pred_label stringclasses 2
values | pred_label_prob float64 0.5 1 | wiki_prob float64 0.25 1 | text stringlengths 41 962k | source stringlengths 37 43 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
__label__wiki | 0.988754 | 0.988754 | Rwanda warns DRC of deadly retaliation
Ambassador to UN says Rwanda will strike DR Congo if cross-border firing continues, after peace talks break down.
Rwanda's ministry of refugee affairs said between 2,500 and 3,000 people had fled into the country [AFP]
DR Congo troops have fired three shells over the border into neighbouring Rwanda, injuring at least one person, during resurgent clashes with M23 rebel fighters, Rwandan officials have claimed.
Rwanda's UN ambassador Eugene Richard Gasana told the AFP news agency on Friday that his country would not hesitate to retaliate if the firing continued.
"If they are not ready to stop this, we will immediately act and it will hurt," he said, adding: “We will do it with laser precision, we know where it is coming from."
Rwanda is a current temporary member of the Security Council and Gasana said he had given his government's tough message to the other 14 members.
The council has asked for an investigation into the origin of Friday's shelling, diplomats said.
Fighting between the DR Congo army and M23 rebels resumed on Friday, both sides and the United Nations said just days after the latest effort at peace talks collapsed.
The violence continued throughout Friday, according to a statement from the UN Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), which went into action alongside Kinshasa's troops.
MONUSCO said it was "extremely concerned" about the resumption of hostilities, calling on the M23 rebels to return to the negotiating table.
"I am serious in our efforts to protect civilians and neutralise all armed groups to bring back peace and stability", said MONUSCO chief Martin Kobler.
Al Jazeera's Peter Greste, reporting from Nairobi, said while the fighting had calmed on Saturday morning, the situation remained tense in the region with thousands of people uprooted from their homes due to the renewed clashes.
Rwanda's ministry of refugee affairs said between 2,500 and 3,000 people had fled into the country via two border posts.
Both sides blamed each other for the fresh clashes.
M23 spokesperson, Vianney Kazarama, said the army attacked rebel positions early on Friday, but the military insisted it came under attack first - a claim supported by a source from the UN peacekeeping mission in the country.
Talks suspended
On Monday, both sides announced a halt to peace talks taking place in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, despite UN pressure to end the year-and-a-half-old rebellion ravaging DR Congo's mineral-rich but volatile east.
According to the Congolese government, the talks were suspended due to disagreement over the extent of an amnesty for the army mutineers and their reintegration into the national army.
Backed by the international community, DR Congo's government is refusing to give amnesty to about 80 leaders of the M23 rebels and to enlist these men into military ranks.
Members of the M23 group are mainly Tutsi fighters from an earlier rebellion who were incorporated into the army in 2009 and then mutinied in 2012.
They took control of the provincial capital, Goma, for more than a week late last year before withdrawing under international pressure.
Kinshasa has long accused Rwanda of pulling the strings behind the rebellion and UN experts have even said that the M23's "de facto chain of command" was topped by Rwanda's defence minister.
Kigali has vehemently denied accusations that it is arming, financing the rebels - and even supporting them with its own forces. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1090 |
__label__wiki | 0.974798 | 0.974798 | Wife defends US soldier in Afghan massacre
Wife of US soldier charged in murder of 17 Afghan civilians, including children, says incident "is not what it appears".
26 Mar 2012 15:27 GMT
Of the 17 civilians killed in the pre-dawn attack in southern Afghanistan, nine were children [Al Jazeera]
The wife of the US soldier charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder in a pre-dawn attack in Afghanistan has expressed disbelief that her husband was involved in the killings of 17 civilians, including nine children.
Karilyn Bales, in an interview that aired on the US morning programme The Today Show on Monday, said she has spoken to her husband, Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, by telephone twice since he was detained, but has yet to ask him about the accusations he faces.
"We couldn't discuss those details,'' she said of the monitored phone conversations.
"I have no idea what happened, but he would not — he loves children and he would not do that" she said of the March 11 massacre, of which over half the victims were children.
The accused soldier's wife said she was at a market when she had first received word of the attack in the Panjawi district of southern Kandahar province.
"I saw 38-year-old staff sergeant, and I don't think there are very many of those...I probably prayed and prayed that my husband wasn’t involved," she said.
When Karilyn was finally told about the shootings, she said "they held my hand and they just said that perhaps, you know, they thought that he had left the base, and gone out and perhaps killed the Afghan civilians, and that was really the only sentence, and I just started crying".
'Shielded me'
Of the charges of murder in the first degree, including that of nine children, facing her husband, the mother of two said: "I can't imagine losing my children, so my heart definitely goes out to them for losing all of their children."
Although she said her husband seemed "a bit confused, as to where he was and why he was there" during their phone conversations, she said she saw few signs of post-traumatic stress disorder in her husband throughout his military career.
He never told her about a traumatic brain injury he suffered while in Iraq until he returned home.
"Not until he came back and said that he, you know, had been blown up,'' she said. "He shielded me from a lot of what he went through. He's a very tough guy."
US investigators have said they believe Bales killed in two episodes, returning to his base after the first attack and later slipping away to kill again. He is reported to have surrendered without a struggle.
"I don't think anything will really change my mind in believing that he did not do this. This is not what it appears to be," she told NBC's Matt Lauer. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1091 |
__label__cc | 0.624722 | 0.375278 | Tag: pop
"The Long Tail" knows how I spent my Sundays
There are boxes and boxes of paper and newspaper and receipts and CDs in my room. They can't stay there forever, but they certainly can't stay in the storage unit about a block away from us. I am hopeful that somewhere in there, perhaps in the three green regulation Government Printing Office ledgers, are lists of some of the AT40 lists I used to keep. It's a hope against hope. I have much clearer memories of legal pads snuck out of my mom's home office and pencils honed on the sharpener in the kitchen. When I stayed home and listened to Casey Kasem, I couldn't have imagined the Internet, much less music blogs, Last.fm or Pandora.
Thirty-five
Now that I have the sense not to, I can run for president.
I'm mo longer lumped in with that highly-sought-after 18- to 34-year-old male demographic.
No. 1 song when I turned 18, almost half a life ago? In the U.S., "Good Thing" by the Fine Young Cannibals; in the UK,
"Back To Life (How Ever Do
You Want Me)" by Soul II
Soul featuring Caron
Wheeler.
No. 1 songs today? Hot 100: "Promiscuous" by Nelly Furtado featuring Timbaland; Hot Latin: Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie" featuring Wyclef; Hot R&B/Hip-Hop: Yung Joc's "It's Goin' Down"; Hot Ringtones: Koji Kondo's "Super Mario Brothers Theme"; Hot Country: Kenny Chesney's "Summertime"; Adult Contemporary: Daniel Powter's "Bad Day"; Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock: Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Dani California" (I've only heard three of these seven songs. I must be getting old or something.)
What song makes you happy?
Too many ditties make me go bop. The question implies listening to said song for a while: time-tested, bad-mood-approved. This week's top-of-mind is Terence Blanchard's "Mo' Better Blues," with the O'Jays' "Backstabbers" or Bobby Womack's "If You Think You're Lonely Now (Wait Until Tonight)" as close seconds.
I've also been crushing on the corn-syrupy sweetness of Corinne Bailey Rae's "Put Your Records On." | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1092 |
__label__wiki | 0.582358 | 0.582358 | Daily Ratings & News for Applied Materials
Complete the form below to receive the latest headlines and analysts' recommendations for Applied Materials with our free daily email newsletter:
Icon Advisers Inc. Co. Sells 20,800 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT)
Posted by Vince Mercandetti on May 4th, 2019 // Comments off
Icon Advisers Inc. Co. decreased its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 52.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 19,200 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 20,800 shares during the quarter. Icon Advisers Inc. Co.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $761,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Moody National Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Squar Milner Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 190.8% in the first quarter. Squar Milner Financial Services LLC now owns 698 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Sontag Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Bruderman Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Lenox Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 73.7% in the first quarter. Lenox Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 780 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. 78.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Get Applied Materials alerts:
A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 28th. ValuEngine upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. BidaskClub downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Argus reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, February 19th. Finally, DZ Bank downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.90.
In other Applied Materials news, insider Omkaram Nalamasu sold 143,255 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.73, for a total transaction of $5,834,776.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Steve G. Ghanayem sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.70, for a total transaction of $1,067,500.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 170,255 shares of company stock worth $6,987,176. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
AMAT stock opened at $43.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 2.72. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.79 and a twelve month high of $56.94. The company has a market cap of $41.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.66.
Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.02. Applied Materials had a net margin of 23.50% and a return on equity of 58.28%. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.06 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.98%.
TRADEMARK VIOLATION WARNING: This piece was originally reported by Baseball Daily News and is owned by of Baseball Daily News. If you are accessing this piece on another site, it was illegally stolen and republished in violation of US and international trademark and copyright laws. The original version of this piece can be read at https://www.baseballdailydigest.com/news/2019/05/04/icon-advisers-inc-co-sells-20800-shares-of-applied-materials-inc-amat.html.
About Applied Materials
Applied Materials, Inc provides manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. It operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.
Featured Article: Investing in Blue-Chip Stocks
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AMAT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT).
Receive News & Ratings for Applied Materials Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Applied Materials and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Globalstar (GSAT) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.01 EPS
Yeti Holdings Inc (YETI) Position Increased by Emerald Advisers LLC | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1102 |
__label__wiki | 0.897562 | 0.897562 | Dec. 28, 2014 - Jan. 3, 2015
Dec. 29 / 7:00-9:00pm Download to Calendar Women's Basketball vs. Prairie View A&M Athletics
Dec. 30 / 7:00-9:00pm Download to Calendar Men's Basketball vs. Norfolk State Athletics
Jan. 1 / 8:30-11:30am Download to Calendar Baylor Alumni Sports Network Cotton Bowl Tailgate The Baylor Alumni Network
Jan. 1 / 11:30am - 3:00pm Download to Calendar Cotton Bowl Classic: Baylor vs. Michigan State Athletics
Jan. 2 Download to Calendar Men's Tennis at Florida Futures Athletics
Jan. 3 Download to Calendar Men's Basketball at Oklahoma Athletics
Jan. 3 / 11:00am - 1:00pm Download to Calendar Women's Basketball vs. Oklahoma State Athletics | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1104 |
__label__wiki | 0.756795 | 0.756795 | The Best Guy Movies Of All Time
The 40 Best Guy Movies Of All Time
Jeremy Glass
Aren’t all movies guy movies in some respect? Not to generalize here, but, as a guy, I can attest to the fact that all men will watch whatever is put in front of them, so long as they’re promised a hint of burning debris or cleavage. Still, it’s all good: action movies, thrillers, and comedies are a no-brainer, so-called “chick flicks” are awesome, and musicals are make people wanna sing and stuff.
But the guy-guy movie—the physical manifestation of steak, cologne, whiskey, and football is as easy to spot as a flamingo in a football field. These 40 movies, picked for the particular way they make us dudes feel way down in our ice-cold steel hearts are the ones every guy can look to when he needs a manly boost. These are also movies that you want to watch with a group of people; we're not looking at intricate, you-need-to-follow-every-second plotlines, but rather movies with unforgettable moments that are best digested in a group. They’re funny, they have explosions, and more than one of them star Bill Murray—no surprise there. Here are the 40 manliest movies out there, ranked for greatest to greatest-smothered-in-cheese.
Also check out The Biggest Summer Blockbusters Of All-Time and The Best Arnold Schwarzenegger Movies Of All-Time
Every kid growing up wanted to be a fireman, astronaut, a robot, or a cop. RoboCop satisfies at least two of those prerequisites and presents a movie about a police officer on the brink of death who is then made better, faster, stronger...and I guess harder, too. It’s campy, ridiculous, violent as hell, and totally awesome for merging together the genres of police drama and sci-fi masterpiece. The use of “ultraviolence,” as Rotten Tomatoes puts it, is used to satirize America’s bloodlust for action while also presenting a movie that’s just impossible not to get into.
True Lies
Who would’ve ever thought that Arnold had such a knack for comedy? Partially making fun of the genre and himself, True Lies tackles the typical spy movie with its ultra-self awareness, giving it both credibility and a dose of realism as it answers the not-often-muttered-question: “what would happen if my wife found out I was a spy??” With Jamie Lee Curtis killing it in that one particular scene (you know which scene I’m talking about) and Tom Arnold adding some extra comic relief, True Lies is the perfect pairing of action and comedy.
Go figure that it’s Ryan Gosling—from The friggin’ Notebook—who teaches the world how to make the best use of non-verbal dialogue in this 2011 pseudo-action neo-noir thriller. Carey Mulligan summarized the making of the film as "staring longingly at Ryan Gosling for hours each day,” which speaks volumes louder than some of the more romantic gestures of our past film heroes. Gosling is absolutely cool as hell behind the wheel of his car and makes it apparent that no one’s going to get in his way—which he backs up with the use of some pretty awesome, albeit totally extreme, violence. With the killer soundtrack that just seems to never get old, Drive is the art-house flick dressed up as an action movie that get every guy’s blood pumping.
It was Earth all along, could you even believe it? Charlton Heston proves that his manliness knows no bounds as he gets lost in space and crash-lands on a mysterious planet filled with damn, dirty apes. Even after getting shot in the throat, he manages to escape the zoo he’s imprisoned in and fight his way to freedom. That last shot is unforgettable, though, when (spoiler) he realizes he’s been on earth the entire time. Truly an amazing movie through and through.
This movie is dark. Visually, emotionally, audibly, everything: dark, dark, dark, but it’s a hell of a good movie. Taking place in Los Angeles in the year 2019, Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner stars Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard, a cop who hunts down members of a rogue artificial intelligence community, but (oops!) accidentally falls in love with one of them. It’s for the group of friends who got together on that sunny day to play football and failed to notice the disastrous thunderstorm warnings.
Team America: World Police
Nowadays you can’t say the word “America” without adding a “f*ck yeah!” after it—a luxury you can owe to master auteurs Trey Parker and Matt Stone. While Team America: World Police reportedly almost tore the two friends apart, this film glorified the nation while simultaneously ripping it a new one. It’s fun, wild, and totally vulgar—which is kind of shocking for a film starring wooden puppets, but it’s one of those movies that makes you laugh so hard that you almost bust your gut open. Of course, the best part is obviously the puke scene...it’s just inspiring.
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: every man in America has to work a sh*tty job to truly appreciate the meaning of happiness. In Kevin Smith’s debut film, he shows the glamorously mundane life of a convenience store clerk and the owner of a video store and the boredom that can bring two regular guys together to get through the day and insult every customer along the way. Watching Clerks is a gloriously lo-fi experience, black-and-white and all and is the pinnacle dialogue-heavy 90s angst film that gave way to a whole new genre that celebrates the slacker.
Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
Sometimes you get a craving so intense that it takes over your entire brain and won’t stop nagging until you satisfy it. Whether it’s for steak, ice cream, lobster, or White Castle, it takes a real man with a true best friend to make the journey from wherever you are to wherever that craving can be satisfied. Harold and Kumar prove that their friendship can survive hell or high water—and Neil Patrick Harris—to make the trip from their apartment to White Castle. This movie is all about the unquenchable hunger that comes along with smoking insanely huge portions of weed and the consequences the munchies can cause.
When you step back and look at the facts, Ferris Bueller probably could have used a couple of weeks in detention to pay for the real-life crime of perjury that he committed—however, that doesn’t mean his day off was done in vain. If you saw Ferris Bueller’s Day Off in school, you knew what it took to be the coolest guy in school, if you saw it as an adult, you’d be kicking yourself for not being cooler. It was the guy movie that taught us that you don’t need to even be of legal drinking age to have the best day of your life. Throw in a beautiful girlfriend and a best friend like Cameron and that’s the equation to a perfect high school experience.
As far as we’re concerned, this movie stars Jim Carrey and a bunch of other people who are almost as funny as Jim Carrey. What the hell is Dumb & Dumber? Buddy movie? Road trip film? Hilarious thriller? Doesn’t matter, it all works in unity and makes for one of the absolute best comedy of the 90s. There are too many good parts to even narrow one down—though the “most annoying sounds in the world” ranks pretty high up there.
It’s hard to imagine that there was ever a time in America where people weren’t constantly quoting Airplane!, but all movies have to start somewhere. The New York Times called it “clever and confident and furiously energetic” when it first came out in 1980, giving way to a whole genre of movies that basically tried to be as funny as Airplane! It’s a surreal parody of the disaster film genre, namely the film Zero Hour that has absolutely no room for any serious lines. Lloyd Bridges’ “looks like I picked the wrong week…” gag is nothing short of brilliant, while Leslie Nielsen’s iconic deadpan performance is what turned this film from a parody into a cultural phenomenon.
You’ve got to ask yourself how Point Break successfully made it from the script to the silver screen, but it was the early 90s and there was probably some trace amounts of cocaine and Mountain Dew involved...so that answers that. As compared to the high-octane thrillers of the 21st century, Point Break holds up in a very precious way. Sure, there’s extreme waves, beach fights, skydiving, and that amazing scene where Keanu Reeves empties his gun in the air while screaming. It’s the Top Gun of the ocean, with the addition of Patrick Swayze, and never ceases to keep the audience at the edge of their seat, especially during that last scene where Swayze (as surfer-turned-bank-robber, Bodhi) essentially commits suicide by surfing into a huge wave produced by the storm of the century. Oh yeah, spoiler alert.
How was it that every single guy on earth has a friendship like Chris Farley and David Spade in Tommy Boy. Telling the story of the incompetent heir to an auto parts factory (Farley) and his late father’s straight-laced right hand man (Spade), Tommy Boy takes America on the road alongside the two as they struggle to save the company from going under. Every single thing Chris Farley does in this movie is brilliant—namely the gas station scene—and you can really get a feel for the real-life friendship Farley and Spade had, which made the movie all the more funny. It’s a guy movie that lets you know that everyone has the ability to grow and change, and having a buddy along with you in your journey to find yourself makes it all worth it...especially if he wears a little coat.
Get this: a movie about a gang of Nazi-killing Jews during World World II. It’s more than Tarantino’s pipe dream, it’s Inglourious Basterds. Tarantino has the squad scene down, pulling from his Reservoir Dogs days to assemble a crew of ridiculously talented and awesome actors to fulfill the dream everyone fighting on the good side of the fight during World War II most likely thought about. Brad Pitt is as manly as they come in this film, refusing to show any mercy to the men he’s taught he squad to hunt down and—in some cases—scalp. Following suit in Brad Pitt’s team of badasses is an all-star cast who eat kill it, metaphorically and then some: B.J. Novak, Michael Fassbender, and Eli Roth. Of course, we’ve got to give love to the brilliant Christoph Waltz, who makes every word he says terrifying.
Indiana Jones: Raiders Of The Lost Ark
When Raiders of the Lost Ark premiered in the summer of 1981, a new action star was born. Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones showed that action stars could be charming, charismatic, and downright badass without any effort whatsoever. That’s how Indiana Jones is as a character—always getting into trouble and just using his unfiltered manliness to get out of it. Despite the fact that this franchise gave birth to a couple of duds, namely The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the archetype of Indiana Jones is a character every action movie should learn be able to draw inspiration and learn from.
There’s Something About Mary
My personal experience with There’s Something About Mary is an overprotective father who refused to let me watch it because of...the scene. As one of the original shocker comedies, There’s Something About Mary reeks of the Farrelly brothers who pride themselves on making people feel totally uncomfortable and weird as they die of laughter. At the same time, there’s certainly a level of relatability that comes along with this film, as everyone has had that woman in their lives with whom every single person they know has tried to make it happen with her. It’s just one of those sad reality that comes along with dating. Just be happy that you’ve never had to deal with a situation along the likes of that scene.
Fine, I’ll admit it: Top Gun is an absolutely ridiculous movie. Along with charging a very $5 fine if anyone quotes the movie, the students at the real life Top Gun training academy would see to it that Maverick would get his ass booted out of the military the moment he tried basically any of the stunts he did in the movie. Hell, it was the 80s, people were all about recklessness...and volleyball, apparently. When you can manage your suspension of disbelief and enjoy this movie for what it is, a glorified montage of cool plane tricks set to Kenny Loggins’ eternally awesome “Danger Zone” then it becomes more obvious why so many dudes enjoy Top Gun. Still...none of us will ever have a bestie like Goose.
Admit it or not, but the American dream is to live life like Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn from Wedding Crashers...well, maybe not all of it, but at least the part where they crash weddings. In reality, Wedding Crashers is actually a really important movie for the guy who refuses to let go of the fantasy of that single guy paradise that every single dude thinks is real when he’s single and realizes doesn’t exist when he gets together with someone. What started as your run-of-the-mill Frat Pack movie ended up with a film that had some serious heart—all you had to do was wade through all dick jokes to get there.
Assuming we’re not talking about any of the newest movies, Die Hard is one of the best movie franchises out there, starring Bruce Willis as your everyday guy who gets caught up in a really sh*tty situation. I think all guys desire to be John McClane to some extent—forced to fend off an entire legion of terrorists as your wife waits to embrace you and nurse you back to health. Raking in over a billion dollars in total since 1988, guys clearly love these movies and will stop at nothing to whip out at least one “yippee-ki-yay, mother f*cker” when the spirit hits—and believe me, it hits often.
One of the nice things about a guy film—meaning a movie a dude and his friends can sit around and enjoy—is the idea that there no longer has to be the prerequisite of a movie peppered with explosions and nude bodies. Napoleon Dynamite has nothing of the sort—just the opposite, in fact, save for a totally naked Llama named Tina. Our leading guy, Napoleon, is not a guy other guys aspire to be; as Roger Ebert put it, “Its hero is the kind of nerd other nerds avoid, and the movie is about his steady progress toward complete social unacceptability.” Maybe that’s why we all like it so much, every guy sees the exact opposite of what they want to be with Napoleon Dynamite and ultimately feel better about their own lives. That and every scene with Uncle Rico is enough to make anyone love this movie.
Okay, I’m as excited for the new Ghostbusters movie as the next guy, but we can all agree the original will be very hard to beat. You’ve got the unbeatable combination of BIll Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis paired with an inconceivably catchy theme song that made this summer blockbuster an instant classic. Procuring a myriad of quotable scenes (“We came, we saw, we kicked its ass”) and an obnoxious-yet-charming ghost named Slimer that was reportedly created as tribute to John Belushi, it’s no wonder why every guy on earth can sit down with his pals and watch this film.
Office Space is an absolute cult classic that celebrates (wait, is celebrates the right word?) the culture behind being a corporate drone. It goes through literally every stage of hating your job and your life along with it, but offers a solution—albeit, a terrible one—for anyone who thinks every single day is the worst day of their life. With enough quotes to fill an entire day...and then some, and the iconic printer-smashing montage in the park, Office Space is the perfect dude movie for the guys who have a steady job, but just aren’t quite ready to enjoy it yet.
Not only is The Hangover one of the best comedic trilogies out there, but it’s based on a situation that, sadly, way too many guys can relate to. Sure, not all of us have woken up to Mike Tyson, a tiger, and a system coursing with roofies, but things can get pretty hairy when you’re in Vegas in Zach Galifianakis. The unfortunate adventures of Ed Helms, Bradley Cooper, and Galifianakis are the pinnacle of dudes trying just a little too hard to have a memorable night—which is ironic once you think about it, as the whole point of the series is that they can’t remember a damn thing. Still, it celebrates a side of manliness that can be embarrassing to some, the side that appreciates the unknown and unexpected.
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
“If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.” Truer words have never been spoken. Well, they probably have, but not by Rip Torn at any point of his life. Dodgeball: A True Underdog story doesn’t need “a true underdog story” in the title to be considered a true underdog story. It’s the tale of a guy, his gym, and a way-less-cool guy trying to put his gym out of business. Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller are magnificent enemies with the latter of which channeling his Heavy Weights days as the evil-and-fit White Goodman. The addition of Christine Taylor provides some much-needed sexiness to this movie full of sweaty dudes, making it an all-around awesome sports movie with unstoppable hilarity.
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
It’s really a shame that the manliest man in the world isn’t real—but he sure felt a staple of society with Mike Myers at the helm. As Basil Exposition puts it...in an expository sense, “Women want him, and men want to be him.” Austin may have had his foibles, namely his infatuation with that Swedish-made penis enlarger, but he was the answer to every James Bond film that took itself a little too seriously. Fun fact: Mike Myers put on his British accent around his wife, who then suggested he turn it into a bit, which eventually turned into Austin Powers.
If you’ve seen Groundhog Day once, you’ve seen it a million times. In the original screenplay, Phil was trapped in the time loop for over 10,000 years in the same town, slowly accruing different talents and pieces of information of the people in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Harold Ramis went on record saying it was anywhere from 10 to 40 years, but we all know it takes at least a decade to work up the courage to ask out someone as startlingly beautiful as Andie MacDowell. Piano lessons aside, Bill Murray’s character shows the world what would happen to any regular guy if he happened to get stuck in a mysterious blip in the universe—indulging in hedonism to his heart’s content and—of course—going utterly insane.
Something all guys can relate to (unless they’re a muscled superhero with thick hair and leg-sized arms) is the underdog tale. The story of Rod (brilliantly played by Andy Samberg) in Hot Rod is one that all guys who’ve ever dreamed about something unattainable, stupid, yet awesome, can understand. Rod Kimble is a small-town slacker who just wants to be a stuntman and will stop at nothing to accomplish his goal. Through thick, thin, and the brilliant Will Arnett, he does the unthinkable, and clears 15 buses to save the life of the step-father he longs to beat up. Boy, it really sounds extra ridiculous when it’s written all out like that.
Face/Off
Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, but Face/Off is actually one of the greatest movies ever made. Is it ridiculous? Yes. Does it make sense? Not all the time. Does Nicolas Cage blow everyone’s socks off? Hell yes! It’s a testament of the 90s, where the explosions were huge and no one felt the need to ask why explosions were there in the first place. For those unaware of the plot of this aptly-named movie, Travolta is FBI agent, Sean Archer, who literally switches phases with a ruthless terrorist, Castor Troy, to save LA from a bombing. Troy, played by Cage, becomes Archer and vice-versa and then nothing makes sense for about 130 minutes. It’s loud, unabashed fun that will make your brain explode if you try to rationalize it. Just sit back, relax, and watch two men wear each other’s faces like masks.
Is Superbad super-manly or as manly as you can get in the shoes of a couple of high school losers? We’d like to think it’s the latter sprinkled with the former. Superbad should remind everyone watching of their high school years, even though we all want to say we were cooler than Seth and Evan (Jonah Hill and Michael Cera, respectively) but we all went through a phase where we’d do anything—literally anything—to get attention from a girl. Of course there are some cringey moments...like when Michael Cera is forced to sing “These Eyes” or basically any scene with McLovin, but there are also some killer sequences that allow you to sit back and feel the nostalgia run through your body as the beer runs down your chin.
Clint Eastwood as the nameless hero in Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Western spectacular, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, reinvented the idea of the cowboy badass in a genre where John Wayne previously reigned supreme. Eastwood’s IDGAF attitude coupled with the perpetual cigar clenched in the corner of his mouth makes him the protagonist you can’t stop rooting for as he searches for that damn Confederate gold. For those unaware of Leone’s previous work, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is the third movie in the western Dollars Trilogy, following A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More.
The 40-Year-Old Virgin
Alongside movies like Napoleon Dynamite and Dodgeball, The 40-Year-Old Virgin is a movie in which you truly feel as though you have to root for the underdog. Steve Carell as Andy makes a surprisingly believable virgin, which makes the whole rooting process a whole lot easier. With Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, and Catherine Keener making the de-virginizing of Andy a total blast, it’s a movie that all guys can relate to...unless you’re still a virgin, in which case I’m sorry I brought it up. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Not only does Independence Day contain one of the most inspirational movie speeches of all time, but it also features Jeff Goldblum spouting the same line of “must go faster!” in the exact same tone as he did in Jurassic Park. Goldblum aside, this movie makes you more proud to be an American than almost any other alien-centric movie out there. The Goldblum/Will Smith mashup is a manly AF combination to be idolized, leading all guys to yearn for those moments where they can strut down the desert floor with their buds with a cigar dangling from their mouths. It’s a taste that’s even sweeter after spending all night saving the human race from destruction.
Okay, so Jim Carrey may be in America’s metaphorical doghouse right from all those weird comments in support of the anti-vaccination movement, but that shouldn’t let us forget his past masterpieces, most specifically Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. It’s one of the most Jim Carrey-ish movies out there, chock full of loud noises, awesome hair, Captain Kirk impressions, and a run-in with a shark. As goofy as Ace is in real life, he proves to be a figure of unobstructed manliness as he stops at nothing to rescue the people (or, uh, pets) that he cares so damn much about. Plus, the guy catches a damn bullet in his teeth—when was the last time you did that?
Wayne’s World 2
Wayne’s World 2 falls into the rare category of sequels that were better than the originals. Others in this rare spot include Home Alone 2, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, and Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back. A successful movie based on an SNL skit is mind-blowing in its own right, but the fact that the sequel blows the original out of the water is just impressive. Mike Myers and Dana Carvey are Wayne and Gather from Aurora, Illinois and all they want to do is party and put on the best damn rock show on earth. There’s Jim Morrison, a naked Native American man, and the distractingly beautiful Tia Carrere. Notable roles include Chris Farley, Rip Taylor, Ralph Brown as Del Preston—the spaced-out former roadie—and Christopher Walken as...basically the same character he’s played in every single movie. It’s for the guy who knows that living in his parents’ basement really isn’t that bad.
Quentin Tarantino has a special talent in making bad people seem good. He did it with hitmen, assassins, the Yakuza, and every lead character in Reservoir Dogs. The story of a bank heist gone terribly terribly wrong, Reservoir Dogs is less about the crime at hand, but—oddly enough—the relationship of a bunch of thieves who are all pretty much awful...aside from Tim Roth as Mr. Orange. The ensemble cast (Steve Buscemi, Michael Madsen, Harvey Keitel, etc.) provide a hodgepodge of talent and take the movie far beyond Tarantino’s script and leaves audiences in a world where it looks damn good to be bad. Even when doused in gallons in blood, those matching black suits couldn’t look any better. Notable parts include the sickening ear-cutting scene and Mr. Pink’s explanation on why he doesn’t tip.
Blazing Saddles
Mel Brooks’ iconic 1974 Western, Blazing Saddles, may end up being one of the most epically funny comedies of all time. To label it as “just a guy movie” is selling it short—it’s an everyone movie. Name one person who won’t die of laughter from the infamous fart scene...exactly, that person doesn’t exist. It’s been called “daring, provocative, and laugh-out-loud funny,” which secures it in one of the top spots in this list.
Whether it's just to watch the face of your one friend who's never seen the film and see if he can figure out the big twist before the end, or just to enjoy a late 1990s exploration of societal emasculation, Fight Club is a must. It's also a classic "watch it twice" movie, and the scenes are so memorable and visceral this is a brilliant group watching experience.
Told you guys that Bill Murray would be on this list—and you know what? It would be a travesty not to include Caddyshack, let alone have it be anywhere but the top 10. Frankly, this movie stars Bill Murray and a few other dudes playing golf in the background. It’s quotable from the first scene to the closing credits, features the comedic stylings of Chevy Chase and Rodney Dangerfield and has aged beautifully like a fine wine. Caddyshack transcends the line of a regular movie by becoming a movement, a force that breaks ice and loosens ties with one simple uttering of a quote or just simply telling someone to “be the ball.” Ironically...you really don’t learn that much about golf as a viewer watching the movie.
Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy
When Anchorman hit the theaters in 2004, it set the standard in ridiculousness. Not since a decade before had Americans viewed such a silly movie with a heart. Sure, that heart was absolutely doused in scotchy-scotch-scotch, but there was heart nonetheless. Ron Burgundy was more than Will Ferrell in a killer suit and devilish mustache, he became an aspiration...a hero...a legend. The semi-realistic (...ish) portrayal of local TV news in the 70s spoke to men everywhere and told them that it was okay to spend hours fiddling with their hair or talking to their dogs or getting trapped in a glass case of emotion. This is a movie that’ll never lose its edge—because that edge is covered in a thick layer of rich mahogany.
From the moment “Misirlou” by Dick Dale and his Del-Tones kicks in, you realize that you’re on a hell of a ride. Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece, Pulp Fiction, is something of a masterpiece in the way it tells a story, shows its characters, and utilizes music. The all-star cast of Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, and Ving Rhames is masterfully assembled with dialogue that feels completely down-to-earth and make the outlandish situations every character is dealing with all that much more enjoyable. It’s one of the best movies for guys to watch over and over, because some previously unnoticed minor detail always pops up—adding that much more excitement to an already kickass film.
The 14 Movies Worth Going To See This Summer
A Definitive Ranking Of The 15 Best 90s Action Movies
Trending News: A Young Wolverine Clone Kicks A Ton Of Ass In New 'Logan' Trailer | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1114 |
__label__wiki | 0.518468 | 0.518468 | Climate Change: How a Transatlantic Call to Action is Inspiring Greater Private Sector Leadership
By Étienne Bodard and Étienne Soula
In the face of new findings regarding the challenge of climate change, exciting new initiatives on both sides of the Atlantic are finding greater and greater expression.
On October 8, 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a special report documenting the consequences of global warming for life on Earth. Its conclusions are bleak. The Paris Agreement pledged to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The IPCC report explains that reaching two degrees Celsius would expose hundreds of millions of people to dangerous climate-related risks by 2050 and would likely wipe out 99% of coral reefs. As is, we have already reached one degree Celsius and our current trajectory appears to have us headed for a warming of around three degrees Celsius.
By way of comparison, 4-7 degrees Celsius is what separates temperatures today from those of the last ice age.
According to the IPCC, the only way to avoid a climate shift of cataclysmic proportions is “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society.” However, when it comes to a transatlantic response along these lines, the reality is complicated. In the European Union, ambitious efforts promoted by Brussels to transition toward a low-carbon economy are hampered by diverging national interests. Whereas in the United States, the White House has vocally expressed its skepticism regarding climate science and is actively undoing existing environmental regulations.
In his most recent State of the Union speech, Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the European Commission, used the words “climate change” no less than three times. The conclusions of the October 2018 European Council meeting explicitly referred to the IPCC report. By 2030, the member states must cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 40% compared with 1990, reach a 27% increase in overall energy efficiency, and have 27% of their total energy consumption come from renewable energy. Following a recent agreement between member states and EU institutions, a vote in European Parliament on November 13 should increase this proportion of renewable energy to 32%.
But this ostensible ambition does not mean that all EU member states share the same level of commitment in the fight against climate change. Industry-reliant Germany and several Central European countries energetically, if unsuccessfully, lobbied against the European Parliament’s push for a 40% reduction in car emissions by 2030. At the second One Planet Summit, organized in New York in September of this year, French President Emmanuel Macron told the representatives of 150 countries that, “We are not here just to speak, but to be accountable.” Yet, the surprise resignation of Macron’s popular Environment Minister and the French government’s slowing down of the planned phasing-out of nuclear energy in favor of renewables have damaged Macron’s credibility on environmental issues. At the European level, the fact that French and German energy mixes are structured differently is causing divergences within the Franco-German engine on how to best tackle climate change. The fact that the 24th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change will be hosted by Poland—a member state still overwhelmingly reliant on coal plants—highlights the ambivalence behind the EU’s ambitious climate agenda.
On the other side of the Atlantic, the White House has been anything but ambivalent on climate change. President Trump has pledged to exit the Paris Agreement as early as possible. He has rolled back environmental regulations, taken an axe to the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget, and appointed Scott Pruitt (who has since resigned in July 2018)—who argued that climate change might actually be good for the planet—to the agency’s helm. Trump himself has been vocal in his attacks against climate science, famously denouncing it as a hoax “created by the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.” His latest prominent statement on the issue accused climate scientists of having a “political agenda.”
While some are hoping that the Trump administration will not be able to rescind many of the environmental policies enacted during the Obama era, the current White House appears clearly uninterested in supporting efforts required to avoid the grim future predicted by the IPCC. Moreover, the White House's approach seems to be finding others following suit. The winner of Brazil’s recent presidential election, Jair Bolsonaro, declared during the campaign that he intends to withdraw Brazil from the Paris climate accord. While he has since rescinded those words, Mr. Bolsonaro remains committed to further opening the Amazon to mining interests. Such a measure is seen as having the potential to irreversibly damage the forest’s ecosystem and contribute to the release of billions of tons of carbon into the atmosphere. Not only is the current White House undoing the climate policies undertaken by the Obama administration, its approach is seeing countries take similar stances.
Yet, despite all these divisions and misgivings, local officials and, increasingly, private sector stakeholders from both sides of the Atlantic are actively working—often cooperatively—to rise to the challenge of climate change.
For example, the Atlantic Council recently highlighted the proactive efforts of several U.S. states where many governors are not following the White House’s lead on climate policy but instead are actively working with European partners to find new ways to confront the challenges. California is perhaps the most prominent actor in the field, hosting the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco in September 2018. The summit stood out from comparable initiatives due to the number and diversity of the stakeholders in attendance. The gathering brought together foreign government officials, U.S. state and regional leaders, and U.S. mayors as well as private sector CEOs, investors, and civil society representatives from both sides of the Atlantic. The attendees unveiled a range of new commitments across five specific challenge areas: healthy energy systems, inclusive economic growth, sustainable communities, land and ocean stewardship, and transformative investments. They issued a call to action asking for “strong national policies”, “net-zero mid-century emissions plans”, and “climate action at the local and regional level."
The Power Past Coal Alliance is another initiative aimed at facilitating a transition to clean energy. It brings together 28 national governments (including 14 EU member states), 19 sub-national governments (including seven U.S. states), and 28 private sector businesses. Such coalitions are already having a tangible and noticeable impact. For example, speaking as the Chair of C40 Cities, a group of large cities actively combating climate change, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo announced at the San Francisco summit that the network’s members were no longer increasing their greenhouse gas emissions.
With each of these initiatives and in the absence of high-level political cooperation, it is becoming increasingly clear that the corporate sector is well-positioned to stake a greater and greater role in fostering transatlantic cooperation on climate change. Not only will the transition to a low-carbon economy reduce the extent and severity of global warming, but also moving to a greener economy is expected to result in trillions of dollars of economic benefit over the next decade, generating millions of new jobs. Initiatives such as Science Based Targets—a collaboration between the UN Global Compact, several NGOs, and nearly 500 companies committed to taking concrete steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions—are bound to proliferate as more and more businesses realize the gains they stand to make by joining the fight against climate change.
All told, keeping global warming below the critical 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold will require a global, sustained, and whole-of-society effort. China, where emissions levels are now higher than the EU’s and U.S.’s put together, has seen its largest surge in emissions since 2011. In this context, it is crucial that developed economies pave the way for other developing giants such as India. With the Trump administration’s skepticism of climate science and the EU’s efforts mired by internal obstacles, there are now significant opportunities for a range of sub-state and non-state actors from both sides of the Atlantic to double down and deliver on their pledges.
The lack of tangible engagement by public authorities is, perhaps ironically, serving as a clarion call to action for nongovernmental stakeholders—most notably global companies and investors—to rise up to the challenge and reap considerable economic benefits from a transition to a low-carbon economy and to ensure that our planet remains habitable for future generations.
#BlueStarBrief
2019 Year Ahead
U.S. Economic Policy Update
Blue Star Strategies offers more first rate strategic vision, attention to a client's projects, issue resolution, and meaningful relationship networking than any other governmental consultant we have used anywhere. Their energy and passion, combined with excellent and continuing governmental relationships in the countries they handle as well as with the U.S. government at all levels, has led to great results over and over again.
Jan Jones and David Satz, Caesars Entertainment | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1117 |
__label__wiki | 0.657193 | 0.657193 | Kit Wong
Mr Kit Wong
Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon
MB BS, FRCS(C/Th), MS
+ Cardiothoracic surgery
Aortic valve replacement
Coronary artery bypass
Mitral valve surgery
Pleural biopsy and drainage
"Despite the large number of complex interventions he performs, patients tell us he is relaxed and caring - equally reassuring is his zero per cent mortality rate for first-time aortic-valve replacement over the past three years".
Kit Wong is an eminent heart surgeon in London with surgical expertise in mitral valve, coronary artery, aortic valve, aortic aneurysm and minimally invasive aortic procedures. Kit qualified from St Mary’s Hospital Medical School in 1986 and is currently a Consultant and was previously the Clinical Director of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Barts Health.
His formative cardiothoracic training was at the prestigious and world renown Royal Brompton and London Chest Hospitals where pioneering heart surgery was first performed. At the Royal Brompton Hospital, he trained closely with Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub who has had a major influence in his career developing his interests in aortic aneurysm and valvular heart surgery. Kit spent a further year with Sir Magdi producing the seminal and landmark research on the modulation of cardiac muscles which spawned major research in the UK and internationally, and its use in clinical treatment (Harefield protocol).
He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons of Great Britain & Ireland, and has served on the council of the Royal Society of Medicine and the International College of Surgeons. He has also served as a specialist adviser on the panel of the London Cardiovascular Project, a group commissioned by NHS London to improve the model of care for cardiac surgery.
Kit has one of the best cardiac surgical results in the country with rates of survival significantly better than that predicted as evidenced by cardiac surgical results which have been published nationally since 2005. In the most recent National Adult Cardiac Surgery Audit produced for 2008-11, his results are outstanding with survival for all cardiac surgery 97.4%. He has a 100% and 98.4% survival for aortic valve and coronary artery bypass surgery, respectively, within this period.
London, BMI The London Independent Hospital
Minimally Invasive Surgery (Off Pump Surgery)
Aortic and Mitral Valve Surgery | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1119 |
__label__wiki | 0.588502 | 0.588502 | 3 Yachts that challenge the Status Quo
Booster Blog
yachts that challenge the status quo
At Bolidt, we're always looking to push the limits of what's possible in the design world. Whether it's new integrated technology, or an industry collaboration; it's what we thrive on. Take one look at the yacht industry and you'll see it's most definitely a field of innovation. Here are three yacht designs that challenge the status quo.
Credits: www.designboom.com
Credits: www.boatinternational.com
Energy Observer
Jerome Delafosse and Victorien Erussard are a few weeks into a six year trip around the world. The duo are trying to do away with boundaries, whilst carrying an important message. The yacht which is taking them around the globe is very unique. The 'Energy Observer' is a catamaran powered by sun, wind and hydrogen. Previously a multi-hull race boat, it's now touring around the seven seas leaving zero emmisions behind. It's equipped with solar panels, wind trubines, and a hydrogen fuel cell system. The mission of the yacht and their voyage is to search for solutions and share them, ultimately proving that a greener world is possible.
Migaloo
Austria-based Migaloo have concieved a series of four models that offer variants on luxurious submersive yachts.
They will design, engineer, and build yachts that can remain under water whilst at anchor and whilst cruising between destinations. This allows them to offer a yachting experience like no other. The multistory yachts will offer the highest luxury, with alfresco dining, pools on deck, and personal movie theatres. However, they will also be able to decend 787 feet into the sea, giving guests a chance to explore the underwater seascapes.
This 90 meter concept from Oceanco is very exciting. Designed in collaboration with Miami-based designer Luiz de Basto and naval architect BMT Nigel Gee, the idea behind it was that you'd be able to connect with the world around you, whilst staying in a controlled environment. This is achieved through a huge glass dome (the biggest yet to be seen in a serioous superyacht proposal) that covers the upper deck.
It suggests a whole to approach to upper deck arrangement. The technology behind the glass dome is extremely complicated. Five years ago, the concept would be unfeasible. However, technology available today would allow for this grand concept.
These projects give us a glimpse into the potential that technology has to change the status quo of today. Stay tuned for more of the latest in the industry.
Tillberg Design: interior design with a Scandinavian touch
Dieze College | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1120 |
__label__wiki | 0.904915 | 0.904915 | Britney Spears’ conservatorship sues blogger for defamation
by: ANDREW DALTON, Associated Press
Posted: Jun 26, 2019 / 09:17 PM UTC / Updated: Jun 27, 2019 / 04:34 AM UTC
FILE – This Feb. 11, 2017 file photo shows Britney Spears at the Clive Davis and The Recording Academy Pre-Grammy Gala in Beverly Hills, Calif. The conservatorship that runs Britney Spears’ affairs has sued a man who runs a Spears-themed blog for defamation. The lawsuit filed Wednesday, June 26, 2019, in Los Angeles Superior Court alleges that Anthony Elia, who writes the blog Absolute Britney, has spread falsehoods about the conservatorship. The suit says the blog falsely claimed that the conservatorship, which is run by Spears’ father Jamie, was manipulating her Instagram account to make her appear more troubled and in need of help than she actually is. (Photo by Rich Fury/Invision/AP, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The conservatorship that oversees Britney Spears’ personal life and career sued the creator of a blog devoted to the pop superstar Wednesday in an increasingly aggressive effort to push back against the so-called “Free Britney” movement, which alleges the singer is being controlled against her will.
The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles alleges that Anthony Elia, who runs the website Absolute Britney, has falsely claimed the court-ordered conservatorship has manipulated Spears’ Instagram account to make her appear more troubled and in need of help than she actually is.
“It is time for the conspiracy theories about Britney Spears’ well-being and the mob #FreeBritney movement to stop,” the lawsuit states in its opening line.
Elia’s blog and its social media accounts have played a key role in the “Free Britney” phenomenon, a group of fans who say on social media and in public protests that the singer is being controlled against her will by her father Jaime, who serves as her conservator, and that she is surreptitiously seeking help to free herself.
The suit alleges that Elia “has made it his mission to spread false and malicious lies on the internet about Britney, her conservatorship and her team, including that those around Britney are harming her and not acting in her best interests.”
A message sent through the blog and an email seeking comment from Elia were not immediately returned.
The suit comes two weeks after the conservatorship for similar reasons sought and received a five-year restraining order against Spears’ former manager Sam Lutfi. It prohibits him from trying to undermine the conservatorship by contacting members of the Spears family or writing disparaging posts on social media.
A conservatorship, known in some states as a guardianship, is normally reserved for those who are severely debilitated. One was established for Spears 11 years ago during her very public meltdown, and has been kept in place ever since. The arrangement has increasingly come under attack from fans, who have grown especially loud about it in recent months.
Spears has offered little public comment on the conservatorship. At her request, she addressed the judge who oversees it in court last month. The hearing was closed and it’s not clear what Spears said, but the judge ordered a court review of her situation before another hearing in September.
The suit focuses on a June 14 Absolute Britney Instagram post that alleges the conservatorship was seeking to manipulate Britney Spears’ Instagram account.
“Britney’s team is deleting positive comments on her Instagram post and leaving negative ones to keep up the illusion that she needs help!” the post says. “This has to be a human rights violation!!!!”
The post, which the suit calls “false and defamatory,” was discussed by bigger blogs and some media outlets. Elia shared some of those reports.
The suit seeks unspecified damages and a court injunction permanently prohibiting Elia from spreading information on the subject.
Spears’ has put her career on hold for most of the year.
In January she postponed a planned Las Vegas residency indefinitely to be with her father, who was hospitalized after a serious surgery.
And in April she announced in an Instagram post that she was taking time off to focus on self-care.
Follow AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andyjamesdalton .
More Entertainment Stories
PARIS (AP) — France's Louvre Museum in Paris has become the first major institution to remove the Sackler family name after protests erupted against the family that is blamed for the deadly opioid crisis in the United States.
At the Louvre's Oriental Antiquities gallery, an Associated Press photographer late Wednesday saw tape covering multiple placards bearing the name that has long been associated with arts patronage around the world. A sign listing family members by name had been removed from its place on the wall, with only the holes and outline remaining.
‘It: Chapter Two’ cast talks intense shoot at Comic-Con
by LINDSEY BAHR, Associated Press / Jul 18, 2019
SAN DIEGO (AP) — "It: Chapter Two" is not taking it easy on the grown losers' club if the new trailer is any indication, and the shoot itself doesn't sound much calmer than battling a demonic clown either.
A theater of fans got a sneak peek at the latest promo for the horror sequel at a Comic-Con event Wednesday night in San Diego before it's released to the world Thursday morning.
NEW YORK (AP) — "Hamilton" creator Lin-Manuel Miranda has joined protests in New York demanding the resignation of Puerto Rico's governor.
Miranda led about 200 people, many from Puerto Rico, at a rally in Manhattan's Union Square on Wednesday. They waved Puerto Rican flags and followed him to a drumbeat, chanting in Spanish, "Viva Puerto Rico libre," which translates to "Long live free Puerto Rico." | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1123 |
__label__cc | 0.690009 | 0.309991 | Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
6154 Nancy Ridge Drive
Tel: 858210-3617
Show jobs for this employer
39 articles with Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Arena Pharmaceuticals to Present at JMP Securities Life Sciences Conference on June 19
JMP Securities Life Sciences Conference on Wednesday, June 19, 2019, at 1:30 PM EDT. The conference will take place June 19-20, 2019, in New York City.
Arena Pharmaceuticals' Presence at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) Reinforces Commitment to the Gastrointestinal Disease Community
Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARNA) today announced that it has initiated sites for its ELEVATE UC Phase 3 global program to evaluate etrasimod 2 mg in subjects with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis (UC).
Arena Pharmaceuticals Provides Corporate Update and Reports First Quarter 2019 Financial Results
Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARNA) today provided a corporate update and reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019.
Arena Pharmaceuticals to Release First Quarter 2019 Financial Results and Provide Corporate Update on May 8
Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will release its first quarter 2019 financial results and provide a corporate update on Wednesday, May 8, 2019, after the close of the U.S. financial markets.
Arena Pharmaceuticals to Announce Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2018 Financial Results and Provide Corporate Update on February 26
Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will announce its fourth quarter and full-year 2018 financial results on Tuesday, February 26, 2019, after the close of the U.S. financial markets.
Arena Pharmaceuticals Reports Positive Long-Term Data from the Open-Label Extension of the Phase 2 OASIS Trial Evaluating Etrasimod for Treatment of Ulcerative Colitis
Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARNA) today announced positive data from the open-label extension (OLE) of the Phase 2 OASIS trial of its investigational drug candidate etrasimod, a next-generation, oral, selective sphingosine 1 phosphate (S1P) receptor modulator in development for the treatment of moderate to severely active ulcerative colitis (UC).
Arena Pharmaceuticals to Present at the 37th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on January 10
Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARNA) today announced that Amit D. Munshi, the Company's President and Chief Executive Officer, will present a corporate update at the 37th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Thursday, January 10, 2019 at 8:30 AM PST.
Arena Pharmaceuticals Appoints Experienced Life Sciences Industry Finance Executive Manmeet S. Soni to Board of Directors
Mr. Soni is a highly accomplished senior finance executive with extensive experience in the life sciences industry.
Arena Pharmaceuticals Expands Senior Management Team to Support Commercialization and Medical Affairs
With these hires, Arena will be expanding its footprint into the Boston area.
Arena Pharmaceuticals to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conferences
Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARNA) today announced that members of its senior management team will participate in two upcoming investor conferences:
Arena Pharmaceuticals and United Therapeutics Announce Global License Agreement for Ralinepag
Arena will receive $800M upfront, and is eligible to receive low double-digit tiered royalties, plus up to $400M in milestone payments
Arena Pharmaceuticals Snags $800 Million from United Therapeutics for a Phase III PAH Drug
United Therapeutics bets a significant amount of money on the potential commercialization of ralinepag.
Arena Pharmaceuticals Provides Corporate Update and Reports Third Quarter 2018 Financial Results
Ralinepag open-label extension data demonstrated durable, long-term improvements in both PVR and 6MWD
Arena Pharmaceuticals to Release Third Quarter 2018 Financial Results and Provide Corporate Update on November 7
The Company will host a conference call and live webcast with the investment community the same day at 4:30 p.m. EST.
Arena Pharmaceuticals Presented Phase 2 Clinical Data for Etrasimod in Ulcerative Colitis at the American College of Gastroenterology Annual Meeting
Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARNA) today announced that data from its OASIS Phase 2 clinical study for its investigational drug candidate etrasimod, a next-generation, oral, S1P receptor modulator with optimized activity being evaluated in ulcerative colitis (UC), were presented by Dr. William J. Sandborn at the American College of Gastroenterology Annual Meeting.
Arena Pharmaceuticals to Host R&D Day on October 4 in New York City
Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the Company will host an R&D Day to outline key catalysts and new information on the clinical programs for its potentially first- or best-in-class late-stage investigational compounds: etrasimod in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), ralinepag in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), and olorinab in visceral pain.
Arena Pharmaceuticals to Present at Upcoming October 2018 Investor Conferences
Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that members of its senior management team will participate in the upcoming investor conferences
Arena Pharmaceuticals Presents Preclinical Data for Olorinab at International Association for the Study of Pain World Congress
Olorinab is a peripherally restricted, highly selective, full agonist of the cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2) in development for the treatment of visceral pain associated with Crohn's disease
Arena Pharmaceuticals to Present at Upcoming September 2018 Investor Conferences
Eisai: Long-Term Cardiovascular Outcomes Data for Anti-Obesity Agent BELVIQ
Presented at The European Society of Cardiology and Published in the New England Journal of Medicine. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1124 |
__label__cc | 0.638482 | 0.361518 | Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church (1889- )
Posted on October 9, 2014 June 8, 2019 by contributed by: BlackPast
Bethel AME Church, Portland, Oregon, 1957
Image courtesy Portland Archives
Image Courtesy of Portland Archives
Bethel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church is the oldest continuously operating black church in Portland, Oregon. It was founded by 20 people in 1889 in the home of Phillip Jenkins and organized under its current name. Its first pastor was Reverend S.S. Freeman who was appointed later that year. The original church site was a building at the corner of Southwest 6th Avenue and Stark in Portland. Bethelites worshiped there for nearly 24 years.
In 1912 Bethel moved to a site on Larrabee Street in the Albina District of Northeast Portland. The first meeting place was a basement at that site but in 1922 the main floor of the building was used and a second story sanctuary was eventually added.
In 1958, the Larrabee site was purchased by the city of Portland to build the Memorial Coliseum. One year later in 1959, the edifice at the present location, 5828 Northeast 8th Avenue, was completed under the leadership of Rev. Harley Akers who served as pastor from 1959 to 1962. Akers was one of 37 pastors of the church over its 125 year history.
AME Bishop H. Hartford Brookins appointed Rev. Matthew A. Watley in 1981. With his appointment Bethel began a period of activism. Under Rev. Watley the church sponsored the Bethel Community Care Food Program and the Matthew Watley Scholarship Fund. The Community Care Food Program, which continues to this day, serves food to impoverished people in the surrounding community three times a week.
Upon the death of Rev. Watley in 1987, Rev. Milton Green became the pastor. He initiated two bible study classes, the church’s President’s Council, and a fraternal organization, the Sons of Allen. Church records were computerized and the church edifice underwent renovation. The Bethel Economic Development Fund was created to promote economic development in the surrounding area that was increasingly affected by urban deterioration.
In 1991, two years after the church’s centennial, Bishop Vinton R. Anderson appointed Rev. Dorsey McCullough as pastor of Bethel. Under Rev. McCullough’s leadership the church became increasingly involved in community outreach. Bethel became active in the Walnut Park Neighborhood Association. It also became a sponsor of an educational facility for the Oregon Outreach program, which is an alternative educational program for youth at risk. The Bethel Busy Bees Auxiliary spearheaded the stained glass window project designed to preserve and in some instances replace all of the windows in the church.
Since 1998 Bethel has placed a strong emphasis on youth ministries. It increased the number of young people participating in Sunday morning worship and Wednesday night Bible Study. By reaching out to these young people, Bethel ensured the support of the next generation that would become the heart of its present congregation. At the other end of the age spectrum, it created “Singles over Sixty” which focuses on the activities of the oldest members of the church. In 2000 a prison ministry was established in the Oregon State Penitentiary. Special worship services were created in the prison and incarcerated men and women became church members in a program called “Bethel on the Inside.”
In November 2009 Bethel AME Church welcomed its first woman pastor, Rev. Donna Davis.
Subjects: African American History, InstitutionsTerms: 19th Century (1800-1899), Religious Organizations - African Methodist Episcopal (AME), United States - Oregon, Institutions-Church
BlackPast, B. (2014, October 09) Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church (1889- ). Retrieved from https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/bethel-african-methodist-episcopal-church-1889/
Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church website,
http://bethelameofportland.com/about-us/church-history/; William Toll,
“The Self-Promotional Metropolis: African American Settlement,” The
Oregon History Project, Oregon Historical Society,
http://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/narratives/subtopic.cfm?subtopic_ID=202.
Previous Previous post: Dennis Keith Rodman (1961- )
Next Next post: Historic Pleasant Green Missionary Baptist Church (1790- ) | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1126 |
__label__wiki | 0.674245 | 0.674245 | Many NJ Women Legislators To Be Ousted By Redistricting
NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ - Five incumbent New Jersey assemblywomen – more than one fifth of the women currently serving – will not run for reelection because of the redrawn state legislative map. At the same time, newly drawn district lines have opened doors for new women to run for the legislature in the June 7th primary. A current assemblywoman is favored to win the only open Senate seat. And if predictions for November prove accurate, one district could elect New Jersey’s first all-woman legislative delegation.
“In a state where 28% of the current legislature is female, women make up 70% of the legislators who will retire from the legislature as a result of redistricting,” says Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics, a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. “The impact of the new map has been especially harsh on incumbent Democratic assemblywomen, with one quarter of them leaving the legislature. We’ve expanded women’s representation in the Garden State significantly in recent years, but that progress may now be slowed.”
A record 23 women (12 D, 11 R) are seeking State Senate seats in the primaries, while 50 women (27 D, 23 R) are running for the Assembly, down from the 2007 record of 51. The record total of 73 women running for the legislature is up from the previous high of 68 women primary candidates in 2007, the last time all seats in both houses were on the ballot. (See table below.)
Women are well represented in races for open seats, the best opportunities for newcomers to join the legislature. In all, 11 women are running in primaries for 9 open Assembly seats in 7 of the state’s two-member districts. (In total, there are 13 open seats in 11 districts.) Assemblywoman Nellie Pou (D-35) is favored to win the only open State Senate seat, which is in a traditionally Democratic district.
Five current women lawmakers have announced their retirements, motivated by shifting district boundaries. They are Denise Coyle (R-16), Elease Evans (D-35), Joan Quigley (D-32), Caridad Rodriguez (D-33) and Joan Voss (D-38).
The newly reshaped (and likely safe for the GOP) 11th legislative district could be represented by three women, since three Republican incumbents will be on the ticket there: Senator Jennifer Beck and Assemblywomen Mary Pat Angelini and Caroline Casagrande.
Women Candidates in New Jersey Legislative Primaries
Total women
15 (9D, 6R)
17 (11D, 6R)
23 (12D, 11R)
4 (2D, 2R)
Running for open seats
1 (1D)
50 (27D, 23 R)
21 (9D, 12R)
Source: Center for American Women and Politics, 2011
About CAWP
The Center for American Women and Politics, a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey is a university-based research, education and public service center. Its mission is to promote greater knowledge and understanding about women’s changing relationship to politics and government and to enhance women’s influence and leadership in public life. CAWP is a leading authority in its field and a respected bridge between the academic and political worlds.
STORY TAGS: New Jersey , Women News, Minority News, Discrimination, Diversity, Female, Underrepresented, Equality, Gender Bias, Equality | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1127 |
__label__wiki | 0.514699 | 0.514699 | Before the development of electroacoustic equipment for generating and measuring sound, the available tests of hearing gave approximate answers at best. A person’s hearing could be specified in terms of the ability to distinguish the ticking of a watch or the clicking of coins or the distance at which conversational speech or a whispered voice could be understood. The examiner also might note the length of time the person could hear the gradually diminishing note of a tuning fork, comparing the performance with his own.
Tuning-fork tests
A qualitative assessment of hearing loss can be carried out with a tuning fork. Such tests exploit the ability of sound to be conducted through the bones of the skull.
In the Rinne test the sounding tuning fork is placed on the mastoid process, and the person being tested is asked to report when it is no longer heard. The examiner then removes the fork immediately and holds the prongs close to the open ear canal. The normal ear continues to hear it for about 45 seconds, and this “positive” result occurs also with incomplete sensorineural impairment of hearing. When the result is “negative” and the fork is heard longer by bone conduction than by air conduction, a conductive type of deafness is present. In the Schwabach test the presence of a sensorineural impairment is indicated when the individual being tested cannot hear the bone-conducted sound as long as the examiner with normal hearing can. The individual with a conductive hearing loss, however, can hear the fork for a longer period of time than the examiner because the conductive lesion excludes the extraneous airborne masking noise of the surroundings. A bone-conduction audiometer would give a similar result.
For the Weber test, the fork is simply placed on the person’s forehead, and the examiner asks in which ear the person hears it. If a sensorineural lesion is present in one ear, the person will localize the sound in the opposite, or “better,” ear. If a conductive defect is present, the person will localize it in the “worse” ear—i.e., the one that is protected from interference by extraneous sounds. This simple test has been a valuable aid in the diagnosis of otosclerosis for many years.
Audiometry
With the introduction of the electric audiometer in the 1930s, it became possible to measure an individual’s hearing threshold for a series of pure tones ranging from a lower frequency of 125 hertz to an upper frequency of 8,000 or 10,000 hertz. This span includes the three octaves between 500 and 4,000 hertz that are most important for speech.
The audiometer consists of an oscillator or a signal generator, an amplifier, a device called an attenuator, which controls and specifies the intensity of tones produced, and an earphone or loudspeaker. The intensity range is usually 100 dB in steps of 5 dB. The “zero dB” level represents normal hearing for young adults under favourable noise-free laboratory conditions. It was established in 1964 as an international standard.
In pure-tone audiometry, each ear is tested separately while the other is shielded against sound. The person being tested wears an earphone or sits in front of a loudspeaker in a quiet test chamber, having been instructed to give a hand signal whenever a brief tone is sounded. The audiologist proceeds to determine the lowest intensity for each frequency at which the person reports being just able to hear the tone 50 percent of the time. For example, one who hears the tone of 4,000 hertz only half the time at the 40-dB setting has a 40-dB hearing level for that frequency—i.e., a threshold 40 dB above the normal threshold. A graph showing the hearing level for each ear by octaves and half octaves across the frequency range of 125 to 8,000 hertz is called an audiogram. The shape of the audiogram for an individual who is hard of hearing can provide the otologist or audiologist with important information for determining the nature and cause of the hearing defect. (The audiologist is primarily concerned with measuring the degree of hearing impairment; the otologist diagnoses and treats defects and diseases of the ear by medical or surgical means.)
A calibrated bone-conduction vibrator usually is furnished with the audiometer so that hearing by bone conduction also can be measured. When an individual has otosclerosis or another conductive defect of the middle ear, there may be a sizable difference between the air-conduction and bone-conduction audiograms, the so-called air-bone gap. This difference is a measure of the loss in transmission across the middle ear and indicates the maximum improvement that may be obtained through successful corrective surgery. When the defect is confined to the organ of Corti, the bone-conduction audiogram shows the same degree of loss as the air-conduction audiogram. In such cases of sensorineural impairment, surgery is seldom capable of improving hearing, but a hearing aid may be helpful.
Although faint sounds may not be heard at all by the ear with a sensorineural impairment, more intense sounds may be as loud as they are to a healthy ear. This rapid increase in loudness above the threshold level is called recruitment. When the opposite ear has normal hearing, recruitment can be measured by the alternate binaural loudness balance test. The subject is asked to set the controls so that the loudness of the tone heard in the defective ear matches that of the tone heard in the normal ear. By repeating the comparison at several intensity levels, the presence or absence of recruitment can be demonstrated. When recruitment is excessive, the range of useful hearing between the threshold and the level at which loudness becomes uncomfortable or intolerable may be narrow, so that the amplification provided by a hearing aid is of limited value to the subject.
Although hearing thresholds for pure tones give some indication of the person’s ability to hear speech, direct measurement of this ability is also important. Two types of tests are used most often. In one test the speech reception threshold is measured by presenting words of spondee pattern—i.e., words containing two syllables of equal emphasis, as in “railway” or “football”—at various intensity levels until the level is found at which the person can just hear and repeat half the words correctly. This level usually corresponds closely to the average of the person’s thresholds for frequencies of 500, 1,000, and 2,000 hertz. A more important measure of socially useful hearing is the discrimination score. For this test a list of selected monosyllabic words is presented at a comfortable intensity level, and the subject is scored in terms of the percentage of words heard correctly. This test is helpful in evaluating certain forms of hearing impairment in which the sounds may be audible but words remain unintelligible.
Such tests are usually carried out in a quiet, sound-treated room that excludes extraneous noise. They may give an overly optimistic impression of the ability of the individual with a sensorineural impairment to understand speech in ordinary noisy surroundings. For this reason, speech tests are best carried out against a standardized noise background as well as in the quiet. A person with a conductive defect may be less disturbed by the noisy environment than a healthy subject. More elaborate tests, which often involve speech or sound localization, are available for evaluating hearing when central defects of the auditory system are suspected as a result of aging, disease, or injury. Their interpretation may be difficult, however, and the diagnostic information they furnish may be unclear.
When the hearing of infants or others who are unable to cooperate in standard audiometric tests must be measured, their thresholds for pure tones can be established by electrophysiological means. One type of test is the electrocochleogram (ECoG). Electric potentials representing impulses in the cochlear nerve are recorded from the outer surface of the cochlea by means of a fine, insulated needle electrode inserted through the tympanic membrane to make contact with the promontory of the basal turn. This test provides a direct sampling of cochlear function.
A noninvasive, painless, and more frequently used test is brain-stem-evoked response audiometry (BERA). In this test electrodes are pasted to the skin (one placed behind the ear) and are used to record the neural responses to brief tones. The minute potentials evoked by a train of brief sound stimuli are suitably amplified and averaged by a small computer to cancel out background activity, such as potentials from muscles or the cerebral cortex. The typical recording shows a series of five or six waves that represent the responses of successive neural centres of the auditory pathway of the brainstem and provide information about the strength and timing of their activity.
A simple and objective means of testing hearing at the level of the cochlea and brainstem is supplied by impedance audiometry. Two small tubes are sealed into the external canal. Through one tube sound from a small loudspeaker is injected into the canal. The portion that is reflected from the tympanic membrane is picked up by the other tube and led to a microphone, amplifier, and recorder. When a sudden moderately intense sound is applied to the opposite ear, the stapedius muscle contracts, the impedance is increased, and the recorder shows a slight excursion as more sound is reflected. This test can provide information not only about the condition of the cochlea and the auditory pathways of the medulla but also about the facial nerve that innervates the stapedius muscle. However, it does not give an actual measurement of the acoustic impedance of the ear, representing the state of the ossicular chain and the mobility of the tympanic membrane. This information can be obtained by means of the acoustic bridge—a device that enables the examiner to listen simultaneously to a sound reflected from the tympanic membrane of the subject and a sound of equal intensity reflected in an artificial cavity, with the volume being adjusted to equal that of the external canal of the ear being tested. When the two sounds are matched by varying the acoustic impedance of the cavity, the impedance of the ear is equal to that of the cavity, which can be read directly from the scale of the instrument.
Conductive defects of the middle ear, including disarticulation (separation) of the ossicular chain and immobility of the malleus or stapes, can be recognized by the characteristic changes they cause in the impedance of the ear as revealed by tympanometry. This test procedure consists in raising and lowering the air pressure in the middle ear to alter the stiffness in the tympanic membrane while measuring the changes in its compliance in terms of the amount of sound reflected from it.
Profound sensorineural deafness can occur as a result of viral or other infection, including mumps, measles, and meningitis. Rubella (German measles) in the mother during pregnancy can cause severe damage to the organ of Corti, resulting in profound hearing impairment in the child. Cochlear abnormalities may be present also as a result of genetic defects. The electrophysiological hearing tests described above—BERA and ECoG—make it possible to detect such loss in infants. In all such cases of deafness in young children, it is essential that the condition be recognized as early as possible so that appropriate counseling in matters of care and education may be obtained. As an important aid in learning to speak, surgical implantation of an electronic cochlear prosthesis (cochlear implant) should be considered before the child reaches school age. This device, while controversial within the deaf community, has proved effective in restoring a significant degree of hearing to many young children with congenital deafness.
Anatomy of the human ear
Outer ear
Tympanic membrane and middle ear
Middle-ear cavity
Auditory ossicles
Eustachian tube
Vestibular system
Semicircular canals
Structure of the cochlea
Organ of Corti
Endolymph and perilymph
The physiology of hearing
Transmission of sound waves through the outer and middle ear
Transmission of sound by air conduction
Function of the ossicular chain
Function of the muscles of the middle ear
Transmission of sound by bone conduction
Transmission of sound within the inner ear
Transmission of sound waves in the cochlea
Transduction of mechanical vibrations
Cochlear nerve and central auditory pathways
Auditory nerve fibres
Auditory pathways
Ascending pathways
Descending pathways
Analysis of sound by the auditory nervous system
The physiology of balance: vestibular function
Detection of angular acceleration: dynamic equilibrium
Detection of linear acceleration: static equilibrium
Disturbances of the vestibular system
Human ear
Medscape - Ear Anatomy
Kids Health - For Kids - Ear
WebMD - Ear
Healthline - Ear
InnerBody - Ear and Hearing
ear - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
ear - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up) | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1128 |
__label__wiki | 0.634661 | 0.634661 | One of the most famous mayo brands in America is called something different depending on where you are in the country
Mary Hanbury
Jun. 7, 2017, 9:25 AM
Shutterstock/Tim UR
If you grew up making your tuna salad with Hellman's mayonnaise, you might be surprised to know that in other parts of the country, that crucial ingredient is impossible to find.
That's because one of America's most popular mayonnaise brands actually has two different names depending on where you are in the country.
One man's Hellman's mayo on the East Coast is another man's Best Foods mayo on the West Coast.
The only place you can buy both is in Denver, Colorado.
History takes us back to 1905, when German immigrant Richard Hellman opened a delicatessen in New York City. His homemade mayonnaise became so popular that he ended up selling it separately.
He started with two different versions of the condiment, and to distinguish between the two he added a blue ribbon around one. The blue ribbon gives Hellman's mayonnaise its signature look to this day.
While Hellman was making a name for himself on the East Coast, thousands of miles away on the West Coast, a company called Best Foods was also becoming famous for its popular mayo.
In 1932, Best Foods bought Hellmann's and merged the two companies. The two mayos were made using the same ingredients, but their names stayed the same.
In 2000, the company was bought by consumer goods conglomerate Unilever for $20.3 billion.
What is the difference?
This is a tub of "Best Foods" mayonnaise, which is sold west of the Rocky Mountains in Washington, California, Nevada, Idaho, Arizona, Oregon, and Utah.
This is Hellman's, which is sold in all the remaining states in the US. The only place you can buy both is in Denver, according to its parent company, Unilever.
Is there a difference in taste?
Both tubs have almost identical ingredients, though there is one minor difference. The "Best Foods" variety has 5 milligrams more sodium in each 14-gram serving.
In a taste test conducted by editors at HuffPost, Best Foods was said to have a more tangy taste overall, while Hellman's was sweeter.
More: Retail Hellman's Best Foods Mayonnaise | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1133 |
__label__cc | 0.745471 | 0.254529 | Home>Mental Health Advocacy: Is Our Work Valued? Are We Doing Enough?
Mental Health Advocacy: Is Our Work Valued? Are We Doing Enough?
By Yvette Hess
If you choose to speak up about your experiences with bipolar disorder, and become an advocate, you take away the space stigma needs to thrive.
I think the biggest takeaway from my years of working in the mental health sector is that the work we do is undervalued and we underestimate the energy – all forms of energy- it takes to educate, nurture and support those who need it. I assume you were expecting something more positive?
Yeah, me too.
I’ve been writing openly about bipolar disorder for more than 5 years. I have been blogging since 2011. That’s a long time. In South Africa, specifically, I must say, recently things have improved with more and more activists coming out of the dark to shed light on stigma and the state of our health care facilities.
But is it enough? Are doing enough? Or are we faffing about waiting for the next news-worthy event for us to make some more noise. Because that’s all that could be to someone who won’t understand. Not can’t, but won’t. It’s noise.
I receive many messages from people who seek support, whether it be friends or family of the person living with illness or experienced trauma. So, I know there’s a need for support. Therapy is expensive so I suppose sparing an ear here and there is what the world needs. But as activists, a small group compared to the entire population, do not have enough ears, nor do we have the capacity to take on all that you carry too. Besides, that’s not our job. Our job is support you in managing how to carry your own load. Our job is to speak up and teach you and your loved ones the language to communicate exactly what you experience and develop strategies together, to mobilize yourself and live the best life you can.
As someone who has been in the game for a while, I have seen mental health ‘trend’. There is definitely some activity going on, but yet within that increase in activity, I still see activists operate in silos. There are not enough collaborations. There are not enough ‘cross-pollinations’ happening between organizations and individuals to allow for, not only more people who are suffering to be supported, but to actively expand the ways in which that support can be transformed for everyone. For example some forms of support are more suited to those who prefer CBT therapy, while others prefer a different form. But we won’t know if there is still stigma, that prevents people from seeking help, as well as people speaking about what truly works for them.
So coming back to my initial point where I believe the work is undervalued, and in light of mental health affecting so many different aspects in our lives, work and the economy included. Why, if it has such a huge impact, why are we undervaluing our activists? I know of so, so many activists who also receive countless messages asking for support, who get the dirty look if they are turned away because of time or that the person prefers not to pay. It is after all ‘just’ mental health, not anything to do with something tangible like cancer or AIDS. I think as someone with the experience of all the lows, I try my utmost to support where I can because I know where the person has been. In fact, I decided to share some of the posts I wrote on my new website. I wanted to re-share the stories because I see the patterns in my life and my brain cycles. And as it goes onto the next cycle, I learn new lessons.
I think another point I’d like to bring across that is that not all activists target the same audience. I think there is space for activists of various backgrounds to provide support. You find those in communities for example, where the resources are not as adequately maintained as they should be, or non-existent for that fact, but there is a huge need for more online-based resources. Because once the person goes home after attending a support-group at a community hall or church, they’re back on their phones consuming possibly triggering content from fake news to graphic content. Even debates can be triggering. On my Instagram feed a while back, I questioned the groups, our online communities, Whatsapp groups being “safe spaces”. Are they? Because if they are not becoming “safer” to share and speak openly about mental health issues, then are we as activists really changing things for the better? Think of “mom” Whatsapp groups as an example. Are you free to openly share about your maternal mental health openly, without judgement?
I don’t want to be a Negative Nancy, but I believe we have a long way to go in creating safe spaces within ourselves first. I still struggle with this at times, even as mental health activist. I think going forward, I want to emphasize the importance of the work, because it’s a whole lot of inner work, that those who speak up, do. Communicate it often, as a tangible asset, as a service, as a way forward, the way forward. Because when you speak up, you take away the space that stigma occupies. And I do understand that there’s such a thing as privacy. But there’s a huge difference between keeping things private and keeping things private. The difference? The shame between the lines. Our activists plod through that, plod through the shame- but we need to value this more. And we need to encourage for more individuals to do the same. This is an important measure of success we should consider shedding light on.
advocacy, hope, stigma
Yvette Hess
Yvette Hess (nee Adams) is an expressive artist and mental health advocate based in South Africa. Her business journey started off as a therapy suggested by her psychologist, who asked her to attend a few art classes after her third major depression episode. Since then it has evolved into much more! Yes, Yvette still uses it as an outlet, but she has embraced the healing it provides and that even though she lives with mental illness, she is still empowered. Her artwork and writing can be found on her website and she can be easily found online, like in her feature for Beautiful News South Africa where she speaks openly about mental illness and addiction.
If You Take Medication for Bipolar, Do You Really Need Therapy?
Natasha Tracy
Even if you are taking medication for bipolar and seeing a psychiatrist, you may want to consider therapy for additional support and coping skills. Hi, I’m Natasha Tracy and this is bp Magazine’s BPHope vlog. Today, I want to talk about therapy as an adjunct to medication when you’re treating a mental health condition....
Trying to Find the Right Support Group
Susie Johnson
Finding a support group can be difficult, let alone one that fits your personality. It’s still worth it though to check out local resources. Since my diagnosis of bipolar disorder in 1995, I have always felt that something has been missing. I have attended years of therapy, and have a great deal of family support,...
How to Get Rid of Bipolar Disorder Stigma: It Starts with You
Karl Shallowhorn
Stigma is a primary contributor to the oppression and discrimination of those living with mental health challenges: but we can work together to overcome it. Stigma stinks, and that is putting it mildly. There is just so much misinformation about mental health in the world that if I tried to count the number of...
How Dealing With Bipolar Made This Young Couple Stronger
In their early 20s, *Emily and Sean have lived together for over two years; the engaged couple shares their positive journey with Sean’s bipolar: EMILY: What does caregiving in your household look like? Caring for Sean has never been a burden for me. For a while, Sean had trouble keeping a job, just... | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1136 |
__label__cc | 0.606031 | 0.393969 | Peter Singer Quotes
Top 10 Peter Singer Quotes
Find Peter Singer on:
Australian - Philosopher Born: July 6, 1946
The new freedom of expression brought by the Internet goes far beyond politics. People relate to each other in new ways, posing questions about how we should respond to people when all that we know about them is what we have learned through a medium that permits all kinds of anonymity and deception.
Freedom Politics People Posing
More often there's a compromise between ethics and expediency.
Ethics More Compromise Between
I believe that in this new world that we live in, we often have a responsibility, you know, to actually go beyond the thou shalt nots - that is, the not harming others - and say we can help others and we should be helping others.
You Believe World Responsibility
Diamonds have an image of purity and light. They are given as a pledge of love and worn as a symbol of commitment.
Love Light Commitment Diamonds
It was wrong to capture wild animals and confine them in captivity for people to go and gawk at them. And that's basically how zoos got started. But once you do that, and once you have animals that have been bred in captivity, you're really stuck with them in some sense. You can't return them to the wild.
You People Go Wild
My own view is that being a vegetarian or vegan is not an end in itself, but a means towards reducing both human and animal suffering and leaving a habitable planet to future generations.
Future Animal View Suffering
I have never really been fond of animals. I certainly wasn't an 'animal lover' when I became involved in the movement. I just came to be persuaded that animals should be treated as independent sentient beings, not as means to human ends.
Animal Never Animals Independent
Of all the arguments against voluntary euthanasia, the most influential is the 'slippery slope': once we allow doctors to kill patients, we will not be able to limit the killing to those who want to die.
Die Will Want Limit
Dolphins are social mammals, capable of enjoying their lives. They form close bonds with other members of their group.
Group Dolphins Capable Social
There's a difference between early and late abortions. If you have a late abortion, where the fetus might feel pain, then I think you should have a good reason. Because then you're inflicting pain. As you go through the third trimester, you need to have more serious reasons to end a pregnancy.
Good You Pain Think
The notion that human life is sacred just because it is human life is medieval.
Life Just Because Just Human
I am not saying that factory farming is the same as the Holocaust or the slave trade, but it's clear that there is an immense amount of suffering in it, and just as we think that the Nazis were wrong to ignore the suffering of their victims, so we are wrong to ignore the sufferings of our victims.
I Am Ignore Think Suffering
Many European countries, as well as Australia, Canada, Israel, and New Zealand, have adopted legislation that creates a 'public lending right', where the government recognises that enabling hundreds of people to read a single copy of a book provides a public good, but that doing so is likely to reduce sales of the book.
Good People Government Book
In most of the world, it is accepted that if animals are to be killed for food, they should be killed without suffering.
Food World Suffering Animals
In the real world, 90% of the money spent on medical research is focused on conditions that are responsible for just 10% of the deaths and disability caused by diseases globally.
Money Focused World Medical
As we realize that more and more things have global impact, I think we're going to get people increasingly wanting to get away from a purely national interest.
People Think Things Realize
I would like us to think about it more explicitly, and not take our intuitions as the given of ethics, but rather to reflect on it, and be more open about the fact that something is an ethical issues and think what we ought to do about it.
Think Ethics More Like
Of those who die from avoidable, poverty-related causes, nearly 10 million, according to UNICEF, are children under five. They die from diseases such as measles, diarrhea, and malaria that are easy and inexpensive to treat or prevent.
Children Die Treat Easy
There is no excuse for keeping wild animals in amusement parks or circuses. Until our governments take action, we should avoid supporting places where captive wild animals perform for our amusement. If the public will not pay to see them, the businesses that profit from keeping animals captive will not be able to continue.
Action Wild See Will
All the arguments to prove man's superiority cannot shatter this hard fact: in suffering the animals are our equals.
Man Suffering Hard Prove
To be a utilitarian means that you judge actions as right or wrong in accordance with whether they have good consequences. So you try to do what will have the best consequences for all of those affected.
Good Best You Judge
The Internet, like the steam engine, is a technological breakthrough that changed the world.
World Internet Like Engine
You shouldn't say 'animals' to distinguish between humans and non-humans. We are all animals.
You Animals Say Between
Americans think they're the leader of the world and yet can say that they're putting their economic interests ahead of the lives of - quite possibly - tens of millions of people who over the next 50 years will die because of floods or storms or tropical diseases or whatever. I guess that sort of thing makes me angry.
Me Angry People World
The belief that the animals exist because God created them - and that he created them so we can better meet our needs - is contrary to our scientific understanding of evolution and, of course, to the fossil record, which shows the existence of non-human primates and other animals millions of years before there were any human beings at all.
God Better Understanding Meet
Can we really believe that we are living a good life, an ethically decent life if we don't do anything serious to help reduce poverty around the world and help save the lives of children or adults who are likely to die if we don't increase the amount of aid we are giving.
Life Good Children Believe | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1138 |
__label__wiki | 0.976907 | 0.976907 | Sun-Thurs 11/10c
Upcoming Guests
WWHL Podcast
After Show: Jane & Lily’s Most Annoying Habits
During the After Show, a WWHL caller asks actresses Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin what are their most annoying habits and they also talk about how to handle men.
More Season 15 / Episode 10
Show Highlight After Show: Jane & Lily’s Most Annoying Habits
Show Highlight Has Jane Fonda Tried Molly or Ayahuasca?
Show Highlight Jane Fonda & Lily Tomlin Praise Time’s Up
Show Highlight Lily Tomlin Confronted Critic John Simon
Show Highlight Did Trump Ever Ask Jane Fonda Out?
Jane Fonda & Lily Tomlin
Andy Cohen is an Emmy Award-winning host, producer, and author best known as the host and executive producer of “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen,” Bravo’s Late Night, interactive talk show. The series is the only live show in Late Night television and consistently makes headlines with bold interviews viewers don’t see anywhere else. Because of this, “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen” has become a nightly destination for some of the biggest names in pop culture including Meryl Streep, Cher, Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Lawrence, Ryan Reynolds, Mariah Carey and Lady Gaga. He also serves as executive producer of “The Real Housewives” franchise and hosts the network’s highly rated reunion specials.
In Fall of 2015, Cohen launched “Radio Andy,” a personally curated channel on SiriusXM focused on pop culture, celebrities, lifestyle, relationships and the dish on all topics deep and shallow. The channel is a fun, uncensored entertainment and talk destination with celebrity hosts including Cohen, who has daily and weekly shows on air.
In 2016, Cohen also launched his own book imprint Andy Cohen Books and in November became a New York Times best-selling author for a fourth time with the release of his latest book, “Superficial: More Adventures from the Andy Cohen Diaries” and achieved similar success with “The Andy Cohen Diaries: A Deep Look At a Shallow Year” as well as with the hardcover (May 2012) and the paperback (May 2013) versions of his first book, titled, “Most Talkative: Stories from the Frontlines of Pop Culture.”
Cohen is the host and executive producer of “Andy Cohen’s Then & Now,” a Bravo series that explores the nostalgic moments of some of the most significant years in history. “Andy Cohen’s Then & Now” is produced by World of Wonder and Cohen’s Most Talkative Productions. Cohen also hosts the hour-long revival of the iconic relationship show “Love Connection” on Fox. Much like the original version, each episode will feature single men and women in search of romance. When he isn’t in the host seat, Cohen tours the country with Anderson Cooper for “AC2: An Intimate Evening with Anderson Cooper & Andy Cohen” where the dynamic duo discuss all topics deep and shallow in front of sold out audiences across the country.
In his ten years as an executive at Bravo he was responsible for an aggressive slate of unscripted series and specials including hits such as "Project Runway,” “Top Chef,” “Queer Eye For the Straight Guy,” "The Millionaire Matchmaker,” the “Million Dollar Listing” franchise, “Being Bobby Brown,” “Shahs of Sunset,” “Flipping Out,” “Top Design,” “Work Out,” “Make Me a Supermodel,” “Blow Out,” “Kathy Griffin My Life On the D List,” “The A List Awards” “The Rachel Zoe Project,” “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist,” “Bethenny Ever After,” “Tabatha’s Salon Takeover,” and “The Real Housewives” franchises. Cohen started at Bravo in 2004 as Vice President, Original Programming and most recently, Cohen served as Bravo’s Executive Vice President of Development and Talent from November 2011 to January 2014.
Cohen received an Emmy award when season six of “Top Chef” won Outstanding Reality Competition Program at the 2010 primetime Emmy Awards and has been nominated for 17 additional Emmy Awards as Executive Producer of “Project Greenlight,” “Project Runway,” “Top Chef” and “Queer Eye For The Straight Guy.” In 2005, Cohen was awarded a Peabody Award for his role as Executive Producer of the TRIO documentary “The N Word” and another in 2008 as an Executive Producer of “Project Runway.”
Cohen ran Original Programming and Development for the pop culture and arts cable channel TRIO, beginning in July 2000. He was responsible for developing and supervising all of TRIO's original productions including the critically acclaimed original documentaries “Gay Republicans,” “Easy Riders/Raging Bulls,” and “Brilliant, But Cancelled.” He spent ten years (1990-2000) as a producer at CBS News, working on “CBS This Morning” and “48 Hours”.
Born in St. Louis, Cohen is a graduate of Boston University where he received a Bachelor of Sciences in broadcast journalism. Cohen is currently on the board of directors for charity Friends In Deed and resides in New York City. Andy has over three million followers on social media; follow him on Facebook, Twitter (@andy), Instagram (@bravoandy) and Tumblr (therealandycohen.tumblr.com). | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1139 |
__label__wiki | 0.980406 | 0.980406 | Canadian artists that will stand the test of time
February 19, 2019 CanCulture Magazine
Win Butler of Arcade Fire performing at Coachella 2014. (Flohmann/Wikimedia Commons)
By Calvin Leung
Thousands of musicians each year enter the music industry hoping in 20 years they will be remembered fondly as their generations The Beatles or Led Zeppelin. While many lose their relevance before they had a chance to release the second record, there are a fine few in the Canadian music industry that will remain influential in years to come.
Calgary native Leslie Feist has been releasing music for over two decades. Her self-released debut Monarch was released in 1999 and immediately captured the attention of the Toronto underground music scene. The music featured a blend of genres such as; trip hop, indie rock, folk and jazz. It was a sound she further developed with her 2004 label debut Let It Die, which featured her signature song “Mushaboom.” The album went on to win the public vote for the Heritage Prize in the 1996-2005 category at the 2017 Polaris Music Prize.
Her third record The Reminder propelled her to the spotlight, with the song “1234” becoming a top 10 hit in the USA. The hit won Feist her first Grammy nomination, while her fourth album Metals saw her musical direction shift to one of overdub-laden, art rock-inspired indie pop.
Feist’s musical direction shifted once again on her most recent effort Pleasure, with the music now more reminiscent of Billy Bragg styled folk punk than her older efforts.
British singer James Blake’s lead single off his self-titled 2011 debut album is a cover of Feist’s “The Limit to Your Love”, a cover that to this day remains his highest charting single in his native country U.K.
She’s also part of the Canadian collective Broken Social Scene, which has also released some of the best received indie rock records in Canada over the past decade.
With 11 Juno Awards and a Polaris Music Prize to her name, Feist’s influence can already be seen as one that is cemented.
Arcade Fire was formed in Montreal by singer Win Butler, who over time recruited numerous members before settling on a final lineup with; Richard Reed Perry, Tim Kingsbury, Jeremy Gara, William Butler and Régine Chassange.
Like Feist, Arcade Fire has released five studio albums to date, with their debut record Funeral being named by Pitchfork as the second-best album of the 2000s, and the 151st greatest album of all time by Rolling Stones magazine. Even early on the band found themselves compared to greats such as R.E.M. and Radiohead.
Their second album Neon Bible was released in 2007 to the praise of critics. The band followed up the album with The Suburbs in 2010, which won album of the year at the Grammy Awards in 2011, making them the first band signed to an indie record label to win the award.
Their two latest releases Reflektor and Everything Now saw the band move towards a dance-rock direction inspired by bands like LCD Soundsystem, with Reflektor produced by LCD Soundsystem’s frontman James Murphy. The title track off Reflektor gave the band their first top 100 hit in the USA.
Famous fans and admirers of the band include David Bowie and Florence Welch from Florence and the Machine, with the former famously inviting the band in 2005 to perform with him in a live TV special and later providing backing vocals for their song “Reflektor.”
With all the albums they have currently released, Arcade Fire has already proven themselves to be one of the most influential acts of the 2000s, and without any incidents, one of the greatest bands of all time.
Toronto-based dream pop band Alvvays (pronounced always) has released two records, a self-titled record in 2014 and Antisocialites in 2017.
The band’s ability to become their generations Cocteau Twins is one based on current promise. While their debut proved to be a solid jangle pop/indie album, there was a fear that Alvvays will simply be a lesser Beach House or Angel Olsen.
However, Antisocialites proved otherwise, with them incorporating genres such as post-punk and shoegazing in their music. The album removed them from the tween pop scene and ascended them to the same level as other young, critically acclaimed indie acts such as Car Seat Headrest and Mitski.
Their latest effort began to draw in fans and collaborators from some of indie music’s forefathers, such as Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake.
Whether the Toronto Stars Ben Rayner’s clickbait-esque article, “Toronto’s Alvvays is too good to ignore” is pure hyperbole or one of pure truth is to be seen. The band has the potential become Gen Z’s Interpol or the Strokes.
An artists’ influence in the world of music will constantly debated throughout the end of time. People are still arguing to this very day whether The Beatles or the Rolling Stones were the better band. Despite so, everyone will agree both bands were great and the three acts mentioned above make a good case to include themselves in the same sentiment.
No matter what genre you are looking for, the future of music is already here and it’s Canadian.
In Music Tags Canadian artistis, Canadian music, Arcade Fire, Feist, Alvvays, Music, Toronto music | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1140 |
__label__wiki | 0.939897 | 0.939897 | Puerto Rico captain demands apology from Adam Jones for WBC celebration comments
"He really has to get informed because he shouldn't have said those comments, let alone in public and mocking the way [preparations] were made," Molina said.
Before Wednesday's World Baseball Classic championship game, the U.S. team apparently got wind of premature Puerto Rican postgame plans.
Adam Jones said he heard that the Puerto Ricans already had championship T-shirts made. There was also a parade back home planned, he noted.
"That didn't sit well with us," the Orioles center fielder said after the Americans' 8-0 win.
Now Puerto Rico captain Yadier Molina wants an apology. The St. Louis Cardinals catcher told ESPN during Thursday's parade in San Juan that Jones "is talking about things he doesn't know about."
Puerto Rican players said they were always planning to fly home from Los Angeles to celebrate their WBC success, regardless of Wednesday's result. Puerto Rico had become so enthralled by the team's run, it had begun to run out of hair dye, snatched up by fans eager to look like the platinum-blond-haired team.
"He has to apologize to the Puerto Rican people," Molina said to ESPN. "Obviously, you wanted to win; he didn't know what this means to [our] people.
He added: "That's why I'm sending a message to [Jones], saying, 'Look at this, right now, you're in spring training working out, and we're with our people, with our silver medals. You're in spring training and you're working. ... You have no idea how to celebrate your honors, you don't know what it means."
The Cardinals come to Baltimore for a three-game series June 16. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1141 |
__label__cc | 0.658119 | 0.341881 | DREAMTEAMPICKS.CAPPERTEK.COM
SUBMIT YOUR REVIEW BELOW
Dream Team Picks
YOU MUST BE LOGGED IN BEFORE
YOU CAN SUBMIT YOUR REVIEW.
PLEASE LOG IN ON THE RIGHT OR
A CUSTOMER ACCOUNT FREE.
Server Status: All Systems Operational | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Server Time: EST (7/18/2019) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Your IP Address: 54.198.246.164 | | | | | | | | | | | | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1142 |
__label__wiki | 0.754955 | 0.754955 | You are here: Home » African Caribbean » Ending 50 years of Venezuela and Guyana contention
Ending 50 years of Venezuela and Guyana contention
Ronald Sanders | February 4, 2018
Dr. Sir Ronald Sanders former Caribbean diplomat
The decision by the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, to refer the 51-year old contention between Guyana-Venezuela to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) should be welcomed by all nations, particularly those in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The peaceful settlement of disputes is vital to the economic progress and social stability of the world. Wherever violent solutions to contentions exist, anywhere in the world, they absorb financial and other resources that could be far better spent on improving the condition of mankind, particularly the poor and vulnerable. The last thing the Caribbean and the Western Hemisphere needs is continuing disputes between any of its nations that could lead to military conflict. The resources of the Latin American and Caribbean nations are better spent on the economic and social progress of their people.
The Secretary-General’s decision is also important for all small states, the world over, which have little means of defending themselves militarily. Small states have always relied on the international system and the rule of law to safeguard their interests. In this context, Guyana, Venezuela and all nations of the Hemisphere should regard sending the contention to the ICJ as constructive and helpful since it will cast adjudication in a structured and legal framework.
The Secretary-General did not easily decide to refer the Guyana-Venezuela contention to the ICJ. The border controversy has existed in its second incarnation since just before the independence of Guyana (formerly British Guiana) from Britain in 1966. At that time, the then Venezuelan government re-opened the “full, perfect and final” settlement of the border dispute by an Arbitral Panel of distinguished judges in 1899. The award set the boundaries that now exist between the two countries. They were boundaries fully accepted by Venezuela for 63 years until 1962, as British Guiana moved towards independence, when the then Venezuelan President, Romulo Betancourt, sought to re-open the issue on the spurious claim that Venezuela was “robbed”.
Venezuela’s position led to a tripartite meeting in Geneva in 1966 between Venezuela, Britain and (then) British Guiana. The British Guiana government did not accept that the 1899 decision was invalid and held that its participation in the discussion was only to resolve Venezuela’s assertions of ‘robbery”. A Treaty signed by the parties at that meeting agreed to an amicable resolution to the controversy and established various procedures including for resolution of the controversy by actions of the UN Secretary-General.
Antonio Guterres, United Nations General Secretary. Photo courtesy http://www.un.org/
After mixed commissions, good offices and mediation were all exhausted after 51 years, the Secretary-General has opted to exercise the authority given to him under the 1996 Geneva Treaty to refer the issue to the ICJ for a judicial settlement. Guterres’ predecessor, Ban Ki-Moon, had noted that the UN’s good offices process had been in place since 1990. He had determined that the good offices role would continue until the end of 2017, but that if “significant progress” had not been made, his successor would opt for the ICJ as the means of settlement.
The ICJ has long experience of arbitrating territorial and maritime disputes between States. It has been doing so as far back as 1953 when Britain and France submitted their dispute over islands in the English Channel to the international court. More recently, and within Latin America and the Caribbean, several countries referred disputes to the ICJ. These include: El Salvador and Honduras, Peru and Chile, Costa Rica and Nicaragua, and Nicaragua and Colombia.
Several African and Asian states have also had contentions adjudicated by the ICJ among them are: Libya and Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria, Indonesia and Malaysia and Malaysia and Singapore. The United States and Canada also relied on the ICJ in relation to a delimitation boundary in the Gulf of Maine.
Presently, the governments of Belize and Guatemala have agreed in principle to referring their territorial dispute to the ICJ; they are each to hold a referendum to allow their electorates to decide on whether they agree to this course. A very civilized presentation by the Foreign Ministers of Belize and Guatemala to the Permanent Council of the Organisation of American States, underlined the declared intention of the two countries to settle the issue in the context of the international system.
The Guyana government has welcomed that UN Secretary-General’s decision, saying that its position “has always been that the basis of the controversy is a legal question, which should be resolved peacefully and conclusively through a legal process”. On the other hand, the Venezuela government has questioned the decision, maintaining that “political negotiation on the basis of the Geneva Agreement of 1966, is (the) only path to reach the peaceful, practical and satisfactory solution for both parties and in favour of our Peoples”.
Curiously, the Venezuelan government statement says that the “two States (Guyana and Venezuela) do not recognize the jurisdiction” of the ICJ. This could hardly be so, since Article 93 of the UN Charter specifically states that: “All Members of the United Nations are ipso facto parties to the Statute of the International Court of Justice”.
Many other countries, including the 15-nation group of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries and the 52-nation Commonwealth have repeatedly urged Guyana and Venezuela in the direction of a judicial settlement. At their last Meeting in Malta in 2016, Commonwealth Heads of Government “expressed their full support for the United Nations Secretary-General to choose a means of settlement in keeping with the provisions of the Geneva Agreement 1966, to bring the controversy to a definitive end.”
All other nations should encourage the two neighbours to follow the example of many others that have opted for the ICJ to adjudicate their disputes. The way is now open to settle legally and peacefully the contention that has persisted between Guyana and Venezuela for over half a century.
(The writer is Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the US and the OAS. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and at Massey College in the University of Toronto. The Views expressed are entirely his own)
Responses and previous commentaries: www.sirronaldsanders.com
CARICOM divide must be bridged
The OAS: Not a moment for pride
The danger in what others wish for in Venezuela
Guyana-Venezuela: The consequences of ideology and avarice
Venezuela has no legal basis for claiming Guyana’s land
Tags: featured, Guyana, Venezuela
Category: African Caribbean, Politics
Sir Ronald Sanders is Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States and the OAS. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and Massey College in the University of Toronto. The views expressed are his own
« Get This!
Steam callaloo with spinach and vegetables rice!! » | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1144 |
__label__wiki | 0.877221 | 0.877221 | Bowe Bergdahl Will Face Desertion Charges, According To Conflicting Reports
By Chris Tognotti
U.S. Army/Getty Images News/Getty Images
It had been floated as a possibility from the very moment his freedom was secured, and now it's looking pretty certain — former Army soldier and Taliban captive Bowe Bergdahl will face desertion charges, according to multiple outlets, for having allegedly abandoned his unit in Afghanistan nearly five-and-a-half years ago. He was ultimately freed thanks to a prisoner swap with the Taliban, an action which was simultaneously lauded by Bergdahl's ardent supporters, and blasted by critics of the administration as reports swirled of his possible abandonment. Now, he'll apparently face the music, with senior defense officials confirming that desertion charges are coming, according to NBC News.
The news is not without some drama, however, as it's come with a denial from the Army. As reported by the Army Times, Forces Command spokesperson Paul Boyce insists that no decision has yet been made in Bergdahl's case, and that the possible desertion charges are still being weighed based on the evidence. Both following his release last year, and during a probe of his disappearance conducted while he was in captivity, it's been alleged that Bergdahl left his military outpost alone, potentially to avoid serving. If he is indeed charged and found guilty, it'd have a pretty major cost — he'd lose out on the hundreds of thousands of dollars of back pay he was owed for his time living under Taliban captivity, and would be ineligible for any further service-related benefits, according to Reuters.
Alex Wong/Getty Images News/Getty Images
Bergdahl, now 28 years old, was captured by the Taliban back in June 2009, beginning his long, five-year captivity. His release was eventually secured by the Obama administration in exchange for five Guantanamo Bay prisoners, colloquially known to the media as the "Taliban Five." In the years and months prior to his release, his plight had been something of a cause célèbre on the part of many conservative politicos and commentators — "leave no soldier behind," right?
But after it actually happened, both thanks to the return price of the five prisoners, and swirling reports that Bergdahl may have left the post himself, the tide began to turn. In pretty short order, Bergdahl's release had become just another story for the American right to excoriate the administration and President Obama over, and desertion charges would undoubtedly bolster that criticism.
For now, it'll still be something of a wait-and-see situation. Obviously, the always necessary disclaimer: people are innocent until proven guilty. And trying to parse this kind of evidence may be tricky business for someone not as acquainted with the ins and outs of military regulation and behavioral standards — some reports since his release have even accused him of collaborating with the Taliban, an allegation that's vastly more dire. While it's possible that the Army's denial is correct, and that they're still in the process of deciding, there can be little doubt given the gravity of the allegations that the decision is going to have to go fully public eventually. In other words, you haven't heard the last of this, not by a long shot. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1145 |
__label__wiki | 0.891614 | 0.891614 | 'Pretty Little Liars' Spoilers: Will Spencer & Toby Stay Together? Keegan Allen Questions Whether "True Love Will Prevail"
By Alyse Whitney
It's never an easy road for relationships on teen dramas, and Pretty Little Liars has enough 'ships sinking and sailing again to make your head spin. One of the longtime fan favorite couples, Spencer and Toby, has has some trouble in Season 5, all stemming from his job in the Rosewood Police Department. What they thought would help them on their search to find and take down "A" has actually backfired, seemingly causing more close calls and casualties in the Liars' relationships than helping anyone get answers.
When I chatted with Keegan Allen (who plays Toby) about what's to come with Spoby, he didn't exactly have good news. With the stress of Toby's job paired with Spencer spending a lot of time accidentally getting into trouble with her barn buddy Jonny, their relationship has been shaky at best, but that doesn't mean it's close to being over.
"I think that with any relationship comes bargaining and compromise. Toby is going through this cop program job that he originally got into to get answers for Spencer ... and there's a huge amount of anxiety constantly nipping at his heels," Allen explains. "That would affect any relationship. And I’m a single guy — I can’t imagine being in a relationship in real life where I’m a police officer from 9 to 5 or longer, protecting my life and serving my community."
Does that mean that Spencer is going to jump into another man's arms? Allen can't say one way or another, but he does understand where the couple is at right now. "What’s going on with Spencer and Johnny is kind of a result of the choices that Toby has made. Toby isn’t a right or wrong character — he’s a choice and result kind of guy. Most of his inner counselor is kind of clouded by his own dilemmas," he says. "You never really know what’s going to happen. I like to assume that true love will prevail, and it’s always fun to watch the show and that dimension."
Longtime loves are central to PLL, with three original couples still together on the show. Allen took the easy way out and didn't name a favorite, but he did cheer for one less canon couple immediately. "I love all of the ‘ships. I really like Emily and whoever she’s with at the time, but I really love the Emily/Alison storyline," he dishes. "I do love Hanna and Caleb and I do love Aria and Ezra, because all of those original love stories they keep going back to and dancing around, there’s something special about them. Fans really enjoy those storylines."
Although he can't give away everything about the upcoming season — though he did reveal a lot about what to expect from the "A" reveal and its aftermath — he has a simple way to answer questions with one EPLL spoiler... in emoji form:
Yep, that's it.
"The only Emoji that can describe everything is the little hand with the OK symbol. You know what I mean? I use that Emoji for everything, so that’s how I would describe anything," Allen reveals with a laugh. "Seriously, do it — any questions that you have, it’s all the OK symbol. Just put the OK hand, because it’s so perfect. Like, ‘Who’s 'A'?’ and it’s the OK hand. Just layer 'em all down the screen." I guess that means that eventually, everything will work out... OK?
In all seriousness, Toby is going through a lot on PLL. He's starting to get a hang of enforcing the law, but in turn has to start questioning his own friends, like Hanna and Caleb. Will he turn to the dark side? When I asked if he'll be the only good cop in Rosewood history, Allen was conflicted. "I think he is a good cop and a good person, but I don’t know," he says. "There was Holbrook and Tanner and they’re all bad, essentially — well, not bad, but there’s something weird about all of them, right? He could end up winning that award of being the only good cop in the history of Rosewood."
Images: Eric McCandless/ABC Family (2) | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1146 |
__label__cc | 0.541025 | 0.458975 | Biblical studies - New Testament
A History of the English Bible as Literature
Part of A History of the Bible as Literature
Author: David Norton, Victoria University of Wellington
A History of the English Bible as Literature (revised and condensed from the author's acclaimed History of the Bible as Literature CUP, 1993) explores five hundred years of religious and literary ideas. At its heart is the story of how the King James Bible went from being mocked as English writing to being "unsurpassed in the entire range of literature." It studies the Bible translators, writers such as Milton and Bunyan who contributed so much to our sense of the Bible, and a fascinating range of critics and commentators.
Condensation and revision for a popular market of a major Cambridge book
Only up-to-date book on the subject
For general readers as well as students of the Bible and of literature
"In a volume this detailed, a nod in the direction of the enormous vogue for such interpretation of the Bible since about 1960 would be appropriate. Accessible and recommended for undergraduate and graduate collections that do not own the two-volume edition." Choice
"This edition of the two-volume History of the Bible as Literature (1993) cuts down the material to more manageable proportions by confining the focus to the English Bible, reducing the number of examples, and omitting the appendices." Theology Digest
"Norton's magisterial study...is a treasure trove for anyone who is interested in the cultural imapct of the Bible in the English-speaking world." Religious Studies Review
"This is a very good book indeed...Norton's volume is filled on every page with the true scholar's eye for detail and understanding of the whole field...Norton's fine book does a good deal to begin to restore the Bible to its proper place in English language cultural history." Theology Today
contains: 16 b/w illus.
1. Creators of English
2. From the Great Bible to the Rheims-Douai Bible: arguments about language
3. The King James Bible
4. Literary implications of Bible presentation
5. The struggle for acceptance
6. The Psalter in verse and poetry
7. The eloquentest book in the world'
8. Writers and the Bible 1: Milton and Bunyan
9. The early eighteenth century and the KJB
10. Mid-century
11. The critical rise of the KJB
12. Writers and the Bible 2: the Romantics
13. Literary discussion to mid-victorian times
14. The revised version
15. 'The Bible as literature'
16. The later reputation of the KJB
17. The New English Bible.
Marketing Sample (323 KB)
David Norton, Victoria University of Wellington
A History of the Bible as Literature
The Book of Ecclesiastes (Qohelet) and the Path to Joyous Living
A Textual History of the King James Bible and The New Cambridge Paragraph Bible
Biblical studies - Old Testament, Hebrew bible
Buddhism and Eastern religions
Religion: general interest | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1148 |
__label__cc | 0.660271 | 0.339729 | The Double Jeopardy Defense in Florida Drug Crime Cases
The “double jeopardy” rule essentially provides that a person can’t be charged more than once for the same crime. It bars prosecutors from seeking to recharge a person for the same crime after being acquitted, convicted, or found not guilty. It also stops them from seeking double punishment for the same crime. The rule is an important legal protection for anyone charged with a crime in Florida. The state’s Second District Court of Appeal recently explained how the rule works in a drug case out of Polk County.A defendant was arrested and charged with three criminal offenses after he allegedly sold cocaine to an undercover police officer using a confidential informant. He had one stash of the drug that he removed from a nightstand to sell a portion to the informant, according to the court. Prosecutors charged him with delivery of cocaine (a second-degree felony), possession of cocaine with intent to sell or deliver (a second-degree felony), and possession of cocaine (a third-degree felony). He was convicted on all three charges.
The defendant later appealed the conviction, arguing that it violated the double jeopardy rule. Specifically, he claimed that he could not be charged with both cocaine possession with intent to sell and cocaine possession, generally stemming from the same incident. The Second Circuit agreed.
The court compared the defendant’s case to a 2005 case in which Polk County cops charged a man with one count of cocaine possession with intent to sell for the portion of the drug that the man actually sold to an undercover officer and a separate count of simple possession for the portion of the drug that he kept. The court in the 2005 case said it “failed to see how there can be a legal distinction between the produce leaving the peddler’s hand or in his pocket and that still on the push cart.” This time around, the court said the same analysis applied to the defendant’s case.
“[The defendant’s] act of selling a portion of his cocaine stash, all of which emanated from a single source and location, could not factually support separate possession convictions for both the quantity sold and the quantity that remained,” the court concluded. As a result, the Second Circuit scrapped the conviction on the third-degree felony cocaine possession charge and sent the case back to the trial court for resentencing.
As this case shows, a number of complicated legal issues often come up in Florida criminal cases. If you or a loved one has been charged with a drug or other crime in Florida, it is essential that you seek the advice and counsel of an experienced defense lawyer. Clearwater drug crime attorney Will Hanlon is a seasoned lawyer who fights aggressively on behalf of clients charged with a wide range of offenses. Call our offices at (727) 897-5413 or contact us online to speak with Mr. Hanlon about your case.
Posted In: Criminal Defense and Drug Crime
Updated: February 20, 2018 1:28 am | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1149 |
__label__wiki | 0.65252 | 0.65252 | CORPORATE TRANSACTIONS & COMPLIANCE BLOG
The British Virgin Islands: Due Diligence and Company Searches
By: Andy Chen, COGENCY GLOBAL INC. on Mon, Sep 08, 2014
The British Virgin Islands, a.k.a. the BVI, is one of the largest and most reputable international financial jurisdictions both in the Caribbean and around the world. Although exact figures are not disclosed by the BVI Registrar of Corporate Affairs (the “Registrar”), the latest estimates in 2012 by the BVI professional services industry puts the number of companies formed at 1 million since the introduction of the International Business Companies Act (subsequently changed to the Business Companies Act) in 1984.
The Business Companies Act 2004 requires the Registrar to maintain a Register of Companies incorporated under the Act, a Register of Foreign Companies registered under Part XI and a Register of Charges registered under part VIII.
Documents filed by a BVI Business Company (“BVI BC”) are available for public inspection and generally include:
Memorandum and Articles of Association: This is similar to Articles of Incorporation for a U.S. company, but contains more details on the governing of the company, which, in the U.S., would normally be included in the corporate bylaws.
Certificate of Incorporation: This is a one page certificate that shows that a company is duly registered. A Certificate of Good Standing may also be obtained, which will show both registration and current status.
Register of Charges: A simple company search will reflect mortgages and charges (a charge means any form of security interest over property, wherever situated, other than an interest arising by operation of law; which is registered to the entity on the public record.) Under the law, BVI companies are required to create and maintain an internal register of charges. Registering these charges in the company’s registry is also usually done, but not always.
Documents containing more details about the company, such as the Register of Directors, Register of Members and Register of Officers would be available for public inspection if a BVI BC has elected to file the same with the Registrar. Copies of documents retrieved by public inspection can be certified by the Registrar. If needed, they can then be notarized in the BVI before being sent to London to complete the Apostille by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Under the Business Companies Act 2004, a BVI BC abides to a different standard of privacy where the constitution documents, or Memorandum and Articles of Association, together with any amendments, are required to be filed with the BVI Registrar of Corporate Affairs. But like a Delaware corporation, a BVI BC can elect (or is otherwise unobligated) to file its Register of Directors, Register of Members or Register of Officers with the Registrar. With that said, a BVI BC is not permitted to elect to file such Registers once and then subsequently re-elect not to refile any changes in the particulars of the directors, members and/or officers in the future. The Registrar will consider the filing of such registers as a binding precedent to be enforced by the named registered agent in the BVI perpetually for the life of the same BC.
Records and Documents Registered Agent is Required to Maintain
As stated above, there are limited requirements to file documents with the Registrar in the BVI. However, a BVI BC is required by the Business Companies Act 2004 to maintain certain records and documents at the office of the registered agent, a complete record of the Memorandum and Articles of Association and amendments, most up-to-date Register of Members, Register of Directors, Register of Officers and copies of all notices and documents filed with the Registrar in the previous 10 years. However, in terms of privacy, there is no public right for inspection of said documents at the office of the registered agent. Although the Business Companies Act 2004 states that the registered agent of a BVI BC is responsible for maintaining records, in practice, the registered agent is often reliant on the directors to keep records up-to-date and accurate.
In conclusion, it is possible to get three basic pieces of documentation from the public record for a BVI company, but a more complete record is likely available from the registered agent as many companies opt to keep some information out of the public registry. To secure the release of documents from the registered agent, permission from the target company is usually required.
This article is provided for informational purposes only and should not be considered, or relied upon, as legal advice.
Topics: International Secured Transactions
Company Formation and Filing Considerations (101)
Nonprofit Registration and Compliance (60)
Charitable Solicitation Registration (55)
Annual Report Compliance (45)
International Corporate Services (42)
UCC (37)
Article 9 Filing, Searching and Due Diligence (34)
Delaware Corporate, UCC and Compliance (33)
Process Agent (23)
Intellectual Property Due Diligence (19)
Registered Agent (17)
Corporate Transparency (16)
Authentication / Legalization (15)
International Secured Transactions (13)
Business Licensing (10)
Independent Manager/Director Service (3)
Personal Property Security Act (PPSA) (3)
Cogency Global News (1)
Special Agency Representation (1) | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1152 |
__label__wiki | 0.896584 | 0.896584 | history| military
Rogue Heroes: The History Of The Sas, Britain's Secret Special Forces Unit That Sabotaged The Nazis…
byBen MacintyreRead byBen Macintyre
Audio Book (CD) | October 4, 2016
$54.00 list price
Audio Book (CD)
The incredible untold story of WWII’s greatest secret fighting force, as told by our great modern master of wartime intrigue
Britain’s Special Air Service—or SAS—was the brainchild of David Stirling, a young, gadabout aristocrat whose aimlessness in early life belied a remarkable strategic mind. Where most of his colleagues looked at a battlefield map of World War II’s African theater and saw a protracted struggle with Rommel’s desert forces, Stirling saw an opportunity: given a small number of elite, well-trained men, he could parachute behind enemy lines and sabotage their airplanes and war material. Paired with his constitutional opposite, the disciplined martinet Jock Lewes, Stirling assembled a revolutionary fighting force that would upend not just the balance of the war, but the nature of combat itself. He faced no little resistance from those who found his tactics ungentlemanly or beyond the pale, but in the SAS’s remarkable exploits facing the Nazis in the Africa and then on the Continent can be found the seeds of nearly all special forces units that would follow.
Bringing his keen eye for psychological detail to a riveting wartime narrative, Ben Macintyre uses his unprecedented access to SAS archives to shine a light inside a legendary unit long shrouded in secrecy. The result is not just a tremendous war story, but a fascinating group portrait of men of whom history and country asked the most.
BEN MACINTYRE is a writer-at-large for The Times of London and the bestselling author of A Spy Among Friends, Double Cross, Operation Mincemeat, and Agent Zigzag, among other books. Macintyre has also written and presented BBC documentaries of his work. He lives in London with his wife, the novelist Kate Muir, and their three children....
