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Al Día News Highlights Temple Health’s Plan to Op...
Al Día News Highlights Temple Health’s Plan to Open Hospital for Women’s Health
Temple University Health System recently announced that the new campus it acquired in June at 1331 East Wyoming Avenue in Philadelphia will become a hospital for women’s health, pending Pennsylvania Department of Health review and approval. The campus will offer a myriad of services focused on women’s health needs, key among them maternity care. In addition to OB/GYN, the new campus will offer specialty care for women to be finalized over the next several months, including general surgery, breast surgery, interventional radiology, urology, internal medicine, cardiology, endocrinology and behavioral health. Al Día News highlighted Temple’s plans.
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Statement on SB 1410, the school tax credit bill
AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation today expressed its strong support for SB 1410. The Texas Equal Opportunity Scholarship Program is a tax credit bill that enables businesses to create education scholarships, earning a credit against their franchise tax. The bill will benefit all Texas students, but especially students trapped in failing schools.
“In 2001, Florida lawmakers embraced a similar program as a part of Gov. Jeb Bush’s K-12 reform effort,” said Dr. Matthew Ladner, TPPF’s Center for Education Policy Senior Fellow. “As a result, today nearly three percent of low-income Florida students utilize scholarships from the Step Up for Students Tax Credit. Implementing this program has led to stronger academic gains for both scholarship recipients and public schools facing healthy competition. In addition, Sunshine State policymakers have seen the positive impact of the program in the lives of families and the program enjoys broad bipartisan support in the Florida legislature.”
“Sen. Patrick’s SB 1410 is an important step toward empowering Texas parents with the right to choose an education that best suits the specific needs of their child,” said James Golsan, TPPF’s Center for Education Policy Analyst. “Our state suffers from an inherently non-competitive education system in which physical proximity is the only determiner to where a student attends school. SB 1410 could inject efficiency-driving competition into the education system as a whole and ultimately benefit every student in Texas, not just those actively participating in the program.”
Matthew Ladner is a Senior Fellow with Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Education Policy, a non-profit, free-market research based institute in Austin.
James Golsan is a policy analyst for the Center for Education Policy with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin.
TPPF Celebrates Passage of Grants for Special Needs Students
K-12 Education May 19, 2021
Bill to Stop State-Funded Racism Moves Forward
TPPF Releases Report On How to Abolish the ‘Robin Hood’ School Property Tax
K-12 Education June 12, 2018
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Suspended Lafayette City Marshal Brian Pope to be sentenced today; more charges await
Andrew Capps
The Daily Advertiser
Correction: This report previously misstated who was convicted of perjury in a 2015 video deposition. Brian Pope was convicted of perjury in that deposition.
Suspended Lafayette City Marshal Brian Pope is set to be sentenced Wednesday following his convictions on four charges that include perjury and malfeasance in office, but 19 more charges await him in the coming months.
A Lafayette jury found Pope guilty on one count of perjury and three counts of malfeasance in office in October after he lied during a deposition in December 2015 and used public money to hire attorneys in 2016. A sentencing date is set for Wednesday, but Pope's lawyers have filed a motion for acquittal, which could change that.
Pope faces as much as a $5,000 fine and five year sentence for each count of malfeasance with an additional fee and sentence possible for his perjury conviction. He may also be required to repay to the marshal's office the money he was convicted of using to illegally pay for attorneys.
Pope was indicted in December on charges claiming he had pocketed some $85,000 of fees collected by his office, but a recent audit of the marshal's office showed that Pope took home more than $95,000 between February and October 2018.
That money was in addition to his annual pay — about $86,000 — and came in the form of fees paid to the office and a 6% commission on garnishments, which a January 2018 opinion from the state Attorney General's Office requested by Pope determined "are not payable to the Marshal as compensation."
Pope was immediately suspended without pay following his felony convictions on Oct. 3, 2018.
The additional findings by the audit stand to add more charges against Pope in the future.
Pope is the subject of one other indictment, issued in March, which alleges that he requested $3,000 in 2018 for reimbursement of business expenses that were paid for by the marshal's office and pocketed that money as well. Pope pleaded not guilty in both.
On Wednesday, Pope is expected to be sentenced for one count of perjury for lying during a video deposition in the public records case about a mass email service, as well as three counts of malfeasance for using public money to hire an attorney to try to unseal Sheriff Mark Garber's divorce records, to hire an attorney to represent his employees who weren't under criminal investigation and to hire a lawyer to help overturn his criminal contempt conviction.
The convictions stem from an October 2015 press conference in which Pope alleged that Garber, who was then running for sheriff, encouraged illegal immigrants to file worker's comp claims in the state.
Pope went to court to fight a public records request regarding the press conference, which eventually led to the deposition for which he was convicted of perjury.
Pope is also the subject of a federal lawsuit filed by Steven Wilkerson, who led the petition to force a recall election against Pope in 2017. Wilkerson was arrested by deputies from the marshal's office in December 2017, the day the petition failed to trigger a recall election, on an expired 1997 warrant for four worthless checks written by Wilkerson totaling less than $200.
The suit alleges that Pope and three marshal's office employees targeted Wilkerson "as a show of force for the general public that Pope was not to be challenged or opposed" and violated his First Amendment right to petition.
The suit adds that deputies from the marshal's office did not provide Wilkerson with a Miranda warning during his arrest and that Pope and his deputies deliberately waited to execute the expired warrant until after the recall petition deadline "to maximize the public spectacle he intended to create."
Follow Andrew Capps for breaking news and updates on Twitter.
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Tag Archives: Rosa Diez
Updated: Reports of electoral fraud in Spain
June 9, 2009 Catalonia, Politics, SpainArnaldo Otegi, Basque pro-independence media, Batasuna, eta, Major, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, Mariano Rajoy, party leader, PP leader, Rosa Diez, Spain, Spanish government, Spanish Ministry of Interior, spokesman, United States, UPyD leader, VP, Zapatero's governmentTom
As mentioned in comments on my last post, there are reports today of numerous discrepancies in vote counting across Spain. Many of these incidents involve relatively small numbers of votes. But taken together, there are enough examples to plausibly suggest a widespread campaign against parties of the left, and those supporting independence for some of the ‘autonomous regions’ in Spain.
The story is being widely reported in the Catalan and Basque pro-independence media but has had few mentions in the mainstream Spanish press. The main party apparently affected by these discrepancies is Iniciativa Internacionalista (II-SP), which the Spanish government failed to have banned shortly before the elections. Zapatero’s government accused II-SP of being a front organisation for ETA but failed to present evidence supporting this claim to the courts. II-SP received a vote of support from Arnaldo Otegi, spokesman for the outlawed Basque party Batasuna days before the elections. PP leader, Mariano Rajoy named them “the ETA list”, while UPyD leader Rosa Díez declared that II-SP “is ETA”. Apparently taking the lead from the USA’s former right-wing government, neither party leader deigned to share their evidence with the voters they were appealing to.
The allegations fall into three groups: (a) the general feeling that the huge increase in blank and spoiled votes coincides a little too smoothly with II-SP and other parties faring more poorly than expected; (b) specific examples of localities reporting examples of discrepancies between town-hall and Spanish Ministry of Interior official figures; and (c) inexplicable displays of support for far-right parties in areas where they have never previously shown any support (normally at the expense of another party which did worse than expected).
It’s too late for me to scurry around collecting examples of the three groups now, but the comments pages of this Avui story list several (at least one of which, the Vilafranca del Penedès one, seems to have been ‘corrected’, though by which side, I can’t tell). Rab is sure that the way that these discrepancies affect specific parties suggests a fraud. I’ll wait and see what appears tomorrow before I make the same judgement.
OK this is getting silly.
María Teresa Fernández de la Vega (Spanish VP)’s constituency recorded no votes for the PSOE
Europe of the Peoples-Greens have denounced irregularities
II-SP officials removed from recounts
Numerous towns appear to have returned erroneous numbers, major Spanish press outlets stay silent
EU parliament election results in Catalonia
June 9, 2009 Catalonia, PoliticsEl País, European Union, Rosa Diez, Spain, VeritasTom
For coverage of Spain as a whole, take a look at Graeme’s posts here and here.
The results in Catalonia were a mixture of ‘more of the same’ and a disappointingly low turn out. The PSOE-PSC won again, albeit with a share of the vote that dropped from 42% to 35%. CiU were next, their share increasing 5 points to 22%. In fact, CiU were the only major party to see their actual number of votes rise in a worryingly low turnout of 37%. The PP gained a 1 point increase in their share of the vote, while ERC came fourth with a small drop in their share.
Interestingly, there were 72,681 spoiled or blank votes, which taken together constitute the 6th biggest constituency in the election, after IU-ICV who got 6% of the total vote. I’m told by a friend that there were also 6 times as many of these spoiled or blank votes than there were in the last EU parliament election.
Among the newer parties running this year, Iniciativa Internacionalista gained more votes than Rosa Diez’s UPyD – but both failed to get 1% of the vote here. Veritas and Esquerra Anticapitalista received 0.36% and 0.26% respectively.
The older style fascist parties look to have made some gains but their numbers are still so low that it’s hard to be too worried. The Falange Española de las JONS nearly tripled their number of votes… to a total of 1,575. The Falange Auténtica and Democracia Nacional also increased their number of votes, but the total number of people voting for far-right parties in Catalonia (no, I’m not including the PP), remains very low.
Table of results:
Full table available at El País.
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Home Sexual Violence In Photos: South Africa Joins Global Strike For Women
In Photos: South Africa Joins Global Strike For Women
Fatima Moosa
CIVICUS, Human Rights Institute of South Africa (HURISA), Tosunga Baninga, Social Justice, and other members of civil society and activist communities gathered at Constitution Court on March 6. This was part of the Women’s Global Strike ahead of International Women’s Day.
International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global celebration of the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. It is a day that’s occurred for over a century. The first day took place in 1911. The 2020 edition of IWD is quite significant. Many grass roots activists and human rights defenders will stand in solidarity against the pervasive levels of violence against women, gender inequality, and the closure of civic space for women human rights defenders.
Ahead of the day, the civil society organisations gathered at Constitutional Court. The programme contained a march around the court. It culminated in a meeting at the Women’s Jail where a statement was handed over to the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE). The statement demands greater protections for women and children in South Africa.
The year marks 25 years since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. This a declaration that sets forward an agenda for women’s empowerment and is considered the key global policy document on gender equality. It sets strategic objectives and actions for the advancement of women and the achievement of gender equality in 12 critical areas of concern.
The civil society decided to hold the protest action because despite the government ratifying the declaration and convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, they have found there is still a lot of work to be done.
There are 11 key concerns that civil society wants the CGE to address and present to the government. They want a followup on progress made to outlaw ukuthwala and cultural practices perpetuating patriarchy. The statement calls for a follow up of the forced disappearances, extra judicial killing, and violence against women human rights defenders. CGE has been called on to take steps to end violence, discrimination, the murder of people based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Masana Ndinga from CIVICUS told The Daily Vox that her organisation decided to get involved because many of the women organising around the global strike are facing a heavy-handed backlash even in democratic countries.
Ndinga said: “The most important reason is that the crisis of inequality, gender-based violence, and climate change are all interlinked and affect predominantly brown bodies occupied by women around the world. International Women’s Day is significant for the solidarity it brings from multiple actors.”
Corlett Letlojane from HURISA said South Africa is one of the state parties that have submitted a report to tell the world what we have done. “We are standing here to speak with women and to say that we are going to consolidate our efforts. We’re going to monitor the enforcement of those rights.”
Norma Mbele from Tosunga Baninga told The Daily Vox: “We have high numbers of women that have been murdered and we have got justice in many cases. It’s important to hand [the statement] to the CGE as they speak to many institutions and have influence.”
International Women’s Day is celebrated globally through protests, strikes, and pickets to show a global solidarity movement.
Featured by Fatima Moosa
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Actor Ingo Rademacher arrives at the premiere of Summit Entertainment's "Alex Cross" at the Arclight Theater in Los Angeles, California on Oct. 15, 2012. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
‘General Hospital’ Actor Ingo Rademacher Sues ABC Over ‘Blatantly Unlawful’ Vaccine Mandate
By Katabella Roberts
Katabella Roberts
Katabella Roberts is a reporter currently based in Turkey. She covers news and business for The Epoch Times, focusing primarily on the United States.
General Hospital star Ingo Rademacher is suing ABC over its “blatantly unlawful” actions after he was fired from the show for failing to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.
In a complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by the law firm of JW Howard Attorneys on Monday, lawyers for Rademacher claim he requested a religious exemption to the vaccine mandate in October but that ABC refused his request just a month later.
“General Hospital” is filmed in Hollywood, California, and in November, a vaccine mandate went into effect for actors and staff working on “Zone A,” which comprises of those present on set when the actors aren’t wearing masks, and the actors themselves, Variety reported.
Rademacher, in an Oct. 11 email to Disney’s HR department, claimed that he was entitled to a religious exemption against the mandatory vaccine due to his “deeply and sincerely held moral belief that my body is endowed by my creator with natural processes to protect me and that its natural integrity cannot ethically be violated by the administration of artificially created copies of genetic material, foreign to nature and experimental.”
According to Rademacher’s lawyers, after he filed the request for a religious exemption, the network subjected the actor to “half an hour of cross-examination about his religious beliefs and then denied his exemption request without explanation.”
“ABC’s actions are blatantly unlawful,” the complaint states. “ABC does not have the authority to force a medical treatment to its employees against their will. Even if it did, it must offer religious exceptions to the forced treatment to anybody who requests it. These actions constitute religious discrimination and violate Mr. Rademacher’s rights under state and federal law.”
The complaint adds that Rademacher, who played Jasper “Jax” Jacks on the show, also has the right to “information privacy”, and claims that this too was violated by the network when the star was made to disclose personal information to continue working on the show.
“This should not be a political issue. There is no need for everybody to get the COVID-19 shot, even if the president demands it,” lawyers wrote. “Furthermore, Mr. Rademacher has a right to privacy and a right to object to compulsory medical treatment based on his sincere religious beliefs. Lawsuits decided a hundred years ago do not change that.”
Attorneys for Rademacher claim he has suffered up to $25,000 in damages after his contract with ABC was terminated, and they are seeking compensatory damages for the loss. Rademacher also wants ABC’s COVID-19 mandate declared “unconstitutional.”
The Epoch Times has contacted a spokesperson for ABC for comment.
A 2010 file image of Laura Wright and Ingo Rademacher in a scene of ABC’s “General Hospital”. (Christopher Polk/Getty Images for DATG)
Rademacher’s lawsuit comes after another “General Hospital,” star, Steve Burton, claimed in November that he had been fired from the show for failing to get vaccinated.
The actor, who first joined the soap series in 1992, said he had applied for medical and religious exemptions to the vaccine mandate but both had been denied.
In a video posted to Instagram, Burton explained, “Unfortunately, ‘General Hospital’ has let me go because of the vaccine mandate. I did apply for my medical and religious exemptions, and both of those were denied, which, you know, hurts. But this is also about personal freedom to me.”
“I don’t think people should lose their livelihood over this, but with that being said, you know me—I’ll always be grateful for my time at ‘General Hospital.’ I love it there. I grew up there, I grew up with some of you, so I’ll always be grateful, and I believe that when one door closes, multiple doors open. That’s always been my perspective,” Burton continued.
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Remembrance Day flag lowering: Trudeau in discussions with Indigenous communities
Kristy Kirkup
On Nov. 11, flags traditionally are lowered to half-mast at 10:30 a.m. until 11:02 a.m., and then raised to full-mast for the rest of the day.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday that work is under way with Indigenous communities on how to go about raising the Canadian flag for Remembrance Day, and he is confident a solution can be reached.
Flags on government of Canada buildings have been at half-mast for several months to honour former residential school students. In Glasgow at a summit on climate change, Mr. Trudeau said Canadians, including Indigenous peoples, want to be able to remember and honour those who gave their lives for their country.
“We continue to work very closely with partners, with Indigenous peoples, with communities across the country,” he said.
On Nov. 11, flags traditionally are lowered to half-mast at 10:30 a.m. until 11:02 a.m., and then raised to full-mast for the rest of the day.
“There is an understanding of how important it is to be able to lower the flags on Remembrance Day to mark our veterans, to mark people, including Indigenous peoples, who’ve stepped up to fight for Canadian values and paid the ultimate sacrifice,” Mr. Trudeau said.
At the end of May, Mr. Trudeau said the flags would fly at half-mast until further notice to honour the children who died at the former Kamloops residential school, as well as other residential school survivors and families. Findings of unmarked graves on the grounds of former residential schools such as Kamloops and Marieval have touched off commemorations for children who never returned home from the government-funded, church-run institutions.
In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission issued a report after six years of study detailing abuse at the schools. Its chair, Murray Sinclair, also said thousands died at them.
During the election campaign, Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole called for the flag to be raised after Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, although some Indigenous leaders criticized his proposal. Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Derek Fox said he would love to see the flags raised, but not until there was something to celebrate.
Mr. O’Toole said Tuesday on Twitter that lowering the flag to recognize “our tragic history of residential schools was the right thing to do.” But he said that as Canada approaches Remembrance Day, the flag needs to be raised so the country can honour veterans and “remember the sacrifices of those who fought for our freedoms.”
In response to a query about Mr. O’Toole’s comments, Cameron McNeill, a press secretary for Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay, said the flag is at half-mast to honour the victims and survivors of the Canadian residential school system, and it would be raised on a date to be determined by Canadian officials and Indigenous communities.
Lynne Groulx, chief executive officer of the Native Women’s Association of Canada, said a way must be found to honour veterans on Remembrance Day with traditional flag-related ceremonies that also honours and respects the children who died at residential schools.
NDP veterans affairs critic Rachel Blaney said in an interview that it is important the government explain to people that the flags are lowered to recognize the children who were buried near former residential schools and the ones who went missing. She said she has spoken to Indigenous leaders and Indigenous veterans, as well as representatives of the Royal Canadian Legion, and they all want to see a “respectful recognition” of veterans on Remembrance Day.
On Friday, the Legion said it planned to raise the flag at the National War Memorial in Ottawa before the Remembrance Day ceremony and then return it to half-mast. Spokesperson Nujma Bond said the Legion controls the site and the two flags, and it would follow Legion protocol.
With a report from The Canadian Press
For subscribers: Get exclusive political news and analysis by signing up for the Politics Briefing.
Follow Kristy Kirkup on Twitter: @kkirkupOpens in a new window
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PNB gets capital infusion of Rs 184 crore from Centre
| New Delhi, March 29 | Updated on: Mar 29, 2011
PNB may raise Rs 2,000 cr to fund growth
Punjab National Bank (PNB) has allotted 15.10 lakh shares to the Centre on a preferential basis at an issue price of Rs 1,218.82 per share of Rs 10 each. This would lead to a capital infusion of Rs 184 crore into the bank, taking the Centre's stake in the bank to 58 per cent.
Prior to this capital infusion, the Centre's stake in PNB was 57.80 per cent. The preferential allotment of equity shares to the Centre was approved by shareholders of the bank at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) held in the capital on Monday.
On Tuesday, the share price of PNB closed at Rs 1,170 per share on the National Stock Exchange..
krsrivats@thehindu.co.in
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What to do when your toddler is a late walker
Is your toddler just not that into... toddling? Help your little one reach this important milestone.
Colleen Seto July 30, 2017
Photo: Stocksy
When Vered Levant’s son, Matthew, still hadn’t taken his first steps at nearly 18 months old, she was worried. “People kept asking me if he was walking yet. It freaked me out,” she recalls. She took him to her doctor, who assured her it wasn’t a developmental issue, given that he had already accomplished other milestones, like talking. A week later, he started walking. “Turns out he was just lazy,” the Calgary mom laughs. Fast-forward three years and Levant’s second kid, Isabelle, is nearing the 18-month mark and following in her brother’s footsteps, or lack thereof. “This time, I’m not so worried, because I can tell she isn’t delayed. She’s crawling and communicating. She’ll do it when she’s ready.”
Joanne Kay, a fellow Calgary mom, had a similar experience with her daughter, Alex, who barely took a step until she hit 15 months. Kay’s first child, Aidan, started walking right on schedule at 12 months, and he skipped crawling altogether. She says she was more concerned about her first-born not crawling than when her daughter learned to walk. “I think everything is more chilled out with your second child. I knew she would walk eventually, and I had a better idea of what to expect.” Still, when Alex did start putting her feet to work, Kay was relieved.
So when is a late bloomer cause for concern? Peter Rosenbaum, a professor of paediatrics at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont., and Canada research chair in childhood disability, says there is considerable variation for this milestone. “Some children walk at nine to 10 months, and others at 16 months or later.” He explains that “quality” of movement is sometimes more important than a child’s age or ability to toddle on two feet. “For example, a 15-month-old who does not walk but crawls actively is going to be fine, but another child who is generally stiff or floppy is a worry.” (Rigidness or lack of muscle tone could indicate cerebral palsy or other conditions.)
It’s also important to remember to adjust your expectations for preemies. “People forget to make the appropriate correction for the degree of prematurity,” says Rosenbaum. A 13-month-old who was born eight weeks premature may be hitting milestones more typical of an 11-month-old.
On its own, an inability to walk is rarely indicative of a problem. “When a child is not walking at 12 months, I want to know what they are doing,” emphasizes Rosenbaum. Consider whether your child lags behind in other areas, such as speech, social interaction and fine motor skills. “If they can crawl or scoot around on their bottom—in other words, if they have the capacity to travel—then leave them alone, and watch and wait.”
Lisa Rivard, a paediatric physiotherapist in Hamilton, Ont., suggests observing your toddler for the following: if he has equal use of both sides of the body; whether or not he can get in and out of a sitting position on his own; whether he crawls on hands and knees or moves around on his bottom; whether he’s beginning to pull himself up to stand or cruise along furniture; and whether he will take weight on both legs with feet flat when you’re supporting his torso. All these actions provide a solid foundation for walking.
You can also try to carry your child less often, and encourage play in a variety of positions and levels, such as crawling over cushions or kneeling. “This helps them to develop the ability to shift their weight, as well as develop strength, balance, coordination and confidence, all of which are needed to become an independent walker,” says Rivard. Remember that development varies from kid to kid, depending on experience and motivation. “No two children are alike.”
How to prepare for your child’s first dental visit
Milestone checklist for toddlers
FILED UNDER: learning to walk Milestones service seo Toddler Toddler development
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Qualifying for the 21st Annual Brickyard 400
True Speed Communication July 27 2014
Event: Qualifying for the 21st Annual Brickyard 400 (Round 20 of 36)
Location: Indianapolis Motor Speedway (2.5-mile oval)
Pole Winner: Kevin Harvick of Stewart-Haas Racing (47.753 seconds at 188.470 mph – new track record)
SHR Lineup: Kevin Harvick (1st, 47.753 seconds at 188.470 mph – Round 3)
Tony Stewart (6th, 48.337 seconds at 186.193 mph – Round 3)
Kurt Busch (7th, 48.402 seconds at 185.943 mph – Round 3)
Danica Patrick (14th, 48.546 seconds at 185.391 mph – Round 2)
Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet SS, led the four-car Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) contingent Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway by winning the pole during qualifying for the 21stannual Brickyard 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday. It was the 18th Sprint Cup pole for SHR since its inception in 2009 and the organization’s fifth this season.
Harvick turned a record lap of 47.753 seconds at 188.470 mph on the 2.5-mile oval in the final round of qualifying, breaking the previous track qualifying record of 47.992 seconds at 187.531 mph set by former SHR driver Ryan Newman on July 28, 2013. It was Harvick’s 10th career pole, his fourth this season and his second at Indianapolis. Prior to this year, the most poles Harvick ever won in a single season were two in 2005.
“After the first lap, I was probably more nervous than I have been in a while for qualifying,” said Harvick, who won at Indianapolis in 2003. “I wasn’t really expecting to have our Jimmy John’s Chevy run that fast. It’s great to have fast cars. The guys at SHR do a great job preparing the cars, and just being able to come to the racetrack and know the cars are going to be fast takes a huge burden off everybody’s shoulders.”
Harvick’s most recent pole came June 16 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, five races ago.Harvick has gone on to win the race from the pole four times in his career – August 2003 at Indianapolis, September 2006 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, October 2013 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City and April 2014 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
Qualifying consisted of three rounds. The first was 25 minutes, with every driver on the track vying to set the fastest lap. The 24 fastest drivers from the first round advanced to the second, 10-minute round. The fastest 12 drivers from that session advanced to the final, five-minute round of qualifying where they battled for the pole. Positions 1-12 were set by speeds in the final round. Positions 13-24 were set by speeds posted in the second round. The remaining 43-car field was set by speeds posted by those who did not advance past the first round.
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet SS for SHR, qualified sixth with a time of 48.337 seconds at 186.193 mph.
“We had an awesome day today and the guys on this Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops team did a great job,” said Stewart, who is a two-time Brickyard 400 winner (2005 and 2007) and former Brickyard 400 pole winner (2002) and hails from nearby Columbus, Indiana. “The entire Stewart-Haas organization did a good job. This is a big motor track, so our Hendrick engines filled with Mobil 1 did a good job. Mobil 1 is more than just a sponsor. They’re a technical partner, and to make a fast lap around this place, you need to do whatever you can to reduce friction, heat and rolling resistance. That’s what Mobil 1 does for us. Now, we just have to put the whole day together tomorrow.”
Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS for SHR, qualified seventh with a time of48.402 seconds at 185.943 mph.
“That was a thrilling experience to have to make three runs at Indianapolis in a stock car,” said Busch, who ran the Indianapolis 500 for the first time in May. “Indianapolis is getting to be one of the toughest places to qualify. It’s a thrilling experience to be a part of it. We made the final group and we made some good changes we made big changes going into that last run, almost like an all or nothing change. Came home seventh and real proud of the effort of the Haas Automation guys. It was fun to be in that final group with the fast guys.”
Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS for SHR, qualified 14th with a time of 48.546 seconds at 185.391 mph.
“We struggled with a tight car in the first round,” said Patrick, who will make her second Sprint Cup start at Indianapolis. “We barely got in, but in the second round we freed it up and ran 14th. That’s about where we were in practice, so I’ll take it. Tony Gibson (crew chief) and the GoDaddy guys did a good job and we’ve got a good spot for tomorrow.”
Jeff Gordon will start on the outside of row one after clocking in at 47.931 seconds at 187.770 mph.
The 10 other drivers who made it to the final round of qualifying were Brad Keselowski, Newman, Brian Vickers, Stewart, Kurt Busch, Juan Pablo Montoya, Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne, Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch. All are listed in the order they’ll start Sunday’s race.
Forty-six drivers attempted to qualify for the Brickyard 400. Brett Moffitt, David Stremme and Matt Crafton did not make the field.
The 21st annual Brickyard 400 gets underway at 1 p.m. EDT Sunday with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with a pre-race show at noon.
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Michigan’s rock climbing opportunities attract…
Michigan’s rock climbing opportunities attract climbers from all over the country
Photo courtesy of Jeff Purdy
Grand Ledge is typically recognized as the only outdoor climbing area in the Lower Peninsula. Its sandstone ledges attract rock climbers from across the country.
Photo courtesy of Bill Thompson
Soaking up the sunshine, challenging oneself on the variety of routes and enjoying Marquette's fresh air are plenty of reasons to visit the area and experience the quality of the rock climbing there.
In Michigan, most outdoor rock climbing is done up north, where the terrain perfectly lends itself to the activity at hand.
Marquette has an active rock climbing community and great climbing opportunities.
Spring is a great time of year to venture out for a climb before the black flies and mosquitoes hit full force, making climbing and belaying more difficult.
By Jane Peterson |
PUBLISHED: June 5, 2019 at 12:29 p.m. | UPDATED: June 17, 2021 at 5:05 a.m.
When you’re standing in front of a mountain of solid rock, wondering how you’re ever going to make it up and then hours later back on the ground you think to yourself “I made it.” There’s no better feeling in the world.
Outdoor rock climbing is a thrilling sport that continues to gain traction.
“I think what draws people to outdoor rock climbing is that besides the challenge of the sport, the activity can take you to some of the most beautiful areas in the world,” said Bill Thompson, one of the owners at Down Wind Sports, which has locations in Houghton, Marquette and Munising.
In Michigan, most outdoor rock climbing is done up north, where the terrain perfectly lends itself to the activity at hand. In Marquette, he said, multiple climbing crags are conveniently located close to town and they feature the beauty of Lake Superior, hardwood forests and spectacular views.
In the Lower Peninsula, Oak Park in Grand Ledge offers excellent climbing opportunities.
That’s where you will find Jeff Purdy, an avid climber who often climbs with friends. He said that while some climbers never venture out of the gym rock climbing is traditionally and outdoor activity.
“Outdoor rock climbing is adventurous, a good workout and great camaraderie,” said Purdy.
He added that each location and rock have their own qualities and special appeal. Grand Ledge is typically recognized as the only outdoor climbing area in the Lower Peninsula. The City of Grand Ledge owns nearly nine acres that make up Oak Park, which is situated on approximately 1,180 feet of the Grand River. Its sandstone ledges attract rock climbers from across the country.
“On a busy weekend, it’s not unusual to meet climbers from Ohio, Indiana, or Illinois, as well as all parts of Michigan. People are drawn to climbing just as kids are attracted to ‘monkey bars,” said Purdy in an email.
Most climbing at The Ledges takes place from April-October, when the weather is more likely to cooperate.
Like Grand Ledge, Marquette has an active rock climbing community. Its rock climbing season may be slightly shorter due to weather conditions, but spring is a great time of year to venture out for a climb before the black flies and mosquitoes hit full force, making climbing and belaying more difficult, said Thompson.
Spring is also before tourism season swings into full gear, making the rock climbing locales less crowded than usual.
There are a wide variety of climbs with good routes for novices as well as excellent opportunities for seasoned climbers. Whether you are a first-timer or experienced climber in an unfamiliar area, Thompson suggested these tips:
* Talk with the local climbing shop like Down Wind Sports to learn how to locate the local climbing crags. This will save precious time and enable the climber to pick out the crag they would most be interested in, he said.
* While in the shop, consider purchasing a local guidebook to the area
* Enlist the assistance of a guide service if you are interested in learning how to climb
Indoor vs. Outdoor Rock Climbing
While the Lower Peninsula doesn’t have much to offer when it comes to outdoor rock climbing (with the exception of Grand Ledge), there are many opportunities to go climbing thanks to indoor facilities.
For some, that is enough. For others, nothing compares to being outdoors among the natural features and unpredictable elements.
“Rock gyms are great training tools to make climbers stronger but nothing compares to being outside climbing,” said Bill Thompson, one of the owners at Down Wind Sports, which has locations in Houghton, Marquette and Munising. “The most obvious difference is that all of the holds are not marked so it can be much more challenging to find the holds.”
He added that in Marquette County there are contrasting types of rock to climb on which offers a different feel that you just don’t get indoor climbing.
“Also, being outside with the scenery, the wind, the exposure and just being in nature adds another attractive dimension,” he said. “The benefits of climbing outdoors is just that. Soaking up the sunshine, challenging oneself on the variety of routes and enjoying Marquette’s fresh air are plenty of reasons to visit the area and experience the quality of the rock climbing here.”
Jane Peterson
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Washington Puts Its Money on Proxy War
The election year outsourcing that no one is talking about.
By Nick TurseTwitter
This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To stay on top of important articles like these, sign up to receive the latest updates from TomDispatch.com.
In the 1980s, the US government began funneling aid to mujahedeen rebels in Afghanistan as part of an American proxy war against the Soviet Union. It was, in the minds of America’s Cold War leaders, a rare chance to bloody the Soviets, to give them a taste of the sort of defeat the Vietnamese, with Soviet help, had inflicted on Washington the decade before. In 1989, after years of bloody combat, the Red Army did indeed limp out of Afghanistan in defeat. Since late 2001, the United States has been fighting its former Afghan proxies and their progeny. Now, after years of bloody combat, it’s the United States that’s looking to withdraw the bulk of its forces and once again employ proxies to secure its interests there.
From Asia and Africa to the Middle East and the Americas, the Obama administration is increasingly embracing a multifaceted, light-footprint brand of warfare. Gone, for the moment at least, are the days of full-scale invasions of the Eurasian mainland. Instead, Washington is now planning to rely ever more heavily on drones and special operations forces to fight scattered global enemies on the cheap. A centerpiece of this new American way of war is the outsourcing of fighting duties to local proxies around the world.
While the United States is currently engaged in just one outright proxy war, backing a multi-nation African force to battle Islamist militants in Somalia, it’s laying the groundwork for the extensive use of surrogate forces in the future, training “native” troops to carry out missions—up to and including outright warfare. With this in mind and under the auspices of the Pentagon and the State Department, US military personnel now take part in near-constant joint exercises and training missions around the world aimed at fostering alliances, building coalitions, and whipping surrogate forces into shape to support US national security objectives.
While using slightly different methods in different regions, the basic strategy is a global one in which the United States will train, equip and advise indigenous forces—generally from poor, underdeveloped nations—to do the fighting (and dying) it doesn’t want to do. In the process, as small an American force as possible, including special forces operatives and air support, will be brought to bear to aid those surrogates. Like drones, proxy warfare appears to offer an easy solution to complex problems. But as Washington’s thirty-year debacle in Afghanistan indicates, the ultimate costs may prove both unimaginable and unimaginably high.
