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resources to help you understand your pay
Download our new infographic which helps staff understand the different resources that have been developed to explain the 2018 pay deal for Agenda for Change staff.
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*Credits NHS Employers
Supporting line managers to foster engagement
Our new briefing explores how employers can support and develop line managers to improve staff engagement. Written by the Institute for Employment Studies and commissioned by NHS Employers, the publication is based on issues raised by NHS line managers.
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NHS Health and Wellbeing Framework
NHS England has released a framework to improve the health and wellbeing of the NHS workforce. With a focus on effective line management, the framework provides guidance to help you support your staff to feel well, healthy and happy at work.
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HEE launches new animation on the ARCP process
A new animation from Health Education England explains the annual review of competence progression (ARCP), which is used to assess the practice and progress of trainee doctors. The animation explains how the ARCP works and accompanies a written guide.
See the animation below and read more here
GMC publishes new graduate outcomes guidance
The General Medical Council has updated their guidance Outcomes for Graduates, setting out the knowledge, skills, values and behaviours that UK medical graduates must know and be able to demonstrate. | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaCommonCrawl"
} |
Freedom Forum Institute > First Amendment Center > First Amendment FAQ
First Amendment FAQ
Does it matter if a student uses the Internet as a tool for speech at school?
Yes, it does. If the student uses school computers to create his material, school officials have jurisdiction and more legal authority to regulate the expression. School officials would likely argue that they could censor such expression as long as they had a reasonable educational reason for doing so under the Supreme Court's 1988 ruling in Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier. When students use school computers, they are also subject to the school's acceptable-use Internet policy. Most schools have policies that set limits on students' Internet usage.
Do schools have the power to control speech in the classroom?
Schools have great latitude to control the speech that occurs in a classroom and, in that setting, can probably prohibit the distribution of student publications altogether. Similarly, schools may impose any reasonable constraint on student speech in a school-sponsored publication such as the school newspaper.
Which types of speech are not protected by the First Amendment?
Although different scholars view unprotected speech in different ways, there are basically nine categories:
Defamation (including libel and slander)
Incitement to imminent lawless action
True threats
Solicitations to commit crimes
Some experts also would add treason, if committed verbally, to that list. Plagiarism of copyrighted material is also not protected.
Can public schools impose dress codes and uniforms?
Many students are able to express themselves through what they wear to school; but, more and more teenagers are facing restrictions as school boards across the country adopt more stringent policies.
Some states have passed laws empowering school boards to regulate student dress. For instance, Tennessee has a law allowing school boards to pass policies prohibiting the wearing of "gang-related apparel." In 2001, Arkansas passed a law requiring school boards to create an "advisory committee" of parents and students to consider whether their local school district should require uniforms. Arizona has a law giving local school boards the power to adopt uniform policies. New Jersey passed a law saying that school boards may adopt a dress code or uniform policy if requested by the principal, staff and teachers, and "if the board determines that the policy will enhance the school learning environment."
Many courts have upheld dress-code and uniform policies as a reasonable way to instill discipline and create a positive educational environment. Federal appeals courts have recently upheld uniform policies in Texas and Louisiana. The courts determined that the policies were not imposed to suppress students' freedom of expression but to further reasonable educational objectives.
The Supreme Court has not decided a case involving a challenge to a dress-code or uniform policy.
Can administrators remove controversial books from school library shelves?
School officials cannot pull books off library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas in those books. In Board of Education v. Pico, the Supreme Court ruled that school officials in New York violated the First Amendment by removing several books from junior high school library shelves for being too controversial.
The Court said the First Amendment protects students' rights to receive information and ideas and that the principal place for such information is the library.
However, in Pico, the Supreme Court also said that school officials could remove books from library shelves if they were "pervasively vulgar." The Court noted that its decision did not involve school officials' control over the curriculum or even the acquisition of books for school libraries.
What is freedom of expression?
Freedom of expression refers to the ability of an individual or group of individuals to express their beliefs, thoughts, ideas, and emotions about different issues free from government censorship. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects the rights of individuals to freedom of religion, speech, press, petition, and assembly. Some scholars group several of those freedoms under the general term "freedom of expression."
Most state constitutions also contain provisions guaranteeing freedom of expression. Some provide even greater protection than the First Amendment.
Freedom of expression is essential to individual liberty and contributes to what the Supreme Court has called the marketplace of ideas. The First Amendment assumes that the speaker, not the government, should decide the value of speech.
Is speech on the Internet entitled to as much protection as speech in more traditional media?
Yes, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Reno v. ACLU (1997) that speech on the Internet receives the highest level of First Amendment protection. The Supreme Court explained that "our cases provide no basis for qualifying the level of First Amendment scrutiny that should be applied to this medium."
Can a student lead a prayer at graduation exercises?
It depends on the court and the context. If the student's speech is deemed to be school-sponsored or endorsed by the school, the student prayer would violate the establishment clause. Some courts have determined that purely student-initiated speech would not run afoul of the establishment clause.
Two federal appeals court decisions show how the courts are divided on this issue.
In October 2000, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a First Amendment challenge brought by students in California who were denied the right to make a religious speech at graduation. The court determined that school district officials reasonably prevented the student's religious speech to avoid violating the establishment clause. Additionally, in Cole v. Oroville Union High School, the court determined that even "if the graduation ceremony was a public or limited public forum, the District's refusal to allow the students to deliver a sectarian speech or prayer as part of the graduation was necessary to avoid violating the Establishment Clause."
However, in May 2001, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to strike down a Florida school district policy allowing an elected student to deliver an unrestricted message at graduation. The court in Adler v. Duval County School Board determined that "it is impossible to say that … [the policy] on its face violates the Establishment Clause without effectively banning all religious speech at school graduations, no matter how private the message or how divorced the content of the message may be from any state review, let alone censorship."
What rights to freedom of expression do students have?
Public school students possess a range of free-expression rights under the First Amendment. Students can speak, write articles, assemble to form groups and even petition school officials on issues. The U.S. Supreme Court has said that students "do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech and expression at the schoolhouse gate."
There is a fundamental distinction between public and private school students under the First Amendment. The First Amendment and the other provisions of the Bill of Rights limit the government from infringing on an individual's rights. Public school officials act as part of the government and are called state actors. As such, they must act according to the principles in the Bill of Rights. Private schools, however, aren't arms of the government. Therefore, the First Amendment does not provide protection for students at private schools.
Though public school students do possess First Amendment freedoms, the courts allow school officials to regulate certain types of student expression. For example, school officials may prohibit speech that substantially disrupts the school environment or that invades the rights of others. Many courts have held that school officials can restrict student speech that is lewd.
Many state constitutions contain provisions safeguarding free expression. Some state Supreme Courts have interpreted their constitutions to provide greater protection than the federal Constitution. In addition, a few states have adopted laws providing greater protection for freedom of speech.
What has the Supreme Court said about free expression?
The U.S. Supreme Court has decided several cases involving the First Amendment rights of public school students, but the most often cited are Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969), Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser (1986) and Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988).
In Tinker, the Supreme Court said that students "do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate." The court ruled that Iowa public school officials violated the First Amendment rights of several students by suspending them for wearing black armbands to school.
The court noted that the students' wearing of armbands to protest U.S. involvement in Vietnam was a form of symbolic speech "akin to pure speech." The school officials tried to justify their actions, saying that the armbands would disrupt the school environment.
But, the Supreme Court said that "in our system, undifferentiated fear or apprehension of disturbance is not enough to overcome the right to freedom of expression." School officials cannot silence student speech simply because they dislike it or it is controversial or unpopular. Rather, according to the court, school officials must reasonably forecast that student speech will cause a "substantial disruption" or "material interference" with school activities or "invade the rights of others" before they can censor student expression. The Tinker case is considered the high-water mark for student First Amendment rights.
In the 1980s, a more conservative Supreme Court cut back on students' free-expression rights in Fraser and Hazelwood. In Fraser, school officials suspended a high school student for giving a lewd speech before the student assembly. Even though Matthew Fraser's speech was part of a student-government campaign, the high court distinguished the sexual nature of the address from the political speech in Tinker.
"Surely, it is a highly appropriate function of public school education to prohibit the use of vulgar and offensive terms in public discourse," the court wrote in its 1986 decision. "The undoubted freedom to advocate unpopular and controversial views in schools and classrooms must be balanced against the society's countervailing interest in teaching students the boundaries of socially appropriate behavior."
Two years later, the Supreme Court further restricted student free-expression rights in Hazelwood. In that 1988 decision, several students sued after a Missouri high school principal censored two articles in the school newspaper. The articles, written by students, dealt with divorce and teen pregnancy. The principal said he thought the subject matter was inappropriate for some of the younger students.
The students argued that the principal violated their First Amendment rights because he did not meet the Tinker standard — he did not show the articles would lead to a substantial disruption. Instead of examining the case under Tinker, however, the Supreme Court developed a new standard for what it termed school-sponsored speech.
Under this standard, school officials can regulate school-sponsored student expression, as long as the officials' actions "are reasonably related to a legitimate pedagogical interest." In plain English, this means school officials must show that they have a reasonable educational reason for their actions. The court broadly defined the school's authority to regulate school-sponsored expression, writing that school officials could censor material which would "associate the school with anything other than neutrality on matters of political controversy."
Can a public school official legally censor a school-sponsored publication, like a newspaper or yearbook?
It depends. If the school has by policy or practice turned the school-sponsored publication into a public forum, or a place traditionally open to the free exchange of ideas, then the school has less authority to censor content. However, most school newspapers are not public forums, and because of a 1988 Supreme Court decision, school officials generally have broad leeway to censor school-sponsored publications.
In Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, the high court ruled that school officials can censor school-sponsored publications if their decision is "reasonably related to a legitimate pedagogical purpose." This means school officials must show that they have a reasonable educational reason for censoring the material.
The high court gave several examples of material that could be censored based on a reasonable educational purpose, including material that is "ungrammatical, poorly written, inadequately researched, biased or prejudiced, vulgar or profane, or unsuitable for immature audiences."
The court went so far as to say that under the Hazelwood standard, school officials could censor school-sponsored materials that would "associate the school with anything other than neutrality on matters of political controversy."
Student advocates decried the Hazelwood decision as blatant censorship that would lead to a drastic reduction in students' First Amendment rights. For this reason, several states passed so-called "anti-Hazelwood laws" that grant student journalists more protection. Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, and Oregon passed such laws after the decision. (California already had a law protecting student journalists.)
Can a public school legally censor an off-campus, "underground" student publication?
Generally, schools may not censor underground student newspapers, because those papers are not school-sponsored. If the underground paper is not distributed on campus, school officials have no legal authority to regulate it.
Even if the papers are distributed on school grounds, the First Amendment imposes limitations on school officials' ability to censor these publications because of content. Public school officials, however, may impose reasonable time, place and manner restrictions on the distribution of underground newspapers.
There are exceptions to the general rule of "no censorship." If school officials can show that the publication caused or would likely cause a substantial disruption of school activities, they may be able to limit or even stop distribution. Or if school officials could show that the publication contained true threats, they may be able to restrict distribution.
A pressing issue regarding underground student newspapers is whether school officials have the power to require students to submit the papers for review before they can be distributed on school grounds. Courts are divided on whether such prior review policies violate students' First Amendment rights, and the Supreme Court has not considered the issue.
If I wear my hair long or dye it an unusual color, can I get in trouble at school?
Courts are much divided on this issue. Among the federal appeals courts, the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 7th and 8th Circuits have seemed receptive to students' claims of free-expression rights concerning their hair. But the 3rd, 5th, 6th, 9th and 10th Circuits have seemed unreceptive.
Many cases involving student hair today deal not with length but color. For example, a high school student from Virginia sued his school district in federal court after school officials suspended him for having blue hair. A federal judge reinstated the student, finding a violation of his constitutional rights.
Generally, courts that have found a constitutional issue have ruled along similar lines, claiming that a student's choice of hair color and style represents either a First Amendment free-expression issue or a 14th Amendment liberty or equal-protection interest. Some courts have even pointed out that regulating students' hair has a more permanent effect than regulating their dress, because outside of school, they can change their clothes more readily than their hairstyles or color.
Conversely, the courts that have sided with school districts have generally ruled that students' wearing of long hair "does not rise to the dignity of a protectable constitutional issue."
Either way, different courts have simply come to different legal conclusions. As a result, students' rights in this regard largely depend on where they live.
What types of books are most subject to censorship?
Many books have been subject to censorship, although most are targeted for (a) vulgar or sexually explicit language; (b) "racist" language; (c) gay and lesbian themes; and/or (d) discussions of witchcraft and the occult.
The American Library Association's Office of Intellectual Freedom keeps track of efforts to censor books and has published a list, "The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000." Books new and old make up the list, from the 19th century classic "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," to the critically acclaimed "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," to the current-day best-selling Harry Potter series.
Maya Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" receives complaints for a rape scene and for being perceived by some as "anti-white." Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn" has been subject to censorship for language deemed demeaning to African-Americans. J.K. Rowling's hugely popular Harry Potter series draws the ire of some who say it celebrates witchcraft.
School districts should develop policies on how to handle challenges to books and how to ensure that decisions regarding removal of books from the library or the curriculum respect the Constitution and reflect sound educational policy. School officials must also ensure that a book is not removed simply because a concerned parent or special-interest group dislikes its content.
Can a public school exclude certain student clubs or groups?
No, a public school may not pick and choose which student groups it wishes to allow. A school would violate the First Amendment if it censored certain student groups on the basis of their viewpoints.
In 1984, Congress passed the Equal Access Act to prohibit discrimination against certain student groups based on their speech. The act was passed to prevent discrimination against student religious groups.
In its 1990 decision Westside Community Board of Education v. Mergens, the Supreme Court ruled that a Nebraska high school violated the Equal Access Act by denying recognition of a student Christian club when it allowed many other noncurriculum student clubs.
The Equal Access Act provides that a "public secondary school has a limited open forum whenever such school grants an offering or an opportunity for one or more noncurriculum-related student groups to meet on school premises during noninstructional time."
The act forbids public secondary schools that receive federal funds from denying "equal access" to student groups based on the "religious, political, philosophical, or other content of the speech." This means that, as the Mergens case demonstrated, a school cannot allow the formation of a chess club and at the same time deny the formation of a Bible club.
Unfortunately, some school districts that do not wish to recognize certain student groups have taken drastic action in order to avoid violating the Equal Access Act. These districts have simply prohibited all student extracurricular groups. A school district in Utah banned all student groups to avoid recognizing a gay-and-lesbian group. Meanwhile, a school district in California banned all student groups in order to avoid recognizing a Christian group.
(For more information on student clubs, see Religious clubs FAQs in the Religious liberty in public schools section.)
Are public school students required to recite the Pledge of Allegiance?
No, public school students may not be compelled to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. In its 1943 decision West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that the First Amendment protects a student's right not to engage in certain speech. The First Amendment generally prohibits the government from punishing people for engaging in certain speech. In Barnette, the high court extended the reach of the First Amendment to also prohibit the government from compelling speech.
The high court determined that a group of Jehovah's Witnesses, who objected to the flag salute and mandatory pledge recitation for religious reasons, could not be forced to participate.
In oft-quoted language, Justice Robert Jackson wrote: "If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein."
Do students have to stand and remove their hats during the Pledge?
No, you do not have to stand up and take off your hat during the Pledge of Allegiance. In the 1943 case West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette, the Supreme Court said students who objected to the flag salute and mandatory Pledge recitation for religious reasons could not be forced to participate.
Although Barnette pertains to reciting the Pledge, in the case Lipp v. Morris (1978) the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a New Jersey statute requiring a student to stand during the Pledge as unconstitutional.
As explored in Lipp and Barnette, a fundamental constitutional right is that no government official at any level can force conduct from any citizen regarding an expression of religion, politics, nationalism, or matter of opinion.
Can students be forced to stand while other students recite the Pledge?
No, two courts have held that students cannot be forced to stand while other students recite the Pledge of Allegiance. In Goetz v. Ansell (1973) and Lipp v. Morris (1978), the 2nd and 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, respectively, ruled that public school students could not be forced to stand silently while other students recited the Pledge. The 2nd Circuit in Goetz explained: "The alternative offered plaintiff of standing in silence is an act that cannot be compelled over his deeply held convictions. It can no more be required than the Pledge itself."
Additionally, the 11th Circuit in July 2008 (Frazier v. Winn) found that a "standing at attention" clause in Florida law violated the First Amendment. However, the panel left the rest of the state statute intact, refusing to strike down part of it that allows students to be excused from reciting the Ppledge only by written request of their parent. In October 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal in the case, as had the full 11th Circuit earlier.
Can students pray or discuss religion in public schools?
Yes, students have the right to pray and discuss religion in school. Public misperception has persisted on this topic since the U.S. Supreme court struck down school-sponsored prayer in the early 1960s. In those decisions, the high court ruled that the establishment clause does prohibit schools from allowing or engaging in school-sponsored prayer or encouraging students to pray.
But the free-exercise clause protects the rights of students to pray on their own time. In fact, singling out student religious speech for punishment would indicate hostility toward religion and violate the basic First Amendment principle that the government may not punish a particular viewpoint.
This does not mean that students have an unfettered right to speak on religious subjects. Students can be punished for interrupting class time for any type of speech. Also, school officials can make sure that students are not speaking to a captive audience or harassing others by overzealously advocating their religious beliefs.
Don't certain kinds of harsh or insensitive speech tend to silence others' free expression, thereby working against the free exchange of ideas?
An offended person's decision not to speak is hardly a reason to suppress the speech of others. Those who find an idea, epithet, literary work or other form of expression offensive can oppose, counteract and perhaps refute it with further speech — not by banning the speech deemed to be offensive.
As Justice Louis Brandeis said in a famous quote, "If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence."
What is academic freedom?
Academic freedom has an institutional and individual component. Academic freedom refers to the right of a university to determine its educational mission free from governmental intervention. This is institutional academic freedom. Academic freedom also refers to the right of an individual professor to teach her or his curriculum without undue interference from university officials. This is individual academic freedom.
The American Association of University Professors in its 1940 Statement of Principles of Academic Freedom and Tenure defined academic freedom as "full freedom in research" and "freedom in the classroom in discussing their subject." The statement with regard to freedom in the classroom also states that teachers "should be careful not to introduce into their teaching controversial matter which has no relation to their subject."
Still another aspect of academic freedom refers to the ability of university professors to be able to speak as private citizens without fear of reprisal from their universities or the government. The AAUP's statement provides: "When they speak or write as citizens, they should be free from institutional censorship or discipline, but their special position in the community imposes special obligations."
How do schools resolve the tension between freedom of speech and the need for discipline and control?
Preserving the speech rights of students and maintaining the integrity of public education are not mutually exclusive. Schools should model First Amendment principles by encouraging and supporting the rights of students to express their ideas in writing. On the other hand, students should not expect to have unfettered access to their classmates and should be prepared to abide by reasonable time, place and manner restrictions. Schools must continue to maintain order, discipline and the educational mission of the school as they seek to accommodate the rights of students.
Why shouldn't public colleges be allowed some say in the type of research done by their professors or the funding sources if a line of inquiry might negatively affect the school?
To allow colleges to restrict a field of research, either by censuring a professor or by limiting funding, would be to suggest that no academic advances should be made in that field. Such an attitude would seem to run contrary to the purpose of institutions of higher education. Where a college blocks a professor's efforts to research a particular issue, the implication is that the censors fear what might be found.
As government entities, public universities are just as precluded by West Virginia v. Barnette from deciding "what shall be orthodox" as Congress is. That means that although a school administration may question the methodology or classroom performance of a professor, it cannot prohibit a field of inquiry simply because the subject is controversial.
As long as they don't discriminate against certain speakers or messages, what's wrong with campus free-speech zones?
First Amendment advocates say an entire campus should be a free-speech zone because the purpose of a public college or university is to allow and to explore all points of view. Free-speech supporters thus express suspicion that designating zones is a way of limiting and discouraging free speech.
What about independent student newspapers or fliers? Can schools control their distribution?
Yes and no. Public universities may not completely prevent students from independently printing and distributing written materials on their campus, but they may impose reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions on their distribution. For example, a school may establish certain places on campus as the proper locations for those wishing to pass out written materials, or they may prohibit distribution at times where it could reasonably block the passage of students to and from classes. But the open spaces of a college campus are generally presumed to be an open forum for the purpose of student expression, including written expression.
What if other students try to prevent distribution of student publications that they find offensive?
Many college campuses continue to deal with the problem of students' confiscating newspapers to prevent the circulation of stories or ideas that they find offensive. Every year, cases are reported where entire runs of a publication are stolen, depriving the campus of the opportunity to even consider what was published. Unfortunately, very few of these instances have resulted in meaningful punishment of the offenders.
The problem in punishing those who steal papers is twofold. From the legal perspective, it is difficult to successfully prosecute the perpetrators for theft, as the newspapers are distributed free to whoever chooses to pick one (or 1,000) up. Prosecutors in a handful of cases have used charges of criminal mischief and vandalism, in addition to the more conventional theft charges, to secure punishment for those responsible for stealing papers. But the vast majority of such incidents go unheard by courts of law. Some universities have been accused of downplaying the importance of mass newspaper thefts out of fear of further offending various groups.
Are public colleges permitted to put any restrictions on the student groups that they will recognize? What if activities advocated by a group are illegal?
The Supreme Court spoke to this issue in Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969), in which it held that even those statements (or student groups, in this case) that advocate violation of the law are protected speech under the First Amendment unless they threaten "imminent lawless action." This principle was tested recently by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Gay Lesbian Bisexual Alliance v. Pryor, where the state of Alabama passed a statute that prevented state universities from recognizing or distributing funds to student groups that promoted lifestyles prohibited under the state's sodomy laws. The court found that the GLBA did not promote "imminent lawless action," and that any statute intended to restrict the group's otherwise-protected advocacy of a nontraditional lifestyle was inherently unconstitutional.
Can a college student invoke his or her religious beliefs to avoid engaging in an objectionable type of artistic expression?
Suppose a student is taking a drawing class. Part of it involves sketching a nude human body. If a student has a religious objection to observing or drawing unclothed models, he or she might ask to be exempted from that section of the class without damage to the course grade. Such an exemption may or may not be granted.
It stands to reason, under a doctrine established by the U.S. Supreme Court in its 1943 decision West Virginia v. Barnette, that no one may be compelled by a government actor to do something that will violate their conscience. Accordingly, it would seem that the same could be said for students who find religious or moral objections to certain practices normally required in a course of study — that they should be allowed to take on comparable tasks, modified to meet the requirements of their worldview.
A Mormon drama student at the University of Utah recently objected to "taking the Lord's name in vain" and using "the f-word." When she asked that she be allowed to change the words in class exercises and plays to which she was assigned, she was informed that her grade would suffer if she did so. In the resulting court case, the federal district court found that she could not exempt herself from the requirements of her studies and that if she desired to avoid those requirements, she had the option of choosing another major. The case has been appealed.
Can people who oppose a speaker's message use their 'freedom of speech' to drown out the offending words?
This is called a "heckler's veto." The problem with it is that, far from advancing understanding, it inhibits it. Freedom of speech was guaranteed in the First Amendment so that a full range of ideas would be available on matters of public interest. The Supreme Court's interpretation of the First Amendment as it pertains to public college campuses over the past 80-90 years is derived in part from J.S. Mill's essay, "On Liberty," in which he asserted that:
"… the peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error."
Students are not allowed to drown out the lectures of a professor in the classroom without disciplinary action, because doing so disrupts the school's academic purpose. Guest speakers are allowed on campus in order to offer different and broader perspectives, thereby addressing the school's purpose. So, student speech that would drown out a controversial guest therefore can be prohibited.
However, institutions ideally will not simply silence students wishing to protest against a campus speaker. They may restrict student protesters to an appropriate forum, thus allowing both exercises of free speech to occur.
Have courts addressed whether clapping at public meetings is protected by the First Amendment?
The California Supreme Court addressed this issue in 1970 in the case of In Re Kay, 1 Cal.3d 930. "Audience activities, such as heckling, interrupting, harsh questioning, and booing, even though they may be impolite and discourteous, can nonetheless advance the goals of the First Amendment. For many citizens such participation in public meetings, whether supportive or critical of the speaker, may constitute the only manner in which they can express their views to a large number of people."
The court continued: "'Disturbances' of meetings arise in a wide variety of forms; the modern techniques of the 'politics of peaceful confrontation' frequently result in a clash of ideological expressions which may, in many senses, 'disturb' a meeting. Without doubt petitioners' conduct in the instant case, including clapping … was 'closely akin to "pure speech"'" (quoting Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District).
Why would the news media want or need personal information about individual students or incidents?
Particularly in situations involving illegal or unethical behavior, the press takes seriously its responsibility to keep the public informed. People want and need to know what is happening on public campuses, especially if they have children attending school or thinking of doing so. As with any important story, reporters will want to learn as much about the people involved or suspected of being involved so that they can assemble the uncontested facts into an accurate picture of the situation. This goal would be served by having access to some of the records protected by FERPA, because the information would help the reporters to understand that situation and the individuals who might be involved. Without access to the government-controlled educational records, pieces are left out of the puzzle.
Could officials limit each speaker to one topic per meeting?
Such a regulation would probably be OK, as long as the government applied it evenhandedly. On its face, this requirement appears reasonable and does not discriminate against speech on the basis of content or viewpoint.
What's the First Amendment issue with legislation against cyberstalking?
It has to do with distinguishing between protected freedom of speech and speech that is not protected. Most of the new laws passed by states require that for online communications to be considered "stalking," they must constitute harassment of a person that places the person in reasonable fear for his or her safety. Courts have upheld stalking legislation that deals with threats because the First Amendment does not protect true threats. But some of the measures go beyond punishing true threats and proscribe "annoying" speech.
What are "gripe sites" or "cybergripers"?
Gripe sites are websites providing consumer commentary criticizing the business practices of certain companies. Many cybergriper sites contain parodies of their corporate targets. For example, a consumer who believes that "Business X" engages in unfair business practices might establish a website with the domain name "BusinessXsucks.com."
Do "gripe sites" violate federal trademark laws?
The answer depends on several factors, including whether the gripe site is engaged in commercial use of the target's trademarked business name, or whether the gripe site owner has bad-faith intent to profit from his or her site.
Businesses targeted by gripe sites have sued under both the Federal Trademark Dilution Act of 1996 and the Anti-Cybersquatting Law of 1998. If the gripe site is consumer commentary of a noncommercial nature, it is less likely to be violation of these federal laws, particularly the Federal Trademark Dilution Act.
Many commentators believe that gripe sites that do not engage in commerce are protected under the First Amendment. Some recent court decisions have upheld this viewpoint.
For example, in Taubman Co. v. Webfeats, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that a gripe site was "purely an exhibition of Free Speech, and the Lanham Act (the major federal trademark law) is not invoked." The appeals court explained: "We find that the domain name is a type of public expression, not different in scope than a billboard or a pulpit, and [the gripe site owner] has a First Amendment right to express his opinion about Taubman, and as long as his speech is not commercially misleading, the Lanham Act cannot be summoned to prevent it."
What is the Federal Trademark Dilution Act of 1996?
The law provides a cause of action for trademark owners if they can establish the following:
1. They own a famous mark (determined by eight factors listed in the law).
2. The defendant is making commercial use in interstate commerce of the plaintiff's mark or trade name.
3. The defendant's use of plaintiff's mark occurred after the mark became famous.
4. The defendant's use causes dilution of plaintiff's mark by lessening the capacity of a famous mark to identify and distinguish goods or services.
The law exempts noncommercial use of trademarks. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals explained in its 1998 decision in Bally Total Fitness Holding Corporation v. Faber that "commercial use is an essential element of any dilution claim."
However, some courts appear to take a broad view of what constitutes commercial activity. For example, a federal district court in New York ruled in 1997 in Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. v. Bucci that a radio host and anti-abortion activist who had a website with the domain name www.plannedparenthood.com engaged in commercial activity for several reasons. These include that fact that the radio host promoted his book on the site, solicited funds for his nonprofit political activism, and designed it to harm Planned Parenthood commercially. The court explained:
Finally, defendant's use is commercial because of its effect on plaintiff's activities. First, defendant has appropriated plaintiff's mark in order to reach an audience of Internet users who want to reach plaintiff's services and viewpoint, intercepting them and misleading them in an attempt to offer his own political message. Second, defendant's appropriation not only provides Internet users with competing and directly opposing information, but also prevents those users from reaching plaintiff and its services and message. In that way, defendant's use is classically competitive: he has taken plaintiff's mark as his own in order to purvey his Internet services — his website — to an audience intending to access plaintiff's services.
Are city councils and similar public bodies required to have periods for public comment at meetings?
States take different approaches to allocating time for public comments at public meetings, and courts across the country have provided some guidance on this issue. Most states do not expressly require, via statutes or legal precedent, time for public participation in public meetings, although it has become a customary practice to allow individuals to speak. Often in the case of school board meetings, members of the public are required to provide notice, or to register with the board well before the meeting, to be allowed to make a comment.
The Florida Supreme Court has recognized that public comments in open meetings are important in maintaining an open government. The court has stated that government bodies "should not be allowed to deprive the public of this inalienable right to be present and to be heard at all deliberations wherein decisions affecting the public are being made." Board of Public Instruction of Broward County v. Doan, 224 So. 2d 693,699 (Fla. 1969). Furthermore, the Florida Code expressly provides that members of the public have a right to participate in local government meetings regarding land use, but the comment time can be regulated by the decision-making body. Fla. Stat. § 286.0115(2)(b).
California has a statute that requires public bodies to allow for public comments at meetings. Cal. Gov. Code § 54954.3(a). A California case provides legal precedent for when a public meeting is continued to a later date for some reason. In Chaffee v. San Francisco Library Commission, 115 Cal. Rptr. 3d 336 (Cal. App. 2004), a public meeting was continued to a later date after the meeting body lost its quorum to continue. A California citizen brought suit alleging that the state sunshine laws (or open-meeting laws) required public comments at every meeting of a public body, not just a comment section on each agenda. The California Court of Appeals in the 1st Appellate District held in favor of the public body by holding that public comments are mandated only once per agenda, not once per body meeting. Allowing for public comments at each meeting regarding the same meeting would cause a "surplusage," the court said.
Some states, such as Wyoming, statutorily make it a right of a public body to prevent willful disruption of a meeting by removing anyone causing a disruption or by taking a recess. Wyo. Stat. § 16-4-406.
What is the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act of 1999 and does it prohibit gripe sites?
The act provides a cause of action to a trademark holder when someone registers a domain name of a well-known trademark — or something very similar to it — and then attempts to profit from it by ransoming the domain name back to the trademark holder or by using the domain name to divert business from the trademark holder to the domain-name holder. Cybersquatters buy up the domain names of well-known companies in the hopes of profiting by selling the online "real estate" back to the trademark holder. Whether a cybergriper violates the anti-cybersquatting law depends on whether the griper has bad-faith intent to profit from the purchase of the domain name.
However, there is no per se commercial-use requirement in the anti-cybersquatting law. As the 9th Circuit recently wrote in its 2005 decision Bosley Medical Institute, Inc. v. Kremer: "Allowing a cybersquatter to register the domain name with bad faith intent to profit, but get around the law by making noncommercial use of the mark, would run counter to the purpose of the act."
The statute contains a list of nine factors that courts must consider to determine whether someone had bad faith intent to profit. One of the relevant factors is whether the domain name holder, the alleged cybersquatter, had a "bonafide non-commercial or fair use of the mark in a site accessible under the domain name."
Many commentators have criticized the use of the anti-cybersquatting law to cover true gripe sites developed not to profit but to release critical consumer commentary. For example, law professor Hannibal Travis writes in a 2005 article in the Virginia Journal of Law and Technology that "trademark rights should be limited to policing commercial competition, rather than non-commercial Internet speech."
Why is the concept of "local community standards" difficult to apply to the Internet?
Local community standards are difficult to apply on the global medium of the Internet because Web publishers cannot limit access to their sites based on the geographic location of Internet users. For this reason, several U.S. Supreme Court justices expressed their discomfort with applying local standards in determining what material is harmful to minors under the now-defunct Child Online Protection Act (COPA) in Ashcroft v. ACLU (2002).
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, for example, advocated the adoption of a "national standard for regulation for obscenity of the Internet." Justice Stephen Breyer reasoned that COPA should be read to include a national standard. Other justices expressed concern about the notion of local community standards, as well.
Internet filters give librarians control in order to protect children from harmful material. What's the objection?
The U.S. Supreme Court has acknowledged that the protection of minors is a compelling government interest. But, the Court has also ruled that protecting minors does not mean that the government has carte blanche to suppress the free-speech rights of adults and older minors. The problem with filters is that they block too much legitimate, constitutionally protected material. A federal court had ruled that less-restrictive alternatives to filtering exist, so that speech is not banned in such a broad swath. The Supreme Court, however, overturned that ruling.
Haven't studies conclusively shown that violent images cause violence?
No, not conclusively. One scholar who analyzed about 200 recent studies of media violence said none provided support for the existence of a cause-and-effect relationship between violent imagery and actual violence. Japanese and Canadian TV programming is more violent than American TV, but those societies have much lower violent-crime rates than the United States.
Can violence on television be legally regulated?
Courts have generally said that it cannot be restricted without a violation of the First Amendment protection of free speech.
From a First Amendment standpoint, what's wrong with voluntary rating or labeling systems?
Free-speech advocates warn that "voluntary" programs may seem to come from willing industry participants, but compliance is usually due to significant pressure from lawmakers.
Can an artist sue a private gallery that refuses to show her art?
No. Private galleries are private spaces, and gallery owners and curators can show what they like. An artist whose work is rejected by a private gallery cannot legally assert a First Amendment claim.
What is the legal definition of obscenity?
The U.S. Supreme Court set up a test for obscenity in its 1973 decision Miller v. California. The Court provided three "basic guidelines":
Whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest
Whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law
Whether the work, taken as whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value
These different guidelines are sometimes called the prurient-interest, patently offensive and serious-value prongs of the Miller test.
What safeguards must a city licensing law have with respect to adult bookstores and related businesses?
The U.S. Supreme Court has indicated that city licensing laws must contain some procedural safeguards in order to guard against censorship. In its 1990 decision FW/PBS v. City of Dallas, the high court said that a licensing scheme for adult businesses must contain two such safeguards:
The decision to issue or deny a license must be made within a "specified and reasonable time period
There must be the possibility of prompt judicial review in the event that the license is erroneously denied
What are the adverse secondary effects that are used to justify restrictions on adult businesses?
The most commonly mentioned secondary effects with respect to adult businesses are decreased property values and increased crime. Government officials often argue that adult businesses will reduce the property values of surrounding areas and lead to greater crime. Many courts give a high level of deference to municipal officials when it comes to secondary effects.
However, some studies have actually contradicted the general assumptions that all adult businesses cause adverse secondary effects. For example, a study by the Fulton County (Ga.) police department showed fewer police calls made from adult businesses than from regular bars. Another city-commissioned study from Fulton County showed that property values increased around some so-called gentleman's clubs.
Can a city completely prohibit adult-entertainment businesses from operating?
No. But a city may enact reasonable zoning measures that relegate adult businesses to a certain area or areas of town. Similarly, a city may zone adult businesses by dispersing them throughout a city.
Cities may also pass restrictions that regulate how live entertainment is performed. For example, courts have allowed cities to require nude dancers to wear at least some clothing during their performances.
But a city may not completely prohibit adult entertainment. In its 1981 decision Schad v. Borough of Mount Ephraim, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a town in New Jersey could not ban live adult performance dancing within its borders. "By excluding live entertainment throughout the Borough, the Mount Ephraim ordinance prohibits a wide range of expression that has long been held to be within the protections of the First and Fourteenth Amendments," the high court wrote.
The Supreme Court distinguished between a zoning law that restricted the location of adult businesses and a law that completely prohibited certain types of expressive conduct.
Would it be legal for a telemarketer to call me at 1 a.m., waking me up, to sell me something?
No, telemarketers cannot call consumers before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. Telemarketers who do call after these times have violated two federal laws that overlap somewhat — the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act. Both laws empower either state officials or individuals to sue for abusive telemarketing practices. Complaints can also be filed with the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission.
Can creditors and telemarketers use profanity over the telephone?
Generally, yes. However, many states have passed laws regarding telephone harassment. In Tennessee, for example, telephone harassment is committed by one "who intentionally threatens by telephone … to take action known to be unlawful against any person, and by this action knowingly annoys or alarms the recipient" (T.C.A. § 39-17-308(a)(1)). The elements for telephone harassment must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt by the state. While the elements vary slightly from state to state, the prosecution generally must prove that the defendant placed the calls anonymously, repetitiously or at an inconvenient hour; the defendant had no legitimate purpose for contacting the victim; and the defendant's action somehow alarmed or annoyed the victim.
Why does government regulation of news racks raise a First Amendment issue?
When the government regulates news racks, it affects a fundamental delivery device by which publishers convey their informative products to the public. Many people purchase or pick up newspapers and commercial handbills from news racks. Racks provide an easy way for many people to obtain these publications. The U.S. Supreme Court has written that news racks "continue to play a significant role in the dissemination of protected speech."
Why shouldn't the FDA have unfettered ability to regulate the content of labels on health products?
The FDA doesn't have absolute control because, as a federal agency, it is bound by the dictates of the Constitution and the First Amendment. Generally, the content of labels is considered to be at least a form of commercial speech that merits a degree of First Amendment protection.
Why do supporters favor a constitutional amendment prohibiting flag-burning?
Many supporters feel that the flag is a unique symbol deserving of dignity and respect. To burn this object of veneration is akin to an "inarticulate grunt or roar" that is devoid of any meaningful speech, intended only to enrage others, and undeserving of free-speech protection. The supporters say that when so many other avenues exist for free expression, any burden on the First Amendment is too small to outweigh the desecration of the flag and the memories of the millions who have died for the liberty it represents.
Why do opponents reject a constitutional amendment prohibiting flag-burning?
Opponents argue that the government may not prohibit free speech simply because the ideas expressed are objectionable. Cultural and social change would be strangled if protest were limited to issues with which the majority agreed. This principle is not dependent on the medium of expression. Burning the flag is a means of protected speech as surely as picketing, printing leaflets or shouting on a street corner.
Can I sue someone for sending me junk faxes?
In 1991, Congress enacted the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Part of this act made it unlawful to send unsolicited advertisements to a fax machine without the recipient's prior permission. However, in 2005 the Junk Fax Prevention Act was signed into law. That act amended the TCPA to allow faxes to be sent to recipients, without prior consent, if there is an established business relationship.
An established business relationship is a prior or existing relationship formed by a voluntary two-way communication between the sender and the recipient. However, the JFPA also allows senders to fax those whose numbers they received from "a directory, advertisement, or site on the Internet to which the recipient voluntarily agreed to make available its facsimile number for public distribution." There is no time limit on this exception. So, if a fax number appeared on such a list 10 years ago and a sender obtains that list, they can send faxes to that number without being penalized. If a fax owner never put his or her fax number on any type of list that could be available to the public and has no business relationship with a sender, he or she can sue the sender of the unsolicited fax.
However, some states may have laws regulating faxes sent within their states that are more stringent than the JFPA.
What is the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Act of 2002?
The law was passed by the House of Representatives on Feb. 14, 2002, and by the Senate on March 20, then signed into law by President George W. Bush on March 27. In its final stages before passage, it was also known as the McCain-Feingold bill, named after main sponsors Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Russ Feingold, D-Wis. Other key sponsors were Sens. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and James Jeffords, I-Vermont. In the House, Reps. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., and Martin Meehan, D-Mass., sponsored the legislation. The main provisions of the law, which took effect on Nov. 6, 2002, are (1) a ban on "soft money" donations to political parties by individuals, corporations and unions; (2) restrictions on "electioneering communications" — broadcast advertisements close to an election that mention specific candidates by name; and (3) an increase in the limits on donations individuals may make to candidates for federal office.
What is soft money, and why is it being regulated?
The Federal Election Commission in 1979 issued a regulation allowing political parties to raise funds for "party-building" efforts — such as voter registration drives and TV advertising. This "soft money" remains outside the normal rules that require reporting the source and amount of donations. It was originally justified as a way for parties to remain viable as entities separate from their candidates. But over the years, soft-money donations from corporations and unions — otherwise barred from making donations — to political parties have skyrocketed. And the national parties have transferred much of the money to state party accounts that are used to influence specific elections. The growth of soft money was seen by reformers as thwarting the purpose of all campaign-finance regulations.
What are the First Amendment concerns raised by the new campaign-finance law?
Because of the U.S. Supreme Court's 1976 ruling in Buckley v. Valeo, all regulations affecting the money used in campaigns must be evaluated with the First Amendment in mind. This is because money used in campaigns, especially the money spent by candidates, directly or indirectly supports the expression of political views. As the Supreme Court said in Buckley, "Discussion of public issues and debate on the qualifications of candidates are integral to the operation of the system of government established by our Constitution. The First Amendment affords the broadest protection to such political expression." Critics of the new law say it violates the First Amendment by sharply restricting the ability of political parties and other groups to convey their views about issues and candidates in elections.
How do campaign-finance law supporters respond to the First Amendment issues raised?
Those who like the new law say it merely restores the political landscape to the way it was a decade ago, before the use of soft money and electioneering ads became so widespread. In a recent position paper, Brookings Institution scholars Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein also insist that "no speech is banned by the new law — not a single ad nor any word or combination of words would be muzzled." Only the source of the funds and the disclosure of the source are affected by the law, they say. In addition, supporters argue that the importance of curbing corruption in the political system outweighs any infringement on expression the law might impose.
How have the courts assessed the BCRA?
The law itself spelled out an expedited process for handling the inevitable legal challenges to the law. A three-judge panel in the District of Columbia held hearings at which evidence of the impact of campaign contributions was introduced. After months of deliberation, the panel issued its ruling in May 2003. The panel, comprised of appeals court Judge Karen Henderson and district Judges Colleen Kollar-Kotelly and Richard Leon, produced more than 1,600 pages of mix-and-match opinions that upheld some provisions of the law but struck down others. Commentators generally agreed that because of its fractured findings and conclusions, the ruling did little to help the Supreme Court as it undertook its own assessment of the law.
How did the Supreme Court handle the case?
Because the panel did not rule until May, the Supreme Court did not take up the issue until after its summer recess. Twelve separate appeals concerning the BCRA reached the Court, but they were consolidated and became known generally under the name McConnell v. Federal Election Commission. The justices, who traditionally do not begin their term until the first Monday in October, convened in early September to consider the case in a rare four-hour session. Some of the top First Amendment and constitutional lawyers in the nation argued in the cases — including Floyd Abrams, Kenneth Starr, Seth Waxman and the current solicitor general Theodore Olson. Following the arguments, the general view was that the justices would try to issue their ruling before the end of 2003, so that the uncertainty over the law would end before the 2004 presidential campaign got underway.
How did the Supreme Court rule on the BCRA?
The justices, like the court panel that first assessed the law, was sharply divided. But the five-justice majority did speak clearly and decisively in support of almost the entire law. Justices John Paul Stevens and Sandra Day O'Connor wrote the main opinion, and Justices David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer were also in the majority. Citing extensive evidence of the influence of campaign money on legislation and elections, the majority gave deference to Congress in fashioning laws that would prevent companies, individuals and parties from circumventing earlier campaign laws. The majority gave less weight than it usually does to First Amendment concerns, prompting dissenting Justice Antonin Scalia to call it a "sad day" for freedom of speech. Also dissenting in most parts of the decision were Chief Justice William Rehnquist, and Justices Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas. The only major provision of the law struck down was the ban on campaign donations by minors. The Court unanimously agreed that this section of the law unconstitutionally infringed on the speech rights of minors.
Did the Supreme Court decide that there can be no book censorship in public school libraries?
Not exactly. In the Pico case, the Court ruled that books could not be removed from a public school library unless they were educationally unsuitable or "pervasively vulgar." The ruling did not extend to the acquisition of books — leaving schools to decide which books they would purchase.
Are there laws prohibiting spam?
Not at the federal level, though at least eight bills to regulate spam have been introduced in recent sessions of Congress. (See a list of federal bills.)
More than 20 states, however, have passed laws regulating spam. (See spamlaws.com for updated information on states that have anti-spam laws.)
Can different rules about hair length apply in extracurricular activities and the regular school day?
Yes. In most cases, participation in extracurricular activities is considered to be a privilege, not a right. As such, participants may be subject to additional or different rules than regular students. Lower courts and the U.S. Supreme Court have noted that participants in extracurricular sports, by electing to participate, subject themselves to these rules. In 1995, the Supreme Court decided a case in which it upheld drug testing for student athletes. In its opinion, the Court noted: "By choosing to 'go out for the team,' [student athletes] voluntarily subject themselves to a degree of regulation even higher than that imposed on students generally." Vernonia Sch. Dist. 47J v. Acton, U.S. 646, 657 (1995)
One fairly recent case highlighting this issue was decided in a U.S. District Court in Missouri. In Hurt v. Boonville R-1 School District Case, No. 02-4267-CV-C-SOW (W.D. Mo. 2002), a high school student was not allowed to play in a basketball game, because he wore his hair in a type of braid called cornrows. This style violated the team coach's grooming policy. Though calling the rule "stupid and dumb," the judge deciding the case found no violation of constitutional or statutory rights and said that "high school coaches have discretion and authority to impose additional requirements on student athletes."
Does a public school have the right to prohibit students from wearing hats in school?
Though the courts have been divided over how to resolve dress-code disputes and have reached different results, there has not been a successful challenge to a hat regulation in public schools. So, a prohibition on wearing hats in school would probably be upheld.
School boards have used a variety of reasons to support policies on uniforms and dress codes. They say standard attire helps lessen peer pressure aggravated by socioeconomic divisions, promote unity of spirit, identify trespassers on school grounds and prevent gang-related violence. These concerns would likely be among the reasons for prohibiting hats in schools, and such rationales have been upheld in many courts.
The one exception schools would probably make would be for religious headwear.
Can students wear clothing with profanity?
No, public school officials can prohibit students from wearing shirts with profane messages. In its 1986 decision Bethel School Dist. No. 403 v. Fraser, the U.S. Supreme Court wrote: "Surely, it is a highly appropriate function of public school education to prohibit the use of vulgar and offensive terms in public discourse." The Court explained that "schools must teach by example the shared values of a civilized social order."
I work with a political committee. Am I required to put a disclaimer on emails or on our website?
Yes. Political committees that are registered with the Federal Election Commission are required to place disclaimers on their public websites. If you send out more than 500 substantially similar emails, each message must contain a disclaimer. (For specific disclaimer requirements, please see this FEC information.)
Can I send an email to a friend about a political topic or federal election without worrying about a disclaimer?
Yes. Individuals are not subject to the rules and regulations concerning online campaign advertising. An individual may send unlimited personal emails on any political topic. There is no need even to identify yourself, and it is not necessary to state whether or not you have been authorized by a political party in sending the email.
Can I create my own personal political blog? Can I post to another's political blog?
Absolutely, to both. Uncompensated blogging is exempted from any Federal Election Commission regulation in effect today.
What if I pay to place a political ad on someone else's Web page? Would I be subject to any rules and regulations?
Yes. An ad placed on someone else's Web page for a fee would be considered to be a "public communication" under the regulations. To take this question one step further, paying to place an ad on another's website may result in a contribution or expenditure. All disclaimer requirements would also apply in this situation.
The company I work for provides commercial services online. May we provide our services to political committees and candidates?
Yes. You may provide your services to political candidates and committees, as long as you charge the normal and usual fees for your services.
I work for a private employer and am told that it is against company policy to discuss politics or religion with customers. Does that violate my freedom of speech?
No, the First Amendment does not limit private employers. The Bill of Rights — and the First Amendment — limit only government actors, not private actors. This means that private employers can restrict employee speech in the workplace without running afoul of the First Amendment. Private employees would have to rely on other sources of law (e.g., contract law, tort law or state employment statutes) to seek relief in court.
Public employers also can set rules for employee behavior in the workplace. However, public employers are government actors and are subject to the limitations of the Bill of Rights, including the First Amendment.
← FAQ
Who is "the press"?
Courts have long struggled with this seemingly easy question. While no doubt exists that "mainstream" media, such as broadcast stations, newspapers and magazines enjoy the freedom of "the press," the line gets blurrier in cases involving underground newspapers, freelance writers and pamphleteers. In general, however, courts have defined "the press" so as to include all publishers. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, for example, has said that First Amendment protections extend to "'every sort of publication which affords a vehicle of information and opinion.'" von Bulow v. von Bulow, 811 F.2d 136, 144 (2d Cir.) (quoting Lovell v. Griffin, 303 U.S. 444, 452 (1938)), cert. denied, 481 U.S. 1015 (1987).
Does "freedom of the press" mean the news media can say or write anything they want?
Unless restricted by a valid prior restraint (which is rare), the news media are free to publish any information or opinion they desire. This freedom, however, does not immunize them from liability for what they publish. A newspaper that publishes false information about a person, for example, can be sued for libel. A television station similarly can be sued if it broadcasts a story that unlawfully invades a person's privacy. Because such liability can be staggering, most journalists strive to exercise their freedom to publish in a responsible and ethical manner.
If a news gatherer is jailed for refusing to turn over subpoenaed information, how and when is he or she released?
A jailed news gatherer can be released for many reasons. Occasionally, the news gatherer will "purge" the contempt by turning over the subpoenaed information. In other instances, an appellate court will uphold the privilege and overturn the contempt order. If the news gatherer demonstrates enough resolve to convince the judge that the information never will be provided and that further jail time is futile, some judges will release the news gatherer. News gatherers also often are released when the proceeding in which they were subpoenaed (the trial or grand jury session) ends, or when the information for which they were subpoenaed is obtained from another source.
The reporters and editors at my local newspaper are highly biased. Is there a federal regulator who should know about this?
No. Under the First Amendment, newspapers and magazines can publish information as they see fit, biased or not. If published information is libelous, the publication can be sued by the person claiming to be libeled. But the federal government does not and cannot regulate newspaper content.
Why is the status of a plaintiff so important in defamation law?
The status of the plaintiff (person bringing a lawsuit) in defamation law is important because there are different legal standards for different types of plaintiffs. The legal standard changes depending upon whether the defamation plaintiff is a private or public figure. Private figures must show that a defendant was negligent, or at fault, in order to prevail. But, so-called public figures or public officials who sue for defamation must meet a higher legal standard. They must show that a defendant acted with actual malice by clear and convincing evidence in order to recover. The courts have defined actual malice as knowing that a statement was false or acting in reckless disregard as to whether a statement was true or false.
This difference in legal standards shows why a significant amount of defamation litigation focuses on whether the plaintiff is a private or public figure. Defamation defendants will often argue that plaintiffs are public figures, while plaintiffs will often contend that they are private figures.
What is a retraction statute?
A retraction statute is a law that allows a defamation plaintiff to retract, or take back, a defamatory statement. Retraction statutes vary considerably from state to state in terms of their coverage and net effect. Under many statutes, a plaintiff has to request a retraction within a certain time frame. Then, the defendant must comply in a certain time frame. In many states, if a defendant issues a proper retraction, the defendant can reduce (but not eliminate) the damages they will have to pay. For example, in Tennessee, if a defendant issues a proper retraction, the defendant cannot be held liable for punitive damages. (Punitive damages are damages designed to punish the wrongdoer; they are controversial in some circles, because they go beyond compensatory damages, which are damages designed to compensate the plaintiff for wrongdoing.)
Is truth a defense in libel lawsuits?
Truth is an absolute defense to libel claims, because one of the elements that must be proven in a defamation suit is falsity of the statement. If a statement is true, it cannot be false, and therefore, there is no prima facie case of defamation. There are numerous jurisdictions (including Florida) that have adopted the substantial-truth doctrine, which offers protection to a defendant of a defamation claim, as long as the "gist" of the story is true.
In the 1964 ruling New York Times v. Sullivan, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the First Amendment protects the publication of all statements regarding public officials unless the statement was made with actual malice — "with knowledge of its falsity or with reckless disregard of whether it was true or false." The Court set a new standard by requiring that a public-official defamation plaintiff show evidence of actual malice by clear and convincing evidence. If the plaintiff is a private person, then only negligence needs to be proven, assuming the defamatory statement was false. However, if the private person wants to recover punitive damages, she must show that actual malice existed, as well.
When can an individual sue for public disclosure of private facts?
Generally, the material published must be private information that "is not of legitimate concern to the public." Its disclosure must also be "highly offensive to a reasonable person." Material private enough to trigger this tort claim could include disclosure of sexual orientation, medical history, or other personal, private facets of a person's life. The pressing question in public disclosure of private-facts cases is whether the information is newsworthy or of legitimate concern to the public. Newsworthiness is evaluated by an examination of several factors, including the social value of the disclosed material, the depth of intrusion into personal life, and the extent to which the person is already in public view. Even Louis Brandeis and Samuel Warren, authors of a famous 1890 law review article, "The Right To Privacy," wrote: "The right to privacy does not prohibit any publication of matter which is of public or general interest."
What types of conduct by the news media can lead to intrusion claims?
Many different types of conduct can cause someone to file an intrusion/invasion-of-privacy lawsuit. Common examples include trespassing on private property without the owner's consent; installing hidden cameras or other secret surveillance equipment to monitor someone's behavior; and harassing a person by continually following him.
An example of conduct that was held to be intrusive enough to warrant judicial relief was the case of paparazzi photographer Ron Galella. Galella was relentless in his pursuit of photographs of Jackie Onassis and her children. After a court injunction and appeal, Galella was prohibited from approaching within 25 feet of Jackie O., blocking her movement in any public place and engaging in "any conduct which would reasonably be foreseen to harass, alarm or frighten the defendant."
What is prior restraint?
A prior restraint is a legal restraint on material before publication. It's an order that prevents publication.
Does the protection against prior restraint protect only the news media?
In theory, the protection against prior restraint applies to all speakers. Practically, however, fewer circumstances exist in which individuals can assert this protection. Moreover, in light of the balancing test suggested in Landmark Communications, a court might be more likely to find that the government's interest in preventing harmful speech outweighs an individual's interest in disseminating sensitive information.
What types of restraints on speech do individuals face?
As most famously described by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in Schenck v. United States, "The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic." Other types of speech by individuals also fall outside the protection against prior restraint, including fighting words and obscenity.
"There are two ways in which the government may attempt to restrain speech," wrote scholar Henry Cohen in "Freedom of Speech and Press: Exceptions to the First Amendment" (Congressional Research Service, 2001). "The more common is to make a particular category of speech, such as obscenity or defamation, subject to criminal prosecution or civil suit, and then, if someone engages in the proscribed category of speech, to hold a trial and impose sanctions if appropriate. The second way is by prior restraint, i.e., to issue a court injunction against engaging in particular speech," publishing the Pentagon Papers, for example."
If my employer tells me I can't say certain things or discuss certain matters, isn't that prior restraint?
Not from a First Amendment standpoint. The First Amendment limits what government in its various forms can do to restrict speech. Many individuals are subject to employment or other contracts that limit their right to speak freely. That's a private matter.
How does the FCC define "indecent" speech?
Under FCC rules, broadcast indecency is "language or material that, in context, depicts or describes, in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium, sexual or excretory organs or activities." By "contemporary community standards," the FCC means the standard "of an average broadcast viewer or listener, and not the sensibilities of any individual complainant."
Have there been attempts to apply "equal time" rules to newspapers?
Some states passed "right of reply" statutes to require newspapers that criticized candidates to give those candidates space to respond. In Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo (1974), the U.S. Supreme Court said such statutes violated the First Amendment, because the government cannot compel a newspaper to publish information. "A responsible press is an undoubtedly desirable goal," the Court said, "but press responsibility is not mandated by the Constitution, and like many other virtues, it cannot be legislated."
Do television networks have access to courtroom trials?
Television coverage is not allowed in federal courts. The state courts have been more receptive to allowing television coverage of trials, but none has recognized a right to broadcast a trial. The courts most receptive to cameras in the courtroom allow judges broad discretion in deciding whether to permit televised coverage.
The Radio-Television News Directors Association and its foundation closely monitor the federal and state rules governing cameras in the courtroom. The foundation posts a state-by-state guide of current law regarding cameras and microphones in courtrooms on its website.
What campaign-finance rules apply to broadcasters?
The rules that apply to broadcasters are mainly bookkeeping rules. Broadcasters are required to keep publicly available records of politically related broadcasting requests.
So, as stated in the 2003 Supreme Court decision McConnell v. Federal Election Commission, any request to purchase air time "made by or on behalf of" any "legally qualified candidate for public office" that refers to a "legally qualified candidate" or "any election to Federal office" or a "national legislative issue of public importance" has to be recorded and made available to the public.
How can I find out if my state has a shield law or recognizes a news gatherer's privilege?
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press publishes "The Reporter's Privilege Compendium," a state-by-state guide to the privilege. This updated guide is available online.
You can also obtain current information by researching state law in law libraries or through a number of online databases, including www.findlaw.com.
How have the circuit courts viewed the question of reporters' privilege?
See this compilation, Branzburg v. Hayes, reporters' privilege & circuit courts.
How common are gag orders?
Gag orders are increasingly common. A survey conducted by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press tracked 43 gag orders in 26 states and the District of Columbia between Feb. 1 and April 20, 2000. Among the Reporters Committee's findings were:
Most of the orders were imposed, even though the trial judge did not conduct hearings to determine whether there were less-drastic means to ensure a fair trial.
Eighteen of the 43 orders were imposed in civil rather than criminal cases, including some in cases in which governmental entities were parties.
A federal judge in Lubbock, Texas, entered gag orders in nearly all of his cases — a total of 219 cases in two years.
How can I find out the extent to which my state allows cameras in the courtroom?
The Radio-Television News Directors Association closely monitors the federal and state rules governing cameras in the courtroom. The foundation posts a state-by-state guide of current law regarding cameras and microphones in courtrooms on its website.
Don't courts unfairly discriminate against television stations when they allow print reporters to use the tools of their trade but deny television reporters that same right?
Broadcasters long have maintained that the tools of their trade — cameras and microphones — can be used to cover trials with no more disruption than the pens, notebooks, tape recorders and other materials used by print reporters and sketch artists. Most courts, however, have not been persuaded by this argument. In addition, most courts have taken the view that, as long as television reporters are allowed into the courtroom, they have the same access as print reporters.
Given that trials are presumed to be open, does the public have a First Amendment right to hear the discussions among the judge, the lawyers and the parties in sidebar conferences or in the judge's chambers?
Assuming that sidebar conferences and meetings in chambers are not being used to circumvent hearings that should be held in open court, the right of access does not extend to such discussions. Courts that have considered this issue have denied access on the grounds that there is no historical tradition of access to these portions of a trial. These discussions, however, almost always are recorded by the court reporter, and many courts, if asked, will release transcripts of the discussions after the trial.
Are there dangers in using anonymous juries?
Anonymous juries were first used in the late 1970s and the early 1980s in trials of drug kingpins and other defendants who posed a special danger to jurors. In those cases and in cases in which there is a high risk of jury tampering, anonymous juries are necessary to protect both jurors and the integrity of the judicial system. Since the mid-1990s, however, judges often have empaneled anonymous juries in cases, including civil cases, in which the only "risk" to jurors is the possibility of being approached for press interviews after the case. Anonymous juries should not be used so lightly, however, particularly because being anonymous almost always suggests to jurors that the defendant is dangerous. An anonymous jury is also often beyond scrutiny, even by the parties in the case. One of the jurors in the anonymous jury seated to hear one of mobster John Gotti's trials, for example, was a man with ties to organized crime. Many believe this juror contacted Gotti's attorneys, arranged for a bribe and ensured Gotti's acquittal. Because of the jurors' anonymity, neither the prosecutors nor the news media were aware of this juror's background until after the trial.
Why would any state want to include protections for press freedom in its constitution? Doesn't the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution cover that?
The First Amendment provides only the minimum level of constitutional protection. The states are free to provide additional protection under their own state laws, including their state constitutions. This notion of "dual federalism," envisioned by the Framers, thus provides citizens and others with two important levels of legal protection by which to safeguard our rights.
How does criminal libel differ from civil libel?
In criminal libel, the theory is that the damage is to the public rather than to a private individual. Therefore, the state becomes the prosecuting entity against an individual speaker. Presumably, the individual's libelous statement would have to be deemed serious enough to warrant removing the case from the civil realm. The defamation involved in criminal libel could be of another individual, a public official, a government entity, a group, or even a deceased person.
Didn't New York Times Co. v. Sullivan eliminate the basis for criminal-libel suits?
No. In Sullivan (1964), as well as in Garrison v. Louisiana the same year, the Supreme Court extended some First Amendment protection to some false statements of fact leveled against public officials and public figures. But it did not find criminal libel unconstitutional.
When are media "ride-alongs" with police allowed?
Media "ride-alongs" are allowed up to the point that law enforcement personnel enter a private residence. In Wilson v. Layne, the U.S. Supreme Court in 1999 held that police officers executing an arrest warrant violated the Fourth Amendment when they, without the homeowner's consent, invited a reporter and photographer inside a home to witness the search for a fugitive. While the Court recognized that the inclusion of media representatives in such cases might serve general law enforcement aims, it held that such goals were insufficient to overcome the privacy protections fundamental to the Fourth Amendment.
What rights do journalists have at accident or disaster scenes?
The courts haven't recognized that the news media have any constitutional guarantee of access to any particular scene. However, there are statutory rights in a few states and case law in others that protect press access from unreasonable restriction.
The courts have generally stood behind journalists who act reasonably in trying to get information — but courts have not protected those who blatantly disregard police orders. Courts have recognized under the First Amendment a press privilege to be left alone by the police, so long as the media do not unreasonably interfere with or obstruct police activity or risk their own personal safety. In Connell v. Town of Hudson, for example, a 1990 case in New Hampshire, a federal judge found that a news photographer had a First Amendment right to be at a car accident scene.
What is HIPAA?
It's the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act, a federal health-privacy law that went into effect in 2003.
Does HIPAA mean journalists can't report on individuals' medical conditions?
No. HIPAA does not regulate what the press can report. But it does limit the kinds of information that hospitals and various government agencies can disclose.
What if a reporter learns health-related information from a source not associated with an agency?
Health care information the news media obtains independently is not subject to HIPAA. It may be published or broadcast freely, subject to any newsroom policies limiting the publication of information about minors or the deceased.
If a crime or emergency occurs on the grounds of a medical facility, does HIPAA trump the news media's right to access the location while emergency responders are in charge of the scene?
There does not appear to be a case where HIPAA has been used to bar a journalist's access to a crime or emergency scene. The issue of trespass would be the bigger issue if the incident occurred on private property. (See the FAQ "What rights do journalists have at accident or disaster scenes?") Having said that, there have been cases of misinterpretation of HIPAA, and there have been instances of law enforcement and fire department personnel saying they can no longer release information once commonly disclosed. This may extend to denying access to a crime or emergency scene.
Do court transcripts fall under FOI? Can they be withheld from litigants?
The Freedom of Information Act applies only to federal government agencies. Although all states have created their own FOI acts, these acts do not apply to the court systems. However, courts have tended to allow a right of access to court files and documents, including court transcripts. The problem that the courts have constantly faced is determining just how far the right of access reaches.
The general rule is that if the public has access to a legal proceeding, then it has the right to access the records of a proceeding, which include court transcripts.
Many states' websites have instructions for ordering court transcripts. For example, see Connecticut's Judicial Branch site or Kansas's Judicial Branch.
Litigants in a trial have the right of access to obtain court transcripts of the trial if the public also has access. However, judges do have the authority to withhold court transcripts from the public and litigants.
An Ohio Supreme Court decision held that the cost of obtaining a court transcript depends on who is making the request. In State ex. rel. Slagle v. Rogers, the state court held that parties to a court proceeding must pay the court reporter $2.50 per page for a transcript. Anyone who subsequently requests a court transcript must pay only 10 cents per page — the standard rate in Ohio for any public record.
Are states making court records available electronically for the public?
Many states have implemented procedures to allow for electronic access to court records. Most have come to the conclusion, through committee studies, that the public should be able to access court records, regardless of the medium in which they are stored.
However, states have realized that there are additional privacy concerns when dealing with electronic access to court records. Many states respond to this issue by allowing electronic access only to nonconfidential court records, as long as certain types of sensitive, personal information are removed from the records. This would include Social Security, credit card and financial account numbers, etc.
Most states have reached the conclusion that electronic access to court records should be provided in a way that is consistent with the fundamental right of public access to court records. States have further concluded that narrowly tailored exceptions to public access are acceptable, as long as states do not make broad categorical limitations as to what the public can request. Almost all states will deny the public's access to electronic records if the state has an interest in secrecy that outweighs the public's right of access to a particular document.
Some state courts have also made digital audio recordings of courtroom proceedings publicly available online. The U.S. District Court in Nebraska and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina were the first to make such recordings available, and several other courts have joined that movement.
In 2007, the Reporter's Committee for Freedom of the Press conducted a state-by-state analysis of online access to court records.
A blog, or Web log, is generally described as an online journal or diary where individuals can post their thoughts on a subject for the world to see and read. Many, however, disagree over the definition of a blog. Robert Cox, president of the Media Bloggers Association, stated in an interview with the First Amendment Center Online that there is no clear definition of "blogging": "[The term] is worse than useless, because it is an empty vessel into which people can — and do — pour whatever meaning suits them at the time. … Blogging is writing."
Does blogging raise First Amendment issues?
Just as with any medium of communication, blogging can implicate a variety of First Amendment interests. Some bloggers write material that others may claim is defamatory. There is also a debate as to whether bloggers qualify as journalists or reporters for purposes of reporter-shield legislation. Additionally, a looming question concerns the extent of free-speech protection held by public employees who post blogs on their free time. There is also a debate as to whether bloggers should be subject to campaign-disclosure legislation.
Can public employees be disciplined for the content of their blogs?
That is a difficult question. Certainly, public employers have authority to prohibit employees from writing their blogs on employer time. The trickier question is whether a public employee can be disciplined for expression created on his or her own time. One theory is that since the expression was created off-duty, then the employer has no control over such content. A key factor could be whether the expression causes a disruption at the workplace. A few courts, for instance, have disciplined employees for racist comments they have made off-duty. This is a developing area of the law that merits close attention.
Can a newspaper refuse to run a letter or advertisement?
Yes, newspapers do have a First Amendment right to refuse letters to the editor and ads. Since they are privately owned entities whose editors have editorial control, they are free to promote whatever political, social or economic view they wish.
The U.S. Supreme Court addressed the issue of editorial control and freedom of the press in 1974 in the case Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo, 418 U.S. 241. This case concerned a Florida political candidate who brought suit against The Miami Herald pursuant to the state's "right-to-reply" statute after the paper refused to print the candidate's reply to editorials critical of him. The statute in question required a newspaper to provide equal space to a political candidate to reply to any criticism of the candidate's personal character or official record printed by the newspaper. The Supreme Court found the statute to be unconstitutional in that it violated the First Amendment right to a free press.
The Court wrote:
"A newspaper is more than a passive receptacle or conduit for news, comment, and advertising. The choice of material to go into a newspaper, and the decisions made as to limitations on the size and content of the paper, and treatment of public issues and public officials — whether fair or unfair — constitute the exercise of editorial control and judgment. It has yet to be demonstrated how governmental regulation of this crucial process can be exercised consistent with First Amendment guarantees of a free press as they have evolved to this time."
The First Amendment says nothing about "separation of church and state" or a "wall of separation between church and state." Where did this idea come from? Is it really part of the law?
Although the words "separation of church and state" do not appear in the First Amendment, the establishment clause was intended to separate church from state. When the First Amendment was adopted in 1791, the establishment clause applied only to the federal government, prohibiting the federal government from any involvement in religion. By 1833, all states had disestablished religion from government, providing protections for religious liberty in state constitutions. In the 20th century, the U.S. Supreme Court applied the establishment clause to the states through the 14th Amendment. Today, the establishment clause prohibits all levels of government from either advancing or inhibiting religion.
The establishment clause separates church from state, but not religion from politics or public life. Individual citizens are free to bring their religious convictions into the public arena. But the government is prohibited from favoring one religious view over another or even favoring religion over non-religion.
Our nation's founders disagreed about the exact meaning of "no establishment" under the First Amendment; the argument continues to this day. But there was and is widespread agreement that preventing government from interfering with religion is an essential principle of religious liberty. All of the Framers understood that "no establishment" meant no national church and no government involvement in religion. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison believed that without separating church from state, there could be no real religious freedom.
The first use of the "wall of separation" metaphor was by Roger Williams, who founded Rhode Island in 1635. He said an authentic Christian church would be possible only if there was "a wall or hedge of separation" between the "wilderness of the world" and "the garden of the church." Any government involvement in the church, he believed, corrupts the church.
Then in 1802, Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association, wrote: "I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church and State."
The Supreme Court has cited Jefferson's letter in key cases, beginning with a polygamy case in the 19th century. In the 1947 case Everson v. Board of Education, the Court cited a direct link between Jefferson's "wall of separation" concept and the First Amendment's establishment clause.
Is it constitutional to teach about religion in a public school?
Yes. In the 1960s school-prayer cases that prompted rulings against state-sponsored school prayer and devotional Bible reading, the U.S. Supreme Court indicated that public school education may include teaching about religion. In Abington v. Schempp, Associate Justice Tom Clark wrote for the Court:
"[I]t might well be said that one's education is not complete without a study of comparative religion or the history of religion and its relationship to the advancement of civilization. It certainly may be said that the Bible is worthy of study for its literary and historic qualities. Nothing we have said here indicates that such study of the Bible or of religion, when presented objectively as part of a secular program of education, may not be affected consistently with the First Amendment."
What general principles should public schools and religious communities follow when entering into a cooperative arrangement?
In these guidelines, a "cooperative arrangement" is defined as a shared participation in specific programs and activities in accordance with a written agreement. Before entering into a cooperative arrangement, public schools and religious communities should understand and accept the following principles:
Under the First Amendment, public schools must be neutral concerning religion in all of their activities. School officials must take the necessary steps to ensure that any cooperative activities that take place are wholly secular. Persons invited to address students during the school day shall be advised of this requirement and must agree to abide by it before being allowed access to students
Students have the right to engage in, or decline to engage in, religious activities at their own initiative, so long as they do not interfere with the rights of others. School districts are urged to adopt policies that reflect recent consensus statements on current law concerning religion in public schools. "Religion in the Public Schools: A Joint Statement of Current Law," the U.S. Department of Education's guidelines on "Religious Expression in Public Schools," and other consensus guidelines are available: Write to the First Amendment Center Online to request copies.
Cooperative programs between religious institutions and the public schools are permissible only if:
Participation in programs is not limited to religious groups. That is, schools must be open to participation by all responsible community groups. Qualifications should not be established which have the practical effect of including only religious groups. Eligibility shall be stated in writing
A student's grades, class ranking or participation in any school program will not be affected by his or her willingness to participate or not participate in a cooperative program with a religious institution
Student participation in any cooperative program may not be conditioned on membership in any religious group, acceptance or rejection of any religious belief, or participation (or refusal to participate) in any religious activity.
What is the 'Lemon test' for religious mottos and displays in public settings?
In its 1971 decision Lemon v. Kurtzman, the U.S. Supreme Court set forth a three-pronged inquiry commonly known as the Lemon test. To pass this test, thereby allowing the display or motto to remain, the government conduct (1) must have a secular purpose, (2) must have a principal or primary effect that does not advance or inhibit religion, and (3) cannot foster an excessive government entanglement with religion.
How should the Bible be included in the history curriculum?
The study of history offers a number of opportunities to study about the Bible. When studying the origins of Judaism, for example, students may learn different theories of how the Bible came to be. In a study of the history of the ancient world, students may learn how the content of the Bible sheds light on the history and beliefs of Jews and Christians — adherents of the religions that affirm the Bible as scripture. A study of the Reformation might include a discussion of how Protestants and Catholics differ in their interpretation and use of the Bible.
In U.S. history, there are natural opportunities for students to learn about the role of religion and the Bible in American life and society. For example, many historical documents — including many presidential addresses and congressional debates — contain biblical references. Throughout American history, the Bible has been invoked on various sides of many public-policy debates and in conjunction with social movements such as abolition, temperance and the civil rights movement. A government or civics course may include some discussion of the biblical sources for parts of our legal system.
Learning about the history of the Bible, as well as the role of the Bible in history, are appropriate topics in a variety of courses in the social studies.
What are the academic aims of a literature elective in the Bible?
A literature elective in the Bible would focus on the Bible as a literary text. This might include the Bible as literature and the Bible in literature. A primary goal of the course would be basic biblical literacy — a grasp of the language, major narratives, symbols and characters of the Bible. The course might also explore the influence of the Bible in classic and contemporary poems, plays and novels.
Of course, the Bible is not simply literature — for a number of religious traditions it is scripture. A "Bible Literature" course, therefore, could also include some discussion of how various religious traditions understand the text. This would require that literature teachers be adequately prepared to address in an academic and objective manner the relevant, major religious readings of the text.
How should the Bible be included in the literature curriculum?
Academic study of the Bible in a public secondary school may appropriately take place in literature courses. Students might study the Bible as literature. They would examine the Bible as they would other literature in terms of aesthetic categories, as an anthology of narratives and poetry, exploring its language, symbolism and motifs. Students might also study the Bible in literature, the ways in which later writers have used Bible literature, language and symbols. Much drama, poetry and fiction contains material from the Bible.
How should teachers of a Bible elective be selected and what preparation will they require?
Teaching about the Bible, either in literature and history courses or in Bible electives, requires considerable preparation. School districts and universities should offer in-service workshops and summer institutes for teachers who are teaching about the Bible in literature and history courses.
When selecting teachers to teach Bible electives, school districts should look for teachers who have some background in the academic study of religion. Unless they have already received academic preparation, teachers selected to teach a course about the Bible should receive substantive in-service training from qualified scholars before being permitted to teach such courses. Electives in biblical studies should only be offered if there are teachers academically competent to teach them.
For the future, we recommend changes in teacher education to help ensure that study about religion, including the Bible, is done well in public schools. Literature and history teachers should be encouraged, as part of their certification, to take at least one course in religious studies that prepares them to teach about religions in their subject. Teachers who wish to teach a Bible elective should have taken college-level courses in biblical studies. Eventually, religious studies should become a certifiable field, requiring at least an undergraduate minor. State departments of education will need to set certification requirements, review curricula, and adopt appropriate academic standards for electives in religious studies.
Which version of the Bible should be used?
Selecting a Bible for use in literature, history or elective Bible courses is important, since there is no single Bible. There is a Jewish Bible (the Hebrew Scriptures, or Tanakh), and there are various Christian Bibles — such as Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox — some with additional books, arranged in a different order. These differences are significant. For example, Judaism does not include the Christian New Testament in its Bible, and the Catholic Old Testament has 46 books, while the Protestant has 39. There are also various English translations within each of these traditions.
To adopt any particular Bible — or translation — is likely to suggest to students that it is normative, the best Bible. One solution is to use a biblical sourcebook that includes the key texts of each of the major Bibles or an anthology of various translations.
At the outset and at crucial points in the course, teachers should remind students about the differences between the various Bibles and discuss some of the major views concerning authorship and compilation of the books of the Bible. Students should also understand the differences in translations, read from several translations, and reflect on the significance of these differences for the various traditions.
Preserving the speech rights of students and maintaining the integrity of public education are not mutually exclusive. Schools should model First Amendment principles by encouraging and supporting the rights of students to express their ideas in writings. On the other hand, students should not expect to have unfettered access to their classmates and should be prepared to abide by reasonable time, place and manner restrictions.
Schools must continue to maintain order, discipline and the educational mission of the school as they seek to accommodate the rights of the students. As a result, the free-speech rights of students are not coextensive with the rights of adults. Hate speech and sexually explicit speech, though protected for adults, are probably not protected in a public school.
Have there been any rulings yet on RLUIPA's constitutionality?
Yes. So far, two federal district courts have considered the act's land-use provisions. (Additional courts have considered RLUIPA's institutionalized-persons provisions.) Both in Freedom Baptist Church v. Township of Middletown and Charles v. Verhagen, the courts found RLUIPA to be a constitutional exercise of congressional power. A number of other cases are currently pending, and it is likely that several will produce rulings from the various federal appellate courts. Once a case with convenient facts reaches the appropriate stage, the Supreme Court will almost certainly take the opportunity to rule definitively on RLUIPA's constitutionality.
A public employee wishes to convert a fellow employee to his religion. Does he have a First Amendment right to proselytize?
Individuals do not forfeit First Amendment protections when they accept public-sector employment. Public employees also can speak about religious matters in the workplace to a certain degree, particularly if the speech is not communicated to the general public. However, the employer has a right to ensure that the employee's religious speech does not disrupt office work or otherwise become distracting to other employees to the extent that it hinders productivity. Furthermore, no employee has the right to engage in religious harassment or create a hostile work environment. If the fellow employee tells his religious-minded co-worker to stop proselytizing, the co-worker should desist from further conversations on the subject.
My faith forbids me to work on Sundays, but my workplace is open and I'm expected to be there. What are my rights?
The free-exercise clause of the First Amendment says the government may not prevent individuals from freely practicing their religious faith. Also, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the major federal anti-discrimination law that covers virtually all public and private employers with 15 or more full-time employees, generally prohibits an employer from discriminating against employees on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin or religion. Under Title VII, an employer must "reasonably accommodate" an employee's religious practice unless doing so would create an "undue hardship on the conduct of the employer's business."
Congress didn't define "reasonably accommodate" and "undue hardship," so that was left to the courts. In the 1977 ruling Trans World Airlines v. Hardison, the Supreme Court said requiring an employer "to bear more than a de minimis (minimal) cost" to accommodate an employee's religious practice is an undue hardship. In 1986, the Court ruled that an employer meets its obligation to reasonably accommodate an employee's religious practice when it demonstrates that it has offered a reasonable alternative to work requirements interfering with faith. See Ansonia Board of Education v. Philbrook.
Do students have the right to form religious or political clubs below the secondary level?
Probably not, but current law is unclear on this point. Although the Equal Access Act does not apply to public schools below the secondary level, some courts have held that the free-speech clause protects the right of middle school or elementary school students to form religious or political clubs on an equal footing with other student-initiated clubs. When the EAA was debated in Congress, many lawmakers expressed doubt that young children could form religious clubs that would be truly initiated and led by students. In addition, younger students are more likely to view religious clubs meeting at the school as "school sponsored." For these and other reasons, Congress declined to apply equal access below the secondary level.
Can administrators permit students to form religious or political clubs in middle schools, even if the law does not require that such clubs be allowed?
Again, current law is unclear on this point. If school officials decide to allow middle school students to form religious or political clubs, then at the very least the school should have in place a clear policy and ground rules for the clubs, consistent with the EAA, and explain that the student clubs are not school-sponsored (see Good News Club v. School Dist. of Ladue, 8th Cir. 1994).
Can religious leaders or other outside adults attend the meetings of student clubs?
Yes, if the students invite these visitors and if the school does not have a policy barring all guest speakers or outside adults from extracurricular club meetings. However, the Equal Access Act states that the nonschool persons "may not direct, conduct, control, or regularly attend activities of student groups."
Can students form religious or political clubs in secondary public schools?
Yes, if the school allows other extracurricular (noncurriculum-related) groups. Although schools do not have to open or maintain a limited open forum, once they do, they may not discriminate against a student group because of the content of its speech.
The Equal Access Act (EAA), passed by Congress in 1984 and upheld as constitutional by the Supreme Court in 1990, makes it "unlawful for any public secondary school that receives federal funds and which has a limited open forum to deny equal access or a fair opportunity to, or discriminate against, any students who wish to conduct a meeting within that limited open forum on the basis of the religious, political, philosophical, or other content of the speech at such meetings."
The EAA covers student-initiated and student-led clubs in secondary schools with a limited open forum. According to the act, "non-school persons may not direct, conduct, or regularly attend activities of student groups."
A limited open forum is created whenever a public secondary school provides an opportunity for one or more "noncurriculum related groups" to meet on school premises during noninstructional time. The forum created is said to be "limited" because only the school's students can take advantage of it.
At my children's school around Christmas, outside speakers have come in to teach about Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. Does the school have to give equal time to another speaker who might want to discuss why Christians celebrate Christmas?
school is bringing speakers in to discuss holidays in December, it makes educational sense to include Christmas. All outside speakers should follow First Amendment guidelines for teaching about the holidays.
What should schools do in December?
Decisions about what to do in December should begin with the understanding that public schools may not sponsor religious devotions or celebrations; study about religious holidays does not extend to religious worship or practice.
Does this mean that all seasonal activities must be banned from the schools?
Probably not, and in any event, such an effort would be unrealistic. The resolution would seem to lie in devising holiday programs that serve an educational purpose for all students — programs that make no students feel excluded or forcibly identified with a religion not their own.
Holiday concerts in December may appropriately include music related to Christmas, Hanukkah, and other religious traditions, but religious music should not dominate. Any dramatic productions should emphasize the cultural aspects of the holidays. Conversely, Nativity pageants or plays portraying the Hanukkah miracle would not be appropriate in the public school setting.
Teachers may also teach about religious holidays in the classroom, but they must be alert to the distinction between teaching about such holidays, which is permissible, and celebrating them, which is not. Guest speakers also can help teachers present the appropriate information, but only if they understand their role as informational, not devotional, in nature.
In short, while recognizing the holiday season, none of the school activities in December should have the purpose, or effect, of promoting or inhibiting religion.
Can a teacher refuse to teach certain materials in class if he/she feels the curriculum infringes on his/her personal beliefs?
Generally, teachers must instruct their students in accordance with the established curriculum. For example, the 9th Circuit ruled in 1994 against a high school biology teacher who had challenged his school district's requirement that he teach evolution, as well as its order barring him from discussing his religious beliefs with students. In the words of the court, "[A] school district's restriction on [a] teacher's right of free speech in prohibiting [the] teacher from talking with students about religion during the school day, including times when he was not actually teaching class, [is] justified by the school district's interest in avoiding [an] Establishment Clause violation." (Peloza v. Capistrano Unified School Dist., 9th Cir. 1994)
Also, a state appeals court ruled again that a high school teacher did not have a First Amendment right to refuse to teach evolution in a high school biology class (LeVake v. Independent School Dist. No. 656, Minn. App. 2001). The teacher had argued that the school district had reassigned him to another school and another course because it wanted to silence his criticism of evolution as a viable scientific theory. The state appeals court rejected that argument, pointing out that the teacher could not override the established curriculum.
Other courts have similarly found that teachers do not have a First Amendment right to trump school district decisions regarding the curriculum (Clark v. Holmes, 7th Cir. 1972, Webster v. New Lenox School Dist. No. 122, 7th Cir. 1990). One court wrote: "the First Amendment has never required school districts to abdicate control over public school curricula to the unfettered discretion of individual teachers." (Kirkland v. Northside Independent School Dist., 5th Cir. 1989)
The 4th Circuit ruled that a teacher had "no First Amendment right to insist on the makeup of the curriculum." (Boring v. Buncombe County Bd. of Education, 1998)
Can states be required to grant exemptions for business owners whose Sabbath requires them to close their business on another day?
No. In Braunfeld v. Brown (1961), the Supreme Court held that observance of a Sabbath was an individual's choice, and that a person was not discriminated against or disadvantaged by the state for its decision to require the closing of businesses on a day other than that individual's Sabbath. States may choose to allow exemptions for certain individuals, but they may not be required to do so.
Can teachers wear religious jewelry in the classroom?
Most experts agree that teachers are permitted to wear unobtrusive jewelry, such as a cross or a Star of David. But they should not wear clothing with a proselytizing message (e.g., a "Jesus Saves" T-shirt).
Can teachers and administrators pray or otherwise express their faith while at school?
As employees of the government, public school teachers and administrators are subject to the establishment clause and thus required to be neutral concerning religion while carrying out their duties. That means, for example, that school officials do not have the right to pray with or in the presence of students during the school day.
Of course, teachers and administrators — like students — bring their faith with them through the schoolhouse door each morning. Because of the First Amendment, however, school officials who wish to pray or engage in other religious activities — unless they are silent — should do so outside the presence of students.
If a group of teachers wishes to meet for prayer or scriptural study in the faculty lounge during free time in the school day or before or after school, most legal experts see no constitutional reason why they should not be permitted to do so, as long as the activity is outside the presence of students and does not interfere with their duties or the rights of other teachers.
When not on duty, of course, educators are free like all other citizens to practice their faith. But school officials must refrain from using their position in the public school to promote their outside religious activities.
The U.S. Department of Education put it this way in its 2003 guidelines on prayer in public schools:
"When acting in their official capacities as representatives of the state, teachers, school administrators, and other school employees are prohibited by the Establishment Clause from encouraging or discouraging prayer, and from actively participating in such activity with students. Teachers may, however, take part in religious activities where the overall context makes clear that they are not participating in their official capacities. Before school or during lunch, for example, teachers may meet with other teachers for prayer or Bible study to the same extent that they may engage in other conversation or nonreligious activities. Similarly, teachers may participate in their personal capacities in privately sponsored baccalaureate ceremonies."
Are state holidays constitutional when they are directly tied to some religious observance?
The Supreme Court has declined to address this issue, though the lower courts strongly favor the constitutionality of such holidays. The 9th Circuit in 1991 upheld legislation making Good Friday a state holiday in Cammack v. Waihee, reasoning that the absence of a major traditional holiday in the spring created a state interest in decreeing one, and that it made sense for the legislature to select a day that would already be used by the majority of citizens as a holiday. This decision set the stage for the 4th and 6th Circuits to issue similar rulings. The 7th Circuit disagreed in Metzl v. Leininger (1994), holding that because Good Friday is an exclusively Christian holiday that has in no way been secularized, as have Christmas and Easter, its elevation to the status of a state holiday was unconstitutional, because it sent a message of endorsement to the public, even if the practical result was neither to advance nor inhibit religion. The holding in Metzl did allow for a finding of constitutionality, however, if the legislature would merely make the effort to advance a secular reasoning for the case.
Has the U.S. Supreme Court defined "religion?"
Although it has attempted to create standards to differentiate religious beliefs and actions from similar nonreligious beliefs, the Supreme Court has never articulated a formal definition for religion. Given the diversity of Americans' religious experience since the Constitution was created, a single comprehensive definition has proved elusive.
In 1890, the Supreme Court in Davis v. Beason expressed religion in traditional theistic terms: "[T]he term 'religion' has reference to one's views of his relations to his Creator, and to the obligations they impose of reverence for his being and character, and of obedience to his will."
In the 1960s, the Court expanded its view of religion. In its 1961 decision Torcaso v. Watkins, the Court stated that the establishment clause prevents government from aiding "those religions based on a belief in the existence of God as against those religions founded on different beliefs." In a footnote, the Court clarified that this principle extended to "religions in this country which do not teach what would generally be considered a belief in the existence of God … Buddhism, Taoism, Ethical Culture, Secular Humanism and others."
In its 1965 ruling United States v. Seeger, the Court sought to resolve disagreement between federal circuit courts over interpretation of the Universal Military Training and Service Act of 1948. The case involved denial of conscientious objector status to individuals who based their objections to war on sources other than a supreme being, as specifically required by the statute. The Court interpreted the statute as questioning "[w]hether a given belief that is sincere and meaningful occupies a place in the life of its possessor parallel to that filled by the orthodox belief in God of one who clearly qualifies for the exemption. Where such beliefs have parallel positions in the lives of their respective holders we cannot say that one is 'in relation to a Supreme Being' and the other is not."
Welsh v. United States represented another conscientious-objector case under the same statute. The Court in this 1970 decision went one step further and essentially merged religion with deeply and sincerely held moral and ethical beliefs. The Court suggested individuals could be denied exemption only if "those beliefs are not deeply held and those whose objection to war does not rest at all upon moral, ethical, or religious principle but instead rests solely upon consideration of policy, pragmatism, or expediency."
Following the expansive view of religion expressed in Seeger and Welsh, the Court in its 1972 ruling involving the Amish and compulsory school attendance suggested a shift back, to a more exclusive definition. The majority opinion in Wisconsin v. Yoder indicated that the free-exercise clause applied only to "a 'religious' belief or practice," and "the very concept of ordered liberty precludes allowing every person to make his own standards on matters of conduct in which society as a whole has important interests."
The Court in its 1981 decision Thomas v. Review Board further expressed its reluctance to protect philosophical values. The Indiana Supreme Court had ruled that a decision by a Jehovah's Witness to quit his job after he was transferred to a weapons-making facility was a "personal philosophical choice rather than a religious choice" and did not "rise to the level of a first amendment claim." In overturning the Indiana decision, Chief Justice Warren Burger cautiously stated, "[o]nly beliefs rooted in religion are given special protection to the exercise of religion." The Court found the worker's actions to be motivated by his religious beliefs.
Few have been satisfied by the Court's attempts to define religion. Many of the Court's definitions use the word "religion" to describe religion itself. In other cases, the Court's explanations seem to provide little useful guidance.
What about distribution of fliers from religious groups about events or programs for youth?
Although outside groups generally have no right to distribute religious materials on campus, flyers from religious groups may be another matter. If a school allows outside groups such as the Girl Scouts to send fliers home with students about programs for youth, some courts have ruled that schools may not deny that privilege to a religious group. *
* See Hills v. Scottsdale S.D. County Pub. Schools, 9th Cir. 2003; Rusk v. Crestview Local School Dist., 6th Cir. 2004; Child Evangelism Fellowship v. Mont. Co. Public Schools, 4th Cir. 2004.
Can public schools and religious communities enter into cooperative agreements to help students with such programs as tutoring?
Yes, but only if appropriate constitutional safeguards are in place. Remember, public schools must remain neutral among religions and between religion and nonreligion. For that reason, religious groups must refrain from proselytizing students during any cooperative programs with public schools. Participation or nonparticipation by students in such cooperative programs should not affect the student's academic ranking or ability to participate in other school activities. In addition, cooperative programs may not be limited to religious groups, but must be open to all responsible community groups.
For more detailed guidelines, see "Public Schools and Religious Communities: A First Amendment Guide," published by the American Jewish Congress, Christian Legal Society, and First Amendment Center and co-signed by 12 additional educational and religious organizations (1999).
Can public school facilities be used by outside community groups during nonschool hours?
Generally, yes. Although schools are not required to open their facilities to any community group, when they do, all groups — including those with a religious viewpoint — must be treated the same (see Good News Club v. Milford Central School Dist., 2001). In fact, the Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that schools may not discriminate on the basis of religious viewpoint when making their facilities available to community groups during nonschool hours (see Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School Dist., 1993).