Title:Rogue Heroes: The History Of The Sas, Britain's Secret Special Forces Unit That Sabotaged The Nazis…Format:Audio Book (CD)Product dimensions:5.87 × 5.07 × 1.12 inShipping dimensions:5.87 × 5.07 × 1.12 inPublished:October 4, 2016Publisher:Penguin Random House Audio Publishing GroupLanguage:English
Books History Military
Customer Reviews of Rogue Heroes: The History Of The Sas, Britain's Secret Special Forces Unit That Sabotaged The Nazis And Changed T
Rated 5 out of 5 by neeenz from Must read for world war 2 history This book did not disappoint, the story was never dull and the sitting kept you hooked would make an excellent movie
Rated 5 out of 5 by jojo from Wonderful The latest from the bestselling author of Operation Mincemeat and A Spy Among Friends -- the untold story of one of WWII's most important secret military units.
Rated 5 out of 5 by Kevin_Shackleton from Hollywood would be hard pressed to write a better action story. The cast of characters and the events described in this book nearly beggar belief. The Special Air Service, as it came to be known, is the progenitor of today's modern special forces. It set the bar high for the type of actions they would undertake and the effect they would have on enemy operations. One thing I took from the book was that despite the propensity for violence among those early members, they still had a strong moral compass and in contrast to the SS with whom they were frequently engaged at the end of the Second World War, they were not indiscriminate killers of civilians even when they entered Germany and faced a hostile population.
Read from the Book
Chapter 1 Cowboy Soldier Five months before Operation Squatter, a tall, thin soldier lay, grumpy and immobile, in a Cairo hospital bed. The twenty-five-year-old officer had been brought into the Scottish Military Hospital on June 15, 1941, paralyzed from the waist down. A letter to his mother from the War Office stated that he had suffered “a contusion of the back as a result of enemy action.” This was not, strictly speaking, true. The injured soldier had not set eyes on the enemy: he had jumped out of a plane, without a helmet or proper training, ripped his parachute on the tail and plummeted to earth at roughly twice the recommended speed. The impact had knocked him out and badly injured his spine, leaving him temporarily blinded and without feeling in his legs. The doctors feared he would never walk again. Even before his parachuting accident, the officer’s contribution to the war effort had been minimal: he lacked the most basic military discipline, could not march straight, and was so lazy his comrades had nicknamed him “the Giant Sloth.” Since being posted to Egypt with the British commando force, he had spent much of his time in Cairo’s bars and clubs, or gambling at the racecourse. The nurses at the hospital knew him well, for he frequently popped in during the morning, whey-faced and liverish, to request a blast from the oxygen bottle to cure his hangover. Before his parachute jump landed him in the hospital, he had been under investigation to establish whether he was malingering and ought to be court-martialed. His fellow officers found him charming and entertaining; his senior commanders, for the most part, regarded him as impertinent, incompetent, and profoundly irritating. On completing officer training, he had received a blunt appraisal: “irresponsible and unremarkable.” Lieutenant David Stirling of the Scots Guards was not a conventional soldier. The writer Evelyn Waugh, a fellow officer in the commando force, came to visit Stirling about three weeks after his admission to the hospital. Waugh had been misinformed by the matron that one of Stirling’s legs had already been amputated, and he would likely lose the other. “I can’t feel a thing,” Stirling told his friend. Embarrassed, as Englishmen tend to be when faced with disability, Waugh kept up a steady stream of meaningless small talk, perched on the edge of the bed, and studiously avoided the subject of his friend’s paralysis. Every so often, however, he would sneak a surreptitious glance to where Stirling’s remaining leg ought to be, and whenever he did so Stirling, with extreme effort, would wiggle the big toe of his right foot. Finally, Waugh realized he was being teased, and hit Stirling with a pillow. “You bastard, Stirling, when did it happen?” “Minutes before you came. It takes a bit of effort, but it’s a start.” Stirling was regaining the use of his legs. Others might have cried for joy; for Stirling, however, the first sign of his recovery was an excellent opportunity to play a practical joke on one of Britain’s greatest novelists. It would take two more weeks before Stirling could stand upright, and several more before he was able to hobble about. But during those two months of enforced inaction he did a great deal of thinking—something that, in spite of his reputation as a feckless gadabout, he was rather good at. The commandos were intended to be Britain’s storm troops, volunteers selected and trained to carry out destructive raids against Axis targets. Prime Minister Winston Churchill had decided that the ideal theater in which to deploy the commandos would be North Africa, where they could conduct seaborne raids against enemy bases along the Mediterranean coast. In Stirling’s unsolicited opinion, the concept was not working. Most of the time the commandos were inactive, awaiting the order for a great assault that never came; on the rare occasions when they were deployed, the results had been disappointing. The German and Italian troops fully expected to be attacked from the sea, and were primed and waiting. The commando forces were simply too large and cumbersome to launch an assault without being spotted; the element of surprise was immediately lost. But what, wondered Stirling, if the combat troops attacked from the opposite direction? To the south, stretching between Egypt and Libya, lay the Great Sand Sea, a vast, waterless expanse of unbroken dunes covering forty-five thousand square miles. One of the most inhospitable environments on earth, the desert was considered by the Germans to be virtually impassable, a natural barrier, and they therefore left it largely unprotected, and entirely unpatrolled. “This was one sea the Hun was not watching,” Stirling reflected. If mobile teams of highly trained men, under cover of darkness, could be infiltrated onto the enemy’s desert flank, they might be able to sabotage airfields, supply depots, communications links, railways, and roads, and then slip back into the embracing emptiness of the sand sea. A commando force several hundred strong could attack only one target at a time; but a number of smaller units, moving quickly, raiding suddenly and then retreating swiftly, could destroy multiple targets simultaneously. The opportunity to attack the enemy in the rear, when he least expects it, is the pipe dream of every general. The peculiar geography of North Africa offered just such a possibility, reflected Stirling, as he lay half paralyzed in his hospital bed, trying to wiggle his toes. Stirling’s idea was the result of wishful thinking more than expertise; it had emerged not from long hours of reflection and study, but from the acute boredom of convalescence. It was based on intuition, imagination, and self-confidence, of which Stirling had plenty, rather than experience of desert warfare, of which he had none. But it was an inspired idea, and the sort of idea that could only have occurred to someone as strange and remarkable as Archibald David Stirling. Stirling was one of those people who thrive in war, having failed at peace. In a short life, he had tried his hand at a variety of occupations—artist, architect, cowboy, and mountaineer—and found success in none of them. Privileged by birth and education, intelligent and resourceful, he could have done anything, but had spent the early part of his life doing little of any consequence. The war was his salvation. The Stirling family was one of the oldest and grandest in Scotland, an aristocratic clan of great distinction, long military traditions, and considerable eccentricity. David Stirling’s mother was the daughter of Lord Lovat, the chief of Clan Fraser, with bloodlines stretching back to Charles II. His father, General Archibald Stirling, had been gassed in the First World War, served as an MP, and then retired to Keir, the fifteen thousand-acre Perthshire estate that had been the family’s seat for the previous five centuries. The general presided over his sprawling lands and unruly family like some benign but distant chieftain observing a battlefield from a remote hill. David’s formidable mother, Margaret, was the more forceful presence: her children were in awe of her. Keir House, where David Stirling was born in 1915, was a vast edifice, freezing cold even at the height of summer, filled with old hunting trophies, noise, and devilment. The Stirling parents drummed good manners into their six children, but otherwise largely left them to get on with their lives. The four Stirling boys, of whom David was the second in age, grew up stalking deer, hunting rabbits, fighting, and competing. One favorite game was a form of sibling duel using air rifles: two brothers would take potshots at each other’s backsides in turn, moving closer by a pace after each shot. Despite this aristocratically spartan start in life, David Stirling was not a hardy child. Dispatched to Ampleforth, a Catholic boarding school, at the age of eight, he caught typhoid fever and was sent home for an extended period of recovery. A speech impediment was eventually cured by surgery. He disliked sports, and did his best to avoid them. He grew at an astonishing rate: by the age of seventeen, he was nearly six feet, six inches tall, a gangly beanpole, willful, reckless, and exceptionally polite. Largely by virtue of his class, he was awarded a place at Cambridge University, where he misbehaved on a lavish scale, spending more time at Newmarket racecourse than he devoted to studying. “If there was a serious side to life it totally escaped me,” he later admitted. If he ever opened a book, the event was not recorded. After a year, the master of his college informed him that he was being sent down, read out a list of twenty-three offenses that merited expulsion, and invited him to select the three that he considered “would be least offensive” to his mother. David Stirling decided he would become an artist, in Paris. He had little talent for painting. But he did have a beret, and a yen for the bohemian life. Some have detected “a strange mixture of beauty and the macabre” in his paintings. His French art tutor, however, did not, and after a year and a half of louche Left Bank life, he was told that while he might one day make a half-decent commercial draftsman, his “painting would never achieve any real merit.” Stirling was profoundly upset; his failure as an artist marked him forever, and perhaps explained the consistent ripple of insecurity that lay beneath the carapace of confidence. He returned to Cambridge to study architecture, but soon dropped out again. A job with an Edinburgh architect was short-lived. His mother now intervened, and told her second son that he must stop drifting and do something with his life. Stirling announced that he intended to become the first person to climb Mount Everest. Stirling was quite the wrong shape to scramble up rocks. He had little experience of serious climbing. He also suffered from vertigo. Intrepid British mountaineers had been trying to scale the world’s highest mountain since 1921; dozens had perished in the attempt. Climbing Everest was an expensive, dangerous, demanding business, and Stirling was broke—none of which dented his determination to succeed where other, qualified, experienced, well-funded mountaineers had failed. He spent a year climbing in the Swiss Alps, bankrolled by his mother, before joining the supplementary reserve of the Scots Guards, his father’s regiment, in the hope that part-time army training might bolster his mountaineering quest. He soon drifted out of uniform, repelled by the mind-swamping boredom of the parade ground. In 1938, at the age of twenty-three, he went to the United States with the intention of climbing the Rockies and riding across the Continental Divide. He was south of the Rio Grande, having spent several months herding cattle in the company of a cowboy named Roy “Panhandle” Terrill when he learned that Britain was at war—the run‑up to which had, it seems, almost entirely passed him by. His mother sent a telegram: “Return home by the cheapest possible means.” Stirling flew to Britain on a first-class ticket, and rushed back into uniform. The David Stirling who turned up at the Guards Depot in Pirbright in the autumn of 1939 was a strange mixture of parts. Ambitious but unfocused; steeped in soldierly traditions but allergic to military discipline. A boisterous exterior belied a man prone to periodic depressions, whose extreme good manners and social ease masked moments of inner turmoil. Stirling was a romantic, with an innate talent for friendship but little desire or need for physical intimacy. He appears to have lost his virginity in Paris as an art student. With Panhandle Terrill he had enjoyed the company of “some of those dark girls down in Mexico.” But his natural shyness coupled with a stern all-male Catholic education seems to have left him in fear of women. “The totally confused, guilt-ridden years of puberty exerted an awful pressure,” he once remarked. He spoke of “predatory females”; his few romantic encounters were described as “close escapes,” as if he feared entrapment. “Bonds of any sort are a pressure I find very difficult to bear,” he admitted. He had many women friends, and according to his biographer was “not unattracted to the opposite sex.” Yet he seemed to relax only among men, and “in wide open spaces.” Like many convivial people, he was slightly lonely. A warrior monk, he craved action and the company of soldiers, but when the fighting was over, he embraced solitude. Stirling was also possessed of a profound self-belief, the sort of confidence that comes from high birth and boundless opportunity. He was blithely unconstrained by convention, and regarded rules as nuisances to be ignored, broken, or otherwise overcome. He was elaborately respectful toward his social inferiors, and showed no deference whatever to rank. Strikingly modest, he was repelled by braggarts and loudmouths: “swanks” (swanking) or “pomposo” (pomposity) were his gravest insults. His manner seemed vague and forgetful, but his powers of concentration were phenomenal. Despite an ungainly body and a patchy academic record, he had a stubborn faith in his own abilities, intellectual and physical. Stirling did exactly what he wanted to do, whether or not others thought his aims were sensible or even possible. The SAS came into being, in part, because its founder would not take no for an answer, either from those in authority or from those under his command. Just as he had been bored by the logistics of mountaineering, so Stirling found the practical preparations for war indescribably tedious. Like many young men, he was hungry for the fight, but instead found himself shackled to a regime of endless marching, kit inspections, weapons drill, and all the other rote elements of military life. So he rebelled. Slipping away from the Guards Depot at Pirbright, he would frequently head to London for a night of drinking, gambling, and billiards at White’s club; just as frequently he was caught, and confined to barracks. Stirling was a nightmare recruit: impertinent, indolent, and often half asleep as a result of his carousing the night before. “He was quite, quite irresponsible,” recalled Willie (later Viscount) Whitelaw, a fellow trainee officer at Pirbright. “He just couldn’t tolerate that we were being trained along the lines of the last major conflict. His reaction was just to ignore everything.” It was at the bar of White’s, one of the most exclusive gentleman’s clubs in London, that Stirling first learned about a form of soldiering that seemed much closer to the adventure and excitement he had in mind: a crack new commando unit intended to hit important enemy targets with maximum impact. Stirling’s cousin, Lord Lovat, had been among the first to volunteer for the commandos. Formed under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Robert Laycock, the force—christened Layforce—would consist of more than 1,500 volunteers formed into three commando regiments, recruited from the Foot Guards (the regular infantry of the Household Division) and other infantry regiments: an elite troop of specialized, highly trained raiders and marauders. Lord Haw-Haw, the British traitor who broadcast radio announcements into England for the Nazis, would describe the commandos as “Churchill’s cut-throats.” Stirling immediately volunteered. Soon he found himself stomping through the wilds of western Scotland, familiar boyhood terrain and far from the parade ground he loathed. For weeks the commandos trained in the bogs and bracken of the Isle of Arran: route marches, unarmed combat, endurance, fieldcraft, navigation, and survival techniques. Even at this early stage, some of the other volunteers noticed something different about the tall young officer: Stirling was a natural leader, with an understated but adamant faith in his own decisions, and a gentlemanly insistence on doing everything he asked of his men, and more. On February 1, 1941, Layforce sailed for the Middle East. Finally Stirling was heading into battle, leaving behind a long string of unpaid bills: from his bookmaker, his tailor, his bank manager, and even from a cowboy outfitter in Arizona, seeking payment for a saddle. Layforce had been deployed to disrupt Axis communication lines in the Mediterranean, and to spearhead the capture of Rhodes. But by the time the commandos arrived in Egypt, the military situation had changed: the arrival in Cyrenaica (eastern coastal Libya) of the Afrika Korps, the German expeditionary force under Erwin Rommel, had transformed the strategic picture. The British were now scrambling to oppose the German advances, and the first stage of the seesaw war in North Africa was under way. Initially deployed to shore up the Italian defense of their North African colonies, the Afrika Korps moved with alarming speed, driving the British back to the Egyptian border with Libya and laying siege to the coastal town of Tobruk. Instead of storming Rhodes, the commandos were split up and variously deployed to garrison Cyprus, cover the evacuation of Crete, reinforce the defense of Tobruk, and carry out raids along the coasts of Cyrenaica and Syria. An assault on the Libyan coastal town of Bardia achieved little, with 67 of the British raiders taken prisoner. Of the 800 commandos sent to cover the evacuation of Crete in May, fewer than 200 managed to escape—among them Evelyn Waugh, who boarded the last ship to leave. In June, the commandos successfully established a bridgehead on the Litani River in Lebanon against Vichy French forces, but lost a quarter of their attacking force. Stirling, based in Egypt with the Layforce Reserve, was bored and frustrated. He had yet to fire a gun in action. “We were involved in a series of postponements and cancellations, and that was extremely frustrating,” he later recalled. Before the departure of the commandos, the director of combined operations had told them they were about to “embark on an enterprise that would stir the world.” So far, Stirling had barely stirred. As always when he was underemployed, he turned to revelry. Peter Stirling, David’s younger brother, was serving at the British embassy in Cairo, and his comfortable diplomatic flat in the Garden City district became the venue for riotous parties and nocturnal forays into the city’s fleshpots. Stirling began to miss parades, and make excuses. His claims of ill health were not wholly untrue. He was stricken by a nasty bout of dysentery. Then, returning from a night exercise, he tripped over a tent rope and gashed an eyeball, requiring stitches. Stirling found the American hospital particularly comfortable, and began to contrive to spend his days there, claiming to be suffering from fever. “In a sense, I was pretty ill,” he later argued. “Because I would go out in the evening, having recovered from the appalling hangover caused by the previous night’s activities in Cairo, and re-establish my illness by my activities the following night.” Alerted by the hospital matron, Stirling’s superiors began to question just how unwell he really was. He was drinking and partying himself into serious trouble when his life was changed by a conversation, in the mess, with Lieutenant Jock Lewes, a fellow officer in the commandos who was as self-disciplined and uptight as Stirling was dissolute and nonchalant. Lewes told Stirling that he had recently obtained a stock of several dozen parachutes, destined for a paratroop unit operating in India but accidentally shipped to Port Said, where he had appropriated them. Colonel Laycock had given Lewes permission to attempt an experimental parachute jump in the desert. Stirling asked if he could come along, “partly for fun, partly because it would be useful to know how to do it,” and mostly because he was very bored. So began an important and unlikely partnership between two men who could hardly have been more different.
Named a "Top 10 Title for 2016" by the Washington Post and NPR“Ben Macintyre’s suspenseful new book, Rogue Heroes, about the founding of Britain’s S.A.S. during World War II, reads like a mashup of 'The Dirty Dozen' and 'The Great Escape,' with a sprinkling of “Ocean’s 11” thrown in for good measure… Mr. Macintyre draws sharp, Dickensian portraits of these men, and he displays his usual gifts here for creating a cinematic narrative that races along… Mr. Macintyre is masterly in using details to illustrate his heroes’ bravery, élan and dogged perseverance…a gripping account of the early days of S.A.S.” —Michiko Kakutani, New York Times "Rogue Heroes is a terrific story of human enterprise, endurance and achievement and vividly brings to life an extraordinary cast of characters…. An absorbing story of derring-do, told with skill and flair.” —Wall Street Journal “[A] riveting new history… Macintyre has produced yet another wonderful book… even minor characters bristle with life.... This is the spot in the book review where I’m supposed to find some point to quibble with, some omission, some historical inaccuracy, some flaw. Sorry to disappoint. The fact is Macintyre has produced yet another wonderful book. As Captain What What might have put it, this is a ripping good read.” —The Washington Post "Rogue Heroes is a thrilling saga, breathtakingly told, full of daring and heroes… One of the many virtues of this volume… is the surprising small asides tucked into these pages, tiny truths that give the book depth along with derring-do.” —The Boston Globe “Rogue Heroes is the best and most complete version of the tale...a highly enjoyable and entertaining narrative.” —New York Times Book Review “One of the remarkable aspects of Macintyre’s authorized-if-not-official history is that he keeps a cool hand on the theatrics…while maintaining an edge-of-the-seat narrative. The exploits have an authentic feel…and it is no easy thing to capture the spell of dire circumstance and distill it in such a way to be experiential to those who’ve never spent a moment wondering where in the darkness that sniper is.” —Christian Science Monitor “[This] entertaining World War II history will keep you tossing and alert late into the night.” —Florida Times-Union “Rogue Heroes provides an inside look at an important struggle.” —Galveston Daily News “Mr. Macintyre demonstrates superb skill as a journalist and a writer in this riveting book that takes readers into a long-past and still-frightening world of what real war was like.” —The Washington Times “[A] well-written and comprehensive history . . . Macintyre uses unprecedented access to the SAS official records, along with memoirs, diaries, and interviews with the few surviving veterans, to chronicle the major operations, key personalities, successes, and failures of the regiment in WWII. He vividly captures the bravery and the sheer audaciousness of the SAS troopers and their leadership operating hundreds of miles behind enemy lines. . . . Macintyre delivers a solid history and an enjoyable read that will appeal to those interested in military history as well as readers who enjoy real-life tales of adventure.” —Publishers Weekly “A rollicking tale of ‘unparalleled bravery and ingenuity, interspersed with moments of rank incompetence, raw brutality and touching human frailty.’” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “A brilliant account…The author offers vivid information…The story will echo the voices of future generations of special forces hear in Marcus Luttrell’s Lone Survivor and Mark Bowden’s Black Hawk Down. Macintyre’s masterly storytelling highlights the bravery of these valiant men.” —Library Journal (starred review) “A superb study of wartime daring. A compelling tale full of jeopardy: bone-shattering parachute drops, terrifying night-time raids on Nazi airfields, fizzing explosive fuses, near escapes in screaming jeeps, harrowing marches through deserts, frozen forest encounters with desperate Germans and mad, edgy drinking bouts that could end with grenades being flourished.” —Daily Telegraph “Told with brilliance. The SAS are still about the best of their kind, and how they began to achieve this is an exotic saga indeed. No one will ever tell it better than this.” —Evening Standard “Follows the SAS from its early days in north Africa to the end of the war. Throughout the tales of scarcely believable heroism, derring-do, courage, camaraderie and endurance come faster than the bullets out of a Vickers machine gun. Meticulously researched. Macintyre has written about a fascinating subject in a way that would make any thriller writer proud. As a work of military history it is thorough and highly entertaining. It would be nigh on impossible to praise it too highly.” —Daily Express “A refreshing account of the origins of the regiment of balaclava-clad silent killers during the Second World War. Macintyre has a wonderful eye for eccentricity, and the narrative is peppered with extraordinary characters. At times there is more than a whiff of PG Wodehouse or Evelyn Waugh.” —Evening Standard (A Book of the Year) “Thrilling. Ben Macintyre is the ideal narrator.” —Spectator “Macintyre tells it with flair. A great read of wartime adventuring.” —Richard Overy, The Guardian “A master at setting the pulse racing, Macintyre relates stories of raw courage and daring.” —Tony Rennell, Daily Mail “Ben Macintyre's coverage of the SAS in north Africa and, later, Italy, France and Germany, is brilliant, blending gripping narratives of fighting with descriptions of the fears of individual soldiers before battle and their reactions to its horror. Britain's martial pantheon is full of outnumbered heroes who wouldn't throw in the sponge. Henry V's band of brothers at Agincourt, the redcoats at Waterloo, the defenders of Rorke's drift, and the paras who charged at Goose Green are part of the tradition that embraces the SAS. This book explains why.” —The Times “Grippingly readable. Macintyre tells the extraordinary story of the SAS compellingly.” —Scotsman “Fascinating, entertaining, insightful, thoughtful. Macintyre tells the story of the early years of the SAS with panache.” —Mail on Sunday “Macintyre writes with the diligence and insight of a journalist, and the panache of a born storyteller.” —John Banville, author of The Sea and The Untouchable “By far the best book on the SAS in World War II—impeccably researched and superbly told.” —Antony Beevor, author of D-Day and Stalingrad “We all have to come from somewhere. Rogue Heroes gives a glimpse deep down the rabbit hole into how the special forces world started. This is a great look at how a motivated bunch of badasses changed the tide of war and carved the path for the rest of us to follow.” —Marcus Luttrell, former U.S. Navy SEAL and author of Lone Survivor 'Accessible yet authoritative. Delivers stories of tremendous adventure and derring-do, but also offers more than straightforward military history. This book has many strengths but perhaps its greatest is how thought-provoking it is' —Laurence Rees, author of World War II Behind Closed Doors | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1154 |
__label__wiki | 0.542085 | 0.542085 | Remember the Goal: Living in Faith is Like a Race
Allee-Sutton Hethcoat stars as Courtney Smith-Donnelly, the fresh-from-college teacher and new cross country coach at Orange Hills, a private Christian high school. Her principles are built on Christian tenets, like “whatever you do, do it for the glory of God” and “humble yourself in the sight of the Lord.” But when she tells her young team to “train slow to run fast,” she finds herself at complete odds with her runners, their parents, and the school administration. What will it take to help the community Remember the Goal?
Why are we running if we’re not running to win? -- A parent of an Orange Hills runner
In Dave Christiano’s sports film, which he wrote, produced, edited, and directed, the action on the course is a direct parallel to the way that the young women are challenged in their non-running lives. When Smith-Donnelly arrives, she finds a team lacking a clear vision, hurting for recruitment, and divided by the expectations of parents who lack the ability to separate their desires from their children’s lives. (As a coach, I regularly find that the toughest part of team-building is the parents!) When the young coach refuses to accept dissension, she finds her job threatened, but she refuses to give into the runners, their parents, or the school’s athletic director.
What Smith-Donnelly does is provide a constant reminder of the example of running as a metaphor for our Christian faith; whether it’s telling stories or quoting Scripture directly, the coach embodies a different kind of leadership than the girls have ever seen. While they had previously run, run, and run some more, working their bodies into the ground, she shows them that endurance requires patience and consistency, not periodic, unplanned sprints. When it comes to living out the examples of the course in real life, she shows them how to love people and share their faith in organic, meaningful ways.
One of Smith-Donnelly’s stories revolves around Jesus healing a girl who everyone else has written off (Luke 8:40-56) and the way they mock his different perspective. This is clearly one of Christiano’s main points for the film: that doing things in a new way, or doing them like Jesus, puts us at odds with the expectations around us. While the parents (and some runners) say they want to win the state championship, they forget that goal while pursuing day-to-day training and races; Smith-Donnelly is focused on ‘the mission,’ and stays true to that goal throughout… just like Jesus.
At times exciting, and often realistic to life on a team, Remember the Goal delivers some rousing entertainment with practical Christian teaching that drives home the point. It’s a reminder to all of us not to go with the crowd, but to follow Jesus, to … Remember the Goal.
For more on the film, read interviews from Hethcoat and co-star Quinn Alexis.
Unstoppable Bethany Hamilton: Christian, Wife, Mom, ...Surfer
Tapestry's Rob DePalo is in a New York State of Mind
Christian Movie News
Test My Device
Filmmakers/Distributors
ChristianCinema.com Newsletter
Christian Cinema
2555 Northwinds Pkwy
Monday-Friday 9am-5pm (Eastern)
Copyright © 1999-2018 Christian Cinema, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1158 |
__label__cc | 0.671721 | 0.328279 | #BreakingNews Syrian Orthodox Christian Church Attacked by Car Bomb with 12 Wounded in Syria - Please Pray!
Qamishli: car bomb hits the church of the Virgin Mary, at least 12 wounded
The explosion caused serious damage to buildings and cars in the area, without causing victims. Al-Wasta is a Christian neighborhood in an area with a Kurdish majority. Syrian Orthodox Patriarch: attack that creates "anxiety and disorder". Christians "must remain" and not be intimidated. Authors are still unknown.
Qamishli (AsiaNews) - The toll from an attack that struck the Church of the Virgin Mary in Qamishli, northwest Syria, in an area with a Kurdish majority disputed with the central government of Damascusis of at least 12 wounded.
So far there are no official claims for the attack or victims - despite early reports of deaths - but only serious material damage to the cars, buildings and the place of worship.
Local sources interviewed by AsiaNews say that the explosion, triggered by a car packed with explosives, occurred shortly after six in the afternoon local time. The attack targeted the neighborhood of al-Wasta, with a Christian majority, where the Syro-Orthodox church stands and, not far away, there is also the Armenian one.
According to a local Christian, who asks for anonymity, the toll could have been much more serious if the attackers had not miscalculated the ending time pf vespers at 5.30. A few minutes later, he warns, it would have been "a massacre" with several dozen deaths.
Suspicions are concentrated around extremist groups, including local cells or lone wolves of the Islamic State (IS, ex Isis), still active in the area. However, there are no official claims or obvious traces that could lead to a particular group. The explosion caused serious material damage, but there would be no casualties and even the wounded are out of danger.
In a statement released to AsiaNews, the Syrian-Orthodox patriarchate of Antioch and the whole East condemned the attack, which "triggered an atmosphere of anxiety and disorder". Nevertheless, the patriarch Mar Ignatius Efrem recalls that Christians "must remain" in their land of origin and must not be intimidated. The priests and the faithful, the communiqué continues, "who were in the church are all well", as well as "the inhabitants of Qamishli"; the hope, he concludes, is a "speedy recovery" for those injured and "a return to peace and security in Syria in the near future".
The attack on the church is not an isolated event, because in the north-western area of the country - controlled by the Kurds, long supported by Washington - yesterday there were three different attacks: the first occurred near a checkpoint in Afrin (dispute with the Turks) and killed 13 people, including 8 civilians, and injured 35 others. The third attack took place in the center of Hassaké, where a motorcycle exploded with explosives , this time without causing victims
FULL TEXT release from Asia News IT
Posted by Jesus Caritas Est at 9:44 AM | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1159 |
__label__wiki | 0.842478 | 0.842478 | Bonum fortuna
Responding to editors’ requests for a regular sampling of current commentary from around the Catholic press, here is an unsigned editorial titled: “Bonum fortuna” which appeared online June 14 on the website of The Catholic Register, the Toronto-based national Catholic Canadian newspaper.
— Catholic News Service
Latin may never bounce back from being all but dead, but the Vatican keeps trying and deserves credit for its efforts. If not them, no one else will.
The latest attempt to breathe some life into the ancient language of the church is the launch of a weekly radio program focusing on the pope and the Vatican that will be broadcast in Latin. It also will be available as a podcast, a platform preferred by hip media consumers, suggesting either the Vatican has been injected with keen optimism or developed a sense of humor.
A program in Latin, no matter how riveting in content and presentation, is bound to attract only a modest audience. The language is officially classified as dead. It is not quite extinct, though, because it remains on life support in the church and academia. But it disappeared centuries ago as a common language anywhere in the world.
Pope’s encyclical to have medieval Italian, not Latin, title (2015)
True, Latin remains an official language of the Vatican, but Italian is the working tongue. A visitor could eavesdrop in Vatican corridors for months without hearing any Latin chit-chat. When the pope addresses thousands of people at his weekly general audience, his reflections are translated into several international languages, but not Latin.
So, it would be adventurous to predict robust ratings for a program delivered in a language that began its decline and fall with the Roman Empire.
Still, there is much to admire about the Vatican charging up the defibrillator to give another jolt to the parent of the world’s romantic languages of Italian, French and Spanish. A faint pulse is better than no pulse at all.
It is to the church’s credit that it has become Latin’s guardian. Latin usurped Greek as the language of the church during Roman times. After the Roman Empire fell, it gradually lost favor as a common language in many Mediterranean nations. But it remained the foundation of church communication and, across the continent through the Middle Ages, was the language of nobility, scholars, poets and diplomats.
Latin the the Catholic Sun
Multi-age Schola Cantorum in Phoenix (2018)
Vocations part 1 and part 2 (2018)
Papal puzzler: Leo XIII anonymously published riddles in Latin (2014)
Parishes with Latin Mass
Cardinal electors’ Latin names (2013)
Quid est in nomine? Latin is first clue to new pope’s identity (2013)
Today, Latin has been dropped from most educational curriculums (or, in Latin, curricula) and, of course, half a century ago it ceased being the official language of the Mass, although it is making a modest comeback. Yet being able to speak and read Latin remains essential to any serious study of church history because Latin texts abound as source documents in the Vatican archives and museum.
Pope Francis can speak Latin and, in approving Latin radio programming, is continuing the work of Pope Benedict XVI. Seven years ago, hoping to bring Latin from the shadows, Pope Benedict established a Vatican academy to promote Latin studies and culture.
Latin, the root of more than half the English vocabulary, is an intrinsic element of our linguistic DNA. Any attempt to keep it alive is well worth broadcasting.
The views or positions presented in this or any guest editorial are those of the individual publication and do not necessarily represent the views of Catholic News Service or of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Previous articleWhat Our Local Church Can Do
Next articleComunidad religiosa trae amor a la Eucaristía al Decanato del Norte
Catholic News Service, serving since 1920 as a news agency specializing in reporting religion, is the primary source of national and world news that appears in the U.S. Catholic press. It is also a leading source of news for Catholic print and broadcast media throughout the world. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1160 |
__label__cc | 0.565917 | 0.434083 | Birmingham Fire & Rescue kicks off ‘Operation Safe Prom’
by: Brit Moorer
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — It has been almost exactly a year since three Birmingham high school students were killed in a crash just hours after prom.
The three young men were part of Parker High School’s class of 2018.
Officials are hoping to get ahead of prom season this year and want to encourage students to enjoy the big night responsibly.
The Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service is kicking off its Operation Safe Prom initiative, a campaign designed to remind students about the dangers of drinking and driving.
Beginning this week, parents and students will notice a large banner and a wrecked vehicle outside Huffman High School.
“This is a real-life example of what can happen if you make bad decisions on prom night, so we thought it would be a good idea that the kids get an actual see an actual car and actual proof of what could happen,” said John Lyons Jr., the principal at Huffman High School.
The program will stop off at all seven Birmingham city high schools throughout prom season.
Students will also participate in a session discussing the dangers of drinking and driving.
The first session kicked off Tuesday at Huffman High School.
“We try to show them the other side of their bad decisions,” said Battalion Chief Sebastian Carrillo. “We have parents that are grieving we have a funeral scene that’s a reality, unfortunately, a person that’s drinking and driving and dies, as a result, doesn’t get to see.”
The wrecked vehicle will stay at the school until Saturday.
Huffman High School’s prom is Friday.
The Mercy Project has helped around 30 people in Walker County
by Hillary Simon / Jul 18, 2019
WALKER COUNTY, Ala (WIAT) -- In January, the Walker County Sheriff's Office started the Mercy Project, a program that helps drug addicts get into rehab. It comes at no cost to the patient or the taxpayers.
TJ Armstrong with the Walker County Sheriff's Office said it isn't a trick. You come to the sheriff's office, surrender your drugs, and simply ask for help. They're able to do this because of their partnerships with local rehabilitation centers who offer scholarships.
by Emma Simmons / Jul 18, 2019
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) -- A Birmingham Police officer was admitted into surgery at UAB following an officer-involved shooting downtown at 6:53 p.m. Wednesday.
Birmingham Police Chief Patrick Smith says a suspect in a convenience store robbery shot a responding officer multiple times. The fleeing suspect further engaged other responding officers, who returned fire, fatally striking the suspect.
DO NOT eat these fish caught in Central Alabama
The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) released its 2019 consumption advisories for the state's 40 bodies of water.
Due to mercury contamination, ADPH has advised against eating any of the following fish caught in Central Alabama: | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1161 |
__label__wiki | 0.998857 | 0.998857 | Justin Bieber attends the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on Aug. 30, 2015, in Los Angeles.
Justin Bieber performs onstage during the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on Aug. 30, 2015, in Los Angeles.
Justin Bieber gets emotional onstage during the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on Aug. 30, 2015, in Los Angeles.
Justin Bieber performs onstage during the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on August 30, 2015, in Los Angeles.
Justin Bieber poses on the red carpet at the Calvin Klein Jeans music event with special appearance from Justin Bieber and performances by Jay Park, Kevin Poon, Joon & Verbal at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, Hong Kong, June 11, 2015.
Credit: Victor Fraile/Getty Images
Justin Bieber arrives at Omnia Nightclub at Caesars Palace to celebrate his birthday on the nightclub's opening weekend on March 15, 2015, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Credit: Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images
Justin Bieber performs onstage at the 11th Desert Smash Hosted By Will Ferrell Benefiting Cancer For College at La Quinta Resort and Club on March 10, 2015, in La Quinta, California.
Justin Bieber attends amfAR's 21st Cinema Against AIDS Gala at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on May 22, 2014, in Cap d'Antibes, France
Credit: Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images
In this handout photo provided by Miami-Dade Police Department, pop star Justin Bieber poses for a booking photo at the Miami-Dade Police Department on Jan. 23, 2014, in Miami.
Credit: Miami-Dade Police Department via Getty Images
Justin Bieber performs during the 2013 Billboard Music Awards on May 19, 2013, in Las Vegas.
Justin Bieber performs live on stage at 02 Arena on March 4, 2013, in London.
Credit: Jim Dyson/AP Photo
Justin Bieber performs onstage during the 2012 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show at the Lexington Avenue Armory on Nov. 7, 2012, in New York.
Credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Justin Bieber arrives at the Entertainment Quarter for his exclusive acoustic concert on July 17, 2012, in Sydney.
Credit: Caroline McCredie/Getty Images
Justin Bieber performs at the 33rd Annual Georgia Music Hall of Fame Awards on Sept. 17, 2011, in Atlanta, Ga.
Singer Justin Bieber and actress Selena Gomez arrive at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards on Aug. 28, 2011, in Los Angeles.
Credit: Christopher Polk/Getty Images
Justin Bieber poses backstage at the 53rd annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2011, in Los Angeles.
Justin Bieber poses at the premiere of the documentary film "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never," in Los Angeles, Feb. 8, 2011.
Singer Justin Bieber, center, poses with his mother Pattie Lynn Mallette, right, father Jeremy Bieber and sister Jazmyn prior to the screening of his new film "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never" in Toronto on Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2011.
Credit: AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darren Calabrese
Teen idol Justin Bieber poses on the red carpet at the 16th annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards at the Hollywood Palladium on Jan. 14, 2011, in Los Angeles.
Justin Bieber accepts the award for pop/rock favorite male artist at the 38th Annual American Music Awards on Sunday, Nov. 21, 2010, in Los Angeles.
Credit: AP Photo/Matt Sayles
Musician Justin Bieber poses for a portrait while promoting his new book, "Justin Bieber: First Step 2 Forever," in Los Angeles, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2010.
Justin Bieber plays troubled teen Jason McCann in the 12th season premiere of the CBS crime drama "CSI." In a picture from his Twitter profile, the pop star shows himself on the "CSI" set in a prison jumpsuit with his hands behind his back. His role as troubled teen Jason McCann will be the 16-year-old's acting debut.
Credit: Personal Photo
Justin Bieber and Drake, right, pose for a photograph on the red carpet at the MuchMusic Video Awards in Toronto, Sunday, June 20, 2010.
Pop star Justin Bieber performs at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, hosted by President Barack Obama, Monday, Apr. 5, 2010.
Credit: AP Photo/Charles Dharapak
Justin Bieber attends the 2010 White House Correspondents' Dinner at the Washington Hilton Saturday, May 1, 2010, in Washington.
Credit: AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez
Singer Justin Bieber arrives at the Juno Awards on Sunday, April 18, 2010 in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada.
Video: Justin Bieber on @katiecouric
Credit: AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Mike Dembeck
Singer Justin Bieber tips his cap during the fourth quarter of the New York Knicks' 93-84 win over the Portland Trail Blazers in their NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden in New York, Monday, Dec. 7, 2009.
Singer Justin Bieber performs as part of the March on Stage benefit concert series at the Hard Rock Cafe in Los Angeles on Friday, Apr. 2, 2010.
Photos: Kid's Choice Awards 2010
Credit: AP Photo/Phil McCarten/Hard Rock Cafe
Justin Bieber performs at Nickelodeon's 23rd Annual Kids' Choice Awards on Saturday, Mar. 27, 2010, in Los Angeles.
Photos: Kids' Choice Awards 2009
Justin Bieber arrives at Nickelodeon's 23rd Annual Kids' Choice Awards on Saturday, Mar. 27, 2010, in Los Angeles.
Credit: AP Photo/Chris Pizzello
Singer Justin Bieber performs at the Pepsi Fan Jam Super Bowl Concert on South Beach, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010 in Miami Beach, Fla.
Photos: Stars at the Super Bowl
Photos: Super Bowl XLIV
Full Coverage: Super Bowl XLIV
Credit: AP Photo/Evan Agostini
Justin Bieber arrives at the Grammy Awards on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010, in Los Angeles.
Full Coverage: Grammy Awards
Canadian singer Justin Bieber performs on stage during the event "The Dome" in Cologne, western Germany on Aug. 21, 2009.
Credit: HENNING KAISER/AFP/Getty Images
Usher and Justin Bieber
Singers Usher and Justin Bieber arrive at Nickelodeon's 2009 Kids' Choice Awards at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion on March 28, 2009, in Westwood, California. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1162 |
__label__wiki | 0.660312 | 0.660312 | Love Island 2018: Viewers in for a shock as this couple SPLIT
Anna Francis
We didn't see this one coming!
Love Island 2018 is about to take an almighty twist as one established couple shockingly decide to split – before one of them quickly makes their feelings known for ANOTHER islander.
Yep, that pairing is none other than Eyal Booker and Megan Barton Hanson, with Megan telling her other half that she wants to end things in a heart-to-heart set to air on Tuesday night’s show.
‘I want to find someone that I really, really click with and it’s horrible when you see other couples having a laugh and getting on and you think “I just want that”,’ she explains in the Beach Hut.
MORE: Who’s going to be the second couple DUMPED from Love Island 2018? It may surprise you…
Megan then bites the bullet and explains to Eyal that – after they became the first pairing in the house to have sex – she thinks their attraction has died down.
‘I just feel like from the beginning I’ve always worried that it’s more of a physical/sexual attraction, and then earlier when you were like “we should have more fun,”’ she says.
‘Obviously it crossed my mind and I had thought about it. I don’t want to force it and I just think it’s so early to have to force it. I’m into you but it’s more of a physical thing don’t you think?
‘After we’ve done stuff there’s not much to say or do. It just rung alarm bells when Sam and Samira were having more of a laugh in bed than we were.’
Eyal is left frustrated by the news and admits to the group afterwards that he’s ‘raging a little bit’.
‘I put effort into it and I don’t think it should be disregarded that quickly,’ he admits. ‘That’s what frustrates me. Yeah, there might be elements missing from our relationship but we can try and work to at least see if they’re there, you know.’
However, it seems that Eyal isn’t willing to fight anymore and tells the Beach Hut: ‘I feel like her mind is made up and I’m not going to try anymore.’
Meanwhile it looks like this break-up could cause ructions for another couple in the villa as Megan confesses that she’s developed feelings for Wes Nelson, who has been paired with Laura Anderson since the beginning of the series. Eek!
‘I never, ever saw him in that way but you know when you’re just around someone for a long time, there’s things about him that I think are attractive,’ she reveals.
And it looks like Megan’s wasting no time in making a move on Wes as the two share a steamy kiss in a game of Snog, Marry, Pie, which sees the islanders choose one member of the opposite sex to marry, one to snog and one to pie in the face. Wes also chooses Megan when it’s the boys’ turn – and all in view of Laura. Intriguing…
It’s not long before Laura’s suspicions are raised and then tensions go up a notch when Megan tells Wes how she feels – and he doesn’t totally rule out her proposition.
He then sits down with Laura for a chat about their relationship…
So could TWO couples go through a break-up in one Love Island show? We’ll have to wait and see but one thing for certain is that it’s going to be juicy! | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1164 |
__label__cc | 0.646808 | 0.353192 | Remembering Six Million Murdered
You are here: Home » Remembering Six Million Murdered
At 10 a.m. yesterday the State of Israel came to a standstill as sirens wailed across the country for two minutes, calling people to remember the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Pedestrians stood still and traffic stopped on busy streets. Drivers got out of their vehicles and stood on the roads with heads bowed. All this took place in remembrance of what was the darkest period in human history and a dreadful blow to the Jewish people.
Holocaust Remembrance Day began on Wednesday evening, with Israel’s Prime Minister and President attending an opening event at the Hall of Remembrance in the Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. There they laid a wreath in memory of the 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis during the course of World War II. During that ceremony, 6 torches were lit by 6 Holocaust survivors.
The day was also marked by educational programmes and a variety of commemorative ceremonies, including one at the Yad Vashem in memory of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
At the Knesset, the names of Holocaust victims were recited throughout the day.
In Poland, more than 10,000 people took part in the annual ‘March of the Living’, which covers 3 kilometres from Auschwitz to Birkenau – the largest complex among the Nazi concentration camps built during World War II.
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, led a group of ambassadors to join the march and warned that:
“We`re facing a new wave of antisemitism in Europe and North America and cannot be silent.”
On a more optimistic note he added:
“Ambassadors will become witnesses; they will see the horrible sites
and we will learn the message for the future ...
I believe that together we can prevent the next atrocity,
together we can prevent the next holocaust.”
A troubling indication of the relevance of Ambassador Danon’s warning was a very different march. That one involved flag-waving neo-Nazis in self-styled uniforms who marched through the eastern German town of Plauen on May Day unhindered by police.
The head of Germany’s Central Council of Jews voiced the fears of many when he said that:
“Right-wing extremists are marching in Saxony in a way that brings back memories
of the darkest chapter in German history.”
Middle East Report - Jennifer Nevill
Advocacy Anti-Semitism BDS CFI News Christians Diplomacy Feasts FocalPoint TV Gaza Geography Hamas Hebraic Roots Holocaust Jerusalem Lebanon Media Medical Politics Refugees Revelation TV Sderot Theology UN West Bank | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1166 |
__label__cc | 0.725179 | 0.274821 | [VIDEO] Renovating the Top of Canada’s Tallest Structure
April 16, 2019 Shane Hedmond
Photo by Wladyslaw, CC BY 3.0
Completed in 1976, the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada held the record for the tallest freestanding structure in the world from 1975-2007, until it was supplanted by Dubai’s Burj Khalifa. At its highest point, the CN Tower, which is mainly used as a communications and observation tower, reaches 1,815.4 feet (533.33m). Last year, the tower underwent a $16 million renovation and Priestly Demolition shared a fascinating, in-depth video for how they took care of the demolition of the interior space and walls.
Although the top of the tower reaches over 1,800 feet, the observation deck that the project focused on started at the glass floor, which floats 1,136 feet above ground. That height, coupled with the fact that there was still an operating restaurant inside the observation tower, presented some unique challenges to the crews on-site.
The crews only had access to one elevator to haul up all materials haul off debris. Thankfully, the tower is equipped with high speed elevators that travel up to 15 miles per hour, but it still takes almost a full minute to get up to the top floor. Travelling one small trash bin at a time can really add up. Not to mention high winds can slow the elevator down, that’s a lot of time wasted waiting.
Perhaps the most challenging part of the demolition process was removing the existing observation windows to make way for larger glass panels. After the original windows were removed, the leading edge had to be protected for not only worker fall protection, but also to keep materials or tools from falling to the ground below and to protect against the elements, like high winds. A protective fabric material was installed immediately after the windows were removed.
The other major addition to the tower was the installation of a second glass floor, which stands on the floor above the original. In a press release following the completion of the renovation, it was mentioned that the new glass floor could hold roughly 24,700 pounds – or 18 moose (the most Canadian comparison ever). I wonder how much Labatt that equals.
The project is reminiscent of another oddly shaped observation tower, the Seattle Space Needle, which also completed a renovation in 2018. Although not nearly as tall as the CN Tower, the contracting team on the Needle opted to install a 28,000 pound scaffolding ring 400 feet in the air to assist in the demolition and installation process.
Check out the video below from Priestly Demolition for all the details on the demolition process, as well as another nearby project their crews worked on.
At least 1 killed, 6 Injured by Collapsed Crane Hits Occupied Apartment Building During Storm
As a storm blew through the Dallas, Texas area on Sunday afternoon, a tower crane standing near an occupied apartment building collapsed causing at least one fatality and 6 injuries.
[VIDEO] Watch a 21-story Building Demolition from 7 Different Angles
In order to build new, something has to be destroyed. Such was the fate of the former Bethlehem Steel headquarters, as it was demolished by implosion a little over a week ago.
Dashcam Video of Deadly Seattle Crane Collapse Surfaces, Giving Clues to the Cause
[VIDEO] Crane Catches Fire, Collapses on Georgia Construction Site
Cranes collapsing on-site are serious business, especially since many of them resulted in the loss of life. A recent crane collapse on a construction site in Alpharetta, GA was caught on camera after it caught fire, but luckily no one was injured.
[VIDEO] 8 Injured After Crane Collapses During Renovations of Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship
There are a lot of different specialty construction contracting sectors within the industry and cruise ships are definitely one of them. There are plenty of unique challenges when dealing with a moving ship versus a static building. A recent accident highlighted the challenges when a crane collapsed on a cruise ship under renovations, injuring 8 people.
[VIDEO] Obsolete WV Steel Plant Imploded into Cloud of Smoke, Covering Nearby Resident’s Houses
Demolitions by implosion can be fun to watch when they go right – or wrong – but nearby residents can be greatly affected by the high powered blasts and huge clouds of debris that follow. A few years ago, a botched demolition in England left dozens of nearby residents unable to return to their homes for several days. Last week, an obsolete Steel Basic Oxygen Plant in Weirton, West Virginia is leaving residents in a similar situation.
[VIDEO] Amazing Footage On Top of a Tower Crane Building Europe’s Tallest Building
Over the years, Liebherr, the German Crane Manufacturer, has given us some absolutely amazing videos. For example, they put on a show for their best customers one year and lifted one crane with another crane, which was lifted by a third crane, which was then lifted by a fourth crane. Another video highlighted the 58 cranes that were on site at the same time at the world’s largest airport build in Istanbul. Well, the company is back at it again, this time on top of Europe’s new tallest building.
[VIDEO] Blowing the Roof Off of the Old Milwaukee Bucks’ Arena
As you may already know, the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks officially opened their new home, the Fiserv Forum, for the 2018-2019 NBA season last October. That new stadium is being heralded as the “World’s First Bird Friendly Arena,” due to many of the design features. Well, since the new one is open, we can only expect that the old, non-bird friendly (I’m assuming) arena has overstayed its welcome and has to go.
[VIDEO] 7 Story Austin, Texas Parking Garage Implosion is a Great Way to Start 2019
Let’s get 2019 started with the first building demolition by implosion of the year.
In Crazy Construction Videos, Construction Videos Tags construction, renovation, CN Tower, CN Tower Toronto, Canada's Tallest Structure, How tall is the CN Tower, CN Tower renovation construction, CN Tower demolition procedure, priestly demolition, priestly demolition videos, priestly demolition toronto
← Should Subcontractors Use Their Own Project Management Software?Secretary of Labor Expects OSHA Inspections to Increase, Here’s Why → | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1168 |
__label__wiki | 0.728854 | 0.728854 | Week 6 Football Games to Watch
The second half of the MPSSAA football season gets underway tomorrow! Here are a few Week 6 games that you should keep an eye on.
Mervo at Patterson
This is a big game for both of these unbeaten teams from Baltimore City. Mervo is 5-0 but the Mustangs are about the start their toughest stretch of the season. Mervo is currently tied with Perry Hall for the fourth and final playoff spot in the 4A North region despite the fact that Perry Hall is 4-1 because their point averages are the same (7.80). Adding to Mervo's tough situation is that after Patterson, they have a tough quartet of games to close out the season, facing Dunbar, Edmondson-Westside, Baltimore City College and Frederick Douglass.
Patterson's 5-0 record has them sitting atop the 2A North standings. The Clippers own Baltimore's longest winning streak at eight games. Patterson last lost a game on October 16, 2014. If the season were to end today, the Clippers would be the number one overall seed for the entire 2A state tournament. They also have a lot to gain from beating Mervo- wining over a 4A school would give them extra points in the MPSSAA system and would put them in excellent shape to be the home team until throughout the playoffs.
The Mustangs and Clippers are scheduled to square off this Saturday at 1:45 PM.
DuVal at Wise
Two unbeaten Prince George's County schools who have hardly been tested in 2015 square off in Week 6. Both are towards the top of the 4A South region, with Wise tied for the top spot with Bowie on point average. DuVal sits behind those two in third place.
Wise survived a close contest in Week 1 against Frederick Douglass 19-6, but has hardly been tested since. They have won by final scores of 73-0, 43-0, 44-7 and 42-0. The Pumas are entering a tough stretch of games in which they will face the three other teams who are in the top 4 of the 4A South, facing Eleanor Roosevelt next week, and Bowie in Week 8.
DuVal, like Wise, had their closest game in Week 1 when they beat CH Flowers 29-12. The Tigers have topped their opponents 29-0, 67-14, 49-0 and 39-7 since then. DuVal is looking to make it two wins in a row against the Pumas. After Wise beat DuVal 15-6 in the regular season in 2014, but the Tigers beat Wise on the road in the playoffs 20-14. DuVal would go on to win the 4A South region title.
This game is scheduled to start at 6:00 this Friday night.
Oakland Mills at Marriotts Ridge
These Howard County rivals are both part of the logjam at the top of the 2A West region. South Carroll, Oakland Mills, Marriotts Ridge, Walkersville, Mountain Ridge and Century are all 4-1. Catoctin and Liberty aren't too far behind them either at 3-2, making it a toss up as to who will get the four playoff spots.
Marriotts Ridge was undefeated their 12-6 loss in Week 5 to River Hill. The Mustangs have been winning on the strength of their defense. They've only allowed 21 points this year, and have recorded shutouts against both Atholton and Centennial. Marriotts Ridge's offense hasn't been as consistent, only averaging 16.2 points per game, but the team has managed to score more than 20 points on three separate occasions.
Oakland Mills was also undefeated until last week, dropping a 29-22 decision against Howard, who is the only unbeaten team in Howard County. The Scorpions have found success through their offense, which is averaging 36 points per game and scoring more than 40 points three times. Oakland Mills is looking to avoid their first losing streak since the 2013 season.
Kickoff for this game is scheduled for 7:00 this Friday night.
Linganore at Oakdale
Linganore finds themselves in one of our highlighted games for the second straight week. For the second straight game, Linganore will face an undefeated Frederick County rival. This week it's Oakdale, who joins Linganore as two of the four undefeated teams in the 3A West region along with Damascus and Seneca Valley.
It required overtime, but Linganore was able to beat Walkersville last week 7-6. The final play of the game was a blocked extra point, which won the game for the Lancers. Linganore now turns their attention to Oakdale, a team they've beaten the past two years by a combined score of 77-13.
While Linganore required overtime to get their win last week, Oakdale recorded their first shutout of the season, winning 42-0 over Catoctin. The Bears are yet to play a close game in 2015 having outscored their opponents 227-58. This is the first of two tough games Oakdale will have in a row though, as they travel to Walkersville next week.
The scheduled kickoff time for this contest is 7:00 this Friday night.
Chesapeake-AA at Northeast
Dubbed the "Dena Bowl" this rivalry match-up pits the two teams from Pasadena against each other. For both of these teams, it is usually the biggest game of the year as most of these players have grown up playing together.
Chesapeake-AA has had the better of Northeast recently, winning the past four games, including a 24-0 shutout last year. The Cougars are 3-2 this year and in the hunt to qualify for the playoffs in the 3A East region. They're looking to bounce back from a rough loss though, as Chesapeake-AA were on the wrong side of a 30-6 scoreline at home against Old Mill in Week 5.
After starting the year 2-1, Northeast has dropped their last two games against Meade and Severna Park. As if they needed added motivation to win this rivalry game, a win in this game would put the Eagles right back in the playoff hunt since multiple teams in the 3A East region have records of either 2-3 or 3-2. Northeast is looking to chip away at Chesapeake-AA's overall record in the series, which is 21-17.
The Dena Bowl is scheduled to start this Friday evening at 6:30.
October 8th, 2015 By: Wick Eisenberg | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1173 |
__label__wiki | 0.669699 | 0.669699 | Another Milestone for Computational Chemistry
October 17, 2013 by Cray Leave a Comment
On October 9, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2013 was jointly awarded to Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt and Arieh Warshel “for the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems.” A New York Times article said the three researchers were awarded the Nobel Prize “for work that did not involve test tubes or lab coats. Instead, they explored the world of molecules virtually, with computers.”
This is another key milestone in the solidification of computational chemistry as an important discipline for current and future researchers.
It has been more than 50 years since the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Linus Pauling “for his research into the nature of the chemical bond and its application to the elucidation of the structure of complex substances.” His achievement was remarkable considering, at that time, there were no computers like the ones we have today. His pioneering work helped scientists understand the glue that holds atoms together to form molecules. Similar achievement has been accomplished in taking very complicated theoretical concepts and turning them into a program that can be used to look at chemical properties on a computer.
One of the first milestones in recognizing the importance of turning a computer program into an everyday tool that bench chemists can use to complement their experimental work happened in 1998. Sir John Anthony Pople was a Nobel Prize winning theoretical chemist, and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Walter Kohn in the year 1998. It recognized their work in advancing the modeling of electronic structures of systems through sophisticated computer models.
Computational chemistry has rapidly evolved over the last 50 years, and has dramatically changed the way research is carried out. Simply put, computational chemistry has brought computers into the laboratory and as a result computers have expanded our view of the world around us. These programs allow chemists to have a “computational microscope” to look at the molecular level and accurately visualize molecules and how they fundamentally interact among each other. Scientists have learned how to turn complex theoretical models such as quantum mechanics, molecular mechanics, classical molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo Simulations methods into sophisticated software programs. These models, combined with the deep chemical knowledge of the research scientist, now plays a key role in today’s industrial, pharmaceutical or academic laboratory.
The methods pioneered by these Nobel Laureates have been applied to systems ranging from modern semiconductor surfaces to the understanding how the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). One of the models that has been successfully used to study large molecules and the atoms that form molecules is classical molecular dynamics. The molecules are allowed to move for a certain period of time by numerically solving the Newton’s equations of motion for a system of interacting molecules. In this model, forces between the molecules and potential energy are defined by molecular mechanics force fields. The nature of this method has allowed researchers to apply this model to relatively large systems of biological interest.
These pioneering methods are used every day by scientist on computers ranging from laptops to the largest supercomputers. With today’s highly advanced supercomputers, it is now possible to do highly accurate simulations of large systems that were impossible just a few years ago.
At the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois, a team of researchers used a Cray supercomputer, nicknamed Blue Waters, to complete the highest resolution study of the mechanism of HIV cellular infection. Their work appeared on the cover of the May 30, 2013 issue of Nature. Their simulations leverage methods develop by the Nobel Prize winners, such as the extensively used CHARMM force field, which was developed by Karplus and his co-workers.
Because of the groundbreaking work of Pople, Kohn, Karplus, Levitt, Warshel and many others, the chemists, biologists and physicists of today are now armed with a widening arsenal of tools to solve problems at the molecular level. New developments in scientific and software algorithms, combined with advancements in supercomputing technologies will be critical in advancing our understanding of our complex world. We at Cray look forward to being a part of this next step, a “quantum leap” so to speak, toward the frontiers of exascale computing and exascale science. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1175 |
__label__wiki | 0.617423 | 0.617423 | Behind the Name: Hazel Hen, Hornet and Hermit
May 31, 2016 by Jutta Oexle Leave a Comment
How do Cray customers name their systems? A look at the stories behind the names.
It all began with “Hermit.” A series of Cray supercomputers at the High-Performance Computing Centre (HLRS) at the University of Stuttgart, Germany, have all been given names starting with the letter “H”. HLRS’s rules for system names are:
Must start with “H”;
Must be an endangered species; and
Must be larger than the predecessor.
The Cray® XE6™ supercomputer that initiated this name series was “Hermit,” installed in December 2010. According to Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael M. Resch (Director of the HLRS), the name Hermit had a double meaning. “First,” he explains, “it stood for the hermit beetle, which is a symbol for the environmental problems the region of Stuttgart is facing. We gave it the name of an endangered species which can be found in the region of Stuttgart.” The second meaning is: “Our Cray XE6 was a hermit-like installation, most of its time running in the dark but spending time ‘thinking’ about the most important problems in the world.”
“Hermit” initially clocked in at 10 TF, and in 2011 it hit 1 PF and became the fastest supercomputer in Germany.
Hermit was supplanted in November 2014 by the new kid on the block: “Hornet,” a Cray® XC40™ system with a peak performance of 3.8 PF.
In 2015, Hornet was upgraded and renamed “Hazel Hen,” another name for the hazel grouse, a bird whose range extends from Europe to Asia. Hazel Hens are known to eat hornets. The Hazel Hen upgrade increased the XC40 system’s performance to 7.42 PF.
The Hazel Hen upgrade also put HLRS on the Top500 list. The system debuted at No. 16 in 2014 and, as of November 2015, it sits at No. 8.
About Jutta Oexle
Dr. Jutta Oexle is the Head of Communications & Industrial Trainings at Höchstleistungsrechenzentrum (HLRS), Universität Stuttgart. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1176 |
__label__wiki | 0.774349 | 0.774349 | DEA Lookup.com News
Return to News Home
Cystic fibrosis patients surviving longer in Canada than US
Canadians with cystic fibrosis survive about 10 years longer than Americans with the same genetic disease, according to startling new research that raises questions about how to improve care.
Fox News, Mar 14, 2017
Monday's study suggests access to lung transplants and health insurance may play a role in the survival gap. And it comes as Congress debates health legislation that could roll back Medicaid, a safety net for about half of children and a third of adults with the lung-destroying disease.
"We're about finding the best care wherever it is and trying to understand, if Canada's got better outcomes, how do they do that so we can copy it," said Dr. Bruce Marshall of the U.S. Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, which funded the study.
More than 30,000 Americans, and 70,000 people around the world, are living with cystic fibrosis, caused by inheriting a defective gene from each parent. Sticky mucus builds up in their lungs and other organs, leading to life-threatening respiratory infections and improper digestion and nutrient absorption.
Only a few decades ago, children with the disease seldom survived elementary school. Now, thanks to earlier diagnosis and improvements in treatment, more and more live into adulthood and middle age.
But the median age of survival in Canada is almost 51 - meaning half live at least that long - compared to nearly 41 for U.S. patients, researchers reported Monday in Annals of Internal Medicine.
"These statistics are sobering," said Dr. Anne Stephenson of St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, who led the study.
Researchers analyzed data from national registries of cystic fibrosis patients in each country from 1990 to 2013.
The findings mark "a hard reality we must accept," Drs. Patrick Flume of the Medical University of South Carolina and Donald VanDevanter of Case Western Reserve University wrote in an accompanying editorial. Neither was part of the research.
"Now we are faced with the more difficult task of trying to identify and implement solutions to bridge this survival gap, which seems to be based on fundamental differences in the two nations' health care systems," they said.
Among possible causes:
-A higher proportion of Canadian CF patients receive a life-prolonging lung transplant, 10.3 percent compared to 6.5 percent of U.S. patients. It's not clear why. But the survival gap widened significantly in 2005, the year that the U.S. introduced a new scoring system to prioritize people on the waiting list for lung transplants. Marshall said the CF Foundation is raising concerns with transplant regulators about whether nuances in that system give other lung diseases more priority.
-Canada has universal health coverage. U.S. patients with private health insurance had similar survival to their Canadian counterparts. But Canadians survived longer than U.S. Medicaid patients and those with no insurance, the study found.
Because Medicaid gives participants important access to specialized CF care centers, Marshall said "our hunch" is that poverty is the real factor. Even with Medicaid it's still hard to take time off work, find child care and travel to a clinic.
One other factor: Canada adopted better nutritional care for cystic fibrosis in the 1970s, a decade before the U.S., a difference likely to be affecting survival only among older age groups.
Survival gap aside, there still is no cure and "in both countries, there are still people who are very, very young who are dying," Stephenson noted. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1179 |
__label__wiki | 0.761875 | 0.761875 | Wheels in motion for new protected patrol vehicle
Tags: LPPV NATO MOD British Army Afghanistan Peter Luff Force Protection Europe armoured vehicle armored cavalry
UK Ministry of Defence [MoD]
Plans to provide troops in Afghanistan with a new generation of Light Protected Patrol Vehicle (LPPV) have passed an important milestone, the MOD announced today.
Force Protection Europe has been selected as the preferred bidder, meaning contract negotiations will now begin to provide an initial order of LPPVs through the Urgent Operational Requirements (UOR) process. The first vehicles are expected to be available to troops for training in 2011. The total number will be subject to negotiation and announced in due course.
The LPPV has been designed to provide unprecedented levels of blast protection for a vehicle of its size, and will be able to carry a crew of up to six people. It will add to the wide array of protected vehicles already being used on operations in Afghanistan, including Mastiff and Ridgeback.
Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology Peter Luff, said:
"Small, agile but highly protected, the LPPV is at the forefront of technology. It will offer troops unprecedented levels of blast protection for such a light vehicle, enabling them to carry out a wide range of tasks, whilst moving with ease through narrow alleyways or crossing bridges.
"It will be a valuable addition to the vehicles already available to Commanders in Afghanistan, and demonstrates the Government’s commitment to providing our troops with the very best equipment on the front line. I’m delighted to announce that negotiations can now begin to get these vehicles out to theatre as soon as possible."
Chief of Defence Materiel, General Sir Kevin O’Donoghue, said:
"A great deal of work has been done to get the programme to this stage. When it comes to vehicle technology, it is clear from this competition that British engineering is leading the way. Both proposed solutions reflect the significant progress made in the development of a new generation of small yet highly protected vehicles. The LPPV will offer huge benefit to troops in Afghanistan, as well as being a valuable asset to the Armed Forces in the future."
Force Protection Europehas confirmed that, subject tothe satisfactory completion of contractual negotiations with MOD,all of the vehicles will be built and supported in the UK. It is estimated that around 750 jobs will be created or sustained in the UK as a result of this programme. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1180 |
__label__cc | 0.590477 | 0.409523 | Desert Sun letters to the editor for Oct. 30, 2015
Reader submitted Desert Sun letters to the editor for Oct. 30, 2015.
Desert Sun letters to the editor for Oct. 30, 2015 Reader submitted Desert Sun letters to the editor for Oct. 30, 2015. Check out this story on desertsun.com: http://desert.sn/1Mlpj4h
Reader submissions Published 4:26 p.m. PT Oct. 29, 2015
Taken in Desert Hot Springs on Memorial Day.(Photo: File photo)
Roberts a good choice
I have worked with J.R. Roberts on the Palm Springs Planning Commission for the last three years and have come to know and respect him through our work together. I have found J.R. to have a good grasp of the issues facing Palm Springs and great technical knowledge because of his background in architecture, design, and construction.
J.R. is respectful of the public and a good listener. J.R. is open and positive, and a problem solver. J.R. is also a leader who knows how to get results. He has demonstrated a willingness to say no to power over issues that are not in the best interests of Palm Springs residents.
J.R. is fiscally conservative, socially liberal, and believes in strategic planning to set the city on a successful course. J.R. has run two successful businesses and helped launch the new Architecture and Design museum, both as a fundraiser and as its founding executive director. J.R. knows how government works and how it should work for the benefit of Palm Springs residents because of his experience as a former mayor and council member of Sausalito.
Please join me in supporting J.R. Roberts for Palm Springs City Council.
Kathy Weremiuk, Palm Springs
Lewin is Palm Springs
I am writing this letter to express my strong and loyal support of Paul Lewin for City Council. Mr. Lewin is a life-long (third generation) citizen in this community. His parents were well-respected downtown business owners for many years.
Paul knows Palm Springs and its people. I believe Paul acts only for the good of this city, and that he has no hidden agenda. He is well aware of our city’s problems , including our homeless problem, and I feel he is ready and able to propose viable solutions. Not only that, Paul has always been forthright in his voting record, recusing himself when required by his personal life and interests. I find Paul to be genuine, intelligent, sincere and honest.
Paul recognizes the importance of our library as an active community center. I especially appreciate the fact that Paul supported the renovation of our beautiful and historical Welwood Murray Memorial Library, noting that it was the first library he ever visited as a child.
For all of the above reasons, I believe that Paul is the best choice among the large field of candidates for the position of city councilman.
Barbara Stanford, Palm Springs
Re: “Ginny Foat Smashes Fundraising Foes,” Oct. 27
Wow. We must not have any election or fundraising ordinances in Palm Springs. Ms. Foat collected $91,000 from Harold Matzner, $10,000 from Palm Springs Heritage Fund and $25,000 from Northwind Energy. These donors might as well be seated at the council dais on Wednesdays since their views will have a major influence on some sitting officials.
I’m not suggesting Ms. Foat wouldn’t make a good mayor, but these campaign contributions will certainly obligate her excessively to these donors. Mr. Matzner’s interests may be in sync with Palm Springs’ vision but, if not, then Ms. Foat will have to acquiesce to the shadow mayor. I’m not politically naïve but some of these election donations seem inconsistent with putting fair-minded folks in these important positions.
How about all candidates returning any contributions over $10,000 and if there is not such an ordinance or law, let’s put one on the books.
Don Blackwell, Palm Springs
Read or Share this story: http://desert.sn/1Mlpj4h
Column: A sign it's a new day at the California DMV
Voice: With hard work, CalPERS can fulfill promises
July 16, 2019, 11 a.m.
Voice: Fighting opioid abuse in the desert, beyond
Letter: Palm Springs arena idea too 'Vegas-like'
Viewpoint: Why Paradise Valley is a bad project
Letter: El Paseo political window a 'gutsy' move | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1181 |
__label__wiki | 0.68911 | 0.68911 | CHARLES IN SUSTAINABLE FISHING PLEA
By Press Association
The Prince of Wales has urged nations to see sustainable fishing as a "no regrets investment" - with capital invested today insuring benefits exist tomorrow.
The heir to the throne's comments came in a keynote speech to experts from the worlds of fishing and finance gathered together at St James's Palace for a day-long conference to discuss ways to invest in the sustainability of the oceans.
Charles highlighted the case of the Caribbean coral reefs which he told delegates could "disappear altogether as a result of overfishing, pollution, and development pressures", something that would be a "total catastrophe".
In his speech, the Prince said: "In the case of fisheries, we know from many examples around the world that the transition towards sustainability can deliver a wide range of economic, social and ecological benefits.
"The transition to sustainable fisheries, therefore, should be seen as a 'no regrets' investment.
"It requires capital today to ensure that these benefits exist tomorrow - and, incidentally, that we prevent the worst kind of global conflict over scarce resources and the displacement of the poorest people from all those countless coastal communities around the world whose livelihoods and futures depend on genuinely sustainable fisheries in association with fully functioning marine ecosystems."
At the conference, Charles' International Sustainability Unit and the Environmental Defence Fund released a report that outlined a framework for investing in the transition to more sustainable fisheries.
It highlighted the examples of the Pacific Halibut fishery, where sustainable management initiatives led to an increase in revenues of more than 200%, and the important clam fishery in Ben Tre Province in Vietnam where other interventions increased incomes and provided around 4,000 more jobs for local fishers.
Charles went on to say: "Economy and ecology do not have to be locked into an irreconcilable struggle.
"If we can structure investments based on this most fundamental of principles, then fisheries will not only be able to regenerate and ensure their resilience in the future, they will also be able to provide a real return on investment."
Fisheries are a key component of the global ocean, or "blue" economy and are said to contribute 274 billion US dollars (£160 billion) to the global GDP, provide around three billion people with their main source of animal protein, and employ over 200 million people, the majority in developing countries.
Also at the conference was Marcia Damanaki, EU commissioner for marine affairs and fisheries, who welcomed the report and stressed that private money was key.
She also stated that the new Common Fisheries Policy was helping to drive the maritime economy in a sustainable way and that since she came to office in 2009 the number of healthy fish stocks had increased from five to 27.
She said: "What we need is for private investors to be engaged.
"We need to join forces for an objective that is not entirely simple: letting the maritime economy prosper and help us out of the recession but at the same time letting that growth be smart and fair to the planet." | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1182 |
__label__wiki | 0.892872 | 0.892872 | danieldurchholz
David Sanborn: Kirkwood native looks back on the music
St. Louis Beacon, September 25, 2008
Famed saxophonist David Sanborn still makes it back to the St. Louis area a few times a year, to visit his mom and his old home town of Kirkwood, and to drive around looking for landmarks of his time growing up here.
“I do the old standard drive down memory lane kind of thing,” Sanborn, 63, says. “Drive to all those places where I used to hang out and wonder why they’re not there anymore. Like Gaslight Square. It’s gone.”
Sanborn is right to bemoan St. Louis’ tendency to plow under its past - as well as much of its musical legacy. But the city also provided Sanborn with pockets of culture - however hard they were to find - that launched him on a musical odyssey that’s lasted more than four decades.
While still in high school, Sanborn jammed with the likes of Albert King and Little Milton Campbell. He later moved to California and joined the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and played with them at Woodstock. He toured with Stevie Wonder and David Bowie and played numerous sessions, sitting in with the Rolling Stones, Paul Simon, Gil Evans, James Taylor, George Benson, Eric Clapton and many others.
His own albums, starting with “Taking Off” in 1975, have sometimes been relegated to the smooth jazz category, but Sanborn’s distinctive playing, filled with the R&B, blues and jazz influences of his youth, have allowed his albums such as “Voyeur,” “Straight to the Heart,” “Another Hand” and “Time Again” to rise about the easy-listening limitations of the genre.
Sanborn’s latest album, “Here & Gone” brings him back to some of his early enthusiasms - the music of Ray Charles, and specifically the work of Charles’ sax players, Hank Crawford and David “Fathead” Newman. Sanborn recently spoke at length with the Beacon about the album, his life in music, and his days in the St. Louis area.
Q: This album is a return to your roots in blues and R&B music. Where exactly did a white kid from Kirkwood acquire those roots?
A: Initially it was radio and records. The time I was growing up, it was the mid-’50s, which is kind of the beginning of the mass popularity of rhythm and blues and the early days of rock and roll. People like Fats Domino and Little Richard all had horns in their band. I think Little Richard had like five saxophones. The same with Fats Domino. In Fats Domino’s case, all the New Orleans players - people like Lee Allen, Red Prysock, Clifford Scott, who played saxophone on the Bill Doggett “Honky Tonk” record. That was a huge record for me. Just the sound of the record.
The saxophone was just such an expressive instrument for me. Before I even thought about playing it, it always kind of drew me - the sound of it. It was the pervasive solo instrument in pop music at the time. Not only in rhythm and blues and jazz, obviously, but also in mainstream pop music. People like Jimmy Dorsey were making pop records, and Earl Bostic. Billy May. So it was pretty much everywhere in the culture.
Q: Was there a certain place you bought records, or a certain radio show you listened to back then?
A: I listened to radio station KATZ. There was a deejay who really, through the years, was a major influence on me just in terms of what he played. Two guys, actually. One was a guy named Spider Burks and the other was Leo Chears. Those guys, the music they played, it was so full of life. And for a kid in the suburbs, it was like, wow, there’s something out there that’s really very interesting. I just found myself more and more drawn to it, whatever that experience was. Certainly it wasn’t anything I could articulate at the time.
Q: I’ve heard you talk before about getting to see some of your musical heroes play concerts ... at St. Louis Hawks games?
A: Yeah. There was a year - I think it was just for a year - after the basketball games at Kiel Auditorium, they would have concerts by bands: people like Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Ray Charles. I remember at one of the games, Ray had the band do half an hour or 45 minutes before he came on. Hank Crawford and David “Fathead” Newman were in that band. And both of those guys, especially Hank, had such an effect on me. I think I was 11 years old. I’d been sick when I was a kid. I had polio when I was a kid, and the doctors said I should play a wind instrument for therapy. By that time, having heard all this stuff on the radio and then hearing Hank and “Fathead” play with Ray Charles - that was kind of it for me. I said, “I want to play the saxophone.”
Q: How did you encounter and then wind up playing with guys like Albert King and Little Milton Campbell?
A: There used to be these things in St. Louis called Teen Towns, which were basically dances. And there was a place not far from where I lived. It was called the Sunset something. It had a swimming pool, it was like a rec center. It was not run down, but kind of low-rent. But it was great, because they used to have local bands playing there. Guys like Bob Kuban and Jules Blattner and the Teen Tones. And they’d have regional bands come through there, two of which were Little Milton and Albert King. This friend of mine I grew up with, we would go hang out at these Teen Towns, and we became friendly with Little Milton’s piano player
I don’t remember exactly how it happened, but we kind of finagled our way into having Milton let me sit in with him. There was another saxophone player who was playing with Milton as well. It wasn’t like I was playing by myself. They were very gracious and they each showed me what to play. I just kind of played background stuff, but actually being up there onstage, playing with these incredible musicians at that age - I was 15 - it was just such a rush.
Q: Did this get you any street cred back at Kirkwood High, or was it something you had to kind of keep to yourself?
A: No, this wasn’t anything that garnered me any of that at all. St. Louis at that time was very racially segregated. My high school had only been integrated for a couple of years before I got there. It was a Jim Crow town, man. All the movie theaters were segregated. So when people recall, “Oh, the good old days and how great things were back in the ‘50s...”, well, it really depends on your perspective. Maybe for some people, but for a lot of people, it wasn’t so great. The black community in St. Louis was very isolated.
I have to say, especially in retrospect, it was amazing that I encountered very little hostility whenever I was involved in situations that were primarily African-American, whether it was a club or whatever musical situation. If it was there, I certainly didn’t feel it. That had a profound effect on me. It was remarkable to me that I had all these opportunities to participate in music that I genuinely loved and - I can say this now - in a real way, gave me my life. Not just my living, my way of making my living. It gave me my life.
Q: One of the things that separates you from other saxophone players is your distinct voice on the instrument - the tone and the emotion of your playing. People instantly know it’s you. How did that develop?
A: It was never anything conscious on my part. I was like everybody else. I’m the product of my influences. Early on, those people I named earlier, Hank Crawford and David “Fathead” Newman were the two most influential guys for me. Just in terms of phrasing, sound. So, I was trying to imitate those guys initially. Then I heard guys like Jackie McLean, Phil Woods, Cannonball Adderley. Even Paul Desmond. Paul Desmond always reminded me of Lester Young. Just in his lines and the logic of what he played. When I heard him before I heard Lester Young, and when I heard Lester Young, I said, “Oh, I get it. That’s where Paul Desmond comes from.”
My point is, I picked up bits and pieces from a lot of different people, but I always gravitated toward the bluesier, earthier guys. I think Hank and “Fathead” and Phil Woods. I love Phil’s sound. I don’t think anyone would necessarily hear a lot of Phil Woods in my playing. But those are guys I listened to and kind of tried to imitate.
Q: You’ve been called on for session work by so many folks: Stevie Wonder and Springsteen and the Stones and Bowie. Do you have any favorite memories out of some of those experiences?
A: I never really made my living in the studio as a session musician. I was really just a sideman and I would play sometimes for people I wasn’t working with because it was a friend of the producer or I met them on the road or something like that. I was not one of those saxophone-for-hire guys. I never fit that profile ‘cause I wasn’t in that mix of studio musicians.
But having the opportunity to do a variety of things was really appealing to me. It allowed me to put my particular kind of playing into different contexts. And what I realized early on was that I wasn’t playing any differently with Gil Evans, say, than I was with David Bowie. I was only reacting to whatever the harmonic rhythmic context was in a different way. But my essential approach to playing was the same - my sound, my phrasing. And fortunately for me, I’ve been very lucky that all the people who have hired me have hired me to just be myself.
Q: You presided over one of the great music TV shows of all time, “Sunday Night”/“Night Music.” What do you remember about that show?
A: I remember every week that we did it, feeling such a great sense of enthusiasm for what we were doing. For me, it was like being a kid in a candy store, getting all those great people on who were heroes of mine. And the fact that we got such a wide cross-section of music on there: everybody from Sun Ra to Al Green to Conway Twitty to Miles Davis to Eric Clapton. Randy Newman, the Pixies. I had “Fathead” Newman on and Hank Crawford and Stanley Turrentine, Dizzy Gillespie. All these great musicians. Not only did we get them on to do their stuff individually, but we managed to put together some pretty interesting musical combinations, like Leonard Cohen playing with Sonny Rollins.
Q: I think my favorite was Conway Twitty with the Residents dancing behind him in their eyeball costumes.
A: Singing “Teddy Bear.” [Note: It was actually “When You’re Cool.”] That’s the one that kind of blew the sponsors out a little. I remember the guy from Michelob coming in and saying, “What was that?” I said, “No, no, it’s cutting edge, it’s art, the kids love it.” You know, whatever you have to say. But they were actually very supportive of the show for the two years we did it.
Q: We’re never going to see that on DVD, are we?
A: I’ll tell you what the big hangup is. It’s getting clearances. Not from the artists, but from the publishers, the music publishers. We got the record company clearances, we got artist clearances, but the people who are holding on to the publishing rights of the songs, it’s like, what are you waiting for? Half the (stuff) is on YouTube. The cat’s already totally out of the bag and you’re like, making deals for what?
The great thing for me about that show is not just the response from the general public, but from musicians. I was someplace and Eddie Vedder came over to me and started taking to me about how much he loved the show. He was taking about specific shows he’d seen. Bruce Springsteen has said stuff to me about it – how much they loved the show and wanted to get copies of it. I said, listen, it’s like my version of ‘write your congressman.’ Let’s get a letter writing campaign together and get these (guys) off the dime. For me this is not an issue about money. Let’s just get it out there. It represents to me, a very important principal that I feel about music: that musicians of seemingly widely diverse backgrounds, have a lot more in common than most people think.
Q: Somewhat like “Night Music,” you have some great guest artists playing on “Here and Gone.” How did you pull them into the project?
A: I compiled a list of people I wanted to get and these are the people I wanted to get. Eric (Clapton), because he’s a friend of mine and he’s Eric Clapton. He’s such a great singer and player. I called him up and asked him if he would consider singing on the record, and he said, “You mean you don’t want me to play, too? And I said (sarcastically), “Well, yeah, if you have to.”
I think what’s great about the tune that he played and sang on was that he really, he understands the blues. And he really was able to inhabit that song. And what he played is so interesting to me because he plays only in the middle and lower range of his instrument. There’s nothing up in the high end. So he sonically left that room for me. ‘Cause he knew that was the right thing to do. When you’re dealing with people who just instinctively know what the right thing to do is and don’t think about it as a vehicle, an ego trip, and have the humility to serve the music - these are the kind of people I want to be involved with.
The same holds true with Joss Stone, this young girl who is barely out of her 20s, from Devon, England, singing with the soul and conviction of somebody three times her age. And once again, able to claim that song as her own, which is no easy task, given that it was not only written by, but pretty much identified with Ray Charles.
Sam Moore is like the Pavarotti of soul. The power in his voice. To be able to deliver a song like that, you need somebody like Sam Moore.
Q: The song “Brother Ray” is one you’ve recorded it before, but given the theme of the album, I guess it was right to revisit it.
A: I think so. As I was putting this thing together, “Brother Ray” was a tune I’d been doing on the road. I was really fond of it and I realized it really kind of fits into the spirit of what this music is about. Because it’s really kind of a look back at some of the places where I came from musically, specifically the music of Ray Charles. Hank Crawford - Hank’s arrangements - was kind of where I started with this whole thing. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1184 |
__label__wiki | 0.525344 | 0.525344 | Alleged Road Defect Case Rejected by Tennessee Court of Appeals
The Court of Appeals recently overturned a trial court’s decision that a somewhat recently reconstructed road constituted a dangerous road condition. In Church v. Charles Blalock & Sons, Inc., No. E2014-02077-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Oct. 9, 2015), plaintiffs filed suit on behalf of two women who died in an automobile accident. The facts showed that a highway had been reconfigured to bypass a town. Before the construction, highway drivers had no stop signs and simply proceeded on a curvy road. The new configuration, which included a stop sign at a “T” style intersection and a subsequent turn, opened on July 13, 2009. When it opened, the new roadway had a stop sign, a white stop bar on the pavement, and a “stop ahead” sign.
After the road opened, the State learned that many drivers were failing to stop at the new sign. In an email from a TDOT engineer to superintendent of maintenance, the engineer said that rumble strips had been suggested as a possible solution at the intersection. Rumble strips were never added, but changes were made following an accident in October 2009. In December, a junction sign was added before the intersection; large “stop ahead” signs were placed 320 feet before the intersection on both sides of the road; a directional sign with an arrow was placed before the intersection; two larger stop signs were placed on both sides of the road; and a two-headed arrow sign was placed across from the intersection.
On January 23, 2010, the driver here failed to stop her car at the stop sign and instead immediately proceeded to the right. She entered the path of oncoming traffic, causing a collision which killed her and her passenger. The evidence suggested that this was most likely her first time to drive through the newly constructed intersection, as she had been recovering from a back surgery.
Plaintiffs brought their claims against the State under Tenn. Code Ann. § 9-8-307(a)(1)(J), which states that a claimant alleging dangerous road conditions on state maintained highways “must establish the foreseeability of the risk and notice given to the proper state officials at a time sufficiently prior to the injury for the state to have taken appropriate measures.” The trial court found the State to be 53% at fault here, holding that:
(1) the risk of drivers running the stop sign was foreseeable, (2) the State had sufficient advance notice to enable it to take appropriate measures, (3) the measures adopted by the State were insufficient to address the dangerous situation, (4) such lack of reasonable care by the State contributed to the cause of the accident and the resultant fatalities[.]
The trial court found that the State was negligent by only installing signs and not using rumble strips. On appeal, the Court of Appeals reversed.
The appellate court noted that while Tennessee statutes do not define “dangerous condition” as it relates to highways, the Tennessee Supreme Court has provided factors to be considered—“the physical aspects of the roadway, the frequency of accidents at that place in the highway, and the testimony of expert witnesses in arriving at this factual determination.” (internal citation omitted). In analyzing this case, the Court pointed out that while plaintiffs called several witnesses to testify about difficulty navigating the new roadway the first time they encountered it, only one of those witnesses had driven through it after the additional signage was added in December 2009. Further, though plaintiffs presented evidence regarding citations issued for failure to stop at the stop sign, “only one of the citations was issued after the new signs were installed[,]” and there was no evidence regarding whether this driver was confused by the new road or just not paying attention.
The Court also looked to the expert testimony offered at trial. Plaintiffs’ expert testified that the stop ahead signs, placed 320 feet before the intersection, were insufficient because they were too far from the actual stop signs. Plaintiffs’ expert said that if a car were traveling the speed limit it would take 240 feet to stop, and the stop ahead signs were thus in the wrong location. The Court rejected this argument, finding the additional space provided to be reasonable. Plaintiffs’ expert also asserted that rumble strips or additional warnings should have been continued for at least a year after the new intersection opened.
As to the failure to install rumble strips, TDOT employees testified that rumble strips were not required at any intersections and that there were no standards for using them at intersections, as such use was “infrequent.” The Court of Appeals found that “[a]lthough…locating rumble strips at the approach to the subject intersection might have been of benefit to some motorists, we also recognize that the State does not have a duty to make the intersection absolutely safe.” (internal citations and quotation omitted). “The fact that additional warning measures might have made the intersection safer does not necessarily establish that the intersection as it existed constituted a dangerous condition on the roadway.”
When considering the physical aspects of the highway, the Court noted that the T style intersection was chosen because it is the safest, that considerable additional signage had been added after the first accident occurred at the intersection, and that the State experts testified as to plenty of visibility upon approaching the intersection. Based on this evidence, the Court “conclude[d] that the proof presented at trial was insufficient to support the trial court’s finding that a dangerous condition existed at this intersection.” The Court further held that “the evidence preponderate[d] against the trial court’s determination that the risk involved herein was foreseeable or that notice was provided to the proper state officials at a time sufficiently prior to the injury for the State to have taken appropriate measures[.]” The Court found that the issuance of one citation after the additional signage was added was not enough to cause the State to foresee the probability of this accident. Accordingly, the Court reversed the judgment in favor of plaintiffs.
An important note for lawyers to take away from this case is to pay close attention to the timeline of both the facts surrounding your case and the evidence you plan to present. Here, plaintiffs had lots of evidence, but almost all of it dated to the time period before extensive additional signage was added to the allegedly dangerous intersection. Plaintiffs needed to focus on the condition of the intersection as it existed when the accident occurred, and thus should have focused on witnesses who would testify about the intersection after the signs were added. Because plaintiff only presented one witness and evidence about one citation after the signs were added, the Court found that there was no support for a dangerous road condition finding.
Posted in: Claims Against the Government, Comparative Fault and Motor Vehicle Cases
Updated: November 7, 2015 7:19 pm | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1185 |
__label__wiki | 0.547815 | 0.547815 | Hancock calls for more genomic counsellors to explain DNA technology
The health secretary has said in a speech that the NHS needs to recruit more genomic counsellors to train doctors and nurses about DNA testing technology so they can explain the impact clearly to patients in the future.
Speaking at The Royal Society event on 20 March, Matt Hancock’s call for more counsellors will form part of the National Genomics Healthcare Strategy.
He said: “How do we train up doctors and nurses so they understand genetic data and are able to explain it in a way that people make the best decisions.
“We want to encourage people to take better care of themselves because that means we can prevent problems from arising and save the NHS time and money in the long-term.
“But if we’re going to expand this technology then we also need to get enough genetic counsellors into the NHS so they can help people with those difficult dilemmas and decisions.
“Because this isn’t just about physical health, but mental health. For some people there will be a big psychological impact from finding out news they weren’t prepared for.”
The secretary of state for health and social care has also called on the scientific community, charities, patients and clinicians to work with political leaders to develop an ethical framework to ensure patients can have confidence in the genomic technologies.
He said: “We must get predictive testing into the NHS as soon as we possibly can. I see it as a game-changer for cancer screening in the NHS and I’m determined that we harness this technology to save lives.
“I’ve been told we can currently only test for some cancers like prostate and breast cancer because the data on other cancers is locked away in research labs.
“Sometimes there are good ethical or scientific reasons and we have strict privacy rules in place to avoid sharing data that identifies patients without their consent.
“But sometimes it’s due to bureaucracy or because scientists don’t want to share their data.
“Data, funded by the British taxpayer, donated by the public, can’t be used for predictive testing because of bureaucratic blocking or a scientist wanting to have a monopoly: that’s an outrage.
“We will unlock that data. Because we must save lives. And I say this to any researcher, who is blocking data access: open up this data, publish or be damned.”
A review of the NHS’ cancer screening process is currently underway.
Led by Professor Sir Mike Richards, the review will recommended how the screening programmes can be upgraded to ensure patients and clinicians benefit from new technologies and treatments.
The final review is due to be published in the summer 2019.
genomics | Matt Hancock
More in News, Shared Records
Fine line between AI becoming a buzzword and working in healthcare explored
The key to successful AI lies with good quality data and a change in culture, healthcare leaders said at an event in London. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1192 |
__label__wiki | 0.729355 | 0.729355 | Guest Editorial: Battle vs. human trafficking continues
By Grand Forks Herald on Jan 19, 2019 at 12:30 a.m.
Strides have been made to curb human trafficking in Minnesota and North Dakota, but anyone who thinks this social ill is cured is sadly mistaken. Several times in the past year, trafficking has appeared in headlines, showing it still exists in this region.
For example, on Nov. 10, the Pioneer Press of St. Paul reported that the leader of an international sex ring targeting this region was sentenced to prison. Sophia Navas led a group that preyed on foreign-born victims who were trapped in the United States and couldn't speak English. The ring ran from 2015 to 2017 — aided by advertisements on the website Backpage.com — and forced women to earn at least $800 per day or risk being "fired."
January is Trafficking Awareness Month, and it's a time to reflect both on what has been done to reduce this evil as well as what still can be done.
One of the most instrumental developments came in 2017, when the adult section of Backpage.com was shut down. Later, the entire site was shuttered. The site — an online classified ad site similar to Craigslist — was a hotspot for contact information for prostitution, likely performed by women who were being trafficked. It regularly featured ads for potential meet-ups in North Dakota and Minnesota, including Greater Grand Forks.
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., were instrumental in the fight against Backpage.com.
Although traffickers and prostitutes still are using the internet to advertise, we consider the shutdown of Backpage.com as an important victory in the battle against trafficking.
And here's more good news: According to data on the National Human Trafficking Hotline website, North Dakota trafficking reports to the NHTH are declining. There were 65 calls and 18 cases reported in 2016 and 47 calls and 23 cases reported in 2017. Although data is incomplete for 2018, the NHTH website shows just 15 calls and six cases through June.
NHTH data in Minnesota isn't quite as optimistic, but it still shows improvement. In 2016, there were 301 calls and 66 reports in Minnesota. There were 254 calls and 74 cases in 2017 and through June of 2018, there were 110 calls and 45 case reports.
Legislatures in both states have worked in recent sessions to curb trafficking, securing funding for services as well as creating and increasing penalties for traffickers.
Meanwhile, in light of Trafficking Awareness Month, our sister newspaper in Duluth recently urged readers to learn to spot signs of potential sexual exploitation and trafficking. According to the News Tribune, signs include:
■ Slang, like "the life," "daddy," "track," "johns" and "stable."
■ Older boyfriends or girlfriends.
■ Evidence of control or dominance in a relationship, including repeated phone calls.
■ Online activity on classified ad websites.
■ Unexplained tattoos, especially on the neck or hand.
■ Downplayed health problems.
■ Inappropriate or sexually provocative clothing.
■ Sudden cash, expensive clothes, a new cellphone or other items without an established income.
■ Frequent fear, anxiety or paranoia.
■ Secrecy and vagueness regarding whereabouts.
■ Late nights and unusual hours.
■ Running away.
Letter: Wolf, bear populations need to be controlled
Letter to the Editor: Thanks for Relay for Life fundraiser
Explore related topics:opinioneditorialsOpinionguest editorialtrafficking | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1195 |
__label__cc | 0.586394 | 0.413606 | Natural resource planning
Regional and state tools
Watershed Health Assessment Framework (WHAF)
Five Components
Watershed Health Assessment Framework
Watershed reports
Health scores
Map help
Literature and data
Describing Water Quality
Water quality concerns the chemical, biological, and physical characteristics of water. ‘Good’ or ‘bad’ water quality is not a simple determination since there are various types of water uses including:
Agricultural use
Industrial use
and various types of pollutants:
Sewage effluent
A watershed's landscape and climate influences how water quality measurements should be interpreted. Each stream, river, lake and pond tends to exhibit and maintain a characteristic range of water quality measurements. This range may depend on factors such as the hydrology and geomorphology of the contributing watershed. The availability of fine sediments and the supply of groundwater are examples of landscape and climatic interactions that affect water quality.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) manages the sampling and monitoring of Minnesota’s surface waters. The MPCA collects water quality data from state, local and federal agencies, as well as citizens. Through these efforts, the MPCA works to protect and improve Minnesota’s rivers, lakes, wetlands and ground water so that they support healthy aquatic communities and public uses such as fishing, swimming and drinking water.
Water quality parameters are measured in the field and samples are collected to be analyzed in the laboratory. The results of each measurement are compared to standards or guidelines to determine if the water source is attaining water quality standards.
The federal Clean Water Act requires each state to adopt water quality standards to protect waters from pollution. These standards define how much of a pollutant can be in the water and still allow it to meet designated uses, such as drinking water, fishing and swimming. A water body is designated “impaired” if it fails to meet one or more water quality standards. (MPCA: Minnesota's Impaired Waters List)
All surface waters in Minnesota, including lakes, rivers, streams, and wetlands, are protected for aquatic life and recreation where these uses are attainable.
Protection of aquatic life means
maintenance of healthy, diverse, and successfully reproducing populations of aquatic organisms,
protection of the aquatic community from the direct harmful effects of toxic substances,
protection of human and wildlife consumers of fish or other aquatic organisms.
Protection of aquatic recreation means
maintenance of conditions suitable for swimming and other forms of recreation.
http://www.pca.state.mn.us/water/standards/index.html.
Water Quality Parameters
Multiple physical, chemical, and biological parameters are measured and monitored to assess surface water quality. The most common parameters causing impairments in Minnesota include turbidity, mercury, total phosphorus, PCBs and other exotic chemicals, fecal coliform, impaired biota, and low dissolved oxygen.
Water quality parameters listed in the MPCA’s 2014 Proposed List of Impaired Waters include:
Aquatic consumption
Mercury in water column(air pollution)
Mercury in fish tissue(bioaccumulation)
Arsenic(herbicides & insecticides)
DDT(insecticides)
Dieldrin(insecticides)
Toxaphene(insecticides)
Dioxin(industrial by-product)
PCB in water column(industrial compound)
PCB in fish tissue(bioaccumulation)
PFOS (Perfluorooctane sulfonate)(industrial chemicals)
Turbidity (suspended particulates)
Temperature (water)
(dams, reservoirs, effluent)
pH (acid rain, discharge)
Chloride (industrial & wastewater effluent, urban runoff)
Ammonia (un-ionized) (wastewater)
Acetochlor (herbicide)
Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Bioassessments
Aquatic Plants Bioassessments
Fish Bioassessments
Lack of Coldwater Assemblage
Aquatic recreation
Fecal coliform (sewage effluent)
Phosphorus, total (sewage effluent, fertilizers)
Pollution Sources
Pollution sources are separated into two categories: point source and non-point source. Point sources of pollution are identifiable localized sources of pollution such as industrial discharge and sewage effluent. Non-point source pollution comes from unidentifiable, general sources like fertilizer or pesticides in urban and agricultural runoff. Point source pollution is easier to regulate because it has an identifiable source.
Turbidity is a relative measurement of water clarity. The presence of suspended particulate matter such as algae, sediments and detritus cause higher turbidity measurements. Increases in suspended particulates and algal growth are commonly due to watershed development and poor land use practices. More specifically channelization, ditching, overland and stream bank erosion due to overgrazing, logging, mining, construction, cultivation, overuse, etc., floods, enhanced flows, urban runoff, sewage effluent, nutrient and organic matter inputs, bottom-feeding fish (e.g. carp) all contribute to increased turbidity (from Water on the Web).
High turbidity due to suspended sediment reduces light penetration or water transparency. This impacts the aquatic community through a bottom-up affect. Fewer photosynthetic organisms at the base of the food web are able to grow and nourish the macroinvertebrate community. This then affects the upper trophic level macroinvertebrate community and ultimately fish populations. At the same time, less light favors the growth of the floating nuisance algae cyanobacteria, further limiting light and degrading water quality.
Suspended sediment also negatively impacts the biotic community directly by clogging zooplankton feeding mechanisms, choking filter-feeding invertebrates, and clogging or damaging gills or respiratory surfaces. As suspended sediment is deposited it covers critical spawning habitats, suffocates fish eggs, threatens benthic communities, results in aggradation of the stream bed, and attracts positively charged pollutants. If turbid waters include high levels of organic matter, algal blooms and excessive plant growth can result. This in turn leads to dangerously low dissolved oxygen levels due to microbial decomposition (see Phosphorus).
All streams carry sediment, so when does sediment become a pollutant?
A stable stream is able to transport the streamflows and sediment of its watershed over time in such a manner that the channel maintains its dimension, pattern and profile without either aggrading or degrading (Rosgen, 1996 Applied River Morphology). In other words, a stable stream is much less likely to have erosion or sedimentation problems than a disturbed stream. Once disturbed, a stream attempts to revert to a stable dimension, pattern, and profile and to regain its channel-to-floodplain connection, which results in higher sediment yields and negative impacts of suspended sediment (Rosgen, 2006 WARSSS).
Turbidity was the second leading cause of impairment of Minnesota’s rivers and streams in 2004 and 2006 (EPA National Assessment Database 2006). Nationwide, sediment/siltation was identified as the leading cause of impairment in assessed rivers and streams in a recent (2002) Water Quality Report to Congress.
Stream bank erosion is commonly the major contributor (60-90%) to calculated sediment budgets (Andrew Simon, personal communication). Stream bank erosion has been dramatically accelerated by land use activities (e.g. surface disturbance activities, roads, streamflow changes, channel alteration and major vegetation impacts) that affect stream processes and ultimately the stream channel stability.
Mercury is a naturally occurring element that exists in volcanoes and natural deposits. Mercury is released into the environment during coal combustion, chlorine alkali processing, waste incineration, and metal processing (from USGS Contamination in the Aquatic Ecosystems). Mercury concentrations in the atmosphere have doubled or tripled due to human activities. Mercury exists in various forms with the organic form, methylmercury, being the most toxic. The predominant source of mercury to aquatic systems is deposition from the atmosphere, primarily as rainfall. Once in surface waters, mercury is deposited into the sediments, incorporated into the food web, or volatilized back into the atmosphere.
In the food web, mercury undergoes bioaccumulation when the rate of intake is greater than the rate of excretion. It then undergoes biomagnification as it accrues at each level of the food chain. Mercury levels consequently are highest in the longer living, upper trophic level predatory organisms such as pike and walleye.
Two thirds of the surface waters on Minnesota’s 2004 Impaired Waters List are impaired because of mercury levels in fish and water (Minnesota Statewide Mercury TMDL, March 2007). As stated in the MPCA’s Minnesota Statewide Mercury TMDL approved March 27, 2007, 99% of the mercury load to Minnesota’s lakes and streams is from atmospheric deposition, of which 70% originates from anthropogenic sources with the remaining 30% from natural sources (e.g. volcanoes). The resulting mercury reduction goal is a 93% reduction in overall anthropogenic emissions from 1990 levels. By 2005, mercury emissions were reduced by 70% leaving 23% of the emission reduction goal remaining.
Phosphorus (total)
Phosphorus is a naturally occurring nutrient that is essential for terrestrial and aquatic plant growth. In freshwater ecosystems, phosphorus is generally the nutrient limiting plant growth. However, due to human activities, phosphorus concentrations in affected aquatic ecosystems are so high that phosphorus is no longer limiting and the system is no longer in balance (a process known as eutrophication). This results in algal blooms and excessive aquatic plant growth that negatively impact the aquatic community when these blooms die and decompose. During the decomposition process, microbes consume dissolved oxygen. This creates a stressful or deadly low oxygen (anoxic) environment for the biotic community, including macroinvertebrates and fish.
Phosphorus is added to the environment through point and non-point sources including fertilizers, pesticides, cleaning products (e.g. dishwater detergents), and sewage/manure. Point sources include wastewater treatment plants and industrial discharges. Non-point sources include urban and agricultural runoff. Eutrophication was the third leading cause of impairment in Minnesota lakes, ponds, and reservoirs in 2004 and 2006 (MN Causes of Impairment 2010).
Contaminants are broadly defined as any synthetic or naturally occurring chemical or microorganism that has the potential to enter the environment and cause known or suspected adverse ecological and/or human health effects. (http://toxics.usgs.gov/regional/emc/)
Microbial contaminants (bacteria, viruses, protozoa) are generally released to the environments as fecal contaminants in human and animal wastes. Fecal coliform bacteria are a group of naturally occurring bacteria that are passed through the fecal excrement of humans, livestock and wildlife. The presence of fecal coliform bacteria in surface waters indicates the presence of sewage contamination and the possible presence of other pathogenic organisms that pose a potential health risk for individuals exposed to the water. Fecal coliform bacteria can enter surface waters through overflow of domestic sewage or non-point sources of human and animal waste.
Industrial and agricultural contaminants such as herbicides, insecticides, and various chemicals compounds enter surface waters through point and non-point sources. These compounds and their by-products have detrimental environmental and health effects. These contaminates are of serious concern since some are known to be mutagenic, carcinogenic, or toxic and some have been found to bioaccumulate in the food web.
Biological Monitoring
Biological monitoring is conducted to assess the health of aquatic environments by assessing the fish, macroinvertebrate, or plant communities. A bioassessment is an evaluation of the biological condition through surveys and direct measurements of the resident biotic community (presence, numbers, and condition). Bioassessments are a very valuable way to determine the health of an aquatic system.
Bioassessment results that show poor biological condition may lead to a waterbody being listed as “impaired” for aquatic life. Some of the leading causes of aquatic life use impairment include: poor habitat quality, altered stream flows, high turbidity and sedimentation, low dissolved oxygen concentrations, eutrophication, and contaminated sediments.
Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)
A TMDL or Total Maximum Daily Load specifies the maximum amount of a pollutant that a waterbody can receive and still meet water quality standards, and allocates pollutant loadings among point and non-point pollutant sources. A TMDL must contain a margin of safety and a consideration of seasonal variations. By law, the EPA must approve or disapprove lists and TMDLs established by states, territories, and authorized tribes. Under section 303(d) of the 1972 Clean Water Act, states, territories, and authorized tribes are required to develop lists of impaired and threatened waters that do not meet water quality standards that have been set for them and to develop TMDLs. The Act also banned the discharge of pollutants into navigable waters from a point source without a permit and funded the construction of sewage treatment plants. The overall goal of the Clean Water Act: restoring and maintaining the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters.
Early on, federal, state, and tribal governments emphasized the control of point sources, such as industrial discharges and municipal sewage treatment effluent. As those sources of pollution were controlled, regulators turned to the more difficult task of controlling non-point sources, such as street and farmland runoff. Likewise, regulators initially concentrated on the chemical aspects of clean water, but more recently the attention has shifted to physical and biological measures of water quality.
For more information, see EPA's TMDL web site. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1196 |
__label__wiki | 0.74203 | 0.74203 | Mollie Tibbetts press conference scheduled for this afternoon
State authorities say it is important to keep some details confidential to protect the integrity of the investigation.
Mollie Tibbetts press conference scheduled for this afternoon State authorities say it is important to keep some details confidential to protect the integrity of the investigation. Check out this story on desmoinesregister.com: https://dmreg.co/2w4MLUH
Des Moines Register Published 12:19 p.m. CT Aug. 13, 2018
Mollie Tibbetts, 20, of Brooklyn, was last seen jogging on July 18, 2018 before her body was found in farm field one month later.(Photo: Jenny Fiebelkorn/Special to the Register)
For the first time in 10 days, authorities plan to formally update the public today about the search for Mollie Tibbetts.
The press conference is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Poweshiek County Sheriff's Office. Tibbetts has not been seen in 26 days.
The Iowa Department of Public Safety had announced that it expected to update reporters and the public on Aug. 7 and again on Aug. 10. But the first gathering was canceled, and on Aug. 9, the Aug. 10 event was postponed to today.
Previous news conferences have illuminated little about the search, with state authorities saying it's important to keep some details confidential to protect the integrity of the investigation.
RELATED: Why investigators hold back information
"At this time the investigative team, made up of dedicated members from the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office, the Iowa DCI and the FBI, are continuing to follow up on investigative leads and tips," the state said in an Aug. 9 news release. "Information is still coming in and the investigation remains active. The team continues to encourage the public to submit any information they may have in regards to Mollie’s disappearance."
MOLLIE TIBBETTS INVESTIGATION: More coverage
More on the search for Mollie Tibbetts:
'We have not slowed down': As investigators chase down tips, Iowa officials release few details on the search for Mollie Tibbetts
'I have nothing to hide,' farmer interviewed about Mollie Tibbetts says after refusing FBI's polygraph request
What Snapchat can and can't do to help find Mollie Tibbetts
Read or Share this story: https://dmreg.co/2w4MLUH | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1198 |
__label__wiki | 0.848805 | 0.848805 | Behm Leads Portrait Unveiling Ceremony Honoring Judge Cissy Daughtrey
On May 31, lawyers and judges from across the state gathered at the Tennessee Supreme Court to honor the accomplishments of the Honorable Martha Craig "Cissy" Daughtrey, Senior United States Circuit Judge for the United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit. In recognition of Judge Daugherty's many accomplishments, her portrait was unveiled and will hang at the Tennessee Supreme Court Building--making her the first woman to be so honored. Judge Daughtrey also holds the distinction of being the first woman Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, the first tenure-track female faculty member at Vanderbilt University School of Law, the first woman to serve as judge for a court of record in the state, and the first woman to be named a Justice on the Tennessee Supreme Court.
DPBC's Margaret L. Behm, who helped spearhead the effort to honor Judge Daughtrey, served as host for the ceremony, which included remarks from Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Connie Clark as well as current Chief Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court Jeff Bivins.
Official coverage of the event by the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts can be found here. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1201 |
__label__wiki | 0.721238 | 0.721238 | 1214 Wendy Court | Spring Hill, FL 34607 | Tel: 1-352-684-5334
Downing Funeral Home and Cremation Services
| 1214 Wendy Court
| Spring Hill, FL 34607
| downingfuneralhm@bellsouth.net
A United States flag is provided, at no cost, to drape the casket or accompany the urn of a deceased veteran who served honorably in the U. S. Armed Forces. It is furnished to honor the memory of a veteran's military service to his or her country. VA will furnish a burial flag for memorialization for:
A veteran who served during wartime
A veteran who died on active duty after May 27, 1941
A veteran who served after January 31, 1955
A peacetime veteran who was discharged or released before June 27, 1950
Certain persons who served in the organized military forces of the Commonwealth of the Philippines while in service of the U.S. Armed Forces and who died on or after April 25, 1951
Certain former members of the Selected Reserves
Who Is Eligible to Receive the Burial Flag?
Generally, the flag is given to the next-of-kin, as a keepsake, after its use during the funeral service. When there is no next-of-kin, VA will furnish the flag to a friend making request for it. For those VA national cemeteries with an Avenue of Flags, families of veterans buried in these national cemeteries may donate the burial flags of their loved ones to be flown on patriotic holidays.
How Can You Apply?
You may apply for the flag by completing VA Form 27-2008, Application for United States Flag for Burial Purposes. You may get a flag at any VA regional office or U.S. Post Office. Generally, the funeral director will help you obtain the flag.
Can a Burial Flag Be Replaced?
The law allows us to issue one flag for a veteran's funeral. We cannot replace it if it is lost, destroyed, or stolen. However, some veterans' organizations or other community groups may be able to help you get another flag.
How Should the Burial Flag Be Displayed?
The proper way to display the flag depends upon whether the casket is open or closed. VA Form 27-2008 provides the correct method for displaying and folding the flag. The burial flag is not suitable for outside display because of its size and fabric. It is made of cotton and can easily be damaged by weather.
For More Information Call Toll-Free at 1-800-827-1000
© 2019 Downing Funeral Home and Cremation Services. All Rights Reserved. Funeral Home website by CFS | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1203 |
__label__wiki | 0.889911 | 0.889911 | World & Policy/
Australia PM Talks Down US-Led Army
11/24/2015 | 6:36 AM CST
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) -- There is no support among world leaders for the prospect of a U.S.-led army in Iraq and Syria to take back ground from Islamic State militants, Australia's prime minister said Tuesday.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said in a speech to Parliament on national security that his government did not intend to change Australia's military commitment to Iraq and Syria in response to the Paris attacks as well as the recent attacks in Africa and Lebanon. Australia's contribution of fighter jets in Syria and Iraq and military trainers in Iraq is one of the largest among the 60-nation coalition.
Turnbull said his recent discussions with world leaders at the G-20, APEC and East Asia Summit forums found that "there is no support currently for a large, U.S.-led Western army to attempt to conquer and hold ISIL-controlled areas."
"In Syria, the broader conflict and the absence of a central government that the West can work with makes action against ISIL even more complicated," Turnbull said.
Some government lawmakers have advocated sending ground troops into Syria. The Iraqi government does not allow Australian troops to operate off base in Iraq.
But Turnbull said "the unilateral deployment of Australian combat troops on the ground in Iraq or Syria is not feasible or practical."
There have been three attacks in Australia since September last year when the terror threat level was raised to the second-highest level on a four-tier scale. That means the government considers a terrorist attack is likely.
Turnbull said a new five-tier scale would be introduced this week that would provide the public with more information on the nature of the threat.
(KA) | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1208 |
__label__wiki | 0.832761 | 0.832761 | Currently Viewing Blowing Up Russia $20.76
Blowing Up Russia
The Secret Plot to Bring Back KGB Terror
By Yuri Felshtinsky & Alexander Litvinenko
Hardcover / 295 pages
AVAILABLE: 3/7/2007
Blowing Up Russia contains the allegations of ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko against his former spymasters in Moscow which led to his being murdered in London in November 2006. In the book he and historian Yuri Felshtinsky detail how since 1999 the Russian secret service has been hatching a plot to return to the terror that was the hallmark of the KGB. Vividly written and based on Litvinenko’s 20 years of insider knowledge of Russian spy campaigns, Blowing Up Russia describes how the successor of the KGB fabricated terrorist attacks and launched a war. Writing about Litvinenko, the surviving co-author recounts how the banning of the book in Russia led to three earlier deaths.
Yuri Felshinsky, a prominent author, historian, and journalist, is an expert on Russia and the former Soviet Union. He has been featured in hundreds of print, TV and radio interviews worldwide.
Alexander Litvinenko(1962-2006) served in the Russian military for more than 20 years achieving the ranks of Lieutenant-Colonel. In 1988 he served in the counterintelligence agencies of the Soviet KGB and from 1991 in the Central Staff of the MB-FSK-FSB, specializing in counter-terrorist activities and organized crime. He escaped from Russia, and was granted political asylum in May 2001 by Great Britian where he lived until he was poisoned in November 2006.
Putin’s Master Plan
To Destroy Europe, Divide NATO, and Restore Russian Power and Global Influence
Douglas E. Schoen
Vladimir Putin has a master plan to divide Europe, destroy NATO, reclaim Russian influence in the world, and most of all to marginalize the United States and the West in order to achieve regional hegemony and global power.
Putin on the March
The Russian President's Unchecked Global Advance
In Putin’s Master Plan, Doug Schoen warned that the Russian president had a grand vision to expand his country’s influence around the world, while destabilizing the Western Alliance and delegitimizing the very principles of free societies—especially the political model of democracy’s exemplar, the United States. In Putin on the March, Schoen brings the story up to date, warning that Putin’s mission is no abstraction but rather an active, ongoing campaign, and one that the Russian president has pursued with far more successes than setbacks.
Return to Winter
Russia, China, and The New Cold War Against America
Douglas E. Schoen & Melik Kaylan
In Return to Winter, Douglas E. Schoen and Melik Kaylan systematically chronicle the growing threat from the Russian-Chinese Axis.
How One Liberal Fought to Preempt the Russian Revolution
Stephen F. Williams
Besides absolutists of the right (the tsar and his adherents) and left (Lenin and his fellow Bolsheviks), the Russian political landscape in 1917 featured moderates seeking liberal reform and a rapid evolution towards a constitutional monarchy. Vasily Maklakov, a lawyer, legislator and public intellectual, was among the most prominent of these, and the most articulate and sophisticated advocate of the rule of law, the linchpin of liberalism.
Dancing with the Devil
The Perils of Engaging Rogue Regimes
The world has seldom been as dangerous as it is now. Rogue regimes—governments and groups that eschew diplomatic normality, sponsor terrorism, and proliferate nuclear weapons—threaten the United States around the globe.
Russia and the KGB in the Age of President Putin
Yuri Felshtinsky
Felshtinsky’s, The Corporation, brings forth the truths of Putin’s reign and the team of FSB agents that serve him loyally. This book illustrates Putin as representing a completely new phenomenon, never before encountered by mankind. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1211 |
__label__cc | 0.716137 | 0.283863 | Chemicals in the European Environment: ...
Following the first joint annual message on water stress in 1997, the EEA and UNEP are pleased to publish a statement on another subject of prime concern: Chemicals in the Environment. As "watchers" of Europes Environment, these statements aim to raise public and political awareness on critical or emerging issues to facilitate preventative action by governments and others.