Start with Afghanistan itself. For more than a decade, the United States and its coalition partners have been training Afghan security forces in the hopes that they would take over the war there, defending US and allied interests as the American-led international force draws down. Yet despite an expenditure of almost $50 billion on bringing it up to speed, the Afghan National Army and other security forces have drastically underperformed any and all expectations, year after year.
One track of the US plan has been a little-talked-about proxy army run by the CIA. For years, the Agency has trained and employed six clandestine militias that operate near the cities of Kandahar, Kabul, and Jalalabad as well as in Khost, Kunar, and Paktika provinces. Working with US Special Forces and controlled by Americans, these “Counterterror Pursuit Teams” evidently operate free of any Afghan governmental supervision and have reportedly carried out cross-border raids into Pakistan, offering their American patrons a classic benefit of proxy warfare: plausible deniability.
This clandestine effort has also been supplemented by the creation of a massive, conventional indigenous security force. While officially under Afghan government control, these military and police forces are almost entirely dependent on the financial support of the US and allied governments for their continued existence.
Today, the Afghan National Security Forces officially number more than 343,000, but only 7 percent of its army units and 9 percent of its police units are rated at the highest level of effectiveness. By contrast, even after more than a decade of large-scale Western aid, 95 percent of its recruits are still functionally illiterate.
Not surprisingly, this massive force, trained by high-priced private contractors, Western European militaries, and the United States, and backed by US and coalition forces and their advanced weapons systems, has been unable to stamp out a lightly-armed, modest-sized, less-than-popular, rag-tag insurgency. One of the few tasks this proxy force seems skilled at is shooting American and allied forces, quite often their own trainers, in increasingly common "green-on-blue" attacks.
Adding insult to injury, this poor-performing, coalition-killing force is expensive. Bought and paid for by the United States and its coalition partners, it costs between $10 billion and $12 billion each year to sustain in a country whose gross domestic product is just $18 billion. Over the long term, such a situation is untenable.
Utilizing foreign surrogates is nothing new. Since ancient times, empires and nation-states have employed foreign troops and indigenous forces to wage war or have backed them when it suited their policy aims. By the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the tactic had become de rigueur for colonial powers like the French who employed Senegalese, Moroccans, and other African forces in Indochina and elsewhere, and the British who regularly used Nepalese Gurkhas to wage counterinsurgencies in places ranging from Iraq and Malaya to Borneo.
By the time the United States began backing the mujahedeen in Afghanistan, it already had significant experience with proxy warfare and its perils. After World War II, the United States eagerly embraced foreign surrogates, generally in poor and underdeveloped countries, in the name of the Cold War. These efforts included the attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro via a proxy Cuban force that crashed and burned at the Bay of Pigs; the building of a Hmong army in Laos which ultimately lost to Communist forces there; and the bankrolling of a French war in Vietnam that failed in 1954 and then the creation of a massive army in South Vietnam that crumbled in 1975, to name just a few unsuccessful efforts.
A more recent proxy failure occurred in Iraq. For years after the 2003 invasion, American policy-makers uttered a standard mantra: “As Iraqis stand up, we will stand down.” Last year, those Iraqis basically walked off.
Between 2003 and 2011, the United States pumped tens of billions of dollars into “reconstructing” the country with around $20 billion of it going to build the Iraqi security forces. This mega-force of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and police was created from scratch to prop up the successors to the government that the United States overthrew. It was trained by and fought with the Americans and their coalition partners, but that all came to an end in December 2011.
Despite Obama administration efforts to base thousands or tens of thousands of troops in Iraq for years to come, the Iraqi government spurned Washington’s overtures and sent the US military packing. Today, the Iraqi government supports the Assad regime in Syria, and has a warm and increasingly close relationship with long-time US enemy Iran. According to Iran’s semiofficial Fars News Agency, the two countries have even discussed expanding their military ties.
African Shadow Wars
Despite a history of sinking billions into proxy armies that collapsed, walked away, or morphed into enemies, Washington is currently pursuing plans for proxy warfare across the globe, perhaps nowhere more aggressively than in Africa.
Under President Obama, operations in Africa have accelerated far beyond the more limited interventions of the Bush years. These include last year’s war in Libya; the expansion of a growing network of supply depots, small camps, and airfields; a regional drone campaign with missions run out of Djibouti, Ethiopia, and the Indian Ocean archipelago nation of Seychelles; a flotilla of thirty ships in that ocean supporting regional operations; a massive influx of cash for counterterrorism operations across East Africa; a possible old-fashioned air war, carried out on the sly in the region using manned aircraft; and a special ops expeditionary force (bolstered by State Department experts) dispatched to help capture or kill Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) leader Joseph Kony and his senior commanders. (This mission against Kony is seen by some experts as a cover for a developing proxy war between the United States and the Islamist government of Sudan—which is accused of helping to support the LRA—and Islamists more generally.) And this only begins to scratch the surface of Washington’s fast-expanding plans and activities in the region.
In Somalia, Washington has already involved itself in a multi-pronged military and CIA campaign against Islamist al-Shabaab militants that includes intelligence operations, training for Somali agents, a secret prison, helicopter attacks and commando raids. Now, it is also backing a classic proxy war using African surrogates. The United States has become, as the Los Angeles Times put it recently, “the driving force behind the fighting in Somalia,” as it trains and equips African foot soldiers to battle Shabaab militants, so US forces won’t have to. In a country where more than ninety Americans were killed and wounded in a 1993 debacle now known by the shorthand “Black Hawk Down,” today’s fighting and dying has been outsourced to African soldiers.
Earlier this year, for example, elite Force Recon Marines from the Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force 12 (or, as a mouthful of an acronym, SPMAGTF-12) trained soldiers from the Uganda People’s Defense Force. It, in turn, supplies the majority of the troops to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) currently protecting the US-supported government in that country’s capital, Mogadishu.
This spring, Marines from SPMAGTF-12 also trained soldiers from the Burundi National Defense Force (BNDF), the second-largest contingent in Somalia. In April and May, members of Task Force Raptor, 3rd Squadron, 124th Cavalry Regiment of the Texas National Guard, took part in a separate training mission with the BNDF in Mudubugu, Burundi. SPMAGTF-12 has also sent its trainers to Djibouti, another nation involved in the Somali mission, to work with an elite army unit there.
At the same time, US Army troops have taken part in training members of Sierra Leone’s military in preparation for their deployment to Somalia later this year. In June, US Army Africa commander Major General David Hogg spoke encouragingly of the future of Sierra Leone’s forces in conjunction with another US ally, Kenya, which invaded Somalia last fall (and just recently joined the African Union mission there). “You will join the Kenyan forces in southern Somalia to continue to push al Shabaab and other miscreants from Somalia so it can be free of tyranny and terrorism and all the evil that comes with it,” he said. “We know that you are ready and trained. You will be equipped and you will accomplish this mission with honor and dignity.”
Readying allied militaries for deployment to Somalia is, however, just a fraction of the story when it comes to training indigenous forces in Africa. This year, for example, Marines traveled to Liberia to focus on teaching riot-control techniques to that country’s military as part of what is otherwise a State Department-directed effort to rebuild its security forces.
In fact, Colonel Tom Davis of US Africa Command (AFRICOM) recently told TomDispatch that his command has held or has planned 14 major joint training exercises for 2012 and a similar number are scheduled for 2013. This year’s efforts include operations in Morocco, Cameroon, Gabon, Botswana, South Africa, Lesotho, Senegal, and Nigeria, including, for example, Western Accord 2012, a multilateral exercise involving the armed forces of Senegal, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Gambia, and France.
Even this, however, doesn’t encompass the full breadth of US training and advising missions in Africa. “We… conduct some type of military training or military-to-military engagement or activity with nearly every country on the African continent,” wrote Davis.
Our American Proxies
Africa may, at present, be the prime location for the development of proxy warfare, American-style, but it’s hardly the only locale where the United States is training indigenous forces to aid US foreign policy aims. This year, the Pentagon has also ramped up operations in Central and South America as well as the Caribbean.
In Honduras, for example, small teams of US troops are working with local forces to escalate the drug war there. Working out of Forward Operating Base Mocoron and other remote camps, the US military is supporting Honduran operations by way of the methods it honed in Iraq and Afghanistan. US forces have also taken part in joint operations with Honduran troops as part of a training mission dubbed Beyond the Horizon 2012, while Green Berets have been assisting Honduran Special Operations forces in anti-smuggling operations. Additionally, an increasingly militarized Drug Enforcement Administration sent a Foreign-deployed Advisory Support Team, originally created to disrupt the poppy trade in Afghanistan, to aid Honduras’s Tactical Response Team, that country’s elite counternarcotics unit.
The militarization and foreign deployment of US law enforcement operatives was also evident in Tradewinds 2012, a training exercise held in Barbados in June. There, members of the US military and civilian law enforcement agencies joined with counterparts from Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Suriname, as well as Trinidad and Tobago, to improve cooperation for “complex multinational security operations.”
Far less visible have been training efforts by US Special Operations Forces in Guyana, Uruguay, and Paraguay. In June, special ops troops also took part in Fuerzas Comando, an eight-day “competition” in which the elite forces from 21 countries, including the Bahamas, Belize, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay, faced-off in tests of physical fitness, marksmanship and tactical capabilities.
This year, the US military has also conducted training exercises in Guatemala, sponsored “partnership-building” missions in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Peru, and Panama, and reached an agreement to carry out nineteen “activities” with the Colombian army over the next year, including joint military exercises.
The Proxy Pivot
Coverage of the Obama administration’s much-publicized strategic “pivot” to Asia has focused on the creation of yet more bases and new naval deployments to the region. The military (which has dropped the word pivot for “rebalancing”) is, however, also planning and carrying out numerous exercises and training missions with regional allies. In fact, the Navy and Marines alone already reportedly engage in more than 170 bilateral and multilateral exercises with Asia-Pacific nations each year.
One of the largest of these efforts took place in and around the Hawaiian Islands from late June through early August. Dubbed RIMPAC 2012, the exercise brought together more than 40 ships and submarines, more than 200 aircraft, and 25,000 personnel from twenty-two nations, including Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Tonga.
Almost 7,000 American troops also joined around 3,400 Thai forces, as well as military personnel from Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea as part of Cobra Gold 2012. In addition, US Marines took part in Hamel 2012, a multinational training exercise involving members of the Australian and New Zealand militaries, while other American troops joined the Armed Forces of the Philippines for Exercise Balikatan.
The effects of the “pivot” are also evident in the fact that once neutralist India now holds more than fifty military exercises with the United States each year—more than any other country in the world. “Our partnership with India is a key part of our rebalance to the Asia-Pacific and, we believe, to the broader security and prosperity of the 21st century,” said Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter on a recent trip to the subcontinent. Just how broad is evident in the fact that India is taking part in America’s proxy effort in Somalia. In recent years, the Indian Navy has emerged as an “important contributor” to the international counter-piracy effort off that African country’s coast, according to Andrew Shapiro of the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs.
Peace by Proxy
India’s neighbor Bangladesh offers a further window into US efforts to build proxy forces to serve American interests.
Earlier this year, US and Bangladeshi forces took part in an exercise focused on logistics, planning, and tactical training, codenamed Shanti Doot-3. The mission was notable in that it was part of a State Department program, supported and executed by the Pentagon, known as the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI).
First implemented under George W. Bush, GPOI provides cash-strapped nations funds, equipment, logistical assistance and training to enable their militaries to become “peacekeepers” around the world. Under Bush, from the time the program was established in 2004 through 2008, more than $374 million was spent to train and equip foreign troops. Under President Obama, Congress has funded the program to the tune of $393 million, according to figures provided to TomDispatch by the State Department.
In a speech earlier this year, the State Department’s Andrew Shapiro told a Washington, D.C., audience that “GPOI is particularly focusing a great deal of its efforts to support the training and equipping of peacekeepers deploying to… Somalia” and had provided “tens of millions of dollars worth of equipment for countries deploying [there].” In a blog post he went into more detail, lauding US efforts to train Djiboutian troops to serve as peacekeepers in Somalia and noting that the United States had also provided impoverished Djibouti with radar equipment and patrol boats for offshore activities. “Djibouti is also central to our efforts to combat piracy,” he wrote, “as it is on the front line of maritime threats including piracy in the Gulf of Aden and surrounding waters.”
Djibouti and Bangladesh are hardly unique. Under the auspices of the Global Peace Operations Initiative, the United States has partnered with 62 nations around the globe, according to statistics provided by the State Department. These proxies-in-training are, not surprisingly, some of the poorest nations in their respective regions, if not the entire planet. They include Benin, Ethiopia, Malawi, and Togo in Africa, Nepal and Pakistan in Asia, and Guatemala and Nicaragua in the Americas.
The Changing Face of Empire
With ongoing military operations in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, the Obama administration has embraced a six-point program for light-footprint warfare relying heavily on special operations forces, drones, spies,civilian partners, cyber warfare, and proxy fighters. Of all the facets of this new way of war, the training and employment of proxies has generally been the least noticed, even though reliance on foreign forces is considered one of its prime selling points. As the State Department’s Andrew Shapiro put it in a speech earlier this year: “[T]he importance of these missions to the security of the United States is often little appreciated… To put it clearly: When these peacekeepers deploy it means that US forces are less likely to be called on to intervene.” In other words, to put it even more clearly, more dead locals, fewer dead Americans.
The evidence for this conventional wisdom, however, is lacking. And failures to learn from history in this regard have been ruinous. The training, advising, and outfitting of a proxy force in Vietnam drew the United States deeper and deeper into that doomed conflict, leading to tens of thousands of dead Americans and millions of dead Vietnamese. Support for Afghan proxies during their decade-long battle against the Soviet Union led directly to the current disastrous decade-plus American War in Afghanistan.
Right now, the United States is once again training, advising, and conducting joint exercises all over the world with proxy war on its mind and the concept of “unintended consequences” nowhere in sight in Washington. Whether today’s proxies end up working for or against Washington’s interests or even become tomorrow’s enemies remains to be seen. But with so much training going on in so many destabilized regions, and so many proxy forces being armed in so many places, the chances of blowback grow greater by the day.
Nick TurseTwitterNick Turse is a fellow at Type Investigations and the author of Next Time They’ll Come to Count the Dead: War and Survival in South Sudan.
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Fans Banned at Olympics; Tokyo Under State of Emergency
Inteational Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach waves from the vehicle to media upon his arrival an accommodation Thursday, July 8, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
TOKYO — Fans were banned from the pandemic-postponed Tokyo Olympics which will open in two weeks, following a state of emergency on Thursday, Olympic Minister Tamayo Marukawa told the Japanese news agency Kyodo.
The ban was announced by the International Olympic Committee and Japanese organizers, reducing the games to a made-for-TV event.
Fans from aboard were banned months ago, and the new measures announced by Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will clear venues around Tokyo — indoor and outdoor — of any fans at all.
The emergency declaration made for a rude arrival in Japan for IOC President Thomas Bach, who landed in Tokyo on Thursday just hours before the new measures were announced. He was to spend three days in self-isolation at the five-star hotel that lodges IOC members.
Suga said the state of emergency would go into effect on Monday and last through Aug. 22. This means the Olympics, opening on July 23 and running through Aug. 8, will be held entirely under emergency measures. The Paralympics open on Aug. 24.
"Taking into consideration the impact of the delta strain, and in order to prevent the resurgence of infections from spreading across the country, we need to step up virus prevention measures," Suga said.
Suga, who had long favored fans, hinted at a no-fan Olympics in announcing the state of emergency.
"I have already said I won't hesitate to have no spectators," he added.
Just two weeks ago, organizers and the IOC allowed venues to be filled to 50% of capacity but crowds not to exceed 10,000. The state of emergency has forced a late turnaround, which was always an option if infections got worse.
"We will have to consider the option of no spectators," Marukawa said in opening remarks with the IOC and others as they went into meetings to discuss a ban on fans.
The main focus of the emergency is a request for bars, restaurants and karaoke parlors serving alcohol to close. A ban on serving alcohol is a key step to tone down Olympic-related festivities and keep people from drinking and partying. Tokyo residents are expected to face stay-home requests and watch the games on TV from home.
"How to stop people enjoying the Olympics from going out for drinks is a main issue," Health Minister Norihisa Tamura said.
The present state of emergency ends Sunday. Tokyo reported 896 new cases on Thursday, up from 673 a week earlier. It's the 19th straight day that cases have topped the mark set seven days prior. New cases on Wednesday hit 920, the highest total since 1,010 were reported on May 13.
The no-fan atmosphere will include the opening ceremony at the $1.4 billion National Stadium, which is traditionally the most watched event during the Olympics.
"It's not too late. Cancel or postpone it," said Yukio Edano, the head of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the largest opposition party to Suga's LDP
The uptick in infections has also forced the Tokyo city government to pull the Olympic torch relay off capital streets, allowing it to run only on remote islands off the Tokyo coast. It's unclear how the torch will enter the stadium for the opening ceremony.
"The infections are in their expansion phase and everyone in this country must firmly understand the seriousness of it," Dr. Shigeru Omi, a top government medical adviser, said.
He urged authorities to quickly take tough measures ahead of the Olympics, with summer vacations approaching.
Omi has repeatedly called for a ban on spectators, and has said it's "abnormal" to hold the Olympics during a pandemic.
Separately, a government COVID-19 advisory panel met Wednesday and expressed concerns about the ongoing resurgence of the infections.
"Two-thirds of the infections in the capital region are from Tokyo, and our concern is the spread of the infections to neighboring areas," said Ryuji Wakita, director-general of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases.
The Olympics are pushing ahead against most medical advice, partially because the postponement stalled the IOC's income flow. It gets almost 75% of its income from selling broadcast rights, and estimates suggest it would lose $3 billion to $4 billion if the Olympics were canceled.
About 11,000 Olympians and 4,400 Paralympians are expected to enter Japan, with tens of thousands of officials, judges, administrators, sponsors, broadcasters, and media also entering. The IOC says more than 80% of resident of the Olympic Village will be vaccinated.
Nationwide, Japan has had about 810,000 cases and nearly 14,900 deaths. Only 15% of Japanese are fully vaccinated, still low compared with 47.4% in the United States and almost 50% in Britain.
COLLEYVILLE, Texas — Four hostages are safe and their captor is dead after an hourslong standoff that began when the man took over services at a Texas synagogue where he could be heard ranting on a livestream and demanding the release of a Pakistani neuroscientist who was convicted of trying to kill U.
AP Interviews: Taliban Pledge All Girls in Schools Soon
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French Report: 330,000 Children Victims of Church Sex Abuse
Olivier Savignac, President of "Parler et revivre" (Speak out and live again) victims association speaks during an interview Monday, Oct. 4, 2021, in Paris. (AP Photo/Alex Tubull)
PARIS — A major French report released Tuesday found that an estimated 330,000 children were victims of sex abuse within France’s Catholic Church over the past 70 years, in France's first major reckoning with the devastating phenomenon.
The president of the commission that issued the report, Jean-Marc Sauvé, said the estimate, based on scientific research, includes abuses committed by priests and others clerics as well as by non-religious people involved in the church. He said about 80% are male victims.
“The consequences are very serious,” Sauvé said. “About 60% of men and women who were sexually abused encounter major problems in their sentimental or sexual life.”
The 2,500-page document prepared by an independent commission comes as the Catholic Church in France, like in other countries, seeks to face up to shameful secrets that were long covered up.
The report says an estimated 3,000 child abusers — two-thirds of them priests — worked in the church during that period. Sauvé said the overall figure of victims includes an estimated 216,000 people abused by priests and other clerics.
Olivier Savignac, head of victims association “Parler et Revivre” (Speak out and Live again), who contributed to the probe, told The Associated Press that the high ratio of victims per abuser is particularly “terrifying for French society, for the Catholic Church."
The commission worked for 2 1/2 years, listening to victims and witnesses and studying church, court, police and press archives starting from the 1950s. A hotline launched at the beginning of the probe received 6,500 calls from alleged victims or people who said they knew a victim.
Sauvé denounced the church’s attitude until the beginning of the 2000s as “a deep, cruel indifference toward victims.” They were “not believed or not heard” and sometimes suspected of being “in part responsible” for what happened, he deplored.
Sauvé said 22 alleged crimes that can still be pursued have been forwarded to prosecutors. More than 40 cases that are too old to be prosecuted but involve alleged perpetrators who are still alive have been forwarded to church officials.
The commission issued 45 recommendations about how to prevent abuse. These included training priests and other clerics, revising Canon Law — the legal code the Vatican uses to govern the church — and fostering policies to recognize and compensate victims, Sauvé said.
The report comes after a scandal surrounding now-defrocked priest Bernard Preynat rocked the French Catholic Church. Last year, Preynat was convicted of sexually abusing minors and given a five-year prison sentence. He acknowledged abusing more than 75 boys for decades.
One of Preynat's victims, Francois Devaux, head of the victims group La Parole Libérée ("The Liberated Word"), told The Associated Press that “with this report, the French church for the first time is going to the root of this systemic problem. The deviant institution must reform itself.”
He said the number of victims the report identifies is “a minimum.”
"Some victims did not dare to speak out or trust the commission,” he said, expressing concerns that the church in France still “hasn’t understood” and has sought to minimize its responsibilities.
The church must not only acknowledge events but also compensate victims, Devaux said. “It is indispensable that the church redresses the harm caused by all these crimes, and (financial) compensation is the first step.”
The Preynat case led to the resignation last year of the former archbishop of Lyon, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, who has been accused of failing to report the abuses to civil authorities when he learned about them in the 2010s. France’s highest court ruled earlier this year that Barbarin did not cover up the case.
French archbishops, in a message to parishioners read during Sunday Mass across the country, said the publication of the report is “a test of truth and a tough and serious moment.”
“We will receive and study these conclusions to adapt our actions,” the message said. “The fight against pedophilia concerns all of us … Our support and our prayers will keep going toward all the people who have been abused within the church.”
Pope Francis issued in May 2019 a groundbreaking new church law requiring all Catholic priests and nuns around the world to report clergy sexual abuse and cover-ups by their superiors to church authorities.
In June, Francis swiftly rejected an offer from Cardinal Reinhard Marx, one of Germany’s most prominent clerics and a close papal adviser, to resign as archbishop of Munich and Freising over the church’s mishandling of abuse cases. But he said a process of reform was necessary and every bishop must take responsibility for the “catastrophe” of the crisis.
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How a Diehard Democrat Joined a Republican Group
By Charlotte Tragos
The Lincoln Memorial is reflected in the water as people gather to attend the March on Washington, Friday Aug. 28, 2020, in Washington, on the 57th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. s "I Have A Dream" speech. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
The past four years have challenged the idea that the United States is a great country. Our once admirable foundation of diversity is being destroyed by the divisive rhetoric of our president. Coming from a Gold Star family with roots in Missouri, my background is that of an old-school Democrat. My core value is that everyone has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness regardless of gender, race, citizenship, sexual orientation, wealth, or education. I believe our government has a role in protecting those values and Donald Trump does not.
I see Trump as a threat to the well-being of the American people and to our democracy, and I thought Democrats were alone in thinking this way. However, a super-PAC, a political action committee that fundraises for a candidate, has surprised me.
In early May, I was exposed to The Lincoln Project through one of their advertisements entitled Mourning in America. The Lincoln Project was formed in December 2019 by several current and former Republicans. Some of the project’s founders were veteran strategists that worked for key Republicans like President George H.W. Bush, Senator John McCain and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The goal of the project is to “prevent the reelection of Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election” and to overall “defeat Trumpism at the ballot box.”
The Lincoln Project’s ad was inspired by Ronald Reagan’s 1984 re-election ad, Morning in America. Both advertisements were made by big-name Republicans, and their messages were meant to be parallel but with a starkly different conclusion. Reagan’s ad kindly invited voters to see him as the cause of America’s re-awakening and recovery during his first term. The Lincoln Project’s ad depicted a country ravaged by death and a failing economy under the tyrannical leadership of Trump, ending with the foreboding question: “If we have another four years like this, will there even be an America?”
Before seeing The Lincoln Project advertisement, I had the mindset that most, if not all, Republicans supported Trump, but I was wrong.
I was intrigued with the Project’s rejection of a Republican president like Trump so I interviewed Sarah Lenti, the Executive Director of the Lincoln Project. Lenti worked on four Republican presidential campaigns, served in the Bush administration and worked as an advisor to former Massachusetts Governor and presidential candidate, Mitt Romney. Lenti described that what made a Republican as herself turn against Trump was the disconnect he had from the Republican party.
“Trump was on TV at a rally in Alabama mocking a disabled man,” Lenti said. “I was like no f—— way. That is not the Republican Party that I grew up in. When Trump came about, we thought this does not represent anything we’ve ever seen. It’s dangerous to the party and to the brand.”
Lenti expanded on the fact that due to this disconnect from the Republican party, Trump has created his own form of politics coined as ‘Trumpism’.
“There’s a cult of Trumpism right now. Amongst the Republican base, he is so strong,” she said. “We have to get Republicans of note to stand up and say: I am not voting for Trump in this cycle.”
Due to my desire to grow my knowledge about this Republican group, I was offered the opportunity to intern with The Lincoln Project beginning this past Summer and continuing until the election this Fall. In the seven months of its existence, through cleverly crafted ads, endorsements, and organized efforts in swing states, The Lincoln Project has been making a difference. They have swayed moderate Republicans and Independents to support more progressive candidates and denounce Trump for re-election.
While I never thought I’d be working with Republicans, here I am. More importantly, here our country is, suffering at the hands of the most dangerous president we’ve ever had. I’ve developed a deep respect and heartfelt appreciation for both the mission and the success of this organization. I am still a Democrat, but I have learned that things are not so clear cut. Although the project and I don’t agree on everything, our core values – American values – are the same.
I hope more Republicans will be outraged about what is happening to our country and, like my friends at The Lincoln Project, think about this moment in history and how urgent it is now to put our country first, above parties and sides. And when we come together in this common cause, I hope other Democrats, like me, will consider that a Republican point-of-view is not necessarily all bad. It is less about taking ‘sides’ and more about, even in small measures, coming together.
Our country will fail if we cannot unite and find values that we all agree on. In the words of Abraham Lincoln, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
This article was originally published in The Oracle
Analysis: Biden Overshoots on What’s Possible in Divided DC
WASHINGTON — He was supposed to break through the congressional logjam.
Past Wisdom Meets Present Pandemic
“The Same, Yesterday, Today, and Forever” – Hebrews: 13-8
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Raptors Set Franchise Scoring Record, Win 144-123 Over Kings (Highlights)
Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet, right, passes the ball as Sacramento Kings guard Buddy Hield defends during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game in Sacramento, Calif., Friday, Jan. 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Pascal Siakam had 17 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds, Toronto made 20 3-pointers and the Raptors set a franchise record for scoring while winning for the second time this season, 144-123 over the Sacramento Kings on Friday night.
Fred VanVleet scored 34 points to help the Raptors (2-6) snap a three-game losing streak. Toronto's only other win came on Dec. 31 against the New York Knicks.
Nick Nurse's team won its seventh straight against the Kings despite being without point guard Kyle Lowry (personal reasons).
That, and the poise the Raptors showed after falling behind by 19 points in the first half, had Nurse beaming afterward.
"When there's a whole bunch of guys hitting the floor with that level of fight, it kind of snowballs a little bit. It's contagious," Nurse said. "There wasn't a whole lot to hang our heads about other than the start, and we didn't then."
Chris Boucher added 23 points and 10 rebounds for Toronto. Norman Powell scored 22 points and Terence Davis had 18.
"We did a great job of playing with energy throughout the game, even at the start," said Powell, who made four 3s. "We clawed our way back into the game and the guys showed a lot of heart, toughness and togetherness to give us a chance going into that second half."
De'Aaron Fox scored 23 points and rookie Tyrese Haliburton had 15 points and eight assists for Sacramento.
Toronto outscored Sacramento 33-20 in the fourth quarter.
"They manhandled us, especially in that second half," Kings coach Luke Walton said. "We built up a nice, big lead, and you see it all the time in the NBA … they got hot. It didn't matter who they put in the game, they weren't missing. We relaxed, and as soon as we relaxed they found a nice smooth rhythm."
The Raptors' previous record for scoring in the regular season was 140 points, last done against the New Orleans Pelicans on Oct. 22, 2019. Toronto scored 150 points against the Brooklyn Nets on Aug. 23 in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Raptors: Toronto had six players in double figures. … The Raptors dominated on the boards 44-26.
Kings: Sacramento shot 81% (17 of 21) with six 3s and scored a season-high 43 points in the first quarter. … The Kings had a season-high 36 assists. … Haliburton had a 3-pointer taken away upon review in the first quarter when it was ruled he stepped out of bounds before shooting. … Richaun Holmes picked up his fourth foul with 3:46 left in the second.
BEATS STANDING IN LINE
Fans have not been allowed inside Golden1 Center all season but that hasn't stopped some from getting as close a look as possible. Two elderly women in wheelchairs peered through the glass doors encircling the arena and were able to see the game being shown on the giant scoreboard above the court, a ritual they have taken on for every home game this season. They were joined Friday night by a small group of people wearing Kings jerseys who were socially distanced nearby.
Raptors: Visit Golden State on Sunday. Toronto has won three straight in the series, most recently beating the Warriors to clinch a playoff berth in March of last year.
Kings: Host the Trail Blazers on Saturday night. The two teams play again at Golden1 Center next Wednesday.
Pascal Siakam Has Triple-Double, Raptors Beat Bucks 103-96
MILWAUKEE — Pascal Siakam had 30 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds for his second career triple-double and the Toronto Raptors overcame an early 15-point deficit to beat the cold-shooting Milwaukee Bucks 103-96 on Saturday night.
Celtics Rally Late, Edge Bulls 114-112 on Williams’ FTs
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How blockchain technology has changed the game for Syrian refugees in Jordan
We speak to Houman Haddad about how the UN’s World Food Programme is using blockchain to help refugees in Jordan’s Azraq and Zaatari camps
Young Syrian refugee boy in a World Food Programme-run supermarket in Zaatari refugee camp. All refugees in the camp receive monthly cash assistance from WFP, facilitated by the ‘Building Blocks’ blockchain system. Courtesy WFP / Mohammad Batah
Charlie Faulkner
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
The sound of an electronic bell gently chimes, loud enough to be heard above the low hum of a room in Amman, indicating a call is coming in. Several women wearing headsets sit in front of computers, picking up phones and answering queries from people at the other end of the line. This is the headquarters of the UN World Food Programme's cash-transfer hotline centre in Jordan, an operation that provides a direct link between the organisation and its beneficiaries – in this case, Syrians living in Jordan's refugee camps.
What started out as two people answering enquiries on a mobile phone has evolved into a slick operation, allowing its 10 staff to receive an average of 500 calls per day, five days a week. The hotline centre serves the WFP's Building Blocks project, an initiative that delivers financial aid to Syrian refugees in Jordan through blockchain, a form of distributed ledger technology (DLT).
Launched in 2017 as the largest blockchain pilot project in the humanitarian sector, it now serves 110,000 people across Jordan's Azraq and Zaatari refugee camps. Houman Haddad, head of emerging technologies at the WFP, came up with the idea to use this kind of technology for the programme's cash-transfer system. "I was a finance officer dealing with investments and foreign exchange," Haddad tells The National. "This was a little bit outside my job profile and I wasn't sure how much traction it would have."
Even so, Haddad pitched his idea to the WFP's innovation accelerator in Munich, which had put out a call for project proposals. "I thought this could be a great proposal," says Haddad. "We did a small pilot and we've been scaling it since."
Today, Building Blocks uses blockchain to create and manage humanitarian aid financial accounts, while providing a real-time view of transactions. These accounts are linked to iris-scanning technology in WFP-run supermarkets in the camps, allowing purchases to be authenticated by a person's eyes, although similar projects could use other forms of authentication, such as codes sent via text messages.
Traditionally, the organisation directed food to those in need, but in 2009 it began to introduce cash-based transfers. "We enable the people we serve to purchase the food themselves through bank cards, e-vouchers or cash," says Haddad. "It means they can choose what they eat, which is more dignified for them, more cost-effective and stimulating for the local economy.
To enable this, you need a financial provider to be able to create accounts and process transactions.”
The use of blockchain technology bypasses the need for a financial provider, such as a bank, reducing costs by 98 per cent, although Haddad stresses this figure is specific to Jordan and may not be true in other places that integrate the system.
Thanks to the real-time information, call handlers in the hotline centre can perform tasks such as answering queries, unlocking accounts and authorising transactions within a few minutes, instead of a few weeks. Information such as names and dates of birth are not visible to those accessing the system. They can only see a person's ID number and the benefits they are entitled to.
Cashier in a World Food Programme-run supermarket in Zaatari refugee camp verifies a payment using the iris-scan method. Courtesy WFP / Mohammad Batah
The next step was to give account holders direct access to cash. In July, UN Women – an initiative devoted to gender equality and the empowerment of women – joined the network and the women the initiative works with were the first to obtain cash through the system. Haddad says he also envisages a "multi-wallet" concept whereby people can use the system to pay for things such as education and health care. WFP intends to pilot the idea in Bangladesh early next year.
Stefano Santoro, who heads the cash-based transfer system in Jordan, describes the use of blockchain as a "breakthrough for humanitarian assistance", saying about $64 million (Dh235m) has been transferred to account holders using the technology. There are more than 100,000 of them so far.
The success of the project means it will be rolled out in Bangladesh and Palestine. But Haddad says there could be further opportunities for the humanitarian sector to benefit from blockchain, pointing out the need to combine the different systems across the industry. "Cash-based transfers are gaining a lot of momentum," he says. "In 2009, we processed $10 million-worth and that's increased to $1.7 billion. Other humanitarian organisations using cash-based transfers are seeing growth as well.
