Tracy K. Smith is an American poet and educator who served as the 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States from 2017 to 2019. She is the author of five poetry collections: Such Color (2021), Wade in the Water (2018), Life on Mars (2011) (which won a Pulitzer Prize), Duende (2007), and The Body’s Question (2003). She also wrote a memoir, Ordinary Light (2015).
Tracy K. Smith’s latest book, To Free the Captives (2023), is a work of personal and historical nonfiction that illuminates the American past and present. It is a plea for the American soul that traces Smith’s paternal lineage - Black, southern, ordinary and extraordinary - to reveal the losses and lessons that course through her writing.
Smith discovered her passion for writing and poetry at an early age, inspired by Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain, and other literary giants. She lives in Princeton, NJ with her husband and three children.
To Free the Captives is a collection of interlinked essays by Tracy K. Smith that explores her family’s history and legacy in Sunflower, Alabama, the red-dirt town where her father’s family comes from. Smith considers her father’s life and the life of her grandfather through the lens of history. The book is a work of personal and historical nonfiction that illuminates the American past and present. It is a plea for the American soul that traces Smith’s paternal lineage - Black, southern, ordinary and extraordinary - to reveal the losses and lessons that course through her writing.
Such Color is a stunning showcase of Tracy K. Smith’s poetic brilliance. Spanning her four award-winning collections and featuring eighteen new poems, this volume traces Smith’s journey from a curious child to a celebrated poet, from a witness of history to a visionary of the cosmos. With extraordinary intelligence and exhilarating range, Smith explores the vast questions of existence, the mysteries of love and loss, the injustices of racism and violence, and the hope of resistance and redemption. Her voice is clear-eyed, compassionate, and daring, inviting us to share her awe of the world and its possibilities. Such Color is a magnificent retrospective that affirms Smith’s place as one of the most treasured poets of our time.
Tracy K. Smith explores America’s present and past with a keen eye and a lyrical voice in Wade in the Water, a collection of poems that connects our contemporary moment to our nation’s complex history and to a sense of the eternal. These are poems of varying scale: some capture a glimpse of song or memory; some collage an array of documents and voices; and some transcend the known world into the mystical, the sacred. Smith’s distinctive voice―curious, lyrical, and wry―examines what it means to be a citizen, a mother, and an artist in a culture mediated by wealth, men, and violence. Here, personal utterance becomes part of a larger collective voice as the collection includes erasures of The Declaration of Independence and letters from African American soldiers in the Civil War, a found poem composed of evidence of corporate pollution and accounts of near-death experiences, and a sequence based on testimonies of recent immigrants and refugees. Wade in the Water is a powerful and luminous book by one of America’s essential poets.
Tracy K. Smith tells her remarkable story in Ordinary Light, a memoir that explores her coming-of-age and the meaning of home against a complex backdrop of race, faith, and the unbreakable bond between a mother and daughter. Tracy K. Smith grew up as the youngest of five children in suburban California, loved by her parents who taught her to believe in God. But after a summer in Alabama at her grandmother’s house, she returns to California with a new sense of what it means to be black: from her mother’s memories of picking cotton as a girl in her father’s field for pennies a bushel, to her parents’ involvement in the Civil Rights movement. These startling contrasts–between her family’s past, her own comfortable present, and the promise of her future–will eventually compel her to act on her passions for love and "ecstatic possibility," and her desire to become a writer. But when her mother is diagnosed with cancer, which she says is part of God’s plan, Tracy must learn a new way to love and care for someone whose beliefs she has outgrown. Written with poetic precision and economy, this beautiful and moving kaleidoscope of self and family offers us a universal story of finding and losing ourselves amid the places we call home.
In Life on Mars, Tracy K. Smith imagines a soundtrack for the universe with poems that evoke David Bowie and interplanetary travel. She explores the discoveries, failures, and oddities of human existence in a sci-fi future devoid of real dangers. She also contemplates the dark matter that keeps people both close and distant, and revisits the kitschy concepts like “love” and “illness” now relegated to the Museum of Obsolescence. These poems reveal the realities of life lived here, on the ground, where a daughter is imprisoned in the basement by her own father, where celebrities and pop stars walk among us, and where the poet herself loses her father, one of the engineers who worked on the Hubble Space Telescope. This collection won Smith the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for poetry.
Duende is a poetry collection by Tracy K. Smith that draws inspiration from Federico García Lorca’s concept of duende, the dark and elusive force that an artist seeks to channel from within. It can lead to revelation, but it also embraces and serenades death. Smith’s poems explore history and the intersections of folk traditions, political resistance, and personal survival. Duende gives passionate testament to suppressed cultures, and allows them to sing.
This collection won Smith the James Laughlin Award.
The Body’s Question by Tracy K. Smith is a debut poetry collection that won the 2002 Cave Canem Poetry Prize for the best first book by an African-American poet, selected by Kevin Young. In these poems, Smith confronts loss, historical intersections with race and family, and the threshold between childhood and adulthood. She gathers courage and direction from the many disparate selves encountered in these poems, until she can say, “I was anyone I wanted to be.”


Learning Spanish for kids …
has never been easier with Mi Primer Libro Bilingüe: La Comida, My First Bilingual Book: Food!
While there are many beginning Spanish books for children out in the market today, most all focus on basic vocabulary only, such as colors, numbers, or days of the week – and that’s it! Mi Primer Libro Bilingüe: La Comida, My First Bilingual Book: Food, on the other hand, is especially designed to teach not only vocabulary, but short sentences and commands so children not only learn Spanish, but they learn how to speak Spanish too. Since all of us shop, cook, and eat, as a parent or educator, you will find many opportunities to reinforce the lessons learned from Mi Primer Libro Bilingüe: La Comida, My First Bilingual Book: Food.
The book is divided into a series of full color Spanish language lessons that build on material from the prior lessons:
- The first section of Mi Primer Libro Bilingüe: La Comida, My First Bilingual Book: Food – La Comida – contains over 60 instantly recognizable food pictures along with their Spanish and English equivalents. Learning Spanish for kids is simple when you’re able to reinforce vocabulary as you go shop, cook, or eat together. Children will also learn how to speak Spanish much more quickly when you perform these activities together. Mar’s blog tab on this website also provides other helpful teaching ideas using the material from the book.
- The second part – ¡Vamos a Cocinar! – builds on the vocabulary learned by taking those same pictures and words and creating 16 recipes with each final dish displayed. Parents and educators can create fun kids learning games by hiding the ingredients list and showing students the final dish and then asking them to say what ingredients are contained in the dish.
- As an added bonus, the third part of the book gives you recipes in English and Spanish for all the dishes contained in the book along with metric and US Customary Unit equivalents.
- This book also provides commonly used verbs and their conjugations to help you to learn how to speak Spanish using the vocabulary in the book to construct simple phrases and sentences.
- This book puts the fun back into learning Spanish for kids and adults alike by also providing the reader with three kids learning games that help you reinforce and master the vocabulary and content learned in the book. The Name the Pictures kids learning game is our favorite!
Learning to speak Spanish has never been easier when you follow along with the author as she reads the book to you in our specially made CD or audio file to accompany the book! (purchased separately). Google+


Two previously unpublished short stories by Shirley Jackson, the queen of gothic fiction, have been released.
Charlie Roberts and Only Stand and Wait were both published on 9 June in Strand magazine, a US-based print magazine that publishes short fiction and interviews.
In Charlie Roberts, a couple are planning a dinner party, and much of the story is a conversation about who they will be inviting. Beneath their familiar banter, however, is palpable but unexpressed tension. The title refers to the owner of a pocket-knife left behind at the couple’s home, and it’s clear that something has happened to him. “We had a nice time here, Charlie and I,” the husband says to the wife, grinning.
Andrew Gulli, managing editor of Strand magazine, said that Charlie Roberts prompts “many unanswered questions and all of them lead to the road called menace”.
Only Stand and Wait touches on isolation, insight and denial – themes found in Jackson’s novels The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle. It focuses on a patient who has just had an operation, and his doctor, who is about to take his bandages off.
Both stories are very short: Charlie Roberts is just over 500 words long, while Only Stand and Wait is under 400.
Jackson died in 1965 aged just 48. Her work has gained a new popularity in recent years, with a film adaptation of We Have Always Lived in the Castle and a Netflix series based on The Haunting of Hill House. Stephen King described the latter book as one of “only two great novels of the supernatural in the last 100 years”. Jackson is also the author of the classic short story The Lottery, first published in the New Yorker in 1948.
A previously unpublished story, Adventure on a Bad Night, was published by Strand magazine in 2020. It was discovered by Jackson’s son, Laurence Hyman, in boxes of his mother’s papers that had been donated to the Library of Congress a few years after her death.


Precision Engineering, the Journal of the International Societies for Precision Engineering and Nanotechnology, is the foremost international journal devoted to the study of ultra-high precision engineering and metrology.
Under the direction of Editor-in-Chief John C. Ziegert of Clemson University, Precision Engineering provides an integrated approach to all subjects related to the development, design, manufacture, and application of high-precision machines, systems, and components. International news, reviews, conference reports, informed comment, and a calendar of forthcoming events complete the spectrum of coverage designed to keep readers abreast with a fast-moving technology.
The Journal is published by Elsevier, the leading publisher of scientific, technical, and medical periodicals. For subscription information, please visit the publisher's web site.
Submission of Articles
If you are interested in submitting an article for the Journal, click here for Author and Submission Guidelines.
Looking for a Particular Article in the Journal?
A complete listing of titles included in all published issues of the Precision Engineering Journal can be found by going to the Elsevier site. This Elsevier site includes abstracts for viewing and a copy of the paper can be obtained for a fee.