This years annual message comes to you at a time when international activity in chemicals and the environment is moving into higher gear. The European Commission has begun a review of EU policies on chemicals, and governments have recently agreed the text of the socalled "prior informed consent" or PIC Convention, regulating international trade in hazardous chemicals. PIC will establish an international alert list and help developing countries obtain the information they need to protect their citizens and their environment. By preventing unwanted imports of dangerous chemicals, this convention will provide a first line of defence against future tragedies.
Meanwhile, rapid progress is also being made in reducing releases and emissions of persistent organic pollutants, or POPs. We now understand that in addition to the deaths and acute effects caused by direct and immediate contact, POPs which include some of the most toxic chemicals ever made can cause cancer, allergies, damage to the central and peripheral nervous systems, diseases of the immune system, reproductive disorders, interference with normal infant and child development, as well as damage to wildlife.
European countries have adopted an agreement on POPs under the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution at the fourth European conference of environment ministers in June 1998 in Aarhus, Denmark. The global community is not far behind. Talks on a worldwide POPs treaty began soon after in Montreal. These global talks are critical for Europe because POPs released in one part of the world can be transported to regions far away from their original source.
Encouraging as these efforts may be, a great deal remains to be done because many thousands of chemicals are on the market but without adequate information on their fate and impact on people and ecosystems.
As the costs of conducting toxicity testing of these chemicals and their degradation products under realistic conditions of exposure would be very large, consideration is being given to reducing progressively but substantially unwanted exposures to potentially hazardous chemicals that persist and accumulate in the environment: this seems to be an appropriate application of the precautionary principle to the problems of chemicals.
At the same time, more risk assessments and improved implementation of existing laws are urgently needed if an appropriate balance is to be struck between the risks and benefits of chemicals.
These different issues require the participation of civil society and increased public awareness and education. We must also provide industry with long-term scenarios that they can adjust to by developing efficient and lower-cost alternatives which will enable them to stay in business by doing sustainable business.
Clearly, solutions must be tailored to the properties and uses of each particular chemical and groups of chemicals, as well as to each countrys unique circumstances. But action must be taken quickly. Each year that passes without effective action will result in decades of additional, unintended exposure to chemicals that are likely to be harmful to human health and the environment.
Domingo Jiménez-Beltrán
European Environment Agency Klaus Toepfer
8ca432449b257276ee1b85c0b9d4281e
HP3FDJTNQR
For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/NYM2/page002.html or scan the QR code.
Chemicals in the European Environment: Low Doses, High Stakes?
2 Chemicals without borders
3. Many chemicals, but limited toxicity data
4. Risk Assessment
5. Ecological and Human impacts
6. Some policy initiative for reducing risk
7. A new paradigm for chemicals management? | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1213 |
__label__wiki | 0.658 | 0.658 | Area of brain linked to spatial awareness and planning also plays role in decision making
Research by neuroscientists from the University of Chicago shows that the posterior parietal cortex plays an important role in recognizing and categorizing images in the field of vision
University of Chicago Medical Center
New research by neuroscientists at the University of Chicago shows that the posterior parietal cortex (PPC), an area of the brain often associated with planning movements and spatial awareness, also plays a crucial role in making decisions about images in the field of view.
"Traditionally this part of the brain has been thought to be involved in controlling spatial attention and planning actions. There has been less attention paid to how much of a role this brain area plays in processing the visual stimuli themselves," said David Freedman, PhD, professor of neuroscience at UChicago and the senior author of the study, published this week in Science. "Here we were able to show that it plays an important role in making sense of the things we see, perhaps even more so than its role in planning your next action or directing your attention."
Freedman and Yang Zhou, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher, trained monkeys to play a simple computer game in which they reported their decisions about different types of images displayed on a computer monitor by moving their eyes toward a designated target. For example, if the animals were shown a pattern of dots moving up and to the left, they were supposed to move their eyes toward a green spot. If the dots were moving to the opposite direction, they should move their eyes toward a red spot.
For the new study, the researchers tested whether a specific region of the PPC called the lateral intraparietal area (LIP) was directly involved in guiding these decisions. They gave the animals a drug which temporarily halted neural activity in the LIP area, then they had the monkeys perform the same tasks. While the drug was active, the monkeys' decisions about the visual patterns they viewed were impaired; once the drug wore off, their decisions returned to normal.
The researchers also recorded activity in the same pool of neurons once the drug had worn off and found that activity in that area of the brain was indeed strongly correlated with the same kinds of decisions which had been impaired during the experiments.
Deeper understanding of how the brain interprets things we see
The findings provide new context to help understand why a 2016 study by another group in Nature reported that deactivating parts of LIP seemed not to have any impact on decision making. That study only examined LIP's role in motor planning--such as the decision about whether to look leftwards or rightwards. In contrast, the current study shows that LIP is more involved in making sense of the visual images that the subjects are viewing, rather than deciding which actions they should take next.
"All the neuronal data we examined in our past experiments gave us the impression that this area of the brain was involved in processing the meaning of visual images during decision making," Freedman said. "Now we find that indeed, when we temporarily shut the activity down in that part of the brain it really does affect the sensory parts of decisions."
Freedman says the new study provides an opportunity for neuroscientists to rethink the brain mechanisms involved in decision-making, visual categorization, and sensory and motor processing. The work could also lead to a deeper understanding of how the brain interprets the things we see in order to make decisions. Understanding this process in detail will be critical for developing new treatments for brain-based diseases and disorders which affect decision making.
"These results show that the brain's parietal cortex is an important hub for guiding decisions, so now we're even more motivated to move ahead and try to work out the details of neural circuits in this part of the brain that actually carry out these cognitive functions," he said.
Matt Wood
matthew.wood@uchospitals.edu
@UChicagoMed
http://www.uchospitals.edu
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aaw8347 | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1216 |
__label__wiki | 0.507352 | 0.507352 | Maurice Béjart – Mass For The Future Time
“The man of the future will overcome man, but will rediscover what it is to be human while having become something fundamentally different.“ (Maurice Bejart) Maurice Bejart and the Ballet du XXème siècle with a visionary and groundbreaking…
Jazz Legends: Modern Jazz Quartet
John Lewis is famous for his interest in classical music and baroque forms led him to compose fugues for the MJQ. Alexander's Fugue is a great example of these compositions included in "Modern Jazz Quartet". Under Lewis's direction, the quartet…
Jazz Legends: Thelonious Monk Quartet
Thelonious Monk is famous for his unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Ruby, My Dear", which is part of the "Thelonious Monk Quartet" recording. He is also the second-most-recorded…
Jazz Legends: Count Basie
This concert recording from 1961 is one of the last recordings with two outstanding musicians from Basie’s band, Joe Williams and Joe Newman , who both departed from the band in 1961 to pursue solo careers. Joe Williams, known for having a deeper and…
Jazz Legends: Sarah Vaughan and her Trio
The trained pianist and occasional organist, Sarah Vaughan ranks among the Big Four of female jazz singers, alongside Bessie Smith , Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald . Her early formal education on the piano has influenced her vocal technique…
Jazz Legends: Duke Ellington and his Orchestra
There was probably no other artist, who was involved creatively in so many stages of the development of Jazz music as Duke Ellington . His sonic individuality originated in his peculiar style of composing and arranging, in which he was interweaving…
Jacques Loussier Trio plays Bach and more
Live from St Thomas’s Church – the church for which Bach conceived most of his works – comes a concert performed by the man who introduced Bach to the world of Jazz and vice versa. In 1959, Jacques Loussier hit upon the idea that was to make his… | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1217 |
__label__cc | 0.747378 | 0.252622 | Why Vaccinations Are Important
When you are expecting, the health and safety of yourself and your unborn baby are top priorities.
But vaccinations are a simple and effective way to protect you and your growing baby from serious diseases.
How Do Pregnancy Vaccines Work?
During pregnancy, vaccinated mothers pass antibodies to their babies. So when you get vaccines in pregnancy, you aren’t just protecting yourself you are giving your baby protection too. This immunity helps protect the baby during the first few months of life when they are too young to be fully vaccinated. To protect yourself and your baby, it’s important to understand which vaccines you will need during your pregnancy.
Which Vaccines Do I Need During Pregnancy?
All pregnant women need to get vaccinated against seasonal flu and whooping cough during each pregnancy.
The Flu Vaccine
Getting vaccinated against seasonal flu is important because pregnant women are at an increased risk for serious complications if they get the flu. Flu vaccination during pregnancy provides immunity against influenza infection to babies in their first six months of life.
When Can I Get The Flu Vaccine?
The flu vaccine is a non live vaccine and can be given safely at any time during pregnancy. The flu season occurs between September and April. If you are pregnant through two flu seasons, you should get the flu vaccine in each season.
Flu vaccination is available from your GP or pharmacist.
READ NEXT: THE FLU VACCINE: WHY YOU SHOULD GET IT WHEN YOU'RE EXPECTING
Whooping Cough Vaccine
Whooping cough (also known as pertussis) is a highly contagious illness that can be life threatening. The disease is most serious in babies less than six months of age - many babies are hospitalised with complications such as pneumonia and seizures. Babies less than six months of age are too young to be fully vaccinated.
When Can I Get The Whooping Cough Vaccine?
The best time to get the whooping cough vaccine is between 16-36 weeks of your pregnancy. Giving the vaccine at this time will give your baby the best protection.
There is no single whooping cough vaccine. The only available vaccine (the Tdap vaccine) contains vaccines against tetanus and diphtheria infection also
You should get whooping cough vaccine during every pregnancy as the protection provided by the Tdap vaccine weakens after about 12 months . Contact your GP or maternity hospital to arrange vaccination.
READ NEXT: WHY IS THE WHOOPING COUGH VACCINE IMPORTANT FOR EXPECTANT MUMS?
3 Important Things To Know About Pregnancy Vaccinations
You AND baby are protected - It’s not just yourself that you’re protecting by getting vaccinated, you’re giving your baby some early protection too. The antibodies you receive from flu and whooping cough vaccines will give your baby some short-term protection against seasonal flu and whooping cough from early in life.
Pregnancy vaccines are safe - The flu vaccine has been given to millions of pregnant women. It has been given to pregnant women for almost 60 years in the US. Reactions are generally mild and serious side effects are very rare. The whooping cough vaccine is safe for pregnant women. Whooping cough vaccine is recommended for pregnant women in the UK, US, New Zealand and Australia. This whooping cough vaccine has been studied in pregnant women in the US and the UK and no risk has been found. Reactions are generally mild and serious side effects are very rare.
If you become pregnant again, you will need to get the flu vaccine and whooping cough vaccine again - The amount of antibodies that you have in your body after getting vaccinated reduces over time. When you get a vaccine during one pregnancy, your antibody levels will not stay at a level high enough to provide enough protection for future pregnancies against whooping cough. The flu virus changes every year so a different flu vaccine is required each year.
READ MORE: What Are The Top Myths And Facts About Vaccinations?
How Do Vaccines Work? (according to the WHO)
Vaccines contain a modified form of virus or bacteria that doesn’t cause disease, but does 'teach' your immune system what to do if you are ever attacked by the real, potentially dangerous virus or bacteria.
When you get vaccinated, your immune system responds just as it does to any other 'intrusion', by creating antibodies to fight off the particular virus or bacteria.
After vaccination your body remembers this specific intruder. If you ever come in contact with the real virus or bacteria, the right antibodies quickly destroy it – before it has the chance to make you sick.
For some diseases, more than one dose of the vaccine, or a booster dose later in life, may be needed to ensure full and lasting protection.
When you and nearly everyone else in your community are immune to a contagious disease, it cannot spread easily. Together you prevent the virus or bacteria from reaching those who cannot be vaccinated, including babies too young for vaccination and individuals with health conditions or who are undergoing treatments that weaken their immune systems.
Consult with your doctor and check your family’s immunisation records to make sure that you are all fully protected. www.who.int
To find out more about vaccinations, visit www.immunisation.ie | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1220 |
__label__cc | 0.656233 | 0.343767 | Slovenian importer and distributor of beverage products that just started to commercialize its own brand is looking for tea breweries to produce private label of fresh blends for bottled and canned ice tea under service or outsourcing agreement.
Well-established Slovenian importer and distributor of beverage products and drinks has recently started to commercialize its own brand. As part of its development strategy, the company is now looking for companies to brew PL (private label) fresh tea for bottled and canned ice tea under service agreements or outsourcing agreements.
The Slovenian company is a well-recognized importer and distributor of beverage products and drinks in Slovenia, Croatia and other neighboring countries. It is active on the market since 2012 and it has its own warehouses on the suburbs of the capital Ljubljana. The company has a young team with employees who have matured substantial experience in the distribution and marketing of beverages and other products, and have successfully worked with top global brands before joining the company.
The company is distributing both Slovenian and international products/brands such as: Vitamin Well; NOBE aloe vera; Quilmes; San Miguel; Ron Barcelo, and many others. It has distribution agreements with domestic retail companies (covering about 80% of the domestic market) and with retailers in Croatia and other neighbouring countries. On the other hand, it is also active in b2b business, which enables the company to effectively target restaurants, cafeterias, local shops and small beverage vendors.
While consolidating its core business and expanding its distribution network, the company is investing both in the advertisement and promotion of the brands that are being commercialized in the domestic market and in the establishment of its own brand(s).
The company is in fact expanding its activities further and is aiming to commercialize its own brand of bottled ice tea in a growing domestic market as well as in neighboring markets (primarily in Austria, Croatia and Italy). With such an aim (the new ice tea beverage is expected to become a popular brand in the coming years and sell fast), it is now looking for business partners from Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland or UK: under service or outsourcing agreements partners will brew high quality blends of fresh tea (e.g. rooibos tea) that will be subsequently blended in bottled and caned ice tea to be sold on the market through retailers, shops, cafeterias etc.
- Type of partner sought: The company will have expertise in tea brewing and tea blending. On the basis of such expertise, it will have the duty to brew PL fresh tea for bottled and canned ice tea.
- Specific area of activity of the partner: The partner's role will be to brew fresh blends of tea (e.g. rooibos tea) which will be then blended in the ice tea beverage packed in cans and/or bottles that will be commercialized and distributed on the market.
Due to costs optimization reasons, the partner should be ideally located either in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland or the UK.
Partnership opportunities under service or outsourcing agreements are sought.
Advantages and opportunities are to be found primarily on an economic and business level:
� The company employs a young, ambitious and dynamic team with significant marketing experience in the field;
IPR: | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1222 |
__label__cc | 0.619912 | 0.380088 | Equinix Strengthens its Foothold in China with New Shanghai Data Center
Fifth Shanghai Data Center Meets Strong Demand for Premium Data Center Services in China
HONG KONG — September 18, 2012 ― Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX), the global interconnection and data center company, today announced the launch of its newest data center in Shanghai (SH5) to address the strong demand for premium data center services in China from global customers looking to expand in the market. The launch further strengthens Equinix’s footprint in Asia-Pacific and demonstrates its long-term commitment to data center development in China.
Following the $230.5 million acquisition of Asia Tone in July 2012, Equinix gained a total of six data centers and one disaster recovery center located across Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore, including SH5. The first phase of SH5 will provide 200 cabinet equivalents, expanding to 900 with a gross area of 80,000 square feet when all three phases of SH5 are completed. With its experience serving multinational customers worldwide, Equinix is uniquely positioned to provide the same high-performance premium colocation services in China that its customers have come to expect.
“Our expansion in China is a strategic move to meet strong demand for premium data center services from our customers around the globe. China is one of the fastest growing markets in the Asia-Pacific region and a priority market for many multinational companies,” said Alex Tam, managing director, Equinix Greater China. “In addition, the PRC government’s twelfth, five-year plan announced in 2011 encouraged enterprises to adopt new technologies, such as cloud computing technology. This will inevitably result in tremendous demand in the market for data center services that deliver high-performance and availability. As a leading global data center service provider, Equinix will continue expanding Platform Equinix™ to support our customers’ business needs with our global data center footprint.”
Research and consulting firm Frost & Sullivan expects the data center services market in China to see a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.9% from 2009 to 2016*. China’s data center capacity is expected to reach 1.86 million square meters by 2016, growing at an 11.3% CAGR from 2011 through 2016.
“With Shanghai expected to be the global financial center by 2020, the market requires a reliable data center service provider with international experience to provide a highly secure, available and robust data center service. With established financial ecosystems in major financial centers around the world, Equinix is able to support mission-critical financial services applications to ensure business continuity,” added Alex.
The SH5 data center offers premium data center services including colocation and Smart HandsTM services. With a team of highly trained and experienced data center technicians, Equinix will provide its customers with 24x7 support and installation assistance.
In addition to the recent acquisition of Asia Tone, Equinix also announced the completion of the second phase of its second Hong Kong data center, taking the total capacity at HK2 to 1,450 cabinets.
* Frost & Sullivan: “Asia Pacific Data Center Services Market Update 2010”, issued in November 2011
Equinix and IBX are registered trademarks of Equinix, Inc. International Business Exchange is a trademark of Equinix, Inc. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1223 |
__label__wiki | 0.76965 | 0.76965 | The Kamikaze Governors
It seems that Governor Rick Snyder's popularity among the Michiganders has not blossomedsince he got his pet right-to-work law through a while back.
In an EPIC-MRA poll of 600 likely voters conducted last week, 61 percent of respondents gave Snyder a negative job rating, as first reported by the Detroit Free Press and WXYZ. Only 36 percent of respondents said Snyder is doing a good job, while three percent were undecided. Those numbers represent a rapid decline in ratings for the first-term Republican. The same firm conducted a poll in late November and found that 51 percent of voters approved of the job Snyder was doing while 48 percent gave him a negative rating...The EPIC-MRA poll is the second of its kind to show falling support for the governor in recent months. Public Policy Polling, a North Carolina-based firm that does work for Democratic campaigns, polled voters in December days after Snyder signed right-to-work bills and pegged his approval rating at 38 percent.
This is the same phenomenon that has occurred in several states where Republican governors have combined with Republican legislative majorities to pass laws that are severely at odds with what the people in those states want, the primary constituents for these governors being not necessarily the voters of their state but, rather, various plutocrats from around the country. Down in Florida, Rick Scott's approval ratings have been peggedin the low 30's for months now, and John Kasich in Ohio is not faring much better, although, significantly, his numbers began to edge up a little after his union-busting got his ass kicked at the polls in 2011. It is my considered opinion, however, that none of this matters. Most of these people were installed in office for a specific purpose -- to codify into law oligarchical principles at the state level. They were elected specifically to prevent the governments of their states from acting in the general good and to ensure that they acted in the private interests of the people who financed their respective political careers. Because of that, I think, they don't really see themselves as having a political future beyond the immediate moment. Snyder won't say if he's running again, and every poll shows that Scott would lose to renegade Charlie Crist in Florida. (I exempt Kasich from this for now because he previously was something of a national figure and may still have delusions that he is.) They can now move on to well-remunerated careers in the very same corporate universe that they so served as elected officials. They were brought in to wreck the government for private gain, and they've accomplished that and, failing a Democratic sweep in heavily gerrymandered state legislatures, the changes they have wrought are probably well-night permanent. Their work there is done.
There is one notable exception, and that is Scott Walker, the twice-elected goggle-eyed homunculus hired by Koch Industries to run their midwest affiliate formerly known as the state of Wisconsin. Walker's approval rating has hovered right at 50 percent even since he beat a recall effort last summer. By far, he is the most popular of all this class of governors with the Republican base, and he has a higher national profile within the party even then Kasich, who once ran for president, and preceded by a decade or so Marco Rubio as The Young Republican With The Cool Taste In Music. (Kasich is a Deadhead of long standing). If he manages to survive his ongoing legal trouble back in Milwaukee, Walker is the one member of this class of governors with a chance to break out nationally. He may in fact be the only one of them that wants to do it anyway.
Todd Snyder Fall/Winter 2014
NYFW Preview: Todd Snyder 2014
A Man in His Office: 3x1 Denim's Scott Morrison
Rick Perry, Christian: What Would Pilate Do?
Rick Bayless: How I Cooked for Obama's State Dinner
The Loneliness Of Governor Batboy | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1225 |
__label__wiki | 0.560733 | 0.560733 | Scientists tweak genes and grow a dinosaur leg on a chicken
By Jessica Hall on March 10, 2016 at 12:29 pm
This just in from the what-could-possibly-go-wrong department: Scientists from the Universidad de Chile, headed by Joâo Botelho, genetically manipulated chickens so that they would grow up with legs like dinosaurs. They apparently did not notice the major premise of the latest Jurassic Park movie, because this really looks like someone in a lab coat thought “Let’s make a creature grow up to express more velociraptor-like traits and just see what happens.”
But that’s not even the crazy part. The crazy part is that to do this, the researchers didn’t insert genes from any organism. They just silenced a gene the chickens already had.
Now, they didn’t build a chicken that looks like someone just cut-and-pasted a leathery green raptor leg onto it — but it’s close enough for government work. You see, chickens have a detached and diminished fibula. It’s the tiny pin-like (not a coincidence: fibula is Latin for pin) bone we hate in chicken legs. Suppressing one of the genes responsible for the differences between raptors and chickens — in this case, it’s a gene called Indian Hedgehog which is important to bone development — resulted in chickens that develop a full-length, tubular fibula connected at the ankle. They ended up with chickens possessed of bone structure that matches the lower leg anatomy of a raptor. The dino-chicken leg bones look just like raptor leg bones, as visible here:
Deinonychus, the dinosaur pictured here, is a raptor that lived in North America. Image courtesy of Universidad de Chile.
Dinosaurs, which are the ancestors of chickens, had a tibia and fibula of the same length, connected at the ankle. In the evolution from dinosaurs to birds, the fibula retracted under lighter use and no longer connects to the ankle; it became shorter than the other bone in the lower leg, the tibia. Embryologists had already discovered that during the course of development, bird embryos first develop a tubular, full-length, dinosaur-like fibula. Only later does it become shorter than the tibia and acquire its mature, pin-like shape.
This is the second time Botelho has tempted fate achieved an experimental reversion to a dinosaur-like trait in birds. Previously, he had managed to undo the evolution of the backward-facing perching toe of birds, using gene modification to produce birds with a non-twisted, non-opposed toe, also just like dinosaurs had — and another lab at Yale built a chicken with a dinosaur-like snout by altering gene expression in chicken embryos. But the scientists assure us that they aren’t trying to produce dinosaurs. You know, just parts of dinosaurs. Or things like dinosaurs. Not sure which is less terrifying.
“The experiments are focused on single traits, to test specific hypotheses,” says Alexander Vargas, in whose lab Botelho made the chickens. “Not only do we know a great deal about bird development, but also about the dinosaur-bird transition, which is well-documented by the fossil record. This leads naturally to hypotheses on the evolution of development, that can be explored in the lab.”
Do not meddle in the affairs of dinosaurs, for you are squishy and good with ketchup.
Sooner or later we’ll hear how this series of experiments plays out. Meanwhile, I’ll be busy being glad I don’t live on or near an island.
it seemed like a good idea at the time
Post a Comment Comment | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1226 |
__label__wiki | 0.837495 | 0.837495 | > What does gaming, transportation, consumer electronics and real estate have in common?
What does gaming, transportation, consumer electronics and real estate have in common?
On the 11th of June, the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ 2015 will be awarded! This year, our Nordic countries will be represented by the successful entrepreneurs Ilkka Paananen (Supercell), Brynjar Forbergskog (Torghatten), Fabian Bengtsson (Netonnet Group) and Michael Mortensen (CASA).
The 16th EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year Award and Forum will take place between 7 and 12 June 2016 in Monaco, where 55 entrepreneurs representing 49 countries will compete for the global crown to be announced during a gala awards ceremony on 11 June. All finalists have won national or regional EY Entrepreneur Of The Year programs around the world. Please meet our Nordic finalists in EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year:
Ilkka Paananen
CEO, Supercell
Ilkka Paananen is taking the mobile gaming industry by storm. He is the CEO and co-founder of Supercell, the global leading company in mobile games. As a serial entrepreneur Ilkka joined the Finnish gaming industry already in 2000 and since then has been steadily building gaming companies like Sumea and Digital Chocolate. Supercell, the company he cofounded together with six others in 2010, has become the leader in mobile games in just five years with billions of dollars in revenue. The first Supercell games, Hay Day, Clash of Clans and Boom Beach are all top-10 hits globally with millions of players from over 150 counties and have maintained these positions for years after launch, a rarity in the fast-changing mobile games industry. Their newest game, Clash Royale, was launched in March 2016 and quickly became a top-5 global hit.
Supercell’s primary goal has always been to make games that players want to play for years and years. And how has Supercell and Ilkka made their way to success? Behind this phenomenal success is a simple, but innovative strategy: choose your employees just like a sports team. In other words, get the best players, create the best environment for them and get out of their way.
He and his team place a lot of importance on sharing the benefits of their financial success. They have donated millions of dollars to charitable initiatives, ranging from a children’s hospital in Helsinki to a campaign fighting AIDS across Africa. Ilkka and his company’s co-founders have also invested millions of dollars into Finnish start-ups, as his dream is to make Helsinki the Silicon Valley of Europe. “The true heroes of entrepreneurship are the ones who try, fail, try again, fail again, and keep on doing this forever. I hope my award inspires some of these heroes to try one more time,” he said.
www.supercell.com
Brynjar Forbergskog
CEO, Torghatten ASA
Under the leadership of Brynjar Kristian Forbergskog, Torghatten ASA has significantly increased its profitability and revenues. In 25 years, the company has grown from US$9 million to over US$1 billion in revenues, and now employs close to 7,000 people.
In the 1990s Torghatten was one of the smallest players in their industry, with 130 employees. With Forbergskog at the helm, it is now one of the leading transportation companies in Northern Europe. The main activity is transportation at sea, on land and in the air, distributed between ferries, speedboats, bus, and air travel. It operates internationally through its airline Wideroe, and has major activity in international shipping. All together, the Group covers more than 40 companies.
Brynjar Forbergskog has been a key driving force in the Group’s business growth and strategic acquisitions. He spends a lot of time conducting thorough market analysis and research, and believes that the courage to take necessary action is a key to success. The Group has already met its 2017 target of US$1 billion in turnover, and has seen an impressive growth both in turnover, results and employees during the 25 years under Forbergskog’s influence and leadership.
Torghatten has always been a competitive company, focusing on versatile business in the long term. Through education for its employees, good management and solid local anchoring with its subsidiaries, it has what it takes to succeed in the future.
The ability to see opportunity is what Brynjar considers the most important personality trait for an entrepreneur. “I believe that people who think new thoughts are of inestimable value to the development of our societies. We need people who see opportunities where others see risks,” he says.
www.torghatten.no
Fabian Bengtsson
Owner and Board Member, Netonnet Group AB
Fabian Bengtsson runs one of the leading Nordic retailers in the consumer electronics industry. His grandfather, Folke Bengtsson, launched SIBA in 1951 when he opened a small shop selling radios and crystal chandeliers in Gothenburg. Fabian’s father, Bengt Bengtsson, took over the business 10 years later and expanded it further, opening several more stores and Sweden’s first radio and TV superstore. In 1996, Fabian became the third generation to join the family business and in 2001, at the age of 28, Fabian was appointed CEO. It was a rough start because it coincided with a number of key management members leaving the company. However, SIBA continued to grow. It had opened its first store in Norway a year earlier, building up its international presence following its previous expansion in Denmark. But this rapid growth brought trouble, too, once external conditions worsened after the 2008 financial crisis. Still, the experience has made him stronger. “I learned to never give up, work hard, be committed and firm on how to the reach the goal,” he said.
Today, Fabian is an owner of Netonnet Group AB and due to Fabian’s talent for harnessing innovation and driving growth, the group is not just one of the leading retailers in the Nordic region, but it is also a multichannel business where online and traditional retail are seamlessly integrated. It had a turnover of US$786.6m in 2014 and 1,000 employees.
Looking toward the future, Fabian is focused on the digitalization and integration of the different sales channels and on innovating to include smart digital structures in the business model, particularly in social media. “Social media is the disruptive change of marketing,” he said. “If you are not integrated with your customers, you will fail in your business.”
www.netonnet.se
Michael Mortensen
Founder and Chairman of the Board, CASA A/S
Michael Mortensen started building his entrepreneurial career at a very young age. After a short stint as a roofer for his father’s firm at age 11, he launched his first company when he was just 13 years old. Today Michael, who is a carpenter by trade, is Founder and Chairman of the Board of property developer CASA. In just over a decade, CASA has risen to be a respected player on the Danish real estate market.
The company develops, builds and rents residential properties, commercial properties and public buildings throughout Denmark. Last year, CASA had a revenues of almost US$150m, representing growth of over 26% year on year. The business now employs 95 people and approx. 1000 people are working for subcontractors on CASA’s development projects. Recently, CASA launched a successful entry into the market for large-scale renovations.
The rapid development is due to Michael’s talent for innovating, improving and optimizing processes, as well as his tenacity and determination to “keep going even when the going gets tough.” CASA’s innovative projects — such as a building that combines a series of apartments ranging from family flats to penthouses and homes for seniors with a green garden in the center of a city — have drawn an increasing number of clients. But Michael is not resting on his laurels. His goal over the next two to three years is to build 200 houses per year from the 50 or so CASA currently develops.
www.casa-as.dk
About EY
EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.
EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.
About EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™
EY Entrepreneur Of The Year is the world’s most prestigious business awards program for entrepreneurs. The program makes a difference through the way it encourages entrepreneurial activity among those with potential, and recognizes the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement. As the first and only truly global awards program of its kind, Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognizing them through regional, national and global awards programs in more than 145 cities in more than 60 countries. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1227 |
__label__wiki | 0.721888 | 0.721888 | Galileo Galilei – most people simply call him Galileo – was one of the most significant people in the history of science. He lived at a crucial crossroads in time, when different strands of thought met and clashed. These were:
natural philosophy based on Aristotle’s incorrect ideas.
the beliefs of the Catholic Church.
evidence-based scientific research.
In the end, the ideas of Galileo and other scientists triumphed, because they were able to prove them to be true.
Although his ideas triumphed, Galileo paid a high price for his science: he spent the last eight years of his life under house arrest, and the Catholic Church banned the publication of anything written by him.
Galileo’s Early Years and Education
Galileo Galilei was born in the Italian city of Pisa on February 15, 1564. He was the eldest son of Vincenzo Galilei and Giulia Ammannati.
His father was a well-known composer, who played the lute, a stringed instrument.
Galileo also became a skilled lute player.
As a young man, Galileo was torn between training to become a Catholic priest or a doctor of medicine. His father encouraged him to study medicine, and Galileo took his father’s advice, starting a medical course at the University of Pisa when he was 17 years old. Soon, however, his father’s plans came unstuck.
Galileo’s Lifetime in Context
Galileo’s lifetime and the lifetimes of related scientists and mathematicians.
Math, Music, Physics and Art
Aged 18, Galileo stumbled into a mathematics lecture, changing his life and the course of scientific history. Mathematics seemed so much more interesting than medicine he thought, and he quickly realized that mathematics seemed to play a crucial role in understanding and explaining our world.
Galileo became fascinated by the movement of pendulums, noting that if the length of the string was constant, it didn’t matter how hard you swung it, the pendulum always moved to-and-fro at the same rate.
The musician in him recognized a principle similar to his lute. It didn’t matter how hard you hit a lute string, it would always play the same note; but if you changed the length of the string you could you change the musical note. And likewise a pendulum would change the rate at which it swung to and fro only if you changed the length of the string.
As an accomplished musician, Galileo knew that the relationship between string length and the note it produced was mathematical – this had been proved almost 2000 years earlier by the Pythagoreans in Ancient Greece.
In fact, Galileo’s father had contributed to the field of the mathematics of music by discovering a new relationship, showing that in a stringed instrument, the pitch of a musical note depends on the square root of the string’s tension.
And so the die was cast. Galileo realized that he was much more interested in mathematics and physics than he was in medicine. He chose to follow the path which excited him most intellectually rather than that which would have rewarded him most financially.
Having strayed from medicine, he decided he might as well study art and drawing in addition to science.
Funnily enough, he never completed his university degree!
Galileo believed that mathematics is the language of the world around us: whether it is the behavior of planets and pendulums or the fundamentals of music and mechanics, all could be understood using mathematics.
Galileo’s Scientific Career
At the age of 22, Galileo published a book about a hydrostatic balance he had invented. In this way his name became known to other scientists.
Despite his scientific progress, Galileo’s first job was as an art teacher. Aged 24, he began teaching art in the Italian city of Florence. He didn’t stay long in this job; his scientific and mathematical powers had been noticed, and in 1589, aged just 25, he was awarded the Chair of Mathematics at the University of Pisa.
He worked in Pisa for three years, before moving to the University of Padua in northern Italy in 1592.
Galileo settled in Padua, where he taught mathematics, physics, and astronomy, making many momentous scientific discoveries.
Galileo’s Scientific Achievements and Discoveries
Galileo:
Was the first person to study the sky with a telescope.
Became a skilled telescope builder and made money selling them to merchants in Venice who were eager to see which ships were arriving as soon as possible in an effort to make money on the ‘futures’ market.
Discovered the first moons ever known to orbit a planet other than Earth. Jupiter’s four largest moons, which he discovered: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, are together known as the Galilean Satellites in his honor.
Discovered that Venus has phases like the moon, ranging from a thin crescent to full. This was the first practical, observational evidence that the sun sits at the center of the solar system.
Discovered the rings of Saturn, although he found their appearance very confusing.
Discovered our moon has mountains.
Discovered that the Milky Way is made up of stars.
On a dark, clear night, you can see the Milky Way in the sky. This NASA image contains much more detail than you could ever see with the naked eye. Galileo discovered that the Milky Way is made up of stars.
Was the first person ever to see the planet Neptune. We know this from drawings in his notebook. He observed that it was moving, unlike the other stars. In Galileo’s time the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn had been known of for thousands of years, and no others were contemplated. Unfortunately, Galileo lost track of the moving star he had found. Neptune was not discovered until 1846.
Established that, if there is no air resistance, everything falls to the ground at the same rate regardless of its weight. Gravity accelerates all objects equally, whatever their mass.
Established that when gravity accelerates any object, the object accelerates at a constant rate so that the distance fallen is proportional to the time squared. For example, a ball falling for one second would travel a distance of one unit; a ball falling for two seconds would travel a distance of four units; a ball falling for three seconds would travel a distance of nine units, etc. It is probably a myth that he discovered this by dropping cannon balls from the Leaning Tower of Pisa. He used balls rolling down wooden ramps for most of his investigations of gravity and acceleration.
Identified that anything thrown or fired on Earth, such as a rock or a cannonball, flies along a curved path and that the shape of the curve is a parabola.
Galileo investigated the effect of gravity on falling bodies. He found balls fired from cannons followed a path shaped like a parabola and that all bodies fall to Earth with a constant acceleration.
Stated the principle of inertia: a body moving on a level surface will continue in the same direction at a constant speed unless disturbed. This later became Newton’s First Law of Motion.
Proposed the first theory of relativity: that the laws of physics are the same for all observers moving in a straight line at constant speed.
Discovered that for pendulums, their period of oscillation squared is directly proportional to their length and is independent of the mass attached to the string or rod. Galileo realized pendulums could be used to keep time, but never seems to have put this into practice, other than showing his son a design for a clock. Clocks had not been invented in Galileo’s time and his experiments were conducted using his pulse as the timekeeper, or, better, the weight of water which escaped through a hole in a vessel.
Tried to measure the speed of light, but found it was too fast for him to measure.
Showed that the set of perfect squares 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81, 100… has as many members in it as the set of whole numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 9, 10… even though, at first sight, the set of whole numbers appears to contain more members. This demonstration became known as Galileo’s Paradox. The basis of Galileo’s proof is that there must be as many whole numbers squared as there are whole numbers, because every whole number can be squared – so every whole number can be paired up with its square.
“Galileo – the father of modern physics – indeed of modern science.”
Galileo’s Trouble with the Church
In Galileo’s time the Church reluctantly tried to accommodate science to some extent. Roughly speaking, its attitude was that it was okay for you to do science, and it was even okay if you find that the Church’s interpretation of the Bible was wrong, as long as you didn’t say it out loud.
For example, it was okay to pretend that the earth orbited the sun to help with astronomical calculations, but it was not okay to state that it was true that the earth orbited the sun.
Galileo’s troubles began in 1613 when he was 49 years old and published Letters on Sunspots. In this book, he established the imperfection of the heavens by describing dark patches on the sun’s surface – sunspots. He also said he preferred the idea that the earth orbits the sun to the idea that the earth is the center of the universe: this was known as the Copernican view after Nicholas Copernicus proposed a heliocentric or sun-centered Solar System in 1543. Aristarchus, in Ancient Greece, proposed this 18 centuries earlier. Copernicus’s work was well-known to scientists, but the Church had never approved the book for general reading.
In 1615 Galileo wrote that the Bible’s words had to be interpreted based on modern science and that the language of the Bible was the language of an earlier time.
“I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to avoid their use.”
Astronomer, Mathematician, Physicist
In 1616 the Church went further than non-approval of Copernicus’s book, condemning it and banning it.
In 1620 the Church approved Copernicus’s book after editing it: any sentences in which Copernicus wrote about a heliocentric Solar System as a matter of fact were removed or changed. Despite the final approval, the book was still not actually published in any countries with a powerful Catholic Church.
In 1632 the Church in Florence, but not Rome, approved for publication Galileo’s new work, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems. In the book he seemed to argue in favor of a heliocentric Solar System.
In 1633 Galileo answered a summons to Rome to answer charges that the Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems was heretical. He was interrogated by the Inquisition and threatened with torture.
He denied that his book was heretical and denied that it advocated a heliocentric Solar System. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on the basis that he was “vehemently suspected of heresy.” This was later lessened to house arrest, because he was a rather elderly man.
Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems and all other works by Galileo were prohibited.
However, in countries where the Catholic Church was not strong, such as England, Holland, Germany, Scotland, Switzerland, and all of Scandinavia, Galileo’s books were available for anyone to read.
House Arrest and Two New Sciences
Galileo was confined to his house in the city of Florence for eight years, during which time he was allowed to receive visitors. In 1638 he published his masterpiece: Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations Concerning the Two New Sciences.
The two new sciences he described were the science of materials and the science of motion.
The book was published in Holland after it was smuggled out of Italy. It contained much of what Galileo had discovered and learned during his many years of experimentation and theorizing.
“So great a contribution to physics was Two New Sciences that scholars have long maintained that the book anticipated Isaac Newton’s laws of motion.”
After eight years of house arrest, Galileo Galilei died on January 8, 1642, aged 77.
As the years passed, the Catholic Church gradually began removing prohibition orders on some of Galileo’s books, or allowed edited versions to be published. It took until 1835 until everything Galileo had written was approved by the Church.
"Galileo Galilei." Famous Scientists. famousscientists.org. 1 Sep. 2014. Web.
<www.famousscientists.org/galileo-galilei/>.
John Philoponus
Niccolo Tartaglia
Thomas Harriot
Michael Holyoke says
Excellent article – quicker to read than wikipedia (much as I support wikipedia!) – very well formatted.
The Doc says
Thanks for your kind comment Michael. I’m glad you liked the article. 🙂
Lily Roman says
I agree with Micheal very dood! keep up the good work. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1228 |
__label__wiki | 0.934786 | 0.934786 | fanatix | Football | Premier League | Arsenal FC | Former Arsenal star says Arsene Wenger could be sacked if he loses on Monday
Former Arsenal star says Arsene Wenger could be sacked if he loses on Monday
Glen Harrington
Ex-Arsenal star Paul Merson has labelled his former club’s FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester United a ‘winner takes all match’, revealing his belief that the losing manager will be out of a job come the end of the season.
Arsenal Legend’s Son Hoping To Become An Invincible Like His Dad
Manchester United & Arsenal Compete For Signing Of PSG Midfielder
According to reports on CaughtOffside, Merson has hyped up the pressure on both Arsene Wenger and Louis van Gaal, revelling in the importance of both managers winning a trophy this season, despite the fact that only one of them could realistically still do so.
He said: “Whichever manager loses out when Manchester United and Arsenal clash in their FA Cup quarter-final will be under severe pressure. Whoever goes out of the cup will just be playing for the top four – and neither team is guaranteed to finish in there this season.
“You can’t tell me that either of those managers will still be in a job next season if they go out of the cup and don’t finish in the top four. Van Gaal has spent a fortune and has to qualify for the Champions League. Winning the FA Cup might save him. Not doing either? It’s goodbye.
“You see this every year with Arsenal. They were out of the title race ages ago, but they will probably win their last eight or nine games and come third. Then everybody will say next year’s the year, the players are more experienced – and it will be the same story all over again.
“Nothing really changes. It’s a hard one to call, this game. United have not been playing great for a while, but you know what they are like in big games – they can turn it on. I do think they will get a hiding sometime soon, though.”
More Stories: Arsenal FC, Manchester United FC | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1229 |
__label__wiki | 0.97595 | 0.97595 | MSN & Co to light up the Emirates
Barcelona currently boast the three best players in the world as individuals, however it’s their connection and understanding that the trio share which makes them, arguably, the most frightening front-line in football history. The combined force of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez make the Catalans hot favourites to become the first team in the Champions League era to retain the European Cup.
Arsenal have been dealt the unenviable task of facing Barcelona once again when the pair meet at the Emirates in the first-leg of the last 16 on Tuesday night.
In the build up to the clash between the English and Spanish sides, fantasy football game www.oulala.com have studied the stats to reveal the best combined XI based purely on player performance data from the Premier League and La Liga.
Oulala’s stats team have taken a look at two players in each position and analysed a host of key areas to determine who makes the grade and features in our combined Arsenal and Barcelona stat-based best eleven.
Unfortunately, someone had to go head-to-head with Lionel Messi, so Mr Chamberlain – we apologise.
Here’s who made the cut…
Petr Cech beats Claudio Bravo to the number one jersey. Cech has kept more clean sheets (12 to 11), however Bravo has conceded fewer goals per game (0.62 to 0.88). Cech fights back with more saves per game (3.3 to 3), but Bravo boasts more saves per goal (4.8 to 3.7). Cech goes on to lead for catches (2.1 to 1.6) and punches (0.5 to 0.2) per game. .
Nacho Monreal comfortably claims the left-back spot over Jordi Alba. On a per game basis, Monreal has won more tackles (1.7 to 1.2), made more interceptions (2.9 to 2.1), more blocks (0.3 to 0.2) and more clearances (3.6 to 2.4). The 29-year-old also dominates his Spanish counterpart offensively having completed more successful dribbles (0.5 to 0.2) and created more chances (0.9 to 0.5) per game.
Laurent Koscielny has statistically outperformed Javier Mascherano this season. The Arsenal man has made more interceptions (3.7 to 1.9), more blocks (0.9 to 0.5), more clearances (6 to 2) and has won more aerial duels (2.7 to 1.1) per game. Mascherano boasts more tackles won per game (1.8 to 0.9) and the superior tackle success rate (51 to 37 per cent).
Gerard Piqué narrowly edges Per Mertesacker for the second centre-back spot. On a per game basis, Piqué has made more successful tackles (1.2 to 1.1), more interceptions (2.2 to 1.3) and more blocks (0.6 to 0.4). While Mertesacker has made more clearances per game (5 to 4.4) and boasts the better tackle success rate (71 to 58 per cent). The duo cannot be separated aerially having each won an average of 2.2 aerial duels per game.
Hector Bellerin shades the right-back spot from Dani Alves. The duo are inseparable for tackles won (1.3 to 1.3), interceptions (1.9 to 1.9) and blocks (0.2 to 0.2) per game. The Arsenal full-back has made more clearances (3.2 to 1.4) and successfully completed more dribbles (1.5 to 0.9) per game. While Alves has created more chances per game (0.8 to 0.6).
Francis Coquelin has overshadowed Sergio Busquets statistically this season. The Barcelona midfielder may have created more chances per game (0.6 to 0.2) and matched Coquelin for blocks per game (0.2), but the Frenchman has led the way in every other key area this season. Coquelin has a better pass completion rate (90 to 89 per cent), has won more tackles (2.3 to 2), made more interceptions (2.3 to 2) and more clearances (1 to 0.8) per game.
Central Midfielder
Aaron Ramsey has justified why Barcelona were linked with a move for the Welshman, dominating Ivan Rakitić in a host of key areas this season. The 25-year-old has completed more successful passes (59 to 43), created more chances (1.4 to 1), more key passes (1.3 to 1) and has won more tackles (1.9 to 1.2) per game. Ramsey has also registered more assists (3 to 0) and more goals (4 to 3).
Mesut Özil gets the better of Andres Iniesta in the playmaker role. The players share the same pass completion rate (88 per cent), while Iniesta has made more successful passes per game (61 to 53). However, the German has led every other key stat this term. Özil has created more chances (4.4 to 1.3) and made more key passes (3.7 to 1.2) per game. He has also registered more assists (17 to 1) and scored more goals (4 to 1).
Left Forward
Neymar comfortably takes the left-sided forward spot from Alexis Sánchez . The Chilean edges pass completion (81 to 80 per cent), but then the Brazilian takes over. Neymar has made more key passes (2.8 to 1.8), created more chances (3.2 to 1.8) and has completed more successful dribbles (4.6 to 3.2) per game. He has also scored more goals (18 to 6) and recorded more assists (9 to 1).
Right Forward
Lionel Messi unsurprisingly beats Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to the right-sided forward spot. Messi has scored more goals (15 to 1), registered more assists (7 to 0), made more key passes (1.5 to 0.9), created more chances (1.9 to 0.9) and completed more dribbles (4.1 to 1.6) per game. Chamberlain fights back with the better pass completion rate (82 to 81 per cent).
Luis Suarez dominates Olivier Giroud in every key area. The Uruguay international has scored more goals (25 to 12), enjoyed a better shot accuracy (57 to 54 per cent) and a better conversion rate (28 to 16 per cent) from a higher number of shots per game (3.8 to 3). Suarez comes out on top creatively too. He has created more chances per game (1.4 to 0.9) and has registered more assists (10 to 4).
[sam id=”4″ codes=”true”]
Tagged with: arsenal • barcelona • expert • focus • oulala
February 22, 2016 @OulalaGames | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1230 |
__label__wiki | 0.843958 | 0.843958 | China will give back seized drone, criticises U.S. hyping up the issue | Reuters
| BEIJING
BEIJING China's Defence Ministry said on Saturday it had been in talks with the United States about returning an underwater drone taken by a Chinese naval vessel in the South China Sea, but the U.S. was not helping by "hyping up" the issue.The drone was taken on Thursday, the first seizure of its kind in recent memory, about 50 nautical miles northwest of Subic Bay off the Philippines, just as the USNS Bowditch was about to retrieve the unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV), U.S. officials said.The Defence Ministry said a Chinese naval vessel discovered a piece of "unidentified equipment" and checked it to prevent any navigational safety issues, before discovering it was a U.S. drone."China decided to return it to the U.S. side in an appropriate manner, and China and the U.S. have all along been in communication about it," the ministry said on its website."During this process, the U.S. side's unilateral and open hyping up is inappropriate, and is not beneficial to the smooth resolution of this issue. We express regret at this," it added.U.S. President-elect Donald Trump weighed in to the row on Saturday, tweeting: "China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters - rips it out of water and takes it to China in unprecedented act."Without directly saying whether the drone was operating in waters China considers its own, the ministry said U.S. ships and aircraft have for a long period been carrying out surveillance and surveys in "the presence" of Chinese waters."China is resolutely opposed to this, and demands the U.S. stops this kind of activity," it said.
China will remain on alert for these sorts of activities and take necessary steps to deal with them, the ministry said without elaborating.Earlier, the Global Times, published by the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily, cited an unidentified Chinese source as saying they believed the issue would be resolved smoothly.The United States says the drone was operating lawfully."The UUV was lawfully conducting a military survey in the waters of the South China Sea," a U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "It's a sovereign immune vessel, clearly marked in English not to be removed from the water - that it was U.S. property," the official said.
The Pentagon confirmed the incident at a news briefing on Friday, and said the drone used commercially available technology and sold for about $150,000.Still, the Pentagon viewed China's seizure seriously since it had effectively taken U.S. military property."It is ours, and it is clearly marked as ours and we would like it back. And we would like this not to happen again," Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis said.
HEIGHTENED CONCERNS
The seizure will add to concerns about China's increased military presence and aggressive posture in the disputed South China Sea, including its militarization of maritime outposts.A U.S. research group said this week that new satellite imagery indicated China has installed weapons, including anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems, on all seven artificial islands it has built in the South China Sea.The drone seizure coincided with sabre-rattling from Chinese state media and some in its military establishment after Trump cast doubt on whether Washington would stick to its nearly four-decades-old policy of recognising that Taiwan is part of "one China."Those comments came after Trump took a telephone call from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Dec. 2, prompting a diplomatic protest from China.President Barack Obama said on Friday it was appropriate for Trump to take a fresh look at U.S. policy toward Taiwan, but he cautioned that a shift could lead to significant consequences in the U.S. relationship with Beijing, as the notion that Taiwan is part of "one China" is central to China's view of itself as a nation. (Additional reporting by Josephine Mason and Meng Meng; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)
Tags : Chinese, India, Middle East, Military, Vietnam
Oil down for a second day as US Gulf of Mexico output returns
Gold rises on fresh Sino-US trade tensions, Fed rate cut bets; slightly weaker dollar helps yellow metal's gain
Anti-virus firms like Symantec, Malwarebytes now flag China's surveillance malware
Crude prices fall 1% on concerns over global economic growth, fears of tension in Middle East disrupting supply routes | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1234 |
__label__wiki | 0.886178 | 0.886178 | FSU nursing dean advances college's research mission
KELSEY KLOPFENSTEIN / FSU News | 4/10/2019
Judith McFetridge-Durdle may be retiring, but Florida State University’s College of Nursing dean made an everlasting impact during her five-year tenure by advancing the college in the areas of research and diversity.
She will step down as dean June 30.
McFetridge-Durdle’s top priority when she arrived at FSU in December 2013 was to focus on the college’s research mission — and she’s had great success.
“When I first arrived, my mandate was to increase research capacity,” McFetridge-Durdle said. “That’s one of the areas where faculty wanted to see a change. We were primarily a teaching college until then. We offered excellent programs, but we wanted to increase our research capacity and take a step onto the research stage, especially since we’re part of a Research I university.”
McFetridge-Durdle’s dedication to increasing research and diversity in the College of Nursing paid off when the Center for Indigenous Nursing Research and Health Equity (INRHE) opened in May 2017.
As the only research center of its kind in the world, INRHE helps set the FSU College of Nursing apart from other programs. The opening of INRHE was a monumental moment for the college and one of McFetridge-Durdle’s fondest memories at FSU.
“The day that we opened the Center for Indigenous Nursing Research was exciting,” McFetridge-Durdle said. “We didn’t just open the center; we also held the first international conference for indigenous nursing researchers, and they came from all over — Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Hawaii, the Republic of Panama and South America.”
The opening of INRHE also brought three new research-intensive professors to the college, which increased research funding. When McFetridge-Durdle first came to FSU, the college had no National Institutes of Health funding. Now, it has $2.26 million in cumulative NIH funding and has submitted $12 million in grant proposals this academic year.
A wide range of research is currently being explored within the college, from improving the health outcomes in individuals with psychiatric and mental health conditions to cancer and cardiovascular disease prevention. McFetridge-Durdle emphasized the importance of nurses acquiring new knowledge and putting it into practice.
“Generating new knowledge, and then translating it into practice, is really important,” McFetridge-Durdle said. “That helps serve the public because the healthcare they receive is evidence-based.”
During her tenure as dean, McFetridge-Durdle also strengthened the diversity of nursing faculty, staff and students within the college, established the college’s Advancement Council Scholarship for First-Generation students and helped launch the Veteran’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing program.
McFetridge-Durdle also paved the way for a Psych/Mental Health Nurse Practitioner DNP program and an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner program, both set to begin in 2020.
Diversity is imperative for the future of the college, McFetridge-Durdle said.
“A diverse faculty helps diversify the student body because students see that there’s a place for them in the College of Nursing,” McFetridge-Durdle said.
When McFetridge-Durdle started at FSU, 21 percent of students enrolled were from underrepresented groups. That percentage has almost doubled since her arrival. In fall 2018, 40 percent of students admitted were from underrepresented groups.
FSU Provost Sally McRorie praised McFetridge-Durdle’s accomplishments.
“Judy’s been a great dean in so many ways,” McRorie said. “Moving the college into a research-focus has made a big difference, along with the new programs that she’s helped to develop. All of those things are critically important to who we are as an institution. We appreciate her leadership in developing a very bright future for the College of Nursing.”
While McFetridge-Durdle is retiring as dean, her work at Florida State is far from over. She plans to take administrative leave and return in January 2020 to assist in the college’s implementation of a Ph.D. program in nursing, something she said signals the college’s coming of age.
“The other big schools in Research I universities have a Ph.D. in nursing program, so we should have one,” McFetridge-Durdle said. “It aligns with the faculty’s research programs, and it will help attract more faculty because people want to come where they can work with Ph.D. students and postdocs.”
During her administrative leave, McFetridge-Durdle plans to spend more time golfing and playing with her grandkids.
A native of Nova-Scotia, McFetridge-Durdle has more than 28 years of experience in nursing education. She’s taught cardiovascular nursing at both the graduate and undergraduate levels at Duke University, Dalhousie University, University of North Florida and the University of Florida, which is where she earned her Ph.D. in nursing. Prior to coming to FSU, McFetridge-Durdle served as dean of the Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador School of Nursing in Canada.
Laurie Grubbs will serve as interim dean of the College of Nursing while the university conducts a national search for the position.
For more information about the college and its programs, visit nursing.fsu.edu. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1237 |
__label__wiki | 0.776428 | 0.776428 | Kinder Morgan's Growth Engine Is About to Rev Up
The natural gas pipeline giant is about to complete several major expansion projects, which should fuel accelerated earnings growth later this year.
Matthew DiLallo
(TMFmd19)
Jun 25, 2019 at 6:03AM
Energy, Materials, and Utilities
Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) finally restarted its growth engine last year. Overall, the pipeline giant generated $4.73 billion, or $2.12 per share, of cash in 2018, which was 6% above 2017's level and just shy of the record $2.14 per share in cash flow it produced in 2015.
Kinder Morgan expects to eclipse its previous peak this year given its forecast that cash flow will top $5 billion, or $2.20 per share, which would be about 7% above 2018's level. The pipeline company is already off to a strong start as its first-quarter results came in slightly ahead of plan as cash flow rose 7% year over year. The company's growth engine, though, should further accelerate in the second half, given that it has three needle-moving expansion projects on track to enter service.
Adding some fuel from LNG
Kinder Morgan expects earnings in its key natural gas pipelines segment to grow 11% this year. One of the big drivers is its Elba Liquefaction project, which is a liquified natural gas (LNG) export terminal near Savanah, Georgia. Kinder Morgan is investing $1.2 billion for its share of the project. That's a significant investment as it represents 20% of the company's $6.1 billion expansion backlog.
The company placed the first of the 10 liquefaction units into service this May and expects to finish the remaining nine at a rate of one per month. As these units come online, they'll enable Kinder Morgan to liquify 350 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. The company will earn fees as it manufactures this LNG, supported by 20-year fixed-rate contracts with Royal Dutch Shell. Those agreements will enable it to produce steady cash flow from this facility for years to come.
Gassing up on the Permian Basin
Another large-scale project Kinder Morgan currently has under construction is the Gulf Coast Express pipeline. The 450-mile system will transport 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from the Permian Basin to Corpus Christi, Texas. Kinder Morgan is funding 35% of the cost for this $1.75 billion project, putting its investment at about $610 million, or roughly 10% of its current expansion backlog.
The company anticipates finishing up this pipeline by October. Once it enters service, it will supply the company with steady cash flow given that shippers signed 10-year fixed rate contracts for all of the system's capacity.
Kinder Morgan Inc (KMI) Q2 2019 Earnings Call Transcript
3 Things to Watch When Kinder Morgan Reports Its Q2 Results
The 10 Biggest Texas Stocks
Gathering more of the Bakken's gas
The third near-term expansion project Kinder Morgan has under way is in the Bakken Shale region of North Dakota. The company is currently investing more than $500 million on building out new natural gas gathering and processing infrastructure so it can connect more wells to its system.
The company is constructing enough new pipeline and compression capacity to handle an incremental 275 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. On top of that, the company is also expanding its natural gas processing capacity in North Dakota. It is building a new facility that will be able to handle 150 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. The company expects to finish up this facility by the first of November. Like most of its expansions, the company signed long-term fee-based contracts with shippers that support these projects. As a result, Kinder Morgan will collect a steady supply of cash flow from these investments when they enter service later this year.
Getting ready to hit the accelerator
Kinder Morgan has struggled to grow its cash flow in recent years. Not only did it feel some of the effects of the volatility of oil prices, but it needed to sell some assets to help shore up its balance sheet so it could finance these high-return expansion projects. However, those efforts should begin paying big dividends in the second half of this year because the company expects to complete three large-scale growth projects. As that happens, the company's earnings growth rate should accelerate, which could give its stock reason to rise sharply.
NYSE:KMI
3 Signs a Stock's Dividend Might Be at Risk
3 Top Energy Stocks to Buy Right Now
Kinder Morgan's Growth Engine Is About to Rev Up @themotleyfool #stocks $KMI Next Article | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1239 |
__label__cc | 0.515797 | 0.484203 | The Unfortunate Truth About Getting Your Medical Records
Harlan Krumholz Contributor
Digital Medical Record
My family’s experience – and those of many others – led our research team at Yale to publish about the experience of people seeking to obtain their medical records. The story reveals an unfortunate truth about getting your medical records in America.
This story starts with Ken. My father-in-law. He is a former jeweler and appraiser – and meticulous about his record keeping, including his medical records.
Ken, who lives in Rhode Island, was visiting family in California when he had a seizure that was related to a stroke he suffered two years earlier. He was hospitalized at one of the nation’s most prominent institutions where he underwent testing and received treatment. He always carried with him some of his medical records for such a situation. The doctors appreciated having details on his medical history.
After returning home, Ken wanted to get his most recent medical records to share with his local doctors. That's when the problems began. After months of communication with the California hospital – and efforts by family members, a package with medical records finally appeared in the mailbox. To everyone’s dismay, they were only the records that he had provided when he was initially hospitalized. Years later, he still does not have the records from the California hospitalization.
Ken's experience - and stories from others - prompted our research team to do a secret shopper study at some of the country’s best hospitals. You may have seen these types of studies before – they involve someone posing as the customer and determining what is happening in the real world. To develop this study, we assembled patient advocates, researchers, clinicians, medical students, and an attorney who led efforts to write the federal regulations that protect patients’ access to their data. We wanted to know what it is like for patients to get access to their medical records— a protected right under federal regulations.
Carolyn Lye, a medical student at Yale who led the publication, represented herself as someone trying to get access to medical records on behalf of a family member. We also acquired the forms for requesting medical records.
Carolyn had a script for the calls. She said, in part: “Hello, I am calling on behalf of my grandmother. She has been seen at your hospital and we are collecting her medical record for a second opinion. Before we make this request, we had a couple of questions about the medical record request process. First, how do we make a request for the medical records? In what format can we receive the information? What are the costs associated with receiving medical records? How long does it take on average to receive the medical records? Can we request that the entire medical record be released?”
The first finding was that, among the 86 top hospitals that we identified, three had medical record departments that were unreachable by phone despite our persistent efforts. In these cases, a motivated and determined medical student could not even find a way to talk to a person about requesting medical records. We considered hospitals unreachable if on each attempt (up to five attempts were made during working hours) the phone call was not answered, went to voice mail, or if the answering system did not allow an option to reach a representative.
That was amazing – but only the beginning. In a digital age, when data move rapidly, we found that patients remain stuck in a paper era with obstacles between them and their data.
There were many discrepancies between medical record request forms and what staff relayed by phone. The differences surrounded what they would release and how they would release it. There was also great variation in the formats of medical record release, whether in person, fax, email, or CD. All did say that they could release records by mail. Only a minority could release information through electronic health record system portals. For only about a third of the hospitals, the request forms indicated the costs of the record release. The cost of a 200-page record (not a large record by current standards) ranged from $0 to $541.50. Sometimes the cost stated on the forms was different than the cost quoted by phone; it was often higher and sometimes lower. Processing times varied, with some hospitals indicating it would take more than 30 days for receipt of records.
For electronic formats, the results were really varied. Less than half of the hospitals reported by phone that they could transmit by email or provide by CD – or by the online patient portal. Some said that fees were the same for electronic formats and paper formats. There seemed to considerable confusion about what could or would be provided.
Our experience was consistent with federal reports that describe long waiting periods and unclear request processes. Perhaps the biggest problem is the lack of transparency in the process that leaves patients floundering. All of this despite the fact that federal regulations are clear that people have a right to their data – in the format they wish – and at minimal cost.
By shedding light on the experience of patients in trying to obtain their own records, our hope was to identify where we, as a health care system, could improve in this area. Little did we know that the answer would be – everywhere!
We live in a digital age. Information has value to patients – and the law clearly describes their rights to acquire their data. And yet, we are far from a truly patient-centered system with regard to health information. Meanwhile, many businesses are obtaining massive amounts of personal health information and using it for profit without people's knowledge. And people like Ken are left with the inconvenience and cost – and often no data.
If you want to know your federal rights, you should look here and here and here for information from the US Government Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, the federal organization charged with helping us with our electronic medical records. And here is information from the US Office of Civil Rights.
Seema Verma, the Administrator at Medicare and Jared Kushner at the White House are pushing for greater access to medical records. Medicare is actually working to ensure you can get your Medicare data electronically. And organizations like OpenNotes and the National Partnership for Women and Families and the Society for Participatory Medicine and others are advocating for better access. And some health systems are taking a positive approach. So there is hope.
In the end, it is your data – and there's lots you can do with it. Your health records can help you understand, advocate for, and manage your care – you can correct mistakes – and you can increasingly use it for research, like with the NIH All of Us campaign.
Most importantly, it is information about you – and you have a right to it. It’s time to have the reality match the laws and enable people to exercise their rights to their personal health information. All of it.
Harlan Krumholz
I am the Harold H. Hines, Jr. professor of medicine, epidemiology, and public health at the Yale University School of Medicine and Director of the Yale-New Haven Hospita... | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1240 |
__label__cc | 0.646394 | 0.353606 | Tag: Bowie
No928 My Labyrinth minimal movie poster
A 16-year-old girl is given 13 hours to solve a labyrinth and rescue her baby brother when her wish for him to be taken away is granted by…
No210 MY IGGY POP Minimal Music poster
“Lust for Life” is a 1977 song performed by Iggy Pop and co-written by David Bowie, featured on the album of the same name. In 1996, the song…
No749 My The Falcon and the Snowman minimal movie poster
The true story of a disillusioned military contractor employee and his drug pusher childhood friend who became walk-in spies for the Soviet Union. Wannahave a poster? Director: John…
No068 MY LOU REED Minimal Music poster
“Walk on the Wild Side” is a song by Lou Reed from his second solo album, Transformer (1972). It was produced by David Bowie. The song received wide…
No031 MY BOWIE Minimal Music poster
“Rebel Rebel” is a song by David Bowie, released in 1974 as a single and on the album Diamond Dogs. Cited as his most-covered track,[1] it was effectively…
No208 My The Man Who Fell to Earth minimal movie poster
Thomas Jerome Newton is a humanoid alien who comes to Earth to get water for his dying planet. He starts a high technology company to get the billions… | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1241 |
__label__cc | 0.572189 | 0.427811 | How Does the Spirit Speak to Us?
Boyd K. Packer
The Miracle I Needed
Nicole Levi
Mormonad: They Are Ten Commandments
Melissa Merrill
The Parable of the Treasure Vault
James E. Talmage
The Beauty of the Earth
J. Tyler Bates
My Soccer Goal
Timothy Herzog
Prayer at 30 Feet Down
Julia Woodbury
A Pillar Supporting the Priesthood
Jourdan Strain and Richard M. Romney
Protected from the Unexpected
Fernando C. Pareja
Waiting for My Testimony
Carolyn LeDuc
The Meaning of Cleaning
Mike Lasky and Janet Thomas
The Extra Smile
You’ve Been Served
Hymn Vocabulary #5
The Church in Panama
My Favorite Scripture
Wendy Kenney
Instant Messages
Keep the Temple in Sight
Kristen Snyder
Powerful Question
EmmaLee Bateman
Following the Feeling
Cody Tuma
Why Won’t You Come to the Party?
Jek Toon Tan
We’ve Got Mail
The Things I Know
Erica Oldroyd
This Page (MP3) Entire Book (PDF) This Page (PDF)
“A Pillar Supporting the Priesthood,” New Era, Feb. 2010, 26–30
By Jourdan Strain and Richard M. Romney
The Aaronic Priesthood has been blessed by its relationship with Scouting. The same can be true for you.
Editor’s Note: The partnership of the Aaronic Priesthood and Scouting stretches back nearly a century, since Scouting started in the U.S. in 1910 and in the Church in 1913. Aaronic Priesthood bearers can use Scouting as an activity program to apply the values and put into practice the principles they learn in their quorums. In the following stories, we hope you’ll see how Scouting serves as a pillar of support to young men as they fulfill priesthood purposes.
He’s Got Game
On a warm August morning in Aurora, Colorado, 30 children armed with brand new soccer balls and kickballs gathered in the local park to play sports and have a good time. But when the game ended, the children and their parents left 150 unused balls behind.
That may sound strange, but 14-year-old Brandon Campbell had planned it that way. Brandon, a teacher in the Fox Hollow Ward, Arapahoe Colorado Stake, knew that his Eagle project would provide the Aaronic Priesthood holders in the ward with an opportunity to bless the lives of children locally and all over the world.
An avid sports fan, Brandon found a way to use his love of athletics to create a project that would benefit children in developing nations. Brandon organized a sports day in his area, and the participants at the event donated balls to a charitable organization that helps communities all over the world establish stable political and social environments. With the help of his family and the youth in his ward and Scout troop, Brandon was able to provide struggling children with a little bit of fun and relief.
Brandon says he’s learned the importance of serving others through his Church membership. He notes that giving meaningful service is one of the purposes of the Aaronic Priesthood. “Scouting is the activity arm of the priesthood,” he says. “Because of the activity we organized, now kids are going to have things to play with. Helping children is a way of respecting them.”
As he progresses in the Aaronic Priesthood and other areas of his life, Brandon recognizes the benefits of Scouting. “I came up with the idea for my Eagle project and organized it,” he says. “Learning to be a leader is a big part of Scouting and Church. Learning to be a leader now prepares you to be a leader in your Church callings later. That’s why we do it.” Brandon and his fellow quorum members were leaders on the field, acting as referees of the games and ensuring the safety and enjoyment of the participants.
So now that he has finished his Eagle project, what’s next?
“I’ve finished my Duty to God requirements as a deacon,” Brandon says. “But I’m now a teacher, so I’ve started working on my Duty to God requirements as a teacher.”
High Flying
When Juan Hernández of Salt Lake City, Utah, looks back on his first visit to church, one word sums up his attitude: apprehension.
“My mom was the first to be baptized in the family. At the time, I didn’t know why. One day she asked me if I wanted to go to church with her to see what it was like. I decided to go with her just so she wouldn’t feel bad.” But thanks to the ward’s Aaronic Priesthood, Juan learned that there was something special about the Church.
One of the young men invited Juan to come to a Scout activity flying planes. Though he had no interest in attending religious meetings, flying planes with the Scouts sounded like too much fun to resist. On the day of the activity, Juan was surprised by how friendly and enthusiastic the young men were. “When we went up in the planes, I forgot that I barely knew these young men. Somehow I knew that they would be good friends to me,” Juan says.
Though Juan didn’t expect to be invited again, the young men surprised him by immediately treating him as a member of their troop. And the more he participated, the more he noticed how happy members of the Church were. Over time, he realized that it wasn’t Scouting that made them so happy—it was the gospel. Juan knew he wanted to be happy like they were, too.
Soon Juan, his father, and his sister took the missionary discussions and decided to be baptized. “All of the Aaronic Priesthood kids were there when my family and I were confirmed. Then my dad and I were ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood,” Juan says. “And when I passed the sacrament for the first time, they were all excited for us.” Because members of the Aaronic Priesthood saw an opportunity to reach out to Juan during his first visit to Church, they were able to better introduce Juan to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Scouting provided the activity that helped Juan to feel comfortable around members of the Church.
“I can see all that the Aaronic Priesthood has done for me,” Juan says. “It has helped me to love God and see the love He has for each one of us. I have learned to listen to the Holy Ghost. And I have learned about one of the biggest blessings of all—that if we live worthily we can be with our families for all eternity.
“Thanks to the leaders, my mom, and the Scouts, I could open the door to our Heavenly Father. That’s how my family and I found that piece that was missing in our life.”
How the Priesthood and Scouting Work Together
If you think Scouting is just about tying knots and earning merit badges, think again. Here’s what eight young men from the Salt Lake Granite Stake who just earned their Eagle award have to say about how Scouting can help them accomplish Aaronic Priesthood purposes.
“The Church encourages us to be prepared for any emergency that may arise, and ‘Be Prepared’ is the Scout motto. Just like we have to be prepared for physical emergencies, we have to be prepared for spiritual ones as well.”
Kanchi A., 15
It’s Up to Us
“We’re responsible for bringing people to the gospel. Scouting gives us opportunities to invite nonmembers or inactive members to start participating in Church activities.”
Sam S., 18
Be a Missionary
“Attitude is important in Scouting and in the Church. You have to have the right attitude. You have to do the right things for the right reasons. Being a Scout is like being a missionary. You have to teach, prepare lessons, and get to the point where you’re not scared to talk to people about things.”
Jacob P., 15
Honesty Is the Best Policy
“Members of the Church have to be trustworthy, and a Scout is trustworthy, too. It’s not nice to lie to your parents, your bishop, or your family members. We’re supposed to be honest in our dealings with our fellow man.”
Jacob S., 15
Service Lasts a Lifetime
“Service doesn’t stop with your Eagle Scout project. When you’re showing active kindness to someone, you’re showing active kindness to the Savior. As priesthood holders, we’re responsible for people’s physical and spiritual needs.”
Kazuki T., 15
There’s Strength in Numbers
“You can’t do your Eagle Scout project by yourself, and you can’t really exercise the priesthood by yourself. The priesthood is about helping other people, and so is Scouting. They both help you do good works more effectively.”
Naoya B., 19
Act as Christ Would
“As you learn to help others, you grow spiritually and your testimony increases. You’re acting like Christ would when you help those in need.”
Brian C., 13
Knowledge Is Gained through Experience
“Scouting is all about gaining knowledge through experience. And that’s what the plan of salvation is about, too—we’re here to gain experience by doing good things for others, which will lead us back to Christ.”
Chris S., 13
NEmore
Have you had a great experience with the Aaronic Priesthood and Scouting? Share it with us at newera.lds.org.
Needed Now
“If ever there were a time when the principles of Scouting were vitally needed—that time is now. If ever there were a generation who would benefit by keeping physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight—that generation is the present generation.”
President Thomas S. Monson, “Called to Serve,” Ensign, Nov. 1991, 47.
History of Scouting in the Church
1875—The Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Association (YMMIA) is organized to provide spiritual and cultural activities for the young men of the Church.
1911—Church leaders decide that Scouting, with its spiritual background and cultural ideals, has great appeal. The MIA Scouts are officially organized.
1913—The Church formally affiliates with Scouting in the United States as its first institutional sponsor.
2010—The Church sponsors more Scouts and Scouting units in the U.S. than any other organization. Hundreds of thousands of young men are enrolled in groups or units sponsored by the Church.
Happy Birthday, BSA!
February 2010 is the 100th birthday for the Boy Scouts of America. The organization got started because someone helped a stranger. An American named W.D. Boyce was in London, England, on his way to Africa, when an unknown Scout helped him cross a street to a hotel and refused a tip. The Scout explained he was merely doing his duty and gave Boyce the address of the local Scout headquarters.
On his way back from Africa, Boyce stopped in London and gathered information later used in organizing the Boy Scouts of America. The BSA was incorporated on February 8, 1910.
The same spirit of service shown by that unknown Scout who helped W.D. Boyce is still at the heart of Scouting today.
Scouting in the Philippines
The United States isn’t the only country with a rich history of Scouting. The Scouting program was introduced to the Philippines in 1914 and has been growing steadily ever since. In fact, the Philippines has one of the largest Scouting organizations in the world. And just like Scouts in the U.S., Scouts in the Philippines are using their experiences to help them become worthy priesthood holders and better citizens in their communities.
The young men of the Dagupan Philippines stake are determined to utilize what they have learned in Scouting as part of their preparation for their future missions. Their eagerness to help others has manifested itself through selfless service for the City Government of Dagupan. According to their stake president, Jose Andaya, the Scout troop is the only religious organization actively volunteering its services to the city government during major community events. The Aaronic Priesthood holders provide crowd control, offer first aid, and even clean the streets during and after the events.
Duty to God and Scouting
“I promise you that your achievement of the Duty to God Award will provide you with a living testimony that will sustain you throughout your life.
“Where available, Scouting can also help you in this effort. We encourage you to participate in Scouting. Many of the Scouting requirements can fill goals and requirements of the Duty to God certificates. …
“Some of the great blessings of these programs … are that as the youth of the Church, you will have a clear understanding of who you are, you will be accountable for your actions, you will take responsibility for the conduct of your life, and you will be able to set goals so that you might achieve what you were sent to earth to achieve. Our plea is that you strive to do your very best.”
Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “Fulfilling Our Duty to God,” Ensign, Nov. 2001, 39.
For additional information, including an explanation of Duty to God and Scouting, look for links at newera.lds.org.
Photographs by John Luke, © Comstock.com, and courtesy of Erik Ipson
Photographs by Jourdan Strain and courtesy of Daniel Gonzalez; I Will Do My Best by Norman Rockwell
Photographs by Christina Smith and courtesy of Jose Andaya | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1242 |
__label__wiki | 0.738858 | 0.738858 | Cipe Pineles was born in Austria in 1908. She immigrated with her mother and sisters to New York in 1915, already knowing she had an affinity for creative pursuits. An essay she penned about her departure from Eastern Europe and her arrival in the United States won an award from The Atlantic Monthly. Her talent and intelligence were evident from an early age.
In 1926, she enrolled at Pratt in Brooklyn, where she studied fine art. Even in her early paintings, her love of food appears—images of bread and chocolate rendered in watercolor. But her career began in the commercial realm and continued to anchor itself primarily in print media and client work, even as she privately kept books full of ingredients and recipes. She managed to bring both her own food-related work and that of others into her art direction for magazines such as Seventeen, Charm, Glamour, Vogue, and Vanity Fair. A painting she created of potatoes, which bordered a spread on the simple starch in Seventeen Magazine, won an award from the Art Directors' Club in 1948.
Cipe was a pioneer, not only because she was a woman in a typically male profession, but because she had a vision for innovation and wasn't afraid to make it real. She was the first art director at a magazine to commit to assigning fine artists for editorial illustration—a previously unusual practice—and it was under her direction that such celebrated names as Andy Warhol and Ben Shahn began creating spot illustrations to accompany stories (Warhol, in fact, illustrated many food stories and cookbooks in his day).
Pineles worked at Conde Nast for many years, and simultaneously taught in the design department at Parsons. She continued to teach well into her later years, and was celebrated many times over for the projects she spearheaded with her class, creating books of recipes and narratives about food, from the Parsons Bread Book—a collection of tales about New York bakeries; to Cheap Eats, which featured both art and recipes from famous creatives of that era.
Cipe was part of a community of wildly talented designers, art directors, editors, and artists; and she is often remembered for the wonderful parties she'd throw for all her friends and acquaintances. She was more likely to serve food informed by the culinary trends of New York at that time than to prepare the traditional Jewish foods of her youth, but it is clear from the sketchbook that launched this project, Cipe had a permanent, well-warmed place in her heart for the food her mother cooked. From the title of the book, one might guess that it was these foods she considered her greatest comfort—something she could turn to when she was alone to find joy and inspiration. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1243 |
__label__wiki | 0.656537 | 0.656537 | Hannah McCarthy
Starter Kit: Legislative Branch
There are 535 people who meet in the hallowed halls of Capitol Hill. They go in, legislation comes out. You can watch the machinations of the House and Senate chambers on C-SPAN, you can read their bills online. But what are the rules of engagement? Where does your Senator go every day, and what do they do? What does it mean to represent the American people?
Our guides to the U.S. Legislative branch are Congressman Chris Pappas, Eleanor Powell, Stefani Langehennig and Emmitt Riley.
Have a civics question you want answered? Let us know in the form below and we'll try to answer it!
Made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Subcribe to Civics 101 on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you get your favorite audio.
This podcast is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio.
Nick Capodice
Starter Kit: Executive Branch
In this episode of our Starter Kit series, a primer on the powers of the President, both constitutional and extra-constitutional. What can a president do? How long do a president’s actions reverberate? Why don’t we do treaties anymore?
Also, a super inefficient mnemonic device to remember the 15 executive departments in the order of their creation.
Featuring the voices of Lisa Manheim, professor at UW School of Law and co-author of The Limits of Presidential Power, and Kathryn DePalo, professor at Florida International University and past president of the Florida Political Science Association.
NOTE: This transcript was generated using an automated transcription service, and may contain typographical errors.
[00:00:04] (Presidential Oath of Office)
[00:00:26] Congratulations Mr. President.
[00:00:43] I've got a pen to take executive actions where Congress won't.
[00:00:46] I'm announcing my choice today, and will submit Judge Stevens name formally.
[00:00:51] What I'm going to do when I veto this is to say yes I'm going to send this bill right back.
[00:00:55] I'm signing today an executive order establishing the President's Task Force on Victims of Crime
Nick Capodice: [00:01:05] Ring a ding ding. What if the president picks up.
[00:01:09] Please continue to hold.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:01:14] What on earth is that.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:15] I called the president to make a comment. And I was on hold for about 20 minutes.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:23] Starts off the same way. Much like presidencies. Got hope at first. Comes along with a little trouble along the way. But the next thing you know. A Volunteer will answer. And take my comment to the president.
[00:01:51] Comment Line volunteer operators are currently assisting other callers.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:01:55] Did a volunteer actually end up talking to you.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:58] Yes one did and she told me that my comments would be delivered to the West Wing. Because no office is untouchable by the American citizen. I hope.
Nick Capodice: [00:02:09] I'm not Captain E.J.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:02:11] I'm Hannah McCarthy.
Nick Capodice: [00:02:12] And this is Civics 101, our starter kit series, and today we are tackling the most powerful job in the world. Or, as President James K. Polk put it, no bed of roses. We're talking about the Executive Branch.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:02:26] It's one of my favorite questions that the listener submitted. "What does the president do?"
Nick Capodice: [00:02:32] So when I think of the Executive branch, of course the first thing I think about is the president. But there is so much more. I spoke with Lisa Manheim. She's a lawyer and professor at University of Washington School of Law and co-author of The Limits of Presidential Power.
Lisa Manheim: [00:02:47] The executive branch has about has several million people working in it and there are about 2 million people who work as civilians within the executive branch. And then there are about 2 million people who work in the military.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:03:00] Over 4 million.
Nick Capodice: [00:03:02] Yeah. And the president is at the very top. The Constitution gives the president the power to execute the laws.
Lisa Manheim: [00:03:10] And one way of understanding what that is is it is the power to take the laws that Congress has passed, and they might relate to food safety or education or national security, and those laws need to be executed. They need to be carried out and enforced. And so the president via the constitution has the power to execute those laws. And what that refers to in practice is really helping to oversee a an executive branch that consists of literally millions of people who are doing the work of carrying out those laws passed by Congress.
Nick Capodice: [00:03:45] So this includes federal law enforcement. This is like the FBI and the Department of Justice employees, but also every member of the civil service. This is every post office worker, every national park employee. By contrast the legislative and judicial branches each have about 30000. The Executive branch is the single largest employer in the world. Twice as many employees as Wal-Mart. There are hundreds of agencies that fall within the 15 departments of the executive branch. All 15 of these departments can should and will get their own episode. But just so you know them all, you know I'm a sucker for a good mnemonic right Hannah?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:04:22] I do.
Nick Capodice: [00:04:23] Here's a super impractical one that I adore. See that dog jump in a circle. Leave her house to entertain educated veterans homes.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:04:31] See that dog jump in a circle. Leave her house to entertain educated veterans homes.
[00:04:37] Now you're on the trolley. STDJIACLEHTEEVH, fifteen federal departments in the order of their creation. S state department, handling our relationship with foreign countries. T. Treasury. They make the money they collect taxes they include the IRS D defense. That's our largest department. J. Justice. They enforce the laws that protect public safety. This includes the FBI and U.S. Marshals. I, interior, manages the conservation of our land. This includes the National Parks, A Agriculture USDA they oversee farming food. C, commerce. They promote our economy and handle international trade. L labor, our workforce. H, Health and Human Services. That includes the FDA and the CDC. They also manage medicare and medicaid. H, Housing and Urban Development, HUD. They address national housing needs. T, Transportation. That's federal highways and the Federal Aviation Administration. E energy, the DOE, they manage our energy and they research better ways to make it. The next E's education. You know what they do. V, veterans affairs, benefit programs for those who've served in the military, and finally Homeland Security, whose job is to prevent and disrupt terrorist attacks within the United States.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:05:43] Right. Homeland Security. That's the newest one. It was just after September 11th.
Nick Capodice: [00:05:47] And the president hires, with the Senate's approval, and fires, without necessarily, political appointees to these departments.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:05:55] Wait before you jump into the president. I think that you are missing something.
Nick Capodice: [00:06:00] What? Oh. The vice president.
Nick Capodice: [00:06:10] All right. To be fair it's easy to overlook the vice president because the job just doesn't come with a lot of official duties. The veep is next in succession in case anything happens to the president, a heartbeat away from the Oval Office. They also serve as president of the Senate. Breaking tie votes when necessary. And that's happened about 270 times. And they preside over nonpresidential impeachment trials. Interestingly when it's a presidential impeachment it's the chief justice of the Supreme Court that runs the trial. Can you imagine that. And then over the last century the role the vice president has shifted a bit more towards domestic and foreign policy and sort of less sitting in that seat in the Senate as the president.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:06:52] Ok. Thank you. So we've talked about the millions in the executive branch but what does the president do?
Nick Capodice: [00:06:59] OK. There are constitutional powers of the president as well as more political powers. So let's start with what's written on the parchment. Here is Lisa Manheim again.
Lisa Manheim: [00:07:10] The Constitution creates the office of the president but it's sort of surprisingly has relatively little to say in the actual text about the range of different powers that a president in particular President these days has and is able to execute. That being said there are, the Constitution does include a relatively short list of specific powers that it grants the president and three of the most important relate to laws that Congress pass, who's appointed in the federal government, and then finally issues that relate to foreign affairs or to the military.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:07:45] The first of those three powers is signing bills into law or vetoing them.
Nick Capodice: [00:07:50] Which Congress can override with a two thirds majority in both houses.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:07:53] The second is appointing people to powerful positions in those 15 departments.
Nick Capodice: [00:07:58] Including Supreme Court justices. There are about 4000 positions that the president appoints. Twelve hundred of which require Senate approval.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:08:06] Ok. And the third the Foreign Affairs and the military that's forming treaties with other nations and being commander in chief of the armed forces.
Nick Capodice: [00:08:14] Right. And there's one more constitutional power that the president "shall from time to time give the Congress Information of the state of the Union," which they used to call the Annual Address and it used to be a written administrative report on what all the many executive employees had been up to. But radio and television have altered it to the State of the Union that we know and love today.
[00:08:34] Mr. Speaker. the president. of the United States.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:08:39] I've always thought that when you look at it on the page right there in Article 2 of the Constitution, for a job that's called one of the most powerful in the world, there aren't that many powers and they're all checked. The president appoints nominees but the Senate approves them. The president can create or sign treaties but two thirds of the Senate has to concur. Did the founders intentionally make it a not very powerful position?
Nick Capodice: [00:09:07] Well let's duck into that hot room in Philadelphia at the Constitutional convention. Because they all knew they wanted an executive branch, which the articles of confederation did not have. And they were like, We want someone like the guy running these proceedings, someone who can also lead the troops into battle. Like General George Washington. Like that guy.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:09:27] So they picked the candidate and then they wrote the job description.
Nick Capodice: [00:09:31] Yes. And that's one reason for our unique way that the branches divvy up war powers.
Kathryn DePalo: [00:09:36] The Constitution if you want to talk about separation of powers checks and balances there you know has given Congress so the people's branch right in the people's house the ability to declare a war.
Nick Capodice: [00:09:47] This is Kathryn DePalo, she's a political science professor at Florida International University.
Kathryn DePalo: [00:09:52] And that is very specific language but also gave the president of the United States the power as commander in chief. And so once Congress declared the war, the president then was supposed to lead the troops if you will. But that really hasn't happened at all. I mean the last time we declared war was in World War 2.
Nick Capodice: [00:10:09] There has been a consistent give and take between the legislative and executive branches when it comes to war.
Kathryn DePalo: [00:10:15] One of the things I find actually fascinating is the War Powers Resolution or the War Powers Act of 1973. And that was sort of the height of Vietnam. Everyone hated this war including members of Congress.
[00:10:34] Under the Constitution, you can end the war, not another dime for this war!
Kathryn DePalo: [00:10:41] And so what they wanted to do was try to take power away from the presidency. And so they passed this law that basically says the president cannot unilaterally send troops wherever he wants to. Just because he's commander in chief that you know the president has to inform Congress within 48 hours Congress, within a 60 day period has to decide if they want to continue with this war and continue to fund this this particular war. But a lot of wars aside from some of our recent war certainly in Afghanistan and Iraq really wrapped up very quickly. You know we didn't declare war you know when we went into Iraq the first time. And so the president really has a lot of the ability to send the troops and then say to Congress, oh well what are you going to do now. Right? These troops are here. So there's a lot of these things that are extra constitutional that would suggest there's a strict separation of powers here but really especially with the president of the United States and reality can do a lot.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:11:35] It sounds like we are getting into the territory of executive branch loopholes.
Nick Capodice: [00:11:41] Did you ever see these Saturday Night Live parody of the I'm just a bill song from Schoolhouse Rock with the executive order?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:11:45] No!
[00:11:49] I'm an executive order and I pretty much just happen.
Kathryn DePalo: [00:11:56] Well I think human nature is we always seek out those loopholes. Right. So so of course there there are certainly loopholes and you know to talk about the presidency certainly to go around Congress. You know especially if the president's having difficulty getting Congress passed desired legislation the president as the chief executive of the executive bureaucracy can issue executive orders and basically make a whole lot of changes. You know President Obama couldn't get some immigration policy passed through Congress so he signs executive orders like the DREAM Act which which kept a lot of these kids who had graduated from American high schools to be able to stay here. And that's an order really to get to the the executive branch and to ICE. And so you can essentially make a lot of policy in those particular ways to be official.
Nick Capodice: [00:12:45] Executive orders need to be signed and recorded in the Federal Register and each of them gets an official number. I love executive orders they're fascinating. And every single president has issued them with the solitary exception of William Henry Harrison.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:12:57] To be fair he did die 31 days into office he probably would have done a few.
Nick Capodice: [00:13:02] We don't know that, we'll never know for sure. George Washington, he did eight. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of January 1863 was technically an executive order. The record for those so far is FDR Franklin Delano Roosevelt three thousand five hundred twenty two executive orders, one of those was executive order 7 0 3 4 which created the Works Progress Administration, one of the primary ways FDR sought to combat the Great Depression. But as of very recently, determining what is an executive order has become a bit muddy.
Lisa Manheim: [00:13:35] When President Trump publishes a tweet, there is an argument that that is itself an executive order. It's not a formal executive order. It's not being published in the Federal Register. But legally speaking if the president issues a clear direction and does so in the form of a tweet that has the same legal effect as a formal executive order that's published in the Federal Register.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:13:59] So executive orders are just the president telling the people of the United States and all three branches of government their instructions.
Nick Capodice: [00:14:08] Yes. And these executive orders can still be blocked by the Supreme Court or by Congress if they pass a bill invalidating the order. And executive orders are different from executive agreements. Those are agreements that the president enters into with a foreign country.
Lisa Manheim: [00:14:23] And so if a question is Well why would a President ever enter into an executive agreement which he can do on his own rather than deciding to involve the Senate and enter into a treaty. There are basically two answers. One is that actually Presidents very rarely do enter into treaties now in part because they take this other route of entering into executive agreement. The other answer is that if a president enters into executive agreement rather than into a treaty then it's much easier for the next president if he wants to to exit the executive agreement than it is to executive exit a treaty. And that's one of the reasons why President Trump was able to start the unwinding process for the Paris agreement about climate change even though President Obama had just entered into it.
Nick Capodice: [00:15:13] George W. Bush he submitted about 100 treaties during his administration and most of them were approved by the Senate. And that's been pretty much the average since the beginning. By contrast Obama submitted 38. Only 15 of which were approved. However executive agreements which require no other branch involvement they are on the rise and American presidents have issued about 18000 of those.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:15:38] I'm curious as to the limits of these executive orders and agreements. Can a president order anything they want.
Lisa Manheim: [00:15:49] The fundamental principle that's underlying all this is the idea that if the president takes an official action there has to be some legal source of authority and the legal source of authority has to come from either a law passed by Congress or from the Constitution itself. The executive agreement is the tool the executive order is the tool and it's something in a Congress in one of Congress's laws or in the Courts Union itself that provides the basis for the president using that tool.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:16:20] One last thing I've got to know about. How persistent are the effects of precedent because if you love a president's agenda you might want them to issue as many orders and agreements as possible. Or if you loathe an administration you want to elect someone who will throw everything out and start anew. How long do a president's actions reverberate.
Nick Capodice: [00:16:44] That is an excellent question.
Lisa Manheim: [00:16:46] Legally speaking one way of understanding how permanent a president's actions are is to think about the process the president used to take those actions because for the most part the harder it is in terms of the process for a president is to take an action the harder it is in the future going to be for a president to unwind that same action. So for example if the president is, were to sign a bill into law, that means that two houses of Congress came together and agreed on the same statutory language which they then present to the president and the president signs it into law. For the next president to make that law go away? The president on his own cannot eliminate that prior law. By contrast if the president takes some sort of action all on his own. So if the president decides I'm going to issue an executive order directing people in my own administration to try to adopt certain enforcement priorities when it comes to immigration or if the president says I'm going to enter into an agreement with a foreign country and I'm not going to involve the Senate, I'm not gonna involve Congress at all I'm just going to sign it on my own. If the president does something on his own then generally speaking as a legal matter the next president can come in and unwind that on his own.
Nick Capodice: [00:18:07] There are different ways you can be a president you can be a military figurehead like George Washington who didn't necessarily even want the job, or you can be like Eisenhower or Kennedy you work like crazy to broker deals with the House and Senate getting a ton of laws passed and treaties signed or you can say forget that I'm gonna just go it alone and use those presidential powers. But again Congress can pass legislation to overturn an executive order and the courts can deem them unconstitutional. For example Donald Trump's travel ban was an executive order that a judge ruled against the law and no individual action on the part of the president could change that.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:18:47] Until he wrote another executive order which the Supreme Court upheld.
Nick Capodice: [00:18:55] Yeah. There's sort of one last vestige of the power of the president that Lisa told me about. And the thing is it depends on how powerful we let the president be.
Lisa Manheim: [00:19:05] Given the role that the president plays as in a sense the single person that the news can go to that people can look to that foreign countries can can refer to. In thinking about what the United States government means and what it's doing in light of that position that the president plays. The president has over time gained an enormous amount of in a sense political power.
Nick Capodice: [00:19:33] And this didn't happen overnight. Administration to administration presidents have set precedent that gives the office more power. And we have no idea how that will evolve in the next 250 years. But I will say presidents often add tools to their executive toolbox but very rarely take them out.
Nick Capodice: [00:19:59] Well that'll just about do it for today's episode in the executive branch. Today's episode was produced by me Nick Capodice with you Hannah McCarthy thank you.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:20:06] Our staff. You're welcome. Our staff includes Jackie Helbert and Ben Henry.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:20:10] Erika Janik is our executive producer which means she executes the episode and Maureen MacMurray, whose job description was written after she was hired.
Nick Capodice: [00:20:18] Music In this episode is by supercontinent, pictures of a floating world, Bisou, Daniel Birch, Chris Zabriskie, Ask Again, Asura, and the United States Coast Guard band. This here is Tone Ranger.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:20:28] Civics 101 is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and is a production of NHPR, New Hampshire Public Radio.
Nick Capodice: [00:20:36] And don't you forget you too can call the president to make a comment. 2 0 2 4 5 6 1 1 1 1.
Starter Kit: Checks and Balances
We exist in a delicate balance. Ours is a system designed to counterweight itself, to stave off the power grabs that entice even the fairest of us all. The U.S. government is comprised of humans, not angels, so each branch has the power to stop the other from going to far. The only catch being, of course, they have to actually exercise that power.
In this episode, with the inimitable Kim Wehle as our guide, we learn what those checks actually are, and how the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches (ostensibly) keep things democratic.
Please note: this transcript was created using a combination of machine and human transcribing. Discrepancies may occur.
CPB : [00:00:00.09] Civics 101 is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:05.83] When we decided we'd had enough of our own government and went to war and built a whole new government. The guiding principle was no king.
Kim Wehle: [00:00:19.9] So the framers of the Constitution were upset about a monarchy.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:25.0] This is Kim Wehle by the way.
Kim Wehle: [00:00:26.5] The Constitution basically took the concept of a monarchy and broke it into what I say almost like a three headed monster or a three handed you know Angel. However you want to see it and so instead of having one boss that would be a king or a CEO of a corporation even the American Constitution separated the government into three parts.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:48.73] That's right. America is basically Cerberus with wings that three headed hound that guards the gates of the underworld. You've got power carefully divided between each head all supporting the health of one body.
Kim Wehle: [00:01:02.05] One is the executive branch which is the president.
Archival: [00:01:04.87] The president of the United States.
Kim Wehle: [00:01:07.96] One is the Congress the legislative branch.
Archival: [00:01:10.99] Members of Congress.
Kim Wehle: [00:01:12.4] And the third would be the judiciary the judicial branch which are federal judges.
Archival: [00:01:16.75] The court is now sitting.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:01:19.48] If you could get a look at this angel beast's DNA you'd see a basic order to it all. A blueprint for the operations of this complex animal otherwise known as the U.S. government.
[00:01:31.69] The thing that has kept it alive for two centuries and counting written into our genetic code from the beginning today on civics 101.
[00:01:44.2] Checks and balances because the people who run this government are no angels. I'm Hannah McCarthy.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:50.35] I'm going to Capitol.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:01:51.34] And this is the civics 101 starter kit. The basic knowledge you need to understand the rest of American democracy.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:58.3] Now it seems a tangled web but you promised me Hannah that there is a structure there underneath the headlines. The tweeting and the campaigning and the arguing there's a foundation at the bottom of it all that keeps the whole thing from toppling over.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:02:11.11] There is a swear. It's why I called up Kim Wehle to try to figure out how that system of checks and balances is supposed to operate and how it actually operates. Kim by the way is a law professor at the Baltimore University School of Law and author of a brand new book on our favorite subject to Nick how to read the Constitution and why we asked her what exactly we mean when we talk about checks.
Kim Wehle: [00:02:38.65] It means if any one of those branches violates the law or does something that is improper or not consistent with what the public wants there are mechanisms or levers in the Constitution that the other two branches can pull in order to basically impose consequences on the bad branch.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:02:58.84] If you think of each head of the government beast as having its own crown that crown vests special powers in that particular head. Powers that allow them to do their own thing and powers that allow them to play watchdog for the other branches.
Nick Capodice: [00:03:13.81] What branch you want to do first let's do legislative branch.
Archival: [00:03:17.26] Congress.
Kim Wehle: [00:03:18.61] Legislate branch means Congress what is a law.
[00:03:21.97] A law is a rule that governs general behavior.
[00:03:26.77] Thou shalt not discriminate on the basis of race. That would be a law that is something that Congress decided and passed through both houses and that is then signed by the president to become a law.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:03:40.48] But let's say Congress tries to pass a law that's questionable beast number two rears its head.
Archival: [00:03:47.95] The President.
Kim Wehle: [00:03:49.72] So the president has a check on that process the president can veto what Congress has done. That would be one check for example.
Nick Capodice: [00:03:58.31] And so the president can stop Congress from doing basically the one thing that it really does.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:04:02.5] Except Congress can then veto the veto.
[00:04:06.34] It's called a veto override and they can go over the president's head and pass their law anyway even if that law is unconstitutional. But this is a three headed dog remember.
[00:04:17.68] And that third head is a little more stoic.
Archival: [00:04:19.78] The courts.
Kim Wehle: [00:04:22.21] The court can then can strike down that law and hold it unconstitutional so that's an example of how the legislative branch is checked by both other branches of the federal government.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:04:32.62] Judicial review is not a constitutional power. By the way it's the result of one of the end all be all Supreme Court cases Marbury vs. Madison in 1883 in which the Supreme Court established its own power to declare a law unconstitutional.
Nick Capodice: [00:04:49.33] That is an insane amount of power when you think about it the Supreme Court can make itself more powerful like it took its superpower crown and made it even more super.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:04:59.35] But lest we forget where there's power.
Archival: [00:05:01.54] The court.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:05:02.36] There is a check.
Kim Wehle: [00:05:04.98] The executive branch checks judges is to decide what cases to bring.
Nick Capodice: [00:05:10.38] So you can't rule on something unless somebody asks you to.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:05:13.53] Precisely. If federal law is violated it is the executive branch's job to prosecute through the Department of Justice. The DOJ they do that at the district level and then the circuit level after which point a disappointed plaintiff can appeal to the Supreme Court. But what if a federal prosecutor chooses not to take a case to begin with chooses not to prosecute something not to bring it into the court system at all. That's called prosecutorial discretion and it can keep cases away from the Supreme Court.
Nick Capodice: [00:05:50.03] Right. And the president is the one who appoints federal judges.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:05:52.41] With congressional approval.
[00:05:54.36] But yes when it comes to removing someone from the Supreme Court though that is a horse of a different color.
Kim Wehle: [00:06:03.83] Judges can be impeached. Federal judges just like the president can be impeached. Congress can narrow the kinds of cases that federal judges can hear. They can say listen you can only I'm exaggerating but you can only hear disputes involving fights with blue cars versus red cars. That's a that's not an accurate example. But the judges. what's called jurisdiction is defined by the United States Congress. The Congress could also decide we don't want federal judges under the Constitution. The only judges that are required as the Supreme Court the United States or Congress could say listen we want all these cases to go to the states. We are going to abolish the entire federal judiciary.
[00:06:41.18] Other than the Supreme Court that literally would be constitutional.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:06:43.13] By the way the same act that established the federal court system the judiciary active 1789 established congressional power to regulate jurisdiction.
Nick Capodice: [00:06:52.88] Another branch making its own super powers more super.
[00:06:56.99] You got Supreme Court saying We decide what's constitutional or not. And you've got Congress saying we decide what you can rule on.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:07:04.1] And then you've got that third head of the government beast. We might want to think of that as the most enigmatic of the branches the executive presided over by the president.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:07:14.63] The president can't make law or officially rule on whether law is constitutional. A president's job according to the oath of office is to preserve protect and defend the Constitution to make sure that law is upheld. But being in command of the enormous executive branch also means commanding the military the Treasury the Department of Justice and on and on. Most of the power there is implicit so checks are everything. When it comes to presidential reach and most of that checking lies with Congress.
Kim Wehle: [00:07:48.92] Well the number one thing we heard in the news right now is impeachment. If the executive branch the president commits high crimes and misdemeanors or even members within the president's cabinet the legislative branch can basically have a trial in the Congress and impeach that is basically fire the wrongdoer.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:08:06.44] Short of this fire the president approach Congress can cause a lot of slowdown or flat failure of the president's agenda.
Kim Wehle: [00:08:15.86] They can control the executive branch through the budget process. They can say listen we're going to shrink the attorney general's budget we're not going to give the Department of Justice enough money to actually execute the laws. That's going to limit their ability to go off the rails so to speak.
Nick Capodice: [00:08:32.09] Ah yes is the all important power of the purse. Yeah.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:08:35.18] Congress basically controls the president's allowance because they're the ones approving the budget or making appropriations for certain bills. You can't wield overbearing prosecutorial power if Congress underfunded the attorney general's budget and let's say it's a matter of the president overstepping some bounds. But Congress isn't looking to impeach.
[00:08:56.69] They can still issue a check of sorts because they make the laws.
Kim Wehle: [00:09:00.44] Every branch gets their papers graded one way that Congress grades the the papers of the executive branch is to hold hearings. The hearings are for two reasons. One to find out whether Congress needs to do more checking by passing a law that limits the executive branch's power which is well within its authority under Article 1 of the Constitution that vests a legislative power in the Congress and the second thing is to just let the American public know what's going on.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:09:31.1] Limiting presidential power like this usually comes after Congress feels like the president has gone too far. Like maybe he didn't act unconstitutionally but that doesn't mean it wasn't wrong like when FDR served for 12 years straight and Congress finally passed the 22nd Amendment and made term limits an official thing.
Nick Capodice: [00:09:51.26] Right. Especially in a nation founded on that no king principle. I'm thinking of the War Powers Act Truman and Kennedy entered wars but they didn't actually declare war. So they sidestepped Congress and Congress claps back and passed a law that said presidents are supposed to get approval for most conflict engagement regardless of what they call it.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:10:10.25] But in those cases I mean in part because laws take so long to come to fruition. The presidents who got a little too big for their britches they were already out of the White House by the time those laws were passed. So what happens when we need a legal decision immediately. This is where that last black robe clad Cerberus head gets to speak up because the Supreme Court can declare executive actions unconstitutional for example. In 1996 President Bill Clinton wanted the Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit dismissed on the grounds of presidential immunity.
[00:10:48.47] The Supreme Court ruled that a sitting president does not have immunity from civil litigation while in office a court because they get to decide what is constitutional or not. Basically. Clinton eventually ended up in impeachment proceedings.
Nick Capodice: [00:11:04.26] But what happens if the president refuses to follow that ruling. Like when Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus during the Civil War and the Supreme Court said no you can't hold people indefinitely without trial just because they're disloyal. And Lincoln just ignored them ignored the Supreme Court. That's just completely illegal.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:11:21.84] Yeah. And the thing is that this does happen. And in a case like that Congress could have impeach the president. That would have technically been a proper course of action but they didn't. And to be fair most of us are probably grateful for that Lincoln prevailed and is considered to have been one of the nation's greatest presidents. But it's an important moment to bring up because what if the check system fails to engage. What if Congress and the judiciary or Congress and the president agree to let the other do what they want. Just because they're pals. What if one of these heads is asleep while the other two are just running amok.
Kim Wehle: [00:12:00.54] Another example I use is you know a speed camera. There's one on Connecticut Avenue I live outside of Washington D.C. and there's a couple blocks on Connecticut Avenue where everyone slows down and goes below 30 miles an hour because there's a speed camera. Once it's in the rearview mirror. People speed up. So same with the Constitution. If there's not a speed camera catching people and sending them the dreaded ticket in the mail with a little you know snapshot of your of your license plate.
[00:12:28.23] People are going to speed and the president.
Kim Wehle: [00:12:30.66] The Congress.
Kim Wehle: [00:12:32.76] Federal judges.
Archival: [00:12:33.5] The court.
Kim Wehle: [00:12:33.6] They'll all blow through the speed limits.
[00:12:36.42] If there aren't consequences and that's the case for Republicans Democrats independent. It doesn't matter who is in the White House or who's in Congress. What I'm saying what matters is protecting the institution. So if if those in power shift whoever's in power is checked whoever's in power has consequences for bad behavior.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:12:57.3] Turns out the three headed government monster actually comes with a leash and the person holding that leash it's you they actually have to take the thing for a walk to make a difference.
Kim Wehle: [00:13:10.89] There's no constitution cop on the block that is the Constitution is a piece of paper. It's like a contract right. If you if we the people don't enforce it through the voting booth the ballot box or through the courts or a suit of some kind of other mechanism to ensure that our elected leaders are actually complying with the law then the Constitution itself just becomes irrelevant it's a piece of paper it doesn't its rules don't matter you can take out the black sharpie and cross them out. It's only so good as it's enforced.
Nick Capodice: [00:13:48.84] I feel like this ultimately makes us the Constitution cops. I mean trust in the system. Appreciate the system sure but know how the system works. Just in case someone sleeping on the job.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:14:01.5] Yeah. So. now that we do understand how things are supposed to work.
[00:14:06.93] The failsafe system for keeping the three headed dog alive it might be time to get a better sense of what all of these branches are thinking doing on their own time. Their powers are checked. but what are their powers.
Nick Capodice: [00:14:22.89] That's next time on Civics 101.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:14:33.47] Civics 101 was produced today by me. Hannah McCarthy with Nick Capodice and help from Jackie Helbert and Ben Henry. Erica Janik is our executive producer Maureen McMurray thinks that power corrupts but absolute power is actually kind of cool. Music In this episode is by Blue Dot sessions, Lobo Loco and Quicksand. There is a transcript for this episode as well as a bunch of other resources at Civics 101 podcast dot org. And while you're there drop us a line. Click the Ask a question link and let us know what you want to know about civics. We'll do our best to answer it in a future episode. Civics when one is a production of N H PR New Hampshire Public Radio.
Life Stages: Death
It's the final episode of our Life Stages series, and its euphemism-free. We speak to a doctors, lawyers, professors, and funeral professionals about the rules of death; pronouncing, declaring, burying, cremating, willing, trusting, canceling, donating.
Featuring the voices of Dan Cassino, Ken Iserson, Leah Plunkett, Mandy Stafford, and Taelor Johnson.
[00:00:05] Civics 101 is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Nick Capodice [00:00:05] You know what. More than ever in this series, I am grateful for red tape. Because death is so personal. And in radio we're not supposed to refer to "the listener." But I'm gonna do it. You listener. I have no idea how you want to talk about death. When I was coming up with ideas for the episode I was like I'll open with The Seventh Seal or Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey or Barber's Adagio for Strings. Because I don't know, are you a reverent about death? Does it terrify you? Maybe you're dealing with it right now in your life and it's horrible and it's consuming everything. So all I'll do is say that when I have dealt with death in my own life, I strangely took comfort in the rules and regulations and systems of it. Because I'm sad and I'm angry and I don't know how I'm supposed to feel, but okay let's see what the lawyer has to say. How many copies of the death certificate do we need. Let's talk about the arrangements. But these conversations are so awkward.
Ken Iserson [00:01:06] We don't like to talk about it. We don't like to think about it.
Nick Capodice [00:01:10] This is Dr. Ken Iserson.
Ken Iserson [00:01:14] I'm professor emeritus at the University of Arizona Department of Emergency Medicine.
Nick Capodice [00:01:17] He's written several books on death including Dust to Death: What happens to dead bodies.
Ken Iserson [00:01:21] You know even in the shoot em up cops and robbers and military films and other media where they show lots of deaths and lots of killings, they don't show the funerals. They don't show the dead bodies. Except maybe for Game of Thrones. But in general we don't, a lot of people don't like to go to funerals. That's not part of their life which is kind of strange because of course it is part of life.
Nick Capodice [00:01:52] I'm Nick Capodice.
Hannah McCarthy [00:01:54] I'm Hannah McCarthy.
Nick Capodice [00:01:55] And today on Civics 101 it is the final chapter of our life stages series; Death.
Hannah McCarthy [00:02:01] Can we start with when someone becomes dead.
Nick Capodice [00:02:04] Right, we're not going to get into the sort of philosophical question of when is someone quote dead but we can explore when someone is legally dead.
Ken Iserson [00:02:12] Yeah that's that's a really really big part of the interaction of law and death. Who decides that a person is dead and how is it done. Well in every country in every locale the basic rule is a person is dead when a physician says the person is dead.
Hannah McCarthy [00:02:32] So once they're pronounced dead is that when the death certificate is issued?
Nick Capodice [00:02:37] Yeah and usually someone checks the clock and they step back and they say time of death for 13 or whatever but there are two very different ways you can become dead and Hannah, this can cause some issues regarding what is real.
Dan Cassino [00:02:52] Legal facts and actual facts often but do not always co-exist.
Nick Capodice [00:02:58] You all know that music means there he is making his last appearance in the series, Dan Cassino from Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Dan Cassino [00:03:04] Meaning, the fact that something is legally true does not mean it is actually true. So there's two ways you can be declared dead. So you can be declared dead, declaration of death happens from either a cop or a medic or a judge, or you can be pronounced dead which is by a doctor. Now if you're pronounced dead and a doctor looks at you and says This guy's dead, there's not much disagreement about that and the legal fact of your death and the actual fact of your death are two things that are very much in line. Depending what state you're in between four and seven years if you have disappeared and there is no reason why you've disappeared in the courts are allowed to look into this and decide alright is this person fleeing debt, where they, did they leave a note and say they were going somewhere, if there's no reason why you should be missing and you haven't turned up at your place of business and there's been effort to find you and haven't turned up and they put an ad in the newspaper asking for you to turn up and you haven't turned up guess what. After four to seven years you are legally dead and your heirs can start collect your estate. The government can start giving Social Security to your survivors. Insurance companies have to pay out and if you decide after that you want to come back and you are not actually dead just legally dead, well you're gonna have a hell of a time because the Social Security administration is gonna want all that money back that they paid out to your survivors and they might not want to pay you back. The insurance company while it turns out they cannot actually take the money back from your heirs, it turns out they can sue you if you disappeared on purpose and try and get the money back that they did pay out from you. And so we have all these cases where people who are in fact legally legally dead but not actually that do come back.
Hannah McCarthy [00:04:29] But how often does that actually happen.
Nick Capodice [00:04:31] Dan said there are about 100,000 dead not dead Americans walking around right now.
Hannah McCarthy [00:04:37] That is bonkers.
Nick Capodice [00:04:38] But for the majority of Americans, death will happen in a hospital or home or hospice care and the funeral service will be contacted to assist with what comes next. But Ken told me it wasn't always that way.
Ken Iserson [00:04:52] In the beginning in the beginning of our country families experienced births and deaths at home. They saw many many many little children die at birth. They saw the mothers in large numbers die giving birth or shortly thereafter. They saw what happened to the bodies. They helped bury them they helped prepare them, and then that changed.
Nick Capodice [00:05:22] In fact the antiquated term undertaker which I learned you should never call a funeral professional these days just meant someone who undertook a task. And that person is usually a family friend or relative who helped you bury the body and make arrangements. That person would contact the local cabinet maker to make a coffin and maybe a carriage to take it to the grave site. But that was it. By the way do you know the difference between a coffin and a casket Hannah.
Hannah McCarthy [00:05:48] This isn't a setup for a joke is it.
Nick Capodice [00:05:49] No it's not. No.
Hannah McCarthy [00:05:50] Okay Nick what is the difference between a coffin and a casket.
Nick Capodice [00:05:54] It's the shape. A casket is rectangular and a coffin has that a irregular hexagonal coffin shape.
Hannah McCarthy [00:06:00] That's it?
Nick Capodice [00:06:01] That's it. And as a fun side note, in the 1950s there are about 500 casket manufacturers in the U.S. and today three companies that make 70 percent of the caskets in America.
Hannah McCarthy [00:06:12] So when did Death shift from being the responsibility of families and your local cabinet maker to these funeral professionals.
Ken Iserson [00:06:21] Around and after the Civil War the funeral industry suddenly became a real entity and embalming was developed. And initially it was developed of course for the bodies on the battlefield, especially the officers, they wanted to preserve them and send them home. And then all of a sudden this body arrived that was supposed to be embalmed. And I guess it was to some extent but not in a condition you'd want to look at it. And then the families began using that routinely and gradually sending the whole process over to the funeral director instead of at home.
Nick Capodice [00:07:12] Embalming becomes more popular when formaldehyde becomes readily available in America and embalming fluid sellers would travel the country to give these one day crash courses and how to do it to funeral directors and this means the body can be preserved and therefore more time and consideration given to the funeral service. And that's how we get to today where a funeral director can provide over 130 separate types of services for a family.
Hannah McCarthy [00:07:41] Like what.
Nick Capodice [00:07:42] Set up catered meals for services, they contact the friends and family for you about the death, write and place the obituary, arrange the hearse, the church, gravestone, refrigeration, memorial cards, tent at the gravesite, washing, dressing, cremating casketing, cosmetology and the big one embalming.
Hannah McCarthy [00:08:02] Wow wow. Is it legally required that a body be embalmed nowadays.
Nick Capodice [00:08:05] Absolutely not. But there are laws of it having to embalm or refrigerate or cremate or bury within a certain time window after death. Did you know the U.S. and Canada are the only two countries in the world where enbalming is common and we bury about 800000 gallons of embalming fluid every year. But while all the states have different regulations about burial, embalming is not required as part of your final disposition.
Hannah McCarthy [00:08:31] Final disposition.
Mandy Stafford [00:08:32] A final disposition is that last step.
Nick Capodice [00:08:37] This is Mandy Stafford. She's a funeral director at Mueller memorial in St. Paul Minnesota.
[00:08:41] Hi I'm Scott Mueller president of Mueller memorial and author of the bestselling book What to know before you go.
Nick Capodice [00:08:47] I had the pleasure of speaking with two Mueller Memorial employees Mandy and Taelor Johnson who's in charge of community relations.
Hannah McCarthy [00:08:53] I'm glad that we get to hear from people who actually do this for a living.
Nick Capodice [00:08:56] Right. And the first thing I asked them to do was to help me clear up any misconceptions about the industry.
Taelor Johnson [00:09:03] I'll search sorry but I'll start you right there. Scott doesn't like it when we call it an industry. He prefers to be called a profession.
Hannah McCarthy [00:09:09] Nick you always manage to do this.
Nick Capodice [00:09:12] I know! No. They were very cool about it.
Taelor Johnson [00:09:13] No no no it's a perfect example. Perfect example.
Nick Capodice [00:09:16] If I may say Mandy and Taylor were the exact opposite of that film stereotype of the scary funeral director and they both told me about the laws regarding that final disposition how you end up.
Mandy Stafford [00:09:28] Minnesota has what's called a 72 hour law and so within 72 hours of when someone passes away the family needs to make the decision between having cremation take place being able to do the embalming process or doing what's called a direct burial which means burial takes place without embalming, within the 72 hours.
Hannah McCarthy [00:09:52] Are those your only three options; embalming cremation direct burial.