"We need better co-ordination to run a system equitably and on a needs basis. A good mechanism to achieve this co-ordination, as far as I know, is not yet there, because everyone has their own systems."
Houman Haddad, head of emerging technologies at the United Nations World Food Programme. Courtesy Houman Haddad
Haddad suggests blockchain could offer a place to amalgamate information from organisations across the humanitarian sector – exemplified by UN Women joining the system – offering a transparent way of working.
"Now is the time to gain additional membership," he says. "We're not selling anything to anyone. What we're saying is that in most of the assistance scenarios, you have something of value, someone needs to redeem it and you need to account for it. We're saying we think we've done this quite impeccably."
He says the system that the WFP uses has had no major glitches since its launch and has undergone several audits to ensure its compliance and security. The biggest challenge is changing people's perceptions of the technology, he says, as blockchain is often linked with the negative side of cryptocurrency and the dangers posed by the dark web.
But Haddad is determined to move it forward. He's even suggested using the technology as a digital storage space enabling refugees access to their personal information wherever they go, instead of having to start over if they move to a different country. "As a refugee, you arrive in a new country without documentation or you're born in a refugee camp," he says. "You spend this part of your life getting married, getting vaccinated, getting a job and so on. If you go back home or to a new country, that information is left behind, fragmented among different organisations."
Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, where the World Food Programme provides food assistance to all 80,000 residents. Courtesy WFP / Mohammad Batah
He says blockchain could create a "digital identity" for refugees. He is also open to the prospect of using Bitcoin. For now, the focus is on taking Building Blocks to other countries and increasing awareness of the opportunities blockchain presents.
"I'm advocating the best I can and I'm trying to demonstrate by doing," he says. "Every member in the system is 100 per cent equal. There is no branding of a particular organisation, which allows the focus to remain on the people we serve."
Building Blocks is one of several ways blockchain can be used in the sector. Giulio Coppi, digital specialist at the Norwegian Refugee Council, says the technology offers a revolutionary approach by proposing trust in the platform rather than between people, while providing checks and balances within the system. However, none of the humanitarian projects launched so far are seamless systems due to the need for using paper processes for verification and audit purposes. Offline functionality can also be a challenge in locations without internet connection, such as in refugee camps. For all these reasons, Coppi says the technology should not be treated as a "magic bullet".
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"Everything you can do on blockchain, you can do without it," he explains. "The advantage is that you have this tamper-proof, transparent and accountable system in which everything is time-stamped, allowing you to trace the information that is on the chain. This is the added value. But this by itself is not going to solve the operational and implementational problems."
Coppi was the co-author of a report published in February that examined the use of blockchain in the humanitarian sector. He highlights "hype without evidence" as a major problem, whereby the focus is on the technology's potential rather than understanding the impact of current projects in the sector that use distributed ledger technology.
Coppi is also concerned about the idea of sharing information to allow several organisations to operate in conjuction with one another, while remaining transparent. Currently, WFP's Building Blocks gets around this problem by using limited information; specific identification information is held and accessed only by the UN refugee agency. "This is less of a tech problem and more of a governance problem," Coppi says. "We already have systems to share IDs and services, the problem is because of privacy and security issues we cannot share a lot of information and when we do it requires consent."
‘EyePay’ receipt in a World Food Programme-run supermarket in Zaatari refugee camp. Courtesy WFP / Mohammad Batah
Because of this, Coppi doubts the issue of ID sharing will be resolved any time soon. He stresses the need to focus on internal systems and governance instead of the beneficiary's experience. "If we don't start from the back-end and we only focus on the user side, there is a risk that we keep chasing the white rabbit instead of grappling with, what is right now, the most at-reach and impactful side of DLT implementation," he says.
With Haddad working on introducing Building Blocks in Bangladesh, he says the importance of blockchain and the need to collaborate has become clearer. "The more time I've been involved with blockchain, the more I've realised how powerful and necessary it is."
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Home Uncategorized Aggression for Self-Protection
Aggression for Self-Protection
Benna Sherman Ph.D.
It turned out to be one of their ugliest fights ever. She was really upset about something that he’d done and was telling him calmly but clearly how hurt and angry she was. He seemed to be listening. He even looked ashamed of what he’d done. She was floored when what she thought was going to be an apology turned into the most blistering attack she’d ever heard from his lips. Somehow, instead of saying that he was sorry, now he was screaming at her about how the whole thing was her fault. He told her how she had caused him to behave the way that he had.
She fled the room. Not only did it feel hopeless to talk to him, it was downright scary. He was achieving a depth of meanness that she’d never seen before, and it made it impossible for her to feel safe in a conversation with him.
After she left the room, he had a surge of triumph. He felt big and powerful. But it was rapidly replaced with a feeling of shame and loneliness. This was a woman, after all, whom he’d protect without hesitation from anyone who dared to harm or frighten her. This was the woman he loved. How could he be the one to hurt her so badly? The look in her eyes when she’d run from the room cut him to the heart.
He stood up and moved toward the bedroom, a sincere apology on his lips. But then he remembered the feeling of shame when she’d confronted him with what he’d done. His stomach sank and he stopped moving toward her. He couldn’t bear to feel that shame again. It made him feel so small and weak. He couldn’t, he wouldn’t, willingly feel that again. He turned away from the bedroom and walked instead into his den and sat down at his desk. He buried himself in paperwork; and he pushed away the image of her face in tears. When it intruded, he reminded himself that it was her fault this had happened in the first place.
For several weeks after that, she left him pretty much alone. They behaved civilly in front of the kids and other people; but they never discussed anything of consequence. He occasionally caught her crying when she thought she was alone in the house. He wanted so much to comfort her, but he couldn’t bring himself to talk about what had happened.
Needing to talk to someone, he finally confided in a woman friend at work whom he’d known for years. He presented it with laughter, as if it were funny to him and should be to her too. He was disappointed but not surprised when she told him that he’d been a jerk. Hoping that he could change her assessment with more explanation, he tried to clarify how this was really his wife’s fault. His colleague wasn’t buying it. Worse, she pointed out that every time he started to accept his proper responsibility in the whole event, he would rapidly digress into blaming his wife. When that was a non-starter, she called him on switching over to blaming his father for modeling behavior just like this.
But she also gave him a life ring to grab onto. She pointed out that the fact that he was talking to her about this demonstrated that he was troubled by the whole thing. Much as he couldn’t seem to stay with his own culpability, he did in fact recognize, however fleetingly, that he needed to accept responsibility for his own poor behavior. He really did recognize that he was hurting someone that he was sworn to protect and he did not like the feeling that he was failing her.
He was now feeling more uncomfortable from the shame of failing her than from the shame of being wrong. He was an inherently honest man, so he admitted to himself that his friend was right—he had been a jerk. He wondered if he had the guts to admit it to his wife. He had no particular confidence right now that she’d accept even an apology from him. And he wasn’t sure that he could stay an honorable course if she started attacking him, no matter how much it might be deserved.
He was pretty sure that he was ready and able to walk into the lion’s den; but he wasn’t sure that once there he’d remain able to put aside his aggression-as-protection. He figured he’d need courage and commitment to his marriage to carry this off. He told himself that he’d done other things in his life that scared him – he’d been in combat, for heaven’s sake. He’d done that because he believed in the cause for which he was fighting. Well, he believed in his marriage and in his love for his wife. He could do this too.
Author: Benna Sherman Ph.D.
My Ph.D. is in counseling psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. I am licensed in the state of Maryland where I have been practicing as a therapist since 1989. I specialize in therapy for individuals and couples, seeing adults of all ages. I enjoy working with men and women, LGBTQ or straight. My style as a therapist is active, pragmatic, and holistic. I see therapy as an active collaboration between me and the patient. I have a particular interest in the mind-body connection and offer a mindfulness-based stress management program.
About Benna Sherman Ph.D.
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The Rico Collection
Modern Culture Modern Art
E-mail For Inquiries
What Made Me
Ricky “Rico” Heeraman was born in the heart of the culture, the mecca of graffiti art known as the Bronx, NYC. This inner city kid was intrigued & fascinated by many things but one thing that stuck with him was the art he grew up around. He recalls his morning walks to school, having an opportunity to get a first hand look at authentic graffiti pieces done by well-known respectable writers was just a spark to what would ignite his current empire, “The Rico Collection”.
Rico later on in his life moved to Paterson, NJ another inner city ghetto that wouldn’t allow kids to dream. Where he grew up in NY & NJ kids were forced to grow up quickly because of life experiences that were happening everyday. His friends & peers would get caught up in the midst of becoming statistics for the inner city stereotypes. But this…..this is where he separates himself from the rest, there is no conforming accepted.
Rico explained he wasn’t the type to be easily influenced by negative temptations that surrounded him day to day. He kept a level head & stood strong, with the strong support from his family he used ART as a form of ESCAPE, as a form of COMMUNICATION, as a form of EMOTIONAL, MENTAL & PHYSICAL EXPRESSION, as a form of PERCEPTION, as a form to make IDEAS. He used art that he grew up around and addressed issues that weren’t brought up to societies attention.
In his art, Rico uses his vibrant color mixes, NYC graffiti street style, & pop art style to merge a very unique body of work that is very unique and rare. He uses these methods to draw the audience in but there are always hidden messages behind all of the beauty. Most of the time the messages are dark messages, messages the media, government, and etc. doesn’t shine light on.
He talks about real emotions, real love, real desires, real pain, things people used to feel comfortable talking about and expressing but over the course of the years we’ve diminished this sense of intimacy because of the “CUT-THROAT” society we’ve become. Now it’s a dog eat dog world out there, and if you’re not savage enough to survive, you’ll get left behind. Rico realizes the world shouldn’t be like this, it needs to be restored to a point where its all love again, a point where we can live peacefully. Which is why in all of his paintings he includes the “Eye of Horus” for everything it represents; wealth, health, power, & prosperity. He feels like communicating to the world through something so beautiful such as art can make the people become one again.
All of his pieces are 100% original hand made. He spends an extensive amount of time researching new topics for his new paintings. Rico never went to Art School however he said he is self- taught. Reading many books and learning many different styles from various artists such as Banksy, Keith Haring, Basquiat, Retna, Andy Warhol, Dali, Rothko, Michelangelo, COPE2, Revok, KAWS, Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Monet, RISK, OSGEMEOS, Dondi, Vhils, TAKI183, Ron English, and many others.
Rico promises to preserve the culture he once grew up around, the same walls he used to walk to school to as a kid are the same walls he wishes to preserve for the community, it represents culture, where we grew up, it represents the hard ships, it represents the beauty in an ugly life….
thericocollection@gmail.com
©2017 by The Rico Collection.
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New Persona Q 3DS Trailer Shown By Nintendo
Adam Guest 10/06/14 1 Comment
Nintendo’s E3 coverage has begun, and amongst the new titbits of news and release dates comes a trailer for the western release of Atlus’ Persona Q: Shadow Of The Labyrinth.
Persona Q is a cross-over title featuring characters from both Persona 3 and Persona 4 who’re joining forces to fight their enemies, the titular Shadows. The game is described as a dungeon crawler – similar to the Etrian Odyssey series – and as with previous Persona games sees players choices affecting the ongoing story.
Persona Q: Shadow Of The Labyrinth is scheduled for a North American eShop release later in 2014, whilst a European version has yet to be announced.
Tags: 3DS, Persona Q: Shadow Of The Labyrinth
Netflix will be leaving these consoles on June 30th
Archiverse Preserves Nintendo’s Abandoned Miiverse Social Network
Nintendo Are Shutting Down Miiverse In November
The New Nintendo 2DS XL Was A Surprise, But Is It Any Good?
Dominic Leighton 10/06/14, 23:11
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Home 2020 Olympic Games THE TICKER: Olympic Torch Relay is off and running; Brisbane City Council...
THE TICKER: Olympic Torch Relay is off and running; Brisbane City Council approves 2032 bid; Hanyu superb, Chen falls at ISU Worlds
The start of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay (Photo: Tokyo 2020)
The latest news, notes and quotes from the worldwide Five-Ring Circus:
● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● The Olympic Torch Relay began on Thursday in Fukushima prefecture, site of the devastating 2011 earthquake, tsunami and follow-on nuclear disaster.
Members of the Nadeshiko Japan football squad that won the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup started the 121-day run at the J-Village sports complex, with defender Iwashimizu Azusa the first torchbearer. The relay will hit 859 cities and towns while touching all 47 of the country’s prefectures.
Kyodo News reported:
“[T]he relay might be suspended, or some routes of the program may be skipped, if too many people gather on roadsides. Fans are encouraged to turn to live online broadcasts and refrain from traveling outside of their home prefectures to watch the relay.
“Spectators must wear face masks and are also urged to clap rather than cheer. The runners, who will each carry a cherry blossom-motif torch over a distance of about 200 meters, are required to log their health information and asked not to dine out with others.”
The Torch Relay is being counted on as a rallying point for the Games. A Kyodo News poll conducted over last weekend saw only 23.2% in favor of the Olympic and Paralympic Games moving ahead as scheduled; 39.8% thought they should be canceled.
The Russian Olympic Committee has asked the International Olympic Committee for permission to use a one-minute segment from iconic Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in place of its national anthem at the Tokyo Games.
This music is being used this week at the International Skating Union’s World Figure Skating Championships, as the Russian anthem has been barred through 2022 according to the sanctions imposed by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
● Games of the XXXV Olympiad: Brisbane 2032 ● In its first closed-door meeting since 2007, the Brisbane City Council approved the city’s bid for the 2032 Games. The eight-hour session included presentations by Australian Olympic Committee chief (and IOC member) John Coates and the Queensland tourism authority, among others. Council members were required to sign a confidentiality agreement prior to the meeting.
Only one of the 27 council members voted against the proposal.
The bid file, including government guarantees, is expected to be completed in April and forwarded to the International Olympic Committee. If properly submitted, Brisbane (and Queensland) could be formally selected to host the 2032 Games as early as the IOC Session in Tokyo in July.
● World University Games ● The sanctions against Russia imposed by the World Anti-Doping Agency – as modified by the Court of Arbitration for Sport – has required the Russian Minister of Sport, Oleg Matytsin, to temporarily resign as the head of the International University Sports Federation (FISU).
The Russian news agency TASS reported, “Switzerland’s Leonz Eder was appointed the acting president of FISU until December 17, 2022, the year when Matytsin is expected to take the FISU presidential seat again.”
Several Russian officials have been required to step away from International Federation posts per the sanctions, which do not allow sitting government officials – like Matytsin – to serve during the penalty period.
● Figure Skating ● The ISU World Championships are underway in Stockholm (SWE), but despite the best intentions, the federation announced on Wednesday (24th):
“During the rigorous testing procedures in place, a second positive case was identified. The ISU and Organizing Committee will respect the privacy of the respective person and inform the remaining Event Participants internally of the situation.
“The ISU can confirm that both cases were detected following the PCR test upon arrival on site prior to accreditation. Consequently, neither person obtained an accreditation nor were they included in the competition bubble which remains secure.”
The women’s and Pairs Short Program was held on Wednesday and the men’s Short Program on Thursday morning. The remaining schedule:
● 25 March: Pairs Free Skate
● 26 March: Ice Dance Rhythm Dance, Women’s Free Skate
● 27 March: Men’s Free Skate, Ice Dance Free Skate
The men’s Short Program belonged to two-time Olympic champ Yuzuru Hanyu, who scored a sensational 106.98 – one of the highest scores ever – more than six points clear of teammate Yuma Kagiyama (100.96) and more than eight points ahead of defending champ Nathan Chen of the U.S. (98.85), who suffered a fall early in his program. Jason Brown of the U.S. was seventh at 91.25.
The women’s Short Program was won by Russia’s Anna Shcherbakova at 81.00, ahead of Rika Kihira (JPN: 79.08) and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (RUS: 78.86). The top Americans were Karen Chen in fourth place (74.40) and Bradie Tennell in seventh (69.87).
Russian entries were 1-3-4 in the Pairs Short Program, led by Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovskii at 80.16, ahead of China’s Wenjing Sui and Cong Han (77.62). The U.S. entries were 6-7 with Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy Leduc (64.94) and Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier (64.67).
Look for complete results here.
● Football ● Competition in Group A of the CONCACAF men’s Olympic (U-23) Qualifying Tournament in Mexico concluded on Wednesday, with the hosts converting a U.S. error into a 1-0 win.
The game went back and forth during a scoreless first half, with the U.S. having 54% of the possession, but Mexico getting the better chances. But with only 30 seconds remaining, a poor clearance by U.S. forward Sebastian Soto led to a hard strike and a goal by Mexico’s Uriel Antuna from the left side of the box and that proved to be the difference.
While Mexico out-shot the U.S. in the first half by 8-1, there was better play from the Americans in the final half, but no goals. The U.S. got four shots on goal – as did Mexico – in the last half (12-5 for the game), but Mexico had control of the match at the end and finished with 51% of the possession time.
Costa Rica downed the Dominican Republic, 5-0, to finish third in the group at 1-2, with the Dominicans at 0-3. Mexico and the U.S. will move on to face the tournament semifinals and have the top two in Group B, to be decided on Thursday.
Honduras (1-0-1: 4 pts.) and Canada (1-0-1: 4 pts.) will face each other for the group title; El Salvador (0-1-1: 1 pt.) and Haiti (0-1-1: 1 pt.) will play in the opener. The semifinals – with the winners qualifying for Tokyo – will play on 28 March.
The U.S. Men’s National Team was in action against Jamaica on Thursday – in Wiener Neustadt, Austria of all places – in a friendly featuring American players who are part of European teams. It’s the first of a two-match schedule, with a match against Northern Ireland coming on the 28th.
In today’s match, the U.S. controlled most of the action, with 70% of the possession in the first half and 11 shots to four for Jamaica, but only one that really counted. That was a 35th-minute lob by left back Sergino Dest over the head of Jamaican keeper Jeadine White for the only goal of the first half (and Dest’s first goal for the U.S.).
The U.S. was back on offense to start the second half and a brilliant run down the left side of the Jamaican defense by Josh Sargent was followed by a perfect cross to a sprinting Brenden Aaronson in the 52nd minute for the second score. The American offense swarmed around the Jamaican goal almost continuously, but then the Reggae Boyz got back in the game in the 70th minute.
A run by Andre Gray on the right side led to a brilliant through-pass to a streaking Jamal Lowe, who lifted the ball over American keeper Zack Steffen from the right side of the goal to bring the Jamaicans close.
But the U.S. put the game away in the 83rd minute with a right-footed strike from a charging Sebastian Lletget, rushing to meet a well-timed cross at the top of the box from striker Nicholas Gioacchini.
Steffen made two saves on Jamaican chances in the 89th minute to keep the U.S. on top and then Lletget rushed forward for a final goal off a cross at the top of the box from midfielder Luca de la Torre in the 90th minute.
The U.S. finished with 68% of the possession and a 27-9 advantage on shots.
FIFA’s Ethics Committee, an group independent of the federation itself, returned guilty findings and imposed bans on former FIFA President Sepp Blatter (SUI) and former FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke (FRA). According to the FIFA statement:
“The investigations into Messrs Blatter and Valcke covered various charges, in particular concerning bonus payments in relation to FIFA competitions that were paid to top FIFA management officials, various amendments and extensions of employment contracts, as well as reimbursement by FIFA of private legal costs in the case of Mr Valcke.”
Both received sanctions – bans from all activities related to football – of six years and eight months and are required to pay a fine of CHF 1 million. And:
“As the previous bans from taking part in all football-related activity imposed on Messrs Blatter and Valcke by the independent Ethics Committee in 2015 and 2016 have not yet been purged, the bans notified today will only come into force upon the expiry of the previous bans (i.e. on 8 October 2021 and 8 October 2025, respectively).”
● Speedskating ● The Washington Post reported Tuesday that Dutch coach Wilma Boomstra was fired by U.S. Speedskating for a lack of achievement against the goals set for the Short Track team she was hired to guide since 2018.
Boomstra was the subject of three complaints by athletes during the past year and an inquiry ended with Boomstra being found to have bullied athletes. The Post story noted that “in an interview this month with Dutch newspaper Friesch Dagblad, Boomstra expressed no remorse and defended her coaching style while placing blame on the skaters.”
The U.S. will now need a new coach with 11 months remaining prior to the Beijing 2022 Winter Games.
● Swimming ● The International Swimming League announced the first details on its pivotal third season, with a 10-team, six-week, 10-match schedule foreseen in late August and September – after the Olympic Games are concluded – in a sequestered format as was held in 2020.
The second phase will be a three-week, eight-team, six-match “playoff” program to select four teams for the ISL Final, which will be held in December.
The 10 teams will stay the same as in 2020 and the meet locations are still to be identified.
This is a far less ambitious program that has been proposed by ISL in the past, but in the still-uncertain atmosphere of the pandemic and the need to better control the multi-million dollar losses of the first two seasons, a shorter and more intense schedule makes a lot of sense.
Interestingly, the ISL schedule concept appears to be fully compatible with the FINA World Cup calendar. That program has two meets in early-to-mid August, then is off until October (and ends on 30 October). The FINA World 25 m Championships will be in Abu Dhabi (UAE) from 16-21 December.
● Table Tennis ● The leadership of the International Table Tennis Federation continues in chaos after the ITTF Executive Committee approved the reinstatement of Qatari Khalil Al-Mohannadi as Deputy President and declared:
“[T]he majority of the [Executive Committee] members informed the President that he had unfortunately lost their trust, confidence and support and accordingly it was agreed that all decisions should be made by majority within the EC until the next [Annual General Meeting].”
The ITTF President, since 2014 and elected in 2017 for another term, is German Thomas Weikert. His statement “announced legal action before the respective sports courts against the majority decision of the Executive Committee, calling it an ‘unauthorized interference with his rights and a blatant violation of the ITTF Constitution’.”
The Executive Committee statement emphasized that its assumption of more authority was “in order to unify the Executive Committee in the best interest of the ITTF.”
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THE BIG PICTURE: IOC confident that Beijing Winter Games can proceed amidst Covid crackdowns in China
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NewsAgriculture
Grimm family donates $5M to CSUB for agribusiness center
BAKERSFIELD, Calif — Students interested in the agriculture business will soon have more education opportunities open to them after the Grimm family, who own Grimmway Farms, donated $5 million for a new agribusiness center at CSU Bakersfield.
The Board of Trustees of the California State University approved the establishment of the Grimm Family Center for Agricultural Business at CSUB. The new center was made possible by an endowment created by Barbara Grimm-Marshall and Kari Grimm Anderson.
The $5 million pledge of support for the Center is the single largest gift in the 50-year history of the university.
"The gift coincides with the 50th anniversary of family-owned Grimmway Farms and honors the legacy of the company’s founders, Rod and Bob Grimm," the university said in a release.
The Center will be operated by an executive director, who will create a strategic plan, build a regional network of professionals and experts and oversee the development of curriculum, events and programs, including a lecture series, forums and workshops, professional development, research and scholarships for students.
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CBS Wins First Night of Sweeps
Feb 3, 2006 • Post A Comment
For the first night of February sweeps, CBS outpaced the competition during every hour of prime time in the adults 18 to 49 demographic, starting at 8 p.m. (ET) with the premiere of the latest installment of “Survivor.”
“Survivor: Panama-Exile Island” scored a 7.0 preliminary national rating in the demo, according to Nielsen Media Research, a number that also included live-plus-same-day DVR viewing. “Survivor” outperformed its nearest time period competitor-ABC’s reality series “Dancing With the Stars” (4.9)-by 59 percent. While the latest installment of “Survivor” was up 6 percent in the demo from its September 2005 premiere, it was down 23 percent from its debut last February.
Despite the added competition, “Dancing” was down only 4 percent in adults 18 to 49 from the previous week, growing 46 percent from the 8 p.m. half-hour (3.9) to the 9:30 p.m. half hour (5.7). ABC saw its fortunes change at 9:30 p.m. when sitcom “Crumbs” continued its downward trend from its first three airings by declining 13 percent from the previous week to hit a series low of 2.7 in the demo.
CBS’s “CSI” at 9 p.m. was the top-rated show for the night with a 9.4 in adults 18 to 49, the procedural’s strongest performance in two months. That was almost double the second-place time period competition, NBC’s “My Name Is Earl” at 9 p.m. (5.0) and “The Office” at 9:30 p.m. (4.8).
CBS’s “Without a Trace” was the demo winner at 10 p.m., scoring a 6.7, compared to NBC’s “ER” (5.9) and ABC’s “Primetime” (2.1).
Super Bowl Ads to Be Made Available on the Web
Bush to Nominate McDowell to FCC
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STGO Police Notice
One of the sections under the Road Traffic Act of 1988 (RTA) requires that all movements concerning STGO (Authorisation of Special Types) General Order 2003 notify the relevant authorities especially the Police. The section under the RTA where this order is made in Section 44.
The following refers to the notification requirements and includes a table indicating whether Attendants and Markers for the load and vehicle are required.
Police Notification Requirements
All vehicle and load movements permitted by article 12(1), 13(2), 14(3), 17(3), 23(2), 24(4), 31(3), 38(2), 39(2) and 48(2) of the order which exceeds the specified width, length and weight limits will require police authority notification in accordance with Schedule 5; as will any vehicle or combination of vehicles and/or load permitted by articles (Special Types Order 2003) which weigh more than 80,000 kgs.
The notice to the police authority should give two 'clear days' notice in the prescribed form (see below) and must be given to the police authority in every district through which the vehicle is to pass if:
The vehicle or load exceeds 3 metres in width; or
The vehicle or load exceeds 18.75 metres in length (discounting the length of the towing vehicle on an articulated vehicle); or
The total length of the vehicle and trailer (including projections) exceeds 25.9 metres; or
The load projects more than 3.05 metres to the front or rear; or
The gross weight of the vehicle(s) exceeds 80,000 kgs
It is important to note the following:
'Clear days notice' excludes Saturdays, Sundays, or a public holiday in any part of Great Britain in relation to movements authorised by the Special Types General Order only, there being no such exclusion in Special Orders unless specifically stated.
There is no statutory limit governing the overall height of a load, however, wherever possible it should not exceed 4.95 metres (16' 3") in order that the maximum use can be made of the motorway and trunk road network.
If the actual carrier is different from the company organising the load movement and completing the paperwork, the carrier's details must be included in the notification.
If notification is necessary, the police authority may vary the journey date, time, or route. They also have the power to stop the vehicle in the interests of road safety or to avoid undue traffic congestion.
It should also be noted that where a load has to travel under or over railway lines, that the relevant authority/operator is notified.
The following information is to be provided by the user of the vehicle and in the format indicated. The form for vehicles with axle weights within Road Vehicles (Construction & Use) Regulations 1986 (C&U) or Road Vehicles (Authorised Weight) Regulations 1998 (AW) limits is "Form of Notice to the Police" and "Notice to Police and to Highway and Bridge Authorities" is the form for all others.
If a form is produced and transmitted by electronic mail via a PC it may be varied in accordance with the specific operational needs of a particular police force but must still contain all details listed in the points below. The following information is required by Schedule 5 of the STGO 2003.
The notice must be in a form acceptable to the recipient and should be agreed by both parties; and must contain:
A list of all police forces to which the notice is sent
Details of the user of the vehicle or vehicle combination, stating: address, telephone number, fax number, email address (if any), user's licence number, user's reference number
Details of the intended use of the vehicle or vehicle combination, stating: point of departure, point of destination, time, date and route of the journey, particulars of any load (including description and profile of load)
Details of the vehicle or vehicle combination used, stating:
Registration number of any motor vehicle
Type of vehicle or vehicles
The overall length of the vehicle or vehicle combination (including the length of any front and rear projection)
The overall length of every single rigid unit included in a Part 2 vehicle combination (including the length of any front and rear projection)
Overall width (including the width of any lateral projection)
Gross weight or gross train weight
Number of wheels per axle
All axle weights and all axle spacing
The form of notice required by the police authority and a myriad of additional forms concerning Abnormal Loads and their movements can be downloaded from this link.
Forms - Abnormal load movements application and notification forms
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Publications: Health and Welfare Plans
COBRA Premium Reduction Guidance — What Do We Do Now?
The April 18, 2009 deadline for distributing the notice describing the new COBRA premium reduction and COBRA extended election period available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (“ARRA”) has passed, and many employers and plans will begin receiving and administering requests for the premium reduction over the next few weeks. Both the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and Department of Labor have issued helpful guidance on how to administer these new COBRA rights since the enactment of ARRA on February 17, 2009, including the IRS’s Notice 2009–27 (the “Notice”). This article discusses some of the major issues raised in the Notice, including its guidance on what constitutes an “involuntary termination” and the interplay of the premium reduction and coverage provided in connection with a severance policy or plan. (For a detailed discussion of the ARRA premium reduction and the second COBRA election period, please also see our article on the ARRA premium reduction in our February 2009 issue.)
Briefly, ARRA provides for a 65% reduction in the premium otherwise payable for COBRA coverage by certain qualified beneficiaries for coverage periods that commence on and after February 17, 2009 (COBRA months beginning March 1, 2009 for plans that administer COBRA on a monthly basis). The ARRA premium reduction is available for up to nine months to an “assistance eligible individual” (“AEI”) who:
is a qualified beneficiary (employee and/or spouse or dependent child) who is eligible for COBRA coverage because of an involuntary termination that occurs during the period between September 1, 2008 and December 31, 2009;
is eligible for COBRA at any time during that period; and
elects and maintains COBRA coverage.
Qualified beneficiaries who would be eligible for the new premium reduction but for the fact they do not have COBRA coverage as of February 17, 2009, may elect COBRA during a special 60-day extended election period that plans must provide for no later than April 18, 2009.
According to ARRA, employers and plans that must front the portion of the cost of COBRA that is not paid by AEIs may be reimbursed for such cost by claiming a credit against the employer’s payroll tax liability using the new quarterly Form 941.
Involuntary Termination
Because ARRA did not define the term “involuntary termination” for purposes of determining who is eligible for the premium reduction, perhaps the most anticipated guidance expected from the IRS concerned the types of the circumstances that would constitute an “involuntary termination.” The Notice defines an “involuntary termination” as “a severance from employment due to the independent exercise of the unilateral authority of the employer to terminate the employment, other than due to the employee’s implicit or explicit request, where the employee was willing and able to continue performing services.” According to the Notice, the determination of whether a termination is “involuntary” is based on all the facts and circumstances. The Notice identifies the following situations as constituting an “involuntary termination” for purposes of the ARRA premium reduction:
The employer’s failure to renew a contract at the time the contract expires if the employee is willing and able to execute a new contract providing terms and conditions similar to those in the expiring contract, and to continue providing the services;
An involuntary reduction to zero hours such as a lay-off, furlough or other suspension of employment, that results in a loss of health coverage;
Involuntary terminations for cause (note: a termination because of gross misconduct is not a qualifying event for COBRA purposes and, therefore, does not entitle the employee to COBRA or the premium reduction);
A work stoppage as the result of a lockout initiated by the employer, but not a strike initiated by employees or their representatives; and
An employer’s action to terminate an individual’s employment status while the individual is absent from work due to illness or disability.
The Notice also addresses employee-initiated terminations. According to the IRS, such terminations may be considered involuntary if the employee’s action is taken in response to an employer action that causes a material negative change in the employee’s employment relationship. Such material negative changes may include the employer’s reduction of the employee’s hours of employment or change in the geographic location of the employee’s work location. Thus, if an employee resigns as a result of the employer’s reduction of the employee’s hours of employment, the employee’s termination may be considered to be involuntary.
Moreover, the Notice specifies that even if a termination is designated as “voluntary,” as a “resignation” or as a “retirement,” the termination may be considered involuntary if the facts and circumstances indicate that, absent such voluntary termination or retirement, the employer would have terminated the employee’s services, and the employee knew that he or she would be terminated. For example, if an employee accepts a severance or buy-out package, the employee will be considered to have been involuntarily terminated if the employer indicates that a certain number of remaining employees in the employee’s group will be terminated after the severance package’s offer period. The Notice also clarifies that the death of an employee is not considered to be an involuntary termination.
Although the Notice states that a reduction in hours (e.g., a leave of absence) will generally not be considered an involuntary termination, the IRS stated in a recent webcast that an employee who commences a military leave may be considered to be involuntarily terminated for purposes of the ARRA premium reduction.
Status as an “Assistance Eligible Individual”
The Notice also includes the following clarifications regarding who may qualify as an AEI:
To be an AEI, the involuntary termination and eligibility for COBRA must both occur during the period from September 1, 2008 and December 31, 2009. If either of these events occurs before or after these dates, the individual may not be considered an AEI. With respect to employers that provide extended coverage to involuntarily terminated employees that is the same as the coverage provided to similarly situated active employees, the Notice clarifies that the employer’s treatment of that extended coverage will determine whether the terminated employee qualifies for the ARRA premium reduction:
If an employer provides an employee who is involuntarily terminated on November 15, 2009, with severance benefits that includes six months of extended coverage for which no premium is required for the period from December 1, 2009 through May 31, 2010, the terminated employee will not be considered an AEI if the employer does not count the sixmonth extended coverage period against the terminated employee’s COBRA coverage period. In other words, if no loss of coverage occurs until after the six-month period ends, the individual’s eligibility for COBRA occurs on June 1, 2010 and the individual is, therefore, ineligible for the premium reduction.
If the employer treats the six-month extended coverage period as part of its COBRA obligation, then the loss of coverage in this example would be considered to have occurred on November 30, 2009, and the individual would be an AEI.
