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Initial considerations regarding the elimination of the extremes of poverty and wealth
50th Session of the United Nations Commission on Social Development
http://bic.org/statements-and-reports/statements/initial-considerations-regarding-the-elimination-of-the-extremes-of-poverty-and-wealth-1
Initial considerations regarding the
elimination of the extremes of poverty and wealth
Bahá'í International Community's contribution to the 50th Session of the United Nations Commission on Social Development
Poverty eradication programs have generally focused on the creation of material wealth. While these measures have improved living standards in some parts of the world, inequality remains widespread. In its 2005 Report on the World Social Situation[1], the United Nations highlighted the growing chasm between formal and informal economies, the widening gap between skilled and unskilled workers, and the growing disparities in health, education as well as in opportunities for social, economic and political participation. It has been well documented that the focus on growth and income generation has not necessarily translated into significant social improvements, and that growing inequality has rendered the global community increasingly unstable and insecure.
The Bahá'í International Community wishes to contribute to the Commission's discussion of poverty eradication by considering the related phenomena of the extremes of poverty and wealth. While the goal of poverty eradication is widely endorsed, the notion of eliminating extremes of wealth is challenging to many. Some fear that it could be used to undermine the market economy, to stifle entrepreneurship, or to impose income equalization measures. This is not what we mean. To be sure, material wealth is of critical importance to the achievement of individual and collective goals; by the same token, a strong economy is a key component of a vibrant social order. We propose that recognition of the problem of the extremes of poverty and wealth concerns itself, in essence, with the nature of relationships that bind individuals, communities and nations. Today, most of the world's people live in societies characterized by relationships of dominance - whether of one nation over another, one race by another, one social class by another, one religious or ethnic group by another, or one sex by another. In this context, a discourse on the elimination of the extremes of poverty and wealth presumes that societies cannot flourish in an environment that fuels inequitable access to resources, to knowledge, and to meaningful participation in the life of society.
In this contribution, we briefly reflect on the manner in which the following aspects of society contribute to these extremes: a materialistic worldview, assumptions about human nature, the means of generating wealth, and access to knowledge. We propose an alternative set of assumptions and consider how these might advance a more equitable economic environment.
The dominant model of development depends on a society of vigorous consumers of material goods. Endlessly rising levels of consumption are cast as indicators of progress and prosperity. This materialistic worldview, which underpins much of modern economic thinking, reduces concepts of value, human purpose and human interactions to the self-interested pursuit of material wealth. The inevitable result is an unfettered cultivation of needs and wants which has led to a system dependent on excessive consumption by the few, while reinforcing exclusion and poverty for the many.
As most would acknowledge, however, the materialistic worldview does not capture the totality of human experience. This includes expressions of love and self-sacrifice, the quest for knowledge and justice, attraction to beauty and to truth, the search for meaning and purpose, to name but a few. In fact, the progress and vitality of the social order requires a coherent relationship between the material and spiritual dimensions of human life. Within such an order, economic arrangements support the development of just and peaceful human relations and presume that every individual has a contribution to make to the betterment of society.
Consider that nearly 800 million adults cannot read or write[2]; that two and a half billion people lack basic sanitation; that nearly half of the world's children live in poverty. At the other extreme, a mere handful of individuals[3] controls 7% of the world's GDP. [4] We have an economic system that generates extreme inequality. Many assume that such inequality, while undesirable, is necessary for the generation of wealth. If the process by which wealth is accumulated is characterized by the oppression and domination of others, how, in such an environment, can we hope to mobilize the material, intellectual, and moral resources needed to eradicate poverty?
Many would acknowledge that the legitimacy of wealth depends on how it is acquired and how it is expended. Wealth is commendable to the highest degree if it is acquired through earnest effort and diligent work, if the measures to generate that wealth serve to enrich society as a whole, and if the wealth obtained through those measures is expended to promote knowledge, education, industry, and, in general, to advance human civilization.
The principle of justice can be expressed on different levels related to the process of the acquisition of wealth. Employers and their employees, for example, are bound to the laws and conventions that regulate their work. Each is expected to carry out his or her responsibilities with honesty and integrity. At another level, we can consider whether the measures generating the wealth are serving to enrich society and to promote its well-being. The various approaches to obtaining wealth must enter into the discourse on poverty eradication, so that measures which involve the exploitation of others, the monopolization and manipulation of markets, and the production of goods that promote violence and tear at the social fabric can be fully explored and scrutinized by the generality of the people.[5]
Alongside this discourse, the eradication of the extremes of poverty and wealth will require no less than a knowledge revolution. Such a revolution will need to redefine the role of every individual, community and nation in the generation and application of knowledge. It will need to acknowledge both science and religion as two complementary systems of knowledge, which throughout history have made possible the investigation of reality and the advancement of civilization. As these processes unfold, they will help to transform the quality and legitimacy of education, of science and technology, as well as patterns of consumption and production. The masses of the world's people cannot continue to be regarded only as consumers and end-users of technology originating in industrial countries. Such an orientation suffocates the necessary levels of human enterprise and creativity needed to address today's pressing challenges. The development of capacity to identify technological need, to innovate, and to adapt existing technologies is vital. If successfully developed, such capacity would serve to break the unbalanced flow of knowledge from North to South, from urban to rural, and from men to women. It would help to expand the concept of "modern" technology to one characterized by locally defined needs and by priorities that take into account a community's material and spiritual well-being.
As expressed in the introduction to this document, the eradication of poverty cannot be conceived in terms of improving the material wealth of the poor alone. It is a larger undertaking rooted in relationships that define the interactions between individuals, communities and nations. We invite others actively working to establish a more just and equitable social and economic order to engage with us in dialogue about these underlying issues in order to learn from each other and to collectively advance efforts towards these ends. We conclude with a number of questions for your consideration:
What is the purpose of an economy? What assumptions about human nature underlie our understanding of the purpose of an economy? How do we understand the concept of wealth?
In what ways do the extremes of poverty and wealth stifle development, empowerment and healthy relationships? What kinds of identities are formed with the existence of these two extremes (e.g. dependent, self-righteous, consumer, producer, etc.)? How do these identities perpetuate inequality?
What is the role of knowledge - derived from both science and religion - in transforming our economic structures and processes?
How can we conceptualize the nature and purpose of work, wealth, and economic empowerment beyond notions of utility maximization on the part of self-interested individuals?
What are the roles of the individual, the community, the corporate sector and elected leaders vis-‡-vis the elimination of the extremes of poverty and wealth? What does this look like in practice?
What are the entry points for making changes in the economy? What motivates individuals, communities, corporations and governments to reform economic structures and processes? From where do they derive their purpose and commitment?
What widely held conceptions or beliefs hinder our ability to transform the economic systems we have today? How can these be overcome?
[1] U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The Inequality Predicament: Report on the World Social Situation 2005. New York, 2005.
[2] UIS Fact Sheet, September 2010, No. 3, http://www.uis.unesco.org/FactSheets/Documents/Fact_Sheet_2010_Lit_EN.pdf
[3] Approximately 500 billionaires. Anup Shah, Poverty Facts and Stats (10 September 2010). Global Issues: Social, Political and Environmental Issues that Affect Us All, http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats.
[4] Anup Shah, Poverty Facts and Stats (10 September 2010). Ibid.
[5] For example, we can ask: Is the relationship between wages and the cost of living just and equitable? What kind of wealth-generating measures could serve to enrich the generality of people rather than a select few?
Source: http://bic.org/statements-and-reports/statements/initial-considerations…
© 2012 Baha'i International Community
Last updated 8 February 2012
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You are here Home News Latest News Paris Marathon 2010 on April 11th
Events in Paris
Paris Marathon 2010 on April 11th
34th Edition of the Paris Marathon will be held on April 11th, 2010 from 08:35 AM onwards. More than 40,000 runners will try and cover around 42 km starting from the Champs Elysees and arriving at the Avenue Foch, passing through various Parisian landmarks such as Bastille, Nation, Vincennes, les Tuileries, le Bois de Boulogne etc.
The winners of Paris Marathon 2009 were Vincent Kipruto (Kenya) in men's category who established a new record at 2h 05' 47'' and Atsede Bayisa (Ethiopia) in women's category who finished within 2h 24' 42''.
The runners will have a choice of fixing their objective from 3 hrs, 3.15 hrs, 3.30 hrs, and so on identifiable by a different colour of bib carrying their identification number. These registration numbers can be obtained from the Marathan Expo* 3 days prior to the event followig the schedule:
Thursday, April 8th, 2010 from 03:00 PM- 08:00 PM
Friday, April 9th, 2010 from 10:00 AM- 08:00 PM
Saturday, April 10th from 09:00 AM- 08:00 PM
In the view of the marathon, the vehicular circulation may be disturbed or restricted in certain areas till 03:00 PM on Sunday, April 11th
Sports giant Asics has launched 'Live Running Casting' to look for a new face for their new publicity campaign for women. The woman will be selected from the 'live in action' runners of the Paris Marathon 2010. Get details.
For children, a short race of 2 km and 5 km- The race of breakfast (earlier the Race of UNESCO)- will be organised on Saturday, April 10th. The participating children need to be accompanied by an adult. For 5 kms, the regrouping is at 8:30 AM in front of the l’Ecole Militaire** in the 15th district and for 2 km race at the same time at Avenue Foch at the angle of Avenue Raymond Poincaré. On arrival various activities, snacks and games are proposed for the children.
For further information on the marathon, consult the official website of Paris Marathon.
*Marathon Expo will be at Paris Porte de Versailles, Hall 4 from April 8th-10th and is free for all. This trade fair is dedicated to the promotion of sportive activities, related organisations and equipments- sportswear, accessories, gadgets, equipments etc. Various national and international athletes will be present to interact with the public.
Parc des Expositions de Paris
1, Place de la Porte de Versailles, 75015 Paris
Metro: Porte de Versailles (Line 12)
Tram: T2 & T3 (Porte de Versailles)
Bus: 39, 42, 49
**Ecole Militaire
Avenue La Motte-Picquet , 75007 Paris
Metro: Ecole Militaire/ La Motte-Picquet (Line 8)
Organiser of the Paris Marathon:
2, Rue Rouget de Lisle
92137 Issy-Les-Moulineaux Cédex
The winners for Paris Marathon conducted on April 11th, 2010 are Tadesse Tola (Ethiopia) in men's category who finished in 02:06:41 and 2009 women's champion Atsede Baysa beat her own record with 02:22:04. French favourite Christelle Daunay came 2nd in the women's category at 02:24:22
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Home » Context of 'June 6, 2008: Conservative Radio Host Savage: Obama an ‘Afro-Leninist’'
Context of 'June 6, 2008: Conservative Radio Host Savage: Obama an ‘Afro-Leninist’'
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June 6, 2008: Conservative Radio Host Savage: Obama an ‘Afro-Leninist’
Conservative radio host Michael Savage repeatedly refers to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama as an “Afro-Leninist.” As reported by the progressive media watchdog site Media Matters, Savage asserts: “If the other side [the Republican Party] had one decent candidate, one real conservative, he would win 70-30. But because we have a retread, a Bush III [referring to Republican candidate John McCain], it’s going to be very doubtful as to whether or not we can avoid outright Marxism and Afro-Leninism running this country.” Later in the broadcast, he calls Obama “[a]n Afro-Leninist who’s achieved nothing” and “the most narcissistic candidate in the history of the presidency.” [Media Matters, 6/10/2008]
Entity Tags: John McCain, Barack Obama, Republican Party, Media Matters, Michael Savage
Timeline Tags: Domestic Propaganda, 2008 Elections
March 4-6, 2009: Conservative Radio Host: Obama a ‘Rabble-Rouser’ and a ‘Dictator’
Michael Savage, a conservative radio host, calls President Obama a “dictator” as part of a larger diatribe against the president. He calls Obama “a young, articulate rabble-rouser” who “is espousing a message that I call ‘trickle-up poverty’.… Where it ends? I know where it ends, because I’ve studied history. I know where it ends. The signal as to when this begins, when the end begins, will be when he organizes a militia directly under his own control. He will not call it a militia. It will be called, perhaps, the ‘Ecology Corps’ or the ‘Environment Corps,’ or the ‘Global Warming Corps,’ or the ‘Energy Corps.’” Savage may be referring to Obama’s efforts to revive the moribund Americorps, a volunteer organization (see November 11, 2008 and March 31, 2009). “Whatever it will be called, they will all wear uniforms. They will either be blue denim or green denim. They will have the executive power under the ‘urban czar’ to come into your home without any court order to investigate your energy use, but they will be looking for other things as well. Would you have any chance to stand up to this army of Obamaites?” Savage asks, rhetorically, if he has “gone over the edge,” and then says: “I’ve gone over the edge before, and every time I have, I’ve been right eventually. I see the handwriting on the wall. Obama is a dictator.” Savage accuses liberals of failing to understand that any dictatorship, leftist or rightist, “is not going to be good for your children.” He then shouts, “Someone has to oppose this man.” He also claims that the White House “is going after” anyone who criticizes it, and repeatedly mixes his accusations of “government” persecution with “media” persecution of White House or Obama critics. “Fundamentally,” Savage concludes, “we have a dictatorship emerging.… Now I’ll make another prediction. I predict that very soon, Obama will create a crisis along the lines of the Reichstag Fire [the 1933 attack on the Reichstag by Nazi militiamen, who later blamed the fire on Communists, and used the attack to gain control of the German government]. I don’t know what form it will take. But I believe that once the minions are seen for what they are, Rahm Emanuel [the White House chief of staff] and his gang will set off a Reichstag Fire in this country of some kind, and they will” begin arresting US citizens without warrants much as President Lincoln did during the Civil War. “I will tell you as I sit here I fear that every night as I go to sleep.” Savage offers no evidence for any of his claims. [Media Matters, 3/4/2009] Two days later, Savage calls Obama a “neo-fascist dictator in the making.” [Media Matters, 3/6/2009] Savage has called the landmark civil rights decision Brown v. Board “sickening” (see May 18, 2004), accused Obama of being educated in a radical Islamic madrassa (see January 10, 2008 and April 3, 2008) and being a potential “radical Muslim” (see February 21, 2008), called Obama’s presidential victory “the first affirmative-action election in American history” (see February 1, 2008), accused Obama of being sympathetic towards the Nazis and the Imperial Japanese of World War II (see March 13, 2008), said that homeless Americans should be put in “work camps” (see June 6, 2008), called Obama an “Afro-Leninist” (see June 6, 2008), said that welfare recipients should lose the right to vote (see October 22, 2008), accused Obama of using his grandmother’s death to conceal his “efforts” to falsify his Hawaiian birth certificate (see November 10, 2008), and accused Obama of planning to fire all the “competent white men” in government once he became president (see November 18, 2008). Other conservatives, including Fox News’s Glenn Beck, will accuse Obama of being a Nazi, or of intending to create a “Reichstag Fire” crisis to gain power (see September 29, 2009 and October 3, 2010).
Entity Tags: Glenn Beck, AmeriCorps, Barack Obama, Michael Savage, Rahm Emanuel
August 11, 2009: Media Critic: Press Ignoring Biggest Political Story of 2009, Orchestrated Attack on Obama
Eric Boehlert. [Source: Simon & Schuster]Eric Boehlert, an author and editor of the progressive news watchdog organization Media Matters, writes that, in his eyes, the media is ignoring the biggest “political story of the year”: “the unhinged radical-right response to [President] Obama’s inauguration and the naked attempt to dehumanize and delegitimize him through a nonstop smear campaign,” which he says is sponsored by the Republican Party and its conservative supporters. “The misguided movement breaks all kinds of taboos in American politics,” Boehlert writes, “as well as in the press, and is redefining our political culture—for the worse. Yet the press continues to play dumb.”
Playing the Nazi Card - Boehlert takes as his springboard the relative disinterest the mainstream media shows to the repeated accusations that Obama and/or Congressional Democrats are Nazis, or Nazi sympathizers, or have Nazi-like goals and ideals (see July 24, 2009, July 28, 2009, August 4, 2009, August 4, 2009, August 6, 2009, August 6, 2009, August 6, 2009, August 7, 2009, and August 10-11, 2009), as well as the virtually unreported use of Nazi symbols and rhetoric at anti-health care protests (see July 25, 2009, August 1, 2009, August 4, 2009, and August 8, 2009). Boehlert notes that in January 2004, the liberal advocacy organization MoveOn received weeks of negative publicity and media attention when it briefly posted two amateur video clips on its Web site submitted as part of a contest for 30-second Internet advertisements against the policies of the Bush administration. The organization removed the clips within hours and apologized for posting them, but was berated for weeks over the ads. Now, Boehlert notes, Rush Limbaugh and other prominent conservative spokespersons routinely use accusations of Nazism in their rhetorical attacks on Obama and Democrats, with virtually no acknowledgement from the press. Boehlert writes: “Despite the fact that Limbaugh has not apologized for his comments—unlike MoveOn in 2004—and is continuing to compare the Obama White House and the Democratic Party with Nazis, many in the media don’t consider it newsworthy and haven’t condemned it. And more important, journalists don’t show any signs of believing that the episode tells us anything about the radically unhinged nature of the right-wing media in this country today.” Apparently, he writes, most media analysts just consider Limbaugh’s extreme rhetoric a case of “Rush being Rush.” But, he asks, if Limbaugh is going to be considered the de facto leader of conservative thought in America, why isn’t he being challenged on his use of what Boehlert calls “his radical and outrageous rhetoric.… He went to a place that previously was considered unconscionable and unpardonable by the press.… Why isn’t Limbaugh uniformly condemned for his words?”
Accusations of Racism, Racist Pronouncements - And Limbaugh is merely one of many. Fox News commentator Glenn Beck recently accused Obama of being a “racist” and having a “deep-seated hatred of white people” (see July 28-29, 2009), and outside of the small number of progressive/liberal hosts on MSNBC and a few scattered notations in the press, the accusation was virtually ignored. “At the [Washington] Post, which obsesses over the intersection of the media and politics,” Boehlert writes, “the jaw-dropping attack by Fox News’s superstar host wasn’t considered newsworthy. That’s correct: Two of the most popular and powerful conservative voices in America have recently called out Obama as a Nazi and a racist.”
Legitimizing Extremism - Boehlert assigns part of the blame to journalists being “spooked by decades’ worth of ‘liberal media bias’ attacks” that drive them to “refuse to connect the glaringly obvious dots on display.” The extreme rhetorical attacks dovetail with what he calls “the town hall mini-mobs that are wreaking havoc across the country” and “the bizarre birther conspiracy theory” that insists Obama is not a US citizen, but some sort of “plant” from Kenya brought to America to bring down American democracy. “The three right-wing phenomena are all related,” he writes, “and they all revolve around a runaway hatred of Obama (as well as the federal government), and they’re all being fueled by the [conservative media operation], especially Fox News and Limbaugh, both of which no longer recognize common decency, let alone journalistic standards. Yet instead of putting Limbaugh on the receiving end of well-deserved scrutiny and scorn, rather than turning his comments into a political firestorm, the press plays dumb and actually goes out of its way to legitimize the worst offenders of the GOP’s hate brigade.” Boehlert condemns ABC News for inviting conservative blogger and columnist Michelle Malkin to take part in a discussion of health care reform “with Pulitzer Prize-winning writers.” Malkin, he writes, is a prime member of the “hate brigade,” helping push the increasingly angry and violent mob confrontations as well as exhorting readers to believe that the Democrats want to exterminate the elderly (see November 23, 2008, January 27, 2009, February 9, 2009, February 11, 2009, February 18, 2009, May 13, 2009, June 24, 2009, June 25, 2009, July 10, 2009, July 16, 2009, July 17, 2009, July 21, 2009, July 23, 2009, July 23, 2009, July 23, 2009, July 23-24, 2009, July 24, 2009, July 28, 2009, July 28, 2009, July 28, 2009, July 31, 2009 - August 12, 2009, August 7, 2009, and August 10, 2009). The New Yorker recently praised Michael Savage, who routinely attacks women, gays, liberals, and minorities with the worst rhetorical excess (see January 10, 2008, February 1, 2008, February 21, 2008, March 13, 2008, April 3, 2008, June 6, 2008, June 6, 2008, August 25, 2008, October 8-10, 2008, October 21, 2008, October 22, 2008, November 10, 2008, and November 18, 2008), calling him “fun” and “addictive.”
Comparing the Statistics - Boehlert notes that in January 2004, the Indianapolis Star published five letters to the editor about the MoveOn controversy. To date, it has not published a single letter about Limbaugh’s Nazi accusations towards Obama or Democrats. In January 2004, 28 of the nation’s largest newspapers published a total of 54 stories, articles, or letters about the MoveOn controversy. To date, that group has published a combined total of six stories about Limbaugh’s Nazi allegations. No paper has printed more than one story on the topic. In January 2004, the MoveOn-Nazi story garnered 300 percent more airtime on CNN than the Limbaugh-Nazi story has received. [Media Matters, 8/11/2009]
Entity Tags: Indianapolis Star, Glenn Beck, Eric Boehlert, Barack Obama, ABC News, Washington Post, Rush Limbaugh, MoveOn (.org), Obama administration, Michael Savage, Media Matters, MSNBC, Fox News, New Yorker, Republican Party, Michelle Malkin
Timeline Tags: Domestic Propaganda, 2008 Elections, 2010 Elections
September 2, 2009: Conservative Radio Host: Obama Wants Version of ‘Hitler Youth’ to Accomplish ‘Total Dictatorship’ in US
Michael Savage, a conservative radio host, tells his listeners that President Obama wants to have an “Obama Youth” program similar to the Nazi’s “Hitler Youth.” Referring to a speech Obama is preparing that is aimed at schoolchildren (which Savage falsely claims Obama “is going to force” children to listen to), Savage says “every dictator” such as Adolf Hitler, Cuba’s Raul and Fidel Castro, and others have routinely attempted to “brainwash” their young citizens by making speeches to them. “[Y]ou gotta hand it to dictators,” Savage says, “they see the future. That once they seize total power, they need a generation that loves them. Hitler had the Hitler Youth, and Obama would like to have the Obama Youth. Now he can’t create the Obama Youth Corps overnight, but he can certainly address the schoolchildren of America as a captive audience and sell them on fraudulent ideas such as global warming, health care for all, higher taxation for the pig rich, and things of this nature, and that’s what happens under a dictatorship, things of this nature.” [Media Matters, 9/3/2009] Obama will give the speech on September 8; it contains non-controversial reminders for schoolchildren to “stay in school” and “work hard,” and contains no references to “global warming,” “health care for all,” or taxing the “pig rich.” Schools are invited to broadcast the speech into classrooms or assemblies, but are not required to by either the White House or local school boards. After the speech, a Baltimore teacher will tell a reporter that she is disappointed that the country has “become so polarized that we believe that our president is an enemy and not our leader.” During George W. Bush’s presidency, she will say, “whether I disagreed or not, I still saw him as a leader.” [White House, 9/8/2009; CNN, 9/8/2009] Savage has called the landmark civil rights decision Brown v. Board “sickening” (see May 18, 2004), accused Obama of being educated in a radical Islamic madrassa (see January 10, 2008 and April 3, 2008) and being a potential “radical Muslim” (see February 21, 2008), called Obama’s presidential victory “the first affirmative-action election in American history” (see February 1, 2008), accused Obama of being sympathetic towards the Nazis and the Imperial Japanese of World War II (see March 13, 2008), said that homeless Americans should be put in “work camps” (see June 6, 2008), called Obama an “Afro-Leninist” (see June 6, 2008), said that welfare recipients should lose the right to vote (see October 22, 2008), accused Obama of using his grandmother’s death to conceal his “efforts” to falsify his Hawaiian birth certificate (see November 10, 2008), accused Obama of planning to fire all the “competent white men” in government once he became president (see November 18, 2008), and called Obama a “dictator” (see March 4-6, 2009).
Entity Tags: Michael Savage, Barack Obama
December 3, 2009: Conservative Radio Host Calls Obama ‘Mao Tse-Obama’
Michael Savage, a conservative radio host, calls President Obama “Chairman Mao Tse-Obama” in a tirade about what Savage calls Obama’s desire to become a Communist dictator. Savage makes the reference while speaking against the “Communists” who “infest” the Obama administration. [Media Matters, 12/4/2009] Savage has called the landmark civil rights decision Brown v. Board “sickening” (see May 18, 2004), accused Obama of being educated in a radical Islamic madrassa (see January 10, 2008 and April 3, 2008) and being a potential “radical Muslim” (see February 21, 2008), called Obama’s presidential victory “the first affirmative-action election in American history” (see February 1, 2008), accused Obama of being sympathetic towards the Nazis and the Imperial Japanese of World War II (see March 13, 2008), said that homeless Americans should be put in “work camps” (see June 6, 2008), called Obama an “Afro-Leninist” (see June 6, 2008), said that welfare recipients should lose the right to vote (see October 22, 2008), accused Obama of using his grandmother’s death to conceal his “efforts” to falsify his Hawaiian birth certificate (see November 10, 2008), accused Obama of planning to fire all the “competent white men” in government once he became president (see November 18, 2008), and accused Obama of desiring his own “Hitler Youth” program (see September 2, 2009).
Entity Tags: Barack Obama, Michael Savage
December 17, 2009: Conservative Host Says Obama Similar to Cambodian Dictator, Says ‘Vigilance’ All that Prevents Obama and White House ‘Terrorists’ from Launching Mass Murder Campaign
A photo of a ‘mountain of skulls’ from one of the Khmer Rouge’s ‘killing fields.’ Michael Savage argues that this could be a scene from Obama’s America. [Source: Mormon Soprano (.com)]Michael Savage, a conservative radio host, tells his listeners that President Obama is a “baby dictator” comparable to Cambodian dictator and mass murderer Pol Pot. Savage reminisces about “Communists” in San Francisco giving out copies of “the little red book,” presumably a reference to Chinese dictator Mao Zedong’s “Little Red Book,” that, Savage says, exhorted readers to kill anyone “with eyeglasses… members of the bourgeiosie… the entire middle class.” Savage tells his listeners that Pot used teenagers to carry out his orders, specifically targeting “teachers, doctors, lawyers, accountants, businessmen, businesswomen, you name it,” and others to either work in labor camps or for outright murder. “What does that have to do with Obama?” Savage asks rhetorically, and goes on to explain “why you should be very worried indeed.” Pot, a “mild-mannered college professor,” he says, “became radicalized” during his university studies in Paris, and brought an extremist Marxist ideology to Cambodia, which resulted, he says, in “a mountain of skulls.” Ideas, he says, “can be very, very powerful… ideas can also create horrors that are unimaginable to the average American. We can’t even imagine such a thing happening here, and we would say it can’t happen here. I would argue that it can happen here. And I would argue that only vigilance, only vigilance and resistance to this baby dictator and his band of terrorists can prevent this from occurring here. [Media Matters, 12/18/2009] According to a Yale University study, between 1975 and 1979, around 1.7 million Cambodians—a fifth of the nation’s population—died in what the study called “one of the worst human tragedies of the last century.… [T]he Khmer Rouge regime headed by Pol Pot combined extremist ideology with ethnic animosity and a diabolical disregard for human life to produce repression, misery, and murder on a massive scale.” In 2007, Pot, who died in 1998, was found to have committed “crimes against humanity, genocide, grave breaches of the Geneva Convention, homicide, torture, and religious persecution.” [Yale University, 2010] Savage has called the landmark civil rights decision Brown v. Board “sickening” (see May 18, 2004), accused Obama of being educated in a radical Islamic madrassa (see January 10, 2008 and April 3, 2008) and being a potential “radical Muslim” (see February 21, 2008), called Obama’s presidential victory “the first affirmative-action election in American history” (see February 1, 2008), accused Obama of being sympathetic towards the Nazis and the Imperial Japanese of World War II (see March 13, 2008), said that homeless Americans should be put in “work camps” (see June 6, 2008), called Obama an “Afro-Leninist” (see June 6, 2008), said that welfare recipients should lose the right to vote (see October 22, 2008), accused Obama of using his grandmother’s death to conceal his “efforts” to falsify his Hawaiian birth certificate (see November 10, 2008), accused Obama of planning to fire all the “competent white men” in government once he became president (see November 18, 2008), accused Obama of desiring his own “Hitler Youth” program (see September 2, 2009), and compared Obama to Chinese Communist dictator Mao Zedong (see December 3, 2009).
May 25, 2010: Conservative Radio Host Says Obama a ‘Little Mussolini’ Whose Loyalties to US Are Questionable
President Obama during his May 22, 2010 speech at West Point. [Source: Potusphere (.com)]Michael Savage, a conservative radio host, tells his listeners that President Obama does not have the right to speak to the graduating class of the Army’s United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, and calls Obama “Little Mussolini,” after the Italian fascist dictator and ally of Adolf Hitler. Savage, referring to Obama’s May 22 speech to the graduating class of cadets, says Obama “slipped and gave himself away” during his speech, calls Obama “insecure” and “terrified,” and says Obama neither had the “right” nor the “honor to speak to the cadets,” and “is not qualified to speak to the cadets.” Obama, Savage says, “overcompensate[d]” during the speech by saying, “I have absolute power in some areas.” Savage then says: “That was to show the boys and the men at West Point who their boss was. It was ‘Little Mussolini,’ ‘Junior Doc’ Obama [referring to Haitian dictators ‘Papa Doc’ and ‘Baby Doc’ Duvalier], who told them in no uncertain terms: ‘Don’t you dare think that I am not in charge. I’ll show you.’” Savage goes on to say Obama has “a woman problem” that has something to do with “the peripatic nature of his mother during his upbringing,” and questions Obama’s loyalty to the United States, asking if his loyalities “lie here [in the US] or somewhere else.… We suspect [they do] not lie here in Washington, DC.” [Media Matters, 5/25/2010] The reference to “absolute power” is a joke Obama made at the beginning of his speech. He told the cadets: “As your superintendent indicated, under our constitutional system my power as president is wisely limited. But there are some areas where my power is absolute. And so, as your commander in chief, I hereby absolve all cadets who are on restriction for minor conduct offenses. I will leave the definition of ‘minor’ to those who know better.” Obama received applause and laughter from the cadets for the wisecrack. [CBS News, 5/22/2010] Savage has called the landmark civil rights decision Brown v. Board “sickening” (see May 18, 2004), accused Obama of being educated in a radical Islamic madrassa (see January 10, 2008 and April 3, 2008) and being a potential “radical Muslim” (see February 21, 2008), called Obama’s presidential victory “the first affirmative-action election in American history” (see February 1, 2008), accused Obama of being sympathetic towards the Nazis and the Imperial Japanese of World War II (see March 13, 2008), said that homeless Americans should be put in “work camps” (see June 6, 2008), called Obama an “Afro-Leninist” (see June 6, 2008), said that welfare recipients should lose the right to vote (see October 22, 2008), accused Obama of using his grandmother’s death to conceal his “efforts” to falsify his Hawaiian birth certificate (see November 10, 2008), accused Obama of planning to fire all the “competent white men” in government once he became president (see November 18, 2008), accused Obama of desiring his own “Hitler Youth” program (see September 2, 2009), compared Obama to Chinese Communist dictator Mao Zedong (see December 3, 2009), and compared Obama to mass murderer Pol Pot (see December 17, 2009).
Entity Tags: United States Military Academy, Barack Obama, Michael Savage
April 27, 2011: Conservative Radio Host Compares Obama to Asian Mass Murderer
Michael Savage, a conservative radio host, tells his listeners that President Obama is “emotionally and intellectually” similar to Cambodian dictator and mass murderer Pol Pot. “Communists are murderers,” Savage says. “They’re not good people. Communism cost 100 million people in the last century. We have a Communist in the White House.” He asks if Obama will preside over a similar death toll, and says it is not so much what Obama will do as “what his minions will do.” He tells the story of Camobodian Pol Pot, “another nice, mild professor” who studied Marxism in Paris, went back to his country, and began “transform[ing] his nation” with socialist, Marxist-inspired “social reforms.” Pot felt his country’s “mild capitalism” was “unfair, and he wanted the rich to pay a little bit more.” His “reforms… ended up with a mountain of skulls,” Savage says. “Watch out where the rhetoric starts,” he says. “It always ends up with a mountain of skulls.” He implies that Obama, like Pot, is a murderer, but avoids the accusation outright (and gives no evidence to support the implication), saying: “It doesn’t matter whether Obama himself is a murderer. What matters is where his rhetoric can take this nation. When he starts in with the class warfare, when he starts in with ‘tax the rich,’ when he starts in with ‘it’s only fair,’ all you gotta do is look back in history, and don’t look for Hitler. Look back to Pol Pot and Cambodia. That is the closest fit I can find. And many people don’t understand how close Obama is, emotionally and intellectually, to Pol Pot.” Savage says that Pot used “14- and 15-year-old animals who wore red scarves” (the source of the moniker “Khmer Rouge”) to carry out his systematic brutality, and says Obama can easily use the “millions of unemployed youth who would gladly put on a red scarf and come to your neighborhood and put you into a slave labor camp. All they need is the right person in the White House to organize them. Be very careful indeed with your call for the redistribution of wealth and fairness. It always ends up with a mountain of skulls.” [Media Matters, 4/27/2011] According to a Yale University study, between 1975 and 1979, around 1.7 million Cambodians—a fifth of the nation’s population—died in what the study called “one of the worst human tragedies of the last century.… [T]he Khmer Rouge regime headed by Pol Pot combined extremist ideology with ethnic animosity and a diabolical disregard for human life to produce repression, misery, and murder on a massive scale.” In 2007, Pot, who died in 1998, was found to have committed “crimes against humanity, genocide, grave breaches of the Geneva Convention, homicide, torture, and religious persecution.” [Yale University, 2010] Savage has called the landmark civil rights decision Brown v. Board “sickening” (see May 18, 2004), accused Obama of being educated in a radical Islamic madrassa (see January 10, 2008 and April 3, 2008) and being a potential “radical Muslim” (see February 21, 2008), called Obama’s presidential victory “the first affirmative-action election in American history” (see February 1, 2008), accused Obama of being sympathetic towards the Nazis and the Imperial Japanese of World War II (see March 13, 2008), said that homeless Americans should be put in “work camps” (see June 6, 2008), called Obama an “Afro-Leninist” (see June 6, 2008), said that welfare recipients should lose the right to vote (see October 22, 2008), accused Obama of using his grandmother’s death to conceal his “efforts” to falsify his Hawaiian birth certificate (see November 10, 2008), accused Obama of planning to fire all the “competent white men” in government once he became president (see November 18, 2008), accused Obama of desiring his own “Hitler Youth” program (see September 2, 2009), and compared Obama to Chinese Communist dictator Mao Zedong (see December 3, 2009) and Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini (see May 25, 2010). He has compared Obama to Pol Pot before (see December 17, 2009).
April 28, 2011: Conservative Radio Host: Obama’s Release of ‘Long Form’ Birth Certificate ‘Proves’ 2012 Re-Election Campaign Will ‘Run on Race’
Conservative radio host Laura Ingraham tells her listeners that President Obama’s decision to present his “long form” birth certificate as proof of his US citizenship (see April 27, 2011) proves his 2012 re-election campaign will hinge on race. After playing a montage of audio clips from commentators accusing Obama of racism, or saying that his campaign will focus on race, she tells her audience: “It’s official. The Obama campaign is going to run on race. No? They might not say that, but let there be no misunderstanding of where this is going. This is going right to the heart of liberalism. Liberals see people, not as individuals who are capable of anything if given the opportunity, and freed up and loosened from the bonds of government regulation and bureaucratic restraints. No. They see people as a certain color, or a certain gender, or a certain sexual orientation. They have to be put in these boxes. The favorites boxes of the bean counters. Liberals have always looked at people that way. The truth about race, and this president, is not a pretty truth.… The truth about this administration and race goes right to the core of what liberalism has done to the black family, to minorities in general. The great diversion of liberalists has always been to drop the charges of racism, the spurious and the negative and the perjorative charges of racism [against conservatives], every time they are proven to be incorrect and the way they approach a problem” (see September 4, 1949, and After, March 12, 1956 and After, 1969-1971, 1978-1996, 1980, 1981, March 15, 1982, 1983, June-September 1988, 1990, September 1995, August 16, 1998, March 1-2, 2001, August 29, 2001, March 15, 2002, July 15, 2002, August 2002, September 26, 2002 and After, August 5, 2003, September 28 - October 2, 2003, May 17, 2004, May 18, 2004, October 9-13, 2004, November 15, 2004, November 26, 2004, December 5-8, 2004, December 8, 2004, May 10, 2005, September 28-October 1, 2005, September 30 - October 1, 2005, September 30, 2005, 2006, March 29, 2006, December 2006, January 19, 2007 and After, January 24, 2007, April 2007, April 2, 2007, July 22, 2007, August 21, 2007, September 22, 2008, October 8-10, 2008, October 24, 2008, January 6-11, 2008, November 10, 2008, January 25, 2008, January 31, 2008, February 1, 2008, February 28, 2008, May 19, 2008, June 2, 2008, June 6, 2008, June 26, 2008, August 1, 2008 and After, August 4, 2008, August 4, 2008, August 19, 2008, August 25, 2008, October 7, 2008, October 20, 2008, October 22, 2008, October 28, 2008, November 18, 2008, January 18, 2009, February 24-26, 2009, March 3, 2009, April 7-8, 2009, May 26, 2009, May 26, 2009, May 27, 2009, May 27-29, 2009, May 28, 2009, May 29, 2009, May 31, 2009, June 2, 2009, June 5, 2009, June 7, 2009, June 12, 2009, June 20, 2009, June 25, 2009, July 8, 2009, July 16, 2009, July 21, 2009, July 23, 2009, July 23, 2009, July 27, 2009, July 28, 2009, July 28-29, 2009, August 8, 2009, August 12, 2009, August 19, 2009, September 2009, September 14, 2009, October 13, 2009, February 25, 2010, March 20, 2010, July 14, 2010, July 15, 2010, September 11, 2010, September 12, 2010, September 12, 2010 and After, September 15, 2010, September 18, 2010, September 21, 2010, September 24, 2010, October 22-23, 2010, November 9, 2010, November 12, 2010, December 22, 2010, January 14, 2011, February 20, 2011, March 2011, March 19-24, 2011, April 1, 2011, April 5, 2011, April 14-15, 2011, April 15, 2011, April 22, 2011, April 26, 2011, April 26, 2011, April 26, 2011, April 26, 2011, April 26, 2011, April 27, 2011, April 27, 2011, April 27, 2011, April 27, 2011, April 27, 2011, April 27, 2011, and April 28, 2011). Liberals, Ingraham says, rely on racial politics, divisiveness, and “class warfare” to succeed in the political arena. “[I]n the end,” she says, “it’s kind of all they have, that and abortion.” She derides people “on the left” for attacking billionaire television host and enthusiastic “birther” Donald Trump for being racist (see April 14-15, 2011, April 26, 2011, April 27, 2011, April 27, 2011, and April 28, 2011). Any such charges, she says, are ridiculous. But those charges will be used by anyone who criticizes Trump for his challenge to Obama’s citizenship, she predicts, and cites Trump’s recent exhortation for Obama to “get off the basketball court” and focus on national issues as an example of an unfair charge of racism (see April 27, 2011). “And the very thing the left always starts to accuse the right of is what they are most guilty of,” she says. [Media Matters, 4/28/2011] Ingraham has had her own issues with racism and gender (see 1984, April 1997, and July 17, 2009).
Entity Tags: Barack Obama, Laura Ingraham, Donald Trump
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Home » Context of 'Between July 9 and July 16, 2001: 9/11 Hijacker Atta and Associate Bin Al-Shibh Discuss Targeting a Nuclear Plant'
Context of 'Between July 9 and July 16, 2001: 9/11 Hijacker Atta and Associate Bin Al-Shibh Discuss Targeting a Nuclear Plant'
This is a scalable context timeline. It contains events related to the event Between July 9 and July 16, 2001: 9/11 Hijacker Atta and Associate Bin Al-Shibh Discuss Targeting a Nuclear Plant. You can narrow or broaden the context of this timeline by adjusting the zoom level. The lower the scale, the more relevant the items on average will be, while the higher the scale, the less relevant the items, on average, will be.
July 8-19, 2001: 9/11 Hijacker Atta Meets Associate Bin Al-Shibh and Possibly Others in Spain to Finalize Attack Plans
Some al-Qaeda operatives hold a meeting in northern Spain to finalize plans for the 9/11 attacks. Those allegedly present are listed below. The first two operatives listed are definitely present; it is less certain that the others are there:
Future 9/11 hijacker Mohamed Atta. [El Mundo (Madrid), 9/30/2001]
Ramzi bin al-Shibh, an associate of Atta from Hamburg, arrives in Spain on July 9, and stays until July 16. Spanish authorities are notified of his arrival in the country by German intelligence (see (Around July 9, 2001)). [New York Times, 5/1/2002]
Some reports say that 9/11 hijacker Marwan Alshehhi attends, although if he does, he may use a false identity, as US immigration has no records of his departure or return. [El Mundo (Madrid), 9/30/2001; US Department of Justice, 5/20/2002]
The Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia will later report that 9/11 hijackers Waleed and Wail Alshehri meet Atta on July 16. [Associated Press, 9/27/2001] However, there will be no mention of them attending the meeting in some other accounts. For example, their attendance will not be mentioned in the relevant section of the 9/11 Commission Report. [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 243-5]
Amer el-Azizi. [Wall Street Journal, 4/7/2004; Associated Press, 1/23/2005] El-Azizi, who seems to have made preparations for the meeting, is under surveillance at this time, as Spanish authorities are listening in on his phone calls. [Wall Street Journal, 3/19/2004] Calls possibly related to the meeting’s organization were overheard (see Before July 8, 2001). [Los Angeles Times, 4/14/2004; Los Angeles Times, 4/29/2004] Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon will later indict el-Azizi for helping plan 9/11 and say that he assisted the plotters by arranging accommodation for them and acting as a courier. However, US officials will be less certain of his involvement. [Associated Press, 1/23/2005] His arrest shortly after 9/11 will be frustrated by Spanish intelligence (see October 2001 and Shortly After November 21, 2001) and he will go on to be involved in the 2004 Madrid bombings (see Before March 11, 2004 and 7:37-7:42 a.m., March 11, 2004).
Barakat Yarkas, head of an al-Qaeda-linked cell in Spain. [New York Times, 11/20/2001; Los Angeles Times, 1/14/2003]
Mohammed Belfatmi. Belfatmi is an associate of Yarkas, and lives near the hotels where Atta and bin al-Shibh stay. He will flee Europe just before 9/11 with Said Bahaji, a member of the al-Qaeda cell in Hamburg (see September 3-5, 2001). [Los Angeles Times, 1/14/2003; BBC Worldwide Monitoring, 12/2/2004]
Mamoun Darkazanli and Mohammed Haydar Zammar, associates of Atta’s from Germany.
Al Jazeera reporter Tayseer Allouni.
Said Bahaji, a member of the al-Qaeda cell in Hamburg. According to Spanish investigators, Bahaji is with Atta the entire time, and they both stay at the Monica Hotel. [Fouda and Fielding, 2003, pp. 137]
9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM). In 2002, Al Jazeera journalist Yosri Fouda will allegedly interview bin al-Shibh and KSM together before either of them are arrested (see April, June, or August 2002). Neither bin al-Shibh nor KSM will discuss any details of the meeting with Fouda, including who attended. KSM will neither confirm nor deny he was there. However, in a 2003 book, Fouda will claim that, according to Spanish investigators, the initial attendees are Atta, bin al-Shibh, Bahaji, and a fourth man who might be KSM. They are later joined by Alshehhi and two unnamed others. [Fouda and Fielding, 2003, pp. 137]
However, there is a parallel meeting in Granada, in the south of Spain, at this time, and Yarkas, Darkazanli, Zammar, and Allouni may only be at that meeting, and may not meet Atta and bin al-Shibh in person (see July 6, 2001 and Shortly After). [New York Times, 11/20/2001; Los Angeles Times, 1/14/2003] After being captured, bin al-Shibh will deny meeting anyone other than Atta while in Spain. [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 243-5] However, questions will be raised about the quality of information obtained from detainees due to the methods—including torture—used to extract it (see June 16, 2004). The movements of Atta and his associates in Spain are apparently mirrored by those of FBI agents John O’Neill and Mark Rossini (see July 5-16, 2001).
Entity Tags: Mamoun Darkazanli, Wail Alshehri, Marwan Alshehhi, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Mohamed Atta, Mohammed Haydar Zammar, Amer el-Azizi, Yosri Fouda, Mohammed Belfatmi, Tayseer Allouni, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Said Bahaji, Barakat Yarkas
Between July 9 and July 16, 2001: 9/11 Hijacker Atta and Associate Bin Al-Shibh Discuss Targeting a Nuclear Plant
Indian Point nuclear power plant. [Source: New York Power Authority]According to the 9/11 Commission, during their meeting in Spain where they discuss the looming attacks (see July 8-19, 2001), 9/11 hijacker Mohamed Atta tells would-be hijacker Ramzi Bin al-Shibh he has considered targeting a nuclear facility he saw during familiarization flights near New York. This is presumably Indian Point, which is about 30 miles north of NYC. [New York Times, 4/4/2002] Flight 11, which Atta pilots on 9/11, passes directly over Indian Point minutes before hitting the WTC (see 8:39 a.m. September 11, 2001). However, “the other pilots did not like the idea. They thought a nuclear target would be difficult because the airspace around it was restricted, making reconnaissance flights impossible and increasing the likelihood that any plane would be shot down before impact.… Nor would a nuclear facility have particular symbolic value.” [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 245] Also, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the 9/11 “mastermind,” supposedly later tells his US interrogators he originally planned ten hijackings, with the additional targets including nuclear power plants. [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 154] In 2002, Mohammed will reportedly tell an Al Jazeera reporter he’d thought of hitting a couple of nuclear facilities on 9/11, but decided not to, “for fear it would go out of control.”(see April, June, or August 2002) Although the 9/11 hijackers had dismissed the idea, in January 2002 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will send a memo to power plants around the US, based upon information from the FBI, warning that al-Qaeda has planned a second airline attack, which would involve flying a commercial aircraft into a nuclear plant. [CNN, 1/31/2002] Also that month, in his State of the Union speech, President Bush will say US soldiers in Afghanistan have discovered diagrams of American nuclear power plants there. [US President, 2/4/2002]
Entity Tags: George W. Bush, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Mohamed Atta
8:39 a.m. September 11, 2001: Flight 11 Flies Over Nuclear Power Station
While flying south along the Hudson River, Flight 11 passes almost directly over the Indian Point nuclear power plant in Buchanan, NY, about 30 miles north of New York City. [New York Times, 4/4/2002; Bergen Record, 4/7/2002] The New Yorker will later comment, “An attack on a nuclear power plant would seem to fulfill, almost perfectly, al-Qaeda’s objective of using America’s technology against it,” and the New York Times will report, “Everyone within at least a 50-mile radius would be in danger if something terrible happened at Indian Point. That 50-mile radius contains more than 7 percent of the entire population of the United States—20 million people.” [New York Times, 4/4/2002; New Yorker, 2/24/2003] Mohamed Atta supposedly earlier considered targeting a nuclear facility on 9/11, but the other suicide pilots did not like the idea (see Between July 9 and July 16, 2001).
Entity Tags: Mohamed Atta
April, June, or August 2002: Al Jazeera Reporter Claims to Conduct Interview with 9/11 Masterminds
Ramzi bin al-Shibh. [Source: FBI]It is originally reported that Al Jazeera reporter Yosri Fouda interviews 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM) and 9/11 associate Ramzi Bin al-Shibh at a secret location in Karachi, Pakistan, in either June [London Times, 9/8/2002] or August. [Guardian, 9/9/2002] Details and audio footage of the interview come out between September 8 and 12, 2002. The video footage of the interview al-Qaeda promised to hand over is never given to Al Jazeera. [Associated Press, 9/8/2002] Both figures claim the 9/11 attacks were originally going to target nuclear reactors, but “decided against it for fear it would go out of control.” Interviewer Fouda is struck that KSM and bin al-Shibh remember only the hijackers’ code names, and have trouble remembering their real names. [Australian, 9/9/2002] KSM, who calls himself the head of al-Qaeda’s military committee and refers to bin al-Shibh as the coordinator of the “Holy Tuesday” operation, reportedly acknowledges “[a]nd, yes, we did it.” [Fouda and Fielding, 2003, pp. 38] These interviews “are the first full admission by senior figures from bin Laden’s network that they carried out the September 11 attacks.” [London Times, 9/8/2002] Some, however, call Fouda’s claims into doubt. For example, the Financial Times states: “Analysts cited the crude editing of [Fouda’s interview] tapes and the timing of the broadcasts as reasons to be suspicious about their authenticity. Dia Rashwan, an expert on Islamist movements at the Al-Ahram Centre for Strategic Studies in Cairo, said: ‘I have very serious doubts [about the authenticity of this tape]. It could have been a script written by the FBI.’” [Financial Times, 9/11/2002] KSM is later variously reported to be arrested in June 2002, killed or arrested in September 2002, and then arrested in March 2003. After this last arrest report, for the first time Fouda claims this interview took place in April, placing it safely before the first reports of KSM’s capture. [Guardian, 3/4/2003; CTV Television, 3/6/2003] Bin al-Shibh also gets captured several days after Fouda’s interview is broadcast, and some reports say he is captured because this interview allows his voice to be identified. [Observer, 9/15/2002; CBS News, 10/9/2002] As a result, Fouda has been accused of betraying al-Qaeda, and now fears for his life. [Independent, 9/17/2002] As the Washington Post states, “Now Al Jazeera is also subject to rumors of a conspiracy.” [Washington Post, 9/15/2002] Yet after being so reviled by al-Qaeda supporters, Fouda is later given a cassette said to be a bin Laden speech. [MSNBC, 11/18/2002] US officials believe the voice on that cassette is “almost certainly” bin Laden, but one of the world’s leading voice-recognition institutes said it is 95 percent certain the tape is a forgery. [BBC, 11/18/2002; BBC, 11/29/2002] It will later be revealed that details of the interview were told to the CIA in mid-June 2002, which directly resulted in bin al-Shibh’s arrest a few months later (see June 14, 2002 and Shortly After).
Entity Tags: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Osama bin Laden, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Al-Qaeda, Yosri Fouda, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
Late July, 2003: Mock Terrorist Attack on Nuclear Plant Called Unrealistic, Inadequate
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announces that security forces at the Indian Point nuclear plant, in upstate New York, have thwarted a mock terrorist attack. The mock attack was held under quite different circumstances from a possible real strike by terrorists: the guards were told exactly what date the mock attack would be held on, the mock terrorists were required to attack during daylight hours, and the number of attackers was limited to three. [Carter, 2004, pp. 18-19] Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY) calls the drill inadequate. Lowey asks: “Were guards required to defend against airborne and water-based threats, two of Indian Point’s greatest vulnerabilities? Why does poor performance in these drills carry no penalties? Our nuclear facilities must be protected by top-notch security forces that undergo regular, rigorous exercises that reflect the real-world terrorist threats we face today” (see Between July 9 and July 16, 2001). Alex Matthiessen, the director of the environmental organization Riverkeeper, agrees with Lowey: “When the NRC conducts a drill that tests post-9/11 terrorist scenarios and when they allow truly independent observers and experts to observe the drill, only then will I begin to believe that Indian Point’s security is robust or adequate. At this point the NRC has no credibility with the public, having just rubber-stamped a patently flawed emergency plan.” A spokesman for Entergy, the corporation that owns and operates the plant, calls the mock attack “rigorous and realistic.” [New York Times, 8/12/2003]
Entity Tags: Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Alex Matthiessen, Entergy, Nita Lowey, Riverkeeper
August 4, 2004: Nuclear Regulatory Commission Decides Not to Inform Public of Nuclear Plants Failing Security Tests
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announces that it will no longer inform the public as to which nuclear energy plants have passed, or failed, security tests. The NRC claims the new restrictions are to keep potentially harmful information out of terrorist hands (see Between July 9 and July 16, 2001); critics argue the policy prevents the public from pressuring corporate executives to keep their plants safe (see Late July, 2003). Soon afterward, the NRC will move to withdraw large amounts of unclassified information, previously available to the public, from public view. Agency spokeswoman Sue Gagner will say that the move is to ensure that “information that could be helpful to a terrorist” is not available, but the upshot of both decisions is that only officials employed by the nuclear industry can discuss regulatory and security changes—public citizens and watchdog organizations no longer have the information required to pursue such issues. [Savage, 2007, pp. 103]
Entity Tags: Sue Gagner, Nuclear Regulatory Commission
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Home » Context of '1993 and After: Milan Mosque Is ‘Main Al-Qaeda Station House in Europe’'
Context of '1993 and After: Milan Mosque Is ‘Main Al-Qaeda Station House in Europe’'
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February 1946 and After: Fraudulent ‘Communist Rules for Revolution’ Published, Used to Argue against Gun Control, Sex Education, Other Ideas
The New World News, a British Moral Rearmament publication, prints what it calls the “Communist Rules for Revolution,” claiming that the “rules” were captured during a raid on a German Communist organization’s headquarters in Dusseldorf in 1919 by Allied forces during World War I, and published in the Bartlesville, Oklahoma (US) Examiner-Enterprise that same year. In 1946, the NWN writes, the attorney general of Florida, George A. Brautigam, obtained them from a known member of the Communist Party, who told him that the “Rules” were then still a part of the Communist program for the United States. According to the NWN, the “Rules” are as follows:
Corrupt the young; get them away from religion. Get them interested in sex. Make them superficial; destroy their ruggedness.
Get control of all means of publicity, thereby:
Get people’s minds off their government by focusing their attention on athletics, sexy books, plays, and immoral movies.
Divide the people into hostile groups by constantly harping on controversial matters of no importance.
Destroy the people’s faith in their natural leaders by holding the latter up to contempt, ridicule, and obloquy.
Always preach true democracy, but seize power as fast and as ruthlessly as possible.
By encouraging government extravagance, destroy its credit, produce years of inflation with rising prices and general discontent.
Incite unnecessary strikes in vital industries, encourage civil disorders, and foster a lenient and soft attitude on the part of government toward such disorders.
Cause breakdown of the old moral values—honesty, sobriety, self-restraint, faith in the pledged word, ruggedness.
Cause the registration of all firearms on some pretext, with a view to confiscating them and leaving the populace helpless.
The “Rules” are a hoax invented by NWN writers: there was no German Communist “Spartacist” headquarters in Dusseldorf, the Examiner-Enterprise never published such a document, and Russian experts at the University of Chicago will label them an “obvious fraud,” “an obvious fabrication,” and “an implausible concoction of American fears and phobias.” In 1970, the New York Times will investigate the document; no copies of it exist in the National Archives, the Library of Congress, or any of the university libraries it examines. Montana Senator Lee Metcalf (D-MT) will look into the document’s existence around the same time, and will learn that both the FBI and CIA have already investigated it and found it to be “completely spurious.” (Brautigam did endorse the “Rules,” and his statement and signature avowing the legitimacy of the “Rules” will give the document a veneer of legitimacy.) However, the “Rules” will continue to be used to claim that Communists are for a number of ideas unpopular among European and American conservatives, most frequently gun control and sex education. The National Rifle Association is one organization that frequently cites the “Rules” in its arguments against gun-control legislation, citing the Communists’ “secret plans” to “confiscate” Americans’ guns and thus “leav[e] the populace helpless.” American and British lawmakers regularly receive copies of the “Rules” in letters and faxes citing their opposition to gun control, sex education, support for labor, or other “Communist” ideals or entities. In 1992, University of Oklahoma political science professor John George and his co-author Laird Wilcox will write in their book Nazis, Communists, Klansmen, and Others on the Fringe, “Widely distributed since the mid-forties, the ‘rules’ have been trundled out at various times when they ‘fit’ or ‘explain’ the issues of the day, especially to argue against firearms control and sex education.” In April 1996, George will say: “These people [meaning far-right American extremists] would love for the document to be real. But it has been exposed again and again as a phony.” Folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand will write: “The rules have to do with dividing people into hostile groups, encouraging government extravagance, and fomenting unnecessary ‘strikes’ in vital industries. What we have lost, the list suggests, is a world without dissent, budget deficits, inflation, and labor unrest. I just can’t remember any such Golden Age.” [Stickney, 1996, pp. xx; Free Inquiry, 1999; Rosa Luxemburg, 2003; Snopes (.com), 7/10/2007]
Entity Tags: George A. Brautigam, John George, Jan Harold Brunvand, Lee Metcalf, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, National Rifle Association, University of Chicago, Laird Wilcox, New York Times, New World News
1947: Japanese Soldier Who Waterboarded US Civilian Convicted of War Crime
In the aftermath of World War II, Japanese officer Yukio Asano is charged by a US war crimes tribunal for torturing a US civilian. Asano had used the technique of “waterboarding” on the prisoner (see 1800 and After). The civilian was strapped to a stretcher with his feet in the air and head towards the floor, and water was poured over his face, causing him to gasp for air until he agreed to talk. Asano is convicted and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. Other Japanese officers and soldiers are also tried and convicted of war crimes that include waterboarding US prisoners. “All of these trials elicited compelling descriptions of water torture from its victims, and resulted in severe punishment for its perpetrators,” reporter Evan Wallach will later write. In 2006, Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), discussing allegations of US waterboarding of terror suspects, will say in regards to the Asano case, “We punished people with 15 years of hard labor when waterboarding was used against Americans in World War II.” [Washington Post, 10/5/2006; National Public Radio, 11/3/2007]
Entity Tags: Yukio Asano, Evan Wallach, Edward M. (“Ted”) Kennedy
Timeline Tags: Torture of US Captives
October 6, 1948: B-29 Crashes in Georgia; Subsequent Lawsuit Becomes Focus of Government’s ‘State Secrets Privilege’ Assertion
A B-29 bomber similar to the one that crashed in Georgia. [Source: Global Security (.org)]A test flight for the Air Force’s Project Banshee, located at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia, is set for 8:30 a.m. Banshee is an attempt begun in 1946 to develop and deploy a long-range missile ahead of both the Soviet Union and rival US military branches. The airplane used in the test flight crashes less than an hour into its flight, killing 9 of the 13 aboard.
Maintenance Problems - The plane assigned for the flight is a B-29 Stratofortress, a bomber made famous by its delivery of the atomic bombs to Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II. B-29s are notoriously difficult to fly and maintain: their four wing-mounted engines almost routinely overheat and catch fire, causing engine shutdowns, sudden drops in altitude, and, often, crashes. The engines’ eighteen cylinders lack sufficient airflow to keep them cool, and the overheating often causes the crankcases, made of light but highly flammable magnesium, to burst into flames. Like so many of its brethren, the plane has suffered its share of maintenance issues, and is flying without numerous recommended maintenance and repair tasks being performed. Just five days before, it had been designated “red cross”—grounded and unfit for service. It was allowed to fly through an “exceptional release” signed by the squadron commander.
Crew Difficulties - The flight is moved back to the afternoon after some crew members fail to show up on time, and to allow last-minute repairs to be made. By takeoff, the flight crew is assembled: Captain Ralph Erwin; co-pilot Herbert W. Moore; flight engineer Earl Murrhee; First Lieutenant Lawrence Pence, Jr, the navigator; Sergeant Walter Peny, the left scanner; Sergeant Jack York, the right scanner; Sergeant Melvin Walker, the radio operator; and Sergeant Derwood Irvin, manning the bombsight and autopilot. The crew is joined by civilian engineers assigned to Banshee: Al Palya and Robert Reynolds from RCA, William Brauner and Eugene Mechler from the Franklin Institute, and Richard Cox from the Air Force’s Air Materiel Command. In violation of standard procedure, none of the crew or the civilians are briefed on emergency procedures, though Murrhee will later say that the crew were all familiar with the procedures; he is not so sure about the civilians, though he knows Palya and Reynolds have flown numerous test flights before. In another violation of Air Force regulations, none of the flight crew have worked together before. As author Barry Siegel will note in 2008, “The pilot, copilot, and engineer had never shared the same cockpit before.”
Engine Fire and Crash - Less than an hour into the flight, one engine catches fire and two others lose power, due to a combination of maintenance failures and pilot errors. The civilians have some difficulty getting into their parachutes as Erwin and Moore attempt to regain control of the aircraft. Four of the crew and civilians manage to parachute from the plane, but most remain on board as the airplane spirals into the ground on the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp, near Waycross, Georgia. Crew members Moore, Murrhee, and Peny survive, as does a single civilian, Mechler. Four others either jump at too low an altitude or die when their chutes foul the airplane; the other five never manage to leave the plane and die on impact.
Widows File Suit - Several of the civilians’ widows will file suit against the US Air Force, asserting that their husbands died because of Air Force negligence (see June 21, 1949). Their lawsuit will eventually become US v. Reynolds, a landmark Supreme Court case and the underpinning for the government’s claims of state secrets privilege (see March 9, 1953). [Siegel, 2008, pp. 3, 14-17, 33-49]
Entity Tags: Derwood Irvin, Barry Siegel, US Department of the Air Force, Walter Peny, William Brauner, Air Materiel Command, Richard Cox, Ralph Erwin, Robert Reynolds, Al Palya, Radio Corporation of America, Eugene Mechler, Earl Murrhee, Franklin Institute, Project Banshee, Melvin Walker, Lawrence Pence, Jr, Herbert W. Moore, Jr, Jack York
1950s: The First Zippe-Type Centrifuge is Produced
The first “Zippe-type” gas centrifuge, named after one of its main developers, German scientist Gernot Zippe, is produced. The centrifuge uses duralumin rotors. Centrifuge rotors are thin-walled tubes that spin at high speeds producing enriched uranium 235. Centrifuge rotors are highly sensitive and must be made from specialized high-strength material. [Albright, 10/9/2003]
Entity Tags: Gernot Zippe
1951-1967: Building Contractor Becomes Anti-Tax Protester, Hero to ‘Tax Protest Movement’
Arthur Porth, a Wichita, Kansas, building contractor, files a claim in a Kansas court to recover his income tax payment of $151. Porth argues that the 16th Amendment is unconstitutional because it places the taxpayer in a position of involuntary servitude contrary to the 13th Amendment. The court rules against Porth, but the defeat does not stop him. For 16 years Porth continues battling the income tax requirement, finding new and inventive challenges to the practice. He claims that the 16th Amendment “put[s] Americans into economic bondage to the international bankers,” a claim that the Southern Poverty Law Center will call “a thinly veiled anti-Semitic reference to the supposed ‘international Jewish banking conspiracy.’” He also argues that because paper money is not backed by gold or silver, taxpayers are not obligated to pay their taxes because “Federal Reserve notes are not dollars.” In 1961, Porth files an income tax return that is blank except for a statement declaring that he is pleading the Fifth Amendment, essentially claiming that filling out a tax return violates his right of protection from self-incrimination, a scheme that quickly becomes popular among anti-tax protesters. Porth becomes an activist and garners something of a following among right-wing audiences, traveling around the country distributing tax protest literature that includes a book, A Manual for Those Who Think That They Must Pay an Income Tax. He even issues his own “arrest warrants” against “bureaucrats” whom, in his view, violate the Constitution. In 1967, Porth is convicted of a number of tax evasion charges, but, as the Anti-Defamation League will later write, “he had already become a grass-roots hero to the nascent tax protest movement.” His cause is championed by, among others, William Potter Gale, who will go on to found the racist, anti-government Posse Comitatus movement (see 1969). Gale uses the newsletter of his Ministry of Christ Church, a church espousing the racist and anti-Semitic theology of Christian Identity (see 1960s and After), to promote Porth and the early tax rebellion movement. Porth exhausts his appeals and goes to jail; though sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, he only serves 77 days. One of Porth’s most active followers is his lawyer, Jerome Daly, whose activism eventually leads to his disbarment (see December 9, 1968 and After). Daly meets Porth in 1965 and files his own “protest” tax return just days before Porth is indicted by a grand jury. Daly is also convicted of tax evasion; in 1969, a federal appeals court will issue a ruling invalidating what has by then become known as the “Porth-Daly Fifth Amendment Return.” Porth receives the support of several far-right organizations, many of whom tie their racist views into his anti-tax protests. In a 1967 article for the far-right American Mercury magazine, tax protester and editor Martin A. Larson writes, “The negroes in the United States are increasing at a rate at least twice as great as the rest of the population,” and warns that the tax burden posed by blacks “unquestionably doomed… the American way of life.” Larson will later write regular columns for the white supremacist magazine The Spotlight, in which he will call black women prostitutes whose “offspring run wild in the streets, free to forage their food in garbage cans, and grow up to become permanent reliefers, criminals, rioters, looters, and, in turn, breeders of huge litters of additional human beings belonging to the same category.” He will also write several books promoting Porth’s anti-tax protest strategies. [Southern Poverty Law Center, 12/2001; Anti-Defamation League, 2011]
Entity Tags: William Potter Gale, Arthur Porth, Jerome Daly, Martin A. Larson, Southern Poverty Law Center, US Federal Reserve
Timeline Tags: Domestic Propaganda, US Domestic Terrorism
December 11, 1951: Appeals Court Rules that Executive Branch Cannot Overrule Judiciary in Claims of Privilege
A three-judge federal appeals court unanimously rejects the government’s claim of unfettered executive privilege and secrecy in regards to classified documents (see October 19, 1951). In an opinion written by Judge Albert Maris, the court finds that the government’s claim that the judiciary can never compel the executive branch to turn over classified documents to be without legal merit. The plaintiffs in the case, three widows who lost their husbands in the crash of a B-29 bomber carrying classified materials (see June 21, 1949), had a compelling need for the documents in question, the downed B-29 accident reports, to further their case, Maris writes (see October 12, 1950).
No Legal Basis for Claim of Privilege - Maris goes further than the parameters of the single lawsuit, writing: “[W]e regard the recognition of such a sweeping privilege… as contrary to a sound public policy. The present cases themselves indicate the breadth of the claim of immunity from disclosure which one government department head has already made. It is but a small step to assert a privilege against any disclosure of records merely because they might prove embarrassing to government officials. Indeed, it requires no great flight of imagination to realize that if the government’s contentions in these cases were affirmed, the privilege against disclosure might gradually be enlarged… until as is the case in some nations today, it embraced the whole range of government activities.… We need to recall in this connection the words of [Revolution-era jurist] Edward Livingston: ‘No nation ever yet found any inconvenience from too close an inspection into the conduct of its officers, but many have been brought to ruin, and reduced to slavery, by suffering gradual imposition and abuses, which were imperceptible, only because the means of publicity had not been secured.’” He also quotes Revolutionary War figure Patrick Henry, who said, “[T]o cover with the veil of secrecy the common routine of business is an abomination in the eyes of every intelligent man and every friend to his country.”
Rejecting Claim of 'State Secrets' - Maris is even less respectful of the government’s claim of a “state secrets” privilege. He notes that the government did not make that claim until well into the lawsuit proceedings (see October 19, 1951), indicating that it was a “fallback” argument used after the original government arguments had failed. Maris is also troubled, as author Barry Siegel later writes, in the government’s “assertion of unilateral executive power, free from judicial review, to decide what qualified as secret.” The lower court judge’s ruling that he alone should be given the documents for review adequately protected the government’s security interests, Maris writes: “[But] the government contends that it is within the sole province of the secretary of the Air Force to determine whether any privileged material is contained in the documents and that his determination of this question must be accepted by the district court without any independent consideration.… We cannot accede to this proposition. On the contrary, we are satisfied that a claim of privilege against disclosing evidence… involves a justiciable question, traditionally within the competence of the courts.… To hold that the head of an executive department of the government in a [law]suit to which the United States is a party may conclusively determine the government’s claim of privilege is to abdicate the judicial function to infringe the independent province of the judiciary as laid down by the Constitution.”
Fundamental Principle of Checks and Balances - Maris continues: “The government of the United States is one of checks and balances. One of the principal checks is furnished by the independent judiciary which the Constitution established. Neither the executive nor the legislative branch of the government may constitutionally encroach upon the field which the Constitution has reserved for the judiciary.… Nor is there any danger to the public interest in submitting the question of privilege to the decision of the courts. The judges of the United States are public officers whose responsibilities under the Constitution is just as great as that of the heads of the executive departments.”
Government Appeal - The Justice Department will appeal the ruling to the US Supreme Court (see March 1952 and March 9, 1953). [Siegel, 2008, pp. 153-156]
Entity Tags: Albert Maris, US Department of Justice, Barry Siegel, US Supreme Court
October 21, 1952: Supreme Court Hears Opening Arguments in ‘US v Reynolds’
Lawyers make their opening arguments before the Supreme Court in the case of US v Reynolds, the lawsuit that finds the government had no overarching right to unilaterally refuse to deliver classified documents in the course of a wrongful death lawsuit against the government (see December 11, 1951). The government has appealed the appellate court ruling to the Supreme Court (see March 1952). Because four of the nine justices had voted not to hear the case—in essence to let the appellate court ruling stand—the defense is cautiously optimistic about the Court’s decision.
Judiciary Has No Right to Interfere with Powers of the Executive, Government Argues - Acting Solicitor General Robert Stern tells the Court that the appellate judges’ decision, written by Judge Albert Maris, “is an unwarranted interference with the powers of the executive,” and that the decision forced the government to choose “whether to disclose public documents contrary to the public interest [or] to suffer the public treasury to be penalized” (a reference to the decision to award the plaintiffs monetary damages—see October 12, 1950). The judiciary “lack[s] power to compel disclosure by means of a direct demand [as well as] by the indirect method of an order against the United States, resulting in judgment when compliance is not forthcoming.”
Executive Has No Right to Unilaterally Withhold Information, Defense Counters - Stern’s arguments are countered by those of the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Charles Biddle, who writes, “We could rest our case with confidence on the clear opinion of Judge Maris,” but continues by arguing that if the government asserts a claim of executive privilege on the basis of national security, it must make the documents available to the Court for adjudication, or at least provide enough information for the Court to judge whether the documents present in fact a threat to national security if disclosed. This is particularly true, Biddle argues, “where there is no showing that the documents in question contain any military secret” (Biddle is unaware that the documents’ classification status had been reduced two years before—see September 14, 1950). “The basic question here is whether those in charge of the various departments of the government may refuse to produce documents properly demanded… in a case where the government is a party (see June 21, 1949), simply because the officials themselves think it would be better to keep them secret, and this without the Courts having any power to question the propriety of such decision.… In other words, say the officials, we will tell you only what we think it is in the public interest that you should know. And furthermore, we may withhold information not only about military or diplomatic secrets, but we may also suppress documents which concern merely the operation of the particular department if we believe it would be best, for purposes of efficiency or morale, that no one outside of the department, not even the Court, should see them.”
No Basis for Claims of Military Secrets - Biddle argues that because of responses he has received to his demands over the course of this lawsuit, he is relatively sure there are no military secrets contained within them. “[T]he proof is to the contrary,” he says, and goes on to say that had the Air Force disclosed from the outset that the plane crash, the fatal accident that sparked the original lawsuit (see October 6, 1948), was probably caused by pilot error and not by random chance, the plaintiffs may have never needed to ask for the disclosure of the documents in question, the accident reports on the crash (see October 18, 1948). “The secretary [of the Air Force]‘s formal claim of privilege said that the plane at the time was engaged in a secret mission and that it carried confidential equipment,” Biddle says, “but nowhere was it asserted that either had anything to do with the accident. The whole purpose of the demand by the respondents was for the purpose of finding out what caused the accident.… They were not in the least interested in the secret mission or equipment.” [Siegel, 2008, pp. 165-170]
Entity Tags: US Supreme Court, Albert Maris, Robert Stern, US Department of the Air Force, Charles Biddle
October 25, 1952: Supreme Court Justices Lean towards Affirming Executive Powers in ‘US v Reynolds’
In their regular Saturday conference, the nine Supreme Court justices discuss the issues and arguments surrounding US v Reynolds (see October 21, 1952). According to the notes from the discussion, Chief Justice Fred Vinson, a strong advocate for expansive executive powers (see March 1952), says the case “boils down to Executive Branch determine privilege.” Other notes by Justice William O. Douglas suggest that Vinson isn’t convinced that the US must “be forced to pay for exercising its privilege” (see October 12, 1950). A straw vote taken at the end of the discussion shows five justices in favor of the government’s position to unilaterally withhold classified documents—overturning the appellate court decision (see December 11, 1951), and four in favor of allowing the decision to stand. [Siegel, 2008, pp. 171]
Entity Tags: Fred Vinson, US Supreme Court, William O. Douglas
March 9, 1953: Supreme Court Creates ‘State Secrets’ Privilege in Ruling
Chief Justice Fred Vinson. [Source: Kansas State Historical Society]The US Supreme Court upholds the power of the federal government’s executive branch to withhold documents from a civil suit on the basis of executive privilege and national security (see October 25, 1952). The case, US v Reynolds, overturns an appellate court decision that found against the government (see December 11, 1951). Originally split 5-4 on the decision, the Court goes to 6-3 when Justice William O. Douglas joins the majority. The three dissenters, Justices Hugo Black, Felix Frankfurter, and Robert Jackson, refuse to write a dissenting opinion, instead adopting the decision of the appellate court as their dissent.
'State Secrets' a Valid Reason for Keeping Documents out of Judicial, Public Eye - Chief Justice Fred Vinson writes the majority opinion. Vinson refuses to grant the executive branch the near-unlimited power to withhold documents from judicial review, as the government’s arguments before the court implied (see October 21, 1952), but instead finds what he calls a “narrower ground for defense” in the Tort Claims Act, which compels the production of documents before a court only if they are designated “not privileged.” The government’s claim of privilege in the Reynolds case was valid, Vinson writes. But the ruling goes farther; Vinson upholds the claim of “state secrets” as a reason for withholding documents from judicial review or public scrutiny. In 2008, author Barry Siegel will write: “In truth, only now was the Supreme Court formally recognizing the privilege, giving the government the precedent it sought, a precedent binding on all courts throughout the nation. Most important, the Court was also—for the first time—spelling out how the privilege should be applied.” Siegel will call the Reynolds ruling “an effort to weigh competing legitimate interests,” but the ruling does not allow judges to see the documents in order to make a decision about their applicability in a court case: “By instructing judges not to insist upon examining documents if the government can satisfy that ‘a reasonable danger’ to national security exists, Vinson was asking jurists to fly blind.” Siegel will mark the decision as “an act of faith. We must believe the government,” he will write, “when it claims [the accident] would reveal state secrets. We must trust that the government is telling the truth.”
Time of Heightened Tensions Drives Need for Secrecy - Vinson goes on to note, “[W]e cannot escape judicial notice that this is a time of vigorous preparation for the national defense.” Locked in the Cold War with the Soviet Union, and fighting a war in Korea, the US is, Vinson writes, in a time of crisis, and one where military secrets must be kept and even encouraged. [U. S. v. Reynolds, 3/9/1953; Siegel, 2008, pp. 171-176]
Future Ramifications - Reflecting on the decision in 2008, Siegel will write that while the case will not become as well known as many other Court decisions, it will wield significant influence. The ruling “formally recognized and established the framework for the government’s ‘state secrets’ privilege—a privilege that for decades had enabled federal agencies to conceal conduct, withhold documents, and block civil litigation, all in the name of national secrecy.… By encouraging judicial deference when the government claimed national security secrets, Reynolds had empowered the Executive Branch in myriad ways. Among other things, it had provided a fundamental legal argument for much of the Bush administration’s response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Enemy combatants such as Yaser Esam Hamdi (see December 2001) and Jose Padilla (see June 10, 2002), for many months confined without access to lawyers, had felt the breath of Reynolds. So had the accused terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui when federal prosecutors defied a court order allowing him access to other accused terrorists (see March 22, 2005). So had the Syrian-Canadian Maher Arar (see September 26, 2002), like dozens of others the subject of a CIA extraordinary rendition to a secret foreign prison (see After September 11, 2001). So had hundreds of detainees at the US Navy Base at Guantanamo Bay, held without charges or judicial review (see September 27, 2001). So had millions of American citizens, when President Bush, without judicial knowledge or approval, authorized domestic eavesdropping by the National Security Agency (see Early 2002). US v. Reynolds made all this possible. The bedrock of national security law, it had provided a way for the Executive Branch to formalize an unprecedented power and immunity, to pull a veil of secrecy over its actions.” [Siegel, 2008, pp. ix-x]
Entity Tags: William O. Douglas, Zacarias Moussaoui, US Supreme Court, Yaser Esam Hamdi, Robert Jackson, Jose Padilla, Felix Frankfurter, Bush administration (43), Fred Vinson, Barry Siegel, George W. Bush, Hugo Black, Maher Arar
1960s and After: Racist, Separatist ‘Christian Identity’ Theology Spreads across US
One of a number of semi-official ‘Christian Identity’ logos. [Source: KingIdentity (.com)]The “Christian Identity” theology, formerly a fairly benign expression of what is known as “British-Israelism” or “Anglo-Israelism,” begins to spread throughout the US and Canada, particularly on the west coasts of these nations. This belief holds that white Americans and Canadians are the real descendants of the Biblical tribes of Israel. In 2003, author Nicole Nichols, an expert on far-right racist and religious groups in America, will define the concept of “Christian Identity” as practiced by many white supremacist and separatist groups. Christian Identity is not an organization, she will write, but an ideology that many organizations have adopted in some form or fashion. Christian Identity “elevates white supremacy and separatism to a Godly ideal,” she will write, calling it “the ideological fuel that fires much of the activity of the racist far right.” According to Christian Identity theology, Jews are neither the “true Israelites” nor the true “chosen people” of God; instead, Christian Identity proponents claim, Jews are descended from an Asiatic people known as the Khazars, who settled near the Black Sea during the Middle Ages. [Nicole Nichols, 2003; Anti-Defamation League, 2005; Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, 5/30/2006] In 2005, the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance will write, “Followers tend to be involved in political movements opposing gun control, equal rights to gays and lesbians, and militia movements,” and quote Michael Barkun, an expert on radical-right groups, as saying, “This virulent racist and anti-Semitic theology… is prevalent among many right-wing extremist groups and has been called the ‘glue’ of the racist right.” [Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, 5/30/2006]
Beginnings; 'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion' - In the 1920s, William J. Cameron, editor of the Dearborn Independent weekly newspaper, popularized the anti-Semitic hoax manuscript called “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” which purported to detail the “secret teachings” of Judaism, including the planned takeover of the world’s governments, the subjugation of non-Semitic races, and the bizarre, cannibalistic rituals supposedly practiced by Jews. [Anti-Defamation League, 2005]
Wesley Swift and 'Mud People' - In the 1940s, a former Methodist minister, Wesley Swift, started his own church, later known as the Church of Jesus Christ Christian. Swift had deep ties to a number of radical right-wing groups including the Ku Klux Klan; Swift and his associates set the stage for the mutation of the Christian Identity into a loosely organized set of virulently anti-Semitic, racist belief systems that will come to be grouped together under the “Christian Identity” rubric. Swift himself taught that only the white race was created in the form of God, while Asian and African races were created from the “beasts of the fields,” and thusly are subhuman creations. In Swift’s version of Genesis, Eve, the wife of the first “true” man Adam, was seduced by The Serpent, who masqeueraded as a white man. Eve bore a son, Cain, who is the actual father of the Jewish people. This reinterpretation, sometimes called the “two-seed” or “seedliner” theory, supports the Christian Identity propensity to demonize Jews, whom Swift and others labeled the “spawn of Satan.” Today’s white Europeans and their American and Canadian descendants, Swift taught, are descended from the “true son” of Adam and Eve, Abel, and are the actual “chosen people” of God. Some Christian Identity adherents go even farther, claiming that subhuman “pre-Adamic” races existed and “spawned” the non-white races of the world, which they label “mud people.” [Nicole Nichols, 2003; Anti-Defamation League, 2005]
Permeates Racist, Far-Right Groups - By the 1960s, a new group of Christian Identity leaders emerges to spread the Identity theology through the radical, racist right in America and Canada, popularizing the once-obscure ideology. Most prominent among them are three disciples of Swift: James K. Warner, William Potter Gale, and Richard Butler. Warner, who will move to Louisiana and play a leading role in the fight against civil rights, founds the Christian Defense League and the New Christian Crusade Church. Gale, an early leader of the Christian Defense League and its paramilitary arm, the California Rangers, goes on to found the Posse Comitatus (see 1969), the group that will help bring about the sovereign citizen movement. Gale will later found the Committee of the States and serve as the “chief of staff” of its “unorganized militia.” Butler moves Swift’s Church of Jesus Christ Christian to Idaho and recasts it as the neo-Nazi group Aryan Nations (see Early 1970s). Under the leadership of Butler, Gale, Warner, and others, Christian Identity soon permeates most of the major far-right movements, including the Klan and a racist “skinhead” organization known as the Hammerskins. It also penetrates many extreme anti-government activist groups. The Anti-Defamation League will write, “The resurgence of right-wing extremism in the 1990s following the Ruby Ridge (see August 31, 1992) and Waco standoffs (see April 19, 1993) further spread Identity beliefs.” [Anti-Defamation League, 2005] Nichols will write: “Christian Identity enclaves provide a trail of safe havens for movement activists, stretching from Hayden Lake in northern Idaho (the Aryan Nations stronghold) to Elohim City on the Oklahoma/Arkansas border (see 1973 and After). Many white supremacists on the run from federal authorities have found shelter and support from Christian Identity followers.” Some organizations such as the Montana Militia are headed by Identity adherents, but do not as a group promote the theology. [Nicole Nichols, 2003; Anti-Defamation League, 2005]
Bringing Forth the Apocalypse - Many Christian Identity adherents believe that the Biblical Apocalypse—the end of the world as it is currently known and the final ascendancy of select Christians over all others—is coming soon. Unlike some Christians, Identity adherents do not generally believe in the “rapture,” or the ascendancy of “saved” Christians to Heaven before the Apocalypse ensues; instead, Identity followers believe Jesus Christ will return to Earth only after the time of the “Tribulation,” a great battle between good and evil, which will set the stage for the return of Christ and the final transformation of the world. Identity followers believe it is their duty to prepare for the Apocalypse, and some believe it is their duty to help bring it about. They tend to cast the Apocalypse in racial terms—whites vs. nonwhites. Identity adherents believe that worldly institutions will collapse during the “end times,” and therefore tend to distrust such institutions, making Identity theology appealing to anti-government ideologies of groups such as militia, “Patriot,” and sovereign citizens groups. [Anti-Defamation League, 2005]
21st Century Identity - In the 21st century, Christian Identity groups are strongest in the Pacific Northwest of America and Canada, and the US Midwest, though Identity churches can be found throughout the US and in other parts of Canada. Identity churches also exist in, among other nations, Ireland, Great Britain, Australia, and South Africa (see June 25, 2003). The Anti-Defamation League will write: “Yet while spread far it is also spread thin. Estimates of the total number of believers in North America vary from a low of 25,000 to a high of 50,000; the true number is probably closer to the low end of the scale. Given this relatively small following, its extensive penetration of the far right is all the more remarkable.” [Anti-Defamation League, 2005]
Identity Violence - Identity adherents commit a number of violent acts, often against government and/or financial institutions, in an outsized proportion to their small numbers. In 1983, Identity adherent Gordon Kahl kills two US Marshals who attempt to arrest him on a parole violation, and kills an Arkansas sheriff before finally being gunned down by authorities (see February 13, 1983 and After). The white supremacist terrorist group The Order (see Late September 1983) contains a number of Identity members, including David Tate, who kills a Missouri Highway Patrol officer while attempting to flee to an Identity survivalist compound (see April 15, 1985). During the 1980s, small Identity groups such as The New Order (or The Order II) and the Arizona Patriots commit bombings and armored car robberies. After the Oklahoma City bombing (see 8:35 a.m. - 9:02 a.m. April 19, 1995), Identity minister Willie Ray Lampley attempts a number of bombings (see November 9, 1995). In 1996, the Montana Freeman, led by Identity members, “stands off” federal authorities for 81 days (see March 25, 1996). Between 1996 and 1998, Eric Robert Rudolph, who has connections to Identity ministers such as Nord Davis and Dan Gayman, bombs an Atlanta gay bar (see February 21, 1997), several abortion clinics (see October 14, 1998), and the Atlanta Summer Olympics (see July 27, 1996 and After). In 1999, Identity member and former Aryan Nations security guard Buford Furrow goes on a shooting spree at a Jewish community center in Los Angeles (see August 10, 1999). [Anti-Defamation League, 2005]
Entity Tags: Eric Robert Rudolph, David Charles Tate, Willie Ray Lampley, William Potter Gale, Committee of the States, Church of Jesus Christ Christian, Christian Defense League, California Rangers, Anti-Defamation League, William J. Cameron, Arizona Patriots, Buford Furrow, Aryan Nations, Wesley Swift, New Christian Crusade Church, The New Order, Nord Davis, Nicole Nichols, Ku Klux Klan, The Order, Michael Barkun, Montana Militia, James K. Warner, Hammerskins, Richard Girnt Butler, Posse Comitatus, Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, Gordon Kahl, Dan Gayman, Freemen
March 10, 1961: Time Magazine Profiles John Birch Society, Calls Organization ‘Tiresome’
A Time magazine profile lambasts the racist, anti-Communist John Birch Society (JBS—see December 2011), in what is many Americans’ first exposure to the group. It delineates the organization’s penchant for secrecy, its domination by its “dictatorial” leader, Robert Welch, and its hardline battle against almost every element of the federal government as “agents of Communism.” Forty to 60 percent of the federal government is controlled by Communism, the JBS believes. Time calls the organization “a tiresome, comic-opera joke” that nonetheless has cells in 35 states and an ever-widening influence. In Wichita, Kansas, JBS student members are trained to inform their cell leaders of “Communist” influences they may detect in their classroom lectures, and the offending teacher is berated by parents. A Wichita businessman who wanted to give a donation to the University of Wichita decided not to donate after being hounded by local JBS members, who wanted the university to fire professors and remove selected books from its library. “My business would be wrecked,” the businessman explains, “if those people got on the phone and kept on yelling that I am a Communist because I give money to the school.” Nashville, Tennessee, JBS members organize community members to verbally attack neighbors whom they suspect of Communist affiliations. JBS’s current priority, Time writes, is to bring about the impeachment of Chief Justice Earl Warren. Welch, who obtained his wealth from his brother’s candymaking business, believes that Social Security and the federal income tax are all part of the “creeping socialism” that is taking over the federal government. He retired from the business in 1957 and founded the JBS shortly thereafter, naming it for a US Navy captain killed by Chinese Communist guerrillas after the end of World War II. Welch’s seminal tract, “The Politician,” accuses President Eisenhower and his brother Milton Eisenhower of being Communist plants, and accuses both men of treason against the nation. [Time, 3/10/1961]
Entity Tags: Milton Eisenhower, John Birch Society, Time magazine, Dwight Eisenhower, Robert Welch, Earl Warren
July 2, 1964: Congress Outlaws Discrimination Based on Race, National Origin, Religion, or Gender, Implements ‘Affirmative Action’ Practice
The transformative Civil Rights Act of 1964 passes Congress. The law makes it illegal to discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, religion, or gender in voting, public places, the workplace, and schools. Former President John F. Kennedy had argued for new civil rights legislation, saying that previous legislative efforts (see August 29, 1957 and May 6, 1960) did not go far enough. Kennedy waited until 1963 to send his legislation to Congress, and was assassinated before the bill was passed. On June 11, 1963, Kennedy told the public, “The negro baby born in America today, regardless of the section of the nation in which he is born, has about one-half as much chance of completing high school as a white baby born in the same place on the same day; one-third as much chance of completing college; one-third as much chance of becoming a professional man; twice as much chance of becoming unemployed; about one-seventh as much chance of earning $10,000 a year; a life expectancy which is seven years shorter; and the prospects of earning only half as much.” His successor, Lyndon Johnson, a conservative Southern Democrat, surprised many by pushing the bill instead of falling in line with conservative Southern Democrats who opposed it. Johnson and Senate leaders successfully fought back a filibuster by Senator Richard Russell (D-GA) and 17 other segregationist Democratic senators who tried to derail the bill; it passed the Senate on a 73-24 vote. Some believe that the passage of the bill is one of the major legislative acts that drives many Southern Democrats to leave the party for the increasingly conservative venue of the Republican Party. The word “sex,” to prohibit gender-based discrimination, was added to the legislation at the last minute by Representative Howard W. Smith (D-VA), and some accused Smith of inserting the provision as a means to kill the entire bill. Smith argued that he was supportive of efforts by women’s rights organizations, and inserted the language in a sincere effort to curb discrimination against women. Smith is joined by Representative Martha W. Griffiths (D-MI) in keeping the provision in the bill. Perhaps the most significant provision of the bill is the creation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), charged with implementing the law. The EEOC will use the practice of “affirmative action” to curb discrimination, including mandating hiring of minorities and women to alleviate many employers’ practice of hiring white males almost exclusively, especially for more senior positions. President Johnson will extend his support to “affirmative action,” and is perhaps the first public figure to use the phrase in addressing the public. [Spartacus Schoolnet, 2008; National Archives, 2012; American Civil Liberties Union, 2012]
Entity Tags: Lyndon B. Johnson, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, John F. Kennedy, Martha W. Griffiths, Richard Russell, Jr, Howard W. Smith
1967 - 1973: Anti-Semitic Mechanic, Oilfield Worker Joins Posse Comitatus
Farmer and mechanic Gordon Kahl, a World War II veteran who earned two Purple Hearts while flying bombing missions and a convert to the Christian Identity “religion” (see 1960s and After), now embraces the burgeoning anti-tax protest ideology (see 1951-1967). He writes a letter to the IRS telling it that he will never again “give aid and comfort to the enemies of Christ” by paying income taxes, which he calls tithing to “the synagogue of Satan.” Kahl is a virulent anti-Semite who believes that World War II was engineered by Jewish bankers who had “created” and backed Adolf Hitler in order to subjugate “the feisty German people.” Kahl denies that the Holocaust ever occurred, calling the concentration camps “mostly work camps” where less than 50,000 Jews died. Communism, he writes, is a “smoke screen” for “world Jewry,” which uses every means at its disposal—including the Rotary and Kiwanis Clubs—to deceive and undermine Christians. To his friends and family, Kahl is a loving father and husband and a scrupulously honest businessman, but as author Daniel Levitas will write in 2003: “These virtuous aspects of his character did not extend beyond his small Anglo-Saxon circle, however. Kahl’s world was divided strictly into opposites and he felt only murderous contempt for those who fell on the other side of the line—satanic Jews, nonwhites, and the Christian lackeys of the International Jewish Conspiracy.” Kahl is a firm believer in ZOG, the “Zionist Occupied Government” of the United States, and he believes that most law enforcement officials are either unwitting dupes of this “conspiracy” or knowing members. Kahl leaves California for the West Texas oilfields, and in 1973 joins the anti-tax, anti-government Posse Comitatus (see 1969). [Levitas, 2002, pp. 193] Kahl will be convicted of tax evasion (see 1975 - 1981) and, fleeing incarceration, will kill two police officers in a shootout and later die himself after killing a third (see February 13, 1983 and After and March 13 - June 3, 1983).
Entity Tags: Internal Revenue Service, Daniel Levitas, Gordon Kahl, Posse Comitatus
Timeline Tags: US Domestic Terrorism
1968: Nixon Media Consultant Advocates ‘Moderate’ Acceptance of Racist Position
Roger Ailes (left) and Richard Nixon in a 1968 photo. [Source: White House Photo Office / Rolling Stone]Roger Ailes, the media consultant for the Richard Nixon presidential campaign, decides that Nixon should, during a televised town hall, take a staged question from a “good, mean, Wallaceite cab driver.” Ailes is referring to the overtly racist third-party candidacy of Governor George Wallace (D-AL). Ailes suggests “[s]ome guy to sit there and say, ‘Awright, Mac, what about these n_ggers?’” According to Nixonland author Rick Pearlstein, the idea is to have Nixon “abhor the uncivility of the words, while endorsing a ‘moderate’ version of the opinion.” [Pearlstein, 5/2008, pp. 331; Media Matters, 7/22/2011] The suggestion is not used. Ailes will go on to found Fox News (see October 7, 1996).
Entity Tags: Rick Pearlstein, George C. Wallace, Richard M. Nixon, Roger Ailes
Timeline Tags: Nixon and Watergate, Domestic Propaganda, Elections Before 2000
January 21, 1968: US Soldier Convicted of Waterboarding North Vietnamese Prisoner
The Washington Post runs a front-page photo of a US soldier supervising the waterboarding of a captured North Vietnamese soldier. The caption says the technique induced “a flooding sense of suffocation and drowning, meant to make him talk.” Because of the photo, the US Army initiates an investigation, and the soldier is court-martialed and convicted of torturing a prisoner. [National Public Radio, 11/3/2007]
Entity Tags: Washington Post, US Department of the Army
1969: Anti-Semitic Posse Comitatus Gains Following among Michigan Farmers
The logo of the Posse Comitatus. [Source: Underground News Network]The Posse Comitatus, an anti-Semitic, right-wing “Christian Identity” organization (see 1960s and After), is founded by retired dry-cleaning executive Henry L. Beach in Portland, Oregon, who calls his organization the Sherriff’s Posse Comitatus (SPC) or Citizen’s Law Enforcement Research Committee (CLERC). Beach has supported Nazism since the 1930s, and formerly led a neo-Nazi organization called the Silver Shirts (see January 31, 1933). The Posse Comitatus is quickly taken over by William Potter Gale, a retired Army colonel who founded a similar organization called the US Christian Posse Association in Glendale, California, and manages to roll the two groups, and a few other loosely organized entities, into one. The Posse Comitatus dedicates itself to survivalism, vigilantism, and anti-government activities; its bylaws state that no federal or state governmental entity has any legal standing, and only county and town governments are legitimate. Furthermore, the organization believes that the entire federal government is controlled by Jews, and as such has no authority over whites. Beach’s original Posse manual states, “[O]fficials of government who commit criminal acts or who violate their oath of office… shall be removed by the posse to the most populated intersection of streets in the township and, at high noon, be hung by the neck, the body remaining until sundown as an example to those who would subvert the law.” According to a 1986 advisory published by the IRS, “members associated with some of the Posse groups wear tiny gold hangmen’s nooses on their lapels.” Posse members refuse to pay taxes whenever they can get away with it, and ignore laws that they feel cannot be enforced by “the enemy.” Instead, they claim to abide by a “common law,” defined as a set of principles that they themselves create and change at will. The organization begins making inroads into the farm communities of the Northwest and Upper Midwest after federal mismanagement of agricultural policies threatens the livelihood of many area farmers; the Posse tells them, “Farmers are victims of a Jewish-controlled government and banking system, federal taxes are illegal and loans need not be repaid.” Some area farmers embrace the message, and the Posse begins heavily recruiting in Michigan. [Ian Geldard, 2/19/1995; Nicole Nichols, 2003]
Anti-Government, Anti-Tax Ideology - The Posse Comitatus believes that the federal and state governments are inherently illegal and have no authority whatsoever; the highest elected official of the land, it says, is the county sheriff, who can form juries and call out “posses” of citizens to enforce the law as necessary. The movement strongly opposes paying taxes, particularly to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and considers money issued by the Federal Reserve System as illegal. It says that the Constitution’s 16th Amendment, which gave Congress the right to tax citizens’ incomes, was illegally ratified and therefore unconstitutional; moreover, it says, careful examination of federal law tells it that income taxes are entirely voluntary. The Federal Reserve System is, as one Posse publication puts it, “a private monopoly which neither the people nor the states authorized in the Constitution.” The Federal Reserve’s printed money violates the Constitution. Some, but not all, Posse Comitatus members also express racist and separatist views similar to those of Christian Identity believers (see 1960s and After); these members say that the Federal Reserve is controlled by a small cabal of international Jewish bankers who intend to destroy the American economy. [Mark Pitcavage, 5/6/1996; US Constitution: Sixteenth Amendment, 2011; Anti-Defamation League, 2011] Posse Comitatus members use the threat of violence, and sometimes actual violence, to express their anti-tax and anti-government ideologies (see 1972 and 1974).
Township Movement - The Posse spawns a directly related ideology, the “township movement,” led in part by Utah resident Walt P. Mann. Township advocates advocate setting up small sovereign communities that are answerable only to themselves. The Posse will set up a “constitutional township” on a 1,400-acre plot in Wisconsin and name it “Tigerton Dells,” posting signs that say, “Federal Agents Keep out; Survivors will be Prosecuted.” Tigerton Dells will appoint its own judges and foreign ambassadors before federal authorities seize the property (see 1984).
Movement Spreads throughout Northwest, Plains States - By 1976, an FBI report says that the Posse Comitatus movement will consist of up to 50,000 adherents throughout the Northwest and Great Plains states. The center of the movement is at Tigerton Dells; Posse members there will disrupt local government meetings and assault public officials. The farm crisis of the early 1980s will allow the Posse to begin converting angry, frightened farmers throughout the region. In 1996, the Anti-Defamation League’s Mark Pitcavage will write, “The Posse offered up targets for people to blame: the courts, the money system, the federal government, the Jews.”
Waging Legal Battles - While some Posse members offer violence to law enforcement and public officials (see February 13, 1983 and After), most of their battles with the government take place in court. Posse members most frequently use two common legal strategems: filing frivolous liens on the properties of public officials who oppose or anger them, particularly IRS agents, and flooding the courts with a barrage of legal documents, filings, motions, and appeals. The liens carry no legal weight but sometimes damage the recipients’ credit scores and interfere with the recipients’ ability to buy or sell property. The court documents, often written in arcane, archaic, and contradictory legal language, clog the court system and frustate judges and prosecutors. A related tactic is the establishment of “common law courts,” vigilante courts that often threaten public officials. [Mark Pitcavage, 5/6/1996]
Inspiration to Other Groups - The Posse Comitatus’s ideology will inspire other anti-government groups, such as the Montana Freemen (see 1993-1994).
Entity Tags: US Federal Reserve, William Potter Gale, Walt P. Mann, Internal Revenue Service, Posse Comitatus, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Henry L. Beach, Mark Pitcavage, Sherriff’s Posse Comitatus, US Christian Posse Association
(Between December 1969 and January 1970): Trainee Army Officer Imagines Scenario of Suicide Pilot Crashing Plane into US Capitol
Dan Hill. [Source: Amanda Gordon / Bloomberg]Dan Hill, a US Army Ranger who is undergoing officer training, comes up with a hypothetical plan by which the Soviet Union could start a nuclear war with the United States, which involves a suicide pilot crashing a military transport plane into the US Capitol building in Washington, DC.
Trainees Tasked with Imagining How to Start a World War - After his tour in Vietnam came to an end in mid-1969, Hill was chosen for the career officer training program at Fort Benning, Georgia. He is currently taking a course in nuclear weapons deployment. Toward the end of the semester, he is given the assignment of imagining he is a Soviet premier who wants to start World War III against the US. Hill and his fellow trainees are told to prepare a written plan, describing how they would initiate the war.
Plan Involves Crashing Plane into Capitol Building - Hill comes up with a plan, which he gives the code name “State of the Union.” It involves recruiting and training a suicide pilot, obtaining a C-47 transport plane, and filling it with explosives. Then, as journalist and author James B. Stewart will describe: “On the night of the State of the Union, the pilot would fly the plane straight into the Capitol building, through the rotunda, and into the House of Representatives, where the bombs on the plane would be set to explode. He’d take out the president, his cabinet, the members of the Supreme Court, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and most senators and representatives. At that moment, the Soviet Union would unleash its nuclear missiles.” According to Hill, everyone in the US would be “watching TV, there’s no air defense around the Capitol; by the time anyone realized an aircraft was near, it would be too late.”
Commander Questions Hill about His Plan - On the Monday after Hill submits his plan, a lieutenant colonel in intelligence stops him on his way to class and says, “I’ve got some people who would like to talk to you.” Hill is taken to a room where Major General John Carley, the assistant commander of the infantry school, is waiting, along with six men in uniform and several other men who are dressed in dark suits, all of them looking serious. Carley is holding Hill’s paper and asks, “How did you come up with this?” Hill replies, “This is my area of expertise,” and explains that he has been trained in unconventional warfare, counterterrorism, the use of explosives, and demolition. He is then questioned for almost an hour about his plan. Finally, Carley says, “We’d prefer you forget you ever did this.” Hill agrees to do so and is then dismissed.
Hill Informs Friend about His Plan - Hill writes to his friend Rick Rescorla, who has also served in the Army, about the incident. In his reply, Rescorla writes: “You evil-minded b_stard! When you have these thoughts, don’t publicize them to anyone. The plan is tactically and technically proficient; it makes sense, but only to people like you and me. To the rest of the world, it looks like the workings of a deviant mind. This kind of thing terrifies people.” [Stewart, 2002, pp. 152-153] Rescorla will subsequently work as the head of security for a company at the World Trade Center. [New Yorker, 2/11/2002] While he is in that position, he will be drawing from Hill’s plan when, after the 1993 bombing, he determines that terrorists will likely target the WTC again by crashing a cargo plane into it (see Shortly After February 26, 1993). [Stewart, 2002, pp. 193-194] Hill will learn that, shortly after his meeting with Carley, enhanced air defenses were installed for Washington. He will therefore think that some good may have come from the meeting. [Stewart, 2002, pp. 153]
Entity Tags: Rick Rescorla, John Carley, Daniel J. Hill
Early 1970s: Idaho Racist Founds Aryan Nations
The Aryan Nations logo. [Source: Southern Poverty Law Center]Aerospace engineer and white racist Richard Butler, who departed California in the early 1970s and moved into a rural farmhouse in Hayden Lake, Idaho, founds and develops one of the nation’s most notorious and violent white separatist groups, the Aryan Nations. Butler’s 20-acre farmhouse becomes the compound for the group and its affiliated church, the Church of Jesus Christ Christian; Butler and his nascent organization envision a “whites-only” “homeland” in the Pacific Northwest. At age 11, Butler read a serialized novel in Liberty Magazine, depicting the takeover of the US by “race-mixing Bolsheviks” that deeply impressed him. As a young man, he worked as an aeronautical engineer in India, where he was fascinated by the Indian caste structure and the concept of racial purity. In 1941 he left a Los Angeles church after concluding that the preacher was spreading Communist doctrine. During World War II, as an Army engineer, he became fascinated by the German military, and later recalls that he “was thrilled to see the movies of the marching Germans.… In those days, all we knew was that Hitler hated communists, and so did my folks—as we did as teenagers.” In the 1950s, Butler was enthralled by radio broadcasts of then-Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-WI) and his “Red scare” accusations, and sent money to support McCarthy’s political campaigns. During that time, Butler met William Potter Gale, another white supremacist who went on to found the Posse Comitatus (see 1969). Butler held a high position in the Christian Defense League, an organization founded by the Reverend Wesley Swift and described by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as “virulently anti-Semitic,” until 1965, and shortly thereafter became a mail-order “ordained minister” of Christian Identity, a white supremacist offshoot of the Christian church (see 1960s and After). Butler buys the farmhouse in Hayden Lake and founds his own “Christian Posse Comitatus,” and thereafter founds the Church of Jesus Christ Christian. The two groups merge into what later becomes known as Aryan Nations. [Washington Post, 6/2/2003; Southern Poverty Law Center, 2010; Southern Poverty Law Center, 2010]
Entity Tags: William Potter Gale, Wesley Swift, Joseph McCarthy, Richard Girnt Butler, Church of Jesus Christ Christian, Posse Comitatus, Christian Defense League, Aryan Nations, Southern Poverty Law Center
Summer 1970: Nixon Media Consultant Details Plan for Dominating Television News Coverage; Plan Will Form ‘Prototype’ of Fox News
Roger Ailes, the senior media consultant for the Nixon administration (see 1968), writes, or helps write, a secret memo for President Nixon and fellow Republicans outlining a plan for conservatives to “infiltrate and neutralize” the mainstream American media. The document will not be released until 2011; experts will call it the “intellectual forerunner” to Fox News, which Ailes will launch as a “fair and balanced” news network in 1996 (see October 7, 1996). John Cook, the editor of the online news and commentary magazine Gawker, will call the document the outline of a “nakedly partisan… plot by Ailes and other Nixon aides to circumvent the ‘prejudices of network news’ and deliver ‘pro-administration’ stories to heartland television viewers.” The document is entitled “A Plan for Putting the GOP on TV News.” Ailes, currently the owner of REA Productions and Ailes Communications Inc., works for the Nixon White House as a media consultant; he will serve the same function for President George H.W. Bush during his term. Ailes is a forceful advocate for using television to shape the message of the Nixon administration and of Republican policies in general. He frequently suggests launching elaborately staged events to entice favorable coverage from television reporters, and uses his contacts at the news networks to head off negative publicity. Ailes writes that the Nixon White House should run a partisan, pro-Republican media operation—essentially a self-contained news production organization—out of the White House itself. He complains that the “liberal media” “censors” the news to portray Nixon and his administration in a negative light. Cook will say the plan “reads today like a detailed precis for a Fox News prototype.” The initial idea may have originated with Nixon chief of staff H.R. Haldeman, but if so, Ailes expands and details the plan far beyond Haldeman’s initial seed of an idea. [Roger Ailes, 1970; Gawker, 6/30/2011] In 2011, Rolling Stone journalist Tim Dickinson will write: “This is an astounding find. It underscores Ailes’s early preoccupation with providing the GOP with a way to do an end run around skeptical journalists.” [Rolling Stone, 7/1/2011]
Focus on Television - Ailes insists that any such media plan should focus on television and not print. Americans are “lazy,” he writes, and want their thinking done for them: “Today television news is watched more often than people read newspapers, than people listen to the radio, than people read or gather any other form of communication. The reason: People are lazy. With television you just sit—watch—listen. The thinking is done for you.” Ailes says the Nixon administration should create its own news network “to provide pro-administration, videotape, hard news actualities to the major cities of the United States.” Other television news outlets such as NBC News, ABC News, CBS News, and PBS News, are “the enemy,” he writes, and suggests going around them by creating packaged, edited news stories and interviews directly to local television stations. (Years later, these kinds of “news reports” will be called “video news releases,” or VNRs, and will routinely be used by the George W. Bush administration and others—see March 15, 2004, May 19, 2004, March 2005, and March 13, 2005. They will be outlawed in 2005—see May 2005.) “This is a plan that places news of importance to localities (senators and representatives are newsmakers of importance to their localities) on local television news programs while it is still news. It avoids the censorship, the priorities, and the prejudices of network news selectors and disseminators.” Ailes and his colleagues include detailed cost analyses and production plans for such news releases. In a side note on the document, Ailes writes: “Basically a very good idea. It should be expanded to include other members of the administration such as cabinet involved in activity with regional or local interest. Also could involve GOP governors when in DC. Who would purchase equipment and run operation—White House? RNC [Republican National Committee]? Congressional caucus? Will get some flap about news management.”
Dirty Tricks - Ailes suggests planting “volunteers” within the Wallace campaign, referring to segregationist George Wallace (D-AL), whose third-party candidacy in 1968 almost cost Nixon the presidency. Ailes knows Wallace is planning a 1972 run as well, and is apparently suggesting a “mole” to either gather intelligence, carry out sabotage, or both. (Wallace’s plans for another run will be cut short by an assassination attempt—see May 15, 1972.) Ailes also suggests having his firm film interviews with Democrats who support Nixon’s Vietnam policies, such as Senators John Stennis (D-MS) and John McClellan (D-AR). Though Stennis and McClellan would believe that the interviews were for actual news shows, they would actually be carried out by Ailes operatives and financed by a Nixon campaign front group, the “Tell it to Hanoi Committee.” In June 1970, someone in the Nixon administration scuttles the plan, writing: “[T]he fact that this presentation is White House directed, unbeknownst to the Democrats on the show, presents the possibility of a leak that could severely embarrass the White House and damage significantly its already precarious relationship with the Congress. Should two powerful factors like Stennis and McClellan discover they are dupes for the administration the scandal could damage the White House for a long time to come.”
Volunteers to Head Program - Ailes writes that he wants to head any such “news network,” telling Haldeman: “Bob—if you decide to go ahead we would as a production company like to bid on packaging the entire project. I know what has to be done and we could test the feasibility for 90 days without making a commitment beyond that point.” Haldeman will grant Ailes’s request in November 1970, and will give the project a name: “Capitol News Service.” Haldeman will write: “With regard to the news programming effort as proposed last summer, Ailes feels this is a good idea and that we should be going ahead with it. Haldeman suggested the name ‘Capitol News Service’ and Ailes will probably be doing more work in this area.” Documents fail to show whether the “Capitol News Service” is ever actually implemented. [Roger Ailes, 1970; Gawker, 6/30/2011]
Television News Incorporated - Ailes will be fired from the Nixon administration in 1971; he will go on to start a similar private concern, “Television News Incorporated” (TVN—see 1971-1975), an ideological and practical predecessor to Fox News. Dickinson will write: “More important, [the document] links the plot to create what would become Television News Incorporated—the Ailes-helmed ‘fair and balanced’ mid-1970s precursor to Fox News—to the Nixon White House itself.” [Gawker, 6/30/2011; Rolling Stone, 7/1/2011] A former business colleague of Ailes’s will say in 2011: “Everything Roger wanted to do when he started out in politics, he’s now doing 24/7 with his network [Fox News]. It’s come full circle.” [Rolling Stone, 5/25/2011]
Entity Tags: John Cook, George C. Wallace, Fox News, Bush administration (43), Ailes Communications, H.R. Haldeman, George Herbert Walker Bush, Tim Dickinson, Television News Incorporated, Tell it to Hanoi Committee, REA Productions, John Stennis, John Little McClellan, Nixon administration, Roger Ailes
1971-1975: Former Nixon Media Consultant Launches Prototype Right-Wing ‘News’ Network, Predecessor of Fox News
Roger Ailes, a former media consultant to the Nixon administration (see Summer 1970) who proposed a White House-run “news network” that would promote Republican-generated propaganda over what he calls “liberal” news reporting (see Summer 1970), moves on to try the idea in the private venue. Ailes works with a project called Television News Incorporated (TVN), a propaganda venue funded by right-wing beer magnate Joseph Coors. Conservative activist and Coors confidant Paul Weyrich will later call Ailes “the godfather behind the scenes” of TVN. To cloak the “news” outlet’s far-right slant, Ailes coins the slogan “Fair and Balanced” for TVN. In 2011, Rolling Stone reporter Tim Dickinson will write: “TVN made no sense as a business. The… news service was designed to inject a far-right slant into local news broadcasts by providing news clips that stations could use without credit—and for a fraction of the true costs of production. Once the affiliates got hooked on the discounted clips, its president explained, TVN would ‘gradually, subtly, slowly’ inject ‘our philosophy in the news.’ The network was, in the words of a news director who quit in protest, a ‘propaganda machine.’” Within weeks of TVN’s inception, its staff of professional journalists eventually has enough of the overt propaganda of their employer and begin defying management orders; Coors and TVN’s top management fire 16 staffers and bring in Ailes to run the operation. The operation is never successful, but during his tenure at TVN, Ailes begins plotting the development of a right-wing news network very similar in concept to the as-yet-unborn Fox News. TVN plans to invest millions in satellite distribution that would allow it not only to distribute news clips to other broadcasters, but to provide a full newscast with its own anchors and crew (a model soon used by CNN). Dickinson will write, “For Ailes, it was a way to extend the kind of fake news that he was regularly using as a political strategist.” Ailes tells a Washington Post reporter in 1972: “I know certain techniques, such as a press release that looks like a newscast. So you use it because you want your man to win.” Ailes contracts with Ford administration officials to produce propaganda for the federal government, providing news clips and scripts to the US Information Agency. Ailes insists that the relationship is not a conflict of interest. Unfortunately for Ailes and Coors, TVN collapses in 1975. One of its biggest problems is the recalcitrance of its journalists, who continue to resist taking part in what they see as propaganda operations. Ailes biographer Kerwin Swint will later say, “They were losing money and they weren’t able to control their journalists.” In a 2011 article for the online news and commentary magazine Gawker, John Cook will write: “Though it died in 1975, TVN was obviously an early trial run for the powerhouse Fox News would become. The ideas were the same—to route Republican-friendly stories around the gatekeepers at the network news divisions.” Dickinson will write that one of the lessons Ailes learns from TVN, and will employ at Fox, is to hire journalists who put ideological committment ahead of journalistic ethics—journalists who will “toe the line.” [Rolling Stone, 5/25/2011; Gawker, 6/30/2011] Ailes will go on to found Fox News, using the “fair and balanced” slogan to great effect (see October 7, 1996 and 1995).