Is Copyright Achieving Its Purpose?
Copyright is not generally seen as a major political issue. It is rare to hear politicians speak about it, and it is certainly not a major aspect of their campaigns. The Democratic Party does not mention it at all in their platform (Democratic Party Platform Committee), and the Republican platform contains only one passing mention in reference to international relations (Republican Party). However, it is an important issue that deserves more attention than it currently receives – the current laws are far too strict and have many negative effects. Copyright laws should be amended to loosen restrictions and shorten terms.
First, copyright restrictions should be loosened because they place an undue burden on the freedom of the public. Copyright must limit freedom to some extent to achieve its legitimate aims, but current copyright laws make many more restrictions than is necessary. Many of these restrictions influence everyday life, even in situations that do not seem to involve copyright at all.
Works not covered by copyright, referred to as being in the public domain, bring many benefits to the public. For example, the nonprofit Project Gutenberg publishes e-book editions of over 70,000 books at no cost to the public. The vast majority of their collection consists of “older works for which US copyright has expired” (Project Gutenberg, home page). Another project which uses public-domain works in a way that is beneficial to the public is LibriVox. This organization publishes audio versions of public-domain books read by volunteers, also at no cost (LibriVox). Although it is clear that free access to books is useful, some may question whether it is necessary for works to be free of copyright in order to bring these benefits. Why is it necessary to download books online when it is possible to check them out from a library for free? An essay on Project Gutenberg’s Web site explains why. Public-domain or freely-licensed works give the public rights to use the work beyond simply reading the work. Receiving a copy of a work under full copyright restrictions at no cost gives the recipient no rights except permission to read privately. In contrast, a person with a copy of a public-domain or freely-licensed work is allowed to copy, distribute, modify, or otherwise adapt the work (Project Gutenberg, “No Cost, or Free?”). (A freely-licensed work is one that is under copyright, but has been released by the copyright holder with a license that grants permission to distribute and modify the work with few or no restrictions.) If copyright terms were shorter, organizations such as Project Gutenberg and LibriVox would be able to include more recent works. Copyright terms should be shortened because long terms prevent many uses of works that benefit the public.
Another problem with modern copyright is the negative effects of so-called Digital Rights Management (DRM) software. DRM is nominally designed to prevent illegal copying and distribution of copyrighted works by restricting the methods by which the user can access the information. For example, it may allow a user to read an ebook, but not share copies of the book or take screenshots of it. However, DRM is problematic because it also limits legitimate uses. For example, a DRM program that prevents the user from copying and pasting text from an ebook in order to make it more difficult to duplicate the book illegally will also make it difficult to copy excerpts from the book for legal purposes such as commentary and criticism that are considered “fair use.” It also prevents the creation of software to access the work on computer platforms that are not otherwise compatible. More importantly, DRM may impede the development of assistive technologies for disabled people; these technologies provide functionalities such as screen readers for blind users or closed captions for deaf users. DRM is problematic because it prevents legitimate uses of copyrighted works.
DRM also restricts private property rights. For example, as explained by an article from the popular online technology magazine MakeUseOf, many smartphones contain DRM that is designed to prevent the user from replacing the operating system. On these phones, only the manufacturer has the ability to replace core parts of the system (Hoffman). While most users do not care about changing the operating system, preventing those who do from making these changes is problematic because it limits the phone owner’s rights to his or her own property. A similar, but even more important, issue relates to automobiles and other machinery. For example, as described by Emma Roth in an article for The Verge, John Deere tractors have computer systems designed to prevent certain “unauthorized” repairs; these systems are a form of DRM. Repairs must be “authorized,” not by the tractor’s owner, but by John Deere; these systems deny farmers the right to repair their own equipment. John Deere has recently signed an agreement with the American Farm Bureau Federation to allow farmers to repair tractors, but other manufacturers can still limit repairs, and there are several weaknesses in the agreement that allow John Deere to regulate the means by which repairs are performed (Roth). While this agreement is helpful to farmers, it does not change the fact that a manufacturer should not have the right to dictate what customers may and may not do with equipment they own. DRM is harmful because, in addition to preventing legitimate uses of copyrighted works, it also encumbers private property rights.
DRM is almost always relatively easy to circumvent, however, because of inherent limitations of computer science. At least part of the software must run on the user’s computer in order to be useful, and this means that a sufficiently knowledgeable user always has some way to manipulate the system. Of course, this requires in-depth knowledge of computer programming, but once one person has created a program to bypass the DRM, this developer can share his or her code to allow the public full access to the work. Although this does make infringement easier, it also enables legitimate uses such as using speech synthesis software to read a book out loud for a blind person, accessing the work on an otherwise incompatible device, or replacing a smartphone’s operating system. Because it can virtually always be bypassed, DRM is ineffective, but not, on its own, necessarily harmful to legitimate users. It is usually merely an annoyance, both to infringers and legitimate users. The problem arises because the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the main current US copyright law, makes it illegal to circumvent DRM without the permission of the copyright holder for any reason, unless the circumvention is included in an exemption granted by the Library of Congress (United States Code, title 17, sec. 1201). (Most other countries have similar laws.) This is the case even when the goal is to make an otherwise noninfringing use of the work. Banning DRM circumvention does not make any previously legal yet harmful activities illegal, while it does make otherwise legal and beneficial uses illegal. Actions such as distributing copies of the work would be copyright infringement regardless of whether or not DRM circumvention were illegal, and the ban on circumvention also prohibits uses which are otherwise legal. Some beneficial uses, such as accessibility tools for disabled users, are covered by exemptions, but others, such as accessing works on incompatible devices or repairing vehicles, are not. Copyright laws should be amended to remove the prohibition on DRM circumvention.
Although current copyright laws significantly restrict the freedom of the public, one could argue that this does necessarily mean they need to be changed. If authors have a right to control the use of their works, then copyright is working as intended. However; this is not the case; today’s copyright laws contradict the constitutional purpose of copyright. The federal government’s authority to enact copyright laws is established by the Copyright and Patent Clause of the Constitution, which grants Congress the power “[t]o promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries” (Constitution of the United States, art. 1, sec. 3, cl. 8). In the 1834 case Wheaton v. Peters, the Supreme Court ruled that the Copyright Clause authorizes Congress to create a new right, not to “protect… an acknowledged legal right.” The court pointed out that the word “secure” is applied equally to authors, who hold copyrights, and to inventors, who hold patents. They further note that “it has never been pretended by anyone either in this country or in England that an inventor has a perpetual right at common law to sell the thing invented.” (English law is relevant because the US Federal government and all states except Louisiana accept English court rulings prior to 1776 as precedent if they are not contradicted by newer American laws; this is referred to as common law.) Thus, because the word “secure” is clearly referring to the creation of a new right in the context of inventions, the only logical conclusion is that it is also referring to the creation of a new right with regard to authors. There is a common-law right to be the first to publish one’s own writings, but this is entirely separate from copyright in published works. Thus, the common-law system does not recognize a natural right to control publications of one’s writings after the initial publication (Wheaton v. Peters).
Lawrence Lessig, a legal scholar, former constitutional law professor, and leading copyright-reform activist, makes another argument against the view of copyright as a natural right. He points out that the Constitution, in the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment, says that “private property [shall not] be taken for public use, without just compensation” (Constitution of the United States, amend. 5). In contrast, the Copyright Clause says that copyrights may be “secur[ed only] for limited Times”. In other words, the Constitution strictly limits the taking of physical property for public use, but it mandates the taking of copyrights and patents for public use after a limited time. Lessig argues that this shows that the Founding Fathers did not hold the view, widely promoted by advocates for strict copyright today, that copyright is legally or morally equivalent to physical property. Rather, they saw it as a fundamentally different kind of right, one which is not entitled to the same degree of protection as physical property rights (Lessig, 117-20).
Having determined that copyright is not a natural right, the next consideration is whether or not current laws further the purposes for which copyright is established. Any law should be written in a way that does not impose excessive restrictions that are not necessary to achieve its goals, but as Lawrence Lessig argues, this principle should be applied more strictly to copyright because it inherently limits the First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and of the press. Because copyright laws do limit constitutionally guaranteed freedoms, albeit for a legitimate aim, they should be held to stricter political, if not legal, scrutiny than laws which do not burden constitutionally-protected activities (Lessig, 128). As mentioned earlier, the purpose of copyright, as stated in the Constitution, is “[t]o promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts.” Similarly, the Copyright Act of 1790, the first US copyright law, states its purpose as “the encouragement of learning” (Copyright Act of 1790). Clearly, the ultimate goal of copyright is not to reward creators; this is merely a means to the true end of promoting the creation of new works. Copyright exists solely for the benefit of the general public; the benefits it brings to creators are only a means to this end.
A copyright restriction that does not provide an incentive to create new works does not further this purpose. Current copyright laws are fundamentally flawed because they are created with the primary goal of giving copyright holders control over their works, often at the expense of the public, in direct contradiction to the constitutional purpose of these laws. Derek Khanna, a fellow of the Information Society Project at Yale Law School, points out that this is in large part due to the influence of lobbyists representing large media companies such as Disney (Khanna). Of course, it benefits these companies to have copyright terms repeatedly extended and other restrictions tightened, and these large companies have a much larger political influence than start-up companies, independent content creators, and others who have much to gain from the public domain. The political influence of these large corporations has resulted in copyright laws that favor established copyright holders over everyone else, having exactly the opposite effect of the true goal of copyright.
One way in which today’s copyright laws hinder, rather than advance, “the Progress of Science and useful Arts” is by making it difficult to reuse existing works in new ones. Of course, this must be limited to some extent by any copyright law, but current laws are far too restrictive in this area. Lessig notes that the Copyright Act of 1790 helped to promote creativity by taking a loose stance toward derivative works (Lessig, 170-1). If an author wanted to reuse portions of another book in a way that did not make the new book effectively a copy of the prior work, this reuse was permitted under the 1790 Act with no license required. Allowing such reuse is consistent with the purpose of copyright; it is unlikely that the existence of a work incorporating portions of, but not replacing, another work will significantly decrease sales of the original, while allowing this type of use does promote the creation of new works. Today’s laws do not allow reuse of other works, except under limited exceptions for “fair use,” which mostly cover non-profit educational use and commentary and criticism of the work being quoted; although the fair use doctrine is important; it is quite narrow. The benefits of derivative works are recognized even by many who support strong copyright; an article in WIPO Magazine, published by the World Intellectual Property Organization, a pro-copyright agency of the United Nations, acknowledges that modern cultures have developed through “remixing” of prior cultural works, and that current copyright laws impede further remixing (Rostama). Copyright laws should be changed to allow more reuse of existing works in ways that do not affect the market for the original works.
Although a strong political case can be made against current copyright laws, moral and ethical issues are also relevant. For example, some may be concerned that making copyright less restrictive would facilitate increased plagiarism. This is not the case, because plagiarism is not the same thing as copyright infringement. Black’s Law Dictionary, the most widely-used American legal dictionary, notes that plagiarism essentially involves “passing [another’s works or ideas] off as the product of one’s own mind” (Black, 1035). The article “Is Plagiarism Illegal?” on Plagiarism.org notes that copying from a public-domain work without attribution is not copyright infringement, but is plagiarism. Likewise, long quotations from copyrighted works used with attribution are not plagiarism, but may be copyright infringement (Plagiarism.org). The essential problem with plagiarism is not that a writer uses someone else’s work, but that the writer claims to be the creator of the reused work. Unlike copyright, plagiarism is not fundamentally about copying; it is about lying, which is unethical but typically not illegal. Because plagiarism is mostly penalized academically, not legally, loosening copyright restrictions would not enable increased plagiarism.
Although there is, legally speaking, no natural right to profit from one’s creative work, some may believe that there is a moral right to do so, and oppose copyright reform on this basis. It is true that entirely abolishing copyright would interfere with such a right, if one exists, but shortening terms and loosening other restrictions would not necessarily be problematic. Terms shorter than those created under current laws could still provide ample time to earn profits from works, and restrictions such as the prohibition on DRM circumvention are certainly not necessary for this purpose. Even if one does believe there is a moral right to profit from creative works, this does not mean that copyright must be maintained in its current form.
What is the best way to promote remixing and other beneficial uses of works, while still achieving copyright’s legitimate aim of creating an economic incentive to create new works? One helpful step would be to shorten copyright terms. Under current laws, copyright lasts for seventy years after the last surviving author’s death. For works published anonymously or pseudonymously, or created for hire, the copyright expires 95 years after publication or 120 years after creation, whichever comes first (United States Code, title 17, sec. 302). (These rules apply to works created in or after 1978. Other rules apply to works created before then.) Clearly, shorter terms would be sufficient to incentivize the creation of new works. These long terms are one of the aspects of copyright law which Derek Khanna notes as being heavily influenced by lobbying by large media corporations (Khanna). Shorter terms would bring increased benefits to the public without reducing the incentive created by copyright. A term of thirty years, for example, would allow sufficient time for substantial money to be earned if the work is profitable, while also benefiting the public by having works enter the public domain sooner. Such a term would be similar to the maximum 28-year duration under the 1790 Act. Another option would be to have copyright last for the entire life of the author, but no longer. Either of these options would have various benefits and drawbacks, but either would be better than the current term lengths.
Another beneficial change would be to create a remixing exemption similar to that included by the Canadian Parliament in the 2012 Copyright Modernization Act. This allows non-commercial remixing if the source is credited, the original work is not itself a violation of copyright (or the remixer reasonably believes that it is not), and the new work “does not have a substantial adverse effect, financial or otherwise, on the exploitation… of… [or] market for [the original work], including that the new work… is not a substitute for the existing one” (Copyright Modernization Act, sec. 29.21). A similar exception in American copyright law would further the constitutional goal of copyright by facilitating the creation of new works without adversely affecting the economic incentive.
Finally, it would be beneficial to legalize circumvention of DRM. As described earlier, this would not legalize activities traditionally seen as copyright infringement, but would allow beneficial uses of works and restore the rights of owners of private physical property. Removing the ban on DRM circumvention would be an important step that could be taken toward restoring the traditional concept of copyright, as this portion of the law goes far beyond excessive restrictions on reuse of works, and regulates actions that are only distantly related to copyright in the traditional sense. As explained earlier, this change on its own would not legalize any actions that fall under the traditional scope of copyright, so even those who believe that authors should have long-term, extensive rights to their works could support this change. Legalizing the circumvention of DRM would certainly not solve all of the problems of today’s copyright system, but it would be an excellent start.
- Black, Henry. Black’s Law Dictionary. 5th ed. St. Paul, Minn.: West, 1968. Reprint, 1979.
- “The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription.” U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript (accessed April 27, 2023).
- “Copyright Modernization Act.” Government of Canada, 2012. https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/annualstatutes/2012_20/fulltext.html (accessed April 27, 2023).
- Democratic Party Platform Committee. “2020 Democratic Party Platform.” https://democrats.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2020-Democratic-Party-Platform.pdf (accessed April 27, 2023).
- Hoffman, Chris. “Is It Illegal to Root Your Android or Jailbreak Your iPhone?” MakeUseOf, March 29, 2014. https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/illegal-root-android-jailbreak-iphone/ (accessed April 27, 2023).
- Khanna, Derek. “The Conservative Case for Taking On the Copyright Lobby.” Insider, April 30, 2014. https://www.businessinsider.com/time-to-confront-the-copyright-lobby-2014-4 (accessed April 27, 2023).
- Lessig, Lawrence. Free Culture. New York: Penguin, 2005.
- Plagiarism.org. “Is Plagiarism Illegal?” October 27, 2017. https://www.plagiarism.org/blog/2017/10/27/is-plagiarism-illegal (accessed April 27, 2023).
- Project Gutenberg. Project home page. https://gutenberg.org (accessed April 27, 2023).
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- Republican Party. “Republican Platform 2016.” https://prod-cdn-static.gop.com/media/documents/DRAFT_12_FINAL%5B1%5D-ben_1468872234.pdf (accessed April 27, 2023).
- Rostama, Guilda. “Remix Culture and Amateur Creativity: A Copyright Dilemma.” WIPO Magazine, June 2015. https://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2015/03/article_0006.html (accessed April 27, 2023).
- Roth, Emma. “John Deere Commits to Letting Farmers Repair Their Own Tractors (Kind Of).” The Verge, January 9, 2023. https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/9/23546323/john-deere-right-to-repair-tractors-agreement (accessed April 27, 2023).
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- “Wheaton v. Peters.” Justia. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/33/591/ (accessed April 27, 2023).
- Doctorow, Cory. Information Doesn’t Want to Be Free. San Francisco: McSweeney’s, 2014.
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License and Disclaimer
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The author of this post is not an attorney, and nothing in this post should be considered legal advice. Do not rely on the legal accuracy of this post.