If an employer wishes to take advantage or the premium reduction for upcoming layoffs, the employer may want to restructure severance benefits so that the termination and loss of coverage occur on or prior to December 31, 2009.
The Notice clarifies that an involuntary termination that follows another qualifying event such as a divorce or a loss of dependent status will not cause the qualified beneficiary to become an AEI.
An individual may be considered an AEI more than once. Such individual may be eligible for the premium reduction for up to nine-months for each involuntary termination that qualifies the individual as an AEI.
Calculation of the Premium Reduction and Resulting Payroll Tax Credit
According to the notice, the premium amount used to determine the 35% share that must be paid by an AEI is the amount that is actually charged to the AEI. Thus, if an AEI is required to pay 102% of the applicable premium for COBRA coverage absent the subsidy, the AEI will only be required to pay 35% of the 102% of the applicable premium. However, if an AEI is charged less than the maximum COBRA premium, for example because the employer pays all or a part of the cost of COBRA, the AEI will only be required to pay 35% of this lower amount. The employer’s resulting payroll tax credit is, in turn, 65% of this lower amount. We note that the Notice expressly permits an employer to increase the amount charged for COBRA coverage, subject to the maximum amount permitted under COBRA. For example, if an employer charged a lower COBRA premium prior to enactment of ARRA, the employer may decide to increase the COBRA premium to the maximum amount permitted by COBRA to take full advantage of the ARRA premium reduction.
The Notice provides the following example regarding COBRA coverage that is subsidized in part by the employer:
Employer A provides extended health plan coverage as part of its severance package to involuntarily terminated employees for 6 months at the cost of $200/month. Employer A pays $800/ month towards the cost of COBRA. The 6-month period is part of the terminated employees’ COBRA coverage period. After this 6-month period, terminated employees must pay $1,000/ month for the remainder of the COBRA coverage period. The premium reduction available to involuntarily terminated Employee B, is:
The employee pays $70 (35% of $200)
Employer A’s payroll tax credit is $130 (65% of $200)
Next 3 months:
The employee pays $350 (35% of $1,000)
Employer A’s payroll tax credit is $650 (65% of $1,000)
The Notice further clarifies that if an employer fully subsidizes the cost of an AEI’s COBRA coverage, for example as part of a severance package, those subsidized months will count against the nine-month eligibility period that applies to that AEI. Moreover, because the AEIs are not actually being charged anything for COBRA coverage, no payroll tax credit will be available to the employer for these subsidized amounts.
Example: Employer C provides extended health plan coverage as part of its severance package for involuntarily terminated employees for 6 months at no cost. The 6-month period is part of the terminated employees’ COBRA coverage period. After this 6-month period, terminated employees must pay $1,000/month for the remainder of their COBRA coverage periods. The premium reduction available to involuntarily terminated Employee D, is:
The employee pays $0 (35% of $0)
Employer C’s payroll tax credit is $0 (65% of $0)
Employer C’s payroll tax credit is $650 (65% of $1,000)
After the first nine months of COBRA coverage, no premium reduction applies, and so Employee D can be required to pay $1,000/ month for the balance of his/her COBRA coverage period.
The Notice also clarifies that if an employer reimburses an AEI for the subsidized amount he or she must pay for COBRA coverage and the employer excludes that amount from the AEI’s gross income under IRC Section 106, the AEI’s COBRA payment will be treated having been paid by the employer and no payroll tax credit will be available to the employer. On the other hand, if an employer provides taxable severance monetary benefits to an involuntarily terminated employee but does not pay any amount towards the terminated employee’s COBRA coverage, the severance benefit will not be taken into account for purposes of applying the premium reduction.
Example: Prior to February 17, 2009, Employer F charged $400 per month for COBRA coverage. Employer F charges $1,000 per month for COBRA coverage for periods of coverage beginning March 1, 2009. In addition, beginning March 1, 2009, Employer F provides a taxable severance benefit of $600 per month to employees who are AEIs. In this example, the premium reduction is based on the $1,000 per month charge and:
The employee pays $350 per month (35% of $1,000)
Employer F’s payroll tax credit is $650 (65% of $1,000)
To the extent that continuation coverage includes coverage for individuals who are not qualified beneficiaries (e.g., domestic partners or a new spouse who is enrolled during the COBRA coverage period) or who are not AEIs, the Notice makes clear that the ARRA premium reduction does not apply to such coverage. The Notice states that if the COBRA coverage covers individuals who are not qualified beneficiaries or AEIs, the amounts paid for coverage are allocated first to the cost of covering AEIs and then to the cost of covering non-AEIs. Therefore, if the cost of covering non-AEIs is $0, the ARRA premium reduction will apply to the entire amount paid for the COBRA coverage. However, if the cost of covering a non-AEI adds to the cost of covering AEIs, then the incremental cost is not eligible for the premium reduction.
Example: Employee G is an AEI and has employee-only COBRA coverage with a premium of $450 per month. Employee G is paying $157.50/month (35% of $450/month). Employee G marries Spouse H, and enrolls her and her 3 daughters in the plan. The COBRA cost for selfplus- 2-or-more dependents is $1,000/month. The spouse and children are not qualified beneficiaries or AEIs because they were not covered by the plan on day before Employee G’s involuntary termination.
Employee G pays 157.50 per month (35% of $450) for the premium attributable to his employee-only coverage.
Employee G pays an additional $550 per month for the premium attributable to coverage for his spouse and children ($1,000 – $450)
The employer’s payroll tax credit is $292.50 (65% of $450)
Coverage Eligible for the ARRA Premium Reduction
In addition to clarifying that the ARRA premium reduction applies to vision-only and dental-only plans and to health reimbursement arrangements (“HRAs”), the Notice addresses retiree health plan coverage. According to the Notice, if retiree health plan coverage does not differ from the coverage provided to similarly situated active employees (i.e., it is identical) and does not cost more than the maximum amount allowed under federal COBRA (i.e., 102% of the applicable premium), the retiree coverage can be treated as COBRA coverage and covered retirees who qualify as AEIs may receive the ARRA premium reduction.
End of the ARRA Premium Reduction Period
The ARRA premium reduction applies until the earliest of:
the first date the AEI becomes eligible for other group health plan coverage or Medicare coverage;
nine months after the first day of the first month for which the ARRA premium reduction applies to the AEI;
the date the individuals ceases to be eligible for COBRA coverage; or
the failure to timely pay the required premium for COBRA coverage.
With regard to the cut-off due to eligibility for other coverage, the Notice clarifies that if an AEI is eligible for other coverage (e.g., coverage under a spouse’s employer’s plan) but is not actually able to enroll in the other coverage and have that coverage take effect immediately, the AEI will maintain eligibility for the premium reduction until the first date that the other coverage can take effect.
Example: Employee K is involuntarily terminated on Nov. 15, 2008 and lost coverage on Nov. 30, 2008. Following the loss of this coverage, Employee K is eligible to enroll in the plan sponsored by his spouse’s employer during a special enrollment period. Employee K elected COBRA through his employer’s plan as of Dec. 1, 2008 and has not been eligible to enroll in his spouse’s employer’s plan on or after Feb. 17, 2009. The spouse’s plan has an open enrollment period from June 1, 2009 through June 21, 2009 for coverage beginning July 1, 2009. Employee K is eligible for the premium reduction as of March 1, 2009 and will continue to be eligible until July 1, 2009 — the first opportunity he has to enroll in his spouse’s employer’s plan and have that coverage take effect. Employee K will cease to be eligible for the premium reduction for COBRA months beginning after June 30, 2009.
The Notice further clarifies that if an individual is offered COBRA coverage and retiree health plan coverage that is not COBRA coverage, the retiree health plan coverage will not render the individual ineligible for the premium reduction if the retiree coverage and COBRA coverage are offered under the same group health plan, as determined by the instruments governing the coverage.
With regard to Medicare, the Notice clarifies that an individual who is currently enrolled in Medicare, but who is eligible to elect COBRA coverage (e.g., because the individual enrolled in Medicare prior to his/her involuntary termination), will not be eligible for the premium reduction.
As referenced in the introductory section of this article, employers and plans may claim a payroll tax credit with respect to AEIs who receive the premium reduction. Accordance to the Notice, if an AEI fails to notify the plan of his/her eligibility for other coverage and continues to receive the premium reduction, albeit improperly, the employer or plan will not be required to refund to the IRS the payroll tax credit that it received, unless the employer or plan had knowledge of the individual’s eligibility for other coverage or Medicare coverage.
Extended Election Period
The Notice clarifies that if an individual was terminated between Sept. 1, 2008 and Feb.17, 2009, and still has an open COBRA election period as of February 17, 2009, the individual can elect COBRA during the extended election period or during his or her original COBRA election period.
Example: Employee J is involuntarily terminated in Dec. 2008 and loses coverage as of Dec. 31, 2008. Employee J received her COBRA election notice in January 2009. As of Feb. 17, 2009, Employee J has not elected COBRA. Employee J is entitled to a notice about the extended election period.
Employee J may elect COBRA under her original COBRA election period with COBRA coverage effective as of January 1, 2009; or
Employee J may elect COBRA during the extended election period for the coverage periods beginning on or after Feb. 17, 2009.
The Notice further clarifies that any COBRA coverage that is elected pursuant to the extended election period begins with the first period of coverage beginning on or after February 17, 2009 (March 1, 2009 for plans that administer COBRA coverage as of the beginning of each month). This means that expenses incurred after the AEI’s loss of coverage and before this date (generally, March 1, 2009), are not covered under the resulting COBRA coverage.
Assistance Eligible Individuals
The Notice clarified that the ARRA premium reduction could not apply to individuals who are not qualified beneficiaries under COBRA. The Notice states that a qualified beneficiary with respect to a covered employee under a group health plan is the spouse of the employee under Federal law or a dependent child of the employee under Federal law if, generally, the spouse or dependent child was a beneficiary under the plan on the day before the qualifying event. (A qualified beneficiary also includes a child who is born to or adopted by the covered employee during the period of COBRA continuation coverage.)
Under the Federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a spouse does not include a domestic partner. Hence, a domestic partner will never be eligible for the ARRA premium reduction. COBRA does not define the term “dependent child.” While “dependent child” is defined in Internal Revenue Code Section 152, that definition is not necessarily applicable to the ARRA premium reduction. In a recent webcast, the IRS acknowledged that the term “dependent child” was not defined in ARRA. Accordingly, we believe that it is reasonable to assume that for the purposes of the ARRA premium reduction the term “dependent child” is determined by reference to the terms of the group health plan.
Notice 2009–27 provides welcome guidance to employers and plans on the administration of the new COBRA premium reduction. If you have any questions regarding the premium reduction, please contact our office.
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Why do we need an independent judiciary Class 11?
Why do we Need an Independent Judiciary? The principal role of the judiciary is to protect rule of law and ensure supremacy of law. It safeguards rights of the individual, settles disputes in accordance with the law and ensures that democracy does not give way to individual or group dictatorship.
Which branch of the federal government might be considered the weakest?
the judicial branch
What does Hamilton mean when he says that an independent spirit in the judges is essential for them to do their duty?
6) What does Hamilton mean when he says that an “independent spirit in the judges” is essential for them to do their duty? – Hamilton means that they won’t be bribed and will not take anyones side. People will make their own choices and no one has to decide for them.
What does Yates say about Congress’s power to tax?
Congress could tax citizens as much as they wanted. What does Yates say about Congress’s power to tax? He believes that state governments will have basically no power. He believes small republics will not be able to function under the large republic.
What does it mean that the judiciary has neither force nor will?
The judiciary has neither force, nor will. All it can do is exercise judgment and depend upon the executive to carry out its judgments.
Why did Alexander Hamilton call the Supreme Court the least dangerous branch?
Hamilton had a point when he said that the judiciary branch was the least dangerous branch. The branch could not make laws, it did not have taxation power, and it could not go to war. This was one of the landmark cases that led to the Civil War in 1861.
Why did the Federalists oppose a bill of rights do you agree?
The Federalists felt that this addition wasn’t necessary, because they believed that the Constitution as it stood only limited the government not the people. The Anti- Federalists claimed the Constitution gave the central government too much power, and without a Bill of Rights the people would be at risk of oppression.
Why does Hamilton believe that the judiciary is the weakest of the three departments?
Alexander Hamilton called the judiciary “the weakest of the three departments,” but again, that’s because it doesn’t have real power to enforce its decisions, not because it only shows up third in the table of contents. The judiciary is often called the third branch of government.
Why do judges serve for life?
The primary goal of life tenure is to insulate the officeholder from external pressures. United States federal judges have life tenure once appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. In some cases, life tenure lasts only until a mandatory retirement age.
What type of judicial selection does Hamilton support?
This relative weakness of the judiciary, Hamilton argues, supports the permanency of judicial office by balancing the need for minority viewpoint protection against the fear of tyranny by the Supreme Court.
Which branch of government is the strongest?
What is the best way for the judiciary to remain independent?
One way to promote judicial independence is by granting life tenure or long tenure for judges, which ideally frees them to decide cases and make rulings according to the rule of law and judicial discretion, even if those decisions are politically unpopular or opposed by powerful interests.
Why do we need an independent judiciary?
⏩The independent Judiciary allows the court to play a central role in securing that there is no misuse of powers of the Legislature and executive. It also protects the fundamental rights of the citizens because anyone can approach the court if they believe that their rights have been violated.
Why is the Supreme Court the weakest branch of government?
The judicial branch—even though it has the power to interpret laws—is considered the weakest of the three branches by many because it cannot ensure that its decisions are enforced.
Why did Alexander Hamilton argue that the judiciary the weakest branch?
In Federalist No. 78, Hamilton said that the Judiciary branch of the proposed government would be the weakest of the three branches because it had “no influence over either the sword or the purse. Hamilton also explains how federal judges should retain life terms as long as those judges exhibit good behavior.
What does Hamilton mean when he writes the judiciary will not have influence over either the sword or the purse?
sayeth Hamilton, “The judiciary has no influence over either the sword or the purse. It may be said to have neither FORCE nor WILL but merely judgment,” What does Hamilton mean by the “sword” and the “purse”? They don’t have the force (the will to act out power) or the purse (the money to enact it) 6.
What arguments does Hamilton use to support life tenure for judges?
What arguments does Hamilton use to support life tenure for judges? First, Hamilton says that life tenures frees judges from political pressure that come from the legislature or executive. This allows judges to guard against unconstitutional laws.
What is an independent judiciary Short answer?
An independent judiciary means a justice system that is not influenced by either the legislative or executive branch. It is free to make decisions based upon law, not upon men or pressure from other groups. Judges and juries are free from influence and can make fair and honest decisions about cases.
What is the main purpose of a judicial branch according to Hamilton?
According to Hamilton the purposes of the judicial branch is to “declare all acts contrary to the manifest tenor of the Constitution void”, meaning to rule any laws or policies not in accordance with the Constitution, unconstitutional.
What does the author mean by the following passage the judiciary from the nature of its functions will always be the least dangerous to the political rights of the constitution it may truly be said to?
This quote is saying that the judicial branch is the branch of government that is least likely to take away our rights, because it can’t enforce its decisions.
On what grounds does Hamilton argue that the judicial department of government is the least powerful branch of government?
On what grounds does hamilton argue that the Judicial department of the government is the least powerful branch of government? The Judiciary Branch is argued to be the weakest department of government because it has no influence over the “sword and purse” meaning it has no influence over war or money.
How would the judiciary influence the sword or purse?
The judiciary . . . has no influence over either the sword or the purse; no direction either of the strength or of the wealth of the society; and can take no active resolution what- ever.” ‘ This classic conception of the role of the federal courts in American society no longer accurately describes the power they …
Why does the judiciary need to be independent in a republic according to Hamilton?
The judiciary must also be independent, according to Hamilton, so that it may fulfill its main purpose in a constitutional government: the protection of the “particular rights or privileges” of the people as set forth by the Constitution. No legislative act, therefore, contrary to the Constitution, can be valid.
How is an independent judiciary important for a democracy?
Independent- provides checks and balances in a political democracy: Accountability to the people:Judicial independence is very important to uphold the democratic principle of accountability. It helps to keep the executive and legislature accountable to the people through judicial review and judicial activism.
What compromise did the delegates reach over the issue of states rights quizlet?
Are college athletes allowed to have a job?
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Our favorite shows 10 top movies 10 top albums Critics loved these 17
Cool Home: Taliesin shelter is first test for new architect
Frank Lloyd Wright envisioned Taliesin West as a place where he and his apprentices could experiment with new ideas and materials.
Andrea Galyean
Special for The Republic | azcentral.com
For a new architect, building your first house is almost guaranteed to test your skills. But at Scottsdale's Taliesin West, that test is also a final exam.
When architect Frank Lloyd Wright established Taliesin West at the foot of the McDowell Mountains in 1937, he envisioned it not only as his winter home and studio, but also as a place where he and his apprentices could experiment with new ideas and materials.
Their creativity was partly driven by necessity, since the group was far from town and had little funding. Most of the young architects lived in canvas tents while they raised walls and mixed concrete for the permanent structures.
Over the decades, the architectural school that Wright established — now known as the School of Architecture at Taliesin — has kept that tradition alive by requiring students to design and build their own sleeping shelters somewhere on the desert property.
With no utilities available, students merely sleep in the shelters, with locker rooms and meals provided in the main buildings. And they are not used year-round, since the school also follows Wright's tradition of spending summers at Taliesin, in Wisconsin. Still, the structures remain an important part of the curriculum and the chance to build them is a draw for many aspiring architects.
A laboratory for architecture
One of those architects, Jaime Inostroza, has just completed the newest desert shelter.
When Inostroza arrived at Taliesin West in 2014, he had already earned an architectural degree in his native Chile. But he had long admired Wright's work and was intrigued by the idea of building his own shelter. He knew it would force him into a hands-on understanding of materials and techniques, shifting his skills from theory to practice.
"This place is like a laboratory for architecture," he explained. "You can test things here, and learn how things fit together and how materials really work."
For the first three years of his studies, however, Inostroza stuck mostly to theory. While some students opt to camp in an existing shelter while building their own, Inostroza lived in one of Taliesin's on-site apartments with his wife and young son.
However, in January 2017, he started work on the project that had drawn him to Taliesin in the first place.
Choosing a site
The first decision was where to build. Inostroza searched the property before settling on a location, but a fellow student urged him to reconsider.
“He said, ‘Jaime, you’re stupid. I have a beautiful site for you,’” Inostroza remembered. “So he led me up the wash, and when I saw it, I knew it was the right site.”
A row of desert trees lined the wash in a way that reminded Inostroza of an alameda, or walkway. In a gap between a palo verde and an ironwood, he could see an old concrete pad where a long-ago apprentice must have erected a tent, and where he immediately decided he would build his own shelter.
He drew up several designs, of which the third was the best. It was also the simplest, which Inostroza counts as one of many lessons he's taken from Wright's work.
"I've learned to always be asking: What is the essence? What is here?" he said. "You don't want to impose yourself on the site, you want to exalt what is already there."
To Inostroza, the essence of his site comprised three things: the alameda of trees, the views of the nearby McDowell Mountains, and the historical foundation.
In response, he designed an elevated sleeping platform above a shaded seating area. He expanded the original foundation by adding stone and concrete steps up to to the loft, which is framed in wood, roofed in clear corrugated polycarbonate, and enclosed with panels made of white outdoor fabric that catch and diffuse light.
At 12 feet, the shelter is the same height as the neighboring trees, preserving the visual line, and inspiring Inostroza to name it "Atalaya," from the Spanish for "crow's nest."
Throughout the project, he applied Wright's principles of sustainable design. He incorporated nearby stones into the walls, and planned for cross-ventilation both in the lower seating area — where cool air enters from the wash, and in the sleeping area — where a 5-inch gap between the walls and the roof permits a breeze.
Remembering Wright's admonition that architecture should direct people toward nature, he faced the seating benches toward the mountains.
Referencing Wright's love of pattern, Inostroza spaced narrow strips of wood across the top of the structure to add shade and create a play of shadows on the ground.
And, like Wright's original apprentices, he did it on the cheap, with only a $2,000 allowance granted by the school.
Such a tight budget forced Inostroza to be thoughtful in his design.
"When you have those constraints, all the decisions you make are important," he said. "I thought through every single inch. "
His largest expense was the lumber, for which he selected western red-cedar because it ages well and can last for up to 25 years.
“I could have used pine,” he acknowledged, “but it wouldn’t be as beautiful.”
A whole experience
In addition to the financial limits, Inostroza faced other challenges. He had only a small generator to power tools; he had to carry all his supplies — including 70 bags of concrete — the quarter-mile from the parking lot; and he had to do all the work himself, except when he could persuade other students to help.
"That is actually an important lesson," Inostroza said. "You're not just the architect; you're also the construction manager, the engineer, the carpenter, the landscape designer, the supervisor, the accountant, everything. It's a whole experience."
But it was worth it. In mid-April, after six months of planning and three months, two weeks, and three days of construction, Inostroza was able to sleep in a building he had designed.
From the upper platform, he gazed out over the desert. At sunset, the fabric panels lit up in purples and pinks. And late at night, the moonlight glowed through the ceiling.
The effect, he said, "is like being in a tiny cloud."
Learning to build
After all that, Inostroza will only be able to enjoy his tiny cloud for a few more weeks. An architectural firm in San Francisco has already offered him a position — partly due to their enthusiasm for Atalaya.
However, the shelter isn't just a line on a resume. For Inostroza, it's his first mark in architectural history.
"I'm the first person from Chile building at Taliesin, in the tradition of Frank Lloyd Wright and the Fellowship," he said. "Can you imagine? And I'll have that until my tomb."
He will also, he said, have the invaluable lessons he learned by building the shelter.
"This is not a house," he acknowledged. "But from these principles, I can build a house. I can build a library. I can build anything."
Taliesin West is located at 12621 N. Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd. in Scottsdale. The site, managed by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, offers daily tours of the main buildings as well as occasional tours of student-designed shelters. Visit www.franklloydwright.org for more information.
More Cool homes:
Family found their cool home was meant to be
Making the dream home come true in Glendale
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Packers' run defense faces major test against Titans, Henry
An inability to stop the run cost Green Bay a Super Bowl berth in January. Playoff-bound again, the Packers are about to find out how much they’ve improved in that area.
Tennessee’s Derrick Henry should give them a pretty good indication.
The NFL rushing leader heads into Lambeau Field on Sunday night having run for 362 yards over his last two games and a career-high 1,679 yards this season. Henry has rushed for at least 100 yards in each of his last nine road games, one off Barry Sanders' NFL record.
“They know each and every week everybody’s going to come to try to stop the run,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said of the Titans, “and nobody can do it.”
Green Bay (11-3) already has clinched the NFC North title and can guarantee itself the NFC’s No. 1 seed if it beats the Titans and the Los Angeles Rams beat or tie Seattle (10-4).
Tennessee (10-4) can clinch a second straight AFC playoff berth with a victory at Green Bay. Tennessee also can earn a spot in the postseason with a loss by either Baltimore or Miami. The Titans can clinch their first AFC South title since 2008 if Indianapolis loses to Pittsburgh earlier Sunday and they beat Green Bay.
“They’re fighting for something,” Packers defensive tackle Kenny Clark said. “We’re fighting for something. I just know it’s going to be a playoff atmosphere.”
The matchup also gives each team a chance to address perceived weaknesses.
Green Bay has improved its run defense since giving up 285 yards rushing in an NFC championship game loss to the San Francisco 49ers last season. But in the Packers' three losses, they gave up 113 yards rushing to Tampa Bay’s Ronald Jones, 163 to Minnesota's Dalvin Cook, and 90 to Indianapolis’ Jonathan Taylor.
Tennessee is on the verge of a playoff berth despite ranking 27th in the league in total defense and 29th in pass defense. That defense must deal with a high-powered Green Bay offense featuring MVP candidate Aaron Rodgers plus Pro Bowl selections Davante Adams and Aaron Jones.
Rodgers has thrown 40 touchdown passes with only four interceptions. Adams has 14 touchdown catches to rank second in the league. Jones has rushed for at least 130 yards in two of his last three games.
“I think we’re just going to have to do our best job to challenge these guys, try to be more physical than their entire offense, and forcing turnovers,” Titans safety Kevin Byard said. "I think that’s probably going to be the biggest thing in this game. (We) obviously might not have a lot of opportunities to intercept the ball but trying to punch the ball out, hammer it out, raking it out, those things.
"They’re 10-0 when they don’t turn the ball over, and they’re 1-3 when they turn the ball over. I think that’s going to be the biggest stat in the game.”
RACKING UP THE POINTS
Tennessee and Green Bay are tightly bunched with the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs among the NFL scoring leaders.
The Titans lead with 436 points. Kansas City is next with 435. Green Bay has 434.
MVP CHASE
This game gives Henry a chance to boost his MVP credentials as he will be on the same field with Rodgers, considered one of the favorites for the award along with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Bills QB Josh Allen.
Rodgers, Mahomes and Allen have earned most of the MVP buzz lately, but Henry is working his way into the conversation. The last non-quarterback to win the award was Adrian Peterson in 2012.
Rodgers previously was voted MVP in 2011 and 2014.
COACHING REUNION
LaFleur was the offensive coordinator on Tennessee coach Mike Vrabel’s Titans staff in 2018 before the Packers hired him.
This will mark the first time Vrabel has faced off with a head coach who previously worked for him as an assistant.
PROTECTING THE FOOTBALL
The Titans and Packers have each committed a league-low nine turnovers. The Packers haven’t committed a turnover in their last four games.
Although Tennessee’s defense has struggled, the Titans have 21 takeaways. Their plus-12 turnover margin is tied with Indianapolis for the NFL lead.
MISSISSIPPI STATE MATCHUP
This game features two promising linemen and former Mississippi State teammates: Packers guard/center Elgton Jenkins and Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons.
Jenkins has earned a Pro Bowl invitation in his second season and could spend some time lining up against Simmons, a 2019 first-round draft pick.
“Practices at Mississippi State, we went back and forth – me playing center, him playing the nose guard – so every day I'd see him,” Jenkins said. “We used to always give each other a battle. I’m glad and happy that I’ll be able to play him this Sunday in a live game.”
AP Pro Football Writer Teresa M. Walker contributed to this report.
More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
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Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life
USM Home/Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life/Our Community
Over 1600 students belong to one the 26 recognized Southern Miss fraternities & sororities. Fraternity and Sorority Life at Southern Miss is home to three student governing bodies: National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), the Interfraternity Council (IFC), and the College Panhellenic Council (CPC), and the Fraternity and Sorority Life supports its members by promoting personal growth and intellectual development and providing members with connections that will last throughout college and beyond.
Learn About Our Councils
Learn About Our Chapters
Order of Omega
Order of Omega is a national leadership honor society that was founded in 1959 at the University of Miami. On February 9, 1967, the second chapter was chartered at the University of Southern Mississippi, Omega Beta.
Learn About the Order of Omega
The Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life strives to honor and recognize the contributions of individuals and chapters that have excelled in their fraternal commitment while at the university and beyond.
Recognition and Awards
R.C. Cook Union
118 College Drive #5008
fslFREEMississippi
Last Updated 2/5/21
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Emmys 2021: Complete List of Winners and Nominees
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Dan Steinberg/Invision/AP/Shutterstock (12452342f) Julianne Nicholson, winner of the award for outstanding supporting actress in a limited or anthology series or movie for "Mare of Easttown" and Evan Peters, winner of the award for outstanding supporting actor in a limited or anthology series or movie for "Mare of Easttown" pose for a photo at the 73rd Emmy Awards at the JW Marriott on at L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles 73rd Emmy Awards - Trophy Table, Los Angeles, United States - 19 Sep 2021 Shutterstock
The biggest night in TV is here. On Sunday, September 19, the 73rd annual Primetime Emmy Awards honored the best TV of the year.
The nominations, announced in July, revealed The Crown and The Mandalorian led the pack with 24 Emmy nods each. WandaVision followed closely behind with 23 nominations, while The Handmaid’s Tale and Saturday Night Live tied with 21 mentions each.
HBO and HBO Max earned a total of 130 nominations, while Netflix earned 129. However, during three separate Creative Arts Emmys presentations, Netflix dominated, taking home 34 awards. Disney+ was awarded 13 with HBO and HBO Max landing a combined 10. NBC and Apple TV+ earned seven trophies each.
Cedric the Entertainer hosted Sunday night’s show live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Presenters include Dolly Parton, Awkwafina, Ellen Pompeo, Annaleigh Ashford, Ava DuVernay, LL Cool J, Michael Douglas, Taraji P. Henson, Yara Shahidi, Sarah Paulson, Ken Jeong, Beanie Feldstein, Seth Rogen and the cast of Schitt’s Creek, who swept last year’s show.
Although the 2020 ceremony took place almost fully virtually amid the coronavirus pandemic, the 2021 included many more guests in person and a limited live audience.
This year, the Board of Governors also added a new rule to create a more inclusive environment. Nominees and winners can request to be recognized with a more gender-neutral title of “Performer” on their certificate and statuette, but the categories will continue to have Actor and Actress in the name.
The Emmy Awards aired on CBS and stream on Paramount+ Sunday, September 19, at 8 p.m. ET. Scroll down for a full list of nominees and winners.
Listen to Watch With Us to hear more about your favorite shows and for the latest TV news!
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Biochemistry professor Yufeng Tong and team have received CIHR funding to tackle new ways of fighting COVID and variants
Federal COVID research funding responds to Windsor-Essex’s unique location, population
A team of UWindsor professors developing novel ways to detect COVID and limit the spread of its variants has been awarded $500,000 from a federal agency that funds health research.
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), recognizing Windsor and Essex County can offer advance warning of spikes in infection rates by virtue of its location, is funding a team of researchers led by biochemistry professor Yufeng Tong. Dr. Tong, together with biochemistry professor Kenneth Ng, biomedical sciences professor Lisa Porter, psychology professor Kendall Soucie, and Mike McKay, executive director of the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, will collaborate on the project to tackle COVID from multiple fronts.
“Windsor-Essex sits at one of the busiest border crossings between the USA and Canada and is located at the heart of intensive year-round agricultural operations with a high concentration of migrant workers who arrive seasonally from Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. And more than 6,000 residents, including 2,000 health care workers, commute daily to the USA,” Tong said.
“Transmission resulting from travel makes this region particularly susceptible to the introduction of novel coronavirus variants.”
The funding is part of the federal government’s response to gaps in research that have been identified as the pandemic continues. The $500,000 the team has received is the maximum award. It will allow for greater collaboration and expansion of projects already underway relating to SARS-Cov-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
One such project involves detecting coronavirus variants in sewage.
Dr. McKay, an environmental microbiologist working with a network of researchers and agencies throughout Canada, heads a local team from the faculties of science and engineering analyzing water samples from sewers on the UWindsor campus and from wastewater treatment plants in Windsor and Essex County. The team is also testing samples from Detroit through partnership with the Great Lakes Water Authority to detect potential for cross-border transmission of the virus and its variants.
The testing of sewage has proven to be an effective early warning system for community-spread infection, McKay said, since people can shed the virus in their feces before they begin to show symptoms of infection.
“Wastewater surveillance acts as a community swab for early detection of emerging outbreaks,” McKay said.
“This funding will give us the ability to do genetic sequencing on those samples to identify emerging variants and it will allow for a more rapid response — as early as next day.”
Early in the pandemic, Tong partnered with biotech company SM Research to develop a rapid test. His test is being used in a project with Dr. Porter that involves analyzing the saliva of people on UWindsor’s campus each week, releasing the results to participants through a cellphone app.
“Our students are highly embedded in this community, with most living and working off-campus,” she said.
Since students are in the age demographic most likely not to show symptoms of the virus despite being infected, finding ways to keep tabs on their health can be key to controlling transmission, said Porter.
“The asymptomatic young population is of particular concern of the spread of variants and deserves close attention.”
Tong also has been working closely with Dr. Ng, who throughout the pandemic has been working to develop drugs to treat COVID-19. Together, Ng and Tong are studying key proteins from the virus, using computer-simulated and hands-on lab experiments to discover why some variants are more infectious than others and how they respond to existing vaccines.
“We need to better understand how changes in the genes and proteins of the virus affect the course of the disease,” said Ng. “Our work will become even more important as new variants continue to show up, especially ones that are found in the samples obtained from the wastewater and saliva testing parts of this project.”
Dr. Soucie is heading a UWindsor campus survey that will gather perceptions regarding COVID screening and vaccination.
“Our pilot phase included a questionnaire that assessed attitudes toward COVID-19 and the testing procedures, fears, and concerns,” Soucie said. “Expanding this survey will help us gather insights to make health messaging and on-site screening procedures more effective, particularly as our students, staff, and faculty head back to campus.”
Results of testing conducted as part of the project are publicly accessible through an online dashboard created by UWindsor computer scientists led by Dr. Pooya Moradian Zadeh.
WE-Spark Health Institute, a research partnership involving the University of Windsor, Windsor Regional Hospital, Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital, Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, and St. Clair College, hosts the dashboard and provided seed funding for much of the research involved in the project.
The project has also garnered the support of the Municipality of Leamington, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, and the Public Health Agency of Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory.
K.W. Michael Siu, UWindsor’s vice-president, research and innovation, said the new funding will allow the team to expand on its important work.
“This is a high-impact, multi-disciplinary project,” Dr. Siu said. “It is an example of how the University of Windsor is taking the lead and working with the wider community to provide early surveillance and rapid detection of COVID-19 to prevent the spread of disease.”
The funding will support the research for one year.