Schools may, of course, impose reasonable, content-neutral restrictions on the use of their facilities. For example, schools may decide when meetings may be held, how long they may last, whether they may continue during weeks or months when school is not in session, what maintenance fee must be paid, and what insurance might be required.
Some content-based restrictions may also be allowed. For example, schools may probably exclude for-profit, commercial businesses, even though community nonprofits are allowed to use school facilities after hours. They may also limit the use of the facilities to such things as "educational purposes," but such distinctions may prove difficult to administer, as many groups may claim to meet the stipulated purpose.
Schools should be aware that the imposition of content-based restrictions could raise difficult constitutional questions. For example, the Supreme Court has held in Good News v. Milford that in the case of the Good News Club, a content-based restriction excluding religious worship and instruction amounted to impermissible viewpoint discrimination. School districts should be especially mindful to consult with legal counsel if they decide to draft content-based restrictions.
Do religious institutions have a free-exercise right to tax exemptions?
The Supreme Court has been clear that the simple act of taxation is not in and of itself a violation of either the First Amendment's free-exercise or establishment clauses. This does not mean, however, that it is impossible for a tax to violate either or both of the First Amendment's religion clauses. If a tax were targeted in discriminatory ways or became so oppressive that it substantially constrained a religious group's ability to function, then it could possibly violate the free-exercise clause. Likewise, the administrative details of enforcing a taxation scheme could become so intricate and require so much interaction between the state and a religious organization that a court would find sufficient entanglement to violate the establishment clause, as interpreted through the Lemon test.
Can the government ever interfere with someone's religious practices?
Under current constitutional law, the government can impose restrictions on a religious belief or practice, as long as the law in question applies to everyone and does not target a specific religion or religious practice.
Can a teacher wear religious garb to school, provided the teacher does not proselytize to the students?
Probably not. It is likely that many courts would allow a school to prohibit teachers' religious garb in order to maintain religious neutrality. The courts may view such garb as creating a potential establishment-clause problem, particularly at the elementary school level.
Pennsylvania and Oregon have laws that prohibit teachers from wearing religious clothing to schools. Both laws have been upheld in court challenges brought under the First Amendment and Title VII, the major anti-discrimination employment law. The courts reasoned that the statutes furthered the states' goal of ensuring neutrality with respect to religion in the schools.
In the Pennsylvania case, U.S. v. Board of Education, the 3rd Circuit rejected the Title VII religious-discrimination claim of a Muslim teacher who was prevented from wearing her religious clothing to school. The school acted pursuant to a state law, called the "Garb Statute," which provided: "[N]o teacher in any public school shall wear in said school or while engaged in the performance of his duty as such teacher any dress, mark, emblem or insignia indicating the fact that such teacher is a member or adherent of any religious order, sect or denomination."
The teacher and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission contended that the school should have allowed the teacher to wear her head scarf and long, loose dress as a "reasonable accommodation" of her religious faith. The appeals court disagreed, determining that "the preservation of religious neutrality is a compelling state interest."
In its 1986 decision Cooper v. Eugene School District, the Oregon Supreme Court rejected the free-exercise challenge of a Sikh teacher suspended for wearing religious clothing — a white turban and white clothes — to her special education classes. The Oregon high court upheld the state law, which provided: "No teacher in any public school shall wear any religious dress while engaged in the performance of duties as a teacher." The court wrote that "the aim of maintaining the religious neutrality of the public schools furthers a constitutional obligation beyond an ordinary policy preference of the legislature."
The First Amendment Center's A Teacher's Guide to Religion in the Public Schools provides that "teachers are permitted to wear non-obtrusive jewelry, such as a cross or Star of David. But teachers should not wear clothing with a proselytizing message (e.g. a 'Jesus Saves' T-shirt)."
Is it legal for students to pray in public schools?
Yes. Contrary to popular myth, the Supreme Court has never outlawed "prayer in schools." Students are free to pray alone or in groups, as long as such prayers are not disruptive and do not infringe upon the rights of others. But this right "to engage in voluntary prayer does not include the right to have a captive audience listen or to compel other students to participate." (This is the language supported by a broad range of civil liberties and religious groups in a joint statement of current law.)
What the Supreme Court has repeatedly struck down are state-sponsored or state-organized prayers in public schools.
The Supreme Court has made clear that prayers organized or sponsored by a public school — even when delivered by a student — violate the First Amendment, whether in a classroom, over the public address system, at a graduation exercise, or even at a high school football game. (Engel v. Vitale, 1962; School Dist. of Abington Township v. Schempp, 1963; Lee v. Weisman, 1992; Santa Fe Independent School. Dist. v. Doe, 2000)
What is a "noncurriculum-related student group" under the Equal Access Act?
In the 1990 Supreme Court case of Westside Community Board of Education v. Mergens, the Court interpreted a "noncurriculum related student group" to mean "any student group [or club] that does not directly relate to the body of courses offered by the school."
According to the Court, a student group directly relates to a school's curriculum only if (1) the subject matter of the group is actually taught, or will soon be taught, in a regularly offered course; (2) the subject matter of the group concerns the body of courses as a whole; or (3) participation in the group is required for a particular course or results in academic credit.
As examples, the Court identified three groups that were noncurriculum-related at the Westside schools: (1) a scuba club, (2) a chess club, and (3) a service club. The Court found these groups to be noncurriculum-related because they did not meet the criteria set forth above. Conversely, the French club was found to be curriculum-related since the school regularly offered French classes.
Subject to review by the courts, local school authorities must determine whether a student group is curriculum related or not. Schools may not, however, substitute their own definition of "noncurriculum related" for the definition provided by the Court.
If the school violates the EAA, an aggrieved person may bring suit in U.S. district court to compel the school to observe the law. Although violations of equal access will not result in the loss of federal funds, the school could be liable for damages and the attorney's fees of a student group that successfully challenges a denial to meet under the act.
Can students share their religious faith in public schools?
Yes. Students are free to share their faith with their peers, as long as the activity is not disruptive and does not infringe upon the rights of others.
School officials possess substantial discretion to impose rules of order and other pedagogical restrictions on student activities. But they may not structure or administer such rules to discriminate against religious activity or speech.
This means that students have the same right to engage in individual or group prayer and religious discussion during the school day as they do to engage in other comparable activities. For example, students may read their Bibles or other scriptures, say grace before meals, and pray before tests. Generally, students may share their faith or pray in a nondisruptive manner when not engaged in school activities or instruction, subject to the rules that normally pertain in the applicable setting. Specifically, students in informal settings, such as cafeterias and hallways, may pray and discuss their religious views with each other, subject to the same rules of order as applied to other student activities and speech. Students may also speak to and attempt to persuade their peers about religious topics just as they do with regard to political topics. School officials, however, should intercede if a student's speech begins to constitute harassment of a student or group of students.
Students may also participate in before- or after-school events with religious content, such as "See You at the Pole" gatherings, on the same terms as they may participate in other noncurriculum activities on school premises. School officials may neither discourage nor encourage participation in such an event. Keep in mind, however, that the right to engage in voluntary prayer or religious discussion free from discrimination does not necessarily include the right to preach to a "captive audience," like an assembly, or to compel other students to participate. To that end, teachers and school administrators should work to ensure that no student is in any way coerced — either psychologically or physically — to participate in a religious activity (see Lee v. Weisman, 1992).
Can students express their beliefs about religion in classroom assignments or at school-sponsored events?
Yes, within limits. Generally, if it is relevant to the subject under consideration and meets the requirements of the assignment, students should be allowed to express their religious or nonreligious views during a class discussion, as part of a written assignment, or as part of an art activity.
This does not mean, however, that students have the right to compel a captive audience to participate in prayer or listen to a proselytizing sermon. School officials should allow students to express their views about religion, but should draw the line when students wish to invite others to participate in religious practices or want to give a speech that is primarily proselytizing. There is no bright legal line that can be drawn between permissible and impermissible student religious expression in a classroom assignment or at a school-sponsored event. In recent lower court decisions, judges have deferred to the judgment of educators to determine where to draw the line. (C.H. v. Olivia, 2nd Cir. 2000)
Is it constitutional for a public school to require a "moment of silence"?
Yes, if, and only if, the moment of silence is genuinely neutral. A neutral moment of silence that does not encourage prayer over any other quiet, contemplative activity will not be struck down, even though some students may choose to use the time for prayer. (See Bown v. Gwinnett County School Dist., 11th Cir. 1997)
If a moment of silence is used to promote prayer, it will be struck down by the courts. In Wallace v. Jaffree (1985) the Supreme Court struck down an Alabama "moment of silence" law because it was enacted for the express purpose of promoting prayer in public schools. At the same time, however, the Court indicated that a moment of silence would be constitutional if it is genuinely neutral. Many states and local school districts currently have moment-of-silence policies in place.
Can a school board limit school activities on certain nights to accommodate a particular religious group?
No, not unless the school has a legitimate civil or secular purpose for limiting activities; it may not curtain programs only to accommodate a particular religious group. Though the U.S. Supreme Court has not ruled directly on this issue, causing some ambiguity, the Court has heard many cases concerning the First Amendment's establishment clause. From one of those cases came the Lemon test used by the courts to determine if a law runs contrary to the establishment clause. The secular-purpose standard mentioned above is one part of this test, which the Court developed in 1971 in deciding the case Lemon v. Kurtzman. The Lemon test has three parts; first, the statute must have a secular legislative purpose; second, its principal or primary effect must be one that neither advances nor inhibits religion; third, the statute must not foster an excessive government entanglement with religion. So, for example, if school officials could show that there would be little or no participation in a school activity on a given night due to some religious observance or activity, causing the school to waste school funds, they would probably withstand a constitutional challenge.
What about the power of schools to control student speech in the classroom?
Can the government constitutionally place conditions on religious tax exemptions?
Yes. The Internal Revenue Service requires that 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations (a category that includes tax-exempt religious organizations) refrain from partisan politicking if they are to receive tax-exempt status. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia held in Branch Ministries v. Rossotti (2000) that a religious institution had no affirmative right to a tax exemption and that the IRS was justified in conditioning a church's tax-exempt status on its willingness to abstain from political advocacy. In 1992, the church took out a newspaper ad to ask Christians to vote against then-governor Bill Clinton because of his political stances, also including a request for donations to the ministry. The court determined that this sort of political advocacy was not central to the church's religious practice, and therefore restraining from such speech was not a burden on its free-exercise rights.
The government may also condition tax exemptions on compliance with government policies. In the Supreme Court's 1983 decision in Bob Jones University v. United States, the university's tax-exempt status was revoked because the school enforced racially discriminatory policies. Questions remain as to whether legislatures or administrative agencies can condition exemptions on an organization's promise not to discriminate on the basis of religion or sexual orientation, aspects of which might legitimately relate to the organization's religious beliefs.
Are religious organizations allowed to lobby for or against legislation?
They may engage in lobbying activities as long as the lobbying does not form a "substantial part" of their activities. According to the IRS, lobbying is "attempting to influence legislation" and "an organization will be regarded as attempting to influence legislation if it contacts, or urges the public to contact, members or employees of a legislative body for the purpose of proposing, supporting, or opposing legislation, or if the organization advocates the adoption or rejection of legislation." The IRS says it "considers a variety of factors, including the time devoted (by both compensated and volunteer workers) and the expenditures devoted by the organization to the activity, when determining whether the lobbying activity is substantial." According to the courts, devoting 5% of an organization's time and effort to political activity is not considered substantial within the meaning of the IRS Code. See Seasongood v. Commissioner.
Can a non-custodial parent be told not to expose a child to a religion other than the religion practiced by the custodial parent?
The U.S. Supreme Court, in Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow, stated that "in general it is appropriate for the federal courts to leave delicate issues of domestic relations to the state courts." Consequently, the question at hand has not been dealt with by the Supreme Court or the federal district courts.
The state courts that have handled this issue, for the most part, have not restricted the non-custodial parents from exposing their children to a different religion. The courts will generally steer clear of this issue "except where there is a clear and affirmative showing that the conflicting religious beliefs affect the general welfare of the child" (Munoz v. Munoz, 489 P.2d 1133, 1135 (WA., 1971)).
The ambiguous language from this Washington state case, one of the first to address this issue, has caused other states to interpret what "affects the general welfare of the child" in many different ways. When determining custody, the courts look at and weigh many different factors to determine what is in the child's best interest. Examples of these factors can include the emotional ties between the parent and the child, the physical and mental health of the parents and/or the ability of the parents to provide for the child's material needs. Religion may be one of the factors considered, but is generally only considered if it has, or will have, a clear and substantial bearing on the welfare of the child. As various courts have stated, a showing of substantial harm must be demonstrated before a non-custodial parent's right to expose the child to his or her religion will be restricted.
State courts have struggled to define what constitutes substantial harm. Very few have found demonstrated substantial harm in the cases they have heard. What courts have said, as in Khalsa v. Khalsa, 107 N.M. 31, 36 (Ct. App. 1988), is that "a custodial parent's general testimony that the child is upset or confused because of the non-custodial parent's religious practice is insufficient to demonstrate harm [See Felton v. Felton, 383 Mass. 232 (1981); Munoz v. Munoz]. Further, general testimony that the child is upset because the parents practice conflicting religious beliefs is likewise insufficient." Thus a very strong showing of harm must be presented.
An example of this is the case of LeDoux v. LeDoux, 234 Neb. 479 (Neb. 1990) in which the Nebraska Supreme Court upheld a trial court's decree ordering the father, a Jehovah's Witness, "to refrain from exposing or permitting any other person to expose his minor children to any religious practices or teachings inconsistent with the Catholic religion." When they married and had their children, the LeDouxs were both Catholics. At the time of the divorce Edward Ledoux was a Jehovah's Witness and insisted that the children be involved in his religious activities. The mother, Diane LeDoux, presented testimony from a clinical psychologist who testified that one of the children was under serious stress and was having a maladjustment problem. The psychologist indicated "that conflicts in the Catholic and Jehovah's Witnesses religions were an obvious contributing factor to the stress felt" by the child.
After weighing all the evidence, "the trial court concluded that exposing the minor children to more than one religious practice would have a deleterious effect upon the minor children," and the Nebraska Supreme Court agreed. (Other examples: Funk v. Ossman, 150 Ariz. 578 (Ct. App. 1986), Kendall v. Kendall, 426 Mass. 238 (1997).)
Because a parent's constitutional right to practice his or her religion freely could potentially be restricted, a showing of substantial harm to the minor children is required. Substantial harm is a high standard and "requires a clear showing that a parent's religious practices have been or are likely to be harmful to the child" (Kirchner v. Caughey, 326 Md. 567, 576 (Ct. App. 1992)).
Can my state pass a voucher program in which some vouchers are used at religious schools?
In 2002 the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Zelman v. Simmons-Harris that, under certain conditions, communities may create a voucher program for use at a variety of schools without violating the U.S. Constitution, even if some of the vouchers are redeemed at religious schools.
Citing precedent, Chief Justice William Rehnquist's plurality opinion looked first at the purpose of a voucher program: It must exist for a valid secular purpose and not to promote any particular religion, he wrote.
The Court's analysis then focused on whether a voucher program advances religion. The justices agreed that a neutral benefit program could be constitutional, even if religious institutions received some of the funds. Arguments occurred over the specifics of what constitutes a neutral program, and whether the funds could go directly to a religious group or if they must pass first through a private individual who would decide how to allocate the resources.
In both the plurality and concurring opinions, a majority of the Court focused primarily on whether or not a government benefit program was neutral on its face in matters of religion. In his plurality opinion in Zelman, Rehnquist said:
"[Previous cases] make clear that where a government aid program is neutral with respect to religion, and provides assistance directly to a broad class of citizens who, in turn, direct government aid to religious schools wholly as a result of their own genuine and independent private choice, the program is not readily subject to challenge under the Establishment Clause."
What does all of this mean? The Court indicates that communities must consider several factors when creating a voucher program:
1. Is the proposed voucher program neutral with respect to religion? If the plan favors one religion over another, or non-religion over religion, then it will violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment.
2. Will the vouchers be made available to students based on religiously neutral criteria? That would mean deciding who gets a voucher must be based on such non-religious bases as financial need or attendance at poorly performing school, etc. Also, the schools that are allowed or not allowed to receive vouchers must similarly be appraised on the basis of secular criteria, such as academic performance and ability to adhere to safety codes.
3. The voucher must be awarded to an individual, not the religious institution, and the individual must, through private choice, make the decision as to where the voucher is to go. The government cannot influence this decision. This is necessary to demonstrate the government voucher is going to benefit the individual — as opposed to benefiting religion. This last element was by far the most contentious issue for the justices in the Zelman decision.
While all of the above material focuses on whether a voucher program is legal under the federal establishment clause, states must also look at their state constitutions. Most states have their own constitutional prohibitions against providing public funds to religious entities. These restrictions are often more restrictive than the U.S. Constitution.
This issue has come to the forefront in Colorado, where, in May 2003, a group of taxpayers sued the state over a newly implemented voucher program. Many of the arguments are based on Colorado's constitutional prohibitions against allowing public money to go to religious entities.
Other issues are also involved, many revolving around policy questions and political realities.
Does the Supreme Court's holding in Marsh mean that any plan for providing a legislature with a chaplain paid with public funds will be constitutional?
Not necessarily. The Court's holding was based on the fact that Nebraska's practice did not seem likely to lead to an "establishment of religion." Given a different set of facts, a majority of the justices might well have discerned such an unconstitutional establishment. For instance, courts are stricter in their application of the establishment clause when it comes to public schools, or other arenas where the government has the opportunity to influence a captive audience of impressionable youngsters. What seems clear from Marsh is that the Court is willing to defer to traditional practices that bear a religious element as long as they do not appear to coerce the unwilling or the highly impressionable into some form of religious participation or belief. The Marsh reliance on tradition and a failure to prove any establishing tendency could make a huge difference if the Supreme Court decides to hear a challenge to the constitutionality of the national motto ("In God We Trust"), or the wording of the Pledge of Allegiance.
Can students distribute religious literature in a public school?
Court decisions on the issue generally fall into two categories.
Most courts hold that although schools may place some restrictions on distribution of religious materials by students, they may not ban them altogether. The courts base their decisions on the landmark case of Tinker v. Des Moines School District, which upheld the right of students to wear black armbands protesting the Vietnam War, even in a public school. Included in this right of free speech is not only the right to speak for oneself but also to distribute the writings (i.e., speech) of others. Thus, courts have generally upheld the rights of students to distribute non-school religious literature subject to the school's right to suppress such materials if they create substantial disruption, harm the rights of other students or infringe upon other compelling interests of the school. Again, the Mergens decision makes clear that the fear of a First Amendment violation is not sufficient justification to suppress a student distribution of material that happens to be religious. Some states, such as California, have incorporated the majority view into their own state education codes.
A minority of decisions hold that schools can prohibit the distribution of any material that is not sponsored by the school. Of course, the ban must be applied even-handedly to all students. A school could not, for example, allow the distribution of political literature while barring religious publications. This is particularly evident in light of the Supreme Court's 1990 decision in Westside Community Board of Education v. Mergens, upholding the federal Equal Access Act. Under this minority view, however, a blanket prohibition on all student distributions would be permissible.
Does the First Amendment apply to public schools?
Yes. The First Amendment applies to all levels of government, including public schools. Although the courts have permitted school officials to limit the rights of students under some circumstances, the courts have also recognized that students — like all citizens — are guaranteed the rights protected by the First Amendment.
Earlier in our history, however, the First Amendment did not apply to the states — and thus not to public schools. When adopted in 1791, the First Amendment applied only to Congress and the federal government ("Congress shall make no law …"). This meant that when public schools were founded in the mid-19th century, students could not make First Amendment claims against the actions of school officials.
The restrictions on student speech lasted into the 20th century. In 1908, for example, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that school officials could suspend two students for writing a poem ridiculing their teachers that was published in a local newspaper. The Wisconsin court reasoned, "such power is essential to the preservation of order, decency, decorum, and good government in the public schools." And in 1915, the California Court of Appeals ruled that school officials could suspend a student for criticizing and "slamming" school officials in a student assembly speech.
In fact, despite the passage of the 14th Amendment in 1868, which provides that "no state shall … deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law," it was not until 1925, by way of the Supreme Court case of Gitlow v. New York, that the Supreme Court held that the freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment is one of the "liberties" incorporated by the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment.
In subsequent cases, the Court has applied all of the freedoms of the First Amendment to the states — and thus to public schools — through the 14th Amendment. But not until 1943, in the flag-salute case of West Virginia v. Barnette, did the U.S. Supreme Court explicitly extend First Amendment protection to students attending public schools.
The Barnette case began when several students who were Jehovah's Witnesses refused to salute the flag for religious reasons. School officials punished the students and their parents. The students then sued, claiming a violation of their First Amendment rights.
At the time that the students sued, Supreme Court precedent painted a bleak picture for their chances. Just a few years earlier, the Court had ruled in favor of a similar compulsory flag-salute law in Minersville School District v. Gobitis. As the Court stated in that ruling, "national unity is the basis of national security."
However, the high court reversed itself in Barnette, holding that the free-speech and free exercise of religion provisions of the First Amendment guarantee the right of students to be excused from the flag salute on grounds of conscience.
Writing for the majority, Justice Robert Jackson said that the Supreme Court must ensure "scrupulous protection of constitutional freedoms of the individual, if we are not to strangle the free mind at its source and teach youth to discount important principles of our government as mere platitudes." The Court then warned of the dangers of coercion by government in oft-cited, eloquent language:
"If there is any fixed star in our Constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein."
The First Amendment says that the government may not "establish" religion. What does that mean in a public school?
The meaning of the establishment clause, often referred to as the "separation of church and state," has been much debated throughout our history. Does it require, as described in Thomas Jefferson's famous 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptists, a high "wall of separation"? Or may government support religion as long as no one religion is favored over others? How can school officials determine when they are violating the establishment clause?
In the last several decades, the Supreme Court has crafted several tests to determine when state action becomes "establishment" of religion. No one test is currently favored by a majority of the Court. Nevertheless, no matter what test is used, it is fair to say that the Court has been stricter about applying the establishment clause in public schools than in other government settings. For example, the Court has upheld legislative prayer (Marsh v. Chambers, 1983), but struck down teacher-led prayer in public schools (Engel v. Vitale, 1962). The Court applies the establishment clause more rigorously in public schools, mostly for two reasons: (1) students are impressionable young people, and (2) they are a "captive audience" required by the state to attend school.
When applying the establishment clause to public schools, the Court often emphasizes the importance of "neutrality" by school officials toward religion. This means that public schools may neither inculcate nor inhibit religion. They also may not prefer one religion over another — or religion over nonreligion.
If school officials are supposed to be 'neutral' toward religion under the establishment clause, does that mean they should keep religion out of public schools?
No. By "neutrality" the Supreme Court does not mean hostility to religion. Nor does it mean ignoring religion. Neutrality means protecting the religious-liberty rights of all students while simultaneously rejecting school endorsement or promotion of religion.
In 1995, 24 major religious and educational organizations defined religious liberty in public schools this way:
Public schools may not inculcate nor inhibit religion. They must be places where religion and religious conviction are treated with fairness and respect.
Public schools uphold the First Amendment when they protect the religious-liberty rights of students of all faiths or none. Schools demonstrate fairness when they ensure that the curriculum includes study about religion as an important part of a complete education.
Does the establishment clause apply to students in a public school?
The establishment clause speaks to what government may or may not do. It does not apply to the private speech of students. School officials should keep in mind the distinction between government (in this case "school") speech endorsing religion — which the establishment clause prohibits — and private (in this case "student") speech endorsing religion, which the free-speech and free-exercise clauses protect.
Student religious expression may, however, raise establishment clause concerns when such expression takes place before a captive audience in a classroom or at a school-sponsored event. Students have the right to pray alone or in groups or to discuss their faith with classmates, as long as they aren't disruptive or coercive. And they may express their religious views in class assignments or discussions, as long as it is relevant to the subject under consideration and meets the requirements of the assignment. But students don't have a right to force a captive audience to participate in religious exercises.
It isn't entirely clear under current law where teachers and administrators may draw a line limiting student religious expression before a captive audience in a classroom or school-sponsored event. In several recent cases, lower courts have deferred to the judgment of educators about when to limit the religious expression of students in a classroom or school setting. A general guide might be to allow students to express their religious views in a classroom or at a school event as long as they don't ask the audience to participate in a religious activity, use the opportunity to deliver a proselytizing sermon, or give the impression that their views are supported by or endorsed by the school.
How can school officials tell when a planned school action or activity might violate the establishment clause?
Here are some questions that teachers and administrators should ask themselves when planning activities that may involve religious content (e.g., a holiday assembly in December):
Do I have a distinct educational or civic purpose in mind? If so, what is it? (It may not be the purpose of the public school to promote or denigrate religion.)
Have I done what I can to ensure that this activity is not designed in any way to either promote or inhibit religion?
Does this activity serve the educational mission of the school or the academic goals of the course?
Have I done what I can to ensure that no student or parent may be made to feel like an outsider, and not a full member of the community, by this activity?
If I am teaching about religion, am I balanced, accurate, and academic in my approach?
What does "free exercise" of religion mean under the First Amendment?
The free-exercise clause of the First Amendment states that the government "shall make no law … prohibiting the free exercise of religion." Although the text sounds absolute, "no law" does not always mean "no law." The Supreme Court has had to place some limits on the freedom to practice religion. To take an easy example cited by the Court in one of its landmark "free-exercise" cases (Reynolds v. U.S., 1878), the First Amendment would not protect the practice of human sacrifice even if some religion required it. In other words, while the freedom to believe is absolute, the freedom to act on those beliefs is not.
But where may government draw the line on the practice of religion? The courts have struggled with the answer to that question for much of our history. Over time, the Supreme Court developed a test to help judges determine the limits of free exercise. First fully articulated in the 1963 case of Sherbert v. Verner, this test is sometimes referred to as the Sherbert or "compelling interest" test. The test has four parts: two that apply to any person who claims that his freedom of religion has been violated, and two that apply to the government agency accused of violating those rights.
For the individual, the court must determine
Whether the person has a claim involving a sincere religious belief, and
Whether the government action places a substantial burden on the person's ability to act on that belief.
If these two elements are established, then the government must prove
That it is acting in furtherance of a "compelling state interest," and
That it has pursued that interest in the manner least restrictive, or least burdensome, to religion.
The Supreme Court, however, curtailed the application of the Sherbert test in the 1990 case of Employment Division v. Smith. In that case, the Court held that a burden on free exercise no longer had to be justified by a compelling state interest if the burden was an unintended result of laws that are generally applicable.
After Smith, only laws (or government actions) that (1) were intended to prohibit the free exercise of religion, or (2) violated other constitutional rights, such as freedom of speech, were subject to the compelling-interest test. For example, a state could not pass a law stating that Native Americans are prohibited from using peyote, but it could accomplish the same result by prohibiting the use of peyote by everyone.
In the wake of Smith, many religious and civil liberties groups have worked to restore the Sherbert test — or compelling-interest test — through legislation. These efforts have been successful in some states. In other states, the courts have ruled that the compelling-interest test is applicable to religious claims by virtue of the state's own constitution. In many states, however, the level of protection for free-exercise claims is uncertain.
How should school officials determine when they must accommodate a religious-liberty claim under the free-exercise clause?
The application of the "compelling interest" test, established by the Supreme Court in 1963 in Sherbert v. Verner, was sharply curtailed by the 1990 Supreme Court decision Employment Division v. Smith. But some states — such as Florida, Texas and Connecticut — have passed laws requiring the use of a compelling-interest test in free-exercise cases. Moreover, since most cases involving public schools involve more than one constitutional right (e.g., the religion claim can be linked with a parental right or free-speech claim), some might argue that the compelling-interest test must be used even under Smith.
Regardless of how this is eventually settled in the courts, public schools fulfill the spirit of the First Amendment when they use the Sherbert test to accommodate the religious claims of students and parents where feasible.
Can a religious group that receives funds to administer a homeless shelter discriminate in hiring on the basis of religion or adherence to religious doctrines?
Yes. According to the White House, faith-based organizations that receive federal funds may discriminate in employment based on religion.
Charitable-choice provisions found in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWOR) contain no prohibitions against religious discrimination in employment by religious service providers. Though the Civil Rights Act of 1964, otherwise known as Title VII, prohibits employment discrimination based on religion, it contains an exception for religious institutions. Writing for the Center for Public Justice, Carl Esbeck of the Christian Legal Society explained that such exemptions are necessary if faith-based organizations (FBOs) are to successfully participate in social service programs. According to Esbeck, "[p]rotecting the autonomy of FBOs was done to enable them to succeed at what they do so well, namely help the poor and needy, and to get FBOs to participate in government programs, something FBOs are far less likely to do if they face compromising regulation."
Yet disagreement continues over both the constitutionality of such exemptions and the civic wisdom of such policies. This is easily seen in recent legislative battles between House and Senate bills over the CARE legislation, a bill broadening access to government funding of FBOs. The House passed the original version, supported by the White House, with an exemption allowing FBOs to discriminate in employment based on religion. The Senate version contained no such exemptions, or even any expansion of access, but instead provided greater tax breaks for charitable donations. Several lawsuits have also been filed over charitable choice and the employment-discrimination exemptions.
While most agree that FBOs currently may discriminate on the basis of religion, the White House website provides the following caveat:
"[C]ertain Federal laws and regulations, as well as State and local laws, may place conditions on the receipt of government funds. For example, some employment laws may prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion. Or a State or local law may prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or require certain organizations to provide benefits to employees' unmarried domestic partners. Some of these laws may exempt religious organizations, while others may not. Organizations with further questions about this issue may wish to consult a lawyer to find out about the specific requirements that apply to your organization and any rights you may have under the Constitution or Federal laws."
Can federally funded senior centers include religious activities as part of their programs or services?
Not as part of their federally funded programs. According to Title 45, Part 87, Section 2, Subsection C of the Code of Federal Regulations, "organizations that receive direct financial assistance from the [federal government] may not engage in inherently religious activities, such as worship, religious instruction, or proselytization, as part of the programs or services funded with direct financial assistance from the [government]."
How, if at all, can federally funded senior centers provide religious activities to those who want to participate?
Title 45, Part 87, Section 2, Subsection C of the Code of Federal Regulations states that "if an organization conducts such activities, the activities must be offered separately, in time or location, from the programs or services funded with direct financial assistance from the [government], and participation must be voluntary for beneficiaries of the programs or services funded with such assistance."
Can federally funded senior centers use religious beliefs to discriminate in deciding to whom to provide services?
No. Title 45, Part 87, Section 2, Subsection E of the Code of Federal Regulations says that "an organization that participates in programs funded by direct financial assistance from the [government] shall not, in providing services, discriminate against a program beneficiary or prospective program beneficiary on the basis of religion or religious belief."
Can public schools offer a history course that focuses on the Bible?
An elective history course that focuses on the Bible is a difficult undertaking for public schools because of the complex scholarly and religious debates about the historicity of the Bible. Such a course would need to include non-biblical sources from a variety of scholarly perspectives. Students would study archeological findings and other historical evidence in order to understand the history and cultures of the ancient world. Teachers who may be assigned to teach a history course focused on the Bible need a great deal of preparation and sophistication.
Unless schools are prepared to design a course that meets the above requirements, they will face legal and educational challenges. In view of these requirements, most public schools that have offered a Bible elective have found it safer and more age-appropriate to use the Bible literature approach discussed earlier in this guide.
Schools must keep in mind that the Bible is seen by millions of Jews and Christians as scripture. For adherents of these faiths, the Bible makes sense of events in terms of God's purposes and actions. This means that the Bible may not be treated as a history textbook by public school teachers but must be studied by examining a variety of perspectives — religious and non-religious — on the meaning and significance of the biblical account.
As we have already noted, sorting out what is historical in the Bible is complicated and potentially controversial. Teachers who teach a history course focused on the Bible need to be sensitive to the differences between conventional secular history and the varieties of sacred history. Students must learn something about the contending ways of assessing the historicity of the Bible. They cannot be uncritically taught to accept the Bible as literally true, as history. Nor should they be uncritically taught to accept as historical only what secular historians find verifiable in the Bible.
Sometimes, in an attempt to make study about the Bible more "acceptable" in public schools, educators are willing to jettison accounts of miraculous events. But this too is problematic, for it radically distorts the meaning of the Bible. For those who accept the Bible as scripture, God is at work in history, and there is a religious meaning in the patterns of history. A Bible elective in a public school may examine all parts of the Bible, as long as the teacher understands how to teach about the religious content of the Bible from a variety of perspectives.
What about the study of other religious traditions?
Given the importance and influence of religion, public schools should include study about religion in some depth on the secondary level. As already suggested, such study may include study about the Bible, where appropriate, in history and literature courses as well as in elective courses that deal with the Bible.
However, a course that includes study about the Bible and its influence will not educate students about religion generally. Just as there is more to history than American history, so there is more to religion than the Bible, Judaism and Christianity.
Public schools should also include study about other religious faiths in the core curriculum and offer electives in world religions. Because religion plays a significant role in history and society, study about religion is essential to understanding both the nation and the world. Moreover, knowledge of the roles of religion in the past and present promotes crosscultural understanding in our increasingly diverse society.
Some school districts require that high schools offering a Bible elective also offer an elective in world religions. There is considerable merit in this approach. This gives students an opportunity to learn about a variety of religions and conveys to students from faiths other than the biblical traditions that their religions are also worthy of study. It is important for public schools to convey the message that the curriculum is designed to offer a good education, and not to prefer any religious faith or group.
How should study about the Bible be handled in elementary education?
The study of family, community, various cultures, the nation and other themes and topics important in elementary education may involve some discussion of religion. Elementary students are introduced to the basic ideas and practices of the world's major religions in a number of textbooks and curriculums used in public schools. These discussions of religion focus on the generally agreed-upon meanings of religious faiths — the core beliefs and symbols, as well as important figures and events. Such discussions may include an introduction to biblical literature as students learn something about the various biblical faiths.
This early exposure to study about religion builds a foundation for later, more complex discussions in secondary school literature and history courses. Such teaching is introductory in nature; elementary education is not the place for in-depth treatment of religion. Stories drawn from various religious faiths may be included among the wide variety of stories read by students. But the material selected must always be presented in the context of learning about religion.
One court has permitted elective Bible courses at the elementary level (in Wiley v. Franklin, 468 F. Supp. 133 (E.D. Tenn. 1979)). But if such instruction is undertaken, it must be done academically and objectively by a qualified teacher. Children would need to understand that they are studying about what the people of a particular religious tradition believe and practice. Devotional books intended for faith formation or religious education may not be used in a public school classroom.
As in secondary schools, a balanced and fair curriculum in the elementary grades would not limit study about religion to Judaism and Christianity, but would include a variety of the world's major religious faiths.
Do schools that permit the distribution of student religious literature give up all control over how it is done?
No. Just because schools may not prohibit the distribution of all student materials does not mean that schools have no control over what may be distributed on school premises. On the contrary, courts have repeatedly held that schools may place reasonable "time, place and manner" restrictions on all student materials distributed on campus. Thus, schools may specify when the distribution can occur (e.g., lunch hour or before or after classes begin), where it can occur (e.g., outside the school office) and how it can occur (e.g., from fixed locations as opposed to roving distribution). One recent decision upheld a policy confining the distribution of student literature to a table placed in a location designated by the principal and to the sidewalks adjacent to school property. Of course, any such restriction must be reasonable.
It is also likely that schools may insist on screening all student materials prior to distribution to ensure their appropriateness for a public school. Any such screening policy should provide for a speedy decision, a statement of reasons for rejecting the literature and a prompt appeals process. Because the speech rights of students are not coextensive with those of adults, schools may prohibit the distribution of some types of student literature altogether. Included in this category would be:
Materials that would be likely to cause substantial disruption of the operation of the school. Literature that uses fighting words or other inflammatory language about students or groups of students would be an example of this type of material. Student speech may not be prohibited simply because it is considered offensive by some (see Saxe v. State College Area School Dist., 3rd Cir. 2001).
Material that violates the rights of others. Included in this category would be literature that is libelous, invades the privacy of others or infringes on a copyright.
Materials that are obscene, lewd or sexually explicit.
Commercial materials that advertise products unsuitable for minors.
Materials that students would reasonably believe to be sponsored or endorsed by the school. One recent example of this category of speech was a religious newspaper that was formatted to look like the school newspaper.
Though schools have considerable latitude in prohibiting the distribution of materials that conflict with their educational mission, schools generally may not ban materials solely on the basis of content. Similarly, schools should not allow a heckler's veto by prohibiting the distribution of only those materials that are unpopular or controversial. If Christian students are allowed to distribute their newsletters, then Buddhists, Muslims and even Wiccans must be given the same privilege.
How should religious holidays be treated in the classroom?
Teachers must be alert to the distinction between teaching about religious holidays, which is permissible, and celebrating religious holidays, which is not. Recognition of and information about holidays may focus on how and when they are celebrated, their origins, histories and generally agreed-upon meanings. If the approach is objective and sensitive, neither promoting nor inhibiting religion, this study can foster understanding and mutual respect for differences in belief. Teachers may not, however, use the study of religious holidays as an opportunity to proselytize or otherwise inject their personal religious beliefs into the discussion.
The use of religious symbols is permissible as a teaching aid or resource, provided they are used only as examples of cultural or religious heritage. Religious symbols may be displayed only on a temporary basis as part of the academic lesson being studied. Students may choose to create artwork with religious symbols, but teachers should not assign or suggest such creations.
Guest speakers also can help teachers present the appropriate information, but only if they understand their role as informational, not devotional, in nature.
In addition, the use of art, drama, music, or literature with religious themes is permissible if it serves a sound educational goal in the curriculum. Such themes should be included on the basis of their academic or aesthetic value, and not as a vehicle for promoting religious beliefs. For example, sacred music may be sung or played as part of the academic study of music. School concerts that present a variety of selections may include religious music. Concerts should, however, avoid programs dominated by religious music, especially when these coincide with a particular religious holiday.
How should religious objections to holidays be handled?
Students from certain religious traditions may ask to be excused from classroom discussions or activities related to particular holidays. For example, holidays such as Halloween and Valentine's Day, which are considered by many people to be secular, are viewed by others as having religious overtones.
Excusal requests may be especially common in the elementary grades, where holidays are often marked by parties and similar nonacademic activities. Such requests should be routinely granted in the interest of creating good policy and upholding the religious-liberty principles of the First Amendment.
In addition, some parents and students may make requests for excusals from discussions of certain holidays, even when these holidays are treated from an academic perspective. If these requests are focused on a limited, specific discussion, administrators should grant such requests, in order to strike a balance between the student's religious freedom and the school's interest in providing a well-rounded education.
Administrators and teachers should understand, however, that a policy or practice of excusing students from a specific activity or discussion may not be used as a rationale for school sponsorship of religious celebration or worship for the remaining students.
Can students be absent for religious holidays?
Schools should have policies concerning absences that take into account the religious needs and requirements of students. Students should be allowed a reasonable number of excused absences, without penalties, to observe religious holidays within their traditions. Students may be asked to complete makeup assignments or tests in conjunction with such absences.
Does the First Amendment require that "equal time" be given to all faiths in the public school curriculum?
No. The grade level of the students and the academic requirements of the course should determine which religions to study and how much to discuss about religion.
In the elementary grades, the study of family, community, culture, history, literature, the nation, and other themes and topics should naturally involve some discussion of religion. Elementary students are introduced to the basic ideas and practices of the world's major religions by focusing on the generally agreed-upon meanings of religious faiths — the core beliefs and symbols as well as important figures and events. Stories drawn from various faiths may be included among the wide variety of stories read by students, but the material selected must always be presented in the context of learning about religion. On the secondary level, the social studies, literature, and the arts offer opportunities for the inclusion of study about religions, their ideas, and practices. The academic needs of the course should determine which religions are studied and how much time is required to provide an adequate understanding of the concepts and practices under consideration.
In a U.S. history course, for example, some faith communities may be given more time than others simply because of their predominant influence on the development of the nation. In world history, a variety of faiths must be studied, based on the regions of the world, in order to understand the various civilizations and cultures that have shaped history and society.
Fair and balanced study about religion on the secondary level includes critical thinking about historical events involving religious traditions. Religious beliefs have been at the heart of some of the best and worst developments in human history. The full historical record, and various interpretations of it, should be available for analysis and discussion. Using primary sources whenever possible allows students to work directly with the historical record.
Of course, fairness and balance in U.S. or world history and literature is difficult to achieve, given the brief treatment of religious ideas and events in most textbooks and the limited time available in the course syllabus. Teachers will need scholarly supplemental resources that enable them to cover the required material within the allotted time, while enriching the discussion with study of religion. In fact, some schools now offer electives in religious studies to provide additional opportunities for students to study about the major faith communities in greater depth.
Overall, the curriculum should include all major voices, and many minor ones, in an effort to provide the best possible education.
Can religious scriptures be used in a public school classroom?
Study of history or literature would be incomplete without exposure to the scriptures of the world's major religious traditions. Some knowledge of biblical literature, for example, is necessary to comprehend much in the history, law, art and literature of Western civilization, just as exposure to the Quran is important for understanding Islamic civilization. In this sense, the classical religious texts are part of our study of history and culture.
At the same time, students need to recognize that, while scriptures tell us much about the history and cultures of humankind, they are considered sacred accounts by adherents to their respective traditions. Religious documents give students of history the opportunity to examine directly how religious traditions understand divine revelation and human values.
In a history class, selections from these accounts should always be treated with respect and used only in the appropriate historical and cultural context. Alert students to the fact that there are a variety of interpretations of scripture within each religious tradition.
Can teachers use role-playing or simulations to teach about religion?
Recreating religious practices or ceremonies through role-playing activities should not take place in a public school classroom for three reasons:
1. Such reenactments run the risk of blurring the distinction between teaching about religion (which is constitutional) and school-sponsored practice of religion (which is unconstitutional).
2. Role-playing religious practices or rituals may violate the religious liberty, or freedom of conscience, of the students in the classroom. Even if the students are all volunteers, many parents don't want their children participating in a religious activity of a faith not their own. The fact that the exercise is "acting" doesn't prevent potential problems.
3. Simulations or role-playing, no matter how carefully planned or well-intentioned, risk trivializing, caricaturing or oversimplifying the religious tradition that is being studied. Teachers should use audiovisual resources and primary sources to introduce students to the ceremonies and rituals of the world's religions.
Is it legal to invite guest speakers to help teach about religion?
Yes, if the school district policy allows guest speakers in the classroom.
If a guest speaker is invited, care should be taken to find someone with the academic background necessary for an objective and scholarly discussion of the historical period and the religion under consideration. Faculty from local colleges and universities often make excellent guest speakers, or they can recommend others who might be appropriate for working with students in a public school setting. Religious leaders in the community may also be a resource. Remember, however, that they have commitments to their own faith. Above all else, be certain that any guest speaker understands the First Amendment guidelines for teaching about religion in public education and is clear about the academic nature of the assignment.
How should teachers respond if students ask them about their religious beliefs?
Some teachers prefer not to answer the question, believing that it is inappropriate for a teacher to inject personal beliefs into the classroom. Other teachers may choose to answer the question directly and succinctly in the interest of an open and honest classroom environment.
Before answering the question, however, teachers should consider the age of the students. Middle and high school students may be able to distinguish between a personal conviction and the official position of the school; very young children may not. In any case, the teacher may answer at most with a brief statement of personal belief — but may not turn the question into an opportunity to proselytize for or against religion. Teachers may neither reward nor punish students because they agree or disagree with the religious views of the teacher.
Can religious leaders provide crisis counseling to students in public schools?
In times of sudden crisis (e.g., violent or accidental death of students or teachers), schools may call on a wide range of qualified counselors, including religious leaders, to assist school-employed counselors in helping children cope with the crisis at hand. Of course, religious leaders may not be the only grief counselors invited on campus during a crisis. Religious leaders may not otherwise be given routine access to students during the school day. Even when counseling to deal with a sudden crisis, religious leaders should remember that a public school is not a place for proselytizing or other overt religious activity.
To the extent that schools cooperate with adults who are important in a student's life (parents or other relatives, guardians, foster parents, social workers or neighbors) to help the child deal with school work, behavioral problems, or other issues, schools may also cooperate with an adult acknowledged by a student as his or her religious leader. However, a school may not in any way compel or coerce a student to speak to representatives of religious institutions.
Do outside groups have the right to distribute material on campus?
Generally no. Adults from outside the school do not have an automatic right to distribute materials to students in a public school. May school officials allow them to do so? Although this area of the law is somewhat unclear, it is fair to say that schools should exercise great caution before giving an outside group access to students during the school day. Giving some groups access opens the door to others. Moreover, if a religious group is allowed to actively distribute religious literature to students on campus, that activity is likely to violate the establishment clause.
At least one lower court has upheld "passive" distribution of materials in a secondary school by religious and other community groups. Note that in this case the group left materials for students to browse through and take only if they wished. Also, a wide variety of community groups were given similar privileges, and the school posted a disclaimer explaining that the school did not endorse these materials. Under those conditions, this court allowed passive distribution, but only in the secondary-school setting (see Peck v. Upshur County, 4th Cir. 1998, although other federal courts have rejected this distinction).
Schools may announce community events or meetings of groups — including religious groups — that work with students. All of these groups should be treated in the same way. The school should make clear that it does not sponsor these community groups (see Child Evangelism Fellowship v. Stafford Township, 3rd Cir. 2004).
Can public schools cooperate with mentoring programs run by religious institutions?
Public schools may cooperate with mentoring projects run by religious institutions provided that:
Other community organizations are given an equal opportunity and are subject to the same secular selection criteria to operate such programs in partnership with the schools.
Referrals are made without regard to a student's religious beliefs or lack of them.
Participation in the program is not conditioned on mandatory participation, or refusal to participate, in religious programs operated by a religious institution.
At no time do school officials encourage or discourage student participation in the religious programs of religious institutions.
Can religious institutions provide "safe shelter" opportunities to students?
In order to provide for the safety of students traveling to and from schools, the school district may ask local institutions (e.g., businesses, firehouses, religious institutions) to serve as temporary shelters for students who seek to avoid danger or threatening situations. The school shall provide signs indicating that the place is a shelter available for students.
Can schools use facilities owned by religious institutions?
Public schools may arrange to use the facilities of private landholders, including churches, temples, mosques or other religious institutions. Of course, all such facilities must meet applicable health and safety codes. But if the arrangement involves the use of sanctuaries, playgrounds, libraries or other facilities owned by religious groups, then the following First Amendment guidelines must be followed:
1. The schools must have a secular educational purpose for seeking to use the facilities, such as after-school recreation, extended day care, homework study hall, etc.
2. Where schools lease space from religious institutions for use as regular public school classrooms, the leased space is in effect a public school facility. Religious symbols or messages may not be displayed in the leased areas.
3. Cooperative programs using the facilities of religious institutions must not afford an actual opportunity for proselytizing by clergy, school employees, or adult volunteers of any school children during the school-affiliated program. (Of course, the law is not violated if a cooperative program's use of a religious facility coincidentally results in a student gaining an interest in attending worship services there. But the law prohibits clergy from leading devotions as part of the school program.)
4. As stated above, religious symbols and messages may not be displayed in space leased from religious institutions for use as public-school classrooms. The rules are somewhat different for cooperative programs. A room bedecked with scriptural injunctions about repentance and salvation would not be appropriate for cooperative programs; a room with religious symbols or icons might well be.
5. School officials may neither select nor reject the use of a private religious facility based on the popularity or unpopularity of its religious teachings. Religion-neutral criteria should be employed, e.g., proximity to the schools in question; suitability of the facility for the intended use; health and safety; comparative expenses (if any); accessibility for parent pickup or busing.
6. The school's arrangement for use of a private religious facility should not involve or necessitate an ongoing administrative entanglement between the school district and the religious institution, in which one party ends up exerting influence over the content, scheduling or staffing of the other's activities.
Can states choose only certain types of businesses to be closed on Sundays?
Yes. Where the state determines that a day of rest would be desirable in some kinds of businesses and not in others, they are permitted to restrict only those that they deem to be necessary. Likewise, the state may decide to forbid or limit the sale of certain items (such as alcohol) on any given day, so long as the decision is justified by some secular purpose instead of a religious one. In a 1999 decision, Harris County, Texas v. CarMax Auto Superstores, Inc., the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Texas law that forbade car dealerships from being open on consecutive Saturdays and Sundays. Effectively this forced the business owners to choose one day or the other as a day of rest for their employees, though it did not dictate any particular preference as to which one should be adopted. The court denied that the law unfairly discriminated against car dealers or established any sort of preference for religion as opposed to no religion.
Can a student pray at graduation exercises or at other school-sponsored events?
This is one of the most confusing and controversial areas of the current school-prayer debate. While the courts have not clarified all of the issues, some are clearer than others.
For instance, inviting outside adults to lead prayers at graduation ceremonies is clearly unconstitutional. The Supreme Court resolved this issue in the 1992 case Lee v. Weisman, which began when prayers were delivered by clergy at a middle school's commencement exercises in Providence, Rhode Island. The school designed the program, provided for the invocation, selected the clergy, and even supplied guidelines for the prayer.
Therefore, the Supreme Court held that the practice violated the First Amendment's prohibition against laws "respecting an establishment of religion." The majority based its decision on the fact that (1) it is not the business of schools to sponsor or organize religious activities, and (2) students who might have objected to the prayer were subtly coerced to participate. This psychological coercion was not resolved by the fact that attendance at the graduation was "voluntary." In the Court's view, few students would want to miss the culminating event of their academic career.
A murkier issue is student-initiated, student-led prayer at school-sponsored events. On one side of the debate are those who believe that student religious speech at graduation ceremonies or other school-sponsored events violates the establishment clause. They are bolstered by the 2000 Supreme Court case Santa Fe v. Doe, which involved the traditional practice of student-led prayers over the public-address system before high school football games.
According to the district, students would vote each year on whether they would have prayers at home football games. If they decided to do so, they would then select a student to deliver the prayers. To ensure fairness, the school district said it required these prayers to be "non-sectarian [and] non-proselytizing."
A 6-to-3 majority of the Supreme Court still found the Santa Fe policy to be unconstitutional. The majority opinion first pointed out that constitutional rights are not subject to a vote. To the contrary, the judges said the purpose of the Bill of Rights was to place some rights beyond the reach of political majorities. Thus, the Constitution protects a person's right to freedom of speech, press, or religion even if no one else agrees with the ideas a person professes.
In addition, the Court found that having a student, as opposed to an adult, lead the prayer did not solve the constitutional dilemma. A football game is still a school-sponsored event, they held, and the school was still coercing the students, however subtly, to participate in a religious exercise.
Finally, the Court ruled that the requirement that the prayer be "non-sectarian" and "non-proselytizing" not only failed to solve the problems addressed in Lee v. Weisman, it may have aggravated them. In other words, while some might like the idea of an inclusive, nonsectarian "civil" religion, others might not. To some people, the idea of nonsectarian prayer is offensive, as though a prayer were being addressed "to whom it may concern." Moreover, the Supreme Court made clear in Lee v. Weisman that even nondenominational prayers or generic religiosity may not be established by the government at graduation exercises.
Another thorny part of this issue is determining whether a particular prayer tends to proselytize. Such determinations entangle school officials in religious matters in unconstitutional ways. In fact, one Texas school district was sued for discriminating against those who wished to offer more-sectarian prayers at graduation exercises.
On the other side of this debate are those who contend that not allowing students to express themselves religiously at school events violates the students' free exercise of religion and free speech.
Case law indicates, however, that this may be true only in instances involving strictly student speech, and not when a student is conveying a message controlled or endorsed by the school. As the 11th Circuit case of Adler v. Duval County (2001) suggests, it would seem possible for a school to provide a forum for student speech within a graduation ceremony when prayer or religious speech might occur.
For example, a school might allow the valedictorian or class president an opportunity to speak during the ceremony. If such a student chose to express a religious viewpoint, it seems unlikely it would be found unconstitutional unless the school had suggested or otherwise encouraged the religious speech. (See Doe v. Madison School Dist., 9th Cir. 1998.) In effect, this means that in order to distance itself from the student's remarks, the school must create a limited open forum for student speech in the graduation program.
Again, there is a risk for school officials in this approach. By creating a limited open forum for student speech, the school may have to accept almost anything the student wishes to say. Although the school would not be required to allow speech that was profane, sexually explicit, defamatory, or disruptive, the speech could include political or religious views offensive to many, as well as speech critical of school officials.
If school officials feel a solemnizing event needs to occur at a graduation exercise, a neutral moment of silence might be the best option. This way, everyone could pray, meditate, or silently reflect on the previous year's efforts in her own way.
Can teachers or other school employees participate in student religious clubs?
No. The Equal Access Act states that "employees or agents of the school or government are present at religious meetings only in a nonparticipatory capacity."
For insurance purposes, or because of state law or local school policy, teachers or other school employees are commonly required to be present during student meetings. But if the student club is religious in nature, school employees may be present as monitors only. Such custodial supervision does not constitute sponsorship or endorsement of the group by the school.
If the Supreme Court struck down Congress' attempt to protect religious liberties in the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, why wouldn't it just do the same thing with RLUIPA?
Congress has different constitutional sources for its authority. If the Supreme Court denies it the power to create a law under one source, Congress may still be able to accomplish its goal using a different source. Congress justified its passage of RFRA under a section of the 14th Amendment that gives it the power to pass laws deemed necessary to protect the liberties ensured by that amendment, which would include the First Amendment's guarantee of "free exercise of religion." The Court held that under that section Congress was only permitted to develop laws that would enforce the standard of protection deemed necessary by the Court itself, as opposed to the stricter general standard embodied in RFRA.
RLUIPA's justification was rooted in Congress' power to regulate matters touching on interstate commerce. The Supreme Court has only rarely overturned congressional acts based on the interstate-commerce clause, so it is possible (though far from a certainty) that the Court would find a sufficient tie to interstate commerce to justify Congress in creating RLUIPA. It is important to note that even if the Court finds that Congress acted from the proper source of authority, the act might still be found to violate the establishment clause and therefore be unconstitutional.
Do cities have the right to restrict the number of churches?
Cities have the right to zone specific areas for religious purposes, but they do not have the right to restrict the number of churches or religious institutions within their boundaries. Under RLUIPA, religious institutions are given some protection against zoning laws. Though the act does not completely exempt churches from zoning laws, officials must have a compelling interest in restricting a church or other religious institution from being built in a specific area.
Some fear that allowing an overabundance of religious institutions in a city will damage the economy because religious organizations are exempt from property taxes. Chris Hoene, a research manager for the National League of Cities, said some cities had become inventive in devising ways to collect money from churches. For example, some cities have begun to tax religious organizations' profit-generating enterprises, including publishing and gift-shop sales.
Can noncurriculum-related student groups use school media to advertise their meetings?
Yes. A student group may use school media — such as the public-address system, school paper, and school bulletin board — as long as other noncurriculum-related student groups are allowed to do so. Any policy concerning the use of school media must be applied to all noncurriculum-related student groups in a nondiscriminatory manner. Schools, however, may issue disclaimers indicating that extracurricular student groups are not school-sponsored or endor
What control does the school retain over student meetings in a limited open forum?
The Equal Access Act does not take away a school's authority to establish reasonable time, place, and manner regulations for a limited open forum. For example, a school may establish for its student clubs a reasonable meeting time on any one school day, a combination of days, or all school days. It may assign the rooms in which student groups can meet. It may enforce order and discipline during the meetings. The key, however, is that the school's time, place, and manner regulations must be uniform, nondiscriminatory, and neutral in viewpoint.
Can the school exclude any student extracurricular group?
Yes. According to guidelines endorsed by a broad coalition of educational and religious liberty organizations, "student groups that are unlawful, or that materially and substantially interfere with the orderly conduct of educational activities, may be excluded. However, a student group cannot be denied equal access simply because its ideas are unpopular. Freedom of speech includes the ideas the majority may find repugnant." *
Most schools require students to submit a statement outlining the purpose and nature of the proposed club. School officials do not have to allow meetings of groups that advocate violence or hate or engage in illegal activity. This does not mean, however, that schools may bar students from forming clubs to discuss controversial social and legal issues such as abortion or sexual orientation. Again, student-initiated clubs in a limited open forum may not be barred on the basis of the viewpoint of their speech. Some schools require parental permission for students to join an extracurricular club. Although this step is not required by the Equal Access Act, it has enabled schools to keep the forum open in communities where student clubs have sparked controversy.
* "The Equal Access Act: Questions and Answers," found in Haynes & Thomas, Finding Common Ground (2001).
What can a school do to make it clear that it is not promoting, endorsing or otherwise sponsoring noncurriculum-related student groups?
A school may issue a disclaimer that plainly states that in affording such student groups an opportunity to meet, it is merely making its facilities available, nothing more.
Are religious displays on public property — such as Ten Commandments in historical-documents exhibits — legal?
The question of whether a religious display on government property is constitutional requires a multi-step analysis. First, one should ask, who is funding and erecting the display? If a private group wants to place a religious monument on public property, then a free-expression analysis should be conducted, looking into such things as the type of forum in question. If, as in this case, a government entity is attempting to post a religious document, then a separate line of questions must be raised.
Religious displays on public property can be legal, but they must pass constitutional muster by not violating the First Amendment's establishment clause, which requires government "neutrality" towards religion. In deciding whether or not particular religious displays violate the establishment clause, courts look to two Supreme Court tests, the Lemon test and the endorsement test.
The Lemon test poses three questions: 1) Did the state actor have a secular purpose in posting the documents; 2) was the primary effect of the action to advance or promote religion; and 3) was there excessive entanglement between government and religion in the given activity? The government conduct must survive all three of these prongs if the action is to survive constitutional muster.
A more recent test that has gained popularity in the courts is the endorsement test. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor first outlined this test in her concurring opinion in the 1983 decision Lynch v. Donnelly, which involved a city-owned holiday display containing religious elements in a Pawtucket, R.I., park. This approach examines the following questions: Did the state actor subjectively intend to promote religion through its actions, and would the reasonable observer interpret the actions of the state as an endorsement of religion?
The elements of both tests should be examined before a government representative posts any religious documents or engages in other forms of religious expression.
Two cases decided in June 2005 by the U.S. Supreme Court illustrate how even the high court can reach very different conclusions in ruling on seemingly similar religious-display cases. Both McCreary County v. ACLU and Van Orden v. Perry involved displays of the Ten Commandments on public property. In writing for the 5-4 majority in McCreary, Justice David Souter used the Lemon test and determined that the Ten Commandments displays in the two Kentucky courthouses conveyed a religious message to the public, failing to satisfy the first prong of the Lemon test that the display must have a secular purpose. Therefore, the Court majority found the displays in McCreary were unconstitutional.
In Van Orden, which was decided on the same day as McCreary, the high court ruled that a Ten Commandments monument on the Texas State Capitol grounds was constitutional. Chief Justice William Rehnquist, in writing the plurality opinion for the Court, was quick in dismissing the Lemon test as the appropriate way to evaluate the case. (The vote was 4-1-4.) Instead, Rehnquist focused on the nature and setting of the monument. The monument was part of a larger display containing 17 monuments and 21 historical markers celebrating the "people, ideals, and events that compose Texan identity." In determining that the monument was of a secular purpose, and therefore constitutional, Justice Stephen Breyer in his concurring opinion noted that because the monument had been on display for 40 years before being challenged, it "suggests more strongly than can any set of formulaic tests that few individuals, whatever their system of beliefs, are likely to have understood the monument amounting, in any significantly detrimental way, to a government effort to favor a particular religious sect."
Later that same year, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held in ACLU v. Mercer County that another Kentucky County courthouse Ten Commandments display was constitutional. In this case, a Mercer County resident had requested permission to hang a display titled "Foundations of American Law and Government" in the courthouse. The display included the Ten Commandments, Mayflower Compact, Declaration of Independence, Magna Carta, Star-Spangled Banner, Bill of Rights and other historical documents. The 6th Circuit affirmed the lower court's ruling that because the Ten Commandments was part of an exhibit and was not, in any way, more prominently displayed than any of the other documents, the display had a secular purpose in educating the public rather than endorsing religion.
Are religious holiday displays on public property constitutional?
It depends. Determining the constitutionality of religious holiday displays requires an analysis that is heavily "fact-driven," meaning the slightest change in facts could completely change whether or not a holiday display is constitutional. Three U.S. Supreme Court cases deal specifically with this question. In Lynch v. Donnelly (1984) the Court held that a city-sponsored crèche in a public park did not violate the establishment clause because the display included other "secular" symbols, such as a teddy bear, dancing elephant, Christmas tree, and Santa Claus house. In Allegheny v. ACLU (1989) the Court found that a Nativity scene in a county courthouse accompanied by a banner that read "Gloria in Excelsis Deo" ("Glory to God in the Highest"), was unconstitutional because it was "indisputably religious," rather than secular, in nature. In 1995 in Capitol Square Review & Advisory Board v. Pinette the Court held that a private group of individuals (in this case the Ku Klux Klan) could erect a cross in the Ohio statehouse plaza during the holiday season. In reaching its decision, the Court heavily relied on the fact that the KKK had requested permission to display the cross in the same manner as any other private group was required to do, that the public park had often times been open to the public for various religious activities, and that the KKK expressly disclaimed any government endorsement of the cross with written language on the cross.
Despite the Supreme Court's providing these baseline principles in religious holiday display cases, courts around the country have a difficult time in their application. For example, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held that a holiday display in a government building violated the establishment clause because the display lacked sufficient secular content. (Amancio v. Town of Somerset, 28 F. Supp. 2d 677 (D. Mass. 1998).) Included in the display was a Nativity scene, Christmas tree and Santa Claus. Contrast that decision with a ruling out of the 8th Circuit in which it was held that a holiday display that contained candy canes, Christmas tree, snowman, wrapped gifts and a crèche was constitutional. (ACLU v. City of Florissant, 186 F.3d 1095 (8th Cir. 1999).) The 1st Circuit and 8th Circuit clearly are split, illustrated by these two decisions, in how to interpret Lynch and Allegheny.
Some circuits, however, have applied the trio of cases with great consistency. For example, the 3rd Circuit has held that a display depicting a Hanukkah menorah, Christmas trees, Kwanzaa candles, a sled and Frosty the Snowman, among other things, was constitutional. (ACLU v. Schundler, 168 F.3d 92 (1999).) This court adhered strictly to the decisions in Lynch and Donnelly in reaching its decision. The 2nd Circuit also reached a similar decision in a holiday display case that included a crèche, Christmas tree, Hanukkah menorah, and a posted sign that stated that the display was privately sponsored. (Elewski v. City of Syracuse, 123 F. 3d 51 (2nd Cir. 1997).)
How can an individual ensure that a religious holiday display that she erects is constitutional?
First of all, any holiday display erected on private property is immune from any constitutional challenges. Secondly, if an individual or group of individuals decide to set up a holiday display on public property (i.e. parks, courthouses, town halls, etc) he should petition the appropriate authorities for authorization to erect such a display. If the site has been home to a variety of religious displays in the past, it is likely permission will be granted.
If a prisoner who practiced the Sikh religion asked to wear a kirpan (small dagger), saying he needed to wear the kirpan to express his religious faith, must prison officials grant the request?
No, it is likely that prison officials could refuse this request, even if motivated by sincere religious belief, because of legitimate safety concerns. The courts grant a good deal of discretion to prison officials when it comes to safety considerations. Safety is a paramount concern in prisons and is termed a legitimate penological interest.
Should society care about inmates' religious rights?
Whatever legal standard is used to resolve inmate freedom-of-religion lawsuits, some in society ask: "Who cares?" Many people believe that inmates forfeited their rights when they committed their crimes. But others believe society should try to encourage inmates to practice their religious faith.
"Let's face it. Most inmates do get out of prison at some point," says David Fahti, a prison expert. "And the single best predictor of whether an inmate will do OK when they reenter society is whether they maintain community ties when they are in prison.
"There are many reasons why we should recognize the religious rights of inmates," Fahti says. "Our country was founded on principles of religious freedom. Many people came to this country to flee religious persecution in other countries. As long as a prisoner's practice of religion does not interfere with prison security, there is simply no reason to deny an inmate's religious rights.
Adds Keith Defasio, a prisoners'-rights advocate, "Even though inmates are incarcerated for crimes, they should still be entitled to their constitutional dignities. Where are we as a democracy if we can give and take away constitutional rights?"
Has the Supreme Court ruled on the constitutionality of religious exemptions to state-compelled vaccination?
No Supreme Court ruling explicitly establishes a position on religious exemptions to state-compelled vaccination. However, it is clear from the Court's establishment-clause rulings that it is unlikely for all such exemptions to be found in violation of the First Amendment. What is less clear is whether or not the Court would find the free-exercise clause to mandate the inclusion of religious exemptions. For this reason, the status of religious exemptions to state-compelled vaccinations is still very much unclear. What the Court has found, however, is that a state has the authority to require its citizens to receive certain inoculations. This authority was established in 1905 in Jacobson v. Massachusetts, where the Court ruled that Massachusetts had the authority to require its citizens to be inoculated against smallpox.
Which states require immunizations for public schoolchildren, and which offer religious exemptions?
All states currently require children to follow at least some form of standardized immunization schedule in order to be enrolled in public school. Vaccinations often required by this schedule include those against diphtheria, whooping cough, and the measles. Of the 50 states, all offer some exemptions for religious opposition to vaccination except Mississippi and West Virginia.
How are exemption requests evaluated?
States generally apply one of three standards for evaluating religious-exemption requests.
1. Parents requesting the exemption must be a member of a recognized religious organization that is opposed to vaccination.
2. Parents must demonstrate a sincere and genuinely held religious belief that opposes one or all vaccinations.
3. Parents must simply sign a statement confirming that they are religiously opposed to vaccination and would like an exemption.
Are religious exemptions the only way to opt out of mandatory vaccination?
No, all states include a medical exemption in their vaccination policy, and almost half of the states offer philosophical exemptions in addition to their medical and religious accommodations.
Freedom to Petition
What is "petitioning"?
Historically, a petition was a written request stating a grievance and requesting relief from a ruling authority such as a king. In modern America, petitioning embraces a range of expressive activities designed to influence public officials through legal, nonviolent means.
What are the origins of the right to petition?
The right to petition reaches back at least to the Magna Carta in 1215. The English Declaration of Rights in 1689 confirmed that subjects were entitled to petition the king without fear of prosecution.
What does the petition clause in the First Amendment guarantee?
Courts seldom address the petition clause in isolation, instead grouping it with other rights to free association and collective speech. The U.S. Supreme Court has noted that the right to petition at least provides the opportunity to institute nonfrivolous lawsuits and mobilize popular support to change existing laws in a peaceful manner.
Can government entities besides Congress restrict petitioning?
No. The U.S. Supreme Court has incorporated the petition clause of the First Amendment as part of the 14th Amendment's guarantees against the states. The petition clause applies equally to state and local governments and protects petitions directed to the judicial, executive and legislative branches.
What must the government do in response to petitioning?
The First Amendment does not mandate that the government consider the public's petitions or actually provide any "redress." At a minimum, the government must have a mechanism for receiving complaints and grievances from the public, even if only to file them without consideration. Of course, due process — the guarantee that justice will be administered fairly — would apply if a citizen's "petition" took the form of a court case.
Are SLAPP suits illegal?
No, parties can attempt to file such suits, but the First Amendment's petition clause guarantees the right of all interested parties to attempt to enlist the government on their side of an issue or dispute. The vast majority of the case law and commentary — both popular and scholarly — supports that right, and suggests that the remedy for dissatisfaction with the statements of another party is more speech directed toward government, not more litigation.
Is lobbying considered a form of petition?
Lobbyists try to persuade government officials either to support or oppose various policy issues. Therefore, lobbying can be considered a form of petitioning the government for redress of grievances, subject to protection under the First Amendment's petition clause. Although there has not been a great deal of judicial analysis on First Amendment protections afforded to lobbying, the courts have carved out several parameters. First, the petition clause does not grant a lobbyist the absolute right to speak to a government official, nor does it grant a lobbyist the right to a hearing based on his or her grievances. In addition, the clause does not create an obligation for a government official to take action in response to a grievance. Finally, any statement made while a lobbyist petitions a government official does not receive greater protection than any other expression protected by the First Amendment.
Do anti-SLAPP laws apply to online libel suits?
A libel suit, whether involving online or off-line speech, is one of the ways a SLAPP suit could be disguised; anti-SLAPP laws would apply. However, not all libel suits are SLAPP suits. Anti-SLAPP laws would apply only if it were found that a suit was filed in response to or in retaliation for citizen communications with government entities or employees, or for speech to bring attention to an issue of public interest or concern.
In 2001, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter determined that California's anti-SLAPP statute does apply to cyber-SLAPPs. (See Global Telemedia International Inc. v. Doe et al., 132 F. Supp. 2d 1261 (C.D. Cal. 2001))
In 2003, the Massachusetts Appeals Court cited that state's anti-SLAPP statute in throwing out a libel lawsuit against a website operator whose posted statements suggested a town official was a Nazi. (See MacDonald v. Paton, 57 Mass.App.Ct. 290 (2003) and "State appeals court rules online libel suit was really SLAPP.")
Other state anti-SLAPP statutes may also apply to online libel suits. See "Anti-SLAPP statutes: state summary" for a state-by-state list.
Do prisoners have access to law libraries and legal advisers as part of the freedom to petition?
No. The right to such legal resources in prison falls under due process.
Freedom of Assembly
Is there such a thing as "guilt by association"?
Simply attending peaceful meetings of an organization will not make a person guilty, even if other members of that organization commit lawless acts. Guilt can be shared only if the organization and its members have a common plan to break the law.
Can what a customer wears in a shopping mall be restricted?
In most cases, yes. Most states consider shopping malls to be the private property of the mall owner. Just as with any piece of private property, owners can make rules regarding that property, including what is appropriate attire. Think of "No shirt, no shoes, no service."
In 1976, the U.S. Supreme Court decided the case Hudgens v. National Labor Relations Board. This case involved a group of labor union members who were picketing inside a privately owned mall. The union members filed suit claiming, in part, that their First Amendment free-speech rights had been violated after they were asked to leave the premises or be arrested for criminal trespass. The court looked at past cases and found that the First Amendment does not prevent a property owner from restricting the exercise of free speech on private property, in this instance, the shopping mall. So, for example, if a mall shopper were asked to cover a shirt that the mall owners found to be offensive, the shopper would have to comply or leave.
New Jersey and California have found their state constitutions to provide more freedoms than the U.S. Constitution — meaning that in these states constitutional rights to free speech can prevail over the private-property interests of mall owners. See Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins (1980). However, most states that have addressed this issue have found in favor of property owners.
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What is the difference between the freedom of assembly and the freedom of association?
Freedom of assembly is explicitly guaranteed in the First Amendment, securing the right of people to meet for any purpose connected with government. Freedom of association protects the activities and composition of such meetings. This right is not explicitly set out in the Constitution but is instead derived from fundamental privacy interests and the rights of speech, petition and assembly.
What kinds of associations are protected?
Any and every group is allowed to meet to discuss ideas and peaceably promote its point of view, even if that message is distasteful to others. Whether through parades, peaceful protests, picketing or simply sharing ideas, an organization formed for expressive purposes may engage in "group speech" to advance its mission. Freedom of association also protects the gathering of people for personal, private purposes, such as the meeting of family members.
When can the government restrict associations?
Groups that wish to engage in public activism must abide by generally applicable laws, such as criminal trespass or prohibitions on litter, excess noise, crowd congestion and permit requirements. If the government seeks to intervene in the internal affairs of a group in a way that impairs its advocacy, the regulation must be narrowly tailored to serve a compelling state interest that outweighs any burden on the group's speech.
How broad is the freedom of association?
This freedom protects the right of people to meet and publicly support a cause or message. It also protects the right of people not to be affiliated with certain messages or ideas. For example, the government cannot force expressive associations to accept unwanted members who would impair the effectiveness of the group. Nor can the government force people to support undesirable causes through required fees or dues as part of belonging to a group.
What role did the First Amendment play in the civil rights movement?
The movement drew upon several First Amendment freedoms — primarily speech, assembly and petition — to protest racial injustice and promote racial equality. In addition, the U.S. Supreme Court strengthened these First Amendment freedoms through its rulings in court cases arising out of the civil rights movement.
Why do legislatures and judges pass or approve of buffer zones around abortion clinics?
In some cases, anti-abortion demonstrators physically obstruct and/or intimidate those entering and exiting abortion clinics. Legislatures and judges create and permit buffer zones to ensure that people can work safely at the clinics and that women have access to them.
Do individuals have First Amendment rights on others' private property?
Generally, no. The Bill of Rights provides protection for individual liberty from actions by government officials. This is called the state-action doctrine. Private property is not government-owned. Restrictions on individuals' free-speech rights on private property do not involve state action.
However, a few states have interpreted their own state constitutions to provide even greater free-speech protection than the federal Constitution offers. For example, the New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that individuals have free-speech rights at privately owned shopping malls. Most state supreme courts that have examined the issue have disagreed. In April 2002, the Iowa Supreme Court refused to extend its definition of public property to include large, privately owned shopping malls.
Has the U.S. Supreme Court addressed any case involving funeral-protest legislation?
A 2010 case, Snyder v. Phelps, involved whether a verdict assessing damages against the Westboro Baptist Church for a protest causing emotional distress to a soldier's family violates the First Amendment.
In a somewhat related case, the Court in Frisby v. Schultz (1988) upheld a Wisconsin city ordinance banning picketing in front of private residences. "The type of picketers banned by the Brookfield ordinance generally do not seek to disseminate a message to the general public, but to intrude upon the targeted resident, and to do so in an especially offensive way," Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote for the Court. The Court has also decided a series of cases involving limitations on abortion protesters outside clinics. For example, in Hill v. Colorado (2001), a divided Court (6-3) upheld a Colorado law that imposed an 8-foot floating buffer zone between protesters and those entering and leaving abortion facilities.
How might a law banning protests at funerals discriminate on the basis of viewpoint?
A law discriminates on the basis of viewpoint if it singles out a specific point of view for regulation. Consider a protest at a military funeral in which demonstrators denigrated the soldier and offended family members. If government officials punished that protest but allowed a demonstration praising the deceased, a serious charge of viewpoint discrimination could be leveled, because only protesters advocating a specific type of message were targeted.
When and where can I protest without fear of being arrested?
The U.S. Supreme Court held on Feb. 28, 2006, in a case involving anti-abortion protests, that federal extortion and racketeering laws cannot be used to ban demonstrations. Use of those laws against protesters also was opposed by unions and a variety of social activists. Many states currently are considering laws that would ban protests at funerals, but those bans would be based on different kinds of laws. The proposed state bans often set out time limits starting before and ending after funeral services, or map out physical distances to separate families from demonstrators.
As a general rule, the government cannot ban speech — including public protests — because of the protest's "content," or subject matter. Government can restrict the time, place and manner of the speech in order to meet a higher need, such as public safety. What a demonstrator might say without challenge at noon in the public square likely would have First Amendment protection, while that same speech at midnight under an apartment building window likely would not.
Do we have an unfettered right to protest on government property?
No. The government can limit such protests depending on several factors. First, violent protests are outlawed anywhere. The text of the First Amendment provides for "the right of the people peaceably to assemble." The key word is "peaceably" — violent protesting is not allowed.
Second, not all government property is treated the same for First Amendment purposes. The U.S. Supreme Court has established the public-forum doctrine to examine whether certain types of public property are open to First Amendment expressive activity. These categories include traditional public forums, limited or designated public forums and nonpublic forums. Still other government property is not considered a forum at all.
First Amendment rights apply the most in a traditional public forum, such as a public park. In its 1939 decision Hague v. C.I.O. the U.S. Supreme Court explained: "Wherever the title of streets and parks may rest, they have immemorially been held in trust for the use of the public and, time out of mind, have been used for purposes of assembly, communicating thoughts between citizens, and discussing public questions."
The general rule is that government officials may not impose content-based restrictions on speech in a public forum. This means that city officials must not treat different persons and groups of persons differently on the basis of the content (and viewpoint) of their messages. The government can justify content-based speech restrictions only by showing that it has a compelling state interest in imposing them (such as safety or security concerns), and that it has done so in a narrowly tailored way. Even in a public forum, the government may impose reasonable time, place and manner restrictions that are content-neutral, leave open ample, alternative ways for expression and are narrowly tailored. This means that city officials could limit protests to certain hours of the day and perhaps certain locations. Again, the key terms are "reasonable" and "content-neutral."
The next category is a limited or designated public forum (though some lower courts distinguish between limited and designated — see discussion in Speaking at public meetings section).
In a limited public forum (such as a meeting room on a public college campus that is frequently used by outside groups), the government designates the certain types of subject matter that can be discussed at the location. After the government has created such a forum, setting boundaries on classes of speakers or topics, the government must meet the standards of a traditional public forum; namely, restrictions on speech must be reasonable and viewpoint-neutral. The theory is that when the government opens a forum up to the public, it shouldn't be able to skew discussions by over-regulating expression.
Still another category is the nonpublic forum, a place where the government has greater leeway for control, as restrictions on expression must only be reasonable and viewpoint-neutral. What this means is that the right to protest is often affected by the location and purpose of the government property where the protest takes place. In United States v. Grace (1983), the U.S. Supreme Court wrote that the "public sidewalks forming the perimeter of the Supreme Court grounds, in our view, are public forums and should be treated as such for First Amendment purposes." The same protest rights would not apply inside the Supreme Court building or on the steps right outside the Court. In U.S. v. Kokinda (1990), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that postal sidewalks were not public forums, writing that they do "not have the characteristics of public sidewalks traditionally open to expressive activity." The Court clarified that "the location and purpose of a publicly owned sidewalk is critical to determining whether such a sidewalk constitutes a public forum."
In sum, there is no unfettered right to protest on government property. Protests must be peaceable, and the government has the right to impose content-neutral, reasonable time, place and manner restrictions on expression. Furthermore, as the Supreme Court said in Kokinda, "the government's ownership of property does not automatically open that property to the public."
The government has greater power to regulate expression when it acts as a proprietor controlling its internal operations than it does as a sovereign lawmaker. This means that government officials could limit protests inside a courthouse because the government has important operations to conduct. It must be able to control its operations to carry out its functions. The government must be able to carry on its own speech and expression free from interference. Contrast this with the public sidewalks two blocks from a courthouse. Here, the government cannot argue that it is conducting its own internal operations. Speech restrictions there would implicate a forum analysis and trigger a higher degree of judicial scrutiny.
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First Five
Is your speech protected by the First Amendment?
Classroom Walk-Outs and School Protests
Free Expression on Social Media
A Quick Guide to Libel Law
Leaks and the Media
Protest Primer
The Quick Guide to Spotting Fake News
Speech Overview
K-12 Public School Student Expression Overview
Free Speech on Public College Campuses Overview
Internet & First Amendment Overview
Arts & First Amendment Overview
Personal & Public Expression Overview
Government Employees & First Amendment Overview
Adult Entertainment Overview
Advertising & First Amendment Overview
Flag-burning Overview
Campaign Finance Overview
Libraries & First Amendment Overview
Freedom of the Press Overview
Freedom of Information Overview
Religious Liberty in America Overview
Religious Liberty in Public Schools Overview
Religious Liberty in Public Life Overview
Establishment Clause Overview
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Star Ocean: The Last Hope review
Final frontier meets Final Fantasy once more, this time on the 360
By Will_Groves 2009-03-06T03:28:25.64Z Review
Real-time combat and blindside attacks
Switching between all eight characters
Nice looks
Where are all the damn save spots?
Cut scenes and dungeons both too long
Cringe-worthy voice acting
Despite the fact that Star Ocean: The Last Hope swaps the usual swords and dragons setting for spaceships and aliens (but keeps magic – go figure), the least typical thing about this sci-fi role-playing game is it's combat. Most Japanese RPGs stick with the tried-and-true turn-based system – or its close relative, the Active Time Battle system, in which each character takes turns waiting for his or her or its meter to fill up between actions. Star Ocean: The Last Hope instead delivers all-out, full-tilt, real-time battles.
Don't go thinking that this focus on speed means that combat is dumbed down and you won't need strategy. It hasn't been – you just need to do everything faster. There are four characters to swap between at any time during battle (actually eight, if you count the fact that you can also switch characters in and out of your party on the fly as well) and a ton of skills and abilities to learn. Add in a special attack called a "blindside", in which you're given the chance to attack your enemy's vulnerable rear if you wait for the last possible second to counter, and you have an adrenalized battle system that really sets the game apart from most of its more relaxed, plodding contemporaries.
In most every other way, Star Ocean: The Last Hope is the prototypical, top-notch Japanese RPG. The detailed graphics look like Star Wars gone psychedelic, with crazily over the top outfits and more bright colors bouncing around than a disco party at a clown college. It has a young but gifted main character (named Edge Maverick, believe it or not) and a small battalion of seven customizable cohorts whose stiff, overly cartoon-y voice actors miss as much as they hit.
It sends this on a vast adventure built around an epic concept – you start off looking for a new home for humanity after World War III trashed our home planet, and things actually get bigger from there. It's decidedly, unabashedly cute despite this very serious premise and the fact that you kill nearly every living thing you encounter. There are side quests, many of which seem oddly unimportant considering the urgency of your main goal, but you do them first anyhow. And you can make things out of the various animal parts, plants, gems and debris you find.
Unfortunately, SO:TLH even sticks to some annoying JRPG traditions we'd rather forget. It's so miserly with the save points (why do we even NEED save points these days?) you'd think the developers had to sacrifice a child everything they placed one. And it alternates between talking way too much, telling its story through excessively long-winded cut scenes, and grinding you into numbness with dungeons so big that exploring them sometimes switches from "this is fun!" to "this is work."
Of course, that's all part of being a Japanese RPG, so some fans will find the depth and challenge delightful. If you think you can sack up and deal with quick battles balanced by long, slow everything else, there's no doubt that Star Ocean: The Last Hope will deliver a ton of Japanese RPG goodness.
Description Mankind wanders the universe in Valykrie Profile developer tri-Ace's newest, a prequel to this long-running franchise.
Platform Xbox 360
US censor rating Teen
UK censor rating Rating Pending
Alternative names Star Ocean 4
Release date 24 February 2009 (US), (UK) | {
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Brandon West On How We Need To Adjust To The Future Of Work
Increased focus on security.
karenmangia
Increased focus on security. More systems operating in the cloud, more code running, and more internet-enabled devices, there's just more surface area for potential attacks. Ransomware attacks doubled in 2021. More employees working remotely means more potential victims of phishing or smishing attacks. Security is definitely a market that will continue to expand.
When it comes to designing the future of work, one size fits none. Discovering success isn't about a hybrid model or offering remote work options. Individuals and organizations are looking for more freedom. The freedom to choose the work model that makes the most sense. The freedom to choose their own values. And the freedom to pursue what matters most. We reached out to successful leaders and thought leaders across all industries to glean their insights and predictions about how to create a future that works.
As a part of our interview series called "How Employers and Employees are Reworking Work Together," we had the pleasure to interview Brandon West.
Brandon West is a Senior Technical Evangelist at Datadog (via acquisition of CoScreen), where he helps developers build apps with modern monitoring and security. Brandon has worked in tech as a software developer since 1999, with a focus on educating and empowering other developers in developer relations roles since 2011. He has built and led teams distributed teams as Senior Director of Community at SendGrid and as Senior Manager of Developer Relations for the Americas at AWS. Brandon and has travelled around the world speaking about software development, cloud computing, and devrel, and currently resides in Seattle, Washington.
Thank you for making time to visit with us about the topic of our time. Let's get to know you a bit — what are one or two life experiences that led you to where you are today (professionally and/or personally).
I was interested in video games and computers as a kid, so I was always playing around with things. Oddly enough, trading mp3s on Napster is kind of what led to me pursuing software development as a job. I've written about this on Twitter, but to summarize, I lucked into being an early user of Napster, became an admin, and had an ICQ chat with Shawn Fanning that inspired me to learn to write code professionally. So I did.
The other thing that has had a big impact on my life is playing music. Me and some friends were bored during the end of our time in high school, so we bought some music gear and started a thrash metal band. It was a lot of fun, and it was also a very humbling experience to get up on stage at bars where we weren't even old enough to drink and just absolutely suck for our first few shows. After that, I've never really been afraid to jump on stage at a conference or speak at an event. There's no way I can bomb harder than I've bombed before.
Let's zoom out. What do you predict will be the same about work, the workforce and the workplace 10–15 years from now? What do you predict will be different?
I don't believe any of the metaverse hype. It's the same dream I've been sold since the days of Sega VR in 1994 and Second Life again a decade later. In 15 years I think we'll be operating in more or less the same modes as we are today, whether remote or hybrid or fully on-site, just with different and better tools, such as CoScreen. Maybe there will be a meeting or event here or there where a virtual component might make sense, but I'm skeptical that we need an entirely new modality where we strap computers to our faces.
These last few years have seen a lot of job hopping and relatively short tenures, at least in tech. And rightfully so; the ground shifted under us and we all had a chance to re-evaluate what we wanted. On top of that, if you weren't open to offers even when employed, you were more likely than not leaving money on the table. I think that's going to cool off and we'll see longer tenures again. The attention that companies are now paying to culture and retention will bear fruit, as will some of the shift from equity-heavy compensation to higher base pay.
What advice would you offer to employers who want to future-proof their organizations?
Everything starts with building a strong culture and providing psychological safety to your team. Those things will always transcend trends and technological shifts, as long as you design resilient processes to evaluate and adjust as needed. It's never too early to start thinking about culture and reinforcing your values through how you conduct your meetings and organize your business.
I also think it's important to have a practice of reviewing and adjusting recurring meetings on a regular cadence to make sure that the audience, content, and channel continue to fit the purpose of the meeting. If you're using Zoom for everything, you've probably got room for improvement.
What do you predict will be the biggest gaps between what employers are willing to offer and what employees expect as we move forward? And what strategies would you offer about how to reconcile those gaps?
Many companies are still in a transitional period when it comes to supporting remote work or hybrid work. Developing that muscle quickly is important so employees aren't left with questions that don't have good answers. I've seen some companies like GitLab create roles with titles like "Head of Remote" to focus on that gap. I think we'll see more of that, and it's probably a good idea. It's a critical thing to get right, but getting it right also largely depends on the context. Making remote culture an on-going point of emphasis with high visibility will pay dividends.
We simultaneously joined a global experiment together last year called "Working From Home." How will this experience influence the future of work?
I'm in the camp that makes a point to separate "Working From Home '' and "Working During a Pandemic," because I've worked from home before, and these last couple years have not been normal. Working from home doesn't mean schools are closed, or that you get anxiety about going to the grocery store, or that all the other adults in your home are also working from home, and that kind of thing. There have been a lot of folks exposed to some big downsides. I know plenty of people that can't wait to get back to the office.
The big, sustained cultural shift will come from the businesses that realized roles that they thought required being at an office actually didn't need to be managed that way. A lot of businesses have now made the investment in equipment and tools and services to support remote employees, and I expect most employers will continue to enable those things, at least to some degree.
We've all read the headlines about how the pandemic reshaped the workforce. What societal changes do you foresee as necessary to support a future of work that works for everyone?
People need to be able to trust that they will be insured and have access to healthcare and medication regardless of their employment status. In the U.S., the negative economic impacts of the pandemic have disproportionately affected lower-wage workers (https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3828096). A future that exposes healthcare workers, teachers, delivery drivers, and other essential members of society to undue risk won't be sustainable.
What is your greatest source of optimism about the future of work?
I think decoupling where work is being done from the work itself is going to have a lot of benefits for a lot of different communities. Where a person is from will have less of an impact on their ability to get a job that pays well, and that creates opportunity.
Our collective mental health and wellbeing are now considered collateral as we consider the future of work. What innovative strategies do you see employers offering to help improve and optimize their employee's mental health and wellbeing?
There are a lot of articles out there about four-day work weeks and wellness stipends and better mental health benefits. All of those things are great, but the truth is that a few zoom therapy sessions with a counselor from an online portal aren't going to be the difference maker in whether or not someone burns out. At one company that I worked at early in my career, the bosses bought a pool table for the break room after a grueling quarter. We played pool every day until someone made a comment that we were wasting time playing instead of working. Creating a good culture is an ongoing process that takes consistent practice. Many of the tried-and-true ways of improving employee wellbeing seem innovative now because they were ignored for a while.
Things like not contacting employees after work hours unless there's an emergency take more discipline now due to the rise of emails and slack messages and smartphones, especially for those not used to working remotely. The companies that I think are doing the best do the hard work of caring about their employees, listening to their feedback, fostering psychological safety, and offering fair chances at promotions and raises relative to opportunities outside of the company. They create a culture that makes employees feel good and fairly valued, and lets them speak up when their needs aren't met.
It seems like there's a new headline every day. 'The Great Resignation'. 'The Great Reconfiguration'. And now the 'Great Reevaluation'. What are the most important messages leaders need to hear from these headlines? How do company cultures need to evolve?
The biggest thing that leaders should take away from these headlines is that employees have more choice and more power now than they did previously, so they're being more thoughtful about where they choose to work. Companies with strong cultures likely don't need to evolve very much, as these cultures tend to be responsive to change and introspective when needed. Those businesses should instead focus on fair compensation and keeping up with the increasing market rates.
For companies that are struggling, my advice is to focus on your meetings. Meetings are your company's values made manifest. The way they are structured, who gets to speak, the channel used, the level of transparency around operations, the types of accomplishments that are celebrated and so on all demonstrate what the business cares about more so than the values that are written in the company wiki. Be intentional about your meetings and how they are run. Make sure you have leaders that are modeling aspirational values during meetings. Pay attention to disconnects between the level of complexity of information being conveyed and the channel used to communicate it (this usually sounds like "this could've been an email.") These are chances to make things better. Meetings should be for generating new ideas, collaborating, or establishing a sense of rapport rather than just sharing information.
Let's get more specific. What are your "Top 5 Trends To Track In the Future of Work?"
Continued/Accelerated cloud adoption
It seems strange to say, but we're still early in the grand scheme of cloud adoption. As more and more companies move their workloads to the cloud, the more experience they get operating things in the cloud, which leads them to build more things in the cloud. The flywheel will continue to spin. It's been said that every company is in some form a technology company these days, and while I don't believe that's true from an engineering perspective, it doesn't have to be true to mean that cloud adoption will continue to soar. Builders using no code tools are probably using tools hosted in the cloud.