Nick Capodice [00:09:56] Not even remotely every state may have different laws but in 46 of them you can be buried in your own yard. There are green burials which are alkalis that break your body down, you can be buried at sea. Not to mention the thousands of things you can do with your cremains. And also, and this is where Mandy and Taelor defied my expectations, they expressly said you don't even need a casket or coffin. You need a rigid container if you're cremated. But other than that anything goes. A cardboard box. A bedsheet.
Hannah McCarthy [00:10:26] Wow. Can I ask a quick questino.
Nick Capodice [00:10:28] Yeah go ahead.
Hannah McCarthy [00:10:29] I don't know if you know the answer to this.
Nick Capodice [00:10:29] Sure.
Hannah McCarthy [00:10:30] I had a boyfriend once.
Nick Capodice [00:10:32] Yeah.
Hannah McCarthy [00:10:32] Who. I mean this is this is just a little fantastical but his plan for his death was to be taken out to the forest and and kind of sink into the earth and be taken away by animals. Can you do that can you just let yourself let your dead body be eaten away and taken away just lying out there in the middle of the forest is that legal?
Nick Capodice [00:10:53] That is not legal due to the potential for spreading illness or contaminating a water supply. The body does have to be buried.
Hannah McCarthy [00:11:00] Oh what about a Viking funeral.
Nick Capodice [00:11:04] Like a Pyre?
Hannah McCarthy [00:11:04] Yeah.
Nick Capodice [00:11:05] Like set alight on a boat via a flaming arrow.
Nick Capodice [00:11:08] You can't do that and you're not the first to ask. That's actually a common question. Cremation has to be done by a licensed crematorium because fires that we set just can't get hot enough.
Hannah McCarthy [00:11:18] How hot exactly did crematoriums need to get to reduce the body to ash.
Nick Capodice [00:11:24] Modern crematoriums get up to about eighteen hundred degrees. There is one and only one outdoor pyre styled crematorium in the US. It's in Colorado.
Hannah McCarthy [00:11:34] Now. Take me through the absolute bare minimum. Someone dies. What do you have to do.
Nick Capodice [00:11:40] If it happened in your home; unless the person was in hospice care, you have to call the police. They will send a medical examiner and determine the cause of death and write the death certificate. But dealing with the body is probably going to cost you. Lots of life insurance plans help you cover those funeral expenses, average burial in America seven to ten thousand dollars, average cremation five to six thousand dollars. If you're working with a funeral home a funeral parlor you'll probably spend at least three thousand dollars.
Hannah McCarthy [00:12:10] But what if you have no money. A relative passes away in your home what can you do.
Nick Capodice [00:12:16] This varies state by state and county by county. But if you're on some manner of governmental assistance that assistance program will negotiate and cover a simple cremation or a burial with the funeral home. Mandy told me it's usually cremation most of the time because the government program will not help pay for a cemetery plot or a headstone. But the real tricky part in this comes not to how it's done but who gets to make that final determination of your final disposition. It's your next of kin. You know about the next of kin order right.
Hannah McCarthy [00:12:46] No I don't.
Nick Capodice [00:12:47] It's like the presidential succession. So first it's your spouse and then it's your children and then it's your parents siblings and grandchildren then grandparents then nieces nephews etc.. Here's funeral director Mandy Stafford again.
Mandy Stafford [00:12:58] So I think that is really the biggest red tape is understanding who has that right to make the decisions and say there are eight children and four of them want cremation and four of them want a traditional casket at service. That's where things can get a little grey so to say. Because here in Minnesota we do need one more than half to sign for cremation to take place.
Taelor Johnson [00:13:27] And if they can't get that majority.
Nick Capodice [00:13:29] Taelor told me that they just get there. They mediate and they discuss it and it almost always gets decided within that 72 hour window.
Hannah McCarthy [00:13:40] So what can I the currently living due to prevent this hassle and debate for my next of kin when the time comes.
Nick Capodice [00:13:48] So you want to make it easier for those you love.
Nick Capodice [00:13:51] All right. First thing you have to do is fill out an advance directive. I'm going to do it as soon as we record this episode. I swear. You can download the forms for your state. Fill them out in front of a witness. Give a copy to your doctor, to your lawyer, to your parents, to your kids. Keep a note saying you have one in your wallet. That assures your friends and loved ones that what you want to be done with your body will be carried out and no one has to make that grueling decision. But even after you deal with the red tape of the burial, you're not finished.
Taelor Johnson [00:14:22] Yeah there's a lot of things that that we don't think about because there's especially now in the digital age we're living in. People have so many different accounts and and passwords and user names and all that and it's it's hard to figure out exactly how to close out someone's life. You kind of break it down into two different categories, one would be cancellations and one would be more like asset distribution. So if you're looking at cancellations, something like Netflix Netflix doesn't have a contract or anything like that so you can just call Netflix and tell them someone passed away and they'll cancel the account. Because if you are doing that falsely it would be easy for the person to reinstate it. It's not a big deal but you want to use caution when you cancel something like an Amazon account or a an iTunes account because once you do that you lose all of the assets that were being held by that account. So technically speaking when you buy a song air quotes buy a song on iTunes you're actually leasing it for your lifetime.
Hannah McCarthy [00:15:27] Are you kidding me. Like I don't actually own the copy of a League of Their Own that I paid for.
Nick Capodice [00:15:33] Those Rockford peaches are not yours to espy in death Hannah, and my kids can no longer watch all nine seasons of Curious George. Google lets you choose whatever you want to do with your account when it's been inactive a certain amount of time you can let someone else access that or just lock it all shut it down and delete everything. And Facebook lets you assign what's called a legacy contact. Phone companies need to be called appropriately enough but there's one kind of Web site that is very persnickety about death.
Taelor Johnson [00:16:05] So. So if you have like an online stock account through E-Trade or T.D. Ameritrade or something like that you would you would want to make sure that beforehand, and this is a huge takeaway and if I could if I could like shake people and say do this it would be it would be to say go into, if you have these kinds of accounts if you have a brokerage account which is just an account that has that you can trade stocks in or something to that effect. Make sure you have a transfer on death filled out because you are not required to fill that out when you when you open a brokerage account. You are required to fill out a beneficiary for an IRA but if you've got an online brokerage account you have to go in specifically and fill out a transfer on death form. And a big thing there is is the biggest most important thing in either of those cases is to not ever make any transactions after someone has died. If you have the username and password for your spouse or your sibling or something like that if you're there the executor of their state whatever it doesn't matter do not go and make changes because the IRS will not look fondly upon a discrepancy between transactions that were made by quote someone you know like it by a living person and that conflicting with a a certain death certificate.
Hannah McCarthy [00:17:35] Okay so now we're into an area that is famously touchy right. Leaving your assets after death your will.
Nick Capodice [00:17:44] Right. Did I ever tell you that I had a program on my Apple iic when I was a kid called Will Writer. My sister and I wanted to start a will writing business.
Hannah McCarthy [00:17:52] Why were you... as children?
[00:17:56] Can you write your own will. Sure you can.
Nick Capodice [00:17:58] There are a ton of YouTube videos with will advice out there by the way.
[00:18:01] You can also build your own house but that doesn't mean you should. A will is an important legal document.
Hannah McCarthy [00:18:08] When you're left something in a will, does the government take some of that is it taxed?
Nick Capodice [00:18:13] This is called an estate tax and the federal government won't do it unless it is eleven point eight million dollars or more that you're left. The state though can levy state taxes on that gift at a lower level but it's still around the million dollar range. However be ye warned about capital gains tax. So that's like if you're left a house that's worth 250 grand and you sell it for 275. You get taxed on that twenty five thousand dollar difference.
Hannah McCarthy [00:18:43] Why are wills so complex.
[00:18:44] I know, right? So I asked Leah Plunkett from University of New Hampshire School of Law, why can't I just write on a piece of paper I leave everything to my wife and kids and they know what's best. Why are they so tricky.
Leah Plunkett [00:18:55] Wills are complicated because we need to make sure that they are made with an understanding by the person who's making them of what they're doing that they're not being coerced or controlled but they're being made knowingly and voluntarily and of free will. It's so crucial that we know that that's really your decision. So I've got a piece of paper in my blue professor pen you know on the desk right here. If I just write I leave everything to my husband two kids and a dog they know what's best, you're an appropriate witness because you're not related to me, you don't have a stake in my will. But how the heck is you know a court or the bank that has the mortgage on our house or any of these other official entities supposed to be able to know that this piece of scrap paper that I scribbled on was really me, that I was really doing it of my own free will. If there aren't certain, I sometimes tell my law students that going to law school is like going to Hogwarts that there's certain phrases and certain words that are legal terms of art. And if you use them the right way then magic happens. And it's not flying or unforgivable curses but you do have the power to alter the outcome of someone's life or an institution's trajectory.
Hannah McCarthy [00:20:18] These are phrases like I Hannah McCarthy being of sound mind and body.
Nick Capodice [00:20:22] Yeah. Terms like bequest, devise, right of representation, executor, the female version of which was once an executrix by the way. An executor is the person who carries out the will and with very few exceptions your will is going to go through probate, which is a court review to prove the validity of the will. Probate comes from Latin for to prove. And that process of probate can take months up to years.
Hannah McCarthy [00:20:47] And there's no way around this.
Nick Capodice [00:20:49] There is a way and I feel like I'm in a commercial when I'm talking about this stuff but it's creating a trust instead of using a will to give stuff to someone else. If you create a trust you can choose possessions and money to give to someone before you die, and when you die, and after you die. And trusts do not go through probate, they don't go through court.
Hannah McCarthy [00:21:12] OK I. I knew a good number of people in college who actually had trusts that like they wouldn't be able to access them until they were like 21 or 25 or 30 but some of these trusts, tell me if this is an actual legal thing, had stipulations like you have to have graduated from college or you can't get in trouble with the law.
Nick Capodice [00:21:35] You can put conditions like that on any gift, will, or trust. State supreme courts have actually ruled on this. As long as the conditions don't break the law they are binding and you have to do the thing to get that money. Even things like you have to have an Ivy League diploma or you cannot marry outside the faith.
Hannah McCarthy [00:21:55] Wow that's really kind of restrictive and manipulative.
Nick Capodice [00:21:58] But it's legal, man. It's the law.
Hannah McCarthy [00:22:01] Can I just ask you Nick, after all of this, have you decided on your final disposition?
Nick Capodice [00:22:10] I haven't yet but there is something that Ken Iserson from University of Arizona said to me that opened up a possibility I hadn't even considered.
[00:22:22] There there's so much suffering in creation as we know it. We remember today those made a difference in the relieving that suffering by generosity.
Ken Iserson [00:22:34] I always have felt that people who donate their whole body to science are really benefactors for humanity.
Nick Capodice [00:22:45] If you contact your local medical school and you start the process which also requires signing forms in front of witnesses, you can leave your body to medical science. Once it's been used it's been studied and it's been dissected it's cremated and the criminals are sent back to you usually for free.
Ken Iserson [00:23:01] You know there's one other thing that's associated with it. I think it started at the University of Arizona Medical School and has gone to other places since. But the medical students actually have a service for all the people who donated their bodies for their anatomical training. And it's rather moving the whole class gets together and it's led by a diverse religious people.
[00:23:30] I never knew where you were from. I never knew your face, never knew your voice. I committed every twist and turn of each and every vein and artery to memory.
Nick Capodice [00:23:44] Even though the way we think about death has changed so much in America has Taelor who deals with death every day if she had any advice for the rest of us.
Taelor Johnson [00:23:53] Definitely don't shield your children from from death, don't shield anyone from it. Because we're we're pretty well distanced now as a society from death. We have someone who comes to our house and and takes the body away and there are, we don't have to be close, closely involved as as even two generations before us were. So I just encourage people because I spend a lot of time working on grief and those those few days that that acute loss period is really so vital framing how your grief experience is gonna go for the rest of your life. So so don't back away from it, kind of lean into the the rites and ceremonies that happen when someone dies and always go to the funeral.
Nick Capodice [00:24:41] Mandy told me that it helps with the grieving process. And she told me a story about the one time she didn't go to a colleague's and how she still doesn't have closure in that death. Ken told me that it's great maybe even preferable to not have a funeral at all but have a memorial service like months or weeks after to celebrate the life of that person.
Hannah McCarthy [00:25:01] I have to make an advance directive. Write a will. Write down passwords and tell my next of kin not to cancel my Amazon.
Nick Capodice [00:25:10] Right.
Hannah McCarthy [00:25:11] I have a lot of tasks to do before I die.
Nick Capodice [00:25:14] May it be a long time my friend.
Hannah McCarthy [00:25:18] So that's it. I think we're done. Cradle to grave.
[00:25:22] Yeah. Almost. Just one last word to kind of put the hat on the snowman. Before I said goodbye to Dan, he said he wanted to put in one final salvo, a defense for these things that you and I consider onerous.
Dan Cassino [00:25:37] All of these things we're talking about are about bureaucracy or about the federal government and putting red tape in your way. And we hate bureaucracy. We hate that red tape. But turns out this is actually a really good thing. So think about it. If I go to the DMV and a person in front, that person handing me a ticket tells you a line to get in. If Bill Gates goes to the DMV he goes the front that person gives him the same ticket. Lets say that person really loves Bill Gates loves Windows. I'm sure that person exists. They go out they say we want to help Bill Gates, what can they do? Nothing. They give him the same ticket. They are constrained. They have really no way of doing anything other than the one thing they're allowed to do. The whole idea of bureaucracy is it's small d democratic. Everyone gets treated in the exact same way because the bureaucrats don't have any discretion, they have no ability to treat people differently so you and me and Bill Gates and the person's mother in law and everybody gets treated the exact same way when they show up. So bureaucracy, while we hate, it while it's terrible because no one has discretion they can't help you out or something goes wrong, guess what. It's the most democratic part of our government.
Nick Capodice [00:26:37] So here's to bureaucracy a word that I can just never spell.
Hannah McCarthy [00:26:40] Me neither
Nick Capodice [00:26:41] Really?? You also have that one?
Hannah McCarthy [00:26:42] I can never.
Nick Capodice [00:26:43] It kills me that red squiggle. I'm like "Today I'm not going to get the red squiggle" and there it is.
Hannah McCarthy [00:26:49] Nick it was fun exploring the life of an American with you.
Nick Capodice [00:26:55] The pleasure was more than half mine. I agree, Hannah. That'll do it for this episode and this series. Today's episode was produced by me Nick Capodice with you Hannah McCarthy. Thank you.
Hannah McCarthy [00:27:02] Oh you're welcome. Our staff includes Jacqui Helbert, Daniela Vidal-Allee and Ben Henry. Erika Janik is our executive producer and owns a non digital copy of a League of Their Own.
Nick Capodice [00:27:13] Maureen McMurray rides A Pale Horse.
Hannah McCarthy [00:27:15] Music in this episode by elephant funeral Blue Dot sessions Seb Wildwood coconut monkey rocket and Chris Zabriske. Scott Grant and did this inspirational song you listen to here.
[00:27:25] Don't you just want to walk forcefully up a mountain and stand there with your hands on your hips. Civics 101 is a production of a NHPR New Hampshire Public Radio and is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Life Stages: Retirement
The prospect of retirement -- of leaving the work force, aging, confronting a new body and a new way of life -- is peppered with concepts and requirements so unwieldy they can make your brain turn off. So how do we make retirement prep easier? Shed the dread and face the future armed with a plan? Our guides to the next stage of life are Bart Astor, Tom Margenau and Cristina Martin Firvida.
Nick Capodice [00:00:00] Civics 101 is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Hannah McCarthy [00:00:05] I have to confess something.
Nick Capodice [00:00:07] A podcast for thousands of listeners is as good a place as any Hannah.
Hannah McCarthy [00:00:11] Whenever I see an ad for retirement investing.
Retirement Ad Montage [00:00:16] Money is like life. You have to decide how to get the most from it which means you can retire without retiring from life with retirement planning and advice for what you need today. And tomorrow.
Hannah McCarthy [00:00:30] I get this creeping anxiety.
Nick Capodice [00:00:32] I have retirement accounts I whenever I look at them I just try to find something else to do.
Hannah McCarthy [00:00:38] Yeah. And I think to myself well you know it honey you're not afraid of the future. You've been paying into Social Security since you were probably 16. You're actually pretty lucky you've got a full time job and a retirement savings account. And I have even used one of those retirement calculator things online.
[00:00:57] And yet...
Retirement Ad Montage [00:01:00] We ask people the question how much money do you think you'll need when you retire.
[00:01:04] Five hundred thousand maybe a half million.
Hannah McCarthy [00:01:08] Full on stomach ache.
Nick Capodice [00:01:09] Isn't retirement supposed to be something that you look forward to no more working for the man. Rest of Your Life is just me time.
Hannah McCarthy [00:01:17] Sure all that free time to do what every you've always wanted to do. But then I think to myself What am I actually going to do.
Nick Capodice [00:01:28] Can we pull back this existential shroud? Can we lift a little of our dread?
Hannah McCarthy [00:01:32] I think.
[00:01:33] In fact we can. This is Civics 101. I'm Hannah McCarthy.
Hannah McCarthy [00:01:39] And today.
[00:01:40] Retirement. The golden years. The autumn years. The sunset years. Life at the crossroads.
[00:01:56] Can we please remove these words from our retirement vocabulary.
[00:02:05] Retirement doesn't mean you pass into some shimmering soft focus cloud of obscurity.
Nick Capodice [00:02:10] Thank you. I hate these euphemisms. The sunset years. No wonder I don't want to think about getting old.
Hannah McCarthy [00:02:17] Yeah I feel like these terms make us sound like we'll become generic one dimensional versions of ourselves after we leave the workforce and become older. Not to mention the fact that they're a way around saying the word old.
Bart Astor [00:02:31] I think we put down the whole concept of Old. And and my my mission I took on was to say the word old is not a bad word. I think it's really good to be old. I'm so much happier now than I was throughout my life.
Hannah McCarthy [00:02:47] This is Bart Astor. I called him up to talk about what we don't talk about when we talk about retirement.
Bart Astor [00:02:54] I'm fascinated by the fact that we don't think about it. I mean it's amazing everything becomes a surprise. I didn't know that my body would start failing but yet it did. Of course it did.
Nick Capodice [00:03:06] Of course it did. It's bizarre but I get it. Age sneaks up on you a bad back sneaks up on you I'm pretty sure I was 22 yesterday.
Hannah McCarthy [00:03:13] Yeah. There is a measure of existential dread that comes along with this stage of life right. What's gonna happen to my body my brain? Will I have enough money? Can I ever retire? If I do what is it even going to look like?
Bart Astor [00:03:29] Because this image of what life is supposed to be like and we know it is just not necessarily what it is. So I think that we don't want to think ahead. And then when we do we we're afraid that I'm going to sit around and eat bonbons and that that's going to be my retirement.
Hannah McCarthy [00:03:46] Does it have to be all lounging on the couch and eating bonbons. How do we make this transition as straightforward and predictable as possible while Bart's helping us out with the existential. Let's make the practical a little less mystifying too. And the practical has a lot to do with government retirement and a lot of ways was designed by the federal government. There are three major things you need to think about when you think about retirement. That's social security health and savings. First stop Social Security.
Tom Margenau [00:04:21] Maybe you've heard the term join the Navy and see the worldwide join the Social Security Administration. I didn't see the world but I saw a lot of the country as we moved around to different social security offices.
Hannah McCarthy [00:04:31] This is Tom Margenau. He worked for the Social Security Administration for 31 years and a bunch of different jobs. And these days he writes a column about Social Security and retirement. And before we do jump into Social Security as a retirement benefit.
[00:04:47] A quick caveat.
Tom Margenau [00:04:49] Social Security isn't just old people. What Social Security is in a nutshell is it obviously is old people it's retirement benefits and widows benefits those are two big parts of Social Security. But another big part of Social Security disability benefits we don't all stay healthy until we reach our retirement years.
Hannah McCarthy [00:05:08] You can receive Social Security benefits for as long as the Social Security Administration says your condition is one that prevents you from returning to work. For some people that is indefinite and then when they do reach retirement age their disability benefits convert into retirement benefits. There is also a survivor's program for spouses and children widows and widowers can collect part of their deceased spouse's benefit. Children can too until they turn 18.
Nick Capodice [00:05:36] I got it. So Social Security helps keep people secure and all sorts of situations right. But it seems like they're all tied to the fact that someone was working at some point.
Hannah McCarthy [00:05:45] Yes the Social Security Administration uses a credit system so it's similar to the way that you earn college credits as you put in class time on your way to graduation. As of 2019 for every 1360 dollars you earn you get a credit.
[00:06:02] Up to four credits a year.
[00:06:05] The minimum is 40 credits to receive benefits which get delivered once a month for the rest of your life.
Nick Capodice [00:06:13] So after about 10 years you unlock the social security enhancement.
Hannah McCarthy [00:06:18] Exactly.
[00:06:19] Now before we get into details have we always had Social Security in the U.S. the United States actually came a little bit late to the Social Security game.
Tom Margenau [00:06:27] Social Security was implemented in the U.S. in 1935 in many European countries have social security systems long before we started doing that which for example Germany had a Social Security system going back to the 1880s.
Nick Capodice [00:06:41] So what was it like before we had it. It's a long time to go without having a retirement safety net.
Tom Margenau [00:06:46] So it was something like 60 or 70 percent of senior citizens before Social Security were living below the poverty level. They were living with their family they were a lot of senior citizens ended up living in cold poor houses because they had essentially no money.
[00:07:03] So so security grew out of this era in this country when especially going out of the Great Depression as a target. Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal program some kind of system to provide some level of support for older people and then eventually for disabled people and widows and widowers and so on.
Hannah McCarthy [00:07:23] The Social Security Act has been changed a number of times since 1935 but initially it was just federally administered social insurance and we paid for it with payroll taxes.
Nick Capodice [00:07:35] When I look at my paycheck and there's that little area where social security is taken out that's going into the Social Security pot at the end of the rainbow and it goes into one big pot right. It's not just me saving for retirement.
Hannah McCarthy [00:07:46] Right.
[00:07:47] And we'll get into individual savings accounts in a bit but of course if you are making more you are paying more into it and your employer is also paying a percentage into that pot. So if you are self-employed and wondering why your taxes seem so high that is in part because you are paying the entirety of the Social Security tax.
Nick Capodice [00:08:06] So do I get more from Social Security if I made a lot more money during my life.
Tom Margenau [00:08:10] The more money you put in the system the higher your benefits going to be. You know Bill Gates is going to get a higher social security benefits someday. Then his maid is gonna get.
Nick Capodice [00:08:20] What does that mean. Why would billionaire Bill Gates not get five million bucks a week or something from Social Security.
[00:08:26] That has to do with something called rate of return. It's higher for people who earn lower wages over their lifetime. So Bill Gates is Social Security check. It is going to probably be higher than let's say his housekeeper's check. But the percentage of his total income is going to be way lower.
Tom Margenau [00:08:44] A rich person gets a higher Social Security benefits than a poor person. But again as a sort of percentage of what they kicked into the system the poor person gets a better deal out of the program. And that's one of the social aspects of Social Security is to raise the standard of living of lower income people in retirement by giving them this higher rate of return.
Nick Capodice [00:09:05] I've wondered how does the Social Security Administration know that you're ready to collect your benefits to retire.
[00:09:10] Do you tell them you give a call or does your employer tell them?
Hannah McCarthy [00:09:13] You have to apply with the administration. So in most cases you can do this online or over the phone but there are also social security offices in every state in the country.
[00:09:23] You've got to be a few months away from age 62 in order to do it. But there are a lot of people in this country who spend years paying into Social Security who reach that retirement age and find that they are denied benefits.
Tom Margenau [00:09:37] You might be pumping money into the system matter of fact so sturdy actuaries will tell you that illegal immigrants crudely pump about two billion dollars a year in taxes into the Social Security system. People who've obtained numbers through nefarious means but they're working above the people faithfully are of course a lot of folks like that work under the table. But there are some who actually get us all still does work above the table and are paying money into the system pumping two billion dollars a year into the Social Security system but they never collect a dime in benefits because if you're living here illegally you're never going to get a nickel of Social Security benefit.
Nick Capodice [00:10:16] All right. So that's how Social Security is applied to undocumented immigrants. But I have another one I'm a little confused about. I've heard that by the time I retire Social Security will have dried up entirely. What's the deal with that.
Hannah McCarthy [00:10:29] I have heard the exact same thing. And by the way I like Way to up the ante on existential dread. Right.
[00:10:36] And this is an issue that Tom really wanted to get out of the way.
Tom Margenau [00:10:40] The very first presentation I ever made about Social Security somebody got up and said I don't know why we're even listening to you because we all know the program is going to be broke long before we ever get benefits. That was 50 years ago. If that guy is still alive he was in his 30s at the time. You know he's in his 80s now and he's been getting so steady checks for 20 or 30 years now for 50 years now. People have been telling me the system's going to go belly up before they ever have a chance to get benefits. But the system has been paying these benefits for 80 years now. I'm not quite sure how long it's got to be around before people finally accept the fact that maybe it's here to stay.
Hannah McCarthy [00:11:17] The deal right now is that Social Security's excess cash their reserves could run out a decade and a half from now. If Congress does not pass any laws to help things out but this is not the same thing as Social Security going broke. Now there are certainly scenarios where we might receive less money from Social Security because say the economy tanks or we go into a recession but things like this Reserve's running low or economic crises have happened in the past and Congress has reacted.
Tom Margenau [00:11:50] Now certainly over the years the system has had its pumped up against various economic problems were and forecasts were that the benefits would might have to be tapped or something.
[00:12:03] Over the years every time this has happened Congress has passed some laws that make some reforms to Social Security like keep the system going.
Nick Capodice [00:12:12] What kind of reforms.
Hannah McCarthy [00:12:13] Things like phasing in a higher retirement age tweaking tax rates for a period of time adjusting the benefit formula adjusting the retirement age didn't the government sit down and say 65 is the perfect number.
Hannah McCarthy [00:12:27] Well they did in 1935 but actually 65 is not the national retirement age anymore. Reforms in 1983 mean that now the ages 66 and two months if you are on the brink of retirement right now. But by 2022 that age will be 67.
Nick Capodice [00:12:50] Alright so I'll be retiring at 67.
Hannah McCarthy [00:12:52] Or later even. It really all depends on what possible future reforms look like and what your bank account looks like. Also humans tend to be living longer. You can start collecting retirement before you retire but your longevity might be a consideration for you.
Cristina Martin Firvida [00:13:09] You might outlive your savings but you cannot outlive your Social Security and you want to make sure that your Social Security check is robust especially as you get much older.
[00:13:22] This is Cristina Martin Firvida. She's the vice president of financial security and consumer affairs at AARP.
Nick Capodice [00:13:28] The AARP American Association of Retired Persons.
Hannah McCarthy [00:13:32] it actually used to be the American Association of Retired Persons. But there are a lot of people who are members of the group who are not yet retired so now they just go by the acronym AARP.
[00:13:43] They're pretty influential lobbying group in the U.S. that focuses on senior citizen issues.
Cristina Martin Firvida [00:13:48] So I lead up all of a piece federal lobbying on retirement issues including Social Security and pensions. And in addition to that I also work on employment issues housing transportation telecommunications all sorts of important issues that people think about when they're getting ready retire and they're thinking about their money.
Hannah McCarthy [00:14:12] AARP also sells memberships and lends its name to some health insurance companies for health care plans.
Nick Capodice [00:14:18] And they know when you turn 50 my friend just got home for his fiftieth birthday and the card was in the mail and he nearly died. So it's like Hogwarts for adults.
Hannah McCarthy [00:14:26] Yes AARP does send you a membership invitation when you turn 50.
Nick Capodice [00:14:31] How do they know.
[00:14:32] Well in one of the articles that I read about exactly this subject a rep from AARP said they get birthdays from quote companies that specialize in providing information to direct marketers. It's totally legal even if it bums you out. Can we get back to the show, Harry.
[00:14:50] OK onward.
Hannah McCarthy [00:14:54] Your Social Security check is based on your average monthly earnings. The administration pulls from the highest earning 35 years of your employment so you can estimate depending on your age and your highest earnings what your monthly check will look like when you start collecting.
[00:15:09] And that number will barring changes in the law be the same for as long as you collect.
Nick Capodice [00:15:14] And the longer you wait before you decide to collect Social Security the bigger the check will be.
Hannah McCarthy [00:15:19] To a point after you hit the national retirement age you actually do get a monthly bonus if you wait to collect Social Security. But that bonus will only take you to age 70 and you're not going to make more than around thirty five hundred bucks a month.
Nick Capodice [00:15:32] OK. So I'm not going to get rich on Social Security checks if I made the absolute maximum and Social Security and make about forty two thousand dollars a year which seems like enough if the House and the car are paid off. I didn't have any unexpected medical catastrophes or want to go on vacations.
Hannah McCarthy [00:15:51] Yeah and most people are not even going to make that much from social security checks. The average is closer to just under three thousand dollars a month.
Nick Capodice [00:16:01] Is that enough to live on for the rest of my life?
Cristina Martin Firvida [00:16:04] Very few workers have sufficient savings to really make it on just their savings. That's why we have Social Security. The idea of Social Security has always been to form the bedrock of your retirement income. And unfortunately for a lot of for a lot of retirees it's their sole source of income. So to your question is it ever enough. It's probably not enough to have a comfortable retirement. If it's the only source of income you have but it is unsafe it sadly for many their only source of income which is why we definitely want to talk about some other supports.
Hannah McCarthy [00:16:43] Lots of people out there depend on Social Security alone and plenty more rely on it to make up about half of their income. So for many many older Americans it can make a huge difference to access various programs that make life easier to afford. And this is also where part two of the insurance puzzle comes in. Health care.
Cristina Martin Firvida [00:17:05] You obviously want to think about signing up for Medicare which is a very important benefit. After you leave the workforce and then depending on you know for some folks there are some additional benefits that a retiree can access as well and those will include nutritional supports and some other supports that are really designed to assist retirees who have very low income in their post work years.
Hannah McCarthy [00:17:32] There are thousands of these programs across the country to help with prescription drugs housing issues transportation home care services and the hundred plus other things that can crop up in retirement all right.
Nick Capodice [00:17:44] It's time for me to confess something my eyes just glazed over a little when you mentioned Medicare only because health insurance is so much to comprehend. What do I need to know.
[00:17:54] Bare bones.
Hannah McCarthy [00:17:55] OK bare bones. Medicare. Medicare is federal health insurance. It's for people 65 and older. Some younger people with disabilities and people with kidney failure. Medicare is also funded by payroll taxes and some elderly people are eligible for Medicaid too which is typically free comprehensive health care. But there is a catch.
Cristina Martin Firvida [00:18:17] A lot of individuals are surprised that they often will need supplemental health insurance or that they will need to think about budgeting for for the high cost of medicine. We're very focused on the high cost of drugs and we are in the in the middle of a really big push both at the federal and state level to do something about high prescription drug prices. I want to make sure your listeners realize that the median annual income for Medicare beneficiaries is only twenty six thousand dollars. That is not a lot.
Hannah McCarthy [00:18:54] All right Nick how are we feeling about the prospect of retirement so far?
Nick Capodice [00:18:58] I honestly don't know if I'm going to budget for the surprise stuff. I'm terrible at budgeting first off. What if I want to travel to China or start a huge board game collection. I don't want to just scrape by. Is it possible for me to not just scrape by.
Hannah McCarthy [00:19:14] Yes. Nick we've arrived at Part 3 of the wild world of retirement prep savings. Oh man. Here's Tom again.
Tom Margenau [00:19:24] The thinking was you should get about a third of your retirement income from Social Security another third from savings or investments and another third from maybe a pension from your employer. But that was they always they called it a three legged stool.
Hannah McCarthy [00:19:40] It used to be relatively common for an employer to offer a traditional pension plan when you left your job your employer would provide you with retirement benefits based on a fund that they paid into and maintained. But the burden being on the employer is part of the reason that the traditional pension has become pretty rare. It's mostly government workers and a handful of private employees who get these now after some unfortunate incidents in the 60s including pension funds drying up. Two things happened. One Congress passed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act ERISA in 1974 which laid out some basic rules for retirement plans and established a corporation to cover pensions. If that company does go belly up to traditional pension plans started to decline.
Nick Capodice [00:20:28] So back in the day a lot of people had said traditional pension options. That's like one leg of my retirement stool and then maybe I've made some investments of my own or I've save some. That's another leg.
[00:20:39] And Social Security is the third leg.
Tom Margenau [00:20:41] So a Social Security benefit is roughly for the average retiree if this isn't something like 40 percent 30 to 40 percent of their pre-retirement income. And then it's up to the person getting benefits to make up the other two legs of that stool so that it isn't a wobbly stool.
Nick Capodice [00:21:00] But if my pension leg is kicked off I'm standing on a wobbly stool. Hanna I would rather not be on a wobbly two legged stool the rest of my life.
Hannah McCarthy [00:21:09] Okay. It is not as easy as it used to be to have a nice sturdy three legged stool of retirement. But there are options. Here's Cristina again.
Cristina Martin Firvida [00:21:20] There's been more and more responsibility put on individual workers to save for their own retirement. In 1983 only 12 percent of workers were being put into a for one case style savings plan. But today at the current time 73 percent of workers who are offered any kind of retirement plan at work are offered only a for one case style savings vehicle.
Hannah McCarthy [00:21:50] There are tax incentivised retirement programs out there that can help you save even if your employer doesn't offer you one.
[00:21:56] You can get a retirement account with a bank or a credit union or a broker. You can also make your own investments. If you're lucky enough to have the funds or try to stash things away in a savings account even putting a little bit away. Cristina says makes a difference when the day comes to start planning out your retirement.
[00:22:15] Oh and one more thing. Talk to someone who understands money. You don't have to and really shouldn't go through this process alone.
Cristina Martin Firvida [00:22:26] There are a lot of conflicts of interest in the financial advice world. They're not all disclosed. It can be difficult to know what fees you're being charged what commissions you're being charged what recurring fees you're being charged. It's really important to ask those questions. They can be uncomfortable questions to ask. I know it from personal experience but it's your money you saved it you need it for your retirement and you need to know what's going to happen to have money. So make sure the advice you get is best for you. The only way you can know that. Is if you ask those questions.
Hannah McCarthy [00:23:18] Okay Nick what do you think is retirement less of a dark looming forest creature now.
Nick Capodice [00:23:26] It is still a lot to take in.
[00:23:29] But I feel like it has gone from being something I just didn't want to face to being something that's like possible to face now.
Hannah McCarthy [00:23:36] And necessary to face.
Nick Capodice [00:23:37] Whether I like it or not.
[00:23:39] But to be honest I'm still not thrilled with the prospect.
[00:23:42] This whole thing still means at the end of my job and getting older and dealing with all this stuff that I don't want to deal with.
Hannah McCarthy [00:23:49] I think it's time to bring Bart back in.
Bart Astor [00:23:52] I'm 70. I figure I'm going to live to be 90.
[00:23:55] Could be more could be I could get it tomorrow by the bus. OK.
[00:23:59] But I have to assume I have 20 plus years.
Hannah McCarthy [00:24:03] The foggy shroud around retirement and aging has I think a lot to do with the fact that we don't want to pull back that shroud for many people money and aging does causing diety and anxiety can mean that we don't prepare for what's coming because we just don't want to look at it.
[00:24:23] So Bart's advice. Look at it. People it's coming.
Bart Astor [00:24:30] The batter hit the ball with the ball with cleats. We know it's coming at it's time. You know I'm 64 and a half and I have six months before I get on Medicare or retire or whatever. Do nothing. If the ball is already in the air and it's not going to change course it's done all the sudden going to veer left just expressed.
[00:24:53] I because I close my eyes. It's it's coming. So I put my hand out and I catch the ball or I don't.
Nick Capodice [00:25:01] I want to catch the ball. I do that we may find the facts of retirement may be boring or intimidating. Basically we have to pay attention if we want the whole thing to be smoother less surprising.
Hannah McCarthy [00:25:13] Nick, should we run a final test to see if things have improved in the dread department.
Nick Capodice [00:25:18] I'm ready.
Retirement Ad [00:25:20] Why earn my mutual fund fees so high my returns so low and yet you guys keep putting up record profits year after year. You'll see the results in the end. It's a long term game. It's not a game. It's my retirement it's my family's future.
Hannah McCarthy [00:25:40] Getting real there was a tough one. But how do you feel.
Nick Capodice [00:25:46] I feel okay. I feel a little inspired actually. How about you.
Hannah McCarthy [00:25:49] I think the shroud of dread has been lifted. I can successfully watch an entire 30 second retirement commercial without total dread.
Nick Capodice [00:25:59] Eyes on the prize Hannah. It's just.
[00:26:03] That it's like one big ole elephant that we're kind of skirting around here.
Hannah McCarthy [00:26:08] But we're paying attention we're looking forward we got it down.
Nick Capodice [00:26:11] We're not looking all the way forward.
Hannah McCarthy [00:26:14] All the way forward?
Nick Capodice [00:26:15] All stories least the good ones have a beginning a middle and an end. And Hannah. We got to take that step into the most existential of all life stages. The final stage.
[00:26:28] That's next time on Civics 101.
[00:26:41] This episode of Civics 101 was produced by me. Hannah McCarthy with Nick Capodice. Our staff includes Ben Henry, Jacqui Helbert and Daniela Vidal Alee. Erika Janik is our executive producer.
[00:26:51] Maureen MacMurray has been planning her retirement partisan she was a little girl.
[00:26:54] The theme is circus music in this episode by Blue Dot sessions D.R. and scan globe.
[00:27:00] There's so much to see and do at our Web site civics one to one podcast dot org. You can drop us a line or donation if you're so inclined. We really really truly couldn't make this show without your support.
[00:27:11] Civics when one is a production of NH PR New Hampshire Public Radio and is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Life Stages: Marriage
Today, what does it really mean to be married? Divorced? What changes in the law's eyes? What do you have to do? And, most importantly, how and why has the government decided who is allowed to marry whom?
And while we're at it, what does love, Pocahontas, or a credit card application have to do with any of this?
Today's episode features the voices of Stephanie Coontz, Kori Graves, Dan Cassino, Leah Plunkett, and dozens of County Clerks.
[00:00:00] When you two met there was probably an early physical reaction. Romantic attraction pulling you together... a love appeal that hit you sort of. Buying.
[00:00:12] How did you know? Well it happened to me. It happened to some degree to most couples who become happily married. Boing. Boing. Boing?
[00:00:24] Why yes, I think you've made a good start towards getting ready for marriage.
Hannah McCarthy [00:00:33] Boing?
Nick Capodice [00:00:34] There is no shortage of clips like this on YouTube Hannah. Dozens of educational films from the 1950s like 'Should I Get Married' 'Going Steady' or 'A Boy's Fancy.'
[00:00:45] Don't change the subject. Do I look good in a chiffon nightgown or don't I? Or don't you notice anymore?
Nick Capodice [00:00:50] We have arrived at our fourth step and the life stages series here at Civic one. I'm Nick Capodice.
Nick Capodice [00:00:57] And today we're talking about marriage.
[00:01:02] Married life is no Hollywood moonbeams and honeysuckle but it can be mighty satisfying at times.
Nick Capodice [00:01:08] It's easy to mock these 1950s sexist education reels but one thing I will say it is no wonder there were so many about marriage after World War 2. There was a spike in marriages and divorces higher than ever before in the U.S. Couples rushed to the altar after the war was over and some who had maybe gotten hastily married before the war filed for divorce immediately after.
Hannah McCarthy [00:01:30] It seems strange doesn't it.
Nick Capodice [00:01:33] What do you mean.
Hannah McCarthy [00:01:33] I mean you're doing this thing that feels so personal. And you're thinking about where you're going to get married and what you're gonna say and this whole new life together and an engagement party and telling family and friends and then it's like, well now I gotta figure out what forms we have to fill out.
[00:01:50] (phone montage)
Nick Capodice [00:01:59] It's true it's so weird you're like I mean it's like 'aaah!' but then we have to do the thing we have to do this other thing right. What do we do? Let's google it. Getting hitched is not specifically outlined in the Constitution. It's up to the states. The fees, requirements wait times, minimum age of marriage, also up to the states is who can marry you, who can officiate the wedding. Most states say it has to be a recognized member of the clergy, a judge, or a clerk. But states like California permit anyone to apply for permission to become a "deputy commissioner of marriages for the day." Isn't that nice.
Hannah McCarthy [00:02:34] That is nice.
Nick Capodice [00:02:34] You've heard of the Universal Life Church right.
Hannah McCarthy [00:02:37] Is that the one online that gives you the ability to marry someone? Okay.
Nick Capodice [00:02:42] It's a church that allows anyone to become a minister and thus officiate a wedding.
Hannah McCarthy [00:02:45] Got it.
Nick Capodice [00:02:45] As long as they follow the state process. Only North Carolina and Virginia have ruled in court that Universal Life Church marriages are not valid. So when it comes to governmental requirements for getting married you're looking at 50 different sets of rules. So I called a bunch of county clerks.
[00:03:20] (clerk montage).
Clerk [00:03:27] Are you coming in? Are you doing a license or do you want a certificate.
Hannah McCarthy [00:03:30] Yeah Nick. Which one did you want?
Nick Capodice [00:03:33] I froze up. I wasn't sure, I had to ask her which was which.
Clerk [00:03:35] It's like a driver's license. You'd get a license to get married and then afterwards we would mail you acertificate.
Nick Capodice [00:03:40] These are the two documents you need to get from the government to get married; one before and one after you tie the knot. So I obviously need a license first and the costs and requirements to get one of those not only vary by state but sometimes even by county.
Clerk [00:03:53] What you would need to bring with you is an original birth certificate for both of you or either a certified copy of your version.
Clerk [00:04:00] Both parties must be present with a photo I.D. and be at least 18 years of age.
Nick Capodice [00:04:07] Sometimes you both have to be there. Sometimes just one of you. The I.D. needed varies, it can be birth certificates or social security card or a passport. They almost always need a driver's license and the price is on average around 40 dollars but it can be as little as five dollars, in Oklahoma.
Clerk [00:04:22] If you if you go through the two together class then there is then you get a discount.
Hannah McCarthy [00:04:27] Wait what's that.
Nick Capodice [00:04:30] Some states; Texas, Minnesota, Tennessee, and Oklahoma, offer you a discount on your marriage license if you take a premarital education course.
Clerk [00:04:38] We do offer a discount for people who take 12 hours of premarital counseling through an educator of their choice.
Hannah McCarthy [00:04:46] 12 hours.
Nick Capodice [00:04:47] But in Minnesota that knocks it from 115 dollars down to 40 bucks.
Clerk [00:04:51] The bride if under the age of 50 must provide a proof of a rubella blood test or a doctor's statement regarding sterilization.
Hannah McCarthy [00:05:00] Wait. What? I mean first off why rubella. Second off why do they have to show proof of sterilization.
Nick Capodice [00:05:09] So Montana is the last state to have a blood test to get a marriage license and they're testing to see if you've been vaccinated for rubella which is also called German measles which passes onto a fetus and can cause birth complications. If you show that you've been sterilized you don't have to prove that you've had a rubella shot because you're not gonna have kids anyway. All that said the CDC claims there's about 10 cases in the nation of rubella every year and since 2007 actually in Montana as long as you and your spouse both co-sign a document and say we don't care you can opt out of the blood test.
Clerk [00:05:38] If there have been previous marriages we need to see a death certificate or a divorce decree.
Nick Capodice [00:05:45] All right here we have reached our first national constant. If you've been married before you have to provide details on the dissolution of your previous marriage to get a new one. Some states just need some relevant details and a lot of others need to see the documents.
Hannah McCarthy [00:06:03] So what happens if you say that you're divorced. But it turns out you are not. Is your new marriage just null and void.
Nick Capodice [00:06:12] Oh I asked.
Clerk [00:06:13] That is a legal question that I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole.
Dan Cassino [00:06:18] So the marriage certificates are this great example of federalism.
Nick Capodice [00:06:21] He's been on the show so much he's got his own theme music. That's Dan Cassino, political science professor from Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Dan Cassino [00:06:27] Every state has its own rules for marriage certificates. And when you can get married and when you can get divorced and this led to a lot of forum shopping. And so libertarians and people who believe strongly in federalism are going to argue that this is the real strength of federalism, that everyone can choose which laws they want and they go and they vote with their feet. And if you are a state with good laws more people come to your state. If your state has bad laws, fewer people come to your state. What this meant in terms of marriage is that basically if you want to get married quickly you just went to a state where you get married easily. So you just went to Delaware and then you can go to Delaware and get married within three hours. You don't have to wait three weeks to have a blood test didn't have to do anything.
Hannah McCarthy [00:07:04] This is where we get the trope of the drive-through wedding in Las Vegas, right.
Nick Capodice [00:07:09] Yes. Right and this goes for divorce as well.
Dan Cassino [00:07:11] And if you wanted a divorce as recently as the 1940s if you wanted a divorce you had to go to Nevada you had to set up residency in Nevada. So sometimes you'd have to live there for as much as 60 days to establish residency and then you get divorced within a week. If you were in California for instance you wanted to get a divorce that divorce took a minimum of one year in an effort to try and get the couple to reconcile, the courts say great you filed for divorce. We'll see you in a year. And so going Nevada was actually a much easier way to do this.
Nick Capodice [00:07:38] So California no longer requires you to try to make things work for a year.
Hannah McCarthy [00:07:42] No?
Nick Capodice [00:07:43] Now it's down to six months.
Hannah McCarthy [00:07:45] Oh. But why do you even need a marriage license. It's not like driving where you could injure others if you don't know what you're doing. So why does the government make you get a license and a certificate?
Leah Plunkett [00:07:59] Because otherwise you could be married to like 100 people and how would the state know?
Nick Capodice [00:08:04] This is Leah Plunkett. She's the associate dean for administration and director of academic success at U N H law.
Leah Plunkett [00:08:10] The same way that we get a birth certificate or a death certificate, the state does very legitimately need a way to keep track of people and their various familial statuses. Again not not too focused, right. The state isn't going to ask you to get a license if you're not married to your significant other and you break up, right. You don't need to let the state know we live together for 10 years and it just didn't work out. And I'm really sad that he got to keep the cat.
Hannah McCarthy [00:08:37] But what's the reason that the government needs to know your marital status or that you're not married to like 100 people.
Nick Capodice [00:08:45] There's no federal law about it but all 50 states have laws against polygamy, being married to more than one person. Monogamous marriage is very ingrained in Western culture and in mainstream Christianity. Polygamy was allowed in Utah before it became a state. But Utah was required to ban it in its constitution to gain statehood. Some states make it a criminal offense if you have more than one marriage certificate.
Hannah McCarthy [00:09:09] So now I have to ask. I've always been so curious, what actually changes for you in the eyes of the law when you get married?
Leah Plunkett [00:09:20] Closet space. Sorry.
Leah Plunkett [00:09:25] Everything really. And and so what is what is changing is how the government regards you and your familial affairs. Not your professional affairs, right. So back even up to the certainly 1950s probably into the 1960s or even 70s in some places there were restrictions on a married woman's ability to engage in the professional workforce without going through her husband in terms of her ability to own property.
Nick Capodice [00:09:58] In 1974 the Equal Credit Opportunity Act passed in the U.S. and until that point a bank required your husband to accompany you to co-sign a credit application. Like to get a credit card.
Hannah McCarthy [00:10:13] But if you were a single woman you could get a credit card by yourself right.
Nick Capodice [00:10:18] No. You had to have a man go with you and co-sign.
Hannah McCarthy [00:10:22] It should surprise me. But it does not.
Nick Capodice [00:10:24] Also in the eyes of the law you can confide in your spouse places where you couldn't confide in your friend for example.
Leah Plunkett [00:10:32] If you're engaging in a private marital communication with your spouse no one's overhearing it you intended to be private. If there are then some sort of government proceeding against one or both of you you can claim spousal privilege in regard to the contents of that conversation. It's in that same very broad umbrella as lawyer/client doctor/patient each one of them are very different too. But that is the same basic idea of the government recognizes certain types of relationships as being so foundational to your sense of self, to your well-being, and so inherently private that they will wall them off from being able to be pierced by the government in the course of a law enforcement administrative regulatory proceeding.
Nick Capodice [00:11:26] But one of the biggest changes legally when you're married is that resources can be shared. You and your spouse can now collect assets known as joint property. You can share bank accounts you can share your stuff your house and your debts.
Hannah McCarthy [00:11:41] So if you owe money I'm mortgage and you die. Your spouse can't just walk away whistling airily, the debt doesn't disappear.
Nick Capodice [00:11:53] Right. And when you file your taxes you can choose to file them jointly with your spouse and possibly lower your tax bill. If some rando, Hannah, gave you a gift of a million dollars out of the blue you'd have to pay taxes on that gift. But married couples can exchange money gifts tax-free. Have you seen Shawshank Redemption?
Hannah McCarthy [00:12:10] Many times.
[00:12:11] If you want to keep all that money give to your wife. The IRS allows a one time only gift to your spouse for up to 60 thousand dollars.
Hannah McCarthy [00:12:18] I think of it as like an emotional scene more than an informational scene. I know we're a civic show not a show about the affairs of the heart. But it feels like we're being just a little cold and calculating here. Marriage is ideally an expression of love and people have fought to have the right for that expression.
Nick Capodice [00:12:40] All right. So we're gonna have to go back a little bit. Maybe more than a little bit.
Hannah McCarthy [00:12:51] Horse and Carriage a little bit?
Nick Capodice [00:12:53] Maybe further.
Hannah McCarthy [00:12:53] Magna Carta kind of far?
Nick Capodice [00:12:55] Just a quick jaunt to like 2300B.C.
Hannah McCarthy [00:13:00] Ok so the Mesopotamians.
Nick Capodice [00:13:01] Yeah. The first evidence of marriage Mesopotamia 2350 B.C. Hannah, your and my concept of marriage is super duper recent.
Stephanie Coontz [00:13:16] We tend to think about tradition and rather truncated ways.
Nick Capodice [00:13:20] This is social historian Stephanie Coontz author of Marriage a History or how Love Conquered Marriage and it's implied in the title of her book. Love had nothing to do whatsoever with marriage.
Stephanie Coontz [00:13:33] Marriage started out as as the main way that in the absence of a fully developed banking system and wage system, marriage was the main way that people raised capital, made political connections, made alliances. And it was also used as a way of recognizing the citizenship of a man. A man was not considered fully adult until he had a wife to be a co-worker. One of the things that's interesting to modern people is we sometimes think of the male breadwinner marriage as traditional. But in fact it was not through most of history. A man needed a wife to run a farm or to run a small business and in fact colonial authorities often forbade a man to open a small business or especially an inn if he didn't, if he wasn't already married.
Hannah McCarthy [00:14:29] Okay so this isn't just ancient history. This continues even to colonial America.
Stephanie Coontz [00:14:35] So by the time the colonists came to America you had two different interesting marriage systems going. that of the Native Americans which was still based on making kinship alliances and connecting groups that were far flung so that you married out of your group and you had in-laws and therefore obligations and favors with another group. But by this time the practice in England was more endogenous marriage, to marry people of the same class or in the same grouping. And that was still very tightly controlled by parents. In fact in New England one of the laws was that if you won the affection of a young woman without having had the permission of the father the young man could be whipped.
Nick Capodice [00:15:25] The reason that parents were so controlling is because until about two hundred years ago the explicit goal of marriage was to acquire useful in-laws and gain political and economic power.
Hannah McCarthy [00:15:34] So when does this shift. When do people start to choose their own spouses?
Nick Capodice [00:15:38] In the late eighteen hundreds. People start to be paid wages wage labor when work in America wasn't so dependent on your spouse and you'd like go to work for someone else instead. Marriage could kind of start to move away from this economic agreement and that's when we start to see the rise of what historians refer to as the love match; couples getting married because they want to.
Stephanie Coontz [00:16:01] But the other interesting thing that happen and this is also particularly American is that the government began to use marriage as a way of distributing resources, rights, and obligations to people that in some other countries were more universally targeted. Instead of giving a right to health care or Social Security directly to people as they aged it began to be channeled through whether they were married. So employer, you only got health care if you were married to someone who was employed to an employer who offered health care.
Hannah McCarthy [00:16:40] Why did they start to do it that way.
Stephanie Coontz [00:16:43] It was cheaper than giving universal citizenship rights to people. But also there was the sense that existed for quite a while that marriage is something that stabilizes people, especially in the years of the male breadwinner marriage, which as I say was a pretty modern invention. But in the 20th century the ideal was that if the men could earn enough to support a family the woman would stay home and take care of the kids. And therefore society wouldn't have any responsibility for that. And furthermore the man would work much harder because he had to support a family.
Nick Capodice [00:17:24] But the other side of this is that once these benefits are tied to the institution of marriage, unmarried people don't have access to them.
Stephanie Coontz [00:17:32] But the right not to marry became very much penalized because you couldn't get access to these kinds of; you couldn't you couldn't automatically choose who could inherit from you your partner wouldn't have the right to visit you in the hospital.
[00:17:49] Excluding same sex couples for marriage thus conflicts with a central premise of the right to marry inflicting stigma uncertainty and humiliation on the children of same sex couples through no fault of their own.
Nick Capodice [00:18:00] This is Justice Anthony Kennedy reading the Supreme Court decision from Obergefell v Hodges in 2015, a narrow 5 to 4 decision which altered federal law and it required all states provide a license and legally recognize same sex marriages. Because we haven't talked about the most important way the government interacts with you when it comes to marriage, when it decides who can marry whom. That's coming up after the break.
Nick Capodice [00:18:28] To understand the history of who can get married in the U.S. I spoke with Kori Graves.
Kori Graves [00:18:33] My name is Kori Graves and I'm a Professor of History at the University at Albany, part of the SUNY system. I teach courses on marriage and family women gender and race.
Nick Capodice [00:18:45] And she explained it through the lens of three laws that were passed in Virginia.
Kori Graves [00:18:49] Because when we think about the limitations on marriage it reaches back to the earliest days of the colony in Virginia. If we look at sort of this question of Virginia and the history, Pocahontas and John Rolfe represents one of the first of what we could consider an interracial marriage.
Nick Capodice [00:19:07] Just to jump in here if you're like me and relied heavily upon the song 'fever', or if you relied upon the Disney movie for this history, Pocahontas didn't marry John Smith. She married John Rolfe. And there is evidence that she'd been married before John Rolfe, had a child, and was kidnapped from her tribe to form the alliance with Rolfe.
Kori Graves [00:19:26] That particular marriage was celebrated because it represented a kind of old alliance Old World Alliance and also the alliances that we think about in New World contexts too. But rather quickly in the colony. Individuals started to transform how they thought about that relationship because of ideas about superiority inferiority and the status of women. So she and John Rolfe married in sixteen fourteen. They had a son they traveled to England and 16 16 and she dies on the way home.
Nick Capodice [00:20:01] And at that time Virginia starts to pass laws that specifically forbid not just interracial marriage but interracial sex.
Kori Graves [00:20:07] So that begins in 1630 we see the governor ordering the whipping of a white man for interracial sex. He defiled his body with a Negro. We start to see that so as early as the 16, the mid 1600s you see that while there was a promise in the Pocahontas John Rolfe relationship of individuals imagining that you could cross certain borders, that, that begins to quickly erode.
Nick Capodice [00:20:38] One especially problematic part of the relationship was their difference in status. The British didn't see the Algonquin as equal and there was some thought that marriage could be used to help Native people be more like white Europeans.
Kori Graves [00:20:50] So it's not that this marriage represented a kind of equal footing in any way. In fact she was considered, because she was female, she would have lost her status that, the status that she had as a favored daughter in the tribe who had power and a matrilineal society. She would have lost that by becoming the wife of a British subject who understood patriarchy as the appropriate order for society and for family. So that relationship is not...it's problematic but it also represents the first. Throughout the 1600s, 1700s, 1800s you get the elaboration of laws defining who could marry whom and these laws are always about creating a boundary between First the British colonist and later Anglos, American Anglos. That said they can only marry Anglos. So in terms of who could marry whom when we think about it as a way of creating a kind of white supremacy, and I use that word deliberately because by the time we get to the 20th century and one of the most restrictive laws about both marriage and immigration it is it is about the law itself is about preserving white supremacy.
Nick Capodice [00:22:14] In 1924 the United States passes the Johnson Reed act which is all about restrict immigration using race based quotas which by the way is not lifted until 1965. And this is why we have enormous immigration from Italy and Eastern Europe until 1924 and then it just stops. And Kori told me about another 1924 law passed, again, In Virginia.
Kori Graves [00:22:35] The state legislature passed what was called an act to preserve racial integrity. And what this law did was it prohibited any white person from marrying anyone who was not white. It also said that any interracial marriage that took place outside of Virginia, Virginia wouldn't recognize. So you couldn't go outside of the state boundaries come back and say hey we're legally married and this marriage is recognized across these borders because marriage is each state gets to define its marriage laws. So that's the law that was in place and it was again a product of centuries of defining and actually limiting who could marry whom.
Hannah McCarthy [00:23:22] How did they actually go about enforcing this? With paperwork?
Kori Graves [00:23:25] So this law specifically required things like birth certificates that you could prove who you were. It looked at things like blood quantum. But it also has a very curious exception. It was called the Pocahontas exception. And it said that a person who could claim one sixteenth or less Native American heritage could still marry a white person.
Hannah McCarthy [00:23:50] Why on earth would they create that super specific specification.
Nick Capodice [00:23:54] We're still in Virginia and this goes back to the John Rolfe Pocahontas marriage. Lots of wealthy elite first family Virginians proudly claimed descendancy from the Pocahontas John Rolph marriage and they didn't want to have to jeopardize their status. This racial integrity Act is law in Virginia until one of the most famous marriage Supreme Court cases in our history.
[00:24:19] That there is much more deference here that there is actually one simple issue. The issue is may a state proscribe a marriage between two adult consenting individuals because of their race. And this would take in much more...
Kori Graves [00:24:32] I always think. What more fitting name than Loving. That's his real last name, is loving.
Nick Capodice [00:24:43] 1958 Richard and Mildred Loving got married in Washington D.C. because they couldn't marry in Virginia because he was white. She was an African-American. And they returned home.
[00:24:56] It was about 2am, and I saw this light you know and I woke up and there was the policeman standing beside the bed. And he told us to get up and that we were under arrest. And they told us to leave the state for 25 years.
Hannah McCarthy [00:25:10] They have to leave for 25 years. They'd have to completely dismantle their life.
Nick Capodice [00:25:15] And they did. For their marriage. They left their jobs their home their family and they moved to D.C. and they were arrested when they just came back to visit their hometown.
Kori Graves [00:25:25] And this case would actually make its way through the Virginia State Supreme Court to the U.S. Supreme Court and it would be Loving v. Virginia that would establish the right to marriage as a protected civil right. Chief Justice Warren would offer the argument that marriage was, and this is a quote, one of the basic civil rights of man. And the end here is is added to deny this fundamental freedom on so unsupportable a basis as the racial classifications embodied in the Virginia racial integrity clause is surely to deprive all the state's citizens of liberty without due process of law.
Nick Capodice [00:26:09] This was a unanimous decision by the way in 1967 but it still meant that each state had to change their laws so Virginia did in1968. West Virginia Florida Oklahoma and Missouri in 1969 North Carolina in 1970 Georgia Louisiana and Mississippi in 1972 Delaware and Kentucky in 1974. Tennessee in 1978 South Carolina in 1998 and Alabama in 2000.
Hannah McCarthy [00:26:43] This is like what we continue to hear about officials refusing to grant licenses to same sex couples. As we speak. Even though the decision came down years ago that same sex couples can marry.
Nick Capodice [00:26:57] Right and the Loving decision was cited in that case Obergefell v. Hodges and it's not just officials it's politicians who are proposing bills.
[00:27:05] Specifically a bill that was just filed in the Tennessee legislature, the Tennessee natural marriage Defense Act and this would define a natural marriage as between a man and a woman of course we know there's going to be lots of strong opinions on this...
Nick Capodice [00:27:25] Last thing we should talk about for the end is the end. When a marriage just doesn't work. The 2019 divorce rate in the United States is about 39 percent.
Hannah McCarthy [00:27:36] Okay. When did divorce start to become a common thing in America.
Nick Capodice [00:27:40] Stephanie Coontz told me about that.
Stephanie Coontz [00:27:42] With the development of the love match and this was one of the tremendous complaints that defenders of the real traditional marriage of political and economic convenience had against the love match. They said, look, if you say marriage is about love people are going to demand the right to divorce. If marriage ceases to be about love and that has been a steady steady increase in demands. They began to liberalize a little divorce right fairly early in the colonies that happened more after the American Revolution but still our laws right up until 1970 were based on fault based divorce that you had to show that the other party was at fault.
Nick Capodice [00:28:24] And if you're wondering what can justify a fault divorce the most common grounds are adultery, abandonment, prison confinement, one spouse is physically unable to have sexual intercourse, or one spouse has inflicted emotional or physical pain on the other.
Stephanie Coontz [00:28:41] And many people romanticize this, they think oh marriage was more stable under fault-based divorce but fault based divorce was really weird. You had to come to the court...it was, this is the way the courts put it, with clean hands if you wanted a divorce. In other words if you came in and couldn't prove that you had done nothing to contribute to the complaints of which you you were wanting for which you were wanting the divorce you couldn't get a divorce. There was a divorce in the 1930s in the state next to mine, Oregon Mauer versus Mauer. The court found that the family lived in terror of the man's you know terrible temper and temper tantrums but they found that the wife had thrown pots at the man a couple times. So therefore since neither party came to court with clean hands neither of them could have a divorce.
Nick Capodice [00:29:33] In 2010 New York State became the 15th state to allow for no fault divorces. So now you can get one all over the country. One or both of the spouses has to claim that the marriage is "irretrievably broken" or you have irreconcilable differences.
Hannah McCarthy [00:29:51] But still in California and you told me you got to wait six months before you can get divorced.
Nick Capodice [00:29:58] Sure do. And in Virginia you have to live apart from your spouse for a year uninterrupted or if you have kids six months. Seventeen states require divorcing parents attend a divorced parent education class.
Hannah McCarthy [00:30:09] All of that statutory red tape aside I do feel like we have come a long way since the Mesopotamians.
Nick Capodice [00:30:17] Wwe have and so much of it is so recent. Stephanie Coontz told me that for thousands of years the institution of marriage is relatively unchanged. But when we start with the love match moving through the 19th 20th century, especially the last 40 years, the benefits of being married are covered in other places.
Stephanie Coontz [00:30:36] Americans no longer feel that marriage is essential to have a successful life. Back in 1950, 85 percent of Americans said that it was immoral or deviant or psychotic to want to be single not to be married. And there were all sorts of social and legal sorts of discrimination that occurred if you were not married. Nowadays people accept that you can have a good successful single life but marriage is not central. But at the same time as we have stopped valuing marriage so much as a mandatory institution we have actually increased our expectations of it as a good qualitative relationship. And the paradox is that we expect more of marriage when we're married and we do marriage better, most of us when we're married than people of the past. There's less domestic violence, there's more equality there's more sharing there's more intimacy, but people aren't willing to enter or stay in a marriage that doesn't live up to that. And so people are postponing marriage.
Hannah McCarthy [00:31:43] It's almost like she's saying we're more likely to marry for love and like a really solid well-established love because otherwise women and LGBTQ people have actual codified rights now. And so like I can get a credit card, I can own property, I can adopt a child by myself if I want to. I don't have to marry a man to live out certain important steps of life.
[00:32:13] So now are a little hypothetical American has been born, educated, worked, married, divorced and after all that stuff isn't it time that this American had a break, Hannah.
[00:32:27] I think it is but that's next time on Civics 101.
[00:32:43] That'll just about do it for today. This episode was produced by me Nick Capodice with you Hannah McCarthy. Our staff includes Jacqui Helbert Ben Henry Daniela Vidal Ali and Erika Janik is our executive producer and killer of Darlings. Maureen MacMurray and her husband Danny totally go boing.
[00:32:58] Music In this episode is by Broke for Free. Chris Zabriske Kilo Kaz, Lee Rosevere Scott Gratton, Spazz Cardigane and this year is time.
[00:33:07] I love me some time. Carl if you like Johnny is Kovac gonna hop out any minute and push me off my bike.
[00:33:11] Seventy one is supported in part by the C P B and is a production of N H PR New Hampshire Public Radio and it is supported in part by you gentle listener.
[00:33:21] Thank you so much to those of you who given already. If you haven't got a civics one to one podcast dot org. Check out the kind of swag we have on offer and thank you so much.
Life Stages: Work
The modern day workplace is the product of a centuries-long battle for fair wages, reasonable hours and safe conditions. Today's episode tells the story of the labor in the United States -- from slavery and indentured servitude to the Equal Pay Act and the weekend. What did Americans workers have to go through to make their voices heard, and how did they change labor in America?
Our guests include Priscilla Murolo, Philip Yale Nicholson and Camille Hebert.
Subscribe to Civics 101 here!
Please note: this transcript may contain discrepancies.
Civics 101 Life Stages: Work
Hannah McCarthy [00:00:00] Civics 101 is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Nick Capodice [00:00:08] Hey Everyone.
[00:00:09] This is Nick.
Hannah McCarthy [00:00:09] And this is Hannah McCarthy. We have a kind of exciting announcement for everyone. Those of you who may remember a year ago when we asked for support to keep the podcast up and running we did it to appeal to the goodness of your heart.
Hannah McCarthy [00:00:21] This time around we want to give you a little something that we want to say thank you. Materially.
Nick Capodice [00:00:27] We got magnets. We've got stickers.
[00:00:29] We got water bottles. We got totes and we have an adorable Civics 10-Onesie for a 6 month old baby that says future voter on the back.
Hannah McCarthy [00:00:36] It's the cutest thing in the world.
[00:00:37] But the one we wanted to talk about today is the Civics 101 tote bag.
Hannah McCarthy [00:00:40] That's right.
Nick Capodice [00:00:41] Hannah you like totes right.
Hannah McCarthy [00:00:43] I don't I don't just like totes totes or part of my identity.
Nick Capodice [00:00:48] I don't have any tote bags. I mean I'm not a tote scholar like you. What is this that you've sort of slung on the table.
Hannah McCarthy [00:00:55] What have I. What have I brought to us?
Nick Capodice [00:00:56] What hath Hannah wrought?
Hannah McCarthy [00:00:57] I have brought in at least a dozen totes here stuffed into one of my favorite totes the WNYC bag.
Nick Capodice [00:01:05] Classic tote.
Hannah McCarthy [00:01:05] But I guess hell you think you know none of these totes are quite right. You know none of these are quite Goldilocks' is perfect bed. I mean let's take this for example.
Nick Capodice [00:01:16] What does that horror.
[00:01:18] Oh god is that NHPR.
Hannah McCarthy [00:01:20] This is an NHPR tote. We've since changed to a canvas. This is not a canvas tote. This is some kind of vinyl.
Hannah McCarthy [00:01:28] Okay. All right so here is a nice canvas tote right. We like the canvas. This tote is actually the same size as our tote and it's a perfect size I can carry everything in this thing. My only quip is that the handles are just a little too short.
Nick Capodice [00:01:42] How short are those handles.
Hannah McCarthy [00:01:44] I think these are twenty four inches.
Nick Capodice [00:01:45] Okay. Our tote is the same size 15 by 15 and a half inches and the handles are 26 inches.
Hannah McCarthy [00:01:50] So that's that's a dream come true.
Nick Capodice [00:01:52] It's a huge difference.
Nick Capodice [00:01:54] All of your natural canvas white totes are pretty hideous.
Hannah McCarthy [00:01:58] They are pretty... well --
Nick Capodice [00:02:00] They're stained,.
Hannah McCarthy [00:02:01] They're loved.
Nick Capodice [00:02:01] Okay.
Hannah McCarthy [00:02:02] But yes they're stained they're quite stained.
Nick Capodice [00:02:04] So the Civic's went to one toad is black with the logo in yellow and white on top of it. It's a very striking very professional design. There's a ton more besides the tote that you can see if you go to Civics 101 podcast dot org. Have a look at the different gifts we have on offer for a mere five dollars a month as a sustainer for Civics 101, you get this beautiful tote.
Hannah McCarthy [00:02:25] Go to Civics 101 podcast dot org to check it all out and thank you in advance for your kind contribution.
Nick Capodice [00:02:32] On to the episode.
Hannah McCarthy [00:02:40] Nick can you believe that we're at work right now.
Nick Capodice [00:02:42] Yes. That is where we work.
Hannah McCarthy [00:02:44] But I mean our job is to learn stuff and then tell other people what we've learned.
Nick Capodice [00:02:50] Yeah I see what you're getting then we got a bit of a dream job here.
Hannah McCarthy [00:02:53] We got a bit of a dream job. Also the hours are reasonable.
Nick Capodice [00:02:56] True.
Hannah McCarthy [00:02:57] We aren't locked into the building.
Nick Capodice [00:02:58] Also true.
Hannah McCarthy [00:03:00] The air is breathable.
Hannah McCarthy [00:03:02] Nobody physically threatens us.
Nick Capodice [00:03:05] Hold on.
[00:03:05] Not that I'm not grateful and all but can I just say of course we're not Lowell mill girls in nineteen hundred. We're Republic radio hosts in 2019.
Hannah McCarthy [00:03:15] That's a good point. But you know we didn't get here by accident. People had to ask for better conditions demand better conditions our jobs look the way they do because of hundreds of years of protests strikes rallies negotiations and legislation.
Nick Capodice [00:03:31] So it all started back in the 20th century.
Hannah McCarthy [00:03:34] Actually we get to go back even further than that way back. The story of work in the United States begins before we were the United States and my work in the United States by the way is cohosting Civics 101. I'm Hannah McCarthy.
Nick Capodice [00:03:48] And I'm Nick Capodice. And to understand the way that work works in this country.
[00:03:58] It helps to understand where we came from in order to get to ergonomic office chairs and lunch breaks and safety measures and a living wage.
[00:04:11] We had to pass through grueling hours child labor factory fires and futile strikes. Through unpaid labor servitude and abuse through the enslavement of millions of people in the name of capitalism.
Priscilla Murolo [00:04:34] Well.
[00:04:34] The vast majority of working people in the colonies were bound laborers in some way.
Hannah McCarthy [00:04:42] This is Priscilla Murollo. She's a history professor at Sarah Lawrence and co-author of From the Folks who Bought you the Weekend.
Priscilla Murolo [00:04:49] They might be apprentices who were legally bound to work for their master craftsman. They might be indentured servants who were bound for a period of years or they might be enslaved. But they were bound to in some way wage work as we know it. Selling your labor and having the right to quit an intolerable job was quite rare.
Hannah McCarthy [00:05:14] When Priscilla says bound laborers. She is talking about people who cannot quit. Some were obligated to work for say a master craftsmen for a period of time so that would be an apprentice working in exchange for learning a craft. Others were indentured servants working to pay off a debt like passage to America. Those were almost without exception white people and then there were those who are obligated to work because they were enslaved and owned by another person. Those were almost without exception people of color. Work was a very different thing for most people in colonial America than it is today.
Priscilla Murolo [00:05:52] The settlers of that colony preferred indentured labor to enslaved labor because it was more expensive to buy in and enslaved workers than it was to buy and intentioned workers someone enslaved only for a short period of time and chances were that the Labor was only going to live a few years anyway because the work was very hard and the swamps carried a lot of fever.
Hannah McCarthy [00:06:20] But it wasn't just hard risky work that went into being an indentured servant. These positions were oppressive and bound by contract indentured servants were forbidden to quit. They needed permission from their master to get married. They were sometimes beaten.
[00:06:36] But if they lived long enough they would eventually work off that debt.
Nick Capodice [00:06:43] Right. And their conditions were I imagine were nowhere near as bad as enslaved people.
Hannah McCarthy [00:06:48] Right. That's a good point. We're going to be talking about a perception of some common experience here but enslaved people were bound for life. They were often shackled whipped. Mutilated. Sexually assaulted and sometimes murdered. In many states they were forbidden from being educated. And in all cases actively deprived of personal identity and a sense of humanity. Indentured Servants. By contrast did live under harsh and restricted conditions but they had some rights. The commonality here is being bossed under oppressive conditions of some kind.
Priscilla Murolo [00:07:32] People resist being bussed in all kinds of ways sometimes just passively and sometimes through confrontation. But they have historically resisted it and this is the heart in many respects of the labor movement.
[00:07:48] That and the notion of solidarity.
Hannah McCarthy [00:07:52] Solidarity standing together against a common enemy even though indentured servants were by no means in the same camp as enslaved people.
[00:08:01] Both groups lived under the thumb of the ruling class.
Priscilla Murolo [00:08:04] Especially after a big rebellion in Virginia in 16 76.
[00:08:10] A hundred years before the American Revolution the rebellion called Bacon's Rebellion. This was a big uprising of indentured servants and slaves together.
Hannah McCarthy [00:08:20] This Bacon guy he considered all indigenous peoples to be the enemy of the colonists. He wanted to attack both friendly and defensive tribes and the governor of Virginia was just not having it. So Bacon rallied support.
[00:08:35] He promised freedom to all servants and enslaved people who would join his cause indentured servants united with enslaved people in a common cause. All sharing the bond of bound servitude and this was alarming for the elites.
Priscilla Murolo [00:08:57] The fathers of Virginia the ruling fathers of Virginia thought when had to find a way to divide these two groups and one of the things that they did was to get more generous in the good conditions of bounds laborers to begin to segregate in the law.
Nick Capodice [00:09:16] So the people in charge see the possibility of a unified oppressed class and they're like No way gonna nip this in the bud right.
Hannah McCarthy [00:09:24] Right. They crafted this stark division between races by providing indentured servants and non land owning white males with more rights and power and they passed laws that made relationships between those indentured servants and enslaved people untenable.
Priscilla Murolo [00:09:41] For example if you ran away.
[00:09:44] From slavery or you ran away from an intense shirt you would be punished under the law. But if you ran away together a slave and an indentured servant together they would be punished more severely.
Hannah McCarthy [00:09:56] So now you've got this perception of enslaved people at the bottom of the work ladder and indentured servants are rung above. And Virginia lawmakers also start to lean into language around African descent in 16 22. They codified the idea that slavery is hereditary and lifelong and that basically anyone of color brought into the country as a servant should be considered a slave.
Nick Capodice [00:10:22] So now just just the shade of your skin can mean that you're going to be enslaved or associated with slavery.
Hannah McCarthy [00:10:29] Right. And on top of that they've given white people some rights and power regardless of their status. And that intensifies this us versus them dichotomy and the white US stretches across economic classes for example by the mid 1400's you no longer need to own property to vote. The political parties are still run by elites but those elites now want to woo working whites.
Priscilla Murolo [00:10:55] They want those votes. They want that support to say we have something in common because we are white. I may be a plantation owner and you may be scratching along as a shoemaker but we're both white so we have something in common.
Hannah McCarthy [00:11:16] We'll come back to Priscilla in a moment but I want to introduce another person here.
Phillip Nicholson [00:11:20] I am Philip Nicholson. I'm Professor Emeritus retired from Nassau Community College after 46 years. I guess you could call me Phil but I mean you can introduce me as the author of a book I guess that you came across that seemed to be provocative enough for you to invite me to talk to you about the issues that you're going to bring forward today.
Hannah McCarthy [00:11:44] That book is Labor's story in the United States. And Phil starts that story in the same place Priscilla does with slavery.
Phillip Nicholson [00:11:53] Slave labor that is labor without any rights whatsoever.
[00:11:57] No human rights no civil legal rights no liberties that is rights under the law whatsoever. And that was the preferred and dominant system and when the revolutionary era unleashed calls for Liberty Give me liberty or give me death it awakened the rest of the population including women and some slaves and the formation of antislavery societies start in that period of the revolutionary era and the concept of liberty itself. That is the attainment of rights under the law.
Hannah McCarthy [00:12:31] This idea of liberty catches on in a way that perhaps the elites the orchestrators of the Revolutionary War had not intended employees and enslaved people see the possibility of control over their own lives and their own destiny and that includes control over their work experience in addition to growing abolitionist sentiment.
[00:12:54] There was growing unrest among workers.
Phillip Nicholson [00:12:57] When they first sought to organize if they if you could call it that they didn't even call them unions then.
Nick Capodice [00:13:03] Unions.
Hannah McCarthy [00:13:04] Unions.
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union [00:13:09] "Look for the Union Label".
Hannah McCarthy [00:13:14] Kind of a union more specifically labor union or a trade union is an organization of workers dedicated to protecting themselves and others in their same field whether it's about wages or hours or working conditions. Most collect dues to keep their activities up and they negotiate with employers they lobby Congress. But the first people who tried to do something like this got into big trouble.
Phillip Nicholson [00:13:39] They were found guilty of engaging in a conspiracy to raise their wages.
Hannah McCarthy [00:13:48] The "they" Phil is talking about is the Federal Society of journeymen Cordswainers of Philadelphia. They were shoemakers employed by master craftsmen and they worked crazy hours to meet the footwear demands of the states but they didn't make very much money. So they organized into this society and demanded more pay for as a judge saw it. They committed conspiracy.
Phillip Nicholson [00:14:10] That's actually from the original 1906 indictment a conspiracy an illegal conspiracy to raise wages and they lost that case and they began in various towns and cities to fight through the local state or city courts and legislative bodies to win the right to associate with one another and they were not successful for the first 25 or 30 years in winning those battles.
Hannah McCarthy [00:14:36] The problem wasn't just that they got low pay.
[00:14:39] It was that the court was essentially saying it's illegal to organize and ask for more from your employers. But that didn't stop all kinds of workers from trying. Here's Priscilla again.
Priscilla Murolo [00:14:50] The first political parties to raise that issue appeared in the late 1920s they were known as the working men's parties that are mostly in the northeast and they had a much more expansive vision of us and them. They thought of themselves as speaking for working men and women usually white working men and women but not necessarily only white working men and women. And they thought of the other as their enemies as the the rich the elite.
Hannah McCarthy [00:15:27] The working class pitting itself against the elite.
[00:15:31] It's something that we've come close to before which is why legislators passed those racist laws that pretty much cemented the fate of people of color in the United States and kept organizing a cross working groups at bay. But this sense of commonality between poor working whites and wealthy elites started to shift with the dawn of the industrial revolution. We went from smaller scale operations and a lot of agriculture work to factories everywhere and with them came terrible working conditions grueling hours and workplace injury.
Priscilla Murolo [00:16:08] There was considerable support for the abolition of slavery among mill workers and Newling England. And it's not too hard to explain because they worked under terrible conditions in cotton mills processing cotton that was cultivate and under terrible conditions by slaves and they often identified with those other workers in the production process and formed antislavery associations that would be based in a factory or based in a union such as the Knights of St. Chrispin which represented shoe workers.
Hannah McCarthy [00:16:49] There was antislavery sentiment among workers. But it's important to note that some of that sentiment came from self-interest rather than empathy. The whole country was propped up on two co-dependent industries. You had planting and manufacturing cotton and mills in the north. Industrial capitalists exploited their workforce and in the South plantation owners exploited theirs. And while having a common enemy does not mean that white Americans saw enslaved or free people of color as being equal to them. Same goes with men and women across these groups. It was at least agreed that the expansion of slavery needed to be curbed so there were protests and strikes against the industry.
Nick Capodice [00:17:33] But after slavery is finally struck down you've got this massive population of freed people who need to work and they live in a part of the country that has been hostile to the very idea that they should be anything other than property. Does the sentiment of fair wages and better working conditions suddenly extend to these newly free people.
Priscilla Murolo [00:17:51] Certainly workers hope there would be prayed there would be demanded changes. Organized workers right after the Civil War are said. Now we have defeated slavery. Now we have defeated the most anti labor reactionary system we could imagine and we now hope to use this as a basis for remaking the whole society. Extend freedom to everyone and maximize everyone's freedom. But that is not what came to pass as we know.
Hannah McCarthy [00:18:26] What did come to pass is that Southern legislators severely limited all kinds of freedom for freed people including freedoms having to do with Labor after Reconstruction in the state of Mississippi.
Priscilla Murolo [00:18:38] It was a criminal offense. It could go to prison for breaking a labor contract and you were expected to sign up for a labor contract for should run for an entire year. So you would wind up a sharecropper working for the same. Family that hed own to you when you were enslaved and you under the state law you had to sign up to work for a year and if you left if you thought well I could do better by you I'm going to move from Mississippi to Chicago. That was illegal.
Hannah McCarthy [00:19:16] It was also a crime to not have a job. Many freed people ended up as tenant farmers or sharecroppers and accrued debt that lasted through generations.
[00:19:27] Which meant they were something akin to indentured servants to the families that had once owned them.
Nick Capodice [00:19:33] So this is a real catch 22 right. You're not allowed to quit your job to go look for another job. But you can't also not have a job right.
[00:19:45] Did those farmers ever attempt to unionize.
Hannah McCarthy [00:19:48] Yes the Alabama sharecroppers union came around in 1931. It was open to all races but membership was solely African-American. They staged huge strikes against landowners for fair wages and more rights. And they succeeded sometimes. But there were also violent clashes and more failures than successes.
Nick Capodice [00:20:08] So what I'm hearing is that more failures than successes is kind of the theme of the labor movement so far. But I look at my job today and I know over time things improve because of that movement. How do we get to this point.
Phillip Nicholson [00:20:21] The biggest strikes the biggest struggles in what is called after the Civil War a kind of heroic age of labor as one of their heroes a woman who I came to admire Mary Harris Mother Jones once said Those were the years of the martyrs and the saints the decades after the Civil War when the biggest battles and there were national strikes and walkouts and even almost a national general strike and the upheavals of 1877 when workers in huge very impersonal very dangerous industries mining coal minerals hard rock mining out west and the Rocky Mountains and of course in steel in various ways engaged in some of the biggest labor battles in all of American history.
Nick Capodice [00:21:14] So the labor unions kicking but all across the USA.
Hannah McCarthy [00:21:18] Well they never quite kick butt or if they do it's through a thousand tiny largely ineffectual kick's because they often do not get what they want but the noise that unions make that does make a difference. As the decades wear on meetings and protests turned violent people are killed in the name of better conditions. Buildings are burned. Machinery is destroyed and strikes were massively disruptive to industry. So legislators start to listen. Yeah we're actually going to speed ahead in time now because this is when things really start to pick up. Working conditions spark social movements like the child labor movement and the black freedom movement after the Great Depression under President Roosevelt's New Deal America. The Fair Labor Standards Act was signed in 1938. This puts an end to oppressive child labor standards. It brings us the minimum wage and overtime pay and the 40 hour work week.
Nick Capodice [00:22:18] And the weekend.
Hannah McCarthy [00:22:19] The hallowed weekend. In 1964 we get antidiscrimination laws and a right to equal pay.
[00:22:26] In 1970 we get a right to health and safety in the workplace. And it's a constant battle of worker versus industry with social and labor movements working in tandem to have their needs and wants met workers just don't shut up and it makes a difference. But what exactly did we get out of all of those decades of strife. What did all of the changes in the American workplace actually provide to the American worker. That's coming up after the break.
[00:23:00] "Which Side Are You On?"
Hannah McCarthy [00:23:39] Welcome back to Civics 101.
[00:23:41] Let's get to work.
[00:23:46] Work in the U.S. has come to be defined by the victories of the labor movement and for the record that history is rich and varied and complicated. And we have had to skip over most of it to get to today. But you should know that most unions in the country today are under either the AFL CIO that's the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations or the change to win federation. Now what does work in America look like today.
Camille Hebert [00:24:15] Yeah sure. So my name is Camille Hebert. I'm a professor of law at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.
Hannah McCarthy [00:24:22] Camille teaches labor employment discrimination and employee benefits law. I asked her to run me through the ins and outs of protections rights and limits in the world of employment. And it turns out that the federal government has established a lot of rules and regulations for the workforce.
Nick Capodice [00:24:40] So let's say I don't even have a job yet.
[00:24:42] Am I protected even during the interview process for a job?
Camille Hebert [00:24:45] So yes the federal prohibition against discrimination which is generally race sex religion national origin age disability apply both of being employed stage and applying antidiscrimination is in a lot of state laws as well but it was the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that served as the hallmark. It's unlawful to refuse to hire someone because of a particularly protected category. It would also be unlawful to engage in sexual harassment at a job interview and I kind of laugh thinking Well that wouldn't happen but I've actually read cases where it did where there was actually harassment.
Hannah McCarthy [00:25:24] Yeah. A major theme of my conversation with Camille was my being disappointed that this stuff still happens in the workplace or anywhere for that matter. That's why we have these laws. That's why I'm telling you about them. So let's say you have a disability. What does that mean for you in the job interview process?
Camille Hebert [00:25:44] Particularly for disability.
[00:25:46] You have to show that you are a qualified individual a disability which essentially means you can perform the job the essential functions of the job either without any help or with accommodation with reasonable accommodation.
Nick Capodice [00:26:02] All right. So what happens if I suspect that I wasn't hired because of discrimination of the employer do I sue.
Hannah McCarthy [00:26:08] You can try and if you do prove it. If you're right if you win.
Camille Hebert [00:26:12] Courts will often order employers to hire. So you have to prove generally intent to discriminate on the part of the employer. Sometimes with a disability law it's a little easier sometimes to prove that because employers generally can't ask about disability at least nonobvious disability until after they've made an offer.
Hannah McCarthy [00:26:41] Now let's say you got the job. It's an office gig you're going to be in charge of answering the phone and you're talking wages with your new boss and your boss says look I'm going to pay you four dollars 50 cents an hour, capisce?
Camille Hebert [00:26:55] I mean you you have to be paid at least the minimum wage. And so if an employer says no or only hire you if you work below the minimum wage and you say no I won't do it then you can sue. You can sue for a violation that's the fair labor standards act is what does the minimum wage.
Nick Capodice [00:27:13] So the minimum wage in America is 725 right now right.
Hannah McCarthy [00:27:16] Yes.
Nick Capodice [00:27:16] And some of these can go higher. But no states can go lower than that.
Hannah McCarthy [00:27:19] Exactly. I also know that even though we have that law. If I'm a waiter or a bartender I will not get that minimum.
Camille Hebert [00:27:26] So there's a couple of exceptions for tipped employees can get a smaller minimum wage it's like two dollars and 14 cents. Really low as long as the tips make up the difference between that and the minimum wage.
Nick Capodice [00:27:42] So someone gets hired in this cushy phone answering job. What happens if you start the job and then they hire this guy Bob to answer phones with you. Bob is getting paid more than you. Is that somehow all right.
Camille Hebert [00:27:55] So there is a federal statute that prohibits men and went pay in men and women different wages for the same job it's called the Equal Pay Act. 1963 it was enacted but it requires you literally to show that it is the same job not worth the same but the same job.
Hannah McCarthy [00:28:17] Let's say that it's a woman who is hired for this phone answering job. And Bob gets hired and FAAB happens to be a man. If Bob is getting paid more than me and we're working the exact same job like same hours same amount of responsibility same effort same output then that woman might have a case she would have that case under the Equal Pay Act.
Camille Hebert [00:28:42] Right.
[00:28:43] Equal pay act only applies to sex. So if you're going to sue for race or any other category you have to do it under Title 7 or the age act.
Nick Capodice [00:28:53] Title 7 of what?
Hannah McCarthy [00:28:54] That'd be Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act. So if you're a person of color being paid less for the same job as a white co-worker you can sue according to discrimination on the basis of race. The Age Act of 1975 works in a similar way.
Nick Capodice [00:29:09] What about other workplace protections. I'm thinking about these places that have terrible conditions terrible bosses throughout history. No no wages were behind a lot of strikes and a lot of organizing. But the workplace was too right.
Hannah McCarthy [00:29:24] Oh yeah big time.
Camille Hebert [00:29:25] So harassment is covered on the same grounds as any other discrimination. So sex religion race national origin disability age.
[00:29:37] Most people hear about sexual harassment and that's what they think of and they think of it as something sexual which of course sexual harassment does generally require sexual conduct but harassment can also just be creating a hostile environment.
Hannah McCarthy [00:29:52] Things like yelling at your employees denigrating someone in the workplace making fun of someone for their religious beliefs. Harassment violates a lot of laws. It's covered in the Civil Rights Act the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act. There is a catch though harassment has to be either severe or pervasive or both.
Nick Capodice [00:30:17] So I have to be like either superduper harassed or harassed for months or years. What if someone's just making me feel bad.
Hannah McCarthy [00:30:25] Well that's unlikely to be enough for a case. Also harassment doesn't often have an audience right. So how do you prove that you're being harassed. E-mails are good but what if you don't have them.
Camille Hebert [00:30:37] Yeah if you don't have proof it's no one person's word against the other. I actually really hate when I hear you know he said she said because it just really bothers me sort of that notion you know that if you don't have outside proof somehow your own word that it happened isn't sufficient. Right. I mean it can be. It's just really hard courts are reluctant to find employers liable if it's only the woman's word about what happened thought always a woman can be a man also.
Nick Capodice [00:31:17] I know that's the way law goes.
[00:31:19] In America you're innocent until proven guilty and the burden of proof is on the victim. But it seems almost impossible to prove you've been discriminated against or harassed.
Hannah McCarthy [00:31:28] Yeah I hear you. And sometimes these cases involve that power imbalance or fear of losing your means of income fear of being fired in retaliation for speaking up. And speaking of being fired you know many employees are considered something called at will. And that means that they can quit for any reason. But it also means that their employer can pretty much fire them for any reason or no reason. Employers can read anything you wrote on a work computer. They can monitor what websites they're accessing on your phone if you're using workplace Wi-Fi. They can listen in to any call in a work phone until it's obviously personal. They can't even ask you about that sick day you took last Friday.
Nick Capodice [00:32:09] All right so labor unions and social movements pushed and they pushed and they push for rights and protections. But it's not like they stripped employers of total control.
Hannah McCarthy [00:32:17] Right. Employers still have plenty of power and protection but I think the important thing is that these laws do deter employers from discriminating against or harassing employees and they give us stuff health insurance.
Camille Hebert [00:32:34] What I'm thinking of is the Affordable Care Act. You have to be certain employers have to provide health insurance to full time employees and those are employees who are more than 30 hours a week overtime. I think the biggest misconception is that salaried employees are not eligible for overtime. It's actually the opposite to be exempt from overtime. You have to be salaried for the most part. Child labor laws. So the Fair Labor Standards Act has minimum wage overtime and child labor provisions. So they're for children under the age of 18 or 16 depending on the occupation. There are limits on how many hours you can work. Usually it's you know outside of school and you know certain only a certain number of hours during the school year.
Hannah McCarthy [00:33:19] We also have to have our disability reasonably accommodated and our employers have to protect our health safety and welfare when we're at work. If we're fired and it wasn't our fault we get unemployment pay.
Nick Capodice [00:33:32] When you look at the whole trajectory of work it's kind of remarkable that we got here and it looks this way at all right in large part because workers fought for the right to even just come together. They demanded it and then they kept pushing.
Hannah McCarthy [00:33:47] And things are still changing. There are state laws that take a lot of these federal laws and run with them. Some states mandate paid family and paid sick leave and some raise their minimum wage and some ban employers from asking you what your former wage was in order to break a cycle of unfairly low salaries especially for women and people of color. My favorite part of the story of work in America is that workers found a way to improve the system that they found themselves in and make it work for them. We do have a right to try and make things better.
Nick Capodice [00:34:36] One thing about workers rights you didn't mention.
Hannah McCarthy [00:34:38] Oh what.
Nick Capodice [00:34:38] It is illegal for an employer to ask an employee about their marital status. Same goes for you have kids are you planning to have kids.
Hannah McCarthy [00:34:45] That's actually a good rule. Where'd you hear it.
Nick Capodice [00:34:48] I've been doing a lot of reading on marriage divorce relationships in general and there's a lot more there like a whole episode a lot. That's next time I'm Civics 101.
Hannah McCarthy [00:35:07] Civics 101 is produced by me. Hannah McCarthy with Nick Capodice. Our staff includes Jackie Helbert Ben Henry Daniela Vidal Allee and Erica Janikis our executive producer.
Nick Capodice [00:35:17] Maureen McMurry pours herself a cup of ambition each and every morning.
Hannah McCarthy [00:35:21] Music in this episode a Blue Dot Sessions, the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, Lobo Loco the Almanac Singers, South London Hi-Fi. Daniel Birch and Geographer.
Nick Capodice [00:35:31] There is lots more to see and learn on our website civics 101 podcast dot org. And while you're at it subscribe to our newsletter. That's where we put all the tangents and fascinating tidbits that can make in our episodes and it's awesome.
[00:35:43] If I do say so myself.
Hannah McCarthy [00:35:46] Civics 101 is a production of NHPR -- New Hampshire Public Radio.
Life Stages: School
As Adam Laats said, "when it comes to schools, the most important thing is who you are, and where you live."
In today's episode, we explore how K-12 education has developed in the US since the 1600s, what teachers can and can't teach, what rights students have in public school, and how the federal government gets involved.
Today's episode features Mary Beth Tinker, Dan Cassino, Kara Lamontagne, Adam Laats and Campbell Scribner.
Civics 101 is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Nick Capodice [00:00:07] Do you like middle school?
Hannah McCarthy [00:00:10] I loved middle school. That's why I really came into my own in theater. I did great in middle school. How about you, Nick?
Nick Capodice [00:00:18] This was so...this was like the apex of my mediocrity as a human. Like I had a tough time in middle school.
Hannah McCarthy [00:00:27] Mediocrity, what does that even mean.
Nick Capodice [00:00:30] I was just like this was like when I was the most awkward. Had no idea who I was or what I was doing.
Hannah McCarthy [00:00:37] But that's every human being on the face of the planet!
Nick Capodice [00:01:16] I'm Nick Capodice
Hannah McCarthy [00:01:17] And I'm Hannah McCarthy.
Nick Capodice [00:01:19] This is Civics 101, our Life Stages series. And today we're going to school. If I sounded a little pathetic there it's because Hannah and I weren't just visiting a random middle school, we were visiting my old school. Merrimack Valley Middle School. Which was a great school! I played logo. I watched all the president's men. But it had been 25 years and it smelled exactly the same and all that stuff just came flooding back.
Hannah McCarthy [00:01:43] I wonder can you just opt out. Do you even have to go to school.
Dan Cassino [00:01:49] No.
Hannah McCarthy [00:01:51] I know that no.
Nick Capodice [00:01:52] Yeah. That's Dan Cassino political science professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Dan Cassino [00:01:56] And this actually kind of weird. This is one of those ways in which America is exceptional, that we're different than other parts of the world. So if you were in France you wouldn't have a choice about whether or not your kid was going to public school. Everyone goes to school. You don't have a choice. If you want send your kid to church afterwards, great. Have a blast. But you have to send your kid to public school. Everyone has to get an education. In the United States, we've actually relaxed that. That was the law in most states up until the 1960s. What happened was the Amish.
SCOTUS archival [00:02:26] The Amish are in a fortunate position respecting the schooling which they conduct for children beyond the 8th grade. It is learning by doing. An ideal system.
Dan Cassino [00:02:36] The Amish do send their kids to school but they typically take their kids out of school around eighth grade. The state of Wisconsin started going to Amish families in fining them for truancy saying your kid is not showing up to school you're going to get a fine for truancy and your kid has to go to school whether you like it or not because everyone has to go to school. The Amish then sued, saying this was an infringement on their religious rights. Saying look we don't want our kids to learn about all the sinful stuff you learn in 10th grade I don't know. It's not really in the curriculum but there were, they didn't want the kids exposed to what was going on in high school.
SCOTUS archival [00:03:08] The lack in modern education of a clear connection between learning and doing is responsible for much of the student actions we have today.
Nick Capodice [00:03:17] This is from the argument in the Supreme Court case Wisconsin v. Yoder, the 1972 decision of which set the precedent that as long as you're receiving a "adequate education" you do not have to go to public school. This is what allows for private schools and home schooling in every state.
Hannah McCarthy [00:03:35] What is an adequate education?
Nick Capodice [00:03:38] Well each state decides what that word adequate means. Because when it comes to federal laws about schools it is slim pickings.
Campbell Scribner [00:03:47] So constitutionally of course the American Constitution does not mention education at all. There's no mention of schools in it.
Nick Capodice [00:03:54] This is Campbell Scribner. He's a professor at the College of Education at the University of Maryland.
Campbell Scribner [00:03:58] And therefore traditionally the sort of governing principle has been the 10th Amendment which is the amendment that basically says any rights or responsibilities not specifically mentioned in the Constitution revert to the states. And so education usually is conceived as a state responsibility.
Nick Capodice [00:04:16] Quick historical diversion here Hannah
Hannah McCarthy [00:04:18] Are you going to use the horse and carriage sound effect again.
Nick Capodice [00:04:22] I'm just one man Hannah.
Nick Capodice [00:04:27] Cast your mind back to the 20s. Andrew Jackson is elected president in 1829. And at that time in most states you didn't just have to be a white man to vote you had to be a white man who owned property. But the Jacksonians push for the "common man" to be part of our democracy. And by 1850 the landowning requirement is dropped nationally. So now there's this grave concern. Can we trust the common man to vote well if he isn't educated? And we have education advocates like Horace Mann who created the first public school system in Massachusetts that is a model for other New England states to copy. But it is radically different in different parts of the country.
Hannah McCarthy [00:05:06] So it sounds like the federal government had very little influence when it came to schools.
Nick Capodice [00:05:13] And it does today as well. Most of the decisions about what's taught and funding for schools all happens on a state and local level. Most funding for schools comes from property taxes. But there are a few ways the federal government gets involved.
Dan Cassino [00:05:26] It's like road laws. Every state can do whatever it wants with those roads and the federal government has nothing to do with that. But wait, you're saying. The federal government has lots to do with roads. They set the speed limit. They're doing all sorts of stuff with the roads. And the answer is yes. But they're not allowed to do it, they have to get the states to voluntarily agree to let the federal government come in and do that, and they do that by withholding funding. So in the 1980s if you wanted funding for your highways you had to reduce your speed limit and you had to increase your drinking age to 21. There are a couple of states that held out; do Arizona didn't increase the drinking age of 21 till later than everyone else. New Hampshire didn't either. But guess what, eventually they folded because they wanted that sweet sweet federal money. The same holds true for schools. The federal government can't actually tell the schools what to do. What it can do is tie school funding to certain programs and tell the states if you want this money you have to do X Y and Z.
Hannah McCarthy [00:06:19] What kind of programs is he talking about.
Nick Capodice [00:06:22] This is stuff like sex education and the federal government defines rules about what gets taught. And it changes under different administrations. So for example, programs that promoted abstinence only sex education got billions of dollars over the last 20 years and then starting in 08 that shifted to programs about preventing pregnancy and STIs.And this is how it works for things like federal funding for afterschool programs or even school lunch.
Dan Cassino [00:06:48] So the government says we're going to give you this money for school lunch, with the proviso that when you get this money you have to turn around and give free or reduced cost lunch to a lot of kids. Now how do we pass that through Congress? It turns out that the school lunch program is mostly a subsidy for American farmers. So when the price of crops gets too low farmers go out of business. So the Federal Government has price guarantees; the price gets too low, the federal government comes in and buys a bunch that crop. So what do they do with that crop? Well part of it gets shipped overseas. That's where food aid comes from. And the school lunch program we buy up all this extra corn and soybeans all these extra food products and we ship them off to schools so schools get all of that food for free as long as they agree to go ahead and give some of this food to kids for nothing.
Nick Capodice [00:07:33] All that said the federal government accounts for under 10 percent of funding for schools.
Hannah McCarthy [00:07:37] What about things like when kids have to go to school? You know like the start time, how many days a year, vacation all that stuff.
Nick Capodice [00:07:45] All right so school start time is chosen by your local school board and over the last 20 years there has been a concerted movement to get schools to start later in the day since young minds need sleep. But do you know why we have summer vacatio, Hannah?
Hannah McCarthy [00:07:57] I have always been told that it's because families needed help farming in the summer.
Nick Capodice [00:08:02] I was taught the same thing. But it turns out that is one of the Great Education Myths. Spring and fall are planting and harvest time respectively and the summer vacation starts due to wealthy families and cities in the late 1800's. Schools in the city were ruthlessly hot in these days before air conditioning, and well heeled families would book it to the country for a few months, leaving the poorest students to swelter in July and August. The summer vacation was created so everyone goes to school the same amount of time. Today in the U.S. there are about 4 percent of schools that do year-round schooling.
Hannah McCarthy [00:08:40] But speaking of kids helping out with the family farm. When did we start making kids go to school?
Adam Laats [00:08:48] Well say it once and then I'll try not to keep repeating it but for school stuff, the main question is who you are and where you lived.
Nick Capodice [00:08:57] This is Adam Laats. He is professor of education at SUNY Binghamton.
Adam Laats [00:09:01] You know so if you were a sort of affluent kid in the Northeast you went to school. And from fairly early on you know and in places like Massachusetts and Connecticut it's as soon as the English people land they establish pretty formal schools like Harvard for example, and then village schools where you know literacy was pretty common in terms of you know teaching kids formally to read, and then sending a few kids on to college although the college would be very different from what we would expect.
Hannah McCarthy [00:09:39] Is this exclusively men that Adam is referencing here?
Nick Capodice [00:09:44] I incorrectly assumed it was. I thought way more men went to school than women in early America.
Adam Laats [00:09:49] By and large girls in America have always gone to more school than boys. You'd think that because of the you know the unfair treatment of girls and women that they would be also deprived of school as they've been deprived of the vote you know in other other basic rights. But with school that's never been the case. Again I'm speaking population-wise, not specifics. And they've always done way better at school by every measure. Girls have always been measured better at school than boys. And that's true across ethnic groups so Latin-x African-American White Asian and every group girls have always done better and done more formal school than boys.
Campbell Scribner [00:10:34] But for the most part education was sort of dropped in and you dropped out.
Nick Capodice [00:10:37] This is Campbell Scribner again.
Campbell Scribner [00:10:39] You know there was not a K-12 system at all. There was no public funding. There was basically no oversight. And it was sort of that people would attend as long as they wanted and they would get the skills that they wanted. And then they would go off and work. And the virtue of that I guess was that people weren't compelled to do things that they didn't want to do, right? And so the students perhaps were a little bit more motivated in that sense. And for those of us who sort of felt like high school was a huge waste of four years of our lives, kids could actually get right into the workforce, right. There was no there was no compulsory attendance.
Nick Capodice [00:11:14] Massachusetts had mandatory attendance laws in 1850. But Campbell told me that nobody enforced those until the turn of the 20th century.
Campbell Scribner [00:11:21] Child labor of course became unpopular at the end of the 19th century and people wanted to get kids out of coal mines and out of factories because they were getting maimed. But really they lacked the ability to really enforce those laws until the first decades of the 20th century.
Nick Capodice [00:11:36] But during the Great Depression kids aren't working because there are so few jobs to go around. And that is when things start to shift.
Campbell Scribner [00:11:42] It's only by the 1930s that high school attendance becomes more or less universal. Until then you know up through the 19-teens only 10 percent of kids were even in high school and only 4 percent graduated. So for most of us we don't have to go back too far in our family history to find the first high school graduate.
Adam Laats [00:12:02] But when it comes to say everybody the other huge dividing line is your race and ethnicity. For African-Americans. Not only were they, if they were enslaved, not only were they not schooled before the Civil War and Emancipation but as you're probably aware starting in the 1740s there were more and more laws banning, forbidding by threat of legal punishment formal schooling for for African-Americans, for enslaved people.
Campbell Scribner [00:12:32] It's always been fraught frankly. And I'll include Native Americans in that in that same category although there are some differences. Basically since the beginning you've had racial progressives of various stripes, originally people who would want to sort of abolish slavery and then re colonize former slaves back to Africa that was seen as the progressive position up through the 1830s and eventually just straight up abolitionists who want to end slavery and have a multiracial society. But both of these groups do see education as sort of uplifting what they see as a benighted race in African-Americans and slaves. And the hope is that you could eventually again sort of make citizens. The problem is that even the best of these reformers were awfully, I mean in my language you can hear it, they were awfully paternalistic in how they approached it right. They did assume that there was sort of racial differences, most of them. And that African-Americans were either incapable of learning or at least delayed.
Nick Capodice [00:13:36] Which Campbell pointed out, we shouldn't even have to say it, is complete nonsense. But when African-Americans are finally given access to education it doesn't grant them the same benefits as it does to whites.
Campbell Scribner [00:13:50] You find all of these testimonies where they basically write into newspapers they speak it at meetings and they say it's a sham. I've done everything I'm supposed to do and white owners still won't hire me for a job. I still get disrespected. I still get disenfranchised. And so that sort of complaint which we hear echoes of it today. Of course it was there from the very beginning. And while schools have always sort of wrestled with inclusion or exclusion even in places where African-American kids were included and the possibility of schooling, a lot of times they didn't reap the results.
Nick Capodice [00:14:28] Coming up how students and teachers constitutional rights change when they cross the schoolhouse gate.
Hannah McCarthy [00:14:35] Nick you've been saying that federal laws are few and far between when it comes to school. But aren't there some things that public school teachers cannot teach.
Nick Capodice [00:14:45] What are you talking about exactly.
Hannah McCarthy [00:14:46] I'm talking about you know like teaching religion and teaching like passages from the Bible you know because of the whole separation of church and state thing. Right?
Nick Capodice [00:14:55] Right there is lots of Supreme Court precedent about that separation in public schools. But what happens in the classrooms themselves is an entirely different matter. For example I asked Adam what are the rules when it comes to teaching creationism and evolution in American schools.
Adam Laats [00:15:09] Yeah I can do it in three words. No one knows. The Supreme Court doesn't know, your local principal doesn't know, the kids in school have no idea. My, when my daughter was in fourth grade her new best friend just transferred from Catholic school into her public school and were walking home and I was like how is school, you know how is your new school. She was like, it was OK. But at one point someone sneezed? And I said bless you? And then I was like sorry. I don't know if you can say bless you in a public school.
Adam Laats [00:15:43] So I think when it comes to what the law is ever since the Scopes Trial of 1925 and before no one knows what you can do with religion in schools.
Spencer Tracy [00:15:54] In a child's power to master the multiplication table there is more sanctity than your shouted amens and holy holies and hosannahs.
Nick Capodice [00:16:05] State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes often referred to as the Scopes Monkey Trial, wonderfully depicted in the 1960 classic Inherit the Wind. It was a case about whether a Tennessee Act that forbade teaching evolution was unconstitutional. And it started this conversation nationally but precedent wasn't set until the 1960s.
Adam Laats [00:16:25] So for example, can a science teacher teach creationism? Well we know that by by Supreme Court precedent and other court precedents there's a really clear answer and that answer is a resounding no. But we also know they surveyed a ton of high school biology teachers and very few of them teach only evolution. Sixty percent of them say they sort of mix it up, 13 or 14 percent teach only creationism. So the Supreme Court is clear. But what goes on in classrooms is anything but clear when it comes to creationism.
Hannah McCarthy [00:16:59] What about students, their rights? Is it any clearer when it comes to them?
Nick Capodice [00:17:04] You and I have done several shows about First Amendment rights in schools. But we should do in the future about Fourth Amendment rights in schools, like can a teacher look in your locker or tell you to unlock your phone. The quickest summary of that is I can't go to your house Hannah and look in your closet. But a teacher can ask you to open your locker. The Supreme Court has ruled that teachers maintaining order outweighs a student's right to privacy at school if they have reasonable grounds.
Mary Beth Tinker [00:17:30] As I like to explain to students all of the rights of the Bill of Rights and in our constitution have limitations.
Hannah McCarthy [00:17:38] Who is that.
Nick Capodice [00:17:39] That is a personal hero is who that is.
Mary Beth Tinker [00:17:41] My name is Mary Beth Tinker. And when I was 13 years old I became a plaintiff in what became aU.S. Supreme Court ruling for students rights called Tinker vs. Des Moines.
Hannah McCarthy [00:17:54] The Mary Beth Tinker?
SCOTUS archival [00:17:55] Number 21, John Tinker and Mary Beth Tinker, minors, et cetera et al, petitioners vs Des Moines community School District et al.
Nick Capodice [00:18:08] If any of you were unfamiliar with the Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines from 1969. It was the topic of Hannah and my first episode together, which we called IRL1. Mary Beth Tinker and her brother John and others were suspended for wearing black armbands to mourn the dead on both sides of the Vietnam War and their case went to the Supreme Court. The Tinkers won. And in the opinion of Justice Abe Fortas he wrote "It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate." And today Mary Beth travels the country advocating for students rights.
Mary Beth Tinker [00:18:45] Young people have unique qualities. They have incredible creativity. They have energy. They're willing to take risk. And it's no wonder that they've been in the lead of movements through history to stand up for justice and for equality and all of our democratic values. Because another great quality of young people is that they have a sense of fairness. And adults are too quick to tell kids you know that life's not fair and get used to it. But I always tell kids, don't get used to it. Life should be fair. And when you see something that's not fair you can use your first amendment rights; the right to free speech free press to assemble the right to petition the right to have your own beliefs your own religion to do something about things that you see are not fair and to take action.
Nick Capodice [00:19:37] Even a class action, right now students in Rhode Island are suing their state for not providing them an adequate civics education. Their argument is they are not being provided the opportunity to be prepared voters, jurors, participants in the political system. Hannah in your birth episode you talked about how children and students aren't recognized constitutionally. But the Tinker ruling changes that.
Mary Beth Tinker [00:19:59] One of my favorite parts of the ruling is that students are persons under our Constitution with the rights and responsibilities of persons. Abe Fortas writing for the majority also said that schools should not be enclaves of totalitarianism, and that there might be some discomfort at times when people express their First Amendment rights or use their rights. But that's a discomfort that we are willing to pay in our democracy.
Nick Capodice [00:20:25] There are some exceptions though under the First Amendment.
Mary Beth Tinker [00:20:28] Number one, substantial disruption of school. You could have your first amendment rights and free speech but you could not substantially disrupt school in the process of using those rights. And number two impinging on the rights of others would not be covered by the First Amendment rights of students. Now whatever that means and that's been debated ever since.
Nick Capodice [00:20:55] When we were walking through Merrimack Valley Middle School I talked to principal Kara Lamontagne about speech restrictions. And it started with the dress code.
Kara Lamontagne [00:21:04] Morning Jake. Don't forget to take that hood off when you're ready...
Nick Capodice [00:21:04] Are you not allowed to wear hoods? Why not?
Kara Lamontagne [00:21:19] Just to be able to see faces, to be able to make eye contact with students. Kind of help us read their body language little better. When they cover up and cover their face. You know it's hard to have any of that.
Nick Capodice [00:21:29] And their code is pretty consistent with schools that I asked across the country. No hoods or hats, no clothing with profanity, no clothing that advocates drug or alcohol use.
Kara Lamontagne [00:21:41] And then there are some limitations around. I guess skin visibility. Just to help students be respectful of their bodies as they're trying to figure things out as middle schoolers. You know so we do have like some limitations around how shorts have to be a certain lengh, your skirts have to be a certain length, we don't want to see undergarments and that's just not the place for that. But every place I've worked the dress code for middle school is very similar. And you know it's really just about having an appropriate non-disruptive environment. Sometimes the students don't understand that, you know, how come my skirt being too short is disruptive to the learning environment. But it can be and it's hard to explain that to them. The students do talk about, you're sexualizing us. That's the word that I hear often from from the girls.
Hannah McCarthy [00:22:32] It's interesting that these young women use the words you know you're sexualizing me I would never have thought to do that. It just speaks to how much the culture has shifted and I guess kind of empowered young women to use these terms.
Kara Lamontagne [00:22:46] And I would agree cause this is my 20th year as an administrator I was an assistant principal for a long time and did the discipline. Ninety five percent of it. And I didn't used to hear that language. It's hard. I mean because I understand that perspective and I I really respect the students that I work with. But we have we have this rule for a reason it's just a hard one for them to grasp.
Nick Capodice [00:23:08] And if you note, Kara used the word disruptive which is the exact word used in that tinker ruling.
Hannah McCarthy [00:23:14] What about other kinds of disruption. I can think of some politically charged statements on a shirt or a hat that could get students pretty riled up.
Nick Capodice [00:23:23] You said it.
News Report [00:23:23] High school student in Oregon who was suspended for wearing a pro Trump T-shirt is getting the last laugh and a lot of money.
Nick Capodice [00:23:29] In 2018 a student was suspended for refusing to remove a pro border wall T-shirt. And the courts ruled it unconstitutional and the school had to pay him twenty five thousand dollars and write him a letter of apology. This is a juggling act creating a respectful environment, without disruption, that enforces student protection, and their rights. And if there's a takeaway from all of this it's that this juggling act is very difficult.
Campbell Scribner [00:23:59] One of the classic problems with American schools is that because we live in a liberal democracy, a free society, it puts a lot of weight on education. We say that we have a free market right and people will rise or fall based on their effort and their talents. And you know we don't have strong social programs because we basically imply that if you're poor you just didn't work hard enough or you aren't smart enough or whatever for that system to hold. We have to, we have to assume that kids do have a fair shot at the beginning, right. That we have a strong educational system that that's allowing meritocracy to thrive and allowing people to rise and fall. We obviously don't have that. I mean clearly we can see that schools pass on opportunities to rich kids, to white kids, to suburban kids, whatever, that they deny to immigrants and students of color. I think we need be more realistic with the way we expect them to do.
Hannah McCarthy [00:24:50] So not only are schools juggling rights but they're also bearing the weight of expectations and the flaws in our system.
Campbell Scribner [00:24:59] If we could all agree that schools were supposed to do one thing they could do it. If we all merely wanted the kids or students to know, you know, the three branches of government and basic civics, I'm sure that schools could teach all children that. But as it is we expect them to do that and all the other subjects. And to have a winning football team and provide health care to students and hot lunch and to you know do job training and a million other things. It's not a surprise that they're not doing them all well. And even when they do start to do one of them well it's not hard to pick another one out and sort of cherry pick where they're failing. So I think before we even propose how to improve schools as a nation we need to be much more serious with how we deliberate about their purpose and what we actually think are supposed to be doing to begin with.
Nick Capodice [00:25:47] Adam Laats told me that his family and friends have banned him from talking about education at the dinner table. And I said you're unbanned here, what is the thing you want America to know about our school system.
Adam Laats [00:25:59] Oh I got it. I got it. Sorry I'm shouting. All right. So here's a question I want everyone to ask themselves and that is do you think. And say you're walking down the street you're minding your own business. A guy jumps out of an alley and says this. Do you think American public education is in a crisis right now. What would you say. So what would you say. Do you feel like American public education writ large is in a crisis?