Lori Lewis
Manager, Communications & Publications
Office of Public Affairs & Communications
llewis@uwindsor.ca
Yufeng Tong
Lisa Porter
Mike McKay
Kenneth Ng
Kendall Soucie
Strategic Priority:
Pursue strengths in research and graduate education
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Congratulations to Isabelle Alejo (Piano)
Congratulation to Isabelle Alejo, selected student of the month. Isabelle studies piano with Laura Knaupp at Valley Conservatory. She is 10 years old and is in 5th grade at Goldsmith Schiffman Elementary School. Her favorite subjects in school are math and writing.
She has one sister, Penelope, who is 7 years old. Some of Isabelle's hobbies and sports activities inclu de volley ball, running, gymnastics, painting, and playing the piano. Isabelle is an A/B honor roll student, and is the recipient of the Golds Standard Award, a very prestigious award at her school. The award encompasses the principles of the 4 R's which stand for Respectful, Responsible, Resourceful and Ready.
Kudos to Isabelle for a job well done! The following is an interview with her:
Q. How old were you when you started taking music at the Valley Conservatory?
A. I was 8 years old.
A. I like listening to classical, rock, and classical piano music.
Q. What do you like most about your lessons at the Valley Conservatory?
A. I like the recitals and playing at different locations and playing on different pianos. I also like the fact that everybody at Valley Conservatory is really nice.
Q. How do you like your teacher?
A. I like her very much. She is really nice, and I like the way that she explains things.
A. Yes. I love playing the piano. It is a fun hobby that is very calming.
Q. Would you recommend the Valley Conservatory to your friends?
A. Yes, definitely!
Chris McDonald (Guitar/Piano)
Chris McDonald began playing guitar at age 13. He went to school at UAH, whe re he studi e d classical guitar and earned a B.S. in music. Chris currently works as a musician and private teacher in Huntsvill e . Chris also works for the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra as a 3rd grade violin instructor and assistant librarian. On Sundays, Chris leads worship and plays bass guitar in the praise band at First Christian Church in Huntsville. Guitar is his main instrument, but Chris also plays ukulele, banjo, cel
lo, violin, and piano.
Kudos to Chris! The following is an interview with him:
A. Providing students with tools, knowledge, and a skill set that will aid them in their musical journey.
A. You have to discover what inspires them, whether it's a song they want to learn to play or something that challenges them in a positive way. I encourage them to find and do what inspires them.
Q. What do you feel are the benefits of a child studying music?
A . There are many benefits. Studying a subject such as music requires using our logical brain for theory and such, but it also gives us the opportunity to create, express, and imagine. Music puts us in the moment. Practicing music requires focusing on one thing for a period of time until we meet a goal or get the result we want. I think that is a valuable skill to have.
Q. What is your favorite type of music?
A . Rock and Roll music is what got me started. Nowadays I like classical music the best. Beethoven's symphonies are my current favorite.
A. Even though we are individual teachers, we work as a team. There is a sense of unity. Everyone is really nice.
Valley Conservatory has been providing services in the arts to the Huntsville/Madison County area since 1998 and offers:
Music education programs, extra curricular and academic programs
A Lyceum series, Jam sessions, and Exhibits
Leah B.
Nathanael C
David S. .
Cruz V
Charity L
Catie W
Brandon C.
Micaiah C
Jacob S
Ava H
Amber L
Joanna S
Jamie M
Hunter S
Gloria A Mariah M
Claudia E
Emilia S
Ila S.
Christopher S Kyara R.
The Wild Peach Tree
Years ago at our old house we had a peach tree on the side of the house. For a long time I never noticed that the tree had peaches on it because the fruit was small, a little bigger than golf ball size. The tree was very big and grew wildly. It never occurred to me to cut the tree. After all, why would you want to cut something that appeared to be healthy?
One day when I was out mowing the yard I had a revelation. My tree was growing out of control. It had too many branches that were too long, therefore the nutrients were spread too thin to adequately nourish the tree. So even though on the surface it looked healthy in was unable to produce big peaches because not enough nutrients were available for the fruit.
It then dawn on me why my peach tree needed to be pruned. The pruning process enabled the tree to maximize its resources, thus resulting in bigger peaches. So in actuality, what appeared to be a healthy tree, because it was big, was actually an unhealthy tree that was just wild and out of control.
How often in life do we equate bigger with better? How often do we assume that because a school has more students that it is a better school, or if a church has more members it is a better church. Quantity does not necessarily equal quality. As we educate our children and ourselves let's not get caught up with numbers. Bigger is not always better--it is just bigger. What is really important in life is the kind of fruit are you bearing, and whether or not you are producing the kind of fruit that someone would want to eat. Remember big peaches come from pruned trees.
Congratulations to the Crockett Family who referred the Carr Family.
There is no limit to the amount of gift cards you can receive,
Valley Conservatory Partnership With
Steinway Piano Gallery Nashville
Announcing the First S.T.E.P.
S teinway Educational Educators Program
We are pleased to announce that Valley Conservatory and the Nashville Steinway Piano Gallery have agreed to a new working partnership that will provide many benefits of growth for the musical culture in Huntsville and surrounding areas of Northern Alabama.
This program begins with the loaning of Steinway-designed pianos, Boston and Essex for our use at the Conservatory in both of our locations. The use of these pianos will have a direct impact on the musical growth of our students for years to come. They will provide the consistency of touch and tone needed for students to excel.
The name Steinway represents excellence in music that goes back more than 150 years. This expertise will be brought forth and made available to our parents and students in the form of friendly seminars, demonstrations, and concerts. These events will be happening in each location no less than once every 90 days. These events will be free to our students and the public.
Along with this partnership comes an equally exciting opportunity for our students and other members of the community. For every purchase of a piano, the conservatory will receive a direct monetary benefit. You will also receive a discount on any piano purchase at the Gallery.
We are excited to include our students and the community in our partnership. Our students' musical growth is most important, and to have this relationship with the world's most famous piano is priceless. Stay tuned for more details of our educational and entertainment events.
As we have learned, the Valley Conservatory was first started as Collins Studio and began out of the home of Dr. Renee Collins. As the studio continued to grow and more teachers were added, other venues became available where lessons were taught--Hallmans Music, Oakwood College Church (now Oakwood University Church) and Lakewood United Methodist Church--while Dr. Collins continued to teach out of her home. Cello was then added to the list of instruments. The first cello teacher was Sari Reist, principal cellist of the Nashville Symphony Chamber Orchestra, who commuted weekly to teach lessons. She taught cello for 3 years until she received a permanent position in the Nashville Symphony and could no longer commute due to her schedule.
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Valley Conservatory Symphony Orchestra Gives Delightful Concert
The Valley Conservatory Symphony Orchestra presented a delightful concert on Sunday, October 29, at Oakwood University Church. Dr. Daniel Hornstein delivered a very insightful and somewhat humorous commentary on the pieces that were performed. The concert featured works by Beethoven, Strauss and Bach.
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VC Student to Take 3rd Place in State Competition
Congratulations to Maleah Rhem for taking 3rd place in the Omeg a Psi Phi Fraternity Talent Hunt State Competition which was held October 21 at the Embassy Suites in Huntsville. Maleah competed against several students from across the state. She performed Beethoven's Romanze in Fmajor, Op. 50. Kudos to Maleah for a job well done!
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VC Percussion Student Leads Drumline
Congratulations to Garrett Lovik for being selected Captain of the Huntsville High School Front Ensemble. Garrett leads the 8 member percussion ensemble during football games and various activities. Kudos to Garrett for a job well done!
VC Students to Play in UAH Honor Band
Congratulations to Sophia Marples-Rodriquez and Felipe Marples- Rodriquez for being selected to perform in the UAH Honor Band. Sophia is a junior at Randolph High School and will participate in the High School Honor Band. Felipe attends Randolph Middle School and will participate in the Middle School Honor Band. Kudos to both students for a job well done!
Upcoming Valley Conservatory Events
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November 21, 2017 is the deadline to let us know in which performance you or your child would like to participate. There are twenty-five performance slots available for each location. Please go to the Valley Conservatory website at www.valleyconservatory.com for the dates and times. In order to get the date and location you prefer, please click on the Christmas in the Valley link on our website, or you may sign-up at the Front Desk!!!
When the 25 performance slots have been filled at each location, registration is closed for that location. The VBC Playhouse performance will be limited to 15 slots.
The Oakwood University Church Chorale
Valley Conservatory Lyceum Orchestra
You must use music symbols and/or notes to solve the riddle. If you think you have the answers, turn them in to Ms. Lillie to see if you have won a prize from the VC Treasure Box. The prize will be given to the first person who has the right answers to all of the blank spaces.
There will be no Jazz Jam Sessions for the months of November and December. Jazz Jam Sessions will resume Sunday, January 28, 2018.
November - December Make-Up Class Schedule
Beginning Piano
Beginning Violin/Viola
Brass 3:00 - 4:00
I nstrument
Intermediate/Advance Piano
Intermediate/Advance Violin/Viola
An ensemble is a group of instruments and instrument combinations ranging from two to eight or more like-skilled players that play all genres of music.
Ensembles will play at various events throughout the year.
Available Times (please give as much leeway as possible to help increase chances of finding fellow ensemble players):
Valley Conservatory is the only music school in the Huntsville area that gives its students the opportunity to earn special color wristband bracelets (kids and teens love them!), trophies, AND certificates for passing musical tests with the Musical Ladder System®. Do other schools offer trophies and certificates? A few. But none of them inspire their students with smiling faces by giving them full color, really cool "Musical Ladder System®" wristbands that they can show off to their friends. More importantly when our students have a test coming up, they practice more, their parents are proud, their teachers are proud, and everybody wins!
Voice teacher, Martha Brouse, enjoys riding and singing with her horse, Steel Magnoli a. "Maggie's" favorite song is "You are my Sunshine." She has been a part of the furry friends of Edelweiss Farm for over 15 years!
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All the latest news at Vall d'Hebron
Home | News | Vall d'Hebron releases four innovative works on different systemic diseases
Vall d'Hebron releases four innovative works on different systemic diseases
Thursday, 5 August, 2021
Articles from the Systemic Diseases research group at the VHIR focus on scleroderma, antiphospholipid syndrome, Sjögren's syndrome, and the relationship between cancer and inflammatory myopathy.
The team of researchers from the group of Systemic Diseases of the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) has recently published four papers in the journal Rheumatology on innovative aspects in different disorders included in the group of systemic diseases, such as scleroderma, antiphospholipid syndrome, Sjögren's syndrome and inflammatory myopathy.
The first study, carried out with the collaboration of the Immunology Service of the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital and Italian researchers, has allowed the identification of a new antibody (anti-RNPC-3) in patients with scleroderma as a new factor of worse prognosis of the pulmonary interstitial affectation, a serious complication of the disease. The research, led by Dr. Carmen Pilar Simeon from the Vall d'Hebron Systemic Autoimmune Diseases Unit, will allow a more exhaustive follow-up to be carried out in those patients who are at higher risk of developing complications.
In the second publication, authors explain the results of a long-term follow-up study (38 years, between 1980 and 2018) by Dr. Josep Pardos and Dr. Jaume Alijotas, researchers from the Systemic Diseases group. The analysis establishes that the presence of thrombocytopenia, that is, a decrease in the number of platelets, would be a factor of maximum risk of thrombosis in patients with antiphospholipid syndrome. Thrombocytopenia would be associated with lower survival and, therefore, it would be necessary to take this factor into account when monitoring patients as well as to study the pathogenesis of the disease and develop therapeutic strategies.
The third study focused on primary Sjögren's syndrome, an autoimmune disease characterized by chronic inflammation of the exocrine glands, which is sometimes difficult to differentiate from sicca syndrome, a less specific disorder that may be due to non-immunological etiologies. In this case, the research of Dr. Josep Loureiro led by Dr. Roser Solans, showed that the immunophenotypic analysis of blood lymphocytes allows to reliably differentiate Sjögren's syndrome from sicca syndrome. Using flow cytometry, the researchers found that studying the profile of B lymphocytes and CD4 + would help the diagnosis of the disease and, therefore, give patients earlier access to treatment.
Finally, Dr. Albert Selva-O’Callaghan, a researcher from the same group, has participated in a systematic review and a meta-analysis carried out with international researchers focused on the relationship between cancer and inflammatory myopathy. Although this association is well established, it is not clear what the cancer screening should be in these patients. In this publication, different cancer screening guidelines are presented in inflammatory myopathy that would help in the early diagnosis of cancer and improve the clinical evolution of patients.
Dr. Luis
Coronel Tarancón
Internal Medicine, Rheumatology
Cross-departmental services
Location >
Dr. Manuel
Hernández González
Vall d'Hebron University Hospital
Sra. Ana Elena
Ruiz Alcaraz
Nursing Supervisor
Dra. María Teresa
Sanz Martinez
Dr. Vicent
Fonollosa Pla
Dra. Cristina
Soler Lladó
Dra. Laura
Viñas Giménez
Dr. Alfredo
Guillén del Castillo
Management Assistant
Systemic Diseases
Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca - Edifici Collserola
Sra. Adelaida
Parada Ramos
Martínez Gallo
Lead Researcher
Diagnostic Immunology
Dr. Josep
Dr. Ricardo
Pujol Borrell
Dra. Clara
Franco Jarava
Search more professionals
Vall d'Hebron participates in an international study that associates new genetic and immunological defects with severe COVID-19 19/08/2021
Vall d'Hebron named by CatSalut as a Clinical Expertise Unit (UEC) in the fields of rare immune diseases within the area of systemic autoimmune diseases. 18/08/2021
More news More events
From 12 doctors to a staff of 7,000
Embedded video for From 12 doctors to a staff of 7,000
Vall d’Hebron University Hospital was born more than 60 years ago with a handful of doctors. Now more than 7,000 members of staff work at the centre. Dr. Jaume Guàrdia, former head of the Hospital’s Internal Medicine Department, explains the evolution.
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In light of Sunday’s fatal crash, Langford Mayor Stew Young says the province needs to get started on upgrades to the stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway between Leigh Road and West Shore Parkway. (Google Maps)
Langford mayor, motorists call for immediate upgrades to deadly stretch of Trans-Canada Highway
Mayor Stew Young calls for barriers after second deadly head-on crash in 2019
Feb. 5, 2019 6:00 a.m.
Langford Mayor Stew Young is calling for immediate upgrades to a section of Highway 1 after two fatal crashes in less than a month.
A 24-year-old man died after a head-on collision Sunday on the Trans-Canada Highway near the Leigh Road overpass. This is the second fatal crash on the stretch of roadway between Leigh Road and West Shore Parkway since January.
“In light of what’s happened, we owe it to the families, we owe it to the travelling public to make that safer,” Young said.
RELATED: Man, 24, dead after Sunday crash on Trans-Canada Highway
On Jan. 8, two people – both drivers – were sent to hospital with serious injuries after a head-on crash occurred on an undivided curve of the Trans-Canada Highway just south of West Shore Parkway.
One driver died later that month.
RELATED: RCMP confirm one dead after head-on crash earlier this month in Langford
Young wants to see additional lanes and separation barriers installed on the stretch of Highway 1 between Leigh Road and West Shore Parkway – changes he said the City of Langford has advocated for, for years.
In 2016, the province agreed to upgrade the highway to four lanes and install a centre median, and began the planning process. Last week the province told the City of Langford the project would break ground in the summer, according to Young, who no longer accepts that timeline.
“It’s always been a priority in Langford,” he told Black Press. “We would like it started next week. We don’t want to wait until the summer for something that is, as far as I’m concerned, the most urgent piece of work that has to be done.
“Barriers save lives, so let’s find a way to get the barriers up at least,” he added. “It’s an unsafe stretch of road. We all know that it needs to be done … I don’t want to see another accident or another fatality.”
On Monday, West Shore RCMP Const. Nancy Saggar noted since January 2017 there have been 79 collisions between the Leigh Road overpass and just north of West Shore Parkway. She added that those numbers only reflect collisions that were reported to police. More than 40 of those collisions were in an area without medians.
“It’s an area of concern for us,” she said, adding the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure has been working to improve the highway. “We believe this is an area that could also use improvements.”
On Facebook, many Black Press readers echoed the mayor’s call for change.
“A barrier is essential there. Two possibly avoidable deaths in a month. How many more? RIP young man,” said Cale Ralston.
“So sad. I am devastated for that family,” commented Lara Forbes. “I drive that every day and it is windy and narrow with limited visibility on that corner. Also, two lanes merge into one just before.”
Diana Craveiro commented: “How many fatalities does the government ‘need’ before they put barriers in? People cross that line constantly. Every time I drive northbound, at least two to three vehicles cross the yellow line. Rip young man. Condolences.”
RELATED: Dump truck crashes into rock beside TransCanada Highway in Langford
At the time of publication, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure had not yet responded to requests for comment on this story.
– With files from Shalu Mehta
Crane truck still upturned a week after accident on Lochside Drive
Friends, relatives of victims to speak at McArthur sentencing hearing today
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Home » Entertainment » August Alsina opens up on relationship with Will Smith’s Jada Pinkett
Posted inEntertainment
August Alsina opens up on relationship with Will Smith’s Jada Pinkett
August Alsina is getting candid about his alleged romance with Jada Pinkett Smith and interestingly, it looks like he got a green light from Will Smith.
Relationship rumours have swirled around the pair for quite some time, with some convinced that Alsina and Jada had a secret affair. Alsina’s 2019 track “Nunya” fueled the speculation, as he included the lines: “You got me feeling like it was an act, you’re just an actress/Putting on a show ’cause you don’t want the world to know.” The track’s official video also featured a shot of a text message from a love interest listed as “Koren,” which just so happens to be Jada’s birth-given middle name.
Alsina would go on to deny the relationship rumours and insisted “Nunya” was not about the Girls Trip actress.
“To Clarity, The Song is not about Jada. It’s simply JUST A SONG, & a free artistic expression of a made-up narrative already put in place by its ORIGINAL format,” he wrote on Instagram, as reported by XXL. “Thankyou for all of your love around the music & more is to come but please know that Me & my BEST (@jadapinkettsmith )are good!!! & We will always be, 4Life!”
Alsina is now changing his tune.
ALSO READ: VIDEO: HussPuppi never gave me one cent or one kobo ― Daddy Freeze
During the promotional run for his new album The Product III: stateofEMERGEncy and its accompanying five-part docuseries, the singer sat down with Angela Yee to discuss his controversial relationship with Jada. Alsina claimed he and the actress were romantically involved, and that he only decided to speak his truth in an attempt to clear his name.
“People can have whatever ideas they like. But what I’m not OK with is my character being in question …” he said at around the 16:30 mark. “Contrary to what some people may believe, I’m not a troublemaker. I don’t like drama. The drama actually makes me nauseous. I also don’t think that it’s ever-important for people to know what I do, who I sleep with, who I date, right? But in this instance, there are so many people who are side-eyeing me … I’ve lost money, friendships, relationships behind it. And I think it’s because people don’t necessarily know the truth. But I’ve never done anything wrong. I love those people (the Smiths) … They are beautiful people.”
Alsina went on to say the relationship wasn’t a secret affair, suggesting Jada and her husband, Will Smith, had an open marriage.
“I actually sat down with Will and had a conversation … He gave me his blessing,” he said. “And I totally gave myself to that relationship for years of my life, and I truly and really, really, deeply loved and have a ton of love for her (Jada). I devoted myself to it. I gave my full self to it. So much so that I can die right now, and be OK knowing that I fully gave myself to somebody … Some people never get that in this lifetime.”
He continued: “This conversation is difficult because [it’s] hard for people to understand. But once it starts to affect me and my livelihood, I have to speak up about my truth … Walking away from it butchered me … It almost killed me. Not almost. It did—it pushed me into being another person … It broke me down … It probably will be the hardest thing I ever had to experience in this lifetime. It’s difficult because I never want to be the person to cause confusion or step on toes, but I want to honour myself and I want to honour my authenticity. And if honouring my authenticity means you hate me, stone me, shoot me, crucify me, whatever, bury me an honest man.”
Alsina and Yee went on to discuss another heartbreaking moment in the artist’s life: the loss of his sister, Chandra, who died in late 2018 after a battle with cancer.
“I remember standing over my sister, weeping, wailing. I can remember my cousin kept pulling me off of her, saying ‘She’s gone. You gotta let her go,” Alsina recalled. “Little did (my cousin) know, I wasn’t only weeping about my sister, I was mourning myself. I was grieving myself as I knew it, because I died in that moment. Who I was, everything that I thought that I was, everything that I thought I knew about myself, it died. I couldn’t be that human being any longer. I saw my sister die and she never got to live her full life.”
Alsina said his sister was “scared of everything,” so much so that she missed out on so many experiences.
“I get my sister a car, but she’s scared to drive. She’s never driven a car because she’s scared to get on the interstate. After my brother was killed, she was scared of everything. She never lived her full life,” he said. “I just don’t want to be that … I want to live my life full. I want to die empty, whatever that means—giving myself to my three kids now, giving myself to love or a relationship, giving myself to my career, devoting myself to being a healthy person. I have to give my full self to something because that’s what makes me feel alive.”
You can watch the full interview above. Alsina also speaks on living life with a rare autoimmune disease, his relationship with his father, and how he believes there needs to be more trust among the Black community.
Culled from complex.com
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Home Treatment How Can Psilocybin Assist Treatment-Resistant Depression?
How Can Psilocybin Assist Treatment-Resistant Depression?
January 6, 2022 11:30 am ET
Note: Veriheal does not support illegally consuming therapeutic substances like psilocybin magic mushrooms but acknowledges that it transpires because of the current illicit status of both, which we strive to change by advocating for research, legal access, and responsible consumption. Always consult a physician before attempting alternative therapies.
The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that there are around 19.4 million adults in America who’ve faced at least one depressive episode in their lifetime – most of which are able to improve through the help of antidepressant treatments (9). However, there are still many others who are faced with treatment-resistant depression that remains persistent despite efforts for improvement.
Finding a Solution for Treatment-Resistant Depression is Vital
Treatment-resistant depression is when an individual with depression does not adequately respond to standard treatments. In other words, treatment for depression is not sufficiently alleviating their symptoms after 1 or more trials of antidepressants or counseling. Normally, an individual would be taking antidepressants for 6-8 weeks and/or undergoing psychological counseling – which would then begin to alleviate the depression. So what happens when your depression is not responding to months of treatment?
Leading health organizations such as The Mayo Clinic and the American Academy of Family Physicians often outline strategies, several of which are medication-based and combined with psychotherapy (6) (5). Those strategies include giving current medication more time, increasing the dose, and switching antidepressants…so many pharmaceuticals which are all associated with side effects such as nausea, weight gain, blurred vision, insomnia, loss of sexual drive, etc. It may normally take several months to find the right medication and dosage for you, which takes patience and commitment. Fortunately, recent research on psilocybin shows promise for how using the botanical substance may help alleviate treatment-resistant depression.
The acclaimed author of Harry Potter, J.K Rowling, stated that “It’s so difficult to describe depression to someone who’s never been there because it’s not sadness. I know sadness. Sadness is to cry and to feel. But it’s that cold absence of feeling—that really hollowed-out feeling (7).” Depression can be lonely and even dangerous when left unchecked- which is what makes finding alleviation for treatment-resistant depression so vital.
For more on depression, be sure to check out this article.
How Can Psilocybin Assist?
In order to understand how psilocybin can assist with treatment-resistant depression (TRD), let’s have a look at this 2021 published study which found that psilocybin may work as effectively as escitalopram, a common antidepressant– now I know what you’re thinking… “How can such a substance assist when they may only work as effectively as the current medication proved ineffective for this type of depression (2)?” Well, let’s find out.
The study compared the effectiveness of commonly prescribed antidepressants with therapeutic doses of psilocybin (2). While the study did find psilocybin effective for depression, it also found a significant difference in antidepressant effects between psilocybin and escitalopram (a common antidepressant). The secondary outcomes also generally favored psilocybin, though not statistically corrected for.
Despite the fact that psilocybin did not prove to be more effective than antidepressants, another study found that two doses of psilocybin were more effective than common treatments in terms of assisting with TRD (3). In both of these studies, patients also received psychological support. The TRD study conducted theirs on the basis that “clinical trials are reporting marked improvements in mental health outcomes with psychedelic drug-assisted psychotherapy (3).”
Researchers Carhart-Harris (also first author of the 2021 study), Bolstridge, Day, and the team sought to report on the safety and efficacy of the outcomes of psilocybin on TRD for up to six months in an open-label trial. The team of researchers found that the psilocybin was well tolerated by the participants and that reductions in depressive symptoms were observed within1-5 weeks post-treatment. At the same time, 5 weeks post-treatment, “nine and four patients met the criteria for response and remission at week 5 (1).”
Additionally, at the 5-week mark, none of the participants sought out further antidepressant treatment after having been treated with psilocybin. When assessing the participants again, the team found a continuing positive response to the psilocybin at 3 and 6 months. After 3 months, a few patients sought out additional treatments including antidepressants (6 patients), therapy (5 patients), or more psilocybin (5 patients) (1).
The team concluded by stating that despite the limited conclusions which can be made from an open-label trial, they found that “tolerability was good, effect sizes large and symptom improvements appeared rapidly after just two psilocybin treatment sessions and remained significant 6 months post-treatment in a treatment-resistant cohort (1).”
Psilocybin Interacts With Serotonin Receptors
The relationship between serotonin and depression is explained by the fact that serotonin is the brain’s “happy” chemical that influences mood. Higher levels of serotonin are linked to elevated mood and feeling happy, whereas lower levels of serotonin are linked to sadness and depression (8).
The psilocybin in magic mushrooms, or shrooms, has the ability to deliver mind-altering, neuroplastic effects which is why people with depression can benefit from the substance. psilocybin has a high affinity for several serotonin receptors which are located in numerous areas of the brain, including the cerebral cortex and thalamus (1).
Since psilocybin has a “high affinity” for the receptors of this “happy” chemical, it stands to reason that psilocybin can boost the chemical, thereby gearing consumers towards the state associated with higher levels of serotonin (1). This is what researchers are confirming and why it makes for a viable and effective means of alleviating depression. Psilocybin and other serotonergic psychedelics may also help rewire brain connections, a property called neuroplasticity, which could explain its lasting effects months after consumption (4). Unfortunately, limited research is being conducted since the substance is still widely illegal.
Psilocybin is quickly gaining support for its continued promise as a powerful therapeutic substance with the potential to alleviate an array of conditions – much like cannabis. At the moment, it is anyone’s guess as to whether the psilocybin will be removed from its federally-imposed Schedule 1 listing. Fortunately, research such as this provides hope where some may feel there is none- such as is the case in treatment-resistant depression.
1. Carhart-Harris, R.L., Bolstridge, M., Day, C.M.J. et al. Psilocybin with psychological support for treatment-resistant depression: six-month follow-up. Psychopharmacology 235, 399–408 (2018). https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00213-017-4771-x
2. Carhart-Harris, R., Giribaldi, B., Watts, R., Baker-Jones, M., Murphy-Beiner, A., Murphy, R., Martell, J., Blemings, A., Erritzoe, D., & Nutt, D. J. (2021). Trial of psilocybin versus escitalopram for depression. New England Journal of Medicine, 384(15), 1402–1411. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2032994
3. Daniel, J., & Haberman, M. (2018). Clinical potential of psilocybin as a treatment for mental health conditions. The mental health clinician, 7(1), 24–28. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6007659/
4. De Vos, C. M., Mason, N. L., & Kuypers, K. P. (2021). Psychedelics and neuroplasticity: A systematic review unraveling the biological underpinnings of psychedelics. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.724606/full
5. Maurer, D. M., Raymond, T. J., & Davis, B. N. (2018, October 15). Depression: Screening and diagnosis. American Family Physician. Retrieved January 2, 2022, from https://www.aafp.org/afp/2018/1015/p508.html
6. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2018, February 3). Depression (major depressive disorder). Mayo Clinic. Retrieved January 2, 2022, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/symptoms-causes/syc-20356007
7. Pocha, S. K. (2016, February 9). J.K. Rowling offers touching advice to a fan suffering depression. Stylist. Retrieved January 2, 2022, from https://www.stylist.co.uk/people/j-k-rowling-gives-touching-advice-to-a-fan-suffering-depression-anxiety/27011
8. Priory Group. (n.d.). What is the link between serotonin and depression? Priory. Retrieved January 2, 2022, from https://www.priorygroup.com/blog/what-is-the-link-between-serotonin-and-depression
9. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2021, October). Major depression. National Institute of Mental Health. Retrieved January 2, 2022, from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/major-depression#:~:text=An%20estimated%2017.3%20million%20adults,compared%20to%20males%20(5.3%25)
Posted by Chane Leigh
Chane Leigh, aka The Bud Fairy, is a South African cannabis advocate and enthusiast with a firey personality and a thirst for travel. She loves to educate people and to question the norms.
Content Medically Reviewed By: Dr. Abraham Benavides, MD
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LENNY LIPTON: PROJECTING HISTORY THROUGH THE MAGIC LANTERN
By TREVOR HOGG
Images courtesy of Lenny Lipton, except where noted.
Lenny Lipton, Author/Filmmaker/Inventor
The cover of The Cinema in Flux: The Evolution of Motion Picture Technology from the Magic Lantern to the Digital Era by Lenny Lipton (Springer).
Louis and Auguste Lumière invented the film camera known as the Cinématographe that also functioned as a photo developer and projector.
A poem left in the typewriter belonging to Cornell University classmate Peter Yarrow, who would in turn compose accompanying music, had a huge impact on Lenny Lipton, as the song royalties for “Puff the Magic Dragon” have provided a lifetime of financial security. “It’s a weird story but true!” notes Lipton, who spent a decade-long odyssey of researching and writing his homage to cinematic innovators, titled The Cinema in Flux: The Evolution of Motion Picture Technology from the Magic Lantern to the Digital Era. Lipton is a kindred spirit, being a pioneer of stereography and founding the StereoGraphics Corporation in 1980, which two decades later was acquired by Real D Cinema. The physics graduate developed the first electronic stereoscopic visualization eyewear known as CrystalEyes, which has been used for molecular modeling, aerial mapping, and to remotely drive the Mars Rovers. “I saw 3D movies and comic books as a kid in the early 1950s which got me interested in the stereographic medium.
“When I approached Springer, I thought I had died and gone to heaven,” remarks Lipton. “I wanted a low-cost book that was one volume and had a lot of color. They sent me samples of their books that were beautiful. I found a great editor in Sam Harrison and we worked on the book together. I thought I was done, but you see the book differently when you’re starting to lay it out. No matter how smart you are there are things that you can’t envision. I kept finding things that I could fix and illustrations to be improved.
During the 18 months of working with Sam and the production department, I made 9,000 changes to the manuscript that were big and little. I’m a much better copy editor than a proofreader!”
Considered to be the inventor of special effects in movies, Georges Méliès is pictured in his studio located in Montreuil, France circa 1897.
“The Cinema in Flux calls upon my years of doing what I did. I became a self-taught filmmaker and an entrepreneur. I raised a lot of money for my company; I ran it, registered numerous patents, and had a lot of experience in product development. It was almost like I was training to write this. I do empathize with the inventors and their struggles. It is a book about inventors. I don’t know how anybody becomes an inventor. You’re probably wired that way at birth.”
—Lenny Lipton, Author of The Cinema in Flux
Appropriately, a Hollywood icon known for developing and producing technology to improve the theatrical experience wrote the foreword. “I’m closer to Douglas Trumbull than most people in the world in terms of our careers. I wished that he lived in Los Angeles, but we do see each other often. We are a lot alike.” There is a personal connection to the subject matter. “That’s the beautiful thing about it. The Cinema in Flux calls upon my years of doing what I did. I became a self-taught filmmaker and an entrepreneur. I raised a lot of money for my company; I ran it, registered numerous patents, and had a lot of experience in product development. It was almost like I was training to write this. I do empathize with the inventors and their struggles. It is a book about inventors. I don’t know how anybody becomes an inventor. You’re probably wired that way at birth.”
A color frame from A Trip to the Moon by Georges Méliès is compared to a hand-colored Magic Lantern slide.
Part of the motive to write The Cinema in Flux for Lipton was to correct a misconception about the history of cinema. “There has been a tendency in the past for film scholars to think that everything before Thomas Edison’s camera and the Lumières’ Cinématographe is prehistory. But I didn’t view it that way. The real start of what today we consider to be movies occurred on 1659 with [Dutch physicist] Christiaan Huygens’ invention of the magic lantern. Very rapidly people learned how to produce movies and do shows. I would define movies as the projection of moving images on a screen.” The origin of the book occurred during the week of Christmas in 2009. “I got invited to do a talk on stereoscopic cinema at La Cinémathèque française in Paris and was lucky enough to arrive at a moment where they were having an exhibit in their museum about the magic lantern and had demonstrations of the technology. At that time, I didn’t know I was going to write about it.
“I had no idea what the outcome would be,” admits Lipton. “The text is about 400,000 words and the book is 800 pages. I didn’t have an outline. I just headed down the road.” The historical narrative is divided into three eras: Glass Cinema, Celluloid Cinema, and Television and the Digital Cinema. “It didn’t occur to me to use that classification system until I had been working on the book for five years. I had a single Word file that was gigantic. It became a good way to write a book like this because I was able to easily search the whole file to avoid redundancies and put things in a proper order. I had one slim notebook with notes in it. I bought about 400 books. I can’t say that I understood the subject well. I needed time to digest it. I had to keep making mistakes and correcting them. I went to the Margaret Herrick Library, which is part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and was fortunate to have access to the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers digital library, in particular the journals that they began publishing in 1916. It’s a primary source, and every source has a bibliography where you get to more sources. The Library of Congress has about 50 to 60 years of motion picture periodicals. I also read about glass and celluloid.