The Morgan Project (TMP), is a nonprofit organization in Birmingham, Alabama. Our mission is to teach civil rights and social justice through Birmingham’s history of conflict and courage.
TMP proudly announces the republishing of the book, "A Time to Speak" by Charles Morgan, Jr. Originally published in 1964 as an account of the moment and its aftermath when Morgan condemned Birmingham’s white middle-class community for being responsible for the murder of the 4 young girls at the 16th Street Baptist Church on Sept. 15, 1963.
The U of A Press has just republished Charles Morgan, Jr.’s classic story, "A Time to Speak". In this eloquent book, Morgan captures the urgent conflict of the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham, and the failure of courage of too many. To celebrate the republication of the book, The Morgan Project is hosting a book release event on Wednesday, February 23 starting at 5P, including a panel discussion. with Lisa McNair, sister of Denise McNair, Charles Morgan, III, son of Charles Morgan, Jr., Dr. Carolyn McKinstry, survivor of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing and Senator Doug Jones, prosecutor of those responsible for the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing.
A reception will immediately follow, across the street at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, where supporters may purchase a copy of "A Time to Speak".
Book release of "A Time to Speak"
Feb. 23, 2022, 5:00pm
16th Street Baptist Church – 1530 6th Avenue N, B’ham, AL 35203
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute – 520 16th St N, B’ham, AL 35203
Charles Morgan, III
Dr. Carolyn McKinstry
Senator Doug Jones
The public is invited to attend.
To learn more and donate to The Morgan Project, please visit https://www.morganproject.org/.
For more information, contact Julie Levinson-Gabis at (205)903-3211 or email@example.com
The Morgan Project is a 501 c (3) organization.
The Morgan Project is a nonprofit organization in Birmingham, Alabama. Our mission is to teach civil rights and social justice through Birmingham’s history of conflict and courage.
Please consider making a donation to The Morgan Project today:


A double major in English and history, I received my B.A from Augsburg College in 2015. I am currently working towards my M.A. in the Geographic Information Science program at the University of Minnesota, where I hold a research appointment at the Borchert Map Library. An active proponent of the digital humanities, my work focuses on the intersection of race, place, and historical narrative.
Born and raised in the Twin Cities, I am a regular contributor to the Historyapolis Project and am currently serving as the project's GIS director. I am also the project manager and GIS specialist for the Mapping Prejudice Project, which is identifying racially restrictive housing covenants in 20th century Minneapolis. By utilizing GIS, optical character recognition, and crowd-sourcing, we hope to build the first comprehensive spatial database of these racial restrictions for an American city. For more on our project, check out our recent feature in the Star Tribune.
In addition to my spatial research, I am currently the lead web developer for both Historyapolis and Mapping Prejudice. When I am not too busy building databases and websites, I also dabble in traditional cartography. You can find some of my cartographic work in the Star Tribune, Open Rivers, and the Middle West Review.


The former Communist, whose mother was a devout Catholic, outlines a philosophy of Indian spirituality, communion with nature and “the harmony of opposites” that he said helped him in his fight against cancer. He deplores the impact of Western materialism on Asia and describes how his growing pacifism made him a bitter opponent of war, and especially of the Bush Administration’s War on Terror.
This week Avvenire, Italy’s leading Catholic daily, accused Terzani of “leading people astray”. He had “completely lost sight of the incarnate and historical dimension of religious experience”. Alessandro Gnocchi, a Catholic author and television presenter, accused Terzani in the conservative newspaper Libero of peddling “a confused mixture of Oriental philosophy, Marxism and Christianity” that muddled “St Francis with Zen Buddhism”.
Vatican sources said that this was anathema to Pope Benedict XVI, who, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, warned of the dangers of trying to reconcile Oriental and New Age spirituality with Catholicism.
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Italian Bestseller Cause for Concern in Vatican
From the Times UK Online:


There can be few textbooks of mathematics as well-known as Hardy's Pure Mathematics. Since its publication in 1908, it has been a classic work to which successive generations of budding mathematicians have turned at the beginning of their undergraduate courses. In its pages, Hardy combines the enthusiasm of the missionary with the rigour of the purist in his exposition of the fundamental ideas of the differential and integral calculus, of the properties of infinite series and of other topics involving the notion of limit
Contents 1. Real variables; 2. Functions of real variables; 3. Complex numbers; 4. Limits of functions of a positive integral variable; 5. Limits of functions of a continuous variable: continuous and discontinuous functions; 6. Derivatives and integrals; 7. Additional theorems in the differential and integral calculus; 8. The convergence of infinite series and infinite integrals; 9. The logarithmic, exponential, and circular functions of a real variable; 10. The general theory of the logarithmic, exponential, and circular functions; Appendices; Index.


“It’s not what you earn...it’s what you keep.”
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The Burkey & Cox free online “Tax & Accounting Library” has the best resources available today – news, calculators, IRS forms, toolkits & more. It’s a great place to start saving your money.
Joani Seal joined the firm in 2014. She handles the phones, schedules appointments, organizes tax returns and works closely with Cheryl Prescott.
Joani says she enjoys working with the staff and greeting the firm’s clients.
She is the recipient of the prestigious Harris Fellow Award from the China Lake Rotary Club for her contributions to the organization.
Outside the office, Joani enjoys reading a good book and watching NASCAR races.


The Personal Toolbar (Netscape) or Links Bar (IE) gives you fast access several bookmarks (about 9 at 800x600). If you can't see a bookmarks toolbar, there should be options on your browser's View menu to make it visible.
To add a bookmarklet to the bookmarks toolbar, just drag the link there. Or, you can use Manage Bookmarks (Ctrl+B) to add the bookmarks to the Personal Toolbar Folder (Netscape) or the Links folder (Internet Explorer).
To remove an item from the bookmarks toolbar, right-click on it and select "Delete".
© 2000-2007 Jesse Ruderman (email@example.com). Feedback is welcome.
Last modified April 27, 2003.


Lanzarote’s most famous 20th century figure was undoubtedly the architect César Manrique. This extraordinary man gave a large part of his life turning this volcanic island from potentially just another tourist trap into something architecturally quite different.
It is thanks to his creative influence that Lanzarote has not sprouted an ugly set of high-rise hotels, but has retained its charming low traditional buildings. His own amazing house – skillfully constructed from five subterranean blue-black volcanic bubbles – is open to the public and definitely worth a visit.
What is not quite so well known is that the island was also home to another great artistic figure – José Saramago, Portugal’s greatest contemporary writer and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
During his twilight years he lived in a modest house in the inland Lanzarote town of Tías. This house is now a museum and part of the José Saramago Foundation. Its contents offer a fascinating insight into the life and work of this renowned and controversial novelist.
Saramago was born in 1922 in Azanhaga, a village in the Ribatejo, but moved to Lisbon with his parents in 1924, where he began his education, excelling in all subjects. His academic career never actually went beyond Grammar School, due to his family’s poor economic circumstances, so he trained to be a mechanic. However, whenever time was available between jobs, he continued to study literature and published his first novel, Land of Sin, when he was 25.
Saramago later ceased mechanical work to become editor of the Lisbon newspaper Diário de Notícias. It was around this time that he joined the then illegal Portuguese Communist Party, continuing as a member throughout his life.
He lost his editorial role when the government changed hands in 1974 and turned to translating French manuscripts into Portuguese. Exposure to high quality literature soon began to spark his own creative genius and he returned to writing, publishing a succession of cynical and darkly humorous novels, some of which gained international recognition.
Saramago’s first marriage had ended in divorce in 1970 and he met his second wife, Spanish journalist Pilar del Rio, in 1986. This was the same year he released A Jangada de Pedra (The Stone Raft), a fantasy story about Spain and Portugal being separated from the rest of Europe by a fault line in the Pyrenees! It was a successful union and Pilar remained at his side for the rest of his life.
However, it was his next project, O Evangelho Segundo Jesus Cristo (The Gospel According to Jesus Christ) that caused uproar in Portugal and was condemned by the Catholic Church for its depiction of Jesus as a person with human flaws and passions.
The country’s conservative government contested the novel’s entry for a literary prize in 1992 and this triggered Saramago and his wife to leave Lisbon and settle in Lanzarote. His next novel in 1997 told of an inescapable blindness that swept through society, turning it into primitive chaos, and further accolades followed with the publication of Todos Os Nomes (All the Names) that conveyed the basic human need for connection in a lonely world. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature the following year at the age of 75.We struggled to find Saramago’s home, Casa Abierta (Open House) in Tías, even with the help of detailed directions from our travel agent. On our eventual arrival, the reception team was delighted to discover we were Portuguese residents. They informed us that the great man, after settling on the island, compiled a set of annual journals titled Notebooks from Lanzarote.
These revealed him to be a man who was obviously devoted to his wife and very much at peace with his surroundings, drawing inspiration from the amenable climate and the rugged volcanic landscape. He often said that his house was “made of books” and it became rapidly apparent during our tour that literature did indeed fill the air.
The lady who conducted our leisurely personal tour, animatedly described his extensive art collection, key events in his life and showed us many of his personal artefacts. The highlights of this hour-long introduction to ‘everything Saramago’ were his study, dining room, library and very homely kitchen. The spacious library contained an extensive book collection, meticulously catalogued, that lined the walls from floor to ceiling. The English authors were extensive and even included P.G. Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster series!
Our tour ended in the colourful flower garden where we admired the view whilst supping an excellent ‘bica’ of Portuguese coffee. Saramago wisely insisted on being supplied with coffee from his home country rather than drinking some of the rather inferior Spanish brands!
Before leaving, we visited the house-museum’s bookshop, where we were advised that the best ‘starter’ book for those who want to begin digesting some of Saramago’s works was As Pequenas Memórias (Small Memories), written in 2006.
We later purchased the English translation of the book and relished learning more about his life as a child. Small Memories is a rambling distillation of his earliest recollections as he went back and forth between his grandparents’ home in Azinhaga and his parents’ successive dwellings in Lisbon.
He describes watching silent movies, fishing in the river, his early attempts at romantic attachments and the untimely death of his brother, Francisco, at the age of four.
At the back of the book, he rather mischievously annotates a series of family photos. Under a picture of himself, possibly in his early twenties, his caption reads: “By now, I had a girlfriend. You can tell by the look on my face!”
It is an endearing book and together with the tour of his intriguing Lanzarote home, it has given us a wonderful introduction to the works of Portugal’s greatest 20th century novelist.
By Nigel Wright
Nigel Wright, and his wife Sue, moved to Portugal eleven years ago and live in the countryside near Paderne with their three dogs. They lived and worked in the Far East and Middle East during the 1980s and 90s, and although now retired, still continue to travel and enjoy new cultural experiences. His other interests include tennis, gardening, photography and petanque.


