https://blog.remitly.com/immigration/family-faith-work-the-people-and-places-welcoming-immigrants/
Family, Faith, Work: the people and places welcoming immigrants
Image: Ricardo Moraleida (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Migration is an emotional journey, as much as a physical one.
Leaving behind family and friends is never easy. Arriving in a new country can be even harder – a dizzying mix of excitement and optimism, sometimes also loneliness and fear.
Receiving a warm welcome makes all the difference, whether it is a group of relatives waiting at the airport, or just a friendly greeting from a neighbor.
Remitly customers have been telling us about the welcomes that made them feel at home when they first arrived.
We surveyed 1,000 people, and the results are heartwarming, and occasionally surprising.
We asked:
Who were the people that made you feel most welcome, arriving in a new country
What were the organisations or groups that made you feel most welcome
Family first… but not for everyone
Most welcoming person: all nationalities
Nearly half (49%) of respondents said that family living in the new country made them feel most welcome.
Friends who had already moved there came second (17%).
One notable exception was Indian immigrants living in the United States who said that their co-workers (34%) gave the best welcome.
In the UK, however, Indians rated family first (41%), followed by friends (27%) and then co-workers (19%).
What can explain the difference?
The UK has seen several generations of immigration from its former colonies, including India (since the 1948 British Nationality Act), meaning that new arrivals are likely to have a significant extended family or friends waiting in Britain.
In the US, Indian immigration prior to the 1990s was relatively low. Today many Indians move to the US for highly skilled jobs (75% of H1-B Visas go to Indians). With so many people moving for work, and a relatively short history if Indian migrations, perhaps it is not surprising that Indians feel most welcomed by their workplace.
Work narrowly beats worship for a warm welcome
Most welcoming organization: all nationalities
Workplace-based groups, such as unions, office social clubs and associations, were reported as giving the warmest welcome of any organisation (19%), slightly ahead of religious institutions (18%).
However, there was some variation within the different national groups surveyd:
Just as Indians reported that co-workers were the first individuals to extend the hand of friendship, they also felt that workplace groups (34%) were most welcoming, followed by school or university (18%) then religious organisations (12%) .
Immigrants from Mexico (22%) and the Philippines (22%) – both traditionally Catholic countries – found religious organisations most welcoming.
However, considering responses just from Filipinos in the UK, workplace-based groups (24%) were slightly ahead of religious institutions (18%).
This may be due to the high number of Filipinos employed in Britain's National Health Service (18,000). Many staff are recruited directly from the Philippines so it is likely that their first point of contact is with their new colleagues within the NHS, even if they go on to find a church later.
Myth of the friendly neighbor?
We've all seen it on TV – the friendly neighbor who turns up with a casserole or home-made cookies to welcome the new family to the area.
It might still happen, but there's little evidence in the Remitly survey. Just 2% of respondents said that their neighbors provided the first, or warmest welcome.
There was also no mention of neighbors in the written comments of 1,000+ people who took the survey.
Could it be that the days of neighborliness have passed?
It is more likely that making friends with our neighbors is a slow-burn, something that happens some time after people are settled and have been made to feel welcome by others.
The idea of the people next-door coming to say hello as you unload the moving van may not exist, but that doesn't mean that we don't eventually get to know our neighbors.
[Note: Remitly surveyed 1,064 customers during June 2019]
This publication is provided for general information purposes only and is not intended to cover all aspects of the topics discussed herein. This publication is not a substitute for seeking advice from an applicable specialist or professional. The content in this publication does not constitute legal, tax, or other professional advice from Remitly or any of its affiliates and should not be relied upon as such. While we strive to keep our posts up to date and accurate, we cannot represent, warrant or otherwise guarantee that the content is accurate, complete or up to date.
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Ghosts Said To Haunt Ferry Plantation House
One of the most famous ghost stories associated with the Ferry Plantation House is that of a young girl named Lucy.Read More
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Fox Hollow Farm Has A Dark History
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Whispers Estate Has Reported Paranormal Activity
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Science and Technology »
Senator Hawley Plans to Strip Big Tech of Legal Immunity
Author Topic: Senator Hawley Plans to Strip Big Tech of Legal Immunity (Read 921 times)
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley is taking Silicon Valley to task with new legislation to hold social media platforms like Facebook, Google, and Twitter accountable for their political bias by stripping them of existing Section 230 protections.
"With Section 230, tech companies get a sweetheart deal that no other industry enjoys: complete exemption from traditional publisher liability in exchange for providing a forum free of political censorship."
The introduction of a new bill follows widespread allegations and evidence that social media platforms treat conservatives and Trump supporters with contempt. The Missouri Republican wants tech companies to demonstrate they are politically neutral in their moderation of user content or be subject to lawsuits they are currently immune to.
The bill he proposes will strip companies of legal immunity for user-generated content provided under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act unless they can prove their moderation practices are not politically motivated.
"There's a growing list of evidence that shows big tech companies making editorial decisions to censor viewpoints they disagree with," he added.
"Even worse, the entire process is shrouded in secrecy because these companies refuse to make their protocols public. This legislation simply states that if the tech giants want to keep their government-granted immunity, they must bring transparency and accountability to their editorial processes and prove that they don't discriminate."
The Communications Decency Act currently protects tech companies from liability for illegal content posted on their platforms. It was created during the nascent stages of the Internet to protect their growth and allow the proliferation of free speech online.
The Internet has long passed its infancy. Tech companies that enjoyed this government subsidy now possess the resources to moderate content. It's clear platforms like Facebook and Twitter no longer need these protections and are instead abusing the carve out to protect themselves from liability for their political practices.
"Something is happening with those groups of folks that are running Facebook, Google and Twitter," said President Donald Trump in March. "I do think we have to get to the bottom of it … It's collusive and it's very, very fair to say that we have to do something about it."
https://humanevents.com/2019/06/19/senator-social-media-twitter-facebook-section-230-immunity/


Delphi CFO Dawes resigns amid accounting investigation
Terry Kosdrosky
The investigation into Delphi Corp.'s accounting practices has cost CFO Alan Dawes his job. Dawes agreed to resign from the auto supplier after the company's audit committee expressed a loss of confidence in him, according to a company statement released Friday morning. The shakeout also went deeper. Delphi's former chief accountant and controller, Paul Free, also left the company; and John Blahnik, vice president of treasury, mergers and acquisitions, and new markets, has been reassigned to a nonofficer position. The moves came a little more than a week after Chairman and CEO J.T. Battenberg III said he would retire from Delphi, although he's staying until a successor is appointed. Troy-based Delphi (NYSE: DPH) said it will file a report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on its internal investigation. The SEC and the Delphi's audit committee are looking into how the company recorded rebates from technology vendors, including EDS Corp. The investigation concluded that the errors caused a $200 million overstatement of cash flow from operations in 2000 and a $61 million overstatement of pretax income in 2001. Financial statements from those years will have to be restated, according to Delphi's 8-K report, filed Friday. The board also noted that its independent directors are investigating other transactions and other present and former executives. John Sheehan, Delphi's chief accounting officer, has been named acting CFO. The company said it will interview internal and external candidates to replace Dawes.


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Top 10 Must-Visit Outlet Malls and Major Shopping Centers in Osaka
o-dat
Outlet malls and shopping centers in the Osaka area have a different vibe from those you find in Tokyo. You can indulge yourself in shopping, food, and leisure activities while enjoying the atmosphere, and get that item you've had your eye on! Below are 10 recommended outlet malls and large-scale shopping malls in and around Osaka.
1. Mitsui Outlet Park Osaka Tsurumi
2. Kishiwada CanCan Bayside Mall
3. Rinku Premium Outlets
4. Mitsui Outlet Park Marine Pia Kobe
5. Kobe-Sanda Premium Outlets
6. Osaka Nanko ATC Town Outlet Mare
7. Hankyu Umeda Main Store
8. Takashimaya Osaka Store
9. Daimaru Shinsaibashi Branch
10. LUCUA osaka
Launched in 1995, Mitsui Outlet Park Osaka Tsurumi is known for its unique façade that features a retractable roof. The 3rd, 4th, and 5th floors of the complex comprise of the outlet mall housing the stores of a wide range of domestic and foreign brands. There are around 60 stores here that sell sports and outdoor brands like Nike and Adidas, fashion for men, ladies and kids, and lifestyle goods. You will find an extensive array of products that tend to be on the casual side. While this outlet mall is relatively small in scale compared to the other malls featured in this article, it is still highly recommended because of its great accessibility, as it is just about 30 minutes by train from Osaka Station. There is an event space on the 3rd floor that can accommodate around 300 people, and it transforms into a venue of street performances, live music shows and other events on weekends and holidays. This outlet mall is a place where you can go shopping with your family or go on a date with your loved one.