Entity Tags: Paul Weyrich, John Cook, Fox News, Ford administration, Joseph Coors, Nixon administration, Television News Incorporated, Tim Dickinson, Roger Ailes, United States Information Agency, Kerwin Swint
July 27, 1971-May 26, 1973: British Forcibly Remove Chagossians from Their Homes
With the arrival of the first Americans at Diego Garcia, the largest atoll of the Chagos Archipelago, the island’s remaining residents are told they must leave. [BBC, 11/3/2000; CBS News, 6/13/2003; CNN, 6/18/2003] Recalling the massive forced relocation, Marcel Moulinie, the manager of a coconut plantation on the island, tells CBS 60 minutes in 2003 that he was ordered to ship the people out. “Total evacuation. They wanted no indigenous people there,” Marcel Moulinie explains. “When the final time came and the ships were chartered, they weren’t allowed to take anything with them except a suitcase of their clothes. The ships were small and they could take nothing else, no furniture, nothing.” To make it clear to residents that there would be no compromise, Sir Bruce Greatbatch, governor of the Seychelles, orders the killing of the Chagossians’ pets, which are rounded up into a furnace and gassed with exhaust fumes from American military vehicles. [CBS News, 6/13/2003; CNN, 6/18/2003; ZNet, 10/22/2004] “They put the dogs in a furnace where the people worked,” Lisette Talatte, a Chagossian, will later tell investigative journalist John Pilger. “[W]hen their dogs were taken away in front of them our children screamed and cried.” [ZNet, 10/22/2004] Marie Therese Mein, another Chagossian, later says US officials threatened to bomb them if they did not leave. [Self-Determination News, 1/28/2002; ZNet, 10/22/2004] And the Washington Post interviews one man in 1975 who says he was told by an American official, “If you don’t leave you won’t be fed any longer.” [Washington Post, 9/9/1975] The Chagossians are first shipped to the nearby islands of Peros Banhos and Salomon and then 1,200 miles away to Mauritius and the Seychelles. [BBC, 11/3/2000; CBS News, 6/13/2003; CNN, 6/18/2003] Before the eviction, the Chagossians were employed, grew their own fruit and vegetables, raised poultry and ducks, and fished. [Sunday Times (London), 9/21/1975; Self-Determination News, 1/28/2002; British Royal Courts of Justice, 10/9/2003; Tribune (Bahamas), 11/17/2003] On the island of Diego Garcia, there was a church, a school as well as a few stores. [Sunday Times (London), 9/21/1975] But now, after being removed from their homes and dumped into foreign lands without compensation or resettlement assistance, they are forced to live in poverty. [CBS News, 6/13/2003; CNN, 6/18/2003] The uprooted Chagossians find shelter in abandoned slums, which have no water or electricity. [Sunday Times (London), 9/21/1975; Church Times, 1/7/2005] Many commit suicide during and after the eviction campaign. [ZNet, 10/22/2004] Lisette Taleti loses two of her children. [Guardian, 5/12/2006] Describing the plight of the Chagossians at this time, the British High Court writes in 2003: “The Ilois [Chagossians] were experienced in working on coconut plantations but lacked other employment experience. They were largely illiterate and spoke only Creole. Some had relatives with whom they could stay for a while; some had savings from their wages; some received social security, but extreme poverty routinely marked their lives. Mauritius already itself experienced high unemployment and considerable poverty. Jobs, including very low paid domestic service, were hard to find. The Ilois were marked by their poverty and background for insults and discrimination. Their diet, when they could eat, was very different from what they were used to. They were unused to having to fend for themselves in finding jobs and accommodation and they had little enough with which to do either. The contrast with the simple island life which they had left behind could scarcely have been more marked.”
Entity Tags: Sir Bruce Greatbatch, Chagossians, Marcel Moulinie, Marie Therese Mein, Lisette Talatte
Timeline Tags: US-Britain-Diego Garcia (1770-2004)
1973 and After: White Supremacist Compound ‘Elohim City’ Founded; Becomes Center of Plotting, Violence
Andreas Strassmeir, a frequent Elohim City resident and arms expert. [Source: Eye on Hate (.com)]Robert Millar, a former Mennonite who left Canada for the US in the early 1950s, moves to the Ozark Mountain region of eastern Oklahoma and founds what he calls “Elohim City,” a small compound populated by his four sons and 12 other followers. Elohim City grows to become a 400-acre compound populated with 70 to 100 “Christian Identity” white supremacists and religious extremists, who believe that whites are the only true people and all others are subhuman “mud people” (see 1960s and After). Elohim is a Hebrew word for God. Elohim City, accessible only via a rocky road and a single steel bridge, soon becomes a haven for violent right-wing extremists, including Timothy McVeigh, who will call the compound two weeks before bombing a federal building in Oklahoma City (see 8:35 a.m. - 9:02 a.m. April 19, 1995), and Andreas “Andy the German” Strassmeir, a German weapons buff with ties to neo-Nazi groups and an alleged co-conspirator of McVeigh’s (see August 1994 - March 1995). The residents receive intensive paramilitary training, often led by Strassmeir, and the compound contains a large arsenal of weapons. Elohim City becomes the headquarters of the Aryan Republican Army (see 1992 - 1995), an organization that has Strassmeir as its “chief of security.” Some of the Elohim City residents such as ARA member Dennis Mahon come to believe that Strassmeir is a government informant. Author Nicole Nichols, an expert on right-wing hate groups, will later say she believes Strassmeir is the infamous “John Doe #2” of the Oklahoma City bombing (see April 20, 1995). [Associated Press, 2/23/1997; Time, 2/24/1997; Nicole Nichols, 2003; Nicole Nichols, 2003; Nicole Nichols, 2003] A 2002 report by the Anti-Defamation League says that after the Oklahoma City bombing, Elohim City changes to become a less militant settlement, populated largely by white separatists and religious fundamentalists seeking to withdraw from the world. Before his death in 2001, Millar says: “Somebody said, ‘You’re not a racist, you’re a purist.’ I sort of liked that.” John Millar, who becomes the community leader after his father’s death, says: “[W]e consider ourselves survivalists in the sense that we want to survive the best way we can.… We have weapons, but any person within 15 miles of us has more weapons per household than we do. We don’t make a big thing about weapons. We don’t think we can keep the National Guard away with a few weapons.” An unnamed government informer tells a New York Post reporter in June 2001: “McVeigh is a hero inside Elohim City. They look upon him ‘as a martyr to their cause.’” [Anti-Defamation League, 8/9/2002]
Entity Tags: Nicole Nichols, Dennis Mahon, Aryan Republican Army, Anti-Defamation League, Andreas Strassmeir, Elohim City, John Millar, Timothy James McVeigh, Robert Millar
January 22, 1973: ’Roe v. Wade’ Legalizes Abortion in US
Headline from the New York Times regarding the ‘Roe’ decision. [Source: RubeReality (.com)]The US Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision, legalizes abortion on a federal level in the landmark case of Roe v. Wade. The majority opinion is written by Justice Harry Blackmun; he is joined by Chief Justice Warren Burger and Justices William O. Douglas, William Brennan, Potter Stewart, Thurgood Marshall, and Lewis Powell. Justices Byron “Whizzer” White and William Rehnquist dissent from the opinion. Blackmun’s majority opinion finds that the 14th Amendment’s guarantees of personal liberty and previous decisions protecting privacy in family matters include a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy. White’s dissent argues that the Court has “fashion[ed] and announce[d] a new constitutional right for pregnant mothers and, with scarcely any reason or authority for its action, invest[ed] that right with sufficient substance to override most existing state abortion statutes.” The decision does not make abortion freely available to women in any stage of pregnancy. It places the following constraints:
No restrictions on availability are made during the first trimester (three months) of a woman’s pregnancy.
Because of increased risks to a woman’s health during the second trimester, the state may regulate the abortion procedure only “in ways that are reasonably related to maternal health.”
In the third and final trimester, since the rate of viability (live birth) is markedly greater than in the first two trimesters, the state can restrict or even prohibit abortions as it chooses, “except where it is necessary, in appropriate medical judgment, for the preservation of the life or health of the mother.”
Originally brought to challenge a Texas law prohibiting abortions, the decision disallows a host of state and federal restrictions on abortion, and sparks an enormous controversy over the moral, religious, and legal viability of abortion that continues well into the 21st century. [ROE v. WADE, 410 US 113 (1973), 1/22/1973; CNN, 1/22/2003; National Abortion Federation, 2010] In a related case, Roe v. Bolton, the Court strikes down restrictions on facilities that can be used to provide abortions. The ruling leads to the establishment of so-called “abortion clinics.” [CBS News, 4/19/2007]
Entity Tags: Potter Stewart, Byron White, Lewis Powell, Harry Blackmun, William Rehnquist, US Supreme Court, William O. Douglas, Warren Burger, William Brennan, Thurgood Marshall
Timeline Tags: US Health Care, Civil Liberties
1974: Anti-Tax Protester Founds Group Opposing 16th Amendment, OSHA, Gun Control Laws
Tax protester Ardie McBrearty founds the United States Taxpayers Union (USTU), an organization dedicated to abolishing the 16th Amendment (see 1951-1967 and 1970-1972), and also the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), consumer protection statutes, gun control laws, and other “unconstitutional” legislation. McBrearty, an avowed Christian Identity follower (see 1960s and After), will abandon tax protest in favor of armed white supremacist militancy, joining The Order (see Late September 1983 and August 1984 and After). He will eventually earn 40 years in prison for his role in The Order’s violent actions. [Southern Poverty Law Center, 12/2001] In a 1982 lawsuit, McBrearty will argue that a 1977 agreement with UTSU mandated that the group should pay “all necessary personal and family obligations of said individual [and] all costs incurred in the defense of a client member.” McBrearty will be convicted for tax law violations in 1979 and will sue the UTSU shortly thereafter. The courts will dismiss the lawsuit because such an agreement “contravene[s] public policy and [i]s therefore unenforceable.” [OpenJurist, 1/18/1982] It is unclear whether McBrearty’s loss of the lawsuit triggers his desire to join a more actively violent organization, such as The Order.
Entity Tags: The Order, Ardie McBrearty, United States Taxpayers Union
1975 - 1978: Anti-Semitic, Racist Salesman Joins Posse Comitatus, Founds Christian Identity Church
James Wickstrom. [Source: Southern Poverty Law Center]James Wickstrom, a tool salesman and former mill worker angered by what he saw as less-qualified African-American workers bypassing him in receiving raises and promotions, meets Thomas Stockheimer (see 1974), a member of the violent anti-tax, racist, and anti-Semitic organization Posse Comitatus (see 1969). Wickstrom walks by Stockheimer’s “Little People’s Tax Party” office in Racine, Wisconsin, each week, and is accosted by Stockheimer, who asks him: “Do you know who you are? Do you really know who you are? Do you know that you’re an Israelite?” Initially Wickstrom is offended at being called, he believes, a Jew, but after a discussion, leaves with two audiotapes of sermons by Posse founder William Potter Gale that tell him he is a member of God’s chosen people, a member of the “true” Israelite tribe; Jews are the offspring of Satan and are unworthy of being called Israelites. Blacks, Gale preaches, are subhuman, no better than beasts of the field, and merely tools of the Jewish conspiracy to destroy white Western society. Wickstrom finds Gale’s message appealing, and he joins Stockheimer in setting up a Bible study group. Wickstrom follows in Gale’s footsteps and becomes an adherent of the Christian Identity ideology (see 1960s and After). Stockheimer flees Racine ahead of the police, who intend to have him complete his jail sentence for assaulting an IRS agent, and Wickstrom quits his job and moves to Schell City, Missouri; he will later explain the move, saying, “I wanted to be with like-minded people.” He buys property near Identity minister Dan Gayman, becomes a teacher at a small private school operated by Gayman and another Identity minister, Loren Kallstrom, and in 1977 founds his own church, Mission of Jesus the Christ Church, living off tithes and donations. After a falling out with Gayman, in 1978 Wickstrom moves back to Wisconsin, at the invitation of Posse member Donald Minniecheske, who wants him to take part in the establishment of a Posse compound on the shores of the Embarrass River (see 1978 - 1983). [Southern Poverty Law Center, 12/2004]
Entity Tags: William Potter Gale, Dan Gayman, Donald Minniecheske, Loren Kallstrom, Posse Comitatus, Thomas Stockheimer, James Wickstrom
1976-1978: Anti-Tax Protester Writes Popular Anti-Tax Treatise
Financial and insurance consultant Irwin Schiff uses the anti-tax arguments of Arthur Porth (see 1951-1967) and Marvin Cooley (see 1970-1972) to bring the anti-tax protest message to a much more mainstream audience than Porth, whose appeal was largely confined to right-wing and racist audiences. Schiff, who bills himself as “America’s leading untax expert,” will appear on national television for more than 25 years before eventually going to jail for tax evasion. His biggest impact comes with his 1976 book, The Biggest Con: How the Government is Fleecing You. His second book, published six years later, is called How Anyone Can Stop Paying Income Taxes. The Biggest Con earns him $135,000 in royalties over the two years that follow its publication, and $85,000 in royalties for the decade following. In 1978, Schiff is charged for failing to file tax returns, and eventually convicted; he will be convicted of similar charges in 1985 and again in 2005. He tells one judge: “I only received federal reserve units, not dollars. I received no lawful money upon which a tax can be collected.” The US government says Schiff owes over $2.6 million in back taxes, interest, and penalties. [Southern Poverty Law Center, 12/2001; Tax Protester Dossiers, 10/23/2010] In 1996, Schiff will be a candidate for the Libertarian Party’s nomination for president. [C-SPAN, 7/5/1996]
Entity Tags: Libertarian Party, Arthur Porth, Irwin Schiff, Marvin Cooley
(1978-9): Bin Laden Visits US, Britain, or Both
Osama Bin Laden visits the US, Britain or both around this time. Author Peter Bergen will later say, “Undoubtedly, bin Laden took his son for medical treatment to a western country and it’s either the United States or the [Britain]. There’s some kind of controversy about that.” Khaled Batarfi, a close childhood friend to bin Laden, will later recall more specifically, “In Washington airport, Dulles Airport, people were surprised at the way he dressed, his wife dressed. Some of them were even taking photos and he was kind of joking about it. We were like in a zoo.” [New Yorker, 12/5/2005; CNN, 8/23/2006] According to author Lawrence Wright, bin Laden visits London to seek medical advice for his young son, Abdul Rahman. Abdul Rahman was born with hydrocephalus and bin Laden considers the condition so bad that he goes abroad to seek medical advice. However, he does not like what he hears in London and returns home with his son to Saudi Arabia without letting the doctors operate. Bin Laden then treats Abdul Rahman with folk remedy, but the child becomes mildly retarded and requires special attention. [Wright, 2006, pp. 81] Bin Laden is also said to visit London later (see Early 1990s-Late 1996).
Entity Tags: Osama bin Laden
1979-February 22, 2003: Al-Qaeda Affiliate in Southeast Asia Deeply Penetrated by Indonesian Government Mole
A young Fauzi Hasbi. [Source: SBS Dateline]Fauzi Hasbi, the son of a separatist leader in the Indonesian province of Aceh, is captured by an Indonesian military special forces unit in 1979 and soon becomes a mole for the Indonesian government. Hasbi becomes a leader in the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), and he also plays a long-time role in Jemaah Islamiyah, an al-Qaeda affiliate. For many years, he literally lives next door to Jemaah Islamiyah leaders Abu Bakar Bashir and Hambali (see April 1991-Late 2000). In 2005, the Australian television program SBS Dateline will present documents that it claims “prove beyond doubt that Fauzi Hasbi had a long association with the [Indonesian] military.” For instance, military documents dating from 1990 and 1995 give him specific spying tasks. [SBS Dateline, 10/12/2005] In February 2001, the Indonesian magazine Tempo documents some of Hasbi’s links to the Indonesian military, after he has been linked to a major role the Christmas bombings in Indonesia two months earlier (see December 24-30, 2000 and February 20, 2001). He admits to having some ties to certain high-ranking military figures and says he has had a falling out with GAM, but denies being a traitor to any militant group. [Tempo, 2/20/2001; Tempo, 2/27/2001] Yet even after this partial exposure, he continues to pose as an Islamist militant for the military. A 2002 document shows that he is even assigned the job of special agent for BIN, Indonesia’s intelligence agency. [SBS Dateline, 10/12/2005] A December 2002 report by a US think tank, the International Crisis Group, details his role as a government mole. He and two of his associates are abducted and killed in mysterious circumstances in the Indonesian city of Ambon on February 22, 2003. Seven suspects, including an Indonesian policeman, later admit to the killings but their motive for doing so remains murky. [Agence France-Presse, 5/22/2003]
Entity Tags: Tentara Nasional Indonesia, Jemaah Islamiyah, Free Aceh Movement, Badan Intelijen Negara, Fauzi Hasbi
1980: Future Anthrax Attacks Suspect Ivins Begins Working at USAMRIID
Bruce Ivins teaching a child how to juggle in 1983. [Source: Sam Yu / Frederick News-Post]Future anthrax attacks suspect Bruce Ivins begins working at USAMRIID, the US Army’s top bioweapons laboratory. He will continue working there until a few weeks before his suicide in July 2008 (see July 29, 2008). He has master’s and doctoral degrees in microbiology. His work at USAMRIID will generally focus on developing anthrax vaccines. He frequent conducts experiments on animals to test vaccines for various types of anthrax exposure. His experiments use only wet anthrax, not the dry powdered anthrax that will be used in the 2001 anthrax attacks. Ivins has a stable decades-long marriage, several children, and is popular with colleagues and friends. One coworker will later say: “a lot of people cared about him.… He is not Timothy McVeigh (see 8:35 a.m. - 9:02 a.m. April 19, 1995). He’s not the Unabomber” (see April 3, 1996). [Los Angeles Times, 8/1/2008; Washington Post, 8/2/2008]
Entity Tags: Bruce Ivins
Timeline Tags: 2001 Anthrax Attacks
December 1980: Court Rules that ‘State Secrets’ Privilege Disallows Civilians from Obtaining Non-Classified Information
A federal court rules that because of the government’s “state secrets” privilege (see March 9, 1953), a civilian plaintiff suing the US Navy over a contractual agreement cannot even access “non-privileged,” or unclassified, information from the Navy because to do so might “threaten disclosure” of material that goes against “the overriding interest of the United States… preservation of its state secrets privilege precludes any further attempt to pursue litigation.” [Siegel, 2008, pp. 196-197]
Entity Tags: US Department of the Navy
1981 and After: White Supremacist Holds Influential Gathering
Richard Butler, the head of the white separatist and neo-Nazi organization Aryan Nations (see Early 1970s), hosts the first Aryan World Congress at the Nations compound in Hayden Lake, Idaho. The event attracts many of the area’s racist leaders. Butler begins holding more gatherings in subsequent years and begins appointing state leaders of Aryan Nations chapters. One of the brightest young leaders in Butler’s coterie is Robert Jay Mathews, who will go on to found the violent white supremacist group The Order (see Late September 1983). Other prominent Nations members at the conferences include: Tom Metzger, leader of the White Aryan Resistance; Louis Beam, a former Klansman who will promote the concept of “leaderless resistance” (see February 1992); Don Black, a former Klansman who will create Stormfront, the largest white separatist forum on the Internet; and Kirk Lyons, a well-known lawyer who will represent a number of extremists facing criminal charges. [Southern Poverty Law Center, 2010; Southern Poverty Law Center, 2010]
Entity Tags: White Aryan Resistance, Louis R. Beam, Jr, The Order, Kirk Lyons, Don Black, Aryan Nations, Tom Metzger, Richard Girnt Butler, Stormfront (.org), Robert Jay Mathews
June 21, 1981: Two Members of ‘Operation Red Dog,’ White Supremacist-Led Plan to Overthrow Government of Caribbean Island Nation, Convicted of Conspiracy, Violation of Neutrality Act
Douglas Bay, Dominica. [Source: Happy Tellus (.com)]Two of three mercenaries accused of plotting to overthrow the government of the tiny Caribbean island nation of Dominica are found guilty of conspiracy and violation of the Neutrality Act. Stephen Don Black, a prominent Alabama Ku Klux Klan leader, and Joe Daniel Hawkins, a Klansman from Mississippi, are found guilty of the charges. Both are found not guilty of violating five firearms statutes. The plot began in 1979, when the neighboring island country of Grenada was taken over by a socialist regime with ties to the Communist government of Cuba’s Fidel Castro. Mike Perdue, a former Marine and prominent white supremacist, discussed retaking Grenada with ousted former Prime Minister Eric Gairy. Perdue sought out Klan Imperial Wizard David Duke, who put him in touch with white supremacist Donald Clarke Andrews, then living in Canada. Andrews had led the white supremacist group Western Guard, and after serving a jail sentence for neo-Nazi activities, founded a new pro-Aryan group, the Nationalist Party of Canada. Andrews convinced Perdue that Dominica might be a good place from which to stage a coup in Grenada. Dominica was in the grip of grinding poverty, having been devastated by a hurricane in 1979 and plagued with racial violence from a splinter group of Rastafarians called the Dreads. The island’s government was unstable and, Perdue and Andrews believed, ripe for overthrow. Perdue partnered with another supremacist, Wolfgang Droege, and began planning to stage a coup that would place former Prime Minister Patrick John back in power. Even though John was something of a leftist, and wanted to displace the much more right-wing and pro-American Prime Minister, Eugenia Charles, in September 1980 Perdue and John agreed in writing to commence what they called “Operation Red Dog,” a violent coup with the goal of placing John back in charge of the government. The Washington Times will later report: “The coup forged some odd alliances. [It] united right-wing North Americans and Caribbean leftists, white nationalists and black revolutionaries; First World capitalists and Third World Socialists.” Canadian writer Stewart Bell later describes Perdue as a man of no real political convictions and a lust for money who routinely lies about his Vietnam experience (he never served in Southeast Asia, and did not tell his companions that he was a homosexual), and Droege as a German-Canadian high school dropout with neo-Nazi sympathies. Others involved in the putative coup are nightclub owner and white supremacist Charles Yanover, gunrunner Sydney Burnett-Alleyne (who supplied the initial connection to John), Black, Hawkins, and a small number of others. The mercenaries’ plan was to put John back in power; in return, John would give them license to use the island as a haven for casinos, drug smuggling, and money laundering. Almost from the outset, the conspiracy was infiltrated by two agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF), John Osburg and Wally Grafton, who were alerted to the planned coup by charter boat captain Mike Howell. Perdue had tried to hire Howell to take the mercenaries to Dominica, and told Howell that his was a CIA operation. Members of the operation also talked to others about it; one even gave a “secret” interview to a radio reporter in Hamilton. Osburg and Grafton alerted law enforcement authorities; on the night of the raid, federal authorities overwhelmed the small band of mercenaries, arrested them all, and confiscated a large number of firearms, 10 pounds of dynamite, over 5,000 rounds of ammunition, and a large red-and-black Nazi flag. The operation was later derisively termed the “Bayou of Pigs,” a joking reference to the 1961 attempt by right-wing American mercenaries to overthrow Castro’s government. John was arrested in Dominica. Perdue and six other participants have already pled guilty to violating the Neutrality Act. Before his sentencing of three years in prison, Black says, “What we were doing was in the best interests of the United States and its security in the hemisphere, and we feel betrayed by our own government.” [Time, 5/11/1981; United Press International, 6/21/1981; New Times, 2/19/1998; Washington Times, 10/5/2008; Winnipeg Free Press, 11/2/2008] After serving his jail term, Black will go on to found the influential white supremacist organization Stormfront (see March 1995 and June 22, 2008).
Entity Tags: Eugenia Charles, Washington Times, Eric Gairy, Don Black, David Duke, Charles Yanover, Wally Grafton, US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Wolfgang Droege, Stormfront, Ku Klux Klan, John Osburg, Joe Daniel Hawkins, Mike Howell, Sydney Burnett-Alleyne, Mike Perdue, Donald Clarke Andrews, Stewart Bell, Patrick John
1982: Violent Anti-Abortion ‘Army of God’ Forms, Advocates Bombings and Murder
The “Army of God” (AOG), an underground anti-abortion extremist group, forms, according to government documents. The Army of God advocates violence towards abortion providers and clinics, and will even recommend murder and assassination of abortion providers (see Early 1980s); later it will also advocate violence against homosexuals in order to end what it calls the “homosexual agenda.” Current and future leaders and prominent members will include Don Benny Anderson (see August 1982), Michael Bray (see September 1994), James Kopp (see October 23, 1998), Neal Horsley (see January 1997), and Eric Robert Rudolph (see January 29, 1998). It is unclear how large the group is. The group advocates “whatever means are necessary” to stop abortions, which it calls “baby-killing.” According to government documents, the AOG manual “explicitly states that this is a ‘real’ army, with the stated mission of choosing violent means both to permanently end the ability of medical personnel to perform abortions and to draw media attention to their opposition to women’s right to choose to have abortions.” The AOG advocates the use of glue, acid, firebombs, and explosives against clinics and clinic personnel, and later advocates shooting abortion providers and clinic staff. A government document says, “It is explicitly stated in the manual that violence is the preferred means to the desired end, and there are references to ‘execution’ of abortion clinic staff.” The manual states that the local members of the Army of God are not told of the identities of other members, in order to make certain that “the feds will never stop us.” AOG documents will also threaten the US government and the United Nations, calling the UN an “ungodly Communist regime” supported by its “legislative-bureaucratic lackeys in Washington.” A letter apparently written by AOG leader Donald Spitz will claim of the US government and the UN: “It is you who are responsible and preside over the murder of children and issue the policy of ungodly perversion that’s destroying our people.… Death to the New World Order.” The AOG will openly declare itself a terrorist organization in responses to media articles. It will maintain that a state of undeclared war has existed in the US since the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion (see January 22, 1973), and it carries out terrorist attacks against abortion clinics and providers in order to “defend God’s children” against state-sponsored “slaughter.” The AOG will repeatedly state that it intends to continue its violent, deadly attacks against abortion clinics and providers until all laws legalizing abortion are repealed. After 2001, the AOG will begin rhetorically attacking homosexuals as well as abortion providers (see 2002). It will also proclaim its solidarity with Muslim extremist groups over such incidents as the September 11 attacks. AOG members will publicly profess their enthusiasm for mounting chemical and biological attacks. [Extremist Groups: Information for Students, 1/1/2006]
Entity Tags: Michael Bray, Army of God, Don Benny Anderson, Neal Horsley, Donald Spitz, James Kopp, Eric Robert Rudolph, United Nations
Timeline Tags: US Health Care, US Domestic Terrorism
August 1982: Anti-Abortion Activists Kidnap, Hold Doctor and Wife; First Appearance of ‘Army of God’?
Anti-abortion activists Don Benny Anderson (see May 1982), Matthew Moore, and Wayne Moore kidnap Dr. Hector Zevallos of the Hope Clinic for Women (see January 1982) and his wife. The activists hold the Zevalloses for eight days, during which time they force Zevallos to make an anti-abortion speech that is to be videotaped and sent to President Reagan in support of legislation designed to overturn the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion (see January 22, 1973). Threatened with the murder of himself and his wife, Zevallos agrees. According to government documents, this is the first action of the “Army of God,” a violent anti-abortion group (see 1982, Early 1980s, and July 1988). [Kushner, 2003, pp. 38; Extremist Groups: Information for Students, 1/1/2006] Anderson and Matthew Moore will plead guilty to multiple felonies in regards to the incident; Anderson will tell the court that he has been told by God to “wage war on abortion.” The three will also be convicted of kidnapping Zevallos and his wife. Anderson will receive 30 years for the kidnapping, and 30 additional years for firebombing two Florida abortion clinics. [Extremist Groups: Information for Students, 1/1/2006; National Abortion Federation, 2010]
Entity Tags: Matthew Moore, Don Benny Anderson, Army of God, Wayne Moore, Hector Zevallos
Timeline Tags: US Health Care, Domestic Propaganda, US Domestic Terrorism
September 1982: Courts Uphold ‘State Secrets’ Privilege
In the second of two rulings in the case of Halkin v Helms, the judiciary comes down squarely on the side of the US government against charges of illegal surveillance and wiretapping leveled against American anti-war protesters. The district and appellate courts uphold the federal government’s “state secrets” claim as codified in US v Reynolds (see March 9, 1953), thereby denying the plaintiffs the right to see government information that they claim would prove their case. The DC Court of Appeals writes that the federal courts do not have any constitutional role as “continuing monitors of the wisdom and soundness of Executive action,” and instead the courts “should accord utmost deference to executive assertions of privilege on grounds of military or diplomatic secrets… courts need only be satisfied that there is a reasonable danger” that military secrets might be exposed. [Siegel, 2008, pp. 196-196]
November 7, 1982: Port Authority Practices for Plane Crashing into the WTC
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey holds a drill at the World Trade Center based on the scenario of a plane crashing into one of the Twin Towers. Numerous agencies participate in the drill, which is held on a Sunday. As well as the Port Authority, these include the New York City Fire Department, the New York City Police Department, and the Emergency Medical Services. Guy Tozzoli, the director of the Port Authority’s World Trade Department, will describe the drill during a legislative hearing in 1993 (see (March 29, 1993)). He will recall that the Port Authority simulates the “total disaster” of “the airplane hitting the building” and participants simulate “blood coming out of people.” He will add that the drill is “a real preparation for a disaster.” [Newsday, 11/12/2001; Dwyer and Flynn, 2005, pp. 58-59] (During the hearing, Tozzoli will mistakenly recall the drill being conducted in the late 1970s, but it is in fact held in November 1982. [Dwyer and Flynn, 2005, pp. 274] ) The drill follows an incident in 1981, when an Argentine aircraft came within 90 seconds of crashing into the WTC’s North Tower as a result of having problems communicating with air traffic controllers (see February 20, 1981). Asked about the drill shortly after 9/11, Tozzoli will say it was held “just to have people trained within the city for that particular scenario [of a plane hitting the WTC].” The 1982 exercise appears to be the last “joint drill involving all the emergency responders” held at the WTC prior to the 9/11 attacks, 19 years later, according to New York Times reporters Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn. [Newsday, 11/12/2001; Dwyer and Flynn, 2005, pp. 59]
Entity Tags: Guy Tozzoli, New York City Police Department, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, New York City Fire Department
December 1982: Muslim Brotherhood Project to Infiltrate and Defeat the West
Youssef Nada. [Source: Zuma Press/ NewsCom]In November 2001, Swiss investigators will search the home of Youssef Nada, the leader of Al Taqwa Bank, a Swiss bank that had just been shut down by the US and the UN for alleged ties to al-Qaeda, Hamas, and other radical militant groups (see November 7, 2001). Nada and other Al Taqwa directors are prominent members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Newsweek will say, “The Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in 1928 as a religious and quasi-political counterweight to the corrupt and increasingly decadent royalist and colonial governments dominating the Islamic world, always has had two faces: one a peaceful public, proselytizing and social-welfare oriented wing; the other a clandestine, paramilitary wing.… Intelligence and law-enforcement officials say that while some branches and elements of the Brotherhood, such as the offshoots now operating in Egypt and Syria, have pledged to work for their goal of a worldwide Islamic caliphate using peaceful means and electoral politics, the Brotherhood has also spun off many—if not most—of the more violent local and international groups devoted to the cause of Islamic holy war.” Such offshoots will include al-Qaeda and Hamas. [Newsweek, 12/24/2004] Swiss investigators discover a 14-page document from December 1982 entitled “The Project.” Nada claims not to know who wrote the document or how he came to have it, and he says he disagrees with most of the contents. The document details a strategic plan whose ultimate goal is “the establishment of the reign of God over the entire world.” The document begins, “This report presents a global vision of an international strategy of Islamic policy.” It recommends to “study of the centers of power locally and worldwide, and the possibilities of placing them under influence,” to contact and support new holy war movements anywhere in the world, to support holy war in Palestine, and “nurtur[e] the sentiment of rancor with regard to Jews.” Swiss investigators who analyze the document will later write that the strategy aims to achieve “a growing influence over the Muslim world. It is pointed out that the [Muslim Brotherhood] doesn’t have to act in the name of the Brotherhood, but can infiltrate existing entities. They can thus avoid being located and neutralized.” The document also advocates creating a network of religious, educational, and charitable institutions in Europe and the US to increase influence there. [Unknown, 12/1982; Le Temps (Geneva), 10/6/2005]
Entity Tags: Muslim Brotherhood
1983: White Supremacists Plot to Blow Up Oklahoma City Federal Building
CSA members outside their Arkansas compound. Some CSA members also belong to the Elohim City community. [Source: GifS (.com)]Three white supremacists living in the Elohim City, Oklahoma, compound (see 1973 and After) visit Oklahoma City and make plans to blow up the Murrah Federal Building there. The three are: James Ellison, the leader of the Covenant, Sword, and Arm of the Lord (CSA) who will be arrested in 1985 after a four-day standoff with federal authorities; Kerry Noble; and Richard Wayne Snell, who will be executed for murdering a black police officer and a businessman he erroneously believed to be Jewish (see 9:00 p.m. April 19, 1995). All three men have close ties to the neo-Nazi Aryan Nations (see Early 1970s). The evidence of their plan is released during the investigation of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing (see 8:35 a.m. - 9:02 a.m. April 19, 1995), and is collated by former US prosecutor Steven N. Snyder, who once worked out of the Fort Smith, Arkansas District Attorney’s office. The plan involves parking a van or trailer in front of the building and exploding it with rockets detonated by a timer. Snyder will come across the information on the bombing plot while preparing for the trial of a sedition case against a 14-man group of white supremacists, 10 of whom are charged with planning to overthrow the government. (All 14 will be acquitted in a 1988 trial—see Late 1987 - April 8, 1998.) Snyder will get the information from Ellison, who provides information to him as part of his role as chief witness for the prosecution. The other defendants in the trial, many of whom are believed to have had some connection to the bombing plot, will be Richard Butler, the head of Aryan Nations; Robert E. Miles, a former Klansman who heads the Mountain Church of Jesus Christ the Saviour in Cohoctah, Michigan; and Louis R. Beam Jr., a former grand dragon of the Texas Ku Klux Klan and “ambassador at large” of the Aryan Nations. Ellison will tell Snyder that in July 1983, he attends a meeting of extremist groups in Hayden Lake, Idaho, the location of the Aryan Nations headquarters, where he informs them of the death of fellow white supremacist Gordon Kahl in a gun battle with law enforcement agents in Arkansas (see March 13 - June 3, 1983). Snyder’s notes of Ellison’s statement read, “Kahl was the catalyst that made everyone come forth and change the organizations from thinkers to doers.” According to Ellison, the leaders of the various supremacist groups discuss how to overthrow the federal government, using as a sourcebook the novel The Turner Diaries (see 1978), which tells of a successful move by white supremacists to overthrow the government and then commit genocide against Jews and blacks. Ellison will tell Snyder that he volunteers to assassinate federal officials in Arkansas as part of the plot. The leaders discuss blowing up the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, other federal buildings, and the Dallas office of a Jewish organization. According to Ellison’s trial testimony, in October 1983 Snell and another participant, Steve Scott, “asked me to design a rocket launcher that could be used to destroy these buildings from a distance.” Of Snell, Ellison will testify: “On one of the trips when I was with Wayne, he took me to some of the buildings and asked me to go in the building and check the building out. This kind of thing.” Ellison will tell Snyder that at Snell’s request, he surveills the Murrah Building to assess what it would take to damage and destroy it. He makes preliminary sketches and drawings. According to the preliminary plans, rocket launchers are to be “placed in a trailer or a van so that it could be driven up to a given spot, parked there, and a timed detonating device could be triggered so that the driver could walk away and leave the vehicle set in position, and he would have time to clear the area before any of the rockets launched.… And I was asked to make it so it would fit in either a trailer or a van or a panel truck.” Synder will later say that Snell is embittered towards the government because of the IRS, which took him to court and seized property from him for failure to pay taxes. But, Snyder will add, “you can’t be sure about any of this, because a federal raid, to a lot of these people, is any time the postman brings the mail.” Ellison will be taken into custody after a four-day standoff with state and federal authorities in 1985, only convinced to surrender after white supremacist Robert Millar talks him into giving up (see 1973 and After). Ellison will be convicted of racketeering charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He will enter the federal witness protection program until completing his parole and leaving the program on April 21, 1995, two days after the Oklahoma City bombing. [New York Times, 5/20/1995; Anti-Defamation League, 8/9/2002; Nicole Nichols, 2003]
Entity Tags: Louis R. Beam, Jr, James Ellison, Gordon Kahl, Elohim City, Covenant, Sword, and Arm of the Lord, Aryan Nations, Kerry Noble, Murrah Federal Building, Richard Girnt Butler, Robert Millar, Steve Scott, Steven N. Snyder, Richard Wayne Snell, Robert E. Miles
February 13, 1983 and After: Anti-Government Activist Kills Two US Marshals in Deadly Confrontation
Gordon Kahl. [Source: Anti-Defamation League]Posse Comitatus (see 1969 and 1983) member and anti-tax protester Gordon Kahl (see 1967 - 1973) and three Posse members gun down two US marshals who are attempting to arrest Kahl in a confrontation near Medina, North Dakota. The two marshals are among a group of six attempting to apprehend Kahl in a 1977 income tax case after he violated his probation by refusing to file a tax return (see 1975 - 1981); he has been a fugitive since 1981.
Initial Attempts to Negotiate Peaceful Surrender Fail - In that year, Kahl refused to turn himself over to North Dakota federal marshal Harold “Bud” Warren after a number of telephone conversations in which Kahl insisted that he had been “illegally” convicted by the “forces of Satan.” Warren decided that Kahl’s probation violation was “hardly a serious crime” and decided not to pursue it, partially because he knew Kahl was a crack shot and feared he would lose officers in any attempt to arrest him.
Increasing Involvement in Posse Activities - Kahl moved to Arkansas, where he visited the compound of the white supremacist Covenant, Sword, and Arm of the Lord organization. A member of that organization, Leonard Ginter, hid Kahl from federal authorities. Kahl’s wife, under tremendous stress from the situation, tried and failed to negotiate a settlement with the IRS, resulting in her excoriation by her 23-year-old son Yorie, who accused her of cooperating with “the tithing collectors of the Jewish-Masonic Synogogue [sic] of Satan.” Kahl became more and more involved in Posse Comitatus activities, traveling to Kansas and Colorado.
Return to North Dakota, Confrontation with Police - In January 1983 he and Yorie Kahl returned to North Dakota with the intention of setting up a Posse “township” near Medina, which they envisioned as being free from state and government control. Kahl’s station wagon is observed by Stutsman County deputy sheriff Bradley Kapp, who informs the Marshal Service in Bismarck. Warren’s successor, Kenneth Muir, authorizes Kahl’s arrest, and drives to Medina with Deputy Marshal Carl Wigglesworth to join two other deputy marshals, Robert Cheshire Jr. and James Hopson Jr. Kapp is spotted by some of his Posse colleagues, who quickly join him in planning to forcibly resist any arrest attempt. Reportedly, they receive the assistance of Medina police chief Darrell Graf, who is allegedly a Posse sympathizer. Kahl, Yorie Kahl, and Posse members David Broer and Scott Faul flee Medina in two Posse members’ cars, but the ruse only briefly confuses the marshals, and two police cars with flashing lights quickly apprehend Kahl and Broer. One car is driven by deputy police chief Steve Schnabel; the other by Muir and Wigglesworth. Kapp, Cheshire, and Hopson are close behind in a third vehicle. Kahl and Broer turn off the road into a driveway, and Kahl, armed with a modified Ruger Mini-14 assault rifle, prepares to open fire on the approaching police officers. The others leap out of their cars and, armed with Mini-14s, take up positions in a ditch. When the marshals arrive moments later, they get out of their cars and order the Posse members to lay down their weapons. One of the Posse members opens fire, and in the 30-second volley that ensues, Kahl and his fellow Posse members lay down a deadly fire that inflicts heavy damage on the outgunned marshals. Kahl wounds Kapp and Schnabel with two shots, and kills Muir with a shot to the heart. Muir fires off a single shot that gravely wounds Yorie. Hopson is struck in the head by a ricocheting bullet that causes permanent brain damage. Rifle fire from Yorie and Faul fatally wounds Cheshire. Kapp, severely injured, manages to shoot Yorie three more times, then takes cover. Kahl executes the dying Cheshire with a shot to the head, then points his rifle at the downed Schnabel, but chooses not to kill him, instead taking his police cruiser and fleeing the scene. He takes the injured Yorie to a Posse member, Dr. Clarence Martin; Yorie and Kahl’s wife Joan are arrested later that night at the hospital, and Yorie tells FBI agents some details of the confrontation. Faul, Broer, and Posse member Vernon Wegner are also arrested; Faul refuses to tell police or FBI investigators where Kahl might have fled to. Police find Schnabel’s abandoned police cruiser. Two days later, police surround Kahl’s farmhouse and bombard it with tear gas, only to find it abandoned. They do find a store of weapons and ammunition, and a collection of Posse Comitatus pamphlets and related documents. Kahl’s family insists that law enforcement efforts to apprehend Kahl are unfair, and complain that he is being “hunted like a dog.” Joan Kahl appears on television and tearfully pleads with her husband to surrender, to no avail. FBI and US Marshals descend on the local Posse Comitatus headquarters, and offer a $25,000 reward for information leading to his arrest, but Kahl has disappeared into the shadows of the far-right militia network. [Ian Geldard, 2/19/1995; Southern Poverty Law Center, 12/2001; Levitas, 2002, pp. 194-200; Nicole Nichols, 2003; Anti-Defamation League, 2011] Kahl’s murder of the marshals will be used by Posse Comitatus leader James Wickstrom to promote the anti-tax movement (see February 14-21, 1983). Four months later, Kahl will die in a bloody standoff with police officers in Arkansas (see March 13 - June 3, 1983).
Entity Tags: Robert Cheshire Jr, Steve Schnabel, Scott Faul, Yorie Kahl, Posse Comitatus, Vernon Wegner, Leonard Ginter, Kenneth Muir, Covenant, Sword, and Arm of the Lord, Carl Wigglesworth, Bradley Kapp, Joan Kahl, Darrell Graf, Clarence Martin, Gordon Kahl, James Hopson Jr, James Wickstrom, Harold (“Bud”) Warren, David Broer
March 13 - June 3, 1983: Anti-Tax Activist Kills Sheriff, Is Killed in Fatal Shootout in Arkansas
Gordon Kahl, an anti-tax protester, Posse Comitatus member (see 1967 - 1973 and 1975 - 1981), and federal fugitive who killed two US Marshals in a February shootout in North Dakota (see February 13, 1983 and After), arrives at a farm in Mountain Home, Arkansas. The farm owner, Arthur Russell, is a member of another white supremacist organization, the Covenant, Sword, and Arm of the Lord (CSA), and willingly hides Kahl, who is facing a second warrant for his arrest issued March 11. Kahl spends two months hiding at Russell’s farmhouse, studying the Bible, watching television, and spending time with Russell’s daughter Karen. While Kahl is in hiding, his family and colleagues in the Posse who were involved in the shootout are tried in May 1983; his son Yorie Kahl and colleague Scott Faul are convicted of second-degree murder and six other related charges; David Broer is convicted of conspiracy and of harboring a fugitive; and his wife Joan Kahl is acquitted of conspiracy and harboring a fugitive.
FBI Learns of Kahl's Whereabouts - In late May, after the convictions, Kahl leaves the Russell farm with his CSA friend Leonard Ginter and Ginter’s wife Norma. Ginter, an unemployed carpenter, belongs to a small anti-government group called Americans for Constitutional Enforcement, but is not too ideologically rigid not to accept food stamps for himself and his wife. Kahl and the Ginters drive to Smithville, Arkansas, a tiny Ozark town where the Ginters have a concrete house with a vegetable patch and a chicken pen. After Kahl leaves, Karen Russell calls the FBI and informs them of his whereabouts.
Final Confrontation - On June 3, FBI agent James Blasingame organizes a group of US Marshals and local lawmen at the Lawrence County courthouse to plan how best to apprehend Kahl and the Ginters. Twenty-eight law enforcement officials, including 15 US Marshals, six FBI agents, three state police officers, and four county lawmen descend on the Ginter home. While en route, they encounter Ginter, driving away from the house in a car with a rifle in the backseat; he has a cocked and loaded pistol in his lap. Ginter is apprehended without incident, but lies to the police, saying Kahl is not at the house. Unfortunately, the officials believe his story. At the officials’ request, Ginter drives back to the house, with five officials behind. Ginter parks his car, as do the officials; Ginter gets out and shouts: “Norma, come out. The FBI wants to talk to you.” He emphasizes the word “FBI” as loudly as possible, alerting Kahl to their presence. Norma Ginter comes out and is escorted away. Lawrence County Sheriff Gene Matthews, departing from the plan, enters the house through a utility room off the garage, with US Marshal James Hall and Arkansas State Police investigator Ed Fitzpatrick following him. Kahl is waiting in the kitchen, armed with a formidable Ruger Mini-14 assault rifle. When Matthews enters the kitchen, the two men see each other and open fire simultaneously; Kahl wounds Matthews fatally with two shots to the chest and Matthews kills Kahl with a bullet to the head. Hall and Fitzpatrick, unsure of what has happened, begin firing wildly, striking Matthews with buckshot. Matthews manages to get to a police cruiser before collapsing, and gasps, “I got him.” But the other officials are unsure if Kahl is actually dead, and if others may be in the house as well. They open fire on the house and let loose a barrage of tear gas. They then set the house afire with a can of diesel fuel; the fire ignites several thousand rounds of ammunition stored inside the house and the house is all but gutted by the conflagration. Eventually, officials are able to enter the house and find what remains of Kahl’s body in the kitchen. Posse Comitatus leader William Potter Gale, asked by a reporter about Kahl’s death, says that Kahl was murdered for helping farmers and belonging to the group. Another Posse member, Richard Wayne Snell, will later claim that Matthews had been killed by FBI agents after interrupting them during their torture of Kahl. [Southern Poverty Law Center, 12/2001; Levitas, 2002, pp. 217-220; Anti-Defamation League, 2011]
Episode Destabilizes Posse Comitatus - The Kahl episode receives national attention and helps destabilize the Posse Comitatus (see 1984). The media quickly learns of Kahl’s racist and anti-Semitic past, and reprints a letter he wrote the same night he killed the marshals and later sent to reporters. In his letter, Kahl announced that it was time to begin killing Jews: “We are engaged in a struggle to the death between the people of the Kingdom of God, and the Kingdom of Satan. We are a conquered and occupied nation; conquered and occupied by the Jews, and their hundreds or maybe thousands of front organizations doing their un-Godly work. They have two objectives in their goal of ruling the world. Destroy Christianity and the White race. Neither can be accomplished by itself, they stand or fall together.” In an attempt to exonerate his son and Faul, Kahl took credit for all the fatal shots. Kahl’s espousal of violence and anti-Semitism causes a backlash when some Posse Comitatus members attempt to portray him as a martyr. [Southern Poverty Law Center, 12/2001; Levitas, 2002, pp. 217-220]
Entity Tags: Ed Fitzpatrick, Scott Faul, William Potter Gale, David Broer, Arthur Russell, Americans for Constitutional Enforcement, Richard Wayne Snell, Posse Comitatus, Yorie Kahl, Leonard Ginter, James Blasingame, Gordon Kahl, Gene Matthews, Covenant, Sword, and Arm of the Lord, Norma Ginter, James Hall, Karen Russell, Joan Kahl
July 29, 1983: SAAR Network Is Founded
555 Grove Street, Herndon, Virginia. This is the location of the SAAR Foundation/Safa Group and many related businesses. [Source: Paul Sperry]The SAAR Foundation is incorporated in Herndon, Virginia, just outside Washington. It will become an umbrella organization for a cluster of over 100 charities, think tanks, and businesses known as the SAAR network. In 2002, the US government will raid the SAAR network looking for ties to the Al Taqwa Bank and the Muslim Brotherhood (see March 20, 2002). [Farah, 2004, pp. 153]
Entity Tags: SAAR Foundation
September 1983: White Supremacist Receives Standing Ovation at National Alliance Convention
Robert Jay Mathews, a white supremacist and activist (see 1980-1982), gives a speech at the National Alliance convention in Arlington, Virginia, reporting on his efforts to recruit farmers and ranchers into the “white racialist” movement (see 1969). Mathews receives the only standing ovation of the convention. He also renews his acquaintance with Thomas Martinez, a former Ku Klux Klansman from Philadelphia, and becomes close friends with him. [HistoryLink, 12/6/2006] Mathews will go on to found The Order, one of the most violent anti-government organizations in modern US history (see Late September 1983). He will die during a 1984 standoff with FBI agents (see December 8, 1984).
Entity Tags: Robert Jay Mathews, National Alliance, The Order, Thomas Martinez
Late September 1983: Nine White Supremacists Found Violent Guerrilla Group ‘The Order’
The logo of ‘The Order.’ [Source: Eye on Hate (.com)]Robert Jay Mathews, a white supremacist and activist (see 1980-1982 and September 1983), invites eight men to his property in Metaline Falls, Washington: neighbor and best friend Kenneth Loft; former Ku Klux Klansman David Edan Lane; Daniel Bauer; Denver Daw Parmenter; Randolph George Duey and Bruce Carroll Pierce of the Aryan Nations; and National Alliance recruits Richard Harold Kemp and William Soderquist. Mathews and his eight guests found a new organization called, variously, “The Order,” “The Silent Brotherhood” or “Bruder Schweigen,” and “The White American Bastion.” The group uses the story depicted in the novel The Turner Diaries as its framework, determining to use violence and crime to destabilize the US government and establish a whites-only society. In the novel, “The Organization” finances its revolution by armed robberies, counterfeiting, and other crimes designed to disrupt the US economy. Mathews decides his group will use the same plan. Mathews is also inspired by real crimes, such as a failed 1981 armored car heist by the Black Liberation Army. [Kushner, 2003, pp. 222-223; HistoryLink, 12/6/2006]
Entity Tags: The Order, Daniel Bauer, Bruce Carroll Pierce, David Edan Lane, Denver Daw Parmenter, Kenneth Loft, Randolph George Duey, William Soderquist, Robert Jay Mathews, Richard Harold Kemp
December 3-23, 1983: Order Member Arrested for Passing Counterfeit Bills; Colleague Robs Bank for Bail Money
Bruce Pierce, a member of the white supremacist guerrilla group The Order (see Late September 1983), is arrested in Yakima, Washington, for passing counterfeit $50 bills at a local mall. Pierce obtained his counterfeit bills from an operation coordinated with the Aryan Nations in western Idaho. Pierce is interviewed by a Secret Service agent, but refuses to give him any real information. Order leader Robert Jay Mathews (see Late September 1983), worried that Pierce might talk to police or another prisoner, tries to finance Pierce’s bail by robbing a bank north of Seattle. Mathews escapes with over $26,000, but most of the money is ruined when an exploding dye pack stains the bills. Pierce eventually posts a $250 bond and is released. [HistoryLink, 12/6/2006] Pierce will later murder Denver radio host Alan Berg (see June 18, 1984 and After).
Entity Tags: Robert Jay Mathews, Alan Berg, Aryan Nations, Bruce Carroll Pierce, The Order
1984: Posse Comitatus Begins to Disband
Members of the white separatist, anti-Semitic group Posse Comitatus (see 1969) begin to drift away from the group after federal and state authorities seize the “township” of Tigerton Dells, Wisconsin, which the group has created as part of its “breakaway” nation. The organization is also destabilized by negative media attention after one of its members, Gordon Kahl, killed two US marshals and was later killed himself in a violent confrontation with federal and state officials in Arkansas (see February 13, 1983 and After). Some of the Posse members will take up membership in other white supremacist Christian Identity (see 1960s and After) groups such as Aryan Nations (see Early 1970s). The organization will not entirely dissipate, but quickly loses influence and membership (from a height of some 50,000) to newer groups. [Ian Geldard, 2/19/1995; Southern Poverty Law Center, 12/2004; Southern Poverty Law Center, 2010]
Entity Tags: Aryan Nations, Posse Comitatus, Gordon Kahl
January 17, 1984: Port Authority Terrorist Intelligence Unit Issues Report on WTC Security
Detective Sergeant Peter Caram, the head of the New York Port Authority’s Terrorist Intelligence Unit, has been directed by the assistant superintendent of the Port Authority Police Department to compile a report on the vulnerability of the WTC to a terrorist attack. Having previously worked at the WTC Command, Caram has exclusive knowledge of some of the center’s security weaknesses. On this day he issues his four-page report, titled “Terrorist Threat and Targeting Assessment: World Trade Center.” It looks at the reasoning behind why the WTC might be singled out for attack, and identifies three areas of particular vulnerability: the perimeter of the WTC complex, the truck dock entrance, and the subgrade area (the lower floors below ground level). Caram specifically mentions that terrorists could use a car bomb in the subgrade area—a situation similar to what occurs in the 1993 bombing (see February 26, 1993). [Caram, 2001, pp. 5, 84-85; New York County Supreme Court, 1/20/2004] This is the first of several reports during the 1980s, identifying the WTC as a potential terrorist target.
Entity Tags: World Trade Center, Peter Caram
April 3-26, 1984: White Supremacist Refuses to Report to Prison, Becomes Fugitive
Bruce Pierce, a member of the secretive white supremacist organization The Order (see Late September 1983), pleads guilty to passing counterfeit currency (see December 3-23, 1983). He believes he will receive a light sentence as this is his first criminal offense, but because he shows no remorse for his actions and refuses to divulge information about his connections to the Aryan Nations, he is sentenced to two years in federal prison. Instead of reporting to prison, Pierce holes up with Order leader Robert Jay Mathews and becomes a federal fugitive. [HistoryLink, 12/6/2006] Pierce will later murder Denver radio host Alan Berg (see June 18, 1984 and After).
Entity Tags: The Order, Aryan Nations, Robert Jay Mathews, Bruce Carroll Pierce
April 19-23, 1984: White Supremacist Group Robs Second Armored Truck
Robert Jay Mathews, the leader of the violent white supremacist group The Order (see Late September 1983), journeys to Seattle, Washington, with six of his followers to rob a second armored car (see March 16, 1984). Mathews has new recruit Gary Lee Yarborough manufacture small bombs to be used as diversions. On April 19, Yarborough sets off a bomb in an adult theater near the mall where the truck will be; on April 23, Mathews calls in another bomb threat to divert police. The same day, the group successfully robs the armored truck, securing $536,000, though over $300,000 of this money is in checks, which the group destroys. Mathews and another colleague go to Missoula, Montana, where they buy firearms, ammunition, other weapons, and a state-of-the-art computer to give The Order access to the Internet. [HistoryLink, 12/6/2006]
Entity Tags: Gary Lee Yarborough, Robert Jay Mathews, The Order
April 29, 1984: White Supremacist Group Bombs Synagogue
Two members of the white supremacist group The Order (see Late September 1983), Bruce Pierce and Richard Kemp, bomb the Congregation Ahavath Israel Synagogue in Boise, Idaho. They use the first bomb Pierce has assembled, and it does little damage. Order leader Robert Jay Mathews is angry over the bombing, not because he disapproves, but because he feels the bomb should have destroyed the building. [HistoryLink, 12/6/2006] Pierce will later murder Denver radio host Alan Berg (see June 18, 1984 and After).
Entity Tags: Congregation Ahavath Israel Synagogue, Alan Berg, Bruce Carroll Pierce, Robert Jay Mathews, The Order, Richard Harold Kemp
May 17, 1984: White Supremacist Scouts Denver Talk Show Host for Upcoming Murder
Robert Jay Mathews, the founder and leader of the secretive white-supremacist group The Order (see Late September 1983), has decided the group should murder Denver radio host Alan Berg. Berg, a Jewish liberal with a confrontational style, has frequently sparred with white supremacists and neo-Nazis on the air, and for this reason Mathews has decided he must die. Mathews sends Order member Jean Margaret Craig to Denver to observe Berg’s movements and determine if he is a viable target. Mathews decides that the “hit” on Berg will take place in June. [HistoryLink, 12/6/2006] Mathews and three Order members will kill Berg a month later (see June 18, 1984 and After).
Entity Tags: Jean Margaret Craig, Robert Jay Mathews, The Order, Alan Berg
June 18, 1984 and After: Jewish Radio Host Murdered by Neo-Nazis
Alan Berg. [Source: Denver Post]Alan Berg, a Jewish, progressive talk show host for Denver’s KOA 850 AM Radio, is gunned down in his driveway as he is stepping out of his car. The murder is carried out by members of the violent white-supremacist group The Order (see Late September 1983), a splinter group of the Aryan Nations white nationalist movement. Berg, who was described as often harsh and abrasive, regularly confronted right-wing and militia members on his show. Federal investigators learn that The Order’s “hit list” includes Berg, television producer Norman Lear, a Kansas federal judge, and Morris Dees, a civil rights lawyer and co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Radio producer Anath White later says that some of Berg’s last shows were particularly rancorous, involving confrontational exchanges with anti-Semitic members of the Christian Identity movement (see 1960s and After). “That got him on the list and got him moved up the list to be assassinated,” White will say. [HistoryLink, 12/6/2006; Rocky Mountain News, 5/1/2007; Denver Post, 6/18/2009]
Preparing for the Murder - Order leader Robert Jay Mathews had already sent a colleague to Denver to determine if Berg was a viable target (see May 17, 1984). The four members of the assassination team—Mathews, Bruce Pierce, David Lane, and Richard Scutari—assemble at a local Motel 6 to review their plans. Pierce, the assassin, has brought a .45 caliber Ingram MAC-10 submachine gun for the job. All four men begin to surveill Berg’s townhouse.
Gunned Down - At 9:21 p.m., Berg drives his Volkswagen Beetle into his driveway. Lane, the driver, pulls up behind him. Mathews leaps out of the car and opens the rear door for Pierce, who jumps out and runs up the driveway. Berg exits his vehicle with a bag of groceries. Pierce immediately opens fire with his submachine gun, pumping either 12 or 13 bullets into Berg’s face and body before the gun jams. (Sources claim both figures of bullet wounds in Berg as accurate.) Pierce and Mathews get back into their car, rush back to the Motel 6, gather their belongings, and leave town. Three of the four members of the “hit squad” will soon be apprehended, charged, and convicted. Pierce is sentenced to 252 years in prison, including time for non-related robberies, and will die in prison in 2010; Lane is given 150 years, and will die in prison in 2007. Neither man is prosecuted for murder, as the evidence will be determined to be inconclusive; rather, they will be charged with violating Berg’s civil rights. Scutari, accused of serving as a lookout for Pierce, and Jean Craig, accused of collecting information on Berg for the murder, will both be acquitted of culpability in the case, but will be convicted of other unrelated crimes. Mathews will not be charged due to lack of evidence of his participation; months later, he will die in a confrontation with law enforcement officials (see December 8, 1984). [Rocky Mountain News, 5/1/2007; Denver Post, 6/18/2009; Denver Post, 8/17/2010] In sentencing Pierce to prison, Judge Richard Matsch will say of the murder, “The man [Berg] was killed for who he was, what he believed in, and what he said and did, and that crime strikes at the very core of the Constitution.” [Denver Post, 8/17/2010]
Re-Enacting a Fictional Murder? - Some will come to believe that the assassins may have attempted to re-enact the fictional murder of a Jewish talk-show host depicted in The Turner Diaries (see 1978). [Rocky Mountain News, 5/1/2007; The Moderate Voice, 11/30/2007]
'Opening Shot ... of a Truly Revolutionary Radical Right' - Mark Potok of the SPLC will characterize Berg’s murder as an early event leading to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing (see 8:35 a.m. - 9:02 a.m. April 19, 1995). “In a sense, it was one of the opening shots of a truly revolutionary radical right,” Potok will say, “perfectly willing to countenance the mass murder of American civilians for their cause.” [Denver Post, 6/18/2009] Berg’s ex-wife, Judith Berg, will travel around the country in the years after her ex-husband’s murder, speaking about what she calls the “disease and anatomy of hate,” a sickness that can infect people so strongly that they commit horrible crimes. In 2007, she will tell a reporter that Berg’s murder was a watershed event that inspired more hate-movement violence. “What happened to Alan in the grown-up world has reached into the youth culture,” she will say. “It opened the door to an acceptance of violence as a means of acting on hate.… While our backs are turned toward overseas, hate groups are having a heyday. People are very unhappy; they’re out of work and jobs are scarce. They’re ripe for joining extremist groups. We need to understand what happened to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” [Rocky Mountain News, 5/1/2007] White later says of Pierce, Lane, and their fellows: “It’s left me to wonder what makes somebody like this. I think these people didn’t have much opportunity in their lives and scapegoat. They blame others for not making it.” [Denver Post, 8/17/2010]
Entity Tags: Norman Lear, Robert Jay Mathews, Richard Scutari, Morris Dees, Richard P. Matsch, Mark Potok, Jean Margaret Craig, Judith Berg, Alan Berg, Anath White, Aryan Nations, Bruce Carroll Pierce, David Edan Lane, KOA 850 AM Radio, The Order
June 24-28, 1984: White Supremacist Associate Arrested for Passing Counterfeit Bills
David Lane, a member of the secretive white supremacist group The Order (see Late September 1983) and one of the group members responsible for murdering Denver radio host Alan Berg (see June 18, 1984 and After), gives $30,000 in counterfeit bills (see December 3-23, 1983) to Thomas Martinez in Philadelphia. Martinez is not a member of The Order, but has reluctantly agreed to pass on the bills on the group’s behalf. Martinez ignores Lane’s advice to pass on the bills in New Jersey and not his own neighborhood, and passes over $1,500 in neighborhood stores. On June 28, he is arrested after a liquor store owner alerts authorities about the fake bills. Martinez is questioned by the Secret Service, but though he is fully aware of The Order’s array of crimes, tells his questioners nothing. He telephones Order leader Robert Jay Mathews, asking that he give him $1,600 for an attorney. Mathews tells Martinez to be patient, that the group is planning another robbery (see March 16, 1984 and April 19-23, 1984), and he will then send him the money. [HistoryLink, 12/6/2006]
Entity Tags: David Edan Lane, Alan Berg, Robert Jay Mathews, US Secret Service, Thomas Martinez, The Order
October 18, 1984: FBI Finds Key Evidence of White Supremacist Group’s Crimes
Three FBI agents in a green US Forest Service truck drive onto the wooded Idaho property of Gary Yarborough, a member of the white supremacist group The Order (see August 1984 and After). They are met with gunfire and retreat. They return in the evening with a search warrant. Yarborough has fled into the woods (and will escape to join leader Robert Jay Mathews), but in his cabin the agents find a large collection of evidence of The Order’s crimes, including documents, explosives, gas grenades, cases of ammunition, pistols, shotguns, rifles, two Ingram MAC-10 submachine guns with silencers, gas masks, knives, crossbows, assault vests, radio frequency scanners, and other equipment. Among the cache of weapons is the MAC-10 used to kill Denver radio host Alan Berg (see June 18, 1984 and After). Based on the evidence found in Yarborough’s cabin, the FBI decides to begin arresting members of The Order. [HistoryLink, 12/6/2006]
Entity Tags: Robert Jay Mathews, Alan Berg, Gary Lee Yarborough, The Order, Federal Bureau of Investigation
November 1984: Court Broadens State Secrets Privilege
The DC Court of Appeals rejects a claim by civilian plaintiffs to force the government to disclose classified information as part of a lawsuit, citing the “state secrets” privilege (see March 9, 1953). Furthermore, the court broadens the definition of “state secrets” to include “disclosure of intelligence-gathering methods or capabilities and disruption of diplomatic relations.” [Siegel, 2008, pp. 197]
December 8, 1984: Neo-Nazi Leader Dies in Standoff with FBI
Robert Jay Mathews. [Source: Wikimedia]Robert Jay Mathews, the leader of the neo-Nazi, white supremacist group The Order (see Late September 1983 and June 18, 1984 and After), is killed during a standoff with federal authorities at a rented vacation home near Smugger’s Cove on Whidbey Island, Washington State. Mathews has been on the run after escaping from federal custody in November 1984 and in the process wounding an FBI agent in the leg (see November 23-24, 1984). On December 3, the FBI’s Seattle office received an anonymous tip that Mathews and other Order members were hiding in three hideouts on Whidbey Island, and were heavily armed. The FBI dispatched 150 agents to the island to ensure none of the members escaped. By December 7, the FBI had all three hideouts located and surrounded. Four members of the group surrender without incident, but Mathews refuses, instead firing repeatedly at agents from inside the Smuggler’s Cove house. After 35 hours of fruitless negotiations, agents fire three M-79 Starburst illumination flares into the home, hoping that the house will catch fire and drive Mathews out. Instead, Mathews either chooses to remain inside the house, or is unable to leave. He dies in the flames. The FBI recovers his charred body the next morning. News reports about the siege are the first many Americans hear of The Order and its war against what it calls the “ZOG,” or Zionist Occupation Government, which Mathews and others characterize as a “Jewish cabal” running the US government. [HistoryLink, 12/6/2006] In 2003, researcher Harvey Kushner will write of Mathews, “For many on the racist right, he died a martyr.” [Kushner, 2003, pp. 223]
Entity Tags: Harvey Kushner, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Robert Jay Mathews, The Order
Late December 1984 - April 1985: Justice Department Decides to ‘Roll Up’ White Supremacist Group
After the death of Robert Jay Mathews, the founder and leader of the white supremacist group The Order (see December 8, 1984), federal authorities decide to “roll up” the group. Federal prosecutors from six states meet secretly in Seattle and decide to use the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) against Order members. Under RICO statutes, all defendants are considered co-conspirators and are jointly responsible for all the crimes committed by the group (see October 28, 1983, December 3-23, 1983, March 16, 1984, April 19-23, 1984, April 29, 1984, May 27, 1984, June 18, 1984 and After, June 24-28, 1984, July 19, 1984, and November 23-24, 1984). The RICO Act also allows the government to seize and forfeit all property and assets used by the criminal organization to further its goals. Between December 1984 and March 1985, the Justice Department builds a massive conspiracy case against The Order. On April 15, 1985, a grand jury in Washington State returns a 20-count indictment against 23 members of The Order with racketeering, conspiracy, and 67 separate offenses. By this time, 17 members of The Order are in custody; by the month’s end, all but one member, Richard Scutari (see March 19, 1986), are in custody. [HistoryLink, 12/6/2006]
Entity Tags: Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Richard Scutari, Robert Jay Mathews, US Department of Justice, The Order
1985-1989: Precursor to Al-Qaeda Puts Down US Roots
Makhtab al-Khidamat offices in the US in the late 1980s. Some of the offices in fact were represented by single individuals. [Source: National Geographic] (click image to enlarge)Sheikh Abdullah Azzam, bin Laden’s mentor, makes repeated trips to the US and other countries, building up his Pakistan-based organization, Maktab al-Khidamat (MAK), or “Services Office” in English. It is also known as Al-Kifah, which means “struggle.” Azzam founded the Al-Kifah/MAK in 1984 (see Late 1984). Branches open in over 30 US cities, as Muslim-Americans donate millions of dollars to support the Afghan war against the Soviet Union. The most important branch, called the Al-Kifah Refugee Center, opens in Brooklyn, New York (see 1986-1993). Azzam is assassinated in a car bomb attack in late 1989 (see November 24, 1989). Bin Laden soon takes over the organization, which effectively morphs into al-Qaeda. His followers take over the US offices and they become financial conduits for al-Qaeda operations. [Lance, 2003, pp. 40-41]
Entity Tags: Osama bin Laden, Al-Kifah Refugee Center, Maktab al-Khidamat, Al-Qaeda, Abdullah Azzam
April 15, 1985: Former ‘Order’ Member Kills Missouri Trooper
David Tate, one of two members of the now-defunct white supremacist group The Order to escape the government’s massive prosecution of its members (see Late December 1984 - April 1985), is stopped by two Missouri state troopers conducting random vehicle and license checks. He is trying to flee to a Christian Identity (see 1960s and After) survivalist compound called the Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord (CSA). Tate opens fire on the two officers with a MAC-10 submachine gun, killing one and critically wounding the other. He is captured five days later hiding in a city park in Arkansas. He will be convicted of assault and murder, and sentenced to life without parole. Federal authorities will use the Tate incident to arrest the CSA leadership (see 1983); the organization will soon fold. [Anti-Defamation League, 2005; HistoryLink, 12/6/2006]
Entity Tags: David Charles Tate, The Order
July 1985: Report Outlines Terrorism Threat to WTC
Charles Schnabolk. [Source: Institute for Design Professionals]While the Office of Special Planning is still working on its report about the vulnerability of the World Trade Center to terrorist attack, the New York Port Authority hired security consultant Charles Schnabolk to also review the center’s security systems. [UExpress (.com), 10/12/2001; New York County Supreme Court, 1/20/2004] Schnabolk was involved in designing the original security system when the WTC complex was built. [Institue for Design Professionals, 2009; The Security Design Group, 2010] This month his secret report, titled “Terrorism Threat Perspective and Proposed Response for the World Trade Center” is released. It sets out four levels of possible terrorism against the center, and gives examples of each: ”(1) PREDICTABLE—Bomb threats; (2) PROBABLE—Bombing attempts, computer crime; (3) POSSIBLE—Hostage taking; (4) CATASTROPHIC—Aerial bombing, chemical agents in water supply or air conditioning (caused by agents of a foreign government or a programmed suicide).” Similar to other reports in the mid-1980s, it also warns that the WTC “is highly vulnerable through the parking lot.” [UExpress (.com), 10/12/2001; New York County Supreme Court, 1/20/2004]
Entity Tags: Charles Schnabolk, World Trade Center
Late 1985: Slush Funds Enable Cash to Be Siphoned Off from Huge Arms Deal to Afghan Mujaheddin
After the governments of Saudi Arabia and Britain sign the massive Al Yamamah arms deal, “unconventional aspects” of the deal mean that money can be diverted for a variety of purposes. The arms being purchased by Saudi Arabia are paid for not in cash, but in oil, with between four and six hundred thousand barrels a day being bartered to finance the weapons. This enables the Saudis to evade production caps put in place by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Although most of the money realized from the oil should theoretically go to the British as payment for the arms, some of it apparently finds its way back to Saudi Arabians. It is then used to support a number of covert programs to arm anti-Communists supported by Saudi Arabia, such as the purchase of weapons in Egypt that are then sent to the mujaheddin in Afghanistan. [Coll, 2008, pp. 289] It is possible that some of the money is used to finance a missile purchase by the bin Laden brothers for Arabs fighting in the Soviet-Afghan War (see Mid-1986).
Timeline Tags: Complete 911 Timeline, War in Afghanistan
November 15, 1985: Michigan Graduate Student Injured by ‘Unabomber’ Exploding Package
In Ann Arbor, Michigan, research assistant Nicklaus Suino of the University of Michigan suffers burns and shrapnel wounds when he opens a package bomb at the home of psychology professor James V. McConnell. [BBC, 11/12/1987; Washington Post, 1998] The bombing will later be shown to be the work of Theodore “Ted” Kaczynski, the so-called “Unabomber” (see April 3, 1996). McConnell may be one of Kaczynski’s most personal targets. McConnell is a rich, flamboyant, and somewhat eccentric professor who espouses controversial theories about human behavior modification based on his research with flatworms. McConnell taught at the University of Michigan when Kaczynski was taking graduate courses in mathematics there. The package mailed to McConnell’s house comes with a one-page letter taped to the top, bearing a Salt Lake City postmark and reading in part: “I’d like you to read this book. Everybody in your position should read this book.” McConnell asks Suino to open it. The resulting explosion injures Suino; McConnell escapes with slight, temporary hearing loss but is profoundly shaken by the incident. [Washington Post, 4/14/1996]
Entity Tags: Theodore J. (“Ted”) Kaczynski, James V. McConnell, Nicklaus Suino, University of Michigan
1986: Ali Mohamed Joins US Military and Teaches about Middle East; Supervisors Include Prominent Neoconservative Ideologue
Ali Mohamed, in one of the US military videos he helped create. In the lower picture, he is in the center, chairing a discussion on the Middle East with other US army officers. [Source: US Army via CNN]Ali Mohamed enlists in the US Army and is posted to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. (He had taken part in a special program for foreign officers at Fort Bragg when he was a major in the Egyptian army in 1981 (see 1984)). He works first as a supply sergeant for a Green Beret unit, and then as an instructor at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare School. Fort Bragg is no ordinary military base—one newspaper calls it the “US military’s top warfare planning center.” Mohamed will steal numerous top secret documents and pass them to al-Qaeda (see November 5, 1990). [San Francisco Chronicle, 11/4/2001; Raleigh News and Observer, 11/13/2001] Mohamed trains and lectures soldiers being deployed to the Middle East on the region’s culture and politics. He also produces and appears in training videotapes about the Middle East. In one tape, he asserts that devout Muslims are widely misunderstood. “The term of fundamentalism scares people in the West. Everybody when he hears fundamentalist, he thinks about armed struggle. He thinks about radicals. He thinks about groups that are carrying weapons. The word fundamentalism does not mean extremism. It means just that ordinary Muslims accept everything—that this is my way.” One of his supervisors is Col. Norvell De Atkine, who later will say of Mohamed, “I don’t think he was anti-American. He was what I would call a Muslim fundamentalist, which isn’t a bomb thrower. I would not put him in that category.” [New York Times, 10/30/1998] De Atkine is an expert on the Middle East and on the political aspects of military operations. In one of his articles he will praise the propaganda preparation for the Gulf War. [American Diplomacy, 1999] De Atkine will also contribute articles to Middle East Forum, an aggressively neoconservative and pro-Israeli journal edited by Daniel Pipes. One of these, a denunciation of leftist and Arab influences in academia, will be written together with Pipes. [Academic Questions, 1995]
Entity Tags: Norvell De Atkine, Ali Mohamed
(Early-Mid 1986): Salem Bin Laden Asks Pentagon to Supply Missiles to Arab Afghans, Receives No Reply
Bin Laden family head Salem bin Laden asks the Pentagon to supply anti-aircraft missiles to Arab volunteers fighting in the Soviet-Afghan War. The request is made on behalf of Salem’s brother Osama, who is establishing a semi-autonomous group of Arab volunteers outside the direct control of local Afghan commanders and will set up a camp just for Arabs later this year (see Late 1986). The Pentagon is asked because the US is already supplying anti-aircraft Stinger missiles to the Afghans. However, it does not reply to Salem, and the reason for the failure to reply is not known. According to a business partner involved in Salem’s efforts to secure the missiles, he makes several attempts to contact the Pentagon, but is unable to locate the right person in the defense bureaucracy. Later research will indicate that there is no formal decision by the Reagan administration not to supply the missiles or other equipment to the Arab volunteers. Pentagon official Michael Pillsbury will later say he was not aware of any such decision, but if such a decision had been taken, he would have been aware of it. [Coll, 2008, pp. 287]
Entity Tags: Michael Pillsbury, Salem bin Laden, US Department of Defense
April 29, 1986: Future Radical Imam Improperly Obtains British Citizenship
Abu Hamza al-Masri, a future leader of the Islamist movement in Britain (see March 1997) who will have a long relationship with Britain’s security services (see Early 1997) and will be convicted on terrorism charges (see January 11-February 7, 2006), fraudulently obtains British citizenship and swears allegiance to the Queen. However, according to authors Sean O’Neill and Daniel McGrory, “he could have been deported from Britain as an illegal immigrant and a fraudster long before he caused the trouble that he went on to stir up.” For example:
When he first arrived in Britain in July 1979, he found a job in contravention of his one-month visitor’s visa. He also breached the terms of subsequent visas by working;
He stopped renewing his visa and became an illegal immigrant, doing casual work for cash-in-hand;
When he married Valerie Traverso, a pregnant single mother of three, in May 1980, she was still married to her first husband and the marriage to Abu Hamza was therefore bigamous;
When Traverso gave birth to a child fathered by her real, but estranged, husband four months later, Abu Hamza falsely registered himself as the father.
Abu Hamza was able to obtain leave to stay in Britain based on the illegal marriage and fraudulent birth certificate, even though he was arrested in a raid on the porn cinema where he worked as a bouncer and identified as an illegal immigrant. The leave to stay is later made indefinite, and he obtains citizenship seven years after arriving in Britain. [O'Neill and McGrory, 2006, pp. 4-13]
Entity Tags: Sean O’Neill, Abu Hamza al-Masri, Daniel McGrory
Mid-1986: Osama and Salem Bin Laden Purchase Anti-Aircraft Missiles in London
Osama and Salem bin Laden purchase anti-aircraft missiles for Arab volunteers fighting in Afghanistan in a deal concluded at the Dorchester Hotel in London. The transaction results from a request by Osama that Salem help him with two purchases, of the anti-aircraft missiles and of equipment to refill ammunition shells for AK-47 assault rifles.
Middleman - Salem attempted to obtain the missiles from the Pentagon, but was rebuffed (see (Early-Mid 1986)), and brought a German acquaintance named Thomas Dietrich in to help him complete the deal. It is difficult to arrange as, even though the bin Ladens are backed by the Saudi government, they do not have clearance to buy the missiles from Western authorities. Dietrich has contacts at the arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch and also gets an arms salesman to meet Salem and Osama in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. However, the salesman tells Osama that refilling the ammunition makes no sense and it would be simpler to just purchase it on the international market. For the missiles, Osama, Salem, Dietrich and Dietrich’s contacts meet two or three times at the Dorchester Hotel over a period of six to eight weeks. Dietrich will later learn that his contacts help arrange the purchase of Soviet SA-7 missiles in South America, as well as the ammunition.
Paid in Oil - However, there is a problem with the deal because the bin Ladens want to pay for the weapons not with cash, but with oil, “just a tanker offshore,” according to Dietrich. This causes trouble as “a company like Heckler & Koch, they don’t want oil, they want money.” Dietrich is not aware of the source of funding for the purchases, but author Steve Coll will note, “The best available evidence suggests it probably came at least in part from the Saudi government,” because the bin Ladens are “working in concert with official Saudi policy” and “seem to fit inside a larger pattern.” This is a reference to the Al Yamamah arms deal (see Late 1985). [Coll, 2008, pp. 284-288]
Entity Tags: Osama bin Laden, Heckler & Koch, Salem bin Laden, Steve Coll, Thomas Dietrich
December 15, 1986-1989: ’Blind Sheikh’ Obtains First US Visas with Help from CIA
Radical Muslim leader Sheikh Omar Abdul-Rahman obtains his first US visa via the CIA. A State Department official will later discover this was the first of six US visas given to him between 1986 and 1990. All are approved by CIA agents acting as consular officers at US embassies in Sudan and Egypt. “The CIA officers claimed they didn’t know the sheikh was one of the most notorious political figures in the Middle East and a militant on the State Department’s list of undesirables.” But one top New York investigator will later say, “Left with the choice between pleading stupidity or else admitting deceit, the CIA went with stupidity.” [Boston Globe, 2/3/1995; New York Magazine, 3/17/1995] Abdul-Rahman uses the visas to attend conferences of Islamic students in the US. Then he visits Pakistan, where he preaches at Peshawar, visits the Saudi embassy in Islamabad, and is “lionized at receptions heavily attended by Americans.” He plays a prominent role in recruiting mujaheddin fighters to fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan. [Kepel, 2002, pp. 300] In 1989, Abdul-Rahman is arrested in Egypt and held under very closely guarded house arrest, but he manages to escape one year later, possibly by being smuggled out of his house in a washing machine. The CIA gives him another US visa and he moves to the US (see July 1990). [New York Times, 1/8/1995] Journalist Simon Reeve will claim in his 1999 book The New Jackals that, “The CIA, it is now clear, arranged the visa[s] to try and befriend the Sheikh in advance of a possible armed fundamentalist revolution in Egypt.” According to a retired CIA official, the CIA recalled mistakes made with the Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran and were trying to win Abdul-Rahman’s trust. [Reeve, 1999, pp. 60]
Entity Tags: Central Intelligence Agency, Omar Abdul-Rahman, Simon Reeve
1987-1998: California Al-Qaeda Cell Serves as Vital Communications Hub
Khaled Abu el-Dahab. [Source: Egyptian government]In the mid-1980’s, Khaled Abu el-Dahab, an Egyptian medical student, joins the militant group Islamic Jihad, and also meets Ali Mohamed. Mohamed convinces el-Dahab to move to the US and become a sleeper cell agent. El-Dahab does so in 1987, moving to Santa Clara, California, where Mohamed has a residence. El-Dahab marries an American woman, becomes a US citizen, and gets a job at a computer company. In 1987, a female acquaintance of el-Dahab enters his apartment unannounced and finds several men there cleaning rifles. She decides it is something she does not want to know about, and breaks off contact with him. In 1990, Mohamed and el-Dahab travel together to Afghanistan. They are financially supported by a network of US sympathizers, including two Egyptian-American doctors. Beginning in 1990, El-Dahab’s apartment becomes an important communications hub for al-Qaeda and Islamic Jihad cells all over the world. For much of the 1990’s, the Egyptian government cut direct phone links to countries like Sudan, Yemen, Afghanistan or Pakistan in an effort to disrupt communications between radical militants. So Dahab acts as a telephone operator for the Islamic Jihad network, using a three-way calling feature to connect operatives in far-flung countries. He communicates with bin Laden’s base in Sudan (where bin Laden lives until 1996). He receives phone calls from the likes of Islamic Jihad leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who also visits California twice (see Spring 1993; Late 1994 or 1995). He distributes forged documents and makes money transfers. He is trained to make booby-trapped letters, enrolls in a US flight school to learn how to fly gliders and helicopters, and recruits additional US sleeper agents (see Mid-1990s). He helps translate US army manuals and topographical maps into Arabic for al-Qaeda and Islamic Jihad training. El-Dahab will move to Egypt in 1998 and get arrested in October of that year. He will confess his role in all of this in an Egyptian trial in 1999. The Egyptian government will sentence him to 15 years in prison (see 1999). [New York Times, 10/23/2001; London Times, 11/11/2001; San Francisco Chronicle, 11/21/2001; Chicago Tribune, 12/11/2001]
Entity Tags: Al-Qaeda, Ali Mohamed, Osama bin Laden, Khaled Abu el-Dahab, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Islamic Jihad
July 7-10, 1987: North Testifies before Iran-Contra Committee
Oliver North testifying before the Iran-Contra Committee. [Source: Bettmann / Corbis]Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North testifies before the joint House-Senate Iran-Contra investigative committee. During the course of his testimony, he says he does not know if President Reagan had any knowledge of the diversion of funds from Iranian arms sales to the Nicaraguan Contras (see December 6, 1985 and April 4, 1986). North also testifies that William Casey, the recently deceased CIA director (see May 6, 1987), knew of and approved the diversion of funds to the Contras. North admits that the Iranian arms sales were initially designed to help facilitate the release of the American hostages being held by Hezbollah. [New York Times, 11/19/1987]
Tour de Force - North’s testimony is a “tour de force,” in the words of authors Lou Dubose and Jake Bernstein, that allows Republicans the opportunity to reverse the field of the hearings and go on the offensive instead of defending the conduct of the Reagan administration. North, a Marine lieutenant colonel, wears his full-dress Marine uniform throughout his entire testimony with rows of ribbons festooning his chest. Handsome and full of righteous patriotism, he is striking on television, and contrasts well with the nasal, disdainful committee lawyers (see May 5, 1987) who spend four days interrogating him.
Need to Free Hostages Trumps Law - For the first two days, North and House counsel John Nields spar for the cameras. North says that Casey had directed him to create the so-called “Enterprise” (see November 19, 1985 and February 2, 1987), the clandestine organization that supported the Nicaraguan Contras with money, weapons, and sometimes US personnel. North admits to shredding untold amounts of evidence after the operation came to light (see November 21-25, 1986). He also admits to lying to Congress in previous testimony. But all of his actions are justified, he says, by the need to get Iran to free the American hostages. “I’d have offered the Iranians a free trip to Disneyland if we could have gotten Americans home for it,” he declares in response to one question about US arms sales to Iran. Senate counsel Arthur Liman will later write, “He made all his illegal acts—the lying to Congress, the diversion [of funds from Iranian arms sales to the Contras], the formation of the Enterprise, the cover-up—seem logical and patriotic.”
Targeting Covert Operations - Nields’s preferred line of questioning—covert operations—makes many committee members uncomfortable. Some House Democrats want to use the investigation to further their own goals of limiting covert actions, and others simply want the truth to be revealed. In contrast, House Republicans are united in opposition to any details of covert operations being revealed on national television and thus hampering the president’s ability to conduct future operations as needed. After the first day of North’s testimony, committee member Dick Cheney (R-WY) exults on PBS that North “probably was as effective as anybody we’ve had before the committee in coming forward very aggressively and stating what he did, saying why he did it, arguing that he was in fact authorized to take the activities that he did.”
Leaky Congress Unfit to Know of Covert Ops, North Contends - North echoes Cheney’s position that the question is not whether White House officials broke the law, but whether Congress was fit to consider the question of national security at all. North goes so far as to question the propriety of the hearings themselves: “I believe that these hearings, perhaps unintentionally so, have revealed matters of great secrecy in the operation of our government, and sources of methods of intelligence activities have clearly been revealed, to the detriment of our security.” North’s message is clear: Congress is not fit to handle covert operations or, by and large, to even know about them. Best for the legislature to allow the White House and the intelligence community to do what needs doing and remain quiet about it. North’s contention that Congress has leaked vital national security information is shot down by Senate committee chairman Daniel Inouye (D-HI), who not only forces North to admit that he has no evidence of his contention, but that the White House, not Congress, is the main source of leaked classified information. Indeed, North himself has leaked information (see July 7-10, 1987). Inouye’s co-chair, Warren Rudman (R-NH) will later say: “The greatest leaks came out of the White House. North and company were the biggest leakers of all during that period.” [Dubose and Bernstein, 2006, pp. 75-78] Nields, addressing North’s implication that the NSC has no obligation to tell the truth to Congress, says towards the end of his session with North: “We do believe in a democracy in which the people, not one lieutenant colonel, decide important policy issues, don’t we? … You denied Congress the facts North had admitted to lying about the government’s involvement with the Hasenfus plane. You denied the elected representatives of the people the facts.” [Boston Globe, 7/9/1987]
Impact on Public Opinion - Results will differ on North’s popularity with viewers (see July 9-31, 1987).
Entity Tags: William Casey, Warren Rudman, Ronald Reagan, Oliver North, Joint House-Senate Iran-Contra Committee, Arthur Liman, Bush administration (41), Contras, Daniel Inouye, Hezbollah, Richard (“Dick”) Cheney, John Nields, Jake Bernstein, Lou Dubose
Timeline Tags: Iran-Contra Affair
September 1987-March 1989: Head US Consular Official Claims He’s Told to Issue Visas to Unqualified Applicants
Michael Springmann. [Source: Michael Springmann]Michael Springmann, head US consular official in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, later claims that during this period he is “repeatedly ordered… to issue [more than 100] visas to unqualified applicants.” He turns them down, but is repeatedly overruled by superiors. [BBC, 11/6/2001; St. Petersburg Times, 11/25/2001] In one case, two Pakistanis apply for visas to attend a trade show in the US, but they are unable to name the trade show or city in which it will be held. When Springmann denies them a visa, he gets “an almost immediate call from a CIA case officer, hidden in the commercial section [of the consulate], that I should reverse myself and grant these guys a visa.” Springmann refuses, but the decision is reversed by the chief of the consular section. Springmann realizes that even the ambassador, Walter Cutler, is aware of the situation, which becomes “more brazen and blatant” as time goes on. On one occasion Springmann is even told, “If you want a job in the State Department in future, you will change your mind.” [CBC Radio One, 7/3/2002; Trento, 2005, pp. 344-6] Springmann loudly complains to numerous government offices, but no action is taken. He is fired and his files on these applicants are destroyed. He later learns that recruits from many countries fighting for bin Laden against Russia in Afghanistan were funneled through the Jeddah office to get visas to come to the US, where the recruits would travel to train for the Afghan war. According to Springmann, the Jeddah consulate was run by the CIA and staffed almost entirely by intelligence agents. This visa system may have continued at least through 9/11, and 11 of the 19 9/11 hijackers received their visas through Jeddah (see November 2, 1997-June 20, 2001), possibly as part of this program (see October 9, 2002 and October 21, 2002). [BBC, 11/6/2001; St. Petersburg Times, 11/25/2001; CBC Radio One, 7/3/2002; Associated Press, 7/17/2002 ; Fox News, 7/18/2002]
Entity Tags: Central Intelligence Agency, US Consulate, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Office, Michael Springmann
November 3, 1987 and After: ’Loner’ David Koresh Takes Over Leadership of Waco Branch Davidians in Violent Coup
The flag of the Branch Davidians. [Source: Wikimedia]Vernon Wayne Howell, a Texas musician and a member of the Branch Davidian sect of Seventh-day Adventists, forcibly installs himself as the leader of the Branch Davidian sect near Waco, Texas. Howell is a self-described loner and dyslexic who dropped out of high school, but taught himself the Bible, memorizing most of it by age 12. He was expelled from the Church of Seventh-day Adventists in 1979 for being a bad influence on the church’s young people, and in 1981 joined the Waco group of Branch Davidians in its 77-acre compound, “Mount Carmel,” on the outskirts of the city. Howell had an affair with the leader of the group, self-described prophetess Lois Roden, some 30 years older than himself.
Power Struggle - After Roden died, Howell began a lengthy struggle for control of the group with Roden’s son George Roden. In late 1987, Roden digs up the body of a member, Anna Hughes, and issues a challenge to Howell: the one who could raise her from the dead is the one to lead the community. Instead, Howell asks the local authorities to charge Roden with abusing a corpse. On November 3, Howell returns to the Mt. Carmel compound with seven male followers, all dressed in camouflage and bearing assault rifles, hunting rifles, shotguns, and ammunition. The two groups engage in a gunfight; during the exchange, Roden is shot in the chest and hands. Howell and his followers will be tried for attempted murder, but the others will be acquitted and Howell’s trial will end in a mistrial. In 1989, Roden will try to murder a man with an axe, and will be committed to a mental instutition for the rest of his life. By 1990, Howell will have established himself as the leader of the Waco Branch Davidians, and will legally change his name to David Koresh, explaining that he believes he is now the head of the Biblical House of David. Koresh is a Hebrew translation of “Cyrus,” the Persian king who allowed the Jews held captive in Babylon to return to Israel. [New York Times, 3/1/1993; Waco Tribune-Herald, 3/3/1993; Dean M. Kelley, 5/1995; PBS Frontline, 10/1995]
Adventists Join Koresh at Waco Compound - Seventh-day Adventists and others from around the world will journey to Waco to join the Davidians, who all told number somewhere around 75. According to a multi-part series by the Waco Tribune-Herald based on the recollections and observations of former members (see February 27 - March 3, 1993), the Davidians gather at the compound to “await the end of the world.” The members believe that Koresh alone can open the so-called “Seven Seals” of Biblical prophecy, which will trigger the Apocalypse, destroy the world as we know it, and propel Koresh and his followers into heaven. The compound is heavily armed. [Waco Tribune-Herald, 3/3/1993] Most of the Davidians live communally in an L-shaped compound of beige buildings. A few of the more elderly members live in a trailer four miles from the main compound. The trailer has more amenities than the main building, which lacks central heating and indoor plumbing. The men live separately from the women and children. Members rise early, breakfasting together in a large cafeteria and then going to work. Some of the men have jobs in the Waco area, and many stay, working on what sect member Paul Fatta will describe as a three-year renovation of the compound but what law enforcement officials say is a network of tunnels and bunkers. The children are home-schooled by the women. [New York Times, 3/6/1993]
Former Member: Koresh Brought Apocalyptic Mindset, Violence to Group - According to Davidian David Bunds, who will later leave the group, Koresh, or Howells as he is known, was something of a destabilizing factor from the time of his arrival. Bunds will later say: “We were a very reserved, very conservative group. There were no emotional displays. Then along came Vernon Howell. I remember my father said one day, ‘Well, that guy sounds like he’s going to end up saying he’s a prophet the way he’s acting.’” Bunds will later say that while he was enthralled for a time by Koresh’s personality and his apocalyptic preaching, he became increasingly disturbed at his insistence on having multiple “wives,” his stockpiling of more and more weapons, and the increasingly violent methods of “discipline” being meted out to “disobedient” children and adults alike (adults, Bunds and other “defectors” will later say, are physically beaten by Koresh’s cadre of militantly loyal “Mighty Men”). Bunds will be forced out of the group after questioning Koresh’s Biblical interpretations, and for taking a sect member as his wife against Koresh’s wishes. [Conway and Siegelman, 1995, pp. 244-246]
Federal Raid, Siege - The Waco Branch Davidians will kill four federal agents attempting to arrest Koresh on gun and sexual abuse charges (see 5:00 A.M. - 9:30 A.M. February 28, 1993); most of them, including Koresh, will die in a fiery conflagration after a 51-day standoff (see April 19, 1993). After the February 1993 raid, Waco Chamber of Commerce president Jack Stewart will say: “The sad part about this group is that it has evolved from the peaceful, pastoral group that it started as in the 1930s. Only since this most recent leader have they begun to acquire some of the weaponry and attitudes that they have.” [New York Times, 3/1/1993]
Entity Tags: Anna Hughes, Branch Davidians, David Koresh, George Roden, David Bunds, Seventh-day Adventists, Lois Roden, Jack Stewart, Paul Gordon Fatta
Timeline Tags: 1993 Branch Davidian Crisis
Late 1987 - April 8, 1998: White Separatists Tried, Acquitted of Sedition
Richard Butler, the head of the white separatist and neo-Nazi organization Aryan Nations (see Early 1970s), is indicted, along with 12 of his followers and fellow racists, by a federal grand jury for seditious conspiracy to overthrow the government by violence, conspiring to kill federal officials, and transporting stolen money across state lines. The sedition was allegedly developed at a 1983 Aryan Nations Congress meeting (see 1981 and After). The case is tried in Fort Smith, Arkansas, before an all-white jury. The goverment is unable to prove the case, and Butler and his fellow defendants are all acquitted. The judge refuses to accept the jury’s statement that it is deadlocked on two counts, a ruling that leads to the blanket acquittals. Other white supremacists acquitted in the trial are Louis Beam (see February 1992), Richard Wayne Snell (see 9:00 p.m. April 19, 1995), and Robert Miles. US Attorney J. Michael Fitzhugh says he believes the prosecution proved its case, but “we accept the verdict of the jury.” Six of the defendants are serving prison terms for other crimes. The prosecution says Butler, Beam, Miles, and the other 10 defendants had robbed banks and armored trucks of $4.1 million, including about $1 million that still is missing. The defense countered that the prosecution’s case was based on conspiracy theories given by the prosecution’s chief witness, James Ellison, an Arkansas white supremacist serving 20 years for racketeering. During the proceedings, Butler undergoes quadruple bypass surgery and a second surgery to unblock his carotid artery, all at government expense. [Associated Press, 4/8/1998; Southern Poverty Law Center, 2010; Southern Poverty Law Center, 2010] Some time after the trial, one of the jurors marries one of the defendants, David McGuire. [Kaplan, 2000, pp. 19]
Entity Tags: Richard Wayne Snell, Robert Miles, Richard Girnt Butler, James Ellison, Louis R. Beam, Jr, J. Michael Fitzhugh, Aryan Nations, David McGuire
1988: Ali Mohamed Fights in Afghanistan But Is Not Punished For It
Ali Mohamed, now an instructor at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina (see 1986), travels to Afghanistan to train mujaheddin. He tells friends that he plans to join the mujaheddin in Afghanistan and “kill Russians.” He informs supervisor Lt. Col. Steve Neely of his plans, who passes the information up the chain of command. Lt. Col. Robert Anderson, Mohamed’s commanding officer, also reports Mohamed’s suspicious activities to Fort Bragg officials and army intelligence, but gets no response. Mohamed takes one month of leave and goes to Afghanistan. No action is taken to prevent him from doing this. [New York Times, 12/1/1998; Raleigh News and Observer, 10/21/2001; Miller, Stone, and Mitchell, 2002, pp. 143] When he returns, he boasts of his combat exploits to his colleagues. Lt. Col. Anderson writes up a second report and again gets no response. Freelance fighting would be a serious breach of military rules, and the New York Times will later note that, “The capture or death of an American serviceman in Afghanistan would have been a major international embarrassment to the United States.” However, no disciplinary action is taken against him. This leads Anderson to conclude that Mohamed’s activities are sponsored by a US intelligence agency. Anderson will state, “I think you or I would have a better chance of winning [the lottery], than an Egyptian major in the unit that assassinated [Egyptian President Anwar] Sadat would have getting a visa, getting to California… getting into the Army and getting assigned to a Special Forces unit. That just doesn’t happen.” He will add that it is equally unthinkable that an ordinary US soldier would go unpunished after fighting in a foreign war. [New York Times, 12/1/1998; San Francisco Chronicle, 11/4/2001] Mohamed is also stealing classified documents from the base; some of them will be discovered by US investigators in 1990 (see November 5, 1990). According to a US army spokesperson, an officer working with Mohammed “did have some suspicions about what he did, but nothing came as a result of it. It really depended on who you believed.” [Associated Press, 12/31/2001]
Entity Tags: Steve Neely, Ali Mohamed, Robert Anderson
January 25, 1988: Orchestrated Bush-Rather Interview Helps Solidify Bush’s Campaign Chances
Dan Rather interviews Vice President Bush, watching him on a monitor. Neither Rather nor the CBS viewers can see Bush’s consultant Roger Ailes off-camera. [Source: Media Research Center]Roger Ailes, a former media consultant to the Nixon administration (see Summer 1970), comes up with a bold plan to help his new client, Vice President George H.W. Bush, who is running for president. Bush is neck-deep in the Iran-Contra scandal (see Before July 28, 1986, August 6, 1987, and December 25, 1992) and, as reporter Tim Dickinson will later write, comes across as “effete” in comparison to his predecessor Ronald Reagan. Ailes decides to use an interview with combative CBS News reporter Dan Rather to bolster his client’s image. Ailes insists that the interview be done live, instead of in the usual format of being recorded and then edited for broadcast. Dickinson will later write, “That not only gave the confrontation the air of a prizefight—it enabled Ailes himself to sit just off-camera in Bush’s office, prompting his candidate with cue cards.” Rather is in the CBS studio in New York and has no idea Ailes is coaching Bush. As planned, Bush begins the interview aggressively, falsely accusing Rather of misleading him by focusing the interview on Iran-Contra. (It is true that CBS had not informed the Bush team that it would air a report on the Iran-Contra investigation as a lead-in to the Bush interview, a scheduling that some in the Bush team see as a “bait-and-switch.”) When Rather begins to press Bush, Ailes flashes a cue card: “walked off the air.” This is a set piece that Bush and Ailes have worked out beforehand, based on an embarrassing incident in Rather’s recent past, when Rather angrily walked off the CBS set after learning that his newscast had been pre-empted by a women’s tennis match. Clenching his fist, Ailes mouths at Bush: “Go! Go! Just kick his ass!” Bush fires his rejoinder: “It’s not fair to judge my whole career by a rehash on Iran. How would you like it if I judged your career by those seven minutes when you walked off the set?” In their 1989 book The Acting President: Ronald Reagan and the Supporting Players Who Helped Him Create the Illusion That Held America Spellbound, CBS host Bob Schieffer and co-author Gary Paul Gates will write: “What people in the bureau and viewers at home could not see was that the response had not been entirely spontaneous. As the interview progressed, the crafty Ailes had stationed himself beside the camera. If Bush seemed to be struggling for a response, Ailes would write out a key word in huge letters on his yellow legal pad and hold it just beneath the camera in Bush’s line of vision. Just before Bush had shouted that it was not fair to judge his career on Iran, Ailes had written out on his legal pad the words.… Three times during the interview, Bush’s answer had come after Ailes had prompted him with key words or phrases scribbled on the legal pad.” Dickinson will later write: “It was the mother of all false equivalencies: the fleeting petulance of a news anchor pitted against the high crimes of a sitting vice president. But it worked as TV.” Ailes’s colleague Roger Stone, who worked with Ailes on the 1968 Nixon campaign, will later say of the interview: “That bite of Bush telling Rather off played over and over and over again. It was a perfect example of [Ailes] understanding the news cycle, the dynamics of the situation, and the power of television.” [Associated Press, 7/6/1989; NewsBusters, 1/25/2008; Rolling Stone, 5/25/2011] After the interview is concluded, Bush leaps to his feet and, with the microphone still live, says: “The b_stard didn’t lay a glove on me.… Tell your g_ddamned network that if they want to talk to me to raise their hands at a press conference. No more Mr. Inside stuff after that.” The unexpected aggression from Bush helps solidify his standing with hardline Republicans. The interview gives more “proof” to those same hardliners that the media is hopelessly liberal, “their” candidates cannot expect to be treated fairly, and that the only way for them to “survive” encounters with mainstream media figures is through aggression and intimidation. [Salon, 1/26/2011] Conservative commentator Rich Noyes will write in 2008 that Bush’s jab at Rather exposed the reporter’s “liberal bias,” though he will fail to inform his readers of Ailes’s off-camera coaching. [NewsBusters, 1/25/2008]
Entity Tags: Rich Noyes, CBS News, Bob Schieffer, Dan Rather, George Herbert Walker Bush, Tim Dickinson, Gary Paul Gates, Roger Stone, Roger Ailes, Ronald Reagan
Timeline Tags: Domestic Propaganda, Elections Before 2000
March 24, 1988 - Late 1990: Future Oklahoma City Bombers Join Army
Entrance to Fort Riley, Kansas. [Source: US Military (.com)]Terry Nichols, a 33-year-old Michigan farmer and house husband described as “aimless” by his wife Lana, joins the US Army in Detroit. He is the oldest recruit in his platoon and his fellow recruits call him “Grandpa.” During basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia, Nichols meets fellow recruits Timothy McVeigh (see 1987-1988), who joined the Army in Buffalo, New York, and Arizona native Michael Fortier. All three share an interest in survivalism, guns, and hating the government, particularly Nichols and McVeigh; unit member Robin Littleton later recalls, “Terry and Tim in boot camp went together like magnets.” For McVeigh, Nichols is like the older brother he never had; for Nichols, he enjoys taking McVeigh under his wing. Nichols also tells McVeigh about using ammonium nitrate to make explosives he and his family used to blow up tree stumps on the farm. The three are members of what the Army calls a “Cohort,” or Cohesion Operation Readiness and Training unit, which generally keeps soldiers together in the same unit from boot camp all the way through final deployment. It is in the Army that McVeigh and Nichols become enamored of the novel The Turner Diaries (see 1978), which depicts a United States racially “cleansed” of minorities and other “undesirables” (McVeigh is already familiar with the novel—see 1987-1988). All three are sent to the 11 Bravo Infantry division in Fort Riley, Kansas, where they are finally separated into different companies; McVeigh goes to tank school, where he learns to operate a Bradley fighting vehicle as well as becoming an outstanding marksman. [New York Times, 5/4/1995; New York Times, 5/28/1995; Stickney, 1996, pp. 91-95; PBS Frontline, 1/22/1996; Serrano, 1998, pp. 30; Nicole Nichols, 2003] McVeigh later says he joined the Army because he was disillusioned with the “I am better than you because I have more money” mindset some people have, and because he was taken with the Army’s advertisement that claimed, “We do more before 9 a.m. than most people do all day.” [PBS Frontline, 1/22/1996] Fellow unit member Specialist Ted Thorne will later recall: “Tim and I both considered ourselves career soldiers. We were going to stay in for the 20-plus years, hopefully make sergeant major. It was the big picture of retirement.” [Serrano, 1998, pp. 31]
Nichols Leaves Army, Tells of Plans to Form 'Own Military Organization' - In the spring of 1989, Nichols, who planned on making a career of military service, leaves the Army due to issues with an impending divorce and child care, but his friendship with McVeigh persists. Fellow soldier Glen Edwards will later say that he found Nichols’s choice to serve in the Army unusual, considering his virulent hatred of the US government: “He said the government made it impossible for him to make a living as a farmer. I thought it strange that a 32-year-old man would be complaining about the government, yet was now employed by the government. Nichols told me he signed up to pull his 20 years and get a retirement pension.” Before Nichols leaves, he tells Edwards that he has plans for the future, and Edwards is welcome to join in. Edwards will later recall, “He told me he would be coming back to Fort Riley to start his own military organization” with McVeigh and Fortier. “He said he could get any kind of weapon and any equipment he wanted. I can’t remember the name of his organization, but he seemed pretty serious about it.” [New York Times, 5/28/1995; Stickney, 1996, pp. 96, 101]
McVeigh Continues Army Career, Described as 'Strange,' 'Racist,' but 'Perfect Soldier' - McVeigh does not leave the Army so quickly. He achieves the rank of sergeant and becomes something of a “model soldier.” He plans on becoming an Army Ranger. However, few get to know him well; only his closest friends, such as Nichols, know of his passion for firearms, his deep-seated racism, or his hatred for the government. McVeigh does not see Nichols during the rest of his Army stint, but keeps in touch through letters and phone calls. Friends and fellow soldiers will describe McVeigh as a man who attempts to be the “perfect soldier,” but who becomes increasingly isolated during his Army career; the New York Times will describe him as “retreating into a spit-and-polish persona that did not admit nights away from the barracks or close friendships, even though he was in a ‘Cohort’ unit that kept nearly all the personnel together from basic training through discharge.” His friends and colleagues will recall him as being “strange and uncommunicative” and “coldly robotic,” and someone who often gives the least desirable assignments to African-American subordinates, calling them “inferior” and using racial slurs. An infantryman in McVeigh’s unit, Marion “Fritz” Curnutte, will later recall: “He played the military 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All of us thought it was silly. When they’d call for down time, we’d rest, and he’d throw on a ruck sack and walk around the post with it.” A fellow soldier, Todd Regier, will call McVeigh an exemplary soldier, saying: “As far as soldiering, he never did anything wrong. He was always on time. He never got into trouble. He was perfect. I thought he would stay in the Army all his life. He was always volunteering for stuff that the rest of us wouldn’t want to do, guard duties, classes on the weekend.” Sergeant Charles Johnson will later recall, “He was what we call high-speed and highly motivated.” McVeigh also subscribes to survivalist magazines and other right-wing publications, such as Guns & Ammo and his favorite, Soldier of Fortune (SoF), and keeps an arsenal of weapons in his home (see November 1991 - Summer 1992). Regier will later tell a reporter: “He was real different. Kind of cold. He wasn’t enemies with anyone. He was kind of almost like a robot. He never had a date when I knew him in the Army. I never saw him at a club. I never saw him drinking. He never had good friends. He was a robot. Everything was for a purpose.” [New York Times, 5/4/1995; Stickney, 1996, pp. 86; Serrano, 1998, pp. 30; Nicole Nichols, 2003] McVeigh is taken with the increasing number of anti-government articles and advertisements in SoF, particularly the ones warning about what it calls the impending government imposition of martial law and tyranny, and those telling readers how to build bombs and other items to use in “defending” themselves from government aggression. [Serrano, 1998, pp. 27-28] McVeigh is not entirely “by the book”; he knows his friend Michael Fortier is doing drugs, but does not report him to their superior officers. [PBS Frontline, 1/22/1996] McVeigh is promoted to sergeant faster than his colleagues; this is when he begins assigning the undesirable tasks to the four or five black specialists in the group, tasks that would normally be performed by privates. “It was well known, pretty much throughout the platoon, that he was making the black specialists do that work,” Regier will recall. “He was a racist. When he talked he’d mention those words, like n_gger. You pretty much knew he was a racist.” The black soldiers complain to a company commander, earning McVeigh a reprimand. Sergeant Anthony Thigpen will later confirm Regier’s account, adding that McVeigh generally refuses to socialize with African-Americans, and only reluctantly takes part in company functions that include non-whites. Captain Terry Guild will later say McVeigh’s entire company has problems with racial polarization, “[a]nd his platoon had some of the most serious race problems. It was pretty bad.” In April 1989, McVeigh is sent to Germany for two weeks for a military “change-up program.” While there, he is awarded the German equivalent of the expert infantryman’s badge. In November 1989, he goes home for Thanksgiving with Fortier, and meets Fortier’s mother Irene. In late 1990, McVeigh signs a four-year reenlistment agreement with the Army. [New York Times, 5/4/1995]
McVeigh Goes on to Serve in Persian Gulf War - McVeigh will serve two tours of duty in the Persian Gulf War, serving honorably and winning medals for his service (see January - March 1991 and After). Nichols and McVeigh will later be convicted of planning and executing the Oklahoma City bombing (see 8:35 a.m. - 9:02 a.m. April 19, 1995).
Entity Tags: Ted Thorne, Terry Guild, Todd Regier, Terry Lynn Nichols, Robin Littleton, Michael Joseph Fortier, Charles Johnson, Glen Edwards, Marion (“Fritz”) Curnutte, Anthony Thigpen, Timothy James McVeigh, US Department of the Army
July 1988: Anti-Abortion Protesters Join Violent Anti-Abortion Group in Atlanta Jail
A number of anti-abortion protesters, including many members of Operation Rescue (see 1986), are arrested outside the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta, Georgia. They spend several weeks together in jail, and it is believed that while there, many of them join the “Army of God,” an anti-abortion organization devoted to using violence to prevent abortions (see 1982 and August 1982). One of the jailed protesters is James Kopp, who in 1998 will murder an abortion doctor (see October 23, 1998). Others include Lambs of Christ leader Norman Weslin; Rachelle “Shelley” Shannon, who will later shoot another abortion doctor (see August 19, 1993); and John Arena, who will later be charged with using butyric acid to attack abortion clinics and providers. According to government documents, Kopp is already a leader of the Army of God, and may recruit new members during his stay in jail. [Extremist Groups: Information for Students, 1/1/2006; National Abortion Federation, 2010]
Entity Tags: James Kopp, Rachelle (“Shelley”) Shannon, Army of God, Lambs of Christ, Operation Rescue, John Arena, Norman Weslin
August 11-20, 1988: Bin Laden Forms Al-Qaeda
The notes from al-Qaeda’s formation meeting. The short lines on the right side are the list of attendees. [Source: CNN]Osama bin Laden conducts two meetings to discuss “the establishment of a new military group,” according to notes that will be found later. Notes will reveal the group is initially called al-Qaeda al-Askariya, which roughly translates to “the military base.” But the name will soon shorten to just al-Qaeda, meaning “the base” or “the foundation.” [Associated Press, 2/19/2003; Wright, 2006, pp. 131-134] With the Soviets in the process of withdrawing from Afghanistan, it is proposed to create the new group to keep military jihad, or holy war, alive after the Soviets are gone. The notes don’t specify what the group will do exactly, but they conclude, “Initial estimate, within six months of al-Qaeda [founding], 314 brothers will be trained and ready.” In fact, al-Qaeda will remain smaller than this for years to come. Fifteen people attend these two initial meetings. [Wright, 2006, pp. 131-134] In addition to bin Laden, other attendees include:
Ayman Al-Zawahiri, the head of the Egyptian militant group Islamic Jihad. [New Yorker, 9/9/2002]
Mohammed Atef, a.k.a. Abu Hafs.
Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, a.k.a. Abu Hajer.
Jamal al-Fadl.
Wael Hamza Julaidan.
Mohammed Loay Bayazid, a US citizen, who is notetaker for the meetings. [Wright, 2006, pp. 131-134]
Al-Fadl will reveal details about the meetings to US investigators in 1996 (see June 1996-April 1997). Notes to the meeting will be found in Bosnia in early 2002. [New Yorker, 9/9/2002] It will take US intelligence years even to realize a group named al-Qaeda exists; the first known incidence of US intelligence being told the name will come in 1993 (see May 1993).
Entity Tags: Osama bin Laden, Mohammed Loay Bayazid, Mohammed Atef, Wael Hamza Julaidan, Jamal al-Fadl, Al-Qaeda, Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, Ayman al-Zawahiri
Timeline Tags: Complete 911 Timeline, 9/11 Timeline, War in Afghanistan
September 21 - October 4, 1988: Bush Presidential Campaign Launches ‘Racist’ ‘Willie Horton’ Ad
The image of Willie Horton as shown in the ‘Weekend Pass’ campaign ad. [Source: University of Virginia]A political advertisement on behalf of the George H. W. Bush presidential campaign appears, running on televisions around the country between September 21 and October 4, 1988. Called “Weekend Pass,” it depicts convicted murderer William “Willie” Horton, who was granted 10 separate furloughs from prison, and used the time from his last furlough to kidnap and rape a young woman. The advertisement and subsequent media barrage falsely accuses Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, the governor of Massachusetts, of creating the “furlough program” that led to Horton’s release, and paints Dukakis as “soft on crime.” It will come to be known as one of the most overly racist political advertisements in the history of modern US presidential politics.
Ad Content - The ad begins by comparing the positions of the two candidates on crime. It notes that Bush supports the death penalty for convicted murderers, whereas Dukakis does not. The ad’s voiceover narrator then states, “Dukakis not only opposes the death penalty, he allowed first-degree murderers to have weekend passes from prison,” with the accompanying text “Opposes Death Penalty, Allowed Murderers to Have Weekend Passes” superimposed on a photograph of Dukakis. The narrator then says, “One was Willie Horton, who murdered a boy in a robbery, stabbing him 19 times,” accompanied by a mug shot of Horton. The voiceover continues: “Despite a life sentence, Horton received 10 weekend passes from prison. Horton fled, kidnapped a young couple, stabbing the man and repeatedly raping his girlfriend.” At this point, the ad shows another picture of Horton being arrested while the accompanying text reads, “Kidnapping, Stabbing, Raping.” The ad’s narration concludes: “Weekend prison passes. Dukakis on crime.” The ad is credited to the “National Security Political Action Committee.” [Inside Politics (.org), 1999; Museum of the Moving Image, 2008; University of Virginia, Introduction to American Politics, 11/18/2009]
'Soft on Crime' - The ad is a reflection of the measures the Bush campaign is willing to undertake to defeat the apparently strong Dukakis candidacy. Dukakis is a popular Democratic governor and widely credited with what pundits call the “Massachusetts Miracle,” reversing the downward economic spiral in his state without resorting to hefty tax increases. At the time of the ad, Dukakis enjoys a 17-point lead over Bush in the polls. Bush campaign strategists, led by campaign manager Lee Atwater, have learned from focus groups that conservative Democratic voters, which some call “Reagan Democrats,” are not solid in their support of Dukakis, and are swayed by reports that he vetoed legislation requiring teachers to say the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of the school day. They also react negatively when they learn that during Dukakis’s tenure as governor, Horton had been furloughed and subsequently raped a white woman. Atwater and the Bush campaign decide that Dukakis can successfully be attacked as a “liberal” who is “not patriotic” and is “soft on crime.” Atwater, who has a strong record of appealing to racism in key voting groups (see 1981), tells Republican Party officials, “By the time this election is over, Willie Horton will be a household name.” Although Dukakis had vetoed a bill mandating the death penalty for first-degree murder in Massachusetts, he did not institute the furlough program; that was signed into law by Republican governor Francis Sargent in 1972. The ads and the accompanying media blitz successfully avoid telling voters that Sargent, not Dukakis, instituted the furlough program. [Regardie's Magazine, 10/1/1990; Inside Politics (.org), 1999]
Running the Horton Ad - The ad is sponsored by an ostensibly “independent” political organization, the conservative National Security Political Action Committee (NSPAC), headed by former Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Thomas Moorer. NSPAC’s daughter organization “Americans for Bush” actually put together the ad, created by marketer Larry McCarthy in close conjunction with Atwater and other Bush campaign aides; Atwater determined months before that the Horton ad should not come directly from the Bush campaign, but from an “independent” group supporting Bush, thus giving the Bush campaign the opportunity to distance itself from the ad, and even criticize it, should voters react negatively towards its message (see June-September 1988). The first version of the ad does not use the menacing mug shot of Horton, which McCarthy later says depicts “every suburban mother’s greatest fear.” McCarthy and Atwater feared that the networks would refuse to run the ad if it appeared controversial. However, the network censors do not object, so McCarthy quickly substitutes a second version of the ad featuring the mug shot. When Democrats and progressive critics of the Bush campaign complain that Bush is running a racist ad, Bush media adviser Roger Ailes says that neither he nor the campaign have any control over what outside groups like “Americans for Bush” put on the airwaves. InsidePolitics will later write, “This gave the Bush camp plausible deniability that helped its candidate avoid public condemnation for racist campaigning.”
Accompanying Newspaper Reports, Bush Campaign Ads - The ad airs for the first time on September 21. On September 22, newspapers around the nation begin publishing articles telling the story of Angie and Clifford Barnes, victimized by Horton while on furlouogh. On October 5, the Bush campaign releases a “sister” television ad, called “Revolving Door.” Scripted by Ailes, the commercial does not mention Horton nor does it show the now-infamous mug shot, but emphasizes the contention that Dukakis is “soft on crime” and has what it calls a “lenient” furlough policy for violent convicts. The central image of the ad is a stream of African-American inmates moving slowly in and out of a revolving gate. The voiceover says that Dukakis had vetoed the death penalty and given furloughs to “first-degree murderers not eligible for parole. While out, many committed other crimes like kidnapping and rape.” At the same time, Clifford Barnes and the sister of the youth murdered by Horton embark on a nationwide speaking tour funded by a pro-Bush independent group known as the Committee for the Presidency. Barnes also appears on a number of television talk shows, including those hosted by Oprah Winfrey and Geraldo Rivera. Barnes and the victim’s sister also appear in two “victim” ads, where Barnes says: “Mike Dukakis and Willie Horton changed our lives forever.… We are worried people don’t know enough about Mike Dukakis.” In 1999, InsidePolitics will write that the media gives the “Revolving Door” ad a “courteous reception,” and focuses more on the two ads’ impact on the election, and the Dukakis campaign’s lack of response, instead of discussing the issues of race and crime as portrayed by the ads. It is not until October 24, less than two weeks before the election, that anyone in the mainstream media airs footage of critics questioning whether the ads are racially inflammatory, but these appearances are few and far between, and are always balanced with appearances by Bush supporters praising the campaign’s media strategy. [Inside Politics (.org), 1999; Inside Politics (.org), 1999; University of Virginia, Introduction to American Politics, 11/18/2009]
Denials - Bush and his vice presidential candidate Dan Quayle will deny that the ads are racist, and will accuse Democrats of trying to use racism to stir up controversy (see October 1988).
Failure to Respond - The Dukakis campaign will make what many political observers later characterize as a major political blunder: it refuses to answer the ads or dispute their content until almost the last days of the campaign, hoping that viewers would instead conclude that the ads are unfair without the Dukakis campaign’s involvement. The ads will be hugely successful in securing the election for Bush (see September-November 1988). [Museum of the Moving Image, 2008]
Entity Tags: Angie Barnes, Clifford Barnes, Committee for the Presidency, Dan Quayle, George Herbert Walker Bush, Americans for Bush, InsidePolitics (.org), Francis Sargent, Michael Dukakis, William (“Willie”) Horton, Lee Atwater, National Security Political Action Committee, Thomas Moorer, Roger Ailes, Larry McCarthy
November 1988: Wife of Future Oklahoma City Bombing Conspirator Files for Divorce
Courtroom sketch of Lana Padilla. [Source: Lawrence Journal-World]Michigan realtor Lana Padilla files for divorce from her husband Terry Nichols. Padillla, frustrated with her husband’s tendency to drift from job to job, was disappointed in his failure to commit to an Army career (see March 24, 1988 - Late 1990) and tired of trying to motivate him to begin a career. Padilla decides to move from their home in Michigan to Las Vegas, where the real estate market is booming. The divorce will be finalized in July 1989. [PBS Frontline, 1/22/1996; Serrano, 1998, pp. 72-74]
Entity Tags: Lana Padilla, Terry Lynn Nichols
December 22 or 23, 1988: Future Oklahoma City Bombing Conspirator’s Brother Formulates Plan to Use ‘Megabomb’ to Destroy Building
James Nichols, a Michigan farmer, anti-government white separatist, and the brother of Terry Nichols (see March 24, 1988 - Late 1990), formulates a plan to use a “megabomb” to destroy an Oklahoma City federal building; an unnamed FBI informant will later tell the FBI that James Nichols specifically indicates the Murrah Federal Building. Nichols, who says he is upset over the US’s “role” in the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, shares the plan with the informant, who will swear to the information in 1995, after James’s brother Terry Nichols is arrested for helping destroy the Murrah Building (see 8:35 a.m. - 9:02 a.m. April 19, 1995). “[James] Nichols… made a specific reference to a federal building in Oklahoma City and began looking through the toolshed and workbench for a newspaper clipping depicting the Oklahoma City building,” the informant will say, according to an FBI affidavit. Nichols is unable to find the newspaper clipping, the informant will say, and instead draws a diagram remarkably similar to the Murrah Building. Nichols “later located a newspaper article containing a reference to the Federal Building in Oklahoma City and showed it” to the informer, the affidavit says. The informer is a regular visitor to the Nichols farm. [New York Times, 6/13/1995; Nicole Nichols, 2003] James Nichols routinely stamps US currency with red ink in a protest against the government, and calls his neighbors “sheeple” for obeying authority “like livestock.” A neighbor, Dan Stomber, will recall Nichols criticizing him and others for using drivers’ licences and Social Security cards, and for voting and paying taxes. “He said we were all puppets and sheeple,” Stomber will tell a reporter. “That was the first time I ever heard that word.” Stomber will not recall Nichols discussing any plans to bomb any federal buildings. [New York Times, 4/24/1995] After the Oklahoma City bombing, a friend of Nichols, an Indiana seed dealer named Dave Shafer, will tell authorities that Nichols showed him a diagram of a building remarkably similar to the Murrah Building, still under construction at the time, and said that building would be an excellent target. Shafer will say that he thought Nichols was joking. [Serrano, 1998, pp. 110] It is possible that Shafer and the unnamed FBI informant are the same person. Five years ago, a group of white supremacists had conceived of a plan to destroy the Murrah Building (see 1983).
Entity Tags: Terry Lynn Nichols, Murrah Federal Building, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Dave Shafer, James Nichols, Dan Stomber
1989-Late 1999: Al-Zarqawi Becomes Prominent Islamist Militant
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian-born Palestinian, travels to Afghanistan in 1989 and fights against the pro-Soviet government there. He becomes a radical Islamist and reportedly trains at an al-Qaeda training camp there. He forms a militant group later known as al-Tawhid. In 1993, he returns to Jordan but is quickly arrested for possessing grenades and is sentenced to 15 years in prison. But he gathers many followers inside the prison and is connected to growing Jordanian radical militant networks outside the prison. In May 1999, Abdullah II becomes the new king of Jordan and al-Zarqawi is released from prison as part of a general amnesty. [Atlantic Monthly, 6/8/2006] In late 1999, al-Zarqawi is allegedly involved in an unsuccessful attempt to blow up the Radisson SAS Hotel in Amman, Jordan (see November 30, 1999). [Guardian, 10/9/2002; Independent, 2/6/2003; Washington Post, 2/7/2003] By the end of 1999, he returns to Afghanistan and meets bin Laden. However, bin Laden reportedly strongly dislikes him, because al-Zarqawi comes across as too ambitious, abrasive, and overbearing, and has differing ideological views. But another al-Qaeda laeder, Saif al-Adel, sees potential and convinces bin Laden to give a token $5,000 to set up his own training camp near the town of Herat, close to the border with Iran. He begins setting up the camp in early 2000 (see Early 2000-December 2001). [Atlantic Monthly, 6/8/2006]
Entity Tags: Osama bin Laden, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Al-Tawhid, Saif al-Adel
Timeline Tags: Complete 911 Timeline, Events Leading to Iraq Invasion
May-June, 1989: North Convicted of Three Felonies from Iran-Contra; Receives No Jail Time
Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, a key figure in the Iran-Contra scandal (see February 1989), is convicted of three counts of falsifying and destroying documents (see November 21-25, 1986 and March 16, 1988), of obstructing a Congressional investigation, and of illegally receiving a gift of a security fence around his home. He is acquitted of nine other counts. Though facing up to ten years in prison and a $750,000 fine, North receives an extremely lenient sentence: three years’ suspended, two years’ probation, community service, and a $150,000 fine. He also has his Marine service pension suspended. During the trial, North admits he lied repeatedly to Congress during his testimony (see July 7-10, 1987), but says that his superiors, including National Security Adviser John Poindexter, ordered him to lie under oath. North contends that he was made a scapegoat for the Reagan administration. “I knew it wasn’t right not to tell the truth about these things,” he says, “but I didn’t think it was unlawful.” US District Court Judge Gerhard Gesell calls North a “low-ranking subordinate who was carrying out the instructions of a few cynical superiors,” and says to North: “I believe you still lack understanding of how the public service has been tarnished. Jail would only harden your misconceptions.” North, who had been staunch in justifying his actions in the Iran-Contra hearings, now expresses remorse over his crimes, saying, “I recognize that I made many mistakes that resulted in my conviction of serious crimes… and I grieve every day.” North, who is a popular speaker with conservative organizations, can pay off his fine with six speaking engagements. Nevertheless, he says he will appeal his conviction. [BBC, 7/5/1989; New York Times, 9/17/1991] North’s conviction will indeed be overturned by an appeals court (see September 17, 1991).
Entity Tags: John Poindexter, Reagan administration, Oliver North, Gerhard Gesell
Summer 1989: Ali Mohamed Uses His US Military Expertise to Train Muslim Radicals
Ali Mohamed, a spy for bin Laden working in the US military, trains Islamic radicals in the New York area. Mohamed is on active duty at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, at the time, but he regularly comes to Brooklyn on the weekends to train radicals at the Al-Kifah Refugee Center, a charity connected to both bin Laden and the CIA. Lawyer Roger Savis will later say, “He came quite often and became a real presence in that [Al-Kifah] office, which later metastasized into al-Qaeda.… He would bring with him a satchel full of military manuals and documents. It was Ali Mohamed who taught the men how to engage in guerrilla war. He would give courses in how to make bombs, how to use guns, how to make Molotov cocktails.” Mohamed’s gun training exercises take place at five different shooting ranges. One series of shooting range sessions in July 1989 is monitored by the FBI (Mohamed apparently is not at those particular sessions in person) (see July 1989). Mohamed’s trainees include most of the future bombers of the World Trade Center in 1993. [Lance, 2006, pp. 47-49]
Entity Tags: Roger Savis, Al-Kifah Refugee Center, Ali Mohamed
June 4, 1989: US-Al-Qaeda Double Agent Ali Mohamed Shows US Military Training Videos to Muslim Radicals
Ali Mohamed, a spy for Osama bin Laden working in the US military, trains Muslim radicals. On this date, he travels with El Sayyid Nosair to the Al-Kifah Refugee Center in Brooklyn, a charity connected to bin Laden and the CIA, and shows training videos from the Fort Bragg military base where US Special Forces train. A former FBI agent will later comment: “You have an al-Qaeda spy who’s now a US citizen, on active duty in the US Army, and he brings along a video paid for by the US government to train Green Beret officers and he’s using it to help train Islamic terrorists so they can turn their guns on us.… By now the Afghan war is over.” [Lance, 2006, pp. 48] Nosair, who watches the videos, will assassinate a Jewish leader in New York one year later (see November 5, 1990).
Entity Tags: Al-Kifah Refugee Center, Ali Mohamed, El Sayyid Nosair
July 1989: FBI Monitors Future Bombers’ Weapons Training Sessions; Fails to Follow Up
One of the Calverton surveillance photographs introduced as evidence in court (note that some faces have been blurred out). [Source: National Geographic]FBI agents photograph Islamic radicals shooting weapons at the Calverton Shooting Range on Long Island, New York. The radicals are secretly monitored as they shoot AK-47 assault rifles, semiautomatic handguns, and revolvers for four successive weekends. The use of weapons such as AK-47’s is illegal in the US, but this shooting range is known to be unusually permissive. Ali Mohamed is apparently not at the range but has been training the five men there: El Sayyid Nosair, Mahmud Abouhalima, Mohammed Salameh, Nidal Ayyad, and Clement Rodney Hampton-El. Nosair will assassinate Rabbi Meir Kahane one year later (see November 5, 1990) and the others, except Hampton-El, will be convicted of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing (see February 26, 1993), while Hampton-El will be convicted for a role in the “Landmarks” bombing plot (see June 24, 1993). Some FBI agents have been assigned to watch some Middle Eastern men who are frequenting the Al-Kifah Refugee Center in Brooklyn. Each weekend, Mohamed’s trainees drive from Al-Kifah to the shooting range and a small FBI surveillance team follows them. The FBI has been given a tip that some Palestinians at Al-Kifah are planning violence targeting Atlantic City casinos. By August, the casino plot will have failed to materialize and the surveillance, including that at the shooting range, will have come to an end. Author Peter Lance will later comment that the reason why the FBI failed to follow up the shooting sessions is a “great unanswered question.” [Lance, 2003, pp. 29-33; New York Times, 10/5/2003]
Entity Tags: Mahmud Abouhalima, Peter Lance, Mohammed Salameh, Nidal Ayyad, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Clement Rodney Hampton-El, El Sayyid Nosair, Calverton Shooting Range, Ali Mohamed, Al-Kifah Refugee Center
November 1989: Ali Mohamed Honorably Discharged from US Army
Ali Mohamed’s US passport, issued in 1989. [Source: US Justice Department] (click image to enlarge)Ali Mohamed is honorably discharged from the US Army with commendations in his file, including one for “patriotism, valor, fidelity, and professional excellence.” He remains in the Army Reserves for the next five years. [New York Times, 12/1/1998; Raleigh News and Observer, 10/21/2001] A US citizen by this time, he will spend much of his time after his discharge in Santa Clara, California, where his wife still resides. He will try but fail to get a job as an FBI interpreter, will work as a security guard, and will run a computer consulting firm out of his home. [San Francisco Chronicle, 9/21/2001]
Entity Tags: US Department of the Army, Ali Mohamed
November 24, 1989: Bin Laden’s Mentor Assassinated
Sheikh Abdullah Azzam. [Source: CNN]Osama bin Laden’s mentor Sheikh Abdullah Azzam is killed by a car bomb in Afghanistan. The killing will never be solved. Azzam has no shortage of enemies. Suspects will include the Mossad, CIA, Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the ISI, and bin Laden. The reason bin Laden will be suspected is because he and Azzam were increasingly at odds over what approach to take since the Soviet Union had been driven from Afghanistan earlier in the year (see February 15, 1989). [Slate, 4/16/2002; Coll, 2004, pp. 204] In 1998, Mohammed Saddiq Odeh will be arrested and later convicted for a role in the 1998 African embassy bombings. He reportedly will tell US interrogators that bin Laden “personally ordered the killing of Azzam because he suspected his former mentor had ties with the CIA.” However, it is not known if Odeh was just passing on a rumor. [Gunaratna, 2003, pp. 32] Regardless, in the wake of Azzam’s death, bin Laden will take control of Azzam’s recruiting and support network, Maktab al-Khidamat (MAK)/Al-Kifah, and merge it with al-Qaeda, which was formed the year before (see August 11-20, 1988). [Slate, 4/16/2002; Coll, 2004, pp. 204]
Entity Tags: Mohammed Saddiq Odeh, Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaeda, Abdullah Azzam, Maktab al-Khidamat
Early 1990s-Late 1996: Bin Laden Frequently Travels to London, According to Various Sources
The 1999 book The New Jackals by journalist Simon Reeve will report that in the early 1990s, bin Laden “was flitting between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, London, and Sudan.” Reeve does not say who his sources are for this statement. [Reeve, 1999, pp. 156]
Bin Laden had concluded an arms deal to purchase ground-to-air missiles for anti-Soviet fighters at the Dorchester Hotel in Central London in 1986 (see Mid-1986).
Bin Laden allegedly visits the London mansion of Saudi billionaire Khalid bin Mahfouz around 1991 (see (1991)).
Bin Laden allegedly travels to London and Manchester to meet GIA militants in 1994 (see 1994).
One report claims bin Laden briefly lived in London in 1994 (see Early 1994).
Similarly, the 1999 book Dollars for Terror by Richard Labeviere will claim, “According to several authorized sources, Osama bin Laden traveled many times to the British capital between 1995 and 1996, on his private jet.”
The book will also point out that in February 1996, bin Laden was interviewed for the Arabic weekly al-Watan al-Arabi and the interview was held in the London house of Khalid al-Fawwaz, bin Laden’s de facto press secretary at the time (see Early 1994-September 23, 1998). [Labeviere, 1999, pp. 101]
An interview with bin Laden will be published in the Egyptian weekly Rose Al Yusuf on June 17, 1996. The interview is said to have been conducted in London, but the exact date of the interview is not known. [Emerson, 2006, pp. 423]
In a book first published in 1999, journalist John Cooley will say that bin Laden “seems to have avoided even clandestine trips [to London] from 1995.” [Cooley, 2002, pp. 63]
Labeviere, however, will claim bin Laden was in London as late as the second half of 1996, and, “according to several Arab diplomatic sources, this trip was clearly under the protection of the British authorities.” [Labeviere, 1999, pp. 108]
After 9/11, some will report that bin Laden never traveled to any Western countries in his life. On the other hand, in 2005 a British cabinet official will state that in late 1995 bin Laden actually considered moving to London (see Late 1995).
Entity Tags: Khalid al-Fawwaz, Osama bin Laden
July - December 1990: Future Oklahoma City Bombing Conspirator Marries Mail-Order Bride
Marife Nichols in 1997. [Source: CNN]Terry Nichols, a shy Army veteran (see March 24, 1988 - Late 1990) drifting through life as a single (see November 1988), underemployed father, does something that surprises everyone he knows: he leaves his home state of Michigan for the Philippines to marry a mail-order bride, 17-year-old Marife Torres, who lives with her parents in a small apartment above a lumberyard. Torres lives in Cebu City, where Nichols meets her. Her parents are leery of their daughter marrying an older man; in talking with Nichols, they learn that he wants a Filipino bride because he has been told “they stayed at home.” The two are married on November 20, 1990 at a Chinese restaurant in Cebu, and Nichols returns to Decker, Michigan, to begin the legal process necessary to bring Marife back to the US. [New York Times, 5/28/1995; PBS Frontline, 1/22/1996; Serrano, 1998, pp. 74-75] Nichols will later be convicted of conspiracy in the Oklahoma City bombing (see 8:35 a.m. - 9:02 a.m. April 19, 1995). His connection to the Philippines will result in shadowy connections with suspected Islamist terrorists in that nation (see Late 1992-Early 1993 and Late 1994 and November 5, 1994 - Early January 1995).
Entity Tags: Terry Lynn Nichols, Marife Torres Nichols
July 26, 1990: Congress Passes Americans with Disabilities Act, Ensuring Disabled Citizens Can Vote More Freely
Unofficial Americans with Disabilities Act logo. [Source: Broward County, Florida]President Bush signs the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law. The ADA, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s description, “prohibits private employers, state and local governments, employment agencies, and labor unions from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities in job application procedures, hiring, firing, advancement, compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment. The ADA covers employers with 15 or more employees, including state and local governments. It also applies to employment agencies and to labor organizations. The ADA’s nondiscrimination standards also apply to federal sector employees… and its implementing rules.” The law requires that election workers and polling sites provide a range of services to ensure that people with disabilities can vote. [US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 9/9/2008; American Civil Liberties Union, 2012]
Entity Tags: George Herbert Walker Bush, Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
September 11, 1990: Bush Discusses ‘New World Order,’ Alarms White Separatists
A Web graphic opposing the ‘New World Order.’ [Source: Human Symbiose (.org)]In a speech discussing the post-Cold War world, President Bush outlines his vision of a “New World Order.” Bush says: “We stand today at a unique and extraordinary moment. The crisis in the Persian Gulf, as grave as it is, also offers a rare opportunity to move toward an historic period of cooperation. Out of these troubled times, our fifth objective—a new world order—can emerge: a new era—freer from the threat of terror, stronger in the pursuit of justice, and more secure in the quest for peace.” The Southern Poverty Law Center will later write that many people, particularly white supremacists and separatists, take Bush’s phrase “as a slip of the tongue revealing secret plans to create a one-world government.” [Sweet Liberty, 9/11/1990; Southern Poverty Law Center, 6/2001] In 1995, Michigan gun dealer and right-wing activist Frank Kieltyka will describe the “New World Order” to a Buffalo News reporter. According to Kieltyka, the “New World Order” is backed by the US government and led by, among other organizations, the Trilateral Commission and the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). “We’re moving towards the Communists,” Kieltyka will warn. The belief in this “New World Order” will be emphasized in coming years in the militia movements and by right-wing publications such as The Spotlight, an openly racist, anti-government newsletter. [Stickney, 1996, pp. 157-158]
Entity Tags: Trilateral Commission, George Herbert Walker Bush, Frank Kieltyka, Council on Foreign Relations, Southern Poverty Law Center, The Spotlight
September 20, 1990: US Diplomat Joseph Wilson Faces Down Iraqis, Prevents Americans from Being Taken Hostage
As tensions escalate between the US and Iraq, Iraqi officials circulate a note to all the embassies in Baghdad, directing them to register all of the civilians in their care with the authorities. Failure to comply can result in execution, the note implies. Such registration can only be done in person at Iraqi governmental offices; Deputy Chief of Mission Joseph Wilson, the ranking US diplomat in Baghdad, knows that bringing American citizens in for registration may well result in those Americans being taken hostage. He is housing some 60 Americans at the ambassador’s residence for their protection. He will later write: “It was clearly a way for the Iraqis to replenish their stock of hostages. The choice, theoretically, was either to turn over Americans or to defy the note and risk execution.” Instead of making the choice, Wilson uses the order to publicly defy the Iraqis. He schedules a press conference and has a Marine make him a hangman’s noose. Wearing the noose, he tells reporters that if Saddam Hussein “wants to execute me for keeping Americans from being taken hostage, I will bring my own f_cking rope.” The press conference, like all of the embassy press conferences, is off the record, but journalists release the story anyway. A garbled, erroneous version from a French news outlet has the Iraqis planning to hang Wilson by sundown. Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz, angered and embarrassed by the press coverage, attempts to dress down Wilson that evening, but Wilson refuses to back down. Instead, the Iraqis withdraw the request. Soon after, President Bush sends Wilson a cable lauding his courage and his outspokeness (see November 29, 1990). [Wilson, 2004, pp. 153-154; Unger, 2007, pp. 311] Conservative columnist Robert Novak co-writes a piece about Wilson that says, “He shows the stuff of heroism.” Novak will later reveal the covert CIA status of Wilson’s wife, Valerie Plame Wilson, as an act of political retaliation (see July 14, 2003). [Wilson, 2004, pp. 153-154]
Entity Tags: Tariq Aziz, Joseph C. Wilson, Robert Novak, Saddam Hussein, George Herbert Walker Bush
Timeline Tags: Events Leading to Iraq Invasion, US-Iraq 1980s
October 1990: Future Oklahoma City Bomber Ordered to Begin Special Forces Training, Training Interrupted by Overseas Deployment
Timothy McVeigh’s unit at Fort Benning, Georgia. McVeigh is highlighted. [Source: Associated Press]Army Sergeant Timothy McVeigh (see March 24, 1988 - Late 1990) receives orders to attend Special Forces training classes beginning November 11, 1990. McVeigh’s ambition is to become a Green Beret. [PBS Frontline, 1/22/1996] However, his training is interrupted before it begins, as his unit is called up to go to Kuwait as part of Operation Desert Shield, later Desert Storm (see January 16, 1991 and After). McVeigh’s unit will leave from Fort Riley, Kansas, to a staging area in Germany, and then on to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Before he leaves, McVeigh pays a brief visit to his hometown of Pendleton, New York (see 1987-1988), where he worries a close friend, his “surrogate mother” Lynn Drzyzga, by telling her, “I’m coming back [from Kuwait] in a body bag.” She will later recall that watching McVeigh walk away “was just like my own son was leaving at that moment.” [Serrano, 1998, pp. 32-33]
Entity Tags: Timothy James McVeigh, Lynn Drzyzga, US Department of the Army
Late October 1990-October 1992: ’Blind Sheikh’ Able to Repeatedly Leave and Reenter US Despite Being on Watch List
In July 1990, the “Blind Sheikh,” Sheikh Omar Abdul-Rahman, was mysteriously able to enter the US and remain there despite being a well known public figure and being on a watch list for three years (see July 1990).
In late October 1990, he travels to London, so he is out of the US when one of his followers assassinates the Zionist rabbi Meir Kahane on November 5, 1990 (see November 5, 1990). He returns to the US in mid-November under the name “Omar Ahmed Rahman” and again has no trouble getting back in despite still being on the watch list. [Washington Post, 7/13/1993]
The State Department revokes his US visa on November 17 after the FBI informs it that he is in the US. [New York Times, 12/16/1990]
In December 1990, Abdul-Rahman leaves the US again to attend an Islamic conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. He returns nine days later and again has no trouble reentering, despite not even having a US visa at this point. [Washington Post, 7/13/1993]
On December 16, 1990, the New York Times publishes an article titled, “Islamic Leader on US Terrorist List Is in Brooklyn,” which makes his presence in the US publicly known. The Immigration and Nationalization Service (INS) is said to be investigating why he has not been deported already. [New York Times, 12/16/1990]
Yet in April 1991, the INS approves his application for permanent residence.
He then leaves the US again in June 1991 to go on the religious hajj to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and returns on July 31, 1991. INS officials identify him coming in, but let him in anyway. [New York Times, 4/24/1993; Washington Post, 7/13/1993]
In June 1992, his application for political asylum will be turned down and his permanent residence visa revoked. But INS hearings on his asylum bid are repeatedly delayed and still have not taken place when the WTC is bombed in February 1993 (see February 26, 1993). [Lance, 2003, pp. 105-106]
Abdul-Rahman then goes to Canada around October 1992 and returns to the US yet again. The US and Canada claim to have no documentation on his travel there, but numerous witnesses in Canada see him pray and lecture there. Representative Charles Schumer (D-NY) says, “Here they spent all this time trying to get him out. He goes to Canada and gives them the perfect reason to exclude him and they don’t.”
After the WTC bombing, the US could detain him pending his deportation hearing but chooses not to, saying it would be too costly to pay for his medical bills. [New York Times, 4/24/1993]
Abdul-Rahman will be involved in the follow up “Landmarks” plot (see June 24, 1993) before finally being arrested later in 1993. It will later be alleged that he was protected by the CIA. In 1995, the New York Times will comment that the link between Abdul-Rahman and the CIA “is a tie that remains muddy.” [New York Times, 10/2/1995]
Entity Tags: US Department of State, Meir Kahane, US Immigration and Naturalization Service, Omar Abdul-Rahman, Charles Schumer, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Central Intelligence Agency
November 5, 1990: First Bin Laden-Related Terror Attack in US as Jewish Rabbi Is Assassinated
Meir Kahane. [Source: Publicity photo]Egyptian-American El Sayyid Nosair assassinates controversial right-wing Zionist leader Rabbi Meir Kahane. Kahane’s organization, the Jewish Defense League, was linked to dozens of bombings and is ranked by the FBI as the most lethal domestic militant group in the US at the time. Nosair is captured after a police shoot-out. [Village Voice, 3/30/1993] Within hours, overwhelming evidence suggests that the assassination was a wide conspiracy but the US government will immediately declare that Nosair was a lone gunman and ignore the evidence suggesting otherwise (see November 5, 1990 and After). Nosair will later be acquitted of Kahane’s murder (though he will be convicted of lesser charges) as investigators continue to ignore most of the evidence in his case which links to a wider conspiracy (see December 7, 1991). Nosair is connected to al-Qaeda through his job at the Al-Kifah Refugee Center, an al-Qaeda front (see 1986-1993). A portion of Nosair’s defense fund will be paid for by bin Laden, although this will not be discovered until some time later. [ABC News, 8/16/2002; Lance, 2003, pp. 34-37]
Entity Tags: Meir Kahane, Al-Qaeda, Al-Kifah Refugee Center, El Sayyid Nosair
November 5, 1990 and After: US Promotes Lone Gunman Theory in Kahane Assassination, Hiding Evidence of Al-Qaeda Links
Invesigators remove boxes of evidence from El Sayyid Nosair’s residence hours after the assassination. [Source: National Geographic]US government agencies cover up evidence of a conspiracy in the wake of El Sayyid Nosair’s assassination of controversial right-wing Zionist leader Rabbi Meir Kahane (see November 5, 1990). Nosair is captured a few blocks from the murder site after a police shoot-out. An FBI informant says he saw Nosair meeting with Muslim leader Sheikh Omar Abdul-Rahman a few days before the attack, and evidence indicating a wider plot with additional targets is quickly found. [Village Voice, 3/30/1993] Later that night, police arrive at Nosair’s house and find a pair of Middle Eastern men named Mahmud Abouhalima and Mohammed Salameh there. They are taken in for questioning. Additionally, police collect a total of 47 boxes of evidence from Nosair’s house, including: [Lance, 2003, pp. 34-35]
Thousands of rounds of ammunition.
Maps and drawings of New York City landmarks, including the World Trade Center.
Documents in Arabic containing bomb making formulas, details of an Islamic militant cell, and mentions of the term “al-Qaeda.”
Recorded sermons by Sheikh Omar Abdul-Rahman in which he encourages his followers to “destroy the edifices of capitalism” and destroy “the enemies of Allah” by “destroying their… high world buildings.”
Tape-recorded phone conversations of Nosair reporting to Abdul-Rahman about paramilitary training, and even discussing bomb-making manuals.
Videotaped talks that Ali Mohamed delivered at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Top secret manuals also from Fort Bragg. There are even classified documents belonging to the US Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Commander in Chief of the Army’s Central Command. These manuals and documents had clearly come from Mohamed, who completed military service at Fort Bragg the year before and frequently stayed in Nosair’s house.
A detailed and top secret plan for Operation Bright Star, a special operations training exercise simulating an attack on Baluchistan, a part of Pakistan between Afghanistan and the Arabian Sea. [Raleigh News and Observer, 10/21/2001; Raleigh News and Observer, 11/13/2001; Wall Street Journal, 11/26/2001; ABC News, 8/16/2002; Lance, 2003, pp. 34-35]
Also within hours, two investigators will connect Nosair with surveillance photographs of Mohamed giving weapons training to Nosair, Abouhalima, Salameh, and others at a shooting range the year before (see July 1989). [Lance, 2003, pp. 34-35] But, ignoring all of this evidence, still later that evening, Joseph Borelli, the New York police department’s chief detective, will publicly declare the assassination the work of a “lone deranged gunman.” He will further state, “I’m strongly convinced that he acted alone.… He didn’t seem to be part of a conspiracy or any terrorist organization.” The 9/11 Congressional Inquiry will later conclude, “The [New York Police Department] and the District Attorney’s office… reportedly wanted the appearance of speedy justice and a quick resolution to a volatile situation. By arresting Nosair, they felt they had accomplished both.” [Village Voice, 3/30/1993; Lance, 2003, pp. 34-36] Abouhalima and Salameh are released, only to be later convicted for participating in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. Investigators will later find in Nosair’s possessions a formula for a bomb almost identical to one used in the WTC bombing. [New York Magazine, 3/17/1995] As one FBI agent will later put it, “The fact is that in 1990, myself and my detectives, we had in our office in handcuffs, the people who blew up the World Trade Center in ‘93. We were told to release them.” The 47 boxes of evidence collected at Nosair’s house that evening are stored away, inaccessible to prosecutors and investigators. The documents found will not be translated until after the World Trade Center bombing. Nosair will later be acquitted of Kahane’s murder (though he will be convicted of lesser charges), as investigators will continue to ignore all evidence that could suggest Nosair did not act alone (see December 7, 1991). [ABC News, 8/16/2002; Lance, 2003, pp. 34-37] District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, who prosecuted the case, will later speculate the CIA may have encouraged the FBI not to pursue any other leads. Nosair worked at the Al-Kifah Refugee Center which was closely tied to covert CIA operations in Afghanistan (see Late 1980s and After). [New York Magazine, 3/17/1995]
Entity Tags: Joseph Borelli, Mahmud Abouhalima, Meir Kahane, Federal Bureau of Investigation, El Sayyid Nosair, Al-Qaeda, Ali Mohamed, Central Intelligence Agency, Robert Morgenthau, Mohammed Salameh, Al-Kifah Refugee Center
Mid-November 1990: CIA Allegedy Blocks FBI Investigation of ‘Blind Sheikh’ in Kahane Assassination
The FBI is apparently under pressure to back off from investigating Sheikh Omar Abdul-Rahman. One week after the murder of Zionist rabbi Meir Kahane, a long-time FBI counterterrorism expert meets with one of his top undercover operatives. According to the FBI agent, the undercover operative asks, “Why aren’t we going after the Sheikh [Abdul-Rahman]?” The FBI agent replies, “It’s hands-off.” He further explains, “It was no accident that the Sheikh got a visa and that he’s still in the country. He’s here under the banner of national security, the State Department, the NSA, and the CIA.” The agent concludes that Abdul-Rahman is untouchable. Noting how the government is already firmly suggesting that El Sayyid Nosair was the only one involved in Kahane’s murder, he says, “I haven’t seen the lone-gunman theory advocated [so forcefully] since John F. Kennedy.” [Village Voice, 3/30/1993] The FBI will also fail to look at a wealth of evidence suggesting others were involved in the assassination (see November 5, 1990 and After).
Entity Tags: El Sayyid Nosair, Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Meir Kahane, Omar Abdul-Rahman
1991: Algerian Army Helps Create Al-Qaeda Linked Militant Group
Mohammed Samraoui. [Source: Rachad]Mohammed Samraoui, the Algerian army’s deputy chief counterintelligence specialist, will later desert in disgust and explain in a French trial that the Algerian army helped create the Groupe Islamique Armé (GIA), supposedly an Islamist militant group linked to al-Qaeda fighting the Algerian government. He will say that in the months before an Algerian army coup in January 1992 the Algerian army “created the GIA” in an attempt to weaken and destroy the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), an Islamist political party poised to take power in elections. He will say, “We established a list of the most dangerous people and demanded their arrest, but in vain: they were needed [to be free] to create terrorist groups. Instead, we arrested right, left, and center. We were trying to radicalize the movement.” Army intelligence identified Algerians returning from the Soviet-Afghan war and many times recruited them. “They all took the flight home via Tunis because it was half-price. As soon as they landed in Algiers, we took them in hand.” [Randal, 2005, pp. 169-170]
Entity Tags: Algerian army, Groupe Islamique Armé, Al-Qaeda, Mohammed Samraoui
January 16, 1991 and After: ’Operation Desert Storm’: US Launches Massive Air Assault against Iraq
One of the many air strikes launched against Iraqi targets during Operation Desert Storm. [Source: US Air Force]The US launches a massive air assault against Iraq in retaliation for that country’s invasion of Kuwait (see August 2, 1990). The air assault begins the day after a UN deadline for Iraq’s withdrawal from Kuwait expires (see November 29, 1990). F-117 Stealth bombers hit Baghdad with an array of high-tech bombs and missiles; many of the explosions are televised live, or on briefly delayed feeds, on CNN, which launches virtually 24-hour coverage of the air strikes. In the first 48 hours of the war, 2,107 combat missions drop more than 5,000 tons of bombs on Baghdad alone, nearly twice the amount that incinerated Dresden in World War II.
'Thunder and Lightning of Desert Storm' - US Army General Norman Schwarzkopf, chief of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), announces the beginning of hostilities by transmitting the following: “Soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines of the United States Central Command, this morning at 0300, we launched Operation Desert Storm, an offensive campaign that will enforce the United Nation’s resolutions that Iraq must cease its rape and pillage of its weaker neighbor and withdraw its forces from Kuwait. My confidence in you is total. Our cause is just! Now you must be the thunder and lightning of Desert Storm. May God be with you, your loved ones at home, and our country.” [US Navy, 9/17/1997]
Initial Attacks Obliterate Iraqi Navy, Much of Air Force, Many Ground Installations - The attack begins with an assault of over 100 Tomahawk land attack missiles (TLAMs) launched from US naval vessels in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea, and attack helicopter strikes on Iraqi radar installations near the Iraq-Saudi Arabian border. The assaults destroy much of Iraq’s air defense and command-and-control capabilities. The missile assault is quickly followed by fighter, bomber, and assault helicopter strikes which continue pounding at Iraqi government buildings, power stations, dams, military sites, radio and television stations, and several of Saddam Hussein’s palaces. The strikes essentially obliterate the Iraqi Navy, and drastically cripple the Iraqi Air Force. (Between 115 and 140 aircraft and crews of the Iraqi Air Force flees to Iran over the course of the war, a move that surprises US commanders, who expected the aircraft and their crews to attempt to flee to Jordan, not Iran. The Iranians will never give Iraq back its aircraft, and will not release Iraqi air crews for years to come.) A US Navy review later calls the combined Navy-Marine air campaign, conducted in concert with US Air Force strikes, “successful beyond the most optimistic expectations.” The Navy later reports that “allied air forces dropped over 88,500 tons of ordnance on the battlefield.” [US Navy, 9/17/1997; NationMaster, 12/23/2007] Iraqi anti-aircraft counterattacks are surprisingly effective, downing around 75 US and British aircraft in the first hours of attacks. The US media does not widely report these downings, nor does it give much attention to the dozens of pilots and air crew captured as POWs. [NationMaster, 12/23/2007]
'The Mother of All Battles' - Five hours after the first attacks, Baghdad state radio broadcasts a voice identified as Saddam Hussein. Hussein tells his people that “The great duel, the mother of all battles has begun. The dawn of victory nears as this great showdown begins.” [NationMaster, 12/23/2007]
US Embassy Helped Locate Targets for Air Strikes - Deputy Chief of Mission Joseph Wilson, the last American to leave Baghdad (see January 12, 1991), and his staff provided critical assistance to the US battle planners in choosing their initial targets. Over the months, Wilson and his staff developed a “hostage tracking system,” monitoring and recording the movements of the American hostages as they were transferred from site to site to be used as human shields in the event of a US strike (see August 4, 1990 and August 8, 1990). Wilson and his staff were able to identify some 55 sites that were being used around the country, presumably some of the most critical military and infrastructure sites in Iraq. Wilson gave that information to the Pentagon. He will later write, “I was gratified when several months later, on the first night of Desert Storm, long after the hostages had been released, many of those sites were ones hit by American bombs.” [Wilson, 2004, pp. 141]
Entity Tags: US Department of the Navy, United Nations, US Department of the Marines, US Department of the Air Force, US Department of the Army, CNN, Richard (“Dick”) Cheney, Norman Schwarzkopf, Joseph C. Wilson, US Department of Defense, US Department of State, Saddam Hussein
February 1991: CIA Already Aware of ‘Al-Qaeda’
The CIA is aware of the term al-Qaeda at least by this time. Billy Waugh is a CIA contractor assigned to follow bin Laden and other suspected criminals in Sudan starting at this time (see February 1991- July 1992). He will later recall in a book that when he arrived in Sudan, the CIA station chief there said to him about bin Laden, “We don’t know what he’s up to, but we know he’s a wealthy financier and we think he’s harboring some of these outfits called al-Qaeda. See what you can find out.” Waugh will note, “I was familiar with bin Laden from [CIA] traffic, but this was the first time I had heard the term al-Qaeda.” [Waugh and Keown, 2004, pp. 121] According to most other media accounts, US intelligence does not learn about the existence of al-Qaeda until several years later, not long before the State Department publicly uses the term in 1996 (see August 14, 1996). For instance, US News and World Report will even assert in 2003, “So limited was the CIA’s knowledge that it began using al-Qaeda’s real name only [in 1998]—10 years after bin Laden founded the organization.” [US News and World Report, 12/15/2003]
Entity Tags: Central Intelligence Agency, Al-Qaeda, Billy Waugh, Osama bin Laden
(February 28, 1991): Head of Al-Kifah Charity Front Murdered, Increasing Al-Qaeda’s Strength in US
Around February 28, 1991, Mustafa Shalabi, head of the Al-Kifah Refugee Center’s main US office in Brooklyn, is murdered. Al-Kifah is a charity front with ties to both the CIA and al-Qaeda (see 1986-1993). Shalabi’s body is found in his house on March 1. He had been shot and stabbed multiple times and $100,000 was stolen. Shalabi is found with two red hairs in his hand, and the FBI soon suspects Mahmud Abouhalima, who is red-headed, for the murder. Abouhalima identified Shalabi’s body for the police, falsely claiming to be Shalabi’s brother. He will later be one of the 1993 WTC bombers. Shalabi had been having a growing public dispute with the “Blind Sheikh,” Sheikh Omar Abdul-Rahman, over where to send the roughly one million dollars Al-Kifah was raising annually. Abdul-Rahman wanted some of the money to be used to overthrow the Egyptian government while Shalabi wanted to send all of it to Afghanistan. Shalabi had given up the fight and had already booked a flight to leave the US when he was killed. The murder is never solved. [Lance, 2003, pp. 49-52; Lance, 2006, pp. 65-66] Abdul Wali Zindani takes over as head of Al-Kifah and apparently will run the office until it closes shortly after the 1993 WTC bombing. He is nephew of Sheikh Abdul Majeed al-Zindani, a radical imam in Yemen with ties to bin Laden. Abdul-Rahman, also linked to bin Laden, increases his effective control over Al-Kifah and its money. [Miller, Stone, and Mitchell, 2002, pp. 82] Al-Kifah’s links to al-Qaeda were already strong before Shalabi’s death. But author Peter Lance will later comment that after his death, “Osama bin Laden had an effective al-Qaeda cell right in the middle of Brooklyn, New York. A tough look at the Shalabi murder might have ripped the lid off al-Qaeda years before the FBI ever heard of the network.” [Lance, 2003, pp. 52]
Entity Tags: Mahmud Abouhalima, Al-Kifah Refugee Center, Omar Abdul-Rahman, Abdul Wali Zindani, Mustafa Shalabi
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Nijaguna Shivayogi
Nijaguna Shivayogi (15th century) was an Indian poet and a prolific writer in the Kannada language. He lived in the 15th century. He was a follower of the Veerashaiva faith (devotee of the Hindu god Shiva), which he attempted to reconcile with the Advaita Hinduism of Adi Shankaracharya.[1] Tradition has it that Shivayogi was a petty chieftain of Kollegal taluk in modern Mysore district of Karnataka state, India.[1] Considered a visionary of his time, his Vivekachintamani, written in encyclopaedic proportions and in prose style, and the Kaivalya Paddhati, a musical treatise consisting of songs are considered his most enduring works.[1][2]
The Vivekachintamani, written in ten chapters, characterises by subject over 1500 topics including astronomy, medicine, poetics, erotica, musicology and dance-drama (natya shastra). Each topic is divided into sub-topics and each sub-topic is further divided into items. For example, the topic of poetics includes a sub-topical description of alamkara (figures of speech) which includes 65 types of alamkaras. The writing was translated into Marathi language in 1604, and into Sanskrit language in 1652 and again in the 18th century, an indication of its importance among medieval Kannada language writings.[1]
Shivayogi authored a collection of songs in early 15th century called the Kaivalya Paddhati (lit, "Songs of the pathway to emancipation"). These songs are best described as lyrical swara Vachanas (poems written to notes) set to various classical ragas ("tunes"). They are based on religious, philosophical and reflective themes and are quite unlike those composed by the contemporary Haridasas (devotee-saint-poets of the god Vishnu) of Karnataka. This work established Shivayogi as the originator of a mystical form of literature called Kaivalya Sahitya (lit "Kaivalya literature"), a synthesis of the Veerashaiva and Advaita philosophies, with an emphasis on knowledge as opposed to devotion. His influence on writers in the swara Vachana genre over the next three centuries is evident. Notable poets who were inspired by Shivayogi include Shadaksharadeva (Muppina Sadakshari), a contemporary poet, Chidananda Avadhuta (17th century), Sarpabhushana Shivayogi (18th century) and the itinerant poet Shishunala Sharif.[2][3]
The Puratana Trividhi is a short work by him consisting of 77 tripadis (three-line verses) eulogising the 63 Nayanmars (devotee-saints of the Hindu god Shiva) of Tamil Nadu. His other compositions include Paramanubhava Bodhe, Paramartha Gita and Anubhavasara.[2]
^ a b c d Sahitya Akademi (1988), p. 1165
^ a b c Shiva Prakash (1997), p. 190
^ Sahitya Akademi (1987), p. 200
Shiva Prakash, H.S. (1997). "Kannada". In Ayyappapanicker (ed.). Medieval Indian Literature:An Anthology. Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 81-260-0365-0.
Various (1988) [1988]. Encyclopaedia of Indian literature – vol 2. Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 81-260-1194-7.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nijaguna_Shivayogi&oldid=783481838"
Poets from Karnataka
History of Karnataka
Kannada poets
15th-century Indian poets
Lingayatism
Indian male poets
Year of death unknown
This content was retrieved from Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nijaguna_Shivayogi
This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article "Nijaguna Shivayogi"; it is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA). You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the CC-BY-SA
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Although the Christian Democratic Appeal would form the next government, they did not indicate any intention to repeal the law.
The main article in the Act changed article in the marriage law to read as follows: who became a registrar specifically to officiate at the weddings.
A few months earlier, Mayor Cohen had been junior Minister of Justice of the Netherlands and was responsible for putting the new marriage and adoption laws through parliament.
The marriageable age in the Netherlands is 18, or below 18 with parental consent.The law is only valid in the European territory of the Netherlands and on the Caribbean Islands of Bonaire, St.Eustatius and Saba, but does not apply to the other constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.Netherlands: · Netherlands proper New Zealand: · New Zealand proper Norway Portugal South Africa Spain Sweden United Kingdom: · England and Wales · Scotland · ASCN*, IM, PCRN United States: · United States proper · GU, MP, PR, VI · some tribal jurisdictions Uruguay As early as the mid-1980s, a group of gay rights activists, headed by Henk Krol – then editor-in-chief of the Gay Krant – asked the government to allow same sex couples to marry.Parliament decided in 1995 to create a special commission, which was to investigate the possibility of same-sex marriages.
At that moment, the Christian Democrats (Christian Democratic Appeal) were not part of the ruling coalition for the first time since the introduction of full democracy.
The special commission finished its work in 1997 and concluded that civil marriage should be extended to include same-sex couples.
After the election of 1998, the government promised to tackle the issue.
In September 2000 the final legislation draft was debated in the Dutch Parliament.
The marriage bill passed the House of Representatives by 109 votes to 33.
Only the Christian parties, which held 26 of the 75 seats at the time, voted against the bill.
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Inspirational Lifestyle Change: 200-Pound Member Says Yes to a Healthier Life
At the age of 47, Barry reached his heaviest weight. At 476 pounds, this husband and father of two feared he would follow in the same footsteps as his father who had passed away at the age of 66, weighing 420 pounds.
At that point, Barry resolved to make a lifestyle change.
Two hundred pounds later, he is a new man. But success didn’t happen overnight. For him, this transformation was a long journey.
Are You Ready for a Lifestyle Change?
After Barry made the decision to lose the unwanted weight, he decided to audition for a popular weight-loss program he saw on TV. He traveled across the nation for seven years auditioning for the show—and even admits that he spent $5,000 on hotel bills.
“I sent in video submissions every April and I was dedicated to being on the show because I knew I could win,” explains Barry.
After years on the road, Barry made a humbling discovery: “Making it on the show was a pipe dream, and I knew that laying on the couch and doing nothing wasn’t going to help me.”
Knowing he had hit rock bottom, Barry went online to seek counseling and support.
“I found a weight-loss chat room and took a leap of faith,” says Barry. He opened up to a group of complete strangers and shared his struggles. “I was a wreck. I was feeling pretty scared.”
That’s when Barry met his “little angel.”
Spreading his Wings
The next morning there was a message in his inbox from a woman named Alison.
Alison replied to Barry’s cry for help within hours after he had posted. She wrote: “I know you don’t know who I am, but I happened to read what you wrote in the chat room, and I’m reaching out because I want to tell you about a system that could get your life back.”
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No Longer Ashamed of His Image
Before Barry released a total of 220 pounds* with Isagenix, his youngest daughter Laura, 15, helped him set up a Facebook account. The native New Yorker found his friends from his childhood, but was ashamed of his image.
Barry never put up a profile picture in fear of judgement from his Facebook friends. It even left him reluctant to reach out to others.
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The Isagenix 100-, 200-, 300-, and 400-Pound Clubs are communities that recognize, celebrate, and support those who reach a weight loss of 100 pounds or more using Isagenix products. For more information, or to join the Isagenix 100-Pound Club, please email 100PoundClub@IsagenixCorp.com.
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By IsaFYI|2018-01-29T09:56:38-07:00June 3rd, 2015|Tags: 200 Pound Club, 200 pound weight loss, Success Stories, Weight Loss|
Current Promotions to Grow With Isagenix
An Expert Shares Her Best Tips for Getting Fit (It’s Not Counting Calories)
From Darkness to Light: An Inspiring Transformation
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Legislative Documents
How do I find VOTING INFORMATION on a bill?
Is there any place on this site to view the "substitutes" (e.g. S-3) that are referenced in the Journals?
I was attempting to locate a particular bill in the legislature. I did not know the bill number. What can I do?
I'm looking for a list of members for several committees. Is this information on your website?
Michigan Compiled Laws
What are the Michigan Compiled Laws?
How are the Michigan Compiled Laws organized?
How is the Michigan Compiled Laws database updated?
How often is the Michigan Compiled Laws database updated?
Are any Public Acts passed by the Legislature not included in the Michigan Compiled Laws?
Is there a summary of newly passed sections of law, showing which sections were repealed, and which sections were amended?
When I perform a Public Act MCL Search, the results list displays some of the sections contained in the PA, but not all. Why is this?
Is there any way I can get the full text of statutes as opposed to the excerpts I obtain from the website?
Do you keep past year public act tables? I need to determine what the bill number was for some legislation so that I can read the legislative analyses. How do I do that?
I am looking up an act, and some of the sections reference MSA numbers. Where can I find text for those MSA numbers?
How do I find a Public Act?
How do I find a Bill from a prior session?
Registered User Features
The links in my notification emails appear broken. What can I do?
How do I obtain permission to link to this website?
1) Navigate to the bill status page of the bill you are interest in by doing one of the following;
a) for bills in the current session, enter the bill number in the first text box (bill number search) on the home page and hit enter
b) for bills in a prior sessions use the bill page from the top left link. Enter the bill number in the bill number area and click search
2) Once on the bill status page, scroll to the bottom of the page to find the history actions, which are in a green bar table.
3) Find the roll call you are interested in seeing, and click on the journal next to that history action.
4) Search the journal document using the tools provided by the browser you are using for the bill number, or the roll call number. a) Searching techniques differ, depending on the browser used.
The Michigan Compiled Laws (MCL) are the compilation of Michigan laws in force, arranged without alteration, under appropriate headings and titles. The MCL includes all of the following:
a) Public Acts enacted by the Legislature
b) The Michigan Constitution of 1963, as amended
c) Executive Reorganization Orders issued by the governor that make changes in the organization of the executive branch of state government when considered necessary for efficient administration
The first step in learning how to use the Michigan Compiled Laws is to understand how the law is organized. Conceptually, the Michigan Compiled Laws may be divided into a hierarchy consisting of three levels: Chapters, Acts, and Sections:
Level One - The Chapter
Level Two - The Act
Level Three - The Section
Some MCL chapters have been further subdivided into portions called Divisions.
Note: While the majority of chapters within the Michigan Compiled Laws contain public acts, other items with legal significance of a general and permanent nature are included. The current State Constitution, for example, may be found in Chapter 1, entitled, "The Fundamental Law." Executive reorganization orders are also compiled. These orders, which are issued by the governor, make changes in the organization of the executive branch or in the assignment of functions among its units, which are considered necessary for efficient administration. Also, many chapters of the Michigan Compiled Laws contain chapters or portions of chapters from the Revised Statutes of 1846, as amended. The 1846 publication revised and recompiled Michigan law with one result being the elimination of public act number citations. These provisions from the Revised Statutes of 1846 deal with a diversity of subjects such as local government, fraudulent conveyances, jails, and divorce.
When a bill is passed by the Legislature, signed by the Governor, and filed with the Secretary of State, it is assigned a Public Act number, e.g., 1998 PA 23. Each Public Act that adds, amends, and/or repeals sections of the Michigan Compiled Laws is incorporated into the Michigan Compiled Laws database after the necessary data processing is completed. If a Public Act is not scheduled to take effect until a future date, the Michigan Compiled Laws database will include both the current version of the affected section(s) (known as "provisionals") as well as the version of the affected section(s) that will take effect on the future date (known as "prospectives"), with appropriate cross-reference "header notes" to guide the user. Therefore, in such cases, a user may view a section of law both as it presently exists and as it will appear on a future date. Further, if a Public Act repeals a section or sections of law effective on a future date, the affected section(s) of law in the database will contain a header note to that effect alerting the user to the prospective action.
The Michigan Compiled Law online is updated irregularly, but you can always see how recent it is by examining the right side of any page's header.
Legislation on the site is updated daily. During periods of heavy legislative activity, some documents may not be available for up to a week after they are presented in chambers.
Yes. Certain laws enacted by the Legislature are not included in Michigan Compiled Laws because they are not of a general and permanent character. For example, local or special acts (which may apply only to one specific local government unit or individual), appropriation acts (which provide funding on an annual basis to governmental units), and land conveyance acts (which authorize the conveyance of government property) are not included in the Michigan Compiled Laws.
The MCL Tables contain such information.
When I peform a Public Act MCL Search, the results list displays some of the sections contained in the PA, but not all. Why is this?
The Public Act MCL Search looks at each section's History to determine whether or not to display it in the search results. It must do this or it wouldn't work for amendatory acts.
So the sections you see in the search results are those that have the public act for which you searched in their Histories. Usually, this means that these sections were part of the original act (rather than being added later). To see the full contents of the act, click on the link for the act itself, which is usually the top list result.
The text you find on the Michigan Legislature is indeed the full text of the law. The word "excerpt" that you refer to is included following the statute name above an MCL section merely to indicate that the section itself is an excerpt of the entire statute. The section text presented, however, is complete.
If you are interested in reading an entire statute at once (rather than individual sections), navigate to the statute itself, then click the "Printer Friendly" icon next to the document title.
The Michigan Legislature website maintains Public Act Tables for each year since 1997. They can be found on the Public Acts (Signed Bills) page.
Also, on the Public Acts (Signed Bills) page, you will see the Public Act Legislative Document Search. If you know the public act number you are looking for (and it was passed since 1997), enter the number and year into this search to display the bill status page (containing bill versions, history, and analyses) for the bill of origin.
For tables prior to 1997, contact the State Law Library at the Library of Michigan at (517) 335-1480, or email them using this COMMENT FORM.
MSA numbers (Michigan Statutes Annotated, an alternative numbering system to MCL numbers) have been deprecated by the Legal Editing division of the Legislative Service Bureau and are no longer supported.
Yes, for some of them. Look in the history actions of the bill you are interested in. This is a table near the bottom of the bill status page. If they are available, they will be linked here. If the substitute bill is not linked, request a substitute for this bill and the Library of Michigan will respond.
When attempting to locate a bill without knowledge of the bill's number, try the various search tools on the Bills page. Searches on the Bills page allow you to locate bills based on sponsors, subject categories, keywords, etc.
Each time you use one of these searches, the results page will include a column containing the digest for each bill which should assist you in locating the desired bill.
If you are unable to locate the bill(s) you are seeking, contact the State Law Library at the Library of Michigan at (517) 335-1480, or email them using this COMMENT FORM.
The members of committees can be found on the House and Senate sites:
http://house.michigan.gov/committees.asp
http://senate.michigan.gov/committees/standing.htm
The links in my notification email appear broken. What can I do?
If clicking on links in your notification email always displays the Page Not Found on the Michigan Legislature website, there is probably a mismatch between the default email view in your email software and the format of the notification email. By default, the Michigan Legislature notification emails are sent in Html. If the default view in your email software (GroupWise, Outlook Express, Eudora, etc.) is set to Plain Text, then the links will sometimes be too long to fit on a single line; the remainder of the link ends up on the next line and will not be included as part of the link when you click on it, resulting in the error. There are two ways to correct this...
1) Change the view in your email software from Plain Text to Html. The steps to accomplish this vary depending on your email software, but usually this can be changed under a menu called View.
2) Change the format of the notification email being sent by the Michigan Legislature website. This is a registered user preference that can be set from the Notify page. The link to the Notify page can be found in the horizontal menu bar beneath the header on every page of this site, but only if you are logged in with your registered username and password.
NOTE: If you change your notification email preference to Plain Text, the URLs sent in the emails will not be active links. However, most email software will recognize the URLs and will automatically turn them into active links.
Public Acts exist in two different forms:
1) Bill Documents that have been approved by the Legislature and signed into law by the Governor, filed with the Secretary of State, and assigned a Public Act number. This version is as it was originally passed and is considered a legislative document. Use the Public Acts (Signed Bills) page to find legislative public act documents. Select the session you want from the "session" drop down box. If the session you seek is not listed, please contact the State Law Library at the Library of Michigan at (517) 335-1480, or email them using this COMMENT FORM. Document delivery fees may apply.
2) Public Acts also become part of the Michigan Compiled Laws. This version is as it exists today and contains the changes that have been made to it by way of legislation. This version is available if it was not an appropriations PA and as long as it has not been repealed by other legislation. Use the Public Act MCL Search page to find public acts within the Michigan Compiled Laws.
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Sean McFarland: The States Project: California by McNair EvansAugust 9, 2016
©Sean McFarland, 64 day moons
Sean McFarland is not a photographer’s photographer in pursuit of the ideal landscape or perfect portrait. His relationship with a particular subject in the traditional sense is tentative at best. But it is here, treading uncertain ground between perceived truths and formal semantics that Sean dissects the actual act of seeing, and photography’s role in that process, into separate physical, cultural, and psychological phenomenon. Sean crosses design barriers commonly associated with different mediums, to create images that acutely communicate these different sensory sensations. If the Bay Area’s photographic history can be divided into three distinct generations or schools thus far, he represents a fourth and rising generation of photographic artists. In his own words Sean is, “actively engaged with making and thinking about photography, history, and the idyllic landscape of pictures.”
Sean McFarland’s (B. 1976, California) work explores history and the representation of landscape. He earned his MFA from the California College of the Arts in 2004. He has exhibited at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Berkeley Art Museum, George Eastman Museum, White Columns, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and Aperture Foundation. He has received the 2005 Phelan Art Award in Photography, 2009 Baum Award for an Emerging American Photographer, 2009 John Guttmann Photography Fellowship, and a 2011 Eureka Fellowship. His work is the collections of SFMOMA, Milwaukee Art Museum, Oakland Museum, Berkeley Art Museum, and the Whitney Museum of American Art Library. He teaches art at San Francisco State University and is represented by Casemore Kirkeby Gallery, San Francisco.
Men come and go, cities rise and fall, whole civilizations appear and disappear—the earth remains, slightly modified. The earth remains, and the heartbreaking beauty where there are no hearts to break…I sometimes choose to think, no doubt perversely, that man is a dream, thought an illusion, and only rock is real. Rock and sun. – Edward Abbey
There are several modes of viewing the landscape -‐ in person directly, indirectly through books and magazines, maps and scientific documentation, and through the work of others; to me, no one form of sight is more pure than another. In my work I am less Interested in reproducing the pictures as seen by the early photographers of the American Landscape than in the landscapes created through their images. The subsequent alterations of photographic representation, cultural shifts, and environmental impacts that have resulted from their pictures have forever affected our relationship to the earth and our relationship to image. Like the early landscape photographers, 19th century image-makers produced documents to show us the moon, Saturn, bones inside of our skin, and the forces of nature imperceptible to the human eye. They employed telescopes, new photographic technologies, and often artifice itself to represent the unknown world through pictures. These images, along with early western landscape photographs were evidence of the once unknown, attempting to prove the existence of far off places and enigmatic phenomena.
My work is part theater, part documentary, examines photographic veracity, the materiality of photographs, and how our perception of the earth is ever changing. I am currently building upon a body of work that consists of collections of records: photographs, videos, books and drawings presenting nature as literal artifice. The distances between these records and seeing, hearing, and feeling the landscape are irreconcilable. The record is a go‐between for experience, a stand-in for a stand-in. Produced from the abstraction of man-made materials and elements from the natural world, my work consists of appropriated/mimicked natural forms, pre‐existing photographic images, as well as original photographs. These works continue to blur the lines between unbiased documentation, expectation, and sentimental mythology. Broken glass can become a mountain, a small circle becomes the moon, color pictures are made from black and white. They are representations of us, and the mythological construction of wilderness and the west.
©Sean McFarland, a mountain in the desert
Sean, you are a Californian for generations. How does being a native to this state and geography influence your creative and conceptual relationship with the landscape?
California has golf courses in the desert, Disneyland, the Pacific Ocean, the Eastern Sierra, suburbs, cities, farms… It’s complicated, diverse, and full of contradictions. The authentic and the artificial are always battling for attention, and more times than not are both beautiful and ugly and difficult to tell apart.
In 2014 I moved to upstate New York for a year – the opposite of coastal and high desert landscapes that are the usual subject of my work. I always make pictures of where I am, and when I can’t, I make pictures of where I want to be. Working in upstate New York consisted mostly of generating content from the photographs I brought with me instead of making new exposures. I wanted to go back to California every day, if I couldn’t go physically, I’d go (as best I could) through pictures.
It taught me a lot about how photographs work, at least for me – about place, time, and the irreconcilable distance between experience (being there and seeing), and a record of that experience (the photograph).
I moved back to California in August 2015.
©Sean McFarland, cave
Before we get too deep into why you do what you do, perhaps you could help us understand some of your very specific and sophisticated working methods. For example, what exactly is a dye diffusion print, a dye diffusion transfer print, and a cyanotype? What is your urge to print on newsprint in some cases, and how do you even make an 8×12 foot pigment print on a single sheet of paper?
Dye diffusion print/dye diffusion transfer is the technical name for an instant photograph, like a Polaroid. More than most pictures, they’re slippery; implying that what they show was witnessed by a camera, then held in the hand of the photographer afterward. They are assumed to be accurate and truthful because of their program and how they exist as documents. Their subjects are often vacation snaps, family or party pictures, the ordinary. We have become very good at decoding them, so much so that when sublime or spectacle becomes their subject, even if presented as artiface, they can be seen as authentic.
Cyanotypes are cyan-blue photographic prints that get their color from potassium ferricyanide and ammonium iron(III) citrate. They’re exposed with UV light and processed using water. They can be made almost anywhere. I like that they can be exposed by the sun and allude to the color of the sky without using a negative or a camera – just light.
Newsprint changes – photographs are supposed to stay the same, never change color or fade, showing us a frozen record. I started using newsprint in 2006 but it has only recently become a material I use often. I had been wanting to make photographs that work like clocks, reminding us of the passage of time. When you’re looking at a landscape in real life, most of the changes or passage of time (aside from the daily cycle of sunlight or clouds) are imperceptible. Mountains aren’t permanent but appear to be – it’s easy to forget that we are connected to them, and that they, like us, are vulnerable and cannot exist forever. A picture of a mountain on a piece of newsprint changes. The paper visibly fades at a rate we can perceive allowing us to see the mountains age much like we watch hands of a clock remind us of time relative to our own existence.
The 8×12 foot piece is made by printing on multiple 44” wide sheets of adhesive vinyl. The image is a scan of Polaroid of Yosemite Falls where it has been exposed three times on the same sheet – I wanted to turn up the falls, try and make them look as powerful as it feels to stand in front of them.
©Sean McFarland
You describe being less “interested in reproducing the pictures as seen by the early photographers of the American Landscape than in the landscapes created through their images. The subsequent alterations of photographic representation, cultural shifts, and environmental impacts that have resulted from their pictures have forever affected our relationship to the earth and our relationship to image.” What are some examples of the cultural shifts and alterations of photographic representation that you feel are a direct result of this early American Landscape imagery?
Early landscape photography shaped and forever changed the West and our relationship to it. It helped fuel manifest destiny, but also helped create the National Parks.
©Sean McFarland, glass mountain
Can you tell us a little bit about the Lightning Strike project you shared recently at the San Francisco Book Fair?
A few years ago I was working on a trail crew doing travel management work in the Eastern Sierra. We were looking for illegal off highway vehicle (ohv) roads called trespasses and closing them by camouflaging their existence as opposed to placing a barrier at their entrance.
Heading back to camp one day there were giant thunderheads gathering over the mountains so I started shooting video with my phone, hoping to capture a strike of lightning. I did. When I arrived back at our camp, I was looking at the news and saw that Walter de Maria, the artist who created the Lightning Field (Please link- http://diaart.org/visit/visit/walter-de-maria-the-lightning-field) died earlier that day, July 25, 2013. I had the video and made several failed attempts to make work about it for two years. It finally took the form of a book or as much a of poem as I could make it. It’s a small edition of 100 and shows the frames containing the lightning and a short afterward.
I’m working on a new book project now about a ranger named Rockwell, Ralph Eugene Meatyard, and some of my pictures. It also deals with a coincidence or echo (which is probably a better way to think about it).
Finally, to celebrate the National Park’s 100th anniversary the George Eastman Museum mounted an exhibit titled Photography and America’s National Parks. Can you tell us a little bit about your participation in this show and what voice you feel that your work added?
The exhibition is curated by Jamie Allen from the George Eastman Museum who also wrote a wonderful book for the show, published by Aperture.
Photographs in the show range from the 19th century to the present. It’s probably best to read more about it here!
I’m incredibly honored to be in the exhibition as much of my work is a direct response to and heavily inspired by the other artists in the show. I’m not exactly sure what voice I’m adding other than being a contemporary artist, making and thinking about photography, history and the idyllic landscape of pictures. If you’re in Rochester, go check it out!
©Sean McFarland, horizon test
©Sean McFarland, Lightning Strike
©Sean McFarland, text from Lightning Strike
©Sean McFarland, moon on sky
©Sean McFarland, nine horizons
©Sean McFarland, three falls installation
©Sean McFarland, tresspass
©Sean McFarland, untitled
Tags: Sean McFarland
NEXT | Carlos Chavarria: The States Project: California >
< McNair Evans: The States Project: California | PREV
Meghann Riepenhoff: The States Project: CaliforniaAugust 14th, 2016
Kevin Kunishi: The States Project: CaliforniaAugust 13th, 2016
Adam Katseff: The States Project: CaliforniaAugust 12th, 2016
Nigel Poor: The States Project: CaliforniaAugust 11th, 2016
Carlos Chavarria: The States Project: CaliforniaAugust 10th, 2016
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World champions include , , , , , , , , , , , and. Some of the most successful clubs include , , and ; the former three have all won the previously. Archived from on 1 July 2007. In women's boxing, became the world's first woman to win an Olympic boxing Gold medal at the. A constitutional and legal history of medieval England.
Roman-dominated Christianity had, in general, disappeared from the conquered territories, but was reintroduced by missionaries from Rome led by from 597 onwards. Archived from on 6 May 2014. Many are of English origin such as , , , , , and. Library of the world's best literature, ancient and modern. It gained popularity in the of and , and amongst tin miners in.
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Bombing suspect disappears down memory hole...
Ministry of Truth makes Boston bombing suspect disappear
The boy. Abdul Rahman Alharbi. He was here, then he wasn’t.
He was featured in major stories, then he wasn’t.
The Ministry of Truth (controlled media) has no further concerns.
For a few hours, Alharbi was the prime suspect in the Boston bombing. Then he was a person of interest.
Then he was no longer a person of interest, he was severely burned and in the hospital.
Then Secretary of State John Kerry met with Saudi Foreign Minister Saud. Obama met with Saud, too, and with the Saudi ambassador.
Then Alharbi became a witness who wasn’t severely burned. He’d received minor injuries.
Then DHS took away his travel visa and prepared to deport him.
Then, poof.
Where is he? Was he deported?
No one seems to know.
Since 2009, though, and long before Michelle Obama visited him in a Boston hospital a few days ago, Alharbi had been to the White House seven times. On several occasions, those visits lasted several hours.
Ten members of the boy’s extended family are named on a Saudi terror list.
According to Glenn Beck, who produced a copy of a form from the US Customs and Border Protection National Targeting Center, Alharbi is designated a 212-3B. This classification translates to: “terrorist connections.” At the least.
The Ministry of Truth doesn’t seem to care what he was doing at the White House.
George Orwell, 1984: “…to forget whatever it was necessary to forget, then to draw it back into memory again at the moment when it was needed, and then promptly to forget it again…consciously to induce unconsciousness, and then, once again, to become unconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just performed.”
Janet Napolitano now says the boy was never really on a terrorist list, he was just on a no-fly list for a few hours, when the FBI thought he might be a person of interest in the Boston bombing.
Then when the FBI realized he was entirely innocent, they took him off the no-fly list.
But changing that 212-3B status of someone has nothing to do with no-fly. It’s more complicated and serious. A panel has to convene, and evidence has to be presented. Worse yet, it appears Alharbi was tagged with 212-3B because of a prior (unnamed) act that had nothing to do with the bombing in Boston.
But, you see, he’s old news, because the Ministry of Truth concurs that the Boston bombing case has been solved.
The following questions, therefore, don’t need to be asked by incurious reporters:
What was Alharbi doing at the White House? Who was he seeing? What did they talk about?
How and why does DHS allow a person with a 212-3B tag to enter the White House seven times?
How and why does DHS allow the president’s wife to meet with a 212-3B?
If DHS is making these designations and categories of threat re Alharbi, why are they reversing their own assessments?
Why did government officials decide to let Alharbi drop from the suspect list in the Boston bombings, only to say he needed to be deported on April 23rd?
Was he deported?
Is he still in the US?
The Glenn Beck aspect of this story is interesting. Major media can simply reject everything he says because he’s Glenn Beck. However, Beck was presenting a document on The Blaze. The cover page is posted there, and other reporters could, if they wanted to, substantiate it as genuine or fake, independent of Beck or anything he asserts.
They could find out if it lists Alharbi as a 212-3B, and if it describes him as “armed and dangerous.”
But they don’t. They stay away. They know better than to venture into deep waters without a green light from their editors and producers. Obviously, that green light is red.
“The relationship between America and Saudi Arabia is complex.”
Yes, yes, of course, so let’s forget the whole thing. Let’s drop it down the memory hole and go elsewhere:
The Red Sox are off to a good start.
Former Congressman Anthony Weiner says there may be more penis pictures out there.
CNN is reviving its old show, Crossfire, and Newt Gingrich may be one of the stars.
The polar icecaps are receding, or possibly expanding.
So in bars tonight, and for the next few days, reporters will chew the fat about the Saudi kid, about the interesting story that might have been. But they know they can’t go there.
It doesn’t bother them. They’ve been through this kind of thing many times. They cover what they can cover, and they talk about the rest. “One, two, three, oil…Saudi oil. It’s gotta be about oil, right? Everything is. We’re in the wrong business, boys. We should have gone into shoes or women’s wear.”
At the top of the broadcast ladder, where Brian Williams and Scott Pelley and Diane Sawyer live, the story is dead. Unless someone from upstairs comes down and tells them it’s alive again.
“I was just talking to John Kerry and he says the way DHS handled this kid was strange. He wants to know if we know anything.”
Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go!
“I just talked to the White House. They say it’s a non-starter. The kid was never a suspect. It was some kind of mix up.”
Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop!
And the White House, in turn, was just talking to three defense contractors who own half the Senate, and there was a discussion of new Saudi weapons orders:
“Unfortunate confusion with this Alharbi kid. Are the diplomatic channels all clear now?”
“Yes, we’ve ironed out the blip. It’s gone.”
Somewhere in America, there’s a reporter for a big paper who’s sitting at his desk in the middle of the night thinking about Alharbi. He knows there’s something there.
He’s wondering how he can cajole his editor into letting him off the leash. Trade one story for another? Promise to train the moron who covers film and can’t string two coherent sentences together.
No, it won’t work. There are red lights and Red Lights and this one burns bright.
Still, it would have been fun. Who knows what foul creatures would have emerged from the swamp?
The lone reporter also knows that all stories are interchangeable; they only last for a little while. A thing is hot, then it’s cold. It’s the way the business works.
Orwell/1984: “…it was not even forgery. It was merely the substitution of one piece of nonsense for another.”
So even if he could dig down past the Saudi kid and find the masses of rotting truth, there would be no traction. It would all slip and slide into the next big thing. And Glenn Beck? Even a blind hog finds an acorn once in a while, but that form he was waving around? Could it really be important? A few of Hillary’s people at the State Department might know something. See what they have to say. All that Saudi money invested in FOX. Maybe Beck’s just trying to get a little revenge on his former employer.
The reporter leans back in his chair. What’s the use? He’ll never make it past the gatekeepers.
Orwell: “Orthodoxy is unconsciousness…Everything faded into mist. The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth.”
There is another watch list few people talk about. It’s the list of reporters and commentators the elite media refuse to recognize as legitimate, under any circumstances. Glenn Beck is certainly on that list. You can fill in other names yourself.
It works this way. If X, who is on the list, comes up with a true blockbuster of a story, he is ignored, because were he believed and acknowledged, he would move up in official status…and then, other stories he breaks would have to be recognized as well.
And who knows what other stories he would come up with? Surely, some of them would challenge firm boundaries the elite media place on what they will cover and what they won’t cover.
Orwell: “We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end.”
John King, one of CNN’s stars, may have inadvertently gotten himself mixed up in the Alharbi story. Prior to the FBI naming the Tsarnaev brothers as the Boston bombers, King announced the FBI had a suspect in custody and were ready to announce who it was.
Was that Alharbi?
For five minutes, before the FBI realized they were bumping into protected connections that flowed on a much higher level, had they decided the boy was the bomber?
King had two sources, people he trusted, who told him the FBI had an unnamed suspect in tow. So King went with the story on air.
Then, the FBI said there was no suspect. There never had been a suspect.
King bit the bullet and issued a public apology. He said he would be more careful in the future.
Of course, he was fuming. He could have struck out on his own, determined to prove he’d been jacked around. He could have tried to prove the FBI was lying—they really did have a suspect in custody but then somebody far higher on the food chain issued an order to release…Alharbi?
King knows how the game is played. You take your medicine and shut up. You don’t wander off the reservation. You pretend to believe the FBI. You have to. Otherwise, you’ll wind up looking like the Mad Hatter and your own network will dump you out on the street.
“Remember John King? He was a star. But then he tried to prove the FBI was lying. He lost it. He went nuts going after the Bureau, and it turned out he was wrong. There never was a suspect in custody. It was just bad information. CNN had to let him go. It’s a shame…”
King immediately becomes an object lesson for other reporters. You want to stay in the game? Stick your tail between your legs and waddle back to your job. Say you’re sorry, and then on top of that, say that apologizing is your duty to your audience, because the truth is at the heart of the news, blah-blah.
Orwell: “How easy it all was! Only surrender, and everything else followed.”
The elite media have discovered a marvelous thing. The human mind works just like television news. The mind can decide something is important, then decide it isn’t, forget it, and move on.
Unless the owner of that mind is awake.
Television cop shows mirror this situation. Inevitably, after the first suspect is arrested for the crime (at the 20-minute mark, too early for a wrap-up resolution), one detective points out there are still unanswered questions.
The missing gun, the witness who saw another man fleeing from the crime scene, the stained glove on the fire escape.
His partner, a goofball, says, “Hey, there are always unanswered questions in a case. Who cares? We have a confession (obtained under pressure). Call the DA.”
Then, later in the show, the smart cop proves he’s right. The witness and the stained glove are crucial. A different person committed the crime.
The lesson? Keep asking all the questions. Keeping digging.
But that’s only true on television.
To be more precise, what’s overtly labeled fiction on TV gives the viewer hope. Television news takes hope away.
You know, the old whipsaw effect.
There’s an app for anything you want. On TV. Inside the bubble.
http://www.activistpost.com/2013/04/ministry-of-truth-makes-boston-bombing.html
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Mission to Care - Vision to Lead
HPU Hospital
Achievement Team
Alhwash University
Welcome to the Faculty of Medicine at HPU
On Sunday, August 7th 2016, the Council of Higher Education passed a resolution establishing the Faculty of Medicine at Al-Hawash Private University.
Visiting the Location of the HPU's Hospital under Constraction Hospital
Mr. Kamel Ayoub Chairman of AL Mashreq Company for Educational Instilaions,visited the location of the HPU's university hospital on Feb. 5th, 2017 . Mr. Ayoub was accompanied by Dr.Mohammed Al Nukkari, dean of the Faculty of Medicine. Mr. Ayoub stressed the importance of finishing up the building of the hospital as soon as possible.
The HPU's Council Discusses the Work Plan of the University's Hospital
On Feb. 7th, 2017, the HPU's Council, headed by Dr.Hiam Al Bshara, discussed the university's work plan concering the construction of the hospital. The council stressed the importance of finishing the constuctional works within the work plan.
Dr. Amjad Ayoub Represents Al-Hawash Private University at the Third Arab-Euro Conference on Higher Education
Dr. Amjad Ayoub, a member of the Board of Trustees at HPU and Quality Accreditation Manager, participated in the third Arab-Euro Conference on Higher Education (AECHE) which took place in Barcelona University - Spain on May 25 – 27, 2016.
HPU sends a medical team to prevent the outbreak of Hepatitis (A) in Ein Halakeem
After the outbreak of Hepatitis (A) in the town of Ein Halakeem, HPU contacted the Governor of Hama and the concerned authorities. Wishing to support the local community, HPU sent a team of the university experts to the infected area. In fact, the team was warmly received by the local authorities and residents.
Al-Hawash Private University is one of the leading private institutions of higher education in Syria. It was founded in 2007 as Al-Hawash Private University for Pharmacy and Cosmetology by the Presidential Decree No 258. Five years later, in 2012, the University was renamed as Al-Hawash Private University. HPU is a non-profit university accredited by the Ministry of Higher Education of Syria.
Why you should support with us?
The hospital is located in the heart of Syria - the country that has been suffering from the protracted social unrest and financial crisis since 2011. Such an extremely hard situation has led to the destruction of many hospitals and forced many physicians and health professionals to leave the country. Moreover, it has caused the outbreak of illnesses and resulted in thousands of injured people who need health care. Since its inception, HPU has been contributing to the development of the local community and the Syrian society as a whole. Therefore, the implementation of this medical project, especially during the crisis that hit Syria in the recent years, is HPU’s aspiration. The project's main goal is to establish a modern non-profit medical institution that answers all the increasing medical needs in the area.
HPU WebSite
Address: Alhwash,
Homs, Syria
© 2017 HPU Hospital
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Beethoven in Santa Fe
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 22nd August 2014
On Thursday evening August 21 the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival presented and all Beethoven program at the Lensic Performing Arts Center. The evening began with the last of Beethoven’s sonatas for cello and piano – the 5th in D Op 102, #2. Written in 1815 along with the 4th sonata, it was dedicated to Countess Marie Erdody. The work is especially noted for its beautiful slow movement and the fugal final movement which presages the master’s late period.
Unfortunately the sonata received a rather listless reading by cellist Ronald Thomas. Veteran pianist Joseph Kalichstein could do little to liven the performance. The tepid applause the audience offered at the work’s conclusion reflected the lack of depth of the performance. One could not grasp from this rendition that this was one of Beethoven’s most interesting and intricate chamber works.
Benjamin Beilman
The performance temperature went off the scale with the appearance of 23 year old violinist Benjamin Beilman. This artist, who looks even younger than he is, possess’s a technique and sound that place him in the front rank of contemporary violinists. His playing of Beethoven’s last violin sonata (#10, Op 96) reinvigorated the audience made lethargic by the first piece. This piece is Beethoven at his best, but it is its last movement that is extraordinary even for Beethoven. It’s slow, it’s fast. It’s soft, it’s loud. Just when you think it’s going one way it goes another. Beilman was up to all its twists and turns. He has a flawless command of his instrument. He also has a dynamic range unique in my experience. He can get so much sound out of the violin that you almost think it’s amplified. If this young man comes your way be sure and go and hear him. He’s a great talent. Mr Kalichstein was again the pianist.
The second half of the program was Beethoven’s Archduke Piano Trio, Op 97. The performers were Martin Beaver, violin; Eric Kim, cello; and Yefim Bronfman, piano. This work was by far the most familiar to audience and they reacted to a splendid performance of it with great enthusiasm. Mr Bronfman is an outstanding pianist well known for his solo work. A missed note at the start aside, he was easily up to the work’s challenge as were his colleagues.
This trio is longer than many of Beethoven’s symphonies. It is both lyrical and muscular. Its final presto brought the evening to a rousing finish. The chamber music festival is about to end. It’s 2015 season will soon be announced. The level of performance by this organization is so high that it’s worth a special trip to Santa Fe just to hear the great musicians that it brings each year to New Mexico. And of course, Santa Fe has many other charms.
Opening Night at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival
Santa Fe Chamber Music Season Opens
Why is Beethoven Greater Than Reicha?
San Francisco Symphony Plays Haydn, Sibelius, and Beethoven
Stravinsky, Dohnány, and Schubert in the Afternoon
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Bodybuilding became more popular in the 1950s and 1960s with the emergence of strength and gymnastics champions, and the simultaneous popularization of bodybuilding magazines, training principles, nutrition for bulking up and cutting down, the use of protein and other food supplements, and the opportunity to enter physique contests. The number of bodybuilding organizations grew, and most notably the International Federation of Bodybuilders (IFBB) was founded in 1946 by Canadian brothers Joe and Ben Weider. Other bodybuilding organizations included the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), National Amateur Bodybuilding Association (NABBA), and the World Bodybuilding Guild (WBBG). Consequently, the male-dominated contests grew both in number and in size. Besides the many "Mr. XXX" (insert town, city, state, or region) championships, the most prestigious titles[according to whom?] were Mr. America, Mr. World, Mr. Universe, Mr. Galaxy, and ultimately Mr. Olympia, which was started in 1965 by the IFBB and is now considered the most important bodybuilding competition in the world.
Weight loss, in the context of medicine, health, or physical fitness, refers to a reduction of the total body mass, due to a mean loss of fluid, body fat or adipose tissue or lean mass, namely bone mineral deposits, muscle, tendon, and other connective tissue. Weight loss can either occur unintentionally due to malnourishment or an underlying disease or arise from a conscious effort to improve an actual or perceived overweight or obese state. "Unexplained" weight loss that is not caused by reduction in calorific intake or exercise is called cachexia and may be a symptom of a serious medical condition. Intentional weight loss is commonly referred to as slimming.
The motor proteins actin and myosin generate the forces exerted by contracting muscles. Current recommendations suggest that bodybuilders should consume 25–30% of protein per total calorie intake to further their goal of maintaining and improving their body composition.[30] This is a widely debated topic, with many arguing that 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day is ideal, some suggesting that less is sufficient, while others recommending 1.5, 2, or more.[31] It is believed that protein needs to be consumed frequently throughout the day, especially during/after a workout, and before sleep.[32] There is also some debate concerning the best type of protein to take. Chicken, turkey, beef, pork, fish, eggs and dairy foods are high in protein, as are some nuts, seeds, beans, and lentils. Casein or whey are often used to supplement the diet with additional protein. Whey protein is the type of protein contained in many popular brands of protein supplements and is preferred by many bodybuilders because of its high Biological Value (BV) and quick absorption rates. Whey protein also has a bigger effect than casein on insulin levels, triggering about double the amount of insulin release.[33] That effect is somewhat overcome by combining casein and whey. Bodybuilders are usually thought to require protein with a higher BV than that of soy, which is additionally avoided due to its claimed estrogenic properties. Still, some nutrition experts believe that soy, flax seeds and many other plants that contain the weak estrogen-like compounds or phytoestrogens, can be used beneficially, as phytoestrogens compete with estrogens for receptor sites in the male body and can block its actions. This can also include some inhibition of pituitary functions while stimulating the P450 system (the system that eliminates hormones, drugs and metabolic waste product from the body) in the liver to more actively process and excrete excess estrogen.[34][35] Cortisol decreases amino acid uptake by muscle, and inhibits protein synthesis.[36]
Organized interventions to improve health based on the principles and procedures developed through the health sciences are provided by practitioners trained in medicine, nursing, nutrition, pharmacy, social work, psychology, occupational therapy, physical therapy and other health care professions. Clinical practitioners focus mainly on the health of individuals, while public health practitioners consider the overall health of communities and populations. Workplace wellness programs are increasingly adopted by companies for their value in improving the health and well-being of their employees, as are school health services in order to improve the health and well-being of children.
Many trainees like to cycle between the two methods in order to prevent the body from adapting (maintaining a progressive overload), possibly emphasizing whichever method more suits their goals; typically, a bodybuilder will aim at sarcoplasmic hypertrophy most of the time but may change to a myofibrillar hypertrophy kind of training temporarily in order to move past a plateau. However, no real evidence has been provided to show that trainees ever reach this plateau, and rather was more of a hype created from "muscular confusion".[clarification needed][citation needed]
Site enhancement oil, often called "santol" or "synthol" (no relation to the Synthol mouthwash brand), refers to oils injected into muscles to increase the size or change the shape. Some bodybuilders, particularly at the professional level, inject their muscles with such mixtures to mimic the appearance of developed muscle where it may otherwise be disproportionate or lacking.[55] This is known as "fluffing".[56][57] Synthol is 85% oil, 7.5% lidocaine, and 7.5% alcohol.[56] It is not restricted, and many brands are available on the Internet.[58] The use of injected oil to enhance muscle appearance is common among bodybuilders,[59][60] despite the fact that synthol can cause pulmonary embolisms, nerve damage, infections, sclerosing lipogranuloma,[61] stroke,[56] and the formation of oil-filled granulomas, cysts or ulcers in the muscle.[60][62][63] Rare cases might require surgical intervention to avoid further damage to the muscle and/or to prevent loss of life.[64]
An article by Muscle & Fitness magazine, "Overtrain for Big Gains", claimed that overtraining for a brief period can be beneficial. Overtraining can be used advantageously, as when a bodybuilder is purposely overtrained for a brief period of time to super compensate during a regeneration phase. These are known as "shock micro-cycles" and were a key training technique used by Soviet athletes.[54]
Just as there was a shift from viewing disease as a state to thinking of it as a process, the same shift happened in definitions of health. Again, the WHO played a leading role when it fostered the development of the health promotion movement in the 1980s. This brought in a new conception of health, not as a state, but in dynamic terms of resiliency, in other words, as "a resource for living". 1984 WHO revised the definition of health defined it as "the extent to which an individual or group is able to realize aspirations and satisfy needs and to change or cope with the environment. Health is a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living; it is a positive concept, emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities".[10] Thus, health referred to the ability to maintain homeostasis and recover from insults. Mental, intellectual, emotional and social health referred to a person's ability to handle stress, to acquire skills, to maintain relationships, all of which form resources for resiliency and independent living.[9] This opens up many possibilities for health to be taught, strengthened and learned.
About Blog Since 1998 Elitefts.com Inc has published over 350,000 Q&As, 4,000 articles, 14,000 videos, 800 exercises, 35 pro training logs, the Iron Subculture Podcast and an unparallelled shopping cart geared for those serious about training. Elitefts's main purpose is to inform, educate and outfit powerlifters, athletes, strength coaches, personal trainers, gyms and training facilities around world.
Some Bodybuilders often split their food intake into 5 to 7 meals of equal nutritional content and eat at regular intervals (e.g. every 2 to 3 hours). This approach serves two purposes: to limit overindulging in the cutting phase, and to allow for the consumption of large volumes of food during the bulking phase. Eating more frequently does not increase basal metabolic rate when compared to 3 meals a day.[38] While food does have a metabolic cost to digest, absorb, and store, called the thermic effect of food, it depends on the quantity and type of food, not how the food is spread across the meals of the day. Well-controlled studies using whole-body calorimetry and doubly labeled water have demonstrated that there is no metabolic advantage to eating more frequently.[39][40][41]
In the trailer, Lisa is looking for someone to back her health start-up, and that's when Anne pops the question. — Chloe Foussianes, Town & Country, "Renée Zellweger's Netflix Series What / If Is Out Now on Netflix," 24 May 2019 The 53- year-old choreographer and reality star has been open about her painful health journey, sharing raw photos of her post-surgery and updating fans every step of the way. — Mackenzie Dunn, Woman's Day, "Abby Lee Miller Is Officially Cancer Free," 23 May 2019 As for the holistic approach, Pollak points out that the skin, being our largest organ, is inextricably tied to whole-body health. — Prue Lewington, Harper's BAZAAR, "Women Are Giving Up Botox for Facial Massage," 23 May 2019 Best of all, the Flatform will help raise money for the Tegan and Sara Foundation, the sisters' initiative that fights for health, political, and economic equality for young, LGBTQ+ girls and women. — Leah Prinzivalli, Allure, "Tegan and Sara Collaborated on Rainbow Teva Sandals for Pride Month, and Fans Are Losing It," 22 May 2019 The furry favorite has offered grooming services, training workshops, and plenty of toys for good boys for more than 50 years, and now, the brand's doubling down on its commitment to pet health with a new artificial-free policy. — Sara Rodrigues, House Beautiful, "How To Get Free Pet Food At Petco This Weekend," 17 May 2019 Those include Labor Department powers under the law that sets minimum standards for private-industry health plans and current hospital-payment rules under Medicare. ... — Stephanie Armour, WSJ, "White House Wants Patients to Know Health-Care Prices Up Front," 15 May 2019 Under the Affordable Care Act, most private health plans must cover all birth control, including EC, as prescribed. — Glamour, "All of Your Emergency-Contraception Q’s, Answered," 22 Apr. 2019 In already fragile health ecosystems, these efforts to ban abortions could cost women their lives. — Lauren Rankin, Teen Vogue, "Alabama's Abortion Ban Is Dangerous, and it May Even Be Deadly," 16 May 2019
Serious eye problems, which include any sudden decrease in vision, with or without eye pain and redness or a blockage of fluid in the eye causing increased pressure in the eye (secondary angle closure glaucoma). These problems can lead to permanent vision loss if not treated. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any new eye symptoms.
Many non-competitive bodybuilders choose not to adopt this conventional strategy, as it often results in significant unwanted fat gain during the "bulking" phase. The attempt to increase muscle mass in one's body without any gain in fat is called clean bulking. Competitive bodybuilders focus their efforts to achieve a peak appearance during a brief "competition season".[citation needed] Clean bulking takes longer and is a more refined approach to achieving the body fat and muscle mass percentage a person is looking for. A common tactic for keeping fat low and muscle mass high would be to have higher calorie and lower calorie days to maintain a balance between gain and loss. Many clean bulk diets start off with a moderate amount of carbs, moderate amount of protein, and a decently low amount of fats. "Gaining lean muscle means going for leaner cuts of meat, like flank steaks and fillets, chicken, and, of course, fish," says White[who?]. "Enjoy your meat with some starch: rice, beans, quinoa, whole-grain couscous, or sweet potato, for example".[20] To maintain a clean bulk it is important to reach calorie goals every day. Macronutrient goals will be different for each person, but, it is ideal to get as close as possible.
Many governments view occupational health as a social challenge and have formed public organizations to ensure the health and safety of workers. Examples of these include the British Health and Safety Executive and in the United States, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which conducts research on occupational health and safety, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which handles regulation and policy relating to worker safety and health.[63][64][65]
Bodybuilding developed in the late 19th century, promoted in England by German Eugen Sandow, now considered as the "Father of Bodybuilding". He allowed audiences to enjoy viewing his physique in "muscle display performances". Although audiences were thrilled to see a well-developed physique, the men simply displayed their bodies as part of strength demonstrations or wrestling matches. Sandow had a stage show built around these displays through his manager, Florenz Ziegfeld. The Oscar-winning 1936 musical film The Great Ziegfeld depicts the beginning of modern bodybuilding, when Sandow began to display his body for carnivals.
In addition to improving your health, maintaining a weight loss is likely to improve your life in other ways. For example, a study of participants in the National Weight Control RegistryExternal* found that those who had maintained a significant weight loss reported improvements in not only their physical health, but also their energy levels, physical mobility, general mood, and self-confidence.
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Your search for Genre: "Prose" AND Metaphor Category: "Architecture" AND Nationality of Author: "American" returned 46 results(s) in 0.010 seconds
"This is, I think, perfectly correct. The little man [in one's head], as we might say, has in his library pamphlets entitled 'Tying One's Shoes', 'Speaking Latin', and 'Typing 'Afghanistan"', but no pamphlet entitled 'Being Intelligent' or 'Speaking Latin Fluently' or 'Typing "Afghanistan" with P...
— Fodor, Jerry (b. 1935)
"I sometimes fancy that various archetypal situations circled tirelessly in Hitchcock's mind, like whales in a tank at the zoo."
— Ebert, Roger (1942-2013)
"But loss is a current: the coolness of one side of a wet finger held up, the faint hiss in your ears at midnight, water sliding over the dam at the back of your mind, memory unremembering itself."
— Richardson, James (b. 1950)
"The mind is like a well-endowed museum, only a small fraction of its holdings on view at any one time, and this is true from hour to hour as well as from era to era."
Date: Summer, 2004
"Because of the way we live, the basement of the American mind fills up with the sexual use of other people."
— Greif, Mark (b. 1975)
"Rather than storehouses of in-depth information, the web is turning our brains into indexes."
— Suderman, Peter
"But they [lies] do not prevent us from seeking the truth, from looking outside our mental prisons and trying to uncover the true nature of the world that surrounds us."
— Morris, Errol (b. 1948)
"As far as I can tell, Quine’s philosophical and political thinking were conducted in two different and hermetically sealed off compartments of his mind."
— Feser, Edward (b. 1968)
"A portion of the brain acts as a control tower, helping a person focus and set priorities."
— Richtel, Matt
"The Professor was my very own bespoke monstre sacrée for so long--so long the resident she-Minotaur in my private psychic labyrinth--that I developed, fairly early in the game, what might be called a Professorial shtick: a narrative, often comic, in which the more Grand Guignol asp...
— Castle, Terry (b. 1953)
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Thoughts Toward a Developmental Model of Masculine Identity, Part Five - Environment and Nature in Development
[Part one looked at some racial identity models as a foundation for how to construct a gender identity model, part two looked at the existing literature of male development (and the lack of anything comprehensive), and part three looked at how attachment styles might impact masculine identity. Most recently, part four looked at horizontal and vertical dimensions of individualism and collectivism.]
I've recently been watching and listening to Richard Louv (founder of the Children and Nature Network), whose book Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder has been getting renewed attention. His basic premise is that children need to be in nature, especially as an element of unstructured play, to be happy and develop properly.
It's important to understand that our history has been spent out of doors - it's only in the last 20-40 years (television, computers, video games) that children spend more time indoors than out of doors (and doctors will tell you they see fewer broken bones and more repetitive use injuries). Our evolutionary history was spend out of doors, in nature:
I'll plead guilty to romanticising certain parts of my childhood, that tree house was pretty neat. But, when you think about it, for all of human history and prehistory, children went outside and either played or worked in nature for all of their developing years. That has been changing radically just within the last three decades. You can make the case that industrial revolutions certainly had an effect and the invention of agriculture certainly had an effect and this began a long time ago, but for the last three decades that pace of change has been much faster. So I don't think it's an exercise in nostalgia when you think that 99% or more of our history and prehistory as a species has been spent outside, particularly children, and that's how they learn. (Richard Louv, All in the Mind interview)
That sums up the crux of the issue. So let's expand on these ideas.
The following is a quote Natasha Mitchell used to open her recent All in the Mind show featuring Louv (as well as former preschool teacher Deb Moore, who recently completed a Masters in Education focusing on "the secret business of children's secret places"):
If when we were young we tramped through forests of Nebraska cottonwoods or raised pigeons on a rooftop in Queens or fished for Ozark bluegills or felt the swell of a wave that travelled a thousand miles before lifting our boat, then we were bound to the natural world and remain so today. Nature still informs our years, lifts us, carries us.
For children, nature comes in many forms. A newborn calf; a pet that lives and dies; a worn path through the woods; a fort nested in stinging nettles; a damp, mysterious edge of a vacant lot. Whatever shape nature takes, it offers each child an older, larger world separate from parents. Unlike television, nature does not steal time, it amplifies it. Nature offers healing for a child living in a destructive family or neighbourhood. It serves as a blank slate upon which a child draws and reinterprets the culture's fantasies.
Nature inspires creativity in a child by demanding visualization and the full use of the senses. Given a chance, a child will bring the confusion of the world to the woods, wash it in the creek, turn it over to see what lives on the unseen side of that confusion. Nature can frighten a child, too, and this fright serves a purpose. In nature, a child finds freedom, fantasy, and privacy: a place distant from the adult world, a separate peace.
These are some of the utilitarian values of nature, but at a deeper level nature gives itself to children for its own sake, not as a reflection of a culture. At this level, inexplicable nature provokes humility.
I agree that this is an issue, and I think it is an issue for boys even more than it is for girls. So let's define what exactly Louv means by Nature Deficit Disorder (via Wikipedia):
Nature Deficit Disorder, a term coined by Richard Louv in his 2005 book Last Child in the Woods, refers to the alleged trend[1] that children are spending less time outdoors,[2] resulting in a wide range of behavioral problems.[3] Louv claims that causes for the phenomenon include parental fears, restricted access to natural areas, and the lure of the screen.[4] Recent research has drawn a further contrast between the declining number of National Park visits in the United States and increasing consumption of electronic media by children.[5]
Richard Louv spent 10 years traveling around the USA reporting and speaking to parents and children, in both rural and urban areas, about their experiences in nature. He argues that sensationalist media coverage and paranoid parents have literally "scared children straight out of the woods and fields," while promoting a litigious culture of fear that favors "safe" regimented sports over imaginative play.
In recognizing these trends, some people[6] argue that humans have an instinctive liking for nature; the biophilia hypothesis, and take steps to spend more time outdoors, for example in outdoor education, or by sending young children to forest kindergartens or Forest schools. It is perhaps a coincidence that Slow parenting advocates sending children into natural environments rather than keeping them indoors, as part of a hands-off style of parenting.[7] [Citations at the bottom]
Louv suggests that this void in nature-time for children leads to a variety of problems, not least of which is ADHD. But even the slighted exposure to nature can effect change in symptoms.
Richard Louv: Frances Kuo and others at the University of Illinois have done work on attention deficit disorder and found that just a little bit of time in nature, a walk through trees, a view from their room of nature rather than a man-made environment will reduce the symptoms of attention deficit disorder. And there's much more going on in terms of the research, finally.
Natasha Mitchell: I guess to push the point home, at one point you said that the woods of your childhood were the Ritalin of your childhood.
Richard Louv: Yes, the woods were my Ritalin. And that's true. I'm sure that I would have been placed on some kind of stimulants like Ritalin or something else as a child. I was the kid that sat in the back of the room and daydreamed watching the trees move, and I was the one that was too active in class and had to move around a lot, and I was also the kid that went down and found snakes underneath the hedge at the school and really came alive when I was outdoors in nature.
I can tell you that over the last few years, moving now internationally, I cannot tell you how many parents and teachers have come up to me and said that Johnny and Judy are different kids when you get them into nature. And oftentimes the teachers will say the troublemakers in class become the leaders in a natural setting, and I've heard that over and over. That's anecdotal, but the research would certainly indicate that that's based on a reality that's out there.
I'm not against pharmaceuticals, I'm not a radical on Ritalin, some kids need medication. But in the US, in some schools 40% of the boys are on Ritalin. What are we thinking? What are we doing? Surely that may have something...at least some of those instances may have something to do with the fact that we took nature away from them in the first place. (All in the Mind)
Considering that we see four times as many diagnoses of boys vs. girls for ADHD (although, in fairness, some suggest that as many as 75% of cases in girls go undiagnosed), Louv's perspective adds a crucial element to our understanding of what can result from an isolation from nature.
However, even if the numbers are skewed, boys are more likely to stand out in class than girls because of differences in how the "hyperactivity" manifests. Even when comparing equal numbers of boys and girls, boys are more likely to have the hyperactivity variation of ADHD, with more disruptive behaviors, greater inattention, more externalizing problems, and higher impulsivity. Girls are generally more inattentive and suffer lower cognitive function in their expression of ADHD (Gershon, 2002).
Again, supporting what Louv says, Psychology Today (March/April 2004) reported that children with ADHD who spend regular time engaged in outdoor activities such as walking in the park, hiking, or in other ways being outside, display fewer symptoms generally associated with ADHD - the article cites the same author Louv mentions above.
Andrea Faber Taylor and Frances Kuo, researchers at the Human Environment Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, have found that spending time in ordinary "green" settings—such as parks, farms or grassy backyards—reduces symptoms of ADHD when compared to time spent at indoor playgrounds and man-made recreation areas of concrete and asphalt. The findings were consistent regardless of the child's age, gender, family income, geographic region or severity of diagnosis. (Lawson, para. 2)
The link to improved attention is seen with simple physical activity, as well:
Attention, an aspect of cognitive functioning that involves inhibition and impulse control, is highly valued by parents because of its ability to enhance learning. The emergence of this aspect of cognition in young children, for example, permits group learning—listening quietly with others to the reading of a story or taking turns with others in a shared activity. In a recent national survey of 500 public school teachers and 800 parents, 90% of teachers and 86% of parents believed that physically active children are better able to learn and are better behaved in the classroom.18 While there has been research linking physical activity in children with the development of sensory-motor integration,19 there has been little research in children examining the relationship between physical activity and attention or other aspects of cognition. (Burdette & Whitaker, 2005)
These authors cite similar benefit in affect for children through unstructured play: "free play has the potential to improve many aspects of emotional well-being such as minimizing anxiety, depression, aggression, and sleep problems."
Who we are: Biophilia
I think what I have presented so far is only one possible manifestation of the absence of nature in our children's lives. There is some who believe we are hard-wired to need and appreciate nature.
The eminent entomologist/biologist E.O. Wilson proposed an idea a few years back called Biophilia (see his book for more: Biophilia) which suggests that human beings have an innate "tendency to focus on life and lifelike process" (Prologue, 1).
He explains this point a little more:
From infancy we concentrate happily on ourselves and other organisms. We learn to distinguish life from the inanimate and move toward it like moths to a porch light. Novelty and diversity are particularly esteemed; the mere mention of the word extraterrestrial evokes reveries about still unexplored life, displacing the old and once potent exotic that drew earlier generations to remote islands and jungled interiors. That much is immediately clear, but a great deal more needs to be added. I will make the case that to explore and affiliate with life is a deep and complicated process in mental development. To an extent still undervalued in philosophy and religion, our existence depends on this propensity, our spirit is woven from it, hope rises on its currents. (Prologue, 1)
Here is another version of the same idea, from Stephen Kellert:
Assuming that the human affinity for nature is partially genetically encoded-a product of our having evolved in a natural rather than an artificial world-the importance of childhood must be recognized as the period when this contact with nature first occurs. Even for the human animal, which' appears uniquely capable of constructing its world and learning throughout its lifetime, the fundamental development of any biologically rooted tendency is likely to occur during childhood. (Kellert, 2005)
So, if we are hard-wired - genetically encoded - for this experience of nature, is there any evidence of what happens when we don't have it? Or, rather, is there evidence of how contact with nature impacts development, especially in children?
Nature and Child Development
According to John Davis (of Naropa University and School of Lost Borders), there are many developmental benefits to childhood nature experiences:
A) Kellert (2002) reviewed the literature on nature and child development and concluded that cognitive, affective, and moral development is impacted significantly and positively by direct contact with nature. By "direct" contact, he means contact with wild nature unmediated by significant human manipulation, in contrast to "indirect" contact (e.g., parks, zoos) or "vicarious contact" which is mediated by technology (e.g., television nature shows or books). See Kahn & Kellert (2002), Chowla, Sobel, Nabhan & Trimble, and others.
B) Kellert & Derr (1998) reviewed programs by Outward Bound, National Outdoor Leadership School, and Student Conservation Assn (N=700+ adolescents), both retrospectively and longitudinally, with surveys, in-depth interviews, observations, and qualitative analysis. There were some differences related to program orientations, but major positive impacts were observed in all three programs. Furthermore, these impacts increased over time following participation. "A large majority" of participants reported the experience as one of the most important in their lives with positive benefits for personality and character development. Specific benefits included self-confidence, self-concept, self-esteem, autonomy, and capacity to cope. There was a clear carry-over of effects from wilderness to urban settings. Results also indicate a strong increase in respect and appreciation for nature. Other, more qualitative, impacts included reports of increases in compassion, wisdom, guidance, and inner peace. See also reviews from Wilderness Research Center at University of Idaho (Hendee, Russell).
C) Edith Cobb (1977) conducted a large-scale retrospective study of the role of nature experiences in childhood. She reports positive developmental influences of nature that endure and grow into adulthood.
The list goes on, but it includes this crucial point:
E) The positive effects of nature are strongest in middle childhood (ages 6-12; in modern western cultures at least). While some research indicates that adolescents take a "time out" from nature, Kaplan & Kaplan (2002) argue that nature experiences for adolescents are significant and desirable as long as they also include the particular needs of adolescence, i.e., peer support, autonomy, and the opportunity to develop and demonstrate skill and strength. I would add that wilderness experiences offer opportunities to leave one's family, familiar community, and the roles that go with them, to try on new social roles, and to return with new self-images, behavior potential, and ways of relating. This is especially important during adolescence. (Davis, no date, section III)
Kellert (2005) divides a child's experience of nature into three types: direct, indirect, and vicarious (or symbolic) experience (p. 65). Direct experience is, obviously, the most immediate interaction with nature, the one where we are immersed in its leaves and dirt and water:
Direct contact refers to interaction with largely self-sustaining features and processes of the natural environment. These forms of direct contact include plants, animals, and habitats that function mostly independent of human input and control, although they may sometimes be affected by human activity. Direct experience of nature is often spontaneous and unplanned, occurring in relatively unmanaged areas, such as a meadow, a creek, a forest, or sometimes even a park or a child's backyard. Ecologist Robert Pyle describes these settings as places where "kids. . . [are] free to climb trees, muck about, catch things, and get wet." These areas include "watercourses, such as creeks, canals, ravines, and ponds, a big tree, a clump of brush, bosky dell, or hollow; parks, especially undeveloped ones; and old fields, pastures, and meadow." (Kellert, 65)
Equally important, at least for urban dwellers, are indirect experiences of nature - which we find in urban parks, zoos, botanical gardens, nature centers, arboretums, or museums. This can also include domesticated animals (pets such as dogs and cats, but also horses, reptiles, or birds), plants, or other natural elements brought into the highly managed human world.