Wintering by Katherine May captivated me from the very beginning and it has that unputdownable quality that I always hope for in a book. It is the first book I’ve read by Katherine May and it won’t be the last.
I was entranced by the lyrical quality of the writing and wanted to read Wintering slowly to savour every word.
I was first drawn to Wintering because I’m fascinated by the seasons or cycles we encounter in our lives, and the periods of time we spend in limbo following sudden change. Katherine’s writing is so beautiful and takes the reader on the journey with her, describing scenes and situations so vividly that it’s easy to conjure up pictures in your head. I travelled with her. There were moments when I laughed out loud and others when I held my breath. wondering how the story would unfold.
The word I want to use to describe Wintering is lush. As a reader, it’s the sort of book I long for. Full of cultural references, and descriptions of places and traditions that send me down a rabbit hole wanting to find out more. It’s a book that stays with you and makes you look at the world around you in a different way.
But, most of all, I loved Katherine’s writing. She has a distinctive style and voice that I found so appealing. It’s like being covered in a warm blanket. Wintering has taken me back to my childhood when I discovered a favourite book that I would read time and again. This is one of those books.


Joe Vaughan, who spent a dozen years in broadcasting in Lawrence and Kansas City, has authored the first-ever pictorial history book of Kansas City, Kansas titled “Images of America: Kansas City, Kansas 1804-2012.”
Published by Arcadia Publishing, the book is available at area bookstores, independent retailers, and online retailers, or through Arcadia Publishing at (888)-313-2665 or online. The price is $21.99.
Vaughan, a University of Kansas journalism graduate, spent seven years at KLZR/KLWN-AM in Lawrence as News Director before moving to KCMO Talk Radio as the Public Affairs /News Anchor from 1985-1990.
A native Kansas City, Kansan who presently resides in Prairie Village, Kansas, Vaughan has long been involved in historic preservation and cultural activities in the metropolitan Kansas City area. For more than two decades, he has been an author, writer and publisher.
He is owner/president of Joe Vaughan Associates in Prairie Village. Prior to forming this business, he was a broadcast journalist at several Kansas City area radio stations.
Vaughan is an elected public official now in his third term on the Johnson County Water District No.1 Board of Directors in Lenexa. He chairs the Governmental Affairs/Community Relations Committee and serves on the Operations and Retirement Committees of the Board. He has been certified by the American Water Works Association.
Vaughan’s family roots in Kansas City can be traced back to the 1870s. He is currently serving his third term as an elected member of the Johnson County Water District No. 1 Board of Directors.
The pictorial history boasts more than 200 vintage images and provides readers with a unique opportunity to reconnect with the history that shaped their community.
Over the past 150 years, many of the consumer goods sold and used across the country were either manufactured in Kansas City or passed through this industrial center. From the westbound trails of pioneer times until today, Kansas has been the crossroads of the nation and the city has benefited from its geographic centrality in the country.
Household names with ties to the city include Google; Cerner Corporation; Procter & Gamble; General Motors; Colgate-Palmolive; the Santa Fe, Rock Island & Union Pacific Railroad lines; Phillips Petroleum; Armour and Company; Owens Corning; Massey Ferguson; General Electric; Sunshine Biscuits; Lee (apparel); Sealy (mattresses); and United Telecom (which morphed into Sprint Nextel).
Images of America: Kansas City, Kansas aims to present some of that historic past, much of which has long been demolished, so that modern readers may see the complete and “full service” city as it evolved between 1804 and 2012.


A Startling Fact about What Is a Literature Review Uncovered
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Reading the very best long length relationship books is an excellent approach to maintain a loving relationship even when you’re separated. You’ll gain valuable insights about how to stay connected and make your partner feel special while you’re separately. In this publication, sociologist Tony a2z William investigates the changing nature of LDRs plus the impact of new systems on the romantic relationship. He also covers the issues that happen with long relationships and exactly how to deal with them.
By means of Stranger to Paramour is another publication for LDRs. Written in a humorous approach, this book presents practical methods to common problems in long relationships. For instance , the author deals with topics just like rushing to closeness and acting needy. It’s an accessible go through for all levels of relationships. Recharging options useful for men and women that want to obtain a long-distance romance. It’s a good choice for everyone who is wants to enhance their chances of which makes it work.
Inspite of the challenges which a long-distance romantic relationship poses, the love and passion among a https://asiansbrides.com/singapore-brides/ spouse and a lover can easily endure. Through this novel, Maggie is a wedded woman who starts changing letters which has a poet, James. In the process of missing her husband, the girl starts to develop her very own identity and accept her true thoughts. Similarly, many long relationships be based upon falling fond of the person you aren’t expecting your spouse to become.
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Handling disagreements is among the most difficult facets of any marriage. Often , disagreements lead to disappointed relationships and sometimes even to separations. Most people find it difficult to deal with issues inside their relationships, resulting in resentment, anger, and disconnect. Thankfully, this book teaches couples how to handle turmoil in a municipal and healthier way. It will eventually teach couples to be kinder to each other and to enjoy each other’s provider and moments alongside one another.
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Inside: A collection of some of the best vintage botanical rose illustrations and prints to download for free.
The rose is probably one of the showiest flowers and is always associated with love. Valentine’s is just around the corner, so I thought I would share a collection of beautiful botanical rose prints.
There are over three hundred species of roses and thousands of cultivars. They come in various sizes and colours, from white to yellows and reds. Roses are all widely grown for their beauty and fragrance.
Gorgeous Floral Rose Prints
Any of these botanical rose prints would be perfect as they are for a lovely Valentine’s card. Or perhaps you want to be more crafty and decoupage something with the roses. A gallery wall of these floral prints would look fantastic in any living room.
The PDF downloaded maps of the United States will be of a higher resolution then the images below.
To download the vintage rose images, click on the highlighted title link, and a higher resolution jpg will automatically download to your device.
The Botanical Rose Prints
This gorgeous red Jacqueminot Rose is the classic Valentine’s Day rose. Whether given as a single red rose or a bunch of a dozen, this is the rose you will likely receive on Valentine’s Day.
This botanical rose print is from the book “Roses and Rose Culture” printed in 1892 by Thomas B. Jenkins. In 1853 France gave us General Jacqueminot, leader of the hybrid perpetuate, the grand, dark, crimson rose, so sturdy ingrowth, rich in bloom and powerful in odour. The great half-blown/dusky crimson buds have slept on the bosom of every belle since that day, and they have been sold by the hundred for as many dollars to New York dealers and were retailed, no doubt, for twice that sum.
Another beautiful rose print from the book “Roses and Rose Culture” was printed in 1892 by Thomas B. Jenkins. This pink rose is called PERLE DES JARDINS (Tea Rose.)
“This magnificent rose still retains the foremost position as one of the finest tea roses of this color. The color varies from canary to golden yellow, flowers are large and beautifully formed on stiff stems, handsome in every stage and development from the smallest bud to the largest flower.”
A botanical and scientific dissection of the rose plant showing all the parts of a rose plant. From the roots and leaves to the stamens and rose hips.
A thornless rose, the Rosa Inermis. Painted by the famous Belgian painter and botanist Pierre-Joseph Redouté in 1817
Another beautiful botanical rose print to download by Pierre-Joseph Redoute. This is a beautiful example of a Rosa Centifolia, a cabbage rose.
I don’t know much about this rose print except that it was painted in 1883. I included it as I love the composition and the Japanese text.
The colour of this French Rose (Rosa Gallica) is gorgeous—another beautiful botanical rose print by Pierre-Joseph Redouté.
The gorgeous yellow
This lovely rose botanical painting is from ” The Canadian horticulturist (monthly), 1889.
There is a gorgeous print of a group of roses in the Temple of Flora.
Roses from the Theatrum Florae by Daniel Rabel.
Another popular showy flower to check out is the Chrysanthemum.
A collection of these vintage botanical rose prints would look fabulous on a gallery wall. I love roses so much that I have made my map roses.
Lilies also symbolize love and are a wonderful alternative to roses in a romantic bouquet.
If you fancy, you can Buy Me A Coffee Here.


