants.
A vet technician works on an animal at the SF SPCA.
Jewish Vocational Services specializes in workforce development and partnered with SF SPCA to design the apprenticeship program. Attendees will go through a two-year program that includes on-the-job training and college coursework.
“We’re proud of this innovative approach to meeting the SF SPCA’s ongoing need for veterinary assistants while helping people launch new careers at the same time," said Lisa Countryman, VP of planning and program development for JVS.
Foothill College offers a two-year Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT) program and worked with SF SPCA to develop the curriculum. Jordan said all coursework will be offered at the Mission campus, with job training at one of the society's four San Francisco practices.
A surgery suite at SF SPCA.
During the program, apprentices will receive benefits and full-time pay. Upon completing their apprenticeship, they'll become full-time vet assistants with the SF SPCA and will also have an opportunity to continue their education at Foothill to complete the RVT program and become licensed.
“This program has the ability to transform lives,” said Dr. Jennifer Scarlett, SF SPCA president.
The first cohort of ten apprentices begins April 9th; another is expected in October, with new cohorts scheduled to begin every six months thereafter.
“The program opens that door for individuals who are interested in a career that has a long pathway to a well-paying job," said Jordan. "It’s a win for the community, for the SF SPCA, for the people who go to JVS and for Foothill College.”
The application process for October apprentices opens in late summer or early fall, but those who weren’t selected for the April cohort are able to apply again. Applications are submitted via the JVS website.
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Safety+Security
Johns Hopkins plans public discussions on the future of campus security
Upcoming events are part of an ongoing effort to converse with members of the university community and neighbors about safety concerns on and around JHU's campuses
/ Published Oct 15, 2018
Johns Hopkins University will host a series of public discussions and other events in the coming weeks as it continues to examine the question of how best to keep its campuses and the surrounding neighborhoods safe.
The events are part of an ongoing effort to speak with students, community members, and city leaders about safety concerns on and around the university's Baltimore campuses; evaluate different models for university-based policing; and gather feedback on ways to reduce crime on campus and in neighboring communities.
"We have not wavered in our belief that Hopkins must take steps to augment our capacity to protect our campuses and surrounding areas."
Ronald J. Daniels and Paul Rothman
"We have not wavered in our belief that Hopkins must take steps to augment our capacity to protect our campuses and surrounding areas," JHU President Ronald J. Daniels and Hopkins Medicine CEO Paul Rothman wrote in a message to students, faculty, staff, and neighbors today.
It was that same belief that prompted the university last spring to request a bill in the Maryland General Assembly that would allow Johns Hopkins to establish a campus police department, similar to those found at peer institutions in Baltimore and across the country.
The legislation, a response to a sustained increase in armed robberies and other criminal activity on and around the university's Baltimore campuses, received a mixed response. Many who spoke out said they appreciated Johns Hopkins' willingness to take on additional responsibility and cost to enhance safety and security.
But others expressed reservations and concerns—about the nature of the university's relationship with the Baltimore Police Department; about distrust of police in general, particularly with regard to bias and profiling; about negative experiences with current security personnel; and about how the establishment of a university police department might affect the university's efforts to help address the root causes of crime and violence in Baltimore.
Ultimately, university leadership and the legislature elected not to act on the bill, determining that the issue required further consideration and conversation.
"While there was broad agreement that the level of crime around our campuses and across our city is untenable, there was less consensus on how this threat should be addressed," Daniels and Rothman wrote.
"All of these perspectives are legitimate and deserving of further clarification, debate, and discussion. In fact, the common theme across all of the feedback we received was the desire to learn more about the options and best practices for improving safety and to have greater input in the university's decision-making."
Efforts to evaluate alternatives and to gather input will continue through the end of the year, Daniels and Rothman said. Establishing a university police department remains an option, they added, but the university also is actively looking for and open to different models and solutions.
To that end, Johns Hopkins will host a panel discussion on the current landscape in university policing featuring local and national experts on Oct. 29 at Schafler Auditorium on the university's Homewood campus.
Discussions on topics such as constitutional and community policing, law enforcement accountability, public safety training and technology, and understanding and addressing the root causes of crime are planned for later in the fall semester. Additionally, open forums with university leaders will be held at the 29th Street Community Center in Charles Village on Nov. 13, and at the Historic East Baltimore Community Action Coalition in East Baltimore on Nov. 26.
University leaders and security personnel have also scheduled small group meetings throughout the remainder of the semester with student, faculty, and community organizations, and they are willing to meet with other groups.
A new university website will be regularly updated to include applicable research and crime data, draft proposals, and documentation of the feedback and recommendations received in meetings and forums. It will also include a list of upcoming events and a comment feature that allows users to submit feedback or request meetings with university leaders.
By early 2019, the university plans to publish a full report on its efforts and propose a path forward.
"It is our expectation that these multiple avenues for discussion and input will allow us to fully examine relevant research, consider the pros and cons of security models adopted by other universities, and gain a deeper understanding of the concerns that have been raised and how best to address them," Daniels and Rothman wrote.
"We look forward to hearing from you and hope to see you at one of the upcoming meetings."
Tagged campus safety and security
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Home > Penal Policy > Governor of Dóchas Centre resigns
Governor of Dóchas Centre resigns
April 26, 2010 Mary Rogan Leave a comment Go to comments
The Governor of the Dóchas centre, the main female prison in the state has resigned because of the “serious undermining” of her position and an “overall lack of respect by senior personnel in the Irish Prison Service”.
The first hand evidence given by Ms McMahon of the degree of overcrowding and its effects on rehabilitative regimes and simple day-to-day living gives an insight into the reality of what we have known for some time. Overcrowding is becoming chronic in the Irish prison system and that this is leading to increased tensions, diminished services and fewer opportunities to facilitate those imprisoned to change their lives. As the former Governor notes, what had been a flagship, progressive regime will be replaced by one in which tensions, self-harm and bullying would reappear, and in which health, educational and training facilities would become overloaded.
While this is extremely worrying, particularly as there appears to be no concerted strategy to deal with the issue of growing prison numbers in the short, medium and indeed long term, there is a concern arising out of Ms McMahon’s description of life in Dóchas which is a new one and perhaps even more significant and disquieting.
Ms McMahon states that the relationship between those in charge of the day to day regime within the Dóchas Centre and officials from the Irish Prison Service had deteriorated because of unannounced visits and lack of consultation in operational decisions, such as that to place bunk beds in rooms designed for one prisoner.
Ms McMahon expresses the view that the Irish Prison Service is afraid of media coverage suggesting the regime in Dóchas is too relaxed. In addition, the former Governor believes that a decision has been made to “introduce a more punitive regime involving holding as many women as possible in an already overcrowded centre” and that a new policy of denying temporary release to low-risk prisoners had developed.
Irish prison policy-makers can be criticised for allowing the prison system to ‘drift’ along, allowing the neglect of penal regimes and exhibiting a lack of energy in prison policy-making over several decades. Inertia has been a major feature of Irish prison policy-making since the foundation of the state. As O’Donnell writes:
Debates about crime and punishment in Ireland tend to have a staccato quality. There are moments of intense concern, often after a particularly heinous killing, and then long periods of stasis. Sometimes fundamentally new ways of doing justice are promised. But they are not always introduced,their impact is seldom assessed, and the focus can waver.
The background is of a criminal justice system where reform is slow and piecemeal. It took sixty years for revised prison rules to appear; the Probation Service is still guided by a piece of legislation more than a century old; and it remains impossible to link the information systems of the various criminal justice agencies.
One of the advantages of such a state of affairs is that the country
has been insulated from the punitive chill that has so affected England and the USA. Another is that research opportunities are many and varied and the scope for international collaboration is vast.
Ms McMahon’s view that a more punitive turn is evident in the thinking of penal administrators may suggest that this state of affairs is beginning to come to an end. If a more determined effort to enforce a punitive agenda is becoming apparent, this is a matter of major concern. If this is the case, no longer could it be said that overcrowding and poor conditions are, somehow, ‘accidental’ by-products of a lack of coordination, planning and strategy. No longer could it be argued that such conditions were an unfortunate by-product of a lack of forward-thinking or long-term perspectives on penal planning.
It would be quite easy to impose a punitive agenda in the Irish penal system. It appears that individual Ministers and civil servants have an influence over penal direction which vastly outweighs that of interested groups, criminal justice professionals and even the legislature. Conditions are already such that regimes are difficult and facilities limited.
If it is the case that a concerted effort to make the Irish prison system more harsh, then questions need to be asked: where is this coming from; do we want it and where will it lead us?
Read more from the Irish Times on Ms McMahon’s resignation here and here.
For the comments by a member of the Mountjoy Visiting Committee on the “appalling conditions” in that prison read here.
For more on the Irish prison system, read here.
Categories: Penal Policy Tags: Dochas Centre, Prison, women
Maman Poulet » Lesbianism, Prisons and absolute bunkum
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Home / Market Insight, Financial Articles / Gadgets, Smartphones & Tech / What to Expect From Apple’s Upcoming WWDC 2019 Event
What to Expect From Apple’s Upcoming WWDC 2019 Event
Apple’s annual software developer conference kicks off on June 3
By Brad Moon, InvestorPlace Contributor May 7, 2019, 10:58 am EDT May 7, 2019
Later today, Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google division will be holding its annual developer conference: Google I/O 2019. Stay tuned this afternoon for coverage of everything Google announces. However, there’s another big developer event less than a month away, and this one is the source of even more speculation. In the past, Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) WWDC has seen the announcement of a wide range of products and services including the HomePod, Apple Music, the iPhone 3G, as well as previews of new versions of all AAPL’s operating systems. Here’s what to expect at WWDC 2019, which takes place on Monday June 3.
Source: Apple
iOS 13 With a Focus on Speed and Bug Fixes
The operating system that powers Apple iPads, iPhones and the iPod Touch is critical to Apple’s success. Even after a record sales drop, the iPhone still accounted for over 53% of Apple revenue in the past quarter, while the iPad brought in nearly $4.9 billion. That makes iOS a significant factor in the performance of Apple stock. Get it right and it helps to drive mobile device sales, but slip up and the iPhone faces an even tougher uphill battle.
Once again, Apple is expected to be playing it safe, focusing on speed and bug fixes that will make the iPhone and iPad seem zippier and more reliable. That doesn’t mean there won’t be new features, though. Predictions include a new Dark Mode for nighttime use, a redesigned Find My Phone app (that could leverage a Tile-like Bluetooth tracker the company is rumored to be working on), the ability to use an iPad as an external display with a Mac and updates to key apps including Maps, Reminders and Health.
MacOS 10.15
Mac sales are down, and the latest version of macOS is one way Apple can try to reverse that trend. The big development for macOS in 2019 is expected to be the ability for Macs to run apps for the iPad (with support for iPhone apps expected net year). This project — code-named “Marzipan” — was first reported in 2018, but it’s predicted to debut at WWDC 2019.
Apple is expected to begin by porting several of its own iOS apps to the Mac, including Apple Music.
One of the stars of Apple’s Q2 earnings was wearables. Apple stock can no longer rely on record iPhone sales for growth, but the Apple Watch is selling well. At WWDC 2019, the company will show off the latest version of watchOS, with plenty of new features.
According to Bloomberg, a key development is expected to be App Store access directly from the smartwatch itself, allowing owners to download apps from their Apple Watch instead of relying on an iPhone. New apps are expected to include Calculator, Voice Memo and Books (for listening to audiobooks), and new health apps that will allow users to remind themselves to take pills and track their menstrual cycle.
After AAPL’s March event where Apple TV+ and Apple TV Channels were announced, we pretty much know what to expect from tvOS 13 — support for Apple’s new video streaming services.
This is the one that AAPL investors are always watching for. New hardware can mean an uptick for Apple stock as customers rush to buy the latest device. WWDC 2019 is not a hardware-focused event, however the company has announced new hardware at this event in the past and it’s possible we could see something onstage in June.
At this point, the best bet is that Apple might bring out the all-new, modular Mac Pro it promised to its professional users. Accompanying it may be a return to the Mac Monitor business the company exited several years ago, with an expected 31.6-inch 6K display.
Apple’s WWDC 2019 keynote takes place on June 3. You can expect to get all the details of what AAPL reveals — and the implications for Apple stock — from InvestorPlace as soon as Tim Cook leaves the stage. In the meantime, stay tuned for everything Google announces at Google I/O 2019 later this afternoon.
As of this writing, Brad Moon did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2019/05/what-to-expect-from-apples-upcoming-wwdc-2019-event/.
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WordRapt
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Discovering the Past in Le Marais, Paris
Posted on August 1, 2012 by judy loest
It does not seem to me, Austerlitz added, that we understand the laws governing the return of the past, but I feel more and more as if time did not exist at all, only various spaces interlocking according to the rules of a higher form of stereometry, between which the living and the dead can move back and forth as they like, and the longer I think about it the more it seems to me that we who are still alive are unreal in the eyes of the dead, that only occasionally, in certain lights and atmospheric conditions, do we appear in their field of vision.
― W.G. Sebald, Austerlitz
I don’t know who said, “The past is always with us,” but nothing could be truer than in the Marais, the historic Jewish Quarter in Paris. It is one of those Old World locations where the past and the present converge, where one’s sense of self is challenged by being forced to weigh one’s life against the events that made the present possible. I and two friends rented an apartment in the Marais earlier this year, on Rue Chapon which dates from 1292, a street originally called Street of the Cock, not for the bird but a name of derision given to a synagogue there under the reign of Philip IV, La Maison de la Société des Capons. One of the oldest structures in Paris, in fact, was one street over, the Nicholas Flamel house built in 1407 on Rue Montmorency. Somewhere beneath Chapon are the bones of Carmelite nuns whose convent was founded there in 1617.
Although the apartment had been thoroughly modernized, it retained the original massive, unpainted ceiling beams. Many of the buildings in that section date from the seventeenth century and were abandoned by the nobility for the more upscale Faubourg St. Germain area when Louis XIV moved the royal court from the Louvre to Versailles in 1682. A steady decline continued into the nineteenth century. The grandest old Marais residences became museums and hotels, the rest were subdivided into apartments like ours on Rue Chapon. With affordable housing, the Marais soon became a commercial district, attracting artisans and the working poor and, later, waves of immigrant Jews fleeing persecution in Russia and central Europe.
Today, Rue Chapon is primarily known, as it has been known for over two hundred years, for its wholesale purse trade. In a travel book published in 1842 titled How to Enjoy Paris, the author mentions a M. Langlais-Quignolot, No. 10, Rue Chapon, who “executes orders for London on a most extensive scale for net gloves, purses and reticules…. [and] has lately brought into vogue some most beautiful little purses called Rebecca, being exactly in the form of the pitcher with which she is represented at the well; their appearance is most ornamental, and although very small they distend so as to hold as much as most ladies would like to lose in an evening at cards.” Today, the street is home to several Chinese purse wholesalers, their small windows displaying vogue designs in colored and natural leathers.
But on this trip, I was not interested in shopping; I was interested in the area’s history, particularly during World War II. I had just read two books about this period, Tatiana de Rosnay’s novel Sarah’s Key about the Vel d’Hive roundup of Jews in Paris on August 16 and 17, 1942, and The Journal of Hélène Berr, begun at age 21 when she was a student of Russian and English literature at the Sorbonne and ending with her and her parents’ arrest on March 8, 1944. During my stay on Rue Chapon, I never entered the door at street level and walked up the three flights of worn stairs without trying to imagine the Jewish families who might have lived in the building during that dark period.
My imagination was fueled, too, by the memorial plaque above our street entrance.
The plaque stated, in rough translation, that “on August 14, 1944, a meeting was held in this building between Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy, the regional chief of the FFI (French Forces of the Interior), and the French police and the decision made for the entry of the police in the insurrectional struggle for the liberation of Paris.” The FFI was the formal name of the resistance fighters who lead the insurrection five days later which culminated on August 25 with the arrival of American troops.
It’s hard to imagine the City of Light during those six days, to think that tanks flanked the entrance to Notre Dame and that explosives were wired to the Cathedral towers as well as ancient bridges and other major sites such as the Eiffel Tower, the Arc d’Triomphe, and the Louvre. Hitler had given orders to destroy Paris, but Gen. Choltitz, the commander of the German forces, officially the military governor of Paris, refused to reduce five thousand years of history to rubble. In a 1964 interview, Choltitz explained, “If for the first time I had disobeyed, it was because I knew that Hitler was insane.”
It is harder still to imagine Paris during the four years of German occupation. When Berr began her journal in the spring of ‘42, the occupiers, to her, seemed little more than background noise. Her academic and social patterns continued for a few months unbroken—she attended classes and lectures, met friends in the library and courtyard of the Sorbonne, attended concerts at the Trocadero, accepted and extended invitations to teas, played violin in a small group of talented musicians. She was falling in love. But by summer increasingly flagrant acts of oppression made the reality all too clear. While her friends and their families and members of her own immediate family were fleeing to the free zone in southern France, Berr chose to stay with her parents and grandmother. Quickly, her world shrunk as more and more liberties were forbidden.
On July 16 and 17, 13,152 Jewish men, women, and children were arrested and taken to the Vélodrome d’Hiver, an indoor winter sports arena, and held there for five days before being deported to internment camps such as Drancy and then on to extermination camps. On July 15, Berr wrote in her journal, “Something tragic is about to happen.” On July 18th she wrote: “Some of the children they took had to be dragged along the floor. In Montmartre there were so many arrests that the streets were jammed. Faubourg Saint-Denis has nearly been emptied. Mothers have been separated from their children…. In one neighborhood, a whole family, the father, the mother, and five children, gassed themselves to escape the roundup. One woman threw herself out of a window. Apparently several policemen have been shot for warning people so they could escape. They were threatened with the concentration camp if they failed to obey.”
A Paris publication reported: “The Vél d’hiv looked like a scene from hell. Eight thousand Jews were camping there, living literally in their excrement, with nothing to eat or drink for three days. Men died. Women gave birth. The clamor raised prevented the neighborhood’s residents from sleeping for three nights.” There were also suicides.
Berr immediately volunteered with the UGIF (Union Générale des Israélites de France, or General Organization of Jews in France) to help with the children allowed to leave under the protection of the UGIF. But the UGIF had facilities only large enough to hold 4-500 of the 4,000 children, placing them in homes, monasteries, and orphanages. Berr and her parents were arrested on March 8, 1944 and deported to Drancy. On March 27, her 23rd birthday, she was deported to Auschwitz. In November she was transferred to Bergen- Belsen where she died a year later, just 5 days before the camp was liberated. Her journal, kept by surviving members of her family after the war, was published in 2008.
I was in Paris the summer of 2004 when the city was celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of its liberation. A photography exhibit of over 100 enlarged, framed, black and white portraits recounting the Normandy and Provence landings leading up to the liberation, the arrival of American troops in Paris, as well as the reconstruction of France was affixed to the iron fence surrounding the Luxembourg Gardens. The sidewalk was crowded, the people, many of them old enough to have experienced those historic events, many of them with teary eyes, moved slowly, quietly past that floodtide of giant images. Those images and those faces brought tears to my own eyes. I was reminded of something American novelist William Faulkner said: “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”
This July 16, to mark the 70th anniversary of the Vel d’Hiv roundup, a new exhibit opened in Paris’ city hall. The exhibit, “The Vel d’Hiv Raid: the Police Archives,” is the first public opening of these historic documents. Berr’s journal, like Anne Frank’s diary, intentionally written to preserve history for future generations, is sure to have been a motivating factor behind this exhibit.
Walking along those winding, ancient streets in the Marais which press upon so many layers of historical sediment, I often felt that I was the ghost, a visitor from the future walking unseen among the dead, trying to learn the lessons they could teach me, especially how to find meaning in everyday experience. Berr found meaning even while living through horror. She wrote: “And then there’s the sympathy of people in the street, on the metro. People look at you with such goodness it fills your heart with inexpressible feeling…. As the misfortunes are heaped up, this connection deepens. Superficial distinctions of race, religion, social class are no longer the issue—I never thought they were—there is unity against evil, communion in suffering.” But it came at the expense of so much loss. And she also wrote, “The only people who can be happy must be those who do not know.” But if you could choose, would you choose happiness over not knowing? Sometimes, I think that the only way the dead see the living is when the living feel suffering across time. In the Marais, you will not come away untouched—by something, by someone—and it will feel like a gift.
About judy loest
writer, reader, artist, walker, nature lover with a passion for literature, libraries, bookstores, cats, cemeteries, film (esp foreign, esp French), organic food, and old things, esp ephemera (photos, postcards, letters), buttons, lace, esp old things made in France...does that make me a Frantiquarian?
View all posts by judy loest →
This entry was posted in Literature, Miscellaneous, Writing and tagged German Occupation, Helene Berr, Marais, Paris. Bookmark the permalink.
6 Responses to Discovering the Past in Le Marais, Paris
cathannabel says:
Beautiful post. Helene Berr’s Journal is one of the most remarkable books I’ve ever read – an eye witness account of occupied Paris, without the influence of hindsight, passionate and heartbreaking.
judy loest says:
Thanks, Cathannabel. I see you’re also a fan of Sebald and, well, authors who are about remembrance, even, and esp, when it is painful.
murrspivey2 says:
hello judy,
i enjoyed reading your post. oddly enough, i have been reading and watching films on the 2nd world war recently. my great uncle delmar spivey was shot down over germany and survived prison camp for 2 years. he wrote a journal about pow camps after returning to the states. i will have to find a copy of berr’s journal to read as well.
Tks, Susan. I’ve been drawn to that period for several decades. Recently had to rewatch “Is Paris Burning?” and recommend it.
Linda Marion says:
I believe happiness/suffering are and must be intertwined, just as light and darkness make a whole, and we are blessed to receive and experience it all together. A true gift, as you say, if we only recognize it as such. You’ve written about a time and historical tragedy that have long interested and intrigued me, peeling back layer after layer to the inner pit of loss and remembrance. Even in our explosive world today, we can’t imagine this kind of horror. Your shimmering piece tells me more about your recent trip and about how we must care for one another, in the present and across time (and veils), than any conversation about the sights, trinkets, people you encountered, all I need to know.
Linda, thank you for your thoughtful, generous, wise, and beautiful words.
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The Green Bay Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is the largest of the three MSA's in the area (including the Outagamie County portion of the Appleton MSA and the Sheboygan MSA) and contains approximately 38 percent of the labor force and employment in the WDA. It makes up about 37 percent of the population for the Bay Area, and is near the geographical center of the region. Manufacturing makes up just over 18 percent of the employment, with the predominant industry being paper making, both in scale of employment and average annual salary.
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Kaitlin Woolley
Assistant Professor of Marketing, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business
Kaitlin Woolley is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management. Professor Woolley studies consumer motivation and goal pursuit, with a focus on understanding what consumers value when pursuing their goals and how to use this to increase goal persistence. She also studies the influence of goal conflict on consumers’ avoidance of information, and the role food consumption plays in facilitating social connection.
Professor Woolley’s research has been published in top-tier academic journals including Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. Her work has also received coverage in popular media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, and NPR.
At Johnson, Professor Woolley connects with MBA students in teaching the core marketing course and the consumer behavior elective. She earned a bachelor’s degree magna cum laude in psychology from Cornell University. She earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Her PhD is from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
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Duff McKagan Visits Steam Power Display Before Guns N’ Roses Show
Stapleford Railway
Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan was seen attending a steam power display hours before the band headlined the U.K.’s Download festival over the weekend.
The local charity Stapleford Railway posted pictures of McKagan alongside a firetruck speaking to its crew, and reported that he’d intended to travel on their miniature steam train.
The BBC said that GNR had been staying at Stapleford Park before their show, and that McKagan took the opportunity to visit the steam festival after buying a ticket for the train. “It’s a shame Duff didn’t get the chance to ride,” event organizer Nigel Spencer said. “He’s obviously quite keen on fire engines too.” The railway later said they had to temporarily stop offering rides due to a helicopter arriving to fly the band to the nearby Download site.
Meanwhile, the Mirror reported that among GNR’s “jaw-dropping” backstage demands for their Download set was the requirement of a porcelain toilet and “super-silky” toilet paper. “Anyone who’s ever been to a festival is familiar with the horror of the portaloo,” the newspaper wrote, “so it’s understandable the band demanded special porcelain bogs to ease their ... comfort.”
In related news, GNR guitarist Slash submitted a bid to end his marriage with estranged wife Perla Ferrar, offering her a deal worth $6.6 million plus $100,000 per month maintenance and $39,000 per month for each of their two children. The paperwork he submitted to a court, reported by The Blast, listed his monthly income at $345,000.
“Perla has been slow responding, or has deliberately drawn out responding, throughout this matter," Slash said in the submission. "I want to move on with my life.” The couple married in 2001 and first filed for divorce in 2010, before reconciling and then filing again in 2014.
Next: Ranking Guns N' Roses’ Entire Catalog of Songs
Source: Duff McKagan Visits Steam Power Display Before Guns N’ Roses Show
Filed Under: Duff McKagan, Guns N Roses
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Directioners Think ZAYN's New Song Is About His Breakup With One Direction
posted by Paris Close - Dec 6, 2018
ZAYN's new song seems to confront his fractured friendships within One Direction.
The 25-year-old dropped a new track called "Good Years" Thursday morning (December 6) — and Directioners believe the lyrics are about his broken brotherhood with former bandmates Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, and Niall Horan.
ZAYN opens the piano confessional with lyrics alluding to a somber place, "I'd rather be anywhere/ Anywhere but here," he belts in the chorus, praying "I didn't waste all my good years," likely during his time in the band.
More lyrics suggest the boys quarreled behind the scenes and appear to hint at Zayn's overall unhappiness during his tenure with the group, as multiple fans pointed out on Twitter.
Listen to "Good Years" and see what fans are saying about it on social media, below.
Albeit speculative, the Directioners' theory isn't so uncanny. After all, Z said it himself that he made no friends when he disbanded from 1D in March 2015.
Last month, when asked by British Vogue whether he's kept in touch with the boys, he replied, "Nah. I ain't spoke to any of them for a long time, to be honest with you. That's just the way it is. There's things that happen and things that were said after I left... Snide things. … Small things that I would never have expected."
What's more, though, is some fans thought Tomlinson shaded the "Rainberry" star over his new song, per a recent tweet he posted hours after it dropped which read, "Proper confused. What a hypocrite!" Though, it's just as likely the tweet was taken out of context, as the "Back to You" crooner could have been referring to X Factor contestant Armstrong Martins thanking every judge on the show besides him on Instagram. (Who knows? You decide!)
Even so, ZAYN seems to have found peace with the situation on his long-awaited second studio album, Icarus Falls, due out December 14.
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The Joe Pags Show
FILE - In this Dec. 8, 1987 file photo U.S. President Ronald Reagan, right, and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev exchange pens during the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty signing ceremony in the White House East Room in Washington, D.C. Gorbachev's translator Pavel Palazhchenko stands in the middle. Trump's announcement that the United States would leave the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces, or INF, treaty brought sharp criticism on Sunday Oct. 21, 2018, from Russian officials and from former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, who signed the treaty in 1987 with President Ronald Reagan. (AP Photo/Bob Daugherty, File)
The Latest: Russian dismisses US claim of treaty violations
MOSCOW (AP) — The latest on President Donald Trump's decision to pull the U.S. from an arms control agreement with Russia (all times local):
Russia is calling U.S. accusations that it isn't complying with a 1987 nuclear weapons treaty "groundless" and says its claims of U.S. violations of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty are "justified."
But the deputy director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department of Nonproliferation and Arms Control told the U.N. General Assembly's disarmament committee Monday that "we are prepared to work together with our U.S. colleagues on the entire set of problems regarding the INF."
Andrei Belousov added: "We hope that we will be reciprocated."
He said implementing Trump's Oct. 20 statement on possible U.S. withdrawal from the INF "would be another short-sighted and extremely dangerous step by the United States for international peace."
President Donald Trump is reiterating his intent to pull out of a landmark arms control agreement, saying the Russians have not adhered to the spirit of the agreement — or the agreement itself.
Trump is also pointing out that China is not included in the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty.
The president says China should be part of the agreement, raising questions about whether he plans to renegotiate a more sweeping pact that includes Russia, the United States and China.
The European Union is warning President Donald Trump to assess the potential impact on American citizens and the world of the U.S. withdrawing from a nuclear weapons treaty with Russia.
The EU said in a statement Monday that beyond urging Russia to stick to the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty, the bloc of countries also expects "the United States to consider the consequences of its possible withdrawal from the INF on its own security, on the security of its allies and of the whole world."
The EU statement said the arms control treaty had been an essential cornerstone of Europe's security structure for more than three decades and helped contain the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
It said: "The world doesn't need a new arms race that would benefit no one and on the contrary, would bring even more instability."
NATO's spokeswoman says the 29 allies believe Russia is violating a landmark arms control treaty and have tried repeatedly to obtain information about its new missile system.
NATO has expressed concern since last year about Russia's nuclear-capable 9M729 system violating the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty. The pact between Russia and the U.S. banned all land-based cruise and ballistic missiles with a range between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (310-3,410 miles)
NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said Monday that "in the absence of any credible answer from Russia on this new missile, allies believe that the most plausible assessment would be that Russia is in violation of the INF Treaty."
Lungescu didn't comment on U.S. President Donald Trump's weekend threat to withdraw from the treaty, saying only that the "allies continue consultations."
The United States is by far the biggest and most influential member of the military alliance.
The European Union is calling on the United States and Russia to stick to a 1987 nuclear weapons treaty and make sure it is "fully and verifiably implemented."
EU spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said Monday that Washington and Moscow "need to remain in a constructive dialogue to preserve this treaty."
She said that in Europe, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces, or INF, treaty "contributed to the end of the Cold War, to the end of the nuclear arms race and is one of the cornerstones of European security architecture."
Trump's announcement Saturday that the United States would leave the landmark treaty has brought sharp criticism from Russian officials and from former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, who signed the pact with President Ronald Reagan.
U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton has begun talks with top Russian officials during a previously scheduled trip to Moscow.
The discussions took a new turn Monday with President Donald Trump saying Saturday he would pull out of a landmark nuclear weapons treaty.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman says Putin is meeting with Bolton and is anxious to hear his explanations for Trump's decision to walk away from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
Trump alleged that Russia violated terms of the treaty that prohibit the U.S. and Russia from possessing, producing or test-flying ground-launched nuclear cruise missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers (300 to 3,400 miles.)
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov says Putin denies the allegation. Peskov says the U.S. withdrawal from the treaty would "make the world a more dangerous place."
Bolton is in Moscow for two days of talks.
The Kremlin says it is concerned about U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from a landmark nuclear weapons treaty.
Trump announced on Saturday that the United States would walk away from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty that the U.S. and the Soviet Union signed in 1987 in a major step to ease Cold War tensions.
Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, told reporters on Monday that Putin is denying Trump's allegations that Russia has violated terms of the treaty. Peskov says the U.S. withdrawal from the treaty would "make the world a more dangerous place."
The Kremlin's comments came as U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton began his visit to Russia on Monday. Peskov said Russian officials are anxious to hear Bolton's explanations for Trump's decision.
Weapons proliferation
Weapons administration
Military and defense
Weapons treaties
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Robert Pattinson Is the New Batman
Get ready for the Twilight of the Dark Knight.
Like, literally. Variety reports that Matt Reeves has found the man to play his new, younger Batman, and it is Twilight star Robert Pattinson:
Pre-production on the Warner Bros.-DC Comics pic is expected to start this summer. Reeves, the filmmaker behind the last two “Planet of the Apes” sequels, assumed “Batman” directing duties from Ben Affleck in January 2017 and has been developing the elusive project ever since. Affleck and Warner Bros. began discussing the actor-director leaving the Caped Crusader behind following “Justice League,” allowing Reeves to pick his own Bruce Wayne.
At 32, Pattinson would become one of the youngest actors to play Batman in a movie. It’s a decidedly different direction than Affleck, whose Batman was supposed to be an older version of the character, who was nearly the end of his crimefighting career (and was loosely based on the version of the character in Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns).
While I’m sure some DC Comics fans will react to this news with horror at the idea of a hunky vampire bat-man becoming the next Batman, Pattinson has quietly been building an impressive career making eclectic, interesting movies and delivering strong performances since the end of the Twilight saga. He’s worked with Claire Denis and David Cronenberg and James Gray. He’s got great taste in material and he’s a good actor. I’m ready to see what he and Matt Reeves come up with. The Batman is scheduled to open in theaters on June 25, 2021.
Gallery — The Best and Worst Superhero Costumes Ever:
Source: Robert Pattinson Is the New Batman
Filed Under: DC Comics, Robert Pattinson
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Kings agree to terms with Trent Yawney as Assistant Coach
Zach Dooley June 18, 2019 0 Comments
CoachingHockey OperationsKings Operations
The LA Kings announced today that they have agreed to terms with Trent Yawney to serve as Assistant Coach. Yawney joins Assistant Coach Marco Sturm and Goaltending Coach Bill Ranford on Head Coach Todd McLellan’s staff.
From the team’s official release –
LOS ANGELES – The LA Kings have agreed to terms with Trent Yawney to serve as Assistant Coach, it was announced today by Kings Vice President and General Manager Rob Blake.
Yawney joins Assistant Coach Marco Sturm and Goaltending Coach Bill Ranford. Todd McLellan was named the Kings Head Coach on April 16.
Yawney, 53 (Sept. 29, 1965) joins the Kings after serving as Assistant Coach with the Edmonton Oilers during the 2018-19 season under McLellan. Prior to his year with Edmonton, he served as an Assistant Coach for the Anaheim Ducks for four years (2014-18).
“Trent has an incredible amount of experience coaching all different types of defensemen,” said McLellan. “He has played with and coached several Norris Trophy winners and Hall of Famers, including Chris Chelios, Doug Wilson, Phil Housley, Rob Blake and Duncan Keith. On the whole, he has played and coached the game at a high level, and he is a tremendous teacher who relates very well to many different types of people.”
The native of Hudson Bay, Saskatoon, has over 15 years of coaching experience on his resume. He was named the Head Coach of the Chicago Blackhawks in 2005 and held a 33-55-15 record over part of two seasons in Chicago. He also served under McLellan in San Jose for three years (2008-11). At the AHL level, he was the Head Coach of the Norfolk Admirals for seven seasons (two stints, 2000-05 and 2011-14), leading them to the playoffs in 6-of-7 seasons.
Yawney enjoyed a successful playing career that included 593 NHL regular-season games and 60 Stanley Cup playoff games over 12 seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks (1987-91 and 1997-99), the Calgary Flames (1991-96) and the St. Louis Blues (1996-97). His regular season totals included 129 points (27-102=129) and 783 penalty minutes and he collected 26 points (9-17=26) and 81 penalty minutes during his NHL postseason career. He made consecutive trips to the Western Conference Final with the Blackhawks during the 1989 and 1990 playoffs, before falling to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Calgary Flames in 1989 and the Bill Ranford-led Edmonton Oilers in 1990. He was drafted by Chicago in the third-round (45th overall) in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft and made his NHL debut with the Blackhawks during the 1987-88 season.
Yawney represented Team Canada on multiple occasions, including being named the captain during the 1988 Winter Olympics, helping Canada to a fourth-place finish on home ice (Calgary hosted the Olympics that year). He also competed for Canada in the 1991 and 1992 World Championships, winning a Silver Medal in 1991.
Yawney and McLellan playing careers intersected early on. The two played together for two seasons with the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League from 1983-85.
Debora Robinson/NHLI
Elsa Hasch /Allsport
Assistant CoachesCoachingTrent Yawney
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Reclaiming Judaism from Zionism
Volumes Bookcafe: 1474 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago 60622
While not technically a JVP-Chicago event, join us June 13th as we welcome back Rabbi Brant Rosen in conversation with his co-contributor Ben Lorber to the new book RECLAIMING JUDAISM FROM ZIONISM: Stories of Personal Transformation.
This new text is a collection of personal narratives from forty different Jewish activists and scholars. Brant and Ben will be discussing their contributions to the text, as well as the conversation surrounding the topic as a whole.
Rabbi Brant Rosen, author of Wrestling in the Daylight: A Rabbi’s Path to Palestinian Solidarity, is a Chicago-based rabbi, blogger, and social activist. He is currently the director of the American Friends Service Committee Midwest office and co-chair of the Jewish Voice for Peace Rabbinical Council. In 2014, Rosen, who had lengthy previous experience as a congregational rabbi in Evanston, IL, co-founded a social-justice focused congregation called Tzedek Chicago.
Ben Lorber is a writer, organizer, and musician. In the past, he has organized for racial and economic justice in Chicago, and for a just peace in Israel/Palestine. His writing explores Jewish identity, radical Jewish history, antisemitism, Israel/Palestine, and related issues. He lives in Chicago with his partner and his two cats. Ben blogs at doikayt.com and makes music at narrowbridge.bandcamp.com.
This event is free and open to the public. Books will be on hand for purchase.
Tell AIPAC It's not Welcome in Chicago
Join the Chicago Coalition for Justice in Palestine (Al-Nahda Community Center, American Muslims for Palestine, Palestinian American Community Center, Palestinian American Council, Students for Justice in Palestine [SJP]-Chicago, and U.S. Palestinian Community Network [USPCN]) and Jewish Voice for Peace as we protest the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)-Chicago Annual Event Thursday, May 30th, 2019, at 5 PM at the Hyatt Regency – downtown Chicago at 151 E. Wacker Drive.
AIPAC, a major arm of the Israel Lobby, is the main advocate in the U.S. for Israel's ethnic cleansing of Palestine and other human rights violations against the Palestinian people, but its most recent and unequivocal support for Netanyahu’s ultra-right government has reinforced its reputation as a racist, anti-Palestinian, and anti-Muslim force influencing the U.S. Congress.
AIPAC also plays a major role in building Congressional support for Trump and Kushner’s ridiculous Deal of the Century “peace plan,” for Trump’s unilateral recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the Golan Heights as Israeli territory, respectively, and for anti-BDS legislation on both federal and state levels – statutes used to silence critics of Israeli policies by putting Israel first and free speech and the right to boycott last.
Recently, U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a Black Somali Muslim refugee, publicly criticized AIPAC, raising awareness of the negative influence it has on the U.S. government. Because of her bravery in challenging AIPAC, and by extension, Israel, she was falsely accused of anti-Semitism, and continues to face vicious, racist, and Islamophobic backlash, including death threats.
AIPAC is a supporter of the rabidly racist administrations in both Israel and the U.S. It aids in the violations of Palestinian human, civil, and national rights (both here and in Palestine), and we are going to make clear to AIPAC and its supporters on May 30th that they are not welcome in our city!
Monthly Chapter Meeting: Facing the Nakba
2:45 - 3:45 - Working Groups and New Member Orientation
4:00 - 5:30 - Regular Meeting
Join us for our next chapter meeting when we will be offering a free workshop on “Facing the Nakba”. May 15th is the 71st anniversary of the Palestinina Nakba, or “catastrophe”, when over 700,000 Palestinians were driven from their homes as part of the establishment of Israel. We will be doing a participatory learning activity, and then discussing our upcoming campaign work on Palestinian child detention, US/Israeli police exchanges, Gaza, and BDS. RSVP for location here: http://bit.ly/2JyFcOz
SEIU - 2229 S. Halsted -
Amira Hass: Israeli Colonialism,Occupied Palestinian Territories
Amira Hass brings a fresh and much needed insight to the past, present, and future of Palestinian Israeli relations. She draws on 30 years of experience as an Israeli journalist and analyst who has sought and achieved unparalleled immersion in Palestinian communities in the West Bank and Gaza.
Born in Jerusalem in 1956, Hass joined the Israeli daily Haaretz in 1989 and had been its correspondent for the Occupied Palestinian Territories since 1993. She has lived in the West Bank city of Ramallah since 1997. "Ramallah Chronicles", a compilation of her articles between 1997-2003, was published in 2005. Before taking up residence in the West Bank, Hass lived in Gaza for three years, which experience served as the basis for her widely acclaimed book "Drinking the Sea at Galilee".
Hass is the only child of a Sarajevo-born Jewish mother who survived nine months in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, and a Romanian born Jewish father who survived three wartime years in a ghetto.
Free and open to the public; call 312-583-7088 for questions.
Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary - 2121 Sheridan Rd., Evanston 60201
Monthly Chapter Meeting - Screening of Imprisoning a Generation
Join JVP-Chicago for a screening and discussion of “Imprisoning A Generation”.
A 50 minute documentary following the stories of four young Palestinians who have been detained and imprisoned under the Israeli military system. Their perspectives, along with the voices of their families, combine to form a lens into the entangled structures of oppression that extend well beyond the prison walls.
Following the screening, we will discuss the issue and how to best use the film to further the AFSC/DCI No Way to Treat a Child Campaign.
RSVP to help us plan.
Working Groups meetings 2:45 pm - 3:45 pm
Chapter Meeting and film screening 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
New and old Jewish Voice for Peace-Chicago activists and allies are welcome. As always, refreshments will be served. All are welcome!
Wheelchair-accessible location, a short bus ride from Chinatown Red Line stop.
Share with your friends via Facebook
Monthly Chapter Meeting
Join us to hear reports from our Working Groups. Learn about our current projects, priorities, changes and opportunities on how you can get involved.
RSVP to help us plan for this event.
Shabbat in Solidarity with Angela Davis
Join JVP-Chicago as we celebrate a Shabbat in Solidarity with Angela Davis! We will sing, light candles, break bread, and read together from the Torah of Angela Davis. Join us for a festive Shabbat committed to reinvigorating this vibrant spirit of solidarity.
We ask that folks who can do so bring a dish to share--vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free dishes would be highly appreciated.
New and old Jewish Voice for Peace-Chicago members and allies are welcome. Bring a friend or two. All are welcome!
As the FBI chased Professor Angela Davis for her support of political prisoners, lovers of justice everywhere put posters in their windows declaring, “Angela, Sister, You Are Welcome in This House.”
As Professor Davis is attacked for courageously speaking out against injustices in Palestine, we declare, “Angela, You Are Welcome at This Shabbat.”
Professor Davis has been unwavering in her commitment to upholding the legacy of Black and Jewish solidarity and has always acknowledged the Jewish tradition of working for justice that informs her politics, even, and especially, her support for Palestine.
Join us for a festive Shabbat committed to reinvigorating this vibrant spirit of solidarity. We will sing, light candles, eat, and read together from the Torah of Angela Davis.
When the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute offered Professor Angela Davis the Fred Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award and then rescinded that offer because of her vocal support for Palestinian human rights, the Birmingham community got in motion to plan an alternative community celebration for their hometown legend on February 16th. In response to pressure from grassroots organizing, the Institute recently reoffered the award to Professor Davis.
On February 15, Jews in Birmingham, Alabama, are gathering to hold a Shabbat to welcome Professor Davis back to her hometown. They have asked us to gather as well to show our solidarity.
Will you please answer their call by joining us?
Across the country, from Birmingham to New York City, we gather to show our solidarity.
Angela, You Are Welcome at this Shabbat.
Bring a friend and dish to share. All are welcome.
Where: Grace Place - 637 S. Dearborn Avenue.
Share on Facebook and to help us plan, let us know that you plan on coming.
Interactive Antisemitism Training
Antisemitism in the U.S. isn’t just about overt discrimination or violent assault. It operates in daily life through stereotypes, unspoken assumptions, and ignorance of intersectional identities. Like racism, transphobia, and other forms of systemic oppression, antisemitism affects everyone, even if they’re not part of the targeted group. So what can we do?
The Queer/Trans Caucus of Jewish Voice for Peace-Chicago will hold an interactive training on Monday, February 11, from 6 to 7:30 pm in the Loop. (The exact location will be sent when
you RSVP.) The training will focus on individual and community experiences, especially the impact of antisemitism on Jews of color, LGBTQIA people, immigrants and refugees, and non-
Ashkenazi Jews. We’ll also discuss ways of responding to different kinds of expression, from unexamined stereotypes to open attacks and provide resources for you to use.
The training space is on the first floor and wheelchair accessible. ASL interpreters and other accommodations are available on request.
For more information RSVP
This meeting will include discussion of JVP’s stance on Zionism. You can read the statement on the JVP web page.
Meet our New Organizer
With Michael moving on to new responsibilities, we say hello to Ari Belathar. We will have light refreshments and plenty of opportunity to chat with Ari.
Grace Place (fully accessible) - 637 S. Dearborn. 1st Floor
RSVP for this Meet and Greet.
This meeting will include a Trans-Affirming Workshop.
Evanston Meeting: Organizing for the Rights of Palestinian Children
Join us to discuss our efforts to urge Representative Jan Schakowsky of the 9th Congressional District to co-sponsor H.R. 4391, the Promoting Human Rights by Ending Israeli Military Detention of Palestinian Children Act, a bill that would prohibit U.S. aid to Israel from subsidizing the Israeli military's systematic mistreatment of Palestinian children in military detention - including torture, solitary confinement and separation from parents and lawyers.
This is in a non-wheelchair-accessble private home. Location provided after RSVP.
Chanukah 5779 - Shine a Light for Safety through Solidarity
for a different Chanukah Celebration!
We will have the traditional - latkes, dreidels and lighting of the menorah. We will work together to envision (and actualize) a world without police, prisons, borders or the Deadly Exchange of police training between the US and Israel. A world in which Palestinians and all people - from the US-Mexico border to Chicago to Hebron - are free.
RSVP on Facebook. Feel free to invite your friends.
If you want to help, you can email send an email to charemrosen@gmail.com or check out our sign-up list.
Donations welcome, but not necessary.
See you there. Where? 637 S. Dearborn
General focus of meeting is checking in, getting to know what’s up and thinking ahead for our future, especially in light of our new organizer, Ari Belathar.
General focus of meeting is what we have accomplished in the last year and what we want to accomplish in the upcoming year.
Please let us know if you are coming and whether you'll be at one of the working group meetings.
SEIU - 2229 S. Halsted - Note the cross-town rivalry will be hot during the meeting So, adjust your travel plans accordingly.
Sounding the Alarm
Join us at Chicago Sinai congregation (15 W. Delaware) as we protest "Sounding the Alarm on the American-Israel Relationship" sponsored by the Israeli Consulate, the Anti-Defamation League and Brand Israel.
Let them know that we stand for justice for all.
Get your friends and share on Facebook.
Protest Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer in Chicago
3751 N. Broadway, Chicago
Hosted by Coalition for Justice in Palestine - CJP & JVP-Chicago
Please join us in letting the Jewish community and the greater Chicago community know that we do not support Israel and her apartheid policies.
Let your friends know and promote on Facebook and elsewhere.
SEIU - 2229 S. Halsted
Humanizing the Victims of Gaza: A Demonstration
Join us at a demonstration sponsored by the Coalition for Justice in Palestine to honor the memory of those killed protesting in Gaza.
230 S. Dearborn.Street
Jan Schakowsky: Justice for Palestinian Protesters
5533 N. Broadway, Chicago - Outside Representative Jan Schakowsky's Office
Let her know (especially if you are of her constituents) that the murder of unarmed civil protesters is unacceptable. Furthermore, the US is culpable for the support they provide Israel.
Share via Facebook.
Emergency Rally: Reject US Embassy Move & Israeli Massacres
Join us at this event hosted hosted by CJP.
500 S. Michigan Avenue., Chicago.
Chicago 70th Nakba Commeration
500 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, Corner of Congress Parkway & Michigan Avenue, downtown Chicago
JVP is endorsing this Palestinian led commemoration of 70 years since the Nakba. We will help to say it clear - Palestinians have the right to return to the lands from which they were expelled in 1948. Israel must stop killing protesters in the Gaza #GreatReturnMarch.
RSVP here to join the Jewish Voice for Peace-Chicago contingent at this event led by the Chicago Coalition for Justice in Palestine. We are proud to be listed as endorsers of this event.
CANCELLED: May Monthly Chapter Meeting
Meeting has been CANCELLED.
Reprise: Shabbat Vigil - Honoring LIves of Palestinian Protesters in Gaza
1603 Orrington Avenue, Evanston, IL
Since our last Vigil, more have been killed and the US has barely noticed. Show your support for those living and dying in Gaza. Let it be known to the world and your elected officials that you do not support Israel's killing of unarmed protesters.
Share also on Facebook.
Shabbat Vigil - Honoring LIves of Palestinian Protesters in Gaza
Show your support for those living and dying in Gaza. Let it be known to the world and your elected officials that you do not support Israel's killing of unarmed protesters.
Vigil led by Rabbi Michael Davis and Lynn Pollack.
Vigil Against the Nakba
JUF and the Israeli Consulate will be celebrating the 70th anniversary of the State of Israel with aconcert at the Harris Theater featuring David Broza. Join us to let the world know that the Nakba and ongoing displacement is nothing to celebrate. RSVP if you can make it and for more details.
to Apr 7
Urgent Action in Support of Gaza
Fri, Apr 6, 2018 12:00 PM 12:00 Sat, Apr 7, 2018 1:00 AM 01:00
Let your representative see your outrage about the killing of unarmed humans behind a fence.
Hosted by AMP, JVP, CJPIP, USPCN, AFSC
Share with your friends via facebook. Also call your US Senators to let them know about your outrage: Durbin (202) 224-2152; Duckworth (202) 224-2854
Rally to Stop the Military Detention of Palestinian Children
Join American Friends Service Committee, American Muslims for Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace-Chicago in Pilsen for a rally in support of the "Promoting Human Rights by Ending Israeli Military Detention of Palestinian Children Act," featuring one of the bill's current cosponsors, Representative Luis Gutierrez (IL-4)!
The event will take place at 6:00 pm on the evening of Monday, March 12th at Lincoln Methodist Church at 2242 S. Damen St. (accessibility details below).
RSVP HERE to help us track attendance and to make it easier for us to plan on accomodating as many people as possible! Seating will be limited. Please note - RSVPing does not guarantee seating.
Representative Gutierrez will urge Members of Congress to join him and twenty-one other bill cosponsors in ensuring US taxpayer funds aren't being used to support human rights violations against Palestinian children detained by Israeli forces, to enhance transparency, and to demand that Israeli forces comply with international law.
We're going to need volunteers! If you can help with sign-in, ushering, etc. please let us know at this link!
We'll hear personal testimonies about the Israeli military’s mistreatment of Palestinian children from members of Chicago’s Palestinian community. The No Way to Treat a Child Campaign is coordinated by American Friends Service Committee and Defense for Children International - Palestine.
RSVP HERE to join us on March 12 and be a part of moving the United States Congress closer toward ensuring U.S. funds are not subsidizing Israel's prosecution of 500 to 700 Palestinian children in military courts that lack basic safeguards for a fair trial each year.
ACCESSIBILITY: The event will take place in the sanctuary on the second floor - unfortunately, it is not wheelchair-accessible as there is no elevator. There will be an overflow room on the first floor - must go over a small step to enter. Stay tuned for exact measurement on height of step. Organizers are working on live Spanish-English translation, stay tuned for confirmation.
info@jvpchicago.org
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FORESTRY, FOREST PRODUCTS AND STUMPAGE DISTRICTS
IDAHO FORESTRY ACT
38-122. Protection by logging outfits — Fire suppression account — Liability for fire suppression costs — Penalty. (1) Everyone engaged, or about to engage, in the cutting of any forest product or potential forest product upon lands within the state of Idaho shall provide for the management and reduction of the fire hazard thus created or to be created by first securing a certificate of compliance from the director of the department of lands or his agent, said compliance to provide the option of entering into a fire hazard reduction agreement as provided in sections 38-401 through 38-410, Idaho Code, inclusive, or by posting a cash bond to the state of Idaho in such form and for such amount as may be prescribed by the director of the department of lands: provided, however, that the amount of the bond so prescribed shall not be in excess of the amount which such person would be required to pay under said sections 38-401 through 38-410, Idaho Code, inclusive, and that the bond shall be conditioned upon full and faithful compliance with all requirements under said sections 38-401 through 38-410, Idaho Code, inclusive, and the faithful reduction of such fire hazards in the manner prescribed by law. Provided further that the initial purchaser of ties, logs, posts, cordwood, pulpwood and other similar forest products which have been cut from lands within the state of Idaho shall make no such purchase from anyone not having a proper compliance under this section and formal acceptance of notification under subsection (2) of section 38-1306, Idaho Code. When a person elects to have hazard reduction money withheld in lieu of posting a cash bond, the purchaser of forest products shall withhold the money and said money so withheld in any one (1) calendar month shall be paid to the director of the department of lands or his agent on or before the last day of the next calendar month. After sending such moneys to the director of the department of lands the purchaser shall not be further liable to the state of Idaho or to the person from whom the money was withheld. The director of the department of lands, upon receipt of the cash bond or transmittal of withheld money, shall promptly deposit the same with the state treasurer to be held in trust until the hazard has been reduced as required by law. Such hazard reduction shall be accomplished by the responsible party within the terms set forth in the certificate of compliance or such additional time as may be granted by the director of the department of lands, and upon completion thereof, the director of the department of lands or his agent shall issue a certificate of clearance, stating that all the terms of this section have been complied with. Such clearance shall constitute reason for the release of said hazard reduction money and payment to the person entitled thereto or release of the cash bond posted, except that: (a) three percent (3%) of the hazard reduction money or bond shall be deposited in a special account to be known as the fire suppression account, which is hereby created in the dedicated fund of the state treasury, and which shall be used by the department of lands to help pay the cost of suppressing forest fires; and (b) as determined by the state board of land commissioners, for harvest from private land, an additional amount, not to exceed three percent (3%) of the hazard reduction money or bond shall be deposited in the forest practices administration account established in section 38-135, Idaho Code, for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of the forest practices act, section 38-1301 et seq., Idaho Code. In the event the hazard reduction shall not be accomplished within said period of time, the money shall be released by the state treasurer on direction from the director of the department of lands less the three percent (3%) deduction specified for the fire suppression account and for harvest from private land, the deduction specified by the state board of land commissioners for the forest practices administration account, and credited to the "forest management account" for the management and reduction of any fire hazard and for the protection of forest resources as provided by section 38-408, Idaho Code.
(2) With the exception of cases of negligence on the part of the landowner, operator or their agents, liability for the cost of suppressing fires that originate on or pass through a slashing area shall remain with the state forester if one of the following alternatives is executed by the landowner or operator: (a) the slashing area is covered by a certificate of compliance and all hazard money payments are current or a proper bond is in place; (b) the landowner or operator treats the slash in accordance with rules adopted by the state board of land commissioners that are in effect during the period covered by the certificate of compliance or approved extensions; or (c) the landowner or operator elects to enter into a contract with the state forester for the management of the slash and liability of fire suppression costs in accordance with section 38-404, Idaho Code.
Should the landowner or operator choose not to treat the slash or not enter into a contract with the state forester in accordance with section 38-404, Idaho Code, the landowner or operator shall, in addition to forfeiting the bond provided for in section 38-122, Idaho Code, be subject to the provisions of section 38-123, Idaho Code, and his liability, if any, for fire suppression costs up to the limits set by the state forester, shall exist for a period of five (5) years following completion of the operation for all fires that originate in or pass through the landowner’s or operator’s slashing area, except that the landowner or operator may choose to pay an additional fee, to be determined by the director, upon payment of which the director will assume the liability for the cost of suppressing fires that originate in or pass through the slashing area.
(3) A violation of any of the provisions of this section shall be deemed a petty misdemeanor.
[38-122, added 1972, ch. 401, sec. 2, p. 1164; am. 1987, ch. 192, sec. 2, p. 392; am. 1989, ch. 154, sec. 1, p. 365; am. 1994, ch. 152, sec. 1, p. 348.]
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Matt M. Connecticut
How the next President should address and fix the religious persecution in America.
Dear Mr. Trump or Secretary Clinton,
My name is Matt, and I’m a student at Staples High School in Westport, CT. I think one of the crucial issues that needs to be taken care of is religious persecution. Being Jewish, I have come to realize that even though it has become less aggressive towards some religions, there is still a major issue. One of the main reasons our family lives in Westport, CT is because it is one of the only places where my family and I can live in peace without people persecuting us for our religion. In other places around the U.S., the situation is very different.
In the past few years, the number of hate crimes against religion in America has skyrocketed. According to FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports: Hate Crime Statistics, 2014, out of the hate crimes reported, 56.8% of the victims’ offenders were encouraged by their anti-jewish ideals. Also, 16.8% of the hate crimes were motivated by people that are anti-Muslims. America is known as “the land of the free,” which is why we are one of the most religiously diverse countries on the planet (according to Pew Research). Because of all these religious hate crimes, some religions might disagree with American citizens’ views on other religions and flee to other countries. However, because these statistics were measured in 2014, the percentage of Muslim hate crimes has gone up because of the escalation of the war in Syria. Although there must be caution with the refugees coming into the country, with background checks on individuals, there is no danger in allowing refugees into the United States. Mr. Trump I know that you believe in strong borders because you want to be extra certain that no terrorists enter the country. And Secretary Clinton, I know that you support refugees entering the country but you both have not done much to help the religious persecution in America. But our country is based off of the ideal of equality. If you can’t do anything to fix the religious inequality and prosecution, then you are not fit to be the President of the United States of America because you would not be pursuing the ideals that this country was based off of.
With all of the religious inequality and persecution, some feel very offended about this topic (including myself). My grandpa is a Holocaust survivor. I will stand for nothing that goes against how brave my grandfather was. Although he lost his parents in the Holocaust, he protected his little sister from the awful Nazi’s who were persecuting and treating people from our religion like we worse than animals. This type of action is coming into the United states. It is not close to as violent, but it is still here. My friend recently suffered a form of religious persecution. I know it sounds farfetched but she and many others witnessed it. She went to a gathering with people she didn’t really know. Someone came up to her and said, “are you a jew? If you are, I can tell by your Jewish nose.” She got very angry, and started saying that he was an awful person for making fun of her for her religion. He later said “you ******* jew.” I could not believe it. Of course, she left immediately. This astonished me because it taught me that about the hatred for some religions in America.
To keep the reputation of America being the “land of the free and the home of the brave”, and to keep the brave people in it like my grandfather, you must prevent the hatred for different races and religions. To start, Mr. Tump if you are the president, please let in more refugees and do not build that wall. The wall will turn people away from America, which can cause some foreign relationships to go down the drain. Secretary Clinton, if you are president, (and you should do this to Mr. Trump) please try to pass some changes causing hate crimes to be worth more jail time and a higher bail amount.
equality religious freedom hate crimes religion
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Illustration: Ancient Joppa
Joppa, which means “beautiful”, was located on the Mediterranean coast at Jaffa, just south of modern Tel Aviv. It was the only natural harbour between Acco and Egypt. Timber from Lebanon passed through this seaport on its way to Jerusalem for use in the construction of the temples built by Solomon (2 Chronicles 2:16) and Zerubbabel (Ezra 3:7). The prophet Jonah departed from Joppa in an attempt to flee God’s call to go to Nineveh. The Danites had earlier received this city as part of their tribal allotment (Joshua 19:46) but had moved north to Laish because of their inability to gain control of their allotted territory.
One of the few port cities on the coast of the Holy Land, Joppa was a city that attracted kings from the entire region. It is mentioned frequently in ancient sources, which attest to the wide variety of powers that controlled the city:
The Egyptian Harris Papyrus describes how the city was taken by Thutmose II (fifteenth century B.C.), who, in a Trojan horse maneuver, sendt the city’s ruler a gift of baskets in which he had hidden his soldiers.
The city is also mentioned in two of the Amarna Letters (fourteenth century B.C.9, which indicate that Joppa was an Egyptian stronghold during the Eighteenth Dynasty.
Egyptian dominance evidently continued into the Nineteenth Dynasty; stone doorjambs excavated in Joppa were inscribed with the name and titles of Rameses II (thirteenth century B.C.).
In light of its location on the northern edge of Philistine territory, a Philistine presence is to be expected after the twelfth century B.C., and indeed Philistine pottery from the eleventh century B.C. has been unearthed there.
The city was evidently under Israelite jurisdiction during the Solomonic period (2 Chronicles 2:16) and perhaps again under the dynasty of Omri, although available sources do not explicitly claim Israelite control during either of these periods.
The city was also conquered by the Assyrians. Sennacherib (in his “prism stele”) lists Joppa among the cities he recaptured during his 701 B.C. campaign.
Joppa remained a prized city during the Persian period. A sarcophagus inscription of Eshmunezer, king of the Phoenician city Sidon, reveals that Joppa, through a donation of the Persian king, was subject to Phoenician authority. Eshmunezer claims that “the Lord of Kings” (the Persian ruler) conferred upon him control of Dor and Joppa, “which are in the plain of Sharon”, as a reward for his faithful service.
The Phoenicians were not always loyal to Persia, however, and in the fourth century B.C they engaged in a rebellion against Persian rule. Artaxerxes III destroyed Sidon in 358 B.C. and Joppa became lbierated from Phoenician rule.
Soon afterward, however, Joppa came under the control of a series of Greek rulers. Two coins of Alexander the Great, who entered this region around 332 B.C., have been uncovered there. The city did enjoy a degree of independence under the Ptolemaic Greek rulers of Egypt.
Joppa was conquered by the Jewish Hasmonean ruler Simon around 144 B.C. This was a matter of great importance to the Jewish state, as it offered an outlet to the sea. The Hasmonean Alexander Jannaeus struck a large quantity of coins stamped with an anchor on the one side to celebrate Jewish control over the city.
Roman rule began with the conquest of Pompey the Great (64 B.C.). Judea thus lost control of Joppa, but Augustus placed it under the authority of Herod in approximately 30 B.C.
As part of Judea, Joppa was important to the New Testament church. It was in Joppa that the apostle Peter raised Tabitha from the dead (Acts 9:36-43), experienced his vision indicating that God would accept the faith of Gentiles and subsequently preached the gospel to Cornelius (Acts 10).
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Adoption was widely practiced in the ancient world; examples have been found from Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek, Roman and ancient Jewish sources. For example, according to Exodus 2:10 Moses was a foundling adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter. Generally speaking, only free men (not women or slaves) could adopt, and the adoptee was often an adult rather than child. Sometimes adoption was undertaken partially for the benefit of the adopter. For example, an older man whose natural children had already died might adopt a younger man as his heir; the adoptee would be responsible to care for the adopter in his old age.
Roman law recognized two kinds of adoption: adrogatio, in which a man and all those under his authority were adopted into another family, and adoptio, in which an individual was adopted into a family. In adrogatio the adopted family in effect ceased to exist as a separate entity and became a part of the adopter’s family.
An adopted man or boy no longer belonged to his father’s household and legally became a child of the adopter. The adoptee in the Roman world took the adopter’s name and rank and became his legal heir. Adoption had to be carried out under a specific protocol (e.g. in the presence of the governor), and a will was often prepared in conjunction with the official process. The association of these two activities reveals the connection between the legal, familial status of the adoptee and his inheritanc rights.
Paul embraced the metaphor of adoption in Romans 8 in order to describe the status of Christians in relationship to God. God as the Father of His adopted children has authority over them, while they in turn have taken on His identity. Paul also wrote of the inheritance that belongs to believers because God has adopted them as His children (Galatians 4:5-7). The redemption of the body is one aspect of the Christian’s inheritance that Paul highlighted in Romans 8:23.
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Is downloading a torrent chunk copyright infringement?
A torrent works by breaking a file into small chunks, each of which can be shared between peers. This speeds up downloads because peer A could be sharing chunk 1 with you while peer B could be sharing chunk 8 with you etc. (See BitTorrent and Torrent file.)
The torrent client would need to reconstruct the file in order for you to use it.
None of the chunks is useful on its own. Each is typically 1/1000th - 1/2000th of the entire video file. None is generally even viewable as video without adjacent chunks due to the type of video codecs in common use.
In Canada, is it copyright infringement to use a modified (say, self-written) torrent client that simply downloads the chunks and immediately discards them from memory upon receipt, never storing any chunk on disk, and never reproducing any portion of the original file larger than an individual torrent chunk, and doesn't host or otherwise make the chunk available to other users.
Does the analysis change if you only download and immediately discard one of the chunks?
To simplify answers, let's assume that the fair dealing user right is not implicated.
copyright canada
possible duplicate of Is it legal to download movies in Canada? – cpast Jun 9 '15 at 14:41
This question appears to be an intent to skirt the law and intend to assist someone else with breaking the law. So I am voting to close this as off topic. – Chad Jun 9 '15 at 15:41
You are right I do not know you and this is not a personal attack against you. It is the appearance of impropriety that this questions represents that is the problem. I think if you were to explain how this could happen with out the intent of the person would potentially be on the hook if they were arrested or persued in court for this action that would remove that problem. – Chad Jun 9 '15 at 16:14
I think if this site becomes bogged down with this type of question the site will die. – Chad Jun 9 '15 at 16:27
@Chad you are making a fuss out of nothing. I guess you don't understand what is being asked here. Try to. – o0'. Jun 10 '15 at 8:46
In Canada, copyright means "the sole right to produce or reproduce the work or any substantial part thereof in any material form whatever, to perform the work or any substantial part thereof in public..." (Copyright Act §3(1)).
This question asks whether the work or any substantial part of the work is reproduced when an individual torrent chunk (typically approximately 1/1500th of a file) is downloaded to volatile RAM and immediately discarded.1
If not, is a substantial part of the work reproduced if the downloader-and-discarder repeats the activity on more of the torrent's chunks (each being discarded before downloading another torrent chunk)?
Substantiality
As quoted above from the Copyright Act, when reproducing only a portion of a work, the statute only prohibits reproduction of a "substantial part" of the work.
"[T]he Act does not protect every “particle” of an original work" (Cinar Corporation v. Robinson, 2013 SCC 73).
Substantiality is not measured by quantity. "Whether a part is substantial must be decided by its quality rather than its quantity" (Ladbroke (Football), Ltd. v. William Hill (Football), Ltd., [1964]).
Copyright Board's substantiality decisions
Is a small chunk of a torrent a substantial part?
The Copyright Board has looked to several signals in judging substantiality, one of which is whether "[the part] may be so closely identified to the work as to allow the reader to recognize the work" (License Application by Pointe-à-Callière, Montreal Museum of Archeology and History for the Reproduction of Quotations, Copyright Board of Canada [2004]). In some video codecs, possessing 1/1500th of the encoded file would not allow playback such that the result would be recognizable as a portion of the original.
The Copyright Board has also held that in the case of XM satellite receivers, which hold "4 to 6 seconds of the Satellite Services' multiplex signal at all times in its random access memory (RAM)", that "the 4 to 6 second buffer fails to satisfy the substantiality requirement. It is not a substantial part of the protected work." (Collective Administration of Performing Rights and of Communication Rights (Re) [2009]).
If downloading and discarding one torrent chunk is not reproduction of a substantial part, does downloading and discarding multiple (even all) chunks become a reproduction of a substantial part of the work?
The Copyright Board has said, regarding the 4-6 second buffer in the XM satellite receiver (ibid.):
"The rolling 4 to 6 seconds of a musical work is not an aggregate of an entire work. At no time does a subscriber possess a series of 4 to 6 second clips which when taken together would constitute a substantial part of the work. It matters not that over time the totality of all works transmitted are reproduced. We are dealing with a rolling buffer and at no time can we line up all of the fragmented copies amounting to one complete copy of a musical work."
In my opinion, downloading a chunk of a torrent file to RAM and immediately discarding it is not reproduction of a work or a substantial part thereof. It is not copyright infringement. Repeating this activity for several torrent chunks of the same torrent file is likewise not copyright infringement.
The above analysis is dependent on assumptions regarding the type of file (a media file, encoded using a format that doesn't produce recognizable sub-portions2, split into approximately 1500 chunks).
Other types of files and torrents would not fall under this analysis and thus the hypothetical download-and-discard activity could still be infringement. Consider a 5 minute .wav file, split into a torrent having only 2 chunks. A 2.5 minute .wav chunk would be recognizable as a portion of the 5 minute original, and 2.5 minutes of a 5 minute work would be much more likely to be considered a substantial part.
1. I know of no torrent client that behaves this way. It would have to be a custom-written torrent client designed specifically for this ostensibly useless task.
2. Although, I don't think the assumption of unrecognizable subportions is necessary, since the 4-6 second buffer in the XM Satellite receiver was recognizable.
Suppose he writes such a torrent client and announces to the world that he uses it for educational purposes to download random copyrighted works (discarding the chunks to avoid infringement.) Then suppose he really does download and keep a whole work, and is sued by a copyright watchdog in the torrent monitoring his IP address and then subpoenaing his ISP. He then tells the court the work was never retained on his computer, and points to his prior announcement of his educational torrent client as evidence. Kind of like the "open Wifi defense". Don't know if the court would buy it though :-) – Jordan Rieger Jul 24 '15 at 19:54
@JordanRieger That is a different question. In your hypothetical, the user unquestionably actually infringed, and the remaining uncertainty is about burden of proof. I agree that it would be a difficult argument to make. My question (and answer) are whether the download-and-immediately-discard activity is infringement in the first place. – user248 Jul 24 '15 at 20:29
Yeah I understand, I wasn't really asking you to answer my hypothetical, just thinking out loud because some people had questioned the motivation behind the OP, and my hypothetical is one way it could be put to practical (if dubious) use. – Jordan Rieger Jul 24 '15 at 23:00
So if one was to create a torrent client that stored 4-6 seconds of video in memory, and discarded it when new data arrived, it would be legal - and I presume since the XM radio is also used to play the audio, playing the video/movie would be just as legal here, as long as only 4-6 seconds were stored in the buffer at any given time. – user2813274 Oct 6 '15 at 1:40
Yes, downloading a torrent chunk of a copyrighted work would likely, in most cases, constitute copyright infringement under Canadian law.
It isn't possible to download a torrent chunk, or anything else, without saving it. When you download something, you are creating a local copy of it. Whether that's on a disk drive or in volatile memory (and in fact it's almost always on a drive) doesn't make a difference; it's still a copy. Even if the software immediately clears it from memory without saving it to a conventional disk drive, the copy has been made.
Nor is it likely to matter that you're only copying a part of the whole. The legal threshold for the amount that must be copied to constitute infringement is low, especially in a case like a torrent, where you aren't adapting elements of a work, but simply copying a chunk of it wholesale. Of course, if you download multiple torrent chunks of the same torrent, even if you download them separately and don't combine them, the court will likely consider them together.
There may be defenses you can raise to a claim of copyright infringement, such as fair dealing, but those are going to depend on the totality of the circumstances--for example, were you doing an academic study on the use of BitTorrent for copyrightable materials, or were you just trolling for Game of Thrones episodes. But that's a more complicated question than the purely mechanical question at play here.
chapkachapka
I would like to add torrents are not illegal. The content you download using torrent could be illegal. There are many situations where torrent technology is used for legal use. Don't download copyrighted content. Having a torrent client is absolutely legal. Like having a knife is legal but placing that knife into the chest of another person is not legal. – Patrick W. McMahon Jun 9 '15 at 16:26
I've edited to reflect some of these comments. But no, it is not possible to download something without making a copy of it. If you don't make a copy, either in memory or on disk (and the courts won't care which), then you haven't downloaded it at all. – chapka Jun 9 '15 at 18:05
The substantiality test is mostly used in situations where you've copied elements of a story, but not the story word for word--the "my story also has a boy wizard and a magic train" cases. It's not really relevant to direct copying, where there's a much lower threshold. – chapka Jun 9 '15 at 18:11
The copyright is on the content so the moment you copy the first bit you have broken the law by making a copy of copyright content. It only has to be a part of the content to be breaking the law. – Patrick W. McMahon Jun 9 '15 at 20:54
I'm unconvinced: a single chunk usually can't be used to view part of the work: it can't be used at all. I would be very surprised if this wasn't taken into account. You aren't downloading "3 seconds of a movie", you are downloading some data that, without other data you didn't download, does absolutely nothing. Are you sure that this makes no difference at all? – o0'. Jun 10 '15 at 8:43
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Lawaspect.com
Plagiarism Cheker
Essay Category
Law Notes
Hudson v. United States
PETITIONER: Hudson et al.
RESPONDENT: United States
LOCATION: The White House
DOCKET NO.: 96-976
DECIDED BY: Rehnquist Court (1986-2005)
LOWER COURT: United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
CITATION: 522 US 93 (1997)
ARGUED: Oct 08, 1997
DECIDED: Dec 10, 1997
ADVOCATES:
Bernard J. Rothbaum - on behalf of the Petitioners
Michael R. Dreeben - on behalf of the Respondent
John Hudson was chairman of the First National Bank of Tipton and the First National Bank of Hammon. Hudson used his position to regain bank stock he had used as collateral on defaulted loans through a series of bank loans to other parties. Upon investigation the Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC) found that the loans were made in violation of several banking statues and regulations. The OCC fined and debarred Hudson for the violations. Later, he faced criminal indictment in federal District Court for violations tied to those same events. Hudson objected, arguing that the indictment violated the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
The U. S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit eventually found for the Government in light of United States v. Halper on the grounds that the original proceedings were civil in nature and not so disproportional to the proven damages to the Government as to qualify as a form of criminal punishment.
Are punitive fines and debarment by the Office of the Comptroller of Currency a sufficiently "criminal" form of punishment that a subsequent criminal indictment for the same violations would violate the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment?
Media for Hudson v. United States
Opinion Announcement - December 10, 1997
Audio Transcription for Oral Argument - October 08, 1997 in Hudson v. United States
Audio Transcription for Opinion Announcement - December 10, 1997 in Hudson v. United States
William H. Rehnquist:
I have the opinion of the Court to announce in No. 96976, Hudson against the United States.
In this case, during the early and mid 1980's, the Petitioner John Hudson was the chairman and controlling shareholder of the -- of two -- two banks in Western Oklahoma.
During the same period, the two other petitioners in this case were officers of those banks.
In 1989, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency imposed monetary penalties and occupational debarments on petitioners for violating various federal statutes and regulations.
When the Government later criminally indicted petitioners for essentially the same conduct, they moved to dismiss the indictments on double jeopardy grounds.
The District Court ultimately agreed with them but the Court of Appeals reversed.
It held that under our decision in the case called United States against Halper, the actual fines imposed by the Government were not grossly proportional -- disproportional.
In an opinion filed with the clerk of the Court today, we -- we affirm that judgment but for different reasons.
The Double Jeopardy Clause provides that no person shall be subject for the same offense to be twice putting jeopardy of life or limb.
We have long held that this clause protects only against the imposition of multiple criminal punishments for the same offense and then only when such occurs in successive proceeding.
Our opinion in United States against Halper, marked the first time we applied the Double Jeopardy Clause to a sanction without first determining that it was criminal in nature.
We believe that Halper's deviation from longstanding double jeopardy principles was ill-considered.
Its test for determining whether a particular sanction is subject to the strictures that Double Jeopardy Clause has proved unworkable and other constitutional provisions addressed many of the ills at which Halper was directed.
Thus, we today, disavowed the method of analysis he used in Halper and reaffirm that traditional double jeopardy rule exemplified in our opinion in United States against Ward, a case decided in 1980, applying traditional double jeopardy principles to the facts of this case.
It is clear that the criminal prosecution of these petitioners would not violate the Double Jeopardy Clause.
Congress intended the OCC money penalties and debarments to be civil in nature and there is little evidence to say nothing of the clearest proof required by Ward that these OCC monetary penalties and debarment sanctions are criminal despite Congress's intention to the contrary.
The Double Jeopardy Clause is therefore no obstacle to the trial of petitioners on the pending indictments.
Justice Scalia has filed a concurring opinion in which Justice Thomas has joined.
Justice Stevens and Justice Souter filed opinions concurring in the judgment.
Justice Breyer has filed an opinion concurring in the judgment in which Justice Ginsburg has joined.
Cases - 1997
Select Year 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1965 1964 1963 1962 1961 1960 1959 1958 1957 1956 1955 1940-1955 1900-1940 1850-1900 1789-1850
← Brown v. Williams
United States v. Balsys →
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A Senate inquiry into call out powers for Australia's Defence Force heavily cited a submission by Associate Professor David Letts, Director of the College's Centre for Military and Security Law.