Nick Capodice [00:26:25] Do you?
Hannah McCarthy [00:26:26] No.
Nick Capodice [00:26:26] why not?
Hannah McCarthy [00:26:29] There are more kids entering into higher education. There are more kids being educated now than have ever been educated. I think there are difficulties but there are always difficulties, there are always controversies, but more people having access to education I say that's always a good thing. Do you think that public schools are in crisis?
Nick Capodice [00:26:51] I think I do.
Hannah McCarthy [00:26:53] Why?
Nick Capodice [00:26:53] Well Adam asked me the same thing. There's a school 15 minutes away from my house where they can't play basketball in the gym because it rains asbestos on the kids in the band room below. And I brought up lots of media. I brought up the Wire season four and half Nelson.
Adam Laats [00:27:08] There's this sense that there are these not just problems but really devastating and immediate crises. We might call it a state of emergency. Other countries are doing way better on math tests without spending as much money we're told. Teachers from L.A. to Denver to West Virginia to you name it Oklahoma are on strike. And the pictures of the the resources that they're showing from 2018 and this year are just, this is why they're winning because nobody wants kids to go to schools that are that bad. So other countries seem like they're doing better the teacher pay seems like it is not just pay but the condition of public schools seems like it's in certainly crisis state. And then we have these savage inequalities as Jonathan Kozol called them where some kids go to very high schools and five miles away in any urban district you can go to a school that feels and looks like not just a nice prison but a terrible prison. So on the one hand yes there's no doubt American schools are in a crisis. Yet on the other hand you aren't. I'm not. We are correct on both counts. American schools really are in crisis. And yet American schools, public schools are fantastic. I think the kicker is it depends who you are, where you are and most importantly who your parents are. And that it's a fundamental divide in America that is running right down the middle of our public schools.
Hannah McCarthy [00:28:49] It sounds like he's saying that inequality writ large is the issue in public school. If a parent can afford to live somewhere that has a great school they'll do that. And you know I'll be honest I know that my parents partially selected our hometown because they could and because they researched the school systems and found out that it had decent schools.
Nick Capodice [00:29:11] I did the same exact thing. Our little hypothetical American in the series so far has been born and educated. But what next? When they're gainfully employed? What do they need to know before their soul is fettered to an office stool?
Hannah McCarthy [00:29:28] That's next time on Civics 101.
Today’s episode was produced by me, Nick Capodice, with you, Hannah McCarthy.
Our staff includes Jacqui Helbert, Ben Henry, and Daniela Vidal-Allee. Erika Janik is our executive producer
Maureen McMurray totally gave a boy her earring in school detention
Music in this episode by Asura, and Asura remixed by Grim God, Blue Dot Sessions, SciFiIndustries, Scott Gratton, Yung Karts, KieloKaz, Daniel Birch, and Chris Zabrizkie
Special thanks to Ms. Dunn and Kara Lamontaigne and MVMS GO PRIDE!
HEY! HEY YOU! Are you part of the 5% who listens to the end of these things? We think you’re just great. Every two weeks we cobble together suppl emental reading and fun stuff we encounter about civics and we type it in our e-newsletter called Extra Credit. Join it! Civics101podcast.org slash extracredit.
And rate us on itunes or apple podcasts! Leave a comment. Tweet to us @civics101pod and we’ll read it for realsies.
Life Stages: Birth
What does it take to be born an American citizen? And then, once you are, how do you prove it? And what does it get you?
We talk to Dr. Mary Kate Hattan, Dan Cassino, Susan Pearson and Susan Vivian Mangold to find out where (American) babies come from, and what that means.
Hannah McCarthy [00:00:08] I want to start this episode at the very beginning.
[00:00:16] Of everything. I mean I want to start this episode the way everybody starts.
Mary Kate Hattan [00:00:25] I love that moment when you see a mother or a family meet their newborn for the very first time after all these months of anticipation. I continue to find it to be one of the most moving things I have ever been lucky enough to be present for.
Hannah McCarthy [00:00:43] This is Dr. Mary Kate Hatten. It's such an honor to be there. We'll never get old for me.
[00:00:51] Mary Kate is a family medicine physician who practices obstetrics at Concord Hospital in New Hampshire. She cares for pregnant mothers. She delivers babies and ideally she becomes that baby's doctor once they enter the world.
Mary Kate Hattan [00:01:04] I think most people are amazed that in the end the most important part is when you actually meet your baby. And sometimes I think those moments when you first realize Oh my goodness there's this whole baby I need to take care of. I think sometimes that can be surprising.
Hannah McCarthy [00:01:20] So Nick, you have experienced this moment twice.
[00:01:24] The birth of a new baby.
[00:01:26] Did did you feel like instinct kicked in or were you a little...
Nick Capodice [00:01:31] Absolutely terrified. I couldn't believe I couldn't believe they let me take it home. She. Couldn't believe they let me take it home in the car after he was born.
Hannah McCarthy [00:01:39] So you had no idea what to do.
Nick Capodice [00:01:42] I'd read a lot of books.
[00:01:44] I had a lot of people's advice but when it's the real thing yeah I didn't know what to do.
Hannah McCarthy [00:01:48] Well luckily even if you are one of the many parents who don't immediately know what to do with this tiny human you're responsible for there are systems in place to make sure that that baby gets off on the right foot.
[00:02:07] Mary Kate made clear that there are plenty of ways to have a baby in theU.S. but best practices dictate important steps for doctors and nurses to take.
Mary Kate Hattan [00:02:16] So after her baby is delivered were immediately making sure that the baby's breathing that the baby has a nice tone and is able to move. We're hoping that the baby cries and we check that both at the first minute. The baby's been born and again at five minutes to help give an idea of how the baby is transitioning as it's delivered.
Hannah McCarthy [00:02:39] I love this idea that this human enters the world and immediately there's this transformation going on because they're adapting to life on the outside. And meanwhile the person or people who brought this child into the world they are adapting to my role as your physician is to make sure I tell you the up to date guidelines and recommendations and to tell you.
Mary Kate Hattan [00:03:03] What we consider to be safe to practice and how to keep your babies thriving and healthy. But ultimately we're a team. And parents know what's important for their child. And I trust parents instinct. And while I can advise them medically on things I also trust that they love that child and that they're going to work with me to let them know what's working and where they need more support and for things that they may not be working for them.
Hannah McCarthy [00:03:28] So doctors like Mary Kate are going to make sure that the baby's eating trying to coach the mother through breast or bottle feedings monitoring for jaundice weight gain making sure the parents have a car seat making sure that that baby can breathe in that car seat and if this baby is born in America.
[00:03:48] While there are a lot of other gears that start to grind but before we pull back the curtain on starting your life in the United States. Care to introduce yourself my fellow American?
Hannah McCarthy [00:04:05] And I'm Hannah McCarthy and today kicks off the first in our six part series on bureaucracy and you.
Nick Capodice [00:04:11] Our Civics, ourselves, if you will.
Hannah McCarthy [00:04:14] It's the way that government that law the institutions interact with you mold you shape you control you and help you over the course of your lifetime from birth.
Nick Capodice [00:04:28] To death.
Hannah McCarthy [00:04:33] And today we're gone. Brass tacks absolute basics. The facts of American life before you lived very much life at all. Facts like I can't name my baby. The exclamation marks I'm.
[00:04:46] Actually naming laws vary from state to state so that's kind of a case by case basis kind of thing. And anyway the name is not nearly as important to being an American as the circumstances of your birth.
Nick Capodice [00:04:59] So where you're born and who your parents are.
Hannah McCarthy [00:05:02] Exactly. And it may sound obvious but those facts mean everything in the US.
Dan Cassino [00:05:09] So this goes back to the 14th Amendment.
Hannah McCarthy [00:05:10] Say hello to Mr. Dan casino Professor of Political Science at Farleigh Dickinson University. He is also a generous repeat guest on the show. The reconstruction period after the Civil War ended up defining citizenship because we changed the constitution in a really major way back then.
Dan Cassino [00:05:29] The Civil War movement the 13th 14th and 15th amendments.
[00:05:32] And these are they are in order to try and protect the rights of freed slaves in the southern states and make sure the southern states treat everyone equally because obviously they didn't want to. That's why we had a civil war.
Nick Capodice [00:05:42] How did the Reconstruction Amendments apply to babies being born today. Those amendments were designed to treat a very specific problem right.
Hannah McCarthy [00:05:50] They were.
[00:05:51] But in fixing that problem we changed something huge after the emancipation of thousands of enslaved people. There was this problem. These people had been counted as three fifths of a person before the Reconstruction Amendments but they were not citizens they didn't have any rights. Then Congress passes an amendment saying OK slavery is now illegal. So we've got a bunch of free Americans their citizens right.
Dan Cassino [00:06:22] So the state of Georgia could decide who's a citizen of Georgia and who's not. And of Georgia gives certain rights to citizens of Georgia we don't give to noncitizens of Georgia. Why does that matter. The fear was after the Emancipation of the slaves the state of Georgia was gon decide all those newly freed African-Americans while they might be federal citizens but they're not citizens of Georgia. So we don't have to give them any rights under the state constitution of Georgia.
[00:06:44] So the 14th Amendment is trying to get rid of that possibility.
Hannah McCarthy [00:06:46] The 14th Amendment shows up to say look everybody who is born in the United States is a citizen of both the United States generally and the state in which they reside.
Nick Capodice [00:06:58] So before that what made you a citizen.
Hannah McCarthy [00:07:01] That was actually up to the states which is why there was that risk that proslavery states would deny citizenship to newly freed people. But after the 14th Amendment.
[00:07:11] If you're born here you're a citizen.
Nick Capodice [00:07:16] So this is a birthright citizenship right. Is that what we call it.
Hannah McCarthy [00:07:19] Exactly. Citizenship is your birthright if you're born on American soil or to American parents for the most part. There are some exceptions having to do with how long your American parent resided in theU.S. or was working for theU.S. abroad. Also Nick Here's a wacky one a person is a citizen. If they are of quote unknown parentage found in theU.S. under the age of five. And if nobody can prove they were born elsewhere before they reach the age of 21.
Nick Capodice [00:07:49] How often does that happen. How many people achieve citizenship that way. It sounds almost Dickensian but so it sounds like your very best bet is being born onU.S. soil.
[00:07:59] Yes but that is an aspect of birthright citizenship that people debate heavily because there are a lot of people who feel like noncitizens use birth onU.S. soil as a way to game the system.
Dan Cassino [00:08:15] Well because it means that if you are not a citizen and you show up the United States and you have a baby that baby is a citizen and there's nothing anyone can do about that as long as they're born in the United States. And this has led to a growth of what's called birth tourism in the United States. We're well here foreigners from around the world come the United States and Saffren birthing suites hospitals in major cities and give birth there in order to give their child a chance at Americans is when that child becomes an adult.
Nick Capodice [00:08:41] But to be clear it isn't actually gaming the system it's the law it's totally legal.
[00:08:46] And right now in the U.S. babies born here ge tU.S. citizenship.
Hannah McCarthy [00:08:49] Yes except for the babies of foreign diplomats there's this clause in the 14th Amendment that says you're a citizen if you're born in theU.S. and quote subject to the jurisdiction thereof. But foreign diplomats are not subject toU.S. courts or authorities they have diplomatic immunity.
[00:09:08] All right. So not subject to the jurisdiction thereof equals not a citizen but if we're looking at a non diplomat's baby born on American soil we are looking at an American baby. Even though people argue about the correct like being swaddled in an American flag.
Hannah McCarthy [00:09:24] Or like have you ever played the Sims?
Nick Capodice [00:09:27] A little bit.
Hannah McCarthy [00:09:28] You know that green diamond that floats over their heads?
Nick Capodice [00:09:31] What's that called?
Hannah McCarthy [00:09:32] It's called the plumb bob.
Nick Capodice [00:09:33] An American plumb bob.
Hannah McCarthy [00:09:34] An American plumb bob floating over your head except your plumb bob is invisible because you know yeah you've got citizenship but you can't actually enjoy it until someone makes it official.
Nick Capodice [00:09:50] So you can be a U.S. citizen but not actually get any of the benefits of being a U.S. citizen.
Hannah McCarthy [00:09:54] Right. Because how can I know that you're really a citizen.
[00:09:58] I mean I got to have it in writing.
Nick Capodice [00:10:02] When you're born the first thing you have to do is register the birth with the government to let the government know that someone has been born here and generate a birth certificate from that and that person is a legal document.
Nick Capodice [00:10:12] It's kind of like if a tree falls in a forest does anybody hear it.
Hannah McCarthy [00:10:16] Right. In this case if no one writes it down authorizes it. The question is did it really happen.
Susan Pearson [00:10:23] So if you have no birth certificate and you are not white you are much more vulnerable.
Hannah McCarthy [00:10:32] This is Susan Pearson. She's a history professor at Northwestern University and she's working on a book about birth registration in the U.S.
Susan Pearson [00:10:40] Right. You are vulnerable. If something goes wrong if you're picked up by the police to deportation. Although we have near universal birth registration in theU.S. the more on the margins you are the less likely you are to have your birth registered.
Nick Capodice [00:10:59] So she's talking about American citizens getting deported.
[00:11:02] Does that happen.
Hannah McCarthy [00:11:03] It's actually estimated that thousands of Americans are detained or deported every year in theU.S. And your role honorable enough just having a certain last name or looking a certain way but if on top of all that your American birth was never registered. You are in real trouble. How do you prove that you're a citizen. There is this pretty well known story of a young woman in Texas whose birth was unregistered and who had very few official records of her life.
Alicia Faith Cunningham [00:11:32] My name is Alicia Faith Cunnington and I'm aU.S. citizen by birth. However I was born at home and my parents neglected to file a birth certificate for a birth record of any kind. They also never got me Social Security number.
Hannah McCarthy [00:11:46] Now in Alicia's case immigration is not exactly breathing down her neck. She is a white woman. However she can't get a passport she can't get a driver's license.
Susan Pearson [00:11:57] Her home state of Texas as a result of her case ended up passing a law which basically made it a criminal offense for parents not to register their children's birth.
Nick Capodice [00:12:12] Alright for some people there's this threat of deportation.
[00:12:14] And they're not able to get a passport driver's license or Social Security card.
Hannah McCarthy [00:12:18] Also think about all of the other inconveniences that could crop up a birth certificate doesn't just prove that you're a citizen. It proves your age and think about all of the age restrictions in the U.S. At 16 you can go to adult prison at 18. You can vote at 21. You can drink at 35 you can run for president without your birth certificate. Legally speaking you do not have an age. But if you go back even 100 years in the U.S. the whole age thing is not as big of a deal.
Susan Pearson [00:12:51] A lot of people in the 19th century and even into the 20th century actually didn't know exactly how old they were and didn't actually know exactly what their birthdays were or what their children's birthdays were.
Hannah McCarthy [00:13:05] Or if you did bother to make note of your child's birth it was probably in the family Bible or maybe your church took note of the day when your baby was baptized. But it wasn't exactly an official document.
Nick Capodice [00:13:17] What about the president thing you have to be 35 years old that's in the original Constitution. And aren't there age requirements for senators and reps and that sort of stuff.
Hannah McCarthy [00:13:25] There are. But then again when the framers wrote the Constitution they weren't expecting anyone other than wealthy white literate landed gentry to end up in office. And at the time if anyone was having their birth recorded it was those upper class people.
Nick Capodice [00:13:41] So possessing the knowledge of your age is like defacto privilege of its own back in the day. Like the framers probably knew their own birthdays right.
Hannah McCarthy [00:13:49] And then the cobbler let's say who made James Madison shoes he might be able to estimate his age based on family lore and rough dates. It's like the further away you get from privilege and power the further you get from that specific birthday.
Susan Pearson [00:14:05] Frederick Douglass the famous abolitionist and escaped slave begins his autobiography by saying that he doesn't know when he was born and that slave owners kept this information from their slaves and that this was for him evidence of the way that African-Americans under slavery were treated like chattel like animals right and not like human beings. But in reality a lot of plantation owners actually did keep records of the births and deaths of their slaves.
Hannah McCarthy [00:14:48] So even though not really knowing your age was not uncommon. There is something special about age even in the early United States withholding birthdays even when they knew exactly when an enslaved person was born was a way for slave owners to further strip that enslaved person of identity and power and access because age does have this elevated status in our Constitution.
Susan Pearson [00:15:19] Voting. Serving in elective office serving on a jury. Those kinds of things that we understand as being sort of primary ways that we would distinguish a democracy from another kind of form of government.
[00:15:35] Those are actually all bounded by age. Even before there's birth registration and therefore a really easy way for people to show how old they are. We already have rules about what you can and can't do as a citizen based on your age right.
[00:15:54] I'm thinking about today and we often use age as this marker for what you can't do but you can't get married or drive a car or work most jobs. If you're under a certain age when did that all start.
[00:16:05] Child labor laws start getting passed again this starts in New England like birth registration does in the middle of the 19th century. As soon as you start having really. Factory labor. And you know the factories of the mid 19th century or not the factories of the 20th century but people start to get a little worried about you know is it good for their bodies to be in these more dangerous working environments.
Hannah McCarthy [00:16:31] So we started to look at little kids working in mills and being horribly injured and we started to think you know what maybe we shouldn't let those little kids work in those mills. But change came slowly.
Susan Pearson [00:16:44] I mean most of the earliest child labor laws had no provisions for proof of age in them at all he would just say something like You know you can't work in the cotton mill unless you're over the age of 14.
[00:16:57] And so people would just show up and whoever's doing the hiring at the mill would say well how old are you. Zahm for two you'd say whatever the law said right. I mean it might be true or it might not.
[00:17:10] And they say Okay!
Nick Capodice [00:17:13] That makes no sense. What have you ever particularly tall or strong 11 year old and mom and dad are quite sure how old they are so they might as well say 14 so the good can get to work.
Hannah McCarthy [00:17:22] Exactly that's the problem. That age requirement is all well and good but it doesn't mean anything if you don't actually know how old you are. Or if people can fudge the numbers which they do and that's around the time the National Child Labor Committee starts ramping things up.
Susan Pearson [00:17:39] And they think that a lot of children are working under age in factories right.
[00:17:44] And so they press states to pass laws that are little more stringent that have some kind of enforcement mechanism that have some kind of system where instead of just walking into the factories hiring office and saying OK I'm here and the supervisor being late great. You know here's a broom go sweep the floor. They want to say that the child has to present.
[00:18:07] Some kind of proof of their age. And in most places this is an affidavit of age which is supplied by going to a local notary public.
Hannah McCarthy [00:18:20] Close to a birth certificate but no cigar.
[00:18:23] It ends up being basically the same situation as before mom and dad can just say little Janie is 14.
Susan Pearson [00:18:30] But then there was this big investigation in 1895 in New York City done by the state legislature. There was a widespread feeling among again Child Labor opponents that this function was no better than parents walking into employment offices with their kids right because notaries are getting paid for performing the service. They don't care. They're not law enforcement officers. They want to get their 25 cents and their view of their job is I don't decide the truth I just certify that a person said this to me. Right. So there's this big exposé of the notary system and child labor opponents really begin to press for what they call documentary proof of age.
Nick Capodice [00:19:24] I love a good exposé. They get things done.
Hannah McCarthy [00:19:27] Yeah this one is no exception. Child Labor opponents took a long hard look at the system and they decided that they knew what to do. There's only one way to ensure an accurate age for a kid a baby must be registered when they are born.
[00:19:42] And in a narrow window, too.
Susan Pearson [00:19:43] Could be three days it could be three months but the point is that there's no incentive for anyone to lie at the time that a birth is registered right. You're not thinking well if you know 12 years from now I'm going to want to say that Jaynie is 14 and not 12. Right. The other thing about birth registration laws is that in most places they make the duty to report the birth. The job of the birth attendant.
Hannah McCarthy [00:20:19] The system isn't perfect right. For example there were a lot of immigrants coming to theU.S. at this time and they were out of luck when it came to proving their age and the race listed on a birth certificate was a weapon in the hands of those who sought to disenfranchise people of color in theU.S. but ultimately we did get to nearly 100 percent of births being registered in this country.
Nick Capodice [00:20:42] Nearly but that nearly kind of trips me up because at this point in American history that birth certificate is the golden ticket. Right. I mean that not only does it help keep you safe from deportation. It also helps get you a license passport register for school get married get a Social Security card.
Hannah McCarthy [00:20:59] Yes. Also by the way the social security card that is another big one in terms ofI.D. in theU.S. And so there's this box that you can check off when you get your birth certificate and the Social Security Administration will send you one. But if you missed that boat you end up having to prove your citizenship in another way to get a delayed social sometimes or religious or hospital record is enough. But that can be a real catch 22.
Nick Capodice [00:21:23] OK so do we have a right to birth certificate. Are my rights being violated if my parents don't register me.
Susan Pearson [00:21:28] I mean it's it's so basic to be able to establish who you are. Right. And so for parents to deny that to children it comes to be seen as almost as criminal and in fact theU.N. has a charter of children's rights which was passed in 1938.
Nick Capodice [00:21:46] Yeah but that's the U.N. I mean it's not our Constitution.
Hannah McCarthy [00:21:52] Well no this is actually a state's thing. So all states have some kind of language in their statutes that requires a physician midwife parent or some other person present at a birth to register the birth of that child usually within five to ten days in some cases. If a doctor or a midwife fails to do this they can have their license suspended until they register that baby.
[00:22:15] But there are still people who don't register their child's birth for other reasons.
Susan Pearson [00:22:21] They're part of the sovereign citizen movement right. And they say are people who see a kind of very libertarian. You write that you see registering your birth as a form of submission to the state that is illegitimate.
[00:22:36] And that is giving up a piece of your autonomy in a piece of your sovereignty.
Hannah McCarthy [00:22:41] It's not just disenfranchised or marginalized or poor or rural populations that may be susceptible to not receiving a birth certificate. There are people out there who say look you can't make me submit to the government and you can't make me force my child to do that either. But some of these kids do grow up wanting a birth certificate for various reasons they might want to get a legal job or travel for instance. But it's much harder to prove where and when you were born when you're 18 years old.
Nick Capodice [00:23:16] It's amazing to me that this piece of paper this hallmark of boring bureaucracy is like the key to the whole city. But what do you get for that.
[00:23:26] If the birth certificate is the key to protections and privileges what are those protections privileges.
Hannah McCarthy [00:23:32] Like right out the gate.
[00:23:34] What do you get the minute you come wailing into this world?
Hannah McCarthy [00:23:38] OK. Day one. You're a brand new person here in theU.S. What does that make you in the eyes of the Constitution?
Susan Mangold [00:23:45] Children have rights as citizens of the United States. And then they have some rights even when they're not citizens of the United States based on case law or statutory law rather than constitutional law.
Hannah McCarthy [00:24:00] This is Sue Mangold chief executive officer of the Juvenile Law Center. It's a nonprofit that advocates for the rights of children in theU.S.
Susan Mangold [00:24:08] So usually when you try to understand the constitutional rights of children you begin with a series of Supreme Court decisions. Meyer Prince Pierce Yoder.
Hannah McCarthy [00:24:23] The interesting thing about these cases is that they weren't actually brought on behalf of the children. They're about what and how a teacher can teach her how a parent or guardian raises a child. Because when it comes to what you get as this new young person in America a lot of that has to do with the adults around you. What are their rights when it comes to you.
Nick Capodice [00:24:46] They're pretty limited aren't they?
Hannah McCarthy [00:24:48] Yes and No.
[00:24:49] You solve this principle of a parent raising a child as they see fit.
Susan Mangold [00:24:55] This balance between parental rights children's rights and state's obligations. And so you know there's a whole line of cases around states being able to order medical care and it's more or less limited to when you know the medical care is widely approved and is lifesaving. But there's you know cases on the margins that don't require quite as high a standard. And in terms of education parents can educate children at home they can send them to private schools they can send them to public school. But there are quite extensive state regulations even of home schooling. And so the parents can make choices but they are limited again.
Hannah McCarthy [00:25:42] Sue describes this triangle of parents rights children's rights and states rights and children's rights have a lot to do with not being abused and not being neglected and also being educated. And the states are the ones who enforce those rights.
Nick Capodice [00:25:58] What if somebody under the age of 18 decides her parent is just not for them. Can they divorce their parents?
Hannah McCarthy [00:26:06] They can. That would be emancipation.
Susan Mangold [00:26:08] Children seek emancipation all the time. They seek access under a range of laws that give them access to health care and reproductive health care mental health care and addiction services without their parents consent. Mindful that their parents would not consent but the laws for all kinds of public health reasons give the child their own right to seek the services even if they're well below the age of 18. And again that depends on the state's laws.
Nick Capodice [00:26:57] It seems like the story of children's rights in the U.S. At its simplest is about our understanding children as hokey as that might sound.
[00:27:08] Like we went from looking at them as many adults to thinking of childhood as this separate stage of life thinking. Maybe that means they shouldn't operate heavy machinery in a mill or get married. Finally realizing they need extra defence against abuse and neglect. It's taken hundreds of years. Which is funny because people think you're just going to magically know what to do and you have a baby of your own. But as a nation. We still aren't really sure how to raise a kid.
Hannah McCarthy [00:27:39] No it's been slow progress. But being born in America.
[00:27:44] I think increasingly means that you're being looked out for. And I think there's also. An increasing attempt to listen to young people. Whether that's literally or by looking at their brains and development.
[00:28:00] And as with all shifts in our democracy when you give a group a voice the system starts to respond.
Nick Capodice [00:28:07] Yes and kids do have a voice. All right. That's actually one basic right. We didn't get to in this absurd.
Hannah McCarthy [00:28:14] Yeah I was kind of thinking that's better suited to an episode about schools.
Nick Capodice [00:28:19] I see where you're going here.
[00:28:34] This was just the beginning. There's a whole lot of life to live here. It's Civics 101 and we're making our way through those life stages. Next stop school.
Nick Capodice [00:28:43] And there's a whole lot left to learn too. You can check out more information about being born in America and all of our upcoming episodes at Civics 101 podcast dot org.
Hannah McCarthy [00:28:52] This episode was produced by me and McCarthy with Nick Kapit each day our staff includes Jackie Helbert Ben Henry and Daniela Vidal Ali. Erika Janica is our executive producer.
Nick Capodice [00:29:02] Maureen McMurry really considers herself more of a citizen of the world.
Hannah McCarthy [00:29:05] Music in this episode by Shaolin Dub. The 126ers, TextMe Records, HiDi, Blue Dot Sessions, Frederic Chopin, and Johannes Brahms.
Nick Capodice [00:29:14] Civics 101 is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio.
Hannah McCarthy [00:29:19] Mom and Dad can just say little Janie is 14.
Nick Capodice [00:29:24] Janie! Mary, Janie! Don't you remember me? You know what that is right?
Hannah McCarthy [00:29:30] Yeah, that's a good Jimmy Stewart.
Nick Capodice [00:29:30] Now, I - I - I - I wanna make a boys camp. I wish I had a million dollars.
[00:29:39] Hot dog!
Founding Documents: The Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to our Constitution. Why do we have one? What does it 'do'? And what does it really, really do?
Our guests are Linda Monk, Alvin Tillery, David O. Stewart, Woody Holton, David Bobb, and Chuck Taft.
Each Amendment could be (and has been) its own episode. Except maybe the Third Amendment. So if you don't know them by heart, take two minutes to watch the video below.
Want to play Bill of Rights: Survivor? Chuck Taft has shared his lesson plan here.
We have spent more time on the Library of Congress’s primary source page than anywhere else during this series, click here to see the original proposed amendments, Jefferson’s ratification tally, and a lovely illustration of a tub to a whale.
Episode Segments:
Founding Documents: Bill of Rights
Chuck Taft [00:00:04] Hi this is Chuck Taft at University School of Milwaukee. I'm unable to get to the phone right now so if you would please leave your name number. Brief message and most importantly your favorite person in American history. I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Thank you.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:18] Who is this Chuck Taft?
Nick Capodice: [00:00:19] He's a high school history teacher. And I called him up because he plays this game with his class called Bill of Rights survivor.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:28] How on earth do you play that.
Chuck Taft [00:00:33] So Bill of Rights survivor is obviously based on the fantastic reality TV show Survivor of which I'm a big fan. The idea is that we're going to use amendments two through ten and then students are going to try to figure out which amendment should be the sole survivor a Bill of Rights island.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:50] Does he give the kids torches?
Chuck Taft [00:00:53] I do actually. You know the little LED candles, and then I have a Bill of Rights mug. I also hide immunity idols in the room. Like two little bits of paper.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:04] The students are assigned amendments and they present speeches as to why theirs is the most important. Everybody votes the losing amendment is called up to the Bill of Rights mug.
Chuck Taft [00:01:13] And I say you know that the tribe has spoken
Nick Capodice: [00:01:19] It's time for you to go. Seventh Amendment.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:01:21] This is so excellent. I imagine the students will walk away with this profound love and respect for the Bill of Rights.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:29] They do. But there's another teacher that I adore, Woody Holton from University of South Carolina.
Woody Holton: [00:01:35] I want you to call me Woody if you don't mind but my legal name is Abner. He's in the Bible and he killed his father. So who gives that name to their son. I play an obnoxious game with my students when I ask them "OK tell me specific things, don't talk in generalities about liberty and freedom, be specific. What specific clauses of the Constitution do you like." And they'll say freedom of speech or they'll say everybody can vote or they'll say gun rights or no unlawful search and seizure and then I get to say, you know the things you just named as being great about the Constitution? None of this is in the Constitution. None of them is in the document that the Framers adopted on September 17th 1787. None of them are reasons that they were there, or they would have put those things in it.
Nick Capodice: [00:02:32] Today on Civics 101 in our founding documents series, we are finally getting to you. And we're talking about the Bill of Rights.
Nick Capodice: [00:02:40] I'm Nick Capodice
Hannah McCarthy: [00:02:41] And I'm Hannah McCarthy.
Nick Capodice: [00:02:42] And before we get into how it was created or how it affects our lives let's be clear about what it is. The Bill of Rights is the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution written by James Madison, ratified December 15th 1791. And you know them all by heart right.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:03:02] Of course.
Nick Capodice: [00:03:02] If you don't, it's real easy to fix that. I looked at a bunch of mnemonic devices for how to memorize the first ten amendments and my favorite by far involves waving your hands around. Which is not good for radio, but Hannah and I made a video of it. Go to our website civics101podcast.org and check it out. Let's begin in that sweltering room in Philadelphia. David O. Stewart, author of The Summer of 1787 told me about the great debates over the Bill of Rights at the Constitutional Convention.
David O. Stewart: [00:03:32] The debate about the Bill of Rights actually never happened. It wasn't discussed through most of the summer. It was not something that they thought was terribly important. A few other states had constitutional provisions that declared rights. Virginia did. And it was widely thought to be sort of eyewash. It was something you did that made everybody feel better, but it didn't really make much difference. And they didn't worry that the national government would create risks to people's liberties.
Nick Capodice: [00:04:05] However the idea of a Bill of Rights was brought up at the convention. But truly at the 11th hour.
David O. Stewart: [00:04:12] In the last week of the convention there were two delegates George Mason of Virginia and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts who were known to be unhappy with the Constitution, with lots of features of the powers of the Senate the powers over trade, and suddenly they stand up. And working with each other, obviously they had cooked this up ahead of time, they move for the inclusion of a bill of rights. One of them actually says we could put this together in an afternoon. Which is a little ambitious. And most of the other delegates saw this for what it was which was it was a stall.
Nick Capodice: [00:04:51] They had been in this hot sealed up chamber with boards over the windows for months. And they did not let this diversion of a Bill of Rights scuttle the whole thing. And this feeling that it wasn't really needed is echoed by James Madison and Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton's Federalist 84 says Bills of Rights "are not only unnecessary in the proposed constitution but they would be even dangerous."
Hannah McCarthy: [00:05:14] You said Madison wrote the bill of rights. But he didn't want a bill of rights?
Nick Capodice: [00:05:19] Not in the slightest. He did not think it was essential to a new nation and even referred to the act of writing it as a "nauseous project."
David Bobb: [00:05:29] The fundamental point that James Madison made is that the Constitution itself was really the structural guarantee of our rights.
Nick Capodice: [00:05:40] This is David Bobb. He's the president of the Bill of Rights Institute and the author of Humility an Unlikely Biography of America's Greatest Virtue.
David Bobb: [00:05:48] Alexander Hamilton wrote the Constitution itself is a bill of rights. In other words all of those kind of things that can be considered not quite as exciting: the separation of powers, federalism, these sort of guarantee the structural part of the Constitution, that's the mainstay of our liberty. Of course Madison was very aware that the people's rights need to be protected but that was mainly the job for the states.
Nick Capodice: [00:06:20] Remember Hanah all these states had their own constitutions many of which had their own bills of rights.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:06:25] Right. So they're arguing that all of the states have them, so why does the federal government need one too.
David Bobb: [00:06:32] The other reason that Madison was not for the Bill of Rights was a kind of practical one. And that is, if you write those rights down and separate them out and say boy this is this is really important. This is this is the statement. This is the place you go to find all of your rights here. What if one of them is not on that?What if what if a right that you do possess is not listed there? Does that mean that it's not a right?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:07:00] Those are some pretty strong arguments.
Nick Capodice: [00:07:02] They are. But in the end they don't work. The constitution had been sent to the states where they had ratification conventions to decide if they're going to go along with it. Delaware ratifies first with a unanimous vote in Congress on December 7th. Then Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Georgia ratify right after. But then we have a nailbiting lull during the year 1788.
Linda Monk: [00:07:25] These ratification conventions were big deals. And during that process of repeated theme is why is there no Bill of Rights.
Nick Capodice: [00:07:33] That's Linda Monk, the Constitution Lady and author of The Bill of Rights: a User's Guide. The people were calling for one.And this terrified the pro ratification federalists.
Woody Holton: [00:07:44] Madison in particular saw that as a plot to derail the constitution because people are saying hey you guys got to go back to Philadelphia in the summer of 1788 and write in some some civil liberties and maybe we'll ratify your constitution and the people who wanted the constitution were afraid that would lead to more controversy and the Constitution would never be ratified. And so they fought tooth and nail against a bill of rights. Not because they were opposed to civil liberties but because they were afraid that would gum up the works and prevent the original seven articles of the constitution from being adopted. But starting in Massachusetts in February 1788 and then in several other states including my original home state of Virginia and the state of New Hampshire all said OK we're going to go ahead and ratify the constitution but only with the understanding that if you don't add that, you'll add a bill of rights and if you don't add a bill of rights we can always call a second convention.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:08:51] Wait so they say give us a bill of rights or we'll call another convention to write a whole new constitution.
Nick Capodice: [00:08:58] Yeah and most of them did not want to do that. It was so hard to get the first one written.
Woody Holton: [00:09:02] The first Congress came in. Has a federalist majority. The majority of them don't want a bill of rights. But James Madison convinced his fellow federalists hey you know what we better give them a bill of rights before they give us one.
Linda Monk: [00:09:19] These states some of them will say OK we're going to trust you to put in a Bill of Rights and we'll go ahead and ratify it now. A state like North Carolina said no we don't trust you we're not going to ratify this until you've added the Bill of Rights. And so when Madison's running for Congress in his State of Virginia he takes the stand that if he is elected he will move to propose a bill of rights in the new Congress and that's what he does in 1789.
Nick Capodice: [00:09:50] Nauseous project or not. Madison is true to his campaign promise. Cause more than anything he just wants that constitution to be ratified. And if the people are crying for a bill of rights not only will he make one, but he'll ask every state what they think should be in it and he sits down and he makes his first list.
David Bobb: [00:10:11] The list that he came up with was more than 200.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:10:13] 200?
Nick Capodice: [00:10:14] 200!
David Bobb: [00:10:15] 200 total yeah. Because there are a lot of states that have pulled together lists that were long. And they had some that were more detailed than others. And Madison again with that kind of mind that wanted to lend some order to these kind of things, no way that you can deal with 200. You can hardly deal with 20.
Nick Capodice: [00:10:32] And then there's the question of where to put these rights. Madison initially wants them to not be a separate thing. He wants to write them into the Constitution.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:10:41] He wants to just change this document that these men sweated over for four months.
Nick Capodice: [00:10:46] Yeah, and Congress says heck no, we have a constitution already. But Roger Sherman of Connecticut had an idea.
Linda Monk: [00:10:54] And in fact it's an enemy of Madison's who proposes that maybe we should put all the amendments at the end. During the process that they propose they are referred to as amendments, not a bill of rights. Madison says there are amendments like a Bill of Rights because at the end of the process they all came together, after they were ratified, it was 12 amendments submitted, ten got ratified. At that time they became known colloquially as the Bill of Rights.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:11:27] Wasn't that the official term for it?
Linda Monk: [00:11:30] Well there is some debate about that Polly Meyer the late and very esteemed scholar raised some questions about that. Well was it actually called a Bill of Rights. I I I take a little exception of that, sometimes you don't have to give a name it's, give a document its formal name for it still to be that. I mean it still operates as what we think of and call a bill of rights.
Nick Capodice: [00:11:58] So we start with 200 and when the smoke clears we end up with 10 nice round number. The first are great civil freedoms; speech, religion, press, petition, assembly. The second and third are about militia and conditions under war, and the 4th to the 7th are about the right to the criminally accused.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:12:17] So a full half of the first ten amendments are about the rights of the accused.
Nick Capodice: [00:12:22] That's right.
Linda Monk: [00:12:23] You think why did the framers put that much emphasis on the rights of the criminally accused. And when you think about it you know why, it's because they were criminally accused. They were very aware of when you have the power of the whole government going against an individual who's accused of a crime.
Nick Capodice: [00:12:42] The ninth answer is Madison's fears of missing rights that just because a right isn't listed here that doesn't mean you don't have it. And then the tenth, that any power not given to the federal government is given back to the people or the States.
Nick Capodice: [00:12:55] And on December 15th 1791, Virginia becomes the 10th state to ratify the bill of rights adding it to our recently ratified constitution. And there it is, right?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:13:07] That's it? What is it like 15 minutes?
Nick Capodice: [00:13:10] Well. I think it's time we bring up the tub.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:13:17] What tub??
Woody Holton: [00:13:17] A tub to the whale.
Nick Capodice: [00:13:21] This is Woody Holton again and he's quoting a whaling term used by an anti federalist to describe the bill of rights.
Woody Holton: [00:13:29] Somtimes you know you're going after one of these big toothed sperm whales and the whale turns on the ship and it can sink the ship just like in Moby Dick. They had these big washtubs big wooden washtubs and they were thrown overboard. In hopes that the whale would attack the tub instead. So it's it's sort of a diversionary tactic. And it's amazing how many of the people who had opposed the Constitution saw the Bill of Rights as written as a tub to the whale. They wanted structural reforms. The largest number of them thought that the Constitution made the federal government too strong. And structural reforms to the Constitution were the last thing that James Madison wanted. He liked weakening the states. He was a strong national government guy and so he didn't want to shift power back to the states and he was also an anti democratic guy and he didn't want to shift power back to the people either. So he didn't want to give the critics of the Constitution the big stuff that they wanted. So instead he gave them some things that he saw as innocuous.
Nick Capodice: [00:14:45] Nobody was challenging gun rights at the time. Nobody thought there was an imminent threat to freedom of speech or religion.
Woody Holton: [00:14:52] They threw in all these things that to them seemed almost trivial. And that's the tub to the whale. And let's get people to adopt that bill of rights so we don't have to adopt a bigger bill of rights that returns power to the states and to the people. And certainly when I ask my students what they, what they like about the Constitution, they name the things in the washtub rather than the ship of state.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:15:18] OK. But regardless of whether the framers thought those rights were trivial, they were ratified. They have become a part of our Constitution and they helped define us.
Nick Capodice: [00:15:30] I agree they do help define us. They are, much like the Declaration of Independence, big ideas that you can hang your hat on. You can sink your teeth into. But there's an ongoing discussion about how they actually affect our lives.
Alvin Tillery: [00:15:47] First of all there's this debate right. There there's the Elkins and McKittrick view in history that's the Bill of Rights is a net gain for citizens in the United States because they've created a bundle of federal rights where the federal government can't trample on you.
Nick Capodice: [00:16:06] This is Alvin Tillery. He's the Director for the Center of the Study of Diversity and Democracy at Northwestern.
Alvin Tillery: [00:16:11] And so that's a net gain for citizenship even though your states can still trample on you your state can have a state religion like in Maryland. Your states can restrict your property. So but, but. To have the federal rights is a net positive in 1787. Right. Then there's the Charles Beard view which is you know all these guys are grifters. You know, the urbanites like you know are grifters and the planters are grifters. And what they've done is make sure that Shays' Rebellion never happens again. And so the Bill of Rights is a nice sort of thing to hang on your wall and make you feel like you're an American citizen. But it doesn't really affect your daily life because you know your state can still do really horrible things to abridge your freedom.
Nick Capodice: [00:16:59] And this is like the crux of the whole thing, Hannah. The Bill of Rights initially did not apply to the states. And what this meant for you as an American was that while the federal Congress couldn't pass a law abridging your freedom of speech freedom of religion your state could. And the Supreme Court even upholds this in a case of 1833 called Barron v. Baltimore. It's not until nineteen twenty five that the Supreme Court rules that via the 14th Amendment, the Equal Protection Clause, the Bill of Rights does apply to the states. But it's not all at once. It's called selective incorporation. Piecemeal, one at a time, these amendments are incorporated into state laws.
Linda Monk: [00:17:43] With any of these rights the way they were developed, say freedom of speech. The Supreme Court didn't even get involved with freedom of speech cases really until the labor movement brought a lot of those cases to the courts. And that's when finally the court would hold that, yes, these Bills of Rights actually apply to state laws too. You look at the civil rights movement, same thing. When, when the Supreme Court rules that desegregation must come to an end, did that happen in 1954? No. There was massive resistance from the states. It took movements of citizens, great movements of citizens to finally have some of those protections apply.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:18:28] This is kind of crazy to me. So are you saying that the Bill of Rights, which was written to kind of answer all of these concerns about the Constitution, you know denying states and individuals their rights, didn't actually apply to the states, it only applied to the federal government until 1925?
Nick Capodice: [00:18:52] Do you know the no excessive fines or bail from the Eighth Amendment?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:18:55] Yeah.
Nick Capodice: [00:18:56] We are recording these words on February 20th 2019 and that was incorporated this morning.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:19:04] So was the Bill of Rights as it was written in the 1700s kind of meaningless?
Nick Capodice: [00:19:10] I was scared to even say that thought out loud. But it is a fact that the Bill of Rights just didn't have much judicial impact for 150 years. The historian Gordon Wood said that "after ratification most Americans promptly forgot about the first ten amendments to the Constitution." In 20th century America, legal immigrants were deported for their politics. People in police custody gave forced confessions. Racial segregation was legal. So I asked Alvin about where he stood on this. Is the Bill of Rights a net gain or is it a bunch of grifters throwing out a washtub?
Alvin Tillery: [00:19:47] I think it is great. I think it was,, you know I think I'm closer to Elkins and McKittrick, and I think it was great when it, when it when it happened. When it was, when it was written into the documents. I think the ideals were always good and valuable but it took the culture time to catch up. And it took thousands and thousands of people putting their bodies and souls on the line to convince the power structure, which is very conservative always, that they should make good on these, the text of these charter documents, right? But the framers knew that they were being hypocritical when they were writing these documents. They absolutely knew it. And that's why the framers didn't allow Jefferson to say you know you forced us to have slavery. They knew that that wasn't true. Right? But they made a Herronvolk, master race democracy for themselves and it took an evolution in this country to undo it. And now it's going to take an evolution to preserve it, because we do have powerful forces that would like to return us to a master race democracy. And that's that's unfortunate but true.
Linda Monk: [00:21:04] My favorite quote, it's one I discovered in law school. It's the one I still stand by. It's by the great Judge Learned Hand. He says, "I think we place too many hopes in laws and courts and constitutions. These are false hopes. Believe me these are false hopes. Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women. And when it dies there, no law, no court, no constitution, can save it." So ultimately, the Bill of Rights came from us, came from We the People, and it depends on We the People for its protection.
Nick Capodice: [00:21:48] I feel like we've been here a lot of times, Hannah.
Nick Capodice: [00:21:51] Pretty much every episode. These documents initially didn't apply to everyone. And they may have flaws. But through sacrifice and through the actions of citizens they become something greater.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:22:05] It's like this idea of "no man being above the law" or the words "We the People" or "All men are created equal." The true power of these words is not given by the government. It has to be fought for by the people. We have to rise up to wield it.
[00:22:40] Today's episode was produced by me, Nick Capodice with Hannah McCarthy.
[00:22:43] Our staff includes Jacqui Helbert Daniela Vidal Alee and Ben Henry. Erika Janik is our producer.
[00:22:49] Maureen McMurray is in charge of putting a hole in the washtub.
[00:22:52] Music in this episode by Music in this episode by:
Blue Dot Sessions
Ikimashoo Oi
Meydn
Scott Gratton
Yeyey
Yung Karts
Super special thanks to the very first teacher to talk to me for this series and tell me about the bill of rights, Nate Bowling. He's the host of the Nerd Farmer, a delightful podcast where nerdy civic stuff that we love mingles with politics and shade. Last but not least, Chuck Taft, creator of Bill of Rights Survivor is willing to share that with the world. If you go to our Web site civics101podcast.org Where you can see his lesson plan and PowerPoint. Civics 101 is a production of NHPR, New Hampshire Public Radio.
Founding Documents: The Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers
Ten days after the Constitution was signed at the Old Philadelphia State House, an anonymous op-ed appeared in the New York Journal. Signed by "Cato," it cautioned readers of the new Constitution to take it with a grain of salt. Even the wisest of men, it warned, can make mistakes. This launched a public debate that would last months, pitting pro-Constitution "Federalists" against Constitution-wary "Anti-Federalists." It was a battle for ratification, and it resulted in a glimpse into the minds of our Framers -- and a concession that would come to define American identity.
Our guides through the minds of the Federalists and Anti-Federalists are Claire Griffin and Cheryl Cook-Kallio.
Episode Clips
If you want to just devour every moment of the Federalist vs. Anti-Federalist debate, head on over to TeachingAmericanHistory.org for the whole collection. You can track the battle and learn what James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay may have told you if you challenged them to explain the Constitution.
Fun Fact! Thomas Jefferson, the very man who authored the Declaration of Independence, was serving as U.S. minister during the Constitutional Convention so he wasn’t around to offer his thoughts in Philadelphia. But he still managed to play a major role in designing the new government by way of letters to his fellow framers. And, even though he would come to call the Federalist Papers the “best commentary on the principles of government which was ever written,” he leaned more states rights, fear-of-tyranny than his peers. He also lobbied hard for a Bill of Rights. You can get a gander at some of his writing from the time through the Library of Congress.
This script was created using a combination of machine and human transcription. There may be discrepancies or typos.
CPB by Adia Samba-Quee: [00:00:00] Civics 101 is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Hey.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:04] Nick did you ever have to write one of those what I did over my summer vacation essays in grade school.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:10] All the time.
[00:00:12] In fact my finest summer vacation was playing Sam Gamgee in an eight hour production Lord of the Rings.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:18] Ok I wasn't expecting that. That is that's really that's ambitious. But still your thing is not as ambitious as designing a new system of government.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:29] Yeah nowhere near as ambitious as that.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:31] No right. Because that's totally insane you can't pull that off in four months. And yet that is how we got our current system of government a bunch of guys in the stifling heat in Philadelphia in this airless room with the windows nailed shut in the middle of the summer wrote our Constitution in four months and then they stepped outside and showed the world there. You know what I did on my Summer Vacation essay.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:58] By essay you mean the Constitution.
[00:01:05] The delegates to the convention publish their constitution and newspapers throughout the 13 states and they were probably hoping for a pretty positive response but that is not what they got a mere ten days after the constitution is signed. I mean the ink is barely dry on this thing. Some guy named Cato writes this op ed basically saying I know that it's really exciting that this new constitution was signed by people like George Washington. But just be careful about it. It might not be all it's cracked up to be what someone's.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:38] Already constitution bashin' what does this Cato guy know who is Cato anyways?
[00:01:44] Has even read the Constitution.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:01:45] Well he has. But before we get into that introductions I am Hannah McCarthy.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:52] And I'm Nick Capodice.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:01:52] And this is Civics 101 and today we are diving into one of the most high stakes eloquent intense public battles in the history of the United States.
[00:02:03] The battle that pitted the pro Constitution federalists against the anti constitution anti federalists. And it sounds like the whole thing started with this guy named Cato. It did indeed the op ed that launched a thousand ships as far as who Cato is and what he actually knows. We're not totally sure about that. It's most likely George Clinton the governor of New York but it could also be this New York politician John Williams whoever it is.
[00:02:32] He almost certainly did not attend the Constitutional Convention.
Nick Capodice: [00:02:37] Right so Cato is a pseudonym.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:02:38] Correct. It's referring to a politician in ancient Rome who killed himself because he didn't want to live in Julius Caesar's new government. Cato was all about defending the Roman Republic.
Nick Capodice: [00:02:51] That is a little on the nose. Cato saying he'd rather die than live under this new constitution.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:02:56] Bingo. At the time most educated men would have picked up on the symbolism of this. The name Cato had actually been used to critique the British government in the past.
Nick Capodice: [00:03:06] Okay so the framers were a bunch of classics nerds. I can appreciate that. I think it's kind of endearing but why New York. This essay gets published in New York. It's written by a New York politician. New York, what's your damage?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:03:19] Well New York is not super happy with the new Constitution of the three delegates they send to the Constitutional Convention to walk out. Only Alexander Hamilton stayed behind but he's pretty thrilled with the Constitution. A lot of new York congressmen do not feel the same way. They do not want to see the states consolidated under this one powerful central government and they really don't believe that the Constitution can guarantee equal and permanent liberty like its proponents claim.
Nick Capodice: [00:03:53] So who's Cato writing the op ed for exactly.
[00:03:57] The whole Cato Roman Republic metaphor seems like pretty inside baseball like your average farmer probably doesn't know what's being referenced here.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:04:04] You know the average farmer is not who Cato is speaking to. Right now the Constitution is only a piece of paper with a bunch of ideas. It doesn't carry any real power and Cato wants to stop that power from happening altogether. All right.
Nick Capodice: [00:04:19] So he's talking to the guys in charge.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:04:21] Yeah politicians delegates.
Claire Griffin: [00:04:23] White literate men. Of course those are the ones who were at the Constitutional Convention. Those were the ones who were going to be the ratifying conventions.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:04:32] This is Claire Griffin. She's a former government and history teacher and a consultant in civic education. Like she said the Cato letter is addressed to the people who will be voting on whether or not to ratify the constitution. 9 out of 13 states have to ratify in order for the Constitution to go into effect and the Cato letter is the first of many many op eds criticizing the Constitution.
Claire Griffin: [00:04:55] Well they were a series of about 150 articles written by quite literally dozens of opponents to the Constitution. These were published not just in New York but in New York Pennsylvania Connecticut Maryland again kind of the same time frame September of 1787 through December of 1788 and their purpose was to dissuade the delegates to the ratifying conventions from supporting the constitution.
Nick Capodice: [00:05:27] Also it wasn't just Cato.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:05:28] No they had a Brutus a Centinel.
[00:05:31] They had an old Whig then that's Whig with an "h" -- collectively these writers were known as the anti federalists and these were really smart men with really well informed ideas.
Nick Capodice: [00:05:44] All right so being an anti federalist doesn't make you unreasonable or opposed to a government of any kind necessarily.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:05:52] Not at all.
Claire Griffin: [00:05:52] Before we go on I should almost apologize for calling them anti federalist because nobody wants to be called anti anything and that name anti specialist actually came from the federalist to describe their opponents. And because history is often written by the victors the name anti federalists has stopped and will use that in our conversation. They would have called themselves pro Republicans Republican with a small R.
Nick Capodice: [00:06:25] What does she mean by that small are Republicans.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:06:28] Oh what she means is as opposed to the big R or Republican Party small r Republicans are just in favor of a republic which most basically is a government where power rests with the people. They're anti federalists because they're not thrilled with strict federalism which is basically a centralized federal government that works with smaller state and local governments. The anti federalists would prefer a government closer to the Articles of Confederation with its really weak central government and plenty of state power.
Nick Capodice: [00:07:02] But the guys who are writing what we call the anti federalist papers they wouldn't have actually called themselves into federalist right.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:07:09] No no way. Their opponents gave them that label which is actually a pretty strong PR move. Calling a group anti anything it just makes them seem negative and in this case the other group of guys calls themselves the federalists the anti federalists probably would have called them the anti little are Republicans.
Nick Capodice: [00:07:30] So when do the federalists actually enter the fight. So far we've just got this op ed by Cato.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:07:35] Yeah it's actually quite a while before the anti federalists make their move. The little r Republicans have published 21 statements by the time we hear from the pro Constitution guys which I found pretty surprising because when I learned about this time period in school I learned about the federalists the federalists were this big deal these guys who explained the Constitution and I'm almost certain that I didn't read a single anti federalist paper back then. And yet they were the ones who kicked everything off. We might not have the Federalist Papers as we know them today without the anti federalists.
Nick Capodice: [00:08:17] I'm guessing the pro Constitution framers get to a point where they're like all right enough. We can't let this go anymore. These guys are killing us with bad press.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:08:26] Exactly. And they're not just in New York anymore. Cato inspired critics in other states as well. But the soon to be capital F federalists aren't just sitting there twiddling their thumbs while all of this is going on. They're making plans and then October 27th it happens. The first federalist essay hits the presses of a new york paper.
Claire Griffin: [00:08:51] Number one the very first one written by Alexander Hamilton in which he's laying out the case for a new constitution something to replace the Articles of Confederation.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:09:04] Federalist 1 otherwise known as Publius one.
Nick Capodice: [00:09:09] Publius?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:09:10] Yes it's a silly sounding name Pubilius was a guy in ancient Rome who helped to overthrow the monarchy and create the Republic of the people.
Nick Capodice: [00:09:19] That is a clever move by Hamilton Right. Because Cato kicked things off in the name that's in defense of the Republic and then Hamilton comes back at him like No way man. You got this all wrong. I'm the guy who establishes a representative government. I'm the guy that gives power to the people. You must be the other guy.
Claire Griffin: [00:09:37] What I love about Federalist number one is that Hamilton refers to the fact that the American people now have a chance to make decisions to create a government based on reflection and choice not accident and force.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:09:57] Meanwhile an anti federalist calling himself John DeWitt publishes in Massachusetts. He reads the times and what he sees is this permanent document that will never change. He basically says don't let them fool you. That amendment clause is useless. Congress is never going to achieve that three fourths majority they're talking about because that would require too many people to agree. He calls it an absolute impossibility.
Nick Capodice: [00:10:26] It's interesting because we know that the Constitution does end up getting amended. But back then there must have been so much anxiety about this new system of government. How could they possibly know it was going to work out the anti federalists are just saying hey we can't take this gigantic radical leap into a brand new system especially one that throws us into a stronger government. We just escaped a stronger government.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:10:50] Right. And the federalists were saying look we have got to beef up the federal government because the way that it is now is a disaster. We got it wrong we went too far toward a government of the people. It is too divided. So the first anti federalist drops in late September Pew one arrives about a month later and it says OK so we've heard some concerns.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:11:17] We are going to write a series of essays that are going to answer all your questions about the new constitution.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:11:25] This is Cheryl Cook. Kallio she's a former teacher and former council member in Pleasanton, California.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:11:31] And then he and John Jay and Madison methodically went through every single thing that was concerning and tried to answer those questions in 85 essays 85.
Nick Capodice: [00:11:45] How are we going to get through eighty five essays in one episode.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:11:48] Actually it's probably more than 85 because when you lump in the anti federalists and a few other things written at the time you're really looking at closer two hundred and forty plus articles. But don't despair. The point of this episode is to get a sense of what this fight actually looked like. What were the arguments for and against this nation changing document and how did the federalists approach to these op eds help their game.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:12:15] They were put in a collection and they started to disseminate that collection throughout the colonies. Again in contrast to the anti federalists that were very much individual essays that were now written in defense of their position.
Nick Capodice: [00:12:33] So the federalists are working together and guys like Cato and Brutus and the old Whig are just coming at it from their own individual perspectives.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:12:41] The anti federalists were certainly sharing their opinions with one another but it wasn't a unified front. The way that it was with Alexander Hamilton and James Madison and John Jay Jay by the way wasn't at the Constitutional Convention but he was a powerful New Yorker and Secretary of Foreign Affairs under the Articles of Confederation. So while the anti federalists comprised over a dozen different authors and pseudonyms those three federalists published only as publics. There were certainly other pro Constitution people writing op eds. But it was Publius who shone the brightest.
Nick Capodice: [00:13:17] Do you think that's part of the reason why the federalist ended up being successful you know in my opinion yes and I base this on.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:13:24] On a couple of things. One is that Hamilton and Madison in particular were planners. They had written out their justifications for particular things even before they would get into the constitutional convention. They would have the ammunition they needed to support something. Also I think Madison James Madison in particular is a pragmatist. He knew that there needed to be a different type of government. He knew that under the Articles of Confederation the government was way too weak to survive and he was prepared to do what he needed to do to get a different structure in place.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:14:06] Here is another agreed upon favorite that sheds some real light.
[00:14:09] This one is by James Madison and actually a lot of the favorites are by James Madison.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:14:15] I do like Federalist 10. I think that Madison was right when he said that factions are bad but they're inevitable and that the only way to mitigate these factions is to balance them out.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:14:30] Madison published Federalist 10 on November 22nd. This is after anti federalists like Cato expressed concerns about this centralized Congress with so many different special interests. Basically he was saying how is the government going to get anything done with this system. It will be a house divided. It'll be useless just a bunch of factions. Madison has to prove that the new system of government is actually the best way to deal with factions. But what did Madison actually mean by factions like political parties. Well back in the day theU.S. didn't really have the party system the way that it looks today. So it'd be less party factions and more like opposed special interest groups and Maddison's biggest concern was over the special interest groups who would fight against what was best for everybody. A good example back then would have been slave owners versus abolitionists. Here's Claire again.
Claire Griffin: [00:15:25] He's writing about the advantages of a large Republican republic with a small r where individuals choose their elected representatives. Political philosophers before Manison were pretty certain that the republic would only work in a small geographically small area with a fairly homogeneous population and Madison says just the opposite he said. The public works best when the territory is large and expand it and when there are so many different interests and crude he used the word faction that all the different interest groups offset each other. No minority is persecuted against no majority ever has complete sway.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:16:15] Madison also focuses on the economy in Federalist 10 and at this point in history theU.S. economy is really not doing so hot. He describes an equal property distribution with some people having everything and some people having nothing. And this he says can create factions to the wealthy versus the poor. His large republic where you've got a Congress representing the many scattered views of the common people will work to balance this out.
Nick Capodice: [00:16:42] It seems like Madison and the other federalists are going to have an answer for every concern the anti federalist put their way. Yeah he pretty much do.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:16:52] And a big part of defending the Constitution is explaining the Constitution. Lequan anti federalist Brutus argues that the Supreme Court would be quote exalted above all other power in the government and subject to no control. And Hamilton is like OK let me break it down for you.
Claire Griffin: [00:17:12] Number seventy eight. Alexander Hamilton again is writing about the importance of the independent judiciary and I'm not sure whether or not he really believed it but he said that the three branches the judiciary would be the weakest he said. They have neither the force of the sword nor the pen. The idea being they have no way to enforce what their judgment is. And he also emphasized that they were called upon to exercise judgment about laws but not will. As in they are not the law makers. So when you hear discussions about activist judges or judicial overreach or even questions about judicial review today Hamilton are raising those questions back in 1788.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:18:05] And then there's the president the anti federalists looked at Article 2 and they were not happy with what they saw.
Nick Capodice: [00:18:11] I would imagine that anti federalists are looking at the role of the president in thinking this looks mighty familiar.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:18:18] Yep but the federalists believe that there is a very good reason for this executive power.
Claire Griffin: [00:18:24] Number 70 written by Alexander Hamilton. This is where he writes about the importance of energy in the executive branch. The right of the Constitution. We're looking at the immediate past history when we were governed under the Articles of Confederation. One of the major weaknesses of the government under the articles there was no chief executive. And so Hamilton whom some have called a monarchist which I think is unfair. Hamilton was arguing for a strong executive individual and a strong executive branch.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:19:03] And the executive branch that's laid out in the Constitution doesn't say all that much about putting a check on this new executive.
[00:19:10] The anti federalists feared that between veto power and pardon power you'd end up with a president who could bend the nation to his will.
Claire Griffin: [00:19:24] Well if you look you know throughout American history we've had a series of very strong executive. And usually it's in times of crisis. But it is a strong executive. The best for our nation and the epicenter of us would say you know no that's not such a good idea. You know the federalists were arguing generally in favor of a large government or at least a government larger than that which had existed prior and certainly big government can do great and wonderful things but the anti felt but more say not so fast. Maybe we don't want a huge government bureaucracy so it's kind of interesting you could say that the Federalist more success. You know they got their desired outcome.
[00:20:16] The Constitution was ratified and the Federalist Papers have become integral to our understanding of our founding. However if you look at the anti federalists given some of the questions and concerns that that they raised then they're still with us today. We may decide that after all they ended up having the last laugh.
Nick Capodice: [00:20:40] That is a really interesting point. The federalists won. So that's the history that counts right. And we look to the Federalist Papers to better understand the Constitution. And that makes them an amazing resource. But it does seem like the anti federalists are raising valid points.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:20:59] Absolutely. And remember the anti federalists are posing a real threat. First of all these essays are public. So if you can read and you don't like what you're reading about this proposed constitution you might just give your representative an earful down at the tavern or out on the street or after church. And then there's the fact that some of these anti federalists are going to be voting on whether or not to adopt the constitution. So they have a very real say in the future of the country. And on top of all that the Constitution only needs the support of nine states to be ratified. Right. But that means that as many as four states could choose not to ratify and potentially even sever ties with the new nation. So no more union union over and the country ends up being the very failure that so many framers were anxious to prevent.
Nick Capodice: [00:21:53] So the federalists do have to listen to the anti federalists.
[00:21:56] To an extent and not just to calm their fears or do damage control with anti fed op eds.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:22:02] Right the Constitution is up for a vote in ratifying conventions across the country and some states like Delaware Pennsylvania and New Jersey. They're quick to ratify. They do it in December of 1787 but the OP eds don't stop the Federalists and anti federalists are still battling it out into the spring and then into the summer of 1788 because there are a lot of very loud dissenters arguing that the Constitution is illegal under the Articles of Confederation that it's a document written by wealthy upper class people to benefit their own interests that it deprives states of their individual rights in favor of this big central government.
Nick Capodice: [00:22:42] Yeah how do the federalists reconcile that issue. It sounds like anti federalists are all about states having sovereignty and looking out for their own and making their own choices. So how can the federalists make this big government remotely appealing to them.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:22:56] Well Madison does dig into that by explaining how in broad terms this government is going to work. Here's Cheryl again.
[00:23:03] When he's trying to explain it one of the things he says and this is a quote from federalist 39 in its foundation it is federal not national in the sources from which the ordinary powers of government are drawn. It is partly federal and partly national in the operation of these powers. It is national not federal in the extent of them again it is federal not national. And finally in the authoritative mode of introducing amendments it is neither wholly federal or wholly national. Now that's enough to make anybody's eyes cross two or three times. It sounds like double speak.
Nick Capodice: [00:23:45] Yeah I really don't understand why Madison is talking about is he canceling out his own argument. And what does he mean by federal versus national aren't that the same thing when you deconstruct the paragraph.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:23:56] It really does illustrate the nature of federalism. Sometimes the states are in charge sometimes the national governments in charge and sometimes the federal government which is the combination of the two is in charge and these things change depending on the circumstance. He would then go on to say that this is really a check this idea that you have state power that doesn't belong the federal government an example of this is police powers. That's a state power. There's a number of things like that and sometimes the lines are blurred and sometimes are not.
Nick Capodice: [00:24:33] All right. So in other words Madison is saying look this strong federal government is not designed to deprive states of all power. Sometimes the states get to decide and sometimes the federal government gets to decide. Sometimes they decide together.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:24:50] Right. He's saying this document is not as extreme as these anti federalists are making it out to be.
[00:24:56] Don't worry you'll retain some states rights.
[00:25:03] Of course that doesn't address the little problem of the federal government being at the top of the food chain and the anti federalists are like we're afraid of tyranny. Remember this constitution doesn't say anything about protecting the little guy. You can't just kind of vaguely say don't worry individual citizens you'll be fine. The anti federalists want this in writing.
[00:25:27] OK. I've been waiting for this. This is the big ole glaring omission in the Constitution of 1787 and we're talking about the Bill of Rights. Where's that Bill of Rights.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:25:38] That is exactly what the Anti-federalists are saying. Where is the Bill of Rights? It might seem like a no brainer for us but at the time the federalists were like No no no we don't need to add anything to the Constitution. It's overkill it's redundant.
Claire Griffin: [00:25:53] The last Federalist Paper which is probably significant for what it argues against not for what it argues in favor of is number 84 in which Hamilton argues against a bill with a right.
[00:26:08] Now today for us in the 21st century a Bill of Rights is sacrosanct. It's right up there with the declaration and the Constitution. It is one of the founding document. It's hard for us to understand how could we not have a Bill of Rights.
[00:26:23] But if you look at Hamilton's arguments they could be pretty persuasive.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:26:28] Hamilton's main argument was that there's protection kind of built into the Constitution already. The federal government only has the powers that are laid out in the Constitution. And this idea of making a list of what the government is not allowed to do to individuals or to states. Well Hamilton says if you start listing them at all you've got to list all of them. And by the way you're bound to forget something and if it doesn't end up on the list well the government might have the power to impose it.
Nick Capodice: [00:26:57] All right. So I know you've been saying the anti federalists lost the war but.
[00:27:02] They did win this battle.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:27:04] Big time at the end of the Federalist anti federalist saga. We are going to have a constitution. But first the anti federalists need a little something. Actually they need 10 little somethings 10 somethings that will change the course of history and come to mean everything to the American people. In a last ditch effort to save the Union. Our civil liberties will be born. But how does it happen. How in Sam Hill does it happen, Nick?
Nick Capodice: [00:27:35] Find out next time on civics 101.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:27:43] Thanks for joining us for another installment of our foundational document series here on civics 101. This episode was produced by me. Hannah McCarthy with Nick Capodice.
Nick Capodice: [00:27:52] Our staff includes Jackie Helbert, Daniela Vidal Allee and Ben Henry. Erica Janik is our executive producer.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:27:58] Maureen McMurry is that other glaring omission from the U.S. Constitution.
Nick Capodice: [00:28:02] We could only cover so many federalist and anti federalist thoughts in this episode but we've got links to plenty more on our Web site civics 101 podcast.
[00:28:11] Dot org.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:28:11] Music in this episode by Quincas Moreira,
[00:28:14] Blue dot sessions and Jahzzar.
Nick Capodice: [00:28:16] Civics 101 is a production of NHPR. New Hampshire Public Radio.
Founding Documents: The Constitution
After just six years under the Articles of Confederation, a committee of anxious delegates agreed to meet in Philadelphia to amend the government. The country was in an economic crisis — citizens couldn’t pay their debts, the government couldn’t really collect taxes, and rebellions were cropping up in states across the nation. The existing government had the potential to drive the country to ruin. So fifty-five men gathered to determine the shape of the new United States.
The document that emerged after that summer of debate was littered with masterful planning, strange ideas and unsavory concessions. The delegates decided they'd be pleased if this new government lasted fifty years. It has been our blueprint for over two centuries now. This is the story of how our Constitution came to be.
Leading us through the sweltering summer of 1787 are Linda Monk, David O. Stewart, Woody Holton and Alvin Tillery.
The Constitution has a complicated story, so don’t stop here! There are some great resources out there that can shed more light on the Constitutional Convention and its ramifications.
Day-By-Day Summary of the Convention
James Madison took copious notes during the Constitutional Convention, and understanding the timeline of this event can help to shed light on the decisions and compromises made. This day-by-day summary can take you there without having to hold Madison’s hand the whole time.
But let’s say you, just like Linda Monk, would love to hold James Madison’s hand the whole time! You can find his complete notes below.
James Madison’s Notes from the Convention
There are lots of artistic interpretations of the Constitutional Convention. One of the more famous paintings is this beaut by Howard Chandler Christy.
The same folks who brought us that summary above (teachingamericanhistory.org) put together a great interactive version. You can click through the delegates and get to know them a little better.
Unpacking the impact of the Three-Fifths Compromise on the United States takes time. The reverberations were felt throughout history, and therefore can still be felt today. You can find more information on this and the vast scope of African American history at Black Past.
The Three-Fifths Compromise
HM: George Washington wakes up early, per usual, on November 5th, 1786. He goes to his study and reads over his correspondence. Around 7, the bell rings for breakfast, and he joins his guests, Charles Pinckney of South Carolina among them, at the table. They probably have cold ham and mutton -- though Washington’s favorite is mush cakes with butter and honey, and three cups of tea, no cream. When the guests hit the road, Washington heads into his study, and sits down to write some letters. In fact, he spends the rest of the day writing. He’s got a lot on his mind. He’s really worried about the state of the fledgling nation. At this point in history, the country is still under the Articles of Confederation. And things aren’t going so well.
NC: Yeah, those Articles... the U.S. didn’t exactly thrive under the Articles.
HM: Washington has just received word from James Madison who is in session with the Virginia Congress that the assembly is considering amending the Articles of Confederation.
NC: So why is Washington so worried? Things are looking up!
HM: Because it’s very nearly too late. The Articles of Confederation have only been in place for five years and they Do. Not. Work.Things are crumbling. Washington has just heard that small rebellions popping up all over the new nation. People are furious. Post-war debt is crushing the country. One of my favorite parts of this letter to Madison is when Washington talks about how melancholy it makes him to think that they might be “fulfilling the prediction of their transatlantic foe. Leave them to themselves and their government will soon dissolve.”
NC: Ouch. So Britain said this would happen, huh? Like, they told us we couldn’t make it work on our own, and look! Barely any time has passed and they’re basically right.
HM: Yeah. Washington calls it “a triumph for our enemies, for the advocates of despotism.” John Adams actually wrote to John Jay around this time and told him that people in England liked to joke that America would come crawling back, begging to be let back in. And then Britain would let them dangle for awhile and then tell them to buzz off.
NC: Oof. That is so cold! And it’s also the ultimate breakup fantasy, right? Like, juuuust wait. They’ll be sorry. They’re going to try to get me back some day, and I’m gonna say no chance.
HM: Except this breakup took seven years and tens of thousands of people died. Washington basically says, look, Madison, I know I don’t have to tell you this, but this weak government is going to be our downfall. So all I’m going to say is, I sure hope these thirteen states can consider the common good here.
NC: Ok, so Washington sends this letter off and then what? What does Madison do?
HM: Madison’s way ahead of things. Before he even receives Washington’s letter, he’s already got a bill before the Virginia assembly that will appoint delegates for a convention the following summer. A convention to amend the Articles of Confederation.
[beat]
HM: The bill passes. And other states follow suit.
[hit]
HM: The time? May 14th, 1787. The place? Philadelphia. What show is this? Civics 101. And I’m Hannah McCarthy.
NC: And I’m Nick Capodice.
HM: And today, we’re taking you to the City of Brotherly Love, to a stuffy chamber in the old Pennsylvania State House.
NC: The very same room where, a decade earlier, a group of men came together to declare themselves independent of their motherland.
HM: This time around they came to reel some of that independence in. This is the story of how our constitution and how it came to be.
HM: Well, first things first, in this episode, we’re going to be talking about the thing that was written in 1787. The document designed to correct a nation that was falling off the rails. So first, there’s a preamble. That’s the part that most people know. And a lot of us learn it through this School House Rock song.
[Quick SHR WTP tease]
NC: It’s some pretty grand language. “Secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.”
HM: Yeah, it starts out lofty. But the Constitution itself is a bit more dry than that.
Linda Monk [00:11:59] OK the Constitution we think of as basically a structure of government.
HM: This is Linda Monk. Otherwise known as “the Constitution Lady.”
LM [cont.]: It's got seven articles and four parchment pages that if you want to look at them article 1 which is Congress -- most people get that wrong and they think it's the president, but no it's Congress -- Congress gets two out of four pages and words in the Constitution count.
HM: Okay? So, very basically, the constitution is a collection of seven articles that explain what the government is - what’s in it? - and how it works. Article One, the Legislative Branch, seems to get the most attention.
LM [00:12:30] So the more words there are a lot of times the more powers there are the framers intended Congress to be the dominant branch of government. And that's where most of the power lie.
HM: Next longest is Article Two, the Executive Branch.
LM [cont.] The president was the piece of the current government that the framers had the hardest time agreeing on. They had lots of different proposals. Finally we came down to a president the method of selection in terms of the electoral college is still one that we debate and are concerned about.
HM: Then comes Article Three, the Judicial Branch.
LM [cont.]The third branch is the judiciary which has the fewest words. But we've come to think of it today as having broader powers.
HM: Article Four covers states and citizenship
LM [cont.] The full faith and credit that states must recognize for instance like the marriages in other states.
HM: Full faith and credit basically means that any state has to respect the acts, records and judicial proceedings of another state. Also deals with interstate felons, new states joining the union, and the Federal government protecting states. Then we’ve got five, the “this thing can be amended” clause.
LM [cont.] The fifth article is what I think is the secret sauce that's the amendment process. We said didn't work a constitution that's not too easy to change because that would make it more like every everyday law versus a constitution that's too hard to change. And then you have revolution instead of amendment.
HM: Six.
LM [cont.] The Sixth Amendment is a supremacy clause that says that the Constitution itself is the supreme law of the land including over other state constitutions.
HM: And last, but certainly not least, lucky seven.
LM [cont.] The Seventh Amendment is where they sign and say what what the process is are going to be from that.
HM: When when Linda says “the process,” she’s talking ratification. Nine states are going to have to vote yes on this document in order to make it stick. So there you go. Seven articles, all wrapped up in a neat little package.
Except it wasn’t neat! It was difficult and contentious and touch-and-go and very, very hot in there. So do you want to know how it happened?
NC: Yes! How did it happen?
HM: Well, Linda gives a lot of the credit to James Madison. Linda really, really loves James Madison.
LM [00:07:27] Oh, who can't love James Madison? He's my hunka burning constitutionalism.
HM: According to Linda, Madison is different from the other politicians. Compared to the other framers, he’s petite, and he’s nervous, but he’s strategic and thoughtful. A effective underdog.
LM [00:10:00] to have that combination of a great philosopher but also a good practical politician in one person. And for someone to say that government is the greatest of all reflections on human nature he just has a wisdom that really speaks to me and I will stand by it. He's my boyfriend and he's the person is my favorite founder.
HM: And even if you don’t carry a flame for him, Madison was undeniably instrumental to the Convention of 1787.
David Stewart [00:03:01]: I think you have to point to James Madison -- I have tended to quarrel with calling him the father of the Constitution, but I do think he's the father of the convention in many respects[...]
HM: This is David O. Stewart, author of The Summer of 1787. He’s going to be our main guide to the Constitutional Convention. David says that Madison was successful in part because of his connections. One connection in particular.
DS [cont.]: To be honest though nothing in that decade of the 70s in America happened of significance politically unless Washington was in it. He was the guy. And Madison very intelligently insisted that Washington's name be listed as one of Virginia's delegates right from the start that gave an incredibly strong blessing to the process.
NC: Celebrity power. Like having Obama speak at your charity event or something.
HM: Only bigger. Washington was a celebrity of almost ridiculous proportions.
DS [00:07:18]: I think he could have you know his stature was immense. I mean he was at a stage where he couldn't enter a city without having the church bells ring and fireworks be scheduled in an illumination of everybody's house happen that night. I mean he just was you know the star. We we've never experienced you know stardom at the level that he did.
NC: Okay, so Madison is rallying people to come to this convention, and he knows that Washington will make for some great bait?
DS [00:04:17]: Washington was very uncertain whether he really wanted to go but he did ultimately decide to. There was a lot at stake. And if it didn't go well it would be he would be blamed for it and he knew that. And so it was not an easy decision. He had tried to retire from public life after the revolution and I think he meant to.
NC: Is it weird to say I feel a little bad for George Washington?
HM: No, I think that makes sense. The man put his time in, and he wants to sit back and enjoy the rest of his life in peace. But the country he had fought so hard for was struggling to stay afloat. So he allows himself to be drawn back in -- with the understanding that he would be presiding officer -- actually referred to as the President -- of the convention. That means he’s not going to orate, he’s not going to debate. He’s going to oversee, and he’ll vote.
NC: Alright, so Madison’s got Washington, he’s got his delegates, and then everyone meets up in Philadelphia to figure something out?
HM: It wasn’t quite that easy. Almost everybody was late. The convention was set to start on the 14th of May, and they didn’t reach a quorum - 7 states - until the 25th. Rhode Island just never showed. New Hampshire didn’t have the money to send their delegates until mid-July. There’s actually this funny moment in Madison’s notes where someone proposes a resolution to send for the delegates from New Hampshire and the motion is defeated.
[music beat]
DS [00:08:16] Virginians were the first out of town delegation arrived. The Pennsylvania delegation was mostly men from Philadelphia so they lived there. And those two groups of men got to know each other pretty well. Many of them knew each other beforehand but they did talk and strategize together. And then the Virginians developed a process where in the mornings. And this happened for over a week. They would convene at a boarding house where Madison was staying and they would and they put together a blueprint.
HM: So, remember, the plan is to get a bunch of delegates together and make changes to the Articles of Confederation so that they, well, work. So that the country doesn’t fall apart. But Madison has a different idea. The delegation spends a few days voting on rules for the convention, including total secrecy so that the framers can debate freely and change their minds if necessary, and then Madison makes his move. Before any debate or suggestion takes place, he has fellow Virginian Edmund Randolph submit a list of fifteen resolutions. It’s called the Virginia Plan.
DS [00:08:16] What the Virginia Plan did basically was throw out the articles and start on a blank piece of paper. And that was audacious and it was also very smart because people didn't wouldn't bring to the debate all the old arguments they'd been having for six years under the articles and they could start essentially with first principles of how a government should be designed and should operate.
NC: Woah, that’s bold. I mean, the Articles of Confederation are no dream come true, but imagine showing up thinking you were going to make some small adjustments and this faction of states tells you, nope, surprise! We’re here to talk about a brand new form of government.
DS [00:09:00] There were delegations like Pennsylvania, and I think the South Carolinians, who knew exactly what the Virginians were doing and supported it. There were a number of delegations. What classically has come down to being described as the small state delegations who were surprised and in no small measure are appalled the Delaware delegation ended up threatening to leave. They had instructions from their state legislature that did not include starting over with a new charter of government.
HM: So there are delegates who are understandably upset with this proposition. And they certainly could bail.. They could walk right out that door and spare themselves months of debate in an airless room.
NC: So why don’t they? If enough delegates leave, they’d lose their quorum and then it’d be over. They can try again next year.
HM: Well, two delegates from New York do eventually walk out, Robert Yates and John Lansing. But I think back to that letter George Washington wrote to Madison. Things are bad in the country right now. The government needs to change, or this grand experiment is going to fail. And how are you going to walk away from the chance to contribute to the structure of a new nation?
Woody Holton [00:20:04] If I wanted to choose a three word phrase that sums up the motives of the authors of the Constitution it would be a phrase that was used at the convention and that phrase is describing the problem that the Constitution was designed to solve as excess of democracy.
HM: New face here. Woody Holton, historian and author of Unruly Americans.
WH: The feeling among many of those 50 most of those 55 guys who wrote the Constitution was hey it was great that we got rid of the king but like a pendulum swung too far to the opposite extreme and now we have an excess of democracy and we've got to pull it back the other way.
HM: “Excess of democracy” might sound absurd to the average American, but what Woody means is that, under the Articles of Confederation, the states were masters of their own destiny. They had a say in whether they would be taxed, they got to make up their own rules. And it wasn’t working. Woody says there were so many factors that lead to the debates on the floor of the Philadelphia State House. But money makes the world go ‘round. And after the revolutionary war, the country had empty pockets and crushing debt, with no surefire system in place to collect taxes.
WH [00:24:21] The the people who wrote the Constitution did not write it to make the country more free. They wrote it to get the country out of a recession. They thought the country was in a recession because debts weren't being paid both to the bondholders who had bought up the war bonds or to private creditors. And they had other practical modems like that.
HM: So many delegates saw a lot of danger in granting a federal government more power. And so much of that is about who you can trust, right? Like, these powers can be a good thing if they stop anarchy and improve the economy. But there is some serious danger in power, too. The inherent dichotomy is so stark that there is no way to make everyone happy here. But we do need a new government, right? Nobody wants to go crawling back to Great Britain! So from the absolute get-go, this convention is going to have a theme.
NC: Powdered wigs? Waistcoats?
HM: Compromise.
NC: Ah. Compromise. Yikes. Good luck. By the way, what exactly is the Virginia plan? What does Madison want the new government to look like?
HM: Right. So Madison proposes a strong national government that could make and enforce laws and collect taxes. The legislation would be bicameral, and representation would be proportional to a state’s population.
DS [00:11:30]: And when the Virginia Plan comes out, those devotees of states rights were the most shocked and appalled. Couple of delegates from New York actually left after six weeks that because they were so unhappy with the centralization of power under the draft that everyone was working on. So when that argument was engaged it ended up morphing into an issue over representation and that was a lucky thing I think for the people who wanted a stronger national government because there are certain -- once you're arguing about representation, you're arguing over how to do it as opposed to should we keep this system where the states have essentially almost all the power.
NC: Ohhhh ok. So Madison proposes this plan, and in order to talk about this plan, the delegates have to talk about representation. And that’s such a hot button issue, that suddenly everyone is debating how they’ll be represented in this new congress, and they’ve mostly moved on from the fact that this is a new system of government and that wasn’t the plan for this convention.
HM: Yeah, there were enough people who genuinely wanted that stronger central government, and once the small states got up in arms about their representation, well, suddenly we are officially debating a whole new system of government. And we are officially making compromises. Little New Jersey says ok, I see your two-house proportional representation and raise you: a unicameral legislature and equal representation. Each state gets one vote. As outlined in the Articles of Confederation
DS [00:15:00] That was the bitterest fight of the summer and really almost blew up the convention in early July the small state delegates were about to leave because they'd been losing. And then finally it ended up in an issue resolved before a committee of one delegate from each of the states than they were called committees of 11 because there were only 11 states represented at the time. And they came up with his compromise that we still live with where the Senate has equal state representation. Each state gets two senators and the House of Representatives is proportional based on population.
HM: This was actually called the Great Compromise, or the Connecticut Compromise, because Oliver Ellsworth from Connecticut proposed it. No, not everyone is going to be happy, but it’s acceptable. And they’ve got more work to do. So delegates are even willing to let this go to committee to hammer out the details. But when they reconvene, it’s time to compromise again. Because when you talk representation, you talk population. And nearly 20 percent of the population at that time was enslaved.
Alvin Tillery [00:07:01] Well the three-fifths compromise was essentially one of the pro slavery clauses of the Constitution.
HM: This is Alvin Tillery. He’s the Director of the Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy at Northwestern University.
AT [00:17:35] And what the southerners wanted entering the Constitutional Convention of 1787 was they wanted all of their slaves to be counted in the apportionment because places like South Carolina and Georgia had very very large slave populations. They were not as well developed as the Mid-Atlantic slave states or the northeastern states. And so for them if you were just counting white people they were going to have very few seats. And so entering the convention they demanded you know a full count every slave would count as one person.
HM: In some states, enslaved people made up a full third of the population. To count slaves as members of the population, rather than pieces of property, would be to give the South real power in terms of representation. So Northerners made the argument that slaves were livestock. Just like horses or oxen. You don’t count horses or oxen as part of the population, do you? So why would you count your slaves? The South said, no, these are people. Human beings. They ought to be counted. So what if they can’t vote? Women can’t vote, but they’re counted.
NC: You know, I think we’re often taught that the North was the moral player throughout the history of the U.S.. But here they are denying the humanity of enslaved people for the sake of argument.
HM: And remember, at the time of this Convention, slavery was still legal in the North, in Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and New York. And the North had been built on slave labour.
AT: They all understood that it was immoral. And so the the old view that the framers the founding generation the slaveholders among them from Washington and Jefferson and Madison that they didn't know that slavery was wrong is belied by their own writings and statements about slavery. Let's let's not forget that in the first version of the Declaration Thomas Jefferson essentially blamed the king's evil advisers in Parliament for slavery foisting slavery upon them right. [00:12:25] Jefferson wrote very compellingly and notes on the state of Virginia about slavery being a moral evil. And so so those old arguments just don't hold any water. We know from the writings of the framers that they knew that this system was wrong but they protected it because of a combination of their economic interests and white supremacy.
NC: So what conversations were they actually having over this representation issue? Was it purely motivated by money and racism?
HM: I think the racial and economic bias is a given in this room. But there were some people -- like Gouvenour Morris from Pennsylvania and Rufus King from Massachusetts -- who argued against the entire principle of slavery from a moral point of view. Morris even suggested that the newly reformed nation buy and free all slaves, which was quickly shot down. Even in those free states, you still had men who had grown up with slaves. Who were self-interested elites.
AT: [00:13:45] And so so the entire original 13 the wealth that made them all viable is bound up in slavery in some way or another. And this is the argument the southerners used they would say well it's fine for New York and Massachusetts to say that they don't need slavery anymore but they've had slavery for 100 years 125 years and extracted great wealth from it. Well has Charles Cotesworth Pinckney would say from South Carolina South Carolina's just starting to do that. So it's not fair you know to say to say we developed on the slavery basis and now you guys can't. And I think that that argument won the day.
HM: The “compromise” part of this is in the name, of course. Three-Fifths Compromise. Southern delegates wanted their enslaved population to count as full members of the population. Northern delegates didn’t want them to count at all. So they split the difference, based on a number James Madison proposed back when they were figuring out taxes under the Articles of Confederation. The enslaved population would only be counted at three-fifths of its total. Native Americans, by the way, will also appear in article one. They aren’t counted for tax or representative purposes.
NC: Ok, but... for those delegates who were opposed to slavery, and even those states where it was illegal -- why did they give in? Why was it necessary to give the slave states some version of what they wanted?
HM: Well, the South was threatening to walk out.
AT: The South Carolinians were also incredibly clear about exiting the compact. If they did not sort of get to count some of their slave population in the apportionment. And so it was it was union and slavery or no union. And so they didn't really have a choice if they wanted a federal government. And that was what all of these men were nationalist federalists. They had done something that no one believed they could do. And they wanted to see the experiment succeed. [00:15:54]
HM: So, there’s an emotional element to this, right? They did something that nobody had ever successfully done before. They waged war against their motherland, and won, and started a brand new kind of nation. These delegates want to leave Philadelphia as an intact union. But Alvin says it’s also a practical choice.
AT: The overarching concern is the national security concern that England is coming back. George will be back. And as we all know he did come back in the War of 1812. And so the argument for union is both an argument for financial efficiency and expediency so you could actually get credit in international credit markets loan money buildup the you know the industry in the country so that you could compete with Britain and France but also provide for common defense.[00:18:57] And so one of the states two of the states exiting the union leaves them in a much more vulnerable position because you know even has a union they still lost the War of 1812 right. So this is their concern.
HM: The Three-Fifths Compromise was adopted on July 12th, and most states voted yes. Only the Delaware and New Jersey delegates were unanimously against it.
NC: I think it can sometimes be easy to revere the Constitution because provisions like the Three-Fifths Compromise are no longer in there. But this thinking about this as something that was baked into the early days of the U.S. -- how did it end up shaping us?
AT [00:19:47] Well I mean it absolutely inflated the representative power of the of the slave states in the Congress in the House of Representatives and in the electoral college and what that means is that you know five of the first seven presidents are slave owners from Virginia. Right. And you know which was the most populous and powerful of the slave states and this legacy extends into the you know the 19th century the late federal period. It allows southerners to establish a democratic party and to put in place things like the gag rule which means you can't talk about slavery or introduce petitions from northern states against slavery in Congress. And so that takes slavery off the table has a life political issue for 20 years essentially.
HM: Even after the Three-Fifths Compromise, and a clause requiring fugitive slaves be returned to their masters, were removed from the Constitution following the Civil War, southern states found ways to disenfranchise their African American population, while at the same time gaining even greater population numbers now that all people were fully counted. Here’s David Stewart again.
DS [00:45:42] You know they made grimy compromises. There's no other word for it. The Electoral College is a mess on the slavery provisions are unattractive. When Madison had to write about them in Federalist Papers he clearly found it almost impossible. But you had to get a deal. Otherwise the country might well fall apart. And that's the stakes they were playing for. [00:46:06] And if you had to swallow something you hated most of for it.
HM: And so they keep going. Madison’s plan called for an executive power -- should it be one man or a committee? Well, most states have one, so one it is. But can they veto laws? Sure, but that veto can be overridden by two-thirds of both houses. Well how are we going to elect this one powerful man? Direct election by the people? Absolutely not. What about some kind of indirect system...
NC: Oh, man. The electoral college is so weird.
HM: But it is a compromise. And then came another, this one about the slave trade itself. Ten states had banned the import of enslaved people. Georgia and the Carolinas threatened to walk out if they dared to the same to them. So...
NC: They compromised.
HM: Yeah. Congress would eventually have the power to ban the slave trade entirely. But not until 1808.
NC: Hannah, there are so many disappointing, even shocking, steps. So many ugly compromises that came out of that room. But then this plan sticks around. For over 230 years. And, in so many ways, it has benefited this country. There is a lot to be dissatisfied or distraught over, but we live in a democratic system that can actually work.
HM: Linda Monk actually pointed out the elements of the original Constitution that I think gave it the ability to last.
LM [00:18:00] So the laws that are passed day to day by congress or parliament a majority can improve. And a majority can disapprove them. But the American constitution requires a two thirds majority of the Congress or state conventions to or to propose amendment and then a three fourths majority of the states to approve it. And so that's a high bar we don't want our constitution changing at the whim of the people. But we do want it to be subject to the people.
HM: That’d be Article Five -- the Amendment Clause.
NC: Okay, now, obviously the words We, the People in the preamble did not apply to all people in the U.S. when they were written. But there’s a little bit of We, the People in that article, isn’t there? All this talk about representation, remember, it goes both ways. Yes, it’s about the congresspeople, but it’s also about the people people. The people who’ll elect them. And I feel like the same goes for the amendment process.
HM: Absolutely. The “we, the people” slowly came true. And even if it didn’t apply to everyone at first, and in many ways still doesn’t, it’s there, right? We can rise to it. I kind of feel like the amendment clause itself is a built in acknowledgement that words and ideas of 1787 may not apply to 1887. Or 1987.
LM [00:16:01] Those first three words the most important words in the Constitution really we the people. And it's it's really expressing this idea of popular sovereignty popular meaning the people's sovereignty meaning power and the preamble makes it clear that the power that is the people's is then used to ordained the Constitution. The people have the power and they give it to the Constitution. And that's why the president the Congress the Supreme Court any federal and state officer takes an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States. That's the Supreme source of our power.
[Oath montage]
HM: There was one last compromise to come out of that four-month process -- this one was suggested by the convention’s oldest delegate, Dr. Benjamin Franklin. At this point in his life, Ben Franklin had gone from a slave-owning white supremacist to the president of Philadelphia’s Abolitionist Society. This is a man who has changed his mind, radically, over time. “The older I grow,” he says, “the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment, and to pay more respect to the judgment of others.”
And Nick, I know that you’ve always harbored a desire to play Ben Franklin in 1776. And while I cannot give you that, I can do you this small kindness. Would you read Franklin’s final statement to the convention?
NC: Here goes.
“On the whole, Sir, I cannot help expressing a wish that every member of the Convention, who may still have objections to it, would with me, on this occasion, doubt a little of his own infallibility, and to make manifest our unanimity, put his name to this instrument.”
HM: And you know, in the end, despite Franklin’s appeal, only 39 delegates signed. 16 abstained. Not everyone agreed on this new system of government, not everyone was happy with the compromises that went into it. But they were walking out of that stifling room with a new plan, a new system. It was a radical moment.
NC: You know Hannah, there’s one last compromise this constitution will have to wrestle with. Actually, a whole bill of them. We, the people, have a few things to say about this new system of government. And if I remember correctly, there’s a whole Article that says we get our say.
HM: Ah, that’s right. Number Seven. The Ratification Clause. But if you think those framers are going to sit back and watch that debate from the sidelines, you are sorely mistaken, my friend. They’ve just compromised their whole summer away, they worked hard for this Constitution! If the states are going to debate this, the framers are going to put in their two cents. Actually, their 85 cents. It’s time for a strong federal government, Nick. The Federalists will not go quietly.
HM: that’s next time on Civics 101.
HM: Today’s episode was produced by me, Hannah McCarthy.
NC: And me, Nick Capodice.
HM: Our staff includes Jacqui Helbert, Daniela Allee and Ben Henry. Erika Janik is our Executive Producer.
NC: Maureen McMurray subsists on mush cakes and three cups of black tea.
HM: If you want to know more about how our Constitution came to be -- and trust me, there’s a lot more to learn --- you can find resources galore at Civics 101 podcast dot org.
NC: Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions, Jingle Punks, Quincas Moreira, Josh Lippi and the Overtimers, Jahzzar, Vibe Mountain, Sir Cubworth, Konrad Oldmoney, Bad Snacks and the United States Marine Band.
HM: Civics 101 is a production of NHPR -- New Hampshire Public Radio.
Founding Documents: Articles of Confederation
While a famous committee of five drafted the Declaration of Independence, a far more unsung committee of thirteen wrote America's first rulebook. The Articles of Confederation was our first constitution, and it lasted nine years. If you prefer Typee to Moby Dick, Blood Simple to A Serious Man, or Picasso's Blue Period over Neoclassicism, you just might like the Articles of Confederation.
The fable of its weaknesses, strengths, rise, and downfall are told to us by Danielle Allen, Linda Monk, Joel Collins, and Lindsey Stevens.
Special thanks to Paul Bogush, who taught us to play Articles of Confederation the Game with a sack of blocks. If you want to see his game in action, you can read about it here! Other teachers have tried Paul’s game as well, with tremendous results.
Editor’s Note: At one point Joel Collins notes that the Confederation Congress met in Lancaster, PA. While this meeting was during the debate about the Articles, it was in September 1777 and therefore was the Second Continental Congress, not the Confederation Congress.
Civics 101: Articles of Confederation
CPB: [00:00:00] Civics 101 is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:04] I think now is as good a time as any to admit a bit of a minor confession. I sometimes have so much trouble reading primary source documents. I've got Article 9 in the Articles of Confederation in front of me I think I have read it ten times. I don't know what it means. These documents were written a long time ago.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:24] They can be hard to understand.
Paul Bogush: [00:00:26] Primary sources are difficult to bring to light.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:29] This is Paul Bogush. He's a teacher at Dag Hammarskjold middle school.
Paul Bogush: [00:00:32] A lot of times in a classroom it's very easy to give your standard quiz where the kids will read through the documents. They'll name the different parts and spit it back on a test. But I wanted my kids to ingest the documents a little bit differently.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:44] So how on earth do you convey to someone the challenges of governing under the Articles of Confederation without putting them in a chair and making them read it a hundred times.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:54] So Hannah imagine you're sitting in a class you're about to do a blah blah boring day and your teacher comes in with his giant sack of blocks and just dumps them on the table. Heads up. No class today. We're going to play a game.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:01:10] You love games.
[00:01:12] So the teacher cues up some war music, and they play Articles of Confederation. The class is divided into teams which are states, and more students are put in the bigger states.
Paul Bogush: [00:01:25] So the Group of Eight represented Virginia the Group of Six represented Pennsylvania. The group of four represented New York. The group of two represented Connecticut. And finally the one lonely kid by themselves represented Delaware.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:37] Oh poor Delaware. But each state got a different amount of blocks and was told to make a big strong fort that is still standing at the end of class. And the bigger your state was the more blocks you got. So Virginia got a ton of blocks and Delaware got three. Delaware's fort is done in like 5 seconds. But. Every state could do whatever they wanted to help each other out. They could trade blocks they could sell blocks that could help build each other's forts and they could change any rules of the game at all as long as they followed two guidelines.
Paul Bogush: [00:02:10] Rule number one: any state can propose a new rule as long as four out of the five groups agree to it. And rule number two: Each state would only get one vote regardless of their size.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:02:21] So they can do anything.
Nick Capodice: [00:02:23] Anything.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:02:23] But they need to convince almost all of the other states to agree.
Nick Capodice: [00:02:28] Yeah. And Delaware right off the bat proposes a rule that all states should share their blocks equally so everyone gets the same amount. And you can probably guess how that went. So Delaware tries another tack.
Paul Bogush: [00:02:39] Delaware also tried to buy blocks from other states but none of the other states want to sell them. They immediately shot Delaware down and so Delaware was stuck with just their three measly little blocks. But at that moment, me, who is playing England, stepped in and offered to sell Delaware some of the blocks that we had on hand. The other states thought this was immensely unfair and so they tried to stop it.
Nick Capodice: [00:03:06] But that didn't work because Connecticut also wanted more blocks and bought them from England.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:03:11] Did they pass any rules at all?
Nick Capodice: [00:03:12] I spoke with several teachers who played Paul's game and they all said no matter how many times they've played it not one rule got passed. And at the end the class the teacher looks at all the forts of the different states and says, "What if I told you that Delaware's fort is solely responsible for protecting the entire class?"
Paul Bogush: [00:03:36] In every single class that I did this activity the kids that were in the group from Virginia all came to the same conclusion. And that was if they weren't so greedy and selfish and if they cared more about the other states during the process that they would still have power when it was all over.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:03:53] I'm not 100 percent certain how this game is related to the Articles of Confederation.
Nick Capodice: [00:03:58] I think you will be by the end of this episode.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:03:59] All right.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:04:00] But what did those students learn that day.
Paul Bogush: [00:04:04] That we basically need government to save us from ourselves.
Nick Capodice: [00:04:13] Not quite in the lauded canon of the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence; this document is usually remembered for one thing. It's weaknesses. I'm Nick Capodice.
Nick Capodice: [00:04:27] And this is Civics 101 our founding documents series. Today we're talking about America's first rule book, the Articles of Confederation. To start, Harvard professor Danielle Allen told me that the Articles of Confederation are even mentioned within the Declaration of Independence.
Danielle Allen: [00:04:45] If you go back to that second sentence where they say that it's the job of the people to lay the foundation on principle and organize the powers of government? That, those two phrases are there to-do list. And that's exactly the committees they set up in June of 1776. They needed a committee to articulate the foundation of principle, that was the committee drafting the Declaration of Independence, and then they needed a committee to organize the powers of government. And that was the committee drafting the Articles of Confederation.
Nick Capodice: [00:05:11] This was a committee of 13 led by anti-independence Congressman John Dickinson of Delaware.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:05:17] So they were written even before we declared independence from Britain.
Nick Capodice: [00:05:22] No because there were sixteen months of revisions.
Nick Capodice: [00:05:26] And then the Continental Congress adopted them in 1777 but they weren't fully ratified by the states until 1781. The American revolution didn't end till 1783.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:05:37] Ok so Articles of Confederation what do they say.
Nick Capodice: [00:05:40] The first article is just "the style of this Confederacy shall be the United States of America."
Hannah McCarthy: [00:05:47] Confederacy, like the South in the civil war?
Nick Capodice: [00:05:52] Yeah Confederacy is just a style of government with individual sovereign states. No big central power running everything. The most famous one today is the European Union.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:06:03] But why did we want it to be like that.
Nick Capodice: [00:06:05] Here's Linda Monk, she's a constitutional scholar and the author of The Bill of Rights a User's Guide.
Linda Monk: [00:06:10] I think it's it's a new government trying to decide OK we didn't like the way the old King did it or the old government did it. How are we gonna do it now? I mean we, think about that that the colonies, the former colonies were able to unite together to fend off the world's strongest military was astonishing. But again as Washington recognized, a revolution by itself is commonplace.
Nick Capodice: [00:06:44] A revolution is an idea and that's a lot easier than a rulebook. We wanted to make sure we got everything right. And when you think about the mindset of the people who wrote this they were coming from a monarchy and they wanted this new system of government to be as opposite as possible to what rule under England was like. I've even heard teachers refer to this using a Goldilocks metaphor, that monarchy was too hot and the Articles of Confederation were too cold.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:07:11] And the constitution is going to be just right.
Nick Capodice: [00:07:13] Exactly. I asked Joel Collins, law professor at South Carolina Honors College, about the Goldilocks metaphor.
Nick Capodice: [00:07:20] Too, hot one's too cold, and constitution is just right.
Joel Collins: [00:07:22] Well that's a simplification. I don't agree with you. OK let's talk about the articles. So so here we are. We have declared our independence we fought for our independence. We've won the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. By the way I call it The War of Independence not the Revolutionary War. We weren't trying to overthrow King George just wanted our freedom. But the one thing that these newly formed states had in common was a desire to avoid a strong central government. They did not want that. The articles are referred to, in the language of their articles, a firm league of friendship. And the articles were designed to be really inefficient.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:08:08] So how did this purposefully inefficient government work?
Lindsey Stevens: [00:08:12] They have one branch of government and that's the Legislative branch. And they call that the Confederation Congress.
Nick Capodice: [00:08:18] That's Lindsey Stevens, government teacher from Katy Texas.
Lindsey Stevens: [00:08:21] It's unicameral so there's only one group and one state gets one vote. So that's the structure of it. And then they specifically list what powers the national government can have. They have the power to coin money the power to make treaties with foreign nations and they also do have the power to request money from the states.
Nick Capodice: [00:08:42] Request money. That word request. It's really important. The federal government isn't taxing states. They're just asking the states for money.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:08:51] And what if the states say no?
Nick Capodice: [00:08:53] You just stand on your porch and shake your fist at them and then if you're another state you say, well look Delaware didn't do it I'm not going to do it either.
Lindsey Stevens: [00:09:00] After the American Revolution ends the states no longer have a common purpose. That was what was holding this League of Friendship together, that they all had a common interest and that was winning the American Revolution and sticking it to the man sticking it to the British government. Once that common interest is gone, the quarrels, the fighting begins.
Linda Monk: [00:09:20] It's like 13 arguing brothers and sisters they all want to be equal.
Nick Capodice: [00:09:24] That's Linda Monk again.
Linda Monk: [00:09:26] No, you take out the garbage. No I don't want to take out the garbage, you take out the garbage. And it particularly came down to this issue of taxation of how are you going to support a government if the states individually aren't willing to pay taxes to cover the costs? And like I say the, can you imagine today if we had an army of unpaid soldiers? Would we expect that government to long continue? No. So the biggest issue was that Congress as it would say the United States in Congress Assembled, that was actually the name of the government. It had some powers, but fundamental is the power to tax. And until you had some agreement amongst the states that was going to allow that it was going to be very difficult.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:10:17] The articles could be amended right.
Nick Capodice: [00:10:19] Yes.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:10:19] So why didn't we just add an amendment saying that the government could tax the states?
Nick Capodice: [00:10:24] Well the amendment process itself was a huge issue.
Joel Collins: [00:10:28] It took 13 out of 13 to change the articles. Rhode Island, which they call Rogue Island wouldn't ever go along with anything. They were always the "no" vote. And as a result of that they couldn't get that 13 out of 13 votes necessary. By the way each state had one vote. That's the way it worked back then. And that's the way it worked at the Constitution Convention, each state had one vote. It took nine out of 13 to enact anything. They never had the power to create and fund an army or a navy. They never had a right to control interstate commerce, and these states were effecting disadvantages on each other by enacting tariffs and levies, duties and all that. And so the trade was just a mess. There were menacing foreign powers looking at these rich colonies sitting there, you know, unorganized and ununited. It had no chief executive.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:11:32] No president at all.
Nick Capodice: [00:11:34] Well there was a president of Congress but that's like for trivial pursuit. Not a president with powers like you and I know it. There was also no judicial branch no national courts and no official meeting place. No, like, building.
Joel Collins: [00:11:48] Go back and read about all the various places the Articles of Confederation, the Confederation Congress met. They met New York, Philadelphia, Lancaster Pennsylvania one time. And one of the books that I assigned to my students David O. Stewart says, "a peripatetic government can never be expected to be very strong and powerful."
Hannah McCarthy: [00:12:10] This doesn't sound good.
Joel Collins: [00:12:11] There were so many problems. There was no common currency. Think about that. You couldn't go into some other state and use your money because it was no good. There were exchange rates but they wildly fluctuated and they were not consistent. For one thing without liquid currency available people who owed money and who couldn't pay their debts with bartered crops or something like that were in a heck of a bind.
Nick Capodice: [00:12:41] Hannah you've got to look up photos of this early American currency. It may have been an economic nightmare but it was certainly a beautiful one. You've got Connecticut shillings, Rhode Island dollars, and Virginia pounds sterling.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:12:54] I'm seeing the flaws of the Articles of Confederation but were there any strengths to it?
Nick Capodice: [00:12:59] I asked Lindsay that exact question.
Lindsey Stevens: [00:13:01] Under the Articles of Confederation the Continental Congress was able to pass one very successful law and that's the Northwest Ordinance.
Lindsey Stevens: [00:13:11] The Northwest Ordinance decided what we were going to do with the land that we had acquired through the Treaty of Paris at the conclusion of the American Revolution.
Nick Capodice: [00:13:20] This land that we got from Britain at the end of the war was called the Northwest Territory and it includes most of modern day Ohio Indiana Illinois Michigan and Wisconsin.
Lindsey Stevens: [00:13:30] And the question that the delegates had to answer is, "What are we going to do with this land? Are we going to make it a colony? Are we going to make it a territory? Can it be admitted as a state?" And they saw the writing on the wall that if they left it as a colony the Territory could eventually have another revolution.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:13:50] So this is another example of let's not do things the way that England did. We don't want another little colony to break off and have a revolution, right?
Nick Capodice: [00:13:59] Right. So they say these territories can become states part of the United States. But there are some requirements;.
Lindsey Stevens: [00:14:05] They have to have self-government, they have freedom of speech freedom of the press freedom of religion. They're not allowed to have slavery.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:14:13] OK. Stop. This ordinance says slavery is not legal in new states?
Nick Capodice: [00:14:20] Yep. We're three documents in and we have finally arrived at our first national limitation on the expansion of slavery. But states that practice it already are allowed to continue to practice.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:14:33] And therefore become even more rich and powerful.
Nick Capodice: [00:14:36] Yes. So this can be viewed as a pro slavery and an antislavery ordinance. But that aside, if a new territory abides by these rules it can apply to become a state. They have to have a constitution and they had to be approved by the Congress.
Lindsey Stevens: [00:14:53] But once they went through that process they were able to have equal rights and equal representation in the government as the original 13 states. And that was really a revolutionary idea of us adding more states to our union that really didn't happen in the past.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:15:10] So there is a little good but it seems like a lot of problems in this weak system of government. How does it all come crashing down in the end.
Nick Capodice: [00:15:21] It crashes like this. You got this government that can't tax,, can't collect money and therefore can't pay soldiers. And as Linda Monk puts it:.
Linda Monk: [00:15:30] Unpaid soldiers after war's over are not a good idea.
Nick Capodice: [00:15:35] And it leads to something called Shays' Rebellion.
Linda Monk: [00:15:39] We can think of that term harshly today, call it rebellion instead of, say, revolution. But really Daniel Shays had been a captain, he was a Revolutionary War veteran. These were farmers from Western Massachusetts who had gone off to defend their country while the bankers from Boston were foreclosing on their debts and taking away their homes. That didn't sound fair or to the people of western Massachusetts and Shays and other unpaid veterans.
Joel Collins: [00:16:09] So he and these farmers decided to march on the armory in Springfield Massachusetts and seize the guns and weaponry and ammunition, and they were gonna then march down to where the Confederate Congress was meeting. And they were gonna absolutely fire 'em up, they were gonna take over the government.
Nick Capodice: [00:16:33] So Massachusetts says "we need help" and the federal government requests that the states chip in with money and soldiers and cannon. But all those states say they've got their own problems.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:16:43] So what happens.
Nick Capodice: [00:16:44] What happens is wealthy private citizens are losing money due to this uprising pool their resources together and they hire a private military to quell Shays and the 4000 plus rebels. But look at the implication of this. You've got private citizens hiring private citizens to go to war with private citizens. Is that what you want? Is that what America is? Is that what this new nation is going to be like? And if it happens in Massachusetts who's to say it's not going to happen in your state? Shays' Rebellion is a cautionary tale.
Nick Capodice: [00:17:24] So we're at the beginning of the end. As is so often the case it comes down to money. All this time the states have been doing whatever they could with their own constitutions and every state had their own constitution by the way, just to make things work when it came to interstate commerce, dealing with those Rhode Island shillings and those Connecticut dollars. So what they had to do is create treaties just to trade with each other, like foreign nations. And there's a call for a political convention at Mann's Tavern in Annapolis Maryland to talk about how we should handle trade between the states.
Joel Collins: [00:18:01] James Madison was there. Only five states sent representatives. The host state Maryland sent nobody.
Lindsey Stevens: [00:18:09] They have been given directives from their states to discuss interstate commerce and to create trade agreements. But on New Jersey's directive from their state it says "anything else pertinent to the success of our country."
Nick Capodice: [00:18:23] Anything else pertinent to the success of our country. Anything else? New Jersey is like, "anything any of us, you, want to chat about while we're all here? Some sort of big elephant in the room? Maybe we could talk about fixing this disaster of a government system? But they can't do much with just five states so they decide to meet up again next year. But not this bar in Maryland. Let's do it proper, let's do it in Philadelphia.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:18:56] I think I know where this is going....
Nick Capodice: [00:18:56] The point of this episode is not to say the Articles of Confederation were an abject failure and oh how foolish were we. They taught us a great deal about ourselves. So I want to end with a final thought from Lindsay Stevens.
Lindsey Stevens: [00:19:08] Some people call the Articles of Confederation a "learning to crawl before you walk" document, taking the first steps of creating a national government. Some people consider it to be a total mistake. I think those people are looking at it with with the insight of what we know today.
Lindsey Stevens: [00:19:25] If you think about it though the Articles is really a good first step towards a national government. What we learned from the articles is that absence of power doesn't create a limited government, it actually creates an ineffective government. You nkow, government has a purpose. And that is to protect the unalienable rights of its citizens. In order for that to happen we do have to give the government some power. We just have to be careful about how we do that. And so we developed a system of checks and balances, separation of powers in order to make sure that that system stays in place and that the government's power is limited.
Nick Capodice: [00:20:00] So, did we learn from our mistakes? Can we keep this republic, Hannah?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:20:07] Find out next time on Civics 101.
Nick Capodice: [00:20:11] Today's episode was produced by me, Nick Capodice, with Hannah McCarthy.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:20:14] Our staff includes Jacqui Helbert, Daniela Vidal-Alee and Ben Henry. Erika Janik is our executive producer.
Nick Capodice: [00:20:20] Maureen McMurray is a justice fighter in the firm league of friendship.
Nick Capodice: [00:20:24] If you want to check out some photos or read more about Paul Bogush's lesson plan on teaching the Articles of Confederation with blocks, head on over to our website civics101podacst.org.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:20:35] Music in this episode by Jahzzar Blue Dot Sessions Kevin McCloud, ASura, and Scott Gratton.
Founding Documents: Declaration of Independence
America declared independence on July 2, 1776. But two days later it adopted this radical, revolutionary, inclusive, exclusive, secessionist, compromising, hypocritical, inspirational document. What does it say? What does it ignore?
This episode features many scholars with differing opinions on the Declaration: Danielle Allen, Byron Williams, Cheryl Cook-Kallio, Woody Holton, and Emma Bray.
Adia Samba-Quee: [00:00:00] Civics 101 is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
1776: [00:00:08] We are about to brave the storm in a skiff made of paper. And How it shall end, god only knows.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:16] I don't know how shall end. But this. This was our beginning July 4, 1776. This was the moment that we became we.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:39] About a month earlier Richard Henry Lee of Virginia read the following resolution before the Continental Congress. "That these United Colonies are and of Right ought to be free and independent states; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:07] A committee of five was appointed to draft a statement for the world to declare the reason for such an action. Lee's resolution was debated and adopted by 12 of the 13 colonies on July 2nd 1776. New York abstained. And on the fourth the Declaration was adopted. It was sent to a young Irish immigrant, John Dunlap official printer of the Congress, to be turned into about 200 broadsides to be sent around the colonies. 26 of these, called the Dunlap broadsides, are known to exist today. These weren't printed to sit in glass cases or hang on the walls of state. These were printed to be read out loud. To assemblies, to committees, on Town Hall steps, to the commanders and troops who had already been at war for over a year. Copies were made for the colonists in German and French. And one Dunlap broadside was put on a ship to England where it would be read by King George himself. So whether we're celebrating the successes or examining the flaws of this great democratic experiment, this was the moment that they became our successes. Our flaws. This is the reason I'm a little nervous investigating our literal founding document. And there's one more reason that I hesitate to mention.
1776: [00:02:41] Vote yes
Nick Capodice: [00:02:46] When I'm trying to do a levels check for a guest on this very show. Instead of asking them the industry standard question which is "what did you have for breakfast?" I really like to ask "what is the movie that you watched more than any other in your youth".
Nick Capodice: [00:03:02] Did you have a tape that got played more than any other in your household?
Byron Williams: [00:03:06] A video?
Nick Capodice: [00:03:07] Yeah.
Byron Williams: [00:03:07] Oh absolutely.
Nick Capodice: [00:03:08] What was it.
Byron Williams: [00:03:08] Casablanca.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:03:12] I watched Casablanca for the first time last year.
Byron Williams: [00:03:14] Are you serious.
Byron Williams: [00:03:15] It is the greatest movie ever made.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:03:18] It's incredible.
Byron Williams: [00:03:18] It, Let's be honest it is a major piece of propaganda.
Nick Capodice: [00:03:23] That's Byron Williams we'll hear from him a little later. He loved a major piece of propaganda, but so did I.
1776: [00:03:30] Good God what in the hell you waiting for!
Nick Capodice: [00:03:36] I've seen the movie 1776, a musical about our Founding Fathers singing and dancing their way towards the signing of the Declaration independence hundreds, maybe even a thousand times. My childhood wish was to one day play Ben Franklin. Old Ben F.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:03:54] Your childhood wish.