In India, the annual National Teachers’ Day on September 5th is of utmost importance. This particular day honors the essential efforts of teachers and mentors who are instrumental in determining the destiny of the country. The chosen day falls on Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan’s birthday, a renowned educator and former vice president of India. To honor the famous gurus who have led and enlightened generations, we explore the rich tapestry of Hindu mythology on National Teachers Day.
Lord Shiva – The Guru of All Gurus
As the guru of all gurus, Lord Shiva holds a prominent place in Hindu mythology. Lord Shiva, also known as the “Adi Guru” or the First Guru, is revered for his vast insight and knowledge. His teachings, which included yoga and meditation, are regarded as the cornerstone of enlightenment on a spiritual level. Because of his skill at imparting knowledge in a clear and lucid manner, Lord Shiva has earned the title of Hindu mythology’s supreme teacher.
Lord Parshuram – The Mentor of Legends
Lord Parshuram, the sixth manifestation of Lord Vishnu, is revered for his everlasting dedication to morality (Dharma) and extraordinary skill in battle. Parshuram, who received his training directly from Lord Shiva, left his imprint on famous individuals like Pitamaha Bhishma, Guru Drona, and Karan. His teachings stressed bravery, righteousness, and modesty, molding these people into shining examples of honor and virtue.
Lord Surya – The Light of Direction
The Sun God, Lord Surya, is a renowned mentor in addition to being a celestial body. He was important in the life of Lord Hanuman, the personification of devotion and bravery. Hanuman received instruction from Lord Surya in the Vedas, battle techniques, and the ability to alter his size at will. Hanuman was taught by Lord Surya to have everlasting faith and devotion.
Sage Sandipani – The Illuminator of Lord Krishna and Balram
The life of Sage Sandipani represents knowledge and wisdom. He dedicated his life to teaching profound lessons in many disciplines, warfare, philosophy, and spirituality as the guru of Lord Shri Krishna and Lord Balram. His lectures moved beyond the realm of academia, placing a strong emphasis on the virtues of righteousness, spiritual insight, and dharma. These divine incarnations were illuminated by Sage Sandipani, who led them along the way as they carried out their celestial tasks.
Guru Dronacharya – The Royal Instructor
The Mahabharata character Guru Dronacharya is well known for his mastery of archery and military strategy. He served as the guru to both the Pandavas and the Kauravas, treating them equally and dispensing wisdom in a humble manner. Guru Dronacharya, despite the tragic circumstances that led to his passing, is still a respected character in Indian mythology.
Guru Vashistha – Lord Rama’s Guiding Ligh
One of the seven celestial sages, Guru Vashistha, was Lord Rama’s guru in the Ramayana. He was well known for his knowledge of the Vedas and his skill in performing potent rituals and spells. Lord Rama was shaped into a righteous and enlightened leader by Guru Vashistha’s wise counsel and understanding.
Guru Vishwamitra – The Enabler of Rama’s Victory
A powerful guru named Guru Vishwamitra was instrumental in helping Lord Rama defeat the evil king Ravana. He taught Lord Rama, who was the epitome of devotion and bravery, vital fighting techniques and wisdom. The teachings of Guru Vishwamitra perfectly depict his standing as a renowned guru in Hindu mythology.
Guru Brihaspati – The Teacher of Gods
Guru Brihaspati, the gods’ instructor, is revered for his thorough knowledge of the Vedas. He is shown as a wise and honorable tutor who teaches important lessons about life. His advice and teachings are used in rituals and prayers as a source of knowledge and wisdom.
Guru Shukracharya – The Guru of the Demons
Guru Shukracharya, the guru of the demons, is skilled in the occult and has the ability to raise the dead. He is regarded as a wise and respected teacher in Hindu mythology despite his relationship with the asuras (demons). Even if Guru Shukracharya’s teachings don’t always line up with the divine, they nonetheless play a crucial role in the legendary story, illustrating the variety of wisdom and understanding.
Guru Kripacharya – The Enlightened Mentor
Guru Kripacharya emerges as a notable and revered figure in the epic Mahabharata. Both the Pandavas and the Kauravas esteem him as their Enlightened Mentor, offering invaluable advice. The teachings of Guru Kripacharya go beyond simple combat techniques; they place an emphasis on morality, humility, and moral purity. In the epic struggle, his persistent dedication to righteousness stands out as a bright example.
Lord Dattatreya – The Trinity Incarnate
In Hindu mythology, Lord Dattatreya is a singular character who is thought to be an incarnation of the divine Trinity—Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh. He is a guru to many sages and saints and embodies great wisdom and understanding. Lord Dattatreya’s teachings place a strong emphasis on detachment, devotion, and surrender to the divine. His knowledge directs seekers toward spiritual enlightenment and self-realization.
These esteemed gurus and teachers from Hindu mythology weave a rich tapestry of information, insight, and direction. They have left a lasting impression on India’s cultural and spiritual heritage, motivating future generations to seek out justice, virtue, and enlightenment. National Teachers Day honors all educators who uphold the legacy of these illustrious gurus by molding the minds and hearts of future generations with their knowledge and commitment.


|New York Public Library Acquires Archive of Easy Rider, Dr. Strangelove,
and Candy Writer Terry Southern
Master Satirist's Literary Manuscripts, Correspondence, and Photographs
Made Available Through a Gift by Film Director Steven Soderbergh
New York, NY, April 1, 2003 -- The New York Public Library has acquired the archive of novelist, essayist, and screenwriter Terry Southern (1924-1995), whose distinctive voice in the screenplays Dr. Strangelove and Easy Rider helped define the Cold War paranoia and counter culture of the 1960s. A serious writer who successfully transitioned to the film world, Southern bridged boundaries between literary and pop culture figures, working with authors like William Burroughs and Christopher Isherwood, as well as icons of the '60s such as the Beatles, Stanley Kubrick, and Peter Sellers. Southern, whose black humor struck at the heart of complaceny and hypocrisy, won a large measure of renown and notoriety for his sharply satirical and often sexually explicit writings, notably The Magic Christian and Candy.
In addition to materials directly relating to Southern's works, the archive includes correspondence and other items from such literary and cultural figures as George Plimpton, Allen Ginsberg, Norman Mailer, Frank O'Hara, Larry Rivers, William Styron, V. S. Pritchett, Gore Vidal, Abbie Hoffman, and Edmund Wilson, as well as rock stars including John Lennon, Ringo Starr, and the Rolling Stones. The archive was acquired for The New York Public Library's Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature from the Terry Southern Literary Trust through a generous gift from film director Steven Soderbergh.
"The New York Public Library is delighted to welcome into its Berg Collection the rich archive of Terry Southern, which will complement the Library's many resources documenting literary, political, and cultural movements in late modern America," said Paul LeClerc, President of The New York Public Library. "We are all grateful for the generosity of Steven Soderbergh and for the assistance of Terry Southern's son, Nile, who was so eager to see his father's papers placed here, in one of the world's great libraries."
"Terry Southern was an actual genius," said Steven Soderbergh. "His totally unique style and point of view extended beyond just his books and films, and anyone who chooses to explore Terry's life through these archives will find themselves endlessly fascinated and wildly entertained."
"The New York Public Library's acquisition of the Terry Southern Archive is very important to me as a real confirmation of Terry's accomplishments," said Nile Southern, the son of the author and co-trustee of the Terry Southern Literary Trust. "The collection will serve to connect the dots and bridge the gaps between the Beats and the Beatles. Terry helped introduce Ginsberg, William Gaddis, Henry Miller, and Burroughs to America -- when they were banned or unknown here -- it is all there in the archive, these secret histories. They are all stories which, taken together, weave a unique history of a man at the creative center of his times."
William D. Walker, Senior Vice President and Andrew W. Mellon Director of The Research Libraries, said, "Collecting materials documenting the richness of 20th-century American culture is a priority for the Research Libraries of The New York Public Library. The archive of Terry Southern, in addition to other recently acquired collections such as the Malcolm X Collection and the Jack Kerouac Archive, will offer researchers access to exceptional materials on artistic and political expression in the 1960s."
The Terry Southern Archive
Southern's screenplays Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) and Easy Rider (1969) earned him Academy Award nominations. "His screenplays are crafted in a very literary, writerly way, and he was a meticulous reviser, as researchers in this archive will discover," said Isaac Gewirtz, Curator of the Berg Collection of English and American Literature. "Southern remains a compelling literary and cultural figure," he continued, "because his best novels and screenplays straddle two eras -- the post-Beat early 1960s, when establishment values were still strong enough to shape the sensibility of the very works that mocked them, and the late 60s, early 70s, when many writers, artists, and pop musicians found the naive confidence to jettison mainstream cultural
assumptions about what art or entertainment should be. Southern's archive complements other important holdings in the Berg Collection, such as those of William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, and V. S. Pritchett, to name a few. It is also the first collection in the Berg in which the cinema figures so prominently."
Southern, first published in Britain after repeated rejections at home, was known by the late '50s for his short stories and novels, including Flash and Filigree (1958), and The Magic Christian (1959), when director Stanley Kubrick approached him to lend his satiric wit to the screenplay for Dr. Strangelove. Southern collaborated on the screenplay with Kubrick, who based the film on Peter George's book Red Alert, turning out the black comedy that made Dr. Strangelove a cult hit which still resonates, nearly forty years later. The Archive contains numerous materials relating to Dr. Strangelove including index cards outlining the film as a trilogy, and a1974 letter from Southern to Jay Levin about the perceived similarities between Dr. Strangelove and Dr. Henry Kissinger. In 1988, the film was selected by Congress as a cultural treasure by its Film Preservation Board.
The collection includes the original screenplay of Easy Rider, the 1969 counter-culture classic that ushered in the independent film movement. Southern co-authored Easy Rider with Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper, capturing the essence of youthful rebellion against the establishment.
Southern's other screenplays included Barbarella (1968), which starred Jane Fonda as the ingenue sex-pot space alien, and The Magic Christian (1969), on which he collaborated with Peter Sellers, Joseph McGrath, John Cleese, and Graham Chapman. Based on Southern's novel of the same name, The Magic Christian focuses on millionaire and practical joker Guy Grand, exposing and skewering complacency and materialism. The Archive contains the typescript of the novel, as well as unpublished fragments and various drafts of the screenplay.
Among the materials coming to the Berg Collection are numerous unpublished writings including a diary from Southern's years in Europe. The collection also includes materials relating to his novel, Candy (co-authored with hipster poet Mason Hoffenberg), a socio-sexual satire based on Voltaire's Candide, which bears the distinction of being one of only a few books in English banned in France. Commissioned by the notorious French publisher Maurice Girodias, it became a runaway best-seller in the States selling millions of copies throughout the mid and late '60s.
A dark comic sensibility animated Southern's writing. Few conservative values escaped his satiric wit. His favorite targets included politicians, big business, the military, sentimental spiritual seekers, the grossly rich, Hollywood characters of various sorts, and the medical profession. "Where you find smugness, you'll find something worth blasting," he once said. The Archive contains typescripts and manuscripts of novels, short stories, screenplays, and literary fragments; correspondence from a wide variety of writers, musicians, and artists, as well as business correspondence from agents, editors, and publishers; and photographs of literary and pop culture figures.
Born in Alvarado, Texas, Southern began writing satire at age 12, rewriting Edgar Allan Poe stories because, in his words, "they didn't go far enough." His studies at Southern Methodist University were interrupted by World War II. After serving in the army, he continued his studies, graduating with a degree in philosophy from Northwestern University in 1948. He then went to Paris to study at the Sorbonne on the G.I. Bill. His first published work to reach an American audience, a short story, The Sun and the Still Born Stars, appeared in the premier issue of The Paris Review. His first novel, Flash and Filigree, was published in 1958. He was a frequent contributor to The Paris Review, Evergreen Review, and The Nation.
Residing in Geneva with his wife Carol, Southern wrote Candy and The Magic Christian. Returning to the U.S., he settled in East Canaan, Connecticut, and soon after began his collaboration on Dr. Strangelove with Stanley Kubrick and Peter George, launching a successful screenwriting career. Other screenplays followed, including The Loved One (1965), The Collector (1965), The Cincinnati Kid (1965), Barbarella (1968), and End of the Road (1970). In 1965, on the set of The Loved One, he met actress and dancerGail Gerber, who became his life-long companion.
Southern's other books include Red Dirt Marijuana and Other Tastes (1967), Blue Movie (1970), and Texas Summer: A Novel (1991). Materials relating to these works are also in the Archive. In 1981 and 1982 Southern wrote forSaturday Night Live. He taught screenwriting at New York University and Columbia University from the late 1980s until his death in 1995.
Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature
The Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature is one of America's most celebrated collections of first editions, rare books, autograph letters, and manuscripts. It was assembled and presented to The New York Public Library by Dr. Albert A. Berg (1872-1950), famous New York surgeon and trustee of the Library, in memory of his brother, Dr. Henry W. Berg. Both men found relaxation from their medical careers in collecting the works and memorabilia of English and American writers. The original collection, which numbered 3,500 items, has grown through acquisitions and gifts to include some 20,000 printed items and 50,000 manuscripts, covering the entire range of English and American literature. The Berg Collection includes manuscripts by T. S. Eliot, Eugene O'Neill, Edgar Allan Poe, Henry David Thoreau, Mark Twain, W. B. Yeats, Walt Whitman, and many others. The Southern Archive will join the archives of Jack Kerouac, Virginia Woolf, Joseph Conrad, Vladimir Nabokov, and an extensive collection of first and rare editions.
The Terry Southern Literary Trust
The Terry Southern Literary Trust manages the assets and copyrights of Terry Southern. The Co-trustees are Nile Southern, the author's son. Susan Schulman, New York, acts as literary agent for the Trust.
Contact: Sabina Potaczek or Herb Scher 212.221.7676 or 212.704.8600.
email@example.com | firstname.lastname@example.org