Finally, there are vicarious, or symbolic, experiences of nature that do not involve contact with living creatures or environments but, rather, "with the image, representation, or metaphorical
expression of nature" (66). We are exposed to all manner of symbolic nature, including teddy bears, Lassie, Winne the Pooh, films such as Free Willy or Never Cry Wolf, shows on Animal Planet, or National Geographic specials. Interestingly, Kellert suggests that these vicarious experiences are ancient, going all the way back to first cave art.
Kellert goes on to suggest that direct experience of nature greatly enhances cognitive development (using Benjamin Bloom's six stages of intellectual development):
Stage one: Knowledge. The first stage emphasizes the child's emerging capacities to understand basic facts and terms and then apply this knowledge to presenting ideas, rendering broad classifications, and expressing a rudimentary understanding of causal relationships. Stage two: Comprehension. The second stage involves the child's developing capacity to interpret and paraphrase information and ideas and then extrapolate these understandings to other situations. Stage three: Application. The third stage stresses the child's maturing capacity to apply knowledge in generating ideas, concepts, and even principles applied to a wide range of situations. Stage four: Analysis. The fourth stage involves the child's evolving ability to examine and then break down knowledge into constituent parts and then use this understanding to elucidate underlying relationships. Stage five: Synthesis. The converse of analysis (stage four), the fifth stage emphasizes the child's ability to integrate and collate knowledge from discrete parts, organize it into structured wholes, and then use this knowledge to identity and understand relationships. Stage six: Evaluation. The final stage in cognitive development involves the child's ability to form judgments about the functional significance of parts of patterned and structured wholes based on carefully examining evidence, impacts, and outcomes. (Cited in Kellert, 67-68)
Exposure to nature aids children in naming, sorting, and classifying information and ideas. With comprehension and application, children develop the capacity to use information in other situations. Elizabeth Lawrence proposes the term cognitive biophilia to suggest that images and symbols of nature can be instrumental is human communication and maturation. Kellert goes on to examine the successive stages and how they interact with the experience of nature.
More importantly perhaps, Kellert looks at how nature impacts affective development, where he uses an emotional maturation model developed by David Krathwohl and his colleagues:
Stage one: Receiving. The first stage focuses on the child's developing awareness of and sensitivity to facts, information, and ideas, and the willingness to receive and consider this information.
Stage two: Responding. The second stage emphasizes the child's capacity to react to and gain satisfaction from receiving and responding to information, situations, and ideas.
Stage three: Valuing. The third stage involves the child's ability to attribute worth or importance to information, ideas, and situations, reflecting a clear and consistent set of preferences and commitments.
Stage four: Organization. The fourth stage emphasizes the child's ability to internalize and organize preferences and assumptions of worth into a consistent, stable, and predictable pattern of values and beliefs.
Stage five: Characterization by a value or value complex. The final stage reflects the child's ability to integrate values and beliefs into a coherent worldview or philosophy of life.
Only the first two stages of this taxonomy are considered here in examining children's experience of nature in affective development. Stages three through five are treated as a separate growth process that is neither entirely affective nor cognitive but, rather, is a combination of the two. In other words, values are viewed as a combination of intellect and feeling. (p. 70)
This is where we start to get to the crux of why nature is crucial to development. The first two stages, according to Kellert, help children to develop intellectual maturity as they generate emotional interests that can inspire them to explore and understand information and ideas. These emerging feelings are "building blocks" for the cognitive development defined above. Kellert cites psychologist Leonard Iozzi, who suggests that "the affective domain is the key entry point to learning and teaching" (70).
Randy White (2004) summarizes some of the benefits of children's experience of nature, or the detriments in a lack of time in nature:
Research provides convincing evidence of the more profound benefits of experiences in nature for children due to their greater plasticity and vulnerability (Wells & Evans 2003). The findings indicate that:
Children with symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are better able to concentrate after contact with nature (Faber Taylor et al. 2001).
Children with views of and contact with nature score higher on tests of concentration and self-discipline. The greener, the better the scores (Faber Taylor et al. 2002, Wells 2000).
Children who play regularly in natural environments show more advanced motor fitness, including coordination, balance and agility, and they are sick less often (Fjortoft 2001, Grahn et al. 1997).
When children play in natural environments, their play is more diverse with imaginative and creative play that fosters language and collaborative skills (Faber Taylor et al. 1998, Fjortoft 2000, Moore & Wong 1997).
Exposure to natural environments improves children’s cognitive development by improving their awareness, reasoning and observational skills (Pyle 2002).
Nature buffers the impact of life stress on children and helps them deal with adversity. The greater the amount of nature exposure, the greater the benefits (Wells 2003).
Play in a diverse natural environment reduces or eliminates anti-social behavior such as violence, bullying, vandalism and littering, as well reduces absenteeism (Coffey 2001, Malone & Tranter 2003, Moore & Cosco 2000).
Nature helps children develop powers of observation and creativity and instills a sense of peace and being at one with the world (Crain 2001).
Early experiences with the natural world have been positively linked with the development of imagination and the sense of wonder (Cobb 1977, Louv 1991). Wonder is an important motivator for life long learning (Wilson 1997).
Children who play in nature have more positive feelings about each other (Moore 1996).
A decrease in children’s time spent outdoors is contributing to an increase of children’s myopia (Nowak 2004).
Natural environments stimulate social interaction between children (Moore 1986, Bixler, Floyd & Hammutt 2002).
Outdoor environments are important to children’s development of independence and autonomy (Bartlett 1996).
For a full list of the articles cited here, the article by White is available online.
Applying this information to a Developmental Model of Masculinity
So this is a lot of information, and I haven't presented it in the most organized way - but all it weighs on how boys develop into men.
The most important parts to me are the following (some of these have not been fully discussed but come from the list by White):
1. Being in nature encourages cognitive and emotional development.
2. Being nature generates curiosity and more creativity.
3. Natural environments encourage social behavior between children.
4. Spending time in nature reduces the symptoms of various developmental issues, including stress, ADHD, and depression.
5. Increased self-confidence, self-concept, self-esteem, autonomy, and capacity to cope - all of which allow men to be less reactive and more emotionally balanced.
6. Children who grow with regular access to nature may express more humility.
7. We are biologically connected to nature (Biophilia) through our entire evolutionary history - we need that connection to be mentally healthy.
For boys who do not get to experience nature growing up, there will be cognitive, emotional, and social deficits as a result. These young men will not grow up to be mature men capable of individuating from their embeddedness in the reigning cultural ideals of what it means to be a man.
Importantly, boys who spend time in nature grow up with increased self-confidence, healthier self-concept, greater self-esteem, more autonomy, and a higher capacity to cope (Kellert & Derr, 1998) - all of which allow men to be less reactive and more emotionally balanced. These men are more likely to develop an individual sense of identity that is less constrained by cultural limitations and definitions. Because they have greater self-esteem and a healthier self-concept, as well as a greater sense of autonomy, they are more free to be masculine in the way that best fits them as individuals.
I'm not suggesting that being in and around nature is the be-all-and-end-all for children, especially boys, in their development - a serial killer to-be often spends time in nature mutilating animals. Nature cannot undo abuse and neglect, but for some boys it can help to mitigate their impact on the developing psyche.
Part of what I am proposing here is that the traditional models of development - which seem to stop at the boundary of our skin - are inadequate to explain healthy human development. A whole human being not only develops in the cognitive, affective, interpersonal, cultural, spatial, and kinesthetic lines (to name a few), but he also has an ecological self that stems from and defines his relationship to the natural world.
What if, from the beginning of life, nature were perceived as teacher, guide, source, as important to us as our families? How differently would we live? (Barrows, 1995, p. 110)
I suspect we would be quite different - and there would be fewer hindrances to healthy masculine development.
Barrows, E. (1995). The ecopsychology of child development. In Ecopsychology: Restoring the Earth, healing the mind. Roszak, Gomes & Kanner, Eds. New York: Sierra Club Books.
Burdette, H.L. & Whitaker, R.C. (2005). Resurrecting Free Play in Young Children Looking Beyond Fitness and Fatness to Attention, Affiliation, and Affect. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2005;159:46-50. Cobb, E. (1977). The Ecology of Imagination in Childhood, New York, Columbia University Press.
Davis, J. (No date). Psychological benefits of nature experiences: Research and theory (with special reference to transpersonal psychology and spirituality). Accessed on 4/23/10 from: http://www.johnvdavis.com/ep/benefits.htm#ben
Gershon, J. (2002). A meta-analytic review of gender differences in ADHD. Journal of Attention Disorders;Vol 5(3), Jan 2002, 143-154.
Kahn, Peter, Jr. & Kellert, Stephen. (2002). Children and nature: Psychological, Sociocultural, and Evolutionary investigations . Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Kaplan, R. & Kaplan, S. (1989). The Experience of Nature. Cambridge Press.
Kellert, S. & Derr, V. (1998). National study of outdoor wilderness experience. Washington, DC: Island Press.
Kellert, S.R. (2002). Experiencing Nature: Affective, Cognitive, and Evaluative Development, in Children and Nature: Psychological, Sociocultural, and Evolutionary Investigations. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Kellert, S.R. (2005) Building for Life: Designing and Understanding the Human-Nature Connection. Washington, D.C.: Island Press.
Lawson, W. (2004). ADHD's Outdoor Cure: Finding relief in wide open spaces; Playing outdoors may curb the disorder. Psychology Today; (March 1): p. 26-27.
Mitchell, N. (2010). Nature Deficit Disorder: the mind in urban combat. All in the Mind: 17 April 2010; http://www.abc.net.au/rn/allinthemind/stories/2010/2872548.htm. Accessed 4/23/10
White, R. (2004). Young Children's Relationship with Nature: Its Importance to Children's Development & the Earth's Future. White Hutchinson Leisure & Learning Group: http://www.whitehutchinson.com/children/articles/childrennature.shtml; accessed 4/23/10
Wilson, E.O. (1984). Biophilia. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Wikipedia Citations:
For more children, less time for outdoor play: Busy schedules, less open space, more safety fears, and lure of the Web keep kids inside by Marilyn Gardner, The Christian Science Monitor, June 29, 2006
U.S. children and teens spend more time on academics by Diane Swanbrow, The University Record Online, The University of Michigan.
Are your kids really spending enough time outdoors? Getting up close with nature opens a child's eyes to the wonders of the world, with a bounty of health benefits. by Tammie Burak, Canadian Living.
Stiffler, Lisa (January 6, 2007), "Parents worry about 'nature-deficit disorder' in kids", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/298708_nature06.html
"Is There Anybody Out There?", Conservation 8 (2), April-June 2007, http://www.conbio.org/cip/article82nic.cfm
Kellert, Stephen R. (ed.) (1993). The Biophilia Hypothesis. Island Press. ISBN 1-55963-147-3.
Hodgkinson, Tom (2009). The Idle Parent: Why Less Means More When Raising Kids. Hamish Hamilton. pp. 233. ISBN 978-0241143735. http://idler.co.uk/news/the-idle-parent/.
Tags: Thoughts Toward a Developmental Model of Masculine Identity, Part Five, Environment and Nature in Development, nature deficit disorder, Richard Louv, Children and Nature Network, Last Child in the Woods, Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, All in the Mind, Natasha Mitchell, E.O. Wilson, Biophilia, Stephen Kellert, John Davis, Outward Bound, National Outdoor Leadership School, Student Conservation Association, Edith Cobb, direct experience, indirect experience, vicarious or symbolic experience, Benjamin Bloom, six stages, intellectual development, cognitive biophilia, David Krathwohl, affective development, emotions, psychology, nature, Randy White, ADHD, gender differences, masculinity, development, Ecopsychology, boys, healthier self-concept, greater self-esteem, more autonomy, higher capacity to cope
Posted by william harryman at 7:18 PM
Labels: boys, development, masculinity, nature, psychology
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The Autonomy Issue
The Rise of the Prison State
High Risk “Innocent until proven guilty” continues to be an illusory promise, and Risk Assessment Tools only make it worse.
The Life Coach Life coaching doesn’t leave much room for the derailments of everyday life.
The state is balancing its budget on the backs of the poor, the unemployed, and black and brown people. Welcome to the predatory state, a neoliberal nightmare.
Aviva Stahl Tue, Feb 27 2018
In Carceral Capitalism, out this month from Semiotext(e), Jackie Wang writes lucidly and persuasively about America’s criminalized subjects, whose bodies, physical environments, and futures are all subject to the increasing control of state and corporate power. For Wang, a prison abolitionist, poet and PhD student at Harvard University, understanding the relationship between neoliberalism and carceral control requires us to look far beyond the realm of the private prison, an example of corporate corruption that has been championed by mainstream progressive media at the expense of examining municipal carceral structures. Wang makes connections between elements of carceral capitalism in much more expansive terms in this series of essays, by examining how racialized subjects relate to the state in times of austerity, and the processes of criminalization and exploitation states rely on to survive. She’s interested in exploring and disentangling what lies at the “the nexus between neo-conservative policy, social disinvestment, and prison expansion” – to build a deeper understanding of the interrelations between governance, and the neoliberal and carceral state.
Building on Wolfgang Streeck’s argument that “the tax state (i.e. the postwar Keynesian welfare state) has evolved into the debt state (which authorizes austerity)” Wang begins by arguing that we are currently witnessing the emergence of what she refers to as the “predatory state.” Over the last few decades, and with increased intensity since the 2008 financial crisis, we’ve seen the continued implementation of neoliberal policies, including further cuts to the tax base, financial deregulation, the privatization of public assets, and continued state withdrawal from the provision of social goods. As Wang sees it, cities and states are increasingly struggling to pay the bills, while public debt (for example, ownership over bonds) is becoming financialized, controlled by an ever-smaller percentage of wealthy Americans. This shift, according to Wang, is “de-democratizing” in that “government bodies become more accountable to creditors than to the public,” and increasingly seek to “balance the budget on the backs of the poor, the unemployed, and black and brown people.”
Wang cites what occured Detroit as a key example. Over the early 2000s, Detroit’s debt became increasingly financialized, so when interest rates plummeted after the 2008 financial crisis, the city began losing money. By 2013, the city declared bankruptcy, prompting a battle over who it would pay back first – for example, whether it was more pressing to honor sums owed to corporate banks (the institutions that had enabled the city’s poor financial planning) or Detroit’s pensioners. “When Detroit filed for bankruptcy, the [Emergency Manager] prioritized the interest of finance over the interest of the people, and harsh austerity measures were implemented with the goal of eventually making Detroit solvent,” explains Wang. In her view, the neoliberalization of state finance is directly tied to the draining of resources from “those who are supposed to be the beneficiaries of government services” – and all for the benefit of big banks and financial institutions.
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Aviva Stahl is a Brooklyn-based journalist who writes about prisons, immigration detention and national security.
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Lā 324: You should not place your desires before the values of the host culture! Hewa!
Posted on Feb 12 By kea | Filed in Media
By TOM CALLIS Hawaii Tribune-Herald February 12, 2016
EXPLORING ALTERNATIVES: TMT would relocate if permit not secured soon
The TMT International Observatory’s decision to consider locations other than Mauna Kea for its next-generation telescope didn’t come as much of a surprise to supporters of the project, given the hurdles it still faces.
But the announcement is nonetheless increasing anxiety that Hawaii Island could lose out on the jobs and funding for education that comes with the $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope.
“I think we put it in a precarious situation,” said Bill Walter, Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce vice president.
“You get the sense that the investing countries are getting very restive.”
In addition to seeing more than 13 billion light years away, the telescope — which has faced strong opposition from some Native Hawaiians who consider the mountain sacred — is expected to create 300 construction jobs and 140 long-term jobs, earning it support of business groups and organized labor.
“It’s not only jobs but a great opportunity for the people of Hawaii,” said Dean Au, Hawaii Council of Carpenters Hilo field representative.
TMT also is contributing $1 million a year for science, technology, engineering and math education on the island, which supporters note would be lost if the project goes elsewhere.
Ed Stone, TMT executive director, told Honolulu media outlets Wednesday that the telescope’s board decided last week to get a “Plan B” ready should the project not regain its construction permit for the mountain.
In an interview with the Tribune-Herald, he reiterated they are not pulling the plug yet, but might end up doing so if they don’t receive assurances the project can proceed by September 2017. That will allow it to begin construction again no later than April 2018.
“We would like to build it in Hawaii,” he said, noting Mauna Kea remains the best spot for the telescope. “We’re not looking for ways not to build it in Hawaii.”
Stone said the board set a deadline because it wants to get the project finished while the James Webb Space Telescope is in use since they will work “synergistically” together. The project also needs a secured location to justify the investment and manufacturing of telescope parts that continues around the world, he said.
“The time has come when we need to start building it,” Stone said.
Richard Wurdeman, attorney for opponents of the telescope, said he expects there to be a “long, drawn-out process” given the environmental and cultural issues involved with building on Mauna Kea. He said that process shouldn’t be rushed.
“We intend to fully litigate the matter and make sure that all the evidence that needs to be presented is presented,” Wurdeman said.
Stone said TMT would still proceed if it has a permit in time, even if that decision is being appealed.
TMT selected Hawaii for its telescope in 2009, and the project later cleared the state Board of Land and Natural Resources and a contested case hearing.
But its plans to build on the mountain began to fall apart last year as protesters blocked access to construction workers and the state Supreme Court overturned its land use permit.
Justices ruled the Land Board should not have voted in favor of the project before opponents made their case before a hearings officer.
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources is preparing to hire a new hearings officer to consider another permit for the project, but the Land Board also has to wait for the matter to get sent back from a lower court before it can proceed.
While 19 months to get the permit might seem like plenty of time, the last contested case hearing for the project took about 21 months to resolve.
Guenther Hasinger, director of University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy, said that timeline might be optimistic.
But he noted UH remains behind the project and he doesn’t consider failure to be an option.
“We don’t have a Plan B,” Hasinger said.
In a statement, UH, which subleases land to TMT and other telescopes on the mountain, said it remains “steadfast” in its support for the project.
“The project is a tremendous scientific and economic opportunity for Hawaii Island and the state,” the university’s statement said. “It will be a cornerstone of the next generation of astronomy in Hawaii, one of the anchors of our research and innovation enterprise.”
Even though the telescope isn’t built, the project has become a major funding source for UH’s management efforts on the mountain since its sublease was approved nearly two years ago.
According to UH’s annual report on Mauna Kea to the Legislature, the telescope paid $279,041 in rent for its sublease in fiscal year 2015, bringing UH’s Mauna Kea lands special fund revenue to $660,043.
The additional $381,002 came from fees from commercial tour operators.
Of those funds, $375,821.20 was used to defray costs of the Mauna Kea ranger program, Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station and facility and road maintenance, UH said.
The telescope is the first on the mountain to pay more than $1 a year in rent.
That amount currently is at $300,000 a year and will increase incrementally to $1.08 million.
Stone said Mauna Kea is considered the best place for the telescope, at least in the Northern Hemisphere, and moving to another location will be considered a significant loss for the project.
“This is not just about astronomy,” he added.
“It will be a loss for science, it will be a loss for Hawaii, it will be a loss for the United States.”
TMT’s partners include Caltech, University of California, Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy, and the national institutes in Japan, China and India.
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
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The Real Menace
Mon 14th Sep 2015
I am afraid.
I am not ashamed to admit it. I am afraid.
I am afraid of the Islamic State movement, alias ISIS, alias Daesh.
It is the only real danger that threatens Israel, that threatens the world, that threatens me.
Those who treat it today with equanimity, with indifference, will come to regret it.
In the year I was born – 1923 – a ridiculous little demagogue with a funny mustache, Adolf Hitler, staged an attempted putsch in Munich. It was put down by a handful of policemen and soon forgotten.
The world had far more serious dangers to contend with. There was the galloping inflation in Germany. There was the young Soviet Union. There was the dangerous competition between the two mighty colonial powers, Great Britain and France. There was, in 1929, the terrible economic crisis that devastated the world economy.
But the little Munich demagogue had a weapon that did not catch the eye of experienced statesmen and wily politicians: a powerful state of mind. He turned the humiliation of a great nation into a weapon more effective than aircraft and battleships. In a short time – just a few years – he conquered Germany, then Europe and looked set to take on the entire world.
Many millions of human beings perished in the process. Untold misery visited many countries. Not to mention the Holocaust, a crime almost without parallel in the annals of modern history.
How did he do it? Primarily not by political and military power, but by the power of an idea, a state of mind, a mental explosion.
I witnessed this in the first quarter of my life. It springs to my mind when I look at the movement that now calls itself IS, the Islamic State.
In the early 7th century of the Christian era, a small merchant in the godforsaken Arab desert had an idea. In an amazingly short period of time he and his companions conquered his home town, Mecca, then the entire Arabian peninsula, then the Fertile Crescent, and then most of the civilized world, from the Atlantic ocean to North India and much beyond. His followers reached the heart of France and laid siege to Vienna.
How did a little Arab tribe achieve all this? Not by military superiority but by the force of an intoxicating new religion, a religion so progressive and liberating that its earthly power could not be resisted.
Against an intoxicating new idea, material weapons are powerless, armies and navies crumble and mighty empires, like Byzantium and Persia, disintegrate. But ideas are invisible, realists cannot see them, experienced statesmen and mighty generals are blind to them.
"How many divisions has the Pope?" Stalin responded contemptuously, when told about the power of the Church. Yet the Soviet Empire fell and disappeared, and the Catholic Church is still here.
Al Daula al-Islamiyah, the Islamic State, is a "fundamentalist" movement. The fundament is the Islamic state founded 1400 years ago by the Prophet Muhammad in Medina and Mecca. This backward-looking stance is a propaganda ploy. How can anyone resurrect something that existed so many centuries ago?
In reality, IS is an extremely modern movement, a movement of today and probably of tomorrow. It uses the most up-to-date instruments, like the internet. It is a revolutionary movement, probably the most revolutionary in today's world.
In its rise to power, it uses barbaric methods from bygone times to achieve very modern aims. It creates terror. Not the propaganda term "terrorism" used nowadays by all governments to stigmatize their enemies. But actual atrocities, abominable deeds, chopping off heads, destroying invaluable antiquities - all to strike debilitating fear into the hearts of its enemies.
The IS movement does not really care about Europe, the US and Israel. Not for now. It uses them as propaganda fuel to achieve its real immediate aim: to take hold of the entire Islamic world.
If it succeeds in this, one can imagine the next step. After the Crusaders conquered Palestine and the surrounding areas, a Kurdish adventurer called Salah-a-Din al-Ayyubi (Saladin to European ears) set out to unite the Arab world under his leadership. Only after succeeding in this, did he turn on the Crusaders and wipe them out.
Saladin, of course, was no IS-style merchant of atrocities. He was a profoundly humane ruler, and as such he was feted in European literature (see: Walter Scott). But his strategy is familiar to every Muslim, including the leaders of today's Islamic "Caliphate": first unite the Arabs, only then turn on the infidels.
For the last two hundred years, the Arab world has been humiliated and oppressed. The humiliation, even more than the oppression, has been seared into the soul of every Arab boy and girl. Once the whole world admired Arab civilization and Arab science. During the European Dark Ages, barbaric Westerners were dazzled by Islamic culture.
No young Arab can abstain from comparing the splendor of the past Caliphate to the squalor of contemporary Arab reality - the poverty, the backwardness, the political impotence. Formerly backward countries like Japan and China have risen again and become world powers, beating the West at its own game, but the Arab giant remains impotent, attracting the world's contempt. Even a tiny band of Jews (Jews of all people!) beat the Arab countries.
A huge reservoir of resentment has been building up in the Arab world, unseen and unnoticed by the Western powers that be.
In such a situation, there are two ways out. One is the arduous path: to divorce the past and build a modern state. That was the way of Mustapha Kemal, the Turkish general who banned tradition and created a new Turkish nation. It was a profound revolution, perhaps the most effective of the 20th century, and it earned him the title of Ataturk, Father of the Turks.
In the Arab world, there was an attempt to create a pan-Arab nationalism, a feeble imitation of the Western original. Gamal Abd-al-Nasser tried and was easily put down by Israel.
The other way is to idealize the past and claim to revive it. That is the way of IS, and it is hugely successful. With little effort it has taken hold of large parts of Syria and Iraq, wiping out the official borders created by Western imperialists. Imitators have set up proxies all over the Muslim world and attracted many thousands of potential fighters from the Muslim ghettos in the West and the East.
Now the Islamic State is starting on its march to victory. There seems to be no one to stop it.
First of all, because nobody seems to realize the danger. To fight an idea? To hell with ideas. Ideas are for intellectuals and such. Real statesmen look at facts. How many divisions has IS?
Second, there are other dangers around. The Iranian bomb. The Syrian chaos. The breakup of Libya. The oil prizes. And now the avalanche of refugees, mainly from the Muslim world.
Like a giant toddler, the USA is helpless. It supports an imaginary secular Syrian opposition, which exists only in American universities. It fights against the main enemy of IS, the Assad regime. It supports the Turkish leader who fights against the Kurds who fight against IS. It bombs IS from the air, risking nothing and achieving nothing. No boots on the ground, God forbid.
To govern is to choose, Pierre Mendes-France once said. In the present Arab world, the choice is between bad, worse and worst. In the fight against the worst, the bad is an ally.
Let's put it bluntly: to try to stop IS means supporting the Assad regime. Bashar al-Assad is an abominable fellow, but he has kept Syria together, protected its many minorities and kept the Israeli border quiet. Compared to IS, he is an ally. So is Iran, a stable regime with a political tradition reaching back thousands of years – contrary to Saudi Arabia, Qatar et al which support IS.
Our own Bibi is as innocent of any understanding as a new-born child. He is shrewd, shallow and ignorant. His Iranian obsession blinds him to the new realities.
Fascinated by the wolf in front of him, Bibi is oblivious to the frightful tiger creeping up behind him.
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1441980824
Lenin on the State and Revolution: The Paris Commune (1871)
Review: VJ McGill on Russell's Critique of Marxism
From Tiananmen Square to Tahrir Square
Carry out the legacy of Hugo Chavez!
Scotland on the Euphrates
world arab islamic state movement against power regime kept first years modern idea real muslim israeli afraid ideas achieve such
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Sales pitch though it was, E2020 subscribed to a worldview that’s now ubiquitous in the wider culture. Its central metaphor was overheatedly Darwinian—the global economy as nature run riot, lush for the dominant, unforgiving for the slow to adapt—but also strikingly theological. In the next millennium, a resurgent Market would act as the vengeful (invisible) hand of God, laying waste to the Second Wave’s many Towers of Babel—government planning, welfare states, unions, warehouses, consolidated factories, even mega-conglomerates. Thus, “progress” required that we bury our arrogant bids for security and clear the ground for a new order of pure Nietzschean struggle.
Amway was founded in 1959 by two fellows by the name of Richard DeVos and Jay Van Andel who are based in Michigan. Today Amway do business through number of companies all around the world (More than eighty countries). In 2012 Amway was actually rewarded the number 25 position by Forbes for being one of the largest private companies in the United States. In fact, more than $11 billion dollars with of sales were recorded, making Amway one of the most successful Direct sales or network marketing companies that have been in business for well over 50 years.
For those talking about Amway (alias Quixtar) not being scam or fraud should actually gather some knowledge before talking about it, does not matter if from inside or outside of the "business" as you like to call it. If you wish, please just type in Amway lawsuit, Quixtar lawsuit just in Google if you do not want to bother searching too much. Oh, bot companies have been sewed several times for what exactly? Hmhm, how strange, fraud, pyramide scheme, violating laws, and we could go on. One of their biggest payouts was around 150 million dollars. So stop lying to people and yourselves. These are not beliefs, these are facts. Rather study business, read a book, improve your skills, make your own business or be a part of a business that actually is not just about a few overfed money preachers stuffing themselves with your time. Think, learn, read.
Amway's product line grew from LOC, with the laundry detergent SA8 added in 1960, and later the hair care product Satinique (1965) and the cosmetics line Artistry (1968). Today Amway manufactures over 450 products, with manufacturing facilities in China, India and the United States, as well as Nutrilite organic farms in Brazil, Mexico and the United States (California and Washington State). Amway brands include Artistry, Atmosphere, Body Blends, Bodykey, Body Works, Clear Now, eSpring, Glister, iCook, Legacy of Clean, Nutrilite, Peter Island, Perfect Empowered Drinking Water, Personal Accents, Ribbon, Satinique, Artistry Men and XS.
In 2013 IBOs, people who qualified to be Business Consultants in the UK earned an average annual income of GBP21,048. This falls short ofthe UK average annual income of GBP26,500. It is however substantially better than those Amway IBOs who were not business consultants, as their average income for 2013 was less than GBP1,300 .We are not surprised, Amway has not made the 2013 Income Disclosure Statement publicly available on their website. However we found a copy for you.
Categories: AmwayArena football venuesBasketball venues in FloridaIndoor ice hockey venues in FloridaLeadership in Energy and Environmental Design basic silver certified buildingsNational Basketball Association venuesOrlando Magic venuesSports venues completed in 2010Sports venues in Orlando, FloridaMusic venues in Orlando, Florida2010 establishments in FloridaIndoor arenas in Florida
And these inconveniences pale beside the emotional shock of entering Josh and Jean’s apartment. Not big to begin with, its thorough occupation by Amway Corporation made it positively claustrophobic. The living room was dominated by huge metal cabinets displaying Amway cleaning and food products; shelves along the wall were devoted to toiletries; boxes of cereal lined the top of the couch. Next to the window was an eraser board listing upcoming World Wide Dreambuilders meetings; free wall space and the outside of cabinets were decorated with motivational slogans (“I AM A WINNER!”) drawn in crayon.
In 2004, Dateline NBC aired a report, alleging that some high-level Quixtar IBOs make most of their money from selling motivational materials rather than Quixtar products.[49] Quixtar published an official Quixtar Response website[50] where it showed '"Interviews Dateline Didn't Do"'. Quixtar also states on its response site that Dateline declined their request to link to the site.
However, I did what my upline and sponsor told me to do… Make a list of friends, family, etc. Talk to them about the products, business opportunity, and invite them to a presentation/meeting or get them on a 3 way call. I got sick and tired of feeling like I was hassling my friends and family, was frustrated and didn’t want to chase them around anymore and begging people (even strangers) to buy products from me or join my business/team.
1, no inventory loading? Hebalife distributors are re-evaluated for their qualifications every January. Based solely on how much products they purchased. Distributors can claim the products are for their own personal consumption any time they need to make up the volume points they needed for the qualification. 2, way over priced products : 2-10 times of equivalent products in the market. Why would a real consumer pay such premium for products that are available everywhere? 3, the refund policy. Herbalife distributors make purchase through their uplines. Uplines get rolty override payment on every purchase their downline made. This policy only encourage focus on recruiting, push unwanted purchase, and in factual denied refund.
Amway doesn’t operate this way. Amway IBOs don’t make any money by bringing more people in – not a single cent. They make money when products are sold, not from recruiting. On each product sold, Amway sets aside a portion of the product cost as a “bonus.” This is shared by IBOs who work together in sales groups, according to their contracts with Amway.
There is some movement in the top 10, as a pair of teams, Wisconsin and Auburn, each lost at home. Georgia still has a pair of upcoming opponents in the top 25, with Auburn dropping to No. 11 and LSU moving up to No. 6 after beating Auburn 22-21 at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Georgia will face LSU in Baton Rouge, La. on Oct. 13 and will host Auburn in Athens, Ga. on Nov. 10. Here is the rest of the top 25:
This is the worst company on earth DO NOT SIGNUP WITH THEM IT IS A COMPLETE SCAM. When I signed up They offered me supposed free sample value of $150 witch in the end I ended up paying double the price for. So if that’s not bad enough they also signed me up for some LTD crap without my approval or knowledge of doing so which charged me $50 a month after all said and done I tried to call them and they said if I were to cancel they would charge me $150 cancellation fee so to anybody that’s reading this avoid amway at all cost
That fucking guy tricked me to go to their zombie meeting, I got there and it looked like a little family meeting, I was lost as I kept asking the guy what’s the business is about and what am I going to do, what’s the description but he kept avoiding my questions. He gave me his website the day prior but I could not see what it was about. He kept saying that he was going to help me to have financial freedom as they have a strong network where they deal with professionals who work with Bestbuy, lululemon, etc. I can’t believe I actually went there, please slap me, I deserve it! That’s the dumbest shit I’ve ever done, I spent two hours of my fucking time to go listen to blood suckers. I feel like I deserve a good slap by allowing myself to go there. I’m so fucking pissed off.
In the beginning, my parents put between ten and fifteen hours a week into their business – per the company’s recommendation. But over time, my dad’s enthusiasm began to wear off. ‘You say to yourself, ‘What the hell for?’’ he says now. ‘So that somebody can come in and then not return your calls? You take them to a meeting and there’s a jerk up there who’s embarrassing? I had no way, no avenue to get people in there and get them excited.’
We’re back in the central area. From an adjacent room comes the sound of a television and we make our way toward it. The room is ruby-carpeted with red-and-gray-striped wallpaper, three tapered wall lamps, and a giant projection screen angled downward. A man faces away from us in a floral upholstered recliner. He pauses the television when we come in.
Jackie Nickel, Chief Marketing Officer for Amway’s Americas Region, talks with former coach, hall of famer and NCAA Division 1 champion Phillip Fulmer in “Developing Strong Coaching Relationships.” For Fulmer, building successful relationships begins with trust. By spending time getting to know individuals, learning how to maximize strengths and minimize weaknesses, a leader communicates the message that the team is more important than the individual. With this mindset in place, he says, you’re going to have success. Watch Now
Dream Night was not the first Amway event I had been to, but it was the most hallucinatory. It began with the triumphal entrance of the Amway Diamond couples, half-jogging through a gauntlet of high-fives to the theme from Rocky, as the audience whooped and hollered and twirled their napkins over their heads. When the standing ovation finally tapered off, the emcee offered a prayer thanking God for (a) the fact that we lived in a free enterprise system, where there were no government agents kicking down the doors of meetings like Dream Night and (b) His Blessed Son. As dinner wound down, the video screens displayed a picture of what the guy next to me was quick to identify as a $20,000 Rolex watch. (He went on to tell of a fellow he knew who had a $30,000 Rolex and who couldn’t tell the time for the glare of the gold and diamonds.)
Amway and its sister companies under Alticor reported sales of $8.6 billion in 2017.[1] It conducts business through a number of affiliated companies in more than a hundred countries and territories. Amway was ranked No. 29 among the largest privately held companies in the United States by Forbes in 2015 based on revenue, and No. 1 among multi-level marketing companies by Direct Selling News in 2016.[6][7][8]
The move unified the various Amway companies worldwide. "We're now reintroducing our brands in North America, moving away from Quixtar and going back to the Amway name", said Steve Lieberman, managing director of Amway Global. "We decided there were a number of roads we had to go down in order to recreate awareness for a brand that, quite frankly, a lot of people felt had gone away."[5]
Although they are separate companies, Network Twentyone was founded by Amway distributors and, obviously, helps to drive Amway sales via its own borderline cultish system, which have included things like torchlight parades and advising distributors to threaten to hit customers on the head with Amway tapes, forcing them to take the tape to defend themselves. Obviously, Amway is quite aware of companies like Network Twentyone and is completely fine with them, as long as they drive business and never mention Amway's name. This is where things turn distinctly more Fight Club: Sellers are instructed to never say the word "Amway" while pushing their products.
And then of course one question always comes up: ‘Should I even have this much wealth in the first place?’ I feel the Lord allocated some money for us to use for our pleasure, some for our ability to experience His world, some for investing to help create economic expansion and job opportunities for others – and of course, some for sharing with those who have a real need.
THIS IS ALL CRAP, EVERYTHING THIS GUY/GIRL IS SAYING IS ALL FAKE ESPECIALLY BECAUSE I AM A CROWN IN THE BUSINESS AND BECAUSE HE IS SAYING THAT IT IS NOT A PYRAMID SCHEME. ESPECIALLY, BECAUSE I HAVE AN UPLINE THAT IS IN THE LEVEL EMERALD AND I AM IN CROWN, EVEN THOUGH HE INVITED ME I PASSED HIM, SO THIS IS ALL CRAP IF ANYONE ONE IS INTERESTED IN THIS WONDERFUL OPERTUNITY CONTACT ME.
Totally a scam...only a way to fetch money frm d people.. .people cant affors its products are so highly priced....bt den also...in logo ko kya...inhe to bs apna maal bechna h ...frr chahe insan apna ghar hi q na bech de...phle saamaan lene ko membership lene ko piche pde rhte h...fr use maintain krne ko...khud ko to koi kaam h nii...n jinhe kaam h wo inke chakkar me na kr pae...saale khud to sukoon ki jindgi jee re ho na...to dusro ko b to jeene do....
Remember Income is not profit. Even if a business consultant earned 21,048 in commission for 2013, this figure does not include the cost of being an Amway member. Remaining active is not cheap. Our own analysis of the numbers estimated that after expenses the average Amway IBO lost $1,176 per year. Our calculations used data from Amway USA from 2010
In looking at U.S. respondents’ abilities and attitudes regarding starting and running a business, the majority (88 percent) perceive themselves as socially supported (compared to 64 percent globally). When it comes to taking risks, 74 percent of U.S. respondents consider themselves to be risk-takers, compared to 47 percent of respondents globally.
William Keep, dean of the College of New Jersey’s School of Business, and a pyramid scheme critic, told Bloomberg earlier this year that “in terms of sending clear signals to the industry, the F.T.C. has done worse than nothing since 1979. It sends confusing signals that have in no way helped us understand how to identify a multilevel marketing company that may be a pyramid scheme.”
The DeVos family’s charitable giving and political activism sprawls across three generations. It’s not just Dick and Betsy, but Richard and Helen’s other children, too. There’s Daniel DeVos, who chairs the Orlando Magic, an NBA franchise the family owns, and his wife, Pamella. There’s Doug DeVos, Amway’s current president and the chair of the executive committee of the National Constitution Center, and his wife, Maria. There’s Cheri DeVos, who sits on the board at Alticor, Amway’s parent company. And there’s their children, a generation of young adults ready to carry the baton.
In 2001, Betsy DeVos spoke at “The Gathering,” an annual meeting of some of America’s wealthiest Christians. There, she told her fellow believers about the animating force behind her education-reform campaigning, referencing the biblical battlefield where the Israelites fought the Philistines: “It goes back to what I mentioned, the concept of really being active in the Shephelah of our culture—to impact our culture in ways that are not the traditional funding-the-Christian-organization route, but that really may have greater Kingdom gain in the long run by changing the way we approach things—in this case, the system of education in the country.”
I loved the days when we’d go to the Bayou Club as a family. We began going immediately after joining Amway, when I was in second grade. The development was new, still under construction. There was space between the houses and the far stretch of the golf course undulating luxuriously around them. Model homes rose from the landscape like castles, bigger than any houses I’d ever seen – and vacant. Never occupied. Empty dreams, waiting to be filled.
These functions, all of which were sponsored by World Wide Dreambuilders, were rhetoric-fests where Amway’s self-help message was pushed to its logical addiction-recovery extreme—although with the roles curiously reversed. “J-O-B people,” meaning those who were not Amway-style entrepreneurs, were portrayed as the helpless addicts, hooked on the “immediate gratification” of a weekly paycheck. It was they who were in denial, telling themselves that they didn’t have a problem, that they were happy working all day for practically nothing. In contrast, the “delayed life” was a healthy process of withdrawal, of gradually replacing the “negatives” in your life (including non-Amway products) with “positives.” Most importantly, you learned to “dream” again, reconnecting with the inner child who, before the 9-to-5 beat it down, had fantasized about big houses and fast cars.[13]
One Republican who caught the DeVos family’s ire was Paul Muxlow, a realtor and former educator elected to the state house in 2010, representing a mostly rural district in southeast Michigan. Muxlow was a dependable conservative, but disliked the idea of eliminating the cap on the number of charter schools. While he was fine with charter schools in underserved communities, he said he couldn’t support them in rural areas—“It would kill those districts,” he explained to the Detroit Free Press in 2014. When the cap elimination came before the state Legislature in 2011, it passed with Muxlow voting against it. The following year, when he ran for reelection, he faced a blitz of attacks from GLEP, which didn’t even need his district, but spent just under $185,000 to take him out in the primary. Muxlow won by just 132 votes.
After a year in The Business, Josh and Jean were scarcely able to devote eight hours a week to distributing goods and showing The Plan—activities that required a good supply of prospects, customers, and downlines. They were desperate for new leads, also a scarce resource, and regularly alarmed me with proposals that we all go to some public place and mingle. Of course, that would have required overcoming shyness and other gag responses, impediments that Josh, Jean, and Sherri never really overcame (most of their leads seemed either to be family or, like me, coworkers.) They would, on the other hand, devote entire weekends to “recharging their batteries” at First and Second Looks, Seminars, Rallies, and Major Functions (Dream Night, Leadership Weekend, Family Reunion, Free Enterprise Day); meetings that required only insecurity and neediness, which all three had in spades.
Josh also showed signs of breakdown. After the presentation he took his customary position near the speaker, a hand-held recorder jutting provocatively from his hip; but because he wasn’t in Dave’s downline, he wouldn’t be able to accompany him to dinner. Josh claimed that it was at such dinners that speakers, unfettered by FTC restrictions, could reveal “the good stuff.” He proposed tailing Dave to the restaurant: “They couldn’t stop us, could they?” When Jean talked him out of this, he became desperate to simply “go somewhere and meet people.” Jean reminded him it was a school night for her. “Well, maybe we should talk to the hotel staff,” he suggested.
People, please don't fall for this. It'll cause problems between you and your spouse if you're not both involved because of the conflict. It's a dream that is promised that will never come true. My wife spent money we didn't have investing in this crap and put us in a hole of debt with nothing to show for it. Did Amway come help her financially? No way. Avoid these companies, trust me, they're only out to get your money or get you to make them money.
Inside the Amway Center, everything is new from the front row to the rafters. Bigger seats. Better sight lines. More amenities on every level of the building. Concourses are spacious, offering unique concessions and activities for kids and adults alike. The Club Restaurant and the Ozone Bar overlook the event floor, and children enjoy spending time in the kid-oriented fun zone and retail store on the upper concourse. Technologically, Amway Center is one of the most advanced ever built, highlighted by the main scoreboard – the largest of its kind in the NBA. Measuring approximately 42 feet high and weighing in at more than 40 tons, its four primary video displays will be able to show high definition imagery in 4.4 trillion shades of color. Altogether, it’s unlike any arena ever built. It’s a world-class experience unlike anything Central Florida has ever seen.
"Thought our kids came out," Smart said after the win. "We were sloppy at times, organizational, as far as substitution on defense, and we got some stupid, silly penalties early on offense. But they came out fast, they came out physical, and they answered the challenge which was to understand that we challenged them and said 'hey, we are creating a standard here, that we play to this level, regardless of who you play.' You have to go own the standard. I really thought the players really tried to do that. Sometimes holdings and things like that are an aggressive penalty. But that is frustrating and as an organization, we have to do a better job defensively of having the right people on the field."
Yager made a name for himself as the father of the ‘Yager System,’ one of the first and most profitable motivational ‘tools’ businesses run by Amway distributors (also called ‘tools scams’ by detractors). Distributors produce motivational tapes and videos, or ‘tools,’ and sell them directly to their downlines for immediate profit. Tools promote Amway’s free market philosophy but are not themselves Amway products – though the Yager Group is still today an Amway-approved training provider. The Charlotte Observer has said of Yager, ‘He sells not only soap but an ideology and a way of life. Admirers speak of him with reverence, as if his next plateau of Amway achievement were sainthood itself.’ The title of Yager’s first book, Don’t Let Anybody Steal Your Dream, was a Gerard household motto. We said it to one another with a near-religious zeal – like we were speaking in high-fives. I still feel nostalgic for my childhood when I hear it.
Do you want instant access to the #1 Attraction Marketing System in the world today for all network marketers/home business owners? If you want to start generating 10-20 + leads everyday, sign up more IBO’s, build a strong Amway Global team/organization, as you’ll learn how to become a 6 figure earner in the direct sales/network marketing industry… You need to Watch Video Below!
In the decade since that loss, the DeVos family, with Dick and Betsy at the helm, has emerged as a political force without comparison in Michigan. Their politics are profoundly Christian and conservative—“God, America, Free Enterprise,” to borrow the subtitle of family patriarch Richard DeVos’ 1975 book, Believe!—and their vast resources (the family’s cumulative net worth is estimated at well over $5 billion) assure that they can steamroll their way to victory on issues ranging from education reform to workers’ rights. “At the federal level, when GOP candidates are looking for big donors to back them, they have options,” says Craig Mauger, executive director of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network. “If you don’t get Sheldon Adelson, you can go to the Koch brothers, and so on. In Michigan, the DeVos family is a class of donor all by themselves.”
At the end of the day, they deliberately do not keep records to show if they earn more money from recruiting or from sale of products. People that are recruited are mandated to buy products and how do we tell the difference between people who joined Amway for the discounted prices and those who joined for the income opportunity but were unable to recruit? Everyone is bundled together so we will never know.
Dreambuilders’ impact on Sherri’s life was far less salutary. Its most tangible financial effect was the used car she had bought with Josh’s advice, which came complete with a weird smell and a glove compartment that didn’t close. But Sherri felt that she had undergone a profound psychic transformation. “Before Amway,” she would say, “I just wasn’t thinking!” Her new clarity made her scornful of mass pursuits: When the E2020 staff went to a Cubs game, she could hardly believe that people would waste their time that way. (Josh counseled her to just sit next to strangers and mingle.) Her “j-o-b,” even with a promotion to Internet Expert, certainly didn’t interest her anymore: She wanted to spend the whole day talking about The Business.[14] And she now regarded unambitious co-workers, family, and friends as, in Scott Coon’s words, “slugs.”
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Photos: 2-day old baby boy found abandoned on Lagos street
Admin on Wed Mar 11, 2015 11:14 am
A 2-day old baby boy was found on Sunday March 8th after he was abandoned in a kiosk on Marina street close to Wema Bank Plc in Lagos Island. The baby who has since been named after late philanthropist Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas, was found by a good Samaritan, Dr Oscar Odiboh who runs the Afribaby Initiative, a non-governmental organization.
According to Punch, Dr. Odiboh (pictured above), said he got a call from some people that a baby has been abandoned on the streets in Marina...
"I got a distress call on Sunday that a baby had been abandoned by the roadside at Marina. I left everything I was doing and rushed to the scene. While I was heading for the scene, I contacted the police and some medical personnel to be on standby. On getting there, I discovered that the baby was abandoned inside a kiosk. People were gathered and just watching, cursing the mother. Nobody dared to go near the baby. A few minutes after I got there, the police arrived and I was allowed to carry the baby. We took him to the station and I handed him over to the family support unit of the police at the Adeniji Adele Police Station.” He said
On why the baby was named Molade Okoya-Thomas, Dr Odiboh said
“Knowing that the police would transfer the baby to the appropriate government agency, and in order to create an identity for the baby, I decided to name him after Chief Okoya-Thomas. Coincidentally, I was wearing one of his burial attires on that day and the baby, who we have adjudged to be about two days old, might have been born the same day he was buried.
The baby has now been transferred to the Office of Youth and Social Development where he is said to be doing very well.
» DJ new IPO Hikkaduwa
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Report from the SHIFT Festival of American orchestras
Three colorful handkerchiefs from the SHIFT Festival
The SHIFT festival, a celebration of American orchestras at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., just completed its second year with four orchestras taking part in the weeklong festivities. I got the opportunity to hear three of the orchestras, because Music Critics Association of North America (MCANA) held its annual meeting during the festival period (April 9-15). So I enjoyed three concerts at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall by the Albany Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra (I missed the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, which performed earlier in the week).
The SHIFT festival, co-presented by the Washington Performing Arts and the Joh F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, is very similar to the Spring for Music festival, which was held at Carnegie Hall from 2011-2014 in that the participating orchestras must fund their own way to the festivals and the main concert has a flat fee of $25 for all tickets. However, there are a couple of differences. The Spring for Music festival required that each orchestra sell 800 tickets for the concert whereas the SHIFT festival makes no such requirement. Also, the SHIFT festival asks that each orchestra give two or three “residency” performances in the Washington D.C. community. That does not mean that the entire orchestra has to play. It means that ensembles from the orchestra can do so.
On Thursday, April 12th, I heard the Albany Symphony’s new music ensemble, Dogs of Desire, give a residency performance at the Bind Whino SW Arts Center. The 18-member ensemble teamed up with vocalist Theo Bleckmann for an amplified jazz-blues-rock-pop-inflected cycle of songs by Kate Bush, Andrew Norman, Ted Hearne and others. Albany’s music director, David Allen Miller, conducted that sonic exploration as well as the entire orchestra on Wednesday, April 11th, at the Kennedy Center in a program of new works by Joan Tower, Michael Daugherty, Dorothy Chang, and Michael Torke. Pianist Joyce Yang was the featured soloist in Tower’s “Still/Rapids” and Torke’s “Three Manhattan Bridges.” Carol Jantsch, principal tubist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, took the spotlight in Daughtery’s “Reflections on the Mississippi” and three children’s choir collaborated with the instrumentalists to present Chang’s inspiring “The Mighty Erie Canal.”
The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra took the stage at the Kennedy Center on Friday (April 13th) under the baton of its music director Krzysztof Urbanski, who chose a program of works from his native Poland. He started with a mesmerizing “Orawa” for string orchestra, based on Polish folk dance by Wojciech Kilar. Then things got deeper with an amazing performance by Alisa Wellerstein in Witold Lutoslawski’s Cello Concerto, followed by Krzysztof Penderecki’s “Credo.” The Penderecki piece took up almost all of the real estate with a large orchestra, five soloists, the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir, and the Indianapolis Children’s Choir. The soloists, soprano Erin Wall, mezzos Renee Tatum and Alyssa Martin, tenor Thomas Cooley, and bass Liudas Mikalauskas, sang with commitment, but Cooley pushed his voice out of bounds on some high notes.
One of the best things about the National Symphony Orchestra’s concert was the number of youth in the audience. It looked like at least a third of those in attendance were in college or high school. Music director Gianandrea Noseda put together a tribute to the great Russian baritone, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, who had been originally scheduled for the concert. Each of Noseda’s selections had a strong Russian-Italian connection. First was Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella” after Pergolesi with soprano Madison Leonard,tenor Rexford Tester, and bass Andrew Bogard. Next came Balakirev’s “Islamey” in the arrangement by Casella with a very-full-sized orchestra (8 bass violins) that sort of blurred the tones when the full contingent was going a top speed. That was followed by five of Rachmaninov’s “Etudes-Tableaux” in an arrangement by Respighi. The musicians excelled the most with the Rachmaninov, conveying sounds from the soothing seashore, a lively fair, a funeral march, a lively Little Red Riding Hood and a howling wolf, and a high-stepping march to wind things up.
For the reviews of these concert, I gladly refer you to those posted by my colleagues in the Classical Voice of North America.
In the meantime, the SHIFT Festival is going to take a year off and resume in 2019. Hmm... maybe the Oregon Symphony could make an appearance in the near future...
bob priest said...
Thanx for the report!
Ah, Lutoslawski's Cello Concerto is one of his greatest works. Hearing that years ago was what propelled me to contact him & eventually study with him in Warsaw over 30 years ago.
Organ Symphony needs to pipe up - Kwak splendid in...
Report from the SHIFT Festival of American orchest...
Bach's Mass in B Minor reaches heavenward in Trini...
The magical and the idyllic evoked in Oregon Symph...
Preview of Vancouver Symphony pops concert in toda...
Best new opera article in CVNA magazine
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North Korea will continue cyberattacks despite Sony hack charges, expert says
Thread: North Korea will continue cyberattacks despite Sony hack charges, expert says
KambingSociety
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/north-k...tinue-attacks/
North Korea in the news for hacking
Federal prosecutors have identified the man they say is behind some of the world's most destructive cyberattacks. The Justice Department claims a North Korean programmer, backed by Kim Jong Un's regime, conducted attacks that include the devastating hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2014.
Prosecutors believe the hacker lives in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang and is basically an agent of the government who pulled off some of the most devastating cyber attacks in the U.S. and around the world.
On Thursday, prosecutors detailed how North Korean computer programmer Park Jin Hyok and a team of co-conspirators committed a string of cyberattacks over the last four years, reports CBS News' Ben Tracy from Pyongyang.
According to the unsealed indictment, Park and other suspects worked as part of a state-sponsored hacking team. Prosecutors say they are responsible for the 2014 attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment in which thousands of employee emails, social security numbers, and financial records were leaked. The hack cost Sony at least $15 million.
The U.S. government believes that was in retaliation for Sony's movie, "The Interview," a comedy that depicts an assassination plot against North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
Park and his team also allegedly stole $81 million from a bank in Bangladesh and are charged with unleashing the WannaCry virus last year, which attacked computers in 150 countries in a major extortion scheme.
Eric Chien is with Symantec, one of the computer security firms that first pointed the finger at North Korea.
"The most concerning part is they're extremely unpredictable," Chien said. "Information in there about their infrastructure, their servers and the tools that they use are now compromised?They're going to have to basically start from the ground up and rebuild their capabilities again. But we don't expect them to stop."
It's unclear if President Trump has raised the issue of cyberattacks directly with Kim Jong Un. Instead, he has been more focused on trying to get North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.
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The Ghost of Tokyo Rose
Anyone who remembers anything about World War II, or has studied anything about World War II, will understand and remember that during World War II, the Japanese developed a way to demoralize the American forces. The Japanese psychological warfare experts developed a message they felt would work.
They gave their psychological warfare script to their famous broadcaster "Tokyo Rose" and every day she would broadcast this same message packaged in different ways, hoping it would have a negative impact on America and GI's morale.
What was that demoralizing message?
It had three main points:
1. Your President is lying to you.
2. This war is illegal.
3. You cannot win the war
Is it because
Tokyo Hillary,
Tokyo Harry,
Tokyo Teddy
Tokyo Nancy ,
Tokyo Durbin,
Tokyo Kerry,
etc. have all learned from the former enemies of our country and have picked up the same message and are broadcasting it on
Tokyo CNN,
Tokyo ABC,
Tokyo CBS,
Tokyo NBC,
etc., to our troops?
The only difference is that they claim to support our troops before they demoralize them.
Come to think of it... Tokyo Rose told the American Troops she was on their side, also.
Yup, sure sounds familiar to me. Only one they left out was Hanoi Jane.
Current Music: None
Current Gun: Para-Ordnance P14.45
More on Harvard Junk Science about guns
Since first posting my very amateurish attempt at showing how the Harvard study was flawed, (States With Higher Levels of Gun Ownership Have Higher Homicide Rates,) , Prof. John Lott has posted his own article on the subject. Suffice it to say, he does a much better job than I can. He also shows how the anti-gun "academicians" (and I use the term VERY loosely) have a tendency to not release the data on their "research." What's wrong Mr. Hemenway? Afraid we'll come to a different set of results?
Current Gun: Para Ordnance P14.45
Evangelical LGBT congregation snaps up extra elbowroom
By SHARON GITTLEMAN
MADISON HEIGHTS -
While some peg LGBT people as ultra-liberals in all aspects of their lives - from faith to politics, the Reverend Rick Green knows better. Green leads the Praise Fellowship Christian Church in Madison Heights, a conservative sanctuary that recently expanded to accommodate its membership's growth.
The house of worship more than doubled its size on Dec. 1, now taking up 2,800 square feet.
Another factor prompted the change - to ensure that its 40-member primarily gay, lesbian and transgendered congregation would have enough space to enjoy their religious-based social groups and gatherings.
"We have room for some children's programming," Green said. "We'll be having a healthy living group focusing on issues like diet and exercise."
Future activities include a spring conference about how to inspire the growth of churches and expand the Kingdom of God.
Praise Fellowship is protestant and affiliated with the Alliance of Christian Churches.
"Theologically, we're a little on the conservative side, with the exception of homosexuality," he said. "We believe in the inspiration of scripture. I guess you can classify us as evangelical. We believe in a personal relationship with Christ."
Some parishioners have made Praise Fellowship their faith home after experiencing gay bashing at other churches.
Green believes bible passages that appear to condemn gay sexual relations are misinterpretations of scripture.
"Most of the so-called clobber passages used to beat up on our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters are actually talking about pagan temple worship," he said. "In the ancient pagan fertility worship, part of that process was sexual relationships with temple prostitutes both male and female."
The verses actually denounce the exaltation of things other than God, he said.
"It's more an issue of idolatry," said Green.
While members believe the bible is the divinely inspired, infallible word of God, and those who die without affirming Jesus as their savior endure an eternal separation from the Almighty, they are not entirely accepted as part of the conventional evangelical movement, he said.
"For the most part, we don't have a lot of contact with mainline churches like the Baptists," said Green.
Worshippers will find a familiar service in an unusual setting - inside the Farnum Plaza shopping center.
"For some people, having a different environment is a good thing," he said. "We have people who are incredibly hurt by the traditional church."
Services include contemporary praise music played on the piano, guitar and drums, lead by a worship team, Green said. A message or sermon is presented, followed by time dedicated to praying for people's needs.
What is his church's best quality?
"Our people are friendly and kind," he said. "They never met a stranger. Anyone who comes in is welcome."
Women play a big role at Praise Fellowship, from helping lead prayers to performing music during the service.
Everyone is invited to participate in social activities, including picnics, concerts, game nights and holiday outings, like the one church members recently took to Greenfield Village.
Worship services are held at 10 a.m., on Sundays at the church, which is located at 27627 John R. Road in Madison Heights. Small home fellowship groups also meet throughout the community.
To learn about special events or to read the church's newsletter visit www.praisefcc.org or call (586) 201-7884.
I guess you could call this the "Gay" part of this blog. It is in my opinion, a good bit of news for the LGBT Community. So I thought I'd pass it along. It also takes place in Michigan, a happy circumstance, if I do say so myself.
Unfortunately for me, they're located near Detroit. Now if we could get one going somewhere near Lansing.
Current Music: Rob Zombie - Dragula
Current Gun: EAA Witness .45ACP
Mexico wants US Assault Weapon Ban reinstated
MEXICO CITY - The Mexican village of Zazalpa got a chilling lesson in American-made firepower recently. Homes, cars, everything was destroyed. Even the cows were shot.
About 60 Mexican drug smugglers rolled into Zazalpa, 300 miles southeast of Douglas, looking for a rival trafficker in November. They rounded up residents, then raked the empty village with American-made AR-15 rifles.
The destruction of Zazalpa is just one of dozens of unrelated drug skirmishes in Mexico with a common element: American guns....
We should make them a deal, they stop the illegal aliens from their side of the border, and we'll stop the guns from our side of the border. But I doubt they'll call it a fair trade.
Harvard Study on Guns: My final word...maybe
Regarding the Harvard paper that says: States With Higher Levels of Gun Ownership Have Higher Homicide Rates.
Ok, first a very kind Tim Lambert, (Thank you) sent me a copy of the Harvard paper, so I could evaluate it. However, not being college educated myself, I had to resort to my own research, based in part on theirs, in order to figure out what they were really trying to say.
In their report, they made references to several studies, books and other research. And one of the items they mention is the BRFSS Survey Results 2001 for Nationwide Firearms. According to their claims, the states with the highest rate (percentage???) of gun ownership, have the highest rates of gun (firearm) related deaths. In this respect, they are correct.
I went to the site for the BRFSS study, which is at the North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics. I'll grant, my "research isn't as scientific. Then again, my research wasn't funded by the Joyce Foundation either.
The states with the highest rate of gun ownership, did appear to have a slightly higher "rate" of gun death. However, typically, the physical numbers are significantly lower than those states with "lower" rates.
I ran California ,Illinois, New York, Alabama, Idaho and Wyoming through the CDC's WISQARS system. And I also got their rate of ownership numbers from the BRFSS study. In the table below, you can see my findings.
*=Death by firearm of all categories, i.e., murder, suicide, etc., etc.
**=Wyoming also has an F rating from the Brady Bunch, WAY TO GO, Wyoming!!!
You'll notice, just like the Harvard study claims, the states with the higher rates of gun ownership, have higher rates of firearms related deaths.
As our anti-gun counter parts like to point out in other examples (British and Australian crime rates since their gun bans went into effect, for instance.), percentage rates don't tell the whole truth.
In MY OPINION, I think basing this kind of research on a state level, is a mistake. It seems to me that the more sparsely populated states have a higher rate of firearms ownership. When looked at on a state wide level. It seems that county level is the best way to judge this sort of thing. However, I have to add this. I understand why they did it on a state level. The BFRSS report on gun ownership is on a state level, so I suppose they were constrained by that study with regard to their own. Still, it doesn't make their findings valid.
Then again, it's only my opinion.
And, as those of us on both sides of the gun debate are fond to quote, "there are lies, damn lies, and statistics."
Current Music: Wolfe Tones - Rifles of the IRA
Gun Facts, Part Six
Myth: Every firearm leaves a unique "fingerprint" that
can pinpoint the firearm used
Fact: "Firearms that generate markings on cartridge casings can change with use and can also be readily altered by the users. They are not permanently defined like fingerprints or DNA."23
Fact: "Automated computer matching systems do not provide conclusive results.”24
Fact: “Because bullets are severely damaged on impact, they can only be examined manually”.25
Fact: “Not all firearms generate markings on cartridge casings that can be identified back to the firearm.”26
Fact: The same gun will produce different markings on bullets and casings, and different guns can produce similar markings.27
Fact: The rifle used in the Martin Luther King assassination was test fired 18 times under court supervision, and the results showed that no two bullets were marked alike.28 “Every test bullet was different because it was going over plating created by the previous bullet.”
23 “Feasibility of a Ballistics Imaging Database for All New Handgun Sales”, Frederic Tulleners, California Department of Justice, Bureau of Forensic Services, October, 2001 (henceforth “FBID”)
27 “Handbook of Firearms & Ballistics: Examining and Interpreting Forensic Evidence”, Heard, 1997
28 “Ballistics 'fingerprinting' not foolproof”, Baltimore Sun, October 15, 2002
Just a little comment from me
Regarding my previous post about the Harvard Study:
Since I seem to have drawn the attention of Mr. Tim Lambert, for picking on a "scientific" study that he apparently favors, as soon as I get paid (this coming Friday) I will purchase and read the article in question, and then I shall render a more informed, though obviously, less scholarly review.
After all, I'm not college educated.
More Junk Science from Harvard
States With Higher Levels of Gun Ownership Have Higher Homicide Rates
For immediate release: Thursday, January 11, 2007
Boston, MA -- Firearms are used to kill two out of every three homicide victims in America.. In the first nationally representative study to examine the relationship between survey measures of household firearm ownership and state level rates of homicide, researchers at the Harvard Injury Control Research Center found that homicide rates among children, and among women and men of all ages, are higher in states where more households have guns. The study appears in the February 2007 issue of Social Science and Medicine. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.09.024
Matthew Miller, Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Injury Prevention at Harvard School of Public Health, and his colleagues David Hemenway and Deborah Azrael, used survey data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2001 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the world’s largest telephone survey with over 200,000 respondents nationwide. Respondents in all 50 states were asked whether any firearms were kept in or around their home. The survey found that approximately one in three American households reported firearm ownership.
Analyses that controlled for several measures of resource deprivation, urbanization, aggravated assault, robbery, unemployment, and alcohol consumption found that states with higher rates of household firearm ownership had significantly higher homicide victimization rates for children, and for women and men. In these analyses, states within the highest quartile of firearm prevalence had firearm homicide rates 114% higher than states within the lowest quartile of firearm prevalence. Overall homicide rates were 60% higher. The association between firearm prevalence and homicide was driven by gun-related homicide rates; non-gun-related homicide rates were not significantly associated with rates of firearm ownership.
These results suggest that it is easier for potential homicide perpetrators to obtain a gun in states where guns are more prevalent. “Our findings suggest that in the United States, household firearms may be an important source of guns used to kill children, women and men, both on the street and in their homes,” said Miller.
This study was supported by the Joyce Foundation.
All I can say is...BULLSHIT! To get the type of statistics THEY want to see, they divide the states into "quartiles." WHY? Because if they did it on an individual state level, or, as Prof. John Lott did, by county, they wouldn't get the "desired" results. Their desired results? They want to prove that more guns equal more crime, not less, as Dr. Lott has shown.
I also recommend you check out the Alphecca blog on this subject. I think Mr. Soyer says it more eloquently than I can. But then, I'm not college educated either.
Current Mood: Pissed Off
Labels: Opinion
Two Denver Nuggets players seeking permit to carry concealed
2 Nugs seek permits
Hodge, Evans filed paperwork to carry guns 2 months ago
By Cbs 4 News Reporter Brian Maass, Special to the News
A Denver Nuggets player who was shot nine months ago and traded this week was one of two Nuggets in the process of trying to obtain concealed handgun permits.
But apparently their desire to legally carry guns was not a response to the death of Denver Bronco Darrent Williams.
Guard Julius Hodge, who was traded Thursday to the Milwaukee Bucks as part of a multiplayer deal, and Nuggets forward Reggie Evans, began the process of trying to get permits about two months ago, well before the shooting death of the Broncos cornerback.
Asked about his application for a concealed weapons permit, Hodge said, "Who said that?"
Hodge did not deny applying for the permit but refused to answer questions about why he wanted to carry a gun. (For the rest of the story, click on article title.)
Ok, SO WHAT? What is the big effing deal? Two law-abiding citizens want to get a permit to carry a concealed weapon. WHO'S business is it, other than the issuing authority? Yet, this reporter, Brian Mass, is trying to make it seem like a big deal.
Colorado needs to alter their law on CCW permits to make that info confidential, like it is here in Michigan.
And Mr. Maass needs to go find a REAL story to report on, not the private business of two law-abiding citizens.
Current Mood: Awake (at 4:00AM!!!)
Labels: gun rights, Opinion
Denied right to bear arms
Article Last Updated: 01/10/2007 11:32:15 PM PST
A few months ago, I made a life-changing decision.
After years of being a gun owner and an N.R.A. member, I decided to apply for a Carry Concealed Weapon (CCW) permit. The permit allows an individual to carry a concealed firearm on his or her person or inside of a vehicle. The reason for the permit is to provide law-abiding persons the ability to protect themselves and their loved ones in the event that a situation demands it. No one can be sure when such a situation will arise, a breakdown on a deserted highway or a car-jacking in a dimly lit parking lot, but regardless of the environment, crimes do take place and one should be ready for any possibility.
Being a resident of Lake County for 7 years and residing in a rural area such as Cobb Mountain with the local authorities at least 30 minutes away, I thought taking such an action to be appropriate. I had heard that Lake County Sheriff Rodney Mitchell believed that law-abiding individuals have a right to carry firearms and should be able to protect themselves if necessary, so I decided to file an application.
After completing the required two-day training session and an interview by a staff member of the Sheriff's Department, I was told that I would receive word on their decision in a few weeks or so. After a couple of months I received a disappointing letter from the Sheriff's Department stating that my application had been denied because "I was not a U.S. citizen".
I promptly wrote a letter of appeal stating that I was a Canadian citizen living here in the U.S. as a Permanent Legal Resident for 24 years now and I supplied them with the documentation to prove my claim. However, my application was still denied.
Now I know that the State of California has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the country and acquiring a CCW permit here can be quite a task, but according to the representative that I spoke with at the California Department.of Justice in Sacramento, Legal Permanent Residents are treated no differently from citizens when it comes to firearm ownership and are issued CCW permits on a regular basis. In fact in most counties, in most of the states in the country, CCW permits are issued on a regular basis to Legal Permanent Residents.
After further research, I discovered that even though Lake County approves many more CCW applications than other counties such as Sonoma or Napa, they seem to have a reputation for denying ordinary individuals permits on the basis of not "being a longtime resident", or not being "a prominent member of the community". It seems to be part of a "good old boy mentality" that still exists in various communities in California where friends, relatives or neighbors are granted permits by the local agencies while the common everyday person is considered an outsider and is denied their rights. (Unfortunately in California the final decision is left up to the issuing agency and an application can be denied for any reason that they deem fit).
I see this whole experience not as a negative one but as an awakening to become more politically active in the drive to allow people "the right to bear arms". Individuals who apply for CCW permits are aware of the civil and criminal responsibility that goes along with using lethal force to protect one's life and take this responsibility very seriously. Criminals, however, are not inclined to apply for permits [thereby] subjecting themselves to fingerprints and background checks but they will carry weapons illegally and will commit crimes with them.
I encourage anyone who is a firearm owner or a person who is concerned about constitutional rights to challenge elected officials and representatives and perhaps one day California will become a "right to carry" state.
David W. Adams
Unfortunately, this is what can happen when you live in a Socialist state, such as California. EVEN when the person is charge is said to believe in the "Right to Bear Arms." It just goes to show, bigotry is STILL alive and well in the Lake County California Sheriff's office.
If Mr. Adams lived here in Michigan, he could not be turned down for a Concealed Pistol License, just because he's from Canada. As long as he's a legal resident, without any felony convictions, and no other disqualifying problems, the authorities here would HAVE to issue him a permit.
What a difference a few thousand miles and 3 time zones can make.
Labels: gun rights
General Wants Gay Ban Lifted
In an op-ed published in Tuesday's New York Times, John M. Shalikashvili, retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says Congress should give "serious reconsideration" to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the ban on openly lesbian, gay and bisexual military personnel. Shalikashvili, who supported the ban on open service in 1993, writes that "I now believe that if gay men and lesbians served openly in the United States military, they would not undermine the efficacy of the armed forces," and goes on to say that "Our military has been stretched thin by our deployments in the Middle East, and we must welcome the service of any American who is willing and able to do the job."
"'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' is out of step with both the American public and those within our armed forces," said C. Dixon Osburn, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN). "The counsel of military leaders increasingly supports repeal of the law. Congress must, as General Shalikashvili urges, consider the overwhelming evidence of the past fourteen years. If they do, the clear answer is that we must lift the ban."
Labels: civil rights
70 Million More Guns…38% Less Violent Crime
Data released by the FBI on Monday showed that in 2005, the nation’s total violent crime rate was 38% lower than in 1991, when violent crime hit an all-time high. Rates of the individual categories of violent crime were also much lower in 2005 than in 1991. Murder was 43% lower, rape 25% lower, robbery 48% lower, and aggravated assault 33% lower. The FBI’s report came on the heels of a Bureau of Justice Statistics crime survey that found that violent crime was lower in 2005 than anytime in the survey’s 32-year history.
Defying the anti-gunners’ claim that more guns means more crime, from 1991-2005 the number of privately owned guns increased by more than 70 million....(To read the rest, click on the title of this article, it will take you to the NRA's full article on this very important info)
Yup, that's right, 70,000,000 more guns equals 38% less crime. Sounds incredible doesn't it? I mean, the anti-Freedom crowd is always telling us "there are too many guns on the street." Problem is, they REFUSE to distinguish between legally owned guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens, and guns in the hands of criminals.
Oh, and guess where the highest murder rate is? Yup, the murder capitol of the USA, is the Capitol of the USA, Washington, D.C. A city with some of, if not the toughest anti-gun laws in our country, and yet, murder and mayhem continue unabated in this city.
Don't you think it's time something that has proven to be effective, should be tried in our nation's capitol, to stem the tide of crime? Yes, I referring to Right To Carry. I think it's past time when the handgun ban should be lifted, and concealed pistol licenses should be given out as in any other shall issue state. They've tried outlawing guns, and it doesn't work. The statistics PROVE that, beyond a shadow of a doubt. How about we go with something proven by FBI statistics to work, legal, concealed carry.
It's an idea who's time has come, and is still waiting to be implemented.
Concealed gun era under way in Kansas
State is the 47th to have a conceal-carry law. Applicants must undergo training.
By LAURA BAUER and BENITA Y. WILLIAMS
The Kansas City Star
Today, Kansas will begin issuing permits to the nearly 3,000 Kansans eligible to carry concealed weapons in the state.
On Monday, Kansas became the 47th state to adopt a conceal-carry law, with permits available on the first business day of the new year. Because of the day of mourning Tuesday for former President Gerald Ford, the first wave of successful applicants had to wait until today to pick up their permits at Department of Motor Vehicles driver’s license offices.
Just after Christmas, the Kansas attorney general’s office mailed approval notices to 2,981 residents who had requested a permit by Oct. 31.
Others, who completed applications later, must wait a few weeks before they are notified.
More than 4,800 Kansans have applied to carry concealed guns, state officials say, and most have been approved.
“We’ve been working hard to get the notifications out,” said Chuck Sexson, director of conceal-carry services. “It’ll be pretty busy in our shop for the next few weeks.”
The office still must release a guide for law enforcement agencies on the procedures that licensees must follow.
Earlier this year, Attorney General Phill Kline approved a sign for establishments to post if they don’t want concealed weapons on the premises. Concealed weapons will not be allowed in libraries, courtrooms, government buildings, schools, bars, sporting events, places of worship and buildings that post the approved sign.
The application period began in July, and law enforcement officials across the state are beginning to see an upswing in applications.
“I imagine at least for another year we’ll still get a high level of traffic,” said Deputy Tom Erickson of the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department.
Initial predictions had 20,000 to 48,000 Kansans seeking permits in the first four years.
Before they can get a permit, Kansans must pass a background check and take a training course.
The training prepares people to know when a shooting would be justified.
“It’s not like you just sign up and here’s your permit,” said Ed Daniels, a certified firearms instructor from Olathe who has provided training for conceal-carry permits.
In the eight-hour course, students learn everything from breaking down a gun and cleaning the parts to firing the weapon properly and knowing where the guns are allowed. Students spend time on the firing range.
“A lot of the people who take the class have backgrounds in shooting as hobbyists,” Daniels said.
To carry a concealed weapon in Kansas, you must:
•Be a Kansas resident older than 21, without a criminal history or record of multiple DUIs, drug arrests or domestic violence. Those involuntarily committed for mental illness or substance abuse are disqualified for five years.
•Take a certified conceal-carry training course.
•Submit an application to the local sheriff’s department along with a training certificate, a color photo and a $150 fee. You will be fingerprinted.
•Pass the application review by the attorney general’s office and the background check by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.
•Take your driver’s license and the approval notice you receive from the state to a Kansas Department of Motor Vehicles driver’s license office. An examiner will check the information and take your picture. You can have your conceal-carry status noted on your driver’s license or request a separate card.
Your conceal-carry permit will arrive in the mail within 10 days and is good for four years.
Current Music: No Music, watching NYPD: Blue
Evangelical LGBT congregation snaps up extra elbow...
Two Denver Nuggets players seeking permit to carry...
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Jereem cops Diamond League bronze
Jelani Beckles :: Newsday :: 30.05.2019
WORLD Relay gold medallist Jereem Richards copped a bronze medal in the third leg of the Diamond League in Stockholm, Sweden, earlier today.
Richards, running out of lane seven, grabbed bronze in 20.45 seconds in the men's 200m event. The race was won easily by Canadian Aaron Brown in 20.06 and Ramil Guliyev of Turkey took silver in 20.40. TT's Kyle Greaux also competed in the race finishing seventh in 20.87 running in lane one.
The medal was the first by Richards in this season's Diamond League after finishing fourth in leg one in Doha, Qatar. He did not compete in leg two in Shanghai, China.
The medal was Richards' second medal this month. On May 12, at the 2019 IAAF World Relays, Richards along with Asa Guevara, Deon Lendore and Machel Cedenio won gold in the men's 4x400m event in Yokohama, Japan.
TT's Jereem Richards
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Burkina Faso forces, jihadists execute dozens of civilians - HRW
Friday, 22 March 2019 06:01 GMT
ARCHIVE PHOTO: Huts in the village of Bagare, Passore province, northern Burkina Faso, March 30, 2016. REUTERS/Zoe Tabary
Burkina Faso has become the latest focal point for a determined regional jihadi campaign, seven years after well-armed Islamists took over northern Mali in 2012
OUAGADOUGOU, March 22 (Reuters) - Burkina Faso security forces have summarily executed more than 115 civilians since mid-last year during operations against Islamist militants who themselves have killed over a third of that number, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Friday.
Burkina Faso has seen a sharp rise in Islamist attacks in the past three months, as militant groups seek to increase their influence across the Sahel.
A Burkinabe government spokesman declined to comment, but said authorities would issue a statement shortly. None of the multiple jihadist groups operating in Burkina Faso could be reached for comment.
HRW documented "the execution by Burkinabe security forces of over 115 men accused of supporting or harbouring the armed Islamists", as well as 42 killings carried out by jihadists of suspected government collaborators.
All the violence occurred near the northern borders with Mali and Niger, between April 2018 and January 2019.
"Scores of people have been murdered," Corinne Dufka, Sahel director at Human Rights Watch, said. "Villagers are living in fear as both armed Islamists and government forces have demonstrated utter disregard for human life."
Burkina Faso has become the latest focal point for a determined regional jihadi campaign, seven years after well-armed Islamists took over northern Mali in 2012, prompting the French to intervene the following year to push them back.
However, any evidence of reprisals would present an uncomfortable dilemma for Western allies such as France and the United States: backing security forces in countries such as Burkina Faso is key to containing the Islamist threat, but that support is meant to be conditional on respect for human rights.
Burkina declared a state of emergency in several provinces in December following an attack by an al Qaeda-linked group. The state of emergency was extended by six months in January after an dozens died in ethnic violence triggered by the suspected jihadist killing of a traditional ruler.
Thousands of people have fled their homes as a result of militant attacks and reprisals by Burkinabe forces.
According to the HRW report, in the village of Gasseliki, about 230 km north of the capital Ouagadougou, jihadists killed 12 people.
"They kicked the door in, went room to room and found us hiding," the report quoted a witness as saying. Reprisals by security forces were mostly carried out by a detachment of about 100 gendarmes, or military police, based in the town of Arbinda, since late August, it said.
Most were from the Fulani ethnic group, whom the jihadists have targeted heavily for recruitment.
Earlier this month, Burkina Faso acknowledged accusations of abuse, saying the army was committed to human rights and that it "investigations are ongoing into the facts".
(Reporting by Thiam Ndiaga; Writing by Juliette Jabkhiro; Editing by Tim Cocks and Alison Williams)
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HACC Announces Honorary Co-Chairs for 50th Anniversary Celebration
HARRISBURG, Pa. – Fifty years ago, on Feb. 14, 1964, HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, was established as the first community college chartered in Pennsylvania. As HACC kicks off its year-long 50th anniversary celebration, the College is pleased to announce four renowned individuals will serve as the honorary co-chairs.
Dorothy Byrne, an internationally acclaimed opera singer; Pedro Cortés, a former secretary of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania; Velma Redmond, vice president, general counsel and secretary of Pennsylvania American Water; and Peter C. Wambach, retired Pennsylvania state representative, will support the College in its efforts to recognize the significant milestone through public events, fundraising and more.
“HACC is honored to have Ms. Byrne, Mr. Cortés, Ms. Redmond and Mr. Wambach serve as honorary co-chairs,” said HACC President John J. “Ski” Sygielski, Ed.D. “They represent the best of HACC, as alumni and board members, and through their professional leadership and service to the community.”
Over the course of the year, the honorary co-chairs will participate in upcoming events such as ReDISCOVER HACC, a week-long opportunity (April 21-25) for the public to visit the five campuses for presentations, tours and lectures; seek sponsorship opportunities to raise money for student scholarships; and generate awareness of the College.
Dorothy Byrne, a 1973 graduate of HACC, is well-known all over the world for her opera singing. The artist earned a Grammy nomination for her work in Glimmerglass Opera’s recording of “The Mines of Sulphur” and is a sought-after international trainer and speaker. A mezzo-soprano, she has performed with many companies, including the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and Houston Grand Opera. Byrne has been profiled in Opera News and served as a master class technician for McGill University, Boston Lyric Opera and San Francisco Opera’s prestigious Merola Program.
Pedro Cortés, who served as secretary of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania for seven years, was the first confirmed Latino cabinet member and the longest serving secretary of the commonwealth in Pennsylvania history. During his tenure as the state’s chief election official, the department successfully administered 15 primary and general elections and implemented the Help America Vote Act.
A lawyer by training, Cortés was previously the senior advisor for Latino Affairs to three Pennsylvania governors. He also served HACC through his role on the Board of Trustees.
Today, he is a partner with the Pennsylvania law firm of Haggerty, Goldberg, Schleifer & Kupersmith (HGSK), overseeing an office that helps families who have recently suffered a tragedy by putting them in contact with social service organizations, government agencies and other entities that can provide support.
Velma Redmond serves as divisional general counsel for American Water and leads the company’s legal department in four states. She is vice president, general counsel and secretary of Pennsylvania American Water. Prior to joining American Water, Redmond served Pennsylvania in various roles, including as chief counsel of the Department of State, chief counsel of the Independent Regulatory Review Commission and assistant counsel and assistant attorney general.
The first African-American woman to chair the HACC Board of Trustees, Redmond served on the Board of Trustees for many years. Additionally, she was a member of the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges.
Redmond is active in numerous professional organizations. She has been honored many times for her dedication to the community, including the honorary doctor of public service from HACC in 2007.
Peter C. Wambach, a member of the first incoming class at HACC in 1964, credits the College as being the pivotal turning point in his life.
“HACC created the pathway for me to attend an affordable institution of higher learning, which otherwise would have been unattainable,” said Wambach.
The retired state representative dedicated more than 35 years to serving Pennsylvania. He represented the 103rd District in the House of Representatives and authored drug and alcohol treatment laws that have served more than 500,000 people since 1986. He wrote the Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law, which protects those who expose wrongdoing in state and local government. For 12 years, he also served as executive director of the Bipartisan Management Committee in the state house.
For more information on the 50th anniversary celebrations, please visit www.hacc.edu/anniversary.
HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, offers more than 150 career and transfer associate degree, certificate and diploma programs to more than 20,000 students at five campuses in Gettysburg, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Lebanon and York and through virtual learning. In addition, HACC serves more than 29,000 students in noncredit workforce development, public safety, adult basic education and continuing education programs offered at all campuses and off-site locations in many communities in Central Pennsylvania. For more information about how HACC is uniquely YOURS, visit www.hacc.edu.
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OxHRH Annual Report
U of OxHRH Journal
Oxford Pro Bono Publico
History and Impact
Working with OPBP
OPBP
The Forgotten Asylum Seekers of Calais and Dunkirk
Emilie McDonnell - 15th August 2018
Migration Asylum and Trafficking
Since the closure of the ‘Jungle’ in October 2016, the asylum seekers and refugees that remain in Calais, Dunkirk and other areas along the Northern French coast in desperate and inhumane conditions appear to have been forgotten, no longer attracting our attention. In June 2018, I volunteered in Calais and Dunkirk with Oxfordshire Refugee Solidarity where we partnered with Care4Calais to distribute food, water and essential items to those living there.
Despite the Jungle being closed over 2 years ago, around 1,000 asylum seekers and refugees still live in informal refugee camps in Calais and Dunkirk, without adequate shelter or proper access to drinking water, showers or toilets. They live in tents in the woods or under bridges, bathing in polluted rivers and lighting fires to keep warm.
Those I spoke to reported violence, harassment and abuse by the French police, including beatings, destruction of mobile phones, tents and sleeping bags being burnt or urinated on, as well as a new tactic where the police take just one shoe to prevent them running away.
Despite this dismantlement campaign, asylum seekers continue to arrive. Some are attempting to reach the UK, while others are unsure of their next steps; living a life of limbo. One man had told the French authorities that he wished to apply for asylum in France but was told to go to the informal Kurdish camp and wait until further notice. Some have returned to the area after being transferred back to the first country they reached in the EU pursuant to the Dublin Regulation, or even after being deported back to their state of origin; risking the arduous journey again.
The asylum seekers living in the camps are from all over the world, including Afghanistan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Syria, and Pakistan, and include men, women, and children. Many of the children are unaccompanied young males, having taken the journey to France alone. The youngest asylum seeker I met was a 20 month-old Kurdish girl, living in the woods with her mother and father. Just days after I met this family, the camp where they were living was cleared by the French authorities and 336 people were transferred by bus to French accommodation centres.
As stated by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants:
“Migrants, regardless of their status, are entitled to human rights without discrimination, including access to adequate housing, education, healthcare, water and sanitation as well as access to justice and remedies. By depriving them of their rights or making access increasingly difficult, France is violating its international human rights obligations.”
Instead, France has been depriving them of their rights, through neglect, police violence, and attempts to criminalise aid workers and ban food distributions. At every aid distribution we carried out, the police turned up and watched us in their vehicles, in an attempt to intimidate and deter. The behaviour of the French police and inaction by the French government has faced strong criticism from Human Rights Watch and several UN Special Rapporteur’s have urged the French government to provide access to safe drinking water and sanitation along the Northern French coast.
The UK also bears responsibility. Notably, the border wall at Calais is funded by UK money and the UK operates its border control from the French side. It is at least arguable that these juxtaposed border controls and UK funding amounts to the UK exercising some control over the territory and people there, such that it owes protection obligations to the asylum seekers in Calais and Dunkirk. Recently, the UK pledged an additional £44.5 million for extra security measures in France and pursuant to the new treaty, has agreed to accelerate asylum procedures to provide a legal route to Britain, including for those seeking to rejoin family in the UK and unaccompanied minors.
The ongoing situation in Calais and Dunkirk starkly highlights the need for cooperation and responsibility sharing; not to deter migrants, but to allow them to access asylum procedures and safe and legal routes. The asylum seekers and refugees that remain may be out of sight, but they will not be forgotten. They deserve our humanity and compassion.
Emilie McDonnell is a lawyer from Australia with a background in refugee and human rights law and a Research Associate for the OHRH. Emilie is currently on the MPhil in Law at Oxford, having read the BCL (Dist). She holds a BA and LLB (1st class) from the University of Tasmania and is the 2016 Tasmanian Rhodes Scholar.
Emilie McDonnell, “The Forgotten Asylum Seekers of Calais and Dunkirk” (OxHRH Blog, 15 August 2018), <http://ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/the-forgotten-asylum-seekers-of-calais-and-dunkirk> [date of access].
Asylum Applications Should be Judged on the Basis of Law not Religious Doctrine
Why Depriving Shamima Begum of her UK Citizenship Breaches International Law
The Indian Anti-Trafficking Bill, 2018: A Misguided Attempt to Resolve the Human Trafficking Crisis in India
Human Trafficking: The rise (and fall?) of the Strasbourg case law-Prof Marie Benedicte Dembour
OxHRH Associate Dr Cathryn Costello Wins Best Publication Prize
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BRAZIL, FURY, ANARCHY, ANGER, YOUTH, SOCCER: THE THRILL OF VICTORY, THE AGONY OF DEFEAT
It's late and I just got home, so not much time. Fortunately, I've been thinking of posting this piece and have it right here.
Capital is a big deal, World Cup Soccer is a big deal, repression is a big deal, resistance is a big deal, Brazil is a big deal, Revolution is a really big deal. It is all coming together this summer.
I could have searched for a nice ideologically correct or Marxist oriented article about all this, you know, that type of analysis.
I didn't.
Instead, I thought something from ESPN: The Magazine would actually be better as far as just giving a straight up feeling, a personal look, a relative non political (if such is possible) view on what is happening in Brazil and how it relates to the upcoming World Cup series there this summer.
I know some will complain about it coming from ESPN, but strangely, for the corporate type world of journalism, I find the writing in this hard copy mag to be some of the best around and often the politics ain't to shabby either.
Anyway, ready or not...
Generation June
Fury, anarchy, martyrdom: Why the youth of Brazil are (forever) protesting, and how their anger may consume the World Cup.
ESPN FC, OTL &
by Wright ThompsonPHOTOGRAPH BY LIANNE MILTON
Students demonstrated at Praça da Sé in São Paulo in June against a rise in public transportation fees, as anger swelled over the cost of staging events like the World Cup. Miguel Schincariol/AFP/Getty Images
RIO DE JANEIRO -- The journalists wait in a sidewalk restaurant, cinching tight the straps on combat helmets, screwing in filters to Israeli-made gas masks. Waiters in white jackets and black ties refill glasses and take orders, business as usual. They move easily over the cobblestones, not looking twice when a customer at one of the outdoor tables straps on body armor. A soap opera plays on a television inside the place. A block away is the famous Cinelândia, the square where Rio de Janeiro has protested for generations. A group of masked Black Bloc anarchists have gathered there, a few dozen for now. Down the alley, a group of policeman order McDonald's ice cream to go. Their bodies heavy with the menacing accoutrement of war, they delicately eat their tiny desserts.
The whole thing is sort of hilarious except for the incredible building tension. Everyone checks the time. I check it, too, and pull my own gas mask over my head, making sure the seal grips tight to my face, and will protect me if the police start firing tear-gas grenades into the crowd. Two hours remain until the march is scheduled to begin. This is Brazil at the end of 2013, a mix of violence and whimsy, of military helmets resting on tables at cobblestone-street cafes.
Anything could happen today, a late afternoon in mid-November. Both the government and the Black Blocs have authored stunning acts of violence. At the last huge protest, less than a month ago, at least one cop allegedly fired live rounds at the crowd. A bullet tore through the arms of a demonstrator. Later I'd meet him in the square and see one of the scars, a small one where the bullet entered, and a huge one where its exit basically exploded his forearm. The Black Blocs first appeared this summer, defending striking teachers against police violence. In the months since, they've gone too far, turning much of the nation against the anti-government protest movement by destroying banks and shops, burning cars and buses, even trying to lynch high-ranking police officers. People on both the left and right believe the government itself is behind the worst of the Black Bloc violence, so well timed was its arrival to suit the status quo.
We let our lunch settle and finish checking our gear. My translator, Flavio, looks a little pale. An anarchist who knows the photographer sitting with us told him there's a bad vibe in the air. "He feels like the cops are very aggressive today," a journalist named Patrick translates. "He thinks the police will start it."
Patrick grins wildly when he tells us about the past five months, almost pornographically detailing the Molotov cocktails lobbed by the protesters, and the tear-gas grenades fired by the police. He rolls up his pant leg and proudly displays a shrapnel wound on his left calf. A block away at Cinelândia, cops line the city council building overlooking the square, and guard the opera house which rises green and gold at the far end. Some carry assault rifles loaded with rubber bullets, others with Tasers, more with .40-caliber Taurus semi-automatic pistols. The Occupy movement hangs on to a corner of the square, one guy chained to a lamppost on day nine of a hunger strike, only the most radical protesters still sleeping there, ever since police banned tents in Cinelândia in October.
The continually building tension feels exactly like the wait before a big football game.
A 28-year-old sprite of a woman, known in the movement as Tinker Bell, stands on the steps of the city council office. She's in love with the man handcuffed to the lamp, known as Game Over, but their June wartime romance ended when he went back to his wife. The more energy Game Over loses, breathing heavy, blood pressure dropping, the more frantically Tinker Bell bounces around, her metabolism somehow mystically connected to his. She starts a chant that a small crowd takes up with her, the words echoing down the canyon of Cinelândia, where so many other prayers of the people have echoed through the years.
"There will be no World Cup! There will be no World Cup!"
Brazil's History of Protest
Brazil has grappled with growing demonstrations of public dissent as it prepares to host the World Cup. ESPN senior writer Wright Thompson explores the legacy of social unrest that shaped modern Brazilian society. (Photo by Lianne Milton)
World Cup Coverage
Bob Ley and Wright Thompson discuss Brazil
Keith Olbermann and Thompson discuss Brazil
Bennett: Watching the draw
Smith: Five things to see from the draw
Alvarez: Why Spain is hoping for the best
Explaining the draw and the mysterious Pot X
Team-by-team guide
ESPN Deportes: Historia de los Mundiales
A Copa do Mundo 2014 na ESPN Brasil
This story appears in ESPN The Magazine's Dec. 23 Interview Issue. Subscribe today.
THE OPENING MATCH is six months away now, and there's a weird energy in the streets of Brazil. It's palpable, the fumes of a nation's young people looking around for the first time and not liking what they see. Something is happening. A general sense of unhappiness hit the prism of June's Confederations Cup and turned into a laser, focused on corruption, and on massive public spending for a sporting event despite crumbling infrastructure and public services. In the middle of the tournament, more than a million citizens took to the streets on a single day. A poll said 75 percent of the population supported the protests. Demonstrators tore down FIFA banners and burned them. Police responded with violence, but the people didn't back down, and when the tournament ended, the laser focus didn't. There's really no way to know if the World Cup will come and go peacefully or if a million people will once again demand change. Last month, when I went to Brazil looking for clues about what might happen next summer, I found all the players assembled for a battle that happens over and over again. It's reborn in every place and in every time, yet it still manages to surprise us, whether it's the cafés of Paris in 1788 or the mountains of Cuba in 1957, or perhaps, San Francisco in 1967. Brazil in the shadow of the World Cup is one of those places, and right now is one of those times. The weird energy makes sense after a while: the alchemy of a dedicated minority of a generation first believing it can change a country, and being willing to derail the world's most famous sporting event to do so, set against the menace and authority of a nation willing to use violence to protect itself from the folly of youth.
Tens of thousands of Brazilians gathered in June 1968 to protest after a student's death. Folhapress
THE NEWS in the days before my arrival painted a picture of a modern nation unable to leave its past behind, as if the men and women coming of age were on a collision course with all the young men and women who have come before.
Next year is the 50th anniversary of the military coup that continues to haunt Brazil; in mid-November, the president deposed by the military dictatorship in 1964, João Goulart, is exhumed to find out if he was poisoned. He died in exile just as the dictatorship began to weaken in the 1970s, and rumors have always persisted about his death.
The past is literally being dug up.
Dispatches appear in the papers day after day. One morning at breakfast, the front page of O Globo features an enormous photo of the flag-covered casket of Jango, next to a story about a group of former President Lula's advisors finally going to jail for a sophisticated corruption scheme. Bear with a brief Brazilian history lesson: the left-wing Lula took office in 2003 and helped bring Brazil's economy out of a decade of doldrums, expanding the middle class exponentially. Lula himself managed to escape legal entanglement -- "Who am I to judge?" he said to the paper -- but the scandal indicted both his presidency, and his Worker's Party, which remains in power today. The ringleader of the corruption, José Dirceu, was a former guerrilla intellectual who fought to overthrow the dictatorship, which finally collapsed in 1985.
Dirceu took back his country and then he sold it.
The billions spent on World Cup stadiums sparked June's outrage over corruption. A law which requires local governments to balance their budgets was suspended for cities hosting soccer matches, clearing the way for huge public spending which allegedly lined the pockets of politicians. In Cuiaba, five public works projects were begun on the same day. None of them will be finished in time for the tournament. Three different government websites claim to offer transparency over the World Cup spending, which is a dramatic change from the past in Brazil, when no transparency existed at all. The problem is that the sites all have different sets of numbers for the same projects. It's all fiction. Nobody can really say what is being spent.
Hospitals and schools are falling down while stadiums are rising up. The government in Rio tried to demolish one of the best elementary schools in the country to make room for a parking lot near the Maracanã Stadium, where the World Cup final will be played. An upstart group in town called Meu Rio mobilized the neighborhood, setting up webcams to make sure bulldozers didn't sneak in under cover of darkness, finally stopping the project. Meu Rio puts watchdogs in all the city council meetings, holding officials accountable. People no longer believe in their political leaders. During the demonstrations of June, anyone carrying a political banner was forcefully, sometimes violently, removed from the streets by the protesters themselves. It was a protest against political parties, and something even more elemental: a protest against the way things work.
The United States has a military-industrial complex, and it's important to view political decisions through that prism. In Brazil, that same nexus of power and money has always been the government and the huge construction companies. The Lula government is often ridiculed for a multi-billion dollar scheme designed to re-direct the Sao Francisco River to help end a drought. The project became a black hole of tax dollars. The dictatorship did the same things with the public's money, including trying to build a road across the Amazon, only to see the jungle take back the road, mile after mile.
The four largest construction companies, called the Four Sisters, are Odebrecht, Andrade Gutierrez, Camargo Correa and OAS. In just the last decade, they've donated half a billion dollars to political campaigns, and a study showed that for every dollar donated, a company got back eight and a half dollars in public works contracts. The World Cup spending, and accompanying corruption, isn't an isolated event, but part of a pattern that extends across ideologies and governments. The construction companies got rich under the democracy which began in 1945, richer under the dictatorship that overthrew it in 1964, then even richer still under the democracy that replaced the generals in 1985. There is a website called "Who owns Brazil?" a transparency project trying to bring the hidden web connecting private corporations and public money out of the shadows. The protests that took place during the Confederations Cup in June, and that you might see again during the World Cup next year, aren't against a soccer tournament. They are against the entire structure of a society, against the issue at the core of so many other problems, and this fact alone almost guarantees a swift and violent repression.
The government is terrified of this movement. At one peaceful protest I attended in Rio, during which maybe 30 people gathered, the police put at least 500 officers in the streets. They sat on truck tailgates on nearly every intersection of the city center, feet dangling, eating box lunches and drinking juice boxes like heavily armed kids on a field trip. There were cops everywhere, including in a helicopter circling overhead. Somebody wants to make sure the public is afraid of even a small number of protesters.
The protest outside Brasilia's World Cup stadium in June was about much more than the World Cup itself. Gustavo Froner/Reuters
WHEN I LAND in Rio, I go straight to an Ipanema coffee shop to meet the young woman who founded Meu Rio. She's the first in a series of spiritual guides whose stories will make something as ephemeral as the hopes of a generation come alive for me. They are both the creators and the progeny of the energy felt on the streets.
Alessandra Orofino bounds through the door apologizing for being late, coming straight from a meeting, headed to another one when she's finished with me. She's tiny, with a mop of curly hair, and a contagious laugh. Like many of the new activists, her parents marched to topple the dictatorship in the 70s and 80s. She was born in 1989, the year of the first direct presidential elections since Jango was removed from power by the military. Her mom joined her in protest this June. Some people in the streets that month hadn't marched since the dictatorship finally collapsed in 1985, the old folks telling the kids the trick to tripping police horses: covering the cobblestones with wine corks. Orofino senses that her parents' generation spent so much energy fighting the generals that, once they'd won freedom, they didn't have any energy left. "Which I think is part of the reason you have so many people going out in the streets right now," she says. "There is a sense that the adults are not doing anything."
She noticed something was happening in June when 500 people showed up for a protest about a price hike for the busses. A year earlier, Meu Rio tried to get people in the streets for the same issue and could only manage 200. Orofino canceled a planned trip to New York, understanding something new was surfacing. The next protest, 5,000 people showed up. By the third day of the tournament, 100,000 people marched in Rio alone, and three days later, more than a million people protested government spending and corruption. The poor and the middle class marched together, even the young and the old -- a street coalition that has, throughout the history of Brazil, often signaled the end of one government and the beginning of a new one.
Orofino still hasn't made it to New York for her trip. She cannot imagine disconnecting from the feeling in the streets. "It's really magnetic," she says. "I can't leave Rio right now. There's too much happening."
Sitting at the coffee shop describing this magnetism, she bounces, giddy with excitement. She wheels around, looking for the waitress. There is something I must see, and, no, this cannot not wait.
"Let's get the bill!" she says.
She leads the way to a favela, a Brazilian slum, a few blocks away, and when we arrive, she points up, as if to say: I give you modern Brazil. The building in front of us looks like a modern train station, with an enormous façade, four or five stories into the sky, nearly as wide as it is tall. A tower rises even higher from the main building. It's an elevator to the favela. That's all the building is for. The government doesn't provide running water to the citizens of the favela, but they give them an elevator. Only a sliver of the red brick shanty homes built into the hillside is visible. Officially, the elevator is to give easier access to the favela, and it's just a coincidence that the building is exactly wide and tall enough to block out a mountain and all the poor people who live on it.
In the main lobby, there are only two actual elevators.
One is broken.
The floor of the building shines and glitters in the sunlight. She laughs, howling, her voice rising, incredulous.
"Marble," she says.
PEOPLE LIKE Alessandra believe these obvious injustices can be fixed, and this belief is present wherever young Brazilians gather. One night in São Paulo, I head over to the bohemian neighborhood of Vila Madalena to meet a group of young street photographers who've been at the front line of the riots since June. They crowd around sidewalk tables, still run through with adrenaline and fear from their first kiss of war, drinking ice-cold draft beer and smoking hash. An airy soundtrack of jazz seems to take the whole scene back in time, to every place revolutionaries have gathered in cafes like this one. The alpha dog of the street photographers is named Victor Dragonetti. Everyone knows him as Drago. He's 22.
Drago took the first iconic photograph of June: a cop, with blood running down his face, slumped near a wall, waving a gun around. Two things remain in the memory of everyone who sees it. A disembodied hand reaches in from the left of the frame, a people powerless to stop the madness gripping their society, and there is a look of pure fear in the policeman's eyes, a society powerless to stop the madness of its people. It's a photograph about the helplessness of actors once they've been assigned a role.
Drago is skinny, with a beard that doesn't fully connect to his mustache, and a rumpled coolness. Ask him his favorite book and he'll grin and say, "I play Grand Theft Auto V." He wears a plaid shirt, with a long chain for his medallions of a dragon and of St. George. Jack Daniel's neat is his drink, when somebody else is buying. He's the grandson of the best-looking whore in the blue-collar town of Belo Horizonte.
His life story mirrors that of his generation, cycling through alienation, anger and hope.
His father chopped sugar cane as an eight year old, living on his own at 13, begging for food. At 16, Drago's dad moved to the city, with no money or connections. He took a mechanics class to learn how to fix cars, met a woman, had a child, got divorced. Drago has watched his dad work every day, never managing to get ahead, never being able to buy a home or even a car. One afternoon at a trendy restaurant, Drago looks around and says that even if his father had money, he'd feel too insecure to eat here.
His mom's family had money, and a business, and they took out huge loans to try to make it bigger. They failed. Now only the debt is left, which he will inherit, his financial life ruined before he'd ever worked a day. His heroes, he says, are his mother and father, because they showed exactly how not to live.
June gave him purpose, and a voice, and Drago's life is changing because of it. Yesterday, the most important photography collector in Brazil bought 22 of his pictures. Five months ago, he was unknown, and now Drago's work is considered art, a rapid rise he himself mocks. Tomorrow, Drago finds out if he is the winner of the Esso award for photography, which is like Brazil's Pulitzer Prize. Eight people are nominated, and the other seven are established, well-known photojournalists. At the café, scabs cover both his arms. The stress of waiting to find out if he'll win the Esso has him obsessively scratching and pulling at his skin.
The waiters bring more beers, and a hot cast-iron griddle so the drinkers can cut their buzz with slices of grilled rump steak. Drago mans the tongs, turning the pieces until the fat renders, crisping the thin cuts of meat. The air smells like salt and beef. The other photographers crowd around. Drago raps in Portuguese, a song by a hip-hop star named Criolo, who's become the voice of many people in the streets. He tries to find an American song with the same message, something I'd know. Finally he growls: "F--- you, I won't do what you tell me! F--- you, I won't do what you tell me!"
The next morning, he steps uneasily into the light with a blistering hangover, wearing last night's clothes, his shirt unbuttoned, the sun shining on his dragon and his St. George medallion. He squints through sunglasses he borrowed from his girlfriend's sister, pulls a black fedora down low. A cigarette burns between his lips. Every few minutes for hours, he's been hitting refresh on his phone, reloading the Esso website, waiting for news on the contest. Now it has arrived. He dials his father, who still fixes cars and will one day leave this world as poor as he entered it. His dad answers the phone.
"I won the f---ing thing!" Drago says, his voice rising with laughter, his coolness momentarily discarded. He is quiet while his father talks, then he laughs again. Drago invites his father to the ceremony in Rio. There's a pause. No one is laughing now. His father is saying something from his heart. Drago finally replies.
"I love you, dad," he says.
This award-winning photo by Victor Tavares Dragonetti, known as Drago, captured the moment a wounded police officer pinned a protester and pointed a gun at the group that had just hit him during the June demonstrations. Drago/DOC Galeria
WE FOLLOW the youth, moving through fractured modern Brazil.
One strange day, I march across Rio, shadowed by riot cops with their fingers on the triggers of tear gas launchers. Then I drop my gas mask and combat helmet at a five-star Copacabana hotel, take a cab ride, give my name to a guy with a list and I'm backstage in the dressing room of Criolo, the rapper whose lyrics have inspired Drago. The open-air amphitheater is packed with young people hungry for his message.
Criolo himself took to the streets in June, finding his old childhood friends in his old neighborhood, and marching to the bus station, seeing the eyes of teenagers find strength in the famous rap star alongside them. "Each person in his daily routine starts realizing that they are not alone," Criolo says. "The routine massacres us. It's a miracle when we realize that we are still alive."
He leans in very close when he talks.
"Revolution happens every day," he says.
The sudden exchange of riot gear for a backstage floating with models and bottles of scotch is disorienting. I hang out in the hall, waiting for the show to begin. My translator stands next to me, a cool Brazilian unimpressed with most everything, until he sees a serene old man with dreadlocks inching past. His eyes grow wide.
"Milton Nascimento," he whispers. "A legend."
Before Criolo, there was Nascimento. He fought the military dictatorship with his music -- a weaponized falsetto. The dictatorship put secret police outside record stores to see which people appeared to like singers of his generation. Nascimento's songs give the history of the Brazilian protest movement. "A Student's Heart," one of his most famous, is about the funeral of a Brazilian student named Edson Luís, whose murder by police in 1968 put hundreds of thousands of middle class citizens into the streets, bringing down violent repression from the dictatorship. Seventeen years later, as the generals relinquished power and a protest movement demanded direct presidential elections, the same song provided the soundtrack for the millions of Brazilians who marched. The killing of Edson Luís was Brazil's Kent State, and Nascimento was Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
How can you run when you know?
Gallery: Em Processo, 2013
A series of photographs by Victor Dragonetti, who has been taking pictures on the front line of street riots in Brazil since June. Drago/DOC Galeria
WHEN YOU MEET the people on the streets since June, and those who marched after the death of Edson Luís, 2013 begins to echo 1968. The two generations of protesters share many things, but there remains a simple yet unbridgeable difference: Those who were young in 1968 are now old, and they know what time did to their dreams.
João Neto marched in 1968, and on this afternoon in São Paulo, sitting at a table for the lunch buffet at his neighborhood tennis club, he learns for the first time that his 16-year-old son, João Paulo, took part in the protests of June. A father both treasures and fears the pieces of himself that he sees in his son, and Neto knows what can happen. He was the martyr Edson Luís' close friend, and he was standing next to him when he got shot.
Edson Luís died in his arms.
João Neto remembers March 28, 1968, and all the events that brought him there. When Neto begins to speak, his son focuses on his father, eyes locked and intense. The noise of the restaurant fades away, until the whole universe exists in the words coming out of Neto's mouth.
He goes back in time, to the spooky waters of the Negro River. He grew up on its banks in the 1960s, surrounded by the Amazonian rainforest. He read the news that found its way to his frontier post office. It seemed like the world was about to catch fire, students taking to the streets. When he looked around, all he saw was endless jungle and a dark flowing river, and people who would live and die without ever believing that the facts governing their existence could be changed at all, much less by them. He needed to get out, and in 1967, he started college in Rio, working to pay his way.
That's where he met Edson Luís. Edson grew up poor in the Amazon, too, a shy boy, always hungry. Working in the cafeteria, every day he ate once with his friends, and then again in the kitchen, taking as much food as he could get. Their lives revolved around the cafeteria, especially for the poorest among them.
That's where Edson ate his last meal.
They'd been protesting continuing inequality and as the fourth anniversary of the 1964 military coup approached, they gathered at the cafeteria to take to the streets again. The police closed in to stop the protest before it began. Forty-five years later, sitting in a room that has gone from empty to full while he told this story, Neto takes out a piece of paper and draws the cafeteria and the location of the cops circling it.
The descriptions come in short bursts now.
Cops barged in the door, maybe 50, holding revolvers and nightsticks.
Someone shouted, "Run!"
He and Edson left their trays at the table and bolted for the door. Some students used trays as shields. Others flung them at the police. A student threw a rock, and an officer fired three or four shots into the crowd. Neto remembers the roaring bang, and when he looked to his right, he saw the blood spreading on his friend's shirt. Edson didn't have any last words, or speak any revolutionary slogans. He just moaned. Neto fell to the ground to help, and so much of Edson's blood soaked his shirt that he ran his hands over his own chest, looking for the bullet wound.
The body of Edson LuÍs is surrounded by other students after his death in 1968. UPI/CORBIS
Edson died with his eyes open. He was 18 years old.
They rushed their friend to a hospital a block away. An orderly tried to revive him, but the bullet had torn a hole in Edson's heart. His friends refused to take the body to morgue, scared the government would never release it, so they carried him to the state legislature, shouldering his bloody corpse past slack-jawed politicians and putting it on the heavy table at the front of the room.
They covered Edson's body in signs protesting the dictatorship. He'd died holding his geometry homework, so they rested that beneath his head. Fifty thousand people took to the streets for the funeral. Neto helped carry the casket. Middle-class citizens, who'd been quietly resentful of the dictatorship they'd once supported, rallied around the young mourners. In the fancy buildings of Flamengo, people threw flowers out of their windows in support. As the sun went down, people lit candles, so Edson Luís made his way to his final resting place past hundreds of flickering windows. The streets were full. Neto felt empty. Six days later, Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed in Memphis.
The history books in Brazilian classrooms describe the chaos that followed Edson's death. The middle class citizens went from supporting the students to joining them. Cops shot protesters. Some of those captured were tortured. Others just disappeared. On June 26, 1968, during the famous March of 100,000, musicians and movie stars joined housewives and students and nuns. In Brazil, the generals realized they had lost popular support, eventually responding with an end to even the appearance of democracy. They passed the famously repressive law, AI-5, which shuttered Congress and eliminated most rights of citizens, from voting to habeas corpus, plunging the nation into a period known as "the years of lead."
Forty years later, in 2008, the government dedicated a sculpture to Edson Luís. Many politicians and former guerrilla leaders showed up. Edson's mother, Maria, came from the Amazon, 84 years old and near death, and in all the photographs, her expression never changes, stern and hard, as if her son had only died a few minutes before.
Today, the statue is rusting and the base is falling apart after only five years, pieces ripped open by the humidity and the rain. On the main pillar of the monument, in white paint, one of the two major drug gangs that dominate Rio has graffitied a machine gun. On a recent day, people come and go through the plaza and nobody stops to look.
Drago has emerged as the chronicler of all that the youth rage against during 2013. Drago/DOC Galeria
THE GHOSTS OF 1968 have followed João Neto. For years after, he used the numbers of Edson's grave, 14-602, to play the lottery. He's taken his son, João Paulo, to the site of the former cafeteria, which is now a parking lot owned by the city of Rio. The place feels sacred to Neto, and he sometimes cries there. He shows his son the alleys where he ran from cops, and the church where he spent the night, drinking the Holy Water to quench his thirst.
João Paulo smiles.
He's heard the Edson Luís stories before.
"A lot," he says, laughing. "Many times."
Sitting at the table eating their usual lunch of rice, beans and steak, Neto now tells his son a story he'd never told him before.
He wore his bloody shirt -- soaked with the blood of his friend, Edson -- to the hospital, and the wake, and the funeral, and afterward, he went to his uncle's house in Rio to sleep, still wearing the shirt.
"What happened to you?" his uncle said.
"This is Edson's blood," he said.
He refused to let his aunt wash the shirt, and before falling into fitful sleep from which he's never really awakened, he put the bloody garment into a plastic bag. He buried it in a drawer in his home, and for decades, that's where it stayed. His involvement in the student movement followed him wherever he want, causing him to lose out on some jobs, stall in others without explanation. Eventually everything that happened to him could be viewed through the lens of 1968 -- measuring the facts of his life with the hopes a younger him had for it. One day, he reached into the drawer, took out the tan shirt with the brown strip, covered in dried blood. It was falling apart. He tossed it into a trash can, an exorcism of sorts. He fumbles through reasons why he threw it away, each answer getting a little closer to the truth, until he finally says, "It didn't make any more sense to carry the past."