Business hours: Shops are open on weekdays at 11:00 am - 8:00 pm, and on weekends and holidays at 10:00 am - 8:00 pm
Kirakirameister /Wikimedia Commons
2-7-70 Mattaomiya, Tsurumi-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka
Kishiwada CanCan Bayside Mall is a major commercial complex filled with an exotic atmosphere that was built according to the image of a warehouse district in a British port town. It has two buildings – the "EAST" that houses specialty shops tied to the local community, and the "WEST" that is made up of an outlet mall offering reasonably-priced fashion brands, and a cinema complex. About 100 shops of domestic labels and famous foreign brands are gathered in this mall, selling a variety of goods that include fashion, interior and miscellaneous items. Meanwhile, all the restaurants along the coast offer a superb view of the ocean. You will also find United Cinemas Kishiwada, the largest cinema complex in the Kansai region, and an amusement center in this mall. There may not be a lot of outlet shops here, but this spot is still recommended to those who want to enjoy different things. If you get tired from shopping, you can take a break at any of the dining spots facing the sea! This mall is also convenient as it is just about 10 minutes away from Kansai International Airport by car.
Business hours: EAST/1F 9:00 am - 8:00 pm (except some stores), 2F-3F 10:00 am - 8:00 pm, WEST/Shops are open at 10:00 am - 8:00 pm (except some stores)
663highland/Wikimedia Commons
3-1 Minato Midori-machi, Kishiwada-shi, Osaka
Official Homepage (Japanese only)
Rinku Premium Outlets is a supersized outlet mall housing more than 200 shops that is located in Rinku Town on the shore opposite Kansai International Airport. It is easily accessible as it is just 20 minutes by shuttle bus from Kansai International Airport, and people love it as a place where they can enjoy shopping in a beautiful resort-like town inspired by the American port town of Charleston. Aside from Banana Republic, Coach and other famous domestic and foreign fashion brands, it also offers a wide range of shops carrying household goods, shoes, bags and accessories, as well as restaurants. You can enjoy a day of shopping here, or just go window-shopping while waiting for your flight after you deposit your luggage in the coin lockers in the mall!
This outlet mall is pretty famous, so there is a shuttle bus that runs between the mall and Terminal 1 of Kansai Airport every 30 minutes. Fare is 200 JPY one-way. You will get to the mall in about 20 minutes, so definitely try out this service.
Business hours: 10:00 am - 8:00 pm, and 10:00 am - 7:00 pm on weekends in February (hours may change due to year-end and New Year holidays, and other seasonal events)
3-28 Rinku-orai Minami, Izumisano-shi, Osaka
Shopping by the Sea: The Best Ways to Enjoy Rinku Town!
Next page: 4. Mitsui Outlet Park Marine Pia Kobe
Opened in 1999, Mitsui Outlet Park Marine Pia Kobe is the first full-fledged outlet mall in Hyogo's Kobe City. It was built based on a theme of port towns in 18th-19th century Southern Europe. You can get here in about 45 minutes from Osaka by train. There is also a free shuttle bus from Tarumi Station on the JR Kobe Line, which is the nearest station to the mall. You will find about 130 shops of famous and seasonal brands from Japan and overseas, including Diesel and BEAMS, offering everything from fashion for ladies, men, and kids, to sporting goods, interior, and miscellaneous items. Tourists love the beautiful view of Akashi Kaikyo Bridge and the gorgeous illuminations after sunset. The area along the sea also looks stunning, so try to take a break from shopping and go for a stroll along the coast.
Business hours: Shops are open at 10:00 am – 8:00 pm
12-2 Kaigan-dori, Tarumi-ku, Kobe-shi, Hyogo
Modeled after Pasadena, an upscale neighborhood in the outskirts of Los Angeles, Kobe-Sanda Premium Outlets is western Japan's largest outlet mall that was built with a town for adults in mind. It is about an hour away from Osaka by train or bus. You can also get here by riding in any of the shuttle buses from the neighboring cities. This outlet mall is home to a collection of luxury fashion brands such as Gucci and Bally, a long list of shops selling interior decorations and household goods such as Delonghi, and a variety of restaurants. You will find around 220 shops here. It is a one-floor mall, so you will enjoy shopping in an open atmosphere. There are also many luxury tableware brands, so if you love tableware, then you shouldn't miss this spot! This outlet mall is also just about 30 minutes from the famous Arima Hot Springs, so how about putting that in your itinerary as well?
Business hours: 10:00 am – 8:00 pm, 10:00 am – 7:00 pm on weekends in February (hours may change due to year-end and New Year holidays, and other seasonal events)
Hashi photo//Wikimedia Commons
7-3 Kozudai, Kita-ku, Kobe-shi, Hyogo
Within Osaka Nanko ATC Town Outlet Mare, an extremely popular spot is ATC Asobimare, an indoor amusement park where kids and their parents can have fun all day. With reasonable prices, you can enjoy loads of physical activities without worrying about the cost. Once the children have played to their heart's content, you can then have them accompany you to go shopping.
The recommended shop is the outlet store of ABC-MART, where you can get discounted sneakers from famous sports brands such as Nike, Adidas, and Converse. You should also drop by Honeys, which is not really an outlet store, but you can get the latest ladies' fashion items there at very reasonable prices.
Children tend to get bored shopping, but at this outlet mall, they are sure to enjoy it with their parents!
Business hours: 11:00 am – 8:00 pm (varies depending on the shop)
2-1-10 Nanko-kita, Suminoe-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka
Hankyu Umeda Main Store is a department store that lies at the heart of Osaka, located near JR Osaka Station and Hankyu Umeda Station. With a fine selection of products and gracious customer service, everybody is sure to enjoy shopping here, regardless of age or gender.
More than any product, though, this department store is known for the wide selection of cosmetics that are sold at HANKYU BEAUTY that occupies the 2nd, 3rd and 10th floors. There are leading cosmetic brands from Japan and abroad, so if you find anything you like, just call the salesclerk to try it out!
Business hours: The shopping floors are open at 10:00 am – 8:00 on Sunday-Thursday, and 10:00 am – 9:00 pm on Friday-Saturday
8-7 Kakuda-cho, Kita-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka
Takashimaya Osaka Store can be easily reached via a number of train lines, such as Namba Station on the Osaka Metro's Midosuji Line, Yotsubashi Line and Sennichimae Line, and Namba Station on the Nankai Electric Railway. It is also right next to the shopping malls Namba CITY and Namba Parks, so it'd be fun to go around lots of shops in a day!
Osaka Takashimaya is a department store, so just like other department stores, the fashion taste differs per floor. The 3rd to the 5th floors are the fashion floors, so search for that fashion item that suits your taste.
5-1-5 Namba, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka
Next page: 9. Daimaru Shinsaibashi Branch
Daimaru Shinsaibashi Branch boasts excellent accessibility as it is just next door to Shinsaibashi Station on the subway. It is divided into the North and South Buildings, with the North Building housing a conventional department store and the South Building consisting of shops targeting tourists. LAOX on the 1st, 2nd, and 5th to 8th floors is a duty-free shop that offers everything tourists love to buy, including cosmetics, drugs, folk crafts and fashion goods, so finding something you'd like would be a cinch! There are also staff who can speak foreign languages, so it's really reassuring!
Business hours: 10:00 am - 8:30 pm for the North Building and 10:30 am - 9:00 pm for the 1st - 8th floors of the South Building (varies depending on the shop)
1-7-1 Shinsaibashi-suji, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka
LUCUA osaka's East Building "LUCUA" and West Building "LUCUA 1100" are two shopping buildings that stand in a row on the north side of JR Osaka Station. They may be two separate buildings, but there are many floors that have bridges linking both buildings, so going back and forth is quite easy. Many of the shops carry products for men and women that are more on the casual side. It has more shops for miscellaneous goods and interior than department stores, so how about checking out some souvenirs, too?
If you're looking to buy miscellaneous goods, then you should go to the 7th floor of LUCUA 1100, which offers an array of shops selling natural goods, and to the 9th floor of LUCUA, which has a large stationery store called LOFT. There is also a shop in front of LOFT that sells travel goods, so you can find something that will make your plane ride back home more comfortable.
Business hours: 10:00 am – 9:00 pm for the shopping floors at LUCUA and LUCUA 1100
Whity/Wikimedia Commons
3-1-3 Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka
Outlet malls are places where you can find great bargains, while department stores appeal to customers for the gracious hospitality that they get while shopping in a store with an air of luxury. Both spots are bursting with their own kind of charm. So, with this article as your guide, search for that store that's right for you!
*Please note that the information in this article is from the time of writing or publication and may differ from the latest information.