Here’s the Ann Little blog post that inspired this self-interview.
Matthew Linton: The New York Times Book Review Interview.
What books are currently on your nightstand?
Usually, I keep two books I’m currently reading on my nightstand: one fiction and one non-fiction (usually history). I just finished Ian McEwen’s Sweet Tooth, which is a love story set in the atmosphere of the cultural Cold War in Great Britain. It was enjoyable, though not particularly profound. For nonfiction, I’m reading Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century. I’m nearly finished and find Piketty’s argument about growing wealth inequality compelling. If you’re looking for this century’s Marx though you best look elsewhere, Piketty is not a particularly radical thinker.
What was the last truly great book you read?
Earlier this year I read David Igler’s The Great Ocean about the history of the Pacific Ocean and was blown away. Igler’s ability to tell a story about imperialism, global trade, epidemiology, and environmental history is incredible. A definite must read, even if you’re not drawn to Pacific history.
Who are the best historians writing today?
Since I’m not a particularly fluid writer, I feel uncomfortable passing judgment on others’ prose. That being said, there are a plethora of historians – and young historians in particular – making important contribution to contemporary historical scholarship. Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen, Odd Arne Westad, Sam Moyn, James T. Kloppenberg, Daniel Rodgers, and Harold Isaacs are just a few of the many names that come immediately to mind.
What’s the best book ever written about American history?
This is obviously an impossible question to answer, since it presupposes a universal objective measure of quality for historical scholarship exists (hint: it doesn’t). But since I don’t want to be a total coward, I will reinterpret the question as “what is my favorite book ever written about American history?” Though there are many contenders, I always find myself returning to Richard Hofstadter’s The American Political Tradition for inspiration about how to become a better writer and create three-dimensional characters. Hofstadter was one of the first historians whose writing made me want to become a historian, so there is also a sentimental attachment to his work.
Do you have a favorite biography?
Not particularly. I’ve never been a big biography reader. I am relying on a couple of biographies for my dissertation including Robert P. Newman’s Owen Lattimore and the “Loss” of China and John Evans’ John Fairbank and the American Understanding of Modern China. I am thankful for the hard work biographers have put into understanding these characters. These books have saved me hours in the archives.
What are the best military histories?
I don’t read too many military histories, but one I read recently, S.C.M. Paine’s The Wars For Asia, 1911-1949, which consolidates the various wars that embroiled Asia in the early 20th century into a single, unbroken conflict. It’s very well-written and unlike many military histories does not get caught up in the tactical minutiae of war. These strengths make it an ideal introductory text for those unfamiliar with the history of East Asia before the Cold War.
And what are the best books about African American history?
Most of my favorite books about African American history examine their role in shaping US foreign policy. Penny von Eschen’s Satchmo Blows Up the World about jazz ambassadors during the Cold War shows the way jazz musicians like Duke Ellington navigated their roles as disseminators of American liberalism and critics of American racism. Thomas Borstelmann’s The Cold War and the Color Line is another book that effectively shows the interrelationship between US advocacy of democracy abroad and unjust racial policies at home. Finally, Nico Slate’s Colored Cosmopolitanism, which examines the intellectual cross-pollination of the Indian Revolution and Civil Rights Movement, is pioneering in looking African American intellectual history in a global context.
During your many years of teaching, did you find students responded differently to the history books you assigned?
I have only been teaching for one year. I’m amazed how teaching 18-21 year olds makes me feel like the oldest person in the world.
What kind of reader were you as a child?
When I was a young child I was an active reader. I was addicted to the Goosebumps series and read as many of them as I could get my hands on. My grandmother worked at the local public library and supported my reading habit by buying and recommending me new books. As a teenager my interest in reading waned, I was much more interested in athletics and having fun with friends. Sophomore year of high school I was exposed to continental philosophy through a world history course and started reading Friedrich Nietzsche and, later, Michel Foucault. This changed my entire approach to reading and learning. I began devouring classic philosophy texts as well as great works of fiction. I haven’t stopped since.
If you had to name one book that made you who you are today, what would it be?
I am a composite of the many books I’ve read over my lifetime, but if I had to pick one book it would be G.W.F. Hegel’s The Philosophy of History. I was already interested in philosophy, but Hegel’s work showed me how philosophy and history were bound together. Since then, I’ve always found the best history is built on a strong theoretical foundation and the most successful philosophy remains grounded in historical evidence. Hegel’s work was also some of the first intellectual history I ever read and though it is much different then contemporary intellectual history scholarship, it was crucial in exposing me to the genre.
If you could require the president to read one book, what would it be?
Given the instability of the current political situation in the Middle East I would recommend Frederick Logevall’s Choosing War about LBJ’s decision to commit to American involvement in Vietnam. The crucial lesson of Logevall’s book is that offensive war is always a choice for the aggressor and that other options must always be seriously weighed.
You’re hosting a literary dinner party. Which three writers are invited?
If we’re limited to literary figures, I’d choose Ernest Hemingway, Ralph Ellison, and Lu Xun. I’d predict substantial disagreement at the party.
What book did you feel as if you were supposed to like, but didn’t? Do you remember the last book you put down without finishing?
I though John Gaddis’ biography of George Kennan was disappointing. It was too long and hagiographic. I also dislike Charles Postel’s The Populist Vision, but probably just because I don’t like the populists. The last book I put down without finishing was Norman Rush’s Mortals. It was very boring and, since I read fiction for enjoyment, I gave up after 400 pages (I blame Andy Seal).
What books are you embarrassed to not have read yet?
So many. I’ve never read any Jane Austen or Herman Melville. I should probably read the Bible all the way through at some point. In terms of history, I have somehow missed out on reading Jackson Lears’ No Place For Grace.
What do you plan to read next?
Up next is Christopher McKnight Nichols’ Promise and Peril: America at the Dawn of the Global Age.