Increased focus on security
More systems operating in the cloud, more code running, and more internet-enabled devices, there's just more surface area for potential attacks. Ransomware attacks doubled in 2021 (https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/2021/results-and-analysis/). More employees working remotely means more potential victims of phishing or smishing attacks. Security is definitely a market that will continue to expand.
More low code/no code tools
There are already some very powerful platforms that let people without coding skills connect different services, transform data, trigger events, and automate complex workflows. I believe we'll see this particular market segment heat up a lot. It's a natural progression of abstraction and user experience improvements after the rise of services with public APIs. I've been a part of several developer relations teams that have tons of coding skills but still choose to build some workflows like event tracking or chat moderation using no code tools, especially for things that are likely to evolve. It's faster and less complex than coding and can be handed off to other teammates more easily without requiring a bunch of documentation and install scripts.
Less Zoom, more apps for specific needs
People are sick of being on camera all the time. Even Zoom's CEO got tired of video conferences. There's often a disconnect between the level of focus the content being discussed requires, and the level of attention it takes to be on camera. People become disengaged because they feel like they can't contribute.
In terms of remote work, we're still early on, and there are a lot of companies, like CoScreen, that are building new and interesting ways to collaborate that aren't just another video conference. As companies build their remote working muscles, we'll see them adopt some of these newer approaches.
More focus on developing junior talent
When recruiting is difficult, having a way to turn potential into talent can be a big win in the long-term. Early on at SendGrid, we hired several extremely capable folks right out of university for our Developer Relations team, for two reasons: finding developer advocates in 2012 was very difficult because it was relatively nascent compared to today, and we were a startup with limited budget and funds. Hiring and developing talent enabled us to scale the team and find amazing teammates before someone else did. It takes a very deliberate approach to provide junior employees with structure and coaching to help them succeed. I expect more tech companies to create teams and programs for those that are earlier in their careers in order to supplement their talent pipeline and broaden the pool of candidates.
I keep quotes on my desk and on scraps of paper to stay inspired. What's your favorite "Life Lesson Quote"? And how has this quote shaped your perspective?
One of my favorites is from Maya Angelou: "[P]eople will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." Working in developer relations requires cultivating empathy whenever possible, and that means trying to think about how other people feel. The biggest wins in my career have been when people tell me years later that some advice I gave them had a meaningful impact, and the worst losses are when I've forgotten who someone is or confused their accomplishments and made them feel unimportant. I try my best to be kind and consider how my actions make others feel.
Is there a person in the world with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why?
I'm going to go with Bill Murray or maybe Snoop Dogg, because they seem like they wouldn't mind the intrusion. If I were having a cup of coffee with some Nobel Prize winning author or an esteemed world leader, I'd feel a lot of pressure to ask interesting questions. I'd be worried that I was wasting their time with silly conversation when they should be busy saving the world or something. But I imagine sharing a breakfast burrito with Bill or Snoop would be cracking jokes and hanging out, which sounds nice.
Our readers often like to continue the conversation with our featured interviewees. How can they best connect with you and stay current on what you're discovering?
I'm most active on twitter, where I'm @bwest. I'm looking forward to more conversations!
Thank you for sharing your insights and predictions. We appreciate the gift of your time and wish you continued success and good health. | {
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U.S. Martial Arts Network.com
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United States - National Karate & Kung-Fu Union
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September 21, 2021 - 10:12am
Dr. LeAnn Starlin Nilsson joins the Sing Stark Board of Trustees
We are thrilled to welcome Dr. LeAnn Starlin Nilsson to the Sing Stark Board of Trustees. LeAnn serves as Asst. Dean of Recruitment and Retention for the College of the Arts, Kent State University. Outside of work, LeAnn ...
1 in 6 Americans sings in a choir!
1 in 6 Americans sings in a choir — and they're healthier for it!
Laughter erupted as members of the Pittsburgh Concert Chorale warmed up their...
November 22, 2019 - 3:30pm
By Stephen Raskauskas | July 23, 2018
A new study conducted by O2, a company which owns some of United Kingdom's largest music venues, and Patrick Fagan claims that attending live concerts can help...
Whether you sing professionally or as part of a community choir, you need to take care of your voice. Your vocal cords are delicate and unique, and singing your best means treating them...
Vox Audio Lights Up The Palace Stage
This weekend our 16 member a capella ensemble dazzeled audiences at this year's Canton Christmas Spectacular. Vox Audio joined the members of the Stardust Dinner Theater who performed the radio adaptation to the Christmas Classic "It's...
SINGSTARK! | Featured in About Magazine
Written By Alison Matas / November 7, 2019
SingStark! has been making music in Stark County for 80 years, but now it's got a new name and a new sound.
You know SingStark! as VOCI, which was originally founded as the...
November 3, 2019 - 4:34pm
Sing Stark welcomes Lou Poppovich to the Board of Trustees! Mr. Poppovich's longtime dedication to the arts in Stark County demonstrates a passion that will assist the organization as it pursues new choral initiatives.
Official Press Release: VOCI is Rebranding!
The Voices of Canton Celebrating 80th Anniversary Season with a New Look
The Voices of Canton is celebrating its 80th Anniversary Season with a rebrand and new programs fostering the "Joy of Singing...
August 13, 2019 - 12:16pm
Vox Audio Auditions
Sing Stark announces auditions for the second season of VOX AUDIO, Canton's...
The performance of The Voyage postponed.
The performance of The Voyage by Bob Chicott has been postponed to a future season. For questions regarding ticketing, please call the box office at 330.452.4098.
Senior Sing at Aultman Hospital
Senior Sing gave an afternoon perfromance in the lobby of Aultman Hospital. In partnership with Aultman Generations and sponsored by Chapel Hill Retirement Community, Stark County seniors sing to garner the proven health and wellness benefits of singing in a choir. The next session begins March...
The community welcomes VOX AUDIO
On December 17th, VOX AUDIO gave their premiere performance to an audience of more than 800 patrons at the Glen Oak Performing Arts Center. Voices of Canton's newest ensemble, directed by Brian Kieffer, sang in the Holidays in a cappella style. | {
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University Rankings and Student Reviews
rankings-reviews
University of Seville is ranked 401 in Academic Ranking of World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University and has an overall score of 3.9 stars, according to student reviews on Studyportals, the best place to find out how students rate their study and living experience at universities from all over the world.
On this page you can see how the university is ranked on international rankings and find out what students are saying about their study experience.
View all 0 Masters from this university Find out more about this university
University World Rankings
Academic Ranking of World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Best Global Universities Rankings by U.S. News & World Report
QS World University Rankings by TopUniversities
World University Rankings by Times Higher Education
Latest positive review:
Lo que más me gusta de mi universidad es la buena relación que hay entre alumnos y profesores, siempre dispuestos a negociar para el beneficio de todos.
Latest critical review:
Mi experiencia educativa en la Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad de Sevilla es absolutamente deficiente y patética. Nadie se preocupa porque los estudiantes aprendamos y lo último que le interesa al profesorado (especialmente el profesorado que es personal hospitalario) es mejorar la forma de impartir docencia.
Why are student reviews important?
Spain attracts thousands of international students every year with its friendly and laid-back lifestyle. The weather is also excellent, allowing you to enjoy the warmth of the sun and relaxing beaches when you're not in class. Higher education institutions charge relatively low tuition fees and go head-to-head with other big-name institutions worldwide. Spanish universities are well known for their offer of prestigious Business studies. You'll also have the opportunity to learn Spanish, which is a great asset on any CV, especially if you want to start a career in Spain or at a multinational company.
Read more about studying abroad in Spain
University of Seville is located in Sevilla, Spain and is featured in the best 1000 universities in the world, according to the most well-known international university rankings. Find out its position in each of these rankings or see what other universities made the ranking lists. | {
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President Laurie A. Carter speaks in front of Main Hall during a new student welcome event in September. Carter was named Lawrence's 17th president in March and began her tenure July 1. (Photo by Danny Damiani)
Most-viewed Lawrence stories of 2021: Arrival of a new president leads the way
From the early March announcement of a new president being named to Lawrentians doing amazing things on and off campus, there has been no shortage of Lawrence stories to tell in 2021.
The Lawrence community (and beyond) has been hungry to read about it every step of the way. We perused the analytics so we can share today the 20 most viewed stories of the year. The list includes new faces, creative approaches to the pandemic, and the brilliance of our students, faculty, and alumni.
If you missed a story earlier, take a look now. If you read it already, take another look as a reminder of the many reasons Lawrentians are brighter together.
1. Laurie A. Carter named 17th president of Lawrence University; begins July 1
"As a sitting president, I am well aware of the challenges facing higher education, but I know the Lawrence community is ready to work together to continue the traditions of excellence while ensuring a bright future for the students, the university, and the community." – Laurie Carter
2. 10 new tenure-track faculty join Lawrence University for 2021-22 academic year
"I am absolutely thrilled to be welcoming such a talented, dedicated group of scholars to the Lawrence faculty. Our new colleagues will fortify strengths in existing academic programs and help us develop new areas of focus." – Catherine Gunther Kodat
3. Lawrence debuts new athletics logo; Viking ship gives nod to school history
"The ship is the perfect illustration of our great campus, and having the antelope, shield, and LU all part of the design connects every corner of our campus. This is a logo for all who love and support LU; I believe it represents all of us." – Tony Aker
4. Lawrence places high in value, teaching, first-year experience in U.S. News rankings
"Lawrence's faculty are not only terrific scientists, artists, and scholars—they are also first-rate teachers. It's extremely gratifying to see them receive this much-deserved national recognition for the extraordinary work they do with their students." – Catherine Gunther Kodat
5. "Impressive" class welcomed to campus on busy opening day of student orientation
"This class has some of the strongest academic credentials we have seen in a long time. Considering that they have performed at such a high level while learning in the midst of a pandemic speaks volumes about the resilience and readiness of our newest Lawrentians. They are going to do great things." – Ken Anselment
6. 17 things to know about No. 17: An introduction to President Laurie A. Carter
"I want to eat cheese curds; I want to do it all. Snowmobiling, too. I want to try that. I really just want to get a sense of the culture; the unique things about Wisconsin. I can't wait. I'm very excited." – Laurie A. Carter
7. Kenyon's Robyn Bowers to join Lawrence as its new dean of admissions
"Lawrence's rich liberal arts tradition, commitment to the arts, emphasis on diversity and inclusion, and welcoming community create an extraordinary learning environment." – Robyn Bowers
8. Mayes joins Lawrence as vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion
"To realize the unique value of a liberal arts education, you need to have an environment where people feel welcome, where people feel supported, where people can bring their authentic self to the classroom, to campus, and their presence and contributions are welcomed, valued, and celebrated." – Eric Mayes
9. "Dedicated and richly talented:" 10 Lawrence University faculty earn tenure
"The breadth of ability and skill represented in this year's tenure 'class' is truly extraordinary, both in terms of individual achievement and in how those achievements support our broader efforts to expand and enhance our curriculum to support diversity, inclusion, and excellence." – Catherine Gunther Kodat
10. Lawrence lands on The Princeton Review's 2022 list of best colleges in nation
"While being considered one of the best is great, we're even more excited that The Princeton Review continues to acknowledge the important work we do every day on behalf of our students, which is providing top-notch preparation for a meaningful life after college, and doing so in a way that families can afford." – Ken Anselment
11. Five retiring Lawrence faculty members to be honored at 2021 Commencement
"What was true when I arrived in 1998 is still true today—you have to ask the question 'why?' over and over, in every class you take. And that goes for the professors, too. The 'why?' question is the central one in critical thinking, which is the essence of the Lawrence experience." – Jerald Podair
12. Great Midwest Trivia Contest carries on amid daunting obstacles, new rules
"It's very difficult to balance the needs of the contest with this year's restrictions, and, in some cases, we have had to make changes to trivia that go against tradition. Our main focus is making sure the contest happens this year and that it can be a positive experience for everyone." – Grace Krueger '21
13. Class of 2021 celebrated for courage, resilience: "You have shone brightly"
"Your responses have made you stronger, have tested your resolve, and have tempered you so that you will turn future challenges into opportunities. And you have validated the Lawrence experience as formative and essential to who you are, and who you will be." – Dr. John Raymond
14. Lawrence's beloved Rock is heading east, a gift to university's departing president
OK, this one was a little bit of April's Fools fun with departing President Mark Burstein. We were excited that people enjoyed it (if they read to the very end).
15. Pandemic canceled their sabbaticals; they channeled their rock star dreams instead
"The university stopped all travel. I was going to Scotland; Jake was going to Chicago. I also had a public art project that got canceled. My gallery shut down. The whole world shut down. That was the moment we realized, well, maybe we should record these tunes. We don't have anything else to do." – Rob Neilson
16. Lighting the Way With … Tom Coben: When Kimmel calls and statues dance
"I had a lot of very cool opportunities at Lawrence and I can honestly say that I don't think I'd be doing what I am doing today if my professors hadn't given me the ability to pursue my interests with as much freedom as they did." – Tom Coben
17. Sculpture adds visibility to journey of Indigenous people; brings new conversations, reflection
"I would hope the Indigenous community here on campus would see it as a place to gather, to have as a physical symbol that they are being acknowledged, and to open those conversations up about how land was acquired and who was Indigenous to it and how do we begin to reconcile that with one another." – Chris Cornelius
18. Building community: A study guide to Lawrence's 2021-22 First-Year Studies
"I would like to suggest that our experience of the pandemic has thrown a new light on the works chosen for First-Year Studies. They continue to serve as an ambitious introduction to the liberal arts, but we can now see a strong sub-theme of community that runs throughout these works." – Martyn Smith
19. "Raft of Stars," Lawrence alumnus' debut novel, arrives amid growing buzz
"Without Lawrence, I wouldn't be writing, hands down. It was an interest of mine. I loved books; I always loved reading; I loved daydreaming. But it was at Lawrence where I thought, yes, I really want to try this. I got so much guidance from professors like David McGlynn and (former Lawrence professor) Faith Barrett and others that I couldn't have done it without those years. It was absolutely informative." – Andrew Graff
20. Reframing of a music major adds greater flexibility for Lawrence students
"The beauty of this major is that it welcomes a much broader variety of music and music makers into the Conservatory, and that's great news and more great music for everyone." – Brian Pertl
Bonus story: NIH fellowship lets Lawrence alum take her neuroscience research to new levels
"It wasn't just my science course work at Lawrence that has deeply shaped my career as a scientist today. It was that experience of being in the double-degree program, having to constantly negotiate being in two different worlds." – Katherine Meckel (This story isn't in our 2021 top 20 yet, but it's been our most-viewed story during December and is definitely worth reading.)
Read more: Best of 2021: We're highlighting 8 stories that speak to resilience, creativity at Lawrence | {
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»Disinformati...
Disinformation and Elections to the European Parliament
SWP Comment 2019/C 16, March 2019, 8 Pages
doi:10.18449/2019C16
European Union, EU institutions, Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), Digital Policy and Cyber, Cyber-security, Democracy promotion, State and society of a country / a region
| 1.4 MB
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Elections to the European Parliament (EP) will take place in May 2019. Politicians and experts fear that the election process might be disrupted by disinformation campaigns and cyber attacks. In December 2018, the European Commission presented an action plan against disinformation. It provided 5 million euros for raising awareness amongst voters and policymakers about manipulation, and for increasing the cyber security of electoral systems and processes. The strategy relies on voluntary and nonbinding approaches by Internet companies to fight disinformation. To protect the integrity of elections in the medium term, independent research into technical, legal and market-regulating reforms must be boosted. The objective should be to preserve the functionality of democracies and elections in the age of digitalisation.
The next European elections will be held in EU member states from 23 to 26 May 2019. Since right-wing nationalist and Euro-sceptic movements have gained in strength, there is already talk of a "defining election" that could decisively influence the future orientation of the EU. Euro-sceptic parties already account for almost one-third of parliamentarians, a proportion that might rise following the elections.
EP elections have thus far been seen as "second-rank elections" and therefore as a good opportunity by the electorate to teach the respective member state's government a lesson. This attitude fails to appreciate the mobilisation potential of the current debate on the pros and cons of European integration, the influence of third parties, and the growing importance of the EP. The elections are extremely significant for the strategic orientation of European integration. A success for EU opponents could push the EU to the very limits of its capacity to act, for example through further exit demands along the lines of Brexit, or a blockade of the complex decision-making process. The elections not only decide the renewal of the EP, but also the inauguration of the new EU Commission for the 2019–2024 parliamentary term. The EP influences the appointment of the Commissioners and can force the entire Commission to resign with a two-thirds majority and realign the Multiannual Financial Framework.
The EU's structure and functions are not easy to understand. European issues are unfamiliar to many, and it is relatively simple to spread false information about the EU. Considering the upcoming election, the European Commissioner for the Security Union, Sir Julian King, urged member states to "take seriously the threat to democratic processes and institutions posed by cyber attacks and disinformation" and to draw up "national prevention plans" to prevent "state and non-state actors from undermining our democratic systems and using them as weapons against us". This specifically includes disinformation campaigns and cyber attacks on the electronic electoral infrastructure, which can affect the confidentiality, availability and integrity of the electoral process.
Disinformation already appears to have had an impact in Europe: researchers at Edinburgh University identified over 400 false accounts on social networks, operated by so-called trolls based in St Petersburg, which were used to influence the Brexit referendum. Security and defence policy defines disinformation and cyber attacks as elements of hybrid threats, i.e. covert actions by third parties aimed at destabilising Europe or the EU system. The term "hybrid threats" usually refers to a form of warfare that remains below the threshold of using military force. This ambiguity generally complicates a military response according to international humanitarian law.
Disinformation Campaigns
Disinformation is not a new phenomenon. In security research it is regarded as "black" propaganda, since it seeks to influence public opinion from the shadows. It uses the same means as modern public relations (PR) and advertising campaigns.
In contrast to PR, however, disinformation wants to destabilise the pillars of democracy by attacking parties, elected politicians or the EU as a political system. Disinformation does not necessarily mean false information, since even true statements taken out of context can be misused for suggestive conclusions. Disinformation campaigns can be short-term, for example to influence an election result, or long-term, for instance to undermine confidence in the EU. Attempts can thus be made to discredit individual politicians so as to prevent them from being re-elected. For example, "negative campaigning" can uncover alleged scandals or make accusations of corruption. During the last presidential election campaign in the USA, automated computer programmes known as Twitter bots, probably of Russian origin, spread predominantly negative reports about Hillary Clinton and relatively positive reports about Donald Trump. In the medium term, this promotes social division and the polarisation of public discourse.
The negotiation of political interests in social discourses is the key element – but also the Achilles heel – of democracies. Tactics such as disseminating dubious claims ("muddying the waters") or constantly repeating large volumes of false information or conspiracy theories ("firehose of falsehood") are used to undermine political certainties and dissolve a socially shared concept of truth. One example was the reaction to the downing of a Malaysian passenger plane in July 2014: on social networks, there were attempts to discredit the investigation report which found that the Russian armed forces had caused the catastrophe.
IT-Enabled Disinformation
A distinction must be made between digital and IT-enabled disinformation: digital disinformation encompasses the entire range of digital mechanisms for disseminating information. IT-enabled disinformation, on the other hand, includes hacking incidents or cyber attacks that compromise IT security, namely confidentiality, availability and integrity of data or systems. The technical hack is only one of many means by which the confidentiality of information can be violated, for example by stealing sensitive information from the accounts of politicians, parties or officials and then publishing it with harmful intent (doxing). Well-known examples are the publication of e‑mails from the US Democratic National Committee (DNC) on the WikiLeaks platform in 2016 and from the Emmanuel Macron campaign team in 2017.
The restriction of the availability of technical systems via cyber attacks can facilitate disinformation campaigns as well. Especially in authoritarian regimes, websites of opposition politicians, parties and services such as Twitter and Facebook are deliberately paralysed shortly before elections by "distributed denial of service" attacks, meaning the deliberate overload of the server concerned. Similarly, the digital voting infrastructure with its voting computers and counting systems can be disrupted and manipulated.
Digital Disinformation
Digital disinformation has the advantage of having low costs while having a high impact: with few resources, a global audience can be reached with customised disinformation through digital technologies. Digital disinformation employs the legitimate means of the advertising industry to target users based on their individual behaviour profiles (so-called "targeted ads" and "micro-targeting").
Social networks such as Facebook were not developed for the purpose of democratic discourse, but to analyse and categorise their users' interests and behaviour, and sell this information to third parties for advertising purposes. According to their behaviour patterns, users will be shown content that other users of the same category or with a similar behaviour profile also prefer. Algorithms thus ensure that users are shown more of the same so as to hold their attention and keep it on the platforms as long as possible. These so-called filter bubbles arise directly from the business model of online platforms to bring advertising to as many users as possible. If the same opinions are grouped together and, simultaneously, differing views are hidden, a self-referential "echo chamber" can develop. In online forums that bring together only like-minded users, the latter's perceptions tend to be strengthened because they do not experience any contradiction.
Disinformation has a particularly polarising effect on already politicised groups with strong ideological stances. These can be deliberately targeted with conspiracy theories that fit their worldview. One example is the campaign against alleged rape by asylum seekers, the so called Lisa case of 2016. During the 2016 US election campaign, there were incidents where supporters of the right-wing Alternative Right movement and left-wing groups were separately invited via Facebook to take part in the same demonstration, in the hope of provoking a violent escalation.
Conspiracy theories and disinformation can quickly be shared worldwide over social networks. This can be accomplished using a mix of automated accounts ("social bots"), hybrid accounts (partly human, partly automated) and so-called troll armies or 50-cent armies. Such "armies" consist of state actors or privately organised commentators who systematically disseminate certain narratives in social media or on news sites. Often volunteers also unknowingly spread disinformation ("unwitting agents"). In the 2016 US election campaign, US citizens spread Kremlin propaganda without knowing its source. But traditional media coverage is also involved, as it increasingly takes up trending topics from social networks. If these contain disinformation, and the media carries them unreflectively, they reinforce the narratives or false reports. Disinformation has a cumulative effect over longer periods of time.
EU Counter-Strategies
Holding EP elections is the responsibility of member states. Although they are doing much to protect the integrity of elections, mostly this is in the form of patchwork measures. There are concerns that the EP elections will be manipulated, disrupted or unlawfully influenced by opponents of the EU, whether during the election campaign, at the ballot box or during the counting of votes. According to a Eurobarometer survey, 83 percent of Europeans are worried about targeted disinformation on the Internet. The EU expects that targeted disinformation campaigns will be present during election campaigns.
Disinformation Warfare
Since 2015, the European Commission has been attempting to combat disinformation and technical influences using foreign and domestic policy measures. It has, inter alia, increased staffing and funding for the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) and set up an East StratCom Task Force within the European External Action Service (EEAS). The Task Force documents and regularly informs about disinformation campaigns in the north-eastern member states. This was followed in 2016 by a Joint Communication and a Joint EU Framework for Countering Hybrid Threats. The Commission and the EEAS agree that such threats are increasingly causing trouble in the EU.
The EU defines hybrid threats as "a mixture of military and civilian warfare by state and non-state actors such as covert military operations, intense propaganda and economic harassment". These aggressions, it believes, not only cause direct damage and exploit vulnerabilities, but also destabilise societies and promote the division of the EU "through cover-ups". Internal and external security must therefore be even more closely interlinked.
Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, in his speech on the state of the Union 2018, proposed a series of concrete measures to ensure that the May 2019 elections are free, fair and secure. Among other things, he called for more transparency in (often covert) political advertising on the Internet, and the possibility of sanctions if personal data are used illegally to influence the outcome of the European elections.
Networks such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have agreed on a Code of Practice on Disinformation to combat disinformation and fake accounts on their platforms. In October 2018, this Code was signed by Facebook, Google, Twitter and Mozilla, as well as professional associations operating online platforms and the advertising industry.
Two months later, the Commission and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy presented an action plan against disinformation. Both launched the creation of an early warning system for information about disinformation. Five million euros and 50 staff positions were approved for it. The system is meant to be able to identify campaigns in real time and raise awareness of the problem.
Since the EU fears being misrepresented beyond its borders as well, other teams are monitoring the spread of misinformation in North Africa, the Middle East and the Balkans. Furthermore, it has set up an electoral network, elaborated a guide to the application of EU data protection law in elections, and given guidance on cyber security. As of February 2019, member states will be running a simulation of what would need to be done in the event of an attack. EU states rely on the exchange of experience. Further meetings are scheduled for spring 2019. In late January 2019, the Commission warned Internet companies that their transparency initiatives against covert advertising were not sufficient to protect the integrity of EP elections.
Cyber Security Measures
What is the EU doing about IT-enabled disinformation? Critical infrastructure protection has long been subject to EU regulation. However, member states were unable to agree on defining voting systems as critical infrastructure as part of the 2016 Network and Information Security (NIS) Directive. The IT security of voting technology was considered a purely national task. However, reports of alleged influence on the Brexit referendum and elections in France, Catalonia and Belgium, have increased sensitivity to the problem. In September 2017, the EU proposed a whole range of cyber-security measures, including a pan-European network of cooperation between data protection authorities, to share knowledge on how elections are influenced. Only in December 2018 did EU states agree on a cyber security law that will strengthen the cyber security agency ENISA, and for the first time create a certification framework for the protection of critical infrastructures.
When, that same month, a hacker published explosive data on Twitter under the pseudonym "0rbit", politicians demanded an "emergency plan to be able to react within a short time to the outflow of sensitive data, digital industrial espionage or sabotage". There are also calls for uniform minimum legal standards for the security of information technology equipment, which would mean replacing the voluntary certification framework of the EU by a European regulation. This would apply, for example, to end-user devices such as mobile phones and laptops. Providers of online services and manufacturers of devices connected to the Internet would need to design their products in such a way that users must choose strong passwords and update them regularly.
As well as making technical infrastructures more robust, the EU relies on operational cyber security measures. These include the development of better attribution capabilities for cyber attacks, an exchange of information, and a stronger role for Europol in the fight against cybercrime. If member states become the target of such attacks, they should be able to find out for themselves where the attacker came from, which security gaps were used, and which data was affected or extracted. The discussion will focus on harsher penalties for cybercriminals and new criminal offences, such as the operation of criminal infrastructures. With principles such as "security by design", i.e. the development of hardware and software that seeks to avoid weak points and manipulations from the outset, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) contains a further building block for action against cyber attacks and disinformation. In January 2019, the EU also agreed on a relevant law that allows for fines to be imposed on political parties and foundations that violate data protection rules in the European election campaign in order to influence voters. Parties can even lose all claims to EU party funding. The reason for this regulation was that Facebook had passed on user data to the British company Cambridge Analytica, which evaluated the data records of 220 million American Facebook users to create user profiles for targeted advertising.
Cyber Security in Elections
What measures are being taken to ensure the confidentiality, availability and integrity of electronic voting systems? Following reports alleging that the US elections were unlawfully influenced, the Council of Europe's Venice Commission has been in close contact with the electoral agencies of the 61 Council members. Electronic voting systems in member states vary widely. Electronic voting in the EU has so far only been used in Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia and France. In Belgium, Flemish municipalities in particular use voting machines. In Bulgaria, such machines will only be used in smaller polling stations in the 2019 EP elections. In France, the use of voting machines was suspended during the 2017 presidential election due to the alleged incidents in the US election. In other countries, such as Germany or Austria, voting is exclusively by ballot paper, with information technology being used to determine the election result. The security of the IT systems is therefore essential when establishing the provisional election results. Estonia is the only country in the world that allows online voting via the Internet.
Overarching assessments of the technical vulnerability of electronic voting systems are not possible, as EU countries use different voting computers and systems. However, since all voting computers can be manipulated, experts recommend a physical paper printout for each individual vote. In July 2018, under Article 11 of the NIS Directive, representatives from 20 member states prepared a compendium on the cyber security of elections. They called on member states to put in place specific security arrangements and contact points for an overarching European cooperation network.
If individual constituencies experience irregularities during the actual voting, or technical problems with the vote count, elections in individual countries could be held again at short notice without the need for the entire European Parliament to be re-elected. A cyber attack on a member state would mean that the allocation of seats in the EP could not be confirmed immediately. Targeted cyber attacks launched by third countries on individual elections can be sanctioned by the EU applying its Joint Diplomatic Response (Bendiek 2018). A comprehensive and serious attack on the EP elections would be seen as an attack on the EU. Under certain conditions this would allow the use of the solidarity clause under Article 222 TFEU or even the mutual assistance clause under Article 42 para 7 TEU.
Promoting Independent Research
The EP elections decide on the new composition of the European Parliament, but election rules are a national responsibility. In many EU countries, local electoral authorities are responsible for conducting the election. Although they are aware of the danger of disinformation and cyber attacks, they are not sufficiently technically prepared for them. The credibility of the EP elections and thus of the EU is at stake. European policy-makers prefer short-term and more technical measures in close cooperation with Internet companies to combat disinformation and hold cyber-security exercises. Research on causes, however, is lacking. The findings of the various independent interdisciplinary research programmes on disinformation, cyber attacks and the conditions of democracy must therefore be taken into account more closely.
Hybrid Threats?
There is competition for responsibilities and resources between security and defence policy on the one hand, and domestic policy on the other. From the perspective of defence policy, the phenomenon of disinformation belongs in the category of hybrid threats. But narrowing the subject in this way is not sufficient. In a 2017 congressional hearing, heads of American secret services rightly stated that disinformation represents a new normal. According to NATO and the European Commission, Russia leads the way in the targeted dissemination of false information, but more than 30 other countries are also involved. Governments mandate think tanks and non-governmental organisations to provide analyses, so there is no shortage of relevant reports. The American Alliance for Securing Democracy, for example, or the Digital Forensic Research Lab, financed by the Atlantic Council and Facebook, concentrate their work primarily on Russia and China. Think tanks and political foundations dealing with disinformation must identify clients and financiers of their projects so as to avoid suspicions of partiality.
However, false information does not only come from countries outside the EU, but is also disseminated within its member states. Political activism, especially from the anti-European spectrum; the pretence of a grassroots movement ("astroturfing"); and the role of the tabloid media are at least as significant as external attempts at influence. Their impact on Brexit, for example, probably outweighed that of Twitter bots, which only has a user adoption of 17 percent of the British population.
The effectiveness of digital disinformation has not been scientifically proven. Recent studies on the relevance of filter bubbles have come to diverging conclusions. Empirical data indicate that users deliberately choose certain formats and contents that differ from those of the established media. Filter bubbles of dissent do not seem to arise because users are unaware that information can be one-sided or false. Rather, the explicit interest of users in divergent opinions seems to be the decisive factor, accompanied by a steady loss of trust within democratic societies in political and public institutions. The idea that filter bubbles are deliberately formed and controlled is reinforced by the fact that it seems to be small groups that spread "alternative facts", disinformation and manifestly false reports in a particularly vocal way. The fear that digital algorithms could largely destroy social communication is thus probably exaggerated.
The EU's technical measures to combat disinformation campaigns and cyber attacks are only a first step. Ideally, they will direct member states to try to improve protection for the EP elections during the election campaigns, the actual voting and the vote count. Constant exchange and regular cyber security exercises are necessary to minimise dangers. However, most member states have so far failed to consider elections as a critical infrastructure for democracy and to secure them at a high level. Manufacturers and suppliers of critical IT products therefore urgently need to be made more accountable. The problem of unsecured IT hardware and software in voting technology is still underestimated. In the long term, the EU must also be enabled to respond strategically, communicatively and with technical effectiveness to attempts at manipulating elections, and must be provided with the necessary financial and human resources. Until this goal has been achieved, emergency teams can be deployed around the clock during the elections.
The Supremacy of Internet Companies
It is questionable, however, whether the weaknesses of European democracies as discussed above can be addressed effectively with short-term task forces and medium-term action plans. Linguistic research shows that mere fact checking is more likely to inadvertently reinforce false information. The effectiveness of automated artificial-intelligence systems in combating disinformation is also overestimated. Obviously, it is unrealistic to hope to eliminate false information completely. Instead of tackling symptoms, it would be useful to promote independent research to analyse proposals for short-term technical and policy measures. These should provide the blueprint for fundamental reforms in the data economy.
Google's global market share of 80 percent of all search queries and Facebook's and YouTube's market share of 70 percent in social networks are an expression of the unprecedented concentration processes within communication infrastructure. Alongside the growing importance of digital audiences, communication in society is shifting towards a market-orientated arena where every "speech act" or announcement has its price. Private companies provide spaces for public digital discourse; access to them is controlled. Only those who enter into a private contractual relationship and make their contribution either financially or in the form of commercially usable data have a say.
These social networks were developed for marketing purposes and do not cater for unconditional democratic participation based only on citizen status. They are comparable to a situation in which the parliament building is owned by a private provider, access to it is regulated according to economic criteria, and the loudspeaker volume and transmission of speeches to the outside world are assessed in line with market conditions. The EU's previous regulatory approaches, for example its insistence on voluntary commitments, do not do justice to this concentration of power. The Council and Commission were right to criticise the code of conduct currently in force. It contained "no common measures, no substantial obligations, no compliance or enforcement measures". When the personal data of numerous German politicians were illegally published in December 2018, the online platform Twitter dragged its feet despite its voluntary commitment under the code. Large platform providers have hardly any competition to fear in Europe, meaning that a fundamental reform of the antitrust legislation is the last resort. Previous procedures for the evaluation and control of monopolies have often been inadequate.
A key problem is merger control. Large companies buy burgeoning smaller competitor start-ups before they can become a threat to their business model. A striking example of this is Facebook's acquisition of WhatsApp and Instagram, and its merging of user data, against former promises not to do so. Election advertising on television and a stall on the high street are no longer what decides elections, but rather artificial-intelligence technologies such as microtargeting. These are used to specifically address voters who are willing to change their minds and who can often tip the scales. Only the EU, with its economic power as a whole, can fight the power of transnational digital corporations. In this context, the EP elections are a historic turning point: European policy means tackling the major fundamental issues of the European communication order, such as the control of platform monopolies and excessive communicative power. During EP election campaigns, political parties and organisations must commit themselves to bringing transparency to their campaign activities and to preventing the use of social bots.
Dr Annegret Bendiek is Senior Associate in the EU / Europe Division at SWP.
Dr Matthias Schulze is Associate in the International Security Division at SWP.
© Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, 2019
This Comment reflects the authors' views.
SWP Comments are subject to internal peer review, fact-checking and copy-editing. For further information on our quality control procedures, please visit the SWP website: https://www.swp-berlin.org/en/about-swp/ quality-management-for-swp-publications/
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik
German Institute for International and Security Affairs
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Telephone +49 30 880 07-0
Fax +49 30 880 07-100
www.swp-berlin.org
swp@swp-berlin.org
doi: 10.18449/2019C16
Translation by Tom Genrich
(English version of SWP‑Aktuell 10/2019) | {
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"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaCommonCrawl"
} |
MGibster said:
Oh, no. This means D&D is going to buy a sports car and start dating RPGS young enough to be its daughter.
Worse - hair plugs
Reactions: grimslade, Joshua Randall, Henadic Theologian and 1 other person
J.Quondam said:
Interesting point. That could partly explain the push to "de-authorize" OGL1.0, since it's existence might diminish the dollar value of the D&D IP, at least in the suits' lizard brains?
I just don't believe suits even knew what the OGL really was before all this happened. Someone told them it was some minor obstacle to be swept aside, and then touched it and got severely electrocuted. They still don't understand it, they just understand that people are really mad and they don't seem to be getting less mad, and it's getting them a ton of almost-unprecedent negative press.
Reactions: JEB, Dausuul, JAMUMU and 7 others
It doesn't help that TTRPGs of movie/comics IPs have, with rare exceptions, been extremely poorly chosen for people who want an experience akin to the movies/comics.
WEG D6 Star Wars would have been great as "Andor Simulator", but it was what, nearly 40 years before Andor? Weirdly very influential on later Star Wars stuff, but not through the rules.
WotC's d20-based SW was just wildly inappropriate for anyone who liked SW. It was just D&D in low-rent cosplay.
The more recent SW game I haven't played, but the people I know who have thought it was a cool SF game, but not really a Star Wars game.
Marvel actually did start out decently with FASERIP, which, for '80s Marvel made sense, but got completely abandoned by TSR, just as comics were starting to get big again. MSHAG arrived after comics got big, and was an innovative design, and before its time, but totally failed to lean into what made late '90s comics big. I love Cortex but the Cortext-based Marvel game that was more recent was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too fancy for a general audience, conceptually, and the most recent Marvel game? It's explicitly not MCU (mistake, imo), and has a wildly overcomplicated and bizarre system.
There's been a persistent failure to engage with what people actually want out of games of those settings, I'd suggest. Marvel FASERIP was the only one that really got close, and was very much "of its time".
Reactions: MNblockhead, Parmandur and Citizen Mane
James Gunn is nuking the DCEU from space, over the next few years it'll be deader then the Arrowverse.
A better comparison would have been MCU/Spiderverse (they are connected now as I count them as one), Wizarding World, Avatar, Star Wars.
I think DDCU could be competitive with early Phase 1 MCU, Star Trek, Transformers, DCU, and some others. If things go really well over a decade then maybe they can compete with the MCU Phase 3.
Sure but they only got him in to even nuke it because it's so valuable it's better nuked and reborn than left how it is. I hope he preserves The Batman somehow though, that was great.
Sure, all of which are a lot larger than D&D for now. I expect if JKR doesn't cease her idiocy D&D will eventually pass WWoHP - at this point WB have to be praying she gets eaten by a crocodile or something, because it would literally significantly increase the long-term value of that IP (by allowing new material and for it to be rehabilitated).
I dunno. Some of those movies made incredible amounts of money, despite some of them being terrible. I think a lot rides on how much HAT makes, and it's kind of looking like might be a little tricky at the box office right then. Like the relevant movies I can see around it are:
March 10 - Scream VI
March 24 - John Wick 4
March 31 - D&D:HAT
April 7 - Super Mario Bros
So D&D:HAT kind of only has at best a week where it's clear, even assuming people pick it over John Wick 4 (it does have a broader audience but still), because I think Super Mario Bros' audience is going to cross over extremely heavily with D&D:HAT's, and that won't favour D&D. And Super Mario is one of those movies where people will go even if the reviews are extremely negative, whereas D&D:HAT could be impaired by anything but very positive reviews.
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"Say no more, boss."
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Yeah, I think Hasbro is hoping that the synergy goes the other way, like with Marvel. Way more folks watch the movies than read the comics.
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MGibster
You can check out some of the sourcebooks from WEG's Star Wars and see how they still continue to influence the franchise today. They had an Imperial Sourcebook that outlined how the ISB worked and it would fit straight into Andor with no problem. I skipped the d20 Star Wars because, as you say, it was low-rent cosplay, but I did go with the FFG Star Wars. One of my major criticisms of FFG's Star Wars is that there are so many separate skills and ability trees that you can't really make a good pilot/gun fighter like we see in the movies. The other is the obsession with equipment and upgrading them.
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Hogwarts Legacy is #1 on Steam and Playstation and #2 on XBox. For every person boycotting like 10 who aren't even Harry Potter fans buy the game.
The most effective tactic for dealing with her is to just ignore her if your unhappy with her, she feeds on your angry and profits from it. Don't let her use you as free advertising. Just friendly advice from a 3rd party observer whose not a Harry Potter fan who don't follow her on Twitter (I didn't buy the game, for my own reasons, not boycotting).
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One of my major criticisms of FFG's Star Wars is that there are so many separate skills and ability trees that you can't really make a good pilot/gun fighter like we see in the movies. The other is the obsession with equipment and upgrading them.
Yeah that's the sort of thing I was hearing - both are completely at-odds with how the movies (or TV shows) portray the universe/experience, and to me it's bizarre someone would think that was okay.
I mean, dumber things have happened - c.f. Witcher 3 CRPG where Geralt, a man who literally never changes equipment except out of necessity, upgrades his gear 24/7 like it's Diablo 3. But at least that was a video game so had more of an excuse.
#2 behind FIFA23 on Steam actually at time of writing.
And think how it would be doing if the HP legacy was unstained by naked bigotry and increasing general idiocy? ("Wizards poop in a corner and use magic to clean it up" lol for god's sake Rowling.)
Not only would the boycotting people be buying it, but tons more would too. I don't buy that any significant number of people who "aren't HP fans" are pre-ordering it though. Not before reviews, that's just people lying about who they are if they're claiming that. It's just that there's an entire generation of HP fans who've never even seen an HP game that looked good lol. That's millions and millions and millions of people. It's not like it's up against heavy competition either - the new FIFA and Football Manager are literally the only other new games in the top 10. Honestly it's more shocking that Modern Warfare 2 is at #5 despite being months old and at full price.
I take it you are not part of the minority she wants dead and gone? Ignoring don't work when she's already massively helped with turning England into TERF island.
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I'm of the opinion that the cultural footprint of D&D shrinking would be better for the game as a whole.
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Dioltach
Wait, is this what I have to look forward when I turn 50 next week?
Actually, this one's far more likely.
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Agreed. It's bizarre how much of the UK's TERF idiocy issue can be laid squarely at her doorstep, because she mainstreamed it, with the able help of the Tories and the BBC. It's also one of the most age-split issues in UK history, with basically no-one below 40-45 agreeing with the TERF nonsense, and relatively few people above 70 agreeing with it either, though they're mostly very confused by the whole thing. Just this weird core of mostly-Gen Xers who are maximum TERF. The Tories (and their minions the BBC - c.f. the BBC chairman "loaning" Boris £800k a few weeks before being appointed lol) tried to promote the issues in an attempt to split Labour (a tactic which worked on Brexit), but all they've managed to do is make Labour vaguely TERF-y as well, because most of its politicians are Gen Xers.
It's pretty relevant to D&D's current issues too, because it illustrates how quickly laws can change when the right people want them to. Less than 5 years ago we were looking at actively at long-overdue pro-Trans reforms. And our previous Prime Minister (well, two PMs ago, but the last one lasted like a month) was pro-Trans even a year into being PM. But as soon as it became a potential political tool, that all changed.
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Reynard said:
I agree with this, but that ship has sailed. D&D has gotten too big, and Hasbro will do everything they can to squeeze every last dollar out of the property. We've all been reminded that, in the end, Hasbro is no different than any other corporation, and revenue/profits is the bottom line, so everything they do will be towards that end.
That is the tragedy of D&D: it is the industry leader, but also the only game whose course is set entirely on corporate profits. Obviously all, especially bigger companies like Paizo, are directed by profits, but none--except Hasbro/WotC--make their decisions entirely and only based on profits. Paizo et al still seem at least somewhat directed by love of the game itself.
This is why people should never, imo, be happy or impressed when WotC makes this or that statement about "listening to the fans" because, in the end, they only "listen" when they feel to do otherwise negatively impacts their revenue stream. It isn't unlike a habitual liar only admitting to lying when they are caught.
FrozenNorth
Agreed. It's bizarre how much of the UK's TERF idiocy issue can be laid squarely at her doorstep, because she mainstreamed it, with the able help of the Tories and the BBC.
I'm conflicted. On the one hand, I agree with you. On the other, you called the Tories able and I think the last 3 years have demonstrated they are anything but.
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…but worse for the people who make a living from 3rd party adventures and products.
FrozenNorth said:
Worse than WotC burning that entire market segment to the ground?
Mod Note:
Politics. Please stop talking politics, folks.
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WAYNE MADSEN: The War Between Globalists And Populists
Globalists, EU banksters, "elites," corporate criminals, "mainstream media" frauds are doomed as The People rise up
WAYNE MADSEN REPORT
By Wayne Madsen
As much as the pro-globalism pundits and opinion makers, many of whom masquerade as journalists, hate to admit it, the neo-Cold War nurtured by Barack Obama, Francois Hollande, David Cameron, Angela Merkel, and Matteo Renzi – is now over. The new war is between the forces of globalism and populism.
U..S. President-elect Donald Trump
The end game for the globalists is a unipolar world in which the decisions are formulated in Washington with the bureaucracies in Brussels, London, The Hague, and Berlin acting as the implementers. Although the corporate media has reluctantly re-branded them from "far-right" to "populists," the political forces that are opposed to globalism are fighting for a multipolar world where national sovereignty, majority cultural and religious rights and customs, and domestic industrial protection rule the day.
Two elections on December 4, the Austrian presidential election and the Italian constitutional referendum, provided a degree of mixed results for both sovereigntists and globalists. Austrian nationalist presidential candidate Norbert Hofer lost to the chain-smoking Russo-Estonian immigrant Green candidate Alexander van der Bellen, not because Hofer was considered too right-wing, but because he began to waffle at the end of the campaign on core issues.
Hofer changed tack and began saying positive things about the European Union and Austria's continued membership in what has essentially become the "mother of all bureaucracies." The Austrian election results did not reflect van der Bellen witnessing a sudden surge of support but because Hofer's most ardent supporters deciding to stay home after the Austrian Freedom Party (OVP) candidate began adopting a pro-Europe stance. Hofer originally said the following about the EU after the successful Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom to exit the union: "If the answer to Brexit is a centralized European Union, where the national parliaments are disempowered and where the union is governed like a state, we would have to hold a referendum in Austria."
Hofer underestimated the opposition in Austria to the EU and its championing the free flow of migrants across European borders. After Hofer altered his position to claim that he was in favor of "a stronger union," his anti-establishment supporters turned their backs on Hofer, believing him to be just another spineless politician. Hofer could only muster 46.7 percent of the vote to van der Bellen's 53.8 percent. In the first presidential election in May 2016, which was invalidated by court order because of vote counting irregularities, Hofer received 49.7 percent of the vote to 50.3 percent for van der Bellen. On December 4, Hofer saw his support drained in rural areas of Austria, where anti-EU and anti-open borders feelings are predominant. As in rural England and Wales and rural America, it is in the all-but-forgotten hinterlands where national sovereignty and cultural protection are key issues. The power elites ignore and ridicule rural and small town populations at their own peril.
The globalists wrongly saw Hofer's defeat as a rejection of populism. Their ill-informed opinions were somewhat dashed when the Italian electorate decisively rejected a plan to increase the powers of the prime minister, reduce the powers of the Senate and presidency, and return to the national government certain powers granted to regional governments.
Rejected: Renzi
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, an EU fan and a globalist poster boy, vowed to resign if the referendum failed and fail it did.
Renzi announced his resignation as exit polls indicated that his referendum, which was spurred on by Eurocrats in Brussels, was faring badly.
The globalists, of course, claimed not too much should be read into the Italian results and that they were unconnected to the Brexit vote and the surprise election of Donald Trump in the United States.
The Italian "No" campaign received the support of young voters across Italy. The "No" coalition included left-wing members of Renzi's own Democratic party, the populist and anti-EU Five Star Movement (M5S), the nationalist Northern League, Forza Italia of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and former Communists who now gravitate to the Sinistra Italiana (SI) movement. Only European unionists and globalists with their heads buried in the sand failed to understand that what occurred in Italy is part of the same epic tide against global elites that shook Britain and the United States.
EU now in irreversible death-spiral
Austria was not part of the populist parade because Hofer chickened out on his opposition to the EU and, thus, sacrificed his populist credentials. The Austrian presidency is a ceremonial position that lacks any significant power. In the first half of 2017, when Austria is to see national parliamentary elections, the OVP leader Heinz-Christian Strache will not make the same mistake as his party's presidential standard bearer. Recent opinion polls show that Strache and his party is favored to win the parliamentary election with Strache favored to become Austria's next chancellor, succeeding the lackluster Social Democratic chancellor Christian Kern.
Most Austrians continue to bristle over the overturning by an Austrian court of the conviction of a 20-year old Iraqi male refugee who raped a 10-year old Austrian boy in a swimming pool. In his defense, the Iraqi claimed he had a "sexual emergency." Van der Bellen and his starry-eyed Green and Social Democratic supporters may have sympathy for the Iraqi rapist, but for Austrians who put country and faith over boutique social causes, the countenance by an Austrian court of such behavior was the final straw. Strache has not strayed from his demand that Austria's borders be controlled, unsuitable and illegal migrants be deported, and diktats from Brussels be ignored.
The pro-globalist news media, in advancing the notion that Brexit, the U.S. presidential election, and the Italian referendum were mere flukes and that the real story is the Austrian presidential victory for the pro-EU van der Bellen, conveniently omit two elections held between the U.S. election and the Austrian and Italian polling. On November 13, two pro-Russian presidential candidates defeated their pro-EU rivals in Bulgaria and Moldova. Because the victories of Rumen Radev in Bulgaria and Igor Dodon in Moldova did not fit into the globalist propaganda template, they are not considered as being part and parcel of the populist and sovereigntist wave sweeping through Europe.
CNN, BBC pro-Remain frauds and purveyors of fake news will pay the ultimate price for their lies and bogus EU propaganda
In April and May of 2017, French National Front presidential candidate Marine Le Pen will square off against conservative pro-EU status quo enthusiast Francois Fillon, a former prime minister, and the current Socialist prime minister, Manuel Valls, an immigrant from Spain. Fillon and Valls are trying to advance their candidacies with an increasingly anti-EU and anti-immigrant French electorate. However, Fillon and Valls are late-comers to the cause of French sovereignty. The dalliance with the EU and global bankers by both Fillon and Valls are suspect, at the very least by the French electorate. Just as members of the working class Italian left voted against Renzi's referendum, a fair number of French working class labor unionists, who have, in the past, voted for the Communists, can be expected to opt for Le Pen over the two corporate candidates.
In other European countries, anti-EU parties are now part of the electoral makeup of national parliaments and delegations in the European Parliament. Hungary's Jobbik, which received 21 percent of the national vote; the Danish People's Party, which also saw a 21 percent share of the vote; and the Alternative for Germany (AfD), which saw an impressive 14 percent of the vote in the Berlin state election in September of this year, are forces to be reckoned with. German chancellor Angela Merkel, worried that her open-door policy on Muslim migrants may cost her dearly in next year's election, adopted a plank from the AfD in recently announcing that she favors a ban on the Muslim burqa and niqab in Germany.
Merkel and her slave labor importation scheme are doomed
Merkel, who addressed her Christian Democratic Union party congress in Essen, also said she would never again repeat her "mistake" of opening Germany to an influx of migrants. Former UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage commented on Twitter that Merkel's newly-adopted policy was "Too late. The horse has bolted."
Too late, indeed, for Merkel. The chancellor's feeble attempt to adopt a populist line comes after a 17-year old Afghan migrant, known only as "Hussein K," raped and murdered 19-year old medical student Maria Ladenburger, whose father is a high-level EU official in Germany.
Globalist "elites" wave goodbye as they and their plan for world enslavement fades into oblivion along with them
The German people, just like other Europeans, as well as Americans, have had enough of such outrages and will not forget that many Germans, especially women, would never have been raped, or murdered by jihadists, as in the cases of Ladenburger and other Germans, had it not been for Merkel's welcome mat to crazed migrants from the Middle East, South Asia, and North Africa.
Investigative journalist, author and syndicated columnist, Madsen has over twenty years experience in security issues.
As a U.S. Naval Officer, he managed one of the first computer security programs for the U.S. Navy. Madsen has been a frequent political and national security commentator on Fox News and has also appeared on ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, CNN, BBC and MS-NBC. He has been invited to testify as a witness before the US House of Representatives, the UN Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and an terrorism investigation panel of the French government. A member of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) and the National Press Club, Madsen is based and reports from Washington, D.C.
Posted in: "Mainstream Media" Cover-Ups,"Mainstream Media" Lies,BBC Propaganda,CNN Frauds,Donald Trump,EU Collapse,EU Robber Barons,Wayne Madsen Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook
WAYNE MADSEN: The War Between Globalists And Popul...
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Home / News / Government & Politics / State Government
Iowa secretary of state expects voter fraud investigation results soon
Aug. 8, 2013 3:34 pm
After a couple of "hiccups" getting started, a state investigation into voter fraud is "moving in the right direction" and Iowans will begin seeing results soon, according to Secretary of State Matt Schultz.
"We had a couple of setbacks, but we're doing the best we can," the first-term Republican said while in Coralville Wednesday.
Shortly after the investigation began, a Division of Criminal Investigation agent assigned to look into voter fraud allegations was called to active duty in the National Guard and a second agent had to be assigned to the cases.
"It's been like trying to use a shovel to move a mountain," he said. "Quite frankly, we could use more resources, but I anticipate having answers soon."
The investigation has not been without detractors. Chief among them is Democrat Brad Anderson, who wants Schultz's job. Anderson, who worked for former Gov. Chet Culver and was state director of Barack Obama's re-election campaign, has called the investigation a waste.
"Look," Anderson said Thursday, "any secretary of state should be diligent about going after voter fraud. But he should go about it without disenfranchising voters."
Anderson prefers to detect voter fraud or other irregularities at the front end – when Iowans attempt to vote – through the use of expanded electronic poll books "rather than spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax money after the fact."
He also noted that Schultz's investigation has yet to produce a single conviction.
"Trust me," Schultz said, "I hate sitting back and not having results right now. But I'm confident in the DCI and its ability, and I'm confident that we will have results."
Results Anderson would like to see are more Iowans voting. Rather than make voter fraud his sole focus, he said Schultz should spend more time and effort getting the 600,000 eligible voters who didn't participate in the 2012 election to the polls.
As to Schultz's suggestion that there is a "mountain" of voter fraud, "I leave that up to him to prove," Anderson said.
"There're certainly a lot of potential cases," Schultz said, explaining that in 2010, there were 3,582 potential non-citizens registered with more than 1,000 of them casting ballots.
"I've always taken the approach that I don't want to accuse somebody who is a citizen of committing a crime," Schultz said. "There were more 3,000 cases to look at, so I do believe that is a mountain."
Johnson County Auditor Travis Weipert hasn't seen a mountain of voter fraud in his seven months in office. The key is the voter's intent – whether they meant to commit fraud.
"I'll be curious to see what his investigation provides us," Weipert said after meeting with Schultz Wednesday.
In Linn County, Auditor Joel Miller said that since the November 2012 election 100 election misconduct cases have investigated by the Sheriff's Office. So far, there is court action pending on four and three people have been convicted.
He's looking forward to the results of the DCI investigation so he can update his voter registration rolls.
"I don't think any auditor wants people who are not eligible to vote on their lists," Miller said. "I don't see why anyone would think it's OK for a non-citizen to vote. My wife is from Ecuador and I'm pretty sure if I went to vote when we're down there I would end up in jail."
Reporter, The Gazette
Covering politics and government in Eastern Iowa, and the Iowa Legislature. Subscribe to my podcast.
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New SECR scheme — carbon reporting rules extended
The UK's current commitment to an 80% greenhouse gas emissions cut by 2050 includes corporate carbon. On 1 April 2019 reporting rules for quoted companies changed and now take in "large" unquoted businesses and LLPs. But SMEs are also encouraged to volunteer for the new best practice. Jon Herbert reports.
The Government's new Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) scheme is extending its reach around corporate carbon as global warming fears grow and politicians are accused of inaction.
UK greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions fell by 2.5% in 2018 compared to 3% in 2017 and 16% in 2016 — making a total of 43.5% since 1990. Theoretically at least, Britain is more than halfway towards its commitment of an 80% reduction by 2050. However, this has been the easy half.
More specifically, UK CO2 emissions fell by 2.4% to 364.1 million tonnes while global carbon releases reached a 2018 all-time high, rising by 4.7%, 2.5% and 6.3% in China, the US and India. But there is potentially bad UK carbon news on the horizon that does call for urgent action.
Having beaten its first and second carbon budgets by 36 MtCO2e and 384 MtCO2e respectively, with an 88 MtCO2e surplus predicted for the third from 2018 to 2022, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) recognises that the UK is on course to breach its fourth and fifth budgets by 139 million and 245 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e).
Aiming at the corporate and private sector
Emissions associated with business and industry make a major contribution. The question for policy-makers has been finding an effective tool to encourage greater efficiency and year-on-year reductions. Their choice is energy and carbon reporting.
Until recently, the rules only applied to large quoted companies. Now, they are being extended to "large" unquoted businesses through SECR, with the direction of travel pointing towards SMEs that are being encouraged to embrace the benefits of best practice voluntarily before being pushed.
Under SECR, qualifying organisations must include new energy and carbon reporting data within annual reports covering their next financial year starting in the 12-months leading up to 31 March 2020. For full details see www.gov.uk.
SECR awareness not high
The Government has been accused of not promoting the new scheme effectively. This makes it all the more important for companies to understand any new responsibilities now.
BEIS' communication focus has been via Companies House and the Financial Regulatory Council, Environment Agency newsletters (ESOS, CRC and Climate Change Agreements), business trusts and professional bodies, including the CBI, Make UK, Major Energy Users Council (MEUC), Retail Energy Forum, Emissions Trading Group — plus EMA and IEMA.
However, because SECR will only apply to financial years that start after 1 April 2019, there is still time to get ready. The earliest reports will be submitted in April 2020, allowing companies to prepare systems and synchronise them with existing corporate reporting cycles.
Evolution of corporate carbon reporting
As of October 2013, companies listed on the London Stock Exchange, in the European Economic Area, or on the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ, have had to measure and report their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using a robust independent standard that presents all data clearly and shows how it differs from information given in conventional consolidated financial statements.
However, it was soon recognised that measuring, managing and reducing carbon emissions is an effective way for companies generally to identify their carbon footprints, raise efficiency, cut costs and set important environmental targets within their supply chains.
The result is SECR which BEIS estimates will affect some 11,900 organisations at this stage — including c. 1200 quoted companies.
SECR builds on — but does not replace — existing requirements, such as Mandatory Greenhouse Gas (MGHG) reporting for quoted companies, the Energy Saving Opportunity Scheme (ESOS), Climate Change Agreements (CCA) Scheme, EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and Climate Change Levy increase. It also coincides with the end of the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) Energy Efficiency Scheme.
What happened on 1 April 2019 is that under the Companies (Directors' Report) and Limited Liability Partnerships (Energy and Carbon Report) Regulations 2018, SECR has updated the rules and extended the requirements not only to quoted companies but also to unquoted companies or limited liability partnerships (LLPs) deemed "large" in the Companies Act 2006.
"Large" is generally defined as meeting two of the three following criteria within a reporting period: — having more than 250 employees; an annual turnover greater than £36 million; and/or an annual balance sheet greater than £18 million.
SECR reporting requirements
Quoted companies, according to the Carbon Trust, must continue to report their "global scope 1 and 2" (direct and indirect) GHG emissions in CO2-equivalent tonnes (all seven gases under the Kyoto Protocol) within their Directors' reports, plus at least one emissions "intensity ratio" for current and previous reporting periods.
However, they must now also report their underlying global energy use split between the UK and offshore countries, again with previous year comparisons after the first SECR reporting period.
Unquoted large companies and large LLPs now have to report at a minimum, their UK energy use from electricity, gas and transport fuels (in company vehicles, including reimbursement for employee business mileage, but not external air, rail or taxi journeys, or third party contractors), plus associated GHG emissions and at least one intensity metric — such as tonnes of CO2/kWh for the energy sector, or tonnes of CO2/m2 for the property sector
In all cases, reporting must include a description of steps taken to improve the businesses' energy efficiency in the relevant year, plus resulting energy savings if known. Where no measures are taken, this should also be reported.
Although no specific methodology is prescribed, the methodology used must be shown and be robust, transparent and widely-accepted. Scope 3 "corporate value chain" indirect emissions should also be given with the voluntary disclosure of any additional sources of energy or GHG emissions.
Why would SMEs volunteer?
BEIS points out that improving business energy efficiency can help to boost productivity and growth development while enhancing energy supply security and contributing to a decarbonised economy. By choosing to learn the SECR ropes early, SMEs can enjoy the benefits sooner rather than later.
There are exceptions. Local authorities, government departments and statutory agencies are not covered by SECR, but report carbon in their annual reports under other legislation. Devolved administrations have separate systems. Not-for-profit bodies — such as companies and LLPs owned by universities or NHS trusts — come under SECR rules.
One other area where clarification is important is the distinction between group and subsidiary level SECR reporting — the aim being to avoid duplication. Another sub-group is companies falling within the SECR definition that use no more than 40MWh. They must submit total energy calculations and also make a statement that they are low energy users.
A further area for potential short-term exemptions is sensitive situations, such as takeovers, where releasing information could be prejudicial. Also, if certain data cannot be collected in a specific year, why this is so, the impact and how it will be provided in the future must be explained.
The Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) scheme began on 1 April 2019 and brings quoted companies, plus unquoted and LLPs meeting the Companies Act 2006 definition of "large", into the regime that could in future be extended towards SMEs.
SECR aims to improve business energy efficiency, boost productivity and growth, enhance energy supply security and help decarbonise the economy. By choosing to join SECR voluntarily, SMEs may benefit early. Details are at www.gov.uk.
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Clean Air Zones | {
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Opening Act™ Competition Winner Opens for Coldplay, Maroon 5 and Doja Cat
Young in a Million won the 2021 Opening Act Competition, which allowed them to play in front of thousands of fans during Audacy's We Can Survive concert at the Hollywood Bowl on Saturday, October 23, 2021.
The online voting competition gives musicians the opportunity to compete for a $10,000 cash prize and the opening slot at Audacy's annual benefit concert, opening for major recording artists. While previous winner, RAINNE, opened for Taylor Swift, Lizzo, Billie Eilish, and more, Young In A Million performed ahead of Maroon 5, Coldplay, The Black Eyed Peas, Saweetie, Doja Cat, The Kid Laroi, and Shawn Mendes.
"Exactly two years and eight months ago, we played our first Young in a Million show. It was in a small house in Nashville with 50 people. Tonight, we will be playing our first ARENA show with 17,500 people. It's also with our favorite band of all time, Coldplay," said Young In A Million before performing at the sold-out event.
The duo says their music is meant "to make you dream again, risk again, love again, and live again." With Alex's background in dance music and Kody's experience as a former hardcore singer, the pair managed to find a sweet spot in pop/rock with a message of hope and transformation.
Opening Act, LLC will donate a portion of the net proceeds from this year's competition to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, an organization dedicated to saving lives and bringing hope to those affected by suicide. AFSP is celebrating 30 years of service and has chapters in all 50 states.
Those interested in learning more about Opening Act can visit theopenact.com for more details.
Source: Opening Act, LLC
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Vytalize Health Partners With Glucose Guards to Improve the Quality of Care for Patients While Reducing Healthcare Costs | {
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[ Regulatory & Policy ] as a Relevant Course outside SLS for those interested in Public Policy : Any lawyer who represents business entities, and not just policy lawyers, should have some understanding of the different strategic actors involved in shaping policies and regulations that affect businesses. This course examines the relationships among business, government, and interest groups, and the strategies they employ in influencing government action.
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Language Line Services' Interpreter Demand Index(SM) Shows Rapid Growth in Arabic, Vietnamese Across Country
LanguageTrak® Report from Language Line Services Reveals Demographic Shifts Years in Advance of Next U.S. Census
Language Line Services
MONTEREY, Calif., Sept. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A report released today by Language Line Services, the global leader in interpretation and translation services, shows that while Spanish remains the most popular language nationwide behind English, demand for Arabic and Vietnamese grew strong across 20 major U.S. cities between Q2 2010 and Q2 2011.
(Infographic of Language Trends Across the U.S.: http://bit.ly/r8iFKD)
The report, titled the Language Line® LanguageTrak "Interpreter Demand Index(SM)" (IDI), uses proprietary data to rank the top 10 languages in each city by number of over-the-phone interpreter requests in the government and healthcare sectors. The LanguageTrak IDI(SM) also shows percentage growth in each language between Q2 2010 and Q2 2011.
"This real-time information addresses the ever-changing language needs of cities years before similar data is unveiled from the next U.S. Census," said Louis F. Provenzano, Jr., President & CEO of Language Line Services, which fields millions of interpreter-request calls each year. "This allows local governments, court systems, healthcare agencies and emergency services to better anticipate critical needs in their communities and ensure access to essential services."
According to the LanguageTrak IDI(SM), Spanish continues to be the most requested language in all 20 cities, supporting 2011 Pew Hispanic Center and 2010 U.S. Census data.
Interpreter requests in Arabic are rapidly growing, however, with increases in 13 of the 20 cities. The highest increases are in Houston (45.8 percent), San Antonio (39.7 percent) and Philadelphia (37.4 percent). Arabic also is among the top-five most requested languages in 11 of the 20 cities.
Requests for Vietnamese also increased in 13 of the 20 cities. The highest increases are in New York City (66.2 percent), Houston (45.9 percent) and Dallas (25.5 percent). Vietnamese is also among the top-five most requested languages in 14 of the 20 cities.
In addition to the report signaling Arabic and Vietnamese as rapidly emerging languages, Provenzano pointed to other surprising findings:
Haitian Creole interpreter requests spiked 271.4 percent in Indianapolis -- the highest growth in Indiana for any language.
Swahili was among the most requested languages throughout Texas, with significant interpreter increases in Houston (87.3 percent), Fort Worth (74.6 percent) and Austin (38.2 percent).
Armenian was the third-most requested language in Los Angeles, where Armenian interpreter requests increased 13.7 percent.
Chicago saw interpreter requests increase in Gujarati (146.2 percent) and Russian (38.5 percent).
San Antonio saw major surges in requests for Cantonese (423 percent) and Spanish (141.3 percent). Cantonese was its fourth-most requested language.
Nepali was one of the most requested languages in Memphis (366.7 percent increase), Austin (128.6 percent increase) and Dallas (50.3 percent increase).
Detroit saw significant interpreter request increases in Bengali (57.1 percent) and Hmong (37.1 percent). Bengali was the fourth-most requested language.
Karen interpreter requests in Jacksonville grew 122.6 percent. Karen, spoken by 1.3 million in Myanmar, formerly Burma, is one of the fastest growing languages in the U.S.
Memphis saw major interpreter request surges in Amharic (400 percent) and Somali (150 percent). Somali was the second-most requested language.
Burmese interpreter requests in Charlotte increased 64.7 percent.
Infographic of Language Trends Across the U.S.: http://bit.ly/r8iFKD
For a copy of the complete report, contact [email protected] and type "LanguageTrak" in the subject field of your email.
About Language Line Services
Language Line Services, the global leader in telephone interpreting and language solutions, serves clients in government, healthcare, telecommunications, financial services, utilities, insurance and many other industries by quickly connecting them to their customers, patients and sales prospects in more than 170 spoken languages as well as American Sign Language (ASL) and Mexican Sign Language (LSM). Language Line Services is recognized as a trusted partner to thousands of public and private organizations throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, providing easy access to the industry's fastest language interpreting service at highly competitive rates.
For more information about Language Line Services' suite of telephone, on-site and video interpreting, document translation, interpreter assessment and training programs, please call (800) 752-6096 or visit http://www.languageline.com.
Carla Collado
Olmstead Williams Communications
http://www.olmsteadwilliams.com
This press release was issued through eReleases(R). For more information, visit eReleases Press Release Distribution at http://www.ereleases.com.
SOURCE Language Line Services | {
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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry v. His Subordinate Victoria Nuland, Regarding Ukraine
By Eric ZUESSE | Oriental Review | May 22, 2015
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, on May 12th, responding to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's assertions that Ukraine will retake Crimea and will conquer Donbass:
"I have not had a chance – I have not read the speech. I haven't seen any context. I have simply heard about it in the course of today. But if indeed President Poroshenko is advocating an engagement in a forceful effort at this time, we would strongly urge him to think twice not to engage in that kind of activity, that that would put Minsk in serious jeopardy. And we would be very, very concerned about what the consequences of that kind of action at this time may be."
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European & Eurasian Affairs, Victoria Nuland, as communicated by the U.S. State Department's Press Office on May 15th, reiterating Poroshenko's view:
"Assistant Secretary Nuland's ongoing visit to Kyiv and her discussions with Prime Minister [Arseniy] Yatseniuk and President [Petro] Poroshenko reaffirm the United States' full and unbreakable support for Ukraine's government, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. We continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Ukraine and reiterate our deep commitment to a single Ukrainian nation, including Crimea, and all the other regions of Ukraine."
Will John Kerry reprimand his subordinate for her contradicting what he, her boss, had said three days earlier? If not, then will President Barack Obama fire his Secretary of State John Kerry? If not, then will Victoria Nuland be fired? If not, then who is to trust anything that comes from the U.S. State Department, when the Secretary of State can be contradicted three days later by his subordinate, and both remain in their respective jobs?
Republicans are already preparing to weaken Kerry over this. The far-right news-site Frontpage Mag headlined on May 21st, John Kerry's Seven Hours of Weakness in Russia, and condemned the "attempt by Kerry to re-set the 're-set' button [on U.S. policy toward Russia] first pushed by his predecessor, Hillary Clinton." The special subject of their ire: "The promise of 'rolling back' the mild sanctions regime the West imposed on Russia on account of Putin's annexation of Crimea and support of separatist rebels was bandied about, if only Russia would behave in the future." But winning changes in behavior is what international diplomacy is supposed to be all about — otherwise the State Department wouldn't even be needed, and only the Pentagon would handle America's foreign relations.
If Victoria Nuland stays in her job, then John Kerry will be neutered even if he's not fired.
The only person with the power to fire Nuland is actually U.S. President Barack Obama. Perhaps the request for him to do that is already on his desk. If it's not, then Kerry's job is in jeopardy, because his diplomatic efforts can be obliterated by a subordinate and that subordinate will suffer no penalty for doing this. Nobody then would respect anything that the U.S. Secretary of State says, because it wouldn't necessarily represent the President's policies. If the Secretary of State isn't backed up by the President, then the Secretary of State has no real power at all.
May 22, 2015 - Posted by aletho | Aletho News | Cold War 2.0, John Kerry, Russia, Strategic Deterrence, Ukraine, United States, Victoria Nuland | {
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Strategic management and public service performance: The way ahead
George A. Boyne*, Richard M. Walker
Strategic management is now prominent on the agenda of public administration scholars and practitioners. In this review, the authors outline why approaches based on strategy are suited to public agencies, noting the ways in which strategy varies across public organizations, seeks to match internal capacities to organizational environments, and shapes the impact of external and internal constraints on performance. Empirical evidence on the impact of strategy on performance is placed under the microscope, and while there are many positive relationships, the evidence base is limited in terms of its scope, data, methods, measures, and coverage. The authors trace out what needs to be done to move the field forward, noting in particular that theoretical enrichment, empirical variety, and explanations of causal complexity are likely to come from a synthesis of models of strategy and publicness.
Public Administration Review
Dive into the research topics of 'Strategic management and public service performance: The way ahead'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
Strategic Management Business & Economics 100%
strategic management Social Sciences 73%
Service Performance Business & Economics 66%
Public Services Business & Economics 56%
public service Social Sciences 51%
performance Social Sciences 27%
Public Agencies Business & Economics 18%
Organizational Environment Business & Economics 17%
Boyne, G. A., & Walker, R. M. (2010). Strategic management and public service performance: The way ahead. Public Administration Review, 70(SUPPL. 1), 185-192. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2010.02271.x
Strategic management and public service performance : The way ahead. / Boyne, George A.; Walker, Richard M.
In: Public Administration Review, Vol. 70, No. SUPPL. 1, 12.2010, p. 185-192.
Boyne, GA & Walker, RM 2010, 'Strategic management and public service performance: The way ahead', Public Administration Review, vol. 70, no. SUPPL. 1, pp. 185-192. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2010.02271.x
Boyne GA, Walker RM. Strategic management and public service performance: The way ahead. Public Administration Review. 2010 Dec;70(SUPPL. 1):185-192. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2010.02271.x
Boyne, George A. ; Walker, Richard M. / Strategic management and public service performance : The way ahead. In: Public Administration Review. 2010 ; Vol. 70, No. SUPPL. 1. pp. 185-192.
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AB - Strategic management is now prominent on the agenda of public administration scholars and practitioners. In this review, the authors outline why approaches based on strategy are suited to public agencies, noting the ways in which strategy varies across public organizations, seeks to match internal capacities to organizational environments, and shapes the impact of external and internal constraints on performance. Empirical evidence on the impact of strategy on performance is placed under the microscope, and while there are many positive relationships, the evidence base is limited in terms of its scope, data, methods, measures, and coverage. The authors trace out what needs to be done to move the field forward, noting in particular that theoretical enrichment, empirical variety, and explanations of causal complexity are likely to come from a synthesis of models of strategy and publicness.
JO - Public Administration Review
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Joe is a yellow tomato and a minor character in "VeggieTales".
His first appearance was in two VeggieTales books, "Bob Lends a Helping Hand" and "Larry Learns to Listen". His first appearances were from the episode version of the books, and then in "God Loves You Very Much."
Other then Bob, Joe is the only known tomato in the series.
Joe is a small yellow tomato with a small yellow nose and eyelids, who wears a blue cap on his green leaves and stem. Joe is very similar to Bob, being a tomato. The only differences from Bob and Joe is that Joe is much smaller, he has a small nose, he is yellow and that he wears a cap. His skin is normally yellow as himself.
Who is Joe?
Joe Mama
Himself in "Larry Learns to Listen"
Himself in "Bob Lends a Helping... Hand?"
Himself in "God Loves You Very Much"
Himself in "Celery Night Fever" (cameo)
Himself in "Beauty and the Beet" (cameo)
In Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas, his skin was red as Young Phillip (resembles to [the Tomato|Bob]).
Retrieved from "https://veggietales.fandom.com/wiki/Joe?oldid=20858"
3 Larry the Cucumber | {
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Home Tech Roundup Investor group including Activision Blizzard kicking Myspace tires
Tech Roundup
Investor group including Activision Blizzard kicking Myspace tires
cmarcucci
The investor group has emerged as a front-runner in negotiations with News Corp. to take control of Myspace, according to a WSJ (which News Corp. owns), as the media company rushes to complete a transaction by 6/30—the end of its fiscal year.
Headquartered in Santa Monica, CA, Activision Blizzard is a worldwide pure-play online and console game publisher with leading market positions across all categories of the interactive entertainment software industry. Activision Blizzard's portfolio includes video games such as Guitar Hero, Call of Duty, and Tony Hawk, as well as Spider-Man, X-Men, Shrek, James Bond, World of Warcraft and more.
While News Corp. continues to talk to several potential bidders, negotiations are now focused on a group that would take over the social-media site but leave News Corp. with about a 20% stake, the story said. At least two firms that were weighing a bid—private-equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners in a partnership with Redscout Ventures and Criterion Capital Partners LLC —are no longer considered serious contenders.
Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard Inc., said he had been approached about being part of the investor group but hasn't yet committed. Any investment by him would be personal and small, and Activision wouldn't be involved, he said.
As well, WSJ sources said Kotick wouldn't take an active management role. Another person cautioned that a deal between the investor group and News Corp. was a "long shot."
Since News Corp. started accepting bids for the struggling social-media site around April, a number of private-equity firms and other Internet start-ups have expressed interest. Increasingly, News Corp. has focused on deals in which it would retain an ownership stake in the business and hand over operational control.
Some other suitors who have remained interested in recent weeks include private-equity firm Criterion Capital Partners LLC and social networks Tagged Inc. and myYearbook. Former Myspace CEO Chris DeWolfe and music-video site Vevo, a JV between major record labels, had also been in the mix, said WSJ. Talks with Vevo have been stalled for several weeks, though a deal between the two was long considered unlikely, in part because the companies were discussing a complicated arrangement that could have entailed Vevo collaborating with Fox's television arm to create new programming.
Tagged CEO Greg Tseng said in a statement that the company "would be excited to take MySpace back to its original roots as a place to meet people."
RBR-TVBR observation: It really sounds like there isn't that much interest from Activision Blizzard to run Myspace, but it might be a part of an investment group. At this point, the best route for Myspace—whether it stays with News Corp., becomes a part of a JV with News Corp. and another group or company or gets bought outright—is to rebrand itself with or as something unique. Perhaps a video chat functionality that works with multiple users / friend groups.
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Carl has been with RBR-TVBR since 1997 and is currently Managing Director/Senior Editor. Residing in Northern Virginia, he covers the business of broadcasting, advertising, programming, new media and engineering. He's also done a great deal of interviews for the company and handles our ever-growing stable of bylined columnists.
The InFOCUS Podcast: Kurt Heitman
HD Radio Mod Monitors Ready For Market | {
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BOUTIQUE SPOTLIGHT: BELLE MONDE BOUTIQUE
Photos By Dick Arnspiger
When a well-heeled PTA mom opens a boutique, you know you're going to get a well-organized shopping experience. At Belle Monde Boutique, you get more than that including designer labels for less, friendly service and plenty of wardrobe and styling advice.
By Kevin Broady
Nestled in the business area of St. Matthews, right off Shelbyville Road, is a quaint yet spacious consignment shop called Belle Monde Boutique. With its bright natural light, hardwood floors and multiple rooms of dresses, gowns, suits, separates and stunning hats and accessories, this shopping haven is a place where you can truly get immersed in a stress-free shopping experience where everything is as affordable as it is beautiful.
This welcoming addition to our local shopping scene is the creation of owner Nikki Knight, who knew from the beginning that she wanted to open a consignment shop with a legitimate "wow" factor, where women feel like they can dress to be the best version of themselves. "I want to encourage and empower women to live a life of confidence, love, and intentionality," explains Nikki. "Instead of fretting about our clothes or running late from one more 'wardrobe crises', my heartbeat is to help women identify their style, find the pieces that work for them, and cycle the ones that don't."
Nikki who was born and raised in Lexington, grew up loving shopping trips with friends and dressing up. After graduating from the University of Kentucky, she began her retail career as a department store manager and fashion director, where the norm was regular trips to New York, planning fashion shows and events. Later, marriage and motherhood led her and her husband to Louisville, where she devoted herself to spending sweet at-home time with their two children and, eventually, to becoming the classic, highly-organized, efficient and always-polished PTA mom. "Now that both kids are grown and graduated from college, I'm returning to my retail roots," says Nikki. That's what led to the "birth" of her latest baby: Belle Monde boutique.
Beside the impeccable customer service, fashion and styling advice, Belle Monde Boutique offers "White Glove Service." They will come to your home and pick up your prepared pre-selected items for sale—partnering with you so you can earn money and earn even more with referrals and high-ticket items. "We get to share love, fashion and the beautiful world together. Let's find value in your closet, extend the life of those pieces and renew their possibilities," explains Nikki. To do that, she and her staff will do closet clean-outs, helping women edit and recycle their wardrobes and make money while empowering other women around the city.
It makes sense that a boutique run by a fashion guru with a heart would embody a concept that embraces women and their potential. Says Nikki, "To me, that's fashioning the world beautifully, and that's what I'm all about."
Belle Monde Boutique is located at 115 Fairfax Avenue. Call 502-403-3432 or visit their website at bellemonde.com for more information. | {
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Solar Flares: 7/8 The Phoenix Suns Courtship of King James, Bye-Bye Frye, Bledsoe Callers Comin'
By Keith M. Scheessele@BSUKeith Jul 8, 2014, 6:00am MST
Share All sharing options for: Solar Flares: 7/8 The Phoenix Suns Courtship of King James, Bye-Bye Frye, Bledsoe Callers Comin'
It's official like a referee with a whistle. The LeBron James sweepstakes is heating up. Unless of course, Robert Sarver, Lon Babby, and Ryan McDonough all happen to summer in Cleveland. At the same time.
To hear the Chuckster tell it, Phoenix isn't going to happen.
The Houston Rockets courtship of James seems to have ended before it started, with sights now set on Carmelo Anthony.
Or Chris Bosh. A max contract seems to be a pretty good indicator of interest.
In any event, you should familiarize yourself with perhaps the most important person involved in this decision not named LeBron James.
LBJ or not, Cleveland was quick to lock up the top asset they do have.
Speaking of summering, do the Suns have the most talented summer league roster? If you look solely at the surnames, definitely.
With so much noise about free agency, it's easy for the casual fan to lose sight of retaining the talent we do have. Eric Bledsoe is sure to have many suitors, including the Milwaukee Bucks, with their shiny #2 draft pick Jabari Parker and fancy new head coach, Jason Kidd.
On the other hand, teams seem to be a little shy about pulling the trigger on a P.J. Tucker deal.
Some think that a team that won 48 games a season ago doesn't need to make a splash during the free agency period.
More on "the waiting game."
Things got a little more interesting Monday, with reports that Channing Frye is on his way to Orlando.
Need to add an epic tale to your summer reading list? Check out the full story of how Steve Nash got away from the Dallas Mavericks.
Following in the footsteps of Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, another former Phoenix Sun is throwing his hat into the political ring.
Golden State's Steve Kerr has announced his coaching staff with the Warriors, and it features familiar Pacific Division names.
Regardless of what ends up happening, there is something to be said for knowing when to quit, and going out on top.
Oh, and to wrap up the LeBron James coverage, we actually already know where he's going to end up. | {
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BMW shows new X3 in Geneva
The BMW promoted a slight restyling of the utility X3 and took the Geneva Motor Show to display it. With the facelift, the model shall bear the same design language of the X5, with a little more bold and aggressive look.
Other changes are new headlights, redesigned front grille, LED direction indicators redesigned, new bumpers, mildly improved interior trim and new standard features like integrated browser and heated seats.
Under the hood, the different versions of the X3 come with diesel engines that strive for efficiency in fuel consumption. The sDrive 18d block has 2.0 turbo 150 horsepower and 36.7 Nm of torque. In this case, the consumption is estimated at 20 km / l.
Soaring version, the xDrive 20d has a reconfigured version of the same block, offering 190 hp and 40.8 Nm. Finally, the top line is the xDrive 35d, equipped with 3.0 turbo engine, delivering 313 bhp and 64.2 Nm. In this, the model accelerates from 0 to 100 km / h in 5.3 seconds, reaching top speed of 245 km / h.
Volkswagen is not working on the successor of Eos, says magazine
Mercedes-Benz takes special editions of the SL and SLK Geneva
Details of BMW performance line "input"
BMW M4 Convertible tests on snow
Ferrari announces the release date of 149M
Honda CR-Z: The Best Hybrid Features
Opel Combo: What You Ought To Know
Peugeot 308: The Distinct Quality
Hyundai Verna: What You Ought To Know
Hyundai Veloster: Super Car
Mini Cooper: A Head Turning Car
Nissan Qashqai: Tough As Nails
Citroen C8: The Problems You Should Know
Renault Captur: An In Depth Review
Toyota Hybrid-R: It's For You To Ride | {
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LIBOR Media Advisory Note: Strictly Not For Publication
From the Attorney General's Office:
Media Advisory Note: strictly not for publication
Current LIBOR trials
Former Citigroup and UBS Trader Tom Hayes has been charged with eight counts of conspiracy to defraud. These charges arise from the on-going LIBOR investigation. A Plea and Case Management Hearing is listed for the 21st October at Southwark Crown Court. Two other defendants charged with LIBOR related offences, Terry Farr and James Gilmour, will also be appearing on that date.
Editors and publishers are reminded of their responsibilities under the Contempt of Court Act 1981.The Attorney General is conscious that this case will be of particular interest to City and financial journalists who may be less familiar with the law of contempt then colleagues who more regularly report on the criminal courts. The Attorney General asks that editors and publishers take steps to ensure all online and hard copy editions of their publications avoid any commentary or reporting which may pose a risk of breaching the Contempt of Court Act.
In particular, the Attorney General draws attention to the risks in publishing material that asserts or assumes, expressly or implicitly, the guilt of an accused person or that otherwise interferes with the administration of justice in this case – such as by pre-empting the decision of the trial Judge or Judges as to the evidence to be called before the jury.
Editors and publishers should take legal advice to ensure they are in a position to fully comply with the obligations they are subject to under the Contempt of Court Act 1981.
Ironically you can read the names that the Wall Street Journal were forced to pull from their website by a Court Order in the bastion of freedom that is China. They are in the print edition of the WSJ Asia Edition..
mdi-tag-outline Freedom of the Press Media Guido WSJ
mdi-timer October 18 2013 @ 11:11 mdi-share-variant mdi-twitter mdi-facebook mdi-whatsapp mdi-telegram mdi-linkedin mdi-email mdi-printer | {
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BMW returns to Le Mans
October 7, 2016 by: Glen Smale | Leave a Comment
In the pit garage before the start of the 2010 Le Mans 24-hour race – the #78 BMW M3 GT (BMW Motorsport) with drivers: Jörg Müller, Augusto Farfus and Uwe Alzen
It was announced last week that BMW's Board of Management has decided to 'strategically realign' its motorsport activities. The pillars on which their motorsport programme will rest, will include: DTM, the FIA WEC, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IWSC), FIA Formula E, customer race programmes in GT3 and GT4 categories, and the Dakar Rally. That is quite a wide-ranging set of racing platforms on which to be active, but those words – BMW returns to Le Mans – is what interests us.
On the grid before the start of the 2010 Le Mans 24-Hour race – the #79 BMW M3 GT with graphic design by Jeff Koons. The drivers were: Andy Priaulx, Dirk Müller and Dirk Werner
The plan is for BMW to enter the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2018, the highlight of which is of course is the 24-hour race in Le Mans. BMW claimed overall victory there in 1999 with the open prototype BMW V12 LMR, but since then the company has only raced at Le Mans in 2010 and 2011. BMW's adventure to Le Mans in 2011 resulted in a third place finish for their M3 GT in the LM GTE class.
The #78 BMW M3 GT driven by Jörg Müller, Augusto Farfus and Uwe Alzen completes the first lap of the 2010 Le Mans 24-Hour race
"Starting with the 2018 season, we want to further expand our activities in GT racing and compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship, as well as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship," BMW Motorsport director Jens Marquardt said. "This obviously also includes our return to Le Mans, which we are particularly looking forward to. The way the WEC has developed so well makes us confident that there is a big future for GT racing. This is also the motivation behind our further expansion in the customer racing sector. Our range is already spearheaded by a successful representative, in the form of the BMW M6 GT3. As of 2018, we will also be excellently represented by the BMW M4 GT4 in the GT4 class, which is currently experiencing something of a boom."
The #79 BMW M3 GT of Andy Priaulx, Dirk Müller and Dirk Werner unfortunately dropped out of the 2010 Le Mans 24-Hour race after just 53 laps
An uprated M6 GT LM is in action in the IMSA series with special permission from the race organisers and the other manufacturers. At this stage though, BMW is not saying anything more about the likely new WEC contender, but the GTE racer will be a replacement for the M6 GT3. The new racer will most likely be based on the common chassis platform shared by the 5-, 6-, and 7-Series cars, but the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show would be a good event to mark in your diaries, as we might get to see something in the metal.
The #15 BMW V12 LMR of Joachim Winkelhock, Pierluigi Martini and Yannick Dalmas finished the 1999 Le Mans 24-Hour race on the top step of the podium, this being BMW's only Le Mans victory
By way of a short (recent) history lesson, BMW competed at Le Mans in 1998 and 1999. In the first of those years, the 580bhp V12 LM Patrick Head-designed racer was entered by Schnitzer Motorsport. Piloted by the extremely experienced driver trios of Hans-Joachim Stuck/Steve Soper/Tom Kristensen and Pierluigi Martini/Joachim Winkelhock/Johnny Cecotto, great things were expected. Unfortunately, both cars were out inside the four-hour mark. The following year it was a bit different. In the hands of Joachim Winkelhock/Pierluigi Martini/Yannick Dalmas, the #15 BMW romped home the winner.
BMW was back at Le Mans in 2011 with a two-car assault. Here the #55 BMW M3 GT of Augusto Farfus, Jörg Müller and Dirk Werner negotiates the Ford Chicane
The next time that BMW entered Le Mans was in 2010. The #78 car was driven by Jörg Müller/Augusto Farfus/Uwe Alzen and qualified in seventh place, while the #79 car in the hands of Andy Priaulx/Dirk Müller/Dirk Werner qualified in twelfth place. The #79 car was the latest in a line of BMW Art Cars with artist Jeff Koons designing the graphics. The #78 car finished sixth in class, while the #79 car dropped out after just 53 laps. This was the last year of the GT2 class, the following season would see the GTE PRO and AM classes replacing the GT2 class, while GT1 disappeared altogether.
The #56 BMW M3 GT driven by Andy Priaulx, Dirk Müller and Joey Hand approaches the Dunlop Chicane during the 2011 Le Mans 24-Hour race
In 2011 BMW announced its intentions in no uncertain terms, when the #55 and #56 cars qualified first and third in the GTE PRO class. In the race, the #56 car in the hands of Andy Priaulx/Dirk Müller/Joey Hand crossed the line third in class giving BMW a much-deserved podium place. The #55 car driven by Augusto Farfus/Jörg Müller/Dirk Werner posted a DNF, bowing out after 276 laps with driveshaft related damage.
The #55 BMW M3 GT of Augusto Farfus, Jörg Müller and Dirk Werner retired after 246 laps in the 2011 Le Mans 24-Hour race with mechanical problems
Should any further news regarding the new WEC racer come our way in the interim, we will be sure to bring this to your attention.
Second time lucky for Andy Priaulx and Dirk Müller, as together with Joey Hand, they brought the #56 BMW M3 GT home in third place in the GTE PRO class in the 2011 Le Mans 24-Hour race
Written by: Glen Smale
Photos by: Virtual Motorpix/Glen Smale and BMW Motorsport
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Categories: Automotive Photography, Car Racing Tags: 24-Hour, BMW, Le Mans, M3 | {
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Angela Booker
a1booker@ucsd.edu
Youth Civic and Political Participation; Learning in Informal Settings; Media and Technology for Learning; Mathematics in Context; Parent Advocacy; Anthropology and Education; Qualitative Research Methods
Angela Booker is currently studying ways youth, families, and schools make use of media and technology for participation, learning, and community development. She is particularly concerned with addressing barriers that diminish access to public participation among underrepresented and disenfranchised communities. She uses ethnographic, qualitative, and design-based research methods to examine typical and emerging practices where youth and adults work together (and at times, in conflict). Collaborations with youth, community partners, educators, and scholars form the basis of her work.
Ph.D. in Education, Stanford University, 2007
Nuñez-Janes, M., Thornburg, A., & Booker, A. (2017) Deep Stories: Practicing, Teaching, and Learning Anthropology with Digital Storytelling. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.
Vossoughi, S. & Booker, A. (2017). "Transcultural Prefigurations: Reflections on Dynamic Relations between Local Movements and Social Movements." Anthropology & Education Quarterly. 48(3), 225-228.
Booker, A. (2017) "Contingent authority and youth influence: When youth councils can wield influence in public institutions." Revista de Investigación Educativa, 35(2).
Booker, A. (2016). "Ethical Commitments in Community-Based Research with Youth." Mind, Culture, and Activity. 23(1), 15-27.
Booker, A. & Goldman, S. (2016) "Participatory Design Research as a Practice for Systemic Repair: Doing Hand-in-Hand Math Research with Families." Cognition and Instruction, 34(3).