The Senate Committee’s reference to the CMSL submission in its final inquiry is testament to the value of continuing this important work.
The ANU College of Law’s Centre for Military and Security Law (CMSL) submission to a Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee inquiry regarding proposed changes to the Defence Act 1903 has been widely quoted in the Committee’s final report.
CMSL Director, Associate Professor David Letts, made a submission to the Senate Committee’s inquiry into the Defence Amendment (Call Out of the Australian Defence Force) Bill 2018. The Bill is intended to clarify call out power for the use of the Australian Defence Force in situations such as terrorist attacks. The CMSL submission stated the Bill is needed to respond to incidents that are beyond Commonwealth, State and Territory law enforcement agencies.
“The proposed amendment reflects the possibility that it may be appropriate to use special skills, equipment or capabilities possessed by the ADF in circumstances that would result in the most effective response to an incident,” Associate Professor Letts’ submission says.
“An implicit element of such a response is the understanding that there may be a need for the ADF to use coercive powers in relation to the civilian population and/or those who are responsible for the incident. The Bill contemplates such a situation and provides appropriate safeguards and protections among its proposed amendments.”
The submission also supports the Bill’s expansion of contingent call-out powers to cover maritime and land threats in addition to the power that already exists in relation to aviation threats.
“This is a welcome proposal, as it recognises that security threats are not one-dimensional and the legal basis for response to a potential threat should not be limited to any particular operating environment,” Associate Professor Letts wrote.
“Indeed, the possibility of a coordinated terror attack, such as that which occurred in Mumbai in November 2008, is precisely the type of scenario that the proposed amendments will now make it easier to plan for and address.”
Associate Professor Letts said that the most controversial aspect of the Bill concerns when lethal force can be justified, or where innocent people could be hurt or killed through the destruction of an aircraft or vessel.
“Although there are, quite properly 'multiple safeguards' that surround the exercise of this power, the inclusion of an additional measure relating to the anonymity of any ADF member who is ordered to destroy an aircraft or vessel is recommended,” he wrote.
“In terms of practical implementation, if the Bill is passed there will need to be significant effort placed on scenario training to ensure that the legal effect of proposed section 51N is clearly understood by those who are likely to be responsible for its operationalisation.”
The proposal to review the operation of the call out powers by Parliament at least every five years was also supported by CMSL.
Associate Professor Letts says it is important that the Centre for Military and Security Law regularly contributes to the public debate regarding proposed legislation that affects Australian military and security issues.
“CMSL’s mandate includes providing input to the legislative process through participation in the parliamentary committee process, as well as contributing to the broader public debate on military and security issues,” he says.
Associate Professor David Letts AM CSM
Associate Professor, Director - Military Law Program
Alumna Jane Connors marks year as first UN Victims’ Rights Advocate
CMSL
Military & Security Law
Parliamentary Process and Procedure
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EPA to Chair North America Commission for Environmental Cooperation
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2011 5:02 PM
Subject: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency HQ: International News
Releases Update: EPA to Chair North America Commission for Environmental
Larry Jackson (News Media Only)
Joint partnership among U.S., Canada and Mexico to strengthen
cooperation on health and environmental protection
WASHINGTON - Today at the end of the annual council session in Montreal,
Canada, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P.
Jackson assumed leadership of the Commission for Environmental
Cooperation (CEC), a partnership with Canada and Mexico that fosters
conservation, protection and enhancement of the North American
environment. The partnership works to increase economic, trade and
social links among the three countries to build healthy communities and
ecosystems, a low carbon economy, and initiatives and projects that will
help protect people's health across North America.
Today's meeting with the Mexican and Canadian ministers of the
environment, as well as representatives from across the three
governments, focused on the goals of empowering communities to address
environmental concerns, especially in states, tribes, and under-served
communities, a priority of Administrator Jackson. To that end, today,
the CEC directed $1.4 million to fund the North American Partnership for
Environmental Community Action (NAPECA) to support communities in their
efforts to locally address environmental problems across North America.
The three areas of priorities for the CEC for the next five years are:
- Healthy communities and Ecosystems
- Climate Change - Low-Carbon Economy
- Greening the Economy in North America
Administrator Jackson will host next year's meeting in New Orleans,
Louisiana.
"We're proud to be working with our partners in the Commission and view
our time in the leadership role as an opportunity to facilitate even
stronger collaboration. We are eager to join Canada and Mexico in making
sure that the work of the CEC is being seen in robust interactions and
real results at the community level and benefits for the people who are
most vulnerable to health and environmental threats," said EPA
Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "This is an important time to ensure that
our economic and environmental priorities are fully aligned and
complementary, so that we are moving towards a prosperous and
sustainable future. The work of the CEC is instrumental in shaping that
future."
Since 1994, Canada, Mexico and the United States have collaborated in
protecting North America's environment through the North American
Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), which came into force at
the same time as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA),
marking a commitment from each country that trade and economic growth
would be accompanied by environmental protection. Accordingly, the NAAEC
established the commission to address regional environmental concerns,
help prevent potential conflicts between trade and environmental
protection and promote the effective enforcement of environmental law.
More information on EPA's role in the CEC:
http://www.epa.gov/international/regions/na/nacec/council11.html
More information on the CEC: http://www.cec.org
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341 F. 2d 750 - National Labor Relations Board v. Winn-Dixie Stores Inc
341 F2d 750 National Labor Relations Board v. Winn-Dixie Stores Inc
341 F.2d 750
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, Petitioner,
WINN-DIXIE STORES, INC. and Winn-Dixie Louisville, Inc., Respondents.
No. 15786.
United States Court of Appeals Sixth Circuit.
Feb. 27, 1965.
Duane R. Batista, N.L.R.B., Washington, D.C., Arnold Ordman, General Counsel, Dominick L. Manoli, Associate General Counsel, Marcel Mallet-Prevost, Asst. General Counsel, Lee M. Modjeska, Attorney, N.L.R.B., Washington, D.C., on brief, for petitioner.
Otto Bowden, Jacksonville, Fla., Hamilton & Bowden, Jacksonville, Fla., on brief, for respondent.
Before MILLER, O'SULLIVAN and PHILLIPS, Circuit Judges.
HARRY PHILLIPS, Circuit Judge.
The National Labor Relations Board has petitioned for enforcement of its decision and order reported at 143 N.L.R.B. 848.
Respondent Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc., a Florida corporation, operates through subsidiaries or divisions some 600 retail food supermarkets in the southeastern part of the United States. The present case involves a union organizational campaign at the Winn-Dixie Store at Owensboro, Kentucky, which is one of thirty-three stores operated by respondent Winn-Dixie Louisville, Inc., a whollyowned subsidiary corporation. Both respondents urge that enforcement of the Board's order be denied, upon various grounds hereinafter discussed. We grant enforcement of the order of the Board.
On August 6, 1962, District Union Local 227, Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America, AFL-CIO, began an organizational drive among the twenty-three employees of the Owensboro store. Respondents vigorously resisted unionization. On August 15 the union forwarded to the divisional manager of Winn-Dixie Louisville photostatic copies of sixteen signed authorization cards and requested recognition and collective-bargaining conferences. Respondents refused to recognize the union. On August 24 Winn-Dixie Louisville filed a petition with the Board for an election, which the Board thereafter dismissed when the complaint was issued in the present proceedings.
The Board found, in agreement with its trial examiner, that respondents violated Section 8(a)(1) of the act, 29 U.S.C. 158(a)(1), by threats of reprisal against employees because of union activity and by requesting that employees furnish copies of statements given to agents of the Board in connection with the investigation of this case. The Board also found that respondents violated Section 8(a)(5) and (1) of the act, 29 U.S.C. 158(a)(5) and (1), by refusing to bargain with the union. The order of the Board requires respondents to cease and desist from the unfair labor practices found, and from in any other manner interfering with, restraining or coercing the employees regarding their rights under Section 7 of the act, and requires respondents to bargain with the union upon request and to post the usual notices.
1) Liability of Parent Corporation
Respondents contend that even if Winn-Dixie Louisville is found guilty of any of the unfair labor practices charged, the order should not be made applicable to the parent corporation. The Board found that the two respondents have common officers, directors and operators; that the common directors and operators formulate and administer a common labor policy for both respondents; that the same directors sit as the ultimate managerial authority for both the parent and subsidiary; and that the basic labor relations policy of the subsidiary emanates from the headquarters of the parent corporation in Jacksonville, Florida. It further appears that the parent corporation provides all the working capital of the subsidiary and guarantees performance of the contracts of the subsidiary. Upon the record in this case we find that the Board did not abuse its discretion in holding that the parent corporation, respondent Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc., is liable together with its subsidiary for the unfair labor practices found with respect to the Owensboro store. N.L.R.B. v. Gibraltar Industries, Inc., 307 F.2d 428, 431 (C.A. 4), cert. denied, 372 U.S. 911, 83 S.Ct. 724, 9 L.Ed.2d 719; N.L.R.B. v. National Shoes, Inc., 208 F.2d 688, 691 (C.A. 2); Darlington Mfg. Co. v. N.L.R.B., 325 F.2d 682, 687-691 (C.A. 4) (dissenting opinion), cert. granted, 377 U.S. 903, 84 S.Ct. 1170, 12 L.Ed.2d 175 (1964) (No. 874, 1963 Term; renumbered No. 41, 1964 Term); cf. N.L.R.B. v. Deena Artware, Inc., 361 U.S. 398, 402-404, 80 S.Ct. 441, 4 L.Ed.2d 400; N.L.R.B. v. Elias Brothers Big Boy, Inc., 325 F.2d 360 (C.A.6); N.L.R.B. v. Royal Oak Tool & Machine Co., 320 F.2d 77, 80, 81 (C.A.6).
It is to be emphasized that the order of the Board is expressly limited in its application to the Owensboro store, and does not apply to other supermarkets operated by respondents.
2) Interference, Restraint and Coercion
We find substantial evidence on the record supporting the Board's conclusion that respondents violated Section 8(a)(1) by interrogation and threats of reprisal, including a threat to close the Owensboro store in event a majority of the employees authorized the union to become their bargaining representative. Reference is made to the decision of the Board for details of these violations. 143 N.L.R.B. 848.
3) Requesting Copies of Statements
The only aspect of the Section 8(a)(1) violations requiring discussion here is the Board's finding that respondents violated the act by requesting from employees copies of statements given to agents of the Board. We approve the following language of the Board's decision on this point:
'Pre-trial statements taken by the General Counsel are intended to record and preserve the facts leading to the alleged unfair labor practices on which the charge is based. As such, these statements necessarily reveal the employees' attitudes, activities, and sympathies in connection with the Union. Moreover, the statements divulge the union sympathies and activities of other employees and the conduct of the supervisors toward the Union and its adherents. As such, they should be as free of any inquisitive interest by the Employer as are the employees' union activities themselves. Knowledge by the employee that his Employer is manifesting an interest in what the employee may say about him can only exert an inhibitory effect on the employee's willingness to give a statement at all or to disclose all of the matters of which he has knowledge for fear of saying something that might incur the Employer's displeasure and possible reprisal. Accordingly, we are of the opinion that the Respondents' requests for copies of employees' statements to the General Counsel constitute interference, restraint, and coercion within the meaning of Section 8(a)(1) of the Act.' 143 N.L.R.B. at 849-50.
See also, Siegel Co. v. N.L.R.B., 328 F.2d 25, 27 (C.A. 2).
It is to be emphasized that the Board recognized, as to we, that the respondents had the right to 'interview employees for the purpose of discovering facts within the limits of the issues raised by a complaint, where the employer, or its counsel, does so for the purpose of preparing its case for trial and does not go beyond the necessities of such preparation to pry into matters of union membership, to discuss the nature or extent of union activity, to dissuade employees from joining or remaining members of a union, or otherwise to interfere with the statutory right to self-organization.' Joy Silk Mills v. N.L.R.B., 87 U.S.App.D.C. 360, 185 F.2d 732, 743, cert. denied, 341 U.S. 914, 71 S.Ct. 734, 95 L.Ed. 1350.
In Joy Silk Mills the court also said:
'Apparently this rule means that an employer may question his employees in preparation for a hearing but is restricted to questions relevant to the charges of unfair labor practice and of sufficient probative value to justify the risk of intimidation which interrogation as to union matters necessarily entails; and that even such questions may not be asked where there is purposeful intimidation of employees. Such a standard assumes that interrogation of employees concerning their union activities is, of itself, coercive, but that fairness to the employer requires that a limited amount of such questioning be permitted despite the possible restraint which may result.' 185 F.2d at 743.
Moreover, the Board has held that while the employer may not, prior to the hearing, ask for a copy of a statement given by the employee to the Board, he may ask whether the employee has given the Board a statement. Montgomery Ward & Co., 146 N.L.R.B. No. 1. Further, the employer is entitled to access to the statement when the employee testifies at the hearing, Raser Tanning Co. v. N.L.R.B., 276 F.2d 80, 82-83 (C.A. 6), cert. denied, 363 U.S. 830, 80 S.Ct. 1601, 4 L.Ed.2d 1524, or may request copies without coercion under procedures established by the Board. W. T. Grant Company v. N.L.R.B., 337 F.2d 447 (C.A. 7).
This court thas reached the same decision on this question in its opinion announced today in Surprenant Manufacturing Co. v. N.L.R.B., 6 Cir., 341 F.2d 756.
4) Failure of Repondents to Bargain with Union
The most serious question presented is that part of the Board's order requiring that respondents proceed upon request to bargain with the union, as the exclusive representative of the employees at respondents' Owensboro store, even though no election has been conducted. The Board found that at the time the union requested recognition by respondents as bargaining representative, it had valid designation cards signed by a majority of the employees, and that respondents refused recognition, not because of a good faith doubt as to the union's majority status, but in order to gain time in which to undermine that status.
The union furnished to respondents photostatic copies of sixteen signed authorization cards. The Board rejected two of the cards as having been signed by supervisors, and a third because the employee was told that the only purpose of signing the card was to obtain an election, and not to authorize union representation. After rejecting these three cards, the Board found that the union had been designated as bargaining representative by a majority of thirteen of the twenty-three employees at the Owensboro store.
The authorization cards were regulation 3 1/2' by 5 1/2' business reply mail postal cards. The signature side was captioned, in letters larger and blacker than anything else on the card, as follows: 'AUTHORIZATION FOR REPRESENTATION UNDER THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT.' Under this heading there was space for a date to be filled in by the employee, and spaces for the name of the employer and the job title of the signer. Over the signature and home address of the signer was a statement that the undersigned employee does 'hereby authorize District Union Local 227, AFL-CIO, to represent me and in my behalf petition the National Labor Relations Board for an election to determine bargaining rights.'
The express language of this card could be construed to authorize the union to represent the signing employee in bargaining with the employer, and also on his behalf to petition for an election. Although it could be argued that the wording and punctuation employed could lead to an impression that its intent was to authorize the union to act for the employee only in petitioning for an election, the Board and its examiner found otherwise. We cannot say that such finding is without support. This case therefore is not controlled by those decisions where the primary or sole emphasis in the language of the card is authorization for petitioning for an election.1
The decisions of the Board as well as the opinions of the courts place more emphasis upon the representations made to the employees at the time the cards were signed than upon the language set forth in the cards. If in fact misrepresentations are made by the union to employees to the effect that the only purpose of the card is to authorize the union to petition the Board for an election, the card will not be construed to authorize representation, even though it contains language to that effect. N.L.R.B. v. Koehler, 328 F.2d 770 (C.A. 7); Englewood Lumber Company, 130 N.L.R.B. 394.2
We turn now to the question of whether there is substantial evidence on the record considered as a whole to support the following finding of the Board:
'In the Instant case the cards, on their face, specifically authorized the Union to represent the employees. And, except for one card, not in issue herein, the record shows that the representations made by the Union's solicitors in order to obtain employee signatures, clearly reflect and corroborate the purpose of the cards as printed thereon. The Trial Examiner's finding that no misrepresentations were made in securing employee signatures is amply supported by the record. Hence, without considering their subjective intent in signing the cards, we find, in agreement with the Trial Examiner, that the employees authorized the Union to represent them.' 143 N.L.R.B. at 851.
As said in N.L.R.B. v. Philamon Laboratories, Inc., 298 F.2d 176, 179 (C.A. 2), cert. denied, 370 U.S. 919, 82 S.Ct. 1555, 8 L.Ed.2d 498:
'The act imposes a duty to bargain in good faith upon request whenever a labor organization has been designated by a majority of employees in an appropriate bargaining unit. The employer must recognize and bargain with such an organization whether or not it has been certified by the Labor Board. United Mine Workers of America v. Arkansas Oak Flooring Co., 351 U.S. 62, 76 S.Ct. 559, 100 L.Ed. 941 (1956); N.L.R.B. v. Sunrise Lumber & Trim Corp., 241 F.2d 620 (2 Cir., 1957), cert. denied 355 U.S. 818, 78 S.Ct. 22, 2 L.Ed.2d 34 (1957). To be sure, an employer laboring under a good faith doubt as to a union's majority status need not extend recognition. Nevertheless, in the absence of such a doubt, the employer has no vested right to an election. N.L.R.B. v. Trimfit of California, 211 F.2d 206 (9 Cir., 1954).'
Of the fourteen employees3 whose cards were presented by the union to respondents, twelve appeared at the hearing to identify their signatures and explain the circumstances under which they signed. The union solicitors who obtained the signatures of the other two employees testified as to the details of how these cards were signed.
As said in Joy Silk Mills v. N.L.R.B., supra:
'An employee's thoughts (or afterthoughts) as to why he signed a union card, and what he thought that card meant, cannot negative the overt action of having signed a card designating a union as bargaining agent. N.L.R.B. v. Sunshine Mining Co., 9 Cir., 110 F.2d 780, 790; N.L.R.B. v. Consolidated Machine Tool Corp., 67 N.L.R.B. 737, 739, enforced 163 F.2d 376, certioriari denied 332 U.S. 824, 68 S.Ct. 164, 92 L.Ed. 399.' 185 F.2d at 743.
To like effect see N.L.R.B. v. Greenfield Components Corp., 317 F.2d 85, 87 (C.A. 1); N.L.R.B. v. Gorbea, Perez & Morell, 300 F.2d 886 (C.A. 1).
While some of the testimony is conflicting and ambiguous, we find substantial evidence on the record considered as a whole to support the holding of the Board to the effect that thirteen employees, constituting a majority, signed valid authorization cards, that no misrepresentations were made by union representatives sufficient to invalidate the cards, that respondents did not have grounds for a good faith doubt as to the union's majority status, and that respondents violated Section 8(a)(5) and (1) of the act in refusing to bargain with the union. N.L.R.B. v. Gorbea, Perez & Morell, supra; N.L.R.B. v. Stow Mfg. Co., 217 F.2d 900 (C.A. 2), cert. denied, 348 U.S. 964, 75 S.Ct. 524, 99 L.Ed. 751.
5) Appropriate Unit
Respondents contend that the Owensboro store does not constitute an appropriate unit for collective bargaining within the meaning of the act. In holding this store to be an appropriate unit, the Board considered the factors of geographic separation from other stores in the Winn-Dixie chain, the practice of respondents of hiring local employees, minimal exchange with other stores, absence of a bargaining history on a broader basis, and the fact that there was not any union seeking to represent these employees on a broader basis.
As said by this court in Metropolitan Life Insurance Company v. N.L.R.B., 330 F.2d 62, 65 (C.A. 6), petition for cert. filed, 33 U.S.L.Week 3059 (U.S. June 30, 1964) (No. 229):
'The Board has the authority under the Act to determine the appropriate unit for collective bargaining. (Section 159(b), Title 29, U.S.C.) It has wide discretionary powers in this respect. What is an appropriate unit is a question of fact to be determined by the Board upon the facts of each case. Its decision will not be disturbed except for an abuse of discretion or violation of the statute.'
We hold that the Board acted within its power in fixing the Owensboro store as an appropriate unit.
Enforcement of the order of the Board is granted.
See, e.g., Morris & Associates, Inc., 138 N.L.R.B. 1160, where the card was headed 'I want an N.L.R.B. Election' and in the first paragraph authorized the union to petition for an election 'as soon as possible' and in a later paragraph authorized the union to act as the signer's agent with the company 'in regard to wages, hours and working conditions.'
This rule was recognized by the Board in the present case in rejecting the card signed by employee Elder, upon the ground that the union organizer 'testified that he told Elder that the purpose of the card was merely to show enough interest to have an election.'
We disregard the two supervisors whose cards were rejected by the Board
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Learn More About Civil Rights Law in Lebanon, Maine
Homecivil rights lawmainelebanon
Civil Rights Law Lawyers In Lebanon Maine
What is civil rights law?
A civil right is an enforceable right or privilege, which if interfered with by another gives rise to an action for injury. Examples of civil rights are freedom of speech, press, and assembly; the right to vote; freedom from involuntary servitude; and the right to equality in public places. Discrimination occurs when the civil rights of an individual are denied or interfered with because of their membership in a particular group or class. Statutes have been enacted to prevent discrimination based on race, sex, religion, age, previous condition of servitude, physical limitation, national origin, and in some instances sexual preference. Civil rights attorneys handle cases involving the rights of individuals to be free from unequal treatment (or discrimination) based on legally-protected characteristics such as race, gender, disability, national origin, age, sexual orientation, and religion. Civil rights cases can arise in a number of settings -- including employment, housing, lending, and education.
Answers to civil rights law issues in Maine
What are the basic protections from employment discrimination under federal law?
Under federal laws, it is illegal to discriminate against someone (applicant or employee) because of that person's...
Which aspects of employment does the law forbid discrimination?
The law forbids discrimination because of...
What is sexual harassment?
It is unlawful to harass a person (an applicant or employee) because of that person’s sex. Harassment can include "...
When is harassment at work considered illegal under federal law?
Harassment is a form of employment discrimination that may violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the...
Are men and women supposed to be paid the same?
The Equal Pay Act requires that men and women in the same workplace be given equal pay for equal work. The jobs need...
Am I protected from retaliation if I complain about discrimination or bring a discrimination case?
It is illegal to fire, demote, refuse to promote, harass, or otherwise “retaliate” against people (applicants or...
What do you do if you are being pulled over by a police officer?
Your battle to beat a ticket or worse begins the instant you realize you're being pulled over by a police officer....
Will a lawyer work to get paid only if he or she wins?
In certain kinds of cases, lawyers charge what is called a contingency fee. Instead of billing by the hour, the...
Federal court opinions concerning civil rights law in Maine
183 US 503 Louisville Nashville Railroad Company v. Commonwealth of Kentucky
210 US 177 Cleveland Cincinnati Chicago St Louis Railway Company v. Robert L Porter L G
230 US 352 George Simpson v. David C Shepard
367 US 740 International Association of Machinists v. S B Street
376 US 52 Wright v. A Rockefeller
429 US 452 United States v. County of Fresno
492 US 158 Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio v. M Betts
499 US 244 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Arabian American Oil Company Boureslan
512 US 874 Holder v. Ek Hall
185 F2d 732 Joy Silk Mills v. National Labor Relations Board
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Learn More About Immigration Law in Smithboro, Illinois
Homeimmigration lawillinoissmithboro
Immigration Law Lawyers In Smithboro Illinois
What is immigration law?
Immigration law determines whether a person is an alien, the rights, duties, and obligations associated with being an alien in the United States, and how aliens gain residence or citizenship within the United States. It also provides the means by which certain aliens can become legally naturalized citizens with full rights of citizenship. Immigration law serves as a gatekeeper for the border of the nation, determining who may enter, how long they may stay, and when they must leave. Immigration lawyers represent persons seeking temporary and permanent residency (green cards) status in the U.S., those interested in obtaining U.S. citizenship through a process called naturalization, and clients facing deportation and removal. Immigration attorneys may also represent businesses seeking to secure temporary visa status for foreign employees.
Answers to immigration law issues in Illinois
What are the requirements for the H-1B visa for foreign nationals to be able to work in the United States?
The most commonly used non-immigrant visa by US employers, the H-1B classification applies to foreign nationals who...
How is it possible to apply for a greencard through family?
In general, a foreign national who wishes to immigrate to the United States through family relationship must have a...
What are the requirements for the B-1 or B-2 visitor's visas?
Foreign nationals desiring to enter the United States temporarily for the purpose of consulting with business...
What are the requirements for the L-1 intracompany transfer visa?
L-1 intracompany transfer visas are available to foreign nationals coming to work in the US for an employer that is...
What are the requirements for the E-1 or E-2 treaty trader and investor visas?
The E-1 or E-2 non-immigrant status is for a national of any of the countries with which the United States maintains...
What are the requirements for the R-1 religious worker visa?
The R-1 Religious Worker visa status is for foreign nationals who wish to be temporarily employed in the United...
What are the requirements for the O-1 individuals with extraordinary ability visa?
The O-1 nonimmigrant visa is available to those foreign nationals who posses extraordinary ability in science,...
What are the requirements for the TN or Treaty NAFTA professional employee visa?
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) created special economic and trade relationships for the United...
What are the requirements to become a naturalized US citizen?
U.S. Citizenship is obtained either by birth or naturalization. A foreign national may become a U.S. citizen either...
What are the requirements for the EB-2 & EB-3 visas for individuals with extraordinary ability, advanced degrees and labor certifications?
Employment Second Preference (EB-2)
Professionals Holding Advanced Degrees, or Persons of...
Federal court opinions concerning immigration law in Illinois
423 US 28 Transamerican Freight Lines Inc v. Brada Miller Freight Systems Inc
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Ghesas and Execution are the same
execution, Iran, Larijani
Mohammad Javad Larijani, the secretary-general of the Iranian High Council for Human Rights recently said: “The problem lies in that the west does not understand that Ghesas code [retribution] is different from execution. A verdict of Ghesas belongs to the aggrieved who can either pardon the condemned or impose the sentence”.
Mohammad Javad Larijani said: “We are not embarrassed by any of our Islamic codes and stand behind them”.
Aside from the bitter irony of the secretary-general of the Iranian regime’s “Human Rights” Council defending rights violations, Larijani merely does what all regimes that kill do – provide legitimacy for it.
Governments that still execute today (including the USA and China), or have executed until relatively recently have always professed to have done so on behalf of and for the protection of society. What Islamic codes do is further “personalise” this by professing to “thoughtfully” murder human beings on behalf of the aggrieved.
Irrespective of the justifications, though, the death penalty and Ghesas are instruments of power aimed at controlling and suppressing society, re-establishing authority after every heinous act and constantly re-creating a climate of fear. By placing the responsibility of the execution on the aggrieved, the regime wants to normalise its brutality and evade accountability. But this is not possible. After all the aggrieved have not written the Islamic codes of [in]justice, nor have they tortured the accused, condemned them in unfair trials or set up the gallows in public squares and hired executioners to do the dirty deed… This is all the regime’s doing; it has nothing to do with murder and everything to do with putting people in their place.
As Mansoor Hekmat says: “[Capital punishment] has its own history. It is the state’s rights and powers over citizens today as a continuation of the state’s rights and powers in the past. When Agha Mohammad Khan Ghajar blinds and kills residents of an entire town, he is not objecting to a specific crime. When a horse thief in America is hanged or a soldier who has escaped military service is executed, they are not registering a grievance in a judicial sense, but rather they are putting people in their places and forcing them to submit to rules and regulations. They are terrorising people. They are governing. In today’s world, capital punishment is not just a so-called punishment for murder, it is also a punishment for unauthorised sex, hoarding, believing in common ownership, forming opposition parties, mocking of god and prophets, homosexuality, etc. From the beginning of state rule, the killing of inhabitants has always been and is a pillar of forcing people into submission. The history of capital punishment is not found in judicial debates about crime and punishment, but rather in the history of class rule and the state”.
Executions are a pillar of the Islamic regime of Iran. It and only it is wholly responsible for the innumerable dead. Despite Iran being the execution capital of the world, though, Larijani’s efforts at legitimisation allude to another crucial fact that must never be forgotten. You only need to legitimise barbarity when there is resistance. The rising and ever-increasing battle against executions in Iran in particular is testament to the refusal of a people to submit. It is these very people who will bring an end to executions and the regime and drag Iran back into the 21st century.
Until then, the struggle continues.
Ian D. Morris (@iandavidmorris)
Thanks, Maryam. For those who want to know more, Ghesas is more commonly spelt Qisas.
jedibear
I don't think Mansoor Hekmat is particularly strengthening your case here. His argument against capital punishment is childish and anarchistic. The logic of his argument against capital punishment renders imprisonment into kidnapping and judicial fines into armed robbery -- indeed, every action of a state that makes it a state becomes a crime. This is wholly unnecessary. One can make arguments against actions and policies of states without making an argument against the entire concept of states.
Rayhaneh is to be reportedly executed on Tuesday
Iranian cultural figures and artists outside Iran stand united against the execution of Rayhaneh Jabbari
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Professor Andrew Nisbet
Title: Head of Medical Physics
Email: andrew.nisbet@nhs.net
Section: Medical Physics
Professor Nisbet holds a joint post between the Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Surrey University, where he is Head of the Medical Physics Department and Honorary Professor of Medical Physics respectively. In his current hospital role he provides management and scientific leadership to over 100 staff within the Department of Medical Physics incorporating a regional radiation protection service, nuclear medicine and radiopharmacy, radiotherapy physics, scientific computing, technical services and the National Co-ordinating Centre for the Physics of Mammography, run on behalf of Public Health England. He is also the Trust’s Lead HealthCare Scientist and has recently obtained a further joint role with the National Physical Laboratory.
Within his role at Surrey University he has supervised 20 PhD, 4 MD and numerous MSc postgraduate students and held research grants totalling over £6m from a number of funding bodies, including the NIHR, CR UK and the EU (https://www.surrey.ac.uk/people/andrew-nisbet)
He is currently a member of the Chief Scientific Officer’s Leadership Improvement and Advice Group (https://www.england.nhs.uk/healthcare-science/cso-programmes/) and is a Senior Editor with the British Journal of Radiology and Associate Editor with Physica Medica. He has published over 100 papers in peer reviewed journals. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine and is a past recipient of the British Institute of Radiology “Nic McNally Memorial Prize” and the Institute of Physics & Engineering in Medicine “Founders Prize” and “Spiers Prize”.
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discover misty's journey
Born in Kansas City, Missouri and raised in San Pedro, California, Misty Copeland began her ballet studies at the late age of thirteen. At fifteen, she won first place in the Music Center Spotlight Awards. She studied at the San Francisco Ballet School and American Ballet Theatre’s Summer Intensive on full scholarship and was declared ABT’s National Coca-Cola Scholar in 2000. Misty joined ABT’s Studio Company in September 2000, joined American Ballet Theatre as a member of the corps de ballet in April 2001, and in August 2007 became the company’s second African American female Soloist and the first in two decades. In June 2015, Misty was promoted to principal dancer, making her the first African American woman to ever be promoted to the position in the company’s 75-year history.
In 2008, Misty was honored with the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship in the Arts, a two-year fellowship awarded to young artists who exhibit extraordinary talent providing them additional resources in order to attain their full potential. Performing a variety of classical and contemporary roles, one of Misty’s most important roles was performing the title role in Firebird, created on her in 2012 with new choreography by much sought after choreographer Alexei Ratmansky. In December 2014, Misty performed the lead role of “Clara” in American Ballet Theatre’s production of The Nutcracker, also choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky. In the fall of 2014, she made history as the first black woman to perform the lead role of “Odette/Odile” in American Ballet Theatre’s Swan Lake during the company’s inaugural tour to Australia. Misty reprised the role during ABT’s Metropolitan Opera House spring season in June 2015, as well as debuted as “Juliet” in Romeo & Juliet.
Misty has been featured in numerous publications and television programs, including CBS Sunday Morning, 60 Minutes, The Today Show, This Week with George Stephanopoulos, MSNBC’s Melissa Harris Perry, Vogue, Essence, Ebony, and People Magazine. She was honored with an induction into the Boys & Girls Club National Hall of Fame in May 2012 and received the “Breakthrough Award” from the Council of Urban Professionals in April 2012. She was named National Youth of the Year Ambassador for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America in June 2013. She received the Young, Gifted & Black honor at the 2013 Black Girls Rock! Awards.
Her endorsements, past and present, include American Express, COACH, and Diet Dr. Pepper. In 2014, Under Armour launched Misty as one of the faces of their “I Will What I Want” campaign with a commercial that went viral, gaining over 9,000,000 views to date.
Misty’s passion is giving back. She has worked with many charitable organizations and is dedicated to giving of her time to work with and mentor young girls and boys. In 2014, President Obama appointed Misty to the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition.
Misty is the author of the New York Times Bestselling memoir, Life in Motion, co-written with award-winning journalist and author Charisse Jones, published March 2014. She has a picture book titled Firebird in collaboration with award-winning illustrator and author Christopher Myers, published September 2014. She received an honorary doctorate from the University of Hartford in November 2014 for her contributions to classical ballet and helping to diversify the art form.
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Paris: A Place For Families Who Want A Fun-filled And Informative Vacation That Is One For The Books
By Beth Engleman On March 10, 2015 · Add Comment · In Travel
Part 3 in our #FamilyTravel series
Paris: A Place For Families Who Want A Fun-filled And Informative Vacation That Is One For The BooksParis is considered by many as the most richly vivid city in the world, which makes holidays in Paris perfect for families who want to enjoy a vacation filled with medieval and modern attractions. Simply put, there are so many attractions, it’s hard to pick just a few but hut here goes:
The Eiffel Tower is one of the most visited monuments in the world and it should be on top of the list of travelers who want to make sure that they’ll achieve a worthwhile vacation that is one for the books. Established in the 1889 Expo to affirm the expertise of the French people when it comes to metal structures, the Eiffel Tower was the tallest structure in the world from 1889 to 1930.
The Arc de Triomphe is probably the Eiffel Tower’s rival when it comes to symbolizing Paris. It is an elegant structure that epitomizes Napoleaon’s triumph at Austerlitz, which was commissioned in 1806. This intricate structure is strategically located at the halfway point of the Etoile roundabout.
There is usually heavy traffic within the Arc de Triomphe area because it is flocked by tourists from all over the world, but families who want to have a grand time should not be deterred because of the thrill and excitement that can be experienced while there.
The Institut du Monde Arabe is a modern Paris attraction that was co-founded by France and 18 North African and Middle Eastern nations in the 1980’s. Its aim was simple: promote cross-cultural dialogue at all cost. Armed with traditional latticed-wood windows, photo-electrically sensitive equipment, and other sophisticated apparatus, this stunning landmark hosts film screening, exhibitions, and concerts, among other things.
Known across the globe for its unique and stunning landmarks, Paris is the place to be for families who want to get a glimpse of medieval and modern attractions that boasts of grandiosity and elegance. So those who want to achieve a worthwhile getaway that is one for the books should include this French city in their travel plans.
Disclosure: This post was written in collaboration with Expedia.
What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Jewish Baby The Princess and the Pea at the Marriott Theatre
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CNNMoney Sport
Women's national team agrees to 4-year deal with USA Hockey
by Ahiza Garcia @ahiza_garcia March 29, 2017: 12:38 AM ET
U.S. women's hockey team strike in pay protest
Members of the U.S. Women's National Hockey Team have agreed to a 4-year labor deal with USA Hockey.
It signals an end to the team's protest for fair pay, which lasted for over a week.
The women's team had vowed to sit out the upcoming International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship games unless it reached a deal with USA Hockey.
The games, which the U.S. is hosting, begin on Friday. The team is the defending champ and was supposed to report to training camp last week, but negotiations with USA Hockey faltered.
The women's players were asking for a $68,000 annual salary as well as for benefits like child care, maternity leave and the ability to compete in more games throughout the year.
The financial terms of the deal weren't released but one thing the women got was the formation of a group that will oversee the advancement of girls' and women's hockey.
"We're extremely excited both sides were able to come to an agreement and compromise," national team member Monique Lamoureux told CNNMoney after the deal was struck.
"I don't think either side had to give up major things to make each other happy," Lamoureux said. "USA Hockey is now the leading federation for women's hockey and hopefully other countries follow suit."
Fellow teammate Meghan Duggan told CNNMoney the women were confident about defending their IIHF title because the protest had made them that much stronger.
"I feel like it brought a ton of visibility to the sport and woke some people up that women's hockey is the real deal and deserves to be honored," Duggan said.
"We'll now move forward together knowing we'll look back on this day as one of the most positive in the history of USA Hockey," said Jim Smith, president of USA Hockey.
Related: Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan head overseas amid US fight for 'Equal Play, Equal Pay'
The women, who are ranked #1 in the world, also wanted better benefits at IIHF World Championship games. Specifically, they wanted to be able to bring guests to competitions, fly in business class and get disability insurance.
These are all benefits that the male players already get, according to former national team player Anders Lee, who plays for the NHL's New York Islanders. Those benefits are also described in player handbooks from 2013 and 2014 that were obtained by CNNMoney. The men are ranked fourth in the world.
The deal came a day after members of USA Hockey's Board of Directors met to discuss the protest and decide what to do. The board has 91 voting members, 15 of whom are women.
During the protest, the players' associations of MLB, the NBA, the NFL and the NHL all released statements praising the efforts of the women and encouraging them to stand together.
According to NHL agent Allan Walsh, male pro players were "seriously considering" whether to sit out their IIHF games as well in solidarity with the women.
They also received support from 14 U.S. senators, including Elizabeth Warren, Dianne Feinstein, Robert Menendez and Cory Booker, who called on USA Hockey to treat the women's team fairly.
Related: Andy Murray: Equal pay at tennis majors something to be proud of
USA Hockey said from the beginning of the protest that it would field a team to compete in the games -- with or without the current members.
However, filling an alternate squad didn't prove to be easy.
Current team members reached out to alternate players to ask them not to play in the games as a show of solidarity. The women's team also reached out individually to NCAA coaches and college players to get them on board.
"A lot of people are going to give the 23 people on the roster a lot of credit, but it was really every single person who turned down an invitation and helped spread it on social media," Lamoureux said.
As USA Hockey struggled to fill a roster for the games, it had to go further down the list to high school players.
On Saturday, two high schoolers, Cayla Barnes and Natalie Snodgrass, tweeted that they'd been approached by USA Hockey and turned down spots on the replacement team.
Barnes is a senior at the New Hampton School in New Hampshire and Snodgrass is a senior at Eastview High School in Minnesota. Both have played on the U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team.
CNNMoney (New York) First published March 28, 2017: 2:14 PM ET
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573. The Marvelettes: “I’ll Keep Holding On”
Posted by The Nixon Administration in The Marvelettes, Writing credit: Ivy Jo Hunter, Writing credit: Mickey Stevenson
Tamla T 54116 (A), May 1965
b/w No Time For Tears
(Written by Mickey Stevenson and Ivy Jo Hunter)
Tamla Motown TMG 518 (A), June 1965
The mid-Sixties was Motown’s Golden Age, the label leading the radio fightback against the British Invasion and racking up hit after hit after hit as the money rolled in – but the Marvelettes, Motown’s first great group, didn’t share in that success, didn’t reap any of the benefit. While other Motown artists flooded the charts, the Marvelettes saw themselves falling down the pecking order. By the time of I’ll Keep Holding On, their first release since October 1964, they were having to face up to the fact that they’d long since been supplanted as one of Motown’s big-ticket acts.
In many ways, it was their bad fortune to have hit the top first time out with Please Mister Postman, right at the start of their careers. It meant they belonged to an earlier era of Motown, an era before the Temptations, Four Tops or Supremes were known to audiences, a black and white sort of time in every sense; even though they’d been very young when they broke through, fresh out of school with their entire musical lives ahead of them and younger than so many of their labelmates, by 1965 the Marvelettes were a name from the past.
Ironic, then, that here, with their first single in seven months, they should prove themselves to be right on the cutting edge of the Motown sound, taking their cues from both Martha & the Vandellas and (especially) the Velvelettes, turning in a sleek, storming, unsmiling stomper of a dance record. It’s a single that makes a mockery of the Motown pecking order; if Motown’s decision to throw the whole label’s weight behind the Supremes, to the neglect of its other female groups, is completely understandable from a commercial point of view, it’s still surely the case that records like I’ll Keep Holding On deserved more promotion, more love. Showbiz, as ever, is a harsh place to grow up.
This is the most “grown-up” Marvelettes record we’ve yet encountered here on Motown Junkies, and that’s largely because the girls have physically grown up so much since we last met them. Wanda Young, now firmly established as lead singer having unseated original lead Gladys Horton, was twenty-one, and her voice is a million miles away from the shrill schoolgirl we heard on tracks like So Long Baby, her sexy mezzo-soprano still developing but showing enough here to prove Smokey Robinson knew what he was doing when he singled her out as a future star. They still weren’t the finished article quite yet, but this is a great snapshot of a group in transition, and unlike the last two Marvelettes singles – You’re My Remedy and Too Many Fish In The Sea, both similarly transitional – this one is closer to where we’re going than where we’ve been.
Few Golden Age Motown groups – few pop groups at all, really – have gone through such a complete and remarkable change in such a short space of time. Because the Marvelettes lacked both direction from a “mentor” writer/producer, and support from the label, these years are a strange experience, and the only way to track them is via their singles. Following 1963’s The Marvelous Marvelettes, Motown for a period gave up pushing LPs of the group’s material; other than compilations and live sets, there was no Marvelettes album in 1964, no Marvelettes album in 1965, no Marvelettes album in 1966. When the group finally emerged again with a new studio LP – 1967’s The Marvelettes, universally known as “the pink album” and generally considered one of the strongest LPs in Motown’s catalogue – they were like a whole new signing, to the point some fans consider the two phases of the group’s activity (neatly divided, thanks to the huge gap between albums, into two superb CD box sets, Forever and Forever More, faithfully cataloguing both phases of the girls’ careers) to be the work of two different groups.
(Which isn’t necessarily too far off the mark; by 1967, not only had the one-time five-piece Marvelettes collapsed to a trio, with a different lead singer, their harmonies were also quite often augmented – or replaced altogether – on their own records by Motown’s house backing singers the Andantes. Of course, they were by no means the only Motown group where this substitution took place.)
That transitional period probably cost the Marvelettes the chance to compete, commercially, with their labelmates, or to have a late-Sixties chart revival to go with their exceptional late-period records, but they certainly didn’t spend it hibernating. Rather, they became one of Motown’s most consistently excellent groups, turning in a string of excellent singles. Singles like this one.
I’ll Keep Holding On is a great example of Motown’s internal politics, the rush to be first with a new idea, the fights in Quality Control, the constant one-upmanship. Originally recorded in a totally different demo version, the song was completely re-done in the more direct, physical but intricately-constructed style of Nowhere To Run and Lonely Lonely Girl Am I once its writer-producers Mickey Stevenson and Ivy Jo Hunter heard what their rivals were doing via the acetates floating around the corridors of Hitsville, and spotted their opportunity to join the musical arms race. Stevenson went so far as to travel to New York, where the Marvelettes were on tour, and get the group to lay down a new vocal track in an emergency recording session so as to have the record ready for that week’s QC meeting.
When you put it on, you immediately understand why Mickey was so animated. This sounds nothing like anything the Marvelettes have done so far, but at the same time it suits them surprisingly well, Wanda – who’s never been asked to do anything like this before – negotiating the tune’s tricky twists and turns with panache, a good mix of full-throat power and semi-spoken cool. (I wonder, I wonder… what would Mary Wells have made of this?) Plus, the lyrics fall into the fine Marvelettes tradition of being psychologically fascinating, Wanda playing a character as complex as any she’d yet faced, a kind of proactive update on her self-effacing narrator from Forever.
If the Marvelettes come out second best in this instance to the Vandellas and Velvelettes, better records which have somewhat stolen the thunder of I’ll Keep Holding On, there’s still plenty of magic here; the cooing backing vocal stings which help carry the tune, for instance, or the terrifyingly catchy hook of the Waiting, watching, looking-for-a-CHANCE breakdown. It’s a cracker and no mistake, a surprising new record from a suddenly-rejuvenated and suddenly-contemporary group who’d been in danger of getting lost in the shuffle.
Oh, sure, there’s a nagging feeling throughout all of this that they’re still not quite ready, a reminder that despite all the growing-up they’ve done, these are still those same Inkster schoolgirls who, with self-deprecating humour, had first named themselves the Casinyets (“because we can’t sing yet”): the vocals are often the weak link on Marvelettes records, and that’s still the case here, albeit to a far lesser extent than in the past.
But it’s still a great new direction, a statement of intent which may not have returned them to the top of the charts but should hopefully have served notice to everyone at Motown that they weren’t to be forgotten. What I like best about it, besides its being so catchy and punchy and fun, is that it feels effortless, like so many of the very best Motown records do; the Marvelettes were growing up alongside Motown itself, and it’s reassuring to find they were still able to mix it right at the forefront, to match whatever their peers were doing.
(Or maybe you’re only interested in The Marvelettes? Click for more.)
The Velvelettes
“I’m The Exception To The Rule” The Marvelettes
“No Time For Tears”
26 thoughts on “573. The Marvelettes: “I’ll Keep Holding On””
This is definitely one of The Marvelettes’ best singles. I must agree that it does sound like something Martha and the Vandellas or The Velvelettes might record (my first thought when I first listened to it was, “Sounds like a Vandellas song.” And I had to listen to it over and over and over again, it was so good! I feel like listening to it right now! It’s easy to see why Wanda Young became lead for The Marvelettes; she’s sort of like a combination of two other great Motown leaders. She looks like Diana Ross and sounds like Carolyn Gill.
Agree! On my first listen the first thing I thought about was Martha and the Vandellas.
Holding, and the next one, Danger, are important Marvelettes records because they show that before Smokey soothed Wanda down for Don’t Mess With Bill -and all those that followed- she could throw down as good Martha, Gladys and Cal, without having to access that annoying falsetto, which I don’t think we’re going to hear again on an a-side. For sure, this is a solid eight; I remember wasting no time hurrying to buy it. 🙂
And it isn’t just corporate indifference that’s going to hurt the Marvelettes. At this point in Marc Taylor’s biography of the group, is when Katherine, frankly, starts giving the warts and all picture.
Although all five original group members (six, if you choose to count Georgia Dobbins) knew of one another within the parameters of their small Inkster MI neighborhood, they were not close childhood friends. When the group was a quintet and a quartet, there were enough heads for a majority opinion to settle little disagreements. But once down to a trio -not unlike the Supremes- the differences in their personalities loomed larger.
According to Katherine, once Wanda started singing all the leads on a-sides, the attention “went to her head” and she started getting “cocky,” saying things like the group didn’t really have hits till she started singing lead. Of course, that’s bullshit. Gladys, according to Katherine, stands this as long as she can before finally being forced to defend herself, which then situates Katherine in the unsought position of playing peacemaker. And too, the temptations of mood-altering substances, pointedly in Wanda’s case, are soon to get a foothold.
And unlike with the Supremes where Berry Gordy was always there to snuff even the smallest fires, the Marvelettes were left to fend for themselves, considered “Gladys’s group,” even after Wanda was doing most of the leads.
Many many deathlessly good Marvelettes records, definitely including this one, are yet to come, but the seeds of the group’s disbandment in 1970, according to the book, start getting planted in 1965.
I agree with everything you said in paragraph 1 Dave. Can’t wait for Don’t Mess With Bill
Rhine Ruder said:
this is where the marvelous marvelettes get good for me. wanda young’s voice is so smooth and sophisticated. i am always amazed how she can slide all around, over, under and sideways and yet what comes out of her mouth is so perfect. it’s too bad their image remained in the past while their singles, beginning here, were so perfect for their time. the fact that the marvelettes can’t shake this earlier self is a company publicity problem, not a marvelettes problem. this starts an entire series of work as good, or better than anybody at motown. let’s just start the 10’s here! wanda and the andantes deserve so much more than motown gave them.
This ts at least tied for my favourite Marvelettes’ cut. And, not surprisingly, it’s a Stevenson/Hunter song. I’d give it at least a 9.
Agree Rhine the publicity problem could’ve been handle much better by Motown.
Apologies for the late reply, but of all the excellent and thought-provoking comments you’ve made throughout the entire site, Rhine Ruder, this is the one I most agree with.
“the fact that the marvelettes can’t shake this earlier self is a company publicity problem, not a marvelettes problem. this starts an entire series of work as good, or better than anybody at motown”
I wish I could have put it so succinctly, but yes, that’s exactly it.
Sonic eric said:
I discovered this magnificent single thanks to The Detroit Cobras and I very often think this was their finest hour. A glorious ten !
I can live with this marvelous song sharing an ‘8’ with ‘Dancing in the Streets…’ What I particularly love is the sense of churning perpetual motion in the background vocals – yes, perhaps like the Vandellas in ‘Heat Wave’ but more nervously subversive, like a subliminal current of emotion which is bound to explode sooner or later. It’s a great song, and splendid preparation for the next…. less than a 10 only in that it is not on the same Elysian level as ‘Don’t Mess With Bill’ and ‘Hunter’ — but irreplaceable nonetheless.
I like it as much as “Don’t Mess With Bill” and “Hunter”. I also like “That’s How Heartaches Are Made” as much, as well as “I Should Have Known Better”. I think they are worth 9s, except “Bill” and “Hunter” which I would place at “8”.
I like your description of Wanda’s persona here: she’s sly, slick, and wicked. I think it’s that last quality that makes “Holding On” so different and gives the song its power. She’s grown-up and almost sinister, and the music backs her up all the way, from the relentless introduction from Benny Benjamin to the trombonists, trumpeters, and saxophonists who build a magnificent wash of emotion behind the singers.
It may be no accident that this is one of the few entries in the Complete Motown Singles albums that lists virtually all the musicians by name.
treborij said:
This is one of my three favorite Marvelettes records. (The others are coming.) I will almost always put this on a Motown comp because it’s one that a lot of people have never heard. When this came out I was crazy for it. Knew it was going to be a number 1. Every week I’d go down to the local record store and follow it’s progress on Billboard. I was devastated when it only got to the mid-30s and petered out. (I took these things personally back then.)
But I still think this is one of the greatest Marvelettes records ever. Love Wanda’s vocals, love the Vandellas-like backing, love the drive of the band, the horn chart
…there’s nothing I don’t like about this record. And this record is one of the reasons I think Mickey Stevenson is one of the greatest Motown producers. it’s got everything I look for in a Motown record in spades. And, of course that makes it a 10 for me.
Another review for “the girl’s who put Motown on the map” = ). I love Wanda’s voice she has to be in my top 5 of favorite Motown female singers. This is a fun and catchy song that has a lot of soul and coolness, all the things that make Wanda a great singer. I love how her singing is sorta endless it’s almost as she never stops singing, as if the entire song is 1 huge run-on sentence lol. But this is a good and interesting thing. As Wanda says in this song “Sho ’nuff” lol I agree with the rating.
Btw nice mini analysis Steve D. = )
Mickey The Twistin' Playboy said:
You hit it all, Damecia! I’ll add it’s a song worthy of greater classic recognition… I give it a 9/10 at every listen.
Thanx Mickey = )
Wow! Great record. This sounds like something the Northern Soul crowd would like. As great as this record is, I wonder if it wasn’t a huge crossover hit because it was just a tad too “R&B-ish” for your average Top 40 listener. Agree with folks that it sounds like a Vandellas number. Off topic, slightly, I just read the Mary Wells bio (from the library). It is an easy read – I read it in one evening. Thought it was pretty good, but of course very, very sad. I don’t know enough about Miss Wells to pick out the inaccurate info but I have no doubt it is there. (old obsessive compulsive me did pick out one small item – the second British Beatles album was called “With the Beatles” not “Meet the Beatles”! That was the title of their first US Capitol Records album! LOL) It was encouraging to know that people like Brenda Holloway & Martha Reeves continued to try to be her friend. From everything I have read about Brenda Holloway she sounds like a very nice, decent person. Would love to see a bio on her and/or an Unsung.
Yes would love an Unsung!
+1 on the Unsung wish. And you’re right about the soulie crowd – this and “Danger…” are probably the Marvelettes’ biggest Northern tunes, though there are plenty of candidates.
Darn…how did I miss this song…I listened to it for the first time
Excellent song…that doesn’t get the recognition it deserved
The hook is strong(which makes a song to me)..not to mention it’s sorta of dark but still pop/soul feel…good lyrics too…
Also i’m not fond of Wanda’s vocals but on this she gives a strong solid performance…I also like the andantes contribution
I’m also guessing with the Supremes ever growing popularity this song didn’t get the promotion it deserved…
It does sound a little too much like Dancing in the street but maybe cause it has the same producers?…
Anyway it’s a solid song
Jack Anthony said:
As you stated, the Andantes probably sang on the record as they did on most if not all of the Marvelettes records when Wanda became lead singer. I just wonder, when the Marvelettes performed live were they able to duplicate the sound of the record on stage since the Andantes did not perform live with the artists? I don’t understand if the Marvelettes were professional singers why did they need the Andantes to sing with them or in place of them on the recordings? After all, the Marvelettes are going to have sing the song without the Andantes on all live performances. There does not seem to exist a live performance of any Marvelettes song made after 1963 that is not lipsynched so it is hard to determine if Katherine and Gladys were able to duplicate the sound of Wanda led songs on stage without the Andantes. I don’t believe this question is addressed in the biography book on the Marvelletes.
From what I’ve read, The Andantes sang behind the stage curtains to “sweeten” the singing of many artists in personal appearances (at lest those in Detroit and nearby).
I remember being kinda disappointed when the song didnt do “what it was suppose to do” and i couldnt get anyone interested in it. I just kinda left it alone for a while…..then i turned the record over! Ahhhhh….theres the magic!!
I hear a subtle but distinct harmonic, tempo, groove connection between this (May 1965) and the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction” (June 1965).
By jove I think you’re right !!!
“To my knowledge, this is the first time that Gladys has not taken the lead vocal, and here we have Wanda giving a sterling vocal on a medium paced number in a solid groove which keeps up an insistent chanting with tambourine and sharp trumpets punctuating Wanda’s performance. 4/5
“Subdued flip is wistful rather than sad showing again that that the Marvelettes are still one of the finest femme groups going! A very interesting and worthy record. 3/5”
[Dave Godin, Hitsville USA 6, 1965]
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579. Brenda Holloway: “I’ll Be Available”
Posted by The Nixon Administration in Brenda Holloway, Writing credit: Smokey Robinson
Tamla T 54115 (B), May 1965
B-side of Operator
(Written by Smokey Robinson)
Tamla Motown TMG 519 (B), June 1965
A double-sided tribute to Mary Wells, as Brenda Holloway inherits two of Mary’s old songs (and two of my least favourite ones, to boot) and is tasked with making something out of them. As with the A-side, Operator, a creditable and mature cover of a tatty throwaway Mary Wells B-side from the ancient past, here Brenda is handed a sow’s ear and manages to make, if not a silk purse exactly, then some sort of acceptable coin bag or something.
The unreleased original version of I’ll Be Available was the last time we met Mary Wells here on Motown Junkies, and it was a singularly inappropriate way to say goodbye, an exceedingly goofy little song based almost entirely on Smokey Robinson making enormous stretches out of unlikely rhymes (When the U.S. Mail has become un-mailable… I’ll be available!).
It wasn’t great, and any success it had rested solely on Miss Wells’ shoulders, her engaging personality ultimately carrying the daffy material with a smile. So at first blush it seems an unusual pick for Motown’s current project of apparently having Brenda Holloway work her way through the entire Mary Wells catalogue; the risks of an embarrassing mis-step are high.
Instead, as with the A-side, Brenda and Smokey tease out the pain in the song. Suddenly, and most unexpectedly (given that, again, the lyrics haven’t changed one syllable), this isn’t funny any more.
The narrator is a woman who’s willing to sacrifice her dignity and happiness for a one-night stand with some guy we never even get to meet. Whatever I’m doing, she sings (…and whoever you’re screwing, she doesn’t add, but it’s strongly implied), I’ll be available. If you want me, I’m yours, just pick up the phone. The silly rhymes are still silly, but the effect is darkly humorous rather than throwaway slapstick; she’s the poster child for low self-esteem, and she’s desperate.
Brenda doesn’t fit the rigid confines of Mary’s old pre-recorded band track as well as she had on the custom-altered, newly-cut A-side, her voice really much too big for such small and intricate spaces, too strong to be hidden under a bushel by following the blueprint of Mary’s rather more low-key original talk-whisper contralto. But the different approach, which involves taking the song entirely seriously (something you could never have said of the original), works despite itself, and the result, somewhat unexpectedly, is another somewhat sub-par Mary Wells cut transformed into something new, something different but undeniably engaging.
I still wouldn’t go so far as to say I really liked it, but this is another definite improvement on the original, and if these Mary Wells covers were proving to be chart poison for Brenda, well, on this evidence she was at least getting rather better at doing them.
COVERWATCH
Motown Junkies has reviewed other Motown versions of this song:
Mary Wells (September 1964)
(Or maybe you’re only interested in Brenda Holloway? Click for more.)
“Operator” Billy Eckstine
13 thoughts on “579. Brenda Holloway: “I’ll Be Available””
Strong disagreement here – I think the song is a delightful bit of fluff and affectionate rhymeplay, quite lacking in the dark undercurrents which you find in it. The song, and Brenda’s reading, are too self-assuredly bouncy to portray low self-esteem; there’s no desperation here, just a cheerful statement of interest. This is certainly not a female equivalent of ‘I’ll work three jobs, seven days a week, and bring my money home to you…’ All she’s offering is her smiling, radiant, playful presence, silly rhymes and all, and if the song’s addressee has any brains at all he’ll take her up on it. I’d go as far as 8 on this one.
The song’s addressee sounds like a tosser, though, so he might well say no. Or he might peg the narrator as slightly unhinged – unhealthily obsessed and bordering on stalking – and steer clear…
Did you ever get a chance to check out Mary Wells’ version? In many ways (as I was saying to Dave below) I feel that being exposed to that one first might have prejudiced my view of this one – not in the sense that Mary’s is better (it isn’t, I definitely prefer Brenda’s), but that Mary brings out the lightness and silliness in the wordplay so much that Brenda sounds profound by comparison…
Alas, no! ‘Looking Back’ seems to have everything but – I bought it after your eloquent encomium of ‘My Heart is Like a Clock’ and it was money well spent!
Sorry, Dave L, I just realized it was YOU who set me on the track of ‘My Heart is Like a Clock’ – but Steve’s deep appreciation of all facets of Mary Wells was surely also a factor in that very fortunate purchase….
While “Operator” got me on the first listening, this one took a little longer, but I’d go up to a 7 or 8 on it now.
And like John, I don’t perceive desperation in Brenda, but mature practicality. She’s got her cap set for this guy, but shrewdly assesses he doesn’t have all his wild oats sown, so she tells him to go ahead and do so, maybe get his heart broke a couple times, and when he’s ready for a devoted somebody, Brenda will still be there.
And obviously, the guy is going to be delighted and contented when he learns, on his own terms and on his own timetable, Brenda is the girl for him. She’s offering than a one-night stand, but wants him to deplete his wandering nature first.
It’s a nice record. I do agree that this one, “Operator,” “When I’m Gone,” and “I’ve Been Good To You” reveal that Holloway was deserving of more songs written just for her, and if only Smokey wasn’t stretched so thin in 1965, we’d have them. But what we did get remains very entertaining.
Re: desperation, or lack of: hrmm, maybe, but those are the feelings I get from Mary’s version, which is done with a smirky lightness of touch that isn’t present here. Maybe it’s another case of me hearing the records in the wrong order – I was very familiar with Mary’s cut before I ever heard this one – but in Brenda’s version, what struck me immediately was the change in tone, the lack of humour compared to the original. “What-EVER I’m doing, when you call me / I’ll have to drop it, I’ll have to stop it” is disturbing to me. (Plus, the guy sounds like a shiftless wanker (“You can write every girl in the whole wide world sweet love letters”), but we don’t get the comic resolution, the comeuppance.) But hey, tomato, tomato.
I think I’d love this site even if someone else was writing it other than me, just because of the sheer quality of the regular posters here – you’re all so very erudite and because I love hearing opinions, finding out what other people think, having my preconceptions challenged.
Ironically, Smokey did write some songs that seemed to be exclusively for Brenda, but they didn’t get released. “You’ve Changed Me” and “Till Johnny Comes,” both of which dealt with topics that were probably deemed “uncommercial” (or too daring or dark for their time). The last volume of “A Cellarful of Motown” also contains a somewhat unfinished, unfocused “My Baby Moves Me,” that was probably not taken further because Brenda had already decamped or the song was considered unsuitable for her or for any other female singer at the moment.
What we have, though, is “I’ll Be Available,” perhaps a “5” as a composition, but a “6” or “7” as a record because of Brenda’s delivery.
Steve D. I like the goofy lyrics lol, not my favorite song though…something boring about it.
Again Brenda delivers a great vocal performance
but this song is bland and never goes anywhere…Like operator it lacks a good hook
And I’m not sure why Motown released these songs
They’re good for album filler but not good enough to release as singles or a b-side…
The bouncy piano line is a dead give away that this is a Smokey comp and it sounds very much like it was written for Mary. It was and always has been a fub “listen”.
“fun” listen
Slade Barker said:
Stop bashing this song! It’s very clever Smokey songcraft! I always get a smile out of the rhyme of “When the U.S. Mail is (beat) no longer mail-able” and “I’ll be available.” Come on, that’s brilliant! Add to that the incredibly catchy tune and the irresistably danceable groove, and you have an easy 8 (in either version).
I agree. This song is a good “7”. “5” is too low, and should stand for an average song of any company origin. Average Motown is MUCH higher quality, and should be approximately 7. This is an average Motown song, which has a very good quality.
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John Batayle and the Smithfield Decretals
The Smithfield Decretals (British Library, Royal MS. 10 E.iv) is an exceptionally large (c.450 x 285mm.) and lavish (including more than 600 narrative bas-de-page scenes) copy of the Decretals of Gregory IX with the gloss of Bernard of Parma, thought to have been written in southern France c.1300, with decoration and an extra prefatory quire added in England some decades later.
The BL website has an online description with partial digitization and a description with full digitization.
The main reason I found fault with a recent monograph on the Taymouth Hours is that it tends to treat hypotheses as facts. One of several such hypotheses is the proposal that the Smithfield Decretals was made for man called John Batayle who was a canon of St Bartolomew's, Smithfield, in the last quarter of the 14th century. This may be true, or it may not.
The original owner of the book is, in fact, unknown. Its familiar name derives from the fact that it belonged to St Bartholomew's, Smithfield, in the 15th century, as shown by an ownership inscription:
"Liber domus sancti bartholomei in smythfylde" (the "No 1059" is an Old Royal Library number, and the "10.E.iv / p.185" refers to the British Museum shelfmark and catalogue page number).
The proposal that the book belonged to John Batayle derives from Alixe Bovey, 'A Pictorial Ex libris in the Smithfield Decretals: John Batayle, Canon of St Bartholomew’s, and his Illuminated Law Book', in Decoration and Illustration in Medieval English Manuscripts, English Manuscript Studies, 10, ed. by A.S.G. Edwards (London, British Library, 2002), pp.60-82.
In a book-review of the above publication I wrote:
"In ‘A Pictorial Ex libris in the Smithfield Decretals: John Batayle, Canon of St Bartholomew’s, and his Illuminated Law Book’, Alixe Bovey reveals that a frequently occurring coat of arms can be identified as the arms of the Batayle/Bataile family, and proposes that a series of bas-de-page scenes may be interpreted as illustrating Batayle’s purchase of the volume. She has, however, missed a trick or two. First, in a large initial next to the first occurrence of the Bataile arms (pl. 1) is found what is presumably a deliberate rebus: a bat with outspread wings = Bat + aile (‘wing’ in French). Second, the John Batayle singled out in the title occurs in documents of c. 1380, but the cartulary of the Hospital of St Bartholomew’s records many other earlier members of the family, three of whom occur c. 1330, much closer to the date of the manuscript (c. 1330–40); one of them is therefore more likely to be its first owner."
The identification of the arms seems secure, and although Bovey was the first to publish the identification of the arms as belonging to the Batayle/Bataile/Bataille family, her endnote no. 9 suggests that the arms were in fact identified for her by Thomas Woodcock, Norroy and Ulster King of Arms, of the Royal College of Arms.
My observation concerning the "Bat + aile" initial near the Batayle arms, looks like this:
My second point is more important. Bovey states (p.61):
"The lucky survival of two documents record that a man by the name of John Batayle was a canon of St Bartholomew's in the 1370s and '80s. His name appears on a clerical subsidy roll of 1379 ... Canon Batayle is also named in a will of 1382, made by another member of the community of St Bartolomew's ..."
In fact, there are several other published records of this John Batayle, as he rises rapidly up the ecclesiastical hierarchy from acolyte to priest. In the Register of Simon of Sudbury (Bishop of London, 1361-75), we find:
"John Bataille of London" became an acolyte
"Fr. John Batayle, canon professed of St Bartholomew in Smythfeld, London", became a subdeacon
21 February 1372:
"Fr. John Batayl" became a deacon
27 March 1372:
"Fr. John Batayll, canon of Smythfeld" became a priest
According to Bovey (and by general consensus), "Copied on the Continent ... by about 1340 the manuscript was in England". It was in England that it received an extra quire of text and decoration, including the Batayle arms. A book of decretals would have been of no practical use to its owner unless he had undertaken study of Canon Law at university, so its first owner is unlikely to have been younger than about 20 years old in 1340. We may thus estimate that he was born in 1320 or earlier. Indeed, we might reasonably expect that only a considerably older man, well established in his legal career, would have been able to afford such a book.
The John Batayle to whom Bovey attributes ownership of the manuscript became and acolyte in 1370 and was still alive in 1382 when, if he had been born by 1320, he would presumably have been at least 62 years old. This hypothesis is plausible, and one could imagine a man born in 1320 having a career as a lawyer from about 1340 to 1370 before deciding to spend the rest of his life in the service of god. But "plausible" is not the same thing as "probable", and is certainly not the same thing as a fact.
As indicated in my book-review quoted above, the Cartulary of St Bartholomew's Hospital [Smithfield], Founded 1123, edited by Nellie J.M. Kerling (London, 1973), provides other candidates for the first Batayle owner of the manuscript. Various Batayles appear in documents of St Bartolomew's, Smithfield, from c.1190 onwards through the 13th century, and include "John de la Batayle, brother and heir of Richard de la Bataille, clerk" in 1329, 1330, 1336, and 1339. From a 1329 document we learn that Richard had been rector of Braham. It is possible that this John Batayle is the same man who became a priest in 1372.
An alternative, however, is suggested by the Calendar of the Close Rolls Preserved in the Public Record Office ... Edward III ... A.D. 1337-1339 (London, 1900), and 1339-1341 (London, 1901). A document dated 26 April 1337 at Westminster begins:
"To the treasurer and barons of the exchequer. Order to admit William Batail, as the attorney of Robert de Hambury, chamberlain of North Wales, to render his account at the exchequer at York, as Robert is charged with affairs by the king and his council"
A document dated 28 August 1340 is extremely similar: William Batail, attorney of Robert de Hambury, is attorned to render account in place of Robert.
Thus at exactly the same period when the Smithfield Decretals is believed to have been lavishly decorated for a member of the Batayle family, we have records of a high-ranking lawyer called William Batayle. In contrast, we have no evidence that John Batayle, Canon of St Bartholomew’s, was wealthy or had any connection with the law.
Labels: Calendar of Close Rolls, DigCIM, Google Books, heraldry, MLGB, ownership inscription, rebus, shelf-mark, www.bl.uk/manuscripts
Catalogues de vente numérisés contenant des manusc...
A Manuscript from an Unidentified Abbey
Alphonse Labitte (1853- )
Guglielmo Libri Catalogues Online
Didier Petit catalogue online
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DH – Tiger (Do the Putt Putt)
You wouldn’t expect the next great rapper to be a San Diego-based attorney from Lancaster, PA, but that is exactly where Dan “DH” Hanecak (pronounced Hanna-check) was born and raised. DH’s sound is an old school flavor with a contemporary twist that provides listeners with feel-good music that has thoughtful and powerful messages. A fellow artist says, “what sets DH apart from other talented lyricists is his uncanny ability to walk the line between banging club beat and clever word play. Reminiscent of Outkast, he brings a head bobbing party track with a surprising amount of lyrical depth swimming just beneath the surface of a catchy chorus.”
Saying that DH’s path to the world of hip hop is one less traveled is putting it lightly. After playing college baseball at Franklin & Marshall College, DH went on to law school at the University of California-Davis. Immediately upon graduating, he founded his own law practice. But music runs in his blood and he always felt a calling to it. DH’s dad was a former professional musician who briefly played saxophone for the “King of Swing,” Louis Prima. Throughout high school and college, DH would write down catchy punch lines to get laughs, but it wasn’t until after law school, at the urging of one of his best friends, that he finally hit the studio. From there, he felt he had gained his own unique voice in hip-hop. As he says himself, “I’m Marty McFly, combined with Spartacus, cardigan, and a tie.”
For those interested in witnessing the emergence of lawyer-turned-rapper DH, be prepared for the release of his first single and accompanying video, “Tiger (Do the Putt Putt),” followed by his debut EP “Risky Business” in 2017. Look for DH’s work on all major music outlets!
Born Dan Hanecak and known to the rap/music world as DH, some would say this unique artist mimics a sound similar to Eminem mixed with a hint of “Weird Al” Yankovic of the new generation. With his unique creativity, he has created a sound of his own that stands apart of any artist out there today.
Attorney to many and recording artist to the world, DH is about to unleash his first Single, Tiger (Do the Putt Putt), produced & written by Dan “DH” Hanecak himself and Bo Han Yang “Bo Haan.” Tiger (Do the Putt Putt) is a golf-themed rap song that will be released on February 16, 2017 on iTunes and throughout other Digital Media Outlets. The video to the single is currently on YouTube and will be released following the single on VEVO and other video outlets nationwide.
“What sets DH apart from other talented lyricists is his uncanny ability to walk the line between banging club beat and clever word play. Reminiscent of Outkast, he brings a head bobbing party track with a surprising amount of lyrical depth swimming just beneath the surface of a catchy chorus,” says DH’s label mate Bo Haan.
The song coaches listeners how to do a new dance, the putt putt,” which mimics the putting motion, but the song and video draw aspects of golf from all over: Tiger Woods’ career, movies (Happy Gilmore and Caddyshack), and of course, golf lingo. DH abruptly stops the song with a bridge to engage his listeners, whispering, “Silence! Golf clap!” encouraging them to join in with an applause synonymous with the sport.
Dan “DH” Hanecak’s path to the rap game is anything but ordinary. He is a San Diego attorney who has decided that it’s his time to make a mark on Hip-Hop and he has definitely landed a Hole-in One!
For more info please visit:
http://www.dhnpc.com
http://www.instgram.com/dhnpc
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Haunted Hits: An Hour Of Scary Songs & Sounds (Halloween CD Review)
Compilation contains both great Halloween songs and cool horror sound effects, making it an excellent CD for a Halloween party.
Haunted Hits: An Hour Of Scary Songs & Sounds is one of the better Halloween compilations available. First of all, the songs are all the original recordings. Several other Halloween compilations use some unknown band covering classic songs. Not so here. On this album are tracks by Bobby "Boris" Pickett, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Warren Zevon, The Cramps and even Elvira.
Secondly, this compilation contains Halloween sound effects. It's called An Hour Of Scary Songs & Sounds, but it's actually only fifty-three minutes long.
"Haunted House"
"Haunted House" is a strange song by Jumpin' Gene Simmons (and no, that's not the Gene Simmons from Kiss). It starts off like a normal Halloween haunted house story, with these lyrics: "I just moved in my new house today/Moving was hard but I got squared away/Bells started ringing and chains rattled loud/I knew I'd moved in a haunted house."
But then it gets weird. Check out these lyrics from later in the song: "In the kitchen my stove was a blazing hot/Coffee was a-boiling in the pot/The grease had melted in my pan/I had a hunk of meat in my hand/From out of space there sat a man/On the hot stove was pots and pans/'Say that's hot,' I began to shout/He drank the hot coffee from the spout." What is that about?
This is also possibly the only song to contain the word "haint," which means "ghost." The line is, "Ain't no haint gonna run me off." And indeed, this is one guy who will not be scared off by any ghosts.
"Monster Mash"
"Monster Mash" is probably the most famous of all the Halloween-related songs. This CD has the original recording by Bobby "Boris" Pickett, which was released in 1962.
For the two or three people on the planet who are unfamiliar with this song, here are the first several lines of the lyrics: "I was working in the lab late one night/When my eyes beheld an eerie sight/For my monster from his slab began to rise/And suddenly to my surprise/He did the mash/He did the monster mash." This song is basically a requirement for any Halloween party.
The movie Ghostbusters (1984) still totally holds up. It's a fun film starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Sigourney Weaver. And the theme song by Ray Parker Jr. is likewise a lot of fun. It actually reached the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. And it's still a seriously popular tune. Just walk up to any stranger on the street and say, "Who you gonna call?" Whether or not the person answers, you can be sure he or she knows the proper response: "Ghostbusters."
D.J. Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
"Nightmare On My Street" is a song from D.J. Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince's second album, He's The DJ, I'm The Rapper (1988). It is of course based on the popular A Nightmare On Elm Street film series, but was not featured in those films. This song was the second single released from that album (the first being the outrageously successful "Parents Just Don't Understand"). "Nightmare On My Street" reached #15 on the Billboard Hot 100. It features snippets of music from the score.
"Werewolves Of London"
"Werewolves Of London" is one of the two greatest and coolest of all the Halloween-related songs (the other being "I Put A Spell On You"). It's by Warren Zevon, and was included on his 1978 release Excitable Boy. This song is so much fun and it has some great lyrics. Really, it's worth it just for the line, "I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's/His hair was perfect." But there are also these lines: "He's the hairy-handed gent who ran amuck in Kent/Lately he's been overheard in Mayfair/Better stay away from him/He'll rip your lungs out, Jim/Huh, I'd like to meet his tailor."
And the lead-in to this song is a sound effect of a wolfman howling. It's titled "Wolfman Growls #1," though there is no "Wolfman Growls #2." Go figure.
"I Put A Spell On You"
"I Put A Spell On You" is of course the other of two coolest Halloween-related songs. What a wild voice, and what a great scream. He's not called Screamin' Jay Hawkins for nothing. This is a guy not to be messed with. He sings, "I don't care if you don't want me/I'm yours/Right now." This song also features some cool horn.
Elvira, Mistress Of The Dark is the horror hostess character name of Cassandra Peterson. She hosted b-grade horror films on television, introducing the films, and often poking fun at them just before and after the commercial breaks. She also starred in a few movies as this character, and even recorded some horror-related songs. Two of those songs are included on this compilation: "Haunted House" and "Monsta' Rap."
"Haunted House" is not a cover of the Jumpin' Gene Simmons song. This "Haunted House" starts with Elvira admonishing the ghosts to keep it down because she's trying to sleep. "Was that just the wind or someone creeping up the stairs/You get so nervous that you nearly mess your underwears." Underwears? Sure, it rhymes. This is actually a pretty damn good song. Plus, it has a reference to Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart."
The second Elvira song is "Monsta' Rap" It's the last song on the album, with lines about Frankenstein's monster, Dracula, Gamera, The Blob and other horror favorites. It also mentions actors who became famous for their roles in horror films, such as Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, Bela Lugosi, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.
The Cramps provide a darker sounding Halloween song with "I Was A Teenage Werewolf," a song about a typical teenager with typical teenage problems. He complains, "No one understood me/All my teeth were so long."
Allan Sherman
Allan Sherman provides one of the silliest Halloween songs, "My Son, The Vampire." Allan Sherman is famous for his song parodies, so it's no surprise that this song is seriously funny. In this song, he sings, "My son, the vampire/He will leave you pale/All is does is drink your blood/'Cause he don't like ginger ale." The title is also a joking reference to his earlier album titles, such as My Son, The Folksinger (1962) and My Son, The Celebrity (1963).
Though this album contains a lot of great Halloween music, there are a lot of Halloween sound effects included as well. In fact, thirteen of the twenty-three tracks are sound effects. The album both opens and closes with sound effects.