Nick Capodice: [00:03:57] Just like I was born to play that part. So when working on this episode and I was able to get in contact with Danielle Allen, one of the top Declaration of Independence scholars in the world.
Danielle Allen: [00:04:08] I'm James Bryant Conant university professor at Harvard. I'm a political philosopher so I'm a kind of all arounder Declaration of Independence person; history, text, the impact of it and so forth.
Nick Capodice: [00:04:20] I held my breath and asked her for thoughts on the movie.
Nick Capodice: [00:04:25] Did you have any feelings about the film 1776 and its accuracy of depicting the situation.
Danielle Allen: [00:04:29] I'm embarrassed to say, I, yeah I still have not actually seen it.
1776: [00:04:37] Oh Sweet Jesus
Hannah McCarthy: [00:04:40] Oh Nick.
Nick Capodice: [00:04:40] I know.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:04:40] You sounded so nervous.
Nick Capodice: [00:04:40] I know, of course she hasn't seen it, cool people do not see it. Nobody's seen it.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:04:44] Well I've seen it. After you made me see it.
1776: [00:04:48] Does anybody care?
Nick Capodice: [00:04:49] Alright, I promise I will be more judicious about my use of clips from 1776 but a few sneak their way in. I'm Nick Capodice.
Nick Capodice: [00:05:02] And today on Civics 101 we're exploring the greatest breakup letter of all time, the Declaration of Independence. What it says, what it doesn't say.
Nick Capodice: [00:05:18] To start, you should read it. It's not that long.
Danielle Allen: [00:05:21] It's short it's only 1337 words.
Nick Capodice: [00:05:24] That's Danielle Allen again.
Danielle Allen: [00:05:26] Yet it had the biggest possible of jobs. It had the job of justifying one of the most consequential political decisions ever taken, the decision of the colonists to declare independence from Britain and formally undertake a revolution.
Nick Capodice: [00:05:41] And we might take this for granted now. But there was no precedent for this.
1776: [00:05:46] It's never been done before. No colony has broken from it's parents stem in the history of the world!
Danielle Allen: [00:05:51] So think of that you're trying to justify the creation of a new nation. You're trying to justify a war. All in a little more than 1300 words. You don't do that with small ideas you do that with big ideas.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:06:04] Big ideas like people have rights and the government should protect those rights.
Nick Capodice: [00:06:09] Yes. And the biggest of all that if a government fails to do that the people have a responsibility to fix it. Danielle called this a theory of revolution.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:06:19] So where do we even start.
Nick Capodice: [00:06:21] Well there are four parts of the Declaration. There's a preamble, a statement of human rights, a long list of grievances, and then the action; Lee's resolution. We therefore are doing this.
Danielle Allen: [00:06:34] The question to answer for the declaration is what on earth could justify steps of that magnitude. The rest of the declaration as an answer to that question. So I think it's good to start at the end because that way you know what question the whole text is supposed to answer. How on earth could you possibly make the case that it's reasonable to just call yourself a new nation that it's reasonable to declare yourself no longer loyal to, obedient to your king.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:07:01] If youre going to say that you are no longer beholden to the laws of your country you better have a pretty good reason.
Nick Capodice: [00:07:08] There were good reasons and there were many. There are 27 very specific grievances in the Declaration. These are acts of the king that demonstrate his tyranny and therefore justify a revolution. Concord and Lexington, the first battles of the Revolutionary War, happened over a year before the declaration had been written. But I want to take it back even further and start with civics teacher Cheryl Cook Kallio who boiled it all down to one sentence.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:07:38] No matter how hard they tried, the English were never going to look at them as being equals. Many people don't think about the salutary neglect that happened in the colonies for 150 years before we started to see the beginnings of unrest.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:07:56] What is salutary neglect?
Nick Capodice: [00:07:58] It was how England governed these colonies. It wanted access to their raw materials. But that is all they wanted. Nobody was enforcing trade laws, nobody was mandating British rule. The colonies were pretty much left to govern themselves.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:08:14] They just ignored that the colonies even were there. And so you had this large vast amount of land where people from Great Britain would come or people from England would come and recreate their lives. And some would liken the beginning of that period is being a just a blank slate. This idea that you could go in and create a government. Of course they did because they were three months away and 3000 miles away from Parliament and so they were very used to direct democracy.
Nick Capodice: [00:08:46] But then this system of salutary neglect is reversed in the 1750s when England needs a ton of money to do the Seven Years War. This is a massive war and involves all the powers of Europe and this extends to the British fighting the French who are allied with the native tribes. In the colonies it's called the French and Indian War. So England starts to tax. And England start showing up.
Emma Bray: [00:09:10] There is a whole kind of line of increasing hostilities that starts happening.
Nick Capodice: [00:09:16] This is Emma Bray. She's the executive director at the American Independence museum.
Emma Bray: [00:09:20] The British start coming to the colonies. They're being quartered here. And it's not like today where military troops are on bases or have their own homes provided for them. They were being quartered within residents homes here in the colonies. We're getting taxed on goods that we're producing, raw goods that we're creating, giving to England, they then produce it and then we're taxed on them coming back to us. Everything is now getting taxed. So it's not just your sugar, it's your paper it's the Stamp Act, it's every thing. It's tea. It's all of these commodities that you need to live. And at a certain point it just starts to become too much and people are starting to get fed up with it.
1776: [00:10:03] Stamp Acts, Townshend Acts, Sugar Acts, Tea Acts
Nick Capodice: [00:10:07] But it's more than just the money. There are stories of individuals radicalizing.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:10:14] One of the pieces of discontent was that colonial commissions were considered beneath any level of British commission. So if you were a colonel in the colonial army you were still considered to be below any British commission that was fighting the French and Indian War.
Nick Capodice: [00:10:34] Cheryl told us documented story of one lieutenant colonel who wanted a British Commission and was promised one by General Braddock head of the British army in the colonies.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:10:43] During a particularly bad battle I mean fierce, General Braddock was killed.
Nick Capodice: [00:10:50] The lieutenant colonel steps up.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:10:52] He led the surviving soldiers. His horse was shot out from under him twice. He's got musket balls in his jacket. He has really become the epitome of what you think a good British Army officer would look like and he saved the day for those people that were trying to get away because many many many British soldiers were killed during this battle.
Nick Capodice: [00:11:15] He thought this must be sufficient evidence to get that coveted British commission. So he traveled all the way to Boston.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:11:23] And met with the acting General for the troops in in the colonies and asked for this commission and said I was promised this by General Braddock and was pretty much laughed at.
Nick Capodice: [00:11:34] Maybe by now you figured out who this lieutenant colonel was.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:11:39] For me that really was one of the scenes that caused George Washington to become radicalized.
Woody Holton: [00:11:49] If you asked me what turned people in New England from mere rebels and protesters into wanting independence I'd say Lexington and Concord.
Nick Capodice: [00:12:00] This is Woody Holton history professor at USC.
Woody Holton: [00:12:03] But if you ask me what turned white Southerners from merely protesting to wanting independence the answer is this informal alliance that African-Americans initiated with the British government. You know that in South Carolina where I live now the majority of the people were enslaved. In Virginia where Jefferson and Washington were 40 percent of the people were enslaved. Enslaved Americans start seeing this battle between the groups that were later going to call loyalists and rebels, enslaved Americans see that split among whites. And they say you know in this gap between one group of whites another group of whites that's an opportunity for us. And they literally go and knock on the door of the governor's palace in Colonial Williamsburg to tell the governor you just give us our freedom we'll help you win this war. And he initially turns them away, as do other colonial governors, but they keep coming. And eventually British officials who had very few white supporters started accepting these black supporters and in fact they issued Emancipation Proclamations very similar to the one that Lincoln would issue. That infuriated whites. One guy referred to it as aiming a dagger at our throats through the hands of our slaves.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:13:24] The Stamp Act was passed the Coercive Acts were passed. You know at one point the colonial government tried to seat someone in Parliament and they were refused. They sent an Olive Branch petition trying to work things out.
Nick Capodice: [00:13:38] And the king responds by officially declaring the colonies in rebellion.
John Adams: [00:13:46] Those who persist in their treason, the punishment shall be death by hanging.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:13:54] You introduced this as a breakup letter Nick but it sounds like a messy bloody drawn out divorce.
Nick Capodice: [00:14:03] Yeah. You don't respect me. I've tried hard to make this work. We created a Continental Congress expressly to work with you and you have done nothing. Enough. And we get to Lees resolution and the formation of a committee of five to write a declaration.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:14:22] So I've been taught that Thomas Jefferson was the author of the Declaration of Independence but it was co-written by this committee.
Nick Capodice: [00:14:30] Jefferson wrote the Declaration to be sure but the committee made significant changes and you can even see copies of his first drafts with their edits. On the committee of five are some big names you've probably heard before. Ben Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson himself, but also Robert Livingston from New York and Roger Sherman from Connecticut. Their final draft was presented to Congress on June 28th where over 80 edits were made. But then there were two final changes made to the declaration after Lee's resolution had been adopted. They were made on July 3rd. The first was a removal of reference to the British people as they wanted to place the blame solely at the feet of the king. But the second was the removal of a grievance that becomes a central plot point in 1776.
1776: [00:15:22] He has waged war against human nature itself and the persons of a distant people who never offended him. Captivating and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere. Determined to keep open a market where men should be bought and sold...
Byron Williams: [00:15:34] It was a stinging critique on the slave trade.
Byron Williams: [00:15:39] I'm Byron Williams. I'm an author national columnist, adjunct professor at Wake Forest University and the host of the NPR-affiliated The Public Morality.
Nick Capodice: [00:15:49] The declaration almost had a section that denounced the practice of slavery but it was removed.
Byron Williams: [00:15:54] The argument for that has been that the primary reason for coming together was independence. They did not want to get bogged down in secondary issues, slavery being one of them, or more to the point that it wasn't a time to discuss the efficacy of human bondage if you will.
Nick Capodice: [00:16:19] Now you might think that this was a fight between the north and the south. But it was actually a coalition of southern slave owners and northern merchants who profited from the slave trade. This is a huge moment in the movie when South Carolina Representative Edward Rutledge just takes the North to task.
1776: [00:16:37] Our northern bretheren. Feeling a bit tender towards our slaves. They don't keep slaves, oh no. But they're willing to be considerable carriers of slaves to others.
Danielle Allen: [00:16:54] First of all important to realize that already in 1776 opinion about slavery was split. So the committee of five that drafted the Declaration was not composed solely of slaveholders. Thomas Jefferson who chaired the committee was a slaveholder. John Adams was not, he always thought slavery was a bad thing and never owned slaves. Benjamin Franklin had been a slave owner earlier in the eighteenth century but by this point he had liberated his slaves and had become somebody who was committed to abolition. So the question of where slavery fit in the document was complicated. In fact the phrase life liberty and pursuit of happiness is a compromise phrase that takes the language from the antislavery position. The fact that the language is about happiness not property was an antislavery choice.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:17:43] Life, liberty and property. That's John Locke right. That was his idea. These things that government is supposed to protect. This is what you have a right to. So how is striking property and making it happiness and antislavery pursuit.
Nick Capodice: [00:17:59] So that word 'property' and the desire to protect it had become code. Code for defending the institution of slavery.
Danielle Allen: [00:18:08] So when you look closely at the text of the declaration you can see both the antislavery voices in the phrase The Pursuit of Happiness. And you see the proslavery voices in that erasure of the text condemning King George for the slave trade. But even with the clause about slavery removed, that line that all men are created equal became a rallying cry for abolitionists after independence was declared. So in January of 1777 Prince Hall, a free African-American in Boston, quotes from the language of the declaration and submitting a petition to the Massachusetts General Assembly seeking the abolition of slavery. And the language factors in for other abolitionists as well. And by 1780 slavery has been abolished in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. So we fail to recognize actually that the Declaration of Independence was also the moment that the project of abolition is crystallized in the U.S. So the document is not just about what slave owners wrote and thought. It is also about what those who were opposed to slavery wrote and thought.
Byron Williams: [00:19:08] And we see it through the abolitionists you know to do Frederick Douglass and others. And Angelina Grimke. People always pushing for this notion of freedom and so to be a country that is formed on this idea and part of that idea is freedom; to hold some in bondage is incongruent.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:19:34] That is something that Americans have wrestled with from Frederick Douglass to my 8th grade social studies class. How on earth can a document say all men are created equal but not include women African-Americans the Native Nations, everyone else in the country.
Nick Capodice: [00:19:54] Well Hannah, one potential and disputed reason for this could be that maybe they didn't even really mean it. Woody Holton even called it a throwaway line.
Woody Holton: [00:20:05] The yada yada phrase. All men are created equal is the yada yada phrase. And of course it's I don't think it's that now. That's how we can change the meaning of a document.
Woody Holton: [00:20:14] The fundamental right that the Declaration of Independence asserts you know it's mostly just a list of complaints. No one ever reads a complaints except NPR once a year. But it's the fundamental right that they were contending for was the right of secession. All of stuff about all men are created equal. They're say that's a build up to saying, "well OK everybody is equal and we've got certain rights and one of those rights is to create governments but then also to get rid of governments if we don't like them and we don't like the government of George the Third in parliament. So we're gone." But before the year 1776 was out Lemuel Haynes, who was an African-American soldier in the Continental Army, wrote an essay unpublished at the time called Liberty Further Extended where he said, "Hold on a second, that phrase that you kind of rushed through Mr. Jefferson, all men are created equal. Let's stop and talk about that a little bit." Others did that as well culminating in Lincoln at Gettysburg saying this country was not formed by the Constitution it was formed by the Declaration. And so what all of those Americans beginning with Lemuel Haynes in 1776 did was transform a an ordinance of secession into a universal declaration of human rights.
Nick Capodice: [00:21:38] This relationship between the declaration and slavery is frequently addressed. But Danielle brought up a grievance that's very rarely talked about it was glossed over when I was in school it's not in 1776.
Danielle Allen: [00:21:50] And this is really for me the worst moment in the Declaration the one piece of the Declaration that still I think really hurts. And this is where they say that they complained that the king has excited domestic insurrection amongst us and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages sexes and conditions. And that, the treatment of Native Americans by the colonists really was was reprehensible and we still haven't fully acknowledged that fact. Whereas in fact you can see antislavery voices in the declaration you can't say the same thing about the treatment of Native Americans, you can't see a moment of sort of positivity in the Declaration on that front. And for me there's a deep lesson there because it means that as we think about the values of the Declaration in the 21st century we have the job of folding into those values a true principle of inclusion. A true principle that embraces all the peoples of this continent in a vision of how to achieve safety and happiness for all of us.
Byron Williams: [00:23:02] Thomas Jefferson said he wanted to write an expression of the American mind. He achieved that in my view in a single sentence, you know we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal endowed by their Creator with certain rights among them life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. So right there in that single sentence he's enjoining liberty and equality as part of the American narrative. I mean that I mean that is, so right there. Not based on religion, not based on homogenisation, liberty. This idea that we would be a country based on liberty and equality. That in and of itself is profoundly radical. Has not done has not been achieved before or since. That a country would be formed on an idea. And quite frankly I think it's a radical idea. And the proof of how radical the idea is we're still struggling with it in the 21st century. I mean each day we can pick up a newspaper or go to our blog of choice and see where liberty and equality at some point are in tension. And That is the genesis of the declaration.
Nick Capodice: [00:24:18] So Byron Williams calls it a radical document. Woody Holton has referenced it as an ordinance of secession. Jefferson called it an expression of the American mind. And Danielle Allen says it's a masterclass in political philosophy and a universal declaration of human rights.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:24:36] Sounds like everybody is potentially correct here. Right?
Nick Capodice: [00:24:40] Yeah I watched the six hour video of a panel talk at the National Archives and Danielle Allen was on the panel and Woody Holton was on it. And the two of them got into a disagreement about the Declaration and what he said to me was, "well you know the thing is we were both right."
Nick Capodice: [00:24:57] This, this is a document that was built on tension and compromise. And it meant something different to each man who signed it. Each person who heard it, to all who read it.
Nick Capodice: [00:25:16] So! We got ourselves a new country. Only question is, how are we gonna run it? That's Next time on Civics 101.
Nick Capodice: [00:25:30] Today's episode is produced by me Nick Capodice with Hannah McCarthy.
Nick Capodice: [00:25:40] Maureen McMurray is in charge of supplying both saltpeter and pins.
Nick Capodice: [00:25:44] Special thanks to loyalist scholar Maya Jasanoff, The Declaration Resources Project at Harvard, and the American Independence museum in Exeter New Hampshire.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:25:52] Super Special Thanks to Jesse Kratz, historian at the National Archives. She offered to tour us around both the archives and the Library of Congress and show us these documents in person. We could not go because the government shut down.
Nick Capodice: [00:26:07] Music for this episode by Blue Dot sessions, Scott Gratton Kevin McCleod Kai Engel, Makiah beats and Electroswing. And from 1776 the greatest movie musical ever made.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:26:20] Civics 101 is a production of NHPR, New Hampshire Public Radio.
Founding Documents: Magna Carta
Magna Carta was sealed on a field in England in 1215. It's purpose was to appease some frustrated Barons, and it was never intended to last. Over 800 years later, this document is credited with establishing one of the most foundational principles of our democracy. So what does Magna Carta actually say? And how did it get from dubious stalling tactic in the 13th century to Supreme Court arguments in the modern era?
In this episode, you’ll learn how Magna Carta survived and thrived its way into our democracy. Our experts this time around are Derek Taylor, William Hubbard, Joel Collins and Susan Herman.
Episode Segments
Want more Magna Carta history? The British Library gives it to you straight, and in less than 4 minutes!
You can also do some deep diving of your own over at The Magna Carta Project. This site is chock full of resources, including, of course, the whole remarkable document broken down by clause, complete with audio commentary.
And here is actual footage* of that fateful day at Runnymede!
*Footage not actual.
Civics 101:
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:00] The high Middle Ages.
[00:00:05] Europe's population is growing rapidly. The Black Death is just a glint in some rat's eye and still a century away. The economy is booming, the Catholic Church is crusading -- the feudal system is alive and well.
Peasant, Monty Python and the Holy Grail: [00:00:19] Oh, king, eh? Very nice. And how'd you get that, eh? By exploiting the workers! By hanging on to outdated imperialist dogma which perpetuates the economic and social differences in our society.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:31] When are we exactly?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:32] We're looking down the barrel of twelve hundred.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:35] Tremendous tremendous carry on.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:37] King Richard the Lionheart has just died after being shot in the shoulder possibly by a vengeful boy child. Richard's younger brother John inherits England. He is by many accounts a petty, cruel and hated ruler. In fact he attempted a rebellion back when Richard was alive and fighting in the Third Crusade. This is actually a key plot point in most Robin Hood movies by the way Prince John is the villain who exploits the poor serfs and prompts Robin to steal from the rich and give to the poor.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:08] Hannah I love this. I love a good history lesson but I just needed chicken for a second here. Huh. Don't get me wrong this is a spectacular rabbit hole that we're falling into. But we do need to get a bit of a wiggle on this founding document series that we are planning for a month or so.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:01:24] I hear ya. But what if what if. Nicholas I told you that there is a founding document all the way back here in the 13th century. A founding document for the United States the very first founding document the most foundational and not just for us not just for the United States.
[00:01:46] Some would say for the very notion of freedom under law.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:52] That's got to be one heck of a piece of paper.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:01:55] It is indeed. So shall we. Back to the Middle Ages back to one of the pillars of freedom?
Nick Capodice: [00:02:01] It seems pretty Civics 101.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:02:04] Good. Because This actually happens to be Civics 101.
Nick Capodice: [00:02:07] The podcast refresher course on the basics of how our democracy works.
[00:02:10] I'm Nick Capodice.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:02:11] And I'm Hannah McCarthy, and today we are kicking off our series on the founding documents of the United States with a charter a charter written long long ago by an unpopular King and a band of fed up barons. Lords and ladies.
[00:02:26] May I present Magna Carta.
Nick Capodice: [00:02:37] The Magna Carta.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:02:38] Actually no just Magna Carta.
Nick Capodice: [00:02:40] That's what I said. The Magna Carta.
Derek Taylor: [00:02:41] You have to forgive me. People in England don't say the Magna Carta. They say Magna Carta.
Nick Capodice: [00:02:45] Who's that.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:02:46] That's Derek Taylor.
Derek Taylor: [00:02:47] I started out life as a historian. I read history and law at Oxford. I then got lured into journalism and I became an international reporter working for independent television news of London and I did quite a lot of work as well for ABC News in the States was a war reporter and reporters from all over the world especially actually in the US but now in retirement I've gone back to my first love which is history back in 2015.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:03:19] Derek did a deep dive into Magna Carta for the eight hundredth anniversary of this document he traced its influence all over the world and wrote a book called Magna Carta in 20 places.
Derek Taylor: [00:03:30] And what I did though was that I went all around not only the UK but in France in the Middle East and indeed in the USA to chart what actually happened in the extraordinary history of this amazing document.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:03:45] Before we go any further with the extraordinary history of this amazing document. Quick question, Nick, do you know what Magna Carta is.
Nick Capodice: [00:03:55] I've heard of Magna Carta before I've heard it associated with Robin Hood. I know it's from England from a long time ago. But that's kind of it. I don't know what it actually says.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:04:05] To be honest neither did I. But it turns out that it is widely celebrated in the US. I mean we've exhibited Magna Carta in Washington D.C. directly across from our own Declaration and Constitution. We currently have a version of it on display at the Library of Congress. Magna Carta, which mean 'great charter,' by the way, in Latin, has been invoked throughout American history as a symbol of a kind of universal right.
Nick Capodice: [00:04:33] I had no idea it was so important. What does it actually say? It's got to have some powerful language.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:04:40] Well here's the catch -- if you actually look at the language of the original document for example printed out and study it in school take it at face value you'll be hard pressed to find the basis for democracy in Magna Carta's original words.
Derek Taylor: [00:04:56] It's surrounded and always has been surrounded by incredible misunderstandings. It's believed for instance that it was the birth of modern democracy that it was the first constitution that gave us equality under the law. All of these I hate to break it to all of these all completely untrue.
Nick Capodice: [00:05:15] So are we wrong to care about it. Hannah, did you conceive this entire episode just so you could re-watch Robin Hood Prince of Thieves.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:05:23] That was an added perk. Also the cartoon version with the fox. Oh yeah. I won't deny it but absolutely not. That's not the reason we're doing this episode before we can understand how Magna Carta served our democracy. We have to look back at how it was supposed to serve a 13th century monarchy. So let's get back to the Middle Ages.
Derek Taylor: [00:05:46] Magna Carta actually started out life in very very simple terms as a something which was simply a peace agreement in 2015. King John of England was facing a rebellion by his barons by the chief aristocrats in the country. And they decided in fact to try and work out a peace deal between themselves to be absolutely honest neither side really believed in it. They were both playing for time while they could build up their own forces and go back to the traditional way in which in the Middle Ages people settled their differences which is that of course what they did was that they used the crossbow and the sword.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:06:28] What Derek is saying is that Magna Carta was really just a stalling tactic. Remember King John was not a popular man. Through a combination of high taxes ill will and failed military campaigns the King found himself on the bad side of some of his barons.
Nick Capodice: [00:06:45] So the barons say to him strike a deal with us and we'll lay off.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:06:48] Yeah well first they stormed London and gained a bunch of antiquing followers and really freaked John out. And then John asked them to meet him for a little chat. So they picked a neutral territory a field just outside of London on the banks of the River Thames called Runnymede and there in the soft light of summer they hammer out a peace agreement.
Derek Taylor: [00:07:11] If we look at the the wording of Magna Carta it's full of words which have no meaning to us today whatsoever. Words like amercement and trithings and halbergett. What on earth did they mean. They're all feudal terms it talks about what should happen about fish traps on the river Medway.
Nick Capodice: [00:07:30] I feel I should point out that there is nothing about halbergett or amercements or fishing in the river Medway in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights as far as I know.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:07:38] Right.
[00:07:39] Most of Magna Carta is about obscure highly specific Berin type concerns like serfs and castles and Shiers. But there is something recognizable in this documents 60-odd clauses.
Derek Taylor: [00:07:51] We do every now and again stumble on one which we think Ah now that's interesting and for one moment all freedom loving hearts leap and then historians come in and say yeah well you may think that but it's actually really not quite like that at all. Can I just read to you what clause 39 says and you'll see you think well that's great. It says no Freeman should be seized or imprisoned or stripped of his rights or possessions or outlawed or exiled or deprived of his standing in any other way. Nor will we. That's the King speaking. Proceed with force against him or send others to do so except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land. Wonderful stuff.
Nick Capodice: [00:08:35] Yes. OK. Now you've got me on board. This is wonderful stuff and it sounds like trial by jury.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:08:40] Clause 39 does it sound like that. But it isn't that. Not really.
Derek Taylor: [00:08:46] The first thing to say is that it begins. No free man shall be seized et cetera et cetera. OK so the first thing is that 50 percent of the population women are completely excluded. The second point is that no Freeman actually in 13th century England only one man in five was free, the rest of them were agricultural serfs there were slaves so it didn't apply to them at all. So this is a document actually doing a big favor for a very small number of privileged men.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:09:19] Derek's doing a pretty good job of turning me against Magna Carta actually.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:09:24] Yeah I can kind of get that. And you know what, Magna Carta is not the mother of modern democracy... but some people do call it the midwife.
[00:09:35] It helped things along with some sage advice.
Derek Taylor: [00:09:39] It's establishing the principle that arbitrary punishment is wrong. It's establishing the principle that this kind of thing that dictators do in other words that just simply say take that man out and chop his head off is wrong. There is a process even though we don't agree with the process so that establishes that principle. But the second thing is even more important. This is the King and this is a real shocker for the 13th century. This is the king agreeing to obey the law. Now that's a first. Until this point kings were autonomous they were not responsible to anyone except God only to God. So the idea that the king has to follow rules whatever those rules are. It's an incredible breakthrough.
Nick Capodice: [00:10:31] So up until this point kings could do whatever they wanted. They made the law and they were above the law. And then suddenly the law is above them.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:10:41] Yes just not this king.
Derek Taylor: [00:10:42] Within three months of it being signed. Both sides just forgot about it and they went back to the sword in the crossbow and King John even persuaded the pope to nail it and to condemn it as being shameful shameful. But a man who is responsible to God should be made to obey rules set out by mere human beings.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:11:06] So King John places his seal on Magna Carta when he's in this field surrounded by all of these really angry barons. But then he immediately runs to the pope and he's like I'm the kings and my power comes from God. Right. And the pope is like Yeah absolutely. These parents can tell you what to do. Magna Carta is null and void and the barons wage war.
Nick Capodice: [00:11:28] That's disappointing.
Derek Taylor: [00:11:30] And it might have stayed that way it might have been a document which got banned into the vaults of some dusty old library somewhere of interest only to a few historians if it hadn't been for one thing which is that within 16 months, King John was dead.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:11:48] Dead of dysentery at age 49 now John's son Henry is in charge. He's nine years old.
Derek Taylor: [00:11:56] He was actually described as being a pretty little knight which is not the kind of words that you want to hear used about the person who's leading you know your side.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:12:04] Luckily the young king was appointed a grownup person a counsel a knight named William Marshall who wanted to smooth things over with the barons.
Derek Taylor: [00:12:13] He reissued Magna Carta. He negotiated a peace deal with the barons and said look the way it's going to be from now on under this this young man Henry the third John's son aged only nine is that we're going to follow the rules laid down in Magna Carta.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:12:36] As it turned out Magna Carta was a super useful negotiating tactic.
[00:12:41] King John wasn't so into it because it was about putting some checks on the king at least for the barons benefit but for two centuries after King John's death, Magna Carta was trotted out and revised every time a king needed to suppress or rebellion or raise money for a war. It was a king showing good faith and protecting the interest of his barons. In turn the barons would help out the king.
Nick Capodice: [00:13:04] You said the revised Magna Carta -- so that 1215 version wasn't the be all end all version.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:13:10] Right. There were actually many many versions of Magna Carta. The most significant one happened under Edward the Third in 1354. Remember how clause 39 sounded pretty good but wasn't quite there?
[00:13:24] Edward rewrote it to sound like this.
Derek Taylor: [00:13:27] No man of whatever estate or condition may be -- what a step forward that is -- no man of whatever state or condition he may be -- and if we accept for one moment in the fourteenth century it was impossible for these people to imagine that women should be included -- this is an incredible move towards equality but something even more important. Whatever condition he may be shall not be punished except by -- wait for it -- due process of law.
Nick Capodice: [00:13:57] Due process. So this is 1354. Our Bill of Rights is written in 1791... Four hundred years. How did due process get from King Edward to James Madison?
Wiliam Hubbard: [00:14:09] It basically laid kind of dormant for many centuries.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:14:15] This is William Hubbard. He's a former president of the American Bar Association and a lawyer in Columbia, South Carolina.
Wiliam Hubbard: [00:14:21] And then again in sort of a period of enlightenment English jurists by name of -- spelled Coke, pronounced Cook, and Blackstone sort of dusted off Magna Carta at a time when there was a belief that the king had become too powerful and too insensitive to the people.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:14:43] So Cook is this super important judge in the fifteen hundreds and sixteen hundreds in England. And there comes this point where the king is imprisoning people willy nilly, kind of acting like the kings of old and Coke and a handful of others say hang on we have come up against this before we know how to stop the king from this tyrannical behaviour.
Wiliam Hubbard: [00:15:03] They wrote about Magna Carta. They base their writings and their philosophies and their belief in human rights and freedom of of individuals use those words that you know though they were ancient words they they were still in existence and part of the the law of England.
[00:15:20] And so they they dusted off those words and used them in the context of the time to again try to restrict the power of the king and soon thereafter the British colonies were being established in the United States.
Nick Capodice: [00:15:39] I'm beginning to see a bit of a right place at the right time thing with Magna Carta.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:15:43] And wouldn't you know it. Sir Edward Coke was attorney general of England when the Virginia charter was drawn up in 16 0 6.
[00:15:50] Now this is one of many Virginia charters but this particular one gave colonists land rights in Virginia and it gave people born in the colonies the same rights as people born in England.
Nick Capodice: [00:16:05] And if Magna Carta applies in England...
Hannah McCarthy: [00:16:07] Exactly. Then it applies in America, too.
Wiliam Hubbard: [00:16:11] It's where so much of what we believe is essential started.
[00:16:14] If you just want to go back and look at what is the foundation the foundation for these principles are not something that just came out of the air in the late 1700s in the United States they had been percolating and expanded and they had been explications of what those words meant and then you're simply applying those magic words those critical words to changes in circumstances and there are times when circumstances demand that we go back to basics.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:16:48] If you look back at the dawn of Magna Carta back to Runnymede in the twelve hundreds the Barons were ticked off because King John was among other things levying taxes that they considered to be unfair. He was doing what he darn well pleased and they decided that enough was enough.
Nick Capodice: [00:17:06] OK this little history lesson is beginning to make a lot more sense. Let's keep it in the episode.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:17:12] Thank you.
Nick Capodice: [00:17:13] Because now we're here right at the dawn of the United States and a bunch of people who are supposedly British citizens are not being granted the same rights as British citizens.
Wiliam Hubbard: [00:17:23] The colonists were asserting that they had the same rights as an Englishman as American colonists they still had the same rights as Englishmen. And how did they prove that they proved that by citing provisions of Magna Carta.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:17:36] Now at this point in England parliament is really more important than Magna Carta Magna Carta is respected and it's lodged in English common law. But you're not necessarily going to hear British born citizens make constant reference to it in their laws.
[00:17:53] But for Americans this old unshakeable document is essential to their case.
Wiliam Hubbard: [00:18:01] You know that phrase taxation without representation became a rallying cry of the colonists who because of the rights conveyed in Magna Carta believed that the British government had broken its contract in Magna Carta gave them a basis for rebellion and gave intellectual underpinning to the revolution.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:18:18] Magna Carta was actually at hand when colonists organized their first act of political rebellion.
Joel Collins: [00:18:24] That was the stamp act Congress of 1765.
[00:18:27] That's Joel Collins, lawyer and law professor at South Carolina Honors College.
Joel Collins: [00:18:32] Here again citing Magna Carta.
[00:18:34] They say this violates Clause 12 which guarantees the king will not enact taxes except with the common consent of the realm. So the idea of taxes without representation they said violates Magna Carta.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:18:52] When the first Continental Congress met in fall of 1774 and drafted a declaration of rights and grievances to be issued to Britain. Guess what was on the seal of their journal?
Nick Capodice: [00:19:03] I'm going to guess it has some of the do with Magna Carta, Hannah.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:19:05] It does indeed. The words Magna Carta at the base of a column grasped by twelve hands representing unity.
Nick Capodice: [00:19:14] If it's the colonies why is it 12 and not 13 hands?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:19:16] That's a good question. In 1774 there were only twelve colonies. Delaware was still a part of Pennsylvania until 1776.
Nick Capodice: [00:19:24] Delaware!
Hannah McCarthy: [00:19:25] Delaware man. And speaking of those original twelve colonies concepts that originated in Magna Carta were in nine of those twelve original state constitutions.
Joel Collins: [00:19:36] You know that men have the right of self-determination unalienable rights they are rights that -- that you don't fight for and earn, they are yours upon your birth.
Nick Capodice: [00:19:54] But by the time we get to the Declaration of Independence.
[00:19:57] You're not seeing Magna Carta explicitly referenced, right?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:20:00] Yeah, true but as Joel points out our Framers were reading a lot of philosophy and social theory and they built that into the declaration and eventually into the Constitution and the Bill of Rights they interpreted the principles of documents like Magna Carta for the purposes of American democracy.
Joel Collins: [00:20:19] I think they were very mindful of Magna Carta. I think they were extremely well read. Read the golden passages of Magna Carta, Clause 38 -- henceforth no bailiff shall upon his own support accusation put any man to trial without producing credible witnesses to the truth of the accusation -- there's your every man. He's being given rights. Clause 39 -- no free man shall be taken, imprisoned, disseised, outlawed, banished in any way and we will proceed against or prosecute him only upon the lawful judgment of his peers.
[00:20:53] There's your jury trial. And The law of the land, there's your due process of law, applicable to everybody.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:21:00] It kind of doesn't matter that Magna Carta was first written for a select group of people with totally different life experience and morals and prejudice than us.
[00:21:09] What matters is this fluke of a 1215 stalling tactic somehow stayed alive long enough to inspire an almost divine Principle.
[00:21:20] And that's why it's important that we learn about it.
Susan Herman: [00:21:24] You know, Magna Carta has just had a tremendous explosive impact over time to get it.
[00:21:29] It was kind of a seed and that seed is really I think developed some offshoots that really might have been very surprising to the barons.
[00:21:37] This is Susan Herman, President of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Susan Herman: [00:21:41] Magna Carta idea of law the land was not something that went through our society it only went to 15 percent of the people. Now when the United States Constitution was written. I think you know we don't like to think about it this way but are the framers of our Constitution our founding fathers were not that dissimilar from the barons who went to King John and 1215. They were all white men. Who was left out of the people who were writing the constitution and who was left out of the basic idea of knew who could vote and who was a member of the society were women, people of color, Native Americans, men without property.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:22:19] In Magna Carta Susan says you see the seeds of freedom. It is by no means a freedom that applies to all but the idea itself is so good and feels so right to all humans that it sticks and it evolves and it spreads.
Susan Herman: [00:22:40] So I went this morning because I knew we were going to be talking I went to the ACLU website and just search the term Magna Carta. And there were 77 results when ACLU lawyers write briefs. There are many kinds of briefs in which they reference Magna Carta and those essential principles of no one being above the law.
Nick Capodice: [00:22:58] Modern day lawyers are citing a document from 800 years ago?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:23:02] Magna Carta has been referenced dozens of times and supreme court cases over the years.
Theodore B. Olson, on behalf of Bankers Life and Casualty Company: [00:23:08] The more one examines the history of the excessive fines flaws and its antecedent, the amercement - excessive aercements clause of Magna Carta...
Chambers v. Florida: [00:23:17] My concept of due process, Mr. Justice Black, which I think goes back to the law of the land of Magna Carta...
SCOTUS: [00:23:28] There were no courts to which people could seek redress against the crown at the time of Magna Carta.
SCOTUS: [00:23:29] In fact the issue was addressed in the very first clause of Magna Carta. There King John agreed, and this is quote, "the English church shall be free." End quote. And he accepted the church's quote "freedom of elections."
Nick Capodice: [00:23:52] So when we think of magna carta as the midwife of democracy it's kind of like thinking of the original Constitution and the Bill of Rights as the things that guarantee our equality because when they were written they didn't actually guarantee equality and liberty for everybody.
[00:24:08] They became that the more that we used them because the basic principles of freedom are in there.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:24:14] Exactly. Susan says it boils down to fairness.
Susan Herman: [00:24:18] I think what due process means is it really means being fair laws the land due process it means that --
[00:24:25] Well it's another way that I would describe it as to meet a lot of the idea of rights and civil liberties is really about the golden rule. That --
[00:24:34] Imagine that you're being charged with something somebody says that you've done something that the crime that's wrong and then they just want to lock you up and or punish you somehow and you would feel that that was very unfair because you might have a defense you might have something to say about how you don't think you really were wrong in what you were doing and if you didn't get a chance to defend yourself you would really feel that that was unfair.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:24:54] Fairness is this thing that were naturally drawn to. Remember how Derek Taylor talked about our freedom loving hearts at the beginning of the episode? How we read things into Magna Carta that aren't literally there?
[00:25:07] That's because we sense this magic bean at the core of Magna Carta and accidentally possibly made up magic bean that ended up being strong enough to inspire a great democratic experiment.
Nick Capodice: [00:25:21] That nobody is above the law.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:25:24] Not even Mother England.
Susan Herman: [00:25:26] It sounds like we might be ready for a declaration and maybe even the declaration.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:25:31] That's next time on Civics 101.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:25:42] One last word here on this remarkable document. If you're planning to read it I say go for the 13 54 version. It is pretty exciting to look at those words are those words in translation and see the first instance of the term due process in clause 39.
Nick Capodice: [00:25:59] Hannah, this may be a dumb thing to ask but do you really need to read Magna Carta?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:26:06] Well there really is a lot of stuff in there about knights and the price of corn and living in a forest and fishing on the river Medway. It's very much a document for Barens. The idea and the spirit are what matter most about Magna Carta. Right. So do you have to read it to understand the point of it. I say not necessarily. That said, Nick, the rest of the documents in this series the ones that are written on U.S. soil, you gotta read those. Do you agree?
Nick Capodice: [00:26:42] I agree.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:26:43] We are endeavoring to make them easier to understand and appreciate. But you still have to read them. You have to read them before you listen.
[00:26:50] After you listen read them read them read them. You think I made my point?
Nick Capodice: [00:26:54] I think you got your point -- point well taken.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:27:05] Civics 101 was produced today by me, McCarthy with Nick Capodice.
Nick Capodice: [00:27:08] Our staff includes Jackie Helbert, Ben Henry, Daniela Allee and Jack Rodolico.
[00:27:13] Erica Janik is our executive producer.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:27:15] Maureen McMurry is Extra Knight of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of Divine Halberget.
Nick Capodice: [00:27:21] Music in this episode is by Bad Snacks -- what a name -- Wayne Jones, Jahzzar and Blue Dot essions.
[00:27:27] There is a transcript of this episode as well as a bunch of other resources at Civics 101 podcast.
[00:27:33] Dot org. And while you're there check out extra credit on our Web site.
[00:27:37] It's our biweekly newsletter that Hanna and I cobbled together on a host of fun topics related to our episodes Civics 101 is a production of an each new Hampshire Public Radio.
5 Things to Know About the Midterms
Today we launch our five-part series on the midterm elections! Keith Hughes, creator of Hip History, tells us the five things he thinks every American should know about midterms and why they matter.
Each episode in this series concludes with a snapshot of an historic US Midterm election, delivered by Brady Carlson. Today, it's 1826: Good Feelings and Hard Feelings.
Midterm Edition: 5 Things to Know About the Midterms
This transcript was created using a combination of machine and human transcribing, so there may be some typos.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:04] In 1965. Opponents of President Lyndon Baines Johnson referred to him as King Lyndon the first.
Archival: [00:00:13] For in your time. We have the opportunity to move not only toward the rich society and the powerful society.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:21] His approval rating 70 percent.
Archival: [00:00:24] But upward to the great society.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:31] Since being sworn in as president after the assassination of JFK in 1963 Johnson had launched a set of programs called the Great Society to demand an end to poverty. And racial injustice.
[00:00:45] He signed the heart Sellar Immigration Act created Medicaid and Medicare.
Archival: [00:00:49] Integration of Martin Luther King receives his pen. A gift he said he would cherish.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:54] It was in this administration that protests led by Martin Luther King in DC and in Selma resulted in two pieces of the most important legislation of our country the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. All of this ball navigating our involvement in Vietnam.
Archival: [00:01:13] Main purpose of the operation was to clear the area of the Viet Cong.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:18] Democrats held 289 House seats and 68 Senate seats. Political minds declared the Republican Party officially dead. Andrew
Nick Capodice: [00:01:28] How can you unseat a King?
Archival: [00:01:33] It's like entering a gambling casino to walk into a grocery store in Prince's County.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:43] The Great Society was no match for the price of milk. In 1966 small protests in Baltimore and Denver caught the eye of the Republican National Committee which claimed Johnson's Great Society programs and America's involvement. Vietnam were to blame for rising grocery costs.
[00:02:00] Republican candidates for office latched onto the idea. They brought Giant grocery carts to campaign events. They printed out oversized price tags showcasing rising food costs. They pushed inflation hard. This was the stage for the 1966 midterm election.
Archival: [00:02:18] Big shot in the arm of the American Republican Party. Ronald Reagan as governor of California. Most of the polling station was from west to east showed a swing away from President Johnson's Democratic Party.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:02:34] So what happened?
Nick Capodice: [00:02:35] What happened? What happened and it was huge. One of the biggest losses to the Democratic Party in the history of elections. Republicans gained 47 House seats. Three Senate seats eight governorships 557 state legislature seats. Nixon got elected two years later. Newsweek wrote in the space of a single autumn day that 1000 day reign of Linden the first came to an end.
[00:03:02] The Emperor of American politics became just a president.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:03:06] That is wild.
Nick Capodice: [00:03:08] Crazy.
Nick Capodice: [00:03:09] It was in a midterm which nobody cares about. And not only that not only did Ronald Reagan get elected as governor of California six others Hanah seven people total who are involved in the 1966 midterms became president. Later.
[00:03:24] The Republican Party became decidedly not dead at all. In the wake of a midterm election.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:03:30] Get out.
Nick Capodice: [00:03:38] I'm Nick Capodice.
Nick Capodice: [00:03:39] And this is Civics 101 the podcast refresher course on the basics of how our democracy works. And today we're kicking off a five part series on midterm election.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:03:48] We're going to look at campaigning state and local government.
Nick Capodice: [00:03:51] The difference between the House and the Senate and what is on your ballot but before we get into any of today's episode is about finding the midterms and the five reasons why they matter to tell us what happens in a midterm. First we spoke with Cheryl Cook Kallio.
Cheryl Cook Kallio: [00:04:06] I'm Cheryl Cook. Kallio I'm a teacher. I taught government for 39 years.
[00:04:10] My claim to fame is that Sandra Day O'Connor held my hand.
Archival: [00:04:13] And he said Sandra I'd like to announce your appointment to the Supreme Court tomorrow.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:04:19] Sandra Day O'Connor as the first woman to hold a seat on the Supreme Court Sandra Day O'Connor.
Nick Capodice: [00:04:23] The very one.
Cheryl Cook Kallio: [00:04:24] Any national election that takes place without a presidential candidate is considered a midterm. Most people they're not so focused on midterm elections because they think the president is all important. And certainly our chief executive is important however we elect some extremely important positions during this period of time.
Nick Capodice: [00:04:44] And in all of these offices the term lengths can vary. So senators in WashingtonD.C. have a six year term. But some state senators can have an election every two years. That's what we have in New Hampshire. Yes but some states have a four year term and others have completely different terms. But I wanted to cut to the heart of midterm elections. So I asked this guy my name is Keith Hughes.
Keith Hughes: [00:05:05] I'm a social studies teacher. I also run a YouTube channel called Hip Hughes history.
Nick Capodice: [00:05:09] He's made over 500 educational videos aboutU.S. and world history. I asked him to tell me the one thing he wished Americans knew about the midterm elections and he gave me five.
[00:05:20] Are you ready for a listicle?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:05:21] I am always ready for a listicle.
Nick Capodice: [00:05:23] Number one.
Keith Hughes: [00:05:24] So number one the president is going to take it on the chin. Well at least most of the time. Midterm elections many times are called a referendum on the president and what that means is people are going to the polls not so much just voting on local issues which they do a lot but they're really kind of judging in evaluating the president and deciding if they want to give them full rein to do what they're doing or if they think that checks and balances might be in order terrain that President in a little bit.
Nick Capodice: [00:05:53] So if you love the president. Love love love what he's doing. This is a thumbs up.
[00:05:57] Or if you're super frustrated with the president even though he's not on the ballot you can take your frustrations out on his party.
Dan Cassino: [00:06:04] So the midterm elections wind up being important because what we get in the mater is as it's called surge and decline this is Dan Cassino Abdel Cassino an associate professor of political science at Fairleigh Dickinson University. No political science spent a lot of time worrying about Sturgeon decline but the basic principles this which ever party did better in the presidential election does worse in the midterm election. Why is that. Why is that. If your party does really well in the presidential election it's because you turned out a lot of voters who otherwise wouldn't vote. These are of marginal voters may stay home. Well guess what. Two years later they're gonna stay home.
Keith Hughes: [00:06:41] In the past modern era at least 50 or 60 years the president in power has always lost seats in the midterm election except for 1998. Bill Clinton was lucky enough to have a really good economy and George Bush in 2002 and I'm thinking 9/11 might have had something to do with that. But every other election whether it be Barack Obama or it be Bush or Nixon or we can go way back to Harry Truman. Usually Americans that are going to turn out want to see a constitutional republic that works. And usually that means that the president who is in power. Like I said before it's going to take it on the chin.
Archival: [00:07:16] How bad a night was this for Democrats. It was really bad. I think it was. Would you take a look at the election results in 2010 and this year. This was a wave a Republican wave that hit and hit that Democrats.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:07:29] So the surge is when everyone comes out to vote in the presidential election and then the decline is what happens two years later when lots of those voters just stay home.
Keith Hughes: [00:07:42] So number two is really the cyclical cycles that occur in the House and the Senate and there really isn't a cyclical cycle in the house because every single House member is going to be up for re-election. That's right. All 435 members of the House have to face the music. But in the Senate it's one third of the Senate.
Dan Cassino: [00:08:01] So the Senate is divided into three classes actually called in class a class B and Class C in each of those classes is up for election every two years so every two years one third of the Senate is up for re-election. Again this is Dan casino. Now the reason that matters is because no matter how big a wave you get in a midterm election or even the present election it can't affect more than one third of the Senate. This creates a temporal division of power where in the Senate one third of it is governed by what happened two years ago. One third both happened four years ago.
[00:08:34] One third about what happened six years ago.
Archival: [00:08:36] Meanwhile domestic politics also makes headlines. The 1966 election chooses governors senators and congressmen and serves as a significant preview of the 68 presidential election.
Dan Cassino: [00:08:46] So in 2016 in the Senate for instance you are still seeing a bunch of people who've been elected in the Tea Party wave of 2010. Now that wave wasn't really going very much anymore in 2016 but it didn't matter because they were still in there. You're still sharing power across all those years. And the idea is to kind of average things out where the house is reflecting all of these the minute whims of the people they want and a Masonic party. They want the Tea Party. Well the Senate is going to be the insulation between those whims and the actual power of government.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:09:19] So the Senate by design has this long institutional memory and the House is more reactive.
Nick Capodice: [00:09:25] That's right. But the staggered Senate means every election is different when it comes to who even has a chance a chance.
Keith Hughes: [00:09:31] So depending on which states are up for grabs you can see a year where the Democrats are very safe or the Republicans are very safe. This cycle happens to be where there are more Democrats in red states that have to face the music. So it's going to be a little bit more difficult for the Democrats not only to hold their seats but to flip seats as well. So we see very red states states like Montana where you have Democrats that have to face Trump voters they have to face red voters and hold those seats. So not only if the Democrats gained power in the House or the Senate are they going to have that ability to investigate the president. But it also means they're going to be able to put the kibosh on the president's agenda. So in terms of passing legislation that's not going to be so easy for Donald Trump anymore if the Democrats take over either branch because obviously you have to pass legislation out of the House and the Senate. So even taking one branch totally puts the brakes on the Trump agenda legislatively at least.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:10:27] OK so this is like when Obama lost the house in the 2010 midterms right.
Nick Capodice: [00:10:32] Yes. So Obamacare went through before that election but it never would have made it out of the House if it had happened after the election.
[00:10:44] Number three congressional redistricting aka gerrymandering.
Dan Cassino: [00:10:51] Now we've probably heard a lot about gerrymandering in the House of Representatives. That's where state legislatures draw districts to help one party or another. So they might draw districts to make sure that Republicans are always going to one seat or the Democrats win one seat. And both parties do this although in recent years generally Republicans have done a better job of it than Democrats have.
Archival: [00:11:09] Because the politicians are only one thing it does is to stay in power.
[00:11:14] To stay in power no matter what. It doesn't matter if you're a Democrat or a Republican.
Dan Cassino: [00:11:19] Now what that means is the House of Representatives I am largely representing a district that already likes my party. So I'm speaking to here from Montclair New Jersey in Montclair New Jersey as a whole is a city that is slightly to the left of Trotzky.
[00:11:39] That means if I'm the representative from Montclair I run as far left as I can and that'll get me elected. If I go to towns over I'm going to be in a town that had the birth of the Tea Party. And guess what.
[00:11:50] I'm going to run as far right as I can. I'm going to win re-election. House of Representatives districts tend to lead to polarization with members of Congress trying to go as far left as far right as they can get.
Nick Capodice: [00:12:01] Just a quick clarification. Congressional redistricting and gerrymandering aren't interchangeable. Gerrymandering is when you do congressional redistricting to favor your party.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:12:12] OK so what does this have to do with midterm elections.
Nick Capodice: [00:12:15] Well statistically older whiter more conservative people vote in midterms and that means these districts can be drawn to favor conservatives and that won't change for another 10 years.
Keith Hughes: [00:12:26] Most political scientists put it at about 40 seats that are truly up for grabs with all of the rest if you can think of that 435 seats. There's only 40 really competitive districts which means the other ones are really really red are really really blue. Just to put it in perspective in the last election it was pretty split in terms of the House the House of Representatives we saw if you took the total vote for House members it was about 50 percent 50 percent split between Democrats and Republicans. But when you break that 50 50 percent down and you look at what happened in terms of the outcome of the vote you know the Republicans have more of a 40 seat advantage in the house.
Nick Capodice: [00:13:06] I have to restate this Ana because I could not believe it when I heard it the first time in 2016. Even though almost the exact same number of votes were cast for Democratic Representatives and Republican Representatives the Republicans won 241 House seats and the Democrats won 194.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:13:26] So when are those districts actually drawn.
Nick Capodice: [00:13:29] That happens every 10 years after the census is done. So this election coming up 2018 midterms is huge because some of the people who will go in will determine the next drawing of congressional districts. Oh man that's big big big big but let's move on to number four.
Keith Hughes: [00:13:44] Number four midterms matter because you really are pressing the button for new ideas. If the Democrats are able to flip the house or flip the Senate not only does it give a chance for the party to redefine itself to have new leaders to have fresh faces to try to put that agenda in front of the American people and maybe put you know the president under some pressure in terms of is he going to support ideas that might be popular with most Americans because that legislation is now coming out of the House and coming out of the Senate. But in the long term it really can help a party rejuvenate itself. You know come out new start over again.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:14:19] The guy who wrote the book on midterms AndyE. Bush told me about this. He said that if we look at huge areas of new policy in American history say the New Deal or LBJ Great Society. They were bracketed by midterm elections not presidential elections.
Nick Capodice: [00:14:36] Yeah it's like midterms are a test kitchen for politics and we saved the best for last. Here comes number five.
Keith Hughes: [00:14:41] And finally number five why midterm is really important is because voting counts voting really matters and when you look at statistically the type of turnout that you get in midterm elections it's really really sad. My fellow Americans you know in a national election you might see 55 65 percent of registered voters coming out. But in a midterm election it could be as low as 25 30 percent.
Archival: [00:15:05] Sometimes your instincts tell you when a man is right.
[00:15:08] For the job.
Nick Capodice: [00:15:13] So there it is. Keith uses top 5 1 President almost always take the hit to the Senate staggered election cycle is crucial. Three congressional redistricting aka gerrymandering is going to happen after the midterms for midterms are proving ground for new ideas and 5 your vote really counts in a midterm.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:15:35] I gotta say Nick I've really learned a lot in this episode.
Nick Capodice: [00:15:37] Me too. So before we say goodbye we're going to end this episode with a snapshot of the historic midterm broken down by Brady Carlson former NH PR reporter and current afternoon host at Wisconsin Public Radio as well as the author of Dead Presidents.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:15:52] Brady Carlson.
Nick Capodice: [00:15:54] You know him, right?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:15:54] I know Brady.
Nick Capodice: [00:15:55] He's going to tell us about a midterm from the past.
Brady Carlson: [00:15:58] Sometimes a midterm election can turn an era of good feelings. Into an era of hard feelings.
[00:16:11] Today's midterm is the 18 26 midterm election. And to understand the election of 1826 and 1827 they were split up back then. You first have to understand how weird the 20s are in American political history. This is one of the few times where the country doesn't have major political parties that oppose each other. There had been two main political parties the Federalists and the Democratic Republicans but the federalists collapsed and so the Democratic Republicans were kind of the only game in town by the 18 20 presidential election. James Monroe the incumbent ran. Basically unopposed for re-election and because there's no organized opposition to his administration this period becomes known as the era of good feelings.
[00:17:00] The feelings were actually a little more mixed than that especially when 1824 rolled around because there were a bunch of people angling to be Monroes successor at that time. The typical frontrunner to be the next president was the previous president secretary of state. And at that time the secretary of state was a guy called John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts. But there was also kind of a wild card thrown into the mix.
[00:17:25] Jackson of Tennessee had even gotten a national MSJ.
[00:17:30] He was a military hero in the War of 1812. He was enormously popular and he had thrown his hat into the ring. He wasn't going to wait around to become secretary of state first.
[00:17:39] There's only one thing that can keep you from being pretty and that you wish that the election happens.
[00:17:45] Jackson wins the most popular votes and the most electoral votes but not a majority of either. And under the Constitution when there's no majority in the Electoral College the House of Representatives chooses the presidents and in 1824 they chose the second place finisher John Quincy Adams determined Bacchis not to have a wedding present. So obviously the Jackson people are furious. They finished first and didn't win the election so they essentially say this is a rigged system. The Adams people had conspired with the insiders in the House of Representatives to take away the election not only from Andrew Jackson but to their minds. The will of the American people. So the Jackson people respond to this by organizing their own political party. They called it the Democratic Party and their mission was to basically wage a four year election campaign against President Adams and the people who would put him in office. So they specifically targeted those lawmakers from the projects Jackson districts who had voted to elect Adams. They called it a blacklist. Now Adams was still rooted in the old model that public officials were public officials not politicians. They shouldn't carry the banner of a party. He even once told Congress that they needed to pass some of his agenda even if it was unpopular with the people he told them and this is a quote Don't be quote palsied by the will of our constituents. Now that's not the kind of thing that wins you a lot of public support. So the Jackson forces took this opportunity and they started using something close to modern election techniques they were going district by district. They were really playing up the personality of their candidate. Jack's life. Was. Nuts.
[00:19:29] And when the mid-term elections were done they had majorities in both houses of Congress and they use those majorities to block the Adams administration and its priorities for the next two years until the 1828 presidential election rolled around which Andrew Jackson won in an outright majority. This was an early example of what's now known as the mid-term decline where a new president comes in and two years later voters move toward the opposition in Congress to serve as a kind of check on that administration. This is something that's happened not in every presidency but in enough that it's become an almost expectation when a new president comes into office.
[00:20:14] That is it for Civics 101 today and remember this is just the first in a five part series on the midterm elections. Stick around for number two which will be on state and local elections.
[00:20:26] Today's episode was produced by me, Nick Capodice and Hannah McCarthy and Jackie Helbert. Our staff includes Ben Henry and Justine Paradice Jimmy Gutierrez and Taylor Quimby Erika Jandek is our executive producer Maureen McMurry is the one who put the hat on the snowman music in this episode by Diamond Ortiz Rondo brothers Blue Dot sessions Yang logos dead boys Ethan Maxwell parvus decree Samuel Woodworth silent partner Franz Schubert the green orbs and Keen's as Merera. If you want to know more about civics 101 or you want to submit a civics question of your own. You can do that at Civics 101 podcast. Dot org Civics 101 is a production ofM.H. PR. New Hampshire Public Radio.
Midterm Edition: Why Vote?
We've told you that midterm elections matter. But the truth is, midterms only matter to you -- and you only matter to your legislators -- if you show up at the polls. It's the first step in making yourself heard. And once you have, you mean that much more to the people who make our laws.
In this episode, you'll hear what voting actually does for you and your demographic. Plus, how to make sure your voice is heard, whether you're eligible to vote or not. Our experts this time around are Cheryl Cook-Kallio, Edgar Saldivar and Peter Levine.
Episode: Why Vote?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:02] We've spent a lot of time in this series explaining mid-term elections why they happen how they work. Who runs in them what shows up on the ballot. And I feel like we got there you know midterms Crash Course accomplish.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:18] Why do I feel there's a but in here.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:21] But our goal. I mean it's the title of the first episode. Our goal was to convince people that midterms matter. You know full disclosure we definitely have an agenda. We were trying to prove a point.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:34] Yes that's true. But midterms do matter. Of course they matter. They can change the course of politics they change the law.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:42] But I'm stuck on that final step. Participation showing up to vote because midterms are going to happen whether people turn out for them or not.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:51] That is actually my least favorite excuse for not voting.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:54] OK. Hear me out. We started with the goal of proving the power right. The worth of this election. And I think we partially felt we needed to do that because a lot of people don't care and we know that because we can look at voter turnout numbers and see that people just don't show up for the midterms the way they do for presidential elections.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:16] This is understandable when you're voting for the leader of the free world the largest office in our country it's bound to bring people out voting for the president is huge and it's in an obvious way and that's not really the case with smaller local offices that are on your ballot in a midterm.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:01:32] And that fact isn't going away right no matter how you Gussy them up. The midterms are missing that one crucial thing.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:38] Hannah if at this stage you're trying to convince me that midterm elections are not a big deal. I'm not only going to lose it but I got Dan Cassino on Speeddial right now.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:01:50] OK I would not dare try to do that to you. Especially not at this point. But all I'm saying is I think we need more more what more of a reason to turn up and to vote on Election Day.
Nick Capodice: [00:02:03] You got something?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:02:05] I think I do. Which is good because this is Civics 101. The podcast refresher course on the basics of how our democracy works. I'm Hannah McCarthy.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:02:19] and today on Civics 101 we're going to turn the focus on you dear listener because it isn't the president who makes or breaks an election it's you your five minutes in the voting booth are more than just an exercise in civil participation. Choosing to vote is like saying Hey look over here. You better listen to me because I have got your job in my hands.
Nick Capodice: [00:02:40] I hear you. Hannah and I don't need convincing. But if we're going to go there with voting then I have to say there are plenty of people who do show up to vote every year and still feel like legislators ignore them.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:02:51] You are absolutely right. That was the case for a lot of voters and that's where I want to start. With the frustrating truth about making your voice heard speaking up is not just about election day. It's a lot of work and it needs to be happening all the time.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:03:10] One of the problems I think with voting is that people think it's a passive action that you do in every two years you do with every four years when in fact it's what you do between elections that actually energize the constituency during a campaign and during an election.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:03:27] That is Cheryl Cook Kallio everybody high school teacher and former member of the California Assembly.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:03:32] And you know you'll hear people say well I didn't know this was going to happen or I didn't know this is going to be on the ballot. A lot of this is is prepped for years in advance and so voting is extremely important. But paying attention between voting and applying your civic knowledge between voting is equally as important to get the result. And to me a good result is one that represents a broad constituency.
Nick Capodice: [00:03:58] But what does applying your civic knowledge actually look like? We always hear you know you got to get involved but you know give me the instruction manual.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:04:06] It means a lot of things but why don't we start with the obvious you know knowing what you're voting for because let's be honest we've all likely encountered an office on the ballot on Election Day that we didn't even know was up for election or maybe we didn't even know what that office was.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:04:23] It makes me sick because I've seen that so many times and literally or worse yet who's running right who's running.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:04:32] All right. We hear stuff along these lines pretty often right. You know stay informed do the research don't complain if you don't vote and maybe don't complain if you vote without doing your homework first. And that advice can start to turn into white noise. But Cheryl cares about this and to be honest so do I. Because you are definitely, not maybe Nick, definitely electing people and voting on ballot measures that will change your life.
Nick Capodice: [00:04:59] Let me jump in here because look I know it's not super easy to figure out who and what you're voting for. And I guess is this what you mean by the work? I've pored over so many ballots not just from our state New Hampshire but from every state in the union. They're all completely different. They all have totally different rules and it's frankly overwhelming.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:05:16] It is overwhelming and frustrating and it's my job to research this stuff. But you know passivity is easier or soft focus is easier.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:05:28] And the thing is I don't have to know the world will go on rolling without my knowing exactly who I just helped to elect sheriff. But I'd rather just know who it is. I'm voting for. That way I don't wonder if I helped elect somebody who maybe goes against my morals and luckily we've got thousands of journalists and analysts around the country clamoring to provide us with that information.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:05:52] I think that people need to be informed and in order to be informed they have to look at a variety of sources. If the only place that you're getting your information is off of Facebook or Fox News or MSNBC you're only getting half of the story. When I see a story come up and I look at the source of the story. I then physically look for other articles that may be done from a different perspective. It takes work and part of the issue with living in a democracy is you have to be constantly vigilant.
Nick Capodice: [00:06:27] I guess if you want the government by and for the people to actually reflect what the people want then the people have to know how to ask for what they want how to establish it. It's just it's such a huge task. I don't feel like any of us can show up on election day knowing everything.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:06:44] I think that's completely true. And as Cheryl sees it you don't have to be an expert in your options.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:06:51] It's important to recognize that you can't know everything. And so for me if I'm in an area that I'm unfamiliar with I will call a person that I think is an expert or here's the one thing that people don't do enough and that is call the office of their elected official. If I'm really confused about something and I know the bill was authored in a particular office or I know somebody who's opposed to that in a particular office I will call up and ask for the information. That's what their job is is to give you that information.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:07:26] OK. That's the kind of work you couldn't do before an election in the month leading up to it. Right. That's Election Day centric work. But I want to go back to this idea that Cheryl has about civic knowledge because there's the kind of passivity that means not showing up to vote. And then there's the kind of passivity of not knowing who or what you're voting for before you do show up. But to Cheryl civic engagement also has to take place in the off season like being a baseball fan who pays attention to the draft and then watches spring training.
Nick Capodice: [00:07:58] Except these players are in charge of making law. So the stakes are a little higher.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:08:02] Slightly higher. Yeah and the actual law making the job that we essentially hire our legislature to do that is what is going on in the off season. That's what's going on between elections. So the most important part of engaging with your rep or your senator is not the act of voting. Aside from the issue of actually getting to the polls and being sure you're allowed to vote and we will get to that later. The impact of Election Day itself is largely psychological. But the law making that comes after that. That is what makes your life better or worse. That is what keeps your schools operating and your streets safe.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:08:45] And it's about approaching democracy what's important. What do you need to do before an election. You know what we're talking about is exactly what illustrates the importance of paying attention between elections that it really isn't about just sitting around and twiddling your thumbs. I had a student had once said to me you know I don't care about those government stuff which of course caused me to have you know hyperventilating and he said you know when it's never going to make a difference to me. And I sat there sat down and I said you know right now probably nothing I said but the minute that you want to walk your daughter to school and you recognize that there needs to be a stop sign at the corner. It will become very important to you. And he looked at me and said You're right.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:09:34] We all turn out for the presidential elections and any kind of trickle out for the midterm elections. And then you know the rest of the time how many of us show up when the work is actually being done. I think there's this sense that our metaphorical microphone only appears in the voting booth and then that the rest of the time we have to sit around and watch things happening to us or at us but we're allowed to comment on laws before they happen we're allowed to ask for a stop sign.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:10:02] And the people who can make that stop sign happen and can make you or your kids save are often the very people up for election or re-election during the midterms.
Nick Capodice: [00:10:12] Something that's really easy for me to forget is that you can go online and look up your senator or your state rep governor's number and you could just give them a call. You can ask them questions about what's going on in your city. You can tell them that you need that stop sign at the end of your road or tell them you're opposed to a bill or let them know about a problem at your school.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:10:32] Decisions are made by people who show up and you only show up on Election Day. Then you're not doing your due diligence and you're likely to be somewhat disconcerted over the outcome at least in some areas.
Nick Capodice: [00:10:46] One of the only obstacles I can foresee for this is it's a matter of numbers. So what if I'm the only one who wants that stop sign or what if my state representative or legislature just doesn't seem to care.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:10:57] I mean that's definitely something that happens but it all comes back to voting. If you turn out to the polls and people who share your beliefs turn out alongside you then you've established that broad constituency that Cheryl was talking about earlier.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:11:15] For example let's say youre a 47 year old Wisconsinite who loves the color green and loves swing sets and believes in unionized playground companies. You want the playground Union to build a green swing set in every city in the state.
Nick Capodice: [00:11:30] I feel very passionately about this.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:11:31] You do and a lot of people around your age feel the exact same way.
Nick Capodice: [00:11:35] OK so we are going to be golden right? If if we all want these union built Kelly Green swings sets we're going to get them right?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:11:43] Ah but let's say only a handful of people in your swing set devoted demographic actually vote.
Nick Capodice: [00:11:49] OK that's not great.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:11:50] No it's not great. Because the thing is it doesn't really matter if you all feverishly desire to see union belt green swing sets dotting the Wisconsin landscape if you don't vote. Your legislators pay attention to those who show up to the polls. If your demographic does not why should they pay attention to what you want in the meantime?
Nick Capodice: [00:12:10] That's pretty dark.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:12:11] That's politics my friend.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:12:13] Right now if young people would vote if we got the vast majority of students that are 18 years old voting in California they could change how we charge for college education. You would all of a sudden have a group of legislators that would be paying very close attention to this demographic. It's because they don't vote some of these things are passed.
Nick Capodice: [00:12:40] That's crazy. I mean we don't usually talk about legislation in terms of voter turnout. The idea is that your person either wins or loses and they go about their business of working for you or not but it sounds like. And tell me if I've got this right. If your demographic turns out in full force then your demographic's going to get more attention than other demographics even if you both voted for the same person.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:13:03] Exactly. It's just like Cheryl says that people who candidates pay attention to are the people who vote in large numbers. So white people vote more than people of color. Older people vote more than younger people. Rich people vote more than poor people.
Nick Capodice: [00:13:19] And by the way as we've mentioned in a couple different episodes whiter older richer tends to also describe the demographic of the people we actually get to vote for. But on the subject of who is turning out to vote our country by and large makes it way easier for that white wealthy older demographic to vote.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:13:40] Which brings me to my next point the point Cheryl made about college aged voters not turning out. You cannot boil that down to young people being lazy or something.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:13:50] So you know you're in your parents home you're going off to college you change residences. How many times while you're in college four years are in training or wherever else you go to become an adult. You forget to register and then you can't decide are you going to vote in the city that you're going to college in. Are you going to vote in the town that you came from. You have to make that decision. In some state they make it very difficult for people to vote by mail. So if you are going to college in you know North Carolina specifically had a rule about this or a law about this not too long ago that they didn't want students voting on the college cities that they live in but you're not going to drive home to vote on a Tuesday. So you are basically taking away their right to vote unless you allowed them to vote absentee. I mean they've changed that law now but it is a way to suppress voter participation by making it difficult to register and making it difficult to change your registration.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:14:52] Now I do want to say the people who work on tightening voter registration access say they're doing it to prevent voter fraud. But the defacto result of this is that there are laws all over the country that make it tricky for college kids to vote for people of color to vote for lower income people to vote for trans people to vote.
Edgar Saldivar: [00:15:11] You know the voter ID requirements can be very burdensome to poor individuals to people of color to the elderly who don't often have the ability to obtain the records or pay the fees the state requires to have photo IDs for example.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:15:28] This is Edgar Saldivar he's a senior staff attorney at the ACLU in Texas and Edgar makes clear that although these laws do not explicitly block minorities from voting they do in some cases make it more difficult.
Edgar Saldivar: [00:15:43] There are numerous ways that state legislatures have made it burdensome difficult or sometimes impossible to cast a ballot for individuals who are eligible to vote. And rather than extending access to the ballot what we've seen as a trend to make voting much harder rather than easier.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:16:11] And it's not just registration that poses a problem. A polling place can be moved at the last minute or maybe you show up and you find your name has been purged from the voter roll.
Edgar Saldivar: [00:16:21] Right so a voter roll essentially is a listing all the persons that are registered in a particular precinct.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:16:29] Now Edgar says that there are a lot of ways a person's name might be purged from the rolls in a city or state. Maybe you've moved or you've been incarcerated or become mentally incapacitated. All of these he says are lawful reasons to purge someone from the voter rolls.
Nick Capodice: [00:16:44] However I've read tons of articles specifically in the last 10 years about people who are definitely eligible to vote and they show up and they're told nope sorry you're not on the list.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:16:54] Yeah that does happen.
Edgar Saldivar: [00:16:55] Some states have taken a sort of overly aggressive efforts to purge voters. Oftentimes voters who aren't eligible to vote whether may be sort of a kind of administrative mistake that caused it, you know they go vote and they realize that they are not on the voter rolls.
Nick Capodice: [00:17:14] So it sounds like you've got to have your rights down pat before you even go to your voting station.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:17:17] That's exactly it. Edgar says that if you are eligible to vote meaning you're a U.S. citizen. You'll be 18 on the day of the election. You're a resident of the state county and district where you are casting your ballot and you are not in prison or on parole for a felony conviction. Then it is your constitutional right to vote.
Nick Capodice: [00:17:38] But what if your attempt is thwarted. What if you know that you're eligible to vote you've waited in line for a few hours. You show up and they say Buzz off buddy you're not on the voter rolls.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:17:48] OK. First and foremost what you have to do is ask for a provisional ballot and a receipt. If you ask for this provisional ballot it is required by law that they give it to you. And then after the fact they will assess on a case by case basis whether or not your vote is valid.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:18:06] And then if you have any other problems because things do crop up you can call this number. It's 8 6 6 our vote so that's 8 6 6 6 8 7 8 6 8 3. They're are a nonpartisan election protection coalition. They're national. They'll know what to do.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:18:27] But let me just give you a specific example. Right. So a lot of trans rights groups are trying to look out for people who might be denied at the polls. The ACLU of New Hampshire for instance has put together a fact sheet explaining that yes if you have changed your name you need to reregister under that name.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:18:45] However if for example your I.D. appears to show someone of a different gender you cannot be denied the right to vote.
Nick Capodice: [00:18:51] All right come prepared maybe even write these things down before you go. Just to be on the safe side. But still I can totally see myself being intimidated by the prospect of being denied a ballot even if I know my rights.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:19:04] Yeah in a case like that it can be worth a quick Internet search to figure out if there's an election day carpool program near you that can offer support. in Tennessee for example. There's even a ride share app for the LGBTQ community in Chattanooga that helps people get to the polls. And you know what Nick. If all else fails you can always call your attorney general and verify your right to vote and you can do that right at the polling place.
Nick Capodice: [00:19:30] Can I check in for a minute here. Sure. So we started this episode with you saying you're going to give people just one more reason to turn out on Election Day for midterms. And you've given us a couple and some how tos.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:19:42] OK good. That is what I was going for.
Nick Capodice: [00:19:43] But I think there's one big thing missing actually. The people who can't vote yet. Young people. People who are going to be able to vote in the future or just don't have that constitutional right yet in their lives. So many of the laws. So many of the laws that we make in this country have to do with those people but they don't get a say.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:20:10] Or do they.
Nick Capodice: [00:20:12] Do they? Is this a trick.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:20:14] I mean I say they do. I say young people are instrumental to effecting change.
Nick Capodice: [00:20:19] Go on.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:20:20] OK. Point number one and please bear with me on this one. Young people are the future.
Nick Capodice: [00:20:27] Oh Hannah is everybody rolling their eyes out there?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:20:30] But it's true.
Peter Levine: [00:20:32] So I think it's important for young people to realize that they have a lot of power and they're actually exercising it.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:20:37] This is Peter Levine. He's the academic dean at the Tufts University Tisch College of civic life.
Peter Levine: [00:20:43] They're a very big Voting Bloc. They are gonna run the country. Whatever happens in. 15 20 25 years. So the skills that they learn now. For running the country are really important. Whatever happens the way that they vote does determine the outcome of elections even if they don't vote at the numbers they should. So they do swing elections. So they are actually exercising power so I don't buy the hype that they're just disengaged. Some of them are but some of them aren't.
Nick Capodice: [00:21:08] But still he's talking about the young vote. What about the young nonvote.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:21:12] So Peter has been doing research on civic engagement of people from kindergarten through senior year of high school and he's been doing it for over a decade now. So he knows that first of all if you learn about voting when you're young you can be a good voter by the time you actually get there.
Peter Levine: [00:21:28] So the pattern in America is that people gradually become voters. Each decade until people get into their 80s. They vote at a higher rate and it seems that people sort of overcome the barriers they learn how to do it. They tune into some issues and get an idea who they're going to vote for and when they do that they're much more likely to vote against it. You could say voting is habit forming. And for the very youngest the habit has only formed for about one in five in the midterm elections.
Nick Capodice: [00:21:54] So get in the habit of being a voter before you're actually a voter.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:21:58] Yeah but that isn't it. You know you can actually do something long before you're a member of the electorate. For one thing. What is more compelling more sympathetic than a young person demanding say justice or support? And What is more disappointing than a legislator who ignores that young person's call. Not to get all cynical about this but you know it's good PR to pay attention to young people.
Peter Levine: [00:22:25] So even if you don't have the vote you can work in other domains. But the other thing is you can influence older people have the vote. So. Certainly the Parkland students are demonstrating that you can have a big influence on voters even if you're too young to vote yourself.
Nick Capodice: [00:22:39] And on of these ideas that Cheryl Cook-Kallio talked about that civic engagement is about what happens between the elections, like swaying legislators is less about voting day than it is about how you get at them when things are in session. Is there a way for underage people to get their say?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:22:55] This is one major thing that Peter kept coming back to civics is not limited to government and exercising your voice isn't limited to being of voter age.
Peter Levine: [00:23:04] So you can change the world in lots of ways and that that opens up a whole range of things you can do. One thing is there are in other institutions and communities apart from the government the ones that the government runs they're in the school or any neighborhood.
Peter Levine: [00:23:16] They might be in a religious location they're in a family. And all of those institutions can be changed so you can if you can't change the law through voting you might be able to change your school's policies through talking to the Administration at the schools.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:23:34] So those things that are quite a law like let's say you're suspended for something that you think is unjust. You can go to the mattresses over something like that. You can disagree with policy and you can make people listen to you about it long before you get to actually vote for anything.
Nick Capodice: [00:23:54] And you can work for politicians too. You can volunteer or you can show up at rallies offer feedback like Bakari Sellers said eat cold pizza in a church basement. You can make it so by the time you might have to deal with a challenge to your right to vote you know your rights better than anybody because you've been preparing for this your whole life.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:24:12] I mean my big takeaway from all of this is that the lack of voter turnout is this kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. They say young people don't vote and so young people don't get attention from legislators and so they feel disenfranchised and that literally disenfranchises them. They then don't vote. The same goes for any group of people who feel like they're on the outs.
Nick Capodice: [00:24:35] So I guess the best medicine is to prove those numbers wrong.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:24:39] Yeah I couldn't agree more. Per usual. We're going to end this episode on the story of an historic midterm. Nick do you have one for us?
Nick Capodice: [00:24:49] I sure do.
Nick Capodice: [00:24:51] This one. Go vote dammit.
Midterm Edition: Propositions (aka Ballot Measures)
Regardless of how you choose to vote on Prop 1, you'll finish this episode knowing all about ballot measures. These are bills and amendments initiated by the people, and voted into law by the people. What could possibly go wrong when we sidestep our famously pedantic legislature??
Today's episode features our eminently quotable teacher and former California Assemblymember Cheryl Cook-Kallio, political correspondent at KQED Guy Marzorati, and frequent initiative proposer Tim Eyman. Cameo by Dan Cassino.
Civics 101 is a production of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Midterm Edition: PROPOSITIONS
Nick Capodice: [00:00:01] If you're from the great state of Idaho you might have heard this.
[00:00:04] It's not just saving our tradition of horse racing. Proposition 1 is about Idaho job creation classroom funding real accountability and the Idaho sponsoring Prop 1 are donating 100 percent of net profits from their horseracing operations to a new charitable foundation.
[00:00:21] I work with horses all my life. Supporters of Prop 1 are running deceptive ads. Prop Wong is an unlimited expansion of gambling statewide. I know the people behind Prop 1 and it made a lot of promises to schools and the racing community. But they take 18 times more money. Than schools get.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:39] Hey Hannah
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:42] Yes.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:43] Pop quiz hotshot.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:44] Okay.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:45] Yes or no on Prop 1.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:50] I don't know what Prop 1 is and I need more information if I'm gonna say.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:55] Who benefits, who benefits from Prop 1.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:58] Schools, right?
Nick Capodice: [00:01:04] 4h? I cannot explain to you what Prop 1 is. I'm Nick Capodice.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:11] This is Civics 101 the podcast refresher course on the basics of how our whole democracy works. So today we're going to be talking about propositions. Ballot measures. These are initiatives referendums and recall.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:01:25] So when you say propositions what are you talking about.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:30] Propositions is an umbrella term under which initiative referendum and recall fall. To be clear today we're not talking about legislatively referred constitutional amendments which all the states except for Delaware have.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:01:46] Hold up, what is up with Delaware.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:47] I don't know actually we're going have to put that in our state anomaly episode along with Nebraska's single house legislature.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:01:53] And our 400 seat House of Representatives.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:01:56] Did I sound a little drunk when I said that/
Nick Capodice: [00:01:57] No it sounded perfect. First off ballot initiatives they only happen in 24 states. And when I told our midterm guru Dan Cassino from Fairleigh Dickinson University that I thought it was funny that New Hampshire didn't have initiatives. He said that.
Dan Cassino: [00:02:11] No it's about when your state constitution is written. With your state constitution written between about 1880 and 1915 you're going to have initiative referendum recall all that, if it wasn't written or wasn't revised during that period you're not going to have it.
Nick Capodice: [00:02:25] This was during the height of the Progressive Era when progressives were arguing that corporations monopolies and trusts were corrupting state legislatures and there was no way for the citizens voice to be heard. Ballot initiative gives them that voice. So many of you out there you're not going to see props on your ballot on Election Day. So for you this episode is going to make you wish you had them, or grateful that you don't. If you are from one of those 24 states. Chances are they are a massive part of your political landscape. But first we need to dissect what an initiative and a referendum are. Here's former California assembly member and teacher Cheryl Cook Kallio.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:03:06] The initiative and referendum process puts the ability for citizens to either initiate the word initiate a statute that can be passed that either becomes a bill or it might become an amendment to a state constitution which gives grassroots organizers a real advantage. So an initiative is new legislation initiated by the people.
Nick Capodice: [00:03:31] Yes and referendum is.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:03:33] Something that the legislature submits to the people in order for them to validate a law that they would like to pass. Oftentimes it is something that's controversial or it may be like a state constitution or a referendum could be a grassroots movement by citizens of a particular state or county or city to recall or to redo a bill that they don't want that was passed by their lawmaking body.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:04:04] So a referendum is either reworking or removing a bill that's already been passed by Congress.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:04:12] So this gave a lot of power to individual citizens as opposed to leaving it up to your representatives.
Nick Capodice: [00:04:19] And legislative referendum is when elected officials put the question to the people. What do you think. Should we pass this bill.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:04:27] Why on earth would Congress want the people's opinion instead of just working it out themselves.
Nick Capodice: [00:04:33] Well as we've learned in many episodes it's really hard to get bills through both houses of Congress. So if you're a legislator and there's a bill that you think doesn't have a chance of getting out of committee or going through a debate on the floor of the House or the Senate you can just throw it to the people for a vote and it becomes law.
Tim Eyman: [00:04:52] So yeah this is Tim Eyman, I'm part of a team that has done initiatives in Washington state in the last 20 years. And during that time we've managed the get 16 ballot measures on the ballot. During that period of time and voters have approved 10 of those and rejected 6. So we're batting over 500.
Nick Capodice: [00:05:12] Tim is a conservative and part of what appeals to him about this process is that it gives him a voice in a state that tends to lean pretty blue.
Tim Eyman: [00:05:21] Well the initiative process is allowing people died. And I think that that is very attractive to me. Frankly I just don't trust politicians to do the right thing. But the initiatives we focus on are really focused on limiting government power and taxes.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:05:40] OK that's initiative and referendum but what is recall.
Nick Capodice: [00:05:45] Ooh, recall is super interesting and super duper rare but I wanted to include it today. Here's another initiative expert Guy Marzorati; political correspondent from our friends at KQED in San Francisco.
Guy Marzorati: [00:05:56] Recalls are of actual politicians and elected officials. We had one a little more than a decade ago in the governor's office where the sitting governor was recalled by voters and so that again was a required signature drive. That was then placed on the ballot and the governor was recalled and a new governor was chosen in the same election.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:06:17] That the people just removed a governor.
Nick Capodice: [00:06:20] They did. Gray Davis was removed from office in 2003 mostly due to tax and budget issues. But this was the election when Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in as governor.
[00:06:29] But for the people to win politics as usual must lose.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:06:35] No impeachment process no trial in the Senate. Just the voice of the people.
Nick Capodice: [00:06:41] Yes though I should add only 19 US states have recall and there's only been three in U.S. history, two of which were successful.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:06:49] OK so that's recall. How about initiatives and referendums how did they start. Who can put one on the ballot.
Guy Marzorati: [00:06:55] It can be anyone. And you know you there's a process by which you submit the language to the state. And then after that language is reviewed you are allowed to start gathering signatures.
Nick Capodice: [00:07:07] Here's Tim Eyman again. This is the guy who's gotten 20 initiatives on the ballot in Washington state.
Tim Eyman: [00:07:12] Well it's it's really tough. You've got to somehow convince well over 300000 fellow citizens to sign a piece of paper to put that on the ballot and you have to do that in about three or four months. So it's an incredibly difficult process to be able to you know essentially start the entire campaign and get it up and running in such a short period of time.
Nick Capodice: [00:07:38] Just a quick check in Hannahm How are you feeling about initiatives so far?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:07:43] In the sense that we are a democracy for the people by the people, it sounds really great right?
Nick Capodice: [00:07:52] Well let's start by looking at those signatures.
[00:07:58] My name is Kathy from petition's unlimited. And we here today in this very very rough economy. And I got the job for you.
Guy Marzorati: [00:08:07] In California we often can see outside of supermarkets and you know places where a lot of people gather you'll see folks with clipboards with different initiatives that they are gathering signatures for.
[00:08:19] Make your own hours. This is great for a musician for an actor somebody just wants to make money on the side.
Guy Marzorati: [00:08:26] Many of those people who do that are paid to do it and it can be a lucrative business if say an initiative is running against the clock to qualify for a ballot. Maybe its proponents will pay a hefty fee for each signature that's gathered in order to make sure that the initiative proposal does get on the ballot.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:08:46] Hold on. It's not just passionate advocates getting signatures.
Nick Capodice: [00:08:50] Oh no. This is business big business.
[00:08:55] Enough valid signatures from registered voters and the measures make it into the November ballot.
[00:09:00] If you have the 13 or 12 petitions even one person to sign them all it's worth about forty dollars. So it's worth a lot of money.
[00:09:08] Some campaigns are paying as much as five dollars this year for a single signature.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:09:14] It's the person collecting signatures who gets the five dollars per signature.
Nick Capodice: [00:09:19] Yes. So they can make upwards of five hundred dollars a day.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:09:22] So there's no incentive for that person with a clipboard to tell you the truth about what you're signing. So if you're not doing your due diligence if you're not reading the initiative you know yourself and they have a whole bag of tricks they can walk up and they say you like puppies don't you. And you know this protects the puppies and oh yes I'm going to sign this because it protects the puppies only to find out that it kills kittens.
Guy Marzorati: [00:09:47] Their job is really just to get the signatures and get paid for it.
Nick Capodice: [00:09:51] As of October 17th 2018 Ballotpedia has tracked about one point four billion with a B dollars spent on contributions and expenditures towards ballot measures for these upcoming midterms.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:10:04] This is starting to dampen my enthusiasm for a citizen led democracy.
Nick Capodice: [00:10:12] Well let me just throw another wet log on the fire Hannah. Sometimes parties and corporations throw tons of money behind initiatives for other reasons.
Guy Marzorati: [00:10:25] Ballot initiatives sometimes are often just used to get people out to the polls. I mean we saw the example that this year in California with the gas tax repeal. This was a measure placed on the ballot with heavy funding from the state Republican Party. They spent a lot to get the signatures and get it qualified for the ballot but then stop spending as much. Once the measure actually qualified. And the reason was they really wanted this gas tax repeal on the ballot to get Republicans to the polls. They thought it would be a big driver of turnout that would help them in the governor's race. And even more importantly help them in really close congressional races. But as an actual measure they didn't really fund it once it was on the ballot to the same extent which made it seem like maybe it was more important to get it on there than to actually get it passed.
Nick Capodice: [00:11:11] So imagine for a second that we as a nation had initiative and referendum. And that the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was up to the people to decide. Can you imagine the voter turnout for that election.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:11:27] I think it would be huge. Right. I mean that's one of the most divisive issues in the country if that were up to us for a vote. I think most able voters would turn out. But. How would you even write that on a ballot.
Nick Capodice: [00:11:44] I am very glad you asked because this brings me to another point since you're voting for ideas as opposed to just candidates, names on the ballot, there is a lot of attention on how these are phrased. Back in 2008 Cheryl Cook-Kallio she was teaching a high school class she called the most inclusive class she had seen.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:12:04] They had a gay straight alliance before other schools had them. The kids were very open about who they were.
Nick Capodice: [00:12:09] And this was when California was voting on Prop 8 which was about same sex marriage.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: [00:12:13] We have an I Vote thing in California where students mimic the national election and they all voted against gay marriage. And my mouth flew open as did my entire We The People class and I immediately went to the ballot and looked at how it was worded and I said well they were all vote thought they were voting in favor of gay marriage. So how something is worded is extremely important. And there are lawyers spend their entire career figuring out how to word something so that it seems like one thing is as opposed to another.
Guy Marzorati: [00:12:47] The wording is such a politicized aspect of this whole ballot initiative conversation. So the wording is decided by the attorney general's office. And this you know can work very drastically for and against supporters of a ballot measure. Take this year with the gas tax repeal. Democrats control all statewide office in California which includes the attorney general's office. So what voters will see on their ballot does not say do you want to vote yes on a gas tax repeal. Instead the measure and the language at sea seems really tilted towards do you want to get rid of funding that has been dedicated to fix our roads to fund transportation which is what this increased gas tax went towards. So polling interestingly that has just asked people about their thoughts on the ballot measure by reading them the ballot language. You know the repeal is done a lot worse than if you ask people whether they support a repeal of the gas tax.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:13:51] Well what language actually made it onto the ballot.
Nick Capodice: [00:13:54] All right here's the first part for the Prop 6 summary: repeals a 2017 transportation law's tax and fee provisions that pay for repairs and improvements to local roads state highways and public transportation. Ballotpedia has this automatic formula that analyzes the readability of all of these measures. And it's called the Flesh Kinkaid grade level which is how many years of formal education you'd have to have in order to fully understand with confidence a ballot measure. So this one we just read that scores of 16.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:14:25] What does 16 mean.
Nick Capodice: [00:14:27] That means you need 16 years of formal education to comprehend. You need a college degree. And the one we played some ads for in the beginning are old horsea friend Prop 1 in Idaho.
[00:14:37] I work with horses all my life.
Nick Capodice: [00:14:40] 53 years of formal education to understand.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:14:44] Who besides a monk has 53 years of formal education.
Nick Capodice: [00:14:50] It's just it's just a formula that analyzes language. But let me but tell me how you'd vote on this. Ready?
[00:14:56] Yeah.
Nick Capodice: [00:14:56] An initiative amending Chapter 25 title 54 Idaho code contains findings and purposes MEND's definition of historical horse race adds new section authorizing historical horse race betting in certain locations where live or simulcast parimutuel horse race betting occurs specifies requirements for historical horse racing terminals declares such terminals not to be slot machines allocates revenue from historical horse race betting requires licensees to enter into agreements Horseman's groups prehistorical horse race purse money fund and State Treasury authorizes distribution by state races commission and between state treasurer refund monies direct state racing commission to promulgate implement rules declares and act effective upon voter approval and completion of voting canvass and provides for severability.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:15:31] Get out. Leave.
Nick Capodice: [00:15:34] My favorite words in this are parimutuel.
Nick Capodice: [00:15:36] So a lot of words, spellcheck was like don't you mean something else like three words in this the my spellcheck didn't catch
Hannah McCarthy: [00:15:43] What's the single thing I'm voting on like what's the big idea here. Because these are a million little things that don't mean a hell of a lot to me. I know nothing about horseracing.
Nick Capodice: [00:15:52] Yeah this is the sort of stuff that requires you to do the legwork you have to research each initiative before you vote. From what I can gather Prop 1 is about legalizing the use of video terminals for horse race betting.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:16:04] I would not have gotten that.
Nick Capodice: [00:16:06] And there's 11 of these in California alone. So if there's a call to action today it's to go to a Web site like ballotpedia.org, Put in your address and get a sample ballot before Election Day.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:16:19] Or let's say you're in the polling booth. Get out your phone. Look this stuff up if you need to.
Nick Capodice: [00:16:24] So let's hear Guy's final thoughts on the pros and cons of direct democracy.
Guy Marzorati: [00:16:31] Supporters of ballot initiatives say this is the best way to give citizens power to react to things that the legislature isn't dealing with. Examples of that in the past have been about property taxes. This year rent control issues that the legislature hasn't taken up for years. People are fed up and they feel like OK you didn't act on this. Now it's time for us to act on it. On the flip side when we talk about citizens initiative these often aren't brought to the ballot by you know some good citizen who suddenly thinks of it an idea that should be a law it's oftentimes interest groups unions corporations that feel like. You know they want to change a law. They couldn't do it through the legislature. They don't want to negotiate about it. They want to just port forward kind of a yes or no idea and they're willing to spend heavily to make it happen.
Guy Marzorati: [00:17:19] That's you know how does the process I guess has taken on more of a cynical aspect.
Nick Capodice: [00:17:25] And if it seems that people are a bit cynical of initiatives I want to close by saying that yes, corporations and political parties have massive influence on what initiatives make it to the ballot. That said, these are also the issues that elected officials have been avoiding, that they wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. Issues like marijuana legalization. Abortion. Same sex marriage. The death penalty.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:17:54] So knowing that the language might be designed to purposefully obfuscate the meaning. I feel empowered to do research and also to take with a grain of salt what I'm reading in that voting booth it's a little bit like those crosswords you do Nick where the clue contains the answer but it's not immediately apparent you have to think outside the box to get to it.
Nick Capodice: [00:18:21] The cryptic crossword.
Nick Capodice: [00:18:23] And I think it's really exciting they just Prota a lot of there's a lot of trust in the voter in these issues. If the voters all do their work. Then these can be a really cool thing. If they don't they're at the whims of people who have lots of money.
Nick Capodice: [00:18:39] So you gonna move to California.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:18:42] No, I like the rain.
Nick Capodice: [00:18:44] Before we go we have our final snapshot of a famous midterm from U.S. history delivered by former NHPR reporter current afternoon host at Wisconsin Public Radio. Author of dead presidents, Mr. Perfect, Brady Carlson. What mid term are we talking about today Brady?
Brady Carlson: [00:19:01] We're talking about the midterm of 2002 and the lesson from this midterm is that the rules of American politics only apply until they don't.
Brady Carlson: [00:19:16] We know that what typically happens in midterms is that the president's party loses seats in Congress in the midterm after the president is first elected. They don't always vote for the opposition party to have control of Congress. But at the very least the president's party ends up with fewer seats in Congress after that midterm. That said the political picture in 2002 was complicated. We were only a couple of years removed from the presidential election of 2000. That's the one where Republican George W. Bush won the Electoral College but lost the popular vote and there was the highly controversial Supreme Court decision about recounts in the state of Florida.
[00:19:57] Neither the sanctity of the ballots nor the integrity of the election. Has been compromised. And that the election results....
Brady Carlson: [00:20:08] Republicans had a majority in the House of Representatives. It was a straightforward majority. The Senate was anything but straightforward 2000 elections have left the chamber with 50 Republican senators and 50 Democratic and Democratic aligned senators. So the vice president was on the hook to potentially break all these ties.
Brady Carlson: [00:20:26] And then after five months of that split Republican senator switched parties and the Democrats had a very narrow majority.
Senator Jim Jeffords: [00:20:33] I have found myself in crushingly odds with the Republican philosophy and more in line with the philosophy of the Democratic Party.
Brady Carlson: [00:20:43] So leading up to this midterm we had one chamber of Congress with a Republican majority one with a Democratic majority a president who had only narrowly won an election. So this is about as divided as divided government gets which in and of itself is very complicated.
Brady Carlson: [00:20:59] But of course the most complicated piece of the midterm in 2002 was that it came about a year after the attacks of September 11 2001.
Geoge W Bush: [00:21:09] I became something that no president should ever want to be a wartime president.
Brady Carlson: [00:21:16] There were other issues at the time. There had been a big tax cut bill in Congress. There was the No Child Left Behind education law.
Brady Carlson: [00:21:22] The U.S. economy had kind of become sluggish but the single big issue in this midterm was security. The U.S. was already launching a military effort in Afghanistan. President Bush had called for Congress to authorize a new military campaign in Iraq. And I had forgotten until I looked it up just how close to the election the Iraq war vote took place it was in October 2002 so it was under a month before Election Day. Republicans in Congress by and large backed the president, said you need to go into Iraq. The Democrats who had mostly opposed the president on the economy and other domestic issues ended up split on the Iraq vote. A lot of rank and file Democrats opposed the war vote but their leaders in the House and Senate as well as some very high profile senators like Hillary Clinton and John Kerry voted in favor of the resolution.
Senator Hillary Clinton: [00:22:13] Any vote that might lead to war should be hard but I cast it with conviction.
Brady Carlson: [00:22:21] Now obviously that became a very consequential vote for a lot of reasons a lot of people changed their minds about that vote in the years to come. But if you look at it purely through the lens of a midterm election campaign you have a lot of high profile Democrats who are basically siding with the Republican administration on the top issue of the campaign. And all of that ends up leading to a midterm outcome which is far from the usual. There's an important caveat about that rule that the president's party loses seats in the president's first midterm. And that is that you can usually track how big those losses are going to be for the president's party based on the president's approval rating at the time. So take GeorgeW. Bush's predecessor Bill Clinton in his first midterm election. His approval rating was like 43 percent. And so Democrats lost pretty big. They lost control of Congress. In 2002. George W. Bush's approval rating was 63 percent.
Geoge W Bush: [00:23:23] We choose freedom and the dignity of every life.
Brady Carlson: [00:23:34] It wasn't that long before it was even higher in the immediate aftermath of the September 11th attacks. So you have a president with relatively high approval ratings long term changes in the country's political alignment and an election where security and terrorism are top issues in a way that they usually aren't. And it wasn't that all of that ended up turning into a landslide for Republicans in 2002. It was still pretty divided. If you look at the raw vote totals but the races that might have swung one way or another determine the outcome wound up swinging in the administration's favor. So in the end Republicans gained five seats in the house the game two in the Senate. So they wound up having majorities in both chambers of Congress.
Brady Carlson: [00:24:15] Again this is the first time that the president's party had gained seats in the president's first midterm election since the 1930s.
[00:24:28] He told me to come down here and tell you something. Tell me to come down here and tell you that two years from now he wants all y'all on his team.
Brady Carlson: [00:24:47] The lesson here is that there are no guarantees in U.S. elections. There are trends and some of them happen so often that they might almost feel like political laws. But to assume that voters will go a certain way in an election just because voters have usually gone that certain way in the past is to forget the wisdom of one of our great philosophers baseball star Yogi Berra who said it ain't over till it's over.
Nick Capodice: [00:25:18] That'll do for this our penultimate episode on the midterms. Stay tuned for the next and final one. Today's Episode is produced by me Nick Capodice and Hannah McCarthy.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:25:29] Our staff includes Jacqui Helbert and Ben Henry our executive producer is Erika Janik. Maureen McMurray believes in parimutuel promulgation.
Nick Capodice: [00:25:37] Music from today's episode is from Geographer, Scott Graton, Chris Zabriskie, Poddington Bear and Blue Dot Sessions.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:25:45] Civics 101 is a production of an NHPR, New Hampshire Public Radio.
Midterm Edition: Campaigning
How do you stand out in a sea of lawn signs, or make yourself heard above the roar of a thousand ads? Campaigns are hard enough when the whole country is watching -- so what does it take to get the vote when most people couldn't care less? That's the mystery of the midterm campaign. We asked some experts to help us solve it.
In this episode, you'll hear from Inside Elections reporter Leah Askarinam, CNN political analyst Bakari Sellers, politics professor Barry Burden and state house candidate Maile Foster. Plus, Brady Carlson walks us through a midterm of revolutionary proportions.
ENOTE: This transcript was generated using an automated transcription service, and may contain typographical errors.
Episode: Campaigning
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:00] Nick, you ready?
[00:00:05] (ad archival)
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:41] Relentless.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:41] Yeah this is some of the most depressing audio I've ever heard.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:44] Yeah it's it's a bummer. Now listen to this.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:08] Hope and action. Anger.
[00:01:12] We have to do something better for.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:14] Things are going to change.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:01:16] It's like a montage in a movie it's like when things turn around.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:20] That's my favorite part of every movie. Yes the rocky montage.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:01:24] So you better right?
Nick Capodice: [00:01:25] Yeah I do feel a lot better.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:01:25] That's how you're supposed to feel.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:28] So what's up with this emotional rollercoaster.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:01:31] Well Nick that is the sound of someone trying to convince you to vote for them in 2018. A campaign ad that doubles as a heart wrenching autobiography The story of a youth who pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and grew into a grateful and nurturing adult but remains frustrated by the way the world works and wants to do something about it.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:53] Heavy stuff.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:01:55] It is heavier than you can imagine. These ads which look pretty expensive by the way are just one teeny tiny piece of the campaign puzzle and that puzzle is even more puzzling in a midterm election.
Nick Capodice: [00:02:10] Did you solve the puzzle.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:02:11] Absolutely not. But I did talk to a lot of smart people who have because that is how we do it because this is civics 101. The podcast refresher course on how our democracy works. I'm Hannah McCarthy.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:02:28] And today we are talking money shoe leather and grass roots. Today we are talking campaigns. The sound of campaigning is in constant flux. In the 1960s there was a lot of just repeating candidate names over and over.
[00:02:51] Nixon. Nixon. Nixon Nixon.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:02:52] In the 80s you had a lot of stare at the camera and keep it serious going on.
[00:02:57] Kansas agriculture needs our support. I'm asking for yours on November 6th.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:03:03] And the Hollywood ish melancholy of today will probably be replaced by a whole new sound four years from now numbers shift tactics shift campaign finance laws shift but the principles of campaigning, the bare necessities those are locked in your state constitution.
Maile Foster: [00:03:22] My name is Maile Foster. I'm a small business owner and single mom and I'm running for State House District 18 as an independent. And that's the central Colorado Springs area.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:03:38] A while back Miley was approached by an organization called Unite America.
[00:03:43] Imagine a government that unites rather than divides us one that takes action on issues.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:03:48] They identify independents in various states and then try to get them to run for office.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:03:53] You know people love saying I'm not a politician in their campaign ads?
[00:03:57] I'm a businessman not a politician. Kip's not a politician. He's not a politician of convenience. Here my politician endorsements. None.
[00:04:07] Maile is very much not a politician. She's a financial adviser and before that she worked for IBM. So I wanted to know where someone like her begins after agreeing to something like this. You know you wake up the next day what do you do first.
Maile Foster: [00:04:25] Well it's this big thick three ring binder to do list. That's what it is.
Nick Capodice: [00:04:31] A binder. You mean like a literal binder there's an instruction manual on how to run campaigns?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:04:37] Yeah. The people from Unite America just shipped her this hulking how to manual.
Maile Foster: [00:04:41] Well I will just start on this to do list.
Maile Foster: [00:04:47] Oh we have to file paperwork with the secretary of state each have to form a committee and get a tax ID number. I mean basically start from scratch starting the business almost. And but there's additional financial and regulatory reporting requirements because I have that all spelled out for me is not too hard to just start going down the list. What you gotta do to kick off the campaign.
Nick Capodice: [00:05:17] So you just file some paperwork with the secretary of state. It's just that easy?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:05:21] Actually there is one major step that had to come first.
Maile Foster: [00:05:25] And so right from day one it was like May 17 was the first day I can go get signatures. And so that very first day I was out talking to people to get signatures to get on the ballot.
Nick Capodice: [00:05:39] So signatures so people have to go out and vote for her before they vote for her.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:05:43] Yeah this is called Nomination by Petition and just for the record ballot access laws vary from state to state. So if you're planning to run you should give your election officials a call. But in Miley's case since she was going independent she needed at least 400 signatures to get on the ballot. State Senate requires 600U.S. House requires 800. It's a cool thousand for U.S. Senate. The rules are different for major and minor parties as well.
Nick Capodice: [00:06:11] So Maile got her 400?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:06:12] Actually. She scored 637 signatures.
Nick Capodice: [00:06:16] I mean that seems like an awful lot of work just to get started campaigning. But once you do that what's the next step?
Maile Foster: [00:06:22] Well you need someone to help you manage finances. You need a Treasurer you need someone to help you with volunteers and help recruiting volunteers. You need someone to build a Web site.
Nick Capodice: [00:06:34] So people so for even for a small statehouse seat you need a whole team?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:06:37] Yeah it's kind of amazing to think of how many operations like this are going on around the country during an election year. And you know even with volunteers this stuff costs money which means on top of her day job Maile has to put in hours every day making calls and hoofing it from one door to the next. Introducing herself and asking for money.
Maile Foster: [00:06:59] The first priority of course was raising money because I made a choice of. Obviously I'm not going to get money from a political party because I don't want to be beholden to a political party.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:07:11] I should point out here that the group that recruited Maile does help to fund campaigns. It's a super PAC registered with the FEC specifically designed to be nonpartisan but they don't cover all expenses and Miley has to do a lot of legwork on her own. She actually told me that she outraised all of her opponents.
Nick Capodice: [00:07:30] So that's not bad for someone who's never campaigned before. I'm still trying to figure out what a campaign actually looks like for a candidate who's not in office. Fundraising, courting voters, creating a platform. How does that work?
Maile Foster: [00:07:42] Well a typical day is I'm up at 530. I'm working my day job at maybe by 7 or 730 which didn't I didn't quite used to be up that early. I'm just having the extended day a little bit.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:08:01] So Miley is up. She does her financial advising thing and then.
Maile Foster: [00:08:05] I try to go into campaign mode about 3:00.
Maile Foster: [00:08:13] At least probably an hour a day raising money and then either phone calls or coordinating Fund-Raising events and things like that. Now I'm really trying to meet people especially people in my district to understand what I need to do to earn their vote. I learned something about myself is that it was hard for me to do more than two hours of walking when it was 90 degrees.
[00:08:44] Even with all these advances and changes that have morphed the political landscape since say, the "I like Ike" era.
[00:08:51] U. Like Ike, I like Ike everybody likes Ike!
Nick Capodice: [00:08:53] It sounds like campaigning is pretty analog.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:08:58] Well voters need to see you right. They need to know your face. They need to hear your voice especially if they have no idea who you are. That means thousands of candidates around the country flooding the Internet television radio your mailbox your doorway with their face and their message.
Leah Askarinam: [00:09:25] So a lot of the kind of work that goes into a midterm campaign on the challengers end is just making sure that voters know who they are.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:09:36] This is Leah.
Leah Askarinam: [00:09:37] I'm Leah Askarinam. I'm a reporter and analyst for Inside Elections with Nathan Gonzales. We provide nonpartisan analysis of gubernatorial and federal races.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:09:48] Leah makes clear that even step 1, making sure voters know who you are cannot happen without a lot of cash.
Leah Askarinam: [00:09:57] Without money nothing else really matters.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:10:00] And that once you've got that money it's a matter of appealing to voters and in a midterm election that often means appealing to a country that wants to punish its president.
Nick Capodice: [00:10:11] This comes back to the referendum on the president idea.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:10:14] Exactly and we get into that a bit more in our episode on Why Midterms Matter so make sure to check that out. Anyway let's say there's a Democrat in the Oval Office.
Leah Askarinam: [00:10:23] So you'll see candidates try to say listen I don't like the Democratic Party either.
[00:10:27] I'm Not a Democrat for the powerful. I'll be a governor who empowers you.
Leah Askarinam: [00:10:31] I don't like Nancy Pelosi either.
[00:10:33] But I've said from day one that I won't vote for Nancy Pelosi.
Leah Askarinam: [00:10:36] I like the old Democratic Party and I want to help you the workers.
[00:10:41] It's time we acknowledge that not all Democrats are the same.
Leah Askarinam: [00:10:45] And I want to make sure that you have health care and that you have a good paying job.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:10:49] So it's like when we think about the rules of politicking about sticking to your party's message, Midterms are like this alternate universe in which a party loyalist might end up campaigning against the tenets of their party. And the same goes for voters. With this referendum in the air, some become swayable.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:11:10] So people who are registered Democrats because they are Democrats in the 1980s who have since voted pretty much exclusively for Republicans, to get them to kind of come back to their party. And that's also includes some independents people who maybe formerly were Democrats felt that the Democratic Party abandoned them but felt that the Republican Party wasn't the best fit either.
Nick Capodice: [00:11:35] This may sound cynical but it sounds like the midterms are a perfect opportunity to cash in on disillusionment to say like, I hear you, this party is a real mess. It's been a real bummer. But you can vote for me because I'm not one of those Democrats right? I'm a kinda Democrat you wish still exist. I'm your I'm your grandfather's Democrat.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:11:56] Or you go the route of Maile Foster and run independent right, which means you can campaign on fiscal responsibility and education like Maile is without those commitments carrying the weight of political affiliation. And Maile by the way is an example of one of these kind of soul searching voters. She was a Republican for most of her life and then registered Democrat for a little while before she finally became an independent.
Nick Capodice: [00:12:21] Is there a certain demographic of the population who's more or less likely to be swayed by this independent campaign?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:12:27] I think it varies from year to year along with the political climate. But for example in this year's midterm there has been a lot of attention on suburban white educated women.
Leah Askarinam: [00:12:40] And so you'll see Democrats in other districts try to get those voters. So they are trying to make Republican suburban Republicans feel comfortable not voting for the Republican Party.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:12:53] You might see this with an independent or a moderate Democrat candidate who can sway voters with lets say conservative ideas combined with a strong sense of checks and balances.
Nick Capodice: [00:13:04] But I've seen a lot of these ads and it seems like the strategy is a little less nuanced, like a Democrat who appeals to gun rights activists by shooting a gun the entire time that they're on camera.
[00:13:14] And I approve this message. (bang bang bang)
Hannah McCarthy: [00:13:21] I've seen a lot of those ads.
Nick Capodice: [00:13:22] So many guns in ads!
[00:13:22] And I'll take dead aim at the cap and trade bill.
[00:13:26] I'm a straight shooter.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:13:31] The tactic that you take all depends on where you're running and what pollsters have dug up on your community's demographics and ideas. It's a pretty delicate balance.
Bakari Sellers: [00:13:42] Well I'll just tell you that all elections are tough but a midterm election is a little bit more difficult depending on which party you are part of.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:13:53] This is Bakari Sellers, former state rep from South Carolina currently a lawyer and a CNN commentator.
Bakari Sellers: [00:13:59] If you are a party of the individual in the White House usually you have to run against Washington D.C. as we say and sometimes that gets kind of difficult. You want to stay away from the national politics and just run your own race if you're in the opposition party or if you're a Democrat in 2018. What you want to do is run against the White House and your opponent. If you're running during the mid-term election in 2010 what you saw was many Democrats some Democrats even ran against the Affordable Care Act. Many Democrats didn't want Barack Obama campaigning in their district. You're starting to see a lot of that. Or you're seeing a lot of that in 2018 with Donald Trump.
Nick Capodice: [00:14:35] Seriously so some Democrats in 2010 called up Obama and they were like would you mind just staying away from Nebraska this time of year.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:14:43] Well if the midterm is almost always a referendum on the president right then distancing yourself from the president might be the safer bet in some states. I talked to a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin Madison who got a little deeper into this idea of you know running your own race. This is Barry Burden.
Barry Burden: [00:15:03] So members of the president's party tend to want to make elections about local issues and about them as people so they want to emphasize what political scientists call the personal vote reminding constituents in the district who they are as an individual often kind of identifying with constituents reminding them that hey I grew up here or I share values with you or I've been working for you in Washington where I share the same goals as you so I'm not really part of that Washington establishment. Lots of members of Congress and challengers actually run for Congress by running against it. They criticize the institution and try to convince voters that they will be the ones to go to Washington and help clean up the mess.
Nick Capodice: [00:15:45] So in a midterm election we're seeing personal vote versus the national vote?
Barry Burden: [00:15:51] Democrats say in 2018 would very much like this to be a national referendum and to bring in lots of members of their party so to create a kind of wave or tide or whatever metaphor you like whereas members of the president's party Republicans this year want to insulate themselves from the tide and build a kind of levee or life preserver or something so they can weather the storm.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:16:11] In these uncertain waters. You can think of the president as either your buouy, or the cement shoes dragging you to the bottom. The party not affiliated with the president swims toward what's going on nationally while the party represented by the president might do better staying far away from the shore where it's safe.
Nick Capodice: [00:16:34] So what is the president's job during a midterm in terms of campaigning? Because he's got some people who are trying to steer clear of his messaging and policies and there's others who are on the attack against it.
Barry Burden: [00:16:45] It's a delicate dance for a president in a midterm they want obviously to help their party keep their party's seat share in the legislature if not grow it or minimize the losses. They will do a lot of fundraising and some of that is out of public view. So they're doing private fundraisers gathering millions of dollars and then trying to distribute that to members of their party who could use the funds who are really in some close races and would benefit from some additional campaign money.
Nick Capodice: [00:17:14] OK so the president is using his position of power to generate some cash flow even if he isn't straight up campaigning for candidates in his party.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:17:22] Right. And there are areas of the country where it's totally helpful for the president to campaign but he's got to be strategic.
Barry Burden: [00:17:31] In terms of going out on the campaign trail and giving stump speeches. They're going to be careful about that. They don't want to go into places where they're unpopular and they might create kind of a backlash and remind voters that the candidate in that state or district who's from their party is also linked to the president and that might kind of amplify the penalty that that party faces. So you know they will often deploy to safe districts where they can raise a lot of money and help somebody who's on their side.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:17:59] So here's the deal. There are plenty of places in the country that are solidly overwhelmingly for the president and those districts matter. But to me they're kind of the whitebread of the midterm elections. They're predictable they're the safe bet. If you want to understand what makes midterms unique, what gives them a personality all their own, look to the districts where things are up in the air. A midterm election takes a swing state a swing town and truly tests the mettle of candidates in that area.
Nick Capodice: [00:18:34] How is this different from every other election year. We're always looking at swing states to see how things are going to shake out.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:18:39] The big difference here is turnout. It's lower in a midterm year than it is in a presidential election year and fewer voters mean higher stakes when it comes to campaign messaging especially because the people turning out to vote tend to be driven to the polls by strong conviction. If you can swing the electorate in your direction in a midterm, especially if that direction is away from their typical status quo, then you've accomplished something huge. The candidate who manages to pull that off has played the midterm campaign game to a tee. And if enough candidates do just that it can change everything like a peaceful revolution coordinated and precise campaigning in a midterm election can shake state sometimes even Federal Congress and flip control. This doesn't happen often by the way.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:19:32] It takes some crazy political will and circumstance but it is possible in the past three decades we saw this in 1994.
[00:19:41] Democrats lost the house they've controlled for all but four years since 1932 they lost the Senate they controlled for all but six of the previous 40 years.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:19:51] 2006.
[00:19:52] Good evening. Call it a revolution or a repeal. Democrats are now in charge in the house they needed 15 seats to retake the majority.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:20:01] And 2010.
[00:20:03] Republicans will take control of the House of Representatives.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:20:13] It is really hard to pull off a total switch of power changing who holds the reins at the very top. But with the right political climate and some intense campaigning midterm elections can change everything.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:20:37] Before we go I want to take you inside of one of those crazy landscape changing elections of the past. It's considered a full blown political revolution and Brady Carlson host and reporter at Wisconsin Public Radio is here to break it down which midterm are we talking Brady
Brady Carlson: [00:20:55] This is the midterm of nineteen ninety four and if modern Americans know about any midterm in particular, 1994 is often the one that they know about. Well the first player is Bill Clinton. He was in the middle of his first term as president the first Democrat to win the White House in 12 years.
Brady Carlson: [00:21:16] The man from Hope.
Bill Clinton: [00:21:17] Now I was born in a little town called Hope Arkansas. Three months after my father died.
Brady Carlson: [00:21:23] And everybody talks today about how charismatic he was and how popular he was and that wasn't necessarily the case when he first got started. He ended his term as a relatively popular president. But in the early going he ran into lots of roadblocks.
Brady Carlson: [00:21:45] Remember the first few issues that he made policy moves on. Like the expansive health care proposal.
[00:21:52] Our health care is too uncertain and too expensive.
[00:21:55] The Brady bill so he's adding waiting periods and background checks on guns.