Power and privilege in the learning sciences: Critical and sociocultural theories of learning. (2016) Eds. Booker, A., & Esmonde, I. Taylor & Francis.
Booker, A., Montgomery-Block, K., Scott, Z., Reyes, b., & Onyewuenyi, A. (2011). "Public scholarship within an urban school district: A community and university partnership approach to service-learning." Journal of Public Scholarship in Higher Education, 1, 67-87.
Booker, A. (2010). "Framing youth civic participation: Technical, pragmatic, and political learning." In L. Lin, H. Varenne, & E. W. Gordon, (Eds.) Educating comprehensively: Varieties of educational experiences (209-231). Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press.
Goldman, S., & Booker, A. (2009). "Making Math a Definition of the Situation: Families as Sites for Mathematical Practices." Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 40(4), 369-387.
Goldman, S., Booker, A., & McDermott, M. (2007). "Mixing the digital, social, and cultural: Learning, identity, and agency in youth participation." In D. Buckingham. (Ed.) Youth, identity, and digital media (185-206). MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning.
Goldman, S., Mercier, E. M., & Booker, A. (2009). "Partnering with K-12 educators in collaborative design of learning technology." In C. DiGiano, S. Goldman, & M. Chorost. (Eds.) Educating Learning Technology Designers (62-79). New York, NY: Routledge.
Booker, A., Goldman, S., & Mercier, E. M. (2008). "Interdisciplinarity in learning technology design courses." In C. DiGiano, S. Goldman, & M. Chorost. (Eds.) Educating learning technology designers (122-144). New York, NY: Routledge.
Jan Hawkins Early Career Award for Humanistic Research and Scholarship in Learning Technologies, Division C – Learning and Instruction of the American Educational Research Association, 2013
Fellow, UC Center for Collaborative Research for an Equitable California (2012)
Council on Anthropology and Education (CAE) Presidential Fellow (2010)
Council on Anthropology and Education (CAE) Outstanding Dissertation Award, Honorable Mention, 2009
IBM Distinguished Student Research Award, 2003
Stanford University School of Education Nicoll Fellowship and Research Award, 2002
Morana Alač
Boatema Boateng
Lisa Cartwright
Matilde Córdoba Azcárate
Zeinabu Davis
Andrew deWaard
Fernando Domínguez Rubio
Alexander Fattal
Gary Fields
Brian Goldfarb
Daniel Hallin
Erin T. Hill
Robert Horwitz
Lilly Irani
Caroline Jack
Shawna Kidman
Daniel Martinico
Carol Padden
Thomas R. Schmidt
David Serlin
Christo Sims
Stefan Tanaka
Lillian Walkover
Elana Zilberg | {
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Zaratan | Dirty Factual Statements About Japanese Women Unveiled
Dirty Factual Statements About Japanese Women Unveiled
The most important job here is staying sincere and sincere with Vietnamese brides. Minato-ku joshi (港区女子), is a word that seems to have gained momentum within the final year or so. These are ladies—principally university students and people of their early 20s—who love spending time in Minato Ward, some of the costly locations to reside in Japan. By Minato Ward, I mean the stylish neighborhoods of Roppongi, Azabu Juban, Nishi-Azabu and Aoyama, where the so-referred to as excessive spec guys"—properly-educated, good-looking males who earn lots, equivalent to enterprise owners, medical doctors or elite salarymen working at massive-name corporations—stay, work and celebration night after night. Minato-ku joshi's sole goal in life is to be around these men, utilizing their youth, magnificence, and wit to get what they want—be it free dinner at excessive-class restaurants, costly presents corresponding to designer handbags and jewellery, or connections with celebrities and other wealthy and famous guys.
They are usually very shy and well mannered, it is laborious for them to say no," however that does not imply that they are empty. The ladies there are not nearly as profession-oriented as Western ladies, but additionally they don't beauty to be their only benefit. So, if you're searching for a woman with a rich internal world, a Japanese bride could also be an ideal choice for you.
Otsuka also writes that the lives the women built in America have been interrupted by World Warfare II, when over 100 thousand Japanese and Japanese People from the west coast were relocated into internment camps. Japanese women use quality broad-spectrum sunscreens to dam both UVA and UVB rays, and meticulously observe the use directions — placing on too little may very well be as unhealthy or worse than putting on too much.
Three Critical Steps You've To Take Before Getting Japanese Woman
Regardless that numerous animal species shed tears, emotional crying is a uniquely human activity Whatever the cause behind it, many individuals consider that expressing one's feelings in this means could be each cathartic and healthy. In Japan, entrepreneur Hiroki Terai has even adopted this perception as a enterprise strategy. He's the founding father of a bunch crying service that encourages individuals to cry collectively while a handsome weeping boy" wipes their tears away.
Japanese Image Brides at Angel Island in 1919. As breast most cancers rates in Japan creep nearer to Western, it is mutually beneficial that oncologists in Japan and the U.S. have a strong relationship. The Japanese are typically honest individuals. I am a Tokyo-based japan hot women journalist, former columnist for Barron's and Bloomberg and creator of Japanization: What the World Can Study from Japan's Lost A long time." My journalism awards include the 2010 Society of American Business Editors and Writers prize for commentary.
Furthermore, it's best to verify if the person possesses been via any bridal ceremony. For instance , there are brides who've been by means of a bachelors and master's degree programs. You can even verify if the individual has went to an abroad college. Varied web sites give totally different services and products like Exhausting anodized cookware brides by way of Asia. The best part regarding trying to find Western brides is that there are various web sites that present totally free providers. It's important to examine intended for various websites.
After carrying the shiromuku throughout the ceremony, brides change their all-white kimono for one that is called irouchikake. Each man looks for different features in a woman, and here it's all up to you. Japanese wives have good character traits that the majority males like and you'll be taught extra about every of them beneath.
The Heian interval of Japanese history marked the culmination of its classical period, when the huge imperial court docket established itself and its tradition in Heian-kyō (fashionable Kyoto ). Heian society was organized by an elaborate system of rank , and the purpose of marriage was to provide kids who would inherit the best attainable rank from the perfect-placed lineage It was neither ceremonial nor necessarily permanent. 2 Essentially the most weddings had been in eto (Modern day tokyo).
Marie Kondo is a Japanese creator who has impressed a movement with one thing round four million followers (primarily based on guide sales) for her KonMari" technique of organizing and de-cluttering. The KonMari methodology encourages people to ask themselves if their belongings spark pleasure." She was declared considered one of TIME Magazine's one hundred Most Influential individuals" in 2015. | {
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Tag Archives: aluminum smelting
Trimet Commissions New Casting Machine
Trimet Aluminium SE expanded its production capacity for aluminum sows with the installation of a new casting machine at its smelter in Hamburg, Germany. The facility can now cast around 45,000 tonnes of the aluminum sows — almost doubling capacity. "The new casting machine allows us to respond even more flexibly to our customers' needs […]
Alcoa to Restart Aluminum Smelting Capacity in Australia and Brazil
Alcoa Corporation plans to restart curtailed capacity at its smelters in Australia and Brazil. In addition to restarting capacity, the company is working to improve the sustainability of the sites by increasing the use of renewable energy. Portland, Australia Alcoa plans to restart 35,000 tonnes of capacity per year, which had been idled in 2009, […]
Elysis Moves Toward Commercial Demonstration of Its Carbon Free Aluminum Technology
Elysis, the joint venture between Rio Tinto and Alcoa, has successfully produced aluminum without any direct greenhouse emissions using its proprietary inert anode technology at its Industrial Research and Development Center in Saguenay, Quebec, Canada. According to the company, this marks a significant milestone in moving toward a full industrial cell design at a size […]
Century Aluminum to Expand Low-Carbon Billet Production in Iceland
Century Aluminum Company started construction of a new low-carbon billet casthouse at its Norðurál Grundartangi smelter in Iceland. The new $120 million value-added casthouse will be able to produce low-carbon Natur-Al™ billet, as well as increase production of primary foundry alloys. "We are very excited to bring billet production to Grundartangi and, beginning in 2024, […]
Rio Tinto and Carbfix Partner to Implement Carbon Capture and Storage
Rio Tinto signed an MOU with Carbfix through which the two companies will partner to implement a technology for capturing carbon and permanently storing it underground at the ISAL aluminum smelter in Iceland. Called the Coda Terminal, this will be the world's first carbon mineral storage hub — making ISAL the first smelter where carbon […]
Trimet Commissions New Casting Machine at Its Voerde Smelter
Trimet Aluminium SE commissioned a new casting machine for aluminum sows at its aluminum smelter in Voerde, Germany. Prior to this, the smelter delivered 99.9% pure aluminum in liquid form to its local customers and the Trimet foundry in Essen, Germany. Now, the site is able to produce its own block metal. "The casting machine […]
Elysis Began Construction of Its Commercial-Scale Inert Anode Cells
Elysis, the joint venture company led by Alcoa and Rio Tinto, started construction on the first commercial-scale prototype cells using its proprietary inert anode technology. The demonstration cells are being installed at Rio Tinto's Alma smelter in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec. The new technology is said to eliminate all direct greenhouse gases from the aluminum smelting process. […]
Rusal to Transform into Two Separate Companies
UC Rusal, a metals segment of EN+ Group, is pursuing a demerger of its higher carbon assets in order to form two businesses with separate strategies. The move is inline with the company's ambitious environmental goals and strategy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, while continuing to grow its share of value-added products (VAP). Rusal […] | {
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I have said it a lot of times and I say again right now. Africa is not named after Scipio Africanus. Scipio Africanus was the Roman general who engineered the defeat of Carthage, which was in the country we now know as Tunisia. The name Scipio Africanus means "conqueror of Africa." That alone implies that the term Africa was in use before his time. We should stop repeating such a foolish and inaccurate and insulting comment. Whatever the name Africa means and wherever the word comes from, it was not named after a Roman general. Runoko Rashidi | {
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Telemundo Finds Itself Out of Balance
By MRC Latino Staff | January 31, 2018 11:18 PM EST
Once upon a time, Telemundo sought to answer a need in the marketplace by taking a "Just the News" approach, to critical and ratings acclaim. But it appears that the network is eschewing that approach in favor of more one-sided coverage, especially when it comes to immigration.
NYT Freaks: Says EPA Cuts Will Harm Defenseless States
By Clay Waters | April 12, 2017 9:03 AM EDT
Hiboko Tabuchi of the New York Times wrote a supposed news story lamenting the Trump administration's proposed cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency. It was presented both in headline and tone as an editorial: "What's at Stake in the Cuts Proposed for the E.P.A." The photo selection really rubbed in the emotional aspect of the administration's brutal (proposed) cuts: the large set of four pictures include one showing a man with a hard-hat that spells FLINT, his face downcast, holding a young girl on his shoulder, right above one of a fleet of black security cars for new EPA administrator Scott Pruitt. Poor vs. privileged?
VIDEO Eco-Rioters Burn, Shoot and Throw Bombs; CBS Sees Only 'Activists'
By Scott Whitlock | October 28, 2016 12:28 PM EDT
Violent rioters on Thursday burned a bridge, shot at police and threw bombs in order to stop the building of a pipeline in North Dakota. Yet, the journalists at CBS This Morning saw only "activists" and kept the focus on their plight. Reporter Barry Petersen interviewed four of the radical protesters, but just one representative attempting to stop the chaos. He also ignored the Molotov cocktails being hurled at law enforcement.
Environmentalists Escalate Protest to 'Dangerous' Pipeline Tampering
By Julia A. Seymour | October 12, 2016 3:45 PM EDT
While many activists fighting the Dakota Access oil pipeline have been exposed and even arrested for trespassing on the property, Climate Direct Action turned to criminal eco-terrorism in "solidarity" on Oct. 11.
Climate change activists disrupted crude oil flowing through multiple pipelines by tampering with pipelines in four states simultaneously, according to Reuters. Enbridge Inc. pipelines in Minnesota had to be temporarily shut down as well as Spectra Energy's Express Pipeline in Montana.
'Supergirl' Finally Reveals What the 'S' Means (It's Not 'Super')
By Karen Townsend | November 3, 2015 1:06 AM EST
Despite succumbing to the liberal mindset that crude oil is the enemy of the planet at the beginning of episode 2 "Stronger Together," CBS' Supergirl offers an important lesson in teamwork.
Maddow Won't Ask if Pipelines Safer Than Rail for Transporting Oil
By Jack Coleman | April 19, 2015 9:08 PM EDT
Sometimes the obvious eludes us. And all too often on MSNBC, the obvious appears deliberately avoided.
Case in point -- Rachel Maddow devoted a significant portion of her show on Thursday, two full segments, to railway accidents involving crude oil. In the last year alone, Maddow pointed out, trains carrying oil have derailed in Galena, Ill., Mount Carbon, W.V., and Lynchburg, Va., igniting huge fires that burned for days and forcing evacuations of local residents. Amazingly, no one was killed in the three incidents she cited, but a derailment and oil fire in Quebec in July 2013 claimed 47 lives.
AP, NYT AWOL on FCC's Newsroom Snooping Proposal
By Tom Blumer | February 21, 2014 11:59 PM EST
On Thursday, Kyle Drennen at NewsBusters noted that none of the three broadcast networks had covered the intent of the Federal Communications Commission, in the words of Byron York at the Washington Examiner, to "send government contractors into the nation's newsrooms to determine whether journalists are producing articles, television reports, Internet content, and commentary that meets the public's 'critical information needs.'"
Given that the nets take many of their new prioritization cues from the Associated Press, aka the Administration's Press, and to a lesser extent from the New York Times, it shouldn't surprise anyone that searches at the self-described "essential global news network" and at the Old Gray Lady indicate that neither outlet has covered it. The FCC has supposedly backtracked, but not really, as Katy Bachman at AdWeek noted yesterday (bolds are mine throughout this post):
Exxon Mobil-Hater Rachel Maddow Now Sponsored By...Exxon Mobil!
By Noel Sheppard | December 21, 2013 4:56 PM EST
It is quite possible that no American company has received more criticism from MSNBC's Rachel Maddow than Exxon Mobil.
Despite this, at the beginning of a commercial break of her program Wednesday, an unidentified announcer said, "The Rachel Maddow Show is brought to you by Exxon Mobil" (video follows with commentary):
CBS Report Mirrors Left-Wing Group's Pipeline Press Release
By Kristine Marsh | November 19, 2013 3:24 PM EST
Since TransCanada proposed building the Keystone XL Pipeline in 2009, liberal actors, environmentalists, and the media have attacked the plan. Four years later, the media continue to work against the company that proposed building it, TransCanada and this time they had help.
On Nov.12, CBS "Evening News" did a segment on repairs being made by TransCanada to the recently built section of the Keystone Pipeline. That story was essentially a copycat summary of a report released that day from the anti-pipeline group, Public Citizen. CBS not only relied on the group as its only experts in the matter, but also interviewed the same farmer and former TransCanada employee cited in the group's report.
NBC's Curry: U.S. to Blame for 'Toxic Legacy' of Oil Drilling in the Amazon
By Kyle Drennen | May 3, 2013 2:54 PM EDT
Previewing an upcoming story for NBC's Rock Center on Friday's Today, correspondent Ann Curry warned that tribes of the Amazon rain forest "are sharpening their spears and preparing their blow guns to fight Ecuador's new plan to auction as much as 8 million acres of the rain forest for oil drilling." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]
She then cited Boston University biology professor Kelly Swing arguing that "America, a top importer of oil from Ecuador, shares responsibility for this coming conflict....And the toxic legacy of past oil drilling in other parts of the rain forest." A sound bite played of Swing declaring: "We're definitely guilty in this story."
Actress Rosario Dawson Argues Keystone Pipeline's for China, Not for the 'Benefit of the American People'
By Tim Graham | February 18, 2013 7:50 AM EST
MRCTV's Joe Schoffstall caught up with liberal actress Rosario Dawson yesterday at the Washington rally against the Keystone XL pipeline. Dawson insisted President Obama "could and should do more" for green energy, and the old "brown" kind somehow doesn't create jobs.
"This pipeline is not for the benefit of the American people," she said. "This pipeline is so that we can start selling to China and other places. Which they would say was about creating some jobs and it's about bringing in money, but most of that money isn't trickling down to anybody." She does favor hemp oil. (Video below)
Fact Checking the Fact-Challenged Obama Auto Bailout Czar
By Seton Motley | October 18, 2012 8:37 AM EDT
Ex-Barack Obama Administration $82 Billion Auto Bailout Czar Steve Rattner has a bit of a problem telling the truth.
What Rattner does not have is a problem with the Jurassic Press Media calling him on his serial flights of factual fancy.
Norah at Night: Incoming CBS Evening News Anchor's Most Lib Moments
NBC, CBS Ignore Antifa's Attempt to Burn Down Migrant Detention Center
Deutsch Wants Hot Talk of 'Fascist' Trump, Makes a Claim That's an LOL
Bozell & Graham Column: Colbert Cartoon Crumbles Truth
CBS Somehow DOESN'T Call Tom Steyer Progressive or Liberal
NewsBuster Picks
Tweets by NewsBusterPicks | {
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GS1 Hong Kong Launches Quality Food Scheme+ to Boost Traceability, Food Safety Control and Management for Local Food Industry
Hong Kong, 8 September, 2020 - GS1 Hong Kong launches a brand new "Quality Food Scheme+" programme to encourage food & beverage enterprises to adopt more stringent measures in accordance with internationally accredited standards in terms of management, control and traceability, for example identifying critical control points along the food supply chain, which helps to enhance food safety and instil trust in consumers.
Triple Confidence Using a Trio of International Standards
The Centre for Food Safety has issued more than 75 food alerts and results of sample with irregularity since the start of this year. The foods not in compliance cover seafood, vegetables, sauce, etc., from Australia, China, England, France, Thailand, New Zealand and others. They were either stopped sale, removed from shelves or recalled by the traders. While food safety incidents happen regularly, citizens have been extra cautious as the COVID-19 persists.
To help enterprises cope with the new normal in the midst of epidemic, GS1 HK launches "Quality Food Scheme+" (the new Scheme) with SGS HK as the audit partner. Under the new Scheme, participating enterprises are assessed based on more comprehensive internationally accredited food safety standards, including GS1 Global Traceability Standard (GTS), ISO 22000 - Food Safety Management System Standard, as well as HACCP – Food Safety Control Standard.
In response to the latest infection, the new Scheme report will provide companies with disease prevention advice, including industry best practices and how food safety management and system is uplifted through proper technology adoption. For example, enterprise may be advised to use appropriate sensing and analysis technologies for real time monitoring of the food processing operation so as to strengthen the risk management control and enhance food safety.
"SGS Hong Kong is delighted to collaborate with GS1 Hong Kong to be the audit partner of the new 'Quality Food Scheme+'. We help food enterprises to engineer food source control, food operations and management in accordance with internationally accredited standards; identify and analyse the potential food safety hazards and risk, from raw materials to products, from manufacturing to handling process; establish control points and formulate monitoring system. It helps enterprises to reduce and control risk, ensure product quality and food safety, protect consumers' health, build and safeguard food organisation's market integrity, and ultimately enhance competitiveness." said Ben Tsang, Managing Director of SGS Hong Kong.
Enhance Brand Image and Win Consumer Trust
While the existing "Quality Food Scheme" adopts GTS (Global Traceability Standard) as the main criteria for assessment of food across the supply chain, which is particularly useful for product recall management; the new Scheme takes reference to additional global standards including ISO 22000 and HACCP on top of GTS, and provides participating enterprise with an all-rounded review to enhance its current system and practices.
Independent third parties, GS1 Hong Kong and SGS Hong Kong, will perform the audit for the participating enterprises, which help them to build brand image, reputation and win consumer trust. The enterprises will also receive a full report with recommendations for improvement, helping to develop a roadmap for better food safety management with its system and hence pursuing excellence. Please visit https://www.gs1hk.org/quality-food-scheme for the details of the "Quality Food Scheme" and the "Quality Food Scheme+" for 2021.
May Chung, Chairperson of Hong Kong Food and Beverage Industry Advisory Board of GS1 HK, and General Manager of Nestlé Hong Kong Ltd., is glad to see the launch of the new Scheme. "The food and food services industry is facing many challenges, primarily the public trust in food safety. The launch of the new Scheme is a perfect opportunity for the industry to be appraised by 3 international standards, improve food traceability as well as enhance food safety management and control throughout the supply chain. When consumers see the new Scheme logo, they feel safer to buy and consume."
GS1 HK has organised "Quality Food Scheme" for 5 years, and over 20 enterprises are recognised every year to commend their outstanding performance in food traceability, supporting food safety in Hong Kong. Please refer to Appendix 1 for the recognised company list this year.
Being recognised in "Quality Food Scheme" for 3 consecutive years, Tong Shun Hing Poultry (HK) Co. Ltd. also supports the launch of the new Scheme. Patrick Tong, General Manager of the company said, "As a major importer of chilled poultry in Hong Kong and Macau with 10 siu mei restaurants, food safety has always been our focus. The Scheme not only recognised our efforts, but also inspired us to set higher goals, such as enhancing information transparency. We have decided to step up to join the new Scheme, to allow more extensive review on our food safety management and pre-monitoring system, which I believe will elevate our standard in that regard."
Anna Lin, Chief Executive of GS1 HK, noted, "It is a pleasure to see such tenacity in the food industry to uphold food safety in Hong Kong. In a difficult time like this, joining 'Quality Food Scheme+' not only helps companies comply to regulations, but also rebuilds consumer trust and motivates repeat purchase once the situation gets better. Apart from the 2 Schemes, we also offer food safety and traceability training, consultation and track-and-trace solutions. We strive to collaborate with the industry to raise the bar for food safety in Hong Kong, so consumers will come back with a peace of mind."
Recognised Companies of Quality Food Traceability Scheme 2020 (in alphabetical order)
Diamond Enterprise
Café de Coral Holdings Ltd.
FrieslandCampina (Hong Kong) Limited
Hop Hing Oils & Fats (Hong Kong) Ltd.
Maxim's Caterers Ltd.
Nestlé Hong Kong Ltd.
Sims Trading Co. Ltd.
Swire Coca-Cola HK Ltd.
Tong Shun Hing Poultry (HK) Co. Ltd.
Tsit Wing International Holdings Ltd.
Vitasoy International Holdings Ltd.
Wyeth Nutrition Hong Kong
Gold Enterprise
AEON Stores (Hong Kong) Co. Ltd.
DCH Food Mart
DCH Logistics Co. Ltd.
International Gourmet Foods Ltd.
Lorence & Company Ltd.
Tai Luen Coffee Company Ltd.
Silver Enterprise
Aquaculture Technologies Asia Ltd.
Starjet Trading Limited
Corinna Fung
Email: corinnafung@gs1hk.org
Will Ip
Email: willip@gs1hk.org
About GS1 Hong Kong
Founded by the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce in 1989, GS1 Hong Kong is the local chapter of GS1®, a not-for-profit, standards organisation that develops and drives adoption of easy-to-implement global standards for business to uniquely identify, accurately capture and automatically share vital information about products, locations and assets. Headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, GS1 has over 110 national chapters in 150 countries.
GS1 Hong Kong's mission is to empower business to grow and to improve efficiency, safety, authenticity and sustainability across multiple sectors and facilitates commerce connectivity through the provision of a full spectrum of platforms, solutions and services based on our global standards. We provide a trusted foundation for accurate, sharable, searchable and linkable data. Our EPC standard lays the foundation for IoT, powering a range of IoT-based services and applications. We are helping industry to meet the challenges of omni-channel commerce and create a seamless customer experience. By engaging with communities of trading partners, industry organisations, government, and technology providers, we are fostering a collaborative ecosystem and aiming for "Smarter Business, Better Life".
Currently, GS1 Hong Kong has around 8,000 corporate members covering close to 20 industries including retail consumer goods, food and food services, healthcare, apparel, logistics as well as information and technology.
For more information about GS1 Hong Kong, please visit www.gs1hk.org.
media@gs1hk.org
One Code.Bridging the World of Business and Consumers | {
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Dynasty 18: The Abyss
By: Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
Narrated by: Terry Wale
Series: Morland Dynasty, Book 18
Dynasty 1: The Founding
Narrated by: Christopher Scott
This wonderful series opens with the back drop of the Wars of the Roses with the marriage between Eleanor Morland and a scion of the influential house of Beaufort. It is a union which establishes the powerful Morland dynasty and in the succeeding volumes of this rich tapestry of English life, we follow their fortunes through war and peace, political upheaval and social revolution, times of pestilence and periods of plenty, and through the vicissitudes which afflict every family - love and passion, envy and betrayal, birth and death, great fortune and miserable penury.
Addictive - and 19 books in the series... so far..
By Sceptical Shopper on 07-03-13
Goodbye Piccadilly
War at Home, 1914
Narrated by: Penelope Freeman
In 1914, Britain faces a new kind of war. For Edward and Beatrice Hunter, their children, servants and neighbours, life will never be the same again. For David, the eldest, war means a chance to do something noble; but enlisting will break his mother's heart. His sister Diana, nineteen and beautiful, longs for marriage. She has her heart set on Charles Wroughton, son of Earl Wroughton, but Charles will never be allowed to marry a banker's daughter.
Lovely Story - Superb Narrator
By Violet on 10-10-15
The Conquest
By: Elizabeth Chadwick
Narrated by: Charlotte Strevens
When a comet appears in the sky over England in 1066, Ailith, a young Saxon wife, feels sure that it can only bode well. Yet within a year, Ailith's joy turns to heartache as her husband and her child are taken from her and the conquering Normans advance. Ailith's grief turns to love for a brief period with a handsome Norman invader. She bears him one daughter, but in the aftermath of the Battle of Hastings she discovers a betrayal she cannot forgive....
The Summer Queen
Eleanor of Aquitaine Trilogy, Book 1
Narrated by: Katie Scarfe
Eleanor of Aquitaine's story is legendary. She is an icon who has fascinated readers for over 800 years. But the real Eleanor remains elusive - until now. Based on the most up-to-date research, best-selling novelist Elizabeth Chadwick brings Eleanor's magnificent story to life, as never before. Young, vibrant, privileged, Eleanor's future is golden as the heiress to wealthy Aquitaine. But when her beloved father dies suddenly in the summer of 1137, her childhood ends abruptly.
Beautifully written & a joy to listen to.
By Diane on 26-07-13
Ross Poldark
Poldark, Book 1
By: Winston Graham
Narrated by: Oliver J. Hembrough
Tired from a grim war in America, Ross Poldark returns to his land and his family. But the joyful homecoming he has anticipated turns sour, for his father is dead, his estate is derelict, and the girl he loves is engaged to his cousin. But his sympathy for the destitute miners and farmers of the district leads him to rescue a half-starved urchin girl from a fairground brawl and take her home - an act which alters the whole course of his life....
Can't tell...
By Amanda Isbell on 13-04-15
The Nightingale Girls
By: Donna Douglas
Three very different girls sign up as trainee nurses at a big London teaching hospital in 1934. Dora leaves her overcrowded, squalid working-class home for a better life. But has she got what it takes to keep up with other, better-educated girls? And will her hated stepfather ever let her go? Helen is born for the job; her brother is a doctor, her all-powerful mother a hospital trustee. But will Helen's secret misery be her downfall? An aristocratic rebel, Millie's carefree attitude will find her up in front of Matron again and again. Will she ever care enough to make a nurse? Or will she go back to the glamorous life she was born to?
What a surprise!
By Enquiring Mind on 03-04-15
It is 1833. The industrial age is sweeping through England, and the Stephensons are planning the greatest engineering scheme ever undertaken: a railway line from Liverpool to London. At Morland Place, Nicholas had hoped that his brother, Benedict, had been banished forever, but railway fever has brought Benedict back to Yorkshire as an engineer on the Leeds & Selby line. It is a lonely life and he fears he will never be wealthy enough to marry his new love, Miss Fleetham.
Nicholas fears that Benedict is not only a threat to his inheritance but to Morland Place itself, as plans to bring the railway to York will desecrate the estate. The conflict between the brothers mirrors the nation's battle between the old and new, but the Morland feud seems certain to end in tragedy and no-one the victor.
©1995 Cynthia Harrod-Eagles (P)2010 Isis Publishing Ltd.
The Straw Men
No Tears for the Lost
Dynasty 4: The Oak Apple
Beautifully narrated, as always, and an excellent story. please don't stop - take us unto the 21st century.
Hollace
Great Series
Yes, I have already recommended this series to 2 friends. Well written, and great narration too.
When do we get another Dynasty book release? I want more!!!
Close to the best in the series
This was a really fun read, but they're all good.
I am starting #19 and REALLY want to know WHERE the rest of the audio books in the series are or if they will be done!
Engaging and exciting, I do love this series. | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaCommonCrawl"
} |
16 Famous Writers And Their Cats
What do Charles Bukowski, Joyce Carol Oates, and Edgar Allan Poe have in common? They love cats. Writers and cats go together like salt and pepper, and here are 16 of our favorite pairs.
1. Ernest Hemingway
"A cat has absolute emotional honesty: human beings, for one reason or another, may hide their feelings, but a cat does not."
jfklibrary.org
Ernest Hemingway Collection. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston.
"One cat just leads to another."
2. Charles Bukowski
Via grandchild-of-bukowski.tumblr.com
"when I am feeling
all I have to do is
watch my cats
and my
returns.
I study these
creatures.
they are my
teachers."
—Charles Bukowski, "My Cats"
Via yourcatwasdelicious.tumblr.com
"Having a bunch of cats around is good. If you're feeling bad, you just look at the cats, you'll feel better, because they know that everything is, just as it is. There's nothing to get excited about. They just know. They're saviors. The more cats you have, the longer you live. If you have a hundred cats, you'll live ten times longer than if you have ten. Someday this will be discovered, and people will have a thousand cats and live forever. It's truly ridiculous."
3. Joyce Carol Oates
Via writersandkitties.tumblr.com
"I write so much because my cat sits on my lap. She purrs so I don't want to get up. She's so much more calming than my husband."
4. Neil Gaiman
journal.neilgaiman.com
"'No,' said the cat. 'Now, you people have names. That's because you don't know who you are. We know who we are, so we don't need names.'"
—Neil Gaiman, Coraline
neil-gaiman.tumblr.com
"'Name the different kinds of people,' said Miss Lupescu. 'Now.' Bod thought for a moment. 'The living,' he said. 'Er. The dead.' He stopped. Then, '... Cats?' he offered, uncertainly."
—Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book
5. Allen Ginsberg
"I learned a world from each
one whom I loved;"
—Allen Ginsberg, "I learned a world from each"
6. Ray Bradbury
harpercollins.com
"That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you."
—Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing
ralphnelson.com
7. Doris Lessing
Via pt.wikinoticia.com
"If a fish is the movement of water embodied, given shape, then cat is a diagram and pattern of subtle air."
—Doris Lessing, On Cats
8. Mark Twain
Via dumpaday.com
"When a man loves cats, I am his friend and comrade, without further introduction."
—Mark Twain, Who Is Mark Twain?
bancroft.berkeley.edu
"I simply can't resist a cat, particularly a purring one. They are the cleanest, cunningest, and most intelligent things I know, outside of the girl you love, of course."
9. Sylvia Plath
Via weimarart.blogspot.com
"And I a smiling woman.
I am only thirty.
And like the cat I have nine times to die."
—Sylvia Plath, "Lady Lazarus"
10. Aldous Huxley
"'My young friend,' I said, 'if you want to be a psychological novelist and write about human beings, the best thing you can do is to keep a pair of cats.'"
—Aldous Huxley, Collected Essays
11. William S. Burroughs
Via lawrence.com
"The cat does not offer services. The cat offers itself."
—William S. Burroughs, The Cat Inside
"My relationship with cats has saved me from a deadly, pervasive ignorance."
Via culturalcat.com
12. Edgar Allan Poe
bridgemanart.com
Poe at work under Catalina's eye (litho), Sheldon, Charles Mills (1866-1928) / Private Collection / © Look and Learn / The Bridgeman Art Library
"I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat."
13. Hermann Hesse
"How absurd these words are, such as beast and beast of prey. One should not speak of animals in that way."
—Hermann Hesse, Steppenwolf
14. T. S. Eliot
eliotsociety.org.uk
"When a Cat adopts you there is nothing to be done about it except to put up with it and wait until the wind changes."
15. Philip K. Dick
"Willis, my tomcat, strides silently over the pages of that book, being important as he is, with his long golden twitching tail. Make them understand, he says to me, that animals are really that important right now. He says this, and then eats up all the food we had been warming for our baby. Some cats are far too pushy. The next thing he'll want to do is write SF novels. I hope he does. None of them will sell."
Via american-buddha.com
16. Jorge Luis Borges
Via imgur.com
"You belong to another time. You are lord
of a place bounded like a dream."
—Jorge Luis Borges, "To a Cat"
Via pasolininuc.blogspot.com | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaCommonCrawl"
} |
Canada's superclusters meet with EU delegation for signing ceremony
June 6, 2019 Food in Canada
supercluster
The Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) boosted Canada's trade with the world's second-largest market. Signed in October 2016, CETA entered into force in September 2017.
Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, joined Elżbieta Bieńkowska, European Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and Small and Medium Enterprises, to witness the signing of an administrative arrangement between Canada and the EU to facilitate trans-Atlantic cluster collaboration. Under the arrangement, Canada's five innovation superclusters will have more opportunities to form strategic business partnerships and linkages with cluster organizations and firms in the European Union.
The signing ceremony at Humber College in Toronto was held on the sidelines of an EU-Canada cluster matchmaking event. Representatives from all five of Canada's superclusters, Protein Industries, Ocean, Digital Technology, Advanced Manufacturing and SCALE.AI.
CAFTA applauds Canada's signing of CETA
Five superclusters will share $950 million
CETA to come into force by spring 2017
Thermo Fisher Scientific latest metal detector
Study finds that majority of Canadians are motivated to reduce single-use plastic | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaCommonCrawl"
} |
Peanuts 70th Anniversary Exhibition Now Open in Sapporo
15.August.2021 | ANIME&GAME / SPOT
# Peanuts
# sapporo
# Snoopy
Beginning at Seibu Ikebukuro in December 2019, the "Snoopy Time Capsule Exhibition" is celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the Peanuts comic strip all over Japan. Sapporo is the sixth stop on this final tour, and the event will be open until August 23, 2021.
The immersive space is divided into time periods, displaying various Peanuts works from the 1950s until the 2000s. Guests can enjoy photo ops featuring beloved characters, and browse limited-time merchandise made especially for the exhibition.
The story behind the event is fitting: Snoopy finds a time capsule, and upon opening it, the contents fly out! Together with the Peanuts gang, it's up to visitors to help find each memory made over the past 70 years.
© 2021 Peanuts Worldwide LLC www.snoopy.co.jp
Special Exhibition Events
The entire Peanuts gang awaits visitors at the entrance, each with their own key.
The history of author Charles M. Schulz and the Peanuts characters are presented in a vividly-colored timeline.
One exhibit from the 1950s focuses on the unrequited love between Lucy and Schroder.
Another from the 1960s takes a look at the many occupations Snoopy has attempted.
Learn more about Charles M. Schulz while browsing past Peanuts goods, books, and more.
Anniversary Market
Snoopy Plushie: ¥3,850 (Tax Included, limit one per customer)
70th Anniversary Pin Set: ¥7,700 (Tax Included)
Acrylic Key Holder: ¥715 Each (Tax Included)
A4 Clear File (2 designs): ¥440 Each (Tax Included)
Snoopy Plush Badge (2 designs): ¥880 Each (Tax Included)
A6 Notepad (2 designs): ¥660 Each (Tax Included)
Mascot Keychain: ¥1,980 Each (Tax Included, limit one per customer)
Each ticket purchased for the exhibition includes a special key. By finding 5 pieces of art hidden throughout the venue and using this key, guests will receive a special comic illustration as a gift to take home.
The Final Tour is coming to an end soon, so don't miss it!
© 2021 Peanuts Worldwide LLC(短縮形 © 2021 Peanuts)
Next » Snow Miku Collaborates with Sanrio's Kuromi to Promote Hokkaido Tourism
Snoopy Time Capsule Exhibition Final Tour
Running: Until August 23, 2021
Location: Daimaru Sapporo (7F Hall)
Hours of Admission: 10:00-19:30 (Until 16:30 on August 23)
Official Site: https://www.snoopy.co.jp/
21.December.2022 | ANIME&GAME / SPOT
Snow Miku has teamed up with Sanrio's popular character Kuromi to promote the beautiful prefecture of Hokkaido! A new collection of goods went on sale starting December 14, 2022.
Clear Folder
Pen with Clip
Mini Sign Board
Mini Towel (Set of 2)
Framed Magnet with Stand
Acrylic Stand
Acrylic Keychain
Silver Foil 2-Layer Magnet
Snow Miku debuted during the Sapporo Snow Festival in 2010 when an incredible snow sculpture of Hatsune Miku was unveiled. Ever since then, Snow Miku festivals have popped up in Hokkaido each winter, and the character dons costumes designed by popular internet creators.
Kuromi is back this year, with Miku's outfit dyed black and tons of adorable art featuring the rock 'n roll character. The life-size version of Miku was designed by illustrator PiPi, and the chibi character was designed by illustrator Yoi. Between Miku's cute idol energy and Kuromi's edginess, this is the perfect collab for all audiences!
The items are available in two versions: Day, featuring Hokkaido's beautiful landscapes covered in snow, and Night, featuring twinkling winter lights.
Don't miss out on these exclusive items!
Hokkaido Exclusive – Snow Miku x Kuromi Hokkaido
Available: December 14, 2022
Official Site: https://snowmiku.com/
Snoopy Museum to Open Tasty Exhibition Titled 'What's Your Favorite Food?'
Following the conclusion of the current 'Little Best Friend Woodstock' exhibition, the Snoopy Museum will hold a food-centric event from January 14 until July 9, 2023!
Selected Works on Display
Peanuts Comic (January 20, 1991)
Peanuts Comic (September 6, 1988)
Peanuts Comic (February 7, 1988)
Peanuts Comic (September 14, 1954)
Peanuts Comic (March 27, 1986)
Peanuts Reprint (Partial / January 13, 1973)
Goods at a Glance
Approximately 40 rare original drawings of Snoopy and his friends will appear at the exhibition, all focused on the character's favorite foods. Food features prominently in the Peanuts comic strip, whether it be friends eating breakfast or school lunch.
The exhibition features items from the collection at the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa, California.
Snoopy loves to eat and loves doughnuts and marshmallows, but absolutely hates coconuts. Of course, the gang loves cookies, and eating lunch while chatting is the highlight of the day! Come enjoy this tasty event in 2023.
(C) Peanuts Worldwide LLC
Snoopy Museum Exhibition – What's Your Favorite Food? ~Food in PEANUTS~
Running: January 14 – July 9, 2023
Closed on Tuesday, February 21 (Open every other day of the exhibition period)
Snoopy Tea Brand SNOOTEA Launches Chocola Tea for the Holidays
15.November.2022 | FASHION / FOOD
# tea
Since its start in 2007, the Snoopy tea brand SNOOTEA has remained popular with Peanuts fans and tea fans alike. Typically, the brand has sold black tea in cute tins featuring Snoopy and his friends.
Starting November 7, fans can purchase a special Chocola tea made by tea blender Shuntarou Kumazaki. Blended to suit Japanese water and inspired by the world of Peanuts, it promises to be the perfect flavor for the holidays.
Made with cacao nibs, the flavor of standard black tea is punctuated with a chocolate aroma. The tea leaves themselves come from India, Sri Lanka, and Kenya, and are blended together in a balanced way to create an appealing taste that will have tea lovers coming back again and again. This blend is also perfect for making milk tea, and fans can even add whipped cream and marshmallows. This tea also goes well with strawberries, oranges, bananas, and other fruits, as well as nuts!
Snoopy and his friends dressed in winter attire will appear on each tin, adding to the festive holiday spirit. On the online store, customers can also find Darjeeling, Earl Grey, Apple Tea, and other varieties.
SNOOTEA Chocola Tea
Price: ¥999 (Tax Included)
Details/Purchase: https://feuillesbleues.com/onlineshop/snootea
60th Anniversary Sanrio Exhibition: The Beginning of Kawaii to Open at Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art in February 2023
The word 'kawaii' is now commonly used around the world. Sanrio is largely to thank for this, and the beloved company has announced that the 60th Anniversary Sanrio Exhibition will open at the Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art from February 11 until April 2, 2023. Advance tickets will include a discount and will be available until November 14 online.
"Sanrio celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2020, and the company continues to share Japan's character culture with fans around the world," Sanrio said in a comment. "Kawaii is now a universal language, and this is very much thanks to the over 450 characters that are part of Sanrio's history, from Hello Kitty to My Melody.
This exhibition traces the history of Sanrio and guests can enjoy seeing rare materials including merchandise, publications, and early designs from the company's founding. We want to continue to grow and develop our characters while valuing communication with our fans, ensuring that our adorable characters are loved by generations to come."
The Sanrio exhibition is something that generations of fans can enjoy, so come immerse yourself in this kawaii world! For more details, visit the official website.
60th Anniversary Sanrio Exhibition: The Beginning of Kawaii
Running: February 11 – April 2, 2023
Hours: 9:30 – 17:00 (Last entry at 16:30)
Venue: Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art (17-chome Kita 1 Jonishi, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido)
Official Site: https://stv.jp/event/sanrio
The World of Peanuts to Take Over Grandberry Park this Winter
The limited-time Christmas event 'SNOOPY Merry Colorful Christmas' will be held at the Grandberry Park shopping mall from November 12 until December 25, 2022. The complex is directly connected to Manami-Machida Grandberry Park Station on the Den-en-toshi Line.
This year's event is the most colorful one yet, focusing on diversity and individuality. Fans of Snoopy and friends are in for a treat, as the area around Grandberry Park will be illuminated in beautiful colors and decorated with unique Christmas decorations that will excite the whole family.
Colorful Sculpture
Colorful Illuminations
Snoopy Ice Rink
Snoopy Happiness Float 2022
During the event period, a giant 8-meter-tall Christmas tree decorated with Peanuts-inspired ornaments will be set up for guests to enjoy. A huge and very colorful sculpture measuring 6 meters across and over 2 meters tall will also welcome visitors to this Christmas wonderland. In addition, colorful lights will be scattered around the entirety of Grandberry Park, and a special Christmas menu filled with cakes and hors d'oeuvres is sure to delight.
On December 10, the Snoopy Ice Rink will open at Oasis Plaza, and the Snoopy Happiness Float 2022, a giant Snoopy that has traveled across Japan, will return for another year of fun.
Come have a fun time this holiday season with Snoopy and friends! A series of events will be held over the next year to market the Colors of Peanuts marketing campaign throughout the country, so keep an eye out for more news!
*Sample images only.
Snoopy Merry Colorful Christmas
Running: November 12 – December 25, 2022
Venue: Grandberry Park
Details: https://gbp.minamimachida-grandberrypark.com/christmas2022/
13th BT21 Cafe to Open in Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka, and Sapporo
29.October.2022 | FASHION / FOOD / SPOT
# Oshiage
# Shibuya
The 13th iteration of the BT21 Cafe will open at six venues in five cities around Japan. Fans in Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka, and Sapporo will want to visit this exclusive event titled ~MAGICAL TIME~. The first cafe opens in Shibuya on November 3. In celebration of BT21's 5th anniversary, this special cafe is filled with joy and excitement and aims to give fans the best possible experience.
Magical Tea Time Set
Food Plate
Food Plate (7 varieties)
Dessert Plate (7 varieties)
Magical Milk Tea
Iced Coffee / Hot Coffee
Original Goods
Acrylic Keychain (7 varieties, Random)
Acrylic Clip (7 varieties, Random)
Satin Sticker (7 varieties)
Clear Folder (2 varieties)
Handkerchief (7 varieties)
Masking Tape / Balloon on a Stick
Dolomite Coaster (2 varieties) / Mirror (2 varieties)
[Online Store Exclusive] Acrylic Keychain (7 varieties, Random)
The cafe's new menu includes afternoon tea, perfect for warming the body and soul during the cold winter months. The colorful food items and desserts are sure to be a hit on social media, and fans will enjoy the Magical Milk Tea and other dishes inspired by the popular BT21 characters.
In addition to new merchandise and bonuses featuring newly-drawn art, a photo spot will welcome guests to the cafe and invite them to celebrate this five-year milestone.
Why not take a break from everyday life to enjoy a magical time with these cute characters?
BT21 Cafe #13 ~MAGICAL TIME~
Venue/Dates
■Shibuya, Tokyo:
BOX cafe&space SHIBUYA109
Address: SHIBUYA109 B2F (2-29-1 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo)
■Oshiage, Tokyo:
BOX cafe&space Tokyo Solamachi
Running: January 13 – February 19, 2023
Address: Tokyo Skytree Town, Solamachi 1F (1-1-2 Oshiage, Sumida-ku, Tokyo)
■Yokohama, Kanagawa:
Collabo_Index Lumine Yokohama
Running: January 13 – February 5, 2023
Address: Lumine Yokohama 6F (2-16-1 Takashima, Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa)
■Nagoya, Aichi:
BOX cafe&space Nagoya LACHIC #1
Running: December 2, 2022 – February 5, 2023
Address: LACHIC B1F (3-6-1 Sakae, Naka-ku, Nagoya, Aichi)
■Shinsaibashi, Osaka:
Shinsaibashi contact
Address: 1-6-24 Kitahorie, Nishi-ku, Osaka
■Sapporo, Hokkaido:
Cafe Interlude, Coach & Four Shinakawa
Address: 18-chome 3-jo, Kita-ku, Sapporo
Reservations: https://box-cafe.jp/
Open: November 3, 11:00 – December 4, 23:59
https://box-cafe.jp/online_store/
UNIQLO's UT Sweatshirt Collection Features Everything from Pop Culture Icons to Contemporary Art
19.August.2022 | FASHION
# Spider-Man
# UNIQLO
# UT
UNIQLO's graphic T-shirt brand UT has revealed some new pieces for its Fall/Winter 2022 collection! Some new sweatshirts are hitting the market featuring everything from Peanuts and Disney characters to Museums of the World and classic Spider-Man art.
From the world-famous Peanuts comic strip comes a collection of sweatshirts for children and adults! Be sure to grab these adorable designs featuring the daily life of Snoopy, Charlie Brown and friends.
The Philosophy of Andy Warhol
UNIQLO has worked with Andy Warhol's pieces for a number of years, and the latest collection features the powerful messages the artist left through his works. While the words themselves are powerful, the designs are simple and easy to incorporate into any look.
New York Pop Icons
Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Kenny Scharf were pioneers of New York pop culture in the 1980s. These bold prints are sure to turn heads.
Museums of the World Collection
The Museums of the World collection of men's shirts features beloved museums like the Tate Modern, the Louvre, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and more. This valuable collection was made possible by UNIQLO's continued art initiative, as the company has continued to work with museums around the world to share the wonders of art with as many people as possible.
Disney Dearest Friends
Many Disney films depict wholesome friendships born from fateful encounters. Keeping the theme of best friends in mind, these sweatshirts feature sweet terms and beautiful typography.
The collection is inspired by American college sweatshirts, adding motifs of Disney characters. The vintage-style design will make you feel wonderfully nostalgic.
Spider-Man 60th Anniversary: Amazing Years
Since his debut in 1962, Spider-Man has grown to become a huge figure in pop culture. This special collection uses some of the coolest comic book art of all time, perfect for today's superhero fans.
These sweatshirts are perfect for jazzing up your fall and winter wardrobe, so be sure to grab your favorites!
UT Collection
Special Site: https://www.uniqlo.com/jp/ja/contents/feature/ut-graphic-tees/
Tomakomai Mirai Fest 2022 Announces Second Round of Performers, Additional Details
29.July.2022 | FES / MUSIC / SPOT
# festival
# Tomakomai
New performers and events have been announced ahead of the start of Tomakomai Mirai Fest 2022 in Tomakomai, Hokkaido on September 17 and 18. The event will be held in one of the most gorgeous towns on the island and excitement is building!
The purpose of this event is to promote the appeal of the Tomakomai region, not only to those living in Japan but to those living abroad. In addition to music, the event will also feature art, food, technology, and more content that can be enjoyed by kids, families, and people of all ages and genders.
Tomakomai Civic Hall, Large Hall
Incredible live performances will be held in a futuristic setting. Along with Awesome City Club, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, and Little Glee Monster, guests can look forward to seeing HY, Wednesday Campanella, Taichi Mukai, and Atarashii Gakko!
Tomakomai Civic Hall, Parking Lot
DJ performances and food trucks will welcome guests to the futuristic area, and the illuminations are sure to impress!
Kirakira Park
An AR system accessible by smartphone will allow guests to take pictures of the Tomakomai Mirai Fest logo for a surprise. During the daytime, a food truck area will provide visitors with different types of gourmet offerings and a stage will showcase local dancers and musicians from Tomakomai. A family-friendly picnic area will allow guests to relax and enjoy good food and live music.
At night, in addition to impressive illuminations and a live stage showcasing Hokkaido's best talent, an island bar will amplify the mood.
O-machi/Nishiki-machi
During the daytime, a gourmet area will feature Tomakomai's famous curry ramen, local craft beer, craft spices, and more. At night, visitors can enjoy restaurants in the O-machi and Nishiki-machi areas while still enjoying the vibe of the event.
A stamp rally will be held during the event, and guests finding stamps at each location will be eligible to win fantastic prizes. A bus service is also planned.
More performers and details will be announced soon, so stay tuned!
Tomakomai Mirai Fest 2022
Dates: September 17 and 18, 2022
Tomakomai Civic Hall, Large Hall (Admission Fee Required)
September 17 / Doors Open 16:30, Event Starts 17:30
Tomakomai Civic Hall, Parking Lot / Kirakira Park / O-machi, Nishiki-machi (Free Entry)
September 17: Open at 12:00
*May be earlier or later depending on the venue. Detailed event times will be announced at a later date.
Locations: Tomakomai Civic Hall, Large Hall / Parking Lot / Kirakira Park / Around Omachi, Nishikimachi
Ticket Agency: Ticket Pia
[1-day or 2-day Tickets Available]
Official 2nd Advance Ticket Lottery: July 28, 12:00 – August 7, 23:59
https://w.pia.jp/t/tomakomaimiraifest22/
Official Site: http://miraifest-tomakomai.jp/
Tomakomai Mirai Fest 2022 to be Held in September
29.June.2022 | FES / MUSIC
On September 17 and September 18, the Tomakomai Urban Renewal Project Committee will hold Tomakomai Mirai Fest 2022, inviting guests to celebrate the area around Tomakomai in Hokkaido.
The main venue of the event will be the Tomakomai Civic Hall. Musical acts announced so far include Awesome City Club, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, and Little Glee Monster.
In the Tomakomai Civic Hall parking lot and the nearby Kirakira Park, guests can enjoy free DJ performances, mini-concerts, art and technology installations, food trucks, picnic areas, and more. In addition, the Nishikimachi and Omachi areas will be decorated with digital art, and food and beverages will be available.
Advanced 2-Day tickets are available now on Ticket Pia by lottery. More performers and additional content will be announced soon, so keep an eye on social media and the official website.
Venue: Tomakomai Civic Hall, Large Hall
*More detailed event times and locations will be announced at a later date.
Tickets: https://w.pia.jp/t/tomakomaimiraifest22/
Hokkaido Information Base the Lodge to Open in 2023, Invites Guests to Learn More about the Area's Unique Attractions
Hokkaido Ballpark F Village, a commercial space coming in 2023 and located on the south side of ES CON Field Hokkaido, will feature a unique attraction. Visitors to Hokkaido won't want to miss checking out THE LODGE, an information center focusing on unique experiences and attractions that can only be found on Japan's northernmost island.
THE LODGE will be located in the center of F Village, connecting the ES CON Field to the waterfront area. Guests will be able to get valuable tips about local attractions and one-of-a-kind experiences.
In addition to a showroom where visitors can discover the charms of neighboring areas, the building will also serve as a tourism hub where tenants can enjoy outdoor activities and workshops. The location hopes to create a larger sense of community, and guests are encouraged to learn more about each unique and distinct area of Hokkaido.
Materials unique to Hokkaido (Hokkaido larch, local cedar wood, Ebetsu bricks) were used to create the space, and the roof was made to reflect the local mountain range. The creators are excited to welcome guests to this warm and inviting space next year!
Hokkaido Ballpark F Village Official Site: http://www.hkdballpark.com
NAKED's Popular Night Walk Returns to Illuminate Jozankei Onsen in Hokkaido
30.May.2022 | SPOT
# naked
The JOZANKEI NATURE LUMINARIE -WATER LIGHT VALLEY- event is coming back in 2022! The event, which shows off the natural beauty of Jozankei's rivers, valleys, and forests, from June to October. Guests can enjoy an illuminated walk along the Toyohira River in the Jozankei area of Hokkaido and wander across the picturesque Futami Suspension Bridge.
This year, the park area at the entrance to the event has been redesigned with new lights. A 2.5-meter-high blue dome will welcome guests with an image of water, and the trees and wisteria trellises will be decorated with twinkling golden lights.
Welcome Light Lake *Image from 2021
River Road
Forest Water Ripple
Nature Projection
Futami Valley
Visitors will encounter a variety of unique light art as they stroll through the rich nature of Jozankei guided by the elusive kappa, known to be the guardian Gods of the region. As visitors approach, the river begins to glow while flowers bloom in this interactive art experience. By using projection mapping across the Futami Suspension Bridge and an all-encompassing light show within the canyon, the event hopes to remind visitors that nature is important and worth preserving.
How would you like to spend your summer deep in the illuminated nature of Hokkaido?
JOZANKEI NATURE LUMINARIE – WATER LIGHT VALLEY
Address: Jozankei Futami Park – Futami Suspension Bridge
(Jozankei Onsen Nishi 4-chome, Minami-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido)
Running: June 1 – October 23, 2022
June – August: 19:00-21:00
September – October: 18:00-21:00
*Tickets available for guests of Jozankei Onsen only
Official Site: https://jozankei.jp/jozankei-nature-luminarie | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaCommonCrawl"
} |
Introducing Gap Filling for Time Series Data in MongoDB 5.3
Try MongoDB Atlas for Free Today
Jane Fine
April 6, 2022 | Updated: November 21, 2022
At MongoDB we are all about letting developers innovate with data. Time series is the fastest-growing data-intensive workload, and our native time series capabilities let you build applications faster and get more insight from time series data with less cognitive load.
It's common for time series data to have gaps, such as when an IoT sensor goes offline. But in order to perform analytics and ensure correct results, time series data needs to be continuous. You may also want to create histograms or correlate data sets to enable more complex operational analytics in the context of app development. Gap filling, now available in MongoDB 5.3 Rapid Release, in combination with the densification we introduced in MongoDB 5.1, helps you better handle missing data to easily create and surface valuable insight.
The two new aggregation stages create a simple, streamlined way to deal with missing data across time series and regular collections powering analytics for any use case. The $densify stage creates new documents to eliminate the gaps in the time or numeric domain at the required granularity level, and $fill sets values for the fields when a value is null or missing. Filling missing values can be done with a constant or using linear interpolation, carrying over the last observation or carrying backward the next observation.
Input documents: tracking of temperature, motion, and inventory in a storage room
This function produces an hourly view of the metrics for each storage room. When temperature data is missing it should be interpolated linearly, motion should default to 0, and quantity of inventory should be carried over from the last known point.
Output: The second document was generated based on the two surrounding documents.
Previously these types of complex analytics were possible only in specialized systems such as dedicated time series databases or data warehouses. Architecturally, technology practitioners had to make the no-win trade-off between a niche, often immature technology dedicated solely to time series workloads and disconnected from systems of record containing the full complement of enterprise data and exporting time series data into data warehouses, thereby making it hard to operationalize insights. Both involve managing multiple data silos and fragile ETL pipelines driving up complexity and cost. Workarounds to these approaches often involve developers building complex data pipelines to fill in the gaps, potentially at the application layer, leading to poor query performance or limiting analytics to small data sets. With MongoDB 5.3, developers can build rich analytics on time series data in flight and deliver operational insight to their users as part of the application experience.
MongoDB 5.3 is available now. If you are running Atlas Serverless instances or have opted in to receive Rapid Releases in your dedicated Atlas cluster, then your deployment will be automatically updated to 5.3 starting today. MongoDB 5.3 is also available as a Development Release for evaluation purposes only from the MongoDB Download Center. Consistent with the new release cadence announced last year, the functionality available in 5.3 and the subsequent Rapid Releases will roll up into MongoDB 6.0, our next Major Release scheduled for delivery later this year.
For a more in-depth explanation on gap filling for time series, check out our article on the MongoDB Developer Hub.
The development, release, and timing of any features or functionality described for our products remains at our sole discretion. This information is merely intended to outline our general product direction, and it should not be relied on in making a purchasing decision. Nor is this a commitment, promise, or legal obligation to deliver any material, code, or functionality.
QVentures and MongoDB Partner to Support the Next Generation of B2B SaaS Founders
No matter the industry, every startup begins with the same thing — an idea. The challenge is taking that idea and manifesting it into the real world with real world customers. To build a highly scalable and successful venture you need the right funding partner. Every startup needs investment, but what founders must understand is that what is truly paramount to their future success is finding the right funding partner who will be a value add, and not just a capital injection. VC's such as QVentures fit that mold of being a value addition to the success of a startup's journey. QVentures is a venture capital firm that provides direct investment opportunities and fund management to take companies from Seed to Series B. Together, MongoDB for Startups and QVentures offer prospective companies their best path forward towards becoming successful. MongoDB's Startup Partnership Manager Julian Busch spoke with QVentures' Head of Origination Alex Cochand and Managing Partner Robert Walsh to discuss their company and its partnership with MongoDB for Startups. What is your overall mission at QVentures? Alex Cochand: Our mission is really twofold. From our perspective, one of the major reasons that businesses fail is through a lack of funding. And really that's a discovery problem. Those companies struggle to find interested, active, and supportive investors that buy into their mission. And we support that discovery. Robert Walsh: The mission of QVentures is to work very closely with our investors, who are family offices and UHNWIs, and bring them together with entrepreneurs and founders of businesses between the levels of seed to series B. We very much focus on looking at tech companies for the next generation of investments. The family offices we work very closely with are often the first generation investing into venture capital and are able to pass on their experience to support founders in ways outside of capital. Do you have an investment thesis when investing in startups? Walsh: Our thesis is to invest into enterprise SaaS, marketplaces, B2B enterprise SaaS, and B2B consumer tech businesses that are highly scalable with next generational founders. What advice would you give founders when thinking about fundraising with a VC? Cochand: Start fundraising early. Everyone thinks that it's going to be a very quick process, you're going to meet the investor of your dreams, and you'll have cash in your bank within a couple of weeks. The reality is that no matter who you are and no matter how great your business is, it always takes longer than you want. There's always more process. There are always hiccups. And you need to make sure that you have more than enough runway to make it through to the end of your fundraise. Are you seeing trends or frequent mistakes that founders make when engaging QVentures? Cochand: Selling the product rather than the business. You sell individual functionalities of the thing that you're building because that's what you're doing day-to-day. Your eyes are directly on building out the product that you want to take out to the market. Instead, when you're speaking to investors, you need to be pitching the mission, the business, and what the opportunity for scale and growth is. Walsh: Being a founder is very difficult. Mistakes are something that I don't think is a fair statement. I would say, we do see trends. We see people who have ideas that might not be good businesses to invest in and who can become very frustrated with that. More importantly, we look for is industry leaders, who are looking to bring technology into new markets. What value do corporate partnerships, like with MongoDB for Startups, bring to the founders in your portfolio? Cochand: We see a huge amount of value in partnerships. It allows us to take the value-add that we offer to our startups to a completely new level. We're very good at the fundraising piece, and that's where we offer our value to the startups that we work with. Through partnering with companies like MongoDB and others, we're able to take that to the 10x. Walsh: What surprised me about our initial partnership, is that companies at various stages in their growth journey are engaging with MongoDB. We've seen multiple companies from our Pre-Seed Fund find great value in MongoDB's services, as well as our portfolio companies who are at later stages. This shows that there's a value in this technology. So focusing again on startup founders, building companies from scratch, finding value in the MongoDB platform, what role does data play in that space? Walsh: Data is a very important piece of the puzzle when you're evaluating a company, because there isn't that much real IP in the idea. It's how you track it, and it's quite frankly execution, and what can you do to learn off of that data. A founder who doesn't use data is a founder who might miss something. Cochand: If we look at where the biggest technological changes are coming from, where the real value is being driven at the moment, a lot of that is coming through technologies, particularly in the ML and AI space. And what drives those, and what enables you to differentiate, is through proprietary access to data. And that's where the real value is with that. If you can mine it in a way that it's accessible and usable, and store in a way that you can then easily access and run your models off of, you're always going to be a step ahead of your competition. Where do you see QVentures in 10 years or do you predict any macro changes in the VC landscape? Walsh: QVentures in 10 years will probably have several billion of assets under management. And I also see the venture capital industry here changing tremendously due to the macro themes that are following the US, such as pension funds will start entering into macro. If you think of the amount of long duration and high yielding assets, I see venture capital following the private equity move of the 90s. So if you look at the KKR and Apollo or anything like that you're going to see QVentures as part of that next wave. Cochand: Where we want to take QVentures in the next 10 years is becoming a hub for access to the venture capital and the tech community for predominantly family offices and ultra high net worths. No matter how they want to invest, no matter how they want to interact with startups, they can come through QVentures for that. If they want to come through a fund structure, if they want to invest directly into singular businesses, or if they want to look at things like venture debt or managed accounts, we have a product offering that we can pass out to them. Title of the document table, th, td { padding: 10px; border: 1px solid black; border-collapse: collapse; } Takeaways for Founders: Start fundraising early "Everyone thinks that there's going to be a very quick process. You're going to meet the investor of your dreams, and you'll have cash in your bank within a couple of weeks," Cochand said. "The reality is that no matter who you are and no matter how great your business is, it always takes longer than you want. There's always more process. There are always hiccups. And you just want to make sure that you have more than enough runway to make sure that you make it through to the end of your funding event." Do your own VC diligence prior to engaging Founders should always do their diligence prior to engaging VC's. Understand the investment thesis of a VC before reaching out. For example, as Robert stated, "Our thesis is to invest into enterprise SaaS, marketplaces, B2B enterprise SaaS, and B2B consumer tech businesses that are highly scalable with next generational founders." If you are a CPG startup, QVentures would not be a likely investment target for you to engage with. Do not waste your valuable time or the VC's by reaching out even when they do not invest in your space. When pitching VC's, don't sell your product, sell your business "Common mistakes that I see founders make when they come to fundraise is selling the product rather than the business," Cochand said. "You sell individual functionalities of the thing that you're building because that's what you're doing day to day. Your eyes are directly on building out the product that you want to take out to the market. Instead, when you're speaking to investors, you need to be pitching the mission, the business, and what the opportunity for scale and growth is." Title of the document table, th, td { padding: 10px; border: 1px solid black; border-collapse: collapse; } Takeaways for VC's: Build value add partnerships with corporations who can fill knowledge gaps in your team "We see a huge amount of value in partnerships. It allows us to take the value-add that we offer to our startups to a completely new level," Cochand said. "We're very good at the fundraising piece, and that's where we offer our value to the startups that we work with. Through partnering with companies like MongoDB and others, we're able to take that to the 10x." A prediction on the shifting VC Landscape: "I also see the venture capital industry here changing tremendously due to the macro themes that are following the US, such as pension funds will start entering into macro," Walsh said. "If you think of the amount of long duration and high yielding assets, I see venture capital following the private equity move of the 90s. So if you look at the KKR and Apollo or anything like that you're going to see QVentures as part of that next wave." When looking at potential investment opportunities, VC's should look for founders who understand and leverage data "Data is a very important piece of the puzzle when you're evaluating a company," Walsh said. "Because there isn't that much real IP in an idea. It's how you track it, and it's quite frankly execution, and what you do to learn off of that data. A founder who doesn't use data is a founder who might miss something." Don't be that founder not leveraging their data. Sign up for the MongoDB for Startups program today.
New Aggregation Pipeline Text Editor Debuts in MongoDB Compass
There's a reason why Compass is one of MongoDB's most-loved developer tools: because it provides an approachable and powerful visual user interface for interacting with data on MongoDB. As part of this, Compass's Aggregation Pipeline Builder abstracts away the finer points of MongoDB's Query API syntax and provides a guided experience for developing complex queries. But what about when you want less rather than more abstraction? That's where our new Aggregation Pipeline Text Editor comes in. Recently released on Compass, the Aggregation Pipeline Text Editor allows users to write free-form aggregations. While users could previously write and edit pipelines through a guided and structured builder organized by aggregation stage, a text-based builder can be preferable for some users. This new pipeline editor makes it easy for users to: See the entire pipeline without having to excessively scroll through the UI Stay "in the flow" when writing aggregations if they are already familiar with MongoDB's Query API syntax Copy and paste aggregations built elsewhere (like in MongoDB's VS Code Extension ) into Compass Use built-in syntax formatting to make pipeline text "pretty" before copying it over from Compass to other tools The Aggregation Pipeline Text Editor in Compass. Notice how toward the top right you can click on "stages" to move back to the traditional stage-based Aggregation Pipeline Builder. Ultimately, the addition of the Aggregation Pipeline Text Editor to Compass gives users more flexibility depending on how they want to build aggregations. For a more guided experience and to get result previews when adding each new stage, the existing Aggregation Pipeline Builder will work best for most users. But when writing free-form aggregations or copying and pasting aggregation text from other tools, the Aggregation Pipeline Text Editor may be preferable. It also previews the final pipeline output, rather than the stage-by-stage preview that exists today. Users will be able to access either both the traditional Aggregation Pipeline Builder and the new Pipeline Text Editor from directly within the Aggregations tab in Compass and can switch between the two views without losing their work. To get access to the new Aggregation Pipeline Text Editor, make sure to download the latest version of Compass here . And as always, we welcome your continued feedback on how to improve Compass. If you have ideas for how to improve your experience with Compass you can submit them on our UserVoice platform here . We'll have even more great features coming in Compass soon. Keep checking back on our blog for the latest news! | {
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Dodgers and Gonsolin agree to 2-year, $6.65 million contract
Home/NBA/Lakers don't call end of regulation, say foul is 'clear as day'
Lakers don't call end of regulation, say foul is 'clear as day'
LOS ANGELES — A no call to the Dallas Mavericks' Tim Hardaway JrThe defense of Troy Brown JrThe 3-point attempt by . at the end of regulation left LA in a bad mood Thursday night at the eventual Lakers. 119-115 double overtime loss to the Mavs.
The Lakers rallied from a 19-point deficit in the first quarter to tie it in the fourth when lebron james found Brown on the right wing for a potential game-winning 3 at the buzzer. Hardaway took the shot and made contact with Brown's hand and the ball at the point of release, sending the shot well short of the basket.
James and Brown immediately expressed their frustration with the outcome of the play to referee Suyah Mehta, who was the referee closest to the action.
Crew chief Josh Tiven, speaking to a reporter from the pool after the game, defended the no call.
"Hardaway Jr. gets a piece of the ball on the close and then makes high-five contact, which is legal and that play was not properly called," Tiven said.
Brown was asked about the no-call in the locker room after the game and offered a diplomatic response.
"It is what it is," Brown said. "That's not my job to referee, and I'm not going to sit here and decide who should have done what."
When a reporter followed up to brief Brown on Tiven's explanation, James, sitting in front of his locker across the room, chimed in from 20 feet away.
"No, it's a fucking foul," James said forcefully for everyone in the room to hear. "It's a foul. Whatever happens [Brown] he says, it's a fucking fault. This is egregious, and they should have said so."
Fifteen minutes later, in his postgame press conference in the hallway, James was more reserved in his response. When asked if he disagreed with the umpires' decision, he simply said, "Obviously."
Lakers coach Darvin Ham also disagreed with the referees' assessment of the play.
"I'm not one to blame the referees, and I'm not going to start now. But it clearly looked like it was a foul," Ham said. "Maybe I could be wrong. But we were still looking at it after the game, and it looked like a foul on his follow-up."
LA was outscored 18-14 in the two overtime sessions, shooting a combined 5-for-17 from the field.
James finished with 24 points, 16 rebounds, nine assists and two steals in 47 minutes, but shot 9-for-28 overall and 0-for-7 from 3-point range, including 0-for-4 in overtime. .
The Lakers were not the only ones who had problems with the trade. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban tweeted during the game, agreeing with TNT analyst Stan Van Gundy that Luka Doncic I wasn't getting enough calls.
Stan van Gundy is absolutely right. The worst refereed match. Luka has no respect. unreal
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) January 13, 2023
Doncic finished with 35 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists, but was fouled five times and attempted just seven free throws.
"I didn't see it, I don't have Twitter," Doncic said with a wry smile when asked about Cuban's tweet.
When asked again about the tweet, Doncic Euro took the question a step further.
"I have no comment on that," he said. "I don't want to be fined."
ESPN's Tim MacMahon contributed to this report.
#Lakers #dont #call #regulation #foul #clear #day
call clear day Dont foul Lakers regulation
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James Harden dominates again, Sixers fall to 0-2 in loss to Bucks | {
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Dances with the Dragons – First Impressions
On April 24, 2018 April 22, 2018 By AstralGeminiIn Spring 2018
Dances with the Dragons (not to be mistaken for A Dance with Dragons, that's Game of Thrones stuff… still a great book though) is a light novel series written by Labo Asai. With the Anime adaptation this spring, i've seen a bit of controversy going around, mainly due to the original novel's penchant for dark and gruesome content, and people wondering how much of it will get translated over into the Anime. I can gladly, and honestly say… quite a bit, actually.
While I haven't read the LN series, the first few episodes of the anime have made me think that I kind of want to. With an interesting world setup and a pair of fun and intriguing leads to play with, the story is off to a great start. Combine that with the very dark setting and the awesome action scenes we get only a minute into the show, and you've got a very promising recipe.
The show looks great, with vibrant colors and smooth animation. The soundtrack is pretty good, but mostly remains in the background. As far as I can tell about the story, there are creatures like Dragons and stuff that constantly attack humanity. Practitioners of an art called Jushiki fight against these creatures to allow humans to survive and thrive in the world, and get paid bounties for their work. Gaius and Gigina are Jushikiists, as well as the main characters.
Smooth operator here
One of the things that really stood out was the dynamic between the two leads. With each of them playing off each other quite well, they were interesting to watch, and with the great fantasy setting in the mix, this seems like a show that can far surpass Grancrest from last season. Only one way to find out, though.
I'll let this one stick on my watchlist for a while, and I might even try to snag the LN if I can find it anywhere. My interest is piqued, and I want to know what happens next. Has anyone else picked up this show this season? If so, what are your thoughts on it, and are you going to stick around for more?
AnimeDances with the DragonsDark FantasyFirst ImpressionReviewSeasonal AnimeSpring 2018
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Love To-LIE-Angle – First Impressions
5 thoughts on "Dances with the Dragons – First Impressions"
This one I dropped during the second episode. While there were some interesting ideas, I found the anime dumped way too much exposition in these early episodes and I wasn't getting into the series at all.
I haven't managed to get to the second episode yet, still playing catch-up with the rest of the season. But if they're still dropping exposition in episode 2 or even 3 i might drop it
I think it's also a common problem with Anime that get adapted from Light Novels. They feel they have to explain the whole world with words, instead of letting the visual medium of Anime take over a lot of that storytelling. It's probably difficult because of the complex settings of so many Light Novels, but as Made in Abyss showed us, there's a better way to deliver information than just expositional dump in the first episode or two
magicconan14
It started out fairly well, but I ended up zoning out at the start of the 2nd episode so it had to go. I also kept comparing it to Concrete Revolutio for some reason, even though the two aren't very similar…
Pingback: My Reasons Why – The Animanga Spellbook | {
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The Advocate taps Wilkins to cover West Baton Rouge
Posted by Mariam Ahmed
Terell Wilkins
Terell Wilkins has joined The Advocate to cover happenings in West Baton Rouge and Louisiana State University. Previously, he was a news reporter, and has occasionally covered sports for The Spectrum and Desert Valley Times in St. George, Utah and Mesquite, Nevada for Gannett | USA Today Network.
He was also a sports correspondent at The News & Observer and was also a track and field beat writer at The State Press, ASU Student Media.
Wilkins has a B.A. in mass communication/media studies from Arizona State University.
Job changes, The Advocate, USA Today
Talking Biz News Today – Jan. 27, 2023 | {
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Encinitas events this week (Aug. 2)
Aug. 2, 2018 8 AM PT
For more information and a complete list of events, visit the city's newsletter at https://bit.ly/2Ap6iF.
Taste of Encinitas
The Encinitas 101 MainStreet Association recently announced that tickets are on sale for the 30th Annual Taste of Encinitas. This year's event will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 7 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. along Coast Hwy 101 in downtown Encinitas. With the purchase of a $45 ticket, participants will be able to enjoy tastes from a number of local restaurants, sample wine and beer at Sip Stops, and enjoy a variety of live music. Tickets can be purchased online at visitencinitas.org and at the Encinitas 101 office located at 818 S. Coast Hwy 101.
Summer Concerts By the Sea: New Leaf
This summer, Encinitas Parks and Recreation brings more fun to the beach concert experience on Aug. 5 from 3 to 5 p.m. at Moonlight Beach, 400 B Street. Hear the greatest Reggae hits, past and present. Concerts are held right on the sand at beautiful Moonlight Beach. Bring blankets and beach chairs. No dogs, glass or alcohol. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2Ox4i0j.
Jefferson Jay Band concert
The Jefferson Jay Band will play in the Encinitas Library Community Room, 540 Cornish Drive, on Aug. 5 from 2 to 3 p.m. For more information, visit www.encinitaslibfriends.org.
Book sale at Encinitas Library
Encinitas Friends of the Library Bookstore holds a book sale Saturday, Aug. 4. Most books will be priced from 25 cents to $1, with CDs for 25 cents and DVDs typically $1. Books range from current fiction, children's selections, biography, self-help and spirituality to health, history, travel and science. The sale is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the general public and opens at 9 a.m. for members at the library, 540 Cornish Drive. Community members can join the Friends group at the door. Visit www.encinitaslibfriends.org.
Book sale at Cardiff Library
Join The Friends of the Cardiff- by-the-Sea Library on Saturday, Aug. 4, from 9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. to a $3 per bag or $.25 per book sale, the bag is provided. Held in the community room. A drawing entry for a Kindle with every $3 a bag purchase. Your memberships and purchases help support the Cardiff Library with books, programs and scholarships that benefit the community.
Free admission to active duty, National Guard and Reserve members of the U.S. military and their families (card carrier plus 5 immediate family members) is available daily through Labor Day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the San Diego Botanic Garden, 230 Quail Gardens Drive. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2uZIQsL.
All Fired Up: Wheel Throwing
Learn the essentials of creating functional ceramics on a potter's wheel on Fridays from Aug. 3 to Sept. 14 from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Lux Art Institute, 1550 South El Camino Real. Whether you are new to ceramics or a professional artist looking to further your practice, visiting artist Ryan Gray will take an individualized approach to teaching all aspects of wheel throwing including form making, trimming, altering, assembling, and glazing. Studio time is included. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2LIuIP1.
Ovation Theatre: 'Crazy for You'
Featuring original Broadway choreography, Ovation Theatre will showcase the best singers and dancers North County has to offer in this zany rich-boy-meets-hometown-girl romantic comedy on Aug. 3 and 4 at 7 p.m. and on Aug. 5 at 2 p.m. at Brubeck Theater, 1140 West Mission Road in San Marcos. "Crazy For You" tells the story of young New York banker, Bobby Child, who is sent to foreclose on a rundown theatre. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2M3bnEd.
Surrealist Collage with Ellen Speert
Inspired by the work of Seen Frost, surrealist collage blends the intuitive choice of images with the careful construction of personal cards. This full-day intensive on Aug. 4 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Center for Creative Renewal, 1905 Crest Drive, is for those who have taken a Surrealist Collage or SoulCollage workshop in the past. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2Ox7mtl.
Green Living Tour
See sustainability in action as you explore worm bins, greywater systems, innovative compost projects, tool lending library, water-wise garden, and more on Aug. 4 from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Solana Center, 137 North El Camino Real. You'll leave one step further on your journey to living a sustainable lifestyle. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2LE7eu9.
Healing Arts Class
For those recovering from brain injuries and/or neurological challenges, enjoy self-expression through art, increase skills, improve eye/hand coordination and enjoy the warmth and support of a facilitator, Denise McMurtrie, on Aug. 4 at 11 a.m. in Scripps Hospital's Brain Injury Treatment Room, 354 Santa Fe Drive. Supplies provided. For more information, email schwarb.andrea@scrippshealth.org.
Families Make History
Join artist and musician Cici Artemisia every Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. for arts, crafts and a sing-along at the Heritage Ranch, 450 Quail Gardens Drive. These fun make-and-take projects will inspire creativity in you and your family. For more details, visit https://bit.ly/2KaEio8.
Concert: Kasondra Kazanjian
The gifted soloist will perform famous arias from operas ranging from La Boheme to Le Nozze di Figaro to La Rondine on Aug. 4 at 5 p.m. at the Encinitas Library, 540 Cornish Drive. She will also mix in jazz tunes, a Spanish song cycle with guitar and Armenian folk songs. Proceeds benefit Institute Edeline in Haiti. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2v4qg2r.
Tracks & Scat! Family Fun Day
Who's been on the trail? Animals leave behind all kinds of clues. Learn about animal tracks through hands-on fun, craft making, tours and discovery stations on Aug. 5 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the San Elijo Lagoon Nature Center, 2710 Manchester Avenue. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2M70BNl.
Bollywood dancing
A fusion of Indian and Western dance styles every Sunday in August from 4 to 5 p.m. at the Performing Arts Workshop, 1465 Encinitas Boulevard. The session will also provide a cardio workout. All levels are welcome. Bollywood Steps is an established Indian dance company with locations all over San Diego County with instructor Payal Nanavati. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2mVRjc2.
Now showing: The King, RBG, The Karate Kid and Rocky Horror Picture Show. 471 Coast Highway 101. For tickets and showtimes, visit https://bit.ly/2KjUEek.
Artists' reception at Off Track Gallery
The public is invited to an artists' reception at the Off Track Gallery Saturday, Aug. 11, from 4-7 p.m. featuring a cash award ceremony to Encinitas Friends of the Arts and also to three promising MiraCosta College Students — Rachel Greenstein, Priscilla Rivera, and Jonathan Broberg. Refreshments will be served at the reception. All artwork in the Gallery will be 10 percent off the entire day from 10 a.m. to closing. This event is free and open to the public.
The Off Track Gallery is owned and operated by the San Dieguito Art Guild, a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization made up of over 200 talented local artists. Off Track Gallery, 937 South Coast Highway 101, Suite C-103, Encinitas, 760-942-3636, pr@sandieguitoartguild.com, OffTrackGallery.com.
Mobile blood drive
Magdalena Ecke Family YMCA will host a mobile blood drive Aug. 11 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 200 Saxony Road. Donors must be at least 17 years old (or 16 with parental consent), 114 pounds and in good health. It is recommended that donors consume an adequate meal and plenty of fluids prior to giving. A photo identification must be presented upon signing up to donate. Donors are encouraged to schedule an appointment for their convenience but walk-ins are also welcome. To schedule an appointment, please call 1-800-4MY-SDBB (1-800-469-7322) or visit www.SanDiegoBloodBank.org.
Great music, chili and more at Race Track
The Del Mar Race Track's summer season is now in full swing! This week features a free performance by innovative reggae musician Matisyahu on Friday, Aug. 3, unlimited samples of award-winning chili during the Chili Challenge on Saturday, Aug. 4 and a Sunday dedicated to luxury during Ladies and Gents Day on Aug. 5. Guests can also participate some family fun during Del Mar's weekly Family Saturdays and enjoy foodie favorites with food and drink specials during the week, including Brigantine Wednesdays, Happy Hour Fridays and Taste of the Turf Club.
Racing at Del Mar happens Wednesday through Sunday with the exception of Closing Day on Labor Day Monday (9/3). First post is at 2 p.m. daily. First post on Fridays is at 4 p.m., with the exceptions of August 24 and 31 when first post is 3:30 p.m. For more information, call 858-755-1141 or visit www.delmarracing.com. You can follow Del Mar on Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat at @DelMarRacing or like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/DelMarRaces.
Encinitas and North Coast Democratic Club
The Encinitas and North Coast Democratic Club will meet on Saturday, Aug. 4, from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Dove Library, Gowland Room, in Carlsbad. Howard Wayne, co-chair and founding board member of the San Diego Lawyer Chapter of the American Constitution Society, will speak on " How Trump is Weaponizing the Courts with Judicial Picks that will Harm America for the Next 40 Years." There will also be a raffle and refreshments served. For more information, visit www.encdc.org.
Reading of 'An Ideal Husband' at NC Rep
The Oscar Wilde Society @NorthCoastRep will present a free reading of "An Ideal Husband" Sunday, Aug. 12 at 7:30 p.m. According to the North Coast Rep website, the Oscar Wilde Society @NorthCoastRep is being established as an auxiliary group for the LBGT supporters of North Coast Rep. To launch the Society, North Coast Rep will present "An Ideal Husband" by Oscar Wilde, directed by Richard Baird, featuring some of San Diego's top actors. Written in 1895, this comic play revolves around blackmail and political corruption and touches on public and private honor. Wilde was a leader in the effort to make plays accessible to the public. There will be a light social event after the reading. Suggested donation $25 to establish The Oscar Wilde Society. Visit northcoastrep.org
Mission Bay High School Class of '78 40th reunion
The Mission Bay High School Class of 1978 is planning its 40th reunion to be held on Saturday, Aug. 25, at Mission Bay Yacht Club from 6 p.m.-10 p.m. Come join your classmates while overlooking the bay at the MBYC. Enjoy dinner, drinks, a photo booth and DJ with our very own Drew Miller. Find more details and tickets at mbhs1978.com/details.html
Art in the Village
Held on the second Sunday every August, the Carlsbad Village Association's Art in the Village will return Aug. 12 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., bringing 110 local and regional fine artists for a one-day, open-air art show. Address: 2907 State St., Carlsbad. More details at carlsbad-village.com/art.
ArtWalk @ Liberty Station
The 13th Annual Fine Arts Festival, ArtWalk @ Liberty Station will return to Ingram Plaza on Saturday, Aug. 11 and Sunday, Aug. 12 in the Arts District at Liberty Station. The free event's 2018 theme "Connecting Creative Communities" embodies ArtWalk's mission to bring San Diego together to enjoy art and cultural expression all weekend long. In addition to thousands of works of art, attendees can also expect food, wine and beer, live entertainment and interactive art projects. Visit www.artwalksandiego.org/libertystation.
North Coast Women's Connection Luncheon
North Coast Women's Connection Harvest Hoedown Luncheon will be held Sept. 11. The North Coast Women's Connection (NCWC) Harvest Hoedown will feature internationally-known watercolorist Chuck McPherson. John Reed, retired police officer, will speak on "The Stages of Life." Event will be held at Lomas Santa Fe Country Club, 1505 Loma Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach from 11 a.m.– 1 p.m. Doors open at 10:30 a.m. Please make reservations no later than Sept. 1. The luncheon is $25 per person. Walk-ins are Welcome at $30 per person.
To make reservations, send a check payable to NCWC. If you are bringing a guest(s), please provide their name(s). Mail your reservation payment to: Dorothy Cuchna, 654 East Circle Drive, Solana Beach, CA 92075. Please address any questions to: minscott11@gmail.com | {
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Rubio: Many Questions, Scant Justice From Obama White House One Year After
Many Questions, Scant Justice From Obama White House One Year After Benghazi Attacks
By Senator Marco Rubio
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/09/11/many-questions-scant-justice-from-obama-white-house-one-year-after-benghazi/#ixzz2eZwfyalT
One year ago today, on September 11, 2012, we were reminded that despite our successes in the war on terror, Al Qaeda and its affiliates continue to threaten the United States and our personnel and facilities around the world.
We remember the lives and service of the four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, who were slain in Benghazi, Libya while trying to help bring peace and stability to a country going through a difficult transition.
We pray for their families who still mourn the loss of their loved ones.
Unfortunately, a year later many questions remain about this tragedy.
Just last month, Secretary of State John Kerry absolved the four State Department employees, who had previously been removed from their jobs, of any responsibility for the security failures that put Ambassador Stevens and his colleagues at risk.
This raises questions about the work of the Accountability Review Board and also means that no one at the State Department has been held accountable.
Keep reading here. | {
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Nuggets Archive
History Nuggets
James Husband
Lituya Bay, 1958
The rumbling shook the sleeping boy's father from his fading half-sleep on the berth of their single-masted sailing boat. Bolting up and looking out the window, his eyes widened as he saw the still waters of the Alaskan inlet churn and rise into a monstrous, debris-strewn wave, easily fifty feet in height and heading straight toward their tiny craft. The father tossed a life preserver at the groggy boy and said, "Son, start praying."
The Emu War
After the 1918 armistice ended the fighting of World War I, the Australian government instituted a program to buy and provide farming land for its returning soldiers, in order to reintroduce them back into civilian life. In Western Australia, the government established 48 farming estates totaling almost 90,000 hectares, a little over 200,000 acres, in an area northeast of Perth, in the southwestern corner of the nation. Years later, the Great Depression of 1929 hit the area particularly hard, and when the land was invaded by a relentless and destructive pest, the Minister of Defense in Perth dispatched a machine gun crew, with less than stellar results.
The 19th Century
Jakob Walter's March Home
By 1812, Jakob Walter, although only 24 years of age, had already served in two campaigns as a foot soldier for the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Jakob and many other conscripts in the Grande Armée were ordered to undertake the famously ill-fated march on Moscow, after which the devastated remnants of Napoleon's fighting force were left to return to their homes on their own power. Jakob's meticulous diary tells a tale of survival and perseverance during this nightmarish march against staggering odds.
The Secret Surveyor of Tibet
By the early 1860s, the British and Russian Empires simultaneously attempted to spread their influence into Tibet, a region which was at the time still tenuously under the control of the fading Qing Empire in China. Tibetan leadership, in an attempt to forestall culture erosion and retain its connections with the Chinese, closed its borders to Europeans of all sorts on penalty of death. Captain Thomas G. Montgomerie of the Royal Engineers, tasked with the exploration and mapping of Tibet, developed a plan to use trained natives to surreptitiously take the measurements for which British agents, regardless of their talent or preparation, would be much more vulnerable to discovery. After being asked for recommendations of loyal and talented locals who could be taught techniques in infiltration and surveying, British Education Officer Edmund Smyth suggested to Montgomerie a 33-year-old local schoolteacher named Nain Singh.
Run For Your Life, John Colter
Aware that they were essentially invading and poaching on enemy land, Corps of Discovery veterans John Colter and John Potts remained hidden during the day in order to escape detection, setting their traps at night and gathering up their proceeds as the following dawn broke. One morning, as the two men canoes up the Jefferson River, they heard a commotion above the elevated riverbank to the east. Colter claimed that the noise was caused by Indians, but Potts insisted it was just buffalo, so they persisted up the river, whereupon they came face-to-face with a party of approximately 800 Blackfoot.
George Palmer Ransom, American Patriot
On January 3, 1762, Samuel and Esther Ransom of Canaan, Connecticut, had a son, and they named him after Samuel's best friend and neighbor, George Palmer. In 1773, the family—both parents and eight children, including 11-year-old George—emigrated as part of a widespread migration of Connecticut settlers to what is now northeastern Pennsylvania, settling near the town of Wilkes-Barre in Wyoming Valley. In September 15, 1776, 14-year-old George enlisted with his father and brother-in-law into the 2nd Westmoreland (Wyoming) Independent Company to fight in the American Revolution. His first position there was to bury the dead.
Tagged: Biography, Pennsylvania, The United States
The Cannoneer's Wife
During the American Revolution, a barber from Carlisle, Pennsylvania named John Hays joined the Patriot forces, becoming an artilleryman in Captain Francis Proctor's company of the Pennsylvania Artillery. His wife, Mary Ludwig Hays, accompanied him on the campaign with George Washington's Revolutionary Army, as did many military wives of the day. Mary, a 22-year-old daughter of German immigrants, soon became known as an illiterate, hard-drinking, tobacco-chewing woman who could curse with the best of the soldiers, and was popularly called Molly by the men. During the winter of 1777-1778, she stayed in the women's camp with Washington's army in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania after British forces had captured Philadelphia earlier that year.
Tagged: The United States, New Jersey, Women
On July 1, 1776, the Second Continental Congress fell one vote short of a unanimous decision to declare their independence. The motion to split from Great Britain was contingent on winning the vote of the tiny, coastal state Delaware to the south; if it voted in the affirmative, then the Congress would be able to formally adopt the Declaration of Independence and assert itself as an independent nation. Independence was tantamount to treason in the eyes of the British, so any delegate backing the motion placed himself at considerable risk.
Tagged: Delaware, The United States, The US Constitution | {
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Thanewala Gumbad, New Delhi
While reading about Delhi's monuments & heritage structures, I often come across details about structures taken over by the city's population, often demolished, at times occupied in its original state & at times renovated & turned into living quarters/shops/hospitals by changing the way the structure looked. The Red Fort was occupied by the British Army after the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny/War of Independence & several structures within the complex were razed to ground to make way for their barracks. But that was in 1857, & except for the Red Fort (refer Pixelated Memories - Red Fort), I myself never saw any structure razed/renovated. Until a few days ago that is. Some days ago, I visited the Thanewala Gumbad in South Delhi. The condition of the structure made me realize that this is what happens when the ever progressive tide of urbanization comes face to face with a structure struck somewhere in the medieval ages.
Thanewala Gumbad - First impressions
Taken over on all sides by residential areas & shops, the structure lies surrounded by the spirit of commercialization in the middle of Shahpur Jat. A suburban village, Shahpur Jat, has suddenly found its way into the books of city's nouveau rich – once a village home to Jats (an ethnic group more common to nearby Haryana), today the new lifestyle hub boasts of designer boutiques & shops selling everything from expensive collectibles, clothes, & furniture. & of course, there was also a Bikanerwala close to the gumbad (I have observed that you can find a Bikanerwala in almost every neighborhood in Delhi. They specialize mostly in sweets, but you can gobble up their pakoras (deep-fried bread filled with potatoes & cottage cheese, coated in a layer of corn flour & again deep fried) with a bottle of coke if you feel hungry after running around the numerous heritage structures that Delhi boasts of. The food is hygienic too!!). The Thanewala Gumbad today survives in the form of a large, domed chamber with its back against the shorter side of the large rectangular courtyard that encloses it.