The opening track is just as it says, a howling wind. The second track, "Welcome," is a somewhat creepy voice saying, "Welcome. We have been expecting you" and then laughing. That's it. It, like most of the sound effects tracks, is short.
"Very Scary Mansion" has a child arriving at a house, saying "Grocery delivery." This kid is then ushered inside, where there are lots of creepy sounds, and the child screams and is chased around by all sorts of ghouls and monsters. It's one of the best of the sound effects tracks on this CD. And this one is a little longer, at three minutes.
"The Theremin Orchestra" is a very cool and eerie sound. A theremin, by the way, is an electronic musical instrument with two antennas. The player determines the tone and pitch by moving his or her hands closer and then farther away from the antennas.
"More Monsters In A Large Bat Cave" provides a nice scary atmosphere, and would be a good background track for a haunted house. "Pipe Organ And Ghost" is more of an instrumental track than a sound effects track. It's just under three minutes in length, and is actually a cool track.
The album concludes with "Go Home," which is just a few seconds long. A voice says, "Go home. We have no treats for you here."
Howling Wind
Haunted House - Jumpin' Gene Simmons
Very Scary Mansion
Monster Mash - Bobby "Boris" Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers
Monsters In The Bat Cave
Ghostbusters - Ray Parker, Jr.
Little Girl Walking
A Nightmare On My Street - D.J. Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
Wolfman Growls #1
Werewolves Of London - Warren Zevon
The Theremin Orchestra
Haunted House - Elvira
More Monsters In A Large Bat Cave
I Was A Teenage Werewolf - The Cramps
The Vampire Bats Are Waiting
My Son, The Vampire - Allan Sherman
Monsta' Rap - Elvira
Pipe Organ And Ghost
This compilation was released in 1996 by Rhino Records.
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Category Archives: Sports
LADNER’S JAMES PAXTON, AKA “BIG MAPLE”: HIS HISTORIC NO-HITTER AND MORE
When James Paxton came out for the bottom of the ninth against the hometown Toronto Blue Jays, he was pumped. Three outs away from an historic no-hitter, the steely hurler from Ladner, BC was not going to lose it by nibbling around the edges of the plate with sliders and curve balls. He came right at the Blue Jay hitters with fast balls. Despite having already thrown 92 pitches and never having pitched a complete game in his six-year, injury-plagued career, they were his fastest of the night. One broke the 100 mph barrier (160 kilometres per hour in Ladner). All seven were strikes. Anthony Alford fouled out on the first pitch. Hot-hitting Teoscar Hernandez went down swinging on three blazing fastballs. And dangerous Josh Donaldson lashed the ball hard, but straight at the Seattle Mariners’ smooth-fielding third baseman Kyle Seager. He threw carefully over to first, and that was that. Game, set, match. James Paxton was in the record books with a no-hitter, only the second thrown by a Canadian in the major leagues since the dawn of time.** And of course, it was also the first by a Canadian pitcher on his home and native land.
As Paxton’s team-mates mobbed him on the mound, Blue Jay fans stood and cheered their fellow Canadian. Before leaving the field, he acknowledged the crowd by gesturing towards them with the big maple leaf tattooed on his non-throwing right arm.
Canadian players are no longer a rarity in the big leagues. But some, once they get caught up in “America’s Pastime”, tend to downplay their Canadian heritage. (Hello there, Joey Votto. https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/mariners/fellow-canadian-joey-votto-apologizes-after-dissing-james-paxtons-no-hitter/) Not James Paxton. He has remained true to his hometown roots in bucolic Ladner. “Games in Toronto are the only ones they see us play, so it’s awesome that it was on TV in Ladner,” he told a post-game interviewer.
His parents Barb and Ted, uncle Lindsay and aunt Lisa had gathered at the family home in Ladner to watch the game. As the innings rolled by, they nervously abided by baseball’s deeply held superstition that no-hitters are never mentioned until the final out, lest they be jinxed. But when Seager’s throw disappeared into first baseman Ryon Healy’s glove, the emotional lid blew off. “We were all out of our seats with tears in our eyes,” Ted told Bob Elliott of the Canadian Baseball Network. “There was a lot of hooting and hollering going on.” Not long afterwards, James’ younger brother Tom walked in the back door, after finishing his construction shift, eyes agog. “He was in the same bewildered state as the rest of us,” said Pops Paxton, who reminded Elliott that last week’s gem against the Jays was not his son’s first no-hitter. He tossed one against Ridge Meadows when he was 12 and still has the baseball at his home in Seattle.
Back at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, as low-key, modest and Canadian as possible under the circumstances, Paxton paid tribute to his team-mates for making his no-hitter possible with several outstanding fielding plays. Then he explained his heartfelt wave to the fans, despite all their Blue Jay jerseys: “I wanted to show my respect to the Canadian crowd, to show them I had heard them and I appreciated that…I’m just so honoured to be Canadian and throw our country’s second no-hitter. And to have it happen in Canada…I mean, what are the odds? This is very special.” He noted, ruefully, that the first time he pitched for the Mariners in Toronto he’d been clobbered for nine runs.
Paxton’s Canadian pride and purposeful maple leaf tattoo have led his Seattle team-mates to tag him with an actual nickname, beyond adding a lame “sy” to his name. He’s Big Maple. In the middle of the tattoo, as a further nod to his upbringing, there is a depiction of Bowyer Island, a wee isle five kilometres north of Horseshoe Bay, where his family had a cabin. “I’ve been living out of Canada for 10 years now, and it reminds me of my family and home.”
Canada has been a tad late to embrace the James Paxton story, perhaps because he plays for Seattle out on the west coast, far from the home of the Jays and the self-proclaimed “centre of the Canadian baseball universe”. Also diminishing his profile has been a frustrating series of injuries that have put him on the disabled list year after year. Until last year’s dozen victories, he had never managed more than six wins or better than 121 innings in a season. So the height of his pre-no-hitter fame may have been early this April, when a befuddled bald eagle lit down on Paxton’s right shoulder during the American national anthem. Video of the bizarre incident and the pitcher’s remarkable sangfroid were a huge hit on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hxnx_VbN2A8 Some have suggested the eagle may have been channeling the spirit of his grandfather Lawrie, who died the morning of his grandson’s first major league start.
As it happened, I was there for that memorable game in the fall of 2013. Not by design, but thanks to tickets bought months earlier to complement a planned trip Seattle by taking in nine innings at beloved Safeco Field, a ballpark I never tire of. Expecting little from a routine contest between the mediocre Mariners and anonymous Tampa Bay Rays, I’d been pleased to learn that a pitcher from the Fraser Valley would be making his first appearance in “the show” that night. Even though I hadn’t heard much about James Paxton it was something to look forward to. And a fellow I met in the washroom before the game, one of many rooters who’d made the trip down from Ladner, assured me that Paxton was the real deal, despite his indifferent 8-11 record at Triple A Tacoma. “He’s hot. You watch him tonight.” The urinal guy was right. Showing no sign of nerves, Paxton pitched like a veteran and won the game. The memorable evening was made even better by running into his brother and uncle at the game.
You can read what I wrote here:
https://mickleblog.wordpress.com/2013/09/09/kid-from-ladner-hits-the-big-time/
I’ve followed his career closely ever since. I even have an autographed James Paxton baseball jersey. He donated it to a fund-raiser for local recovery houses, and there was no way I was going to be outbid! Savvy investor that I am, it’s surely now gone up in value.
The no-hitter and all the ensuing attention could not have happened to a more deserving guy. For those who think professional athletes are little more than pampered zillionaires, Paxton’s life and times in baseball are a testament to perseverance and sheer, hard work. Nothing has come easily. He inched his way up the ladder, with time in North Delta, the University of Kentucky and Alaska, before moving on to the illustrious Grande Prairie HairHogs, Clinton LumberKings, Jackson Generals, and finally to Tacoma, hometown of Neko Case. Gradually, he learned the craft of pitching, beyond simply throwing. Then, just when he finally made the bigs, he was stricken by injury after injury. Only 13 starts in each of 2014 and 2015. In 2016, he was sent back down to Tacoma, before being recalled. Last year, after not yielding an earned run in three starts, he was on the disabled list once more. In July he was 6-0, when, right on cue, a “left pectoral muscle strain” sidelined him yet again. Talk about being star crossed.
But “quit” isn’t in Paxton’s vocabulary. He’s come back more times than that pesky skunk under the neighbour’s porch. And lately, something has seemed to click. The game before his no-hitter, he struck out 16 batters on a mere 105 pitches, a major league record. Is the young man from Lander at last on the verge of showing the baseball world what having an “Eh game” is all about.
** (The first hitless game by a Canadian in the majors was tossed by Dick Fowler agains the old St. Louis Browns, while pitching for 82-year old Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics on Sept. 9, 1945. Even more remarkable was the fact that Fowler’s feat came on his first start after spending three years in the Canadian army. There’s nothing quite like baseball.)
Standard | Posted in Baseball, Sports | Tagged Anthony Alford, Bob Elliott, Bowyer Island, Canadian Baseball Network, Clinton LumberKings, Connie Mack, Dick Fowler, Grande Prairie HairHogs, Jackson Generals, James Paxton, Josh Donaldson, Kyle Seager, Neko Case, no-hitter, North Delta, Philadelphia Athletics, Ridge Meadows, Ryon Healy, Seattle Mariners, St. Louis Browns, Tacoma Rainiers, Teoscar Hernandez, Toronto Blue Jays, University of Kentucky | 0 comments
SALUTING AND MOURNING THE PEERLESS, TWO-OF-A-KIND SEDINS
(Most pictures by me!)
The outpouring of admiration and affection for the incomparable Daniel and Henrik Sedin, as they played their final three games for the lowly Canucks, was like nothing I’ve witnessed in my more than half a century of following sports. Fans, scribes, commentators, competitors, all the way down to the referees and well, just about everyone, joined in the celebration and heartfelt farewells in a way that went beyond the usual tributes to the end of a great player’s career. They seemed to be an acknowledgment that, in the 100-year history of the National Hockey League, the Sedins were something special.
T They were not the equal of Howe, Gretzky, Lemieux, the Rocket, or some of the other NHL greats of the past, but they played the game as it had never been played. Their ability to find each other with a no-look perfect pass, whether behind the back, through a crowd or simply by directing the puck to a seemingly innocuous part of the ice where the other Sedin would suddenly appear was other-worldly. At times, they seemed hockey-playing aliens from another planet.
They did so without howitzer shots, blinding speed or bruising physical play, absorbing all the hacking and physical punishment from lesser players without retaliation. Daniel and Henrik were the antithesis of Don Cherry and that old-school consensus of “the way the game should be played.” Rather they were all about Finesse. With a capital F.
Even during the Canucks’ difficult last few years and beginning to age, whenever the Sedins hit the ice, you knew there was still a possibility of magic, a play that left you gasping with its brilliance. It was a magic that came to be known as “Sedinery”, an uncanny combination of dexterity and puckwork that surely had something to do with the chemistry of being identical twins. At their peak, they made journeymen linemates into 30-goal scorers, if they knew enough to merely wait for the puck near the net, where one of the Sedins would find them with a pinpoint pass.
Yet it’s often forgotten that their success was far from immediate or inevitable. They were not Gretzky or Lemieux, who were dominant pretty much from game one. One look at the pair of red-cheeked, innocent-looking teenagers drafted by the Canucks, and you could see the problem. How could these seemingly fragile kids from beautiful Örnsköldsvik possibly survive the rough and tumble, often brutal NHL? During their sometimes difficult, early years, they were mocked by many. Belittlers included some so-called Vancouver sports personalities, who shamefully dubbed them “the Sedin sisters” for their endless cycling of the puck and allegedly being Swedish soft. They also took a beating on the ice. But they never whined, never complained. Their extraordinary strength of character saw them through it.
Realizing that what had worked in Sweden wasn’t going to cut it in the rough, tough NHL, through sheer hard work they gradually got it right, improving their skating and building up their strength and stamina. Teammates attested to their fitness. No one showed up at training camp in better shape, a status they maintained religiously throughout the rigours of an NHL season. While their artistry with the puck grabbed the headlines, few remarked on how many plays began with Daniel or Henrik using their physical strength and toughness to protect the puck in the corner or along the boards, before passing. I have never seen players more skilled at operating in such little open ice. By season four, their climb to hockey’s elite had begun. Even this year, at the age of 37, with an unending rotation of nondescript wingers, both still had more points than in any of those first four seasons with the Canucks.
Over the years, there were so many good times, so many nights when they would get on one of their dazzling cycles and absolutely mesmerize the other team, before chalking up another goal. In 2009-2010, Henrik won the scoring title and the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player. The next year, not to be outdone by his older brother, younger Daniel also won the scoring title, plus the Ted Lindsay Award as most outstanding player. There were also the not so good times, of course, particularly the devastating loss in the seventh game of the 2011 Stanley Cup final. And the last few years have been a challenge. But through it all, they never shied from the media or making themselves accountable when they had not been at their best.
In the three games that followed their retirement announcement, the way opposing players waited patiently for a last handshake with the Sedins before heading to the dressing room attested to the great respect they engendered around the league, a respect that extended to rabid supporters of the hometown Edmonton Oilers. At the end of their final game, they kept cheering as Daniel and Henrik skated around the ice, as if they, too, could not bear to see the end of their special talents. And, lest we forget the incredible, rollicking send-off in Vancouver two night earlier. Not only were there ovation after ovation for the local heroes, Daniel scored the winning goal in overtime, setting off a roar the likes of which hadn’t been heard since the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was his second goal of the game, each assisted, naturally, by Henrik, as the twins cranked up their game one last time for a story-book ending to their astounding careers.
The reception in both their home and enemy rinks was as much a recognition of the Sedins’ exemplary character. They didn’t trash talk, didn’t make excuses, didn’t bemoan bad luck. They both remain married to their high-school sweethearts and are raising their kids as normally as possible right here in Vancouver. They are common visitors to city hospitals and involved with select charities, without attracting attention to themselves. When the Sedins gave $1.5 million to BC Children’s Hospital, only at the insistence of the hospital was their donation made public.
Late in their final game against the Oilers, hearing broadcaster john Shorthouse announce for the zillionth time: “Daniel, back to Henrik, pass to Daniel…over to Henrik…”, a wave of sadness, swept over me, as it sank in just how much I will miss them. They were as much a part of Vancouver as the rain, unaffordable real estate prices and the North Shore mountains. Watching the Sedins over their 17 seasons with the boys of Orca is one of the absolute highlights of my many, many years as a hockey fan. I still can’t quite grasp the fact that the twins will not be lacing up their skates for another season, and sweaters 22 and 33 will be missing from the Canucks’ lineup for the first time this century. A magnificent chapter has closed, and we will never see its like again.
I do have one last, mischievous thought. For the longest time not even their coaches could tell the Sedins apart. Now that the tumult and the shouting have died, I can’t help wondering: did Daniel and Henrik ever switch jerseys, just for the fun of it?
Standard | Posted in Canucks, Sports | Tagged Örmsköldvik, BC Children's Hospital, Daniel Sedin, Don Cherry, Edmonton Oilers, Gordie Howe, Hart Trophy, Henrik Sedin, John Shorthouse, Mario Lemieux, National Hockey League, Rocket Richard, Ted Lindsay Award, Vancouver Canucks, Wayne Gretzky | 0 comments
COURAGEOUS CANADIANS
This year, I thought, my lifelong love of the Olympics, was, if not at an end, under serious challenge. Pyeongchang? The site of the Games conjured up no vision at all. Nor, with newspapers and other media so reduced, was there any real build-up to these Winter Olympics to whet the appetite. Once Gary Kingston, the Vancouver Sun’s consummate chronicler of BC’s winter athletes, departed, coverage dropped to virtually zero. As for the Globe and Mail, my former paper has regularly sent a healthy contingent to the Olympics, including, on occasion, me. This year, the Globe opted for a small force of three, The late, dispiriting, get-out-of-jail-free card delivered to Russia’s organized dopers didn’t help. Given that, the lack of buzz and an awkward time difference of 17 hours, I was wondering how much of the Games I would watch at all.
I should have known better. Wednesday afternoon, more than a day before the lavish Opening Ceremonies even took place, where was I? Watching mixed Olympics curling. Although Canada eventually lost this strange, albeit fun hybrid of the roaring game to Norway, I was already back inside the tent, hooked once more.
As always, bold predictions for our Canadian athletes are trotted out before the Games begin. Inevitably, there are disappointments. Nothing in sports is quite like the pressure of the Olympics. With the proverbial whole world watching and the added burden of carrying the hopes of your country, which resolutely ignores you the rest of the time, a competitor get one chance every four years to come through. There is no wait ‘til next year. No wonder pressure claims so many victims, while relative unknowns, with nothing to lose, often emerge as surprise gold medalists. That’s why the drama of the Olympics is unsurpassed, and that’s why Canada’s first five medals at these Games – four silvers and a bronze — were so inspiring. Mark McMorris, Max Parrot, Ted-Jan Bloemen, Justine Dufour-Lapointe and Laurie Blouin: with everything on the line, all won their medals with truly courageous performances.
In men’s slopestyle, the fact Mark McMorris was even at Pyeongchang was one of the major stories heading into the Games. At Sochi in 2014, the legendary king of “big air” from flatland Saskatchewan had gutted out a miraculous bronze medal, despite fracturing a rib just two weeks earlier. In 2016, he was sidelined with a broken right femur. And then, a mere 11 months ago, snowboarding with some pals in Whistler’s backcountry, he slammed into a tree and nearly died. His injuries read like a doctor’s meat chart: broken jaw, broken arm, ruptured spleen, fractured pelvis, more rib fractures and a collapsed lung. The picture of McMorris in hospital, with bandages and a zillion hook-ups all over his battered body has gone viral.
Once out of hospital, McMorris undertook a rehab program so arduous as to be absurd. Defying predictions he might never snowboard competitively again, he was back at in late November. But how would he do at the Olympics, where pressure and competition are at their most intense? If there was any fragility left from his astounding crackup, now is when it would show. No worries. Mark McMorris came through with high-flying colours . His soaring stunts brought him so close to a storybook gold, he was almost disappointed at winning bronze, against odds no one but McMorris thought beatable that dark, terrifying day in Whistler. Two Olympics, two miracle podium finishes for Canada’s Bionic Man. Courage.
Slopestyle team-mate Max Parrot, whom many ranked ahead of McMorris, succumbed to the swirling winds, falling heavily on his first run, and then again on his second run. As he awaited a third and final attempt, Red Gerard, the 17-year old American kid, was on top, McMorris second. Parrot was nowhere. The last snowboarder in the competition, this was it. There was no margin for error. The next Olympics were four years distant. He looked out over the snow-swept terrain, the series of tricky rails and tall, launchpad jumps and the crowd far below. “I had a lot of pressure and my heart was beating really fast before starting on the course,” he recounted, later. It was all or nothing. And the 23-year old Quebecker nailed it. The second highest score among all contenders and a silver medal. As for those two falls: “I hit my head twice, pretty hard actually. My helmet made it possible for me to survive. I’m really happy.” Courage.
There is something so calm and mesmerizing about the 5,000 metres speedskating event. Competitors circle the gleaming oval track in perfect, rhythmic harmony, usually with one hand or two tucked comfortably behind their back, while their long, powerful strides propel them forward, lap after lap. It seems so effortless. As the race wears on, however, distance takes a toll. In order to have maximum energy at the end, when it counts, you need to set a perfect pace. Otherwise, you falter. You tighten up, fighting for every breath.
It happened to Ted-Jan Bloemen. The Dutchman-turned-Canadian was a pre-race favourite, but these were the Olympics, his first. After building a quick early lead over his Norwegian track partner, he began to struggle. With just a few laps to go, Bloemen had fallen behind. He seemed done. Yet somehow, from somewhere, he summoned an inner reserve of strength and began fighting back. When the two skaters crossed the finish line, his skate blade flashed across the line a miniscule, two one-thousandths of a second ahead. It brought him the silver medal, the first by a Canadian at that distance since the 1930’s. The Norwegian, Sverre Lunde Pedersen, was stunned. “I thought he was tired, too tired to skate fast at the end, but he came back,” he told reporters, afterwards. “That was impressive.” Blomen’s time was his fastest ever at that altitude.. “I got everything out of myself that I had.” Courage.
Four years ago, “les soeurs extraordinares”, as I called them, captivated the country at the Sochi Winter Olympics. Justine Dufour-Lapointe hurtled down the treacherous mogul course to a gold medal. Beside her on the podium, with a silver medal around her neck, was none other than her sister Chloe. Justine was 19, Chloe 22. It was perhaps the story of the Games, and I blogged excitedly about it here. https://mickleblog.wordpress.com/2014/02/09/gold-silver-and-sisters/
But four years is a long time to remain at the top. In 2017, the sisters’ beloved, supportive mother was diagnosed with cancer (now in remission). Nagged by worry, Justine’s results fell off. And Canada had a new moguls champion, Andi Naude from Penticton. Coming into these Olympics, few foresaw another podium finish for the emotional French-Canadian. But once again, at the critical moment…. Well, let Justine explain: “When I was up there I was just thinking, this is it. This is my last run. My moment. And I want to control it. Despite all the world watching me right now, it’s me who will decide what happens next.” Under the pounding pressure, when it counted most, she put everything together with a beautiful, aggressive run, snatching second place and a silver medal. This medal, she said, as tears mixed with snow streamed down her face, meant more to her than gold at Sochi. “This has been the hardest year of my life, a hurricane in our family,” Justine said, noting as well the competitive setbacks endured by her other sisters. “This is more than a medal. It is a victory for our family, and that’s what we are celebrating.” Courage.
For many Canadians, their first glimpse of this year’s Winter Olympics was a long-range shot of a large red sled transporting Canadian snowboarder Laurie Blouin off the course, after she crashed hard during training on the Games’ first day. Taken to hospital, she was soon released, but Canadian officials were mum about her injuries. It was left to Mark McMorris to reveal: “She whacked her noggin pretty good and cut up her face.” Yet Blouin somehow made it to Monday’s final, which was clouded by controversy. Fierce, gusting winds buffeted the snowboarders as they soared high into the sky, causing fall after fall, including Blouin on her first high-flying venture. But the event continued. Having already fallen once, with memories of her crash still fresh, would Blouin’s psyche be strong enough to brave more danger from the ferocious gales, described as “terrifying” by another Canadian slopestyler? You bet. A backside 720, a frontside 540, a solid landing from a cab underflip, and Laurie Blouin had a silver medal, just three days after her release from hospital. “I’m really stubborn,” the young Quebecker, displaying a sinister welt and prominent cut under her left eye, asserted to English-language reporters. “Is that how you say it?” Yes it is. Courage.
Standard | Posted in Sports | Tagged Andi Naude, Canada, Chloe Dufour Lapointe, Gary Kingston, Globe and Mail, Justine Dufour-Lapointe, Laurie Blouin, Mark McMorris, Max Parrot, Mixed Doubles Curling, moguls, Norway, Pyeongchang, Red Gerard, Severe Lunde Pedersen, Slopestyle, speedskating, Ted-Jan Bloemen, Winter Olympics 2018 | 2 Comments
LOOKING BACK ON BASEBALL, AS THE COLD WINDS BLOW
And so baseball winter has begun, made even harsher by the tragic death of Roy Halladay. The hopeful breezes of spring, the lazy hazy crazy days of summer and the beautifully slanted light of fall have all departed from the diamond, leaving us to bundle up and shiver through the bleak wintry months of no baseball. In that sweet, far-off time when I was a kid, the Series was always over by the second week of October, in time for the players to do their fall hunting. Now, with so many wildcard and playoff games piled on, the Series stretches into November, as ridiculous a month as ever was for the summer game. In November, you don’t think baseball, you think winter.
There was hardly a “wow” ending. The highly-anticipated seventh game of the recent Series was drearier than opening a tin of sardines. To paraphrase noted St. Louis Cardinal fan T.S. “Tommy” Eliot, “This is the way the year ends. Not with a bang but a whimper.” After two dreadful stanzas by Yu “Non-Whirling” Darvish, the Astros were up 5-0. Yet we had to endure seven more innings of tedium in front of an increasingly morose crowd, before the Dodgers officially surrendered, 5-1, and the Houston Astros, of all teams, were World Series champions. It was a forlorn anti-climax to a Series that had been such a wonderful reminder of the kind of drama and individual heroics only baseball can deliver. There were spells of off-the-wall craziness never before witnessed on a World Series diamond. So many records were shattered, it felt like Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park in 1979. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1CP1751wJA)
The Series even started with a record. The thermometer for Game One at Chavez Ravine hit 103 degrees on the fuddy-duddy Fahrenheit scale, nine degrees higher than the previous heat standard (baseball has statistics on everything). Then Dodger leadoff hitter Chris Taylor homered on the very first pitch his team faced. Had that ever happened? Nope. Mind you, there have only been 113 previous World Series.
Game Two was so full of extraordinary happenings it could have been the Trump White House. But in a good way. All told there were eight home runs, including a seemingly impossible five in extra innings. Both were Series firsts, with the added fillip of the Dodgers, down to their last strike in the bottom of the 10th, tying the game on a rare single, struck by a guy who hit .a measly 215 during the year.
The next two games were close, well-played contests, setting the stage for what many have called a World Series game for the ages. When home runs stopped rocketing into the bleachers, when three-run leads on both sides stopped being erased with a swing of the bat, and the last beleaguered pitcher staggered off the mound, the score was 13-12. Someone did one of those momentum charts. It went up and down like a pogo stick. The game lasted five hours and 17 minutes. Something inside me wanted it to go on forever. And after all that slugging, the game ended in the 10th inning with the puniest of baseball rallies: a two-out hit batter, a walk and a single. These few lines simply can’t do justice to the abundance of thrills that took place. But for those who want to read a fulsome write-up of the game, here’s a wild account by my favourite baseball writer these days, Jonah Keri. https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/astros-dodgers-world-series-game-5-the-moments-that-made-us-lose-our-damn-mind/ Even the New Yorker’s Roger Angell, the best chronicler baseball has ever had, roused himself at the age of 97 to write about it. https://www.newyorker.com/news/sporting-scene/astros-dodgers-world-series-home-runs
When the last of the Dodgers fell, befitting the team’s first World Series in its 55-year history, the young Astros naturally went wild. Shortstop Carlos Correa was so pumped, he proposed to his girlfriend right there on the field. Live, on TV. Another Series first!
For Vancouver baseball fans, however, this was old hat. We had our championship moment in the sun weeks ago. For the fourth time in seven years, the hometown Canadians hoisted the highly-esteemed Bob Freitas Trophy, emblematic of baseball supremacy in the Single A Northwest League. We made the Everett Aquasox suck, forced the Tri-City Dust Devils to eat dust, sent the Hillsboro Hops hopping, doused the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, polished off the Eugene Emeralds, made too much noise for Boise, and forced the Spokane Indians to change their name to the Indigenous People. It may not have been the World Series, but the exuberance and abandon of the young Canadians bouncing up and down on the field and frolicking around their championship trophy matched anything we saw in Los Angeles, albeit minus an engagement ring.
Minor league baseball is so much fun. Yes, Bull Durham had lots of other stuff going for it, but the charm of baseball’s best movie came mostly from its spot-on depiction of baseball in the minors, including the community’s loyal fan base (in the case of Annie Savoy, a bit more than “loyal”…). The movie gets it right. The way Vancouver has fallen in love with venerable Nat Bailey Stadium and its Single A Canadians, even lower on the Blue Jays’ farm team ladder than the Lansing Lugnuts, reminds one that money, hype and saturation, endlessly-analytical coverage aren’t everything in sports. Sometimes there’s just the joy of the game, itself.
I can’t remember having a bad time at Nat Bailey. It’s a place for families and kids, lifelong baseball fans, couples on a date, “bros” who just want to suck back a brew or two in the sun and, well, just about everyone. The entire park is a no-lout zone. This past summer was particularly splendid. Not only did the Canadians qualify for the playoffs before sell-out crowds, they won it all. I took in two of the games, including the one that brought the C’s their league championship in glorious September.
Both were tight, 2-1 victories, but the mood in the stands was anything but tense. During Game One, half a dozen women sitting behind me were having a grand time, chatting away and watching the game, too. (“Can you imagine trying to hit 94 mph?….Their pitcher looks 12….”) When a dude photo-bombed their selfie, they killed themselves laughing. As for my lonely guy self, I was able to muse once again on that baseball imponderable: why are there coaching boxes if the coaches are never in them? I also noticed with delight that a coach for the visitors was a fellow named Turtle Thomas.
The game went into the eighth inning, still scoreless, when the C’s Logan Warmoth, who had only one homer all year and whose older brother is a morning TV news anchor in Florida, unexpectedly lined the ball into the left-field stands for a two-run dinger, and we all went crazy. After a nerve-wracking ninth, the players ran onto the field, celebrating as if this really was the World Series.
The good times continued on the night Vancouver claimed the trophy. Three infectiously happy young Latina women in the next row kept up a steady din of cheering in Spanish, standing up to dance every time there was a hint of music. They really lit up whenever the C’s young Venezuelan third baseman Dieferson Barreto came to bat. “Number 5. He’s the best,” one told me. Sister, friend, partner? Who cares?
You knew it was going to be a special evening when perennial also-ran Wasabi won the Sushi Mascot Race. Once again, Logan Warmoth was the hero. The Canadians had only two hits all night, but Warmoth’s two-run single was one of them, and the home team held on to win. As the final batter went down on strikes, the players hurled their gloves into the air and rushed into each other’s arm. It was a joyous sight. No matter this was Single A, no matter the trophy was named after someone they had never heard of and no matter they were playing for a city in a foreign country with a Queen, the metric system and weird coins called loonies, they could not have been happier. Nor could we in the stands. No one wanted to leave.
(Photo by Megan Stewart)
Standard | Posted in Baseball, Sports | Tagged Bob Freitas Trophy, Bull Durham., Carlos Correa, Chavez Ravine, Chris Taylor, Dieferson Barreto, Houston Astros, Jonah Keri, Logan Warmoth, Los Angeles Dodgers, Nat Bailey Stadium, Northwestern League, Roger Angell, Roy Halladay, T.S. Eliot, The Hollow Men, Toronto Blue Jays, Turtle Thomas, Vancouver Canadians, World Series | 4 Comments
A tough week for us sports fans of another generation. Losing two great heroes of our youth: Muhammad Ali, and now, Gordie Howe (he never changed his name to Gordon..). This is about the champ.
It’s been said many, many times, but it remains true. Never again will we see the likes of Muhammad Ali. “For all you kids out there”, it’s difficult to convey just how dominant a figure he was during those first 20 years he reigned as by far the most beloved and admired athlete in the world. Evidence of his unsurpassed skill and courage in the ring are easily found on YouTube. And most accounts written after Ali’s death relate in great detail his bold, in-your-face defiance of white America. He stuck it to “the man’, as few had before, with his loudly-proclaimed conversion to the radical Black Muslims, his name change from Cassius Clay to (gasp) Muhammad Ali, announced while standing beside Malcolm X (another gasp), and most of all, his willingness to go to jail rather than be sent to Vietnam to kill people “who never called me nigger”.
Still, it’s not really possible to capture just what it was like to actually experience those years, when Clay/Ali bestrode the world like the proverbial colossus. With his flashing fists, dancing feet and outrageous, versified braggadocio, he opened up the narrow, closed confines of boxing to the great beyond, as no one had before. The charged anticipation for every one of his big fights was unsurpassed. It was as if a cloak had been thrown over everything else going on, except for Ali’s showdowns against Sonny Liston, or Joe Frazier, or George Foreman. Everyone listened, watched on big pay-for-view screens, or followed round-by-round dispatches sent out by the wire services. Long before social media, we were a global Ali community.
Nor can one quantify the extent of outrage and villification that spewed down on Ali when he turned his back on everything American. Even those who loved him as a boxer were confused by his decision to join the Black Muslims, an extremist, black separatist group led by the shadowy Elijah Muhammad, who was a long way from Martin Luther King. Yet, with everything to lose, and it did cost him big, Ali stood up for his rights as a black man, loudly and unabashedly, and was hated for it. No wonder he feared for his life.
(The famous cover from Esquire.)
It was only after he returned to the ring, three and a half years after his title was taken away for refusing induction into the armed forces, that sentiment began to soften. He was now admired, rather than loathed, for remaining true to his convictions, and for his renewed prowess in the ring. No longer able to float like a butterfly and sting like bee, he harnessed raw courage, tactical brilliance, and a frightening ability to take a punch that almost certainly contributed to the Parkinson’s Disease that finally silenced him to claim the heavyweight crown two more times. From the dusty villages of Africa, to the streets of Iraq, to the halls of presidents, he was celebrated and loved. It’s a lesser world without him, even reduced as he was over the years by the relentless scourge of his illness.
I saw Muhammad Ali, once. It was in Pyongyang in 1995, at the strangest event I’ve ever been at. For reasons known only to its alien-like leaders, the crackpot regime of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea staged a series of professional wrestling bouts before upwards of 150,000 bewildered North Koreans at the city’s massive public stadium. They called it the Sports and Cultural Festival for Peace. Participants were all from the Japanese wrestling circuit. They included the usual gang of archetypal villains in evil, spiked costumes, tough-looking women with blue hair, Canadian Chris Benoit, the legendary Ric Flair and Antonio Inoki, the most famous grappler in Japan.
The matches took place in almost total silence, as spectators had no idea what to make of competitors slamming their opponents’ head into ring posts, jumping on them from the top of the ropes, or hurling them out of the ring and stomping on them. The only hook for the absurd event seemed to be a tenuous connection between North Korea and Antonio Inoki. His early mentor was Rikidozan, founder of professional wrestling in Japan, who happened to have been born in what became North Korea. That was enough for Rikidozan to qualify as a national hero and for the wacky poobahs of DPRK to stage an entire festival around the first showdown beween Ric Flair and Inoki. Most of the Beijing press corps, complete with cameras, microphones and tape recorders, were among the select group of “tourists” invited to attend.
Just when I thought Wrestling Night in Pyongyang couldn’t get any more bizarre, they announced the presence of Muhammad Ali. But of course. Wasn’t he the world’s greatest athlete, North Korea the world’s greatest country, and the Sports and Cultural Festival for Peace the world’s greatest festival? To the organizers, it made perfect sense. Besides, Ali had once fought Inoki, himself. In the most ridiculous match of all time, Inoki spent all 15 rounds on the mat trying to kick his opponent’s legs, while Ali threw a grand total of six punches. You can look it up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3vOssizwW4
Anyway, there was Ali, unmistakeable in the stands. The crowd applauded politely, not quite sure how to greet a representative of the “Yankee wolf”, as English phrase books in North Korea labeled the USA. The champ half stood up and gave a half wave. Even from far away, I was thrilled.
All of which is a long-winded introduction to something I wrote a couple of years ago, on the 50th anniversary of Ali first great victory, his upset over the feared Sonny Liston to give him his first heavyweight championship. Looking back, I still find it hard to believe someone as wonderful and outlandish as Muhammad Ali really existed. As my original blog confesses, however, I was one of Cassius Clay’s many early doubters, a belief that socked me right in the wallet. But I was so spurred by the magnitude of his triumph that I tried a bit of Clay doggerel, myself, for the school yearbook. May you survive it, and may Muhammad Ali be sitting on the right hand of the black God he worshipped. We will never forget him.
SONNY LISTON OWES ME BIG
Fifty years ago today, I turned on the radio, smug in the belief that this was going to be the easiest dollar I ever made. That brash, upstart, crazy Cassius Clay was finally going to get his long overdue comeuppance, his taunts and boasts rammed down that big throat of his by the meanest, scariest fighter who ever lived, Sonny “The Bear” Liston.
An ex-con whose baleful scare frightened even hardened sportswriters was violence personified in the ring, Liston had twice taken on the skilled, much-loved former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson. Patterson didn’t make it past the first round in either fight, hammered early to the canvas both times by Liston’s murderous fists. Few fighters dared to face him, despite the big payday of a heavyweight championship match.
Not so, Cassius Clay (the “slave name” that he later changed to Muhammad Ali….you may have heard of him…). Just 22, with thefastest mouth in showbiz but a spotty record of dispatching ho-hum opponents, Clay had the audacity to challenge the seemingly invincible Liston. Not only that, he openly and repeatedly taunted Liston, even yelling at him outside his house in the middle of the night. An even-keel Liston was frightening, enough. Now, the Louisville Lip had made him mad. Yikes.
Some worried Clay might not even survive the fight, and just about everyone expected Liston to pulverize him in short order. Everyone, that is, except my friend Gary Toporoski, a bit of a loud-mouth in his own right. (sorry, Gary…). “Topper” was completely convinced Cassius Clay really was “gonna whup that big ugly bear”. Why? Well, it seems he had seen Cassius Clay’s guest appearance on a CFTO sports show, and Clay started the show by flicking an array of lightening jabs at the camera. “He’s sooo fast,” said my enthralled Newmarket High School friend. “There’s no way Liston can beat him. He’s too slow.”
I told him he was nuts. We decided to bet on the fight, something I’d never done before. In fact, I was so confident Liston would prevail, I even gave Toporoski the going 7-1 odds. His dollar against my seven. I had already decided to treat myself to a hamburger at the Newmarket Grill with my big winnings. Instead, of course, I ate crow.
With a heavy but wiser heart, I handed Gary seven smackers (a lot of money in them there daze) at school the next day. He only said “I told you so” about 84 times. I’ve never bet on a match since.
Months later, still stung, I burst forward into doggerel for the 1964 school yearbook. Move over, Longfellow.
THE INCREDIBLE UPSET
The Bear was ugly, mean and detested.
Only once in a fight had he been been bested.
The Louisville Lip had no more chance
To whip the Bear than the Premier of France.
But came that decisive night in Miami,
Cassisus Clay had some sort of whammy.
For he blasted the myth that the Bear was too strong.
He proved he could box, as well as talk long.
In the fifth, when not a thing could he see,
He displayed some footwork that baffled Sonny.
With a continual jab and by dancing around,
The man with the mouth survived that tough round.
The Bear was a Cub by the end of round six.
The fans in the Hall began to yell “Fix!”.
For he threw in the towel to the man he despised,
And Cassius Clay had our opinions revised.
He floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee.
His speed had conquered the ferocious Sonny.
Clay’s gift of the gab was far from the latest,
But who could deny that he was “the greatest”?
— Montana Worthlesswords (c’est moi)
Here’s the famous fight that made losers out of both Sonny Liston and me.
Standard | Posted in Mickle lore, Sports | Tagged Black Muslims, Cassius Clay, Chris Benoit, DPRK, Floyd Patterson, George Foreman, Gordie Howe, Joe Frazier, Louisville Lip, Malcolm X, Muhammadi Ali, Newmarket, North Korea, Pyongyang, Rikidozan, Sonny Liston, Sports and Cultural Festival for Peace | 9 Comments
SONATAS SCORE BIG, SUPER BOWL BLANKED
The treasured Leila Getz, described in the program as “Head Honcho” of the Vancouver Recital Society, welcomed us with her usual enthusiasm. “Thank you for choosing András Schiff over the Super Bowl. The magic begins.” And indeed, it did.
Moments later, the stately, 62-year old master pianist, wearing a knee-length black tunic, walked out from the wings, acknowledged our applause, sat down on the cushioned bench, rested his hands on the top of the piano for 20 seconds of contemplation, and began to play.
While gazillions tuned into the greatest annual event in the history of the world, aka the Super Bowl, which surpasses even the Eurovision Song Contest in global importance, I sat entranced, with hundreds of others at the packed Vancouver Playhouse, for Schiff’s virtuoso recital. And to think, my first reaction when I discovered the cultural conflict between Super Bowl L and this long-ago booking was to ditch Schiff.
How could this life-long sports fan not prefer the performance of helmeted, gridiron goliaths bashing away at each other during those engaging snatches of football sandwiched between eight hours of commercials? Luckily, after one unsuccessful attempt to unload my Schiff ducat, I came to my senses. Denver and Carolina? Snore me big. Plus, I had PVR. András Schiff, it was.
The program by the renowned Hungarian-born maestro, no “hairy hound from Budapest” he, was sublime, even to these unclassical ears. Entitled The Last Sonatas, the program featured four pieces of music by Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn and Schubert, all written during the composers’ final year of life. So there was a poignancy to them, too.
Still, I couldn’t help thinking of the Super Bowl, and how glad I was to be missing it. For one thing, András Schiff played 90 minutes straight. No half-time. Not a single time-out. No five-minute break for commercials every time he switched composers. Lovely. And mesmerizing.
Furthermore, what happened on the keyboard was easily the equivalent of what was taking place on the football field. You don’t believe me? You think a sonata is just a sonata? Take a gander at the commentary by wordsmith extraordinaire Donald G. Gislason in the programme notes.
Which is better? Another lame pass by Peyton Manning or the Star Wars-tinged Allegreto from Mozart’s Sonata in B flat major K. 570 “with its recurring tick-tock beat, [summoning] up the mechanical world of clockwork music, and [featuring} some robotic C-3PO-style humour in its cosmic leaps and mock-confused meanderings of imitative counterpoint”? To say nothing of Mozart’s ability to provide more than taco chips and chili at halftime. “[He is] like a celebrity chef challenged to create a multi-course meal using only a few ingredients,” Gislason tells us. “Mozart is masterfully economic in this movement, constantly re-using his material over and over again, making garnish and main course at will.”
I was hardly sorry to have missed all those third-and-outs by Manning and “Fig” Newton, when I got to hear the second movement from Franz Schubert’s Sonata in A Major D. 959: “A tour de force of compressed emotional energy that explodes into near-chaos in its middle section. It opens with a simple, sparsely textured, repetitive lament that circles fretfully round itself like a madman rocking back and forth in his hospital chair. More wide-ranging harmonic ravings lead to an outburst of unexpected violence and eventually to a dramatic confrontation.” Just like Von Miller taking down Carolina’s haughty, pouting quarterback.
And okay, there have been worse half-time shows than Beyoncé, the Mars guy and Coldplay, but Beethoven’s Sonata in A flat major Op. 110 gave them a pretty good run for the money. “Beethoven lards his first section with rhythmic irregularities, dynamic surprises, dramatic pauses, and other raw signifiers of loutish humour,” enthuses Gislason. “The central section continues the mayhem with a series of tumble-down passages high in the register, rudely poked from time to time by off-beat accents”. With the added thrill of “[hearing] the same major chord, repeated over and over, getting louder and louder, leading back to the fugue theme…” A true pop sonata by that 57-year old hipster, Ludwig van. I slay, indeed….
So, all in all, with the help of a few, pretty fair country composers, András Schiff was my Super Bowl MVP, man of the match in every way. (In fact, the Stupor Bowl, still plodding along when I got home, was so boring, I wound up switching to curling, as its no offense and numbingly-long commercial breaks came to a stultifying close.)
I never bothered with the PVR.
Standard | Posted in Music, Sports | Tagged András Schiff, Beethoven, Beyoncé, Bruno Mars, Cam Newton, Coldplay, Donald G. Gislason, Haydn, Leila Getz, Mozart, Peyton Manning, Schubert, Super Bowl, Vancouver Playhouse, Vancouver Recital Society | 0 comments
DAN HALLDORSON, AN UNSUNG STAR OF CANADIAN GOLF
You probably missed it, but one of my favourite golfers recently shuffled off this mortal coil. In fact, most of you probably don’t even have a favourite golfer. But never mind.
Apart from that, the reason you may not have noticed his demise, is that Dan Halldorson, tragically done in by a stroke at 63, defined the phrase “low profile”. Not only was he a Canadian professional golfer before Mike Weir, he had the on-course charisma of a dozing accountant. Not many noticed him during his golfing career, and after he retired, he was soon unjustly forgotten. Me, I loved the guy.
There was something so unassuming about Dan Halldorson, so unlike any other golfer on the PGA tour. Shunning the flashy polyester slacks and other riotous garb of the time, Dan preferred loose, almost baggy, dark pants. When the weather fell below 80 degrees, he often donned a formless sweater that might have been picked up on sale at The Bay. With his dour moustache, photo gray glasses and a thin expression that never seemed to change, whether he was shooting 80 or 65, he trudged around the golf course, as if fearing the worst on every shot.
Yet, in one of those unfathomable attachments that makes being a sports fan so much fun, I became a huge fan of Dan the Man. Long before the days of instant leaderboard updates, I would scrutinize the tiny agate roundup of the latest PGA tournament every Monday in the paper to see how Dan did. If he made the cut and pocketed a nice cheque, it cheered me up.
Maybe it was the fact that I love underdogs, and Dan Halldorson woofed with the best of them. He had none of that year-round golf on immaculate, sun-bathed courses, college scholarships, coaching and every other advantage that characterizes the competitive background of so many American pros. Dan grew up in dusty, nondescript Shilo, Manitoba, never went to college, and scratched around on the barebones Canadian tour, before making it to the glamorous PGA tournaments through hard work, grit and determination. His career was a triumph of will over adversity.
Despite missing more half-way cuts than Boo Weekly, plagued by a bad back and terrible attacks of eczema, Dan survived for more than 15 years on the toughest tour in golf. Even after he won the Pensacola Open in 1980, he never seemed to emerge from the fog into the sunlight. When he earned the biggest pay cheque of his career, a princely $88,000 for finishing second in a tournament 11 years later, Dan admitted afterwards: “I was totally confused out there.”
That tournament was a bonanza for Halldorson watchers. For the first time in a while, he was in contention. As the final holes approached, the American TV announcers were forced to talk about him. However, it was clear they knew almost nothing about this strange golfer from Canada, lurking behind those glasses. He seemed to belong on the other side of the spectator ropes, rather than vying for the lead. Finally, after an awkward pause, commentator Arnold Palmer offered: “Dan’s a fine player.”
Our man from Shilo approached the 16th hole, only a stroke or two out of the lead. But two bad shots left him with a short tap-in for a bogey. Unbelievably, his 18-inch putt slid by the hole. Dan’s shoulders drooped as sadly as his moustache. He staggered off to the difficult 17th hole, a long par 3.
An indifferent tee shot left him about 8 miles from the hole. He let fly his mammoth putt. The ball scooted all the way across the green, over dips and dales and a break or two. And then, miraculously, it plopped into the hole. A completely improbable birdie. Too much. Dan’s reaction? He smiled slightly and headed to the 18th hole.
In a way, those two holes were typical of Dan Halldorson on the course. You just never knew what he was going to do. Likely, he didn’t either. Two examples. At the Canadian Professional Golf Association championship late in his career, competing against a bunch of fellow Canadians who could barely carry his bag, the veteran PGA tour competitor shot an opening round 80. That’s right, 80! Did Dan think of finally quitting this “crazy game of golf”? Nope. In the second round, he carded a 67. How can a golfer improve by 13 strokes in a single round?
A bit later, at the Greater Milwaukee Open, Dan was lights out for the first nine holes, shooting an incredible 29, seven under par. With visions of a 59 inevitably dancing in his head, Dan proceeded to shoot 39 on the back nine, a swing of 10 strokes. Then, after barely making the cut, while almost every other player was battering the relatively easy course with under par rounds, Dan shot 77, by far the day’s worst score. He plummeted to the bottom of the leaderboard. But Dan was ever a never-say-die kind of guy. On the final round, despite bad weather and difficult pin positions, Dan shot 67. He still finished last. But what a ride.
There’s little doubt that his many health problems were a major reason for these wild swings from wonderful to wobbly. If his back was feeling good, look out! If it was out of sorts, look out below!
Yet, besides his PGA tour win, Dan won two World Cup Championships, partnered with Jim Nelford and then Dave Barr, a few other miscellaneous tournaments, and compiled 28 top 10 finishes on the PGA tour. Said Canadian Tour one-time winner Adam Speith: “My dad used to tell me I was a ball-striker. After watching Dan, I guess it explains why I’m in advertising now.”
Added former pro Ian Leggatt: “I think it’s unfortunate really that a lot of people don’t know the amazing career that he had in the game of golf….But that was Dan’s thing. He never talked about himself. He was always more concerned about how everyone else was doing.”
Soft-spoken, modest to a fault, and a huge supporter of Canadian golf, Dan Halldorson was a class act all the way.
RIP, Dan. Gone too soon.
Standard | Posted in Sports, Uncategorized | Tagged Adam Speith, Arnold Palmer, CPGA, Dan Halldorson, Dave Barr, Ian Leggatt, Jim Nelford, Mike Weir, Pensacola Open, PGA, Shilo | 0 comments
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Home About Us Leadership
About MassMutual & Live Mutual
Gregory A. McRoberts
General Agent, MassMutual Midwest
CFP®, CLU®, ChFC®
gmcroberts@financialguide.com
Following both his father and his grandfather into the financial services business, Greg had a clear vision of the scale and scope of the firm he wanted to build. His father supported his ambition and mentored him along the way. Greg was licensed to sell insurance by the age of eighteen and became a sales manager before graduating from college. In 2002, Greg became Managing Partner of WestPoint Financial Group.
Under Greg’s leadership, the Indianapolis-based financial services firm has experienced explosive growth, with 220 advisors and 42 staff members located throughout Indiana, West Virginia, Central Illinois, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky. Together, they serve *95,000 clients and manage over **$4 billion in assets.
Greg attributes the firm’s success to the company culture. “We care deeply about the people who work here, and they care about us,” says Greg. “I grew up in a family business, so we look at this firm as a family,” he adds.
Relentless in pursuing his vision of a firm that is a leader in the marketplace. Greg has made it a priority to create and foster an environment where financial professionals have the support, guidance, and tools necessary to succeed. His efforts have proven to make the desired impact. WestPoint Financial Group is consistently recognized as an employer of choice. It has been named “One of the Best Places to Work in Indiana” every year from 2008 through 2017. Following the expansion into Central Illinois and Kentucky, the agency has also earned a spot as “One of the Best Places to Work” in both states. Also in recognition of his leadership talents, MassMutual has tapped Greg to serve as the President of the General Agents’ Association, and the firm has received recognition for top performance every year since joining MassMutual in 2005.
Outside of work, Greg relaxes by reading and spending time with wife Jill, and their children, Emma and Owen. Greg is a World War II buff and enjoys historical fiction, especially when paired with a good glass of wine at their vacation home in Blackberry Farm, Tennessee. While Owen is still in high school, Emma has graduated from Wheaton College, joined WestPoint Financial Group, and is continuing the family tradition into its fourth generation.
Gregory A. McRoberts is a Registered Principal of and offers securities, investment advisory and financial planning services through MML Investors Services, LLC. Member SIPC. 900 E. 96th Street, Suite 300, Indianapolis, IN 46240. Phone: 317.469.9999.
*An insured, owner, or payer of a MassMutual policy or contract.
**Amount of individual life insurance in force as of 12/31/15 related to products issued by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company and its subsidiaries, C.M. Life Insurance Company and MML Bay State Life Insurance Company.
Investment Strategies (Reg. Reps Only)
Check the background of this investment professional on FINRA's BrokerCheck
Agency officers are not officers of MassMutual.
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The Complete Harry Potter Film Music Collection The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
Hedwig's Theme (From "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone")
The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra & Nic Raine
Harry's Wondrous World (From "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone")
The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra & James Fitzpatrick
Nimbus 2000 (From "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone")
Christmas At Hogwarts (From "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone")
Leaving Hogwarts (From "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone")
Fawkes the Phoenix (From "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets")
The Chamber of Secrets (From "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets")
Gilderoy Lockhart (From "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets")
Dobby the House Elf (From "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets")
Cakes for Crabbe and Goyle (From "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets")
Reunion of Friends (From "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets")
Aunt Marge's Waltz (From "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban")
The Knight Bus (From "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban")
Double Trouble (From "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban")
A Window to the Past (From "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban")
Witches, Wands and Wizards (From "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban")
Mischief Managed / A Window to the Past / Buckbeak's Flight (From "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban")
Quidditch World Cup / Foreign Visitors Arrive (From "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire")
The Golden Egg (From "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire")
Neville's Waltz (From "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire")
Harry in Winter (From "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire")
Potter Waltz (From "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire")
Black Lake (From "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire")
Hogwarts March (From "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire")
Another Year Ends (From "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire")
Hogwarts Hymn (From "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire")
A Journey to Hogwarts / Fireworks (From "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix")
Professor Umbridge (From "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix")
Sirius Deception / Dumbledore's Army (From "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix")
Flight of the Order of the Phoenix (From "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix")
Loved Ones and Leaving (From "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix")
Dumbledore's Farewell (From "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince")
The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra & Evan Jolly
Obliviate (From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 1")
Lily's Theme (From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 2")
℗ 2012 Silva America
More By The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
The Indiana Jones Trilogy: New Recordings from Classic Scores
Romeo & Juliet
Cinema Choral Classics
The Science Fiction Album (Box Set)
Music From The Twilight Saga
Charlie Chaplin: The Essential Film Music Collection
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Haley Reinhart
Can't Help Falling in Love - Single 2015
Better 2015
Creep (feat. Haley Reinhart)
Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox 2015
Something Strange (feat. Haley Reinhart)
Vicetone 2018
Seven Nation Army (feat. Haley Reinhart)
About Haley Reinhart
With a vocal style that landed somewhere between a jazzy croon and a throaty, soulful belt, Haley Reinhart became an American Idol finalist in 2011. She began singing as an eight-year-old, eventually earning a spot in her parents' cover band while attending high school in Wheeling, Illinois. After graduating in 2009, Reinhart began studying jazz at nearby Harper College. Her first audition for American Idol arrived the following year, but it wasn't until the summer of 2010, when Reinhart returned to auditions for a second time, that she advanced to the semifinals. Pitted against rock singers and country crooners, she became one of the more unique performers during the show's tenth season, performing a mix of old classics ("Bennie and the Jets," "Steppin' Out with My Baby") and contemporary hits (Adele's "Rolling in the Deep"). She finished third, earning a contract with Interscope Records in the process. In 2012, Reinhart released her debut album, Listen Up!, featuring the single "Free." Heavy promotion of her debut followed throughout 2013 and 2014, during which time Reinhart took her show overseas. Much of 2015 was spent with Postmodern Jukebox. Reinhart covered classics by Radiohead, the Cardigans, Britney Spears, Soundgarden, and the White Stripes, while also putting her spin on contemporary tracks by Tove Lo and Meghan Trainor. But it was her cover of Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love" that became a viral hit and put Reinhart on the Billboard charts. Riding that momentum, she released the LP Better in 2016, followed in 2017 by the covers album What's That Sound? In 2018, Reinhart issued the single "Last Kiss Goodbye," a breezy original composition that incorporated elements of jazz, bossa nova, and pop. ~ Andrew Leahey & Neil Z. Yeung
Wheeling, IL
Meghan Trainor Cover
Sara Bareilles Cover
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Hearthstone Esports’ Next Big Turn
Blizzard EntertainmentNovember 29, 2018
2018 was a great year for Hearthstone Esports. Earlier this month Team China upset tournament favorite Brazil in the Grand Finals of the Hearthstone Global Games at BlizzCon. We’ve crowned two seasonal champions at our Summer and Fall Championships. We’ve seen more than 200,000 players attend 25 Tour Stops and other major events across the globe. And by the end of the Year of the Raven we’ll have awarded more than $2.8 million in prize money—our largest amount ever.
Along the way, we’ve gathered feedback from players and fans. We’ve learned that many of you feel the HCT system can be challenging to follow, not as accessible to new players as it could be, and unsustainable for pros. Today we are excited to share with you a preview of our plan for continuing to make Hearthstone esports the best it can be for viewers and competitors alike.
Next Year—and Beyond
The Hearthstone Championship Tour (HCT) as we know it will go out with a bang this coming spring with the HCT World Championship, where the best Hearthstone players in the world will duke it out for $1,000,000 in prizing.
After our World Championship, a new three-tiered competitive system will begin in earnest, consisting of qualifiers, live global tournaments, and an exclusive top tier, with more than $4 million in prizing up for grabs across the ecosystem in 2019. Here’s how it works:
Throughout the year, in conjunction with a third-party platform partner, Hearthstone Esports will run hundreds of qualifier tournaments, primarily online. The first of these will start in the spring, and they will not be region-locked: anyone from anywhere will be able to compete at a time that works for them. Winning a qualifier grants you entry to the next tier of competition.
Live Global Tournaments
In 2019, we will hold three invite-only tournaments around the world, with more planned for 2020. These live events will see our best and brightest Hearthstone players—from household names to aspiring pros who spiked their first tourney—compete for $250,000 per event. Best of all, success here will open the door to the ultimate level of competition.
Premier Play
The top tier is a seasonal round-robin online competition, split into regional divisions, featuring the best and most compelling Hearthstone players in the world. It will begin after the HCT World Championship and climax with an epic finale at year’s end. Players who participate in this competition receive performance-based bonuses, as well as automatic invites to all the live global events in the previous tier. We look forward to sharing more details soon about this level of play, including how players will join the competition in its inaugural year.
Our goals are for Hearthstone esports to be sustainable, entertaining, and accessible for all. As part of this, we will retire the Conquest format in 2019. Fundamentally, we want Hearthstone esports to better reflect the in-game experience, as well as be easier to grasp for new viewers. This new format, to be unveiled in the coming months, will be played across the ecosystem.
Hearthstone Masters and the Transitional Season
This year, the Hearthstone Masters System was created to recognize top players based on the consistency of their performance, with rewards pegged to Competitive Point totals from the previous three seasons. Many of you have been working toward these achievements—and so, while Hearthstone esports will change significantly in 2019, we will ensure that those who would have achieved Masters status earn rewards of equal or greater value.
Additionally, points earned during 2018 Season 1 will not expire on Dec. 1. From then until March 31, 2019, players will have a bonus “transitional” season to rack up even more points toward benefits next year:
During this period players can earn points at Tour Stops, the HCT Winter Playoffs, and the HCT Winter Championship, but not on ladder. See the rules for full details.
Thank you for reading! We look forward to hearing your feedback about the broad outlines of this new system. And, rest assured: in the coming months we will meet with players to answer questions and address concerns. We want everyone to be accounted for in this long-term vision, from casual fans to the most dedicated pros. This is the next evolution of our promise to make Hearthstone esports sustainable—and enjoyable!—to all those who enter the tavern.
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For Salvini, U.S. Trip Is a Dream Come True... If Trump Sees Him
For Salvini U.S. Trip Is Dream Come True... If He Sees Trump/ (Bloomberg) -- Italy’s Matteo Salvini is off on his first official trip to the U.S., but the populist leader still doesn’t know if he’ll get the prize he wants most: an audience with Donald Trump, the man he cites as his political inspiration. The deputy premier, the dominant force in his country’s quarrelsome ruling coalition, will sit down Monday in Washington with both Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Michael Pompeo. Salvini’s official schedule does not include ...
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Netherland Antilles US Consular Information Sheet
The five islands of Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, St. Eustatius (or “Statia”) and St. Maarten (Dutch side) comprise the Netherlands Antilles, an autonomous Read More Show Less
art of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Tourist facilities are widely available. Read the Department of State Background Notes on the Netherlands Antilles for additional information.
ENTRY/EXIT REQUIREMENTS: All Americans traveling by air outside the United States are required to present a passport or other valid travel document to enter or re-enter the United States. This requirement will be extended to sea travel (except closed loop cruises), including ferry service, by the summer of 2009. Until then, U.S. citizens traveling by sea must have government-issued photo identification and a document showing their U.S. citizenship (for example, a birth certificate or certificate of nationalization), or other document compliant with the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, such as a passport card for entry or re-entry to the U.S. Sea travelers should also check with their cruise line and countries of destination for any foreign entry requirements.
Applications for the new U.S. Passport Card are now being accepted. Based on current projections, we expect to begin production of the passport card in June 2008 and be in full production in July 2008. The card may not be used to travel by air and is available only to U.S. citizens. Further information on the Passport Card is available at http://travel.state.gov/passport/ppt_card/ppt_card_3926.html and upcoming changes to U.S. passport policy can be found on the Bureau of Consular Affairs web site at http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html. We strongly encourage all American citizen travelers to apply for a U.S. passport well in advance of anticipated travel. American citizens can visit travel.state.gov or call 1-877-4USA-PPT (1-877-487-2778) for information on how to apply for their passports.
The U.S. Consulate recommends traveling in the Netherlands Antilles with a valid U.S. passport to avoid delays or misunderstandings. A lost or stolen passport is also easier to replace when outside the United States than other evidence of citizenship. Visitors to the Netherlands Antilles may be asked to show onward/return tickets or proof of sufficient funds for their stay. Length of stay is granted for two weeks and may be extended for 90 days by the head office of immigration. For further information, travelers may contact the Royal Netherlands Embassy, 4200 Linnean Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20008, telephone (202) 244-5300, or the Dutch Consulate in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Houston or Miami. Visit the web site for the Embassy of the Netherlands at http://www.netherlands-embassy.org/homepage.asp for the most current visa information.
We have more information pertaining to dual nationality and international child abduction. Please refer to our customs information to learn more about customs regulations.
Drug-related organized crime exists within the Netherlands Antilles but has not directly affected tourists in the past.
For the latest security information, Americans traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs’ web site at http://travel.state.gov, where the current Travel Warnings, including the Worldwide Caution, can be found.
Up-to-date information on safety and security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S., or for callers outside the U.S. and Canada, a regular toll-line at 1-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).
The Department of State urges American citizens to take responsibility for their own personal security while traveling overseas. For general information about appropriate measures travelers can take to protect themselves in an overseas environment, see the Department of State’s pamphlet A Safe Trip Abroad.
CRIME: In recent years, street crime has increased, especially in St. Maarten. Valuables, including passports, left unattended on beaches, in cars and hotel lobbies are easy targets for theft, and visitors should leave valuables and personal papers secured in their hotel. Burglary and break-ins are increasingly common at resorts, beach houses and hotels. Armed robbery occasionally occurs. The American boating community has reported a handful of incidents in the past, and visitors are urged to exercise reasonable caution in securing boats and belongings. Car theft, especially of rental vehicles for joy riding and stripping, can occur. Incidents of break-ins to rental cars to steal personal items have been reported by American tourists. Vehicle leases or rentals may not be fully covered by local insurance when a vehicle is stolen. Be sure you are sufficiently insured when renting vehicles and jet skis.
INFORMATION FOR VICTIMS OF CRIME: The loss or theft abroad of a U.S. passport should be reported immediately to the local police and the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. If you are the victim of a crime while overseas, in addition to reporting to local police, please contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate for assistance. The Embassy/Consulate staff can, for example, assist you to find appropriate medical care, to contact family members or friends and explain how funds could be transferred. Although the investigation and prosecution of the crime is solely the responsibility of local authorities, consular officers can help you to understand the local criminal justice process and to find an attorney if needed.
Please see our information for American Victims of Crime Overseas.
MEDICAL FACILITIES AND HEALTH INFORMATION: Medical care is generally good in Curaçao and St. Maarten, but may be limited on the other three islands. Hospitals have three classes of services i.e.: First Class: one patient to a room, air conditioning etc.; Second Class: two to six patients to a room, no air conditioning; Third Class: 15 to 30 people in one hall. Patients are accommodated according to their level of insurance.
Bonaire: The San Francisco hospital is a medical center (35 beds) with decompression facilities. The hospital has an air ambulance service to Curaçao and Aruba.
Curaçao: St. Elizabeth hospital is a public hospital that may be compared to midrange facilities in the United States. St. Elizabeth's hospital has a decompression chamber and qualified staff to assist scuba divers suffering from decompression sickness. Several private clinics provide good to excellent medical service.
St. Maarten: St. Maarten Medical Center (79 beds) is a relatively small hospital where general surgery is performed. Complex cases are sent to Curaçao.
Statia: Queen Beatrix Medical Center (20 beds) is a medical facility well equipped for first aid. Surgery cases are sent to St. Maarten.
Saba: Saba Clinic (14 beds) is a well-equipped first aid facility. Surgery cases are sent to St. Maarten. The Saba Marine Park has a decompression chamber and qualified staff to assist scuba divers suffering from decompression sickness.
Information on vaccinations and other health precautions, such as safe food and water precautions and insect bite protection, may be obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s hotline for international travelers at 1-877-FYI-TRIP (1-877-394-8747) or via the CDC’s web site at http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/default.aspx. For information about outbreaks of infectious diseases abroad consult the World Health Organization’s (WHO) web site at http://www.who.int/en. Further health information for travelers is available at http://www.who.int/ith.
MEDICAL INSURANCE: The Department of State strongly urges Americans to consult with their medical insurance company prior to traveling abroad to confirm whether their policy applies overseas and whether it will cover emergency expenses such as a medical evacuation. Please see our information on medical insurance overseas.
TRAFFIC SAFETY AND ROAD CONDITIONS: While in a foreign country, U.S. citizens may encounter road conditions that differ significantly from those in the United States. The information below concerning the Netherlands Antilles is provided for general reference only, and may not be totally accurate in a particular location or circumstance.
Driving in the Netherlands Antilles is on the right hand side. Right turns on red are prohibited, and traffic conditions require somewhat defensive driving. Local laws require drivers and passengers to wear seat belts and motorcyclists to wear helmets. Children under 4 years of age should be in child safety seats; children under 12 should ride in the back seat.
Nonexistent or hidden and poorly maintained street signs are the major road hazard in the Netherlands Antilles. Therefore, drivers should proceed through intersections with caution. Roads in the Netherlands Antilles are extremely slippery during rainfall. Night driving is reasonably safe in the Netherlands Antilles as long as drivers are familiar with the route and road conditions. Most streets are poorly lit or not lit at all. In Curacao, drivers should be aware of herds of goats that may cross the street unexpectedly. In Bonaire, wild donkeys may also cross the road.
Taxis are the easiest, yet most expensive form of transportation on the islands. As there are no meters, passengers should verify the price before entering the taxi. Fares quoted in U.S. dollars may be significantly higher than those quoted in the local currency. Vans are inexpensive and run non-stop during daytime with no fixed schedule. Each van has a specific route displayed in the front of the windshield. Buses, which run on the hour, have limited routes. The road conditions on the main thoroughfares are good to fair.
See road safety information at the following sites; http://www.curacao.com, http://www.statiatourism.com, http://www.sabatourism.com, http://www.infobonaire.com, http://www.st-maarten.com/.
AVIATION SAFETY OVERSIGHT: The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has assessed the Government of the Netherlands Antilles’ Civil Aviation Authority as being in compliance with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) aviation safety standards for oversight of the Netherlands Antilles’ air carrier operations. For more information, travelers may visit the FAA’s web site at http://www.faa.gov/safety/programs_initiatives/oversight/iasa.
Dutch law in principle does not permit dual nationality. However, there are several exceptions. For example, American citizens who are married to Dutch citizens are exempt from the requirement to abandon their American nationality when they apply to become a Dutch citizen by naturalization. For detailed and specific information on this subject, contact the Embassy of the Netherlands in Washington or one of the Dutch consulates in the U.S. In addition to being subject to all Dutch laws affecting U.S. citizens, dual nationals may also be subject to other laws that impose special obligations on Dutch citizens.
Time-share buyers are cautioned about contracts that do not have a "non-disturbance or perpetuity protective clause" incorporated into the purchase agreement. Such a clause gives the time-share owner perpetuity of ownership should the facility be sold. Americans sometimes complain that the timeshare units are not adequately maintained, despite generally high annual maintenance fees. Because of the large number of complaints about misuse of maintenance fees, particularly in St. Maarten, prospective timeshare owners are advised to review the profit and loss statement for maintenance fees. Investors should note that a reputable accounting firm should audit profit and loss statements.
Potential investors should be aware that failed land development schemes involving time-share investments could result in financial losses. Interested investors may wish to seek professional advice regarding investments involving land development projects. Real estate investment problems that reach local courts are rarely settled in favor of foreign investors.
An unusually competitive fee to rent vehicles or equipment could indicate that the dealer is unlicensed or uninsured. The renter is often fully responsible for replacement costs and fees associated with any damages that occur during the rental period. Visitors may be required to pay these fees in full before leaving the Netherlands Antilles and may be subject to civil or criminal penalties if they cannot or will not make payment.
Netherlands Antilles customs authorities may enforce strict regulations concerning temporary importation into or export from the Netherlands Antilles. For example, it is strictly prohibited to export pieces of coral and/or seashells. Please see our information on customs regulations.
CRIMINAL PENALTIES: While in a foreign country, a U.S. citizen is subject to that country's laws and regulations, which sometimes differ significantly from those in the United States and may not afford the protections available to the individual under U.S. law. Penalties for breaking the law can be more severe than in the United States for similar offences. Persons violating the laws of the Netherlands Antilles, even unknowingly, may be expelled, arrested or imprisoned. Penalties for possession, use, or trafficking in illegal drugs in the Netherlands Antilles are severe, and convicted offenders can expect long jail sentences and heavy fines. The Netherlands Antilles has strict gun control laws; even a stray bullet in a suitcase can trigger a fine or time in jail. Engaging in sexual conduct with children or using or disseminating child pornography in a foreign country is a crime, prosecutable in the United States. Please see our information on Criminal Penalties.
CHILDREN'S ISSUES: For information on international adoption of children and international parental child abduction, see the Office of Children’s Issues web site.
American citizens residing or traveling in the Netherlands Antilles are encouraged to register with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate through the State Department’s travel registration web site, and to obtain updated information on travel and security within the Netherlands Antilles. Americans without Internet access may register directly with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. By registering, American citizens make it easier for the Embassy or Consulate to contact them in case of emergency. The U.S. Consulate General is located at J.B. Gorsiraweg #1, Willemstad, Curaçao, telephone (599-9) 461-3066; fax (599-9) 461-6489; e-mail address: acscuracao@state.gov.
This replaces the Country Specific Information dated May 7, 2007, to update the Entry/Exit, Crime, Traffic Safety and Road Conditions, and Registry / Embassy Location sections.
Quarantine over on measles-hit Scientology cruise ship in Curacao
Disease Measles Netherlands Antilles - 2 months ago
Washington, May 16, 2019 (AFP) - The Church of Scientology said Thursday all the passengers from a cruise ship that was quarantined over a measles case had been cleared to leave. "All passengers and crew (100%) of the Freewinds have been fully cleared of any possible risk of being infected by the measles or infecting others," the organization said in a statement. "All passengers and crew are free to come and go as they wish," a spokesman added to AFP.
The infected individual was a member of the crew who, according to the Church, had fully recovered and was given a clean bill of health a week ago. She had been earlier confined on the ship. The ship, which is based in Willemstad on the island of Curacao in the Dutch West Indies, was quarantined after its arrival in Saint Lucia on April 30. It remained there for two days before returning to Willemstad on May 4 where local authorities ordered a fresh quarantine to give them time to confirm the passengers were either immunized or had no risk of contracting the virus.
Authorities in Curacao vow to stop measles spreading from Scientology ship
Date: Sat, 4 May 2019 20:37:18 +0200
By Sara MAGNIETTE
The Hague, May 4, 2019 (AFP) - The Dutch territory of Curacao said Saturday it would do what is needed to prevent measles spreading from a Scientology cruise ship, after a crew member came down with the disease. The Freewinds, which left the Caribbean island of St. Lucia on Friday, arrived back in its home port of Curacao at around 9:00 am (1300 GMT) Saturday, according to myshiptracking.com.
The Curacao government said in a statement that it would "take all necessary precautions to handle the case of measles on board of the Freewinds," including vaccinations. "An investigation will also be done to determine who will be allowed to leave the ship without (posing) a threat to the population of Curacao," it said. "It is imperative to make all efforts to prevent a spread of this disease internationally." Dutch broadcaster NOS reported that three health officials had boarded the boat to examine those on board. Only people able to prove that they have been vaccinated against measles or had already had the disease would be able to leave the boat, its correspondent there reported.
- Anti-vaccine movement -
The Church of Scientology says the 440-foot (134-meter) vessel is used for religious retreats and is normally based in Curacao. The vessel had arrived in St Lucia from Curacao on Tuesday, when it was placed under quarantine by health authorities there because of a measles patient, said to be a female crew member. According to NOS, the crew member concerned is a Danish national, who arrived in Curacao from Amsterdam on April 17. It was only when the boat was at sea, on route to St Lucia, that a doctor discovered she had measles, their correspondent said.
The resurgence of the once-eradicated, highly contagious disease is linked to the growing anti-vaccine movement in richer nations, which the World Health Organization (WHO) has identified as a major global health threat. The authorities in Curacao nevertheless urged local people not to panic, as the risk of the disease spreading in this case was fairly low. Several people did however visit the cruise ship between April 22 and April 28 before it set sail for St Lucia and the authorities asked them to make themselves known to health officials.
Officials said the Freewinds had travelled between Curacao, St Lucia and another Dutch-held island, Aruba, several times towards the end of April. There were about 300 people aboard the ship, according to Saint Lucia authorities, which placed the vessel in quarantine. They said they provided 100 doses of measles vaccine at no cost. The Scientology church, founded by science fiction writer L Ron Hubbard in 1953, did not respond to requests for comment. Its teachings do not directly oppose vaccination, but followers consider illness a sign of personal failing and generally avoid medical interventions.
Conjunctivitis outbreak in several Caribbean Islands including Bonaire
Disease Conjunctivitis Netherlands Antilles - 2 years ago
From: Harry Vennema <harry.vennema@rivm.nl> [edited]
On several of the Caribbean islands, epidemics of viral conjunctivitis are ongoing. Recently, general practitioners in the overseas territories of the Netherlands reported an increased incidence of this syndrome.
As of 26 May 2017, an outbreak of conjunctivitis occurred in a nursing home on Bonaire. In total, 14 patients and 13 healthcare workers presented with conjunctivitis. Patients were between 71 to 94 years of age. The number of new cases peaked in week 20 through 22. After week 22, a significant reduction was seen (1-3 new cases per week). Initially, conjunctival swabs from 5 patients were tested for the presence of adenovirus by PCR; all 5 were negative.
Subsequently, swabs from 4 patients were analyzed for the presence of enterovirus by RT-PCR, and all 4 were positive. The enterovirus from 3 samples was further characterized by partial VP1 sequence analysis. In all 3 samples, the enterovirus was characterized as Coxsackievirus A24, which belongs to Enterovirus C. Coxsackievirus A24 has been identified frequently as the causative agent of epidemic viral conjunctivitis. The strain from Bonaire is at least 5 percent different from any of the previously isolated and sequenced CV-A24 strains available in Genbank in a 330nt VP1 fragment. The strain involved in the most recent outbreak of CV-A24 conjunctivitis on La Reunion in 2015 is 6 percent different from the Bonaire 2017 strain.
[Andert Rosingh, Yingbin Celestijn-Wu, Fundashon Mariadal Hospital, Clinical Microbiology, Kralendijk, Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands Annelies Riezebos, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Medical Microbiology, Utrecht, Netherlands Harry Vennema, Kim Benschop, Johan Reimerink, Hans van den Kerkhof, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Centre for Infectious Disease Control, Bilthoven, Netherlands]
Harry Vennema
National Institute for Public Health and the Environment
Centre for Infectious Disease Control
Bilthoven, Netherlands
harry.vennema@rivm.nl
[ProMED thanks Harry Vennema and colleagues for this report. Acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis (AHC) is characterized by sudden onset of painful, swollen, red eyes with subconjunctival haemorrhages and excessive tearing. Most cases are self-limited but highly contagious, with the potential for causing considerable illness. Adenoviruses and picornaviruses can cause AHC outbreaks (1). Among picornaviruses, enterovirus 70 and coxsackievirus A24 variant (CA24v) have caused large outbreaks of AHC[2].
Coxsackieviruses are transmitted primarily via the fecal-oral route and respiratory aerosols, although transmission via fomites is possible. The viruses initially replicate in the upper respiratory tract and the distal small bowel. They have been found in the respiratory tract up to 3 weeks after initial infection and in feces up to 8 weeks after initial infection[3]. The potential for exponential spread is, therefore, quite considerable.
It is important to understand that sequential outbreaks of AHC due to CA24v might occur in the same location after a considerable period, and public health precautions are necessary to control these outbreaks.