By using his trolley camera for locomotion studies Étienne-Jules Marey pioneered the technique of performance capture.
Even the Lumière brothers were experimenting with 3D by creating viewing eyewear for their 35mm horizontal-traveling stereo format.
A Magic Lantern created by Ernest Plank circa 1990.
The ground floor of the West Orange, New Jersey lab belonging to renowned inventor Thomas Edison.
“There has been a tendency in the past for film scholars to think that everything before Thomas Edison’s camera and the Lumières’ Cinématographe is prehistory. But I didn’t view it that way. The real start of what today we consider to be movies occurred on 1659 with [Dutch physicist] Christiaan Huygens’ invention of the magic lantern. Very rapidly people learned how to produce movies and do shows.”
“I understand this technology and tried to explain it in my own words to the reader,” notes Lipton. “The vast majority of quotes in the book have a historical importance that gives some insight into the inventor’s process and state of mind. Even when the inventor was lying, I thought that was interesting too.” The project provided an opportunity to recognize underappreciated contributions. “For the most part my account celebrates the best-known inventors who were by prior scholars attributed correctly.” There are certain controversial figures like Thomas Edison. “The problem with Edison is by inventing the phonograph, an electronical distribution system, a very good lightbulb, and the first motion picture camera, he invented modern entertainment, and there is no one who can take it away from him. The guy who is most overlooked is Theodore Case who essentially invented optical sound on film as it was used for almost a century. His technology was licensed to Western Electric which took the lion’s share of the credit.”
An overlooked contributor to the technical advancements of motion pictures is Theodore Case who invented optical sound on film.
Inventor Erich Kästner with his prototype of the ARRIFLEX 35 in 1937
IMAX co-founder Graeme Ferguson operating a 15 perf 70mm camera.
Some of the significant inventions were not intended to be applied to cinema. “The guys who were working on celluloid for film were thinking about photography and snapshots,” notes Lipton. “The most interesting example of a serendipitous invention that profoundly influenced cinema is Joseph Plateau and the phenakistoscope. It is like a zoetrope. It is a contraption that you can spin and has slits. You look into a slit, then into a mirror and see a moving image. That was invented in about 1832, and it had nothing to do with cinema and the projection of images. But for the next 50 years, inventors applied that discovery of apparent motion and the phenakistoscope technology to the magic lantern. Celluloid cinema, which was with us for most of the recent history of cinema, is a hybrid of the phenakistoscope and magic lantern. You can produce the illusion of moving images by properly projecting or presenting frames that are incrementally different. Another curious aspect was that Joseph Plateau was going blind when he made the discovery.”
The Cinema in Flux is an overview of the technological advancements in cinema. “It’s a sprawling subject,” observes Lipton. “Possibly any one of those chapters could have been turned into a book of this length, but I couldn’t do that. What we called cinema from the get-go included the projection of motion with sound and color.
Stanley Kubrick and Garrett Brown shooting The Shining with a Steadicam.
Different ways to present movies to audiences, such as utilizing a geodesic dome rather than a traditional flat theatrical screen.
A phenakistoscope disc was used to create the illusion of motion from still images
3ality stereoscopic rig was used to shoot Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
“The vast majority of quotes in the book have a historical importance that gives some insight into the inventor’s process and state of mind. Even when the inventor was lying, I thought that was interesting too. For the most part my account celebrates the best-known inventors who were by prior scholars attributed correctly.”
By 1790, reasonably bright and decent-sized painted color slides were being projected that had narrators, musicians and sound-effects people. Without getting into esoteric disciplines like costume design, makeup and visual effects, I thought that the broad characteristics of cinema that existed from inception were motion, color and sound. Therefore, I needed to explore the evolution of those technologies through 350 years.” The advances in technology have caused the cinematic language to evolve.
Picture editing literally went from being a cut-and-paste process to footage being digitally shifted around inside of a computer courtesy of software programs such as Avid Media Composer.
A restored autochrome portrait of Charlie Chaplin in Hollywood, circa 1917-1918. (Image courtesy of George Eastman House/Charles Zoller/The Image Works)
“The most dramatic thing that I can think of is the advances in digital cinema, which has had a profound effect on motion picture production and exhibition.” The next major stage for cinema may well be the shift from audience members being passive to active participants, much like video games and virtual reality. “In the long run [that] technology will become feasible. In the short run I don’t know.”
As to whether inventors and their inventions are a product of the period in which they live, Lipton responds, “There is a current that runs through these inventors and maybe all inventors. There is an ornery tenaciousness to many inventors. Often when people invent something, their vision of how it will be deployed is different from the rest of the world. Edison gets credit for inventing the research lab, which is maybe one of his greatest inventions. The damnedest thing is after the research lab became part of corporate entities, they started calling inventors ‘engineers.’ In some cases, if a guy was highly qualified, he’d be called a scientist. Corporations would never call an employee an inventor, and there is a good reason for that. The term inventor implies ownership. Corporations don’t want inventors to have that. The idea of science as a separate discipline doesn’t occur until the mid-19th century. Most of the people I write about in the early days, which until relatively recently, I describe as autodidact, people who taught themselves, or polymaths or both. Polymaths are masters of many disciplines. The idea of a specialty is a new idea. There aren’t many maverick independent inventors in the world.
“I have to tell you that if I wasn’t emotional and didn’t have strong feelings [about the subject matter], I couldn’t have written this book,” reflects Lipton. “I had to focus on the chemistry and the science because if you don’t have any of it then you don’t have movies. A lot of us in the motion picture industry don’t know the history of the technology, so I hope that the book will be a good read for them. It is a small contribution to humanity and human intelligence to be able to provide a book like this because I’m thankful of people who wrote the books, patents and articles; I believe in that tradition. I can only thank God that I had the wherewithal to do it. If we don’t support and help eccentric people who are working on strange projects then we will be less human.”
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« Vinyl Releases of the Week: May 25, 2011 | Home | Vinyl Releases of the Week: June 8, 2011 »
Vinyl Releases of the Week: June 1, 2011
New music from My Morning Jacket and Death Cab for Cutie, Ozzy Osbourne picture disc vinyl, and a surprising “new” album from Kate Bush are just a few of the highlights this week.
My Morning Jacket – Circuital (ATO)
Frontman Jim James and crew returned to their hometown of Louisville, Kentucky to record this new album in an old church gymnasium. On it, they explore the circuit-like journey from birth to death and return to their psychedelic-tinged Southern rock style after the funk jams of 2008’s Evil Urges. 180-gram double LP.
Death Cab for Cutie – Codes and Keys (Barsuk)
For this particularly hopeful and inviting seventh album, Death Cab for Cutie veer from their usual guitar-based indie rock tunes to explore analog synths and strings. Says guitarist Chris Walla, “It feels very Seventies electronic. We wanted to explore how bands were using machines in the pre-computer era.” They also recruited producer Alan Moulder (My Bloody Valentine, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Smashing Pumpkins) to mix the album. 180-gram double LP in gatefold sleeve.
Kate Bush – Director’s Cut (Fish People Import)
After finally getting clearance to use passages from James Joyce’s Ulysses in her song “The Sensual World” (a request that had been rejected some 20+ years prior, forcing her to paraphrase Molly Bloom’s soliloquy), Kate Bush was inspired to remake that track and revisit 10 others from 1989’s The Sensual World and 1993’s The Red Shoes. She re-records all the lead vocals and drums, and transforms some songs completely (“Deeper Understanding, “This Woman’s Work,” and the aforementioned “The Sensual World,” now re-titled “Flower of the Mountain”). Another noticeable difference is her use of analogue recording techniques on these once digital tracks.
Ozzy Osbourne – Blizzard of Ozz, Diary of a Madman (Sony Legacy)
Remastered vinyl reissues of Ozzy Osbourne’s first two solo albums, both featuring the late guitarist Randy Rhoads. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of their release, Sony Legacy is also offering them on picture disc vinyl! Blizzard of Ozz (1980) is Osbourne’s best-selling solo release to date, featuring classics like “Crazy Train” and “Mr. Crowley,” and Diary of a Madman (1981) is Ozzy’s own personal favorite, containing the singles “Over the Mountain, “Flying High Again,” “Believer,” and the title track.
Flogging Molly – Speed of Darkness (Borstal Beat Records)
The Celtic punk ensemble’s new album features some of their most beautiful compositions and spirited rockers. Written in Detroit, Michigan, it deals with the human aspect of the U.S. economic crisis through first-hand observation, capturing both the bleak and resilient blue-collar reality there in the Motor City, and garnering comparisons to Bruce Springsteen.
Warren Haynes – Man in Motion (Stax)
An album of soul and R&B songs recorded at Willie Nelson’s Pedernales with an all-star band featuring Ivan Neville, Ian McLagan, Ruthie Foster, George Porter Jr., and Ron Holloway.
Stevie Wonder – Talking Book (MoFi)
Limited-edition vinyl reissue of Stevie Wonder’s 1972 masterpiece featuring “Superstition,” “You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” and “I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever”). Part of Mobile Fidelity’s Silver Series, this vinyl pressing features the utmost realism and warmth.
Aretha Franklin – Electrifying Aretha / A Little Bit of Soul (101 Distribution Import)
This limited deluxe package includes a 180-gram pressing of Aretha Franklin’s 1962 album Electrifying, her previously unreleased 1965 album A Bit Of Soul, and a bonus 10-inch vinyl EP.
Elvis Costello & the Attractions – Get Happy!! (MoFi)
Paying homage to classic soul and R&B, Get Happy!! features the songs “High Fidelity,” “Riot Act,” “Motel Matches,” and “The Imposter.” Half-speed mastered from the original master tapes and pressed on two 45RPM, 180-gram LPs.
Frank Sinatra – Concert Sinatra, Swing Along with Me (MoFi)
180-gram audiophile reissues of two of the Chairman’s greatest albums. Concert Sinatra is a 1963 collaboration with Nelson Riddle and a 60-piece orchestra. Though not a live album as its title suggests, this collection of songs from popular stage musicals features “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered,” “Soliloquy,” and “Ol’ Man River.” Swing Along with Me was originally released in 1961 and promoted as “twelve of the most uninhibited things Sinatra ever recorded.” It pairs the legendary singer, in the midst of his Rat Pack days, with arranger Billy May and his orchestra, and features the hit “Granada.”
Boz Scaggs – Silk Degrees (Music on Vinyl Import)
180-gram audiophile vinyl reissue of this 1976 hit album, which linked Boz Scaggs with the session musicians that would later form Toto. Features the hit singles “Lowdown,” “Lido Shuffle,” “What Can I Say,” and “We’re All Alone.”
B-52’s – Wild Planet (MoFi)
Another limited-edition reissue from Mobile Fidelity’s Silver Label series, this 1980 New Wave classic features “Private Idaho,” “Runnin’ Around,” and “Strobe Light.”
UFO – No Heavy Petting, Lights Out, Obsession (101 Distribution Imports)
Released in 1976, 1977, and 1978, respectively, these three albums represent the pinnacle of the British hard rock band’s studio career and are reissued here on 180-gram audiophile vinyl.
Nina Simone – Black Gold (Music on Vinyl Import)
180-gram audiophile reissue of Nina Simone’s 1969 live performance at New York’s Philharmonic Hall. Features the first recording of her Civil Rights anthem “To Be Young, Gifted and Black.”
Alison Moyet – Alf (Music on Vinyl Import)
180-gram vinyl reissue of the 1984 solo debut from one half of the British electro-pop duo Yazoo/Yaz, on vinyl again for the first time since the ’80s. A No. 1 album in Britain, Alf features the international hits “Love Resurrection,” “Invisible,” and “All Cried Out.”
Primal Scream – Xtrmntr (Music on Vinyl Import)
180-gram audiophile vinyl reissue of Primal Scream’s definitive 2000 album.
Vinyl Releases of the Week: Thanksgiving 2011 Edition!
Vinyl Releases of the Week: May 2, 2012
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Tag Archive for: pay raises 2021
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Ventura’s Imperfect Evaluation On Step And Merit Increases
January 25, 2021 /0 Comments/in Newsletters /by VREG Editors
“The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life.”
No one makes a lifetime commitment based on a single moment in time. Yet, the Ventura City Council made just such a commitment. In November 2020, they awarded step and merit increases to city employees based on revised sales tax figures. This decision is disturbing on several levels:
The city staff led the Council to believe financial conditions were improving based on very short-term statistics.
The people benefiting from the salary increases were the ones making the recommendation.
Our elected officials failed to question the rosy picture the staff presented during the pandemic economic shutdown.
In the city’s fiscal year 2020-2021, the Ventura City Council faced a $12.0 million budget deficit due to California’s coronavirus shutdown. The city staff recommended a dozen possible solutions to the problem. Among them was the option to ‘defer’ $1 million in employee salary increases for step and merit increases until financial conditions improved.
As a provision of the FY2020-21 budget, former-Mayor Matt LaVere, the City Council and all the bargaining units agreed to freeze employee step and merit increases as a down payment on the massive reductions necessary in the year ahead.
Mid-Course Correction
The City Council receives regular updates on sales tax revenue collected. These reports include recent figures and may also include projections based on current trends. The updates are very short-term, especially in the early part of the fiscal year. Predictions made from these limited data may seem overly optimistic. Any upward trend tempts city staff and the Council to overreact. Past City Councils have been guilty of spending money from these projections because they seemed ‘good.’ The tendency is to see these projections through rose-colored glasses.
What Was The New Projection That Justified The Step And Merit Increases?
To everyone’s surprise, the September sales tax report update was higher than anticipated. The city staff projected that General Fund would be $1.657 million higher than forecasted. The City Council seized this as the ‘green light’ to reinstate the employee step and merit increases.
At the November 9, 2020 meeting, the Council rescinded the suspended step and merit salary increases for city employees. The suspension lasted only eight months, from March to November 2020.
Was The Decision To Grant Step And Merit Increases Logical?
The Council made its November decision based on data presented on September 23, 2020, a month and a half earlier. The Council received no updated data on which to decide. If they had, the decision might have been different.
In a report prepared by Michael Coon, the Director of Finance & Technology, after the Council’s November 9th decision, the $1.657 million surplus became a $483K deficit.
By the January 2021 Budget Workshop presentation to the new Council, the General Fund was positive again by $264,000. Mr. Coon admitted that $264,000 is a slim margin on a $116 million budget (0.2%).
What’s Happening With The General Fund?
The $1.657 million General Fund surplus presented in September 2020 was misleading. Yes, sales tax revenue was higher, but that didn’t account for the excess. Two unique, one-time events inflated the figures.
The General Fund received $2.0 million from the CARES Act funding. The city also received a donation from the Marion Schwab Trust.
Without these two rare revenue infusions, the city would have had $2.4 million less revenue than the city staff led the Council to believe when deciding to award the step and merit increases.
What’s more, on September 24, 2020, the city staff failed to mention the City Council’s risks to the General Fund. Player’s Casino Card Room sales taxes, parking violations, and Parks & Recreation programming were below budget. Mr. Coon’s November 2020 report shows revenue fell more than $5.2 million below budget in those three areas.
The Result Of Their Actions On Raises
In June, Councilmember Jim Friedman warned of an “absolute financial disaster” in the coming years if the city doesn’t continue to cut spending. Yet, the City Council reversed their earlier spending restraint and awarded over $719,000 in pay increases to city employees.
In June 2020, City Manager Alex McIntyre spoke of “shared sacrifice” when announcing the step and merit increases. Today, thousands of Ventura residents are not working. And those private-sector workers that remain employed may experience outright cuts in their pay and hours. Scores of businesses are closed by the pandemic and face bankruptcy. At City Hall, where jobs and salaries are guaranteed, things look very different, however.
Every budget cycle, the city goes through the same experience. The budget process begins in January and ends in June for the following year’s budget. Each year, the city staff presents their best estimate of what next year will bring. Often, those estimates are optimistic. “We believe we’re conservative not to paint too bleak a picture,” Mr. Coon told the City Council on January 11, 2021. And, our City Council makes long-term decisions based on the short-term data they receive.
Staff isn’t always right. No one has examined the budgeting process for a long time. Periodically, it would be a good idea to have independent, outside consultants provide an unbiased analysis of Ventura’s budgeting. This evaluation should be different from the accountant’s review of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR), which is always 18 months in arrears.
We believe the City Council made the November decision to award the step and merit increases on flawed forecasts from staff. The City Council accepted the General Fund revenue would be $1.657 million higher in the middle of a pandemic. The Council decided based on a September bump in the sales tax revenue for the first four months of the fiscal year 2020-21. And, the data didn’t include the all-important Christmas season sales tax revenue. The Council made long-term decisions based primarily on short-term data.
It seems clear that city staff provided fluid, optimistic data to the Council for their decision. Mr. Coon explained the projections, saying, “We are feeling alright with the additional projection of $1.5 million in Sales Tax for the current fiscal year. It is something that we definitely want to keep an eye on, especially if we start to see more businesses close.
“Currently, we are basically projecting that we will receive the same amount of Sales Tax this fiscal year that we received last fiscal year…the city would have received about $30 million in sales tax for FY 20-21 without the pandemic. So, the projections do factor in about a 10% decline from the activity that was seen in Jul-Dec 2019. This decline isn’t on the higher end because online sales tax collection is doing so well and offsetting the losses of some of the brick and mortar stores that are experiencing losses at the higher end of the spectrum.”
At a higher level, citizens should be concerned about this process. The same people who prepare the reports used to decide salary increases are the same people who get the raises.
Our concern isn’t with the exact budget numbers. We question using numbers provided by the very people who enjoy the increases. We also have reservations about the Council relying on unseasoned numbers over time.
And, we’re disappointed by the elected officials that failed to question staff’s rosy projections when we’re in the middle of a pandemic. There were variations in the General Fund projections from September 2020 to November 2020 to January 2021. Two different City Councils spanned that period. One would have hoped that at least one Councilmember would have remarked on the General Fund’s changes from positive to negative and back to slightly positive over that time. Yet, no one did.
Only four Councilmembers remain from the group that awarded the increases. They are Lorrie Brown, Jim Friedman, Erik Nasarenko and Sofia Rubalcava. At the January 2021 budget workshop, two Councilmembers (Ms. Brown and newcomer Mike Johnson) expressed concern about the COVID-19 impact on the city’s finances. One wonders why the other five didn’t share the same anxiety. We hope that the new Council will be more rigorous in asking questions when preparing next year’s budget.
Write Directly To Your City Councilmember To Insist They Ask More Insightful Questions During Budgeting
https://www.vregventura.org/wp-content/uploads/Ventura-May-Have-Been-Hasty—WP.png 666 1000 VREG Editors https://www.vregventura.org/wp-content/uploads/vreg-logo-1.jpg VREG Editors2021-01-25 18:49:402021-03-02 14:34:32Ventura’s Imperfect Evaluation On Step And Merit Increases
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Officers: Iraq Could Drain Terror War
On my list
By Bradley Graham
As the Bush administration intensifies talk about toppling Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, military officials are confronting what some see as a looming problem: that by launching a war in the Persian Gulf, the administration will divert attention and resources from the military campaign against al Qaeda and terrorism.
Although Pentagon officials are proceeding to refine plans for a war against Iraq, military officers warn that a major campaign in the Middle East would place a serious drain on intelligence gathering and Special Forces units, two central components of the military's efforts to hunt down al Qaeda and Taliban members in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
How to balance these conflicting stresses on U.S. forces is among the key factors being assessed by war planners, and could contribute to the shape and timing of any military campaign against Iraq. At the moment, with Osama bin Laden, the al Qaeda leader, and his lieutenants still being sought along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan and elsewhere, some military officials worry that the administration may be shifting the focus to Iraq too soon.
"I'd prefer later than sooner," said a senior officer involved in the Pentagon's deliberations. "Can you imagine how it would look if we go to war against Iraq and there's another terrorist attack in the United States at the same time? People will wonder what we're doing."
Defense officials said that spy satellites, reconnaissance aircraft and other intelligence resources employed in Afghanistan would have to be concentrated even more heavily on the Gulf region if President Bush decides to attack Iraq. Additionally, Special Forces members who speak Arabic and Farsi or have other expertise in the region -- and in the past year have been used extensively in Afghanistan -- would likely be diverted to an Iraqi campaign.
Despite the increasingly forceful language of Vice President Cheney and other administration officials, military planners say that, barring a provocation by Iraq, no attack on Iraq is likely until January at the earliest. They note that the administration must complete military planning, move troops and equipment into place, negotiate basing and overflight agreements with regional allies, and consult with Congress before it could launch a war.
As they make the case for action against Iraq, advocates argue that taking on Hussein would not be a diversion from the war on terrorism but an essential complement to it. They cite what they say is Iraq's support of terrorist groups and the threat posed by Hussein's government as a source of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.
Some administration advisers have suggested that an invasion of Iraq could be mounted using a force much smaller than the more than 200,000 ground troops called for in larger options under consideration. But senior military officers familiar with the planning expect that arguments for a bigger force will prevail to ensure adequate troops for dealing with such worst-case situations as a prolonged battle to seize Baghdad.
Whatever doubts the Pentagon's top-ranked officers harbored earlier about moving against Iraq, they are said to be in agreement now that the United States could fight and win a war against Iraq. Where hesitations persist is over how quickly the campaign should be mounted. There also is continued concern about the absence of friendly nations siding with the United States and the lack of a clear plan for Iraq once Hussein is removed.
Worry in the armed services about widening the war effort was reflected in a question last week from a Marine sergeant at Camp Pendleton in California, who asked visiting Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld whether the United States has the resources and manpower to sustain conflicts on two fronts.
"You can be darn sure that you folks will not be asked to do anything that we won't be able to do, do darn well, and win," Rumsfeld replied. But Rumsfeld declined to reveal his thoughts about how long a new war in the Gulf would take and whether a protracted conflict would overtax the military.
Until last year, U.S. policy had required the Pentagon to be able to fight two major regional wars simultaneously. Many defense experts doubted that the armed forces were adequately equipped and manned to accomplish this. In a broad review of defense policy, the Bush administration changed the requirement, mandating that the armed forces be structured so they could secure a "decisive victory" in only one conflict at a time, even as U.S. commanders were directed to continue planning for the possibility of operating "in two theaters in overlapping timeframes."
With a war against Iraq looming, and counterterrorist operations underway in Afghanistan and elsewhere, the Pentagon appears on the cusp of reaching this limit, or exceeding it.
"I think it would be a three-front war," said Marine Lt. Gen. E.R. "Buck" Bedard, deputy commandant for plans, policies and operations, who nonetheless expressed confidence that the military was up to the job. "It would be Iraq, it would be globally everywhere else and it would be the threat back here in the United States, which we've never had to focus on before when we've gone out to prosecute something away from our shores."
Some of the initial demands on U.S. military forces imposed by the war on terrorism have eased in recent months. The numbers of warships and aircraft committed to the 11-month-old operation in Afghanistan have been scaled back, and Pentagon contractors have worked to replenish inventories of "smart" bombs that were used extensively in Afghanistan.
Boeing Co., which manufactures Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) -- the $20,000 kits that fit onto unguided bombs to turn them into precision weapons -- has ramped up deliveries from 750 a month last winter to 2,000 by the end of the year and 2,800 by next summer. Intercontinental Manufacturing Co., which makes unguided bombs, also recently received a Pentagon order to increase production, an Air Force spokesman said.
Additionally, the flurry of Pentagon counterterrorism initiatives last winter that sent military trainers and support teams into the Philippines, Yemen and Georgia has waned. The Philippine and Yemen missions ended this summer, and no new programs elsewhere have been announced.
Still, the war in Afghanistan remains a significant drain, with more than 7,000 troops in country, 2,200 Marines permanently positioned in the northern Arabian Sea and a Navy carrier battle group floating in the region.
U.S. troops, spearheaded by Special Forces teams, continue to scour the remote reaches of eastern Afghanistan on the assumption bin Laden and other senior al Qaeda members may be crossing back and forth from Pakistan and moving between mountain hideouts. At sea, U.S. naval forces in the region received orders last week to expand their interdiction operations to search not just for fleeing al Qaeda members but also for materiel that terrorists might use.
With the al Qaeda network weakened but far from defeated, senior Pentagon officers say the hunt for terrorists in Afghanistan and elsewhere is sure to rely heavily on a combination of timely intelligence and quick-response forces.
"The intel we get is very good, but the terrorists move frequently, so you need to be able to get the intel and do something about it quicker than they can move on to their next location," Marine Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters last week.
Pace indicated that the scope for potential anti-terrorist action remains broad, rattling off a list of countries that included Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Lebanon, Syria, Libya, Georgia, Colombia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and North Korea.
"I may have missed one, I probably have," he said. "But all those places are either knowingly and willfully supporting terrorists or have terrorist organizations present."
Asked whether the United States had sufficient forces to wage war on Iraq as well as terrorism, retired Army Gen. Henry H. Shelton, who stepped down last autumn as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the issue was less one of resources, which he considers sufficient, but attention span, which he worries about.
"If we get drawn into something in Iraq, then our focus will go very heavily there, and it will be hard to sustain the momentum in the war on terrorism," he said. "That's the biggest danger that I see."
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1319732 B.C. LTD. COMPLETES SHARE CONSOLIDATION
TORONTO, ON, CANADA, January 14, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- 1319732 B.C. Ltd. (the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company completed a share consolidation (the "Consolidation") of its common shares (the "Shares") by exchanging one (1) new post-Consolidation Share for every three million two hundred sixty seven thousand nine hundred and seventy three (3,267,973) pre-Consolidation Shares as authorized by a resolution passed by the board of directors of the Company (the "Resolution") effective January 13, 2022 (the "Effective Date") in accordance to the Company's Articles of Incorporation. No fractional shares will be issued as a result of the Consolidation. Shareholders who end up with a fractional interest in the Shares following the Consolidation (i.e. those who hold less than 3,267,973 pre-Consolidation Shares) will receive C$0.000306 in cash (the “Cash Consideration”) for each pre-Consolidation Share held and will cease to own any fractional interests in the Shares. The Resolution further authorized, pursuant to Section 238(g) of the British Columbia Business Corporations Act (the "BCBCA"), the shareholders to exercise dissent rights in respect of the Consolidation, in the manner described in Sections 237 to 247 of the BCBCA.
Effective January 13, 2022 the post-Consolidation Shares have been assigned new CUSIP/ISIN numbers: (68249T203/CA682492039).
A letter of transmittal will be sent by mail to shareholders entitled to receive Cash Consideration only and may only be used by registered holders (the "Registered Shareholders") of the Company's Shares and is not to be used by beneficial holders of the Shares who are not Registered Shareholders (the “Beneficial Shareholders”). A Beneficial Shareholder who does not hold the Shares registered in their name but are held by an intermediary or clearing agency such as CDS. Beneficial Shareholders must contact their intermediary for instructions and assistance in delivering the certificates representing their Shares and receiving the Cash Consideration for such Shares.
The Consolidation constitutes a "business combination" within the meaning of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). In its consideration and approval of the Consolidation, the board of directors of the Company determined that the Consolidation will be exempt from the formal valuation and minority approval requirements of MI 61-101 on the basis of the exemptions in Sections 5.5(b) and 5.7(g) of MI 61-101.
Binyomin Posen
Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer & Director
E: bposen@plazacapital.ca
No recognized securities exchange accepts responsibility for the adequacy of this press release, which has been prepared by management of the Company.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forwarding-Looking Statements
All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking information" with respect to the Company within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. There are uncertainties inherent in forward-looking information, including factors beyond the Company's control. There are no assurances that the business plans described in this news release will come into effect on the terms or time frame described herein. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by law. For a description of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and its business and affairs, readers should refer to the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis and other disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulators, which are posted on www.sedar.com.
bposen@plazacapital.ca
1319732 B.C. Ltd.
Watts Happening Today © 1995-2022 IPD Group, Inc. All Right Reserved.
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Barclays Private Bank's Spanish Venture Kicks Off
Tom Burroughes, Group Editor, London, 3 December 2021
The UK-based private bank has established a presence in Spain, forming part of a wider European strategy.
Barclays Private Bank has an on-the-ground presence in Spain, having hired Juan Vilarrasa as head of private bank coverage. In this new role, Vilarrasa will bring a range of advisory and discretionary products and services to family offices and ultra-high net worth clients.
Vilarrasa reports to Pat McCormack, private banking head for Barclays Europe. He will also co-locate with the Barclays corporate and investment bank teams in existing Barclays offices in Madrid, the UK-listed lender said in a statement yesterday.
Under the leadership of Gérald Mathieu, head of private banking for Europe and Middle East, Vilarrasa will connect clients in the country with the bank’s European private bankers and product specialists.
For the past five years Vilarrasa has set up a technology platform and wellness app, raising finance from investors including UHNW individuals, Spanish banks and public sector sources. Before this, he was part of the equity capital markets and corporate finance team at Barclays proposing capital-raising solutions for clients. Previously, he has served in corporate finance roles at Ambers & Co (now EY) and Deloitte. Vilarrasa gained an MBA from IESE Business School in Barcelona and studied at Yale School of Management as part of an MBA exchange programme.
Barclays is taking advantage of its Dublin platform – giving it a foothold in the European Union’s single market post-Brexit – to offer clients business and investment solutions throughout Europe, it said.
This year, Barclays Private Bank has expanded its presence with new teams in Italy, France and Singapore.
This publication interviewed Barclays about its European strategy here. It has also been reigniting its presence in the Asia region.
Leadership Changes At International Private Bank In Asia-Pacific
Summary Of Executive Moves In Global Wealth Management - October 2013
Summary Of Executive Moves In Global Wealth Management - April 2013
Summary Of Global Executive Moves In Wealth Management - December 2012
Summary Of Wealth Management Executive Moves - November 2012
BEST OF 2012 SO FAR: DBS Set For International Foray This Year, Says Wealth COO
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Trial judge dismissed fraud charges against two for lack of evidence but court of appeals saw it differently
Five co-defendants including Matthew Wheeler were charged in federal court with wire fraud, mail fraud, and conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§1341 and 1349 for their involvement in a telemarketing scheme to defraud stock investors. Following an eight-week trial the jury found each defendant guilty on all counts. However, post-trial, the federal trial judge granted the judgments of acquittal based on insufficient evidence as to two defendants, Wheeler and Long. The three convicted defendants appealed their convictions while the government appealed the acquittal judgments.
The codefendants were charged with substantive mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. It alleged that the defendants played various roles in a telemarking scheme that tricked investors into making stock purchases and misappropriated their money while operating out of two phone rooms. Certain codefendants worked as salespeople using an alias. Others had the role of managers, instructing salespersons on how to pitch a stock. Others played the role a loaders, who would play the role of high-level executives pushing the buyer to purchase “institutional” shares. Both phone rooms used and prepared written materials to aid their pitches to investors which contained inaccurate information but also included exaggerations and fabrications. Using the press releases and scripts, salespeople made false representations to potential investors, stating they were paid only in company stock, did not work for commissions, and that important businesspeople or celebrities were involved in the company they were pitching.
The government’s evidence at trial came from codefendants who pleaded guilty, defrauded investors who bought stock from the defendants, and a confidential informant who took a job undercover in the Florida “boiler room”.
The appellate court reversed the trial court’s decision to dismiss the federal charges on the grounds that the government did not prove Wheeler and Long’s intent to defraud investors. It agreed with the Government’s argument there was evidence they lied about their employer, lied about their compensation structure, and misled investors about the value if the stock they were selling.
Though the appellate court conceded the evidence was not overwhelming, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government and drawing all reasonable inferences and credibility choices in the government’s favor, the evidence provided a basis for a reasonable jury to conclude that Wheeler and Long violated federal laws by scheming to defraud investors. As to the federal conspiracy charge, the appellate court found sufficient evidence to support a finding that Wheeler and Long knew of a conspiracy to sell stock by lying to investors. The evidence supported a jury’s verdict on the conspiracy counts.
The appellate court rejected the remaining codefendant’s arguments that there was insufficient evidence they lacked intent to defraud investors. Though the evidence was not overwhelming as to one defendant, the appellate court found that a reasonable construction of the evidence showed the defendant intended to defraud victims by deceiving them about the stock. As to another defendant, the appeals court found the jury could have drawn the inference that he made false claims about the stock knowing the claims to be false.
The Defendants also challenged the trial court’s denial of a motion for mistrial claiming the prosecutor acted improperly by the prosecutor attacking the defense’s theory of defense instruction during closing arguments. While the appellate court thought this was a close question, it concluded the prosecutor could have reasonably believed his comments were proper, so it did not find grounds for a reversal.
Updated: December 2, 2021 10:04 am
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Our small but well-established group meets once a month in Wigan for lectures and discussions on topics of historical or archaeological interest. We have a trip in the summer and carry out fieldwork during the year (including excavations).
The aims of the society are:
To expand the knowledge and awareness of our local, national and international heritage.
Increase our understanding of the historical significance of the area.
Provide a base for research and a resource for field projects within the area.
Visit our website here
George Walls on July 23, 2013 at 11:17 pm said:
I think that it is believed that the place to practice archery in the olden days was at Hardybutts (archer butts). I seem to remember reading somewhere that the archers from Lancashire assembled at Wigan before going on the Agincourt Campaign with Henry V.
If so, would they have assembled/practiced at Hardybutts ?
The battle of Agincourt was fought on St. Crispins Day, 1415.