"Aerial View"
The walls of the gumbad slightly slope towards the outside & are exceedingly unadorned. Nobody knows who built the structure, though it is accepted that the architecture is reminiscent of construction undertaken during the reign of the Khilji Dynasty (ruled 1290-1320 AD). The gumbad lacks ornamentation of any sort, a characteristic of Khilji & later Tughlaq-era buildings – both its interiors & exteriors are thread bare & the only concession to its simplicity are niches that line the bottom of the dome on the inside & the recessed, arched corners. Outside, the dome rests on an octagonal base (drum) decorated with a line of kanguras (battlement-like ornamentation work). The mihrab (the wall inside a mosque indicating the direction of Mecca, faced by Muslims while praying) is very simple, consisting of three arched recesses, the central one slightly larger than the ones flanking it.
Too simple!!
The side opposite the mihrab has three arched entrances, while the other two sides have two small arched entrances each & a blocked arched recess in the place of the central entrance. A small arched window is provided high in the centre of each side to let in sunlight. The courtyard also bears indications that there were several other structures within the complex. Only the foundations remain of what must once have been pillars on either side of the existing domed chamber, indicating the presence of cloisters. It is now accepted that the gumbad was once a mosque. A gumbad is basically a tall, domed chamber with solid walls. Cloistered chambers on either side of the said "gumbad" would fit very well with the mosque theory. Also there is no grave inside the chamber which is further proof that this is not a tomb (as most gumbads are). I don't understand why isn't it referred to as a mosque instead of a gumbad if that might be the case. Perhaps some later historian bungled up when compiling a list of structures in Delhi.
Cloister remains to the left of the central chamber
The courtyard also shows signs of arched recesses along one of the longer sides. Perhaps these alcoves were used for lightning earthen lamps, though these appear pretty large. I am tempted to believe that these were part of rooms for the priests of the mosque, or perhaps there once existed a small Islamic seminary. If that would have been the case, the mosque might have been very similar to the Khair-ul-Manazil Mosque in another part of Delhi, but in a similar run-down condition (refer Pixelated Memories - Khair-ul-Manazil Mosque). The courtyard itself was filled with all sorts of rubbish & even construction material the day I visited the gumbad/mosque. A large family picnicked in the courtyard, complete with food & even a hookah!! A washer man dried clothes nearby. Thorny bushes grew around garbage heaps. More than the interior, it is the exterior of the enclosing walls that is in dire need of protection. Along the shorter sides of the courtyard ran parallel streets. A small slum house made with bricks & corrugated iron sheets (next to the main road flanking the gumbad towards its back) used the wall as one of its sides. Towards one of the larger sides, an alley lead to a cluster of houses & showrooms. It was one of these houses that I climbed on to get an "aerial" view of the gumbad/mosque & its surroundings. The walls of these houses maintained their distance from the gumbad's enclosure, though it seemed almost hopeless, given that Shahpur Jat is a hotchpotch of buildings jutting out of nowhere & giving way only to narrow streets & almost none vegetation. Not wishing to spare any space available in this urban jungle, a buzzing generator set sat next to the courtyard wall in this alley.
Eating into the structure - A shanty & a row of houses alongside the boundary wall
Buildings on the other side were even worse, literally fusing together with the enclosure walls. One had to walk past those buildings into a side street (this one has the Bikanerwala!!) & then make a detour to reach the entrance of the gumbad/mosque. It is a pretty precarious situation that the gumbad/mosque finds itself in, surrounded by all these houses & shops, whatever happened to the Monument Notification Act (1958) that bans construction within 100 metres of a protected monument?? Perhaps the gumbad/mosque isn't a protected monument, I did not see the characteristic blue board that Archaeological Survey of India (A.S.I.) places near protected monuments. The only worthwhile thing here was that more than encroachments, the place was taken over by kids running around, playing tag here. Many of them clambered around me in a bid to get photographed along with the ruins. They jumped within the gumbad & around it too, unmindful of the pillar stubs sticking out in an ordered progression. The huge chamber boomed with their laughter & echoed back their shouts.
These cloisters exist on the right side of the structure. Visible in the background are the remains of Siri Fort wall
I would rather suggest that this surrounding courtyard be converted to a small park, similar to the park across the parking lot across the road that boasts of bastions & walls of the Siri Fort (another fortress city within Delhi, subject of another post). A gardener could be assigned here, at least this way the place would not give way to encroachments & hawkers, & even the kids would find a new spot within the congested city to run around. But then, is anyone listening??
Location: Shahpur Jat village
Nearest Metro Station: Green Park Station
How to Reach: From Green Park Metro Station, take a bus for Shahpur Jat village. Opposite the bus stop is a large park, beyond which lies a parking lot. Walk through the park & the parking lot & you will spot the dome of Thanewala Gumbad rising in the midst of shops. Navigate to find the entrance.
Entrance Fee: Nil
Time required for sightseeing: About 30 min
Relevant Links -
Pixelated Memories - Khair-ul-Manazil Mosque
Pixelated Memories - Red Fort
Posted by Pixelated Memories at 4:41 pm 6 comments:
Labels: Cloisters, Designer Showrooms, Green Park, Gumbad, Kanguras, Mihrab, New Delhi, Pixelated Memories, Sahil Ahuja, Shahpur Jat, Shops, Siri Fort, Slum, Thanewala Gumbad
Unmarked Ruins, Mehrauli, New Delhi
In a city as old as time itself, it isn't very difficult to come across remains of a world struck in a different time frame, one that is several centuries, if not millennia, behind. Delhi – "a city of cities" – was destroyed 7 times in the near medieval history & each time it was rebuilt, rising up like a phoenix from its own ashes. It has been claimed that Delhi is the city of djinns – the djinns do not like to see their city destroyed & therefore ensure that the city is revitalized after each bout of destruction. Yet unlike other places across the globe, Delhi never totally evolved into a modern mega-habitat, instead it lives on with its past – at times nurturing it to claim large swathes of land as well as popular perception. In almost every corner of the city one notices relics of the past – cultures practised as they were in the ancient past, trade taking place as it would have occurred in the court of some maharaja or sultan, & most importantly the ruins that seem to grow out of anywhere & everywhere in the city. While some parts of the city mutate into glass & cement megaliths, several still retain their medieval look & character.
This is what I spotted..
However the concept of a "City of cities" needs a bit of explanation here – as a new fortress was built by a new dynasty/ruler, the older fortress was abandoned but the city around it continued to live on. The court & the whos-who shifted with the ruler to his new abode, but the traders, merchants, artisans & craftsmen, peasants etc stayed back. The new city was referred to as "Delhi", while the older ones came to be known as "Old Delhi" (till the British formalized this system to name their Indian capital "New Delhi"). This way several separate fortress-citadel complexes continued to mushroom side by side, & today we have seven major citadels (Lal Kot, Siri, Tughlaqabad-Adilabad, Kotla Feroz Shah, Dinpanah, Shahjanabad, New Delhi) & a small capital (Kilokheri) still in existence. These constitute Delhi's history starting from somewhere even before 1000 BC when it was still ruled by Rajput Hindus, & the last is still the seat of power of Indian democracy.
Told ya, these ruins come out of nowhere!!
The oldest of these settlements – the Lal Kot in modern-day Mehrauli – was the bastion of Tomar Rajputs who ruled from the fertile plains of Punjab to the arid regions of Rajasthan & Central India. Prithviraj Chauhan aka Rai Pithor, the hero celebrated in bard songs & popular lore, expanded Lal Kot to a mega-citadel & renamed it as Qila Rai Pithor ("Rai Pithor's Fortress"). Soon afterwards, in AD 1192 India was invaded by the Islamic armies of Muizuddin Muhammad bin Sam aka Muhammad Ghuri. Several generations down the line, Mehrauli was abandoned & Siri became the capital of "New" Delhi. Mehrauli was relegated to the status of "Old" Delhi, even though the city was abandoned, people from all streams of life kept settling in Mehrauli. Its abandonment did not stamp out its existence, it only lost its status of being the royal fortress. Till as late as late 19th century, Mehrauli buzzed with life – its inhabitants included not only peasants & merchants, but also courtiers, princes & army generals. The later Mughal rulers established their palaces & pleasure gardens & built their tombs in Mehrauli.
Blossoming amidst ignorance
It was the war of 1857 that changed it all – the Indian sepoys in service of the British East India Company clashed with their superiors, great bloodshed accompanied by loss of life & livelihood on both sides followed. The British ran down the country, Delhi was laid to waste – after about a thousand years of its existence, Mehrauli was finally abandoned!! The palaces were ruined, the gardens destroyed, tombs & mosques were brought down &/or taken over. People stopped settling in Mehrauli, residents left out in droves – the first city of Delhi soon turned into a graveyard of ruins, a mish-mash of temples, tombs & step-wells.
The Qibla Wall
It is no wonder that even though Mehrauli was abandoned 150 years back, it soon started repopulating after the British departed from the country & the heart-curdling partition of India to carve out Pakistan & Bangladesh brought in a new wave of refugees from the other side of the border. As Mehrauli grew again with the rest of Delhi, it still retained its ruins in its bosom, often hiding them behind thick vegetation, at times covering them over & over with a blanket of earth. Across the service lane that connects the precariously constructed tomb of Azim Khan (Refer Pixelated Memories - Azim Khan's Tomb) to the Gurgaon-Badarpur highway, exist several ruins that are yet to be excavated. There is perhaps no record of these ruins in Government documents, they are exposed eternally to the wrath of nature & the (at times greedy, at times needy) encroachment of man. The ruins make their presence known by appearing before seekers just like Delhi's resident djinns – I noticed them as I departed from Azim Khan's Tomb. Across a wire fence that itself was torn & discontinuous, rose a pillar that resembled a Kos Minar to some extent. The Kos Minar were milestones – tall conical structures topped by a roundish knob, some even 30 metres high – placed by the emperor Sher Shah Suri across the Grand Trunk Road that he built to connect Bengal to Peshawar (Pakistan). Around the pillar existed wall portions & chambers – broken, run-down & desolate.
What fruit is this??
As I wandered into what looked like a dense forest in the middle of Delhi, I could clearly make out a Qibla wall that stretched from this pillar. A Qibla wall is an open structure, sort of like a wall existing independently, that indicates the direction of Mecca (West for Indians). The Muslims face the Qibla wall while offering their prayers. Thick trees rose like giants around the short wall & spread their arms to block out the sky, creepers hung down the branches to curtain the ruins, thorny bushes jutted out of the ground making passage extremely difficult. With birds, butterflies & huge mosquitoes for company I progressed to take in the entire scene – the Qibla wall & the said pillar, a few graves resting on the ground & a whole lot of vegetation hiding the rest of the view. Despite having stood ignored for centuries, the Qibla wall looked beautiful – its decorative indentations & alcoves preserved unnaturally. It must be centuries old, its architecture & ornamentation was simplistic (reminiscent of late-Tughlaq - early-Mughal architecture, but I am not qualified to date it) – a huge tree almost a 100 year old rose near its centre. The graves however were in a bad condition – their history forgotten, portions crumbling & tall grass growing out of them – they presented a sorry state of affairs.
In a "grave" situation
A strange, in fact dreadful, howling woke me out of my photography bout. The source of the sound seemed so near, yet it was not visible. Was it a djinn warning me to return to the modern world?? Awake from my revelry, I decided to at least inquire about the source of the sound. Across swathes of thickly vegetated land & over a thin track that meandered deeper into the forest still, I came across a row of chambers, almost in their original condition, except of course for their blackened walls & spider silk-filled alcoves. Further still was a deep gorge – a dog reared to its puppies in a corner of the chasm. It was the dog growling, its barks muffled by the long distance & echoed by its underground residence. It ran away on noticing me – further inspection revealed that it was rearing its offspring in a chamber that had caved in & turned into a pit. The surroundings of the pit were high mounds of soil & I assume that there existed adjoining chambers too but they got buried over time. More such chambers were visible around, a few could be distinguished because the soil around them had eroded to reveal buried arches that formed part of the chamber's entrance. A few chambers could only be distinguished because parts of them had collapsed along with the debris & vegetation that covered them & the holes thus formed revealed their interiors.
One of the chambers, now buried under earth & vegetation
All of a sudden I felt I had been transported to a different era altogether – this was my discovery, my Harappa. & then it was time to leave behind my Harappa – it was uncharted territory & I was afraid to go further deep into the vegetation for fear that I might lose my way. Of course now I realize I was being stupid, I just had to trace the track & follow it to the end, but since I diverted away from the track so many times in order to photograph the structures & the vegetation, I felt I won't find it again. As I returned, I noticed the spider silk & the creepers that enveloped the trees & the surrounding chambers, & they assured me that they will hide my treasure from man's greed till the next time I could return to take full stock of their existence. I now wait for the next time..
Hiding a treasure
Location: Mehrauli
Nearest Metro Station: Saket
How to Reach: After getting down at Saket Station, one can walk to Lado Serai Bus Stop. Buses are available from different parts of the city for Mehrauli & one can alight from the bus at Lado Serai stop itself. The Lado Serai stop is situated at a crossroad & Azim Khan's Tomb is visible behind the trees & the traffic.Enter the service lane leading to Azim Khan's Tomb, the ruins are situated just a few metres before the tomb on the other side of the road.
Pixelated Memories - Azim Khan's Tomb
Pixelated Memories - Feroz Shah Kotla
Pixelated Memories - Tughlaqabad Fort
Labels: Alcoves, Azim Khan's Tomb, Buried, Chambers, Destroyed, Graves, Lado Serai, Mehrauli, New Delhi, Pixelated Memories, Qibla Wall, Ruins, Sahil Ahuja, Saket, Tower, Trees
Jamali Kamali Complex, New Delhi
"Qabr mein aa ke neend aayi hai, Na uthaaye khuda kare koi"
("A blissful sleep I finally get in the grave, For God's sake, I hope no one wakes me from this")
– A verse penned by Sheikh Jamali and inscribed within the tomb
Poetry in stone - Jamali-Kamali mosque
It is a universal fact that Sufis, followers of a very tolerant branch of Islam, are one of the most unprejudiced and compassionate people. They are known to open their hearts and hearths to people of all faiths, religions, gender and identity. One fine afternoon, I sat down to talk to two kind Sufi mendicants at the Chilla of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, the patron saint of Delhi and one of the most renowned Sufi saints in the country (refer Pixelated Memories - Chilla-Khanqah Nizamuddin). The two mendicants prayed for my well-being without any expectation of profit – monetary or otherwise – and one of them even contentedly offered me his meager share of lunch (which he carried in a small polythene bag) when he heard that I have been going around exploring monuments in Delhi since morning and did not eat or drink all day. So, given my attachment to Sufis, it is only natural that I am disheartened and inclined to disagree with the stories that have been doing the rounds about Jamali-Kamali complex, one of the foremost Sufi shrines in the city – that it is the residence of malicious, evil-natured djinns who have taken to terrifying disrespectful visitors. According to Islamic mythology, when Allah created the world, he fashioned humans out of clay and a similar species called djinns out of fire and smoke. These latter, invisible to all humans except those who have performed penances and are blessed with the power to talk to and at times control them, are powerful spirits – if benevolent, they could turn paupers to princes, bestow all boons and bring fertility to men and women; however, if malevolent, they are known to cause loss of property and at times even life too! We are all, of course, aware of one djinn – Aladdin's shape-shifting friend Genie in Arabian Nights. According to popular perception, the djinns at Jamali-Kamali are not so ferocious as to go to the extent of killing someone (it is accepted that they are malevolent spirits), but they have been known to appear as glowing apparitions, slap people, produce savage growling sounds, foul-smelling odours, sounds of laughter and make their presence known through the use of odd lights and/or a combination of all of these; it is also claimed that these djinns' hands are pretty small and the marks of the slaps that they administer remain for several days. But the local villagers who are well aware of the complex's history never said a word about the resident djinns, even though many of them are regular visitors to the complex to implore the Sufi to intercede with Allah to grant their wishes. What is out of my grasp is that the people who believe in djinns and spirits keep on forgetting God and his/her messiahs (I am an atheist yet I am repeatedly forced to invoke God! Oh India!) – after all, how can wicked spirits reside alongside kind-hearted Sufis? Unless of course hidden motives are at work here – several travel companies and paranormal societies have started offering night tours to the complex on the pretext of ghost-trails and are charging hefty fees from the patrons (Refer Hindustan Times article (dated Sep 10, 2012)). Smell something fishy?
Preserved - Jamali-Kamali's mausoleum and the graves of high officials of Lodi and Mughal empires around it
Derwesh Jamali was the pseudonym of Sheikh Jamal-ud-din Hamid bin Fazlu'llah Kamboh Dehlawi aka Sheikh Jalal Khan, a Sufi mystic poet-philosopher-scholar-traveller who came to India during the reign of Sultan Sikandar Lodi (ruled AD 1489-1517) and settled in Delhi. Why did he need a pen-name if he already had such an extensive name is something beyond my comprehension. The word "Jamali" has its roots in the Urdu word "Jamal" meaning beauty/elegance, while Jalal Khan means "the fiery one". He belonged to an affluent Sunni merchant family and was the disciple and son-in-law of the Suhrawardiyya Sufi Sheikh Samauddin. Prior to settling in Delhi where he lived and preached for the rest of his life, he had travelled extensively through Middle East and Central Asia. The courtyard in what is today Jamali-Kamali's complex used to be his chilla once where he practiced severe penances and preached spirituality and universal brotherhood. His story is very similar to that of his contemporary Imam Zamin, another travelling priest, who too arrived in Delhi in the reign of Sikandar Lodi and lived to see the vanquishing and collapse of Lodi Dynasty and the reigns of Mughal Emperors Zahiruddin Babur (ruled AD 1526-30) and Nasiruddin Humayun (ruled AD 1530-40 and 1555-56). But while Zamin accumulated enough wealth for himself as the officiating priest of the majestic mosque in the colossal Qutb Complex to build himself a graceful tomb adjacent it (refer Pixelated Memories - Qutb Complex and Pixelated Memories - Imam Zamin's Tomb), Sheikh Jamali became the darling of the citizens of Delhi and was soon appointed as a court poet and tutor of Persian mysticism for Sikandar's son and successor, Ibrahim. It is said that Emperor Sikandar, himself a renowned poet, often had his works corrected by him. Sheikh Jamali is also credited with writing several important works about mysticism and religion and was unanimously bestowed with the title "Khusro-e-Sani" ("Equal to Khusro"). One of his finest works was "Siyar-i-Arifin" ("The Mirror of Meanings"), a classical hagiographic account of the notable Indian Sufis of the Chishti and Suhrawardy sects and the metaphysical symbolism used by them in divine poetry. Given his unparalleled credentials, he was retained in the royal court when Babur conquered India (AD 1556) and later he became one of the favorite poets of Humayun, Babur's son and successor, who possibly was the major financial contributor to the construction of this complex since the architecture, except for minor artistic differences, is exactly identical to that of Humayun's graceful magnum Qila-i-Kuhna Jami Masjid in his majestic citadel Dinpanah/Old Fort (refer Pixelated Memories - Old Fort). It is interesting to note that while the mosque was built following the advent of Mughal rule in Delhi, the architecture largely follows the Lodi-style of construction since the Mughal rulers and administrators were still busy consolidating the empire instead of focusing on artistic-architectural and cultural developments.
"Jewel box" - One of the highly ornamented squinches within the gorgeously bedecked tomb
Kamali's identity, however, remains shrouded in mystery. The word "Kamali" itself is derived from the Urdu word "Kamal" meaning "miracle/excellent" which could apply to both male and female names and it has often been pointed that Kamali was possibly a contemporary Sufi of Jamali and they both were inseparable companions. Hearsay is that he/she was Sheikh Jamali's wife/friend/servant – a recently published fictional book ("Jamali-Kamali, A Tale of Passion in Mughal India" by Karen Chase) also claims that Jamali and Kamali were homosexual partners in a very orthodox and unremitting age and country. Perhaps that would explain why Kamali chose to be referred by this name – it perfectly rhymes with Jamali and sort of completes it. Or maybe Jamali adopted the new name, he already had so many pen-names, perhaps he took up a new one to show his association with Kamali. Nobody knows. Another theory is that the person buried alongside Sheikh Jamali is his son Sheikh Abdur Rehman Gadai Kamboh (even though his name nowhere comes close to being shortened to Kamali, but then Jamali-Kamali could well be a later, easily remembered/pronounced nomenclature. There are several similar examples scattered all over the city.), a prominent theologian and the "Sadr-i-Sadur" ("Administrative General/Lord Chief Justice") in the court of Emperor Jalaluddin Akbar (ruled AD 1556-1605). Sheikh Gadai wielded immense power during Emperor Akbar's reign and was exempted from paying homage and courtesies to the latter; he also excelled in poetic compositions, Persian mysticism and organizing musical congregations.
Stepping within the vast Mehrauli Archaeological complex, one comes face to face with the beautifully decorated but very poorly maintained enclosure walls of Jamali-Kamali complex – these are being restored as part of a massive restoration-conservation project undertaken by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in collaboration with Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH). Gazing at the endearing floral and geometric patterns gracing the numerous skillfully carved alcoves lining the enclosure walls, one is forced to ponder if earthen lamps ("diyas") were once lit in these and how splendid such an ethereal scene would have been. Once visitors used a small octagonal water tank located in the center of the courtyard for purposes of ritualistic ablutions before offering praying in the mosque – the tank presently is parched and a black plastic water tank stands within it from which emerge several pipes to supply water to different parts of the large courtyard. Guards employed by ASI strolled around and inside the mosque, one had even parked his motorcycle within the courtyard.
More jewels!
The massive, soothingly serene mosque was constructed in AD 1528-29 by Sheikh Jamali himself and is composed of red sandstone sparsely, but very delicately, ornamented with white marble and grey quartzite highlights. The proportional, blackened single dome, hidden behind veils of foliage offered by the numerous ancient trees gracing the compound in front of the mosque, rests on an octagonal drum (base) and is surmounted by an inverted lotus finial. As mentioned earlier, the mosque is chronologically the earliest of this architectural layout and the same was improved upon and adopted in several mosques before finally culminating in the grandly unmatched Qila-i-Kuhna mosque in Humayun's capital (refer Pixelated Memories - Old Fort). The facade of the mosque is adorned with dexterously sculpted rosette medallions and rows of decorative alcoves while the central of the five arched entrances, each punched within arched niches, is set within a rectangular projection that is flanked by highly ornamental pillars (pilasters) on either side. These fluted pilasters possess alternate triangular and circular flutes and the individual levels are demarcated by exquisite floral bands. The utilization of impossibly hard grey quartzite for ornamentation, especially as panels focusing the exceptional symmetry of the structure, is exceedingly praiseworthy. A "jharokha" (ornamental protruding balcony) projects from above the central entrance – legend is that once lamps were lighted every evening in this window to act as a beacon to guide weary travellers to the mosque where they could rest from their fatiguing travails – alas, today the entire area has become so thickly forested and so hopelessly ignored that a lamp would not even be seen by passing visitors. But ancient Mehrauli then was a small settlement on the highway connecting Delhi to Central Asia. The jharokha, built in traditional Rajasthani style of architecture, along with the floral medallions, which are integral to Hindu artistic expression, are some of the common Hindu motifs that were later assimilated within Islamic constructions, such as mosques and tombs, and the Jamali-Kamali mosque is said to be the first to display a fusion of these distinctive architectural and artistic characteristics (the same are absent in other constructions predating the mosque). It is interesting to note that this integration occurred in a mosque commissioned by a prominent Sufi, a proponent of unity and co-habitation irrespective of fundamental religious differences.
Haunted? I doubt
The gargantuan interiors of the mosque, visually appearing even more colossal because of the numerous arches and the play of shadows and light creeping in through the windows and entrances, possesses five intricately carved mihrabs (alcoves in the western wall of a mosque indicating the direction of Mecca, faced by Muslims while offering prayers), each uniquely sculpted, bordered by bands of calligraphy inscriptions and existing in symmetric combination with one of the entrances and therefore decreasing in size from the central (largest) to the extremes (smallest). Deftly carved and beautifully ornamented, these have at present become ideal spots for fearsome hornets, who tend to get dangerously irritated if one ventures close enough, to build nests and breed. On the inside, the dome rests on squinches (another architectural tradition that later become integral to Indo-Islamic constructions – beams extending across upper corners to convert a square structure into an octagonal one) supported by honeycomb brackets which are of course fairly commonplace in Islamic architecture. The central chamber of the mosque thus becomes octagonal towards its upper reaches and more squinches are further employed to convert this eight-sided figure into sixteen-sided figure and so on to form almost a complete circle towards the very top on which the massive dome finally rests. Octagonal corner towers exist along the backside of the mosque and a narrow gallery runs along the upper floor connecting the two, but entry to the upper floors of the towers is now prohibited. One can access the towers from narrow passages built in the corners adjacent the mihrabs and gaze at the small garden towards the back or at the exterior walls on the other side. I do not understand why entry to the garden is now prohibited – a locked iron gate keeps visitors from entering from the alternate entrance way that opens to the garden. The same also prevents me from understanding why from the tower windows located level with the mosque it appears as if the garden is set at a considerably lower topography compared to the rest of the complex. I failed to find an opening within the mosque or the towers themselves from where I could descend to the garden level. But for someone who is afraid of heights and even more of openings from where one can simply topple down if careless – it is better to avoid these towers!
Lines, arches and striking symmetry - Inside the colossal mosque
The vast courtyard in front of the mosque is divided in two by a wall with an opening. The second courtyard functions as the funerary zone – the small square-shaped mausoleum of Jamali-Kamali stands close to the further wall and there are several more unmarked and unadorned graves around it – Muslims believe that the tomb of a saint sanctifies the area around it and assures ascension to heaven to the people buried in its vicinity. Not that its presence makes much difference, a rectangular "chattri" (pavilion surmounted on slender pillars) located opposite the tomb shields a lone grave from the elements. Another entrance to the tomb courtyard exists near the chattri, but even it is gated and locked now. The walls surrounding the courtyard exhibit more ornately carved alcoves, much more intricate than the ones adorning the outer walls. The refined but small tomb, only 7.6 meter square in area and so unlike other magnificent mausoleums dotting the rest of the city, was also built in AD 1529 and Sheikh Jamali himself was its architect. Bands of brilliant blue designs mark the space between the brackets that support its eaves ("chajja"); a band resembling ornamental "kanguras" (battlement-like ornamentation) marks the roof of the tomb while the walls are carved with several small niches and arches. I am dismayed to note that the wooden gate leading within the simplistic small structure is locked as a precaution against vandals. Artists and workers struggle to restore the structure to its original state and I decide to ask them if there is any way to get within the tomb. The lady in-charge of the restoration work sat nearby listening to FM radio on her mobile phone and a quick chat revealed that she had read this blog (flattered!!) and quickly sent for the caretaker to bring the keys to the tomb. If anything, the presence of so many people here in early evening was further proof of the absence of the djinns. Just on the safe side, I did take off my shoes before entering the tomb. I had always heard of how handsome the tomb is from inside and was eager to see it with my own eyes, but as soon as I stepped within, I realized that it is not just stunning but exceptionally striking, perhaps the most gorgeously decorated tomb in entire Delhi!! Rightly has it been described as a "jewel box".
Photos do the handsome interiors no justice!
Unbelievably beautiful stucco work (incised and painted plasterwork patterns) in blue, yellow and orange covers the arches and the alcoves while lattice work in marble ("jaalis") on two of the sides lets in shards of light. The western wall doesn't bear any openings but functions as a mihrab. Like the central chamber of the mosque, the tomb too makes use of squinches and the square chamber progressively becomes eight, sixteen and finally thirty-two sided towards the top. However no dome rests on the roof which is flat and decorated with copious amount of stucco and glazed tiles of numerous colors (red, several shades of blue, yellow, orange) and patterns. The tomb is the only example in Delhi where stucco and tiles are used in combination with each other rather than exclusive of each other as seen elsewhere. Again, as with the mosque, the tomb too became the inspiration for the Qila-i-Kuhna mosque which features an exceedingly marvelous use of stone inlay work instead of painted stucco/tiles to generate an equally flamboyant and vivacious exterior facade. It is interesting to note that the tomb has survived almost 500 years against the ravages of time, nature and marauders exceptionally well. Since I know I would fail to describe the ornamentation if I tried, I'll rather let photographs do the talking. Further still, a thousand words might fall short of admiring these divine patterns hence I'm posting several photos here! The walls are inscribed with two of Jamali's own verses, perhaps he was immensely enamored with his own work to have it inscribed on his final resting place while he had it constructed. The first of the two verses has been revealed in the beginning of this article and the second, the more heart rendering, goes –
"Rang hi rang, khushbu hi khushbu
Gardish-e-sagar-e-khayal hain hum"
("Colour everywhere, scent all pervasive
A movement of thought, an imagination, I am")
Of the two marble-layered graves within that occupy most of the floor area of the delicate tomb, the one in the center is that of Sheikh Jamali who passed away in AD 1536 while accompanying Emperor Humayun in an expedition to Gujarat. The second grave, a later addition since it has been just about accommodated in the space between the central grave and the wall, should belong to Kamali who is said to have expired much later. Given the excessive ornamentation of the tomb's walls, the unparalleled explosion of multihued rococo patterns on the roof and the numerous visual compositions that can be generated as a combination of the two along with the streams of light creating patterns through the openings of the marble latticework, the narrow space that one is afforded within the small tomb proves to be a photographer's paradise and after a point one begins to feel that the graves are hampering one's movement and the ability to photograph/observe these fascinating patterns! I could hear myself cursing for not coming here before!
Light and colors
As with several of the mosques I wrote about in the past few days, the mosque of Jamali-Kamali too is being threatened by religious zealots – Muslims want the mosque to be thrown open for regular prayers (Notification of Monuments Act (1958) states that if a religious place of any denomination was abandoned by the local population for prayers at the time of Govt. takeover and subsequent designation as a national/state-protected structure, no prayers would be allowed to be offered there any time in future) and have been staging impromptu and forced prayers in the premises. Hindus claim that Sheikh Jamali and Sheikh Gadai were extremely vitriolic and rabidly intolerant preacher-administrators and the mosque is actually built on their religious site and hence, as a means to correcting the injustices committed by then rulers, the area should be handed over to them (I do not know if it was actually a Hindu site or not, not that I care either). But the important fact is that it is a protected monument – where were these groups when the entire region had been forgotten and surrendered to an ignominious fate, taken over by vegetation and wildlife, and reduced to ruins? Now that the Government is restoring and renovating the place everyone wants a piece of it! Utter disrespect to the Sufis who blended the practices of the two religions to create one of the first architectural amalgams in the country – I wish the djinns would appear and slap these misguided souls out of their dreadful slumber and ignorance. On a calmer note, perhaps these verses penned by Karen in her book about Jamali-Kamali would aptly apply to these individuals who somehow conclude that religion is above the country and are content to raise issues against the secular nature of the new India we ought to build –
"…our hope is that you will pity our weeping.
How could your pardon be known, had we not shown ourselves guilty!"
Delicate - One of the mihrabs within the mosque
Location: Mehrauli Archaeological Park, just off Lado Serai crossing
Nearest Metro Station: Qutb Minar and Saket stations are both equidistant.
How to reach: Cross the road from Qutb Minar metro station and start walking towards Lado Serai – the official entrance of the archaeological complex is located midway between the two and can be identified through the slender red sandstone markers lining the periphery walls. Alternately, take a bus/auto from Saket metro station to Lado Serai and access the complex through a small opening in the periphery walls along Mehrauli-Gurgaon road just a couple of meters after Lado Serai crossing. Parking facilities are available adjacent Jamali-Kamali complex if coming through the entrance near Qutb Minar metro station.
Note – There are no facilities (toilets, food and drinking water) available within the Archaeological Park. While food and refreshments can be availed at one of the roadside eateries/shops at Lado Serai opposite, you can only find toilets at Saket metro station, over two kilometers away, or the malls beyond it. It is better to be prepared.
Other monuments within the archaeological complex -
Pixelated Memories - Balban's Tomb
Pixelated Memories - Chaumukh Darwaza
Pixelated Memories - Gandhak ki Baoli
Pixelated Memories - Khan Shahid's Tomb
Pixelated Memories - Lodi-era Canopy Tomb
Pixelated Memories - Metcalfe's Chattri
Pixelated Memories - Metcalfe's Ziggurats and Guardhouses
Pixelated Memories - Mughal tombs and Choti Masjid Bagh wali
Pixelated Memories - Quli Khan's Tomb
Pixelated Memories - Rajon ki Baoli
Pixelated Memories - Settlement ruins
Blog.tehelka.com - Article "Saanjha Chulha: The Jamali Kamali Mosque and Tomb" (dated Nov 15, 2013) by Rana Safvi
Karenchase.com - Book "Jamali-Kamali - A tale of passion in Mughal India"
Thehindu.com - Article "The ghostly trail" (dated Sep 24, 2012) by R.V. Smith
Wikipedia.org - Shaikh Gadai Kamboh
Labels: Architecture, Art work, Djinns, Haunted, History, Interiors, Jamali Kamali Complex, Mehrauli Archaeological Park, Mosque, Mughal, Paranormal activity, Sheikh Gadai Kamboh, Sikandar Lodi, Stucco, Sufi saint, Tomb
Ruins, Mehrauli Archaeological Park, New Delhi
As I mentioned in the post about Sultan Ghiyasuddin Balban's Tomb (Refer Pixelated Memories - Balban's Tomb), a large settlement, now in ruins, surrounds the Sultan's Tomb. Built around 16th-17th century, the settlement boasts of a large central courtyard with surrounding houses & quarters. I wonder who used to live here. Soldiers maybe. Or general public, if they were allowed next to the tomb of one of the most powerful rulers in Indian history. Balban actually ruled from AD 1266-86, but most of the power was concentrated in his hands even 20 years before that, when his son-in-law Mahmud ruled over the vast swathes of the Sultanate. In these houses, one notices walls with alcoves for lighting diyas (earthen lamps lighted with cotton wicks dipped in oil), pillars & portions perhaps used for keeping small knick-knack. The rooms mostly survive as only the foundations, the walls have collapsed at most of the places. In a few portions, stairs too could be seen, however whatsoever used to be around these stairs is now gone & only the alcove below it survives.
These are the ruins.. (What were you thinking, eh??)
After the mutiny of 1857, this area subsequently fell into disuse & was reclaimed by vegetation. While the rest of Mehrauli proper (part of Delhi where this settlement exists) grew at exponential phase & took rapid strides towards urbanization, this pocket was left behind & forgotten. This region is part of one of the oldest continuously inhabited region in the history of Delhi – only to be abandoned in recent past. It was as late as mid-20th century that this area was re-discovered & since India was in a turmoil then, with newly achieved independence & wars with Pakistan & China, it was left as it is, but with the tag of a heritage property under the aegis of the newly established Archaeological Survey of India (A.S.I.). It was only in the year 2001-02 that the excavation of these ruins & other structures nearby was started. The restoration work of some of the more famous & the better preserved monuments started only recently. Even now, most of these structures are in different stages of excavation.
More of the same.. (Visible in background on the left side are the remains of Balban's tomb)
The Archaeological Park actually resembles a tamed forest bereft of any wildlife, but with a trail running through it. The trail is very well marked though, there are red sandstone posts indicating clear directions to various monuments. These ruins cover a pretty extensive area, starting a few meters from the famous chattri that Thomas Metcalfe built to beautify the surrounding expanse, & are bound on one side by Balban's Tomb Complex & are cut off from the rest of the Park by the trail. Across the ruins stand the magnificent Tomb-Mosque complex of Jamali-Kamali.
It is quite easy to walk past these ruins, no proper road encompasses them, one has to get past thorny bushes & unlevelled, stony ground to view these properly. The Indian National Trust for Art & Cultural Heritage (INTACH) which is overseeing the excavation & upkeep of these fallen structures is yet to properly study them & convert this area & the park as a whole into a maintained tourist spot. But this is unquestionably one of those places where sitting down & observing things becomes the most natural thing to do. The lines of huge ants marching from here to there, & even climbing up the tumble-down stairs. The plants & creepers slowly, but gradually, overtaking the built structures. The thrill of discovering a beautiful flower. It all seems so natural here. Plastic bags, polythenes & other waste lies spread around, accumulated in this area as a result of general neglect & the gross misuse we Indians subject our heritage & forests to. This modern litter in stark contrast to this otherworldly litter of ruins that has been spread around here for so many centuries. One wonders what to photograph & what to leave. One wonders what is mighty – the rulers who left behind these colossal structures – now a mound of stones. Or the ants who simply overtook these & drilled their own palaces into these.
Amidst desolation, springs beauty..
One is reminded of the ways covered with "leaves no step had trodden black" from Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken".
Location: Mehrauli Archaeological Park
Nearest Metro Station: Saket Station
How to Reach: After getting down at Saket Station, one can walk to Lado Serai Bus Stop. Buses are available from different parts of the city for Mehrauli & one can alight from the bus at Lado Serai stop itself. The Lado Serai stop is situated at a crossroad & at one side, one can see a large domed-structure seated on a high hill (Azim Khan's Tomb) rising high behind the trees & the traffic. Walking towards this structure, one comes to a recreational park called Ahinsa Sthal ("Abode of Non-Violence"), marked with a large signboard (or simply ask for Ahinsa Sthal from the locals & shopkeepers, check if they are aware of its location - they weren't when I visited the area in December 2012). The unmarked entrance to Mehrauli Archaeological Park is through an iron gate opposite the Ahinsa Sthal.
Note – There are no facilities (toilets, food & drinking water) available within the Archaeological Park. While you can avail food & refreshments at one of the restaurants at Lado Serai, you can only find toilets at the shopping malls close to Saket Metro Station, almost a kilometre away.
Pixelated Memories - Ahinsa Sthal
Posted by Pixelated Memories at 10:33 pm No comments:
Labels: Abandoned, Alcoves, Archaeological Park, Chambers, Isolation, Lado Serai, Mehrauli, New Delhi, Pixelated Memories, Ruins, Sahil Ahuja, Stairs
Azim Khan's Tomb, New Delhi
Though no one is exactly sure who Azim Khan was, most historians conjecture that he was a general in the army of Mughal emperor Akbar (ruled AD 1556-1605). Historical accounts state that when Akbar's valiant generals were leading his mighty armies to annex small kingdoms along the fringes of the great Mughal empire in order to further his expansionist policies, his foster brother & powerful general Adham Khan was busy satiating his own blood lust & carnal desires - he would enslave the women in the lands he captured for the Emperor & add them to his harem. His terrifying reputation preceded him - women in the conquered kingdoms preferred to commit suicide rather than face him. The kingdom of Malwa (Central India) had gained independence during the reign of Akbar's father, Emperor Humayun (ruled AD 1530-40 & 55-56). In 1561 AD, Akbar decided Malwa had enjoyed sovereignty for too long & decided to subdue it. He sent a large army led jointly by Adham Khan & General Pir Muhammad - Adham Khan invaded the kingdom under Akbar's banner but sullied the victory by refusing to send the spoils of the war to the emperor. He fell in love with Queen Roopmati, the wife of Baz Bahadur (literally "Brave Hawk"), the defeated king of Malwa. Baz Bahadur was defeated & fled the battle scene, but before Adham Khan could touch the queen, she committed suicide by jumping into a pyre ("Jauhar"). Adham Khan, in all his fury & in mood for vengeance, unleashed a pogrom - the historian Badauni who had accompanied the army to Malwa noted that the undisciplined soldiers displayed ruthlessness of an extreme order by killing captive enemy soldiers along with their wives & children - not even the Saiyyids (claiming descent from Prophet Muhammad) who had welcomed the Muslim armies were spared but burnt alive along with their holy books. Enraged, emperor Akbar himself decided to proceed to Malwa to subdue Adham Khan. This is where the lines between history & conjecture begin to blur - belief is that the emperor's massive force was led by none other than Azim Khan, the protagonist of our story. Adham was defeated, his powers curtailed for a period of time & he was ordered not to lead any military campaigns in the near future. However, strangely, most historical records & contemporary accounts are silent about the valour & the feats of Azim Khan. Following the victory, Azim was crowned with the title of "Akbar" (meaning magnificent) & rewarded by the emperor. Interestingly enough, Azim also means "the magnificent one", & I am not sure how he prefixed his name with this new title. "The magnificent among magnificent, most magnificent one"??
The Tomb of the "Most Magnificent One"
It is said that the Sufi Saint Salim Chishti met Emperor Akbar at a hill in the city of Agra & told him that if he prayed with true faith, the saint himself would come & stand next to him to ask God to grant the Emperor's wishes. Akbar's wives were finding it difficult to conceive & when a son was born to him, he considered it a blessing by the saint & named his newborn Salim after him. Touched by the saint's religious tolerance & policy of benevolence, the emperor went on to build the former's tomb (Fatehpur Sikri) near his newly envisaged capital at Agra. After Akbar's death, Azim was retained as a nobleman in Akbar's son & the new Emperor Jahangir Salim's court. Azim became a follower of Hazrat Nizamuddin who he said appeared in his dreams & urged him to give up his life of war & violence. Hazrat Nizamuddin resided in Delhi in early 14th century & belonged to the Chishtiyya order of Sufism (to which also belonged saint Salim Chishti). Following Nizamuddin's teachings, Azim started on the path of broad-minded religiosity & forbearance, giving up his earlier life as a soldier & starting in the direction of spirituality as a mendicant. After a course of some years, Azim came to be known far & wide for his penances & people started to revere him & came to him to ask for guidance as well as solutions to their problems. To prevent people from flocking to him & disturbing his peace of mind, somewhere in early 17th century Azim decided to build a residence-cum-tomb for himself atop a summit of a hill surrounded by pointed rocks & barren land. His decision to reside on the chosen hill was guided by the fact that it was accessible only to a select few because of its height & almost unscalable vertical walls, & also because it reminded him of the story of Akbar meeting Salim Chishti atop a similarly unscalable hill (the lore doesn't tell us how did Azim, Akbar & the Sufi used to climb these hills in the first place if they were so high & dangerous).
History's Mysteries - Shrine of a General??
Centuries later, when Britain converted India into one of her colonies & let its men amok on the face of the country, the British soldiers converted this tomb into a hill-top resort meant for late night partying. They would come here in groups, often with mistresses, bring along booze & servants, & make merry. Most of these parties were held at the end of the winters, before the Brits departed from Delhi to their summer capital in nearby hill city of Shimla. They took pride in displaying their climbing & physical skills to their friends & considered scaling the hill's sheer walls a mark of their strength & manhood.
After the British departed from the country, along came the Archaeological Survey of India (A.S.I.), the agency entrusted with the upkeep, protection & beautification of monuments within the country, who after initially ignoring the tomb for decades, recently decided to build a staircase leading up the hill to reach the tomb. The staircase is complete now, its wide steps have been set so as to match with the surrounding hill sides & present a picture of harmony. But still the tomb lies deserted, ignored by passer-bys as well as tourists arriving at the nearby World Heritage Site of Qutb Complex. Perhaps people still find the steep climb daunting. Whatever might be the reason, Azim Khan's Tomb would have made even Count Dracula envious were he to visit Delhi. The Count's fortress in Transylvania, covered by a thick pal of fog & chill, invites no visitor. Azim's Tomb on the other hand lies unvisited despite being in open view & visible from a very busy highway on one side (the Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road).
Inside Azim's Tomb - Too meager for Dracula??
The square tomb is pierced by entrances along its three sides, however these entrances lie perennially locked by grilles in a bid to keep out vandals/scribblers who are so numerous throughout the city. The dome, topped by an inverted-lotus finial, rests on an octagonal base (drum). The tomb walls, as well as the drum, feature kanguras – ornamentations that resemble battlements, protruding vertically. Squirrels run around the tomb, feeding at rice & nuts left for them by the caretakers/locals. An earthen bowl filled with water was kept nearby. Wild yet beautiful flowers grew on the hill side, often in tandem with thorny bushes & desert plants that inhabit such rocky & barren lands. When I visited the structure, I found the caretaker assigned by the A.S.I. asleep on one of the benches placed there for the tourists. Were he awake too, he wouldn't have been able to open the tomb for me since A.S.I. sealed off the iron-grilles barring its entrances with nuts & bolts - perhaps they felt that locks can be easily broken into. Clever chaps!! The tomb, plastered & cream-ish in colour, is now blackened because of the rains & vegetation, despite being restored just some time back by the A.S.I. The fear of the precipice surrounding the tomb ensures that not many people wander off to its rear sides, I did, & what I saw again put to shame the deeds of fellow Delhites. The walls of the tomb were defaced with graffiti & the love letters that wandering Romeos saw fit to emblazon here. I must have been there for only about 30 minutes, taking in the charm of the place, adoring the sights visible in the distance - the Qutb Minar, the tomb of Adham Khan, Mahavira statue atop Ahinsa Sthal etc, when there arrived a group of college kids with a bottle of alcohol & disposable glasses, & no marks for guessing where they decided to hang out – at the rear of the tomb!!
I feel sorry for Kishor, a worthless bastard!!
The fourth wall of the tomb, the one overseeing the most dizzying cliff-face, does not have an opening & instead its interior functions as a mihrab (wall faced by Muslims while praying, indicating the direction of Mecca). Inside, beautiful patterns cover the ornamental arches, the dome rests on a layer of small, arched alcoves meant for decoration. While there is no sarcophagus inside the tomb, two graves lie outside - the larger of these two has calligraphic inscriptions along its sides - both of them however are in a run-down condition, broken, crumbling & exposed to the fury of nature. It has been claimed that the grave inside is buried deep within the hill right underneath the chamber, though this also remains mere speculation. Strategically placed stone benches flank the graves outside.
Look what I found!!
Even today, a lot of monuments that aren't so well known, or are not deemed that high in terms of heritage &/or architectural value, are looked after by families & caretakers who live nearby (not on Govt.'s payroll). These people either consider themselves the blood family of the occupant/builder of these tombs/structures, or are religious followers & part-time priests. In the absence of Govt. funds & upkeep, these people often protect these structures from hoodlums & demolition. One such family looked after the tomb of Azim Khan but they were forced to migrate to Pakistan at the time of India's independence from British rule in 1947 & subsequent partition to create Muslim-dominated Pakistan & Bangladesh. Gone with them are all the records & the history of the inhabitant of the tomb, & no one is left to care for it & defend it from inebriated fellas & rowdy vandals. Perhaps they could have shed some light on the mysterious occupants & their lives. The tomb should have qualified as a religious spot since Azim too became a man of God later in his life, but even that is contested since the officials have not yet been able to ascertain if it is actually the tomb of Azim Khan or someone else. Perhaps it never will be found out for sure. No documentation exists for the tomb, & all the stories are actually passed down from elders to the subsequent generations in the nearby villages, & of course distortions & fantasies encapsulate the kernel of truth that these stories possess. Such is the sad state of affairs that so many heritage structures & buildings find themselves in the national capital!!
PS: If time permits, do visit the nearby Ahinsa Sthal ("Abode of Non-Violence", refer Pixelated Memories - Ahinsa Sthal). The view of Azim Khan's Tomb from the heights of Ahinsa Sthal is simply breathtaking.
The view from Ahinsa Sthal
Location: Lado Serai, Mehrauli
How to Reach: After getting down at Saket Station, one can walk to Lado Serai Bus Stop. Buses are available from different parts of the city for Mehrauli & one can alight from the bus at Lado Serai stop itself. The Lado Serai stop is situated at a crossroad & Azim Khan's Tomb is visible behind the trees & the traffic.
Pixelated Memories - Qutb Complex
Pixelated Memories - Qutb Minar
Hindu.com - Article "Renovation of mystery tomb" (dated Jun 07, 2010) by R.V. Smith
Timesofindia.indiatimes.com - Article "Passage to past: ASI builds pathway to Mughal-era tomb" (dated May 31, 2010) by Richi Verma
Traveltravailsandheck.blogspot.in - the road above my street pt 38
Re-edit - Jan 15, 2014
Posted by Pixelated Memories at 6:27 pm 17 comments:
Labels: Adham Khan, Ahinsa Sthal, Akbar, Army General, Azim Khan's Tomb, Baz Bahadur, British resort, Cliff, Graves, Hill, Mehrauli, Mihrab, Moinuddin Chishti, Mughal, New Delhi, Nizamuddin, Roopmati, Tomb
Ahinsa Sthal, New Delhi
Some 800 years ago, when Islamic armies led by Shihab-ud-din Muhammad Muizuddin bin Sam (Muhammad Ghuri) first appeared at Indian borders threatening to conquer the country, the Hindu Rajput ruler Prithviraj Chauhan assembled a huge army to face this new challenge. Valiant & indefatigable, he defeated Muhammad's forces, administering them a crushing blow in the First Battle of Tarain (1191 AD) & even capturing Muhammad himself. Magnanimous in his victory, Prithviraj treated Muhammad with all respect due to a king, & against the advice of his foreseeing ministers freed him & gave him safe passage to return to his kingdom in Afghanistan. A year later, Muhammad again amassed an even mightier army & marched once again against Prithviraj. This time around, he vanquished & chased the army of Prithviraj & his 150 brethren Rajput rulers. Prithviraj himself was captured & later killed. One by one, all the provinces in India including Tibet, Bengal, Bihar & Deccan (Central India) fell to Muhammad's marauding army looking for loot & treasure. The entire country was ravaged, its wealth & women carried away by the Afghans, a large part of the population either killed or converted to slaves, its foundations demolished & rulers humiliated. Prithviraj himself was immortalized & lionized in folklore & bardic tradition. But the country he left behind bore the brunt of the war. After converting India into his fief, Muhammad retired to his kingdom leaving his favourite slave & army commander Qutbuddin Aibak in-charge of the unruly lands of India. A fanatic Muslim & a loyal slave, Qutbuddin decided to forward the name of his master & his religion in this new land by constructing mosques & felling temples that already existed here. He fell 27 Hindu & Jain temples in Mehrauli in South Delhi & established the gigantic mosque Quwwat-ul-Islam ("the Might of Islam"). 800 years later, though the scars of this temple destruction & religious bickering are yet to heal completely, most of the citizens of this holy land have accepted, although uneasily, a life of mutual understanding & co-existence. The Jains, believers in peace & non-violence, instead of demanding that the Quwwat mosque be fell to make way for a temple of their denomination like some Hindus did, built a temple for themselves nearby. The Ahinsa Sthal ("Abode of Non-Violence") was established in 1980 close to the Qutb Complex (where the Quwwat Mosque is situated).
To peace & tolerance..
Boasting of a large statue of Mahavira (599-27 BC), the last Tirthankar (spiritual guide) of the Jain faith, seated atop a high hill & surrounded by landscaped gardens, Ahinsa Sthal comes as close to a peaceful & uninterrupted spot in Delhi as possible. The stone statue, 14 feet tall, seated on a lotus placed on a pedestal & flanked by statues of lions & ornaments-clad attendants, presents a glorious picture. Glimmering in the bright sunshine, Mahavira sits meditating about the human life & preaches a lesson of religious tolerance & universal brotherhood (Ironic after Qutbuddin's actions, right??). As one enters the compound, the guards motion one to take off their shoes & place them underneath any of the several benches placed within the garden complex. Though a notice board proclaimed that "Photography is prohibited", the guards said one can take photos as long as they do not disturb anyone else in the park. I wasn't there to disturb anyone!! Perambulating the lawns of this not-so-large garden, I noticed statues of apsaras (divine maidens) placed underneath trees & among bushes, many of them holding musical instruments, others offering tributes to Mahavira. Large painted boards, arranged alongside the larger trees along the walkways, threw light on Mahavira's life & teachings, & also the tenets & ethics of the Jain faith. I also noticed a few couples engrossed in talking to their partners seated close to the edge of the park, of course maintain their distance from each other. It is the first time I saw couples flocking to a religious spot in search of isolation & privacy. A few families, apparently in picnic mood, sat sprawled in the lawns, chatting & sharing light snacks. Eating & running about the lawns is prohibited. In the centre is the hill, visible from some distance outside the complex, but more or less hidden behind the surroundings. Of course, I saw the statue already from the heights of the adjacent tomb of Azim Khan. I climbed up the stone stairs, again marveling at the clever placement of the apsara statues (& a small, white marble cow too!!) to blend them with the flora.
Goddess amongst the bushes
The green cover is very well maintained here – ancient Indians believed that the presence of holy men could induce fertility to everything around them & make even barren land & rocky plateaus lush with plants, many people still believe that it was the Mahavira statue that actually made the hill sides go green. On the first level of the hill, one faces a clearing, stairs projecting upwards on either side & the Jain flags visible fluttering towards the top. The portion towards the opposite side of the hill (behind the stairs) is forbidden for tourists. A large bell hung from a blue nylon rope in front of a cavity in the opposite wall where a huge stone monolith & a photograph of some man were placed. The man gazes sideways as people kept coming to ring the bell. Its loud sound actually hurts the ears if one stands as close as I did!!
The monolith was sculpted to show a lioness & a cow drinking from the same vessel, while the lioness fed its milk to a calf & the cow fed a lion cub. It must have been representing justice (the weak & the strong existing together & partaking the same resources) & equality (both feeding each other's kids) - again an irony in the country. Lions were also part of the insignia of the royal family to which Mahavira belonged. He took the pledge of a solitary existence & gave up his kingdom & all his comforts when he began on the path to seek enlightenment I climbed up the stairs to reach the summit where the Mahavira statue was kept. There wasn't much to do here – a few families sat on the mats placed near the statue, again chewing chips & snacks, a few Jain pilgrims prayed near the statue, a few lighted incense sticks. More lions in the form of stone statues, & a lion head carved out into the plinth over which the Mahavira idol rested. The plinth itself is carved with certain couplets describing Mahavira's ideology. The thing that certainly put me off were the names of the patrons who contributed financially for the erection of this statue inscribed on Mahavira's seat. Seriously, why do you have to be such a show-off??
Stunning, right??
A guard looked bored sitting in the small compartment built near the rear of the level. I spent some time around, thinking what to do, photographing the statues, the people, the environs & of course standing near the railing & gazing down at the visitors coming & going. Nah, there wasn't anything much to do. I left, sort of bored & disappointed. This is a charming place no doubt, perfect for contemplation. The Jains were successful in creating a place, silent, tranquil & sacred, where meditation is possible despite the noise & fumes from the highway that passes next to it. But if you are not one up for meditation or sitting around idly, this isn't the place for you. It is more like a normal park where people go in the evenings for walk, except that there is a huge idol instead of the swings & the merry go-rounds. Off I go somewhere else then..
In service of the Lord..
How to Reach: After getting down at Saket Station, one can walk to Lado Serai Bus Stop. Buses are available from different parts of the city for Mehrauli & one can alight from the bus at Lado Serai stop itself. The Lado Serai stop is situated at a crossroad & at one side, one can see a large domed-structure seated on a high hill (Azim Khan's Tomb) rising high behind the trees & the traffic. Walk towards the tomb. Ahinsa Sthal is enroute & marked with large signboards & a huge gate.
Pixelated Memories - Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque
Posted by Pixelated Memories at 7:33 pm No comments:
Labels: Ahinsa Sthal, Apsara, Garden, Hill, Last Tirthankar, Mahavira, Mehrauli, New Delhi, Non-Violence, Park, Pixelated Memories, Qutb Complex, Quwwat-ul-Islam, Sahil Ahuja, Statue
Mohammad Wala Mosque, New Delhi | {
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Vikings lose Cousins to COVID list before game vs. Packers
in AP News, AP WI News Feed
By DAVE CAMPBELL
AP Pro Football Writer
The Minnesota Vikings have placed quarterback Kirk Cousins on the COVID-19 reserve list. The big blow comes two days before their most important game of the season at Green Bay. Cousins is unvaccinated. Even if he's asymptomatic, he wouldn't be able to return in time to face the Packers. The NFL recently reduced the required quarantine period to five days. The Vikings are 7-8. They are one game out of the last wild-card spot in the NFC. Sean Mannion is in line to start for Minnesota on Sunday night at Lambeau Field.
AP Top Sports News at 2:00 p.m. EST | {
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More Features GAME OF THRONES — HOW THEY MAKE THE WORLD'S MOST POPULAR SHOW
David Benioff & D.B. Weiss
Behind the Cover
Exclusive Photos
Essential Episodes
Season 7 Theories
Game of Thrones: How They Make the World's Most Popular Show
By Daniel D'Addario/Belfast | Photographs by Miles Aldridge for TIME
The battle for Westeros may be won or lost on the back of a lime green mechanical bull.
That's what it looks like on a January Monday in Belfast, as Game of Thrones films its seventh season here. Certainly no one believes the dragons that have thrilled viewers of HBO's hit series exist in any real sense. And yet it's still somewhat surprising to see the British actor Emilia Clarke, who plays exiled queen Daenerys, straddling the "buck" on a soundstage at Titanic Studios, a film complex named after this city's other famously massive export.
The machine under Clarke looks like a big pommel horse and moves in sync with a computer animation of what will become a dragon. Clarke doesn't talk much between takes. Over and over, a wind gun blasts her with just enough force to make me worry about the integrity of her ash blond wig. (Its particular color is the result of 2½ months' worth of testing and seven prototypes, according to the show's hair designer.) Over and over, Clarke stares down at a masking-tape mark on the floor the instant episode director Alan Taylor shouts, "Now!" Nearby, several visual-effects supervisors watch on monitors.
Clarke and I talk in her trailer before she heads to the soundstage, at the beginning of what is to be a long week inhabiting a now iconic character. Behind the scenes it's more toil than triumph, though. The show's first season ended with Daenerys' hatching three baby dragons, each the size of a Pomeranian. They've since grown to the size of a 747. "I'm 5-ft.-nothing, I'm a little girl," she says. "They're like, 'Emilia, climb those stairs, get on that huge thing, we'll harness you in, and then you'll go crazy.' And you're like, 'Hey, everybody! Now who's shorty?!'"
She has reason to feel powerful. On July 16, Clarke and the rest of the cast will begin bringing Thrones in for a landing with the first of its final 13 episodes (seven to air this summer, six to come later). Thrones, a scrappy upstart launched by two TV novices in 2011, will finish its run as the biggest and most popular show in the world. An average of more than 23 million Americans watched each episode last season when platforms like streaming and video on demand are accounted for. And since it's the most pirated show ever, millions more watch it in ways unaccounted for. Thrones, which holds the record for most Emmys ever won by a prime-time series, airs in more than 170 countries. It's the farthest-reaching show out there—not to mention the most obsessed-about.
emilia clarke | daenerys targaryen
People talk about living in a golden age of TV ushered in by hit dramas like The Sopranos, Mad Men and Breaking Bad. All had precisely honed insights about the nature of humanity and of evil that remade expectations of what TV could do. But that period ended around the time Breaking Bad went off the air in 2013. We're in what came next: an unprecedented glut of programming, with streaming services like Netflix, Amazon and Hulu jumping into an ever-more-crowded fray. Now, there's a prestige show for every conceivable viewer, which means smaller audiences and fewer truly original stories.
Except for Thrones, which merges the psychological complexity of the best TV with old-school Hollywood grandeur. You liked shows with one antihero? Well, Thrones has five Tony Sopranos building their empires on blood, five Walter Whites discovering just how far they'll go to win, five Don Drapers unapologetic in their narcissism. Oh, and they're all living out their drama against the most breathtaking vistas not of this world.
kit harington | jon snow
The phenomenon is fueled by a massive worldwide apparatus that, in a typical 10-episode season, generates the equivalent of five big-budget, feature-length movies. Even as the series has grown in every conceivable way over the years—it shoots around the globe; each episode now boasts a budget of at least $10 million—it remains animated by one simple question: Who will win the game in the end? And if Thrones has taught us anything, it's that every reign has to end sometime.
1. the fiction
It all started with a book. In 1996, George R.R. Martin published A Game of Thrones, the first novel in his A Song of Ice and Fire series. (Back then, he conceived of it as a trilogy. Today, five of the planned seven volumes have been published.) As a writer for shows like CBS's The Twilight Zone and Beauty and the Beast in the late '80s, Martin had been frustrated by the limits of TV. He decided that turning to prose meant writing something "as big as my imagination." Martin recalls telling himself, "I'm going to have all the characters I want, and gigantic castles, and dragons, and dire wolves, and hundreds of years of history, and a really complex plot. And it's fine because it's a book. It's essentially unfilmable."
Photo-composite by Miles Aldridge for TIME
The books became a hit, especially after 1999's A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords a year later. Martin, who writes from his home in Santa Fe, N.M., was compared to The Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien. Like Tolkien's Middle-earth, Martin's Westeros is a land with a distinctive set of rules. First, magic is real. Second, winter is coming. Seasons can last for years at a time, and as the series begins, a long summer is ending. Third, no one is safe. New religions are in conflict with the old, rival houses have designs on the capital's Iron Throne, and an undead army is pushing against the boundary of civilization, known as the Wall.
Thrones' vast number of clans includes the wealthy and louche Lannisters, including incestuous twins Cersei and Jaime. She is the queen by marriage; he helped ensure her ascendancy through violence. Their brother Tyrion, an "imp" of short stature, is perhaps the most astute student of power. Then there are the Starks, led by duty-bound Ned. His children Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran, Rickon and "bastard" Jon Snow will be scattered throughout the realm's Seven Kingdoms. Daenerys is a Targaryen, an overthrown family that also—surprise—has a claim to the throne. Soon enough, Thrones devolves into an all-out melee that makes the Wars of the Roses look like Family Feud.
lena headey | cersei lannister
In the wake of director Peter Jackson's early-2000s film trilogy of Tolkien's masterpiece, Martin was courted by producers to turn his books into "the next Lord of the Rings franchise." But the Thrones story was too big, and would-be collaborators suggested cutting it to focus solely on Daenerys or Snow, for instance. Martin turned them all down. His story's expansiveness was the point.
Two middleweight novelists, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, had come to a similar conclusion and obtained Martin's blessing at what the author calls "that famous lunch that turned into a dinner, because we were there for four or five hours" in 2006. The two writers thought Thrones could only be made as a premium-cable drama, and they walked into HBO's office with an ambitious pitch to do so that year. "They were talking about this series of books I'd never heard of," says Carolyn Strauss, head of HBO's entertainment division at the time. "[I was] somebody who looked around the theater in Lord of the Rings, at all of those rapt faces, and I am just not on this particular ferry … I thought, This sounds interesting. Who knows? It could be a big show."
HBO bought the idea and handed the reins to Benioff and Weiss, making them showrunners who'd never run a show before. Benioff was best known for having adapted his novel The 25th Hour into a screenplay directed by Spike Lee. Weiss had a novel to his credit too. The two had met in a literature program in Dublin in 1995 and later reconnected in the States. "I decided I wanted to write a screenplay," Benioff told Vanity Fair in 2014. "I'd never written a script before, and I didn't know how to do it, so I asked [Weiss] if he would write one with me, because he had written a bunch already." It never got made.
The Thrones pilot, shot in 2009, got off to a rocky start. Benioff and Weiss misjudged how much planning it would take to bring Martin's fantasy to life. To portray a White Walker—mystic creatures from the North—they simply stuck an actor in a green-screen getup and hoped to figure it out later. "You can maybe do that if you're making Avatar," says Weiss. "But we need to know what the creatures look like before we turn on the camera." They also had trouble portraying Martin's nuanced characters. "Our friends—really smart, savvy writers—didn't [realize] Jaime and Cersei were brother and sister," says Benioff of the ill-fated first cut. Ultimately, they reshot the pilot.
nikolaj coster-waldau | jaime lannister
When Benioff and Weiss look back at that first season, they see plenty to nitpick. Their fealty to Martin's text, for example, made Peter Dinklage's Tyrion "Eminem blond," per Benioff. (His hair was later darkened.) Still, the elements that have made the show a monster success were there—and audiences (3 million for Thrones' first season finale) picked up on them. Arguably the most groundbreaking element was a willingness to ruthlessly murder its stars. Ned Stark, the moral center of Season 1, portrayed by the show's then most famous cast member (Sean Bean, who starred in The Lord of the Rings), is shockingly beheaded in the second-to-last episode. By the third season's "Red Wedding," a far more gruesome culling, the show had accrued enough fans to send the Internet into full on freak-out mode.
Thrones had by then become the pacesetter for all of TV in its willingness to forgo a simple happy ending in favor of delivering pleasure through brutality. Even if you don't watch, Thrones' characters and catchphrases have permeated the culture (the apparent death of Snow was an international trending topic all summer in 2015). Saturday Night Live, The Simpsons and The Tonight Show have lampooned the show. And the recent South Korean presidential election was called on a national news network with depictions of the candidates duking it out for control of the Iron Throne.
2. the production
Wandering around the Belfast set, the scope and the orderliness of the enterprise is staggering. The wights, zombie-like creatures with spookily pale faces and dressed in ragged furs, form a tidy line as they wait to grab breakfast burritos. Outside the stage door, a few smoke cigarettes, careful not to ash on their worn-in tunics. "At first we had a season with one big event, then we had a season with two big events, now we have a season where every episode is a big event," says Joe Bauer, the show's VFX supervisor. Bauer and VFX producer Steve Kullback oversee a group of 14 FX shops from New Zealand to Germany that work on the show almost continuously.
One of those big events this season is a battle whose sheer scope, even before being cut together with the show's typical brio, dazzled me. In order to get on set, I agreed not to divulge the players or what's at stake. (Thrones has been promising this clash all along, and when the time comes, the Internet will melt.) It will be all the more impressive knowing that the cast and crew were shot through with a frigid North Atlantic wind that whipped everyone during filming and sent them all flying to the coffee cart during resets. (The cold, a prosthetic artist tells me, is at least good for keeping the makeup on.)
peter dınklage | tyrion lannister
The setting is as grand as the action. The battle was filmed in what was once a Belfast quarry, drained, flattened out with 11,000 square meters of concrete and painted over with a camouflage effect—all of which took six months and required special ecological surveys. This kind of mountain moving, or leveling, is par for the course for Thrones.
Each season starts with producers Christopher Newman and Bernadette Caulfield circulating a plot outline on a color-coded spreadsheet, dictating what will be shot by the show's two simultaneous camera units, which can splinter into as many as four. It's perpetually subject to change, given the complications of a television show this ambitious—over seven seasons they've shot in Croatia, Spain, Iceland, Malta, Morocco and Canada as well as locations around Northern Ireland. While I'm in Belfast, my plan to watch Jon Snow in action is canceled because of inclement weather (that same wind) that makes filming from a drone hazardous. At this point, Caulfield will grab onto any small comfort. "Now the dragon doesn't get any bigger," she says, "so we know that much."
More Game of Thrones
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Another breakdown goes out to department heads, and a massive global triage begins. Costumer Michele Clapton, for example, begins figuring out if she'll have to dress any new characters or armies and then sets out on the most complex work. "I know that Daenerys' dresses will take the longest," she says. Each look, no matter the character, may take as many as four craftspeople to bead, stitch and—if there's meant to be wear and tear—break down. Deborah Riley, the production designer, begins looking for references to new locations in the outline. Tommy Dunne, the weapons master, starts forging gear for the season's big battles. "My big thing is the numbers," he says. "I hope they won't frighten me." He made 200 shields and 250 spears for last season's epic Battle of the Bastards.
sophie turner | sansa stark
Benioff's and Weiss's jobs amount to maintaining constant conversation with numerous producers. The pair are usually in Belfast for about six months a year. Wherever in the world they happen to be, they get daily video from the shoots and field an endless stream of emails from staff on location. During my visit, wolves described in the script as "skinny and mangy" showed up to the shoot looking fluffy and lustrous. Around the world, new message notifications lit up smartphone screens.
When Benioff and Weiss aren't shooting, they're writing. And when they aren't shooting or writing—which happens rarely—they're promoting. The two make a complementary pair. Benioff, who wears his hair in a Morrissey quiff, is the more sardonic one. Weiss, with silver rings in his ears, is nerdier and given to hyperbole. They say they're still having fun making Thrones, despite the stakes, and still regularly find themselves surprised by its scale. Weiss recalls seeing the buck Clarke rides to simulate Daenerys' dragons for the first time: "We knew it would be a mechanical bull. We didn't know it would be 40 ft. in the air and six degrees of motion with cameras that swirl." Says Benioff: "It's like the thing NASA built to train the astronauts."
Despite nonstop production, Weiss says, "There's still a kid-in-a-candy-shop feel. You're going to look at the armor, crazy-amazing dresses—gowns Michele is making—then you're going to look at the swords, then watch pre-vis cartoons of the scenes that will be shot and you're weighing in on shot selection. Every one of these things is something we've been fascinated with in our own way since we were kids."
"Especially dresses," cracks Benioff. Weiss adds, "Especially the gowns."
3. the players
The first few seasons' worth of swordplay and gowns turned the show's cast into recognizable stars. But it's the complexity of their characters, revealed over time, that made them into icons. "My friends always say to me, 'It's like you're two different people. I see articles about you in BuzzFeed'—but then they see my Facebook posts," says Maisie Williams, who plays the tomboy turned angel of vengeance Arya Stark. Williams was two days past her 14th birthday when the show debuted. There's TV-star famous, after all, and then there's some-percentage-of-23-million-people-has-been-actively-rooting-for-you-to-kill-off-your-co-stars-for-six-years famous.
Thrones' story doesn't ask its actors to break bad or good, and viewers stay tuned in large part because of the characters' moral mutability. Consider Cersei, played by Lena Headey, who is either a monster or a victim. The character has become more popular with fans even as she's wrought greater carnage, including blowing up a building full of people last season. "At the beginning, people were like, 'Oh my God, you're such a bitch!'" she says. "What's moving is that people love her now and want to be on her team." That Headey, a Brit, uses an exaggerated American accent as she delivers the harsher interpretation of her work is revealing of nothing, or a lot.
She's thought through every element of her character, though, including the incestuous relationship with Jaime that provided the show its first narrative jolt. "I love to talk about all of it," she says, citing her frequent emails to Benioff and Weiss. "Cersei's always wanted to be him. Therefore, for her, that relationship is completion. There's been an envy, because he was born with privilege just for being a man. I think their love was built on respect."
maisie williams | arya stark
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, the Danish actor who plays Jaime, is a bit less excited to discuss the subject. "I've never really gone too deep into the whole sister-brother thing because I can't use that information. I have to look at her as the woman he loves and desires. Lena's a very good actress, and that's kind of what carries the whole thing." He adds, "I have two older sisters. I do not want to go there. It's just too weird."
Even a character like Jon Snow, as close to a pure hero as possible as Season 7 begins, has outgrown the box he originally came in. Snow, an illegitimate child never embraced by his father's wife, is a James Dean daydream of Sir Walter Scott. "I made mistakes and felt that he wasn't interesting enough," says Kit Harington of the way he's played Snow. We're in a Belfast hotel bar, and Harington is squeezing in a coffee before he makes an evening showing of Manchester by the Sea. "That sounds weird, but I've never been quite content with him. Maybe that's what makes him him. That angst." His character has been slowly absorbing lessons about duty and power—and "this year there is this huge seismic shift where all of what he's learned over the years, suddenly …" Harington trails off. "He's still the same Jon, but he grows up."
Dinklage, too, found in Tyrion a character who surpassed his expectations. The actor says he'd never read fantasy beyond The Lord of the Rings. "That's the part of the bookstore I don't really gravitate toward," he says. "This was the first time in this genre that somebody my size was an actually multidimensional being, flesh and blood without the really long beard, without the pointy shoes, without the asexuality."
Thrones catapulted Dinklage, the only American in the main cast, from a well-regarded film and theater actor to among the most-recognized actors on earth in part because the asexuality is quite absent. Tyrion thirsts for wine, sex and, crucially, love and respect. As the offspring of a wealthy and powerful family, the first two are easy to come by. The latter not so much. "He covers it up with alcohol, he covers it up with humor, he does his best to maintain a modicum of sanity and he perseveres," says Dinklage. "He's still alive. Anyone who's still alive on our show is pretty smart."
Indeed, with just 13 episodes left, everything is possible—alliance, demise or coronation. "Every season I go to the last page of the last episode and go backward," says Dinklage. "I don't do that with books, but I can't crack open page one of Episode 1 not knowing if I'm dead or not."
4. the drama
The size of Thrones' controversies have, at times, been as large as its following. Its reliance on female nudity, especially Daenerys', was an early flash point. "I don't have any qualms saying to anyone it was not the most enjoyable experience. How could it be?" says Clarke. "I don't know how many actresses enjoy doing that part of it." That aspect of the role has faded as Daenerys found paths to power beyond her sexuality. This evolution from a passive naïf into a holy terror who rules by the fealty of her subjects is what has earned Daenerys, according to Clarke, the audience's loyalty. "People wouldn't give two sh-ts about Daenerys if you didn't see her suffer," she says.
More controversial still has been the prevalence of sexual violence. Many of the major female characters have been assaulted onscreen. In a 2015 sequence, Sansa, the Stark daughter played by Sophie Turner, was raped by her husband. According to the logic of the show, the plot gave her character a reason to seek revenge and power of her own. It nonetheless generated substantial blowback online and clearly turned some fans away from the series for good. "This was the trending topic on Twitter, and it makes you wonder, when it happens in real life, why isn't it a trending topic every time?" says Turner, who is 21. "This was a fictional character, and I got to walk away from it unscathed … Let's take that discussion and that dialogue and use it to help people who are going through that in their everyday lives. Stop making it such a taboo, and make it a discussion."
Benioff and Weiss claim to have seen no other possible outcome for a character stranded in a marriage to a psychopath, in a skewed version of feudal society. "It might not be our world," says Benioff, "but it's still the same basic power dynamic between men and women in this medieval world. This is what we believed was going to happen." Adds Weiss: "We talked about, is there any other way she could possibly avoid this fate that doesn't seem fake, where she uses her pluck to save herself at the last? There was no version of that that didn't seem completely horrible."
Even if Benioff and Weiss don't always admit it, the show has changed. Scenes in which exposition is delivered in one brothel or another, for example, have been pared back. It's at moments like these that the success of Thrones seems a precariously struck balance, thriving on a willingness to shock but always risking going too far.
5. the end of the end
Benioff and Weiss claim to have sworn off reading commentary about the show, good or bad. When I visit them in Los Angeles in March, they're writing the next and final season. I peek into a fridge in a lounge area in their offices, a room dominated by a Thrones-branded pinball machine Weiss proudly points out, to find three cases of beer with Westeros-themed labels, low-calorie ranch dressing and yellow mustard. At this point, they have full outlines of the final six episodes. In fact, they've been working on the very last episode, possibly the most anticipated finale since Hawkeye left Korea. "We know what happens in each scene," says Weiss.
The fact that they know is remarkable considering the show will reach its conclusion long before the books. The last new Thrones novel came out in 2011, the year the show began. The author describes his next installment, the sixth of seven, as "massively late." "The journey is an adventure," says Martin, who, at 68, has fought criticism that he won't finish the books. "There's always that process of discovery for me." But with young, and rapidly maturing, actors under contract and a community of artisans awaiting marching orders in Belfast, the show can't wait.
Benioff and Weiss always knew this would happen. So they met with the novelist in 2013, between Seasons 2 and 3, to sketch out what Martin calls "the ultimate developments" after the books and show diverge. The upshot, they say, is that the two can coexist. "Certain things that we learned from George way back then are going to happen on the show, but certain things won't," says Benioff. "And there's certain things where George didn't know what was going to happen, so we're going to find them out for the first time too."
d.b. weiss and david benioff | show-runners
In preparation for Season 7, Benioff and Weiss have gotten more possessive. That has further fueled fans' curiosity even as it has created security challenges. In the run-up to Season 6, paparazzi shots of Harington—and his distinctive in-character hairdo—in Belfast tipped the Internet off that Jon Snow wasn't, in fact, as dead as he'd seemed the season before. "Look at how difficult it is to protect information in this age," says Benioff. "The CIA can't do it. The NSA can't do it. What chance do we have?"
It's also changed the on-set dynamic. Coster-Waldau says Benioff and Weiss have "become much more protective over the story and script. I think they feel this is truly theirs now, and it's not to be tampered with. I've just sensed this last season that this is their baby: 'Just say the words as they're written, and shut up.'"
Then there's the end of the end, the finale likely to air next year or the year after. Benioff and Weiss are not writing the Thrones spin-off projects HBO revealed this year that could explore other parts of Westerosi history—some, all or none of which may end up on air. In the meantime, they claim not to be worrying about the public's reaction to their ending. (Benioff says that when it comes to endgame stress, "medication helps.") Weiss says, "I'm not saying we don't think about it." He pauses. "The best way to go about it is to focus on what's on the desk in front of you, or what sword is being put in front of you, or the fight that is being choreographed in front of you."
What's currently before them seems like plenty. When I first met Clarke in Belfast, she was shooting on the back of a dragon. When I leave a week later, she's still at it. "Thirty seconds of screen time and she's been here for 16 days," the episode's director, Taylor, remarks at one point. Later on, I'd remember this moment of exhaustion when Weiss described seeing the buck for the first time. He went on to add, "It probably feels a bit less amazing to Emilia, who sits on it for eight hours a day, six weeks in a row, getting blasted with water and fake snow and whatever else they decide to chuck at her through the fans." The table with the espresso machine—just beyond Clarke's line of sight—is well trafficked.
Clarke doesn't seem bothered, though, smiling and chatting with the crew from atop the buck. As the state-of-the-art hydraulics move her into position, her posture shifts from millennial slump to ramrod straight. In an instant, she converts herself into the ruler of the fictional space around her. On cue, she looks over her shoulder with a face of marble. She casts into an imagined world some emotion known only to her. She's gazing into a future that, in the flickering moments that the story remains a secret, only she can see.
Clarke: Jean Paul Gaultier Haute Couture gown and necklace, VV Rouleaux silk flowers, Simon Harrison earrings, Dolce & Gabbana ring; Coster-Waldau: Joshua Kane jacket, Burberry shirt, Richard James scarf; Headey: Giambattista Valli Haute Couture evening gown, Dolce & Gabbana earrings; Dinklage: John Varvatos suit and shirt, Linda Bee at Grays Antiques tie pin; Turner: Gucci dress; Weiss: Dries Van Noten suit, COS shirt, Hardy Amies tie; Benioff: Hardy Amies suit, COS shirt, Burberry tie; Williams: Valentino dress; Harington: Charles Jeffrey LOVERBOY suit jacket and shirt
On the Cover: Harington, Coster-Waldau: Dolce & Gabbana suits; Clarke: Dolce & Gabbana dress and fine jewelry, Vicki Sarge choker, VV Rouleaux collar; Headey: Dilara Findikoglu dress, Garrard fine jewelry, Erdem boots; Dinklage: John Varvatos suit
Correction: The fashion credits accompanying the original version of this story misstated the jacket worn by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. It is a Joshua Kane jacket, not a Thomas Sabo jacket.
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You've got to hear this!
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The artist's life
Streaming concert
Genticorum showcases its new lineup with new album/tour
Elizabeth Szekeres
Photo by Louise Bichan.
For over eighteen years, audiences all over Canada and around the world have delighted in the music produced by this trio from southern Québec. Genticorum has performed over a thousand concerts in fifteen different countries, presenting the exciting traditional music of Québec, (which is considered to be "world music" everywhere else,) to a global diversity of audiences. The reviews are stellar everywhere they go, and listeners love the humour, charisma and boundless energy of their live shows.
Headed by fiddler Pascal Gemme, with accompanist Yann Falquet, the band has grown musically. Five years ago a shift in the Genticorum continuum saw long-time flute player Alex de Grosbois-Garand move on to other musical interests. Stepping in to more than capably fill those shoes is Nicholas Williams, who has brought new flavor to this musical smorgasbord of Québecois trad combined with what you might call "new trad" – fresh compositions in the traditional vein.
Pascal Gemme (fiddle, feet and voice) wanted to play music from the time he was a child at his fiddler grandfather's knee. But today, he doesn't just play those traditional tunes with verve, offering singularly effortless interpretations and great arrangements, he is also a marvelous composer, creating new tunes in the traditional vein. Yann Falquet (guitar, guimbarde, diatonic accordion, voice,) has not only developed a wholly unique and beautiful style of guitar accompaniment, but is also a lovely composer in his own right. Nicholas Williams (piano accordion, flutes, voice,) seems to be able to play anything you put in his hands, and he's also a terrific composer and vocalist.
It's taken four years for the new band to gel, to be comfortable enough that they could have an intuitive sense of how to play well together. Said Pascal: "We wanted to have time to really lock in musically with Nicholas. We played a LOT together during those four years. … In some ways, putting together this album (the sixth for Genticorum,) was like it was a first album all over again."
It eventually took two years for Avant L'Orage to come to fruition.
"We wanted to have each musician contribute equally to the final arrangements," explained Pascal. "We wanted to create a true fusion of our collective experiences as professional musicians and incorporate Nicholas' expertise in harmony singing and band arrangement into the collective."
Each of the musicians brought tunes, songs and compositions to the group for consideration. They took their time, testing out the material in live performances, and then looking for the thread that bound the best ones together. From this process, the title Avant L'Orage – Before the Storm – emerged. It refers to the feeling of heaviness and tension in the air, Mother Nature holding her breath, waiting for the inevitable discharge of electrons. The idea and the feeling are replicated in the arrangements, full of nuances, tension and expectations. This intensity is captured fully in "Reel Lenoir," a kaleidoscopic, trance-inducing composition – a collaboration from all three band members.
That tension carries through the song lyrics on the album. There are tales of peril and impending doom. A young woman is married against her will. Picking roses results in a broken leg, which can only be healed by a questionable medical practice. A couple in love perishes in a shipwreck. Another couple, walking on a mountain, is to be separated by a death, and a naughty buckwheat miller lures young maidens inexorably to their doom while the creaking sails turn in the wind. The band weaves as counterpoint intricate interplay among fiddle, accordion, flute, guimbarde and guitar and conjures colourful harmonies among their voices. It's beautiful listening, even if you don't understand the French lyrics.
Now that Nicholas has joined Genticorum, the band's musical colours have grown to an entire rainbow, made possible by the addition of the two accordions as well as Nicholas' massive experience in singing harmony, performing world music, playing and arranging for contradance bands, and playing multiple kinds of flutes. Avant L'Orage is nothing short of wonderful listening. It's a testament to the talents of these gifted musicians that they've managed to again capture Genticorum's signature sound while at the same time broadening the colours and capturing the ethos afresh.
www.genticorum.com
Genticorum in concert:
July 6-9 – Winnipeg Folk Festival
July 27-29 – Festival Mémoire et Racines, Saint-Charles-Borromée, QC
Aug. 3 – Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival – St. John's, NL
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New Study Suggests that AI Can Detect Loneliness by Your Voice with 94% Accuracy
There may be times when you may have said, "Haha, that's so sad. Alexa, play Despacito," but ironically Artificial Intelligence can now detect if you're really sad or joking.
According to a recently published paper by researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicine used AI to analyze language patterns of adults to discern loneliness. The paper has been published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. It attempts to assess the breadth and depth of loneliness through voice.
Author Dr. Ellen Lee, assistant professor of psychiatry at UCSD School of Medicine told Patch "Most studies use either a direct question of "How often do you feel lonely?" which can lead to biased responses due to stigma associated with loneliness or the UCLA Loneliness Scale, which does not explicitly use the word lonely."
The study has used natural language processing or NLP which is an unbiased quantitative assessment of expressed emotion with the usual loneliness measurement tools.
NLP encompasses a variety of processes and techniques that analyze large volumes of unstructured speech and text data. In recent years, the advancement of AI and machine learning systems have bought to light, several preliminary studies to suggest conditions such as PTSD, psychosis, bipolar disorder, and depression, all of which might be detected just by analyzing natural speech.
Varsha Badal, a postdoctoral research fellow and author on the report, said "NLP and machine learning allow us to systematically examine long interviews from many individuals and explore how subtle speech features like emotions may indicate loneliness. Similar emotion analyses by humans would be open to bias, lack consistency, and require extensive training to standardize."
Also Read: RapidAI Announces $25 Million Funding to Expand Cerebrovascular Imaging Globally
Reportedly, the AI system can predict the loneliness of a person with 94% accuracy.
The researchers concluded in the study "Eventually, complex AI systems could intervene in real-time to help individuals to reduce their loneliness by adopting in positive cognitions, managing social anxiety, and engaging in meaningful social activities."
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51% Believe A Home Is A Family's Best Investment - 98% Of Big Banksters Believe Home Equity is Easily Looted - Rasmussen Reports™
51% Believe A Home Is A Family's Best Investment - Rasmussen Reports™
POVERTY IN THE BURBS…you are next and an illegal is next in your job!
OBAMAnomics at work: SOARING RICHES FOR THE 1%, SOARING UNEMPLOYMENT FOR AMERICANS (LEGALS), SOARING PROFITS and CRIMES FOR OBAMA'S BANKSTER DONORS and SOARING TAXES TO PAY FOR MEXICO'S WELFARE STATE IN OUR BORDERS!
Much of the rise in suburban poverty is due to the impoverishment of working families already living there. The decline in manufacturing, the Great Recession, and widespread foreclosures have left many longtime suburban families reeling
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2013/09/obamas-america-soaring-poverty.html
Much of the rise in suburban poverty is due to the impoverishment of working families already living there. The decline in manufacturing, the Great Recession, and widespread foreclosures have left many longtime suburban families reeling.
PROFITS SOARED AS DID BANK CRIMES and FORECLOSURES.
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2013/09/obama-vows-to-banks-he-will-continue-to.html
"That McLaughlin's plan can be presented as "left" only underscores the fact that the Obama administration has done absolutely nothing to assist homebuyers. Its mortgage programs have been based on the banks voluntarily agreeing to restructure loans for small sections of the population, with no reduction in principal. The administration has worked closely with the banks to minimize their liability for their fraudulent and criminal practices that have already led millions to lose their homes."
THE WRECKING OF AMERICA: BARACK OBAMA and his LOOTING WALL STREET DONORS PILLAGE A NATION BUSH STYLE!
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-wrecking-of-america-barack-obama.html
In 2008, candidate Obama preached: "We need a president who will look out for the interests of hardworking families, not just their big campaign donors and corporate allies."… AND HE NEVER STOPPED LYING TO US OR LOOTING US ON BEHALF OF HIS WALL STREET BANSTERS.
WARS FOR MUSLIMS, OPEN BORDERS WITH NARCOMEX AND UNLEASHED RAPE BY WALL STREET DONORS!
the figures are in on Obama's looting of America for Wall Street!
STAGGERING POVERTY IN AMERICA CAUSED BY OBAMA, HIS CRONIES AND WALL STREET DONORS…AND THEN ILLEGALS GET THE JOBS!
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2013/09/obamanomics-and-obamas-crony-capitalism.html
According to a new report by University of California Berkeley Professor Emmanuel Saez, the gulf between the wealthy and the rest of society has sharply expanded under Obama. The richest one percent now monopolize more than 22 percent of all household income in America. The richest ten percent of the population now control more than half of the nation's income, 50.4 percent—the highest proportion since the government began collecting income statistics in 1917.
Since 2009, the richest one percent has captured a staggering 95 percent of all income gains. The class war policies of the government—including bank bailouts, "quantitative easing" and an attack on wage and benefits for the working class—have led to a 31.4 percent rise in income for the top one percent. The wealthy have more than recovered the losses that came from the Wall Street collapse of 2008.
Meanwhile, the bottom 99 percent has seen a negligible 0.4 percent rise in income. Tens of millions of workers—who never recovered from the record household income drop of 2007 to 2009—continue to reel from the effects of mass job losses, falling wages, home foreclosures, indebtedness and social service cuts.
Posted by The Mexican Invasion & Occupation at 12:28 PM No comments: Links to this post
WELFARE FOR MEXICAN ANCHOR BABY BREEDERS IN LOS ANGELES ABOVE $600 MILLION PER YEAR - CANDIDATE HILDA SOLIS VOWS TO DOUBLE IT AND PUT MORE ILLEGALS INTO AMERICAN JOBS
SHE WAS APPOINTED BY HISPANDERING BARACK OBAMA TO EASE MILLIONS OF MEXICANS INTO OUR JOBS AND VOTING BOOTHS.
DURING OBAMA'S FIRST TERM ALONE TWO-THIRDS OF ALL JOBS WENT TO IMMIGRANTS, BOTH LEGAL AND ILLEGAL!
"Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, a former California congresswoman with close ties to the influential La Raza movement, announced the "We Can Help" project with great fanfare a few days ago."
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2013/11/hilda-solis-runs-for-los-angeles-county.html
SHE IS A LA RAZA SUPREMACIST AND SUPPORTER OF MEXICAN FASCISM AND THE EXPANSION OF THE MEXICAN WELFARE STATE in AMERICA – THEY ALREADY GET OUR VOTES.
Mexico endorses HILDA SOLIS for Los Angeles County Supervisor - Dedicated to expanding the MEXICAN WELFARE STATE in Mex-infested MEXIFORNIA
FOOLS STILL THINK MEXICANS ARE NOT VOTING FOR LA RAZA SUPREMACY. THEY VOTE IN DROVES FOR RACIST LA RAZA SUPREMACIST GIL CEDILLO!
WHEN ILLEGALS ELECT MEXICANS, THAT LA RAZA SUPREMACIST CONSIDERS MEXICANS THEIR SOLE CONSTITUENCY, BOTH LEGAL AND ILLEGALS!
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2013/08/gil-cedillo-la-raza-fascism-at-work-in.html
But that nickname diminishes Cedillo, who should be taken seriously. When it comes to representing the interests of illegal immigrants Gil Cedillo is a true believer.
LA's own 'secretary of state' not looking after our interests
By Doug McIntyre, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 08/17/13, 6:31 PM PDT | Updated: 11 secs ago
Our secretary of state was one busy diplomat last week scrambling to get ahead of a mushrooming crisis.
COUNTY SUPERIVISOR CANDIDATE HILDA SOLIS and the MEXICAN FASCIST PARTY of LA RAZA
LA RAZA CANDIDATE HILDA SOLIS for LOS ANGELES COUNTY SUPERVISOR VOWS TO EXPAND WELFARE FOR ILLEGALS and EASE MORE ILLEGALS INTO AMERICAN JOBS
HILDA SOLIS RUNS FOR LOS ANGELES COUNTY SUPERVISOR - CAN WE AFFORD ANOTHER LA RAZA SUPREMACIST AFTER GLORIA MOLINA?
"Latinos vote in primaries and in the general election."
LaRaza Calls For Boycott Against Free Speech
No surprise here. Pulling the race/hate card again and using political correctness La Raza goes after cable shows reporting on illegal immigration.