1. Hierholzer JC, Hatch MH. Acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis. In: Darrell RW, editor. Viral diseases of the eye. Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger; 1985. p. 165-96.
2. Kono R. Apollo 11 disease or acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis: a pandemic of a new enterovirus infection of the eyes. Am J Epidemiol. 1975;101:383-90.
3. <http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/215241-overview#a5>. - ProMED Mod.UBA]
[A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at:
<http://healthmap.org/promed/p/45331>.]
Update on Chikungunya in Saint Martin since 2013
Disease Chikungunya Virus Netherlands Antilles - 4 years ago
Date: Published ahead of print 7 Dec 2015
Source: American Journal of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene Published on line doi:10.4269/ajtmh.15-0308 [edited]
<http://www.ajtmh.org/content/early/2015/12/03/ajtmh.15-0308.full.pdf>
Noellie Gay, Dominique Rousset, Patricia Huc, Severine Matheus, Martine Ledrans, Jacques Rosine, Sylvie Cassadou, and Harold Noel. Seroprevalence of Asian Lineage Chikungunya Virus Infection on Saint Martin Island, 7 Months After the 2013 Emergence.
At the end of 2013, chikungunya virus (CHIKV) emerged in Saint Martin Island, Caribbean. The Asian lineage was identified. 7 months after this introduction, the seroprevalence was 16.9 percent in the population of Saint Martin and 39.0 percent of infections remained asymptomatic. This moderate attack rate and the apparent limited size of the outbreak in Saint Martin could be explained by control measures involved to lower the exposure of the inhabitants. Other drivers such as climatic factors and population genetic factors should be explored. The substantial rate of asymptomatic infections recorded points to a potential source of infection that can both spread in new geographic areas and maintain an inconspicuous endemic circulation in the Americas.
Communicated by:
Roland Hubner
Superior Health Council
roland.hubner@sante.belgique.be
[Asymptomatic or very mild infections may be an important source of infectious blood meals for vector mosquitoes. These infections should not be overlooked in epidemiological assessments of chikungunya virus outbreaks and implementation of control measures in the field. - ProMed Mod.TY]
Tropical storm Erika takes aim at Lesser Antilles and Puerto Rico
Climate Changes Netherlands Antilles - 4 years ago
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 2015 16:43:59 +0200 (METDST)
Miami, Aug 26, 2015 (AFP) - Tropical storm Erika took aim at the Lesser Antilles Wednesday as storm warnings went up there and in Puerto Rico in anticipation of heavy rains, US forecasters said. With winds of 75 kilometres (45 miles) per hour, Erika was 540 kilometres (335 miles) east of Antigua at 1200 GMT, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center reported.
Advancing at a speed of 28 kilometres (17 miles) per hour, it was expected to sweep over the Lesser Antilles Wednesday night and then head toward Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Tropical storm warnings were up in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, Guadeloupe, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, Anguilla, Saba, St Eustacia and St Maarten.
A US Air Force hurricane hunter aircraft that flew into the storm found it was slightly increasing in strength. "Some slow strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours," the hurricane centre said. According to the NHC's projections, Erika could become a hurricane by the end of the week, or early next, as it nears Florida. But "the intensity forecast remains very uncertain," it said.
Erika is arriving on the heels of Danny, the season's first hurricane which petered out before reaching the Caribbean. Experts said earlier this month that there was a 90 percent chance the 2015 hurricane season in the Atlantic would be less active than usual.
Bolivia US Consular Information Sheet
COUNTRY DESCRIPTION: Bolivia is a constitutional democracy and one of the least-developed countries in South America. Tourist facilities are generally adequate, but vary greatly in qualit Read More Show Less
. The capital is La Paz, accessible by Bolivia's international airport in El Alto. Read the Department of State Background Notes on Bolivia for additional information.
ENTRY/EXIT REQUIREMENTS: A U.S. passport valid for at least six months from the date of proposed entry into Bolivia is required to enter and depart Bolivia. U.S. citizen tourists do not need a visa for a stay of one month or less (that period can be extended up to 90 days upon application to the Bolivian immigration authorities). Visitors for other purposes must obtain a visa in advance. U.S. citizens whose passports are lost or stolen in Bolivia must obtain a replacement passport and present it, together with a police report of the loss or theft, to a Bolivian government immigration office in order to obtain permission to depart. For more information on replacement passport procedures, please consult the U.S. Embassy's Web site at . An exit tax is charged when departing Bolivia by air. Travelers with Bolivian citizenship or residency pay an additional fee upon departure. While the Bolivian Government does not require travelers to purchase round-trip air tickets in order to enter the country, some airlines have required travelers to purchase round-trip tickets prior to boarding aircraft bound for Bolivia. Some tourists arriving by land report that immigration officials did not place entry stamps in their passports, causing problems at checkpoints and upon departure. See our Foreign Entry Requirements brochure for more information on Bolivia and other countries. Visit the Embassy of Bolivia web site at for the most current visa information (please note that the web site is primarily in Spanish).
Bolivian consulates are located in Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Oklahoma City, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle. For information on in-country visa procedures and requirements, please consult the Bolivian Immigration Service at (please note that the web site is in Spanish), fax/telephone (591-2) 211-0960, street address Avenida Camacho entre Loayza y Bueno, La Paz, Bolivia. See Entry and Exit Requirements for more information pertaining to dual nationality and the international child abduction . Please refer to our Customs Information to learn more about customs regulations.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR MINORS: In an effort to prevent international child abduction, the Bolivian Government has initiated procedures at entry/exit points. Minors (under 18) who are citizens or residents of Bolivia and who are traveling alone, with one parent or with a third party, must present a copy of their birth certificate and written authorization from the absent parent(s) or legal guardian, specifically granting permission to travel alone, with one parent or with a third party. When a parent is deceased, a notarized copy of the death certificate is required in lieu of the written authorization. If documents are prepared in the United States, the authorization and the birth certificate must be translated into Spanish, notarized, and authenticated by the Bolivian Embassy or a Bolivian consulate within the United States. If documents are prepared in Bolivia, only notarization by a Bolivian notary is required. Using these documents, a t ravel permit may be obtained from the Juzgado del Menor. This requirement does not apply to children who enter the country with a U.S. passport as tourists, unless they hold dual U.S./Bolivian citizenship or have been in Bolivia for more than 90 consecutive days.
SAFETY AND SECURITY: The countrywide emergency number for the police, including highway patrol, is 110. The corresponding number for the fire department is 119. The National Tourism Police has an office in La Paz, with plans to expand to Cochabamba and Santa Cruz, providing free assistance to tourists 24 hours a day. These services include English-speaking officials who may assist tourists in filing police reports of lost/stolen documents or other valuables. The La Paz office is located at Plaza del Stadium, Edificio Olympia, planta baja, Miraflores, telephone number 222-0516.
Protests, strikes, and other civic actions can occur at any time and disrupt transportation on a local and national level. This is particularly true before, during and after elections or other changes in government. While protest actions generally begin peacefully, they have the potential to become violent. The police have used tear gas to break up protests. In addition to rallies and street demonstrations, protesters sometimes block roads; they sometimes react with force when travelers attempt to pass through or go around roadblocks and occasionally have used the threat of explosives to press their point.
U.S. citizens should avoid roadblocks and demonstrations. Demonstrations protesting government or private company policies occur frequently, even in otherwise peaceful times. Roadblocks and demonstrations in June 2005 led to the closure of the El Alto airport in La Paz, resulting in cancellation and diversion of flights and other inconveniences to travelers. U.S. citizens planning travel to or from Bolivia should take into consideration the possibility of disruptions to air service in and out of La Paz and other airports. Americans should monitor Bolivian media reports for updates. The Embassy strongly recommends that U.S. citizens avoid areas where roadblocks or public demonstrations are occurring or planned. Political rallies should similarly be avoided in light of press reports of violence at some rallies in various parts of Bolivia.
U.S. citizens who find themselves in a roadblock should not attempt to "run" a roadblock, as this may aggravate the situation and lead to physical harm. Taking alternative, safe routes, or returning to where the travel started may be the safest courses of action under these circumstances. U.S. citizens embarking on road trips should monitor news reports and may contact the American Citizen Services Unit of the U.S. Embassy in La Paz at (591)(2)(216-8297 or the U.S. consular agencies in Cochabamba at (591)(4)425-6714 and/or Santa Cruz at (591) (3) 351-3477 for updates. Given that roadblocks may occur without warning and have stranded travelers for several days, travelers should take extra food and water. The U.S. Embassy also advises its employees to maintain at least one week's supply of drinking water and canned food in case roadblocks affect supplies, as occurred in June 2005. For more information on emergency preparedness, please consult the Federal Emergency Management Authority (FEMA) Web site at . That Web site includes a Spanish language version.
Americans living or traveling in Bolivia are encouraged to register and update their contact information at the U.S. Embassy in La Paz and/or the U.S. consular agencies in Cochabamba and Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Registration may be done online and in advance of travel. Information on registering may be found at the Department of State's Consular Affairs website .
In February and October 2003, approximately one hundred people died during violent demonstrations and protests in downtown La Paz and the nearby city of El Alto. These demonstrations also affected Cochabamba and other towns and villages in the Altiplano. While the protests and demonstrations subsided, many of the underlying social, political, and economic causes remain, and in March 2005, several intercity roads, including Bolivia's major east-west highway, were closed by blockades for several weeks.
Since 2000 the resort town of Sorata, located seventy miles north of La Paz, has been cut off by blockades on three occasions, ranging from one week to one month. Visitors contemplating travel to Sorata should contact the Consular Section in La Paz prior to travel.
In the Chapare region between Santa Cruz and Cochabamba and the Yungas region northeast of La Paz violence and civil unrest, primarily associated with anti-narcotics activities, periodically create a risk for travelers to those regions.
Confrontations between area residents and government authorities over coca eradication have resulted in the use of tear gas and stronger force by government authorities to quell disturbances. Pro-coca groups have expressed anti-U.S. sentiments and may attempt to target U.S. Government or private interests. U.S. citizen visitors to the Chapare or Yungas regions are encouraged to check with the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy prior to travel. Violence has also erupted recently between squatters unlawfully invading private land and security forces attempting to remove them.
For the latest security information, Americans traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department's Internet web site , where the current Worldwide Caution Public Announcement , Travel Warnings and Public Announcements can be found.
The Department of State urges American citizens to take responsibility for their own personal security while traveling overseas. For general information about appropriate measures travelers can take to protect themselves in an overseas environment, see the Department of State's pamphlet A Safe Trip Abroad .
CRIME: The U.S. Department of State currently classifies Bolivia as a medium to high crime threat country. Street crime, such as pick pocketing and theft from parked vehicles, occurs with some frequency in Bolivia. Theft of cars and car parts, particularly late-model four-wheel-drive vehicles, is common. Hijacking of vehicles has occurred, and travelers should take appropriate precautions to avoid being victimized. In November 2003, an American citizen was murdered during an attempted carjacking in Santa Cruz.
Bolivian police state that there are currently eight organized criminal groups operating in the La Paz area. The techniques employed by these groups vary, but there are a few major patterns that can be identified.
There have been reports of "false police" -- persons using police uniforms, identification, and even buildings modified to resemble police stations -- intercepting and robbing foreign tourists. Under Bolivian law, police need a warrant from the "fiscal" or prosecutor to detain a suspect. Any searches or seizures must occur at a bona fide police station in the presence of the fiscal. The warrant requirement also applies to suspected drug trafficking cases, although such searches and seizures may occur without a fiscal present. If detained, U.S. citizens should request to see the warrant and demand immediate contact with the nearest U.S. Consular Office (in La Paz, Cochabamba or Santa Cruz).
According to press reports, criminals using the "false police" method focus on foreigners in areas frequented by tourists including bus terminals and tourist markets such as Sagarnaga Street in La Paz. The perpetrators will identify a potential victim and have an accomplice typically driving a white taxi offer taxi services to the potential victim. They focus on European/American tourists who are not wearing a traditional "trekker" backpack and are traveling without a large number of bags. A few blocks after the potential victim boards the taxi another accomplice, pretending to be a recently arrived tourist, boards the taxi with the potential victim. With all the accomplices then in place, the "false police" stop the taxi, "search" the passengers, and rob the victim. As part of this scam, the false police may take the victim to a "false police" station.
A similar variation also introduces a "tourist" to the victims. This introduction can take place on a bus, taxi, train, or just walking down the street. The "tourist" will befriend the victims and might seek assistance in some manner. After a period of time, the "police" intercept the victims and the "tourist." At this point, the "police" discover some sort of contraband (usually drugs) on the "tourist." The entire group is then taken to the "police station." At this point, the "police" seize the documents, credit cards, and ATM cards of the victims. The perpetrators obtain pin numbers, sometimes by threat of violence, and the scam is complete.
Another technique again introduces a "tourist" to the victims. This "tourist" can be any race or gender and will probably be able to speak the language of the victims. This meeting can happen anywhere and the goal of the "tourist" is to build the trust of the victims. Once a certain level of trust is obtained, the "tourist" suggests a particular mode of transportation to a location (usually a taxi). The "taxi" picks up the victims and the "tourist" and delivers the group to a safe house in the area. At this point the victims are informed that they are now kidnapped and are forced to give up their credit cards and ATM cards with pin numbers.
Bolivian police sources state that two Austrian citizens fell victim to this scam and had their bank accounts emptied through use of their ATM card. The perpetrators then suffocated the victims and buried them in clandestine graves, where police found their bodies on April 3, 2006. During that timeframe, a Spanish citizen also purportedly fell prey to this scam, and his body was found nearby.
In most instances, the victims are released, but the murder of the victims is still a possibility. The techniques and the perpetrators are convincing. Authentic uniforms, badges, and props help persuade the victims that the situation is real and valid. All tourists visiting Bolivia should exercise extreme caution. Visitors should be suspicious of all "coincidences" that can happen on a trip. If the tourist has doubts about a situation, the tourist should immediately remove him/herself from the scene.
Thefts of bags, wallets, and backpacks are a problem throughout Bolivia, but especially in the tourist areas of downtown La Paz and the Altiplano. Most thefts involve two or three people who spot a potential victim and wait until the bag or backpack is placed on the ground, often at a restaurant, bus terminal, Internet café, etc. In other cases, the thief places a disagreeable substance on the clothes or backpack of the intended victim, and then offers to assist the victim with the removal of the substance. While the person is distracted, the thief or an accomplice grabs the bag or backpack and flees. In such a situation, the visitor should decline assistance, secure the bag/backpack, and walk briskly from the area. To steal wallets and bags, thieves may spray water on the victim's neck, and while the person is distracted, an accomplice takes the wallet or bag. At times the thief poses as a policeman, and requests that the person accompany him to the police station, using a nearby taxi. The visitor should indicate a desire to contact the U.S. Embassy and not enter the taxi. Under no circumstances should you surrender ATM or credit cards, or release a PIN number. While most thefts do not involve violence, in some instances the victim has been physically harmed and forcibly searched for hidden valuables. Visitors should avoid being alone on the streets, especially at night and in isolated areas.
Five years ago female tourists reported being drugged and raped by a tourist guide in the city of Rurrenabaque in the Beni region. Visitors should be careful when choosing a tour operator and should not accept any type of medication or drugs from unreliable sources. The Embassy has received reports of sexual assaults against female hikers in the Yungas Valley, near the town of Coroico. Visitors to Coroico are advised to avoid hiking alone or in small groups.
INFORMATION FOR VICTIMS OF CRIME: The loss or theft abroad of a U.S. passport should be reported immediately to the local police and the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. If you are the victim of a crime while overseas, in addition to reporting to local police, please contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate for assistance. The Embassy/Consulate staff can, for example, assist you to find appropriate medical care, contact family members or friends, and explain how funds may be transferred. Although the investigation and prosecution of the crime is solely the responsibility of local authorities, consular officers can help you to understand the local criminal justice process and to find an attorney if needed.
See our information on Victims of Crime .
MEDICAL FACILITIES AND HEALTH INFORMATION: Medical care in large cities is adequate for most purposes but of varying quality. Ambulance services are limited-to-non-existent. Medical facilities are generally not adequate to handle serious medical conditions. Pharmacies are located throughout Bolivia, and prescription and over the counter medications are widely available. Western Bolivia, dominated by the Andes and high plains (Altiplano), is largely insect-free. However, altitude sickness (see below) is a major problem. Eastern Bolivia is tropical, and visitors to that area are subject to related illnesses. In March 2005, several cases of yellow fever were reported in the Chapare region. News media periodically report outbreaks of rabies, particularly in the larger cities.
Information on vaccinations and other health precautions, such as safe food and water precautions and insect bite protection, may be obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's hotline for international travelers at 1-877-FYI-TRIP (1-877-394-8747) or via the CDC's Internet site at . For information about outbreaks of infectious diseases abroad consult the World Health Organization's (WHO) website at . Further health information for travelers is available at .
MEDICAL INSURANCE: The Department of State strongly urges Americans to consult with their medical insurance company prior to traveling abroad to confirm whether their policy applies overseas and whether it will cover emergency expenses such as a medical evacuation. Most medical evacuation flights cannot land at the airport serving La Paz due to the altitude; instead flights may need to use the international airport in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Please see our information on medical insurance overseas .
HIGH-ALTITUDE HEALTH RISKS: Official U.S. Government travelers to La Paz are provided with the following information: The altitude of La Paz ranges from 10,600 feet to over 13,000 feet (3,400 to 4,000 meters) above sea level. Much of Western Bolivia is at the same altitude or higher, including Lake Titicaca, the Salar de Uyuni, and the cities of Oruro and Potosi. The altitude alone poses a serious risk of illness, hospitalization, and even death, if you have a medical condition that affects blood circulation or breathing.
Prior to departing the U.S. for high-altitude locations (over 10,000 feet above sea level), travelers should discuss the trip with their personal physician and request information on specific recommendations concerning medication and lifestyle tips at high altitudes. Coca-leaf tea is a popular beverage and folk remedy for altitude sickness in Bolivia. Possession of this tea, which is sold in bags in most Bolivian grocery stores, is illegal in the United States.
The State Department's Office of Medical Services does not allow official U.S. Government travelers to visit La Paz if they have any of the following:
Sickle cell anemia or sickle cell trait: 30 percent of persons with sickle cell trait are likely to have a crisis at elevations of more than 8,000 feet.
Heart disease: A man 45 years or older, or a woman 55 years or older, who has two of the following risk factors (hypertension, angina, diabetes, cigarette smoking, or elevated cholesterol) should have a stress EKG and a cardiological evaluation before the trip.
Lung disease: Anyone with asthma and on maximum dosage of medication for daily maintenance, or anyone who has been hospitalized for asthma within the last year should not come to La Paz and surrounding areas.
Given potential complications from altitude sickness, pregnant women should consult their doctor before travel to La Paz and other high-altitude areas of Bolivia.
All people, even healthy and fit persons, will feel symptoms of hypoxia (lack of oxygen) upon arrival at high altitude. Most people will have increased respiration and increased heart rate. Many people will have headaches, difficulty sleeping, lack of appetite, minor gastric and intestinal upsets, and mood changes. Many travelers limit physical activity for the first 36 to 48 hours after arrival and avoid alcohol and smoking for at least one week after arrival.
For additional information, travelers should visit the World Health Organization's website at as well as the CDC's travel warning on high altitude sickness at .
TRAFFIC SAFETY AND ROAD CONDITIONS: While in a foreign country, U.S. citizens may encounter road conditions that differ significantly from those in the United States. The information below concerning Bolivia is provided for general reference only, and may not be totally accurate in a particular location or circumstance. U.S. citizens planning on driving in Bolivia, despite the hazards described below, should obtain an international driver's license through their local automobile club before coming to Bolivia.
Road conditions in Bolivia are hazardous. Although La Paz, Santa Cruz, and Cochabamba are connected by improved highways, the vast majority of roads in Bolivia are unpaved. Few highways have shoulders, fencing or barriers, and highway markings are minimal. Yielding for pedestrians in the cities is not the norm. For trips outside the major cities, especially in mountainous areas, a four-wheel-drive vehicle is highly recommended. Travel during the rainy season (November through March) is difficult, as most routes are potholed, and some roads and bridges are washed out. Added dangers are the absence of formal training for most drivers, poor maintenance and overloaded vehicles, lack of lights on some vehicles at night, and intoxicated or overly tired drivers, including commercial bus and truck drivers.
The majority of intercity travel in Bolivia is by bus, with varying levels of safety and service. In recent years there have been major bus crashes on the highway between La Paz and Oruro, and on the Yungas road. The old Yungas road is considered one of the most dangerous routes in the world. Taxis, vans, and buses dominate intracity transportation. From a crime perspective, public transportation is relatively safe and violent assaults are rare. However, petty theft of unattended backpacks and other personal items does occur. For reasons of safety, visitors are advised to use radio taxis whenever possible.
Drivers of vehicles involved in traffic accidents are expected to remain at the scene until the arrival of local police authorities. Any attempt to leave the scene is in violation of Bolivian law. The Embassy believes any attempt to flee the scene of an accident would place the driver and passengers at greater risk of harm than remaining at the scene until the arrival of local police. Please refer to our Road Safety page for more information.
AVIATION SAFETY OVERSIGHT: The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has assessed the Government of Bolivia as being in compliance with ICAO international aviation safety standards for oversight of Bolivia's air carrier operations. For more information, travelers may visit the FAA's Internet web site at www.faa.gov/avr/iasa/index.cfm . There are limited flights within Bolivia and to neighboring countries. Flight delays and cancellations are common. In February and March 2006, strikes at national carrier Lloyd Aereo Boliviano led to the cancellation of both national and international flights with resultant delays and other inconveniences for travelers.
SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES: In the run-up to the July 2006 Constituent Assembly elections, President Morales accused the United States military of infiltrating Bolivia with operatives disguised as "students and tourists." As an apparent result of these comments, some U.S. citizens have reported harassment by Bolivian officials and been subjected to unwanted media attention. In one case, a local Bolivian newspaper wrongly identified an American citizen as an operative for the Central Intelligence Agency. Americans planning on traveling to Bolivia should be aware of the political atmosphere and the possibility of unwanted attention from pro-governmental groups and other Bolivian officials.
For information on in-country visa procedures and requirements, please consult the Bolivian Immigration Service at (please note that the Web site is in Spanish), fax/telephone (591-2) 211-0960, street address Avenida Camacho entre Loayza y Bueno, La Paz, Bolivia. In emergency cases, the Immigration Service may permit temporary residency applicants to retrieve their passports from those applications. However, under current regulations in such cases the applicant would need to commence the application anew, including paying the corresponding fees. Any U.S. documents, such as birth, marriage, divorce or death certificates, to be presented in Bolivia must first be authenticated in the U.S. at the nearest Bolivian Embassy or consulate. For information on those procedures, please consult the Department of State Office of Authentications web site, www.state.gov/m/a/auth , and the nearest Bolivian Embassy or consulate.
Please see our information on customs regulations .
MARRIAGE: Please see our information on marriage in Bolivia , available on the Embassy's Web site at
MOUNTAIN TREKKING AND CLIMBING SAFETY: U.S. citizens are advised to exercise extreme care when trekking or climbing in Bolivia. Since June 2002, four American citizens have died in falls while mountain climbing in Bolivia. Three of the deaths occurred on Illimani, a 6,402-meter peak located southeast of La Paz. Many popular trekking routes in the Bolivian Andes cross passes as high as 16,000 feet. Trekkers must have adequate clothing and equipment, not always available locally, and should be experienced mountain travelers. It is not prudent to trek alone. Solo trekking is the most significant factor contributing to injuries and robberies. The safest option is to join an organized group and/or use a reputable firm to provide an experienced guide and porter who can communicate in both Spanish and English. If you develop any of the following symptoms while climbing at altitude - severe headache, weakness, vomiting, shortness of breath at rest, cough, chest tightness, unsteadiness - descend to a lower altitude immediately. Trekkers and climbers are strongly encouraged to purchase adequate insurance to cover expenses in case of injury or death.
CRIMINAL PENALTIES: While in a foreign country, a U.S. citizen is subject to that country's laws and regulations, which sometimes differ significantly from those in the United States and may not afford the protections available to the individual under U.S. law. Penalties for breaking the law can be more severe than in the United States for similar offenses. Persons violating Bolivian laws, even unknowingly, may be expelled, arrested, or imprisoned. Penalties for possession, use, or trafficking in illegal drugs in Bolivia are severe, and convicted offenders can expect long jail sentences and heavy fines. Engaging in sexual conduct with children or using or disseminating child pornography in a foreign country is a crime, prosecutable in the United States. Please see our information on Criminal Penalties .
It often takes years to reach a decision in Bolivian legal cases, whether involving property disputes, civil, or criminal matters. Depending on the circumstances of the case, the court can order a defendant held in jail for the duration of the case. Prison conditions are primitive, and prisoners are expected to pay for food and lodging. For further information, please see the Annual Human Rights Report for Bolivia at . Lists of local Bolivian attorneys and their specialties are available from the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy in La Paz and the Consular Agencies in Santa Cruz and Cochabamba, and may also be found on our Web site at .
CHILDREN'S ISSUES: For information on international adoption of children and international parental child abduction, see the Office of Children's Issues website . Pending U.S. implementation of the Hague Convention on International Adoptions, under Bolivian law U.S. citizens who are not resident in Bolivia are not permitted to adopt Bolivian children./p>
REGISTRATION / EMBASSY LOCATION: Americans living or traveling in Bolivia are encouraged to register with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consular Agency through the State Department's travel registration website, and to obtain updated information on travel and security within Bolivia. Americans without Internet access may register directly with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consular Agencies in Cochabamba and Santa Cruz. By registering, American citizens make it easier for the Embassy or Consular Agency to contact them in case of emergency.
The U.S. Embassy is located at 2780 Avenida Arce in La Paz, between calles Cordero and Campos; telephone (591-2) 216-8297 during business hours 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., or (591-2) 216-8000 for after-hours emergencies; fax (591-2) 216-8808; Internet . The U.S. Embassy in La Paz is open for American Citizen Services Monday through Thursday from 1:30PM to 5:00PM and Fridays from 08:30 to12:30 and from 2:00PM to 4:00PM, except U.S. and Bolivian holidays. Questions should be directed to the email address USCit.Services.Bolivia@gmail.com or consularlapaz@state.gov .
There are two consular agencies in Bolivia, which provide limited services to American citizens, but are not authorized to issue passports. Anyone requesting service at one of the consular agencies should call ahead to verify that the service requested would be available on the day you expect to visit the agency.
Santa Cruz: The Consular Agency in Santa Cruz is located at 146 Avenida Roque Aguilera (Tercer Anillo); telephone (591-3) 351-3477, 351-3479, or 351-3480; fax (591-3) 351-3478. The U.S. Consular Agency in Santa Cruz is open to the public Mondays from 09:00 to 12:30 and from 2:00PM to 5:00PM and on Tuesday through Friday from 09:00 to 12:30, except U.S. and Bolivian holidays.
Cochabamba: The Consular Agency in Cochabamba is located at Avenida Oquendo 654, Torres Sofer, room 601; telephone (591-4) 411-6313; fax (591-4) 425 -6714. The U.S. Consular Agency in Cochabamba is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon, excluding U.S. and Bolivian holidays.
This replaces the Consular Information Sheet dated April 4, 2006 to update Entry/Exit Requirements, Safety and Security, Crime, Marriage, Special Circumstances and web links.
Gideon background on Bolivian Haemorrhagic Fever
Disease Bolivian Haemorrhagic Virus Bolivia - 10 days ago
Date: Fri 5 Jul 2019
Source: GIDEON (Global Infectious Disease Epidemiology Network) [edited]
<http://www.gideononline.com>
Re: ProMED-mail Undiagnosed illness - Bolivia (02): (LP) Bolivian haemorrhagic fever conf. http://promedmail.org/post/20190704.6551379
In 2019, a small outbreak of Bolivian haemorrhagic fever was reported at a hospital in La Paz [department], Bolivia. The following background data on Bolivian haemorrhagic fever are abstracted from Gideon www.GideonOnline.com and the Gideon e-book series.[1,2] Primary references are available from the author.
Bolivian haemorrhagic fever (BHF) is caused by Machupo virus (Arenaviridae, Tacaribe complex, _Mammarenavirus_). The disease was initially described in 1959 as a sporadic hemorrhagic illness in rural areas of Beni department, eastern Bolivia, and the virus itself was 1st identified in 1963. BHF is most common during April to July in the upper savanna region of Beni. Principal exposure occurs through rodents ([the large vesper mouse] _Calomys callosus_), which enter homes in endemic areas.
BHF is one of several human _Arenavirus_ diseases reported in the Americas: Argentine haemorrhagic fever (Junin virus), Brazilian haemorrhagic fever (Sabia virus), lymphocytic choriomeningitis, Venezuelan haemorrhagic fever (Guanarito virus) and Whitewater Arroyo virus infection. (At least 2 related diseases are reported in Africa: Lassa fever and Lujo virus infection.)
Infection of _C. callosus_ results in asymptomatic viral shedding in saliva, urine, and feces; 50% of experimentally infected _C. callosus_ are chronically viremic and shed virus in their bodily excretions or secretions. _C. callosus_ acquires the virus after birth, and start shedding it through their urine and saliva while suckling. When mice acquire the virus as adults, they may develop immunity and no longer shed the virus.
Although the infectious dose of Machupo virus in humans is unknown, exposed persons may become infected by inhaling virus in aerosolized secretions or excretions of infected rodents, ingestion of food contaminated with rodent excreta, or by direct contact of excreta with abraded skin or oropharyngeal mucous membranes. Nosocomial and human-to-human spread have been documented. Hospital contact with a patient has resulted in person-to-person spread of Machupo virus to nursing and pathology laboratory staff.
In 1994, fatal secondary infection of 6 family members in Magdalena, Bolivia from a single naturally acquired infection further suggested the potential for person-to-person transmission.
During December 2003 to January 2004, a small focus of haemorrhagic fever was reported in the area of Cochabamba. A 2nd _Arenavirus_, Chapare virus, was recovered from one patient with fatal infection.
Early clinical manifestations consist of nonspecific signs and symptoms, including fever, headache, fatigue, myalgia, and arthralgia. Within 7 days, patients may develop hemorrhagic signs, including bleeding from the oral and nasal mucosa and from the bronchopulmonary, gastrointestinal, and genitourinary tracts. Case fatality rates range from 5% to 30%.
Ribavirin has been used successfully in several cases of BHF. The recommended adult regimen is 2.0 g intravenously (IV), followed by 1.0 g IV every 6 hours for 4 days, and then 0.5 g every 8 hours for 6 days.
Note that the etiologic agent and clinical features of BHF are similar to those of Argentine hemorrhagic fever (AHF). Neurological signs are more common in AHF, while hemorrhagic diatheses are more common in BHF. A vaccine available for AHF could theoretically be effective against BHF as well.
1. Berger S. American hemorrhagic fevers: global status, 2019. Gideon e-books.
<https://www.gideononline.com/ebooks/disease/american-hemorrhagic-fevers-global-status/>
2. Berger S. Infectious diseases of Bolivia, 2019. 342 pages, 87 graphs, 495 references.
<https://www.gideononline.com/ebooks/country/infectious-diseases-of-bolivia/>
Steve Berger
Geographic Medicine
Tel Aviv Medical Center, Israel
steve@gideononline.com
[ProMED-mail thanks Dr. Berger for the overview of Bolivian haemorrhagic fever presented above. As noted in the previous comment, and above, Bolivian haemorrhagic fever, caused by Machupo virus, occurs sporadically in lowland Bolivia, especially in Beni department. There was a case there in 2013, and in 2012 ProMED-mail reported that 13 people had been infected with Machupo virus and 7 had died as a consequence of the disease. In Beni department at that time, 5 municipalities, including Magdalena, were reported to have had large populations of _Calomys callosus_ mice, the reservoir host of Machupo virus, which can persistently infect the mice. It is not surprising to find cases in lowland areas of La Paz department again, where the current cases are occurring. The drylands vesper mouse, _C. musculinus_ mentioned in the previous post, although present in southern Bolivia, is unlikely to be the reservoir rodent involved in the current cases. _C. callosus_ mice are the recognized reservoir hosts of Machupo virus. Health officials can provide information about rodent control and assist in implementing it to reduce the risk of exposure to Machupo virus, but effective long-term implementation of rodent control ultimately rests with local residents.
An image of _C. callosus_, the large vesper mouse and reservoir host of Machupo virus, can be seen at
<http://www.faunaparaguay.com/calomyscallosus.html>. - ProMED Mod.TY]
Bolivia: <http://healthmap.org/promed/p/5>]
An arenavirus transmitted by rodents linked to illness in Bolivia
Date: Wed 3 Jul 2019 11:53 BOT
Source: La Razon [in Spanish trans. ProMED Mod.TY, edited]
<http://www.la-razon.com/sociedad/Virus-salud-arenavirus-medicos-La_Paz-muerte-interna_0_3177282262.html>
[The Ministry of] Health confirmed that a virus that killed a hospitalized patient and 2 physicians from La Paz is an arenavirus transmitted by rodents. The disease, after 7 days, causes haemorrhagic fever, a symptom presented by the patients hospitalized in intensive care in 2 health centers in La Paz.
One of the viruses in this family is Machupo that causes Bolivian hemorrhagic fever, a disease that, according to hypotheses, is affecting the patients that are under observation, La Razon reported this [Wed 3 Jul 2019] in its printed edition.
"In laboratory terms, from national laboratories such as INLASA [Instituto Nacional de Laboratorios de Salud; National Institute of Health Laboratories] and CENTROP, [Centro de Enfermedades Tropicales; Tropical Diseases Center] they have identified an arenavirus," said Gabriela Montano in a press conference.
The report is also backed by a report from the [US] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta [CDC], Georgia, USA.
"We have a preliminary result from the CDC in Atlanta that also mentions an arenavirus. All of these elements together allow us to provide this information to the public today," the official added.
This virus is transmitted by rodents, specifically called the corn rat or _Calomys musculinus_, and it may also be transmitted person-to-person. [Byline: Ruben Arinez]
[Bolivian haemorrhagic fever, caused by Machupo virus, an arenavirus, occurs sporadically in lowland Bolivia, especially in Beni department. There was a case there in 2013 and in 2012, ProMED-mail reported that 13 people had been infected with Machupo virus and 7 had died as a consequence of the disease. In Beni department at that time, 5 municipalities, including Magdalena, were reported to have had large populations of _Calomys callosus_ mice, the reservoir host of Machupo virus, which can cause persistent infections in the mice. It would not be surprising to find cases in lowland areas of La Paz department as well, where the current cases are occurring. The drylands vesper mouse, _C. musculinus_ mentioned above, although present in southern Bolivia, is unlikely to be the reservoir rodent involved in these cases. _C. callosus_ mice are the recognized reservoir hosts of Machupo virus. Health officials can provide information about rodent control and assist in implementing it, but effective long-term implementation ultimately rests with local residents.
An image of _C. callosus_, the large vesper mouse and reservoir host of Machupo virus can be seen at
<http://www.faunaparaguay.com/calomyscallosus.html>.
An image of _C. musculinus_, the drylands vesper mouse, can be seen at
<http://www.faunaparaguay.com/calomysmusculinus.html>. - ProMED Mod.TY]
[HealthMap/ProMED-mail map of Bolivia:
<http://healthmap.org/promed/p/10123>]
Health alert in Bolivia as physician dies and others in serious condition
Disease Idiopathic Disease Bolivia - 14 days ago
Date: Mon 1 Jul 2019
Source: Eje Central Mexico [in Spanish, trans. ProMED Mod.MPP, edited]
<http://www.ejecentral.com.mx/alertan-por-enfermedad-viral-no-identificada-en-bolivia/>
An unknown disease that led to the death of an internal medicine physician and that has another 2 in serious condition has led to the activation of health protocols in Bolivia, requesting assistance from international medical teams in order to identify the aetiology of the disease, it was announced on Mon 1 Jul 2019 by the Minister of Health, Gabriela Montano.
Initial diagnostic tests indicated a "viral disease," but through the analysis of the physician who died and the 2 other professionals who are in intensive care, "they have discarded influenza and other viral diseases," such as dengue, according to Montano.
In the last hours, Montano increased the number of infected individuals to 5. "We have 3 suspected cases in addition to the 1st 2 cases, the doctors; the other 3 are in the same hospital (in La Paz) as the original 2 cases," the Minister of Health said at a press conference. "Two of the 3 new cases had contact with the 2 doctors who were infected. The 3rd person did not have contact with the professionals, but presented similar symptoms," said Montano.
In order to establish the origin of the disease, an infectious disease specialist from Brasil and another 2 specialists from Atlanta, United States [the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC], will help the national teams in the investigation. The health authorities have not declared a state of epidemiologic emergency, while the representative from the Pan American Health Organization [PAHO/OPS] in Bolivia, Alfonso Tenorio, asked to follow protocols in order to "be calm." "Bolivia has "the equipment and personnel fully trained in order to take the appropriate diagnostic steps, treatment, clinical management, and epidemiologic control," said Tenorio at a press conference.
As part of these protocols, the Ministry of Health ordered the mandatory use of masks and latex gloves in local hospitals. At the end of last year [2018], Caranavi, the semitropical zone in the northeast of La Paz, where the deceased doctor was infected, reported a dengue outbreak that claimed the lives of 5 people.
New case of Hantavirus infection reported in Padcaya in Bolivia
Disease Hantavirus Bolivia - 2 months ago
Date: Mon 20 May 2019
Source: El Pais [in Spanish, trans. Mod.TY, edited]
<https://elpais.bo/reportan-un-nuevo-caso-de-hantavirus-en-padcaya/>
Tarija Departmental Health Services (SEDES) reported a new case of hantavirus [infection] in Padcaya municipality. The number of patients with this illness is within what is expected, because this season is when more people acquire the disease. Epidemiological surveillance is continuing in Arce province. The person who acquired this illness is male and is under medical care until his recuperation.
The head of the Epidemiological Unit of SEDES, Claudia Montenegro, stated that the patient is hospitalized in the San Juan de Dios Regional Hospital in Tarija awaiting his recuperation. The physician said that in Bermejo and Padcaya municipalities, the harvest of citrus fruit and sugar cane for production of sugar has begun, so there is a trend for the cases of this illness to increase. This is due to the large number of families that move to the countryside where the rodent (long tail) is present that transmits this disease [virus].
"In contrast to previous seasons, this year [2019], there were positives for this disease in Gran Chaco province, including fatalities," Montenegro commented. "Epidemiological surveillance there is being implemented, as well as in areas such as Padcaya and Bermejo."
The official explained that in these localities, the rodent that transmits the disease [virus] to families is present, and with agricultural activities, [people] move into places where this animal lives, and so new cases of patients with hantavirus [infections] are registered every year.
In order to prevent this illness, it is recommended that rodent control campaigns be done to reduce their populations, openings in houses be sealed, and that residents reduce the possibility for rodents to make nests within a radius of 30 meters [100 ft] around the house, and eliminate items that could attract these animals near the house (food, grain, garbage). Workers should employ protective measures during agricultural tasks and cleaning work.
Initial symptoms include fatigue, fever and muscle pain, especially in the thighs, hips and back. Also, patients may present with headache, dizziness, chills, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain. [These symptoms may progress rapidly to respiratory difficulty requiring mechanical ventilation (hantavirus cardio pulmonary syndrome). Death can occur. - ProMED Mod.TY]
[The hantavirus involved in the above cases is not mentioned. Cases of hantavirus infections in Tarija department are not new. Tarija department is endemic for hantaviruses, and cases occur there sporadically. Last year (2018), there were 11 cases. The previouslyreported 2015 cases of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) that occurred in Tarija department were confirmed. As noted in the previous comments, earlier cases of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome have been reported from tropical, lowland areas of Bolivia, including 7 cases in Tarija during 2014. The specific hantaviruses involved in these or previous cases in Bolivia were not given.
In the lowland Amazon Basin of Bolivia, the rodent hosts of the hantavirus that might be involved in these hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) cases, with their images, include the following: - Laguna Negra virus (_Calomys laucha_ <http://www.faunaparaguay.com/images/Calomys%20laucha%20enciso%2031aug2011.jpg> and _C. callosus_ <https://eee.uci.edu/clients/bjbecker/PlaguesandPeople/Calomyscallosusb.jpg>); - Bermejo (Chaco rice rat _Oligoryzomys chacoensis_ <http://www.faunaparaguay.com/oligorizomyschacoensis.html>); and - Oran (_O. longicaudatus_ <http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/0000_0000/0711/1203.jpeg>).
Since previous cases in Tarija department have occurred in Bermejo, perhaps Bermejo hantavirus was involved.
Dr. Jan Clement commented that there is a need to be able to differentiate Seoul (SEOV) as a causative agent, but that is hampered by the fact that most current commercial ELISA or WB formats do not contain (anymore) a SEOV antigen, so that a preliminary presumption of a hantavirus infection can even be missed in non-research laboratories (ibidem, and: Reynes J-M, Carli D, Bour J-B, Boudjeltia S, Dewilde A, Gerbier G, et al. Seoul virus infection in humans, France, 2014-2016. Emerg Infect Dis. 2017;23:973-7; <https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/23/6/16-0927_article>.
SEOV is widely distributed around the world in the brown rat and is likely found in Tarija department. - ProMED Mod.TY]
[HealthMap/ProMED map available at:
Tarija, Tarija, Bolivia: <http://healthmap.org/promed/p/12643>]
Hantaviral infection suspected in illness of 17yo in Postrervalle (Bolivia)
Date: Mon 29 Apr 2019
Source: El Deber [in Spanish, trans., ProMED Mod.TY, edited]
<https://www.eldeber.com.bo/santacruz/Reportan-un-caso-de-hantavirus-en-Postrervalle-20190428-9511.html>
A suspected case of [a] hantavirus [infection] in Postrervalle last week mobilized personnel of the medical centre of this municipality and the Office of Health of Vallegrande. The ill individual, a 17 year old, who works as a cowboy in the Mosqueras area, went to the [health] center, presenting with symptoms of [a] hantavirus [infection]. He was taken to Vallegrande where a corresponding chart was initiated and related tests were done that confirmed the 1st case of [a] hantavirus [infection] in the area. Due to the seriousness of the case, on [Fri 26 Apr 2019] the patient was transferred to Santa Cruz where he received treatment. It is believed that the patient was infected when he was in a rural property in Moroco, close to Mosqueras.
The Moroco - Mosqueras area is forested with high humidity due to the constant rains. There are several cattle ranches in the area. Rodrigo GarcÃa, Chief of Health in Vallegrande, stated that they went immediately to the areas and established an [epidemiological] focal blockade and began to train people about management of the disease. Today [Mon 29 Apr 2019] a new team went into the place in order to verify the presence of long-tail rats that transmit the virus. A hantavirus outbreak was reported recently in [nearby] Tarija [department]. [Byline: Juan Carlos Aguilar F.]
[The condition of the patient is reported as serious, prompting his transfer to Santa Cruz city where more advanced facilities are available. The seriousness of the case suggests that he may have developed hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome although no mention is made of the use of mechanical ventilation. The hantavirus involved in this case is not specified. The Moroco - Mosqueras area is an inter-Andean valley.
The report above indicates that it is forested area but the presence of cattle ranches indicates that extensive open areas of pasture must be present as well; making it difficult to determine which of several hantaviruses may be involved. Andes hantavirus has not been reported present in Bolivia.
In the lowland Amazon Basin of Bolivia, the rodent hosts of the hantavirus that might be involved in these cases, with their images, include the following:
- Laguna Negra virus (_Calomys laucha_ <http://www.faunaparaguay.com/images/Calomys%20laucha%20enciso%2031aug2011.jpg>
and _C. callosus_ <http://www.faunaparaguay.com/calomyscallosus.html>);
- Bermejo (Chaco rice rat _Oligoryzomys chacoensis_ <http://www.faunaparaguay.com/oligorizomyschacoensis.html>); and
- Oran (_O. longicaudatus_ <http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/0000_0000/0711/1203.jpeg>).
As Dr. Jan Clement pointed out previously, a battery of hantavirus diagnostic agents, including SEOV antigens is required to reach a definitive diagnosis. - ProMED Mod.TY]
[HealthMap/ProMED map available at: Bolivia: <http://healthmap.org/promed/p/5>]
The People’s Republic of China is the world’s third largest nation in land mass and shares borders with 16 other countries. It is the worlds most populated country. Nowadays many Irish travellers will b Read More Show Less
going to China for business or holiday trips. Much of the country is mountainous or semidesert and the country lies almost entirely in the temperate zone. Only portions of the southern-most area - the provinces of Yunnan and Guangdong, and the Zhuang autonomous region of Guangxi - lie within the tropics. The monsoon climate is a major influence in the south, but the north and west have a typical continental climate.
Weather Profile:
During the summer, warm moist maritime air masses bring heavy rains to eastern China, and hot humid summer weather is typical. Winter offers a sharp contrast when Siberian air masses dominate. In late winter and spring strong north winds sweep across north China and hazy days caused by dust storms are common. Beijing’s spring is mostly dry. In July and August the weather turns hot and humid. Autumn is the nicest time of the year with many warm, clear days and little wind usually. Chest Complaints Because of the prevailing dust, increased transportation and the burning of soft coal during the winter, Beijing and other major cities in China have a high rate of pollution. This may exacerbate bronchial and/or sinus complaints. The dust level in Lhasa is also very high and this may lead to respiratory problems.
Safety & Security:
The risk of crime against tourists is low but care of personal belonging should be observed at all times. Maintenance of buildings and general safety precautions may not always be in place and so checking for fire exits (and that they are unblocked) is wise. Use the hotel safety boxes and carry photocopies of any important documents rather than the originals where possible.
Local Medications:
Western brand-name drugs or non-prescription medicines are seldom available locally although some Chinese equivalents are to be found at reasonable prices. Always carry your own medication (well marked) on your person and bring enough for your trip.
Rabies:
Rabies is a serious problem throughout China. Reports indicate that as many as five million people are bitten each year by rabid dogs and that approximately 5,000 of these patients die. Travellers should stay well clear of any warm blooded animals, especially dogs. Any contact (lick, bite or scratch) should be treated seriously and immediately by washing out the wound, applying an antiseptic and then seeking urgent medical attention.
River Boat Travel:
Many of the older river boats in China use untreated river water for washing dishes and in the bathrooms. This increases the risk of illnesses such as traveller’s diarrhoea and a parasitic disease called schistosomiasis (Bilharzia). Also be careful that the ferry is not overcrowded and be aware of any sharp corners or rusty edges due to lack of maintenance.
Altitude Sickness in Tibet:
Virtually all of the Tibetan Autonomous region, much of Quinghai and Xinjiang, parts of Sichuan, Yannan and Gansu are above 13,000 feet in altitude. Some main roads in Tibet, Qinghai and Xinjiand go above 17,000 feet. At these levels the available oxygen is very low and altitude sickness may occur. Travellers may experience severe headaches, nausea, dizziness, shortness of breath or a dry cough. These symptoms usually settle over a few days with rest, but if not travellers should seek medical assistance and, if possible, descend to a lower altitude. Travellers with a history of cardiac problems or respiratory difficulties should avoid such high altitudes where possible.
Insect Bites and Malaria:
During the summer months, carry a supply of insect repellent ointments for your trip and use sensible, light coloured clothing to cover yourself when there are mosquitoes or sandflies about. The risk of malaria in most of China is limited but prophylactic tablets may be prescribed depending on your actual itinerary. Other serious mosquito borne diseases do occur so these will need to be considered.
The sunlight during the summer months and in Tibet at high elevations can be intense so travellers should bring sun screen and sun-glasses and a sensible wide-brimmed hat.
Many tourists are tempted to experience this oriental art in its homeland while visiting China. It is essential to ensure that sterile needles are used at all times as otherwise there may be a risk of transmission of a blood borne disease such as the HIV virus or Hepatitis B.
AIDS risk in China:
Official figures suggest that AIDS is a very limited risk in China. Only 707 cases were reported up to October 2000. These very low figures are very difficult to verify and so all travellers should take care not to place themselves at risk where possible.
Customs Regulations:
Never carry any medication for another individual unless they are part of your family. The Chinese authorities have strict drug regulations which may be enforced.
Vaccination Requirements:
There are no vaccination requirements for entry / exit purposes but travellers on short trips should consider the following ... * Poliomyelitis (childhood booster) * Typhoid (food & water disease) * Tetanus (childhood booster) * Hepatitis A (food & water disease) Those planning to spend a longer time in China should consider additional vaccination against conditions like Rabies, Hepatitis B, Japanese B Encephalitis, Meningococcal Meningitis, Diphtheria and Mantoux Test / BCG vaccination.
China is teeming with people and a culture very different to ours. It is a land of many contrasts. Travellers generally stay healthy if they follow standard commonsense healthcare advice.
American tourist leaves E. Timor after six-month ordeal
Tourism Timor-Leste - 4 years ago
Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2015 13:53:47 +0100 (MET)
Dili, East Timor, March 5, 2015 (AFP) - An American tourist has returned to the United States after six months trapped in East Timor over the discovery of drugs in a taxi that she was sharing. Stacey Addison arrived back in Portland, Oregon, on Wednesday, embracing her mother tightly during an emotional reunion at the city's airport, TV reports showed. "It's a great feeling, it's a relief to finally be back home, be out of there," she told a local station, adding her experience in East Timor, a tiny half-island nation bordering Indonesia, had been an "emotional rollercoaster". A Facebook group set up to advocate for her release carried a celebratory message on Tuesday announcing that she had left East Timor: "IT'S FINALLY HAPPENED! STACEY IS ON HER WAY HOME!!!!" Addision was arrested on September 5 after methamphetamine was found in the shared taxi that was en route to the capital Dili, but denied any wrongdoing.
The veterinarian, who had just crossed from Indonesia when she was arrested, wrote on Facebook that another passenger -- who was a stranger -- picked up a package containing the drugs, and police later detained everyone in the car. She was initially released from jail after several days but was later re-arrested, although no charges were laid against her. Addison was released again in December, but East Timor authorities hung on to her passport while they continued to investigate her case. Her lawyer had warned that the probe could take two years but last week the East Timor government announced that prosecutors had decided not to pursue her case and "Ms. Addison is now free to leave". The State Department had supported Addison and pressed for her release. East Timor, a poor half-island nation that was occupied by Indonesia for over two decades, imposes tough punishments for drugs cases, including the death penalty for traffickers.
Strong 6.1 quake hits off eastern Indonesia and E. Timor
Natural Disaster Timor-Leste - 5 years ago
Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2014 00:59:28 +0100 (MET)
JAKARTA, Feb 03, 2014 (AFP) - A strong 6.1-magnitude earthquake hit eastern Indonesia Tuesday but there was no tsunami alert, seismologists said. The quake struck at 7:36 am local time (2236 GMT Monday), 318 kilometres (197 miles) east-northeast of the East Timor capital Dili in the Banda Sea at a depth of 18 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue any alerts following the tremor in the remote region at the eastern end of the Indonesian archipelago between East Timor and the Maluku islands. In an initial assessment, the USGS said there was a low likelihood of damage or casualties.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity. A 6.1-magnitude quake struck Indonesia's main island of Java in January, damaging dozens of buildings. Another 6.1 quake that hit Aceh province on Sumatra island in July 2013 killed at least 35 people and left thousands homeless.
Strong 6.3 quake strikes off eastern Indonesia and East Timor
Date: Sun, 1 Dec 2013 04:07:58 +0100 (MET)
AMBON, Indonesia, Dec 01, 2013 (AFP) - A 6.3-magnitude quake hit off eastern Indonesia and East Timor Sunday, seismologists said, but there was no tsunami alert or reports of damage or casualties. The quake struck at 10:24 am local time (0124 GMT), 351 kilometres (217 miles) east-northeast of the East Timor capital Dili at a relatively shallow depth of 10 km, the US Geological Survey said.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue any alerts following the tremor in the remote region at the eastern end of the Indonesian archipelago between the islands of Timor and New Guinea. In an initial assessment, the USGS said there was a low likelihood of damage or casualties. Indonesian officials said they had not received any reports of casualties or damage so far. "From data, the epicentre is quite a distance from the nearest cities and the intensity of shaking is not destructive," Suharjono, the technical head of Indonesia's geophysics and meteorology agency, told AFP.
An AFP correspondent in Dili said no tremor was felt. Johanes Huwae, a police official in the Maluku provincial capital Ambon, one of the cities closest to the epicentre, said "there was no shaking, everything's safe", while the national disaster management agency reported "slight shaking for three to five seconds" in Southwest Maluku. Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity. A 6.1-magnitude quake that struck Aceh province on Sumatra island in July killed at least 35 people and left thousands homeless.
Report on Dengue Fever in East Timor
Disease Dengue Fever Timor-Leste - 7 years ago
Date: Tue 20 Mar 2012
From: Helen Hanson <helenjhanson@gmail.com> [edited]
Re: Meng Ling Moi's post from Japan re: DENV-3 in 3 Japanese travelers returning from East Timor in March [see ProMED-mail archives 20120319.1074013 and 20120306.1060914]
I am the Australian Embassy's doctor in Dili, East Timor. Our clinic sees expatriates and some locals.
It is likely that I saw one or more of the travellers concerned prior to their return to Japan.
Our small one-doctor clinic saw 45 test-confirmed cases of dengue in February [2012] alone, mostly expatriates. These are not included in the 161 test confirmed cases for East Timor quoted in the previous post. Serotyping is not available in Dili, however reports from my colleagues at the ASPEN military medical facility, where blood samples have been sent to Australia for analysis, have also shown DEN-3 to be the circulating serotype.
Dr Helen Hanson
Australian Embassy Clinic
Dili, East Timor
helenjhanson@gmail.com
[ProMED-mail thanks Dr Helen Hanson for this 1st hand report. These types of reports from health professionals in the field who are dealing with outbreaks are especially valuable sources of reliable, current information. Her report confirms the circulation of dengue virus 3 in East Timor.
A HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of East Timor can be accessed at
<http://healthmap.org/r/1KlU>. - ProMed Mod.TY]
563 reports of Dengue in East Timor
Tuesday 6th March 2012
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
- East Timor (national). 2 Mar 2012. As of 24 Feb [2012], the Ministry of Health had received 563 reports of dengue (161 confirmed by laboratory tests) in every district except one, including 192 reports of DHF that causes severe abdominal pain, vomiting, and in worst cases, death. This is a 36 per cent increase over reports for the 1st 2 months of 2011. As of 1 Mar [2012], 10 people had died from dengue, according to the government.
<http://irinnews.org/Report/94995/TIMOR-LESTE-Spike-in-dengue-raises-health-concern>
[A HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of East Timor can be accessed at <http://healthmap.org/r/1KlU>. - ProMed Mod.TY]
Austria - US Consular Information Sheet
Austria is a highly developed, stable democracy with a modern economy.
Tourism is an important pillar of the Austrian economy and facilities are widely availab Read More Show Less
Read the Department of State Background Notes on Austria for additional information, or see the information at the Austrian National Tourist Office web site, http://www.austria.info.
A valid passport is required. U.S. citizens can stay without a visa for tourist/business for up to 90 days in each six-month period. That 90-day period begins when you enter any of the Schengen countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden.
Although European Union regulations require that non-EU visitors obtain a stamp in their passports upon initial entry to a Schengen country, many borders are not staffed with officers carrying out this function.
If an American citizen wishes to ensure that his or her entry is properly documented, it may be necessary to request a stamp at an official point of entry.
Under local law, travelers without a stamp in their passports may be questioned and asked to document the length of their stay in Schengen countries at the time of departure or at any other point during their visit, and could face possible fines or other repercussions if unable to do so.
There are no vaccination requirements for international travelers.
Visit the Embassy of Austria web site at http://www.austria.org/ for the most current visa information. There are four Austrian Consulates General in the United States. As each one serves clients from a particular region, please contact the appropriate office for assistance. If you reside outside the U.S. please contact the responsible Austrian Embassy or Consulate in your country of residence.
A list of Austrian Embassies/Consulates is available at http://www.bmeia.gv.at/aussenministerium/buergerservice/oesterreichische-vertretungen.html.
Austria remains largely free of terrorist incidents. However, like other countries in the Schengen area, Austria’s open borders with its Western European neighbors allow the possibility of terrorist groups entering/exiting the country with anonymity. Americans are reminded to remain vigilant with regard to their personal security and to exercise caution.
Austrian intelligence experts have registered increased radicalization of immigrant Muslim individuals and of small conspiratorial groups, as well as intensified use of the Internet as a propaganda and communications platform. Despite some terrorism-related incidents in 2007 directed against individual Austrian nationals or the Government of Austria, authorities overall believe the likelihood of terrorist attacks in Austria remains relatively low; the State Department rates Austria as a “Medium” threat for transnational terrorism.
Every year, a number of avalanche deaths occur in Austria's alpine regions. Many occur when skiers/snowboarders stray from the designated ski slopes. Leaving the designated slopes to ski off-piste may pose serious risks and may delay rescue attempts in case of emergency. Skiers/snowboarders should monitor weather and terrain conditions, and use the available avalanche rescue equipment. Avalanche beepers (transceivers) are the most common rescue devices and, when properly used, provide the fastest way of locating an avalanche victim, usually enabling authorities to begin rescue operations within minutes.
For the latest security information, Americans traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department of State’s, Bureau of Consular Affairs’ web site at http://travel.state.gov, where the current Travel Warnings and Travel Alerts, as well as the Worldwide Caution, can be found.
Up-to-date information on safety and security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the U.S. and Canada, or for callers outside the U.S. and Canada, a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444.
For general information about appropriate measures travelers can take to protect themselves in an overseas environment, see the Department of State’s pamphlet A Safe Trip Abroad.
Austria has one of the lowest crime rates in Europe, and violent crime is rare. However, crimes involving theft of personal property have increased in recent years.
As such, most crimes involving Americans are crimes of opportunity involving theft of personal belongings. Travelers are also targets of pickpockets who operate where tourists tend to gather. Some of the spots where such crimes are most frequently reported include Vienna’s two largest train stations, the plaza around St. Stephan’s Cathedral and the nearby pedestrian shopping areas (in Vienna’s First District).
There has been an increase in thefts and pick-pocketing on public transportation lines, especially on those lines coming into and out from the city center. U.S. citizens are advised to secure personal belongings and always take precautions while on public transportation and in public places such as cafes and tourist areas. Many citizens have had to disrupt travel plans while awaiting replacements for lost and stolen passports since emergency passports are generally only authorized in rare circumstances such as critical medical emergencies.
The loss or theft abroad of a U.S. passport should be reported immediately to the local police and the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate.
Information on the Austrian crime victim compensation program can be found on the U.S. Embassy web site at http://vienna.usembassy.gov/en/embassy/cons/compens.htm.
The local equivalent to the 911 emergency line in Austria is 133.See our information on Victims of Crime.
There are an adequate number of hospitals available in Austria. Local hospitals will not settle their accounts directly with American insurance companies. The patient is obliged to pay the bill to the local hospital and later claim a refund from his/her insurance carrier in the United States. MEDICARE payments are not available outside the United States.
The Austrian Medicine Import Act generally prohibits the import of prescription drugs into Austria, with two exceptions:
A) Travelers residing outside the European Union are allowed to carry with them (as part of their personal luggage) drugs and medicines, but only the quantity that an individual having a health problem might normally carry; and,
B) Travelers while staying in Austria may receive drugs and medicines for their personal use by mail. The quantity is limited to the length of their stay in Austria and must never exceed three packages.
Generally, it is recommended that travelers have either a prescription or written statement from their personal physician that the medicines are being used under a doctor's direction and are necessary for their physical wellbeing while traveling.
Public health conditions in Austria are excellent. The level of community sanitation in Vienna meets or exceeds that of most large American cities. Disease incidence and type are similar to that seen in the major cities of Western Europe and the United States. At the present time, air pollution is not a major health problem in Vienna.
The U.S. Department of State is unaware of any HIV/AIDS entry restrictions for visitors to or foreign residents of Austria.
Information on vaccinations and other health precautions, such as safe food and water precautions and insect bite protection, may be obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) hotline for international travelers at 1-877-FYI-TRIP (1-877-394-8747) or via the CDC’s web site at: http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/default.aspx.
For information about outbreaks of infectious diseases abroad, consult the World Health Organization’s (WHO) web site at: http://www.who.int/en.
Further health information for travelers is available at: http://www.who.int/ith/en.
Any person, regardless of citizenship, who wants to take up residence in Austria, must be covered by some health insurance plan that covers full medical treatment in Austria. American citizens interested in joining the health insurance plan under the Austrian system should apply to the Health Insurance Agency (Gebietskrankenkasse) in the province (Bundesland) where they reside.
Further information may be obtained from the appropriate “Gebietskrankenkasse” http://www.sozialversicherung.at/portal/index.html?ctrl:cmd=render&ctrl:window=esvportal.channel_content.cmsWindow&p_menuid=955&p_tabid=6&p_pubid=687.
While in a foreign country, U.S. citizens may encounter road conditions that differ significantly from those in the United States.
The information below concerning Austria is provided for general reference only, and may not be totally accurate in a particular location or circumstance.
Road conditions in Austria are generally excellent. During the winter, however, roads in alpine areas may become dangerous due to snowfall, ice, or avalanches. Some mountain roads may be closed for extended periods and tire chains are often required. Drivers should exercise caution during the heavily traveled vacation periods (December-February, Easter, July-August). Extra caution is recommended when driving through autobahn construction zones, particularly on the A-1 East/West Autobahn. Reduced lanes and two-way traffic in these zones have resulted in several deadly accidents in recent years. Traffic information and road conditions are broadcast on the English language channel fm4, located between 91 and 105 FM depending on the locale.
A U.S. driver’s license alone is not sufficient to drive in Austria. The U.S. driver’s license must be accompanied by an international driver’s permit (obtainable in the U.S. from American Automobile Association and the American Automobile Touring Alliance) or by an official translation of the U.S. driver’s license, which can be obtained at one of the Austrian automobile clubs (OEAMTC or ARBOE). This arrangement is only acceptable for the first six months of driving in Austria, after which all drivers must obtain an Austrian license.
Austria requires all vehicles using the autobahn to display an “Autobahn Vignette” highway tax sticker on the inside of the vehicle’s windshield. The sticker may be purchased at border crossings, gas stations in Austria, and small “Tabak” shops located in Austrian towns. Fines for failing to display a valid autobahn vignette on the windshield of your car are usually around $120.
Austrian autobahns have a maximum speed limit of 130 km/hr, although drivers often drive much faster and pass aggressively. The use of hand-held cell phones while driving is prohibited. Turning right on red is also prohibited throughout Austria. The legal limit for blood alcohol content in Austria is .05 percent and penalties for driving under the influence tend to be stricter than in many U.S. states.
Tourists driving rented vehicles should pay close attention to the provisions of their rental contract. Many contracts prohibit drivers from taking rented vehicles into eastern European countries. Drivers attempting to enter countries listed as “prohibited” on the car rental contract may be arrested, fined, and/or charged with attempted auto theft. Austrian police are authorized to hold the rented vehicle for the car rental company.
Emergency roadside help and information may be reached by dialing 123 or 120 for vehicle assistance and towing services (Austrian automobile clubs), 122 for the fire department, 133 for police, and 144 for ambulance.
The European emergency line is 112.
Austrian Federal Railroads (Österreichische Bundesbahnen) offer excellent railroad service to all major towns of the country and also direct connections with all major cities in Europe. Trains are well maintained and fares are reasonable. There is also an extensive network of bus lines operated by the Austrian Postal Service (Österreichische Post). All major cities also offer excellent public transportation services.
Please refer to our Road Safety page for more information. Visit the web-site of Austria’s national tourist office (Österreich Werbung) at http://www.austria.info and the national authority responsible for road safety (Kuratorium für Verkehrssicherheit) at http://www.kfv.at/.
AVIATION SAFETY OVERSIGHT The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has assessed the Government of Austria’s Civil Aviation Authority as being in compliance with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) aviation safety standards for oversight of Austria’s air carrier operations.
For more information, travelers may visit the FAA’s web site at: http://www.faa.gov/safety/programs_initiatives/oversight/iasa.
Travelers using U.S. issued debit cards in Austrian Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) may encounter problems. If the request for cash is rejected, travelers should check their accounts immediately to see whether the money was in fact debited from their account. If this is the case, they should notify their banking institution immediately. Prompt action may result in a refund of the debited amount. Receipts should always be requested and kept for verification with your home bank.
Please see our Customs Information.
Persons violating Austrian laws, even unknowingly, may be expelled, arrested or imprisoned.
Penalties for possession, use, or trafficking in illegal drugs in Austria are severe, and convicted offenders can expect long jail sentences and heavy fines.
Americans living or traveling in Austria are encouraged to register with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate through the State Department’s travel registration web site so that they can obtain updated information on travel and security within Austria.
The Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy is located at Parkring 12a, tel. +43- 1-31339-7535, fax: +43-1-5125835, web site: http://vienna.usembassy.gov/en/index.html
This replaces the Country Specific Information sheet for Austria dated January 23, 2008, without substantive changes.
Authorities in Austria to finally ban smoking in bars and restaurants
Pollution Austria - 13 days ago
Date: Tue, 2 Jul 2019 18:26:36 +0200
Vienna, July 2, 2019 (AFP) - Smoking in Austrian bars and restaurants will be banned as of November following a vote in parliament on Tuesday, after years of protracted debate on the issue. Only MPs from the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) voted against the ban, which looks set to finally rid Austria of its status as the "ashtray of Europe".
The FPOe -- whose former leader Heinz-Christian Strache is himself a keen smoker -- had stymied a previous attempt to ban smoking in pubs and restaurants when it entered government in December 2017. That prompted a backlash from large sections of the public and the Austrian medical association, which organised a petition in favour of the ban signed by almost 900,000 people, or around 14 percent of voters.
However, in May the FPOe left government under the shadow of a corruption scandal implicating Strache, paving the way for the smoking ban to come back before parliament. "We are going to protect the health of hundreds of thousands of Austrians and prolong their lives," Pamela Rendi-Wagner, head of the main opposition Social Democrats (SPOe) -- and herself a doctor -- said after the vote.
Austria is currently led by a technocratic government after the so-called "Ibiza-gate" corruption scandal brought down the coalition between the FPOe and the centre-right People's Party (OeVP) and triggered early elections to be scheduled for September. The scandal emerged when footage in May showed Strache in a luxury villa on the island of Ibiza appearing to offer public contracts to a fake Russian backer in an elaborate sting operation, forcing him to step down from all his posts.
Austria was one of the last European countries where smoking was still permitted in bars and restaurants, despite calls for bans dating back more than a decade. Up until now, smoking has been legal in such establishments as long as it was done in a separate area -- although this rule was not always rigidly implemented. No separate area was necessary in establishments smaller than 50 square metres (540 square feet) if the owner was happy to allow smoking on the premises. However, a growing number of restaurants and cafes had already banned smoking of their own accord.
Authorities in Austrian city suspend bus services over Measles case
Disease Measles Austria - 3 months ago
Vienna, April 10, 2019 (AFP) - The Austrian city of Klagenfurt indefinitely suspended its bus services Wednesday after a case of measles was detected in one of the drivers. "All bus traffic is suspended until further notice in order to prevent infection," the city's KMG public transport operator announced.
The company runs all public transport in the southern city of 100,000 inhabitants, which is also the state capital of Carinthia. It took the unusual measure after it was revealed that one driver had been diagnosed with measles on 3 April. Since then two further suspected cases have been reported. KMG said it was working to establish "the vaccination status of all drivers" before authorising bus services to restart and was embarking on a deep clean of its vehicles.
The resurgence of measles, a once-eradicated and highly-contagious disease, is linked to a growing anti-vaccine movement in richer nations -- which the World Health Organization has identified as a major global health threat. On Tuesday, New York mayor Bill de Blasio declared a public health emergency in parts of the city, ordering all residents of certain districts in Brooklyn to be vaccinated to fight a measles outbreak concentrated in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.
Full steam ahead for Austria's night trains
Transport Austria - 4 months ago
Date: Sun, 3 Mar 2019 04:10:56 +0100
By Sophie MAKRIS
Vienna, March 3, 2019 (AFP) - It looks like a scene from the halcyon days of the railways: travellers finding their sleeper berth, turning on the reading light and stowing their cases under the bed. But it's still a common nightly ritual at Vienna's main station, where overnight train routes have endured in the age of low-cost flights -- and are even expanding. From early evening onwards, the departures board at Vienna's "Hauptbahnhof" station becomes a roll call of destinations to whet the appetite of any globetrotter: Venice, Rome, Zurich, Berlin, Warsaw... It's an unusual sight in a continent where budget airlines and faster trains have become the norm and led to the closure of many slower overnight routes.
But Austria's state railway company OeBB is looking to expand its network. It already runs 26 such routes, either on its own or in partnerships with other operators. In late 2016, OeBB bought the night train operation of its German counterpart Deutsche Bahn, which was looking to offload a department it judged insufficiently lucrative. Around 60 percent of DB's overnight routes were preserved, including a revamped Vienna-Berlin service which started a few months ago. Pointing to the "moderate growth" in passenger numbers -- more than 1.4 million used the services in 2018 -- OeBB has ordered 13 new trains equipped with state-of-the-art sleeper carriages.
- Eco-friendly -
It's no surprise then that Austria has become the poster child for rail enthusiasts, who say it provides an example of how overnight train travel can provide an alternative to air travel and even help in the fight against climate change. "With regard to the target of becoming carbon-neutral by 2050, night trains which run on renewable energy are an attractive alternative," according to Thomas Sauter-Servaes, transport expert at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences.
But as with all those who have researched the sector, he admits that cross-border overnight rail travel can represent a logistical and financial challenge. The profits per passenger take a hit from the extra space that sleeper compartments require, on top of the higher labour costs for those who have to work on the trains overnight and money spent on laundry. And that's before you take into account the hefty fees sometimes charged by other network owners for use of the rails, the technical difficulty of decoupling and then re-attaching carriages, and navigating the myriad of different rules a train has to adhere to over a long journey.
Sauter-Servaes points out that international air transport has a big commercial advantage in being exempt from VAT and fuel taxes. Among those preparing to board at Vienna station to spend a night on the rails on a recent evening, some told AFP they had chosen a night train with the environment in mind. "It's a small gesture, and it won't stop me taking the plane for my holiday in Madagascar this autumn, but it's better than nothing," said Austrian traveller Yvonne Kemper. David, a 42-year-old from Germany, said he was using the Hamburg service because he needed to get to Goettingen in Germany for a business trip -- a medium-sized town which, typically, is served by night trains but has no airport.
- An Austrian tradition -
OeBB spokesman Bernhard Rieder explained that Austria's attachment to night trains is down to "a tradition stemming from Austria's mountainous terrain, which limited the development of high-speed lines". He added that "the night train sector is distinct in that it can't function without strong cross-border cooperation." "Night trains are and will continue to be a niche market, but that doesn't mean a niche market can't be profitable." But Poul Kattler, from the pan-European "Back on Track" group which campaigns for more cross-border night trains, says the sector should be more ambitious. "If national railway companies were more aggressive in the market and the EU built a truly common rail policy, we could offer a real transport alternative and a very popular European project," he says.
Guests escape harm as avalanche hits Austrian hotel in central Styria region
Natural Disaster Austria - 6 months ago
Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2019 15:26:31 +0100
Vienna, Jan 15, 2019 (AFP) - Around 60 guests were evacuated from an Austrian hotel and holiday apartment house early Tuesday after the buildings were engulfed by an avalanche, rescue services said. "It was lucky the avalanche didn't occur four hours earlier when all of the guests were in the dining room," said Heribert Eisl, of the mountain rescue team in Ramsau am Dachstein, a village in the central Styria region where the accident happened at 1:00 am (0000 GMT).
The dining room was filled with snow up to one metre (three feet) below the ceiling, he told a news conference. The avalanche shattered the hotel's windows and overturned vehicles in the car park, but no-one was injured, Eisl said. "We hadn't expected the avalanche to wreak such damage," he continued.
A number of areas in the Austrian Alps have been on high avalanche alert for the past 10 days as a result of heavy snowfall across the west and centre of the country since early January. In some regions, more than three metres of snow has fallen. The army has been called in to help clear roads and roofs and evacuate residents in the wake of the bad weather, which has also affected southern Germany and parts of Switzerland.
Five dead and two missing in snow-struck Austria
Accident Austria - 6 months ago
Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2019 20:17:54 +0100
Vienne, Jan 7, 2019 (AFP) - Three skiers and two snowshoe hikers have died as heavy snow and avalanches hit Austria, isolating several areas of the mountainous country, authorities said Monday.
Two German skiers lost their lives in avalanches in the western region of Vorarlberg on Sunday, and a Slovenian died in the region of Salzburg, rescue services said. The bodies of two missing snowshoe hikers were discovered Monday as snow caused chaos in parts of the country, blocking roads and shuttering schools. Two other hikers are still missing in the country's northeast. Up to 1.5 metres (five feet) of snow has fallen in central and north Austria since the middle of last week, with up to three metres accumulating in the mountains around Salzburg, Austria's meteorological service said.
Some 2,000 people, including tourists, were left stranded in villages in the Soelktal valley in the southeast. Army helicopters used in avalanche control were grounded due to the bad weather. In the Hochkar mountain range in Lower Austria, ski resorts were closed until further notice, with inhabitants and tourists requested to vacate the area. More snow is expected this week, with up to 80 centimetres forecast from Tuesday.
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Secretary-General discusses refugee, migrant crisis with UK Prime Minister
UNICEF/Gjorgji Klincarov
A group of people walking on a dirt road near the town of Gevgelija in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, after crossing the border at Idomeni in Greece.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today discussed the refugee and migrant crisis with Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom, as he continued to confer with European leaders on what has become the biggest influx of people into the continent in decades.
“This has been part of a series of calls he has made to European leaders in recent days, in which the Secretary-General has stressed the individual and collective responsibility of European States to respond responsibly and humanely to the arrival of refugees and migrants in Europe,” UN spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters.
Mr. Ban has spoken recently with the leaders of Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, appealing to them to be “the voice of those in need of protection” and to quickly find a joint approach to address their basic needs.
“The Secretary-General,” Mr. Haq added, “has assured European leaders of the United Nations readiness, through its agencies, in particular UNHCR [the UN refugee agency], to continue supporting their efforts to develop a response that is effective, feasible and in line with universal human rights and humanitarian standards, including the right to claim asylum.”
In a separate development, the UN chief welcomed the initiative by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to make $2 million available to National Olympic Committees for programmes focused on refugees. The IOC already works with a number of UN agencies, notably UNHCR.
Mr. Ban has repeatedly underscored the great work done by civil society organizations in bringing help and support to refugees worldwide, including through the support provided to the activities of the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Youth Refugees and Sport, Jacques Rogge.
migrants|refugees
UNICEF launches new appeal to support refugee and migrant children in Europe
Worsening weather off coast of Lesvos leads to tragedy for refugees and migrants trying to reach Greece
European border restrictions endanger refugees, migrants, especially children, UN agencies warn
Refugees have to be dealt with as human beings, stresses senior UN official
Refugees have to be dealt with as human beings, and the broader migrant community, including economic migrants, cannot be dismissed “with a wave of the hand,” the top United Nations official dealing with migration said today.
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Pakistan’s Central Bank Calls India’s Cash War ‘Extreme’
Pakistan’s central bank Governor Ashraf Mahmood Wathra called India’s shock clampdown on cash an “extreme” step to boost financial inclusion, tax collection and battle graft, as the neighboring nation implements its own plans to double the number of people using banks within four years.
“To my imagination that is a very, very extreme measure,” Wathra, 61, said in an interview after speaking at a Bloomberg forum in Karachi on Wednesday. “It’s the enabling environment which has to get better in the economy.”
Narendra Modi, the prime minister of Pakistan’s arch-rival India, invalidated 500 rupee and 1,000 rupee bills ($15) in a single move announced Nov. 8, sucking out 86 percent of the nation’s currency in circulation.