Edson's assassination started a movement -- a boy evolving into an idea -- and the lives of those who were there in the beginning have fallen short of the promise of that moment. Something was born when Edson got shot, but eventually something died, too, a belief in what a generation could accomplish, which is probably why Neto swells when he hears his son talk about marching this past June, even as he worries, too. He looks at his son and sees what he used to be. Maybe his son can finish what he began. João Paulo is 16, the age when Neto moved to the city from the Amazon.
"Do you remember the 16-year-old you?" I ask.
"Perfectly," Neto says.
João Paulo argues with his father about the atmosphere in the streets in 2013, explaining that it isn't 1968 any longer, and that while some things are the same, many things have changed forever. He believes what he is saying, even as he is surrounded by evidence that he's wrong.
"It's a totally different moment," João Paulo says. "They are not going to kill me like they killed Edson."
Douglas Martins Rodrigues was 17 when a police officer shot him in the chest and killed him. Courtesey Martins Rodrigues Family
AN HOUR LATER, in a poor neighborhood in the far north edge of São Paulo, a mother who used to have a son opens the door to her home. The only difference between her and Edson Luís' mother is time. Her name is Rosana Martins. Seventeen days ago, she had a son. Douglas Martins Rodrigues was 17 years old and liked to change the color of the rubber bands in his braces.
Now only pieces remain.
Rosana picks up his worn backpack by the door and unzips it. In the front pocket, there's a flimsy umbrella. Another jagged breath escapes her lips. His cell phone is there, guarded by a SpongeBob case, and she caresses that. She pulls out his notebook.
Most of the pages are blank. She flips to the last assignment he ever did. His handwriting is neat, almost girlish. The ink is blue, filling almost one and a quarter pages with sentences written in English. Can I help you, sir? … Where could I get a bus/underground to go to a soccer stadium to see a match? … Oh, it's easy. You walk down this street/avenue two blocks. … I suggest you, first of all, a sightseeing tour. She stands there crying, and it dawns on me what he was learning to do. There was confirmation at the top of the first page, where he wrote the name of the assignment: World Cup in Brazil 2014.
The police shot Douglas in the heart as he walked to the corner store with his brother. An accident, they said, and the cop is being charged with manslaughter. The family said the cop approached Douglas with his gun drawn, pointed at the kid, the kind of pro-active violence human rights activists claim happens all the time in Brazil. The family thinks their boy's life didn't matter, just another poor kid off the streets. It's one more notch on the gun barrel of the government. They killed Edson Luís. They killed Douglas, and now his mother goes into his bedroom, where the closet still smells like teenage boy. She picks up a small T-shirt made for his 5-year-old sister to wear to the funeral. The little girl requested the phrase written on it: "Douglas has gone to live in heaven."
Rosana cannot let go of the knowledge of how he spent his last minutes. When the bullet hit his chest, the first thing he said was: "Why did you shoot me, sir?" He called his murderer "sir." In the ambulance, with only a few minutes to live, he kept asking why. He realized he was going to die and asked the EMTs to tell his family goodbye. His mother rushed to the scene in time to see the ambulance, but they wouldn't let her inside.
In his bedroom, she touches his last remaining inhaler.
He always struggled to breathe, suffering from asthma and frequent bouts of pneumonia. When he was a boy, she took him to the hospital, protected him, stood by his side during the scary procedures, comforted him when he struggled to take one deep breath. Tears roll down her face, so many it takes two hands to wipe them all away. In his final moments, as he died, he complained that he couldn't breathe, and his mother wasn't there to hold his hand.
People protested Douglas' death for a few days, even shutting down a big highway, carrying signs, but the anger faded. Nothing changed. Two boys were killed by the police the day after Douglas died and nobody protested at all. The history of Brazil, however, is clear on this matter. There is a line. One of these bodies will be a body too many, or one exposed corruption will be a graft too far, and the youth will fill the streets, and the middle class will support them, verbally at first, then side-by-side, a small protest of 500 growing exponentially in a few days until a million people march down Rio Branco Avenue toward Cinelândia.
Brazil is a spark away.
A SMALL GROUP of 25 or 30 Black Bloc protesters gather in Cinelândia and set off across Rio de Janeiro, carrying signs and a black flag. I strap on my gas mask and blend in with the anarchists. We walk for miles, surrounded by police, shutting down avenues and highways and a tunnel, the demonstration small and harmless and odd, yet always one hot temper from a full-on battle in the middle of the most famous beach in the world. The protesters hand out fliers explaining their actions. A man crumples the paper into a ball, throwing it onto the ground. A young anarchist runs back and picks up the flyer, staring down the man who discarded it. Over and over, the Black Bloc chant: "Come! Come to the streets, come!"
One person joins the march.
This generation found a cause, and they found each other, and they found a collective voice. If they haven't changed Brazil, they rattled it, but as 2013 bleeds into 2014, the momentum of June's Confederations Cup is fading away, and a fact is inescapable: They haven't changed Brazil. It remains corrupt. The police remain violent. The spark that will send a nation back into the streets hasn't arrived. But it's more than that. Because a trip to Brazil isn't simply gas masks and helmets. There are also sunsets, and laughter, and the white sand of Copacabana Beach. Many people are just excited for the bread and circus of a huge sporting event, and a growing middle class wants to protect a newly found entry into the consumer culture. A movement was born, but while it was growing, and then shrinking, many people their age wanted to play foot volley on the beach and drink frosty liters of Antarctica Original, to look toward the specifics of their own lives with hope and joy.
The remains of former Brazilian president João Goulart were exhumed in November to determine if he was poisoned during his exile in the 1970s.Jefferson Bernardes/AFP/Getty Images
Generation June is face-to-face with the realization that usually pushes people from the glittering hope of youth toward the dreary pragmatism of middle age: dreams don't always come true. In six months, they've lived an entire life cycle on fast forward, experiencing all the things that take aim at innocence, from fear to comfort, from cynicism to violence. "Here we have these students who are so full of hope that they can change the world," explains Julio Jeha, a university professor who marched against the dictatorship decades ago. "They are starry eyed. You look at them and think, 'Oh, my God, they don't know what they're up against.'"
Three days later, I sit in the office of Marcelo Freixo, the beloved left-wing politician who ran for mayor of Rio in the last election, taking on the powerful political machine of the ruling party. He lost but connected with young people, building the base of support. Freixo might be the future, and on the wall of his office, he keeps a window into the past: an enormous poster of the biggest protest march in 1968, prompted by the death of Edson Luís.
He says everyone is asking the wrong questions about the generation created by June, looking to see if any specific things have been changed, missing the fact that the most important change is the birth of the generation itself. Brazil took to the streets in 1968 but didn't topple the generals until 1985. Change takes time, but the agents of that change have been created. June not only birthed a generation of involved citizens, he says, but it convinced a country that the status quo might be vulnerable. June might have bridged the gap between what young people dream and what older citizens think can come true. Immediately after the protests of the Confederations Cup in June, the teachers went on strike and marched, braving police violence, pushing for change. The entire professional soccer league threatened to strike together if a delinquent club didn't pay its players, organizing for the first time in league history.
"There is a cultural rupture," Freixo says. "There was a common sense in Brazil that believing things in Brazil were unfair and would never be changed. After what happened this year, nobody says that anymore."
The next afternoon, on my last day in town, the Occupy movement packs up most of its outpost on Cinelândia. Some make promises about returning, and continuing the fight, but it sure looks like the end. Game Over calls off his hunger strike, eating an energy bar, then a hot dog from a vendor on the square.
Tinker Bell closes a rolling suitcase and stuffs a floppy straw hat into her "I heart Rio" beach bag. She is taking it back to her home in Copacabana. She carries the bag, and Game Over helps her, rolling the suitcase across the square. There is something profound about watching them leave, former lovers, disappearing into the crowd. Maybe they'll find each other again in six months, hardened and ready to change Brazil forever, or maybe this was just a fevered dream of youth.
What a rubber bullet did to a protester in June.Calé/Polaris
I'M STILL UNABLE to answer the question the people will inevitably ask when I get home: what's going to happen during the World Cup? Nobody knows, not even the actors. The essential truth of Drago's iconic photograph grew with each passing day in Brazil. Something's been set in motion, and nobody can stop it, or predict where it will go. Many different groups stand in opposition, but perhaps no conflict is more important than the one between the young people and themselves. Will they hold on to their belief? Or will it be ground out of them?
There's a moment I keep replaying from that night out with Drago and the young photographers. It's a cloud over everything I've seen since. We drank beer for hours, and the guys passed around iPhones, showing off their best riot shots. These were the last days of a spring that has given them purpose and hope, most for the first time. A 53-year-old photographer, Fernando Costa Netto, looked around at the young men and women in the cafe. An idea worked inside of him. Past midnight, the young photographers talked about changing the world, and the older photographers talked about being young.
"They think they are immortal," Fernando said.
He smiled, happy to feel the secondhand energy of the things they believe, melancholy he can no longer believe in those things himself. Long ago, he took his camera to Bosnia and the world he saw through his lens showed him the limits of both youth and his art. The heavy wheels of history roll over anything in their way, without pity or nostalgia.
"I thought I was immortal, too," he said. "Not anymore."
ONE MORE STOP back in time remains.
I take a taxi to the Saint John the Baptist Cemetery. The sun seems to rest on the shoulders of the Christ the Redeemer statue, which looks down over the graves from a nearby bluff. It is shockingly hot, soaking a shirt a minute out of the cab. This is where the young mourners buried Edson Luís all those years ago, where they left him when they passed through the cemetery gates to begin the rest of their lives. When I leave a half hour from now, I'll be shaken, trying to process what I learned. It's disturbing, both because of the facts hidden here, and because nobody in Brazil seems to know. For the life of me, I still can't figure out what to make of the discovery, whether it's "Ozymandias," an allegory about nihilism and decay, or a gospel, about the ability of an idea to survive even death.
I search for 14-602.
The grave is a drawer built into the back wall of the cemetery, a bright white glare in the sun, without any relief or shade. Dead vines hang down over the space. Something is wrong. I check the numbers again, and then check them again. The square marked 602 doesn't have a name. I knock against the concrete, and the space sounds hollow.
There is no body inside.
In the office, a bored-looking man goes to the back and returns with the heavy black book from 1968, flipping through yellowed pages … 55 … 56 … 57. He runs his fingers down the page until he stops: record number 3258, a student who was assassinated. The bullet entered the thorax, piercing the heart and the right lung. The record misspells his name and contains no contact information for his family.
I see why his grave was empty. Stamped on his entry are the words "Exhumed June 9, 1973." Five years passed and, per procedure, the cemetery wanted more money. Nobody came forward, and they didn't contact Edson's mother, so the cemetery removed his bones. They took them to an oven, incinerating Brazil's most famous student martyr, whose death changed a country, or maybe didn't change anything at all. They sealed the hole with brittle, quick-dry concrete, and they threw his ashes away.
Wright Thompson is a senior writer for ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine. He can be reached at wrightespn@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter at@wrightthompson. Flavio Ferreira contributed to this report.
Follow ESPN_Reader on Twitter: @ESPN_Reader. Follow ESPN The Magazine on Twitter: @ESPNmag. Follow ESPN FC on Twitter: ESPN FC.
In a show of social unrest, a man wrapped in a Brazilian flag sits among 594 soccer balls on the lawn of the National Congress in Brasilia. Wilson Dias/AFP/Getty Images
Leo Santana said...
exactly , the Issuer TV Globo call manipulates the people , I believe that an agreement with the Lula government has made the Olympics and the World Cup was ' thrown ' into the country, a great deal. Lula is too smart to accept two events of this magnitude , knowing that we are still a country with 13 million people living in poverty . Is suspected . Even though at that time , living a promising econimia , had principles , who are now sample for all Brazilians, and estrageiros hoping to see . Besides , a super - exploitation of the country , which suffocates its citizens ! the country is ' the most expensive in the world ' . To reach this stage , not only a substantive set of economic misconceptions was necessary. It took a lot of ideological blindness to swallow the mantra that our trophy "the most expensive in the world " was achieved exclusively through higher taxes and higher costs trabalhistas.Afinal , years of hard work allowed the Brazilians have the pleasure of paying twice on the same car that other mortals buy without much sacrifice. Besides pizza for $ 30 , dearest casolina . A mango that you take from Mango tree normaly, it costs $ 2 , which are subtracted , the poor wages of the Brazilian people , and that £ 675
No, my friends . Only in a world ( such that some liberals live ) without countries like France, Germany or Sweden Brazil had the highest taxes . If we compare ourselves to the U.S. , we see that the per capita tax contribution of a Brazilian ( $ 4,000 ) is much smaller than that of an American ( U.S. $ 13,550 ) .
All this in exchange for audience and false progress , because progress , private.
KARL MARX AND THE IROQUOIS - FRANKLIN ROSEMONT
TIME FOR A MILITANT RESPONSE TO ANTI-ROMA RACISM
BRAZIL, FURY, ANARCHY, ANGER, YOUTH, SOCCER: THE ...
NAZIS ATTACK ANTI-RACIST MARCH IN SWEDEN, BEATEN B...
PRIMO LEVI AND THE QUESTION OF "WHY"
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PANORAMA ON BBC EXPOSES "HOME GROWN" MUSLIMS
SENT TO SEVERAL DISCUSSION LISTS, WITH SPECIAL REQUEST TO List Owner, Hindu Maha Sabha as follows:- /// Sir,/// We have great respect for you./// In our eyes YOUR organisation is the counterpart of ALL-INDIA MUSLIM LEAGUE in 1947 that had SO MUCH POWER against our "windless bag" of Secularism on our own territory that they could most easily snatch FIVE PROVINCES from all the patriotic "forces" at the disposal of "Mother India", on ONE day (Aug 15, 1947). Thereafter they sent their "murderous aulaad" to invade the "abode of gods", KASHMIR. /// We notice that you have been rejecting our postings in the past, including those "harmless" and quite "non threatening" ones like the one below, taken from BBC direct, without any negative comment against India's HOME GROWN terrorists (who threaten us in Ayodhya) being added by us. /// Please do not stand between a Hindu and his AWARENESS. /// Due to this CRIME by our top leaders, the Hindus vanished from Pakistan within a few weeks. /// With great regards to your HINDU Spirit that ought to be the biggest DETERRENT to our ENEMIES both at home and abroad. /// ======================================= BBC, LONDON:-/// 21.08.05/// Muslim leaders 'in denial' claim/// Britain's most powerful Islamic body is "in denial" about the prevalence of extreme views among its members, one of its founders has told the BBC. /// The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) pledged to tackle extremism "head on" after the 7 July attacks in London. /// But in a BBC Panorama special, Mehbood Kantharia and other prominent British Muslims question the MCB's commitment to meeting this challenge. /// The MCB has branded the programme "deeply unfair" and a "witch-hunt". /// Secretary general Sir Iqbal Sacranie said Panorama had used "deliberately garbled quotes in an attempt to malign the Muslim Council of Britain". /// He said it had "the barely concealed goal of drawing British Muslims away from being inspired in their political beliefs and actions by the faith of Islam". /// "It is unfortunate that just when Britain's 1.6 million Muslims are beginning to make progress in terms of their political participation in the mainstream, there are those who are purposefully trying to sabotage that process," he added. /// Task force /// Mehbood Kantharia was a member of the MCB's central working committee between 1997 and 2004, but has since left the organisation. /// He told Panorama: "It is my personal view that because they are in a state of denial they cannot become real, you know, sort of like, forthright, really forthright about wanting to do something about the kind of extremism that prevails." /// We are confident the programme will be a timely contribution to the present debate /// Mike Robinson, Panorama producer /// Editor tackles Panorama 'slur' /// The MCB, an umbrella organisation of about 400 mosques and other Islamic groups, is seen as representing mainstream Muslim opinion in the UK. /// On Saturday the council said Mr Kantharia had informed it that his remarks were not referring to the MCB. /// But Mr Kantharia later said that while he had not mentioned the MCB specifically, his comments could have been interpreted as applying to individuals within it. /// "I think the MCB is overreacting in this matter," he added. /// MCB secretary general Sir Iqbal Sacranie was asked after the 7 July attacks to help set up a task force to root out extremism in Britain's Muslim communities. /// After meeting Tony Blair in Downing Street on 19 July he said: "The community is determined to deal with this issue head on." /// But an investigation by Panorama reporter John Ware found groups affiliated to the MCB promoting anti-Semitic views, the belief that Islam is a superior ideology to secular British values and the view that Christians and Jews are conspiring to undermine Islam. /// In an interview with Mr Ware, Sir Iqbal refused to disown a group known as Al-e-Hadith, which says the ways of Christians and Jews "are based on sick or deviant views" and that "imitating the Kuffar [non-Muslims] leads to a permanent abode in hellfire". /// Suicide bombers /// Commenting on the group, Sir Iqbal said "we must accept the reality" of the diversity within the Muslim community in the UK. /// He also praised the work of the Islamic Foundation, which promotes the teachings of Jamaa'at Islami founder Sayid Mawdudi. /// Mr Mawdudi wrote Islam was a "revolutionary ideology which seeks to alter the social order of the entire world". /// In a wide ranging interview, Mr Ware also tackled Sir Iqbal on his decision not to attend the Holocaust Day Memorial and his attendance of a memorial service for Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who supported suicide bombers in Israel. /// Asked what kind of signal his presence at Sheikh Yassin's memorial service sent to young British Muslims, Sir Iqbal said: "If your whole question is based upon one aspect of that person's belief in terms of supporting it, we look into the wider picture. The suicide bombing that you're referring to is one aspect of the whole struggle." /// But Sir Iqbal condemned suicide bombings by British Muslims anywhere and said there was no difference between the life of a Palestinian and the life of a Jew and that all life was sacred. /// In a separate interview, a senior spokesman for one of the MCB's main affiliates, the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), appeared to condone the glorification of suicide bombers. /// 'Witch hunt' /// Asked if describing martyrdom in Israel as "divine bliss" meant he was an "apologist for terrorism", Dr Azzam Tamini replied: "If you want to consider me so that's up to you." /// London mayor Ken Livingstone earlier this week accused the BBC and other media organisations of conducting a "witch-hunt" against the MCB, which he described as the "mainstream representative body of British Muslims". /// The MCB has made a formal complaint to the BBC accusing it of "blatant pro-Israeli bias" and "undermining community relations in the UK". /// In his letter of complaint, written before he had viewed the programme, Sir Iqbal said: "It appears the BBC is more interested in furthering a pro-Israeli agenda than assessing the work of Muslim organisations in the UK." /// He added: "The BBC should not allow itself to be used by the highly placed supporters of Israel in the British media to make political capital out of the 7 July atrocities in London." /// 'Timely contribution' /// In his response, Panorama editor Mike Robinson, said the programme examined questions "being raised by the Muslim community itself". /// "Despite some critical comments to the contrary, it is certainly not the case that nearly all the questioning of Sir Iqbal Sacranie was about Israel." /// He added that the BBC "rejects completely any allegation of institutional or programme bias" and he was "confident" the programme would be "a timely contribution to the present debate". /// The Panorama special A Question of Leadership is on BBC One at 2220BST on Sunday, 21 August. /// ==================/// Pakistan hangs Musharraf attacker/// A former soldier who was found guilty of conspiracy to assassinate Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has been executed. /// Islamuddin Siddiqui, 35, was hanged at dawn inside a maximum security prison in Multan. /// He was convicted for a failed assassination attempt on Gen Musharraf in December 2003 in Rawalpindi. The president survived two attacks within days of each other, both on the road between Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Siddiqui was part of a group involved in the first attempt, in which a road bridge was blown up using powerful explosives, but they missed Gen Musharraf's car by seconds. A military court had found Siddiqui guilty of conspiring to kill the Pakistani leader. 'War on terror' Siddiqui's appeals for clemency had been turned down by the military and by Gen Musharraf himself. His father and some family members were present outside the prison and were immediately handed his body. This is the first execution after several low-ranking army and air force officers were arrested for their alleged involvement in the two attempts on the life of Gen Musharraf. Many of them are being tried by two separate military courts. President Musharraf has been a target for Islamic militants since joining the US-led "war on terror" following the attacks of 11 September 2001. He survived the first attack on 14 December thanks, apparently, to electronic jamming devices which blocked a signal to a remote-controlled bomb. The blast destroyed a bridge minutes after his motorcade had passed over it. No-one was hurt. Eleven days later two suicide bombers tried to ram explosive-laden vehicles into the president's limousine, killing 17 people. .........................000000000
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Category Archives: rookie level
Ballparks used for Rookie League baseball.
chicago white sox affiliates, minor league, montana, pioneer league, rookie level
First game: July 5, 2013 (Great Falls Voyagers 7, Helena Brewers 1)
Maybe I was tired as I approached Great Falls: it was the last in a three-games-in-three-nights-in-three-cities stretch. While my family (my sons were 4 and 2 at the time) were game and had good attitudes, I think we were looking past this game to the sitting-down-and-doing-nothing-in-Glacier-Park
that followed. But Centene Stadium left me very little to like about it: it lacked both old-time charm and modern amenities. It was unattractive and an overall unfortunate place to see a game.
When I saw the ballpark on a map, I was intrigued. It looked like it abutted the Missouri River, and as I drove to the park and saw how we were at the top of a significant canyon, I thought there was promise for some views. But alas, the park is constructed in a manner that has literally no views from anywhere. You’re inside a fortress with four tall walls, and all that’s available is the stadium itself, which, alas, is hardly physically attractive.
There were some sweet moments that will cause my memory of Centene Stadium to be positive overall. We were greeted by a sweet
girl who I’d bet money was a prominent member
of her high school’s drama club. She sold me my program, and then told us that we got a free song with the program. That’s a pretty good deal. But when she offered to sing the Oscar Meyer Weiner song (since it was 50 cent hot dog day), I declined and instead asked her to sing “Bingo,” since my 2-year-old was a big fan of it. I was a little surprised she needed help remembering the words. Seriously: A farmer. Had a dog. The name is given in the title. The spelling isn’t tough. But she did sing it and my toddler enjoyed it, and I am thankful for that.
Both of my kids were then treated nicely in a trip to the dugout, where catcher Zach Miller and especially shortstop Tyler Shryock signed
my kids’ scorebooks and spent some quality
time talking to the kids. (Shryock had three hits and two RBIs. Happy to bring my kids back as good luck charms, Tyler.) Fist bumps, asking my kids if they were going to play baseball…and the like. That made me feel good.
Although Centene Stadium mostly fails the do-you-have-any-idea-where-you-are-in-the-US test (since we can’t see mountains or river or even buildings from the inside of the ballpark), there are a couple of areas where they do well. I was interested to see how the team handled
its rich history: nearly 20 years as a Dodgers affiliate, with nearly 20 years as a Giants affiliate before that. The history was there if one was willing to look for it. There were some old pennants honoring teams going back nearly a century near the entryway, and a brick baseball field made with donations from, if I recall correctly, the Great Falls Dodgers Booster Club. (Steven enjoyed running around that diamond, occasionally to the cheers of affable
locals.) But beyond that, there was little. The Voyagers name felt bizarrely out of place. It would work if there were a Lewis and Clark theme—indeed, would work especially well in the Pioneer League. But space travel? What in the heck does space travel have to do with Montana, or vice versa? The mascot, Orbit, is also therefore out of place.
Game presentation also left much to be desired: the game was viewed primarily as a promotions transference device rather than a baseball game. It was an interesting contrast to Billings the night before, where I felt they might not have done enough: here, we were worried about the ballpark going to the excesses of Missoula, which remains (alongside San Jose) one of the most unpleasant nights of baseball in my life. When the Voyagers had baserunners, the “ducks on the pond” were sponsored by AFLAC, and some fans busted out their duck calls. Pretty weak tie-in, and results in too-frequent annoying sounds. At another point, there was a request over the PA: “Grounds crew, can we have the lights please?…[pause]…This request was brought to you by Suchandsuch Electric…” Really? Also, rather than just announcing names, the PA guy went overboard, shouting
“All right!” and “Nice hit!” and other vapid statements. The cheerleader PA guy is another of my pet peeves. Do the Voyagers really believe their fans are so stupid as to need to be told this?
When all was said and done, the promotions seemed to ease up a little as the game went on, so we were still able to get in a nice night of baseball—the game operations didn’t
totally trip over their own feet. But I would still like to see the whole experience toned down just a notch. Maybe this will take place if the Voyagers ever leave this ugly spot.
It’s funny: there are old ballparks in the minor leagues that I enjoy for their oldness. In some ways, I miss Eugene’s old Civic Stadium, and when the Brewers leave Helena (as seems inevitable) for some gleaming new ballpark by a river somewhere, that will be a loss as well as a gain. But Centene felt like it gave all of the negatives of an old ballpark with none of the positives. I believe the team and its fans could do far better.
Regional feel: 5/10
That’s the General Mills factory next door to the ballpark. Normally, this would be a strong advantage in the is-there-any-question-where-you-are test. However, when in the ballpark, it is literally impossible to see outside of it: no mountains, no river, no factory…no Montana at all. The sense of Montana baseball history in the ballpark is nice, and saves this from an even lower score.
Charm: 2/5
The ballpark has aged without gaining charm.
Spectacle: 3/5
Promotions were about right, but too much yelling and cheerleading for my tastes.
Team mascot/name: 2/5
The name does not seem to have anything to do with Montana, and the mascot and name feel forced.
Again, perhaps I’m unfairly comparing to the beautiful Billings ballpark I saw 24 hours earlier, but Centene Stadium offered nothing pretty to look at.
Pavilion area: 1.5/5
Much of the area was underground and charmless: only a little bit was upstairs in the sunshine.
Fine job here: my 4-year-old and I were able to keep up.
Very nice people who were smiling at my children at every opportunity. Thanks, Great Falls. Minor deduction for cheerleader-ness.
I’m afraid that, on the whole, the ballpark did nothing for me.
TOTAL 25.5/50
Jacob Morris had the big highlight of the night, with a 6th-inning grand slam that put the game out of reach.
Jose Bautista (no, the other one) pitched well to get the win.
chicago white sox affiliates, minor league ballparks, montana ballparks, pioneer league, rookie level
cincinnati reds affiliates, minor league, montana, pioneer league, rookie level
States to go: still 18Number of Games: 1
First game: July 4, 2013 (Billings Mustangs 6, Missoula Osprey 2)
On a hot 4th of July–the 10th anniversary of the first of my minor league travels–I
arrived at Billings with family in tow. There, I found an absolute jewel of a ballpark nestled against the Rocky Mountains.
Dehler Park passes the main test I have for all ballparks: the is-there-any-question-where-you-are test. The instant one walks through the home-plate gate, one is faced by what Wikipedia tells me is the “Rimrocks,” a 500-800 foot cliff that skirts Billings’ north and east sides. It’s a flat-out gorgeous view that occupies my mind during slow points in the baseball.
On top of that, Billings does incredibly well with its baseball history. The Mustangs’ 40-year affiliation with the Reds certainly helps. Dehler Park seemed to focus a bit more on recent Mustangs
than more distant ones (I saw huge tributes to Jay Bruce and Joey Votto prominently displayed), but not exclusively: the program celebrated more distant history. Dave McNally’s statue greets fans as they enter the stadium, and the plaque lists his accomplishments as a Billings Little Leaguer more prominently than his Major League exploits. I like that. There is also significant love for Ed Bayne, a legendary local American Legion coach from the middle of the 20th century. I love that these two locals are treated as practically equals, and that my 4-year-old could literally shake hands with the Bayne photo (Bayne also gets a good deal of love in the Billings American Legion Hall of Fame inside the
stadium).
Lineups were prominently displayed, which came in handy for Steven as he wrote down the lineups before the game (this always gets looks). More importantly, Billings has what I most like at any level of ballpark: the ability to circumnavigate the park without ever surrendering the view of the field. Some locally appropriate fare was available (but no thank you to Rocky Mountain oysters, okay?), and those mountains…oh, yes,
those mountains. I liked how the ballpark kept standings for the Pioneer League on a flagpole in center field, much like at Wrigley Field or (horizontally) at Safeco Field. Keeping an eye on your own league and taking pride/focus in the minors, rather than just the majors, scores points for me. And the concourse was popular on this particular afternoon. Some of this was that people were gathering back by the concession stands’ edifices to get a little shade. My wife remarked, however, that people past the left-field wall were awfully good-looking to be gathered in one place: that the Mustangs seemed to have created a pretty cool place for beautiful people to gather for a holiday.
I think this might be related to my very small quibble with the park: it was run a little too slickly for my
tastes, at least in the very-low minors. There were no on-field promotions that I recall, and everything in the design was out of central casting for the gleaming-new-minor-league-ballpark-of-the-early-21st-century that has popped up everywhere. I’d like for them to let their hair down a little—a little—and allow
themselves to celebrate a little wackiness every now and then. I wondered a little bit whether Billings’ status as the largest city in Montana required them to show a little more reserve than their competitors in Helena, Great Falls, and Missoula. And make no mistake: anything (including an anesthetic-free root canal) is preferable to the abomination of volume and horror that was Missoula. But I feel like the Mustangs were reserved to the precipice of stuffiness. I would like to see them embrace just a little more of a low-minors “what the hell” attitude.
But this is a quibble. If I could make all 38 games here every year, I certainly would. As it is, I will have it on the short list of ballparks to return to if ever I’m zipping across I-90. You should have it there as well.
Regional Feel: 9.5/10
Total home run here. The Mustangs celebrate Montana baseball history unabashedly and enthusicastically. They look back on the history of their team with passion. And man oh man, but that view of the Rimrocks is fabulous.
Gorgeous, but a little too slick for a perfect score.
Spectacle 2.5/5
I remember no promotions. In a way, I like that, but in a way, I miss it.
Couldn’t find Homer in the crowd, but here he is anthropomorphized into a bouncy-house. I don’t mind the Mustangs name, but Homer would be the #1 Mascot name on Family Feud, so I can’t go too high here. That and, again, I didn’t see him.
Gorgeous inside and out.
Plenty to walk to, and around, and all without losing sight of the field.
Minor glitches.
Fans: 3.5/5
Granted, it was July 4th, but even with that, I thought there was a tad too much casualness for my tastes
A great, if rather hot, afternoon. I will be back.
Ty Washington’s second-inning triple gave the Mustangs the lead they wouldn’t give up.
Jose Guzman pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings, followed by 1 2/3 of perfection by Scott Brattvet (including two strikeouts and a double-play).
cincinnati reds affiliates' ballparks, minor league ballparks, montana ballparks, pioneer league, rookie level
former milwaukee brewers affiliates, minor league, montana, pioneer league, rookie level
July 22, 2010 Paul 1 Comment
First game: July 8, 2010 (Great Falls Voyagers 15, Helena Brewers 2)
(Kindrick Field is no longer used for affiliated baseball as of the 2019 season.)
(Click on any photo so see a larger version.)
Kindrick Field underwhelmed me. Seriously–in one of the most gorgeous states around, and in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, there’s not an attractive feel to the place. The neighborhood, which is sort of semi-industrial-semi-residential is not anything that impresses.
And even though the field is unusually oriented such that the sun sets behind right field, perhaps bugging the batter, there’s not much of a mountain view. The ballpark’s appearance from the outside is–let’s face it–a bit ugly. So there wasn’t much going for the place on the way in. Once I got on the inside, however, there was a little bit of charm, and the people of Montana made this into one of the most memorable nights I’ve ever had in
a ballpark in spite of a laughable loss by the home team.
Like many old-time ballparks (Eugene’s old Civic Stadium comes to mind), there is a battle going on inside of Kindrick Field between the comfort of modern ballparks and the charm of old. The orange seats and the green wooden edifice give a bit of an old-timey feel on the inside, and we welcomed the significant legroom the second row offered, since we could simply put Steven on a leash and let him run up and down the row. However, it’s a good thing that we didn’t have general
admission seats. They’re simply wooden benches, and they stretch all the way
from railing to railing. Rather than putting in a convenient (and safe) staircase, the Brewers just painted a few stretches of the benches white, thus declaring that area to be the aisle. If I were at all elderly or even just suffering from a bum knee that day, I’d have a lot of trouble clambering over the benches to get to my seat.
On the whole, the place simply lacked amenities. I’m not talking about big-time Diamondvision or skyboxes or any of that business. I’m talking about the following conversation I had with
an usher on a nearly-90-degree-day:
ME: Excuse me, can you tell me where a drinking fountain is?
USHER: I don’t think we have any.
ME: Huh?
USHER: I don’t think we have any drinking fountains.
Call me crazy, but I don’t think it’s asking too much to have a drinking fountain available for fans.
The place was built in 1939, and drinking fountains certainly were invented before that…you mean to say that nobody has thought to install a fountain in this place in 71 years?
In any event, I did spend some time walking the water-fountain-less pavilion. I liked the photos of every former Helena player currently playing in the majors: I’ve seen such lists in other places, but seldom photos of everyone with their current team listed. However, while I
appreciated
the nod to history, in some ways it felt like they were barely even trying. Their historical exhibit consisted of a printed-out version of the Helena Brewers Wikipedia article. Seriously? That’s the best you can do? And their commemoration of the only Hall of Famer ever to put on a Helena uniform–Ryne Sandberg–actually misspelled his name. Both of these left me with the impression that somebody could have done much better if they’d put in just a little time and effort.
There’s atmosphere in the pavilion area, but not a lot of room. An usher stopped me from walking behind the left-field
general admission stands to get closer to the Helena bullpen. A place this small usually allows one to get closer to the players than Kindrick Field does. So I headed down the right-field line, where I was greeted by a private party area, an usher who wanted me to have a wristband to enter, and my own hubris.
My goal was to get past the usher, through the beer-drinking members of whatever company had booked the party deck, and down by the Great Falls bullpen to see if I could grab an autograph of a player or two I had watched play in Missoula the previous year. I asked a question that usually nets me access:
“Can I just head back there to take a picture or two?” The usher wasn’t sure. He told me to ask his boss, who was approaching. I did. The boss appeared uncertain. “Well, we really don’t like doing that…” And then, he asked me a question that surprised me. “Are you the guy who’s been to all the ballparks?”
Wow! Recognized for the second year in a row! Erik the Peanut Guy in the Tri-Cities had started a trend! I wondered how he knew I was coming…maybe someone who reads this site had seen my name in will call or something?
Anyway, surprised and flattered, I answered in the affirmative, and he let me head back there to take some photos.
Much to my surprise, the Great Falls Voyagers’ clubhouse was back among the partying businesspeople, and so ballplayers were sitting on picnic tables adjacent to revelers. Not just passing through, not exactly hanging out, either, but sitting there. It was a little weird.
When I heard the first-pitch announcement, I became newly aware of my own arrogance. The guy throwing out the first pitch had been to 125 minor league ballparks, over twice my total. So it wasn’t me that the guy was asking about. Funny.
The best memory by far of the evening will involve the wonderful family sitting next to me. I had Michelle and Steven on my right, and a dad with three daugh ters on my left. One of the girls was in about third grade, one in about sixth or seventh, and the third maybe a sophomore in high school. The girl on my immediate left–the middle one in age–started making eye contact with Steven. She’d look away and then zip her gaze back to him. He started
laughing. My son, when he really gets going, has a hall-of-fame worthy laugh…a loud, massive baby guffaw that makes the whole world crack up with him. Since he was taking as much of a shine to this girl as she was to him, the laughs started to increase in both volume and joy level. The game, which was 12-1 in favor of the visitors at this point, wasn’t much of a game, so people weren’t distracted by events in the field. We were the best thing going on at Kindrick Field. People in the rows around us started looking to see what was making Steven laugh so much. Then, they started laughing too, since Steven’s laugh was so contagious. Before we knew it, Steven and this sweet girl had more or less the entire section laughing like
crazy. Since we were in the second row behind home plate, I think this might have been a bit of a confusing development to the players, who were likely wondering what this laughing was all about.
I was so struck by how wonderful this was that I asked the dad if I could take a picture of his family. He introduced himself as Lenny and said that he and his girls were on their way back from a camping trip. He also said that the girls had a brother almost exactly Steven’s age, so their skill with him was due to practice.
At any rate, we put Steven on the
leash and let him wander over to where the girls were, and the girls, especially the younger ones, played with Steven the entire rest of the night. Steven would point at the letters on one girl’s sweatshirt, and the sisters would identify them. There was peek-a-boo. There were funny faces. There was so much laughter that Steven’s goodbye wave later that night was just a little more wistful than usual…or maybe that was my imagination. I gave Lenny the web address for this site, and I hope he finds it and emails me. Lenny–I’ve got a few good pictures of your kids playing with my kid I’d like to send you. Fire off a comment or an email for me.
Missing out on all of this joyous raucousness was the motorcyclist we had met the previous night in Idaho Falls. Just like he said, he was at the ballpark that night, in the row ahead of us and about five seats down, just past the family. In spite of this immediately-behind-home-plate seat,
he only remained there for a few innings. We suspect there were too many kids nearby, so Grumpy decided to go somewhere else. His loss.
So, while I’m afraid the ballpark doesn’t have too much going for it, I will remember my night in Helena with nothing but affection. Often, a ballpark is about the people in it more than anything else, and it’s good to have reminders of that from time to time.
There are a couple of mountains visible, and a nice effort to honor past Helena players, but the nondescript location hurts the score here.
At times, this was lovely.
Could do a bit more for Rookie ball, and it was hard to hear what was happening because of a pretty bad PA system.
“Kitty!” and “Roar!” my son said when he met these mascots (once they were at a safe distance). He liked them more than I do. Surely Helena can find a new name than that of its parent club–it’s the only team in the Pioneer League that does so. The mascot will follow. But bonus points for naming these guys Lewis the Lion and Clark the Cougar.
Ugly on the outside, beautiful on the inside. View is decent–not as nice as I’d expect in a place as gorgeous as Montana.
Pavilion: 2/5
A little claustrophobic, and not much going on. Seriously–no water fountains?
Did a pretty good job here. Didn’t always know which player the error was on, though, but always knew hit or error in a timely fashion. Bad PA hurt with pitching changes and pinch hitters.
Quite easily the highlight of the night. Many, many fabulous people at the ballpark engaged in making my son laugh…over and over again. We’re talking about nearly ten strangers ogling my boy. How cool is that?
The people of Helena got me over my negative first impression of the park and made this a fantastic night.
Some ugly, ugly stuff. Great Falls led 10-1 after a 4-run third and a 6-run fourth. Let’s tally up just those two innings: Ten runs, nine hits, four wild pitches, three errors, and a hit batsman.
Rafael Vera leads the Great Falls attack with three hits.
A day Brewers’ pitcher Thomas Keeling would rather forget. He came to mop up the ninth, and proceeded to walk the first four batters he faced. He got two guys out, but then gave up a hit and a fifth walk. Connor Lind, normally a position player, had to come in to finish off the game by getting Kyle Davis to pop out to second.
(Written July 2010.)
former milwaukee brewers affiliates, minor league ballparks, montana ballparks, pioneer league, rookie level
idaho, kansas city royals affiliates, minor league, pioneer league, rookie level
July 21, 2010 Paul 3 Comments
First game: July 7, 2010 (Idaho Falls Chukars 6, Casper Ghosts 5–11 innings)
Most Recent Game: June 30, 2013 (Idaho Falls Chukars 6, Ogden Raptors 5)
After two nights of gorgeous Utah ballparks, Melaleuca Field in Idaho Falls was a bit of a letdown. With no real views worth mentioning and a non-descript residential
neighborhood surrounding it, there was really nothing that spoke to the fact that we were in Idaho–when sitting in the stands, wecould have been anywhere from Maine to Hawaii. Nonetheless, the Chukars put on a nice little show, and it’s always fun to be in a small ballpark that affords easy access to players and makes me feel like I’m right in the middle of the game. That, combined with a good game, made for a memorable and fun night at the ballpark.
There’s not a whole lot going on around the ballpark, which is
several blocks east of the Snake River and nowhere near the center of town. One can look out and get a view of the playground across the street, or–for the only hope of local color one can get in the ballpark–crane one’s neck to find an LDS temple far off in the distance behind home plate. The team tries to make up for it by putting in local touches inside the ballpark, including pennants celebrating past Idaho Falls players who have made it big, a list of all Idaho Falls players who went on to the majors, a couple of locally-appropriate retired numbers alongside Jackie Robinson’s, and a little exhibit on Idaho Falls baseball history, as well as a plaque honoring Edwin McDermott, who was instrumental in keeping affiliated baseball in Idaho Falls (and for whom the former ballpark which stood on this site was named). So, while the ballpark could use a little more pizazz for a place that was only built 4 seasons ago, it does
just enough to convince me that they’re trying.
It helped that the sound guy was legitimately funny and clever. I wouldn’t have thought to play “Ghostbusters” during the introduction to the game against the Casper Ghosts, but the sound guy did. Additionally, playing Chuck Berry’s “Kansas City” as the Chukars ran out to their position was a nice touch for a Royals affiliate. I’m not a fan of pretending that we ARE in the parent club’s hometown–as with the Yankees’ affiliates who play “New York, New York” or with Ogden, who introduces itself as “the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers,” but the Chuck Berry song indicates that the players are going to Kansas City, and has an innocence and optimism that I associate with low-level ballplayers chasing the dream. Plus, I hear that Kansas City has some crazy little
women there, and the players each plan to get them one.
Not quite as subtle or clever was the PA guy. While his sins were not as strong as those of the guys on my shit list in Detroit and Missoula, he came close. While I won’t be able to duplicate his tone here, he did the nearly-orgasmic squeak to introduce Chukars players, which, while I’m not a fan of it, I hear often enough to dial out. But, strangely, when the Ghosts sent a player to bat, the PA guy decided to do the opposite. He didn’t merely deadpan the names, like most PA guys do. He decided to take it a step further and tried to sound actively bored. Yeah, I know that “actively bored” is a bit of an oxymoron, but you need to hear this lame-o do his thing. Think someone at the DMV going over a missed test question for the 50th time that
day. Now, think of that DMV worker on barbiturates. That’s the closest I can come to duplicating this guys “bored” voice. My question…why? Are you actually encouraging your audience to be bored? Or do you think your audience so stupid that they need to be told that these are not the guys we’re rooting for? He was the fodder for some jokes around us, and not just from me.
The seating was a little bit strange in Melaleuca Field. It wasn’t just that the entire seating structure appeared to be made of aluminum (not the most aesthetically pleasing arrangement). It was that seat one and seat two in the same row weren’t next to each other. The number of
seats in the row didn’t quite match the amount of space that particular section had before the concourse angled. So Michelle and I, while we were angled in a little bit towards each other, were about two or three feet apart. This turned out to be for the better, since it gave us a spot to set down our surprising amount of stuff we brought (between scorebooks, mini-bats, cooler-weather clothing, and baby-related material, we probably led the Pioneer League in the stat of Crap Carried Into The Ballpark). But if this had been a first date, I’d have been disappointed. Private conversation was difficult, and hand-holding or snuggling out of the question. I bought the tickets on-line, and the computer listed us as “together,” but I’d consider a call to the team to confirm if at all possible if you want to be next to your companions.
Companionship was not a problem for the guy in front of us, who my wife
declared “grumpy.” It became clear that this man wasn’t thrilled with Steven’s presence, even though he was behaving pretty well–he wasn’t making much noise, and his wriggling was entirely on Michelle and rippling over to the general public. But his body language betrayed a distaste for kids in general. He eventually struck up a conversation with the guy next to him, and said that he was traveling around the West on his motorcycle, going to baseball games. He said he’d be at Helena the next night. I figured, hey, here’s a chance to get friendly with a fellow ballpark traveler! I said we’d be in Helena tomorrow too! “See you there, or maybe on I-15 tomorrow!” He said “I would NEVER take the interstate.” Yeah, I get that, but please. What a dork. He’s the first ballpark traveler I’ve ever encountered who didn’t want to talk about either ballparks or travel.
Steven was a little too squirrely for a little too long on my wife’s lap, so she asked that I take him for a while. I took him around the concourse,
where many, many people complimented Steven for being good-looking (yeah, he is). Then, I walked Steven up to the top of the bleachers, where he could run back and forth without disturbing anyone’s view. He did that for a while. He then decided what he really wanted to do was clamber up and down the stairs, which was less acceptable, so I herded him into a trip down the left field line. There, I found the Casper Ghosts’ bullpen, and I found the relief pitchers for Casper watching the game closely. I hoisted Steven onto the top of the 3-foot fence, said “Here, Steven! You can say hi to the Casper Ghosts’ bullpen!” and figured I’d get a smirk or two before the ballplayers started focusing on the game.
It turned out that the ballplayers were happy to get a distraction. One Kenneth Roberts (left) said hello to my son and offered his hand for a handshake. Steven didn’t yet do handshakes, but he would willingly dish out high fives, and he did so once I told Mr. Roberts that fact. Taylor Reid (right), another pitcher, then asked Steven if he was going to be a baseball player. Steven’s
of a couple score of words wouldn’t answer that sufficiently, so I answered for him: “Only if he’s a way better athlete than his dad.” I was surprised and a little bit touched that these guys would be nice to my son like that. They certainly didn’t have to, and they had other things to do. So, hooray to the Casper Ghosts’ bullpen, who created a great memory for me (and for Steven, if he develops long-term memory much sooner than is developmentally common).
The game turned into a pretty good extra-inning affair, and all three of us hung in there until the end. And while the ballpark itself wasn’t anything to write home about, it turned out to be an enjoyable, memorable night.
Even with the nice Idaho baseball history on the inside, this is a pretty non-descript place. I can’t tell where I am in the USA during the game.
Charm: 2.5 /5
Some nice moments, but cheerleader PA annoyed me a bit.
Could be a little more for Rookie ball, but there was a little, and the sound effects guy was actually funny (without interfering).
Charlie the Chukar is a furball. I had to look up what a Chukar was. Hardly intimidating, but locally appropriate.
All metal, with no real view.
Not much in the way of places to watch the game while wandering.
Missed a couple of pitching changes.
Mostly nice people, and a surprisingly big crowd.
A fun night where my son got a high-five. Also a good, interesting game.
Casper jumps out to a 5-0 lead in the fourth, with the big blow a triple by Robert de la Cruz. But Idaho Falls chips away, and ties the score in the 8th on a bizarre only-in-rookie-league play. Pitcher Clinton McKinney whirls around to try to pick the Chukars’ Tim Ferguson off of second. The throw goes into center field, and Ferguson trots to third. As he slows down at third, however, Ghosts’ center fielder Rafael Ortega goes to throw the ball back to the infield…but it slips out of his hand, and the ball goes shooting into the air towards right field. Ferguson kicks it into gear and sprints home. E1 and E8…tie score.
Travis Jones eventually wins the game with an 11th inning walk-off single. Unfortunately, the very kind Kenneth Roberts gets the loss. I hope the word doesn’t get around that pitchers who high-five my son from the bullpen wind up getting tagged for the loss that night…100% of the time so far.
In 2013, Dominique Taylor’s walk-off single wins it for the Chukars.
idaho ballparks, kansas city royals affiliates' ballparks, minor league ballparks, pioneer league, rookie level
los angeles dodgers affiliates, minor league, pioneer league, rookie level, utah
First game: July 6, 2010 (Ogden Raptors 11, Orem Owlz 4)
Ogden is about 40 minutes north of Salt Lake City, so the family didn’t bother changing hotels and instead made a day trip out of it, wearing the boy down a little bit at the Ogden Children’s Museum (a good place) and dining at Great Harvest Bread before heading to the ballpark.
If possible, the views
past the outfield fence at Ogden were even more beautiful than they were at Salt Lake City, which is to say they were absolutely stunning. It’s a slightly different set of mountains there in Ogden, and unless I’m mistaken, the ballpark is a little closer to the mountains than it was in Salt Lake, which made for a breathtaking vista from literally any seat in the ballpark. The ballpark did reasonably well in commemorating Ogden baseball history, but even if it hadn’t, it would have aced the “Is There Any Question Where You Are” test. Seriously. Consider the view from behind home plate…we have an American flag, a Mormon temple, and gorgeous mountains. If I were to put you in a controlled coma, whisk you to a seat behind home plate, then revive you and demand you state where you were in the US, that’d be all you needed. Utah. There were other nice touches–most notably some killer-looking burritos from a local chain–but I simply
cannot imagine a more gorgeous place to enjoy a game.
The smallness of the place was also really fabulous. One could nearly–but not quite–circumnavigate the stadium on the inside, and could enjoy some nice views while leaning over the left-field fence. And before the game, I went down the left field line to a picnic area, where I was able to eavesdrop on a conversation between Owlz’ (Owlz’s?) catcher Hampton Tignor and pitcher Pill Joon Jang on exactly what their signs would be, and how they would change if there were a runner on second base. If I had had a mind to (and been a rabid Raptor fan), I would have been able to jot it all down and run it right to the Raptors’ coaches. Of course, I don’t take rookie league rivalries so seriously. (Alas, some fans do. The only two Pioneer League teams in Utah are sort of natural rivals,
which I don’t understand, since very few players are on either team for more than one year. But still, one otherwise-sophisticated season-ticket holder showed up in an “Orem Sucks” T-shirt. Not too clever…and probably a bit too angry.)
But they seem to get the idea of making fans happy. They delivered balls to every kid they could see in the stands during the pre-game, including a ball for my son. This was his second Pioneer League ball in two Pioneer League games…I had snagged him one in Missoula a year earlier.
So I was in a good mood. My first impressions were overwhelmingly positive, but I did my level best not to get carried away. You see, I’ve been burned before. I fell in love with the ballpark in Missoula and then was driven away by the loudmouthed PA and the disgustingly
overdone promotions. This was only my second Pioneer League game…what if the entire league was loud like that? So I didn’t commit to loving the place immediately.
I was impressed with the ushers. I might be putting two and two together incorrectly here, but the ushers were nearly all athletic-looking men in wheelchairs. The 50/50 raffle that night went to support a wheelchair basketball team that may or may not have been associated with Ogden’s Weber State University. So I concluded that the Raptors allow groups to be ushers in order to make a few bucks for their organizations. Nice touch, I guess…give something to the community rather than just create a 10-week job for somebody.
Ogden didn’t wind up scoring as highly as I would like it to mostly because of a strange mix of trying too hard
and not trying hard enough. They tried too hard in that they played stupid and only marginally-relevant sound effects between too many pitches. I don’t mind a little spectacle at a low-level game like this, but they went overboard. There was a spittoon sound effect that Michelle and I couldn’t figure out the purpose of. Also, they introduced the evening with this completely inaccurate statement: “Welcome to Lindquist Field, home of the Ogden Raptors and the Los Angeles Dodgers!” Um…no. I cannot find a way to interpret this sentence so that it is accurate unless the Dodgers move a weekday series against the Pirates or something to Lindquist Field. At most, one or two rookie league ballers will ever smell the majors for even a cup of coffee, so this was optimistic at best and misleading at worst. I wonder if the PA guy misspoke. Even though there were a couple of funny moments–even a sometimes-too-sensitive referee like me giggled when the umpires were introduced to the Imperial Death
March from Star Wars, and as the team was introduced, it was nice to hear the ever-danceable-but-mostly-forgotten “Walk the Dinosaur” by Was (Not Was)–overall, the sound effects got in the way rather than enhanced enjoyment.
In any event, more problems ensued when there were pitching changes and pinch hitters. While lineups were posted (with the very cute “prey”
designation for the opponents), other than the starters listed in the pavilion, there were literally no uniform numbers given anywhere for the opposition. We had a list of their players, but not their numbers. Add to that the fact that the PA guy didn’t announce some pitching and defensive changes at all, and the net result was that I was at a complete loss as to who was playing late in the game. I picked up that the Orem catcher changed in the ninth inning, for example, but had literally know way of knowing the new guy’s name…just his number. This is only the second time I’ve been faced with such an egregious disregard for anyone curious as to who the substitutes might be (the first was in South Bend), and I have to say
that I don’t like it one bit. If the game management people had channeled even 25% of the energy they spent on irrelevant sound effects into communicating relevant information about the players–or, at the very least, provided a numerical roster–I’d have been much, much happier with the ballpark.
The evening did provide a wonderful and memorable moment involving my son–the first evidence that he pays attention to what happens on the field of play. Steven was only 16 months old, this was his ninth ballpark in his fifth state, and his 20th game. He’d started looking onto the field, but was easily distracted…and who’s to say that he’s really watching out there anyway?
Well, that all changed. During the top of the ninth inning, the Orem Owlz’ Daniel Eichelberger was taking his
cuts in the on-deck circle. Steven pointed at him and said the following:
“Three!”
Mr. Eichelberger wears #3 on his back, and at that moment, Steven was learning his numbers and letters pretty hard…and three was one of his favorites. I can therefore say with confidence that Daniel Eichelberger was my son’s first favorite player. I can also say that my son was actually paying attention to what went on on the field. He knew the opponents’ numbers better than the Raptors’ game management and PA guy did!
We thought that we’d be getting in well with the home Raptors by bringing Steven’s dinosaur jammies to change into for the
last couple of innings…but then he had to pick an Orem Owl as a favorite player. But it’s the Raptors’ fault for not playing a player who wore #3.
The game ended quickly–just before dusk–which meant that we didn’t get to see something that Michelle was curious about. We’re fairly sure that all Mormon places of worship light up their spires with their pointing Angel Moronis at night. We’re wondering what that would have looked like after sunset. I guess we’ll have to go back another time and see if we get a longer game to find out.
So, while these nit-picks drag down the score from very high to merely high, I still enjoyed this simply gorgeous ballpark in Ogden. Anyone in northern Utah during the Rookie League season would do well to stop for a game here.
Regional feel: 10/10
I simply can’t imagine it any better than this. That triumvirate of an American flag, LDS temple, and mountains means only Utah. That, and some damn fine Mexican food.
Very nice. Sound guy tried a little too hard, but still, a winner in this regard.
A few too many between-pitches sounds, many of them not at all relevant. They can turn it down a notch during the game and limit the silliness to between batters or (preferably) between innings.
I’m going to assume that there are a number of fossils found nearby, which means “Raptors” is fine. Oggie himself doesn’t do much for me, however.
Flat-out gorgeous, and the park stays out of the way and emphasizes its surroundings.
Pavilion: 4.5/5
Can’t quite walk around the place, but one can come close. Nice tributes to former Ogden players like Frank Robinson. Up top, one never needs to lose sight of the game while getting food.
I appreciate the lineups, but there is literally no way to figure out who was playing for the opposition. No rosters were given with uniform numbers, and the PA guys were overtly apathetic about Orem lineup changes, both pitching and at the plate. Needs a lot of work here.
I like the cadre of regulars there. They did a cool call-and-response thing during the opposing lineups. PA: “PLAYING THIRD BASE…JAKE SMITH.” Crowd: “WHO?” PA: “Smith.” Funny. During the game, there was a little too much heckling for my tastes–if one is reduced to anger at a Rookie-League-level rivalry, one needs to reconsider one’s priorities. But still, a cool group of people.
A lot of good here–even the problems with game ops didn’t sour my taste of a beautiful ballpark that I one day hope to see again.
Five Orem errors–including a lamentable three by Rolando Gomez–are far too much for the Owlz to overcome.
Daniel Eichelberger goes 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
Bobby Coyle is the hitting star for the Raptors, picking up 3 RBI, including one on this solo home run.
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arizona diamondbacks affiliates, minor league, montana, pioneer league, rookie level
July 7, 2009 Paul
First game: July 2, 2009 (Missoula Osprey 14, Great Falls Voyagers 9)
(Click on any image to see a larger version.)
Looks great–sounds awful.
For our seventh-annual 4th of July Minor League Baseball Road Trip (and our first with spawn), Michelle and I headed out to Montana for my first Pioneer League game. We were quite impressed with Missoula as a city–a nice university town surrounded by
gorgeous mountains.
Ogren Park at Allegiance Field is located almost perfectly within that gorgeous town–just off of downtown and in the shadow of the Rockies. You can’t do better than that for location. There’s a view of a little bit of downtown, but not much; mostly, the ballpark feels sunken into the ground. This hardly matters, however, since the mountains are so beautiful. Watching the last of the sun reflect off of the mountains between pitches is as good as it gets. If you ever go to the ballpark, please sit on the third-base side. Not only is it the shady side, but you can’t go wrong with that view.
The ballpark is pimped out a little more than I’d like. For starters, I think the name is backwards…shouldn’t the field be at the park rather than vice versa? Local car dealer Kathy Ogren bought the naming rights to the park (although apparently not the field)…but then named it after herself rather than after her business, Bitterroot Motors. I suppose that name choice is better than Bitterroot Motors Park would have been (although not nearly as graceful, beautiful, and locally appropriate as Bitterroot Park). And once inside, there are a few too many corporate reminders for my tastes. I worry a little about a
ballpark viewed as a promotions transferrence device. But to sit underneath those mountains, I can live with some of that. (Who looks at advertisements when there’s baseball and a fantastic foothill view?) Although one cannot see the mountain marked with the letter “M” (for the University of Montana), one could see the mountain marked with what was a mysterious “L”. An usher informed me that said “L” is for Loyola High School.
As I poked around before the game, I found a lot that I liked. For starters, the place is appropriately quirky. The right-field line is really short–only 297 feet to the pole, so the team compensates with a particularly high Monster-like wall there. Unlike some
ballparks of recent vintage, this isn’t a forced attempt at character. There are railroad tracks and a bike/walking path there that compel them to cram right field into very little space. The idea that a railroad, including a gorgeous railway bridge one can see from the pavilion area by the right field foul pole, would be so prominent in a Montana ballpark helps this place. I was also impressed that the locals who were biking and walking the path could stop and watch the game from the distance in center field…for free.
Alas, they would be denied the “bats and balls” offering in the concession stand…which, the concession worker told me with just a bit of a blush, are french fries (“bats”) and, as she directly put it, “buffalo balls.” Um…no thanks. But I’m glad they’re available. Adds to the local color.
Speaking of local color, the name “Osprey” is locally appropriate–in spades. Most impressively, an actual Osprey lives in a nest perched atop a giant wooden pole just past the wall in right-center field. A telescope sits on the third-base side of the pavilion, trained full-time on the nest. By the telescope stands a wildlife expert who can answer all of your actual small-o osprey questions. It’s hard to take a picture through a telescope, but I tried…how often does one get a opportunity to take a picture of osprey young in their nest? The baseball club doesn’t just name itself after these birds, but they make them into what I think is as gorgeous a logo as you’ll ever see on a minor league hat–the outline of a flying bird holding a fish in its talons.
While the place was pimped
out to the gills, it did give me a sense that baseball was valued. I appreciated the large tributes to former Osprey who had made the major leagues, both with the parent Diamondbacks and with other clubs. I’ve never seen quite such a large display, and that’s something I always enjoy, particularly at the lowest level of the minors like this. And on top of that, they had a promotion
that I was quite looking forward to because of its baseball-relatedness. If something highly unusual were to take place in a specific inning (a triple play, for instance, or the team hitting for the cycle, or nine pitches for three strikeouts), a fan would win $10,000. I figured that, while unlikely, would be fun, so I entered my name. (Alas, my name was not selected. And I do mean “alas,” for reasons that will become clear later.)
Happy we had made the trip, I bought one of the team’s gorgeous hats and prepared to enjoy a game in gorgeous, unquestionably-Montana surroundings, alternating my night focusing
on my wife, son, baseball, and foothills.
Well, as it turned out, quite a bit.
The front office of the Missoula Osprey have a Rolls Royce of a ballpark. It’s a shame that they believe that the purpose of a
Rolls Royce is to gun the engine, blast the bass, do some donuts and leave as much rubber as possible on the pavement.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that the way the Osprey presented their game left me feeling as disappointed as I’ve ever felt in a ballpark.
It all started in about the 6th inning. The peanut inning.
The PA announcer didn’t even announce it–or if he did, he announced it so quickly that I didn’t catch it. (Not quietly, mind you. Quickly.)
Next thing I know, the PA man was shouting at us. The ushers were shouting at us. And the citizens of Missoula, Montana were shouting alongside them like trained seals.
Here’s what it sounded like:
“I SAY PEA! YOU SAY NUTS! PEA!” Nuts! “PEA!” Nuts! “NOW I SAY NUTS AND YOU SAY PEA! NUTS!” Pea! “NUTS!” Pea! NOW I SAY PEA, YOU SAY NUTS! PEA!” Nuts!
“NOW JUST THE WOMEN! PEA!” Nuts!
“NOW JUST THE MEN! PEA!” Nuts!
“NOW JUST THE KIDS! PEA!” Nuts!
“OK! NOW THE FIRST-BASE SIDE SAYS PEA, AND THE THIRD-BASE SIDE SAYS NUTS! GO! ” Pea! Nuts!
This is the point where I might say “You get the idea…” except that you absolutely have no idea the depths of hellishness this crap sank to. Between every single pitch of the entire inning, this clown of a PA announcer shouted “PEA-PEA-PEA!!!” or some variety thereof. Meanwhile, the ushers stood at the front of the rows and raised up their signs like elderly cheerleaders. I felt like they were demeaned, to be honest. I do not believe it is their job to lead cheers. I believe it is their job to help spectators. I also do not believe that the public address announcer’s job is to shout out garbage through the game, but rather to provide information to enhance our enjoyment of the game and to take care of advertisers. Apparently the Osprey disagree.
Plus, when the dude shouts “PEA!!!” it sounds like he is ordering us to urinate. (Although I would imagine peeing nuts would be far
more painful than any kidneystone.) Which led me to wonder…as readily as everybody was going along with this guy, would they have gone along with such an order! If he’d have shouted out–“HEY! FIRST BASE SIDE! EVERYBODY TAKE A CRAP! DEFECATE, EVERYONE! SHIT ONTO THE SEATS!”…and had the ushers demonstrate…well, I do believe everybody would have followed orders.
Thankfully, the Osprey did not score in the inning. I’m worried I’d have heard the PA guy pull a Meg Ryan from When Harry Met Sally while the ushers imitated his every sound.
And then–well, then it got worse. By which I mean more bizarre.
Remember that promotion where someone could win $10K if something strange happened in the inning? The 7th inning promotion would award a woman named Martha $10,000 if the Osprey scored exactly 7 runs in the inning.
Well, that was the inning that the Great Falls Voyagers, leading by a score of 8-1, suddenly lost the ability to pitch a baseball.
After a leadoff strikeout, the following transpired: walk, single, single, error, HPB, walk, walk, walk, double.
With each Great Falls Voyagers screw-up, the music became more frequent, to the point where it was nearly between every pitch. Any time the music subsided, the PA guy repeatedly ordered the brainwashed crowd around, saying hey, everybody shout, everybody up on your feet, everybody go crazy. Saying hey, the Osprey need you to help them out. Saying let’s all put our hands together.
PA guy, I have an honest question for you. Do you believe that the citizens of Missoula are comically stupid? Or is it tragically stupid?
I do believe that, particularly in a university town, that people are smart enough to know that a late seven-run rally to tie the score is exciting. Additionally, the people know that Martha has $10,000 on the line. That’s also exciting and fun to watch.
So, given that only someone with absolutely no sense would be bored by the developments on the field, why do you feel the need to blast your voice all over the ballpark between nearly every damned pitch??? Especially in an inning that lasted about a million pitches?
In the midst of all of this, my son, who normally sleeps through baseball games–even dramatic, ninth-inning rallies–could stand it no longer. I took him up to the pavilion (where it was slightly quieter, albeit still too loud). I watched the brunt of this lamentable inning from there.
Before long, seven runs were in. The Osprey had tied the score 8-8. Men were on second and third. There was one out.
“Now remember,” the PA guy said. “The Osprey have to score EXACTLY 7 runs for Martha to win her $10,000.”
And at that moment, a hilarious thing happened. The Osprey let their priorities show.
The PA guy shut up. The music stopped. After a million sound clips in the inning, and with the lead runs on second and third, the Osprey suddenly stopped audible expressions of support for the home team. Oh, there may have been the occasional rhythmic-clapping clip. But the PA guy stopped talking, and the loudest of the music stopped.
To the team, the promotion mattered more than winning the game.
To confirm this, I sidled up to an usher and asked the obvious. “So, at this point, are we rooting for Great Falls?”
He looked at me and said “Don’t tell anyone, but right now, yes, we are.” I promised not to tell anyone. (As this post shows, I lied.)
The Osprey’s next two batters were retired before the 8th run could score, so Martha won her $10,000. I’m glad she did, but the whole experience would have been far more exciting if they’d simply announced it at the start of the inning and treated the rest of the inning like normal (by which I mean normal for ballparks that value baseball, rather than normal for the loudmouthed pots-and-pans-banging folks for the Osprey).
Even thereafter, the PA guy wouldn’t shut up. When the Osprey took the lead, he started cracking jokes between pitches. “Hey fans…are you enjoying your night at Ogren Park at Allegiance Field now?” Laughter from the peanut gallery. One pitch later: “and you thought I had two heads when I said they could pull it off!” Meanwhile, of course, there’s a guy in the batter’s box, but that’s apparently of little or no interest to Osprey game management.
And that’s where my fun night at the ballpark went. It was destroyed by the larynx of an egomaniac who believes that he is the most important person at the ballpark. That last comment of his proves it: it shows that he believes the PA announcer was central in all of the spectator’s minds. Not the massive comeback, the beautiful setting, the woman who won the big money, or even the abysmal
Rookie League play. He believed that we all were thinking about him.
And he was right. We were thinking of him because he was forcing us to.
So, to sum up, my hopes for an evening of baseball in a fine, quirky, locally-flavored ballpark were ruined by a front office and a public address announcer who put baseball dead last on its list of priorities. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. I was so worked up and frazzled that I vowed to tear out the PA guy’s larynx if I ever encountered him. But I’ve calmed down since then. Now, instead, I will simply avoid Ogren Park at Allegiance Field until the Osprey are run by someone else–someone who values baseball. To put it simply, they took what might be the most physically beautiful setting for a park I’ve ever seen and managed to make me not enjoy the night.
Please–everyone who runs a team–learn from this. Less is more. Baseball is enough.
The ballpark is quite literally as good as it gets in this regard. Local landmarks visible on the mountains, respect for past Missoula minor leaguers, and bull testicles for sale. That’s fantastic.
Charm: 1.5/5
Physically? Sure. But beyond that, this ballpark has all the charm of a screaming chainsaw.
Hey Osprey: Shut. The Hell. Up.
Ollie Osprey and me. Unique, locally appropriate, and a logo that’s a gorgeous as any I’ve seen.
The ballpark itself is quite nice–not perfect–but oh, those surroundings. I just can’t imagine anything much better.
Nice respect for the past. Lots of room to walk, and always within view of the game.
Did a lot wrong here. They completely ignored at least one pinch-hitter, and I had to get information after the game from the internet…which the team posted improperly for a while.
I appreciate the number of them, but I think they are complicit in the Osprey’s sins–serving as accomplices.
I’ll admit I want to go back–but only once someone else is running the show.
These kids need a bit of work, especially Great Falls’ relief pitching. Missoula, once down 8-1, scores 7 runs in the 7th and 6 more in the 8th to win an endless game.
Nobody had more than two hits, but Missoula was the beneficiary of a dozen walks. Paul Goldschmidt and Kevin Broxton walked thrice each.
Ramon Castillo homered for the Osprey. Nick Ciolli homered for the Voyagers.
(Written September 2009.)
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July 6, 2009 Paul 1 Comment
First game: July 24, 2006 (Greeneville Astros 8, Princeton Devil Rays 6)
I’m not positive about this, since I haven’t looked up the populations of all 220 minor-league cities, but I’m fairly sure that Princeton, West Virginia is the smallest town with an affiliated minor league baseball team. My American
Map atlas lists its population as only 6,000. I’m impressed that it supports a minor league club.
I didn’t get much of a feel for the town, but it was obvious that it was small enough that the Devil Rays are HUGE there. The town’s newspaper, the Princeton Times, is only a weekly, and in the copy I bought, Devil Rays news covered most of the 20-ish pages. The front-page photo, above the fold, celebrated the Devil Rays’ victory of the Mercer Cup, a trophy which goes to the winner of the season series between the P-Rays and the Bluefield Orioles just down the road. (It’s worth noting that the Orioles, while they represent Bluefield, West Virginia, play just
across the border in Virginia, in what might be the ballpark closest to a state border).
The ballpark itself isn’t in any kind of unique location, and does very little to let me know where I am. The view outside of the ballpark includes a Wendy’s and a McDonald’s. There aren’t any mountains or other landmarks that let me know I’m in West Virginia or Appalachia. So I was prepared to give it a low “is there any question where you are” score, which would have doomed the ballpark to a poor score. However, the workers for the Devil Rays gave me a whole lot of small-town hospitality, and since I was in the smallest town in the minor leagues, they get a lot of credit for that.
It all started with my Everett AquaSox cap. There is nothing in common between the AquaSox and the D-Rays save a love of colors in the bluish-green family.
They do not share geography, a league, an affiliation, or much else. But the guy who offered me a 50-50 raffle ticket looked at my hat and said “Everett AquaSox?” Nice! I love minor league workers who are knowledgeable about the minor leagues…it makes the whole experience into a celebration of minor league ball.
Later that night, I headed out to meet Rob and Yolonda in the large-but-nondescript pavilion area (Rob was late to the game due to a horrendous cut-lip-on-broken-beer-bottle mishap in the pregame). While out there, I saw the man I took to be one of the higher-ups at the ballpark. I was right–it was the general manager, Jim Holland. “Everett AquaSox!” he said to me. I said I was impressed, and that they were my home team. A conversation ensued where I told him we were trying
to make it out to a lot of minor league parks. His response: “You look like one of those people.” Indeed, if “those people” are ballpark travelers, I am one. I just wasn’t aware there was a look about us. (My guess is “dorky-looking.”) In exchange for my troubles, he offered me a free shot with the sledge-hammer at the “Hit a Car, Not a Pet” junker car. I took a swing, and he offered me several more. I’m basically a non-violent man, but it was nice to get any potential axe-murdering instincts I might have out of my system. They gave Rob some free shots too. Here’s one of them:
The fans were quite sweet. There were loads of middle-aged ladies waving handbells around. Jim told me they were called the “Rah-Rah Sisterhood.” I got the sense that a good number of them
were host families or friends of the D-Rays players, and in a town of 6,000, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if players regularly encountered a healthy fraction of townspeople. I could feel that.
And where else other than a town whose only bookstores are Christian bookstores would the primary mascot be Roscoe the Drug-Free Rooster? Roscoe wandered around giving hugs to just about everyone in attendance. He headed up in my direction and hugged me. I talked to him, saying “How are you?” Much to my surprise, Roscoe talked back to me. “I’m fine, how are you doing?” His accent was slow and
sweet. I don’t know why, but that made me feel especially good on this night.
The ballpark itself had some interesting quirks. A walk behind the stands reveals two nice places to stand. First, down the third base line, a spectator can walk to a vantage point where he/she can peer backwards into the visitors’ dugout (not unlike Battle Creek’s C.O. Brown Stadium) or right at the bullpen. Underneath the home plate stands there is a wonderful little vista featuring a bench that, as best as I could figure, anybody could occupy–although it appeared spoken for by a couple of regulars. They honor past P-Rays who have moved on to the big club with pictures on the outfield wall. And I recommend the fried bologna sandwich, although don’t get caught making the same assumption I did. I thought
the adjective “fried” applied to the whole sandwich…that they were taking the entire sandwich and dipping in the deep fryer beside the french fries, kind of like Elvis with his peanut butter and banana sandwiches. That didn’t turn out to be the case. Instead, they had just fried the bologna. Pretty good stuff…tasted like ring baloney.
By the end of the night, I really had a positive feeling about the ballpark. I came close to winning a hundred bucks by throwing a tennis ball into a hula hoop (a fairly tough task…the stands are very, very high above the field, and the hula hoop was well out onto the field…but I just came up a few inches short, way closer than anyone else). Jim, on the field, let us go by saying “We love you!” The cool thing is, after a great night of baseball, I felt like he meant it. And when we passed him by on the way out and he wished us safe travels…yes, he remembered us…well, I guess it was confirmed.
So, on the whole, the ballpark has just enough charm, quirkiness, and sweetness to win me over in spite of its drawbacks. If I make it back there, probably to visit Bluefield, I wouldn’t mind seeing Hunnicutt Field again.
The view from the seating bowl is dull, and could be from any of the 50 states. But the fried bologna sandwich and small-town hospitality bump up the score a bit.
All over the place.
Pretty good. While we missed the “everybody gets in free” promotion by 24 hours, and while the “Christian Baseball Night” may be strange to me were I of another faith, there was plenty going on–a moving mascot, a sledge hammered car, food–that was appropriate for low-level ball, but never got in the way of the game. And I came close to winning a hundred bucks.
Roscoe the Drug-Free Rooster is a bit of a non-sequitur for a marine-based team, but he was a nice guy. The name “Devil Rays” was appropriate for Appalachian League naming conventions.
The one way this park was lacking. Quirky, but not exactly attractive–and the view is not at all good.
Not terribly picturesque, but I like the sledge-hammer and car.
A few minor slip-ups.
On the whole, an excellent night. Any game that ends with the GM saying “We love you!” and my not being creeped out by it is a good night.
The Astros’ balanced attack includes two RBI each from Brandon Caipen, Ralph Henriquez, and Andrew Darnell.
Andrew Lopez hits three doubles and drives in two in a losing effort.
(Written August 2006.)
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First game: July 23, 2006 (Johnson City Cardinals 5, Bristol Sox 2)
Much like Asheville, I was thrilled that my ballpark travels brought me to Bristol. When on earth would I have ever made it to the Virginia/Tennessee border otherwise? There, I found a gorgeous ballpark in a charming, quirky town. There was a big show on State Street and loads of activity on both Tennessee’s and Virginia’s sidewalks, but we headed a little ways into Virginia to enjoy my first-ever Rookie League game.
The trip there from Hickory, NC was a good chunk of the fun. We took the Blue Ridge Parkway a lot of the way. Who would want to ever
put themselves on an interstate again after that? We were accompanied much of the way by a Christian motorcycle group, and then meandered up to the gorgeous NC/TN/VA tri-point. Even with that much activity, we did make it to the ballpark just in time for first pitch.
On the way in, there’s a plaque commemorating the astonishing accomplishment of one Ron Necciai. The plaque tells us that he pitched what can only be called a mega-perfect game…or so I thought. A little bit of research revealed to me that he didn’t strike out 27 guys in a row. In fact, with two out in the third inning, the catcher dropped one of his third strikes, thus enabling him to move on to strikeout victim #27. One guy managed to make contact, and I’m not certain how many walked…so the accomplishment is a
little misleading. On top of that, this English teacher is a little troubled by a critical misspelling…Necciai’s hapless opponents were the Welch Miners (of Welch, West Virginia) and not the Welsh Miners (who, for all I know, could be from Aberystwyth). Still, it served as an excellent welcome to the stadium. It was nice to walk the lengthy trip from parking lot to stadium and be greeted by a sense of local baseball history.
DeVault Stadium is a part of a high-school complex (signs boast that Virginia High School plays there) in the midst of a gorgeous valley. It does very nicely in the “regional feel” department because, literally everywhere I looked, there was something appropriate to the area. In addition to the plaque, I could look past the outfield fence. Past left field? A valley, lined with trees on either side. Check. Past right field?
A couple of small-towny houses. Check. Where am I? Not far from the mountains in the small-town South.
Bristol manages to be small-town in its presentation as well as its location. As best as I could tell, it was staffed entirely by local retirees–with few exceptions, I didn’t encounter anybody under 65. I’ve got nearly 30 years left, but maybe I can talk my wife into retiring there. Bristol looked beautiful, probably is not terribly expensive, and we could spend the summers of our golden years chilling out at a lovely ballpark. My favorite of the senior citizens was the PA guy. He was so laid-back it was hilarious. As kids got on the field to do the game-opening “find your shoe that we’ve stolen” game, for instance, he didn’t go overboard with the high-pitched, high-volume, the-Hindenburg-is-crashing excitement that so many PA guys are going with. Heck, he barely said anything…something like: “All right. We’re about to do the shoe race…and here it is.” Loved the guy.
Perhaps my favorite aspect of the ballpark is the tree-lined hill behind the foul lines. It
provides a place for people to sit back and watch the game and for kids to play ball. It creates a buffer zone between the ballpark and the surrounding neighborhood, which I appreciate. There are even trees that obscure the ballpark in a few places, which somehow adds to the charm.
It was here that I further developed a rule for minor-league ballparks. Many minor league ballparks have grassy hills from which kids can watch the game. Seeing what happens on the grassy hills is a good indication of how seriously a ballpark takes its baseball. As best as I can tell, there are three levels. The l
owest level is a place where kids are pounding the snot out of each other in a Lord of the Flies-style melee for nine innings. That means that the baseball is incidental, probably both to spectators and management. The next level up is a place where kids don’t pay attention to the game because they’re playing ball…playing catch, or, in the case of these kids at Bristol, taking grounders off of a wall. The next level features kids predominantly watching the game, although occasionally burning off steam. That’s an impressive level and worth striving for. But at Bristol, I had to invent a new level, because I looked over at one point and found an empty hill. The kids were all in the seats watching the game with their families. That’s an extraordinary achievement. Check out this rule the next time you are at a ballpark with grassy hills.
Further adding to Bristol’s charm:
the least expensive concessions I have ever encountered at a ballpark, with all proceeds going to Virginia High School.
DeVault Stadium also marked the the first time that I encountered visiting play-by-play guys (or at least I think that’s what they were) at the ballpark. I guess that the press box doesn’t offer too much space, because sitting in the top corner of the first-base bleachers were two guys wearing the colors of the visiting Johnson City Cardinals. The play-by-play and color were provided by the same guy, and he didn’t seem to want to talk much. It looks like the other guy is doing a video recording of the game: maybe he wants to critique his performance. Perhaps he’s not the official radio guy for the Cardinals–maybe this is just what he does for fun, much like I would turn down the volume and do play-by-play in my basement as a child. Still, it was bizarre to say the least.
Other things we noticed about the ballpark: They put a radar gun right out
in the middle of the stands behind home plate. Although they have a scoreboard display of the speed of the pitch, it’s pretty cool to be able to walk up to the actual gun.
These are the kinds of touches that made this such a marvelous stadium. It just felt right.
Two bizarre incidents stand out on this night. Michelle and I spotted a young woman who clearly was interested in hooking up with one (or more) Johnson City Cardinals. She wound up hanging out in the stands by the couple of Cardinals who were to chart pitches.
Needless to say, they were not at all interested in their job. In fact, I actually saw one of them give a sustained caress to her butt. She didn’t even recoil a little bit. Hel-LO, kiddoes! There are people behind that behind! Get a room! Looks like somebody doesn’t have enough interest in the craft of pitching to last.
The stud of the night was home plate umpire Tommy Sewell. In the eighth inning, a foul ball smashed off of the dirt and into his left hand. I’m 99% sure it broke his pinkie finger…and yet he finished the game, holding his hand awkwardly on his knee behind home plate. I didn’t see him take so much as an aspirin. Tommy–way to be, dude.
Also, In the midst of the night, Yolonda, the least baseball-crazy of the four of us taking this intense trip, seemed to have something click. Even though we were sitting on highly uncomfortable cinderblocks (if I go back, I sit on the lawn instead), she got the point of these travels we were in the midst of. “I can see the appeal of this,” she said, looking over the diamond at a Virginia sunset.
I’ll try to make it back to Bristol if I ever get a chance.
Very good here. Geographically gorgeous.
As good as it gets.
Quietly effective. I’m sort of torn here, since I like a few promotions at my low-level minors, but here, the quietness added to the charm.
No mascot–it’d have been nice to have one, but then again, I liked the laid-backness of living without one. The name “Sox” fits in with the Appalachian League naming conventions, sort of. (Why not “White Sox”?)
Architecturally, it ain’t much, but oh those trees and that valley. Flat-out beautiful.
Many, many, many missed decisions.
A great little ballpark in a great little town. I’ll do all I can to get back.
Henderson Lugo starts the 5-hit shutout…but only lasts four innings. Oscar Lara finishes it with three innings of relief and gets the win.
appalachian league, former chicago white sox affiliates, minor league ballparks, pittsburgh pirates affiliates' ballparks, rookie level, virginia ballparks
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Home > IN THE NEWS > PFF Celebrates AFC Women’s Football Day
Women's Development
In cebration of the International Women’s Day, the Philippine Football Federation (PFF), in cooperation with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) successfully organized the AFC Women’s Football Day last 8 March 2018.
On its fourth year, the AFC initiated the “It’s My Game” campaign to recognize the hard work and dedication of the women working within Asian football.
A football festival was held at SPARTA Gym in Mandaluyong City to mark the occasion. Over 30 girls across four teams participated in the tournament.
A similar event was also held in Davao City in celebration of the occasion.
Forza FC won the festival after defeating Luenthai 1, 2-1, in the final match. Philippine Girls Under-15 player KC Zalamea was named the MVP.
PFF general secretary Atty. Edwin Gastanes graced the event and has called on the players to continue inspiring others through the beautiful game.
“We thank the young players who have been inspiring others in making football a part of their lives,” said Gastanes. “The AFC’s efforts in promoting women’s football has been steadfast and we follow their guiding examples in a bid to raise the standard of women’s football in the country.”
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Sick And Tired Of Winning. Remember Who Said Those Words.
By Denis Smith On July 20, 2018 · Leave a Comment
Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain upon his return from the Munich Conference. Photo from londonremembers.com
… I will begin by saying what everybody would like to ignore or forget but which must nevertheless be stated, namely, that we have sustained a total and unmitigated defeat…
A total and unmitigated defeat. Note to Donald Trump: that means not winning.
These words were not spoken by talking heads in the aftermath of the debacle in Helsinki on July 16. But they should have. In fact, they were uttered 80 years ago in the House of Commons by Winston Churchill.
The appalling spectacle of Donald Trump and his lapdog performance in the Finnish capital as he gave deference to a KGB Colonel who orders the murders of journalists, evoked memories of another time that now, more than ever, should not be forgotten.
In October 1938, Winston Churchill rose in the Commons to denounce what he saw as the appeasement of a dictator intent on extending his reach in Europe. The appeasement Churchill warned about was performed by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, who flew to Munich to meet with Adolf Hitler and wound up giving away a portion of Czechoslovakia. Chamberlain had no problem trusting a dictator, choosing neutrality “because of a quarrel in a far away country between people of whom we know nothing.”
The appalling Helsinki spectacle was made even more appalling because just before his meeting with Putin, Trump chose to disparage the leaders of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom while also continuing to question the usefulness of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as a bulwark against renewed Russian expansion in Europe.
Unlike Churchill, who knew that western democracies have no moral equivalence to a totalitarian state, Trump does not. In an editorial, The New York Times made a telling observation about a president who, instead of affirming his oath to preserve, protect, and defend our nation, stoops to bring this country to an equivalence status with the successor of the former Soviet Union:
A reporter referred to last week’s indictments of 12 Russian military officials for a coordinated cyberattack on the 2016 election and asked Mr. Trump if he held Russia responsible. “I hold both countries responsible,” Mr. Trump said.
Even in a presidency replete with self-defeating moments for the United States, Mr. Trump’s comments on Monday, which were broadcast live around the world, stand out.
The meeting between Putin and Trump at Helsinki. Photo from BBC.
Trump’s attacks on leaders of allied nations, particularly those who are NATO members, serve the purpose of wrecking an alliance designed to keep the Russian bear contained. They also reduce the threat of seeing the old Soviet Union resurrected through reincorporation of the former Soviet Baltic republics, along with Georgia and Ukraine, two countries invaded by Russia during Putin’s reign. As a result, seven decades of unquestioned American political and military leadership is now very much in question.
Which gets us back to that time fourscore years ago.
Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement was proven wrong when Hitler later took all of Czechoslovakia six months after the Munich Agreement. At the time, Churchill observed that his country had a choice between shame and war, but choosing shame would bring war.
There is a sense of shame in this country in the wake of Trump’s seeming appeasement of Putin on not calling for additional economic sanctions to bolster those put in place in 2014 as a response to the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. But it is worse than that, as Americans see Trump’s actions as much more than shameful. In fact, the impeachment word among Americans is now being used at levels not seen since 1974, when the House Judiciary Committee convened to consider articles of impeachment against Richard Nixon.
All of this lack of winning through attacking our friends and appeasing Putin is having a corrosive effect. Indeed, the punditocracy has advised that we are in a “national security crisis,” as Michael McFaul, former U.S. Ambassador to Russia termed it, and a “national emergency,” as presidential historian Michael Beschloss described the White House turmoil.
As we head toward mid-term elections in a few months, a sense of unease is spreading across the land.
There is no doubt that we have sustained a total and unmitigated defeat on the world stage, with the whole world, and particularly our allies, watching American exceptionalism morph into an unstable state of American awfulism.
Regardless of what happens in the short term, there is no Churchill-type waiting in the wings or anywhere else in the current presidential line of succession that might reassure the nation. Moreover, as far as the stature of Vice President Mike Pence is concerned, we are reminded of the remarks made in 1988 by Senator Lloyd Bentsen, in his debate with the future Vice President, Indiana Senator Dan Quayle.
Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.
It is not encouraging to realize that Mike Pence and Dan Quayle, the most one-dimensional and blandest of recent vice presidents, are both from Indiana. However, it is gratifying to know that another Hoosier, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, who succeeded Quayle in the Senate, issued a rebuke to Trump after his Helsinki statements and affirmed the intelligence community’s findings of Russian interference.
As the nation tends to the wounds inflicted by its own president through his abysmal performance and appeasement of Putin, we are still vexed by the ghost of Neville Chamberlain and his failure to engage the aggressive Hitler, now coupled with the spectre of Trump and his support for Putin’s aggressive denials about the attacks on our democratic system. In the space of just one week, Trump’s colluders in the House slimed a career FBI counterintelligence officer, while in Helsinki Trump continued the assault on the career professionals of our own intelligence agencies, instead of giving deference to Putin’s GRU and KGB.
Eyes are now shifting to discern the capacity of Mike Pence in the event that Trump is somehow removed from office. But even tailors will have difficulty measuring the capacity and fit of the empty suit from Indiana.
Perhaps it will be a matter of time when a wag, pondering the inadequacies of Trump’s No. 2, will say something like … I know Dan Quayle, I served with Dan Quayle, and Mr. Vice President, you’re no Dan Quayle.
How dreadful a thought, and how dreadful the Hobson’s choice we will soon face.
As we continue to dwell on our total and unmitigated defeat, we must also be reminded about the close of the speech Churchill delivered to the Commons in 1938 about the disastrous Munich Conference.
And do not suppose that this is the end. This is only the beginning of the reckoning.
How dreadful a thought. Yes, it’s 2018. But to some of us, it feels like 1938.
Tagged with: Helinski • Russia • Trump
ECOT Paid Stipends To Students and Parents For Travel Trump Takes Sides Against America
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The Nashville biosphere
I'm just now back from the NFA convention in Nashville. I thought last year's surroundings in Las Vegas were over the top but it was tame compared to this year's environment! The Gaylord Opryland Resort is a nine-acre self-contained complex under glass domes. It's all climate-controlled, so that you can walk around during the day feeling like you're outside, but you're not really, and you're protected from the hot and sticky weather outside. When the sun goes down it seems like they dial the air conditioning back a bit, maybe 15 degrees, so that it seems like nighttime, but you still don't have to wear a jacket.
There's a jungle planted in there. There are hundreds of tropical plants and lots of fountains, a river, lots of pools, and waterfalls. Everything is connected by a maze of paths and escalators and stairways. It's very easy to get lost and I did, a few times. It was SO Logan's Run.
There are restaurants and shops. Everything is hella expensive though, and there was very little I could eat. I ate a $4.00 bagel with cream cheese one morning. I didn't really buy much food, relying on the granola bars I brought from home, and using my $10.00 daily volunteer reimbursement to get a salad or equal for dinner.
Volunteering was fun. I threw myself into my duties as door monitor for several events. I shared a hotel room with three very nice women. Katie Zimmer was from Michigan, Carla Holtz was from Ohio, and Angela Heo was from Korea. She gave the Korean flute workshop which unfortunately I didn't get to go to because I had an early flight home Sunday morning.
I really enjoyed Camilla Hoitenga's concert, "Savage Aural Hotbed". I got to see Robert Dick unveil his Glissando Headjoint at the Brannen Brothers exhibitor showcase (yay!!!!). I liked Paul Edmund-Davies' rendition of the John Harbison flute concerto. Shannon Heaton's Celtic flute workshop was very very cool. So was the lecture/demonstration put on by Indian flute boy wonder Shashank.But now I'm back and it's time to readjust and get back on all the tasks that have been waiting for me to finish traveling. I've got the first set of recording sessions for Not Made of Stone set up for January 2005, and it's time to start rehearsing for those.
Fahrenheit 9/11 & Scotland the Brave
Regarding Michael Moore's movie, if you haven't seen it yet, you need to. TRUST me. :)
Now then, I just got back from a wonderful vacation in Scotland, which included Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Banff & Macduff, and the Orkneys. I was very much focused on ancient monuments...which is interesting because my album's going to be called Not Made of Stone, but I was intent on photographing things that were made of stone, in Scotland. I visited Rosslyn Chapel (mysteriously carved stone), 6 stone circles in Aberdeenshire, and 6 ancient monuments on West Mainland Orkney, including Skara Brae, Unstan Cairn, Maeshowe, the Standing Stones of Stenness, the Ring of Brogar, and Cuween Hill Chambered Cairn.
It was so moving finally to see Skara Brae, after writing my piece about it in 1995, and always hoping to see it. It's well cared for by Historic Scotland, but that gives it kind of an antiseptic, unreal quality, the way the grass is kept closely clipped, and the way it's surrounded by explanatory markers. I know it has to be done in order to preserve it. I really learned a lot, and there was a lot of energy to be sensed from the ruins themselves and from Skaill Bay. Skaill House, the home of the laird who build the seawall to protect Skara Brae after it was discovered in 1850, is right nearby and can be seen in the background of one of my photos.
The Ben Nevis & Glen Coe area was glorious to drive through. It's quite a thing how the mountains there look as imposing as anything we have in California, and yet when you look at the map, they're all only about 1,000 feet high! When I go back, I'm definitely staying in the Orkneys longer, plus longer stays in Banff/Macduff and Aberdeen. Those were the places I really connected with the most.Having only just gotten over that trip, I'm off early Wednesday morning for Nashville to attend the NFA convention. I'm not performing this year, just hangin' out and volunteering and hoping to sell a flute.
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Home › DC Jazz
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Stories of Jazz Music in Washington, DC
Maurice Jackson and Blair A. Ruble, Editors
The familiar history of jazz music in the United States begins with its birth in New Orleans, moves upstream along the Mississippi River to Chicago, then by rail into New York before exploding across the globe. That telling of history, however, overlooks the pivotal role the nation's capital has played for jazz for a century. Some of the most important clubs in the jazz world have opened and closed their doors in Washington, DC, some of its greatest players and promoters were born there and continue to reside in the area, and some of the institutions so critical to national support of this uniquely American form of music, including Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, the Kennedy Center, the Library of Congress and the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., are rooted in the city. Closer to the ground, a network of local schools like the Duke Ellington High School for the Performing Arts, jazz programs at the University of the District of Columbia and Howard University, churches, informal associations, locally focused media, and clubs keeps the music alive to this day.
Noted historians Maurice Jackson and Blair Ruble, editors of this book, present a collection of original and fascinating stories about the DC jazz scene throughout its history, including a portrait of the cultural hotbed of Seventh and U Streets, the role of jazz in desegregating the city, a portrait of the great Edward "Duke" Ellington's time in DC, notable women in DC jazz, and the seminal contributions of the University of District of Columbia and Howard University to the scene. The book also includes three jazz poems by celebrated Washington, DC, poet E. Ethelbert Miller. Collectively, these stories and poems underscore the deep connection between creativity and place. A copublishing initiative with the Historical Society of Washington, DC, the book includes over thirty museum-quality photographs and a guide to resources for learning more about DC jazz.
Maurice Jackson teaches History and African American Studies at Georgetown University and is the author of Let This Voice be Heard: Anthony Benezet, Father of Atlantic Abolitionism. He is a 2009 inductee into the Washington, DC Hall of Fame and was inaugural chair of the DC Commission of African American Affairs.
Blair Ruble is distinguished fellow for programs at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the author of Washington's U Street: A Biography.
"A treasure trove of history, deeply researched and often tightly annotated."—The Georgetowner
"[The authors] give the reader an excellent survey of the extent of jazz activity and its impact on the national and international scenes. . . . It's a wonderful overview of a city known for many things, but whose imprint on jazz hasn't gotten anywhere near the attention it deserves until the publication of this outstanding book."—The Tennessee Jazz & Blues Society
"The book tells us much about the city beyond geography. It's as 'Official Washington' a book about jazz as one could imagine: wonky, think-tanky, visiting-scholar-y. It's jazz as White Paper. . . . If this sounds like a criticism, rest assured that it is not. The book is precisely what it aspires to be, and a success on its own terms is a success, period. Besides, who's to complain that historians and history nerds want to give more attention to jazz? . . . It is ultimately a cornerstone: an essential reference for more narrative, perhaps lively histories."—Washington City Paper
"The book is as digestible as it is illuminating. . . . As DC Jazz functions as an essential scholarly anchor, it succeeds at illustrating the resilience of the city's jazz landscape amid sometimes challenging social climate."—DownBeat
"Takes readers on a relaxing stroll through D.C., visiting venues that first featured jazz musicians to welcoming audiences: The Crystal Caverns, later renamed the Bohemian Caverns, One Step Down and Blues Alley would become legendary hotspots within their own rights. Some artists would go on to perform at much larger, prestigious venues in the District like the Kennedy Center, whose jazz program, currently under the direction of musician/composer Jason Moran, owes its roots to pianist and composer Dr. Billy Taylor."—The Washington Informer
"Washington, DC has always been one of the historic cities in the development of this music called jazz. It is the home of one of our giants, and a man who was a powerful influence on my own work, the grandmaster Duke Ellington, and the place where my dear friend Billy Taylor grew up. I fondly recall being part of Billy's NPR radio series and his concert series at the Kennedy Center. This book DC Jazz does a marvelous job of detailing some of the many attributes of the DC jazz scene and its incredible community of artists who have made such great contributions to this music as an indelible part of the African music continuum."—Randy Weston, NEA Jazz Master
"Maurice Jackson lends his invaluable expertise in African American and DC history to this vibrant, compelling portrait of the people who brought jazz to life in our nation's capital. Drawing important contributions from scholars and musicians, he and noted scholar Blair Ruble have brought together an extraordinary resource for students of music, American history, and urban life."—John J. DeGioia, President of Georgetown University,
Foreword by Jason Moran
1. Jazz, "Great Black Music," and the Struggle for Equality in Washington, DC
Maurice Jackson
2. Seventh Street: Black DC's Musical Mecca
Blair A. Ruble
3. Washington's Duke Ellington
John Edward Hasse
4. Bill Brower: Notes from a Key Observer and Scene Maker
Interview by Willard Jenkins
5. Jazz Radio in Washington, DC
Rusty Hassan
6. Legislating Jazz
Anna Harwell Celenza
7. The Beautiful Struggle: A Look at Women Who Have Helped
Bridget Arnwine
8. No Church without a Choir: Howard University and Jazz in Washington, DC
Lauren Sinclair
9. From Federal City College to UDC: A Retrospective on Washington's Jazz University
Judith A. Korey
10. Researching Jazz History in Washington, DC
Michael Fitzgerald
Black Georgetown Remembered
A History of Its Black Community from the Founding of "The Town of George" in 1751 to the Present Day
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Bill Charlap – While We’re Young (Live in Concert, Germany 2002)
Uploaded by projazz on September 13, 2017 at 7:38 am
Bill Charlap – While We’re Young (Live in Concert, Germany 2002)
Live recording from the Jazz Open Stuttgart in 2002 featuring the jazz pianist Bill Charlap. "While We're Young" by Alec Wilder Pianist Bill Charlap, son of Broadway composer Moose Charlap ("Peter Pan") and singer Sandy Stewart (Benny Goodman), grew up in New York City. In addition to working with his own trio (with Peter Washington on bass and Kenny Washington on drums) Charlap is a member of the Phil Woods Quintet since 1995. He also starred, among others with Benny Carter, Clark Terry, Jim Hall, Al Grey, Red Mitchell, Milt Hinton, Louie Bellson, Carol Sloane and Tony Bennett. In the late 80's Charlap spent two years as a member of the Gerry Mulligan Quartet. In addition to his solo albums Charlap contributed to over 50 CD-recordings as a sideman.
Live recording from the Jazz Open Stuttgart in 2002 featuring the jazz pianist Bill Charlap.
“While We’re Young” by Alec Wilder
Pianist Bill Charlap, son of Broadway composer Moose Charlap (“Peter Pan”) and singer Sandy Stewart (Benny Goodman), grew up in New York City. In addition to working with his own trio (with Peter Washington on bass and Kenny Washington on drums) Charlap is a member of the Phil Woods Quintet since 1995. He also starred, among others with Benny Carter, Clark Terry, Jim Hall, Al Grey, Red Mitchell, Milt Hinton, Louie Bellson, Carol Sloane and Tony Bennett. In the late 80’s Charlap spent two years as a member of the Gerry Mulligan Quartet. In addition to his solo albums Charlap contributed to over 50 CD-recordings as a sideman.
Tags: Bill Charlap, Bill Charlap Solo Piano, piano
Categories: Straight-Ahead Jazz
Bill Charlap Trio - Goodbye Mr. Evans
Bill Charlap - Georgia On My Mind
Bill Charlap - Lonely Town
Donald Byrd Pepper Adams Quintet feat. Herbie Hancock - Out of This World (Full Album)
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Building Office
By Reading Office / February 3, 1970 / Artist / No Comments
Yves Klein (French pronunciation: [iv klɛ̃]; 28 April 1928 – 6 June 1962) was a French artist and an important figure in post-war European art. He was a leading member of the French artistic movement of Nouveau réalisme founded in 1960 by art critic Pierre Restany. Klein was a pioneer in the development of performance art, and is seen as an inspiration to and as a forerunner of minimal art, as well as pop art.
Klein was born in Nice, in the Alpes-Maritimes department of France. His parents, Fred Klein and Marie Raymond, were both painters. His father painted in a loose post-impressionist style, while his mother was a leading figure in Art informel, and held regular soirées with other leading practitioners of this Parisian abstract movement.
From 1942 to 1946, Klein studied at the École Nationale de la Marine Marchande and the École Nationale des Langues Orientales. At this time, he became friends with Arman (Armand Fernandez) and Claude Pascal and started to paint. At the age of nineteen, Klein and his friends lay on a beach in the south of France, and divided the world between themselves; Arman chose the earth, Pascal, words, while Klein chose the ethereal space surrounding the planet, which he then proceeded to sign:
With this famous symbolic gesture of signing the sky, Klein had foreseen, as in a reverie, the thrust of his art from that time onwards—a quest to reach the far side of the infinite.[1]
Between 1947 and 1948,[2] Klein conceived his Monotone Symphony (1949, formally Monotone Silence Symphony) that consisted of a single 20-minute sustained chord followed by a 20-minute silence[3][4]—a precedent to both La Monte Young’s drone music and John Cage’s 4′33″.[citation needed]
In early 1948, Klein was exposed to Max Heindel’s 1909 text The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception and pursued a membership with an American society dedicated to Rosicrucianism. [5]
While attending the École Nationale des Langues Orientales Klein began practicing judo. During the years 1948 to 1952, he traveled to Italy, Great Britain, Spain, and Japan. He traveled to Japan in 1953 where he became, at the age of 25, a master at judo receiving the rank of yodan (4th dan/degree black-belt) from the Kodokan, becoming the first European to rise to that rank. Later that year, he became the technical director of the Spanish judo team[6]. In 1954 Klein wrote a book on judo called Les Fondements du judo.[7] The same year, he settled permanently in Paris and began in earnest to establish himself in the art world.
Monochrome works: The Blue Epoch
Yves Klein, IKB 191, 1962
Although Klein had painted monochromes as early as 1949, and held the first private exhibition of this work in 1950, his first public showing was the publication of the artist’s book Yves Peintures in November 1954. Parodying a traditional catalogue raisonné, the book featured a series of intense monochromes linked to various cities he had lived in during the previous years. Yves Peintures anticipated his first two shows of oil paintings, at the Club des Solitaires, Paris, October 1955 and Yves: Proposition monochromes at Gallery Colette Allendy, February 1956. Public responses to these shows, which displayed orange, yellow, red, pink and blue monochromes, deeply disappointed Klein, as people went from painting to painting, linking them together as a sort of mosaic.
From the reactions of the audience, [Klein] realized that…viewers thought his various, uniformly colored canvases amounted to a new kind of bright, abstract interior decoration. Shocked at this misunderstanding, Klein knew a further and decisive step in the direction of monochrome art would have to be taken…From that time onwards he would concentrate on one single, primary color alone: blue.[8]
The next exhibition, ‘Proposte Monocrome, Epoca Blu’ (Proposition Monochrome; Blue Epoch) at the Gallery Apollinaire, Milan, (January 1957), featured 11 identical blue canvases, using ultramarine pigment suspended in a synthetic resin ‘Rhodopas’, described by Klein as “The Medium”. Discovered with the help of Edouard Adam, a Parisian paint dealer,[9] the optical effect retained the brilliance of the pigment which, when suspended in linseed oil, tended to become dull. Klein later deposited a Soleau envelope[10] for this recipe to maintain the “authenticity of the pure idea.”[11] This colour, reminiscent of the lapis lazuli used to paint the Madonna’s robes in medieval paintings, was to become known as International Klein Blue (IKB). The paintings were attached to poles placed 20 cm away from the walls to increase their spatial ambiguities.
The show was a critical and commercial success, traveling to Paris, Düsseldorf and London. The Parisian exhibition, at the Iris Clert Gallery in May 1957, became a seminal happening.[2] To mark the opening, 1001 blue balloons were released and blue postcards were sent out using IKB stamps that Klein had bribed the postal service to accept as legitimate.[12] Concurrently, an exhibition of tubs of blue pigment and fire paintings was held at Galerie Collette Allendy.[13]
Le Vide (The Void) displayed at the Iris Clert Gallery
For his next exhibition at the Iris Clert Gallery (April 1958), Klein chose to show nothing whatsoever, called La spécialisation de la sensibilité à l’état matière première en sensibilité picturale stabilisée, Le Vide (The Specialization of Sensibility in the Raw Material State into Stabilized Pictorial Sensibility, The Void): he removed everything in the gallery space except a large cabinet, painted every surface white, and then staged an elaborate entrance procedure for the opening night: the gallery’s window was painted blue, and a blue curtain was hung in the entrance lobby, accompanied by republican guards and blue cocktails. Thanks to an enormous publicity drive, 3,000 people queued up, waiting to be let into an empty room.[14]
The art historian Olivier Berggruen situates Klein “as one who strove for total liberation,” forming connections between perverse ritual and a disdain of convention. Klein had studied judo in Japan between 1952 and 1954, and also displayed an interest in Zen Buddhism.[15] According to Berggruen, he used ritual as a means not to attain belief, but rather as a forum through which to reach abstraction—transcending worldly vestiges temporarily, and returning to earth as a new being.
Recently my work with color has led me, in spite of myself, to search little by little, with some assistance (from the observer, from the translator), for the realization of matter, and I have decided to end the battle. My paintings are now invisible and I would like to show them in a clear and positive manner, in my next Parisian exhibition at Iris Clert’s.[16]
Sponge Relief (1959), Musiktheater im Revier, Gelsenkirchen
Later in the year, he was invited to decorate the Gelsenkirchen Opera House, Germany, with a series of vast blue murals, the largest of which were 20 metres by 7 metres. The Opera House was inaugurated in December 1959. Klein celebrated the commission by travelling to Cascia, Italy, to place an ex-voto offering at the Saint Rita Monastery. “May all that emerges from me be beautiful,” he prayed.[17] The offering took the form of a small transparent plastic box containing three compartments; one filled with IKB pigment, one filled with pink pigment, and one with gold leaf inside. The container was only rediscovered in 1980.
Klein’s last two exhibitions at Iris Clert’s were Vitesse Pure et Stabilité Monochrome (Sheer Speed and Monochrome Stability), November 1958, a collaboration with Jean Tinguely, of kinetic sculptures, and Bas-Reliefs dans une Forêt d’Éponges (Bas-Reliefs in a Sponge Forest), June 1959, a collection of sponges that Klein had used to paint IKB canvases, mounted on steel rods and set in rocks that he’d found in his parents’ garden.
Anthropométries
Despite the IKB paintings being uniformly coloured, Klein experimented with various methods of applying the paint; firstly different rollers and then later sponges, created a series of varied surfaces. This experimentalism would lead to a number of works Klein made using naked female models covered in blue paint and dragged across or laid upon canvases to make the image, using the models as “living brushes”. This type of work he called Anthropometry. Other paintings in this method of production include “recordings” of rain that Klein made by driving around in the rain at 70 miles per hour with a canvas tied to the roof of his car, and canvases with patterns of soot created by scorching the canvas with gas burners.
Klein and Arman were continually involved with each other creatively, both as Nouveaux Réalistes and as friends. Both from Nice, the two worked together for many years and Arman even named his son, Yves Arman after Yves Klein who was his god-father.
Sometimes the creation of these paintings was turned into a kind of performance art—an event in 1960, for example, had an audience dressed in formal evening wear watching the models go about their task while an instrumental ensemble played Klein’s 1949 The Monotone Symphony (a single 20-minute sustained chord followed by a 20-minute silence).[18]
In the performance piece, Zone de Sensibilité Picturale Immatérielle (Zones of Immaterial Pictorial Sensibility) 1959–62, he offered empty spaces in the city in exchange for gold. He wanted his buyers to experience The Void by selling them empty space. In his view this experience could only be paid for in the purest material: gold. In exchange, he gave a certificate of ownership to the buyer. As the second part of the piece, performed on the Seine with an Art critic in attendance, if the buyer agreed to set fire to the certificate, Klein would throw half the gold into the river, in order to restore the “natural order” that he had unbalanced by selling the empty space (that was now not “empty” anymore). He used the other half of the gold to create a series of gold-leafed works, which, along with a series of pink monochromes, began to augment his blue monochromes toward the end of his life.
Aero works
Le Saut dans le vide (Leap into the Void); Photomontage by Shunk–Kender of a performance by Klein at Rue Gentil-Bernard, Fontenay-aux-Roses, October 1960
Klein is also well known for a photomontage, Saut dans le vide (Leap into the Void),[19] originally published in the artist’s book Dimanche, which apparently shows him jumping off a wall, arms outstretched, towards the pavement. Klein used the photograph as evidence of his ability to undertake unaided lunar travel. In fact, “Saut dans le vide”, published as part of a broadside on the part of Klein (the “artist of space”) denouncing NASA’s own lunar expeditions as hubris and folly, was a photomontage in which the large tarpaulin Klein leaped onto was removed from the final image.
Klein’s work revolved around a Zen-influenced concept he came to describe as “le Vide” (the Void). Klein’s Void is a nirvana-like state that is void of worldly influences; a neutral zone where one is inspired to pay attention to one’s own sensibilities, and to “reality” as opposed to “representation”. Klein presented his work in forms that were recognized as art—paintings, a book, a musical composition—but then would take away the expected content of that form (paintings without pictures, a book without words, a musical composition without in fact composition) leaving only a shell, as it were. In this way he tried to create for the audience his “Zones of Immaterial Pictorial Sensibility”. Instead of representing objects in a subjective, artistic way, Klein wanted his subjects to be represented by their imprint: the image of their absence. Klein’s work strongly refers to a theoretical/arthistorical context as well as to philosophy/metaphysics and with his work he aimed to combine these. He tried to make his audience experience a state where an idea could simultaneously be “felt” as well as “understood”.
As well as painting flat canvases, Klein produced a series of works throughout his career that blurred the edges between painting and sculpture. He appropriated plaster casts of famous sculptures, such as the Winged Victory of Samothrace and the Venus de Milo, by painting them International Klein Blue; he painted a globe, 3D reliefs of areas of France and dowels which he hung from the ceiling as rain. He also stuck sponges to canvases and painted dinner plates. Many of these works were later manufactured as editioned multiples after his death.
In Blue Obelisk, a project that he had failed to realise in 1958, but that finally happened in 1983, he appropriated the Place de la Concorde by shining blue spotlights onto the central obelisk.
Last years
The critic Pierre Restany, whom he had met during his first public exhibition at the Club Solitaire,[20][not in citation given] founded the Nouveau Réalisme group in Klein’s apartment on 27 October 1960. Founding members were Arman, Francois Dufrêne, Raymond Hains, Yves Klein, Martial Raysse, Daniel Spoerri, Jean Tinguely, and Jacques Villeglé, with Niki de Saint Phalle, Christo and Gérard Deschamps joining later. Normally seen as a French version of Pop Art, the aim of the group was stated as ‘New Realism=New Perceptual Approaches To The Real’.[21][not in citation given]
A large retrospective was held at Krefeld, Germany, January 1961, followed by an unsuccessful opening at Leo Castelli’s Gallery, New York, in which Klein failed to sell a single painting. He stayed with Rotraut at the Chelsea Hotel for the duration of the exhibition; and, while there, he wrote the “Chelsea Hotel Manifesto”, a proclamation of the “multiplicity of new possibilities.” In part, the manifesto declared:
At present, I am particularly excited by “bad taste.” I have the deep feeling that there exists in the very essence of bad taste a power capable of creating those things situated far beyond what is traditionally termed “The Work of Art.” I wish to play with human feeling, with its “morbidity” in a cold and ferocious manner. Only very recently I have become a sort of gravedigger of art (oddly enough, I am using the very terms of my enemies). Some of my latest works have been coffins and tombs. During the same time I succeeded in painting with fire, using particularly powerful and searing gas flames, some of them measuring three to four meters high. I use these to bathe the surface of the painting in such a way that it registered the spontaneous trace of fire.[22]
He moved on to exhibit at the Dwan Gallery, Los Angeles, and traveled extensively in the Western U.S., visiting Death Valley in the Mojave Desert. On 21 January 1962, in an elaborate ceremony in which Klein dressed as a Knight of the Order of St Sebastian, he married Rotraut Uecker, sister of German artist Günther Uecker, at Saint-Nicholas-des-Champs, Paris.[citation needed] His last works included painting geophysical reliefs of France and casting his friends’ torsos, painting them blue, and attaching them to gold-leafed supports.[citation needed]
He suffered a heart attack while watching the film Mondo cane (in which he is featured) at the Cannes Film Festival on 11 May 1962. Two more heart attacks followed, the second of which killed him on 6 June 1962. His son, Yves Amu Klein [fr], was born on 6 August in Nice.[23] Yves Amu studied architecture, design, cybernetics theory of systems, and Fine Arts sculpture. He went on to create robotized sculptures.[24] Rotraut Klein married the photographer and designer Daniel Moquay, and has homes in Paris; Phoenix, Arizona; and Sydney, Australia.
Unaware of the importance of the Nouveau Réalisme movement until the 1990s, New York critics of Klein’s time tried to classify him as neo-Dada[citation needed], and other critics, such as Thomas McEvilley in an essay submitted to Artforum in 1982, classified Klein as an early, though enigmatic, postmodernist.[25]
A sort of parody of Klein’s Anthropometry performance is featured in the film Wise Guys (original title: Les Godelureaux) directed by Claude Chabrol released in 1961.