"Murguía said she recognized that ultimately the power to change the debate lies with the Hispanic community itself. "Latinos buy products from the advertisers supporting these programs," she said. "Latinos vote in primaries and in the general election. We have a significant role to play picking winners and losers in both arenas. We need to make it clear to those who embrace hate that they do so at their own economic and political peril."
http://www.nclr.org/content/news/detail/50375/
FIFTEEN THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT LA RAZA "THE RACE" Obama-funded Mexican fascism in our borders!
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2012/06/obamas-part-base-of-la-raza-15-things.html
SOME HISTORY OF THE MEXICAN FASCIST PARTY of LA RAZA:
ON THE GROWIN POWER OF "LA RAZA" FASCISM FOR MEX SUPREMACY
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2011/04/history-of-mexican-fascist-party-of-la.html
Tonight Tuesday July 8, 2008
Sens. McCain and Obama are fiercely courting the Latino vote. Last month they spoke to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials; today it's the League of United Latin American Citizens' national convention; and this weekend they're set to address the National Council of La Raza, one of the most radical socio-ethnocentric interest groups in the country.
"The American Southwest seems to be slowly returning to the jurisdiction of Mexico without firing a single shot." --- Excelsior, the national newspaper of Mexico
STATE by STATE… 49 more mexifornias
has Obama promised Mexico, La Raza and employers of illegals open and undefended borders and 49 more easy to loot mexifornias?
THE BIGGEST MEXICAN DUMPSTER IN CA IS LOS ANGELES, GATEWAY FOR THE MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS AND MEXICO'S CENTER FOR ANCHOR BABY FACTORY FOR WELFARE.
MEXIFORNIA: The Shattering of the American Dream
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2012/11/california-mexicos-looted-welfare-state.html
MEXICO BANKRUPTS CALIFORNIA HOSPITALS - MEX CONSULATES URGE LOOTING OF LEGALS
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2012/10/mexico-bankrupts-california-hospitals.html
JUDICIAL WATCH:
While the Obama Administration halts deportations to work on its secret amnesty plan, hospitals across the U.S. are getting stuck with the exorbitant tab of medically treating illegal immigrants and some are finally demanding compensation from the federal government.
OBAMA HANDS TAX DOLLARS TO MEXICAN SUPREMACIST:
(THE 2013 AMNESTY HOAX UPS AMERICAN TAX MONEY GOING TO THE MEXICAN FASCIST PARTY of LA RAZA BY $150 MILLION! VIVA LA RAZA SUPREMACY? WE ARE PAYING FOR IT!
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2011/05/obama-first-hispandering-la-raza.html
Now you sound off. Should the United States taxpayer be funding the National Council of La Raza? THE MEXICAN FASCIST PARTY of LA RAZA FOR MEXICAN SUPREMACY
By Dave Gibson
2006 – UNDER BARACK OBAMA, FUNDING FOR LA RAZA HAS SOARED.
http://americandaily.com/article/15577
In 2005, the Latino group known as La Raza (The Race) was given $15.2 million in U.S. federal grants.
American Taxpayers Being Forced To Support Latino Nazi Party
By Dave Gibson (09/17/06)
In 2005, the Latino group known as La Raza (The Race) was given $15.2 million in U.S. federal grants. La Raza also received an additional $4 million in so-called 'earmarks' tucked into the 2005 Housing Bill, which our Congress passed and President Bush signed. Considering the racist agenda of La Raza, giving federal funds to this group is tantamount to the U.S. funding the Nazis in the 1930's.
The comparison to the Nazi Party is well deserved. La Raza openly supports pushing all but Latino Americans out of a portion of the United States (ethnic cleansing), they call for 'Reconquista' or the re-conquest of the American Southwest by Mexico (the re-occupation of the Sudetanland), and the establishment of 'Atzlan' which is the utopian all-Latino version of the American Southwestern states (Adolf Hitler planned to called his utopia Germania).
Karl Rove was one of the keynote speakers at this year's annual National Council of La Raza Conference. The event was held in Los Angeles (the eventual capital of Atzlan). Other speakers included Jesse Jackson, Bill Clinton, and the virulent racist L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The fact that Karl Rove is the President's top political adviser and addressed the group with Bush's blessing, is a strong indicator that this nation is being subverted at the very highest levels.
If La Raza was a white supremacist group with equally deep pockets, the U.S. government would place them on a terrorist watch list, infiltrate them with undercover FBI agents, and subject them to constant harassment by the Internal Revenue Service. Eventually, the group's leaders would be jailed and the group itself would be rendered irrelevant. However, because La Raza is a Latino supremacist group, the Bush administration and most of Congress offer them financial support!
One of La Raza's biggest supporters is Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV). In 2001, Reid asked the Senate Appropriations Committee for $5 million to help further the racist goals of that organization. That same year, La Raza gave Sen. Reid their Capital Award for "his commitment to advance legislation priorities of the Latino community." Reid in turn praised La Raza by saying: "La Raza is like the biblical David, fighting all these Goliaths."
Taxpayer funds are also funneled to La Raza through the Department of Health and Human Services, The Environmental Protection Agency, and even NASA. Tax dollars are hidden in these government agencies, earmarked to be specifically given away to La Raza. Inside the halls of Congress, the practice is known as discretionary funding...In the real world it is known as money laundering!
In 2005, $7.9 million was stolen from the American taxpayers and given out to Latino-only charter schools in the form of U.S. Department of Education grants. The following is a list of a few of those schools:
-La Academia Semillas del Pueblo (Los Angeles)
-Atzlan Academy (Tucson, AZ)
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2012/02/e-verify-obama-sabotages-to-put-his-la.html
THE LA RAZA MEXICAN FASCIST MOVEMENT DEMANDS EXPANDED OBAMACARE for MEXICANS.
ACTUALLY LA RAZA SUPREMACIST ESQUELAS, MEXICAN EXPECT THE DEMOCRAT PARTY TO AIDE THEM IN LOOTING THE STUPID GRINGOS, BECAUSE THE ONLY THING MEXICO DOES FOR THEIR POOR, CRIMINALS AND ANCHOR BABY BREEDERS IS EXPORT THEM TO LOOT AMERICANS!
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2013/09/mexico-la-raza-supremacy-party-and.html
"Latinos have an expectation that government will fulfill certain basic services and health care is one of them," Fernando Espuelas, who hosts a popular call-in radio show on Univision, tells me.
"WE WILL TAKE CONTROL OF OUR COUNTRY (U.S.) BY VOTE IF POSSIBLE AND VIOLENCE IF NECESSARY!"…. THE MEXICAN FASCIST PARTY of LA RAZA
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2013/08/by-anchor-baby-breeding-illgals-voting.html
OBAMA'S AGENDA OF BUYING THE LA RAZA "THE RACE" ILLEGALS' VOTES BY EASING THEM INTO OUR JOBS! THIS KEEPS WAGES DEPRESSED, AND THEREFORE OBAMA'S WALL ST. DONORS HAPPY AND GENEROUS!
If job creation is the goal, make E-Verify mandatory - TheHill.com
OBAMA'S LA RAZA DEPT. of JUSTICE, WHEN NOT ARMING THE MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS, IS HARASSING AMERICAN STATES WITH LAWSUITS, FIGHTING AGAINST IDs TO EASE ILLEGALS INTO OUR VOTING BOOTHS, AND FIGHTING E-VERIFY!
THERE ARE ONLY EIGHT (8) STATES WITH A POPULATION GREATER THAN LOS ANGELES COUNTY WHERE HALF OR MORE JOBS GO TO ILLEGAL USING STOLEN SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS! THIS SAME COUNTY PAYS OUT $600 MILLION PER YEAR IN WELFARE TO ILLEGALS!
THE LA RAZA FACTION OF THE STATE LEGISLATURE PASSED A LAW SIGNED BY LA RAZA DEM, GOV JERRY BROWN MAKING IT ILLEGAL FOR EMPLOYERS TO USE E-VERIFY!!!
LOS ANGELES IS THE MEX GANG CAPITAL OF AMERICAN, AND GATEWAY FOR THE MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS!
VIVA LA RAZA SUPREMACY? IT'S WHAT OBAMA DOES EVERY DAY!
DEMS ARE THE PARTY FOR ILLEGALS = DEPRESSED WAGES AND HAPPY DONORS!
OBAMA PUT A LA RAZA SUPREMACIST IN AS SEC. OF LABOR TO ASSURE ILLEGALS GET OUR JOBS FIRST!
If job creation is the goal, make E-Verify mandatory
By Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) - 06/14/11 04:30 PM ET
In a speech delivered during a campaign fundraising trip to Texas last month, President Obama called for Congress to approve comprehensive immigration reform, also known as "amnesty." Meanwhile, the president and his administration claim that putting unemployed Americans back to work is their No. 1 priority.
But these two goals cannot be met simultaneously. The president cannot say on one hand that he wants to create jobs and on the other that he wants to legalize millions of illegal immigrants.
Amnesty prevents Americans from getting jobs, since millions of illegal immigrants will become eligible to work legally in the United States. The president's proposal to legalize millions of illegal immigrants means more competition for American workers who are in need of jobs.
Look at history to see how amnesty has played out in the past. In 1986, Congress legalized about 3 million illegal immigrants. It didn't fix the problem; it only made it worse. Today, there are more than 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., and 7 million people work here illegally. At the same time, 26 million Americans are unemployed or have given up looking for work.
It is inexcusable that Americans and legal workers have to compete with illegal immigrants for scarce jobs. Rather than reward lawbreakers, we should put American workers first.
Fortunately, there is a free, quick and easy tool available to preserve jobs for legal workers: E-Verify. But the program is currently voluntary. Congress has the opportunity to expand E-Verify so more job opportunities are made available to unemployed Americans. There is no other legislation that can be enacted that will create more jobs -- maybe millions more -- for American workers.
Created in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, E-Verify is a Web-based system that allows employers to electronically verify the work eligibility of newly hired employees.
Under E-Verify, the Social Security numbers of new hires are checked against Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security records to weed out fraudulent numbers and help ensure that new hires are legally authorized to work in the U.S.
Even though E-Verify is not mandatory, more than 250,000 businesses willingly use E-Verify and 1,300 new businesses sign up each week. Individuals eligible to work receive immediate confirmation 99.5 percent of the time.
Unlike amnesty, E-Verify has received overwhelming bipartisan support since its creation as a pilot program in 1996. It was extended in 2002, 2008 and 2010. In 2008, the House passed a standalone five-year extension of E-Verify by a vote of 407-2. And in 2009, the Senate passed a permanent E-Verify extension by voice vote.
Part of the success of E-Verify is that participating employers are happy with the results. Outside evaluations have found that the vast majority of employers using E-Verify believe it to be an effective and reliable tool for checking the legal status of their employees.
And E-Verify recently received an exceptionally high overall customer satisfaction score -- 82 out of 100 on the American Customer Satisfaction Index scale. That is well above the overall federal government satisfaction index of 69.
The American people also support E-Verify. A May 2011 Rasmussen poll found that 82 percent of likely voters think businesses should be required to use the federal government's E-Verify system to determine if a potential employee is in the country legally.
And a 2010 Zogby poll of minorities commissioned by the Center for Immigration Studies found that 88 percent of likely minority voters polled support reducing the illegal immigrant population over time by enforcing existing immigration laws, such as requiring employers to verify the legal status of their workers.
With millions of citizens and legal workers looking for work, it is important that we promote policies that increase job opportunities for Americans and legal immigrants. Amnesty undermines this goal, but making E-Verify mandatory helps achieve it.
As long as opportunities for illegal employment exist, the incentive to enter the United States illegally or to overstay visas will continue.
If job creation is the president's priority, then he should push Congress to pass mandatory E-Verify legislation. We cannot sit and hope that businesses hire only legal workers; hope is not a strategy. E-Verify is our best tool for reducing the jobs magnet and creating more jobs for American workers.
Smith is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
http://thehill.com/special-reports/immigration-june-2011/166421-if-job-creation-is-the-goal-make-e-verify-mandatory
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2012/01/e-verify-obama-sabotages-our-laws.html
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2011/05/joe-american-legal-vs-la-raza-jose.html
AN AMERICAN SEES & SPEAKS!
THE REASON OBAMA NOMINATED SOTOMAYER WAS BECAUSE SHE'S A "WISE LATINA" BITCH, AND HAD LONG HISTORY OF PANDERING FOR BIG BUSINESS INTERESTS, LIKE OBAMA! IT DIDN'T HURT THAT SOTOMAYER IS A MEMBER OF THE MEXICAN FASCIST PARTY of LA RAZA "THE RACE", AS YOU DON'T WORK IN OBAMA'S ADMIN UNLESS YOU'RE LA RAZA OR BANKSTER CONNECTED!!!
Sonia Sotomayor opposes E-Verify requirement
True to form, she said it was illegal to make employers e-verify citizen status of new hires.
Interesting, she says a state cannot force employers to check if employees they are hiring are illegal. Thankfully the court ruled 5-3 supporting law. But now we know for sure just how extreme far left Obama's choice was. We cannot afford Obama to get another term, or you can bet this country will be overrun by illegals. I don't want this country to be poor and corrupt like Mexico, which it will if illegals overrun the country.
"PUNISH OUR ENEMIES"… does that mean assault the legals of Arizona that must fend off the Mexican invasion, occupation, growing criminal and welfare state, as well as Mex Drug cartels???
OBAMA TELLS ILLEGALS "PUNISH OUR ENEMIES"
Each day new reports come in from across the nation that our movement is surging and more incumbents, mostly Democrats, are about to fall on Election Day. Obama's approval ratings are falling to new lows as he makes highly inappropriate statements to Spanish language audiences asking illegal alien supporters to help him "punish our enemies."
FROM JUDICIAL WATCH. org – get on their emails!
Labor Dept. Helps Illegal Alien Workers
Last Updated: Tue, 04/06/2010 - 11:04am
The Department of Labor has launched a special program to assist and protect illegal immigrant workers in the U.S., referred to as "vulnerable" and "underpaid" by the presidential cabinet member who heads the agency.
Hundreds of new field investigators have been deployed to reach out to Latino laborers in areas with large numbers of illegal alien employees. Their message, in Spanish, is "we can help" bring workplace protections to the nation's most vulnerable and underpaid workers, including those who have no legal right to live in the Untied States.
(THE OBAMA PLAN TO PUT ILLEGALS INTO OUR JOBS AND VOTING BOOTHS!)
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, a former California congresswoman with close ties to the influential La Raza movement, announced the "We Can Help" project with great fanfare a few days ago. A total of 1,000 investigators from her agency will focus on enforcing labor and wage laws in industries that typically hire lots of illegal aliens without reporting anyone to federal immigration authorities.
(WHO WORKS FOR THE RIGHTFUL JOBS OF AMERICAN CITIZENS? WHO ENFORCES THE LAWS THAT PROHIBIT THE EMPLOYMENT OF ILLEGALS, EVEN IF THEY HAVE A STOLEN SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER? NOT THE LA RAZA DEMS, OR HISPANDERING BARACK OBAMA!)
Solis told Latino workers that "your president, your secretary of labor and this department will not allow anyone to be denied his or her rightful pay, especially when so many in our nation are working long, hard and often dangerous hours." She assured illegal immigrants that "if you work in this country, you are protected by our laws."
The same day Solis publicly announced the Obama Administration's new project, a Labor Department investigator visited a day laborer center in northern California to promote it. The federal employee actually chatted warmly with the illegal immigrants about how to find jobs without being exploited, according to a local newspaper report. "We're the feds but the good ones," he told the day laborers in Spanish. "We're here to help workers."
The agency has also launched a Spanish television advertising campaign to spread the word and created a web site. Workers in industries from construction to food service are urged to contact the Labor Department of wage and hour violations. An investigator may be deployed to the work site or the employer may be taken to court.
OBAMA COOKS THE UNEMPLOYMENT NUMBERS FOR HIS LA RAZA PARTY BASE of ILLEGALS!
Do a search for OBAMA and LA RAZA – "THE RACE" – The Mexican Fascist Party of LA RAZA.
Unemployment Rate Falsified! (DC)
Just as the Federal Reserve Bank of America is a private bank, the United States Department of Labor is a private company. It's important to note that they were both established in 1913! Why should unemployment figures given by a private company to the U.S. citizens be believed? Hilda Solis was appointed to be Secretary of the United States Department of Labor by Obama. Being that the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is a corporation and no longer a republic, it is not a stretch of the imagination that Obama would order an employee in one department of the corporation of which he is the CEO, to falsify unemployment rates along with other data. The true unemployment rate is estimated to be about 21 %. Obama only hired Hilda Solis because she's half Mexican, half Nicaraguan and he could then sucker in the racist Hispanic votes.
http://www.manta.com/c/mmcmlj6/united-states-department-of-labor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilda_Solis
http://www.republicoftheunitedstates.org/what-is-the-republic/history/
Obama is surrounded by communists that he appointed to key positions in his administration. Hilda Solis may have questionable roots from Mexico (La Raza) and Nicaragua (communists) so she is not to be trusted! She's a liar just as everyone else in the administration, and real Americans know it! The brain dead zombies simply don't care.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/10/05/Suspicion-Falls-on-Labor-Secretary-Solis-as-Jobs-Numbers-Questioned
WIKILEAKS EXPOSES OBAMA'S OPEN BORDERS AGENDA
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2011/05/wikileaks-exposed-obamas-la-raza-open.html
OBAMA'S AMERICA: Open & Undefended Borders!
"What we're seeing is our Congress and national leadership dismantling our laws by not enforcing them. Lawlessness becomes the norm, just like Third World corruption. Illegal aliens now have more rights and privileges than Americans. If you are an illegal alien, you can drive a car without a driver's license or insurance. You may obtain medical care without paying. You may work without paying taxes. Your children enjoy free education at the expense of taxpaying Americans."
THE LA RAZA PRESIDENT'S SABOTAGE OF OUR COUNTRY'S BORDERS FOR ILLEGALS' VOTES!
"While the declining job market in the United States may be discouraging some would-be border crossers, a flow of illegal aliens continues unabated, with many entering the United States as drug-smuggling "mules."
In Mexico City, she announced that the U.S. appetite for illegal drugs and the easy acquisition of guns from the United States by Mexicans are the root causes of the Mexican crime wave. "Blame America" has become the global agenda of the Democratic Party.
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2011/08/obamas-hispanicazation-of-america-most.html
Obama's 'Hispanicazation' of America
Monday, January 10, 2011 08:28 AM
By: James Walsh
Casting a shadow on economic recovery efforts in the United States is the cost of illegal immigration that consumes U.S. taxpayer dollars for education, healthcare, social welfare benefits, and criminal justice. Illegal aliens (or more politically correct, "undocumented immigrants") with ties to Mexican drug cartels are contributing to death and destruction on U.S. lands along the southern border.
As the liberal news media, far-left Democrats, and labor unions push for the "Hispanicazation" of U.S. culture, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says the U.S. border has never been more secure.
Increasingly vicious foot soldiers of the Mexican drug cartels are taking control of U.S. lands along the border, especially since U.S. Border Patrol units have been reassigned, some to offices 60 to 80 miles inland.
The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) early last year posted signs warning citizens to avoid Interstate 8 between Casa Grande and Gila Bend, Ariz., because of criminal activity in the area, an area that includes protected natural areas precious to the nation.
In reaction to public outrage over the signs, the BLM removed the offensive wording in October 2010, replacing it with the following: Visitor Information Update—Active Federal Law Enforcement Patrol Area.
Perhaps she is basing this on the reduced number of apprehensions, which result, of course, from reassigning Border Patrol agents inland.
In a recent New York Times article, Nicholas Kristof criticized U.S. citizens for not speaking a foreign language and suggested that "Every child in the United States should learn Spanish." He concluded that as the United States increasingly integrates economically with Latin America, Spanish will be crucial for the United States.
For decades, the liberal left has argued that Latin America is essential for U.S. business and trade. Kristof states that Latin America "is finally getting its act together" but fails to mention the Obama administration's $2 billion loan of U.S. taxpayer money in 2009 to Brazil's Petrobras oil company for deep off-shore oil drilling. Obama confidant George Soros, through the Soros Fund Management LLC, until recently owned millions of dollars of Petrobras stock.
Kristof suggests that one day Spanish-speaking Americans will be part of daily life in the United States and that workmen such as mechanics will be able to communicate easily with Spanish-speaking customers.
He fails to explain why these customers will not be speaking English. After all, the ability to speak, read, and write English remains a requirement for U.S. citizenship.
President Barack Obama gives lip service to increasing border control resources with limited funding and personnel. Many officials, including the governors of Texas and Arizona, are skeptical regarding the Obama administration's resolve. They resent that the United States is being blamed for the killing fields on both sides of the Mexico-U.S. Border.
For instance, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in March 2009, during her first official visit to Mexico, placed the blame for the Mexican drug cartels' vicious murders on the United States.
The Obama administration's plan to resolve the immigration chaos is to offer amnesty to all comers. President Obama re-affirms his support of a "pathway to citizenship" (amnesty) for illegal aliens in 2011.
The administration, however, has announced no plans to control the influx of future waves of illegal aliens or their skyrocketing costs to the nation. The administration, which condones U.S. sanctuary cities and states, has no plans to file charges against them for violations of federal immigration law. Nor does the administration seem concerned about the environmental impact that illegal aliens have on the ecology of the United States.
Many national forests, parks, monuments, wilderness areas, and wildlife refuges — once the pride of the nation — are serving today as marijuana fields for illegal alien gangs.
Former Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi reportedly said to a gathering of illegal aliens in California in 2009 that U.S. immigration laws were "un-American," suggesting that they need not be obeyed. Concerned citizens can only trust that the new speaker of the House, John Boehner, as part of congressional oversight of federal agencies, will demand enforcement of existing immigration laws.
When will President Obama recognize that illegal immigration is slowing economic recovery? Can he resolve the chaos while still appeasing his Hispanic base?
To maintain his populist aura, the president is in the habit of saying one thing to one audience and the opposite to another.
One Obama apologist explained, "Campaign rhetoric is one thing," suggesting that governing is another. The deliberate Hispanicazation of the United States to secure a block of votes is quite another.
ALIPAC EXPOSES OBAMA'S EXECUTIVE AMENSTY!
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2011/06/alipac-obamas-pursuing-executive.html
OBAMA QUIETLY PURSUING HIS BIT BY BIT BY BIT AMNESTY BY NON-ENFORCEMENT!
ALIPAC NOTE: The US Constitution does not allow the President to make policy out of legislation that has been defeated in Congress 8 times. These new authoritarian orders are not Constitutional and we are asking all of our supporters to be ready for emergency measures in defense of the American Republic in the coming weeks. This unlawful AMNESTY for ILLEGAL ALIENS will not stand!
LA RAZA INVITED TO LOBBY FOR ILLEGALS IN WHITE HOUSE
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2011/06/cecilia-munoz-obamas-la-raza-infested.html
"Despite his solemn promise to the American people to keep lobbyists out of his Administration, two more have slipped in. The Hill reports:
The waivers were provided for Jocelyn Frye, director of policy and projects in the Office of the First Lady, and Cecilia Munoz, director of intergovernmental affairs in the executive office of the president.
. . . Munoz was a senior vice president for the National Council of La Raza, where she supervised all legislative and advocacy activities on the state and local levels. Munoz was heavily involved in the immigration battles in Congress in recent years, and is now a principal liaison to the Hispanic community for the administration.
Thanks for all the lies, Obama!!"
LA RAZA PARTY MEMBER "WISE LATINA" SONIA SOTOMAYER
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2011/05/sonia-sotomayer-la-raza-party-member-on.html
PUTTING ILLEGALS IN OUR JOBS
OBAMA AND HIS LA RAZA INFESTED ADMINSTRATION
Sonia Sotomayor opposes E-Verify requirement –
OBAMA'S SEC. of (illegal) LABOR, LA RAZA SUPREMACIST HILDA SOLIS:
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2011/05/jobs-obamas-dept-of-la-raza-illegal.html
LA RAZA HILDA SOLIS - The U.S. Department of Illegal Alien Labor
President Obama's Labor Secretary Hilda Solis is supposed to represent American workers. What you need to know is that this longtime open--borders sympathizer has always had a rather radical definition of "American." At a Latino voter registration project conference in Los Angeles many years ago, Solis asserted to thunderous applause, "We are all Americans, whether you are legalized or not." (BUT THE PROBLEM IS… ONLY MEXICANS GET THE JOBS!)
That's right. The woman in charge of enforcing our employment laws doesn't give a hoot about our immigration laws ---- or about the fundamental distinction between those who followed the rules in pursuit of the American dream and those who didn't.
FROM JUDICIAL WATCH .org
Labor Secretary Pledges Help For Illegal Workers
Two months after the Department of Labor launched a special program to assist and protect illegal immigrants in the U.S. the Obama cabinet official who heads the agency is personally encouraging undocumented workers to report employers that don't pay them fairly.
In a Spanish-language public service announcement, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis assures that "every worker in America has a right to be paid fairly, whether documented or not." Illegal aliens who are not getting fair wages are encouraged to call a new hotline set up by the agency on a new "Podemos Ayudar" (We Can Help) web page designed to administer worker protection laws and ensure that employees are properly paid "regardless of immigration status."
In the short video, also posted in English, Solis tells illegal immigrants that it's a "serious problem" when workers in this country are not paid fairly and that all workers have the right to receive their salary regardless of immigration status. She encourages those who are not to call the new hotline and assures it's free and confidential. "Podemos ayudar," (we can help), Solis guarantees at the end of the brief segment.
The Labor Secretary's new message is part of a campaign launched a few months ago to help illegal immigrant workers in the U.S., who she refers to as "vulnerable" and "underpaid." At least 1,000 new field investigators have been deployed to reach out to Latino laborers in areas with large numbers of illegal alien employees and the agency will focus on enforcing labor and wage laws in industries that typically hire lots of illegal aliens without reporting anyone to federal immigration authorities.
For a government agency to protect law breakers in this fashion may seem unbelievable but not if you consider the source. A Former California congresswoman, Solis has close ties to the influential La Raza movement that advocates open borders and rights for illegal immigrants. She made the protection of undocumented workers a major priority upon being named Labor Secretary, assuring illegal aliens that "if you work in this country, you are protected by our laws."
"While the declining job market in the United States may be discouraging some would-be border crossers, a flow of illegal aliens continues unabated, with many entering the United States as drug-smuggling "mules."
Two-thirds of jobs go to immigrants during Obama's four years
Researchers say legals and illegals are more mobile than natives in America
By Stephen Dinan
Two-thirds of those who have found employment under President Obama are immigrants, both legal and illegal, according to an analysis that suggests immigration has soaked up a large portion of what little job growth there has been over the past three years.
The Center for Immigration Studies is releasing the study Thursday morning, a day ahead of the final Labor Department unemployment report of the campaign season, which is expected to show a sluggish job market more than three years into the economic recovery.
That slow market, combined with the immigration numbers, could explain why Mr. Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney have struggled to find a winning jobs message in some of the country's hardest-hit postindustrial regions.
"It's extraordinary that most of the employment growth in the last four years has gone to the foreign-born, but what's even more extraordinary is the issue has not even come up during a presidential election that is so focused on jobs," said Steven A. Camarota, the center's research director, who wrote the report along with demographer Karen Zeigler.
His numbers are stark: Since the first quarter of 2009, the number of immigrants of working age (16 to 65) who are employed has risen 2 million, from 21.2 million to 23.2 million. During the same time, native-born employment has risen just 1 million, to reach 119.9 million.
It's a trend years in the making: Immigrants are working more, and native-born Americans are working less.
In 2000, 76 percent of natives aged 18 to 65 were employed, but that dropped steadily to 69 percent this September. By contrast, immigrants started the last decade at 71 percent employment and rose to a peak of 74 percent at the height of the George W. Bush-era economic boom. They since have slid down to 69 percent amid the sluggish economy.
The Center for Immigration Studies, which wants the government to impose stricter limits on immigration, based its numbers on the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey.
Alex Nowrasteh, a policy analyst at the Cato Institute, which favors letting the markets rather than the government control the flow of immigration, said Mr. Camarota's numbers are "making a mountain out of a molehill."
He said delving into specific numbers explains why immigrants have done better over the past four years: They generally gravitate toward parts of the economy that have picked up faster in the nascent recovery.
"Most of the areas of the U.S. economy that are hiring right now, like agriculture and high-tech industries, are those where immigrants have always been overly represented," Mr. Nowrasteh said.
He also said immigrants are quicker to jump into the rebounding job market while native-born Americans, who under federal law have more welfare options and access to unemployment benefits, are slower to find work.
Mr. Nowrasteh and Mr. Camarota said another factor could be immigrants' mobility.
Natives have roots wherever they live, and it may take higher wages to get them to move for jobs, even if their homes are in depressed areas. Immigrants already have uprooted themselves and can more easily pick places where jobs are available.
Indeed, Mr. Camarota's numbers show that most of the immigrant employment growth went to new arrivals, not to foreign-born residents already in the United States — a figure that suggests immigrants already settled here were having some of the same difficulties as the native-born.
There is some bright news: an uptick over the past year among native-born Americans accounting for two-thirds of all new employment growth.
Full overhaul
Net immigration — both legal and illegal — averaged more than 1.1 million in the 1990s and slightly less than 900,000 in the past decade.
Mr. Camarota said it didn't slow much despite the economic downturn.
"We have a situation where the job market — the bottom fell out, yet we kept legal immigration relatively high without even a national debate," he said. "As a consequence, a lot of the job growth has been going to immigrants."
Immigration has been a touchy political issue for more than a decade, and while all sides agree that the system is broken, efforts to overhaul it in 2006 and 2007 fell short.
This campaign, Mr. Romney and Mr. Obama have talked about streamlining the legal immigration system to allow in more high-tech workers. Mr. Romney has said he wants to "staple a green card" to every advanced degree in science, mathematics or engineering earned by an immigrant.
Beyond that, Mr. Obama has vowed to make legalizing illegal immigrants a major push in a second term — and has said if he wins re-election, he thinks Republicans will embrace that goal, realizing that otherwise, Hispanic voters will reject the GOP.
Mr. Romney has talked about legalizing a small number of illegal immigrants, though he has been studiously vague about his specific plans in an effort to try not to alienate voters on either side of the issue.
Mr. Obama did take action this year to grant many illegal immigrants up to 30 years of age a tentative legal status that prevents them from being deported and authorizes them to work in the United States.
Some Republicans in Congress have criticized Mr. Obama's policy, saying it violates his powers and will mean more competition for scarce jobs.
Mr. Romney has said he would not rescind any stays of deportation that Mr. Obama issues but wouldn't issue any new ones himself.
The current system doles out legal visas based on family ties or employment prospects or even a random lottery designed to increase the diversity of those coming to the United States.
In 2007, senators proposed scrapping the legal system and replacing it with a points-based system that would assign a desirability grade to would-be immigrants. Work skills would have gained under that system.
But that proposal, along with the rest of the bill, collapsed amid a bipartisan Senate filibuster.
Mr. Nowrasteh at the Cato Institute said those decisions shouldn't be left up to bureaucrats anyway.
"The government can't pick winners and losers when it comes to green-energy firms like Solyndra, so what makes you think it can pick winners and losers when it comes to immigration?" he asked rhetorically.
Two-thirds of jobs go to immigrants during Obama's four years - Washington Times http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/oct/31/two-thirds-of-jobs-go-to-immigrants/print/#ixzz2AysMQrGn
Why the new jobs go to immigrants
By David R. Francis
Wall Street cheered and stock prices rose when the US Labor Department announced last Friday that employers had expanded their payrolls by 262,000 positions in February.
But it wasn't entirely good news. The statisticians also indicated that the share of the adult population holding jobs had slipped slightly from January to 62.3 percent. That's now two full percentage points below the level in the brief recession that began in March 2001.
Why the apparent contradiction? Reasons abound: population growth, rising retirements. But one factor that gets little attention is immigration.
In the past four years, the number of immigrants into the US, legal and illegal, has closely matched the number of new jobs. That suggests newcomers have, in effect, snapped up all of the new jobs.
"There has been no net job gain for natives," says Andrew Sum, an economist at Northeastern University.
In the US, President Bush calls for giving millions of illegal immigrants a kind of guest-worker status as a legal path to US citizenship. So far, no specific legislation to implement his suggestion has been put before Congress.
Meanwhile, US border patrols spend millions of dollars a year trying to keep illegals out. And yet, they keep coming, evidently little discouraged by recession or the 9/11 attacks. In the past four years alone, the number of immigrants ran some 2.5 million to 3 million, of which about half were illegal.
They come for jobs, of course. And the Bush administration makes barely any effort to enforce current law. In 2003, a total of 13 employers were fined for hiring undocumented employees.
In fact, neither Republicans nor Democrats have promoted enforcement of immigration law prohibiting the hiring of illegal immigrants, says Mr. Sum, head of Northeastern's Center for Labor Market Studies.
What employers really want in many cases by hiring immigrants is to hold down wage costs, experts say.
Most Mexican Immigrants in New Study Gave Up Jobs to Take Their Chances in U.S.
By NINA BERNSTEIN New York Times
A report about the work lives of recent Mexican immigrants in seven cities across the United States suggests that they typically traded jobs in Mexico for the prospect of work here, despite serious bouts of unemployment, job instability and poor wages.
The report, released Tuesday by the Pew Hispanic Center, was based on surveys of nearly 5,000 Mexicans, most of them here illegally.
Those surveyed were seeking identity documents at Mexican consulates in New York, Atlanta and Raleigh, N.C., where recent arrivals have gravitated toward construction, hotel and restaurant jobs, and in Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Fresno, Calif., where they have been more likely to work in agriculture and manufacturing.
Unlike the stereotype of jobless Mexicans heading north, most of the immigrants had been employed in Mexico, the report found.
Once in the United States, they soon found that their illegal status was no barrier to being hired here. And though the jobs they landed, typically with help from relatives, were often unstable and their median earnings only $300 a week, that was enough to keep drawing newcomers because wages here far exceeded those in Mexico.
"We're getting a peek at a segment of the U.S. labor force that is large, that is growing by illegal migration, and that is bringing an entirely new set of issues into the U.S. labor market," said Rakesh Kochhar, associate director for research at the Pew Hispanic Center and author of the study.
The report suggested that policies intended to reduce migration pressures by improving the Mexican economy would have to look beyond employment to wages and perceptions of opportunity.
The survey found that the most recent to arrive were more likely to have worked in construction or commerce, rather than agriculture, in Mexico. Only 5 percent had been unemployed there; they were "drawn not from the fringes, but from the heart of Mexico's labor force," the report said.
After a difficult transition in their first six months in the United States - about 15 percent of the respondents said they did not work during that time - the rate of unemployment plummeted, to an average of 5 percent.
But in one of the most striking findings, 38 percent reported an unemployment spell lasting a month or more in the previous year, regardless of their location, legal status or length of time in the United States.
"These are workers with no safety net," Mr. Kochhar said. "The long-run implication is a generation of workers without health or pension benefits, without any meaningful asset accumulation."
On the other hand, Mr. Kochhar and Roberto Suro, director of the Pew Hispanic Center, said the flexibility of this work force was a boon to certain industries like home construction, an important part of the nation's economic growth since the last recession.
Among respondents to the survey, those who settled in Atlanta and Dallas were the best off, with 56 percent in each city receiving a weekly wage higher than the $300-a-week median. The worst off were in Fresno, where more than half of the survey respondents worked in agriculture and 60 percent reported earning less than $300 a week. The lowest wages were reported by women, people who spoke little or no English, and those without identification.
To some scholars of immigration, the report underlines the lack of incentives for employers to turn to a guest worker program like the one proposed by President Bush because their needs are met cheaply by illegal workers - and all without paperwork or long-term commitment.
Guest workers might instead appeal to corporations like Wal-Mart, the scholars said, where service jobs are now the target of union organizing drives.
"You can't plausibly argue that immigrant-dominated sectors have a labor shortage," said Robert Courtney Smith, a sociologist and author of "Mexican New York: Transnational Lives of New Immigrants." Instead, he said, the report and evidence of falling wages among Mexican immigrants over time point to an oversupply of vulnerable workers competing with each other.
But Brendan Flanagan, a spokesman for the National Restaurant Association, which supports a guest worker program, disagreed. "In many places it is difficult to fill jobs with domestic workers," Mr. Flanagan said. "We've seen a simple lack of applicants, regardless of what wage is offered."
Although the survey, conducted from July 2004 to January 2005, was not random or weighted to represent all Mexican immigrants, it offers a close look at a usually elusive population.
Those surveyed were not questioned directly about their immigration status, but they were asked whether they had any photo identification issued by a government agency in the United States. Slightly more than half over all, and 75 percent in New York, said they did not.
The migration is part of a historic restructuring of the Mexican economy comparable to America's industrial revolution, said Kathleen Newland, director of the Migration Policy Institute, a research organization based in Washington.
The institute released its own report on Tuesday, arguing that border enforcement efforts have failed. Workplace enforcement, which has been neglected, would be a crucial part of making a guest worker program successful.
For now, Mexicans keep arriving illegally.
"It doesn't matter if it's winter," said Ricardo Cortes, 23, a construction worker waiting for a friend outside the Mexican consulate in New York on Tuesday. "People are still coming because there's no money over there."
HERE'S HOW NO E-VERIFY BREAKS DOWN:
Joe Legal vs. Jose Illegal
CA MAKES E-VERIFY ILLEGAL! COURTESY THE MEXICAN FASCIST PARTY of LA RAZA!
Here is an example of why hiring illegal aliens is not economically productive for the State of California...
You have 2 families..."Joe Legal" and "Jose Illegal". Both families have 2 parents, 2 children and live in California.
"Joe Legal" works in construction, has a Social Security Number, and makes $25.00 per hour with payroll taxes deducted...."Jose Illegal" also works in construction, has "NO" Social Security Number, and gets paid $15.00 cash "under the table".
Joe Legal...$25.00 per hour x 40 hours $1000.00 per week, $52,000 per year
Now take 30% away for state and federal tax
Joe Legal now has $31,231.00
Jose Illegal...$15.00 per hour x 40 hours $600.00 per week, $31,200.00 per year
Jose Illegal pays no taxes...
Jose Illegal now has $31,200.00
Joe Legal pays Medical and Dental Insurance with limited coverage
$1000.00 per month
Jose Illegal has full Medical and Dental coverage through the state and local clinics at a cost of $0.00 per year
Jose Illegal still has $31,200.00
Joe Legal makes too much money is not eligible for Food Stamps or welfare
Joe Legal pays for food
$1,000.00 per month
Joe Legal now has $ 7,231.00
Jose Illegal has no documented income and is eligible for Food Stamps and Welfare
Joe Legal pays rent of
Joe Legal is now in the hole... minus (-) $4,769.00
Jose Illegal receives a $500 per month Federal rent subsidy
Jose Illegal pays rent
$500.00 per month
$6,000.00 per year
Joe Legal now works overtime on Saturdays or gets a part time job after work.
Jose Illegal has nights and weekends off to enjoy with his family.
Joe Legal's and Jose Illegal's children both attend the same school. Joe Legal pays for his children's lunches while Jose Illegal's children get a government sponsored lunch.
Jose Illegal's children have an after school ESL program. Joe Legal's children go home.
Joe Legal and Jose Illegal both enjoy the same Police and Fire Services, but Joe paid for them and Jose did not pay.
Don't vote/support any politician that supports illegal aliens...
Its WAY PAST time to take a stand for America and Americans!
OBAMA and MEXICO ESTABLISH NEW GATEWAYS FOR THE LA RAZA HORDES TO INVADE BEFORE OBAMA'S AMNESTY:
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2013/04/crisis-mexico-is-pouring-over-our.html
OBAMA AND THE DEMOCRAT PARTY BUILD THEIR RANKS WITH HEAVY BREEDING MEXICANS
ANCHOR BABY FACTORIES…who pays?
AMNESTY IT IS! OBAMA AND MEXICO ANNOUNCE EXPANDED ANCHOR BABY FACTORIES!
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2013/04/amnesty-or-more-looting-obama-and.html
THE DEMOCRAT PARTY BEEDERS (AT GRINGO EXPENSE):
"Through love of having children, we are going to take over." AUGUSTIN CEBADA, BROWN BERETS, THE LA RAZA FASCIST PARTY – OBAMA FUNDS LA RAZA WITH OUR TAX DOLLARS AND IT OPERATES OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSE UNDER LA RAZA SUPREMACIST CECLIA MUNOZ – GOOGLE IT!
more at this link –
JUDICIALWATCH.org
While the Obama Administration halts deportations to work on its secret amnesty plan, hospitals across the U.S. are getting stuck with the exorbitant tab of medically treating illegal immigrants and some are finally demanding compensation from the federal government
MEXICAN CONSULATES – HEADQUARTERS FOR THE MEXICAN FASCIST PARTY of LA RAZA "THE RACE" INSTRUCTS CRIMINAL ILLEGALS ON LOOTING AMERICANS… but then it's by invitation of the DEMOCRAT PARTY! …. these same illegals already get our jobs!
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-expansion-of-la-raza-mexican.html
USDA/Mexico Spanish-language flyer: Get kids on food stamps without showing documents
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WELFARE FOR MEXICAN ANCHOR BABY BREEDERS IN LOS AN...
Mexico endorses HILDA SOLIS for Los Angeles County...
COUNTY SUPERIVISOR CANDIDATE HILDA SOLIS and the M...
LA RAZA CANDIDATE HILDA SOLIS for LOS ANGELES COUN...
HILDA SOLIS RUNS FOR LOS ANGELES COUNTY SUPERVISOR...
Kim Basinger speaks out about animal abuse at Geor...
OBAMA'S AMERICA: LAND OF SOARING POVERTY, OPEN BOR...
ASSAULT on the POOR in LA RAZA MEXICAN-OCCUPIED Lo... | {
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DUPLEX, 96 SOLOMON STREET
96 Solomon St Fremantle
Constructed from 1904, Constructed from 1903
Duplex, 96-98 Solomon Street, is a typical single storey limestone and iron duplex dating from 1903. The place has aesthetic value for its contribution to the streetscape and the surrounding area. It is representative of the typical building stock located within the residential areas of Fremantle. It is historically significant as a representation of typical workers' houses in the Fremantle area. The place is an example of the Federation Queen Anne style of architecture.
96-98 Solomon Street is a single storey limestone and corrugated iron single faced attached pair constructed in the Federation Queen Anne style of architecture. The walls are limestone. The roof is gabled and clad with corrugated iron and the gable has decorative timber finials and features. There are two tall chimneys evident. The verandah is under a separate corrugated iron roof supported by cement pillars with masonry wall balustrade. The house is elevated from street level. The asymmetrical front façade has double hung sash windows. There is a limestone and timber wall to the front boundary line with a timber gate.
Solomon Street was originally known as Mary Street, gazetted in 1905. It changed its name in 1951/52 to honour Elias Solomon, a Fremantle merchant and politician who built a house and lived in this street. Solomon was a Town Councillor 1878-1880, 1883-1886, Mayor in 1889-1891, 1896-98 and 1900-01. He was a state parliamentarian, MLA for the seat of South Fremantle 1892-1901, then transferred to Federal Politics with a seat in the House of Representatives from 1901-1903. Solomon was the first Member for Fremantle in the Federal Government. The duplex 96-98 Solomon Street used to be numbered 182-184 Mary St. Sewerage Diagram no.74 June 1908 shows a duplex pair at 182/184 being of brick construction with a front verandah that wraps around one side of each and a small rear verandah on each. Each has a stone outbuilding and closet close to the house. The 1913-14 rate book shows 182/184 as part 1 of 782 as a pair of cottages owned by Frank Biddles, occupied by David John Scott (182) and William Henry Carpenter (184). This place was identified by the Fremantle Society in 1979/80 as being of cultural heritage significance. (Coded: Red: "Significantly contributing to the unique character of Fremantle")
High degree of integrity (original intent clear, current use compatible, high long term sustainability). Medium degree of authenticity with some original fabric remaining. (These statements based on street survey only).
Original Use RESIDENTIAL Conjoined residence
Present Use RESIDENTIAL Conjoined residence
DEMOGRAPHIC SETTLEMENT & MOBILITY Settlements | {
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Home 4G Airtel First to Launch 'Ultra-Fast 4G' services in Andaman and Nicobar
Airtel First to Launch 'Ultra-Fast 4G' services in Andaman and Nicobar
Bharti Airtel ("Airtel") has congratulated the Department of Telecommunications on the inauguration of the undersea optic fiber link between Chennai and Andaman and Nicobar by the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi.
With the commissioning of the fiber link, Airtel has become the first mobile operator to launch 'Ultra-Fast 4G' services in Andaman and Nicobar. The blazing fast speeds on Airtel's 4G network will deliver a world-class digital experience to customers on the islands.
Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Airtel said: "The new fiber link marks a major milestone in India's digital transformation journey as this critical infrastructure reaches the strategic archipelago. We are grateful to the Hon'ble Prime Minister for taking the time to launch this key digital infrastructure.
The fiber link will be a game changer for the region and unlock the true potential of 4G and even 5G in future for customers. Airtel remains fully committed to the Government's vision of Digital India. We hope the Department of Telecom will accelerate the deployment of USOF for building such infrastructure backbone to complement the efforts of telecom operators to bridge the digital divide."
Airtel has been serving customers in Andaman and Nicobar since 2005. It was the first private operator to launch mobile services in the islands. With today's launch of 'Ultra-Fast 4G' network, Airtel looks forward to further strengthening its bond with customers on the islands.
About Bharti Airtel Limited
Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 18 countries across Asia and Africa. Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the company ranks amongst the top 3 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers. In India, the company's product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services, mobile commerce, fixed line services, high speed home broadband, DTH, enterprise services including national & international long distance services to carriers. In the rest of the geographies, it offers 2G, 3G, 4G wireless services and mobile commerce. Bharti Airtel had nearly 420 million customers across its operations at the end of June 2020.
'Ultra-Fast 4G' services
undersea cable
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Matthew McConaughey-Starrer 'Gold' Keeps Awards Window But Moves Wide Release To January 27
By Mike Fleming Jr
Mike Fleming Jr
Co-Editor-in-Chief, Film
@DeadlineMike
More Stories By Mike
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EXCLUSIVE: The Weinstein Company-Dimension will move the Stephen Gaghan-directed adventure film Gold to a January 27 opening, from its original plan to open wide on December 25. TWC-Dimension co-chairman Bob Weinstein said that the film will have the required limited screenings to qualify for Oscars and Golden Globes, but the move was made in recognition that the Christmas corridor is slammed with adult-themed films, and the film has much better commercial prospects opening a month later. That gives Gold its own lane to mine its considerable commercial potential. TWC will still aggressively push the film for Golden Globe and Oscar consideration –its two-city qualifying dates will likely stay on December 25 — highlighting a performance by a shape-changing Matthew McConaughey that Weinstein called "One of the best roles ever that he's played in his long career. We will open four days after the Academy nominations, and feel that we are taking advantage of both worlds," Weinstein said. "The awards season is very important, but Gaghan did a great job here, directing a terrific adventure that's got twists and turns and is American Hustle meets The Wolf of Wall Street. The way it looks right now, all these adult films are going wide, and there will be more competition in the marketplace than we've seen, maybe ever. This seemed a perfect way to maximize the commercial and awards prospects for a film that exhibition is very high on."
In an adventure tale inspired by a true story, McConaughey plays Kenny Wells, a charismatic wildcatter who takes over his father's mineral mining company. Where his recently deceased old man could trip on the sidewalk and find oil, Kenny has a long dry run. He stakes everything he has left, teaming up with an equally luckless geologist (Edgar Ramirez) to execute a grandiose, last-ditch effort to find gold deep in the uncharted jungle of Indonesia. Bryce Dallas Howard, Corey Stoll, Toby Kebbell, Bruce Greenwood and Stacy Keach round out the ensemble cast. Patrick Massett & John Zinman wrote the script and are producing with Black Bear's Teddy Schwarzman (The Imitation Game) and HWY 61's Michael Nozik (Syriana). Paul Haggis, Ben Stillman and Richard Middleton are the executive producers.
Like several distributors, TWC finds itself with several films that are gaining Oscar buzz, the others including the Garth Davis-directed Lion with Dev Patel, Rooney Mara and Nicole Kidman, and The Founder, the John Lee Hancock-directed drama that stars Michael Keaton as McDonald's impresario Ray Kroc.
This article was printed from https://deadline.com/2016/11/matthew-mcconaughey-gold-january-27-date-shift-stephen-gaghan-awards-season-1201858215/ | {
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Statement by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Afghan Elections
"I want to commend the millions of Afghans who went to the polls today to vote for their next president. The open and responsible debate among the candidates over the past two months, and the turnout for these elections, demonstrates to the world that the Afghan people want to determine their own future. The Afghan National Security Forces should be commended for providing the security which enabled these elections to take place. I thank U.S. forces and ISAF personnel for supporting the ANSF, and greatly appreciate General Dunford's steady leadership throughout this process.
"As Afghanistan begins a peaceful transfer of power, and we look ahead to the end of our combat mission later this year, we should not lose sight of how much we have accomplished. The progress we have seen in Afghanistan is a testament to the tireless efforts and sacrifices of American, ISAF, and Afghan personnel. But above all, it shows the strength and resilience of the Afghan people, and of the partnership the United States has built with them. It is a partnership that will endure." | {
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Working with INGOs as an Academic: The Pros and Cons
September 29, 2016 September 29, 2016 / Charles Martin-Shields
While scanning Twitter this morning I came across a post from Duncan Greene that caught my eye:
Why is it so hard for academics and NGOs to work together? Today's @fp2p https://t.co/aQDkJvcOcR pic.twitter.com/BbvpB5Hbdu
— Duncan Green (@fp2p) September 29, 2016
The blogpost he was linking to raises some excellent questions about the benefits of closer relations between academics and practitioners in the development space, and how to increase the overlapping parts of the academic/practice Venn Diagram. It resonated with me because if I hadn't had a close relationship with institutions like the World Bank, TechChange Inc, UNDP, the U.S. Institute of Peace and many smaller NGOs during my PhD studies, I wouldn't have been able to develop my dissertation topic, gather my dissertation data, or have a policy audience that would find my dissertation results useful. Greene proposes some good points about how to create these linkages that I completely agree with, and as an academic that has spent time as a practitioner in INGOs and IOs I felt motivated to chime in.
So why is it so hard to get academics to work with international organizations, NGOs and policy bodies? Greene's post makes two major points about larger mandates (knowledge for the sake of knowledge versus knowledge to make evidence-based decisions) and time scale (academic research isn't responsive to what's happening in real time) that I think will forever dog the ability for practitioners and academics to work together. While there are more academic departments that are recognizing the value of research that feeds into policy development, for the most part academics receive little to no benefit (and indeed sometimes incur a negative cost) for engaging with government/international agencies and INGOs. This doesn't mean there's no space to collaborate, but it's an issue that I think will always be there.
This gets at a major point that is critical for folks at INGOs and IOs to recognize. Academia is quite stringent about what counts toward advancement. With some rare exceptions, there's little if any institutional reward for working on policy issues. Even if a department is supportive of it, tenure and rank decisions are made at the university level, so any policy work has to be on top of the expected publications and research funding that count in the eyes of the wider university. I'd argue the way to work around this as an INGO is to focus on relationships with PhD students and senior faculty. PhD students benefit from being 'out there' and having their research be seen more broadly – it's been a huge help in my academic experience to have a wide range of contacts in INGOs and IOs who know my work. For senior (tenured) faculty the advantage is building relationships that can be useful to their students (many of whom won't go into academia, but would love to work at Oxfam!), as well as having access to things like public service sabbaticals which makes it easier for them to take time off the research production line.
Indeed, Greene mentions having a PhD student who was doing his topic in coordination with with an Oxfam thematic policy. This is a fantastic way to bring academia and practice closer together, and it's what I did a lot of during my PhD. It was great: I got the occasional nice consultant's payday, got interesting feedback from non-academics, helped with policy issues, and still did work that is academically relevant. The main issue I found though was that this was not systematic at all – every INGO, IO, or agency I worked with was based on specific personal relationships. As long as the colleague was in that agency, I had a good relationship with that agency. When they left, the relationship with the agency ended (or more accurately, followed that colleague to their new agency). There are some good systemic efforts in the U.S. Government to bring academics into the policy fold, such as the AAAS fellowships which place social and natural science PhDs in government agencies for 1-2 years. To bring academics and policy people closer, there need to be more of these kind of system-level programs in place that cover the costs of having researchers working in organizations that are funded primarily to respond to current events.
It's not impossible to work with junior faculty, but this is where understanding the idiosyncrasies of academia is crucial. One example is the idea of 50/50 action/research funding; it's a good idea, but it's hard to pull off in a way that mutually benefits the academic party. If an academic puts in many hours drafting a proposal and the only money they see is through a consulting arrangement, then it doesn't count as grant money for them departmentally. If the research that then comes out of that money isn't peer-review grade then they've potentially spent months of time working on a proposal and project that won't move them toward tenure or their next academic rank. Most academic departments won't count consulting work, even if it's in-field, toward a junior faculty member's tenure file. The way to solve this is for the INGO and an academic department to be co-applicants, so that the research side of the funding goes straight to the academic department with the academic's name on it as a principal investigator. This allows the academic, at the very least, to count it on their CV as research money that was brought into the university even if the research outputs never see peer review.
The discussion about how to find new, better ways to bring academia and practice into a mutually beneficial relationship is important – a lot of public money goes into research, and the results should have public as well as theoretical value. While many departments are recognizing the importance of professors being involved in real-world work, it's also important that INGOs and NGOs recognize that academia places very specific, often idiosyncratic, demands on researchers. By understanding those demands and working with academics to shape projects that meet those demands, I think there will be many more opportunities for academia and the practice community to create an increasingly overlapped venn diagram.
academia, Development, Public Policy, Research
← My dissertation defense: Video version
Processing the Election → | {
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From The Parallax Review Vaults: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2009)
June 6, 2013 · by Matt Wedge
The following review originally was written for The Parallax Review, a film review site of which I was the co-founder and managing editor. I have decided to collect the writings I did for The Parallax Review and preserve them here. I will be posting a few of these older pieces every week. My review of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest was for the "In Theatres" section of The Parallax Review.
It's easy to spot what went wrong with The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, the third film in the Millennium trilogy. To put it quite simply, it's not a complete film. It is merely a continuation of the second film in the series and, as such, it feels disjointed and perfunctory — as though everyone involved has the attitude that they need to serve up an ending, so let's just get this over with. By the end of the film, I felt the same way.
For those of you who haven't seen the first two films, there's no point in reading any further. The plot I am going to describe will make no sense and will contain spoilers concerning the first two films in the series.
As Lisbeth (Noomi Rapace) recovers in the hospital from the injuries she received at the end of The Girl Who Played With Fire, a shadowy government organization is putting the pieces in place to frame her for the attempted murder of Zalachenko (Georgi Staykov), her despicable father. At the same time, Mikael (Michael Nyqvist) is hurriedly preparing a special issue of Millennium magazine that will expose the treacherous figures in Lisbeth's past that have led to her emotional damage and forced her into a corner. While all of this supposed intrigue is happening, Niedermann (Mikael Spreitz), Lisbeth's murderous half-brother, is still skulking around the edges of the film, waiting for his opportunity to finally kill Lisbeth.
The reason that The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo worked so well is that it was a self-contained film. There were some peripheral characters of some importance to the plot, but for the most part, it focused on a missing person's case that Mikael and Lisbeth were investigating. At the same time, it delved into the fragile psyches of both of its main characters. Once the central mystery was solved and the villain punished, the film ended. But with Fire and now with Hornet's Nest, the writers and producers forgot much of what made Tattoo such a satisfying film.
As the conspiracy at the heart of Hornet's Nest takes shape, dozens of characters are introduced. After an hour, I felt that I needed a flow chart to keep track of who each of them was and how they plugged into the increasingly convoluted story. Even worse, Lisbeth, easily the most compelling character in the film, is kept on the sidelines for much of the running time. The performance by Rapace suffers with the lack of interesting notes to play. She goes between looking sullen and confused, depending on the scene and who she is paired with. And unfortunately, she's barely paired with Nyqvist at all. Their off-kilter chemistry went a long way to making Tattoo as good as it was, but apart, their performances and their characters are far less interesting as they just become chess pieces to be moved around the board.
By the time the third act takes on that laziest of old clichés — a trial — I had quit caring, which was a surprising thing for me to discover. The end of Fire had given me just enough new wrinkles in Lisbeth's character to look forward to this film. But after two plus hours of the leaden conspiracy plot, I no longer cared what happened to Lisbeth. This is the greatest failing of the film and makes it one of the most disappointing endings to a film trilogy since The Matrix Revolutions.
This entry was posted in From The Parallax Review Vaults and tagged From The Parallax Review Vaults, Georgi Staykov, Michael Nyqvist, Mikael Spreitz, Millennium Trilogy, Noomi Rapace, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Matrix Revolutions, The Parallax Review. Bookmark the permalink.
« From The Parallax Review Vaults: Cobra (1986)
From The Parallax Review Vaults: Invasion U.S.A. (1985) » | {
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Abdullah bin Zayed stresses boosting relations with Philippine
WAM ABU DHABI, 10th September, 2013, (WAM) — H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Foreign Minister today received Albert F. Del Rosario, Philippine Foreign Minister at the court of the Ministry.
During the meeting, the two parties discussed bilateral relations and ways to enhance cooperation between the two countries, especially in the economic and investment sectors for the benefit of both countries and their peoples.
They also discussed a number of issues of mutual interest on the regional and international arenas.
Sheikh Abdullah welcomed the Philippines Minister, noting that his visit to the United Arab Emirates will contribute to the development and strengthening of relations of friendship and cooperation to serve the common interests of the two countries.
He expressed his appreciation for the active role of the Philippine labour in the country and their contributions in various existing developmental projects, stressing the importance of exchanging visits between businessmen and investors in both countries to open new horizons for cooperation between them.
For his part, Mr. Albert emphasised his country's keenness to strengthen its relations with the UAE, which attaches special attention, praising the comprehensive progress achieved by the UAE, thanks to the wise leadership President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
He also expressed his appreciation for UAE's care and attention received by Philippine community and labour.
At he end of the meeting, Sheikh Abdullah and Mr. Albert signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on political consultations between the two countries.
The meeting was attended by Grace R. Princesa, , Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines to the UAE.
WAM/HM/MN
Mohammed bin Rashid chairs brainstorming session on development
Abdullah bin Zayed meets AU delegation – | {
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July 12, 2008 • 4:08 pm 0
Brain Cells Related To Fear Identified, Paving The Way For More Effective Treatment Of Post-Traumatic Stress And Other Anxiety Disorders
ScienceDaily (July 11, 2008)— The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that in any given year, about 40 million adults (18 or older) will suffer from some form of anxiety disorder, including debilitating conditions such as phobias, panic disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
It is estimated that nearly 15 percent of U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan develop PTSD, underscoring the urgency to develop better treatment strategies for anxiety disorders. These disorders can lead to myriad problems that hinder daily life – or ruin it altogether – such as drug abuse, alcoholism, marital problems, unemployment and suicide.
Functional imaging studies in combat veterans have revealed that the amygdala, a cerebral structure of the temporal lobe known to play a key role in fear and anxiety, is hyperactive in PTSD subjects. Potentially paving the way for more effective treatments of anxiety disorders, a recent Nature report by Denis Paré, professor at the Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience at Rutgers University in Newark, has identified a critical component of the amygdala's neural network normally involved in the extinction, or elimination, of fear memories. Paré's laboratory studies the amygdala and how its activity impacts behavior. His research was published online by Nature on July 9, 2008 and is scheduled to appear in the print edition later in July.
Earlier research has revealed that in animals and humans, the amygdala is involved in the expression of innate fear responses, such as the fear of snakes, along with the formation of new fear memories as a result of experience, such as learning to fear the sound of a siren that predicts an air raid.
In the laboratory, the circuits underlying learned fear are typically studied using an experimental paradigm called Pavlovian fear conditioning. In this research model on rats, a neutral stimulus such as the sound of a tone elicited a fear response in the rats after they heard it paired with an noxious or unpleasant stimulus, such as a shock to the feet. However, this conditioned fear response was diminished with repetition of the neutral stimulus in the absence of the noxious stimulus. This phenomenon is known as extinction. This approach is similar to that used to treat human phobias, where the subject is presented with the feared object in the absence of danger.
Behavioral studies have demonstrated, however, that extinction training does not completely abolish the initial fear memory, but rather leads to the formation of a new memory that inhibits conditioned fear responses at the level of the amygdala. As such, fear responses can be expressed again when the conditioned stimulus is presented in a context other than the one where extinction training took place.
For example, suppose a rat is trained for extinction in a grey box smelling of roses, and later hears the tone again in a different box, with a different smell and appearance. The rat will show no evidence of having been trained for extinction. The tone will evoke as much fear as if the rat had not been trained for extinction.
"Extinction memory will only be expressed if tested in the same environment where the extinction training occurred, implying that extinction does not erase the initial fear memory but only suppresses it in a context-specific manner," notes Paré.
Importantly, it has been found that people with anxiety disorders exhibit an "extinction deficit," or a failure to "forget." However, until recently, the mechanisms of extinction have remained unknown.
As reported by Nature, Paré has found that clusters of amygdala cells, known as the intercalated (ITC) neurons, play a key role in extinction. His findings indicate that ITC cells inhibit amygdala outputs to the brain stem structures that generate fear responses. Indeed, Paré and his collaborators have shown that when ITC cells are destroyed with a targeted toxin in rats, extinction memory is impeded, mimicking the behavior seen in PTSD.
The significance of this finding derives from earlier results suggesting that PTSD reflects an extinction deficit and that the amygdala is hyperactive in this disorder. As a result, it might be possible to compensate for this abnormality and facilitate extinction with pharmacological interventions that enhance the excitability of ITC cells to inhibit amygdala outputs.
Paré's research is supported by a $1,487,897 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health. The research project was carried out in collaboration with Rutgers graduate students Ekaterina Likhtik and John Apergis-Scoute, post-doctoral student Daniela Popa, and research assistant G. Anthony Fidacaro.
Adapted from materials provided by Rutgers University.
Filed under: Suicide, trauma, Violence, amygdala, anxiety, Brain, fear, PTSD, Suicide, trauma | {
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GLAAD Report: Evangelicals Overused on LGBT Issues
The folks at GLAAD have commissioned a report, conducted by the University of Missouri Center on Religion & the Professions, to examine the kinds of media messages on LGBT issues, especially when it comes to religious voices.
The report finds that when religious voices are used in discussing LGBT issues, they are mostly voices opposed to LGBT rights. In addition, the study finds that the media turns to Evangelical and Catholic voices in disproportionate numbers.
the overwhelming majority of sources with some religious identification were communicated by people affiliated with faith groups that have formal church policy, religious decrees or traditions opposing the rights of LGBT people. That's true for most Evangelicals, such as Southern Baptists and Roman Catholics. It's also true of Orthodox Christians, many historically Black denominations, and Muslims. Although exceptions can be found in these faith traditions and in fact pro-LGBT religious ministries exist within, for example, the Roman Catholic Church, the preponderance of sources affiliated with religious groups that oppose LGBT equality total three-quarters of all religious-affiliated messages.
The report finds that almost 34 percent of all religiously-identified speakers were Evangelicals and 29 percent were Catholics, even though Evangelicals are only 26 percent of the population and Catholics are only 26 percent. The data also finds that Mainline Protestants were slightly underrepresented, but members of traditionally Black churches were also overrepresented.
Other details of the report, according to GLAAD, include:
– half of all religiously-identified organizations quoted on LGBT issues were Evangelical, with a heavy reliance on the National Organization for Marriage and Focus on the Family.
– Evangelicals and Catholics were quoted opposing LGBT issues, while Mainline Protestants and members of Black churches were more likely to be positive. Despite polling that Catholics have strong support of LGBT equality issues, Catholics who were quoted in the press were more likely to be opposed to those rights.
– Religious voices dominated the quotes that were opposed to LGBT rights while supporters of LGBT rights and LGBT people were rarely identified as religious.
The report (and GLAAD) makes two major recommendations for journalists:
Mainstream media must make more consistent use of LGBT-affirming religious sources, instead of turning to more negative or non-affirming religious voices. By overlooking LGBT-affirming sources, journalists can contribute to – and even perpetuate – the idea that those who are religious are, by definition, opposed to LGBT equality. In looking specifically at the organizations represented among religious commentators, we find a common profile: culturally conservative entities seeking to influence the political debate, with overt reference to "Christian" or "biblical" values, and often with the explicit endorsement of currently serving political figures.
The media must be fair and accurate in how religious voices are represented. Disproportionately favoring the voices of Evangelical Christians and Roman Catholics – who are more likely to present negative messages about LGBT people – is neither fair, nor accurate, nor balanced coverage. The mainstream media must pull apart the assumptions about values, religiosity, sexuality, and the intersection of church and state underlying these voices and their influential presence in the news. Despite their under representation, there are LGBT-affirming religious voices cited in the mainstream media, some of whom even identify as LGBT themselves. Many of these voices come from affirming religious groups with a significant presence in the United States.
You should definitely check out the report and GLAAD's analysis. I found a few things rather confusing about how the coding took place, but it's an interesting report. We've talked before about the need for more diverse voices when talking about LGBT issues, and this is especially true of religious voices. The over-reliance on Evangelicals and Catholics is a problem because they distort the religious debate. Evangelicals, especially, have become adept at using the media in their efforts on LGBT issues and the Catholic hierarchy is always quick with a press response.
But journalists can't just rely on people with good media machines and outreach. That's why it is important to reach voices, especially religious ones, who don't churn out press statements and make their spokespeople available at the drop of a hat. | {
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A direct contact with students at Ritsumeikan Moriyama Junior High School, Moriyama, Japan was successful Sun 2013-12-29. Nineteen students were able to ask questions and receive answers from astronaut Koichi Wakata, KC5ZTA during the contact.
To a view a recording of the conversation conducted in Japanese, click here.
Direct contact with Scouting Burgemeester Welschen Meerhove, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, via OR4ISS
was successful on Sat 2013-12-28 13:08:43 UTC 83 deg.
Scouting Meerhoven has been set up in 2003. Our first official turnout was 10 years ago during the Jamboree on the Air (JOTA), Jamboree on the Internet (JOTI). During the last 10 years we have had several activities which were connected with transmitting (each year during the JOTA JOTI) and also with technology, air and space travel, as our scouts cabin is near Eindhoven airport.
Now, 10 years on, we celebrate our Jubilee. One of our Lustrum activities is the JOTA JOTI, by which we use FM frequency. For a whole weekend the scouting room has been transformed to a real radio station. The broadcasts are made by our youth and staff members.
In the framework of the Jubilee we have made a request to NASA, because as a scouting group, we really like to have radio contact with one of the astronauts from the ISS. We are very supportive of space travel and during the coming period we have a couple of activities to prepare us for a possible contact with ISS.
The Friday evening group (cubs and scouts) will visit a observatory, they will make rockets from lemonade bottles and fire them off. The room of the beavers will be transformed to a cosmos with rockets and planets. The kids will make these themselves. The Saturday group (cubs and scouts) will rebuild a ISS station. During the coming weeks our activities will all be in the light of space travel. Our aim is that the children will make their acquaintance with the JOTA JOTI (transmission) as well as space travel.
For a local news story and video about the event: http://jeugdjournaal.nl/item/591441-bellen-met-ruimtestation-iss.html
Contact with Istituto Tecnico Industriale "Galileo Ferraris", San Giovanni Valdarno, Italy, scheduled for Mon 2013-12-16 16:28:20 UTC 39 deg was cancelled due to EVA repair mission.
Direct contact with Tochigi Science Lion Project, Utsunomiya, Japan, via 8N1ISS was successful: Sat 2013-12-14 07:00:34 UTC 72 deg.
Read an advance news story about student amateur radio activities at Dorothy Grant Elementary School in Fontana, CA, USA.
Students will be participating in a scheduled contact with the ISS in 2014.
Direct contact with Rakuyo Technical High School, Kyoto, Japan, direct via 8N3LR was successful: Thu 2013-12-12 08:36:53 UTC 37 deg. | {
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North Toronto »
THEY'RE BACK: Dogs and their owners have returned to canine spa on Eglinton Avenue West.
North Toronto Daily Updates: November–December 2020
A quick look at news, views and things to do locally
December 31, 2020 March 11, 2021 Streeter staff arrest, assault, Barry Sherman, break-ins, CampTO, Christmas trees, COVID-19, crane, dog care, Dogstar Boutique and Spa, fire, Ghost Kitchens, Glencairn Station, gunshots, Halloween, hit and run, Honey Sherman, Jaye Robinson, Lawyer, Little Jamaica, Metro, murder, parking, Pine Ink Tattoos, robberies, shooting, suspicious incident, SUV thefts, washrooms, Yonge Street
See recent updates
More COVID cases found at midtown Metro stores
The Metro grocery store at Yonge Street and Eglinton Avenue has reported several cases of coronavirus among employees over the past two weeks.
Positive COVID-19 tests were reported at the 2300 Yonge St. store on Dec. 23, 29 and 31. The affected employees' last days at work were recorded as respectively Dec. 17, 27 and 28.
The Metro store at 3142 Yonge St., at Lawrence Avenue, also reported a case on Dec. 23 with a last day on the job of Dec. 13.
60 charges in month after two stores robbed
Two stores on opposite sides of town were hit by an alleged group of robbers and three men were arrested on Nov. 21 and 22, followed a month later by the arrest of two boys, police reported today.
The stores were described by police as being in the Dufferin Street and Eglinton Avenue West area and in the Victoria Park Avenue and St. Clair Avenue area.
Together the five males arrested face 60 charges. See the full story.
Arrest for alleged murder of lawyer
A 62-year-old woman has been charged with first-degree murder after the death of a Toronto lawyer on Eglinton Avenue East.
The arrest came five days after a man identified as Scott Andrew Rosen, 52, was allegedly run down by a vehicle while walking in or near a garage on Eglinton, west of Mt. Pleasant Road, on Dec. 18.
Read the story in Streeter news.
Police treat death of lawyer on Eglinton as murder
A lawyer was reportedly walking in or near a garage on Eglinton Avenue East late yesterday afternoon when he was struck by a vehicle — in what police are investigating as a murder.
Officers found a man with no vital signs. Identified as lawyer Scott Andrew Rosen, 52, he was pronounced dead on the scene.
Witnesses said he has been stuck down by U-Haul van or pickup, which fled the scene eastbound on Eglinton. Here's what we know so far.
CampTO and winter instruction programs cancelled
City-run holiday camps and skiing or skating lessons have been shut down by Toronto's rising COVID-19 numbers.
The cancellations were announced today, following recommendations from Toronto Public Health and the city's medical health officer, Dr. Eileen de Villa.
Story continues after ad
Midtown break-ins lead to 56 charges
Two people were arrested on a total of 56 charges and property was recovered in an investigation of a string of break-ins in 13 and 53 divisions. One man is still sought by police.
Homes were broken into at night-time while, in some cases, residents slept and were unaware of being robbed until morning, police said. See the whole story.
Help sought to save Little Jamaica
Two businesspeople from Little Jamaica appeared with MPP Jill Andrew at a press conference Monday to call on the provincial government for money and other support to keep the community alive.
The commercial strip on Eglinton Avenue West has been hit hard by both COVID and the pandemic shutdown and it faces extinction, they say. Get the full story.
Arrest in subway robbery investigations
After an investigation of gaming console robberies at Glencairn Station, police have arrested a 22-year-old man.
Investigators from 13 Division identified a suspect for two robberies on Nov. 16 and, with the Emergency Task Force, executed a search warrant on Nov. 29, police reported yesterday.
Shevaun Lashorn Darby of Toronto, faces three charges including robbery with a firearm. He is to appear in court next on Jan. 21.
Sewer collapse restricts stretch of Yonge Street
Workers are repairing a collapsed sewer main that is causing traffic slowdowns on Yonge Street, between Ivor Road and Mill Street, in the Hoggs Hollow/Cricket Club area.
The work is expected to take place daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. starting today until Dec. 17, the city advises.
Two-alarm fire hits house under construction
A neighbour smelled smoke and called in the alarm for a fire that engulfed the basement of a partly constructed house on Glengrove Avenue West yesterday evening.
The cause of the two-alarm fire is unknown but is being investigated, fire officials say. Here's what we know so far.
Hit-and-run driver sought after elderly woman struck
Investigators are trying to identify the driver of an SUV they say struck a 76-year-old woman before fleeing the scene on Oct. 8.
The woman was reported to be crossing the intersection of Bathurst Street and Lawrence Avenue West on a green light at about 2 p.m. when she was hit.
See the story and vehicle.
Arrests for gathering at alleged gaming club
Police raided a social club near Lawrence Avenue West and Marlee Avenue at 8:45 p.m. yesterday and charged 10 people for contravening the Reopening Ontario Act, which prohibits such gatherings during the current lockdown.
Also, the owner of the establishment was arrested for keeping a common gaming or betting house, and faces four other charges.
Officers executing a search warrant at the address seized 11 illegal gaming machines, police say.
Antonio Mazzei, 59, of Toronto, is to appear in court on Jan. 29.
Woman arrested but her alleged partner in store robbery still at large
A 35-year-old woman faces a charge of robbery with an offensive weapon more than four months after a store was robbed in the St. Clair Avenue West and Avenue Road area. A man, 38, is still being sought by the police holdup squad.
The identity of the man, who allegedly pulled a knife during the incident, is known, police say. His images have been released. See the story.
Night parking banned on North York streets to allow snow clearing
The North York Winter Maintenance by-law has been put into effect again, prohibiting street parking to let snow-clearing and emergency vehicles through.
The by-law prohibits parking between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. until the end of March, on streets in the old municipality of North York, excluding the following in this area:
Woburn Avenue — first block west of Avenue Road (#431–488)
Brookdale Avenue — north side from Avenue Road going east to the North York municipal boundary (#368–390 approximately)
Parking enforcement is to begin Dec. 4 at 2 a.m., according to police.
Double shooting in Glen Park investigated as homicide
A man is dead and a woman seriously injured after a shooting in a parking lot on Glen Park Avenue near Dufferin Street yesterday. Police have identified the deceased today.
The couple were said to be sitting a vehicle in the lot in mid-afternoon when another car approached and opened fire. Here's what we know.
SEE DAILY UPDATES FOR OTHER COMMUNITIES:
• Beaches-Leslieville • Central Toronto • Forest Hill • Don Valley • Leaside • Riverdale-East York
Scouts' Christmas Tree lot open
If you're near the Davisville area, it's time to buy your Christmas tree from the 58th Toronto Scouts, Cubs and Beavers.
The Christmas tree lot is open as usual this year, with safe shopping protocols in place, although the troop is also offering contactless pickup or delivery this year, if desired.
Check the details in the Things To Do listing.
Police not confirming suspect in Sherman murders
Toronto police are neither confirming nor disconfirming they have a suspect in the alleged murders of billionaire couple Barry and Honey Sherman nearly three years ago.
A "clarification" has been released by the homicide squad after media reports that police had a "person of interest." See Nov. 26 item below and see the new story in Streeter news.
Subway down on weekend
Subway service is suspended on the Yonge Street line between Lawrence and St. Clair stations on Nov. 28 and 29 for work on the Eglinton Crosstown LTR, the TTC advises. Shuttle buses will operate and stations are to remain open for the sale of PRESTO fares and for connection to surface routes.
Break in Sherman double-murder case?
Nearly three years after the deaths of Barry and Honey Sherman in York Mills, police have a "person of interest" in the case, they have confirmed to several media.
This is not quite the same thing as having made an arrest or having a suspect in the alleged double homicide, but it may indicate police are chasing down new leads.
The bodies of the billionaire couple were found at their home on Old Colony Road on Dec. 15, two days after their estimated deaths.
Crane crashes across site for Mount Pleasant LRT station
Crews are trying today to lift a crane that toppled yesterday evening. The mobile crane fell across the construction site where a secondary entrance for the planned Mount Pleasant Station is being built on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT line.
One man suffered minor injuries and Eglinton Avenue East has been blocked to traffic ever since. See the whole story.
'Suspicious incident' investigated in Ledbury Park
At about 8 a.m. today, police were notified of a "suspicious incident" near Clyde and Bannockburn avenues. A commotion was reported involving a man and woman in a vehicle with the front passenger door open. A concerned citizen approached the vehicle and noticed a man who was driving and a woman who was the passenger were arguing. The vehicle left the area with both still inside.
Police would like to speak to anyone who was in the area at the time and are asking local residents, businesses, and drivers with security or dash camera footage of the area or incident to contact them.
The vehicle is believed to be a white Nissan Rogue with licence plate BVPA549. Security camera images have been released.
Where to go when you have to go
If you're a person who plans your outings around available washrooms, here's welcome news for you. The city is refitting and reopening washrooms in parks — like at June Rowlands Park or Sunnybrook — this winter.
It's also adding portable toilets to new locations, along with keeping washrooms going in the usual places like libraries and recreation centres.
Get the full story here.
Glencairn robberies show danger of selling your game console online
Game consoles have sold out in retail outlets, driving transactions for the units online. But recent alleged robberies have led police to issue an alert about meeting buyers or sellers found on internet marketplaces.
Two such robberies were reported to have occurred near Glencairn subway station on Monday. See the full story and tips to protect yourself.
Year-old tattoo studio surviving
In its first year, Pine Ink Tattoos has faced and survived a pandemic shutdown and continual construction in the Yonge and Eglinton area. But owner Damon Han is confident Pine Ink Tattoos, with its novel, Asian-inspired designs, will make it in this youthful neighbourhood.
Read — and see — all about it.
Jaye Robinson returns to public meeting
Don Valley West councillor and TTC chair Jaye Robinson attended a virtual meeting of the TTC board today — her first such public appearance since her cancer diagnosis more than a year ago.
"It's been a long and tough road," Robinson told the meeting. "While I'm not quite at the end, I'm very close and I feel very fortunate to be here."
Videos released in gunshots investigation
Police have released two videos in their investigation of gunshots in the Neptune Drive and Baycrest Avenue area on Friday. No injuries were reported but police are looking for two men.
One man is described as having a slim build and wearing a dark hoodie, black baseball cap with a white logo on the front, face mask, white gloves, dark pants and dark shoes. He was shown holding a dark handgun. The other man is described as having a slim build and was wearing a dark hoodie and face mask. He was holding a dark-coloured handgun.
The videos can be seen here and here.
Former customers and new pups returning to dog spa
Dogstar Boutique and Spa on Eglinton Avenue West, near Avenue Road, is back in the grooming business after the shutdown, the owners say.
Former customers, as well as puppies acquired during the pandemic, are keeping the place busy, while Dogstar takes all the anti-COVID precautions possible. Read all about it.
Assault causing bodily harm investigated
Toronto police have released an image of a running man in an investigation of an alleged assault causing bodily harm near Ridelle Avenue and Newgate Road yesterday.
A man was reported to have approached and assaulted a woman in the area of Ridelle Avenue and Newgate Road, before fleeing southward. See the story.
Employees at two Metro stores test positive
Metro stores announced today employees at two North Toronto locations — 2300 Yonge St., and 291 York Mills Rd. — have tested positive for COVID-19. The employee's last day of work at Yonge and Eglinton was Nov. 7 and the last day at York Mills and Bayview was Oct. 31, the company says.
Eat restaurant foods without fear from Ghost Kitchens
A newly opened food service in midtown offers branded restaurant foods for pickup or through delivery services.
Ghost Kitchens opened last month at Oriole Parkway and Eglinton Avenue West in the midst of a pandemic, exactly when their service is badly needed, the owners say. Read all about it.
New locations for photo radar units
After three months of issuing tickets, the city's photo radar units are being moved. All 50 automated speed enforcement (ASE) devices are to be moved to new locations starting this week "to address a greater number of areas with safety concerns and to encourage a wide-ranging deterrent effect," the city said in a news release today.
In Don Valley West ward, the two new ASE sites are on Erskine Avenue, west of Redpath Avenue, and on Thorncliffe Park Drive, near 79 Thorncliffe Park Dr. Both are close to elementary schools.
In Toronto-St. Paul's, the new sites are on Ava Road, east of Westover Hill Road near a community school, and on Tweedsmuir Avenue, south of Heath Street West near a long-term care home.
In Eglinton-Lawrence, new locations are Avenue Road, near Castlefield Avenue, and Bedford Park Avenue, west of Yonge Street, both near early years learning centres.
The city reports 47,195 speeders were caught by ASE devices in the old locations, but the number of tickets dropped in the second and third months.
"The Automated Speed Enforcement program is working," Mayor John Tory said. "Each month, fewer drivers were caught speeding in school and community safety zones where they've been placed, and they are helping to keep vulnerable people, especially school children, in these communities safer."
North Toronto homes evacuated after gas line hit
Fifteen homes on Snowdon Avenue near Mt. Pleasant Road were evacuated this morning after a construction crew hit a gas line. A significant leak from a large line necessitated the evacuation of the west side of the street and the closing of the eastbound lane, Toronto police reported at 10:53 a.m.
Toronto Fire Services and Enbridge Gas were also on the scene. The damaged gas line was repaired and the roads re-opened by about noon hour, according to police.
ID SOUGHT: Image released by police.
Man sought for midtown assault and theft
Security camera images have been released to help identify a man wanted in the investigation of assault and theft at Yonge Street and Glebe Road.
Police say on Oct. 31 a man allegedly attended a spa in the area and assaulted two employees before stealing property from the spa.
He reportedly left and headed east on Glebe.
He is described as 20–23 years old, 5-foot-8, having a slim build and dark brown hair, and wearing a white or brown shirt.
Instead of trick-or-treating…
Costumed kids joined witches, wood fairies and spiders in Oriole Park on Oct. 31. They enjoyed interactive adventures in the magical forest at Creative Kids Halloween Quest, put on by a local dance troupe.
See the story and pictures of what transpired.
SUV thefts thought to be aided by electronic devices
Police in 53 Division are warning of an increase in SUV thefts, which may be carried out by thieves using electronic devices to compromise the vehicles' security systems.
The thefts appear to be targeting SUVs, namely Land Rovers, parked in the driveways in the area of Lawrence Avenue West and Bathurst Street.
Investigators have notices an increase in car thefts in the area since Jan. 1. They urge the public to be vigilant with locking their vehicles, even in in their driveways and recommend using a locked garage or anti-theft device.
Residents should also take care to store vehicle keys in a secure location away from their front doors, police said in a news release today.
See earlier updates
By: Streeter staff
Posted: Dec 31 2020 11:49 pm
Filed in: DAILY UPDATES
Neighbourhood: Bedford Park • Bridle Path • Caribou Park • Chaplin Estates • Cricket Club • Davisville • Deer Park • Glen Park • Hoggs Hollow • Lawrence Heights • Lawrence Manor • Lawrence Park • Ledbury Park • Lytton Park • Moore Park • Mount Pleasant • Sunnybrook • Teddington Park • Wanless Park • Windfields • Yonge-Eglinton • York Mills • Yorkdale
Tagged: arrest • assault • Barry Sherman • break-ins • CampTO • Christmas trees • COVID-19 • crane • dog care • Dogstar Boutique and Spa • fire • Ghost Kitchens • Glencairn Station • gunshots • Halloween • hit and run • Honey Sherman • Jaye Robinson • Lawyer • Little Jamaica • Metro • murder • parking • Pine Ink Tattoos • robberies • shooting • suspicious incident • SUV thefts • washrooms • Yonge Street
← Central Toronto Daily Updates: November–December 2020
Riverdale-East York Daily Updates: November–December 2020 →
Life in jail for crossbow killer
September 24, 2012 Town Crier staff Comments Off on Life in jail for crossbow killer
Two children in car shot up in Bridle Path neighbourhood
February 23, 2020 Eric McMillan Comments Off on Two children in car shot up in Bridle Path neighbourhood
Stage 2 at last! Wide reopening to start this week
June 22, 2020 Eric McMillan Comments Off on Stage 2 at last! Wide reopening to start this week | {
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Kean University officials to discuss president's resume controversy tonight
Nic Corbett/The Star-Ledger
Daniel Hedden/For The Star-LedgerKean University's governing board plans to meet in closed session tonight to discuss the allegations of false claims on the president Dawood Farahi past résumés.
UNION — Kean University's governing board plans to meet in closed session tonight to discuss the allegations of false claims on the president's past résumés.
Dawood Farahi, who has been president of the Union Township school for about nine years, said mistakes were made by Kean staff when they condensed three of his résumés -- which he refers to as "data sheets."
"I did not create the data sheet," Farahi said in an interview last month with The Star-Ledger. "I did not see the data sheet. Had I seen it, I would've corrected those errors. And as you can see, the errors are multiplying over time."
James Castiglione, the head of the faculty union Kean Federation of Teachers, brought the issue to the board of trustees.
The board's executive committee retained independent counsel, McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, to investigate the allegations.
The résumés in question were submitted in 1994, 2001 and 2008 for routine accreditation reviews of the university's public administration program.
Farahi said he has never claimed to have been acting academic dean at Avila College in Missouri. Nor has he boasted of publishing "over 50 technical articles in major publications," as the résumés state.
The president and the union have long feuded over his efforts to reform the 16,000-student public university. Farahi, who earns a base salary of $293,550 annually and will be eligible for a $200,000 bonus next year, said the union is trying to discredit him by combing his past résumés for possible inaccuracies.
Related coverage:
• Kean president says resume errors were made by university staff | {
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Proposed Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrades
The City is in the process of completing environmental review for proposed upgrades to the Wastewater Treatment Plant.
A Planning Commission public hearing is scheduled for February 19, 2015, to obtain public input and consider adoption of a Mitigated Negative Declaration for the proposed project.
Additional Information can be viewed here:
Initial Environmental Study and Technical Appendices
The City of Shasta Lake's wastewater treatment plant is designed to treat a dry weather flow of 1.3-MGD (million gallons per day). Wastewater is pumped to the plant from pump stations located throughout the city's sewer collection system. The plant utilizes an Activated Sludge form of treatment and consist of several treatment processes and structures which include:
The headworks is the location where all wastewater enters the plant. Influent into the plant is measured and the water travels through the headwork structure in one of two channels. One channel is equipped with a mechanical bar screen which removes large solids such as rocks, plastics, paper and other material. This material is placed by the mechanical device in to a Dumpster for landfill disposal. The other channel is equipped with stationary screens that must be cleaned by plant personnel. This channel is used only when the mechanical screen is out of service. From the headworks flow can be sent to two locations. The oxidation ditch is the normal destination for water leaving the headworks, but the oxidation ditch can be by-passed if necessary sending water to the ERB (emergency retention basin).
Oxidation Ditch
The oxidation ditch follows the headworks and is the heart of the plant's Activated Sludge process. In this process wastewater is mixed with biological organisms. A population of these organisms is maintained and controlled to provide the best removal possible of suspended and dissolved solids in the wastewater. These organisms consume or attach to the suspended or dissolved solid particles in the wastewater. These solids would be very hard to remove without the aid of the organisms since they would not settle out on their own. Mixing of the wastewater and the organisms is accomplished by four surface aeration brushes located around the ditch. The brushes also provide oxygen for the organisms to live. Once the organisms have consumed or have attached themselves to the particles they come together to form a flock called Activated Sludge. The sludge is made up of Mixed Liquor Suspended Solids or MLSS. This solution then leaves the oxidation ditch and is elevated by way of three Mixed Liquor pumps so that it can gravity flow to the next stage in the process which is the secondary clarifiers.
Secondary Clarifiers
The plant's two secondary clarifiers receive flow from the oxidation ditch by way of three mixed liquor pumps. The clarifiers are circular basins in which no mixing or oxygen is provided. In this environment the activated sludge which is now heavy with suspended particles settle to the bottom of the clarifiers. As the sludge settles, clean water remains and flows out of the clarifier over a weir at the edge of the clarifier. This water travels on to filtration. Eight 4" draft tubes that circulate slowly at the bottom of the clarifier remove the sludge, once settled. The sludge flows from the clarifier to the RAS/WAS structure where it can go to one of three locations.
RAS/WAS
The RAS/WAS structure acts as a transfer station for sludge leaving the secondary clarifier. Sludge leaving the RAS/WAS structure can go to three locations. It can gravity flow to the Headworks where it is blended with in-coming sewage before flowing to the oxidation ditch. Sludge can also be returned directly to the oxidation ditch from the RAS/WAS structure. Sludge returned to the oxidation ditch directly or via the Headworks is called RAS (return activated sludge). The whole process of sludge flowing to the clarifiers and being returned to the oxidation ditch again is called the Secondary Loop System. However, in order to maintain control of the organism population in the oxidation ditch, removal of sludge from the system may be required. At this time, one of two pumps can be used to pump sludge from RAS/WAS structure to the Aerobic Digester. Sludge pumped to the digester is called WAS (waste activated sludge).
Aerobic Digester
The plant's digester works similar to both an oxidation ditch and a clarifier combined. Activated sludge is mixed and aerated in a circular basin much like it is the oxidation ditch. The difference is that sewage is not added. Besides oxygen, only scum and sludge from the clarifiers is added. In this environment, the lack of sewage (food for the organisms) causes the organisms to reduce their volume by consumption of their own mass. As the mass of the sludge decreases, water is left behind. Occasionally the aerator/mixer is turned off and the sludge then settles to the bottom of the digester. The water that remains at the top of the digester is decanted out of the digester through a floating drainpipe. This water is returned directly to the oxidation ditch for further treatment. As more sludge is added to the digester from the RAS/WAS structure, there will be less room for the sludge to settle. At some point sludge must be removed from the digester and sent to the Sludge basins.
Sludge Basins
The sludge basins are the last process stage for activated sludge that has been removed from the secondary loop system. Sludge arrives at the basins from the aerobic digester. The sludge is aerated and will continue the process of digestion started in the digester. Once there is a large amount of sludge in these basins, all water is decanted off and the sludge is dried and removed. The most likely destination for the sludge is a landfill. However, the sludge is usually of good enough quality that it could be used as a fertilizer for landscaping or other plants.
Water leaving the secondary clarifiers travels on to filtration. The plant has two traveling bridge filters. Each filter has a compartmented filter bed, which contain a sand media used to filter out solids. Water from the clarifiers enters from a central channel between the filters, flows down through the filters and exits to channels on the outer edge of the filters. As solids build up in the sand media it becomes harder for the water to pass through the filter. This causes the water level on the filter to rise. When the water level reaches a preset point, a backwash or cleaning of the filter begins. The bridge located on top of the filter begins to move from one end of the filter to the other. As it travels on special tracks located on each side of the filter, filtered water is pumped back through the bottom of the filter one compartment at a time. This allows the other compartments of the filter to remain in service. As the water and dirt is pushed up through the filter, it is pumped out through a hood. This hood is connected to the bridge and stretches the length of the filter compartment. Water and dirt removed from the filter is then pumped back to the oxidation ditch for treatment. The bridge will continue moving from one compartment to the next until it reaches the opposite end of the filter. Then if the water level has dropped to the correct level the backwash will stop until levels again reach the high set point. Filtered water leaves the filters and move on to the contact basin for chlorination.