Described as the world’s most sweeping currency policy change in decades, the step has earned India’s government both admiration for its boldness and criticism for its chaotic execution, with queues spilling from banks in a country where cash dominates day-to-day life. Opinions are mixed on the impact on tax evasion and graft.
Source: Bloomberg (link opens in a new window)
banking, cash, financial inclusion, government
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Governor’s Excellence Award Accepted By Robert Heldt, President of Norquay Technology, Inc.
Robert Heldt, President and Founder of Norquay Technology Inc., accepted Governor Ridge’s Governor Excellence Award on September 25, 2001 for expanding Norquay Technology’s sales in exporting of Pennsylvania made products.
Norquay Technology Inc, Chester, PA was founded in 1987 with a focus to manufacture a product line and customer specific materials for the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, plastic and film, agricultural, electronic, and diagnostic markets. Historically, sales are evenly split between product line and custom synthesis. Starting in 1992, Norquay started a journey to expand export sales in response to customer’s requests to support world wide plant operations. Starting with Ex-Im Bank Receivables Insurance Program to permit financing of export receivables, Norquay has participated in a number of state and federal programs, including Pennsylvania Market Access Grant (MAG) to support foreign trade show exhibition, SBA Gold-Key Ambassador Search for French distributor, SBA “Breaking Into the Trade Game” training and numerous meetings and seminars with the South Eastern Pennsylvania Export Council (SEPAC) local representative and network of eighteen state sponsored Pennsylvania Trade Representatives in eighteen countries in Europe, North and South America, Asia, and North Africa.
Norquay export sales have grown from 1992 of less than $50,000 to over $1 million in 2000. Delaware County Pennsylvania Representative Jim McLaughlin nominated Norquay Technology and states “Bob Heldt at Norquay has been proactive in increasing his commitment to export sales via state and federal programs. With each export sale, more Pennsylvania jobs are created or preserved, leading to a vibrant economy in Pennsylvania.
New plans at Norquay include the renovations of the plant using Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority (PIDA) support long-term loans to renovate the Chester facility. The Norquay facility is in a Pennsylvania Keystone Opportunity Zone, which allows for the lowest PIDA rate of 3.75% 15-year loans. The Chester building dates back to the 1920’s with the Ford Motor Company auto assembly plant. The first phase in 2002 is the repair of the roof, sprinkler system and infrastructure of the plant to meet the demands of a modern production facility. The five-year plan calls for the renovation of the original 1920 Ford car showroom into offices and plant expansion. Robert Heldt, President of Norquay Technology said, “with the purchase and renovation of the building in the City of Chester, we are making a commitment to the city as our primary location. We look forward to being a good neighbor and helping with the revitalization of the Chester waterfront.
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Francis Again Confirms Muslim Refugees in Unbelief, says their "Faith" will help them to "Move On"
Antipope Francis never misses an opportunity to hide the Gospel from those who need it most: the unbelievers. Whether they be Jews, Muslims, Pagans, or atheists, Francis never tires of telling people to do anything other than embrace the only true religion, the Catholic Faith; he thus deliberately impedes any potential conversion. His latest attack on the Gospel in the presence of hapless unbelievers was perpetrated on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2014, when His Hereticalness attended a meeting with foreign refugees in the Roman parish of the Sacred Heart (see video above). The refugees included both Muslims and Christians, and Francis, addressing them both together, said that for the hardships they endured, they should find solace in their respective religions:
Sharing our experience in carrying that cross, to expel the illness within our hearts, which embitters our life: it is important that you do this in your meetings. Those that are Christian, with the Bible, and those that are Muslim, with the Quran. The faith that your parents instilled in you will always help you move on. (Antipope Francis, Address to Refugees at Sacred Heart Basilica, Rome, Jan. 19, 2014)
For Francis, Faith is not the intellectual assent of the mind, assisted by divine grace, to what Almighty God has revealed (which is the Catholic definition), but rather an "experience", an "encounter" with the transcendent that is ultimately devoid of any binding objective content. Hence he can speak of Muslims having "faith," when by the true Catholic definition, they are infidels, that is, those who do not possess Faith (fides in Latin). It is for the same reason that the Catholic Church in her Good Friday liturgy prays for the "faithless Jews: that almighty God may remove the veil from their hearts; so that they too may acknowledge Jesus Christ our Lord" (source). Holy Writ, too, is clear that there is only one Faith which alone is true: "One Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Eph 4:5). So why does Francis hinder the evangelization of infidels? Why does he eschew every opportunity to preach the true Gospel to those who are not part of the Catholic Church? The answer is simple: He doesn't believe the Catholic Church is the only true Church, the Catholic religion the only true religion. He doesn't believe these words of Christ: "He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned" (Mk 16:16); and likewise, "Whosoever revolteth, and continueth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God" (2 Jn 9). Bergoglio doesn't believe all this because he is not a Catholic but an adherent of the Modernist Vatican II Religion, which puts man before God. In 1907, Pope Saint Pius X exposed and refuted the Modernist error of indifferentism. Read the following quote and ask yourself if this doesn't sound eerily familiar:
The following is [the Modernists'] manner of stating the question: In the religious sense one must recognize a kind of intuition of the heart which puts man in immediate contact with the reality of God, and infuses such a persuasion of God's existence and His action both within and without man as far to exceed any scientific conviction. They assert, therefore, the existence of a real experience, and one of a kind that surpasses all rational experience. If this experience is denied by some, like the Rationalists, they say that this arises from the fact that such persons are unwilling to put themselves in the moral state necessary to produce it. It is this experience which makes the person who acquires it to be properly and truly a believer. How far this position is removed from that of Catholic teaching!We have already seen how its fallacies have been condemned by the [First] Vatican Council. Later on, we shall see how these errors, combined with those which we have already mentioned, open wide the way to Atheism. Here it is well to note at once that, given this doctrine of experience united with that of symbolism, every religion, even that of paganism, must be held to be true. What is to prevent such experiences from being found in any religion? In fact, that they are so is maintained by not a few. On what grounds can Modernists deny the truth of an experience affirmed by a follower of Islam? Will they claim a monopoly of true experiences for Catholics alone? Indeed, Modernists do not deny, but actually maintain, some confusedly, others frankly, that all religions are true. That they cannot feel otherwise is obvious. For on what ground, according to their theories, could falsity be predicated of any religion whatsoever? Certainly it would be either on account of the falsity of the religious sense or on account of the falsity of the formula pronounced by the mind. Now the religious sense, although it maybe more perfect or less perfect [acc. to the Modernists], is always one and the same; and the intellectual formula, in order to be true, has but to respond to the religious sense and to the believer, whatever be the intellectual capacity of the latter. In the conflict between different religions, the most that Modernists can maintain is that the Catholic has more truth because it is more vivid, and that it deserves with more reason the name of Christian because it corresponds more fully with the origins of Christianity. (Pope St. Pius X, Encyclical Pascendi, n. 14; underlining and paragraph breaks added.)
A few more quotes from genuine Catholic Popes on the subject of indifferentism will draw out further the stark contrast that exists between the drivel of the false shepherd Francis and the true Voice of St. Peter found in real Popes (all underlining added for emphasis):
Now We consider another abundant source of the evils with which the Church is afflicted at present: indifferentism. This perverse opinion is spread on all sides by the fraud of the wicked who claim that it is possible to obtain the eternal salvation of the soul by the profession of any kind of religion, as long as morality is maintained. Surely, in so clear a matter, you will drive this deadly error far from the people committed to your care. With the admonition of the apostle that "there is one God, one faith, one baptism" [Eph 4:5] may those fear who contrive the notion that the safe harbor of salvation is open to persons of any religion whatever. They should consider the testimony of Christ Himself that "those who are not with Christ are against Him," [Lk 11:23] and that they disperse unhappily who do not gather with Him. Therefore "without a doubt, they will perish forever, unless they hold the Catholic faith whole and inviolate" [Athanasian Creed]. Let them hear Jerome who, while the Church was torn into three parts by schism, tells us that whenever someone tried to persuade him to join his group he always exclaimed: "He who is for the See of Peter is for me." A schismatic flatters himself falsely if he asserts that he, too, has been washed in the waters of regeneration. Indeed Augustine would reply to such a man: "The branch has the same form when it has been cut off from the vine; but of what profit for it is the form, if it does not live from the root?" (Pope Gregory XVI, Encyclical Mirari Vos, n. 13) Condemned: "Every man is free to embrace and profess that religion which, guided by the light of reason, he shall consider true." Condemned: "Man may, in the observance of any religion whatever, find the way of eternal salvation, and arrive at eternal salvation." (Pope Pius IX, Syllabus of Errors, nn. 15-16)
Notice also that by no means was Francis simply "being nice" to unbelievers, as some might object. Rather, he explicitly encouraged them to remain in their unbelief, by using as their spiritual guide the blasphemous Koran, which they falsely believe to be inspired by God. He explicitly told them that their adherence (which he called "faith") to the teachings of that diabolical document would produce for them spiritual benefit! For Francis, this is just one more occasion of ensuring that those outside the Catholic Church will see no need to ever enter, despite the fact that the holy Catholic faith teaches dogmatically and infallibly that no salvation is had outside of the Church, the Ark of Salvation, just as no one was spared from the flood except those inside of Noah's Ark, as Pope Pius IX taught in no uncertain terms:
Faith orders Us to hold that out of the Apostolic Roman Church no person can be saved, that it is the only ark of salvation, and that whoever will not enter therein shall perish in the waters of the deluge. (Pope Pius IX, Allocution Singulari Quadam)
Yes, Faith does indeed require us to hold this, and it is this very Faith which Jorge Bergoglio does not possess or teach. Likewise, the Council of Florence was rather unmistakable in its dogmatic proclamation on the necessity of dying united to the Catholic Church as a sine qua non condition for salvation:
[This council] firmly believes, professes, and proclaims that those not living within the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and schismatics cannot become participants in eternal life, but will depart "into everlasting firewhich was prepared for the devil and his angels" [Matt. 25:41], unless before the end of life the same have been added to the flock; and that the unity of the ecclesiastical body is so strong that only to those remaining in it are the sacraments of the Church of benefit for salvation, and do fastings, almsgiving, and other functions of piety and exercises of Christian service produce eternal reward, and that no one, whatever almsgiving he has practiced, even if he has shed blood for the name of Christ, can be saved, unless he has remained in the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church. (Council of Florence, Decree Cantate Domino; Denz. 714; underlining added.)
Would anyone seriously assert that Francis believes this? Of course he doesn't! Back in July '13, the Argentinian Antipope had already told Muslim refugees that the observance of Ramadan would bring them "abundant spiritual fruit", and to the Jews he refuses to preach Christ because he believes they are still God's Chosen People and have their own valid covenant with the Almighty, alongside the covenant instituted by Christ. Even for atheists he has already hinted at salvation if they but "do good", and to Catholics he said they need not be concerned about the Last Judgment but instead look forward to it with "joy." (The only ones currently facing his wrath are the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate for simply preferring the Latin 1962 Missal.) This is abominable. This is wicked. This is anti-Christ! The words of St. Paul, Apostle to the Gentiles, have perhaps never been more applicable than now:
But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema. As we said before, so now I say again: If any one preach to you a gospel, besides that which you have received, let him be anathema. For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:8-10)
Jorge Bergoglio preaches a false gospel. Let him be anathema!
Francis confirms Muslims in Unbelief
The “Gospel” according to Bergoglio…
Francis Again Confirms Muslim Refugees in Unbelief, says their “Faith” will help them to “Move On”
Antipope Francis never misses an opportunity to hide the Gospel from those who need it most: the unbelievers. Whether they be Jews, Muslims, Pagans, or atheists, Francis never tires of telling people to do anything other than embrace the only true religion, the Catholic Faith; he thus deliberately impedes any potential conversion.
His latest attack on the Gospel in the presence of hapless unbelievers was perpetrated on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2014, when His Hereticalness attended a meeting with foreign refugees in the Roman parish of the Sacred Heart (see video above).
in Novus Ordo Wire Antichrist, Francis, Heresy, Indifferentism, Interreligious Dialogue, Islam 0
Thu Jul 18th, 2019 1151664114646863873
@cactusstack Yes. Although even if it weren’t, it would still be authoritative. Catholics must submit to everything the Church teaches, not just the infallible stuff.
View tweet on TwitterIn reply to Aloysius Churchgate
@AloysiusChurch It’s an act of apostasy.
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Plaxico’s wife counts the days until husband leaves prison
By Steve Serby
HOME FRONT: Plaxico Burress' wife, Tiffany Burress, at the family's New Jersey home with son Elijah and daughter Giovanna. N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg
TOTOWA, N.J. — There is a pretty, strong woman inside a palatial six-bedroom mansion on a hill with a breathtaking view.
There is a sweet four-year-old boy who on this day decides to put on a pair of boxing gloves to pummel his Uncle Justin.
There is an 18-month-old girl who relishes the role of drama queen.
There is a former New York Football Giant Super Bowl hero in protective custody inside a tiny cell on a bed too small for him inside the Oneida Correctional Facility in upstate Rome, N.Y.
THE NIGHT PLAXICO BURRESS’ FAMILY’S LIFE CHANGED
Vince Lombardi may have coined the term, but few know what it means to run to daylight better than Plaxico Burress does now.
Out of the darkness of his shame and guilt and into the arms of a wife named Tiffany who longs for a full-time husband again. Out of the long arm of the law and into the arms of a little boy named Elijah who looks just like him and a little girl named Giovanna who does not know what it is like to be spoiled by the towering figure she runs to during jailhouse visits crying out “Da-da.”
All this sorrow and loneliness later, years after Super Bowl XLII, Plaxico Burress has learned the hard way, the hard time way, that knowing he will soon be a free agent again is so much more trivial, so much less significant, than knowing he will be a free man again.
“Every time I think about it, I just get tears in my eyes, happy tears. Just so excited that he’ll actually be out and just . . . be free,” Tiffany Burress tells The Post in an exclusive interview. “Be a free man and be able to come home back to this family.”
Burress is slated to be released June 6 after serving a 20-month sentence on a weapons charge.
“Every single day, Elijah wakes up: ‘Is it June? Is it June yet? When’s June?’ ” Tiffany says.
She is a bright, ambitious personal injury attorney for Dario & Yacker who is starting an online maternity clothing line called Joiful. She has spoken with Plaxico virtually every day, visited him approximately 35 times. Elijah talks football with him.
“They talk on the phone every night for 20 minutes,” Tiffany says. “It’s pretty incredible.”
It is better to have a distant father figure than no father figure at all. Plaxico Burress, who grew up without one, can tell you all about that.
“I tell [Elijah] he’s in a correctional facility,” Tiffany says. “I tell him that he violated the laws, and because of that, he has to serve time. I don’t know to the extent that he understands that. When he gets a little bit older, I’ll go into more detail and more depth.”
Plaxico didn’t learn that Giovanna was born until she was five days old.
“Randomly, during that period, they weren’t letting him use the phone, so I actually had to write him a letter,” Tiffany says. “I called while I was in labor and I asked the correctional facility to relay that message to him, but they didn’t.”
There were tears in his eyes and the biggest smile when he held his daughter for the first time, when she was three months old, cooing, “Oh my goodness, my little princess, my little princess! Look at her chubby thighs!”
“I think the most emotional I’ve seen him was the first time that he saw Giovanna,” Tiffany recalls. “I didn’t take her up immediately because I wanted her to have some of her shots and everything to be OK. The only thing that he could experience was the pictures that I was sending him.”
Tiffany was overrun with bittersweet emotion.
“It was sad and happy at the same time,” she says. “Because I was so excited and happy for him to see her, but then it was sad in that he’s not home with her. I have to explain everything to him: ‘This is what her personality is like, this is what she’s doing.’ Whereas if he was home, he would know what she’s like, what she does.”
Plaxico and Tiffany met one night in Pittsburgh when she was celebrating the end of her first semester at Duquesne Law School with girlfriends.
“I remember he had asked me for my number, and then I didn’t give him my number, and I remember he gave me three numbers,” Tiffany says with a laugh. “Who gives somebody three numbers? Who does that?”
She called a month later. Their first date was at Red Lobster.
“I remember we ended up talking for hours,” Tiffany says. “I felt his heart. There was something there, and the more he talked, the more I even liked him even more.”
They wed in the Bahamas on June 12, 2005.
“I knew I was getting ready to marry my best friend,” Tiffany says. “We were just like, ‘Oh, we’re taking the next step in life together.’ ”
Plaxico cried that day, cried when Elijah was born, and she has no doubt he will cry the moment they are together again, when he no longer has to be inmate No. 09R3260, no longer has to walk toward her in that green prison garb and handcuffs.
When she, too, can dry her tears and be freed from her own Heartbreak Hotel.
“I remember when he had asked me if he could have a bed that fit him,” Tiffany says. “He’s 6-6, and the bed is made for somebody that’s a lot shorter than him, so his feet every night hang over the bed.”
It pained her whenever there was no phone call from him, when protective custody became more of a curse than a blessing.
“Whenever [the guards] come around, if you’re not right by the door, then you can’t come out in the evenings during those times,” Tiffany says. “So the day he would just miss it coming out, I knew he was in there 24 hours.”
She never imagined he would be incarcerated for 20 months after pleading guilty to attempted weapons possession in the second degree in the wake of the incident when Plaxico shot himself in the leg with a handgun he brought to a Manhattan nightclub.
“I’m not angry with Mayor Bloomberg because I feel like you should divert your energy in a positive way, but I do definitely feel that Mayor Bloomberg did make an example of him,” Tiffany says. “Because there were cases that were similar to Plaxico’s where [the defendants] only got a year or time even less than that.”
For two Christmases, Plaxico could not wrap the gifts, for two Thanksgivings he could not cook alongside his wife, who continued Plaxico’s tradition of handing out turkeys in his hometown of Virginia Beach. But at least Tiffany could read his heartfelt letters.
“One time he wrote me a poem,” Tiffany says, and stops to laugh. “And I was just like, ‘Oh my, what is this world coming to?’ It was a love poem. He’s never done that before.”
He turns 34 in August, and he has told his wife he feels as if he is in great shape.
“My body feels like the way it did in college,” he tells Tiffany.
A diet heavy on vegetables has made him thinner. And the trademark goatee is gone.
“I was never a fan of that,” Tiffany says. “When I saw him, I couldn’t believe it. ‘Oh my goodness, you shaved it. I can’t believe it!’ And he just started laughing.”
Former Giants teammates Brandon Jacobs, Osi Umenyiora, Michael Strahan, Amani Toomer, David Tyree, Gibril Wilson and co-owner Steve Tisch have visited Plaxico. So have fellow NFL veterans Byron Leftwich and Fred Taylor. Tiffany ran into Eli Manning at a function recently.
“He just said that he felt really bad, and he couldn’t believe that [Plaxico] was actually in there for all this time,” Tiffany says. “He told me to tell him that he asked about him.”
Plaxico wants to return to football, and the Giants are a possible landing spot for the wide receiver.
“I love the Giants,” she says. “I just want to see him happy. Wherever he wants to go, I’ll just support that 100 percent.”
She will fly to Rome, N.Y., on June 5, the day before Plaxico’s release.
“I probably won’t even sleep,” Tiffany says. “I’m hoping that they let him out right at 12:01 or something, right after midnight, since he’s technically free on June 6. It probably won’t happen, but you never know [laugh].”
She is a spiritual woman. A plaque on a wall inside the Burress home reads: Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1.
Plaxico reads the Bible now and sends verses to Tiffany.
“I hope [people] don’t have any negative feelings towards him, and if they do, I hope they can look at it as, ‘OK, if you felt he was wrong, he served his time,’ ” Tiffany says. “I feel like they can at least think of him neutral and not bad.”
A friend has arranged for a private jet to fly straight to their home outside Fort Lauderdale when he is released. When Tiffany told Plaxico she is planning for famed Harlem restaurant Rao’s to cater the meal, he laughed and said, “I’ll be going to the bathroom. I’m not eating that till the plane lands!”
She can hear the happiness and excitement in his voice, a changed man more than ready for two years of probation.
“I think whenever you’re in that situation, you just really realize to appreciate everything that’s given to you, because you go into that situation and everything is taken away from you,” Tiffany says. “So his whole thought process about everything has changed. He appreciates everything.”
A radiant Tiffany Burress looks up at the high ceiling inside their three-story home.
“I love how the light comes in,” she says.
On June 6, finally, Plaxico Burress and his family can run to daylight.
Filed under new york giants
Jets' Sanchez climbing 'leader' of success
'You are homophobic': USWNT star fires back at estranged teammate
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More Obituaries for Albert Finney
Albert Finney was an Oscar-nominated star of movies including “Murder on the Orient Express” (1974), “Annie” (1982), and “Erin Brockovich.” The British actor built his career on the London stage and moved to the big screen with celebrated roles including the lead in 1963's “Tom Jones.” He was a hit as Hercule Poirot in the original adaptation of Agatha Christie's “Murder on the Orient Express,” earning Oscar and BAFTA nominations for Best Actor. He sang as he played Daddy Warbucks in “Annie,” and he portrayed Winston Churchill in the television drama “The Gathering Storm,” winning Emmy, Golden Globe, and BAFTA awards.
We invite you to share condolences for Albert Finney in our Guest Book. For full obituary and coverage from Legacy.com, click here.
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Jonathan Rumbold and Alan Coogan, co-writers of 'An ode to Albert Finney'
Albert Finney Photo
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Dolphins agree to deal with Tyrell Johnson
The Miami Dolphins have agreed to a one-year deal with free agent safety Tyrell Johnson.
Johnson's agent Jack Bechta confirmed the deal.
Johnson has spent the past four seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, playing in 48 games with 132 tackles and two interceptions. Johnson was a regular for the Vikings in 2009, starting all 15 games in which he played.
The past two years, Johnson has been beset by injuries. A knee injury landed him on injured reserve in 2010, and he was bothered by a hamstring injury that limited him to 11 games last season.
Follow me on Twitter @TitanInsider247 and @terrymc13
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On the Campus Student Dispatch: Providing the World With an Inside View of the Nassau Hall Sit-In — in Real Time
By Matthew Silberman ’17
Published in the January 13, 2016 Issue
After the doors of Nassau Hall were locked at 5 p.m. on Nov. 18, the first day of the sit-in by the Black Justice League, no more students were allowed to enter President Eisgruber ’83’s office. Those who had left couldn’t return, and fewer than 20 students remained inside. But thanks to the University Press Club’s “live blog” — written by a member embedded with the protesters in 1 Nassau Hall — students, administrators, and the public could feel as if they also had a seat inside as the protest unfolded.
The live blog consisted of brief, time-stamped updates from inside the president’s office, ranging from rapid-fire exchanges between Eisgruber and the demonstrators to more mundane moments, as when the office printer jammed just as the president was set to sign the agreement that ended the protest.
Gabe Fisher ’17 was the primary contributor to the blog, joining the group of protesters in Eisgruber’s office just minutes before the doors were locked — the only journalist in the room through the end of the sit-in. Other Press Club members had been in the office earlier, and continued to file updates on protest-related events outside Nassau Hall.
Fisher quickly chose the live-blog style of reporting: The constant, short updates satisfy the desire for immediacy that readers have in the digital age, he said, and the Press Club’s live blogs — usually of less serious events, like the final desperate hours before Dean’s Date — have been among the group’s most-read posts.
As candid moments like the printer jam were reported, the blog illustrated that despite the dramatic, sensational quality that the protests had to outsiders, things in the room were still relatively normal, and bounded by the same inconveniences of everyday life.
“In the role of students, we’re able to cover these nationally important events,” Fisher said, “but it’s also an attempt to cover these people not just as protesters or radical activists, but also as college students.”
Esther Maddox ’17, a Black Justice League member who took part in the sit-in, said the group was uncertain at first what it would be like to “work constantly with the public’s eye on our backs.” But the protesters felt the blog ultimately portrayed the events of the sit-in respectfully and accurately, she said, and helped speed the process of reaching an agreement with Eisgruber. “Without it, I think the reaction to what was happening would have been much slower,” she said.
Early on, the Black Justice League asked all reporters to identify themselves, Maddox said. (Other journalists were present as the sit-in began, but all except Fisher left by 9 p.m. the first night.) “The journalists respected our space and understood when it was appropriate for them to be observing and reporting the events that were developing, and when it was time for them to step out and allow us to work,” she said.
Both on and off campus, readers said the blog provided real-time access to the protest and the discussions that ultimately led to an agreement. Even Eisgruber acknowledged that his staff was reading the blog because it was the only way to know what was happening inside his office while he was gone.
After the sit-in was over, Fisher pitched his story to a former Press Club member who had covered a protest in Nassau Hall during his time at Princeton: New Yorker editor-in-chief David Remnick ’81. The result was an article by Fisher for the magazine’s website.
But Fisher downplayed the drama of the protest in an interview with PAW. “It didn’t feel like we were in a war zone at 2 in the morning on a Wednesday night,” he said. “It felt like we were a bunch of college students who had a lot of homework to do, who happened to be in the president’s office.”
Nassau Hall Sit-In
Latino Students Call for Action
At Residential Colleges: No More ‘Masters’
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Featured Authors The evolution of God
By Katherine Federici Greenwood
Published in the September 23, 2009 Issue
Journalist Robert Wright ’79 examines how people’s understanding of God has matured
In exploring the religious texts of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Robert Wright ’79 finds a moral order at work in history.
Barry Munger/Courtesy Hachette Book Group
Believers in the three major monotheistic faiths might find troubling ideas in Robert Wright ’79’s new book, The Evolution of God. For starters, he notes that ancient Israel was polytheistic until the Babylonian exile, during the 6th century B.C., many centuries after Moses is believed to have lived. Jesus probably did say “Love your neighbor,” Wright argues, but he meant love your Jewish neighbors, not all neighbors. As for Islam, Wright says that Muhammad’s utterances expressed in the Koran reflect not God’s will, but the prophet’s pragmatic, political calculations.
“I wouldn’t expect devout believers in any of the three Abrahamic faiths to be happy with my depiction of how their traditions developed, because it’s told from the point of view of someone who does not subscribe to their claims of special revelation,” says Wright, whose book, published in June by Little, Brown and Company, explores what the Scriptures reveal about the unfolding of the three religions and about people’s understanding of God.
The conceptions of God as expressed in the Hebrew Bible, The New Testament, and the Koran are driven by what Wright says are the political and economic situations of the writers of those texts, not by any divine revelation handed down from on high. When the Scripture writers perceived their fortunes to be intertwined with the fortunes of others — a win-win relationship — the God in the texts became more tolerant and benign. But if the writers perceived win-lose scenarios — that their people’s fortunes were inversely related to the fortunes of others — their God appeared more belligerent.
For example, based on Wright’s analysis, Jesus probably was a nationalistic Jew focused on the salvation of Israel only — and there are passages in the gospels that reflect Jesus’ enmity toward non-Israelites. It was the apostle Paul, not Jesus, who saw the advantage of preaching universal love that crosses national and ethnic boundaries — the better to spread the movement across the Roman empire. Jesus’ character and utterances in the Scriptures were made more compassionate long after he died, Wright argues.
The God of all three faiths, he writes, over time grows progressively more tolerant of other faiths and nations and less vengeful — albeit with some backsliding here and there. Why? Because as people’s social interactions expanded, they increasingly saw their fortunes as interrelated. God grew with them.
A journalist who specializes in evolutionary psychology and writes about a range of issues related to technology, religion, and foreign policy, Wright has taught philosophy at Princeton and religion at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a senior fellow at the New America Foundation and editor-in-chief of Bloggingheads.tv, a video Web site where journalists, scholars, and authors discuss current issues.
In his books, Wright has examined moral behavior from different angles. In The Moral Animal: Why We Are the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology (1994), he argued that certain aspects of human behavior (such as love and sacrifice) are products of natural selection. In Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny (2000), he laid out his thinking that moral progress is based on the growing recognition of our interdependence on other people — what Wright refers to as “non-zero sumness.” He spent nearly 10 years researching and writing The Evolution of God, including a year as a visiting fellow at Princeton, where he used the time to get up to speed on the Hebrew Bible.
The moral progress that Wright sees at work in history and in religious texts, he argues, might be evidence of a “higher purpose” — what some people call the divine or God. By this, Wright means a kind of deism in which purpose in nature was imbued at the beginning and follows physical laws. Wright says he’s “almost a little more religious than the term agnostic implies. I do believe there is some sort of larger purpose at work. Although I’m not sure.”
Wright started out on this book with questions about the contemporary world: Can religion and science coexist? Can believers in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam get along today? To the first question, Wright points to a Jewish thinker born near the end of the first century B.C., Philo of Alexandria. Philo had an abstract notion of God as “logos” — a logic driving life and history and “moving human beings closer to wisdom and thus closer to God’s perspective,” says Wright. Many elements of Philo’s conception of God are “viable even in a scientific world,” he says.
The evolution of God
Books and arts
books_and_arts
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Loving one's neighbors
By Christopher L. Webber ’53
Short stories by Ames '87
The worker
How a cross-country trek defined the life of one of Princeton’s first social scientists
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Bastiat criticizes the socialists of wanting to be the “Great Mechanic” who would run the “social machine” in which ordinary people were merely so many lifeless cogs and wheels (1848)
From: Economic Harmonies (FEE ed.) (Frédéric Bastiat)
By: Frédéric Bastiat
Theme: Socialism & Interventionism
The French economist Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850) accused the socialists of wanting to create an “artificial” organisation by using coercion in which they would be the “Great Mechanic” who would run the “social machine,” and where ordinary people would be so many lifeless cogs and wheels to be manipulated (1848):
The moving parts are men, that is, beings capable of learning, reflecting, reasoning, of making errors and of correcting them, and consequently of making the mechanism itself better or worse. They are capable of pain and pleasure, and in that respect they are not only the wheels, but the springs of the machine. They are also the motive forces, for the source of the power is in them. They are more than that, for they are the ultimate object and raison d’être of the mechanism, since in the last analysis the problems of its operation must be solved in terms of their individual pain or pleasure.*
Now, it has been observed, and, alas, the observation has not been a difficult one to make, that in the operation, the evolution, and even the progress (by those who accept the idea that there has been progress) of this powerful mechanism, many moving parts were inevitably, fatally, crushed; that, for a great number of human beings, the sum of unmerited sufferings far exceeded the sum of enjoyments.
In our day people talk a great deal about inventing a new order. Is it certain that any thinker, regardless of the genius we grant him and the authority we give him, could invent and operate successfully an order superior to the one whose results I have just described?
What would it be in terms of its moving parts, its springs, and its motive forces?
The moving parts are men, that is, beings capable of learning, reflecting, reasoning, of making errors and of correcting them, and consequently of making the mechanism itself better or worse. They are capable of pain and pleasure, and in that respect they are not only the wheels, but the springs of the machine. They are also the motive forces, for the source of the power is in them. They are more than that, for they are the ultimate object and raison d’être of the mechanism, since in the last analysis the problems of its operation must be solved in terms of their individual pain or pleasure.
Faced with this fact, many sincere and generous-hearted men have lost faith in the mechanism itself. They have repudiated it; they have refused to study it; they have attacked, often violently, those who have investigated and expounded its laws; they have risen up against the nature of things; and, in a word, they have proposed to organize society according to a new plan in which injustice, suffering, and error could have no place.
In an article “Natural and Artificial Organisations” (later a chapter in his book Economic Harmonies) Bastiat stated that there were two ways in which societies could be organised, by “artificial” means such as coercion and central planning, or by “natural” means such as voluntary cooperation and exchange in the market. Socialists believed in “artificial kinds of organisation” which could be designed and built by well-meaning social reformers like Louis Blanc or Victor Considerant. The socialists’s big mistake he argued was to think that individual human beings were inanimate objects (like metal cogs and wheels, or pieces of putty, or plants and tress) who could be manipulated by a central planner, designer, “mechanic,” or gardiner and not thinking, choosing, acting individuals with free will. For these reformers, societies or economies were just “les inventions sociales” (social inventions or creations) and individuals were like pieces of putty in their hands which could be molded into any shape they wished, or like bushes which could be clipped into strange shapes by “social gardeners.” Bastiat, on the other hand, believed in “natural kinds of organisation.” These types of organisations emerged “providentially” or “spontaneously” (to use Hayek’s term) and evolved gradually over time. Their operation could be studied by economists empirically from the outside, or by introspection from the inside (as it were). A big difference with the socialist model of organisation was that Bastiat believed that the “cogs and wheels” which comprised the social mechanism were thinking, choosing, acting individuals with free will and personal interests they were pursuing.
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Tag Archives: New York
Book of the Week — The Pit and the Pendulum
Edgar Allan Poe, John DePol, New York, South Street Seaport Museum, wood engravings
Very suddenly there came back to my soul motion and sound — the tumultuous motion of the heart, and, in my ears, the sound of its beating. Then a pause in which all is blank. Then again sound, and motion, and touch — a tingling sensation pervading my frame. Then the mere consciousness of existence, without thought — a condition which lasted long. Then, very suddenly, thought, and shuddering terror, and earnest endeavor to comprehend my true state. Then a strong desire to lapse into insensibility. Then a rushing revival of soul and a successful effort to move.
The Pit and the Pendulum
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)
New York: South Street Seaport Museum, 1991
PS2618 P5 1991
Wood engravings by John DePol. Edition of 150 copies, signed by the artist.
On Jon’s Desk: A Look at Pioneer Heritage through Missouri Mormon Redress Documents
Posted by Jonathan Bingham in On Jon's Desk
1838, 1847, Brigham Young, Caldwell County, Carthage Jail, Christopher S. Bond, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Davies County, Emigration Canyon, Extermination Order, Far West, Great Salt Lake Valley, Hyrum Smith, Illinois, Jackson County, Jon Bingham, Joseph Smith, July 24th, LDS Church, Lilburn W. Boggs, Missouri, Missouri Mormon Redress Documents, Mormon War, Mormons, Nauvoo, Nauvoo Legion, New York, Pioneer Day, pioneers, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, This is the Place, Winter Quarters
Missouri Executive Order Number 44:
Headquarters of the Militia,
City of Jefferson, Oct. 27, 1838.
Gen. John B. Clark:
Sir: Since the order of this morning to you, directing you to cause four hundred mounted men to be raised within your division, I have received by Amos Reese, Esq., of Ray county, and Wiley C. Williams, Esq., one of my aids [sic], information of the most appalling character, which entirely changes the face of things, and places the Mormons in the attitude of an open and avowed defiance of the laws, and of having made war upon the people of this state. Your orders are, therefore, to hasten your operation with all possible speed. The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the state if necessary for the public peace – their outrages are beyond all description. If you can increase your force, you are authorized to do so to any extent you may consider necessary. I have just issued orders to Maj. Gen. Willock, of Marion county, to raise five hundred men, and to march them to the northern part of Daviess, and there unite with Gen. Doniphan, of Clay, who has been ordered with five hundred men to proceed to the same point for the purpose of intercepting the retreat of the Mormons to the north. They have been directed to communicate with you by express, you can also communicate with them if you find it necessary. Instead therefore of proceeding as at first directed to reinstate the citizens of Daviess in their homes, you will proceed immediately to Richmond and then operate against the Mormons. Brig. Gen. Parks of Ray, has been ordered to have four hundred of his brigade in readiness to join you at Richmond. The whole force will be placed under your command.
I am very respectfully,
yr obt st [your obedient servant],
W. Boggs,
Missouri Mormon Redress Documents
When, as a young man in his teens, Joseph Smith, Jr. announced he had received a vision in which he met God the Father and Jesus Christ, it did not sit well with many of those who heard the news. From that time forward Smith experienced strong opposition to his religious beliefs and endeavors. He persisted, and at the age of 24 (in 1830) he founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. From its humble origins in western New York this church grew, never quite able to escape opposition and its consequential persecution due to the nature of the Church’s origin and its differences in doctrine from other Christian denominations.
Most people in Utah are familiar with the pioneer heritage members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often referred to as Mormons or LDS) share and their propensity for celebration of Pioneer Day (July 24th) because of it. A celebration of the day Brigham Young (Joseph Smith, Jr.’s successor and second president of the LDS church) reached the Salt Lake valley via horse-drawn wagon in 1847, Pioneer Day is a reminder to those belonging to the LDS church of the rewards which result from enduring persecution through faith. Emerging from Emigration Canyon and stopping on top of a hill, the enfeebled Brigham Young, sick with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, viewed the valley from the back of the wagon he was riding in and proclaimed, “It is enough. It is the right place. Drive on.” Young’s statement referred to a vision the leader had previously experienced about the place where the Latter-day Saints would settle and “make the desert blossom like a rose,” and where they would build their State of Deseret. As the wagon train descended into the valley the words “this is the place” spread throughout it, the joyous hope rising that, after almost two decades of conflict with neighbors wherever they went, they would finally find a reprieve from religious intolerance – the original American dream, one might argue.
In 1831, amidst rising opposition and persecution in New York, Joseph Smith and his followers relocated to Kirtland, Ohio. Soon thereafter, some having gone even farther west to proselytize (although unsuccessfully) amongst Native American Indian tribes, a group of Smith’s followers established an outpost in Jackson County, Missouri. Smith planned to move the Church’s headquarters there, but before he could other Missouri settlers (not of the LDS faith) expelled the Mormons from the county. The Missouri Mormons relocated to the north in Davies and Caldwell Counties and the Kirtland Mormons enjoyed some prosperity, until in 1838 when a financial scandal involving the failure of the Kirtland Safety Society led to the relocation of a large number of the Mormons living in Kirtland to Far West, Missouri. This increase in Mormon population led to additional tension, developing into a series of violent conflicts with their neighbors (sometimes called the 1838 Mormon War). Believing the Mormons to be in open rebellion, Governor Lilburn W. Boggs (sixth Governor of Missouri from 1836 to 1840) issued Missouri Executive Order Number 44, commonly called the “Extermination Order” because in it he wrote, “The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the state if necessary for the public peace…” The Missouri militia followed Governor Boggs’ order, and the Mormons were brutally expelled from the state, losing the property they had legally purchased without any recompense.
Having been driven from Missouri, the Mormons relocated to Illinois, where they converted swamp land along the banks of the Mississippi River (which no one else wanted at the time) into a thriving town. They named it Nauvoo. With a strong militia (the Nauvoo Legion, commanded by Joseph Smith) and the fastest growing population in the state due to Mormon proselytization in Europe, done primarily in England at the time, Nauvoo became a major political concern for those in the state not belonging to the LDS faith. Once again conflict arose. In June of 1844, Joseph and his brother Hyrum, along with a few other LDS leaders, were held for treason in the jail at Carthage, Illinois. On June 27th a group of armed men stormed the jail and murdered Joseph and Hyrum Smith. For the next two years a succession struggle occurred within the LDS membership while tension continued to build between the Mormons and their neighbors. After a more negotiated settlement than had occurred in Missouri took place, Brigham Young led (over a frozen Mississippi River) those who would follow him west, first to Winter Quarters, Nebraska and then to the Great Salt Lake valley.
Redress for the events that occurred in Missouri in 1838 was not made until 1976 when Missouri Governor Christopher S. “Kit” Bond rescinded the “Extermination Order” and offered an official apology on behalf of the state of Missouri. Speaking at an event in 2010 he said, “”We cannot change history, but we certainly ought to be able to learn from it and where possible acknowledge past mistakes. That was what motivated me to rescind the extermination order in 1976.” While the recension of the law that made it legal to kill Mormons in Missouri until 1976 was undoubtedly a move in the right direction, and the sentiment that learning from past mistakes is a good one, it is also good that there is a day to contemplate the events that led to the building of a strength of character encompassing a group of people who never gave up on the original American dream. Perhaps knowing that they had finally arrived at a place where they could follow it was all the redress they really needed. It must have felt amazing to be in that dusty wagon train descending into the Great Salt Lake valley on July 24, 1847 and hearing the words, “this is the place.”
~ Contributed by Jon Bingham, Rare Books Curator
KUED’s VERVE features Rare Books in “Artists’ Books”
Posted by rarebooks in Video
accordion, acrylic paint, Alicia Bailey, Alise Alousi, altered books, American Southwest, American West, Arches 90 lb., artists' books, Barry McCallion, Basingwerk, BFK, binding, birch, blankets, bookseller, Bradypress, bullet, Canson, Carolyn Hull, Carrier Pigeon, chapbook, Chinese, CMC, collage, collector, Connecticut, Daniel Kelm, deceit, desert, East Hampton, embossed paper, enamel, feathers, felt tip marker, Ferrum Wheel Press, galley proofs, gelatin, gesso, goatskin, gold tooling, Goudy, Goudy Bold, Granary Books, graph paper, Graphite, handmade paper, Harvard, hatchet, hoax, ink, inkjet, James Turrell, Japanese, Jen Bervin, Joelle Webber, John Van Dyke, KUED, l;oop, Lake City, laserfoil, laserprinted, leather, leporello, letterpress, maps, metal, Middletown, mixed media, Mohawk Via, Nebraska, New York, New York City, Omaha, Owen Wister, paper-mache, pens, photograph, pigment, pistol, poem, Portland, rare books, Ravenpress, Richard de Bas, Rick Moody, rifle, Robin Price, Roden Crater, Rutgers University, Saint Armand, Santa Monica, shovel, silk, stones, suede, sumi, Thomas Ingmire, Timothy C. Ely, trains, VERVE, voyeurism, Walt Whitman, watercolor, Wave Books Poetry Bus Tour, wax, white-out correction, Wide Awake Garage, wooden nickel
“Artists’ books are…a blown-up conference of multiple elements.”
KUED‘s online video series, VERVE, features artist’s books from the rare book collections in “Artists’ Books,” episode 5, season 6, “Its All About the Book.”
Here are some of the pieces chosen by the Rare Books staff for this episode:
Timothy C. Ely
Portland, OR: T. Ely, 1995
N7433.4 E35 A7 1995
The book is drawn on BFK gray paper that was brush-sized with gelatin and CMC, then under painted with CMC and acrylic paint. Other materials include ink, Graphite, and watercolor. Each folio is sewn onto four raised cords that, on completion of the sewing, were laced into birch plywood boards. The end bands are silk worked over cores of leather. The spine of the book is goatskin. The board pastedowns are painted paper. The boards have a small amount of gold tooling suggestive of one part of the history and technology of the art of binding. Otherwise the cover boards are painted. The book is contained in a wooden box.
Hunting the Burn
Lake City, CO: Ravenpress, 1998
N7433.4 B22 H86 1998
Two-sided leporello with self in-folded covers and removable spines. One side is Carolyn Hull’s poem “Hunting the Burn,” laserprinted on Basingwerk, overcoated with wax and pigment; the other side is a panoramic painting by Alicia Bailey, digitally reworked and printed with color inkjet on Arches 90 lb. cover and overcoated with wax. Four of the twelve panels have hand-cut rectangular openings with mixed media insertions. Covers are black Canson with hand applied enamel. Title piece is laserfoil on black paper. Spine pieces are black embossed paper laminated to black Canson. The box is paper-mache, gesso and pigmented wax. Box top has metal mesh and hemp-wrapped, wax-covered bullet attached. Inside box are stones and feathers. Edition of twenty copies, signed by Alicia Bailey and Carolyn Hull. Rare Books copy is no. 10.
Surplus Value Books: Catalog Number 13
Santa Monica, CA: Danger! Books, 2002
N7433.4 M644 S6 2002
Deluxe edition presented as a collector’s box, containing two pens, one felt tip marker, one white-out correction pen, one pencil, one wooden nickel, one photograph with loop, seven photographs of “original artwork for placement only,” and other items. Text is composed in the form of galley proofs. Upon removing the galley holding the text, the reader is presented with a removable panel resembling a hospital release checklist. Holes cut into this panel reveal the objects contained below. The collectible objects in the box act as literal illustrations to the story. The narrator of the story is a bookseller, collector, mental patient. The story is told through the description of books for sale in the bookseller’s catalog. Values are assigned to each item in the catalog according to the bookseller’s inherent personal desire for each item. Themes of value, voyeurism, and deceit are presented as a pathology of collecting through the multiple layering of information and the revealing of objects of desire that are contained in the collector’s box. This work was first published in offset. Collector’s box constructed by Daniel Kelm at Wide Awake Garage. Rare Books copy is lettered “H.”
43, According to Robin Price with Annotated…
Robin Price
Middletown, CT: Robin Price, 2007
N7433.4 P753 A15 2007
From the colophon: “Paper maps from locations along the 43rd parallel are bound in an accordion that structurally supports the main text, which is printed on graph paper and also hinged together as an accordion (opening to 20 ft.)…The unusual double-layer accordion, housed in a printed cloth-covered clamshell box, is co-designed and co-produced by Daniel Kelm at Wide Awake Garage…” Edition of eighty-six plus twelve deluxe copies. Rare books copy is no. 23.
The Desert: Further Studies in Natural Appearances
Jen Bervin
New York City: Granary Books, 2008
N7433.4 B47 D47 2008
An altered book is a form of mixed media artwork that takes a book from its original form into a different form, altering its meaning. The artist may take an old or new book and cut, tear, glue, burn, fold, paint, add collage, create pop-ups, rubber-stamp, drill, bolt or be-ribbon the book to create a new work that is the expression of the artist. In this case, it is the text that is altered — by sewing over certain passages and leaving others exposed. The text from which Jen Bervin’s poem emerges is The Desert, written by John Van Dyke (1856-1932), a professor of Art History at Rutgers University. Van Dyke, the author of several books on art theory of the Art-For-Art’s-Sake school, claimed to have spent three years in the American Southwest desert with only his fox terrier for company and a pony for transportation. According to Van Dyke, he carried with him a rifle, a pistol, a hatchet, a shovel, blankets, tin pans and cups, dried food and a gallon of water. His romantic rhapsody of this trip, published in 1901, was a big hit, extremely influential and remains in print. In fact, Van Dyke saw most of the great desert over which he swooned looking out the windows of trains on his way from one first-class hotel to another. The Desert, version 1901, is the fact-faulted, fantastic hoax of a well-bred, well-educated Easterner, in much the same way that Harvard-educated New Englander Owen Wister’s novel The Virginian (1902) is a glorification of an American West culture that didn’t exist. Prose poem adaptation with overlay of zig zag stitches in pale blue thread. Composed and sewn at James Turrell’s Roden Crater on the Wave Books Poetry Bus Tour in October, 2006. Housed in a hinged archival case. Issued in a wrapper of white muslim cloth and white felt stitched together with blue thread.
Justice: What is Justice?
Thomas Ingmire
T. Ingmire, 2009
N7433.4 I48 J87 2008
Handmade paper mounted over board, Chinese Sumi ink, wide-edged pen (Automatic pen), Japanese brush.
Alise Alousi
Omaha, NE: Bradypress, 2011
PS3551 L665 T36 2011
The Latest Things in Kites
Christopher Fritton
Ferrum Wheel Press, 2014
PS3606 R58 L37 2014
Artist’s statement: “A chapbook produced for Carrier Pigeon magazine as as tip-in, The Latest Things in Kites borrows language and its title from a chapter in the book, Fun for Boys. The chapbook is a single-sheet, four-page fold-over with rounded corners and a small embroidery thread tail. Handset in 14pt Goudy Bold and 10pt Goudy with antique copper cuts on Mohawk Via vellum. Hand letterpressed.” Edition of 1200 copies.
Whitman Crosshatch
Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
East Hampton, NY: 2015
PS3222 A7 2015
Stop and Smell the (Arctic) Flowers
Posted by rarebooks in Uncategorized
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19th century, Abraham Small, Alaska, American, animals, Arctic, Atlantic Ocean, bookplate, botany, British Royal Navy, Brooklyn, Canadian Arctic Archipelago, climate, Department of Botany, drawings, Elisha Kent Kane, Emily Dickinson, Europe, explorers, Exquimaux, fauna, flora, Fury, George Frances Lyon, Greenland, Gripper, Hecla, Henry Parkyns Hoppner, ice, icebergs, illustrations, Inuit, James Christie, James Clark Ross, James Walsh, John Ross, Keeper of the Herbaria, lichen, London, Lyuba Basin, moss, New York, Nicholas Polunin, North America, Northwest Passage, Norwegian, Oxford, Philadelphia, Roald Amundsen, scurvy, ships, Sir John Franklin, William Edward Parry, William Parry
As if some little Arctic flower
Upon the polar hem –
Went wandering down the Latitudes
Until it puzzled came
To continents of summer –
To firmaments of sun –
To strange, bright crowds of flowers –
And birds, of foreign tongue!
The Northwest Passage was the name given to the sea route which connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific along the northern coast of North America via the waterways in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Toward the end of the 15th century and into the 20th century, colonial powers from Europe sent their best explorers on countless attempts to discover a commercial route, with many failing and turning back and others ending in disaster. The first successful journey was made in 1906 by a Norwegian explorer named Roald Amundsen, completing the passage from Greenland to Alaska.
Prior to Amundsen, notable captains such as John Ross, Elisha Kent Kane, James Clark Ross and William Parry explored separate parts of the Northwest Passage in the first half of the 19th century. Parry’s first voyage was, without a doubt, the most successful in the search for the passage and his second and third attempts continued to uncover new information about the mysterious archipelago, including research on climate, flora and fauna. In fact, the notes taken by Parry and his shipmates and recorded in three separate journals contributed to crucial research in botany, among other natural sciences.
Journal of a Voyage of the Discovery of a North-West Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific
Philadelphia: Abraham Small, 1821
First American Edition
G635 P3 A3 1821
Between 1821-1825 three ships from the British Royal Navy, the Fury, Hecla, and the Gripper, took three separate journeys into the Arctic under the leadership of Captain Parry and Captains John Ross and George Frances Lyon. While their expeditions proved to be successful, they were not without tragedy as scurvy became common and ships were often stuck in ice for weeks on end. Narratives of the journeys were published in London and Philadelphia, respectively, with detailed accounts of the days on board as well as their interactions with the Inuit, described as Esquimaux in the journals.
Journal of a Third Voyage of the Discovery of a North-West Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific
Philadelphia: H.C. Carey I. Lea, 1826
G650 1824 P31
A Brief Narrative of an Unsuccessful Attempt to Reach Repulse Bay
G.F. Lyon
London: J. Murray, 1825
G 650 1824 L9 1825
In addition, the journals included spectacular illustrations of the ships amid the looming icebergs and intricate appendices which accounted for the varieties of animals and plants that they encountered along the way. Among one of the shipmates that helped with the drawings and collecting data was Henry Parkyns Hoppner, listed as ‘lieutenant’ on the Griper in the first journal’s roster. Hoppner accompanied Parry on all three expeditions, first as a lieutenant on the Griper and Hecla, and later promoted to second in command on the Fury in the last voyage. Although Hoppner never received the kind of international acclaim as his Captains, his creative and artistic role on board as illustrator and actor proved to leave an impression.
Collection of Plants Found in the Arctic Regions…
Henry Parkyns Hoppner (1795 – 1833)
Publisher not identified, 1821
QK 474 H66
Impressions are also what we find in this small and unassuming book. From each of the pressed flowers, a ghostly accompaniment is imprinted on the opposite page, hinting at traces of life as much from the colorful flowers as from the hands of the shipmate who collected them. Impressions are also present as the handwritten notes inked on the beginning and end pages of the book. With no bibliographic information, we can only look to a small note which describes the book as “a collection of plants found in the Arctic Sections … made by Captain Hopner … 2nd in command of H.M.S. “Fury” … The “Fury” and “Hecla” (Captain Lyon) sailed to discover the N.W. passage May 1821.” Following the description, the book is addressed to Hoppner’s friend James Christie.
Attached to a page, there is also a miniature envelope that holds “moss which Franklin and his party had as their only food.” It is possible that this note alludes to the failed overland expeditions in the Arctic lead by Sir John Franklin between 1819-1822. During this time, Franklin lost more than half of the men in his party to starvation and, in order to survive, the remainder of his crew ate lichen, with some attempting to eat their own leather boots. Furthermore, there were rumors of cannibalism and at least one murder reported.
In addition to the handwritten notes, a bookplate on the first page suggests that sometime during the mid-20th century the book was held in the Department of Botany in Oxford while Nicholas Polunin was the Keeper of the Herbaria, which is now almost four hundred years old. While lecturing at Oxford, Polunin traveled to the Canadian Arctic as a botanist on an expedition that discovered the last major islands to be added to the world’s map.
Polunin was well recognized for his research and publications, specifically Circumpolar Artic Flora which was published in 1959. This book helped inspire James Walsh’ modern herbaria, The Arctic Plants of New York City, which “combines personal letters, poetry, prose essay, scholarly research, botanical exploration and artistic investigation,” of plants gather in Brooklyn, New York. The bibliography includes a reproduction of the index from Polunin’s work, in which the author has marked in red pen the eighty-eight Arctic plants that occur in New York City.
The Arctic Plants of New York City
New York: Granary Books, 2015
QK177 W35 2015
From the publisher’s website: “The Arctic Plants of New York City […] ranges from the Doctrine of Signatures to the sleep of plants, and from Jean-Jacques Rousseau and John Muir on mental travel to Giacomo Leopardi and Charles Baudelaire on the necessity of illusion for art and life. Interspersed throughout the book are a number of two-page spreads that focus on a single plant, such as Common Mugwort, with a mounted botanical specimen of that plant surrounded by texts drawn from earlier writers on botany and set in verse, creating a field of word-objects interacting with plant-objects. The letters that open the book lead into a prose essay that touches on the souls of plants, their use in medicine and as spurs to mental travel, their transience, their migrations, their meaning.” Written, designed, and letterpress printed by James Walsh, with eighteen botanical specimens pressed and mounted by the author. Bound by Daniel Kelm at Wide Awake Garage. Edition of forty copies, 34 of which are for sale.
~Contributed by Lyuba Basin, Rare Books
Posted by rarebooks in Events, Recommended Reading
≈ Comments Off on The Great American Read
Adolfo Bioy Casares, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, American, Ayn Rand, banned, Barrington J. Bailey, Bob Johnson, book collecting, Boston, Carlos Ruiz Zafón, Cold War, D. H. Lawrence, dust jackets, Ecclesiastes, English, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Frankenstein: or, Greek, Heinemann, Henry Miller, Holden Caulfield, Houghton Mifflin Company, J. D. Salinger, J. R. R. Tolkien, J. Willard Marriott Library, Jack London, James Agee, Kurt Vonnegut, literature, London, Luise Putcamp, Luise Putcamp Johnson, Margaret Atwood, New York, novel, Pan, Philip K. Dick, protest, rare books, Ray Bradbury, reading, rebellion, Robert A. Heinlein, Robert Hersel Johnson, Scribner, Second World War, Special Collections, the 100 list, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Great American Read, The University of Utah, Thomas Wolfe, Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, Ursula K. LeGuin, Wilkie Collins, William Kennedy, William Saroyan
Luise Putcamp and Bob Johnson, reading
“It’s up to you how you waste your time and money. I’m staying here to read: life’s too short.”
― Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind
Rare Books salutes The Great American Read by inviting you to visit the Special Collections Reading Room on level 4 of the J. Willard Marriott Library to hold first editions of some of the classics included on the 100 list.
Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World
“My hours of leisure I spent in reading the best authors, ancient and modern, being always provided with a good number of books…”
Frankenstein: Or, the Modern Prometheus
“My education was neglected, yet I was passionately fond of reading.”
“‘…and what is the use of a book,’ thought Alice ‘without pictures or conversation?'”
“It consisted in a peculiar bird-like turn, a sort of liquid warble, produced by touching the tongue to the roof of the mouth at short intervals in the midst of the music—the reader probably remembers how to do it, if he has ever been a boy.”
The Call of the Wild
Jack London (1876-1916)
London: Heinemann, 1903
First English edition
PS3523 O46 C3 1903b
“But especially he loved to run in the dim twilight of the summer midnights, listening to the subdued and sleepy murmurs of the forest, reading signs and sounds as a man may read a book, and seeking for the mysterious something that called — called, waking or sleeping, at all times, for him to come.”
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)
New York: Scribner, 1926
First edition, first issue
PS3515 E37 S9 1926a
“’No; that doesn’t interest me.’
‘That’s because you never read a book about it.’”
The Sun Also Rises was published on October 22, 1926 in a first printing of 5090 copies. A second printing of 2000 copies was issued in November of that same year. By mid-December both printings had sold out. By 1961 the novel had sold more than one million copies.
The first issue of the first printing is noted by these factors: “stopped”, p. 181, line 26 is misspelled “stoppped;” and a quote from Ecclesiastes regarding vanity is on page [viii].
The University of Utah copy has the first issue dust jacket with the error “In Our Times” instead of “In Our Time” on the front panel. This is one of the two most rare and desirable dust jackets in twentieth-century American literature book collecting, the other being the dust jacket from the first issue of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. The dust jacket was printed in gold, black, and tan, with a gold apple on either side of the title and beneath it the figure of a drowsing woman clothed in the style of Greek antiquity. A Pan’s pipe lay near her sandaled foot and another gold apple rested in the palm of her left hand. At the bottom, Hemingway was identified as the author of In Our Times [sic][ and The Torrents of Spring.
Boston: Little, Brown, 1951
PS3537 A426 C3 1951
“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn’t happen much, though.”
A twentieth century American classic, Catcher in the Rye was extremely popular at the time of its publication, especially with young readers who strongly identified with the yearning for lost innocence by the novel’s narrator, Holden Caulfield. The novel added to a budding literary, musical, and artistic theme of youthful rebellion.
Catcher, however, raised a gentle voice of protest over growing militant rhetoric. Published after the triumphant yet devastating Second World War and during a pseudo-peace labeled “the Cold War,” youth in the fifties began protesting what they viewed as the failures of the adult world. Anger, contempt, and self-pity were prevalent in many works of the era, but Catcher captured a much more telling view of the era’s stresses with it’s decent but completely and genuinely perplexed teenager.
The book has been banned repeatedly from various school curricula from the time it was published to the present day.
Handmaid’s Tale
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1986
PR9199.3 A8 H3 1986
“On the floor of the room there were books, open face down, this way and that, extravagantly”
The Rare Books staff offers these suggestions for summer reading, based on the criteria The Great American Read used to gather its 100. The five of us each chose five books. From those the editor savagely (as editors do) and without apparent rhyme or reason (and she will never tell) whittled the list down to this, in alphabetical order by author. Copies may be found in the General Collection on level 2 of the J. Willard Marriott Library.
James Agee, A Death in the Family (1957)
Ray Bradbury, Dandelion Wine (1957)
Adolfo Bioy Casares, The Invention of Morel (1940)
Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White (1859)
Philip K. Dick, A Scanner Darkly (1997)
Robert A. Heinlein, Starship Troopers (1959)
M. M. Kaye, The Far Pavilions (1978)
William Kennedy, Ironweed (1983)
D. H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s Lover (1928)
Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer (1934)
Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead (1943)
William Saroyan, The Human Comedy (1943)
J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit (1937)
Kurt Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle (1963)
Thomas Wolfe, You Can’t Go Home Again (1940)
What do you suggest?
Book of the Week — The Emigrant’s Guide to Oregon and California
Posted by rarebooks in Book of the Week, Donations, Recommended Reading
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California, California Trail, Cincinnati, Conclin, cookstove, Dan Rhoads, deserts, Donner-Reed Party, emigrants, entrepreneur, Fort Bernard, Fort Bridger, Fort Hall, Friends of the Library, grandmother, Great Salt Lake, guidebook, Humboldt River, Illinois, Indians, Jacob Donner, James Reed, Lansford Warren Hastings, Mexicans, Mexico, Michael Wallis, mountains, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oregon, piano, real estate, Roman Catholic Church, San Francisco, Sierra Nevada, Springfield, Sutter's Fort, Truckee Lake, United States, Utah, Virginia Reed, Wasatch Mountains, Weber Canyon
“Remember, never take no cutoffs and hurry along as fast as you can.” — Virginia Reed
The Emigrant’s Guide to Oregon and California
Lansford Warren Hastings (1819-1870?)
Cincinnati: G. Conclin, 1845
F864 H345
On April 29, 1847 the nearly three month-long rescue of survivors of the now-infamous Donner-Reed Party ended. The last surviving member arrived at Sutter’s Fort more than a year after the original party had departed from Springfield, Illinois. The first of the lost souls, located near Truckee Lake in the Sierra Nevada, had been found on February 18. Dan Rhoads, one of the rescuers wrote, “They were gaunt with famine and I never can forget the horrible ghastly sight they presented. The first woman spoke in a hollow voice very much agitated and said ‘are you men from California or do you come from heaven?'”
To get from Illinois to California, the Donner-Reed party had relied, in part, on a bestselling book called The Emigrant’s Guide to Oregon and California. The author was Lansford Warren Hastings, a young real-estate entrepreneur from Ohio who had financial and political interests in California. Hastings, at age twenty-three, had made a trip west in 1842.
The book had almost no practical advice, in spite of the crowing in its preface of providing “a description of the different routes; and all necessary information relative to the equipment, supplies, and the method of traveling” with the caveat that “all excrescences have been cautiously lopped off, leaving scarcely any thing more than a mere collection of interesting, important and practical facts.”
To make up for the lack of “excrescences,” Hastings regaled the reader with lengthy and snarky anecdotes regarding “Californians,” gamblers and drunks all. “How different are the priests of California from those of the same denomination of christians in our own country?”
In his “guide” he depicted Indians as lazy and Mexicans as dishonest, blaming much of the latter on the priests of the Roman Catholic Church.
“At times, I sympathize with these unfortunate beings, but again, I frequently think, that perhaps, are thus ridden and restrained and if they are thus priest ridden, it is, no doubt, preferable, that they should retain their present riders. ”
As for Indians, Hastings’ wrote, with no irony, that they “in numerous instances, abandoned their old haunts, and re-established in other portions of the country, but for what cause, it is difficult to ascertain, with any degree of certainty, for the sites which have been thus abandoned, appear in many instances, to possess advantages much superior, to those which have been subsequently selected.”
Hastings’ “little work,” as he called it, was inspirational to those wishing to escape the crowded conditions and poor economy of the east and Midwest. Hastings’ book promoted the land and climate of California as ideal companions for hardworking “Americans.” His book was read by one of the drivers of the Donner family wagons. A copy of the book, owned by Jacob Donner, much-handled, was found in the saddlebag of one of the travelers.
Hastings’ guidebook had bad information and good.
Good: In Chapter XV Hastings discussed “The Equipment, Supplies, and the Method of Traveling.” First, “All persons, designing to travel by this route, should, invariably, equip themselves with a good gun.” (Indians and/or buffalo.) Second, “It would, perhaps, be advisable for emigrants, not to encumber themselves with any other, than those just enumerated; as it is impracticable for them, to take all the luxuries, to which they have been accustomed; and as it is found, by experience, that, when upon this kind of expedition, they are not desired, even by the most devoted epicurean.”
The Reed family brought with them an invalid grandmother, a piano and an iron cookstove.
Bad: Hastings, eager to sell land in California, encouraged travelers to forget about Oregon and make their way to California, suggesting a cutoff through the Wasatch Mountains, passing to the south of the Great Salt Lake and then across the salt flats to rejoin the California Trail at the Humboldt River. Hastings, who had not, in fact, traveled this route, was sure the shortcut would save travelers valuable time. The passage in Hastings’ guidebook was short and carried no description: “The most direct route, for the California emigrants, would be to leave the Oregon route, about two hundred miles east from Fort Hall; thence bearing west southwest to the Salt Lake; and thence continuing down to the bay of San Francisco, by the route just described.”
The Donner-Reed Party, stopping at Fort Bernard, were warned not to take the route. Still, they had been delayed for one reason or another almost from the start and needed to make up time. The shortcut would enable them to do so. A meeting with an emissary of Hastings, on his way back to Ohio, convinced the Donner-Reed Party even more of this need. In a letter, Hastings warned of the war between the United States and Mexico and advised travelers to take his shortcut of about two hundred miles, promising to meet the emigrants at Fort Bridger and to guide them over the deserts and mountains of his new route, crossing what would become the states of Utah and Nevada. It was a convincing proposal. Hastings never met them. The party found another guide to take them as far as the salt plain west of the Great Salt Lake. Again, others warned against taking this route.
At the mouth of the Weber Canyon the Donner party found a note from Hastings, now guiding another group, advising them that the canyon was impassable with wagons and offering to provide them with yet another route. The company waited while James Reed rode ahead to meet Hastings, who refused to act as guide but showed Reed a potential route to follow. No one in the party saw Hastings again, although they heard from him one more time in the form of a wind-ripped note that warned of two days and nights of hard driving across the desert to reach water. The company plodded on, ignoring a sentence buried only pages away from the cutoff passage in the Hasting guide: “…for, unless you pass over the mountains early in the fall, you are very liable to be detained, by impassable mountains of snow, until the next spring, or, perhaps, forever.”
Thank you, Friends of the Library, for your many gifts to Rare Books over the years, including this historic guide.
Wallis, Michael. The Best Land Under Heaven: The Donner Party in the Age of Manifest Destiny. New York: Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2017
General Collection, Level 2
F868 N5 W36 2017
We recommend — Appendices Pulled from a Study on Light
Posted by rarebooks in Recommended Reading
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acanthus, Anglo-Norman Litany of Saints, April, Boise, border, burnished gold, Cami Nelson, chrysalis, color, Connecticut College, Craig Dworkin, Elizabeth Peterson, eye, Finger Lakes, fragment, France, Geoffrey Babbitt, gilded, gold pavé, gutters, heliotropic, Hobart & William Smith Colleges, Idaho, ink, ivy, Jerry Root, Julie Gonnering Lein, Karen Brennan, Kathryn Cowles, leaf, lift, light, littera gothica textualis, littera gothica textualis formata, Luise Poulton, Marriott Library, National Poetry Month, New York, New York City, Office of the Dead, Paisley Rekdal, Paris, pasture, poet, rare books, rinceaux, scribe, Shira Dentz, Special Collections, Spyten Duyvil, street lamp, tendrils, The University of Utah, thunder, Tom Stillinger, transport, vellum, Vespers, vines
“a trace unnameable — place
holding the child
to the first frost,
the street lamp, the pasture — ”
Appendices Pulled from a Study on Light
Geoffrey Babbitt
New York City: Spuyten Duyvil, 2018
PS3602 A224 A6 2018 (General Collection, Level 2)
“This is Geoffrey Babbitt’s first book. His poems and essays have appeared in North American Review, Pleiades, Colorado Review, DIAGRAM, Notre Dame Review, TYPO, Tarpaulin Sky, The Collagist, Interim, Western Humanities Review, and elsewhere. Raised in Boise, Idaho, he studied at Connecticut College and earned his Ph.D. in creative writing at the University of Utah. Geoffrey currently coedits Seneca Review and teaches at Hobart & William Smith Colleges in the Finger Lakes region of New York, where he lives with poet Kathryn Cowles and their three daughters.”
Geoffrey acknowledges the help of many friends, colleagues and faculty from the University of Utah including Luise Poulton, Karen Brennan, Craig Dworkin, Julie Gonnering Lein, Cami Nelson, Paisley Rekdal, Jerry Root, Tom Stillinger, Shira Dentz, Elizabeth Peterson, and others.
Congratulations, Geoffrey!
MS Fragment: 4 — Date: ca. 1375 — Origin: France (possibly northeastern) — current location: Marriott Library, University of Utah, Special Collections, Rare Book Division — Materials: Ink, and burnished gold on vellum — Illustration: Detail — Size: 7 1/8 in. x 5 7/16 in. — Section: Anglo-Norman Litany of Saints — Script: littera gothica textualis formata
“vines scritched, chrysalis
onto vellum leaf–all
lost color, stolen thunder
–spiritual curl
of the vine tending
ultimately toward–tattered edge
curling from the gutters…”
MS Fragment: 8 — Date: ca. 1425-1450 — Origin: France (possibly Paris) — Current Location: Marriott Library, University of Utah, Special Collections, Rare Books Division — Materials: Ink, and burnished gold on vellum — Size: 7 1/4 in. x 5 3/16 in. — Illustration: Detail, border — section: Office of the Dead, Vespers — Script: littera gothica textualis
“lit border
buoys — acanthus
scribe sets — rinceaux
sprays, gilded ivy leaf,
bryony tendrils, gold pavé
fleur-de-lis — heliotropic
buoyancy — motor cells in
the pulvinus synthesize
bouncing light, con-
vert eye movement, displace
page’s gravitropic
polar auxin transport —
downwarding becomes lift”
April is National Poetry Month.
Book of the Week — Wrenching Times: Poems from Drum-Taps
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Abraham Lincoln, Alan Wood, assassination, Brooklyn, Capitol, David Esslemont, democratic, frontier, Gaylord Schanilec, Gwasg Gregynog, Hugh Willmer, lilacs, M. Wynn Thomas, memorial, Monotype Baskerville, New York, Newton, North Wales Arts Association, poet, Powys, President, rare books, Rhian Ticehurst, typeface, Union, Wales, Walt Whitman, Washington, Western, wood blocks, wood engravings, Zerkall mould-made paper
“When lilacs last in the door-yard bloom’d,
And the great star early droop’d in the western sky in the night,
I mourn’d…and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring.”
Wrenching Times: Poems from Drum-Taps
Newton, Powys, Wales: Gwasg Gregynog, 1991
From notes by M. Wynn Thomas: “Whitman was in New York, seeing Drum-Taps through the press, when Lincoln was assassinated on the evening of 14 April 1865, at the very time when he had finally secured victory for the Union. Whitman had come to identify very closely with the president, having supported him when others dismissed him as a mere country hick, and having seen him pass every day under Whitman’s window in Washington on his journey to and from the Capitol. Lincoln was, for the poet, the very epitome of Western, frontier qualities and his steadfast adherence, through the worst of times, to his principled belief in a democratic Union had won Whitman’s unqualified and undying admiration. Years later, in his old age, he would still endeavour, whenever his health allowed, to deliver an annual memorial lecture on the day of Lincoln’s death. On that occasion he always ensured that lilacs were placed on the table in front of him.
“The lilac was in flower near his Brooklyn home when Whitman heard of Lincoln’s murder.”
Wood engravings by Gaylord Schanilec, made at Gregynog during a residency, supported by the North Wales Arts Association, and printed from the original wood-blocks. Designed and printed by David Esslemont with the assistance of Hugh Willmer on Zerkall mould-made paper. Typeface is Monotype Baskerville. Edition of four hundred and fifty copies, one of four hundred copies bound in quarter leather by Alan Wood and Rhian Ticehurst at Gregynog.
Gregynog Press was a Welsh private press, started and run by two wealthy sisters, whose interests were more artistic than literary. All of the work of the books from this press happened under one roof – design layout, composition, presswork, design and execution of woodblocks, hand-coloring and binding – an unusual circumstance for early twentieth century presses.
Rare Books copy is number 201 with unpublished wood engraving laid in.
A Lasting Gift — The Principles of Psychology
≈ Comments Off on A Lasting Gift — The Principles of Psychology
Bertrand Russell, brain, emotion, George Santayana, Gertrude Stein, habit, Harvard, Henry Holt and Company, Henry James, history, John Dewey, literature, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Mark Twain, natural science, New York, philosophy, psychology, Ralph Waldo Emerson, rare books, Sigmund Freud, Theodore Roosevelt, W. E. B. Du Bois, William James
“The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.” — William James
The Principles of Psychology
William James (1842-1910)
New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1890
First edition, first state
BF121 J2 1890
Rare Books is pleased to announce the anonymous donation of this first edition of William James’ The Principles of Psychology, a work emphasizing his experimental method and treatment of psychology as a natural science. A landmark in the history of philosophy, The Principles of Psychology includes a survey of literature on the localized functions of the brain, an extensive analysis of the self, and theories of habit, emotion, and association, among other topics. The phrase “stream of consciousness” comes from his writings.
William James came from a large, wealthy New York family. He is the brother of novelist Henry James. His godfather was Ralph Waldo Emerson. While teaching at Harvard, his students included Theodore Roosevelt, George Santayana, and Gertrude Stein. His writings influenced W. E. B. Du Bois and Ludwig Wittgenstein. He associated with Bertrand Russell, John Dewey, Mark Twain, Sigmund Freud and many others. That’s a special bunch of people in the world of literature and scholarship.
We also have special friends, named and unnamed. Thank you!
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News tagged with cultural practices
Abrupt climate change drove early South American population decline
Abrupt climate change some 8,000 years ago led to a dramatic decline in early South American populations, suggests new UCL research.
Corruption contagion: How legal and finance firms are at greater risk of corruption
Companies with fewer levels of management such as legal, accountancy and investment banking firms could be up to five times more susceptible to corruption than similar sized organisations with a taller structure such as those ...
Evidence that humans prefer genetically dissimilar partners based on scent
A team of researchers at Université Paris Diderot has found evidence that suggests humans are able to detect via smell which partners are genetically preferable. In their paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society ...
Diet-induced changes favor innovation in speech sounds
Diet-induced changes in the human bite resulted in new sounds such as "f" in languages all over the world, according to a study by an international team led by researchers at the University of Zurich. The findings contradict ...
Marin County: Safe harbor for Native residents during the Mission era and beyond
Contrary to the dominant narrative of cultural extinction, indigenous residents of Marin County survived colonization, preserving and passing on their traditions and cultural practices, says a UC Santa Cruz anthropologist ...
Indigenous people's experiences on social media differ significantly from the mainstream population: national study
A new national report released today on Indigenous Australians' social media practices has found social media plays a complex role in the lives of Indigenous people, and often differs considerably from non-Indigenous populations.
Massive open-access database on human cultures created
An international team of researchers has developed a website at d-place.org to help answer long-standing questions about the forces that shaped human cultural diversity.
Study suggests not all polygynous marriage is harmful to women or children
(Phys.org)—A study conducted by a team of researchers from the U.K., Tanzania and the U.S. has found an example of polygynous marriage that does not appear to be harmful to women or children. In their paper published in ...
Battling climate change with tried-and-true methods
For decades, farmers in Montana and the Dakotas have produced impressive yields of barley and wheat. But that bounty has come at a cost. Tilling the soil in the region's crop-fallow production systems has robbed the soil ...
Lack of better jobs for China's ethnic minorities a worsening problem
(Phys.org)—People from China's Uyghur minority are struggling to get higher status, higher paying jobs, which in turn is leading to a forced divide between different ethnic groups, according to a new University of Melbourne ...
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Baby-Faced, Muscular Jimmy Carter Tells Democratic Convention The Future Of Medicine Is Bright
PHILADELPHIA—Striding energetically onto the stage in shorts and a taut tank top, a baby-faced, muscle-bound Jimmy Carter, 91, reportedly told attendees at the Democratic National Convention Thursday that the future of medicine is exceedingly bright. “The medical advances we’ve made in recent years are astounding, and I’m thrilled to say that the decades to come will only bring greater breakthroughs,” said the brawny, youthful-looking 39th president of the United States, punctuating his statement that medical technology is poised to reach greater and greater heights by raising his arms into the air and showing off his bulging 25-inch biceps. “And for this reason, I believe it’s imperative we elect someone like Hillary Clinton who will continue to invest in cutting-edge medical research, so that all Americans have the opportunity to live long, happy, and healthy lives.” Sources confirmed the chiseled nonagenarian then concluded his speech by making his sinewy pectoral muscles alternatingly bounce up and down for several minutes.
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HomeCrime & EntertainmentEXCLUSIVE: We Talk To Nick Searcy & His New Film “Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer”
EXCLUSIVE: We Talk To Nick Searcy & His New Film “Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer”
Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer Premieres next month
September 13, 2018 Crime & Entertainment, Entertainment News, Headline News, In The Spotlight, Latest, News, Politics, True Crime
The heavily anticipated & controversial film directed by Nick Searcy, Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer, is set to hit theaters next month on Oct. 12 and looks to be hitting all of the marks for some serious success.
It is the film that Hollywood didn’t want to touch – but producers Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer (FrackNation, Not Evil Just Wrong,) Searcy and Dean Cain did.
Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer.
We recently caught up with director and Justified’s actor Nick Searcy on his dual roles in the film and how it came to be. We also chat a bit about his lengthy career and guess what folks – he’s hilarious!