The Pub at the bottom of Hardybutts near to it`s junction with Darlington Street is The Crispin Arms.
Is there any connection with the naming of the Pub/site of any previous Inn etc, ?
Louisa on May 25, 2016 at 3:58 pm said:
Tha’ts going to make things a lot easier from here on out.
Bill Aldridge on July 25, 2013 at 8:07 pm said:
Nice theory George but I haven’t come across any reference to a previous establishment on this site (the current building we think dates to the late 1900th century).
Kerry on October 1, 2013 at 8:05 pm said:
Great site with lots of interest. I’ve just bought a house not too far from Angers, and have an interest in history/archaeology. I was wondering if you could tell me where you did your field walking – I’d love to do some of my own. No problem if you’re not able to reveal your locations for whatever reason, I just thought I’d ask.
Kerry.
Bill Aldridge on October 7, 2013 at 8:59 pm said:
Hi Kerry – glad you like the site. We did our fieldwork at a place called Chennahutte on the south side of the Loire between Angers and Saumur. However I would advise that you didn’t go field walking there unless you can get permission from the land owner. Angers and the area around is fully of history – hope you enjoy discovering it.
chris kellett on June 20, 2014 at 12:52 pm said:
hindley bleach works what did it do make bleach or make a product?.
chris kellett on June 20, 2014 at 1:07 pm said:
did hindley bleach make bleach or make a product or just bleach
Trevor Boardman on October 1, 2014 at 2:19 pm said:
I recollect from the 1950’s seeing large shallow flagged areas approx. 30 by 10 yards (very vague guess here!) – whether these pans ever contained bleach I cannot conjecture
MRSJBWNELSON on November 9, 2020 at 10:28 am said:
I AM RESEARCHING ANCESTRY FOR PETER DALING WHOSE ADDRESS AT BIRTH IS COMMON NOOK TULL WHAT DOES THE TULL MEAN
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Contact Jessica Today
Associate Attorney
Jessica Arndt, Esq. devotes her practice exclusively to family law matters, with an emphasis on alimony/spousal support, divorce, equitable distribution, marital agreements, child custody and support, and domestic violence actions. Before joining Law Offices of Edward R. Weinstein, Ms. Arndt had the opportunity to focus her practice in a variety of fields including family law, criminal defense, worker’s compensation, insurance defense, and employment law. From 2008 to 2011, she served as a Deputy District Attorney for the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office Special Victims Unit, wherein Ms. Arndt served as the Chief of Domestic Violence and Computer Sex Crimes. In this role, Ms. Arndt served as a liaison for the Batterer’s Intervention program and worked closely with the Bucks County Children’s Advocacy Center and Bucks County Network of Victim Assistance in domestic violence and child support matters.
Ms. Arndt earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice with a minor in Spanish from Ramapo College of New Jersey, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude. She received her law degree from Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware where she also graduated Cum Laude. While attending law school, Ms. Arndt was employed as a certified legal intern for Bucks County District Attorney’s Office and Delaware Volunteer Legal Services where she assisted clients in obtaining protection from abuse orders in domestic violence matters. Ms. Arndt was also a member of the Trial Advocacy team and received an Outstanding Achievement Award for trial advocacy.
Ms. Arndt is admitted to practice in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the United States District Court, District of New Jersey. She is a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association, the Pennsylvania State Bar Association, the Bucks County Bar Association, and the Middlesex County Bar Association.
Aldona E. Appleton Family Law Inn of Court, Middlesex County, New Jersey
Associate Member & Program Chair
Early Settlement Panelist
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By clicking 'Log In', 'Sign Up', 'Facebook', 'Google' or 'Apple' you agree to the Wish Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
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Sounds of Our Heritage
NPR Ethics Handbook
Ryan Lucas
Capitol rioter who attacked police is sentenced to more than 5 years in prison
By Ryan Lucas • Dec 17, 2021
A Florida man who used a wooden plank and a fire extinguisher to attack police defending the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 has been sentenced to more than five years in prison.
The 63-month sentence for Robert Palmer, handed down by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, is the longest yet for a defendant in the Capitol riot investigation.
Palmer was indicted on eight counts but pleaded guilty to a single charge of assaulting police with a dangerous weapon. On Jan. 6, he was on the front lines as the pro-Trump mob fought police and ultimately stormed the Capitol.
D.C.'s attorney general is suing the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers over Capitol attack
The District of Columbia is suing two far-right groups, the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, for allegedly conspiring to terrorize the city with the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
A Harvard scientist, accused of lying about his links to China, goes on trial
The trial of a prominent Harvard University scientist begins today in Boston. The defendant, Charles Lieber, is accused of lying about his ties to China. NPR justice correspondent Ryan Lucas reports.
Appeals court rules against Trump effort to block document release to Jan. 6 panel
By Claudia Grisales & Ryan Lucas • Dec 9, 2021
Updated December 9, 2021 at 8:43 PM ET
A federal appeals court has denied former President Donald Trump's bid to block the release of some of his White House records to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The unanimous ruling from the three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a lower court's decision that a tranche of Trump White House records can be provided to the Democratic-led committee.
The Justice Department is suing Texas over the state's redistricting plans
By Ryan Lucas • Dec 6, 2021
The Justice Department on Monday sued Texas over the state's redistricting plans for Texas' congressional delegation and the state legislature, alleging that they put minority voters at a disadvantage.
2 suspected Iranian hackers are charged with trying to intimidate U.S. voters
By Ryan Lucas • Nov 18, 2021
The Justice Department has charged two suspected Iranian hackers for allegedly trying to intimidate American voters ahead of the 2020 U.S. election, including by sending threatening emails and spreading false information.
An indictment unsealed Thursday in New York charges Seyyed Kazemi and Sajjad Kashian with several counts including hacking conspiracy, voter intimidation and transmitting interstate threats.
Steve Bannon pleads not guilty to contempt of Congress charges
Steve Bannon, who once served as former President Donald Trump's chief political strategist, is pleading not guilty to federal charges for defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Self-styled 'QAnon shaman' is sentenced to 41 months in Capitol riot
Updated November 17, 2021 at 2:20 PM ET
Jacob Chansley, the self-styled "QAnon shaman" who became one of the faces of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol after storming the building in a fur headdress with horns, has been sentenced to nearly three and a half years in prison for his role in the riot.
Photographs of a bare-chested Chansley carrying a bullhorn and a spear adorned with the American flag while howling in halls of the Capitol became some of the iconic images of that violent, chaotic day.
A key source for the infamous Trump-Russia dossier is charged with lying to the FBI
By Ryan Lucas • Nov 4, 2021
Updated November 4, 2021 at 1:07 PM ET
A Russian national who was a key source of information used in the 2016 dossier of allegations about Donald Trump's alleged ties to Russia has been arrested and indicted on accusations that he lied to the FBI.
Igor Danchenko was taken into custody Thursday morning as part of special counsel John Durham's investigation into the origins of the FBI's Trump-Russia probe. Danchenko has been charged with five counts of making false statements.
DOJ's China Initiative aims to counter theft of U.S. secrets and technology
The FBI is still looking for a trove of nuclear sub secrets in an espionage case
By Ryan Lucas • Oct 20, 2021
The FBI has not recovered the vast majority of secret documents related to nuclear submarines that a U.S. naval engineer is accused of trying to sell to a foreign power, an FBI agent testified Wednesday.
Special Agent Peter Olinits said the FBI also hasn't been able to find the $100,000 in cryptocurrency that it gave the defendants — Jonathan Toebbe, who worked on nuclear propulsion for the Navy, and his wife Diana — as part of the sting operation that led to the Maryland couple's arrest.
The FBI searched properties in Washington and New York linked to a Russian oligarch
FBI agents executed search warrants Tuesday at properties in Washington, D.C., and in New York City that are linked to the prominent Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.
At a stately residence located in Northwest Washington near several embassies, FBI agents could be seen outside, and authorities had cordoned off the property with yellow police tape.
Agents also searched a property in New York, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
Trump files lawsuit to stop the release of documents related to the Capitol riot
By Steve Inskeep & Ryan Lucas • Oct 19, 2021
Ex-Navy nuclear engineer and his wife are charged in an espionage plot
By A Martínez & Ryan Lucas • Oct 12, 2021
Senate report details Trump's efforts to use DOJ to overturn election results
By Ryan Lucas • Oct 7, 2021
An interim report from the Senate Judiciary Committee provides the most detailed look yet at former President Donald Trump's attempts to enlist the Justice Department in his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The report from the panel's Democratic majority documents the chaotic final weeks of Trump's presidency following his loss to Joe Biden, and how Trump tried to force Justice Department officials to help him keep his grip on power.
Texas' abortion law is back in court
By Ryan Lucas & Carrie Johnson • Oct 1, 2021
A federal judge is weighing arguments on the Justice Department's emergency request to block Texas' controversial new abortion law.
Department attorneys and lawyers for the state of Texas made their cases on Friday at a virtual hearing before Judge Robert Pitman of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. At stake is the ability of women in the country's second-largest state to get an abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy, a time before which many people don't realize they're pregnant.
FBI Data Shows An Unprecedented Spike In Murders Nationwide In 2020
By Ryan Lucas • Sep 27, 2021
The number of murders in the United States jumped by nearly 30% in 2020 compared with the previous year in the largest single-year increase ever recorded in the country, according to official FBI statistics released Monday.
The data shows 21,570 homicides in the U.S. in 2020, which is a staggering 4,901 more than in 2019. The tally makes clear — in concrete terms — just how violent last year was.
The Trump-Russia Probe's Special Counsel Has Charged A Lawyer With Lying To The FBI
Updated September 16, 2021 at 10:27 PM ET
A Washington attorney who specializes in cybersecurity issues has been indicted for allegedly lying to the FBI ahead of the 2016 election in a conversation about possible ties between Donald Trump and Russia.
Michael Sussmann, a former federal prosecutor who had worked at a law firm with longstanding links to the Democratic Party, is the second individual to be charged in special counsel John Durham's investigation into the origins of the FBI's Trump-Russia probe.
Justice Department Wants Texas To Immediately Halt Enforcement Of Its Abortion Ban
By A Martínez & Ryan Lucas • Sep 15, 2021
The World Has Changed Since 9/11, And So Has America's Fight Against Terrorism
In the fall of 2001, Aaron Zebley was a 31-year-old FBI agent in New York. He had just transferred to a criminal squad after working counterterrorism cases for years.
His first day in the new job was Sept. 11.
"I was literally cleaning the desk, I was like wiping the desk when Flight 11 hit the north tower, and it shook our building," he said. "And I was like, what the heck was that? And later that day, I was transferred back to counterterrorism."
Gun Rights Groups Threatened To Sink Biden's ATF Nominee. He's Withdrawing The Pick
By Ryan Lucas • Sep 9, 2021
Updated September 9, 2021 at 2:04 PM ET
President Biden has pulled David Chipman's nomination to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in the face of opposition from gun rights groups, Republican senators and a few Democrats.
A Generation After The 9/11 Attacks, A Look Back On The War On Terror
Notes Show Trump Pressed The Justice Department To Declare The 2020 Election Corrupt
By Ryan Lucas • Jul 30, 2021
Updated July 30, 2021 at 3:32 PM ET
In a telephone call in late December, then-President Donald Trump pressured senior Justice Department officials to declare the 2020 election "corrupt" in an effort to help him and his Republican allies in Congress try to overturn the outcome, according to documents provided to a House committee.
House Panel Holds Hearing On The Capitol Riot. 2nd Hearing Is Unscheduled
By Sarah McCammon & Ryan Lucas • Jul 28, 2021
Capitol Rioter Who Walked On Senate Floor On Jan. 6 Sentenced To 8 Months In Prison
A Florida crane operator who walked onto the Senate floor during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has been sentenced to eight months in federal prison and two years of supervised release.
Paul Hodgkins' sentencing is the first in a felony case stemming from the deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters. It is viewed as a potential bellwether for how other Capitol defendants charged with similar offenses are likely to be treated.
2 California Men Have Been Charged With Plotting To Bomb A Democratic Party Building
Updated July 16, 2021 at 12:37 PM ET
Two California men who were angry about former President Donald Trump's 2020 election loss have been indicted on charges they plotted to firebomb the Democratic Party's headquarters in Sacramento.
Where The Investigation Stands Into The Jan. 6 Insurrection
By Leila Fadel & Ryan Lucas • Jul 6, 2021
Another Alleged Oath Keeper Pleads Guilty To Jan. 6 Conspiracy
By Ryan Lucas • Jun 30, 2021
An alleged member of the Oath Keepers has pleaded guilty to charges connected to the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol and agreed to cooperate with the government in its conspiracy case against the extremist group.
Mark Grods entered a plea of guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of obstruction of an official proceeding. According to the statement of offense, the conspiracy's aim was to stop Congress' certification of the Electoral College count.
N.Y. State Court Suspends Giuliani From Practicing Law Over 2020 Vote Fraud Claims
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Prosecutors Get Their 1st Guilty Plea In The Jan. 6 Oath Keepers Conspiracy Case
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WoodenCorner
No. R202 TRACTOR pattern, Rolling Pin, Engraved Rolling, Rolling Pin, Embossed rolling pin, Wooden Rolling pin
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The prodigal and prostitutes – and the surprise gender-flip in Jesus’s parable
11th February 2021 1st September 2021 By ChristineThis post is Moonlight content.
For a little while, now I’ve been furrowing my eyebrows at one particular line in Jesus’s parable of the prodigal son. It was niggling at me and puzzling me in equal measures of concern and confusion.
Until I realised that the line in question was a very deliberate gender-flip.
It even challenges that ancient double-standard where women are stigmatised for certain kinds of sexual activity, but men aren’t.
Allow me to explain. Grab a cuppa, this post is 2,000 words.
The plot in brief
Jesus’s parable of the prodigal son, or the lost son, is possibly his most famous and most admired.
It’s found in Luke 15:11-32 and tells the story of a man who has two sons. One day the younger son demands his share of the inheritance; when his father gives it to him, he leaves and squanders it. When a famine hits, he decides to go home and eat humble pie; his father is so delighted to have him back, he throws a party. Then the older son complains but the father says it’s right to celebrate because his younger brother “was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”
You’ll often hear this parable interpreted by Christians as one that shows God’s love for humankind.
If you can, break away from thinking of this parable as an allegory.
Right now, we’ll be better off if we think of it as an elusive open-ended story and prompts us to ask questions.
And if you’d like a deeper study into this approach to Jesus’s parables, I recommend watching Paula Gooder’s lecture on them – especially this bit where she talks about the prodigal son.
Why I love this parable – and a content warning
My love and fascination grew tenfold after I did some deep-dive reading on Deuteronomy.
Yes, I’m rather strange.
Unfortunately, I need to give a CONTENT WARNING because this post will talk about ‘honour’ violence. Because I think this parable directly challenges such violence.
You see, one of the most troubling laws in the Old Testament is that of the wayward and rebellious son in Deuteronomy 21:18-21. In short, his parents can take him to the city gate, complain that he is disobedient, a glutton and a drunk, and have him stoned to death.
If you weren’t aware, this is ‘honour’-based violence (HBV).
HBV is the brutal, even lethal, response a community makes when they consider a person’s behaviour so bad that they threaten the entire community’s existence, cohesion and reputation. HBV was a thing in the honour-shame culture of the ancient world.
Sadly, in the modern world, similar beliefs can still prevail; they’re a particular risk for women who express their sexuality the ‘wrong way’ or with the ‘wrong people.’
In fact, it’s because these ideas are still so prevalent today that I make a point of studying Deuteronomy.
And it’s why I love the parable of the prodigal son.
You see, the rabbis were discomforted by this Deuteronomy law and they largely nullified it. But while they said such a son never existed,[1] Jesus took a different angle. His parable assumed such sons exist, but he challenged the assumption that parents should respond with violence.
Which is like… wow.
So, what was confusing me about Jesus’s parable?
It all comes down to one line, right near the end.
When the younger son goes off, Jesus describes him as wasting his father’s money “in wild living.” Which is enough for the purposes of the story, but it’s ambiguous.
However, when the younger son returns and the older son complains, he gets specific. He says the younger son has squandered his father’s property “with prostitutes.”
(How does he know? Was he there?)
But why does the older son say this? And why does Jesus put these words in his mouth?
There were three things that didn’t make sense to me.
#1: The sexual promiscuity angle doesn’t make sense in the ancient world
Oh, it sure seemed to make sense when I was growing up.
But growing up, I was led to believe that sexual promiscuity was adultery, and adultery was all forms of sex that took place outside marriage. So of course Jesus called out the younger son for cheapening sex and sleeping around!
But actually… that doesn’t make sense.
In the ancient world, adultery was not sex outside of marriage. Adultery was a man having sex with another man’s (a) wife, (b) concubine or (c) free-born betrothed bride. The man’s marital status was irrelevant in determining whether or not an act was adultery. It was all down to the legal and marital status of the woman.
Which means that when the younger son had sex with prostitutes… he was not committing adultery. He was just doing what men could legally do.
We might not like it and there are valid reasons for not liking it! But there was no reason for the older son to call it out as the epitome of bad behaviour.
At least… none that I could see.
#2: The older son probably wasn’t calling out prostitution as oppressive of women
For sure, women who were prostitutes were particularly vulnerable. It was a big deal that Jesus treated them with dignity and respect and little wonder that they then put their faith in him.
But while I would love to interpret the older son as calling out the injustice these women faced, I don’t think it fits. This parable is primarily about family relations, not the plight of the oppressed.
Moreover, it’s so easy to read the older son’s words as carrying a pejorative tone against these women. Like it wasn’t just that the younger son was doing an unclean act, but doing it with unclean people.
AND YET… Jesus was always challenging that attitude!
So why, why, why would he insert this into his parable? Did he think no prostitutes were listening? Did he not care about how they might have felt? Would not the older son’s words at the very least remind them of the stigma they’d felt the many times they had been called ‘unclean’?
This is what didn’t make sense to me. Given everything that Jesus did and said and stood for, I could not figure out why he would put these words in the older brother’s mouth.
Even if the older son wasn’t criticising the women, his words were totally unnecessary.
#3: Jesus could so easily have mentioned drunkenness and gluttony
What is the parents’ complaint in Deuteronomy 21:18-21? It’s that their son won’t listen to them, and their proof is in how he’s a glutton and a drunk.
It’s not that eating and drinking are really the son’s crime. His crime is undermining parental authority and, by extension, the entire community’s social order. But it’s his eating and drinking habits that are held up; they are key the marker that demonstrates his guilt to the public.
Now Jesus totally understood all this. That’s why he was so insulted when people called him a glutton and a drunk (Matthew 11:19; Luke 7:34). He knew what they really meant by that. Namely, that he was a rebellious son, a disgrace to his family, a menace to society, and someone who ought to be killed.
No surprises then that he was killed.
But this is what I couldn’t understand about the parable of the prodigal son. Why didn’t the older son mention gluttony and drunkenness? Why didn’t he complain that the younger son had squandered their father’s money on wine and feasting? Or on gorging himself and getting drunk?
Everyone listening knew the younger son was being rebellious. Everyone knew what a rebellious son supposedly did. So why in the closing moments of this parable did Jesus throw in this sudden twist of expectations?
When everyone was expecting to hear about food and drink, why did Jesus mention sex?
It’s because he was gender-flipping.
That ancient double-standard
Deuteronomy doesn’t just talk about rebellious sons, it talks rebellious daughters too.
But in Deuteronomy 22:20-21 the marker of a rebellious daughter is not drunkenness and gluttony.
It’s sexual promiscuity.
In other words, Jesus was deliberately gender-flipping this law. Instead of using the marker for a rebellious son, he used the marker for a rebellious daughter. And he attributed it to the younger son in his parable.
This is… quite something.
Bear in mind, the laws of Deuteronomy 22:13-21 are the reason why I started studying the book in depth. For a long time, I thought these particular laws were about virginity. But there’s plenty of Jewish scholarship to support the view that the daughter’s crime wasn’t sex, per se. It was disobeying her parents — exemplified by her having sex (arguably, lots of sex) outside of her parents’ authority.[2]
If you want to read more, here’s the long version and here’s the short version. And for good measure, here’s the medium version.
And whilst this analysis resolves the most troubling questions about the hymen (which, if you didn’t know, is a wholly unreliable indicator of virginity), I won’t pretend it makes all the problems go away.
In fact, one of my unresolved questions was the asymmetry of the markers in these HBV laws. Why should rebelliousness be exemplified as gluttony and drunkenness in young men, but sexual promiscuity in young women? Doesn’t that stigmatise women’s sexual expression? Doesn’t that ignore rape culture? Why was this OK?
Or… was it not OK?
Is that part of the point that Jesus was making?
Was he challenging this double-standard? You know, the one that says it’s fine for men to sleep around but not for women?
Was he hinting that daughters shouldn’t be met with violence when their sexuality doesn’t conform? Or that sons should take responsibility for how they exercise their sexual agency? (Or that paying vulnerable women for consequence-free sex is a pretty rubbish thing to do, even if it’s legal?)
If you ask me, Jesus was saying all of these things.
So maybe the sexual promiscuity angle makes more sense than I had thought. But it’s for a very different set of reasons compared to those I grew up with. And that’s significant.
For years I’ve taken this parable as yet another example of how men’s libidos are at risk of spiralling out of control. Of how ‘fallen women’ can snare a man in his downward spiral.
But if we read this parable as focussing on Deuteronomy’s HBV laws, then the message is quite different. It says if daughters were expected to be self-controlled in their sexual expression, then sons should be expected to as well. And if sons can be forgiven for sexual transgressions, then daughters can be too.
It’s not that there are no differences between how men and women express their sexual agency. But we would do well to lose the double-standard that shames women for their sexual expression and absolves men of culpability.
At least, that’s what I take away.
And it’s not that I want to throw shade on the compilers of Deuteronomy for writing the laws they did. I’m not saying we should remove this book from the canon or discount it as uninspired.
What I’m saying is this: we need to understand that when Jesus spoke the truth of Deuteronomy (of which there is plenty) he also teased out the cracks in its laws and assumptions.
However much we love the Bible, the question is not whether those gaps are there. The question is, what values and beliefs will we fill them with?
And, in case you missed it, Jesus offered us some answers in the story of this parable.
If you want to read more specifically looking at HBV, there’s this post which looks at Juliet’s argument with her parents (from Romeo and Juliet) and compares it to Deuteronomy 22:28-29, as well as this post about Jyoti Singh (aka Nibhaya).
[1] See Alexander Rofé, “Family and Sex Laws in Deuteronomy and the Book of Covenant,” in Deuteronomy: Issues and Interpretation (Edinburgh: T&T Clark Ltd, 2002), 180. He cites T. Sanhedrin 11.6, translated by Neusner, which ruled that “There never has been, and there never will be a stubborn and rebellious son.”
[2] See Aaron Koller, “Sex or Power? The Crime of the Bride in Deuteronomy 22,” Zeitschrift für Altorientalische and Biblische Rechtsgeschichte 16 (2010): 279–296. Koller argues: “Sex has nothing to do with [her] crime, any more than eating meat has to do with the crime of the incorrigible son [in Deuteronomy 21:18-21]. Meat and sex are merely the symptoms or indicators of the true crime [of subverting the power of the family structure].” [p287]
Posted in Deuteronomy 22, Moonlight, Virginity, honour and violenceTagged Christianity, Feminism, Purity
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One thought on “The prodigal and prostitutes – and the surprise gender-flip in Jesus’s parable”
Innocent Loverboy says:
Wowza, this is a long post! I got myself a cuppa, as you suggested, before reading. Excellent analysis, as always.
An evangelical Christian preacher once told me that the laws of Deuteronomy were still valid; when I asked him about the HBV inherent, and more specifically the stoning, he didn’t have an answer. I pressed him further and asked about Jesus preaching tolerance and peace, even (if not especially) for the “unclean” (John 7:53–8:11) – didn’t that go against what was said in Deuteronomy?
He told me, firmly, that the Bible did not contradict itself, and that Jesus must have said something else.
I don’t agree, evidently.
As for the parable itself (even if the one I feel the most sorry for is the fatted calf!), I’ve often wondered what Jesus’ main point was – assuming, of course, that message was about forgiveness and redemption (and, possibly, familial love). I hadn’t considered the implications implicit in the mention of prostitution (my Bible, NIV, phrases it as “squandered [the father’s] property on prostitutes, which I think made a small point about wasting money, but I’ll overlook that!).
Prostitution appears quite a lot in the Bible. I don’t recall Jesus ever saying anything bad about it. In the ancient world, as you say, it was indeed legal. Jesus may have been mentioning prostitution as a “catch-all wild living” phrase, but since he rarely mentioned it otherwise, there’s got to be some weight to his mention of it in this parable specifically.
But you make an excellent point. I’ll bear it in mind.
As for the gender-flip, if it was a deliberate gender-flip by Jesus, then it was an inspired one (and why not? Jesus, by his nature, is inspiring). It needs to be teased out, but then it is there, if you’re looking for it. I’d never considered it, so thank you for bringing that one to my attention!
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Welcome the relaunch of the World Socialist Web Site!
David North@davidnorthwsws
With today’s edition, the International Editorial Board is initiating the relaunch of the World Socialist Web Site. The WSWS has undergone a complete and fundamental redesign. The changes in the appearance of the site have been motivated not only by important technical and aesthetic considerations, though we certainly hope that our readers will appreciate the many improvements in the functionality and appearance of the site. But as significant as these advances are in themselves, they are secondary to the essential issues of theory and political perspective that have guided all aspects of the relaunch project.
It is nearly 23 years since the World Socialist Web Site was launched on February 14, 1998. The International Committee of the Fourth International appreciated at a very early stage in the development of the Internet the revolutionary potential of this immense advance in communications technology. We seized the opportunity to utilize a technology that would make possible a more favorable alignment between the power of our Marxist-Trotskyist ideas and the size of our audience. The old barriers imposed by the physical demands of circulating a printed newspaper were transcended with a technology that enabled the instantaneous transmission of information and ideas all over the world.
It was especially the global character of this technology that convinced the International Committee, almost a quarter century ago, that it should transfer its publishing efforts to the Internet. Not only could we reach a world audience, but it would be possible to politically integrate and unify, to an extent unprecedented in the history of the Marxist movement, the political work of all the sections of the International Committee of the Fourth International. Here, too, the new technology made possible a far better alignment of the daily practice of the International Committee with its international strategy and program. With the founding of the World Socialist Web Site, the International Committee of the Fourth International could respond to daily events, wherever they occurred, with a single political voice as the World Party of Socialist Revolution.
During the first decade of its publication, the World Socialist Web Site achieved an immense expansion of the audience for authentic revolutionary Marxism, that is, for Trotskyism. In its response to the events of the first years of the twenty-first century—dominated by the nightmarish crimes committed by US and world imperialism under the bloody banner of the War on Terror—the World Socialist Web Site provided the essential critical revolutionary orientation for, at first, tens of thousands, then hundreds of thousands, and, by 2008, even several million readers throughout the world.
After 10 years of publication, not only had the growth of the readership placed demands upon the WSWS that could not be met within its original structure. It was evident to the International Committee and the International Editorial Board that the rapidly intensifying crisis of American and world capitalism was confronting the World Socialist Web Site with challenges that required a significant advance in both its technical infrastructure and presentation. We did not have to wait for the assessment of the objective situation that motivated the redesign of the WSWS to be proven correct. The first edition of the redesigned World Socialist Web Site appeared on October 22, 2008, in the midst of the greatest economic breakdown of the global financial system since the Wall Street crash of 1929.
In the statement posted on October 22, 2008, explaining the political conceptions underlying the redesign, the WSWS made the following points:
The global financial crisis, centered in the United States, marks a decisive turning point in the historic crisis of the world capitalist system.
The deepening economic crisis will exacerbate the already substantial tensions between the major imperialist and capitalist powers … The efforts of the United States to offset the deterioration of its world economic position, dramatically exposed in the ongoing crisis, will assume an increasingly reckless and unrestrained militaristic character.
The worsening economic situation is leading to a renewed upsurge of class struggle on a world scale. The working class will resist with mounting determination the efforts of the old and corrupt bureaucratic organizations—political parties and trade unions—to block and betray its struggles.
A new audience for Marxist theory and the perspective and program of revolutionary socialism advanced by the International Committee of the Fourth International will emerge among newly radicalized workers, students, youth and intellectuals. Only a party that is based firmly on Marxist theory and defends unambiguously the heritage of Trotskyism will meet the challenges of a new revolutionary period.
The events of the last twelve years have completely substantiated the assessment upon which the redesign was based.
In light of the most recent developments, it should hardly be necessary to argue at great length that world capitalism is confronted with the specter of a full-scale political and economic breakdown. The crisis is so far advanced that no intelligent bourgeois commentator can state, with any reasonable degree of certainty, that the United States will still have even a semi-democratic government in three months’ time.
The 2008 redesign of the World Socialist Web Site was undertaken in anticipation of an intensification of the world capitalist crisis.
The 2020 relaunch of the World Socialist Web Site occurs in the midst of a global political and socioeconomic breakdown and emerging revolutionary crisis.
This situation has not taken the International Committee by surprise. In the first edition of the WSWS published in the New Year, on January 3, 2020, we stated that the decade of socialist revolution had begun. Even before anyone knew that the world would be struck by a pandemic, the WSWS predicted the eruption of a global crisis of historically unprecedented dimensions.
However, the International Committee was not content to simply make predictions and passively await their realization. The decisive issue was, and is, how the International Committee will respond to this crisis, how it will prepare the working class for conditions of revolutionary struggle.
The changes in the World Socialist Web Site that are being introduced with this relaunch are being made in the expectation that the global expansion of class struggle will generate an immense resurgence of interest within the working class in socialist politics, history and theory.
The World Socialist Web Site will continue to provide, as it has since 1998, unequaled coverage and analysis of the major events of the day. But the changes in design and structure are aimed at creating a more direct and dynamic interaction between the coverage of the news and the historical experiences and theoretical foundations of the Fourth International and the socialist movement.
The site has been redesigned to provide readers far better access to the vast archive of essays, reports, historical documents and lectures on a vast range of subjects published by the WSWS since 1998. The material already posted on the site—close to 150,000 items—will be augmented by the inclusion of previously unpublished material from the archives of the International Committee and its sections.
The International Editorial Board has assembled teams that will create and curate online exhibits of political, cultural and theoretical topics that will provide greater depth to the understanding of contemporary events.
At the conclusion of the 2020 New Year statement, the WSWS declared:
The enormous historic foundation upon which this movement rests, the conscious repository of the experiences of the international working class, must be brought forward in the developing struggles of the working class and in the forging of the path to socialism.
This is the essential aim of the relaunch of the World Socialist Web Site. We are setting out to arm the working class with the theoretical understanding, historical knowledge and political insight necessary to wage a highly conscious political struggle against capitalism, smash the fascistic conspiracies of the corporate-financial oligarchs, and secure the victory of socialism.
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Snow likely. Low 27F. WNW winds at less than 5 mph, increasing to 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 100%. 1 to 3 inches of snow expected..
Snow likely. Low 27F. WNW winds at less than 5 mph, increasing to 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 100%. 1 to 3 inches of snow expected.
Marshall’s Taevion Kinsey (24) pushes up the floor against Ohio defender Mark Sears (1) during during the Herd’s loss last Dec. 15 at the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio.
SHOLTEN SINGER | HD Media
Chuck Landon: Wheels come off Marshall hoops
By Chuck Landon HD Media
How did the wheels come off so quickly?
One minute, Marshall University was posting an impressive 93-79 victory over Louisiana in a sneak preview of Sun Belt Conference rivalries to come.
The next, MU was nailing a 3-pointer during the final seconds of a gutsy 72-71 win over Duquesne.
And to complete the trifecta, the Thundering Herd turned in an impressive 80-69 win over the homestanding Eastern Kentucky Colonels to improve its record to 7-3.
Then everything went kerflooey.
First, there was a physical 75-65 loss at Ohio University. Next, there was an embarrassing 75-60 defeat at the hands of Northern Iowa in the Henderson Center, as the Herd didn’t show up for the second half.
Then came the coup de grace.
Marshall barely showed up for a game at Toledo, falling behind 16-2 before settling for a humiliating 95-63 defeat.
That’s three consecutive double-figure losses.
But it’s not so much the points as it is the performances. There has been too much one-on-one play. Is it any wonder the assists totals have declined?
The 3-point shooting has been horrific. Hey, here’s an idea: If the players can’t make a 3, how about passing the ball and setting up a teammate for a 2-pointer?
The “athletic ball” that veteran head coach Danny D’Antoni loves to see virtually has disappeared. Ball movement has slowed down noticeably because too many players are looking for their own shots while dribbling, dribbling, dribbling.
The stats tell the tale.
In MU’s last three games, star guard Taevion Kinsey has made just 13 of 42 field goal attempts for a dismal .260 shooting percentage. A large part of Kinsey’s problem has been 3-point shooting. He has made only one of 14 shots from behind the arc for 7.1%.
Kinsey also is averaging 5.7 rebounds and 3.7 turnovers while averaging 14.7 points.
His backcourt mate, Andrew Taylor, also has struggled mightily. MU’s point guard is shooting just 30.9% from the floor (13 of 42), including just 7 for 25 from 3-point range (28%). Taylor also is averaging 5.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 5.0 turnovers and 11.0 points.
Freshman guard David Early was inserted into the starting lineup for his scoring potential, but that promise quickly faded. After hitting a trio of 3-pointers and scoring 14 points vs. Ohio, Early managed back-to-back performances of 5 points and 3 points.