The Yves Klein archive is housed in Phoenix, Arizona, where his widow Rotraut Klein-Moquay has a home.[26]
Alongside works by Andy Warhol and Willem de Kooning, Klein’s painting RE 46 (1960) was among the top-five sellers at Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art sale in May 2006. His monochromatic blue sponge painting sold for $4,720,000. Previously, his painting RE I (1958) had sold for $6,716,000 at Christie’s New York in November 2000.[27] In 2008, MG 9 (1962), a monochromatic gold painting, sold for $21,000,000 at Christie’s.[28] FC1 (Fire Color 1) (1962), a nearly 10-foot long panel created with a blowtorch, water and two models, sold for $36.4 million at Christie’s in 2012.[29]
In 2013, Klein’s Sculpture Éponge Bleue Sans Titre, SE 168, a 1959 sculpture made with natural sea sponges drenched in blue pigment fetched $22 million, the highest price paid for a sculpture by the artist.[30]
The estate of Yves Klein has been represented by Galerie Gmurzynska for the past three decades.
Tags: 1920's born, France, Yves Klein
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Home > News and Events > 2008 News > "AstroFest 2008" Provides an Evening of Astronomy Activities and Stargazing During Arts Festival
"AstroFest 2008" Provides an Evening of Astronomy Activities and Stargazing During Arts Festival
stargazing.jpg
A free festival of astronomy will be held from 8:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday, 9 July, through Saturday, 12 July, on the Penn State University Park campus. The 10th annual "AstroFest" is sponsored by the Penn State Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics. The popular four-day event, which draws about 2,000 visitors each year, is made possible by the efforts of more than 60 faculty, staff, and student volunteers.
All ages are welcome to attend and to participate in a variety of activities. Events are free and will be conducted rain or shine in classrooms and in the planetarium located on the fifth floor of Davey Laboratory.
Presentations will be given each night on a wide range of topics, including the search for life in the universe, great astronomical disasters, and a hands-on demonstration of "night vision astronomy." In addition, AstroFest is offering a redesigned series of 3-dimensional tours of Mars, the Milky Way, and the universe beyond our Galaxy. "We're introducing a lot of new topics and activities this year," said Brendan Mullan, a graduate student in the department who is helping to organize the event. "The popular 3-dimensional tours have been almost completely redesigned, and the presentations feature a lot of new technology and content that we that haven't used before."
AstroFest invites people of all ages to celebrate astronomy. For children, there are crafts, solar-system tours, a "Driver's Education" class for a Mars rover, planetarium shows, an opportunity to build a comet, and much more. Kids also are encouraged to participate in building a "passport" which, when filled with stamps that are gathered upon completion of various activities, enables them to win small astronomy-themed prizes.
If the sky is clear, visitors will have the opportunity to observe a number of astronomical objects through the telescopes on the rooftop observatory of Davey Laboratory. The planet Jupiter and its moons will be in an ideal position in the sky during this time, as will our own Moon and its prominent craters. To top it off, fuzzy nebulae and clusters of millions of stars also will be featured on the stargazing menu.
"Davey Laboratory is very close to where the Arts Festival will be held and, therefore, it is a convenient location for people to drop by in the evening and see what's going on at Astrofest," said Jane Charlton , a professor of astronomy and astrophysics, and the organizer of Astrofest. "Even though there will be plenty to do indoors if the weather doesn't cooperate, we are hoping for clear skies and another record-setting attendance for this year's events."
[ S D L / B M ]
Jane Charlton: (+1) 814-863-6040, jcharlton@astro.psu.edu
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You are here: Home › philosophy › God is Dead – The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche
God is Dead – The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche
philosophy 15. October 2018 1 Tabea Tietz
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844 – 1900)
On October 15th, 1844, Friedrich Nietzsche was born. The German philosopher, cultural critic, and classical philologist lived and worked socially isolated for the most time and faced mainly criticism until his mental breakdown in 1889. He is best known for his concept of the ‘Übermensch‘ as well as the ‘death of God‘ and now counts as one of the most discussed and appreciated philosophers of all times.
“There are no facts, only interpretations.”
— Friedrich Nietzsche, Notebooks (Summer 1886 – Fall 1887)
Friedrich Nietzsche was born in Röcken, a village near Lützen in the Merseburg district in the Prussian province of Saxony (today Saxony-Anhalt, Germany). His parents were the Lutheran priest Carl Ludwig Nietzsche and his wife Franziska. His father already died rather early and from 1850 to 1856 Nietzsche lived in the “Naumburg Women’s Household”, i.e. together with his mother, sister, grandmother, two unmarried aunts on his father’s side and the maid. Only the legacy of the grandmother, who died in 1856, allowed the mother to rent her own apartment for herself and her children.
He attended mainly private schools, where his linguistic talent was quickly detected. In 1864, he began studying philology and theology at the University of Bonn. During this period he was influenced by the works of David Friedrich Strauß, Ludwig Feuerbach, Bruno Bauer and most importantly Arthur Schopenhauer.[4] This encouraged him (to the great disappointment of his mother) in the decision to discontinue his theological studies after one semester and to fully focus on classical philology. Nietzsche moved to Leipzig, where he would graduate. However, on Friedrich Ritschl’s recommendation and Wilhelm Vischer-Bilfinger’s instigation, Nietzsche was appointed associate professor of classical philology at the University of Basel in 1869, even before he had received his doctorate (honoris causa) and completed his habilitation. At his own request Nietzsche was released from Prussian citizenship after his move to Basel and remained stateless for the rest of his life.
The Wagner-Schopenhauer Period
“He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.”
— Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, Aphorism 146
Another great influence to Friedrich Nietzsche depicts the composer Richard Wagner,[5] whom he deeply admired. In 1872, the so called Wager-Schopenhauer-period, in which he was able to publish his first major works, began. Die Geburt der Tragödie aus dem Geiste der Musik (The Birth of Tradegy) was published in the same year, but was rejected by most of his colleagues. The work was an investigation into the origin of tragedy, in which he replaced the exact philological method with philosophical speculation. He developed his art psychology by attempting to explain Greek tragedy from the Apollonian-Dionysian pair of terms. Also to this period belong his four critics of contemporary civilization (Unzeitgemäße Betrachtungen, 1873-1876) influenced by Wagner and Schopenhauer, that also couldn’t succeed. His admiration for Richard Wagner shrank during the famous Bayreuth opera festival. He was deeply unsatisfied in concerns of the level of acting as well as of the audience’s behaviors.
The same process took place with Schopenhauer. Nietzsche began to read Philipp Mainländer’s 200-page critique of Schopenhauer’s philosophy and a few days later he wrote that he had broken with Schopenhauer. The publication of Menschliches, Allzumenschliches (Human, All-too-Human, 1878) revealed the alienation of Wagner and Schopenhauer’s philosophy. This the Wagner-Schopenhauer-period and started his time as a free intellectual.
A Free Intellectual
“Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our future that lays down the law of our today.”
— Friedrich Nietzsche, Human, All too Human, (1878), Preface 7
Driven by his illnesses in the constant search for climate conditions that were optimal for him, he now traveled a lot and lived as a freelance author in various places until 1889. He published his book ‘The Dawn‘, in which he questions the development and the substance of religious and moral systems. He also released ‘The Gay Science‘, which ended this free period Nietzsche’s.
In 1882 he met Lou von Salomé through his friends Meysenbug and Rée in Rome. Nietzsche quickly made far-reaching plans for the “Trinity” with Rée and Salomé. The approach to the young woman culminated in a stay of several weeks together in Tautenburg, with Nietzsche’s sister Elisabeth as chaperone. Nietzsche saw in Salomé, despite all appreciation, less an equal partner than a gifted pupil. He fell in love with her, asked Rée for her hand through his mutual friend, but Salomé refused. In the winter of 1882/1883, the relationship with Rée and Salomé broke up, partly because of Elisabeth’s intrigues. Nietzsche, who was plagued by suicidal thoughts in view of new episodes of illness and his now almost complete isolation – he had thrown himself over with his mother and sister because of Salomé – fled to Rapallo, where he put the first part of his masterpiece Also sprach Zarathustra (Thus spoke Zarathustra) on paper in only ten days.
While only a few friends remained to him after his break with Wagner and Schopenhauer’s philosophy, the completely new style in Zarathustra met with incomprehension even among his closest friends, which was at best covered up by politeness. Nietzsche was well aware of this and cultivated his loneliness, even though he often complained about it. In addition, he was plagued by money worries because his books were almost never bought. In 1885 he published the fourth part of the Zarathustra only as a private print with an edition of 40 copies, which were intended as a gift for “those who rendered outstanding services to him” and of which Nietzsche finally gave away only seven. The philosophical novel is divided into four parts and deals with the death of God and the new chances for the concept of the ‘Übermensch’ as a new goal for humankind. In this work he illustrates five major virtues favored by the ‘Übermensch’: Work and demolishment, love to oneself and to life as a whole as well as trust in one’s abilities, and courage to enforce one’s goals.
Nietzsche’s Last Period
“In the mountains of truth you will never climb in vain: either you will get up higher today or you will exercise your strength so as to be able to get up higher tomorrow.”
— Friedrich Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human, 1878, II.293, maxim 358
His last period as philosopher and poet began in 1886, when he published his very critical and polemical works ‘Beyond Good and Evil‘ and ‘The Antichrist‘. In fact, interest in Nietzsche increased, albeit very slowly and hardly noticed by himself. Nietzsche continued to struggle with recurrent painful seizures that made constant work impossible. However, his writings and letters from autumn 1888, however, already indicate his incipient megalomania. In 1889, Nietzsche suffered from a mental breakdown, which brought his life as an intellectual to an end. The cause of the collapse was then diagnosed as progressive paralysis as a result of syphilis, which is now considered controversial. His pieces began to increasingly succeed when Nietzsche became an invalid, not knowing how many people he would influence with his critical mind and works, still highly discussed and cited by philosophy students and experts around the globe.
After several strokes, however, Nietzsche was partially paralyzed and could neither stand nor speak. On 25 August 1900, at the age of 55, he died of Frontotemporal Dementia in Weimar.
At yovisto you can learn more about Friedrich Nietzsche in the lecture of Prof. Ivan Szeleny from Yale University entitled ‘Nietzsche on Power, Knowledge, and Morality’.
[1] Friedrich Nietzsche Society
[2] Friedrich Nietzsche Website 1
[4] The World according to Arthur Schopenhauer, SciHi Blog
[5] Richard Wagner – Genius and Megalomania, SciHi Blog
[6] Nietsche: Complete Works Collection
[7] Friedrich Nietzsche at Wikidata
[8] Timeline for Friedrich Nietzsche, via Wikidata
Arthur Schopenhauer, Friedrich Nietzsche, Germany, Richard Wagner, übermensch
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Muthu Pearl 22. November 2012 at 12:05
Nice Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche . Thanks for sharing this Quotes.
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Catherine Benson Wahlén
Thematic Expert for Human Development, Human Settlements and Sustainable Development (US)
UN, Development Bank Leaders Launch Horn of Africa Initiative on High-Level Visit
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced a US$8 billion initiative to reduce poverty, boost economic growth and promote business activity across the Horn of Africa, during a visit to the region with global and regional leaders.
The World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB), Islamic Development Bank (IsDBG) and EU also made pledges to the Horn of Africa Initiative, which aims to enhance the regions's economic development and its food and water security, among other aims.
27 October 2014: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced a US$8 billion initiative to reduce poverty, boost economic growth and promote business activity across the Horn of Africa, during a visit to the region with global and regional leaders. The World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB), Islamic Development Bank (IsDBG) and EU also made pledges to the Horn of Africa Initiative, which aims to enhance the regions’s economic development and its food and water security, among other aims.
The leaders’ visit began in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 27 October 2014. The Horn of Africa also includes Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda. According to the UN, while the region has untapped natural resources and some of the world’s fastest growing economies, many countries are experiencing poverty, unemployment and gender inequality and are vulnerable to corruption, drug trafficking, piracy and violence.
The Horn is also predicted to undergo “dramatic and lasting change” when oil production begins in Kenya, Uganda and possibly Ethiopia and Somalia, according to a Working Paper by the World Bank. The paper highlights “encouraging signs” of strong political will to solve development and security issues through cooperation and enhanced regional economic interdependence.
Noting that Horn of Africa countries are making progress towards economic growth and political stability, Ban said “now is a crucial moment to support these efforts, end the cycles of conflict and poverty and move from fragility to sustainability.”
World Bank President Jim Kim stressed the opportunity for the Horn of Africa “to break free from its cycles of drought, food insecurity, water insecurity and conflict by building up regional security, generating a peace dividend…and spurring more cross-border cooperation.” He pledged US$1.8 billion for regional cross-border activities to enhance economic development and ensure access to clean water, nutritious food, education, health care and jobs. The financing also will support increased regional links among the countries, strong information and communications technology (ICT) and broadband connectivity and cross-border trade.
The EU committed US$3.7 billion until 2020, which includes targeted support to boost growth, reduce poverty by promoting resilience and create economic opportunities. IsDBG announced US$1 billion to Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda, its four member countries in the Horn of Africa, with a focus on food security, human and infrastructure development and trade. AfDB pledged US$1.8 billion to the Initiative over the next three years.
Ban is leading the international delegation “to ensure a coherent and coordinated approach towards peace, security and development to the Horn of Africa.” It is his third joint visit to Africa with Kim. [UN Press Release] [UN Note to Correspondents] [Publication: Regional initiative in support of the Horn of Africa] [UNECA Press Release] [World Bank Press Release]
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New wave of arrests targeting daily Cumhuriyet in Turkey
TOPICS:arrested journalistsarrests of journalistscensorshipdetention of journalistsfreedom of expressionmedia freedompress freedompressure against journalists
Protesters hold a sign reading "We are here for Cumhuriyet" during a protest in front of opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper in Istanbul on October 31, 2016 after a police operation at the daily's headquarters. Turkish police detained the editor-in-chief of the opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet, state media reported. According to CNN Turk, 13 arrest warrants were issued for journalists and executives from the daily. The Istanbul prosecutor said an investigation had been launched into allegations the paper's output was "legitimising" the July 15 failed coup. / AFP PHOTO / OZAN KOSE
The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ/IFJ) today condemned the new wave of media repression by Turkish authorities following the detention of Murat Sabuncu, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Cumhuriyet, arrested this morning together with 15 other media staff of the newspaper. They are accused ofassisting the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ) and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The police raided early this morning the houses of many journalists working at the newspaper and seizedlaptops and computers. According to Hurriyet, Turhan Günay, Hikmet Çetinkaya, Aydın Engin, Güray Öz, Musa Kart, Bülent Utku, Mustafa Kemal Güngör, Önder Çelik, Bülent Yener, Eser Sevinç and Murat Sabuncu weredetained during the operation. The police were also searching for Akin Atalay, the head of CumhuriyetExecutive Board, who is currently abroad. Arrest warrants have been issued against 15 journalists and executives of the newspaper.
On Sunday 30 October, the home of Cumhuriyet former editor-in-chief Can Dündar was also raided by the police in the Çengelköy neighborhood of Istanbul. A detention notice was issued against the journalist, who is now abroad following his conviction earlier this year in a case related to the alleged transfer of weapons by Turkey’s intelligence agency to rebels in Syria.
Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland again expressed his great concern about state of emergency measures: “It is highly questionable if the raid against Cumhuriyet can be justified as a proportionate measure, even under the state of emergency (…) Careful distinction must be made between violent or terrorist acts and expressions of opposition or strong criticism to the Government. Freedom of expression constitutes one of the essential foundations of a democratic society”, he said.
In addition, 15 Kurdish media outlets were shut down by decree on 29 October, which brought the number of media outlets closed under state of emergency in Turkey to 168. At least 113 journalists are behind bars. Turkey is now the world’s biggest jail for journalists.
#FreeThemAll
Credit photo: AFP/OZAN KOSE
The article was originally published by EFJ on 31/10/2016.
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14th best golf course in the North Island
Rotorua Golf Club has been ranked the 14th best golf course in the North Island
The ranks are determined by 47 PGA golf professionals including Sir Bob Charles who ranked their top 25 courses from throughout New Zealand.
The top three courses in the North Island were Kauri Cliffs, Wairakei and Kinloch. While in the South Island it was Jacks Point, The Hills and Millbrook.
Rotorua Golf Club chief executive Don Blackledge said the club was proud of the ranking especially considering the club didn’t even make the top 25 last year.
Blackledge put the improvement in the rankings down to golfers from around the country being more aware of what Rotorua had to offer not just in tourism but golfing as well.
“We don’t get too many mentions like this so it’s great for our club.”
New Zealand Golf Rankings creator Andrew Whiley said this year’s rankings were the most extensive rankings of New Zealand golf courses undertaken.
He said each course received 25 points for being ranked first and it continued down to one point for being ranked 25th.
Blackledge said the club’s course was popular because it appealed to a large variety of golfers.
“I think the course really has something for everyone and it has a lot of character with it’s thermal activity and its native bush.
“The course is over 100 years old and with its different vistas it really can be quite beautiful.”
The chief executive said the club hadn’t done anything to try and improve the ranking of the club but always focused on good maintenance, especially considering it was one of the first things some visitors saw when driving into the city.
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It probably wouldn't come as a major surprise to most people that workers who lift 1.8 tons per shift would suffer serious back injuries.
But what most people probably don't realize is that these "he-men" ae mostly "she's" -- nurses and other health care workers.
Health care workers have some of the highest job-related injury rates, both in Rhode Island and nationwide. In 2004, Bureau of Labor Statistics figures show, the state’s hospitals reported about 1,600 workplace injuries or illnesses, or 9.8 per 100 full-time workers. They had 69 percent more injuries involving lost work time, and double the average back injury rate.
Nursing homes reported about 1,400 injuries or illnesses, or 11.1 per 100 full-time workers – more than twice the private-sector average of 5.2 per 100. Nationwide, hospitals and nursing homes together reported more than half a million injuries and illnesses.
With no OSHA ergonomics standard (thanks to President Bush and the Republican Congress that repealed the standard in 2001), health care workers are dependent on state legislatures to pass laws -- and on their unions to get those laws passed. In Rhode Island, for example,
A bill introduced by state Rep. Grace Diaz, D-Providence, a former CNA herself, would require every licensed health care facility to set up a committee, chaired by a nurse, to develop a safe patient handling program, with policies aimed at preventing musculoskeletal disorders among workers and injuries to patients.
The measure, called the Safe Patient Handling Act of 2006, would also require facilities to implement rules to virtually eliminate manual lifting, transferring and repositioning of patients, except in life-threatening emergencies or other extraordinary circumstances.
Rick Brooks, executive director of United Nurses and Allied Professionals, which represents health care workers at Westerly Hospital, Rhode Island Hospital and many other facilities, said a key component to reducing injuries is the use of mechanical lifts.
The equipment generally ranges in price from $100 to $600, Brooks said, and the investment pays off because of the reduced injury rates. “Some of it is really affordable and low-tech,” he said. “It just depends on the needs of the facility.”
The addition of the equipment could reduce workers’ compensation costs and absenteeism, according to Jamie Tessler, an ergonomics consultant who testified in favor of Diaz’s bill at a hearing last month.
Tessler told legislators that hospitals in New York and Oregon have seen their workers’ comp costs drop after installing the equipment. One hospital in New York, she said, saw a 24-percent drop.
With the average cost of back injury claims costing $15,000 and the most expensive ones costing $200,000, Salsich said, the investment is worth it.
Washington State passed a similar law last month that requires hospitals to establish safe patient handling committees, create safe patient handling policies, conduct patient handling assessments, provide annual staff training and conduct annual performance evaluations.
Labels: Ergonomics
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self concept in physically challenged children
Purini Neeraja, Sulthana Thasneem Self-concept in physically challenged children
This book can give an idea about children with special needs and their self-concept, regarding this issue the researcher investigate the self-concept of children with special needs according to their irrespective of disability. Students who will take up the research on this self-concept of children with special needs in particular aspects and they will gain knowledge in the field of disability and their self-concept in which area it is essential to conduct research in future. Over all this research focus about self-concept of children with visual impairment, Hearing impairment and Orthopedically challenged.
Rael Ogwari Influence of Parenting Styles on Self-Concept and Academic Performance
There is significant positive correlation between parenting styles and self-concept. Girls of authoritative parents had most positive self-concept than girls from other parenting styles. Parenting styles was significantly correlated with academic performance with girls of authoritative parents having better performance than those from other parenting styles. Self-concept had positive significant correlation with academic performance with girls of positive self-concept superior in academic performance than those with neutral and negative self-concept. To improve on girls' self-concept parents should adapt authoritative styles. Improving academic performance for girls should consider how they are treated at home with emphasis on authoritative parenting. Academic performance can be enhanced by counselling girls with neutral and negative self-concepts.
In every crisis situation, children are the greatest victims. Physically weak, they are often the first to succumb to hunger, disease, and dehydration. Innocent to the...
Bill Handley Teach Your Children Tables
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Bill Handley is well known for making maths fun! The first edition of Teach Your Children Tables challenged over 20000 readers – and Bill has been inundated with letters of thanks since from parents whose children have quickly become proficient in maths and problem solving. This not only pleases their teachers but does wonders for a child's self-esteem. In this new, fully revised edition, rewritten for clearer understanding, Bill expands the sections on explaining multiplication to young children, on problem solving, and the correlation between the multiplication method and subtraction.
Aasia Maqbool, Mohammad Yousuf Ganai A Study of Self-Concept, Mental Health and Academic Achievement of Orphan and Non-Orphan Adolescents
All stages are important in a person's life, whether it is infancy, childhood, adolescence or adulthood, but arguably the most sensitive stage is adolescence; which starts at around 13 and ends at approximately 19 years. It is the stage when the urge of life reaches its highest peak. Accidents, Natural death and conflicts are creating generations of orphaned children. In addition the loss of a parent, orphaned children may face many hardships during their adolescence including decline in health, nutrition and psychological wellbeing. The number of children estimated to be orphaned due to all causes is estimated to be between 143 million and 210 million (UNICEF, 2012). Children and adolescents in particular are at increased risk for unresolved or complicated bereavement because of their development, vulnerability and emotional dependency.The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the differences in self-concept, mental health and academic achievement of orphan and non-orphan adolescents. The study adds to the existing literature and will become a guideline for researchers, educators, administrators and counselors to guide the students in a proper way and to frame the suitable educational environment where the adolescents can be accommodated and their self-concept, mental health and academic achievement may improve.
Zhiyong Yang The Parent-Self-Peer Model
Adolescents are often susceptible to the opinions of peers, such as their friends, activity partners and co-workers. In two studies, we test an integrative model of adolescent susceptibility to peer influence that includes parenting style as driver, the adolescent self-concept as mediator, and the cultural context as moderator of the level of susceptibility. The overarching finding in our studies is that responsive parenting reduces susceptibility by influencing the adolescent self-concept, while psychologically controlling parenting increases susceptibility without influencing the adolescent self-concept. We also show that culture can modify these effects of parenting such that, within collectivist eastern cultures, psychological control influences susceptibility to peer influence through changes in adolescents' self-concept.
Josephus Brimah Legitimate Self-Defence in International Law
This work examines the concept of self-defence in the context of International Law. The author takes a look at the various categories of the concept, and makes a critical analysis of the justification of self-defence in the context of modern day warfare. It further highlights the strains placed upon the trilogy of immediacy, necessity and proportionality,which circumscribes the use of force in diverse military situations.
Hana Svecova Listen & Do
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Thirty short, simple, physical activities to encourage children to listen and respond to spoken English. Responding physically to English helps children learn in an enjoyable, non-threatening way that also helps them remember the language.
Mark O'Doherty Reconciling Individualism and Collectivism in the Information Age - Improving Public Education, Family Policy, Social Cohesion and Global Solidarity
In today's Information Age, resolving the conflict between individualism and collectivism is one of the greatest challenges in society, particularly in countries such as the United States, China and India - but also in conservative Islamic countries challenged with harmonising mainstream ethics into their collective psychological- and philosophical system of beliefs; such as freedom of expression and gender mainstreaming.Hence this book explores cutting-edge theories and policies to reconcile individualism and collectivism, to improve human rights and the inherent rights of children, (such as that all children and young persons in our global village have access to equal education and opportunities in life). This study also explores some progressive concepts to improve family planning, personality development and social cohesion; which includes the basic and fundamental concept of peaceful human interaction.
Eric Stalloch, Clifford Crandall Be Safe Physically and Mentally with the Crandall System
If you are concerned about the safety of children or want to improve your own self-defense and awareness skills, then this book is for you. The Crandall System is a complete program for educators, community leaders, parents, and personal use that will increase your awareness and safety in your daily life. It presents information about vulnerabilities, potentially dangerous situations and assaults, and provides effective solutions for these situations. The four levels of the Crandall System are: Children's Self-Defense and Awareness, Teenager's Self-Defense and Awareness, Women's Self-Defense and Assault Prevention, and Senior Citizen's Self-Defense. All levels include detailed pictures for self-defense techniques. Some of these areas include defense against grabs, punches, knives, and guns. Self-defense with a cane is also covered. Through well-founded educational principles let the Crandall System help you become more in control of your safety in the world that surrounds you.
Daisy Lucas At The Same Time
A modern day medicine woman's journeying. While traveling globally, lessons learned for discovering self. Emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually. Through everyday occurrences, becoming a vital and active spoke in the wheel of humanity.
Lara Owen Her Blood Is Gold
We menstruate more now than at any time in human history. Girls are starting to menstruate earlier due to protein-rich diets and hormones in food; women are less likely to die young; we have fewer children and therefore spend less time not menstruating. Increased work and family stresses, in addition to more periods, mean that women are more physically and psychologically vulnerable to negative attitudes to menstruation. So it is more important than ever that we investigate ways to make our periods physically, emotionally, and spiritually healthy.
Patricia Mawusi Amos Problems of Adolescents and Self-Concept
There are a number of transitions and crises periods in the life span of every individual and adolescence represents one of these periods where great strain and sometimes confusion results. In the Winneba municipality in Ghana for instance, it has been noted that majority of the students in the senior high schools, come from different regions who attend school in this municipality. As a result, it has been noted that they spend most of their time with their peers than with their parents; since they are resident students. In view of that it is assumed their peers have great influence on their behaviours. It is upon this note that the researcher would like to investigate into peer support mediating adolescents' psychosocial problems and their self-concept. This analysis should help counsellors to be aware of the prevailing psychosocial problems of adolescents in the municipality and thereby find ways of improving their services to assist them in their schools. It should help create the awareness of parents, teachers and guidance and counselling coordinators about the extent to which the peer group influence the adolescents' self-concept and also the need to develop the self-concept.
Gary Elliott Social Psychology. Social Identity
Seminar paper from the year 2013 in the subject Psychology - Social Psychology, Atlantic International University, language: English, abstract: The content of this paper discusses three separate, yet in my opinion, interlinked aspects of social development. We begin with the concept of social identity, the development of one's identity almost from birth, through adolescence into adulthood. The identity as a result of our interactions with those around us creates our self-concept and ultimately our self-esteem. Our gender and gender role development adds to our concept of self and determines our concept of who we are in relation to others and the world.As we grow our interactions with those around us, commencing with the family unit gives credence to our understanding of our self-value. We learn about people's perceptions of us through their dealings with us. As such, our self-esteem has the potential to promote or hinder healthy relationship development as we move through life from the core family relationships to our peer, significant other and spousal relationships. The success or failure of our relationships can be linked to our self-esteem. We learn about our self-perception, how others perceive us and what kind of responses we expect from those we come into contact with.Dealing with our self-esteem as we move through life, suggests that interactions are tainted or coloured by a positive or negative self-concept respectively. We will see that perception is a key d...
Self-Processes, Learning, and Enabling Human Potential. Dynamic New Approaches (PB)
A volume in International Advances in Self ResearchSeries Editors: Herbert W. Marsh, Rhonda G. Craven, and Dennis M. McInerneyThis volume deals with a wealth of issues related to self, from the overarching theoretical perspective ofBandura and his careful and thorough analysis of the agentic self, highlighting the complexities of our multipleselves acting in an integrated, holistic, and dynamic fashion, to the engaging and novel treatment of selfconceptas a rope by John Hattie. From many of the chapters we see the utility value of the social cognitivetheory and self-determination theory frameworks for interpreting self-processes and how these processesmight drive engagement in learning. In particular we see how autonomy support, self-regulation, self-efficacy,and self-regulation are part and parcel of self-processes intimately involved as individuals work outtheir futures and possible selves. Entwined with these processes are the development of identity, resilience,and a sense of well-being. The BFLPE and bullying chapters provide two examples of self-processes in operationin the school context.What can we take from this? Self-processes are complex, differentiated,and yet coordinated. By focusing on the agentic self we consider the wholeperson-picture as a rich, integrated, and dynamic tapestry and by focusing on differentiated self elements such as self-regulation, self-determination,self-concept, and self-efficacy, we are able to examine, in more detail, some of the individ...
Asha Avula, Sridevi Godishala, Rangaswamy K. Impairment
This book 'Self Esteem, Adjustment & Behavior problems of Hearing Impaired, Visually Impaired & Normal Children' is a collection of information regarding various issues related to self esteem, Adjustment & Behavior problems due to sensory deprivation and comparison with normal children. This research work had carried out in various schools and special schools at Andhra Pradesh during the period of 2007 & 2008. Book includes 5 chapters with references, it gives an insight about psychological make up of the Hearing Impaired & Visually Impaired children in the Indian Context, becomes imperative to guide their future education & further vocational training. Hearing Impaired Children have low self esteem, poor adjustment skills and more behavior problems than visually impaired and normal children.
Marta Zapała-Kraj Teaching English to Children with Dyslexia
Research Paper from the year 2009 in the subject Pedagogy - Miscellaneous Topics, , language: English, abstract: Currently, dyslexic children are tested and diagnosed only after they tried and failed to learn how to read. The ideal situation is for a dyslexic to be diagnosed at an early age and learn how to deal with this condition as early as possible. If a dyslexic children fail to get the necessary help, their learning and reading disability will usually result in frustration, loss of self-confidence and, as can be expected, low self-esteem.
Charles L. Jr. Griswold Self-Knowledge in Plato.s Phaedrus
In this award-winning study of the Phaedrus, Charles Griswold focuses on the theme of "self-knowledge." Relying on the principle that form and content are equally important to the dialogue's meaning, Griswold shows how the concept of self-knowledge unifies the profusion of issues set forth by Plato. Included are a new preface and an updated comprehensive bibliography of works on the Phaedrus.
Nadar Suganthi ......... ........ ........... ....... ......
This book is a collection of short stories for children ages five to thirteen in Tamil.The stories reflect some of the social and individual challenges that the Tamil children face in the duel culture, These stories help the children iron out the issues with their parents and friends. These stories help the children solve their problems in their own individual way,so they understand and develop their own self integrity. These Tamil stories are also help the children read Tamil.
Alessandra Padula Comunicazione sonora e musicoterapia
Document from the year 2008 in the subject Musicology, , 160 entries in the bibliography, language: Italian, abstract: In music therapy practice, therapist and patient cover a shared route which may let them grow in broad-mindedness, self-comprehension and -integration, social integration, psychophysical balance, development of interests, motivations and self-esteem. Patient is challenged to believe in the possibility of changing, and therapist is challenged to help him/her fit into living life to the full.But sometimes it isn't easy to work with patients who choose to be mute and inactive during music therapy sessions for so long time that we could almost say "they refuse to communicate".Nevertheless, according to Watzlawick's theory, we know that it is impossible not to communicate, because each behaviour is a communication act; even when the patient maintains a stubborn silence, the music therapist can set up a musical dialogue with him, "translating" in sounds and music the patient's non-musical behaviours (exclamations, gestures, movements, etc.).Therefore, in this work, music therapy activities are considered mainly as communication activities, framing them in the field of general communication and connecting them with activities in the verbal and in the non-verbal field.Then this work analyses some basic ideas of the sound-music communication (relationship through different perception systems, parameters of sound and noise, physical and "...
This is Cezanne
Paul Cézanne challenged convention and pioneered new possibilities in painting. He was remarkable for his ability to perceive and paint aspects of everyday life in ways that revealed dynamic yet deeply harmonious visions of the world. But the intellectual and emotional difficulties of his achievements were considerable. Mainly self-taught, most of his career was plagued by rejection. The critics, and the public, disliked his paintings, and in 1884 Cézanne declared that Paris, the centre of the nineteenth-century art world, had defeated him. Repeatedly, he retreated into self-doubt and bad temper. This book follows Cézanne on his extraordinary artistic journey, focusing on his formative discoveries, made not in the flashy, fashionable metropolis of Paris but in provincial and rural France, often in isolation.
Wolfgang Binder H. Self-Healing Polymers. From Principles to Applications
Self-healing is a well-known phenomenon in nature: a broken bone merges after some time and if skin is damaged, the wound will stop bleeding and heals again. This concept can be mimicked in order to create polymeric materials with the ability to regenerate after they have suffered degradation or wear. Already realized applications are used in aerospace engineering, and current research in this fascinating field shows how different self-healing mechanisms proven successful by nature can be adapted to produce even more versatile materials. The book combines the knowledge of an international panel of experts in the field and provides the reader with chemical and physical concepts for self-healing polymers, including aspects of biomimetic processes of healing in nature. It shows how to design self-healing polymers and explains the dynamics in these systems. Different self-healing concepts such as encapsulated systems and supramolecular systems are detailed. Chapters on analysis and friction detection in self-healing polymers and on applications round off the book.
Shigeru Ban
From a house without walls to exhibition spaces in shipping containers, Shigeru Ban has constantly challenged architectural rule and expectation. In the age of the...
Gary Elliott Adolescent Depression. Definition, Causes, Treatments.
Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject Psychology - Diagnostics, Atlantic International University, language: English, abstract: As adults, when we think back to our childhood, many of us remember this period in our lives as a 'happy' time, free from the stresses and worries that accompany adulthood. The reality of the matter is that many children do experience stress and anxiety, similar to that of adults and this can, and often does result in children and adolescents in particular, experiencing mild to severe depression. According to Gerali (2009), depression is one of the most common issues that adolescents deal with and it affects teenagers regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender or socioeconomic status.It is quite normal for peoples' mood to change during the course of a day, and many experience mood changes from hour to hour, but when those moods become completely overwhelming and all consuming or fluctuate wildly, they may be indicative of some kind of mood disorder (McIntosh & Livingston, 2008). A depressed child will show characteristics similar to those of adults but there tends to be more self-blame, self-criticism and a generally poorer self-concept among teenagers who are experiencing depression (Jaenicke, Hammen, Zupan, Hiroto, Gordon, Adrian, & Burge , 1987).Symptoms of depression begin to increase around the time of puberty and are characterized by intense feelings of sadness and worthlessness, accompanied by a sense of futilit...
Kinji Mori Concept-Oriented Research and Development in Information Technology
A pioneering, concept-oriented research and development approach improves business results in technology-driven industries With contributions from IT, systems, and operations experts from around the globe, this book sets forth a tested and proven, concept-oriented R&D approach that far surpasses the results of conventional R&D. The authors explain how to create a clear concept, then build upon that concept by developing a chain of technologies and target markets in order to create, sustain, and grow successful business operations. Real-world examples and case studies from IBM and Hitachi illustrate how the concept-oriented approach can be applied to IT and other technology-driven industries anywhere in the world. Concept-Oriented Research and Development in Information Technology sheds new light on the complex relationships between concept, technology and market, explaining how all of these elements are enhanced with a concept-oriented R&D approach. Throughout the book, readers will learn a variety of innovative perspectives and methods for concept creation, technology innovation, and market cultivation. Part I, Introduction, makes the case for a paradigm shift in R&D from a conventional approach to a concept-oriented one. Part II, Concept Creation, liffers four perspectives on the application of the concept-oriented approach. Part III, Fusion of Technologies, illustrates the need to fuse technologies to accommodate rapidly changing and unpredictable demands on business infrastructure. Part IV, Glocalization of Technologies, explains why businesses need to diversify globally, yet remain in tune with local markets. Part V, Conclusions and Future Directions, explores the potential of the concept-oriented approach to evolve with the changing needs of business and R&D. Concept-Oriented Research and Development in Information Technology helps students and professionals in IT, engineering, systems, and operations approach R&D in new ways that lead to better technologies and better businesses.
Sandor Fliszar Atomic Charges, Bond Properties, and Molecular Energies
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The first book to cover conceptual quantum chemistry, Atomic Charges, Bond Properties, and Molecular Energies deftly explores chemical bonds, their intrinsic energies, and the corresponding dissociation energies, which are relevant in reactivity problems. This unique first-hand, self-contained presentation develops relatively uncomplicated but physically meaningful approaches to molecular properties by providing derivations of all the required formulas from scratch, developed in Professor Fliszar's laboratory. This book is vitally relevant to organic- and biochemists, molecular biologists, materials scientists, and nanoscientists.
Nancy Campbell The Power of Motherhood. What the Bible says about Mothers
“The Power of Motherhood” is a classic manual for mothers. It brings women back to basics. Back to the transcendence of motherhood—physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. It goes into the Bible to discover our Creator’s design for women, and specially mothers.You can enjoy this manual personally or use it as a Bible Study Manual to discuss with other women. You will discover that motherhood is the most powerful role given to women. Mothers not only influence their children, but ultimately communities, nations, and generations to come.Let’s think for a moment of all the amazing things that have happened, are happening, and will happen in this world--the remarkable inventions, the incredible feats both intellectually and physically, the astounding advancements, and the brilliant discoveries. None of this happens on its own. Every single one happens through a person. And that person comes through the womb of a mother. Without the nurturing in the womb of the mother, NOTHING happens in this world. It all comes to a halt.God creates women physically for mothering. It’s the way they’re made. It’s an instinctive role. If they don’t mother children, they’ll nurture cats or dogs. They are physically preserved through mothering with less likelihood of female cancers.Therefore, if mothering is so powerful, why is it disdained our society today? Sadly, women today are fed the jargon that motherhood is insignificant. They are propagandized to be the opposite of who they were c...
Selva Lewin-Bizan Thriving in Childhood and Adolescence: The Role of Self Regulation Processes. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, Number 133
Opening with a discussion on the need to integrate self-regulation processes and to create a life-span oriented framework of these processes, this volume explores several perspectives in the current scholarship. Chapter contributors examine theoretical concepts including Vygotsky/Luria Insights in the Development of Executive Functions Self-Regulation and Academic Achievement in Elementary School Children Influences of Children?s and Adolescents? Action-Control Processes on School Achievement, Peer Relationships, and Coping with Challenging Life Events Intentional Self-Regulation, Ecological Assets, and Thriving in Adolescence: A Developmental Systems Model and a Life-Span, Relational, Public Health Model of Self- Regulation: Impact on Individual and Community Health The volume concludes with New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development series editor-in-chief Reed W. Larson discussing the challenges reported by youth working on arts, technology, and social justice projects in organized programs and how they learn to address them. This is the 133nd volume of the Jossey-Bass quarterly report series New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development. The mission of this series is to provide scientific and scholarly presentations on cutting edge issues and concepts in the field of child and adolescent development. Each volume focuses on a specific new direction or research topic, and is edited by an expert or experts on that topic.
Heero Miketta, Patrick Ehrmann Bonsai Martial Arts
Probably the greatest challenge for martial arts teachers: Working with children. Parents and kids are the most demanding group in any dojo, and very often also one of the biggest in numbers. Two experienced members of the German Shoshin Projekt developed a complete concept for Bonsai martial arts, proven in many dojos since then. The result is a comprehensive guide to martial arts training with children in Karate, Ju-Jitsu, Taekwondo, Kung Fu, Kickboxing or any other style. Now finally in the long-awaited English version.
Ole Fredrik Lillemyr Taking Play Seriously. Children and Play in Early Childhood Education - An Exciting Challenge (PB)
In the book the author presents from different perspectives what isunderstood by the phenomenon of children's play, why it is important,and how children's play challenge and stimulate the educator orcaregiver in regard of educational values and practice, with theconclusion: play has to be taken seriously. A selection of theories isintroduced to provide descriptions and explanations of play, as a background for putting forwardcertain requirements for what should be understood by play in early childhood education. Finally,a discussion of play as an educational remedy is presented, and at the end the importantrelations between play, experiences and self-concept development are outlined in relevance toteachers' professional play competence.The book is relevant to university academics teaching at bachelorand master programs of early childhood education; in addition toparents, teachers and caregivers in relation to children aged 0 to 9years of age.
Anthony D Brice Poor Me to Soul Rich. Spiritual Currency for the Mind, Heart . Soul
Take an inspirational journey of self-discovery to find an abundance of hope, peace, love, and happiness during some of the most difficult times of sadness, depression, doubt, and fear.When we are in the middle of our struggle, we are blinded by pain. We can’t see how amazing tomorrow can be until we learn how to break through the pain we’re in today.If fear and failure have kept you from creating the life you deserve, you will gain: A stronger sense of self A clearer vision for life A success mindsetIf you feel physically, emotionally, or spiritually weak or broken, you will attain: Renewed Faith Rejuvenated Spirit Healing insightsIf you yearn for that soulmate or you are losing hope in experiencing true love, you will discover: Unconditional Self-Love Unwavering Self-Confidence Affirmations of what you truly deservePoor Me to Soul Rich is a personal growth guide of self-care and self-help that can ignite your soul, fuel your dreams, heal your heart, empower your spirit and change your life.
Robert Michael Kurz Formation Generation. A New Generation Formed in Prayer
What if we had a new generation of children, that were literally formed in prayer?In Formation Generation, Robert shows you how to partner with God while your baby is actually being formed in the womb. In this easy reading book, Robert guides you week by week through the actual physical formation times of the trimesters that occur in every healthy pregnancy and shows you what you could be praying for your pre-born child. You will learn how to give your child the best possible head start in this life they could possibly have both physically and spiritually, and how you can make the most of their formative weeks.A MUST READ for those who wish to learn the most powerful way to start raising up a whole new Generation of Godly children.
Kathleen Roney Middle Grades Curriculum. Voices and Visions of the Self-Enhancing School
High stakes testing, standards, and accountability politics is taking us away from the importance of the affectivedomain in curriculum development. This critical learning domain is often an unrecognized and infrequentlyconsidered topic in the literature. Through this book we extend the current knowledge base byaddressing a curriculum model developed in the 1980s. We add a 2012 knowledge base as we delineate therole of self-perceptions in school-related learning, how middle level curriculum affects self-perceptions, andthe type of curriculum planning which enhances self-perceptions and improves learning in the cognitive,affective, and psychomotor domains.The combination of sound psychological principles and practical teaching and curriculum suggestions with an empirical basis makes the book attractiveto both higher education and local school professional libraries. In the former it will serve as the primary text in graduate and advanced undergraduatemiddle level education programs and practices courses. It might also be a primary text in courses or workshops in affective education or otherexperiences which emphasize affective, values, and self-concept. It also has potential as a supplementary text in undergraduate educational psychologycourses. At the in-service level this book could be used as a workshop resource or as a professional reference for middle level teachers, administrators,curriculum workers, and supervisors.Our interest in young adolescents and their school setti...
Caffee S. Wright LPC I Can Definitely Control My Anger. An Anger Management Workbook for Children
I Can Definitely Control My Anger is written for children and adolescents to help them learn ways to manage their anger. It introduces five steps to managing anger. The workbook gives the reader an opportunity to engage in the process of anger management by writing down their responses. This workbook is a self-help workbook, and it is the second book in the Safe Passage Intervention Program for Children that educates and empowers children and adolescents.
Jean Rabe, Gene DeWeese The Cauldron
What if everything you knew about your life was wrong?What if your memories were fabrications?What if familiar faces were merely shades conjured up in a foggy dream?Carl Johnson must wrestle with his concept of self on a journey to discover his past and save his sanity ... and maybe save Earth in the process.
Mark Tennant The Learning Self. Understanding the Potential for Transformation
Praise for The Learning Self «In this age of self-help, the 'self' is a term thrown around with abandon. For educators, the notion of self-directed learning is a key concept. Yet the notion of self is deeply problematic, even contentious. The world has needed a book that deftly and accessibly takes the idea of the self and looks at it in a sympathetic but critical way. Mark Tennant has written that book. It is a highly readable and fascinating deconstruction of this key idea that will be appreciated by all helping professionals.»—Stephen Brookfield, Distinguished University Professor, University of St. Thomas, Minneapolis-St. Paul «An excellent contribution to the field! This is a clearly written text that takes the reader far beyond much contemporary work in psychology and learning. It opens up new ways of thinking about the learning self and provides a significant contribution to transformative learning theory. This is a book that should be read by every student of psychology, learning, and the self.»—Peter Jarvis, professor emeritus of continuing education, University of Surrey, United Kingdom
Eun K. Um Motivation and Mathematics Achievement
In recent years, there has been much interest regarding motivation and its effect on achievement patterns. When students enjoy learning, they are more likely to show interest, value, and effort toward achievement, perform well, and persist in school (e.g., Vallerand et al., 1989). The purpose of the study is to develop and test a model, based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT). The model incorporates the assumption that intrinsic motivation positively affects math performance, whereas external regulation negatively affects math performance. It is assumed that math self-concept affects math performance both directly and indirectly through the mediating variable of intrinsic motivation. Finally, autonomy support can affect math performance both directly and indirectly through the mediator of math self-concept. Consistent with the predictions of SDT, when teachers support autonomy of students in the classroom, they provide a classroom climate that fosters math achievement. As teachers try to support students' competencies, they are more likely to foster students' self-perceptions of competence, which, in turn, promotes math achievement.
Jogi V. Manjunath, Mahadevappa Amulya M. Socio-Economic Status . Self Esteem Levels of Ug Students
Quality in higher education is subjected to several constraints and obviously quality is not free .Few among the several variables influencing quality in higher education are listed below. 1. Societal variables. 2. Economic variables. 3. Political variables. 4. Psychological variables. The socio cultural, socio psychological, socio economical and socio political factors acts as catalyst agents in establishing the practical reality of education and assuring quality in empowering youth and their active participation in the process of National Integration and Development. The minor research project partially addresses the impact of few intervening and interactive variables of "Quality in Higher in Education."The focus is given to socio- psychological and socio economical variables in terms of measuring socio economic status and self esteem levels of under graduate students of University of Mysore. Concept of the research is multidimensional and the material is drawn from various disciplines, such as psychology, Human behavior, and cognitive behavioral concepts. The concept of self esteem is basically derived from the contributions of clinical psychology.
Aid to the Physically Handicapped. Part 7, Federal Aid to the Physically Handicapped
Эта книга — репринт оригинального издания (издательство "United States Government Printing Office", 1945 год), созданный на основе электронной копии высокого разрешения, которую очистили и обработали вручную, сохранив структуру и орфографию оригинального издания. Редкие, забытые и малоизвестные книги, изданные с петровских времен до наших дней, вновь доступны в виде печатных книг.Aid to the Physically Handicapped, Part 7, Federal Aid to the Physically Handicapped.
Eva Lüers Web 2.0 and Audience Research
Thesis (M.A.) from the year 2007 in the subject Communications - Multimedia, Internet, New Technologies, grade: 2,0, University of Bremen, 73 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: Web 2.0 is a buzzword in the digital industry at the moment. Some of the popular phenomena which exemplify Web 2.0 are blogs, podcasts, wikis or social bookmarking tools. The core of the concept is the individual as an active participant. Audience activity constitutes one of the central themes of media analysis concerning the audience. One descriptor used to operationalize audience activity is involvement (Levy, 1983). Involvement is also used in another discipline of research: consumer research deploys the concept to explain the decision making process of the consumer. The objective of this thesis is to attempt the transfer of the concept of involvement from consumer research to audience research on the active Web 2.0 audience. In other words: Can the concept of involvement from consumer research serve to explain audience activity as implied in the concept of Web 2.0?First, the concept of involvement will be described in connection to audience as well as consumer research.This is followed by an introduction to the concept of involvement in consumer research.Following a brief conceptual and historical overview, the concept of involvement and its two-dimensional foundation will be delienated and all processes involved will be described. Third, the concept of Web 2.0 will be explai...
50 First Words. Flashcards
First 50 Words contains twenty-six giant shaped flashcards designed to help children recognize and learn a variety of essential first words in preparation for reading success. One side of the flashcards has a picture, while the other side has the written word. By sharing the flashcards with an adult, children are encouraged to sound out the simple words, developing their awareness of letter sounds, increasing their vocabulary, and promoting their reading skills. With fun, colorful images and clear word labels, children will be introduced to first words from key first-concept topics, including colors, shapes, animals, and vehicles. The flashcards are perfect for little hands to hold, and are shaped to allow clear distinctions for adults and children between the different first-concept topics. Scholastic Early Learners: Interactive books for hands-on learning. Perfect for babies, toddlers, preschoolers, kindergarteners, and first graders, too!
Erich Fromm, T. Bottomore Marx's Concept of Man
2011 Reprint of 1961 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Fromm provides what was at the time a new and provocative view of Marx's humanism that challenged both Soviet distortion and Western ignorance of the basic philosophical underpinning of classical Marxism. Included is also a translation Marx's Philosophical Manuscripts.
David Eugene Windsor The Impact of Advertising on Children
This book is about the impact of few selected advertisements on children. The target age groups are from 3 to 17 which would be divided into three groups. Five ages per group. Group 1: age 3 to 7, Group 2: age 8 to 12 and Group 3: age 13 to 17. Each of these age groups are affected in different ways. Some are effected mentally, and some physically. But these effects would not take effect a child immediately; it would take effect as the child grows. This is because no matter how the advertisements are made, most of the children never understand the effects on the advertisements and since they like the creativity in the advertisements they actually consume the product. No matter what the product is, let it be from a chocolate to an electronic product like an Air Conditioner.
TARA MOONEY Sacrifices
After Growing up and entering adulthood, after a couple of abusive relationships, one physically abusive and the other mental abuse, and after losing my children to adoption. I decided to write a book about my experiences in order to help others in a similar situation come to terms and to let them know that all is not lost, to put across the message that you can pick up your life, after life continuously keeps knocking you down.
David Rodriguez The Art Of Life
The Art of Life, speak, move, think and feel art expression. Touching on the wide spectrum of artistic expressions observed in life. Individuality is captured and shared in such a unique manner that self reflection with the concept of Art Interpretation, Art Implementation, Art Mixture and Art Mastery leads one to realize the Divine Artist within regardless of type of expression. I touch upon the many varieties of life art in four parts I call the Art of Life. (Words, Movements, Thoughts & Spirit ) each art form is a progression of the other. This is a tool for self awareness and self mastery.
Managing Imaginary Organizations: A New Perspectives on Business
Hardbound. Traditionally, organizations have consisted of collections of people who physically gather together in one place to carry out some kind of coordinated activity. Today, however, business is increasingly relying on "virtual" processes in which people engage in internet-mediated interactions that often span the globe. These processes create intangible "imaginary organizations" that exist largely as a concept in the minds of electronically interacting individuals. As more and more high value-addedwork is performed by knowledge workers interacting through electronically mediated networks, however, managers and management researchers must evolve new concepts for monitoring, interpreting, assessing, and managing activities carried out in such virtual settings. This volume presents an important multidisciplinary approach to understanding these new kinds of imaginary organizations and their processes. Close reading of the papers in this volume will rew.
Charles H. Spurgeon Come Ye Children. Obtaining Our Lord's Heart for Loving and Teaching Children
Teaching children things of the Lord is an honor and a high calling. Children have boundless energy and may appear distracted, but they are capable of understanding biblical truths even adults have a hard time grasping. Children's minds are easily impressed with new thoughts, whether good or bad, and will remember many of their young lessons for the rest of their life. Adults and churches tend to provide entertainment to occupy the children, but children ought to have our undivided attention. Jesus said, let the little children come to me. They were worthy of His time and devotion, and they are worthy of ours.Expect to be challenged and inspired as you read this classic from Charles H. Spurgeon. Learn how to enlarge your heart for all types of children, learn what lessons are best, and learn what results to expect. May this helpful little book be the catalyst for many new or improved shepherds of the Lord's lambs.About the AuthorCharles Haddon (C. H.) Spurgeon (1834-1892) was a British Baptist preacher. He started preaching at age 17 and quickly became famous. He is still known as the “Prince of Preachers,” and frequently had more than 10,000 people present to hear him preach at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London. His sermons were printed in newspapers, translated into many languages, and published in many books.
Lauriane Blanc The Integration of Immigrants in France. The Republican Model at Stake
Recent past events in France such as the riots in the suburbs or the rise of the extreme-right, have highlighted the uneasiness in relations between immigrants and local. The integration of immigrants as well as the preservation of a french "patrimoine" show the duality and the complexity of the debate about immigration. France singular political system based on the concept of equality, unity of the people and laicity, just to quote some features, is to be challenged and the question to be asked is wether or not the difficulties encountered in the integration of immigrants in France is link to this republican model? The comparison with its "opposite" model the multicultural model will give some answers to the question.
Richard Moran Authority and Estrangement. An Essay on Self-Knowledge
Since Socrates, and through Descartes to the present day, the problems of self-knowledge have been central to philosophy's understanding of itself. Today the idea of ''first-person authority''--the claim of a distinctive relation each person has toward his or her own mental life--has been challenged from a number of directions, to the point where many doubt the person bears any distinctive relation to his or her own mental life, let alone a privileged one. In Authority and Estrangement, Richard Moran argues for a reconception of the first-person and its claims. Indeed, he writes, a more thorough repudiation of the idea of privileged inner observation leads to a deeper appreciation of the systematic differences between self-knowledge and the knowledge of others, differences that are both irreducible and constitutive of the very concept and life of the person. Masterfully blending philosophy of mind and moral psychology, Moran develops a view of self-knowledge that concentrates on the self as agent rather than spectator. He argues that while each person does speak for his own thought and feeling with a distinctive authority, that very authority is tied just as much to the disprivileging of the first-person, to its specific possibilities of alienation. Drawing on certain themes from Wittgenstein, Sartre, and others, the book explores the extent to which what we say about ourselves is a matter of discovery or of creation, the difficulties and limitations in be...
Barry Reay Sex Addiction. A Critical History
The concept of sex addiction took hold in the 1980s as a product of cultural anxiety. Yet, despite being essentially mythical, sex addiction has to be taken seriously as a phenomenon. Its success as a purported malady lay with its medicalization, both as a self-help movement in terms of self-diagnosis, and as a rapidly growing industry of therapists treating the new disease. The media played a role in its history, first with TV, the tabloids and the case histories of claimed celebrity victims all helping to popularize the concept, and then with the impact of the Internet. This book is a critical history of an archetypically modern sexual syndrome. Reay, Attwood and Gooder argue that this strange history of social opportunism, diagnostic amorphism, therapeutic self-interest and popular cultural endorsement is marked by an essential social conservatism: sex addiction has become a convenient term to describe disapproved sex. It is a label without explanatory force. This book will be essential reading for those interested in sexuality studies, contemporary history, psychology, psychiatry, sociology, media studies and studies of the Internet. It will also be of interest to doctors and therapists currently working in this and related fields.
R. K. Rekha, N. Dhanya Self-Concept and Level of Aspiration of Adolescent Girls
Adolescence is a time that is accompanied by numerous emotional upheavals and strange physiological "developments", which could colour this period in the life of individual negatively. The importance of home in the development of an individual is very significant. When both parents are alive and they provide a good environment for the child, the personality of the child grows well. Healthy home cast healthy impact on the growing body, mind and heart of the child. The attitude of parents towards the children affects their behaviour towards other. Loving parents produce loving children, where as hostile parents produce hostile children. There is a positive relationship between rejection by parents and lack of internal control and aggression in children. Families are believed to be the first, the closest and most influential social group in the child's life.
Wendy Cope Boosting Self-Esteem in Children and Adolescents
You can't touch it, but it affects how you feel. You can't see it, but it might be there when you look at yourself in the mirror. You can't hear it, but it's there when you talk about yourself or when you think about yourself.What is this important but mysterious thing? It's your self-esteem!Self-esteem can have a big part to play in how you feel about yourself and also how much you enjoy things or worry about things.To understand self-esteem, it helps to break the term into two words. Let's first take a look at the word esteem, which means that someone or something is important, special, or valuable.
Masitha Hoeane Mama Mudu.s Children. A South African post-freedom tragi-comedy
The community of Edladleni strives to come to terms with itself in post-freedom South Africa as they swim against the tide of the survival imperative and myriad of thwarted expectations. The journeys of characters embody a tussle with the slide from deprivation” xenophobia, crime, disintegration of the family unit, alienation from self and community, negativity, and self-corroding bitterness. Yet even in the depths of despair redemption remains possible in the resort to Ubuntu-human values, community spirit and environmental activism.
Emile Cou Self Mastery
Complete Text. Self Mastery Through Conscious Autosuggestion (full original title). Emile Coué, a French psychologist and pharmacist, introduced a new method of healing and self-improvement using the power of auto-suggestion. Self Mastery details his method and explains how the whole concept of optimistic auto-suggestion works and how to use it for your own betterment. Discover how his methods can help you, just as they have helped millions of others.
Jernberg Ann M. Theraplay. Helping Parents and Children Build Better Relationships Through Attachment-Based Play
Theraplay?a pioneering application of attachment theory to clinical work—helps parents learn and practice how to provide the playful engagement, empathic responsiveness, and clear guidance that lead to secure attachment and lifelong mental health in their children. This third edition of the groundbreaking book Theraplay shows how to use play to engage children in interactions that lead to competence, self-regulation, self-esteem, and trust. Theraplay's relationship-based approach is uniquely designed to help families facing today's busy and often chaotic lifestyle challenges form joyful, loving relationships.
Al-Kandari Hayfaa Stressors in Kuwaiti mothers of children with intellectual disability
In this book, the author offer a new understanding of the nature of challenges experience by parents of children with intellectual disability (ID). It offers ways to help professionals to think beyond labels and observe the unique challenges; strength and problems, of families caring for a child with a disability. The book also move step by step through the services necessary to help families cope with a child's disability and offers deep understanding of the skills needed to strength cargiving self-efficacy. The author presents an empirical study that show the experiences of parenting a child with ID, family services needed to care for the child, and types of caregiving self-efficacy that help enhancing the life circumstances of families of children with ID.
David Michael Dunbar Unlucky Rabbit.s Foot
Explains the concept of an unlucky rabbit's foot, the author's experience in assisting the Center for Disease Control, a bit of poetry, dismisses the idea of true self and accepts the reality of self trued, a recommendation of what to watch for if it's cloudy with a chance of meatballs, Rope-a-Dope, a good complaint, and methods which one should not employ to quit your scholastic sports career.
Beverly Engel Healing Your Emotional Self. A Powerful Program to Help You Raise Your Self-Esteem, Quiet Your Inner Critic, and Overcome Your Shame
Healing Your Emotional Self «Emotionally abusive parents are indeed toxic parents, and they cause significant damage to their children's self-esteem, self-image, and body image. In this remarkable book, Beverly Engel shares her powerful Mirror Therapy program for helping adult survivors to overcome their shame and self-criticism, become more compassionate and accepting of themselves, and create a more posititve self-image. I strongly recommend it for anyone who was abused or neglected as a child.» –Susan Forward, Ph.D., author of Toxic Parents «In this book, Beverly Engel documents the wide range of psychological abuses that so many children experience in growing up. Her case examples and personal accounts are poignant and powerful reminders that as adults, many of us are still limited by the defenses we formed when trying to protect ourselves in the face of the painful circumstances we found ourselves in as children. Engle's insightful questionnaires and exercises provide concrete help in the healing process, and her writing style is lively and engaging. This book is destined to positively affect many lives.» –Joyce Catlett, M.A., coauthor of Fear of Intimacy The Emotionally Abusive Relationship «Beverly Engel clearly and with caring offers step-by-step strategies to stop emotional abuse . . . helping both victims and abusers to identify the patterns of this painful and traumatic type of abuse.» –Marti Tamm Loring, Ph.D., author of Emotional Abuse Loving Him without Losing You «A powerful and practical guide to relationships that every woman should read.» –Barbara De Angelis, Ph.D., author of Are You the One for Me?
Carolyn Jones-Rawson The Children Are The Ones
Carolyn Jones Rawson first and foremost is a Christian and she believes that the Word of God is the literal-inspired Word of God. Therefore, she has written The Children are the Ones that is biblically and scripturally based. It is her belief that the scriptures and related verses used contain more wisdom than all the child development textbooks ever written. After all, they came from the heart of One who flung the stars in space and created Adam from a handful of dust. She believes that parents and grandparents can get all the knowledge they need on how to raise children to be God-fearing adults from the pages of God’s Word if they are willing to follow the principles written in The Children are the Ones.While Carolyn doesn’t pretend to have all the answers, she has spent her entire life practicing the principles in her book. Why is she so passionate about The Children are the Ones? She believes that if we would parent our children as we are taught in the Word of God, we would have healthier children, spiritually, morally, physically, and emotionally. “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6 KJV) was her philosophy while raising her own children.One day after visiting with her oldest son in regard to the conflicts in relationship to divorce and children, out of her mouth came the words, “When will parents ever begin to understand that the issues at hand are not about them but about the children because the chil...
Jack Novick, Kerry Kelly Novick Freedom to Chose. Two Systems of Self Regulation
For over fifty years we have studied destructive and self-destructive sadomasochistic behavior in individuals, from failure-to-thrive infants to uncontrolled violence in children, to murder and suicide in adolescents and adults. In ordinary clinical work, all the patients we see present with some degree of sadomasochistic functioning, no matter what the diagnosis. Repetitive, resistant, self-defeating functioning, stalling or impasse in the clinical relationship – these form the arena for most analytic endeavors. In our writings on these topics, we have particularly highlighted traumatic origins, helplessness, overwhelming rage, the impact of preoedipal, oedipal, and post-oedipal pathology, terror of affects and excitement, tyrannical superego, and the constant danger of self-destruction.In this book we hope to present in summary form the basic ideas that have emerged from this work. Rather than detail the arguments, rationales, and underpinnings here, we will direct the reader to those in various other, more extensive discussions. Here we will bring into one place statements and descriptions of how our model of two systems of self-regulation has worked for us to generate a fruitful perspective on development and clinical technique. Part I of the book will take us through developmental phases from pregnancy to old age. In Part II we will turn to descriptions of how our two-systems model can inform and enhance clinical technique in therapies of various kinds.
Продажа self concept in physically challenged children лучших цены всего мира
Посредством этого сайта магазина - каталога товаров мы очень легко осуществляем продажу self concept in physically challenged children у одного из интернет-магазинов проверенных фирм. Определитесь с вашими предпочтениями один интернет-магазин, с лучшей ценой продукта. Прочитав рекомендации по продаже self concept in physically challenged children легко охарактеризовать производителя как превосходную и доступную фирму.
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Severe weather continues to sweep through the area
Sabetha photographer Amy Keim captures this shot of a tornado northwest of Sabetha on Tuesday, May 21.
Severe weather has been thrashing the entire central United States for the past few months, and northeast Kansas is no different.
Nearly nine inches has fallen so far in May — with approximately four inches coming in the past week — and nearly 11 inches since the beginning of April. These rainfall totals are comparable to the wet 2016 spring season.
In addition to heavy rainfalls, an outbreak of tornadoes on Tuesday, May 21, left multiple structures damaged and one home destroyed in Nemaha County. Nemaha County Emergency Management Director Russel Lierz said there were three confirmed wall clouds in Nemaha County throughout the evening.
A National Weather Service survey of the tornado activity on May 21 confirmed two separate tornadoes touching down in the county.
The first tornado touched down at 7:06 p.m. south of Highway 36 — at O Road between 136th and 144th — and was on the ground until 7:13 p.m., lifting southwest of Oneida at 160th Road between P and Q roads.
Rated an EF-1, its peak winds were estimated to be 100 miles per hour. It stretched a path of 3.05 miles and had a maximum width of 50 yards. This small, brief tornado damaged outbuildings on one residence.
The second, and more powerful, tornado touched down at 7:20 p.m. southeast of Bern — east of Q Road and just south of 200th Road — and stayed on the ground until 7:28 p.m., when it lifted just east of T Road about 200 yards south of the Nebraska state line.
Rated an EF-3, its peak winds were estimated to be 140 miles per hour. Its path went 5.92 miles, and it had a maximum width of 300 yards. This short-lived but powerful tornado damaged several structures, with the most severe damage coming to a vacant home at the corner of 224th and S Roads. Damage also occurred to trees and power lines.
The county was struck with more severe weather a few days later, resulting in a tornado again overnight on Friday, May 24.
According to Lierz, an EF-1 tornado hit a home six miles northeast of Seneca at 4:30 a.m. Friday, May 24. The tornado destroyed an auto repair shop, along with a hay shed and grain bin. The home at the same location had broken windows and tree damage.
No injuries were reported from the May 21 or May 24 tornadoes.
Overnight into Monday, May 27, more storm damage was reported — this time in Brown County.
Brown County Emergency Management Director James Stuart said the National Weather Service is continuing investigation into damage that occurred around 4 a.m. Monday, May 27, in the area of 246th Road and Bittersweet Road.
“According to the National Weather Service, the watch for Nemaha County had expired as the storm appeared to be weakening,” Stuart said.
Shortly after that watch expired, Stuart said, a large outbuilding was destroyed, and several trees were damaged. No injuries were reported.
“The National Weather Service advised the incident reported was likely straight line winds and not a determinable tornado,” Stuart. “However, radar and other data are being reviewed to confirm.”
According to the National Weather Service, weather conditions are expected to remain unsettled this week, with additional heavy rain and severe thunderstorms expected.
Statewide Flooding
Following heavy rain and severe storms, Kansans in areas experiencing flooding are encouraged to be cautious and follow warnings and instructions from local emergency officials. The Kansas Division of Emergency Management coordinates statewide emergency response and enhances local emergency efforts.
Kansas is experiencing extreme weather and rain on an already saturated river and reservoir system. As a result, the U.S. Army corps of Engineers has begun at one and is preparing at others for a controlled release of water from certain reservoirs.
Perry Lake: Flood water release began Sunday, May 26, from Perry Lake, as runoff from weekend rains filled the reservoir’s remaining storage capacity. Releases were expected to start with releases of 1,000 cubic feet per second Sunday evening, and increased to 10,000 cubic feet per second by Monday morning. This is similar to releases done in June 2015.
Tuttle Creek: Tuttle Creek Reservoir elevations have continued to rise as well. With minimal space left to store flood waters, the River Pond and Rocky Ford areas of Tuttle Creek State Park have been closed. At this time, it is anticipated that the flood releases can be accomplished using the outlet works. However, if inflows exceed the capabilities of the outlet works the spillway gates will be opened.
For additional information from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, visit https://www.nwk.usace.army.mil/Media/News-Releases.
Flooding Safety
• Avoid flood water. Do not drive, swim, walk or play near flood water. Turn around, don’t drown.
• If told to evacuate, do so immediately. Never drive around barricades. Local responders use them to safely direct traffic out of flooded areas.
• Depending on where you are and the impact and the warning time of flooding, go to the safe location that you have previously identified.
• Listen to EAS, NOAA Weather Radio, or local alerting systems for current emergency information and instructions.
• Gather supplies in case you have to leave immediately or if services are cut off. Keep in mind each person’s specific needs, including medication.
• Don’t forget the needs of pets.
• Obtain extra batteries and charging devices for phones and other critical equipment.
• Keep important documents in a waterproof container. Create password-protected digital copies.
• Protect your property. Move valuables to higher levels. Declutter drains and gutters. Install check valves. Consider a sump pump with a battery.
Flood Response: https://www.ready.gov/floods
Road Closures: www.kandrive.org
Weather Updates: www.weather.gov
State Parks: https://ksoutdoors.com/State-Parks/State-Park-Alert
Weather delays state sporting events, district incurs added expense
Memorial Day - Freedom isn’t free
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Bystander CPR Saves Lives And Lessens Disability
When someone goes into cardiac arrest, quick action from bystanders can have a long-lasting impact, researchers say.
Not only were the patients more likely to survive, they were also significantly less likely to sustain brain damage or enter a nursing home in the following year, a new study found.
It's well known that cardiac arrest victims have a better shot at surviving if witnesses jump into action, said lead researcher Dr. Kristian Kragholm.
That means performing chest compressions or, if possible, using an automated external defibrillator (AED) -- a layperson-friendly device that can "shock" a stopped heart back into rhythm.
The new study findings, Kragholm noted, show those actions have long-term benefits, too.
"Our study findings underscore the importance of learning how to recognize cardiac arrest, how to do chest compressions, and how to employ an AED," said Kragholm, of Aalborg University Hospital, in Denmark.
Others agreed. "These data are very important," said Dr. Zachary Goldberger, an assistant professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine, in Seattle.
"I think the bottom line is clear," Goldberger said. "We all should be ready to recognize and respond to cardiac arrest. We can all play a role in helping to save someone's life -- and, this shows, improve their long-term outcomes, too."
Dr. Michael Kurz is an associate professor at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, and a spokesperson for the American Heart Association (AHA).
He said it's important to have research like this that confirms the long-range impact of bystanders' response to cardiac arrest.
"We don't just want people to survive," Kurz said. "We want them to be able to go home to their families and get back to their lives."
In the United States, more than 350,000 people suffer cardiac arrest outside of a hospital each year, according to the AHA.
In 2016, the group says, only 12 percent of those who suffered cardiac arrest survived -- though that actually marks progress over previous rates.
Survival is dismal because, without emergency treatment, cardiac arrest is fatal within minutes.
Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart suddenly stops beating and cannot pump blood and oxygen to the body. If a bystander performs cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), that keeps the victim's blood circulating -- buying time until paramedics arrive. It is not a heart attack, which is caused by a blockage that stops blood flow to the heart.
Better yet, bystanders can also use an AED, if one is available.
The devices automatically analyze the heart's rhythm, Kurz explained, then deliver a shock to restart the heart if appropriate.
Experts have known those bystander actions improve victims' 30-day survival odds, Kragholm said. But their impact in the long run has been less clear.
So, the new study followed over 2,800 Danish adults who'd suffered an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest between 2001 and 2012, and survived to the 30-day mark.
Most had received chest compressions from a bystander -- and the likelihood of that happening improved over time. Among people who'd suffered cardiac arrest in 2001, two-thirds had received CPR; by 2012, almost 81 percent had, the findings showed.
Meanwhile, the number treated with an AED rose from 2 percent to nearly 17 percent.
And those good Samaritans made a lasting difference, the study found.
Overall, roughly 19 percent of survivors had brain damage or were admitted to a nursing home. But that was cut to 12 percent if bystanders performed CPR, and 8 percent if they used an AED, Kragholm said.
There was a similar effect on survival. Overall, 15 percent died within a year. That rate was 8 percent among people who'd received CPR, Kragholm said, and only 2 percent among those who'd been treated with an AED.
The findings were published May 4 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
According to Kragholm, Denmark started several campaigns during the study period that probably explain the rising rates of CPR and AED use.
CPR training became mandatory in elementary school and for people applying for a driver's license, he said.
Plus, a national AED registry was formed. That registry, Kragholm said, was linked to emergency dispatch centers nationwide, so that staff could tell callers where to find the nearest AED.
Goldberger said he thinks teaching CPR in school is a good idea.
For now, he and Kurz both recommended that people learn about basic CPR -- by taking a class in their community, for example.
Anyone can use an AED, Goldberger noted, even without training.
Of course, an AED may not always be nearby. But the devices are often available in places where large crowds gather, such as transportation hubs and sports stadiums. Some restaurants and other businesses also have them, Goldberger said.
Story Credit: http://www.newsmax.com/Health/Health-News/bystander-CPR-saves-lives/2017/05/05/id/788305/
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Lewis rules out repaying Bottas with win
November 8, 2018 by admin 0 Comments
Lewis Hamilton is not planning to orchestrate a victory for teammate Valtteri Bottas at the Brazilian Grand Prix this weekend if the two drivers find themselves leading the race.
Bottas was leading September’s Russian Grand Prix when he was asked by the Mercedes team to move over and gift victory to Hamilton. The decision was taken in order to help Hamilton protect his championship lead from title rival Sebastian Vettel, who was running third at the time, but proved controversial among fans.
Now Hamilton’s fifth world title is secure, it has been suggested that he could give a victory back to Bottas if he finds himself leading his teammate on track. But ahead of this weekend’s race in Sao Paulo, he ruled out such a scenario.
“The team are not going to make that call,” he said. “It’s not something I’ve asked Valtteri if he wants, but I don’t think he’s going to want that. He’s going to want to win it in his own way.
“So I don’t think I’ll be doing him any favours in the sense of giving him a win, I don’t think he needs that — I think he thinks he can do it himself.
“All I can do is try and make sure I’m supportive throughout the weekend. I’m always really open with my set-up, so I’ll continue to do so.”
Reserved celebrations on the podium from Hamilton and Bottas following the 2018 Russian Grand Prix. Clive Mason/Getty Images
Bottas confirmed he had no desire to win a race through team orders.
“Yes, I definitely don’t want to win if it’s given to me,” he said. “I want to win by doing it by myself.”
But Brazil will be the first race in a long time in which Mercedes will not ask Bottas to make way for his teammate if they are fighting for position — a factor that gives the Finn extra motivation.
“Yes, definitely. Coming here knowing that there is a possibility to win a race is obviously a good feeling. You all know what my goal will be for this weekend, so it’s going to be up to me and I need to perform at my best level to fight for the win.”
Source: Ron Francis to be named Seattle GM
Tiger says Masters took toll as he crams for Open
Falcons, DT Jarrett beat deadline, reach deal
U.S. to play Mexico in September friendly in N.J.
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Trisha R. Thomas
Trisha R. Thomas is the author of Roadrunner, Would I Lie To You and the top selling Nappily Ever After, which was a finalist for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work. With her debut novel optioned by Halle Berry and Universal Pictures for adaptation to film, she is currently at work on the Nappily series. She lives in Riverside, California.
Books by Trisha R. Thomas
Nappily Faithful
by Trisha R. Thomas
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EDITORIAL COLLECTIVE
VOL 4 ISSUE 1
Jugaad Phone
Shruthi Parthasarathy and Durgesh Solanki
The use of technology and smart phones in particular, is rapidly growing. With an increase in smart phone usage there is also an increasing dependence on apps and app based services. These apps have become an everyday necessity for efficiency and often bridge the gap between the buyer and the seller. In this paper we will be examining a popular app, Uber, to explore their pervasive presence, the origin of this innovation and technology, its impact on the market, labour and the consumer, and explore what is so Jugaad about it. This app has become essential in providing the basic and important service of transportation to the consumer but on the other hand it also surpasses state norms with a subversive informality. There is a new form of technological Jugaad being produced and we examine its nature and implications in this paper.
Key Words: Jugaad, Informality, Creative Destruction, Sharing Economy, Innovation
The term Jugaad has its roots in Punjabi and Hindi lexicon. It has a long list of adjectives that work as its definition. It could be a quick fix, a temporary-fix, ingenuity, a kludge, a tactic, a shortcut, an adjustment, a hack, an innovation, and finally as oft quoted a means of survival. The term held a special interest to us as it not only embodies the above terms but most importantly refers to informality. The informality manifests from the very act of Jugaad. To do or perform Jugaad is to find a solution that might not necessarily be available within the formal. This paper attempts to understand this concept of Jugaad in relation to the production and utilisation of contemporary technology.
The ideology of Jugaad and Disruption
Most often, the literature around Jugaad describes it as a strategy seen in rural India, utilised by the ‘poor and illiterate’ masses which can now be deployed in the world of corporate management. The curiosity towards Jugaad stems from the fact that it is seen as an act of survival which is also a stroke of ingenuity and the spark that is needed for innovation. We seek to frame it as an ideology as there has been a fervent peddling of Jugaad as a solution for technological innovation/invention. We will elucidate how a discourse has been built, particularly in the fields of management and business, on the revolutionary potential of Jugaad. This is however within the framework of capitalist globalisation where Jugaad seems to be theorised as a replicable ideology for profit creation through innovation.
One such paper mentions ‘Jugaad’ (a word taken from Hindi which captures the meaning of finding a low cost solution to any problem in an intelligent way) is a new way to think constructively about innovation and strategy… Jugaad is about extending our (Western) understanding of entrepreneurial spirit (in the traditional Schumpeterian style) (Bobel, 2012).
Another paper titled Jugaad – From ‘Making Do’ and ‘Quick Fix’ to an Innovative, Sustainable and Low-Cost Survival Strategy at the Bottom of the Pyramid defines it as an experience that an ambiguous ‘bottom of the pyramid’ goes through (Singh, Gupta & Mondal, 2012). The paper exclaims at the genius of the ‘poor and illiterate’ to come up with solutions for survival. It looks at Jugaad as a ‘strategy to sustain a livelihood in society’. The authors examine it as a manifestation in the multiple spheres of existence of a ‘bottom-of-pyramid’ person’s life. The term ‘bottom of pyramid’ has been borrowed from the works of C.K. Prahlad and Stuart L. Hart titled The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid (2002). The term refers particularly to the economically poor, based on purchasing power parity. It does not examine other critical systems of discrimination that create and compound with the economic one such as caste or gender. Our discomfort in the universal monolithic usage of the term Jugaad also stems from this fact, that oppression and discrimination are thought to be only on the basis of class.
The authors also mention how the rural poor, especially those who perform the jobs of construction work, hawking and house cleaning are the ones to use Jugaad in their everyday lives. A miniscule observation of their everyday life has been done to corroborate this by categorising every act of survival as Jugaad. Even acts such as storing water in earthenware as a reserve and to keep it cold is looked at as Jugaad. They inevitably end up exoticising the struggle against oppression and discrimination. There is a clear and vulgar appropriation of these struggles by renaming them as a new approach to innovation. By looking at it as a new phenomenon rather than as a response to structural violence, it negates and silences these oppressions. As with any appropriation it takes on the good bits, the ‘innovation’, while conveniently ignoring caste and gender based biases. The authors of the paper go on to say “however, in business and management, such practices are evolving as innate, grass-root level innovations aroused due to limited access to capital, resources and infrastructure. Considering the overall concept, Jugaad can be broadly regarded as a low-cost innovation, a coping mechanism, a quick-fix solution and sometimes an unethical way of getting anything done” (ibid). The skeleton of centuries of oppression and dehumanisation remains hidden in this reinvention of struggles as Jugaad, or alternately named radical innovation. The danger here is that of romanticising poverty and thereby the caste, gender and sexuality based oppression causing it. This is not a reduction of the intent but a remark on the habit to automatically romanticise certain practices of survival as nouveau technology.
It is also pertinent to understand the background to the term ‘bottom of pyramid’. C.K. Prahalad and Stuart L. Hart have used this term to elucidate how to fight poverty by creating profits. They suggest that an ideal solution for the eradication of poverty lies in producing for the poor and not the ‘best customers’. They write, “the real source of market promise is not the wealthy few in the developing world, or even the emerging middle-income consumers: It is the billions of aspiring poor who are joining the market economy for the first time” (2002). They not only seek to eradicate poverty but make a profit, a fortune, while doing so. The important tool to achieve this is innovation. This innovation has a couple of prefixes attached to it. It is touted to be radical and disruptive.
Both the papers conflate the idea of poverty and innovation and the Frankenstein born out of this wedding is Jugaad. The claims of poverty alleviation are made by these theoreticians, however the onus of this is put on those at the ‘bottom of the pyramid’. Those who are expected to eradicate poverty are the entrepreneurs and innovators from that location. However the marketability and the mass consumption of this idea will and has been performed by these very theoreticians whose locations are clearly not at the bottom of anything. An article in the Economist on disruptive innovation reiterates this contradiction as it tries to argue for this method while placing any emancipatory act on the shoulders of those who are performing this Jugaad. It says “but perhaps the most surprising disruptive innovations will come from ‘bottom-of-the-pyramid’ entrepreneurs who are inventing new ways of delivering education and health-care for a fraction of the cost of current market leaders” (The Economist, 2015).
Creative destruction and disruptive innovation
The popular proponent of the idea of disruptive innovation is Clayton M Christensen. In his book The Innovator’s Dilemma, he introduces the idea of disruptive innovation as opposed to sustaining technology where there is constant evolution of a commodity so as to feed the customer with newer and better innovations constantly (1997). He observes this trend in various industries and has pointed out that the ability of a new entrant to the market to innovate is the reason for unimaginable success and profits. He writes, “disruptive technologies bring to a market a very different value proposition than had been available previously. Generally, disruptive technologies underperform established products in mainstream markets. But they have other features that a few fringe (and generally new) customers value. Products based on disruptive technologies are typically cheaper, simpler, smaller, and, frequently, more convenient to use” (ibid).
This idea of disruptive innovation that drastically alters existing systems borrows from the work done by Joseph Schumpeter on creative destruction. Schumpeter fashioned innovation as a chronological process of changes to the existing economic structure which could bring about creative destruction. He wrote that innovation is key to those who seek to make a profit. Karol Śledzik quotes Schumpeter to explain it as a “process of industrial mutation that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one” (2013). To achieve this, five types of innovation have been laid down by Schumpeter. The first innovation is to introduce a new product or a new version of an already existing commodity; next, to come up with new ways to produce and sell the commodity. This is followed by the creation and opening of new markets for the sales of these newly created products. The fourth step is the exploitation of newer sources of raw material. The final step is the creation of a new organisational structure by either the creation or the destruction of a monopoly (ibid).
These five steps take us to two related and critical paths. The first route will take us to the origin of the term ‘creative destruction’. The other will take us to the contemporary moment of globalisation and Jugaad.
Karl Marx in his work on capitalism and industrialisation wrote about this very process of creative destruction. He deployed the term to describe the perverse manner by which capitalism grows and sustains by the act of destruction. He says,
When speaking of the destruction of capital through crises, one must distinguish between two factors. In so far as the reproduction process is checked and the labour-process is restricted or in some instances is completely stopped, real capital is destroyed… Secondly, however, the destruction of capital through crises means the depreciation of values which prevents them from later renewing their reproduction process as capital on the same scale. This is the ruinous effect of the fall in the prices of commodities. It does not cause the destruction of any use-values. What one loses, the other gains. Values used as capital are prevented from acting again as capital in the hands of the same person. The old capitalists go bankrupt…A large part of the nominal capital of the society, i.e., of the exchange-value of the existing capital, is once for all destroyed, although this very destruction, since it does not affect the use-value, may very much expedite the new reproduction. This is also the period during which moneyed interest enriches itself at the cost of industrial interest. (Marxists Internet Archive, 2015[1863])
Marx also writes, “in these crises, a great part not only of the existing products, but also of the previously created productive forces, are periodically destroyed. In these crises, there breaks out an epidemic that, in all earlier epochs, would have seemed an absurdity — the epidemic of over-production” (Marxists Internet Archive, 2015[1848]). However the contemporary usage of creative destruction has been rearticulated as disruptive innovation, which is a very strategic move that erases the history of the term. Just as with Jugaad, creative destruction is taken out of its context and used to the benefit of the wealthy.
This ahistorical usage of terms provides it a shine, a gleam that hides all the travesty it is newly built upon. It takes out the person from the equation. There is only the innovator and the consumer (‘bottom of pyramid’ or otherwise). It does not account for the labourer from ‘Third World Countries’ who is bound within caste, race, gender and class structures. These brown, blue collared, lower caste, class and gendered bodies become the site of exploitation once again. They are both the exploitable resource and the all-consuming market. Moreover the means by which this exploitation is arrayed is through the technological innovation. Technology becomes the new coloniser which takes this new system of capitalist exploitation to newer terrains. The curiosity and desire for this technology is maintained through constant over-production of the new. Marx writes, “The instrument of labour strikes down the labourer. This direct antagonism between the two comes out most strongly, whenever newly introduced machinery competes with handicrafts or manufactures, handed down from former times. But even in modern industry the continual improvement of machinery, and the development of the automatic system, has an analogous effect” (Marxists Internet Archive, 2015[1867]).
In the current era we are witnessing many such capitalist exploitations through constant over-production e.g. Uber. We are using Uber as it’s assumed to be the next big thing in terms of innovation and has also had its fair share of criticism. There is some critical work done on third party providers such as Uber which work within the paradigm of disruptive innovation. One such blogger writes, “…but we must also take a critical view. The new social operating systems are demolishing established industries, and destroying jobs and lives in the process. While they create new jobs, these are not the same jobs in the same industries. Blue collar bodies litter the scenes of these acts of creative destruction” (Rayner, 2014). The next section of the paper will engage with the technology of apps and what their incursion through disruptive innovation into the market has led to.
The Third Party Providers
Uber started in 2009 as a small transportation start-up company in San Francisco, California, intended to connect the buyers to the sellers directly. Its tag-line “your ride on demand” signifies it. It uses a mobile app to connect cab drivers directly to consumers who request a trip using the Uber App. The customers pay directly to Uber by connecting his/her credit/debit card with the Uber account and Uber then transfers the money to the drivers account after deducting its commission. In India they have a different model. The rider has an option of paying by cash. In India the driver gets paid in two ways: one is to complete minimum number of rides per day irrespective of the distance and if a driver fails to complete the minimum number of rides then they get paid by the distance they have travelled. The payment system is very dynamic and it keeps changing. Sometimes the number of ride changes, some days there are incentives like complete four rides in next four hours and get Rs 1600. Since then it has grown leaps and bounds and spread across 66 countries and more than 632 cities. It has a large number of investors and has been projected as the next big thing. But it has its own share of controversies wherever it has introduced its app services. The major protests have been against its model of regulation. It has been banned from London in the UK and France and facing legality issues in many countries. In order to drive for Uber one has to register themselves with the company. The driver doesn’t need a taxi permit or any kind of permit from the state. Based on their criteria they do a background check of the driver. The only two conditions that are applicable to be a registered driver at Uber are to own a vehicle with a driving license and a car which is insured. Once the driver is registered, Uber will provide a mobile device which has an Uber app and will help the driver locate customers and their destination. Uber regulates the fare which is not decided by the cab driver, the union or the concerned government. The fare for the regular cab is regulated by the union of cab driver along with the government regulating body. Uber has formed its own governing mechanism and process. It doesn’t own any of the vehicles and is not directly employing the cab drivers. It just remains a third party service provider.
Uber and other such apps which use the concept of shared economy are flaunted to be the next big thing and both were launched at the time of recession and high unemployment in USA. The supporters of such platforms have claimed that they have utopian outcomes such as empowerment of ordinary people, efficiency, and even lower carbon footprints (Schor, 2014). Lisa Gansky has argued that sharing economy is creating value through lesser waste (Gansky, 2015). There have been a range of products and services launched in the market which have used the concept of sharing economy to promote the products and services along with the idea of sustainability. The concept of sharing economy is defined as “a socio-economic ecosystem built around the sharing of human and physical resources. It includes the shared creation, production, distribution, trade and consumption of goods and services by different people and organisations” (Matofska, 2015). This is not a new concept; we always shared things with siblings, neighbours, friends and family members. In a sharing economy, sharing is not just limited to kinship ties but is a move away to sharing with strangers. Apps like Uber are not as much ‘shared economy’ as they are third party service providers who are charging for services. As Killick has rightly summarised, companies like Uber are not sharing anything with consumers and sellers (Killick, 2015). This model of economy fits with the current neo-liberal paradigm where labour rights and benefits are curtailed. In fact both the businesses have displaced small hotel owners and taxi drivers which we can see through the constant protests happening all over the country and the world. So they haven’t created anything new.
The private capitalists use this space for investment and creative destruction which results in dehumanisation and alienation of labour. Both of these represent the idea of disruptive innovation where with new technology they shatter existing organisational systems, thereby shattering labour systems. It further alienates the labour as there is absolutely no possibility of interacting or collectivising. With the rise in people engaging in this individualised entrepreneurial economy, it is creating more independent workers who are highly vulnerable and insecure. Commenting on this, an article on sharing economy says, “the real winners in this process have been the ‘pirate capitalists’ who have moved in and used the technology to break up and disrupt existing industries. This has been and forever will be the story of capitalism: creative destruction. The internet-driven changes are the latest phase of a centuries-old economic system, not the harbinger of a new one” (ibid).
Arguments which are commonly given by the pro-disruption camp are that the market will fix everything based on the ratings and there is no need for state regulations (Carr, 2015). As individuals we have our biases which are constantly shaping our views and thought processes. These biases will inform our rating of the driver. So the rating is never going to be just based on the ride, it goes beyond the ride to larger societal biases. The marginalised community will be further marginalised through this process. Though it has been argued that these jobs are highly flexible and a person can work according to his/her own needs and time, it comes with no benefits such as leave or pension. A loss or out-of-job in such cases can have a cascading effect on the individual as well as the economy. All these are clear signs of recession in the making.
As Marx has pointed out, alienation of the labourer is induced and exacerbated by technology with relation to creative destruction. Technology lives and is operated by the industrialist or the innovator. Andrew Feenberg explains this power relation,
The entire development of modern societies is thus marked by the paradigm of unqualified control over the labour process on which capitalist industrialism rests. It is this control which orients technical development toward disempowering workers and the massification of the public. I call this control “operational autonomy,” the freedom of the owner or his representative to make independent decisions about how to carry on the business of the organisation, regardless of the views or interests of subordinate actors and the surrounding community (2005: 53).
The knowledge, organisation and the idea of the product produced by innovation exists in the silos of certain knowledge circles. This entire articulation of innovation, creative destruction and Jugaad function as new tools of organisation building and destruction of existing systems.
Informality and Jugaad
Going back to Christensen via Schumpeter we land at the crux of the matter, the act of globalisation. Christensen writes,
First, disruptive products are simpler and cheaper; they generally promise lower margins, not greater profits. Second, disruptive technologies typically are first commercialised in emerging or insignificant markets. And third, leading firms’ most profitable customers generally don’t want, and indeed initially can’t use, products based on disruptive technologies. By and large, a disruptive technology is initially embraced by the least profitable customers in a market (Christensen, 1997).
Technology and thereby innovation, regardless of where it was formulated, is still in the domain of the capitalist. They don the cap of radical innovation and the cloak of caste, race and gender superiority to churn out newer systems of discrimination using technology. It is therefore important to redefine Jugaad with regards to informality. The term has been depoliticised. It is important to imbue it with the politics from which it grows so as to not obliterate the lived experience of the concept.
Ananya Roy (2009) puts forth four propositions to understand informality. Firstly she writes that informality is not solely related to poverty. This assumption is also based on the imagination that informality practised by the poor is also illegal and that the formal is absolutely devoid of informality. Next she points out that informality is ‘deregulated’ which is different from ‘unregulated’, that is there is a system of regulation even within the seemingly regulation-less informal. Her third point is that the state too, in all its various capacities, is an informal entity. This she explains in relation to the extra-legal actions that are performed by the state. The final proposition is that there are many agitations and struggles that emerge from the ‘informal’ and ‘illegal’ against the legality of the formal. She emphasises the need to understand that insurgence need not create a just space. It is important to not morph these struggles as best practices of innovation and to understand that they are struggles against discrimination.
The examination of Jugaad within this framework throws light at its inherent exoticisation when redefined as only ‘disruptive innovation’. It is an act of informality that is located within the formal, the informal and everything in-between and beyond while also being an act that exists because of deregulation. To set this act out of its context removes its inherent insurgence. It becomes a latent tool of oppression than an expression of agitation. Jeffrey has used Bourdieu’s notion of Habitus to elucidate how people’s social positioning is important in how they respond to changes and how we consequentially understand it (Jeffrey & Young, 2014). He uses the concept of Habitus to explain how people produce similar behaviour over the period of time which reflects their social positioning in society (ibid). He further quotes Bourdieu and says “People inventively reproduce their social position through their everyday practices” (ibid). Habitus is informing the innovation or the Jugaad that people do.
Jugaad and the technology spurred by it have to be understood with relation to the Jugaad of everyday life. It has to take into consideration the multiple contexts, scales, and hierarchies in which Jugaad functions. This then highlights that formality and informality are not binaries but exist within and outside one another, where Jugaad is practised in different forms. An act of Jugaad in technology, especially as disruptive innovation, is a struggle to maximise profit. The Jugaad of everyday life embodies struggles against hegemonies, they are struggles of survival. This distinction is crucial in remembering and reiterating the varied histories, practices and interpretations of Jugaad that exist.
Shruthi Parthasarathy is an M Phil research scholar at the Advanced Centre for Women’s Studies, School of Development Studies, TISS, Mumbai. Her current research interest lies in understanding the confluence of caste, brahminism, gender, sexuality and technology in urban spaces.
Durgesh Solanki is an M Phil scholar at the Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policies. His research areas include urbanisation, spatial segregation and the manifestation of caste in cities.
Bobel, I. (2012) ‘Jugaad: A New Innovation Mindset’, Journal Business & Financial Affairs. 1(4):
Carr, P. (2015) Travis Shrugged: The Creepy, Dangerous Ideology behind Silicon Valley’s Cult of Disruption. Pando. <https://pando.com/2012/10/24/travis-shrugged/> [Accessed 5 Dec. 2015].
Christensen, Clayton. (1997) The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms To Fail. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press.
Gansky, L. (2015) How the Sharing Economy Can Create Value from Waste. The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-gansky/sharing-economy-value-waste_b_8522490.html?ir=India&adsSiteOverride=in> [Accessed 5 Dec. 2015].
Feenberg, A. (2005) Critical Theory of Technology, an Overview. Tailoring Biotechnology. 1(1): 47-64.
Jefferey, C and Young, S. 2014. Jugad: The Youth Enterprise in India. Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 104(1): 182-195
Killick, R. (2015) Sharing economy companies like Uber and Airbnb aren’t really ‘sharing’ anything. [online] Business Insider. <http://www.businessinsider.com/sharing-economy-companies-like-uber-and-airbnb-arent-really-sharing-anything-2015-10?IR=T> [Accessed 5 Dec. 2015].
Marx, K. (2015) Communist Manifesto (Chapter 1). Marxists Internet Archive. <https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/ch01.htm> [Accessed 5 Dec. 2015].
Marx, K. (2015) Economic Manuscripts: Capital Vol. I, Chapter Fifteen. Marxists Internet Archive. <https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch15.htm#S5> [Accessed 5 Dec. 2015].
Marx, K. (2015) Economic Manuscripts: Theories of Surplus-Value, Chapter 17. Marxists Internet Archive. <https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1863/theories-surplus-value/ch17.htm> [Accessed 5 Dec. 2015].
Massey, Doreen. (2005) For Space. London: Sage.
Matofska, B. (2015) What is the Sharing Economy?. Thepeoplewhoshare.com. <http://www.thepeoplewhoshare.com/blog/what-is-the-sharing-economy/> [Accessed 5 Dec. 2015].
Prahalad, C.K and Stuart, H. (2002) The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid. Strategy+Business, 26(1):
Rayner, T. (2014) Heidegger in Silicon Valley: technology and the hacker way. [online] Philosophy for change. <https://philosophyforchange.wordpress.com/2014/09/01/heidegger-in-silicon-valley-social-operating-systems-technological-enframing-and-the-hacker-way/#more-13040> [Accessed 5 Dec. 2015].
Roy, A. 2009. Why India Cannot Plan Its Cities: Informality, Insurgence And The Idiom Of Urbanization. Planning Theory. 8(1): 76-87.
Schor, J. 2014. Debating the Sharing Economy. Great Transition Initiative.
Singh, R, Vaibhav, G and Akash, M. 2012. ‘Jugaad-From “Making Do” and “Quick Fix” to an Innovative, Sustainable and Low-Cost Survival Strategy at the Bottom of the Pyramid’. International Journal of Rural Management. 8(1&2): 87-105.
Śledzik, K. 2013. Knowledge Based Economy in a Neo–Schumpeterian Point of View, Equilibrium. Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy. 8(4): 67-77.
The Economist, (2015). What disruptive innovation means. <http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2015/01/economist-explains-15> [Accessed 5 Dec. 2015].
Volume 4. Issue 1. 2016
Bhargavi Narayanan
Piratical Encounters: The Pirate and Mass Mobilisation in the Popular Tamil Imagination
Shiva Thorat
The Limits of Jugaad:Innovating and Occupational Identityin Khandeshi Cinema
Aparna Srivastava
Bharatanatyam in Lucknow : The Role of Cultural Enterprise, Mobile Telephony, and SNS Networks in Reframing a Parampara
Shivani Satija
Negotiating Online Spaces through Subversive Bodies
Nayantara Nayar
The Truth-Speakers: An Analysis of Tumblr’s Self-harm Communities
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joseph carvalko
April 30, 2016 by sunburypress
Prisoner's life or death decided by public opinion — goes viral on social media
MENLO PARK, Calif. — Sunbury Press has released Joseph Carvalko’s latest novel, Death by Internet, speculative fiction about a prisoner who is at the mercy of public opinion via social media.
THE SPIRITUALITY OF NATURE CONFRONTS TECHNOLOGY TO DISCOVER THE ESSENCE OF MERCY AND CRUELTY
Carvalko takes the reader to the outer edge of technology and ethics in a speculative fiction that evokes the bizarre power of the Internet to reveal if the world is merciful.
Strapped down and dying in a prison cell, Sam Mariani tells how he had invited the public to respond to his blog, but rather than click the familiar “Like” button as on Facebook, they voted to either “Die” or “Live”, depending on whether they agreed with his opinion, which in turn forced the protagonist to inhale, through a valve, minuscule doses of cyanide or its antidote.
In his quest for humanity, the site goes viral attracting millions, but has the unintended consequences of riling the masses, who take to the streets, some elevating him to the prominence of a messiah, causing the government, fearing a revolution, to attack him via cyber warfare.
If you delight in fiction that engages the reader in an ethical dilemma, you’ll love this contemporary allegory, which journeys from Wounded Knee to a macabre life and death experiment on the Internet.
— Wendell Wallach author of A Dangerous Master: How to Keep Technology From Slipping Beyond Our Control.
LONG BEFORE THEY arrested me for cybercrimes and “manifest acts of violence against the government,” I chose to live off the grid, and then, yes, hell yes, one day, I plugged myself back into technology to answer humankind’s most profound question: had we become its master, or its servant for executing a nondescript manifesto against the common “good.”
Surreptitiously, all things digital quashed any semblance of free will. Waves of diffused “ones and zeros” relegated every man, woman, and child to the status of an inextricable component in a closed circuit. Increasingly powerful technology came out of the cloud firing electric missiles that struck the center of humanity’s imagination, wresting the power to choose, to farm or forage, to make peace, to save Earth from a thermal meltdown.
In less than a generation, new lexicons appeared: metadata, fail whale, Google bomb, shock site, troll, electronic medical prescription, facial recognition, crime-seeking drone. So-called friends posted façades on Facebook buying into an illusion of open connectedness, while satellites furtively circled the planet compiling dossiers on law-abiding masses. Multinationals launched an array of robotized medicine, banking, education, and apps that drove our cars. We measured deeds in bits, bytes, and dollars, becoming a dehumanized embodiment, a necessary cog, in all manner of electronic computation and control.
Yes, I railed against an assault aimed squarely at the heart of civilization, and for this, they called me a sociopath and charged me with cybercrimes, punishable by death.
Joseph Carvalko is adjunct Professor of Law, Science and Technology at Quinnipiac University School of Law as well as a patent attorney and electrical engineer (holding ten patents including medical devices and computer/communications systems technology). He is a member of the Community Bioethics Forum, Yale School of Medicine and a member of the Yale Technology and Ethics working group. He has authored papers related to law and technology, and drafted hundreds of patent applications during his career. Formerly he was a research associate in the biomedical engineering field, designing and programming cellular automata computers for artificial intelligence applications in cytological pattern recognition, and afterward worked extensively developing computers and telecommunications.
Death by Internet
Authored by Joseph Carvalko
BISAC: Fiction / Dystopian
Also available on Kindle
http://www.sunburypressstore.com/Death-by-Internet-978162…
Posted in book releases | Tagged cyanide, death by internet, death row, dystopian fiction, inmate, Internet, joseph carvalko, science fiction, speculative fiction | 1 Comment
February 28, 2013 by sunburypress
Korean War murder mystery & legal drama subject of Joseph Carvalko's "We Were Beautiful Once"
Mechanicsburg, PA – Sunbury Press has released Joseph Carvalko’s novel “We Were Beautiful Once”; a murder mystery and legal drama set during the Korean War
We Were Beautiful Once
“We Were Beautiful Once” is a psychologically complex courtroom novel that builds an intriguing web of events, creating a sustained sense of anticipation from chapter to chapter in the mold of John Grisham’s The Pelican Brief, where trial lawyer Nick Castalano tries to uncover the fate of Roger Girardin, MIA during the Korean War, and discovers he may have been murdered in a POW camp by Trent Hamilton, a politician (sights on becoming governor) and businessman. Before the war, Jack O’Conner, Hamilton, Girardin and Julie, Girardin’s girlfriend and Jack’s sister, hung out. In part the story follows the lives of the survivors, who after the war, with Roger’s disappearance and Jack and Trent having spent years in a North Korean hell-hole, change dramatically, notably Jack goes through life teetering on the edge of insanity (believing he may have killed Girardin) and that his murderous act will be discovered by his sister, who waits her entire life for Roger’s return.
Carvalko writes with such convincing realism and lyricism that I was at once brought into the landscape of his literary vision and grip of his storytelling. His prose is wiry and wise, steely yet soulful. His tales are tethered to real life, lived and thoroughly pondered. In right light, he is a cross between James Patterson and Scott Turow, only wiser and much more generous. — Da Chen, New York Times bestselling author of “Colors of the Mountain,” a memoir, “Brothers,” a novel, and “My Last Empress,” a novel.
Joseph Carvalko is an American writer, lawyer born in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The novel, We Were Beautiful Once, Chapters from a Cold War was inspired by a case he tried in Federal Court to locate a Korean War POW. In addition to numerous professional and academic writing, other of his publications include: The Techno-Human Shell-A Jump in the Evolutionary Gap (2012), which details the rapid rise in cyborg-like technology; A Road Once Traveled, Life from All Sides (2007); and A Deadly Fog (2004). In 2012, he was one of two finalists for the 2012 Red Mountain Press Prize for Poetry, for The Interior, A Memoir; and one of three finalists for the 2012 Esurance Poetry prize, for his poem “The Road Home.” When he is not writing, he plays jazz piano. He, his wife Susie, and four cats live between the Connecticut and Florida coastal areas.
We Were Beautiful Once: Chapters from a Cold War
BISAC: Fiction / Legal
http://www.sunburypressstore.com/We-Were-Beautiful-Once-C…
Also available on Kindle and Nook
Posted in book releases | Tagged joseph carvalko, korean war, mia, we were beautiful once
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As is customary in Waldorf schools, Suncoast Waldorf School is governed by a three-fold structure comprised of the Board of Trustees, which is responsible for legal and financial matters, the Faculty, which is responsible for pedagogical matters, and the Administration, which is responsible for the day-to-day running of the school. We also have an active Parent Council which represents the interests of the Parent Body and fosters a greater sense of community. A variety of school committees also serve to carry out school objectives.
The Faculty of Suncoast Waldorf School is responsible for setting the school curriculum and is the guardian of the school’s vision and mission. Faculty makes decisions regarding teacher staffing and program offerings within budgetary constraints. Faculty holds weekly meetings and works through any issues collaboratively. Decisions are made by consensus. The Grades Chair for 2018-19 is Susan Brown, and our Early Childhood Chair is Kendall Potts.
The Board of Trustees is comprised of parents, faculty, and friends of the school who have been invited to join as members, and the school Administrator / Director, who is an ex-officio member. The Board supports the work of the administration and the faculty by discussing and making recommendations on budgets and finance, legal matters, fundraising and development, and strategic planning. Many standing school committees report directly to the Board and the Board may also establish temporary committees to accomplish special tasks. Members of the community are welcome to refer matters of concern to the Board through written communication with the chairperson or by attendance at the open session of the Board. Board minutes are kept in a binder in the school’s office and are available to the community. Click here to learn more.
The Administration oversees the daily business and operation of the school office, deals with issues of policy, equality and relations with the state. Additionally, the Administration assures clear communication among all facets of the school community, making sure that the rights of the individual (parents, students, teachers) are balanced along with considerations related to matters of the state, accrediting bodies and the like.
The Parent Council serves as a forum for parents’ ideas and concerns and as a forum where any current issues within the community can be expressed and discussed. The Parent Council facilitates and encourages parent’s active participation and communication with Faculty and the Board. It also serves to foster a sense of community and strengthen social bonds within the greater school community. Each class selects one parent to serve as Parent Council representative for that class for the year. Parent Council currently meets monthly and encourages any member of the parent body to attend.
Class Parents
In addition to the Parent Council representative, each class / class teacher selects a Class Parent. It is the role of the Class Parent to facilitate communication between the class teacher and the parents of his or her class. Class parents’ responsibilities will vary from class to class.
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US Supreme Court Center > Volume 395 > RODRIQUEZ V. UNITED STATES, 395 U. S. 327 (1969) > Full Text
RODRIQUEZ V. UNITED STATES, 395 U. S. 327 (1969)
Rodriquez v. United States, 395 U.S. 327 (1969)
Rodriquez v. United States
Argued March 26, 1969
Decided June 2, 1969
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
Petitioner, allegedly of Mexican descent with a limited knowledge of English, was convicted on several narcotics charges. Immediately after petitioner was sentenced in June, 1963, his retained counsel indicated orally that petitioner wished to appeal in forma pauperis. The trial judge, who did not advise petitioner of his right of appeal, told petitioner's counsel that all motions had to be in writing, and adjourned court. No written motions were filed, and petitioner's counsel did not submit a written notice of appeal within the 10-day limit. When petitioner later tried to file such a notice himself, the trial judge ruled that the expiration of the appeal period deprived the court of jurisdiction. Petitioner sought relief in the Court of Appeals, alleging that he told counsel to perfect an appeal, but that counsel had failed to do so. That court denied petitioner's motion for lack of jurisdiction, and also refused habeas corpus. Petitioner thereafter brought this action for post-conviction relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. The District Court denied relief, and the Court of Appeals affirmed, both courts relying on a Ninth Circuit rule requiring a defendant who claims that he has been deprived of his right of appeal to disclose the errors to be claimed on appeal and to show that denial of an appeal had caused prejudice.
1. The Ninth Circuit rule is invalid, since (1) it makes an indigent defendant (who must prepare his petition under § 2255 without assistance of counsel) face "the danger of conviction because he does not know how to establish his innocence" and (2) it requires the sentencing court to screen out supposedly unmeritorious appeals in summary fashion, a procedure rejected in Coppedge v. United States, 369 U. S. 438. P. 395 U. S. 330.
2. Under the circumstances of this case, including the length of time since petitioner was sentenced, the trial judge's failure to advise him of his right to appeal, and failure to inquire into the circumstances surrounding petitioner's attempt to make an in forma pauperis motion, no hearing is required, and the case is remanded to the District Court, where petitioner should be resentenced so that he may perfect his appeal as prescribed by the applicable rules. Pp. 395 U. S. 331-332.
387 F.2d 117, reversed and remanded.
MR. JUSTICE MARSHALL delivered the opinion of the Court.
Petitioner brought this suit for post-conviction relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, alleging that, after his conviction on several narcotics charges, he had been improperly denied his right to appeal. Petitioner was sentenced to 11 concurrent 20-year terms on June 20, 1963. Immediately after the sentencing, petitioner's retained counsel attempted to make a motion requesting leave for petitioner to proceed in forma pauperis. The trial judge cut petitioner's counsel off, saying that all motions had to be in writing. Without making any further inquiry, he adjourned the court. No written motions were ever filed, and petitioner's counsel did not submit a notice of appeal within the 10-day period specified by the applicable rule. [Footnote 1] On August 7, 1963, after the time had expired, petitioner attempted to file a notice of appeal himself. He declared that an oral notice had been given at trial. The trial judge ruled that the expiration of the appeal period deprived the court of jurisdiction. Petitioner then sought relief in the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He alleged that he had told his counsel to perfect an appeal, but that counsel had failed to do so. The Ninth Circuit denied petitioner's motion for lack of jurisdiction, citing United States v. Robinson, 361 U. S. 220 (1960). It also refused habeas corpus.
This action was commenced on February 15, 1966. Petitioner alleged that he was of Mexican descent and that his knowledge of English was limited. He further contended that his retained counsel had fraudulently deprived him of his right to appeal. He asked that his conviction be set aside and that he be resentenced so that he could properly take an appeal. The District Court for the Northern District of California denied petitioner's application, and the Ninth Circuit affirmed. 387 F.2d 117 (1967). Both courts relied on a Ninth Circuit rule requiring applicants in petitioner's position to disclose what errors they would raise on appeal and to demonstrate that denial of an appeal had caused prejudice. We granted certiorari to resolve a conflict among the circuits about the propriety of such a requirement. [Footnote 2] 393 U.S. 951 (1968). We reverse.
As this Court has noted before, "[p]resent federal law has made an appeal from a District Court's judgment of conviction in a criminal case what is, in effect, a matter
of right." Coppedge v. United States, 369 U. S. 438, 369 U. S. 441 (1962). The Ninth Circuit seems to require an applicant under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 to show more than a simple deprivation of this right before relief can be accorded. It also requires him to show some likelihood of success on appeal; if the applicant is unlikely to succeed, the Ninth Circuit would characterize any denial of the right to appeal as a species of harmless error. We cannot subscribe to this approach.
Applicants for relief under § 2255 must, if indigent, prepare their petitions without the assistance of counsel. See Johnson v. Avery, 393 U. S. 483, 393 U. S. 487-488 (1969). Those whose education has been limited and those, like petitioner, who lack facility in the English language might have grave difficulty in making even a summary statement of points to be raised on appeal. Moreover, they may not even be aware of errors which occurred at trial. They would thus be deprived of their only chance to take an appeal even though they have never had the assistance of counsel in preparing one. Like the approach rejected long ago in Powell v. Alabama, 287 U. S. 45, 287 U. S. 69 (1932), the Ninth Circuit's requirement makes an indigent defendant face "the danger of conviction because he does not know how to establish his innocence." Moreover, the Ninth Circuit rule would require the sentencing court to screen out supposedly unmeritorious appeals in ways this Court rejected in Coppedge. Those whose right to appeal has been frustrated should be treated exactly like any other appellants; they should not be given an additional hurdle to clear just because their rights were violated at some earlier stage in the proceedings. Accordingly, we hold that the courts below erred in rejecting petitioner's application for relief because of his failure to specify the points he would raise were his right to appeal reinstated.
The Government, while not arguing that the courts below properly denied relief on the pleadings, urges us to remand this case for a truncated factual hearing. Drawing upon this Court's recognition in Machibroda v. United States, 368 U. S. 487, 368 U. S. 495 (1962), that the hearing requirement of § 2255 "does not strip the district courts of all discretion to exercise their common sense," the Government suggests that the District Court be instructed to obtain an affidavit from petitioner's trial attorney explaining why no notice of appeal was filed. This explanation, together with petitioner's allegations, would be used to judge the propriety of a hearing.
This issue was not present in this case when certiorari was granted, and we do not think it is present now. For we think it "just under the circumstances," 28 U.S.C. § 2106, for us to dispose of petitioner's arguments finally at this stage. Six years have now elapsed since petitioner was sentenced, and we do not see how further delay and further prolonged proceedings would serve the cause of justice. Moreover, it appears from the trial transcript in this case that the trial judge erroneously failed to advise petitioner of his right to appeal. At the time of trial, Fed.Rule Crim.Proc. 37(a)(2) required the sentencing judge to inform unrepresented defendants of their right to appeal; the clerk, upon request, was required to file a notice of appeal for the defendant. [Footnote 3] Counsel's attempt to
obtain leave for petitioner to proceed in forma pauperis should have put the trial judge on notice that petitioner would be unrepresented in the future. Moreover, unless an appeal was contemplated, there would be no reason to make such a motion. As the trial judge should have recognized, petitioner was therefore precisely the kind of defendant who needed the protection afforded by the rule. Had he known that the clerk would file a notice of appeal for him, he could easily have avoided the difficulties he has faced. At the very least, the trial judge should have inquired into the circumstances surrounding the attempt to make the in forma pauperis motion. His failure to do so effectively deprived petitioner of his right to appeal. Since this deprivation appears on the record before us, we see no need for any factual determinations on remand. Cf. United States v. Smith, 387 F.2d 268 (C.A. 6th Cir.1967).