However, the subject of the film is not. Most of us remember the shocking and horrific case of abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell who found himself in a world of trouble after his unspeakable “practices” were discovered. From extremely unsanitary conditions to actually killing living babies after they’ve been birthed (just to name a few atrocities Gosnell carried out.) For those who are unfamiliar, you can do your own research for further details – just prepare your stomach.
However, for the movie you won’t need to.
In a wise decision by the filmmakers – they don’t go after the low-hanging fruit of gore, the film itself will actually be a courtroom drama. In fact, let’s take a look at the official trailer.
After being kidnapped by the Acting Police in the fifth grade for his abilities, he got the acting bug and hasn’t looked back since. Let’s take a look.
Before we jump into your new movie, tell us what originally gave a guy from Cullowhee, North Carolina the desire to get into acting?
I was an early reader, so in my kindergarten and early grades, whenever there was a pageant or a church play, the teacher would always give me the biggest part because I could read. Cullowhee is a university town, Western Carolina University, so when the theatre department there needed a 12 – year old boy in a production of William Saroyan’s short play Coming Through the Rye, they came and got me. That was fifth grade. In the 6th grade, I did another role in The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail. By then, I was hooked.It’s all I ever wanted to do after that.
Now let’s talk about one of your latest projects, Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer. It is set to be released just next month and is heavily anticipated by many. You not only direct, but also have a role in the film. Tell us about your dual roles and how you came to be involved in the film.
I was involved in making a video ad for the Indiegogo campaign. After the $2.3M had been raised, I was asked by the producers if I knew of any directors that might be interested. I referred a couple of very successful directors to them, people I had enjoyed working with in the past, and for whatever reason, they didn’t work out. The producers asked me again if I knew anybody else, and I said, “I directed a feature film a few years ago, would you like to see it?” They watched Paradise Falls, and asked me if I wanted to direct Gosnell.
While we were working on the shooting script, I would jokingly refer to the Cohan role as “my part,” because I love playing the bad guy, and I was the right age, etc. I would always read his lines when we were working on the scenes. Then when it came time to shoot it, I think it was just already in everybody’s head that I was going to play that part, including mine, so I did. Plus, it was a good business decision. It saved the production money, since they didn’t have to fly in another actor, and I was going to be on set anyway. And it saved time, since I didn’t have to tell myself what to do, because I already knew what I wanted me to do, and I didn’t argue with myself.
The Kermit Gosnell case is without a doubt one of the most grim, gruesome, and fascinating cases that America has seen in recent years. However, instead of focusing on the gore and bloody details it’s been said that the film will rather be a courtroom drama. Can you elaborate?
We wanted to make this movie about the people who caught and convicted Gosnell rather than to glorify him in any way. I always felt there were three key aspects to the story: 1) What Gosnell did, 2) Why he was allowed to do it for decades, and 3) Why nobody wanted to talk about it after he was caught. We also wanted to make a movie that was not too gruesome to watch. I didn’t want this to be a horror movie, because I felt the subject matter was too important. We wanted it to be an instructive, informative thriller. When we got a PG-13 rating, I was very proud.
While researching a case as disturbing as this one, was there anything in particular that shocked you the most?
I found the most compelling and “shocking” part of the script is when Gosnell’s defense attorney interrogates an abortion doctor who runs a clean clinic where abortions were done legally, unlike Gosnell’s hellhole, and Cohan takes her through the steps of a legal abortion. I did not know the details of what happens in the procedure, and I doubt most people do. It wasn’t “shocking” in a horror movie sense, just the sense of discovery. I just didn’t know. And I hope the movie has that effect on others.
You’ve appeared in many roles over the years from CSI, Runaway Jury, and Justified to name just a few. While you have a sea of work behind you to choose from, what have been some of your favorite roles?
Justified of course. My role in the sitcom Rodney was the best job, just in terms of sheer fun, that I’ve ever had. Loved working with del Toro in The Shape of Water. But every role is a gift. I’ve loved almost every one of them, with a few exceptions. 😉 And of course, playing Frank in Fried Green Tomatoes was the best and will never be equalled in my little world, because it was the first time I had an important principal role, and that movie will be around forever. It was the role that allowed me to have a career.
Anything in particular that you like on TV lately? Any favorites?
I never miss WWE Monday Night Raw. And I love Netflix’s Last Chance U, as well as I Am A Killer. It’s hard for me to watch shows with actors in them, because 1) I know everybody and 2) all I ever think about it is “why am I not in this?”
Now on to something important! What’s one of the funniest moments or shenanigans that you’ve had on set behind-the-scenes that fans never got to see?
Once on Justified, there was a scene where I was supposed to walk into a scene with a file and say to Olyphant and Jacob Pitts: “We’ve got a guy on the run, he can’t have gotten far. Who wants it?” or something like that.
Any way, I had a visitor on the set that day, military veteran Brian Meyer, who is a Purple Heart recipient and has a prosthetic leg. Brian had a great sense of humor, so he took off his leg and let me carry it into the scene.
So in one take I walk into the scene with a full prosthetic leg, and I say “We’ve got a one-legged fugitive on the run. He can’t have gotten far. Who wants it?”
And of course, hilarity ensued.
We bet it did! To find out more about the film you can visit http://www.gosnellmovie.com/ and find Nick on Twitter here.
Follow us on Facebook here and on Twitter here.
Let us know what you think in the comments below. Have a tip for us? We’d love to hear from you.
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WATCH. The Walking Dead Meets Dirty John – Did You Know?
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Baker Mayfield Josh Rosen Kliff Kingsbury Kyler Murray Sports Football Sports trading Sports transactions Sports business NFL football Professional football NFL Draft College football College sports
Arizona Cardinals Cleveland Browns
Cardinals create glut at quarterback by selecting Murray
By JOHN MARSHALL - Apr. 26, 2019 12:49 AM EDT
Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray shows off his new jersey after the Arizona Cardinals selected Murray in the first round at the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 25, 2019, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Arizona general manager Steve Keim did not want to look at tape of Kyler Murray. The Cardinals traded up in last year's draft to take Josh Rosen, so it's not like they needed another quarterback.
Ever diligent, Keim forced himself to watch the reigning Heisman Trophy winner.
What he saw made it impossible to look away.
"The more and more we dug in, the more it became crystal clear Kyler Murray was the pick," Keim said Thursday night after the Cardinals took Murray with the No. 1 overall pick of the draft. "I've been doing this 20 years and I've seen guys who can throw like him, guys who can run it like him. I can tell you I've never seen the combination he brings to the table."
The Cardinals appeared to have their quarterback of the future in last year's draft, when they moved up five spots to take Rosen out of UCLA at No. 10 overall.
Rosen had an up-and-down rookie season, throwing for 2,278 yards and 11 touchdowns with 14 interceptions, but there was no indication Arizona would be seeking a new quarterback anytime soon.
The hiring of former Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury during the offseason helped change the dynamic in Arizona.
Kingsbury's wide-open offense put up prodigious numbers in Lubbock and twice produced the national leader in passing yards.
The 39-year-old coach has brought his pass-first offense to the desert and Murray seems to be the perfect fit to run it. Kingsbury even recruited Murray to Texas A&M when he was the offensive coordinator there in 2012 and the two have known each other since the quarterback was 15.
"He's a dynamic talent and I don't know anybody has seen that combination as a runner and passer," Kingsbury said. "To be able to start as a pocket passer, throw from different arm angles, throw with touch then take it 80 (yards) on any snap. I'm excited."
Though small for a quarterback at 5-foot-10, Murray is strong-armed and shifty, with an ability to feel pressure and avoid big hits. He threw for 4,361 yards and 42 touchdowns with 11 interceptions at Oklahoma last season, adding 1,001 yards and 12 more touchdowns on the ground.
A backup to Baker Mayfield in 2017, he followed in the footsteps of his former teammate by winning the Heisman Trophy and being taken with the No. 1 overall pick a year later. Mayfield, now with the Cleveland Browns, quickly congratulated his successor in Norman.
"I feel we can be very dangerous," Murray said. "He's one of the best in the world at calling plays. I can't wait to get up there with him. It's been a long time coming and I hope he feels the same."
The Cardinals had been on the clock for three months, yet seemed to have a hard time deciding what to do with the fourth No. 1 overall pick in franchise history.
Murray's decision to play football instead of baseball added a layer of intrigue, even with Rosen on the roster.
Arizona's brass said it was still undecided days before the draft, leaving fans and media wondering if they would take Murray, pick a defensive player or trade down and get more value.
It ended up being Murray, giving the Cardinals two top-10 quarterbacks.
Keim said he received calls about trading for the No. 1 pick and for Rosen, but none were enough to move the needle toward making a deal.
"Bottom line, Josh is a really good football player and we're not going to get into the business of letting good football players just walk out of here," he said. "You can't have enough good depth. Needs constantly change and needs could change at that position. We know we've got a very good player in Josh Rosen."
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Category Archives: Other Collider News
An Interesting Result from CMS, and its Implications
UPDATE 10/26: In the original version of this post, I stupidly forgot to include an effect, causing an error of a factor of about 5 in one of my estimates below. I had originally suggested that a recent result using ALEPH data was probably more powerful than a recent CMS result. But once the error is corrected, the two experiments appear have comparable sensitivity. However, I was very conservative in my analysis of ALEPH, and my guess concerning CMS has a big uncertainty band — so it might go either way. It’s up to ALEPH experts and CMS experts to show us who really wins the day. Added reasoning and discussion marked in green below.
In Friday’s post, I highlighted the importance of looking for low-mass particles whose interactions with known particles are very weak. I referred to a recent preprint in which an experimental physicist, Dr. Arno Heister, reanalyzed ALEPH data in such a search.
A few hours later, Harvard Professor Matt Reece pointed me to a paper that appeared just two weeks ago: a very interesting CMS analysis of 2011-2012 data that did a search of this type — although it appears that CMS [one of the two general purpose detectors at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)] didn’t think of it that way.
The title of the paper is obscure: “Search for a light pseudo–scalar Higgs boson produced in association with bottom quarks in pp collisions at 8 TeV“. Such spin-zero “pseudo-scalar” particles, which often arise in speculative models with more than one Higgs particle, usually decay to bottom quark/anti-quark pairs or tau/anti-tau pairs. But they can have a very rare decay to muon/anti-muon, which is much easier to measure. The title of the paper gives no indication that the muon/anti-muon channel is the target of the search; you have to read the abstract. Shouldn’t the words “in the dimuon channel” or “dimuon resonance” appear in the title? That would help researchers who are interested in dimuons, but not in pseudo-scalars, find the paper.
Here’s the main result of the paper:
At left is shown a plot of the number of events as a function of the invariant mass of the muon/anti-muon pairs. CMS data is in black dots; estimated background is shown in the upper curve (with top quark backgrounds in the lower curve); and the peak at bottom shows what a simulated particle decaying to muon/anti-muon with a mass of 30 GeV/c² would look like. (Imagine sticking the peak on top of the upper curve to see how a signal would affect the data points). At right are the resulting limits on the rate for such a resonance to be produced and then decay to muon/anti-muon, if it is radiated off of a bottom quark. [A limit of 100 femtobarns means that at most two thousand collisions of this type could have occurred during the year 2012. But note that only about 1 in 100 of these collisions would have been observed, due to the difficulty of triggering on these collisions and some other challenges.]
[Note also the restriction of the mass of the dimuon pair to the range 25 GeV to 60 GeV. This may have done purely been for technical reasons, but if it was due to the theoretical assumptions, that restriction should be lifted.]
While this plot places moderate limits on spin-zero particles produced with a bottom quark, it’s equally interesting, at least to me, in other contexts. Specifically, it puts limits on any light spin-one particle (call it V) that mixes (either via kinetic or mass mixing) with the photon and Z and often comes along with at least one bottom quark… because for such particles the rate to decay to muons is not rare. This is very interesting for hidden valley models specifically; as I mentioned on Friday, new spin-one and spin-zero particles often are produced together, giving a muon/anti-muon pair along with one or more bottom quark/anti-quark pairs.
But CMS interpreted its measurement only in terms of radiation of a new particle off a bottom quark. Now, what if a V particle decaying sometimes to muon/anti-muon were produced in a Z particle decay (a possibility alluded to already in 2006). For a different production process, the angles and energies of the particles would be different, and since many events would be lost (due to triggering, transverse momentum cuts, and b-tagging inefficiencies at low transverse momentum) the limits would have to be fully recalculated by the experimenters. It would be great if CMS could add such an analysis before they publish this paper.
Still, we can make a rough back-of-the-envelope estimate, with big caveats. The LHC produced about 600 million Z particles at CMS in 2012. The plot at right tells us that if the V were radiated off a bottom quark, the maximum number of produced V’s decaying to muons would be about 2000 to 8000, depending on the V mass. Now if we could take those numbers directly, we’d conclude that the fraction of Z’s that could decay to muon/anti-muon plus bottom quarks in this way would be 3 to 12 per million. But sensitivity of this search to a Z decay to V is probably much less than for a V radiated off bottom quarks [because (depending on the V mass) either the bottom quarks in the Z decay would be less energetic and more difficult to tag, or the muons are less energetic on average, or both.] So I’m guessing that the limits on Z decays to V are always worse than one per hundred thousand, for any V mass. (Thanks to Wei Xue for catching an error as I was finalizing my estimate.)
If that guess/estimate is correct, then the CMS search does not rule out the possibility of a hundred or so Z decays to V particles at each of the various LEP experiments. That said, old LEP searches might rule this possibility out; if anyone knows of such a search, please comment or contact me.
As for whether Heister’s analysis of the ALEPH experiment’s data shows signs of such a signal, I think it unlikely (though some people seemed to read my post as saying the opposite.) As I pointed out in Friday’s post, not only is the excess too small for excitement on its own, it also is somewhat too wide and its angular correlations look like the background (which comes, of course, from bottom quarks that decay to charm quarks plus a muon and neutrino.) The point of Friday’s post, and of today’s, is that we should be looking.
In fact, because of Heister’s work (which, by the way, is his own, not endorsed by the ALEPH collaboration), we can draw interesting if rough conclusions. Ignore for now the bump at 30 GeV/c²; that’s more controversial. What about the absence of a bump between 35 and 50 GeV/c²? Unless there are subtleties with his analysis that I don’t understand, we learn that at ALEPH there were fewer than ten Z decays to a V particle (plus a source of bottom quarks) for V in this mass range. That limits such Z decays to about 2 to 3 per million. OOPS: Dumb mistake!! At this step, I forgot to include the fact that requiring bottom quarks in the ALEPH events only works about 20% of the time (thanks to Imperial College Professor Oliver Buchmuller for questioning my reasoning!) The real number is therefore about 5 times larger, more like 10 to 15 per million. If that rough estimate is correct, it would provide a more powerful constraint than constraint roughly comparable to the current CMS analysis.
[[BUT: In my original argument I was very conservative. When I said “fewer than 10”, I was trying to be brief; really, looking at the invariant mass plot, the allowed numbers of excess events for a V with mass above 36 GeV is typically fewer than 7 or even 5. And that doesn’t include any angular information, which for many signals would reduce the numbers to 3. Including these effects properly brings the ALEPH bound back down to something close to my initial estimate. Anyway, it’s clear that CMS is nipping at ALEPH’s heels, but I’m still betting they haven’t passed ALEPH — yet.]]
So my advice would be to set Heister’s bump aside and instead focus on the constraints that one can obtain, and the potential discoveries that one could make, with this type of analysis, either at LEP or at LHC. That’s where I think the real lesson lies.
Posted in LHC News, Other Collider News, Particle Physics
Tagged ALEPH, cms, dilepton, LEP, LHC
A Hidden Gem At An Old Experiment?
Posted on October 21, 2016 | 25 comments
This summer there was a blog post from Sabine Hossenfelder claiming that “The LHC `nightmare scenario’ has come true” — implying that the Large Hadron Collider [LHC] has found nothing but a Standard Model Higgs particle (the simplest possible type), and will find nothing more of great importance. With all due respect for the considerable intelligence and technical ability of the author of that post, I could not disagree more; not only are we not in a nightmare, it isn’t even night-time yet, and hardly time for sleep or even daydreaming. There’s a tremendous amount of work to do, and there may be many hidden discoveries yet to be made, lurking in existing LHC data. Or elsewhere.
I can defend this claim (and have done so as recently as this month; here are my slides). But there’s evidence from another quarter that it is far too early for such pessimism. It has appeared in a new paper (a preprint, so not yet peer-reviewed) by an experimentalist named Arno Heister, who is evaluating 20-year old data from the experiment known as ALEPH.
In the early 1990s the Large Electron-Positron (LEP) collider at CERN, in the same tunnel that now houses the LHC, produced nearly 4 million Z particles at the center of ALEPH; the Z’s decayed immediately into other particles, and ALEPH was used to observe those decays. Of course the data was studied in great detail, and you might think there couldn’t possibly be anything still left to find in that data, after over 20 years. But a hidden gem wouldn’t surprise those of us who have worked in this subject for a long time — especially those of us who have worked on hidden valleys. (Hidden Valleys are theories with a set of new forces and low-mass particles, which, because they aren’t affected by the known forces excepting gravity, interact very weakly with the known particles. They are also often called “dark sectors” if they have something to do with dark matter.)
For some reason most experimenters in particle physics don’t tend to look for things just because they can; they stick to signals that theorists have already predicted. Since hidden valleys only hit the market in a 2006 paper I wrote with then-student Kathryn Zurek, long after the experimenters at ALEPH had moved on to other experiments, nobody went back to look in ALEPH or other LEP data for hidden valley phenomena (with one exception.) I didn’t expect anyone to ever do so; it’s a lot of work to dig up and recommission old computer files.
This wouldn’t have been a problem if the big LHC experiments (ATLAS, CMS and LHCb) had looked extensively for the sorts of particles expected in hidden valleys. ATLAS and CMS especially have many advantages; for instance, the LHC has made over a hundred times more Z particles than LEP ever did. But despite specific proposals for what to look for (and a decade of pleading), only a few limited searches have been carried out, mostly for very long-lived particles, for particles with mass of a few GeV/c² or less, and for particles produced in unexpected Higgs decays. And that means that, yes, hidden physics could certainly still be found in old ALEPH data, and in other old experiments. Kudos to Dr. Heister for taking a look. Continue reading →
Posted in Other Collider News, Particle Physics
Tagged ALEPH, atlas, cms, dilepton, HiddenValleys, LEP, LHC, LHCb
What if the Large Hadron Collider Finds Nothing Else?
Posted on March 7, 2014 | 83 comments
In my last post, I expressed the view that a particle accelerator with proton-proton collisions of (roughly) 100 TeV of energy, significantly more powerful than the currently operational Large Hadron Collider [LHC] that helped scientists discover the Higgs particle, is an obvious and important next steps in our process of learning about the elementary workings of nature. And I described how we don’t yet know whether it will be an exploratory machine or a machine with a clear scientific target; it will depend on what the LHC does or does not discover over the coming few years.
What will it mean, for the 100 TeV collider project and more generally, if the LHC, having made possible the discovery of the Higgs particle, provides us with no more clues? Specifically, over the next few years, hundreds of tests of the Standard Model (the equations that govern the known particles and forces) will be carried out in measurements made by the ATLAS, CMS and LHCb experiments at the LHC. Suppose that, as it has so far, the Standard Model passes every test that the experiments carry out? In particular, suppose the Higgs particle discovered in 2012 appears, after a few more years of intensive study, to be, as far the LHC can reveal, a Standard Model Higgs — the simplest possible type of Higgs particle?
Before we go any further, let’s keep in mind that we already know that the Standard Model isn’t all there is to nature. The Standard Model does not provide a consistent theory of gravity, nor does it explain neutrino masses, dark matter or “dark energy” (also known as the cosmological constant). Moreover, many of its features are just things we have to accept without explanation, such as the strengths of the forces, the existence of “three generations” (i.e., that there are two heavier cousins of the electron, two for the up quark and two for the down quark), the values of the masses of the various particles, etc. However, even though the Standard Model has its limitations, it is possible that everything that can actually be measured at the LHC — which cannot measure neutrino masses or directly observe dark matter or dark energy — will be well-described by the Standard Model. What if this is the case?
Michelson and Morley, and What They Discovered
In science, giving strong evidence that something isn’t there can be as important as discovering something that is there — and it’s often harder to do, because you have to thoroughly exclude all possibilities. [It’s very hard to show that your lost keys are nowhere in the house — you have to convince yourself that you looked everywhere.] A famous example is the case of Albert Michelson, in his two experiments (one in 1881, a second with Edward Morley in 1887) trying to detect the “ether wind”.
Light had been shown to be a wave in the 1800s; and like all waves known at the time, it was assumed to be a wave in something material, just as sound waves are waves in air, and ocean waves are waves in water. This material was termed the “luminiferous ether”. As we can detect our motion through air or through water in various ways, it seemed that it should be possible to detect our motion through the ether, specifically by looking for the possibility that light traveling in different directions travels at slightly different speeds. This is what Michelson and Morley were trying to do: detect the movement of the Earth through the luminiferous ether.
Both of Michelson’s measurements failed to detect any ether wind, and did so expertly and convincingly. And for the convincing method that he invented — an experimental device called an interferometer, which had many other uses too — Michelson won the Nobel Prize in 1907. Meanwhile the failure to detect the ether drove both FitzGerald and Lorentz to consider radical new ideas about how matter might be deformed as it moves through the ether. Although these ideas weren’t right, they were important steps that Einstein was able to re-purpose, even more radically, in his 1905 equations of special relativity.
In Michelson’s case, the failure to discover the ether was itself a discovery, recognized only in retrospect: a discovery that the ether did not exist. (Or, if you’d like to say that it does exist, which some people do, then what was discovered is that the ether is utterly unlike any normal material substance in which waves are observed; no matter how fast or in what direction you are moving relative to me, both of us are at rest relative to the ether.) So one must not be too quick to assume that a lack of discovery is actually a step backwards; it may actually be a huge step forward.
Epicycles or a Revolution?
There were various attempts to make sense of Michelson and Morley’s experiment. Some interpretations involved tweaks of the notion of the ether. Tweaks of this type, in which some original idea (here, the ether) is retained, but adjusted somehow to explain the data, are often referred to as “epicycles” by scientists. (This is analogous to the way an epicycle was used by Ptolemy to explain the complex motions of the planets in the sky, in order to retain an earth-centered universe; the sun-centered solar system requires no such epicycles.) A tweak of this sort could have been the right direction to explain Michelson and Morley’s data, but as it turned out, it was not. Instead, the non-detection of the ether wind required something more dramatic — for it turned out that waves of light, though at first glance very similar to other types of waves, were in fact extraordinarily different. There simply was no ether wind for Michelson and Morley to detect.
If the LHC discovers nothing beyond the Standard Model, we will face what I see as a similar mystery. As I explained here, the Standard Model, with no other particles added to it, is a consistent but extraordinarily “unnatural” (i.e. extremely non-generic) example of a quantum field theory. This is a big deal. Just as nineteenth-century physicists deeply understood both the theory of waves and many specific examples of waves in nature and had excellent reasons to expect a detectable ether, twenty-first century physicists understand quantum field theory and naturalness both from the theoretical point of view and from many examples in nature, and have very good reasons to expect particle physics to be described by a natural theory. (Our examples come both from condensed matter physics [e.g. metals, magnets, fluids, etc.] and from particle physics [e.g. the physics of hadrons].) Extremely unnatural systems — that is, physical systems described by quantum field theories that are highly non-generic — simply have not previously turned up in nature… which is just as we would expect from our theoretical understanding.
[Experts: As I emphasized in my Santa Barbara talk last week, appealing to anthropic arguments about the hierarchy between gravity and the other forces does not allow you to escape from the naturalness problem.]
So what might it mean if an unnatural quantum field theory describes all of the measurements at the LHC? It may mean that our understanding of particle physics requires an epicyclic change — a tweak. The implications of a tweak would potentially be minor. A tweak might only require us to keep doing what we’re doing, exploring in the same direction but a little further, working a little harder — i.e. to keep colliding protons together, but go up in collision energy a bit more, from the LHC to the 100 TeV collider. For instance, perhaps the Standard Model is supplemented by additional particles that, rather than having masses that put them within reach of the LHC, as would inevitably be the case in a natural extension of the Standard Model (here’s an example), are just a little bit heavier than expected. In this case the world would be somewhat unnatural, but not too much, perhaps through some relatively minor accident of nature; and a 100 TeV collider would have enough energy per collision to discover and reveal the nature of these particles.
Or perhaps a tweak is entirely the wrong idea, and instead our understanding is fundamentally amiss. Perhaps another Einstein will be needed to radically reshape the way we think about what we know. A dramatic rethink is both more exciting and more disturbing. It was an intellectual challenge for 19th century physicists to imagine, from the result of the Michelson-Morley experiment, that key clues to its explanation would be found in seeking violations of Newton’s equations for how energy and momentum depend on velocity. (The first experiments on this issue were carried out in 1901, but definitive experiments took another 15 years.) It was an even greater challenge to envision that the already-known unexplained shift in the orbit of Mercury would also be related to the Michelson-Morley (non)-discovery, as Einstein, in trying to adjust Newton’s gravity to make it consistent with the theory of special relativity, showed in 1913.
My point is that the experiments that were needed to properly interpret Michelson-Morley’s result
did not involve trying to detect motion through the ether,
did not involve building even more powerful and accurate interferometers,
and were not immediately obvious to the practitioners in 1888.
This should give us pause. We might, if we continue as we are, be heading in the wrong direction.
Difficult as it is to do, we have to take seriously the possibility that if (and remember this is still a very big “if”) the LHC finds only what is predicted by the Standard Model, the reason may involve a significant reorganization of our knowledge, perhaps even as great as relativity’s re-making of our concepts of space and time. Were that the case, it is possible that higher-energy colliders would tell us nothing, and give us no clues at all. An exploratory 100 TeV collider is not guaranteed to reveal secrets of nature, any more than a better version of Michelson-Morley’s interferometer would have been guaranteed to do so. It may be that a completely different direction of exploration, including directions that currently would seem silly or pointless, will be necessary.
This is not to say that a 100 TeV collider isn’t needed! It might be that all we need is a tweak of our current understanding, and then such a machine is exactly what we need, and will be the only way to resolve the current mysteries. Or it might be that the 100 TeV machine is just what we need to learn something revolutionary. But we also need to be looking for other lines of investigation, perhaps ones that today would sound unrelated to particle physics, or even unrelated to any known fundamental question about nature.
Let me provide one example from recent history — one which did not lead to a discovery, but still illustrates that this is not all about 19th century history.
One of the great contributions to science of Nima Arkani-Hamed, Savas Dimopoulos and Gia Dvali was to observe (in a 1998 paper I’ll refer to as ADD, after the authors’ initials) that no one had ever excluded the possibility that we, and all the particles from which we’re made, can move around freely in three spatial dimensions, but are stuck (as it were) as though to the corner edge of a thin rod — a rod as much as one millimeter wide, into which only gravitational fields (but not, for example, electric fields or magnetic fields) may penetrate. Moreover, they emphasized that the presence of these extra dimensions might explain why gravity is so much weaker than the other known forces.
Fig. 1: ADD’s paper pointed out that no experiment as of 1998 could yet rule out the possibility that our familiar three-dimensional world is a corner of a five-dimensional world, where the two extra dimensions are finite but perhaps as large as a millimeter.
Given the incredible number of experiments over the past two centuries that have probed distances vastly smaller than a millimeter, the claim that there could exist millimeter-sized unknown dimensions was amazing, and came as a tremendous shock — certainly to me. At first, I simply didn’t believe that the ADD paper could be right. But it was.
One of the most important immediate effects of the ADD paper was to generate a strong motivation for a new class of experiments that could be done, rather inexpensively, on the top of a table. If the world were as they imagined it might be, then Newton’s (and Einstein’s) law for gravity, which states that the force between two stationary objects depends on the distance r between them as 1/r², would increase faster than this at distances shorter than the width of the rod in Figure 1. This is illustrated in Figure 2.
Fig. 2: If the world were as sketched in Figure 1, then Newton/Einstein’s law of gravity would be violated at distances shorter than the width of the rod in Figure 1. The blue line shows Newton/Einstein’s prediction; the red line shows what a universe like that in Figure 1 would predict instead. Experiments done in the last few years agree with the blue curve down to a small fraction of a millimeter.
These experiments are not easy — gravity is very, very weak compared to electrical forces, and lots of electrical effects can show up at very short distances and have to be cleverly avoided. But some of the best experimentalists in the world figured out how to do it (see here and here). After the experiments were done, Newton/Einstein’s law was verified down to a few hundredths of a millimeter. If we live on the corner of a rod, as in Figure 1, it’s much, much smaller than a millimeter in width.
But it could have been true. And if it had, it might not have been discovered by a huge particle accelerator. It might have been discovered in these small inexpensive experiments that could have been performed years earlier. The experiments weren’t carried out earlier mainly because no one had pointed out quite how important they could be.
Ok Fine; What Other Experiments Should We Do?
So what are the non-obvious experiments we should be doing now or in the near future? Well, if I had a really good suggestion for a new class of experiments, I would tell you — or rather, I would write about it in a scientific paper. (Actually, I do know of an important class of measurements, and I have written a scientific paper about them; but these are measurements to be done at the LHC, and don’t involve a entirely new experiment.) Although I’m thinking about these things, I do not yet have any good ideas. Until I do, or someone else does, this is all just talk — and talk does not impress physicists.
Indeed, you might object that my remarks in this post have been almost without content, and possibly without merit. I agree with that objection.
Still, I have some reasons for making these points. In part, I want to highlight, for a wide audience, the possible historic importance of what might now be happening in particle physics. And I especially want to draw the attention of young people. There have been experts in my field who have written that non-discoveries at the LHC constitute a “nightmare scenario” for particle physics… that there might be nothing for particle physicists to do for a long time. But I want to point out that on the contrary, not only may it not be a nightmare, it might actually represent an extraordinary opportunity. Not discovering the ether opened people’s minds, and eventually opened the door for Einstein to walk through. And if the LHC shows us that particle physics is not described by a natural quantum field theory, it may, similarly, open the door for a young person to show us that our understanding of quantum field theory and naturalness, while as intelligent and sensible and precise as the 19th century understanding of waves, does not apply unaltered to particle physics, and must be significantly revised.
Of course the LHC is still a young machine, and it may still permit additional major discoveries, rendering everything I’ve said here moot. But young people entering the field, or soon to enter it, should not assume that the experts necessarily understand where the field’s future lies. Like FitzGerald and Lorentz, even the most brilliant and creative among us might be suffering from our own hard-won and well-established assumptions, and we might soon need the vision of a brilliant young genius — perhaps a theorist with a clever set of equations, or perhaps an experimentalist with a clever new question and a clever measurement to answer it — to set us straight, and put us onto the right path.
Posted in Higgs, History of Science, LHC Background Info, Other Collider News, Particle Physics, Quantum Field Theory, The Scientific Process
Tagged Einstein, energy, ExtraDimensions, gravity, Higgs, LHC, particle physics, relativity
A 100 TeV Proton-Proton Collider?
During the gap between the first run of the Large Hadron Collider [LHC], which ended in 2012 and included the discovery of the Higgs particle (and the exclusion of quite a few other things), and its second run, which starts a year from now, there’s been a lot of talk about the future direction for particle physics. By far the most prominent option, both in China and in Europe, involves the long-term possibility of a (roughly) 100 TeV proton-proton collider — that is, a particle accelerator like the LHC, but with 5 to 15 times more energy per collision.
Do we need such a machine? Continue reading →
Posted in Higgs, LHC News, Other Collider News, Particle Physics, The Scientific Process
Tagged atlas, cms, Higgs, LHC, particle physics
It’s (not) The End of the World
Posted on December 21, 2012 | 31 comments
The December solstice has come and gone at 11:11 a.m. London time (6:11 a.m New York time). That’s the moment when the north pole of the Earth points most away from the sun, and the south pole points most toward it. Because it’s followed by a weekend and then Christmas Eve, it marks the end of the 2012 blogging season, barring a major event between now and year’s end. But although 11:11 London time is the only moment of astronomical significance during this day (clearly the universe does not care where humans set our international date line and exactly how we set our time zones, so destruction was never going to be at local midnight — something the media doesn’t seem to get) it obviously wasn’t the end of the world.
A lot of people do put a lot of stock in prophecy, including prophecies of the end of the world that nobody ever made (such as the one not made for today by the Mayans, through their calendar) and others that people made but were wrong (such as those made by Harold Camping last year and by many throughout history who preceded him.) If anyone were any good at prophecy they’d be able to use their special knowledge to become billionaires, so maybe we should be watching Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg and the Koch brothers and people like that. I haven’t heard any rumors of them building bunkers or spaceships yet. Of course at the end of the year they may get a small tax hike, but that wouldn’t be the end of the world.
The Large Hadron Collider [LHC], meanwhile, has triumphantly reached the end of its first run of proton-proton collisions. Goal #1 of the LHC was to allow physicists at the ATLAS and CMS experiments to discover the Higgs particle, or particles, or whatever took their place in nature; and it would appear that, in a smashing success, they have co-discovered one. But no Higgs particles, or anything like them, will be produced again until 2015. Although the LHC will run for a short while in early 2013, it will do so in a different mode, smashing not protons but the nuclei of lead atoms together, in order to study the properties of extremely hot and dense matter, under conditions the universe hasn’t seen since the earliest stages of the Big Bang that launched the current era of our universe. Then it will be closed down for repairs and upgrades. So until 2015, any additional information we’re going to learn about the Higgs particle, or any other unknown particle that might have been produced at the LHC, is going to be obtained by analyzing the data that has been collected in 2011 and 2012. The total amount of data is huge; what was collected in 2012 was about 4.5 times as much as in 2011, and it was taken at 8 TeV of energy per proton-proton collision rather than 7 TeV as in 2011. I can assure you there will be many new things learned from analyzing that data throughout 2013 and 2014.
Of course a lot of people prophesied confidently that we’d discover supersymmetry, or something else dramatic, very early on at the LHC. Boy, were they wrong! Those of us who were cautioning against such optimistic statements are not sure whether to laugh or cry, because of course it would have been great to have such a discovery early in the LHC program. But there was ample reason to believe (despite what other bloggers sometimes say) that even if supersymmetry exists and is accessible to the LHC experiments, discovering it could take a lot longer than just two years! For instance, see this paper written in 2006 pointing out that the search strategies being planned for seeking supersymmetry might fail in the presence of a few extra lightweight particles not predicted in the minimal variants of supersymmetry. As far as I can tell at present, this very big loophole has only partly been closed by the LHC studies done up to now. The same loophole applies for other speculative ideas, including certain variants of LHC-accessible extra dimensions. I am hopeful that these loopholes can be closed in 2013 and 2014, with additional analysis on the current data, but until they are, you should be very cautious believing those who claim that reasonable variants of LHC-accessible supersymmetry (meaning “natural variants of supersymmetry that resolve the hierarchy problem”) are ruled out by the LHC experiments. It’s just not true. Not yet. The only classes of theories that have been almost thoroughly ruled out by LHC data are those predict on general grounds that there should be no observable Higgs particle at all (e.g. classic technicolor).
While we’re on the subject, I’ve been looking back at how I did on prophecy this year. It’s been a remarkably good year, probably my best ever — though admittedly I only made very easy (though not necessarily common) predictions. First, the really easy one: I assured you, as did most of my colleagues, that 2012 would be the Year of the Higgs — at least, the Year of the Simplest Possible Higgs particle, called the “Standard Model Higgs”. It would be the year when Phase 1 of the Higgs Search would end — when we’d either find a Higgs particle of Standard Model type (or something looking vaguely like it), or, if not, we’d know we’d have to move to a more aggressive search in Phase 2, in which we’d look for more complicated versions of the Higgs particle that would have been much harder to find. We started the year with ambiguous hints of the Higgs particle, too flimsy to be sure of, but certainly tantalizing, at around a mass of 125 GeV/c2. In July the hints turned into a discovery — somewhat faster than expected for a Standard Model Higgs particle, because the rate for this particle to appear in collisions that produce two photons was higher than anticipated. The excess in the photon signal means either the probability for the Higgs particle to decay to photons is larger than predicted for a Higgs of Standard Model type, or both CMS and ATLAS experienced a fortunate statistical fluctuation that made the discovery easier. We still don’t know which it was; though we’ll know more by March, this ambiguity may remain with us until 2015.
One prophecy I made all the way back at the beginning of this blog, July 2011, was that the earliest search strategy for the Higgs, through its decays to a lepton, anti-lepton, neutrino and anti-neutrino, wouldn’t end up being crucial in the discovery; it was just too difficult. (In this experimental context, “lepton” refers only to “electron” or “muon”; taus don’t count, for technical reasons.) In the end, I said, it would be decays of the Higgs to two photons and to two lepton/anti-lepton pairs that would be the critical ones, because they would provide a clean signal that would be uncontroversial. And that prophesy was correct; the photon-based and lepton-based searches were the signals that led to discovery.
Now we’ve reached December, and the data seems to imply that except possibly for this overabundance of photons, which still tantalizes us, the various measurements of how the Higgs-like particle is produced and decays are starting to agree, to a precision which is still only moderate, with the predictions of the Standard Model for a Higgs of this mass. Fewer and fewer experts are still suggesting that this is not a Higgs particle. But it will be some years yet — 2018 or later — before measurements are precise enough to start convincing people that this Higgs particle is really of Standard Model type. Many variants of the Standard Model, with new particles and forces, predict that the difference of the real Higgs from a Standard Model Higgs may be subtle, with deviations at the ten percent level or even less. Meanwhile, other Higgs-like particles, with different masses and different properties, might be hiding in the data, and it may take quite a while to track them down. Many years of data collecting and data analysis lie ahead, in Phase 2 of the Higgs search.
Another prophecy I made at the beginning of the year was that Exotic Decays of the Higgs would be a high priority for 2012. You might think this prophesy was wrong, because in fact, so far, there have been very few searches at ATLAS, CMS and LHCb for such decays. But the challenge that required prioritizing these decays wasn’t data analysis; it was the problem of even collecting the data. The problem is that many exotic decays of the Higgs would lead to events that might not be selected by the all-important trigger system that determines which tiny fraction of the LHC’s collisions to store permanently for analysis! At the beginning of 2012 there was a risk that some of these processes would have been dumped by the trigger and irretrievably lost from the 2012 data, making future searches for such decays impossible or greatly degraded. At a hadron collider like the LHC, you have to think ahead! If you don’t consider carefully the analyses you’ll want to do a year or two from now, you may not set the trigger properly today. So although the priority for data analysis in 2012 was to find the Higgs particle and measure its bread-and-butter properties, the fact that the Higgs has come out looking more or less Standard Model-like in 2012 means that focusing on exotic possibilities, including exotic decays, will be one of the obvious places to look for something new, and thus a very high priority for data analysis, in 2013 and 2014. And that’s why, for the trigger — for the collection of the data — exotic decays were a very high priority for 2012. Indeed, one significant use of the new strategy of delayed data streaming at ATLAS and of data parking at CMS (two names for the same thing) was to address this priority. [My participation in this effort, working with experimentalists and with several young theorists, was my most rewarding project of 2012.] As I explained to you, a Higgs particle with a low mass, such as 125 GeV/c2, is very sensitive to the presence of new particles and forces that are otherwise very difficult to detect, and it easily could exhibit one or more types of exotic decays. So there will be a lot of effort put into looking for signs of exotic decays in 2013 and 2014! I’m very excited about all the work that lies ahead of us.
Now, the prophecy I’d like to make, but cannot — because I do not have any special insight into the answer — is on the question of whether the LHC will make great new discoveries in the future, or whether the LHC has already made its last discovery: a Higgs particle of Standard Model type. Even if the latter is the case, we will need years of data from the LHC in order to distinguish these two possibilities; there’s no way for us to guess. It’s clear that Nature’s holding secrets from us. We know the Standard Model (the equations we use to describe all the known particles and forces) is not a complete theory of nature, because it doesn’t explain things like dark matter (hey, were dark matter particles perhaps discovered in 2012?), and it doesn’t tell us why, for example, there are six types of quarks, or why the heaviest quark has a mass that is more than 10,000 times larger than the mass of the lightest quarks, etc. What we don’t know is whether the answers to those secrets are accessible to the LHC; does it have enough energy per collision, and enough collisions, for the job? The only way to find out is to run the LHC, and to dig thoroughly through its data for any sign of anything amiss with the predictions of the Standard Model. This is very hard work, and it will take the rest of the decade (but not until the end of the world.)
In the meantime, please do not fret about the quiet in the tunnel outside Geneva, Switzerland. The LHC will be back, bigger and better (well, at least with more energy per collision) in 2015. And while we wait during the two year shutdown, the experimentalists at ATLAS, CMS, and LHCb will be hard at work, producing many new results from the 2011 and 2012 proton collision data! Even the experiments CDF and DZero from the terminated Tevatron are still writing new papers. In short, fear not: not only isn’t the December solstice of 2012 the end of the world, it doesn’t even signal a temporary stop to the news about the Higgs particle!
One last personal note (just for those with some interest in my future.)
Posted in Higgs, History of Science, LHC Background Info, LHC News, Other Collider News, Particle Physics, Physics
Tagged #Tevatron, astronomy, atlas, CDF, cms, DZero, ExoticDecays, ExtraDimensions, LHC, LHCb, particle physics, supersymmetry
End of the OPERA Story
In case you haven’t yet heard (check my previous post from this morning), neutrinos traveling 730 kilometers from the CERN laboratory to the Gran Sasso laboratory do arrive at the time Einstein’s special relativity predicts they would.
Of course (as the press mostly seems to forget) we knew that. We knew it because
ICARUS already made the measurement of timing, based on October 2011 data, and presented their result in March. That was a refutation of OPERA’s original result. I wrote about that here.
OPERA itself preliminarily confirmed (quietly and without fanfare, just before the two leaders of the experiment stepped down from their leadership positions) that the two problems it identified in December and reported on in public in February did appear to be of the right size and shape to cause its false results for both OPERA-1 and OPERA-2 (the 2008-2011 long-pulse measurement and the October 2011 short-pulse measurement.)
So the news from the Neutrino 2012 conference in Kyoto, on new data from May 2012 taken by OPERA and three nearby experiments, is no surprise to anyone who was paying attention back in March and early April; it’s exactly what we were expecting.
One thing that almost no one is reporting, as far as I can tell, is that CERN’s research director Sergio Bertolucci did not give the first talk on neutrino speeds in Kyoto. That talk was given by Marcos Dracos, of OPERA. Dracos presented both OPERA’s corrected 2011 results (with corrections based on the detailed investigation shown in March of the problems reported back in February) and also the new 2012 results, which were taken with a kind of short-pulse beams similar to that used in OPERA-2. (A short pulse beam allows for a neutrino speed measurement to be made rather easily and quickly, at the expense of OPERA’s neutrino oscillation studies, which were the main purpose of building the OPERA experiment.)
Following Dracos’ talk, Bertolucci spoke next, and reported the results of the neighboring Borexino, LVD and ICARUS experiments on the May 2012 data, which along with OPERA are all bathed in the same CERN-to-Gran Sasso neutrino beam, and collected their data simultaneously. All of the results are preliminary so the numbers below will change in detail. But they are not going to change very much. Here they are: neutrinos arrive at a time that differs from expectation by:
Borexino: δt = 2.7 ± 1.2 (stat) ± 3 (sys) ns
ICARUS: δt = 5.1 ± 1.1 (stat) ± 5.5 (sys) ns
LVD: δt = 2.9 ± 0.6 (stat) ± 3 (sys) ns
OPERA: δt = 1.6 ± 1.1 (stat) [+ 6.1, -3.7] (sys) ns
(Here “ns” means nanoseconds, and “stat” and “sys” mean statistical and systematic uncertainty.) The original OPERA result was an early arrival of about 60 nanoseconds, about six standard deviations away from expectations. You see that all the experiments are consistent with zero early/late arrival to about 1 standard deviation — almost too consistent, in fact, for four experiments.
So there is no longer any hint of any evidence whatsoever of a problem with the predictions of special relativity, and in particular with the existence of a universal speed limit.
A summing up is called for, but I want to write that carefully. So unless something else comes up, that’s all for today.
Tagged Einstein, neutrinos, OPERA, relativity, superluminal
Guess What?! Neutrinos Travel Just Below the Speed of Light
Five out of five experiments agree: neutrinos do not travel faster than the speed limit.
Or more precisely: to within the uncertainties of current measurements, neutrino speed, for neutrinos with energies far larger than their masses, is experimentally indistinguishable from the speed of light in vacuum. This is just as expected in standard Einsteinian special relativity, which would predict they move just below light speed, by an amount too small to measure with current experiments.
http://press.web.cern.ch/press/PressReleases/Releases2011/PR19.11E.html
Based on data taken in May 2012 using a beam of neutrinos sent from the CERN laboratory to the Gran Sasso lab, the four experiments ICARUS, LVD, Borexino and even OPERA (the source of all the excitement) find results consistent with the speed of light, with uncertainties (at one-standard-deviation) about 10 times smaller than OPERA’s original measured deviation of neutrino speed from the speed of light. The new results are consistent with ICARUS’s result from 2011 data. Moreover, OPERA’s mistaken result from September and November 2011 — a claimed six standard deviations away from the expected speed — has now been corrected, following their detective work presented in March. Even MINOS, a U.S. experiment, has revised their older result, which was previously slightly discrepant from the speed of light by a small amount (two standard deviations), and they find now that their data too are quite consistent with neutrinos traveling with light speed, though with much less precision in the measurement.
And so with a final quintet, sung in unison, this melodramatic comic OPERA buffa comes to a close. As with all classic operatic comedies, there’s been crisis, chaos, and a good bit of hilarity, all the while with wise voices speaking reason to no avail, but in the end the overzealous are chastened, the righteous are made whole, everyone (even the miscreant) is happy, and all is well with the world.
Curtain!! Applause!! Science Triumphant!!
Favorable review to follow when time permits.
Posted in Other Collider News, Particle Physics, The Scientific Process
Tagged DoingScience, Einstein, neutrinos, OPERA, relativity, superluminal
A Violation of Lepton Universality?
A brief mention today of a new measurement from the BABAR experimental collaboration, which tests lepton universality (to be explained below) and finds it wanting.
The Basic Story (Slightly Oversimplified)
Within the Standard Model of particle physics (the equations that describe and predict the behavior of all of the known particles and forces), the effects of the weak nuclear force on the three leptons — the electron, the muon and the tau — are all expected to be identical. This called “lepton universality”. Continue reading →
Posted in Other Collider News, Particle Physics, Uncategorized
Tagged Higgs, leptons, quarks
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Why policymakers should fear Libra
Kaushik Basu
By Kaushik Basu
MUMBAI ― Facebook's new global digital currency, Libra, which the company plans to launch as early as 2020, could transform the world.
But no one ― including the founders of this ambitious economic engineering project ― can fully anticipate the currency's possible ramifications. And monetary policymakers should be especially worried, because they may find it much harder to control unemployment and inflation in a Libra world.
In the first quarter of 2019, Facebook had 2.38 billion monthly active users. If even a fraction of them begin to use Libra to carry out financial transactions, buy and sell products, and transfer money, the new currency would quickly gain wide acceptance.
Already, the Libra Association, a Geneva-based not-for-profit group that will operate the digital currency, counts companies such as Uber, eBay, Lyft, Mastercard, and PayPal among its founding members. Libra could, therefore, become a dominant global currency ― but one run by a corporation, not a central bank.
Although Libra is based on the same blockchain technology as other cryptocurrencies, it is expected to be much more efficient. Facebook promises that the Libra system will be able to process 1,000 transactions per second, be user-friendly, and have a transaction cost of virtually zero.
Not surprisingly, the Libra announcement has prompted a flurry of........
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ARE THE LEFT IN IRELAND DIVORCED FROM REPUBLICANISM?
On June 28, 2017 June 28, 2017 By rebelbreezeIn British imperialism, Current Event Report, Gender Equality, History, Ireland, Irish Left, Irish Republicanism, National Liberation, Political Analysis, Political Prisoners, US Imperialism
Clive Sulish
A DEBATE to discuss the above question at the Teachers’ Club, Dublin, was organised by the United Ireland Association with Tommy McKearney and Clare Daly being the debaters on June 16th.
Tommy McKearney
(Photo: Wikipedia)
Tommy McKearney is a long-time Republican, formerly of the Provisional IRA, 1980
Clare Daly
Hunger-Striker and ex-Republican prisoner. He was, along with Anthony McIntyre, a founder of the Republican Writers’ Group which, while not advocating armed struggle, was critical of the Good Friday Agreement, of Provisional IRA and in particular of Sinn Féin. He is currently an Organiser for the Independent Workers’ Union.
Clare Daly is a long-time Socialist, a former trade union shop stewart and has been a Teachta Dála (member of the Irish parliament) since 2011, formerly as a member of the Socialist Party and now a Left Alliance TD. She has visited Republican prisoners and raised issues about their treatment in court and in jail. Daly was also arrested for trespass at Shannon Airport, along with fellow-TD and partner Mick Wallace, protesting against the use of the airport by US military flights and for transporting of political prisoners of the US military to jails in various parts of the world.
TOMMY MC KEARNEY
Tommy McKearney spoke first and stated that there was an issue of defining Republicanism and that sometimes what was meant was the anti-monarchic Republicanism of France or the United Stated but he was going to discuss it in terms of a specific Irish-based ideology, i.e Irish Republicanism.
Mentioning a number of Left-Irish Republicans such as Fintan Lawlor and Wolfe Tone’s famous quotation about relying on the “men of no property”, Tommy developed a line of reasoning that sought to say that there was not a huge difference between Irish Republicanism and socialism and drew attention to the fact that James Connolly had founded a party by the title of the Irish Socialist Republican Party.
Going on to talk about the objective of Irish Republicans, Tommy stated that not only is a republic desirable for Ireland – it is necessary. Only a Republic that is based upon socialist principles can resolve the economic and political problems facing Ireland today on both sides of the colonial Border.
Referring to the British election results in the Six Counties, Tommy commented on the 238,915 votes and seven seats for Sinn Féin – an increase of 14,670 votes – and the rise of almost 67,000 votes for the DUP with their ten seats. Sinn Féin had been pushing a peace process which was not about peace but about normalisation; their claim to intend to bridge the sectarian divide was empty and the voting lines were drawn up along sectarian lines at least as deeply as before.
Tommy also speculated that the amount of votes cast for Sinn Féin, on a platform of refusing to take their seats in Westminster showed, among other things, the amount of people in the Six Counties who did not care to be represented in a British Parliament and presumably would want representation in a united Irish Republic. He called for an alliance of Left Republicans and Irish socialists and recalled that James Connolly had founded, as well as the Labour Party, the Irish Socialist Republican Party.
Clare was next and she in turn highlighted the difficult issue of defining the Left – did it mean the parties that defined themselves as Left, did it include the Labour Party – some would say yes, others no. For Clare it is not issue of the names we give parties or activists but of what we stand for. Clare said she stands for a socialist country and in that sense for a Republic.
Addressing the question for debate, Clare owned that maybe socialists had neglected the national question — maybe they had been put off by images of balaclavas and guns — but it could equally be said that Republicans had for decades neglected social questions such as women’s reproductive rights, women’s rights in general, gay rights …. However, in more recent times, Republicans were seen actively supporting those rights.
Over recent years, Clare said, we had seen the gains our parents fought for in terms of trade union rights and local authority and state services lost or undermined.
Clare said she saw herself as a citizen of the world but as she lived in Ireland that she stood for a Republic that was organised along socialist lines and gave equal rights to all. The real question, Clare stated, is how we are to achieve that and pointed to the swing to the Left in Britain with Jeremy Corbyn’s party receiving a big increase in votes, despite media hostility and predictions of failure. The Conservative Party could only rule now with the support of the DUP’s 10 Mps. Clare said that opportunities of a Left Front existed in Ireland too as was seen by the Right to Water mass marches with broad political party and some major trade union support.
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE, RESPONSES FROM THE PANEL
Included in contributions from the audience were the following:
Sinn Féin had seven MPs to the DUP’s 10 and should consider abandoning their abstentionism and go to Westminster to assist Corbyn in voting legislation
While the Labour Party in Britain had moved to the Left, Sinn Féin in Ireland had moved to the right
Good debate from two good speakers but also two who had put themselves out there for what they believed – Tommy McKearney in armed struggle in the past and hard prison struggle and Clare Daly in protesting US military use of Shannon Airport and also visiting Republican prisoners in jail, along with a few other Tds.
We need more debates like these and also to focus on Republicans with regard to where they stood with regard to socialism.
The Irish Left as a whole has divorced itself from Irish Republicanism, probably in fear of being associated with nationalism and/ or armed struggle. In doing so, it has walked away from continual violation of human rights, e.g of Republican prisoners in the jails and of civil rights, the right to political dissent of Republican activists on both sides of the Border.
The Irish Left has neglected to confront British Imperialism and left the Republicans to confront the various visits of the British Queen and the recent one of Prince Philip, when major roads were shut and even civilians impeded in going about their business or even going to their local shops or to visit their relatives’ graves in Glasnevin and a megaphone wrested by an undercover policeman backed up by a riot squad from the hands of a person about to speak to a protest demonstration.
Republicans are socialists and to pose the two as different categories was ridiculous.
There should be a broad Left front in Ireland including the trade unions and Sinn Féin.
Among the responses from the panel were that people were hung up on condemning Sinn Féin and should welcome them into a broad Left mass movement on the model of the Right to Water and Right to change campaigns (this from Tommy McKearney)
The socialists might not have done very well opposing British imperialism but had opposed US imperialism, which is one of the imperialist powers in operation in Ireland (this from Clare Daly) and a major one in the world.
The contributor who said that “Republicans are socialists” seemed unaware that historically at least this certainly was not so. Seán Mac Diarmada, the Irish Republican executed on the same day as the socialist James Connolly, had been on record as saying that no-one should support socialism. During the War of Independence, some IRA units took actions to support landless labourers and poor farmers but others took action to repress these in favour of big farmers.
The IRA had a ban on Communists through the 1930s probably up to the 1960s. Sean South, prominent Limerick IRA Volunteer killed in the Bessborough RUC Barracks attack in 1957, was a conservative Catholic, anti-Communist member of the Knights of Columbanus and of An Réalt (Irish-speaking section of the Legion of Mary).
The broad Left front being advocated by a number of people seems to be a reformist social-democratic one and, while there is nothing necessarily counter-revolutionary about fighting for reforms, clarity is needed about whether what they are advocating is a social-democratic program or fighting for some reforms while at the same time openly organising with a revolution in mind.
Clare Daly has certainly fought hard against US Imperialism but others on the Left much less so. The mobilisation against Hillary Clinton’s visit to Dublin was not great and gave up in the face of police opposition before they even reached City Hall and there was no mobilisation at all against Obama’s visit to Dublin in May 2011 and it remains to be seen how much there will be if he comes this year, as he has reportedly promised to do. But the question of oppposing British imperialism is a crucial one since a) it is the main imperialist-colonial power at work in Ireland and b) because it is the main prop of US Imperialism in Europe and in the UN.
There would seem to be fertile ground for debate on the historical and current differences between Irish Socialists and Irish Republicans, as well as for discussing possible joint action and one hopes for many more debates and discussions of this nature with a broad attendance.
Anti-imperialismCapitalismGender EqualityMass Media Criticismnational liberationpeace processespolitical analysisPolitical PrisonersWater Charges Protests
THE MOORE STREET HISTORIC QUARTER – REALITY AND WISHFUL THINKING.
Una tragedia putumayense en tres actos: entrando al “post-conflicto”
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ND LEEF Prepares for Science Sunday at St. Pat's
Author: Gene Stowe, South Bend Tribune
ND LEEF, a unique environmental research collaboration between the University of Notre Dame and St. Patrick’s County Park, will hold its second annual public Science Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. Oct. 5. Construction has also started on an outdoor education and outreach pavilion that will enhance year-round community engagement at ND LEEF.
The Notre Dame Linked Experimental Ecosystem Facility, with an initial investment of $1 million on six acres in the park, includes two state-of-the art experimental watersheds designed to bridge the controlled environment of a laboratory with the uncontrolled environment found in nature.
Each watershed replicates the complex natural system of ponds, streams and wetlands while allowing scientists to manage such factors as water temperature and flow for their research. ND LEEF is part of the university’s Environmental Change Initiative (ND-ECI), aimed at applying cutting-edge research to improve environmental management and provide innovative policy solutions.
Science Sunday, which attracted more than 150 visitors last year, includes tours of the facility, descriptions of research by 10 to 15 scientists from the Colleges of Science and Engineering, and hands-on activities especially for children.
“It’s our annual event to translate the research that’s occurring at ND LEEF, along with other environmental and ecological research at Notre Dame, to the public,” says LEEF Assistant Director Brett Peters. “We have a great venue at ND LEEF where people can see firsthand how we do the research. Visitors can talk to the researchers themselves about what the research is, how it is conducted, how it might impact their lives. We’ll have several different stations set up,” including small pond insects sampled from the facility’s ponds.
ND LEEF Live Image (updated hourly)
The 700-square-foot education and outreach pavilion that breaks ground this month will in future provide more opportunities for individuals, teachers, and classes to engage the research.
“It’s going to be the first place people stop when they visit LEEF,” says director Jennifer Tank, a biology professor whose research focuses on stream ecology. “Kids can come out and learn about an experiment at the beginning of the semester. They can follow it online in their class all semester long. They get their hands dirty. They do experimental stuff. They meet with the scientists who are doing the work. It’s really great for those kids who are interested in science or think they might be interested.”
Aimee Buccellato, an assistant professor at Notre Dame’s School of Architecture, designed the building as well as the master plan for the future growth at ND LEEF. The pavilion will be built with Midwestern hardwood and traditional framing methods, and will play a central role in the campus, and be part of the environmental research conducted there. Cutting-edge solar technology on the rooftop will power an interactive touch screen, where visitors canlearn about the experiments being conducted at the facility, as well as the innovative construction of the pavilion.
“This small structure is meant to articulate the mission of the Environmental Change Initiative on many different levels, and also help educate the public about how building design impacts the natural environment,” she said, adding that visitors may observe the construction later this fall.
“This structure is intended to be the centerpiece of a larger research campus which is being planned for the future. The education and outreach pavilion is the beginning of a broader vision.”
Originally published by Gene Stowe, South Bend Tribune at architecture.nd.edu on September 30, 2014.
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August 25, 2016 in BIOPIC DRAMA
Hands of Stone Review
RYAN: This is a biopic of Roberto Duran – a Panamanian boxer from the 70s/80s. I wasn’t interested in seeing this movie and then it turned out much better than expected. It’s very easy to watch and his life is a good story; the boxing sequences are shot differently than I’ve seen in other boxing films and there were more detailed sound effects.
BECKY: It was shot in a more interesting way.They used different speeds but it was very well done – it was orchestrated like a ballet.
RYAN: The fights were perfectly choreographed, I would agree.
ERIK: I enjoy good boxing movies and have seen my fair share of them. I liked some of how they filmed these fights, but in one fight they edited a bit too much. The extreme closeups were a bit much.
BECKY: When you watch boxing matches, it’s not closeup, so I liked that this movie brought us in.
RYAN: As far as the sport goes, what I really like about this movie, is that I learned for the first time how much it really is involved the psychology of the boxer – not just the physicality and throwing the right selection of punches. It’s a mind game too.
BECKY: And hello Usher in this movie. He’s the Zac Efron of this film. He was very likable in this.
ERIK: He was really good as Sugar Ray Leonard. And it’s funny because he’s sometimes smiling in the background and I was wondering if he was acting or really just glad to be there.
RYAN: (laughs) He was great though. The whole cast was good. Robert DeNiro, Ana de Armas, Usher is clearly doing a lot of squats because you see Usher booty in this, and then Edgar Ramirez is so easy on the eyes. We’ve all seen love scenes in movies before but this was the first time where I was actually kind of turned on, watching a love scene – they made it super steamy. I almost couldn’t believe it.
BECKY: I was a little bit turned on it. It’s arousing. They did it well. It’s well lit and lascivious.
RYAN: It’s a perky scene.
ERIK: These were some very, very attractive people having intercourse. It did go on for a while.
BECKY: The women in this movie kind of sucked because they were encouraging their men to have these careers instead of staying safe for their families, but it’s a boxing movie…
RYAN: This movie is quite ambitious in its scope of sotrytelling because it’s not only about Duran’s career, but also about his childhood, his family, what’s happening politically in the nation of Panama at the time, the world of boxing… there’s a lot going on.
ERIK: The movie does bite off more than it can chew. The most effective part was Panama because they were up and down at the same time.
BECKY: That is a good parallel because he was everyone’s pawn.
RYAN: A pawn and a champion.
BECKY: But he seemed smarter than everyone really gave him credit for.
ERIK: And Edgar really made him much more likable as a character than perhaps any other actor could have made him. He’s charming and then you see the dark side but Edgar brings a humanity.
BECKY: I didn’t think I could watch this but he did make it easier to watch it. It’s interesting – we are all three different audiences, a man, woman, gay guy and we all three liked it – for a boxing movie, that’s good.
RYAN: Btw – Ellen Barkin looks amazing. It’s good.
Thanks For Viewing The Hands of Stone Review
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THIS WEEK IN CONGRESS - March 15, 2019
• New homes free for Yutu survivors
• Equal access to disaster aid
• Prep now for extra disaster funds
• Reconnecting with EDA’s Iglesias
• Higher Education bill readied
• College for free
• Education is a bipartisan issue
• Supporting Close Up
• Trump slashes support for students
• Honoring Purple veterans
• Listening to veterans
• In defense of sharks
• Shark talk with Channel NewsAsia
• New USCIS liaison visits
• $854k for Prior Service
• USS Miguel Keith coming to Saipan
• Hello and goodbye, Olivia
• Opportunities
• Legislative Highlights
New homes free for typhoon survivors
The deadline to opt-in for a no-cost, new home from FEMA is Friday, March 22. More than 900 families on Saipan and Tinian are eligible for either a complete new home or for repairs to their damaged dwelling. FEMA’s Permanent Housing Construction program has only been made available a handful of times in the agency’s history. The Marianas qualifies because of the scale of destruction from typhoons Mangkhut and Yutu and because of limited access to materials and labor. Eligible survivors who decide to take advantage of the program will end up with a typhoon-resistant home, built to standard, at no cost to themselves. FEMA will take care of labor, materials, permitting, and construction. I encourage all eligible survivors to take advantage of this extraordinary opportunity for a safer, stronger home - and for greater peace of mind for the future. Eligible families should call 1-800-621-FEMA to opt-in.
Equal access to disaster aid
The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act of 1988 protects individuals in a federally declared disaster area from discrimination. If you think you have not been given equal access to services and benefits, contact FEMA’s Equal Rights Officers at 1-800-621-3362 or TTY 1-800-462-7585. If a phone call does not resolve the problem, you may file a written complaint with FEMA’s Office of Equal Rights, generally within 180 days of the alleged discrimination. Include your name and contact information, the name and address of the agency that committed the alleged discrimination, pertinent details of the allegation, and the names of any persons whom FEMA may contact to validate the allegations. Individuals who file discrimination complaints are also protected from retaliation, and should contact FEMA’s Typhoon Yutu Equal Rights Officer, Jubén Delgado-Dávila, (202) 341-3984 or juben.delgado-davila@fema.dhs.gov if they believe they are the victims of retaliation.
Prep now for extra disaster funds
Congress appropriated $1.7 billion for communities, like the Marianas, hit by natural disasters in 2018. There is another $1.2 billion in legislation the House passed in January and the Senate takes up later this month. The funds are called Community Development Block Grants-Disaster Recovery, or CDBG-DR. But unlike the Community Development Block Grants the Marianas and other states and territories receive annually, CDBG-DR funds require significant advance planning. Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, which qualified under Public Law 115-123, covering 2017 disasters, are just beginning to tap their CDBG-DR monies.
I wrote Governor Ralph Torres this week to encourage his administration to begin preparing to meet the CDBG-DR requirements. The Commonwealth will have to submit a plan to use the funds for long-term recovery and restoration of infrastructure and housing and for economic revitalization. Websites will have to be built so the public can have full view of procurements and contracting. And the Commonwealth will have to have robust financial controls so that CDBG-DR funds are only used for needs not met by FEMA funding. This can all take as long as six months.
College for free
Get your application and placement fees waived and learn how to qualify for free tuition this Thursday at Northern Marianas College. NMC is hosting an information session for potential students from 5:30 to 6:30pm at the campus Library. Just by attending, your application and placement test fees for the Spring 2019 semester will be waived—a saving of up to $75. You will also learn how to pay for your college education with a Pell grant and other federal financial aid programs. I was one of the 22 original co-sponsors of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act that raised the dollar value of Pell grants for lower-income students and made more students eligible. As a result, today more than 90 percent of NMC’s students attend college for free. For more information, contact the NMC Office of Admissions and Records at 237-6768/6769/6771 or visit www.marianas.edu. To apply for federal financial aid online, use the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa.
Supporting Close Up
Providing our young people with opportunities to learn about their government and become educated citizens is a priority of mine, so this week I joined my insular areas colleagues in writing to the Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs in support of continued funding for the Close Up Program. Since 1988 Close Up has brought students from the Marianas to the nation’s capital for a first-hand experience with the federal government. The non-profit organization also conducts local youth summits that give our students an opportunity to express their own ideas and develop policy making skills. These programs make us all better and should continue to be a priority for the federal government.
Trump slashes support for students
On Monday, the Trump administration unveiled its budget request for Fiscal Year 2020 which would impose deep cuts to public education in the Marianas and across the country. Instead of expanding support for our nation’s schools, including those devastated by Super Typhoon Yutu, the Trump budget would steer over $50 billion away from these public school students to private and for-profit schools. College would be more expensive and less accessible under the Trump budget, too, with $200 billion cut from student loan forgiveness programs and other financial aid. Annual funding increases for PSS schools made possible by a new formula I had enacted in 2015 would be wiped out by the Trump budget. Fortunately, House Democrats, now in the majority, will prevent these damaging proposals from becoming law. We want to make college more affordable, and expand our Nation’s investment in quality public education. Read more about the Trump budget’s impact to students here.
$854k for Prior Service
The Prior Service Trust Fund will receive $853,590 in Technical Assistance Program funds that will be distributed to former employees of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, the Office of Insular Affairs announced Wednesday. Beneficiaries are former employees from the Northern Marianas and the now Freely Associated States who served for at least five years under the U.S. Administration in the Pacific until the TTPI was dissolved in 1986. They receive small monthly checks in varying amounts to help meet everyday needs. The United States must continue to meet its commitment to these former employees for their service. Congress makes annual appropriations to the Technical Assistance Program, $20.8 million in FY 2019.
Airway Transportation Systems Specialist
Public Comments:
Mammals for MITT
LEGISLATIVE HIGHLIGHTS
H. Con. Res. 24 - Expressing the sense of Congress that the report of Special Counsel Mueller should be made available to the public and to Congress (Passed, 420-0)
H.Res. 206 – Acknowledging that the lack of sunlight and transparency in financial transactions and corporate formation poses a threat to our national security and our economy’s security and supporting efforts to close related loopholes (Agreed to by voice vote)
H.R. 1122 – Housing Choice Voucher Mobility Demonstration Act of 2019 (Passed, 387-22)
H.R. 974 – Federal Reserve Supervision Testimony Clarification Act (Agreed to by voice vote)
H.R. 1414 – FinCEN Improvement Act of 2019 (Agreed to by voice vote)
H.R. 758 – Cooperate with Law Enforcement Agencies and Watch Act of 2019 (Passed, 404-7)
H.Res. 156 – Calling for accountability and justice for the assassination of Boris Nemtsov (Passed, 416-1)
H.R. 596 – Crimea Annexation Non-recognition Act (Passed, 427-1)
H.R. 1404 – Vladimir Putin Transparency Act (Agreed to by voice vote)
H.R. 1617 – KREMLIN Act (Agreed to by voice vote)
H.R. 1582 – Electronic Message Preservation Act (Agreed to by voice vote)
H.R. 1608 – Federal Advisory Committee Act Amendments of 2019 (Agreed to by voice vote)
H.R. 1654 – Federal Register Modernization Act (Passed, 426-1)
Legislation I Cosponsored
H.R. 5 - To prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation, and for other purposes.
H.R. 6 - To authorize the cancellation of removal and adjustment of status of certain aliens, and for other purposes
H.R. 1454 - To provide for a 3-day waiting period before a person may receive a handgun, with exceptions
H.R. 1585 - To reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, and for other purposes.
H.R. 1644 - To restore the open internet order of the Federal Communications Commission.
H.R. 1688 - To help provide relief to State education budgets during a recovering economy, to help fulfill the Federal mandate to provide higher educational opportunities for Native American Indians, and for other purposes
H.R. 1707 - To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for the refinancing of certain Federal student loans, and for other purposes.
The House is in recess for the District Work Period.
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Current: African Diamond Co. - Fine
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
THE AFRICAN
DIAMOND COMPANY, INC.
n/k/a COAL CORPORATION
ORDER IMPOSING FINE
DOCKET NO. CF-13-7839-S
I. PRELIMINARY STATEMENT
WHEREAS, the Banking Commissioner (“Commissioner”) is charged with the administration of Chapter 672a of the General Statutes of Connecticut, the Connecticut Uniform Securities Act (“Act”), and Sections 36b-31-2 to 36b-31-33, inclusive, of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies (“Regulations”) promulgated under the Act;
WHEREAS, the Commissioner, through the Securities and Business Investments Division of the Department of Banking (“Department”), conducted an investigation into the activities of The African Diamond Company, Inc. n/k/a Coal Corporation (“Respondent”), pursuant to Section 36b-26(a) of the Act, to determine if Respondent had violated, was violating or was about to violate provisions of the Act or Regulations (“Investigation”);
WHEREAS, on September 16, 2013, based on the Investigation, the Commissioner, acting pursuant to Sections 36b-27(a) and 36b-27(d) of the Act, issued an Order to Cease and Desist, Notice of Intent to Fine and Notice of Right to Hearing against Respondent (collectively “Notice”), which Notice is incorporated by reference herein;
WHEREAS, the Commissioner alleged in the Notice that Respondent offered and/or sold securities in or from Connecticut, which securities were not registered in Connecticut under the Act. The offer and sale of such securities absent registration constitutes a violation of Section 36b-16 of the Act, which forms a basis for an order to cease and desist to be issued against Respondent under Section 36b-27(a) of the Act, and for the imposition of a fine upon Respondent under Section 36b-27(d) of the Act;
WHEREAS, the Commissioner alleged in the Notice that Respondent employed John Morgan as an unregistered agent of issuer in this state. Such conduct constitutes a violation of Section 36b-6(b) of the Act, which forms a basis for an order to cease and desist to be issued against Respondent under Section 36b-27(a) of the Act, and for the imposition of a fine upon Respondent under Section 36b-27(d) of the Act;
WHEREAS, the Notice stated, inter alia, that the Commissioner intended to impose a fine upon Respondent, that Respondent would be afforded an opportunity for a hearing on the allegations set forth in the Notice if a written request for a hearing was received by the Department within fourteen (14) days following Respondent’s receipt of the Notice, and that the Commissioner may order that the maximum fine be imposed upon Respondent if Respondent failed to request a hearing within the prescribed time period or failed to appear at any such hearing;
WHEREAS, on September 16, 2013, the Notice was sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, to Respondent;
WHEREAS, on October 3, 2013, the Notice that was sent to Respondent on September 16, 2013, by certified mail, return receipt requested, was returned to the Department marked “Return to Sender – Unable to Forward – Unable to Forward – Return to Sender”;
WHEREAS, on October 3, 2013, in accordance with Section 36b-33(h) of the General Statutes of Connecticut, Notice of Service on the Banking Commissioner In the Matter of: The African Diamond Company, Inc. n/k/a Coal Corporation dated October 3, 2013 (“Notice of Service”), was sent by registered mail, return receipt requested, to Respondent;
WHEREAS, Respondent has failed to request a hearing on the allegations set forth in the Notice within 14 days of the date of the Notice of Service;
WHEREAS, on October 28, 2013, a Certification was issued rendering the Order to Cease and Desist permanent as of October 18, 2013, which Certification is incorporated by reference herein;
WHEREAS, Section 36a-1-31(a) of the Regulations provides, in pertinent part, that:
When a party fails to request a hearing within the time specified in the notice, the allegations against the party may be deemed admitted. Without further proceedings or notice to the party, the commissioner shall issue a final decision in accordance with section 4-180 of the Connecticut General Statutes and section 36a-1-52 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, provided the commissioner may, if deemed necessary, receive evidence from the department, as part of the record, concerning the appropriateness of the amount of any . . . fine . . . sought in the notice.
WHEREAS, Section 36b-31(a) of the Act provides, in pertinent part, that “[t]he commissioner may from time to time make . . . such . . . orders as are necessary to carry out the provisions of sections 36b-2 to 36b-34, inclusive”;
AND WHEREAS, Section 36b-31(b) of the Act provides, in pertinent part, that “[n]o . . . order may be made . . . unless the commissioner finds that the action is necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors and consistent with the purposes fairly intended by the policy and provisions of sections 36b-2 to 36b-34, inclusive.”
II. FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. The Commissioner finds that the facts as set forth in paragraphs 6 through 28, inclusive, of the Notice, shall constitute findings of fact within the meaning of Section 4-180(c) of the General Statutes of Connecticut and Section 36a-1-52 of the Regulations, and that the Statutory Basis for Order to Cease and Desist and Order Imposing Fine set forth in paragraphs 29 through 39, inclusive, of the Notice shall constitute conclusions of law within the meaning of Section 4-180(c) of the General Statutes of Connecticut and Section 36a-1-52 of the Regulations.
2. The Commissioner finds that Respondent committed one violation of Section 36b-16 of the Act and one violation of Section 36b-6(b) of the Act.
3. The Commissioner finds that the facts require the imposition of a fine upon Respondent.
The Commissioner finds that the Notice complied with the requirements of Section 36b-27 of the Act and Section 4-177 of the General Statutes of Connecticut.
5. The Commissioner finds that the imposition of a fine upon Respondent is necessary and appropriate in the public interest and for the protection of investors and consistent with the purposes fairly intended by the policy and provisions of Sections 36b-2 to 36b-34, inclusive, of the Act.
III. ORDER
Having read the record, I hereby ORDER, pursuant to Section 36b-27(d) of the Act, that:
1. A fine of Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000) be imposed upon The African Diamond Company, Inc. n/k/a Coal Corporation, such fine to be remitted to the Department by cashier’s check, certified check or money order, made payable to “Treasurer, State of Connecticut”, no later than forty-five (45) days from the date the Order Imposing Fine is mailed; and
This Order Imposing Fine shall become final when mailed.
Dated at Hartford, Connecticut, ______/s/__________
this 13th day of November 2013. Howard F. Pitkin
This Order was sent by certified mail,
return receipt requested, to
Respondent on November 14, 2013.
Coal Corporation
f/k/a The African Diamond Company, Inc.
2325 Dulles Corner Boulevard, Suite 500
Certified mail no. 7012 3050 0002 1692 6200
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Samir Hulileh
Samir Hulileh is Chairman of The Portland Trust in Ramallah and CEO of PADICO. He has held various management positions in the public and private sectors including Cabinet Secretary General of the Palestinian government during 2005-2006 and Assistant Undersecretary for the Ministry of Economy and Trade (1994-1997).
He is an active member of many economic and academic establishments. Between 2004-2005 he was Chairman of the Palestine Trade Centre (PALTRADE) where he was elected as a board member for 2011-2013. He is the Chairman of Palestine International Business Forum, and a board member of Palestinian Banking Corporation, Palestinian-British Business Council, Palestinian-Russian Business Council, and Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute (MAS). He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Friends Schools in Ramallah and The International Chamber of Commerce and the Chairman of Birzeit University Alumni Association.