Chlorination and Dechlorination
Chlorine gas is used to disinfect the water leaving the filters. Disinfecting kills any remaining disease causing bacteria or organisms left over from treatment. Chlorine gas is injected into a treated water supply. This chlorine/water solution is then piped to a contact basin and added to water coming from the filters. A contact basin is used to give the chlorine enough contact time with the water for disinfecting to take place. Water enters at one end of the basin and must travel through a series of channels before it reaches the other end of the basin. After disinfection, treated water can be discharged to several locations. During winter months water is discharged to Churn Creek if water levels in the creek are high enough. A dilution of 10:1 is required for discharge to the creek. Water going to Churn Creek must be de-chlorinated by the use of SO2 gas. The gas is added in the same way that chlorine is added. The SO2 solution is added just before the water leaves the plant and removes the chlorine. The SO2 is also used up in this process. During the summer months water goes to different locations. Most water goes to a 410 acre-foot reservoir where it is stored for later use. Water from the reservoir is used by the city to irrigate 60 acres of pastureland surrounding the treatment plant. At this time water is also supplied to a local fast food restaurant for landscape irrigation. Treated water is also pumped from the treatment plant to a nearby logging mill where it is used to spray log decks. In the future, it is hoped that the water will be used for other irrigation purposes such as golf courses and roadside landscape.
Tom Chism
Wastewater Treatment Superintendent
Email Tom Chism
3700 Tibbits Road
Wastewater Treatment Facility Upgrade Project
2012 Waste Discharge Report
2016-2026 Wastewater Master Plan (PDF) | {
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Artists Share Tweet
Christina West
Born: United States
Christina West is a sculptor and educator based in Atlanta, where she is an Assistant Professor of Ceramics at Georgia State University. She earned her BFA at Siena Heights University (MI) in 2003, and her MFA at Alfred University (NY) in 2006.
West has exhibited in group and solo shows across the country in such venues as Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center (Buffalo, NY), the Bellevue Arts Museum (Bellevue, WA), the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art (Omaha, NE), and the Arizona State University Art Museum Ceramic Research Center (Tempe, AZ). Her work has been supported by grants and fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, the George Sugarman Foundation, and the Southeastern College Art Conference.
In an artist statement she writes:
"Insistently figurative and tightly rendered, [the] objects and installations [I make] result from merging notions of the private with the public and overlaying the serious with the playful. These figures, with their strange scale, unnatural colors, and bodies frozen mid-gesture, offer a space to play with assumptions and projections we place on other people and their bodies. This work begins with questions about the relationship of the exterior to the interior, the limits of what we can know about other people given that we never have direct access to their interiority, and how our physical encounters with spaces and with representations of bodies can affect perceptions of our own bodies."
http://cwestsculpture.com/
The Museum For Western New York Arts
In 1966, Charles Burchfield himself cut the ribbon to open the Burchfield Art Center, located inside Rockwell Hall at Buffalo State College. Today, the Burchfield Penney Art Center (renamed to honor donations from Charles Rand Penney) is the gateway to the campus. | {
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China planning to draft regulation for e-commerce platforms: Report
Beijing Published: Mar 16, 2021, 09:48 AM(IST)
his file photo taken on October 30, 2020, shows the logo of the Alibaba Group outside the offices of the Ant Group, the financial arm of the Chinese e-commerce giant, in Hong Kong. Photograph:( AFP )
Chinese regulators had fined 12 tech firms including Tencent, Baidu and ByteDance for allegedly flouting monopoly rules.
According to China's state-run news agency Xinhua, regulators are planning to draft new rules for the country's e-commerce platforms.
Xinhua, quoting market regulators, said that the regulators will "adopt more powerful regulatory measures this year with a series of actions" to "standardise online deals, maintain fair competition and protect consumer rights".
The move comes as authorities reportedly took down nearly 234,000 examples of improper online sales information between October and December last year.
Chinese authorities recently cracked down on Alibaba even as its legendry founder Jack Ma had disappeared from public view for a few months until mid-January.
According to state broadcaster CCTV, President Xi Jinping chaired a meeting of the Communist party's top financial and coordination committee, ordering regulators to step up oversight of internet companies.
The financial regulators had earlier disallowed the $35 billion Hong Kong-Shanghai IPO of Alibaba's online payment subsidiary Ant Group. The Chinese officials had launched an investigation into Alibaba's business practices which it deemed as anti-competitive.
The Chinese market regulator reportedly denied they were planning to fine the company almost $1 billion for anti-competitive behaviour.
The country's regulators fined 12 tech firms including Tencent, Baidu and ByteDance for allegedly flouting monopoly rules.
Tencent was fined $77,000 for its 2018 investment in online education app Yuanfudao without reportedly seeking prior government approval.
Chinese premier Li Keqiang had said that the government would "strengthen anti-monopoly laws" and "prevent the disorderly expansion of capital".
The country had earlier announced plans to boost supervision of its lucrative fintech sector. Keqiang had asserted that there was a need to "manage financial risks and ensure that no systemic risks arise".
At least 17 killed, more than 50 injured by explosion in western Ghana | {
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sports-car
Porsche 911 (992) Cabrio: Open 911 opens faster
Porsche 911 Cabrio (992)
Six weeks after the debut of the new Porsche 911 Coupé of type 992, the sports car manufacturer is now adding its convertible version. The Porsche 911 Cabrio, which is offered as Carrera S and Carrera 4S, naturally takes over the technology of the 9 11 coupés and the design language remains the same the open 911 very close to the closed brother.
A fully automatic fabric hood that is fitted with a fixed glass rear window as standard makes the 911 a convertible. Flat magnesium elements, so-called flat bows, are integrated into the top structure, which are intended to prevent the roof from inflating at high speeds. The convertible top can be opened or closed up to a speed of 50 km /h.
Thanks to the new hydraulics, the convertible top opens even faster.
The new roof hydraulics shorten the opening time to around twelve seconds, an electrically extendable wind deflector takes the storm off the neck. Newly positioned engine mounts are designed to provide more torsional rigidity. The overall line of the 911 Cabrio follows that of the 911 Coupé with the wider front section and the now always wide rear. The mixed tires with 20-inch rims at the front and 21-inch rims at the rear have also been adopted from the coupé.
Porsche 911 Cabrio with 450 hp
When it comes to the engine, Porsche also uses the current convertible 3.0 liter turbo boxer. For the time being, only the 450 hp and 530 Nm version will be used in the open 911. Power is transmitted by an eight-speed dual clutch transmission. In the Carrera S this ties in with rear-wheel drive, in the Carrera 4Sa four-wheel drive. The Carrera S accelerates from standstill to 100 km /h in 3.9 seconds (with the optional Sport Chrono Package: 3.7 s) and speeds up to 306 km /h. The Carrera 4S reaches a top speed of 304 km /h and accelerates to 100 km /h in 3.8 seconds (with the optional Sport Chrono Package: 3.6 s).
This is the first time on offer for the 911 Cabrio the sports suspension called Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM). In this case, the springs are harder and shorter, the anti-roll bars on the front and rear axles are stiffer, and the chassis has been lowered by ten millimeters.
911 Cabrio starts at 134,405 euros
In the Interior follows the cabriolet of course also the coupé specifications . The dashboard runs across the entire width between two horizontal wing levels. In addition to the centrally positioned rev counter, two thin, frameless free-form displays inform the driver. The central screen of Porsche Communication Management now measures 10.9 inches diagonally. The assistance system familiar from the coupé is also available for the convertible. A parking assistant with a reversing camera is standard equipment.
The new Porsche 911 convertible models can be ordered now. The 911 Carrera S Cabriolet costs from 134,405 euros, the 911 Carrera 4S Cabriolet is available from 142,259 euros. The convertible surcharge compared to the coupé is at least 14,000 euros.
Mercedes G 400d: more powerful diesel version comes in 2019
tech-future
Interview with Audi boss Bram Schot
commercial-vehicles
Hennessey Veloci-Raptor (2019): Finally with a V8 supercharger
Extend cell phone ban to tablets as well
ADAC test emergency brake assist: BMW and Volvo have problems | {
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July 19, 2018 Kyiv
On Bald mountain in Kiev, found the grenade of times of the Second world
RGD-33 © Wikipedia
Since the beginning of the year in Kiev, found more than 800 such items.
On the territory of the tract Bald mountain in Kiev employees of gschs found explosive subject of times of the Second world war.
This was reported in the press center of the state service for emergency situations.
The staff of the First special center of rapid response and humanitarian mine action carry out routine inspection of Bald mountain in the Goloseevsky district, during which stumbled on a hand grenade RGD-33, which was used during the Second world war.
Ukraine for the first time started the serial production of ammunition for grenade launchers to NATO standards
The group of pyrotechnic works seized a grenade and destroyed at the landfill.
In SSES note that since the beginning of the year only the capital was found, removed and destroyed 856 units of various sizes of explosive devices that were used in combat during the Second world war.
We will remind, on Tuesday, July 17, at 08.00, in the village of Neresnytsya in Tyachiv district of Transcarpathia , law enforcement officers found a grenade launcher.
SSES
deployed
« Trade war: Ukrainian metal products fall under the new tariff quotas of the EU for import
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Laws About Slaves
21 "Now these are the (A)rules that you shall set before them. 2 (B)When you buy a Hebrew slave,[a] he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. 3 If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out alone. 5 But (C)if the slave plainly says, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,' 6 then his master shall bring him to (D)God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.
7 "When a man (E)sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. 8 If she does not please her master, who has designated her[b] for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has broken faith with her. 9 If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter. 10 If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or (F)her marital rights. 11 And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.
12 (G)"Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. 13 (H)But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then (I)I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee. 14 But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, (J)you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.
15 "Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be put to death.
16 (K)"Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found (L)in possession of him, shall be put to death.
17 (M)"Whoever curses[c] his father or his mother shall be put to death.
18 "When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but takes to his bed, 19 then if the man rises again and walks outdoors with his staff, he who struck him shall be clear; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed.
20 "When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged. 21 But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the (N)slave is his money.
22 "When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman's husband shall impose on him, and (O)he shall pay as the (P)judges determine. 23 But if there is harm,[d] then you shall pay (Q)life for life, 24 (R)eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
26 "When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free because of his eye. 27 If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free because of his tooth.
28 "When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the (S)ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable. 29 But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death. 30 If (T)a ransom is imposed on him, then (U)he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed on him. 31 If it gores a man's son or daughter, he shall be dealt with according to this same rule. 32 If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master (V)thirty shekels[e] of silver, and (W)the ox shall be stoned.
Laws About Restitution
33 "When a man opens a pit, or when a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34 the owner of the pit shall make restoration. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead beast shall be his.
35 "When one man's ox butts another's, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and share its price, and the dead beast also they shall share. 36 Or if it is known that the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall repay ox for ox, and the dead beast shall be his.
Exodus 21:2 Or servant; the Hebrew term 'ebed designates a range of social and economic roles; also verses 5, 6, 7, 20, 21, 26, 27, 32 (see Preface)
Exodus 21:8 Or so that he has not designated her
Exodus 21:17 Or dishonors; Septuagint reviles
Exodus 21:23 Or so that her children come out and it is clear who was to blame, he shall be fined as the woman's husband shall impose on him, and he alone shall pay. 23If it is unclear who was to blame…
Exodus 21:32 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
Exodus 21:1 : ch. 24:3; Deut. 4:14; 6:1
Exodus 21:2 : Deut. 15:12; Jer. 34:14; See Lev. 25:39-41
Exodus 21:5 : Deut. 15:16, 17
Exodus 21:6 : [Ps. 82:6; John 10:34, 35]
Exodus 21:7 : Neh. 5:5
Exodus 21:10 : 1 Cor. 7:5
Exodus 21:12 : Gen. 9:6; Lev. 24:17; Num. 35:30, 31; [Matt. 26:52]
Exodus 21:13 : Deut. 19:4, 5; See Num. 35:22-25
Exodus 21:13 : Num. 35:11; Deut. 4:41-43; 19:2, 3; See Josh. 20:2-9
Exodus 21:14 : See 1 Kgs. 2:28-34
Exodus 21:16 : Deut. 24:7; 1 Tim. 1:10
Exodus 21:16 : ch. 22:4
Exodus 21:17 : Lev. 20:9; Deut. 27:16; Cited Matt. 15:4; Mark 7:10; [Prov. 20:20; 30:11]
Exodus 21:21 : [Lev. 25:45, 46]
Exodus 21:22 : [Deut. 22:18, 19]
Exodus 21:22 : [Job 31:11]
Exodus 21:23 : Deut. 19:21
Exodus 21:24 : Lev. 24:20; Deut. 19:21; Cited Matt. 5:38
Exodus 21:28 : Gen. 9:5
Exodus 21:30 : ch. 30:12; Num. 35:31, 32
Exodus 21:30 : [See ver. 22 above]; [Deut. 22:18, 19]
Exodus 21:32 : [Zech. 11:12, 13; Matt. 26:15]
Exodus 21:32 : [See ver. 28 above]; Gen. 9:5
ESV Value Compact Bible--soft leather-look, turquoise
ESV Journaling Bible, Interleaved Edition--Imitation leather with summer garden design | {
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Hadley leads Dustin Johnson at Palmetto Championship
Photo by tyler hendy from Pexels
Chesson Hadley moved to the front of the pack with a five-under-par 66 on Friday, and a double bogey on No 18 prevented Dustin Johnson from sharing the lead with Hadley at midway point of the Palmetto Championship at Congaree.
Hadley sits at 11-under 131 through two rounds at Congaree Golf Club in Ridgeland, S.C., and Johnson in second at nine-under following a 68. Tain Lee is alone in third at seven-under in his third career PGA Tour start.
Johnson opted to tee off on the last hole with his three-iron, but the club slipped against his glove during his swing and his shot landed in a native area. He took an unplayable lie, and his next shot sailed over the green, bouncing off the base of the grandstand. He soon two-putted for the double.
Before that mishap, Johnson had carded six birdies and just one bogey. The World No 1 hails from South Carolina and is trying to nab his first PGA Tour win in his home state, where the tour is staging a one-year replacement event for the canceled Canadian Open.
"I'm pleased with the way I played," Johnson said. "Obviously, it's an unfortunate finish, just club slip. It happens. Again, got a little unlucky there not to at least have a swing at it.
"I'm still in a really good position leading into the weekend and still a lot of golf to play, but I feel like I'm playing really well. So got a lot of confidence in what I'm doing."
Hadley came out of his front nine 2 under par and added birdies on Nos 11, 15 and 18 to secure the 36-hole lead. It hasn't been Hadley's year: The 33-year-old North Carolina native has missed the cut at 12 of 18 events and has yet to see a top-10 finish.
"I didn't feel like I played great on Monday for the US Open qualifier, but even between now and then, I changed a few things," Hadley said. "So it's nice to hit some good shots, and the putter's hot. So if I can just keep riding the putter, she's a sweet girl."
Lee, ranked No 1 882 in the world, qualified for the tournament on Monday. He played just two other tour events this year, squeaking by to make the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open and the Valero Texas Open but never shooting a sub-70 round.
Lee piled up eight birdies, yet he was more concerned with how close he was to making cut than the leader.
"Today I was looking at the cut line all day," Lee said. "I was like, whenever the leaderboard popped up, I was looking at the cut line. I was trying to get as far away from that as possible. Whenever I looked over, the first page wasn't up, so I didn't know what was going on."
Lee wasn't the only unheralded golfer to make waves on the first two days. South Africa's Wilco Nienaber, a 21-year-old making his first PGA Tour start, shot consecutive rounds of 68 to join a six-way tie for fourth at six-under. A birdie-birdie-eagle stretch in the middle of his round shot him up to seven-under, briefly putting him in solo third.
Nienaber is leading the field in average driving distance at 361.1 yards.
Tied with Nienaber are fellow South African Erik van Rooyen, Ireland's Seamus Power, Harris English, Chez Reavie and Pat Perez.
First-round leader Wes Roach followed up his Thursday 64 with a dismal six-over 77 with zero birdies, plummeting 28 spots down the leaderboard.
Tags: chesson hadley golf
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FIA Defends Ben Sulayem After Reported Sexist Comments | {
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Westneat
Ishisaka
McCleary roundup: What's up as lawmakers enter final four weeks of session
Originally published March 31, 2017 at 5:00 am Updated April 4, 2017 at 10:48 am
Pedestrians walk near the Legislative Building, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017, at the Capitol in Olympia. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
House Democrats unveil their proposed 2017-19 state budget, setting the stage for a McCleary debate that could last well into summer.
Neal Morton
As the Zags (finally) make their way to the Final Four, the Washington Legislature enters the final four weeks of its regular session, with many predicting at least one overtime period.
That means House and Senate budget writers will be working hard to find common ground in their tax-and-spending plans to finally resolve the landmark McCleary school-funding case.
But with the release of the Democrat-controlled House budget proposal this week, it's clear the two sides remain far apart.
Here's a roundup of the McCleary action over the past week:
Which spending plan do you think most adequately addresses Washington's school funding needs? Reply for "other." #waedu #waleg
— Education Lab (@educationlab) March 29, 2017
On Sunday, dozens of students pulled out their umbrellas as they marched under rainy skies in Olympia to demand lawmakers fully fund public schools.
With picket signs reading "Dollars = Scholars" and "Legislators: Do your job!" the students aimed to give themselves a voice, as the people most affected by the Legislature's failure to pay for an equitable public-school system.
"We shouldn't have to be advocates for education, but here we are," Olympia High School student Rachel Hodes told The Olympian.
we marched with SIGNS ! it was wild pic.twitter.com/Yp73tZuitX
— gracie (@poetinmyheart7) March 26, 2017
Their activism was followed Monday by House Democrats unveiling their proposed $44.6 billion operating budget for 2017-19.
The proposal includes $3 billion in new taxes on the wealthy and businesses, including a 7 percent tax on capital-gains earnings. Total spending on public education would top $7 billion over four years, with increased funding for early-learning programs and higher teacher salaries.
House Democrats rejected the Senate GOP's proposal to shift the burden of local school levies to a new statewide property tax. The GOP's proposal would lower tax rates for a majority of taxpayers but also lead to tax increases in high-cost areas, like Seattle and other parts of the Puget Sound.
Proposed 2017-19 WA state budgets:
– @GovInslee: $46.7B
– House Dems: $44.6B
– Senate GOP: $43B
Current two-year spending: $38.4B#waleg
— Joseph O'Sullivan (@OlympiaJoe) March 27, 2017
Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, praised the House budget.
But Republicans almost immediately predicted budget debates would spill into a special session, especially after Democratic leaders said they won't pass their tax package until both sides reach agreement on a final budget.
"You can have no real negotiations until they show everything they want to do is more than just a spending list," Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, told The Associated Press.
A hearing on the Democratic proposal is expected Friday on the House floor.
#waleg Day 80: drafting floor amendments for the House budget debate pic.twitter.com/u2JJ4nT88N
— Drew Stokesbary (@stokesbary) March 29, 2017
On Tuesday, the Washington Research Council released a comparison of the competing House and Senate budget proposals. And the council earlier in the week featured the "Little Legislation That Could," a House bill nearing passage in the Senate to offer school districts some relief in building new schools.
Also Tuesday, Chris Reykdal, state superintendent of public instruction, weighed in on the budget debate and urged lawmakers to think of the process as "much more than solving a court case."
The News Tribune, meanwhile, highlighted a notably missing piece in both the House and Senate's budget proposals: "a tax on carbon emissions championed by Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee."
Monday's news: House Dems unveil budget plan. @GovInslee's people: Why aren't u writing about our 4 month old proposal. #waleg pic.twitter.com/3g2JZjJKY6
— Melissa Santos (@MelissaSantos1) March 28, 2017
Neal Morton: nmorton@seattletimes.com or 206-464-3145. On Twitter @nealtmorton | {
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Posted: May 3, 2012 - 1:00 am
(12:07 p.m.)An 18-year-old man faces weapon charges as a result of a search last night in Dartmouth by the HRP/RCMP Guns and Gangs Team. At approximately 10:50 p.m., officers assigned to the Guns and Gangs Team executed a search warrant at a residence on John Street. The search resulted in a sawed off shotgun and ammunition being seized. Tevin Pond was taken into custody without incident and is scheduled to appear in Dartmouth Provincial Court today on a series of weapons related charges including: Section 86(2) CCC - Unsafe Storage of a Firearm Section 88(1) CCC - Possession of a Weapon for a Dangerous Purpose Section 92(1) CCC - Unauthorized Possession of a Firearm Section 95 CCC - Possession of a Prohibited Firearm with Ammunition Section 108(1)(a) CCC - Tampering with a Serial Number on a Firearm He also faces an additional charge of breaching a court order.
© 2019 Halifax Regional Municipality. Content last modified May 3 2012. | {
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Quirky gifts for past presidents
The president of Argentina gave George W. Bush 300 pounds of lamb meat
JFK received a carved peach pit in his likeness
A bowling alley was installed in the White House as a birthday gift to Truman
Next Article in Living »
By Scott Allen
(Mental Floss) -- President Barack Obama turns 48 on Tuesday. While the first family encourages you to send contributions to your favorite charity in lieu of the White House, if you insist on doing some last-minute birthday shopping for 44, you might consider a pair of jeans or a case of Bud Light. For some historical precedent, here's a look back at some of the more interesting presidential gifts.
Future president Barack Obama and his family blow out the candles on his birthday cake in 2004.
George W. Bush: Raw lamb
President Bush and his family received about 1,000 gifts per month during his two terms in office. Bush's haul included an iPod from U2 lead singer, Bono, "The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook" and vocabulary-building game from the Sultan of Brunei, and an electric harp with a speakerphone from Vietnam.
The most unusual gift Bush received may have been the 300 pounds of raw lamb meat from the president of Argentina in 2003. The lamb, like all gifts from overseas, was accepted by the Office of the President on behalf of the nation, and passed along to the General Services Administration. Most non-perishable gifts of state end up in presidential libraries or the National Archives.
Bill Clinton: Portraits -- on a carpet
We'll say this for President Heydar Aliyev's gift to President Clinton: It was unique. The president of Azerbaijan wanted his gift to be representative of Azerbaijani craftsmanship, so he called upon Kamil Aliyev, a renowned carpet portrait artist. Kamil Aliyev's design featured the first couple inside a heart-shaped medallion, the first double portrait he ever attempted.
"I wanted to convey their lives as one beating heart," he said. While Aliyev designed the carpet and dyed the yarn, 12 young women were employed to help complete the portrait in 10 weeks. Heydar Aliyev presented the carpet to the Clintons in August 1997.
George H.W. Bush: Komodo dragon
In 1990, the president of Indonesia presented a Komodo dragon to President Bush. Perhaps worried that the venomous, flesh-eating lizard wouldn't play nice with Millie, the first dog, Bush donated the dragon, named Naga, to the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. Naga, who sired 32 offspring, died of an abdominal infection at the age of 24 in 2007. During his stay in Cincinnati, Naga was a star attraction, drawing about one million visits each year. Mental Floss: The bizarre history of White House pets
Ronald Reagan: Embroidered saddle
President Reagan, who was gifted 372 belt buckles while in office, also received enough tacking equipment during his time in Washington to outfit an entire stable.
Mental Floss: A brief history of presidential vacations
Mental Floss: Presidential siblings and the headaches they caused
Mental Floss: 3 big cheeses gifted to politicians
Mental Floss: 10 words that will help you win Scrabble
Mental Floss: How does scratch-and-sniff work?
Jimmy Carter: Metamorphic portrait
Mexican President Jose Lopez Portillo commissioned Octavio Ocampo to paint a portrait of President Carter in Ocampo's trademark metamorphic style, which juxtaposes various images within a larger image to create an optical illusion.
Carter's image in the portrait is created out of national symbols, including buildings, flags, sailing ships, and truck convoys. Portillo presented the portrait to Carter in 1979.
Richard Nixon: Edible portraits
A Pakistani man's gift to President Nixon required an unusual accessory to fully appreciate. S. Nabi Ahmed Rizvi provided a magnifying glass inside a plush blue velvet box, along with two snapshots of himself and two grains of rice. One grain of rice featured a portrait of Nixon as president; the other featured a portrait of a young Nixon in the Navy. The gift was displayed as part of the National Portrait Gallery's "To the President: Folk Portraits by the People" exhibit.
John F. Kennedy: Carved peach pit
What better way to show your president you admire him than by carving his likeness into a peach pit? R.J. McErlean's remarkable ode to JFK features a portrait of Kennedy and the inscription "President John F. Kennedy of the United States." An eagle on a shield is carved on the left side of the pit, above a depiction of Saint Christopher.
Harry S. Truman: Bowling alley
A two-lane bowling alley was installed in the White House in 1947 as a birthday gift to President Truman. No matter that he hadn't bowled since he was 19, Truman knocked down seven pins on the first roll at the alley, which was paid for by donors from Truman's home state of Missouri and moved to the Old Executive Office Building in 1955.
Truman didn't use the alley much himself - he was more of a poker player -- but the addition was a big hit with Truman's staff, some of whom formed a bowling league. Mental Floss: The White House lanes and other famous bowling alleys
Franklin D. Roosevelt: A giant cake
The birthday cake presented to FDR on the occasion of his 59th birthday was 5 feet high and weighed 300 pounds. The cake was a gift of the Bakery and Confectionary Workers International Union of America. Along with the cake, the union donated $500 to FDR's "Fight Infantile-Paralysis" campaign.
Rutherford B. Hayes: Carved lemon
When life gives you lemons, make pigs. A lemon carved to look like a pig was presented to President Hayes and later featured in an exhibit at the Herbert Hoover presidential library titled, "Weird and Wonderful: Gifts Fit For a President." Museum director Richard N. Smith said at the time, "It looks a little like you'd expect a 110-year-old lemon to look." While she may or may not have been the inspiration for the bizarre gift, Hayes' wife, Lucy, was nicknamed "Lemonade Lucy" because she banned alcoholic beverages at state functions.
Abraham Lincoln: Clothes
While he donated most of the wine and liquor he received to military hospitals, President Lincoln made good use of many of the other gifts showered upon him throughout his presidency. He was inaugurated in a suit donated by Titsworth and Brothers of Chicago, and, according to Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer, is reported to have told his wife, "There is one thing to come out of this scrape anyhow. We are going to have some new clothes!"
Thomas Jefferson: Cheese
One of the earliest recorded gifts of state was the mammoth cheese presented to President Jefferson by the Republican Baptists in Cheshire, Massachusetts, in 1802. To celebrate Jefferson's election, town elder John Leland inspired his Baptist congregation to manufacture a 1,235-pound cheese to give to the president.
When it was finished, the cheese was filled with milk from the town's cows, save for those owned by the hated Federalists. The cheese was inscribed with the phrase "Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God" and presented to Jefferson after a month-long journey to Washington on New Year's Day 1802. Jefferson, who had a policy not to accept free gifts, insisted that he pay $200 for the cheese. Mental Floss: The maggot cheese of the Mediterranean
George Washington: A federal holiday
In 1880, Congress created "Washington's Birthday," the first federal holiday to honor an American-born citizen. The holiday was celebrated on February 22 until 1968, when Congress moved it from its fixed day to the third Monday in February as part of the Uniform Monday Holidays Act.
For more mental_floss articles, visit mentalfloss.com
Entire contents of this article copyright, Mental Floss LLC. All rights reserved.
Senators 'troubled' after Rice meeting Bergen: Senseless Benghazi obsession | {
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B&Q urgently recall remote control plug set due to fire risk
Customers have been told to stop using the product immediately
Sarah Curran
Updated 14:09, 18 DEC 2017
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Retail store B&Q are urgently recalling best selling plug socket sets because of a serious fire risk.
Customers who bought twin or triple remote control on/off sets have been urged to stop using them immediately and take them back to the store for a refund.
The sets are extremely popular at Christmas time when many people use them for Christmas trees and lights.
Harrowing new details emerge as inquest into Hawe family murders commences
The recall notice states:
"B&Q has identified a potential fire risk with REMOTE CONTROL ON/OFF SETS , which have shown excessive heat build-up in the plug of some units. B&Q have taken the decision to recall the products as in some circumstances, items in contact with the product could ignite.
"If you have purchased these products please stop using it immediately. The products were on sale between September 2014 and November 2017."
Limerick family with three young kids facing Christmas in a tent
The products being recalled were on sale between September 2014 and November 2017.
Remote control on/off set twin - barcode 5052931395033
Remote control on/off set triple - barcode 4895130705675
If you have purchased this product please switch off at the wall and return it any B&Q store where a refund to the value of your purchase will be given.
For any queries, please contact the B&Q helpline on 1800 946 327
Monday to Friday 8.30am to 8.00pm, Saturday 9.00am to 5.00pm and Sunday 10.00am to 4.00pm
Social welfare Ireland: Thousands of people are eligible for a monthly cash boost towards bills
In the midst of the ongoing cost of living crisis, many households are struggling with the expense of electricity and gas bills - but luckily there is help out there
Social welfare Ireland: Certain workers could claim extra cash boost of up to €308 a week
Many people may not be aware that they could be eligible to claim Jobseeker's Benefit on top of their wages if their working week has been reduced by their employer | {
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Kaskade Files Lawsuit Against Palms Casino Over Canceled KAOS Concerts
12/10/2019 by Chris Eggertsen
Mark Owens
The DJ is accusing FP Holdings of failing to pay out the remainder of his contract following the club's closure.
Kaskade wants Las Vegas' Palms Resort Casino to pay up.
In a breach of contract suit filed Dec. 4 in U.S. District Court in Nevada, the globally-renowned DJ (aka Ryan Raddon) and Big City Dynasty accuse F.P. Holdings, a limited partnership connected to Palm's parent company Red Rocks Resorts Inc., of failing to pay out the remainder of his contract after closing down its KAOS nightclub last month. He had been scheduled to perform at the venue through the end of 2020.
"It is almost hard to imagine a more straightforward breach of contract claim than this one," wrote attorney Alex Fugazzi with firm Snell and Wilmer LLP in the opening of the the civil complaint. It goes on to note that FP's contractual obligations to pay Raddon for the remainder of his performances are "clear and unambiguous."
The contract, which was signed in January 2018 by Big City and FP, provided that Raddon perform a total of 30 shows at the Palms in 2019 and an additional 30 in 2020. A 31st show for 2019 was negotiated later.
The complaint states that Raddon performed all of his scheduled performances during the first nine months of 2019 and received full payment for them. But in August, FP canceled all three of Raddon's performances in October 2019, claiming KAOS would be undergoing renovations.
FP ultimately paid Raddon for the October performances, after which he suggested several alternative dates. Not only did FP not respond to those suggestions, the suit alleges, but since announcing KAOS' "indefinite" closure it has failed to pay him for the remainder of his performances, including a total of seven in 2019 (including shows scheduled for Nov. 8, 16 and 23) and another 30 in 2020. The complaint notes that FP's failure to provide a "suitable" alternative venue to host the remaining shows means the company now owes him full payment for the remainder of his contract (the actual amount of which has been redacted in the version of the suit obtained by Billboard).
Raddon gave written notice to FP that it had breached their agreement in a letter dated Nov. 13, though the complaint alleges the company has not yet acknowledged the notice or taken steps to rectify it. Raddon effectively terminated the agreement on Dec. 3, which he claims he is entitled to do under terms that allow the non-breaching party to immediately terminate the agreement if a "substantial breach of material conditions" is not rectified within five business days of receiving written notification of the breach, or before the next performance.
The plaintiffs are asking for compensatory damages for the remaining performances plus pre- and post-judgment interest, along with attorneys' fees and other costs and expenses incurred in the suit.
In a statement emailed to Billlboard, a representative for FP Holdings owner Red Rock Resorts wrote, "As a standard practice, Red Rock Resorts, Inc. does not comment on pending litigation."
This is the second lawsuit brought against a Palms-affiliated company in as many months. A day after KAOS' closure was announced, a class-action suit was filed by cocktail waitress Alyssa Faulstick against Palms owners Station Casinos and Red Rock Resorts, alleging the club failed to give she and other KAOS staff members at least 60 days' notice of their termination, which is a violation of federal labor law.
Kaskade isn't the only DJ affected by the closure. In September, both Marshmello and Skrillex abruptly ended their KAOS residencies. The former had signed a reported $60 million, two-year contract with the club back in March.
The Palms has also seen several top executives depart over the last few months. These include vp and GM Jon Gray; vp creative strategy Ronn Nicolli; senior vp nightlife, daylife and events Ryan Craig; and co-managing directors of social experience Cy and Jesse Waits.
KAOS opened for business in April as part of a $690 million Palms redevelopment project. In a statement announcing the club's closing, Michael Britt, senior vp government relations and corporate communications for Red Rock Resorts Inc., released a statement noting that the "entertainment and fixed cost structure associated with Kaos" had proven to be a challenge for the hotel-casino. | {
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Grafik-Atelier Baumeister / Gütersloh
Musik für Millionen. Irving Berlin. Ein musikalisches Portrait zum 100. Geburtstag des amerikanischen Komponisten
Club Edition
Pop/ Rock, Jazz
There's No Business Like Showbusiness. From The Musical Production "Annie Get Your Gun".
Bing Crosby / The Andrew Sisters & Dick Haymes
Berlin, Irving
Let's Face The Music And Dance. From The RKO-Movie "Follow The Fleet".
Puttin' On The Ritz. From The Movie "Puttin On The Ritz".
Cheek To Cheek. From The RKO-Movie "Top Hat".
Astaire, Fred
A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody. From The Revue "The Ziegfield Follies Of 1919".
Martin, Tony
Guy Lombardo And His Royal Canadians
Alexander's Ragtime Band
Al Jolson & Bing Crosby
Orch./Choir/Ensemble
Morris Stoloff's Orchestra
How Deep Is The Ocean
The Girl That I Marry. From The Musical "Annie Get Your Gun".
Haymes, Dick
Play A Simple Melody. From The Revue "Watch Your Step".
Bing & Gary Crosby
Matty Matlock's Orchestra
Russian Lullaby. From The Movie "Blue Skies", 1946.
Armstrong, Louis
Blue Skies. From The Musical "Betsy", 1926.
Easter Parade. From The Revue "As Thousands Cheer".
Marie. From The Movie "The Awakening".
The Song Is Ended (But The Melody Lingers On)
Louis Armstrong & The Mills Brothers
White Christmas. From The Movie "Holiday Inn".
Bing Crosby / The Ken Darby Singers | {
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Save Time Crossing The Border!
See Current Wait Times
As a binational and multi-cultural exchange center, the Paso Del Norte region experiences significant influx of pedestrians, personal and commercial vehicles at the El Paso, Tornillo and Santa Teresa Ports of Entry. In 2018, northbound border crossings at Bridge of the Americas, Paso Del Norte and Ysleta-Zaragoza saw a daily average of 35,819 passenger vehicles (13.074 million annual), 19,787 pedestrians (7.222 million annual) and 2,594 commercial vehicles (811,868 annual).
To help commuters and commercial drivers manage travel routes and departure times, the International Bridges Steering Committee developed this website to provide real-time data and video of the six border crossings in the Paso del Norte region. If you have a bridge status update that isn't listed on the website, please submit it via the submission box, and if approved, the update will be shared through the PDN Uno Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Want updates while on the run? Users can also opt-in for text message updates on border crossing status. Standard text message rates apply.
Choose a Border Crossing: Choose a Border Crossing: Choose a Border Crossing: Choose a Border Crossing: Choose a Border Crossing: Choose a Border Crossing:
El Paso Ports of Entry Northbound Daily Averages (2018) | {
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Archive for September 8th, 2018
The Most Beautiful Starbucks in the World
You'd be forgiven if you thought that the photos here are of a high end boutique store. It's actually [Starbucks' first location in Italy](https://news.starbucks.com/press-releases/starbucks-arrives-in-milan-it...
https://www.neatorama.com/2018/09/08/The-Most-Beautiful-Starbucks-in-the-World/
Exposed to the Elements: A Strange 1920s Death on the Scottish Island of Iona
Nora Emily Fornario, known as Netta, was a young woman in England who had a lifelong fascination with magic. She studied occult subjects along with like-minded friends in the 1920s. Netta was drawn to Scotland, specifica...
https://www.neatorama.com/2018/09/08/Exposed-to-the-Elements-A-Strange-1920s-Death-on-the-Scottish-Island-of-Iona/
If This is Internet Browsing, What does Social Media Look Like?
https://www.neatorama.com/2018/09/08/If-This-is-Internet-Browsing-What-does-Social-Media-Look-Like/
Heinz Once Made a Fruit Drink and Called it "Concentrated Help"
Heinz (yes, the ketchup company) once ventured into the beverage market in the 1970s. They decided to make a fruit drink and called it "[Concentrated Help Fruit Drink](http://www.weirduniverse.net/blog/comme...
https://www.neatorama.com/2018/09/08/Heinz-Once-Made-a-Fruit-Drink-and-Called-it-Concentrated-Help/
Amazing Photos of Spiral Staircases in Budapest by Balint Alovits
Hungarian photographer Balint Alovits scoured the city of Budapest for amazing spiraling staircases for his photo series "[Time Machine](http://www.balintalovits.com/time-machine/)." > "The ins...
https://www.neatorama.com/2018/09/08/Amazing-Photos-of-Spiral-Staircases-in-Budapest-by-Balint-Alovits/
Dumb Things People Believed as Kids
There's so much about the world that children are expected to just pick up from their environment. That means so many things are only half-learned because we don't realize what we are misunderstanding. Ross McClearly ask...
https://www.neatorama.com/2018/09/08/Dumb-Things-People-Believed-as-Kids/
How Amsterdam Cleans up Its Canals: Get Paying Tourists to Pick up the Trash!
Smart (and very eco-conscious): picking up trash in the canals of Amsterdam Smarter: Get someone else to do it for you. GENIUS: ... and make them pay to do it! [PlasticWhale](https://www.facebook.com/pg/PlasticW...
https://www.neatorama.com/2018/09/08/How-Amsterdam-Cleans-up-Its-Canals-Get-Paying-Tourists-to-Pick-up-the-Trash/
Mrs. Herman, Monkey Firefighter
Around the turn of the 20th century, fire stations in New York City were allowed to have one dog as a mascot, or one cat, but not both. Of course, they all had horses to pull the fire engines. Engine Company No. 31 and N...
https://www.neatorama.com/2018/09/08/Mrs-Herman-Monkey-Firefighter/
Victorian-Era Orgasms and the Crisis of Peer Review
It's been a popular tidbit from history that doctors during the Victorian era once treated hysteria in women by manually stimulating them to orgasm. This made doctors popular but tired, so Joseph Mortimer Granville inven...
https://www.neatorama.com/2018/09/08/Victorian-Era-Orgasms-and-the-Crisis-of-Peer-Review/ | {
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} |
Jan 5, 2022 - World
North Korea launches first ballistic missile in 2 months
People watching a television at the Seoul Railway Station on Wednesday. Photo: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the sea on Wednesday, its first launch in roughly two months, according to AP.
Why it matters: The provocation is a signal that North Korea does not intend to rejoin denuclearization talks.
South Korea's military said it believes the missile was fired from North Korea's Jagang province and landed in its eastern waters.
The big picture: The country and its dictator, Kim Jong-un, had been relatively quiet throughout the Biden administration, but Tuesday's launch could indicate that behavior is changing.
The country hasn't tested a nuclear weapon or intercontinental ballistic missile since 2017, though it has continued to rebuff talks proposed by the Biden administration, Axios' Dave Lawler reports.
Go deeper: President Moon Jae-in: End to Korean War agreed to "in principle"
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that the missile was launched on Wednesday in North Korea, not Tuesday.
Rebecca Falconer
Updated Jan 13, 2022 - World
U.S. presses UN to hit North Korea with more sanctions over missile tests
A broadcast reports on North Korea's Kim Jong-un at the Seoul Railway Station in South Korea. Photo: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
The Biden administration on Wednesday imposed sanctions on North Korean and Russian individuals and entities for supporting North Korea's ballistic missile program.
Driving the news: The announcement follows North Korea's two missile tests in the past week and leader Kim Jong-un's threat to bolster the country's nuclear weapons program. | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaCommonCrawl"
} |
MBM_OnDaTrack releases new single "Rainmaker"
With "cuffing season" finally here, many of us tend to look for tunes appropriate for the times and artist MBM_OnDaTrack has the perfect new track for listeners. Titled "Rainmaker," the self-produced cut was completely done by the New York-native, from the first riff to the very last note. "Rainmaker" is an absolute gem, and shows…
Music: NFL Trippp – "Potential"
Minneapolis Artist, NFL Trippp, delivers his first official single of 2020 with his newest hit, "Potential." The midwest representer presents a story of wanting to love a women in the face of all the negative connotations and baggage that comes with a new partner's pass. Despite all that, she has P O T E N T I…
@MEXCCO – "Richie Rich"
Recently West Coast rapper MEXCCO dropped his new single "Richie Rich" taken from his upcoming project, TRAPBOY. Bred in the San Pedro area adjacent to Long Beach, MEXCCO got his start in music when he decided to leave the streets alone and take his music more seriously. Having grown up in a neighborhood where the Crips are the predominant gang, MEXCCO was seeking a new path, after…
@StuMoney757 – East Virginia
With the New Year upon us East Virginia rapper Stu Money keeps applying the pressure with the new project making sure the world knows about Norfolk and Virginia Beach, VA aka Shark City. Home to greats like Pharrell Williams, Timbaland, Missy Elliott, the Clipse and more, Virginia has always given Hip-Hop something special. Enter rapper Stu Money and his new project East…
Bronx, New York artist Toxxx releases his latest single "Ol Skool"
Bronx, New York artist Toxxx releases his latest single "Ol Skool" under his indie record label ToxxxicView. The high elevating New York wordsmith is sure to turn heads with his extraordinaire delivery and witty wordplay on this classic tribute to Hip-Hop. The single has already received overwhelming feedback and publication with more than 40k streams…
Cali emcee IQ drops "Magic Tricks"
Los Angeles emcee/producer IQ presents his new self-produced single "Magic Tricks", hot on the heels of previous single "Everywhere I Go" (stream on Spotify). IQ's last full-length release was IQ Test (Bandcamp). "I started experimenting with some faster trap beats, came up with a nice little track I was feelin and started spittin some battle type rhymes…
EP: iLL DiLL Tha ViLL – "Selfish"
Philly's own, iLL DiLL, drops off a brand new set of body work with his newest tape, Selfish. "The upcoming rapper teams up with producer DJ Icee (Sylvan LaCue's DJ) on his latest EP, Selfish. With the only feature being New Jersey's Ish Williams, iLL DiLL flexes his lyrical prowess, delivering fast-paced, and occasionally bi-lingual rhymes throughout the EP." Check…
Video: Sean Cole – "Costly"
Internationally known – now representing out of his home base – Minnesota native, Sean Cole, drops off a special holiday gift as he shares his long awaited official video for his hit single, "Costly." The visual starts off as Sean Cole takes an ominous walk through a back alley on his way home. Once settled in his…
@mjgrizz_ – "Outside Looking In"
Coming straight outta the Chi, comes a MJ Grizz, who carries a smooth flow and demeanor with the lyricism to match. Mj Grizz just released an introspective and reflective track, "Outside Lookin In" produced by A DOT that touches on working towards your dreams even when it's tough remembering why you started on your journey. Combining forces with management phenom Smit of BDM Management, Mj Grizz has…
Causin' Effect! release new single "EXTORTION"
Vazy and Jibba make the hip hop duo Causin' Effect! Songwriting diversity is what separates these artists from the others. Causin' Effect tours New England frequently and they call Southern Vermont home. Well known for their hit single Redneck. We now bring you "EXTORTION" which is a brand new track! With your help we can get this…
Jamel Deon drops "Deposits" single
Jamel Deon was born in Las Vegas and spent his college years in Arizona..Now he is back in Las Vegas preparing for the release of the Hustle With Me EP. Class of 2017 graduating with a Bachelors' Degree in Business Administration and a Minor in Entrepreneurship. Today, Jamel Deon makes hip hop music for the…
(Video) Young Escobar – Real Kings ENT
Real kingz-Young Escobar, "One part of the real kingz short film about the team meeting the godmother of the city and doing a job to prove themselves worthy of taking over the game. Its the sequel to "LMK".. PART 3 COMING SOONl! | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaCommonCrawl"
} |
hilton rooms for nurses
without charge to doctors, nurses, EMTs, paramedics and other frontline medical staff who need a place to sleep, recharge or isolate from their families through the end of May ()Not sure if you need to be a member of one of the participating organizations or what the stipulations are, just passing along an FYI. I have two boys, 10 and 12, and the last thing in the world I would ever want to do is go home and get them sick.". By Laura French. The offer runs April 13 th through the end of May. Hilton is also organizing a similar program. Do I have to be frontline nurse taking care of COVID-19 patients to take advantage of the Hilton "Discounted Rooms for Nurses" Offer? But now that she's aware of the Hilton program and offers of free or discounted rooms from other hotels, she said she's interested in looking into them. Click here for all of Hotel Management's COVID-19 coverage Wright had planned to room with another nurse to save money but found out about Hilton's program through the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, a trade group. The rooms are available for doctors, nurses, EMTs. In Nurses Weekly. Beginning next week, Hilton and American Express will make rooms available without charge to doctors, nurses, EMTs, paramedics and other frontline medical staff who need a place to sleep, recharge or isolate from their families through the end of May. Affordable travel, entertainment and recreation discounts is what you can expect from Hotels Etc! In Nurses Weekly. Reservations can be made in up to 7-day increments. "Knowing that there is a safe, clean and comfortable hotel room waiting for you at the end of a long shift can make all the difference in the world right now," said William Jaquis, the group's president. Today, Hilton and American Express announced that they will offer hotel rooms free of charge for up to 1 million workers represented by 10 medical associations across the United States. paramedics and other medical staff working on the front line until the end of May. Expect better, expect Hilton. Hilton and Marriott are partnering with around a dozen associations that represent millions of health care workers. With support from credit card partners, American Express and JPMorgan Chase, Marriott has committed to provide $10 million worth of hotel stays for health care professionals leading the fight against COVID-19 in the United States. UTICA, NY - Hilton and American Express are offering free hotel rooms to doctors, nurses, EMTs, paramedics, and medical staff who need a place to sleep or isolate from their families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most guests at the inn are medical professionals working at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, with rooms -- at a 75% discount -- paid for by the hospital, she said. Free Hotel Rooms for Nurses. In Nurses Weekly. There are about 56,000 hotels across the USA, and 25,000 of those could close in the next few weeks, at least temporarily, according to Rogers. Newsday readers support our strong local journalism by subscribing. About 80% of hotel rooms across the country are empty, according to a new report by STR, a firm that analyzes hotel industry data. Hilton will donate 1 million hotel rooms for medical professionals working on the coronavirus pandemic response, starting Monday. Hilton, American Express, and Hilton\'s ownership community (hotel owners) have decided to donate a million rooms to frontline medical employees battling with the pandemic in the United States. Posted 04/09/2020. We are excited to announce that ANA members have reserved over 90,000 room nights in the 18 days since the program began! Contact Newsday | JetBlue. Reserve up to 7 consecutive nights at Hilton hotels across the US – for free. DISCOUNT (5 days ago) Hilton pledges 1 million room nights to members of 11 health care associations. — NAEMT has partnered with Hilton Hotels and American Express to provide free hotel rooms for EMS providers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Seven Hilton hotels on Long Island, including the 165-room Hilton Garden Inn in Melville and 178-room Hilton Garden Inn in Roslyn, are participating in the chain's "1 Million Rooms" initiative to donate rooms to frontline medical professionals during the coronavirus crisis, said Laura Ford, Hilton's Americas communications director. Explore Hilton's portfolio of hotels and distinct brands across the globe. He says the hotel has been holding on and doing ok, but is in no way doing business as usual. My staff and I are doing whatever we can to make them feel as at ease and happy as possible as soon as they walk through the door.". More Free Hotel Rooms for Nurses on Frontlines. Hilton announced on Monday that the company would donate up to 1 million hotel rooms to doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals, in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Beginning next week, Hilton and American Express will make rooms available without charge to doctors, nurses, EMTs, paramedics and other frontline medical staff who need a […] This program is slated to cover stays from April 13 through May 31 at Hilton properties across the U.S. CLINTON, Miss. If you are a nurse and want to save money then we encourage you to call Hotels Etc. Book directly for the best rates during your next stay. Rooms were made available free of charge to doctors, nurses, EMTs and other frontline medical staff who needed a place to sleep, recharge or isolate from their families. California seeking 15,000 hotel rooms for homeless, California Gov. You'll receive 25% savings off your next booking at participating Hilton hotels. Rooms were made available free of charge to doctors, nurses, EMTs and other frontline medical staff who needed a place to sleep, recharge or isolate from their families. Hilton is working with ten organizations (see below the lost) to distribute the rooms for stays between April 13 – May 31. The state has already obtained nearly 7,000 hotel rooms and is working with local agencies to get the homeless into them. For example, Hilton is donating one million rooms … Beginning next week, Hilton and American Express will make rooms available without charge to doctors, nurses, EMTs, paramedics and other frontline medical staff who need a … "I'm just overwhelmed by the deep level of dedication that all these people have. You can access Hilton\'s page for the announcement here. You do Nurses" Offer? This offer will be good from April 13 until the end of May. Health care workers battling COVID-19 and worried about bringing the disease home to their families can now rest with more peace of mind: About a dozen hotels on the Island are offering free or highly reduced room stays to these local medical workers, as well as those who've come from out of town to help. AARC members working on the front line in the COVID-19 pandemic now have an added resource to help them in this fight. She has covered lifestyle and entertainment, on-camera. Travel & Lodging Deals for Nurses Hilton Hotels. In partnership with American Express, the hotel chain ... nurses, EMTs and paramedics. Kelly Ann Connelly's employer offered no such benefit. Cookie Settings | Mike Hastings, president of the Emergency Nurses Association, a 40,000-member industry group based in Chicago, said the organization has been working with Hilton to place members across the country. ANA has partnered with American Express to offer one million free room nights at Hilton hotels to ANA members. To alleviate the added stress, Hilton and American Express have partnered up to donate up to 1 million hotel room nights across the United States. Expiration: C urrently set for May 31, but will be reassessed. Credit: Andrew Dierkes University City's Homewood Suites by Hilton on 41st and Walnut streets is offering free rooms to doctors and nurses at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and Penn Police officers. Hilton is offering one million free room nights to frontline medical personnel – including nurses who are ANA members. Beginning April 13, members can book a room, at no cost, through a members-only link. RAPID CITY, S.D. The rooms will be available to doctors, nurses, paramedics, emergency medical professionals and other workers through the end of May, according to Hilton. They announced the program over social media: More than ever the power of hospitality is needed. (April 3), Hilton President and CEO Christopher Nassetta, Marriott is donating $10 million in hotel stays, Marriott lets its customers donate their reward points, About 80% of hotel rooms nationwide are empty, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Red Roof's Room in Your Heart program is offering free rooms to first responders from now until May 31, 2020, including doctors, nurses, firefighters, police officers, etc. About 80% of hotel rooms nationwide are empty, according to STR, a firm that analyzes hotel industry data. Hilton offers the Frontline Thanks discount for all medical professionals globally, provided they can present a valid medical ID at check-in. Beginning next week, Hilton and American Express will make rooms available … Despite being among the businesses hit hardest by the pandemic, Roberts said the hospitality industry wants to help. Hilton pledges 1 million room nights to members of 11 health care associations SCHAUMBURG, Ill. (April 13, 2020) – Hilton and American Express on Monday launched a new program that will donate 1 million room nights across the country to provide members of 11 health care associations, including the Emergency Nurses Association , a safe and welcoming place to stay during … You might be using private browsing or have notifications blocked. Hilton has partnered up with American Express to donate up to 1 million hotel rooms to doctors, nurses, EMTs, paramedics and other frontline medical staff. Beginning Monday, Hilton and American Express will donate 1 million hotel rooms for medical professionals working on the coronavirus pandemic response. *Room reservations are subject to availability and extremely limited. Beginning next week, Hilton and American Express will make rooms available without charge to doctors, nurses, emergency medical technicians, paramedics and other front-line medical staff who need a place to sleep, recharge or isolate from their families through the end of May. Check out what's new. Some people are working on infastructure projects or they're in communications, but they're all essential workers," Gotthelf said. No, the Hilton Room Discount Offer is available to all nurses through the reservation portal on the ANA and RN Perks website. "When COVID started poking its very ugly head around here, we knew we wanted to welcome these workers and do our best to make them feel comfortable.". The rooms will be available to doctors, nurses, paramedics, emergency medical technicians and other workers through the end of May, according to Hilton. Hilton is donating up to 1 million rooms. Daysi Calavia-Robertson is a reporter who covers affordability and cost-of-living issues, the business of marijuana and CBD, travel and tourism, and special interest topics. At Hilton, that includes a complimentary drink upon arrival and in-room breakfast for two. Credit: Caroline Wright; Kelly Ann Connelly. Starting this week, Hilton and American Express will make rooms available to doctors, nurses, EMTs, paramedics and other frontline medical staff through the end of May. Hilton Hotels. Hilton and American Express announced that they will donate up to 1 million hotel room nights across the United States to frontline medical professionals leading the fight against COVID-19. "I'm working 12-hour shifts, which are physically, mentally and emotionally draining," Wright said. No, the Hilton Room Discount Offer is available to all nurses as a thank you from Hilton. Help, Cops: Brookhaven party with nearly 400 broken up over pandemic violations, Cuomo: NY will have COVID-19 vaccines for 170,000 on Dec. 15, Experts: Two pairs of coyotes now official Nassau dwellers, Officials charge 6 suspects in Turkish 'birth tourism' ring operating on LI. Beginning April 13, members can book a room, at no cost, through a members-only link. Reprints & permissions | For nearly a month, Connelly, who has continued to work, has stayed at a Wyndham hotel in Queens; her sons are cared for by their father. Skip to Content. Expiration: C urrently set for May 31, but will be reassessed. So grab your friends or significant other—it's time to get away in style. California Privacy Rights | Why is the offer limited to ANA members? More Free Hotel Rooms for Nurses on Frontlines. The group is one of more than 10 industry organizations the chain is working with to make the rooms available. ... We step up," she said. About Us | "We're a service industry. is the site you need. Hilton Hotels, in collaboration with American Express, is donating up to 1 million free hotel room nights across the U.S. to nurses, doctors, EMTs, paramedics, and other frontline healthcare staff who may need a place to sleep or isolate from their families during this pandemic. Financial Assistance. (Source: Thrive Global) Subscription terms | Our Commitment to You. –Hilton owned hotel chains have a deal for health care workers on the frontline of COVID-19. Free Hilton Hotel Rooms – A powerful ANA membership benefit that helps your whole family stay safe. Hilton has partnered up with American Express to donate up to 1 million hotel rooms to doctors, nurses, EMTs, paramedics and other frontline medical staff. The free room offerings concluded on May 31; however, Hilton continues to support AARC members by providing rooms at a discount through June 30. Hilton announced on Monday that the company would donate up to 1 million hotel rooms to doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals, in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic. ©American Nurses Association, ©American Nurses Credentialing Center, ©American Nurses Foundation. Gavin Newsom says the state is seeking 15,000 hotel rooms for the homeless during the coronavirus crisis. By NJSNA Nurses Weekly. Lee Arthur is the general manager of the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Utica. "I'm so grateful knowing I have a nice, safe place I can go rest and decompress.". The rooms will … The 42-year-old Medford nurse, who cares for patients with autism and other intellectual disabilities at group homes in New York City and Long Island, immediately checked into a hotel after one of her patients tested positive for coronavirus. Free Hotel Rooms for Nurses. Privacy Policy | The rooms will be available to doctors, nurses, paramedics, emergency medical technicians and other workers through the end of May, according to Hilton. However, employees at more than a dozen Marriotts said the hotels are offering discounted rates for health care workers but not participating in Marriott's free rooms initiative. Please enable notifications or using normal browsing mode. Hilton Hotels, in collaboration with American Express, is donating up to 1 million free hotel room nights across the U.S. to nurses, doctors, EMTs, paramedics, and other frontline healthcare staff who may need a place to sleep or isolate from their families during this pandemic. Reservations can be made up to 4 weeks in advance from the time of booking. The overwhelming response to this program, continues to show how important it is to our members to keep their family and loved ones safe during this time. "Our site almost crashed a couple of minutes after launching it.". DEAL ENDED. Hilton is donating up to 1 million rooms. Homewood Suites will offer free rooms for HUP and CHOP doctors and nurses and Penn Police officers. The offer runs April 13 through May 31. Click here for all of Hotel Management's COVID-19 coverage . The American College of Emergency Physicians is one of 10 medical groups the companies are working with to make the rooms available for those who need them. To opt-in to the room donation program, hoteliers must make at least 10% of their inventory available to health care workers for free, said Dorothy Roberts, vice president of hotel operations for Jericho-based hotel industry advisory firm Oxford Hospitality, which represents several Hilton hotels on the Island. Beginning next week, Hilton and American Express will make rooms available without charge to doctors, nurses, EMTs, paramedics and other frontline medical staff who need a place to sleep, recharge or isolate from their families through the end of May. Advertise with Newsday | We are excited to announce that ANA members have reserved over 90,000 room nights in the 18 days since the program began! Hilton is offering one million free room nights to frontline medical personnel – including nurses who are ANA members. Close to home or across the world, Hilton is there for you with memorable offers and experiences. Hilton Hotels and Resorts - Find Hotel Rooms. "As soon as I found out I was exposed, I reserved a room," she said. Hilton and Marriott are partnering with around a dozen associations that represent millions of health care workers. Chip Rogers, president and CEO of the American Hotel and Lodging Association, told USA TODAY that the pandemic could lead half of U.S. hotels to close. These rooms should be available starting tomorrow and will be offered through the month of May. Hilton and American Express have teamed up to provide medical professionals on the frontlines with up to 1 million rooms in the U.S. Beginning April 13, Hilton will make rooms available without charge to doctors, nurses, EMTs, paramedics and other frontline medical staff who need a place to sleep, recharge or isolate from their families through the end of May. Beginning next week, Hilton and American Express will make rooms available without charge to doctors, nurses, emergency medical technicians, paramedics and other front-line medical staff who need a place to sleep, recharge or isolate from their families through the end of May. Since then, more than 9,000 association members have accessed Hilton's booking page through the group's site. The company's efforts are focused on the areas of the country most affected by coronavirus, including New York and Newark, New Jersey; New Orleans; Detroit; Los Angeles; Las Vegas and Washington. More Details about Celebrate in Style. Reservations can be made in up to 7-day increments. "Having to share a room with another nurse [also caring for COVID patients] was going to be scary for me," she said. By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy. Some health care employers on the Island have provided staff on the front lines with the option of staying at paid-for hotel rooms in an effort to help keep their families safe. Hilton Hotels. Caroline Wright, 29, an intensive care nurse who traveled to the Island from Charleston, South Carolina, to help care for patients in a COVID-19 unit at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, has been staying for free at the Hilton Garden Inn in Roslyn for about two weeks. Wright had planned to room with another nurse to save money but found out about Hilton's program through the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, a … JetBlue. Posted 04/17/2020. Nurses can call 1-877 … "We are honored to extend our Hilton hospitality to them during this difficult time.". Reservations can be made up to 4 weeks in advance from the time of booking. Those associations help them to provide the best possible arrangements for the health care workers. Financial Assistance. So grab your friends or significant other—it's time to get away in style.
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Don't Keep Your Day Job
How to Turn Your Passion into Your Career
Author: Cathy Heller
The fact that you picked up this book leads me to believe that there is something you're seeking. Perhaps you're searching for more fulfillment. You might be craving more creative expression. It could be that you don't yet have clarity on exactly what you desire, but you're clear you want things to shift. I hear that and I am here to light a path forward to where you yearn to be.
Every day I am witness to lives being built based on what people think they are worth. The words you're about to read are a representation of my hand reaching out to you, to help you understand how much you're worth and how you truly can decide your destiny.
I would not write these words if I didn't wholeheartedly believe that we have the power to craft our own realities. I've seen it in my own life and more than 200 times through interviews on my podcast, "Don't Keep Your Day Job." I also see it every day in the most unexpected places.
I've had the pleasure of sitting down with brilliant and courageous souls, from world-renowned leaders such as former chairman and CEO of Starbucks Howard Schultz to self-starters on the precipice of life-changing success, from aspiring bakers to bloggers and painters. My podcast has grown into a worldwide community of souls in search of their life's work. I meet people all over the world who are doing what they love and adding value to their communities and beyond. I've talked to more than 100 role models, including Bobbi Brown, Danielle LaPorte, Jonathan Adler, Angela Duckworth, Martha Beck, Jenna Fischer, Julia Cameron, and Gretchen Rubin, to name just a few. It was an honor to hear their stories, and I am excited to share their advice with you.
I receive hundreds of messages a day from people who share how the lessons discussed on the podcast inspire them to redirect their lives, find new ways to contribute, and reach new levels of fulfillment. I love that I am able to create a space where they can meet and assist one another.
In the coming chapters, I'll draw on the experiences of entrepreneurs, designers, actors, artists, and friends who share their stories about how to create profound shifts in your daily mindset, life's vision, and business's impact. We're also going to hear examples from everyday people from all over the world—from Lagos, Nigeria, to Perryville, Missouri—who have used everything that I share in this book to transform their lives.
I am the first to admit that I'm a constant work in progress, but sometimes that progress doesn't feel like it's going in the direction I want.
I often tell my therapist, "I just get so frustrated about this thing or that thing."
Her response means everything.
"Well, I've been a therapist for 40 years, and I wouldn't be a therapist if I didn't know that people can change," she replies.
Isn't it incredible that we can change?
It's important to remember that we've been in a process of conditioning since birth, our every experience wiring our beliefs. Our first seven years of life are almost like hypnosis. It can pose challenges and create impediments to the life we want to create.
There is good news. We can change those scripts and limiting beliefs. We can change our behavior. We can change our ability to dream bigger, see further, and become more ourselves.
This foundation, this beautiful temple of your being, is where we will start. As you solidify this, we will begin to talk about concrete steps to take toward crafting your new life. We are going to get in alignment with what we want to build, how we dream of serving this world, and where to direct our energy.
I will help you see the greatest version of you and give you clarity on what's possible. I will provide practical tools and techniques to transform your craving into action steps. The entire process is, at its core, a journey home and back to yourself.
You are wiser than you give yourself credit for. If something in this book strikes you as true, it's because you already knew it on a deeper level. Think of the voice that you hear as you read this book as your internal knowing, a deep-seated wisdom that you were born with.
The time to listen to what's whispering to you and enjoy the adventure of being alive to the fullest has arrived. I invite you to make the decision not just to read this book but to put its teachings into practice, because a new sensation of what it feels like to move through this world awaits. You can do the thing that you've always, truly wanted to do.
After all, what you seek is seeking you.
Don't Keep Your Day Job
The opposite of depression is not happiness. The opposite of depression is purpose.
—Cathy Heller
It's a fun title with a rhythm to it, but there's so much more to this idea than simply building a business that allows you to literally quit your day job. It is about finding your life's work and waking up every day with purpose and gratitude for the ability to live that purpose in a powerful way.
Your "day job" is really a synonym for all the uninspired, routine, and mundane parts of your life. As you begin to design your life around purpose, how you move through the world will change. You'll want to foster more supportive and positive relationships that help you serve the world.
We've grown up in a system that doesn't always support our highest good. The system was in many ways designed for factory workers. It wasn't built to consider each person's unique gifts or the particular ways each individual can add to the whole. From a young age, we're placed on a timeline that we're expected to follow. We're praised for following the rules of the game by receiving good grades and the ability to advance to the next level. We're taught to check the boxes from school to university to career, with experiments and side projects regarded as distractions from the big picture. The system promises that you'll arrive at middle age with a successful career without taking into account your individual talents and passions.
Most people reach their forties and find themselves walking from the parking lot to the elevator feeling like something is missing.
We think we're doing okay because we landed the corporate job, got health benefits, and set ourselves up for a life that someone else wanted for us. We often ignore the pain for too long and lie to ourselves … until we receive that giant wake-up call. Our bodies or circumstances reach a breaking point. I have experienced this and I've spoken to many people on the podcast who have as well.
We might get sick, like Sarah Knight, who was having panic attacks while working at a New York publishing company. We might lean on drugs and alcohol to keep up with the life that isn't serving us. We might wait so long that we find ourselves at the bottom of a ditch—like Jen Sincero, who found herself in her forties surviving on canned tuna and living in a garage. We might face the loss of a loved one, as Emily McDowell did—her best friend's death shook her awake. Sometimes we don't get the obvious wake-up call and risk settling for the rest of our lives—unless we make the decision to change.
We're not constructing classrooms that teach people how to harness the magic inside of them. We're not cultivating that consciousness. We're not being taught to think outside of the box, and we're certainly not praised for being messy. But in order to find solutions and make things, we need to explore and have space to develop ideas.
The phrase "day job" is a synonym for the system that's told us to stay in line. Most people spend their lives building someone else's dream. I want you to build your dream. I want you to find your work. You have something to do in this world that only you can do. I know you are seeking fulfillment, and I'm on a mission to help you find it.
There's a new American dream. The goal isn't necessarily to become famous or beat the competition within someone else's paradigm. It's about simply finding a way to make a living doing what you love, stepping into the space where joy commands your compass.
It is possible to feel immense confidence and ease by simply surrendering to the thing that's been whispering to you all your life. It may seem hard to discern. Maybe you pushed it aside or brushed it off. Maybe you have loved several activities, industries, daydreams and never known which to choose. Perhaps you never felt like a standout at any one thing in particular. Whichever it is, I promise that there is something you've felt drawn to, and others notice what you add to the world. There's a seed there. There's a clue. We must get back in touch with our ability to feel our truth and follow it. There's deep wisdom I will help you uncover that has been with you all along, hidden in plain sight.
I'm entering my forties having fully surrendered to this whisper within, and now I feel in the current. People will ask me about New Year's resolutions or where I'll be in five years, and I can confidently respond: I don't work that way. I set sail and chart a course in the direction of whatever is calling me. I lean into my joy and curiosity. I know that I'll be shown where to go next. I don't want to control it, because I'm much more interested in what will happen when I stay in that flow. I want to walk toward the feelings.
I don't have to be Beyoncé. I don't need to be Bill Gates. I want to be in service, doing my thing that gives me joy. I want to do something I love. Success to me isn't the bank account or the fame. Success is feeling like you are living your life instead of the life someone else wants you to live. You are leaving your mark, and the world is better for it.
I'm going to declare a new measurement of success that matches up with the new dream: Success is how often you're swimming in that joy of being alive. Success is the feeling that you're on an adventure that's going to continue evolving exactly as it should. Success is feeling purpose and being paid for it.
What might happen if you stopped resisting it and instead set sail? Chart a course in the direction of your joy. You will be shown where to go as long as you stay in the flow.
How I Got Here
Who am I to tell you all this? And how do I know? I don't think it is fair to ask you to dig deep into your very soul alongside me throughout this book without first sharing my journey.
I didn't always feel the way I feel today: I wake up every day true to myself.
My childhood was complicated. There was a lot of sadness, and I never felt at ease at home. My parents fought nonstop. I used to hide under the sheets while my parents would fight. I dreamed of a day when I'd be far from there. I lived in fear of my dad's anger. My mom was always exhausted, and my dad was always frustrated. My mom could barely get out of bed, she was so unhappy. She spent much of her time under the weight of a dark depression. One of my earlier memories is her taking me to breakfast when I was four and explaining how miserable her marriage was and how she regretted not following her dreams.
I became my parents' therapist at the age of five. I would sit patiently listening to their grievances. I gave them the very best advice that my innocence could provide, but I felt deeply exploited and unseen. My existence seemed to matter only to the extent that I could make everyone else feel good. I had so little practice speaking that teachers started to notice. I was sent to speech therapy in first grade because nobody could understand me. It sounded like I spoke with marbles in my mouth. The therapist told my parents that I needed to have time to talk at home too.
I would watch movies and wish I could magically appear at those dinner tables where people were present and someone saw me. I wanted to be somewhere I felt safe. But it wasn't all darkness. I watched a lot of eighties TV, played with my older sister, organized talent shows outside with friends on my block, and there was MUSIC!
My mother was almost like Peter Pan. She would encourage me to stay up until midnight to watch reruns of The Honeymooners. She let me eat ice cream for dinner, and she would ask me to skip school and go to the beach with her. She had incredible highs and dramatic lows. She was magical anytime that she felt good, but unfortunately she was down most of the time.
My mom applauded creativity more than traditional smarts. She brought out the artist in me at such a young age: Sitting with me to make collages and reading to me at the library. She tucked me in bed at night. It was always her idea to take off our shoes and feel the grass between our toes or stop to notice a hummingbird. She took me to dance lessons and piano lessons and drove me to theater rehearsals. Music was our vehicle for connection and expression.
My mother's greatest tragedy was that she never had the energy or confidence to act on her potential talent. Growing up, she had been the star of her high school drama department. She was an incredible actress. She had great depth and presence on the stage, but she didn't have the courage to explore that path. Since she was a child of the 1950s, she was told she had to choose between being a mother and having a career. I saw firsthand the impact of leaving your gifts untapped.
We were so close when I was young, which made it even more painful when her sadness started to overcome her completely. She always had a touch of melancholy, and it wasn't uncommon for her to feel depressed or cry while singing at the piano, but those early moments of pure light and love stayed with me. I was around 14 years old when her anxiety took over and the darkness reigned.
It took me decades to realize that so much of my mother's desperation came from the choices she made not listening to her gut. I felt her frustration, and I did not want that to be me.
Once my parents split, it went from bad to worse. The crash of abandonment became too much to bear. I too felt deeply betrayed, but I had to become a cheerleader for her life. I brought home flowers and pep talks until the day I wondered why I had never tried being angry about it.
"What about me?" I pleaded. "Aren't I enough reason for you to want to live?"
Her response shook me: "You're not enough. I can't live for you. I have nothing left to give."
That one moment unknowingly set me down the path that I continue to walk this day. My mom tried to commit suicide one night. Overwhelmed, I drove to my dad's house in the dark to ask for help. His response—that I should not come over when his girlfriend's children were sleeping—shook me. I drove home with little will to live.
I felt invisible, and I never wanted another person to ever feel that way. It took years, but it was this mission that brought me to where I am today.
Identifying this vision and the road to embodying it was winding. I had to become a truth seeker first.
My childhood left me with the giant misconception that people grow up to become unhappy adults with unfulfilling marriages and stressful jobs.
During my teenage years my grades dropped, and I rarely did any schoolwork. I was barely surviving those years. I felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. I would not have graduated at all but for one teacher who understood me and said, "Get the hell out of here." He gave me a grade that I didn't deserve, which allowed me to graduate. Thankfully that set me on my quest to finally find some answers.
I was squeezed into college. I started at a state university that put me on academic probation on day one. I began to look around and wonder about the state of the world. I enrolled in religion classes where the teachings of Buddhism and Judaism started to shed light around the idea of purpose. I read every spiritual book I could find in search of the answer to the existential question: Why are we here?
I fell in love with the search for meaning and understanding the way human beings relate to our purpose in the big scheme of things. I felt called to speak and inspire. I became editor of my college paper. I had no real sense of what I wanted to do with my life, but that was one of the first times that I followed my inner compass. A whisper told me to inspire the 40,000 students who read that college newspaper. I graduated with a degree in humanities and promptly took off for a three-week trip to Jerusalem. I wanted to do some soul-searching. I wound up staying for three years.
Once there, I fell in love with Gd. You might use another word. Everyone must find their own north star, but I found a way to connect with the source of the world: The One who is, was, and always will be. As my teacher Rabbi David Aaron says, "We are each a masterpiece, a piece of the master." I was mesmerized. It infused me with meaning and a sense of purpose. I felt connected to the infinite and knew that there was a part of me that was plugged into the source of all creation. I knew I was put here to serve an ultimate good. And it felt good.
Learning about Jewish tradition in 3,000-year-old texts became like oxygen for me. This, combined with my earliest experiences, transformed my outlook on the world and the way in which I moved through it. I woke up feeling inspired, as if every cell in my being was connected to this palpable abundance of energy, this sweet divine light that permeates everything and connects us all. There are no extras. We are each created for a reason. I learned that the world needed something that only I could add.
After spending three years absorbed in a world of mystics, I was ready to take action and practice all that I had learned in the Holy Land. I arrived in Los Angeles 16 years ago with the dream of becoming a musician. I can still remember my family begging me not to go, saying, "Success doesn't happen for people like us."
I loved music as a child. My sister and I would sit at the piano with my mom and sing and laugh. Alone I would scribble down lyrics too. It was my greatest refuge—a sacred release and portal to expression. I would whisper to myself that writing songs would be the ticket out of the darkness and into the spotlight. I craved being seen, dreamed of filling stadiums.
There was a healthy dose of naivety in my move to Los Angeles. My credentials were nothing more than a belief that I was destined to be an artist and the confidence built through my spiritual explorations. I had no friends, no connections, no trust fund. I put one foot in front of the other and very slowly my story started to unfold.
I found a job on Craigslist, enough to pay rent on a small room, and got to work researching how exactly one acquires a record deal and becomes, you know, a rock star. I thought the only way you make it as a songwriter was to sell records. It was the only path that I knew of. I worked super hard—I tried to meet anyone I could collaborate with, I saved enough money to create demos, and then researched contacts at the labels. It was all about asking the right questions.
What do I do to get from point A to point B? Who do I need to know? How do I get a meeting?
One belief that I say over and over again on my podcast is about how often we think it's a lack of resources that stands in our way. We feel deflated when we don't have the money or the contacts or the right zip code. I have learned that our greatest resource is our own resourcefulness.
The good news is that all those other extras—money, connections, a fancy college degree—might be nice but are in no way necessary. With a driving sense of determination and resourcefulness, we can figure anything out.
I was also born with an innate stubbornness to live and experiment and lead. My husband says I have the will of a small country.
I wrote songs for three years straight—some better than others—and I finally secured that fabled record deal with Interscope. I sat in the recording studio wearing my sleekest pair of True Religion jeans, watching veteran A&R executive and record producer Ron Fair record Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi," and I thought to myself, "I made it. I'm here." I felt like I reached the promised land—Starbucks order hand-delivered by an intern and all.
There was a quiet part of myself that felt like I was trying too hard to be someone else. I shushed that voice real quick, promising myself, "This is it. You will do it and this will be your life."
I was driving my little car through Santa Monica three months later when I got a phone call from my producer. He asked me to pull over.
"We're going to drop you from the label," he said.
"Look," he said, not unkindly. "You have nice songs. It's Michelle Branch meets Natalie Merchant meets Sheryl Crow. They're conversational, but they are not pop sensations. We're not sure if you can do this new wave of what's hot on the radio. You have talent, but we just can't take the chance."
It was soul crushing. It felt like I'd met the Wizard of Oz only to find out that he had no power. I erased my dream of a music career. I went in search of a new identity.
I'll be a therapist since I've done that for my parents.
I'll become a yoga teacher because that's been good for me.
I'll take an interior design class so I'll still be creative.
I tried to apply my craft to nonprofits, a floral design studio, a casting agency, a real estate firm. I was drowning in misery, and I couldn't figure out why because all these occupations make a decent life … for someone. I finally found a job making connections for a commercial real estate mogul. It seemed like a great option B at the time. I was making well into six figures at age 25, driving a hot convertible, and enjoying all the sushi that Los Angeles could provide.
But I felt like a fraud, and I was completely NOT myself. It took two years to hit a breaking point, which of course happened in the car, as most critical moments in Los Angeles do.
I was sobbing on the side of the interstate when I decided, "I can't do this anymore. I'm going to stop lying to myself and change course." I remembered how my rabbi used to tell us to imagine a guitar being used to hold a plant or an iron being used as a paperweight. It is not doing what it was designed to do. I felt like I was not living my potential. I was not doing me. I was living someone else's life. It was one of those moments that seem disastrous but is actually a blessing.
It was time to remember that there was something more I was born to do.
One thing I've learned is that the opposite of depression is not happiness—it is purpose. We're all chasing a feeling of meaning, a sense that we're contributing our unique essence.
It's scary when you start to ask yourself these big questions. It's threatening to people around you. It demands that you switch things up and get out of your comfort zone. It's not easy to stretch yourself like that. But it is so rewarding.
I did not know how I would find a way to write music again, but I was ready to change my story.
Only then did the signs appear.
It's an enigma that we'll review again and again, but clarity follows action. Only once we're willing to shed our well-designed plans of what the journey should look like can we get messy and figure out where we're actually supposed to thrive.
I picked up a Billboard magazine for the first time in years that week. I opened it to a feature article on indie artists licensing their songs for TV series and commercials. A lightbulb went off.
This was a path that I had never considered. I had worked hard to get a record deal, but here was another way to make music. I would research, take notes, observe which kinds of sounds and lyrics were being used, and then intentionally write music that aligned with that. There are artists who might consider this below them, an inferior way to make it as a musician, but I said "no" to those doubts. There are so many ways to make a living even if it doesn't look exactly like what you thought it would.
I started reverse engineering and found there were some incredible musicians making big waves in this space—including Regina Spektor, Ingrid Michaelson, and Christina Perri. I had my first big breakthrough.
I realized that the difference between a hobby and a business was caring about your buyer and not being inspired just for your own sake. I started to research what songs were being used in TV shows, films, and ads. I looked for consistencies in lyrical themes and production. I started writing with the needs of other people in mind. Then I researched the emails of producers and agencies. I found a way to pitch my music that felt genuine and memorable and broke through the competition.
I started to write music again with more energy than ever before. I called hundreds of music agencies, speaking to more than 40 people a day, not just in Los Angeles but in Seattle, New York, Milan, Paris, and Sydney. It was uncomfortable. I received 200 "no's" for every "yes." But I was willing to tolerate a high level of discomfort if it meant I could finally do what I wanted. It took massive effort, but I started to make real money.
A major retailer used one of my songs twice, and I received a check for $100,000! My annual income grew from $200,000 to $300,000 the next year. My songs appeared on TV shows like Pretty Little Liars, The Office, and Criminal Minds, as well as on commercials for McDonald's, Hasbro, and KFC.
I did this year after year and grew a career where I got to write music but live in anonymity. Every day was a holiday because I was making a lawyer's salary for going to the studio. I started to receive recognition through profiles in Variety, Billboard, and LA Weekly. They all shared the same message: Cathy Heller is writing her own check licensing songs. I didn't even have a PR agent or a booker. I still don't.
Artists began to ask me for help, but my identity as an artist was still very fragile. I believed that if I did anything but write music then I would be a sellout. But the artists kept coming so I finally decided to open an agency.
Why did it have to be an "either-or" when it could be a "yes and"? I could be an artist and help other artists. My production quadrupled that year with theme songs and end titles for movies and trailers.
This moment in my career also sparked the realization that I could try out a massive amount of ideas and events and projects in order to figure out what worked. Why limit ourselves to one role? Why commit to one means of income when it is possible to build out and experiment and create a network of opportunities and resources? The messier that we're willing to get, the more we invite synchronicity into our lives.
That's exactly what happened for me when I was asked to appear on a friend's podcast to speak about the music business. A friend listened to the podcast—which was a new medium for me—and asked: Could you start an online course to teach me and other artists around the world?
It took this request to make me realize that an online course could solve a major challenge: Artists were sending me tons of songs that weren't quite right. An online course could build a foundation, teaching them what kind of songs we're working on and how to reverse engineer what music supervisors need.
In any industry, successful people are not looking for opportunities. They're looking to solve a problem for someone else.
Pregnant with my third daughter, I signed up for Amy Porterfield's digital course on building online courses and held my first webinar as a result. A thousand people signed in live and the course went on to make $450,000 in its first year. It all felt too ridiculous to possibly be true.
The best part of all was that so many songwriters found success licensing their music. One participant with zero previous experience made $55,000 when his song appeared in a coffee ad. Another made $75,000 for his song in a beer spot. Almost 40 people placed songs that year, which meant the material led to results. This was huge.
It took another knock at the door to wake me up to the greatest adventure I've embarked on so far.
One of my students, Amy Loftus Pechansky, recognized that 85 percent of what I talk about applies not only to music but to anyone with a passion project. It's not just musicians who need to hear this, but anyone who desires to make money doing what they love. It takes simple techniques—from caring about the needs of your customer, to sending cold emails, to pitching yourself—but the majority of people are in the dark on where to start. I had a million reasons to not add another project to my life, but there was that whisper again, urging me on.
I met with a friend of a friend who introduced me to the smart people who helped me launch my podcast, "Don't Keep Your Day Job." I doubted there would be more than 50 listeners on that first episode, but Apple thought it was worth a listen, so they featured it on their main page. Our podcast started rising up the charts from the #50 spot to #20 to #2 in the business category. Those first 50 listeners were joined by over 100,000 others, and the numbers just grew from there. A year later we reached one million downloads and it quickly multiplied to two million and then six million and on after that.
It became clear to me how important this message was: You are enough. You matter. You're here for a reason. You have something unique that you, and only you, can contribute to this world. And we need you.
Today I host the podcast, coach, run workshops, and am mom to three girls. I still write songs and teach and run an agency. It can feel like a lot, but it is also the most fun that I've ever had and incredibly rewarding. I wake up at 5 a.m. every morning with more energy and excitement than at any other point in my life. I have finally found a method for helping others, and that feels like the greatest success.
Where Our Paths Meet
As with all creative processes, the soul of the project is often not fully revealed until the eleventh hour. It took months to realize the purpose of this book is so much more than business or motivation or worth.
It's about trusting those hunches. Trusting your joy.
Imagine breaking free of the constraints of your current reality and learning new tools to tap into a flow where you are seamlessly led to the right opportunities, serendipitously find your tribe, and attract financial abundance.
If you picked up this book, then you're curious about transformation and might hear that whisper that questions what life could look like if you really opened up. I'm going to take you on a journey to living more in tune with yourself. It is the most simple and perhaps most complex work that you will ever do.
JOURNAL ON "DON'T KEEP YOUR DAY JOB"
I'm going to share takeaways and writing prompts at the end of each chapter. I know you're going to have so many ideas as you read on. Getting those out of your head and onto the page is one of the most powerful steps that you can take. Let's begin!
If you could wave a magic wand and wake up tomorrow getting paid to do what you love, what would you be doing? Would you have your own bakery? Would you be in a Broadway show? Would you be shooting a movie you made? Spend 15 minutes allowing yourself to dream and notice how it feels. Also notice what self-doubt might arise. Don't judge it, just notice it. We will talk about that later. It's normal, and just being aware of it will help. Remember, thoughts aren't facts.
Copyright © 2019 by Cathy Heller
Available in Digital Audio!
HardcoverDigital Audioe-BookCompact Disc Format
Listen to Excerpt
From the creator of the #1 podcast "Don't Keep Your Day Job," an inspiring book about turning your passion into profit
"Heller pivots effortlessly from encouraging readers...
"Heller pivots effortlessly from encouraging readers to accept "miraculous changes," find their bliss, and examine their authentic selves to practical tips for building mass marketing email distribution lists and identifying web-based social media and teaching portals that allow small-business owners to capture additional revenue...both approachable and incisive." —Booklist
The pursuit of happiness is all about finding our purpose. We don't want to just go to work and build someone else's dream, we want to do our life's work. But how do we find out what we're supposed to contribute? What are those key ingredients that push those who succeed to launch their ideas high into the sky, while the rest of us remain stuck on the ground?
Don't Keep Your Day Job will get you fired up, ready to rip it open and use your zone of genius to add a little more sparkle to this world. Cathy Heller, host of the popular podcast Don't Keep Your Day Job, shares wisdom, anecdotes, and practical suggestions from successful creative entrepreneurs and experts, including actress Jenna Fischer on rejection, Gretchen Rubin on the keys to happiness, Jen Sincero on having your best badass life, and so much more. You'll learn essential steps like how to build your side hustle, how to find your tribe, how to reach for what you truly deserve, and how to ultimately turn your passion into profit and build a life you love.
Featured in the #1 spot in 2019 "Get Motivated" podcasts on Apple Podcasts • Nominated for a Webby Award for Best Business Podcast
Praise for Cathy Heller:
"Cathy really 'gets it.' Listen to Don't Keep Your Day Job! It is filled with the advice people need to pursue their passions and make their lives more meaningful." —Emily Giffin, #1 bestselling novelist
"Heller's creative insights both inspire and challenge us to chase our art, earn the right to share it others, and never lose sight of what truly matters." —Jeff Goins, author of Real Artists Don't Starve
"Heller has a message more timely than ever: now is the time to go after your dreams—because the only person's permission you need is your own." —Alex Banayan, author of The Third Door | {
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Punnett's Square
Genetics news & views from students enrolled in BIOL 2110 at Stockton University.
Arboreal Crab
In southern Indian forests, a new species of crab has been discovered. These dark purple crustaceans live their entire lives in trees. They rely on water pools in the tree hollows for water. Their relatively long legs help move throughout the canopy of the forest.
Their homes are in old dead trees, and help show off the unique biodiversity of the Western Ghats, a mountain range. They are unique, with their evolutionary strategy of completely abandoning the traditional crustacean home of large bodies of water. This discovery helps to show the need for conservation, as their ecosystem is being cut down and destroyed. These crabs need old and dead hollow trees that fill with rainwater to survive. This incredibly niche home is at high risk of destruction.