#Mitsui Outlet Park Osaka Tsurumi
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South Korea ferry disaster: Six dead, 290 still missing
Members of the South Korean coast guard rescue passengers from the water next to a partially sunken ferry, off South Korea's southwest coast in this still image from a video released by the South Korean coast guard on April 16, 2014. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Family members of missing passengers who were on a South Korean ferry Sewol which sank in the sea off Jindo cries as she waits for a rescue team's arrival at a port where family members of missing passengers gathered in Jindo on April 16, 2014. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
A body of a passenger who was on the South Korean ferry Sewol which sank in the sea off Jindo is carried into a hospital in Jindo on April 16, 2014. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Family members of missing students who were on the South Korean ferry Sewol which sank in the sea off Jindo attend a candlelight vigil at Danwon High School in Ansan on April 16, 2014. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Family members of missing passengers who were on the South Korean ferry Sewol which sank in the sea off Jindo, board a ferry ship heading to the accident site, at a port where family members of missing passengers have gathered, in Jindo on April 17, 2014. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Maritime police search for missing passengers in front of the South Korean ferry Sewol, which sank at the sea off Jindo on April 16, 2014. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
More than 300 missing after South Korea ferry sinks
Apr 17, 2014, 5:11 am SGT
http://str.sg/Z5Ae
JINDO (AFP) - South Korean rescuers and dive teams worked frantically under floodlights as fears rose for nearly 300 people missing after a ferry sank on Wednesday with 475 on board, mostly high school students bound for a holiday island.
Yonhap news agency said 179 people had been rescued, citing national coastguard officials, leaving 290 unaccounted for. There were six confirmed deaths, including a female crew member and a student.
There are concerns the death toll could rise sharply. The 6,825-tonne Sewol listed violently, capsized and finally sank - all within two hours of sending a distress signal at 9.00am (0000GMT).
"I'm afraid there's little chance for those trapped inside still to be alive," one senior rescue team official, Cho Yang Bok, told YTN television as divers struggled to access the submerged multi-deck ferry.
Dramatic television footage showed terrified passengers wearing life jackets clambering into inflatable boats with water lapping over the rails of the vessel as it sank 20km off the southern island of Byungpoong.
Some slid down the steeply inclined side of the ferry and into the water as rescuers, including the crew of what appeared to be a small fishing boat, pulled them to safety.
As night fell, the coastguard said the rescue operation was continuing using floodlights and underwater flares.
"We won't give up, although the situation is extremely worrying," a coastguard spokesman said.
Several rescued passengers said they had initially been told to remain in their cabins and seats, but then the ferry listed hard to one side, triggering panic.
"The crew kept telling us not to move," one male survivor told the YTN news channel.
"Then it suddenly shifted over and people slid to one side and it became very difficult to get out," he added.
The passengers included 375 students from a high school in Ansan just south of Seoul, who were travelling with 14 of their teachers to the popular island resort of Jeju, Yonhap said.
"I feel so pained to see students on a school trip... face such a tragic accident. I want you to pour all your energy into this mission," President Park Geun Hye said on a visit to the national disaster agency's situation room in Seoul.
Many of the survivors were plucked from the water by fishing and other commercial vessels who were first on the scene before a flotilla of coastguard and navy ships arrived, backed by more than a dozen helicopters.
Mr Lee Gyeong Og, the vice-minister of security and public administration, said 178 divers, including a team of South Korean navy Seals, were working at the site, but low water visibility and strong currents were hampering their efforts.
The US 7th Fleet sent an amphibious assault ship on patrol in the area to help while White House spokesman Jay Carney said Washington was ready to provide its ally with "any assistance" needed.
One local official, who had taken a boat to the site an hour after the distress signal was sent, said he was "very concerned" about those still missing.
"The ship was already almost totally submerged when I got there. A lot of people must have been trapped," the official, who declined to be identified, told Agence France-Presse by phone.
The cause of the accident in fine weather was not immediately clear, although rescued passengers reported the ferry coming to a sudden, shuddering halt - indicating it may have run aground.
"I heard a big thumping sound and the boat suddenly started to tilt," one rescued student said.
Another spoke of luggage and vending machines crashing down on passengers as the vessel tipped over.
"Everyone was screaming and a lot of people were bleeding badly," he said.
Distraught parents gathered at the high school in Ansan, desperate for news, with some yelling at school officials while others repeatedly tried to call their children's mobiles.
"I'm so worried about my son," said one father, Mr Lee Ki Hong. "I texted him an hour before the ship sank, but there has been no reply," he told YTN.
Survivors were taken to a gymnasium on nearby Jindo island, where relatives of the missing, wrapped in blankets against the cold, were holding what looked set to be a night-long vigil on the quay of the main harbour.
Three giant floating cranes had been despatched to the site and would begin operations to raise the submerged vessel tomorrow, officials said.
Scores of ferries ply the waters between the South Korean mainland and its multiple offshore islands every day, and accidents are relatively rare.
In one of the worst incidents, nearly 300 people died when a ferry capsized off the west coast in October 1993.
ACCIDENTS - MARITIME


Plump Prospects For Chargrill Charlie's In Melbourne Debut
Posted on 23rd July 2018
10 Prospect Hill Road, Camberwell
Sydney's cult chicken and burger eatery Chargrill Charlie's has chosen a prominent Prospect Hill Road building in the popular inner-eastern suburb of Camberwell for its Melbourne debut.
Fitzroys Senior Manager, Chris James negotiated the long-term 10-year lease for 10 Prospect Hill Road at $228,000 per annum net.
The building has a 365 sqm ground floor area and sizeable 58 metres of frontage, positioned among Woolworths, Target, Aldi and Burke Road, and the activity of the Market Place car park.
Chargrill Charlie's has operated for nearly 30 years and has 10 locations across Sydney, and its profile went international last year when pop megastar Justin Bieber decided to have a casual lunch at its Mosman location. He was quickly mobbed by a large crowd of Beliebers in scenes that made celebrity news headlines around the globe.
James said the long-term lease secured for the prime Camberwell retail space shows the confidence in the area's revitalisation held by experienced and established operators, spurred by a strong residential development pipeline.
"This large, flexible space, located close to Woolworths supermarket and with frontage to the Market Place car park, attracted strong enquiry from a range of operators, particularly from the hospitality industry," he said.
The property also benefits from its proximity to Camberwell railway station and numerous tram and bus routes, and Camberwell Junction.
James said there has been growing enquiry in the inner-east as developments such as Camberwell Village, Hawthorn Park and others nearby come online.
"This growth in the immediate catchment is providing a further boost to trade in the area, further underpinning the long-term viability and growth prospects of businesses."
James recently negotiated the lease of 670 Burke Road, just metres away on the corner of Burke Road and Prospect Hill Road, to optometry group EyeQ.
Similarly, the lease was a long-term deal at 7+5+5 years for the 87 sqm ground floor space, at $85,000 per annum net.


Caesars Entertainment Becomes NFL's First Official Casino Sponsor
By Ed Scimia on January 3, 2019 3 min read
The NFL is joining the bandwagon of professional sports leagues that are partnering with major gaming firms, announcing Thursday that Caesars Entertainment would become the league's first official casino sponsor.
Caesars Entertainment properties like The Linq in Las Vegas offer plenty of sports betting options, but the company's new deal with the NFL doesn't include sportsbooks. (Image: Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
According to the Associated Press, sources say that the deal is worth $30 million per year over three years.
Sports Betting Not Included
Unlike similar deals signed by the NBA, NHL, and MLB – all of which partnered with MGM Resorts International – this deal does not cover sports betting, keeping in line with the NFL's cooler relationship with legalized wagering.
In a press release announcing the deal, the league pointed out that seven NFL teams already have relationships with Caesars, but that all of these deals – including the new one with the league itself – feature similar restrictions.
"These partnerships along with the new League deal are for the Casino category only and does not include sports betting, daily fantasy or hotels/resorts," the statement read.
Nonetheless, the deal does give Caesars the ability to heavily promote their casino properties at NFL events, including at the NFL draft and the Super Bowl. Caesars also gains the exclusive right to using NFL logos and trademarks in both the United States and the UK.
"All of us at Caesars Entertainment are thrilled to be the first-ever casino partner of the NFL, the most prominent sports league in North America," Caesars President and CEO Mark Frissora said in a statement.
NFL Distances Itself From Bookmakers
When the three other major American professional sports leagues signed their partnerships with MGM, the emphasis was clearly on sports betting. In those cases, MGM gained the right to use official league data at its sportsbooks, as well as use logos from the leagues at its brick-and-mortar locations. There is no data sharing component to the NFL partnership with Caesars.
The agreement could give Caesars the inside track for hosting the 2020 NFL draft, which is slated to be hosted in Las Vegas. The company operates several properties in the city, including Caesars Palace, The Linq, Bally's Las Vegas, and Harrah's Las Vegas, among others.
For the NFL, the deal will give it a partner that can help create the kinds of events for fans that may not have been possible before the league had access to the gaming industry.