Currently, he represents PADICO HOLDING on several boards of subsidiary companies, including Palestine Telecommunications Group (PALTEL), Palestine Securities Exchange (PSE), Palestine Real Estate Investment Company (PRICO), and Palestine Mortgage and Housing Corporation (PMHC). He is also Chairman of Jericho Gate Real Estate Investment.
He graduated from the American University of Beirut in 1983 with a Masters in Economics.
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The de Havilland Comet Air Disasters Revealed
On 27 July 1949 de Havilland’s chief test pilot, John Cunningham, took the Comet prototype out on its maiden flight. The aircraft took-off from Hatfield Aerodrome and flew for 31 minutes with Harold Waters as co-pilot, John Wilson and Frank Reynolds as flight engineers and Tony Fairbrother as the test observer. The success of this first flight gave the company the confidence to show the aircraft off at the Farnborough Air Show the same year, before the prototype began its flight trials. A second prototype was soon completed and was delivered to BOAC, where it went through 500 hours of route proving work and aircrew training.
It was the fifth Comet to be built that was the first to receive a Certificate of Airworthiness, gaining its wings six months earlier than expected on 22 January 1952. The aircraft entered service with BOAC four months later in May 1952 when it commenced the world’s first commercial jet-airliner service. Within a year de Havilland Comets had carried some 30,000 passengers and were operated on routes from London to Johannesburg, Singapore and Tokyo.
Despite the aircraft’s popularity and early international success, the Comet’s story began to sour shortly after it was introduced. The first crash was on 26 October 1952 at Ciampino Airport in Rome and although not fatal did mark the start of a turn of events that would see the Comet withdrawn from service and its Certificate of Airworthiness temporarily revoked.
The first fatal crash of a de Havilland Comet occurred on 3 March 1953 when a Canadian Pacific Airlines Comet 1A, Empress of Hawaii, stalled while attempting to take-off at Karachi in Pakistan. All of five crew and the six passengers on-board were killed.
On 2 May 1953, two months after the accident at Karachi another BOAC Comet 1 crashed, on this occasion near Calcutta, India. The aircraft came down in bad weather just six minutes into its flight. One eye-witness reported seeing the aircraft lose its wings and then plunge, in flames, into the Indian Ocean. All forty-three passengers and crew lost their lives. The Indian government launched an inquiry and after much of the wreckage had been recovered from the ocean it was found that a left-hand elevator spar in the stabiliser had failed. The inquiry concluded that the failure created extreme negative G-force during take-off, which combined with the weather conditions, caused down loads on the aircraft sufficient for it to lose its wings.
On 10 January 1954 BOAC Flight 781 broke apart in mid-air and crashed into the sea off the Italian coast south of Elba twenty minutes into its flight. All thirty-five passengers and crew were killed. The aircraft had taken-off from Rome’s Ciampino Airport, the scene of the first Comet accident the previous year. There were no eye-witnesses to the accident and air-traffic-controllers had only partial radio messages from which investigators could try to draw any conclusions. De Havilland immediately put forward a list of sixty modifications that it felt were necessary to prevent such an incident in the future and BOAC voluntarily chose to withdraw its fleet from passenger operations.
The Abell Committee, established by the British government to investigate the cause of the crashes, suggested that the most likely cause was fire and as a result numerous modifications were made to the engines and wings to minimise the possibility of a fire breaking out if they were to suffer any damage while in flight. In the absence of any other evidence the British government put pressure on the committee to end their investigations without exploring any further options. As a result BOAC’s Comet aircraft were allowed to resume operations on 23 March 1954.
Two weeks later two weeks later, on 8 April 1954, South African Airways Flight 201, with Comet 1 G-ALYY Yoke Yoke chartered from BOAC, came down off the Italian coast, north of Stromboli, killing all twenty-one passengers and crew.
All Comet aircraft were immediately grounded. Their Certificate of Airworthiness was revoked and production at the de Havilland factory at Hatfield in Hertfordshire was suspended. A committee, under the chairmanship of Lord Cohen was established on 19 October 1954 to investigate and report on the causes of the Comet disasters. The investigation team established by the Cohen Committee was led by Sir Arnold Hall, director of the Royal Aeronautical Establishment at Farnborough.
For the first time the investigation team considered the possibility of metal fatigue as one of the most likely causes of the two most recent accidents. Wreckage was recovered and brought to Farnborough and BOAC gave the team the Comet airframe G-ALYU. The entire fuselage was immersed into a special water tank in order to simulate pressurisation. The airframe was subjected to more than 3,000 flight cycles, with repeated re-pressurisation and dramatically following extensive tests the team were able to cause the fuselage to rip open at a corner of the forward, port-side escape hatch cut-out.
The de Havilland Aircraft Company undertook a major redesign of the Comet, making it significantly larger and stronger. The operational Comet 2 aircraft were refitted and modifications were made to overcome the design flaws that had been identified by the Cohen Committee. The new design work led to the introduction of the Comet 4, which received its Certificate of Airworthiness on 24 September 1958. Two days later BOAC took delivery of its first two Comet 4 aircraft and were once again able to resume jet-airline passenger services.
British television network Channel 4 will broadcast a special one-hour documentary on the Comet air disasters and the subsequent investigations. For details of the programme visit A Great British Air Disaster.
For more information on Britain’s many and varied aviation heroes and landmarks take a look at Heroes and Landmarks of British Aviation by Richard and Peter Edwards.
The book is published by Pen and Sword Books (Aviation) and is currently available in hardback. The ISBN reference number is 9781848846456. Click here to order your copy.
For more information on military conflict in the Pacific in the first half of the twentieth century take a look at The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Imperial Naval Air Service by Peter Edwards.
Posted in Blog Air CrashAir DisasterairlinerBOACChannel 4Cometde HavillandFarnboroughInvestigationjet
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Home: Form Fitting
By Jackie Caradonio on May 1, 2012
<< Back to Robb Report, The World’s Top Resorts
The line between furniture and art has long been a blurry one. From Louis XIV’s baroque-inspired armchairs to Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s iconic Barcelona chair and Salvador Dalí’s pop art Mae West sofa, history’s most enduring furnishings have borrowed from the artistic movements of their times. Now a new Manhattan-based company, Bespoke Global, is endeavoring to blur that line further by pairing its clients with renowned artists for the development of one-of-a-kind home furnishings.
Launched last May by Pippa McArdle and lighting designer Gwen Carlton, Bespoke Global represents 40 artists and furniture designers. The artists work with the company’s clients to conceive and customize original furnishings, artwork, and accessories, with McArdle and Carlton serving as liaisons from start to finish. The firm’s talent roster is impressive and varied, including such artists as Warren Muller, known for his abstract chandeliers that start at $25,000, and David Ebner, whose sculptural furniture has appeared at the Smithsonian Institute and in museums throughout the world.
“We realized a need for a more personal experience in high-end home furnishings,” McArdle says. “More often than not, homeowners simply choose a piece of furniture, and six weeks later it arrives at their door. By giving our clients the ability to work directly with artists, we’re allowing them to actualize their fantasy piece.”
The collaboration begins with the client’s selection of an artist, based on the desired aesthetic and medium. Bespoke Global subsequently arranges a series of meetings, which can involve the artist visiting the client’s home, the client touring the artist’s studio, or both. For completely original pieces (the company also offers limited editions crafted by its artisan partners), artists create sketches based on the client’s specifications and then make alterations as necessary. Fabrication of a piece—whether a ceramic lighting fixture, a hand-carved wooden table, a sculpture, or other one-off design—might take a week or a year depending on the project, and prices can be anywhere from about $110 to upwards of $1 million. Clients are as involved as they wish to be during the process, and they can elect at the outset to ultimately receive a video documentary of the experience, as a collector’s souvenir chronicling the creation of a unique work of art.
“The entire experience was so much more personal and passionate than working with an interior designer, which can feel very transactional and indifferent,” says Shilpa Sanger, a Bespoke Global client who commissioned furniture maker Michael Coffey last July to create a hand-carved walnut console for her New York City apartment. Coffey—whose fluid, abstract carvings transform stiff wooden surfaces into curvaceous sculptural pieces (a number of which have commanded thousands of dollars at Christie’s and Sotheby’s auctions)—spent roughly four months working with Sanger, customizing the console and even overseeing its installation in her home. “Every time I walk by it, I’m filled with good memories of the experience,” Sanger says. “For me, it’s not a piece of furniture; it’s artwork.”
Bespoke Global, 212.828.7472, www.bespokeglobal.com
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« DCCLXXXDCCLXXXII »
Roman Numerals: DCCLXXXI = 781
Convert Roman Numerals
Arabic numerals:
Roman numerals:
1 M C X I
2 MM CC XX II
3 MMM CCC XXX III
4 CD XL IV
5 D L V
6 DC LX VI
7 DCC LXX VII
8 DCCC LXXX VIII
9 CM XC IX
The converter lets you go from arabic to roman numerals and vice versa. Simply type in the number you would like to convert in the field you would like to convert from, and the number in the other format will appear in the other field. Due to the limitations of the roman number system you can only convert numbers from 1 to 3999.
To easily convert between roman and arabic numerals you can use the table above. The key is to handle one arabic digit at a time, and translate it to the right roman number, where zeroes become empty. Go ahead and use the converter and observe how the table shows the solution in realtime!
Current date and time in Roman Numerals
MMXIX-VII-XVIII X:XLVIII:XXXV
Here is the current date and time written in roman numerals. Since the roman number system doesn't have a zero, the hour, minute, and second component of the timestamps sometimes become empty.
The year 781
Here you can read more about what happened in the year 781.
The number 781
The number 781 is divisble by 11 and 71 and can be prime factorized into 11×71.
781 as a binary number: 1100001101
781 as an octal number: 1415
781 as a hexadecimal number: 30D
Numbers close to DCCLXXXI
Below are the numbers DCCLXXVIII through DCCLXXXIV, which are close to DCCLXXXI. The right column shows how each roman numeral adds up to the total.
778 = DCCLXXVIII = 500 + 100 + 100 + 50 + 10 + 10 + 5 + 1 + 1 + 1
779 = DCCLXXIX = 500 + 100 + 100 + 50 + 10 + 10 + 10 − 1
780 = DCCLXXX = 500 + 100 + 100 + 50 + 10 + 10 + 10
781 = DCCLXXXI = 500 + 100 + 100 + 50 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 1
782 = DCCLXXXII = 500 + 100 + 100 + 50 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 1 + 1
783 = DCCLXXXIII = 500 + 100 + 100 + 50 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 1 + 1 + 1
784 = DCCLXXXIV = 500 + 100 + 100 + 50 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 5 − 1
About Roman Numerals
Roman numerals originate, as the name suggests, from the Ancient Roman empire. Unlike our position based system with base 10, the roman system is based on addition (and sometimes subtraction) of seven different values. These are symbols used to represent these values:
Symbol Value
For example, to express the number 737 in roman numerals you write DCCXXXVII, that is 500 + 100 + 100 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 5 + 1 + 1. However, for the numbers 4 and 9, subtraction is used instead of addition, and the smaller number is written in front of the greater number: e.g. 14 is written as XIV, i.e. 10 + 5 − 1, and 199 is expressed as CXCIX i.e. 100 + 100 − 10 + 10 − 1. It could be argued that 199 would be more easily written as CIC, but according to the most common definition you can only subtract a number that is one order of magnitude smaller than the numbers you're subtracting from, meaning that IC for 99 is incorrect.
Roman numerals are often used in numbered lists, on buildings to state the year they were built, and in names of regents, such as Louis XVI of France.
Feel free to link to this site if you find it useful. It's also possible to link directly to specific numbers, such as roman-numerals.info/MMDXLVII or roman-numerals.info/782. You can also link to intervals, for instance roman-numerals.info/1-100 or roman-numerals.info/1980-2020, to see the numbers in a list format.
© MMXIX ApplicVision
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Too bad for SA's breast cancer patients
Drug only costs R1 a day, but it's been out of stock for two weeks at Baragwanath. This in Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Katharine Child
The most common and cheapest breast cancer drugs have been out of stock or running very low at Chris Hani Baragwanath clinic – in Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The clinic, which serves about 1,700 breast cancer patients and survivors, is believed to be out of tamoxifen, a drug taken by 75% of women who get breast cancer, a doctor confirmed.
It costs only R1 a day.
Stock-outs of antiretrovirals (ARVs), contraceptive injections and a TB vaccine are worse than normal, said a number of doctors working in government hospitals and clinics, but the reasons are varied.
Tamoxifen is often taken to prevent a recurrence of breast cancer for 10 years. It reduces oestrogen, a hormone that encourages the growth of many types of breast cancers.
It has been out of stock for the past two weeks, although the Chris Hani Baragwanath pharmacy has just managed to get a little more.
“It’s a disgrace,” said a doctor, who asked not to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media.
He said it is the cheapest and simplest treatment for breast cancer.
“Tamoxifen is even available in poor countries like Ethiopia.”
It has very few side-effects and sometimes can be used instead of expensive chemotherapy.
A similar drug given to breast cancer survivors for five years, Arimidex, is also out of stock because the supplying company allegedly cannot fulfil the demand. Multiple phone calls to their offices in Sandton on Tuesday went unanswered.
The doctors at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital said running out of simple medicines was not good for breast cancer patients or survivors.
They said patients don’t return for drugs because they don’t always have money for taxi fare to keep returning to the hospital, and many come from far.
“Running out of tamoxifen is like running out of bread and water,” said Lauren Pretorius, co-founder of NGO Campaigning for Cancer.
The lack of basic drugs comes after President Cyril Ramaphosa used his first address to the nation in February to promise a focus on cancer care and improved treatment for the disease.
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi launched the government Breast Cancer Policy in August, a 10-year plan drawn up by doctors, NGOs and state officials to improve screening, detection and treatment of the disease.
Motsoaledi said the plan would ensure people were treated sooner and better.
He also boasted that the government had recently secured the lowest price in the world to supply a high-cost drug used by very few women with a specific form of breast cancer to prevent it returning. The drug, Herceptin, costs the government at least R250,000 for a year’s course.
But tamoxifen, which has been running out at the country’s largest hospital, costs about R360 for a year’s treatment.
Acting CEO of Baragwanath Hospital Richard Lebethe denied the stock-out was as bad as doctors said.
“Tamoxifen is available at the facility. However, I can confirm that the hospital pharmacy ran low on Wednesday.
“Out of the 35 patients seen by the breast clinic about seven patients did not get tamoxifen.”
The facility took the names and contact details of patients who did not get their medication, and they were called on Friday to collect it, he said.
“To this end, I can put it on record all patients are continuing to receive their medication without any hindrance.”
But doctors maintain the drug was out of stock for two weeks and that the hospital had since only secured limited supplies. It was believed to still be out of Arimidex.
‘No answers’
Cancer patients are not the only ones at risk of not getting medication on time.
The Stop Stockouts Programme, which gathers anonymous reports from health workers across the country, said there was a countrywide shortage of contraceptive injections and certain second-line antiretrovirals (ARVs), which are given to people who have become resistant to the common ARV.
The project said no one could get answers to why provinces were turning people away without medicine.
“Communication from the national department of health has been limited and without a clear action plan to immediately resolve this crisis.
“We are at a loss as to how to proceed, and frankly a little stunned at how poorly these stockouts and any clinical guidance have been communicated to healthcare workers on the ground. It’s a ticking time bomb,” said Lauren Jankelowitz, spokesperson for the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society.
Motsoaledi said earlier there was a global shortage of the antiretroviral lamivudine because the Chinese government had shut down the factories producing it.
Local suppliers cannot make the ARVs because they do not have all the ingredients.
The NGO Global Fund (sponsored by Bill and Melinda Gates) is negotiating with the Chinese government to reopen the factories, he said. The health department had just ordered lamivudine from other countries that had not yet run out of stock.
Also out of stock, said Motsoaledi, was the two-monthly contraception injection NeT-EN, because there is also a worldwide shortage of the active ingredient, norethisterone enanthate.
Patients are now offered the Depo-Provera injection, which is administered every three months.
Motsoaledi said SA did not manufacture any of its own active pharmaceutical ingredients in drugs, making it vulnerable to global drug shortages.
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By Prega Govender
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Patience Oniha, Director-General, Debt Management Office (DMO), says Nigeria’s debt profile is now N24.4trillion having added N2.96trillion to the old debt in the space of a year.
The DG made this known on Thursday in Abuja, where its statistics showed that the country’s debt profile which was at N21.725trillion in 2017, had increased by 8.74 per cent.
The DMO boss said the funds were borrowed to finance projects, fund budget deficit and meet maturing obligations, noting that 68.18 per cent of the debt are domestic.
Oniha said some foreign debts were borrowed so as to refinance treasury bills because of the short tenor of the bills.
She went on to say that the CBN Official Exchange Rate of US$1/N306 as at December 31, 2017 and US$1/ N307.00 as at December 31, 2018 were used for the exchange of external debt stock to Nigerian currency.
According to the DMO boss, N331.12billion promissory notes issued to oil marketing companies and state governments in December 2018 are part of the government’s domestic debt stock.
She revealed that the country’s Debt Management Strategy, which had some targets set, had been almost achieved. This includes the plan to achieve a tenor of 75:25 ratio and that the target had been passed because the country now had a 78:22 ratio in favour of long term debts.
She said: “The share of domestic debt dropped to 68.18 per cent from 73.36 per cent as of December 31, 2017, thereby achieving a mix of 68.18 per cent and 31.82 per cent in the debt stock.
“Some of the objectives were to create more space for other borrowers in the domestic market, extend the average tenor of the debt stock in order to reduce refinancing risk and increase external reserves.
“The implementation of the strategy led to an injection of N855billion through the redemption of Nigerian Treasury Bills in 2018 and a general drop in the FGN’s borrowing rate in the domestic market from over 18 per cent per annum in 2017 to 14 to 15 per cent per annum in 2018.”
The DMO boss also said borrowing for 2019 would be split 50-50 between domestic and external in line with the Debt Management Strategy 2013-2019.
She said: “Relatively low-interest rates mean the government can issue longer-dated bonds to continue to fund infrastructure projects.
“Revenue generating initiatives are expected to improve revenues and reduce the debt service to revenue ratio.”
Speaking on the issuance of promissory notes, Oniha said: “The Federal Executive Council approved the establishment of a Promissory Note Programme.
“The purpose is to use it to settle inherited local debts and contractual obligations of the Federal Government. The programme is estimated at N3.4tn.
“It will provide stimulus to the economy and unlock investment across a number of sectors currently having liquidity issues.”
Nigeria’s debt profile since Buhari came to power in 2015 are as follows: 2015, N1.457trillion; 2016, not available; 2017, N2.321trillion; 2018, N1.643trillion; and 2019 (as proposed) N1.649trillion.
Senior Pikin
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"Bait and Switch" as a Form of Manipulation in Relationships
As a psychotherapist in New York City, I see many clients who complain that their significant other made promises to them that they didn't honor and, worse still, never had any intention of honoring. Feeling confused, upset and betrayed, these clients talk about being manipulated by their significant other with a "bait and switch" tactic, which is the topic of this article (see my article: Keeping or Breaking Promises).
What is "Bait and Switch" in Relationships?
To be clear, there will obviously be disappointments and frustration at some point in every relationship. Being human, we all make mistakes. But those are very different situations from the concept of "bait and switch."
"Bait and switch" isn't a matter of making a mistake or having a change of heart. It's intentional manipulation. Someone makes a promise to do something in order get what s/he wants at that point in time--knowing all the while that s/he will never honor that promise.
It's not unusual for the person who engages in "bait and switch" to try to turn the tables on his or her partner by either blaming the partner or denying that s/he ever admitted to a problem or said s/he would change.
This act of turning the tables often involves the "gaslighting" of the partner who is being manipulated and betrayed (see my article: Are You Being Gaslighted in Your Relationship?).
The fact that it's an intentional act is what makes people on the receiving end of "bait and switch" feel so confused, upset and betrayed. They often say that they feel like they don't even know who their partner is anymore and, maybe, never did.
Examples of "Bait and Switch" in Relationships:
A man, who has been unfaithful during the dating phase of a relationship, makes a promise to his significant other that he won't cheat if they get married. But after the marriage, when his then-wife finds out that he is still cheating, he tells her that he is "just being a man," he has no intention of ending his extramarital affairs, she needs to "get use to it" and stop nagging him about it.
A woman, who has mismanaged her finances, promises her fiancé that she will clear up her debt before they get married. But after they get married, she not only hasn't cleared up her prior debt, but she continues to overspend because she has no intention of changing. When her husband confronts her about this, she tells him that he is "making a big deal out of nothing."
A fiancé, who has unresolved emotional problems that are affecting his romantic relationship, promises his fiancee that he will participate in psychotherapy. However, time passes and he doesn't make an effort to start therapy. When his fiancee confronts him about it, he refuses to go to therapy, denies that he ever said he would, and tells her that he sees no reason to do it. He tells her that she is the one with the problem so she should go to therapy.
A significant other promises she will get help for her gambling problem after she and her fiancé get married. But after the marriage, she denies having a problem, and she accuses him of "imagining things."
Knowing that his girlfriend will not marry him if the rumors that he is the father of another woman's baby are true, a man adamantly denies to his girlfriend that he is baby's father. He denies even knowing this other woman. However, after they get married and he gets the results of a DNA test and a court order to pay child support, he tells his now-wife that he is the baby's father and denies ever telling her that he wasn't.
A woman, who was charming and loving before the marriage, becomes emotionally abusive to her husband after the marriage. When he confronts her about it, she tells her husband, who is stunned by the change in her behavior, that he is the one with the problem because he is "too needy" and "too sensitive." Eventually, the husband finds out that his wife was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder long before they got married, but she intentionally kept her diagnosis a secret from him before the marriage (see my article: Coping With a Spouse Who Has Borderline Personality Disorder).
Before getting married, a couple agree that they both want children. But after they get married, the husband reveals that he never wanted children, and he only told her that he did because he knew she wouldn't marry him if he told her the truth. He doesn't understand why his wife is so upset with him now.
There are many more examples of "bait and switch" in relationships, but I think you can see a pattern in the examples that I've given and note that information is either intentionally withheld and/or lied about.
In most cases, the person who engages in "bait and switch" is manipulating to get what s/he wants, knowing all along that s/he won't fulfill the commitment.
The person who engages in "bait and switch" often lacks empathy for the partner, which is the hallmark of people with narcissistic or sociopathic traits.
People who engage in this form of manipulation are often very good at deceiving others to get what they want and can switch on the turn of a dime once they have gotten what they want (see my article: A Relationship With a Narcissistic Partner: Where Did the Love Go?).
In my next article, I'll give a clinical example with more detail to illustrate how these dynamics often play out in a relationship, and how psychotherapy can help.
Unfortunately, "bait and switch" in relationships isn't as uncommon as most people would like to think.
It can be very upsetting and confusing once the trusting partner realizes that s/he has been "conned" by the significant other.
Many people who are on the receiving end of the "bait and switch" tactic go through a phase of shock and denial before they fully accept who the partner is and what happened in the relationship.
Realizing that the person you love has manipulated and lied to you is a betrayal that most people find too difficult to cope with on their own.
An experienced psychotherapist cannot tell you what to do about your relationship, but she can help you to go through the process of making a decision that will be right for you (see my article: The Benefits of Psychotherapy).
Rather than struggling on your own and feeling trapped, you could benefit from seeking help from a licensed mental health professional who can assist you to work through your problems (see my article: How to Choose a Psychotherapist).
Labels: bait and switch, betrayal, deception, denial, emotional abuse, gaslighting, lies, manipulation, marriage, narcissism, New York City, psychotherapist, psychotherapy, relationships, sociopaths, therapist, therapy
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The Pleasure, Profits and Politics of Sex & Photography A Show & Tell with Annie Sprinkle
Wednesday, Oct 17, 2018, 7:00PM
Osher Lecture Hall
SFAI—Chestnut Street Campus
RSVP Online »
Annie Sprinkle is an internationally known multimedia artist who has toured theater and performance pieces since 1989 to 27 countries. She is one of the pivotal players in the 80’s “sex positive feminist movement.” Her film, The Sluts & Goddesses Video Workshop: Or How to Be A Sex Goddess in 101 Easy Steps, played hundreds of international film festivals and art venues, including the Guggenheim Museum and is considered a “post-porn” film classic. She’s been involved in dozens of other people’s documentaries and appeared in numerous features, such as Inside Deep Throat, The Naked Feminist, Monica Truet’s My Father is Coming, and Gendernauts), and has been in many television shows such as four HBO Real Sex segments and The Sexual Revolution on the History Channel.
Annie Sprinkle started out in x-rated feature films in the 70’s and 80’s. In the 90’s she produced, directed and starred in, Annie Sprinkle’s Herstory of Porn, an award winning experimental film diary about her experiences in the adult film industry. She also directed and produced documentaries such as the Linda/Les & Annie—The First Female to Male Transsexual Love Story and Annie Sprinkle’s Amazing World of Orgasm. Sprinkle earned a Ph.D. in Human Sexuality, received the 2013 Artist/Activist/Scholar Award at Performance Studies International at Stanford, and the Acker Award for Excellence in the Avant Guard. She co-directed two documentary feature films with her life partner, Elizabeth Stephens; Goodbye Gauley Mountain—An Ecosexual Love Story & Water Makes Us Wet—An Ecosexual adventure. Currently her multi-media art projects are all dedicated to pollinating the budding ecosex movement through art. She was an official documenta 14 artist.
*** Some images will contain nudity and will be sexually explicit
Image: Annie Sprinkle. Photo courtesy of the artist.
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The SEND funding system is failing to keep up with pupil needs
NATALIE PERERA
Executive director, Education Policy Institute
Fri 5th Jul 2019, 10.52
“The current system is already failing to keep up with rapidly evolving pupil needs”
The SEND funding system is failing to keep up with pupil needs: here’s what the government should do, says Natalie Perera.
Anyone working in education will be acutely aware of the growing demand to support pupils with more complex needs.
New data by the Department for Education affirms this: it shows that the number of pupils in England with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) has risen for a third consecutive year. As of 2019, there are now over 1,300,000 pupils with SEND in England – that’s around 15 per cent of the entire pupil population.
What’s driving this upsurge?
The rise can be attributed to an increase in both the number of pupils with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) and SEND support, which have been driven by population growth, better diagnosis of conditions and growing parental expectations. The recent extension of services to young people with SEND up until the of age 25 has also played a role.
Given these reasons, the continued rise in the number of pupils with SEND may not be a huge surprise to those in the profession, but it will certainly generate further concerns about the ability of the funding system to deal with a more challenging pupil population.
There are strong signs from the sector that the current system is already failing to keep up with rapidly evolving pupil needs. We can point to several discrepancies rooted in the high needs system, which allocates additional funding to those with SEND.
Problems are mostly centred around a lack of responsiveness since the formula used to calculate schools’ high needs funding is based on historical spending patterns and so fails to keep up with SEND needs, which are often in flux.
The upshot is an unequal system: a SEND pupil in one area could attract far less funding than a pupil in another, despite having the same needs.
The system also lacks flexibility. For example, local authorities wanting to transfer funding into their high needs allocation to boost support for SEND pupils are constrained from doing so.
More fundamentally, growing budgetary pressures on schools now mean that those in the mainstream sector are simply struggling to provide adequate support for pupils with SEND. Closely linked to this is the question of inclusion: the growing squeeze reported by schools may also be engendering perverse incentives. In the face of these pressures, it is likely that schools will face difficulties taking on pupils who require extra financial resources.
SEND funding has long been overlooked by policy-makers, but in the face of strains on the system, the issue finally looks to be receiving the energy and attention that it deserves. At the end of 2018, the government announced an additional £350m for SEND over the next two years.
While this was a welcome move, the consensus from those outside of government was that this was unlikely cut to the heart of some of the faults in the system. The education secretary, Damian Hinds, has also committed to a funding review and there are several areas he would be wise to consider when this begins.
Firstly, it could tackle the rigidity in the current system, and consider granting more flexibility to local authorities, so that they have freedom to shift money to their high needs blocks.
A thorough review of all the pressures around inclusion, which look to be impinging on schools’ ability to support and retain pupils with SEND, is essential. The government should also take into account the impact on families’ access to wider health and social care services – which may also be creating additional pressures for schools. As well as these changes to the system, ahead of the spending review, serious consideration should also be given to the overall pot of funding available to support pupils with SEND.
The educational needs of many children and young people are increasingly complex and may become even more so if the current trends are anything to go by. Parents often struggle to access the services they need for their children, with many increasingly resorting to the use of appeals.
The government must become more responsive in its approach to SEND funding: it cannot afford to continue to lag behind.
Tom Burkard
Nineteen years ago, the late Dr John Marks wrote ‘What are Special Educational Needs? An analysis of a new growth industry’. At this time, less than 2% of all pupils had a statement–the equivalent of today’s ECHP–but about 20% of all pupils were identified as SEND but without a statement. In one school in Tower Hamlets, almost 60% were judged to have SEND. Yet at the same time, another Tower Hamlets school (Kobi Nazrul) only had 3% SEN.
The crucial difference was that all of Kobi Nazrul’s pupils could read and spell. In 1999, I tested their Year 4 pupils with Young’s Parallel Spelling Test, they were only 7 months behind the Year 7 pupils at the white suburban Norwich comp where I taught.
I don’t doubt for a moment that nearly everyone in this monstrous industry really does want the best for our children. And there of course are a very small minority of SEND pupils who do have problems requiring bespoke teaching–and the late Helen Warnock believed that they should be in special schools, where staff have the training and time they need to cope with disability. But in truth, most ECHPs are nothing more than excuses for educational failure. As Dr Marks observed, the system has an unlimited appetite for more funding.
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Fill in the form below to make a one-off donation. We also offer the options of making a recurring donation or becoming a Strings Attached member.
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Catholic liberals in Italy launch petition to back Pope Francis
John L. Allen Jr.
A coalition of liberal Catholic groups in Italy have started an online petition in support of the pope after a leading Italian journalist wrote a critique of his papacy. (AP Photo)
Amid a robust Italian debate over the leadership of Pope Francis, a cross-section of liberal Catholic groups in the country has launched an online petition to show backing for the Argentinian pontiff.
Pointedly called “Stop the Attacks on Pope Francis,” the petition was launched on Christmas Day by groups including “We are Church,” “Blessed are the Peacemakers,” the Edith Stein Study Center, an Italian association of theologians, and a variety of base communities. All are generally associated with the liberal wing of the Italian Church.
The petition is also signed by the Rev. Luigi Ciotti of Turin, one of Italy’s best known anti-Mafia priests, and the Rev. Alex Zanotelli, a Combonian missionary priest and a well-known social activist.
As of Jan. 3, the petition had attracted close to 2,500 signatures, toward a goal of 50,000.
The current Italian row over Francis began when one of the country’s most renowned Catholic journalists, Vittorio Messori, published a front-page essay on Dec. 24 in Corriere della Sera stating his “perplexity” over what he sees as the pontiff’s contradictions.
Among other things, Messori faulted Francis for sometimes sending signals that the Catholic Church is no more than an “optional accessory” in the spiritual life, for reaching out to political leaders whose agenda is contrary to Church teaching, and for pursuing an uncritical dialogue with leaders of Protestant movements that are draining people away from Catholicism in Latin America.
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John Roe holds a bachelor's and master's degree from the University of Cambridge and a doctorate from Oxford. He now lives in State College, Penn.
Posts By This Author
Mark Driscoll: Gas-Guzzlers a Mark of Masculinity
by Russ Pierson, by John Roe 05-09-2013
Mark Driscoll, Photo by James Gordon, Flickr.
One of us was in Seattle this past weekend to speak at a meeting of biblical scholars. The subject:Evangelicals and the Environment. Seattle was stunningly beautiful, with ample sunshine, clear skies, and an occasional happy breeze. Having grown up in nearby Tacoma, seeing majestic Mount Rainier for the first time in a long while brought back memories of this silent guardian from childhood.
Alas, while it was sunny in Seattle, it was theologically cloudy in Dallas, where one of Seattle's famous residents — young, hip pastor, Mark Driscoll — was speaking at a major evangelical conference: Catalyst. By many accounts on Twitter and in the blogosphere (see Nate Pyle's blog), Driscoll said:
"I know who made the environment. He's coming back and he's going to burn it all up. So yes, I drive an SUV."
And after presenting his driving credentials, Rev. Driscoll reportedly added:
"If you drive a mini-van, you're a mini-man."
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Effective: January 31, 2018
These Customer Terms of Service (the “Customer Terms”) describe your rights and responsibilities when using our online workplace productivity tools and platform (the “Services”). Please read them carefully. If you are a Customer (defined below), these Customer Terms govern your access and use of our Services. If you are being invited to a workspace set up by a Customer, the User Terms of Service (the “User Terms”) govern your access and use of the Services. We are grateful you’re here.
These “Customer Terms” Form a Part of a Binding “Contract”
These Customer Terms (or, if applicable, your written agreement with us) and any Order Form(s) (defined below) together form a binding “Contract” between Customer and us. If any terms in the Customer-Specific Supplement apply to Customer (e.g., if Customer is a U.S. government entity), those terms are also incorporated herein by reference and form part of the Contract. “We,” “our” and “us” refers to the applicable Slack entity in the section entitled “Which Slack Entity is Customer Contracting With?” below.
Your Agreement On Behalf of “Customer”
If you purchase subscription(s), create a workspace (i.e., a digital space where a group of users may access the Services, as further described in our Help Center pages), invite users to that workspace, or use or allow use of that workspace after being notified of a change to these Customer Terms, you acknowledge your understanding of the then-current Contract and agree to the Contract on behalf of Customer. Please make sure you have the necessary authority to enter into the Contract on behalf of Customer before proceeding.
Customer Choices and Instructions
Who is “Customer”? (Hint: There can be only one)
“Customer” is the organization that you represent in agreeing to the Contract. If your workspace is being set up by someone who is not formally affiliated with an organization, Customer is the individual creating the workspace. For example, if you signed up using a personal email address and invited a couple of friends to work on a new startup idea but haven't formed a company yet, you are the Customer.
Signing Up Using a Corporate Email Domain
If you signed up for a plan using your corporate email domain, your organization is Customer, and Customer can modify and re-assign roles on your workspace (including your role) and otherwise exercise its rights under the Contract. If Customer elects to replace you as the representative with ultimate authority for the workspace, we will provide you with notice following such election and you agree to take any actions reasonably requested by us or Customer to facilitate the transfer of authority to a new representative of Customer.
What This Means for Customer—and for Us
Individuals authorized by Customer to access the Services (an “Authorized User”) may submit content or information to the Services, such as messages or files (“Customer Data”), and Customer may exclusively provide us with instructions on what to do with it. For example, Customer may provision or deprovision access to the Services, enable or disable third party integrations, manage permissions, retention and export settings, transfer or assign workspaces, share channels, or consolidate workspaces or channels with other workspaces or channels. Since these choices and instructions may result in the access, use, disclosure, modification or deletion of certain or all Customer Data, please review the Help Center pages for more information about these choices and instructions.
Customer will (a) inform Authorized Users of all Customer policies and practices that are relevant to their use of the Services and of any settings that may impact the processing of Customer Data; and (b) ensure the transfer and processing of Customer Data under the Contract is lawful.
Ordering Subscriptions
A subscription allows an Authorized User to access the Services. No matter the role, a subscription is required for each Authorized User. A subscription may be procured through the Services interface, or in some cases, via an order form entered into between Customer and us (each, an “Order Form”). Please see the Help Center for more information on procuring subscriptions and inviting new Authorized Users. Each Authorized User must agree to the User Terms to activate their subscription. Subscriptions commence when we make them available to Customer and continue for the term specified in the Services “check-out” interface or in the Order Form, as applicable. Each subscription is for a single Authorized User for a specified term and is personal to that Authorized User. We sometimes enter into other kinds of ordering arrangements, but that would need to be spelled out and agreed to in an Order Form. During an active subscription term, adding more subscriptions is fairly easy. Unless the Order Form says otherwise, Customer may purchase more subscriptions at the same price stated in the Order Form and all will terminate on the same date. Check out our Help Center pages for additional information on setting up a workspace and assigning roles.
Purchasing Decisions
We may share information about our future product plans because we like transparency. Our public statements about those product plans are an expression of intent, but do not rely on them when making a purchase. If Customer decides to buy our Services, that decision should be based on the functionality or features we have made available today and not on the delivery of any future functionality or features.
Choosing to be a Beta Tester
Occasionally, we look for beta testers to help us test our new features. These features will be identified as “beta” or “pre-release,” or words or phrases with similar meanings (each, a “Beta Product”). Beta Products may not be ready for prime time so they are made available “as is,” and any warranties or contractual commitments we make for other Services do not apply. Should Customer encounter any faults with our Beta Products, we would love to hear about them; our primary reason for running any beta programs is to iron out issues before making a new feature widely available.
Feedback is Welcome
The more suggestions our customers make, the better the Services become. If Customer sends us any feedback or suggestions regarding the Services, there is a chance we will use it, so Customer grants us (for itself and all of its Authorized Users and other Customer personnel) an unlimited, irrevocable, perpetual, sublicensable, transferable, royalty-free license to use any such feedback or suggestions for any purpose without any obligation or compensation to Customer, any Authorized User or other Customer personnel. If we choose not to implement the suggestion, please don’t take it personally. We appreciate it nonetheless.
Non-Slack Products
Our Services include a platform that third parties may use to develop applications and software that complement Customer’s use of the Services (each, a “Non-Slack Product”). We also maintain a directory called the Slack App Directory where some Non-Slack Products are available for installation. THESE ARE NOT OUR SERVICES, SO WE DO NOT WARRANT OR SUPPORT NON-SLACK PRODUCTS, AND, ULTIMATELY, CUSTOMER (AND NOT US) WILL DECIDE WHETHER OR NOT TO ENABLE THEM. ANY USE OF A NON-SLACK PRODUCT IS SOLELY BETWEEN CUSTOMER AND THE APPLICABLE THIRD PARTY PROVIDER.
If a Non-Slack Product is enabled for Customer’s workspace, please be mindful of any Customer Data that will be shared with the third party provider and the purposes for which the provider requires access. We will not be responsible for any use, disclosure, modification or deletion of Customer Data that is transmitted to, or accessed by, a Non-Slack Product. Check out our Help Center pages for more information.
Please review our Privacy Policy for more information on how we collect and use data relating to the use and performance of our websites and products.
Customer and Authorized Users
Use of the Services
Customer must comply with the Contract and ensure that its Authorized Users comply with the Contract and the User Terms. We may review conduct for compliance purposes, but we have no obligation to do so. We aren't responsible for the content of any Customer Data or the way Customer or its Authorized Users choose to use the Services to store or process any Customer Data. The Services are not intended for and should not be used by anyone under the age of 16. Customer must ensure that all Authorized Users are over 16 years old. Customer is solely responsible for providing high speed internet service for itself and its Authorized Users to access and use the Services.
Our Removal Rights
If we believe that there is a violation of the Contract that can simply be remedied by Customer’s removal of certain Customer Data or Customer’s disabling of a Non-Slack Product, we will, in most cases, ask Customer to take direct action rather than intervene. However, we may directly step in and take what we determine to be appropriate action, if Customer does not take appropriate action, or if we believe there is a credible risk of harm to us, the Services, Authorized Users, or any third parties.
Payment Obligations
For Customers that purchase our Services, fees are specified at the Services interface “check-out” and in the Order Form(s) — and must be paid in advance. Payment obligations are non-cancelable and, except as expressly stated in the Contract, fees paid are non-refundable. For clarity, in the event Customer downgrades any subscriptions from a paid plan to a free plan, Customer will remain responsible for any unpaid fees under the paid plan, and Services under the paid plan will be deemed fully performed and delivered upon expiration of the initial paid plan subscription term. Check out our Help Center pages for more information about payment options. If we agree to invoice Customer by email, full payment must be received within thirty (30) days from the invoice date. Fees are stated exclusive of any taxes, levies, duties, or similar governmental assessments of any nature, including, for example, value-added, sales, use or withholding taxes, assessable by any jurisdiction (collectively, “Taxes”). Customer will be responsible for paying all Taxes associated with its purchases, except for those taxes based on our net income. Should any payment for the Services be subject to withholding tax by any government, Customer will reimburse us for such withholding tax.
Fair Billing Policy
We believe customers should only pay for subscriptions that are actually used, so we offer a Fair Billing Policy. Certain exceptions and conditions may apply, as noted in the Services interface “check-out” or in an Order Form.
Any credits that may accrue to Customer’s account (for example, from a promotion or application of the Fair Billing Policy), will expire following expiration or termination of the applicable Contract, will have no currency or exchange value, and will not be transferable or refundable. Credits accrued to a workspace on a free subscription plan will expire if the workspace’s plan is not upgraded to a paid plan within ninety (90) days of accrual, unless otherwise specified. For more information on credits, please see the Help Center.
Downgrade for Non-Payment
If any fees owed to us by Customer (excluding amounts disputed reasonably and in good faith) are thirty (30) days or more overdue, we may, without limiting our other rights and remedies, downgrade any fee-based Services to free plans until those amounts are paid in full, so long as we have given Customer ten (10) or more days’ prior notice that its account is overdue. Notwithstanding the second paragraph of the “Providing the Services” section below, Customer acknowledges and agrees that a downgrade will result in a decrease in certain features and functionality and potential loss of access to Customer Data, as illustrated by comparing the plans in the Pricing Guide.
Providing the Services
Customer isn’t the only one with responsibilities; we have some, too. We will (a) make the Services available to Customer and its Authorized Users as described in the Contract; and (b) not use or process Customer Data for any purpose without Customer’s prior written instructions; provided, however, that “prior written instructions” will be deemed to include use of the Services by Authorized Users and any processing related to such use or otherwise necessary for the performance of the Contract.
Be assured that (a) the Services will perform materially in accordance with our then-current Help Center pages; and (b) subject to the “Non-Slack Products” and “Downgrade for Non-Payment” sections, we will not materially decrease the functionality of a Service during a subscription term. For any breach of a warranty in this section, Customer’s exclusive remedies are those described in the sections titled “Termination for Cause” and “Effect of Termination”.
Keeping the Services Available
As further described in our Help Center pages, for some of our Services, we also offer specific uptime commitments paired with credits, if we fall short. In those cases, the credits will serve as what the lawyers call liquidated damages and will be Customer’s sole remedy for the downtime and related inconvenience. For all Service plans, we will use commercially reasonable efforts to make the Services available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, excluding planned downtime. We expect planned downtime to be infrequent but will endeavor to provide Customer with advance notice (e.g., through the Services), if we think it may exceed five (5) continuous minutes.
Protecting Customer Data
The protection of Customer Data is a top priority for us so we will maintain administrative, physical, and technical safeguards at a level not materially less protective than as described in our Security Practices page. Those safeguards will include measures for preventing unauthorized access, use, modification, deletion and disclosure of Customer Data by our personnel. Before sharing Customer Data with any of our third party service providers, we will ensure that the third party maintains, at a minimum, reasonable data practices for maintaining the confidentiality and security of Customer Data and preventing unauthorized access. Customer (not us) bears sole responsibility for adequate security, protection and backup of Customer Data when in Customer’s or its representatives’ or agents’ possession or control. We are not responsible for what Customer’s Authorized Users or Non-Slack Products do with Customer Data. That is Customer’s responsibility.
The Slack Extended Family
We may leverage our employees, those of our corporate affiliates and third party contractors (the “Slack Extended Family”) in exercising our rights and performing our obligations under the Contract. We will be responsible for the Slack Extended Family’s compliance with our obligations under the Contract.
Ownership and Proprietary Rights
What’s Yours is Yours…
As between us on the one hand, and Customer and any Authorized Users on the other, Customer will own all Customer Data. Subject to the terms and conditions of the Contract, Customer (for itself and all of its Authorized Users) grants us and the Slack Extended Family a worldwide, non-exclusive, limited term license to access, use, process, copy, distribute, perform, export and display Customer Data, and any Non-Slack Products created by or for Customer, only as reasonably necessary (a) to provide, maintain and update the Services; (b) to prevent or address service, security, support or technical issues; (c) as required by law or as permitted by the Data Request Policy; and (d) as expressly permitted in writing by Customer. Customer represents and warrants that it has secured all rights in and to Customer Data from its Authorized Users as may be necessary to grant this license.
And What’s Ours is Ours
We own and will continue to own our Services, including all related intellectual property rights. We may make software components available, via app stores or other channels, as part of the Services. We grant to Customer a non-sublicensable, non-transferable, non-exclusive, limited license for Customer and its Authorized Users to use the object code version of these components, but solely as necessary to use the Services and in accordance with the Contract and the User Terms. All of our rights not expressly granted by this license are hereby retained.
As further described below, a free subscription continues until terminated, while a paid subscription has a term that may expire or be terminated. The Contract remains effective until all subscriptions ordered under the Contract have expired or been terminated or the Contract itself terminates. Termination of the Contract will terminate all subscriptions and all Order Forms.
Auto-Renewal
Unless an Order Form says something different, (a) all subscriptions automatically renew (without the need to go through the Services-interface “check-out” or execute a renewal Order Form) for additional periods equal to one (1) year or the preceding term, whichever is shorter; and (b) the per-unit pricing during any automatic renewal term will remain the same as it was during the immediately prior term. Either party can give the other notice of non-renewal at least thirty (30) days before the end of a subscription term to stop the subscriptions from automatically renewing.
Termination for Cause
We or Customer may terminate the Contract on notice to the other party if the other party materially breaches the Contract and such breach is not cured within thirty (30) days after the non-breaching party provides notice of the breach. Customer is responsible for its Authorized Users, including for any breaches of this Contract caused by its Authorized Users. We may terminate the Contract immediately on notice to Customer if we reasonably believe that the Services are being used by Customer or its Authorized Users in violation of applicable law.
Termination Without Cause
Customer may terminate its free subscriptions immediately without cause. We may also terminate Customer’s free subscriptions without cause, but we will provide Customer with thirty (30) days prior written notice.
Upon any termination for cause by Customer, we will refund Customer any prepaid fees covering the remainder of the term of all subscriptions after the effective date of termination. Upon any termination for cause by us, Customer will pay any unpaid fees covering the remainder of the term of those subscriptions after the effective date of termination. In no event will any termination relieve Customer of the obligation to pay any fees payable to us for the period prior to the effective date of termination.
Data Portability and Deletion
We are custodians of Customer Data. During the term of a workspace’s subscriptions, Customer will be permitted to export or share certain Customer Data from the Services; provided, however, that because we have different products with varying features and Customer has different retention options, Customer acknowledges and agrees that the ability to export or share Customer Data may be limited or unavailable depending on the type of Services plan in effect and the data retention, sharing or invite settings enabled. Following termination or expiration of a workspace’s subscriptions, we will have no obligation to maintain or provide any Customer Data and may thereafter, unless legally prohibited, delete all Customer Data in our systems or otherwise in our possession or under our control. Please review our Security Practices page for more information on how Customer itself can initiate deletion.
Representations Disclaimer of Warranties
Customer represents and warrants that it has validly entered into the Contract and has the legal power to do so. Customer further represents and warrants that it is responsible for the conduct of its Authorized Users and their compliance with the terms of this Contract and the User Terms.
EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY PROVIDED FOR HEREIN, THE SERVICES AND ALL RELATED COMPONENTS AND INFORMATION ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, AND WE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, TITLE, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. CUSTOMER ACKNOWLEDGES THAT WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE.
OTHER THAN IN CONNECTION WITH A PARTY’S INDEMNIFICATION OBLIGATIONS HEREUNDER, IN NO EVENT WILL EITHER CUSTOMER’S OR THE SLACK EXTENDED FAMILY’S AGGREGATE LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE CONTRACT OR THE USER TERMS (WHETHER IN CONTRACT OR TORT OR UNDER ANY OTHER THEORY OF LIABILITY) EXCEED THE TOTAL AMOUNT PAID BY CUSTOMER HEREUNDER IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE LAST EVENT GIVING RISE TO LIABILITY. THE FOREGOING WILL NOT LIMIT CUSTOMER’S PAYMENT OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE “PAYMENT TERMS” SECTION ABOVE.
IN NO EVENT WILL EITHER CUSTOMER OR ANY MEMBER OF THE SLACK EXTENDED FAMILY HAVE ANY LIABILITY TO THE OTHER PARTY OR TO ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY LOST PROFITS OR REVENUES OR FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, COVER OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES HOWEVER CAUSED, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT OR UNDER ANY OTHER THEORY OF LIABILITY, AND WHETHER OR NOT THE PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THE FOREGOING DISCLAIMER WILL NOT APPLY TO THE EXTENT PROHIBITED BY APPLICABLE LAW.
The Services support logins using two-factor authentication (“2FA”), which is known to reduce the risk of unauthorized use of or access to the Services. We therefore will not be responsible for any damages, losses or liability to Customer, Authorized Users, or anyone else if any event leading to such damages, losses or liability would have been prevented by the use of 2FA. Additionally, Customer is responsible for all login credentials, including usernames and passwords, for administrator accounts as well the accounts of your Authorized Users. We will not be responsible for any damages, losses or liability to Customer, Authorized Users, or anyone else, if such information is not kept confidential by Customer or its Authorized Users, or if such information is correctly provided by an unauthorized third party logging into and accessing the Services.
The limitations under this “Limitation of Liability” section apply with respect to all legal theories, whether in contract, tort or otherwise, and to the extent permitted by law. The provisions of this “Limitation of Liability” section allocate the risks under this Contract between the parties, and the parties have relied on these limitations in determining whether to enter into this Contract and the pricing for the Services.
Our Indemnification of Customer
We will defend Customer from and against any and all third party claims, actions, suits, proceedings, and demands alleging that the use of the Services as permitted under the Contract infringes or misappropriates a third party’s intellectual property rights (a “Claim Against Customer”), and will indemnify Customer for all reasonable attorney’s fees incurred and damages and other costs finally awarded against Customer in connection with or as a result of, and for amounts paid by Customer under a settlement we approve of in connection with, a Claim Against Customer; provided, however, that we will have no liability if a Claim Against Customer arises from (a) Customer Data or Non-Slack Products; and (b) any modification, combination or development of the Services that is not performed by us, including in the use of any application programming interface (API). Customer must provide us with prompt written notice of any Claim Against Customer and allow us the right to assume the exclusive defense and control, and cooperate with any reasonable requests assisting our defense and settlement of such matter. This section states our sole liability with respect to, and Customer’s exclusive remedy against us and the Slack Extended Family for, any Claim Against Customer.
Customer's Indemnification of Us
Customer will defend Slack and the members of the Slack Extended Family (collectively, the “Slack Indemnified Parties”) from and against any and all third party claims, actions, suits, proceedings, and demands arising from or related to Customer’s or any of its Authorized Users’ violation of the Contract or the User Terms (a “Claim Against Us”), and will indemnify the Slack Indemnified Parties for all reasonable attorney’s fees incurred and damages and other costs finally awarded against a Slack Indemnified Party in connection with or as a result of, and for amounts paid by a Slack Indemnified Party under a settlement Customer approves of in connection with, a Claim Against Us. We must provide Customer with prompt written notice of any Claim Against Us and allow Customer the right to assume the exclusive defense and control, and cooperate with any reasonable requests assisting Customer’s defense and settlement of such matter. This section states your sole liability with respect to, and the Slack Indemnified Parties’ exclusive remedy against Customer for, any Claim Against Us.
Limitations on Indemnifications
Notwithstanding anything contained in the two preceding sections, (a) an indemnified party will always be free to choose its own counsel if it pays for the cost of such counsel; and (b) no settlement may be entered into by an indemnifying party, without the express written consent of the indemnified parties (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld), if (i) the third party asserting the claim is a government agency, (ii) the settlement arguably involves the making of admissions by the indemnified parties, (iii) the settlement does not include a full release of liability for the indemnified parties, or (iv) the settlement includes terms other than a full release of liability for the indemnified parties and the payment of money.
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Category: Use Classes Order
Permitted Development: Painting By Numbers Versus Painting The Sistine Chapel?
Time now to look at some of the proposals to extend permitted development rights and to amend the Use Classes Order that are set out in the Planning Reform: Supporting the high street and increasing the delivery of new homes consultation paper published alongside the Autumn budget on 29 October 2018, and strongly criticised in Nick Raynsford’s final review of planning in England (November 2018):
“The government’s announcement of its intention to extend even further this permissive ‘shadow’ planning process appears to reflect its model for the future direction of the system; and this has real implications for people and for the nature of both planning and planners. This reflects the tension recorded in evidence presented to the Review as to whether planning is a form of land licensing, which implies one set of skills and outcomes, or the much more complex and creative practice of shaping places with people to achieve sustainable development. The former task is like painting by numbers; the latter is like painting the Sistine Chapel. The difference in outcomes for people is equally stark.”
I’m not sure that sort of language (describing traditional planning applications as equivalent to painting the Sistine Chapel, a spectacularly inapt comparison, or indeed TCPA interim chief executive Hugh Ellis’ language in the accompanying press release: “‘Permitted development is toxic and leads to a type of inequality not seen in the Britain for over a century.“) is helpful to the debate.
It seems to me that the two key issues which need to be addressed in relation to permitted development rights that enable additional residential development (whether by way of conversion or construction) are the need for some control at a national or local level over room sizes and the need to provide a proportion of affordable housing whether on site or by way of financial contribution. Aside from those obvious issues (not addressed in the latest consultation paper), what is wrong with the Government looking to streamline development management processes where appropriate? Surely the question is where is the appropriate dividing line. Surely deemed planning permission should be for types of development where, given the public benefit in seeking to encourage them, the local planning authority should not need to question the principle of what is proposed up to a defined scale at a particular location (with more general powers to restrict rights available by way of Article 4 Direction) and where wider issues do not arise that cannot be resolved within a 56 day period for prior approval of specified aspects which are, as far as possible, not open to differing subjective views? Don’t we need to define some sort of principle along these lines before then considering different common types of development?
“Allow greater change of use to support high streets to adapt and diversify”
The Government proposes that uses in classes A1 (shops), A2 (financial and professional services), and A5 (hot food takeaways) (as well as uses as betting shops, pay day loan shops and laundrettes) should be allowed to change to “office use (B1)” (do they mean “office use” or do they mean B1 which also encompasses light industrial and R&D?). Hot food takeaways will be allowed to change to residential use (C1) as is already the case with the other uses referred to. There would be the requirement for prior approval, as with existing change of use permitted development rights.
Alongside this, the current “pop up” temporary permitted development rights to change the use from shops (A1) financial and professional services (A2), restaurants and cafes (A3), hot food takeaways (A5), offices (B1), non-residential institutions (D1), assembly and leisure uses (D2), betting shops and pay day loan shops to change to shops (A1) financial and professional services (A2), restaurants and cafes (A3) or offices (B1) will be extended from two years to three years. The temporary permitted development rights are proposed now to extend to changes to certain community uses, namely as a public library, exhibition hall, museum, clinic or health centre.
All of these proposals are put forward in the context of “supporting the high street” but no geographical limitation to the proposed changes is indicated that would prevent their application to any building in the relevant use, wherever it is located – shades of the original proposal in relation to the office to residential permitted development right, which was couched in terms of underused and empty office premises, when of course the right turned out not to have any such limitation. There is no indication of any floorspace cap. Might a department store, or supermarket, turn into an office? Nor indeed any cap on the proportion of any shopping area that might be converted to offices.
The document goes on to explore whether changes could also be made to the Use Classes Order, namely to:
⁃“simplify the A1 shops use class to remove the current named uses and allow for a broader definition of uses for the sale, display or service to visiting members of the public.”
⁃ consider whether there is “scope for a new use class that provides for a mix of uses within the A1, A2 and A3 uses beyond that which is considered to be ancillary, which would support the diversification of high street businesses. This would replace the existing A1, A2 and A3 and result in a single use class to cover shops, financial and professional services, restaurants and cafes. This would mean that movement between these uses was no longer development and not a matter for the planning system to consider. It would bring greater flexibility but reduce the ability of communities and local planning authorities to distinguish between shops and restaurant uses“.
I agree that these parts of the Use Classes Order potentially need reform (within boundaries – is it really workable for there to be no distinction at all between A1 and A3?) but can’t this be as part of broader reform of the Order? The B, C and D classes all give rise to equivalent issues in that the old distinctions between uses have become increasingly difficult to apply.
“A new permitted development right to support housing delivery by extending buildings upwards to create additional homes”
This idea has been around since February 2016 without civil servants arriving at draft legislation, which is surely going to be the practical test.
Looking back, I covered this proposal most recently on 13 October 2018 in my blog post The Up Right, before that in my 17 March 2017 blog post Permitted Development: À La Recherche Du Temps Perdu and before that in my 15 June 2016 blog post Permitted Development: What Next? However, this latest version of the proposals is certainly the most far-reaching.
The permitted development right would allow additional storeys to be built above buildings in a wide range of uses, including residential, retail and offices. The Government indicates:
“We want to explore whether there may also be other buildings whose use is compatible with the introduction of new homes. Given they are usually located in residential areas or high streets, would premises such as health centres and buildings used for community and leisure purposes be suitable for inclusion in the permitted development right? Out of town retail parks with a mix of shopping and leisure uses may also be suitable for upward extensions to provide additional homes.”
The consultation paper asks for “examples of how this permitted development right might be used in practice, and particularly of how the use of local design codes could help to encourage take up of the proposed right and improve the design quality and acceptability of upward extensions.”
It’s sounding complicated already. Then add the question of how far upwards the permitted development right could allow development to go. The consultation paper offers two alternatives, both of which could lead to significant factual disputes:
⁃ “A permitted development right could apply to the airspace above premises in a terrace of two or more joined properties where there is at least one higher building in the terrace. The roof of the premises extending upward would be no higher than the main roofline of the highest building in the existing terrace.”
⁃ “An alternative approach would be to permit upward extensions more widely to a height no higher than the prevailing roof height in the locality. While this may extend the proposed right to a greater number of properties, it would not be possible to define prevailing roofline in regulations. Therefore it would be a matter to be considered by the local authority as part of the prior approval. In doing so, the local authority would be able to define what it considered to be the prevailing roofline taking account of the local building types and heights and the extent of the area over which it should be determined.”
To add to the complications:
“Where premises are not on level ground the impact of adding additional storeys can be significantly greater on the amenity of neighbouring premises, for example from overlooking and overshadowing and on the character of the area. We would welcome views on how best to take account of the topography of specific areas.”
The consultation paper proposes that there should be a maximum limit of five storeys from ground level for a building once extended (so the extension could be up to four storeys!). But there would be an even broader permitted development right for purpose built, free standing blocks of flats of over five storeys. “The government would also like a permitted development right to apply to such buildings, and is interested in views, including whether there should be a limit on the number of additional storeys that could be added, for example 5”
The permitted development right would allow for the physical works required to construct or install additional storeys on a building. It could also, for instance, allow for “works within the curtilage where it is necessary for access to the additional new homes“.
The prior approval requirements would include appearance, ie “considering whether the proposed development is of good design, adds to the overall quality of the area over its lifetime, is visually attractive as a result of good architecture, responds to the local character and history of the area and maintains a strong sense of place, as set out in paragraph 127 of the National Planning Policy Framework. We expect prior approval on design to be granted where the design is in keeping with the existing design of the building.
Prior approval would also consider the impact of the development on the amenity of neighbouring premises, for example, from obscuring existing windows, reducing access to light or resulting in unacceptable impact on neighbours’ privacy from overlooking. It would also consider measures to mitigate these impacts, and enable the neighbours, including owners and occupiers of premises impacted, to comment on the proposal.”
This is asking a lot of the 56 day prior approval process – sounds like a job for a traditional planning application to me.
Finally, yet another extension of the previous proposals: “We are seeking views on whether the proposed right to build upwards to create new homes should additionally allow householders to extend their own homes.”
This all sounds like it’s on a collision course with what the Government has set in train with the establishment of the ‘Building Better, Building Beautiful‘ Commission.
“The permitted development right to install public call boxes and associated advertisement consent”
I may come back in a later blog post to the Government’s proposal to remove permitted development rights for the installation of public call boxes. Since earlier blog posts on the subject, I’m now off-side from commenting in detail due to acting for an electronic communications code operator, but I would briefly note that the need for additional apparatus is about enabling electronic communications both present (3G, 4G and wifi) and future (5G) rather than just being about the old phone box concept and in that respect the terminology in Part 16 and the references in the Control of Advertisements Regulations probably do need updating without throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
“Supporting housing delivery by allowing for the demolition of commercial buildings and redevelopment as residential”
Well this proposal dates back to October 2015! As with the upwards extensions proposal, is it simply too difficult to draft in legislative form? The wording in the consultation paper is certainly tentative:
⁃ “It may be that a right focused on smaller sites may be more practical...
⁃ Despite the Government having set its face against affordable housing requirements in relation to the office to residential permitted development right, with this right it is said that the Government “would be interested in views on how developer contributions expected towards affordable housing and other infrastructure could be secured.”
⁃ “We would welcome views as to the design of a right which could operate effectively to bring sites forward for redevelopment. The responses to these questions will inform further thinking and a more detailed consultation would follow.”
To be provocative, if additional storeys of residential development are to have deemed permission, and if new residential developments are to have deemed permission if they replace commercial buildings, what is the logic for not granting deemed permission for residential development on brownfield land more generally – what is inherently more complex or controversial arising from that than from the development that could come forward under these new rights? Why the prior complications with brownfield land, but not with these other rights, of land having to be placed by a local planning authority on a register before there is permission in principle?
The deadline for consultation responses is 14 January 2019.
Simon Ricketts, 8 December 2018
Author simonicityPosted on December 8, 2018 December 8, 2018 Categories Brownfield land, Development management, Housing, Permitted development, Use Classes OrderTags Prior approval; extending upwardsLeave a comment on Permitted Development: Painting By Numbers Versus Painting The Sistine Chapel?
The Extra Care Question: RU-C2 or C3-UCO?
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, Parliament made the Use Classes Order.
I referred in my 16 September 2017 blog post Class Distinctions: Planning For Older People to the blurred distinction between C2 (basically use for the provision of residential accommodation and care to people in need of care) and C3 (basically use as a residential dwelling) when it comes to “extra care” facilities for the elderly. I set out some of the criteria applied by inspectors in appeal decisions.
There was a very useful appeal decision letter last month which surely throws additional doubt upon the soundness of the curious attempt in the draft London Plan in effect to amend the Use Classes Order by policy rather than legislation, in that it seeks to deem extra care facilities for the elderly in London as falling within use class C3 (and thereby becoming subject to affordable housing and other obligations and requirements) whereas the recognised planning law position is that they are more likely to fall within use class C2.
Draft policy H15 C states:
“Sheltered accommodation and extra care accommodation is considered as being in Use Class C3. Residential nursing care accommodation (including end of life/ hospice care and dementia care home accommodation) is considered as being in Use Class C2.”
Paragraph 4.15.3 of the supporting text simply states again that “sheltered accommodation and extra care accommodation should be considered as C3 housing“, defining extra care accommodation as follows:
“extra care accommodation (also referred to as assisted living, close care, or continuing care housing) is self-contained residential accommodation and associated facilities, designed and managed to meet the needs and aspirations of older people, and which provides 24-hour access to emergency support. A range of facilities are normally available such as a residents’ lounge, laundry room, a restaurant or meal provision facilities, classes, and a base for health care workers. Domiciliary care will be available to varying levels, either as part of the accommodation package or as additional services which can be purchased if required.”
First, how can it be appropriate in principle for a policy document to deem a use to be treated in a particular way in the Use Classes Order? The nature of the use and the determination of which use class, if any, it falls into, is a legal question. For instance whether planning permission would be required for a change of use would ultimately be determination by an application for a certificate of lawfulness of proposed use or development under section 191 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. By all means, if justified, the Mayor can determine that particular policies should apply to extra care accommodation (matters which could then be tested through the plan examination process) but his view as to which use class it might fall into has no weight in the legal determination of that question and in my view has no place in a document which is only allowed to address “matters which are of strategic importance to Greater London.”
Secondly, his view, not supported by any reasoning, as to the appropriate use class do not sit easily with the conclusions that planning inspectors have come to. The most recent decision letter (22 January 2018) was by inspector Michael Boniface, where he allowed an appeal in Sidmouth, East Devon, by Pegasus Life for an “assisted living community for older people comprising extra care units, staff accommodation and communal facilities, including a kitchen, restaurant/bar/café, a well-being suite comprising gym, treatment rooms and pool, a communal lounge and storage facilities; car parking for residents, visitors and staff of the assisted living community; comprehensive landscaping comprising communal and private spaces; and associated groundworks.”
The decision letter and inspector’s reasoning is well summarised in a blog post by Housing LIN – “Planning Inspector sets out the distinctive elements of Extra Care scheme resulting in C2 Use Class conclusion” (8 February 2018).
The inspector was presented with the Mayor of London’s position but it did not alter his conclusions on the facts of the case.
Thirdly, in its recent report Housing For Older People (8 February 2018) the Commons CLG Select Committee specifically considered the treatment of specialist older people’s housing in the planning system and particularly in the Use Classes Order:
“125. We also heard that the “inconsistent and cumbersome” application of the C2 and C3 planning classifications to extra care housing was problematic for developers. Some local authorities apply the C2 classification, applied to residential care homes and nursing homes, to extra care housing which reduces planning charges. Others classify this type of housing as C3, along with mainstream housing, which means full charges apply. Audley Retirement argued that extra care housing should fall within the C2 class:
“Extra care is set up to fulfil many of the functions that care homes can provide in terms of care delivery as and when the resident requires it, monitored by an onsite care team and there is access to communal facilities. There are controls over who can occupy them by age and a need for care that do not exist on C3 standard dwellings.”
Extra care housing developers had a range of suggestions for countering this issue: an “extension and additional clarity” on C2 so that it captures extra care housing; the creation of a sub-section of C2 which attracts lower planning charges; and the creation of a “dedicated use class” for extra care housing which would enable planning contributions to be streamlined.
126. When we asked about this, the then Housing Minister, Alok Sharma, told us that the guidance will look at the “precise terminology that is used to describe the different types of older people’s housing”.
The Select Committee concludes:
“We believe that the level of planning contributions on specialist housing, which are increased as a result of the non-saleable communal areas which are a feature of this type of housing, is impeding the delivery of homes. We recommend either the creation of a sub-category of the C2 planning classification (which currently applies to residential care and nursing homes) for specialist housing, which would reduce the contributions required from developers, or the creation of a new use class for specialist housing which would have the same effect.”
In the light of these considerations, how can draft London Plan policy H15 C possibly be justified?
Simon Ricketts, 17 February 2018
Author simonicityPosted on February 17, 2018 February 17, 2018 Categories London, Older people, Use Classes OrderTags extra care1 Comment on The Extra Care Question: RU-C2 or C3-UCO?
Flawed Drafting: Interpreting Planning Permissions
“What are words worth? Words
Words of nuance, words of skill”
Some of the most difficult cases in every area of law arise from flawed drafting and drafting which does not adequately anticipate future eventualities.
I will leave for another blog post the issues that arise in relation to the drafting and interpretation of section 106 agreements and undertakings, although the Secretary of State’s 12 September 2017 decision letter dismissing an appeal for planning permission for 705 dwellings at King George’s Gate, Surbiton was a salutary lesson, and essential reading, for every planning lawyer.
In the light of Lang J’s judgment this month in London Borough of Lambeth v Secretary of State, this blog post limits itself to the question as how literally should planning permissions be interpreted? Is the planning permission in fact wider in its scope than the local authority intended when granting it? Have restrictions that were initially imposed fallen away by virtue of not being reapplied to subsequent permissions for the permitted buildings or to a permission for amendments to that initial permission?
There have been many examples where the courts have determined that the legal effect of a permission was not what the authority may have intended, applying what might be regarded as a classically pure planning law approach:
– where a planning permission is clear, unambiguous and valid on its face, regard may only be had to the planning permission itself, including the conditions imposed upon it and the reasons given for the imposition of those conditions
– an extreme reluctance to imply extra wording into conditions (Widgery LJ’s statement in Trustees of Walton Charities v. Walton & Weybridge DC (1970): “I have never heard of an implied condition in a planning permission and I believe no such creature exists. Planning permission… is not simply a matter of contract between the parties. There is no place…within the law relating to planning permission for an implied condition. Conditions should be expressed, they should be clear, they should be in the document containing the permission.”)
– applying the judge-made principle of a “new chapter in the planning history” of a site, effectively wiping the slate clean of previous planning condition restrictions where a significant change of use or other development has occurred.
This has led over the years to many outcomes which, whilst logical on a dispassionate reading of the relevant document by a lawyer, were certainly not anticipated by the unfortunate planning officer. For instance:
– in Carpet Décor (Guilford) Limited v Secretary of State (Sir Douglas Frank QC, 17 July 1981) a condition “that no variations from the deposited plans and particulars will be permitted unless previously authorised” by the local planning authority was held not to be sufficiently unequivocal as to exclude the operation of the Use Classes Order.
– in Dunoon Developments Limited v Secretary of State (Court of Appeal, 18 February 1992) a condition on a planning permission for a car showroom that stated that the use of the premises would be limited to the display, sale and storage of cars was not sufficient to exclude the operation of the General Permitted Development Order.
– in I’m Your Man Limited v Secretary of State (Robin Purchas QC, 4 September 1998) it was held that for a planning permission to be construed as limited to a temporary period, it was not sufficient for the restriction to be set out in the description of development rather than in a condition.
– in Stevenage Borough Council v Secretary of State (HHJ Waksman QC, 3 June 2010) the owner of a retail park was held to be free of various restrictions on the types of goods which could be sold, by virtue of planning permissions having been granted for subdivision of units and other alterations, which did not reimpose restrictions from the original permission. As with a number of similar cases and CLOPUD appeal decision letters, the ruling partly relied on a liberal application of section 75(3) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, which provides that where the proposed use of a building (or part of) a building is not specified in a permission for its erection (or alterations), “the permission shall be construed as including permission to use the building for the purpose for which it is designed“.
– in Prudential Assurance v Sunderland City Council (Wyn Williams J, 15 July 2010) the High Court held that, through the windfall of a local planning authority’s mistake faced with successive planning applications, Peel Holdings had become free of section 106 restrictions on the types of goods that could be sold from its retail park in Washington, Sunderland.
The tide then started to turn with the Court of Appeal in Peel Land and Property Investments Plc v Hyndburn Borough Council (19 December 2013). Peel, no doubt hoping for an equivalent outcome as achieved in Sunderland, argued that the failure of the local authority, in drafting a permission for works of alteration to retail park units, to reimpose a condition restricting the goods that could be sold, meant that the restriction had been removed. However the court rejected the submissions. The works did not create a new chapter in the planning history of the units and on the facts (with no indication in the application documents that unrestricted retail use was intended) section 75(3) could not be relied upon in the way that was sought.
The Supreme Court in Trump International Golf Club Scotland Limited v The Scottish Ministers (16 December 2015) then indicated a more nuanced approach to interpretation:
“When the court is concerned with the interpretation of words in a condition in a public document such as a section 36 consent, it asks itself what a reasonable reader would understand the words to mean when reading the condition in the context of the other conditions and of the consent as a whole. This is an objective exercise in which the court will have regard to the natural and ordinary meaning of the relevant words, the overall purpose of the consent, any other conditions which cast light on the purpose of the relevant words, and common sense. Whether the court may also look at other documents that are connected with the application for the consent or are referred to in the consent will depend on the circumstances of the case, in particular the wording of the document that it is interpreting. Other documents may be relevant if they are incorporated into the consent by reference … or there is an ambiguity in the consent, which can be resolved, for example, by considering the application for consent.
Interpretation is not the same as the implication of terms. Interpretation of the words of a document is the precursor of implication. It forms the context in which the law may have to imply terms into a document, where the court concludes from its interpretation of the words used in the document that it must have been intended that the document would have a certain effect, although the words to give it that effect are absent” (Lord Hodge)
Against this background it is therefore interesting to see this month another case in which the owner of a retail investment, in this case a Homebase DIY store, has achieved an outcome which was not intended by the local planning authority, and which could have been avoided by competent drafting of the decision notice. In London Borough of Lambeth v Secretary of State (Lang J, 3 October 2017), a planning permission had been granted varying conditions attached to an earlier permission. The purported effect of the widened conditions was set out in the description of development on the face of the permission:
” For: Variation of condition 1 (Retail Use) of Planning Permission Ref: 10/01143/FUL (Variation of Condition 6 (Permitted retail goods) of planning permission Ref. 83/01916 (Erection of a DIY retail unit for Texas homecare and an industrial building for cow industrial polymers) granted on 17.09.85 to allow for the sale of a wider range of goods to include DIY home and garden improvements, car maintenance, building materials and builders merchants goods, carpets and floor coverings, furniture, furnishings, electrical goods, automobile products, camping equipment, cycles, pet and pet products, office supplies and for no other purpose in Class A1 of the Schedule to the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 (as amended) Granted on 30.06.2010.
Original Wording:
The retail use hereby permitted shall be used for the retailing of DIY home and garden improvements and car maintenance, building materials and builders merchants goods, carpets and floor coverings, furniture, furnishings, electrical goods, automobile products, camping equipment, cycles, pet and pet products, office supplies and for no other purpose (including the retail sale of food and drink or any other purpose in Class A1 of the Schedule to the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 (as amended) or in any provision equivalent to that Class in any statutory instrument revoking and re-enacting that Order.
Proposed Wording:
The retail unit hereby permitted shall be used for the sale and display of non-food goods only and, notwithstanding the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 (or any Order revoking or re-enacting that Order with or without modification), for no other goods.”
However, for some reason, whoever drafted the permission did not bother to go on and include the proposed wording as a condition. Lang J applied I’m Your Man and held that the purported restriction was of no effect. Lambeth Council’s “intended purpose was not given legal effect by the wording of the 2014 permission, because of flawed drafting.”
As set out in Landmark Chambers’ helpful summary , Lang J has granted permission for the case now to go to the Court of Appeal:
“I do not accept the Claimant’s critique of my judgment, and the application of the current law to the facts of this case. However, I am left with some unease about the result. The principle established in I’m Your Man Limited v Secretary of State for the Environment 77 P & CR 251, and its application, merits consideration in a higher court which is not bound by precedent in the same way as the High Court. The interpretation and application of the judgments of the Supreme Court in Trump International Golf Club Scotland Ltd & Anor. v The Scottish Ministers [2015] UKSC 74, [2016] 1 WLR 85 is still evolving, and merit consideration by the Court of Appeal in this case.”
It is worth noting two post-Trump cases where the Court of Appeal has rejected submissions that a narrow interpretation should be given to specific conditions.
First, R (XPL Limited) v Harlow Council (Court of Appeal, 13 April 2016), where a condition preventing “repairs or maintenance of vehicles or other industrial or commercial activities (other than the parking of coaches and other vehicles …” outside specified hours at a coach depot was held to extend to a prohibition on the running of engines.
Secondly, Dunnett Investments Limited v Secretary of State (Court of Appeal, 29 March 2017) where the court had to determine whether the following condition is to be interpreted as excluding the operation of the General Permitted Development Order so as to allow change of use from offices to residential by way of the prior approval process:
“This use of this building shall be for purposes falling within Class B1 (Business) as defined in the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987, and for no other purpose whatsoever, without express planning consent from the Local Planning Authority first being obtained“.
Did prior approval from the local planning authority pursuant to the GPDO amount to “express planning consent” for the purposes of the condition?