The judgment is reversed, and the case is remanded to the District Court where petitioner should be resentenced so that he may perfect an appeal in the manner prescribed by the applicable rules.
[Footnote 1]
Fed.Rule Crim.Proc. 37(a), now Fed.Rule App.Proc. 4(b).
The Ninth Circuit rule originated in two 1964 decisions, Wilson v. United States, 338 F.2d 54, and Miller v. United States, 339 F.2d 581. Cf. McGarry v. Fogliani, 370 F.2d 42 (C.A. 9th Cir.1966). The First Circuit has adopted an intermediate position; the defendant is not required to show plain reversible error in his application, but the Government may defeat relief by showing that an appeal would be futile. Desmond v. United States, 333 F.2d 378 (1964). Both petitioner and the Government attempt to find support in the position of the Tenth Circuit. Hannigan v. United States, 341 F.2d 587 (1965). The Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and District of Columbia Circuits do not require any showing about the issues to be raised on appeal. Camp v. United States, 352 F.2d 800 (C.A. 5th Cir.1965); United States v. Smith, 387 F.2d 268 (C.A. 6th Cir.1967); Calland v. United States, 323 F.2d 405 (C.A. 7th Cir.1963); Williams v. United States, 402 F.2d 548 (C.A. 8th Cir.1968); Dillane v. United States, 121 U.S.App.D.C. 354, 350 F.2d 732 (1965).
Rule 37(a)(2) provided:
"When a court after trial imposes sentence upon a defendant not represented by counsel, the defendant shall be advised of his right to appeal and if he so requests, the clerk shall prepare and file forthwith a notice of appeal on behalf of the defendant."
This provision has since been transferred to Rule 32(a)(2). It now applies to defendants going to trial on a plea of not guilty, whether or not they are represented by counsel. The problem of determining whether to give notice to a person represented at trial, but who may not be represented on appeal, will therefore not recur.
MR. JUSTICE HARLAN, concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I agree with Part I of the Court's opinion, but cannot subscribe to Part II, in which the Court reinstates petitioner's right to appeal without further proceedings below. In taking this course, I think the Court has been too insensitive to what, on this record, is due the trial judge, petitioner's trial counsel, and the orderly administration of the criminal process.
In my opinion, this record does not show that petitioner was wrongfully denied an opportunity to appeal. It appears from the record that, immediately following petitioner's sentencing, his lawyer indicated orally that
petitioner wished to appeal in forma pauperis, and that the judge informed the lawyer that "all motions" had to be made in writing. Thereafter no written notice of appeal was filed within the 10-day limit. Petitioner further alleges that he told his counsel to perfect an appeal, and that counsel neglected to do so, but those allegations have never been tested by the adversary process.
The Court undertakes to justify its decision not to require a hearing and findings on this score by characterizing as "error" the sentencing judge's failure "to advise petitioner of his right to appeal," as then supposedly required by Fed.Rule Crim.Proc. 37(a)(2), and by concluding that it is "just under the circumstances," 28 U.S.C. § 2106, to dispose of the case at this level. See ante at 395 U. S. 331-332.
Although I share the Court's concern that petitioner receive promptly all relief which is legally due him, I am unable to accept either this attribution of "error" to the trial judge or this bypassing of established methods for determining the truth of factual allegations. At the time petitioner was sentenced, Rule 37(a)(2) required that a sentencing judge advise only "a defendant not represented by counsel" of his right to appeal. [Footnote 2/1] (Emphasis supplied.) In this instance, petitioner was represented by retained counsel both at trial and at sentencing. The excerpts from the trial transcript upon which the Court relies contain nothing at all to rebut the natural inference, apparently drawn by the sentencing judge, that petitioner's counsel would continue to represent him at least for the purpose of filing a notice of appeal. Indeed,
petitioner's own statement of the facts reveals that this inference was wholly justified, for petitioner asserts that, after his sentencing, "his counsel advised both him and his wife that he would arrange for their appeals." [Footnote 2/2] Thus, even if it is assumed that "the trial judge should have inquired into the circumstances surrounding the attempt to make the in forma pauperis motion," ante at 395 U. S. 332, the judge's omission was surely, at most, harmless error.
I would therefore remand the case to the District Court, so that it may be determined whether petitioner, in fact, did instruct his attorney to perfect an appeal and whether the attorney, in fact, neglected to do so. This course seems to me to be required both in the interest of orderly procedure and in fairness to petitioner's trial attorney.
Furthermore, as suggested by the Government, I would permit the District Court discretion to begin by obtaining an affidavit from petitioner's attorney in response to petitioner's allegations. Who knows whether the attorney may not have in his possession documentary evidence conclusively showing the allegations to be unfounded? Or who knows whether the attorney may not wish to concede the accuracy of the allegations? In either case, the affidavit procedure might obviate the necessity for a full-blown hearing. If the attorney has no documentary evidence, and if his affidavit reveals a factual controversy, then, of course, a hearing would be required. Such a procedure entirely fits the language of 28 U.S.C. § 2265 and this Court's statement in Machibroda v. United States, 368 U. S. 487, 368 U. S. 495 (1962), that § 2255 "does not strip the district courts of all discretion to exercise their common sense."
[Footnote 2/1]
This provision was subsequently amended to require that the judge so advise all defendants, whether or not represented by counsel. See ante at 395 U. S. 331, n. 3. See also Peoples v. United States, 337 F.2d 91 (1964); Calland v. United States, 323 F.2d 405 (1963); Boruff v. United States, 310 F.2d 918 (1962).
Brief for Petitioner 6.
Powered by Justia US Supreme Court Center: RODRIQUEZ V. UNITED STATES, 395 U. S. 327 (1969)
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Become the go-to vendor for local print products
Posted Wednesday, April 24, 2013 12:00 am
By Sean Ireland, Special to the SNPA eBulletin
In the search for new revenue streams, no stones should remain unturned.
And while the news out of Washington, D.C., is about sequestration and budget cutbacks, local governments are still a good place for newspapers to look when it comes to finding new products that meet community needs and bring in new money. In fact, your local government may already be sending funds out of town that your newspaper could be earning.
Sean Ireland
The Palatka (Fla.) Daily News, owned by Community Newspapers Inc. of Athens, Ga., produces several different print projects for branches of its local governments, including three once-a-year publications and a monthly magazine. A fifth project is awaiting grant money and a sixth is currently in negotiations. The newspaper works with its local sheriff's department, emergency management center and school system on the publications.
Each entity and project has different needs and different bureaucracies to navigate, but the Daily News has learned how to work best with each one. The result is that the newspaper has become the go-to vendor when local governments need a print project.
For Daily News and Special Sections Editor Allison Waters-Merritt, building the portfolio of these public-service print projects has been a long-term process. "The first exclusive government entity publication we produced since I have been here was the sexual predator/offender listing called Neighborhood Watch," Waters-Merritt said. "At the time, 'How to Catch a Predator' was very popular on TV. The show happened to be filming in Flagler County, which borders our coverage area, and we found out that one of the people caught on the show was from Putnam County. This gave me leverage with the sheriff as to the timeliness of doing a publication of this nature.
"The show airing coincided closely with our county fair, so we produced the section with enough extras to be handed out at the fair at the booth the sheriff's office maintains. I had research at the time showing that most of our residents do not have Internet access, so having a published document was beneficial. We just finished the seventh year of this listing."
Neighborhood Watch is distributed once a year in the full circulation of the newspaper, with an additional 1,500 copies given to the sheriff's office for distribution at the fair and other locations. The sheriff's office pays for the publication with funds from its Crime Prevention program – money from the sale of property recovered during drug seizures. That money must be used for Crime Prevention programming.
With that publication as a launching point, over time the Daily News has added:
Red Ribbon Week, a special annual section distributed on an NIE day in the full run of the newspaper. Extra copies are given to the sheriff's office for the fun day at the end of the week. It's also funded with Crime Prevention money.
Putnam County School District Schools, a monthly magazine distributed on NIE day in the full circulation of the paper with extra copies given to the schools for parents. The county schools pay for it through an annual budget item and through advertising sold to three of the school district's sponsors. The advertising goes directly toward increasing the number of pages in the magazine.
All Hazards and Fire Watch, two special sections produced for Putnam County's emergency operations center. All Hazards is a budgeted item for the department, while Fire Watch is funded through a grant. Both are inserted into the full run of the paper with extra copies distributed through local hardware stores and fire stations.
As one might expect when working with government, putting together these projects isn't easy. "Each special section has to be treated differently, because while these are government organizations, they are all run uniquely – the sheriff is elected, and the person in charge of the Emergency Operations Center is hired," Waters-Merritt said.
"I think it is important to have an idea of whom and what you are working with before ever presenting an idea," she added. "In dealing with government agencies I found that the more you know about their departments, the easier they are to deal with. My recommendation is that if you do not already have a solid contact with these agencies, you need to talk to the reporters at your paper who cover these agencies and find out who makes the decisions. Is it best to contact the sheriff or the undersheriff or even the public information officer? Your newsroom is your best resource."
Preparation is the key to winning over these projects. "Most of these agencies are doing some sort of outside print job and sending the money elsewhere. If you are looking to print magazine quality, get samples from your printer if possible. If you have something in hand, they can then visualize themselves doing the publication," Waters-Merritt said. "Like any governmental agency, these people are overworked, so make it as easy a decision as possible. Have a concept of paging, sizes, etc., and that way you can give them pricing up front. When working any new project, I already have the distribution numbers, the type of paper, size of the publication and number of pages in mind with the price quotes ready. Then if they decide they want to do something bigger, smaller or different, you can get back to them with new numbers.
"It's important to get samples and take ideas directly to them with the attitude of, 'Look what we can do for you.'"
For more information, contact Allison Waters-Merritt at (386) 312-5200.
palatka-daily-news, revenue, niche
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OSI Group One Of The Leaders In The Food Production Industry
On June 28, 2019 by Fashionista With 0 Comments - Business Expert, Company
OSI Group is one of the biggest and well-known food supply companies in the world. OSI Group is also one of the largest privately-owned companies in America. The company also has a total of 65 facilities in 17 different countries. The company has evolved from humble beginnings and was founded in Oak Park, Illinois by a German immigrant by the name of Otto Kolschowsky. It was a small family owned market and the family’s hard work and dedication grew the company into one of the largest in the world. The president of OSI is a gentleman by the name of David McDonald and the chairman and chief executive officer of the company is Sheldon Lavin. These two gentlemen are currently leaders of the company.
In 1955 OSI Group formed one of its biggest partnerships to date and this partnership helped to catapult the company’s growth. This partnership was with McDonald’s and OSI supplied the beef for McDonald’s from the beginning, which was the opening of its first restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois. As of to date OSI has acquired a company by the name of Rose Packing. OSI is very excited about the acquisition because it will have strong potential for significant growth for the company. Rose Packing is currently one of the leaders when it comes to producing pork products for some of the leading food service and retail chains. Just like the OSI Group Rose Packing is family owned. The president of OSI will let the Chief Executive Officer Mr. Dwight Stiehl and his management team remain in place so Rose Packing can continue to run smoothly.
The two companies have the exact same company culture when it comes to dedication to excellence and building strong business relationships. The acquisition opens OSI up to new processing capabilities and the companies are on the same page when it comes to providing customers with innovative and unique solutions. The companies also have one last thing in common they both have a deep-rooted history with the city of Chicago. Click here to learn more
food supply companies
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Palparan’s flee attempt indicates guilt – mothers of 2 missing UP students
“He [Palparan] should be imprisoned immediately, along with GMA, Abalos, all of them who are shameless. They all should spend Christmas in jail.” – Mrs. Concepcion Empeño
By RONALYN V. OLEA
MANILA – The mothers of the two missing students of the University of the Philippines (UP) are enraged over the attempt of retired Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr. to leave the country this morning.
Exactly four days ago, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a resolution implicating Palparan, then commanding officer of the 7th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army and three of his men into the disappearance of UP students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño.
According to reports, Palparan tried to go to Singapore around 7:30 a.m. on board a Seair flight but was prevented by immigration officials.
“Why would he escape? This only proves all the more that he is guilty of many crimes,” Mrs. Concepcion Empeño, mother of Karen, told Bulatlat.com in a phone interview..... MORE
URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/12/19/palparan%E2%80%99s-flee-attempt-indicates-guilt-%E2%80%93-mothers-of-2-missing-up-students/
Posted by Jesusa Bernardo at 8:01 PM 1 comment Links to this post
Half of America is officially poor
While it’s no surprise that nearly 50 million Americans live below the poverty line, new statistics from the US Census show that almost 100 million others are counted as low-income citizens, making half of the population of America officially poor.
The latest figures out of the US Census Bureau show that in addition to the 49.1 million Americans who fall below the official poverty line, those that rake in enough to be between that level and the income equitable to double it fall into a new “low-income” category, which counts an additional 97.3 million people. Altogether, that clump of nearly 150 million Americans living in dire economic standing accounts for around 48 percent of the US population..... MORE
URL: http://rt.com/usa/news/half-poor-america-poverty-909/
Carnivorous plant doubles as bat hotel
A rare meat-eating pitcher plant has re-made its insect traps into night shelters for tiny bats to have their feces as reward.
The nepenthes rafflesiana elongate, a variety of the species also known as Raffles' pitcher plant, grows in Brunei’s muggy peat forests. It is remarkably poor at catching insects, unlike its many cousins, capturing about one seventh as many..... MORE
URL: http://rt.com/news/sci-tech/plant-bat-hotel-pitcher/
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il dies (w/ Video)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il dies
North Korea's veteran leader Kim Jong-il has died at the age of 69. A tearful announcer at North Korea’s state television, dressed in black, said on Monday the “Dear Leader” had died on Saturday morning of fatigue and over-work.
Kim Jong-il had been battling ailing health in recent years. It is believed he suffered a stroke in 2008.
The news has apparently shocked the people of North Korea. Kim Jong-il had ruled the country since the death of his father, Kim Il-sung, in 1994. Kim Jong-il's youngest son, Kim Jong-un, who is in his late 20s, has officially been named as his father’s successor – that is according to Reuters, who cite the country’s Central Telegraph Agency..... MORE
URL: http://rt.com/news/north-korea-jong-il-dies-111/
Posted by Jesusa Bernardo at 7:43 PM 3 comments Links to this post
Forty-year roller coaster for Bangladeshi Hindus focus 12/18/2011
Forty-year roller coaster for Bangladeshi Hindus
DHAKA — When Bangladesh became an independent nation after a bloody nine month battle with Pakistan that ended 40 years ago Friday, Narayan Chandra Das, a Bengali Hindu, had high hopes for his new country.
As a Hindu, Das had been branded an “agent of India” during the war and fled when the Pakistani army burned his village in the eastern district of Comilla to the ground.
But when the war ended on Dec. 16, he came straight home to the new Muslim-majority nation.
Forty years after independence, creeping Islamization, discriminatory policies and a series of violent attacks on Hindus, have, he says, made him wonder whether it was the right choice..... MORE
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111218com3.html
Pursue rights violation cases vs GMA, minions
By Satur C. Ocampo
At Ground Level | The Philippine Star
“Our gathering this morning is an opportunity to further assess the strengths and weaknesses of the present criminal justice system, and to come up with new and timely initiatives concerning the delivery of justice… Your decisions and the steps you take have implications integral to our democracy.”
That’s how President Aquino defined the objective of the First National Criminal Justice Summit, a laudable initiative by the Department of Justice, which he addressed last Monday at the Manila Hotel. We missed being informed of the summit’s output because the media coverage focused on P-Noy’s frontal tirades against the Supreme Court and Chief Justice Renato Corona.
Nonetheless, the President raised a point highly relevant to today’s observance of Human Rights Day: the injustice inflicted by Ferdinand Marcos’ martial law regime upon his father, Ninoy Aquino, the opposition leader who was later assassinated and now regarded as a hero.
Ninoy and Jose W. Diokno, then both senators, were arrested and held for two years in isolated military detention. Whereas Diokno was freed without being charged with any offense, Ninoy was dragooned into trial and conviction by court martial on trumped-up murder and related common criminal charges.
P-Noy summed up that ignoble procedure thus: “The dictatorship exerted all efforts to skew justice and run roughshod over my father’s human rights.”
With that flashback, P-Noy emphasized that he had sworn “to do justice to every man” in executing the laws and “to make certain that what transpired during martial law does not happen again, and ensuring that anyone who so much as attempts to repeat the same offenses is held accountable.”
Fast-forward to the plight of 356 political prisoners all over the country, who have been on a week-long fast/hunger strike to press for their immediate release. They have been charged, like Ninoy, with trumped-up common criminal offenses. The reality is that they were arrested for holding political beliefs different from those approved by those in power..... MORE
URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/12/16/pursue-rights-violation-cases-vs-gma-minions/
Manipulating the system TABLETS OF STONE Larry Faraon, OP 12/18/2011
Manipulating the system
Larry Faraon, OP
Not even a democratic system is impeccable either from the mechanics or dynamics itself of the same or from given human intransigence and imperfections operating within that system. The tragedy lies in that there is no escape except the destruction of the system itself and the demise of those who wheels the inherent cyclical pattern within.
Our so called democracy has always metamorphose into a “democrazy” especially when the sub-institutions within the democratic system clash and mash against each other necessarily or unnecessarily. And we, the ordinary people, become helpless observers from below while the observers from above are helping themselves in taking advantage of the distractions and diversions as they freely “mind their own businesses.”.... MORE
Palparan’s flee attempt indicates guilt – mothers ...
Forty-year roller coaster for Bangladeshi Hindus f...
Manipulating the system TABLETS OF STONE Larry Far...
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Singapore needs to relook foreign labour, says Finance Minister
Posted by webmaster on April 28, 2018 in News, News Flash
The inflow of foreign workers must remain “well-calibrated” to encourage firms to continue improving productivity, said Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat. This was reported in Today newspaper on 18 April 2018.
“We need to maintain that calibration in order to send a very strong signal that productivity improvement is going to be key, and investing in automation, a better way of doing things, is going to be the key to our future. We should not make changes too hastily… Because if I can get workers cheaply, why should I invest in machines,” said Mr Heng in an interview with the local media at the Treasury building on Wednesday (April 18).
— Today newspaper, 18 April 2018
Further down the news story, the meaning of “calibrate”, at least in the immediate term, was made clearer:
Mr Heng stressed on Wednesday that foreign workforce growth must be moderated by boosting productivity.
However, the rest of the news story makes the meaning somewhat ambiguous. Where the above quotes, spoken in terms of wage pressure to ensure steady progress towards automation, imply a tighter immigration policy, the rest of the news story suggests a more nuanced reading.
Asked if Singapore’s stringent immigration policies warrant a rethink amid its demographic slowdown, the minister said: “Do we need to review (foreign manpower policies)? I’d say that, yes, we do, in the coming years. But I don’t want to send the wrong expectation that anytime soon, we are going to make changes. Then the pressure (to boost productivity) will be lost. We need to keep up with this thrust.”
He seems to be saying that in the short term, the tightening will continue so as to keep the pressure up, but in the longer term, some loosening may be in order to compensate for demographic aging of Singapore’s population.
The newspaper commented that
Since foreign labour policies were tightened, the Government has said, on several occasions, that there would not be a U-turn despite requests from businesses.
Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam told Parliament on March 2016 that foreign workers commit fewer crimes per capita than the resident Singapore population. Crime incidents within the foreign worker population are lower than that among the general Singapore population, Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam told Parliament on Monday (14 March). “They are here...
Posted on March 16, 2016 in News, News Flash
One location that was housing foreign workers was ” abysmal” while the other was ” over-crowded”, wrote Minister of State for Manpower Tan Chuan-jin on his Facebook wall after being with two raids on migrant worker quarters. Dated and clocked in the early hours of Thursday, November 10, 2011, the Facebook post said: Just returned...
Posted on November 11, 2011 in News, News Flash
Speaking to reporters, the secretary-general of the Natioanl Trades Union Congress (NTUC), Lim Swee Say, said “‘Today, our challenge is that we are too foreign worker-centric.” This was reported in the Straits Times on April 14, 2012. Lim, who is also a minister without portfolio, added, “I, as secretary-general, feel that we need to get...
Posted on April 15, 2012 in News, News Flash
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25 Things; A Note to My 17 Year Old Self.
Today, on June 11, 2016, one day before I ring in my 42nd year aboard this crazy rock, I’ll say goodbye forever to one of the best friends I’ve had in Las Vegas, Revolver Dancehall and Saloon. I know what you’re thinking – what kind of pathetic bastard counts a country bar as one of his best friends? Well, if you have to ask, you’ve likely never lived in Vegas. Friends here are hard to come by. It’s a town of relentless hustle, where everything is for sale and things are rarely what they appear to be under the neon glow of a Saturday night. But in this town where the Strip markets the same nightclub under two dozen different names, with endless “VIP Hosts”, slender European DJs with questionable facial hair and an entire ecosystem built just to get in to these clubs, the country bar is as timeless as it is anachronistic. Revolver was much more than just a country bar, however. For many of us, we made lifelong friends, lovers and dance partners there. We laughed, cried, got too drunk and (sometimes) too sober. We danced through injuries, bad nights and, God help me, a thousand replays of the Cupid Shuffle. But still we danced. Revolver is the first bar I’ll close since I closed my very first country bar: the Neon Armadillo, in Orlando, and this parting will be just as much sweet sorrow as that was seventeen years ago. But, in the best way I know how to say goodbye, here are three things I’ll remember about Revolver:
1. Love At First Sight. On my first visit to Revolver, having lived in the city for less than three months, I entered a line dance contest, jumped on a bar, ripped off my t-shirt and got my “Black Card.” Back then, I was the only dancer wearing sneakers (Chucks) or with a towel in my back pocket. The club was packed, and there were biker gang members, cowboys, rednecks and more short shorts and boots than I had seen in any one place before – everybody was cheering and having a great time, and I knew I had found a place to call “home.” Five years later, the girl I danced with in the finals of that contest is a go-go dancer at a different country bar, there have been four different versions of Stoney’s (hopefully, this one sticks) and there are a whole lot more sneakers and towels in back pockets. Sure, there have been other dance contests, different DJs and even more crowded nights, but of all my favorite nights at Revolver, there’s never been anything quite like the first one.
2. Frienemies. There’s nothing quite like your “home” country bar – as it creates a “family” of sorts. And like any family, there are people in it that you love more than anything, and a few others you’d like to see wander blindfolded onto the highway. Revolver gave me some of the best friends I’ve got here, and some of the best people I know: Franklin, Steph, Kaz, RC, Lara, Kristina, Nicco, Jason, Lauren, Theresa, Jacquie, Tavis, Jason, D’Awna, Dawn, Eric, Jared, LIZ, Nicole, Liberty, Shana, Shawna, Tony, Michael, Dayman and so, so many more. I can’t imagine living here without friends like these. But like any good hero, I also needed a nemesis, and I found mine wearing a schmedium shirt, demanding to be paid by the bar manager for doing the same three ice-skating stunts over & over and declaring himself the “King of Line Dancing” in Las Vegas. Like it or not, that got me to give my very best on that little dance floor night after night and even in training and injury rehab – and for that, I’m just as grateful. Oh, and even on the last night, like I’ve always said, I don’t know who the King is, but I know who it isn’t.
3. Dance Like Everyone’s Watching. There are a lot of different kinds of “great” country bars. There are great places to drink, great places to pick up a date and great places to meet with friends. And while Revolver was certainly all of these things, what is was most was a great place to dance. The floor was small but perfect, easy to get on and off, and small enough to keep people who don’t know how to dance where they belong – in their seats. You can see the floor from anyplace in the club, and the DJ’s? Well, in addition to being some of my best friends, they are some of the best country programmers I’ve ever heard. We line danced to songs we never thought we’d hear in a country bar, and only had to suffer through thirty minutes (or so) of dancing-for-idiots (i.e. “freestyle”) music, each night. We once danced the same dance (Swamp Thing) for over a half an hour (thanks, Franklin), and had a floor where we were allowed to throw whatever stunts we wanted, without bouncer warnings. Drinks were relentlessly kept off the floor, and drunks and idiots were always ushered away quickly. I can’t think of more than one fight in all five years, and I have memories of hundreds of great nights, where I got home too tired to anything but peel off my sweaty clothes and get into bed. Revolver was a dancer’s bar, and that’s what I’ll miss most about it.
As author C. Joybell C. said “Ends are not bad things, they just mean that something else is about to begin. And there are many things that don't really end, anyway, they just begin again in a new way. Ends are not bad and many ends aren't really an ending; some things are never-ending.” The last night at Revolver isn’t a bad thing, though many tears will certainly be shed. And it also isn’t an ending – because in the end, Revolver wasn’t really a country bar, it was the people who worked there, danced there and spent part of their lives, there. It was the joys, the heartbreaks, the spotlights and the dark corners. It was country, it was Las Vegas and it was way too far north. It was in a casino that most of us will never walk into again, and I can’t imagine it anywhere else. It was small, but it was huge. It was New Years, birthdays, Ladies Night and going away parties. It was loud. It was good, and now it’s gone… but what it will never, ever be, is forgotten.
Thanks, Revolver – it’s been one hell of a ride.
My, what a long, strange trip it’s been. As marking the years gone by has turned from a cause for celebration to an occasion for indifference and, ultimately, to a harbinger of impending doom, finding the silver lining amidst all the silver hair has become increasingly difficult. However, this annual tradition has become the touchstone of that ever-more-important optimism, because the trade we make each year, exponentially more wisdom for marginally less youth, remains a very, very good one. Growing older always brings the opportunity to answer the proverbial question of whether one would “go back” if they could. And while I desperately miss my former indestructibility, I have never and would never trade what I’ve learned in for slightly less painful joints and regular visits to the doctor because I’m too stubborn and stupid to stop dancing (and exercising) like I’m still 25. And so, with this continuing recklessness in mind, and with a nod to those of you who have stuck around for the sixth installment of these, here are the FORTY ONE things I’ve learned so far:
1. You really don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.
2. The media has us convinced we’re never attractive enough, but on a positive note, we’re all probably a lot better looking than we think... except you
3. If you think keeping friends is harder when you’re older, try making them.
4. There is always another train coming; desperation is always manufactured – and usually by people who are more afraid than you are.
5. There’s a reason they call it a “vanity plate” and that’s not a compliment – it’s one of the seven deadly sins. Or if you’re not religious –it’s fantastically douchey.
6. If you’re always the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.
7. Flattery is easy, inexpensive and the “secret” in every book every written about how to do better with people.
8. Generational wealth is the second most destructive force in the world, today.
9. The first? Organized religion (obviously).
10. Schools don’t need to get rid of bullies, they need to teach kids how to deal with them, effectively. Real life has real bullies.
11. The most terrifying thing about the youngest generation growing up to lead is what we’re going to do about having access to their life-long Facebook feed.
12. Fashion trends come and go, but visible chest hair will always be terrible.
13. Never have more fun on someone else’s couches than you have on your own... trust me, they’re following the same rule.
14. Anti-intellectualism is the word that smart people use to describe the pro-stupid lobby – see, we’re better at that, too.
15. We became post-truth before we even got close to post-racism... and that’s probably why we never will.
16. The two least attractive words you can say to a woman at 41 are: “never married.”
17. The two least attractive words a woman can say to a 41-year-old man are: “fairy tale.”
18. I’ve involuntarily trained my brain to say the word “DOUCHE” as loud as I can every time I hear an engine being revved. Seriously.
19. You are not that big of a deal.
20. Only women are allowed to declare that they will not date overweight members of the opposite sex. Ignore this advice at your own peril.
21. Getting drunk is a universally terrible idea.
22. No matter how strongly they insist, if you want to keep your friends, do not let them set you up on a date.
23. The Internet’s most useful tool is Facebook’s “Block” button.
24. Nothing is more expensive than anything you’re offered for “free”.
25. No one needs a gun. Ever.
26. Being friends with an ex is weird. You know it’s weird because you always have to explain it. Nothing normal always has to be explained.
27. Men and women have the same number of emotions, men just have fewer names for theirs.
28. One of life’s greatest lessons is knowing when to shut up... especially when you’ve got something to say.
29. The scariest thing I’ve learned as an adult is how tremendously little that adults know.
30. People want to trust you, but they need to like you.
31. A teenaged me would never have survived my adult bad habits... here’s to the late bloomers, and how much longer we’ll live.
32. Skinny arms have finally come into style for young men... about thirty years too late. At least I get to skip skinny jeans.
33. I finally found the one thing that will always give away a woman’s age – what she says. What gives away a man’s age? He does.
34. What’s most important in a person’s “profile picture” is what’s not in it.
35. I’m not saying it should ever be legal to hit someone with your car, but if it ever was, I’d definitely be hitting passive-aggressive, slow-walking, judgy-faced pedestrians first.
36. Teenagers are never funny. I even found one I liked (my niece). Still not funny.
37. What a person wears tells you more about their friends than it does about them.
38. We are wasting our shame on fat people when we have so many stupid people so close by! At least fat people know they’re fat.
39. Conspiracy theories are the most reliable way to identify people who will make you dumber.
40. What scares me most about aging is not feeling bad when I’m older, but that I’ll forget how to feel bad at all.
41. We only really have two stories, destruction and survival, up to you which one you tell... and when.
Here’s to 42... you wonderful bastards.
Goodnight, Revolver
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Announcements Club Events
Programme of the 14th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club
© Valdai Discussion Club
The image of the world order is undergoing radical changes today, as the world of the future is being shaped under the influence of global conflicts. The 14th annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club, which will take place on October 16-19 in Sochi, is tasked with analyzing the transformation of socio-political worldviews and outlining the contours of the future.
October 16-19, 2017, Sochi
Creative Destruction: Will a New World Order Emerge from the Current Conflicts?
15:30-17:30 Special session dedicated to the Valdai Discussion Club Annual Report “The Importance of Being Earnest: How to Avoid Irreparable Damage”
Changes in the global system have entered a qualitatively new phase. The erosion of the world order also affects domestic policies, as all major states are focused on their internal problems, having given free rein to international processes. This triumph of egotism is accompanied by the residual carelessness of the previous epoch, when it seemed that things would work themselves out on their own. The scope of changes underway is comparable to that of the most momentous periods of human history, when the very principles of relationships were changing, along with actors and circumstances. The Valdai Club Annual Report continues the series of reports released in 2014-2016. This time, the authors attempt to review and evaluate the changes in order to better understand what can be done to reduce the risks.
19:00 Valdai Discussion Club Award Ceremony
10:20-10:30 Opening of the 14th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club
Opening remarks: Andrey Bystritskiy, Chairman of the Board, Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club
10:30-12:30 Session 1. The Conflict Between Differing Geopolitical Worldviews
World politics are moving in two directions simultaneously – forward to an increasingly cohesive and interdependent international system in tandem with world-embracing communications and the need to address challenges globally; and backward into fragmentation caused by vested interests, conflicts between major powers, and a return to protectionist instincts and practices. The previous globalization model has played itself out, while a new one has yet to emerge; conflicts are escalating between global organizations of various types; and geographic proximity between states – until recently considered a secondary factor given the global nature of transportation, communications, and economics – is regaining significance.
Nabil Fahmy, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt (2013-2014); Dean of the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, American University in Cairo (AUC)
Fu Ying, Chair, Foreign Affairs Committee, National People’s Congress, People’s Republic of China
Sergey Karaganov, Dean of the School of World Economics and International Relations at the National Research University Higher School of Economics; Honorary Chairman of the Presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy
Theo Sommer, Editor at Large, Die Zeit
William Wohlforth, Daniel Webster Professor, Department of Government, Dartmouth College
Moderator: Fyodor Lukyanov, Research Director of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club
14:00-16:00 Session 2. The Conflict Between Rich and Poor
Stratification along lines of material development is becoming the most pressing social problem, not only within and between states, but also in global relations. Material inequality has reached a level last scene 100 years ago, when it contributed to the outbreak of World War I. Social conflicts have become a permanent feature of the international scene, and our ability to resolve them will determine the success or failure of not only individual states and regions, but also the entire global community. Of particular concern is the growing and seemingly insurmountable gap between not only individual states, but entire parts of the world and those countries in the “vanguard” of material development. Fearing that the locomotive of development will leave them behind, individuals around the world are struggling by every possible means to relocate to the “advanced” societies and gain a foothold there – creating a global brain drain that only exacerbates the negative trend in their home countries. Looking back from the vantage point of the present, it is clear that the distinguishing events of the 20th century were decolonization and the emergence of numerous new states that have yet to embark on a path of sustainable development. The consequences of the processes set in motion back then will become pressing problems for the world in the coming decades.
Andrey Klepach, Vnesheconombank Deputy Chairman (Chief Economist) - Member of the Board
Francis Kornegay, Senior Fellow, Institute for Global Dialogue, University of South Africa
Anatol Lieven, Professor, Georgetown University in Qatar
Marc Uzan, Executive Director, Reinventing Bretton Woods Committee
Wang Wen, Executive Dean, Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China
Moderator: Nathalie Tocci, Special Advisor to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini; Director, Institute of International Affairs (IAI), Rome
16:30-18:30 Special session. America: What Next?
The United States has always been in the focus of global attention, but this attention has recently turned into scrutiny. The international community is trying to understand what it can expect from the world’s most powerful country in the short and medium term. Are the recent changes in US behavior on the global stage lasting and even irreversible? What will be the outcome of the internal political crisis in the United States? And will the world see the revival of the idea of American leadership, an idea that does not seem to inspire the incumbent president?
Sergey Kislyak, Member of the Council of the Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation; Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United States of America (2008-2017)
Clifford Kupchan, Chairman, Eurasia Group
Angela Stent, Director, Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies, Georgetown University
Moderator: Xiang Lanxin, Professor, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva; Director of Center of One Belt, One Road and Eurasian Security, China National Institute for SCO Studies, Shanghai
20:00-21:30 Special session. The 100th Anniversary of the Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution, truly great both in its scale and its consequences, became a national manifestation of trends, which were characteristic of the entire world at that time. It set the tone for the entire 20th century, its repercussions are still vivid today and the results of those cataclysms are deeply incorporated in the global system, including world views, social fabric, economic approaches, and geopolitical balance of forces. The process of disintegration of empires, which included the Russian Revolution, is the most fundamental shift over the past century, and it is yet to be completed. This is confirmed by developments in the areas of former imperial control, by how relations between former colonies and metropoles are shaped, and by how political consciousness of former colonial powers evolves. Are revolution and succession mutually exclusive or do they morph into one another, as each revolution ends in restoration?
Dominic Lieven, Fellow of the British Academy; Research professor, Cambridge University
Boris Martynov, Head of Department of International Relations and Foreign Policy of Russia, MGIMO University
Alexey Miller, Professor, European University at St. Petersburg
Alexander Revyakin, Professor, Department of International Relations and Foreign Policy of Russia, MGIMO University
Yuri Slezkine, Jane K. Sather Professor, University of California, Berkeley
Moderator: Anatoly Torkunov, Rector of MGIMO University; Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
09:30-11:30 Session 3. The Conflict Between Man and Nature
Political, economic, and social processes proceed against the backdrop of global environmental changes, climate-related calamities, pollution, and natural disasters. But the international community has yet to formulate a viable method of coping with these increasingly urgent challenges. This calls for a reasonable combination of national and international efforts, but the crisis among the institutions that manage global affairs means that a new approach must be found. Meanwhile, the environment is responding proportionately to the rapid expansion of human activity, growing more “aggressive” as the stresses against it increase. It is no great exaggeration to say that the environment has now become a party to the conflict.
Rawi Abdelal, Herbert F. Johnson Professor of International Management, Harvard Business School; Director, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University
Alexander Bedritsky, Adviser to the President of the Russian Federation, Special Presidential Representative on Climate Issues
Igor Chestin, Director, WWF Russia
Clive Hamilton, Professor of Public Ethics, Charles Sturt University, Canberra
Moderator: Thomas Gomart, Director, French Institute of International Relations (Ifri)
14:30-16:30 Session 4. The Conflict Between Universalism and Self-Identity
The post-Cold War period was unique: for the first time in history, a view prevailed that a single cultural and ideological model was not only universally applicable, but intrinsically superior to the others. The process of globalization effectively became an attempt to cultivate a uniform way of life and a particular system of mores on the entire planet. This prompted a counter reaction – an active search for, and effort to strengthen self-identity among peoples and states. However, self-identity alone cannot solve the numerous global challenges now facing humanity. The pendulum continues to swing and it might be years – even decades – before humanity finds a new balance between universalism and self-identity.
Alexander Iskandaryan, Director, Caucasus Institute (Yerevan)
Andrey Kortunov, Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC)
Ivan Krastev, Chairman, Centre for Liberal Strategies, Sofia
Wolfgang Schüssel, Federal Chancellor of the Republic of Austria (2000-2007)
Wole Soyinka, Playwright, poet and novellist (Nigeria)
Moderator: Piotr Dutkiewicz, Director and Professor, Center for Governance and Public Policy, Carleton University, Ottawa
18:30-20:00 Special session. Future Preparedness Index
The statement that the world has entered an epoch of global change is already a truism. But do we know what to expect and whether we are ready for what is coming? The latest conference announced the launch of the Future Preparedness Index, a joint project by the Valdai Discussion Club and the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM). The upcoming special session will consider what has been done in this regard. Calculating the Future Preparedness Index is based on the assumption that it is possible to assess the extent of a country readiness to meet tomorrow’s challenges with the help of ten basic and about 40 additional parameters identified by researchers. How rational is this method? What can and should be improved in this index and can this method be used at all? The epoch of alarming and unpredictable changes that we have reached calls for new and better integrative approaches to analyzing factors determining countries’ readiness for the future, approaches that are more adequate to rapid developments and more efficient technologically. This year, the research has embraced the G20 and it is planned to extend it to more countries as the method improves.
Andrey Bystritskiy, Chairman of the Board, Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club
Valery Fedorov, Director General of the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM)
Andrey Fursenko, Aide to the President of the Russian Federation
Hans-Joachim Spanger, Head of Research Department, Leibniz Institute Peace Research Institute Frankfurt; Research Professor, National Research University-Higher School of Economics, Moscow
Moderator: Leonid Grigoryev, Chief Adviser to the Head of the Analytical Center under the Government of the Russian Federation
09:30-11:30 Session 5. The Conflict Between Progress and Humanism
Advances in technology portend an increasingly “dehumanized” future. For example, the mechanical and economic efficiency of heavily roboticized industries threaten the social fabric in every society, and breakthroughs in artificial intelligence call into question our ultimate ability to control the technical devices we ourselves have created. In fact, people in the developed world have grown so dependent on technology that the idea of our inventions enslaving us is gradually moving from the realm of dystopian fiction into reality.
Samir Saran, Vice President of the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi
Wendell Wallach, Chair, Technology and Ethics Studies, Yale University Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics
Lassina Zerbo, Executive Secretary, The Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO)
Moderator: Vyacheslav Nikonov, Chairman, Committee on Education and Science at the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation
16:00-18:00 Plenary session. The World of the Future: Moving Through Conflict to Cooperation
14th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club. Creative Destruction: Will a New World Order Emerge from the Current Conflicts?
Valdai-2017
I recommend you this article on the Valdai Club website: http://valdaiclub.com/events/posts/articles/programme-of-the-xiv-annual-meeting/
The image of the world order is undergoing radical changes today, as the world of the future is being shaped under the influence of global conflicts. The 14th annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion
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Scott Bairstow
Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada
Actor, Director, Waiter
Marty Bairstow
Canadian Scott Bairstow has played wide-eyed young leads in a number of film and TV projects, first winning attention as Newt Call in the syndicated version of "Lonesome Dove: The Series" (1994-1996). In 1997, he had a shot to leap into the top rung of youthful leading men playing nature photographer Marty Stouffer who goes searching for "Wild America" with his younger brothers. Although the film failed to connect at the box office, Bairstow went on to a co-starring role opposite Kevin Costner (who also directed) in "The Postman" (also 1997).Bairstow's parents are both musicians with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and he was exposed early the arts. By age 10, he was on the Canadian children's series "Okay, Let's Go" and while in high school took musical theater classes with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Bairstow ventured to the USA for a summer at age 17 to work as an apprentice at the prestigious Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts. A stage acting role in "A Study in Scarlet" landed him a New York agent and he ventured to the Big Apple to work. What he found, instead, were restaurant jobs and a work as a day player on the ABC soap opera "All My Children."After a year, Bairstow returned to Canada where he starred in a Manitoba staging of "Our Town" and directed several Gilbert and Sullivan productions. He was seen by a talent scout and signed for a TV pilot in Hollywood, but the series was not picked up. Nevertheless, Bairstow was signed to a one-year development deal with ABC. In 1992, he appeared in three Dr. Pepper TV commercials, but the ABC deal did not yield work. Bairstow finally made his US primetime debut in the 1993 CBS TV-movie "There Was A Little Boy," playing the son of Cybill Shepherd. Bairstow was in a memorable as a faith healer using his powers for both good and evil in a memorable 1994 episode of "The X-Files" (Fox). That same year, he inherited the role of Newt (originated by Rick Schroder in the miniseries) in "Lonesome Dove: The Series." as well as the lead in his first feature, "White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf" (1994). Again, the young actor replaced a better-known one (this time Ethan Hawke). Bairstow went on to appear as a alienated teen who falls victim to a group interested in the occult in "Black Circle Boys" (1997). On the small screen, he starred as the leader of a group of teens who kidnap and accidentally murder a hated high school teacher in "Killing Mr. Griffin" (NBC, 1997) and as Henry, a confused twentysomething in the unsuccessful series "Significant Others" (Fox, 1998).
DeliveredCanyon
Black Circle BoysKyle Sullivan
The PostmanLuke
White Fang 2: Myth of the White WolfHenry Casey
Dead in the WaterDanny
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Home / News / “Big” John McCarthy joins Bellator broadcast team
By thatmmashow
LOS ANGELES – Bellator is pleased to announce that it has come to an agreement with John McCarthy to serve as color commentator during broadcasts on the soon-to-launch Paramount Network, which kicks off with Bellator 192 on Saturday, January 20.
“With the addition of ‘Big’ John to our broadcast team, we have put together the premier group of MMA commentators ahead of our Jan. 20 debut on the Paramount Network,” Bellator President Scott Coker said. “With John and Chael providing analysis, you’re getting two people who have spent more time in the cage than they have spent with a headset on, and that will translate to a positive viewing experience for Bellator fans.”
Over the past 20 years, “Big” John McCarthy has set the bar when it comes to officiating in MMA, a sport where he has overseen countless fights promoted by Bellator and other promotions all over the world, serving as the referee for some of the biggest bouts in the history of the sport. A former Los Angeles Police Officer, and a Self-Defense Instructor at the Los Angeles Police Academy, McCarthy is also the founder of “C.O.M.M.A.N.D.,” a program that trains and certifies hopeful MMA referees and judges. McCarthy’s regulatory work is equally as impressive, as he was a key figure in the writing of the sport’s Unified Rules, which are recognized by the ABC and athletic commissions all across North America.
Along with his broadcasting duties, the man behind the catchphrase “Let’s get it on!” will also provide a unique level of first-hand insight to the plethora of original content produced by Bellator’s digital team.
“I first want to say how grateful I am for the opportunity I have been given to work with the incredible team Bellator has assembled. It is always so hard to leave something you love, but I have always wanted to step away based on my terms rather than someone else’s. My goals are to work as hard as I can to meet the expectations everyone will have for me and to hopefully someday exceed them.” McCarthy said. “I cannot think of anyone I would rather be working with than Scott Coker. Scott has always been a person I admire because of his honesty, loyalty and love for the martial arts. I want to thank everyone from Bellator and Viacom for the trust you are bestowing upon me to keep the commentating of Bellator MMA at the highest levels of the sport.”
In addition, Chael Sonnen has signed an extension to remain a part of select Bellator broadcasts, breaking down all the action alongside Bellator announcers Mike Goldberg and Mauro Ranallo.
Chael Sonnen spent a majority of his 44-fight career with the UFC and WEC, a run that saw him defeat former middleweight champion Michael Bisping, and compete against the likes of Jon Jones, Anderson Silva (twice), Rashad Evans, “Shogun” Rua, Demian Maia and Brian Stann. In addition to his in-ring action, the West Linn, Ore. native has mastered the art of being in front of the camera, having done broadcast work for both ESPN and Fox Sports. Following a three-year hiatus from active MMA competition, Sonnen returned to the cage against Tito Ortiz at Bellator 170 in January and then went on to defeat Wanderlei Silva during the main event of Bellator: NYC.
Bellator and the soon-to-launch Paramount Network open 2018 with a bang when Bellator 192: Lima vs. MacDonald emanates from The Forum in California on Jan. 20. Anchored by a welterweight world title fight featuring Douglas Lima defending his championship against Rory MacDonald, the blockbuster event also will see the aforementioned Chael Sonnen compete against “Rampage” Jackson in the opening contest of 2018’s Bellator Heavyweight World Grand Prix.
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What is film editing about? Is it a creative process? What makes "good" editing? What is the difference between analog and digital editing? Where can you study film editing? Is there an Oscar for Best Film Editing? Here you are going to find the answers to all your questions. Hopefully:)
For all of you nationalists, who feel dissappointed with the fact that I edit this subject in English, let me explain myself with a first hand anegdote.
A friend-cinematographer once told me about his funny experience with the school production department. He was a student then. A foreign student. A student from Ukraine. His A-mark film was approuved by an international film festival. In order to have his film screened at the festival, he had to provide a DVD copy of the film in due time, what he of course did. Then, suddenly he was called by the department to explain a so-called troublesome matter. What was his surprise when the chef of department asked him: "Why does your film have English credits?" At first he was puzzled and did not know what to say. The chef continued: "After all, it's a Polish film, produced by the school, by the Polish Film Institute and..." And then he interrupted the chef and said: "That's right. So why shall the whole world not know about it?" In my opinion, there was no better riposte one could possibly come up with.
Editing on a classical flatbed editor. Photo by Sonja Engler.
_I guess the photo above is a great pretext to start the story about film editing with an anegdote (Surprise! Another anegdote...). Well, film editors believe that getting one's fingers caught in the flatbed's rollers, brings good luck. To be precise, it is said to guarantee becoming a sucessful film editor in future. Usually, it is quite painful. I mean getting your fingers caught in the rollers:)
_AND THE OSCAR GOES TO...
Michael Kahn (ACE) was THE FIRST FILM EDITOR addressed with the following words FOR THE THIRD TIME IN HIS LIFETIME! The year was 1998 and Kahn had just finished work on another Academy Award winner project Saving Private Ryan with his life long collaborator Steven Spielberg. By the time Kahn had received two Oscars for the films Raiders of the Lost Arc (1981) and Schindler's List (1993) both directed by Spielberg. Nonetheless, he is not the only one to hold the record today. Since 2007 Khan shares the honour with Thelma Schoonmaker, Scorcese's fim editor (Oscars for: Raging Bull 1981, The Aviator 2005, The Departed 2007). The other less known Oscar record-holders are late Daniel Mandell and Ralph Dawson.
The Oscar for Best Editing has been awarded since 1934 (to remind you, the first Academy Award ceremony took place in May 16, 1929), but the name of the award occasionaly changesand now it is called Academy Award for Achievement in Film Editing. The award happens to be closely correlated with the award for the Best Picture as since 1981 all the films nominated to Best Picture, were also nominated for editing, and about two thirds of the Best Picture winners received also the Award for best editing.
Of course, there are also sceptics among film editors, who question the legitimacy of the awards for film editing overall and they have their reasons. Among them is Wim Wender's editor, Peter Przygodda, who generally finds such awards needless. He explains:
"Editing itself has no own aesthetics. Noone can judge whether or not a film has been well cut, because noone has access to all the film footage*. Thus, noone can verify what footage has been rejected. And that is where the decision-making process takes place (Gefühl fürs Material. Interview: Schnittmeister Peter Przygodda, Film&TV Kameramann 11/2008)."**
He also adds that the editor's task is to work out a unique storytelling and style for every film according to the way it was shot. Then, the possibilites of film editing are of course limited, but it does not mean that it cannot play the creative part of filmmaking process.
* From VT: The film you can see in the cinema is generally the final product of a complex decision-making process, where, for example, from 20 hours of footage, at best, you get an hour-long movie. Professionaly, you talk about the shooting ratio, i.e. the ratio between the total duration of the footage shot and that which results from its final cut. For the above example, the shooting ratio would be 20:1.
**Loose translation from German by VT.
How to judge the Best Editing Oscar?
Below a link to short video, where Slate (a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine) asks editor Bonnie Koehler to explain what goes into great film editing. The interview concerns the most likely winners of Academy Awards 2011.
http://www.slatev.com/video/how-judge-best-editing-oscar/
IT'S SHOW TIME, FOLKS!
You wanna have a taste of good editing, then here we go. For the start, 10 Top Must See Scenes.
1/ All That Jazz (1979) dir. Bob Fosse
Editor: Alain Heim
An example of a REFRAIN sequence, a special kind of repetition, a recurring motif. Rhythmisizes the film plot or gives the composition of the plot a more distinct framework. We can distinguish between refrains of a constant or a changing semantic [author's comment: deals with meaning] content (Film & TV, Kamera. Montaż jest wszystkim. 4/2004).
2/ The Battleship Potemkin (1925) dir. Sergei Eisenstein
Editor: Sergei Eisenstein
The Battleship Potemkin legendary for, so called, "Odessa stairs" sequence, is frequently quoted in film handbooks as the example of an artistically exceptional use of film editing. The scene is often considered the most famous sequence of all time.
It remains a source of inspiration to filmmakers. For instance, Brian de Palma imitated the scene in Untouchables (1987). Check it out on YouTube (German version): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Dr2esCZo90
FILM EDITING IS EVERYTHING!
They say the author of the above words was the famous Russian film director Siergei Eisenstein (23 January 1898 - 11 February 1948). After all, these were Russians who put a milestone to the development of film editing, and film in general. But this is another story.
What I would like to share here with you are quotes of more or less famous film personas. Quotes concerning film editing. Certainly quotes that I, personally, find valuable and instructive for a film editor.
"THE CRITERIUM OF TRUTH IS NEITHER MATHEMATICALLY MEASURABLE,
NOR ABSOLUTE"
KATARZYNA MACIEJKO - KOWALCZYK, FILM EDITOR
DOCUMENTARY FILMS BY MARCEL AND PAWEŁ ŁOZIŃSKI
"(...) SUGGESTION ALWAYS MAKES A STRONGER EFFECT THAN EXPOSITION"
WALTER MURCH, FILM EDITOR
THE CONVERSATION, THE GODFATHER DIR. FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA
READ THIS: The annotations below the quotes do not include all the works and all the collaborators of the filmmakers quoted. The choice of the films and people quoted is subjective.
JOKING APART: WHAT DO THEY THINK I DO?
http://weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/editor-what-my-friends-think-i-do.jpg
In this profession it is quite normal that people are confused when you try to explain to them what is your job about. Even when you adjust the definition to an average man in the street and learn it by heart, still such situations happen and cost you sort of mental breakdown, when you start to wonder yourself what are you really doing and is it in at all useful to the society. Well, you need to get used to such situations. Honestly, it would be simply too much to expect from people not only to know but also to understand what you are doing - the profession of a film editor is simply so highly specialized. OK, LET'S CUT IT SHORT!:) It is all just a question of the point of view!
UNSICHTBARE KÜNSTLER THE INVISIBLE ARTIST
The profession of a film editor is possibly one of the most mysterious and the most ambiguous out of all film professions. Most people, if they know about film editing at all, do not really acknowledge it as a vital part of a filmmaking process. After all, the film editor apparently has no influence on the very film image. Neither the form nor the content of the image captured. He/she rather shapes time and space of the footage captured by the director and cinematographer, which is already a subjective extract from reality. This visual extract becomes the film reality and the film editor is responsible for shaping it temporarily and spatialy according to the subject of the film and the nature (character) of the very footage. The film editor also makes very important choices on this stage of film production. Similar to those that the director and cinematographer make on the stage of the very shooting. In this sense the film editor has great influence on the form and content of the final version of the film.
http://www.hff-muenchen.de/wir/Das%20Kind%20in%20mir_cinearte_2011.pdf
FEMALE EDITORS Montażystki
Nowadays many people believe film industry to be dominated mainly by males. Whenever I talk to people, they are surprised to learn that in the past, for example, in film editing business in Poland there were more women than men. Today, with the dawn of new technologies the ratio is changing and there are more and more men in the postproduction business. But in the time of flatbeds it seemed that only women had the patience to deal for hours with kilometers of film tape in the dark editing rooms. At least that is how the situation looked like in Poland. As far as I know, it was a precedent in the worldwide scale, because in the States and in France mostly men did the job. Still when you have a chance to read about film editing in Poland nowadays, most articles mention in particular female editors as the most successful in the profession. Let me post a link to the article from Wysokie Obcasy where you can read about women in film editing on the example of the three most renown Polish female editors very active on the Polish postproduction scene: Ewa Smal, Lidia Zonn and Milenia Fiedler. I had the pleasure to meet them all as a student and learn from them the secrets of good film editing. The article was originally published in Polish language, but for the sake of this website I will translate it into English especially for you. Check out for the translation soon.
http://www.wysokieobcasy.pl/wysokie-obcasy/1,96856,14555453,Montazystki.html
Let me present the first part of the translation of the text Montażystki by Magdalena Lankosz. The article is quite long. I translate it in my free time, so be patient.
FEMALE EDITORS
Author: MAGDALENA LANKOSZ 16.09.2013
In the 60s a book “Film occupations” was published in Poland. Under the entry “film editing” there was a note: “A task which demands patience and manual abilities, which only women have, that's why women most often work as film editors.”
What is editing a movie about? Milenia: “It's about journeys to other worlds than mine. I function somehow like a cameleon – for some time I have to enter the world of directors, producers, actors, art designers, cinematographers. Decipher their logics. And then compromise, add something from myself, contribute to communicate it to the viewer. Apparently I spend all days long in a dark room, but I feel like travelling all the time.” Lidia: “Editing has a mystery in itself. It has something to do with editors job in a publishing house. The editor does not write the text himself/herself, but he/she will switch a paragraph here and there, cross a sentence and the text, which lagged or sounded badly, gains energy. And the ability of switching? Predisposition, you can't learn it in school. Inborn sense of storytelling rhythm.” Ewa: “There are manuals, studies, rules, but these are only tools, they do not work in everybody's hand. It's something elusive, something one cannot tell. Nobody knows the answer to the question, why two things combined together suddenly began to generate new meanings. Film editors do not know it either, but they do have the intuition what to combine with another. When people watch a film, they judge acting, photos, directing, but hardly anyone discusses editing, because it is the most mysterious and least known side of the film to viewers.”
So what should I write, what is your profession about? Milenia: “Do you want a definition? I would say that editing is like travelling around the world, which creates itself along the journey. Film editor, travelling, gives every element of this world its place. We do not edit pictures, we edit meanings.”
What predispositions do you need for this profession? Ewa: “One needs to be a good observer. And one needs lots of patience: to the footage, to the director and to oneself as well. Once I edited a one-minute action scene for a month. It's such a bizarre feeling as if the world stopped. Days, weeks pass and I still live the same minute. You know, the film editor engages so much in the footage that then he/she keeps dreaming about it. When I edited a film in Japanese, I had dreams in Japanese and I was not even surprised with it, just dreadfully upset that I did not understand a thing.”
Milenia: “It's easy to lose oneself in it. There was such a moment, when I realized that the film reality absorbed me so much that I hardly experience the real one. It seemed to me that it's not that day, but one of its versions. I had such a nightmare then: someone visits me, we say hallo and I have to tell them something important, but I do postpone this moment. For the time being the conversation is disobliging. I feel increasing pressure to come to this important message and when I am almost there, the dream goes back to the beginning and the conversation starts from the beginning, but in a slightly different way: the rhythm changes and some parts fall out. And it happens so a few times. I edited the beginning in a dream and could not break through to the essential part of the conversation.”
Maybe instead of film editing I should write about the dreams of (female) film editors [montażystek]? Ewa: “Then it could be a text about nightmares. When I started in the profession, in moments of high tension in work, I kept on dreaming about standing next to the flatbed, with film tape around my neck, as they used to do then, and the mechanism of this flatbed cannot be stopped. It draws me in and strangles, but these nightmares were a side effect of intensive concentration and not the whole truth about (female) film editors.”
Milenia: “You should write about people. People in film are the most important. The most part of the film editor's job is to create the character, who the people will follow, with whom they will tie up emotionally. Then comes the story, the dramaturgy. The intellect is secondary.”
About people then. It's going to be a text about three women of different ages. Lidia Zonn is the most reknown female documentary film editor. She cocreated the most important films of Kazimierz Karabasz and Krzysztof Kieślowski. As the professor of the film school in Lodz, she brought up a few generations of film editors. Ewa Smal made her debut in the profession as the editor of Kieślowski's “Decalogue” and later worked with Wajda and Holland. For over a decade she is the coworker of Marek Koterski. She teaches in the film school in Lodz. About Milenia Fiedler they say she is the godmother of digital editing in Poland. Her latest film is Wajda's “Wałęsa”. She worked on the films by Wojciech Marczewski and Janusz Majewski. She also teaches in the film school.
The story of Lidia is a story of one of the most interesting film duos in Poland. I wanted to write that it;s a story of great love, but Lidia insists to stress the cooperation, because making films together was how it really began. The feeling came later.
It was the end of the 50s. Breath thaw could already be felt in the cinema. Taking advantage of the temporary freedom, a group of young filmmakers concentrated around the WFDiF (Documentary Films' Production Company) in Warsaw, took their cameras and investigated the nooks and crannies of the reality so far hidden from the filmmakers. That's how the cycle of documentary films “Black Series” was created. One of the most prominent filmmakers from the group was Kazimierz Karabasz. He became interested in a four-year younger female colleague who run around in a white smock with cans of film under her arm as an editing helper. He asked if she would like to edit his film by herself after hours. “It concerned a very simple task of editing a film about children' drawings, a debutant could easily cope with.” They enjoyed one another. He invited her to do another project – “The Musicians” - still an indisputable masterpiece and one of the most important Polish films. The documentary was shown around the world and received awards in Venice and San Francisco. And Lidia and Kazimierz stayed together, in profession and in life.
“I ended up in WFDiF, because my diploma film was rejected in the department of directing. I did well as a student, so the dean Jerzy Bossak offered that he will help me find a job of an assitant director (AD) in a feature film. I said that I prefer editing. To be honest, I realized it already in the middle of the studies that I won't be a good director. A year ago somebody found my school film on the basis of “The First Step in Clouds”. The screening was accompanied by peals of laughter. When I made the film, I naively imagined that Hłasko's text read from off and a mute scene between actors was enough. My visual invention was very weak, today it's a caricature. Film editing does not require such an all-round talent as directing and at the same time gives a wide range of creative independence.”
Why did she at all decide on the Film School? |I was not interested in film more than my colleagues, but already in secondary school I had the feeling that I am not a inborn solo, that I would like to do something that involves cooperation with people. In some magazine I came about an article about the film crew, where I learned how it works: that there is the director and his/her coworkers, who each has quite a wide range of independence in work and at the same time it's sort of group work. I became convinced that I will find my place in such a crew.”
Lidia came to Lodz in the golden age of the Film School. Wajda had just graduated, Morgenstern and Kutz were in the last year, Polanski and Majewski had just began studying. “There were maybe three or four girls and we were all treated like a funny school folk.” But then, according to Lidia, it was not the gender, but the age census that was crucial at the time in the School. The students could be easily divided into those who took active part in the war and those younger. “Four, five years of metrical difference, but a generation gap when it came to maturity. We were like two different generations. I survived the uprising in Warsaw, but as a 10-year-old I spend it under my mother's wings. If I were a bit older, I would have to take part in the uprising. There was a strong pressure, one could just not do otherwise. After such an experience one does not come back to childhood. I had the luxury to stay infantile for long.
Lidia is the daughter to Włodzimierz Zonn, an outstanding astronomer and professor at the University of Warsaw. How did the family react to the idea of studying at the Film School? “Very well. The decision was made for me at the stage of the secondary school – as a student from a protestant family I had continuous conflicts with catechists – so I was send to Mikolaj Rej, school set up by the Evangelical chruch. For instance, my father, a very tolerant man, believed that after final exams it's up to me.”
When Lidia came back to Warsaw after studies, only women worked as film editors in WFD. “I cannot tell why they looked only for women to do the job Maybe this profession reminded of sewing or knitting – so highly female activities? On the other hand, there was Wacław Kaźmierczak in WFD, a pre-war film editor of PAT* chronicles and he brought up the first postwar generation of female film editors. The situation in Poland was a precedent in the scale of the world; in the States and in France mostly men worked in the profession. I have not asked why it was different in Poland and today there is nobody to ask.”
Documentaries were made differently than today. The professional ethics was different. “It was somehow forced by the technological conditions: one had to make it in a concrete film tape ration, nothing was made spontaneously, everything was carefully planned. There was, for example, sort of a casting for a documentary character. In “The Year of Franek W.”, my husband decided to accompany for twelve months the swashbuckler of Voluntary Labour Corps. It;s not so easy to find a man, who will forget that he's being followed by an 80-kilo-heavy camera. Twenty potential characters were put in one room. The cinematographer took an extremely noisy Arriflex camera and wandered around them, showing the horribly whirring arri almost under the nose. It made no impression on Franek, who became our character, he just continued chatting with his colleague and totally ignored the machine. Kazik is certain that there exists a sort of human autonomy: some people get confused in such a situation, some behave the same as the do normally when there is no camera. But there was one more, maybe the most important matter. The people were authentic, because they trusted us. We always guaranteed our character the possibility to remove fragments from the film, which he/she did not approve of. The most important assumption of our documents was not to hurt the character.”
When she talks about ethics, defending the characters, sympathy for them, she almost anticipates my question about Kieślowski's document “From a Night Porter's Point of View” - the antihero matter. Lidia, who was the editor of most Kieślowski's documents, accepted the proposition to edit the film together, though then as well as today she has an ethical problem with it. “Kieślowski wanted to make a film about a black character, an antipathetic hero. In this way he imagined his protest against the phenomena, which took place in Poland then. I did not find the subject justified, but I found Kieślowski's decision justified. [Mnie się ten temat nie tłumaczył, ale tłumaczyła mi się decyzja Kieślowskiego".]”••
According to Lidia, the relation film editor-director is being build on trust. Not only professional trust, understood as believing in professional abilities, but also full trust on the human level. “The director is somehow unsheathed to the film editor. The film editor can clearly see his/her weaknesses and strengths reflected in the footage. The director is aware of that. It creates a very intimate relation. We could be very formal with Krzysztof Kieślowski, but at the same time we were close. That's why in conversations with film editors, you won't never meet with gossiping about the director's work. One could gossip that he/she is stingy, likes this or that, comes late, but his creative struggle, which radiates in the footage, wass not subject to discussion with third party.”
In Lidia's and Kazimierz Karabasz' case the professional relation and personal love story became one. “Do we with Kazik took work home? Yes, I guess so, we're so long together and we work together that it is difficult to divide it. The worst were the final jobs on the project, I guess. When closing a project required complex technical operations, where the director was no longer needed while they strongly absorbed the editing room. It resulted in an asynchron: I was still up to my elbows in an old project and my husband already one foot in the new one. Powstawał więc asynchron: ja jeszcze po łokcie w starym projekcie, a mąż już jedną nogą w nowym. This was reflected in our domestic affairs.”
Soon Lidia Zonn and Kazimierz Karabasz will make their debut in a new role – the heros of Andrzej Sapija's documentary. “I do not know how we will find ourselves as the heros of somebody's else film. I do not feel well in front of the camera. Being familiar to the profession does not help me at all. Even when I see a photo camera from a distance, I stiffen up. Only thanks to being so long in the School, I am able to talk to someone without getting nervous.”
Lidia retired from active practice in 2008. Her decision was to some extent dictated by the fact that she has never enjoyed working with the computer. She broke just once – for the husband. “Kazik bought a digital camera and wanted to try it.” It resulted in an autobiographical documentary journey “Meetings”. “The film tape was magic. There was a totally different mood in the editing rooms. The discussions between the director, film editor and assistant were long and deep. And one was very careful with cutting once. Today it's careless, because reversible. On film it was of course also reversible, one could always add something and bind it with scotch, but every connection left a trace, sort of a smudge on the image. It was all about leaving as little smudges as possible. My students cannot get over it that I am able to find out all unclean connections. One shapes such an eye for years. The computer is just a tool, but nothing can substitute a good eye.”
The story of Eve is a story about destination. Like the destination from Kieślowski, who was her favorite coworker. She run away, did other things, but editing kept coming back to her anyway. When in 1985 she finished the Film Editing Study in Łódź, she already had 23 year-long experience in the profession of a filmmaker, cooperation with Zanussi, Różewicz and Borowczyk.
However at the end of secondary school Eve was convinced that she does not want to have anything to do with film. Her stepfather who worked himself in film as production manager, strongly persuaded her to film editing. “It's such a female profession” - he kept on repeating. But Eve dreamt of conservation of monuments. She began to take up lessons in drawing obligatory on the exams. It all ended on preparation, because the painter, who was her supervisor judged Eve's drawings worthless. “He showed me his children' drawings with reputation hand, technics and perspective. Compared to their works, my drawing was very childish.” Instead of conservation of monuments, she took exams to the Medical Academy. “I did not pass. I finished a two-year study of radiologists technicians and ended up in an X-ray lab”.
Not even two years have passed and it turned out that Eve has a diseased thyroid, so she has to keep away from the X-ray. The subject of film came back. She has already decided to work as an assistant editor, when her stepfather suggested that it would be better to work first on the set and get to the bottom of the film. That's how Eve spend the next three years travelling – between shoot halls in Łódź and outdoors scattered around Poland – working as a set secretary.
“Filmmakers say that film set addicts like a drug. Not me. I am a home-bird. I love to come back home from work and go for a walk with my dog. Twelve hours a day in mud, snow, rain, that's not for me. Stanisław Różewicz loved the Polish sea in winter. He would shoot best in December and January. At the time there were no light and at the same time warm jackets or thermal underwear. To such a set one would go in five sweaters and sheepskin coatfootlong borrowed from the caretaker. Torture. For a change, the set of “Obszar zamknięty” by Andrzej Brzozowski, the first film I worked on, took place in the forest. One evening during a walk the cinematographer and the director found an oak with red leaves. It was ideal for the scene we were to shoot next day. In the morning the whole crew set off as in the parade after the director to this three. The only problem was that neither the director nor the cinematographer could not find it. We wandered so confused for hours. Some members of the crew took it as an adventure, I found it funny.”
Stanisław Różewicz offered her the position of assitant director (AD). Later on she was supposed to become second director. "Różewicz was an incredible artist and a great man. Outstanding, underestimated today figure of the Polish cinema. I found it difficult to say no to him in particular, but I have already made up my mind. She left the set and switched to the editing room. “I was starting everything from the beginning again, but this beginning turned out to be lucky.”
Eve believes that in this profession almost everything depends on luck. The first lucky thing that happened to her was to work in editing room led by Urszula Śliwińska. “Mrs Urszula believed that I will be very good in it. Maybe it was the echo of my early artistic interests in, maybe inborn sense of observation. My sister laughs that I am dangerous, because I see everything. When somebody, who she does not know well, is to visit her, and she wants to quickly scan the person, she invites me as well. 'Eve, you see everything, more than anyone else' – she says.”
*Polish Telegraphic Agency (Polish: Polska Agencja Telegraficzna, PAT) was a Polish state-owned news agency established on October 31, 1918. Its main office was at first located in Krakow. Later, it was moved to Lwow, and finally to Warsaw, where it remained until the 1939 Invasion of Poland. As the only such agency in the Second Polish Republic, the PAT was the official supplier of news on Poland both for the Polish press and foreign media (...). Since 1927 the PAT also issued a weekly newsreel. After the Soviet and German take-over of Poland in 1939, the PAT continued its service abroad as the news agency of the Polish Government in Exile. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_Telegraphic_Agency).
•• I found this particular sentence quite difficult to translate, because the word "tłumaczyć", i.e. "to translate" is used here in a very unique way and there is no coincidence in it. The film "From a Night Porter's Point of View” to which refers here Lidia Zonn, was and still is a very controversial documentary harshly discussed in the Polish cinema when it comes to the filmmaker's ethics. As Mrs Lidia Zonn admits, she still has not such a clear conscience when it comes to this particular film. That can explain to some extent the ambiguity of this particular part of her comment. It would be best for me to translate it most literally possible. Then it would sound so: "The subject of the film did not translate to me, but Kieślowski's decision did translate." Of course, it would be a badly formed sentence in English, because nothing can translate on its own, at most we can translate or explain something to ourselves and it would be best to translate the sentence so to stress the fact that the person participated actively in the process of judging something as good or bad, because that is the essence of this comment. I was looking for a verb that could somehow replace the verb "to translate", for example, "understand" or "accept", but you cannot really judge if it was the thing that the author of the comment meant. To such an extent is the way the sentence is formed ambiguous. Maybe the best word would be "justify". "I have not found the subject of the film justified, but I found Kieślowski's decision justified."
Zachęcam do zapoznania się z pracą licencjacką Timecode Mike'a Figgisa jako polifonia obrazów napisaną przeze mnie w ramach studiów na kierunku Reżyseria, specjalność Montaż Filmowy w 2010 roku.
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Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right
by Jane Mayer Jul 19, 2019 414 Comments
Dark Money The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right NATIONAL BESTSELLERONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BEST BOOKS OF THE YEARWho are the immensely wealthy right wing ideologues shaping the fate of America today From the bestselling author of The Dark Side
Title: Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right
Author: Jane Mayer
NATIONAL BESTSELLERONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEARWho are the immensely wealthy right wing ideologues shaping the fate of America today From the bestselling author of The Dark Side, an electrifying work of investigative journalism that uncovers the agenda of this powerful group In her new preface, Jane Mayer discusses the results of the most recent elNATIONAL BESTSELLERONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEARWho are the immensely wealthy right wing ideologues shaping the fate of America today From the bestselling author of The Dark Side, an electrifying work of investigative journalism that uncovers the agenda of this powerful group In her new preface, Jane Mayer discusses the results of the most recent election and Donald Trump s victory, and how, despite much discussion to the contrary, this was a huge victory for the billionaires who have been pouring money in the American political system.Why is America living in an age of profound and widening economic inequality Why have even modest attempts to address climate change been defeated again and again Why do hedge fund billionaires pay a far lower tax rate than middle class workers In a riveting and indelible feat of reporting, Jane Mayer illuminates the history of an elite cadre of plutocrats headed by the Kochs, the Scaifes, the Olins, and the Bradleys who have bankrolled a systematic plan to fundamentally alter the American political system Mayer traces a byzantine trail of billions of dollars spent by the network, revealing a staggering conglomeration of think tanks, academic institutions, media groups, courthouses, and government allies that have fallen under their sphere of influence Drawing from hundreds of exclusive interviews, as well as extensive scrutiny of public records, private papers, and court proceedings, Mayer provides vivid portraits of the secretive figures behind the new American oligarchy and a searing look at the carefully concealed agendas steering the nation Dark Money is an essential book for anyone who cares about the future of American democracy.National Book Critics Circle Award FinalistLA Times Book Prize FinalistPEN Jean Stein Book Award FinalistShortlisted for the Lukas Prize
Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right By Jane Mayer
Jane Mayer 160 Jane Mayer
Title: Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right By Jane Mayer
Posted by:Jane Mayer
About Jane Mayer
Jane Mayer says:
Jane Mayer is a staff writer for The New Yorker and the author of three bestselling and critically acclaimed narrative nonfiction books She co authored Landslide The Unmaking of the President, 1984 1988, with Doyle McManus, and Strange Justice The Selling of Clarence Thomas, with Jill Abramson, which was a finalist for the National Book Award Her book The Dark Side The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals, for which she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, was named one of The New York Times s Top 10 Books of the Year and won the J Anthony Lukas Book Prize, the Goldsmith Book Prize, the Edward Weintal Prize, the Ridenhour Prize, the New York Public Library s Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism, and the Robert F Kennedy Book Award It was also a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award.For her reporting at The New Yorker, Mayer has been awarded the John Chancellor Award, the George Polk Award, the Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting, and the I F Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence presented by the Nieman Foundation at Harvard Mayer lives in Washington, D.C.She is a Washington based staff writer for The New Yorker, specializing in political and investigative reporting Before that, she was a senior writer and front page editor for The Wall Street Journal, as well as the Journal s first female White House correspondent.
414 Replys to “Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right”
Will Byrnes says:
We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both. - Louis D. BrandeisIt has been a consistent element of modern life in the USA that the public polls as more progressive than our elected officials. Given that in a democracy one would expect representatives to more or less reflect the views of the people who make up the population, and not speak in opposition to them, this seems surprising at first blush. Yes, we have ou [...]
Darwin8u says:
"I just want my fair share--which is all of it."- Charles Koch, quoted in Jane Mayer, Dark MoneyI'm not sure reading this right after Trump got elected was the right decision. As I write this Betsy DeVos (sister of Eric Prince, daughter of billionaire Edgar Prince, daughter-in-law to Amway founder Richard DeVos) just got picked to be Trump's Secretary of Education. Let it sink in for a minute. We just had a billionaire nominate another billionaire for a seat at the political table. It is really [...]
Esil says:
I'm not American, but my reaction to Dark Money is that everyone in the US -- and elsewhere for that matter -- who has any interest in politics must read it. For reasons related to my busy life and not the quality of the book, I listened to the audio of Dark Money sporadically over several weeks. But each time I picked it up I was mesmerized. And I suspect that Dark Money has made me a conversational bore because in so many conversations over the past few weeks, I have found a way to relate the [...]
Paquita Maria Sanchez says:
We're all fucked. Everything is fucked. Mitch McConnell, I hope you and the rest of you soul-selling goons really do believe in hell, because I'm sadistically delighted by the idea of you guys having to drink yourselves to sleep every night expecting that you're going to burn there for allll eternity. No worries, though, eventually the whole planet will be a ball of fire thanks to your collective flipflopping on global warming for Kochtopus money, so it looks like we'll all be burning with you i [...]
It will not be surprise to anyone who has been paying attention that for the past twenty years our political system has been awash in special interest money. Mayer tells us it is forty years. What Mayer does in this detailed accounting is to elucidate the sources of that money and the routes it takes to influence votes. What may be more surprising to readers is how often that money has failed in its mission. Probably the best reason for reading this book is to see how Jane Mayer allows these ind [...]
Tulay says:
Urge you to read this book.Leave your political beliefs aside and read this book. How commercials, news media reports are influencing us how to vote country, state and every two years. All the dark money behind all those 501 (c) billionaires and millionaires. We don't have one person one vote anymore, our cabinet members already made of billionaires and millionaires. Even university courses, professors, judges, senators, representatives are elected.After reading how four Koch brothers were broug [...]
Lewis Weinstein says:
I haven't finished the book yet, but the thrust is clear. The Koch brothers and their billionaire friends are implementing a plan to take over American government at every level. Their objectives are purely personal greed: no taxes, no regulation (especially environmental), minimal government for all people and programs except defense and whatever benefits the very wealthy. The problem is they're succeeding. They can't win the Presidency yet, but at every other level - Congress, Senate, state le [...]
Bam says:
What an important book! I'm planning to read it slowly and will note some key quotes and information from each section. "We must make our choice. We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." Louis BrandeisINTRODUCTION:"We are on the road not just to a highly unequal society, but to a society of an oligarchy. A society of inherited wealth. When you have a few people who are so wealthy that they can effectively buy the political system, [...]
Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right by Jane Mayer is a 2016 Doubleday publication. I can read supernatural horror novels, the grittiest crime thrillers, true crime and a host of other material that sends shivers down my spine, but nothing paralyzes me with fear more than hidden forces influencing government in barely detectable ways, influencing the quality of life for millions of people in the process. After this election, it has become clear, [...]
Clif Hostetler says:
This book shines a light on dark money. It’s called dark money because it is of unknown origin (i.e. secret), unlimited in its amount, intended for political purposes, and in the United States it’s legal and often tax deductible. This book based on thorough research turns the darkness into a bit lighter shade of dark.The conservative shift in American politics, and its continuing movement toward the radical right didn’t just happen. This book makes it clear that it was paid for by wealthy [...]
howl of minerva says:
Nothing in America makes sense except in the light of moneyed interests. Essential reading. If you don't read it, for the love of Christ at least read about it. nybooks/articles/2016/Mayer's original New Yorker article from 2010newyorker/magazine/201
Our government has been hijacked by billionaires who are only interested in making themselves money. This book should be required reading for anyone living in America today to understand our political climate, and for anyone outside of America who lives in a representative democracy.Charles and David Koch have funneled hundreds of millions of dollars into redefining American politics. The basic amount alone - on whatever side of the aisle - should stagger you. It would stagger any American voter [...]
I'm sorry. I bailed. I simply felt as though I was suffocating under the piles of Dark Money, the angles to obstruct President Obama politically and these greedy billionaires who don't give two hoots about anyone except their fortunes and the relatives who will inherit. The author names names, lists companies, organizations which hide behind fronts as philanthropic efforts but are just tax shelters (oh, trumped?)- and as I was reading, Trump was naming the head of Amway's daughter to his inner s [...]
As a Brit who had never heard of the Koch brothers – to my knowledge not once have they ever been mentioned on a news or current affairs programme in the UK – this was a startling and terrifying read. Now and again I had the feeling the US might, in the not too distant future, become the dystopian society we often read about in novels and see in films where the many are surfs ruled by an elite few corporations. This will certainly be the case if the individuals this book is about get their w [...]
Charles and David Koch grew up rich in Wichita Kansas. Their father Fred had built a fortune overseeing oil refinery development for both Stalin and Hitler and establishing a thriving oil refining business in the US. He learned to despise the communists but he admired the German work ethic. He became a strong libertarian supporting the John Birch Society. He was a strict disciplinarian to his four sons not hesitating to beat them. Two sons in particular, Charles and David, reflected their author [...]
Donald Owens II says:
This is a 464 page newspaper article by a liberal with an agenda, who seems to honestly believe only those on the right have agendas or corruption. I would highly recommend this book as a companion text for logic students, showcasing many logical fallacies, particularly ad hominem, attacking the motive, and genetic fallacies, as well as her unabashed propaganda techniques throughout. For instance, she consistently refers to teaching conservative principles as "indoctrination", describes conserva [...]
First, let me begin by stating unequivocally that Jane Mayer is an important journalist whose work should be required reading for everyone – not just people interested in politics, but everyone. She continues to write, daring and dauntless, about the secret workings of very powerful forces, be they governmental forces like the NSA and CIA, in her previous book, The Dark Side, or private, like the Koch Company, whose attempts to silence her have been documented in the NYT along with other news [...]
Katia N says:
Dark Money“We have two unelected multibillionaires who want to control the US government and exercise the power to decide what is best for more than 300 million American people, without the voices of those people being heard.”This is the quote from the book which summarises it pretty well. Jane Mayer has invested a lot of her talent, courage and energy in investigating and telling the story of systematic attempt in privatising the democratic process in the US. The book tells the story how Ko [...]
Yowee. What a damning exposé of the role of money in our political system. Jane Mayer mostly focuses on the Kochs, while also highlighting other oligarchic players like the Devos and their role in buying influence and crafting policy often at the cost of the public interest.I'm not going to lie. This was rather a frustrating read for me. It's hard not to get upset at the current paradigm and situation of our political system and how badly it has been subverted by powerful moneyed interests. So [...]
Patrick Brown says:
This is your summertime, vacation beach read, right here. If you're looking to escape from it all, stop worrying about trivial things like the death of the American experiment, etc well, then this baby right here is for you.JK, this is the single most disheartening, depressing book I've ever read (and I have read a lot of downers in my day). To be frank, it sat on my desk for three or four months before I finally picked it up. But once I did, it hooked me in. Partly, it's that it feels necessary [...]
Rhonda Lomazow says:
A fascinating look at the behind the scenes world of politics big money and the people who control so much of the landscape.A meticulously researched look into the Koch brothers their roots and their amazing influence control of today's political world.Perfect read for today in the midst of a particularly weird caucus time from Trump to Cruz toRubio to Jeb this is their world their control &influence .
Maru Kun says:
Anyone who has read this book and taken a look at the composition of Trump’s cabinet will understand that the Koch brothers and the right wing network that they helped form and continue to support has, broadly speaking, succeeded in its aims.Let us briefly recap what those aims were. They were the promotion of fossil fuels and the suppression of climate scientists warning against their continued exploitation (Tillerson); tax cuts for the wealthy, paid for by a reduction in social benefits such [...]
Mal Warwick says:
The Koch brothers, Charles and David, get a lot of attention from political observers and, increasingly, from the public. No wonder. The fortune they possess together is greater than those of Bill Gates, Carlos Slim, Warren Buffet, and other private individuals who are often characterized as the richest people in the world. But it’s not the brothers’ wealth that attracts the attention. It’s their heavy-handed attempt to dominate American politics. That’s the subject of Jane Mayer’s exp [...]
Joshunda Sanders says:
I'm probably as guilty as anyone of refusing to really look at things in the world I don't want to see. I think it has to do with self protection but it's possible that more is at work there. I saw Dark Money on a few lists late last year and it was one of a few books I bought for myself for Christmas. As nauseating and dispiriting as the thorough reportage is in Dark Money, it is required reading for anyone who cares about the state of politics, the rise of the radical right and the enormous in [...]
Nigeyb says:
A deeply disturbing and profoundly depressing account of how a cadre of extremely wealthy US business people continue to use their wealth to subvert American democracy using a variety of integrated techniques. Charles and David Koch, the enormously rich proprietors of an oil company based in Kansas, started their programme in the early 1980s and, by the midterm elections of 2010, they'd ushered in the political system that the'd spent years creating. They had financed and organised a network of [...]
Christine Zibas says:
This is a sweeping account of how extremely wealthy individuals have over the past 30 years built an infrastructure to influence/control the US political system. While the book is heavy on policy it gives some background on the Koch brothers, the leaders/developers of this new brand of influence, and others such as Richard Mellon Scaife, the Bradley’s, the Olin’s and the DeVos Family. What these billionaires have in common is a desire to be free of regulations, unions and taxes to enrich the [...]
Eric_W says:
WARNING: This is a long review filled with citations, propositions, and insinuations. Read at your own risk.The demonization of the Koch Brothers political machine by Mayers, while impressive, reminds me of one reason why the Democrats failed in 2016. They will have difficulty regaining Congress if they continue to focus on personalities rather than policies and issues. The book plays into the Democrats' (liberals?) need to blame someone else rather than their own failures. The Democrats' emphas [...]
Marks54 says:
This book is about the "vast right wing conspiracy" in American politics - really. It is a very thorough and methodical history of the growing ascendency of right wing political donors since the Goldwater campaign and especially since the "Citizen's United" decision of the US Supreme Court. The principal focus of the book is on the history of the Koch Brothers and the rise of their organization into the well managed and influential hub of outside right wing money in the US. The author has writte [...]
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Australia Awards Scholarships are long-term awards administered by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. They aim to contribute to the development needs of Australia’s partner countries in line with bilateral and regional agreements.
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Home Walk of Fame Stars John Goodman
Inducted to the Walk of Fame on March 10, 2017 with 1 star. Comments
Actor John Goodman Honored with Star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame
Watch below as the Hollywood Chamber unveils the Walk of Fame Star
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce honored actor John Goodman will with the 2,604th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today, on Friday, March 10, 2017 at 11:30 a.m. PST. The star, in the category of Motion Pictures, was dedicated at 6767 Hollywood Boulevard in front of theHollywood Wax Museum. The ceremony coincides with the opening day of his new film, “Kong: Skull Island,” in which he stars with Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson and Brie Larson. Larson was there to help honor him, along with Jeff Bridges, who starred with Goodman in “The Big Lebowski.”
“John Goodman has entertained generations of film and television audiences in a career spanning four decades,” said Ana Martinez, Producer of the Walk of Fame. “He is a favorite of millions of fans, who will be so glad to see his name immortalized with a well-deserved star on our famous Walk of Fame sidewalk.”
Emcee and Hollywood Chamber President/CEO Leron Gubler unveiled Goodman’s star with the help of Larson and Bridges.
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which administers the popular star ceremonies, encourages people who are unable to attend and fans around the world to watch the event live exclusively on www.walkoffame.com.
John Goodmanremembers the day in 1975 when he left his native St. Louis for New York, armed only with a degree from Southwest Missouri State University, $1,000 borrowed from his brother, and a dream of becoming a professional actor. He didn’t want to look back later and say, “I wonder if I could have...” So he made the rounds, worked at odd jobs and just tried to keep busy. He’s been busy ever since.
Goodman went to Southwest Missouri State intending to play football, but an injury led him to switch his major to drama. He never returned to football and graduated with a degree in Theatre.
Goodman recently made his West End debut starring alongside Damian Lewis and Tom Sturridge in the revival of David Mamet’s 1975 play “American Buffalo” at the Wyndham’s Theatre in London.
Goodman’s next film is the Warner Bros release, “Kong: Skull Island,” opening in theaters nationwide on Friday, March, 10th. His upcoming films also include David Leitch’s thriller “Atomic Blonde” and lending his voice to Luc Besson’s sci-fi adventure “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.”
His recent films include “Patriots Day,” the hit sci-fi thriller “10 Cloverfield Lane,” for which he received numerous critics’ nods and Jay Roach’s biographical drama “Trumbo.”
In 2013, Goodman starred in Ben Affleck’s drama “Argo,” which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and in Robert Zemeckis’ thriller “Flight.” That same year he won the 2013 National Board of Review Spotlight Award for his work in “Argo,” “Flight” and “Trouble with the Curve.” Goodman was also seen in the black-and-white silent feature “The Artist,” which won the 2012 Academy Award for Best Picture. He earlier received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the Coen brothers’ film “Barton Fink.”
His other TV credits include Amazon’s original series “Alpha House,” Starz miniseries “Dancing on the Edge,” DirecTV’s “Damages,” and NBC’s “Community.”
Among Goodman’s many accolades are a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and seven Emmy nominations for his role in “Roseanne.” He also earned Emmy nominations for his starring roles in TNT’s “Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long” and in the CBS production of Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire.” In 2007, Goodman won his second Emmy, for Outstanding Guest Actor, on “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.”
HBO’s biopic of Jack Kevorkian, “You Don’t Know Jack,” reunited Goodman with Al Pacino and Susan Sarandon. He won an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie and a SAG nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries.
His previous film credits include “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” the remake of 1974’s ‘”The Gambler,’” “The Monuments Men,” “Inside Llewyn Davis,” “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” “In the Electric Mist,” “Confessions of a Shopaholic,” “Speed Racer,” “Bee Movie,” “Pope Joan,” “Alabama Moon,” “Gigantic,” “Marilyn Hotchkiss’ Ballroom Dancing and Charm School,” “Beyond the Sea,” “Masked and Anonymous,” “Storytelling,” “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” “Coyote Ugly,” “What Planet Are You From?,” “One Night at McCool’s,” “Bringing Out the Dead,” “Fallen,” “The Borrowers,” “Blues Brothers 2000,” “The Runner,” “The Flintstones,” “Mother Night,” “Arachnophobia,” “Always,” “Pie in the Sky,” “Born Yesterday,” “Matinee,” “The Babe,” “King Ralph,” “Punchline,” “Everybody’s All-American,” “Sea of Love,” “Stella,” “Eddie Macon’s Run,” “C.H.U.D.,” “Revenge of the Nerds,” “Maria’s Lovers,” “Sweet Dreams,” “True Stories,” “The Big Easy,” “Burglar” “The Wrong Guys,” “Raising Arizona” and “The Big Lebowski”
He has lent his voice to many animated films, including “Monsters, Inc.,” “Monsters University,”“The Emperor’s New Groove,” “Tales of the Rat Fink” and “The Jungle Book II.” He also voiced a main character in NBC’s animated series “Father of the Pride.”
Goodman starred on Broadway in “Waiting for Godot,” for which he received rave reviews as Pozzo. His other stage credits include many dinner theatre and children’s theatre productions, as well as several off-Broadway plays. His regional theatre credits include “Henry IV, Parts I and II,” “Antony and Cleopatra,” “As You Like It” and “A Christmas Carol.” He performed in a road production of “The Robber Bridegroom” and starred in two Broadway shows, “Loose Ends” in 1979 and “Big River” in 1985.
In 2001, Goodman starred in the NY Shakespeare Festival Central Park staging of “The Seagull,” directed by Mike Nichols. The following year he appeared on Broadway in the Public Theatre’s “Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui.”
ALL PRESS MUST RSVP TO ANA MARTINEZ AT (323) 468-1376 OR Stargirl@hollywoodchamber.net
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is an internationally recognized Hollywood icon. With approximately 24 star ceremonies annually broadcast around the world, the constant reinforcement provided to the public has made the Walk of Fame a top visitor attraction. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce continues to add stars on the Walk of Fame as the representative of the City of Los Angeles. The Walk of Fame is a tribute to all of those who worked diligently to develop the concept and to maintain this world-class tourist attraction. The Walk of Fame is open to the public. No paid admission or assigned seating at star ceremonies.It is understood that the cost of installing a star on the Walk of Fame upon approval is $30,000 and the sponsor of the nominee accepts the responsibility for arranging for payment to the Hollywood Historic Trust, a 501(c)3 charitable foundation. The funds are used to pay for the creation/installation of the star and ceremony, as well as maintenance of the Walk of Fame. Download the official app for iPhones and Android devices at http://officialhollywoodwalkoffameapp.com
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Wally Asselberghs
Organic Objects
Funeral Urns
Artistic Statement
Ceramic Education
Naked Raku, The History
Classic Ceramics : earthenware, stoneware, porcelain
Most ceramics are fired according to the classic pattern. At first the glaze is applied to a clay object. This object is placed into a ceramic kiln, and fired rather slowly, untill the glaze has reached the melting point somewhere between 1050 and 1300 degrees Celsius. After a short period of maintaining this top temperature, the kiln is allowed to cool off very slowly.
The kiln is opened when temperature has dropped to 100 degrees Celsius or lower. As a result a shiny equal glaze covers the surface, and hides the clay underneath.
Classic Japanese Raku
In this firing technique, the glaze is not allowed to cool. After applying the glaze, the kiln is fired quite rapidly to the melting point of the glaze that is usually quite low, around 850 to 900 degrees Celsius. Then the object is removed from the kiln with tongs, and allowed to cool off in the open air, or it is quenched in water. Because of the temperature shock, the molten glaze will pass very quickly from the state of melted, liquid glass to a solid state. As a result, the glaze will shrink much quicker than the clayobject underneath, and the glaze will "crack", and create a pattern of irregular lines called ‘cracquelé’. The clay used for this technique is also different: in order to be able to withstand the temperature shock, the clay must contain some materials which make it porous and more fire-proof: sand, grog, fireclay, talc, molochite, etc.... Japanese Raku dates back to the 15th-16th Century, where it could develop itself during more than 400 years. In the beginning it was mainly used to produce drinking cups for the Japanese tea ceremony. Tannine, a dark colourant found in tea, filled up the cracks, so that a more profound crackle pattern developed when the drinking cups were used regularly. Raku was also related to the zen philosophy. Bernard Leach, a famous potter from the United Kingdom, studied the technique for many years, and introduced it in Europe around 1911. He continued to use the pure Japanese technique.
Western Raku
Later on Raku crossed the Ocean, and was further developped by USA ceramic artists like Paul Soldner and Hal Riegger, who started experimenting on this technique. They added the element of secondary reduction. When the glaze has melted, the objects are also removed with tongs from the kiln, and quickly transferred into some kind of smoke-bin, containing burnable material like sawdust, woodchips, straw, leaves, etc... The smoke-bin is closed, and the smoke and tar, produced by the contact of the hot object with the burnable materials, penetrate through the cracks and leave a pattern of black cracks in the white glaze. There is also the possibility of creating special colour effects by adding oxides (mostly copper) to the glaze, or spraying the hot melted glaze with colour-changing substances (silver nitrate, etc...)
Slip resist Raku
This technique was derived from Raku, but without the use of glaze. Basically the clay is polished when it is leather hard, and the clay object is biscuit fired. Then follows a layer of very thick slip, and the object is fired in a Raku kiln until the desired temperature is reached. When ready, the pieces are removed with tongs, placed in a smoke bin, and allowed to cool off. Sometimes, the slip comes off quite easily, sometimes it has to be removed using plenty of water. Various shades of white, black and grey can be achieved by varying the composition, applying method, and thickness of this slip.
Naked Raku is another variety of Raku, it differs only slightly from the slip resist raku. In this technique, a layer of raku glaze is added on top of a very thin slip. The slip acts like a kind of separation layer between the clay and the glaze, and prevents the glaze from melting to the surface of the clay object. The kiln is fired to a temperature of approximately 775 degrees Celsius (approximately 1450 Fahrenheit), untill the glaze starts to bubble. At this stage, the surface of the glaze is called “orange peel”. This process must be visually watched through a peephole in the kiln. After a short period of soaking, all objects are removed from the kiln by tongs and placed in a smoke bin. When the hot clayobject is reduced in the smoke bin, the smoke and tar fumes will penetrate into the cracks of the glaze, and go right through the slip layer into the clay, leaving behind irregular cracklike patterns on the surface. The layer of slip and glaze will then be peeled off, or has to be removed with water, showing the patterns created on the bare or nude clay, hence the name ‘Naked’. There are various colour possibilities by applying a slip layer containing stains or oxides before polishing, or by using coloured clay. On those parts where no glaze is applied on top of the slip layer, the clay turns black. After thoroughly cleaning and drying, a tiny layer of bees wax is polished into the finished clay object. This gives a matt shiny finish, embellishing the surface of the naked clay.
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Husband and wife designing duo making noise in Hip-Hop fashion
by The Press and Standard | June 30, 2018 5:00 am
Last Updated: June 27, 2018 at 11:28 am
By CINDY CROSBY
cindyc4@yahoo.com
Two former Colleton County residents are making noise in Atlanta and beyond with their Hip-Hop couture fashion line. Quinton and Delores Williams Salley, Ruffin High School Class of 1998 and 1999 respectively, currently live in the Atlanta Metro area. The husband and wife international designing duo launched their original line, 4*2*4, on Oct. 6, 2017.
“Our line has designs for all outlooks of life, with Hip-Hop apparel and a Hip-Hop Couture Collection,” said Delores Salley. “We strive to reach all demographics, but the brand will always mean the same thing — 4*2*4 family.”
The story behind the brand, however, goes a lot deeper for Quinton and Delores.
The couple is making the most of second chances. Quinton and Delores have been married twice — both times to each other. The first time, they were very young and straight out of high school. Even though they loved each other, they divorced four years later, moving in two different directions in life.
“Learning life and coming from an area where not many chances are given, Quinton became involved more in the street life, while I went more of a corporate route,” said Delores.
Things went south for Quinton shortly after their divorce when he was sentenced to 262 months in federal prison with 10 concurrent years of state time for drugs.
“He had a choice to tell on his family to get less time, but that code is lost sometimes in our own families, friends, and businesses — 4*2*4 is a code he stands by,” said Delores. “He remembers the day the judge gave him his sentence. He looked at Quinton and told him to not waste his life away back here, son.
“After sentencing, Quinton returned to the holding area, where he noticed a small sharp nail on the floor, which he began using on the wall to calculate time,” said Delores. “Quinton realized he couldn’t let prison change his mind frame. In his upcoming book and documentary titled ‘2030 the Quinton K. Salley Story,’ he says being behind bars can bring the strongest person down if they let it get to them mentally, which at the end of the day, that’s the plan — to control your state of mind.”
Serving over 11 years, Quinton learned from his time behind bars. “Disrespect was not allowed and behind bars, it was like its own country,” he said. “In the streets, they call it clicks or gangs; behind them walls, it is called cars.”
According to Delores, Quinton was his own car. “He was cool with everyone — no judgment,” she said. “If you have that rule, 4*2*4, you were good. He knew it was just numbers, but it meant a lot to him — it was his life.”
In prison, Quinton began designing towels to place on his floor as you entered his cell, much like doormats. “He would iron clothes for other prisoners, ironing the 4*2*4 imprint on them,” said Delores. “Not knowing what his future was, he was determined to not waste his life away. Yes, he got in trouble because survival is survival, but he knew one day, he would be able to see his family again.”
According to Delores, in 2009 then-President Barack Obama and Eric Holder passed a law that would allow Quinton to come home because his crimes were non-violent. Released 16 years early by the same judge who told him to not waste his life, Quinton headed home.
After remarrying Delores, the two began to build 4*2*4 Fashionz B4 Dishonor.
Now the rising designing couple have developed a following for their growing fashion line, including the likes of Tyler M. Williams, an actor who plays Lil’ Bobby Brown in the BET original “New Edition” and the upcoming original, “The Bobby Brown Story,” in late summer, along with being featured on the current season of “Love & Hip Atlanta.”
The duo will participate in Atlanta Fashionz Week July 28 and New York Fashionz Week on September 8. The company is also moving toward a global presence.
To learn more about 4*2*4 Fashionz LLC visit them on Facebook or at www.424Fashionz.com.
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Archive | News
SWSC Offers Rain Barrels for Tree Planting
SWSC is offering free rain barrels to Old Hill, Upper Hill, and McKnight property owners that plant 2 or more trees on their property through the City of Springfield’s Greening the Gateway Cities program.
The Commission owns and maintains the combined sewer system that serves these neighborhoods. Trees help slow and reduce the amount of stormwater that flows into combined systems during rain events, thus reducing potential combined sewer overflows into waterways.
The City of Springfield’s Greening the Gateway Cities program is offering free trees to property owners in these neighborhoods for the 2019 planting season, and to help incentivize residents to sign up, the Commission is offering free rain barrels to those that plant 2 or more free trees. Rain barrels can be used to capture rain water to irrigate the new trees, or other plantings, and also help reduce the amount of stormwater flowing into combined sewer systems. The number of free rain barrels is limited, so residents should sign up soon by calling the City’s 3-1-1 line or by visiting https://www.springfield-ma.gov/ggcp.
More Information on SWSC’s Rain Barrel Program – 2019
22News: City of Springfield to Begin Planting Trees in Several Neighborhoods
Executive Director Josh Schimmel Discusses Water Quality on Connecting Point
SWSC Executive Director Josh Schimmel and UMass Prof. David Reckhow discussed the recent public notification about water quality with WGBY’s Connecting Point on February 12. Mr. Schimmel discussed the environmental cause behind the recent elevation of haloacetic acids (HAA5), and what the Commission is doing to address it. Dr. David Reckhow, a national expert on HAA5, explained the science behind HAA5 regulations.
Watch it here (Interview starts at the :26 mark.)
Peter Thayer Named Distinguished Water Operator of the Year
The Springfield Water and Sewer Commission is proud to announce that Mr. Peter Thayer, a Water Operator based at the Commission’s West Parish Filters Water Treatment Facility in Westfield, was named Distinguished Water Operator of the Year by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
The award was presented as part of DEP’s 2018 Public Water Systems Award Program held on May 8 at the Massachusetts Statehouse. Water operators are responsible for the safe and efficient operation of drinking water treatment facilities such as West Parish Filters, which provides filtration and disinfection of the drinking water delivered to Commission customers. Mr. Thayer was commended for his innovative approach to problem-solving, his excellence in meeting state and federal drinking water regulations, as well as his seasoned insight into project design and review at the treatment facility, which produces approximately 30 million gallons/day of high-quality drinking water for 250,000 customers in the lower Pioneer Valley.
Mr. Thayer has worked with the Commission as an operator since 2014.
The Public Water Systems Award Program event held on May 8 was hosted by Rep. Anne Gobi and Rep. Smitty Pignatelli, and speakers included EPA Region 1 Administrator Alexandra Dunn and MassDEP Commissioner Marty Suuberg.
Click here to view the press release
Above: MassDEP Drinking Water Program Director Yvette DePeiza (left) and MassDEP Commissioner Martin Suuberg (right) present Peter Thayer (center) with the Distinguished Operator of the Year Award at the Massachusetts Statehouse on May 8, 2018.
SWSC Awarded $50M Low-Interest Loan for Pump Station Project
The Springfield Water and Sewer Commission was awarded a $50 million low-interest loan from the Massachusetts State Revolving Fund (SRF) for the York Street Pump Station and Connecticut River Crossing Project. The project will build a new 62 million gallons/day (MGD) pump station; two new sewer lines under the Connecticut River; and will upgrade the existing influent structure at the Springfield Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility on Bondi’s Island to receive the new sewer lines.
The $85 million project is a cornerstone of the Commission’s Integrated Wastewater Plan, and stretches project dollars by addressing multiple issues at once. The issues addressed in this project include:
Regulatory Compliance and Environmental Stewardship: The new pump station will add 30 MGD of pumping capacity, reducing the amount of combined sewer overflow (CSO) discharges into the Connnecticut River by sending that additional amount to the wastewater treatment plant.
Renewal of Aging Infrastructure: The new pump station will replace and enhance the main function of an aging pump station, while the existing pump station will remain utilized for flood control purposes.
System Resiliency and Redundancy: The new sewer lines under the Connecticut River will add redundancy to the existing 85-year-old lines, allowing for the isolation of key infrastructure in the event of a failure and to enable future maintenance and rehabilitation.
Construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2019.
Click here to read the Masslive.com article
Click here to read the press release about the State Revolving Trust Fund awards
SWSC, Mayor Ask Region to Imagine a Day Without Water
SWSC joined with Mayor Sarno and regional business leaders at Cobble Mountain Reservoir to Imagine a Day Without Water.
The Springfield Water and Sewer Commission, Mayor Domenic Sarno, and industry and public safety leaders gathered at Cobble Mountain Reservoir in Granville on Thursday, October 12, to urge the Springfield region to “Imagine a Day Without Water,” as part of an annual national campaign to bring more attention and awareness to the critical need for investment in water infrastructure.
The event was held at Springfield’s main water supply in Granville, which was built in the early 1930s and supplies 35-45 million gallons of treated drinking water to 250,000 customers in the Springfield region every day. SWSC Executive Director Joshua Schimmel noted that of the over 1,000 miles of water, sewer, and transmission pipe in the system, approximately 44% is over 75 years old, and 25% of it is over a century in age. “It would take $600 million just to make all the necessary upgrades to our pipes, many of which are past the end of their useful life,” he said, noting that treatment plants, pump stations, and other associated infrastructure are also aging and in need of repair. Schimmel recognized the foresight of prior generations in building infrastructure like Cobble Mountain Reservoir that enabled Springfield to grow, and called on elected officials and the public to support the responsibility of utilities to protect that legacy through re-investment.
Mayor Domenic Sarno commended the work of SWSC and declared that “Springfield has the best water in the country.” The high quality, affordability, and overall reliability of the city’s water makes it easy to take for granted, he said, but renewed investment will be needed to support the city’s future development. He called on elected officials at all levels of government to prioritize increased funding for water infrastructure.
Other speakers included Alex Dixon, General Manager of MGM Springfield, who noted that access to clean, reliable, and great-tasting water was so important to the casino project that it invested approximately $5 million in upgrading water infrastructure around the site. Chris Aberg, Environmental Supervisor for Eastman-Solutia, commented that his company uses approximately 18% of all water treated from Cobble Mountain every year to produce glass resins and protective films that are shipped all over the world. “As a business that operates continuously throughout the year and employs roughly 400 highly skilled people in Springfield, we cannot afford to have one day without water,” Aberg said. Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant described the crisis that would ensue if firefighters could not depend on the availability or pressure required to fight fires. “At Springfield Fire Department we are constantly maintaining and updating our equipment so that we can save as many lives and as much property as possible,” he said. “Since water is a critical tool in any firefighter’s arsenal, why should we treat our water infrastructure any differently?”
Students from a robotics club at the Zanetti Montessori School in Springfield also provided remarks on what a day without water would mean to them, including an inability to brush their teeth or shower – but also a break from washing the dishes. The students are currently developing projects related to water conservation.
Imagine a Day Without Water is a national awareness event coordinated by the Value of Water Campaign. For more information visit: www.thevalueofwater.org. For information on SWSC, visit: www.waterandsewer.org.
SWSC Hosts State Legislative Members
The Springfield Water and Sewer Commission (SWSC), along with top leadership from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), hosted members of the Springfield region’s state legislative delegation for the first time on Monday to discuss challenges facing the regional water and wastewater system. Impending issues related to an aging workforce and infrastructure; state vs. federal permitting authority; and funding to meet new environmental regulations were central points of the meeting, which was held in the c. 1974 wastewater treatment facility on Bondi’s Island in Agawam.
Rep. Brian Ashe, Rep. Angelo Puppolo, Rep. Jose Tosado, Rep. Nicholas Boldyga, and staff of Sen. Jim Welch were in attendance. SWSC Chairwoman Vanessa Otero and Executive Director Joshua Schimmel emphasized the importance of establishing a working relationship with elected officials at a time when there are expanding environmental, regulatory, health and safety, and financial challenges facing the water and wastewater sector. Otero noted in particular that much of the Commission’s workforce was nearing retirement age. After a large national effort in the 1970s to train and recruit workers for jobs in the water sector was not followed up in subsequent decades, the Commission finds itself challenged to fill upcoming retirements. The Commission is currently working with Springfield Technical Community College to revive a training and certification program for new water and wastewater operators. “Once again it is time to focus on training the next generation,” Otero said, asking lawmakers to find ways to partner with the Commission to cultivate workers for jobs that offer “good pay, security, and a fulfilling career.”
The age of Springfield’s infrastructure was also a prominent focus of discussion. Recalling recent trips to the White House to participate in infrastructure planning summits, Schimmel noted that transportation issues dominated national-level conversations, despite a $3.5 trillion need to update water and wastewater infrastructure in the country, and a $2.4 billion need in Massachusetts alone. Of the Commission’s approximately 1,000 miles of water, sewer, and transmission pipe, 44% is over 75 years old. “This is not a partisan issue,” Schimmel said. “The simple fact is that much of Springfield’s water infrastructure is a century old, and not addressing that soon will have major implications on the region’s economy going forward. Even more so than transportation, without reliable water and wastewater service, there is no development.” Schimmel requested that lawmakers consider providing more water infrastructure funding in Massachusetts.
Increasing environmental regulations stand to compete for funds that are needed to upgrade infrastructure, with federal regulations often not factoring in local environmental or economic conditions. MassDEP Commissioner Martin Suuberg spoke about pending legislation to assume control of the federal National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program, which directs much water and wastewater treatment facility operations. Currently, Massachusetts is one of only four remaining states where the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administers the NPDES program. Gov. Charlie Baker introduced legislation in the spring (H.B. 2777) to allow MassDEP to apply for NPDES delegation. “MassDEP is confident in its ability to administer this important water quality program,” said Commissioner Suuberg. “Administering this program will help ensure that the Commonwealth and its communities are taking a big-picture approach to directing resources towards the greatest water quality improvement, and working effectively with cities, towns and other stakeholders.”
Executive Director Joshua Schimmel Attends Second White House Infrastructure Summit
In June, Springfield Water and Sewer Commission Executive Director Joshua Schimmel attended a bi-partisan White House summit focused on infrastructure issues. Schimmel was invited along with Springfield DPW Director Chris Cignoli and a bi-partisan group of governors, mayors, and other officials to discuss ways the federal government can assist with improving the nation’s infrastructure at the state and local levels. Schimmel identified placing time limits on permit review periods as an achievable way to reduce the time and costs associated with infrastructure construction projects.
In August, Schimmel and Cignoli were again invited to the White House to provide feedback on the administration’s planned approach to stimulating infrastructure investment.
Click here to read more about the June summit on MassLive.com
Click here to read about the August visit on MassLive.com
SWSC to Save Millions with Better Bond Rating
An upgrade in its bond ratings by Standard & Poor’s Rating Service will allow SWSC to save millions in debt service. S&P recently upgraded SWSC’s rating from “AA-with stable outlook” to “AA-stable,” which immediately translates into a present value savings of $2.43 million over the next 12 years due to debt refinancing. A recently issued revenue bond for future water and sewer infrastructure projects was also reduced from $24.8 to $21.1 million due to the rating upgrade.
“Our goal was to establish a sound and sustainable financial foundation in order to enable continued investment in our infrastructure while keeping rates affordable and stable,” said Joshua D. Schimmel, executive director of the commission.
Click here to read more on MassLive.com
Press Release: FY 2018 Water and Sewer Budget and Rates Approved by Commission
Following a public hearing held on June 6, 2017, the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission met on Thursday, June 22, 2017 to vote on the proposed fiscal year 2018 (FY18) budget, capital improvement program, schedule of rates, fees and charges, and revisions to Commission rules and regulations.
The Commission voted to approve a combined water and sewer rate increase of approximately 4.0% for residential customers. The rate increases will be applied to water and sewer use beginning July 1, 2017, and our customers will see the rate increases beginning with bills issued in August 2017.
Click here to read the press release.
Press Release – Chlorine Taste and Odor
The Springfield Water and Sewer Commission has recently adjusted the disinfection process at West Parish Filters Water Treatment Plant. Some consumers may notice a slight chlorine taste or odor in the drinking water as a result. Chlorine levels in Springfield’s drinking water remain well below the maximum limits established by the EPA and MassDEP, and the water is safe to drink.
Click here to read the full press release.
Click here for frequently asked questions about chlorine.
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Hubble spies something mysterious around a supermassive black hole
There’s something unusual happening at the center of the spiral galaxy NGC 3147, and the Hubble Space Telescope caught a good look.
The galaxy, which is 130 million light-years away, contains a supermassive black hole at its heart, as expected. What wasn’t expected is the thin disc of material around the black hole.
The black hole has a mass 250 million times that of our sun. A study of the black hole and its disc was published Thursday in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters.
The galaxy is active, but it’s a low-luminosity one. This means the black hole at the center should be starving because there isn’t enough material in the galaxy to feed it.
Discs are typically found in extremely active galaxies. It’s a test of Albert Einstein’s theories of relativity, general and special. While general relativity regards gravity as the curvature of space, special explains the relationship between time and space.
And it makes for a great observation opportunity. The disc is deep within the black hole’s gravitational field, which has altered light in a way that astronomers can actually see what’s happening close to the black hole.
“We’ve never seen the effects of both general and special relativity in visible light with this much clarity,” said Marco Chiaberge, senior European Space Agency astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute and Johns Hopkins University.
Hubble was able to measure the material in the disc, and astronomers determined that it’s spinning around the black hole at more than 10% the speed of light.
The velocity causes the gas to appear brighter as it’s moving in the direction of Earth and dimmer as it moves away, which is called relativistic beaming.
Because the gas disc is so deeply embedded in the black hole, the light can’t escape, so it looks stretched.
Hubble’s Imaging Spectrograph instrument was able to take the light and separate it into wavelengths. Those wavelengths help indicate temperature, speed and other information. The instrument was key to looking into the low-luminosity area around the black hole.
At first, the galaxy was selected as a model of lower-luminosity active galaxies with starving black holes, which suggests that discs form only when there is enough gas trapped by a black hole. It was believed that if this happened, a large amount of light would be emitted, which is called a quasar.