"We couldn't be more excited to work with one of the world's largest gaming and entertainment companies," Renie Anderson, NFL Senior Vice President for Partnerships, Sponsorship, and Consumer Products, said in the press release. "Combining the NFL with Caesars' expertise in world class entertainment will provide our fans unique experiences both here in the United States and abroad."
New NFL Rules Create Grey Area for Teams
While the NFL relaxed its rules on casino sponsorships in August in reaction to the Supreme Court decision that struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), the league has remained staunchly against allowing its teams – or itself – from becoming too intertwined with sports betting.
While teams can now directly advertise with and for casinos, they are still not allowed to promote associated sportsbooks. This has already led to some questions about the grey area in this policy, as the New York Jets have advertised online gaming company 888.com at MetLife Stadium – a group that offers casino games, poker, and a sportsbook over the internet in New Jersey.
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What's Next for Legal Psilocybin in Oregon
by Ken Jordan
It's been almost two years since voters in Oregon passed the first ballot initiative in the country to legalize the use of psilocybin, the psychoactive agent in magic mushrooms. The passage of Measure 109 put in motion a deliberative process to put rules in place for the use of psilocybin in therapy, in ceremony, and in pursuit of personal wellness. These services become available in 2023.
Next week in Portland, many of the leading figures involved in this pioneering experiment will come together to discuss it at Horizons Northwest, a conference organized by Horizons in partnership with the Sheri Eckert Foundation. The event offers a deep dive into the current state of psychedelic science. It also will explore the Oregon model in detail.
Looking ahead to Horizons Northwest, Lucid News convened a roundtable discussion of conference organizers and participants to give a 30,000 foot overview of the Oregon initiative and discuss why it's so central to the future of psychedelic legalization.
The participants:
Tom Eckert is the co-chief petitioner of Measure 109, and the founder of Innertrek, a training company for psilocybin service center facilitators, and the Sheri Eckert Foundation, an organization established to ensure diversity in Oregon's evolving psychedelic ecosystem.
Rebecca Martinez (she/her) is a queer Chicana writer and community organizer born and raised on Chinook homelands known as Portland, Oregon, and founder of the Alma Institute, an Oregon-based non-profit psychedelic training and mentorship program.
Kevin Balktick, founder and director of the Horizons Public Benefit Corporation, is a New York-based producer, creative director, and cultural entrepreneur focused on live experiences and hospitality.
Horizons is a Lucid News content partner. Ann Harrison, managing editor of Lucid News, took part in the conversation. The transcript was edited for clarity and concision.
Yesterday San Francisco decriminalized plant based psychedelics, joining Denver, DC, Seattle, and another dozen or so cities around the country. The psychedelic decrim movement keeps picking up steam. What makes Oregon Measure 109 different and how is it pioneering an alternative model?
Eckert: The Oregon model legalizes access to psilocybin-assisted therapy and wellness services in a licensing framework. That means prospective clients can access these services and move through a sequence of supervised sessions with licensed personnel at licensed facilities. It looks a bit like the medical model, although it sits outside of that system. It's based on its own licensing framework and has its own foundation, which opens it up to folks who don't have a diagnosis or a prescription. But it is based on practice standards, safety standards, ethical standards. It's a program in which clients work with newly licensed personnel who are licensed specifically to do this work. They'll oversee preparation sessions, safety planning, psilocybin administration in a licensed facility, and then integration services afterwards – which could be a pass off into a broader integration network.
So it's a regulated system that opens up access to anyone who can safely benefit, whether or not they're working on mental health issues. That's new in this country. Measure 109 was actually the first campaign in all of the states, all the way back to 2015. The measure passed in 2020. Since then the program has been developing, as was prescribed in the measure, over a two year period. We're getting close to rollout, which happens probably somewhere in the middle of 2023. That's when services will actually be hitting the ground.
Balktick: As someone who works on the education and media side of this field, explaining the difference between decriminalization and the varieties of regulation is something that we continue to struggle with. There is much public confusion about it. One of the things I often tell people is that decriminalization is not really about drugs, but about jail cells. Regulation is entirely different from decriminalization, in that it does allow people to offer products and services to start, fund and operate businesses, and to really build an ecosystem. Decriminalization largely just takes away handcuffs, but doesn't allow any formal building of institutions or infrastructure on top of it.
Martinez: I'm part of the Plant Medicine Healing Alliance, which is a Portland-based initiative that's seeking to decriminalize entheogens in the city. A lot of what we came up against are people saying, didn't that already happen through Measure 110? That's a separate groundbreaking measure to decriminalize the personal possession of all substances in Oregon. [110 also passed as a ballot initiative in 2020.] They serve completely different purposes.
It's important that we come at drug policy transformation collaboratively, and that we're not pitting a therapeutic legalization model against a community-based access decriminalization model. And that we're not pitting the "psychedelic movement" – I'm doing air quotes, because it's many movements within a larger phenomenon – against broader drug policy reform. Many of us in the field feel strongly that this is part of a goal towards a complete end of criminalization of substances. I think it's important to rally people who are excited about psychedelics to think about the deeper values that make them excited about community access, and inquire how far they're willing to take that to keep people out of jail, and keep people from being punished for the substances that that they choose to use and possess.
It's been about 18 months since the first meeting of the Oregon Psilocybin Advisory Board. What's the remit of that board? And what has actually been accomplished by it so far?
Eckert: It was written into the initiative that an advisory board would be formed once the measure passed and be active for a two year window of development. It's a governor appointed board, a group of experts, that can provide advice and recommendations regarding the details of the program. Measure 109 was pretty hefty, it laid out a lot. But even so, there's a lot in between the lines that needs to be figured out – what we call "rules." The advisory board does not create the rules. It gives advice and recommendations to the Oregon Health Authority, which houses the entire program. So ultimately the OHA writes the rules, which have been coming out gradually. It was smart to bring in experts that are working in the field to share what they know. That was absolutely instrumental to the process.
What's the timeline for the advisory board to complete its work?
Eckert: The way we wrote it in Measure 109 was that rules for the entire program would be in effect by January 1 of 2023. Applications for licensure would open up at that time. Now that doesn't mean services will hit the ground in January 2023, because then there's processing. The Oregon Health Authority has to work through the applications and do all the due diligence. So it's unclear exactly when services will hit the ground, but things actually start opening up in 2023.
Tom, initially you were the chair of the advisory board, then you stepped down. What happened?
Eckert: Well, I'd done a full year at the advisory board voluntarily, after volunteering on the campaign for five years. There was a lot of talking out there, but in my mind it wasn't such a story.
Some questions were raised about whether you should serve on a regulatory board that made rules impacting your business, or companies run by people close to you. Do you think any additional measures should be taken to help promote fairness and transparency for the rulemaking process?
Eckert: Well, as I said, the advisory board are not rule makers. They're providing recommendations and advice. The board was set up by the Oregon Health Authority, which intentionally appointed folks from the community who are involved in psychedelics. That's what made them experts. They're commenting, providing advice based on their expertise on a system that will contain forthcoming projects. So that was sticky, but I think the advisory board handled it well. I'm not sure the media handled it very well, because they got a kind of distorted narrative going. But within the advisory board there were periodic disclosures of interest. And there was no issue on the Oregon Health Authority side whatsoever.
Balktick: There's been a lot of confusion about the role of the advisory board. Many people did not fully understand that the Oregon Health Authority and its civil servants are the people who create these rules. The advisory board is just that: advisory. It was intentional that the products committee has people who will manufacture products on it. The training committee had people who will conduct trainings on it. But they're not actually rule makers. So that's the kind of thing we hope to give people a broader understanding of at the conference on Saturday morning. What does the Oregon Health Authority do? And what does the advisory board do?
Has the state government been supportive during this process?
Balktick: I come from a state, New York, that is not so well regarded in terms of public administration. And it was interesting for me as an outsider, when I started to meet people involved in Oregon, to hear everyone say how supportive and professional the OHA was. That doesn't mean there aren't disagreements over specific rules, or specific aspects of the bill. But I kept hearing that the OHA saw the law as being the law, and wanted to implement it faithfully for the benefit of the people of Oregon. And that many of the people they appointed to do so, as civil servants, we're doing so pretty faithfully.
Martinez: I serve on the equity subcommittee for the advisory board. From the outset, we were actually very pleasantly surprised. Some of the people who would be writing the policy, including the manager of the program herself, Angie Allbee, were sitting in on those meetings. It helped to avoid some of the "telephone" phenomena that could happen, because they were sitting and listening to active discussions, listening to public comments, and really trying to get a well rounded understanding of all of the ideas, questions, concerns that we were putting forth.
Working in policy is complicated. A lot of hoops have to be jumped through. There's a lot of restrictions that are not ideal. You know, we're dealing with mushrooms here. The whole nature of mushrooms is unwieldy and sort of magical. We're trying to fit something ineffable into a structured governmental system. There's a natural tension, it's awkward.