The Court of Appeal reviewed the case law on interpretation of conditions:
“In relation to the interpretation of, specifically, a planning condition which is said to exclude the operation of the GPDO, other authorities are of some assistance. From them, the following themes can be discerned.
i) It is rightly common ground that a planning condition on a planning consent can exclude the application of the GPDO (see Dunoon Developments v Secretary of State for the Environment and Poole Borough Council (1993) 65 P&CR 101 (“Dunoon Developments”)).
ii) Exclusion may be express or implied. However, because a grant of planning permission for a stated use is a grant of permission for only that use, a grant for a particular use cannot in itself exclude the application of the GPDO. To do that, something more is required (see, e.g., Dunoon Developments at [107] per Sir Donald Nicholls VC).
iii) In Carpet Décor (Guilford) Limited v Secretary of State for the Environment (1981) 261 EG 56, Sir Douglas Frank QC sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge said that, because in the absence of such a condition the GPDO has effect by operation of law, the condition should be in “unequivocal terms”. Although “unequivocal” was used by Mr Katkowski in his written argument, during the course of debate he accepted that that term was now less appropriate, given the modern trend away from myopic focus upon the words without proper reference to their full context. However, he submitted (and I accept) that, to exclude the application of the GPDO, the words used in the relevant condition, taken in their full context, must clearly evince an intention on the part of the local planning authority to make such an exclusion.”
The court did not accept the claimant’s arguments:
“The first part of the condition sets out the scope of the permission. I respectfully agree with Patterson J (at [60]), the second part (“…and for no other purpose whatsoever…”) is not, as Mr Katkowski would have it, merely emphatic of the scope of the planning permission, but is rather a clear and specific exclusion of GPDO rights. Whilst, as I have described, each case depends upon its own facts, it is noteworthy that, in Dunoon Developments (at pages 105-6), in finding that the words “limited to” a particular purpose did not exclude GPDO rights, Farquharson LJ compared that phrase with “… and for no other purpose…” as considered in the earlier case of The City of London Corporation v Secretary of State for the Environment (1971) 23 P&CR 169, which he considered was far more emphatic and (he suggested) possibly sufficient to exclude the operation of the GPDO. In this case, we have a more emphatic phrase still, namely “… and for no other purpose whatsoever…”. Further, although we are concerned with rights under the GPDO and not the UCO, the interpretation of that phrase to exclude the operation of the GPDO is at least consistent with R (Royal London Mutual Insurance Society) v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government[2013] EWHC 3597 (Admin); [2014] JPL 458, in which Patterson J held that a condition which restricted use to “only” particular uses within Use Class A1 excluded the right to use the land for other Class A1 uses, because it effectively evinced an intention to identify acceptable uses within the class whilst prohibiting other unacceptable uses within that class unless and until the merits of such use had been tested by the planning authority upon an application for planning permission (see also The Rugby Football Union v The Secretary of state for Local Government, Transport and the Regions [2001] EWHC Admin 927; [2002] JPL 740, in which Ouseley J, at [56], found that the words “for no other use” had similar effect, on the basis that such words “have no other sensibly discernible purpose than to prevent some other use which might otherwise be permissible without planning permission”). The third part of the condition before this court makes it the more abundantly clear that automatic or direct GPDO rights are excluded, by requiring a planning application if such uses are to be pursued.”
Furthermore, “”express planning consent from the Local Planning Authority” cannot sensibly include planning permission granted by the Secretary of State through the GPDO. It means what it says, i.e. planning permission granted by the local planning authority.”
What are the odds on Lang J’s judgment in Lambeth surviving the Court of Appeal?
In the meantime, and possibly whatever the outcome of that case, there is unpredictability. This is particularly unhelpful given the pressures on local planning authorities to issue permissions without unnecessary delay, and without the resources for a lawyer to check what may often on their face appear to be approvals of minor revisions and alterations. Mistakes happen. The extreme reluctance of authorities to issue revocation or modification orders to put mistakes right, a reluctance born of the liability to pay compensation that thereby arises, is another story – and in my view a large part of the problem.
Simon Ricketts, 14.10.17
Author simonicityPosted on October 14, 2017 October 14, 2017 Categories Conditions, Development management, Permitted development, Use Classes OrderTags planning permission; interpretation; drafting; planning conditionsLeave a comment on Flawed Drafting: Interpreting Planning Permissions
Class Distinctions 2: Student Housing
Happy freshers’ week.
I blogged recently about how the planning system struggles when it comes to housing for older people. But there are worse problems when it comes to student housing. Some recent press articles are at the end of this post, but first you need to get through some law I’m afraid (there may be an examination on it later).
For a start, from a legal perspective there is a similarly poor fit with the Use Classes Order.
Shared student living in converted houses has since 2010 (in England, 2016 in Wales) been hived off from use class C3 (residential use) into use class C4, the HMO (“houses in multiple occupation”) use class: “small shared houses occupied by between three and six unrelated individuals, as their only or main residence, who share basic amenities such as a kitchen or bathroom”.
This definition excludes:
– HMOs in blocks of flats (eg what seems to be the main model these days in relation to purpose built student accommodation blocks, with clusters of self-contained flats, each housing six students, sharing cooking and living accommodation)
– Houses shared by more than six students.
The background to the creation of C4, which was not all about students, but in part a response to concerns about pressures being caused to communities by high concentrations of HMOs more generally, is well summarised in a House of Commons library briefing paper, Houses in multiple occupation & planning restrictions (14 July 2017).
By virtue of Part L of the Town & Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015, unless the relevant local planning authority has made an article 4 direction to contrary effect, planning permission isn’t needed to change from C4 to C3 (residential use), or vice versa. Many university towns and cities have made article 4 directions, requiring planning permission to change from C3 to C4 use, for example Sheffield, Leeds, Loughborough, Leicester, Nottingham, Southampton and Durham to name but a few.
Against the background of almost universal university expansion, this constraint on supply of converted accommodation, denying much of the already (in most areas at least) expensive PRS market to students, has surely played its part both in further increasing student housing costs and in giving students fewer practical alternatives to living in purpose-built student accommodation, often now built and operated by large specialist student housing providers.
As far as the planning system is concerned, purpose built student housing blocks are generally treated as “sui generis” (outside any use class) and therefore specific planning policies are required at an individual local planning authority level to control them (or to impose standards in terms of unit size, daylighting and sound insulation). In some ways they now often more closely resemble clusters (stacked high) of quasi C4 HMO style accommodation, with bedrooms in self-contained clusters of six, each with its own kitchen and communal area.
Planning permission is required to make a material change from a sui generis use. Whether there is a material change in the character of the use is for the decision maker to judge. As long as conditions or section 106 agreement planning obligations aren’t breached, change to, say, co-living may not require planning permission.
Ensuring that purpose built student accommodation is affordable is a big issue. In recent years we have seen student rent strikes, supported by the NUS. In London, we wait to see what further controls will be proposed in the draft London Plan, now expected on 29 November. In the meantime, there was nothing in the Mayor’s draft housing strategy published on 6 September 2017 (in 236 pages I could only find one passing reference to students). To what extent will the policies set out in the previous Mayor’s March 2016 housing SPG remain? The SPG takes the following approach in relation to purpose built student accommodation (PBSA):
– “providers of PBSA are encouraged to develop models for delivery of PBSA in london which minimise rental costs, via its layout and location, for the majority of the bedrooms in the development and bring these rates nearer to the rate of a affordable student accommodation described below ”
– requirement for affordable student accommodation where a proposed provider does not have an undertaking with a specified academic institution(s) that specifies that the accommodation will be occupied by students of that institution(s)
– affordability determined by reference to a formula that equates to 55% of average student income. For the academic year 2016/2017 this equated to £5,886 or less and for a 38 week contract a weekly rent of £155.
– the extent of affordable housing to be secured “should be the maximum reasonable amount subject to viability” (our old friend!)
– to enable PBSA providers to maximise the delivery of affordable student accommodation by increasing the profitability of the development, boroughs should consider allowing the temporary use of accommodation during vacation periods for ancillary uses and should consider setting nil CIL rates for affordable student accommodation.
– eligibility for affordable student accommodation should be based on assessment of need.
Now that reading list:
Oliver Wainwright, A new urban eyesore: Britain’s shamefully shoddy student housing (The Guardian, 11 September 2017)
Rhiannon Bury, Student housing may be a property bubble in waiting (Telegraph, 18 September 2017)
Could it be the end of the Newcastle student flat boom? Council set to vote on greater controls (Evening Chronicle? 15 January 2017)
Letter: Students vs Residents – this situation in Bath around housing is not students’ fault (Bath Chronicle, 5 September 2017)
Students in Wales taking out loans to afford ‘luxury’ flats (BBC website, 22 September 2017)
It seems to me that there are various issues to be unpacked here:
– the need for authorities properly to plan for the consequences of increases in student numbers
– competing needs as between between student and general needs housing
– often unjustified “there goes the neighbourhood” concerns about the impacts of students on an area.
– affordability
– the extent to which universities should retain responsibility for housing their students, affordably and to appropriate quality standards.
Class, discuss.
Author simonicityPosted on September 24, 2017 September 25, 2017 Categories Housing, London, Permitted development, Section 106, Student housing, Use Classes Order, ViabilityTags Purpose built student housing; HMOs; affordable student housingLeave a comment on Class Distinctions 2: Student Housing
Class Distinctions: Planning For Older People
Housing is needed by people of all ages but there is a particular need for specialist housing for the elderly. A research report, Housing our Ageing Population: Learning from Councils meeting the Housing Need of our Ageing Population was published by the Local Government Association on 8 September 2017. From its executive summary:
“The number of people aged over 65 is forecast to rise over the next decade, from the current 11.7 million people, to 14.3 million by 2025, a 22 per cent rise. This means that one in five of the total population will be over 65 in 10 years’ time, which will become one in four by 2050.
In the UK, the vast majority of over 65s currently live in the mainstream housing market. Only 0.6 per cent of over 65s live in housing with care, which is 10 times less than in more mature retirement housing markets such as the USA and Australia, where over 5 per cent of over 65s live in housing with care. The suitability of the housing stock is of critical importance to the health of individuals and also impacts on the demand for public spending, particularly social care and the NHS.”
Making quality options available also helps with “right-sizing”, freeing up larger under-used homes back into the housing stock.
Not only is there great need but changes to local government funding are afoot which are going to increase the pressure for supported housing for the elderly. From the LGA report:
“Funding for Supported Housing: Consultation contains the key elements of the Government’s proposals for the future funding of supported housing from April 2019 including:
“Councils will have responsibility for funding, commissioning and quality assuring all supported housing in their areas from April 2019.”
“These proposals would in effect bring to an end the current housing benefit arrangements for all specialist older people’s housing at the end of March 2019“.
We can expect policies on housing for the elderly in the forthcoming London Plan. The Mayor of London says as much in his draft Housing Strategy, published on 5 September 2017: One of his objectives is “increasing opportunities for older homeowners to move to accommodation more suitable for their needs, including benchmarks for older people’s housing requirements in the draft London Plan” (part of policy 5.2).
I was also pleased to see a section on planning for older people in the DCLG consultation paper, Planning for the right homes in the right places (14 September 2017) even if it only amounted to two paragraphs:
“92. Section 8 of the Neighbourhood Planning Act 2017 requires the Secretary of State to provide guidance for local planning authorities as to how they should address the housing needs that result from old age or disability. Helping local planning authorities provide a simple yet robust evidence base for such groups will form part of the guidance, and will allow them to maintain the benefits of a more streamlined approach to calculating the overall housing need.
93. When developing new planning guidance for older people, it is important that we have a shared understanding of who is included in this group. The definition of older people in Annex 2 of the National Planning Policy Framework reflects a range of people at different ages with different needs from retirement age to the very frail elderly. We are also aware of different types of housing that accommodate such a group – ranging from general market and affordable housing to specialised, purpose-built market and rental accommodation and care homes. Given the importance of planning for the need for older people as our population ages, we are reviewing whether we need to amend the definition of older people for planning purposes. We consider that the current definition is still fit-for-purpose but would welcome views.”
Not only is more housing required, there needs to be much more specificity and definition. Whilst there are more detailed supportive passages in the Planning Practice Guidance, paragraph 50 of the NPPF simply says:
“local planning authorities should:
* plan for a mix of housing based on current and future demographic trends, market trends and the needs of different groups in the community (such as, but not limited to, families with children, older people, people with disabilities, service families and people wishing to build their own homes)”
As the consultation paper seems to accept, the definition of “older people” in the glossary to the NPPF is extremely wide:
“People over retirement age, including the active, newly-retired through to the very frail elderly, whose housing needs can encompass accessible, adaptable general needs housing for those looking to downsize from family housing and the full range of retirement and specialised housing for those with support or care needs.”
I’m not sure on what basis the definition can be said to be fit for purpose. Housing for the elderly doesn’t fit neatly into traditional planning law, partly because it is a wide spectrum of operating models, some being a specialist version of use class C3, dwellinghouses, and some being institutional and care based in nature, falling within use class C2.
Class C2: “Use for the provision of residential accommodation and care to people in need of. care (other than a use within a class C3 (dwelling house). Use as a hospital or nursing home.”
Class C3: “Use as a dwellinghouse (whether or not as a sole or main residence) — (a) by a single person or by people living together as a family, or. (b) by not more than 6 residents living together as a single household (including a household where care is provided for residents).”
I wrote a blog post last year, Time To Review The “C” Use Classes?. As with other alternative or quasi residential uses, the use class distinction matters because local planning authorities have very different policy approaches in terms of whether the proposal is acceptable in that location and as to the requirements arising, for instance in relation to affordable housing. The distinction can be crucial in relation to the extent of CIL liability and indeed whether planning permission is required in the first place.
The problem is that in reality the distinctions between C2 and C3 are becoming increasingly blurred – there is a spectrum, with no clear dividing line between the two.
At the C3 end of the spectrum, there is sheltered housing and retirement living operated by the likes of McCarthy and Stone and Churchill Retirement Living. Churchill have produced a useful guide for planning and design professionals, Retirement Living Explained (April 2017). In order to distinguish its retirement living model from general C3 use, Churchill advocates the use of model age restricted planning condition:
“Each of the apartments hereby permitted shall be occupied only by:
* Persons aged 60 or over; or
* A spouse/or partner (who is themselves over 55 years old) living as part of a single household with such a person or persons; or
* Persons who were living in one of the apartments as part of a single household with a person or persons aged 60 or over who has since died; or
* Any other individual expressly agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority. ”
Is it right that C3 retirement living should be required to deliver affordable housing when itself it meets a non-mainstream housing need? Pending any reconsideration of that policy, Churchill’s guide includes a template section 106 agreement, suggesting the making of an off-site affordable housing contribution (with early stage review if the development hasn’t started reached shell and core stage within 28 months), given that the affordable housing requirements attaching to general market housing C3 products would be inappropriate.
At the C2 end of the spectrum, there is a variety of operating models, with a bewildering variety of descriptions, including care homes, continuing care retirement communities, assisted living, very sheltered housing and close care.
Hardest to categorise is what the market refers to as “extra care”, which has been described as follows:
“Extra care housing is housing with care primarily for older people where occupants have specific tenure rights to occupy self-contained dwellings and where they have agreements that cover the provision of care, support, domestic, social, community or other services. Unlike people living in residential care homes, extra care residents are not obliged as a rule to obtain their care services from a specific provider, though other services (such as some domestic services, costs for communal areas including a catering kitchen, and in some cases some meals) might be built into the charges residents pay.” (Extra Care Housing What Is It?, paper, 2015, published by Housing LIN).
So what are the distinguishing factors between C2 and C3?
A September 2017 blog post, Update on recent Extra Care Housing Planning Appeals and CIL Success, by Tetlow King’s John Sneddon, identifies two recent appeal decisions where inspectors agreed that proposed extra care developments would fall within use class C2. (The piece is also useful on the opportunities for ensuring that C2 developments are exempted from CIL within local planning authorities’ CIL charging charging schedules.)
My Town partner Liz Christie has previously carried out an analysis of planning appeal decisions. The most important factors for determining whether the operation is properly to be regarded as C2 or C3 use are (i) the physical layout of the building; (ii) the level of care; and (iii) the nature of the operation of the proposed development. We can go into more detail on each of these aspects, with appeal references, for anyone with a specific interest in the issues but, in summary, the whole area unnecessarily complicated and uncertain. Some standardised definitions and policy expectations would be really helpful.
I wrote this blog post as a by-product of preparing to speak at LD Events’ 26 September 2017 conference, Alternative Residential Property 2017. See some of you there.
Simon Ricketts, 16 September 2017
Author simonicityPosted on September 16, 2017 Categories Housing, NPPF, Older people, Use Classes OrderTags retirement living; extra care; sheltered housingLeave a comment on Class Distinctions: Planning For Older People
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This story is about Rangers
Published Mar. 2018
Why this is likely Cole Hamels’ last season with Rangers
Smiley N. Pool/Staff Photographer
Texas Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels adjusts his cap after giving up a home run to San Francisco Giants second baseman Joe Panik during the first inning of a spring training baseball game against the San Francisco Giants on Saturday, March 3, 2018, in Scottsdale, Ariz. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News)
By Kevin Sherrington , Staff Columnist Contact Kevin Sherrington on Twitter: @KSherringtonDMN
PHOENIX — Cole Hamels doesn't follow the Phillies much these days. Nothing personal, because it was a great run. You don't depart a place where you won a World Series MVP without leaving at least a little of yourself behind. And he's sure the addition of Jake Arrieta will benefit a young team "champing at the bit to get relevant again," maybe even "put them on the map."
But keeping up with the Phillies personally?
Not when you consider this: Philadelphia's starting lineup and pitching staff could include as many former Rangers from the blockbuster 2015 trade as teammates Hamels once knew.
For all its hold on history, baseball moves on, whether you're ready or not.
Hamels knew the feeling long before the 2015 deal that brought him to Texas, and he recognizes the symptoms now.
Basically, if he returns to his old form after a season he calls a "hiccup," and the Rangers are no closer to the Astros for it, he'll probably be dealt by the trade deadline. Even if he doesn't come back as vintage Hamels — which would hardly be surprising at 34 — chances are pretty good this is his final season as a Ranger.
Whatever this season brings, he's prepared himself physically and mentally for anything, not the least his farewell.
"Yeah, I understand it," he said Tuesday. "I've seen it a lot. It's the game. I don't think you can take anything personally because of the fact that, if somebody wants you, somebody wants you. It's a great feeling, as opposed to sitting at home and nobody wants you and you're not playing anymore.
"You just have to roll with what happens."
If you were thinking Hamels is ready to go based on his not-so-subtle reply to Jeff Banister's proposed six-man rotation, or five plus one or however it eventually adds up, yes, you're on to something. He hasn't backed off his criticisms. A creature of habit, he continues to talk about his goal of 200 innings, a virtual impossibility if he misses a half-dozen starts in a radical rotation.
He's prepared himself for a season like 2016, when he started 32 games, hit 200 innings on the nose and recorded a 15-5 record and 3.32 ERA. He believes he knows what went wrong last year. His fastball command deserted him early, leading to an ERA of 4.20, his highest in nearly a decade.
Essentially, he blames his old winter workout regime. He says he went into last season lacking the flexibility necessary. The tighter the muscles, the more he forced the issue. Next thing he knew, he lost his mechanics "and something kinda went haywire."
And now?
"I feel like I'm in a better position," he said. "I know where I'm at with my arm strength and my legs. The conditioning side, I feel a lot better.
"I really think it's going to get us through the year in better shape with better results. Ultimately, it's all about results."
Just the same, this is how his future will play out: The Rangers have an option on Hamels for $20 million next year with a $6 million buyout. If they weren't interested in 31-year-old Yu Darvish at six years, $126 million or 32-year-old Jake Arrieta at three years, $75 million or even a single, solitary season of 31-year-old Lance Lynn for $12 million, I don't know why they'd make a high-priced exception for Hamels at 35.
Jon Daniels' words and actions have made it clear the window has closed on the hopes he held for the Rangers when he traded for Hamels, even if the pitcher has held up his end.
Looking back on it, Hamels called his initial reception in Arlington "incredible, a tremendous experience." Praised the front office as "one of the best." Described the "serious talent" on the big league club and how "special" it's been to play with them.
And wherever baseball takes him, he said, "This is where we're gonna retire. This is where we're gonna raise our kids."
Citing Dallas' central location, he added he has "a lot of respect for the people that make Dallas home, the work ethic they have. That's something I want my kids to see and be a part of."
What happens if Cole Hamels doesn't buy into Rangers' six-man rotation?
And if all that sounded like goodbye, well, he answered the questions that were asked.
Asked about this team's prospects, he termed what happened last year a "hiccup," too, and not a trend.
"I really feel a lot better about this team," he said. "Sometimes you need to be humbled a little bit, and we were last year.
"This puts the younger guys in a position to learn and improve and I think it's going to help everybody further down the line."
Just like all those kids the Rangers sent to Philly three years ago for Hamels and Jake Diekman. Jorge Alfaro and Jared Eickhoff and Nick Williams have grown up and become key contributors of the lineup. At least partly as a result, the Phillies are suddenly trending as wild-card picks.
Meanwhile, Cole Hamels prepares diligently this spring for the possibility that the cycle repeats itself. He knows the drill.
Listen to Kevin Sherrington, Barry Horn and Evan Grant on Ballzy, the SportsDayDFW podcast.
More In Rangers News
How Joey Gallo and Nomar Mazara's absence from the Rangers lineup Wednesday is an indication of a larger issue
Why the Rangers are 'mad' about being labeled sellers ahead of the MLB trade deadline
Willie Calhoun left 'speechless' after Rangers' decision to send him back to minors
Rangers stock report: Mike Minor is still a very attractive trade option; does it make sense to move on from Lance Lynn?
Before the Rangers decide whether or not to trade Mike Minor, here's what they need to ask themselves
After loss to Diamondbacks, Rangers are in danger of slipping further down the AL West
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Tillerson’s Asia Visit: Could US Change Stance on N. Korea Even If It Wanted To?
© REUTERS / Kevin Lamarque
As US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson travels across Japan, China and South Korea, amid the impeachment of South Korean president Park Geun-hye and a recent missile launch by North Korea, Radio Sputnik’s Brian Becker invited columnist and author Patrick Lawrence to discuss what’s at the heart of the new diplomat’s trip.
© AFP 2019 / KIM JAE-HWAN
Will a New South Korean Leader Improve Relations With Pyongyang?
The impeachment of South Korean president Park Geun-hye has plunged South Korea into a time of uncertainty. Between America's undecided foreign policy and the massive unpopularity of its THAAD system deployment in South Korea, Park's successor may take an unexpected stance. This seems likely, given that the most probable candidate to win the elections is Moon Jae-in, a supporter of the Sunshine Policy, the idea of close cooperation with North Korea without military intervention.
According to Lawrence, the visit to South Korea is the key leg of Tillerson's trip, as Park's impeachment has jeopardized US plans to deploy the THAAD anti-missile system in the country. The move, to counter the North Korean nuclear threat, is facing fierce opposition among South Koreans. President Park has been playing along with the United States on this issue.
Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn, however, is obliged by law to call new elections in 60 days. Described by Lawrence as a "creature of Park Geun-hye," Hwang's tenure may create a short window of opportunity for the US to deploy the controversial system. But, as he is associated with the impeached president, Hwang's chances of winning the election are extremely low. South Korea's celebrated democracy, then, may very well backfire on the US.
Aside from the THAAD issue, Washington must decide on its approach to North Korea.
"There is no standing still on North Korean question," Lawrence says. "Either we open the new negotiations with them, or we become more aggressive militarily."
In fact, military confrontation is not the only way the United States might approach North Korea. While the DPRK is consistently portrayed as aggressive, irrational and totalitarian, it was not until Nobel Peace Prize winner Barack Obama's presidency that that the US ceased negotiations with DPRK in 2009: both Presidents Clinton and Bush engaged in negotiations with Pyongyang, while South Korea implemented the Sunshine Policy which opened opportunities for cooperation between the two countries.
Lawrence reminded listeners that during the Korean War, the US Air Force destroyed every structure higher than one story in the country.
"The main complaint of the US pilots during the war was that there was nothing left to bomb," Lawrence says.
Bombings also eliminated 20% of North Korean population, and this, according to Lawrence, is the real reason behind North Korea's determination to ensure its safety through nuclear weapons and its reluctance to negotiate.
"This has been erased [from history textbooks]," Lawrence says. "That's how we maintain the fiction of wild North Korean irrationality."
© AFP 2019 / BEN STANSALL
US Secretary of State Tillerson Leaves for First Official Visit to Asia
Lawrence pointed out that, in theory, there could be a deal between Washington and Pyongyang: the US ceases the military drills in the region and North Korea in return halts its nuclear program. But North Korea has a lengthy record of having the United States violate their own agreements: Lawrence recalls that each time an agreement on nuclear weapons was signed with North Korea, the United States started picking on Pyongyang's missile program, which was never covered in the agreement. Lawrence compares it to the nuclear deal with Iran, since Washington also criticized Tehran for a missile program which has to be perceived separately from the nuclear deal itself.
Should it nevertheless resort to negotiations, the United States will have to face a very strong resistance from within, since the military industrial complex is the force that is critically interested in keeping tensions in the region high; keeping significant numbers of US armed forces in the region is necessary to project US power in Asia, but this can only be justified if there is a clear and present danger: "demonic" North Korea and its nuclear weapons.
"We are heavily dependent on the conflict in this country. We are absolutely dependent on maintaining the high degree of tension on the Korean Peninsula," Lawrence says.
There is even a possibility that US generals will denounce President Trump's direct order to withdraw from the region. This happened in 1977, right after then-President Jimmy Carter announced the withdrawal of US troops from South Korea. A very similar thing, according to Lawrence, happened after President Trump announced his intention to de-escalate, or "normalize" US relations with Russia.
"Nobody should be under any illusion as to the limited extent to which the civilian government in Washington is in actual control of the Pentagon," Lawrence says.
South Korea to Foster Ties With Russia Despite Domestic Situation – Ambassador
Malaysia Could Hand Kim Jong-Nam's Body to N Korea in Exchange for Nine Citizens
US Carrier Strike Group Arrives in S Korea to Join Foal Eagle Exercises - Navy
Early Presidential Elections in South Korea Set for May 9 - Cabinet
Foreign policy, Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), Korean War, Moon Jae-in, Park Geun-hye, Rex Tillerson, United States, Democratic Republic of North Korea (DPRK), South Korea
12:38Former Pakistani PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Arrested - Reports
12:36Kremlin Doesn't Rule Out Collaboration on ISTEX Payment Mechanism for Trade With Iran
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‘Defensive Move’: US Envoy to Iran Refuses to Rule Out Military Action
© AP Photo / Cliff Owen
The Trump envoy to Iran dodged questions as to whether the White House would use Washington’s 2001 Authorization of Use of Military Force (AUMF) to go to war with Iran without Congressional approval, but assured lawmakers that the president’s administration does not seek a full-fledged military confrontation with Tehran.
US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook told lawmakers Wednesday that any military conflict with Iran would be a “defensive move” on Washington’s side.
“We’re not seeking military action,” Hook told lawmakers at a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Middle East subpanel, according to Politico. “There is no talk of offensive action. It’s a defensive move.”
He added that if it comes to direct military confrontation with Iran, the administration “will do everything that we are required to do with respect to congressional war powers, and we will comply with the law.”
The lawmakers pressed the representative over suspicions that Trump might circumventing Congress and use the AUMF legislation to go to war with Iran.
Under US law, the president must notify Congress within 48 hours before invading other country, and troops can only remain for 60 days without Congressional approval, after which the president has 30 days to withdraw all forces.
However, the AUMF authorizes the president to freely begin military operations against Al-Qaeda and its affiliates, as well as any body found guilty of preparing the 9/11 attacks. Linking Tehran to Al-Qaeda could be used to authorize a military action without congressional approval, according to beltway pundits.
Earlier this year, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed that there is “no doubt” that Tehran is connected in some way to Al-Qaeda.
“There is no doubt there is a connection between the Islamic Republic of Iran and al-Qaeda. Period. Full stop,” he said before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “The factual question with respect to Iran’s connections to al Qaeda is very real. They have hosted al Qaeda. They have permitted al-Qaeda to transit their country.”
Speaking to lawmakers on Wednesday, Hook did not rule out the possibility of military intervention, but provided no definitive answer, according to Politico. Hook answered “no” when asked whether Tehran was one of the entities responsible for the 9/11.
Hook did assert, however, that the Trump administration believes that Tehran is behind the recent attacks on oil tankers Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.
“Those who have seen the intelligence all come away without any question [that] Iran is behind these attacks,” Hook said.
According to the Special Representative, intelligence claims that an undisclosed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) official confirmed that it had “completed two actions.” Hook did not offer proof that the “two actions” refer to the tanker attacks, the Reuters report noted.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration unilaterally abandoned the 2015 Joint Cooperative Plan of Action (JCPOA) treaty, reimposed sanctions lifted during the Obama administration and refused to extend waivers on Iranian oil exports. Washington has gradually increased its military presence in the region, sending troops, armored vehicles, bombers and an aircraft carrier strike group.
Tehran denies its involvement in the tanker attacks and pledges its allegiance to the JCPOA, stressing that is not pursuing nuclear weapons. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani stated in a speech this week that the Islamic republic will not wage a war against any nation. However, IRGC commander-in-chief Hossein Salami warned that Iran has cruise missiles capable of hitting aircraft carriers with “great precision.”
‘This Could Quickly Escalate’: Parties in Iran, US Pushing For, Against War
US Special Envoy Departs for Middle East to Share US Intel on Iran 'Threat' - State Department
Israel Bracing for 'Provocation' from Iran Amid US Tensions, Newspaper Claims
US Navy Claims to Have Found Mine Fragments, Magnet Pointing to Iran in Oil Tankers Attack
military conflict, United States, Iran
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Modern British Values
Promoting British Values at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School
The Department for Education state that there is a need “to create and enforce a clear and rigorous expectation on all schools to promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.”
The government set out its definition of British values in the 2011 Prevent Strategy and these values were reiterated by the Prime Minister in 2014. At St. Joseph’s these values are reinforced regularly and in the following ways:
Democracy is embedded at the school. Pupils are always listened to by adults and are taught to listen carefully and with concern to each other, respecting the right of every individual to have their opinions and voices heard. Pupils also have the opportunity to air their opinions and ideas through our School Council and regular questionnaires. The elections of the School Council members are based solely on pupil votes, reflecting our British electoral system and demonstrating democracy in action.
The Rule of Law
The importance of laws whether they are those that govern the class, the school or the country, are consistently reinforced throughout regular school days, as well as when dealing with behaviour and through collective worship. Our pupils are taught the value and reasons behind laws, that they govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when laws are broken. Visits from authorities such as the Police, Fire Service, etc. are regular parts of our calendar and help to reinforce this message.
Individual Liberty
Within school, pupils are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. As a school we educate and provide boundaries for our pupils to make choices safely, through the provision of a safe environment and an empowering education. Our pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and are advised how to exercise these safely, for example through our e-safety and P.S.H.E. lessons. Whether it is through choice; of challenge, of how they record, of participation in our numerous extra- curricular activities, our pupils are given the freedom to make choices.
Mutual Respect
Part of our school ethos and behaviour policy has revolved around core values such as ‘Respect’, and pupils have been part of discussions and assemblies related to what this means and how it is shown. All members of the school community treat each other with respect and pupils understand that respect needs to be shown to everyone, whatever differences we may have. Displays around the school promote respect for others and this is reiterated through our classroom and learning rules, as well as our behaviour policy. The core value of Respect at St Joseph’s underpins our work every day, both in and out of the classroom.
Tolerance of Those With Different Faiths And Beliefs
This is achieved through enhancing pupils’ understanding of their place in a culturally diverse society and by giving them opportunities to experience such diversity. Assemblies and discussions involving prejudices and prejudice-based bullying have been followed and supported by learning in Come and See and PSHE. Members of different faiths or religions, and those who speak languages other than English, are encouraged to share their knowledge to enhance learning within classes and the school.
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Home » Tennis News » Adidas Easter Bowl Gets Underway In Desert
Adidas Easter Bowl Gets Underway In Desert
March 23, 2019 by Steve Pratt
Seventeen-year-old Elli Mandlik hasn’t played a junior tournament in 2019, instead focusing her attention on the ITF professional World Tennis Tour. That will all change next week as Mandlik leads an impressive group of top American junior tennis players entered in the 52nd Annual Adidas Easter Bowl.
The Florida resident Mandlik recently had a nine-match winning streak snapped as she fell in the final of the ITF WTT $15,000 at Arcadia, Calif., after winning the Carson WTT $15,000 event the week before. In the final at Carson, Mandlik beat USC recruit Carson Branstine, also taking out fellow Easter Bowl competitors Hurricane Black and Natasha Subhash along the way.
Elli Mandlik Photo By Dave Kenas
Mandlik is expected to be the No. 2 seed in the Girls’ 18s ITF event at the Adidas Easter Bowl, the USTA Spring National Championships, which kicks off on Saturday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in the Coachella Valley, where all eyes were on the recently completed BNP Paribas Open.
Just like last year when Mandlik fell to Gabby Price in the Round of 16 at last year’s Easter Bowl, Mandlik will be cheered on by her mother International Tennis Hall of Famer Hana Mandlikova, the former Grand Slam champion. Mandlik’s brother Mark is also entered in the Boys’ ITF event. Madlikova won the Australian Open in 1980 and 1987, the French Open in 1981 and the US Open singles in 1985, and doubles in 1989. She was a Wimbledon finalist in 1981 in singles (losing to Chris Evert Lloyd) and singles (losing to Martina Navratilova) and doubles in 1986.
Currently ranked among the top 20 junior players in the ITF World Rankings, Elli qualified for the US Open Junior event last year in her Grand Slam debut. She was a finalist at the Eddie Herr in singles and was the doubles champion last November.
At the US Open, Kathy Rinaldi, the USTA national coach for women’s tennis, commented to the New York Times about Elli: “As a youngster, you could see that she had a good feel for the ball, but she was very small,” she said. “Now she’s grown and she’s very athletic. Her feistiness reminds me of Hana.”
A fellow Florida resident like Mandlik, Black is expected to be the top-seeded player and is ranked No. 14 by the ITF. Other top players in the girls’ field include players who have success in the lower divisions over the years. Coming in as the third-seed is 2017 16s singles champion Emma Navarro, who is ranked No. 22 in the ITF world rankings.
Other top 50 players who will likely be seeded at Easter Bowl include Savannah Broadus (No. 34), Lea Ma (No. 37), and Abigail Forbes (No. 50). 2015 Girls’ 12s champion Gabby Price is in the main draw, as is 2017 Girls’ 16s champ Charlotte Owensby and finalist Gianna Pielet.
Other notable players in the 18s entries include 2015 Girls’ 16s singles finalist Subhash, 2016s 12s champion Katrina Scott, last year’s 16s champ Anessa Lee and 2015 finalist Emma Jackson.
The top-seed in the Boys’ ITF 18s will be Eliot Spizzirri, who is ranked No. 23 in world. University of Georgia recruit Tyler Zink will be the No. 2 seed with 15-year-old Martin Damm of IMG Academy seeded No. 3 and ranked No. 30. Damm’s father Martin was a longtime ATP player who once reached as high as No. 5 in the world rankings.
The 18s is an ITF Grade B1 and USTA Level 1 event. It is a closed event meaning only players from the United States are eligible to play. The tournament will include the nation’s top 12-and-under 14s, 16s and 18s players. The 12s and 14s will start play this Saturday, March 23, with the finals taking place on Thursday, March 28. The 16s and 18s begin play on Monday, with the 16s finals on Saturday, March 30, and the 18s finals on Sunday, March 31.
The Adidas Easter Bowl Player Party will take place at IWTG on Sunday, March 24, at the same time as the TEAM USA COACHES RECEPTION, presented by the USTA, honoring some of the best coaches and organizations in the game today. Among the honorees this year will be:
TEAM USA Legendary Coach Award: Jose Higueras
TEAM USA Developmental Coach of the Year: Joseph Gilbert
TEAM USA Developmental Program of the Year: Lakes Tennis Academy in Frisco, Texas
TEAM USA Player Development Section of the Year: USTA Southern California
The iconic junior tournament started by Seena Hamilton in 1968 and now led by Tournament Chairman Lornie Kuhle. Long considered the Super Bowl of junior tennis, the Adidas Easter Bowl’s status has now been raised to a new level by being played at what is arguably the finest tennis facility in the world, the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
No other junior tennis tournament in the United States possesses the same rich history as the Adidas Easter Bowl. The tournament was started in New York City and has been played in Florida, Arizona and California.
To keep up with all the Adidas Easter Bowl news, visit the website at www.easterbowl.com and check out the tournament on Facebook (www.facebook.com/EasterBowl) and Twitter (@easterbowl).
In addition to live streaming the Easter Bowl again this year, the tournament has an improved mobile app, which can be found at Match Tennis App http://www.matchtennisapp.com. Check www.easterbowl.com to watch the live stream and for all Easter Bowl news, results and schedules.
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Zlatan Ibrahimovic sets MLS salary record at $7.2 million
ABS-CBN Sports on Jun 13, 2019 05:40 AM
LA Galaxy forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic (9) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal during the second half of an MLS soccer match against the Sporting Kansas City Wednesday, May 29, 2019, in Kansas City, Kan. LA Galaxy won 2-0. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
BETHESDA, Md. (AP) — LA Galaxy forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic is earning a Major League Soccer-record $7.2 million salary this season.
The 37-year-old Ibrahimovic, who earned a relatively modest $1.5 million last year, broke the previous mark of Toronto's Sebastian Giovinco, who had $7,115,556 in total compensation in both 2017 and 2018.
The MLS Players Association said Wednesday the average base salary for all players this year is $376,174 and the average guaranteed compensation is $417,643, including a prorated share of guaranteed money not attributable to a specific year. The average salary for senior roster non-designated players increased 13.3% to $345,867 and is up from $138,140 in 2014.
Striker Giovani dos Santos, released by the Galaxy in March, is second with a base salary of $4.75 million and total compensation of $6.5 million.
Toronto midfielder Michael Bradley ($6 million base, $6,428,571 total) is third, followed by Toronto striker Jozy Altidore ($4,891,250, $6,332,250), LAFC forward Carlos Vela ($4.5 million base, $6.3 million total), Chicago midfield Bastian Schweinsteiger ($5.6 million base and total), Montreal winger Ignacio Piatti ($530,000, $4,443,333), Toronto midfielder Alejandro Pozuelo ($3.8 million), DC United forward Wayne Rooney ($3.5 million, $3,507,500), Atlanta forward Josef Martinez ($3 mlolion, $3,058,333), Seattle forward Nicolás Lodeiro ($2 million, $2,502,500), Orlando midfielder Nani ($2,333333, $2,486,250) and Colorado goalkeeper Tim Howard ($2 million, $2,475,000).
The minimum salary for each team's 18-20 senior players rose to $70,250 this season and the minimum for its maximum eight reserve players increased to $56,250. This is the final season of a five-year labor contract.
Sweden calls on Ibrahimovic to offer backing to Olympic bid
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Soccer star Wayne Rooney charged with public intoxication
Ibrahimovic re-signs with LA Galaxy as designated player
AP Source: Ibrahimovic to remain with LA Galaxy
Ibrahimovic to stay with LA Galaxy, AC Milan's Leonardo says
Prized defender De Ligt undergoing medical with Juventus
Nigeria beats Tunisia 1-0 in 3rd place game at African Cup
Azkals drawn in Group A of 2022 World Cup/2023 Asian Cup QT
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UAAP: From the bench, Prince Orizu proves to be FEU's game-changer
Norman Lee Benjamin Riego on Nov 02, 2018 05:41 PM
All of Angelo Kouame, Bright Akhuetie, Justine Baltazar, Santi Santillan, and Brandon Bates did damage against FEU without Prince Orizu patrolling the paint
Far Eastern University ended the first round of eliminations in the UAAP 81 Men’s Basketball Tournament in first place.
Since then, however, they have dropped four games in a row and have dropped to the bottom half of the standings.
The common theme in those losses? Prince Orizu has been injured in the last three games.
“Of course, it’s frustrating. Actually, I was shedding (tears) a little bit earlier because I know if I’m out there, those guys can’t those easy buckets,” he said after the Tamaraws fell to De La Salle University last Sunday. “Those easy buckets, they’re gonna bleed for it.”
Orizu got injured against Ateneo de Manila University and witnessed Angelo Kouame rampage to a 33-point, 27-rebound career game.
He sat out against the University of the Philippines and then saw Bright Akhuetie go on a 20-point, 11-rebound, seven-assist tear.
Against the Green Archers, he was suited up, but was not put in. As such, he had front row seats to watching Justine Baltazar get 15 points and six rebounds, Santi Santillan get 12 boards and 14 markers, and Brandon Bates get seven points and 10 rebounds.
Without a doubt, the Nigerian powerhouse left a big, big void FEU has not been able to fill.
Even more frustrating for him is the fact that this is the first time in quite a while that he was forced to sit out. As he put it, “Nobody was expecting I’m gonna get injured. I’ve not been injured for over four years. It’s really frustrating and I just have to get back and do better when I get back.”
In that light, Orizu gladly reported that he has been recovering well from the high sprain on his left ankle. As he put it, “I’m recovering well and I could jog now, but I can’t really run fast because there’s still pain in the ankle. I’m just hoping I get okay before next game.”
He then continued, “I’m doing everything I can to come back because I don’t like seeing my team like that. If I was there, it’s gonna be a lot different than what is going on in the team.”
FEU’s sidelined center will be a game time decision when they take on University of the East on Sunday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
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Betting consumers are tired of bad bank behavior, Aspiration raises $47 million for its alternative
Jonathan Shieber @jshieber / 2 years
A who’s who of celebrities, investors and celebrity investors have come together to invest $47 million into Aspiration, the company launched by a former speechwriter for President Bill Clinton to challenge the traditional banking industry.
For Andrei Cherny, Aspiration’s founder and chief executive, the company’s business is an inversion of the business model of the typical modern bank.
“The problem with how banks make money off of most people is that often times banks make money when the consumer fails,” says Cherny.
Everything from overdraft fees to late payment fines to ATM fees are the cash cows for retail banks, says Cherny. “Those moments when the customer is feeling pain is when the banks make their money,” he says. But they also make money off of selling products that consumers don’t actually need (and in the case of Wells Fargo, those banks might not even sell you a product).
It’s in this environment that Cherny saw the opportunity for a new kind of bank. One that would cater to a customer that is concerned with where their money is being invested by their financial institution and how their financial institution treats its customers.
Marshaling Hollywood celebrities and athletes from the Los Angeles community, along with some of the biggest names in finance, Cherny was able to pull together what he says is the largest Series B in financial technology investment history for an online banking company in the U.S.
Investors in the round included Allen and Company, Omidyar Network, Alpha Edison, AGO Partners, Reyl & Cie and Capricorn Investments, as well as individual investors like the actor Orlando Bloom, Los Angeles Clippers coach “Doc” Rivers, former Citigroup chief operations and technology officer Deborah Hopkins, Bad Robot president Brian Weinstein and Rustic Canyon Partners founding partner Tom Unterman.
The core product for Aspiration is its Summit personal banking account. The checking account provides 1 percent interest and is fossil fuel free. The checking account also lets its banking customers track their sustainability score by monitoring where they spend money and checking it against a sustainability monitoring and scoring system that Aspiration created (the scoring mechanism tracks companies’ corporate social responsibility on a number of different metrics).
“If we can start driving people to spend in a way that puts ethics at the core of their daily spending decisions you can totally transform the incentives that companies have when it comes to how they treat the environment and how they treat their employees,” Cherny said of the monitoring program.
So far, Aspiration has accounts totaling $350 million in savings, with about $2 billion per-year now transacted across the Aspiration platform, Cherny told me.
Unlike other banks, Aspiration makes money by charging a fee set by the customer for the services they use. “What we see is that the vast majority of customers are choosing to pay across all products and most are choosing to pay a very fair amount,” Cherny said. The online bank also offers investment and retirement services.
Cherny said the new capital would be used to help develop a new suite of credit and ending products to further build out its array of banking services.
For Cherny, all of this can be placed in the context of the current political environment. “People understand that in the absence of positive leadership from Washington that they have not only more personal responsibility but they have a huge amount of individual power. When, as individuals we’re spending $36 billion a day, the individual decisions that we make can add up to an enormously powerful lever even if government doesn’t step in in a positive way.”
When customers pay fees for banks and financial services firms, a large portion of that money goes into lobbying for things that are beneficial to the financial services community and few other people… or the country at large. Financial services firms actually spend three times as much money as the next biggest spender on lobbying for the federal government.
Beyond the prompts it gives to its customers about their spending habits, Aspiration is one of the most charitable financial firms in the country, giving out 10 percent of its earnings to charitable micro-loans and mentorship programs for low-income Americans, the company said.
“Aspiration has seen astonishing growth in just a couple of years and we’re convinced this is just the beginning of an even bigger trend,” said Ibrahim AlHusseini, managing director of Social Impact Finance, which led the company’s latest round of funding. “Consumers are ‘voting with their money’ now more than ever, which means they are increasingly investing in companies that share their values. Aspiration is the world’s leader in bringing this spirit of investing with a conscious to the financial services industry.”
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Bill F.
Democrat IL 11
About Rep. Bill
Twitter: RepBillFoster
Facebook: CongressmanBillFoster
Youtube: CongressmanBillFoster
Remembering the 10Th Anniversary of the Iraq War
by Representative Bill Foster
FOSTER of illinois in the house of representatives Tuesday, March 19, 2013 Mr. FOSTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask the House to observe a moment of somber remembrance for the 10th anniversary of the start of the Iraq War. On March 19, 2003, the U.S. Armed Forces invaded Iraq in what would become one of the most drawn-out missions in our military's history--a mission that would end in more than 4,000 fatalities and 31,000 wounded.
All too often, these brave men and women risk their lives to serve our country, only to return home to face a different type of battle--a battle to receive the care and benefits that they deserve.
Earlier this month, in a commitment to provide high-quality healthcare to our veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs opened a new Veterans Outpatient Clinic in Joliet, Illinois. As part of the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital, the 60,000 square foot facility will offer state-of-the-art healthcare, providing a variety of services including: primary care, physical, occupational, and speech therapies, health education, mental health treatment, women's healthcare, nutrition, and retinal imaging.
With more than 5,000 veterans already signed up to receive treatment at the Joliet Clinic, the facility will go a long way toward providing the healthcare that our men and women in uniform deserve. I am proud to have the Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Hospital Outpatient Clinic serving our veterans.
Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to not only join me in remembering those who lost their lives serving our great nation, but to also recognize and thank those veterans who have returned home after defending our country bravely and honorably.
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NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman isn’t the only American inserting himself into Calgary’s municipal election.
Greg Miller, a popular San Francisco-based video game comic and YouTuber, on Friday posted a video endorsing Greg Miller, candidate for Ward 4 in Calgary. Miller is one of three candidates running against incumbent Sean Chu, who is widely known (though not perhaps in San Francisco) for his rabid opposition to cycling infrastructure.
Canadian Greg Miller said American Greg Miller reached out to him a week ago after coming across a tweet with one of Canadian Greg Miller’s lawn signs. “He said, ‘Hey, what does it take to get one of your signs and a shirt?’” recalled Canadian Greg Miller. “And I said, ‘Well of course—this is what we do because we’re good neighbours.’”
Canadian Greg Miller FedExed American Greg Miller a sign, some shirts and also threw in a couple of made-in-Calgary Smithbilt cowboy hats.
On Friday, American Greg Miller was decked out in the Calgary garb on his online show, The Kinda Funny Morning Show.
He went on to read a bit from Miller’s campaign literature.
“Greg Miller gets the internet in a way most people don’t,” said Miller. “Greg Miller is a name you can trust. Greg Miller deserves your vote for Ward 4. Why? ’CAUSE OF HIS NAME, GREG MILLER.”
“AND IF YOU DON’T VOTE FOR HIM, YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE A PROBLEM WITH AMERICAN GREG MILLER. AND YOU DON’T WANT ME COMING TO CALGARY, CANADA.”
Is this not, we asked Canadian Greg Miller, American influence in a Canadian municipal election?
“American influence?!” replied Canadian Greg Miller. “Well, I think it’s a lot of fun on social media — but I’ll let others read into it what they will.”
“If you can’t have a little fun when campaigning, what’s the point?”
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A scene from the film 'Shoplifters,' which will screen at FilmColumbia 2018. Image courtesy FilmColumbia
FilmColumbia 2018: Nine days, 50 films
By Emily Edelman Wednesday, Oct 17, 2018 Arts & Entertainment
Chatham, N.Y. — FilmColumbia will mark its 19th year of “small town, big movies” Saturday, Oct. 20, through Sunday, Oct. 28. The nine-day festival will present 50 world-class independent and international films, plus post-screening question-and-answer sessions with acclaimed artists and special tributes and events.
Brian Cox. Photo courtesy FilmColumbia
For the third consecutive year, the festival will present a special tribute to an acclaimed artist with ties to Columbia County. This year’s honoree is Brian Cox, whose award-winning, broad range of work has been showcased in some 200 movies and television programs from “Braveheart” to “Rushmore,” and includes “The Bourne Identity,” “X-Men 2” and “Deadwood.” Eight more currently are in production. Cox has channeled every variety of the human species from King Lear to Hannibal Lecter and has been showered with laurels such as the Laurence Olivier Award and the London Critics’ Circle Award. He also was the recipient of the Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2003. Cox is presently starring in HBO’s “Succession.” He has been a resident of Columbia County since 1965.
The geographic and artistic scope of FilmColumbia 2018 will be on display via feature and documentary films from nearly 20 countries as well as the latest releases from award-winning directors Steve McQueen, Frederick Wiseman, Asghar Farhadi and Morgan Neville; and a collection of offerings ranging from a newly completed film begun by Orson Welles, a drama from a former South Korean Minister of Culture and the directorial debut of actor Paul Dano that was a darling at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The festival will also feature standout performances by lauded actors including Javier Bardem, Juliette Binoche, Penelope Cruz, Viola Davis, Robert Duvall, Jake Gyllenhaal, Regina Hall, Dennis Hopper, John Huston, Melissa McCarthy, Carey Mulligan, Liam Neeson, Estelle Parsons, Rosamund Pike, Mary Kay Place, Michelle Rodriguez, Emma Thompson and Stanley Tucci.
A still from the film ‘The Other Side of the Wind.’ Image courtesy FilmColumbia
On Sunday, Oct. 21, FilmColumbia 2018 will kick off with two highly anticipated films: “The Other Side of the Wind” starring John Huston as an over-the-hill director trying to make a comeback; and “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”, based on the life of writer Lee Israel, whose career penning profiles of Hollywood stars fell out of favor as the demands of the publishing industry shifted.
Viola Davis in ‘Widows.’ Photo: Merrick Morton.
Among other noteworthy FilmColumbia 2018 offerings are “Shoplifters,” this year’s Palme d’Or winner at the Cannes Film Festival that also screened at Toronto and New York; “The Hate U Give,” based on a wrenching bestseller and inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement; “Widows,” from Oscar-winning director Steve McQueen, an edge-of-your-seat heist thriller set against the backdrop of politics, passion and blood and featuring Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Liam Neeson and Robert Duvall; and “Cold War,” from Pawel Pawlikowski, a love story set in the 1950s and early ‘60s about a relationship compromised by a political system that perverted human emotion.
A still from the film ‘Cold War.’ Image courtesy FilmColumbia
Several artists will participate in question-and-answer sessions with audiences following the screenings of their films, including:
Kent Jones, director of “Diane” Sunday, Oct. 28;
Bob Eisenhardt, editor of “Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood” Sunday, Oct. 28;
Brigitte Berman, director of “Hugh Hefner’s After Dark: Speaking Out in America” Saturday, Oct. 27; and
A panel of animators from “Animation for Grownups” Saturday, Oct. 27.
A still from the film ‘Darcy.’ Image courtesy FilmColumbia
FilmColumbia will screen a slate of regional films including, among others, “Darcy,” about an idealistic 15-year-old who faces a difficult, life-impacting decision and which was shot in Palenville in Greene County; a program of six shorts, including one shot in Canaan; “Write When You Get Work,” a rom-com heist thriller featuring Emily Mortimer and Columbia County’s Scott Cohen that screened at South by Southwest; “When We Grow Up,” shot in Chatham and Ghent, and using an all-female crew.
A still from ‘(R)evolution Is Uncomfortable.’ Image courtesy FilmColumbia
Also during the festival, FilmColumbia is partnering with PS21 to present “(R)evolution is Uncomfortable” Sunday, Oct. 21, from Hudson-based documentarian, photographer and videographer JD Urban. As part of the ongoing Everyday People Project, Urban will be filming brief conversations with FilmColumbia attendees Wednesday, Oct. 24, through Saturday, Oct. 27, at the Gallery@Chatham, which will be screened the following day at local eateries Pieconic and Our Daily Bread. Some of those interviews may become part of Urban’s upcoming documentary on the making of art.
Stills from ‘Animation for Grownups.’ Images courtesy FilmColumbia
FilmColumbia’s annual and highly anticipated Sneak Peek, an unannounced film that traditionally joins the list of Oscar contenders announced four months later, will screen Saturday, Oct. 27.
Rounding out the variety of offerings of FilmColumbia 2018 are a live edition of “Film Jeopardy!” Thursday, Oct. 25, complete with snacks and prizes; the annual Children’s International Shorts Program Saturday, Oct. 27; and FilmColumbia mainstay celebrations the Pub Party Friday, Oct. 26, at the People’s Pub and the post-Sneak Peek party Saturday, Oct. 27, at the Blue Plate.
Peter Biskind. Photo courtesy FilmColumbia
FilmColumbia 2018 is programmed by Peter Biskind and co-artistic director Laurence Kardish. Biskind is an author, film historian, contributing editor at Vanity Fair and Esquire, and past executive editor of Premiere magazine. His new book, “The Sky is Falling: How Vampires, Zombies, Androids, and Superheroes Made America Great for Extremism,” was recently published. Kardish is senior curator emeritus for film and media at the Museum of Modern Art. Calliope Nicholas is the managing director of the festival.
Screenings will take place at the Crandell Theatre and Morris Memorial. For tickets, more information and a full screening schedule, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or call (518) 392-3445.
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The well-co-ordinated Irish ‘yes’ campaign literally had its members knocking on doors throughout the country. Reuters/Cathal McNaughton
Australia doesn’t need a plebiscite on same-sex marriage – Ireland’s experience shows why
June 26, 2016 10.30pm EDT
Brian Tobin, National University of Ireland Galway
Brian Tobin
Lecturer Below The Bar, National University of Ireland Galway
Brian Tobin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Ireland made history in May 2015 by becoming the first country to legalise same-sex marriage by popular vote. Australia may follow suit if the Coalition keeps its commitment to hold a plebiscite on same-sex marriage by 2017, the yes vote wins, and subsequent legislation passes the parliament.
But as the Irish experience shows, putting a human rights issue to a national vote is a crude means of legalising same-sex marriage. It forces a historically oppressed minority to literally have to plead with the majority for access to marriage in the months prior to the vote. It also provides a platform for those opposed to misinform the public and air anti-gay views.
In the lead-up to the Irish referendum, the “no” campaigners played on the electorate’s fears about the unregulated field of surrogacy. Campaigners claimed that providing constitutional protection for same-sex marriage would lead to a corresponding right of access to surrogacy for male same-sex couples, and this would be detrimental to child welfare.
This scaremongering ignored that surrogacy is mostly used by heterosexual married couples. It also ignored the plethora of evidence that same-sex couples are as capable as their heterosexual counterparts in child-rearing. And research since the 1970s has consistently shown that it is the positive familial processes, not family structures, that determines a child’s well-being and outcomes.
The “no” campaign claimed children should have both a mother and a father and should be raised by people who are genetically related to them. This was not only untrue and insulting of same-sex parents, but the “no” campaigners managed to offend adoptive parents and single-parent families along the way.
Opponents castigated progressive legislation introduced prior to the referendum to regulate adoption and parental rights for same-sex couples. The legislation had been in the works since January 2014 and had been scrutinised by experts prior to its passage through parliament to ensure that it complied with international best practice. But it was claimed the legislation had been “rushed through” when enacted in April 2015.
Again, homophobia reared its head – this time dressed up as a concern for democratic process.
Irish politicians had the option of legislating same-sex marriage without a referendum, just as Australian politicians currently can. The reason it was put to a popular vote in Ireland is because same-sex marriage is a political hot potato. None of Ireland’s political parties were keen to champion its introduction for fear of a backlash.
Referenda are extremely risky ventures. Placing the rights of a minority group in the hands of the majority seems almost ludicrous. A sizeable number of the electorate could simply vote against same-sex marriage without being properly informed in the way elected politicians would usually be when legislating.
The well-co-ordinated Irish “yes” campaign literally had its members knocking on doors throughout the country. Gay and lesbian people were reduced to “begging” for Irish society’s approval of their most intimate relationships. Nonetheless, nothing could be left to chance in a country where, as recently as 2011, 84% of the population still identified as Catholic.
Despite favourable opinion polls, there was great uncertainty about the possible outcome until voting day. The previous referendum, the Children’s Referendum in November 2012, saw a mere 33.49% of the Irish electorate cast their votes.
Referenda on controversial social issues in Ireland can also have unexpected outcomes. The first divorce referendum failed in 1986 and the second divorce referendum in 1995 was only successful by a tiny margin of 51% to 49%.
It’s unclear what effect the misinformation and scaremongering had on gay citizens. Reuters/Daniel Munoz
Concern about voter turnout proved unfounded: more than 60% of the people cast a vote, among the highest in Ireland’s history. Young and working-class voters came out in force to show solidarity with the gay community.
The final result saw 1,201,607 votes to allow constitutional protection for same-sex marriage, with 734,300 votes against. The “yes” campaign had a very comfortable margin of 62.07% to 37.93%.
But while ultimately effective, Ireland’s referendum was crude and uncertain. Homophobia masqueraded as concern for children’s welfare and anti-gay views were widely shared for many months before the referendum.
One can only imagine the effect the misinformation and scaremongering had on gay citizens, let along the profound sense of rejection they would have felt if the majority had voted against the proposal.
If Australia decides to hold a plebiscite on same-sex marriage, it should take note of the Irish experience – and not just the successful result there.
Ireland same-sex marriage referendum
Same-sex marriage plebiscite
Ireland celebrates. Aidan Crawley/EPA
Another Ireland is born: it’s a big yes to marriage equality
What options is Australia left with for same-sex marriage rights? Alex Bainbridge/AAP
With no Coalition free vote, where to now on the road to same-sex marriage?
A long road to equality. William Murphy
Why Ireland should not have needed a referendum on gay marriage
Jubilant scenes from Ireland’s ‘Yes’ cohort after a referendum victory that is echoing around the world. AAP/Aiden Crawley
Irish vote could be a green light for a social revolution worldwide
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HomeHomeBahamas maintains tier one ranking in trafficking report
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For the fifth year in a row, The Bahamas held on to its tier one ranking in the U.S. Department of State’s 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report, as it continues to demonstrate “serious and sustained” efforts to combat trafficking.
However, the State Department said The Bahamas remains a destination where men, women and children are subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor.
It also raised concerns over corruption at the Department of Immigration.
“The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government officials complicit in trafficking offenses; however, outside reports of official involvement in protecting sex trafficking rings and corruption within the Immigration Department remained a concern, as these created vulnerabilities for potential trafficking victims and reduced victims’ willingness to self-identify or to assist law enforcement in the investigation and prosecution of their traffickers,” said the report, which was released yesterday.
Children in The Bahamas who are not entitled to Bahamian citizenship at birth are more likely to be victims of human trafficking, the report said.
“Traffickers recruit migrant workers, especially those from Haiti, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela, the Philippines and the United States through false offers of employment, such as through advertisements in foreign newspapers; upon arrival, traffickers subject them to sex trafficking and forced labor, including in domestic service and in sectors with low-skilled labor,” it said.
“Children born outside The Bahamas to female citizens or in The Bahamas to foreign-born parents who do not automatically receive Bahamian citizenship are at heightened risk of trafficking. Individuals lured for employment and those involved in prostitution and exotic dancing and illegal migrants are particularly vulnerable to trafficking.”
The report found that although The Bahamas met minimum tier one standards, there were decreased efforts to enforce human trafficking legislation and vulnerable populations may not be adequately protected.
“Outside experts noted the government conducted insufficient outreach to vulnerable populations, such as the Haitian community,” it said.
It added, “The Department of Labour did not continue past practices of distributing pamphlets or letters about labor trafficking and workers’ rights to foreign nationals with work permits and advising employers of the prohibition against document retention.
“The government did not make efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor.”
Tier one countries are those whose governments fully comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, the report notes. While tier one is the highest ranking, the report notes it does not mean that a country has no human trafficking problem.
The report also found that only two new investigations were initiated, compared to between 11 and 15 per year for the six preceding years.
It attributed “significant backlogs in all cases” to a shortage of judges and prosecutors, and said it was unclear whether “judges, prosecutors and other law enforcement officials received training on the Trafficking in Persons Act”.
The State Department report found that the government continues to implement a “formal victim-centered protocol to guide front-line responders in identifying both sex and labor trafficking victims and referring them to services”.
It said that “the National Trafficking Commission funded and trained member agencies and ministries in their roles in identifying and protecting victims and making referrals”.
However, it raised concerns over the application to vulnerable migrant populations, noting that authorities often detained and deported Haitian migrants without screening for trafficking.
“During the reporting period, the government identified two victims of sex trafficking out of 28 individuals screened in 2018, compared to five identified victims out of 37 individuals screened in 2017,” the report said.
“The identified victims were adult females, one from The Bahamas, and the other from Venezuela. The National Trafficking Committee referred both victims to a care facility and a social worker. Another potential victim self-identified as a trafficking victim when brought to court on visa overstay charges; the trafficking task force, immigration and police authorities investigated her and others involved in her case, determined it was not a trafficking case and subsequently deported her.
“The government reported it determined which potential trafficking victims to formally screen for trafficking based on referrals from initial screenings by non-governmental and faith-based organizations, businesses and other ministries, although these organizations may be implicated in trafficking.
“Experts reported authorities did not use formal protocols to screen all migrants, both those residing in country and others upon arrival, for trafficking or to protect those identified as victims.
“The increasing influx of migrants, inconsistent training of staff and lack of implementation of identification protocols in migrant languages raised concerns that authorities penalized potential trafficking victims. Experts reported authorities rapidly and routinely detained and deported irregular Haitian migrants without screening for trafficking.”
Staff Reporter at The Nassau Guardian
Rachel joined The Nassau Guardian in January 2019. Rachel covers national issues.
Education: Virginia in Charlottesville, BA in Foreign Affairs and Spanish
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$19 mil. for free UB tuition program - June 21, 2019
Bahamas maintains tier one ranking in trafficking report - June 21, 2019
Union unmoved by Morton’s lockout threat - June 20, 2019
Court cuts sentence
Auditor general’s
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Human Cure Review by Fani
The Human Cure
by Tracy Auerbach
“What you’re doing right now is telling the boogeyman that you’re afraid of the dark.”
I was quite surprised by how much I enjoyed this story! I didn’t felt bored in any part of the book, the plot was fast paced and it kept me entertained from the beginning to the end. “The Human Cure” might have vampires in it but it uses this theme in a unique way and gives its own twist for these creatures. I loved all the main characters, Hunter’s kindness and altruistic personality was so touching, he might be the one who kidnapped Kate but as we read on and learn more about him it is obvious that he was one of the better characters in the underground village. We see the way he sacrificed himself for the happiness of other people in many parts of the story and I think it was such a shame we couldn’t see more about what he was thinking and feeling when he made those sacrifices especially a very important one. Thankfully we see a bit about his emotional turmoil in the very end of the book. A nice contrast to Hunter’s character was Chase, he really didn’t fit in the vampire community and that is evident when we see that the only person who is spending time with him is Hunter. His interactions with the heroine were very entertaining to read and I loved his cynical and a bit bitter personality. “There was something special about endings, even bad ones. In his own life, nothing ever ended.” Kate was also an enjoyable heroine, her life was a dead end but we experience through her how some people have the biggest improvement in their lives after ending up in an environment with even harsher conditions than where they lived before. I was afraid after reading the premise of the book that this story would have a love triangle were Kate would being confused and would love two people at once but I was happy to see that the story didn’t take that direction instead, Kate was always clear about who she had feeling for. One thing I would have liked to see was more world building, this story was a bit short and I think it still had some space for world exploration without losing its fast pace. I would have liked to see the main characters interact with other vampires and witness what kind of similarities and differences they had compared to Hunter and Chase. I would have also liked to see how everyday life is in the underground village, beyond the few scenes where we see the villagers run away when the vampires enter the village we don’t see any interactions between them when they are all by themselves without the presence of their masters. If the author had added more details about the life in the underground village the world in “The Human Cure” would have felt a lot more complete.
My Writing, Reviews
Review – Red Rising (Red Rising #1) by Pierce Brown
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Hollywood Star Doris Day, Singer of 'Que Sera, Sera,' Dead at 97
Day, who co-starred with 1950s and ‘60s superstars such as Rock Hudson and Cary Grant, died at her Carmel, California home after a bout with pneumonia.
Actress Doris Day is pictured at the aquarium in New York City, in this July 1946 image. Courtesy: William P. Gottlieb/Ira and Leonore S. Gershwin Fund Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress/Handout via Reuters
Actress Doris Day, who became one of the greatest box-office attractions of her time as the cheery, freckle-faced personification of wholesomeness, died on Monday at the age of 97, her foundation said on Monday.
Day, who co-starred with 1950s and ‘60s superstars such as Rock Hudson and Cary Grant, died at her Carmel, California home after a bout with pneumonia, the Doris Day Animal Foundation said on its website.
Her shiny girl-next-door image was built on a series of innocent romantic comedies, including Pillow Talk, for which Day received an Oscar nomination, That Touch of Mink and The Thrill of It All.
Day also had hit records, most notably “Que Sera, Sera” from the movie The Man Who Knew Too Much. It became her theme song, even though she had initially been reluctant to record it.
Day’s life was not always as sunny as her movie roles. She married four times, was divorced three times and widowed once, suffered a nervous breakdown and had severe financial trouble after one husband squandered her money.
“My public image is unshakably that of America’s wholesome virgin, the girl next door, carefree and brimming with happiness,” she said in a memoir, “an image, I can assure you, more make-believe than any film part I ever played. But I am Miss Chastity Belt and that’s all there is to it.”
“She’s the girl every guy should marry,” a critic wrote in the Saturday Review. “Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Kim Novak? They’d all be trouble. Doris Day would be true blue, understanding, direct, honest, and even a little sexy.”
She was born Doris von Kappelhoff on April 3, 1922, in Cincinnati and headed to California at age 14 to be a dancer. She abandoned that dream after her right leg was broken in an auto accident.
‘Sentimental journey’
She concentrated on singing and at 16 had a job with Les Brown, one of the top orchestra leaders of the day, and recorded her first hit, “Sentimental Journey,” with him. She changed her surname at the suggestion of a band leader who heard her sing “Day by Day.”
At 17, Day married Al Jorden, a trombone player who she later claimed beat her. Her only child, son Terry, was born in 1942, and the couple divorced the following year.
Day’s movie debut, Romance on the High Seas in 1948, was a hit, at least in part because of Day and the Oscar-nominated song she sang in it, “It’s Magic.”
A series of musicals followed with Day often playing a singer trying to break into the entertainment world: “My Dream Is Yours” in 1949, “It’s a Great Feeling” in 1949 and “Tea for Two” in 1950.
In 1953, she landed the title role of Calamity Jane, and success continued in 1955 as she teamed with Frank Sinatra for the musical Young at Heart and with James Cagney for the drama Love Me or Leave Me. She expanded her range again in Alfred Hitchcock’s remake of his own The Man Who Knew Too Much, which co-starred Jimmy Stewart.
Day returned to light comedy in 1957 with The Pajama Game and two years later first joined forces with Hudson for Pillow Talk, her most popular movie and the one that earned her an Oscar nomination.
She and Hudson made some of the most popular – and profitable – movies of the early 1960s, including Lover Come Back, Move Over Darling and Send Me No Flowers.
Financial troubles
In 1951, Day married agent Martin Melcher and after his 1968 death, she found he had left her nearly penniless. She had a nervous breakdown in 1974 and then won $22 million in damages from Melcher’s attorney and other associates who had mismanaged her money.
New success came, however, with “The Doris Day Show” on television, which ran for four seasons. Day did not learn until after Melcher’s death that he had committed her to do the show and she was initially reluctant to do it.
In 1976, Day married restaurant owner Barry Comden but they also divorced.
After retiring from performing, Day worked mainly with the Doris Day Animal Foundation, helping abused animals. Her home in Carmel, California, was usually full of dogs and cats, mostly adopted strays.
She stayed away from entertainment circles for more than 20 years after accepting a lifetime achievement honour from Golden Globe organisers in 1989 but released a CD in 2011. Proceeds from the recording went to her animal foundation.
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RETURN TO ABOUT GALAPAGOS
The Galapagos Islands are unique – probably the only place on earth where we can get a real sense of what the world was like before humans.
A group of 19 islands lying in the Pacific Ocean 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador, the Galapagos are a fascinating living laboratory. Each island is host to its own extraordinary mix of flora and fauna that has been blown or washed across from mainland South America and forced to adapt to survive. From the youngest Island Fernandina which is still being formed, to the oldest island Espanola formed 3.5 million years ago, each has its own unique landscape and set of ecosystems.
“We create truly exceptional Galapagos holidays for each of our guests. All Galapagos cruises, lodges and hotels have been handpicked for their individual qualities, tried and tested by us.”
Call Rachel, Company founder and Galapagos specialist on 01964 552292
What makes Galapagos so unique?
What makes these islands truly unique is that they have remained isolated from predators (most notably humans) for most of their history. The result is a unique and diverse range of animals that are totally unafraid of humans. From breeding boobies, to flightless cormorants, to iguanas and giant tortoises, the fearlessness of the fauna here is astounding.
Thanks to ongoing conservation work by the Galapagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Research Station, the Galapagos remain largely the way Darwin saw them almost 2 centuries ago — a pristine natural habitat and an inspiration for anyone with a love of the natural word.
Galapagos Weather
Although the weather and temperatures don’t vary hugely, the islands do have two distinct seasons. These seasons are determined by the ocean currents around the Galapagos, principally the cool north-flowing Humbolt and the west-flowing Peruvian Ocean Currents both of which originate in Antartica. Generally December to April are the warmest months with daily highs of between 26°C–31 °C (79°F –87°F) and the coolest from May through November with daily highs of between 24°C–26 °C (76°F –79°F) with August and September the coolest.
The islands only receive around 25 cm (10 inches) of rain per year, so it is rarely ‘rainy’ although you can expect some rain year round in the highlands of some of the islands.
Daily High ºC (ºF)
29 (85) 29 (85) 31 (87) 31 (87) 27 (81) 26 (79) 25 (77) 24 (76) 24 (76) 25 (77) 26 (78) 26 (79)
Daily Low ºC (ºF)
22 (71.6) 24 (76) 24 (76) 24 (76) 22 (71.6) 21 (69.8) 20 (68) 19 (66.2) 19 (66.2) 20 (68) 21 (69.8) 22 (71.6)
Sea Temp ºC (ºF)
24 (75.2) 25 (77) 25 (77) 25 (77) 24 (75.2) 23 (73.4) 22 (71.6) 21 (69.8) 22 (71.6) 22 (71.6) 23 (73.4) 23 (73.4)
Rainfall mm (inch)
68.6 (2.7) 91.4 (3.6) 94 (3.7) 71.1 (2.8) 33 (1.3) 22.9 (0.90) 15.2 (0.60) 5.1 (0.20) 5.1 (0.20) 5.1 (0.20) 7.6 (0.30) 30.5 (1.20)
The temperature of the air and water in Galapagos varies depending on the strength of the trade winds. December through March, the winds are at their weakest and the cooling currents subside and temperatures rise. The waters are warmest during this period (65-80F). In April, the trend begins towards stronger winds and cooler air and water temperatures with the strongest trade winds and coolest temperatures usually being in late September. In October the trend reverses and so the cycle begins again with the occasional appearance of the El Nino and La Nina phenomena…
The larger islands with volcanic peaks have a dramatic range of climactic zones (Isabela, Santa Cruz, San Cristobal, Floreana). Whilst the coastal areas are arid, and covered with plants adapted to desert conditions with very infrequent rain, the highland parts of these Islands receive moisture almost year-round in the form of garua (thick fog, mist or drizzle), which supports a lush forest area where all of the giant tortoises live.
FOR MORE INFO, SEE BLOG
Find out more about the Galapagos Islands with our Frequently Asked Questions.
Find out how responsible travel is at the heart of everything we do.
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Climate change, Mitigation, Energy, Generation, Renewable, Business & Industry, Energy, Politics & Economics, England, EU, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, UK - Devolved Governments, Overseas Territories
Tories ally with climate sceptic Democratic Unionist Party
The Conservative party is to form a government with the support of the DUP, which made no mention of the environment or climate change in its manifesto.
The Tories won 318 seats, 12 fewer than in the 2015 elections, while Labour increased their number of MPs by 29, to 261. The DUP won ten seats, up two from 2015.
The DUP’s manifesto made no mention of the environment, or climate change. The party supports leaving the EU and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. The party’s education and Treasury spokesperson, Sammy Wilson, was heavily criticised for being a climate change sceptic when he was the province’s environment minister in 2008-09.
Greenpeace UK executive director John Sauven said that it was worrying that the party propping up Theresa May's government had a stance on climate change that was closer to that of Donald Trump than that of Downing Street.
‘The DUP has opposed climate legislation and their manifesto doesn't mention climate or the environment once. They even have a former environment minister who dubbed climate change a 'gigantic con', he said, referring to Wilson.
‘If May wants to keep her manifesto promise of global climate leadership, she should seek the earliest opportunity to distance her party from the DUP's stance. Trump's decision to ignore science and pull out of the Paris agreement has cost the US international prestige and influence. Britain cannot afford to weaken its position, least of all when Brexit negotiations are about to start,’ he said.
On energy security, the DUP said that it wants to increase interconnection, market integration and the development of new generation capacity. It has pledged a comprehensive new energy strategy to deal with security of supply as well as the future of renewable energy policy in Northern Ireland.
There have been no major changes among MPs with key roles in the environment and climate change. Environment secretary Andrea Leadsom held her South Northamptonshire seat, as did secretary for business and industrial strategy Greg Clark in Tunbridge Wells. Transport secretary Chris Grayling also held Epsom and Ewell. However, housing minister Gavin Barwell lost his Croydon Central seat to Labour.
Neil Parish, Conservative chair of the parliamentary environment, food and rural affairs committee, kept his seat in Tiverton and Honiton. Mary Creagh, Labour chair of the parliamentary environmental audit committee, held her seat in Wakefield.
Conservative Zach Goldsmith won Richmond Park back from the Liberal Democrats by 45 votes. He lost a recent by-election in the constituency when he stood as an independent, after resigning as the Tory MP over the party’s backing of a third runway at Heathrow Airport.
Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas held her seat in Brighton Pavilion, winning 52% of the vote. The party failed to win its target seat in Bristol West. Its candidate Molly Scott-Cato, who is also MEP for the South West and Gibraltar came third.
There were no major changes to Labour environment spokespeople. Shadow business, energy and industrial strategy secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey held Salford and Eccles; shadow environment secretary Sue Hayman was reelected in Workington. Barry Gardiner, shadow secretary of international trade, who frequently speaks out on environmental issues, held Brent North.
Martin Baxter, IEMA’s chief policy advisor, said that the election outcome raised significant challenges for forming a government and developing and implementing legislation, especially against the backdrop of Brexit.
‘IEMA members expressed significant concern in the run up to the election on a wide range of sustainability issues including air quality, climate change and circular economy. It is vital that the short-term uncertainties are quickly resolved so that long-term challenges can be properly addressed,’ he said.
Catherine Early
Catherine Early was deputy editor of the environmentalist from September 2014 to June 2017. She has covered energy and environmental issues for over 13 years, including for the ENDS Report, Planning magazine, Windpower Monthly, Business Voice, Climate Change Wealth, Fresh Produce Journal, Environment Business and Real Power magazines. She has also written for the Guardian and was a finalist in the 2009 Guardian international development journalism award.
Green issues missing from election debate, IEMA members say
Politics & Economics | England | EU
Brexit, the environment and devolution
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