News Source
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Delicious Genetics | {
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WILD & WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY: Freddy the Frogcaster and the Terrible Tornado by Janice Dean
FREDDY THE FROGCASTER AND THE TERRIBLE TORNADO by Janice Dean "The Weather Machine", illustrated by Russ Cox Regnery Kids, 2016 ISBN: 978-1-62157-469-9 Ages 6-10 Picture Book Source: publisher for review All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK Get ready for a whirlwind of adventure with Freddy the Frogcaster when a famous storm chaser visits Lilypad! In her fourth book, well-known meteorologist Janice Dean tackles some scary weather. Freddy the Frogcaster is faced with one of the most ferocious and devastating kinds of weather: the tornado. Young readers will learn all about how big storms occur and produce some of nature's most destructive weather. Chock-full of storm science lessons in the back, children and adults alike will learn valuable life-saving information. As Freddy reminds us, please be prepared and know what to do and where to go when the next bad storm comes your way! REVIEW Freddy helps his town get ready more n
READ & PLAY PUPPET THEATER: Princess Tales & Wolf Tales
PRINCESS TALES Read & Play Puppet Theater by Oldrich Ruzicka (Author), Klara Kolcavova (Author), Maria Neradova (Illustrator) Walter Foster Jr; Act Box Br edition (August 1, 2015) ISBN: 978-1-63322-008-9 Ages 4-10 Source: publisher for review All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK/KIT The Read & Play Puppet Theater series invites you to read and play along with your favorite fairy tales. What better way to encourage creativity than through theater and play? Read & Play Puppet Theater invites you to read and play along with your favorite fairy tales. The illustrated box doubles as a theater stage and travel case for puppets, backdrops, and a book of three fairy tales - Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty. The stories are written to capture the attention of even the youngest children. Each tale includes a shortened script, giving children the opportunity to play the roles of director and actor. Just set up the pieces, get
WHAT ELEPHANTS KNOW by Eric Dinerstein Disney Hyperion, 2016 ISBN: 978-148472854-3 Source: purchased Middle grade contemporary (diverse) Ages 9-14 All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK Abandoned in the jungle of the Nepalese Borderlands, two-year-old Nandu is found living under the protective watch of a pack of wild dogs. From his mysterious beginnings, fate delivers him to the King's elephant stable, where he is raised by unlikely parents-the wise head of the stable, Subba-sahib, and Devi Kali, a fierce and affectionate female elephant. When the king's government threatens to close the stable, Nandu, now twelve, searches for a way to save his family and community. A plan to reinvent the elephant stable could be the answer. But to succeed, they'll need a great tusker. Their future is in Nandu's hands as he sets out to find a bull elephant and bring him back to the Borderlands. In simple poetic prose, author Eric Dinerstein bring
SERIES THURSDAY: The Great Mouse Detective series by Eve Titus
BASIL OF BAKER STREET The Great Mouse Detective, #1 Eve Titus, illustrated by Paul Galdone Aladdin, 2016 (reprint edition) ISBN: 978-1-4814-6402-4 Middle grade mystery Source: purchased All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK Named one of "13 Detective Book Series You Obsessed over as a Kid" by Buzzfeed.com and the inspiration for a hit Disney film, the masterful Great Mouse Detective series is now available to a whole new generation of readers! Basil—the famous sleuth of mousedom—lives in the cellar of Sherlock Holmes's house. A devoted admirer of the great detective, he has learned his craft by listening at the feet of Holmes himself. But will it be enough to help Basil solve his most baffling mystery yet? The Mystery of the Missing Twins is one of the strangest cases in Basil's career. With only a few crumbs of clues with which to find answers, how is he ever going to figure out where Angela and Agatha are being kept—and, of course, who mouse-n
BEARD IN A BOX by Bill Cotter Alfred A. Knopf, 2016 ISBN: 978-0-553-50835-2 Ages 4-8 Source: purchased All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK A funny father-son romp for fans of Don't Push the Button! and Mustache Baby. A young boy longs for a beard like Dad's, and when he discovers a hair-growth product called Beard in a Box, he must have it! He rips open the package, plants the beard seeds, and waits . . . And waits . . . And waits. Hilarious art and a feel-good ending make this the perfect Father's Day gift for bearded and clean-shaven readers alike! REVIEW In this delightfully funny look at what makes dad so awesome, a young boy figures it's his father's beard that makes him so cool. So he searches for a way to become awesome like his dad. When he sees a commercial on TV for a beard in a box, he is ecstatic and orders one right away (after several misadventures, one involving shaving the cat). But things don't work quite
WILD & WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY: Malala Yousafzai & Lonnie Johnson picture book biographies
FOR THE RIGHT TO LEARN Malala Yousafzai's Story by Rebecca Langston-George, illustrated by Janna Bock Capstone Young Readers, 2016 ISBN: 978-1-62370-426-1 Picture Book Nonfiction Ages 8-12 Source: purchased All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK She grew up in a world where women were supposed to be quiet. But Malala Yousafzai refused to be silent. She defied the Taliban's rules, spoke out for education for every girl, and was almost killed for her beliefs. This powerful true story of how one brave girl named Malala changed the world proves that one person really can make a difference. REVIEW Malala Yousafzai is this kind of role model that the world needs more of, the kind that leaves a most definite mark on the world. In a culture that tried to keep her down and silent, Malala chose not to be silent. But her courage nearly cost her her life when the Taliban attempted to kill her. After recovering, Malala continued her fight for gi
FANTASTIC FRIDAY: The Scrivener's Bones by Brandon Sanderson
THE SCRIVENER'S BONES Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians #2 by Brandon Sanderson, illustrations by Hayley Lazo Starscape, 2016 ISBN: 978-0-7653-7896-5 Source: publisher for review Ages 9-12 Middle grade speculative (fantasy) All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK In this second Alcatraz adventure, Alcatraz finds himself on a mission to meet Grandpa Smedry when he gets swept up by a flying glass dragon filled with his unusual and mouthy Smedry cohorts. Their mission? A dangerous, library-filled one, of course! They are on their way to the ancient and mysterious Library of Alexandria (which some silly people think was long ago destroyed!) where they must find Grandpa Smedry, look for clues leading to Alcatraz's potentially undead dead father, and battle the creepy, dangerous soul-sucking curators who await them. REVIEW In this second volume of the five book series, Alcatraz and his cohorts are once again in trouble. Hardly surprising,
BEYOND THE RISING TIDE by Sarah Beard Sweetwater Books, 2016 ISBN13: 9781462118748 YA Romance Source: eARC from the publisher All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK Kai was seventeen when he died saving Avery's life, though he didn't really have much to live for. After spending half his life being shipped around to different families, the only place he felt at home was on a street corner with his guitar. Now, it's been six months since his death. Six months adapting to a new kind of existence where instead of making music, he uses his new healing powers to save lives. But in his off hours, he watches helplessly as Avery's life is unraveled by his death. Avery doesn't know that it was Kai who saved her life in the ocean, because her rescuer's body was never found. Wracked with guilt, the ocean she once loved is now her tormentor. As her surfboards collect dust in the garage, the weight of her grief destroys her relationships and stretches her to a br
WILD & WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY: The Great White Shark Scientist by Sy Montgomery
THE GREAT WHITE SHARK SCIENTIST by Sy Montgomery, photographs by Keith Ellenbogen Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016 ISBN: 978-0-544-35298-8 MG/YA Nonfiction Source: purchased All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK Dr. Greg Skomal, biologist and head of the Massachusetts Shark Research Program, is investigating a controversial possibility: Might Cape Cod's waters serve as a breeding ground for the great white shark, the largest and most feared predatory fish on Earth? Sy Montgomery and Keith Ellenbogen report on this thrilling turning point in marine research and travel to Guadeloupe, Mexico, to get up close and personal with the sharks. This daring expedition into the realm of great whites shows readers that in order to save the planet and its creatures, we must embrace our humanity and face our greatest fears. REVIEW One of the things that I always enjoy about the Scientists in the Field series is a glimpse into the work that these scientists do t
PICTURE BOOK REVIEWS: The power of stories and storytelling
SURF'S UP by Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Daniel Miyares North South, 2016 ISBN: 978-0-7358-4220-5 Ages 4-8 Source: purchased All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK Surf's up! Not yet, Dude! Books are boring! Not this one! Bro and Dude have very different ideas about how to spend the day at the beach. But as Bro continues to gasp and cheer as he reads his book (Moby Dick), Dude can't help but get curious. Before you can shout 'Surf's up!' both frogs are sharing the same adventure, that is, until they get to the beach. Newbery Medal Winner, Kwame Alexander, and Daniel Miyares have joined forces to give little listeners a wild ride. REVIEW Alexander has created a fun homage to the power of the written word. As a young frog seeks his brother's company at the beach, he gets pulled into the book his brother is reading. His imagination gets the better of him and they crash, but the youngster's enthusiasm can be felt t
NONFICTION MONDAY: Anything But Ordinary Addie/Ada's Violin
ANYTHING BUT ORDINARY ADDIE The True Story of Adelaide Herrmann Queen of Magic written by Mara Rockliff, illustrated by Iacopo Bruno Candlewick Press, 2016 ISBN: 978-0-7636-6841-9 Picture Book Ages 4 and up Source: purchased All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK Be astonished and dazzled by the true story of Adelaide Herrmann, the Queen of Magic! Some girls are perfectly happy never doing anything out of the ordinary. But Addie was anything but ordinary. She longed for thrills and excitement! At a time when a young lady appearing onstage was considered most unusual, Addie defied convention and became a dancer. And when she married the world-famous magician Herrmann the Great, she knew she had to be part of his show. Addie wanted to shock and dazzle! She would do anything to draw the crowds, even agree to be shot out of a cannon. But when Herrmann the Great died, Addie couldn't disappoint her loyal fans — the show had to go on. What could she do?
ENTER HERE PUT ME IN THE STORY AND NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS PRESENT… THE LITTLE EXPLORER DRAWING CONTEST! Help us celebrate the new National Geographic Kids personalized books and the San Diego Zoo's 100 th Anniversary! Enter the contest for your chance to win a trip to the San Diego Zoo to celebrate their 100 th anniversary! The San Diego Zoo has an extra special year of fun planned and we want YOU to be a part of it! With displays on Centennial Plaza, new film experiences, new shows and more, this year will be one of the most exciting at the San Diego Zoo! Contest Open: May 16 – July 8 To Enter: Adults 18+ can fill out the form on the contest page to enter. For EXTRA entries: Download the free coloring pages on the contest page and share a photo of your child's drawing on their coloring page with the hashtag #ColorAndExplore on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook! You can also upload the drawing to the photo gallery on the contest page. *S | {
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Kid's and young's showings
Cultural Centers cycle
Popular theater
Musika Parkean & Picnic
History Awards
Human Rights Film Festival Award
Festival's image
"Bring the Sun Home", Audience Award at the 13th Human Rights Film Festival
The film Bring the Sun Home (Italy, 2013), directed by Chiara Andrich and Giovanni Pellegrini, has been awarded with the Audience Prize to the Best Feature Film at the 13th San Sebastian Human Rights Film Festival, that ends tonight.
Drone (Norway-Denmark, 2014), directed by Tonje Hessen Schei, has won the Amnesty International Award to the Best Feature Film, and Discipline (Switzerland, 2014), directed by Christophe M. Saber, the Youth Jury Award to the Best Short Film (3,000 €). Tonight is the Closing Ceremony at the Victoria Eugenia Theater, where the prizes will be given and that will end with the screening of the film Hippocrate (2014). | {
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The Miracle of Overcoming Near-Death to Impact Millions – Hal Elrod #584
By: Dave Asprey
Today's guest, Hal Elrod, first came on Bulletproof Radio in episode 176, (Hal Elrod: Be Happier, Healthier, & More Productive), when he shared his extraordinary personal story of surviving a near-fatal car accident at age 20 in which he was clinically dead for six minutes and sustained extensive injuries. His recovery was miraculous.
He went on to become a Hall of Fame business achiever, international speaker and success coach, and author of "The Miracle Morning," which has been translated into 34 languages, sold more than 1 million copies, and is practiced daily by more than 500,000 people around the world.
Since Hal was last on the show, he's had another near-death experience. He was diagnosed with aggressive Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in October 2016. After pairing intensive chemotherapy with intensive alternative therapies, his cancer has gone into remission. Another miracle.
His brand-new book The Miracle Equation is part of his mission to raise the consciousness of humanity, one person at a time. I know Hal, and I know he really wants this book to reach and help millions of people, so he's offering $1,347 in very cool bonuses for those of you who pre-order the book and then email the receipt to miracleequation@gmail.com.
Follow Along with the Transcript
Overcoming Near-Death to Impact Millions – Hal Elrod #584
More Podcasts From Dave Asprey
Plug in to Your Own Power Source – David Meltzer – #631
The Power of Shame with Depressed Comedian Kristen Carney – #627
Hacking Joy by Changing the World Around You – Ingrid Fetell Lee #618
The Ball is in Your Court: Biohacking with The Bryan Bros. – #609
Website: halelrod.com
Website: themiracleequation.com
Website: miraclemorning.com
Facebook: facebook.com/yopalhal
Instagram: @hal_elrod
Twitter: @halelrod
YouTube: .youtube.com/user/yopalhal
Podcast: Achieve Your Goals with Hal Elrod on iTunes
Bulletproof Radio: Hal Elrod: Be Happier, Healthier, & More Productive #176
Hal's definition of a miracle 00:07:40
Luck seems to show up 00:15:45
Hal's definition of faith 00:27:45
Why affirmations don't work for some people 00:40:00
Can self-deception be motivating? 00:46:00
The definition of a cult 00:52:15
Big Ideas:
How Hal faced death twice in his life 00:03:10
The difference between possible and probable 00:09:30
The real purpose of hitting a goal 00:17:50
How to become emotionally invincible 00:22:20
The difference between faith and belief 00:29:20
Go check out "Game Changers", "Headstrong" and "The Bulletproof Diet" on Amazon and consider leaving a review!
If you like today's episode, check us out on Apple Podcasts at Bulletproof.com/iTunes and leave us a 5-star rating and a creative review.
About Dave Asprey
Dave Asprey is founder & CEO of Bulletproof, and creator of the widely-popular Bulletproof Coffee. He is a two-time New York Times bestselling author, host of the Webby award-winning podcast Bulletproof Radio, and has been featured on the Today show, Fox News, Nightline, Dr. Oz, and many more.
affirmationscancercultsfaithgoalsluckmantramorningmotivationnear-deathpositivity
Related Dave Asprey Podcasts
Stronger at 68: 7 Marathons in 7 Days – Robert Hamilton Owens – #660
It's Time to Break Up With Sugar – Michele Promaulayko – #659
Women, Hormones and DNA – Genetic Estrogen Hacking with Mansoor Mohammed, Ph.D. – #658
Fast Fitness! 40 Seconds, 3 Times a Week – Lance Dalleck, Ph.D. – #657 | {
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ZMapp, artificial hearts and cures – AZBio Awards honors biotech leaders
The Valley of the Sun consists of more than just dirt, golf courses and pools — it also holds most of the country's Petri dishes and innovative minds in biotechnology.
Home to over 1,300 life science companies, Arizona has become one of the fastest growing biotech sectors in the country, according to the Arizona Bioindustry Association.
Over the years, Arizona has experienced multiple successes, such as the Chandler-based pharmaceutical company Insys Therapeutics, Inc. performing as the top IPO of 2013 with over 380 percent growth in shareholder value and Arizona State University researchers contributing to the development of an Ebola drug that may have saved the lives of two American health workers in 2014, according to AZBio.
To honor these successes, AZBio is hosting the 6th annual AZBio Awards on Sept. 17 at the Phoenix Convention Center, AZBio President and CEO Joan Koerber-Walker said.
"The AZBio Awards was created to celebrate the successes in our community and to help educate members of our community who don't work in biosciences every day," Koerber-Walker said. "It's the community's opportunity to come and see what's happening in their own backyard."
Ebola virus
From 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., the public will be able to witness and learn about what is happening in Arizona's growing biotech sector for free during the event's Biotech Showcase.
The showcase will feature innovations and exhibits from life science companies and Arizona universities, as well as the work of students from these universities, community colleges and high schools.
"One of the things I look forward to every year is the students," Koerber-Walker said. "There's something really special when students from Arizona's high schools, community colleges and colleges come and [stand] shoulder-to-shoulder with industry leaders, talk about science and [share] what they're doing. To think that what we're working on today is really cool, the things that they're going to come up with tomorrow are going to be even more amazing."
Exhibits include a display of the world's first total artificial heart and information from industry leaders who are working to develop solutions for HIV, heart disease and cancer.
Along with this, attendees will be able to hear from award-winning life science entrepreneurs during the event's "Best of the Best" Entrepreneurial Stage. Presenters include Mario Martinez II of MRTNZ Ventures, Mark Sholin of Absource and Scarlett Spring of VisionGate to name a few.
For ticket-holders, the event will also include a Gala Awards Dinner to celebrate the AZBio 2014 honorees. The dinner will be attended by over 400 biotech leaders in the industry.
Students in ASU Bioscience lab
Here's a breakdown of the award winners:
2014 AZBio Pioneer Award for Lifetime Achievement
Since he was recruited by Arizona State University President Michael Crow for the school's Biodesign Institute, Doctor Roy Curtiss III has worked to alleviate worldwide suffering and death from infectious diseases.
As the director of the Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology at the institute, Curtiss has worked to develop a next-generation vaccine against bacteria pneumonia that would save the lives of millions of children around the world. If the vaccine is successful, it would be the safest, most affordable injectable vaccine on the market.
"During his career, Roy Curtiss has had a profound impact on microbiology research and been a true pioneer in developing salmonella-based vaccines that are effective against a range of infectious diseases, which are still the leading cause of worldwide death," Koerber-Walker said in a statement. "His contributions since being recruited to Arizona a decade ago have continued unabated, and he is now on the cusp of bringing his remarkable discoveries to the marketplace."
2014 Bioscience Company of the Year
After rocketing by over 380 percent in shareholder value to become the top performing biotech IPO of 2013, Insys Therapeutics, Inc. continued its high growth pattern in 2014.
The commercial-stage specialty pharmaceutical company reported total net revenue of $97.3 million in the first six months of this year, according to AZBio.
Along with this, Insys was granted to use pharmaceutical cannabidiol, or CBD, by the FDA to treat both Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome and Dravet Syndrome, two rare forms of epilepsy in children. Additionally, the FDA extended the use of CBD for Insys' treatment of glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive form of brain cancer.
2014 Arizona Bioscience Researcher of the Year
With Ebola continuing to claim lives in West Africa, an ASU Regents' professor has been testing a wide range of plants to create vaccines to counter deadly viruses found in the developing world.
This year, Charlie Arntzen may have found a combination of using tobacco to develop a vaccine for the Ebola virus.
Arntzen and his team at the ASU Biodesign Institute have been working with the main research developers at Mapp Biopharmaceutical in San Diego and with a team at Kentucky BioProcessing on a vaccine called ZMapp.
ZMapp is a cocktail of antibodies produced by specially modified tobacco plants.
It vaccine was recently used in the treatment of American aid workers Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, who were both saved from the deadly virus.
To find out more about the winners, check out AZBio Awards.
Photos courtesy of AZBio, ASU Bioscience, itv.com
Categories Tech News Tags arizona biotech, arizona state university, AZBio, biotech Post navigation
Smile for the camera! Police could live stream your next encounter
Gadgets for the Guru: Tailgating edition | {
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} |
Patio Guide
Tanya Mok
Report Inaccuracy
This should be invisible
Edwards Gardens is one of Toronto's most serene spots
Edwards Gardens is a destination for anyone looking for a beautiful botanical experience in the city.
With kempt lawns, swirling hedges and the tranquil sounds of Wilket Creek's running water, this garden is open for enjoyment all year round from morning until night.
The view of the Toronto Botanical Gardens from Spiral Mound looks lush even before summer hits.
Like most of the best nature reprieves in Toronto, this sprawling 34.4-acre piece of land is located in the Don Valley. Right on the corner of Leslie Street and Lawrence Avenue, the gardens are quite a journey from the downtown core, but easily accessible by bus.
A waterfall runs between the Moriyama Building and the Montgomery Sisan addition.
The garden is named after Rupert Edwards, a rich businessman who owned the varnishing company Canada Varnish Ltd. According to the history books, Edwards salvaged the poorly cared-for stretch of land from a Scottish weaver named Alexander Milne in 1944.
The main path leading into from Botanical Gardens from the parking lot is lined with perennials.
With the intention of one day turning the property into a public park (it became Edwards Gardens officially in 1956) Edwards landscaped the garden into the carefully arranged property that you see today.
Wedding receptions are often held in the Garden Hall at the Toronto Botanical Gardens.
Now a popular backdrop for many weddings and photo shoots, the park has recently joined forces with the 4.4-acre non-profit Toronto Botanical Garden, with the TBG acting as an entry point leading into Edwards Garden.
Parking is free, although a booth collects donations as part of the Community Champions program.
Upon arrival, the TBG's Terraced Garden acts as a buffer between the property and the parking lot—which is free to use but accepts donations—showcasing perennials and ribbons of plants.
The Dembroski Centre is accredited with a LEED innovation acknowledgement for exceptional daylighting.
Straight ahead you'll find the George and Kathy Dembroski Centre for Horticulture, a LEED accredited project. Inside you'll find a gift shop, information desk and library. The centre also houses some offices and educational spaces, topped by a 2,400 square-foot green roof.
Herbs, fruits, and veggies are all grown organically in the Kitchen Garden.
Past this, the Beryl Ivey Knot Garden is a beautiful space that flaunts the pruning prowess of the TBG staff, featuring evergreen and deciduous hedges in all geometric shapes and sizes.
The spiral mound offers a 360-degree view of the southernmost part of the Botanical Gardens.
Head a little north of the knot garden and you'll find the Spiral Mound, a small winding hill that leads to a viewing platform at the top. It's only three metres high yet climbing it feels like embarking on an epic journey. At the top it offers a pretty phenomenal view of the garden.
The Garden Cafe is a pit stop where you can get refreshments like coffee or full meals.
As you make your way northwest toward Edwards Garden, you'll pass the quaint Garden Cafe, located in a historic barn serving breakfast, lunch and refreshments.
The vegetables grown in the Kitchen and Herb Garden are donated to the North York Harvest Food Bank.
The Kitchen and Herb Garden is full of planters where fruits and herbs are grown using organic gardening techniques. Veggies harvested here are donated to the North York Harvest Food Bank.
An off-limit greenhouse marks the transition between Botanical Gardens and Edwards Gardens properties.
Continue along the main path going west and you'll pass the greenhouse (no entry here) before finally entering Edwards Gardens proper.
The yellow fountain statue of a woman holding an urn of water rests near a towering willow tree.
Here the land opens up into the sprawling garden space. You'll descend into it from stone steps taking you past evergreens and willow trees. The Edwards Gardens fountain statue is a notable landmark that will let you know you've arrived in the main area.
Stone steps will lead you into an open valley that is Edwards Gardens.
There are benches lining the perimeter of this area—some secluded, others less so—which are perfect for pit stops and an expansive view of the land. During days of good weather you'll find get-togethers in abundance here.
There are multiple bridges crossing Wilket Creek in Edwards Gardens.
Here's is where you'll also likely notice a sudden influx in digital cameras: both amateur hobbyists and professionals often flock to this area for its pretty flower beds and the handful of photogenic bridges which pass over Wilket Creek.
Wildlife sightings are common in Edwards Gardens; you'll see animals like ducks, squirrels, and hawks.
One of the many great features of Edwards Gardens is the multitude of friendly animals. You're guaranteed to see at least one type of woodland creature here, likely ducks but sightings of red-tailed squirrels, chipmunks, and the occasional groundhog are pretty common as well.
Further along Wilket Creek you'll find a small waterfall.
The south side of these bridges contain more forested areas and walkways that offer shallow entry into the woods. Edwards Gardens will often give you the option of taking the easy way (read: smooth, paved paths) or an alternate trek.
There are a few paths off the paved road that require a little more leg work.
Either way, hikes here never get too challenging, and the space is accessible to people of all ages. If you head too southwest you'll soon find yourself nearing an exit that leads to the affluent Bridle Path (which is a sight to see in itself).
Follow along the main path and you'll be led to a bridge that crosses over into Wilket Creek Park.
Before long you'll find yourself nearing another bridge that will take you to Wilket Creek Park, marking the end of Edwards Gardens.
If you're walking at a consistent pace, exploring the entirety of this garden shouldn't take you more than a two hours, but leave an extra couple of hours for a picnic in the grassy area, you'll likely befriend an animal if you do.
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Police: Jail inmate threatens to kill cop
Also: 14-year-old accused of writing a suspicious note on school's bathroom wall says he thought it would be funny
Police: Jail inmate threatens to kill cop Also: 14-year-old accused of writing a suspicious note on school's bathroom wall says he thought it would be funny Check out this story on mansfieldnewsjournal.com: http://ohne.ws/2py1NPs
From Public Records Published 3:31 p.m. ET March 21, 2018 | Updated 3:47 p.m. ET March 21, 2018
Presto graphic(Photo: News Journal file photo)Buy Photo
Richland County Jail, 73 E. Second St., Mansfield - A Mansfield police officer was at the jail Tuesday morning to serve paperwork from the clerk of court when a 46-year-old man in the book-in area being prepared for transfer for court purposes threatened the officer. According to a police report, the man told the officer, "When I see you on the street, I am going to put one in your head to make sure you are dead." He was issued a summons on an aggravated menacing charge and remains in jail on that charge, along with a charge of possession of marijuana, pending court appearance or bond posting.
Mansfield Senior High School, 124 N. Linden Road, Mansfield - A 14-year-old boy was arrested Tuesday at his home and taken to the Richland County Juvenile Detention Center on a charge of inducing panic after school officials alleged he wrote a suspicious note on the bathroom wall. The boy told a detective he did it because he thought it would be funny.
People's Community Center, 597 Park Avenue East, Mansfield - A deputy met the director of the Richland County Veterans Commission in reference to a possible theft/fraud. The director provided services rendered to the listed offender for the sum of $2,755.90. After services were provided, it was discovered that the offender lied to the Veterans Commission to gain itsservices. A report was taken for theft by deception.
Richland County Jail, 73 E. Second St., Mansfield - A 54-year-old man being booked into the jail Tuesday morning handed a corrections officer a Tootsie Roll wrapper containing suspected crack cocaine. He said when he was brought to his cell, a 37-year-old man he was arrested with handed the Tootsie Roll wrapper to a 34-year-old man and told him to hold it for him. The 37-year-old man said he didn't give the 34-year-old anything and didn't know what the 54-year-old man was talking about. Police told the 37-year-old man and 54-year-old man felony charges may follow pending lab results. The two men had been arrested on charges of possession of drug paraphernalia during a traffic stop in the 200 block of Trimble Road earlier that morning after police found a crack pipe tucked into a rip of the fabric on the vehicle's middle console.
First block of North Diamond Street, Mansfield - A C&D taxi driver reported Tuesday morning a woman he picked up in the 100 block of East Cook Road assaulted him while he was driving. He said the woman was upset about the price of the service. He said she cursed at him, and when he stopped and told her to get out, he said she him in the shoulder and threatened him. Police were unable to contact the woman.
First block of Ausdale Avenue, Mansfield - A woman reported Tuesday morning her 16-year-old daughter stole her debit card and left the residence while she was in the shower. She said she believed her daughter purchased cigarettes after she saw an unauthorized purchase at Park Avenue Drive-Thru, 295 Park Avenue West, on the card, which she canceled. Police found the teen on West Third Street. She had the debit card and cigarettes in her possession, and she admitted to taking the card to buy the cigarettes. The girl was issued a summons in lieu of arrest on an underage cigarette charge, and felony charges for theft will be submitted to the Richland County Prosecutor's Office. A 49-year-old man at the drive-thru was issued a summons in lieu of arrest on a charge of illegal distribution of cigarettes to a minor.
Mansfield - The Richland County Prosecutor's Office reported to police Tuesday morning a 29-year-old man threatened a woman in relation to a domestic violence against the man in which the woman is listed as the victim. The prosecutor's office reported finding recorded jail phone calls of the man talking to his mother after he was incarcerated and threatening the woman if she testified against him. The prosecutor's office said the man also made several insinuations to his mother about stopping the woman from testifying. Police spoke with the woman, who did not show up to the trial to testify against the man. She told police she was threatened by the man's sister and was afraid to testify.
Mansfield - A Catalyst Life Services counselor reported Tuesday morning a 17-year-old boy took an inappropriate video of a teenage girl without her consent. The girl said the video was sent to other juveniles.
600 block of Stocking Avenue, Mansfield - A woman told police a man continually drives past her residence and follows her friends around to local businesses, trying to make contact with her. The woman said she had a relationship with the 48-year-old man but ended the relationship. An officer saw the suspect in the area on Tuesday. Charges of menacing by stalking were forwarded to the Richland County Prosecutor for review.
1200 block of Harwood Drive, Mansfield - A 50-year-old woman was found by her son on the kitchen floor not breathing Tuesday. Mansfield fire and rescue personnel administered three doses of naloxone and transported her to OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital. The victim admitted using heroin but would say nothing more.
1400 block of Park Avenue West, Mansfield - Police responded to a report of a stolen U-Haul on Tuesday morning. An employee reported a 23-year-old woman and 32-year-old man came to the business Feb. 25 and rented a U-Haul for 24 hours, with a return date of 10 a.m. Feb. 26. The employee contacted the woman after the date passed. She told him the U-Haul was in Florida. The employee has contacted the man and woman several times but said "they never gave an honest answer to the location," according to a police report. Police were unable to contact the man or woman.
UMADAOP, 400 Bowman St., Mansfield - The director of the drug and alcohol treatment center told police he was contacted by KeyBank in reference to checks being cashed although the original checks were still in his possession. A KeyBank location in Westlake called him to verify the check. The director said the KeyBank called Westlake Police Department. The director said a suspect was arrested on an active warrant out of Cuyahoga County. A second suspect couldn't be located. Mansfield police will contact Westlake police in reference to the forgery and obtain a reference report number.
200 block of Fairlawn Avenue, Mansfield - A woman reported Tuesday morning finding a small hole in her garage window, possibly from a BB. The woman also asked police to dispose of old ammunition, possibly from World War II, left by past owners in her basement. It was submitted to the crime lab.
St. Peter's Church, 60 S. Mulberry St., Mansfield - Officers Tuesday talked with four people Tuesday who said they were praying, who asked, "Is it a crime to pray?" The officer talked with staff after the four people, two women and two men, left the building in the presence of the officer. It was later found that the suspects were seen on video looking at the baptismal font as if they were attempting to steal it. The officer tried to locate the suspects but could not.
First block of East Second Street, Mansfield - A man told police Tuesday morning someone stole a television and video game console from his residence. The man said he suspects a 57-year-old man, as the man knew he had the items, and he yelled at the 57-year-old man recently. Police were unable to contact the man.
100 block of Blymyer Avenue, Mansfield - A 23-year-old man, 21-year-old woman and 28-year-old man reported Tuesday morning someone ransacked their residence and stole children's clothes and diapers. The 21-year-old woman said the suspect put three holes in the walls. She said she suspects a 28-year-old woman who is the ex-girlfriend of the 23-year-old man. Police were unable to contact the woman.
Read or Share this story: http://ohne.ws/2py1NPs | {
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praying the saloon shut -- 4/27/15
Today's selection -- from 1920 The Year that Made the Decade Roar by Eric Burns. Prohibition, the legislative act that banned alcohol in the United States, began in 1920. But the groundwork for Prohibition was laid in hundreds of protests and demonstrations over the many decades preceding 1920, and also in the staggeringly high alcohol consumption of Americans dating back to the very foundation of the country. One such protest happened in Hillsboro, Ohio in 1873:
"The groundwork for Prohibition [was] laid forty years before [World War I], with the prim, pious, but ultimately untiring membership of the so-called Women's Crusade, whose tactic, ingenious in its way, was to pray saloons shut. A cleric from Boston who found himself in the small southeastern Ohio town of Hillsboro as the Crusade was getting started in late December 1873 could not believe what he saw.
I came unexpectedly upon some fifty women kneeling on the pavement and stone steps before a [saloon] .... There were gathered here representatives from every household of the town. The day was ... cold; a cutting north wind swept the streets, piercing us all to the bones. The plaintive, tender, earnest tones of that wife and mother who was pleading in prayer, arose on the blast, and were carried to every heart within reach. Passers-by uncovered their heads, for the place whereon they trod was 'holy ground.' The eyes of hardened men filled with tears, and many turned away, saying that they could not bear to look upon such a sight. Then the voice of prayer was hushed; the women began to sing, softly, a sweet hymn with some old familiar words and tunes, such as our mothers sang to us in childhood days. We thought, Can mortal man resist such efforts?
"The answer, in the short term, was no. As men approached their favorite saloon and saw the women, among them their wives and daughters, kneeling not only on planked sidewalks but often in the dust that paved the streets, praying for abstinence, they were too embarrassed to enter the beverage emporium. They turned, feeling ashamed of themselves for what they had been about to do. They skulked away, hoping that loved ones had not seen them.
"The result was the 'Miracle of Hillsboro.' In two weeks, all twenty-one saloons in town had been prayed out of business. For a while.
The Crusade spread: 'east to Wheeling, West Virginia; northwest to Ripon, Wisconsin; southwest to Carthage, Missouri; and north to Minnesota.' The results, however, were not always similar to those in Hillsboro.
Sometimes bartenders 'baptized' the women with buckets of warm, sudsy beer, dumping the liquid over their heads so that they would return home from their labors smelling not of triumph but of conversion to the other side. On one occasion, and a bitterly cold one at that, a saloonkeeper turned a powerful spray of water on the crusaders, causing [historian Herbert] Asbury to remark that the 'line of praying crusaders resembled a row of icicles.' And in yet another town, a gang of thugs who had been deputized by the mayor to enforce a spur-of-the-moment decree against public praying threw a seventy-year-old woman down a flight of stairs and, after she landed, struck her on the arms a number of times with wooden clubs.
"The problem with the Women's Crusade was that its effects could not last. There were almost always more saloons in a town than there were groups of women to pray before them. The Crusaders might close one establishment with their piety, but the next remained open. When the women moved on to the next, the imbibers simply sneaked out the back door of that joint and returned to the first. Their shame had been brief; their thirst endured. In the long term, especially when viewed from a distance, the Women's Crusade was little more than a game. Musical saloons. The habitués always won. Nonetheless, a start toward a dry America, futile though it turned out to be, had been made."
1920: The Year that Made the Decade Roar
Pegasus Books
Copyright 2015 by Eric Burns | {
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LAOS: Christian pastor will avoid jail if he promises not to preach for a year
by admin_HRWF | May 19, 2021 | Freedom of Religion and Belief
Premier Christian News (14.05.2021) – https://bit.ly/3bEeaT3 – A Christian pastor, held in police detention in the Southeast Asian country of Laos for a year, has been spared jail after he was made to sign documents swearing not to preach until 2022.
A court convicted Sithon Thippavong, 35, in April of "disrupting unity" and "creating disorder" after he was found to have held church services in Savannakhet province without government permission.
The church leader, who started his ministry among villagers in southern Savannakhet in 2011, was arrested on 15th March, 2020.
Local sources told Open Doors that Sithon was made to sign a document before his release in which he promised not to preach or organise other Christian activities until March 2022.
Open Doors believes he also had to pay the equivalent of £360 for court fees and jail costs in order to be released.
Mr Thippavong was given a one-year prison sentence but released three days later, on account of the year he had spent in pre-trial detention.
Local Christians told Radio Free Asia they were glad of the pastor's release. "We're very excited that he's still alive and was finally saved by God," said one. "He may have been sick and frail in prison, but now he'll be very happy to be able to serve God again."
The US State Department has noted 'significant human rights issues' in Laos, including restrictions on the freedom of expression, association and religion.
Laos' communist government is currently monitoring Christian activity heavily.
Gatherings must be notified to the administration and house churches must operate clandestinely as they are considered 'illegal gatherings'.
Thomas Muller, persecution analyst for Open Doors' World Watch Research unit says that although a 2019 Law on the Evangelical Church gives Lao Christians the right to meet for worship and prayer, it is often not being implemented in practice.
"Village leaders, religious and animist leaders view Christians – converts in particular – as angering the spirits and bringing trouble to the community," he said.
One Christian in northern Laos, who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons, told Open Doors he and his wife had been targeted by those in their village because of their faith.
They had been forced to leave their village, had their pigs poisoned, had their rice farm set on fire, and their children faced discrimination at school.
In October 2020, seven Christians were evicted from their homes in southern Saravan province because of their faith, and upon return to the village were stopped from rebuilding their demolished houses.
Photo : A group of young Christians from northern Laos worshipping together in a forest. They had been threatened to be kicked out of their village because of their faith. They now have to find ways to convene together as discreetly as possible. Credit: Open Doors | {
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Strategy & Competitive Intelligence
> Valeryfeugeas
The Naked Truth: 30% of US Unicorns Have No Patents. It seems that not a day goes by without a commentary about Unicorns, a Silicon Valley-coined term used to describe a startup (pre-exit) with a valuation exceeding $1 billion.
The number of Unicorns, the vast majority of which are US software companies, has recently crossed the 150 mark, according to the TechCrunch Unicorn leaderboard. Topping the US Unicorn list are high flyers like Uber at $51 billion and Airbnb at $25.5 billion, followed by companies that are mostly concentrated in three industries: Consumer Internet, E-commerce and Software. Unicorns have captured the attention of investors, analysts and other market observers who are trying to understand the factors driving the formidable valuations commanded by these mythical ventures and, in some cases, bet on their future, or even announce their sudden demise.
The Data Sample: Over 65% Are Software Companies Our Findings: Value Distribution Not Correlated with IP Distribution Should Unicorn Investors be Alarmed by the IP Gap? 2015 Tech IPO Pipeline Report - CB Insights. The 2015 Tech IPO Pipeline has 588 investor-backed private technology companies in the United States today with valuations, real or rumored, of greater than $100 million and who are demonstrating significant momentum based on our proprietary private company Mosaic ratings.
Like last year's list, the 2015 Tech IPO Pipeline currently represents the cream of the crop within investor portfolios, and those companies that may be on their way to an IPO given sustained product, market and financing momentum. Of course, it should be explicitly mentioned that not all of these 588 companies will make it to an IPO next year or ever.
Many have just crossed the $100M valuation threshold and, with the time to IPO increasing significantly, have their work cut out for them before they can even ponder the option of going public. Others among this group will never actually breakthrough to the level needed to be deemed public market worthy, or will be acquired along the way. New York trounces Massachusetts. The Naked Truth: 30% of US Unicorns Have No Patents. ETFs suffer from a 'chessboard' problem. The story goes that a ruler of India was so pleased with one of his palace wise men, who had invented the game of chess, that he offered him a reward of his own choosing.
The man, being a mathematician, told the ruler that he would like just one grain of rice on the first square of the chess board, double that number on the second square, and double that number on each of the next 62 squares. While the first half of the chessboard could manage the amount of rice requested, the second part of the chessboard should have contained more rice than available in the palace. Since a chessboard has 64 squares, the number of grains is 263 (9,223,372,036,854,775,808) — that's over 9 quintillion. We think exchange traded funds have reached a second-half-of-the-chessboard threshold. ETFs are a great idea if they serve an investment objective to gain exposure to a specific index, sector or asset class.
We consider the third quarter of 2015 to be a disaster for the ETF industry. Nine Out of Ten of the Internet's Top Websites Are Leaking Your Data. The vast majority of websites you visit are sending your data to third-party sources, usually without your permission or knowledge.
That's not exactly breaking news, but the sheer scale and ubiquity of that leakage might be. Tim Libert, a privacy researcher with the University of Pennsylvania, has published new peer-reviewed research that sought to quantify all the "privacy compromising mechanisms" on the one million most popular websites worldwide. His conclusion? "Findings indicate that nearly 9 in 10 websites leak user data to parties of which the user is likely unaware." Libert used his own open source software called webXray—the same program he's used in the past to analyze trackers installed on health and porn websites—and he found that not only were most siphoning user data, they were sharing it all over the place.
In other words, when you visit a website—say, Airbnb.com, Yahoo.com, or Motherboard.tv—that site will likely forward your user data to nine other, outside websites. Is Your Company Encouraging Employees to Share What They Know? Many of the things we need to know to be successful – to innovate, collaborate, solve problems, and identify new opportunities – aren't learned simply through schooling, training, or personal experience.
Especially for today's knowledge-based work, much of what we need to know we learn from others' experiences, through what's called vicarious learning. Organizations know this learning is important, which is why they invest significant resources in handbooks, protocols, formal mentoring programs, and knowledge management systems to share employees' experiences. Yet analyst estimates suggest that the companies in the Fortune 500 still lose a combined $31.5 billion per year from employees failing to share knowledge effectively. By trying to recreate the wheel, repeating others' mistakes, or wasting time searching for specialized information or expertise, employees incur productivity costs and opportunity costs for the organization.
Coactive vicarious learning Putting it into practice. Harvard Business Review - Ideas and Advice for Leaders. Applying intelligence to enhance decision-making.
Related: Management - Business and entrepreneurship - Leren - Harvard Business Review - Ideas and Advice for Leaders - Education - Enterprise | {
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KFH launches digital-enabled branchAbu Dhabi Islamic Bank adopts Samsung PayAlKhair Capital explores fintech productsFaysal Bank partners with Ripple for payments solutionDIFC reaches fintech milestoneJibrel unveils private financing platformIthmaar Bank to upgrade CRM platformEmirates NBD to roll out voice banking through Amazon AlexaDubai Financial Market launches electronic dividend distribution serviceSaudi finance ministry warns against cryptocurrenciesSecurities Commission Malaysia restructures digital strategy and innovation unitKIB launches video call serviceADIB joins trade blockchain platformWahed Invest secures Saudi ExPermitAirline veteran to helm TNG Digital as new CEO
HelloGold selected to present at UN
Posted on 19 September 2019 in Volume 3 Issue 4 by IFN Fintech
Malaysia's HelloGold is one of a handful invited by the United Nations Secretary-General's Task Force on Digital Financing on the Sustainable Goals, through the Digital Finance for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Challenge, to present at its inaugural invite-only summit running on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, a validation of Islamic fintech at an international level as a vehicle for impact and sustainable development.
One of two Malaysian start-ups, along with several start-ups in India, to be invited after a rigorous selection process, to present on tech efforts in addressing long-standing development challenges, HelloGold is understood to be the only one with a Shariah compliant fintech proposition. The Challenge was organised by the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) FinLab. The judging panel included representatives from UNCDF, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation, Bank Negara Malaysia and Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre.
The 'Good Servant, Poor Master: Capturing the Promise and Managing the Risk of Financial Technology for a Sustainable World' forum, taking place on the 27th September at UN headquarters, will gather 200 head of states, finance ministers, central bank governors, and leaders from development organizations and the technology sector, to put forward an actionable set of recommendations for ways that the digital revolution could be harnessed to advanced the UN SDGs.
"It is indeed a huge honor to be selected – we are immensely proud and humbled. This is an opportunity for us to showcase what we are trying to do with HelloGold to an audience of policymakers, that potentially could help us to get into emerging markets and see value in what we are trying to achieve," HelloGold CEO Robin Lee shared with IFN Fintech.
Since its launch in 2017, HelloGold has onboarded over 138,000 users in Malaysia and Thailand (with plans to expand to Indonesia and Dubai onto its Shariah compliant gold savings platform, which allows users to purchase gold for as low as 25 US cents. From its customer base, 70% are first-time investors in gold – demonstrating the start-up's ability in creating new demand for the popular asset class – and more significantly, relevant to the SDGs, US$675,000-worth of transactions were conducted by women, out of which 81% belong to the low to moderate income bracket. This directly correlates to two of the 17 SDGs: the first goal of no poverty and 10th which is reduced inequalities.
This invitation is a testament to Islamic fintech as an effective medium for financial inclusion and positive impact, as well as is a testament to the quality of Malaysian start-ups at an international level. HelloGold in 2018 was also recognized by the World Economic Forum ASEAN for its work in financial inclusion.
Your essential source to learn, explore, collaborate and keep up-to-date with the best-in-class of the most cutting edge fintech relevant to the Islamic finance industry.
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Summer peace parade, downtown Lindsay, 1919.
Walking through history: Remembering downtown Lindsay 100 years ago
Published on February 19, 2019 in Just in Time by Ian McKechnie
Imagine strolling through Lindsay's historic boroughs 100 years ago, in 1919. What might life have been like, behind the scenes and within the businesses that once drove our economy? What thoughts and emotions coursed through the minds and hearts of local citizens? Imagination – and a little research – are powerful tools. They transpose me from the streets on which I stroll today…to the Lindsay of a century ago.
Lindsay, mid-spring, 1919.
Before venturing into the heart of commercial Lindsay, I pause to admire the Ross Memorial Hospital, standing proudly on a height of land adjacent to Kent and Angeline Streets. The 16-going-on-17-year-old Ross is generously supported by the community it serves, and this support apparently extends to the new Isolation Hospital at the corner of Colborne and Angeline.
"'Tis a real credit to the town!" gushes Mrs. Hungerford, president of the Lindsay Women's Institute, whom I happen to encounter on the front lawn of the Ross, where she has just paid a visit to an institute member, currently recovering from a fall.
"The ladies of the Lindsay Women's Institute and the West Ops Women's Institute have poured their hearts into seeing to it that we have a comfortable, modern facility at our disposal should Lindsay ever be plagued with a disease requiring isolation," Mrs. Hungerford tells me.
I nod in agreement, remembering that this year and last have seen record numbers of Canadians hospitalized with the dreaded influenza epidemic.
Mrs. Hungerford and I exchange a few more pleasantries, before I tip my cap and move along. Lindsay's citizens are clearly proud of their healthcare facilities, a pride no doubt intensified by the good work of Ross nursing graduates in Europe over the past four years.
Walking briskly in an easterly direction, I soon reach the corner of Kent Street and Victoria Avenue, where I'm held up by a passing train returning from the north country. The smoke and cinders waft over Victoria Park, where the Citizens' Band is playing some jaunty tunes. I wait patiently, my ears taking in the strains of "Goodbye France" and "Smiles," among other chart-toppers.
At last, the caboose rattles by and I cross the street, passing the library and reaching the busy intersection of Cambridge and Kent, where I'm just about run down by a speed demon in his new Gray Dort touring car.
"Watch where yer' goin'!" shouts the man behind the wheel, shaking his forefinger menacingly. The machine roars off down Cambridge Street in a cloud of dust and exhaust.
"Damned drivers!" exclaims an older gentleman in a straw hat leaning up against a light-pole, having witnessed my near-tragic encounter with the Chatham, Ontario-built Gray Dort. "Them contraptions are a menace, snortin' and rattlin' through here. Reckon he paid $1,500 for that thing. Hope your heart isn't racin' after that.
"No, sir," I reply, with a half-smile. We go our separate ways.
Looking down Kent Street, I'm astounded at just how quickly Lindsay has progressed in her embrace of the motorcar. Parked up and down this widest of Ontario's thoroughfares are Fords, Gray Dorts, Maxwells, and Overlands, interspersed with horses and wagons. No doubt they are bringing postwar prosperity to local dealers like R.F. Thomas's Lindsay Motor Works – but one wonders what sort of impact this age of automotive adulation will have on the town in the years to come.
I move on. Downtown Lindsay is a bustling place on this slightly overcast day in 1919. People are going in and out of shops, patronizing a bounty of businesses, some with pedigrees that stretch back to pre-Confederation times. I glance up at the signs mounted over the awnings which have long been in vogue for downtown businesses. Allin's Ltd. (hardware). R. Neill Ltd. (boots and shoes). Sutcliffe & Sons (Lindsay's answer to an urban department store).
Reaching the corner of Kent and William Streets, I duck into Edmund Gregory's drugstore – one of the oldest apothecaries in the Dominion, I'm told. But I'm not looking for a cure to any ailment. Gregory's is the local distributor for Kodak camera and film supplies, and I'm keen to capture what I can of Lindsay as it appears in 1919. I change my mind, however, when I realize that I will have to wait for my pictures to be developed – even though Mr. Gregory promises that he can have them developed and printed quickly.
Being so used to uploading pictures on to social media platforms at once, I bristle inwardly at the suggestion that I can "come back in two weeks" to see my prints.
Instead, I politely thank Mr. Gregory, purchase a bottle of Coca-Cola, hastily drink its saccharine contents, and head back outside, anxious to continue my journey. The world I come from, a world of instant news, instant coffee, and Instagram is increasingly incompatible with the good old-fashioned virtue of patience.
Though I could easily spend many an hour admiring the streetscape that has made Lindsay known far and wide across Ontario, I want to meet some of the local folks who make their homes and livelihoods here. They, after all, are what give life and meaning to bricks-and-mortar. I glance across the street and see a sign for the Big 20 Café, which, I'm told, has recently been remodelled and refitted. I glance at my watch. It's 12:22 PM. The height of lunchtime. There must be a good crowd in there now. I stroll across Kent Street and hasten over to the Big 20. A man is peddling for coins out front and I toss him a dollar on my way in.
The place smells of coffee, hot beef sandwiches, and French toast. 'All you can eat for 20 cents,' a colourful sign mounted on the counter proclaims. I make my way over to a table at the back, take off my coat, and order a cup of tea. My ears perk up as I listen to conversations emanating from the tables around me. Folks are talking about who has recently come home from the war last year and who hasn't. Others are having lively debates about prohibition, the problems facing rural schools, and the state of Lindsay's roads – most of which are still awaiting asphalt.
Not too far away, at one of the ladies' tables, two young women are engaged in earnest conversation about the current state of employment.
"It's an outrage, Hazel!" exclaims one. "We proved in working at the arsenal that a woman can run machinery just as well as a man, and now that the war's over, we're being told that it's our 'patriotic duty' to turn our jobs over to the chaps returnin' from the war."
"'Patriotic duty my foot!'" replies the other, indignantly poking a fork at her raisin pie. "I'd rather be turnin' out a product than turnin' in my badge just because conditions have returned to normal."
"Ah, but they haven't Hazel," returns the other. "The new normal will see us girls take our places in the world of commerce and industry in a way that this town, this country, this Empire has never seen before. As soon as we finish here, we're going to march over to Mr. Horn's woollen mill and see if he can't take us on. Belgium and Romania need Canada's wool, and Alex Horn needs us!"
Their voices drop to a whisper, and I glance at the menu in front of me, all the while casting glances about the restaurant. The folks behind the counter are beaming, no doubt enthralled with the news that the Canada Food Board recently lifted restrictions placed on restaurants during the war. But other faces betray a hint of anxiety about the future. Their world, like the one I've come from a century later, remains fragile and uncertain.
A piping hot cup of tea is placed before me. I take a sip, the steam fogging up my glasses, clouding out this vignette of Lindsay in 1919…
It's hard for us today to imagine what life was like a century ago in Lindsay, Bobcaygeon, Fenelon Falls, Kinmount, Omemee, and other fine communities across Kawartha Lakes. Technology has forever changed our lives, food prices have gone up dramatically, and the traditional industries which kept these communities afloat for over 100 years have shuffled off their mortal coils as global economies and consumer tastes change like the weather.
And yet, much remains the same. Like Mrs. Hungerford and the Lindsay Women's Institute, we take pride in our healthcare facilities. Local pharmacists carry on the tradition of courteous, personal service that once defined establishments like Edmund Gregory's drugstore. And like the Big 20 of gastronomical memory, our restaurants remain popular gathering spots to converse at lunchtime – to live and laugh among our family, friends and neighbours.
In the end, as ordinary Canadians, we carry forward as best we can, in all the ways we can, and trust that we will be rewarded with lives worth living.
Tags: downtownKawartha LakesKent StreetLindsayRoss Memorial Hospital
Dave has been our neighbour for close to 20 years. Neither Dave nor his wife, Karina,
It's time for summer fun! But summertime comes with safety challenges and risk of personal injury.
shawn mclean says:
do you have a picture of 28 albert street south, showing what the front porch looked like on my house,,,found the old post in my basement,,holding up the house,,,would love to rebuild it
Union Alarm says:
It was a lot safer in back those days as people were very liberated of everything I just wish we could go back to those simpler times when there was a sense of security in the society.
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Latest from Just in Time
Recently, members of the City of Kawartha Lakes' Economic Development Department, senior
Picture it. It's mid-May of 1919, and you're a 12 or 13-year-old
With spring in full swing and April's showers heralding May's flowers, the
"The first duty of an industrial order, whatever its nature, is to
Remarkable Kawartha Lakes' women, past and present
The young lady in the accompanying picture is my great-grandaunt, Euphemia "Effie"
Dave has been our neighbour for close to 20 years. | {
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How To On Board With: Raimi Merritt
On Board With: Raimi Merritt
Professional wakeboarder Raimi Merritt talks travel, tournaments and training.
By Heather Steinberger
When Raimi Merritt first strapped on a wakeboard at the tender age of 11, she had no idea that she'd soon be following in the formidable wake of her father, former World Champion and professional barefoot water-skier Steve Merritt. Now 21, Merritt is an eight-time World Cup champion and is sponsored by Nautique Boats, Hyperlite Wakeboards and a host of others. She lives and trains in Orlando, Florida.
How, and when, did you discover wakeboarding?
When we were growing up, my dad taught me, my brother and my two sisters to water-ski. We learned two-ski, one-ski and barefooting, and I did that until I was 11. My dad had seen the wakeboarders and had trained some of them in barefooting back in the day. He saw a lot of potential in me, so I tried it. It clicked right away, and six months later, I was competing.
When did you realize that you were destined to go pro?
I would always win the amateur tournaments. I earned five national titles and five worlds. I'd go on the podium, and the announcers would say, "Raimi, when are you going to go pro?" I trained with Tara Hamilton, and I knew I really wanted to do it.
How was pro different?
The pros are doing tricks that haven't been done before, and they're pushing harder. I had to step up my game and train harder to make it to the final round. And I had to train harder for conditions, because there would be days when it would be rolling, rough, raining. You have to be prepared.
What kind of boat do you usually ride behind?
For me, the best wakeboard boat in the world is a Super Air Nautique G23. I use a 77.5-foot rope, and our speed is usually around 23.7 miles per hour.
You've traveled all over the world. What are some of your favorite spots?
I loved Dubai and Australia. In fact, I'm leaving for Australia for the first tournament of the season in a couple of weeks. I'll be in Canada this year too, and I'll be going back to Indonesia.
What does your offseason look like?
In the offseason, everyone's training and learning new tricks. I try to ride two times per day, five or six days a week. I work out every day and have a trainer three times a week. I also use the trampoline and practice yoga. Because I participate in the U.S. and international pro wakeboard tours, my season usually runs from the second week of March until November.
When you have some time off, do you like to get away from the water?
No, I play in the water. I love surfing and going to the beach. And the cable parks make wakeboarding with friends so much fun.
After more than six years on the pro circuit, do you still love wakeboarding?
I think I love it more now than I did in the beginning. I want to do it for a very long time. It's something different, something new. It's an up-and-coming sport, and it feels like it has no limits.
, on board with, water sports | {
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Your pathway to career success. Tools to help job seekers, students, businesses, and career professionals. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor.
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Chatham House Online Archive [Gale]
The research, publications, speeches and archives of the leading international affairs think tank, The Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, London. High level analysis and research on almost 100 years of global events and issues. Includes 'behind the doors' insight into the real movers and shakers, influencers and deal brokers. For researchers of international affairs, economics, law, and business, diplomacy, security and terrorism, environment, development, war and peace studies.
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Child Care & Early Education Research Connections
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Cold Spring Harbor Lab Oral History
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Communications and Mass Media Collection [Gale]
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Company Information Websites
Hoover's
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In the spirit of Thomas Jefferson, legislative information from the US Library of Congress. Formerly, Thomas Legislative Information.
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Airline News & Info
The Rise, Fall & Post Mortem of Braniff International. #avgeek
By R.D. Sussmann-Dewberry
Courtesy Boston Public Library
Today Senior Contributor R.D. Sussmann-Dewberry returns with a stellar three part series on the history of Braniff International. He has previously written fantastic pieces about the modern rise of Delta, the new American Airlines, the History of Low Cost Carriers, United Airlines, the History of Air Shuttles, The Middle East 3, Alaska's purchase of Virgin America, United's Polaris and Slim Line Seats. He has been involved with the airline industry for over 20 years and is an active travel consultant and airline analyst. R.D. is also a huge #Avgeek, a theme park enthusiast and a friend.
Part I: Braniff – from Stinsons to Flying Colors
Part II: Braniff – Ultra Colors, ultra problems.
Part III: Braniff – Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it
In my history of aviation, dating as far back as 1977, there is one entrant that stands out as being remarkable to this day: Braniff International. While I never got to experience this colorful carrier, it has always been a focus of my history & my study of the airline industry. What follows is a history of the carrier in three parts, and a look as to what brought down the carrier, despite the financial success of most of its history.
Braniff's roots begin with a small operation in the Central Midwest – namely, Oklahoma & Kansas, where Paul & Tom Braniff operated a small feederline starting in 1928. This short feederline carrier was absorbed by Universal Aviation in 1929, and the Brothers Braniff moved their sights a bit further south, to Dallas & Ft. Worth Texas. Operating a starter route between Dallas, Wichita Falls & Oklahoma City, Braniff Airways expanded into new markets throughout the central heartland of the United States, spreading northward towards Minneapolis/St. Paul, and south to the border.
Along with Tom Braniff, Charles Beard took some element of control and would continue to grow the carrier through several mergers & route expansions, including access to South America & Mexico. In 1954, Tom Braniff died, ending the Braniff family lineage in the carrier. Charles Beard took the full helm of the carrier, and continued to nurture the carrier forward.
Courtesy 1950s Unlimited
The 1950s brought Braniff into the start of the Jet Age. Very rare Boeing 707-227s, a more powerful variant of the 707 jetliner were ordered for use on their longer legs which now reached coast to coast. An attention to service (a hallmark of Braniff's legacy) brought the introduction of El Dorado Super Jets to South America later on. Lockheed Electra Turboprops filled in where the jets couldn't go, and Braniff was a modestly profitable company, though unknown in many regions as they simply didn't go there. To cause further issues, Beard's conservative image for the carrier combined with slow growth brought in changes in the structure of the carrier – ones that would be far reaching in every way.
The Great America corporation purchased control of Braniff in 1964. C. Edward Acker would go through the carrier, and began to seek better alternatives. By the end of the year, Harding Lawrence of Continental Airlines would take the reins, and Beard was oustered from the board, leaving the carrier he helped grow.
The End of the Plain Plane
Lawrence quickly set to work on Braniff. The airline had been proactive in ordering short-haul jets, namely the British Aircraft Corporation 1-11, as well as ordering the 727-100… but Lawrence saw a sleeping giant in Dallas. Calling in the marketing team from Tinker & Associates, he met Mary Wells, an advertising designer with whom many companies trusted their image. She took over the marketing side of the carrier, and prepared to alter the image of Braniff: A stout, small regional carrier with South American routes into a much bolder, brighter carrier. And her methods were not like anybody had seen in the industry anywhere.
Emilio Pucci decorated the Hostesses (Flight Attendants now), Alexander Girard did the visual 'look' of the airline, and Mary Wells handled the paint. In the end, Braniff International rolled out seven different color schemes – all from a very 1960's pallette – ranging from Signal Orange to Ochre, to Grass Green to Electric Blue. Combine this with a massive advertising blitz rolling out the End of the Plain Plane, and news coverage followed… followed by the passengers.
Braniff's new look was not only popular, it was Haute Coture. Loads surged, profits blistered, and Braniff was starting to shine and outgrow its older, more staid image. Additional routes were added through the blessings of the Civil Aeronautics Board, including routes to Hawaii, Florida & beyond. 1967 brought the merger with PANAGRA, a primarily South American based carrier, and Braniff's planes were seen all over the Americas, in ever-growing numbers.
Into the 1970's
By 1970, the industry was changing rapidly. Braniff's new look began to look a bit faded in light of new color schemes by other carriers. And the industry was at a major junction: The 747, Lockheed L1011 & McDonnell Douglas DC-10 were coming, and while the other major carriers were busy ordering large fleets of these jets, Lawrence ordered only two 747s, of which only one was discovered. But it was remarkable in so many ways: The entire plane was bright orange. "The Great Pumpkin" or "The Big Orange" flew a single route for Braniff – their hallmark Dallas-Honolulu run for most of its career.
Braniff 747. Photo by Marada Circa 1980's
The early 1970s meant two things in the industry: Steep recession, leading to financial distress at many carriers – and strong, steady profits at Braniff. The reason was clear: Braniff's route network, though suited for the DC-10 & L1011, were better optimized by smaller (And far less expensive) 727 jets. While other carriers were cutting frequency, replacing them with a single widebody jet, Braniff was adding frequency and high-yield business passengers at the same time. Airlines had a hard time competing in Tornado Alley – from Minneapolis to Dallas – where Braniff's strong, frequent schedule allowed passengers many choices. Their low debt structure allowed higher profits, and the image generated traffic.
In 1972, Braniff rolled out their next set of colors – a bit muted from the original End Of the Plain Plane image – but just as vibrant & colorful. The Flying Colors image introduced four color schemes fleet wide, and again refreshed their branding & image. Braniff's brightly colored planes could be seen everywhere coast to coast, and the name traded highly as a result. The Braniff name would soon grace the world's largest (and fastest) piece of art – a DC-8 painted by Alexander Calder. "Flying Colors of South America" debuted and was soon seen throughout the South American route system, as well as occasional forays into the domestic network. In 1976, a 727-200 would join her brother as Flying Colors of the United States, in time for the Bicentennial of the USA. Braniff was flying high.
Braniff Douglas DC-8-62 wearing Alexander Calder's Flying Colors of South America design at Miami Airport in August 1975 Source: Wikipedia
What made the 1970s good for Braniff was a mix of image, fleet, routes & service. Having a primary fleet of 727 aircraft for domestic service kept things simple & flowing, and made plane change outs easy if there were issues. Having the DC-8 for South America allowed for simplicity of operations south of Miami. These moves kept costs lower, even as fuel began to rise in light of the Oil Crisis of 1973. Offering a superior service and schedule kept planes full of high-yield traffic. And having a well developed & tight system of routes meant operations were kept flowing constantly, despite being in a region known for some of the worst weather in the country. Braniff's constant attention to these aspects is a credit to the incredible employees.
As 1976 rolled on, it was decided to update the look again of Braniff. From the top to the bottom, Harper & George were brought in to overhaul Braniff for the end of the decade. At the same time, Alfred E. Kahn and the Civil Aeronautics Board had a plan to overhaul the entire airline industry from the air down…
R.D. Sussmann-Dewberry
RD has been involved with the airline industry for over 20 years and is an active travel consultant and airline analyst. R.D. is also a huge #Avgeek and theme park enthusiast.
Airlines Ban Firearms on DC Bound Flights Ahead of Inauguration
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The Rise, Fall & Post Mortem of Braniff International Part II: Ultra Colors, Ultra Problems #avgeek - Miles to Memories Jan 16, 2017 at 10:31 am
[…] Part I: Braniff – from Stinsons to Flying Colors […] | {
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Home > TV > SEAL TEAM Season 4 Episode 14 Photos Hollow At The Core
SEAL TEAM Season 4 Episode 14 Photos Hollow At The Core
SEAL TEAM Season 4 Episode 14 Photos Hollow At The Core – Bravo is tasked with a covert mission to infiltrate a Boko Haram camp, hack its data network and rescue an American hostage, on SEAL TEAM, Wednesday, May 12 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. s04e14 4×14 4.14 s4e14
SEAL TEAM is a military drama that follows the professional and personal lives of the most elite unit of Navy SEALs as they train, plan and execute the most dangerous, high-stakes missions our country can ask of them. Jason Hayes is the respected, intense leader of the Tier One team whose home life has suffered as a result of his extensive warrior's existence. His team includes his trusted confidant, Ray Perry, the longest-tenured operator with whom Jason shares an ingrained shorthand; Sonny Quinn, an exceptional, loyal soldier with a checkered past who still combats self-destructive tendencies; and Clay Spenser, a young, multilingual, second-generation SEAL with insatiable drive and dedication.
Vital to the team's success are troop commander Lt. Cdr. Eric Blackburn, who serves as a leader and confidant both on and off the battlefield; CIA analyst Mandy Ellis, who has sacrificed everything in her drive to root out evil and take down terrorists; and Ensign Lisa Davis, a no-nonsense, take-charge officer. Deployed on clandestine missions worldwide at a moment's notice, and knowing the toll it takes on them and their families, this tight-knit SEAL team displays unwavering patriotism and fearless dedication even in the face of overwhelming odds.
Seal Team Season 4 Episode 14 Cast:
David Boreanaz (Jason Hayes)
Max Thieriot (Clay Spenser)
Neil Brown Jr. (Ray Perry)
AJ Buckley (Sonny Quinn)
Toni Trucks (Lisa Davis)
RECURRING CAST:
Justin Melnick (Brock Reynolds)
Tyler GreyScott Foxx (Trent Sawyer)(Full Metal)
Alona TalMike Wade (Stella Baxter)(Lt. Wes Soto)
GUEST CAST:
Shiva Negar (Mina Hassan)
John Lee Ames (James Parker)
Nikki McKenzie (CPO Kang)
Raymond Watanga (Nigerian Hostage)
Kasim Saul (Thirsty Guard)
Jason Dohring (Lt. CMDR Whitshaw)
WRITTEN BY: Matt Bosack & Kenny Sheard
DIRECTED BY: J. Michael Muro
Website: http://www.cbs.com/shows/seal-team/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SealTeamCBS/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SEALTeamCBS
SEAL TEAM Season 4 Episode 1 Photos God Of War
SEAL TEAM Season 4 Episode 2 Photos Forever War
SEAL TEAM Season 4 Episode 3 Photos The New Normal
SEAL TEAM Season 4 Episode 4 Photos Shockwave
SEAL TEAM Season 4 Episode 5 Photos The Carrot Or The Stick
SEAL TEAM Season 4 Episode 6 Photos Horror Has A Face
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SEAL TEAM Season 4 Episode 9 Photos Reckoning
SEAL TEAM Season 4 Episode 10 Photos A Question of Honor
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SEAL TEAM Season 4 Episode 12 Photos Rearview Mirror
SEAL TEAM Season 4 Episode 13 Photos Do No Harm
SEAL TEAM Season 4 Episode 14 "Hollow at the Core" – Bravo is tasked with a covert mission to infiltrate a Boko Haram camp, hack its data network and rescue an American hostage, on SEAL TEAM, Wednesday, May 12 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured L to R: AJ Buckley as Sonny Quinn and Max Thieriot as Clay Spenser. Photo: Sonja Flemming/CBS ©2021 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
SEAL TEAM Season 4 Episode 14 "Hollow at the Core" – Bravo is tasked with a covert mission to infiltrate a Boko Haram camp, hack its data network and rescue an American hostage, on SEAL TEAM, Wednesday, May 12 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured: David Boreanaz as Jason Hayes. Photo: Sonja Flemming/CBS ©2021 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
SEAL TEAM Season 4 Episode 14 "Hollow at the Core" – Bravo is tasked with a covert mission to infiltrate a Boko Haram camp, hack its data network and rescue an American hostage, on SEAL TEAM, Wednesday, May 12 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured: Neil Brown Jr. as Ray Perry. Photo: Sonja Flemming/CBS ©2021 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
SEAL TEAM Season 4 Episode 14 "Hollow at the Core" — Bravo is tasked with a covert mission to infiltrate a Boko Haram camp, hack its data network and rescue an American hostage, on SEAL TEAM, Wednesday, May 12 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured L to R: AJ Buckley as Sonny Quinn, David Boreanaz as Jason Hayes, Max Thieriot as Clay Spenser, Tyler Grey as Trent Sawyer, Scott Foxx as Full Metal. Photo: Sonja Flemming/CBS ©2021 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
SEAL TEAM Season 4 Episode 14 "Hollow at the Core" – Bravo is tasked with a covert mission to infiltrate a Boko Haram camp, hack its data network and rescue an American hostage, on SEAL TEAM, Wednesday, May 12 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured L to R: Mike Wade as Lt. Wes Soto, David Boreanaz as Jason Hayes, and Neil Brown Jr. as Ray Perry. Photo: CBS ©2021 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
SEAL TEAM Season 4 Episode 14 "Hollow at the Core" – Bravo is tasked with a covert mission to infiltrate a Boko Haram camp, hack its data network and rescue an American hostage, on SEAL TEAM, Wednesday, May 12 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured: Max Thieriot as Clay Spenser. Photo: CBS ©2021 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
SEAL TEAM Season 4 Episode 14 "Hollow at the Core" – Bravo is tasked with a covert mission to infiltrate a Boko Haram camp, hack its data network and rescue an American hostage, on SEAL TEAM, Wednesday, May 12 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured: Mike Wade as Lt. Wes Soto. Photo: CBS ©2021 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
SEAL TEAM Season 4 Episode 14 "Hollow at the Core" – Bravo is tasked with a covert mission to infiltrate a Boko Haram camp, hack its data network and rescue an American hostage, on SEAL TEAM, Wednesday, May 12 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured: Tyler Grey as Trent Sawyer. Photo: CBS ©2021 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
SEAL TEAM Season 4 Episode 14 "Hollow at the Core" – Bravo is tasked with a covert mission to infiltrate a Boko Haram camp, hack its data network and rescue an American hostage, on SEAL TEAM, Wednesday, May 12 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured: Neil Brown Jr. as Ray Perry. Photo: CBS ©2021 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
"Hollow at the Core" – Bravo is tasked with a covert mission to infiltrate a Boko Haram camp, hack its data network and rescue an American hostage, on SEAL TEAM, Wednesday, May 12 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured: Toni Trucks as Lisa Davis. Photo: CBS ©2021 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
"Hollow at the Core" – Bravo is tasked with a covert mission to infiltrate a Boko Haram camp, hack its data network and rescue an American hostage, on SEAL TEAM, Wednesday, May 12 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured: David Boreanaz as Jason Hayes. Photo: CBS ©2021 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
"Hollow at the Core" – Bravo is tasked with a covert mission to infiltrate a Boko Haram camp, hack its data network and rescue an American hostage, on SEAL TEAM, Wednesday, May 12 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured L to R: David Boreanaz as Jason Hayes and AJ Buckley as Sonny Quinn. Photo: CBS ©2021 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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CHICAGO PD Season 8 Episode 14 Photos Safe
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"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaCommonCrawl"
} |
Interlitq's Californian Poets Interview Series: Cole Swensen, Poet, Translator, Professor, interviewed by David Garyan
Interlitq's Californian Poets Interview Series:
Cole Swensen, Poet, Translator, and Professor
interviewed by David Garyan
Cole Swensen's poems to appear soon in Interlitq's California Poets Feature
DG: Let's approach your work in the most sensible way—the process of translation. Borges's idea of the translation becoming an original, or Ken Liu's idea—very much connected to George Steiner—that all acts are miracles of translation both come to mind. You've done a great deal in bringing French writers into English. How has this informed your own creative vision?
CS: First, I'm struck by your thought that the most sensible way to enter a writer's work is through the work that she does with others—Thank you! I like that very much—and in part because it begins us with the notion of fluidity—of one person's work flowing into another's, eroding the notion of writing as individual, and emphasizing that writing is always to some degree a communal project. Thinking more specifically, translating others' poetry has given me access to forms and tones that I probably wouldn't have found otherwise. It was through translating that I began to see, many years ago, the possibility of the book rather than the individual poem as the basic poetic unit. And I know that I've also picked up rhythms from French that are different from Egnlish rhythms; the French approach to the prose poem is a bit different as well, perhaps more matter-of-fact, and I think I've absorbed that as well.
DG: How do you choose what to translate? Do the writers' personalities draw you to their words, or is it the unique way in which they use language?
CS: I'm drawn to translation as a conversation, a conversation around poetics. All the people I've translated were living at the time—and most still are—and in all cases, I've talked the translation over with them in detail, which always leads beyond the specific work to its larger contexts and to the principles of thought, creativity, imagination, etc. that direct the work. Those conversations are extremely rewarding, and they inform the way I read other works—in both English and French—as well. I think of translation as a form of reading, the most intense and engaged form possible. I almost always meet the work before the writer, and it's when I find myself wanting to write the line I'm reading—it's not a feeling of "Ah, I wish I'd written that!" but rather of "I would love to write that!" I think it's not sufficiently emphasized that translation is not just decoding and recoding; it's also, and above all, writing.
DG: How much liberty should a translator be allowed—in other words, if you see the opportunity to improve something, do you follow that path, or is it better to remain ever-faithful to the original?
CS: What constitutes an improvement is extremely subjective. What I might consider an improvement, the writer might consider ghastly. But beyond that, translation for me has nothing to do with judging the text, of thinking whether it's "good" or whether it could be "better"; it's about engaging with it, and the deepest engagement is not necessarily the one that sticks to it the most literally, but the one that most deeply grasps its specific terms and aims and recreates them as much as possible. I'm committed to presenting the work as the writer would have written it had he, she, or they been writing originally in English.
DG: You travel often to Europe. What would you say are the most notable differences between how poetry is appreciated and promoted in North America, compared to France, or Germany, for example?
CS: I can't say for Germany—in fact, I can really only say for France—and it seems to me that it's oddly similar. And I say oddly, because there are so many cultural differences between France and the US, but poetry is, in a sense, its own culture separate from the one it's surrounded by (like all airports, taken together, form their own country). This is perhaps particularly true of France and the US because there has been such a long history of poetic friendship and exchange. There have been several books, a couple quite recently, that detail these exchanges. Especially during the 20th and 21st centuries, the two poetries have importantly informed each other. In the late 20th century, there was Emmanuel Hocquard's important project "Bureau sur l'Atlantique," which engaged with experimental poetics from the Objectivists through the Language Poets, paralleled by Juiliette Valery's series of publications, Format Américain, and later, beginning in the 2000's, a bi-national group, Double Change, has been fundamental in a series of readings, conferences, and publications that bring North American work to French attention. In the other direction, Rosmarie & Keith Waldrop's Burning Deck Press published many French poets over its 60 years, and other presses have also focused on contemporary French work.
But often influences are less obvious. A good example might be the important influence that France and French poetry had on Ashbery. If we then think, in turn, of how important Ashbery's influence has been on American poetry from the late 20th century on—so many American poets who wouldn't think of themselves as influenced by anything French have been through Ashbery—and through many others of his generation and those immediately following. And earlier, think how many of the modernists spent serious time in France and with French work. The same is true regarding the influence of some American writers on French poets—so there's a lot of entwined shaping that many poets are not necessarily aware of. As for the contemporary moment, in both countries, poetry is equally marginalized and largely published by small presses devoted to the form for the love of it.
DG: Over the years, you've emphasized the importance walking has had on your creativity. In the philosophical tradition, Nietzsche was perhaps the most fervent adherent to physical movement, at least in relation to creativity: "Sit as little as possible; do not believe any idea that was not born in the open air and of free movement—in which the muscles do not also revel." And yet, the poet must eventually sit down to write. What were some particularly memorable walks for you, and did they lead to the best poems you wrote?
CS: That quotation, particularly the "in which the muscles do not also revel" is so key—that thinking and writing must also have a kinetic aspect. Though I don't think it has to be as thorough as, say, walking. You cannot write without the hand's being active—whether you're writing by hand or on a keyboard—the hand or hands are dancing, and I've always been struck by how many writers enjoy not only letting their imaginations go, but also enjoy the physical act of writing. I began a fairly recent book, On Walking On, with the question of why, for as long as such things have been recorded, so many writers are also inveterate walkers, and it's interesting to me that the ensuing book didn't end up persuing the question; it instead wallowed in the experiences of such writers as presented through their writing. Clearly, so many writers have thrived on the complete fusion of the two activities—perhaps it's because the mind works so differently when the body is active.
DG: European towns—for the most part—are built very differently from cities in the US. Even in big urban areas, everything seems to be in closer proximity, meant to be explored on foot, while North American metropoles are vast, spread out, and this especially in the West. Coming from California, having lived on the East Coast, and experienced Europe, do you feel that any given setting changes your writing, or do you find that the length of your sentences, for example, stays mostly constant?
CS: I like that idea! That a more extensive space might extend the line, but I don't find that to be true. That said, I do think setting affects my work. Because of Covid, I spent most of 2020 and 2021 in California, just north of San Francisco. And whether there's any connection or not, I don't know, but my writing changed completely—much more subject based and based on immediate surroundings. I'm currently on a sabbatical in France, and that focus on the immediate has continued.
DG: In the introduction to your most recent book, Art in Time, you talk about the need to engage "the landscape genre in a fluid way," in a way that "puts the landscape back into motion," in order to find alternatives to some of the presumptions and practices of landscape art common to Euro-centric contexts." Indeed, you've also said elsewhere that landscapes are never silent, though they often appear that way to us. What's the best way to reorient the perception of our own surroundings? Can poetry help us do this, and, if so, what are some of your favorite poems in this respect?
CS: Yes I do think that poetry can reorient our perceptions and perspective, and often does so through the "startle." Which is not an epiphany—that supposed sudden quasi-spiritual realization that is often closer to emotional manipulation—I'm thinking instead of those startling moments triggered by unusual uses of language; they're often just about shifting perspective, suddenly de-habituating the scene. Shklovsky used the term "ostranenie"—defamiliarization, and though it's a heavily-theorized term that been around for a long time, I think it's a valuable concept and an even more valuable device that allows language to operate constructively on our modes of perception.
Regarding landscape, I'm interested in recognizing a continuity, an inclusivity, that involves everything in sight including the viewer because I think it changes structures of responsibility. Clearly, we as a species, need to take a dramatically different kind of responsibility, which I don't think we can do as long as we see ourselves as separate from nature and perpetuate distinctions such observer/observed.
DG: With David St. John, you edited a fascinating anthology of poetry, American Hybrid, with the aim of closing the gap between traditional and experimental poetry. Thirteen years after its publication, do you feel that the margin has been closed, or has it perhaps widened unexpectedly?
CS: What interested me at that point, and still does, is a shift from a perception of American poetry as on a linear continuum from the traditional to the experimental—of course that linearity wasn't "true," but it was often talked of in that way. It seemed to me that from the 1990s on, there has been an profusion of different tendencies that increasingly cannot be mapped in relation to each other. It's an exploded field, expanding outward in all directions, full of tendencies that resist comparison—and I think that that's an extremely promising mode of development; may it continue.
DG: Would you say that those working in the "experimental" genre have perhaps—and in this case, rather unfairly—born a burden that isn't necessarily only theirs to bear? In other words, many formalists and lyricists, for example, are also trying to do new things with language—tackling taboo subjects, for example, or pushing the boundaries of metaphor, all the while remaining dedicated to their artistic fields; these experiments, however, are sadly not considered "experiments," but rather interpreted as the "creative impulse," which, in my view, cheapens the effort of crossing new aesthetic frontiers. Can we really say, hence, there's an actual difference between creative uses of language and linguistic experimentation?
CS: I'm going to start with the end of the question—yes, I think there is a difference, but I think that the differing cultural values assigned to various practices are inaccurate and unproductive. All language uses have their value—and that value is always determined by the reader/hearer; it's not inherent in the language use itself. I happen to be very interested in unprecedented uses of language, in broken language and its relationship to the limits of the sayable, and, ultimately, I'm probably more interested in the unsayable than the sayable, and certainly in the volatile boundary between them because I think that's where the potential for the "startle" mentioned above lies, where our capacity to use language to expand what we can think and feel is based. But many people would not agree and would, instead, find that same potential elsewhere—in tackling taboo subjects, for instance. And I don't mean to dissolve into a mush of relativism, but to discourage an endless tendency that we all seem to have to judge—to assign definitive value—which is actually simply lazy; we do it just so that we can say "Good, that's settled. I don't have to think about it anymore." Which is an error; we do have to keep on thinking about it, whatever it is; we can never allow anything to settle, or, rather, nothing ever does settle, and if we view it as such, we're fooling ourselves. This is related to the view of landscape as always fluid that you mentioned above. That reality of the concrete world follows through to every aspect of living.
DG: You teach writing and literature at Brown's reputable Literary Arts program. There have been rabbit-hole debates about the benefits of teaching writing. Without getting into that, what are things writing programs can do and what are their limitations? In addition, it would be interesting to hear how teaching informs your own creative process.
CS: Writing programs, above all, can give people two or three years to focus almost exclusively on writing and among a variety of resources—courses, libraries, other writers. MFAs allow them to completely immerse themselves in aesthetic questions and their relations to politics, culture, and society. And that, for most people, is a transformative process. No matter what they do afterward, they'll do it with a different perspective. Regarding limitations—they are based on presumptions. If people think a writing program will, for instance, make them better writers, they'll likely be disappointed, but if instead, they simply presume that it's going to change them, and remain open about the directions such change might take, they'll probably get more out of it. It's hard for me to say how teaching informs my own writing practice as I have no basis for comparison—I've been teaching since I was 20 years old, so it's inseparable from my writing.
About Cole Swensen
Cole Swensen is the author of 19 books of poetry, most recently Art in Time (Nightboat Books, 2021) and a book of faux-logical nano-essays, And And And (Free Poetry Press, 2022). A former Guggenheim Fellow, she has received the Iowa Poetry Prize, the SF State Poetry Center Book Award, the National Poetry Series, and the PEN USA Award in Literary Translation and has been a finalist for the National Book Award. Co-editor of the Norton anthology American Hybrid and founding editor of La Presse, she also translates literature and art criticism from French. A native of the SF Bay Area, she divides her time between there, France, and Providence RI, where she teaches at Brown University.
Posted in California, Californian Poets, France, Interlitq, Poetry, Translation, USA, Writing | {
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Red Oak Daybook
Daybook of a grocer in the small town of Red Oak, Virginia. This daybook contains a list of daily goods sold, cost amounts, and to whom goods were sold. The daybook contains 292 pages, all of which contain handwritten entries, and measures 15 inches x 7 inches x 1 inch. This daybook contains page number notations that refer to a second ledger (likely to an account ledger which showed money owed by specific individuals), but the location of this second ledger is currently unknown.
Found in: Special Collections Research Center
L. S. Rhodes & Sons Papers
Identifier: 01/Mss. 65 R34
Papers, 1886-1923, of L. S. Rhodes and Sons, Linnville, Rockingham County, Va. Chiefly accounts with suppliers, local producers, manufacturers, and wholesale houses, but including bank statements, canceled checks, tax and license receipts. Consists of 5,810 items and about 100 manuscript volumes.
The ledgers are stored off-site and require a 72 hour notice for retrieval.
Richard Rabenstein Diary
Diary, 1942-1944, of Richard Rabenstein of Chester, West Virginia. Rabenstein was born on 5 December 1933, making him 8 years old when he started keeping this diary. Discusses events at school, at his church, scores of football and basketball games, the weather, and other issues.
Robert W. Campbell Diary
Scope and Contents Robert Campbell lives near Reliance, Virginia in Warren County, Virginia. He is likely a high school student since he usually notes whether he attended school, which he often does not. He begins writing in November 1906 with one or two line entries of his activities, which consist of school, work, events such as butchering or marriages, visits to area towns, visits to neighbors, playing, hunting, fishing, work in the garden and church. He also gives the weather for most entries....
Parke Shepherd Rouse, Jr. Papers
Identifier: Mss. 71 R75
Scope and Contents Professional and personal papers of Parke Shepherd Rouse, Jr. who was a newspaper writer and columnist and an author of books on Virginia. His personal correspondence covers his college years at Washington and Lee University; his years in the Navy during World War II; his early career while working in Richmond, Virginia and Newport News, Virginia; and his business affairs. His college and Navy letters include not only the letters he wrote home, but the letters he received from...
J. Randolph Ruffin Papers
Identifier: Mss. Acc. 1998.58
Papers of J. Randolph Ruffin. Newspaper clippings, brochures, drafts of speeches, correspondence about Virginia history, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and tours directed by J. Randolph Ruffin, Director of Special Events for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Accessions 1998.58 and 1999.22 WHRA.
S. B. Barham, Jr. Account Books
Identifier: Mss. MsV Ad19-MsV Ad20
Account books, February-May 1903, kept by a merchant at Runnymede, Virginia. S. B. Barham, Jr. was the son of Doctor S. B. Barham. He is referred to in his father's diaries as "Sid."
Scrapbook Regarding Virginia and the College of William and Mary
Identifier: Mss. MsV Sc40
Scrapbook, 1927-1948, of an unidentified person containing newspaper clippings about Virginia and the College of William and Mary.
St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church (Portsmouth, Va.)
Identifier: Mss. MsV Ch11
Minute book, 1925-1929, of the vestry of St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church, Portsmouth, Va.
Staff of Whittacker Memorial Hospital (Newport News, Va.) Bylaws and Meeting Minutes
Scope and Contents Bylaws, 1930 and meeting minutes, 1943-1948 of the medical staff of Whittacker Memorial Hospital, Newport News, Virginia. The bylaws define medical staff as medical doctors and the meetings cover all aspects of the hospital's medical services, general administration and day to day business. The meeting minutes cover a variety of business including matters related to staff and patient care. At least one reference to abortion was found by a researcher (during a class demonstration in 2/2010)....
Stenographic Report of the Investigation of the Public Schools
Identifier: MsV Ad146
Scope and Contents Listed as Richmond City Council Joint Committee Minute Book in Swem Catalogue.Minutes, 1912, of an investigation into the public schools of Richmond, Virginia by a committee appointed of members of the City Council and Board of Aldermen to investigate overpayments of salary, curriculum, lack of harmony and cooperation among teachers, principals and the superintendent, and control by the State Board of Education.Includes testimony by female teachers and by J.A.C....
T. F. Rogers Daily Charge Book
Identifier: Mss. MsV Ame C1
Daily charge book, 1923-1925, of T. F. Rogers, clothing store merchant, of Williamsburg, Va.
William Munford Tuck Papers
Identifier: 01/Mss. 68 T79
Scope and Contents This collection is housed off-site. At least 72 hours advanced notice is required for retrieval. Papers, 1918-1968, of William Munford Tuck, Democrat, member of the Virginia House of Delegates, Virginia State Senate, lieutenant-governor, governor, and congressman. Tuck's law practice files and his correspondence, 1950-1953, are arranged alphabetically. His congressional file is arranged alphabetically and the legislation files are arranged by session...
Robert H. Tucker Papers
Identifier: Mss. 68 T795
Papers; 1923-1957; of Robert H. Tucker, professor of economics at Washington and Lee University, who served on Virginia Commission on County Government and the Virginia Commission on State and Local Government. Includes articles, speeches, lectures, reports and other writings concerning Virginia state and local government, tax reform, education, highways, economics, and Washington and Lee University. Most of the material is undated.
Union Co-Operative School papers
A series of two letters and two pamphlets regarding the policies and curriculum of the Union Co-Operative School in Bedford city, Virginia. Correspondence is addressed to Mr. R.A. Bradley of Hammett, Virginia from the Union Co-Operative School and includes information on tuition and boarding costs as well as the structure of the curriculum. The two pamphlets outline the school's policies and initiatives as well as the courses offered within the program for prospective students.
Virginia Association for Local Self-Government Publications
Scope and Contents Printed broadsides, pamphlets and newspapers published by the Virginia Association for Local Self-Government which was against statewide prohibition. Includes "The Trumpeter" a newspaper style publication of the Virginia Association for Local Self-Government (July-August 1914) and a July 14, 1860 address, "The American Citizen" by Hon. D. W. Voorhees of Indiana before the Liberary Societies of the University of Virginia. A note in the accession record suggests these...
Virginia Cities Collection
Identifier: Mss. 39.4 V82ci
Artificial collection of papers relating to various cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Courtney Sharpe Ward Papers
Identifier: Mss. Acc. 2007.25, 2008.106
Correspondence, notes, papers, newspaper clippings, drafts and published articles belonging to Courtney Sharpe Ward, a writer for the Richmond News Leader in Richmond, Virginia. Many of her articles had a historical connection. The addition mostly consists of material on the 1957 350th Anniversary of Jamestown. Includes photograph and 1957 Press Card of Courtney Sharpe Ward.
Thomas L. Williams Collection
Identifier: MS 00254
Photographs, negatives, slides, film, postcards, ephemera, correspondence and artifacts belonging to Thomas L. Williams, photographer for William & Mary for 35 years. He was also a photographer for Camp Peary and Colonial Williamsburg prior to working for William & Mary.
Williamsburg Methodist Church Checkbook
Checkbook, 1927-1930, containing vouchers for funds paid by H. L. Bridges while treasurer of the Williamsburg Methodist Church, South, Williamsburg, Va. which includes a contract and correspondence concerning building the church's parsonage.
Subject: Virginia--History--20th century X
Virginia--History--20th century 21
Account books 16
Education--Virginia--History--20th century 13
Merchants--Virginia--History--20th century 12
Williamsburg (Va.)--History--20th century 11
College of William and Mary--History--20th century 8
African Americans--Virginia--History--20th century 7
Farm management--Virginia--History--20th century 5
Ledgers (Accounting) 5
Merchants--Virginia--Williamsburg 5
Church records 4
Episcopal Church--Virginia--History--20th century 4
Merchants--Virginia--History--19th century 4
Cumberland County (Va.)--History--20th century 3
Education, Higher--Virginia--History 3
Jamestown Festival (1957) 3
Richmond (Va.)--History--20th century 3
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 3
Virginia--History 3
West Virginia--History--20th century 3
Williamsburg (Va.)--Photographs 3
African Americans--Virginia--Photographs 2
African Americans--Virginia--Portsmouth--History 2
Baptist Church--Virginia--History 2
College of William and Mary--Students 2
Gloucester County (Va.)--History--20th century 2
Hopewell (Va.)--History 2
Invoices 2
James City County (Va.)--History--20th century 2
Jamestown (Va.)--History--20th century 2
Lumber trade--United States--History 2
Manuscripts (document genre) 2
Methodist Church--Virginia--History--20th century 2
Negatives 2
Newport News (Va.)--History 2
Petitions 2
Surveys (documents) 2
United States--Politics and Government 2
Virginia--Genealogy 2
Virginia--Governors 2
Virginia--History--19th century 2
Virginia--Politics and Government 2
Virginia--Politics and government--20th century 2
Williamsburg (Va.)--History 2
Women--Education--Virginia--History 2
Women--History--Virginia 2
4-H clubs--United States--History 1
Aberdeen--Angus cattle 1
African American physicians 1
African American women--Diaries 1
African American women--Education 1
African American women--History--Sources 1
African Americans--Education--Virginia 1
African Americans--History--20th century 1
African Americans--Hospitals--Virginia--History--20th century 1
African Americans--Medical care--Virginia 1
African Americans--Virginia--Cumberland County--History 1
African Americans--Virginia--James City County 1
African Americans--Virginia--Lightfoot 1
African Americans--Virginia--Richmond--History 1
African Americans--Virginia--Williamsburg 1
Agricultural laborers--Virginia 1
Agriculture--Virginia--History--18th century 1
Alexandria (Va.)--History 1
American diaries--Women authors 1
American foxhound 1
American poetry--19th century 1
Williamsburg Historic Records Association (Williamsburg, Va.) 6
College of William and Mary--Alumni and alumnae 4
Bruton Parish Church (Williamsburg, Va.) 3
Virginia State Senate 3
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation 2
Dalton, John N. 2
Tyler, Lyon Gardiner, 1853-1935 2
United States Congress 2
4-H Club (Chesterfield County, Va.) 1
Andrews, Hunter Booker, 1921-2005 1
Barber, Florence 1
Barranger & Company, Inc. 1
Bateman, Herbert Harvell, 1928-2000 1
Blair, James, 1656-1743 1
Blayton, James Blaine, Sr., (Dr.) 1
Bosworth, John Woodbridge 1
Bradby family 1
Bradby, Signor 1
Central Virginia Educational Television Corporation 1
Chandler, J. A. C. (Julian Alvin Carroll), 1872-1934 1
Civilian Conservation Corps (U.S.) Company 1364 (Petersburg, Va.) 1
Clark, James W. 1
College of William and Mary 1
College of William and Mary. 1
College of William and Mary. Board of Visitors 1
College of William and Mary. School of Education 1
Commonwealth Club (Richmond, Va.) 1
Crump family 1
Cumberland County (Va.). Bon Brook Public School No. 4 1
Daily Press (Hampton Roads, Va.) 1
Daley, Thomas R., 1862 - 1
Democratic Party (U.S.) 1
Duke, Salena Niebling 1
Dunlop family 1
Etheridge, Jeanne 1
Faculty Women's Caucus 1
Fling, John Bosworth 1
Ford, Gerald R., 1913-2006 1
George, W. Brooks 1
Godwin, Edwin Mills, Jr., 1914-1999 1
Grace Street Gardens (Richmond, Va.) 1
Hampton College (Hampton, Va.) 1
Haus, Zelda 1
Holmes, Edna 1
Holmes, Ruby 1
Holmes, Rufae Cleonia 1
Holmes, Samuel B. 1
Holton, A. Linwood (Abner Linwood), 1923- 1
Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826 1
Jerusalem Baptist Church (James City County, Va.) 1
Johnson, Robert Garrett, 1895-1987 1
Jones family 1
Keep Virginia Beautiful. Inc 1
Langton, Helen 1
Marion College, Junior (Marion, Va.) 1
Matthew Whaley School (Williamsburg, Va.) 1
Matthews, Joseph James (Captain) 1
Meade, Robert Douthat, 1903-1974 1
Methodist Church. Virginia Conference. Richmond District. Gloucester Circuit. 1
Metropolitan Richmond Chamber of Commerce 1
Michaux, Lightfoot Solomon 1
Morriss, Louise Lightfoot 1
Nance, Lilian Hancock, 1898-1990 1
Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company 1
Osment, Carole 1
Parker, Bessie, ca. 1905 - 1
Parker, Lena Augusta, ca. 1902 - 1
Pedersen, Thelma 1
Perrin family 1
Rabenstein, Richard 1
Republican Party (U.S.) 1
Richmond (Va.) News Leader 1
Richmond Academy 1
Richmond Theatre (Richmond, Va.) 1
Robb, Charles S. 1
Rouse, Parke Shepherd, Jr. 1
Ruffin, J. Randolph 1
School of Education 1
Simpson family 1
Stuart Hall (Staunton, Va.) 1
Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, Pa. 1
The Virginia Comedians 1
Tuck, William Munford 1
Tucker, Beverley R. (Beverley Randolph), 1874-1945. 1
Tucker, Robert H. 1
United States. Army. Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, 25th 1
United States. Geological Survey. National Aerial Photography Program 1
Virginia House of Delegates 1
Virginia State Teacher's College at Farmville, Virginia 1
Virginia. Governor (1978-1982 : Dalton) 1
Virginia. Supreme Court of Appeals 1
Ward, Courtney Sharpe 1
Williams, Thomas L. 1
Williamsburg Businessmen's Association (Va.) 1
Williamsburg Female Academy (Williamsburg, Va) 1
Williamsburg High School (Williamsburg, Va.) 1
Williamsburg Male Academy (Williamsburg, Va) 1
Williamsburg Military School (Williamsburg, Va) 1
Women's College of Richmond 1 | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaCommonCrawl"
} |
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