I think some of the frustration that people have felt is wanting a program that feels like this ineffable thing. And we're trying to fit it into a structure that can scale, that can meet standards of safety and access. I've sensed, from the outset, OHA has been interested in helping us be a successful program, and they expressed that the simpler we make it at the beginning, the less variables there will be and the more chances for success. So I think we're all making sacrifices compared to what our ideal would be. But there are areas where we have some really big wins, like asking that license holders include a social equity plan to make this successful in their community, or the option to have services outside as long as the circle leader is licensed and there are safety parameters in place.
Recently a number of Oregon counties and localities have moved to block psilocybin therapy centers in their areas. Do you see that as a sign that the state isn't ready for this?
Eckert: Well, in Jackson County there's a lot of big cannabis farms and there's some issues with farms and black market stuff. All of that has the county commissioners antsy about psilocybin, which is too bad, because it is absolutely incomparable. The circumscribed need for products for the therapeutic and wellness system that measure 109 sets up can probably be housed in a single room. It's not like these sprawling cannabis farms that need to be regulated. And who in their right mind would try to do black market activity through a licensed center when you could just do it in your bedroom? The concerns are not terribly rational. But it comes from the cannabis hangover.
That's one particular county. Other counties have other stories where unfortunately, it falls into the hands of the city commissioners, whether they choose to go for an opt out. That was part of measure 109. But it was meant to be a way to work with counties that are very much against it. Instead of those counties grouping together and organizing opposition to measure 109, we could put that to bed by saying, there is a way for your county not to move forward. Unfortunately, some counties where measure 109 actually carried the vote are opting out. That was not the spirit of the measure.
What is the licensing process for those who want to offer therapy or group experiences?
Martinez: I'm part of a training program for a nonprofit, we're called Alma Institute. As long as we're approved by the Oregon Health Authority, and the state's Higher Education Coordinating Commission, we can convey the educational pieces. If students successfully go through an entire program, they receive certification from a training program, and they can take that to the state and say: I've gone through the training, now can I take the licensure exam? It's actually the state that provides the licensure to facilitators. But they won't give that licensure exam to anyone who hasn't already completed a training program. So our role is to certify the state licenses.
In terms of other types of license holders, it seems like a pretty straightforward process. There's a detailed application. Each type will be different. Alma Institute is planning to have a service center, and the draft rules for service centers were just released. They are very detailed, very lengthy, about what you need to have in place.
Then, of course, there are fees involved with each of these types of licenses. There are four categories. There's the facilitator license, the service site, the grower, and a separate license for labs.
What's the difference between a facilitator and a therapist?
Eckert: Another point of confusion for those who aren't deeply into this, but it's super important because it gets to the inspiration behind the initiative. You know, this program sits uniquely, because of some of the philosophy behind it. One of those pieces is that we wanted to create a therapy and wellness framework where anyone could access these services who could safely benefit. And by safely benefit, I mean, moving through a safety planning and preparation process and into an administration session. We did not want to medicalize this model.
We thought that the FDA process, as important as it is, and as much as we support all the efforts, can't be the only container for psilocybin and psychedelic services down the road. That was an inspiration to do the initiative. We were trying to fill out the picture and develop the wellness aspect, the ability to create an integrated framework that can address a full spectrum of concerns, from preventative to wellness, therapy to medical. Now that's a lot to sort out. That's why the advisory board conversations are so interesting, and why there's so many different opinions and angles, because it's tricky to sort all that out. But we took that on quite intentionally, because we think it's possible.
Balktick: One thing that is clear is that, altogether, 109 is a less expensive model than what we're going to see in a few years under the FDA model. You're going to see a lot of service centers doing sliding scale, where they deliberately serve lower income populations. Alongside that, you're going to have luxury resort centers that will operate more like high end retreats at very high price points. There's a lot of room for variety within the model.
Has there been any pushback from OHA around the idea of non-medical use?
Eckert: I would say no. OHA, to Kevin's point, has been super supportive of the measure as written. They understand that that's their job. The people of Oregon voted to make this a reality.
Martinez: Within the therapists/facilitators conversation, there's a lot of concern about: is this therapy, or medical, or is this just for personal wellness? A lot of that can be addressed with good training and systems within service centers. Specifically by helping the facilitators who are being trained to have solid baseline skills for holding space. And also training them how to assess if someone is beyond their scope of practice, and helping them to understand the necessary steps during the initial interviews and intakes, so they know when to refer someone.
Part of what we're doing in Oregon is forming a strong network of referral systems, so that people have a choice of a facilitator who they feel good about. We want to help them find someone organically that is a good fit for the types of things they're looking to explore using psilocybin.
Recently much attention has been given to the potential for abuse in both psychedelic therapy and ceremonial contexts, including sexual abuse. What guardrails are being put in place in Oregon to ensure safety?
Eckert: The whole notion of a regulated system – that's one of the reasons it exists this way. Because with regulation comes licensing, comes accountability to your license, comes an ethical board, somewhere to go if there's a breach or a violation of ethics. And a board or organization or governmental agency in place that is funded and prepared to follow up on those potential allegations. They wouldn't just appear in the media. There are actually systems in place to address violations.
Martinez: There are many angles we need to address on the topic of preventing harm and abuse. A lot of those have been written in. One of the pieces is a client Bill of Rights as a part of the informed consent process. Before someone shows up for an administration session, they talk through a detailed plan that includes pre consent to a variety of things. That includes: I don't want to be touched at all, or I only want to be touched on my shoulder. It gets very specific, so that there's very little room for interpretation or changing things later and saying: Well, it was what was called for in the moment.
The training programs have a big responsibility to be the initial filter for who's going to lead these sessions. We need to be scrutinizing our participant lists in these training programs to make sure that we have confidence that each and every person is ready for the type of power and responsibility that comes with holding space for someone in an altered state. We also have to make hard decisions along the way, if we're training someone and it starts to become clear that they're not ready. There are going to be people who will not finish the program and graduate. Unfortunately, not everyone is a good fit for this kind of work.
I would add that a couple of professional associations are forming – the American Psychedelic Practitioners Association and the National Psychedelics Association – that are adding another layer of accreditation. So folks can say, I'm accountable to several governing bodies, and the public can feel more confident.
Lastly, we also need to create community-based repair models. Not everything is as black and white as something happens and you lose your license and you're exiled from the community. There's a lot in the middle where we have to intervene, whether it's miscommunication, or harm, or conflict. We should use the existing systems of restorative and transformative justice, and make use of other consequence-based accountability systems. That's so important. I'm in many conversations around that. We'll see what we're able to do. For a lot of it, we need resources to scale to the degree that Oregon's going to need.
Balktick: I want to say something, just to make it clear: the Oregon model does not provide retail access to psilocybin under any circumstances. The licensed manufacturers can only sell to the service centers, and the only psilocybin consumption happens at a licensed service center under the supervision of a licensed facilitator. There is no way in which individuals can purchase, store or possess mushrooms privately under this system. However, it is also worth saying that, because there is also decriminalization, there is no criminal penalty if you do so. But that still does not allow people to create points of retail. This is a huge point of confusion, and where the cannabis analogies are particularly unhelpful. Cannabis has primarily been a retail market, whereas the 109 psilocybin system is really the exact opposite.
Psychedelic retail may not be part of the system, but there will be a psychedelic economy focused around therapy and sessions. What is the vision for this?
Eckert: Horizons has set up an interesting day at the conference about the forthcoming ecosystem in Oregon. One thing I'm kind of proud of is how we set up the Oregon system flexibly so it allows a lot of avenues into service, into working in the evolving ecosystem. In my opinion, I feel like there's an over-emphasis on products in Oregon. I don't see that as having big business potential. It's a circumscribed program and it doesn't need a lot of mushrooms. It's not like cannabis, it's not retail. So there's not going to be some big gold rush to make mushrooms to fulfill this relatively small need to have therapeutic access and wellness access to mushrooms.
The service side is where things are really interesting. And that's what we want: a vibrant marketplace of potential access, hitting lots of different categories. It's really neat. And I don't think people fully understand this. They think it sounds a bit like a clinical model, and that it's probably going to be kind of sterile, etc. No, not really. Service centers can come in a lot of forms, and cater to a lot of different populations. When facilitators get licensed they can stay independent, or they can contract with service centers, or they can create their own service center. They can stack the licenses and create an organization that does it all in one place. There's lots of flexibility. The common denominator is the adherence to practice standards, safety standards and ethical statements. But beyond that, we can have a vibrant marketplace.
There's a lot of talk about price points. There will be a lot of different access points. Nobody is dictating what's being charged. So we can have urban centers, we can have retreat centers, we can have big organizations, we can have therapy offices. And as a community, we'll come together and think through the issues around access to ensure that this is getting everywhere it needs to go, to all the different communities around the state.