[00:21:59] The Brady bill is not just symbolism.
Brady Carlson: [00:22:02] From lifting the ban on gay service members.
Bill Clinton: [00:22:05] The debate over whether to lift the ban on homosexuals in the military has to put it mildly sparked a great deal of interest over the last few days.
Brady Carlson: [00:22:13] These were all big pushback items at the time and even the things that he did manage to get through like he got approval for the North American Free Trade Agreement NAFTA that wasn't massively popular with the Democratic base. And this is all at a time when there's also talk about like the Whitewater real estate scandal, continued rumors of womanizing,.
[00:22:39] What she calls a 12 year affair you... That allegation is false.
Brady Carlson: [00:22:46] So these are all things that are working not in Clinton's favor classic ingredients in that midterm losses stew. And at the same time you have Republicans launching this very well organized well funded and national campaign to win seats in Congress. This is where they launched what was known as the contract with America. It was a set of bills. They said if you choose us in the midterms here's what we'll do in office.
[00:23:14] We are going to get to the final recorded votes in the first 100 days on every item.
Brady Carlson: [00:23:24] And a lot of opposition parties will just campaign against whoever's in power. And this is a case where the opposition party was also offering an agenda.
Brady Carlson: [00:23:35] The Democrats had majorities in both houses they had had a majority in the house for decades the Senate had gone back and forth a few times but there were pretty substantial majorities for the Democrats in both chambers at that point. 1994 was the biggest loss by the party in power in a generation.
[00:23:58] That Capital is a very different building this morning it is in Republican hands solidly in Republican hands.
Brady Carlson: [00:24:07] Democrats lost 52 House seats eight Senate seats and so was the first time Republicans had majorities in both chambers of Congress since 1950. For the Speaker of the house was one of the Democrats who lost his seat. And at the state level it was big for Republicans too. So their candidates were beating prominent national Democrats like the then governor of New York Mario Cuomo. People know his son Andrew Cuomo as governor today or the then governor of Texas Ann Richards who lost her position to the Republican challenger who was a then baseball executive named George W. Bush.
[00:24:48] I like to go to ball games and I try to you know lend a sense of the kind of fans owner.
Brady Carlson: [00:24:53] And so what happened was the Republicans led by the new speaker of the House Newt Gingrich of Georgia started talking about this election in terms of a Republican revolution. That people weren't just repudiating a first term president. This was a case where the American people had chosen a new majority party and they wanted a new course for American politics. Things were going to be different from then on. And for a while it actually sounded a little bit like that was what was going to happen. I remember a couple of months after that midterm there was a press conference from President Clinton and he responded to one of the reporters questions by basically saying yes everybody is paying attention to Speaker Gingrich and the Republicans. But I'm still relevant. I'm the president. I still have something to add to this.
Bill Clinton: [00:25:46] The president is relevant here especially an activist president and the fact that I am willing to work with the Republicans.
Brady Carlson: [00:25:52] What an extraordinary thing to happen that the president of the United States has to remind you that he's relevant.
Brady Carlson: [00:26:00] Well this was the catch that Republicans had become convinced that they had won midterms because of the Contract With America that voters had chosen them and that because of that voters were choosing their policy agenda. And some voters were of course but not all of them. I mean a midterm is still a midterm. Even if Republicans offered policy agenda and offered a contract with America offered legislation there were still a lot of people who may have voted for that party's candidates who are really just mad at the new president and wanted to balance out his power.
Brady Carlson: [00:26:42] And so the Republican majorities as they were starting to put some of this legislation out there, the bills to change welfare programs the bill change taxes, they started to see pushback to those policy plans just like the Clinton administration had seen pushed back against its plans. And at the same time that you're seeing that opposition President Clinton who is still relevant as he said found his political footing again he had tack to the left when he started and that didn't work. So he tacked back toward the center. He basically coopted some of the more popular parts of the Contract with America and very vocally criticized and campaigned against the less popular ones. So he had rebranded himself at the same time that the Republicans had tried to write him off. TheU.S. economy had started to improve. And so you have this rapidly changing political climate again. And so two years after Bill Clinton had basically been written off by a lot of people he was winning re-election.
Bill Clinton: [00:27:54] Tonight we celebrate the miracle of America. Tomorrow. We agreed on and began our work anew.
Nick Capodice: [00:28:06] Thanks for listening to Civics 101. There is a whole lot more where that came from in our series on the midterms. Make sure to become obsessed with it as we are.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:28:15] Today's episode was produced by me Hannah McCarthy with Nick Capodice and Jacqui Helbert. Erika Janik is our executive producer.
Nick Capodice: [00:28:22] Maureen McMurray is a straight shooter all the way.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:28:24] If you want more Civics 101 or you've got a burning question about how this whole crazy democratic experiment actually works we have got a Web site for that civics101podcast.org. You Can also follow us on Facebook or Twitter @civics101pod.
Nick Capodice: [00:28:40] Music in this episode is by Diamond Ortiz Poddington Bear Jahzaar Dan Liebowitz and our old friends Blue Dot sessions.
[00:28:48] Civics 101 is a production of new Hampshire Public Radio.
Midterm Edition: House v Senate
Two houses, both alike in...well, many things. But oh so different in many others. We go from absolute basics to the philosophical differences that exist in the Legislative branch. This episode features the opinions of former staffers from both chambers (Andrew Wilson and Justin LeBlanc) a former member of the CA assembly (Cheryl Cook-Kallio) a CNN political analyst (Bakari Sellers) and the inimitable Political Science professor from Farleigh Dickenson, Dan Cassino.
Also, Brady Carlson tells the tale of the biggest loss in midterm history, though we did get a federal holiday out of the deal.
House v Senate
Archival Audio: Mr. President, Mr President I call my amendment per the order. The court will report the amendment...
Hannah McCarthy: Nick, What is going on why are you making me listen to this?
Nick Capodice: Ok this is from a youtube video from 2009 and it’s called Senate Chaos. Senator Bernie Sanders from VT he’s just proposed an amendment to a healthcare bill, and as usually happens, he asks the amendment be considered as read. Since senators usually get these bills and amendments in advance, there’s no need to read them aloud.
Archival Audio: (I object, objection is heard)
Nick Capodice: Alright, Right there, Senator Tom Coburn from Oklahoma (I object) objects. So the clerk has to read the whole thing aloud. It’s 767 pages. That would take over 14 hours. After two hours of reading, Sanders withdraws the amendment. Alright, Listen to this.
Archival audio: And had the courage to change from green to red or red to green! (chants of ‘Shame, shame, shame!)
Hannah McCarthy: Whoah, what is going on
Nick Capodice: What’s going on Hannah is the House of Representatives. Such a magical place.
Nick Capodice: Welcome to Civics 101 I’m Nick Capodice
Hannah McCarthy: And I’m Hannah McCarthy
Nick Capodice: And we’re continuing our series on the upcoming midterms. Today? Something many Americans are going to see on their ballot, and a question I’ve wanted to ask since day 1. What is the difference between the House and the Senate?
They mostly have the exact same powers, with a few exceptions which we’ll talk about, but they both propose bills that might become laws. Bills can start in either the house or the senate, but they have to be passed by both houses before they go to the president to be signed into law. Though to really understand their key differences, we need to go back...through the annals of history.
Hannah McCarthy: Please don’t do this.
Nick Capodice : Oh ho, it appears we’re at the old City Tavern in Philadelphia in 1787, Hannah!
Hannah McCarthy: Please
Nick Capodice: Why is that James Madison over there? The Sage of Montpelier?
Archival: Yes but ours will be different. Since our plan expands the powers of congress, we will check that power by dividing it into two houses; an upper house, and a lower house.
Hannah McCarthy: What is that from?
Nick Capodice: You’ve never seen A More Perfect Union, the bread and butter of the 8th grade social studies class?
Nick Capodice:Ok, fine. Forget it. Scrap it. But What I’m tryin’ to get at is, During the great debates at the constitutional convention, there was this huge question of representation. Who should make our laws? How many people? Should the big states have more power, because they have a bigger population? Or should all states have equal representation? To make a long story short, we’ve ended up with both. We have a two house Government. A bicameral legislature. The names can be kind of tricky though. Here’s teacher and former California State Assembly member Cheryl Cook Kallio
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: And so Congress is technically both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Members of the Lower House, the House of Representatives have always been addressed as Congress Members, and members of the Upper House have been addressed as Senator.
Hannah McCarthy: So a senator is technically a congressperson, but you would never call them that.
Nick Capodice: Yeah, no, and the senate is technically one of the ‘houses’ in congress, but when we say ‘the House’ we mean the house of Representatives.
Hannah McCarthy: I’m glad we got that out of the way I have always wondered.
Cheryl Cook-Kallio: the Framers created a two house legislature in order to make sure that the needs of the people as well as the states were addressed. The House of Representatives, the length of term is shorter it's every two years. It's a more frantic place. It takes on a sense of urgency. The Senate on the other hand is up every six years.
Nick Capodice: Length of term is a major thing that differentiates the house and the senate. The next key difference is the number of members. Our current House has 435 members apportioned by state population; California has 53 congresspeople, we in NH have 2. And the senate has 100, two from each state.
Dan Cassino: The founders were trying to give the public some power for trying to have some element of democracy. The problem is they didn't trust the people as far as they could throw them.
Nick Capodice: This is Dan Cassino, political science professor at Farleigh Dickinson University
Dan Cassino: They didn't like the people at all. They even called democracy mob-ocracy because they don't like the idea of the people actually running anything. The reason we have the House of Representatives is to give the people a voice but to make sure that voice can't actually do anything. The House is supposed to be representative of the people but as far as the founders are concerned the people the United States were kinda like the people of Springfield and The Simpsons;
Dan Cassino: They're ready to jump on any bandwagon with pitchforks and torches and protest against anything. And we've seen this repeatedly throughout American history. In the early 19th century. We had the first major third party in American politics the anti-Masonic party, a party devoted entirely to a conspiracy theory that Masons were murdering people in upstate New York dumping the bodies, then masonically-oriented police and judges were covering the whole thing up.
Hannah McCarthy: That was their sole platform? Not liking the Freemasons?
Dan Cassino: That seems a little ridiculous except those folks into Masonic party won a bunch of seats and statehouses and even won a bunch of seats in the House of Representatives. So why does it matter? Well the Founders saw this. They thought this would happen. So what they did was they made it so the house or reserves couldn't really do anything. House of Representatives is subject to the whims of the people. So if anti-Masonic party is really popular for two years, guess what they can take some seats in the House. But if they took every seat that was up for them in the Senate they could never control more than a third of the Senate. The House is there to represent the whims of the people. The Senate is there to make sure that the people can't actually get anything done. Now that's inefficient of course. But that's exactly the way the founders set things up. The people can pass whatever they want in the house and it'll die in the Senate.
Hannah McCarthy: So it sounds like Dan is saying the senate is...should I say superior? Superior to the house?
Nick Capodice:I don’t know! I mean, the house does get some bills out there. I’ve gotta be fair, but Dan told me that number it’s like 9%.
Hannah McCarthy: Wow
Nick Capodice: And most of them are pretty uncontroversial bills.
Hannah McCarthy: So like naming a holiday or something like that
Nick Capodice: Yeah. And in the Senate honestly it’s not too much better right now, it’s about 15% of bills proposed in the Senate become law. But back in the 60s it was much higher, over half of Senate bills became law.
Hannah McCarthy: I want to know what they think of each other, does the House have an inferiority complex?
Nick Capodice: Well let’s see what they have to say for themselves. I got a former senate staffer, Justin Leblanc
Justin Leblanc: We jokingly often refer to the House and the Senate with reference to what the British Parliament calls them and that is obviously the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The Senate chamber itself is I think very austere. You feel like you're walking on sacred ground.
Nick Capodice: And a former house staffer, Andy Wilson
Andy Wilson: Despite the House and the Senate being coequal branches of government, there's very much a feeling of the Senate is sort of the upper chamber
Hannah McCarthy: Wait, are they coequal?
Nick Capodice: They are, but that doesn’t stop the sense that one of them is more ‘uptown’
Andy Wilson: It's more stately it's more dignified etc. So there's sort of a different feeling about even the Senate side of the Capitol complex versus the House side.
Nick Capodice: Justin and Andy have both left congress since, Justin is now the founder and president of Lobbywise, and Andy works for a PR firm in NYC.
Andy Wilson: Well I'm I'm a House guy so I quite enjoyed the the free flowing nature of the House. Other members other people that might have worked in the Senate might might feel more proud of having sort of that stately Senate vibe. But I like the House.
Hannah McCarthy: I think I might be a house gal
Nick Capodice: It sounds like a little more fun, doesn’t it? Look, I want to make it clear, Andy and Justin were in no way throwing shade towards each other’s chambers, but there is some good-natured ribbing that goes on.
Hannah McCarthy: So I’ve got a good feel for their differences due to size and term length, but what are the specific differences in their powers?
Nick Capodice: here’s what Justin said about that.
Justin Leblanc: I think the most significant difference between the Senate and the House really comes down to two things. While they both have to pass legislation and they have to pass the identical legislation in each chamber before it can go to the president for signature into law, only the Senate has the the constitutional responsibility and authority to advise and consent the White House on treaties and so any treaty agreed to by the White House has to be approved by the United States Senate. The House does not have such similar authority.
Nick Capodice: And not just treaties, but the senate confirms all Presidential appointments; cabinet secretaries
Hannah McCarthy: Secretary of state, secretary of defense, etc?
Nick Capodice: Yeah, and ambassadors, and Supreme Court Justices.
Justin Leblanc: And then on the flip side all appropriations measures that is all measures that fund the federal government, those let, those bills must begin in the House. The Senate does not have the authority to initiate an appropriations process.
Nick Capodice: This has a fun name by the way, the “Power of the Purse”, the framers wanted the House, the voice of the people, to be dominant when it comes to how we tax and spend money. The Senate cannot make money bills. But besides, money, there’s also impeachment powers. Here’s Cheryl Cook Kallio again.
Cheryl Cook Kallio: The other specific job the House of Representatives have is that any articles of impeachment for any elected federal official goes through the House of Representatives. If they are if they are passed in the House of Representatives, the trial is held in the Senate. That's a specific job of each house.
Nick Capodice: Voting is different, too.
Andy Wilson: In the House. It's a majority rule. So in order to pass a piece of legislation in the house it's 50 percent of the votes plus one. So if you know if the Republicans have a 20 seat majority they can basically do whatever they want whereas in the Senate people might be familiar with the filibuster which frequently requires 60 votes for something to pass.
60 percent of the of the Senate has to agree for something to be passed which requires a great deal of consensus a greater deal of coalition building even once a party is in majority they may not have enough to pass that 60 vote threshold. And so you have to work with the opposing party or at least some members of the opposing party. So it's much more of a collegial feeling in the Senate versus sort of our side versus your side view and feeling in the House of Representatives.
Hannah McCarthy: It kinda sounds like the filibuster, which we kinda think of as a strongarming tactic that gets in the way of things, .it sounds like it actually forces people to reach across the aisle and work together.
Nick Capodice: Yeah, and it’s totally different in the house.
Dan Cassino: The House of Representatives has 435 voting members. Now the problem is that’s so many people that you’re never gonna be able to wrangle all of them, if you let everybody talk, they're never going to shut up. There's one thing politicians love it's the sound of their own voice. As a result the House of Representatives is incredibly tightly controlled. Everything that happened the House Reps as first has to go through what's called the Rules Committee, a Committee that doesn't even exist in the Senate
Hannah McCarthy: What?
Nick Capodice: I know, they don’t have a rules committee
Dan Cassino: and the Rules Committee is going to decide for any bill that comes out of committee, if that bill is ever gonna make it to the floor or not; what terms that bill would be argued under and how much debate you' re going to have. Now we say how much debate you might be thinking to senators, two representative to come up and debate and talk back and forth but that never actually happens outside of Hollywood and in the House of Representatives, the most common rule we get is what's called a closed rule meaning there's gonna be no amendments allowed whatsoever. And they’re gonna allow somewhere around 15 minutes of debate. So you get 15 mins of Republicans talking about the bill 15 minutes of Democrats talking about the bill and then you're going to have an up or down vote on the bill. And that's all you're going to get because if they actually allowed amendments, you have all these radicals from both sides there. Nothing is ever going to happen. They’ve basically given up on trying to build consensus in the House of Representatives. House of Representatives is all about mobilizing your party in ramming through whatever you can. And the Speaker of the House because of that becomes enormously powerful if the Speaker of the House doesn't like a bill that bill is dead.
Nick Capodice: Failure to act on a bill is the equivalent of killing a bill. So the Speaker of the house can just refuse to allow any bill to come to the floor, so it will never be voted on. Unless you do something called a ‘discharge petition’ but that’s gotta be in another episode.
Hannah McCarthy: Gotcha.
Dan Cassino: So the Senate is supposed to be this great debating place where all these members stand up and actually talk to each other and have back and forth and unfortunately that basically never happens. If you watch C-SPAN or C-SPAN or C-SPAN 3 or C-SPAN history if you're a real nerd, if you ever watch the C-SPANs you'll notice they focus on the person who's talking and never focus on anyone else. They don't show you who's in the gallery. The reason they don't show you that is because there's nobody else. When the members of Congress are speaking. They are in fact talking to themselves. Nobody else is hanging out. Why not? Because they've got other stuff they need to be doing, either go in a committee hearing or they're raising money which a lot of members of congress spend up five six hours a day doing.
Nick Capodice: And this is something both Houses have in common. Campaigning , a lot. Five to six hours a day to stay in office. Here’s former state rep and CNN political analyst Bakari Sellers;
Bakari Sellers: Let me just say that when you're in the House of Representatives the campaigns never end. You're in a perpetual sense of campaigning because it's that two year period. You don't stop you don't take a reprieve you win an election and you and you move on to the next elections.
Dan Cassino: If you want to run for the House the big thing you have to have is name recognition in your community, in a relatively small community 700,000 people for most House seats. You have to people have to know who you are and you have to be able to knock on doors and mobilise people to knock on doors for you.
Nick Capodice: What does it take to campaign for senate?
Bakari Sellers: If you're campaigning for the United States Senate you should have been campaigning your entire life. And there's no there's no waiting until the filing period. And I love to see that you had these like billionaires or millionaires who, or people who have this amazing sense of self and they wait until the filing period which is usually like March for June or July or August primary and they think they can just parachute in and run a race and spend money on TV.
Dan Cassino: If you want to for the Senate the big thing you need is either be really rich yourself or to know a whole lot of rich people because that Senate race is gonna cost you tens of millions of dollars and you're never able to knock on enough doors. So the types of candidates you get are going to be very very different. This is also one of the reasons why we see a lot more women running for the House than we do for the Senate. While women are able to mobilize other voters just as well as anyone else they actually have a harder time raising money because they don't necessarily have the business connections because of lots of other things going wrong in our society. They'll let them easily run for the Senate.
Nick Capodice: And that doesn’t just effect gender in the Senate
Bakari Sellers: It's you can literally still count on less than two hands. But you know if you go back in history and you're talking about Ed Brooke and Mo Cowan and Carol Moseley Braun and Cory Booker and Kamala Harris and Tim Scott. I just ran through... there may be one that I'm missing or two but I just ran through the African-American members of the United States Senate in history. And so it's a very it's a very deliberative body. But it's also a very old white male body as well. Usually there's a sense of patriarchy that puts you in a position to run for that office.
Nick Capodice: And going by the numbers he’s right, as of this recording, October 2018, there have been 10 total African-American US senators. Ever.
Hannah McCarthy: So 10 total in the history of the country
Nick Capodice: Ten total in the history of the US. Currently the senate is 1/50th African-American but by contrast the house is 10% African-American, so it’s a huge difference.
Hannah McCarthy: Yeah it is huge.
Nick Capodice: I asked Justin and Andy, former congress staffers, for their final thoughts on both Houses and the system as a whole
Justin Leblanc: The elected officials your elected officials and their staff work incredibly hard and they're they're not particularly well-paid and they're working long hours. Most senators and their staff are in the office from 7:00 or 8:00 in the morning until 9 or 10 at night every day of the week. And when they when they go home they're working all weekend. And when we talk about congressional recesses that is times where the House and the Senate are not actually in session and can't vote on legislation, they're not on vacation. Their staff are still showing up on the Hill every day to do their jobs. And the members are back in their states continuing to work. And so whether you agree or disagree with the policy positions your elected officials may take, I would never accuse any one of them or their staff of being lazy or not hardworking.
Andy Wilson: Sometimes it's easy to look at the House of Representatives or the Senate or the Executive branch and think of it kind of like a machine. It's just this big bureaucracy that exists and it kind of churns on and on and on. But it's really a very human enterprise. It's really about how do you work with your colleagues. How do you have relationships with them. And you know who do you know well do you work with well et cetera. So it's very much a human enterprise. The second piece which follows off on that is its own the system is only as good as the people that are involved in it whether that's voting whether that's running for Congress or whether that's working as a staffer, whether that's getting involved in local political debates or local government issues, state government issues county government issues et cetera. So it's easy to sit back and say these bums don't do anything or they're good for nothing or something like that but it's really just a bunch of people that are elected by people in states and districts across the country. And so if you have a complaint or if you have a priority then the only way to to push for it or the only way to make a difference or make things different is to get involved and you can do that.
Hannah McCarthy: I have one last question
Nick Capodice: What is it?
Hannah McCarthy: It...I mean it just all sounds so ridiculous. Senators talking to an empty room, the House not even debating, everybody stopping anything from getting done
Nick Capodice: Yes, so that was my final question for Dan, it sounds like the whole thing is broken. That it is a farce, that it doesn’t work. Is that true?
Dan Cassino: Even though all this is absurd all the we were doing things and passing bills is absurd it doesn't make any sense, this is exactly the way the founders wanted it to work. The mechanisms like cloture and filibusters and gerrymandering, none of that was forseen by the founders, but the general principle, the house is subject to the whims of the people, the anti Masonic party the Tea Party whatever, they get in there. They pass crazy bills that should never work and they're allowed to do that because that's what the people want and then it goes the Senate and the Senate doesn't do anything. And that's exactly the way the whole system is supposed to work. The Senate is supposed to be the branch of government that stops anything from ever actually happening. And today we view that as a bug we think that's a bad thing we want our government to be really much more efficient. The way you see parliamentary systems working in most the world. But our government is not set up to be efficient. It's set up to be inefficient. It's set up to make sure that no big change can actually happen unless the voters for years on end, four six years all are voting in support of this and all three branches of government are in accord with it. It's really easy to kill a law. It's almost impossible to pass one.
Hannah McCarthy: I’ve never considered that inaction could be a comforting thought.
Nick Capodice: Me neither, and sometimes I need to be reminded that this machine has human hands at the wheel
Hannah McCarthy: Yeah
Nick Capodice:Well, before we go we have our snapshot midterm from us history, delivered by none other than Brady Carlson, former NHPR reporter, current afternoon host at Wisconsin Public Radio, and the author of Dead Presidents.
Brady Carlson: Today we’re talking about the midterm of 1894. It’s not a very well known midterm, but if you wanna talk about a wave election, this was the wave election to end all wave elections. Up to this point, the democratic party had majorities in both the House and the Senate. They had won back congress in the 1892 election when Grover Cleveland had won back the White House from Republican Benjamin Harrison. This is when Grover Cleveland became the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms, so this was his moment with destiny.
A week before Cleveland came back to the presidency, there had been a financial collapse in the railroad industry. And that sort of tipped off the domino train. A number of key industries fell and the market fell as a whole and this is what was later known as the Panic of 1893.
So the Democrats have just returned to power, they’ve got the White House, they’ve got majorities in congress, and the economy falls apart. People were calling on the president to do something about the panic, there was even a march on Washington. Grover Celeland saw himself as what’s sometimes called a Guardian President. His thinking was Congress steers the ship of state, the president really only steps in to administer the laws and to stop congress when they go too far, so he didn’t really think it was up to him to get in the way of the economic cycle and intervene in the economy.
The catch was that a lot of the people who had put him back in power were workers, immigrants, farmers, the people who were being hurt by the panic. And at the same time in 1894 there was a very prominent railroad strike, the Pullman Strike in which hundreds of thousands of railroad workers walked off the job. They had had their wages cut and they were protesting. And this is the time where the president thought he should step in, so he sent Federal troops to break it all up and that got plenty of pushback, though as a conciliatory gesture he proposed the holiday in honor of workers that we now call Labor Day.
So it was sort of a way to get everybody to feel like they had been heard even when they maybe quite hadn’t been.
In the midterm of 1894 Cleveland and the democrats had 220 seats in the House and they lost 113 of those. The biggest loss in history. And then they also lost enough seats in the Senate, not nearly that many, but they lost enough in the Senate to lost majority control there, so they went from having all the power to almost none of the power, and they wouldn’t regain those majorities in congress for almost two decades. So it was really a political version of what goes up must come down.
It was really a case where people were saying; we blame you for this and we are going to put other people in power because we don’t think what you’ve done is the right policy and the right way to handle this economic crisis.
Nick Capodice: Thank you Brady for the story of the greatest lost in midterm history. Today’s episode was produced by me, Nick Capodice and Hannah McCarthy.
Hannah McCarthy: Our staff includes Ben Henry and Jacqui Helbert, our Executive Producer is Erika Janik, Maureen McMurray is totally a House Gal.
Nick Capodice: Music for today’s episode comes from Blue Dot Sessions, Creo, Broke For Free, Jahzzar, and Electric Needle Room. Special thanks to one of the NICEST greatest member stations out there, WOVV in Okracoke
Hannah McCarthy: More midterms prep is coming down the pipe, so be sure to subscribe! You can also say hi and listen to all our episodes at civics101podcast.org.
Nick Capodice: Civics 101 is a production of NHPR, New Hampshire Public Radio. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1244 |
__label__cc | 0.740826 | 0.259174 | Do you think we might be wising up a little?
'Why, if you didn’t know better, you’d think these folks getting surveyed were acting like they had good sense.'
Do you think we might be wising up a little? 'Why, if you didn’t know better, you’d think these folks getting surveyed were acting like they had good sense.' Check out this story on clarionledger.com: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2019/01/27/do-you-think-we-might-wising-up-little/2677206002/
Ray Mosby, Guest Columnist Published 3:00 p.m. CT Jan. 27, 2019
ROLLING FORK— For most of my life, The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. could have added, “and that goes double for Mississippi.” and been right in so doing, but maybe, just maybe, that might be starting to change. We shall see.
Were you to look it up in any number of reference books or at hundreds of Internet websites, another late, great American, H.L. Mencken, will be credited as having said, “No one ever went broke overestimating the intelligence of the American people.”
He did not. At least in those exact words, which are almost certainly the product of condensation and paraphrasing.
Ray Mosby (Photo: Justin Sellers/The Clarion-Ledge)
What Mencken did presciently write, in a Sept. 19, 1926 column in the then Chicago Daily Tribune was the following: “No one in this world, so far as I know — and I have searched the records for years — has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office, thereby.”
And that for certain has always been true for this state, a fact lent credence by only the scantest observation of its collective holders of public officers.
However, in the eternally springing hope category, this month’s Millsaps College/Chism Strategies State of the State Survey contains some tidbits which appear at least worthy of nibbling, if not gobbled up entirely.
For what its pollsters say is the sixth consecutive (quarterly) State of State poll, Mississippi’s crumbling infrastructure is the most pressing public issue for the state’s voters, with almost 30 percent of them clamoring for the currently in session Legislature to do more to address roads, bridges and potholes that threaten to become craters.
That one is pretty much a no brainer for anyone in the state who either drives or rides upon its roadways, but, it is nonetheless notable within a state whose voters are not famous for casting ballots in accordance with their enlightened self-interests.
But what I find far more surprising — and pleasantly so — are three other results of the latest public opinion survey which would at least seem — seem, mind you — in indicate that more and more Mississippians are becoming increasingly interesting in doing something about the myriad problems associated with so many of their children regrettably growing up to be dumb as dirt:
1. Fully 65 percent of voters say that funding for the state’s public schools remains too low — a statistic which most significantly cuts across demographic lines of party, race, gender, educational attainment and age. Are Mississippians finally starting to value education?
2. Likewise, 75 percent of folks say they support providing a three percent pay raise for all of the state’s public school teachers. I can remember when a majority of voters didn’t even want to give them commodities.
3. No less than 83 percent surveyed favored the Public Service Commission’s plan to allow the state’s system of rural electric cooperatives to expand the provision of high-speed internet access to under-served areas. Twenty-first Century, here we come.
And even more tremor-inducing, even in the Trumpiest of states, the reddest of the red, and even though it is a splendid example of too little, too late, more than 60 percent of those surveyed say they now favor an expansion of Medicaid under (egad!) “Obamacare” so that low-income folk might be able to get some medical insurance and the local hospital might can keep its doors open.
And not only that, but in what I thought at first might be a typo, according to the survey, 71 percent of Mississippians say they would now favor early voting — allowing voting for up to 14 days before election day in their county clerks’ offices. I know 38 other states already allow that remarkably common sensical civic practice, but Mississippi?
Why, if you didn’t know better, you’d think these folks getting surveyed were acting like they had good sense.
Could it conceivably be that at least some of our fellow citizens in this state are taking off their centuries-old blinders and finally at least starting to see a glimmer of light, or two? Could it be that at least some portion of Mississippi’s population is at long last coming to realize that “because that’s the way we’ve always done it” is not only logically vacant, but might actually be a cause for the effect of this state being on the top of every bad list and the bottom of every good one?
Perhaps, I guess. Maybe, I reckon. But I wouldn’t bet a plug nickel on it.
More: So an English degree is worthless, huh?
More: Thoughts, on and for the painfully stupid
Ray Mosby is editor and publisher of the Deer Creek Pilot in Rolling Fork.
Read or Share this story: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2019/01/27/do-you-think-we-might-wising-up-little/2677206002/
Column: Nice and friendly vs. arrogant
The move toward criminal forfeiture
Student debt in Miss. is growing at fast rate
Expanding Medicaid would save Mississippi lives
Biden’s ‘reach across the aisle’ premise pragmatic
Appropriations process should protect pro-life policies | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1245 |
__label__wiki | 0.916636 | 0.916636 | Government shutdown hurting breweries
Written by Newsroom
STATEWIDE (WGME) - The government shutdown is now in its 20th day and some Maine breweries are feeling its effects first hand.
"We're ready to go! We could open in as long as it would take me to bring beer down there," said David Rowland of SoMe Brewing in York.
The brewing company was supposed to open a new location this month but it is now left collecting dust.
"We're basically supporting two breweries with only one being open so our bank account is just going down," Rowland said.
Because of the partial government shutdown, the federal Tax and Trade Bureau can't grant the brewery a license and now SoMe Brewing is hemorrhaging money.
"We haven't sat down and figured out the numbers, partially because we're too afraid of what they are -- it's a lot of money," Rowland said.
And it's not their first go-around. SoMe Brewing was in the same position during the 2013 shutdown -- as they tried opening their first brewery.
"This is as bad as it gets," Rowland said.
In Kittery, Woodland Farms Brewing is just sitting on beer it can't ship.
"The other big issue is for breweries who want to send their new beers out of state. ... With the gov shutdown, they can't get their labels approved. Meaning that four pack can't make the few feet trek over to New Hampshire where I am until the government reopens," said Patrick Rowan of Woodland Farms.
"Pretty straight forward process, but now all my tanks are full and I can't move the beer where it's supposed to go," Rowan said. "Like 65 barrels -- so that's $17,000 or $18,000 for us."
That's half of the company's income for the next few months
"We'll have to look at layoffs. Figure something out. I don't know. We'll have to dip into the reserve. It's pretty dire, you know?"
With no end to the shutdown in sight, the brewers said they are facing a harsh reality.
"This may be the end of my business," Rowan said. "This may be the end of many small craft breweries."
More in this category: « Chamber breakfast features Our Katahdin speaker Closure will leave 227 jobless » | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1248 |
__label__wiki | 0.855519 | 0.855519 | Reese Witherspoon, Ryan Phillippe Divorce Is Final
LOS ANGELES – Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe are officially single. The couple's divorce was finalized Oct. 5, according to court documents. Witherspoon cited irreconcilable differences when she filed for divorce on Nov. 8, 2006.
The couple were married for seven years and have two children, 8-year-old daughter Ava and 3-year-old son Deacon.
Witherspoon, 31, and Phillippe, 33, co-starred in the 1999 movie "Cruel Intentions" and were married that year. Their separation was announced last October.
Witherspoon won the best-actress Academy Award for her portrayal of June Carter Cash in 2005's "Walk the Line." She can next be seen in "Rendition," co-starring Jake Gyllenhaal, which is due out later this month.
Phillippe's screen credits include "Crash," "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Breach."
Court documents confirming the divorce were first posted by the celebrity Web site CelebTV.com. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1250 |
__label__wiki | 0.787701 | 0.787701 | Woman on a Red Couch
78 x 56 in. (198 x 142 cm)
Photographed 20 April 1961
1964 Cr Number
Alley 185
'Francis Bacon, Tate, London (1962)', Tate Gallery, London, 24 May 1962 - 01 July 1962 (86)
'Francis Bacon', Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim, 18 July 1962 - 26 August 1962 (75)
'Francis Bacon', Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna, Turin, 11 September 1962 - 14 October 1962 (80)
'Francis Bacon', Kunsthaus Zürich, Zürich, 27 October 1962 - 25 November 1962 (74)
'Francis Bacon', Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 11 January 1963 - 18 February 1963 (65) (as 'Woman on Red Couch')
'Francis Bacon', Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 18 October 1963 - 12 January 1964
'Francis Bacon', Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 24 January 1964 - 23 February 1964 (54) (as 'Woman on Red Couch')
'Fundamental Aspects of Modernism', Fine Arts Gallery, California State University, Northridge, 13 March 1977 - 24 April 1977 (5)
'Early Twentieth Century European Masterpainters', The Albuquerque Museum of Art, History and Science, New Mexico, 12 June 1977 - 24 July 1977 (5)
'The Foundation Veranneman invites Marlborough London, New York, Tokyo', Foundation Veranneman, Kruishoutem, 29 November 1986 - 31 January 1987 (1)
Francis Bacon (91 works), London: Tate Gallery 24 May. 1962-1 Jul. 1962; Mannheim: Kunsthalle Mannheim 18 Jul. 1962-26 Aug. 1962; Turin: Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna 11 Sep. 1962-14 Oct. 1962; Zürich: Kunsthaus Zürich 27 Oct. 1962-25 Nov. 1962; Amsterdam: Stedelijk Museum 11 Jan. 1963-18 Feb. 1963; exh cat. (London: Tate Gallery, 1962). No. 86, unpaged
Francis Bacon (65 works), New York: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum 18 Oct. 1963-12 Jan. 1964; Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago 24 Jan. 1964-23 Feb. 1964; exh cat. (New York: The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, 1963). p. 29; ill. No. 54, p. 63 (b&w)
Ronald Alley, John Rothenstein, Francis Bacon: Catalogue Raisonné and Documentation (London: Thames & Hudson, New York: Viking Press, 1964). No. 185; pp. 138, 273; ill. No. 185, unpaged, (b&w)
Margarita Cappock, Francis Bacon's Studio (London: Merrell, 2005). p. 199
Martin Harrison, Francis Bacon - New Studies: Centenary Essays (Göttingen: Steidl, 2009). pp. 138, 254; ill. No. 93, p. 139
Martin Harrison, Francis Bacon: Catalogue Raisonné (London: The Estate of Francis Bacon, 2016). pp. 36, 632, 636, 640, 688, 702; ill. p. 641 | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1251 |
__label__wiki | 0.95713 | 0.95713 | Clinton L. Romesha
Date of Issue: 02/11/2013. Organization: U.S. Army, 3d Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division
Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Section Leader with Bravo Troop, 3d Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, during combat operations against an armed enemy at Combat Outpost Keating, Kamdesh District, Nuristan Province, Afghanistan on 3 October 2009.
On that morning, Staff Sergeant Romesha and his comrades awakened to an attack by an estimated 300 enemy fighters occupying the high ground on all four sides of the complex, employing concentrated fire from recoilless rifles, rocket propelled grenades, anti-aircraft machine guns, mortars and small arms fire. Staff Sergeant Romesha moved uncovered under intense enemy fire to conduct a reconnaissance of the battlefield and seek reinforcements from the barracks before returning to action with the support of an assistant gunner. Staff Sergeant Romesha took out an enemy machine gun team and, while engaging a second, the generator he was using for cover was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade, inflicting him with shrapnel wounds. Undeterred by his injuries,
Staff Sergeant Romesha continued to fight and upon the arrival of another soldier to aid him and the assistant gunner, he again rushed through the exposed avenue to assemble additional soldiers. Staff Sergeant Romesha then mobilized a five-man team and returned to the fight equipped with a sniper rifle. With complete disregard for his own safety, Staff Sergeant Romesha continually exposed himself to heavy enemy fire, as he moved confidently about the battlefield engaging and destroying multiple enemy targets, including three Taliban fighters who had breached the combat outpost's perimeter. While orchestrating a successful plan to secure and reinforce key points of the battlefield, Staff Sergeant Romesha maintained radio communication with the tactical operations center.
As the enemy forces attacked with even greater ferocity, unleashing a barrage of rocket-propelled grenades and recoilless rifle rounds, Staff Sergeant Romesha identified the point of attack and directed air support to destroy over 30 enemy fighters. After receiving reports that seriously injured soldiers were at a distant battle position, Staff Sergeant Romesha and his team provided covering fire to allow the injured soldiers to safely reach the aid station. Upon receipt of orders to proceed to the next objective, his team pushed forward 100 meters under overwhelming enemy fire to recover and prevent the enemy fighters from taking the bodies of the fallen comrades.
Staff Sergeant Romesha's heroic actions throughout the day-long battle were critical in suppressing an enemy that had far greater numbers. His extraordinary efforts gave Bravo Troop the opportunity to regroup, reorganize and prepare for the counterattack that allowed the Troop to account for its personnel and secure Combat Post Keating. Staff Sergeant Romesha's discipline and extraordinary heroism above and beyond the call of duty reflect great credit upon himself, Bravo Troop, 3d Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division and the United States Army. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1252 |
__label__wiki | 0.919869 | 0.919869 | Report of the Board of General Purposes - 12 June 2013
Quarterly Communication of Grand Lodge
Report of the Board of General Purposes
The Minutes of the Quarterly Communication of 13 March 2013 and of the Annual Investiture of 24 April 2013 were confirmed.
Annual fees and dues
Annual Dues and Fees were confirmed.
Grand Charity annual contribution
The Grand Charity had requested that for 2014 the annual contribution be increased to £17 in respect of each member of a lodge in a Metropolitan Area or a Province, or in England and Wales that is unattached. This was approved.
Masonic jewellery
Complaints have been received from several sources about an advertisement currently circulating, which offers for sale, in a variety of qualities, cuff links and lapel pins in the form of a replica of the Hall Stone Jewel. Informal approaches had previously been made to the individual concerned, advising that the design was inappropriate and requesting that he did not proceed to market the items.
The Board has now considered the advertisement and has concluded that the use of the design in this context is altogether inappropriate. The device is inextricably associated with Freemasons’ Hall, which was built as a Peace Memorial to those Freemasons who gave their lives during the Great War of 1914 to 1918.
Except in the case of the very small number of Brethren still living who subscribed ten guineas to the Masonic Million Memorial Fund and thereby qualified to wear an individual jewel, the privilege of wearing the Hall Stone Jewel is now restricted to the Masters of those lodges whose donations to the Fund averaged ten guineas per member and the Provincial or District Grand Master of the Hall Stone Province (Buckinghamshire) and the Hall Stone District (Burma).
The Board considers that the trivialising of such an iconic emblem by turning it into an item of personal adornment is in the worst possible taste, as well as deeply disrespectful to the memory of the many members of the Craft who fell in that War. It has also noted that a donation to “Masonic Charity” is promised for every sale made, which it regards as an attempt to give respectability to an enterprise which has every appearance of having been undertaken for personal gain.
The Board accordingly recommends to the Grand Lodge that Brethren of this Constitution neither purchase nor wear (whether on Masonic or on non-Masonic occasions) such lapel badges or cuff-links.
Prestonian lectures
2012: Scouting and Freemasonry: two parallel organisations?
The Lecturer, W Bro A.D.G. Harvey, has informed the Board that in addition to the three official deliveries to Humber Installed Masters Lodge, No. 2494 (Yorkshire, North and East Ridings); Authors Lodge, No. 3456 (London); and North Notts. Masters Lodge, No. 9525 (Nottinghamshire), the Lecture was also delivered on 41other occasions throughout the Constitution. The Board desires to express its thanks to Bro Harvey for the considerable time and effort he has spent in this connection.
2013: As we were seen - the Press and Freemasonry
The Prestonian Lecturer for 2013 is W Bro P.R. Calderwood, PSGD. Three official Prestonian Lectures for 2013 have been or will be given under the auspices of Jubilee Masters Lodge, No. 2712 (London) Bowen Lodge, No. 2816 (Buckinghamshire) Torbay Masters Lodge, No. 8227 (Devonshire).
2014: 1814: Consolidation and Change
The Board has submitted a nomination to the Trustees of the Prestonian Fund and they have appointed W Bro Dr M.A. Kearsley as Prestonian Lecturer for 2014. Bro Kearsley states that the title of his Lecture will be 1814: Consolidation and Change.
Arrangements for the delivery of the Lectures to selected lodges will be considered by the Board in November and applications are now invited from lodges. Applications should be made to the Grand Secretary, through Metropolitan, Provincial or District Grand Secretaries.
The Board desires to emphasise the importance of these, the only Lectures held under the authority of the Grand Lodge. It is, therefore, hoped that applications for the privilege of having one of these official Lectures will be made only by lodges which are prepared to afford facilities for all Freemasons in their area, as well as their own members, to participate and thus ensure an attendance worthy of the occasion.
Amalgamations
The Board has received reports that the following lodges have resolved to surrender their Warrants: (a) Townfield Lodge, No. 7024, in order to amalgamate with De Tatton Lodge, No. 2144 (Cheshire); and (b) Watling Lodge, No. 8090, in order to amalgamate with Barham Lodge, No. 6004 (Hertfordshire).
A recommendation that the lodges be removed from the register in order to effect the amalgamation was approved.
Erasure of lodges
The Board has received a report that 31 lodges have closed and surrendered their Warrants. The Lodges are: Lodge of Harmony, No. 288 (East Lancashire), Alexandra Lodge, No. 1581 (South Africa, Eastern Division), Lennox Browne Lodge, No. 2318 (Essex), Orde-Powlett Lodge, No. 2391 (Yorkshire, North and East Ridings).
East Anglian Lodge, No. 2920 (London), Culham College Lodge, No. 2951 (Oxfordshire), Holborn Borough Council Lodge, No. 3272 (London), Balham-Crogdaene Lodge, No. 3388 (Surrey), West Salford Lodge, No. 3867 (East Lancashire), Quadrivium Lodge, No. 3921 (East Lancashire), Newbury Park Lodge, No. 4458 (Essex), Vesey Lodge, No. 4473 (Warwickshire).
Lowy of Tonbridge Lodge, No. 4834 (West Kent), Birchwood Lodge, No. 5178 (Hertfordshire), St Wilfrith of Sussex Lodge, No. 5274 (Sussex), Goldsmiths’ College Lodge, No. 5398 (London), Eastcote Lodge, No. 5515 (Middlesex).
Alkrington Lodge, No. 6102 (East Lancashire), Bentley Priory Lodge, No. 6134 (London), Bolton Lodge, No. 6603 (East Lancashire), Lodge of Antient Bromleag, No. 6716 (West Kent), Lodge of Good Endeavour, No. 6858 (Essex), Hartshead Lodge, No. 7042 (East Lancashire), Tessera Lodge, No. 7131 (Surrey).
Pattern Lodge, No. 7314 (West Kent), Aurea Filia Lodge, No. 7523 (London), Shelburne Lodge, No. 7719 (Buckinghamshire), Rother Valley Lodge, No. 8216 (Sussex), Spinnaker Lodge, No. 8395 (East Kent), Runnymede Lodge, No. 9014 (Surrey) and Findon Lodge, No. 9034 (Sussex).
A recommendation that they be erased was approved.
Grand lodge accounts for 2012
The Audited Accounts of Grand Lodge for the year ended 31 December 2012 were adopted.
Election of Grand Lodge auditors
The re-election of Crowe Clark Whitehill LLP, as Auditors of Grand Lodge was approved.
Motion pursuant to notice
Amendments to the Book of Constitutions
An amendment to Rule 153, Book of Constitutions: Treasurer’s Duties and Lodge Accounts, was approved.
List of new lodges for which warrants have been granted
No. 9885 Thames Valley Motorcycle Lodge (13 March 2013), Wokingham, Berkshire; No. 9886 Bradfordians Lodge (13 March 2013), Bradford, Yorkshire West Riding.
Quarterly Communications of Grand Lodge
These will be held on 11 September 2013, 11 December 2013, 12 March 2014, 30 April 2014 (Annual Investiture), 11 June 2014, 10 September 2014.
Convocations of Supreme Grand Chapter
16 October 2013 (transferred to this date from 13 November by Resolution of Grand Chapter, passed on 26 April 2012), 1 May 2014, 12 November 2014, 30 April 2015.
The Minutes of the Quarterly Communication of 14 March 2012 and the Annual Investiture of 25 April 2012 were confirmed.
A Resolution was moved that the annual dues (including VAT) payable to Grand Lodge in respect of each member of every lodge for the year 2013 shall be:
In a lodge in England and Wales that is unattached ............................. £50
In a lodge in a Metropolitan Area or a Province .................................. £30
In a lodge in a District ............................................................................£7.50
In a lodge abroad not in a District ..........................................................£12.50
The Resolution was approved.
A Resolution was moved that the fees (exclusive of VAT) payable for registration, certificates and dispensations should be increased in line with inflation to:
(a) the Registration of £
1. A Grand Officer, present or past, on first appointment ................... £106
2. A Deputy or Assistant Metropolitan Grand Master or a
Metropolitan Grand Inspector (under Rule 60) ............................... £59
3. A Deputy or Assistant Provincial or District Grand
Master (under Rule 66) .................................................................... £59
4. A holder of Overseas Grand Rank (under Rule 93) .......................... £23
5. A Mason, inclusive of Grand Lodge Certificate (initiation,
or joining from a Lodge not under the Grand Lodge)
In a Lodge in England and Wales that is unattached ................... £59
In a Lodge in a Metropolitan Area or a Province ........................ £52
In a Lodge in a District ................................................................ £32
In a Lodge abroad not under a District ........................................ £44
(b) the replacement or amendment of a Grand Lodge Certificate .......... £58
(c) a certificate for a Serving Brother ..................................................... £32
(d) a Dispensation by the Grand Master ............................................... £30
a Dispensation by the Grand Master “nunc pro tunc” ............................. £60
CONTRIBUTION TO THE GRAND CHARITY
Under Rule 271, Book of Constitutions, Grand Lodge must fix each year the annual contribution that is payable to the Grand Charity. The Council of the Grand Charity had requested that for 2013 the annual contribution be increased to £16 in respect of each member of a lodge in a Metropolitan Area or a Province, or in England and Wales that is unattached.
2011: Was Sir Christopher Wren a Freemason?
The Lecturer, Dr J.W.P. Campbell, has informed the Board that in addition to the five official deliveries to Isaac Newton University Lodge, No. 859 (Cambridgeshire); Christopher Wren Lodge, No. 4855 (Berkshire); Archibald Campbell Lodge, No. 4998 (Madras); Alphin Lodge, No. 8461 (East Lancashire) and Metropolitan Grand Stewards’ Lodge, No. 9812 (London), the Lecture was also delivered on eight other occasions throughout the Constitution. The Board expressed its thanks to Bro Campbell for the considerable time and effort he has spent in this connection.
The Prestonian Lecturer for 2012 is A.D.G. Harvey. Three official Prestonian Lectures for 2012 have been or will be given under the auspices of: Humber Installed Masters Lodge, No. 2494 (Yorkshire, North and East Ridings), Authors Lodge, No. 3456 (London) and North Notts Masters Lodge, No. 9525 (Nottinghamshire).
RECOGNITION OF FOREIGN GRAND LODGES
The Grand Lodge Oriental of Colombia “Francisco de Paula Santander”
The Grand Lodge Oriental of Colombia “Francisco de Paula Santander” was formed on 18 November 1945 from four lodges meeting in the region of Santander under the National Grand Lodge of Colombia, at Barranquilla, which is one of the four Colombian Grand Lodges currently recognised by the UGLE.
The Grand Lodge of los Andes
On 29 April 1972 the Grand Lodge of los Andes was formed by the Grand Lodge Oriental of Colombia “Francisco de Paula Santander”.
The four Colombian Grand Lodges already recognised by the UGLE together with the above two cover distinct geographical areas in Colombia and all share mutual recognition.
The Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Nevada
The Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Nevada was formed on 16 August 1980, from three lodges meeting in that State under the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Arizona, which was recognised by the UGLE on 11 September 2002. Having shown that they have regular decendency and that they conform to the Basic Principles for Grand Lodge Recognition, the Board, having no reason to believe that they will not continue to maintain a regular path, recommends that these three Grand Lodges be recognised.
A Resolution to this effect was approved.
The Board had received a report that 18 lodges had closed and had surrendered their Warrants. The lodges are:
Lodge of Emulation, No. 1505 (West Lancashire), Greenwood Lodge, No. 1982 (Surrey), Carville Lodge, No. 2497 (Northumberland), King Edward VII Lodge, No. 2969 (South Africa, Western Division), Napier Clavering Lodge, No. 3428 (Northumberland), Raynes Park Lodge, No. 4377 (Surrey), London Staffordshire Lodge, No. 4474 (London), Continuity and Perpetua Lodge, No. 4651 (London), Lodge of Progress, No. 5017 (Hertfordshire), Camperdown Lodge, No. 5250 (Hertfordshire), City Centre Lodge, No. 5787 (London), Hinchley Wood Lodge, No. 5809 (Surrey), Noel Acacia Lodge, No. 5852 (Surrey), Keystone Lodge, No. 6173 (Warwickshire), Rosemary Lodge, No. 6421 (Northumberland), Riverside Lodge, No. 7247 (London), Allegiance Lodge, No. 7434 (Cheshire) and St Ambrose Lodge, No. 8251 (West Lancashire).
A Resolution that these lodges be erased was approved.
THE RULERS’ FORUM
A recent review of the Rulers’ Forum and consultation with Provincial Grand Masters has led to the conclusion that the Forum is not functioning as originally intended. By contrast, the Rulers’ Forum Groups have proved remarkably effective in promoting discussion across Provincial boundaries. After careful consideration, the Board recommended that the Rulers’ Forum be dissolved and that the Rulers’ Forum Groups be reconstituted on an informal basis.
It further recommended that the members of the Commission for Appeals Courts and certain members of the Panel for Clemency, who are currently elected by the Rulers’ Forum at its meeting in December, be appointed in future by the Grand Master from among Brethren nominated for appointment in the same manner as currently applies for election by the Rulers’ Forum.
A Notice of Motion to amend the Book of Constitutions accordingly appeared the Paper of Business.
LIST OF NEW LODGES
List of new lodges for which warrants have been granted by The Grand Master showing the dates from which their warrants became effective:
9870 Sir Adeyemo Alakija Lodge (Ebute Metta, Nigeria)
9871 Sussex Motorcycling Lodge (Southwick, Sussex)
9872 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Lodge (Ramsey, Isle of Man)
9873 Ghana District Grand Stewards Lodge (Accra, Ghana)
ADDRESS: DIAMOND JUBILEE OF HM QUEEN ELIZABETH II
Dr J W Daniel gave an address entitled Royal Jubilees and Loyal Freemasons.
QUARTERLY COMMUNICATIONS
Grand Lodge will meet on 12 September 2012, 12 December 2012, 13 March 2013, 24 April 2013 (Annual Investiture), 12 June 2013 and 11 September 2013.
Supreme Grand Chapter will meet on 14 November 2012, 25 April 2013 and 16 October 2013 (transferred from 13 November by resolution of Grand Chapter). | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1253 |
__label__wiki | 0.652726 | 0.652726 | Rhiannon Vogl
David Altmejd, The Vessel (2011), plexiglas, chain, plaster, wood, thread, wire, acrylic paint, epoxy resin, epoxy clay, acrylic gel, granular medium, quartz, pyrite, assorted minerals, adhesive, wire, pins, and needles, 260.4 × 619.8 × 219.7 cm. NGC. © David Altmejd, Courtesy Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York
David Altmejd was born in Montreal in 1974, but now divides his time between New York and London. He rose to international acclaim early in his career, attracting widespread interest for his series of larger-than-life werewolf sculptures: creatures that seem perpetually caught between becoming and devolving, their bodies spliced with mirrors, crystals, plastic jewels and other incongruous materials.
Interested in the transfer of energy from one form to another, and the ways in which sculpture might be able to harness this life force, Altmejd conceives his works as elaborate stage sets, upon which he can bring to life fantastical scenarios populated by beings in a constant state of metamorphosis. He is fascinated by the folkloric tradition that werewolves occupy a space “in-between” human and animal, good and evil, Nature and culture. As explained by the artist in a 2004 interview, “The energy related to the transformation . . . crystallizes and becomes an energy-generating object. The architectural structure I use in the installation presents the object in a way that triggers this energy, and circulates or channels it throughout the piece.”
Since representing Canada at the Venice Biennale in 2007, where he transformed the pavilion into a prismatic backdrop for his sculptures, Altmejd’s works have become increasingly elaborate containers or vitrines that harness this energy. They have also taken on a new dimension, focusing more on the transfer of creative forces from the artist’s hand to his materials. Because he considers the act of making art a way of continuing this energy shift, Altmejd now deliberately leaves traces of himself in his plaster and clay, often using his own body as a mould or form.
Limited only by his imagination and the physical constraints of his chosen working materials, large-scale installations such as The Holes and Vessel, in the collection of the National Gallery, include a mixture of organic materials such as trees, branches, eggs, and taxidermy birds and animals, as well as inorganic elements including clay, crystals, mirrors, beads and plaster. His works are reminiscent of otherworldly terrariums, in which organisms seethe with a visceral energy that is continually being transferred between animate objects, humans and their environment.
Shows, collections and exhibition history
In 2009, Altmejd received the Sobey Art Award, Canada’s pre-eminent award for contemporary art. He has had solo exhibitions at the Gallery Met at The Metropolitan Opera, New York (2008); the Centre National d’Art Contemporain, Grenoble (2009); the Vanhaerents Art Collection, Brussels (2010); and The Brant Foundation Art Study Center, Greenwich, CT (2011). His work can be found in the collections of Les Abattoirs, Toulouse; the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on- Hudson, New York; the Dallas Museum of Art; the Galerie de l’UQAM, Montreal; the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1254 |
__label__cc | 0.507685 | 0.492315 | Thank God for the Olympics
by Geert Wilders
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11906/olympics-patriotism
Patriotism is one of the biggest strengths of a nation. Waving the national flag is so much more than bringing a tribute to successful athletes. It also links us to a heritage and a tradition. Our national flag symbolizes ancient loyalties embodying the legacy of our fathers, which we want to bestow on our children.
A few weeks ago, I lodged an official complaint against the Prime Minister for discrimination on behalf of thousands of my Dutch compatriots. This week, the Public Prosecutor announced that he will not prosecute Mr Rutte because the government policy is one of "positive discrimination," which the Public Prosecutor considers permissible. I will now take the case directly to the court. A government that is positively discriminating in favor of foreigners is negatively discriminating against its own people.
Just as the millions of Dutch, who are currently watching the Olympics on their television sets, are cheering their own athletes, governments should be the cheerleaders of their own people. We need to bring the spirit of the Olympics to politics, the spirit of patriotism. The nation-state has the duty to positively discriminate in favor of its own people. It has to cheer them on, encourage them, be proud of them, as we now are of our athletes. And always will be.
My country, the Netherlands, is doing extremely well in the 2018 Winter Olympics. It is great to see how the Dutch successes are reinforcing feelings of national pride and patriotism. Thank God for the Olympics! Cheering one's own athletes over foreigners has nothing to do with discrimination, racism or jingoism. Sporting events are one of the few occasions where people can still unabashedly display feelings of national pride without being judged for it by the leftist cosmopolitan elites.
Jorien Ter Mors of the Netherlands celebrates winning the gold medal during the Ladies' 1000m Speed Skating at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics, February 14, 2018. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
National pride is fantastic. In his farewell address as president, Ronald Reagan said that one of the achievements he was most proud of was "the resurgence of national pride." Reagan called it "the new patriotism." Patriotism is one of the biggest strengths of a nation. Waving the national flag is so much more than bringing a tribute to successful athletes. It also links us to a heritage and a tradition. Our national flag symbolizes ancient loyalties embodying the legacy of our fathers, which we want to bestow on our children.
The nation-state is one the greatest contributions of Western civilization to the world. It is the home of our democracy as well as the guarantor of our freedom. Adherence to the nation-state is also a moral duty. Our Judeo-Christian civilization is based on the values of Jerusalem, Athens and Rome. Jerusalem, where the love for the state of Israel was taught. Athens, where service to the democratic state was the highest good. And Rome, where honor depended on duty to the Republic.
Islam is totally alien to this central idea of our Western civilization. It does not want us to love our country. It wants to eradicate all nations and replace them by the Ummah, the worldwide Islamic community. Islam is not nation-centered but globalist by nature. That is why our cosmopolitan elites with their globalist dreams of supranational institutions like it so much. Since the 1960s, a loathing of morality and patriotism has become the style for those who consider themselves our elites. Discriminating against their own people has become their fashion. They feel appalled by great Western thinkers, such as the 13th century Italian, Thomas Aquinas, who wrote that "no-one can properly worship God without honoring his country, for the greater virtue – honor to God – includes the lesser – honor to parents and country."
The Olympics, however, reflect the Western ideals. It is no coincidence that they originated in ancient Greece with its many states.
Next week, the Dutch athletes from Pyeongchang will return home. Dozens of supporters will flock to Schiphol airport to prepare a warm welcome. They will wave the national tricolor and the entire nation will share their joy and glory. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is likely to honor them and receive them. And so he should!
And yet, it is the same Mark Rutte, who, like his colleagues of the political elite in the European Union, is conducting policies which actively discriminate against his own people in favor of foreigners. In sports, he is cheering the Dutch over the foreigners, but in politics he is doing exactly the opposite.
There are dozens of examples of this. While asylum seekers in the Netherlands get health care entirely free, the Dutch have to pay a huge deductible out-of-pocket and have to insure themselves for extras, such as hearing aids, glasses, physiotherapy, dental care, postnatal care, etc, which asylum seekers get for free. The asylum seekers also get free housing and are allowed to jump the queue, while Dutch citizens on average have to wait eight years for social housing. Two thirds of all welfare expenditure is spent on non-Western immigrants, while Dutch citizens have to foot the bill. Non-Westerners often also get preferential treatment when applying for jobs in the civil service, because the authorities want to encourage "diversity," and so on.
For years, my party has been opposing this discrimination against our own people in our parliament. Because the government parties refuse to change their policies, a few weeks ago, I lodged an official complaint against the Prime Minister for discrimination on behalf of thousands of my Dutch compatriots. This week, the Public Prosecutor announced that he will not prosecute Mr Rutte because the government policy is one of "positive discrimination," which the Public Prosecutor considers permissible. I will now take the case directly to the court. A government that is positively discriminating in favor of foreigners is negatively discriminating against its own people.
Geert Wilders MP is leader of the Party for Freedom (PVV) in The Netherlands.
Follow Geert Wilders on Twitter
Recent Articles by Geert Wilders
VIDEO - Geert Wilders: "Restore freedom of speech", 2018-05-28
Parliamentary Questions on the Arrest of Tommy Robinson, 2018-05-27
Time to Drain the Swamp - Also in Europe, 2017-11-26
Geert Wilders: "In My Opinion, Islam Is Not a Religion", 2017-09-16
The Europe We Want, 2017-09-03
Harald Tilgner • Feb 27, 2018 at 23:15
Hurah for Geert Wilders!
We, the thinking people of this world, need leaders with courage and common sense.
I agree, religion it is not! Islam is to be discriminated against, because it is against nature NOT to.
Nature could only survive because it is in itself highly discriminating!
Only humans have the gall to go against Nature and expect to be rewarded.
Let us, the thinking people, return to common sense and discriminate where it is required. Lies and more LIES are used to make us feel guilty - but of WHAT?
We need to take back our heritage our forefathers fought so hard to preserve.
Hugh Eveleigh • Feb 27, 2018 at 11:14
An excellent article with which I totally concur.
Irene • Feb 21, 2018 at 10:16
May the true God bless Geert Wilders!
And, the true God willing - multiply him and morph his duplicates into all the other nationalities of Europe. We all desperately need someone like Geert Wilders in our nations. Who is willing to tell the truth.
Awsome article - that put into words what I have felt a long time, that our elite politicians are inviting into our countries people who come with the aim to rule over us and deprive us of our rights.
I really hope you will win next election in the Netherlands with a big margin, and become the Prime Minister with enough power to lead the country back to the glory it once had - the glory that the Dutch people deserve. The glory that comes because people are proud to be Dutch and proud of living in a country that protects the weak and go after the wicked. Not the other way around.
Richard Galber • Feb 19, 2018 at 09:11
The enemies of the western world use our courts and our liberal free thought to try defeat us.
To defeat them we must use the law in the same ways as they; understanding that our biggest enemies are our own apologists.
Berti • Feb 19, 2018 at 05:46
This is correct, the positive discrimination allows actions against the peoples of Europe and it is reprehensible. Help for peoples from poor countries can be given to them in their home countries. In this insane system that's going on the people are going to rebel because its gone to extremes now. The people who have come in want to dominate us and this will result in catastrophe, but the doors were opened by the politicians and these can be replaced as is now happening.
Thanks Geert.
Edward • Feb 19, 2018 at 05:22
Hope you do well. It will be a good demonstration of the independence of the judiciary. If your case fails it will be of great interest to those discriminated against - that interest can and probably will be demonstrated at the polls.
Bill Houston • Feb 18, 2018 at 20:24
I agree with Mr. Wilders. Patriotism is not necessarily a bad thing. Having a good feeling about one's country and the achievements of its citizens is an essential part of a healthy nation state. National self esteem should not be conflated with self aggrandizement or jingoistic posturing. Patriotism leads to a strong country able to preserve its values and defend its borders. Jingoistic boasting can lead to international discord and possibly even wars. To mischaracterize patriotism as a danger to world peace is both superficial and simple minded.
Cathrine Brougham • Feb 18, 2018 at 19:10
I believe Geert Wilders should be congratulated and supported for his efforts to preserve his nation as a Judeo-Christian civilization based on the values of Jerusalem, Athens and Rome.
We all should be doing the same. Our western way of life was God-given and a point of difference to others. Why do we allow our elected authorities to change this. We are not Islamic and never will be.
It is a reminder to all of us to honour our nations, our histories, our democracies in the same way that we honour our top athletes.
Mark Matthias • Feb 18, 2018 at 19:00
"Thank God for the Olympics! Cheering one's own athletes over foreigners has nothing to do with discrimination, racism or jingoism. Sporting events are one of the few occasions where people can still unabashedly display feelings of national pride without being judged for it by the leftist cosmopolitan elites."
Absolutely Geert -- no better way to say it. However, when a country is betraying its own established interests and sacrificing the psychological, physical and spiritual welfare of its inhabitants, it's a group of people with seared hearts who can never be trusted again -- we see what happens when leaders behave in a lawless way. They know very well they are abusing the trust given to them. It is sinister, albeit, if there is no God the traitors have no one to answer to but themselves -- Ideologues actually compete against God. Joyce Behar of the TV production, the View, for example, referred to Christianity as a "mental disease", wielding her public platform like an ideological sword, with no resistance from the controllers of the media.
Fred Sytsma • Feb 18, 2018 at 17:27
I'm an American of Dutch descent. If I lived in the Netherlands, I certainly would be encouraging our citizenry to vote for Mr. Wilders. I've been to the Netherlands several times, and can't even imagine the destruction of their culture. The time to act is NOW!
Lesley Ward • Feb 18, 2018 at 16:30
Once more this brave, intelligent man brings the truth to all who wish to listen/read. It really is mind blowing how the Govt's across almost the entire Western spectrum are traitorous to their own peoples. With the exception of Trump it appears.
This Globalist pursuit can only lead to horrific ramifications, civil war, death and destruction of democracy and unfortunately the ignorant among us fail to see or support those trying to bring it out into the open.
Connie • Feb 18, 2018 at 16:30
That's exactly how I feel. I have raised my kids to love their country and they do. If your elected politicians don't recognize where their loyalties lie, what good are they? Maybe there should be a way to get rid of politicians who deny their true constituents, right away not when their terms are up. I think we would be firing quite a few.
Michael waugh • Feb 18, 2018 at 16:22
I wish we could hear more from Geert wilders, as do the Dutch I understand. He has a very strong character and would do Europe good in its struggle with dubious immigrants.
dave dutchess • Feb 18, 2018 at 16:21
Like many bureaucrats in many countries, they cower in the face of serious confrontation. The politicians and police are caught in the middle "trying" or ignoring the threats and violations of the gov't.
One interesting observation has to do with the last major elections in Netherlands and Norway: when the people (voters) had a chance to elect leaders who would stand up to the threats of their societies, it appears they too cowered in the face of adversity. So too in France where LePen clearly outlined her positions. Now Macron is playing catch-up to improve "his" situation. Merkel the same and the Brits have become twits in the face of islamic expansion. I imagine your public prosecutor is an appointed position; something which could change.
Your acknowledgement of public pride or patriotism is the famine amongst many countries. I champion you sir for your patriotism and your courage. The laws of immigration must support the native of each country over the foreigner and those laws are "permissible" to "discriminate" against any threat to a sovereign nation.
Therefore I also support Poland and the Visegrad 4 in their efforts to protect their native citizens. Possible Mr . Kurt in Austria may have an insight in his efforts to do the same. "carry on my wayward son".
Martin Schaffel • Feb 18, 2018 at 15:32
The Netherlands has nothing on the United States. Being a U.S. patriot is a thing of the past as 50% of it's own people think it's system of government is wrong; it's constitution is obsolete, their own country is the cause of most of the world's problems and that socialism is the hope of the future. History has shown the complete opposite; that America, through capitalism, has given the world and it's people a chance for a higher standard of living and a better way of life; that through it's strength, has defeated some of the biggest threats to mankind and has prevented future wars. However history has no meaning to these Americans nor to the Dutch government. The suffering of the Dutch people in WWII should be the backbone in the creation of a free, proud and patriotic Netherlands and of a government that is determined to insure that the loss of their freedom from invasion would never happen again. Both country's leaders tend to live in the world of Munich, 1939 - dreaming of a better world rather than actively taking the necessary risks to create one.
Edward Martin Schaffel • Feb 19, 2018 at 20:11
Munich 1939 - The constant appeasement of Government Representative's fell on deaf ears. It probably paved the way for 'Blitzkrieg'.
Constant appeasement of Islamic groups will only serve an insatiable appetite for Sharia Law and Muslim domination of the West.
The influx of Islamic migration looked a bit like 'Blitzkrieg'
dkjack • Feb 18, 2018 at 15:09
Geert's explanation of the nation state versus Islam leads to the observation that Islam is really a form of communism, in which all states vanish and are replaced by one great ummah or class. In communism it's the dictatorship of the proletariat according to Marx and his prophet Lenin, in Islam it's the dictatorship of totalitarian theocracy according to Allah and his prophet Mohammed. No nations, no states, no individual identity, only slaves to the will of Allah as applied by his henchmen. Stalin's rule of terror only covered one state, while the Islamists' rule of terror aims to cover the whole world. Can any civilized person not shake with revulsion at the thought of an Islamic world? It's even more revolting than the thought of a communist world!
And if you think such a prospect is far-fetched, then read Dr. Majid Rafizadeh's harrowing essay on these pages. Mere disapproval is futile, kindness and appeasement are futile. Only action, including the expending of blood and treasure, can save us from this aggressive, expansionist barbarism disarmingly calling itself a religion.
We MUST elect leaders who understand this. If we do not, then the nightmare will become reality in the West, and civilization will exist on this earth only in Russia, China, India and Japan and the strongly Catholic Latin countries where, whatever we may think of their regimes, they know Islam for what it is. And of course Israel will be left, isolated, to fight to the death.
Frank J Verderber • Feb 18, 2018 at 15:05
That was the most articulate and succinct polemic for national statehood I have ever read or heard. God bless you Geert. Don't give up but be the last guard on the wall as if at Vienna's last stand.
Bisley • Feb 18, 2018 at 14:37
Wilders is certainly right, but the situation will probably have to get much worse before a majority of his people can see he's right. The culture is being poisoned throughout the Western world by leftists who control most of the governments, education systems, and the press. They've indoctrinated and propagandized most of the public to accept that multiculturalism is a moral necessity and an economic benefit worth giving up their freedom and prosperity to promote -- and any one who opposes this program is publicly condemned as some sort of racist, bigot, or "phobe", as evil as a terrorist.
It will take a great deal to overcome the effects of this indoctrination, and make the public ignore the condemnation from all the leftist-controlled organs of public information, for recognizing that multiculturalism is destroying their freedom prosperity and culture. For many people it will have to come at the personal level, through assault on them, or their family, or friends, by the Muslim immigrants that are supposedly benefiting the country by living at their expense. It will come to rioting in the streets, and the verge of war between Muslims and Europeans before enough of the public admit that allowing these people into their country was wrong, and demand that they be expelled.
Brian • Feb 18, 2018 at 13:55
What a wonderful essay, especially from a man who lives with the fear of being attacked every day. A copy of this should be sent to every European leader (probably too late) and the prime minister of Canada (also probably too late).
Anneliese Varaldiev • Feb 18, 2018 at 13:37
I completely agree. Geert Wilders is a wise man, truly the voice of reason and sanity in these crazy, troubled times. I hope he stays safe and soon becomes the elected leader of the Dutch people, as he surely should be. God bless Mr. Wilders, and congratulations to the Dutch athletes on their Olympic triumphs!
Bill • Feb 18, 2018 at 13:12
Geert Wilders is one of the greatest politicians in the history of Western Civilization. Mr. Wilders' condemnation of Islam is factual, necessary for the maintenance of liberty AND JUSTICE and is a true profile in courage.
Arga • Feb 18, 2018 at 13:01
Wilders offers a rather hilariously anachronistic, and slightly devious, reference to Aquinas as a "13th century Italian" as if Aquinas were actually writing about "Italy" which of course did not come into existence for another 600 years years. And devious because for an atheist it wouldn't do to actually quote the whole statement by Aquinas, who justifies patriotism on religious grounds: "man is debtor chiefly to his parents and his country, after God. Wherefore just as it belongs to religion to give worship to God, so does it belong to piety, in the second place, to give worship to one's parents and one's country." Patriotism is a special (and subsidiary) kind of piety. Go to the source at http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3101.htm
dkjack Arga • Feb 20, 2018 at 11:33
Of course Aquinas was Italian! He is identified as Italian by all encyclopedic sources, including the peer-reviewed Britannica. To claim that Italy didn't "exist" until "600 years later" is pure pedantry.
Geert is not devious because Aquinas, though a Christian apologist, is known as one of the forerunners of humanism, the use of logic and reasoning rather than blind faith (like Islam) to discover the truth. Whether he calls patriotism "piety" to a believer or "virtue" to an atheist, he's saying the same thing.
Edward Cline • Feb 18, 2018 at 12:37
Three or more cheers for Geert Wilders!
gerald m serlin • Feb 18, 2018 at 10:57
I always thought that the Dutch people were smart, but I was wrong. I agree with the author of this article that the Dutch government is all wrong and misdirected in favoring foreigners over their own countrymen in so many ways.
It is one thing for a nation to be taken down the path to socialism, which is a political decision; but putting foreigners first over its own citizens is morally wrong and will cause resentment and will ultimately prevent the merger of the two classes of residents into a new nation.
john • Feb 18, 2018 at 10:51
Common sense is inherited - stupidity is taught. Well said Geert. Go get the fool and good luck with the court.
nosey • Feb 18, 2018 at 09:41
Yes but it is a shame that in western nations to be a proud patriot of your country you are classed as a nazi or a racist. The elite establishment has used the media and now social media to destroy the strong moral social fabric of society once held dear to the western world. The media has used it as a defence mechanism so the people of christian civilization = western civilization can't defend against any manipulation and exploitation from certain establishments committed to the oppression and total destruction of the christian civilization. Divide and conquer on a industrial scale in western nations today you will not see a united nation but a nation divided morally corrupted ect ect ect and that is how they can stay in control while they slowly but surely seal our fate as a once great proud united people the destruction of the christian faith paved way for immoral grounds to spread the seeds of ?????
Jim Tippins • Feb 18, 2018 at 09:34
Sounds just like the immigration system in the US!
Newspaniard • Feb 18, 2018 at 09:28
Geert Wilders is one of the very few politicians in Europe who has the courage of his convictions and stands up for the truth.
John Forbes • Feb 18, 2018 at 09:28
I would like to see the British Government & BBC & a number of politicians starting with Blair & McShane & the BBC brought before the International courts to answer for the Denial, Cover-up & Lying about the CHILD GROOMING & GANG RAPING EPIDEMIC still going on all across the UK!
It would have to be a CLASS ACTION SUIT & would have to be brought by an eminent Barrister who has the guts to take the establishment on!
Not like Geoffrey Robertson who attacks the Catholic Popes long since dead who pose no threat at all!
Jeff Page • Feb 18, 2018 at 09:25
To invite Islam is to put an end to the Olympics when they take power. Particularly the women won't be allowed to compete unless they have the hijab and don't wear any clothing that shows the body form in any way. Welcome Islam, forget, the future because it won't exist!
Michael Fortunato • Feb 18, 2018 at 09:23
Positive discrimination. Sounds like something from the Ministry of Truth.
jeb • Feb 18, 2018 at 08:22
Congrats on having a team that is patriotic in the Dutchlands. I apologize for the American team who act like self-serving leftist idiots with little respect for the flag they treat with indifference and one Gold medalist dragged on the ground.
And the insults to our President. This is big money for them and that is what consumes them. Americans are also competing on other teams just like several Canadians are performing with the South Korean Hockey Team.
Unfortunately, the USA team suffers from one of the worst American traits engendered by years of leftist cultivation self-absorbtion and greed.
As is his way, Geert Wilders has hit the nail squarely on the head. It is the norm now for governments to take their citizens for granted and completely ignore them in favour of the poor downtrodden immigrants who have supposedly fled war zones. Their own citizens forced to the back of the queue in favour of some of these immigrants who are actively preaching hatred and plotting a takeover of the very people who gave them security and a safe place to live. At their expense, I may add! The lunacy of Rutte and others in the Dutch government becomes evident every day, but every day they ignore it and every day they sing the praises for the very same immigrants who plot against them! Surely there is a time in every ones life when they wake up and suddenly realise that they have made a silly decision? They see and hear the evidence but for some reason, to their way of thinking, they don't see any problem. Is this ignorance, fear, or just downright stupidity?
I have said it before and I shall say it again, any politician who supposedly cares for their people and country and who just cannot see any problematic changes is either in need of a mental assessment or has had their bank account boosted by countries who want to promote Islam to all corners of this planet. The Dutch and many other European countries people have to begin putting pressure on their governments and forcing them to open their eyes to the danger that Muslims bring to their countries with the spread of Islam. Islam is totalitarian, Islam is evil, Islam is not compatible with Europe, Islam suppresses women of all ages, Islam promotes segregation, Islam brings death and destruction, and people such as Geert Wilders are in the front lines fighting against this! Bravo Geert!
Hanna • Feb 18, 2018 at 07:16
I am a great believer in IDEALISM. So, from your mouth to GOD'S ears. But, and it is a big but — DO NOT HOLD YOUR BREATH!!! Times have changed, and that is putting it mildly. We live in an up side down world now a days where nothing makes sense any longer. So, be proud of your Athletes — they earned it — and pray for a better world, it will take a lot of praying, so, do not hold your breath. Thank you Greet Wilders, I wish I could be more optimistic. And thank you Gatestone.
FREE AYATOLLAH BOROUJERDI!
Ayatollah Hossein Kazamani Boroujerdi faces execution in Iran for speaking out against political Islam and advocating the separation of religion and state. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1255 |
__label__wiki | 0.706858 | 0.706858 | What Turkey Wants in Syria
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6257/turkey-isis-syria
Turkey says that it, together with the US, wants an IS-free zone in northern Syria. That is fine. But who will fill the vacuum in areas cleared of IS?
Turkey simply finds joining the international campaign against the Islamic State an opportunity to install pro-Sunni Islamist rule in areas now controlled by IS.
In all reality, Prime Minister Davutoglu wants to replace extreme Islamists with less extreme Islamists. Turkey is trying, with U.S. help, to make Syria an extension of Turkey for Muslim Brotherhood Sunni Islam.
After several months of reluctant negotiations, Turkey has anxiously decided to join the allied battle against the radical Islamists who fight under the flag of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (or Islamic State, ISIS, IS). Turkish jets bombed IS strongholds inside Syria, and police detained hundreds of IS supporters operating in Turkey, including two leaders. Moreover, Turkish ministers hastily signed a decree that would allow the U.S. military to use the critical Incirlik air base for strikes against IS targets. Incirlik, in southern Turkey near the Syrian border, is close to many IS strongholds and will cut response times for U.S. aircraft, increasing the efficiency of anti-militant operations.
Turkey says that it, together with the U.S., wants an IS-free zone in northern Syria. That is fine. But who will fill the vacuum in areas cleared of IS? That is an extremely important question Turkey's American allies should think about with extreme care. Turkey simply finds joining the international campaign against IS an opportunity to install pro-Sunni Islamist rule in areas now controlled by IS.
This is how Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu describes, with all the unrealistic euphemism he could think of, the militias he apparently wishes would replace IS's brutal Islamists:
"We need to support moderate opposition forces there. Moderate opposition forces means all those forces who are tolerant of other Syrian citizens, who do not commit any terrorist crimes and who do not collaborate with the Syrian regime, which is responsible for all these humanitarian tragedies in the last four, five years."
The key word here is "moderate." In all reality, Davutoglu wants to replace extreme Islamists with less extreme Islamists. And the less extreme ones come under a different flag: the Free Syrian Army (FSA), which Turkey has vehemently supported over the past few years, in the hope that it would fight and topple Turkey's regional nemesis, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.
The FSA was formed in August 2011 by Syrian army deserters, and was based in Turkey. Unsurprisingly, its fighters are 90% Sunni, which explains the real appeal to the Sunni supremacist Davutoglu. The FSA militias are a ragtag group of rebels with a cause: to build a Sunni Islamist Syria, albeit not a Salafist Syria. The group does not have a real structure, money or sophisticated weapons to fight either Assad or the Islamic State.
Members of the Free Syrian Army's Al-Tawhid Brigade pose for a photo in Aleppo, in 2012. (Image source: Vice video screenshot)
In Syria's civil war, it is not uncommon to see fighters moving from one group to another. In March, for instance, the US-backed "moderate" rebel group, Harakat Hazzam, disbanded and its members joined extremist groups such as the al-Nusrah Front (ANF), an al-Qaeda offshoot, and the Levant Front, a coalition of rebels, also with ties to al-Qaeda. The ANF has, in addition, picked up thousands of men who once fought under the flag of the FSA.
Almost invariably, the groups fighting in Syria, with varying degrees of violence, are Islamists. If Davutoglu can market the FSA to his American allies, he will be nurturing, on his private agenda, another Islamist group that can potentially become another band of jihadists. Davutoglu is trying to make Syria an extension of Turkey for Muslim Brotherhood Sunni Islam.
In 2012, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued an open letter to opposition groups in Syria, including the FSA, accusing them of carrying out kidnappings, torture and executions. A United Nations-sponsored inquiry commission documented war crimes committed by these groups.
Some FSA-aligned groups have been criticized for having an affiliation with radical Islamists. The group itself was accused of summarily executing innumerable prisoners it held. Furthermore, the UN offered credible allegations against opposition groups, including the FSA, that they were recruiting children as soldiers. The FSA was mentioned in a 2014 HRW report detailing the widespread practice of using child soldiers -- just as the IS is doing. All that is reasonable when you recall that some FSA-aligned brigades are working with hardline Islamist groups, including al-Qaeda and Ahrar Al-Sham.
Such is the profile of the "moderate" rebel group that Turkey supports and tells the U.S. is the "good guys" fighting for democracy in Syria.
In other words, with U.S. help, Turkey wants to build, in parts of Syria, a Sunni Islamist rule, which it hopes will expand into other Syrian regions, finally reaching Damascus.
This may not be a realistic scenario, but even its progress can potentially create new Frankenstein monsters in Syria, with, most likely, "moderate" Islamists taking off their masks and becoming the radicals they in fact are.
Burak Bekdil, based in Ankara, is a Turkish columnist for the Hürriyet Daily and a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
Related Topics: Syria, Turkey
Recent Articles by Burak Bekdil
Turkey: Out in the Cold, 2019-07-16
Istanbul: 'Everything Is Coming Up Roses', 2019-06-24
Turkey's New Violent Political Culture, 2019-06-11
Erdoğan's Istanbul Nightmare, 2019-05-27
Poor Friendless Erdoğan, 2019-04-30
Mehed • Aug 1, 2015 at 21:38
And you can also be sure that any Machiavellian manipulations at play to oust -- or preferably kill -- the Kurds, is the work of President Erdogan and his performing side kick, Prime Minister Davutoglu.
Dieter • Aug 1, 2015 at 02:52
For Westerners it is the easiest thing in the world. The Muslim who talks to you is always a moderate, the ones he is talking about are the extremists. If any of his past actions look to be motivated by extremism, you can be all the more sure that he is a moderate. This is usually the revenge of the extremists. If there ever is cast iron evidence your moderate friend is a murderous jihadist, you can be sure that this evidence has been manufactured by the Mossad, which will do anything and everything to keep the war going.
Ora • Jul 31, 2015 at 11:39
What Turkey also wants is to get rid of as many Kurds as possible. Thus, in addition to bombing ISIS, Turkey is also attacking the Kurds in northern Iraq and in Turkey's Kurdish heartland, accusing them of being terrorists. This doesn't seem to bother Obama.
FREE ZEYNAB JALALIAN!
Zeynab Jalalian, a political prisoner in Iran, is going blind due to lack of medical care. She is at imminent risk losing her eyesight as a result of severe torture in prison. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1256 |
__label__wiki | 0.70322 | 0.70322 | Top 25 Doers, Dreamers & Drivers of 2018
Robert Samson
CIO, New York State
by Zack Quaintance / March 26, 2019
e.Republic/Eyragon Eidam
Follow @NYSITS | Robert Samson’s profile
Bob Samson is currently CIO for New York State’s Office of Information Technology Services, a position he has held since April 2017. Before joining the state, though, Samson spent 36 years with IBM as vice president of the worldwide systems and technology group and as general manager of the company’s global public sector. That’s a mouthful, but what it means is that Samson has dedicated his career to helping government use technology to better serve constituents. That mission is also at the heart of his work today.
New York CIO Bob Samson has migrated the disparate IT infrastructure of @NYGov to one cloud-based system that handles 50 million transactions per day #govtech @BobSamson_CIO
Seven years ago, Gov. Andrew Cuomo created the office Samson now runs. At the time, New York’s IT infrastructure was split between 46 agencies, 53 data centers and disparate email systems, some of which were incapable of interacting. Cuomo dubbed the IT infrastructure “incomprehensible,” Samson remembers, and tasked him with making changes. In the past two years under Samson’s leadership, the state has consolidated those disparate parts into one efficient IT group operating at scale, serving all 46 executive agencies. The 53 data centers have been migrated onto one cloud-based system, dubbed Excelsior, the state motto. This all-in model is unprecedented in a state the size of New York, which handles 50 million transactions a day, 17 million resident accounts, 1,600 miles of fiber infrastructure and more.
Samson, however, said these are not his accomplishments. Instead, Samson attributes the state’s IT success to a client-centric approach, process-driven operation and, most importantly, having the right people. Rather than talking about himself, Samson prefers to discuss the importance of skills training and evolution. The most important lesson he tries to impart on those around him is actually one learned from legendary baseball player Jackie Robinson, who broke through segregation in baseball in the 1940s to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson also famously stole home in the 1955 World Series, a big risk with a big payoff. This is the unconventional thinking Samson shares with those around him: Think differently, aim big, steal home.
Zack Quaintance Assistant News Editor
Zack Quaintance is the assistant news editor for Government Technology. His background includes writing for daily newspapers across the country and developing content for a software company in Austin, Texas. He is now based in Washington, D.C. He can be reached via email.
MORE FROM Top 25 Doers, Dreamers & Drivers of 2018 | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1257 |
__label__wiki | 0.632467 | 0.632467 | Cannabusiness Insider
Why the Former President of Overstock Is Putting Her Stock in Pot
Stormy Simon went from being a temp at Overstock.com to president. Now she's betting on the cannabis industry.
Image credit: Pitch PR
Jonathan Small
Entrepreneur Staff
Editor in Chief of Green Entrepreneur
In this ongoing series, we are sharing advice, tips, and insights from cannabis entrepreneurs who are out there doing business on a daily basis. (Answers have been edited and condensed for clarity.)
Why did you get into the cannabis industry?
I'd been at Overstock for 15 years. I really did want to do something different. I am passionate about the plant, but I had to find my place. This was in 2014. Colorado went green, and that was a big deal for me as an advocate and user, knowing the benefits and having studied them for my own self for many years.
I was in Utah watching Colorado go legal and I said, “Is this really happening right over the mountain?” In Utah, the people are extremely conservative, not so progressive--they're very fearful of the plant. So when you live in that environment but you see these progressive states that are doing it, they're tackling it, and they're making good things happen. Have you been to Colorado lately? They've taken this money and done amazing things, not just in the state but in the schools. It's a shared profit for the state of Colorado and that was the moment for me. I just thought, Wow, this is historic, I can't remember a time where the states had the power in something this big.
So what did you do after you left Overstock?
I joined a company MTrac as a strategic advisor. Everybody knows that the cash in the system is a problem with cannabis. It's dangerous or it can be. MTrac offers this unbelievable easy solution to take the cash out of the system. It leverages the blockchain technology but uses US currency that we are all familiar with. You download a digital wallet, then you walk into a store that has a machine that'll kick you out a credit card. We're just coming out of beta, but it is a solution. It's an absolute solution that works outside the banks, protects your money and keeps everybody safe.
I love MTrac's CEO and founder, Vanessa Luna, she's in her thirties, she has three kids, and she’s killing it.
I am also on the board of CannaKids, a for-profit brand dedicated to working with hospitals, scientists and creating medicines that are easy to take both with THC and without. It's for everyone but focused a lot on pediatrics and geriatrics.
Related: 9 Business Ideas for People Looking to Cash in on the Marijuana Boom
You rose from a temp at Overstock to eventually becoming president. What advice do you give to budding entrepreneurs?
I think the most important thing when you're young is to believe in yourself and have confidence, but you also have to know not to rush the years of experience that builds up. When I was 30, I wanted to know so much more. I was demanding knowledge. I wanted to be right and I wanted recognition for my decisions. But I learned that experience matters--it's a collective group of a team. In a real company, there's not one winner, everybody wins. And it's the patience of allowing that to happen and being comfortable where you are
But what I'm finding with these kids nowadays (I sound like my mother!), even my own sons are saying, “Gosh. I wish I could just make more money.” And I say, you're 28 years old. You can make more money and you will. But you're getting your experience for that to happen. It's not just the titles, it's your life experience-- it's buying a car, buying a house. All of those things add up to having confidence and an internal authority to feel good about what you're doing.
You know, I was a teenage, single mom the whole time that I raised my boys. I got divorced when they were little. I would meet big business guys through Overstock. I would tell them about my life and they'd say, "Oh my God, you can balance a checkbook? You can pinch pennies like no other, were you able to ever take a family vacation?" And if I said yes, they said, "You should be the CFO."
You can't add another 24 hours of experiences to a week, you only get seven days, so be patient with yourself. People shouldn't be so hard on themselves and try to rush it. It doesn't matter where you are in your 20s, because in your 30s you start putting so many things together and your business persona starts falling into place. There's a level of maturity that just comes through living.
Related: Do Something That's Never Been Done Before, According to This Marijuana Tech CEO
Do you have an inspiring quote you like to use?
I did a whole TedTalk on it. It’s something my mom told me when I was stagnant and down and was like, Life isn't it's just not going to happen for me. I'd been reading all these self-help books, and she finally said, “What the hell? Have you ever met that author? How do you even know he's right? Why are you taking this stranger's advice?” She would tell me, “Sometimes you just need to do something and step forward even if it's wrong. “You're going to make mistakes, but you got to keep moving.”
What's it like being named Stormy in this day and age?
I can't make a public Facebook page because my name is Stormy, and we can't figure out how to get around it. I think maybe that the name is just so hot right now, with the Trump thing, Facebook thinks people are calling themselves Stormy to gather the SEO. But that's my real name. I'm the original. I've had emails start bouncing into spam. I don't know if it's related.
Related: Trump Says He'll "Probably" Back New Marijuana Bill
Interviewee: Bye. Bye.
Latest on Green Entrepreneur
His Dog Days Over, Wilfred Star Gets Into The Pre-Roll Business
How the Gold Rush Inspired This Green Rush Entrepreneur
How An App Saved His Pre-Rolled Joint Business
He Fought for Marijuana Legalization at Age 13. Now He's Reaping the Rewards.
How Blockchain Could Solve the Cannabis Industry's Problems With Banking and Credit Card Processing | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1260 |
__label__cc | 0.741035 | 0.258965 | Green Mountain College Receives #1 Rank for Sustainability Achievements
Green Mountain College (GMC) has been recognized as the top performer by the Association for Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). GMC’s 2018 STARS Gold score of 81.82 is the highest score any college has achieved. STARS, the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System, measures sustainability in higher education.
GMC’s highest ever total score was the result of its high scoring in several categories. GMC received the #1 score in sustainability-based curriculum, with the first ever perfect score awarded by AASHE. GMC also attained top ranking in the areas of Air and Climate Operations and Investment and Finance, and scored among the top 5 institutions for Energy and Research. Green Mountain College’s full STARS report is publicly available at: https://stars.aashe.org/institutions/green-mountain-college-vt/report/2018-02-23/
“Green Mountain College’s leadership in sustainability is due to the dedicated efforts of our students, staff, and faculty. For over twenty years, Green Mountain College has consistently provided leadership in advancing sustainability,” said Robert Allen, Green Mountain College President.
Recognition by AASHE follows several other accolades GMC has received for social, environmental and economic sustainability. The College was recently ranked #1 by Sierra magazine, the national magazine of the Sierra Club, in the 2018 “Cool Schools” ranking , and GMC was recognized for the fifth year in a row as a member of The Princeton Review’s Green Honor Roll.
“This report confirms that GMC continues to serve as a model for campus sustainability while equipping the next generation of students with the skills they need to lead and make a difference in a world that is being transformed by climate change and social injustice,” said Green Mountain College Sustainability Director Ryan Ihrke.
With more than 800 participants in 30 countries, AASHE’s STARS program is the most widely recognized framework in the world for publicly reporting comprehensive information related to a college or university’s sustainability performance. Participants report achievements in five overall areas: 1) academics 2) engagement, 3) operations, 4) planning and administration, and 5) innovation and leadership.
“STARS was developed by the campus sustainability community to provide high standards for recognizing campus sustainability efforts,” said AASHE Executive Director Meghan Fay Zahniser. “Green Mountain College has demonstrated a substantial commitment to sustainability by achieving a STARS Gold Rating and is to be congratulated for their efforts.”
Unlike other rating or ranking systems, this program is open to all institutions of higher education, and the criteria that determine a STARS rating are transparent and accessible to anyone. Because STARS is a program based on credits earned, it allows for both internal comparisons as well as comparisons with similar institutions.
About AASHE:
AASHE is an association of colleges and universities that are working to create a sustainable future. AASHE’s mission is to empower higher education to lead the sustainability transformation. It provides resources, professional development and a network of support to enable institutions of higher education to model and advance sustainability in everything they do, from governance and operations to education and research. For more information about AASHE, visit www.aashe.org.
For more information about the STARS program, visit stars.aashe.org.
Filed Under: Featured on Homepage, News, GMC Journal Tagged With: AASHE, STARS, Sustainability Leadership
Senator Bernie Sanders Congratulates GMC on Sustainability Achievements
Letter of congratulations from Senator Bernie Sanders
Green Mountain College (GMC) has received a letter of congratulations from Senator Bernie Sanders on being recognized as the top Baccalaureate performer by the Association for Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) with a score of 81.82. STARS, the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System, measures and encourages sustainability in higher education.
“I was delighted to hear that Green Mountain College received the highest score of any institution ever. Your commitment to sustainability will equip the coming generation with knowledge that is vital to meeting the mounting global challenges we are facing as a nation,” stated Senator Sanders.
In addition to the top baccalaureate score, AASHE awarded Green Mountain College the first ever perfect score for sustainability-based curriculum, GMC also attained perfect scores in the areas of Sustainability Research and Air and Climate Operations. Green Mountain College’s full STARS report is publicly available here.
“Green Mountain College is proud of this recognition. For over twenty years, Green Mountain College has consistently provided leadership in advancing sustainability. Our mission to prepare students to create a just and sustainable society informs everything we do,” said Robert Allen, Green Mountain College President. “Our general education curriculum, the “sustainable liberal arts for transformative education,” requires all undergraduate students to demonstrate a complex understanding of sustainability and their role in effecting positive change in the world.”
Recognition by AASHE follows several other recent accolades GMC has received for social, environmental and economic sustainability. In August the College ranked among the nation’s top ten “Cool Schools” by Sierra magazine, the national magazine of the Sierra Club. Also in August, GMC was recognized for the fourth year in a row as a member of the Green Honor Roll.
“This report confirms that GMC continues to serve as a model for campus sustainability while equipping the next generation of students with the skills they need to lead and succeed in a world that is being transformed by climate change and social justice,” said Green Mountain College Sustainability Director Ryan Ihrke.
Filed Under: Featured on Homepage, News, GMC Journal Tagged With: AASHE, STARS | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1261 |
__label__wiki | 0.511369 | 0.511369 | White Collar Crimes Case Results
Long Beach, Giving False I.D. to Police, Diversion
Our client, age 26, was driving southbound on Cedar Avenue, just north of Eighth Street in Long Beach. It was about 6:15 p.m. in February, so it was dark out and our client was driving without his headlights on.
A Long Beach Police Department officer and his partner were driving northbound on Cedar in the same block and noticed our client driving without his headlights on.
The police turned around and pulled over our client to alert him to turn on his headlights. When they pulled him over, they asked for his driver’s license, insurance and registration.
Our client handed over a Photo-Shopped driver’s license to the police officer, which the police immediately recognized as Photo-Shopped. Our client also had no proof of insurance or vehicle registration.
His Photo-Shopped license, however, had his proper name and his true date of birth, as well as his correct address. It just was not issued by the State of California.
Police asked him why he did not have a proper government-issued driver’s license. Our client explained that he was “an indigenous person and did not have to provide any identification because he was protected by the Fifth Amendment and that he was not driving or operating a vehicle, but traveling.” He also told police that he “was not subject to corporation laws by the government and that he was practicing common law as a free person.”
The police did not accept our client’s explanation as why he should be simply allowed to leave and proceed on. Instead, the police arrested our client. According to the police, our client attempted to explain his position further while police drove his to the police station. Our client’s car was also towed.
Our client was held overnight and then released the following morning after signing a promise to appear in the Long Beach Superior Court in about six weeks for a charge of providing false identification to a police officer (Penal Code § 148.9(a)) and operating a motor vehicle without a driver’s license (Vehicle Code § 12500).
Our client then moved to Chicago to live with a friend there. He missed his court date in Long Beach and eighteen months passed. While in Chicago, he eventually needed a job, so he applied with the public transportation organization that operated buses and trains in Chicago.
The organization advised him that the Long Beach Superior Court in California had issued a bench warrant for him and he had to take care of the warrant and the case before being offered a job to work in Chicago.
The client called Greg Hill & Associates and explained that he had a bench warrant in the Long Beach Courthouse that needed to be recalled. He spoke with Greg Hill, but the client did not remember much of what had happened or how the ticket was issued.
Greg then appeared in the Long Beach Superior Court and had the bench warrant recalled. One issue to resolve was whether the client had signed a promise to appear in court and if not, could the case be dismissed based on a Motion to Dismiss for Deprivation of the Right to a Speedy Trial under Serna. Unfortunately, the client had signed such a promise to appear and the document was in the file.
The client had applied for and even received a proper, government-issued Illinois driver’s license, so Greg took a photocopy of that to court. Greg showed this to the Long Beach City Prosecutor handling the case, who viewed the case with some seriousness.
The initial offer was three years of informal probation, a $300 fine plus penalties and assessments and ten days of community labor. Greg was shocked by the severity of the offer, especially because our client had no prior criminal history.
Eventually, however, over several court appearances, Greg was able to negotiate a far better plea bargain for the client – 18 months of informal diversion, wherein all charges would be dismissed if our client performed twenty days of community service in Illinois. The client accepted this offer, happy to avoid a conviction because he needed the work in Chicago.
Greg was a bit stunned over the offer including twenty days of community service, but the client was unbothered by so much work to do. He was simply happy to have the bench warrant recalled, our plea bargaining to avoid a conviction with steep fines our client could not afford and the chance to earn a dismissal and avoid a conviction.
Long Beach, Giving False I.D. to Police, Diversion :: Los Angeles County Criminal Defense Lawyers Greg Hill & Associates | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1262 |
__label__wiki | 0.582641 | 0.582641 | Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering
Thermal and Mass Transport
Wildland Fire View all 10 Articles
Guillermo Rein
Imperial College London, United Kingdom
Jie Ji
University of Science and Technology of China, China
Pedro Reszka
Adolfo Ibáñez University, Chile
Formation Mechanisms (Evolution) of Firebrands
Experimental Methodology
Dimensional Analysis
Front. Mech. Eng., 14 June 2019 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmech.2019.00032
Firebrand Generation From Thermally-Degraded Cylindrical Wooden Dowels
Sara E. Caton-Kerr1, Ali Tohidi2* and Michael J. Gollner3
1Jensen Hughes, Baltimore, MD, United States
2One Concern Inc., Palo Alto, CA, United States
3Department of Fire Protection Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States
During wildland fires, firebrands form once they break off of burning vegetation or structures. Many are then lofted into the fire plume where they are transported long distances ahead of the fire front, igniting new “spot” fires as they land. To date, very few studies have been conducted on the breakage mechanism of thermally-degraded vegetative elements. Knowledge of these mechanisms is needed to feed mathematical models of firebrand transport from traditional wildfires as well as those that spread into communities. First, a framework to understand the behavior of thermally-degraded wooden elements under simultaneous external loading is presented. A set of experiments were designed such that cylindrical wooden dowels of different species are exposed to different heating conditions similar to wildland fires, in order to model the breakage mechanisms of these elements in the absence of wind. The thermally-degraded elements are subjected to the three-point bending test to obtain the mechanical response of the materials after combustion. Assuming Hookean Orthotropic behavior for combusted dowels, dimensional analysis of the results reveals that the ultimate strength of the dowels is affected by the recoverable elastic strain during loading, which is found to occur under two distinct regimes. These results are not only important for better understanding of the breakage mechanisms but also are advantageous for developing a failure theory of thermally degrading wooden elements under simultaneous wind loading conditions.
Over the past few decades, wildland fires have been increasing in size, frequency, and severity (Caton et al., 2016; Balch et al., 2017). These fires result in many large-scale disasters, in particular at the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI), where human development and unoccupied land intermingle. This trend is projected to increase due to fire management policies, an increase in land development adjacent to wildlands, and climate change (Howard, 2014; Tohidi, 2016; Tohidi and Kaye, 2017a). In order to improve land development and wildfire management policies, map the risks from wildfires, and improve the resilience of WUI communities, it is imperative to understand and model the mechanisms by which fires ignite communities and pose serious threats to people, properties, infrastructure, and ecosystems.
Three pathways for wildland fire spread and ignition in WUI communities have been identified. These include direct flame impingement on fuel sources, radiation, and firebrand showers. Firebrands are combusting pieces of vegetation or structural elements that break off of burning elements during wildfires or other large conflagrations. During many of these fires, a large number of firebrands are formed creating a “shower” of brands lofted into the fire plume. These lofted firebrands travel downwind and upon landing eventually ignite spot fires far ahead of the main fire front (Koo et al., 2010; Tohidi and Kaye, 2017a,b) (Figure 1). Investigations of several past WUI fires have revealed that firebrand showers are often responsible for more than half of the reported ignitions (Manzello et al., 2008; Caton et al., 2016).
Figure 1. Schematic of a firebrand shower scenario in the wildland-urban interface (WUI); excerpted from Tohidi and Kaye (2017c) with permission.
Among the three phases important for firebrand showers: generation, transport and ignition, firebrand transport has received the most attention both experimentally and numerically (Albini, 1979; Sardoy et al., 2007; Tohidi and Kaye, 2017b,c). Numerous studies have collected data on the general characteristics of firebrands, i.e., the mass, surface area, and shape, that are formed from trees (Manzello et al., 2006a, 2008, 2009, 2007a; Mell et al., 2009), structural elements (Suzuki et al., 2012a,b), and during small prescribed fires (El Houssami et al., 2016). Studies on the ignition of fuel beds and some structural components have also been reported (Manzello et al., 2006b; Hadden et al., 2010), however very few works on the actual formation processes of firebrands from thermally-degraded vegetative elements can be found in the literature (Barr and Ezekoye, 2013; Tohidi et al., 2015);(Chen et al., 2017).
Barr and Ezekoye (2013) proposed a thermo-mechanical breakage model for firebrands formed from a fractal tree. Later, Tohidi et al. (2015) presented a mechanical break-off model for firebrand formation from cylindrical twigs and tree branches with relatively high aspect ratios, i.e., length over diameter (η = L/D). Chen et al. (2017) also recently investigated, both experimentally and numerically, the burning rate and burning lifetime of wooden particles of different ellipsoid shapes and, similar to Tohidi et al. (2015) concluded that the aspect ratio of the elements is an important factor in material failure. Although findings from these studies lay the foundation of break-off analysis, the effects of thermal-degradation of the material under external loading is not directly addressed.
Therefore, the present study focuses on the behavior of thermally-degraded cellular solids (wooden elements) under subsequent external loading. With the lack of current knowledge in the area, this work is meant to propose a framework and a model to understand the behavior of thermally-degraded wooden elements with a cylindrical shape under external loading such as wind-induced drag. Beyond its importance in wildland and WUI fires, wood is the most widely used structural material (Gibson and Ashby, 1999), however there are few studies on the behavior of thermally-degraded wooden elements under external loading. After a review of the processes applied to this problem, a series of experiments are presented which capture the effects of thermal-degradation on failure mechanisms of wooden dowels that are exposed to flames and subsequently subjected to external loading. Utilizing the collected data during experiments, a dimensional analysis is conducted on the parameter space. The results of the scaling analysis suggest that there are two distinct failure regimes dominating the breakage and ultimately the formation of firebrands from thermally-degraded wooden elements.
The mechanisms that lead to firebrand formation from wooden elements may be related to the physical properties of the materials both prior and after thermal-degradation. Previous studies have proposed mechanical break-off models which relates the physical properties to the failure mechanism of the samples. For instance, Barr and Ezekoye (2013) report a linear correlation between the flexural stress (corresponding to the critical fracture load) and the density of pyrolyzed firebrands (wooden cylinders) in three-point-bending tests. This is similar to Easterling et al. (1982) results from balsa wood samples, where the collapse stress (σLc) was found to be linearly proportional to the relative density of the wood,
σLc∝(ρρs). (1)
Here, σLc is the stress recorded at the point of collapse in the longitudinal direction (parallel to the grain), ρ is the density of the wood species, and ρs is the density of the wood cell-wall material. Following this, Tohidi et al. (2015) assumed that failure occurs once the distortion energy of the wood from bending moment-induced shear exceeds the yield energy of the wood. This is assuming the maximum allowable stress of the wood sample remains constant during the generation process. While this is a simplified mechanical model, decoupled from combustion effects, it incorporates the effects of mass in addition to drag forces due to vertical and horizontal velocities in the fire plume to calculate the bending moments of tree branches. A non-dimensional parameter was also introduced that quantifies the relative importance of firebrand weight and vertical drag on the bending moment that connects individual branches to the main element. Using this parameter, it was shown that drag-driven (wind-driven) firebrand formation is the dominant formation mechanism and that firebrands with large aspect ratios (η > 3) are more likely to form and be lofted through the fire plume. These results are consistent with experimental observations from burning trees by Manzello et al. (2007b). In addition, results presented by Chen et al. (2017) support previous models as it concludes that the larger aspect ratio firebrands decompose faster, which makes them more susceptible to failure due to external loading.
The micro-structure of wood plays a critical role in its physical degradation and failure (Gibson and Ashby, 1999). At fine scales, wood is a cellular composite with different geometric configurations that depend on the type and species of the wood. Generally, wood species can be categorized as hardwoods (dense) and softwoods (light) (Easterling et al., 1982). Hardwoods are deciduous angiosperms with pores and vessels in their micro-structure, whereas softwoods are gymnosperms (conifers) that do not have pores and vessels (Dinwoodie, 2000). In angiosperms (hardwood), more than 90% of the wood is aligned in the longitudinal direction, whereas in gymnosperms (softwoods), this cell distribution varies between 80 and 90%. The rest of the material is distributed through rays in radial and tangential directions, which implies a high degree of anisotropy in wood structure (Dinwoodie, 2000). Figure 2 illustrates a typical wood structure from a full tree down to the micro-scale structures within. While the behavior of composite or tapered wood samples are also of interest in firebrand formation, their physical and chemical properties might be different and are not included in this work. This also holds true for samples with a shell-type geometry, such as tree bark, although the introduced framework may be applicable to their study in the future.
Figure 2. Schematic of wood structure at different scales; shown are the customary coordinates aligned with rays, growth rings and fibers (grain), i.e., Radial, Tangential, and Longitudinal (RTL), along with a Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) image of typical angiosperm and gymnosperm wood species, here, Pinus and Balsa wood. The SEM images show the general micro-structure of the hardwood (top) and softwood (bottom) which are, respectively, excerpted from Wikipedia and raw materials of Koch (1972a,b).
A framework for understanding firebrand formation is first presented here, as such a description does not yet exist in the literature. The process is viewed in three phases which occur across different scales. First, a thermo-mechanical instability (buckling) develops at the micro-scale, leading to crack formation. Second, a series of physiochemical degradation processes that involve pyrolysis and oxidation occurs through which the material losses its structural integrity, and finally thermo-mechanical break-off due to external loading, most likely via wind or body forces such as gravity occurs at the macro-scale. In a real scenario, these three phases occur sequentially or, more likely, simultaneously depending on the intensity of heat exposure and mechanical loading scenarios.
At the micro-scale, natural wood is a fiber-reinforced composite made up of crystalline cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of (amorphous) hemicellulose and lignin (Easterling et al., 1982; Gibson and Ashby, 1999) (see Figure 2). Previous studies, i.e., Gibson and Ashby (1999), Easterling et al. (1982) and Ashby (1983) have shown that the material's density, dimensions, and shape of the cell walls at the microscale determine the anisotropy and mechanical properties of the wood in macroscale (RTL coordinates), that is the modulus of elasticity, bending, buckling, plastic collapse, and fracture mechanisms (Easterling et al., 1982; Ashby, 1983; Gibson and Ashby, 1999). If the samples of wood are extracted at sufficient distance from the pith where the curvature of the growth rings are relatively small (i.e., a large radius), it is reasonable to assume that wood in the tangential (T) and radial (R) directions is orthotropic, i.e., EL ∝ ρ/ρs, ERT∝(ρ/ρs)3, νTL=νRL≈O(0.01), and νTR=νRT≈O(0.5) (Easterling et al., 1982; Gibson et al., 1982) where E is the module of elasticity, ν is Poisson's ratio, and subscripts show the directions in RTL coordinates system. This is consistent with the fact that, as a tree grows, pores and vessels in the outer layers (latewood) get smaller relative to the ones in the center (earlywood) (Dinwoodie, 2000). The longitudinal direction (L) would be different as the microfibrils of cellulose in the cells are mostly aligned in the L-direction and prismatic cells are stiffer under tension and compression in the L-direction in relation to bending in the R and T directions. Other factors such as age and moisture content play an influential yet secondary role on the mechanical properties of the wood.
It should be noted that the orthotropic assumption could be violated in this study due to the small diameter of samples used. However, samples are oven-dried and deliberately chosen such that the grains are aligned with the longitudinal direction (length of the samples). Therefore, as demonstrated in the experimental results, the differences between physical properties in the longitudinal direction compared to the ones in the radial/tangential direction are significant, which suggests that the orthotropic assumption is still valid and appropriate. For a detailed description of the mechanical properties, deformation, and behavior of wood, refer to either Gibson and Ashby (1999) or Dinwoodie (2000). Having reviewed the micro-structure of wooden elements, a three-phase thermal-degradation mechanism can now be described.
Phase I: Thermo-Mechanical Instability (Buckling)
Burning cellulosic materials, such as wood, forms a layer of char that significantly reduces heat conduction to virgin wood at the inner layers and subsequently reduces the burning rate of the uncharred material. However, the charred layer may shrink and crack, which notably affects the pyrolysis and oxidation of the sample material (Bryden and Hagge, 2003; Li et al., 2014). It was initially thought that pyrolysis and oxidation were the primary mechanisms of crack formation for heat-exposed wood samples. However, recent work by Baroudi et al. (2017) showed that, due to a global thermo-mechanical instability in the heat-exposed layer at temperatures below the pyrolysis temperature (Tp≈573 ◦K), macro-crack patterns are established before physiochemical processes dominate.
External heating of wood samples, either through radiation or direct flame exposure (convection), not only boils entrapped water within the virgin wood, but also leads to the transformation of some of the chemical components of the material to gases (pyrolysis). Accumulation of the water vapor and gases builds up a hydrostatic pressure inside the material and increases the internal pressure, shown illustratively in Figure 3.
Figure 3. Schematic of the evolution of micro-crack patterns through the heat-exposed wooden material.
As the internal hydrostatic pressure increases, preliminary micro-cracks evolve in the tangential direction, eventually leading to the rupture and exit of gases, shown in Figure 3. This is expected as the tangential moduli (ET) of the wood varies with the cube of the relative density as opposed to the linear relation of EL with relative density; wood is a much stronger and stiffer material in the longitudinal direction than the transverse (tangential/radial) direction (Easterling et al., 1982; Ennos and Van Casteren, 2010). This is partly due to the fact that more than 80% of the microfibrils in the cell walls lie along the longitudinal direction, which makes the cell walls stiffest in that direction (Mark, 1907; Dinwoodie, 2000), and partly due to the prismatic shape of the cell walls that are stiff axially and less stiff transversely (Gibson and Ashby, 1999). Depending on the age of the wood, its moisture content, and species type, this process is likely to continue even at the macro-scale and leads to a crack in the longitudinal direction. In addition, after release of water vapor and gasses the material shrinks due to lower external ambient pressure which increases the opening of micro-cracks. As shown in Figure 4-right, the evolution of micro and macro cracks on the surface of the heat-exposed layer not only generates a temporary path for the discharge of gases and water vapor, but also induces a negative pore pressure which may pull the flame sheet closer to the wood surface (Li et al., 2015). After the release of water vapor and gases from the sample and generation of a negative pressure field, the material starts to shrink at the micro-scale, exacerbating the effects of micro-cracks.
Figure 4. Development of global macro-crack patterns.
In addition to the previously-described effects, the negative-pressure increases the heat feedback from the flame to the fuel surface and amplifies thermomechanical effects. With persistent heat exposure, wood enters a rubber-like state and softens as the temperature exceeds the sample's glass transition temperature; here denoted by Tg. For dry wood with 10% moisture content, Tgis about 373 K, which is well-below the pyrolysis temperature of the wood (Salmén, 1984, 2004; Bažant, 1985; Antoniow et al., 2012; Baroudi et al., 2017). Because wood is an elasto-viscoplastic natural composite consisting of cellulose and hemicellulose-lignin matrices, e.g., polyermic materials, the elasticity modulus in all directions decreases around close to the glass transition temperature, while the thermal expansion coefficient of the wood increases dramatically (Li et al., 2016; Baroudi et al., 2017). This behavior induces substantial thermal stresses on the surface of the heat-exposed layer (hot-layer) before the formation of any char layer (Baroudi et al., 2017; Tohidi et al., 2017). Baroudi et al. (2017) showed that the thermal stresses, indicated as σT in Figure 4-left, are due to resistance against thermal expansion from the cold elastic sublayer (virgin wood). Assuming a thin-plate approximation for cases when Tg < T < Tp and utilizing the Kirchhoff-Love theory of plates (Ventsel and Krauthammer, 2001; Li et al., 2016; Baroudi et al., 2017), it can be shown that by increasing thermal stresses, buckling occurs during transition from a membrane bi-axial state (flat plate) to a post-critical membrane and bending state (wrinkle-shaped plate), see Figure 4-left. At nodes of the buckled plate in a post-critical state, principal tension stresses exist which may lead to the development of macro-crack patterns perpendicular to the grains (Baroudi et al., 2017) as well as elongating and deepening existing cracks. Importantly, macro-crack patterns appear to emerge before char formation (Baroudi et al., 2017). Figure 5 shows evidence of the development of global macro-crack patterns on birch dowels exposed to a propane flame at different times in this study; the experimental methods shall be discussed in section Experimental Methodology. Concepts of this framework may apply to shell-type wooden elements, e.g., tree bark, however this is beyond the scope of this study.
Figure 5. Shown are the of the global periodic macro-crack patterns due to thermo-mechanical instabilities. From top to bottom the flame exposure times are 10, 15, and 20 s for the 6.35 mm diameter birch dowels.