Renaissance Charter Schools at Pines had their first annual Book-A-Thon. Doors were open on Saturday from 8:00 am until 12:00 pm to allow parents to drop off gently used books. These books will be utilized in our school resource library that will open next year. Here at RCS at Pines, we know that reading opens the door to a great education; and with the help of our staff, parents, and community, we are now able to offer our students over 400 books to choose from. This will help students work toward their CSUSA Reading
Challenge goals and build their love for reading!


Being a black professor at a predominantly white university can be just as uncomfortable as—if not more so than—being a black student at one.
In his new book, The Scholar Denied, the sociologist Aldon Morris writes that contrary to the discipline’s preferred origin story, the field of sociology was actually founded by W.E.B. DuBois, the first black person to receive a Ph.D. in the United States. DuBois earned his degree from Harvard, but due to rampant racial segregation at the time, he was shut out of many employment opportunities. He ended up working at Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University), a historically black college with few resources, but still managed to do pioneering work in the field of sociology.
Morris describes in clear detail the ways that DuBois’s emphasis on race as a socially constructed—rather than biological—phenomenon threatened white elites of his day, who much preferred Booker T. Washington’s message that blacks should accept and embrace their subordinate status. Furthermore, many white sociologists co-opted DuBois’s innovative research designs, empirical methods, and scientific approach, while failing to credit him as their originator. Morris argues that consequently, DuBois’s centrality to the discipline of sociology and his role as one of the preeminent analysts of race relations have been obscured.
DuBois lived and wrote his most famous books during the early part of the 20th century, but how different are circumstances for black academics today?
The recent student demonstrations at University of Missouri, Yale, Amherst, Emory, and other universities have drawn much-needed attention to the challenges that minority students, particularly black ones, face at predominantly white colleges and universities. There’s a great deal of research—including the work of the sociologists Joe Feagin and Wendy Leo Moore—showing that the conditions black students are protesting are serious, widespread, and often ignored. In one account, Feagin shares a story of a black student who waits after class to ask a white professor a question about that day’s lecture, only to be told “I thought you were waiting to rob me or something.” Another student describes “one of those sad and angry nights” when, walking to the dorm, white students drove by yelling racial slurs and throwing beer cans at him.
In Wendy Leo Moore’s study of elite law schools, she offers similarly wrenching examples. For instance, there is the white professor who punishes a black female law student for discussing the offensiveness of racial slurs, but does not challenge the white male law student who comments during a class discussion that black students are intellectually inferior. As Moore describes, even the ways law schools teach students to focus on “individual intent” means that social, academic, and legal practices that discriminate against students of color can be summarily dismissed if white social actors “didn’t mean any harm.” Thus, no matter how invidious the action, no matter the consequences of the behavior, legal reasoning centers on individual whites’ intentions and discounts the lived experiences of people of color.
For faculty of color, similar processes are frequently at play. In fact, predominantly white colleges and universities may even be more reluctant to recruit and hire faculty of color than students of color. While students matriculate at an institution for a short period of time and then leave, the tenure system means that faculty of color may remain at a university for decades, even a lifetime. With this longer time frame, these professors develop more of a stake in the school, and may be more empowered to push for the reforms many colleges resist. For universities that see no real reason to change their existing practices, traditions, and organizational cultures, bringing in a critical mass of faculty of color is often a stated goal that never materializes.
Indeed, when it comes to faculty diversity, the numbers suggest a pretty bleak picture. Blacks constitute less than 10 percent of the professoriate, and these numbers thin out the higher the academic rank. And as lots of research shows, when these professors are in the numerical minority, their experiences aren’t all that different from what DuBois encountered as he attempted to navigate higher education in the early 20th century: exclusion, marginalization, and the consistent message that, as a black person, he was not suited for the academy and that his ideas were unwelcome. Indeed, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s recent suggestion that blacks are best suited for “less advanced, slower track school[s] where they do well” are strikingly similar to the arguments about black inferiority that DuBois confronted in the 19th century—the very assertions he was able to debunk with scientific research.
Many faculty members and administrators will dismiss this lack of diversity as a pipeline issue, claiming that they simply can’t find “qualified” candidates of color to fill faculty positions. But as was the case in DuBois’s day, many historically black colleges and universities are populated by faculty of color, many of whom are exemplary researchers and teachers who work with a fraction of the resources offered at elite, predominantly white universities. “Qualified” candidates of color are there. They simply are not proportionately represented in historically white institutions.
For faculty of color who do seek and find employment at predominantly white schools, research suggests that the issues they face are in some ways similar to those that students of color have described in the recent wave of protests. For example, in a recent study, the professors Ebony McGee and Lasana Kazembe noted that black faculty were racially stereotyped at work, including being generally expected to entertain and perform for colleagues in ways that were not expected of their white counterparts. Other black professors report that if they study issues related to race, their research is assumed to be less credible, serious, and rigorous than their white peers—even if white colleagues also study racial issues. Black faculty also do a disproportionate amount of service work—jobs that are expected of workers but not explicitly required. These can include mentoring and advising students and junior faculty, serving as a faculty advisor for campus clubs, or being on committees.
And there are gender dynamics present as well. The sociologist Roxana Harlow found that black female professors had to manage gendered racial stereotypes that they were “mean” and “cold” in the classroom, stereotypes that are commonly applied to black female professionals more generally. And this says nothing of the racialized assumptions that many students (and fellow faculty) bring with them to the university—that black Americans, and by extension, black professors, are less knowledgeable and credible than their peers of other races, regardless of the subject matter they teach. This means that in practice, black faculty routinely face students, coworkers, and administrators who assume that they are not truly qualified for or capable of faculty work—all the while concealing the understandable feelings of frustration and annoyance that result. The overall message is that, like black students, black faculty simply do not belong.
Though these issues are complex and won’t be solved easily, universities could begin doing more to support faculty and staff of color. DuBois defined the premier problem of the 20th century as the issue of the color line, and this certainly shaped his experiences in higher education. It doesn’t have to be this way today.
Originally seen via The Atlantic by: ADIA HARVEY WINGFIELD – A contributing writer for The Atlantic and a professor of sociology at Washington University in St. Louis. She is the author of No More Invisible Man: Race and Gender in Men’s Work.


The history of the Emirate of Crete begins around 825 A.D. when a group of Andalusian (Arab Muslims from Spain) rebels were exiled by the ruling Emir of Cordoba, al-Hakam I.
The history of the Emirate of Crete is an interesting one. Although it had little long-term repercussions on the region, the political integrity of the state was an incredibly important issue of the day, specifically of the 9th and early 10th Centuries. Due to the strategic position of Crete, often thought of as a gateway to the Aegean, the island could be used, and was used as, an important staging ground for numerous raids throughout the Eastern Aegean, from Thessaloniki to Alexandria during both the Arab and Byzantine periods. Control of the island was often analogous to naval dominance of the Aegean, Cilician, and Palestinian coastlines, and without control of the island, it has historically been nearly impossible to maintain control of Eastern Mediterranean maritime affairs, both commercial and militant, from the Byzantine Empire to the Ottoman Empire to Nazi Germany.
Continue reading “History of the Emirate of Crete”
Nikephoros II Phokas was the sole emperor of Byzantinium from 963 to 969. His brilliant military exploits contributed to the resurgence of the Byzantine Empire during the 10th century.
Who was Nikephoros II? Nikephoros II Phokas was the sole emperor of Byzantinium from 963 to 969. His brilliant military exploits contributed to the resurgence of the Byzantine Empire during the 10th century. In the east, he exhibited tactical prowess in the complete reconquest of Cilicia and of Crete, whilst also initiating the recapture of Cyprus, thereby opening the path for future Byzantine incursions into the Levant and the Jazira under future emperors, thus creating a safer, more secure empire not only for his successors, but also for his subjects, in that he, by bringing Crete and Cyprus under Christian rule, manage to spare much of the Aegean coastline from the devastating Arab raids which became commonplace over the 9th and early 10th Centuries. His reign, however, was not unmarred by controversy. In the west, relations with Bulgaria worsened, while Nikephoros was powerless to halt the Muslim conquest of Sicily. Incursions by the German emperor Otto II were also left unpunished. Nikephoros also had issues in the domestic sphere. His long wars resulted in increased taxes both on the people and on the church, while he also maintained unpopular theological positions which alienated many of his most powerful allies, including his top general and future emperor John Tzimiskes.
Continue reading “The Life of Nikephoros Phokas”