Martinez: Coming from the training side and having a service center in the works, a lot of the economic concern that my group has is around IRS tax code 280E, which forbids any organization that is handling psilocybin from writing off their expenses at the end of the year when they file their taxes. It's a huge financial burden. Until we have federal legalization, this is going to keep a lot of folks from participating, from starting their own service center, from even operating as facilitators. Because they can't get it to pencil out so they can make a decent living, or keep their sites open. I don't think a lot of the small businesses are concerned with, you know, getting rich and buying yachts. These are folks who really want to do good things in their community, and make a living doing something they're passionate about and feel is important.
Have you been able to find liability insurance for providers, or has that been a challenge? Has the state taken any steps to help support providers to get the insurance they need to protect themselves and their practices?
Martinez: This was one of the first things I anticipated. And as I called around to my colleagues, they said that agents couldn't even get them a quote. Dozens and dozens of different groups said we don't cover that. So I raised this with the National Psychedelics Association, and they – thank goodness – have been willing to take on some of the hairier situations, whether it's banking or liability insurance. Those are the two big ones that they're tackling, and which are going to be so critical. Even as a nonprofit – and at Alma Institute we don't actually handle the psilocybin, that will happen under the service center – even with that, Alma has had a really hard time getting directors and officers insurance for my board of directors. That's general liability, not even assessing any risk involved with psilocybin. I do have a lead now. One group said they got access to a new market that will cover it. I anticipate it's going to be expensive.
Of course, one reason insurance and banking are so hard to get is that psilocybin is an illegal Schedule 1 substance at the federal level. How do you imagine this conflict with federal law will play out?
Eckert: There's some pretty smart folks working on it, with connections. They're having conversations. The idea is that we would come into Measure 109 with relationships, in conversation, and hopefully in an environment of collaboration with national officials and the state attorney to ensure that this program is safe. The important thing is that we would see trouble coming before it arrived, and we would work through that. But I don't foresee conflict at this point. This is the age old "states versus US law" that we went through with cannabis. Hopefully that's an area where maybe we did learn from cannabis about how to get to a place where these two things can exist simultaneously.
Ken Jordan September 10, 2022


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MICHAEL JACKSON LOVED ADOLF HITLER?
TUESDAY / APRIL 23, 2019
NY Times: Michael Jackson Biographers Face History, and the Mirror
Nearly 10 years after his mysterious death at age of 51, Michael Jackson -- the man-child once dubbed by entertainment media as "The King of Pop" -- continues to be trashed and defamed as a pedo-molester by the Piranha Press. Though neither his music nor pop culture gossip are of any interest to The Anti-New York Times, the reasons behind the metaphorical assassination of Jackson's character, and the literal assassination of the man himself, relate directly to the stuff we talk about all the time.
Yes, the black man-child who turned his skin white and enjoyed playing with the child friends that he never had as a child-star was indeed a very odd character. But a pedo-monster, he was not. So, why the continuing anti-Jacksonism in the Judepresse? To answer that question, let us resurrect a piece which we had originally published way back in 2013 -- a time when most of "youse guys" hadn't even heard of TomatoBubble yet.
WAS MICHAEL JACKSON A FAN OF ADOLF HITLER?
JACKSON HAD A HUGE COLLECTION OF HITLER MEMORABILIA & FILMS
UK Daily Mail: Jackboot Jacko?
New York memorabilia seller claims king of pop kept hoard of Nazi films
Michael Jackson had a secret stash of Nazi documentaries that he kept at his Neverland home, it's claimed.
He allegedly had a collection of memorabilia and hunted down specialist video sellers who could discreetly sell him hard-to-find films and documentaries, according to the New York Post.
The troubled pop star seemed obsessed with Adolf Hitler's regime .......
Nazi memorabilia seller Norman Scherer claims to have helped Jackson form 'a really good collection', ..........
Scherer goes on to claim in the Post that Jackson didn't even try to hide the videos, displaying them on the walls of his video vault at his Neverland Ranch.
But clearly Jackson, who often wore military-style clothing, was not comfortable sharing his Hitler obsession with other people. Scherer explains that he was approached by a New Yorker in 1995 who was trying to make orders for a 'big client' who insisted on discretion and privacy.
And he was warned that the deal couldn't happen if Scherer, who owned a videotape distribution company in the Nineties, wasn't discreet. Despite having first-hand knowledge of Jackson's secret obsession, Scherer doesn't think that Jackson's interest in Hitler had any worrying connotations. Scherer says he assumed that the singer just loved the military uniforms and the goose-step marching.
'Michael Jackson was a very special client to me,' said Scherer.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1297590/Jackboot-Jacko-Memorabilia-seller-claims-king-pop-kept-hoard-Nazi-films.html
Jackson's collection was extensive. (above is not Jackson's)
JACKSON MUST HAVE ADMIRED HITLER'S VEGETARIANISM AND LOVE OF ANIMALS
The vegetarian Jackson adored animals. Given Jackson's fascination and study of Hitler, he would surely have come to know of, and identify with, Hitler's own vegetarianism and love of animals.
JACKSON MUST HAVE ADMIRED HITLER'S LOVE OF CHILDREN
Deprived of his own childhood, Jackson filled the void by surrounding himself with children. Contrary to the media attacks against him, this was innocent and pure. Given Jackson's fascination and study of Hitler, he would surely have come to know of, and identify with, Hitler's own playful love of children.
JACKSON'S SIGNATURE COLORS WERE RED & BLACK
JACKSON OFTEN WORE MILITARY-STYLE JACKETS & MEDALS
Looks like an SS officer!
JACKSON WORE HITLER-STYLE ARMBAND
Even Jackson's adopted son gets into the act.
JACKSON PRAISED HITLER AS A "GENIUS SHOWMAN'
During an interview with a Jewish Rabbi - Journalist, Jackson said: "Hitler was a genius orator. To make that many people turn and change and hate, he had to be a showman and he was."
(The part "turn and change and hate" was likely intended to cover himself in front of the Rabbi).
JACKSON CONDEMNED CONSPIRATORIAL JEWS AS BLOODSUCKERS!
Jackson's 1996 Hit song "They Don't Really Care About Us" includes the lyric: "Jew me. Sue me. Kick me. Kike me."
The singer also once stated, ON TAPE,
"They (Jews) suck - they're like leeches. I'm so tired of it. They start out the most popular person in the world, make a lot of money, big house, cars, and everything, end up with, penniless. It is conspiracy. The Jews do it on purpose."
JACKSON WAS FALSELY ACCUSED BY THE JEWISH MEDIA
FALSE accusations of child molestation were widely publicized, but never questioned:
* "The trial that was relayed to us didn't even resemble the trial that was going on inside the courtroom". - Charles Thomson, The Huffington Post, "One of the Most Shameful Episodes In Journalistic History", (2010)
** "Out here...Michael Jackson is being literally crucified...I think if you did a pulse poll, of people listening to these local talk shows, they would say 95% that Michael Jackson did all this...because it's based on the coverage." - Matt Drudge (The Drudge Report)
Jackson loved childern. He only surrounded himself with them to make up for his own lost childhood.
The false charges against him were leveled by a greedy con man, a welfare Queen, and the media.
Was the character assassination of 'The King of Pop' (and perhaps even the curious drug overdose given to him) related to his admiration of Hitler and known 'anti-semitism' towards the Big Jews of the music industry? OF COURSE IT WAS!
Boobus Americanus 1: I read a book review in The New York Times today about Michael Jackson. It seems that biographers remain divided as to whether he was a sex offender or not.
Boobus Americanus 2: He had to have done something. Why else was he having sleepovers with so many kids?
St. Sugar: Becausse he was an arressted-development case who wasn't allowed to have friendss when he was a child himsself. The child buddiess filled a void in his tormented life.
Editor: I too believe that he was another innocent man slandered by the usual suspects for the usual reasons.
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A Young Leader
I drove to Houston today for a terrific shape-note singing. This youngster is the newest member of an extensive and famous shape note clan (the Owens), where they start training 'em young. He had learned several songs and was completely comfortable marching to the center of the "open square" and announcing his choice. (The leader chooses the song from the many hundreds available in the two books we usually use.)
Silas is so young he could barely make us understand the numerals when he identified the song by its number, but his mother helped translate. He sang out and was a good leader. He's enthusiastic about beating the time, one of the principal duties of the leader.
The singing lasted six hours, counting dinner on the grounds. Now I'm so hoarse I can barely talk. I know that professional singers can belt it out for hours without losing their voices, but I've never learned the trick. Though I can sing ordinary music for several hours, shape note singing is basically shouted, and it does me in. What a wonderful time I had. I got to lead four or five times. Having all the singers aim at you in the center is overwhelming.