“This is an intriguing peek at a disc very close to a black hole, so close that the velocities and the intensity of the gravitational pull are affecting how we see the photons of light,” said Stefano Bianchi, associate professor in the Department of Math and Physics at Università degli Studi Roma Tre in Italy. “The type of disc we see is a scaled-down quasar that we did not expect to exist,” Bianchi explained. “It’s the same type of disc we see in objects that are 1,000 or even 100,000 times more luminous. The predictions of current models for very faint active galaxies clearly failed.”
Click here to read full story »
Riverdale Season 4 Pays Tribute to Luke Perry
Season 4 of Riverdale is set to premier on October 9th on The CW and the first episode will pay tribute to late star Luke Perry. Perry passed away in March 2019 after suffering a stroke. The title of the first episode will be “In Memoriam.” Grab some tissues, friends. You’ll need them. Probably the most…
Lohan Says Her Club Isn’t Closing
With all the news surrounding Lindsay Lohan’s MTV reality show “Lindsay Lohan’s Beach Club” getting canceled after the first season, Lohan made sure to speak up about her club’s rumored closing. She said it’s not closing, she’s moving it to Athens. “The show was moving in a new direction,” Lohan said in an interview. “Perhaps…
Xtina and Grande sing off for VOICE Finale
Two little ladies with Big voices have a show down for the VOICE Season Finale! WATCH THE FULL VOICE Episode HERE Check out all the TWITTER BUZZ moments below Ariana and Xtina slay their first duet 👯 RELATED Ariana NEWS Here is Airiana Lip sync conversation ON Jimmy Fallon [van id=”tv/2016/04/26/ariana-grande-lip-sync-conversation-daily-hit-newday.cnn”]
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Travel Fears Shouldn’t Dissuade NBA From Reformatting Playoffs
NBA Daily: Veterans Influencing Spurs Youngsters
If travel concerns are your reason for not supporting reformatting the NBA Playoffs, your argument is flawed.
Moke Hamilton
One of the major takeaways from the NBA’s 2017-18 regular season—aside from the fact that Ben Simmons is really, really good—is that the Denver Nuggets will probably be a strong advocate for playoff reform.
By the skin of their teeth, the Nuggets missed out on qualifying for the playoffs. By losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves on the final night of the regular season, the 46-36 Nuggets now have a date with the draft lottery, although they would have much rather have had a date with the Houston Rockets.
The Nuggets now become the poster child for the renewed advocating of playoff reform. Denver, you see, was eliminated from the playoffs despite having a better record than three Eastern Conference teams that qualified—the Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks and Washington Wizards.
The Heat and Bucks each finished the season at 44-38, while the Wizards were 43-39.
With the regular season over and the playoffs set to begin, the first round matchups have now been set.
If we’re lucky, though, this may be one of the final few times that we see the traditional playoff format in action.
During All-Star Weekend, Commissioner Adam Silver confirmed that the league was discussing playoff reform. Because of the relative imbalance of talent in the Eastern and Western Conference, the cries for a modified playoff system that would simply take the 16 best teams in the league have only grown louder over the years.
The two obvious issues with the ’Best 16 In’ approach is the travel concerns and the imbalanced schedule. Teams such as the Trail Blazers, Heat and Celtics could find themselves in the ‘nightmarish’ scenario of having to play a team that’s thousands of miles away. Particularly with the 2-2-1-1-1 format, the toll of traveling between Boston and Portland, for example, would probably catch up to a team.
In other words, the winner of a Game 7 between the Celtics and Blazers in the first round would probably be at a competitive disadvantage in the second. At least, that’s the prevailing sentiment.
While the concern is valid, it’s one that could only be addressed and resolved by doing a 2-3-2 format throughout the playoffs, or somehow figuring out a way to reduce the frequency of travel—not easy.
The other major issue—and it’s one that’s easier to fix—is the fact that teams only play 30 out of conference games. To make the system fair, each team would have to play at least 40.
Still, for want of allowing two teams from the same conference to play in the NBA Finals, the league is mulling its option.
I say: it’s about time.
To somewhat address the scheduling imbalance and the want to preserve the Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference format, the league revealed that they are also considering a ‘Modified Best 16 In’ playoff system in which the top eight teams from each conference would qualify for the playoffs and then be re-seeded based on how they fared in the regular season. The concept would more or less mimic what was done for the All-Star game, whereby All-Stars were chosen based on their conference and then redistributed once selected.
Although the Modified Best 16 In system wouldn’t necessarily get a team like the Nuggets into the playoffs, it would help preserve the distribution of TV markets, something that’s important to the league. A world in which 10 of the 16 playoff teams are from one conference, after all, isn’t ideal.
Again, this approach would also allow for two teams in the same conference to compete in the NBA Finals—something that’s never been possible.
With all of that said, let’s take a look at what this season’s first round of the NBA Playoffs would look like if the league adopted either the Best 16 In or Modified Best 16 In format and compare it with what we’re getting.
Here’s what’s actually going to happen this season…
In Western Conference Playoffs…
(1) Houston Rockets vs. (8) Minnesota Timberwolves
(4) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (5) Utah Jazz
(3) Portland Trail Blazers vs. (4) New Orleans Pelicans
(2) Golden State Warriors vs. (7) San Antonio Spurs
In the Eastern Conference Playoffs…
(1) Toronto Raptors vs. (8) Washington Wizards
(4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) Indiana Pacers
(3) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (6) Miami HEAT
(2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) Milwaukee Bucks
Now, compare it to what would happen in with the Best 16 In playoff format, where five of the matchups would feature an Eastern Conference team battling a Western Conference team…
Best 16 In Playoff Format…
(1) Houston Rockets vs. (16) Milwaukee Bucks
(5) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (12) San Antonio Spurs
(4) Boston Celtics vs. (13) Minnesota Timberwolves
(6) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (11) New Orlean Pelicans
(3) Golden State Warriors vs. (14) Denver Nuggets
(7) Portland Trail Blazers vs. (10) Indiana Pacers
(2) Toronto Raptors vs. (15) Miami Heat
For the most part, when people think about intercostal playoff battles, Los Angeles and Boston is usually considered to be the worst case scenario. The truth is, though, that Portland to Miami is the furthest possible distance between NBA cities. That route is the only one that features teams separated by over 3,200 miles. Los Angeles to Boston is just over 2,950.
Interestingly, Portland to New Orleans is over 2,500 miles, and Portland to any of the NBA’s three Texas cities is over 2,000 miles. In other words, Portland can, and in this year’s playoffs, actually will face a daunting travel schedule. They will actually play the Pelicans.
Game 1 is on Saturday.
Generally speaking, Eastern Conference cities are in closer proximity than Western. If you started out in Boston, you’d only need to travel 500 miles to pass through New York and Philadelphia on the way to Washington, D.C.
Quite similarly, the furthest distance between two Eastern Conference cities is less than 1,500 miles—that’s about the distance from Miami to either Boston or Toronto.
The point here is that one could actually (and quite easily) make the argument that the playoffs would actually become more fair from a travel standpoint if Eastern Conference teams were subjected to the possibility of having the same daunting travel demands as as their Western Conference counterparts.
If, for example, the Knicks and Sixers played a playoff series, either team could opt to sleep in their own beds for the entire series.
By opening things up, Eastern teams would probably have to travel further distances more often, but in the majority of instances, their travel probably wouldn’t be any worse than what Western Conference teams already have to endure.
Of the five inter-conference playoff matchups listed above, Houston to Milwaukee (1,151 miles), Philadelphia to San Antonio (1,742 miles), Boston to Minneapolis (1,391 miles), Portland to Indianapolis (2,264 miles) and Cleveland to New Orleans (1,055) are all less miles than the distance between Portland and New Orleans. And that series is actually going to happen.
Minneapolis, Los Angeles and Phoenix could also find themselves in unenviable situations requiring them to cover a lot of miles.
Sure, the Eastern Conference teams might, too, but the probability is much less and could only be addressed by mixing the playoffs.
If the league opted for the Modified Best 16 In format, where it still chose eight teams from each conference (rather than the top 16 overall) it’s a very consistent story.
The result would be a minor shuffling of the teams at the bottom of the standings. The Nuggets would fall out, the Heat and Bucks would each move up one spot and the Wizards would get in as 16th.
As a result, the Rockets would play the Wizards instead of the Bucks, the Warriors would play the Heat instead of the Nuggets and the Raptors would play the Jazz instead of the Heat.
Houston would have to travel 1,408 miles to get to D.C. and the Raptors would have to travel 1,900 miles to get to Salt Lake City.
Neither of those distances is further than what the Blazers will have to travel to get to New Orleans, but they also aren’t much further than how far Western Conference teams normally have to travel, anyway.
The Warriors, in this instance, are an exception. Under this scenario, they would have to travel 3,100 miles to Miami. Being on the West coast, any matchup featuring an Atlantic or Southeast Division team, for the Warriors, would be similarly painful. But do recall that they beat the Pelicans in the first round of the 2015 NBA Playoffs en route to winning the championship. And Miami isn’t that much further from Oakland than New Orleans.
Look, there are pros and cons to everything, and no solution is going to please everybody—not all the time, at least.
But if one of the arguments against reformatting the NBA playoffs is a concern about the potential of increasing the frequency of cross country travel, it might not actually be as big of a deal as many of us believe. Western Conference teams already have to face more daunting travel than their Eastern Conference counterparts, and at least by mixing the playoffs, the league would subject all teams to the same opportunity of brutality.
It might not be ideal, but it probably is fair. Or, at the very least, more fair.
Plus, at the end of the day, who wants to see an anticlimactic NBA Finals?
Ensuring that the two best teams get to compete for the championship is the pro that should probably outweigh the minor cons.
The only way to ensure that is to make the change that’s been a long time coming.
Related Topics:Main Page
NBA Daily: An Offseason Of Change Awaits The Hawks
PODCAST: Knicks Next Coach, MVP Debate and Playoff Predictions
Moke Hamilton is a Deputy Editor and Columnist for Basketball Insiders.
David Yapkowitz continues Basketball Insiders’ “Grading The Offseason” series by taking a look at the Chicago Bulls.
David Yapkowitz
With summer league over and the big name free agents all signed, we’re now approaching the doldrums of the NBA offseason. Most big moves have all been made, and we shouldn’t expect to too much movement between now and the start of training camp.
Most teams probably have an idea already of what the bulk of their roster will look like come training camp, and as such, we’re starting a new series here at Basketball Insiders taking a look at each team’s offseason to this point.
Next up in our series is the Chicago Bulls.
The Bulls are a team clearly in rebuilding mode. After this offseason, they’ve done a pretty solid job at filling out the roster with young talent at every position. It’s obvious now that they were clear winners of their trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves two years ago that netted them Zach LaVine, Lauri Markkanen and Kris Dunn.
LaVine continued his ascent to stardom this past season. There may have been initial concerns when he was traded to Chicago as to how he would respond after his torn ACL, but since then, he’s showed no lingering limitations. He’s well on his way to becoming one of the elite shooting guards in the league. Few can match his scoring prowess whether he’s slashing to the rim or shooting 37.4 percent from the three-point line.
Markkanen has emerged as one of the top young big men in the NBA. He made some strong steps forward in his second year in the league. He’s moving closer to becoming a double-double threat every night. He’s exceeded projections from when he was drafted that pegged him as little more than a three-point shooting big. He has shown a lot more versatility to his game.
One major addition the Bulls made last season was the trade deadline acquisition of Otto Porter Jr. When he arrived in Chicago, he quickly played some of the best basketball of his career, fitting in seamlessly with the team and solidifying himself as part of their future core.
They’ve also got Wendell Carter Jr. in the fold. Their top draft pick last offseason, Carter quickly established himself a great defensive complement to Markkanen. An injury cut his rookie season shorter than expected, but he still showed flashes of being a capable around the rim scorer.
They do have some other decent rotation guys in Antonio Blakeney, Chandler Hutchinson and Ryan Arcidiacono. Blakeney is an instant offense scoring guard for the second unit, and Hutchinson was showing flashes of his talent before he too went down with an injury during his rookie season. Arcidiacono was re-signed by the Bulls after being one of their most consistent outside shooters last season.
The Bulls came into draft night with the seventh overall pick. It might have seemed like a disappointment seeing as how the Bulls probably had a shot at a top three pick considering their record. But ultimately, Chicago might have gotten what it wanted in the end. Point guard has been an area of need for the Bulls for quite some time, and they used their pick on North Carolina’s Coby White.
White is a little more in the mold of a scoring guard, but if you could take away one thing from his performance in summer league, it’s that he can thrive as a playmaker as well. It’s unlikely that White will get to start right away, but he’s got the makings of developing into the Bulls eventual starter at the point.
Chicago also picked up Daniel Gafford in the second round. The Bulls needed frontcourt depth after losing Robin Lopez in free agency, and they may very well have found their answer with Gafford. Summer League isn’t always a great indicator of how a player will translate to the NBA, but Gafford was solid as a finisher around the rim and a shot blocker in the paint. He may end up becoming one of the steals of the draft.
In free agency, the Bulls made some rather solid moves. On a team full of young players, it’s necessary to have a couple of key veterans for the young guys to lean on and to provide leadership and stability in the locker room. Thaddeus Young certainly fits that bill. Entering his 13th year in the league, Young played in 81 games last season and was a key guy on a Pacers team that made the playoffs. He’ll provide the Bulls with consistency on and off the court.
They also made a big step to addressing their point guard woes. They acquired Tomas Satoransky in a sign and trade with the Washington Wizards. He’ll provide a perfect stop-gap as the starting point guard while White develops. He proved himself as a facilitator with the Wizards, and he’s one of the better three-point shooters in the league, He’s a versatile guy who can play and defend multiple positions.
The Bulls also picked up Luke Kornet who spent last season with the New York Knicks. Kornet is relatively young and gives the Bulls a solid stretch big man on a decent contract. He’s also a solid shot blocker and should compete with Gafford for minutes off the bench.
Chicago also picked up an intriguing prospect in Adam Mokoka. The French combo guard initially declared for the draft a year ago but ultimately withdrew. He re-entered the draft this summer but went undrafted. In summer league, he showed flashes of playing both wing positions and being a capable defender who can shoot from three. He’ll be on a two-way contract so he’ll see significant time with the Windy City Bulls, Chicago’s G League affiliate.
PLAYERS IN: Adam Mokoka (two-way), Coby White, Daniel Gafford, Luke Kornet, Thaddeus Young, Tomas Satoransky
PLAYERS OUT: Brandon Sampson, Rawle Alkins, Robin Lopez, Shaquille Harrison, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Walt Lemon Jr., Wayne Selden
The Bulls roster currently stands at 15 guaranteed contracts and one two-way contract. They’re likely done with any roster additions unless they find someone to take that second two-way contract slot. They’d most likely move Cristiano Felicio if they could find a taker for his contract, but it’s probably unlikely.
With the additions of Satoransky and White, that likely spells the end of the Kris Dunn experiment in Chicago. If Dunn remains on the roster through the season, and the Bulls aren’t able to move him, it’s highly unlikely Chicago tenders him a qualifying offer. In all likelihood, this is his final season in the Windy City.
The Bulls have done a decent job at filling the roster out with good, young talent. Making the playoffs, even in the Eastern Conference, is still likely a few seasons away. But there is reason for optimism for the Bulls future.
OFFSEASON GRADE: B
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BCI has a long history of conservation in the US and Canada. We continue our successful programs which target protecting bat habitats, reducing threats to bat populations and educating the public. Our priorities include preventing extinctions, investing in practical, scientifically proven solutions to the imminent threats of white-nose syndrome (WNS) and wind turbine collisions, identifying and protecting important bat habitats, advocating for appropriate legal protections for bats, and building a bat conservation ethic through education and outreach.
The United States and Canada are home to 3% of the world’s bat species. While diversity is not as high here as in other regions, the 47 species found in the U.S. and Canada include one species listed as Critically Endangered and two as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. At least 5 other species are in sharp decline due to WNS. Other potentially severe threats to bats include, the loss of suitable cave, mine and mature tree roosts; shrinking water resources in the west; and a rapid expansion of wind power, which is estimated to kill more than 200,000 bats annually.
USA-Canada Bat Species Richness
We use a variety of approaches to conserve bats within this region, where we are based. In addition to conducting research and conservation activities using our own staff throughout the US and Canada, we rely heavily on collaboration with partner organizations to achieve conservation on a larger scale. Our WNS and wind energy collaborations have invested heavily in research to identify science-based solutions to some of the most critical threats to bats in this region. Armed with the results from years of research, we vigorously pursue implementation of our most promising tools to save bats from these threats. We continue to deploy field teams to assist partners with inventory and management of bat habitats both above and below ground, including caves, mines, forest habitats, and water resources.
BCI collaborates with public agencies and private landowners to provide lasting conservation at scale for this regions bats and their habitats. We engage at all levels to build capacity for others to advance bat conservation and provide resources and tools where we can to assist them in their efforts.
Be a champion for bats! Whatever you do, wherever you go, help others understand the value of bats and how important it is to protect them.
Learn more about bats and use what you know to make decisions that advance bat conservation. There are a lot of ways to make a difference for bats through your choices as a consumer, by influencing your local or regional government or by volunteering.
Contribute to bat conservation, through your membership at BCI, through our wish list, or through a financial gift.
Working to Save America’s Rarest Bat – the Florida Bonneted Bat
A new aggressive multi-faceted campaign to save the Florida bonneted bat, America’s rarest bat. Fun...
Wind Turbine Blades Could Decimate North America’s Most Widespread Bat Species.
Published on Friday, 24 February 2017
For Immediate Release: Wind turbine blades could decimate North America's most widespread bat species.
Working to Save America’s Rarest Bat
Article: 12
Published on Sunday, 03 March 2019
Courtesy of Micaela Jemison / Bat Conservation International Bat Conservation International has teamed up wit...
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Градске актуелности
Набавке
Акта
Централизоване јавне набавке
Позиви, обавештења и претходна обавештења
Беоинфо
Упознајте Београд
Чињенице о Београду
Култура и уметност
Живот у Београду
Образовање и наука
Економија и бизнис
Градскa власт
Скупштина града Београда
Градске општине
Градска изборна комисија
Државни органи
Питајте градску власт
Discover Belgrade
In c. 600 B.C. the Thracian-Cimmerian and Scythian tribes moved across this area, while the Celtic tribes crossed this territory in the III century B.C. The founding of Singidunum is attributed to the Celtic tribe, the Scordiscs. As a fortified settlement, Singidunum was mentioned for the first time in 279 B.C. The first part of the word - Singi - means "round" and dunum means "fortress" or "town". It is possible that the name originated from the name of the Thracian tribe, the Sings, which was settled on this area when the Celts came. There are almost no traces about that Celtic town, except the necropolises found at the Karaburma and Rospi Ćuprija locations. These contained valuable artistic artefacts, that belong to the warriors of the Scordiscan tribe. A considerable Celtic cultural influences have been woven into the spiritual culture of the Singidunum inhabitants, and later mixed with Roman classical cultural elements.
The Romans conquered Belgrade in the beginning of the I century A.D. and it has been under their rule for full four centuries. The soldiers of the Moesian legions made the first Roman garrison in Singidunum. The well-shaped graves found at Trg Republike and other locations in the city date from this period. A part of the Roman Empire, beside Singidunum, was Taurunum, today's Zemun. Both of these towns have become important military strongholds on the fortified Roman border - the "limes".
Singidunum was most prosperous in 86 A.D., when the IV Legion of Flavius arrived. The first stone fortress in Upper Town was constructed then. Its fragments can be noticed even today. That "castrum" (fort) was square-shaped and covered the area of today's Upper Town of Kalemegdan. During its development, Singidunum has overgrown its status of a "municipium" and become a colony of the Roman citizens. The shape of Taurunum (Zemun) of that period is not well known; it was probably located at the place of today's Lower Town. As an important Roman military camp, Singidunum gained municipal rights in the II century A.D. during the rule of emperor Hadrian. Its military importance became even higher in the III century, when the emperor Aurelian left Dacia and Upper Moesia gained new borders along the right bank of the Danube. In that period, Singidunum was the center of the Christian diocese. Some time later, it was the place of birth of the Roman emperor Flavius Jovianus.
Next to the military camp, the Romans settled veterans of their legions in order to strengthen their border even more. In time, a quite large settlement came into existence, having a rectilinear base, with streets intersecting at right angle. Some of the bases of these urban elements are preserved until today, which can be seen in the orientation of the Uzun Mirkova, Dušanova and Kralja Petra I streets. The Student's square (former Roman forum with thermae, discovered some 30 years ago) has also preserved this rectangular shape.
Between Singidunum and Taurunum, there was a bridge over the Sava, which connected the two towns and which was a part of one of the most important Roman roads. Thus, Singidunum became an important crossroad for the Roman provinces of Moesia, Dacia, Pannonia and Dalmatia. The military road - Via Militaris, which went from the west to the east, through Sirmium (Sremska Mitrovica), Singidunum and Viminacium (Kostolac), to Byzantium, was protected by forts. These forts also existed in the area of today's Belgrade. Some of them were: Mutatio ad Sextum (Mali Mokri Lug), Castra Tricornia (Ritopek), Mutatio ad Sextum Militare (Grocka), and others. The road connecting the miner's settlements on Avala, Kosmaj and Rudnik. Some more important remains of material culture (tombs, monuments, sculptures, ceramics, coins) have been found in many villages in the vicinity of Belgrade.
After the division of the Roman Empire into the Western Roman Empire and Eastern Roman Empire in 395, Singidunum became a border town of the Byzantine Empire. This new position of the town determined its later fate, for it became not only a linking point of various cultural influences, but, before all, a communication and strategic key of the Byzantine Empire.
О Београду
Градска власт
Београдски позивни центар
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E-mail: beoinfo@beograd.gov.rs Copyright: Град Београд, Сeкретаријат за информисање © 2001-2019. Website by Invictus media
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Why playing with the ocean is a risky game
Tags: diving, Dorset, Hallsands, HMS Scylla, Poole, surfing
Bournemouth has decided that it would like to be a surf resort, according to The Guardian, and to attract all those surfing tourists for who Cornwall is just too inconveniently western. What a distance to travel!
To that end the Dorset town is building an artificial reef out of specially-designed sandbags in Poole Bay in order to take the area’s natural swell and turn it into breaking waves. Here’s what the paper has to say about the scheme:
Artificial reef: Surfers wait to catch Dorset’s £3m wave
It would be pushing it to suggest that the atmosphere in the Dorset resort of Bournemouth was febrile but there was certainly some excitement yesterday as work on installing the reef began in earnest. In the coming months the reef, the size of a football pitch and made of dozens of huge specially-designed bags pumped full of sand, will take shape on the sandy seabed starting at 210 metres off the beach at Boscombe. Surfers are due to start catching the first artificially boosted waves by the end of October.
The reef, which is costing the best part of £3m, is the centrepiece of a regeneration project in Boscombe – compared with central Bournemouth a poorer, less glamorous part of Poole Bay. On the back of the development boutique hotels are being developed, restaurants opened and beachside flats built.
Boscombe is being marketed aggressively to the growing band of south-east surfers for whom day trips to traditional surfing hotspots in Devon and Cornwall are out of the question. Marine biologists are said to be keen, thinking the structure might provide a haven for fish and crustaceans.
Other resorts are looking on with interest. After Bournemouth the reef’s designer, the New Zealand company ASR, is moving on to Kovalam in southern India, and it has carried out a feasibility study for two reefs in Goa. If Boscombe is a success it expects other British seaside towns to be banging on its door. Read full story here…
Now this is a long way from being the first artificial reef project. In fact, there’s one just up the coast, made from a sunken Navy frigate and designed for divers. And, off the east coast of America, they use old New York subway cars.
And the Poole project, with its specially-designed sandbags, is obviously being carried out in a well-researched and scientifically controlled manner.
But also just up the coast from Bournemouth, close to Start Point, is the village of Hallsands – or, at least, what was the village of Hallsands until 1917.
Now it’s just a few broken houses clinging to the base of the cliff after the opposite process, dredging to remove material which was used to improve a harbour at Plymouth, undermined its beach and caused storms to destroy it.
This is not to imply that Poole is being unwise to build its reef. Presumably we now have a much clearer understanding of how ocean forces work and of their effects on coastlines.
But it does make a poignant contrast. And it also illustrates the perils of unintended consequences and of the hubris of thinking we can control what the ocean does.
This was my favourite line from the Guardian story: “The sea is a mysterious thing. We don’t know how it will affect the coast.” Jim Greene, a local surfer, said: “Surfing’s a lot about nature, responding to what is there naturally, so an artificial reef doesn’t appeal to everyone.”
← Is the conspiracy theory damaging our public discourse?
More goats in a tree… →
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Unnecessary Blindness: Hospitals Preparing for Pandemics
By Amesh Adalja, MD
When the inevitable next pandemic influenza virus emerges, hospitals will be challenged to meet the requirements of a large cohort of individuals with varying degrees of illness. These patients will likely strain all the resources of hospitals including personnel, medical supplies, pharmaceutical supplies, and medical equipment. Because of the uncertainty regarding the magnitude and the nuances inherent in such events, it is a difficult task for a hospital to right-size its planning. Several tools exist, however, that have been developed to help provide estimates of supply needs including one developed by my colleagues: Panalysis.
To provide a real-world test of Panalysis, a team of us from the Center, Interdisciplinary Solutions, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, and the Mayo Clinic performed a stress test of the Mayo Clinic’s emergency pandemic supplies using various modeled scenarios. The result of that exercise was just published in the American Journal of Infection Control.
In this paper, my colleagues and I developed several different pandemic influenza scenarios of varying severity and, using Monte Carlo simulation, juxtaposed it against the specific features of Mayo Clinic and its patient catchment region in multiple iterations. Through the simulations, we could generate demand curves for certain supplies such as oseltamivir, gloves, and ventilators allowing insight into what types of demand would be expected for each of these items during various pandemic scenarios.
Using these demand curves, a facility like the Mayo Clinic could determine what level of preparedness they determined it prudent to invest in and compare current stockpiles to desired levels. For example, ventilator inventories could be maintained to be sufficient to meet the demands expected for 75% of the pandemic scenarios generated and an attendant cost generated. Similar cost-benefit analysis could be applied to N-95 respirators, courses of oseltamivir, or any other relevant item.
Every hospital will face unique challenges based on their location, services offered, catchment demographics, and size. Each will also have a differing risk calculus for preparedness and, instead of approaching this vital issue in an off-the-cuff/back-of-the-envelope manner tools such as Panalysis could be implemented to help bring rigor and quantification to these decisions allowing them to be evaluated in a manner much more fitting to their importance.
Tags Hospitals, Preparedness, Pandemic, Influenza
← Tonight’s Top Story: Ebola and the News MediaZika: Where We Stand Now →
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45 minutes of bad cricket cost us a place in final: Kohli
Manchester, July 10 (IANS) India skipper Virat Kohli rued the manner in which India lost the World Cup semifinal against New Zealand at the Old Trafford on Wednesday, saying the team played so well throughout the tournament only to bow out in the last-four stage due to a poor stretch of "45 minutes".
"Forty-five minutes of bad cricket puts you out of the tournament. Difficult to take it -- but New Zealand deserve it. Our shot selection could have been better, but we played good cricket throughout. New Zealand were braver in crunch situations and they deserve it," Kohli said at the presentation ceremony, referring to the period in which India lost four top-order batsmen, including Rohit Sharma and Kohli, inside 10 overs.
India lost to New Zealand by 18 runs after restricting them to 239/8 in the rain-hit semifinal played over two days.
Indian batters were undone by Matt Henry's brilliant opening spell as he returned figures of 3/37. Ravindra Jadeja (77) and MS Dhoni (50) shared a 116-run stand for the seventh wicket, but in the end that proved to be not enough, especially after Dhoni was caught short of crease by a brilliant direct hit by Martin Guptill.
"We got what we needed in the field. We knew we had a good day yesterday, we felt like we had the moment, but credit has to go to NZ bowlers for the swing and help they got from the surface," Kohli said.
The skipper also showered praise on Jadeja, saying: "Jaddu had an outstanding couple of games. He went with so much clarity... MS had a good partnership with him. It was a game of margins and MS was run-out."
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Egypt Business Body Hails Decision to Import Israeli Natural Gas
The Federation of Egyptian Industries has warmly endorsed the import of natural gas from Israel. Photo: Twitter.
Egypt’s leading business organization has praised Cairo’s plans to import natural gas from Israel, saying that doing so will “yield many benefits.”
In another sign of the burgeoning security and commercial ties between the two countries since Abdel Fattah el Sisi became president of Egypt in 2014, the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) said that that the deal with Israel would reduce import costs by relying on pipelines already installed by East Mediterranean Gas (EMG), the company that had supervised Egyptian gas exports to Israel before they were halted following the 2011 uprising that led to a Muslim Brotherhood government.
The government’s decision to take “serious steps in considering natural gas imports from foreign companies that won exploration rights in Israeli fields will yield many benefits,” said Tamer Abu Bakr, head of the FEI’s energy committee.
Abu Bakr said that the Israeli gas price would stand at US $7 per million Btu (the measurement unit for natural gas – 1,000 Btu is the equivalent of 1 Cubic Foot,) compared to $14 for liquefied natural gas obtained from other countries such as Algeria and Russia.
The deal with Israel is not without its detractors. In November last year, Gamal Zahran, an Egyptian oil analyst, said that gas prices offered by Algeria were cheaper than the Israeli alternative. Zahran also criticized the process for the resale of Israeli gas, saying that some “officials from the oil sector have interests in the importation of natural gas. They receive commissions, exactly like they did when Egypt exported natural gas to Israel.”
There are also more explicitly political objections. After Egypt’s petroleum minister Sherif Ismail said in late October that “it is no longer unthinkable for the president and the government to work directly with Israel,” Reda Moharram, a professor of energy studies at Al Azhar University, shot back: “The import of natural gas from Israel is a threat to Egypt’s national security.”
“The gas fields from which Egypt intends to import are located in Mediterranean waters between Israel and Cyprus,” Moharram said. “Since these fields are the subject of regional disputes between Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Egypt, a move to import gas from Israel will lead to hostility with neighboring countries. Egypt does not need those suspicious deals.”
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Home > Newsroom > Press Releases > "AmeriDream Launches 'The Voice' Grassroots Networ
AMERIDREAM LAUNCHES 'THE VOICE' GRASSROOTS NETWORK
First network of real estate professionals, lenders, builders and down payment gift recipients will promote affordable housing
WASHINGTON, DC (October 4, 2002) The AmeriDream Charity, Inc. today announced the launch of a new grassroots action network comprised of lenders, real estate professionals, builders, down payment gift recipients and others who support programs to increase opportunities for homeownership. Created to promote and educate policy makers at all levels of government about affordable housing, down payment assistance and other housing issues, “The Voice” already has more than 1,300 participants nationwide.
“We are pleased with the overwhelmingly positive response to ‘The Voice,’” said AmeriDream CEO Christopher Russell. “The fact that over a thousand people have already joined the network is an affirmation that concerned citizens across the country share our vision to make affordable housing a reality.”
The mission of “The Voice” is to promote, educate and influence decision-makers in all levels of government, as well as local media, about important housing issues. Each month, members of “The Voice” members receive the one-page newsletter, Action Alert, which identifies an issue upon which they may act.
“Every month, citizen lobbyists advocate on important issues together,” Russell said. “Elected officials pay attention to their constituents, and the voices of the people are very powerful and influential.”
For their first Action Alert, members sent postcards to FHA Commissioner John C. Weicher about a recent study conducted by The AmeriDream Charity, Inc. and Experian. This study refutes accusations of increased mortgage delinquency arising from down payment gift funds. Members of “The Voice” wrote personal notes about the importance of down payment gift funds and reiterated the study’s findings that delinquencies among buyers using The AmeriDream Downpayment Gift Program were lower than those in FHA’s overall loan portfolio.
“Through this grassroots effort, more than 1,000 people collectively reminded officials within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that down payment gift programs like AmeriDream’s meet a critical need among low- and moderate-income families, helping them overcome the single largest barrier to homeownership -- the down payment,” Russell said.
Each member of “The Voice” receives a resource guide that includes contact information on elected officials and government agencies; lobbying and advocacy tips; information on the legislative process; biographies on select officials; a media guide and other housing information. There is no cost to join “The Voice.”
Prospective members of “The Voice” should send their name, address, city, state, zip code and e-mail address to: The Voice, c/o Primary Communications, 926 J Street, Suite 913, Sacramento, CA 95814. For more information, call (916) 224-2482 or e-mail bobbie_singh_allen@hotmail.com.
The mission of The AmeriDream Charity, Inc., headquartered in Gaithersburg, MD, is to expand homeownership opportunities for underserved groups and promote the value of homeownership as the foundation for building strong communities and individual prosperity. A 501(c)(3) organization, The AmeriDream Charity, Inc. meets HUD requirements as a down payment gift provider for FHA insured loans. In addition to The AmeriDream Downpayment Gift Program, AmeriDream also operates The AmeriDream Redevelopment Program in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Through its Redevelopment Program, AmeriDream has spent more than $8 million to rehabilitate properties and return them to the market at affordable prices. The AmeriDream Charity, Inc. has also donated more than $1 million to a range of community organizations, including Habitat for Humanity and the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.
Represents the Number of "Main Street" Americans Denied the Opportunity to Purchase a Home With the Help of AmeriDream, Since Congress Prohibited Such Programs On October 1, 2008.!
Since 1999, AmeriDream has helped
individuals and families achieve the American Dream of homeownership.
On average, every 17 minutes there was a new homeowner because of AmeriDream.
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Searching for "gihan": 1 records
tanggi
tumanggi
tanggihan
(verb) to refuse; to deny
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Bishop ... (Compare Trend)
Wonder if Bishop is more popular for boys or girls?
Compare Bishop's history as a girl's and boy's name
Bishop on the Web
Bishop on Wikipedia
Bishop on IMDB
Bishop, is that you? We're adding pictures to the site for every name. If your name is Bishop submit your photo so other people can see what Bishop looks like! (Or you can browse photos already submitted.)
Popularity Over Time: How Many Boys Have Been Named Bishop
This chart illustrates how many Boys were named Bishop in the U.S. since 1880.
A few facts about the boy's name Bishop:
Records indicate that 500 boys in the United States have been named Bishop since 1880.
The greatest number of people were given this name in 1998, when 144 people in the U.S. were given the name Bishop. Those people are now 18 years old.
Comments about the name Bishop
1 Positive Comment
"This is my sons name. People are very vocal about this name, most say they LOVE it. Unique strong name is the most common comment." May. 19, 2006:
1 Negative Comment
"I would never name my son Bishop, because of the meaning and what people expect from the bishop's in the church. That is a heavy burden to carry. I don't want to put that on my son. I am just a regular person." Jul. 2, 2015:
1 Neutral Comment
"The word 'bishop' is translated into French, German, Italian, and Spanish as eveque, Bischoff, vescovo, and obispo respectively." Dec. 23, 2008:
What do you think about the name Bishop?
Rate the name "Bishop":
If this is your name, or the name of someone you know, tell us about your experiences with this name. Do people often pronounce or spell it wrong? What is the correct way to say this name? Do you meet many others with the same name? Share your experience with the name "Bishop":
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Home News and Rumors
News and Rumors
Sony Xperia XA2 family and Xperia L2 now available for pre-order
Sony unveiled its latest family of Xperia devices and now the XA2, XA2 Ultra, and L2 are available for pre-order in the U.S at BestBuy.
As far as specs go, the Xperia XA2 has a 5.2-inch display with Full HD resolution and a Qualcomm 630 with 3GB of RAM. It has a 3300mAh battery and a massive 23-Megapixel rear camera running Android 8.0 Oreo.
The Xperia XA2 Ultra, as the name suggests, is a larger version of the XA2. You’ll get a 6-inch display, a bigger 3580mAh battery, and a second 16-Megapixel camera. Both Xperia XA2 devices have fingerprint sensors mounted on the rear of the device, finally, that work in the U.S.
As for the Xperia L2, it’s the lower end device of the trio. You’ll get a 720p resolution and a quad-core 1.5Ghz processor, 3GB of RAM, and 32GB of internal storage with room for a microSD card. The Xperia L2 also has a rear 13-Megapixel camera and a front 8-Megapixel camera with a 3300mAh battery but is running Android 7.1.1.
You can pre-order the Xperia XA2 from Best Buy in silver, black, blue, and pink for $350. The Xperia XA2 Ultra comes in silver, black, blue, and gold for $450, while the Xperia L2 in black, gold, and pink is available for $250.
All three Xperia phones are set to launch on February 16, 2018.
Writing all about things Android. Contact at [email protected]
Virgin Mobile deals, rate plans, phones, and info for July 2019
Here's a primer that lets you know about Sprint prepaid brand Virgin Mobile, including its rate plans, phone selection, and general features.
This 11-inch Acer Touchscreen Chromebook is 37% off
The best cheap Android phone ever was quietly announced this week
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The Big Lie: Monsanto and the New York Times
By: Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director
http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/files/bad-ag-2_03042.jpg
Originally published in The Huffington Post.
Most of us have told a lie a time or two and probably a variety of them. For example, there is the excuse lie as in the timeless “my dog ate my homework,” and the proverbial “white lie” as in “No you really do look great in those jeans.” But the “The Big Lie” is different. The term refers to a propaganda or advertising technique by which first you say the opposite of an obvious truth about an event or product, and then keep repeating and repeating that lie until it becomes an unquestioned mantra for the public. So no matter how much the lie defies common sense it over time becomes commonplace.
Take the iconic marketing campaign promoting Coca Cola. You’ll easily recall the endlessly repeated mantra: “Coke, it’s the real thing.” Well, whatever you may think of Coke, not much in my estimation, it is anything but the real thing. It’s highly processed, is laden with high fructose corn syrup derived from GMO corn, contains caramel coloring and it goes downhill from there. So the ad is obviously the exact opposite of the truth. But repeated countless times the slogan becomes accepted without thought. Here’s another favorite example, the AT&T telephone ad campaign, “Reach out and touch someone.” Certainly phones can be great but as anyone separated from a loved one knows, to their great frustration, the one thing you can’t do with them is actually reach out and touch that important someone. You are actually just touching the dial pad and handset. Again, a mantra that is obviously false but was repeated so often it almost made sense.
Similarly, for more than two decades the promotion of genetically engineered (GE) crops in the United States and worldwide has been based in the Big Lie. Led by Monsanto’s aggressive international marketing campaign the mantra has been, and still is, that GE crops “reduce pesticide use, increase yield and are key to feeding the world.” I have been working on this issue for decades and during that time have seen that virtually every major media story on GE crops began with this “Big Lie” claim, and using almost identical language. These claims, as with those in the Coke and AT&T commercials, defy common sense. Monsanto and the other leaders in promoting GE crops—Dow, Dupont, Syngenta and Bayer—are all chemical companies that make tens of billions of dollars in profits by selling ever more pesticides, especially herbicides. Why would they spend hundreds of millions of research dollars and then billions in advertising and lobbying to promote crops that actually “reduce pesticides” and thereby destroy their bottom line? Are these companies committing economic suicide in an altruistic attempt to feed the world? Obviously not. You can accuse Monsanto of many things, including myriad corporate crimes over many decades, but altruism is not one of them. As my organization and many others have scientifically demonstrated many times to a deaf media, the vast majority of GMOs are not designed to decrease herbicide use but to massively increase it. More than 90% of US corn, soy, cotton, and sugar beets have been genetically engineered to withstand massive doses of the toxic herbicides these companies make, and profit from. Normally care has to be taken using herbicides because they kill not just weeds but anything green, including the crops they come into contact with. But with these herbicide tolerant crops large scale operations can even conduct aerial spraying of their fields with these herbicides and the weeds die but the crops survive.
Because of GE crops each year more than 100 million more pounds of Roundup are used on America’s croplands each year. These toxic chemicals pollute our water and air, kill wildlife and native plants and threaten the very survival of the monarch butterfly and other species. In 2015 the World Health Organization’s research arm found that the active ingredient in Roundup is a “probable carcinogen.” So for Monsanto and the other chemical companies, genetically engineering crops is just another way to significantly increase profits. They sell the seeds and the poisons sprayed on those seeds. Great for their bottom line, terrible for the rest of us and the planet.
What about the Big Lie about increased yield and feeding the world? Well in 2009 the Union of Concerned Scientists published a definitive report called “Failure to Yield” which made it clear that there was no significant yield increase with GE crops. Despite the clear title and message the media entranced with the Big Lie barely noticed.
But as Martin Luther King, Jr. liked to say, “No lie can live forever.” And in the waning weeks of the recent contentious and dispiriting election campaign a surprising ray of light illuminated the longstanding GE crops debate. Remarkably, the source was the New York Times, which for so many years had ignored the science about genetic engineering and bought the Big Lie. But in a front page story the Times became among the first mainstream media sources to debunk the Big Lie about GMOs. The newspaper story was based on research comparing pesticide use and yield between the United States, where genetic engineering has dominated major crops, and Western Europe, which did not embrace the technology. They found that overall the use of herbicides such as Monsanto’s Roundup had increased by more than 20% in the United States since the introduction of GE crops, while during the same time period herbicide use in France, Europe’s biggest crop producer, had not only not increased but actually decreased by 36 percent. Moreover, the analysis by the Times, which utilized United Nations data, showed that the United States and Canada “have gained no discernible advantage in yields—food per acre—when measured against Western Europe.” So the truth was out in the Times for all to see. GE crops significantly increase the use of toxic herbicides while not increasing yield, so they help poison the world’s food supply but do not increase it. So much for Monsanto’s claim of feeding the world.
In all probability one story, albeit a major one, is probably not enough to finally debunk Monsanto and friends’ Big Lie about GE crop technology. You will probably continue to see the common sense-defying claims for a while yet. But if as the Ancients said the truth is “like a lion — just let it loose”, then maybe we can finally go past the already failed but still dangerous GE experiment and move to an ecological agriculture that really will reduce and eventually eliminate pesticides and provide a secure sustainable food future for us all.
The genetic engineering of plants and animals is looming as one of the greatest and most intractable environmental challenges of the 21st Century.
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With Billions in Lost Productivity, Is It Time for an Election Day Holiday?
This year’s midterm elections are anticipated to bring out record numbers of voters. Both North Carolina and Texas report that the number of early voting ballots has surpassed 2014 totals. American workers will no doubt be tuned in to Election Day coverage from the moment the polls open until results are reported. In fact, a new survey released Tuesday from global outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. found 29 percent of employers are seeing their employees request time off on November 6 specifically to vote or follow election coverage.
“While most companies are not experiencing any unusual increase in time-off requests, many workers will be laser-focused on election coverage that day, likely while they are at work. While official counts will not be reported until after the polls close, early voting tallies and exit polling news will keep workers glued to their computers, political podcasts, radios, and televisions,” said Andrew Challenger, Vice President of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
Twenty-one percent of those surveyed said they do not typically receive requests for time off on Election Day, but this year they have. Another 2.9 percent reported while they do typically receive Election Day vacation requests, this year they have seen even more. The remaining 5 percent typically receive time off requests for Election Day, and this year is on par with past years.
The survey was conducted among 150 Human Resources executives in October.
Voting laws regarding allowing workers time off to vote vary by state. Some require employers to allow a certain amount of time to vote, either paid or not, and some do not require employers give time to workers to vote at all. The Challenger survey found nearly 60 percent of companies allow workers time to vote with no penalties. Nearly 6 percent allow workers to come in later or leave earlier to vote.
However, 32 percent of companies expect workers to perform this civic duty on their own time.
Of those, 24 percent of companies report they expect workers to vote before or after their shifts, and 8 percent say they do not give time to employees to vote, but workers can use paid time off. Another 2.9 percent report they make no accommodations on Election Day.
“This year, especially with the polarizing nature of the elections and the number of important issues at stake for Americans, workers will likely be immensely distracted by coverage and could cost employers billions in lost productivity,” said Challenger.
Indeed, as of September, there were 156,191,000 employed persons over the age of 16 in America, according to non-seasonally adjusted data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), with an average hourly wage of $27.24. According to the American Time Use Survey in November 2017, 82 percent of workers worked on an average weekday.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 61.4 percent of eligible voters turned out in the 2016 election. If that voter turnout rate is applied to employed Americans, workers who take one hour to vote could cost employers $2.14 billion.
That figure only takes into account potential voters who work an average weekday, spending one hour voting or watching election coverage. For the 128,076,620 total workers who are likely working on Tuesday and interested in the election, the cost could reach $3.5 billion per hour.
“There’s no doubt any Election Day is important to Americans. This Election Day, however, will be closely watched. Considering the cost to employers and the increase in workers requesting time off to vote or watch election coverage, it might be time for a National Holiday,” said Challenger.
Election Day Survey.pdf
Colleen Madden Blumenfeld
Email: colleenmadden@challengergray.com
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FHACT™
What is FISH?
Little FISH Program
Cancer Genetics Inc to Present New Data on Identification of Genomic Changes that Predict both Metastasis and Site of Metastasis in Kidney Cancer at the 2015 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium
By Italia on February 24 2015
CGIs genomic signature, developed in a research collaboration with Memorial Sloan-Kettering, predicts metastasis for clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC)
Clear cell renal cell carcinoma is the most common form of kidney cancer with nearly 43,000 new cases in the US each year and 200,000 globally per year
RUTHERFORD, NJ, February 24, 2015 (Globe Newswire) Cancer Genetics Inc (Nasdaq: CGIX; CGI or the company), an emerging leader in DNA-based cancer diagnostics, announced today that it has identified genomic signatures that can differentiate those patients with clear cell renal carcinoma (ccRCC) whose disease is likely to relapse or metastasize. The signatures were identified in a collaborative study with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) which analyzed and genomically assessed specimens from 144 patients with both primary and metastatic lesions. Genomic signatures identified in this study have the potential to allow for better risk stratification and guided treatment selection for patients with metastatic ccRCC. CGI plans on integrating signatures identified in this study into an NGS-based panel for kidney cancer, which the company expects to be CLIA-certified and available for use for both clinical trials and clinical diagnosis and management of patients.
Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the most common subtype of kidney cancer, with approximately 43,000 new cases diagnosed in the US each year. Approximately 20-30% of ccRCC patients relapse within three years after nephrectomy. Identifying patients whose disease is likely to relapse or metastasize is essential for planning appropriate treatment strategies and improving outcome. Copy number variations in samples from patients whose disease had metastasized to the lung or bone (the two most common sites for metastasis of ccRCC) were also identified and validated in an independent dataset. For patients with early-stage disease, accurate prediction of metastatic activity will enable the delivery of personalized precision medicine with the goal of improving outcomes.
Results of the study will be presented at the Genitourinary Cancers Symposium of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (GU-ASCO). The poster presentation, titled Association of genome-wide copy number alterations with metastasis of clear cell renal cell carcinoma will be delivered by Banumathy Gowrishankar, Ph.D., principal clinical scientist at Cancer Genetics, on February 28 at 7:00am Eastern Time at the Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando, Florida.
About the Genitourinary Cancers Symposium
The Genitourinary Cancers Symposium is a specialized oncology event designed for the exchange of the latest strategies in prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment of prostate, renal, testicular, and urothelial cancers. The symposium is cosponsored by the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO), American Society for Therapeutic and Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and the Society for Urologic Oncology (SUO).
About Cancer Genetics
Cancer Genetics, Inc. is an emerging leader in DNA-based cancer diagnostics, servicing some of the most prestigious medical institutions in the world. Our tests target cancers that are difficult to diagnose and predict treatment outcomes. These cancers include hematological, urogenital and HPV-associated cancers. We also offer a comprehensive range of non-proprietary oncology-focused tests and laboratory services that provide critical genomic information to healthcare professionals, as well as biopharma and biotech companies. Our state-of-the-art reference labs are focused entirely on maintaining clinical excellence and are both CLIA certified and CAP accredited and have licensure from several states including New York State. We have established strong research collaborations with major cancer centers such as Memorial Sloan-Kettering, The Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic, Columbia University and the National Cancer Institute.
For more information, please visit or follow us:
Internet: http://www.cancergenetics.com
Twitter: @Cancer_Genetics
Facebook: www.facebook.com/CancerGenetics
Forward Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements pertaining to future financial and/or operating results, future growth in research, technology, clinical development and potential opportunities for Cancer Genetics, Inc. products and services, along with other statements about the future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans, or prospects expressed by management constitute forward-looking statements. Any statements that are not historical fact (including, but not limited to, statements that contain words such as “will,” “believes,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “estimates”) should also be considered to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, risks inherent in the development and/or commercialization of potential products, risks of cancellation of customer contracts or discontinuance of trials, risks that the transaction will not close or, if it closes, will not realize the currently anticipated benefits, uncertainty in the results of clinical trials or regulatory approvals, need and ability to obtain future capital, maintenance of intellectual property rights and other risks discussed in the Company’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013 and 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2014 along with other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. Cancer Genetics disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
Alison Burchett
Cancer Genetics, Inc.
media@cgix.com
Hans Vitzthum
LifeSci Advisors, LLC
Cancer Genetics Italia S.r.l. 2012 All rights reserved
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8 Before & After Photos Show What Love Does To Dogs
A little TLC goes a long way for a homeless animal. Several of our foster familie shared their before and after pictures with us. Check them out to see what a combination of a loving (foster) home, quality food, and an amazing veterinary team can do for dogs.
Puppy Kingsley became a CARFIE just around King's Day, hence the name. When we found him, he was covered in ticks (yes, those are all ticks on the left picture). Fast forward three/four weeks later and he's all smiles. Kingsley has been chipped and vaccinated and is ready to be adopted. Contact carf.adoption@gmail.com for more info or to set up a meet & greet.
Puppy Maxim was in rough shape when he first joined the CARF family. His paw got severely injured and he wouldn't use it. He was placed in a foster home where he learned how to trust, act like a puppy, and where he made a miraculous recovery. Maxim has been adopted by a very loving family and is using all four paws these days.
We know what you're thinking, 'is this even the same dog?' The answer is, yes. Dushi was found on the landfill. He was in very bad shape and didn't trust people at all. He was placed in a foster home where another, adult dog taught him 'how to dog'. Today, Dushi is the most outgoing, social, hairy cuddle bug that you could imagine. Dushi is living with his foster family but will move to his forever home in June 2016.
Roslyn was found wandering the streets, in heat, dragging a chain around her neck. From the very beginning, Roslyn has been so very sweet. She just wants to cuddle, be pet, and be as close to her human as possible. Roslyn was adopted late May and is now living the good life with her adoptive parents and furry sister.
If it wasn't for those adorable, big ears of her, would you even recognize Leda? This little cutie was rescued just outside of Hato International Airport. Although still a little shy at times, Leda has pretty much turned into a little ball of energy. She isn't ready to be adopted just yet as we are still treating her heartworm condition, but if you're interested in offering Leda a loving home, please contact carf.adoption@gmail.com.
One of last year's recoveries, that we had to share with you. Buddy was found at Cas Abao Beach, where they weren't all too happy with him. A volunteer drove all the way out there to pick him up. He recovered in one of our foster homes and blossomed in the company of other dogs. Buddy was adopted in summer '15 and is living a happy life with his adoptive family and furry friend.
Sam was definitely a public's favorite. Many people followed his updates and asked us how he was doing. Sam was found wandering the streets by himself. A family found and rescued him. He was moved to a foster family where was discovered that Sam was very ill. He wouldn't eat, had no interest in water, and had zero energy. Of course it wasn't just the love he received from his foster family that helped him get better, but it sure did help. Sam has been adopted by his foster family and together with his furry friend (also a CARFIE) he is enjoying life to the fullest.
Who doesn't remember little Awa? Despite the severe issues with his liver and his clumsiness, Awa was an absolute volunteer favorite. Awa no longer wears his cast and is all settled in his 'furever home' now, living happily ever after with the family that found and rescued him.
The overpopulation of homeless dogs on Curaçao is overwhelming, but it's inspiring recoveries like these, that make animal rescue so worthwhile and motivating.
You can help! Being in a home instead of a boarding facility makes a tremendous difference for a lonely and frightened dog. For more information about becoming a foster parent or to schedule a meeting to discuss possibilities, please contact stichtingcarf@gmail.com.
With your help, we can place even more adult dogs and puppies into new homes where they will be loved, cherished, appreciated, and admired. Don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and share our updates. A lot of our dogs find new and loving homes through internet and social media sharing. It really does make a difference!
"I Can't Adopt Or Foster, But I Would Like To Donate"
Your monetary donations are necessary to help cover the veterinary care and treatment of our rescued dogs. All donations, no matter how small, are gratefully received and every penny goes towards the welfare of our animals: Maduro & Curiel's Bank: 21199501 • Banco di Caribe: 301647 500 001 100 01 • PayPal.
Piroska Muller
You are unbelievable SPECIAL! Thank you!
Piroska & Peter Muller
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Monty Python's Spamalot
Resident Theatre Company
Monty Python's Spamalot is a musical comedy adapted from the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The original 2005 Broadway production received 14 Tony Award nominations and won three, including the Tony Award for Best Musical. The Resident Theatre Company (RTC) is a new professional theatre company bringing New York quality theatre to Chester County featuring New York and Philly performers, professional designers, and award winning directors. RTC is under the direction of Kristin McLaughlin Mitchell, who brings her 20 years of professional theatre experience and her Broadway background to West Chester as RTC's Founding Artistic Director.
Add to Calendar 04/14/201708:00 PM 04/14/201711:00 PM America/New_York Monty Python's Spamalot Monty Python's Spamalot is a musical comedy adapted from the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The original 2005 Broadway production received 14... More info at www.chestercounty.com/events/105333/monty-pythons-spamalot Knauer Performing Arts Center 226 N. High Street , West Chester, PA 19380 axEakIwmdzNKaowyWmiv58927
Knauer Performing Arts Center
www.RTCwc.org
range from $25 to $51, except for opening VIP nite at $100
Performing Arts & Dance Avon Grove Kennett Square Chadds Ford Oxford Unionville Landenberg
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Film Review: 10 Cloverfield Lane
By Megan Hess
It would not be an exaggeration to say that without Cloverfield (Reeves, 2008), J.J. Abrams would never have Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Abrams, 2015) on his resume. Before Cloverfield, Abrams had a successful TV career (he’s most known for helping to create and write the show Lost) but, once he produced Cloverfield, people began to respect him as a filmmaker.
With 10 Cloverfield Lane (Trachtenberg, 2016), Abrams returns, in a way, to the film that made him famous. Despite its name, 10 Cloverfield Lane does not share many characteristics with the original – partly because it was initially an original script that got co-opted under the Cloverfield name. Whiplash (Chazelle, 2014) wunderkind Damien Chazelle rewrote much of Josh Campbell and Matthew Stuecken’s work and 10 Cloverfield Lane is the better for it. Chazelle first won over the crowds at Sundance with Whiplash, which won three out of its five Oscar nominations; his most recent project, La La Land (Chazelle, 2016) has not come out in theaters yet, but is already the subject of much talk in the film community, and could lead to a first Best Actress nomination for Emma Stone, its leading lady.
Unfortunately for Chazelle, I do not think that 10 Cloverfield Lane will be up for any Academy Awards this year. However, this does not mean that 10 Cloverfield Lane is an unsatisfactory part of Damien Chazelle’s filmography. (In fact, this is good; it means that people who might not choose to watch his more indie efforts can be exposed to Chazelle’s talent). It stands apart from other recent releases in its genre, not only because of the quality of Chazelle’s writing, but because of the strong performances from its cast.
Emmett (John Gallagher Jr., far left) and Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, center) watch as Howard (John Goodman, right) makes an important decision (10 Cloverfield Lane, Trachtenberg, 2016)
10 Cloverfield Lane only has three major characters: Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, playing a soul sister to her Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Wright, 2010) character Ramona Flowers), Howard (John Goodman, making it impossible to ever watch Monsters Inc. (Docter, Unkrich, & Silverman, 2001) the same way again), and Emmett (John Gallagher, Jr., in a role oddly similar to his Short Term 12 (Crettin, 2013) character, Mason) The plot is equally sparse (at least at first) - Michelle gets into a car wreck and finds herself chained to a water pipe in an underground bunker, kept by a man who insists that the three people living there are all that’s left of the world above. The film’s minimalism is part of its appeal; it allows both the production team and the audience members to dive deep into the characters and keeps the mystery at the forefront. 10 Cloverfield Lane utilizes a slow buildup to an extremely emotional, memorable climax, using unanswered questions and unverified suspicions to scare the audience instead of jump scares. It does have some genuinely frightening moments (including a Breaking Bad-esque killing which is both one of the best and worst parts of the film), but, unlike other horror-suspense films, does not go overkill with them…at least, until the end.
While you do not have to have watched the original Cloverfield to see 10 Cloverfield Lane, it does help the ending make more sense. I predicted what was coming, but I still found it jarring and overly long. It feels like they should have picked a project with those elements already incorporated into it, instead of forcing them so it can fit the Cloverfield label. Other than the ending, however, 10 Cloverfield Lane is highly enjoyable. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a well-written, well-acted blend of psychological and physical horror\suspense.
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Saudis, SoftBank Group Announce World’s Largest Solar Power Project
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth fund and Japan’s SoftBank GroupCorp. 9984 -3.75% announced plans to launch the world’s biggest solar-power-generation project, providing another ambitious goal for two of the world’s richest investors.
The development would start this year with a $1 billion investment from the joint Saudi-SoftBank Vision Fund, said Masayoshi Son, chief executive of SoftBank. It is expected to grow into a $200 billion behemoth that provides about 200 gigawatts of power by 2030, he added—more power than Saudi Arabia would need to light up the entire country by then.
“It’s by far the biggest solar project ever,” Mr. Son said at a news conference Tuesday night in New York, after signing a nonbinding agreement for the project’s development with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The first stage of the project will cost around $5 billion and begin this year, Mr. Son said, with the installation of solar panels that will produce around 7.2 gigawatts of power in 2019. Most of it will be financed with debt.
If taken to the heights outlined by Mr. Son, the solar project would be the biggest undertaking so far announced by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and SoftBank.
Source: wsj.com
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Home > Diane Publishing Books >
Sri Lanka: Recharting U.S. Strategy after the War: Congressional Report
By John F. Kerry (pf); Fatema Z. Sumar (au); Nilmini Gunaratne Rubin (au)
The admin. is currently evaluating U.S. policy toward Sri Lanka in the wake of the military defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), one of the world’s deadliest terrorist groups. Six months since the end of the war, the Sri Lankan Government is dealing with a humanitarian crisis in the North where hundreds of thousands are still displaced and homes and infrastructure are destroyed. The Government faces many challenges in transitioning to peace, and the international community can help. Sri Lanka is an important partner and friend to the U.S., so the Senate Foreign Relations Comm. (SFRC) asked two staff members, Fatema Z. Sumar and Nilmini Gunaratne Rubin, to evaluate U.S. policy towards Sri Lanka. They conduct a week-long fact finding mission Nov. 2–7, 2009, to see firsthand how the country was transitioning after the war. They met dozens of government officials, opposition party leaders, non-governmental organizations, journalists, international donors, foreign diplomats, academics, civil society leaders, business people, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and Sri Lankan citizens in a variety of settings. In addition to Colombo, they traveled throughout the country, including visiting the IDP camps in the North, viewing demining activities in the Northwest, seeing areas rebuilt after the Dec. 2004 tsunami and fighting in the East, and meeting local government officials in the South. Their report provides significant insight and a number of important recommendations to advance U.S. policy in Sri Lanka.
Wordsworth Dictionary of the American West
Willow Basketry
Dreadful Delicacies
Dynamic Nutrition for Maximum Performance: A Complete Nutritional Guide for Peak Sports Performance
Introducing Seoul
Diane Publishing Co
Darby, PA 19023-0617
Copyright � 2004 Diane Publishing Company. All Rights Reserved.
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Home > Colleges > Upper Iowa University
Upper Iowa University is a recognized innovator in the delivery of accredited, quality education and is proud of its diverse range of student populations and progressive, flexible options for traditional and non-traditional students of all ages. Our Online degree programs are affordable, regionally accredited, and accelerated. Both undergraduate and graduate courses utilize asynchronous communication to maximize the flexibility to attend class needed by working adults. The UIU Online Program provides an opportunity for students to balance their educational, work, and personal lives.
Founded in 1857, Upper Iowa University is a private, not-for-profit university providing undergraduate and graduate degree programs and leadership development opportunities to over 6,600 students—nationally and internationally—at its Fayette campus and learning centers worldwide. Upper Iowa University is a recognized innovator in offering accredited, quality programs through flexible, multiple delivery systems, including online and independent study.
Upper Iowa University's vision is that it will be recognized and respected as an exceptional and ascending institution of higher learning, developing global citizens who become lifelong learners prepared for leadership within society. The University's mission will be to provide student-centered undergraduate and graduate educational programs through flexible, multiple delivery systems in an environment in which diversity is respected, encouraged and nurtured.
online degrees at Upper Iowa University
Bachelor of Science in Accounting
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration
Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice
Bachelor of Science in Emergency and Disaster Management
Bachelor of Science in Financial Management
Bachelor of Science in Health Services Administration
Bachelor of Science in Human Resources Management
Bachelor of Science in Human Services
Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems
Bachelor of Science in Marketing
Bachelor of Science in Psychology
Bachelor of Science in Public Administration
Bachelor of Science in Social Science
Master of Public Administration - Public Personnel Management
Master of Higher Education Administration - Community and Technical College Administration
Master of Higher Education Administration - Leadership
Master of Public Administration - General Study
Master of Public Administration - Government Administration
Master of Public Administration - Health and Human Services
Master of Public Administration - Justice and Homeland Security
Master of Public Administration - Nonprofit Organizations
Master of Business Administration - Accounting
Master of Business Administration - Corporate Financial Management
Master of Business Administration - Global Business
Master of Business Administration - Human Resources Management
Master of Business Administration - Organizational Development
Master of Business Administration - Quality Management
Fayette, 52142
accreditaion information
North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, The Higher Learning Commission
View Accreditation Status
Overall 5.0
Satisfy education goals 5.0
Teacher Knowledge 5.0
Effectiveness of School Website 3.0
Explanation of Cost 5.0
Interaction 5.0
Materials 4.0
View Reviews | Write a review
available studies online
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Year: 2002; Ordered: alphabetically; Region: 100 Largest MSAs
Scale Range: 5 – 1,742
1: Akron, OH 117
2: Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY 268
3: Albuquerque, NM 71
4: Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ 250
5: Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA 335
6: Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC 67
7: Austin-Round Rock, TX 188
8: Bakersfield, CA 168
9: Baltimore-Towson, MD 81
10: Baton Rouge, LA 55
11: Birmingham-Hoover, AL 174
12: Boise City-Nampa, ID 163
13: Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH 506
14: Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT 126
15: Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Tonawanda, NY 141
16: Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL 41
17: Charleston-North Charleston, SC 59
18: Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC 79
19: Chattanooga, TN-GA 66
20: Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI 1,742
21: Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN 468
22: Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH 295
23: Colorado Springs, CO 108
24: Columbia, SC 72
25: Columbus, OH 350
26: Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 447
27: Dayton, OH 181
28: Denver-Aurora, CO 488
29: Des Moines, IA 144
30: Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI 375
31: El Paso, TX 37
32: Fresno, CA 172
33: Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI 175
34: Greensboro-High Point, NC 36
35: Greenville, SC 73
36: Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA 218
37: Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT 175
38: Honolulu, HI 5
39: Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land, TX 957
40: Indianapolis, IN 467
41: Jackson, MS 68
42: Jacksonville, FL 54
43: Kansas City, MO-KS 663
44: Knoxville, TN 57
45: Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL 34
46: Lancaster, PA 141
47: Las Vegas-Paradise, NV 21
48: Little Rock-North Little Rock, AR 204
49: Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA 539
50: Louisville, KY-IN 361
51: Madison, WI 208
52: McAllen-Edinburg-Pharr, TX 78
53: Memphis, TN-MS-AR 119
54: Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach, FL 184
55: Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI 196
56: Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI 551
57: Modesto, CA 105
58: Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro, TN 138
59: New Haven-Milford, CT 89
60: New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA 33
61: New York-Newark-Edison, NY-NJ-PA 1,542
62: Ogden-Clearfield, UT 82
63: Oklahoma City, OK 200
64: Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA 518
65: Orlando, FL 80
66: Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA 87
67: Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL 35
68: Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD 931
69: Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ 216
70: Pittsburgh, PA 960
71: Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA 303
72: Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY 174
73: Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA 188
74: Provo-Orem, UT 65
75: Raleigh-Cary, NC 49
76: Richmond, VA 54
77: Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA 339
78: Rochester, NY 243
79: Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, CA 347
80: Salt Lake City, UT 120
81: San Antonio, TX 151
82: San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA 180
83: San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA 412
84: San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 123
85: Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice, FL 47
86: Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, PA 267
87: Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 336
88: Springfield, MA 162
89: St. Louis, MO-IL 960
90: Stockton, CA 129
91: Syracuse, NY 180
92: Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL 97
93: Toledo, OH 177
94: Tucson, AZ 48
95: Tulsa, OK 246
96: Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC 42
97: Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 150
98: Wichita, KS 279
99: Worcester, MA 164
100: Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA 206
Definition: This indicator provides the number of general purpose governments, such as counties, cities, towns, etc., and single-purpose governments, such as school districts, utility authorities, and special districts, in the metro area.
Source: Dr. David Y. Miller, University of Pittsburgh, analysis of U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Census of Governments, 2002.
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« If your baby is crying, what do you do? Stick pins in it
Eugenics, UCL and freedom of speech »
Today we went to see the film Goodbye Christopher Robin. It was very good. I, like most children, read Pooh books as a child.
Image from Wikipedia
I got interested in their author, A.A. Milne, when I discovered that he’d done a mathematics degree at Cambridge. So had my scientific hero A.V. Hill, and (through twitter) I met AV’s granddaughter, Alison Hill. I learned that AV loved to quote A.A.Milne’s poem, OBE.
O.B.E.
I know a Captain of Industry,
Who made big bombs for the R.F.C.,
And collared a lot of £ s. d.–
And he–thank God!–has the O.B.E.
I know a Lady of Pedigree,
Who asked some soldiers out to tea,
And said “Dear me!” and “Yes, I see”–
And she–thank God!–has the O.B.E.
I know a fellow of twenty-three,
Who got a job with a fat M.P.–
(Not caring much for the Infantry.)
I had a friend; a friend, and he
Just held the line for you and me,
And kept the Germans from the sea,
And died–without the O.B.E.
He died without the O.B.E.
This poem clearly reflects Milne’s experience in WW1. He was at the Battle of the Somme, despite describing himself as a pacifist. In the film he’s portrayed as suffering from PTSD (shell shock as it used to be called). The sound of a balloon popping could trigger a crisis. He was from a wealthy background. He, and his wife Daphne, employed a nanny and maid.
The first Pooh book, When We Were Very Young, came out in 1924, when Milne’s son, Christopher Robin, was four. The nanny is, in some ways, the hero of the film. It was she, not his parents, who looked after Christopher Robin, and the child loved her. In contrast, his parents were distant and uncommunicative.
By today’s standards, Christopher Robin’s upbringing looks almost like child neglect. One can only speculate about how much his father’s PTSD was to blame for this. But his mother had no such excuse. It seems likely to me that part of the blame attaches to the fact that Milne was brought up as an “English gentleman”. Looking after children was a job for nannies, not parents. Milne went to a private school (Westminster), and Christopher Robin was sent to private schools. At 13 he was sent away from his parents, to Stowe school, where he suffered a lot of bullying. That is a problem that’s endemic and it’s particularly bad in private boarding schools.
I have seen it at first hand. I went to what was known at the time as a direct grant school, and I was a day boy. But the school did its best to ape a private school. It was a cold and cruel place. Once, I came off my bike and went head first into a sandstone wall. While recovering in the matron’s room I looked at some of the books there. They were mostly ancient boys’ stories that lauded the virtues of the British Empire. Even at 13, I was horrified.
After he reached the age of 9, Christopher Robin resented increasingly what he came to see as his parents’ exploitation of his childhood. After WW2, Christopher Robin got married but his parents didn’t approve of his choice. He became estranged from his parents, and went to run a bookshop in Dartmouth (Devon). Once his father died, he did not see his mother during the 15 years that passed before her death. Even when she was on her deathbed, she refused to see her son.
It’s a sad story, and the film conveys that well. I wonder whether it might have been different if it were not for the horrors of WW1 and the horrors of the upbringing of English gentlemen.
It would be good to think that things were better now. They are better, but the old problems haven’t vanished. The UK is still ruled largely by graduates from Oxford and Cambridge. They take mostly white kids from expensive private schools. These institutions specialise in giving people confidence that exceeds their abilities. Now the UK is mocked across the world for its refusal to modernise and for the delusions of empire that are brexit. The New York Times commented
if what the Brexiteers want is to return Britain to a utopia they have devised by splicing a few rose-tinted memories of the 1950s together with an understanding of imperial history derived largely from images on vintage biscuit tins,
Just look at at this recent New Yorker cover. Look at Jacob Rees-Mogg. And look at Brexit.
Tagged AA Milne, AV Hill, Christopher Robin, PTSD, Winnie the Pooh
2 Responses to Christopher Robin: a sad story
Rumwold Leigh on November 9, 2017 at 09:29
Clearly you understand that it is inappropriate to demand that someone else lives out your fantasies for you. If only this were standard practice in medicine!
RichardRawlins on January 16, 2018 at 13:01
Sadly, and in spite of community pressure, the Harbour Bookshop (one run by Christopher Milne) closed two year’s ago. It is now a print gallery.
We do now have a Community Bookshop, round the corner from the old. Christopher is remembered fondly by many in the town.
Dr Richard Rawlins, Kingswear, Dartmouth, Devon.
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Home > Home Insurance News > Metlife Names Steven L. Sheinheit Executive Vice President
Metlife Names Steven L. Sheinheit Executive Vice President
NEW YORK, August 22, 2005 – MetLife announced today the promotion of Steven L. Sheinheit to executive vice president. Sheinheit will assume additional responsibilities and maintain his role as chief information officer. He will continue to report to MetLife’s senior executive vice president and chief administrative officer, Catherine A. Rein.
Sheinheit has served as senior vice president and chief information officer since January 2005, where he oversees MetLife’s information technology worldwide in support of all lines of business and corporate functions. He will now also be responsible for MetLife’s global sourcing and the enterprise-wide Travelers project integration management office and transition services. From November 2000 to January 2005, he was the company’s chief technology officer. Initially responsible for the company’s enterprise-wide infrastructure, he later received oversight of enterprise application development.
"Steve’s insight and contributions to MetLife’s success over the past several years have been extremely valuable," said Rein. "MetLife has spent approximately $1 billion each year for the past five years to develop common platforms and other resources that provide efficient, streamlined support for our businesses. With Steve’s continued guidance, I’m confident that MetLife will remain a technological leader and a company that has truly improved its performance through technology."
Sheinheit’s leadership in technology has been integral to MetLife’s historic $11.8 billion acquisition of businesses from Citigroup (Travelers Life & Annuity and substantially all of Citigroup’s international insurance businesses), which was completed on July 1, 2005.
Sheinheit is a graduate of the Harvard Advanced Management Program and has an MBA degree in operations research from Baruch College. He received a bachelor’s degree in computer science from City College of New York.
MetLife, a subsidiary of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), is a leading provider of insurance and other financial services to millions of individual and institutional customers throughout the United States. Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, MetLife, Inc. offers life insurance, annuities, automobile and homeowner’s insurance and retail banking services to individuals, as well as group insurance, reinsurance and retirement and savings products and services to corporations and other institutions. Outside the U.S., the MetLife companies have direct insurance operations in Asia Pacific, Latin America and Europe.
Back to Home Insurance News
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Home > Laboratory > About CPT
About CPT
Since 2004, the Centre de Physique Théorique (CPT) is a Mixed Research Unit of CNRS (UMR 7332) associated with 2 universities : Aix-Marseille Université and Université de Toulon.
With more than 50 permanent staff in 8 teams and 3 research groups, the CPT is the largest French theoretical physics laboratory by size. Its research activities cover a wide range of areas in physics and mathematical physics, the study of fundamental interactions and their mathematical structures, the study of complexity in various physical contexts, statistical physics or condensed matter, to conventional or quantum dynamic systems and their applications, including biological systems.
Around 30 PhD students are trained in the laboratory, which also hosts several post-doctoral researchers. The CPT has developed scientific collaborations with several laboratories in the Aix-Marseille area and with numerous laboratories and research institutes in France and abroad.
Brief history of CPT
Yet the laboratory has a much longer history, which reaches back to the beginning of the sixties, when a theory group was founded on the downtown Saint-Charles (Université de Provence) campus. A few years later, this group moved to the Joseph-Aiguier campus where the local headquarter of CNRS (Délégation Provence et Corse) are located, and evolved into a CNRS Proper Research Unit (UPR 7061), before taking its present quarters on the campus of Luminy in 1978.
In 2012, the three former universities of the Aix Marseille region, Université de Provence (U1), Université de la Méditerranée (U2), Université Paul Cézanne (U3) united as a single institution, Aix Marseille Université (AMU), and CPT is therefore now a mixed research unit with only two universities (AMU and UTLN), and CNRS, with identification UMR 7332.
In the past, three members of the laboratory (among which two former CPT Directors) became Deans of the Faculty of Sciences of Luminy. One of them is presently Vice-President of the Scientific Council of Aix Marseille University.
Members of the laboratory were also at the origin of the Department of Mathematics of the University of Toulon, and of the Laboratory of Theoretical Physics (UMR 5152) in Toulouse.
Although initially mainly centered on mathematical physics (quantum mechanics, quantum field theory, statistical mechanics, operator algebras, differential geometry,…), CPT rapidly developed research activities towards fundamental issues in particle physics and, somewhat later, in nanophysics, quantum gravity, or cosmology, for instance. In a similar process, the experience gained in the study of dynamical systems found new applications in other areas (control of chaos in various physical systems, among them fusion plasmas, or biology and immunology). More recently, the activities in statistical physics are developing a line of research towards the study of complex networks, which offer many possibilities for interdisciplinary applications (to epidemiology, but also to the social sciences, for instance).
CPT has two laboratory sites, in Marseille and Toulon. The principle site is located in the Luminy campus south of Marseille (one of the three scientific campuses of Aix Marseille Université, the two other being Saint Charles Campus and Saint Jérôme Campus), next to the Calanques National Park. The secondary site on the campus de la Garde is used by the university faculty from UTLN for their teaching and part of their research purposes.
CPT affiliations and partnerships
Fédération de Recherche des Unités Mathématiques de Marseille
Together with the mathematics laboratory of Marseille «Institut de Mathématiques de Marseille» (I2M) (which is the result of the fusion between the two laboratories «Institut de Mathématiques de Luminy» (IML, UMR 6206), and «Laboratoire d’Analyse, Topologie et Probabilités» (LATP, UMR 6632)), CPT is a founding member of the Research Federation of the Mathematics Units of Marseille (FRUMAM, FR2281), created in 2002 by the CNRS and by the three Aix-Marseille universities, later on also to be joined by the UTLN, and whose former director is a member of the CPT.
Fédération Nationale de Recherche pour la Fusion par Confinement Magnétique
The laboratory is also a founding member of the National Research Federation for Fusion by Magnetic Confinement (FRFCM ITER), created in 2005 by CNRS, Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique (CEA), and six institutions, in view of the installation of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) program in Cadarache, about 50 km North of Marseille. In addition, the CPT is a «Laboratoire de Recherche Conventionné» (LRC) with the CEA in Cadarache since 2006, and maintains a collaboration with members of the «Institut de Recherche sur la Fusion Magnétique» (IRFM) within the framework of a scientific program financed by the EURATOM organization since 2003 and also by the French National Research Agency (ANR) grants.
Laboratoire d’Excellence : LABEX OCEVU et LABEX ARCHIMEDE
In 2012, «Investissements d’Avenir» (Future Investments) funding programs were developed at the French National Level, and several universities of excellence were selected to benefit from these. As a result, new funding structures arose at AMU, which have a significant impact on the research panorama, in particular at CPT. These structures bear the name of «excellence laboratories» (LABEX). There are ten LABEX at AMU, which are ultimately managed by the excellence initiative AMIDEX. CPT participates to two such LABEXs: LABEX OCEVU and LABEX ARCHIMEDE.
The LABEX OCEVU provides a structuring, collaborative and interdisciplinary environment on the scale of the southern France axis Marseille- Montpellier-Toulouse, for research performed on the understanding of the physics of the universe, its origin, its evolution as well as what composes it. The collaborations involve 6 mixed research units of CNRS:
CPPM (Centre de Physique des Particules de Marseille, UMR6550)
CPT (Centre de Physique Théorique, UMR7332)
LAM (Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille, UMR6110)
L2C (Laboratoire Charles Coulomb, UMR5221) in Montpellier
LUPM (Laboratoire Universitaire et Particules de Montpellier, UMR5299)
IRAP (Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, UMR5277) in Toulouse.
The OCEVU Labex provides funding for both experimental and theory projects which are in common between these laboratories. As far as CPT is concerned, it has provided joint PhD grants, joint Postdocs, funding for visitors and for collaborative projects. There is no doubt that since its creation, it has boosted such collaborations between the laboratories in the Marseille region as well as with Montpellier and Toulouse. This LABEX is active on the following axes: research, training, scientific outreach, and technological transfer. On the research side, the questions that are typically asked nowadays about the understanding of the universe require an interdisciplinary approach which combine cosmology, particle physics, and astro-particles.
The LABEX ARCHIMEDE focuses on pure and applied mathematics and computer science. The goal of LABEX ARICHIMEDE is to:
Reinforce multidisciplinary collaborations between research units of the Aix Marseille Université area,
Promote international partnerships,
Improve relations between research and teaching at the university level.
It is composed of 4 CNRS research units, which regroup established scientists from Aix Marseille Université in the area of Mathematics and Computer Sciences which have a worldwide reputation, together with an international conference center which runs workshops all year long :
Centre de Physique Théorique (CPT, UMR 7332)
Institut de Mathématiques de Marseille (I2M, UMR 7373)
Laboratoire d’Informatique Fondamentale de Marseille (LIF, UMR 7279)
Laboratoire des Sciences de l’Information et des Systèmes (LSIS, UMR 7296)
Centre International de Rencontres Mathématiques (CIRM, UMS 822)
Institut Convergence CENTURI
The Turing Centre for Living Systems (CENTURI) federates a growing community of biologists, physicists, mathematicians, computer scientists and engineers. Interdisciplinarity is the core principle of the Turing Centre and is central to its activity in research, education and technology. CENTURI is laureate of the National call "Instituts Convergence" of the French State in the context of the "Investments for the Future" programme (2nd PIA) and is co-funded by the French National Research Agency and the A*MIDEX Foundation.
Geometry, Physics, and Symmetries
Statistical Physics and Complex Systems
Dynamical Systems: Theory and Applications
Quantum Dynamics and Spectral Analysis
Directory by functions
PhD and HDR defenses
Colloquiums, Schools, and Workshops
General Interest Seminars
Fundamental Interactions Seminars
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June 2019 | August 2019
Group “Fundamental Interactions”
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US imports forecast to decline in coming months owing to US-China trade spat
MAJOR container ports in the US have seen a marked slowdown in import volumes after the rush to restock shelves ahead of the imposition of US tariffs on Chinese goods has calmed down.
National Retail Federation (NRF) vice president for supply chain Jonathan Gold explained: “With the holiday season behind us, the immediate pressure to stock up on merchandise has passed but retailers remain concerned about tariffs and their impact on the nation’s economy.”
He continued: “Retailers have also brought in much of their spring merchandise early to protect consumers against higher prices that will eventually come with tariffs. Our industry is hoping the talks currently under way will bring an end to this ill-advised trade war and result in a more appropriate way of responding to China’s trade abuses that won’t force American consumers, workers and businesses to pay the price.”
US ports covered by Global Port Tracker report handled 1.81 million TEU in November, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available. That was up 2.5 per cent year on year but down 11.4 per cent from the record of 2.04 million TEU set in October, reported World Maritime News, Rotterdam.
December was estimated at 1.79 million TEU, up 3.7 per cent year on year which would bring 2018 to a total of 21.6 million TEU, an increase of 5.3 per cent over 2017’s record 20.5 million TEU.
Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett said: “But we are projecting declining volumes in the coming months and an overall weakness in imports for the first half of the year.”
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EU-Indonesia Overview
EU Overview
The European Union (EU) was originally established with the aim of ending the devastating conflicts between neighboring countries in the continent over the past centuries. In 1950 the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was founded to unite European countries economically and politically with a long-term vision of securing lasting peace. The six founders of the ECSC were Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. In 1957 with the signing of the Treaty of Rome, the European Economic Community (EEC), or ‘Common Market’, came into existence.
The EU existence was further strengthened with the 1993 Maastricht Treaty on European Union and the 1999 Treaty of Amsterdam, building towards the EU that exists today. Free movement of European Union citizens was sealed through Schengen Agreement in 1995; a treaty that abolished internal border controls and allows EU citizens to move across member states’ borders without having to carry their passports.
The European Union currently has 28 member states, practically forming the world’s largest voluntary and peaceful bloc uniting over 500 million European citizens.
May 9th is celebrated annually as Europe Day, marking the anniversary of “Schuman declaration”. Robert Schuman was then French foreign minister when in a speech in 1950 he laid out the idea of a new political co-operation form in Europe, whereby war between European nations would remain a shared history, yet unthinkable in the future.
Indonesia Overview
Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago, because the country suitably represents around 17,000 islands which span eastward from Sabang in northern Sumatra to Merauke in Irian Jaya. With over 261 million people, it is the world's 4th most populous country (2017). As one of the founding members of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Indonesia is also the largest economy in the region.
Doing Business in Indonesia
Indonesia is a high potential market for European companies and already a major trade and investment destination for the EU in Southeast Asia.
In 2018, Indonesia was ranked 72 in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business survey, making it one of the top biggest improvements globally. Several reforms were acknowledged to have been the main contributors of this significant jump, which were: improvements in starting new business, infrastructure, cross border measures. Furthermore, in 2017, the government announced a total of 16 deregulation packages aimed to improve trade and investment climate.
Please visit www.eibn.org to find more about Indonesia, its market sectors, its trade and investment relations with the EU and the wide range of business opportunities.
EU – Indonesia Overview
Indonesia, as the world’s 7th largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity (World Bank, 2017) thanks to a rapid growing of Indonesian middle class, has attracted European companies to export to and invest in the country. Economic size and market opportunity between the EU and Indonesia leads the two partners to establish an extensive and strong economic relationship. As a result, Indonesia has arisen as one of the most strategic partners of the European Union and the third largest trading partner for the EU outside of Europe.
From 2007 to 2017, the EU-Indonesia trade has accumulated to a figure of around EUR 250 billion.
From the relationship, Indonesia enjoys a trade surplus of approximately EUR 70 billion.
Data source: Eurostat
The EU trade with Indonesia has a complementarity nature and is beneficial for both sides. To show both economies commitment in strengthening the relationship, in July 2016 a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement was launched. The fifth round of CEPA negotiations was completed in July 2018. The negotiation report stated that the discussions were held in a very friendly atmosphere and recorded good progress on most chapters. The Indonesia-EU CEPA will cover various chapters including: trade in goods, trade in services, customs and trade facilitation, technical barriers to trade (TBT), investment, intellectual property, economic cooperations. It is foreseen that the agreement will cover a total of sixteen (16) chapters.
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Laguna Blends Over Subscribes Private Placement and Closes the Second Tranche of Private Placement for 5,537,800 units for total proceeds of $1,384,450
KELOWNA, BC – 11/4/2016 (PRESS RELEASE JET) — Laguna Blends, Inc. (CSE: LAG) (OTC: LAGBF) (Frankfurt: LB6A.F) (the “Company” or “Laguna”) is pleased to announce a second tranche closing of its it non-brokered private placement (the “Private Placement”). The second tranche closing consisted of the issuance of 5,537,800 units at a price of $0.25 per unit for gross proceeds of $1,384,450. Laguna oversubscribed the private placement for a total of $1,791,250. Each unit consists of one common share and one share purchase warrant, each warrant entitling the holder to acquire one additional common share of the Company at a price of $0.40 per warrant share for a period of twelve months.
All securities issued under the second tranche are subject to a hold period expiring four months and one day from the date of issuance. In connection with the private placement, the company paid a cash or shares finder’s fee of up to seven per cent.
Bryan Loree, CFO of Laguna Blends said, “The demand of the Laguna private placement is a testament that Laguna is working hard to deliver shareholder value. The additional capital will ensure that Laguna can continue to deliver on its business strategy.”
About Laguna Blends Inc.
Laguna is engaged in development, sales, marketing and distribution of hemp based products and solutions. We specialize in identifying emerging trends and opportunities such as Cannabidiol (CBD), one of the most useful compounds found in the hemp plant.
Laguna generates retail sales through a proprietary, online, social media platform, driven by affiliates. Laguna currently markets products in the USA and Canada. In addition, Laguna is seeking joint ventures, acquisitions and wholesale distribution opportunities in the hemp and CBD industry. Laguna is planning an aggressive international expansion into Asia and Europe in 2017. Laguna offers both hemp and CBD related products.
Laguna is currently seeking joint ventures and acquisitions to expand its portfolio and will aggressively begin international expansion into Asia and Europe in 2017.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
“Stuart Gray”
CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS:
Howe & Bay
Suite 600 – 535 Howe St.
V6C 2Z4
Laguna Blends
ir@lagunablends.com
www.lagunablends.com
https://cbdskincream.com/
Join Us On Face Book: https://www.facebook.com/LagunaBlends/
Twitter: @LagunaBlends
Forward-Looking Information:
This news release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities laws relating to statements regarding the Company’s business, products and future the Company’s business, its product offerings and plans for sales and marketing. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Such forward looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance and developments to differ materially from those contemplated by these statements depending on, among other things, the risks that the Company’s products and plan will vary from those stated in this news release and the Company may not be able to carry out its business plans as expected. Except as required by law, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation, and does not intend, to update any forward looking statements or forward-looking information in this news release. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct and makes no reference to profitability based on sales reported. The statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release. None of the statements contained in this news release are health claims and the FDA has not evaluated these claims. Laguna’s products and proposed products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Full News Story: http://pressreleasejet.com/news/laguna-blends-over-subscribes-private-placement-and-closes-the-second-tranche-of-private-placement-for-5537800-units-for-total-proceeds-of-1384450.html
Distributed by Press Release Jet
Company Name: Laguna Blends Inc.
Contact Person: Stuart Gray
Email: lagunablendsceo@gmail.com
Website: www.lagunablends.com
CategoriesBusiness, Financial Market, Personal Finance, Stock Market News
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MANON OF THE SPRING - Content
MANON OF THE SPRING
From the Jan. 22, 1988, Deseret News
MANON OF THE SPRING — Yves Montand, Daniel Auteuil, Emmanuelle Beart; in French with English subtitles; rated PG (nudity, profanity, violence)
The most eagerly awaited sequel of 1988 is not "Rambo III," surprise, surprise. It's "Manon of the Spring" — at least for those of us who savored "Jean de Florette."
"Jean de Florette," last year's best foreign-language film, and one of the best films to come along in many years in any language, had an open ending, promising vengeance on the part of the title character's young daughter for the wrongs done to her family by the last two survivors of the Soubeyrans.
"Manon of the Spring" delivers on that promise but the revenge dealt out here is not of the Charles Bronson variety. This is much more subtle, and in the end it is "Papet" Soubeyran (Yves Montand) who undoes himself with his own pride and greed. (The twist ending will knock your socks off — and what a sense of justice you will feel.)
But this is low-key drama, and, if anything, "Manon" is even more low-key than "Jean de Florette."
The strength in "Manon," as with "Jean," is in the storytelling technique of co-writer/director Claude Berri. The characters and period are rich, the story thoroughly engrossing and the emotions built up are genuine.
In addition, Berri pays incredible attention to detail, so that you will feel you are really in this small, unsophisticated rural area of France during the 1930s.
"Manon" begins 10 years after the ending of "Jean de Florette," with Manon (Emmanuelle Beart) now a woman, living in the hills near her father's former home, herding goats and hiding from people who pass by.
Meanwhile, Soubeyran and his nephew Ugolin (Daniel Auteuil) have made the fields rich with their carnations, using the spring they plugged up before Jean lived there, and which Manon saw them unplug after her father died.
Manon is considered a "savage" by the villagers, but that doesn't stop the new schoolteacher from falling in love with her. And it doesn't stop Ugolin from becoming infatuated with her as well.
Naturally, Ugolin's feelings don't sit very well with his uncle, and the conflict begins. But it really takes hold when Manon, purely by chance, stumbles on a way to punish not only the two Soubeyrans — but the entire village.
How she does that, and what follows won't be revealed here. Suffice it to say that if you have missed the kind of fully developed storytelling the movies used to take for granted, "Manon of the Spring" continues the tale of "Jean de Florette" just as fluidly and magnificently as its predecessor.
Daniel Auteuil and Emmanuelle Beart (yes, believe it or not, the same woman who starred in the awful "Date With an Angel" last year) are very good here, as is the entire supporting cast. But it is Yves Montand who stands head and shoulders above the rest in delivering nothing short of the performance of his career. Come Oscar time, he should be in the best actor category. He won't be, but he should be.
And Plitt Theaters is doing a very wise thing by bringing the first film — "Jean de Florette" — back to the Utah Theater, so that if you haven't seen it you can do so before taking in "Manon."
There's no better double-bill in town, though they are at separate theaters. And, in fact, despite all the fine films playing right now – there are no better movies in town, period.
"Manon of the Spring" is rated PG for a brief nude scene, a profanity or two and some violence.
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U.S. Cong To Hear On Religious Minorities In India
WASHINGTON: A key U.S. Congressional committee has called for a public hearing on the rights and freedoms of religious minorities in India to be held early in June. The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission has invited experts from India, the U.S. and the UK to testify before it at the U.S. Congress on June 3. The hearing would be led by Congressman Patrick Meehan, co-chair of the American Sikh Caucus,
Congressmen Joseph Pitts and Jim McGovern, co-chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. No U.S. government official would testify before the committee.
This briefing will outline the important legal, social and cultural issues related to the persecution of minorities in India, according to a media report.
Panelists include Rev Joshva Raja, Research Supervisor, University of Amsterdam; Iqtidar Karamat Cheema, director, Institute for Leadership and Community Development, United Kingdom; and Professor Gurdarshan Sing Dhillon, Professor of History (retired), Punjab University.
Sahar Chaudhry, Senior Policy Analyst, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom and John Sifton, Asia Advocacy Director, Human Rights Watch too would testify before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Committee.
The panelists will also make recommendations as to how the U.S. can play a role to safeguard religious minorities in India and around the world, a statement of the committee said. India's constitution guarantees that "all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practice and propagate religion," it said.
However, attacks against Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and Dalits have increased in recent years, it alleged.
A 2015 report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom asked the Obama Administration to press the Indian government to publicly rebuke officials and religious leaders who endorse these hateful acts, the committee said.
13353 Alondra Blvd, Suite 115, Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670
Phone: 562-802-9720/Fax: 562-802-9750
Email: info@indiajournal.com
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The US Department of States | Press Statement | April 30, 2019
Department Spokesperson – Washington, DC:
The United States strongly condemns the Iranian regime’s growing crackdown on women advocating for their human rights. Yasmin Aryani, Monireh Arabshahi, and Mojgan Keshavarz have been arrested in recent days for the crime of peacefully protesting compulsory hijab. Vida Movahedi, who became the symbol of the nationwide protests against the regime last year as the Girl of Engelhab Street, has been unjustly sentenced to one year in prison for her protests against forced veiling. Shaparak Shajarizadeh was sentenced to 20 years in prison for peacefully protesting the hijab.
The United States again denounces the cruel sentencing of human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh to 148 lashes and 33 years in prison for standing up for those the Iranian government oppresses. Many other women are being threatened and interrogated by security forces as the regime increasingly fears the voices of its own people. We call on the Iranian authorities to end their harassment and imprisonment of women who are simply expressing their conscience and demanding basic rights.
https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2019/04/291412.htm
Iran: New Wave of Oppression Against Baha’is
New study calls Iran regime’s elections undemocratic
Tensions Escalate in War of Words between Iran and Jordan
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Orlando's Favorite Charities and Causes
UNICEF: Orlando visits children in Ukraine
Started by Sunstar, April 28, 2016
A Hug From Orlando Made Her Dream Come True
Ukraine Today
Orlando Bloom pays visit to Donbas
Hollywood star has unexpectedly arrived in eastern Ukraine
Hollywood star Orlando Bloom is paying a visit to the Donetsk region. He is meeting with children in Sloviansk, Kramatorsk and Sviatohirsk. These cities have been freed from the Russian-backed separatist forces.
The official goal of Bloom's visit is currently unknown. His arrival has been kept secret. But fans have uploaded photos with the star to the Internet. According to the local media outlets, Bloom has arrived in eastern Ukraine as a UNICEF Goodwill ambassador.
The star of "The lord of the rings" and "The Pirates of the Caribbean" movies is reportedly staying in Ukraine for the week.
Red Sox Nation's #1 Orlando Fan
Oh wow! I am so proud of Orlando for wanting to help these special children in the Ukraine.
I had a feeling he would be going somewhere with UNICEF soon so I was right.
Thank you so much Rene for the heads up
Welshwoman
Likes a Little Whipped Cream with Her Elf
Kudos to Orlando for visiting the children of Eastern Ukraine as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. God bless the man for giving of his time, talents and energy to help all children in need. Thanks, Rene, for providing the info.
Boxing Milkman
Such a compassionate and brave man. Ukraine's east is not an easy place to be right now. All the more important to help the people there! Thank you, Orlando.
NEW YORK/ KYIV, 4 May 2016 – UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Orlando Bloom travelled to conflict-hit eastern Ukraine to raise awareness of the global education crisis facing children in humanitarian emergencies.
Bloom visited classrooms hit by shells just three kilometres from the frontline of the conflict that broke out more than two years ago. Approximately 580,000 children are in urgent need of aid and more than 230,000 children have been forced from their homes. Around one in five schools and kindergartens in the region have been damaged or destroyed and around 300,000 children are in immediate need of assistance to continue their education.
The trip came as new findings show that nearly a quarter of the world’s school-aged children – 462 million – now live in countries affected by crisis.
“I met children like 11 year old Liana who hid in the basement of their school for almost two weeks, in freezing conditions, without lighting or heat, while shelling devastated the classrooms above,” said Orlando Bloom, who first travelled to see UNICEF’s work in 2007. “Now, after surviving some of the most terrifying experiences life could possibly throw at them, all they want is to get back to the safety and routine of school and plan for their futures.”
Education Cannot Wait - proposing a fund for education in emergencies, written by the Overseas Development Institute and commissioned by a range of partners including UNICEF, reveals that nearly one in six – or 75 million – children from pre-primary to upper-secondary age (3-18) living in nations affected by crises is classed as being in desperate need of educational support. However, on average, only two per cent of global humanitarian appeals are dedicated to education.
At the very first World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul in less than three weeks’ time, a groundbreaking new fund - Education Cannot Wait - will be launched to give access to learning to every child in need in emergencies. It aims to raise nearly $4 billion to reach 13.6 million children in need of education in emergencies within 5 years, before reaching 75 million children by 2030.
“Education changes lives in emergencies,” said Josephine Bourne, UNICEF’s Global Chief of Education. “Going to school keeps children safe from abuses like trafficking and recruitment into armed groups and is a vital investment in children’s futures and in the future of their communities. It is time education is prioritised by the international community as an essential part of basic humanitarian response, alongside water, food and shelter.”
In eastern Ukraine, and in emergencies across the world, UNICEF is working around the clock to get children back to learning – to keep them safe and secure their futures. UNICEF so far has supported the repair and rehabilitation of 57 schools in eastern Ukraine and has supplied hundreds of thousands of children with vital supplies like schoolbooks, desks and pencils, as well as psychological support and catch-up classes. UNICEF has also reached nearly 280,000 children with information on the risks posed by land mines and unexploded ordnance, which litter communities near the frontline.
“For too many children in eastern Ukraine, simply walking to school could end their life, or result in life-changing injuries,” said Giovanna Barberis, UNICEF Representative in Ukraine. “Since the beginning of the crisis, more than 55,000 unexploded landmines, shells and other ordnance have been found and removed - and we know this is just the tip of the iceberg. Our aim is to ensure that all children can safely get to class, study and play.”
During his time in eastern Ukraine, Bloom also met with schoolchildren who are receiving counselling from UNICEF-supported psychologists, to help them recover from their distressing experiences during the conflict.
“Education is providing children in eastern Ukraine with the building blocks to rebuild their lives in a safe and supportive environment,” said Bloom. “Every child in humanitarian emergencies deserves a fair chance of a bright future.”
Across the world, more than 37 million primary and lower secondary children are out of school and educational facilities are continually forced to close as a consequence of conflicts and of natural disasters – putting millions more at risk. In Syria alone more than 6000 schools are out of use – attacked, occupied by the military or taken over as an emergency shelter. In North-East Nigeria and Cameroon more than 1,800 schools have been shut due to the crisis and in conflict-hit Central African Republic a quarter of schools are not functioning.
UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere. For more information about UNICEF and its work visit: www.unicef.org.
13220 Ukraine Orlando Bloom Visit BROLL SELECTS HD PAL
13220 Ukraine Orlando Bloom Visit FULL BROLL HD PAL
Photographs: © UNICEF / Georgiev
Orlando Bloom: We Cannot Let Crisis Ruin Education
Orlando Bloom May 3, 2016
My visit to eastern Ukraine showed me how education can changes lives in a disaster
A new UNICEF report shows that almost a quarter of the world’s children live in countries affected by crisis.
“How could anybody do this to children?” Those are the words of a kindergarten principal, Lena Antonenko, whom I met in a town called Myronivskyi, near the frontline of the conflict in eastern Ukraine. When the shelling began last year, she took shelter in the basement of the building with a group of terrified children and other teachers. The kids were no older than 5—the same age as my own son. They cowered in the dark on tiny white benches made for toddlers, with no electricity, no running water and nowhere to go to the toilet. Suddenly there were two catastrophically loud bangs. Teachers and children emerged to find walls collapsed, every single window blown out and rubble waist-high in some rooms. This was a kindergarten. The children were obviously hysterical. It is no exaggeration to say that they will never be the same again.
In eastern Ukraine, about one in five schools and kindergartens have been damaged or destroyed in a conflict that has been going on for more than two years now. It seems to be largely forgotten internationally, but about 580,000 children are in urgent need of aid, and 300,000 children need help to continue their education. There are schools still in need of repair. Children need basic educational supplies like pens, books, schoolbags and desks. They also need emotional support to help them cope with the terrifying experiences they have lived through, as well as a chance just to play without being afraid. They deserve a chance to be children again.
Sadly, this situation is all too common around the world. New figures show that nearly a quarter of the world’s school-aged children—that’s 462 million kids—now live in countries affected by crisis. About 75 million of them are in desperate need of educational support.
If an entire generation grows up in crisis, without access to the education they need, what does that mean for their communities? For their countries? Children who are out of school can find themselves in terrible danger. They are easier targets of abuse, exploitation and recruitment by armed forces and groups. They also are not given a chance to access learning that can help them find what they love in life and build a peaceful future for themselves and the people around them.
We have to do better. It’s clear that education can change lives in a disaster. Going to school keeps children safe and gives them a vital routine—just what they need in a time of huge upheaval. UNICEF is doing whatever it takes to get children in humanitarian emergencies back to learning—whether it be by giving children learning supplies, repairing destroyed schools or by training teachers to counsel children through this conflict. But with only an average of 2% of humanitarian appeals being devoted to education—there’s still so much to be done.
Thankfully, there is work going on to change this. A new fund is being launched in just three weeks’ time at the very first World Humanitarian Summit in Turkey: Education Cannot Wait. The aim is to give millions of children living in emergencies access to education.
This is the kind of message of hope that children like those I met in eastern Ukraine need. “We owe these children,” Antonenko said. “Even though we didn’t start this, we owe these children for the rest of their lives for what they have gone through.”
The statistics are mind-blowing! Thank you, Orlando, UNICEF, and all those who care about the young and vulnerable, and their needs. I am happy to learn about the Education Cannot Wait summit in Turkey. Truly it cannot -- the alternative is the loss of a generation, or so it would seem.
Rene, thanks for posting the various links and the photos.
1 hour ago, Welshwoman said:
Barbara, I agree with every thing you said here and I couldn't have said better if tried. I am all emotional after reading the articles and seeing the wonderful pictures of Orlando with these sweet, beautiful children that have endured so much.
Thank you so much Rene for posting the pictures, the video links and the articles to Orlando for wanting to help these special children.
Here's the clip from CNN:
Powerful message from Orlando. Thanks, Rene, for providing this video.
Orlando's visit to the Ukraine has really opened my eyes to what these children are going through. I also can see just how much he cares.
Thank you so much Rene for posting this video.
Willing to share her peanut butter and banana sandwiches
Thanks for posting all these photos and videos, Rene. I always find the UNICEF site a little confusing.
Watching the videos brought tears to my eyes. Watching Orlando put on the flak jacket made me feel a little ill, but he is so loving and giving. And all those precious children and their teachers: I hope UNICEF can help them.
Orlando Bloom: No one should have to live through this
By Orlando Bloom
Updated 0114 GMT (0914 HKT) May 6, 2016
Editor's Note: Orlando Bloom is an English film and stage actor. He was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in October 2009. He recently traveled to conflict-torn eastern Ukraine, where UNICEF says an estimated 580,000 children are in urgent need of aid. The views expressed are his own.
(CNN) - April 27, 2016: We wake up early and travel by car for three hours from Kharkiv, a city in eastern Ukraine, toward the zone worst affected by the conflict in the country. Miles of black, fertile farmland stretch long and flat outside the window, framed by vivid green grass and puffs of trees. It is difficult to imagine that we could be approaching a conflict zone.
We arrive at School 13 in Slavyansk, one of the first schools to be hit during the fighting. One quiet spring day, a shell crashed into the roof of the school theater. A generation of children who had never known fighting were suddenly under fire. In shock, they ran screaming into the school basement, where teachers attempted to calm them. I can't imagine what I would have done in their place -- one minute you are sitting in class on a normal school day, the next the world is falling down around you.
It is clear that, nearly two years on, the conflict is far from over. Around 580,000 children are in desperate need of aid, while about 300,000 need support to continue their education. Around one-in-five schools and kindergartens is damaged or destroyed. The neighboring areas, like here in Slavyansk, are flooded with children who have fled the active conflict zone -- more than 230,000 have been forced from their homes in total.
Every child has been through a terrible experience -- they have witnessed explosions and destruction, they have lost their homes, some of them have lost family -- all have lost their routines. One of them is 9-year-old Gleb, who told me what happened to him when his school was hit at the height of the fighting. As a father of a 5-year-old boy myself, it is hard to hear what he went through.
"My friends and I were going to get ice cream when a shell flew over our heads," he told me. "I heard 'boom, boom' and that was the shell that hit our school. A second shell exploded over our heads and we saw the bits and pieces falling on the ground all around us."
Gleb ran home to his mother and took shelter in the basement.
"Everyone was hiding in bomb shelters in basements," he tells me. All of my friends left. My mother and I went to another city as soon as we could to get away from the fighting."
What does an experience like that do to a child? No one should ever have to live through this.
In the panic of conflict, people think of the basics: Get to cover as fast as you can; save your life. But recovery is a more complex picture. When conflict hit this area, one of UNICEF's first priorities was to help get children back to learning. After all, experience shows that education is critical in times of emergencies, and it should be part of a basic humanitarian response -- alongside providing food, water and shelter.
When you read the statistics, it is easy to understand why. Nearly a quarter of the world's school-aged children -- 462 million -- live in countries affected by crisis. An estimated 37 million children between the ages of 6 and 15 in crisis-hit countries are out of school. In this situation, outside a safe and supportive learning environment, children can find themselves in terrible danger: targets of abuse, exploitation and recruitment by armed forces and groups. They are also missing the opportunity to learn and play: to be children.
At School 13 in Slavyansk, UNICEF has helped refurbish the building and has provided new furniture, like desks and cupboards, to make sure classrooms are functioning. But it's not just about four walls, schoolbags, books and pens. Giving children the chance to learn during traumatic experiences is also being prioritized. It is imperative for children's recovery. In this school, Lego blocks are now provided in most of the classrooms, while table tennis tables are set up in the halls for use during breaks.
Two communities become one
Next we travel to Svyatogorsk Community Support Center. Two years ago there were 3,500 people in this town of one school and one kindergarten. As the conflict intensified, suddenly it swelled to more than 10,000. More than 40 children come on daily, and most of the staff are displaced themselves. Being forced from your home, losing everything, is hard enough. Add in moving to a new town and to a new school, amid the tensions of conflict, and you have a mix that would be too much to bear for anyone, especially children.
In Svyatogorsk, schools started to run double shifts -- one for local children, another for the newcomers. I was told something needed to be done to encourage integration. They started to mix up classes in the schools. And the center for displaced children opened its doors, starting to function as a community center where everyone is welcome -- newcomers and long-term residents. Two communities slowly began to become one.
Witnesses to unspeakable violence
Our final stop of the day is the most challenging. Families who have endured terrible experiences during the conflict -- losing family members, homes, witnessing unspeakable violence -- come here to the Promir Centre for Psychotherapeutic support in Slovyansk, which is also backed by UNICEF. I'm told there is not a culture of using psychologists in this part of the world, so for some families it is difficult to even come through the doors. However, the center focuses much of its efforts on outreach and today about 10 children are gathered around a sandpit with a child psychologist, drawing shapes in the sand and talking through their hopes and dreams as well as their insecurities and fears.
One of them is 8-year-old Maxim. He left Kirovsk in Luhansk nearly two years ago, when his dad was killed by a sniper. He arrived in Slovyansk with his two brothers and his mother, who was in a desperate state.
"I couldn't stop crying -- I was beside myself," his mother, Ludmila, says. "My child saw everything and heard everything. There was a machine that shot mortars stationed right next to our house. There were shells being fired above our house."
As soon as she heard about the center, she arranged therapy sessions for herself and for her sons.
"Maxim was really scared of the darkness. He couldn't even go to the toilet alone. He has been working here with a psychologist to draw his fears, as a way to get rid of them."
Maxim is quiet, but now plays happily in the sand with other children and comes for regular sessions. He smiles shyly and tells me one of the best things about him is his good behavior. His mum agrees. The center feels warm, friendly and inviting.
Today, armored vehicles are waiting for us. We are going deeper into the conflict zone, to see the impact on children's education at the front line. Our security team shows us how to put on flak jackets and helmets. They are uncomfortable -- heavy and hot. We pack the jackets around our bodies in the car, ready to put them on at any sign of trouble. I don't really know what to expect. Why are children going to school in a place where I have to travel in armored cars and with bulletproof clothing?
There is very little traffic on the scarred road, which is filled with potholes. We have been warned not to leave the vehicle under any circumstance. The fields to either side are littered with landmines and unexploded ordinances. From time to time we see well-kept trenches slice through the land.
We face checkpoint after checkpoint. Soldiers padded with camouflage and carrying guns approach the vehicles. At one point a tank stands to the side of the road. At the last checkpoint, we are warned we must turn left, toward the community of Myronivskyi, otherwise we'll drive straight into the middle of the front line.
The town feels empty. Grey buildings stretch up from the street. Some are semi-demolished, eaten by shells. Two women clutching grocery bags cross in front of us. Where have they come from and where are they going?
I am standing by the entrance of School No 2 in Myronivskyi, reading a sign painted in black on the door -- "bomb shelter" -- when we hear a distant explosion. "Outgoing!" our security adviser calls. I am escorted inside.
It is surreal and shocking. I wasn't expecting to actually have to find cover myself. But I am here meeting children who have had to take much more serious precautions, for a much longer time. I can't comprehend how frightened they must have been.
Liana, 11, is the daughter of the school janitor. She stayed in the basement for almost two weeks with her mother and father, sheltering from shell attacks. She is very quiet. She still looks afraid. "It was so scary," she tells me.
She leads me to a back staircase in the school and down the stairs to the basement. A door-frame leads into a tiny room, filled with makeshift beds. A half spent candle sits on a chair. She points out the bed where she slept for nearly two weeks last winter. It is still there, with a blanket pulled over the mattress, just in case.
It's cold down here. The walls are crumbling. There is no proper toilet. There was only electricity for the first few days of Liana's stay here. Then there was nothing -- no heating, no light, no running water, in the depths of winter. They heard shell after shell explode in their hometown, not knowing when it would end. I wouldn't want to spend one night in these conditions, let alone imagine my own child being exposed to them.
Kids are deeply affected by the conflict in ways they often have not yet processed for themselves. Back upstairs, in a classroom, I met 7-year-old Artem who is full of energy. The pages of his drawing book are filled with military images -- guns, soldiers, tanks. He envisions himself as a superhero. When he grows up he wants to be a ninja -- a golden ninja at that -- to keep his family safe from the bad guys.
'These children will never be the same again'
"How could anybody do this to children?" That's what the director of kindergarten Veselka, Elena Antonenko, says out loud as she shows me the building -- rebuilt, but almost destroyed in shelling last year. Little ones, no more than 5 years old, were sheltering in the basement when a shell directly struck the building and another a hospital nearby. The double impact was catastrophic. Whole walls collapsed. Every single window was blown out. The teachers emerged to find waist-high rubble in some rooms. They have rebuilt, and are trying to recover.
Lena keeps a small box of the shrapnel that littered the floor and was embedded in the walls. She clutches a book of photographs, showing the initial damage. In the basement there are tiny white benches made for toddlers placed in a circle, just in case of another attack.
"These children will never be the same again, not after what they have been through," she says. "We are always listening to the sky. Now we are more afraid than ever as we know life can be over in a second. We owe these children. We owe these children for the rest of their lives for what they have gone through."
I climb back into the armored vehicle, feeling that I couldn't agree more.
Building a brighter, peaceful future
Before we leave, we visit a nearby center for children's creativity in Svitlodarsk that specializes in informal education. Some children who come here stayed in the area all through the intense shelling of last January. I visited an art class, met drama students and stopped by the beauty salon, where children are learning new skills and experimenting with their creative flair. That's a need that I can relate to, and surely it's all the more important when you have to deal with the constant stress of conflict. You see how crucial it is for children to have access to education -- to keep up some kind of normality and to have the opportunity to build a future for themselves, their families and contribute to their communities.
But sometimes education is just not given the priority it deserves. On average only 2% of humanitarian appeals is allocated to education. With that reality in mind, at the very first World Humanitarian Summit in just three weeks' time, a brand new global fund -- Education Cannot Wait -- will be launched to help provide children affected by emergencies get access to education.
Having witnessed the tremendous need on the ground, and the life-changing effect of education, I can't think of anything more important than that. Children don't choose to be affected by conflict and natural disasters. The least we can do is offer them the chance to build a brighter, peaceful future.
I am so emotional right now after reading Orlando's report. I can't imagine what it must been like for those children, their families and the community to go through all this. I also didn't realize how close Orlando got to the fighting while he was there, that must have been unnerving for him.
After reading this I know how lucky and fortunate we are to be living where we are when I think of what these children are facing every day. I am definitely not going to complain about anything again.
Thank you so much Rene for posting Orlando's report and to Orlando for caring about these special children and raising awareness of what they are enduring.
I cannot fathom what these children have endured and continue to endure. Thank you, Orlando, for providing such an eye-opening report, and for being a spokesperson for these displaced and hurting young ones. Rene, thank you for posting Orlando's report. No child should have to go through what these young ones have had thrust upon them. The Education Cannot Wait initiative will hopefully provide a brighter future for all children whose education and very lives have been compromised.
Go To Topic Listing UNICEF
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cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line5502
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