Phase II: Physiochemical Processes (Pyrolysis and Oxidation)
During pyrolysis, elevated temperatures initiate reactions within the organic material that changes its chemical composition and primarily forms char (Turns, 2000). Several studies (Ragland et al., 1991; Spearpoint and Quintiere, 2001; Haas et al., 2009; Liu et al., 2013; Sedighi Gilani et al., 2013; Li et al., 2016), however, have shown that the micro-structure of charred wood has a cellular form and wood charring due to pyrolysis does not change the micro-structure of the wood. Despite the fact that a consensus on this behavior does not exist, Hagge et al. (2004) argues that this is primarily due to reconstruction of chemical bonds and carbon atom connections. Thermal decomposition under pyrolysis transforms the material to char which produces a considerable amount of gas and leaves behind a porous media (Shen et al., 2009; Li et al., 2016). This porous media shrinks considerably under ambient pressure. Non-uniform shrinkage may lead to the generation of internal stress and, subsequently, unbalanced penetration of developed cracks in previous phases through the affected (char) layer; see Figure 5. As pyrolysis transforms a wooden element into a porous medium, its surface density and subsequently its stiffness will significantly decrease. Hence, the combined effects of the stress concentration at the tip of the already developed cracks (see Figure 4-right) and loss of structural stiffness (integrity), help the cracks gain sufficient depth through the charred layer. Once these macro-cracks or fissures are established, their number and path generally does not change (Li et al., 2016). It is also shown that the length of the crack is directly proportional to the square root of the heating time (Li et al., 2016). This is consistent with the findings of Nguyen et al. (2017) on crack morphology, where it is shown that short cracks develop after long fissures are established. Eventually, short and long cracks converge and, so long as a heat source exists, pyrolysis continues until full degradation of the wooden element's cross section.
With the presence of ambient oxygen, oxidation of the surface material also occurs, during which the surface of the solid material reduces without a significant change in density and remaining strength (Barr and Ezekoye, 2013). This process is associated with the formation of oxides from oxygen molecules (formation of ash over the charred layer). Continuation of pyrolysis and oxidation leads to the full thermal degradation of the material. As a result, established macro-cracks penetrate throughout the entire depth of the material thickness and cause brittle failure/break-off from the main wooden branches that are not yet fully degraded (Tohidi et al., 2017).
Phase III: Presence of External Loading or Constraints
While thermal degradation of the wooden elements alone can cause failure, during a typical fire scenario external loading of the elements will also contribute to failure. External loading is often applied due to a buoyancy-driven updraft flow in the fire plume, wind or entrainment-driven horizontal flow, and the weight of the wooden branches. These are considered in a simple mechanical break-off model by Tohidi et al. (2015). In a real fire scenario, the flame exposure and consequently heat conduction are not uniform throughout heated samples. The resulting temperature gradient leads to non-uniform thermal expansion and compression, as shown in Figure 6.
Figure 6. Observations of the combined effect of thermal rolling and thermal degradation in firebrand formation from a burning Leyland Cypress tree performed under wind at the IBHS wind tunnel.
The thermal effects due to this temperature gradient will be manifested as either internal stresses, if the element is restrained, or displacement, if the element is unrestrained (Usmani et al., 2001). Most tree branches and twigs can be considered cantilever beams where there is at least one boundary constraint at the joints. These restraints play a major role in determining the response of wooden elements to fire (heat) exposure. In fact, for branches at the top of what could be considered a fractal chain, the induced thermal strains lead to continuous rolling of the branch as it is simultaneously being thermally-degraded. We call this phenomenon thermal rolling. Upon close investigation of burn scenarios with various fuels, this behavior can be directly observed. Figure 6 shows some evidence of thermal degradation and subsequent rolling along a single branch during combustion of a Leyland Cypress tree at the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety's (IBHS) wind tunnel.
In real fire scenarios, thermal rolling occurs when branches experience non-uniform heating as the fire (flame) approaches and heats them more from one side than the other, often upwind. This temperature gradient most likely causes thermal expansion of the lee side and, since one end of the branch is constrained, the cooler material above the neutral axis experiences compression. Therefore, assuming a constant and linear temperature gradient, Hookean-Orthotropic behavior, and a circular cross section, the equivalent uniform moment that develops at the cross-section due to thermal rolling may be characterized as
Mr,R=(3π128)βEL∂T∂zD5, (2)
where β is the thermal expansion coefficient, T is temperature, and z is the distance from the neutral axis of the circular cross section. The bending moment in Equation (2) is time-dependent and applies to cylindrical dowels in which the temperature gradient can be resolved. However, this still applies to cylindrical dowels with a relatively small diameter as tree branches show fractal behavior (Barr and Ezekoye, 2013) and only the time scale for the presence of the gradient would be shorter. Due to the time-dependent nature and difficulties of capturing temperature gradients across the cross section of samples within our current experimental setup, the thermal-rolling induced bending moments are not measured in this study. Nevertheless, based on our experimental observations, the time-varying bending moment causes small deflections in elements where thermal degradation is not dominant yet. As time passes, EL will decrease, but β will increase, and micro and macro cracks will develop throughout the wooden elements. This may further increase the temperature gradient and subsequently the thermal rolling moment, see Equation (2). Hence, the softened element starts to bend, as shown in Figure 6 where thermal rolling is acting simultaneously during the softening of the branch that eventually leads to the brittle failure and detachment or lofting of the firebrand through the wind field. To summarize these processes, the thermo-mechanical failure cycle for a cylindrical wooden element under persistent heat exposure and external mechanical loading is shown in Figure 7.
Figure 7. Thermo-mechanical failure cycle for a cylindrical wooden element under continuous heat exposure. Here, arrows with two heads show concurrent processes.
In a real scenario, thermal-degradation of the material occurs concurrently with a variety of dynamic loading combinations. These are primarily due to thermal rolling, traction forces, and body forces which depending on the extent of degradation and magnitude of loading, one of the failure modes in tree branches could occur. The failure modes are (1) diffuse fracture (greenstick), (2) fibrous (clean) fracture, (3) transverse buckling, and (4) brittle rupture. For a detailed explanation of the failure modes in tree branches refer to Ennos and Van Casteren (2010); Casteren et al. (2012).
The process of firebrand generation includes heat transfer in cellular solids, pyrolysis, elastic and elastoplastic deformation, and eventually crack formation and failure. Previous studies (Wichman and Atreya, 1987; Baroudi et al., 2017; Nguyen et al., 2017) are available where the governing equations are presented and numerical simulations of wood charring and crack propagation are conducted. However, very few works discuss the dominant parameters, processes, and failure modes in thermally-degraded wooden elements that lead to firebrand generation. Given this and the detailed explanatory framework of the processes, an experimental methodology along with a series of experiments are devised to investigate the dominant modes of firebrand generation from thermally degraded wooden dowels.
Previous studies (Manzello et al., 2006b) have shown that many firebrands generated from burning vegetation (e.g., conifers) are in cylindrical form. Thus, cylindrical wooden dowels of three different wood species, i.e., birch, oak, and poplar, were chosen for testing. This provides a range of material properties as well as allowing for testing of smaller wooden dowels. The average initial densities measured before testing were 610, 700, and 540 kg/m3 for the birch, oak, and poplar, respectively. Since Barr and Ezekoye (2013) found a relationship between strength and density, a range of initial densities was studied to better understand the role of density in firebrand generation. The density of Douglas fir and pine species, which are more typical species in WUI fires, overlap with the lower range of densities tested in this study. Due to an inability to source hardwoods such as pines in the desired diameter ranges, we chose to use birch, oak, and poplar as surrogates which could be readily supplied for experiments.
The diameter of dowels tested range from about 3 mm to 13 mm (1/8 in to 1/2 in). Previous works (Albini, 1979; Suzuki et al., 2012a,b) have found that the average firebrand diameter ranges from 3 to 5 mm, which motivated the dowel sizes used in these experiments. All of the dowels were cut to 10.16 cm (4 in) in length for the three-point bending tests. Moisture contents were measured with a moisture content analyzer which dried the fuel over a load cell. The moisture content ranged from 5 to 8% on a dry basis for all three species. Drying the dowels to lower moisture contents was tested but did not have an effect on the results of the bending tests.
Dowels were weighed and then exposed to a propane flame created by a large Bunsen-type burner to induce flaming combustion. While the temperatures produced by this burner were likely higher than those produced in a real wildland fire, they were much more representative of the temperatures and heating rates expected compared to the other heating methods tried in preliminary tests, such as a hot plate and oven (Caton, 2016). The effect of the flaming time on degradation was determined by increasing the exposure time in 5 s intervals from 10 to 20 s. It should be noted that the exposure times are corroborated with the charring depth that is estimated from image processing of the cross section of the extinguished samples. In order to ensure that all pyrolysis and combustion reactions stopped, and that the heating times were as accurate as possible, the dowels were placed in a 22.9 × 33 × 6.35 cm aluminum box after each exposure time. The box was lined with Kaowool ceramic insulation fiber, such that the dowels would not fracture when placed inside. Then, nitrogen gas (N2) was injected through an inlet hole in the top of the enclosure box. N2 acted as an inert to extinguish any combustion processes, flaming or smoldering, that were still occurring. After ensuring the combustion reactions cease, the samples were weighed again in order to calculate the mass loss rate.
Finally, three-point bending tests were performed using a PASCO Materials Testing System with the bending accessory on all of the heated dowels. There was also a set of three-point bending tests conducted with virgin dowels of all the species to produce data on initial mechanical properties. The length span between the supports, L0, was 8.65 cm, with supports located 0.76 cm from the edge of the 10.16 cm long dowel. The Materials Testing System's software measured the force applied to the specimen through the plunger by a 7,100 N load cell in the base of the machine, and the position of the tip of the plunger was measured when the software was recording data by an optical encoder. The loading history of the bending force as well as the associated strain, measured based on the location of the plunger's tip, were collected for each sample until it failed.
The maximum force that each dowel could withstand prior to breakage was measured based on the three-point-bending tests. Ten dowels were tested for each scenario and the mean of the maximum force for each condition was calculated. In the birch tests, the maximum force decreased with increasing time for each diameter. The results of the oak tests demonstrate that increasing the exposure time from 15 to 20 s did not significantly change the maximum force measured for any of the sizes. The poplar dowels lost a significant amount of strength after burning for 10 s but increasing the exposure time beyond 10 s only created small decreases in the ultimate force. Figure 8 shows the observed breakage modes for birch dowels of the same diameter but with different flame exposure times. This trend has been consistently observed for other species as well.
Figure 8. Birch dowels with a diameter of 6.35 mm (1/4 in) heated in the flame for 10 s (left) and 20 s (right) which, respectively, show fibrous and brittle fracture modes. This result provides evidence that the breakage mechanisms are dependent on the heating exposure time.
On the left-hand side of Figure 8, samples with shorter flame exposure times (10 s) are shown. Fibrous failure can be observed which implies that the stiffness of the thermally degraded material is the dominating mode of failure. In addition, the presence of the common 45-degrees angle cracks, which show propagation along the longitudinal direction, supports this. By increasing the exposure time (20 s), a change in the crack propagation mode and form of the failure can be observed, shown in Figure 8-right. This type of failure, namely a sudden 90-degree crack, suggests failure of the material in a brittle form. Due to prolonged exposure to the propane flame, the material's cross-section is thermally degraded such that the stiffness of the cross-section is no longer sufficient to withstand the load. Therefore, it suddenly ruptures. These modes of mechanical behavior are effects of the combustion process, which increases the proportion of char within the sample.
The maximum forces that each dowel could withstand prior to breakage were studied as a function of the initial diameter of the dowels for all the tests. Ten dowels were tested for each scenario and the mean of the maximum force for each testing condition was calculated to find the average value associated with the test parameters. The results for the flaming tests are shown in Figure 9 for all three species to demonstrate the differences between the species tested. In the birch tests, the maximum forces decreased with increasing time for each diameter. The results of the oak tests demonstrate that increasing the exposure time from 15 to 20 s did not significantly change the maximum force measured for any of the sizes. The poplar dowels lost a significant amount of strength after burning for 10 s but increasing the exposure time beyond 10 s only resulted in small decreases in the ultimate force. To capture the underlying physics, influential parameters of the experiment are summarized using dimensional analysis in the next section.
Figure 9. Variation of the maximum force as a function of initial diameter for the birch (top left), oak (top right), and poplar (bottom) in the flaming tests.
The three-point bending tests provide valuable knowledge about the effects of the combustion processes on breakage mechanisms of cylindrical wooden dowels; however, due to the specificity of the results to the species and size of the dowels, it is beneficial to use non-dimensional analysis to extend and generalize the observations. This approach extracts relationships between a variety of physical quantities based on the identified independent variables and their base physical units (e.g., mass, length, time, etc.), and represents the dependent variables as a function of them. One of the common methods of using this technique is the Buckingham-Π theorem; for details of this method refer to Kundu et al. (2002). As one of the dependent variables, the critical breakage force should be scaled in the parameter space of the experiments. This can be shown by summarizing the parameter space as
ψ(Fmax, P∞,ρs, ρ∞, L0, νRT,EL, α | m˙, ρ0, D0)=0 (3)
where Fmax is the maximum (critical) force before breakage, ρ0 the initial species' density, L0 is the length span between the supports of the three-point bending test, D0 denotes the initial dowel diameter, νRT is Poisson's ratio in the radial plane R and in transverse direction T in the RTL coordinate system, α is species' thermal diffusivity, ṁ is the mass loss rate, EL is the modulus of elasticity in the longitudinal direction, ρs is the density of wood cell wall material, and P∞ and ρ∞ are the ambient pressure and density, respectively. In Equation 3, respectively from left to right, the dependent variables are separated from the independent variables with a vertical line. Also, the mass loss rate represents the time dependent effects of the flame exposure time. Here, it is assumed that wooden dowels follow Hookean-Orthotropic behavior, i.e., having material properties that differ along three mutually-orthogonal 2-fold axes of rotational symmetry. By utilizing the Buckingham-Π theorem, two governing non-dimensional parameters can be obtained,
Π1= (αm˙ρ∞P∞D03ρ0),Π2= (Fmax L0νRTELD03)(ρ0ρs) (4)
Π1 can be interpreted as the ratio of the average burning rate of the material to its scaled mechanical stiffness and Π2 is a non-dimensional representation of the recoverable plastic strain in the transverse direction of the dowels. Figure 10 illustrates the variation of these non-dimensional groups under the parameter space of the experiments. As the ratio of the burning rate to the scaled stiffness increases (combustion intensifies), the recoverable transverse strain remains relatively constant until it exceeds the maximum plasticity potential of the wooden dowels, where the failure occurs. Once the magnitude of the recoverable strain tends toward zero, the failure strain tends toward infinity, which effectively causes rupture of the dowels.
Figure 10. Non-dimensional analysis of the effects of combustion on the breakage mechanisms of wooden dowels of different species. Two distinct failure regimes are shown that control the failure mechanism regardless of the species type and initial physical properties. The exponential fits for the first and second failure modes are Π2=e-13.51Π1-0.21 (approximately horizontal fit) and Π2=e-131.51Π1-4.38 (steep line). (Colored version) Black, blue, and red symbols correspond to 10, 15, and 20 s heat exposure, respectively.
Based on the results shown in Figure 10, two distinct regimes describe the effects of combustion on the breakage mechanism of dowels. The first regime can be shown by an approximately horizontal exponential fit, i.e., Π2=e-13.51Π1-0.21, which demonstrates that the recoverable plastic strain is weakly affected by the burning rate parameter Π1. This shows that, for cylindrical samples with either short flame exposure times or large (residual) diameters, the stiffness of the material cross section is the dominant parameter in describing the failure mechanism of the sample during bending tests.
The second regime, fitted by the vertical steep line in Figure 10, i.e., Π2=e-131.51Π1-4.38, shows that material strain is strongly affected by changes in the burning rate. Throughout the second regime, the critical breakage force drops significantly, which indicates that samples were more susceptible to failure by a slight increase in the burning rate parameter. This is indicative of the fact that, for samples with either longer exposure times or smaller (residual) diameters, the dominant factor that accounts for the failure is thermal degradation, as the stiffness of the cross section is not sufficient to overcome the thermal degradation effects. Further, it is evident that the diameter, size, and plasticity of the samples are the controlling factors for the observed transition between the failure regimes. The flaming time (shown by the changing colors of the symbols) which to some extent represents variations in the plasticity of the thermally degraded samples, shows that the exposure time is another controlling parameter as well since the dowels with longer exposure time were more susceptible to fracture. Moreover, the presented analysis is invariant with respect to the species type.
With the eventual goal of modeling the generation of firebrands from diverse vegetative species, a phenomenological framework was presented to understand thermal-degradation and failure of cylindrical wooden elements under simultaneous external loading. Depending on the state of thermal degradation and extent of external loading, four failure modes are possible: (1) diffuse fracture (greenstick), (2) fibrous (clean) fracture, (3) transverse buckling, and (4) brittle rupture. To further investigate the dominant modes, an experimental methodology for testing the effects of combustion on the strength of small cylindrical wooden dowels in the laboratory utilizing a propane flame, nitrogen extinction, and three-point bending tests is presented. Scaling analysis of the experimental results suggests that the fracture mode, i.e., fibrous or brittle, primarily depends on the ratio of burning rate to initial stiffness, regardless of species type and initial physical properties. These two regimes summarize the thermal degradation of the wooden dowels in terms of the recoverable transverse strain. Despite these preliminary results, more detailed experiments and analysis are needed in order to extend the observed results, including development of an improved plasticity model and testing of more species, diameters and lengths so that results can eventually be incorporated into a time-dependent firebrand release model for different species.
SC-K did the experiments, some initial analysis, and visualization of the experimental results. AT provided the description of firebrand generation from thermally-degraded material and did the dimensional analysis of the experimental results. MG advised the work and edited the manuscript.
This work was partially performed with support from financial assistance awards 70NANB15H176 and 70NANB16H284 from the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards & Technology, Fire Research Grants Program. SC-K was employed by NIST as a Pathways Intern during the course of this research. Additional support is also acknowledged from the USDA Forest Service through cooperative agreement 15-CA-11272167-058 funded through the Joint Fire Science Program award 15-1-04-4 for tests conducted at IBHS.
SC-K was employed by the company Jensen Hughes and AT was employed by the company One Concern Inc.
The remaining author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
We would like to thank Nelson Bryner of NIST for multiple suggestions which have contributed to this work, Stephen Quarles and the rest of the staff at IBHS for running the experiments demonstrated in Figure 6 and Raquel Hakes for her assistance in laboratory experiments.
Albini, F. A. (1979). Spot Fire Distance From Burning Trees—A Predictive Model. Ogden: Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Forest Service; US Department of Agriculture.
Antoniow, J. S., Maigret, J.-E., Jensen, C., Trannoy, N., Chirtoc, M., and Beaugrand, J. (2012). Glass-transition temperature profile measured in a wood cell wall using scanning thermal expansion microscope (SThEM). Int. J. Thermophy 33, 2167–2172. doi: 10.1007/s10765-012-1313-y
Ashby, M. F. (1983). The mechanical properties of cellular solids. Metall. Trans. A 14, 1755–1769. doi: 10.1007/BF02645546
Balch, J. K., Bradley, B. A., Abatzoglou, J. T., Nagy, R. C., Fusco, E. J., and Mahood, A. L. (2017). Human-started wildfires expand the fire niche across the United States. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 11, 2946–2951. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1617394114
Baroudi, D., Ferrantelli, A., Li, K. Y., and Hostikka, S. A. (2017). thermomechanical explanation for the topology of crack patterns observed on the surface of charred wood and particle fibreboard. Combust. Flame 182, 206–215. doi: 10.1016/j.combustflame.2017.04.017
Barr, B. W. W., and Ezekoye, O. A. (2013). Thermo-mechanical modeling of firebrand breakage on a fractal tree. Proc. Combust. Inst. 2, 2649–2656. doi: 10.1016/j.proci.2012.07.066
Bažant, Z. P. (1985). Constitutive equation of wood at variable humidity and temperature. Wood Sci. Technol. 2, 159–177. doi: 10.1007/BF00353077
Bryden, K. M., and Hagge, M. J. (2003). Modeling the combined impact of moisture and char shrinkage on the pyrolysis of a biomass particle. Fuel 82, 1633–1644. doi: 10.1016/S0016-2361(03)00108-X
Casteren, A. V., Sellers, W. I., Thorpe, S. K. S., Coward, S., Crompton, R. H., and Ennos, A. R. (2012). Why don't branches snap? The mechanics of bending failure in three temperate angiosperm trees. Trees 26, 789–797. doi: 10.1007/s00468-011-0650-y
Caton, S. (2016). Laboratory Studies on the Generation of Firebrands From Cylindrical Wooden Dowels.
Caton, S. E., Hakes, R. S. P., Gorham, D. J., Zhou, A., and Gollner, M. J. (2016). Review of pathways for building fire spread in the wildland urban interface part I: exposure conditions. Fire Technol. 53, 1–45. doi: 10.1007/s10694-016-0589-z
Chen, Y., Aanjaneya, K., and Atreya, A. (2017). A study to investigate pyrolysis of wood particles of various shapes and sizes. Fire Saf. J. 91, 820–827. doi: 10.1016/j.firesaf.2017.03.079
Dinwoodie, J. M. (2000). Timber; Its Nature and Behaviour, 2nd Edn. London: Taylor & Francis.
Easterling, K. E., Harrysson, R., Gibson, L. J., and Ashby, M. F. (1982). On the Mechanics of Balsa and Other Woods. Proc. R. Soc. A Math. Phys. Eng. Sci. 1784, 31–41. doi: 10.1098/rspa.1982.0118
El Houssami, M., Mueller, E., Filkov, A., Thomas, J. C., Skowronski, N., Gallagher, M. R., et al. (2016). Experimental procedures characterising firebrand generation in wildland fires. Fire Technol. 3, 731–751. doi: 10.1007/s10694-015-0492-z
Ennos, A. R., and Van Casteren, A. (2010). Transverse stresses and modes of failure in tree branches and other beams. Proc Biol Sci. 277, 1253–1258. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2009.2093
Gibson, L. J., and Ashby, M. F. (1999). Cellular Solids: Structure and Properties, 2nd Edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gibson, L. J., Ashby, M. F., Schajer, G. S., and Robertson, C. I. (1982). The mechanics of two-dimensional cellular materials. Proc. R. Soc. London A Math. Phys. Eng. Sci. 382:1782. doi: 10.1098/rspa.1982.0087
Haas, T. J., Nimlos, M. R., and Donohoe, B. S. (2009). Real-time and post-reaction microscopic structural analysis of biomass undergoing pyrolysis. Energy Fuels 23, 3810–3817. doi: 10.1021/ef900201b
Hadden, R. M., Scott, S., Lautenberger, C., and Fernandez-Pello, A. C. (2010). Ignition of combustible fuel beds by hot particles: an experimental and theoretical study. Fire Technol. 2, 341–355. doi: 10.1007/s10694-010-0181-x
Hagge, M. J., Bryden, K. M., and Dietenberger, M. A. (2004). “Effects of backing board materials on wood combustion performance,” in Wood & Fire Safety: Proceedings, 5th International Scientific Conference. Svolen, Slovakia: Faculty of Wood Sciences and Technology; Technical University of Zvolen, 51–58. Available online at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/7019
Howard, P. (2014). Flammable Planet: Wildfires and the Social Cost of Carbon. New York, NY: Institute for Policy Integrity; New York University School of Law.
Koch, P. (1972a). “Utilization of the Southern pines, Vol. 1,” in Agricultural Handbook SFES-AH-420 (Asheville, NC: USDA-Forest Service, Southern Forest Experiment Station), 1–734.
Koch, P. (1972b). “Utilization of the Southern pines, Vol. 2,” in Agricultural Handbook SFES-AH-420 (Asheville, NC: USDA-Forest Service, Southern Forest Experiment Station), 735–1663.
Koo, E., Pagni, P. J., Weise, D. R., and Woycheese, J. P. (2010). Firebrands and spotting ignition in large-scale fires. Int. J. Wildl. Fire 19:818. doi: 10.1071/WF07119
Kundu, P. K., Cohen, I. M., Hu, H. H., and Publishers, E. S. (2002). Fluid Mechanics. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Li, K., Hostikka, S., Dai, P., Li, Y., Zhang, H., and Ji, J. (2016). Charring shrinkage and cracking of fir during pyrolysis in an inert atmosphere and at different ambient pressures. Proc. Combust. Inst. 36, 3185–3194. doi: 10.1016/j.proci.2016.07.001
Li, K., Pau, D. S. W., Wang, J., and Ji, J. (2015). Modelling pyrolysis of charring materials: determining flame heat flux using bench-scale experiments of medium density fibreboard (MDF). Chem. Eng. Sci. 123, 39–48. doi: 10.1016/j.ces.2014.10.043
Li, K. Y., Cheng, X., and Zhang, H. A. (2014). simplified model on vertical density profile and shrinkage ratio of virgin and charred medium density fibreboard. Fire Mater 6, 659–672. doi: 10.1002/fam.2207
Liu, Q., Shen, D., Xiao, R., and Fang, M. (2013). Thermal behavior of wood slab under a truncated-cone electrical heater: experimental observation. Combust. Sci. Technol. 5, 848–862. doi: 10.1080/00102202.2012.760548
Manzello, S. L., Cleary, T. G., Shields, J. R., Maranghides, A., Mell, W., and Yang, J. C. (2008). Experimental investigation of firebrands: generation and ignition of fuel beds. Fire Saf. J. 3, 226–233. doi: 10.1016/j.firesaf.2006.06.010
Manzello, S. L., Cleary, T. G., Shields, J. R., and Yang, J. C. (2006b). On the ignition of fuel beds by firebrands. Fire Mater. 1, 77–87. doi: 10.1002/fam.901
Manzello, S. L., Maranghides, A., Shields, J. R., Mell, W. E., Hayashi, Y., and Nii, D. (2007a). Measurement of firebrand production and heat release rate (HRR) from burning Korean pine trees. Fire Saf. Sci. 7:108. Available online at: https://www.iafss.org/publications/aofst/7/108
Manzello, S. L., Maranghides, A., and Mell, W. E. (2007b). Firebrand generation from burning vegetation. Int. J. Wildl. Fire 16:4. doi: 10.1071/WF06079
Manzello, S. L., Maranghides, A., Mell, W. E., Cleary, T. G., and Yang, J. C. (2006a). Firebrand production from burning vegetation. For. Ecol. Manag. 234:S119. doi: 10.1016/j.foreco.2006.08.160
Manzello, S. L., Maranghides, A., Shields, J. R., Mell, W. E., Hayashi, Y., and Nii, D. (2009). Mass and size distribution of firebrands generated from burning Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) trees. Fire Mater. 33:1. doi: 10.1002/fam.977
Mark, R. E. (1907). Cell Wall Mechanics of Tracheids. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Mell, W., Maranghides, A., McDermott, R., and Manzello, S. L. (2009). Numerical simulation and experiments of burning douglas fir trees. Combust. Flame 156, 2023–2041. doi: 10.1016/j.combustflame.2009.06.015
Nguyen, Y., Pence, T. J., and Wichman, I. S. (2017). “Crack formation during material thermal degradation in combustion,” in 10th U.S. National Combustion Meeting (College Park, MD).
Ragland, K. W., Aerts, D. J., and Baker, A. J. (1991). Properties of wood for combustion analysis. Bioresour. Technol. 2, 161–168. doi: 10.1016/0960-8524(91)90205-X
Salmén, L. (1984). Viscoelastic properties of in situ lignin under water-saturated conditions. J. Mater. Sci. 9, 3090–3096. doi: 10.1007/BF01026988
Salmén, L. (2004). Micromechanical understanding of the cell-wall structure. Comptes Rendus Biol. 9–10, 873–880. doi: 10.1016/j.crvi.2004.03.010
Sardoy, N., Consalvi, J.-L., Porterie, B., and Fernandez-Pello, A. (2007). Modeling transport and combustion of firebrands from burning trees. Combust. Flame 150, 151–169. doi: 10.1016/j.combustflame.2007.04.008
Sedighi Gilani, M., Fife, J. L., Boone, M. N., and Ghazi Wakili, K. (2013). Dynamics of microcrack propagation in hardwood during heat treatment investigated by synchrotron-based X-ray tomographic microscopy. Wood Sci. Technol. 5, 889–896. doi: 10.1007/s00226-013-0545-8
Shen, D. K., Gu, S., Luo, K. H., and Bridgwater, A. K. (2009). Analysis of wood structural changes under thermal radiation. energy fuels. Am. Chem. Soc. 23, 1081–1088. doi: 10.1021/ef800873k
Spearpoint, M. J., and Quintiere, J. G. (2001). Predicting the piloted ignition of wood in the cone calorimeter using an integral model—effect of species, grain orientation and heat flux. Fire Saf. J. 4, 391–415. doi: 10.1016/S0379-7112(00)00055-2
Suzuki, S., Manzello, S. L., and Hayashi, Y. (2012a). The size and mass distribution of firebrands collected from ignited building components exposed to wind. Proc. Combust. Inst. 3, 2479–2485. doi: 10.1016/j.proci.2012.06.061
Suzuki, S., Manzello, S. L., Lage, M., and Laing, G. (2012b). Firebrand generation data obtained from a full-scale structure burn. Int. J. Wildl. Fire. 21, 961–968. doi: 10.1071/WF11133
Tohidi, A. (2016). Experimental and Numerical Modeling of Wildfire Spread via Fire Spotting. Boston, MA: Northeastern University.
Tohidi, A., Caton, S., Gollner, M., and Bryner, N. (2017). “Thermo-mechanical breakage mechanism of firebrands,” in 10th US National Combustion Meeting (College Park, MD: University of Maryland College Park).
Tohidi, A., Kaye, N., and Bridges, W. (2015). Statistical description of firebrand size and shape distribution from coniferous trees for use in Metropolis Monte Carlo simulations of firebrand flight distance. Fire Saf. J. 77, 21–35. doi: 10.1016/j.firesaf.2015.07.008
Tohidi, A., and Kaye, N. B. (2017a). Aerodynamic characterization of rod-like debris with application to firebrand transport. J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 168, 297–311. doi: 10.1016/j.jweia.2017.06.019
Tohidi, A., and Kaye, N. B. (2017b). Comprehensive wind tunnel experiments of lofting and downwind transport of non-combusting rod-like model firebrands during firebrand shower scenarios. Fire Saf. J. 90, 95–111. doi: 10.1016/j.firesaf.2017.04.032
Tohidi, A., and Kaye, N. B. (2017c). Stochastic modeling of firebrand shower scenarios. Fire Saf. J. 91, 91–102. doi: 10.1016/j.firesaf.2017.04.039
Turns, S. R. (2000). An Introduction to Combustion. Boston, MA: MacGraw Hill.
Usmani, A. S., Rotter, J. M., Lamont, S., Sanad, A. M., and Gillie, M. (2001). Fundamental principles of structural behaviour under thermal effects. Fire Saf. J. 8, 721–744. doi: 10.1016/S0379-7112(01)00037-6
Ventsel, E., and Krauthammer, T. (2001). Thin Plates and Shells: Theory: Analysis, and Applications. New York, NY: CRC press.
Wichman, I. S., and Atreya, A. A. (1987). Simplified model for the pyrolysis of charring materials. Combust. Flame 68, 231–247. doi: 10.1016/0010-2180(87)90002-2
Keywords: firebrand, wildfire, thermal-degradation, wildland-urban interface, dimensional analysis
Citation: Caton-Kerr SE, Tohidi A and Gollner MJ (2019) Firebrand Generation From Thermally-Degraded Cylindrical Wooden Dowels. Front. Mech. Eng. 5:32. doi: 10.3389/fmech.2019.00032
Received: 27 November 2018; Accepted: 22 May 2019;
Published: 14 June 2019.
Guillermo Rein, Imperial College London, United Kingdom
Jie Ji, University of Science and Technology of China, China
Pedro Reszka, Adolfo Ibáñez University, Chile
Copyright © 2019 Caton-Kerr, Tohidi and Gollner. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Ali Tohidi, tohidiarchives@gmail.com | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1263 |
__label__wiki | 0.793378 | 0.793378 | The EPA's Disturbing Human Experiments
Unhealthy people purposely exposed to what the agency defines as lethal amounts of toxic gas.
Arnold Ahlert
If the shocking allegations contained in a lawsuit filed last Friday by responsible science advocate Steven Milloy are accurate, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a major scandal on its hands. As reported by the National Legal and Policy Center, Milloy initiated litigation in U.S. District Court in Virginia, based on evidence he accumulated via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). He alleges that the EPA engaged in disturbing experimentation that deliberately exposed human beings to airborne particulate matter the agency itself considers lethal. The experiments were conducted at EPA’s Human Studies Facility at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. “That EPA administrator Lisa Jackson permitted this heinous experimentation to occur under her watch shocks the conscience,” said Milloy.
The suit accuses the EPA of paying as many as 41 participants $12 an hour to breathe in concentrated diesel exhaust, for as long a two hours at a time. The exhaust was directly piped in from a truck parked outside the Chapel Hill facility. According to the lawsuit, the fine particulate matter, called “PM2.5," was piped in at levels 21 times greater than what the EPA calls its "permissible limit."
Yet even that phrase is misleading. In testimony delivered to Congress in September of 2011, EPA chief Lisa Jackson claimed that exposure to fine particulate matter of 2.5 microns--or less--was lethal. "Particulate matter causes premature death. It's directly causal to dying sooner than you should," she testified at the time.
Milloy learned about the experiments last year, after reading about them in a government-supported scientific journal. In June, he filed a complaint with the North Carolina Medical Board, accusing Drs. Andrew Ghio and Wayne Cascio, both of whom were employed by the EPA, along with Dr. Eugene Chung, who worked for the University of North Carolina, of violating EPA standards of conduct in human research and the Hippocratic Oath. "During these experiments, the study subjects were intentionally exposed to airborne fine particulate matter ('PM2.5') at levels ranging from 41.54 micrograms per cubic meter to 750.83 micrograms per cubic meter for periods of up to two hours,” Milloy wrote to Dr. Ralph C. Loomis, president of the NC Medical Board. “The EPA also believes that PM2.5 is carcinogenic to humans,” he added.
Dr. David Schnare, a former EPA litigator who is now director of American Tradition Institute’s Environmental Law Center, which filed the lawsuit, painted a detailed and chilling picture of exactly how the experiments were conducted. “EPA parked a truck’s exhaust pipe directly beneath an intake pipe on the side of a building," he revealed. "The exhaust was sucked into the pipe, mixed with some additional air and then piped directly into the lungs of the human subjects. EPA actually has pictures of this gas chamber, a clear plastic pipe stuck into the mouth of a subject, his lips sealing it to his face, diesel fumes inhaled straight into his lungs.”
Milloy added some historic perspective to the mix. “In the context of rules established after scientific horrors of World War II and the Tuskegee syphilis experiments, the notion that EPA would pipe high levels of PM2.5 and diesel exhaust into the lungs of unhealthy people to see what would happen is simply appalling,” he said in a press release announcing the lawsuit.
"Unhealthy" is an accurate assessment. The 41 subjects who took part in the experiment included people who were elderly or suffering from asthma, hypertension or metabolic syndrome. One of them, an obese 58-year-old woman with a history of health problems and family history of heart disease, experienced an irregular heartbeat (atrial fibrillation) and had to be hospitalized as a result. Another subject developed an elevated heart rate. Both resumed normal respiratory and cardiac functions within two hours--according to an EPA report.
When he filed his complaint last June, Milloy pointed out that the two EPA doctors who published a case study of the experiment in the Journal Environmental Health Perspectives mentioned only the 58-year-old woman who suffered the cardiac incident. The 40 other test subjects, who experienced “no clinical effects requiring follow-up,” were omitted from the report. Since properly conducted research requires results both "for" and "against" the hypothesis on which the research is based, the study is scientifically worthless.
Yet a quote from that study is quite revealing. "Although epidemiologic data strongly support a relationship between exposure to air pollutants and cardiovascular disease, this methodology does not permit a description of the clinical presentation in an individual case. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of cardiovascular disease after exposure to elevated concentrations of any air pollutant," it said.
Milloy concluded that the way the doctors framed their study meant one of two things: either the EPA believes fine particulate matter is as deadly as they claim--and thus, these doctors are guilty of misconduct--or their claims that thousands of lives have been lost from inhaling fine particulate matter are utter nonsense. “If PM2.5 does not kill then (the EPA's) utility Mercury Air Toxics Standard and Clean State Air Pollution Rule benefits claims are entirely bogus,” Milloy wrote an email. “Must be one or the other; can't be neither.”
If PM2.5 is indeed toxic, then the EPA violated its own requirements, aka its "Common Rule," which states that researchers must minimize risk to subjects, and that those risks must be reasonable compared to anticipated benefits. Furthermore, subjects are supposed to be fully informed of the risks involved, and studies with “risk of substantial injury to a human subject” are not to be approved, except in extremely rare cases that must be given the OK by higher agency authorities. Milloy, who obtained 3,500 pages of documents as a result of his FOIA filing, noted that since the EPA already considers PM2.5 lethal, no benefits could possibly accrue from subjecting people to it. He further alleges that none of the patients were told that breathing in such toxic fumes were life- or health-threatening.
Among the demands outlined in the lawsuit are the ideas that the EPA should be barred from conducting illegal life-and health-threatening experiments; a formal investigation of the experiments the EPA has already conducted should be initiated; and the regulations based on the illegal experiments should be suspended, pending an investigation.
The EPA sent a statement responding to Milloy's lawsuit to the Washington Times' Kerry Picket. "EPA is one of 15 federal departments and agencies that conduct or support research with human subjects under the governance of the Common Rule," it said. "All human exposure studies conducted by EPA scientists are independently evaluated for safety and ethics, and the results are peer-reviewed. The complaint has been referred to the Department of Justice and further inquiry regarding litigation should be directed to them."
That would be arguably the most politically compromised DOJ in recent history, one already enmeshed in a major scandal of its own, courtesy of the Fast and Furious debacle. Nonetheless, Americans owe a debt of gratitude to Steven Milloy and the National Legal and Policy Center for their tireless efforts to expose one of two disturbing realities: either the EPA has needlessly endangered the lives of uninformed participants in a worthless experiment or they have knowingly lied for years about the dangers of airborne particulate matter. In either case, the American people deserve answers and accountability.
Tags: EPA, gas, lisa jackson, regulations
About Arnold Ahlert
Arnold Ahlert is a former NY Post op-ed columnist currently contributing to JewishWorldReview.com, HumanEvents.com and CanadaFreePress.com. He may be reached at [email protected] Read More | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1264 |
__label__wiki | 0.926189 | 0.926189 | Mr. Speaker!
The Life and Times of Thomas B. Reed The Man Who Broke the Filibuster
by James Grant
Simon & Schuster, 444 pages, $28
https://www.futureofcapitalism.com/3207/mr-speaker
Thomas B. Reed, a Republican congressman from Maine who served six years as speaker of the House of Representatives, mainly in the 1890s, is an obscure enough figure that James Grant's new biography, Mr. Speaker!, uses a subtitle to explain who Reed was: "The man who broke the filibuster."
I came away from the book admiring Reed's defense of voting rights for blacks and his support for women's suffrage, but less than entirely convinced that the rest of Reed's policy program — including a tariff to protect American industry from foreign competition and an isolationist bent in foreign affairs — deserves to be rescued from obscurity.
What does deserve to be rescued from obscurity, though, is this period in American history, and here Mr. Grant is an able guide and Reed a better-than-serviceable vehicle for the narrative. For many Americans, exposed to their country's history mainly in yearlong high school survey courses, Civil War Reconstruction jumps pretty quickly into Teddy Roosevelt's trustbusting. But pause to look around rather than rushing on through, and it turns out that the period between the Civil War and the turn of the 20th century was full of ferment, not least on the monetary policy matters to which Mr. Grant, as founder of Grant's Interest Rate Observer, brings particularly deep knowledge.
To anyone following the current headlines about Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke and the price of the dollar in gold or silver, Mr. Grant's account of the events of 1869 (when the Resumption Act was passed, providing that as of January 1, 1879, $20.67 would be exchangeable for an ounce of gold) through 1900 (when the Gold Standard Act was passed), is valuable context.
In between came the 1874 Currency Bill (vetoed by President Grant); the Bland-Allison Act of 1878, directing the Treasury to buy silver, and the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890, directing Treasury to buy even more silver. As Grant puts it, "The monetary question — whether a dollar should be backed by gold or silver or nothing at all — would preoccupy much of the country, and seemingly obsess the rest of it, for the next 25 years."
Mr. Grant reports that in 1876, both the Reed Republican and the Democratic party platforms supported the return to the gold standard. He reminds us of the origin of the phrase "sound money" — "A sound dollar was one that, if dropped on the counter, would literally ring." And he demonstrates that this was "no dry and technical" debate, recounting a song of the Greenback Party of Maine, to the tune of "America": "Thou Greenback, 'tis of thee/Best money for the free/Of thee we sing. Throughout all coming time/Great souls in every clime/will chant with strains sublime — Gold is not king."
Mr. Grant quotes Justice Stephen Field, the sole dissenter from the Supreme Court's 1884 majority decision in Juilliard v. Greenman, which said the federal government had the power to print money in peacetime. "I see only evil likely to follow," the dissent said. "Why should there be any restraint upon unlimited appropriations by the government for all imaginary schemes of public improvement, if the printing press can furnish the money that is needed for them?"
Nor is the debate over money the only way in which Reed's period is relevant to today. Then, as now, technological advances, imports, and immigration were blamed in some quarters for contributing to unemployment. Then, as now, procedural rules in Congress are blamed for delaying legislation, though now, owing in part to Reed's rules, it is the Senate, rather than the House, where bills tend to bog down. Then, as now, railroad subsidies and capital punishment (Reed opposed both) were issues.
But it's the explanation and background of the monetary policy stuff that make it worth forking over the fiat currency for a copy of this book.
Disclosures: I was sent a review copy. Mr. Grant blurbed my biography of Samuel Adams. A researcher credited in the book's acknowledgements was a colleague of mine at the New York Sun. Mr. Grant's wife, a physician, has treated one of my relatives. As usual, if you buy the book from the link above this site gets a share of the revenue.
Reviewed by Ira Stoll | May 8, 2011 at 11:09 pm Related Topics: Book Reviews, Federal Reserve, Immigration, Taxes receive the latest by email: subscribe to the free futureofcapitalism.com mailing list | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1266 |
__label__cc | 0.625177 | 0.374823 | 'Elstree 1976' - Movie Review
tags: Movies Reviews Documentaries Science Fiction
Released in 2015, the movie consists mostly of talking head shots of several of the bit players who were in the original "Star Wars" movie about how it's affected their lives for nearly 40 years. I'm a fan of the original movie, and I get that their entire lives have been shaped by this one movie in which they had only a very small role - but 90 minutes ended up seeming like an awfully long time to discuss it. Of all of them, I think I liked David Prowse (the 6'6" bodybuilder inside the Darth Vader suit, whose voice was replaced by James Earl Jones') best: a charming guy who seems happier with where he's at than any of the others (although Greedo - Paul Blake - is doing okay too). Felt a lot like a duller version of "56 Up" for film actors. Should have been a half hour TV special.
Prev: 'The Dressmaker' - Movie Review Next: 'Garden of Words' - Movie Review
http://www.gilesorr.com/blog/elstree-1976.html | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1270 |
__label__wiki | 0.624953 | 0.624953 | Farmland Ecology Blog>
Is the grass greener? Changes in New Zealand agriculture
By John Holland, GWCT Head of Farmland Ecology
Over the last couple of months I have been looking into how NZ agriculture has developed over the last few decades, at the impact of the withdrawal of farming subsidies in the mid-1980s and the impact on the environment. Much of this has been new to me, the last time I studied economics was at University decades ago so economists will have to forgive me if my interpretation is rather naïve.
Loss of subsidies
The impact of removing subsidies is sometimes used as an example of what may occur in the UK following Brexit. However, this is a misnomer as the subsidies were not a straight payment per area but instead were designed to increase production.
Subsidies were available at low levels from the 1930s but increased dramatically in the 1970s, partly due to the UK joining the EEC. These provided up to 40% of income at their peak. For example there were tax concessions, fertiliser was subsidised, loans were made available to develop less productive land and payments made to increase stock numbers.
There was also a short period (1983-86) when subsidies were available to support sheep farming, as a payment per head of sheep, but they had insufficient time to capitalise into farm values. The loss of subsidies were, however, only a small change compared to the even greater economic reforms were taking place at the time. NZ was in a financial crisis with government debt at 32% of GDP and they had lost their triple-A credit rating and the new government decided that drastic action was required.
The decision was taken to open up NZ to internal and external market forces which it hoped would lead to increases in efficiency and thus market advantages. To achieve this a raft of dramatic measures were taken including floating of the exchange rate in 1985, removing financial controls, import tariffs and regulations, relaxing market controls, privatising state industries, removing agricultural subsidies and export assistance and devaluing the dollar. As might be expected the impacts of this were far reaching and long lasting, creating hardship for many and not just the farming community.
Why we should not compare the UK and NZ
There are also other fundamental differences between the two countries that should be considered when trying to make parallels with respect to the environmental impact of farming. The first is that natural vegetation of NZ was comprised of forest, swamps and tussocklands and of course no grazing mammals. Secondly, NZ is a relatively new country with respect to agricultural production, with small areas being cultivated by the Maori, but most of the land clearance has occurred in the last 150 years with the arrival of European settlers.
Thus the native wildlife has not had much time to adapt to life in agricultural areas and it holds little attraction for most species. Finally the settlers introduced, on purpose or incidentally, a diverse suite of plants and animals, including some which were considered beneficial such as bumblebees, others to remind them of home (British songbirds), animals for fur or food (rabbits, deer and possums) and when these got out of control some predators (stoats, weasels, ferrets) though fortunately not foxes.
Domesticated animals have also escaped into the bush (pigs, cats and goats) causing havoc to native plants and animals. These species in the absence of competition from the native wildlife were able to proliferate and along with the extensive land clearance has led to devastating declines in so much of New Zealand’s native wildlife.
If only the study of ecology and ecosystems had been around then they might have thought twice about what they were doing. For farmers too, these introduced species are a huge problem, transmitting diseases to livestock, whilst most weeds are non-native in origin. So the outcome of all of this was that native vegetation was regarded as having little value for farming and the agricultural areas and native vegetation have become largely polarised.
This situation is more like that in North America where agriculture areas are intensively farmed and conservation is focussed on National Parks, unlike the UK where the two are intertwined and farming is integral to the landscapes.
Changes in agriculture
In the coupe of decades following the reforms agriculture had a free reign and with an eye to the markets expanded hugely into dairying. From 1992 to 2012 milk production in New Zealand grew by 149%, outstripped only by China which increased by a staggering 616%, whereas in the UK it fell by 6%.
Having a well-structured dairy industry in place by the mid-1980s helped this process, but also co-operatives were strong and many of these merged ultimately leading to the creation of Fronterra in 2002, a farmer-owned co-operative, that now processes 96% of NZs milk, much as dairy ingredients (milk powders) but also as branded products, working with national and international companies across the world. Fronterra has become a global player, having influence on the supply and demand process helping ensure farmgate prices are maintained.
The drive to increase milk production and its productivity has though come at a cost to the environment. Again there are fundamental differences to the UK because cows in NZ are predominantly grass fed, the climate is warm enough to allow them to live outdoors all year around and much of the grassland is irrigated, which thanks to a plentiful supply of water, plentiful sunshine and a good dollop of nitrogen fertiliser provides a consistent supply of grass.
This in itself creates problems because any unused nutrients, faecal matter, urine and pathogens such as E. coli cannot be constrained and are ending up in the ground and surface water. The NZ soils are also quite porous and have a weak structure allowing pollutants to pass through and leads to erosion. The dairying industry is therefore taking a lot of the flak for poor water quality in areas where dairying predominates.
The process to rectify these matters are now underway, following a slow start, with a mixture of regulatory and voluntary measures that includes Farm Environment Plans and the controls on inputs in a similar way to NVZs. Good Management Practices to optimise inputs are also seen as the way forward these being more of a win-win than measures that cost the farmers but give no economic gain.
Other agricultural sectors (wine production, horticulture) have also expanded over the last few decades and farmers being exposed to market forces have had to be innovative to survive, whereas in Europe the subsidies have most likely acted as a buffer.
There have also been improvements in productivity across sectors. For example, NZ now produces the same amount of sheep meat from half the number of sheep compared to 30 years ago. Agriculture also attracts investment in new technologies and research that help drive it forward because this is one of the main primary industries which together contribute 6% of GDP and are responsible for 50% of export earnings. Tourism is catching up though, in 2016 it was the top export earner edging out dairy.
Addressing the environmental issues facing New Zealand agriculture is going to be challenging, not least because working with nature would appear to offer less opportunities than in Europe, whilst the threats from introduced species are also high. Protecting the 100% Pure image is also important but more of this next time.
Blog: Farmland Ecology Blog
Topic: Farmland Ecology
A turtle dove triumph: A case study
Tell us how the general licence situation affects you
All you need to know about Game Fair 2019 – your essential guide
General Licences in Wales
Latest GWCT Fisheries Research Report published
GWCT members help Defra reach a decision on General Licences
‘Lekking’ about | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1273 |
__label__cc | 0.694716 | 0.305284 | Death by a Thousand Amputations
In Texas’s Rio Grande Valley—where a third of people have diabetes—an alarming number of people are losing limbs to a disease they can’t afford to manage.
The Particulars of Particulate Matter
The deadliest form of air pollution, microscopic particulate matter penetrates “deep into the lungs, bypassing the body’s natural defenses.” Its effects range from lung disease to cancer to cognitive impairment, yet the public knows relatively little abo
Public Health Means Robust Primary Care
Ahead of the fourth Lancet–Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Health Summit later this month in Beijing, a Lancet editorial offers reason to be hopeful.
The tide of population is turning. Across the globe, countries’ populations are shrinking and aging, and most are ill-prepared not prepared for a “childless, elderly future,” writes Steve LeVine. Population growth in Africa alone will keep the global population soaring…
Existing research offers hints of a future where people can extend the length of their healthy lifespan, and companies from Google to GlaxoSmithKline are heavily investing to achieve this sci-fi future.
Princeton University researchers who first documented an alarming rise in death rates among middle-aged white Americans beginning in 1999 have released new research that attempts to explain the reasons for the spike.
Life by the Numbers
The US got called out in new research for its poor showing in life expectancy, and the long-term prognosis isn’t good. Already a low-performer among high-income countries, the report projects that US 2030 life expectancy at birth “might be similar to the Czech Republic for…
Unexpected Downtown
US life expectancy slipped last year, reversing a trend of steadily increasing advances over the past few decades. The 78-year, 9-1/2 month average life expectancy for an American born 2015, reported by the CDC, is a month less than that of one born in 2014.
Triggering a Discussion
American men die at least 2 years and 2 months earlier than men in other wealthy countries—and the reasons might surprise you. It’s mostly a combination of 3 things—2 we can talk about (car crashes and drug overdose), but the other, guns, is much harder to discuss, writes…
Gains Great, But Uneven
Life expectancy globally increased by 5 years between 2000 and 2015, the fastest increase since the 1960s, according to a new World Health Statistics report by WHO. The greatest gain was in the African Region of WHO where life expectancy increased by 9.4 years to 60 years…
Men: A New Global Health Challenge
Too many men die too young across the world. The statistics could not be clearer: globally, male life expectancy, at 68 years, lags 5 years behind female life expectancy. There is not a single country in which men outlive women.
Subscribe to life expectancy | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1275 |
__label__wiki | 0.883771 | 0.883771 | Home :: Security :: Library :: Reports :: 2004 :: Patterns of Global Terrorism 2003 ::
Security Menu
Patterns of Global Terrorism - 2003
Released by the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism
Middle East Overview
The Middle East continued to be the region of greatest concern in the global war on terrorism. Major terrorist attacks occurred in Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Israel during 2003, highlighting the damage that terrorism can wreak on innocent people. Terrorist groups and their state sponsors continued terrorist activities and planning throughout 2003. Active groups included al-Qaida, Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS), Hizballah, Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Ansar al-Islam (AI), and the remnants of the Zarqawi network, among others. Despite these discouraging indicators, significant counterterrorism cooperation continued on the part of almost all countries in the region. Furthermore, the regime of Iraqi tyrant Saddam Hussein was ousted from power by a US-led Coalition conducting Operation Iraqi Freedom, marking an important advance for the global war on terrorism.
Across the region, governments demonstrated the political will to tackle the threat of terrorism on their soil and lent their weight to bilateral and multilateral efforts to fight terror. Terrorist assets were targeted, as most Middle East governments froze al-Qaida financial assets pursuant to UN Security Council Resolutions 1373, 1267, 1333, 1390, and 1455. Many countries provided essential support to Coalition military activities in the liberation of Iraq and have continued vital support to ongoing operations in Afghanistan. Several countries signed or became parties to the international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism. Every country hosting an American diplomatic and/or military presence responded to US requests to provide enhanced security, particularly during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The United States provided training throughout the region to augment the capacity of our allies in the fight against terrorism.
Saudi Arabia suffered two major, horrific terrorist attacks during 2003 and responded with an aggressive campaign against the al-Qaida network in the Kingdom. Saudi cooperation with the United States improved markedly in 2003, particularly in the sharing of threat information and well-publicized steps to combat terrorist financing. Using its unique position in the Muslim world, Saudi Arabia also initiated an ideological campaign against Islamist terrorist organizations with the objective of denying extremists the use of Islam to justify terrorism. The Saudi Government has also widely publicized a rewards program for the capture of the Kingdom's most-wanted terrorist suspects. Saudi security forces arrested more than 600 individuals on counterterrorism charges following the attacks on 12 May. In addition, Saudi and Yemeni officials have met to develop joint approaches to better secure their shared land border to check the influx of weapons into Saudi Arabia from Yemen.
There were no reported terrorist attacks against Western targets in Yemen in 2003. The Government of Yemen made a number of key al-Qaida-related arrests in 2003, but it raised concerns with its release of extremists without full disclosure of information and its inability to recapture escaped USS Cole suspects. The United States and Yemen continue joint counterterrorism training and cooperation, and there has been significant progress on standing up the Yemen Coast Guard.
The other states of the Arabian Peninsula also made important progress, particularly in locating and blocking terrorist finances, sharing information and intelligence on terrorists and terrorist groups, and strengthening law enforcement cooperation.
Morocco stepped-up its already robust counterterrorism actions following the tragic suicide bombings in Casablanca on 16 May. Taking swift action to identify the culprits, Moroccan authorities uncovered the involvement of several deadly terrorist groups and took decisive legal actions to address the threat. Egypt continued to be a leader in the counterterrorism fight and increased its dialogue with the United States on this issue. Algeria also remained at the forefront of regional counterterrorism cooperation, supporting Coalition efforts against al-Qaida while acting decisively against indigenous terror groups. Tunisia ratified the International Convention on the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism in February 2003, making Tunisia a party to all 12 international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism.
Jordan took decisive legal steps against terror, indicting 11 individuals for the murder of USAID officer Laurence Foley, and also brought charges against possible al-Qaida and Ansar al-Islam members suspected of planning attacks against tourists and foreigners. Israel maintained its 59 resolute stand against terrorism, weathering numerous casualties in terrorist attacks against civilians. Unfortunately, the Palestinian Authority (PA) continued to take insufficient steps to stop terrorist operations. Lebanon also remained problematic, as it continued to host numerous terrorist groups and refused to take actions against certain terrorist elements in the country.
Iran, Iraq, Libya, and Syria -- which have been designated as state sponsors of terrorism -- are discussed in the state sponsorship section of this report.
Algeria continued to be a proactive and aggressive regional leader in the global Coalition against terrorism. Algeria's support of US counterterrorism efforts on a case-by-case basis demonstrated its strong overall support of Coalition efforts against al-Qaida. In May 2003, Algerian security forces secured the release of 17 of the 32 European hostages kidnapped by a faction of the Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC) in February and March. The GSPC is believed to be under the new leadership of Nabil Sahraoui (a.k.a. Abu Ibrahim Mustapha). On 11 September 2003, the GSPC issued a statement declaring allegiance to several jihadist causes and leaders, including al-Qaida and Usama Bin Ladin. Algerian law enforcement and security forces continued to pursue GSPC terrorist operatives, disrupting their activities and capturing or killing several of them. Algeria participated in a pan-Sahel regional counterterrorism seminar in Bamako, Mali, in October.
Algerian officials have stated that the number of active terrorists within the country has fallen from more than 25,000 in 1992 down to a few hundred today, due in large part to a series of successful offensives undertaken by Algerian security forces. Algeria has, in fact, made great strides toward eliminating terrorism in most parts of the country.
The Algerian Government has focused much of its counterterrorism efforts on the international level toward creating international consensus for an international convention against terrorism. This would include defining what constitutes an act of terror as distinct from an act of "national liberation." To this end, Algeria hosted a summit in September 2002 of the African Union (formerly the Organization of African Unity-OAU) aimed at ensuring the implementation of the OAU's 1999 Convention on the Prevention and Combating Terrorism. Algeria has strongly condemned acts of international terrorism.
With regard to enforcement and international agreements, Algeria has ratified all but one of the international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism. Algeria is gradually implementing, in its domestic legislative and regulatory systems, the requirements of these instruments, which may result -- among other changes -- in the extradition of wanted terrorists.
Algeria was among the first states to criminalize the financing of terrorism. The Finance Act of 2003 expanded these efforts by lifting banking secrecy regulations and formalizing procedures that banks and insurance companies must follow in reporting suspicious transactions to the Government's Financial Information Processing Unit -- which turns over actionable information to the courts. In addition, Algeria is seeking an extradition treaty with the United States, and President Bouteflika has proposed an international treaty, under UN auspices, that would replace the need for individual bilateral extradition treaties.
Algeria is a party to 11 of the 12 international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism.
Bahrain is providing important support to our counterterrorism efforts, particularly efforts to block the financing of terror groups. Bahrain has continued to respond positively to requests for assistance to combat terror financing; it has frozen about $18 million in terrorist-linked funds. Bahrain also continued to provide intelligence cooperation and made some significant arrests.
In February, the Government of Bahrain arrested five Bahrainis suspected of plotting terrorist attacks in Bahrain. In May, the Government released three of the five, claiming to have insufficient evidence to support a trial. In June and July, the other two were convicted -- one by a civilian criminal court and one by court martial, for illegal gun 60 possession. In December, the King reduced the sentence of the civilian from three years to two.
In April, Bahrain expelled an Iraqi diplomat for involvement in setting off an explosive device near the entrance of the headquarters of the US Navy Fifth Fleet on 24 March. The Government also arrested the bomber -- an Iraqi Intelligence Service major -- tried him in open court, and sentenced him to three years in prison.
Bahrain's lack of a domestic conspiracy law hampers its ability to intervene against suspected extremist plots. This could encourage terrorists to value Bahrain as a potential logistic haven.
Bahrain is a party to five of the 12 international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism and is a signatory to the Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.
The Egyptian and US Governments continued to deepen their already close cooperation on a broad range of counterterrorism and law-enforcement issues in 2003. The first US-Egypt Counterterrorism Joint Working Group meeting was held in Washington in July 2003. The United States continues to closely coordinate with Egyptian authorities on law enforcement and judicial matters involving terrorism. The Egyptian Government has agreed to provide assistance in an important terrorist trial scheduled to take place in New York in May 2004. Egyptian authorities, particularly the Central Bank, have tightened their assets-freezing regime, consistent with requirements under UNSC Resolutions 1373, 1267, 1333, 1390, and 1455 and E.O. 13224. Demonstrating Egypt's commitment to stanch the flow of funds to terrorist organizations, Egypt passed strong anti-money laundering legislation in 2002, enabling it to establish an anti-money laundering financial intelligence unit in March 2003. Egypt has significant antiterrorism legislation in place and did not see the need to enact new laws this year.
The Egyptian Government continued to place high priority on protecting US persons, facilities, and interests before and continuing after the Iraq war.
There is a high state of security for Americans and facilities and for American forces both stationed in Egypt and transiting the country to the Gulf, by air or through the Suez Canal. Both government and religious officials continued to make statements supporting the war on terrorism and condemning terrorist actions around the world. Egypt has maintained its strengthened airport security measures and has instituted more stringent port security measures.
Itself a victim of terrorism in the past, Egypt is actively monitoring and rooting out old and new cells of groups with violent tendencies. In January 2003, 43 members of a jihad group known as Gund Allah (Soldiers of God) were arrested for planning attacks against US and Israeli interests. They will be tried in the Military Tribunal in 2004. The "zero tolerance" policy toward extremism has resulted in the arrest in October 2003 of 12 alleged members of Al-Takfir wa Al-Hijrah, in the continuing arrests of Al-Gama'at Al-Islamiyya (IG) members who do not agree with the historic leadership's new policy of nonviolence, and in the discovery and arrest of extremist cells and nascent groups. A verdict is due in the spring of 2004 in the trial of 26 members (including three Britons) of the Islamic Liberation Party (Hizb Al Tahrir Al Islami), begun in October 2002. The prosecution has requested 25-year sentences for the defendants, charged with reviving an illegal, violent organization.
In October 2003, Egypt completed the release from prison of the historic leadership and as many as 1,000 members and supporters of the IG. This release, begun a year before, was based on what the Government considered to be a conversion in thought and religious values by the IG leadership, who authored several books and gave lengthy public interviews on their new nonviolent philosophy. This conversion has not been accepted by all IG members in Egypt and elsewhere and has given rise to reports in Egyptian media of new IG splinter cells who refuse to accept nonviolence.
The Egyptian judiciary is tough on terrorism. There is no plea bargaining in the Egyptian judicial system, and terrorists have historically been prosecuted to the full extent of the law. They are tried in Military Tribunals or in Emergency Courts, neither of which affords a right of appeal. There have been no terrorist cases tried in these courts this year. Press reports indicate that Egypt is actively involved with other nations to extradite Egyptian extremists from abroad. Egypt actively participates in a variety of bilateral counterterrorism and law-enforcement training opportunities. Egypt is also preparing to become a regional counterterrorism training hub for other Middle Eastern and North African nations.
Egypt is a party to nine of the international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism and is a signatory to an additional two, including the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.
Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza
Israel maintained staunch support for US-led counterterrorism operations as Palestinian terrorist groups conducted a large number of attacks in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip in 2003. HAMAS, the PIJ, and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades -- all of which the United States has designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations pursuant to Executive Order 13224 -- were responsible for most of the attacks, which included suicide bombings, shootings, and mortar firings against civilian and military targets. Terrorist attacks in 2003 killed almost 200 people (mostly Israelis, as well as a number of foreigners, including 16 US citizens), a decrease from the more than 350 people killed in 2002.
On 15 October, Palestinian militants attacked a US diplomatic convoy in Gaza with an improvised explosive device, killing three Americans. To date, this was the most lethal attack ever to directly target US interests in Israel, the West Bank, or Gaza. The Popular Resistance Committee (PRC), a loose association of Palestinians with ties to various Palestinian militant organizations such as HAMAS, PIJ, and Fatah, claimed responsibility. Although that claim was later rescinded, and official investigations continue, the PRC remains the primary suspect in the attacks. At the end of the year, the Palestinian Authority (PA) had yet to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
Israeli authorities arrested individuals claiming allegiance to al-Qaida, although the group does not appear to have an operational presence in Israel, the West Bank, or Gaza. Palestinian terrorist groups in these areas continue to focus their attention on attacking Israel and Israeli interests within Israel and the Palestinian territories, rather than engaging in operations worldwide.
Israel employed a variety of military operations in its counterterror efforts. Israeli forces launched frequent raids throughout the West Bank and Gaza, conducted targeted killings of suspected Palestinian terrorists, destroyed homes -- including those of families of suicide bombers -- imposed strict and widespread closures and curfews in Palestinian areas, and continued construction of an extensive security barrier. Israel expelled more than 12 alleged terrorists from the West Bank to Gaza in the fall of 2003. Israeli counterterrorism measures appear to have reduced the frequency of attacks; continuing attacks, however, show that the groups remained potent.
HAMAS was particularly active, carrying out more than 150 attacks, including shootings, suicide bombings, and standoff mortar-and-rocket attacks against civilian and military targets. The group was responsible for one of the deadliest attacks of the year -- the suicide bombing in June on a Jerusalem bus that killed 17 people and wounded 84. Although HAMAS continues to focus on conducting anti-Israeli attacks, it also claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing at a restaurant adjacent to the US Embassy in Tel Aviv, demonstrating its willingness to attack targets in areas frequented by foreigners.
The PIJ remained active in 2003, conducting several deadly attacks against Israeli targets, and began using women as suicide bombers. The PIJ claimed responsibility for one of the deadliest suicide bombings of 2003 -- a suicide bombing in October at a Haifa restaurant that killed 21 people and wounded at least 50. The PIJ also claimed responsibility for the joint attack in January with the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade for a double-suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, which killed 23 people and wounded more than 100 - the deadliest suicide bombing of the year.
The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade conducted numerous shooting attacks and suicide bombings in 2003. In August, a suicide bombing claimed by al-Aqsa in Rosh Ha'ayin killed two people and wounded at least 10. Al-Aqsa used at least three female suicide bombers in operations.
Hizballah remained a serious threat to the security of the region, continuing its call for the destruction of Israel and using Lebanese territory as a staging ground for terrorist operations. Hizballah was also involved in providing material support to Palestinian terrorist groups to augment their capacity and lethality in conducting attacks against Israel.
Israel arrested several Jewish extremists in 2003 who were planning terrorist attacks against various Palestinian targets. Several prominent Jewish extremists were sentenced to prison for planning to detonate a bomb near a girls' school in East Jerusalem in 2002.
The PA's efforts to thwart terrorist operations were minimal in 2003. The PA security services remained fragmented and ineffective. The services were also hobbled by corruption, infighting, and poor leadership. There are indications that some personnel in the security services, including several senior officers, have continued to assist terrorist operations.
Israel has signed all 12 international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism and is a party to eight, including the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.
The Jordanian Government continued to strongly support global counterterrorism efforts while remaining vigilant against the threat of terrorism at home. Jordan was highly responsive to the security needs of US citizens in the country.
In 2003, Jordan pursued several terrorism-related cases, some of which involved attempts at weapons smuggling and border infiltration. Jordan indicted 11 individuals in May 2003 for the murder in 2002 of USAID officer Laurence Foley, and several are currently standing trial for his murder. In September, the State Security Court charged 13 Jordanians -- allegedly affiliated with al-Qaida and Ansar al-Islam -- with conspiring to carry out attacks against tourists and foreigners. Jordanian authorities requested that Norway extradite Mullah Krekar -- the spiritual leader of Ansar al-Islam -- for involvement in a terrorist plot.
Suspected terrorists continued attempts to exploit Jordanian territory to transport weapons to and from groups in neighboring states or to use Jordanian territory to facilitate terrorist attacks. Jordanian authorities have successfully intercepted weapons shipments and personnel transiting the country at virtually all of its borders. Although largely responsive to US requests on terrorist-related issues, the Jordanian Government has shied away from measures that would be unpopular with Jordan's pro-Palestinian population. The Central Bank of Jordan rescinded instructions to commercial banks to freeze assets belonging to HAMAS-affiliated individuals in the face of harsh criticism from the public and Parliament, although the organization has not been active in Jordan since its leaders were expelled in 1999.
Jordan has signed 10 of the 12 international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism and is a party to eight, including the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.
Kuwait continued to act in concert with the US Government and with its neighbors against a number of domestic threats to Kuwaiti and foreign interests and also provided significant support to US efforts to stem terror financing. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, Usama Bin Ladin and a previously unknown domestic group, the Kuwaiti HAMAS movement, threatened to continue carrying out attacks against Kuwait for aiding Coalition forces. The four terror attacks carried out against Coalition forces between October 2002 and December 2003 -- which resulted in the death of one US Marine and a US defense contractor -- have mobilized domestic counterterrorism efforts, but the potential for further attacks remains a concern. The Kuwaiti Government has taken significant measures to bolster force protection, and it also reacted swiftly and forcefully to detain and prosecute the perpetrators. However, some judges released suspects on bail pending trial and also commuted the sentences of others convicted in the attacks of 2002-03.
Kuwaiti officials and clerics also implemented preventative measures in the wake of terrorist bombings of Western housing compounds in Saudi Arabia in May and November. Soon after the May attacks, Kuwaiti security forces heightened alert levels. Kuwaiti officials and clerics also launched a vocal public campaign to denounce terrorism. In November, Kuwaiti clerics publicly applauded the recantation by extremist Saudi clerics of fatwas that encouraged violence and also discouraged their countrymen from engaging in jihad or harming Coalition forces based in Kuwait.
Kuwaiti officials have also heightened security along their border with Iraq to prevent militant infiltration and have also worked with Syria and Iran to develop procedures to increase intelligence sharing and enhance customs and border-monitoring cooperation. Kuwait also continued to implement every US-ordered terrorist-fund freeze. In August, the Government froze the assets of HAMAS over the objections of conservative elements of the Kuwaiti population.
Kuwait is a party to nine of the 12 international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism.
Despite a decrease from the previous year in anti-US terror attacks in Lebanon and the introduction of counterterrorism legislation, Lebanon remains host to numerous US-designated terrorist groups. At the same time, a number of legislative, legal, and operational initiatives showed some promise in Lebanon's counterterrorism efforts. However, Beirut continues to demonstrate an unwillingness to take steps against Lebanese Hizballah, the PIJ, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), the Abu Nidal organization (ANO), and HAMAS.
The Lebanese Government recognizes as legitimate resistance groups those organizations that target Israel and permits them to maintain offices in Beirut. Beirut goes further by exempting what it terms "legal resistance" groups -- including Hizballah -- from money-laundering and terrorism- financing laws. Lebanese leaders, including President Emile Lahud, reject assessments of Hizballah's global reach, instead concentrating on the group's political wing and asserting that it is an integral part of Lebanese society and politics. In addition, Syrian and Iranian support for Hizballah activities in southern Lebanon, as well as training and assistance to Palestinian rejectionist groups, help promote an environment where terrorist elements flourish. Hizballah conducted multiple attacks in the Shab'a Farms region during 2003, including firing antitank rockets.
The Lebanese security forces remain unable or unwilling to enter Palestinian refugee camps -- the operational nodes of terrorist groups such as 'Asbat al-Ansar and the Palestinian rejectionists -- and to deploy forces to much of the Beka'a Valley, southern Beirut, and the south of the country bordering Israel. Furthermore, Syria's predominant role in Lebanon facilitates the Hizballah and Palestinian rejectionist presence in portions of Lebanon.
The Lebanese Government acknowledges the UN 1267 Sanctions Committee's consolidated list but does not acknowledge groups identified by only the US Government: Beirut will not take action against groups designated solely by the United States. In addition, constitutional provisions prohibit the extradition of Lebanese nationals to a third country. Lebanese authorities further maintain that the Government's provision of amnesty to Lebanese individuals involved in acts of violence during the civil war prevents Beirut from prosecuting many cases of concern to the United States -- including the hijacking in 1985 of TWA 847 and the murder of a US Navy diver on the flight -- and the abduction, torture, and murder of US hostages from 1984 to 1991. US courts have brought indictments against Hizballah operatives responsible for a number of those crimes, and some of these defendants remain prominent terrorist figures.
The Lebanese Government has insisted that "Imad Mugniyah" -- wanted in connection with the TWA hijacking and other terrorist acts, who was placed on the FBI's list of most-wanted terrorists in 2001 -- is no longer in Lebanon. The Government's legal system also has failed to hold a hearing on the prosecutor's appeal in the case of Tawfi z Muhammad Farroukh, who -- despite the evidence against him -- was found not guilty of murder for his role in the killings of US Ambassador Francis Meloy and two others in 1976.
In October, the Lebanese National Assembly passed two bills strengthening existing legislation against money laundering and terrorist financing. Law 547 -- while differentiating between terrorism and what Lebanon calls the "legal resistance" of Hizballah and Palestinian rejectionists -- expands existing legislation on money laundering, making illicit any funds resulting from terrorism. Law 553 stipulates penalties for persons who financially support terrorist acts or organizations. A Special Investigations Commission in 2003 investigated 245 cases involving allegations of money laundering, including 22 related to terrorist financing. No accounts used for financing terrorism -- as defined by Beirut -- were discovered in Lebanese financial institutions. Signifying the difficulty Lebanon will have in enforcing the new legislation, the Central Bank in September asked Lebanese financial institutions to identify accounts held by six HAMAS leaders whose assets are the target of a US freeze. The inquiry sparked a public uproar and caused the Central Bank to end the investigation.
Lebanon has taken other counterterrorism measures in 2003, primarily directed against Sunni extremists, including those affiliated with al-Qaida. For instance:
In May, a military tribunal convicted eight individuals of attempting to establish an al-Qaida cell in Lebanon.
In July, Lebanese security forces began a series of arrests in connection with the bombing in April of a McDonald's, part of a series of bombings of Western food outlets during 2002-03.
In September, military tribunals commenced hearing the cases of more than 40 individuals charged with planning or executing the series of restaurant attacks and planning to assassinate the US Ambassador to Lebanon and bomb the US Embassy in Beirut.
In October, the Lebanese Government arrested three men and indicted 18 others in absentia on charges of preparing to carry out terrorist attacks and forging documents and passports.
The Lebanese Government continued to cooperate with US officials in the investigation of the murder in November 2002 of a US citizen in Sidon.
In December, Lebanese forces personnel cooperated with US Embassy security when a Lebanese man approached the Embassy carrying a bag containing TNT, nitroglycerin, and a detonator.
In late December, a military tribunal sentenced 25 members of a terrorist group accused of targeting US official and commercial targets to prison terms ranging from six months to life.
Lebanon is a party to 10 of the 12 international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism.
The Government of Morocco has remained a steadfast ally in the war on terror in the face of unprecedented terrorist activity in the Kingdom in 2003. King Muhammad VI has unambiguously condemned those who espouse or conduct terrorism, has been a consistent voice for tolerance and moderation, and has worked to keep Rabat firmly on the side of the United States against extremists. Domestically, Morocco's historical record of vigilance against terrorist activity remained uninterrupted in 2003.
Despite these efforts, on 16 May, suicide bombers simultaneously detonated bombs at restaurants, hotels, and a Jewish cultural center in the seaside city of Casablanca, killing 42 -- including many of the bombers -- and wounding approximately 100 others. Moroccan authorities quickly identified the bombers as local adherents of the "Salafiya Jihadiya" movement. In the following months, investigators learned that many of those involved in orchestrating the attacks were Moroccan extremists who had trained in Afghanistan and had links to North African extremist groups -- mainly the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, and al-Qaida.
The attacks underscored the danger of terrorism from domestic extremists and their international allies, and Moroccan authorities reacted swiftly to reduce the threat. Days after the attacks, the Moroccan legislature passed a law that broadened the definition of terrorism, proposed heavy sentences for inciting terrorism, expanded the power of authorities to investigate suspected terrorists, and facilitated prosecution of terrorist cases. Throughout the summer and fall, authorities arrested hundreds of terrorist suspects and sentenced dozens to lengthy prison terms and, in some cases, executio n. Courts tried in absentia extremists located overseas who were suspected of facilitating the attacks in Casablanca and issued warrants for their arrest. The King also took measures to facilitate greater information sharing between the country's security services and national police force.
Morocco is a party to 10 of the 12 international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism, including the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.
Oman continued to provide public statements of support for the global war on terrorism and has been responsive to requests for Coalition military and civilian support. During the last two years, the Government has implemented a tight anti-money laundering regime, including surveillance systems designed to identify unusual transactions. Omani financial authorities have committed to freezing the assets of any UN-listed individual found in Oman. There were no incidents of terrorist activity in Oman in 2003.
Oman has become a party to 10 of the 12 international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism but has not yet acceded to the other two, including the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.
The Government of Qatar provided the United States with significant counterterrorism support during 2003, building on the bilateral cooperation it has maintained since September 11. Qatar provides ongoing support for Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and is a key regional ally. Amir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani has pledged his Government's full support to the global war on terrorism. When requested, Doha has provided additional security for US installations and facilities.
Doha has had some success in disrupting terrorist activity, although the security services traditionally have monitored extremists passively rather than attempting to penetrate or pursue them. Members of transnational terrorist groups and state sponsors of terrorism are present in Qatar. The security services' limited capabilities make it difficult for them to warn against or disrupt a terrorist attack by al-Qaida or affiliated groups.
Qatar remains cautious about taking any action that would cause embarrassment or public scrutiny when Gulf Cooperation Council nationals are involved.
Doha acceded to a number of international agreements during 2003. It also promulgated a revised version of its anti-money laundering law and drafted a criminal law to address terrorist- financing crimes. This law broadened the definition of money laundering to include any activities related to terrorist financing. It authorizes the Central Bank to freeze suspicious accounts. Doha participated in three anti-money laundering training courses organized by the US Government. Legislation provides for a financial intelligence unit, although it has not yet been effectively established.
Qatar is a party to seven of the 12 international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism.
The terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia on 12 May and 9 November galvanized Riyadh into launching a sustained crackdown against al-Qaida's presence in the Kingdom and spurred an unprecedented level of cooperation with the United States. Riyadh has aggressively attacked al-Qaida's operational and support network in Saudi Arabia and detained or killed a number of prominent operatives and financial facilitators.
The attack of 9 November, which resulted in the deaths of a number of Muslims and Arabs during the holy month of Ramadan, transformed Saudi public acceptance of the widespread nature of the threat in the Kingdom. This acceptance has facilitated increased security and counterterrorism efforts by the Saudi Government, including stepped up security at a variety of locations throughout the country, such as residential facilities.
The attacks also led Riyadh to implement a variety of programs aimed at directly combating terrorist activity. In early May 2003, the Saudis began to publicize their counterterrorist efforts, including naming 19 individuals most wanted by the security services for involvement in terrorist activities. In early December, Riyadh announced the names of 26 individuals -- including the seven remaining fugitives from the list of 19 -- wanted for terrorist-related activities and provided background information on the suspects to help the public to identify them. Soon thereafter, Saudi security forces killed operative Ibrahim bin Muhammad bin Abdallah al-Rayyis, a terrorist named on the list. Also in early December, Saudi authorities announced a rewards program -- ranging from $270,000 to $1.87 million -- for information leading to the arrest of suspects or the disruption of terrorist attacks and have used local newspapers to publish pleas from operatives' family members to turn themselves in to authorities.
Since May, Riyadh has arrested more than 600 individuals during counterterrorism operations and continues investigating the Riyadh attacks. Saudi security forces have suffered significant casualties while conducting counterterrorism operations and raids. Raids in Mecca, Riyadh, and Medina led to arrests and document seizures and netted large quantities of explosives and a variety of weapons. In July alone, security services seized more than 20 tons of explosive-making materials in Qassim. In November, the authorities seized a truck bomb at a reported al-Qaida safehouse in Riyadh. Meanwhile, Saudi officials met several times with their Yemeni counterparts in an effort to stanch the flow of weapons into Saudi Arabia from Yemen.
During the past year, Riyadh expanded its cooperation with the United States in combating terrorist financing. The Government prohibited the collection of cash donations at mosques or commercial establishments, and in May the central bank issued a banking circular prohibiting charities from depositing or withdrawing cash or transferring funds abroad. In August 2003, Saudi Arabia adopted a new anti-money laundering and antiterrorist financing law, which criminalized money laundering and terrorist financing. The law also established a single financial intelligence unit, as required by the Financial Action Task Force, to collect against and analyze suspicious financial transactions and placed stringent "know your customer" requirements in the banking system. The Kingdom also established with the United States a Joint Task Force on Terrorist Financing to facilitate law-enforcement cooperation at the operational level. On 22 December, the United States and Saudi Arabia publicly announced their request to the UN 1267 Sanctions Committee to add the names of two organizations and one individual to its consolidated list.
On both the domestic and international fronts, Saudi Arabia initiated an ideological campaign against Islamist terrorist organizations, using its unique credentials as the custodian of Islam's two holiest shrines. Senior Saudi Government and religious officials espouse a consistent message of moderation and tolerance, explaining that Islam and terrorism are incompatible. Notably, in October speeches at the Organization of Islamic Conference Summit in Malaysia and later in Pakistan, Crown Prince Abdullah recommended to a broader audience concrete steps to counter extremism and improve relations between Muslims and non-Muslims.
For its part, Saudi Arabia has expressed its commitment to undertake internal political, social, and economic reforms aimed at combating the underlying causes of terrorism, and authorities have worked to delegitimize or correct those who would use Islam to justify terrorist acts. In early December, jailed cleric Ahmed al-Khalidi renounced his previous endorsement of violent jihad. Khalidi's statement followed similar public renunciations by extremist clerics Shaykh Ali bin Ali al-Khudayr and Nasir al-Fahd.
Saudi Arabia provided essential support to Operation Iraqi Freedom and continues to support Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
Saudi Arabia has signed nine of the 12 international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism and is a party to six.
The Government of Tunisia has publicly supported the international Coalition against terrorism and has responded to US requests for information and assistance in blocking financial assets. Tunis's active stance against terrorism has been reinforced by its own recent experience with international terrorism. In April 2002, a suicide truck bomb detonated outside the el-Ghriba synagogue on the island of Djerba, killing more than 20.
In response to terrorism, the Government of Tunisia has taken steps to strengthen its laws and international agreements. The Tunisian legislature in December 2003 passed a comprehensive law to "support the international effort to combat terrorism and money laundering."
On the enforcement front, in March, Tunis issued a warrant for the arrest of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed for his role in the suicide truck bombing of the el-Ghriba synagogue in 2002. In addition, Belgacem Nawar, an uncle of Djerba suicide bomber Nizar Nawar, remains in Tunisian custody and is charged with complicity in the attack.
Tunis has consistently emphasized the threat that terrorism poses to security and stability in the region. Further, it has encouraged Libya to abandon terrorism and, in particular, to reach an agreement with France on additional compensation for the UTA airliner bombing of 1989. Domestically, the Tunisian Government has prohibited the formation of Islamist groups, which it believes pose a terrorist threat.
After the terrorist bombing of the UN compound in Baghdad, Tunis expressed its deep concern over the bombing and stated that it "fi rmly rejects any action aimed at undermining UN efforts to help Iraq and its brotherly people to recover security and stability and to complete the country's reconstruction process."
Since September 11, 2001, Tunis has each year called for an international conference to address the root causes of terrorism.
Tunisia ratified the International Convention on the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism in February 2003, making it a party to 11 of the 12 international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism.
In 2003, the United Arab Emirates continued to provide outstanding counterterrorism assistance and cooperation. The UAE Government publicly condemned acts of terrorism, including the attack in August against UN headquarters in Baghdad and the attack in November against a housing compound in Riyadh. In September, the UAE successfully hosted the annual International Monetary Fund/World Bank meetings, an event marked by close cooperation between the Dubai police and UAE armed forces.
In suppressing terrorist financing, the UAE Central Bank continued to aggressively enforce anti-money laundering regulations. Tightened oversight and reporting requirements for domestic financial markets resulted in a stronger legal and regulatory framework to deter abuse of the UAE financial system. The Central Bank has provided training programs to financial institutions on money laundering and terrorist financing.
It has also investigated financial transactions and frozen accounts in response to UN resolutions and internal investigations, as well as begun registering hawala dealers. The UAE has frozen the accounts of terrorist entities designated by the UN, and the US Government has provided the UAE with antiterrorism and anti-money laundering training, as well as technical assistance for bankers, prosecutors, judges, and police.
The UAE has provided assistance in several terrorist investigations. In early 2003, the UAE became a party to the 1973 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons.
The UAE is a party to eight of the 12 international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism.
There were no reported terrorist attacks against or kidnappings of Westerners in Yemen in 2003.
The Republic of Yemen Government continued to cooperate with US law enforcement and to take action against al-Qaida and local extremists in 2003, including arresting several al-Qaida- associated individuals, disrupting an al-Qaida-affiliated cell targeting Western interests, and prosecuting and convicting the perpetrators of the shootings of three Americans in Jibla on 30 December 2002. Abed Abdulrazak al-Kamel, the shooter, and Ali Ahmed Mohamed Jarallah, the planner, were tried, convicted, and sentenced to death in separate trials in 2003. On 1 December 2003, a three-judge panel affirmed the death sentence of al-Kamel, who will appeal the decision to the Yemen Supreme Court. Court officials expect that the conviction will be upheld and passed to President Saleh, who is likely to sign off on the order to carry out the sentence. Post representatives attended al-Kamel's trial and appeal proceedings, which were relatively transparent and openly reported in the local media.
Yemen publicly expressed its support for the global war on terrorism. In meetings with senior US officials, President Saleh underscored Yemen's determination to be an active counterterrorism partner.
However, there is still more work to be done to improve counterterrorism capabilities, including implementing a Maritime Security Strategy and increasing border security. Ongoing US-Yemeni cooperation includes counterterrorism training for Yemeni military forces, establishment of Yemeni Coast Guard capabilities (including seven 44-foot US-manufactured patrol boats arriving February 2004), and equipment and training for Yemen's Terrorist Interdiction Program.
Yemeni authorities arrested several high-profile al-Qaida associates in 2003. In late November, authorities arrested Muhammad Hamdi al-Ahdal (a.k.a. Abu Asim al-Makki -- the senior-most extremist in Yemen -- who has supported mujahedin and terrorist operations throughout the Middle East and in Chechnya. In late September, Yemeni authorities arrested several members of an al-Qaida-affiliated cell planning attacks against a variety of targets in the country. Following the attack in mid-June on a medical assistance convoy in the Abyan Governorate, US- and UK-trained Yemeni Central Security Forces (CSF) raided a facility used by the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army (AAIA -- the local extremist group suspected of orchestrating and conducting the attack -- and made a number of arrests. Consistent, but unconfirmed, reports from the press and other sources put the number of extremists killed or captured at between 20 and 30. CSF also indicated that a large amount of explosives and weapons were seized.
In October 2003, despite repeated statements that AAIA leader Khalid Abd-al-Nabi was dead, Yemeni officials revealed that he was not killed in the confrontations between the hardline Islamic group and a Yemeni army antiterrorism unit. Instead, al-Nabi surrendered to the Yemeni authorities, was released from custody, and is not facing charges for any of his activities. Earlier in 2003, authorities arrested al-Qaida operative Fawaz al-Rabi'I (a.k.a. Furqan) and al-Qaida associate Hadi Dulqum.
Land border security, particularly the long frontier with Saudi Arabia, is a major concern for Yemen. In the aftermath of the Riyadh bomb attacks in May 2003, the Government has improved cooperation with its Saudi neighbors. Representatives of both countries met several times in 2003 to discuss border security and ways to impede the flow of weapons from Yemen to Saudi Arabia. The Ministry of the Interior has an ambitious plan to establish 18 districts along the Yemeni-Saudi border to provide antismuggling defenses. In keeping with a bilateral security agreement, Sanaa and Riyadh have exchanged prisoners and terror suspects, including an operative from the Saudis most-wanted list.
The escape of 10 prisoners -- including several suspects in the USS Cole bombing of October 2000 -- from an Aden jail in April was a setback to bilateral counterterrorism efforts. Although Sanaa responded quickly, dismissing two senior security officers and several prison guards, eight of the escapees have not yet been apprehended.
Following the model of other Arab countries, including Egypt, an Islamic scholarly commission formed in August 2002 continued its dialogue with detainees arrested in connection with extremism and/or terrorist attacks, which reportedly include Yemeni returnees from Afghanistan and members of the Al Jihad organization. Before being released, the detainees are screened by Yemen's Political Security Organization and commit to uphold the Yemeni constitution and laws, the rights of non- Muslims, and the inviolability of foreign interests. Ninety-two detainees were released post-Ramadan in 2003.
In the latter part of 2003, senior government officials, including President Saleh, publicly announced the detainees' release -- some of whom may have ties to al-Qaida and other extremist groups -- because they reportedly had renounced violence. The public announcement of the releases preceded the sharing of information with the US Government, which has now identified specific concerns with several of the individuals released and is working with the Government on the issue.
Several terrorist organizations continued to maintain a presence in Yemen throughout 2003. HAMAS and PIJ are recognized as legal organizations -- and HAMAS maintains offices in Yemen -- but neither has engaged in terrorist activities, and PIJ does not have any known actual or operational presence. Al-Qaida is attempting to reconstitute an operational presence in Yemen. Other international terrorist groups with a presence in Yemen include remnants of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya.
Yemen is a party to eight of the 12 international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1276 |
__label__wiki | 0.851052 | 0.851052 | Liberia - Sanctions violations and lack of reform hinder Liberia’s reconstruction, as logging industry still poses potential threat to regional security.
Tweet Share DONATE
Liberia: Sanctions violations and lack of reform hinder Liberia’s reconstruction, as logging industry still poses potential threat to regional security.
A new report released today by Global Witness (1) concludes that sanctions on Liberia, specifically the timber embargo, should not be lifted at a UN Security Council review scheduled for 17 June 2004 (2). The report titled ‘Liberia: Back to the Future, What is the future of Liberia’s forests and its effects on regional peace’ argues that lifting sanctions before key reforms are implemented could jeopardise international efforts to promote peace, as major factors that helped cause Liberia and the region’s calamity remain a threat.
‘Liberia: Back to the Future’ details how insufficient government and industry reform, especially of the logging industry, continues to pose a threat to the region. The Liberian logging industry has historically helped fuel conflict in Liberia and the region, serving as an important source of extra-budgetary income and logistics with which former President Charles Taylor supported rebel groups in both Sierra Leone and Cote d’Ivoire (3). Though in exile in Nigeria, Taylor maintains his close connection to many players in Liberia and the report further details his continued capacity to cause insecurity in the region through close associates and business interests (4).
‘Liberia: Back to the Future’ also describes the activities of the Liberian logging industry over the last year, since sanctions went into force, noting evidence that indicates personnel of two logging companies, Maryland Wood Processing Incorporated (MWPI) and the Togba Timber Company (TTCO) made arrangements with the Liberian rebels to safeguard their business interests in Liberia. Moreover, there is evidence to suggest that TTCO violated the UN timber embargo by exporting two shipments of timber in August 2003.
‘Given the logging industry’s continued potential to cause insecurity, the Liberian government must ensure that the industry can no longer be used to fuel conflict in the region’, said Alice Blondel, Lead Campaigner at Global Witness. ‘At present, the requirements set forth by the Security Council for the lifting of timber sanctions have not been met and there remains insufficient Liberian government and UN presence along border areas and in resource-rich territories. This means that non-state actors maintain their ability to support conflict by engaging in the cross-border trade of natural resources, weapons, and mercenaries.’
For any press inquiries, please contact Alice Blondel or Mike Lundberg at +44 (0) 207-561-6372.
http://www.globalwitness.org/campaigns/forests/liberia/
Notes for the Editor:
(1) Global Witness is an investigative non-governmental organisation that focuses on the links between natural resource exploitation and conflict, and was co-nominated for the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize.
(2) Timber sanctions were first imposed by UN Security Council Resolution 1478 (2003), entering into effect on 7 July 2003. The sanctions were renewed through Resolution 1521 (2003).
(3) For more detail, see Global Witness’ other reports and briefing documents: 'Against the People, For the Resources', Global Witness, September 2003; 'The Usual Suspects: Liberia's weapons and mercenaries in Cote d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone', Global Witness, March 2003; 'Logging Off: how the Liberian timber industry fuels Liberia's humanitarian disaster and threatens Sierra Leone', Global Witness, September 2002; 'Taylor-made: the pivotal role of Liberia's forests and flag of convenience in regional conflict', Global Witness, September 2001. See also UN Panel of Experts reports on Sierra Leone, S/2000/1195, and UN Panel of Experts reports on Liberia, S/2003/973, S/2003/779, S/2003/498, S/2002/470 S/2001/1015.
(4) Global Witness investigations in Liberia, 2004. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1277 |
__label__cc | 0.641157 | 0.358843 | CONC 3
View CONC 3.2 as PDF
View CONC 3 as PDF
View CONC as PDF
CONC 3.2.1G 01/04/2014 RP
The rules in this chapter adopt various concepts from the restriction on financial promotions by unauthorised persons in section 21(1) of the Act (Restrictions on financial promotion). Guidance on that restriction and the communications which are exempt from it is contained in PERG 8 (Financial promotion and related activities) and that guidance will be relevant to interpreting these rules. In particular, guidance on the meaning of:
'communicate' is in PERG 8.6 (Communicate); and
'invitation or inducement' and 'engage in investment activity' (two elements which, with 'communicate', make up the definition of 'financial promotion') is in PERG 8.4 (Invitation or inducement).
The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 apply to unsolicited telephone calls, fax messages and electronic mail messages for direct marketing purposes. The Information Commissioner’s Office has produced guidance on the Regulations.
Meaning of “prominent”
1For the purposes of this chapter, information or a statement included in a financial promotion or communication will not be treated as prominent unless it is presented, in relation to the other content of the financial promotion or communication, in such a way that it is likely that the attention of the average customer to whom the financial promotion or communication is directed would be drawn to it. | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1279 |
__label__cc | 0.690521 | 0.309479 | Registration renewal for physiotherapists starts Thursday 1 February 2018
The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) registration renewal period for physiotherapists opens on Thursday 1 February 2018 and closes on Monday 30 April 2018. The HCPC will write to all physiotherapists at the beginning of February with information on how to renew.
To renew, registrants must complete a professional declaration and pay a renewal fee no later than midnight on Monday 30 April 2018 to avoid being removed from the Register. The easiest and quickest way to renew is online via www.hcpc-uk.org/renew
A random sample of 2.5 per cent of the profession will also be selected to submit a continuing professional development (CPD) profile during this period. Those selected for audit will receive a separate letter after the renewal notices are sent out. More information, including sample profiles, activity types and video guidance, is available at www.hcpc-uk.org/cpd
The fee is tax deductible, which means that registrants paying the standard 20 per cent tax rate can reclaim a 20 per cent refund from HMRC.
Sammuel Yemane, HCPC Registration Manager, commented:
“Our online system provides a quick and easy way to renew, and we want to encourage registrants to use this resource. We would advise all speech and language therapists who wish to remain on the Register to renew as early as possible to ensure that you can continue to practice without disruption.”
Registrants can email registration@hcpc-uk.org with any queries on renewal or the CPD audit process Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
Page updated on: 21/11/2018 | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1280 |
__label__wiki | 0.5594 | 0.5594 | Swapping White Rice for Brown May Lower Diabetes Risk
Eating more brown rice and cutting back on white rice may reduce your risk of diabetes, a new study reports.
MONDAY, JUNE 14 (Health.com) — The next time you order Chinese food or need a side dish to serve with dinner, you're better off choosing brown rice instead of white. Eating more brown rice and cutting back on white rice may reduce your risk of diabetes, a new study reports.
“People at risk of diabetes should pay attention to carbohydrates in their diet and replace refined carbohydrates with whole grains,” says the lead author of the study, Qi Sun, MD, a nutrition researcher at the Harvard School of Public Health, in Boston.
If you eat a little more than two servings of white rice (about 12 ounces) per week, switching to brown rice will lower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 16%, Dr. Sun and his colleagues estimate. And if you replace those servings of white rice with whole grains in general, they estimate, your diabetes risk will decline even further, by 36%.
White rice is produced by removing the husk-like outer layers of brown rice. Those discarded layers contain nutrients (such as magnesium and insoluble fiber) that have been shown to guard against diabetes, which may in part explain the study's findings, Dr. Sun says.
White rice may also contribute to diabetes risk because it causes blood-sugar levels to rise more rapidly than brown rice does. (This is known as having a higher glycemic index.)
Type 2 diabetes occurs when your body loses its sensitivity to insulin, a hormone that helps convert blood sugar (glucose) into energy. The result is that blood sugar, which is toxic at high levels, can creep into the danger zone. Eating lots of foods with a high glycemic index—such as refined carbohydrates—has been linked to diabetes risk in the past.
“White rice is digested much faster and converted into sugar in your blood much quicker, so your body puts out a lot more insulin in response to white rice,” says Alissa Rumsey, RD, a nutritionist at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, in New York City. “Whole grains like brown rice are broken down into glucose a lot slower."
In the study, which is published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, Dr. Sun and his colleagues analyzed survey data from nearly 200,000 nurses and health professionals who participated in three long-running studies. Roughly 5% of the participants were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes during the studies, which lasted from 14 to 22 years.
People who ate five servings or more of white rice per week had a 17% increased risk of developing diabetes compared to those who ate little or no white rice, the researchers found. On the other hand, people who ate at least two servings of brown rice had an 11% lower risk of diabetes compared to those who ate barely any brown rice.
Although the researchers controlled for a number of diet and lifestyle factors (such as red meat intake, smoking, and physical activity), it's possible that the findings partly reflect the type of people who tend to prefer white versus brown rice.
For instance, the researchers note that brown rice intake was associated with "a more health-conscious lifestyle" and diet. People who ate the most brown rice tended to be more physically active, were slimmer, and ate more whole grains, while they were less likely to smoke or have a family history of diabetes.
Indeed, though brown rice is more nutritious than white rice, the study doesn't necessarily prove that white rice will contribute to diabetes, says Loren Wissner Greene, MD, a clinical associate professor of medicine at New York University's Langone Medical Center, in New York City.
“More brown rice is helpful because it is higher in fiber and that may protect against diabetes, but white rice may not increase the risk,” Dr. Greene says.
At least half of your daily grain intake should be whole grains, Rumsey says.
“Look for brown foods such as whole-wheat bread, whole-wheat wraps, or whole-grain or blended pastas,” she suggests. “There are a lot of whole grains—such as barley, bulgur, oatmeal, and quinoa—that are easy to cook with."
Check ingredients and nutrition labels when food shopping, Rumsey says. The first ingredient should say "whole grain" or "whole wheat," and the foods should have at least 3 grams of fiber per serving.
“Whole grains have so much more fiber, vitamins, minerals, and protein, so you get a lot more nutritional bang for your buck than with refined carbohydrates like white rice or white bread,” she says.
Popular in Type 2 Diabetes
Penny Marshall Died from Complications from Diabetes—Here's How That Happens
Diabulimia Is the Serious Eating Disorder You Probably Haven't Heard Of
All Topics in Type 2 Diabetes | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1282 |
__label__wiki | 0.783242 | 0.783242 | Oscar Nominated Star Of Roma Stands Up For Domestic Workers
Photo: Starfrenzy/Bigstock
Yalitza Aparicio is a household name given her instant rise to fame due to the spellbinding success of Netflix’s Roma and its multiple award victories: Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, a BAFTA for best film and three Oscars. For a first time actor, Aparicio exceeded all expectations and scored an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Not to rest on her laurels, the star of Mexican heritage has decided to strike the iron while it’s still hot. While most would have focused on the continuation of their success, Aparicio has taken the floor to stand up for domestic workers, a position she knows too well as it is the role of a maid that garnered her the fame that has led to her speaking at an International Women’s Day discussion in Geneva which was met with a standing ovation. She is a bonafide actress, and as an activist, she champions the rights of domestic workers and indigenous women around the world. She explains, “I am glad that this film has managed to open the eyes of many people, there are many professionals who do important things, but behind them, there are people who are responsible for the running of their homes, looking after their children and it is fair to recognize that work.”
Photo: Carlos Somonte/Netflix
Yalitza finds great delight in being the first indigenous woman nominated for an Oscar for her role as Cleodegaria “Cleo” Gutiérrez, the lead actress in Alfonso Cuaron’s masterpiece Roma, a semi-autobiographical on the director’s own life as well as an analysis of 1970s Mexico City that highlights the trials and tribulations of women as well as domestic workers. The actress confirms that she represents another demographic along with domestic workers in her celebrated portrayal and that happens to be indigenous women victimized by systematic discrimination. On International Women’s Day in front of a global audience, this indigenous woman proclaimed, “I am a woman who has always valued herself, I love my skin color, my roots, but unfortunately society sometimes leads some to want to hide this pride.” In a poignant scene in the film, Signora Sofia (Marina de Tavira) tells Cleo that “We are alone. No matter what they tell you, we women are always alone”, but countless indigenous women and domestic workers are not alone anymore, thanks to Yalitza Aparicio, a star, a Mexican star, an indigenous star who is here to be seen and command others are seen as well.
Photos: Yalitza Aparicio in Roma. Carlos Somonte/Netflix
Yalitza’s Cleo is an in-home maid who struggles with her problems and cares for her boss’s family that have been deserted by their father, inspired by the maid who lived with Cuaron’s family. Cuaron wrote, directed, produced, shot and co-edited this cinematic epic which was close to his heart and Yalitza on her part played her role with a subdued dignity which was present even when words were absent. Being dignified comes naturally to her, as was seen when she spoke on gender equality using the platform at Geneva to demand dignified employment conditions including the right to strike. Aparicio stated, “ My mother IS a domestic worker, I know many domestic workers, so I did have a concept of how that work shapes up, how that person participates in the family.”
Aparicio, 25, had just completed teacher training when she was cast in the film named after the neighborhood the director grew up in. Thus, it is of no surprise that she continues to apply the mission of a teacher but on a larger scale, as she asserts, “My passion has always been to educate people, to teach them, throughout my career people have told me I haven’t stopped teaching, I opted for acting but constantly try to teach the community. It is possible to demonstrate that one can achieve many things though society might say no. If you are a woman and are told ‘no’, try again … continue insisting because at some point in time you will be a success.”
The International Labour Organization report states that there are at least 67 million domestic workers worldwide with 80 percent of them being women. And in support of those workers, Aparicio says, “If employer began to acknowledge the value of their domestic workers and if they recognized the support they provide, those employees would also begin to comprehend their contribution and begin to esteem themselves more highly, leading to a general advancement.”
Aparicio remains hopeful for the future as she wishes that the media’s push of western beauty stereotypes ceases which wrongly tells people of her ethnicity “you cannot belong aesthetically to them.” She tells the world, “Diversity that exists not only in Mexico but around the world contains many faces, such as mine, that have yet to be seen.” Well, luckily, Yalitza’s statement rings untrue, since billions of people around the world have seen her face. And hopefully, that will start a wave that makes sure her ethnicity and the indigenous people she actively stands up for continue to be represented in all forms of media – so that all shades and shapes of faces are seen. That would be an added victory for everyone involved in the movie (tag article) whose black-and-white beauty has struck the world with much-needed addition of colors. Hollywood and the world, whether or not changed, stands influenced.
CALL TO ACTION: Since Yalitza Aparicio has utilized her platform to help domestic workers, we would like to help her cause further. We would like to hear from those people whose lives were made better by the domestic workers who worked in their homes, those people who still maintain a lifelong connection with the domestic workers who helped raise them or their children, also from those who worked as domestic workers and have inspiring stories to share with us regarding the respect and gratitude they received from the families/employers they worked with, from those that feel the movie Roma has helped them, from those who felt unfairly treated by their employers and believe that advocacy like Yalitza’s is much needed. Please share your stories/messages with us via social media or e-mail. For social media, please use appropriate usernames along with customized hashtags such as #hollywoodinsider #hollywoodinsidersupportsdomesticworkers: On Instagram, you can tag us on @hollywoodinsider along with your story or DM us. On Twitter, you can tweet us @hollywdinsdr. On Facebook, you can tag us on www.facebook.com/hollywoodinsidernetwork. Or email us: press@hollywoodinsider.com
For a list of charities that advocate for domestic workers in USA, please click on this link. For a list of charities that advocate for domestic workers around the world, please click on this link.
– Video – Episode 6: Do civilians and public in USA support Trump’s immigration policies? To find out watch Hollywood Insider’s episodic series Messages From America
– Why female superhero Captain Marvel’s success shows that women should not be paid lower than men
– How Barbie wins the diversity game, with an army of “Sheroes” and dolls modeled on Yara Shahidi, Naomi Osaka and many others
– Why Rami Malek cannot be blamed for the director Bryan Singer’s faults
Netflix’s Roma – An Alfonso Cuaron…
Rami Malek And His Oscar Nomination Cannot Be…
Captain Marvel, Brie Larson’s Female Superhero…
Timothée Chalamet Utilizes His Platform To Save…
Icon Selma Blair Is Rejecting Pity Instead Wants…
A Star Is Born: Lady Gaga Compared To Previous… | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1286 |
__label__wiki | 0.889972 | 0.889972 | *NEWS
The Top 25 Best Makeup & Hairstyling Winners To Date Looking At Potential Best Picture Contenders "The Lion King" Is A Visually Stunning New Version Of A Classic Tale Box Office Report For July 12-14 The Top 25 Best Actor Winners To Date Review Round-Up: "Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable" And "Trespassers" "The Farewell" Announces Awkwafina As A Major Talent Young Love Fuels The Coming Of Age Dramedy "Summer Night" "Stuber" Mixes Action With Comedy Through Dave Bautista And Kumail Nanjiani Marc Maron Is A Revelation In Lynn Shelton's "Sword Of Trust" Box Office Report For July 5-7 "Cold Blood" Is A Completely Generic Action Outing Ranking The Marvel Cinematic Universe As Phase Three Ends "Phil" Marks The Directorial Debut Of Greg Kinnear Ari Aster Proves He's A One Of A Kind Voice In Horror With "Midsommar"
HollywoodNews.com > The Ides of March
Tag Archives: The Ides of March
George Clooney: His best performances to date
Also tagged: george clooney, Good Night and Good Luck, Michael Clayton, Money Monster, Out of Sight, SOLARIS, Syriana, The American, The Descendants, Three Kings, up in the air
When it comes to movie stars, few actors in Hollywood better encapsulate what you want out of a veteran A-lister than George Clooney. Not only is he an accomplished actor with an Academy Award on his mantle, he’s a highly regarded writer and director, with an Oscar for producing under[...]
Comments Off on George Clooney: His best performances to date | Read More »
Philip Seymour Hoffman (1967-2014)
Also tagged: Academy Award for Best Actor, Actor, American film directors, Capote, Cinema of the United States, Entertainment, Entertainment/Culture, film, James Gondolfini, Mark Hoffman, Mockingjay, philip seymour hoffman, supporting actor
Very sad news has been confirmed today as the tremendously talented actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead at the much too young age of 46. No cause of death is currently known, but Hoffman has struggled with substance abuse in the past and an overdose is suspected here. Few[...]
Comments Off on Philip Seymour Hoffman (1967-2014) | Read More »
And the Oscars will go to … — AWARDS ALLEY
Also tagged: A Better Life, A Separation, Academy Award for Best Original Song, academy awards, Actor, Actress, Albert Nobbs, Alexander Payne, artist, Beginners, ben kingsley, bennett miller, Bridesmaids, British people, charlize theron, Chloë Grace Moretz, colin firth, Daniel Craig, David Fincher, Diablo Cody, Director Woody Allen, English people, Entertainment/Culture, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, film, gary oldman, glenn close, Grant Heslov, HARRY POTTER, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, harvey weinstein, Hugo, Human Interest, jason reitman, Jim Burke, Jim Rash, jonah hill, Kenneth Branagh, Kung Fu Panda 2, Margin Call, Midnight in Paris, moneyball, My Week With Marilyn, News Hollywood Awards, Octavia Spencer, oscar, Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, Paris, Patton Oswalt, Planet of the Apes, Rango, Rooney Mara, Sérgio Mendes, Seth Rogen, Spy, Steve McQueen, supporting actor, supporting actress, The Artist, The Descendants, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Help, The Iron Lady, the Oscar, the tree of life, Tilda Swinton, Tinker Tailor, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Tree of Life, Twitter Inc, Viola Davis, War Horse, Warrior, Woody Harrelson
By Sean O’Connell hollywoodnews.com: Do or die time. After month and months of tracking the Oscar race, it’s time to put up (and shut up) by posting my official picks for Sunday night’s Academy Awards. And while I have been saying (OK, complaining) that too many of tonight’s winners are all[...]
No Comments | Read More »
PGA announces film and TV nominations
Tue, Jan 3 2012
Also tagged: Bridesmaids, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, moneyball, The Artist, The Descendants, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Help, War Horse
HollywoodNews.com: The Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced today the motion picture and long-form television nominations for the 23rd Annual Producers Guild Awards. The categories include: The Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures; The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in[...]
Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw are fans of “Ides of March”
Thu, Oct 6 2011
Also tagged: American film directors, Cinema of the United States, Entertainment/Culture, george clooney, Marisa Tomei, Paul Giamatti, philip seymour hoffman, ryan gosling, Television in the United States
HollywoodNews.com: It was like the old days last night in New York: a big, fancy premiere at the Ziegfeld for George Clooney’s “Ides of March,” followed by a swanky, packed to the gills soiree at the ever so posh Metropolitan Club on Fifth Avenue. I can’t remember a Sony/Columbia release[...]
Movie Awards’ Projections For August: Contenders for the 2011 Awards Season – AWARDS ALLEY
Mon, Aug 1 2011
Also tagged: 50/50, A Better Life, A Dangerous Method, Anonymous, AWARDS RACE - HOLLYWOOD CONTENDERS, Beginners, Carnage, Connell Hollywoodnews, Contagion, Contenders for the 2011 Awards Season, Coriolanus, dirty girl, Drive, Electronic engineering, electronics, Entertainment/Culture, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Higher Ground, Hugo, Human Interest, In the Land of Blood and Honey, J. Edgar, Jane Eyre, Like Crazy, Melancholia, Midnight in Paris, moneyball, Motion Picture Association of America film rating system, Movie Awards, My Week With Marilyn, One Day, Projections For August, Soldier, Soni Kabushiki Kaisha, sony, Tailor, Take Shelte, Technology, The Artist, The Descendents, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Help, The Iron Lady, The Rum Diaries, The Skin I Live In, the tree of life, The Way, the weinstein company, Tinker, War Horse, Warner Bros. Entertainment Sverige AB, We Bought a Zoo, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Weinstein Co Inc, Win Win, Young Adult
By Sean O’Connell Hollywoodnews.com: With “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” tearing up box office records and the last of the summer blockbusters preparing to drop — “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” appears to be the last major tent pole on the horizon — now seems like[...]
Ryan Gosling, George Clooney in “The Ides of March” trailer
Also tagged: American film directors, Cinema of the United States, Connell Hollywoodnews, Entertainment/Culture, Farragut North, george clooney, Hollywood Los Angeles California, Ides of March, Nick Clooney, presidential candidate, ryan gosling, Television in the United States
By Sean O’Connell Hollywoodnews.com: If George Clooney’s political drama “The Ides of March” was a presidential candidate, it would be ahead in the polls. The film continues to announce its presence in the still-forming awards race by throwing down impressive marketing salvos as it prepares for a full-court, fall film festival[...]
George Clooney’s “Ides of March” gets poster
Also tagged: American film directors, Cinema of the United States, Connell Hollywoodnews, Entertainment/Culture, george clooney, Marisa Tomei, Television in the United States
By Sean O’Connell Hollywoodnews.com: George Clooney’s political drama “The Ides of March” is one of those films due out later this year that I’d pay top dollar to be able to see right now. You can keep your “Cowboys & Aliens.” Clooney’s next directorial effort has a mouthwatering cast chewing over[...]
George Clooney releasing “Ides of March” in October
Also tagged: American film directors, Cinema of the United States, Connell Hollywoodnews, Entertainment/Culture, george clooney, Ides of March, Leatherheads, Marisa Tomei, Mass media, Television in the United States, the Oscars
By Sean O’Connell Hollywoodnews.com: It sounds like George Clooney’s political drama “The Ides of March” will be campaigning for something stronger than political office: The Oscars. Sony has circled Oct. 14 as the release date for Clooney’s thriller, an adaptation of Beau Willimon’s play “Farragut North,” THR reports. That’s a shift from[...]
George Clooney, Ryan Gosling hitting campaign trail for “Ides of March”
Thu, Oct 28 2010
Also tagged: A-list actor, American film directors, Beau Willimon, candidate, Cinema of the United States, Cross Creek Prods, Detroit, director, director a series, Entertainment/Culture, Evan Rachel Wood, Exclusive Media Group, Farragut North, george clooney, Grant Heslov, Hollywood Reporter, Leatherheads, Marisa Tomei, Mass media, oscar, Paul Giamatti, press spokesman managing a presidential campaign race, Production Weekly, rival campaign manager, ryan gosling, Television in the United States, the hollywood reporter, Twitter Inc
By Sean O’Connell Hollywoodnews.com: George Clooney is moving forward with his political drama “The Ides of March,” based on Beau Willimon’s play “Farragut North.” Clooney and regular collaborator Grant Heslov adapted the script. The A-list actor will direct and star. It was reported that Clooney secured independent financing for his production from[...]
Hollywood News Network®
HOLLYWOOD BREAKING NEWS
HOLLYWOOD CELEBRITY NEWS
HOLLYWOOD MOVIE NEWS
HOLLYWOOD MUSIC NEWS
Blogwood
AWARDSDAILY.COM
BECK SMITH HOLLYWOOD
CHARITYBUZZ.COM
GOLDDERBY.COM
GREGINHOLLYWOOD
HOLLYWOOD AWARDS
HONEYCUTTSHOLLYWOOD.COM
NIKKI FINKE
SHOWBIZ411.COM
MORE LINKS →
Hollywood News Network� - Copyright © 1996 - 2019 HollywoodNews.com - Hollywood Celebrity News | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1287 |
__label__wiki | 0.989384 | 0.989384 | Andy Borowitz
Andy Borowitz is a New York Times best-selling author and a comedian who has written for The New Yorker since 1998. In 2001, he created The Borowitz Report, a satirical news column that has millions of readers around the world, for which he won the first-ever National Press Club award for humor. The Borowitz Report was acquired by The New Yorker in 2012.Before creating The Borowitz Report, he created the classic sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, winning the NAACP Image Award and launching the acting career of Will Smith. He has many other Hollywood credits, including the Oscar-nominated film Pleasantville.His most recent books have both been bestsellers: The 50 Funniest American Writers, which became the first title in the history of the Library of America to make the Times best-seller list; and a memoir, An Unexpected Twist, a No. 1 best-seller, which Amazon named the Best Kindle Single of the Year.His work is widely shared on social media: his Twitter feed, @BorowitzReport, has more than half a million followers and was voted the best Twitter feed in a poll by Time; his Facebook feed has over eight hundred thousand followers; and his most recent comedy video received over one million views on YouTube in its first week alone.As a comedian, he has performed sold-out shows around the world and has made countless television and radio appearances, on National Public Radio, VH1, and Comedy Central, among other places. He has been called a Swiftian satirist (the Wall Street Journal), Americas satire king (the Daily Beast), the funniest human on Twitter (the Times), and one of the funniest people in America (CBS News Sunday Morning).
Where:Lincoln Theatre, 1215 U St NW, Washington, District of Columbia, United States, 20009
Event Type: Arts & Theater, Nightlife | cc/2019-30/en_head_0046.json.gz/line1290 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.