By Texan99 on Saturday, December 04, 2010 0 comments
Brined Turkey
Mark asked for our turkey brining recipe in a comment below, so here it is, from an old Food & Wine article. This is guaranteed to be the most wonderful turkey you ever tasted. Too late for Thanksgiving, but plenty of time for Christmas! It may take a while to find the juniper berries, so you can get started now. We used to pick ours off of the tree of a neighbor, but I'm sure they can be had by mail order.
Brown butter (see below)
2 sticks unsalted butter
Spice mixture:
1-1/2 T fennel seeds
1 large dried red chile
1/2 T whole allspice berries
1/2 T whole black peppercorns
Cured turkey:
1-1/2 cups coarse or kosher salt
1/2 cup plus 2 T sugar
1 T thyme
1/2 T whole allspice berries, coarsely cracked
1/2 t juniper berries, crushed
One 14-lb turkey
Table salt and fresh ground pepper
Make the brown butter: in a small skillet, toast the fennel seeds, chile, allspice berries, and papppercorns over moderatly high heat, tossing frequently, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Let cool, then transfer to a spice grinder or mortar and finely grind them. (Can keep at room temperature 2 days.)
Vegetable stuffing:
25 garlic cloves, smashed
3 medium onions, coarsely chopped
1 large celery rib, coarsely chopped plus 1/2 cup coarsely chopped celery leaves
Prepare the cured turkey: In a very large stockpot, combine the coarse salt, sugar, bay leaves, thyme, cloves, and allspice and juniper berries. Add 2 gallons of water and bring to a boil over high heat. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Add the turkey to the brine, breast side down, cover, and let stand overnight in a cool place or in the frig or a cooler overnight.
Make the vegetable stuffing: Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. In a large bowl, toss the garlic with the onions, celery, and celery leaves and 1/2 T of the spice mixtures; season with salt.
Season the inside of the turkey with salt and pepper. Spoon all but 2 cups of the stuffing into the chest and neck cavities. Using your fingers, loosen the skin from the breast without tearing it. Evenly spread the softened brown butter under the skin. Close the neck wit toothpicks.
Set the turkey, breast side up, on a rack in a large roasting pan. Sprinkle the remaining spice mixture all over the bird and loosely tie the legs together with kitchen string. Scatter the reserved stuffing round the turkey and pour the stock over the stuffing.
Roast the turkey for 20 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 300 degrees, cover the turkey loosely with foil, and continue roasting for about 4 hours, basting frequently, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the inner thigh registered 165 to 170 degrees. Add water to the pan during cooking if the juices evaporate. Transfer the turkey to a carving board and let stand at room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes before carving.
Meanwhile, make the gravy. Pass the pan juices through a coarse strainer into the medium saucepan, pressing down on the softened vegetables to work them through the strainer. Skim the fat from the pan gravy.
Set the roasting pan over 2 burners over moderately high heat. Add 1-1/2 cups of water and bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits. Lower the heat to moderate and boil, stirring constantly, until reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Stir this mixture into the pan gravy in the saucepan and season with salt and pepper . Warm the gravy through, if necessary, then pour into a sauceboat and serve alongside the turkey.
Daring
Daring:
In one of our recent discussions, Ymar asked about the question of whether the 9/11 hijackers demonstrated courage. I answered that courage was a virtue, the virtue of facing danger in a moral way. Facing danger in an unjust or vicious way is not courage, but a sort of rashness.
Here is Aquinas' account of the subject:
Objection 1: It seems that daring is not a sin. For it is written (Job 39:21) concerning the horse, by which according to Gregory (Moral. xxxi) the godly preacher is denoted, that "he goeth forth boldly to meet armed men [*Vulg.: 'he pranceth boldly, he goeth forth to meet armed men']." But no vice redounds to a man's praise. Therefore it is not a sin to be daring.
Objection 2: Further, according to the Philosopher (Ethic. vi, 9), "one should take counsel in thought, and do quickly what has been counseled." But daring helps this quickness in doing. Therefore daring is not sinful but praiseworthy.
Objection 3: Further, daring is a passion caused by hope, as stated above ([3330]FS, Q[45], A[2]) when we were treating of the passions. But hope is accounted not a sin but a virtue. Neither therefore should daring be accounted a sin.
On the contrary, It is written (Ecclus.8:18): "Go not on the way with a bold man, lest he burden thee with his evils." Now no man's fellowship is to be avoided save on account of sin. Therefore daring is a sin.
I answer that, Daring, as stated above ([3331]FS, Q[23], A[1]; Q[55]), is a passion. Now a passion is sometimes moderated according to reason, and sometimes it lacks moderation, either by excess or by deficiency, and on this account the passion is sinful. Again, the names of the passions are sometimes employed in the sense of excess, thus we speak of anger meaning not any but excessive anger, in which case it is sinful, and in the same way daring as implying excess is accounted a sin.
Reply to Objection 1: The daring spoken of there is that which is moderated by reason, for in that sense it belongs to the virtue of fortitude.
Reply to Objection 2: It is praiseworthy to act quickly after taking counsel, which is an act of reason. But to wish to act quickly before taking counsel is not praiseworthy but sinful; for this would be to act rashly, which is a vice contrary to prudence, as stated above ([3332]Q[58], A[3]). Wherefore daring which leads one to act quickly is so far praiseworthy as it is directed by reason.
Reply to Objection 3: Some vices are unnamed, and so also are some virtues, as the Philosopher remarks (Ethic. ii, 7; iv, 4,5,6). Hence the names of certain passions have to be applied to certain vices and virtues: and in order to designate vices we employ especially the names of those passions the object of which is an evil, as in the case of hatred, fear, anger and daring. But hope and love have a good for this object, and so we use them rather to designate virtues.
I would make one correction to Aquinas' account: the daring spoken of in objection one is the daring of the horse.
Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?
Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible.
He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men.
He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword.
The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield.
He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet.
He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
This is an interesting passage, though: because horses are like that, but only if men make them so. By pure nature, a horse will avoid any danger, and is scared like a grasshoppper -- or of a grasshopper. The Lord's point in speaking to Job, if Job were the kind of man who could understand it, was that this is indeed what men do with horses.
So what do we say about the passage, then? That it was written by someone who didn't know much about horses? Or that it was written with an intent to convey our role in shaping and mastering animals? Is it an irony, among the other passages wherein men are proven to be ignorant and weak? Or does it mean something?
By Grim on Friday, December 03, 2010 0 comments
Competition & Women:
We've got some pretty competitive women around here, one of whom wants to talk about this story. So let's ask two questions about it: First, are women really less competitive than men? Second, if they were, would it be a problem?
Both were clerical, but one was titled "Seeking Sports News Assistant." The other was described as more generic office work. In all, nearly 7,000 people replied to one of the two positions. Interested applicants received an e-mail detailing how the job would work. All were told they would have frequent deadlines, and there would be a high value placed on producing timely quality information. Some applicants, though, were told they would be getting a fixed $15 an hour for their work. Others were told the job would pay a base salary plus a bonus. In the second scheme, the new hires would be placed in pairs, and the one whose work was deemed the best would get the additional pay. Still interested? Send in your resume and application, the e-mail said.
For both jobs, more females replied to both job listings than males. Of the applicants to the sports assistant position, 53.5% of those interested were women. The generic job listing was split 80-20 females to male.
Wait, that doesn't sound like women are less competitive at all! It sounds like women are out there trying for a job at greater rates than men, even if it's a job like 'sports news reporter,' which one might expect to be favored by men.
Well, it goes on:
Here's the interesting part: for both jobs, when the element of the bonus was added, males were far more likely to actually send in their application than females. Or worded the other way around, females were more likely to pass on the job once they found out part of their pay would be based on their performance versus a co-worker. In the most competitive salary structure, where the base pay was $12 an hour and the bonus $6, List determined that men were 55.5% more likely to apply for the job than women.
So, once they are informed that the job is going to require them to compete in the long term, from day to day, a lot of the women pass.
So, the answer to the first question might be: it depends on what you mean by "competitive." Are women more likely to go for a job? Sounds like it. Are they more likely to pass on a job that requires them to fight against their co-workers every day? Sounds like it.
I'd say the answer to the second question is, "No," but we can talk about that in the comments.
By Grim on Thursday, December 02, 2010 0 comments
Legalize What?
This story presents a very good opportunity to discuss that field of philosophy called consequentialism.
The research found that child sex crimes fell when child pornography was more easily accessible.
The discovery tallies with similar studies in Denmark and Japan, where child pornography is not illegal, that found incidences of child sex abuse were lower in those countries.
The conclusion of the new study is that 'artificially-produced' child pornography should be made available to prevent real children being abused.
I think that by 'artificially produced' they mean something like cartoons and animation. So, the idea is that legalizing cartoons about child rape will reduce the incidence of actual rape of real children.
For the sake of argument, let's say that is true; and furthermore, that the effect is large enough that we're talking about saving a fairly large number of children from being raped.