The former Logan High School star is shooting 31.6% overall (6 of 19), including 31.3% on 5 of 16 3-point attempts. He is averaging 7.3 points.
Meanwhile, 6-foot-7 senior forward Darius George has been the odd man out. He has started all three games, averaging 22 minutes of playing time, but George has taken only 15 shots during the three games. Earlier in the season, George had scoring performances of 11, 6, 24, 18 and 15 points.
Marshall’s only consistent player has been 6-8 freshman Obinna Anochili-Killen. He is averaging 13.0 points, a team-high 6.8 rebounds and is among the national leaders in blocked shots with 60 (4.6 per game).
But even Killen’s yeoman efforts vs. Toledo couldn’t placate D’Antoni.
“I’m upset,” he said during a postgame news conference. “We’ll start from there. I’m upset. I’m upset with all of us. We’re not a very good ball club right now.”
D’Antoni is right.
Heard of the “Twelve Days of Christmas”? Well, MU’s players are off until Dec. 28.
They have six days of Christmas to figure it out.
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Shirley M. Bianchi
HURLEY, Wis. - Shirley M. Bianchi, 87, of Ironwood, passed away peacefully on Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022, at the Villa Maria Nursing Home in Hurley surrounded by her loving family.
Shirley was born the daughter of Aldise and Celia (Stella) Bruneau on Feb. 14, 1934, in Iron Belt. She was a 1951 graduate of Lincoln High School in Hurley. She then went to work for the Michigan Bell Telephone Company. On Nov. 5, 1955, Shirley was united in marriage with Francis J. Bianchi at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Hurley. They recently celebrated their 66th anniversary. Shirley was a member of Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church in Ironwood.
Faith and family were most important to Shirley. She was an avid reader who also enjoyed crossword puzzles and watching the Green Bay Packers. She was a wonderful homemaker, cook and baker. Shirley loved spending time at the family cabin and at Little Girl's Point. Shirley enjoyed many a shopping weekend in Duluth, Green Bay and Minneapolis, all piling in the van with her daughters and granddaughters to find a good bargain and more importantly, making memories with the girls. She treasured the time visiting her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Over the years she enjoyed what came to be known as "Saturday Coffee," bringing female members of her family together to enjoy each other's company.
Shirley will be missed by her husband, Francis; two daughters, Bonnie (Larry) Sanders and Sharon Bianchi, both of Ironwood; four grandchildren, Stephanie (Jason) Juelich, Shelley (Ryan) Lutzka, Kari (Stephen) Deadman and Kelly (Adam) Casperson; five great-grandchildren, Nathan Juelich, Archer and Harvey Deadman, Maggie Casperson and Jack Lutzka; and her sister, Faye Lundgren of Hurley. She is further survived by numerous nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Aldise and Celia Bruneau; her brother, Dante Bruneau; and in-laws, Valentine and Emma Bianchi; along with other relatives.
Private Mass of Christian Burial will take place at Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church in Ironwood on Saturday, Jan. 8, at 10 a.m. with Fr. Ron Timock presiding. The family asks all invited in attendance to please wear a face mask for their safety. Inurnment will take place in the spring.
The family has chosen McKevitt-Patrick Funeral Home of Ironwood to honor Shirley's legacy of life. You can leave a condolence or a tribute at mckevittpatrickfuneralhome.com.
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What a day in politics. This morning, a guardian headline prompted me to listen in to Lady Hale's announcement of the UK supreme court ruling. I immediately sensed where this was going, each sentence full of gravity, leading step-by-step yet inevitably within a few minutes to the conclusion that Johnson's prorogation of parliament was unlawful. My jaw dropped. No matter how logical the conclusion, this was a huge step for a court that's only existed 10 years.
Tonight, with less suspense, I watched Pelosi announcing a formal impeachment inquiry.
#13742 hrothgar
Not to detract from the ongoing cluster ***** in Washington and London, but from my perspective the really interesting thing that happened in the last few days was the release of the new poll numbers from Iowa and California.
Warren is consolidating a bunch of support, largely drawing from Harris, Buttageig, and Sanders.
Biden and Sanders are both showing pretty obvious ceilings.
Warren is not...
My oldest daughter - now a lawyer - used to be the general manager of an Italian restaurant and she earned the nickname "the velvet hammer" from her employees that she had to fire. As she told me and them - I didn't fire them; they fire themselves.
So it is with impeachment.
From Peter Baker at NYT:
He knew it was coming. It almost felt inevitable. No other president in American history has been seriously threatened with impeachment since before his inauguration. So when the announcement came on Tuesday that the House would consider charging him with high crimes and misdemeanors, President Trump made clear he was ready for a fight.
He lashed out at the opposition Democrats, denouncing them for “crazy” partisanship. He denounced the allegations against him as “more breaking news Witch Hunt garbage.” And he proclaimed that even if the impeachment battle to come will be bad for the country, it will be “a positive for me” by bolstering his chances to win a second term in next year’s election.
The beginning of the long-anticipated showdown arrived when Mr. Trump was in New York for the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly, creating a surreal split-screen spectacle as the president sought to play global statesman while fending off his enemies back in Washington. One moment, he talked of war and peace and trade with premiers and potentates. The next, he engaged in a rear-guard struggle to save his presidency.
Mr. Trump gave a desultory speech and shuffled between meetings with leaders from Britain, India and Iraq while privately consulting with aides about his next move against the House. Shortly before heading into a lunch with the United Nations secretary general, he decided to release a transcript of his July telephone call with the president of Ukraine that is central to the allegations against him. In effect, he was pushing his chips into the middle of the table, gambling that the document would prove ambiguous enough to undercut the Democratic case against him.
By afternoon, as Speaker Nancy Pelosi prepared to announce the impeachment inquiry, the president retreated to Trump Tower, his longtime home and base of operations, to contemplate his path forward. A telephone call between the president and speaker failed to head off the clash, and now the two are poised for an epic struggle that will test the limits of the Constitution and the balance of power in the American system.
“We have been headed here inexorably,” said Michael J. Gerhardt, an impeachment scholar at the University of North Carolina. “The president has pushed and pushed his powers up to and beyond the normal boundaries. He’s been going too far for some time, but even for him this most recent misconduct is beyond what most of us, or most scholars, thought was possible for a president to do.”
Long reluctant, Ms. Pelosi finally moved after reports that Mr. Trump pressed Ukraine’s president to investigate unsubstantiated corruption allegations against former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., a leading Democratic candidate for president, while holding up $391 million in American aid to Ukraine. Democrats said leaning on a foreign power for dirt on an opponent crossed the line. Mr. Trump said he was only concerned about corruption in Ukraine.
Mr. Trump now joins only Andrew Johnson, Richard M. Nixon and Bill Clinton in facing a serious threat of impeachment, the constitutional equivalent of an indictment.
Mr. Nixon resigned when fellow Republicans abandoned him over Watergate, but Mr. Johnson and Mr. Clinton were each acquitted in a Senate trial, the result that seems most likely at the moment given that conviction requires a two-thirds vote, meaning at least 20 Republican senators would have to break with Mr. Trump.
Mr. Nixon and Mr. Clinton both were privately distraught over facing impeachment even as they waged vigorous public battles to defend themselves. Undaunted, Mr. Trump appeared energized by the confrontation, eager for battle. Confident of his position in the Republican-controlled Senate, he seemed almost to assume that the Democrat-controlled House would probably vote to impeach and that he would take his case to the public in next year’s election.
Former Speaker Newt Gingrich, an ally of the president’s, said Mr. Trump could afford to feel secure. He predicted the same thing would happen to Ms. Pelosi that happened to him in 1998, when he led a party-line impeachment inquiry of Mr. Clinton and paid the price in midterm elections, costing him the speakership.
Just as the public recoiled at the Republican impeachment then, Mr. Gingrich said, it will reject a Democratic impeachment now. Instead, he said, it will give Mr. Trump and the Republicans a chance to focus attention on Mr. Biden.
“This is the fight that traps the Democrats into an increasingly unpopular position — I lived through this in 1998 — while elevating the Biden case, which involves big money,” Mr. Gingrich said. “It is a win-win for Trump.”
His point on the popularity of impeachment was a critical one. Until now, at least, polls have shown that most Americans do not support impeaching Mr. Trump, just as they never embraced impeaching Mr. Clinton. Whether the latest allegations involving Ukraine will change public opinion the way they galvanized previously resistant House Democrats remained unclear.
Mr. Trump, though, has never been as popular as Mr. Clinton. During the 13-month battle that stretched from 1998 into 1999 over whether Mr. Clinton committed high crimes by lying under oath about his relationship with Monica S. Lewinsky, Mr. Clinton’s approval rating was generally in the mid-60s and even surged to 73 percent in the days after he was impeached.
Mr. Trump does not have the same reservoir of good will, never having had the support of a majority of Americans in Gallup polling for even a single day of his presidency. His approval rating currently stands at 43 percent. But he has the support of 91 percent of Republicans, giving him reason to assume the party’s senators will stick with him.
Brenda Wineapple, author of “The Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of a Just Nation,” said there were times when a stand on principle was worth it even with a short-term cost. “Some defeats can ultimately be victories — but often only in the long or historical view,” she said. “The Johnson impeachment ultimately failed,” she said, but in the end, she added, the system worked.
At this turning point in his presidency, Mr. Trump began the day in New York toggling between world affairs and political survival. Even before he took the rostrum at the United Nations to deliver a subdued, boilerplate speech, he sought out reporters to push back on the suggestion that he used American aid to leverage Ukrainian cooperation with his investigation demand.
Mr. Trump asserted that he blocked the aid to Ukraine because European countries have not paid their fair share. He pointed to the fact that the money was eventually released as evidence that he did nothing wrong. What he did not mention was that European countries have chipped in $15 billion for Ukraine in the last few years and that he released the American aid only after senators from both parties threatened punitive legislation if he did not.
What he also did not say was that he had changed his explanation for withholding the money from just a day before. On Monday, he linked his decision to block the aid to his concerns about corruption in Ukraine, citing Mr. Biden as an example. By emphasizing instead his overall concern about foreign aid, he was advancing a rationale less tied to his demand for an investigation.
“I’m leading in the polls and they have no idea how to stop me,” Mr. Trump said. “The only way they can try is through impeachment.”
In fact, Mr. Trump is trailing Mr. Biden and other Democrats seeking their party’s nomination in most polls, which is why Democrats assert he was so intent on obtaining dirt from Ukraine on the former vice president.
Either way, as stunning as the day’s developments were, the only real surprise was how long it took to get here. Mr. Trump’s critics began discussing impeachment within days of his election because of various ethical issues and Russia’s interference in the 2016 campaign. By last year’s midterm election, Mr. Trump repeatedly raised impeachment on the campaign trail, warning that Democrats would come after him if they won the House.
They did win, but the drive to impeachment stalled when the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, produced a report that established no criminal conspiracy between Mr. Trump’s campaign and Russia while refusing to take a position on whether the president obstructed justice during the investigation.
As it turned out, Ukraine, not Russia, proved to be rocket fuel for the semi-dormant effort. Now, more than two and a half years later, the battle is on.
From Why I Changed My Mind About Impeachment by David Leonhardt at NYT:
Impeachment is an inherently political process. The framers designed it that way. It is the ultimate way that one branch of the federal government can hold another branch accountable.
Impeachment is not like a criminal trial, in which a jury or judge is supposed to base a verdict only on what happens inside the courtroom. The Constitution’s standard for impeachment — “high crimes and misdemeanors” — is deliberately vague. The decisions about whether the House should impeach and whether the Senate should convict have always involved a mixture of law, politics and public opinion.
For this reason, I have long thought Democrats would be making a mistake by starting impeachment proceedings against President Trump, even though I also believed Trump was manifestly unfit for office.
The Mueller report was too much of a letdown. True, that was in part because of the artful deception by Trump’s attorney general, William Barr, in releasing the report — but only in part. Over all, the report was anticlimactic. It persuaded virtually no one who wasn’t already persuaded of Trump’s unfitness.
If the Democrats had impeached him after the report’s release — after specifically saying that they would make their decision based on the report — they would not have persuaded many swing voters (or virtually any Republicans). I understand that many progressives wanted House Democrats to impeach Trump anyway, as a matter of principle. But I think that view overlooks the history and purpose of impeachment: It is, again, a political process.
If you impeach a president and fail to damage his political standing — if you’re just as likely to shore up his standing, as I think a post-Mueller impeachment would have — you’re doing it wrong. You are going to political war with the Constitution you want rather than the one the country has.
Many House Democrats understood this. They’ve certainly made mistakes since retaking House control this year — namely, failing to hold investigative hearings that might have shifted public opinion. But Democrats were right to reject calls for impeachment. Most House members who represent swing districts were right about this, and so was Nancy Pelosi.
And they are right to be changing their minds now.
Starting an impeachment inquiry is the proper move because of both what’s changed and what hasn’t. What has changed? In his dealings with Ukraine, the president committed a new and clearly understandable constitutional high crime: He put his own interests above the national interest by pressuring a foreign country to damage a political rival. He evidently misused taxpayer money in the process. He has shown he’s willing to do almost anything to win re-election.
What hasn’t changed? Trump is unfit for office. He has repeatedly violated his oath of office, to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. He has weakened America’s national security. He has used the presidency for personal enrichment. He has broken the law more than once. He has tried to undermine American democracy.
Trump has handed Democrats a new opportunity to persuade the country that his presidency needs to end, on Jan. 20, 2021, if not sooner. Democrats should seize that opportunity. Even if they can’t persuade Republican senators to remove him from office, they can focus voters’ attention on his egregious misbehavior.
It’s time to start an impeachment inquiry and see where it leads.
Trump may have really stepped in it, this time. He has left a long set of footprints leading from the scene of the crime.
The WaPo reports:
President Trump’s attempt to pressure the leader of Ukraine followed a months-long fight inside the administration that sidelined national security officials and empowered political loyalists — including the president’s personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani — to exploit the U.S. relationship with Kiev, current and former U.S. officials said.
The sequence, which began early this year, involved the abrupt removal of the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, the circumvention of senior officials on the National Security Council, and the suspension of hundreds of millions of dollars of aid administered by the Defense and State departments — all as key officials from these agencies struggled to piece together Giuliani’s activities from news reports.
Several officials described tense meetings on Ukraine among national security officials at the White House leading up to the president’s phone call on July 25, sessions that led some participants to fear that Trump and those close to him appeared prepared to use U.S. leverage with the new leader of Ukraine for Trump’s political gain.
“We can’t believe his statements, nor should we,” said Ned Price, a former CIA analyst and spokesman for the National Security Council under former President Barack Obama. “That’s why many of us who otherwise don’t like the precedent of releasing a presidential transcript are encouraging it in this case. Because there’s no other option than documentary evidence. His constant deception is pushing us towards new and dangerous territory.”
Gee, I wonder why that is?
Trump’s subsequent descriptions of what happened during and around that phone call have varied with the date and time of day he has been asked.
The incredible irony here is that the criminal enterprise that occupies the White House should be impeached for a non-criminal action.
Transcripts are out...
When you play hide-and-seek with a toddler, and they cover their eyes, you pretend not to see them. That's what will happen here - the Trump administration will cover their eyes with a "see no explicit quid-pro-quo discussed!" shout, and most of Republicans in congress will pretend not to see the corruption standing in front of them.
Zelensky: “I would also like to thank you for your great support in the area of defense...” (That’s the military aid.)
Trump’s next line: “I would like you to do us a favor though...”
Why the f#ck is Bill Barr involved in foreign policy and how in hell is Guiliani acting as the State Department?
This is Mob 101.
So, about that straight shooter AG Barr,
Looks like both the Inspector General and the Director of National Intelligence referred the whistleblower report for criminal investigation, but were over ruled by Barr...
Ronny Chieng expressed cynicism about the impeachment perfectly on last night's The Daily Show.
http://www.cc.com/ep...son-24-ep-24158
It's the second segment, starting at the 16:00 mark.
"I wouldn't be surprised if this ends with Ukraine going to jail and Trump being President for life."
They said that Clinton was Teflon when none of his scandals cost him anything. What's even more slippery than Teflon, because that's what Trump seems to be made of.
The continued media quest for some proof of a quid pro quo trade of weapons for Biden investigation is a red herring. Likewise, the continued reporting that there is no crime is a red herring. Neither matters.
So far, the known facts are impeachable offenses. The entire purpose of the impeachment powers in the constitution was to have a way to remove a president or judge who abused the powers of the office he holds or who failed to uphold his oath of office.
Edit: I'm watching and listening to Adam Schiff talk about the Mafia-like shakedown of this presidential call and he sounds like some WC poster with whom I'm vaguely familiar.
Reporting indicates that Barr is already ducking for cover: "No one told me about Guiliani. I didn't know about this call. Yada, yada, yadi."
A remarkable letter Adam Schiff sent Tuesday to AG William Barr:
These consequences raise the specter that the department has participated in a dangerous cover-up to protect the President.
Can't help but believe that Barr should be forced to recuse from any involvement
The Manchurian President's government paid personal attorney is as crooked and untrustworthy as any of the other mafioso appointed to the executive branch since 2017.
William Barr’s been accused of a presidential cover-up before
Weeks before former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger’s criminal trial over his role in the 1980’s Iran-Contra scandal, then-Attorney General William Barr dropped a bomb on the prosecution.
“People in the Iran-Contra affair have been treated very unfairly,” Barr told USA Today in December 1992, blasting the charges as illegitimate. “People in this Iran-Contra matter have been prosecuted for the kind of conduct that would not have been considered criminal or prosecutable by the Justice Department.”
Barr’s broadside alarmed the lead prosecutor handling the case against Weinberger, James J. Brosnahan, who warned the judge that Barr may have just unduly biased his jury pool. Later that month, when the White House pardoned six top Iran-Contra defendants on Christmas Eve 1992 at Barr’s urging, Brosnahan believed he’d just witnessed the completion of a successful cover-up.
Three decades on, Brosnahan fears Barr has returned to his old job to run the same scheme again.
“If you want a presidential cover-up, Barr is your guy,” Brosnahan, now 85, told VICE News. “And I think we’ve already seen that.”
You don't have to teach old dogs new tricks when they remember the old tricks. As we have seen from Barr's deliberate lies and misrepresentations in his written fantasy summary of Mueller's report, his unrelated to the facts TV appearance before Mueller appeared before Congress, or his repeated obstruction of justice in delaying House oversight, if you want a crooked lawyer, Barr's your man.
Barr’s Playbook: He Misled Congress When Omitting Parts of Justice Dep’t Memo in 1989
Even before he was AG the first time,
On Friday the thirteenth October 1989, by happenstance the same day as the “Black Friday” market crash, news leaked of a legal memo authored by William Barr. He was then serving as head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC). It is highly uncommon for any OLC memo to make headlines. This one did because it was issued in “unusual secrecy” and concluded that the FBI could forcibly abduct people in other countries without the consent of the foreign state. The headline also noted the implication of the legal opinion at that moment in time. It appeared to pave the way for abducting Panama’s leader, Gen. Manuel Noriega.
Members of Congress asked to see the full legal opinion. Barr refused, but said he would provide an account that “summarizes the principal conclusions.” Sound familiar? In March 2019, when Attorney General Barr was handed Robert Mueller’s final report, he wrote that he would “summarize the principal conclusions” of the special counsel’s report for the public.
When Barr withheld the full OLC opinion in 1989 and said to trust his summary of the principal conclusions, Yale law school professor Harold Koh wrote that Barr’s position was “particularly egregious.” Congress also had no appetite for Barr’s stance, and eventually issued a subpoena to successfully wrench the full OLC opinion out of the Department.
What’s different from that struggle and the current struggle over the Mueller report is that we know how the one in 1989 eventually turned out.
When the OLC opinion was finally made public long after Barr left office, it was clear that Barr’s summary had failed to fully disclose the opinion’s principal conclusions. It is better to think of Barr’s summary as a redacted version of the full OLC opinion. That’s because the “summary” took the form of 13 pages of written testimony. The document was replete with quotations from court cases, legal citations, and the language of the OLC opinion itself. Despite its highly detailed analysis, this 13-page version omitted some of the most consequential and incendiary conclusions from the actual opinion. And there was evidently no justifiable reason for having withheld those parts from Congress or the public.
andrei, on 2019-September-20, 07:41, said:
Not for John though.
He has not doubts.
He knows everything.
Tell us John: what/when/with whom was discussed?
andrei - Maybe a quarter or half of everything bad Putin's Puppet did in the Ukraine blackmail scandal is now out in the public. Everybody is waiting for your informed comments about the latest developments.
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Pain relief medication containing opioids, 2018
Health Fact Sheets
More information PDF version
Opioid use has emerged as a public health issue in Canada in recent years following a rise in opioid-related harms, such as increased hospitalizations and deaths linked to overdose.Note 1 In 2018, the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) asked Canadians about their prescription and non-prescription use of pain relief medications containing opioids, such as codeine or morphine.Note 2 Overall, 40.5% of Canadians aged 15 years and older (roughly 11.8 million people) reported they had used this type of pain relief product in their lifetime.Note 3
In the past 12 months, 12.7% of Canadians (roughly 3.7 million people) reported they used opioid pain relievers. Females were more likely than males to report opioid pain medication use in the past year (13.9%, 11.4%, Chart 1).Note 4 Among both sexes, reported use of these medications was lowest among those aged 15 to 17 compared to all other age groups (6.3% of males, 7.9% of females).Note 5 For both males and females, the prevalence of opioid medication use was highest among those aged 50 to 64 (14.2% of males, 16.3% of females).
Data table for Chart 1
Data table for Chart 1
This table displays the results of Data table for Chart 1. The information is grouped by Age group (appearing as row headers), Percent and Confidence interval, calculated using lower 95% and upper 95% units of measure (appearing as column headers).
lower 95%
upper 95%
Total (15 years and older)
6.3Note E: Use with caution 4.0 8.5
7.9Note E: Use with caution 5.4 10.4
E use with caution
Note: Opioid medication refers to products containing opioids, such as codeine or morphine. This excludes pain relievers such as Aspirin, Advil, regular Tylenol, Celebrex, etc.
Source: Canadian Community Health Survey, 2018.
The proportion of residents who reported using opioid medication in the past year was lower than the national average (12.7%) in:
Quebec (9.9%)
The proportion of residents who reported using opioid medication in the past year was higher than the national average in:
Nova Scotia (15.0%)
Ontario (13.5%)
British Columbia (14.2%)
The proportion of residents who reported opioid medication use in the past 12 months was similar to the national average in all other provinces.
Canadians aged 25 and older with a secondary school graduation or less were more likely to report past year opioid medication use (14.5%), compared to those with a post-secondary graduation (12.2%).Note 6
Aboriginal peoplesNote 7 aged 15 years and older were more likely to report that they used an opioid medication in the past 12 months, with 23.8% of First Nations and 22.9% of Métis or Inuit reporting opioid medication use compared to 12.4% of the non-Aboriginal population.
Canadians aged 18 and older who reported difficulty with mobility or self-careNote 8 were more likely to report past year opioid medication use (28.0%) compared to those with no difficulties (10.4%).
Types of medication and frequency of use
Most Canadians aged 15 and older who used opioid pain relievers in the past year reported using products containing codeine (76.3%) followed by other opioid products such as hydromorphone or morphine (28.2%), oxycodone products (19.8%) and medications containing fentanyl (5.0%). Note that these do not add up to 100% because a little over 820,000 people reported having used more than one of these medications in the past year.
Among the 3.7 million people using opioid pain relievers in the past year, almost 1 million reported that they used the medication as needed, for example, following a surgery. Looking only at the frequency reported among the other 2.7 million peopleNote 9, the frequency of taking opioid medications most commonly reported was only once or twice in the past 12 months (40.4%). About one-in-five (20.7%) Canadians who used opioid pain relievers in the past year did so daily or almost daily (Chart 2).
This table displays the results of Data table for Chart 2 Percent (appearing as column headers).
Once or twice
3 to 11 times
Daily or almost daily
Note: Data on frequency of use exclude those who reported using opioid pain relievers 'as needed' since no frequency can be inferred from this response.
Problematic use of opioids
About problematic use of opioids
Opioids have an increased potential to be used in a nontherapeutic manner because of their psychoactive properties.Note 10 For those who indicated past year prescription or non-prescription opioid medication use, the CCHS includes further questions relating to different forms of problematic use of these medications. In the following section, problematic use is defined as:
taking the medication in greater amounts than prescribed or more often than directed
intentional use for the experience, the feeling they caused or to get high
use for reasons other than pain relief, for example, to feel better (improve mood) or to cope with stress or problems
tampering with a product before taking it (i.e. crushing tablets to swallow, snort or inject)
Among the 3.7 million Canadians aged 15 and older who reported opioid medication use in the past year, 9.6% (roughly 351,000 people) engaged in some form of problematic use of these medications.Note 11 Males (11.3%) were more likely than females (8.2%) to report problematic use of opioid medications. There were no significant differences between age groups for reported problematic use.
The use of opioid medication only for the experience, the feeling they cause or to get high was reported by 2.6% of respondents who had used any opioid medication in the past year.Note 12 Use of these medications for any reason other than pain relief was reported by 3.8% of past year users, and 2.0% indicated they had tampered with an opioid product before taking it.Note 13 For those who indicated some or all of their opioid medications from the past year were prescribed for them, 7.0% reported they took more pills than directed or took them more often than they were supposed to (Chart 3).Note 14
This table displays the results of Data table for Chart 3 Percent and Confidence interval, calculated using lower 95% and upper 95% units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Used for the feeling they
caused or to get high
Used for any reason other
than pain relief
Tampered with
product before use
Did not take
medication as directed
Note: Respondents were asked if they did not take their medication as directed only if they reported having a prescription for at least some of the opioid products they used in the past 12 months.
Research has shown that mental health disorders frequently co-occur with problematic substance use.Note 15. In 2018, those who reported being diagnosed with a mood or anxiety disorder were more likely to report problematic use of opioid medication (17.4%) compared to those without a reported mental health condition diagnosis (6.9%).
About Pain Relief Medication Containing Opioids
Opioid pain relief medications are generally prescribed to treat severe acute or chronic pain but can also be used to treat other conditions such as persistent cough or diarrhea and to treat addictions to other opioids.Note 16 They bind to opioid receptors on nerve cells in the brain and body to produce analgesia and euphoria. They can be naturally occurring substances such as morphine and codeine (extracted from opium poppy) or semisynthetic substances such as hydromorphone or synthetic forms as is the case with fentanyl. These medications can come in different forms, such as, capsules, tablets, syrups, nasal sprays, skin patches and suppositories. Common side effects of taking opioids include, nausea and vomiting, drowsiness, rash and itchiness, dry mouth, reduced appetite and constipation.
The medications can manage pain effectively when used as directed but regular use can lead to dependence and tolerance. Problematic use of these medications can lead to overdose and death. Opioid use has emerged as a public health issue in Canada in recent years following a rise in opioid-related harms, such as increased hospitalizations and deaths.Note 17 In 2017, the Canadian guidelines on opioid prescribingNote 18 were updated and recommend that treatments other than opioids should be considered first, avoiding opioid therapy for those with a history of substance abuse or mental health difficulties and, if opioids are prescribed, the daily dose should be limited as much as possible to reduce the risk of overdose.
Belzak, L. and J. Halverson. 2018. The opioid crisis in Canada: a national perspective. Health Promotion & Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada: Research, Policy & Practice, 38(6). (accessed January 24, 2019).
Busse, JW., et al. 2017. Guideline for opioid therapy and chronic noncancer pain. CMAJ, 189:E659-E666. (accessed January 29, 2019).
Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction. 2017. Prescription Opioids (Canadian Drug Summary). (accessed January 29, 2019).
Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction. 2009. Substance abuse in Canada: concurrent disorders. (accessed January 24, 2019).
Canadian Institute for Health Information. 2017. Opioid-Related Harms in Canada. (accessed January 29, 2019).
Carrière, G., R. Garner, and C. Sanmartin. 2018. Social and economic characteristics of those experiencing hospitalizations due to opioid poisonings. Health Reports. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 82-003. Vol 29, no. 10. (accessed January 24, 2019).
Government of Canada. Canadian Tobacco, Alcohol, and Drugs Survey (CTADS): 2017 Summary. (accessed January 24, 2019).
Public Health Agency of Canada, Special Advisory Committee on the Epidemic of Opioid Overdoses. 2018. National report: Apparent opioid-related deaths in Canada (January 2016 to June 2018). (accessed January 29, 2019).
Russell, C., M. Firestone, L. Kelly, C. Mushquash, and B. Fischer. 2016. Prescription opioid prescribing, use/misuse, harms and treatment among Aboriginal people in Canada: a narrative review of available data and indicators. Rural & Remote Health, 16(4). (accessed January 24, 2019).
Washington Group on Disability Statistics. 2016. Statement of rationale for the Washington Group general measure on disability. (accessed April 17, 2018).
Additional data from the Canadian Community Health Survey are available from table 13-10-0096-01.
Canadian Institute for Health Information. 2017. Opioid-Related Harms in Canada.
Excludes pain relievers such as Aspirin, Advil, regular Tylenol, Celebrex, etc.
Estimates in this article referring to the national average or Canada rate exclude the territories. This is because the coverage of CCHS in 2018 does not represent the entire population of the territories. Only half of the communities in the territories were visited in 2017, and the other half in 2018 so analyses based on the territories are only available for two year cycles of the CCHS (e.g. 2017-2018).
In this article when two estimates are said to be different this indicates that the difference was statistically significant at a 95% confidence level (p-value less than 5%).
Note that the proportion of opioid pain reliever use for both males and females aged 15 to 17 had a coefficient of variation between 15.1% and 35.0%; interpret with caution.
Highest level of education is divided into two groups; those with a post-secondary certificate, diploma or university degree, and those with secondary school graduation or less.
Aboriginal status is based on self-identification as First Nations, Métis, or Inuk (Inuit). The CCHS does not survey on reserve, therefore the numbers in this fact sheet reflect only Aboriginal peoples living off reserve.
Based on the Washington Group Short Set on Functioning (WG-SS), which provides a description of an individual’s functional health by looking at vision, hearing, mobility, cognition, self-care and communication. A respondent was classified as having a functional difficulty if they reported at least some difficulty in one or more domain of functional health.
Data on frequency of use exclude those who reported using opioid pain relievers 'as needed' since no frequency can be inferred from this response.
Note 10.
There are varying ways to define nontherapeutic use. The Canadian Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey (CTADS) asks respondents about opioid medication use and they define ‘problematic use’ as use for the experience, the feeling they caused or to get high use and use for reasons other than pain relief. The government of Canada’s Healthy Living portal defines ‘problematic use’ using the same two indicators as well as including use of an opioid medication improperly or use of one that was not prescribed to you.
Certain sub-populations are known to be more impacted by opioid related harms, including Aboriginal peoples living on reserve, the homeless population and institutionalized individuals. These groups are not covered in the target population of CCHS, therefore the estimates in this article may not be fully representative of problematic use in Canada.
Note that the estimate of use of medication for the experience, the feeling they cause or to get high had a coefficient of variation between 15.1% and 35.0%; interpret with caution.
Note that the estimate of those who tampered with a pain relief product had a coefficient of variation between 15.1% and 35.0%; interpret with caution.
Respondents were asked if they did not take their medication as directed only if they reported having a prescription for at least some of the opioid products they used in the past 12 months.
Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction. 2009. Substance abuse in Canada: concurrent disorders.
Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction. 2017. Prescription Opioids (Canadian Drug Summary).
Busse, JW, et al. 2017. Guideline for opioid therapy and chronic noncancer pain. CMAJ, 189:E659-E666.
Note of appreciation
Canada owes the success of its statistical system to a long-standing partnership between Statistics Canada, the citizens of Canada, its businesses, governments and other institutions. Accurate and timely statistical information could not be produced without their continued co-operation and goodwill.
Standards of service to the public
Statistics Canada is committed to serving its clients in a prompt, reliable and courteous manner. To this end, the Agency has developed standards of service which its employees observe in serving its clients.
Published by authority of the Minister responsible for Statistics Canada.
© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada as represented by the Minister of Industry, 2019
All rights reserved. Use of this publication is governed by the Statistics Canada Open Licence Agreement.
Catalogue no. 82-625-X
Frequency: Occasional
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New Yorker Cover Responds to Trump Profane Remarks by Putting Him in a Literal Hole
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team has taken the unusual step of questioning Russian oligarchs who traveled into the US, stopping at least one and searching his electronic devices when his private jet landed at a New York area airport, according to multiple sources familiar with the inquiry.
A second Russian oligarch was stopped during a recent trip to the US, although it is not clear if he was searched, according to a person briefed on the matter. Mueller’s team has also made an informal voluntary document and interview request to a third Russian oligarch who has not traveled to the US recently.
The situations have one thing in common: Investigators are asking whether wealthy Russians illegally funneled cash donations directly or indirectly into Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and inauguration.
Investigators’ interest in Russian oligarchs has not been previously reported. It reveals that Mueller’s team has intensified its focus into the potential flow of money from Russia into the US election as part of its wide-ranging investigation into whether the Trump team colluded with Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.
The approach to Russian oligarchs in recent weeks may reflect that Mueller’s team has already obtained records or documents that it has legal jurisdiction over and can get easily, one source said, and now it’s a “wish list” to see what other information they can obtain from Russians entering the US or through their voluntary cooperation. Foreign nationals are prohibited under campaign finance laws from donating to US political campaigns.
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