Does that justify legalizing child porn cartoons? Explain and defend your answer. :)
Science of Lit
A "Science" of Literature:
There was a time when history went through the same argument. In fact, history went so far down this road that some historians claimed that history was a science, not just that it could benefit from some scientific methods.
The importance of the distinction between arts and sciences is a topic I've written about since the earliest days of the Hall. In those days I was especially driven by the damage being done to science by the art of psychology (which even has an -ology name, normally characteristic of sciences). Which, by the way, did you know that one in five Americans suffers from mental illness... according to these 'scientists'? Psychology is the only medical 'science' in which increased funding always seems to lead to an increased incidence of 'disease.'
The problems of psychology are most pernicious because they are used to justify legal restrictions on liberty; but the problems for human understanding are also serious. The fact is that history has benefitted from some scientific methodology: but it has not benefitted from the idea that it is doing 'social science.' In order to keep the science clean and reliable, you have to exclude a huge number of things from history that were of the utmost importance to the people making the decisions you are trying to chronicle. The alternative is to include the important things, and muddy the "science" out of measure. That is at least as true in literature.
Both arts and sciences are noble pursuits, worthy and fine. We benefit from a clean distinction between what is and is not science. It's important to defend that distinction.
A Brief, Splendid Life
The death of a former colleague is very much on my mind this week. At the height of a splendid career, only 47 years old, he died piloting a small plane that was taking him, along with his wife's mother (assistant VP for research services at Texas A&M) and uncle (recently appointed BP head of Gulf Coast recovery operations), to a family Thanksgiving gathering in the Florida panhandle. All perished. His wife's grief is unimaginable to me. He left three sons nearly grown, one a student at Texas A&M.
His name was Greg Coleman. He came to work in the mid-90s for the law firm at which I spent most of my professional life. His unusual career there was a mark of the high regard we all had for him. He took his law degree in 1992 at the age of 29, after a two-year LDS mission in Japan followed by a B.S. and M.B.A., then honored us by succumbing to our recruiting efforts. He delayed his starting date, however, so that he could clerk for renowned conservative Fifth Circuit justice Edith Jones. He then joined us as a litigation associate for one short year, which was long enough for everyone to realize we had something special. Next he made the unusual request to take a leave of absence to clerk for Justice Clarence Thomas for a couple of years. At last we welcomed him back as a associate in 1996, when he was 33 years old. He soon specialized in appellate work and struck his colleagues with his combination of uncommon decency and lucidity of thought. Although he was a strongly principled conservative thinker working among a lot of orthodox liberals, it was obvious he would be made a partner as soon as humanly possible.
He threw another wrench in the works when then-Texas-Attorney-General John Cornyn (now U.S. Senator from Texas) created the new office of Texas Solicitor General in 1999 and asked Greg to serve, at the age of 36. For two years he represented the State of Texas in high-profile appellate cases, then returned to our firm in 2001, swiftly being made not only a partner but head of his own national appellate litigation department. (This in a firm that normally has a 7- or 8-year partner track.) By 2007, when he left the firm, to its intense regret, he already had successfully argued four cases to the United States Supreme Court. He joined a small appellate litigation boutique in Austin, where before long his name was on the masthead. You can read here how deeply he wove himself into the lives of his colleagues there in the three short years that remained of his life, and how many varieties of public service he managed to pack into the time he had on earth. Last year, he successfully argued the case of the "New Haven 20" firefighters in their reverse-discrimination case (Ricci v. DeStephano) before the Supreme Court. The firefighters' website offers a tribute to him today. His New Haven colleague in that case had this informal eulogy to offer:
"Greg had all the right stuff — he was both a brilliant lawyer and a man of impeccable morals in a profession where that is increasingly scarce," Torre said. "His quiet rectitude provided a needed counterbalance to the anger and bitterness that I felt at having to go so far to vindicate a principle I thought was plain: that every man should be judged on his character and worth, not the color of his skin.
By Texan99 on Wednesday, December 01, 2010 0 comments
St. Cadoc's
A Surprise at St. Cadoc's:
Why it makes sense to fix the roof of the church once in a while... at least, if your church is six hundred years old.
By Grim on Monday, November 29, 2010 0 comments
Epicurus:
A professor of French literature has some advice about eating. Being reasonably good advice, we find that its source is ancient philosophy (and not French literature, which in the post-medieval period hasn't been very good, exceptis excipiendis).
The epidemiologist cannot tell us what the Epicurean wants to know: What should I choose to love without guilt? What is good for me? What keeps me happy? What, in the best sense, keeps me healthy?
In certain European philosophical circles, there has been a recent spike of interest in Epicurus, and not only among Marxists (Marx wrote his doctoral thesis on Epicurus). Like every Greek, Epicurus was obliged to believe in the pantheon of Greek gods who lived on Mount Olympus; but he did so without having to suppose that these gods were even remotely interested in human affairs. As a result, Epicurus needed to find principles for living that were based not on theological but on materialist (or, we might say, scientific) conceptions of the world—those which explained all nature, including mind and spirit, with reference not to the supernatural but to harmonies and atomic processes....
Neo-Epicureans argue that the entire philosophical tradition since Plato—perhaps philosophy itself—has always rejected materialism and has forever been in love with idealism. Even the so-called materialist philosophies exhibit forms of Platonic idealism; this idealism may be turned on its head, as it were, but its articulations are still in place.
An aside, because it will be of interest to some of you: That was Marx's complaint about them, that materialism wasn't adequately materialist. What does that mean? Briefly, that materialist philosophy was still positing a mind apart from the meat. Subsequent philosophers have tried to rectify that; Sebastian Rödl had a book out just three years ago promising a "true materialist" account of self consciousness, the problem that we (especially Joe and I) have discussed here. (Rödl's account isn't very convincing, if you were about to rush out and order the book; indeed, I'm not sure it qualifies as an account. If you're interested in exploring the question, we can discuss it further.)
But, back to eating. We have now a rather bold assertion from our French literary scholar:
The new, radical Epicureanism, on the other hand, is nonphilosophical.
Really? Go on.
It is a new way of articulating the relation between theory and practice; it is a praxis of thinking about pleasure and its value, in and of itself, as well as from the standpoint of health. Like Nietzsche, the Epicurean does not aspire to negate philosophy, for that would be only another way of affirming it. Philosophy is nothing but the history of its successive negations. Rather, Epicurus teaches us how to look away from the tradition. "Looking up and away shall be my only negation," Nietzsche asserts in The Gay Science. Like Nietzsche, neo-Epicureans start their thinking not with ideas but with what Epicurus insists is the origin of thought, the body.
Broadly put, neo-Epicureans suppose not only that you are what you eat, but that you think what you eat. Take German idealism, says Nietzsche. It has the leaden consistency and gaseous redolence of a diet thick with potatoes. Italian thought, one might add, is marked by the slippery texture and doughy blandness of pasta. Jewish metaphysics has the astringency and smoky intensity of briny pickles and cured fish. The indistinctness of Buddhist thought resembles white rice. Neo-Epicureans aim to discover not just a philosophy of being but a hygiene for living; not a universal system but a way of thinking about good health in terms of the peculiar proclivities of the individual body.
Sorry, boys. That's a philosophy, whether you like it or not. Indeed, you give the game away yourself when you say that it's "not just" a philosophy, but also a hygiene.
Speaking of which, I can think of a precedent for this philosophy in French literature. Perhaps he comes by it honestly, then.
What sort of a philosophy is it? A good one, as far as it follows this form: eat enough, and well enough, to be satisfied; not so little as to be hungry, nor so poorly as to be sick, but also not so much as to suffer digestive malfunction or obesity. That's the hygiene.
Why a philosophy, though? If you go no farther along the road than perfecting the body, you've missed an important point. The body isn't an end in itself, after all; it will eventually sicken and die even if you take perfect care of it. Waylon Jennings and Jerry Reed can tell you that (following Shel Silverstein's poem, as Johnny Cash had followed another in "A Boy Named Sue").
So 'you're getting real healthy, but you're still gonna die.' The human mind has a potential far more vast than the maintenance of the body, for the majority of your life; but the body is doomed in spite of the mind's best efforts, when the time comes. The mind is therefore too great a tool to be aimed at the maintenance of the body for most of our lives; and a tool entirely insufficient for that purpose when we reach our designated time. This should be adequate proof that a philosophy aimed only at the material is insufficient for us.
What's left, then, if not the mind and the ideas it can contain? Some of these ideas may be actualized, as in the case of an engineer who dreams of spacecraft; others may remain ideas, but inspire others, as in a composer who writes symphonies.
The day-to-day health of the body cannot be our end, for we are too much for that; neither can its permanent survival be our end, for we are too little for that. To write, to think, to design, to compose, these things are more fit for us. Of them all, though, the greatest and hardest challenge may simply be to understand.
By Grim on Sunday, November 28, 2010 0 comments
Epicurus: A professor of French literature has so...